#also rly hard picking between pilot and let go

[pxrxmoore]

oops i’m a bit late to this but here’s my 911 bingo 😅 thank u @lucydonato for putting this together and @sweetrevelation for the cute template 🥰

oh. my god this took me all morning 😭 i’m posting it now before i change my mind for the 150th time 😌 damn i fuckin love this show 🫶 also im sorry for putting tsunami arc as 1 square i couldn’t pick between them and to me it’s just one long ep so like if u have either of them just count it or whatever 😌🫶

[furymint]

All Prompts

#02: Sway

#03: Muster

#06: Bonus

#08: Clamor

#09: Lush

#12:  Tooth & Nail

#15: Ache

#16: Lucubration

#20: Bonus

#22: Argy-Bargy

#24: Beam

Header  | Reflection of some of my favorite peers’ prompts under the cut!

@aethernoise​ -- #11: Ultracrepidarian

tired curses!!!! i also really love this contrast in their work..... its rly cute. alyx just saved the world and aymeric is hating the dictionary. i like how rough his narration is and then alyx calls and everything speeds up, and i especially love him staring into the empty room. it put another contrast between their circumstances, but its also rly damn accurate abt how it feels to share a moment over the phone w someone. it made me smile a lot

@ahlis-xiv​ -- #23: Shuffle

this one made me laugh ksjdf ahlis’ distaste for the saucer despite being drawn to it is hysterical, but it also mirrors a lot of her character flaws: avoiding vulnerability, placing stoicism before genuineness, planting her frustration on external things instead of herself. even confronting her own feelings draws some curses out of her, and i love that display of her personality.

@autochthonousone -- #09: Nonagenarian

i love me some reflection and mentorship. also im obsessed with “let ‘lone this ‘n”.........dialect is such a hit or miss thing when writing or reading, but god youve got it and i love that line so much. barry’s relationship w stalwart is even better tho, and i cant repeat enough how much i love their dynamic of fair/stern/wise and distant/brutish/actually-paying-complete attention.

@brave-horizon -- #12: Tooth & Nail

talk abt using the setting..............i rly struggle w incorporating setting so this was a little mind-blowing to me. we got a really cool action scene plus established an entire town and conflict all at once?? battle scenes are hard. but ur vocab is so precise and stuff like “seized midstride” and “spilling its pilot” are rly inspiring me rn!! wind magic is smth ive brainstormed in the past but u have such good ideas w it and im so pumped just rereading it. its so good

@erstwhile25 -- #05: Matter of Fact

oh my god. some kind of dialogue god comes down and hands kail all his words, or else he’s just the dialogue god himself. im leaning towards the latter. i wish to god i could say “very small dogs with the barest streaks of sanity” in daily life, and honestly i might start to. the crew of the rook are always a joy to see + the development of their conversation takes such a meaningful turn that it really sticks after the laughs

@endangered-liaison​ -- #05: Matter of Fact 

sorry not sorry jaejh is cool!!!! he’s super nasty and terrible and interesting and i loved his voice, but i esp love how well he pushed the conflict and just Ruined Everything. i rly live how his influence bleeds into the others through their fear. The kids go from hoping or expecting to smth better, to not even debating that he’s lying bc it will just turn out worse. the berry stains as a gun on the wall never struck me either, and i was SHOOK

@high-and-away -- #10: Avail

honestly this was the hardest one to pic a fav for. i rly loved so many of these bc they check a lot of boxes for my Brand. this one sits the longest with active conflict + does a fantastic job staying clear despite all the trails it picks up w max’s foil n comradeship, the chocobo’s higher level of pity over people, the chaotic pack of Resistance members, and the highlander that vicky reasons over n kills. i love that word “limning” now; ur vocab always finds ways to surprise me w the way u use them (esp in describing settings)

@holyja -- #03: Muster

usually when i think of lizzy writing, i think of how perfect ur verbs are, but this time i really liked the visuals and tone. hyana pushing food around her plate and sitting on the rooftops had such a lonely feel to them, but at the same time were rly enjoyable and clear imgs despite not having to be described forever. serella’s dialogue was perfectly on-the-nose, too. usually i rly linger on what is given too much detail, but this rly showed me how nice it is to air things out n leave the thought monologue unsaid.

