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apageinthecastle · 3 years

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A Quarantined Reunion: Chapter three - Ghost Stories

Frank and Karen find themselves stuck with each other for longer than expected, and a memory Frank thought he had buried resurfaces to pull him from the moment.

Good morning, sleepyhead.

Frank woke with a start, Maria’s voice still ringing in his ears. Sitting up, he turned on the single, shadeless lamp beside his couch, the light harsh in the dark of the apartment. The sun wasn’t up yet. Grateful to have slept on the couch (undeniably for the proximity to the coffee maker) he shuffled into the kitchen, tossing the now-empty apple pie container and crumpled burger foil in the trash. He had eaten the cheeseburger while mulling over the fragmented conversation from the night before, stitching the silences together and getting nowhere. With Karen taking the rest of her thoughts and answers to bed with her, he had decided sometime around midnight that it had still been an apple pie kind of day, after all.

He filled Max’s food dish, shaking it a little before starting the coffee maker. From the time Frank had adopted the pit bull, he’d had to rustle any food in his dish to get the dog to eat. Maybe it was something left over from Max’s time with the Kitchen Irish, where Frank knew he had been mistreated. Maybe it was just that he was trained to wait to eat. Whatever the reason, it was a welcome part of their morning routine. He was grateful for Max’s company - after dropping him off at New York Bully Crew, Frank had imagined the pit bull happily adopted by some well-off family, maybe with kids… still, when he had returned to the shelter for work as part of his arrangement with the CIA and found Max still there, there was some relief in knowing he was able to readopt him and provide some semblance of a home.

It wasn’t until the first sip of his second cup of coffee that the Marine turned to the window, nearly dropping the mug at the sight of the mountain of snow already collected on the outer sill.

He’d have to get a whole damn pie delivered.

It was only a few minutes later that a messy-haired Karen made her way out from the bedroom. She adjusted the ace bandage wrapped around her wrist, more out of nervous habit than anything else. Beginning with every intention of saying good morning to Frank, the blonde froze in place when she saw the amount of snow that had built up. Oh, no.

Keeping their distance in the apartment had been reasonable last night. Social distancing hadn’t been perfect - he had carried her back to his place, for Christ’s sake - but it was enough that all things considered, she had felt comfortable with the idea of leaving his apartment in search of her own.

Seeing that snow, knowing there would be no hope of leaving during it…

Damn it.

Good morning long forgotten, she turned to him. “Please tell me there’s coffee.”

He nodded absently and slowly turned back to the kitchen with a resigned sigh, muttering under his breath. “Not enough in the world for this day.”

If Karen heard him, she had no audible response. It was probably for the best - they were both under-caffeinated, and, judging by the look on her face as his eyes flicked over to look, licking their wounds from the night before. To say he felt bad was an understatement; guilt was something that came easily to him, especially when it was for good reason. Max, having emptied his bowl already, nudged at Frank’s twitching fingers with his nose, bringing him back into the moment.

“Mugs are in the cupboard beside the fridge. You hungry?”

Karen shook her head, walking to the kitchen silently. She was, in reality, but she wasn’t about to start asking Frank Castle for more than she had to right now, and coffee, well that was non-negotiable. She reached into the cupboard for the mug, pulling it down and pouring herself a cup. She’d stopped taking milk and sugar in her coffee long ago - just one of many things tossed away from her time in Vermont and college.

She leaned against the counter, blowing down into the mug for a few seconds before taking a sip. She looked up at him, studying him. So much of him was different - well, not different so much as the near present sight of injury she’d come to expect was gone - but so, so much of him was exactly the same. Grimacing against a larger gulp of coffee than intended, she let out a quiet sigh.

“I’m guessing if I try and walk out that door right now to go home, you’re not going to let me.”

He bit down on the inside of his cheek to keep from chuckling. “You’d be ankle-deep in that shit, but if you’re that determined, be my guest.”

It took about thirty seconds for her to drain the cup of coffee before she started slipping her shoes on. Did the walk home sound pleasant? Not at all. Did she want to be trapped in an apartment with him for two weeks once they could no longer reasonably argue against quarantining together? Absolutely not. Seeing him last night, waking up to him this morning, well. It had been hard enough on her. She didn’t know if she was capable of spending two weeks living as the choice he didn’t want to make.

“Y-- Ah, Jesus, Karen, don’t be ri-- think about it.” He set his coffee mug aside and rolled his eyes, starting towards her. “It’s freezing out there, alright, the snow is up to your ass. How far do you really think you’re gonna get in those shoes, huh?”

“Far enough.” He had enough of a point to give her pause, though. Another sigh escaped her lips and she stood there, shifting her weight. “You realize if I stay, we’re going to be stuck here together for two weeks, right? You really want that?” It took everything in her to ignore the part that was hoping he would say yes.

If we’re not stuck here for two weeks, already, Frank thought as he considered a response. The damn parameters for what was considered close contact or what prompted mandatory isolation had probably changed another five times since they’d gone to sleep. He drained his coffee mug and refilled it before managing an answer for the annoyed blonde in front of him.

“Seems like a better idea than you freezing to death or getting hit by some asshole who forgets how to drive in this shit.” It was a conscious effort to let her make the decision for herself.

Her fingers found her hair and she shook her head the tiniest bit as she considered. “You know what, why not?” came the exasperated response. She stepped back out of her heels, disbelieving even of herself. In what world had she just signed herself up for two weeks of torture? Apparently, this one.

“You’re going to have to learn to share your kitchen if I’m going to be here for two weeks.”

The visible battle to stop the smile tugging at the corner of his lips was lost, the evidence quickly hidden behind a coffee mug. Share his kitchen, huh? He couldn't remember the last time he had.

Right on cue, mid-morning memories of that day with his family flooded Frank's mind, springing free from their box. That Last Day. He thought he had thrown away the damn key. He gripped the coffee mug in his hands as, for a moment, he was transported to the kitchen in the home he'd turned to dust. The lazy sun of early April poured in through the window, bathing the edges of Maria's hair and skin in warmth. She was making breakfast. Frank Jr. was pestering his sister, begging her to teach him another of the nonsensical rhymes, swapping their juice cups when she wasn't looking. The earthy, bright smell of coffee wafted through the air. Frank had reached for the loaf of bread, intent on helping his wife. He remembered laughing, shaking his head as she lightly slapped his hand away with the spatula, oily from cooking eggs. She had flashed a breathtaking, mischievous smile that had nearly brought Frank to his knees. There was no sharing a kitchen with Maria Castle.

"We'll see about that," he breathed, as the memory dissolved. He found himself flexing his fingers, still feeling the rubber end of the utensil against them.

Karen was polite enough not to pry. A specific look told her better - the look that said his thoughts were no longer here with her for a moment, but years in the past when his family had still been alive. Hearing stories from that period of his life had always been few and far between, and it was something that had always come up naturally. Well, aside from the early days when she’d been crossing police lines and shoving stolen photographs in his face. Not her finest moments.

It was that look on his face once again that made the blonde want to reach out, to rest her hand against his arm in their old familiar comforts. Words had never been the way they communicated with each other, not really. Glances and the smallest of touches… she shook her head to clear it, taking a deep breath and nodding. Even after two years, she knew when he was deflecting, and she knew when to let it go.

#Kastle #frank castle #Karen Page #punisher #the punisher

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dramioneasks · 4 years

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hi, i love your blog! do you know of any harry survives but voldemort wins fics? i’ve read a lot of the voldemort wins tag and usually harry is dead and hermione has been given to draco, hoping to find something where harry(and the rest of the order) have survived but gone into hiding, thank you!

There are many fics on the tag where he is alive:

The Last Dream - motherofbulls -M, WIP - The Dark Lord has built a new world where Draco’s place is contingent upon him keeping his heart a secret. From afar he watches the only girl he ever loved as she builds a life with another. But it’s all worth it if he can keep her safe. Sometimes the greatest type of love is also the most painful.

Tender Vengeance by Margot_le_Faye - E, WIP - When a group of polyjuiced Death Eaters capture Ginny and Hermione, Voldemort decides to use a bit of archaic magic to turn the Muggle-born into a prize for one of his faithful. WARNING: Ginny is 16, the legal age of consent in the UK, at least at the time this fic was begun. I chose not to use the underage archive warning because I think that would give a distorted idea of what this fic is about and how it will present things. YMMV.

The Banality of Love - sandwich_tales - M, WIP - “The essence of totalitarian government, and perhaps the nature of every bureaucracy, is to make functionaries and mere cogs in the administrative machinery out of men, and thus to dehumanize them.“ After Voldemort wins over Wizarding Britain, Hermione emerges from hiding to undertake a dangerous mission for the now-decimated Order. Using a modified Polyjuice Potion, she adopts a new identity and begins working undercover at the Ministry of Magic, alongside Draco Malfoy.

To Begin Again By: RZZMG - M, WIP - Hermione Granger & Draco Malfoy lead a ragtag group of rebels against Lord Mort - Voldemort’s new, stronger incarnation. Features Vampires, Veela, Werewolves, Dementors, Ghosts, Poltergeists, Succubi, Naga, Ancient Spells, Animal Transfiguration/Animagi, Deathly Hallows, War Violence. Post-Hogwarts A/U. Draco/Hermione, Blaise/Pansy, Neville/Penelope, Jeremy/Willemu, Snape, Theo, Viktor, Harry, etc.

Live Again By: Sophie733 - T, 41 chapters - COMPLETE: The war raged 3 years before it was lost. As the only survivor of the light, Hermione casts a spell that takes her back in time. The cost will be heavy as the spell changes events, forcing a friendship to form between enemies. (Eventual)Pairing: Hermione/Draco, (Eventual)Side Pairing: Harry/Luna, T for violence,some language and suggestive content. Edited&Reposted 10/3/17

The Tower Window By: XoDramaQueenoX - M, 30 chapters - We all know the story. Harry Potter vanquishes the Dark Lord and the battle of Hogwarts is won. But the untold wrinkle is this: The Death Eaters didn’t quit and the war continued. After untold losses the Order of the Phoenix is almost gone. To save the wizarding world, Hermione takes it on herself to invoke a dangerous mission. She gives herself, as prisoner, to Draco Malfoy.

Title: Daylight Through Darkness Author: Aerinn Gwen Rating: M/R Genre(s): Adventure Chapters: 26 Word Count: 109,962 Summary: Voldemort was dead and everything was right in the world. But things aren’t always as they seem. See, the past has a cruel way of catching up with the present, and Draco and Hermione find themselves thrown head first, smack in the middle of it. Everything they thought they knew was going to change, and in a world they don’t belong in, they can only depend on each other.

- Lisa

#voldemort wins #harry #Anonymous

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reversemoon255 · 3 years

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Digimon Adventure:

Honestly, when this series was announced, I wasn’t looking forward to it. While the final product always varies, I’m not a big fan of the concept of reboots, especially in shows like Digimon that live off refreshing themselves every season. Yes, we’ve had continuations of specific continuities a few times, but never a redo of an existing story. I understand it was likely due to ratings, but I’d rather they do a new team in the existing Adventure universe than go back and do the story again.

But, thankfully, I did enjoy it. It had its lows, but a lot of highs, too. I feel like the overall product on an episode-to-episode basis was superior to the original. That’s not to discount the original, as the overall plots there are stronger, and we get character backstories that, while they carry over, are only fleshed out in the original.

The Good: As I said, episode-to-episode, this show is really good, and definitely has the best filler episodes in Digimon so far. While it pops up here and there, there’s a lot less stock footage used in comparison to the previous seasons, and apart from Agumon and Gabumon’s evolution sequences are very short. It also has the best non-movie animation in the show’s run. Fight scenes are no longer stock footage finishers being thrown at each other; there’s actual impact and interaction between Digimon, and a lot less standing around with lip flaps. The battle against Millenniumon in particular was outstanding to watch, and many of the scenes during the fight against Abbadomon were great as well.

Diving into more detail, I like that Taichi was used as a framing character for most episodes. This is a cast of 16 main characters, even if the Digimon don’t get a lot of development, and having a central character, as well as the show’s decision to slowly introduce everyone rather than all at once, makes things easier to digest.

I had heard some complaints early on about how early Omegamon showed up, but when hearing from people who were watching Digimon for the first time it was an exciting mystery and pull to continue watching. And I have to agree with the decision. While I too felt it was a little early, I also thought he was well utilized, and if he helped bring in more fans, then I have to applaud the idea.

While the basic characterizations and backstories are still there, everyone’s personalities have changed ever so slightly. Taichi is less childish than before, Yamato is a better representation of friendship than the original (IMO), Sora lacks a lot of her baggage, Izumi has some self-esteem issues, Mimi is a lot more caring, Joe more confident, Takeru more competent, and Hikari… well, Hikari feels like she’s written as if she’s on the spectrum (which isn’t a bad thing, as it felt somewhat competently done, if maybe a bit subtle and less obvious as the series continued). I actually prefer some of this show’s versions of the characters to their counterparts. Mimi in particular is a far better and more interesting character, and I think the writers thought that too, as she got some of the best solo episodes.

The Bad: While individual episodes are typically good, Adventure: does drag when it comes to overarching plots. It takes them twice as long as the original to fight Devimon, but he isn’t nearly as built up or developed a character until over 10 episodes after they defeated him. Then there’s Millenniummon, who is talked about a lot, but has no personality and is just a force of nature. Granted he has the best fight scene in the series, but that only goes so far. And Negamon is done slightly better? But is pushed aside when it comes to everyone’s individual final character episodes.

A similar issue is that the opening chunk of episodes feel very formulaic. Introduce a new character and have their partner evolve to Adult, then it’s the same with Perfect. Part of this may be because there was a push to get to WarGreymon for promotional purposes, and the several week delay caused by Covid meant they had to get to it sooner to meet deadlines. This show hits its stride after WarGreymon, but it’s more hit-or-miss before he shows up.

While Characters like Mimi became better during the Reboot, characters like Izumi suffered a little, and Sora suffered a lot. It’s heavily hinted that all the character backstories and parent relationships are the same, but they don’t utilize them or bring them up more than once apart from with Takeru. And since Sora’s character development was heavily related to her mom, and her mom was omitted from the series, her development is extremely basic in comparison to the original. Izumi does grow in confidence over the series, but also loses his relationship with his parents and learning that he was adopted. The show weirdly feels like a sequel to the original in this way. There are a few things in addition to parents that carry over from the original, like the crests, that aren’t delved into here, but are hinted at being the same.

Another noticeable change in the characters is that everyone acts quite a bit older than they actually are. Joe is the oldest at 5th Grade, and Takeru and Hikari are, like, 6.The bizarre level or understanding and clear-headed-ness displayed by these children in some of these situations is above what they should probably be capable of, at least near the beginnings of the show. Most of the seasons where the characters are younger do a good job of somewhat realistically portraying their ages, but this season forgoes that. Not a deal breaker, but I would have liked to have seen act their ages a bit more.

Ghost Game: I’m very excited for Ghost Game. Even with the very little I’ve seen of it, it has several things that I’ve enjoyed in previous seasons, like taking place in the real world (something lacking from this season), a smaller cast, and new Digimon. It’s also doing a few new things that have me curious. While having a female Tamer and male Digimon isn’t too uncommon, Angoramon is a more Typically masculine Digimon than we normally see as a partner in these situations, and this is the first time to my recollection that we’ve gotten a male Tamer with a femanine Digimon. Also, Gammamon is the first MC partner Digimon that isn’t a primary color (yellow, blue, or red), which seems to be going around lately (as Zenkaiser and Cure Summer are both white team leaders usually filled by red or pink characters). There’s just a lot of things about the team comp that stand out compared to everything that’s come before if you give it a second glance.

Overall, I enjoyed this season, which I wasn’t sure I would going in. The first half of the show has a few misses, but plenty of hits, and they only increase in number as the show continues. It can easily be viewed if you’re new to Digimon, but there’re also some things you might only pick up if you’ve seen the original. There are also plenty of good individual episodes if you like the original and just want to spend a little more time with these characters.

#Digimon #Digimon Adventure #Digimon Adventure 2020 #Reboot #Review

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dew-itowo · 4 years

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As The World Caves In part 4

Cody; It’s been and honor... Sir...

The alcohol stung the back of Cody's raw throat. From screaming his pain away. Screaming at you because you didn't understand how much Rex had meant to him. He sat there, drinking, smoking, doing anything other than thinking about his dead batcher, and failing. Smoke rolled off his lips like the thunder that threatened rain off in the distance of his office. Of course, he was destroyed over Rex's death. He and Rex had practically adopted you when they met you. Not taking your hurt into account he selfishly, drunkenly, took his out on you like some abusive father. But never laying a hand on you. He fumbled with the medallion you'd gifted him after his promotion to Commander.

"What's that Ad'ika?" The commander said, scooping you up from where you stood. Only a little girl at the time. Maybe Ahsoka's age. Maybe younger. Giggling and squirming in his arms you tried to hide the present.

"Nothing Kote. Just uuuh, a thing." You lied wonderfully. Cody smiled brightly as Rex jogged up the hill to where they stood. His riduur looking like he'd just run the mile four times.

"Force you're a fast little shit, you know that right?" Rex panted as you buried your face into Cody's chest plate, smiling like the it was Life day and you just got the best present. "FYI they'll leave you in their dust Codes." Cody laughed, throaty, deep, and beautiful. It always made you feel better hearing that man's laugh. Rex moved forward resting his hand on your shoulder as he kissed Cody's cheek. "How's my Marshal Commander?" The captain cooed lightly. Cody smiled brightly.

"I'm better than I'll ever be with you two." Gods wasn't that the truth~

The height wasn't too far up from where he stood. Maybe 50 meters up. The whiskey burned sliding down his throat again. Thinking of you. Thinking of everything you gave him and Rex. It hurt to do this to you, but he couldn't take living with his husband. Afterall the war was ending and now clones would be needed after the fact. It was entirely selfish to believe that he might save you from more hurt by jumping now, when Obi-wan his best friend and your master was to be coming around tomorrow morning with reports. He'd most likely have you with him. Another chug of the whiskey made his groan. If it wasn't jumping that'd kill him, it'd be the alcohol poisoning.

"Cody? Do you like being a clone?" You asked one evening while nestled between an exhausted Rex and Cody. The latter being fast asleep while he held you close to him. Cody looked away from his datapad with a thoughtful look.

"What do you mean by that Ad?" He asked, combing his hand through your hair. You leaned into his touch looking down slightly, away from his eyes. "Do I like being a clone, as in do I enjoy being a soldier?" You nod slowly. "Well of course I like being a clone. Hell if I wasn't I would have you or Rex or Obi-wan. Yes I hate watching my Vod leave me, but it's a natural thing, and we we're all born to die. Clone or not." He admitted, leaning his cheek on your head. "How could I not love being a clone when I have everything and more right now."

You smile feeling him kiss your forehead. Your eyes growing heavy with each passing second. "I love you dad." You slurred already half asleep, unaware of what you just said to him. Cody blinked for a moment before answering.

"I love you more than anything Ad'ika."

"Promise?"

"Cross my heart."

His com chirped with another message from you. Surely you were petrified thinking this was all your fault. It hurt Cody to think about it. But you are a strong kid, you'll move on. Eventually at least. He was afraid of hurting you any further. He was afraid of you hating him for what he was deciding to pull. Rex would kick his ass into next week if he caught him doing this. Even as a kriffing ghost he might shove his foot up his ass. The thought drew out a small laugh from Cody thinking about how funny Rex was.

They were pinned down by droids. All sides as you sat there trying to come up with a plan. Anakin sitting with you spewing out idea with Ahsoka. When Rex spoke up. "Hey, Let's do get help." He grinned at Cody.

