#the enemy left a character alive after an attack or capturing them

[spotlightstudios]

I'm alive when I shouldn't be. Not that I've been revived or someone took the bullet tor me. I just... shouldn't have survived a specific event, and now it follows me everywhere I go.

[your-absent-father]

~WIP INTRODUCTION~

All the great love stories

Progress: drafting

Genre: darkish romance, kind of everything also

Themes: love, the act of love, who is deserving of love, sacrifice, what is destiny, death, meaningness of death

Tropes: unhinged women, sun and moon couple, himbo male lead, unhappy ending

Content warning: gore, body modification, murder

All the great love stories is a six short story collection about love, tragic love to be exact. The settings change, characters motivations change but the end will always stay the same. You cannot change it. Even if you wanted to.

The short stories:

Villain of the kingdom

Lila Cane was going to die in two days. She was quite fine with that. She had had a good life with highest of highs and lowest of lows. She had experienced power no woman before her had experienced. With that power, she had had enemies more powerful than any man could ever get. Maybe there was a fascination to defeat the woman that killed the king and put so many of the most powerful men to her mercy. She had put up a good fight, one that bards would sing about for next few centuries. Now, as a captured woman of those who bested her, she can now die a villain’s death, like she had always meant to die.

Lila Cane, also known as the "mistress of the night", was the most powerful witch of the kingdom, killing dozens by just one swoop. Now, after the king's youngest daughter defeated her, she awaits for her death in a cage similar where she escaped years before, a castle a king put her in. She was ready to die, and give the new queen, her own half sister, the villain to kill off, until she meets a mysteriously kind guard who takes Lila by suprise.

The sound of gunshots

Someone shot the owner. That was the rumour going around town. Someone shot the owner of the local cabaret club. Just two bullets to the head and chest and he was gone. All of it felt like a Tuesday morning. There were more murders in the town than there were people coming in. Most people wondered why they left the body just to lay there in the sofa that became his resting place. More sensible killers would have gotten rid of the body. Only explanation was that the killer had been alone, and the heavy owner was too much to carry alone. That’s why everyone had come to the same conclusion: The killer was one of the performers.

The cabaret club Mistress is under inverstigation. The owner, sleezy guy whose hands never left a beautiful woman, had been found dead with three bullets trough his head. Every single person had been sure that one of the perfomers, miss Cane, the best singer of that side of the river, being one of the prime suspects. Everyone was sure, except a rookie cop Silas Altman, who has grown fond of Miss Cane. Some might even say that the fondness could lead Mister Altman too far in the world of jazz and vices.

Worst luck of the century

The letter sat on the doorstep with blood on the envelope. It was addressed to the king pin, the biggest the town had seen in centuries. Everyone was sure that it was a warning from the rival gang, warning that they were fighting to take over the city. The king pin already tried to attack them, but the men from the operation were nowhere to be seen. Maybe the war was already starting. People rushed to the kingpin’s office in panic. They feared the future, the war that would happen if the letter was what they feared.

One day, a bloody letter arrives to the most powerful man's office, after a missioin of espionage in his rivals party. Four men and his daughter were suppose to infiltrate into the society, kidnapping the rivals son being the goal. The letter recounts how it all went wrong, resulting to only one of the men being alive, waiting in terror and writing the last warning to his crime family back at home; do not let the daughter back into the family.

Last moment of color

Soulmates have always been real. It was just a normal fact you were taught at school or mentioned at a dinner table. One day you will find your soulmate and you had all the time in the world together, bonded together till their final breath. Lila Cane had always waited for those moments to start, looking at the red string she, like everyone else, had in their finger, that would lead her towards her soulmate. She had been happy, till a timer appeared to her arm.

Lila Cane always loved an idea of soulmates, especially the fact there was someone to her too. All of it changed when a timer appeared to her arm, that quickly became Lila's obsession. She needed to find her soulmate before the clock stopped ticking and she would stop at nothing to do so. Nothing.

Life beyond

People were starving, in every corner of the planet that was left sill holding on to the place that only wished for their death. The areas people could live were getting smaller and smaller, now with too many people to feed, even tough the population had been dropping since ever before. People needed solutions, someone to help in the doom that was waiting for them. The needed someone like the witch in the maze.

While all of earth seems to die, one place in the most deserted place in the earth, looks like nothing has happened. After a group of survivors come to ask for help, they come to see a maze made to keep everyone else out, and a cyborg more than happy to help to help them in.

Hero of the story

Lila Cane couldn't die.

Lila Cane has been locked away in her castle for years. She has been abandoned there for years now, but even without food or nothing else necessary, she is unable to die. So, she is rotting inside her tower, refusing to leave but being unable to die. Luckly, or unlucky to Lila, a young travaller, a bard named Silas Altman, accidently finds the tower and seems not be affected by the spells Lila throws at him.

Tag: WIP: atgls

Say if you want to join the taglist!

[aikoiya]

Gargoyles:

And why it’s a better story about forgiveness, morality, and peace between humans then UT…

1. The Characters and their tragic Backstories…

*In Gargoyles’ Backstory, Goliath’s Clan became the protectors of a group of humans in a tiny castle, but almost all the humans hated/feared the gargoyles and the Princess was pretty ungrateful about their protection (thankfully a few humans liked the gargoyles, including a little boy).

Demona can’t stand how racist and ungrateful the humans are, and wanted to get rid of them all by listening to the Captain’s plan (who ironically, is a human).

But Demona’s attempt to rid of the group of humans by turning them over to their enemies, ended up with the enemy side nearly wiping out her whole clan (except for Goliath, the Main Gargoyles Characters, the eggs and herself).

Demona flew away in shame, after seeing what had happened.

Then Goliath and the other Gargoyles (who thought Demona was dead; they didn’t know about her plan) went after their enemies to avenge their clan and save their kidnapped human allies.

The Princess was taken by the Enemy’s Leader and the Traitorous Captain, Goliath chases after them, while the rest of his Team attack all the kidnappers.

Her Royal Wizard either thinks the Leader killed her and blames the gargoyles for her death or that the Gargoyles had killed her themselves, casting a spell which turns them all into stone permanently (although there is a weird cure for the curse).

Goliath saves the Princess’ life and brings her back to her people.

When the Wizard sees that the Princess is alive, the irrational anger he felt, quickly turns into horror and guilt over what he had done to the beasts that had saved them all.

The Princess, the Wizard, and their tiny kingdom had finally realized how wrong they were about the gargoyles and how unfairly they treated them.

And all it took was for all the gargoyles, but one, to be wiped out.

However, despite their flaws and previous mistakes, both the Princess and Wizard truly deeply regret everything that has happened.

They tell Goliath that they would do anything to try making up for what they had done, and to also repay all the times that the gargoyles had helped them.

Goliath tells them that they can do this, by taking care of the gargoyle eggs.

The Princess promises her people will raise them, as if they were their very own.

Then Goliath tells the Wizard to cast his spell on him, so he can be with his clan.

Demona later returns to see the statues of her lover and what’s left of her clan, blaming the humans for everything (ignoring the fact that what happened was mostly her own fault).

After that night, Demona’s hatred of humanity had only increased (despite making human allies sometimes, like Macbeth).

Centuries later, Goliath and his clan’s spell was broken by the main Villain, Xanatos.

Then they meet their true human ally, Elisa, and the rest is history.

*In UT’s Backstory, both monsters and humans lived on the surface together.

Then a monster absorbs 7 human souls and becomes all powerful.

The humans become quite terrified that monsters can absorb their souls and thus starts a war with the monster kingdom.

When humanity wins, instead of wiping out Asgore’s Kingdom, they sealed them inside of a mountain.

The only way to break the barrier was to use the power of 7 human souls (but they never said the souls had to come from dead humans).

King Asgore and Queen Toriel would have a son named Asriel, then later adopted a human child that fell into their Kingdom named Chara.

Chara later poisoned themselves, so Asriel could take their soul’s power, use it to absorb 6 other souls and free their Kingdom.

But Asriel couldn’t do it, and died as a result.

With both of his precious children dead, an enraged Asgore vowed to start another war with humanity, to make them go extinct.

He tells his people that any humans that fall into the Kingdom must be captured, executed and their souls harvested for him to break the barrier and also ‘become god-like’.

As a result, almost the whole kingdom became blood-thirsty, revenge-crazy, and racist.

And Frisk basically has to act like a completely forgiving and perfect person, in order for the monsters to change their ways.

*In my opinion, the Gargoyles had it a bit worse then Asgore’s Kingdom, yet they still chose to help humanity, instead of getting revenge like Demona.

Because the gargoyles might not be perfect, but they know it wouldn’t be fair to get revenge on the innocent descendants of the ancestors who wronged them.

While their original human allies (before Elisa) were racists and kinda crappy people at first, they feel super guilty over their own mistakes and spend the rest of their lives making up for it.

Almost all of Asgore’s Kingdom don’t truly see how wrong it is to have a war or destroy innocent people (especially children) over what some long dead villagers have done.

And those that do see how wrong it is, don’t do much about it. (Not even Toriel, despite her disgust and her claims to be against the war.)

They basically have a ‘never-my-fault’ kinda attitude.

What makes this even more messed up is that the Kingdom knows that Asgore used to have an adopted human child, yet nobody questions anything about this and everyone is 100% with letting this war happen anyway, despite one of their princes being the same species that they wanna wipe out.