@karoiseka --  #24: Beam

hell yeah memory lane time. i loved seeing CT from karo’s pov and seeing where her priorities lay or moved. i also liked the life u gave to the little parts left untouched by the narrative, like walking through CT and the heartbeat in the soul vessel. idk what could be more satisfying that a reunion either, so following karo into the ocular was some Good Shit

@mythrilreflections -- #15: Ache

does this get bonus points just for being in o’ghomoro? yes. i love how the tunnels are characterized by the senseless kobolds in them. the added pressure from their reasonings for being in this hellhole is even better, and i love the sigils concept. jace’s narration is so cold, too, which makes both the kobold’s ferocity and the team’s desperation more poignant: he doesn’t sound the type to exaggerate.

@norhimorovine -- #14: Part

this one just screams fairy tale to me. the others do too, but the repetition of events rly knocks this one up the flagpole of ‘belongs in some mid 19th century kids story collection.’ i LOVE the sisters’ banter, and how the younger daughter gets incorporated a bit further for her attention. having the soldier take little pieces of each environment to prove they were real made them a lot more real to me, too.

@snowbird-down -- #03 Muster

if u think im NOT gonna lose my mind shrieking over stream of consciousness as one of the #1 ways of writing trauma, u have not been around me for very long. the varying sentence length is rly successful here, and i esp love the part where people are rushing into the ship and she has to stab a dude to keep him from coming aboard. it’s such a back and forth determining who is humanity and who is the faceless antagonist for a minute, n ofc i love that.

@stars-bleed-hearts-shine​ -- #28 -- Irenic

i was p surprised that my fav of urs came so late, but i feel like this piece has a lot of what your really good at, and which i admire a lot: you aren’t afraid of emotional dialogue or arguments based in more than factual debate, and you capitalize on casual thoughts that reveal a lot more than they do at face value. i esp like that you rly make the most of two characters that overlap in values and personality so often--they acknowledge that overlap and work together with what they share.

@yunkinko​ -- #05 Matter of Fact

im gonna forget abt that little rat line bc the last line is a kick in the teeth. i always admire ur ability to expand tiny details into lasting events. x’arhll’s musings also cut so different from the rest of the scene, separating her from the others and mhifa even further from her, so i love that contrast. the “arc of water” stayed with me for a while too.

[moonlightsolo]

bête noire

summary: It’s been two weeks since the Resistance has made their new home on Ajar Kloss. You’ve disconnected yourself from everyone on the base, including Poe. Ever since Kylo Ren infiltrated your mind with dark thoughts, you’ve tried to steer clear of the Force. 

pairing: kylo ren x female reader

warnings: none. nada. zip. zero. zilch.

wc: 3.1k

note: here ya go. hope you enjoy. i worked rly hard on this. pls leave feedback thx.

CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN

The days go by slowly as you sit in your tiny room on the dormant ship. You’ve shut yourself off completely from the Resistance, ignoring the pull from the light and the dark.

Since the last time you spoke with Kylo Ren, he hasn’t been bothering you. Although his presence in the Force is still there but he has cut his ties from you for now. 

It’s time you focus on yourself and your children.

The only opportunity you get to you leave your little sanctuary is when you need to use the bathroom or get cleaned up. 

The droid has been fetching you food from the commissary and bringing it back for you. She also has gotten you books too so the time would go by quicker.

You’re reading about the galaxy when somebody knocks on the metal door, you can feel that it’s Rey. She has been bothering you ever since the incident in the jungle. She knows you’re pulling yourself away from the light purposely and she doesn’t want you to go astray too far.

“Fine. If you’re not going to open the door, I’ll leave it out here for you.” She sighs, her footsteps begin to stomp away.

Did she leave something for you?

You lay down your book and stand up from your spot on your bed to open the door and peek out. It’s a staff.

You quickly grab it and retreat back into your room like a hermit crab. Your fingers run over the smooth wood, seeing how the edges are singed and black. You grip the edges and smile. You lay it against the wall and sit back down, “What is that?” Mary beeps out.

“It’s a quarterstaff. I can train with it.” You nod, your eyes glancing at your babies. They’re reaching their tiny hands over the bassinet to grab their sibling. They’ve gotten so big. “I’ll sneak out tonight when everybody is asleep and go train. Will you watch them for me?” You look up at her and she nods.

You pick your book back and up and begin reading again.