"What?"

"Get help." Rex repeated smiling more. Cody frowned.

"No~" Cody breathed, thinking about what happened when they did it last time.

"Come on you love it." Rex chuckled. Cody looked at the ground trying not to meet anyone's gaze. Because Get help was not something you did in front of your general's.

"I hate it."

"It's great, It works every time."

"it's humiliating."

"Do you have a better idea?" Rex asked, knowing fully that he'd won. Cody sighed in defeat.

"No." He admitted. Rex smiles.

"We're doing it." The captain smiled.

"We are not doing Get help." Cody affirmed one last time. At least trying to sound like he wasn't going to anyway.

The doors hiss open as Cody hung onto Rex's shoulder. Rex acting panicked he held onto Cody's arm. "GET HELP! PLEASE! MY BROTHER IS DYING!" Cody rolled his eyes internally as he played dead. Stumbling along with Rex's steps. The battle droids all confused by what was going on. "Get Help! Help Him!!" Rex yelled as he threw Cody at the line of droids. Bowling them over as Rex pulling out his twin DCS add mowed down the rest around Cody who laid on top of the pile of droids he was just thrown at. You and the rest of the men enter the room. You ran over to Cody asking if he was okay frantically. Rex chuckles putting his blasters away. "Oh he's just pouting because I threw him like a bowling bowl." Cody grumbles a death threat as he gets up. Rex laughs. "Oh hush, you could never kill me. I'll kill you first Cyar'ika."

Cody choked on a broken sob as the last of the memory echoed in his mind, "I'll kill you first Cyar'ika." the whiskey tasted like veno on his tongue. his com chirping with panicked messages from you now. Maybe others. He could hear Obi-wan's ring playing along with yours. He must be worried now. All he wanted was to lay down and die in peace, but he couldn't do that with you panicking and worrying about him. It sounded horrible, but what world is there to live in when he's lost what he loves must. Along with hurting you.

"Go Away!" He yelled throwing his empty whiskey bottle at the com. Instead of shutting it up, it hit the call button. Great, just what he needs right now. Human interaction.

"Commander?" A familiar voice said over the com. They sounded half asleep whoever they were. "Commander are you alright?" He said sounding an awful lot like Kix. Oh not good. Kix was a kriffing bloodhound when sniffing out hurt vod. Especially emotionally hurt one. "Cody, you there vod? Are you ok?" Sounding fully awake now the clone could be heard moving around, with another asking what was going on in the background, possibly being woken up by the movement and talking. "Cody?" Cody wasn't there, physically maybe but not mentally or emotionally. He didn't want to ask for help, though he knew he deeply needed it. He wasn't that kind of person to ask another for comfort. He'd always had Rex to just give it to him when he noticed the signs. He could tell Kix was getting worried now. "Cody are you there, is everything okay? Are you hurt?" Hurt is metaphorical. Pain is rhetorical. and self loathing is literal. So which was it?

"Can you tell them I'm sorry... I didn't mean to take it out on them. They never deserved my anger. Please tell them I'm sorry." Kix knew what was going on now. Quickly he could be heard jumped out of his bunk and his feet hitting the floor hard.

"Cody stay on the line. Just keep talking to me." Kix spoke in his medic voice, sweet like sugar followed with a great sabbac face. He knew Kix was panicking now. He didn't have far to run, they were all in the same barracks. But the offices where high over them. "Cody you there Vod?"

"Kix, it's okay I'm fine." He lied, looking over the railing of the small balcony that every office had. Officers offices also had a living quarters if they hose to stay there, which Cody had since he and Rex wanted a private place for themselves.

"Where are you right now." Kix breathed hard, he must be running. "Cody keep talking to me, tell me whats going on."

"I miss him... So much..."

"I know, I know you miss him. But It's going to be okay listen to me. I promise it's going to be okay." Kix was in the lift now, he could hear the doors closing. But the pocket knife was already in his hand. He didn't want to be saved. But he also didn't want to hurt anymore.

"Kix tell them that they mean the world to me. And that I'm sorry." Cody choked out at the blade touched his underarm. The thin layer of skin protecting his veins and artery being pressed in. He could feel Kix's panic now. He knew he was scaring the poor medic, but this needed to be said. "I don't want them to know what I did so I want you to tell them I went in my sleep." The blood started to bead up now, pressing harder the blade cut deeper into his wrist. It didn't hurt much since he wasn't sober or in his right mind at all.

"Cody listen to yourself vod, do you hear what your saying?" But Cody didn't care what he heard. He knew Kix well, and also knew he wouldn't stop trying to save a goner until they died in his embrace. A small whimper escaped Cody. "Cody I'm in your corridor. You better be there when I bust down your door."

"Or what." He dare challenge the medic now. Blood dripping continuously from his wrist, deep slices bleeding heavily. he'd felt the pinch when he cut to deep, he knew he wasn't going to survive this. "Are you going to decommission me?"

"I sure your trying to decommission yourself as we speak, but no, I'm going to help you." The lock on his door unlocked as Kix keyed in his code. "It's going to be alright Cody."

"Nothing's going to anything sooner or later Kix."

"Don't give up on me."

"I give up a long time ago, I just had my husband to keep me from offing myself." He growled through welling tears, he hated crying. It pissed him off. But only when he was one doing it.

"Is that it, was that all Rex was to you?" Kix yelled now as the door hissed open. He then saw the mess the office was, holes in the walls from punching them, empty bottles of liquor everywhere, and Cody sitting on the balcony stabbing his arms as his mask cracked entirely. Kix ran towards him, realising his med kit wouldn't help this at all. "Cody no, stop, now!" He shouted grabbed the Commander by his untouched wrist and twisting in sharply to make him drop the pocket knife. A broken sob exited the commander's mouth as the knife fell to the ground. Landing in the messy pool of Cody's blood. "No, You di'kut!" Cody felt very light headed. Dizzy too.

"I told you I'm sorry. Please don't be mad with me." He sobbed, Kix cupped his cheeks holding him up when his legs gave out.

"No vod, no I'm not mad at you. You okay, your going to be okay." He chanted as he dead gifted Cody off the ground. He'd never seen Cody this broken before. It hurt him.

All of Cody's words became gibberish soon after that, just holding onto Kix as he carried him to the med bay. He felt so pathetic as brothers from his battalion and the 501st stared in shock. Watching the as his blood left a trail on the white permacrete. They knew a goner when they saw one.

Cody watched the brothers as he passed by, his eyes becoming very heavy suddenly as Kix chanted stay with me closer to his ear. He could only imagine it being Rex's voice. Maybe that'd help to stay. Why did he want to say though? Why was he listening again?

He could see the white walls of the medbay now. Sick brothers watching as the commander is carried by their medic, his blood staining the white tile as they passed by. Kix's talking became hard to hear the closer they got to where ever they were going. All Cody thought about was You and Rex.

Rex laid with you in his arms, you slept peacefully as both of them watched the night shift in morning. Dreaming about the stars and what they meant.

Cody was laying on a cot now, and you were next to him. Why were you there? When did you get there? Words seemed to jumble up inside his head. Breathing became harder as he heard you say his name.

"Amazing grace, how sweet the sound. The save a wretch like me." They sang as the shots fired for him. He watched as they folded his flag. The Coruscant emblem with the GAR emblem in the right corner. Cody held you close as you sang. Rex had always loved it when you sang. He must love it now, Cody thought as a sneaky tear rolled sown his cheek. Gods he must be laughing right now, watching grown men cry over him. Hell he must be having a blast. It made Cody smile thinking about it.

He smiled as a tear dripped down his cheek. Holding your hand in his good one the words suddenly starting to make sense. "I'm so sorry for what I did, I didn't meant to make you mad. Please Cody don't you leave me too. I'm afraid of being alone." You sobbed holding his hand.

"But you're not alone, yeah I may be leaving you. But my caring will always stay for you, as will so many others. I should yelled at you. It wasn't your fault, never had been. I was just so mad. I'm sure you could understand." He whispers to you. "Be to honest, I'm scared to be alone too."

"Then why leave me?" You sob.

“When someone leaves your life, those exits are not made equal. Some are beautiful and poetic and satisfying. Others are abrupt and unfair. But most are just unremarkable, unintentional, clumsy.” He breathes out, feeling his eyes grow heavy. "But as long as you remember them, you'll never be alone." His smile was bright as he cupped your cheek softly. You leaned into his touch. "I was an honor... Sir..." He slurred as he finally let go.

#cody x rex #sad #sw

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alolanrain · 4 years

Text

Found Family!AU *Christmas Edition* Pt.2

Imagine Opal dealing with Madam Boss and bby Giovanni

Gio learns all his baking skills from his Aunt Opal

But his mother hated her sister with a passion

So he doesn’t see her often

When Madam Boss dies, it’s a bloody gory mess, he’s the first one to call her

“I have a son.” Is his hello, because I’m not making Giovanni and utter asshole in this AU he’s going to love Ash from a distance and actually steps down from Team Rocket the first time Ash stops him

And Opal is like, “P l e a s e let it be with that Female Kanto Trainer you brought to Galar that one Christmas, she’s such a sweet heart.”

And Opal finds out it is!!!

She puts her foot down on choosing the name bc Giovanni is fucking HORRIBLE with names and Delia was so tired and stressed a lot during the pregnancy to the point she couldn’t get a lot of shit down for the baby’s

Ash forces reluctant Grunkle Kabu to come to Alola for a week to meet up with extremely reluctant Grunkle Nanu

NANU AND KABU ARE EX-BOYFRIENDS

And Ash doesn’t even KNOW

Acerola kinda knows bc there’s this one picture her Uncle Nanu has at his desk at the police station next to a frame of her parents, him, and Acerola as a baby

She never commented on it and catches Nanu either looking at it with such a warm smile or either a really pained look in his eyes

it was a friendly split up

Both got to busy

And just had to let go

But it still hurt them a lot

ALLISTER AND ACEROLA ARE GHOST BESTIES

No but I’m expanding on the relationship of Bby! Ash and Gary with the older Head Chairman, who I’m naming Diego Thorn, and Younger!Rose, and finally Younger!Kabu

I’m hc that the Chairman BEFORE Chairman Thorn was named Theo Grass

So it’s kinda like earth, grass, thorn, then rose

Because it’s the pretty things in life that are truly poisonous

grumpy Grunkles are getting back together with the help of Ash, Gary, and the Ghost baby’s

the only reason why Kabu is considered a Grunkle is because both Ash and Gary seemed to have fucking LOVED him so much and he fathered Delia a lot since her own family was shit

So he’s the honorary Grunkle while Nanu IS Ash’s Grunkle bc yes tf Nanu is Giovanni’s Uncle but he’s really distant so he never actually found out Ash was his great Nephew until Ash at the age of 20-something came stumbling into his police station with wide whisky brown eyes and shocking black hair and a jaw line that seemed to familiar that Nanu could never forget

Chairman Thorn ALWAYS Came down from his work place, dragging Rose and his own assistant/secretary, Milly, to see bby Ash and Gary bc he’s a really big family man and the two boys absolutely adore him as much as Thorn adored them

And Delia was so afraid at first that Opal would nearly be/ or just plain be the same as Madam Boss and hurt the poor girl but it’s quite the opposite

Opal spoiled her SO HARD, she was the one to make sure that Delia and Gio had everything they could need for Bby Ash’s arrival and afterwards

And both women found out that they share a deep love for winter in general

So they start small traditions that they then pass down to Ash and Gary, because the Oaks get sucked into this bc Professor Oak can’t say no and Daisy loves Delia like the mom she barely remembers

And Opal is just like “Yes more great grand babies.”

And she was there for Delia when Giovanni left Ash and Delia, yes she was absolutely ROYALY pissed at her Nephew, but she also knew why Gio did what he did

Because he did the best thing to protect her, Ash, and by extent the Oaks as well

Because he fathered Gary and Daisy as much as Delia mothered them

But it because a tradition to bring the kids up to Galar to see Graunty Opal and Grunkle Kabu and spend the second week of December all the way to a week after New Years there

So like almost a whole month of family lovin’ time

BUT IMAGINE BBY ASH WADDLING INTO THE GYM FEILD AND CLINGING ONTO OPAL WHOS TALKING TO LEON/RAIHAN/OR BOTH BEFORE THEIR GYM BATTLE

AND SHE NEEDS TO GRAB SOMTHING BUT ASH IS CLINGING ONTO HER LEG SO OPAL JUST S C O O P S HIM UP AND HANDS HIM OVER TO THE TRAINER(S) AND IS LIKE “brb gotta go get some stuff before hand” AND JUST L E A V E S THEM THERE WITH BBY ASH WHO HAS JUST STARTED ASKING QUESTIONS AND HAS FALLEN SO HARD IN LOVE WITH POKÉMON

Raihan would just inwardly panic bc he’s never been good with baby’s before

But damn OH DAMN does Leon start bouncing Ash up and down while trying his best to answer Ash’s questions because he absolutely ADORES children at Ash’s age and wants to get better bc his mom and dad are thinking about having another kid and he wants to be the BEST big brother that he can be

Then Gary waddles over bc he couldn’t find Ash and Gary’s suppose to stick by Ash’s side to make sure the younger boy doesn’t get hurt

Raihan would start to panic even more bc there’s TWO babies now

But Leon would be ecstatic because there’s T W O BABIES NOW

HHH SO THEN COUSIN LEON BECOMES A THING

BUT ITS A SHORT THING BC ASH HAS TK GO BACK HOME AND HE DOESNT SEE LEON ANYMORE

but then he comes back with Gou in tow and the first part of the HC happens and then he sees Leon again

And everyone just watches Leon gush’s about how Ash and Gary were so cute as toddlers and then Ash recalls and just screams “COUSIN L!!!!” Because as a Bby he couldn’t pronounce Leon’s full name

And Hop is like “w h a t”

BUT ALSO IMAGINE NEWLY GRANTED GYM LEADER PIERS BEING BROUGHT OVER TO OPALS HOUSE FOR CHRISTMAS AND NEW YEARS BECAUSE HIS FAMILY IS S H I T AND HE MEETS ASH AND GARY

DELIA KINDA SUBCONSCIOUSLY BECOMES A MOM TO PEIRS DURING THAG MONTH AND ASH IS LIKE

“Y A S ANOTHER SIBLING!!!!!”

And then Piers gets abducted every year until Delia and Ash stop showing up bc their busy with work/traveling

Until, again, Ash comes back with Gou in tow and Gary gets guilted to come up to Galar

And he sees Piers and just gives the man a cheeky smile and then sees Marnie kinda hiding behind Piers and thinks “Ah yes, new sibling #5,437”

And Marnie latches on faster to Ash than Piers has seen her ever do to anyone else bc she’s been grown up on the wild things Ash would get Piers and another boy into before he stopped coming back to Galar every winter

Bede also gains Brotherly Love bc his family kicked him out for being trans and Ash was having NONE OF THAT bc he’s trans himself

I’m thinking about having Ash and Gary together since this AU is kinda like my AM!AU but not really

Still debating on that

But no My favorite part has to be the competition between all the League officials, except Rose bc he’s an asshole, to get the best seasonal themed picture/video with the trio bc OF COURSE Gou is immediately adopted into the family and becomes Ash’s little sibling

Even people like Allister and Bae get into it

Like there’s a picture Melony took for Allister that had Ash lofting the boy up so he could place the star on the small Christmas tree at their gym lobby with Gou and Gary helping to place other decorations on it

Or Bae’s selfie of the Trio with her together with a snowman that looks like a certain Galar Champion, stolen cape and all

Gou fears for a while that they were all just being awkwardly nice about it until Kabu find them out at night behind Opals mansion they were staying at and gently nudges the truth towards them that they actually LIKE having Gou with them and participating with their family shenanigans and other shit and that they ARE family now because do you honestly think Delia is going to let go of you know? Because she sure as hell hasn’t let go of Kahuna Nanu in Alola

God when Ash brings all his friends who don’t have Good Families over it becomes even more Chaotic

Opals like “WHAT DO YOU M E A N YOU NEVER BAKED COOKIES UNTIL THREE IN THE MORNING?????”

And Lillie and Melony talk about ice types over a cup of hot coco why Allister, Bae, and a shit ton of other people are loosing their mind over Silvally because it can change TYPING W T F GLADION

and Ash is like “oh it’s Silvally!” And Gary would be intrigued but Ash literally shares EVERYTHING with him so he can meet the Pokémon another time when Gladion isn’t so bombarded by people bc the blonde was so used to people in Alola who are used to seeing Silvally that he forgot Alola is definitely not like everywhere else

Hhh Serena, May, Dawn, Zoey, and a bunch of other girls talking with Opal, Oleana, and other female League members about fashion and the younger girls find out that the Women watch their performances religiously bc Ash flippantly said something and that got them interested now they can’t stop watch them

IRIS AND RAIHAN DUKING IT OUT ON THE BATTLE FEILD BC IRIS SAID HER DEAGONITE IS STRONGER AND BETTER THAN RAIHANS FLYGON AND HES LIKE “B E T YOU TINER FUCKER!!!!”

RAIHAN DUKING IT OUT WITH DRAYDEN, because he’s still cousins with Delia in this AU, AND W I N N I N G

So it’s canon, from the new Pokémon game app, that Iris is Leon and Hops cousin

So now Leon just rounds on Ash and is so confused bc Iris talked about this one boy name Ash with a Pikachu who acts like such a kid over face time but Leon didn’t make the connection it was THIS Ash she was traveling with

Hhh snuggle piles in the living room after a fun day outside building forts and what not

Like Ash is dead center in the kids pile bc he’s a kid at heart and Gary’s legs are thrown over his shoulder a bc Ash is in a blanket fort/nest with the other younger kids while Gary is pressed between Delia and Daisy

Opal is curled with Serena bc she’s currently getting deets in the fairy world in Kalos

PROFESSOR OAK TALKING TO MELONY ABOUT ICE TYPES BC HE USED TO BE AN ICE TYPE TRAINER BEFORE COMING KANTOS PROFESSOR

All the younger trainers are so focused on the movies as the adults just talk quietly in the background

And Gou is laying over Ash’s lap while on their phone and Ash doesn’t say anything even though his legs are falling asleep

Idk I’m gonna have Lance as Delia’s brother in this AU

But that doe NOT stop him from acting like Ash’s uncle because Ash ripped Lances two titles out from under him in three years

Leon has been Champion for 20-something years instead of the in game 10 Years

So that it could be plausible that Trainer!Leon and Bby!Ash/Gary could meet each other

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somedayonbroadway · 4 years

Note

*spits out coffee* first of all, wow the avengers thing and the car chase thing were a m a z i n g, second, i’m intrigued by tony stark jack and spider-man race uwu

Thank you so much! I am really excited about this one! I hope you all like it!

TW Suicidal thoughts, violence, murder, child abuse, and much angst!

Read more below!

OKAY SO

In this AU, Tyler James Higgins, or Race, as he’s more affectionately known by some of his social workers, is Spiderman. When he was born, his parents gave him up for adoption. He grew up in the system, running away from several homes, eventually being taken in by a Mr. Kloppman when he was about thirteen. Kloppman introduces Race to pop culture, old movies and shows that Race loves so much. Kloppman takes a liking to him and tells Race he is going to adopt him. A couple weeks before the paperwork can be finalized, Kloppman is shot and killed in a home invasion. Race is in the house when it happens. He gets locked in a closet by the man who saved his life, only to break out and hold his foster father in his arms as he dies.

Race is placed in another home. A home with a man named Wiesel. Obadiah Wiesel.