The only few that actually try to HELP Frisk, are an Armless Lizard Kid and ironically the main villain of the story, Flowey/Asriel.

2. The Friendship with the Gargoyles’ Human Ally feels legit…

*When Goliath and the other gargoyles first meet Elisa, her relationship with them is a little bit rocky at first, with Goliath understandingly having some trust issues.

But when Elisa proved to them how loyal and kind she truly is, when she risked her life to protect Goliath, the gargoyles consider her one of them.

Goliath’s and Elisa’s friendship and later romance wasn’t perfect, but it was quite beautiful and healthy.

Elisa always risks her life to help the gargoyles and they risk their lives for her in return.

Elisa is sometimes the voice of reason and they actually listen to her.

Elisa also can sometimes make mistakes as well, but she’s willing to fix them and improve herself through character development.

The gargoyles also make friends with humans besides Elisa.

However the first time Lexington tried to befriend a group of humans called ‘The Pack’, he was betrayed, but he doesn’t ever give up trying.

When Brooklyn was briefly tricked by Demona into thinking humanity is horrible (except for Elisa), he regrets ever listening to her, when she uses a mind control spell on Goliath and Brooklyn helps get his leader back to normal.

When Broadway accidentally shot Elisa by playing with her gun (after he watched a movie), he takes her to the hospital and apologizes… then he tries to get rid of all the new sci-fi guns in New York City… and eventually tells Goliath the truth about who shot Elisa, when Goliath was about to kill the episode’s villain (who had nothing to do with it)…

Fortunately, both Elisa and Goliath forgive Broadway…

And Hudson later makes friends with a blind person.

*Frisk is only able to befriend everyone by acting like a perfect and forgiving little angel; as a result, their friendships with the main characters don’t feel genuine.

They feel fake.

They only like what Frisk pretends to be, not who they truly are.

Papyrus only befriends Frisk despite Frisk being the enemy because he’s desperate for friendship (and popularity).

He’s even willing to befriend Frisk when they’re genocidal, he’s THAT desperate.

But Papyrus is an angel, compared to the other Main Characters, especially his own brother Sans…

I actually liked Sans at first, he probably would’ve been my favorite character.

But then the things he said at MTT Resort happened.

He made a promise to Toriel to watch and protect, but since everything he does is a half-baked effort, he only watches over us, he doesn’t protect… Then to rub salt on the wound, he says that he wanted to kill us on the spot, which he plays off as a joke… He then smugly asks if he did a great job protecting us and says that we haven’t died at all (which usually isn’t true) and CHUCKLES at the idea of Frisk dying!

He doesn’t even do anything to protect Papyrus from Frisk’s genocide, other then another death threat (Papyrus deserves a better brother)!

It unbelievable that there’s no option to tell Toriel the truth, so we can give Sans some kind of karma!

But at least the MTT Resort dinner with him is optional, unlike a befriending session with a certain Fishface…

Undyne is the biggest and most violent racist of the entire kingdom.

She was ungrateful that Frisk saved her life as well as the life of the Armless Lizard Kid, because they’re human.

She also had insulted Frisk, then made fun of Frisk for being a compassionate human child and enjoyed attacking Frisk (considering that she had a big smile during the battle).

She’s only willing to befriend Frisk when Papyrus wounds her pride with Reverse Physiology, and she acts like how she treated Frisk was no big deal after Frisk befriends her.

I honestly thought she was a stoic badass who was only trying to do her job professionally when she was all silent and cold, but during the final battle with her, her personality does a total 180 and she lost me.

But at least she’s honest about NOT being your friend at the start, unlike Lizard Breathe…

Alphys is a stereotypical science nerd character, but with a tragic backstory.

A science experiment to help the kingdom and her people had gone wrong, which creates the Amalgamates and ruins her self-confidence.

So she tricks Frisk into thinking that she’s a hero, with Mettaton’s help.

And of course this plan backfired as well, when Mettaton betrays her, so he can become famous on the surface world with Frisk’s soul.

I’m surprised that nobody saw Alphys as a traitor for ‘helping the human’ or Mettaton as a traitor for ‘trying to escape with the final soul,’ since they’re both stupid enough to act out their plans on live TV.

Alphys is one of the few that actually feels guilty for hurting Frisk and she does apologize, but she doesn’t do anything to TRULY make up for how she treated Frisk and even puts Frisk in danger again by leaving the kid alone with the Amalgamates.

Also much like Papyrus, she’s a bit of an enabler, especially with Mettaton and Undyne.

And Mettaton only feels guilty about almost leaving his fans, instead of hurting a child, but at least he isn’t racist and briefly calls out Alphys on her load of baloney.

Speaking of a load of baloney…

Asgore is kinda similar to Alphys, in that he feels guilty about the terrible things that he’s done.

However, he does terrible things for less selfish reasons then Alphys.

At first it was revenge, but now it’s to keep his kingdom and people hopeful, so they don’t enter a despair coma.

However, he should've stopped at child murder.

It honestly makes him no better then the humans that ended Asriel (cause they thought Asriel killed Chara) even if Asgore feels guilty, cause he probably destroyed families when he killed those kids, like his own family had gotten destroyed.

He also stopped feeling guilty pretty quickly during the Pacifist Ending, even with his wife’s glare…

Toriel acts like she’s different from the rest of the monsters, but she does have one thing in common with them.

She thinks that she truly has done nothing wrong.

But that’s the point, she did nothing to help those other kids (including Frisk), once they left the ruins.

Instead, she made a random stranger (Sans) that shared her sense of humor promise to protect Frisk for her (which he doesn’t).

When she left and betrayed her people, she couldn’t even betray them right.

And yet they all welcome her back with open arms.

All the monsters also don’t even bother to ask for Frisk’s name and simply call them the Human/Child/Kid ect… which honestly kinda shows how self-centered and dim-witted some of the monsters can be.

Ironically, only the main villain (Flowey/Asriel) was respectful enough to ask for Frisk’s true name (once he realizes that Frisk isn’t Chara).

Then there’s the whole thing with Frisk (a child) flirting with the monsters and sometimes going on dates with them… nothing gross happens, but it still makes me pretty uncomfortable.

Asriel was probably the ONLY one that both properly apologized to Frisk, sacrificed something important to them (the souls and the ability to love) and tries to make up for hurting them (by breaking the barrier), yet he’s also the only one that stays behind in the mountain and the only one where it’s optional NOT to forgive him!

You know when a video game’s story is messed up, when forgiving a violent, racist, grown-ass adult like Undyne or a smug, selfish, lazy jerk like Sans is mandatory to get the ‘Best Ending’, but forgiving and comforting a small child that lost everything (their life, their family, their soul) is completely optional!

The Creator of UT must secretly hate kids, I guess…

But the absolute worst part is that neither King Asgore nor any of the Monsters come clean to Humanity over what happened inside the mountains… they don’t even give the 6 dead humans a proper funeral… I know they probably kept the truth hidden so the humans don’t seal them in the mountain again or they don’t want Asgore to end up in prison, but eventually the truth is gonna revealed itself and it will bite all of them right in the behind once that happens!

3. The messages of Pacifism and Peace handled better…

*Goliath always tried his best to be the bigger person, even when his past allies were being ungrateful jerks.

He had made occasional slip-ups, but his Team and Elisa always put him back on track.

Unlike Demona, he knows how wrong it is to hurt and destroy someone innocent over what their ancestors did.

He knows that ending humanity won’t bring his clan back.

He and the others have made peace with their pasts.

Because of this, they have a family with each other.

Demona on the other hand, has not made peace with her past.

I get why she did all those horrible things, she had an unfair life and everything was stolen from her.

But that’s still no excuse for everything that she’s done, especially to Macbeth, who had been nothing but loyal and kind to her.

Her character is literally an example of what happens when you hold onto old grudges, become obsessed with revenge and don’t take responsibility for your own actions.

All that gave her was an immortal life of hatred and loneliness.

Her rage is so strong and stubborn, that not even her husband or daughter want anything to do with her… and her husband ends up falling in love with one of the creatures that she hates the most.

If that isn’t irony, I don’t know what is!

*When Prince Asriel was killed by humans, King Asgore declared a second war, which I understand.

Queen Toriel left because she didn’t want anything to do with the war, which I also can understand.

The Monster Kingdom hates humanity for imprisoning them and killing their prince, which I also can understand.

The Kingdom is a lot like Demona (especially Undyne), but the difference is that while Demona is called out for her mistakes and flaws, everyone acts like the Monster Kingdom did nothing wrong.

I get that forgiveness is UT’s Main Theme, but there should be limits on who you forgive, because if you’re not careful you could forgive the wrong people that will take advantage of your kindness and generosity.

(Like Demona had eventually done with Macbeth.)

It feels like the Monster Kingdom are ‘Karma Houdinis’ and even get rewarded, despite their racist, selfish, and hypocritical actions.

There is a difference between being a pacifist and being a total pushover.

I feel like if Demona existed in the UT World, her horrible actions would probably not only get treated like it’s no deal, but she’d also get rewarded as well.

In the words of Todd from ‘Bojack’:

“You can't keep doing this! You can't keep doing crappy things and then feel bad about yourself as if that makes it okay! You need to be better!" 