-

With a quick motion, you bend down to tie your shoelaces. You tuck your utility pants into your boots then you adjust your tee shirt. Your fingers run over the embroidered Resistance emblem on the sleeve.

“I’ll be back soon.” You tie your hair up into a top knot before grabbing your staff. You open the door slowly, your head peeking out through the crack to look both ways down the hall.

There are a few people scattered in the hallways sleeping so you just creep past them and out of the ship.

You haven’t felt fresh air in a while, it feels like it has been almost a month. You take a deep breath and begin sprinting towards the exit of the cave, hoping your footsteps are quiet enough so nobody hears you.

You take a sharp turn into the trees, following the nature-made path Rey took you down once before. You dodge large rocks and skip over the branches that are laying in the way.

When you make it to the opening, the moonlight has replaced the sun in the night sky. You can vividly see the stars twinkling in space above you. Your mind drifts to Kylo, knowing he is somewhere out there. You shake your head and take a deep breath, you begin to swing your staff expertly. You use the trunk of a tree to practice.

Your feet twirl your body around with the staff in your hands, holding it in a striking position as you launch forward. You make sure not to hit the tree, stopping it inches away from the bark. You don’t want to cause unnecessary damage to nature.

You spin your body to do countless strikes, your teeth grit together as your grunt with every swift movement. Someone’s hand touches your shoulder, which is a bad idea on their part. You turn towards the body, sweeping the staff under their ankles to knock them to the ground.

They groan in pain as they lay back against the lush grass. You push the staff against their chest with your face full of anger. You instantly soften when you realize it’s Poe. “Oh, my stars. I’m so sorry.” You drop the staff to the ground as you bend down to his side.

He starts to laugh, holding his side as he did. Maybe he hit his head too hard.

“I can’t believe you knocked me down. Now I can see how good you handle yourself.” He chuckles and takes in a deep breath. You start to laugh with him, your eyes closing as you feel tears trying to leave your eyes. “I… was… so focused… I didn’t even hear you..” You say between laughs as you stand up and reach your hand out to help him up.

When he gets to his feet, he doesn’t let go of your hand and instead he pulls you into a hug. You’re stiff at first but you relax and almost go limp in his arms. You let out a relieved sigh, a small smile forms on your lips and your eyes close. “I missed you.” He said softly, his head rests on top of yours. “Me too, Poe. Me too…” You open your eyes to look up at him.

Poe’s brown eyes look down at you, his smile copies yours. “Why’d you pull yourself away from us? It was like you weren’t here again.” He shakes his head and hugs you tighter as the negative memories flood his head. “I’m scared, Poe. I don’t know what to do. I don’t want to be tied up in this war anymore. It’s impossible for me to just pick up and leave.” You pull away slightly but he still keeps you close.

Before he could answer, something cracks a twig behind him. You summon the staff to your hand, turning your body so Poe is behind you. You get into a fighting stance but Poe puts his hand on your staff to stop you. “It’s just Rey…” He notices how scared and defensive you got. He feels sorry for you and it makes you sick that he does. Poe knows that you’re protective because of your past, he knows that it scarred you.

Rey’s body creeps out of the shadows, the light casting down on her features as she walks closer to you both “I noticed her running through the cave earlier. I was going to go after you but Poe saw you too. So I let him handle it…” Her eyes look at the staff and she smiles. “I’m glad you got it.” She nods and you smile, “Oh yeah... Thank you, Rey.” You sigh then bite your lip from being nervous. It’s silent for a moment before Rey speaks again, “Can I speak to her alone?“ She glances over at Poe.

Poe looks at you and back at Rey, his shoulders lift up into a shrug. He starts to walk back towards the base with his eyes watching his feet. “Remember when we were training here and I said you can use a saber pretty well?” Her accented voice speaks out excitedly. “I want to make my own one day and I was wondering if you would be open to making your own too?” Her smile is wide and your face shows pure shock. “Really? My own?” She grabs your hands and closes her eyes.

“I had a vision,” Her voice echoes in your head. A scene starts to flicker through your brain. You’re seeing it through Rey’s perspective. It feels like you’re watching a film. She’s piloting the Falcon with Chewie through hyperspace. Then your muffled voice appears behind her and she turns her head to look at you. You’re shocked by your appearance— You look so different.