Suffice to say that Race spends as little time in the house as he can when he’s fourteen. Weasel was never kind to him. Not from day one when he didn’t so much as give Race dinner.

There are two other boys who live there. Oscar and Morris. Brothers who take what they can get and tear down whoever gets in their way. Race included. They are both older than him and bigger than him.

Race sleeps in the streets sometimes. He often finds odd ways to roam around the city with his only friend, Albert DaSilva who he meets at school the first day he goes after moving in with Weasel.

One night he’s out alone. And he’s just done. Weasel had done it all again. He’d made Race feel inferior, like he was nothing.

Like Kloppman’s death was his fault.

The kid has nothing but a can of spray paint on him as he’s walking through alleys towards the Brooklyn Bridge.

The boy is smart. Very smart. Kloppman had called him a genius when he’d been alive. Race loves science, math and history. He loves to learn new things and he has an unhealthy obsession with science fiction and anything related to it.

He loves the superheroes he grew up hearing stories about. Especially the famous Iron Man. A hero that surfaced when Race was only twelve. Jack Kelly. A prodigy, genius, billionaire kid who was named Iron Man when he was only twenty two.

On this particular night, Race is just walking, intending on spraying some kind of note on the side of a building. A note of what, he isn’t sure. Maybe someone will find it someday. Someone will care.

He goes stops at an alleyway. It looks like it’s near a lab of some kind. And he freezes. He has nothing to say.

Maybe it’ll be better if he just disappears. He goes to walk away, never to be heard from again when he feels a pinch on his back.

He reaches back to figure out what it was, coming back with a spider crawling on his finger. He gasps and throws it to the ground, stepping on it and killing it immediately.

But he feels a little different.

He thinks maybe the spider is poisonous. Then, as he continues walking, he finds he’s not dying. His senses are heightened, his reflexes are ridiculously fast and he sticks to surfaces without trying to.

He initially tries to figure out what happened to him but then comes to embrace it, thinking about helping people like Mr. Kloppman who didn’t deserve what happened to him.

The man who killed Kloppman was never caught. Race wants to make it ultimate goal to kill the man, at first. But as he embraces his new self, he tries to change his mind, determined to help people rather than focus his energy on hurting the bad guys.

Anyways, he makes his own suit, his own web shooters.

Oscar and Morris know something’s up. Race always manages to get out of beatings, to get food, to not drop things like he used to all the time. But they can never prove anything.

CIVIL WAR

One day, when Race has to actually go home after school, per Weasel’s orders, he finds a really fancy looking car outside the apartment building. He never expected to find the one and only Jack Kelly sitting on Weasel’s couch with a cup of crappy coffee in his hands that he was absolutely not enjoying. Weasel was trying to be friendly to him, making small talk and even trying to discreetly clean up around the filthy apartment.

Race freezes. He has no idea what to do. But Jack’s fake smile turns into a grin when he sees the kid there. And Race almost runs away before Weasel asks him very pointedly why Race didn’t tell him he applied to be an intern at Kelly Industries. And Race doesn’t have an answer. So, Jack asks if he can talk to Race in private. Race takes Jack back into one of the only two bedrooms in the apartment. Oscar and Morris pretend to be friendly to Race on their way out.

Jack can see him flinching the whole time.

Race tries to explain to Jack that there must be some kind of mistake, but Jack brings his arm up. He’s wearing a piece of his suit. He shows Race a video. A video Race is in.

Spiderman.

Jack asks him if it’s him. Race tries to deny it. He says no. Spiderman has to be at least twenty five. Jack says he’s probably right and then reaches up towards the vent in the ceiling, pulling it down and revealing Race’s homemade suit that Race immediately grabs and tries to hide.

Jack laughs and asks him again. And Race says yes. He sees Race’s small collection of computers and asks where he got them. Race admits he and his best friend found them in the garbage and were fixing them up. Jack approves. He asks who else knows that he’s the Spiderman and Race says no one. Jack asks him if he has a passport and Race gets a little nervous.

He insists that he can’t just leave. He has school and tests and--

Jack stops him right there.

“Ya got a foster dad who puts on a show for rich visitors, two foster brothers who don’t give a damn whether ya come or go, teachers who don’t notice the bruises or the way you’re practically begging for a real meal everyday when you go to school. But now? Now ya got a gift. Ya got a big brain in that head a’ yours n’ ya got an opportunity ta help out someone who happens ta have a lot of money n’ a lot of computers to play with.”

Race can’t argue with that. And Jack takes Race to Berlin.

Jack takes a liking to Race. The kid is nervous around him. Jack gets him on a private jet and Race is almost terrified to move around him, however with his right hand man, Specs, Race seems to be completely comfortable. He’s still an energetic kid, which Jack learns he hides from Weasel because if he talks too much, Weasel hits him. But with Jack and Specs, Race opens up quick.

In Berlin, Race learns he is needed to help Jack talk some sense into Captain America, a man Jack calls “Davey.” Jack makes Race a new suit. Race almost cries when he sees it. He doesn’t get many gifts.

Jack walks him through what will happen, tells him to keep his distance and lay low.

Race goes into battle against Davey. He steals the famous shield and Davey goes easy on him, his intentions good. He stops Race as gently as he could, for a kid with super strength.

Jack sees Race continuing to put up a fight, eventually being thrown far and getting the wind knocked out of him. The only way he can stop Race from getting back up to fight is by threatening to tell Weasel who he was.

He apologizes for it so much later. Race won’t admit it. He won’t admit that he’s Weasel’s favorite punching bag.

After this whole ordeal, Jack takes Race back to Harlem, where he lives with Weasel. He offers to let Race stay in his guest house. But Race turns him down, telling Jack that he’s still available whenever Jack needs him.

HOMECOMING

Only a couple weeks later, Race is back into his rhythm, going to school and then being the friendly neighborhood spiderman afterwards. He loves helping people with any problem they might have. He eventually accidentally outs himself to Albert who does become his “guy in the chair.”

Race constantly calls up Specs, wanting to work with Jack again only for Specs to constantly ghost him. One day, Race stops a bank robbery where he discovers that these criminals have very powerful, very alien looking weapons and he barely makes it out.

Jack calls him, telling him not to engage again.

Race can’t listen. He’s getting bullied at school by his foster brothers, he avoids going home because Weasel has been getting more and more irritable lately. He doesn’t know what else to do with himself.

He follows these guys again, getting fought by a man with a winged suit. He almost drowns. Jack saves him. Well, Jack’s suit. Jack scolds Race from the other side of the world while also trying his best to convey his worry for the kid.

Race still doesn’t stop. He doesn’t know how.

Eventually, Race tracks down a weapons sale that happens to be happening on a boat. Long story short, the boat is eventually cut in half by one of the dangerous weapons. Jack, who had called Race before and heard him in trouble, showed up to help. He saves the ship and Race and takes Race back to his tower and Race accuses Jack of not caring because if he actually cared, he’d be there instead of sending a machine in his place.

That’s when Jack steps out of his suit.

He tells Race he needs the suit back and Race breaks. He begs Jack not to take it away from him, claiming that he’s nothing without the suit.

Jack says if he’s nothing without the suit, then he shouldn’t have it.

Jack buys Race some ridiculous clothes to wear and tries to take Race to Albert’s house. But Race doesn’t want to have to talk to Albert, so Jack takes him to Weasel’s.

Jack knows Weasel is going to hit him. And he very discreetly threatens him.

Weasel doesn’t hit Race that night. But that doesn’t make anyone feel better.

Race eventually figures out that the dealer of all these weapons is actually Weasel himself and ends up facing Weasel in his old, homemade suit.

Weasel nearly kills him.

Albert does what he can to help Race and ends up calling Specs who hangs up on him.

Race gets himself out of it all and gets Weasel arrested.

Jack tries to make him an avenger, but Race declines, telling him that he’s still just a kid and he’s still learning how to do all of this. And then he tells Jack that’s he’s being placed in another boy's home in Queens.

Jack intercepts this.

He and Katherine (his girlfriend) takes Race in.

Months go by. Race and Jack are as close as ever, even if Jack isn’t truly raising Race, his hired nanny is. Miss Medda. She is the one really taking care of him while Jack does his Iron Man thing.

(Someone breaks into Jack’s tower at some point and tries to take Race hostage. Someone remind me to write this)

Anyways,

Infinity War happens.

INFINITY WAR

Race is on a bus, on a field trip when it happens. He sees aliens attacking and he sneaks away to help Jack, meeting a Spot Conlon and a Myron along the way.

Jack tells him to go back, to get away when things get out of hand.

Race gets beamed up to the spaceship, Jack saves him when he starts to lose oxygen and gives him a new suit he’d been working on for him. He tells Race to go home to Katherine and Medda.

Race finds a way back on that ship.

Jack is angry when he finds out that Race did the exact opposite of what he was told. Race jokingly blames him. Jack argues with him, but eventually lets him help.

Jack and Race save Myron and Myron gets angry at them, telling them that if they’re going to take their fight straight to the bad guy, then he needs them to know that he would let both of them die to save the time stone that he had.

This upsets Jack. Race is just a kid.

But he makes Race an avenger.

The ship they’re on crashes. Race, who loves old movies, is quoting and making references to movies the whole time just before they are attacked by the guardians of the galaxy. Race is held at gunpoint by the leader of them, a man named Kenny. Jack flips and threatens to shoot one of the other men they were attacked by, only to find out they’re all on the same side.

This mini team forms a plan to defeat Snyder (yes, it’s still Snyder) and Jack reluctantly lets Race help, telling him to keep his distance. Snyder gets a hold on Race at some point, choking him, almost killing him.

They almost stopped him. Kenny messes it up. Snyder killed his own daughter. The love of Kenny’s life.

Eventually, by threatening Jack’s life, Snyder gets Myron to give up the time stone.

Snyder snaps his fingers, destroying half of the universe. A random half of the universe.

Jack watches almost everyone around him turn to dust. He looks around for Race only to feel the kid crash into him, shaking and hardly breathing.

And his heart drops.

Race begins to cry. He’d say he didn’t wanna go. That he didn’t feel good and he didn’t want to go. Jack would grip onto him, just as Race is clinging to him, promising that everything would be alright, that he was going to be just fine.

Race calls Jack “Dad” as he fades to dust.

Jack screams.

ENDGAME

Jack is lost in space for some time with only Graves there with him, a created daughter of Snyder. Eventually they are rescued and brought home.

Jack expresses how he wishes he’d just died up there with him and Davey calls it survivor's guilt.

Jack doesn’t want to hear it.

Jack tries to move on. He really does. He and Katherine have a kid. A little girl.

But that doesn’t make anything else go away. It doesn’t make the pain go away.

The team reaches out to him when they find a possible solution.

It’s been five years. And Jack still thinks about Race everyday. He has nightmares every night for a year, reliving Race disappearing in his arms.

When they reach out to him, Jack is reluctant. But he agrees.

He agrees because of Racer.

Spoiler alert, Race comes back, along with the other half of the universe. All in the middle of an epic battle. And the second Jack sees him, beat up and all, he runs to him. There’s chaos around them. But Jack just hugs him. And he holds him for a long time.

Until they have to fight again.

The battle is long and Jack makes it his mission to protect Race the whole time.

Up till the very end, when Jack has to snap his fingers.

Race is watching it all happen. And he screams when Jack falls to the ground. He runs to him and falls to his knees in front of him and cries, begging him to stay with him. He lets Jack cradle his face and run a hand through his hair and kiss his head while he sits there dying. And Katherine comes over to tell Jack that they’re gonna be okay. That he can rest.

Jack dies that day, knowing he saved Race and protected his family. And he’s okay with that.

Race however is completely heartbroken.

He wants to build a time machine.

But that’s a story for another time.

Anyways, I love this RP so much. Let me know if there’s any scenes you guys wanna see or any questions you guys have! Thank you so much!

#newsies #avengers #jack kelly #racetrack higgins #David jacobs #civil war #spiderman #Spiderman homecoming #infinity war #endgame #TW child abuse #tw murder #anonymous #anon #anon response #tw sucidal thoughts #tw major character death

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semperintrepida · 4 years

Text

Reckoning

The night before the Spartans invaded Megaris, the stray dogs that usually hung around the forward camp suddenly disappeared, and Kassandra overheard the men muttering about ill omens and unfavorable winds. A foreboding mood had enveloped the camp as soon as word of the invasion order had begun to spread, and it snuffed out the ribald jokes and dark humor that normally accompanied the places where the soldiers liked to gather.

The order to invade had come from the Wolf of Sparta, General of the Armies — a man once known in simpler times as Nikolaos, father of Kassandra and Alexios, and fifteen years ago he'd thrown her off a cliff because the Elders told him to.

Kassandra could not sleep, and in her restlessness she had wandered from her bedroll at the far edge of the fort's walls, where the non-citizens pitched their tents, and into the heart of the Spartan encampment. Now she was a stranger among the familiar, and though the Spartans didn't recognize her, she certainly knew them, for tradition was their way, and their ways rarely changed.

Soon after her arrival in Megaris, she'd taken up the Spartan habit of constantly wearing a helmet while stationed on the front, as a matter of caution given the volleys of Athenian arrows that often rained down on the fort. But she had another reason to obscure her face behind a helm, for it would make it harder for someone to connect her to her mother, or even to Leonidas, her grandfather. The Agiad bloodline ran deep, and it shone in her eyes and in the curve of her cheekbones.

It made her a ghost among the living.

She'd spent weeks in Megaris, present but unseen, undermining the Athenian forces from within and preparing the way for a full-scale Spartan invasion — all at the behest of Stentor, the Wolf's adopted son. Apparently it was as easy for the Wolf to obtain a new family as it was for him to destroy his old one. Though it rankled her greatly, she worked tirelessly under Stentor's command. She stole supplies from the Port of Nisaia, looted the state coffers out from under the stratego in command of Fort Geraneia, killed the misthios hired to organize the capital city's defenses, and then, soon after, assassinated the Megaran leader himself. The people of Megaris began to whisper of a Spartan ghost that walked among them, but it wasn't Sparta she had done all these things for, but herself. She would give the Wolf no choice but to meet her in person, and when the Wolf was no longer the Wolf, but just a man, she'd make him answer for the things he had done.

But first, she had a battle to survive.

She walked past tent after tent, hearing quiet voices, the occasional cough, someone snoring in the distance, and the soft rasp of blades against whetstones. There were hundreds of soldiers here, and hundreds more on the Athenian side, and soon they'd come together in a battle larger than anything she'd ever fought in before.

Her feet kept moving, past tents and campfires, drawn towards the ringing sound of metal against anvil. As she approached the smith's forge, she saw that the smith was a perioikoi — a free man, but not a citizen, one of the thousands who labored at the tasks the Spartans felt were beneath them, which were most things not involving combat or chariot racing.

"Eh, misthios!" he called out as she passed. "How about a new sword before tomorrow's excitement?"

That brought her closer to his stall, and to his table of wares: a variety of leaf-shaped spearheads, and a row of bronze and iron swords in the short xiphos and curved kopis styles that the Spartans favored. The deadly metal gleamed gold and silver in the glow of the forge.

"Go on, pick one up," he encouraged.

Her fingers curled around the smooth wooden handle of an iron-bladed xiphos, and she lifted it, felt its weight and balance, and then guided it through a series of slow, controlled swings. It was light — as light as her broken spear, and almost its same length, more a dagger than a sword.

"I'd forgotten that Spartans preferred shorter blades" she said.

The smith smirked. "They're long enough to reach an Athenian heart."

That was true, but only in very close combat, after the enemy had closed the distance and a spear only got in the way. She studied the sword, noted its straight lines and carefully inset fittings. Even the handle had been polished to a shine, the forge-light bringing out the layered depths within the grain of the wood. It was an excellent sword, and it would cost far more drachmae than she had the resources for, especially now that she had an entire ship to maintain and a crew to pay and feed. Everything she'd stolen from the Athenians in Megaris had been sold to make this month's wages.

"Beautiful work," she said, setting the sword down next to its brethren. "But my purse is a bit light at the moment."

The smith moved out from the shadows behind the table, and in the light she could see the rivulets of sweat that ran through the metal dust that coated his skin. His face was ruddy and his eyes were fixed into a squint from the heat blast of the forge. He looked her up and down. Then he tentatively reached for her sword hand, his eyebrow raised, asking her permission, and when she nodded yes, he took her hand in his own. His thick fingers prodded her palm and worked her wrist back and forth, looking for something unseen to her eyes. "Huh," he said, as if surprised. "You'd probably make a good smith. You're built for it."

She grinned and said, "Probably. But your job's safe for now."

He threw up his hands in mock surprise. "A misthios with a sense of humor! And on the eve of battle. You are a strange one, aren't you?" He studied her face through his squint. "Let me see your sword."

Kassandra handed it over silently, and he hummed as he hefted it, gave it a few experimental swings, and held the hilt up to his nose so he could peer down the length of its blade.

"Well, it won't get you killed," he said. "But I can make it better." He took the sword back to his workbench and started tinkering, and she heard several loud hammer taps followed by the scrape of metal on a sharpening stone. The rhythmic sound was calming, and she watched the smith's shadow play against the stone chimney of the forge while he worked. After a while, he turned to a long strip of leather that hung from the roof beam and stropped the edges of the sword against it until they gleamed in the firelight. "There," he said when he was finished, handing the sword back to her. "Engraved with the mark of Ares. It'll be a little hungrier for blood from now on."

She tested the blade's edge against her thumbnail, pleased to see it shave slivers off with ease. He even managed to remove the deep gouges that she'd never been able to sharpen out on her own. But when she held out a palmful of drachmae in payment, he only picked out a few coins and left the rest.

"Ares guide your blade, misthios," he said. "Get yourself paid, and we'll see about getting you one of my swords."

Her visit with the smith had helped quiet some of the restlessness in her blood. She needed sleep, and dawn would arrive soon enough. She retraced her steps back through the tents, along the fort walls, and down to her bed, chasing Hypnos, and when she finally dreamed, she dreamt of falling.

Kassandra's first taste of organized battle began within the vanguard of the Spartan forces, a mix of free men, conscripted helots, and hired mercenaries that guarded the advance of the rest of the army. They had expected attacks from enemy archers and javelin throwers along the way, but their march to the battlefield had met no resistance. The Athenians had chosen to concentrate their ranged defenses along the sides of their phalanxes. Each phalanx was a wide formation of soldiers several rows deep, protected by interlocking shields and bristling with spears, and two of them awaited the Spartans at the other side of the field.

She heard shouting from behind, and slowly the vanguard shifted around her as they began marching to the left, taking on more of a skirmisher role and clearing a path for the Spartan phalanxes to assemble in formation across from their Athenian counterparts.

Thus the Battle of Megaris began with a staredown between two armies.

Beside her, a young helot wearing a worn tunic and a helmet at least two sizes too big for him shifted his weight nervously from foot to foot. She clapped a hand down on his shoulder and said, "When the fighting starts, never stop moving."

He nodded at her with wide eyes, and Kassandra wondered how a small support force of lightly armed farmers and slaves could accomplish much of anything against a full phalanx.

Then a hush settled over the Spartan side, as if they'd all taken one collective breath, and then there was a shout that drove everyone into a headlong charge, the skirmishers and phalanxes moving together in one continuous line, like a great wave headed for shore. The nervous energy was gone in an instant, everyone a part of a single purposeful unit as they charged across the battlefield, and the feeling of focus and unity lasted just as long for the skirmishers to come within range of the Athenian archers, for as soon as the first of them began to be felled by arrows and javelins, their advance wavered while the Spartan phalanxes continued on, their shields protecting them from the dangers overhead.