---

Aikoiya: This is all so great, but I do have one thing to say. I actually think Asgore is somewhat better than Alphys. For one, from the moment you meet him, he very obviously doesn't want to do what he very much believes he has to. Which, if nothing else, I can respect a king who's willing to sacrifice his own personal morals for the sake of his people as it was implied that they were running out of space & it's even possible that they could've eventually run out of food. Which, as king, he'd be privy to that kind of information.

And for another, if you end up killing Flowey in a Neutral Run, then come back & defeat Asgore again, he offers up his own soul & tells Frisk to use it to leave the Underground.

This tells me that his regret is not only genuine, but deep-seated. It's still wrong on multiple levels & he's still a kid killer & needs to attone for his crimes, but if nothing else, I feel like he CAN be rehabilitated.

In this way, he strikes me as the sort who, if he ever learned about the human laws that protect children & how deeply the common man absolutely despises child abusers, he'd willingly give himself up to the authorities & admit to his crimes, knowing that what he did was wrong.

And, I can respect that. Again, still a monstrous & downright evil thing he did. I can't even fathom being okay with exploiting something as truly & intimately vital & personal as someone's soul. Let alone that of a child. But to be fair, he didn't think that there was any other way. And if he did ever learn that the souls didn't have to be dead for them to break the Barrier, I can guarantee that he would've opted for the less violent option in a heartbeat.

Which, I cannot say for Undyne or the rest of the monsters who were chanting "kill all humans."

In the end, this is why I'm pro-Goat Dad for the most part & not nearly as pro-Goat Mom. Because, Asgore is a very active individual who is willing to do what is necessary, but is also willing to admit when he is wrong & take responsibility for the wrongs that he's committed.

Then again, maybe I have too high standards for what a monarch should be?

Undertale Masterlist

[mysticonsheadcanons]

Mysticons: Next Quest Episode 3-Group Camp

Malvaron notices that, while the Mysticons are nice to Sharise, she still feels like an outsider. Doug suggests they all do something as a group just for fun, like a camping trip. Malvaron likes the idea, and brings it up to the Mysticons. While Arkayna isn't sure about sleeping outside, everyone else likes the idea, and Arkayna admits that it could be fun. Zarya suggests the Forest of Brynn, as she and Piper camp there, so they know the area.

They get to the camp, and begin telling scary stories. Piper tells a story about Petchi, small creatures that lure unsuspecting campers away, and swarm the camper, eating them alive. Sharise is surprised that Piper thought of that story despite her young age, and Piper admits that Zarya used horror stories as bedtime stories. Everyone looks at Zarya, who says that those were were favourite stories, and didn't know of any good kid ones that she still liked. Everyone laughs and set up tents. They have three tents, w ith Zarya and Arkayna in one, Em, Piper, and Sharise in a second tent, and Doug and Malvaron in the third tent.

That night, Doug hears a noise and leaves the tent to investigate. Zarya notices someone up and goes to check it out. Doug reveals that he heard a noise and wonders if the Petchi from Piper's story are actually real. Zarya says that it was just made up, and that it's likely some other campers. They both hear the noise nearby, and Zarya admits that, if it is the mushroom creatures, then they may be close enough to decide to attack their camp. Doug and Zarya decide to investigate. Choko follows Zarya.

Doug and Zarya soon find themselves facing a mysterious group of people, and they hide. Zarya recognizes them as the same group who attacked while they were setting things up to find the fifth Mysticon. They are about to leave in order to warn the others about what they found out, but Choko steps on a stick, alerting them to their presence. A chase ensues.

Meanwhile, Arkayna is waking everyone up, as Zarya left the camp, and as it's still dark out, it is dangerous to go wandering around. Malvaron notices that Doug is missing to, and they go to find Zarya and Doug. Em, noticing how scared everyone is, says that Doug and Zarya are likely together, and probably are fine. Sharise adds that, if Zarya and Piper went camping there before, it can't be overly dangerous.

As they are looking, they hear a noise as well. Piper rushes, thinking it's Zarya, and gets just out of sight of the group. Arkayna calls for Piper to come back, as Zarya and Doug wandering off is why they're looking for them in the first place, and Piper screams right after. The others rush, and sees Piper fighting against mushroom creatures. They do manage to work together to get away from the mushroom creatures, but Em suggests that they leave anyway, in case there are more creatures.

They continue the search, and eventually find Doug and Zarya fighting against the evil group. The leader says that they call themselves the Loyal Ones, and that they will bring back the Spectral Hand, and a fight ensues. The leader also labels the Mysticons as enemies, as not only did the Mysticons fight against the Spectral Hand, but they also freed the people the Spectral Hand captured for energy, and the Mysticons realize that's why the Pink Skulls and Moon Elves were thrown into the Spectral Hand's dimension. While the Mysticons manage to catch some of the group, most of them, including the leader, leave.

As the Mysticons, Doug, and Malvaron are packing up the camp, they talk about the group's plan to bring back the Spectral Hand. Malvaron reassures them that no matter what happens, they'll have each other and can figure it out. Meanwhile, at the palace balcony, a voice says that it's dissapointing on poorly and Loyal Ones did, and that maybe they need new recruits. While the character is obscured in shadows, the voice is the same as Gawayne's butler's.

[cosmo-watches-movies]

The Four Feathers (2002)

Triggerwarning: War, Voilence, Suicide, Gore

Summary: In this war drama young British Officer Harry Faversham (Heath Ledger) refuses to go to war in Sudan. His fiancée and three of his friends each give him a white feather as a sign of his cowardice. After he learns that his three comrades have gotten in trouble during battle he sets out to get all three of them back home.

Spoilers beyond this

In this film Michael Sheen takes on the role of William Trench, one of Harry's friends. He’s the one who’s saved from imprisonment by Harry. I really don’t want to recite the whole plot of the movie, so in short, it’s an emotional story about, courage, loyalty, humanity and friendship, but very much a hollywoodized version of it.

I found this movie a bit hard to follow on my first watch through. Maybe this is another case of "Cosmo is too slow to follow movie", but the timeline in the first half didn't quite make sense to me. I could follow the plot a bit better the second time.

Anyway, focusing on the parts of the movie, that have William in it:

First of that big fight scene...holy shit. That was intense. I don't even really know what to say about this one. It starts slowly with one closed line of Mahdi riders attacking the british squad and escalates more and more until by the end people get shot left and right, bullets and debrie fly everywhere, it's complete chaos, nobody knows what to do, it's genuinly kinda scary. The dread, the fear, the horror, the sorrow, this had everything. William gets captured after the Mahdi triumph over the British, while Harry saves one of his other friends Jack (Wes Bentley), who accidentally blinded himself while shooting a gun. Harry is save at first, covering his identity to stay hidden among the enemy troups. But upon learning where his friend William is being held, he let's himself get captured aswell to get his friend out of military prison.

The whole prison thing is, as it’s supposed to be, grim, depressing and overall very horrible. The prisoners aren’t treated like people. During the day they are subjected to hard labour and during the night they are stuffed by the hundreds in small chambers, not being able to lay down. They don’t get sufficient food or water. In short it’s the kind of place you would rather not live at all than live there.

We follow the two characters over quite a period of time and you can watch Harry and William loose themselves more and more as time goes on. They eventually get out by taking a poison that makes them appear dead. And with help from his friend Abou (Djimon Hounsou), Harry fights of the four guards following them to get his friend out alive.

What’s a bit fucked about this is that William doesn’t know that the poison paralyzes them only temporarily. He thinks they’re ending it together. He does joke about it afterwards and it’s quite a sweet moment, but still wtf.

At his point he has no fucks left to give so i guess fair enough

Because I mentioned it in a previous post, there is shouting in this, but it's the really fucking painful kind, so it's very emotional and not something for me to chuckle about. (Yes, I will always point out when Michael gets to shout in a role, I just love it when he get's to act very emotional scenes. If you know his acting, you know what I'm talking about. Looking at you Nero) Anyway, obviously it’s not just Michael who's shouting in this, most of the main actors scream at some point, it’s a war movie after all.

I have to sidestep from my usual focus to say that Heath Ledger is a fucking menace in this. Everything he does is real. Every emotion, every action, every line. The character is badass and so is Heath Ledger. I’ve liked his acting since I was a teenager, he truly was an incredible actor.

As for Michaels acting, he goes all out as usual. Having to be held back when his comrade won’t come back to the safe lines; absolutely not having it, when Abou tells them a british officer told him to warn them that they would be attacked, but not telling which officer (it was Harry).

First of all this is the second time Michael's role had to drag someone to the front angrily, I see a very interesting trope developing. Second of all how the fuck did William even drag Abou like this in the first place? If Abou would've wanted to restist even the tiniest bit, William would not have been able to move him an inch. Man is a saint.

There's a visible break in William's character during his time in prison with Harry. He goes from a guy who still has hope and is cracking jokes to make light of the situation, to basically just a husk of a human being after being imprisoned for so long. He does a very good empty stare:

The fly was a paid actor

Harry and William spend a lot of screen time together and I think their dynamic is really great. It’s all very genuine. They have excellent chemistry. In general all the actors manage to capture this close brotherly bond, that is so important for the story very well, right from the beginning.