Your hair is cut to your shoulders, two pieces are braided and secured back. You’re wearing tight black leather pants, boots and a gray tunic of some sort. You notice the belt around your waist with a clip that would hold a lightsaber hilt. You have a blaster connected to the other side in a holster. You notice how you’ve gotten more fit, you seem genuinely happy too. 

You can barely make out the conversation then the scene skips forward. The three of you are walking in a cave, it’s dark until you all stumble upon a cavern filled with glimmering crystals. They litter the floor and the ceiling. There is a large spiral stone ramp going up the side so anyone could reach the high ones. Rey bends down to touch a crystal and when her fingers graze the outside, the vision ends.

You gasp as you come back into reality, your chest is rising and falling quite quickly. “See? You are destined to be great. I know you’re scared right now but take your time. You’ll choose the right path.” She pulls your body into a hug.

When she pulls away, she notices the tears flooding in your eyes, “Are you happy or sad?” She asks, her hands are now resting on your shoulders.

You shrug and sniffle as you bring your hands up to wipe your tears away from your eyes. You don’t know if you’re happy for sad, you’re feeling so many emotions. “I should get going now. I hope I’ll see you tomorrow?” She asks as she pulls away. You nod with a smile on your face, wiping your tears away as you look up at the stars again.

You take a deep shaky breath as you watch them twinkle. You sit down in the grass, laying down on your back so you can stargaze for a few moments. Before you know it, you’re fast asleep.

-

The stars are still twinkling above you when you open your eyes but you can’t see your surroundings, it’s too dark. Not even the grass beneath you.

The sound of a lightsaber hums around you but you can’t seem to find it in the dark. Then you spot it, the beam of angry red light casts over your face. It’s not Kylo’s though, it’s a regular red saber with no cross-guard.

Their stature almost matches his; Tall and dark. A cape billows out behind their broad frame, they twirl the saber expertly in their one hand.

Are they a Sith?

A crackly heavy breathing sound comes from the helmet they’re wearing. The light casts over the helmet and his armor.

The black surface shines under the red glow. A vent covers the person's mouth, the beady black eye covers look into your soul. They continue to breathe heavily while looking at you.

You’re drawn to this person, almost like you’re put in a trance. You’re certain that he could definitely harm you if you get too close but their presence comforts you in away.

You slowly creep towards them, your hand lifts up hesitatingly to touch the helmet. You want to see if he’s real if they’re standing in front of you.

His gloved hand comes up and grabs your wrist, “Enough.” His deep voice crackles through the modulator.

Light swirls around you like hyperspace, your breath was taken from your chest. Wind howls in your ears then you’re dropped onto the sand.

Your hands grip the gritty texture, it falls right through your fingers. The environment around you is hot. So hot. Sweat almost instantly begins to pool on your forehead. You inhale sharply as the air returns to your lungs, tears sting your eyes as you try to focus.

A blurry hand reaches into your vision, they’re standing in front of you. You warily take their hand and they hoist you up to your feet. “Hey, are you okay?” The man asks you.

You blink away your tears, looking at him with wide eyes when your vision focuses on his face. He’s young, most likely a teenager or a man with a baby face. You can’t help but notice a scar that travels across his features; It’s like Kylo.

His skin is sun-kissed most likely from the double suns behind him, his outfit resembles the old Jedi garb. You look around and notice the sandy huts around you. You’re on Tattooine.

“I know why you’re here.” He speaks to you. Your head whips around to face him again, “I don’t even know why I’m here. How did I get here?” You breathe out in panic.

“It’s okay. Let’s speak somewhere more private.” He leads you into a hut, it’s quite nice inside. He sits you down at a table that has a bowl of odd looking fruit in the middle.

“My name is Anakin Skywalker.” The name takes your breath away. Your hand grips the edge of the table as you try to steady yourself.

“Kylo’s grandfather? As in the Darth Vader?” You barely croak out. He seems a bit troubled by your words.

“Yes. I can feel your pain through the Force. I once was in your shoes. I was torn between the light and the dark.” His eyes flicker down for a moment then he looks back up at you. “I lost my family by choosing the wrong path. My grandson, Ben Solo, lost his family by choosing the wrong path. Choose your own path. Take care of your children.” His hand reaches across to grab yours before you could respond. His touch sends tingles across your skin, he smiles then you drop through the floor.