The man in front of her stumbled and fell, skewered by a javelin through his chest, and she reached down and grabbed his shield without missing a step, holding it up before her so she could duck under it as she ran. She'd somehow ended up near the front of the supporting charge, and she could see the Spartans up ahead on a collision course for the Athenian lines.

Arrows bounced off her shield as she charged forward, and she heard a roar as the Spartans slammed into the Athenians, their advance coming to a sudden stop. She thought she heard a familiar voice within the fray, shouting, "Push forward, men! Push!" The phalanxes would remain locked in a stalemate until one of the front lines broke. The men who didn't break would be the victors.

Up ahead was the Athenian skirmisher line, positioned to defend the vulnerable side of the enemy phalanx. She drew her sword and picked out an enemy hoplite, just as the point of a javelin suddenly burst through the wooden core of her shield, pelting her with splinters. She flung the shield and javelin into the hoplite's face and stabbed him with her sword in one smooth motion. Then she drew her broken spear with her free hand and descended into a maelstrom of chaos.

It was quickly apparent to Kassandra that in a battle like this, there was no time for fancy moves or blocking defense. If it wasn't a slice or a parry, it was too slow, and slow meant danger lurking from all sides.

Kassandra cut her way through the front ranks of Athenian skirmishers with ease, aided by her unconventional use of a sword and what was essentially a long dagger against men armed with swords alone. But then she reached a squad of hoplites armed with swords and shields, and her progress ground to a halt.

How in Hades was she going to break through that many shields before their swords hacked her to bits?

She slid her spear into its sheath on her back and focused on attacking with her sword, and soon found that a heavy sword strike to a shield could knock an enemy backward — but more often than not, that just meant another interchangeable hoplite would take his place. There were far too many of them for her to remain locked in a defensive battle, and if she didn't come up with a plan in the next few moments she'd find herself surrounded by a wall of shields and sharp swords that she'd never come out from alive.

As the hoplites began to close in, she fended off the nearest one's attacks while studying the edges of his shield, and when the idea came to her she almost laughed at the simplicity of it, and its absurd amount of risk. In one sudden motion, she stepped right inside his sword range, reached across her body with her left hand, and grabbed the rightmost edge of his shield before yanking it back across her body with everything she had. As soon as she felt him lose his grip on the shield, she pulled it free and slammed it back into his chest, knocking him backwards so hard that he took out the man behind him as well.

The other hoplites hesitated. That just made it easier for her to pull off the same move a second time, rushing up to the next man, yanking his shield free and launching it at his head. The impact knocked him out instantly.

She swapped her sword for her spear and began to laugh, as a sense of unstoppable power flowed up from within, insulating her from the chaos as everything moved just a step slower than she could. Parry, shield break, thrust spear into the side of a throat. Parry, shield break, sink spear deep into a belly. She was close to the Athenian phalanx now, and could see the two front lines locked in combat.

Somewhere within that scrum was the Wolf, and she intended for him to witness the tide of this battle turn at her command.

As she carved a path straight for the vulnerable side of the Athenian phalanx, she heard the howling war cries of friendly fighters as they fell in behind her. She was the order in the chaos, and when she reached the first row of Athenian spears, she used a stolen shield to knock the spearpoints aside before plunging into their ranks. Up ahead was an Athenian captain, easily identified by the colorful crest on his helmet, and she knew that if she cut down all their captains it would be like cutting the head off a snake.

The Athenian phalanx was beginning to lose its cohesion, and its men began to flee once they realized they were within a Spartan pincer grip on two sides. Kassandra sought out the first captain, let him come to her, then dodged the lunging attack of his spear. As soon as it passed, she slid inside and shoved her spear through his ribs and into his heart.

The second captain still had his shield, and her new trick worked just as well on him as it had with all the others. But as he staggered from being struck by his own shield, he slammed the shaft of his spear down hard on her armored shoulder and her left arm suddenly went numb from neck to wrist. He went for his sword, but she was already there to meet him with a looping slice of her spear that separated the fingers from his hand and the entrails from his belly.

Her body sang for more. Her blood thrummed with power and craving and a vast want that grew with every breath. She shook the numbness out of her arm and looked out over the battlefield, seeing nothing but targets.

The final captain was a massive brute of a man, armed with a heavy axe and accompanied by three hoplite escorts, who immediately charged at her approach. She reared back and kicked the first man into the second, then parried a sword strike from the third before rolling to dodge what would have been a crushing blow from the captain's axe.

She glanced around, saw the first man unconscious, the second staggering back to his feet, the third circling to her left, and the captain moving to her right. The scene began to play out before her like a prophecy. She somehow knew the captain would swing his axe around in a wide circle, so she launched herself into a sliding tackle that let the axe pass harmlessly overhead and ended with her taking the second man's legs out from under him. They collapsed in a tangle of limbs, yet she never stopped moving, and she stuck her spear in his throat, in and out, before she rolled back to her feet. The third man was on the verge of panic, his sword moving erratically with his frantic swings, but she somehow knew which way his blade would go — and that the captain was readying another attack of his own. She maneuvered the third man around with a combination of parries and swipes from her spear, causing him to backpedal, until her final swing put him into the path of the captain's incoming axe. The blow nearly cut him in half.

The captain bellowed with rage. "Mercenary scum! You'll die now!"

She wouldn't, of course. Not when she could leap out of the way of his axe, and circle back around to his blind spot, and sink her spear deep into his back as he let out a ghastly roar of frustration. It took five stabs for him to die, and when he finally toppled over, all the remaining Athenians fled the field.

Kassandra watched them run, then slowly turned towards the Spartan forces, knowing every eye was upon her. But there was only one set of eyes she cared about in this moment, and they belonged to the Wolf, who watched her in silence from what had been the front line of the phalanx. She matched his gaze moment for moment as she reached back and sheathed her spear. Then the Wolf gave her a nod of acknowledgement and turned away.

It was time for the Spartans to gather the dead, but that wasn't her job. She'd won a far more important prize, and very soon it would be time for her to collect.

The Wolf wanted to see Kassandra and Kassandra alone. She had to admit a certain amount of satisfaction at the discomfort this caused Stentor. Was the poor boy jealous? Too damn bad.

It was also satisfying to see a Spartan honor guard lined up along the path to the top of the cliff where the Wolf awaited, even if it was bound to make her escape more difficult if her visit with him went the way she thought it would. And the Wolf's choice of venue couldn't have been more appropriate.

Once she reached the pinnacle, she saw him standing near the cliff's edge with his back towards her, looking at the sea.

Her feet stopped moving, rooted by the memories that suddenly shuddered through her. Her mother's desperate cries. Alexios disappearing over the edge. And how it felt to fall and fall. She closed her eyes and thought of snow on Mount Taygetos, and she wrapped herself in that cold until the shuddering stopped. It was time. She took off her helm and set it down next to the path. There was no longer a need to hide her face, and when the Wolf turned around to meet her, the way his eyes widened told her she'd become a ghost made flesh.

"Hello, father. It's been a long time." How odd it was to stand with their eyes at the same level when he had always loomed over her in her memories.

"Impossible. I saw you fall."

Fall? "I didn't fall. You fucking threw me to my death."

"I did what was required of me as a Spartan."

He would have allowed the priests to throw his own son off a cliff. And after her disastrous attempt to save her baby brother had seen both her brother and the Elder priest fall to their deaths, Nikolaos had tried to execute her by his own hand. She never expected him to say anything else, or do anything other than hide behind duty like it would absolve all sins. He was her father. She hated that fact almost as much as she hated him and his duty to Sparta. Rage crept into her heart, burning the way cold iron could burn.

Nikolaos must have sensed it within her. "I can't change the past, Kassandra," he said, with the wounded dignity of a man who knew the Fates had caught up to him. "I will live and die a Spartan."

Then her hands were on him, her fingers curling around the straps of his armor, pushing him back, back to the edge so that his upper body hung over the precipice.

So close. She was so close to flinging him off the top of the cliff. It would be fitting for him to fall long enough to be aware of what was happening, to know that death was moments away and there was nothing he could do to stop it.

He wouldn't even have a pile of rotting corpses to cushion his landing.

It would be so easy: a push, her fingers letting go, a man falling in space. If she would just open her fingers... If she would just—

Instead, she pulled him back from the brink and tossed him to the ground with a frustrated cry, turning away from him to face the hills and the battlefield and the sea far below.

"Though you deserve death, there is no honor in vengeance," she said, the words so bitter on her tongue that she wasn't sure she believed them. There wasn't much honor in killing for drachmae either. But something had stayed her hand. Perhaps she wanted him to keep suffering, to keep facing the same ghosts she had for the past fifteen years. There was no peace to be made here.

Nikolaos lay in a heap at her feet. "I have failed in my duty. I failed to protect you — to protect both of you," he said, a broken man confessing to his gods, and Kassandra knew his words weren't meant for her. But then he pulled himself up on his knees and said, "I loved you and your brother as if you were truly my own. But you were never mine."

The very air seemed to close in around her as she realized what he meant. It wasn't possible. Her ears no longer heard sounds, her skin no longer felt the breeze, and her vision narrowed to the deep lines on his face and the haunted look in his eyes.

Her first memory: running barefoot at home with uneven toddler steps, a stick held fast in her fist, poking him in the knee as she shrieked her fiercest battlecry. Strong arms lifting her up. His chest rumbling with laughter. "Look, Myrrine — Great Lycurgus has sent us a hero!"

Nikolaos was a flawed man, but he was no liar. If he said something, he believed it to be the truth.

"Find your mother," he said.

How many revelations must she bear? Her blood began to roar in her ears like waves in a storm. "Find her?" she heard herself say, but she was already unmoored, roiling in rough seas with nothing but deep water beneath her.

"Wherever Myrrine is, she knows far more than I do," he said, before he turned and walked away in search of the honor he'd lost when he put his duty to Sparta before the family he'd sworn to protect. Kassandra let him go, too dazed to argue or do much of anything other than stand there in stunned silence. "Beware the snakes in the grass, Kassandra," he said in warning, and then he disappeared into the forest that shrouded the top of the mountain above them, a wolf slipping back into shadows.

He'd left her with so much to think about that nothing came to mind. The foundations of her history had shifted, tilting everything built upon them. She was not who she thought she was.

She picked up Nikolaos's helm and sword from where he'd discarded them in the dirt, staring at them without seeing, and when the first of the Spartan guardsmen arrived at the top of the cliff, that is how they found her.

The shouts were loud and immediate: "The General's gone!" and "She's killed the Wolf!" and it wasn't true but it was Nikolaos's parting gift, for Sparta would surely blame her for his sudden disappearance.

The time for thinking was later. The time for leaving was now. She quickly pulled his helm onto her head and drew her own sword, and now she had two swords and the means to chop through the spear shafts the guardsmen had crossed to block her way. Beyond the first two guards was the curving path down the mountain with a sheer rock wall to her right and a steep drop-off to her left, and the gauntlet of soldiers she'd have to run if she wanted to escape.

All the guardsmen were without their shields, as no one had really expected to find themselves in battle during this time of celebration, but they all had spears, and if Kassandra wasn't careful she'd find herself impaled on the end of one.

She spun her swords around and dared them to come get her, and as soon as one attacked, she hacked his spear in two at the shaft. Dodging and chopping, she cut a path through the thicket of spearpoints, always pressing forward, always moving, before someone got the bright idea of trying to clobber her with a spear shaft.

Halfway down the path, she looked ahead and saw a squad of fully-armed Spartans assembling at the bottom. Together, they'd link their shields like a turtle's shell, and once they started marching up the path, she'd be boxed in from the front and the rear.

The rock face to her right was far too steep to climb, so she chose the least worst option and jumped right off the side of the path and down the steep hillside, somehow managing to keep her feet in front of her as she slid through the underbrush, branches bouncing off her armor and tearing at her skin. The bottom was a long way away.

A fallen pine tree lay snagged against another tree just ahead, leaving a worryingly small gap between the bulk of its trunk and the ground. With her momentum too great to stop or even change course, all she could do was lean back into the slide and hope she could squeeze through. She did, barely, bark scraping, pine needles showering upon her, almost losing the Wolf's helm and his sword along the way, but her right wrist smacked against an underhanging branch and she lost her grip on her old sword. Ares's mark had served her well, and it would be her offering to Pan, then, in exchange for escaping this wild mountainside.

Finally the slope began to level out and she went from sliding to running, chased by the echoes of shouts from far above. She flew out of the forest underbrush at a full run. If she could just get to the port before the Spartans sent soldiers after her on horseback...

She'd never beat a priestess of Artemis in a footrace, but her detour down the mountainside had given her a jump on her pursuers. She heard the first hoofbeats of mounted calvary as the port of Pagai came within view, along with the welcoming sight of the Adrestia's mast and stays. She could only hope that Barnabas had done what she'd asked and prepared the ship for departure at a moment's notice.

As soon as her feet touched the dock, she shouted, "Barnabas! Undock the ship!"

Barnabas's blessed voice rang out across the yard. "Aye, Captain! Untie the lines, and make it quick, lads!" She could see the crew scurrying across the Adrestia's deck, following orders.

She hurdled a line of enormous clay pots and dodged between slaves carrying bolts of linen, and when the Spartan dockmaster stepped into her path of travel with his hand raised and a "Halt, misthios!" she didn't even break stride as she shoved him aside and into a rack of drying fish. The Adrestia was pulling away from the dock.

The crew had already drawn in the gangplank and the gap between the side of the ship and the pier was growing wider by the moment. She felt a punch between her shoulder blades where something struck her armor, and a clay pot in a pile next to her head suddenly shattered. Archers somewhere behind her. She bared her teeth in a wolf's grin and gathered all the strength and speed she had as the edge of the dock came closer with every step. Three steps, two steps, one, and then her legs were pushing against the edge and she was flying, arms reaching for the Adrestia, her body losing height as the ship came closer...

Her hand hit the rail and scrabbled for purchase against the slick wood, but there was no grip to be found and she felt herself sliding, sliding— until Barnabas grabbed her arm with one strong hand and her armor with his other, and pulled her onto the deck.

"Great Demeter's ghost! You look like you picked a fight with a forest and lost, Captain."

She stood there looking at him and took deep, burning breaths until the war drum in her chest ceased pounding. "Thanks," she said once she could speak again, and then she began to laugh as leaves and pine needles fell from her hair and armor, and her skin began to sting from scrapes and cuts, and she laughed from a place without humor, until it felt like she was choking and tears began to well in her eyes.

Barnabas looked at her with alarm and pulled her closer to him, tucking her face into his shoulder. "Kassandra, what is it? What's wrong?" he asked.

She didn't know.

Part of the Elegiad. Go back to the previous story, or on to the next...

#kassandra #ac odyssey #woooo boy this took forever to edit #a little light bloodletting #living out my sword and sandal fantasies #elegiad #assassin's creed odyssey #barnabas is my fav

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disneyslament · 4 years

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Rating: General Audiences

Pairing: f!Byleth/Dedue

Summary: Byleth takes care of the greenhouse in Dedue's absence, but it feels lonely without him.

The Flower of Duscur

Despite the loss suffered by Garreg Mach in the five years of war while Byleth slept, the sturdy glass of the greenhouse remained intact. Within, flowers thrived of all species. Amidst all the death and destruction five years of war brought, life continued here, flourished even. Byleth didn’t understand how exactly. Without anyone present at the monastery to water the plants, how was it so many of them survived?

Garreg Mach remained a ghost town now, even with her old students back roaming the halls. Dimitri spent most of his time alone and muttering to himself, while the others reconnected with each other after so long apart. To Byleth, it was all a bit overwhelming, so she found herself in the greenhouse searching for solace after a long day.

She reached a hand, scarred and callused from her many years working as a mercenary, to one of the most beautiful of the flowers. It grew barely an inch above the soil, but its pink blossoms stood out amongst the green shrubbery surrounding it where the weeds grew out of control.

“They are from Duscur,” Dedue told her once, when she was but a teacher and he but a simple student, alive and well. “They require a dry environment. The roots will rot otherwise.”

Now that her attention focused on these pink flowers, she noticed that they spread from their corner where Dedue once pointed them out to almost the entirety of the greenhouse floor. This explained why the greenhouse appeared to be thriving despite the lack of care: the flowers of Duscur survived all this time without water. They were used to being independent.

Duscur… Dedue…

It felt like no time at all passed since Byleth last saw everyone in that fateful battle at Garreg Mach, and yet…

Everyone and everything changed.

And the solitude of this greenhouse wouldn’t be the same without Dedue.

~~~

“I thought I might be able to find you in here, Professor.”

Byleth relaxed from her kneeling position and sat cross-legged on the floor. She took off her gardening gloves and wiped her sweaty forehead with the back of her hand, smearing a coat of dirt on her skin. Ashe sat down next to her and smiled, picking up the spade she had been using to dig up the brown remains of plants buried beneath the green.

“We’re all worried about His Highness, but I want you to know that we’re worried about you, too,” Ashe said, reaching into the thick of it and gently scooping up a small pile of dry soil. “You can’t fix everything by yourself. I’d be happy to help out here.”

“You do know more than I do about plants,” Byleth admitted. But something tugged within her, something unfamiliar, and she squeezed the gloves in her hands. “Ah, well, I think I’ve got this mostly taken care of, though. If you don’t mind helping out in the kitchen? I’m sure the others would rather eat your cooking than mine.”

Ashe nodded, letting the soil fall back to the ground. “That sounds fair. Is there anything specific that you would like to eat? We don’t have much, but I can try to make something with what we have.”

Byleth shook her head and slipped her hands back into the gardening gloves. She yanked at a weed in between a few pink blossoms and added it to her growing pile between herself and Ashe. Ashe said his goodbyes and had just made it to the creaking greenhouse doors when Byleth stopped again and turned to look back at him.

“Hold on, Ashe.”

His hand lingered on the ornate, but dusty, door. “Did you think of something, Professor?”

“Did Dedue ever teach you any recipes from Duscur?”

Her voice was quieter than usual. Byleth never said much, as all the Blue Lions knew, but Ashe had never heard her so timid before, almost as if she was embarrassed to say it. Byleth, and most of her class of students, got along well with Dedue. Only Ingrid and Felix didn’t have many nice things to say about him.

So, why the embarrassment?

Still, it wasn’t Ashe’s place to question it. He just smiled at his professor. “He taught me a couple of them. I doubt it will be much the same as his cooking, but I can try to recreate one of them for supper tonight if you like.”

“I would like that,” she responded and returned to work weeding the garden.

~~~

No one would suspect it—or if they did, they would never speak aloud of it—but the guilt hit Byleth hard. Her time alone in the greenhouse was both cathartic and isolating, and it allowed her to think about all she missed during those years.

She let her students down. If she had been there, what fate would have befallen the Kingdom? Surely she alone would not have made all the difference, but she could have kept Dimitri from falling down this dark path he now carved for himself. She could have kept the Blue Lions together, organized them into a team sooner than now. Maybe she could have saved Dedue.

It was no use thinking about the “what ifs” of five years’ time. All the same, Byleth kept running the possibilities through her mind. She had been unable to save her father, and now she had been unable to help her students—her friends.

All she could do now was prove herself on the battlefield as a leader. They managed to defend themselves against the Imperial troops who came to take back Garreg Mach, thanks in part to Byleth’s direction. The following moon, they secured troops at Ailell, despite a setback thanks to a rat in their forces.

But were those just flukes? Did Byleth know what she was doing?

The first real test of their strength and Byleth’s leadership skills would be taking the Great Bridge of Myrddin. Thanks to Claude, passage through Gloucester territory would be mostly smooth, leaving their small army to deal with just the Imperial army guarding the bridge. This would be no small feat, especially since Byleth needed to constantly watch Dimitri out of the corner of her eye to make sure he didn’t risk all their lives.