To tie the story together Harry gives each of the white feathers back to his friends eventually. In Williams case right after they find each other in prison. And this short scene is so, so sweet. At this point the meaning of the feather changes from cowardice to hope and friendship. They might not be safe yet, but from now on, be it freedom or death, they will go through this together. Love it.

Just realized after a second watch Williams hair is waaay longer when they escape the prison than it was in the battle scene. If I’m not totally farfetching, it’s reasonable to assume that, before Harry turned up, he was in prison for many, many months already. (Apart from the hundreds of stranger inmates and guards, whose language he probably doesn't even understand) Totally alone. Holy shit. I do not know how he survived that.

Before months and months of hard labour and being starved...

After months and months of hard labour and being starved...poor guy...(Kudos to the hair and makeup department tho)

In general this film is okay, even good if you like this genre. I just don’t enjoy war stories very much, so it’s not really for me. I didn't hate it though, quite the opposite really. Overall a emotional and dramatic film with good action sequences and suspense. I wouldn't say I need to watch it again anytime soon though, now that I know wether they make it or not. Spoiler: They do

[thepilgrimbetweenworlds]

Antiverse Revised Character Profile: Undertow

Got no time, going on vacation in literally 8 hours. Hope you all enjoy, whoever you are.

Undertow

Donor Name: N’warr

Age: 52

Species: Cascan

Birthplace: Cascareau (Antiverse)

Hair: None

Eyes: Rust Red

Height: 5ft 10in

Weight: 423 lbs.

Powers/Abilities:

Toxic Water Projection: The miasma churns and the fools choke. Undertow can fire jets of green, brackish water from wrist mounted gauntlets. This water is filled with toxic sludge that poisons whatever is soaked in it, and high enough concentrations can cause permanent damage.

Slime Generation: As he chokes on it, so shall you. Undertow’s breathing equipment comes with two additional tanks of viscous slime, harvested directly from his own body. This slime is quite sticky, so it’s good for subduing tricky opponents, but can easily be turned on Undertow.

Weapon Generation: The tools of a pirate taste much blood in their lifetime. Unique to him, Undertow can access several weapons for use in combat.

-A pneumatic harpoon gun designed to attack at long range.

-A steel hammer forged in the shape of an anchor, perfect for bringing down the heaviest opponents.

-A serrated blade designed to cut through armor, and inflict debilitating bleeding wounds.

Life Support Armor: The cage is all that keeps him alive. For all the pain it causes, Undertow’s suit provides some great benefits. The suit can deflect most heavy arms fire, tank hits from powerful opponents, grant him enhanced strength, and allow Undertow to breathe underwater. But the suit’s design makes movement awkward and sluggish, and its weight slows Undertow to a crawl. He must also remove the respirator to hack up his toxic discharges, leaving him vulnerable for a time after.

Physical Description: Undertow is a juggernaut of metal and mechanical brutality. His helmet is square shaped and comes equipped with a respirator with two breathing tubes snaking around to his back. His giant midsection is divided into the chest and stomach, which come together to form a rounded square shape. On his back are two pairs of canisters: one pair contains highly concentrated oxygen and the other stores his biological discharges, used in the production of slime. His arms and legs are blocky and rather inflexible, with various tubes connecting to the gauntlets for the purpose of projecting water and slime. The suit is colored dark grey and is horribly rusted in certain places. What’s underneath the suit is best left to the imagination. The Antitrix symbol is located on his chest.

Backstory: We pine for a time when suffering is only a part of life. But for N’warr and the Cascans, pain is all the future they have. Centuries ago, Cascareau was much like it was in the prime universe. Vibrant oceans teemed with life and beauty, while the Cascans often battled each other for plunder or for adventure. It was not the most peaceful of lives, but the Cascans could ask for nothing less. Cascareau, for a time, was spared the fate of so many worlds, and the Cascans were not left wanting for better things. That all changed when Cascareau was conquered. The planet was invaded by a combined force of Chimeran and Tetramand war parties, who wished to claim it for its resources.

N’warr was born into the post war nightmare his world became: his people a toxic reflection of their past selves. Centuries of exposure to Cascareau’s now polluted seas inflicted debilitating genetic mutations, forcing them to don painful life support systems. N’warr lived in agony, forced into slavery for the medicines needed to keep him alive, all while his diseased body was slowly killing him. N’warr had no future, no reprieve from his torment. If he was to have no future, neither would his enemies. One day, he and a band of Cascans managed to escape from their ruined home world and commandeer a Chimeran battleship. In remembrance of his ancestors, N’warr plundered the galaxy with his crew for years, until one day he was captured by one far crueler than he…

Personality: N’warr is a pessimistic and pitiless brute. He is nihilistic to his core, a nihilism fueled by a jealousy of those who’s station in life is far greater than his. Although aware of his horrible actions, N’warr puts any lingering sense of guilt behind him. For him there is only the day ahead. One more day he must walkthrough with agony draped around his shoulders. And all will suffer that agony.

Influence on Kevin: Kevin becomes despondent and bitter as Undertow, and Kevin’s envy of other people’s happiness is put on display full.

Trivia:

-N’warr smells absolutely rank because of the discharges his body produces.

[reawritestoo]

Broken Wings - Part 3

Pairing: Jake Seresin x Spy! Female OC

Warnings: Torture, like rough grueling torture, not for the faint of heart, light swearing, character death, fictional wars

Word Count: 769

Summary: Jake is captured after being shot down by the enemy. He survives but that doesn’t mean he is safe. He is captured and forced to do the unthinkable. Not only does he have to survive being tortured but he also has to protect an inside spy from death. 

A/N- Thank you to all of those who have kept up with my story so far! You are all so kind and lovely to even read it! See you all next Wednesday!

______________________________________________________________

“Rose?!” Jake, whisper yelled, “What are you doing here? How are you alive? Wait, how did you get to such a high clearance?” 

Jake was in a frenzie, a panic attack was rising inside him. Breathing all of the sudden became hard. His vision left him. He crumpled to the ground kneeling, his muscles in his legs were aching. When there’s a spy a mission is more dangerous than life itself. Last he heard of Rose she was dead by the hands of North Korea. How was she here? 

“Hey, hey, breathe,” Rose opened his cell door with a loud clang and placed her hand on Jake’s back, “In. Out. In. Out.”

The pressure of Rose’s hand on his back was giving him something to focus on, instead of the sudden outburst of pressure on his lungs. 

“I know you’re from Top Gun, how did you get here?” Jake shook out. He gasped after every word. 

“First we need to get out of here, if you want to live, you have to come with me now,” Rose whispered, “If we don’t leave now we are both dead. The guard will tell the general that I helped you after your shocks. This could get really messy.” 

“Why did you help me and not save yourself?” Jake asked, facing her, rolling over looking up at her. The dirt making a soft area for his head to rest. A massive migraine started to form inside his head. She was kneeling next to him. He could see her blue eyes glimmer in the light above them and her golden short hair in waves seemed to glow. 

“Let’s just say I owe a favor to Mav,” She shrugged. 

“Wha-what is the favor?” Jake asked, still laying down. The weight of his head felt too heavy to lift, let alone go anywhere. 

A loud crash came out of nowhere and footsteps got louder and louder. The sudden noise made Jake jump. 

“Shhhhhhh, stay down,” Rose whispered, laying down next to him. 

Soon the noise faded and Rose sat back up, “Can you get up?” 

Jake lifted his head and with Rose’s help he sat up and used Rose as a crutch to stand. It took all his energy to not put any weight on his shot leg. She kept him steady and breathed hard. She placed her hand and applied pressure on his chest. 

“Focus on your breathing Lieutenant,” Rose said, comforting him. 

He nodded once and hopped with his good leg as Rose walked very slowly out of the cell. Jake could feel himself become dizzy the more steps they took. 

“Just keep going, we have to get out of here,” Rose said urgently and out of breath. The more tense she got the more Jake panicked. 

Jake could hear a faint dripping sound above him, and then a drop of water fell on his nose going down onto his chapped lips. The blistering cold of North Korea already took effect on his flesh. His lips bled and his ears hurt from the cold. The hallway felt like a marathon as Jake continued to hop down it. Rose made sure to keep his steady and moving. 

“What was the favor you owed Mav, Agent Hathaway?” Jake asked, he knew he shouldn't have asked. But it distracted him from the pain and how long it took him to take one step after the other. 

Just as he thought he got a “shhhhhh” from Rose. 

“Put your hands up! Both of you!” A voice yelled behind them. Rose flinched. 

“Shit,” Rose mumbled. Only Jake could hear her.

“Well, well, well, if it isn’t our new arrival and the girl we thought we could trust. How lovely,” The leader spoke. Jake had to pay close attention and it was hard to understand what he was saying. With the man’s accent and his mind splitting migraine he could barely keep up. 

“Sir, I was just taking him to the torture hall with all the fun toys all the guards get to use, I wanted a turn,” Rose said cheekily and almost too girly. 

“Prove it then, show me what you were going to do to him. I mean unless you are too weak and were really trying to save him,” The man’s voice was hard and stern. Jake had a hard time thinking what to do next. 

“You want me to torture him in front of you, sir?” Rose asked politely. 

“Sure, why not? I watched someone get hung today, what’s the difference?” 

“The difference,” Jake thought was, “If she tortures me, I won’t live a moment longer.”