It’s like you’re being teleported to a different realm once again. Images swirl around you in a cyclone, your hair is blowing everywhere from the insane amount of wind. Your hands reach out to try and grab something to stop yourself. All of the air has left your body and it feels like you’re going to be falling for eternity.

The grass suddenly appears beneath you, your fight or flight kicks in. As you get closer to it, your hands go up to shield your face then you hit the ground. Everything goes dark.

-

The bright light around you is what wakes you up, surprisingly not the humid air. Your eyes open and for a moment, you still think you’re in your dream. Then you realize that you’re laying on your side in the grass and dirt. Sweat is soaked into your clothing, your hair is sticking to your damp forehead. You shoot up from the spot, your vision gets a bit fuzzy from standing up too quickly. You take a sharp breath through your nose as you grab your staff and head out of the jungle. 

As you get closer to the base, you see that people are walking everywhere. Anxiety settles in your chest, you wonder what people will think when they see you in this state. Especially because you’ve been a little bit of an introvert lately.

You slide out of the tree-line into view, walking back towards the cave so you can get cleaned up. You keep your head down in an attempt to not make eye contact with anyone. 

Rey spots you walking, she waves then her face scrunches up when she sees the state you’re in. You instantly make a beeline towards her, walking with purpose.

“What happened to you?” She questions, looking at your dirty clothes and face.

“I fell asleep out there,” Your hand goes up to itch your arm and you feel bumps under your fingers. You grimace from the pain, “Ouch.” You look down and see pink bites, most likely from bugs.

“I don’t know what happened last night. I remember being visited by Anakin. Anakin fucking Skywalker, Rey.” Your voice hushes down so people wouldn’t notice but they were already looking.

Her eyes go wide and she looks around nervously, her hand goes to your shoulder. “We need to talk to Leia about this.” She leads you to the command center where Leia is talking to Poe and other officials.

Poe’s face lights up when he sees you, then his eyes look at your dirty outfit and his eyebrows furrow. “What happened? Are you okay?” He interrupts Leia who was in the middle of speaking to him. He slides past her and meets you, his hands go to cup your cheeks.

“Hi, Poe.” You smile, “I’m okay. I just need to talk to Leia.” Rey scoffs as you guys hold eye contact for a little too long.

“Come on. This is urgent.” Rey tugs on your arm like a parent, “I’ll talk to you after okay?” You look back at Poe as she leads you away.

Leia has already turned herself around and was staring at the three of you. “What’s going on?” Her voice is soft but still concerned.

“She had a vision.” Rey says with a shaky voice, “From Anakin, your father.” You quip in. Rey glances at you in the corner of her eyes then looks back at Leia to see her reaction.

Her face is still, maybe she’s in shock. “Why would he visit you...” She breathes out as she thinks. “Do you remember anything he said to you? Even if it’s just one word.” She asks as she moves closer to you.

“He told me to choose my own path. He compared himself to... Ben... By how he left his own family for power.” Your head falls to look at your feet.

“Force ghosts visit you to give you guidance during a hard time. Usually only if you’re a Jedi... But, I guess he made an exception for you.. Unless he knows something we don’t.” Leia sighs, her hand goes to your chin to lift up your face.

“Follow his advice. Do what you think feels right, okay? Do not let anyone else persuade you to do anything other than that.” She is stern, she wants you to follow her advice too.

“Of course, Leia. Thank you.” You smile as she pulls you into a quick hug, “Now go get cleaned up. You’re dirty.” She laughs along with you.

When you walk away from the command center, your steps feel lighter like a weight has been lifted off of your shoulders.

Poe stops you, “I want to talk.” He’s serious but right now, you smell like sweat and wilderness so you need to get cleaned up first. “Of course. After I shower though, is that okay?” You ask with a small smile. He nods, then of course, he returns it but adds a kiss to your cheek which makes you blush.

“Come to my room when you’re done.” He walks away quickly to go finish whatever he needed to as commander. 

You quickly grab your shower supplies from your room, you give your babies a kiss before leaving again. 

You make your way to the communal showers, hopefully nobody is in there already since you’d like some privacy.

Thankfully, there is closed off sections where a shower is but it’s kind of awkward showering when there’s another person in the same room with you.