Byleth could not imagine what sort of horrors Dimitri saw in the five years she slept. She would say he had changed, except she suspected this had been within him all the time she knew him. Not even Rodrigue’s presence soothed the beast, as she hoped it might, and his behavior put everyone else on edge, too.

She understood, of course. He had been right, just now. She took up her sword in pursuit of Monica five years ago… all for revenge. And Dimitri told her back then, too, that the only reason he came to the Officers Academy was for revenge. If she stepped in his shoes, would she also thirst for revenge as he did?

But Felix was right, too. They had all lost someone, some sooner than others. Felix lost his brother, Ingrid her fiancé, Ashe his parents and adoptive father, Mercedes her mother, Annette her father even as he stood there with them, Sylvain his brother, Byleth her father. Still, they fought on. Still, they retained their humanity.

So, all Byleth could do was make sure no one else got lost, too.

All part of the job, she told herself as they got into formation on the bridge. She could see the wheels turning in Dimitri’s head through his visible eye, but when he noticed her looking, he glared at her and turned away.

“Attack Ladislava and take the bridge,” Rodrigue ordered. “Shall we begin?”

Byleth raised her left hand, the one free of the Sword of the Creator, and let it linger in the air for a moment. She wondered if anyone noticed how she shook.

“Attack!” she shouted, lowering her hand like a whip.

They fought on, the clashing of metal on metal like a symphony in the background. It was only when an unexpected voice broke through the chorus that Byleth hesitated, and her opponent got in a hit. Ashe fired an arrow, knocking down the man who clipped Byleth’s shoulder.

She put pressure on the wound but turned back without much attention to the battle around her anymore. And for the first time in the many moons since their reunion, Byleth saw humanity on Dimitri’s face once again, if only for a moment.

“Dedue…”

The sound stopped. Byleth’s ears rang as soon as she heard Dimitri say that name, and she looked further back to see the man of Duscur she believed dead standing among their ranks.

Lips moved, words exchanged, and Byleth heard none of it. It wasn’t until a hand smacked down on her opposite shoulder than she was thrown back into reality. “Pay attention!” Felix yelled. “You’re going to get yourself killed!”

Right. Now wasn’t the time. She had to make it through this battle alive, make sure they all made it through this battle alive, and then she could disappear into herself again. What sort of illusion could this be to distract her so during an important battle like this?

An illusion… yes, an illusion. Was it so?

~~~

The Blue Lions, reunited once again, gathered for supper the next evening upon their return to Garreg Mach. Only two members of their former House were absent from this celebration both of victory and of Dedue’s return.

The two members who needed to be there and were not.

No one was surprised by Dimitri’s absence. He had not joined his old classmates for a meal since their reunion, leaving Felix to suspect that he feasted on the remains of wild animals to satisfy his lust for blood, much to Ingrid’s disgust.

But Byleth? She went out of her way to make sure no one ever ate alone, even if that meant she sat with an empty plate while the other person ate. For her not to be here with everyone meant something was wrong.

Instead, Byleth sat in the silence of the greenhouse. The trickling of rain hitting the glass roof soothed her like a lullaby as she pulled out more weeds. There seemed to be an endless amount. No matter how many invaders she removed, more always appeared. She never had the touch when it came to keeping them out.

The sound of rain prevented Byleth from hearing another person entering the greenhouse. She continued her work, wiping the sweat from her face with her muddy arm.

In the dark, one might have confused the beads of sweat on her cheeks for tears.

She jumped when she noticed another person knelt beside her. “Dedue! You shouldn’t be here!”

“My apologies for startling you, Professor. The others were wondering where you were, and Ashe suggested I might find you here to invite you to dinner,” Dedue said. His voice had not changed, not like Dimitri’s had, in the past five years.

“No, I’m… I’m busy, I…” Byleth dropped her gloves to her side and stood up. “You need to go back and tell the others I’m not coming.”

Dedue stood, as well. He always towered over her—over everyone, really. But he was the only one who she needed to look up to, literally, and to others, it could be intimidating. Byleth, though, found comfort in his size.

And Goddess, how she missed him. Standing by his side now looking up into his green eyes, she remembered the connection she felt with him. And he had been dead, he had been gone, just like she had. But only she remembered it all like it was yesterday. Those five years did not exist to her.

“Very well.” Dedue bowed and turned to leave. Byleth watched him, making sure he really left. Then it was just the rain trickling again.

She sighed and hurried out after him. “Dedue!” she called, holding a hand over her brow to shield her eyes from the rain.

He turned back. “Yes?”

“Come back to the greenhouse tomorrow morning.”

He nodded, and then continued through the rain back to the dining hall. Byleth stood in the rain for a minute longer watching him disappear into the darkness, until she couldn’t see him through the rain anymore.

For now, it was back to work.

~~~

The work took all night, and the sun barely had risen before Dedue entered the greenhouse as per Byleth’s request. She knew him to be an early riser, always the first to awaken in case Dimitri needed anything, but sometimes she beat him to the greenhouse on a rare occasion. Spending the entire night there guaranteed she’d be first.

She nearly dozed off a couple of times in the night, but she fought through the weight that sat on her eyelids. By the time Dedue arrived, though, sleep captivated her, and she lay on the floor with one hand still in the soil.

“Professor,” Dedue tried first, as putting his hands on her seemed wrong somehow. When she did not stir, no other choice could be made. He put a hand on her shoulder, careful not to touch the bandages covering her wound from the other day’s battle. “Professor, wake up.”

She stirred, groaning slightly as she rolled onto her back. Blinking the fog away, she sat up when her vision cleared enough to see Dedue above her.

“Dedue!”

“This is not an appropriate location to rest. I advise you to return to your quarters and get some rest,” he said.

Byleth scrambled to her feet, brushing the dirt off her clothes as best she could. “No, no, I’m fine. I’m glad you came.”

Like Byleth, Dedue did not often display his emotions clearly on his face, but his eyes betrayed the confusion he felt. “Yesterday you said that I did not belong here, and today you are glad I am here.”

Byleth winced as the words she said returned to her. “I’m sorry. It came out wrong. I didn’t want you to see the greenhouse until it was ready. I’ve been working the past few moons on it to get it back to its former glory, but…” Byleth held out her hand and stepped out of the way of her work. “This is all I could do.”

In the light of day, the greenhouse came to life. Dedue’s gaze fell on the pink flowers of Duscur first. The weeds had been removed completely, leaving the flowers at the forefront. They were no longer hidden away in the corner as they had been before, but directly in the middle where everyone could see them right when they walked into the greenhouse. The other flowers had been clipped and nurtured, complementing the pink flowers below like a crown might add magnificence.

Neither of them spoke for several minutes. Dedue walked around the greenhouse, leaning in to examine Byleth’s work every now and again. He touched a few leaves, his fingertips brushing the green so delicately that one might think the leaf would shatter with anything more.

Last, he stopped back in front of the pink flowers and knelt down. He grabbed the shears from where Byleth left them on the ground and carefully snipped a flower away from the others.

“There is no literal translation into the language of Fódlan for the name of this flower, but it might be closest to call it the Beauty of the North,” Dedue explained, setting the shears down and standing back up. The little flower appeared so tiny in his large hands. “This flower is native to the northernmost part of Duscur and thrives in the permafrost. There is no reason it should have survived here.”

“It must be adaptable,” Byleth suggested.

“Or it must have had a reason to survive.” Dedue reached up and snaked the stem of the flower beneath Byleth’s headband by her ear.

Byleth smiled, touching the petals of the flower in her hair. “We all have our reasons.”

Dedue nodded and turned to look back down at the flowers of Duscur. “It is good to see you again, Professor.”

“You, too, Dedue.”

Whatever reasons the Beauty of the North had for surviving, and whatever reasons they all had for living, it was easier to survive together. And for the first time in five years, the silence of the greenhouse did not feel so lonely anymore.

#fire emblem #fire emblem three houses #fe3h #fe16 #f!byleth #dedue molinaro #byleth x dedue

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doryishness · 5 years

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Prepping myself for this years NaNo, by writing drabbles of my swtor OCs and friend’s. Please forgive all the spelling and grammar errors - I was/am very stoned while writing this and was just trying to reach the word count. Summary: Buster is grief stricken and alone to deal with his comrade Jurella’s brutal death by the republic. But he’s not alone as he thinks.

It wasn’t her. It wasn’t Jurella. It could never be her. The brutally assaulted body in front of him could never be his vainglorious comrade. He swallowed the hard lump in his throat and gave a brief nod to the medical examiner across from him. His eyes burned but no tears would come. He was far past that. With her…the last of his fortitude was gone. The boot smashed face and slit throat surrounded by dirty disarrayed black hair was mercifully recovered by the examiner. Sound faded and his vision glazed over as he tonelessly answered the procedural questions in identifying her body. He could hear himself talking, but what he said he would never know. All he could think of was that he was that he was completely and utterly alone. He had never felt so cold before. His homeland and all other ice planets he had been on in his life were tropical paradises compared to the numbing he felt down to his marrow.

“Sir?” The medical examiner startled him out of his revere and he snapped his eyes up, locking onto the examiner. “I asked who shall receive her remains?”

“Her fam- I will deliver them to her family.” Buster responded mutedly. He tried to think of the details needed to take the white covered body back to their home world, but all he could think about was last time he had seen her alive. Iokath. The cursed planet. He should have let the planet be destroyed along with Scorpio. Then none of this would have ever happened. Empire and Republic wouldn’t have clashed on and over the forsaken planet, and he wouldn’t have lost everyone he loved to the Republic on it.

It was getting harder to breath. The Empire and Ascendency meant nothing to him. But he had been fighting the Republic all his life. He couldn’t just change that. But without even conferring with him or anyone else, Slaffid had immediately allied with the Republic. The man he had begrudgingly come to see as a friend and confidante…had made the choice for him before even letting him speak. To side with the enemies he had known since he was born against his past life and loyalties.

It had only hurt worse from there. Reeling from Slaffid’s decision and the immediate escalation into war, his beloved husband, the only man he thought he could love, had defected to the Republic as well. He must have known that Buster would object; would want to talk about it first – so Noxass had simply left him without a word. Simply vanished as if he were a force ghost. Buster struggled to take in a breath, the weight of the hurt so heavy on his chest.Everyone he had loved: Dolphelia he had anticipated and expected. His meek adopted sister was much more suited for the healing lifestyle of a simple jedi then a lord of the sith. He didn’t begrudge her for taking her son and husband and fleeing to the less terrorizing Republic. He knew that she would be safe and protected there and even thrive, but her apology had still hurt him. He closed his eyes, remembering her tear-rimmed eyes pleading to come with them, and then begging his forgiveness for her choice. He could still feel the softness of her forehead when he had kissed her goodbye, murmuring that she had nothing to apologize for, that she was finally free and he simply wished for her happiness. Only Dolphila and Slaffid begged him to join the Republic with them. Ixaci – his dotty cybernetic adopted sister – had merely sneered at Slaffid’s announcement, spat some mandoa insult at him, given a rude gesture and strode from the area on the spin on her heel. When he had gone to find her after he finished reeling from the news himself, he found that she had simply left the planet in her ship. Nothing said to him at all. He had tried to get her by holo dozens of times, but she refused to answer. Normally her eccentric behavior and oft radio silence didn’t bother him, but he was blind-sided and growing increasingly desperate for some answers and stability as his world started to crumble beneath his feet.He had then tried to seek out the youngest of his squad, the shoeless sniper who loved his mouse droids. But Elmer too was gone. The only thing left in his place on their ship was a datapad with a single word programed in. SORRY.

“I’ll leave you alone to say goodbye.” The medical examiner said with professional sympathy. Buster nodded mutely, and the examiner left the room.

Buster finally broke the breath he had been holding and sucked in a ragged gasp, vision refocusing once more. Iokath had broken the ground beneath his feet and left him scrabbling for answers that were unclear. But Jurella had remained with him. She had been the only anchor as his world fell to darkness. Buster reached a trembling hand to slide along the cold metal table until his fingers bumped into her sheet covered ones. “By the stars, I’m going to miss you, you bitch.” He croaked in a whisper. He bit the inside of his lip, swallowing another hard lump as his red eyes burned with unshed tears. He had often butted heads with her the most of his team, only slightly less than with Slaffid but he had never predicted losing her as well, after everyone else. He gritted his teeth, trying to block the wave of memories trying to flood his mind.

His team had come on such a journey. From meeting his husband, to banding together, to battling to the controller that had tried to use them for his own sick gains; they had stuck together like glue, despite all obstacles and heartache thrown at them. He had thought nothing could tear them apart. How wrong he was.The Republic on Iokath…and then the whole planet, would burn. He would find who had so brutally murdered Jurella and then they would pay. And after that, he would destroy Iokath. His fingers clenched into a fist and he punched the metal table next to her hand.

Pain radiated up his arm but it was nothing compared to the ache in his head and heart. Friends...no, he had considered them all family if he was truly honest with himself, had all left him. The grief and despondency was nothing compared to the dull ache he could feel in the bones of his hand. Physical pain meant nothing to him – he had been tortured so many times that his body could resist it. But nothing could ease a broken heart. He punched the table harder, placing both fists on the table next to her body and hung his head, eyes closing. What he would give to be able to talk to any of his loved ones again. To go back to how things had been before this accursed planet. Memories tried to creep in and he shook his head furiously. He wouldn’t think of the missions and operations he and his team had taken on for Slaffid. He wouldn’t think of the times that he had been back to back to the Republic Hero, Leader of Havoc Squad and Breaker of the Battle at Corellia. He wouldn’t think of his sisters and the time they had spent growing up on Ziost, all trapped in a miserable situation since childhood but had bonded together to survive until the chance to leave had presented itself.

Damnit…he punched the table a third time. His knuckles ached and were started to bruise as he squeezed his eyes closed harder. He was so focused on suppressing all the emotions inside that he didn’t hear anyone enter until a hand gently rested on his shoulder. Eyes flying open, Buster peered over his shoulder. Zoni was behind him, arm outstretched and he squeezed Buster’s shoulder briefly. The other chiss’s eyes were sad but understanding. They held each other’s gaze for a moment before Buster’s eyes closed again and he dropped his head again, heaving a deep sigh.He felt Zoni step closer and another reassuring squeeze. Swallowing the lump of a sob that threatened to burst forth, Buster reached up to gently grab the hand on his shoulder, grasping Zoni’s fingers. They stood there in silence for several minutes, Zoni patient as Buster fought his emotions under control. Finally, with a deep shuddering breath, Buster drew himself up straight and turned around to face his fellow chiss.

“Lord Zoni. You honor me. Forgive my sentiment.” Buster greeted him with a gravelly voice. He still held Zoni’s fingers in his hand on his shoulder, reluctant to let go.

Zoni rolled his eyes but then smiled sadly. “I know you two were close. I’m sorry for your loss.” The House Inrokini noble stepped closer, until he and Buster were toe to toe. “If there is anything I can do…” The handsome ascendancy agent tilted his head, studying Buster’s face. “I mean it.”The demons that haunted Buster whispered cruelly to him not to trust Zoni, to let the attractive man go and destroy himself in grief in private, but the warm and comforting smile Zoni was giving him prompted to break his stone cold act. Tears still wouldn’t come, he would never let them but he couldn’t stop himself from stepping closer to Zoni and wrapping his arms around his middle. It surprised both men. Both were known for their stoicism in public, being the ideal agent and soldiers and in Zoni’s case, noble. But after a moment’s hesitation, Zoni’s arms wrapped around Buster’s shoulders. Buster dropped his face to bury in Zoni’s shoulder and breathe in the noble’s scent.

They were never coming back. He had been left and abandoned by those that he had loved. He would still love them no matter what. And although he would never admit the irrational hurt and anger, all he wished was he had a chance to speak to them one last time and get closure. But in Zoni’s arms, warmth started to seep beneath his skin, chasing away the icy loneliness and for that he was grateful beyond expression.

#@autisticanakin #swtor OC #Bust'e'run #Jurella #Zoni #Imperial Agent #Iokath

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that-shamrock-vibe · 4 years

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Movie Reviews: Star Wars: Episode IX - The Rise of Skywalker (Spoilers)

Spoiler Warning: I am posting this review a few days after the movie first drops in the U.K, so if you haven’t yet seen the movie don’t read on.

Fan-Service:

Alright so before jumping into the character analysis, which I probably should just do because I have a lot to say, I want to quickly talk about a major problem with this movie, and yes I will be saying that a lot, and that is the fan-service.

There is a heeping load of fan-service moments and things just thrown in to either make fans nostalgic of what has come before or just to say they did it and I at large am pissed off because every bit of fan-service here I personally did not ask for and nothing I wanted as a fan was there.

For instance, Lando. I love Lando and will talk about him in his own section further down but I did not see the point of him in this movie. Billy Dee Williams still looks good in the role, but the man did nothing to contribute to the progression of the movie or the mission other than go off and get reinforcements which anyone else already in this trilogy could have done, like Maz Kanata...what did she contribute also?

Also Ewoks, I’m sorry I know the last part of this movie was on Endor because said system is around the place the Death Star fell and Palpatine still resides, but my freakin’ god seeing a split second shot of two Ewoks, who again I loved in Episode VI, but also to get Warwick Davies back to play Wicket (I think that’s the same one anyway)...what was the freakin’ point?

My final rant point is on the quite blatant fan service of LGBT representation. This particular topic is personal to me as a gay man and someone whose academic venture over the last three years has been about LGBT representation.

When you have quite a clear fanbase or sub fandom that are screaming for certain shipping couples, but then refuse to deliiver on the gay male ship in favour of the predictable hetero ship, to the point where this movie gives both Finn and Poe female love interests and makes Finn look slightly like a tool for having two other love interests but still wanting Rey...all of this I can forgive because it is kind of like the “Stucky” ship in the MCU.

However, to then, out of nowhere, have a lesbian kiss between two Resistance members at the end of the film during celebrations, one of whom was apparently the harbinger of doom because she delivered all the bad news and the other was a pilot, who I know was also Rosa Parks in Doctor Who so happy she has a role like this, but again it just felt forced, out of nowhere, with characters no one cares about and honestly I would have been happier seeing Poe and Finn kiss.

Characters:

Rey:

As I said in my non-spoiler review, Rey truly comes into her own as a Jedi in this movie. I do think The Last Jedi only really serviced her and moved her piece forward on the development chessboard.

However, while it is great to see Leia mentoring Rey at the start of the movie and doing a serviceable job, the fact Luke is still mentoring her from beyond the grave and his teachings are being upheld and honoured by Rey is really great to see.

This does not however justify the end of this movie, which is where we begin with Rey’s character.

One of the biggest mysteries of this trilogy has been discovering who Rey is and where she fits in with Star Wars lore. We know that Finn was a Stormtrooper and Poe fulfills that Han Solo role, but while Rey fills the Jedi quota for the trilogy, fans have long-suspected that she is somehow related to either Luke, Leia, Han or even Obi-Wan Kenobi.

I don’t think anyone was expecting her to actually be revealed as the granddaughter of Emperor Palpatine...and to be honest I don’t think anyone actually wanted it.

It’s a losing battle comparing any movie to Avengers: Endgame, but during Avengers: Endgame when big character and plot moments hit, the audience erupted in either shock or cheers. I get the feeling that the reveal of Rey being a Palpatine was supposed to ignite that type of response. I had a moderately full audience and there was no reaction from them.