[anothanobody]

[2/2] But back home, the shocking news of the Fall of Singapore in a strike of unbelievable defeats, with the “Army of the Southeast” almost entirely captured or wiped out in a series of massacres, left everyone stunned. Because they lost control completely, the army couldn’t adequately say who was or wasn’t dead, and in a mix-up considered Eren as dead because he was still finding his way through the wilderness and guerrilla warfare, back to Burma. And when he got there, the army was hastily regrouped to fight another incoming attack. The situation was precarious and desperate, but the army of Burma managed to stall the enemy for enough time that reinforcements from home arrived and changed the tide of the war. As you know, the British won the war, but their power and prestige was destroyed.

So here we have soldier Eren who was fighting very, very, very far away from home, at the fringes of the empire. They suffered heavy losses. To make it worse, the army made a mix-up between him and fellow solider Eren Krueger, and gave him as dead for years, until the army organized itself enough to put everything back on perfect order. For some reason, I think Levi could’ve been Eren’s unit commander in the travel to Burma.

Mikasa received the news of the Fall and Eren’s supposed death (because in wars, you can be considered dead after some time missing) and entered the nunnery. Now, the problem is the rest of the characters, because the more people around her and Eren, the fasted the information that he’s alive would spread. Now I agree with the aforementioned ask that the best way is to kill Grisha off as an army doctor who died in the war, and Carla died (perhaps in an earlier war, in a bombardment). This pushed Eren, full of hatred and obsessed with revenge, to enlist in the army to destroy his enemies, like he is in canon.

By the time the news arrived that Eren’s unit survived the Fall, it had been 2-3 years since it happened, because they got cut from the rest of the army, and when they got to friendly territory, everything was falling apart. Mikasa was already in the convent, secluded from the outside world, refusing to see any news about the war the took her beloved from her. Eren spent years unable to communicate with home, but he did as soon as he could, to no avail. I also believe that killing their parents off would ensure Mikasa’s feelings of loneliness and helplessness. Eren could only find her there due to a connection to Levi and her/their grandmother Kiyomi.

Oof, that was a lot. As I said, it wasn’t easy. Zeke probably is dead too. Please understand we don’t need so much description of military events in the au, I just came up with this backstory that can be referenced regarding Eren fighting far away from home and in the middle of military chaos. I don’t really like killing off people, but then again, we had to cut the information flow, and other characters seemed unnecessary for the au. I do hope this helped with the backstory!

see you’re brilliant my love. your pretty mind is so attractive. okay so i like everything basically even more the killing of grisha and carla actually because of how that turns eren which would be far more appropriate with the characterization he has later on, the fact that he’s driven by revenge is muah! really. i do agree that too many characters would make it difficult and at the end it’s an au centered to them. killing mikasa parents would be good too as with no home maybe in the beginning she didn’t have a place other than the church who was taking in survivors, she got there and simply never left. there’s a lot but it’s really good anon. the mix up and everything.

[pensoluv]

So my main team of favorites consist of Xiao, Albedo, Aloy, and Qiqi. And my thought process went with Rejected! Darling SAGAU.

I like the idea that some characters can tell it’s their Creator even though everyone else calls Reader an imposter. Because they know the Reader’s godly aura from anywhere.

Quick Headcannon: only Creator and those they favor can use Teleport Waypoints.

After Reader is chased out by Mondstat, they run into Aloy literally. But she knew the Creator and God the moment she looked at them. So Aloy figured out who Reader favored, in this case being the aforementioned characters, and seeks them out with the Reader’s help.

Albedo is the first one they look for, since he could hide Reader. No one thought to look on Dragonspine.

Aloy then went to get Xiao and Qiqi. Because she was an outlander and no one saw her with Reader, everyone pretty much ignored her. It worked in her favor as she could get to Qiqi in the middle of a crazed Liyue.

Qiqi went with Aloy no problem. She forgot about the supposed imposter and knew the Creator was in Teyvat somewhere. It felt like a gut instinct to her. Even if she forgot everything else, she would always remember the Creator and how they guided her with love and care.

Xiao was harder to convince. He had a feeling that the Creator descended into Teyvat as well. But Zhongli ordered him to kill the imposter of their beloved God. Aloy is only able to get him to Dragonspine with an agreement. “If the one I take you to is not your Creator, feel free to strike us down where we stand.” He was mostly convinced when Aloy suddenly teleported them all to Dragonspine.

They work together to at least get everyone else to stop hunting their Creator down.

Now if we go the forgiveness route, Reader never goes anywhere without Xiao, Albedo, or Aloy. They reject all other gifts and pleas for forgiveness. Reader only wants to stand by the ones who protected them.

If we go the vengeance route, they would absolutely tear down the three nations that tortured their god. And Aloy is the one leading the army of the Abyss into battle.

So that was a massive block of text. I may send more in the future, but this is the best I can do for now.

This is awesome! I’ve written the first part when Darling meets Aloy. It’s long, so I’m going to put it below the line.

SAGAO Work 22, fluff

TLDR: You finally bump into your first actual ally, Aloy. She heals you and lets you take shelter at her tent, inside a hidden cave.

You’ve been running for hours—almost the entire morning. Your original physical strength is not affecting you since your life now depends on your character attributes.

You’re only lucky that, as their Creator, you have incredibly high stats for Health, Stamina, and Elemental Mastery. It seems like the Attack and Defence stats are to be unlocked manually. [here’s the link to the bonus work expanding on this! <3]

It took multiple life-threatening situations to wake you up to the nightmarish fact that- it’s all real. You’re really in the world you once thought was wholly fictional, trapped and unable to return to your homeworld.

You rely on Teyvat’s spirits, yes plural, to guide you and warn you against sneak attacks and ambushes. Sometimes you barely escape, hurt but alive. The gashes and bruises still haven’t faded yet. You’ve been captured by one of the soldiers, but this world always assisted you to run away right before it escalated. Right before the vision-bearers come to cripple you further.

This whole day, Teyvat’s been urging you, in some sort, to a specific location. It’s constantly changing as if it’s a moving lifeform? You question. With nowhere left to go, you gladly oblige.

You chose to hide until night when most of your enemies are retiring to their beds. You start creeping away from the remaining manhunters.

As you finally near the destination, you continue to sprint to what you assume is a safe haven. In your urgency, you run into Aloy.

No, seriously, you literally rammed headfirst into her by accident.

She had suddenly sprung from her hiding spot to go collect her foul; at the same time, you were running past her bush. You fell back more than she did because of your defence stats. It’s by pure luck that your health was only barely chipped away by ten dmg. But then, you’ve already gotten slashed with Mondstadt swords before bumping into Aloy from the hostile citizens, so it hurt more than expected. You reflexively wince for what, the seventh time, today.

You were dizzy from the collision and bewilderment. When you look up, you see her freckled face gazing at you with a confused expression. After both of you stopped gawking, she extended her strong hands to pull you up. You cringe when she moves but shakingly extend yours as she heaves you up with both hands. You choose to trust Teyvat and the woman in front of you, seeing that her expression was more of genuine concern instead of the usual burning hatred.

When she’s in direct physical contact, your aura is transmitted and pulsed stronger. It eased her nerves, and it felt… so familiar.

Her green eyes lit up in shock.

You were them!

The Creator who had soothed her nerves and emotions when she was grieving her father figure’s passing.

Your aura washes over her once again.

Pleasantly, like a sacred hearth in Dragonspine. She was the traveller searching for heat, and you were the generous heat source she recognised at first sight.

Her rediscovering you in person was a refreshing revolution, the sensation only adequately described with exclamations of “Eureka!” by Archimedes as he burst through the rippling waters.

The relief caged birds feel when finally released into freedom in the skies.

The soft feeling of tightly hugging someone you care about, not suffocating, but just the thing you need to lessen your stresses.

An eternity passed in that single second, but she does quickly snap back to reality. She catches glimpses of your injuries through the tattered clothes you wear and how you winced as you stood up. “I’m Alloy.” As curt as usual.

She may be blunt, but she’s not dumb nor mean-spirited. She took note not to initiate any physical contact until you’ve eased around her. Instincts taught her to nod in acknowledgement instead.

She offers to heal and shelter you for the moment, compelled by your aura and the subliminal pleas from Teyvat. You agree since you need genuine help to avoid manhunts for the night. You’ve barely survived another morning today.

After settling you into her concealed tent/home, she starts making a plate of Satiety Gel with the spare mints and sugar she hid in the back of her cave. “Got something for you.” She passed you the plate and gave you a side-smile as you happily dug into the dish. Good. You needed the rest and health. It’s also nice for her cooking to be appreciated. You thank her, and she dismisses it, rising from her seating position.

While you’re gingerly eating the special plate of gel, she rummaged through her stocks of necessities. “Let's see, that looks edible... and this looks useful.” You’ll need a new set of garbs if you are to live in the wildernesses with her. It’s doubtful that the chaos in the cities signifies any chance of you having any semblance of safety in there.

She’d also need to hunt for more food and preserve spares. The life she leads is no longer solitary, and she’d have to keep you safe and fed until you are strong enough to protect yourself fully. She will be caring and loyal to you, in similar ways to how Rost had taken care of her.

You were the saviour they mistook as an imposter, and Aloy would be yours in turn for their wrongdoings. She’ll be your caring companion. She will be your first loyal follower, the one who’ll lead your future rebellions, wars, peace, comfort. She’ll be the knight by your side that’ll do your justified biddings.