When you pull off your boots to get undressed, golden sand falls out onto the tile floor. You bend down to touch it, “What?” You breathe out in surprise.

You attempt to forget about it but as you take the rest of your clothes off of your body, more sand falls out from hidden crevices. 

You just push your clothes to the side and step into the stream of water. With your soapy cloth, you scrub at your body to get all the residue of the dirt off of your skin. 

You don’t want to believe you were actually teleported to Tattooine to talk to Anakin. It was just a vision. Nothing else.

-

tags: @officiallpeterparker @funnysadshit @ymariejp @attorneyl @fangirl570 @trinityrud20 @kylos-sassy-cousin @delicatelyherdreams @fizzywoohoo @savvy7392 @angelias134 @that-girl-named-alex @cas-backwards-tie @glimmering-darling-dolly @glitterypinkkitty @blxkstar @his-snow-white-queen @elsasshole @smiithys @nanocoool @deathbyarabbit @alex-skr @theholycakehole  @averillian  @crazynocturnalkiki @arcanebabe @tinydancer40 @superduckypower  @thomasscresswell @butterfly-writes @thatintrovertedbisexual @fangirlanotherjust @somekindofroger  @nicci442 @little-girl-who-dream-too-much @wildest-dream- @silverlambcaptain @cliffordmess​ @xkylorxn​ @lowkeyofsassguard @nickangel13​ @carol-twinklefists-danvers​ @oopsiedoopsie23​ @fandomshit6000​ @baba-eina @cosmichellfire​ @ravngers​ (still don't know why tumblr won't let me tag some of u sorry)

[anmousewrites]

Endless Waltz Rewatch and Review

I promised I would, so here it is. Like the other one, this one is going to have notes taken throughout because that way I can make sure I’ve covered everything.

The opening is always a little wonky. The stuff about the 13th constellation etc etc etc doesn’t make sense without background that we’re not given. In short, there’s whispers of a new mobile suit model. That’s really the easiest way to sum it up. 

Also, even young me used to side-eye the scene with Releena and the colony leaders. It STILL comes off as being way more suggestive than it is. 

Mariemeia’s voice acting is still 100% perfect. She’s so off-putting. Love it.

“My father entrusted me with these christmas presents.” okay idek if he’s actually your father at all, though, and if he is, The Audience already knows that can’t be true. Treize dedicated his whole life to The War To End All Wars so why would he do that. You have no idea, you’re ten.  Noin and Sally~ Noin and Sally! So good.

Releena is immedately skeptical of Mariemeia because she’s met Treize and she’s like rly r u for rl It’s glossed over a little but another good line from Duo “If you leave him alone, Quatre is the kind of guy who will take the blame for everything. I wouldn’t be surprised one day if he says his lack of effort is the reason there’s no air in space.” He’s right though.

Duo’s fondness for Deathscythe is so nice, and also the animation for the special edition is... great actually? Everyone’s relationships to their mechs are really interesting. 

I like seeing the backstories. A lot of this stuff is sort of implied in the series but it is nice to see it expanded upon. 

Mariemeia makes her speech and you don’t get to hear Une cursing but Ii can imagine it when she says who she is. No one can call her on that faster than Lady Une.

Showing how Quatre gets Sandrock is neat, but it raises more questions than it answers. I wish they would have done his history with the Maguanac’s instead. I read it in a manga one million years ago, but seeing as I still remember it, well, it sticks with you. 

“I find that I cannot quietly sleep in my grave while Trieze’s spirit is still roaming among us.” Translation: Y’all are slandering by best friend’s name and I will not stand for that shit even if I have to raise myself from the fucking dead. 

Wufei is usually on an opposing side to a lot of the pilots and their ideals and I don’t think that’s a bad thing. Too often we default to just believing the heroes, so I think he does a fair job of pointing out that they might be wrong.

okay but when the music picks up when wing zero shows up and heero hops in, so good, rescue me from the nostalgia, everything is great, im die

The romantic relationships are all really low-key in Wing, where they’re hinted at all. There’s enough female characters for het ships, but ya’ll know that wasn’t how we rolled back when the show came out. Heck, for some of them, it’s not how I roll now. The interpersonal relationships in the show (between the pilots, their enemies, and even some civilian characters) are never really talked about but are all very interesting.