However, not only does this service Rey as a character for the second half of the movie because her character motivation is not only about battling her inner demons and heritage, but also discovering who she is in her own right...something she has been searching for since we first met the character on Jakku in The Force Awakens

This leads to the last scene of the movie which is a culmination of not just the last three movies but also her confrontation with Palpatine. On Tatooine just outside the Lars Homestead, Rey buries both Luke and Leia’s lightsabers. She then surprisingly pulls out her own lightsaber which happens to be yellow...or gold (if it’s meant to be grey or white the lighting did it no favours) and with her sidekick BB-8 heads off into the twin sunsets, but not before some random old woman asks who she is, she responds with “Rey” but when she asks “Rey who?” she looks to the left and sees the Force Ghosts of Luke and Leia and turns back to the woman answering with, “Rey Skywalker”.

This is what is meant by the title “The Rise of Skywalker” as the name will now live-on in Rey, who has adopted the name only. She is not actually a Skywalker and if you think about the fact Rey and Kylo kissed a few scenes prior to this, it is kind of disturbing that she sees both Luke as a father figure and Leia as a mother figure.

I am not happy with this development for two reasons 1) It’s a cheat, not only is it a cheat of promise in the title but it’s a cheat in practise because Rey wasn’t revealed to be a secret Skywalker she merely decided to use the name as a surname because I guess “Rey Palpatine” would not serve her well.

I also don’t like the idea of a surname being used as a mantle, we now have seen six “Skywalkers” either officially or unofficially so in the movie canon and out of the six, five either are or were Jedi or at least “ones with the force” because both Leia and Ben (Kylo Ren) have never been Jedi at least in the movies but while Ben was a Sith, Leia was an apprentice and both had access to the force.

Shmi I believe (Anakin’s mother) is the only named “Skywalker” to not have any attachment or affiliations with the force. Now I don’t know if Skywalker is her maiden name or married name but aside from her, as I said, everyone with the Skywalker bloodline has at least had a “force sense” so to make Rey the last of the Jedi, that we know of, and also now giving her the name of Skywalker just to honour Luke and Leia and not actually be related does seem a tad cheap to me.

It’s not like when Han and Leia named their son Ben after Ben Kenobi, Obi-Wan’s hermit name, because that was honouring a fallen friend. I get Rey officially has no living family, particularly after killing her grandfather, and choosing to adopt the Skywalker name is both a way for the name to live on in her and to honour both her mentors, but this is supposed to be the end of the Skywalker era and with Rey newly being a Skywalker at the end of the movie and also once again seemingly being on her own (with BB-8) on her adventures at the end it just seems like there is more to come from her and I really don’t think there should be.

I am not saying Daisy Ridley can never come back as Rey in any future Star Wars movies but I’m thinking more in a Harrison Ford/Billy Dee Williams way not a Mark Hamill/Carrie Fisher way, at least not for now.

Also, I mentioned in my non-spoiler that a lot was promised leading up to this movie and something the trailers teased heavily was “Dark Rey”. The two biggest theories surrounding this reveal of Rey as a Sith with collapsible double-edged red lightsaber were that 1) Rey would legitimately turn to the dark side and Ben Solo would be the one to bring her back to the light or that 2) The Dark Rey we saw would be some sort of vision, hallucination or dream akin to when Luke believed he was fighting Vader during his training with Yoda on Dagobah and in fact it was an illusion used as a metaphor for him fighting his inner darkness.

It turned out, of course, to be the latter theory but the movie at least had the reveal of Rey being a Palpatine to explain why the 30 second scene we see this vision in exists...no lie it’s about the same amount of time as Luke battled himself for in Episode V.

Basically when Rey was filled with rage over Kylo Ren while trying to save Chewie from being taken by the First/Final Order, she succumbed to her anger and rather than using the force in the traditional sense she was discovered to have the ability to produce force lightning, as only Sith Lords have been able to do.

While Dark Rey did look cool, I’m glad she wasn’t actually Rey and we actually had to spend a chunk of the movie with her as a Sith, particularly not with that lightsaber.

I’ll be talking about him again when I talk about Palpatine but the only master of the double-edged lightsaber for me is Darth Maul. That’s his thing in my opinion aside from his looks and he owns it.

On the positives of Rey, I do like the fact that they have set her up as the feminist hero in the same sense that Moana and Belle are feminist Disney princesses. I think obviously making Rey the focus of the trilogy meant that more young girls would look up to her as opposed to Leia or Padmé before her and so making her the strong and tenacious Jedi Knight that she is was one of the best things about this trilogy, when done right.

I did also like how she interacted with Finn and Poe, I’m not entirely sure why they have the type of banter they had due to the lack of the trio interacting in this trilogy but I enjoyed the sparring between Rey and Poe over the Falcon damage and BB-8 damage and even when it seemed Finn was about to profess his love for Rey before dying but then not dying and so going quiet about it and Rey effectively calling him out for it.

However, what did Rey wrong throughout this trilogy is just how easy everything seemed to come for her. As I said before she was often off on her own mission without Poe and Finn with only BB-8 and sometimes Chewie for company. The fact we never saw her properly train with a lightsaber or the force before being revealed as an expert with both still annoys me and here, the fact she goes to give up after Leia’s death but is stopped by Luke, a Force Ghost, who then reveals that she is in fact not stranded after burning her ship because Luke has his old X-Wing summoned from the depths of the sea was just stupid.

Also, where did Rey get her new lightsaber from? Because unless Leia left it for her or R2 created it for her we don’t know where it came from or why it is distinctly different to Luke and Leia’s.

Finn:

Finn I feel revealed himself as my favourite character of the new trilogy during this movie, meaning originating in this trilogy, because I haven’t really had one up until now due to the lack of any likeable development throughout.

However, John Boyega really does Finn justice here not only making the character more likeable but also giving him a potentially great character development arc that could see him come full circle from when we first met him during The Force Awakens.

The only problem is, from what we see, this story abruptly goes completely nowhere.

The development comes when the trio arrive on Kef Bir where the Death Star remains are and come across a tribe of freedom fighters led by Naomi Acke’s waste of a character Jannah.

It’s revealed that Jannah and her tribe were once in fact Stormtroopers but, like Finn, decided to rebel against their Sith overlords and vowed to aide the resistance to thwart them.

This could have been how Finn’s story ended had he made the decision to join the freedom fighters by the end of the movie, now granted with no Sith or First Order there’s no need for freedom fighters but just for Finn to have found his people and his place to belong would have been a fitting ending for him.

Also to any shippers out there hoping for a Finn/Poe romance, I think the writers made it quite clear in this movie that both guys have eyes for the ladies with Finn apparently interested in Rose, Rey and Jannah.

The Finn-Poe bromance is in full bloom here though, finally, and it is filled with both the banter that I so hate in laddish behaviour but still enjoy here and also the fact that they can both be real with each other even when it’s something the other may not want to hear.

I am annoyed they never really wrapped anything up for Finn, aside from him finding his tribe but not actually sticking with them. The movie kept throwing out curve balls to do with his story and character but never had them either caught or thrown back, so his story is still all over the place.

Would I want to see John Boyega return? I guess yes if he does return with Jannah and maybe even Lando, I have a theory on where that will go, because at least it is a newer direction for the character.

Kylo Ren:

I never liked Kylo Ren or Adam Driver, I have never really seen the appeal in either of them and believe Kylo is simply Darth Vader-lite. I’ve always hated that mask and even now it has notable cracks I still don’t like it. I just feel as though the mask was always Vader’s thing and Kylo’s is the fact that he has that lightsaber sword.

That being said, once again the most notable plot point in this movie is the relationship between Kylo and Rey. The chemistry is quite easily there, I do see these two as a couple in another reality and Daisy Ridley and Adam Driver do sell that rather well.

I did come to enjoy their shared force communication in this movie particularly as it was noted to have some interesting side-effects, most notably the ability to take something from the other’s location. I audibally gasped when Kylo snatched that necklace from Rey and that’s how he knew where she was, similarly how when Rey accidentally destroyed that plinth with Vader’s helmet on and it fell at Kylo’s feet he knew she was in his quarters.

My favourite example of this go was at the very end when Rey was facing off against Palpatine and Ben (Kylo reformed) was facing off against the Knights of Ren and Rey was able to psychically transport her lightsaber to him. I can’t remember if it was Luke or Leia’s she gave to him but I do hope it was Leia’s because him fighting with his mother’s lightsaber would have been so awesome.

Speaking of his reform, I found that to be the sloppiest moment in the movie. I really did not understand the quickness in which he went from wanting to turn Rey to the dark side to denouncing the Sith altogether. Now yes, your mother dying is going to be a turmoil for any individual and seeing the ghost of your father, because yes Han Solo returns in this movie, is going to throw you...but there was no real internal struggle and it just seemed again very rushed and the almost as if the writers were saying “Well the audience know this is where we were always going to take the character so there’s no need for the internal struggle to be shown”.

Also, I understand that he didn’t exactly have time for a costume change and merely took off his Kylo Ren armour, but then he merely looked like he was wearing pyjamas in that final battle. I wasn’t expecting an Elsa level transformation or anything but something a bit more...more.

Then when it did come to Ben joining Rey in battling Palpatine and Palpatine, quite strategically in my opinion, sent him flying down that pit, the fact that he anticlimactically climbed up the pit I originally thought was the movie saying “See a Skywalker rose” similarly to how The Dark Knight Rises had Batman climbing up that cliff-face. But no, apparently the “Rise of Skywalker” was nothing to do with an actual Skywalker.

The most confusing part of this movie though is what exactly happened at the very end of the movie when Ben died and Leia faded away at the same time. Leia’s “last great act” was to stop Ben from battling Rey, this seemingly caused her to die. However, when Ben died, Leia faded. So are we presuming that somehow Leia enthralled her son to be good? If so, was his redemption a fake? Also if so, did Rey technically kiss Leia not Ben?

Yes, this kiss was the biggest anti-climax in the entire trilogy. Everyone has been pushing for a “Reylo” coupling and it finally happens only for Ben to die immediately after, it was pure and simple fan service.

Poe Dameron:

I have never really cared for Poe, nothing particularly against him or Oscar Isaac but I just felt as if the character was always trying too hard to be Han Solo and failing every time.

This movie not only emphasised how much of a waste Poe had been, but also why you should always be careful what you wish for because it may happen and it may transpire that you are not as attuned to it as you thought you were.

I am talking about Poe now being the General of the Resistance after Leia’s death and effectively leading the Resistance to their doom. I remember when Han was made a general during Return of the Jedi and while he was also slightly incompetent he at least learned from mistakes whereas Poe...got so many people killed he should have been court-marshalled.

Every action he made in this movie seemed to be wrong and he was continuously pulled up on it by everyone, Finn, Rey, Chewie, even 3PO. I quite liked the concept of doing that lightspeed jumping that apparently you’re not supposed to do because it reminded me of Guardians 2, but they weren’t supposed to do it there either and that wasn’t at the consequence of damaging the Millennium Falcon!

Also, they made a blatant reference that Poe had a previous lover in Kari Mitchell’s character, but the only problem with this is we’ve never heard anything about Poe’s history prior to the events of this trilogy so we are supposed to care about it now? When the trilogy is about to end?

Had we heard from episode 1 about hints of Poe’s history and maybe a lost or abandoned lover then seeing their reunion here may have held some weight...but with what we got it didn’t work.

I don’t even know where we left Poe aside from obviously being a war hero for being the leader of the Resistance. But unlike Rey who has gone off to do her own thing and Finn who has the potential to be going off with Jannah and her tribe, Poe doesn’t really have a place.

Even BB-8, who seems to be Poe’s main concern throughout this movie, goes off with Rey, so where does that leave him?

General Leia:

As I said in my non-spoiler review, it is such a shame that this is the lasting impression fans will have of General Leia. I am not saying they should have altered Episode VIII to include Leia’s death but there was something so disjointed about her involvement in this movie.

That being said, I did enjoy some of her lines to Rey at the start of the movie and they did try very hard to make it flow with the story despite clearly being lines meant for another situation. I liked all her pearls of wisdom to her about trusting droids and being comfortable with who you are.

However, this movie’s greatest insult is definitely showing a flashback to Luke and Leia training as Luke was clearly Leia’s Jedi Master at some point after Episode VI.

Now yes, we were shown a de-aged Luke and Leia so they looked slightly like how they did during Episode VI, and it was dark enough a setting that they didn’t look as bad as Leia did at the end of Rogue One, but that one scene sparks a great controversy with this whole trilogy.

Why the heck haven’t we ever had a follow-up movie to Episode VI that simply focuses on Luke, Leia and Han? A movie that shows Leia being trained as a Jedi would have not only satisfied a lot of movie-centric fans curiosities but also would have set up this trilogy slightly better with maybe showing Leia pregnant with Ben and why Luke chose to isolate himself, why Leia and Han’s marriage broke down. Something just to give fans of the original trilogy closure and then introduce these new characters rather than having the original trilogy and new trilogy all try to co-exist and wrap up at the same time.

Also, I swear in this one scene we saw Luke’s lightsaber was green so why were both his and Leia’s lightsabers blue when Rey had them?

Then also with her actual death, as I said with Kylo felt rather anti-climactic and weird. I understand fully that Carrie Fisher’s passing was a complete shock for everyone and so they had to work with what they had, but not only does it simply feel like Leia getting into bed and then death, you have Maz expositioning it before it happens...is that why Maz is back? To be the exposition of the movie?

Again I love Lupita and understand why she was cast in Episode VII because she was the hot ticket to have back then, but she doesn’t do anything in these movies.

I did appreciate her line of “Goodbye princess”, that did spark some emotion that wasn’t annoyance or rage and was sadness for both Leia and Carrie Fisher so the movie got me there.

Lando Calrissian:

Billy Dee Williams as Lando was one of my favourite things about the original trilogy. I loved how similar he was to Han but while Harrison Ford had an almost smouldering rogue quality about him, Lando was suave and cool with this real jazzy vibe about him.

Even seeing him back it was a bright spot in this movie, however, I don’t think he was utilised as well as he could have been. After Leia died and Poe was gathering the Resistance for a mission debrief, Lando looked like that old war veteran that was simply there to lend advice, when in actuality he was the one with the most experience, who fought the Empire once before and won so why wasn’t he saying what was what?

Then at the very end when everyone is celebrating the victory, Lando randomly comes across Jannah who asks where he’s from and he responds “Gold System” while she responds with not knowing where she is from and so he says “Let’s find out”. I don’t know if they’re trying to go down the route that Lando is Jannah’s father maybe but they are definitely pushing for either a spin-off or some form of continuation to this particular story.

Now again, I liked Jannah here, and feel a movie focusing on Lando, Jannah and even Finn would work. But it was so randomly placed at the very end of the movie that it just seemed like the writers had no idea what to do with either character.

Also I did not like the fact Lando never had a scene with Leia in the movie, just simply one scene where the two reminisce about old times or talk about Han would have been good but instead we had another Star Wars alum return and not interact with anyone else from the alumni cast.

The Resistance:

I mentioned the Resistance a bit with most characters but here is my problem with them as an organization, they are not organised! The Resistance was formed in Episode IV to thwart the Empire, they destroyed two Death Stars and seemingly saw the death of the Emperor...when in actuality the Emperor survived and simply rebranded the Empire into the First Order so they failed on their main mission.

Then for the last three movies what exactly have they achieved? Because I cannot point out one successful thing this organisation has managed to achieve on their own. Rey was the one to kill the Emperor which saw the end of the First/Final Order, all the Resistance did was provide cannon fodder.

Also, when Lando finally arrived with the cavelry, I don’t know if they were trying to imply that some of the voices you heard were cameos from the shows but again, I don’t watch the shows. I know I saw both John Williams and Lin Minuel Miranda in cameo roles during the big air battle which I felt were both good and bad elements because they were so random but all in all, I have never been a fan of the Resistance.

Also Greg Grunberg, I like the actor, I liked him on Heroes, I know he is friends with JJ Abrams...but there is doing your friend a solid, and then there is making your movie more pointless then it needs to be. He was unnecessary and I’m glad he died.

Villains:

Okay so I have labelled this section “Villains” because I don’t think even they know what they’re calling themselves anymore. They were originally the First Order, then they changed their name to the Final Order, this got laughs from my audience because it was so stupid. Then Palpatine tried creating his new Empire which lasted all of 5 minutes...there was no order to this First, Final or Any Order.

As for Palpatine himself, his return was very abrupt as it was right at the start of the movie. I did enjoy the atmosphere they set up around the villain with the lightning and the desolate wasteland but what was with that fecking crane? I get he has no legs but the result was him looking more like a Dementor than the all-powerful formidable Emperor Palpatine.

Also, he mentioned how “The dark side of the force grants powers unthinkable”...which still doesn’t explain how he is still alive or reborn after being thrown down that tunnel in Episode VI.

Again, the reveal of him having Rey as a granddaughter came out of nowhere because we never knew Palpatine had a family, despite the fact Palpatine is one of few characters we have seen throughout the first two trilogies.

I did appreciate them establishing Ben and Rey’s bond as a type off life force energy which Palpatine utilised to rejuvenate himself. Although why he didn’t rejuvinate himself back to human form rather than the wrinkled old man is beyond me.

In regards to the First Order, the reveal that General Hux was in fact a spy giving secrets to the Resistance was again laughable, just him revealing “I’m the spy!” was enough to make me laugh.

Again Domnhall Gleeson is a good actor but this role has been so extreme and overdramatic that it has become a cartoon rather than a legitimate threat.

As for Richard E. Grant, people are really quick to insult Idris Elba for Cats but I think the actor who needs a word with his agent is Richard because, as much as he loves this franchise, he wasn’t quite enthralled in the world and rather seemingly playing the part of someone who is lucky enough to be on the movie.

My final point is on the fact that Palpatine claimed he is the culmination of all the Sith, meaning he has all the souls of all the past Sith in him. This is quite reminiscent to me of the Dark Swan arc in Once Upon a Time where Emma, and later Hook, became the Dark One and was able to summon all the past Dark Ones.

However, unlike Rey who was able to hear the voices of all the past Jedi, we only heard two past Sith Lords voices in Vader and Snoke. I know it wouldn’t be right to provide new voice clips for most of them because Christopher Lee, who portrayed Dooku, is sadly dead, but just to hear Darth Maul, Dooku and even General Grievous along with Vader and Snoke would have been a nice touch.

Meanwhile on the Jedi side you apparently had the voices of Qui-Gon Jinn, Obi-Wan both young and old, Mace Windu, Luke Skywalker, Yoda...and then you have a bunch of others who I don’t know because I don’t watch Clone Wars or Rebels so I didn’t recognise any of them.

Future:

Alright so where does the future of this franchise leave us...well we know that Disney+ is currently making waves with The Mandalorian and will soon to be hopefully making more waves with the Cassian Andor and Obi-Wan Kenobi shows, however in terms of movies I am not sure where they go from here.

I do feel the most logical step is to focus on rebuilding during the hiatus and then coming back stronger.

Overall I rate the movie a 5/10, this movie was a complete hot mess. There were no solid great moments and aside from some great lightsaber battles between Reylo as well as some okay space battles towards the end of the movie, but the story was practically non-existence and there was no finality that the end of an era requires.

So that’s my spoiler review for Star Wars: Episode IX - The Rise of Skywalker, what did you guys think? Post your comments and check out more Movie Reviews as well as other posts.

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autisticdindjarin · 5 years

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OC: Tacee de’Val, The Alliance Commander

Main Tag

Class Story; Chapter One

Beginning the Jedi Knight class story at age 19, Tacee was careful to keep her image of the perfect Jedi, even though she knew she wasn’t. She mostly did this by mimicking other Jedi that she admired - Satele Shan, Orgus Din, Bela Kiwiiks, etc.