As nightfalls, she tells you to stay inside and rest. She headed out to set traps for any intruders and went hunting again. Some animals and enemies lay dormant until the moon rises, and it won’t hurt to seek out any food, materials, or trustable allies. Not that she’d be looking for an army first and foremost.

“I'll do whatever it takes to protect you. I won't hesitate. I won't falter.” She swears as she rests her eyes on your curled-up form before leaving the cave. You’ve started slipping into the land of dreams from exhaustion. It’s good that you feel safe enough to doze off.

She’d stopped your bleeding gashes, and she’d be stopping armies of machinery for you. She only hopes that they’ll be unable to find you two until you’re prepared, bows repaired and arrows slung.

She hopes you’ll be using your future powers and aura for life, not for death. She’s here for you, partly in the hope that you’ll be a benevolent god/goddess. She’s more than sure that it’s needed for the sake of Teyvat-and that she has to care for its people no matter what.

You’ll both have to see what happens then.

[spyxfamilyanalysis]

SPY x FAMILY analysis Ep.1 pt. 2.3(finally)

Mission: 1 - Operation Strix

~Comparing to Manga~ Volume 1 Chapter 1

Moving on: The difference between Manga and Anime cont.(final)

The kidnap

After Loid returned home, he noticed something very sus when he's at the door 🤨🤨🤨The barricade he left at the front door to trap Anya was moved and there is a scratch(?)/track, meaning someone else must have come in the house before him (some sort of kidnapping thing that buglars/ kidnappers do), but the manga seems not to show it clearly.... That's why Loid carefully opened the door, and managed to dodge all the opponents' sudden attack! (Cool~)

So here's another difference when he entered the room. The furnitures are a bit different: the manga were chairs on the right, but anime changed into sofas, and another buglar hiding behind them. The first one was pretty clear that he hid behind the door.

While Twilight managed to dodge the sudden attack, the anime: The hit his hat, but the manga didn't. Instead, it got blown away.

And when Loid attacked back, even though the angles are different in the anime and manga, he used the same right hand: the angle in the manga is we see Nguyen got hit on the left, while the anime is the opposite.

The fight with those intruders may seem short, but the anime kinda copies the manga pretty well: battle skill, movements, ...

Did you know, that first guy's name is Nguyen, apparently that's a Vietnamese name. Kinda surprising for a Vietnamese stay in "Ostania", West Berlint (which is the west of Berlin (Germany) in real life). Actually, it is not really surprising when some animes add some characters or features, or some points that are familiar to Vietnam. For example: Anime Food wars episode related to Kaarage Wars: they introduced Bánh xèo dish, a Vietnamese dish(you can search it on the internet. Or Oggy and the cockroaches (definitely not anime) has an episode when Oggy visited China(?), the background shows nón lá (vietnamese cultural costume)

Apparently, if you take a look closely, the first guy actually fell on the side of the door (like sit unconsciously), while the manga makes him fell on the floor:

As I mentioned before on part 2.2, Chimora plushie has appeared on the bed, but the manga didn't when Loid was looking for Anya, turns out she had been kidnapped.

Also, the manga added the other teddy bears on the shelf of the bedroom, but the anime don't really need it.

The final difference is when Loid picking up Chimora: only the anime has that, the manga didn't.

At the enemy's base

When Anya was kidnapped, there was a scene when the boss shot one of his allies with a silenced pistol: the manga showed the blood, but the anime removed as it was too violent, and scary for children.

When Anya was reading the boss's mind, only the manga has the thoughts, but the anime didn't

From what I read his thoughts, let's just say we can't read clearly or all of it, but he really hates the Western,especially Agent Twlight: When I'll kill him(?), I'll extract information, and the..., cut off his arms and... while he's still alive, terrorist(?), dump the bodies..., absolutely kill him de...(?), every one of those western dogs, all his little WISE friends...

The angles are different when his ally pointed the black van outside the building, but that doesn't matter much.

And we all know while the others are focus on the "fake" Twilight, the real Twilight is disguise as Nguyen secretly captured Anya and left quickly, by going through the door to escape with Anya.

And a little small detail in the manga: When Anya was screaming for Papa (Chichi), the manga has Twilight's thought: "Pa-bwa"?

Also about Twilight's flashback when he was a kid: The past scene has little Loid crying. The anime shows the background with damaged cars and debris, while the manga includes a random guy died, a collapse tank, wooden stuff. And Loid's shirt at that time has some little blood.

Loid's revenge and father-daughter reunion

After bringing Anya safely from the building, he lied to Anya that he and "his friends" are playing tag. Of course, Anya realized immediately that Papa is a liar.

And she also figured out that Loid will put her in a better orphanage environment, and he will find another way to complete the mission without children for the sake of their life.

We finally know that the reason Loid became a spy is because he don't want to hear the sound of children crying of pain and sadness, all to make a world a safe place for children.

A little difference that in the anime, when Loid was pointing the direction for Anya, he pointed with the pen, but the manga made him pointed out with a finger.

Loid also confessed himself that it was his fault in the first place for doing this dangerous mission that involved a child (Anya). And after Anya was a few steps away him, she read his mind and very surprised about him, leading that she waited for him in the end.

The details when the enemy was looking for Twilight, they fell for his trap by walking pass the rope he set, and flour from the ceiling fell, creating a foggy situation covered with flour. Twilight took that chance and defeated every Edgar's minions. Actually the details aren't really the same as the anime, the manga made him look cooler and mysterious in the floury fog (can't add anymore pics :(

Also in the anime, they added the scene of the enemies running after Twilight by going through the door, but the manga didn't have that.

And when he came face-to-face with Edgar, in the manga, Edgar didn't hold a gun, but the anime added him holding one. When Twilight said: Good afternoon, or good evening, Mr. Edgar, he dropped the gun Edgar's holding then pointed his gun behind Edgar's head.

In the manga, Twilight asked: How's it going, Edgar? And how's Karen?, but the anime removed him asked abt Edgar, but only Karen.(Karen is Edgar's daughter, the one whom Twilight "broke up" in the first scenes)

After a little intense conversation, Twilight left. And after reunite with Anya, he lied about going to the supermarket. A little difference is the manga showed the supermarket, but the anime didn't.

There's a monologue of Twilight Loid: Such a shame, and while that, Anya was still holding his leg, but for some reason, they forgot to add it (?). And a another Loid's monologue: Sounds dangerous.

A very cute and touching scene of Anya and Loid: Anya will cry if you leave Anya behind... And of course, there's a flashback of Loid reading Anya past: She's been fostered out and returned four times. But the anime also add some of Anya's previous surname.

And because of that, a so beautiful father-and-daughter reunion scene: Let's go home, which lot's of SxF fans love <3

After that, for the entrance exam, even though Anya struggles, she managed to pass the test (with 31 points revealed in episode 4). Loid was so proud that he hugged her and lifted her up in happiness, that's truly emotional of the father. After a few seconds and he litterally almost passed out because of lack of sleep. The anime did show him put her down before lying on the ground, but the manga didn't. Because of the tiredness of staying up too late hihi.

There's are some of Anya's voice in the anime, but the manga don't have that: Don't leave me! ; Father, Anya is crying now! ; Anya will be a good girl, so come back! And we figured out that Loid has changed too (a little, maybe got influenced from being in the Forgers family)

And then we have the ending song: Comedy, at that time the episode didn't have the ending yet, but after having episode 2, they finally have ending for episodes: -> LINK

And the ending also have the post-ep of Loid tiring lying on the sofa:

Loid did eventually almost knock Anya out in the manga, but the anime didn't.

After reading the letter from the Eden Academy, the next phase is an interview of both child's parents, no exception will be made... And of course, they'll have to find a wife...

And that's the end of episode 1!!!

Episode 2: Mission 2: Secure a wife coming up

[stxleslyds]

I didn't realize how often I thought about this fandom until I started churning out asks on a daily basis.

Knowing DC's creative trends/talent in 1988/89, what do you think would have happened if fans voted for Jason's survival? From released alternative comic pages, Jason still gets blown up but survives.

Do you think they had a plan for him to become Hush (like the Death in the Family interactive "movie" implies)? Would he get a personality change through amnesia? Or would the comics have retired him to fade into obscurity?

WHAT IF…? BUT JASON TODD SURVIVES.

Hi friend! Thank you for the ask! This should be interesting.

But before I give my answer, let’s take a look at those pages where Jason had actually survived Joker’s attack.

From the second page we only can see one panel but some who have seen the entire, unreleased, page have said this about it:

“The full page reveals more, including the arrival of Dick Grayson to Jason’s hospital room, although a pencilled note in the margins says to strike him, and redraw the panels in favour of having Alfred in the scene instead. Dick rushed over as soon as he heard, and offered Bruce his help in tracking down the Joker.

In the published version of Batman #428, the same page depicts Jason’s funeral, where Alfred asks Bruce if he should get in touch with Dick Grayson. In both pages, Batman says roughly the same thing: “I’ll handle this by myself. No help from now on... that’s the way I want it.””

This makes me feel like Jason having survived or not the Joker’s attack would have resulted in the same outcome within Bruce. Dick shows up at the hospital to check on Jason and offers his help in tracking Joker to Bruce but Bruce doesn’t want his help because from that moment on “he works alone”.