 Zechs played dead for a year and showed up again and Noin joins him on the battlefield to a mutual sense of relief. This is how it should be, this is how its always been, they’ve been fighting together since they were at Lake Victoria and nothing feels more natural, more right. Une still asks Treize for advice although she knows he isn’t there to answer. The easy, friendly relationship between Duo and Heero is comfortable and hilarious (who could imagine them being friends at all? but they make it look natural). The quiet understanding that Quatre and Trowa have is never spoken about, but demonstrated consistently though their actions.

I’m a sucker for characters and relationships and Endless Waltz, like the series, nails it.

“Let’s only take the weapons, and war itself, ALONG WITH US TO HELL.” Duo you’re the most quotable person and tbh I’ve quoted this for years. That one and ‘If you’re joking that’s cruel but if you’re being sarcastic that’s even worse.’

“How much longer do those kids intend to retaliate against me?” Dekim did you not pay attention for the last year, none of these people have any chill literally none at all

I love the parallels between Releena and Treize. Same goals, different ways of doing it, but they highlight how much their personalities and their dedication make the difference. Also Hello Dorothy. I’d be happy enough not to see her, but she does show up just to dish out some sick burns. She seems to have her shit together a little better now, and is acting more directly. She’s more likeable for it.

Not that complex characters can’t be likable, but seeing as she was so hard to pin down in the series it was really hard to understand or care about her. 

We see a lot of how Noin, Zechs, Quatre, Trowa and Duo are excellent fighters, not that the series ever let us doubt it. Wufei, for as much as he has the same skills, isn’t in this movie for how good he is in combat, though. He’s here to try and wrap his head around what to make of his life now that the war is over. It’s a struggle that likely Heero and Trowa also face, not to mention everyone left over from OZ, but he’s the one who brings it to the forefront, It’s not a bad role for him.

‘wow this place has like 7 walls it’s gundam proof’

Nothing is gundam proof but esp not beam rifle proof sorry

“See for yourself just how powerless you are.” “Roger that.” Now, he didn’t say ‘fuck you’, but he meant fuck you, you get me? How did Une get in to the locked down building? Who knows. She’s magical. We don’t care. 

“It is not the victor that moves the heart of the people.” Again, GW bringing it home that the war isn’t the point, the people are the point. That’s why Treize was so loved (IS so loved), why Releena is so important, why the gundams are the symbols that they are.

Treize has been dead for a year, but his ideals and his love are so insistent that Dekim is killed by one of his own men in Treize’s name. His decisions might have been awful, but he was one hell of a guy. 

Heero ‘symbolically’ killing Mariemeia makes sense kiiiiind of. Who she was is dead. She’s no longer Mariemeia Kushrenada... she’s Mariemeia Barton, and will be happy to live a gentler existence than the one she was raised in.

“I will never kill anyone ever again. I don’t... have to, anymore.” Coming from the guy whose been killing people since he was a smol, that’s saying something.

The end screen of the gundams shows them all alone EXCEPT Sandrock, who is with the MC. I really like that touch.

The ending shots all show the pilots going their own ways but Young Mouse and Old Mouse agree that they kept in touch. It’s hard when you share that kind of experience with someone to just let them go. No one understands them as well as the other pilots, so although they may not talk all the time, they are never alone. Heero would be the hardest to track down but c’mon he isn’t hiding that hard. 

Okay so, to sum up... Endless Waltz is completely context-less without the show. Its definitely made specifically for fans of it, and that’s okay. But it does mean it can’t just be picked up and watched... you’ll get really confused.  But as for quality, my answer is probably pretty predictable. It’s an old anime, and while Waltz looks slick as fuck for how old it is, you can still catch it in spots. There’s less Naval Gazing here, there’s less time for it, and all the philosophy and politics that are brought up are worth something. Also, we get to see all of our friends again and to get a real ending to their story. Except Treize. Now, my bitterness aside as a fan of his, the fact that he is missing is noticeable. Just like in the show, going through time without him has a strange feeling to it, because his influence is still felt everywhere. 

Waltz gives us some of the best of these characters and distills some of the best of the show. I don’t really have a lot of complaints, as much as I would love to be critical of it. Explosions in space? Explosions underwater? Space Empathy TM? But in the end, none of those things really break the feeling of it. It’s a good adventure, and to this day it makes me glad to have been on it.