The Jedi are the only family she’s ever known, as she was given to the Order at eight months old. She was trained from a young age by some of the finest blademasters who saw her potential in combat, and the way the Force moved around her, as if she would one day play a role in the fate of the galaxy.

But a perfect Jedi isn’t what Tacee is. She curses, she’s brash, she’s outspoken, she enjoys fighting, and she enjoys sex - and these are the things she hides about herself from the public image. She has a private one time fling with Doc and is over it, but accidentally breaks his heart in the process.

She finds a kindred spirit in Master Orgus Din, who takes her as a padawan during her trials. Once she’s made a Knight, she still stays close to her master, who she’s personally adopted as a father figure. His death on Alderaan hits her hard.

Class Story; Chapter Two

During her time on Hoth, Tacee falls hard for fellow Jedi Leeha Narezz, but it’s not something she can act on. Her and Leeha become close friends, and that makes it even harder, and when she loses track of her on the Emperor’s ship, she loses her focus.

After her mind was taken over by the Emperor, she pushed away any thoughts relating to the trauma, determined now more than ever to be the perfect Jedi, since she had failed so extraordinarily in falling to the Dark Side. She hurt people, and she can’t quite forgive herself for that.

Class Story; Chapter Three

Tacee falls through the cracks, accidentally finding herself in situations that are bad and accidentally making the best of them - people think she’s great, that she’s supposed to be this great Jedi hero - but she just sees herself stumbling at every turn.

Fighting Leeha and then finding out about her affair with Jomar Chul is the first taste Tacee gets of heartbreak - at this point she’s 21 years old and just trying to do her best, and feeling like it’s never good enough. Adding Scourge to the mix, she’s a mess. Such a mess at one point she unsuccessfully tries to seduce her Sith Lord roommate.

By some miracle, the Sith Emperor falls to her blade, and she briefly channels the dark side to do it. It terrifies her, and she nearly loses it when Satele applauds her success as being an upstanding Jedi.

Ilum

Tacee is captured by Darth Malgus’s forces while on Ilum. Fearing the loss of one of their most talented and well-known Jedi, the Republic calls in SIS operatives to coordinate with Havoc Squad for a rescue mission. Theron Shan heads the operation.

After her rescue, Tacee and Theron become close friends.

Makeb

Makeb is a breath of fresh air for Tacee after the Battle of Ilum. She thinks she’s going in for a somewhat easy mission, but it’s worth it when it turns into a catastrophe because of one extraordinary woman - Lemda Avesta.

They see each other a lot after Makeb’s destruction. Tacee often holos her for company or science questions relating to a mission. They meet up on Nar Shaddaa from time to time.

Attack on Korriban/Tython

The Republic calls in its heroes for the Attack on Korriban, and Tacee is part of the squad sent to infiltrate the Sith Academy. The same squad is quickly sent when news comes of the Attack on Tython.

Manaan/Rakata

With Theron Shan, the squad investigates the mysterious circumstances around the attacks, and later they meet up with Theron on Manaan. They soon run into an Imperial squad led by a Sith Lord, and join forces against Darok and Arkous, the betrayers of the Republic and the Empire respectively. Here, Tacee first meets the Lord Wrath, Chiado, and they begin their long bickering journey of being frenemies.

Rishi

Tacee reunites with the ghost of her former master, Orgus Din, and learns to let go of her feelings of guilt and be healed from the psychological trauma the Emperor had inflicted on her. Letting go of her master as well, as both a teacher, a friend, and father-figure, is another trial, but she finds another father-figure thrown into her life; This time, her biological father, Torazz de’Val, a kind middle-aged Togruta who never knew he had a daughter. Tacee is wary of him at first, but the two of them quickly bond as they navigate their relationship.

She is bowled over by her sudden realization of the extent of her feelings towards Theron when she learns he’s been taken prisoner by the Revanites. She comes through Sky Ridge Island like a storm, tearing through Revan-aligned Sith and Jedi to reach her goal - Theron Shan’s safety. When he’s recovered, Theron barely convinces her that he doesn’t need to be carried, because yes, she is fully capable of swinging him over her shoulder and lugging him around.

A kiss is shared before departure to Yavin 4, but neither of them are sure what it means yet. Their friendship was one of many years at this point, and neither of them wanted to lose that if things didn’t work out.

Yavin 4

On Yavin 4 many things are established. One is that Tacee and Chiado are incapable of not butting heads on any subject available. Two, that Darth Imperius is actually pretty cool for a Sith. Three, Theron Shan now has the effect of making her giddy just by mention of his name.

Tacee is the one who strikes down Revan after Chiado is grievously injured by him, and the one who guides his dark and light sides back together. She’s also the one that drags Theron Shan into his own ship for some exclusive time together, and just barely manages not to snicker at the Grandmaster’s speech about Tacee upholding Jedi ideals immediately after.

Ziost

Tacee arrives solo on the planet, leaving her companions safe in ship for their own safety, but determined to tear through the planet as much as she had the Revanite stronghold in order to find Theron. Unfortunately, she is injured, and Lana, Theron, and the recently recovered Lord Wrath find her.

Ziost is hell. Every possession is a flashback to Tacee’s own time under the influence of the Emperor, and she does everything in her power to help Master Surro. The destruction of the planet devastates her, and she finds herself on the doorstep of Theron Shan’s apartment not long after, where they take comfort in each other until Tacee is summoned to Darth Marr’s flagship.

Continuing Story

Tacee eventually becomes the Commander of the Eternal Alliance, while carrying around an old enemy in her mind.

TBC

Physical Traits

Tacee is a big bunch of Togruta, standing at 6′1 - without including her montrals. She’s heavily muscled with a bulky frame, built for pure strength. She has red orange lekku and montrals that are heavily striped white, and circular white markings on her face. Her eyes are a light green that are often mistaken for blue.

Relationships

Past Flings: Doc, Garrede Dyverrak, Ghewa Aje, Fenn Bry, and Lemda Avesta

Current Relationship: Theron Shan

Weapons

Tacee wields one lightsaber. She’s gone through three different ones - A pink and yellow one during her class storyline, a fire orange from Ilum to Ziost, and now wields a lime green saber

Talents

Tacee is exceptional at Force leaping, and nearly specializes in it. It’s her number one tactic in her combat, jumping from one area to another to face enemies from all sides.

Force Shields are another talent that Tacee excels in, and overall shielding as well, whether it’s with the Force, or protecting others by using herself as a shield.

Personality and Mentality

I see Tacee as having Autism! She likes to flirt a lot, and though she is sometimes very bad at it, she’s not aware at how bad it is. She lives with PTSD after her possession by the Emperor, and anxiety. She often worries about living up to other’s expectations.

Otherwise, she speaks her mind, is brash, and can come off as rude when she’s attempting to be sarcastic. She is extremely focused on helping those who deserve it, but she’s quick to judge who doesn’t.

#swtor spoilers #jedi knight storyline #tacee #oc: tacee

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sirbadgerduke · 5 years

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Retrospective Thought: Top Ten Games of The Year 2018

Oi! 2018 was pretty good year games, innit? Maybe not as consistent as 2017 for quality, but I reckon it’s still a damn great year! Anyway, now that all the other Game of The Year stuff has happened, I think I’m going to do my own list, which I’ve done for a couple of years now. Well, let’s get to it, which games blew my socks and which 3 particularly royally blew my socks off!

10) Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth - Hacker’s Memory(PS4/PSVita) Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth is basically Discount Persona with a Pokemon battle system(only with a cooler way of switching moves via a skill bank of sorts). The story, however, is not a follow up from the previous title but a companion story of sorts. You play as a Hacker whose account has been stolen. You embark on a journey to regain your account and to stop the person responsible for the whole thing. The story pretty much opens up as you progress, taking some of the previous game’s plot with a dash of “Alternative point of view” to boot. Hacker’s Memory has it’s downtime moments, sometimes it can feel like a real grind, but leading a team of your suited up fave digimon has never felt better, definitely worth picking up if you like Persona and Digimon!

9) Dragonball Fighter z(PS4/XBO/PC/NS I enjoyed both Xenoverse games, they aren’t perfect and the RNG is real ass with a side of cancer thrown in. People clamored for a new Dragonball Z flavoured, bonafide fighting game. ArcSys delivered on that front, and boy did they really deliver the goods! The gameplay is frantic, epic and balls to wall bonkers. It’s easy to pick up if you just want to fight around with your favourite characters, whilst also in-depth for those seasoned fighting game maniacs. The gameplay is top tier and an absolute pleasure to play. Pick it up if you’re a Dragonball Z, Fighting Game or both fan!

8) Darksiders III(PS4/XBO/PC) I love the Darksiders franchise. I enjoyed the first game, adored the second one, and now I really like the third iteration. Is it perfect? No, is it the best one? Not by a loooong shot, but the game is a blast to play. Following on from the previous game’s style, it’s a companion piece that follows Fury’s side of things during War’s trial at the Charred Council. Fury is one of the Four Horsemen, badasses that do badass shit when and how they see fit. While the first one is a more Character Action experience with Zelda-isms, the second being a reverse of that with a Open World and Dungeon styley, the third, is a smaller game that focuses more on a “Metroidvania” like world with combat feeling a tad like Soulsborne stuff. The bosses are all a treat to fight(well, except one), the world is aesthetically gorgeous despite not exactly being on GoW or Red Dead’s level. Pick it up, give it a whirl and enjoy!

7) Yakuza 6: Song of Life/Yakuza Kiwami 2(PS4) I can write a whole retrospective on this series, I absolutely adore this franchise with all my heart. Yakuza follows the life of Kazuma Kiryu; a form Yakuza big dog trying to live an ordinary life with his adopted daughter Haruka. Now, the story is a rollercoaster of badass moments, heartwrenching scenes with a dash of twists and comedic parts in all equal splendor. The combat, is easily a star alongside the story, solid, fun and very in-depth yet easy to learn. Kiwami 2 is a remake of the second game whilst the sixth game is the final part ot Kazuma’s story. I’d wholeheartedly recommend these titles to those who either have just got into the whole franchise or are veterans to the Yakuza Franchise. Kiwami 2 is also a remake of possibly the worst part of the series. Pick it up if you love great crime dramas with twists and turns around every exposition dumping corner!

6) Hollow Knight(PS4/XBO/NS/PC) Now, I know it came out in 2017, but I only played this game this year, so it still counts for my list. Hollow Knight is a Metroidvania with a Dark Souls-esque style of worldbuilding and story. The gameplay is a pleasure, and the each zone, each area is both unique to one another yet seamlessly interconnected and not too “wild” in the vein of being out of place. The bosses are both horrifying and cute, same goes for the enemies and NPCs you encounter in the game. The music, the art design and the gameplay are all fantastic, quite possibly my favourite indie title since Pyre. You play as a wanderer that happens upon Hollownest, a small, almost empty little town of critters, below lies a dungeon thwart with danger and a terrible past. Any further, and we are heading into spoiler territory. I hugely implore you to pick this little treat up, you will not regret it at all.

5) Fist of The North Star: Lost Paradise(PS4) From the developers of Yakuza, comes an adaptation of a fantastic little Manga called Fist of The North Star, basically Mad Max but with anime martial arts. You play as Kenshiro, the Successor of Hokuto Shinken, a martial arts style of deading folks. While not a completely panel by panel adaptation and more of a single one shot story using the world and characters of Fist of The North Star, the Yakuza style gameplay really lends itself for adaptations like this. The story could easily be just fanfiction, they really made it something more than fanfiction level fanservice. It’s a really good single story set in it’s own little world. The gameplay holds itself perfectly for this adaptation, with a few added crazy kill techniques that you can level to deal out more damage. Buy it if you are either looking to get into this series, or are a long time fan.

4) Super Smash Bros:Ultimate(NS) The flagship “Not a Fighter” fighting game that started as a Nintendo Legacy series brawler to becoming a huge flagship of a video game legacy brawler. I’ve always adored Super Smash, even the previous one(though it’s not particularly jam-packed with content). Ultimate brings back EVERYONE and even includes some newcomers(Who really should’ve been here since at least Brawl), more content than you can imagine, a reimagined classic mode, a new single player and a fun little collecting system called Spirits, this game is a fanservice love letter, and a big one too. It is worth the price, pure and simple, buy it now!

3) Monster Hunter World(PS4/XBO/PC) I only ever played the first one to completion, tried to get into the 3DS titles and thought “I don’t like it” despite loving the shit out of the monster designs. On a whim, decided to World at launch, and boy was that a fantastic decision. I fucking love this game, from the story(simple but fun) right down to how the monsters are programmed to be as naturally animalistic as they’ve ever been, all the while adding in some old and some new beasties to hunt!. I’ve had fun with friends, on my own, raged at certain monsters(LOOKING AT YOU, BEHEMOTH) and spent hours farming for the material to craft weapons and armors I really want. I’ve spent over a hundred years into this game, and will gladly spend the same in the upcoming expansion! Get this game NOW, you will love it, I assure you!

2) Marvel’s Spiderman(PS4) Spiderman is one of my favourite heroes, he’s grounded, he’s tragic, and he feels like a real person. It would stand that a game based on him, would’ve been a huge success(Spidey 2 was great!, Ultimate and Web of Shadows were really good! The others? Eeeeeeehhhhh not so much). Developed by Insomniac, this return to form for the webslinger is a helluva return! The combat is fluid, fun and fantastic, the story is great whilst the City That Never Sleeps is a nice if pricey expansion. But the webslinging, the bread and butter of any Spidey game, is quite possibly the best, better even than Spidey 2 in my honest opinion. The story is superb, and when *that* scene happens? It will hit you like a ton of bricks. The bosses? Probably the best of this year honestly. This is a must buy for any spidey fan, marvel fan, hell, superhero fan of all kinds!

1) God of War(PS4) Usually, a soft re-imagining can be as well received as a Gary Glitter Comeback Tour, but this one? Boy oh boy, this game is a masterpiece. You play as Kratos, older and wiser since his temper tantrum trilogy in Greece, he’s a father again and now must take the BOI on a journey. I really don’t want to spoil it any further for people who haven’t played it yet. The combat is a great revamp overall(I miss doing juggling combos but eh, the rest of the game is steller), hard hitting and brutal like you’ve known before whilst adding a more personalised flair to it. The soundtrack and audio design is steller, as well as the voice acting. Boy oh boy, the story is fantastic too, following a journey of growth(not just for Atreus) and facing one’s demons, it truly is the highlight of the game. More boss variety could’ve been added, maybe a little more enemy variety too, but these are just minor critiques by the most minor of things. Get this game now, you will enjoy it!

So that’s my list, yes i didn’t include Red Dead 2, haven’t completed it, but I’d gladly do a review once I’m done. Another good year of games has ended, roll on the new year, with another batch of stellar games(I’M LOOKING AT YOU, RESIDENT EVIL 2 REMAKE, DMCV AND HOPEFULLY GHOST OF TSUSHIMA!). Hope you have a happy new years, and had a great Christmas!

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honestsycrets · 6 years

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Eddic [Mythology of All Races Vol. 2] Chp IV: Odin

A few personal notes for me to keep in mind. This is all from the book, Eddic: Mythology of All Races by Matthew MacCollogh. Nothing is outside of this. Furthermore I’m sure there is content in here that can be debated.

Other names:

Wodan wōd: mad

OHG woutan

OS wodan

AS Woden

ON O penn ON: poetic frenzy

Furious Host (?)

Other Norse Names:

Vafud

Vegtam (Wanderer)

Gangler (Traveler)

Ómi (Noist one)

Vidforull (Fartraveler).

Viator Indefessus (Unwearied traveler) by Saxo.

Heimskringla (The far have travelled) by Snorri.

Galga Valdyr (Lord of the Gallows)

Hanga-tyr (God of the hanged).

Hnikar (Thruster).

Karl af berge (The man of the mountain).

Rostarus.

Drauga Drottim (Lord of Ghosts).

Valgautr (God of the Slain).

Val-Fadir because ‘all that fall in battle are sons of his adoption. Oski Synir (Snorri)

Valkjosandi (Chooser of the Slain) in (Kormaks-saga).

Hropt.

Fjolnir (The many shaped).

Bolverk.

Sigfadir (Father of Victory)

Sigtyr (God of Victory).

Hertyr (God of hosts).

Heryan (Leader of hosts).

Herfadir (Father of hosts).

Valfadir (Father of the slain).

Hnikarr (Spear-lord).

Biflindi (Spear Brandisher).

Gautatyr (God of the Gauts).

Saxagod (God of the Saxons).

Aldafadie (father of men).

Grimnir (the hooded one).

Hrafna-god (Raven god).

All Father and patron of aristocracy, warriors and skalds.

Hyndlujod, Freyja says he gives hold, Hermod helm and coat of mail, to Sigmund a sword, and triumph to some.

Oaths were sworn by Sigtyr’s Mountain, his city was Sigtun.

Odin drinks wine.

The first drink is to Odin ‘for victory and power.’

The other gods are Odin’s people as he rules all things.

Grants men their wishes.

War god

Weapons and armour to heroes.

Dog was given his spear.

Heroes valour, triumph and treasure.Women and giantesses made victims by his runes.

Caused the first war between the Aesir and Vanir.

‘He hurled his spear on the host, and war then came first into the world.’ (Voluspa).

Also pisses off princes, kings and causes strife.

Provoked battle of Harald and Ring.

Pisses off easily when victory is given to the wrong places such as Brynhild and Agnar (Svefnthorn).

Joins in battle and has favourites, so people favour him.

Great warrior.

Weapons reference Odin and his Valkyries.

More prominent than Thor.

Likewise his spear is of better 'culture’ than Thor’s hammer.

Ravens haunting the battlefield equate to him.

Spear Gungnir made by dwarfs and given to him by Loki.

All other weapons were useless against it.

God of poetry, master of magic, knowledge.

Odin gives poets their words by taking poetic mead from the giants.

Gave Starkad the art of poetry and composition of spell.

Appears in dreams before great battles to give some victory and invite others to him. (Snorri)

Spoke magic and charms to the Volva but did not know Balder’s fate-- had to seek knowledge from her.

Struck Rinda with a bark of runes and drew her into a frenzy.

Loki accuses him of dressing as a witch and working charms in Samsey.

Obtained a magic wand gambantein and learned a language from the dead in Hlebard in Harbardsljod.

Cures a lame horse with charm or rune.

Knows magic songs bringing sickness, sorrow, stop arrows, produce fetters and blunt weapons, neutralizer dangerous roots where runes are written and reflect the danger, remove hatred, calm wind, aid friends in a fight, make the hanged speak, quench fire, give knowledge of the gods and elves and win love.

Takes form of a ferryman, a servant or peasant, snake, eagle.

Woke the dead and sat under hanged men for knowledge. (Ynglinga-saga)

Could control fire, sea and wind by his words.

Knew of buried treasure, runes to open earth, mountains, rocks and mounds. Could also bind these.

May understand the language of birds.

Runes

May have created runes in Havamal.

Coloured them perhaps with blood.

Could have obtained the wounds by hanging on Yggdrasil and wounding himself by his spear as an offering to himself. The runes may have fallen down from the tree.

Consults Mimir.

Made runes of draught from head of Heithdraupnir and horn of Hoddrofnir.

Mimir may be a waterspirit with his well beneath a root of Yggdrasil.

Wisdom and understanding are stored under Yggrasil

Loss of his eye! Mimir withheld a drink from the well until he was given.

Odin’s eye is hidden in the well where Mimir drinks of the pledge each day.