That would lead to the same exact actions that happened with Jason dead. Bruce goes after Joker on his own and leaves up to fate if he dies or not (although he said that his issues with Joker never truly end, Batman (1940) #429),

And if Bruce pushes Dick away then we could also be having a scene like the one from The New Titans (1988) #55, where Bruce implies that Jason getting hurt was Dick’s fault for having moved on from Robin himself. If that happens then Dick would blame Bruce for putting Jason in danger way too soon and their fight will end up with Bruce kicking Dick out of the manor.

-

So, to answer your question, what would have happened if fans voted for Jason’s survival?

I think that DC would have turned Jason into another reason why Bruce thinks that all he could ever be is Batman. It would have made Bruce dark, moody and sad just like DC wanted, all darkness and no light.

Jason wouldn’t be dead but he wouldn’t be truly alive and they would use that to fuel the angst that surrounds Batman.

It is a very sad thing, but I actually think that Jason surviving the attack wouldn’t have had any impact on his own story, Jason’s suffering/death were set up to make Batman want to work alone again. I just don’t see DC back in the day working on Jason’s recovery (physical and mental), I see them leaving Jason comatose and as a reminder of one of Batman’s “failures”. Maybe in a distant future Jason could have woken up with amnesia and they could have done something with him then but I really don’t know how they could make that story work or if Jason would end up working as an ally or enemy of Batman.

Much like you said in the ask, I think that DC would have let the character of Jason Todd fade away,

-

Because that is a really sad answer, I decided to come up with other scenarios where I would give ideas of what I would have liked to see DC do, and what I would have done if I had existed back in the day!

What I would have liked to see DC do:

After setting the fact that Jason was left in a coma at the hospital after Joker’s attack, I think DC should have had Bruce making some extreme decisions. With Jason alive but not really there I think that DC could have made work a plot point that they tried to pull off with Jason dead.

In a comic event called ‘Underworld Unleashed’ the demon Neron offered bringing Jason back to life if Bruce gave him his soul in exchange. But with Jason alive I think that Bruce would have actually been even more tempted to take the offer if it meant that by giving his soul away, he could wake Jason up from the coma he was in. Then there could have been an event with magic users that made it possible so Bruce got his soul back or something. DC could have also had Jason have amnesia after Neron wakes him up so we would have a soulless Batman and amnesiac Jason trying to make their father/son relationship work (or not).

Another idea is Bruce making a different extreme decision where he asks Talia to help him find a Lazarus Pit to try his luck with Jason. Because Jason was in a coma and not dead the Pit would have actually worked (the Lazarus Pit cannot bring people back from the dead!). I imagine that if it worked then Bruce would owe Talia or Ra’s a favour, and that could make an interesting story, mostly if Jason Todd ends up mad at Bruce because he didn’t kill the Joker after he tried to kill him. (I do love chaos).

Maybe Jason could even join the LoA to make Bruce’s life difficult. He wouldn’t become the Red Hood but Jason becoming an assassin after all that could have been the perfect recipe for complete chaos and I love that. I think DC could make it work, this last part of the idea is kinda inspired by Young Justice's Jason Todd.

What I would have done if I wrote for DC at the time:

I would have taken Jason away from Bruce! I would have Dick appear out of nowhere and I would have him take Jason with him back to the Titans Tower so they can both be far away from Bruce (at least for a little while).

If this idea sounds familiar it might be because you read another “What if…?” post that I made about what I thought would happen if Jason hadn’t been found by Batman that night when Jason was stealing the Batmobile’s tires. I will link that post here!

This time Dick would obviously be taking Jason with him at a different time and he would actually try to train Jason a little bit more but Dick would also have Jason work on his trauma and then Jason would decide to leave the vigilante/hero life behind. But not completely because I still believe that Jason would still want to save people. He would also be very protective of his brother/best friend Dick Grayson, also known as Nightwing.

I just think that Dick could have handled the situation a lot better than Bruce, he would have made sure that Jason felt like him not being Robin anymore wasn’t because he was a failure but because he can help people in other ways. He would have made him go to therapy and would have been more willing to share his own experiences with him.

I would have Jason studying to become a paramedic again (a different kind of hero) and this time he could also practice on the Titans when they got hurt in battle, if he did that then he could end up being an excellent medic for all superheroes!

I mean, in the Titans there are humans, aliens, metas, amazons and atlanteans. Jason could actually become DC’s very own version of Marvel’s ‘Night Nurse’. I don’t know, I love that idea and I think @hood-ex would like it too!

I just love the idea of Jason and Dick becoming each other's family. The Titans would also become Jason's family but he would be very protective of Dick. I just feel like Jason would have seen the whole thing (of Dick taking him to live together) as a fresh start after such a horrible experience.

I love Red Hood but I also love the idea of Jason becoming something completely different from that and this is one of my favourite ideas!

-

Oh! Before I forget, I think that the idea of Jason becoming Hush in the ‘Death in the Family’ movie comes directly from the fact that Jason “was” Hush for a second in the Batman: Hush comic. That was revealed to us in UtRH, Jason gave the real Hush all the information that he needed to get under Batman’s skin. And then when “Hush” captured Tim and he showed his face that was actually Jason who then changed places with Clayface to confuse Bruce more.

So, yeah, I don’t think DC had planned on making Jason become Hush.

Thank you so much for the ask! I hope the answer was good and that you have a fantastic week!

[supereffectivemoonblast]

Ravnica

Chapter 29 - Finale

After the Blizzet raids last time, the ships claimed by Solomon and Neigha meet up with the Izzet ship piloted by Boltz and Elaine and head to the Super Airship, seeing its arcane cannon readying to fire another death ray. Just as the four jump aboard, Gankey, who was thrown into the air by a Gruul giant, gracefully lands next to them.

The group are met by a small crowd of Blizzet Bleague goons, but they are no match for the heroes of Ravnica's tenth presinct. A quick brawl, heavily skewed in Gankey's favour results in a clear path to the decision below.

Meeting them in the bowels of the ship is Falish, an inventor who was booted from Izzet due to who her shading dealings outside the Guild, and a couple other Izzet Defectors. Falish had been responsible for a couple character deaths right at the start of the campaign (but humorously never met anyone in the current party). Thanks to a Psychic Lance by Solomon, and a Heat Metal by Elaine, Falish is quickly incapacitated, and then knocked out cold by Gankey. The rest of Falish's company us quickly dispatched.

Using a device on Falish's person, they unlock a group of cells on this deck holding monsters and innocent creatures, including Krenko again. This disables a large Energy Core that was powering the Arcane Cannon. Suddenly they hear a large crash from the upper deck.

* * *

Solomon, Gankey, Neigha, Elaine, and Boltz go up to meet Uldin, applauding their effort so far. He monologues about how his plans leading up to this moment have been carefully orchestrated for a long time.

Originally he infiltrated Izzet to get access to powerful weapons he would use to bring Ravnica to its knees. He hired a Precog Mage names Bori Ringor to apprehend those who would rise up to oppose him. Then he would use Falish to hunt down those evading capture. His plan worked for a while, but every time one of his targets was removed, another would join the company of his enemies (aka new player characters would join).

Eventually there came a point, where no-one in the original company was left alive, but Uldin did not count on a completely unrelated group of strangers to rise up against his efforts. Right in this moment, Solomon and his new group of justice are the only ones stand in Uldin's way.

The battle starts violently as Solomon uses Hunger of Hadar on the area Uldin and his lackeys are in, and Neigha holds them there with an Entangle. Uldin manages to slip out and pushes a Globe of Invulnerability around him. Boltz, Elaine, and Solomon instead rush inside this globe, and spam him with damage from within. Meanwhile Gankey, and Neigha's thrall (she rescued from Chapter 25), take down his lackeys.

Fed up by this insolence, Uldin blankets half the deck with a Cone of Cold, knocking out more than half the party... cold. Although Uldin looks like he's unstoppable, this party has 3 healers, and through creative juggling of healing moves between Boltz, Elaine, and Neigha, the party are kept together and nobody dies. A final attack by a wildshaped Neigha kills Uldin.

Elaine regains control of the airship right before it crashes down to the the ground, and they land safety. Peace returns to Ravnica, for now.

* * *

Player Characters in this campaign:

B:

Ashwin Cinders (Rakdos) 1-15

Gankey (Gruul) 15-29

L:

Saffie Nesbitt (Simic(Dimir)) 1-15

Solomon (Azorius) 15-29

K:

Bonney (Selenya) 1-2

Eleska (Gruul) 3-5

Lavinia Valenco (Izzet) 5-23

Neigha (Selesnya) 24-29

C (joined the campaign late):

Elaine Blackheart (Izzet) 24-29

And my characters:

Algebani (Orzhov) 1-2

Callie Linebeck (Rakdos(Dimir)) 3-13

Shiro Akane (Boros) 14-15

Sister Mira (Selesnya) 16-23

Boltz (Izzet(Dimir)) 24-29

[xenia-cenia]

Kaeya x Fem!Reader - To Heal

A/N-part 4... god razor and albedos are gonna kill me i FEEL it also wtf his backstory is so SAD.... enemies to lovers.... but only one sees them as an enemy..... god the brainrot is so good today 

Trigger/Content Warnings: Spoilers for Kaeyas backstory, minor character death, light swearing, PTSD/nightmares, blood, kidnapping

I promise it’s only half as angsty as it sounds

Word Count: 2,267

Request: No

Summary: You hated him. He loved you. It’s every romcom but this time, there’s trauma.