Could perhaps be Odin’s uncle, son of Bolthorn who is the father of Bestla who is Odin’s mother.

More Wisdom

Drinks daily from the cool waves of Sokkvabekk with gold cups with the Goddess Saga (Frigg?)

Saga is a female water elf.

Love affair (?).

Sought to match his knowledge with the giant Vafthrudnir. Proved himself wiser.

“What did Odin speak into Balder’s ear before he was burned on the pyre?” A riddle used with both th giant and King Heidrik during Yule.

Initially a spirit of god of wind or dead as the past wandered in the wind. Brings wind with his wagon.

Gives fair winds to sailors as said by Freyja in Hyndluljod.

The storm stills when Odin boards Sigurd’s ship.

May have first been worshipped in Gotland.

Is a traveler.

Rides a white or black horse with a wide brimmed hat, staff and hounds.

Snorri: rides with helmet, birnie and speak Gungnir at Ragnarok.

Also known to ride Sleipnir. The eight legged grey mare of Loki’s lineage with Svadilfari.

Rides her to Urd’s well daily.

To consult Volva in Niflhel about Balder’s dreams.

To offer random for Hel after his death.

Names stemming from appearance:

Sidhottr (with broad hat).

Harbard (grey beard).

Skidskegg (long beard).

Misc about appearance

A man of amazing height (Saxo).

Draupnir, the ring made by Sindri the dwarf was given to Odin by his brother.

Burned with Balder’s pyre and Balder sent it back to him from Hel.

Animals of Odin.

Munnin (Memory) and Huginn (Thought) are sent at day break around the world and return at evening to bring news to him.

Whisper what they have heard.

All Ravens are birds of Odin.

Wolves are also his: Geri ‘The Ravener’ and Freki ‘The Glutton’

Shares food and wind with him.

Sleipnir is taken to Hel, Jotunheim, etc.

Challenged Hrungnir that his was better than Gullfaxi.

Hrungnir chased him into Asgard where Thor dealt with him.

Yggdrasil

‘Ygg’s Horse’ Ygg being “The terrible”.

Askr Yggdrasils (the ash of Yggdrasil or of Odin’s steed).

Odin hung for nine nights in Havamal.

Stabbed himself with his own spear as well.

King Vikar needed to sacrifice himself so that his fleet might pass through great storms.

Starkad (Odin’s foster son) created a death akin to Odins for Vikar.

Harbard

Appears as a ferryman of the dead.

Valhalla

“Souls of those slain by violence go in the Furious Host, and souls of heroes go to Odin in Valhall.” (MacCulloch, 44).

Chosen warriors are einherjar.

Mightiest of warriors are taken to Valhalla as he wants them by their side when Fenrir comes to the seat of the god.

Valhalla lies in Gladsheim, the world of joy.

Valhall is the ‘Hall of the Slain’.

Vingolf is the ‘friendly floor.’

Valkyries

‘Chooser of the Slain,’

However shares the slain with Freyja.

Determine a man’s feyness and awarded victory and took the slain.

Wish-Maidens becausee they carried out Odin’s will.

Corselets sprinkled with blood and sparks fly from their spears.

Sacrifice

Prisoners sacrificed more common in Denmark and Sweden. ‘Odin has you all!’

In response Odin gives some gifts at times.

Descent

The cow Audhumla gave birth to Buri.

His son was Borr who married Bestla.

Bestla was daughter of Bolthorn.

Bestla and Borr had Odin, Vili and Ve.

Children and Love

Frigg.

Wife of Odin, although she was at one point shared with Vili and Ve when they believed Odin would not return.

Frigg offending Odin may have been why he left.

Or perhaps thrown out into exile after the incident with Rinda.

Took her back as his wife when he came back.

Son was Balder

Jord

Son was Thor.

Rinda.

After Balder died, Odin desired revenge. So he spoke to prophets on this and one of these told him a son must be born to him by Rinda. As a soldier, he gained her father’s favour but not Rinda. As a smith he made Rinda made many things but she still refused him. Eventually, he used the bark of runes and claimed to cure her as a maiden skilled in Leecraft.

Has Vali by her (Bous in Eddas).

Seven sisters in Harbardsljod. Allures witches from their husbands.

Linen-White Maid.

Grid

Has Vidarr by her.

Billings Daughter

“Dear to him as life.”

Tried to visit her at night on her request only to find a band of warriors at her home.

Visited her in the morning and found a dog tied to her bed.

“Many maids are fickle.”

Gunnlod, daughter of the giant Suttung.

Penetrated rock with the snout of Rati.

Mead given to him by Gunnlod and he won her over.

‘fettered with the feathers of the bird of forgetfulness (heron) in Gunnlod’s abode, very drunk in the house of wise Suttung.’

Gains knowledge from the mead.

As Bolverk, he slept with her for three nights and received three draughts of mead. He gave the first to Odrorir, second to Bodn and third Son to gain all the mead.

Then turned into an eagle and flew away beck to Asgard.

Gave the mead to the Aesir, who have the ability of composition. Poetic Mead.

Other Children

Heimdall

Bragi

Hod

Skjold

Kings and chiefs (Skjoldings from his son Skjold)

Losses

After killing Otter he had to pay wergild when overcome by Hreidmar.

“In Lokasenna, Odin shows himself frightened for Loki, and it is Thor, not Odin, who silences him.” (MacCullogh, 49)

Source Credit

MacCulloch, John Arnott. The Mythology of All Races: Eddic. Vol. 2, Cooper Square Publ., 1964.

#sy talks #sy's reference #personal notes #notes on odin

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littlebigkaiju · 6 years

Text

Turns out I had a lot to say about Pacific Rim: Uprising

Opening statement: It’s now VERY clear why Guillermo Del Toro has had nothing at all to say about this movie on Twitter. Has it ruined Pacific Rim for me? Nothing could. Has it destroyed the future of this franchise? Almost certainly. No real spoilers in the list of good points, but BEWARE OF SPOILERS IN THE BAD POINTS.

THE GOOD:

Dr Hermann Gottlieb gets arguably the best deal out of all the returning cast. His position in the PPDC at this point is unclear, (research and development?), but he plays a fun, engaging part with a surprising amount of screen time. It’s great for him to have such an important role in this movie despite his separation from Newt, and I honestly loved him.

Liwen Shao. Definitely a character with more depth than I had expected. I really came to like her and her role in the movie.

The new Kaiju designs are GREAT. They’re suitably different than those of the original movie without being a complete departure (there are definitely some familiar themes in Raijin and Shrikethorn).

The Mega Kaiju is terribly underutilised, but he’s wonderful. He turns the tide of battle very quickly and really feels like an unstoppable force.

I WAS RIGHT ABOUT MOUNT FUJI, and this turned out to be an interesting revelation about the Precursors’ plan of action. Very cool, although by the end of the movie I was wishing their plan had succeeded.

THE BAD (SPOILERS EVERYWHERE):

Let’s get this one out of the way: Uprising is a massive “fuck you” to the character development of its returning cast. Pacific Rim holds the distinction of having had an alternative to the Bechdel Test created after it. (It’s called the Mako Mori test – At least one female character who gets her own narrative arc that is not about supporting a man’s story.) Almost unbelievably, Uprising manages to destroy this. The vision and portrayal of Mako in the original Pacific Rim is fantastic. Her motivation is driven by tragedy, as her family was killed during Onibaba’s attack on Tokyo, but she’s incredibly smart (the head of the MK-3 Jaeger restoration project, in fact) and a talented Jaeger pilot in training with a simulation drop to kill score of 51 to 51, something that makes even veteran pilots turn their heads. Not only was Mako in charge of restoring Gipsy Danger to her full glory and installing the chain sword that would become her trademark weapon, she became instrumental in defeating the most powerful Kaiju ever seen, avenging her family and ultimately saving the world. Despite this, she’s a humble and strongly emotional character; a brilliant example of what a strong female character should be. (Strength doesn’t preclude emotion or empathy, but movies like to tell us it should.) I really can’t emphasise enough how important she to this franchise. In Uprising, Mako has become the secretary general of the PPDC – So far, so good. Unfortunately, that’s where the ‘good’ ends for Mako. She’s briefly in contact with her estranged adoptive brother Jake Pentecost to create the impression that they’re making up after some longstanding disagreement, just enough to indicate to the audience that we should care about their relationship. Because the next time we see Mako, she dies in a helicopter crash purely so Jake can have some angst and a reason to take his position in the PPDC more seriously. This REALLY pisses me off. Mako Mori, arguably the most important character in Pacific Rim, is given a screen time of around 5-10 minutes and reduced to nothing more than the victim of the infamous fridge trope in its sequel. Mako deserved better. If she was going to die in this movie she should have been in a Jaeger, fighting to save the world once more. What a travesty of a decision this was.

Though John Boyega plays a good part, it’s painfully, painfully obvious that the character of Jake Pentecost was invented solely for him to have a larger role in the movie, one with a direct link to some of the most heroic figures in the Pacific Rim universe. Given that John became a producer for Uprising, it’s hard not to feel like his ego is the primary factor driving this decision (and, ultimately, the death of Mako Mori, since she’s the only other relative of Stacker Pentecost and the only original pilot to return in this movie). Jake’s manufactured existence causes the audience to question what we know of Stacker, the strict but doting adoptive father of Mako Mori. Given the appropriate time and care, this could have had the potential to be a plot point that would add more depth to Stacker, Jake, and Mako as a family, but as with all the character development in Uprising, it’s rushed. Jake’s relationship with Mako and their father is barely mentioned at all, such that I only know that Jake was inducted into the Jaeger Academy like Mako, but was kicked out of the program for attempting to pilot a Jaeger alone. Jake was either disowned or simply ran away. There’s no more discussion than that, giving us the impression that Stacker Pentecost couldn’t care less that his son was living rough and stealing Jaeger technology to make ends meet while he continued with his duties as a PPDC marshal. None of this adds anything of value to these characters. It simply conflicts with the way Stacker was portrayed in the original movie, tarnishing the legendary reputation that Uprising is otherwise so fond of bringing up.

The characterisation “fuck you” continues with some very poor handling of a villainous Newt. (Oh Newt, buddy, how they’ve wronged you.) It’s not news to most fans that Guillermo Del Toro was toying around with the idea of taking Newt in a villainous direction for the sequel after his repeated exposure to the Kaiju hivemind in the Drift. Ghost Drifting is a known quantity in the Pacific Rim universe; essentially a residual connection outside of the Drift that results in shared thoughts and behaviours. The idea of this being an opening for the Precursors to hijack Newt and use him for their own gain is REALLY interesting and something I was legitimately excited about, but the execution of it here is just plain bad. The reveal of Alice is appropriately creepy, but is left unexplored beyond a singular, unsavoury scene. The implication of it ends up feeling more like Newt betrays all of humanity for the sake of some virtual reality Kaiju sex, rather than because he is being used as a literal puppet by the Precursors, and that’s a pretty awful thing to do to a fandom-beloved character who had more than a small part in saving the world the first time around. He gets a couple of nice scenes with Dr Gottlieb and a small moment with his monstrous Mega Kaiju creation (which smacks of Leatherback’s curiosity about Striker Eureka, minus the personality), and that’s… it. For the rest, he’s treated like shit.

Uprising is also a massive “fuck you” to the world building of the original movie. In Pacific Rim, it was established that the highly pollutant nature of Kaiju Blue meant that Jaeger pilots had to avoid using weapons like swords that would cause bleeding while fighting Kaiju in populated areas. Apparently, no-one gives a shit about this 10 years into the future, despite the fact that we’ve discovered Kaiju Blue is also incredibly explosive. Nope, we’ve got a mace coated in knives, massive machine guns, and chain swords abound. There’s Kaiju Blue everywhere, but who cares?

On the above note, watch Gipsy Danger carefully during the Battle of Hong Kong in the original movie. Her pilots, Mako and Raleigh, take great care not to damage the buildings around them where possible, even stepping over a bridge instead of simply walking through it. Not so in Uprising – Apparently Tokyo’s shiny new skyscrapers (which are only around 10 years old) are all fair game. Jake Pentecost uses Gipsy Avenger’s gravity sling to intentionally pull down a good four or five skyscrapers onto Raijin, for all the good that does, while the pilots of Saber Athena casually drag the Jaeger’s twin swords through the buildings at either side of her for no particular reason.

Likewise, drifting is important… except when it’s not. This movie pushes the idea that it’s easier to form bonds (and thus be Drift compatible) at a younger age, which is why all the new cadets in training are in their teens. They’re not actually meant to be deployed until they’re older – Fine, I’ll buy that. Amara repeatedly fails to successfully drift with anyone in training, making her a very weak contender in the Jaeger Program, but then magically drifts with a total of three other pilots for the battle in Tokyo because… Well, because the plot required it to happen.

As previously mentioned, the character development in this movie is almost non-existent. This hits the new Jaeger pilots especially hard because we get almost no information about their backstories, their training history, etc. so seeing them in action becomes an unknown quantity with little impact. There is a pilot called Jules and I know nothing about her, because Jules is a character who exists to be nothing more than an object for two men to compete and drool over. This is the sequel to the movie that prompted the creation of the alternative to the Bechdel test, everybody. Good job.

Uprising tries very hard to be its own thing, (much to the detriment of the returning cast and the world building of the original), but it just can’t help but lean on the legacy of its predecessor. References to the original movie appear in the form of bargain basement scene reshoots instead of clever nods. There are many, but here’s the worst: Amara lost her family to a Kaiju known as Insurrector, just like Mako Mori, who lost hers to Onibaba when it made landfall in Tokyo. We see this in a flashback when she attempts to drift with Jake, just like when Mako drifts with Raleigh for the first time. And just like Mako, she gets hold of the memory and can’t let go, so the pair of them are thrown out of neural alignment while Jake appears in her memory and pleads for her to stop. At this point we’re not really referencing the original movie so much as remaking it shot-for-shot.

True to the genre, Pacific Rim’s Kaiju had powerful abilities – Flight, electrical discharges, acid spit; things sometimes a step removed from reality but certainly inspired by real creatures. But the Kaiju in Uprising are magic. They can do some very bizarre things that are never given any kind of explanation, like absorbing energy from attacks to send it right back to their Jaeger aggressors. Even more bizarrely, when succumbing to the influence of the Precursors, the drone Jaegers suddenly sprout Kaiju flesh and appendages like glowing Kudzu on speed. We’ve never seen Precursor tech with any level of regenerative capacity, let alone the ability to flash-grow an entire Kaiju from an old sample of a brain, yet this happens and then it’s never referenced again. None of the other Kaiju exhibit abilities like this, so not only is it out of place but it feels like a missed opportunity because it could have been used to great effect for the false scare with the shattered Mega Kaiju at the end of the movie.

The individual designs of the Kaiju are great, but they’re given frustratingly little time to shine on their own and have absolutely no personality to speak of. Raijin gets some nice screen time, but Hakuja and Shrikethorn are barely visible and never really get to feel like a threat despite being Category IV Kaiju (the same as Leatherback and Otachi, who REALLY fuck shit up in Pacific Rim). This is especially disappointing given that they appear only in the last 20 minutes or so of the movie. Even the Mega Kaiju, who is quite magnificent to behold, only shows up for about 5 minutes and gets nothing in the way of special moves or tricks hidden up his sleeve; certainly nothing we didn’t see in trailers. Seriously, if you’ve seen the trailers for this movie, you’ve seen all the Kaiju action.

Both the Kaiju and the Jaegers are weightless. They move far too quickly and unfortunately so does the camera, meaning that fights quickly descend into a sort of mild chaos in which it can be quite difficult to focus on what’s happening. This is in stark contrast to the original, which took great pains to express the sheer weight and volume of Jaegers and their Kaiju foes, and carefully choreographed and framed the action for maximum impact. When Gipsy Danger prepares to fire the rocket on her elbow, the process takes a good few seconds – The moving of armour plating, the ignition of the rocket, the lowering of air brakes and then the swing of the punch. In Uprising, Avenger does all of this in about half a second. There’s no anticipation; blink and you’ll miss it. Likewise, Uprising misses these beats with its Kaiju. There’s a brilliant moment where Bracer Phoenix launches its mace into the side of the Mega Kaiju’s head, (to hilariously underwhelming effect), only for the Kaiju to whip around and shred the Jaeger in a matter of seconds. Had this been a shot in Pacific Rim, the Mega Kaiju would have taken a moment to shake its head, express its displeasure with a roar, and then clamp its jaws around the offending Jaeger. Sadly, this injection of personality and humour is skipped.

Under the persistent control of the Precursors, Newt designs a swarm of small creatures called Rippers who deconstruct Raijin, Hakuja, and Shrikethorn to recombine them into the unnamed Mega Kaiju. There’s no indication of whether the Kaiju are prepared for this, or, like the abused living weapons they truly are, whether they’re actually distressed by having something happen to them that they don’t understand. All we’d need here is for them to fall weirdly still and assume a formation, or to show signs of distress or aggression, and we could get the idea either way. Unfortunately, what we get is somewhere in the middle, so I suppose we can just assume they don’t care. How blank and characterless.

There are plot holes and lost threads all over the place in this movie. Here’s one of my favourites: Hermann requests help from Kaiju biology specialist Newt as he tries to figure out a way to combine Kaiju blood and rare earth metals to create a propellant more powerful than rocket fuel. Newt declines, Hermann despairs… and then somehow figures it out anyway off screen, just in time for the fuel to be used in a Jaeger launch. What?

Similarly, we find out why Obsidian Fury is a rogue Jaeger, but we never get an explanation for who’s responsible for its existence. The inference is that it’s meant to be Newt, but the idea that he somehow used Shao Industries’ automated factories to construct an entire uncommissioned Jaeger without anyone ever noticing is a stretch, to say the least. The same goes for the Rippers.

Ghost Drifting, Part II? This is very minor, but as much as I enjoyed him there’s something odd about Hermann’s characterisation in this movie. He’s not just a mathematician but a really goddamn passionate one, (“Numbers are as close as we get to the handwriting of god.”), but that job just doesn’t exist for him in Uprising. The closest we get is him talking about using a ‘fractal algorithm’ to decode some damaged data. Instead, Hermann seems to be spending his time messing around with Kaiju biology, having discovered that Kaiju blood reacts violently with rare earth metals. I assume we’re meant to be seeing the residual effects of the Drift, but even despite that, taking up the dissection of Kaiju samples just seems like something Hermann would never do, given his sheer distaste for Kaiju biology. (“No Kaiju entrails on my side of the room,” per the first movie; “…when we drifted with that disgusting Kaiju brain,” per the second.)

Tone. Pacing. Both of these are awful. The movie opens with a vague recap of the original, complete with footage lifted directly from it. This is otherwise known as Really Shitty Exposition.

There’s a terrible and wholly unnecessary montage scene with an equally terrible rendition of the Pacific Rim theme as remixed by Patrick Stump… because of reasons. I threw up in my mouth a little.

The movie contains a whole lot of forced Marvel-style humour. Everywhere. That’s not an inherently bad thing but never once does it feel fitting here. In addition to this, a dead meme is shoehorned in because apparently Steven De Knight is a cheap asshole who’d rather fall back on a meme to try for laughs instead of committing to a serious tone for more than 5 seconds at a time. Out of nowhere, one of the cadets is playing the Russian Trololol song on one of the Jaeger’s internal screens during their deployment. What the ever-loving fuck does that have to do with anything? Except for utterly destroying the moment the movie was trying to build?

I really could go on, but I think I’d rather forget the existence of this movie.

#Pacific Rim Uprising Spoilers #PRU Spoilers #Pacific Rim Uprising #I'm gonna have to go ahead and pretend this movie never existed #Strifespeak

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