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

Kaeya Alberich had the world beneath his fingertips. 

Very few people could resist his charms, good looks, or smile. Especially not healers who hung towards the back of the party and saved every life he put in danger. 

Kaeya Alberich was a genius. People would willingly divulge secrets that would ruin their lives to his kind gaze and warm smile. He was manipulative, he was a liar, he was a traitor.

No person in Mondstadt hated Kaeya Alberich more than Kaeya Alberich himself. Though, you were a close second.

“Captain!” You barged into his office as he tied his hair up into a ponytail, “You can’t keep endangering people like this!”

He turned to you with a confused smile, “Like what? They’re Knights, aren’t they?”

“It doesn’t matter! Eventually, my healing won’t be enough!” You marched over to him and slammed your hands down on his desk, “You are selfish! You disgust me.” He shot you a big smirk which caused you to spin on your heels and leave the room, your anger nearly tangible.

Kaeya leaned back in his chair and sighed, a goofy smile lingering on his face.

No person in Mondstadt loved you more than the soldiers who you saved. 

Though, Kaeya Alberich was a close second. 

He didn’t know why he loved you so much. By all accounts, he should hate you. He should despise the way you brought comfort into everyone's eyes, the way you always arrived just in time to save countless lives, how your power in battle nearly outmatched his own. 

He should be jealous. He should be angry. He should not be head-over-heels in love with you. He should not be trying to plan more carefully so your healing workload is lightened, and it shouldn’t even cross his mind to leave his door open so you don’t hurt your hands as you barged in here with your justified rage.

Kaeya melted into his chair as he tried to contain the thoughts that ceaselessly ran through his mind. He wanted nothing more than to hold you in his arms, sweat dripping off his face as he saved your life. And you’d smile at him, a shy and genuine smile, as you thanked him profusely. 

But he was no fool. He knew how deep your hatred ran. And he couldn’t blame you, by all accounts he was selfish. He was disgusting. He risked lives for his enjoyment, he loved seeing the fear in recruits as they ran from danger.

Did that make him a bad person? Yes. Yes, absolutely. He slept every night trying to forget their screams as they called for help. No. Not called for help - begged him for help. 

You seethed as you walked out of Kaeyas office. Too many lives were senselessly taken every day, too many people's blood-stained your hands. 

Just like... no.

“Stop it, (Y/N). You can’t think like that.” You shook the thoughts out of your head as you mumbled to yourself. You looked to your side and caught sight of your reflection in a window. You stared for a moment, a blank expression on your face before it fell into a glare. 

Kaeya Alberich brought anger into your heart. Kaeya Alberich made memories you’d rather die creep up to the surface and hit you with guilt. You hated Kaeya Alberich because he was...

“Dammit.” You slapped your cheek, “Cut it out.”

You walked back to your home and thought over what you’d do for the rest of the evening. Maybe a warm bath and tea? However, you did like the idea of belting songs from the privacy of your home... the possibilities were near endless! But, as usual, you would wash your hands first.

It didn’t matter if you hadn’t touched anything. It didn’t matter if they were already clean. You would wash them every time you had the chance. 

When you finally arrived home, scrubbed your hands, you decided to put the relaxing bath off for a different night. You collapsed onto your warm bed, happily covering yourself in your heavy sheets as sleep overtook you.

If you had any regrets in your life, learning how to fight would be your top one. As the only fighter in your small town, you were relied on for everything. (Y/N) go hunting, (Y/N) take out these slimes, (Y/N) head to Mondstadt, and purchase goods.

And you were there. You were there when the small army attacked. Why were they attacking? You weren’t sure. 

Families, friends, enemies. They all blurred together as you raised your weapon. In the end, you were the only one left. You weren’t out of breath nor saddened by the deaths.

Instead, you looked around the corpses that littered the ground and tried to hide your exhilaration. 

For the first time, you had to fight like your life depended on it. For the first time in your life, you could let your frustration out. And there, covered in blood, was a small icy ball. You leaned over and picked it up, wiping the blood off with your hands. A Vision.

And for the first night in years, you found you couldn’t sleep. Every time your eyes would shut, you would see their bodies. Every time you plugged your ears you could hear them call your name. Every time you breathed you’d remember that they never would again.

You spent years atoning for that day and dedicated yourself to saving lives. You mastered healing, it took the same precision as killing you quickly realized, and went to Mondstadt hoping that the City of Freedom could free you from these deeds.

It couldn’t.

Nothing could. 

Eventually, you found yourself working for the Knights of Favonius. As long as you didn’t swing a weapon, you were fine. You were just saving lives. You were keeping your promise.

So, why did it feel so good when their lives all depended on your choice? Why did you feel so powerful knowing you were essentially the God of these men? 

Did you only join the Knights because you knew violence and bloodshed would always be a part of you? 

You did everything you can to suppress these feelings. You swore off fighting, ignoring people's begging to duel you one-on-one. You’d lie and say holding weapons scared you, but it was always Kaeya who saw through your facade.

And that’s why you hated him. He was as bloodthirsty, evil, and selfish as you. He saw through each lie you spent years carefully crafting.

You hated him because he was you. 

One week later, it was time for another raid. 

As long as you were on the field, none of your allies would die. The raid started fine enough, you all charged into a Domain under Kaeyas orders. He froze falling rocks or spare enemies that could have killed his troops, as you stayed in the back and healed every scraped knee and minor wound.

Stay in the back. They had said. It’s safer in the back. Kaeya is smart. He’ll never lead us into a trap.

And you hated him. You truly hated him. But, damn, you trusted his plans. Even if it meant you had to work harder to keep everyone alive, you knew that the job would get done. Together, you were unstoppable. 

Maybe you put too much confidence in him. You couldn’t muster a thought as a bubble of water enveloped you. You tried to break it, but all you did was force your oxygen to run out sooner. 

With one last hint of desperation, you threw your vision onto the floor. And then, you fell unconscious.

Kaeya was no idiot. He saw the number of his troops dwindling and knew what happened. He ordered the stragglers to retreat, take the wounded and try their best to not die without him holding their hands.

When they were out of his sight, he immediately started to retrace his steps. 

He didn’t need to come very far to notice the Vision that was kicked around and sitting on the floor. Kaeya walked over to it and picked it up, rubbing his finger over the outside. 

“Cyro Vision...” He tossed it into the air, grabbed it, and continued walking. Once again, he noticed a trail of water that was slowly beginning to dry.

After not even 5 minutes of walking, he saw what he needed. A slightly askew rock. Kaeya chuckled to himself as he pressed his on it, the rocks pushed themselves aside and revealed a staircase heading down.

“Well, here goes.” He muttered under his breath as he went down the staircase.

The Abyss Mages had taken you out of the bubble and tied you to a table. You were waking up, groggy and confused, but when you remembered felt anger bubble in your stomach.

“What the hell!” You yelled at the two Abyss Mages who captured you. They both jumped and turned to face you, “Why am I here! I swear if any of my men died...”

“You’re awake.” One of them chirped.

“You’re awake-” you mocked, “did you think I was sleep talking or something?! Let me out of this!”

“We know about your true power.” The other one chimed in, “We know what happened that night. It was our allies who you killed. You must face punishment.”

You stared blankly before breaking out into laughter, “Wait - that was you guys? God, you’re pathetic! Can’t believe I was relying on someone to save me.” You began to struggle against the ropes.

“The ropes are sealed, they can only be undone with the work of a Vision. We know you are Visionless - none of the Archons would grant something as lowly as you power.”

“Oh,” you bit your lip, “that might be a problem.”

“So you accept your fate!” 

“Let our justice reign down-”

Kaeya, who was standing on the staircase watching this all happen, let a laugh slip out.

“-who was that?!”

He walked down the rest of the stairs and clapped his hands, “Great show you two have put on here.”

“K-Kaeya!” You yelled. “Did you grab it?”

He threw your vision to you, and just being near to it made the ropes fall to the ground. 

“I-Impossible!” 

You stretched, stood, and smiled widely at your kidnappers, “I hope I’m not rusty.”

Within seconds, the Abyss Mages were dead. Ice bit at your skin, and, once again, there was blood on your hands.

You looked at your hands and felt your body start to shake. Kaeya walked over to you but stopped when he saw the tears in your eyes.

“Don’t... don’t look at me.” You turned away from him, “I’m... I’m no better than them.”

His heart snapped in two, “(Y/N)...”

“You heard what they said. I’m a killer. I killed everyone I cared about and after everything, after every promise I made... I just... I’m sorry. I’m sorry. Please, don’t look at me.”

“If you’re bad then I’m the worst.” He stepped over the corpses, “I didn’t cry when my Father died. I put everyone in danger for fun. I left... well, I can’t call him my brother now, can I?”

You slowly turned to him, “Kaeya, I-”

He kept his gaze on the ground, “I tried to make them happy. And I did- I do- really love him. Even if I’m not his brother, he’s still mine. I didn’t mean to hurt him. That’s all I ever seem to do... I hurt you. I hurt them. And I’ll do it again. I... I know all of their names. You probably don’t believe me, I wouldn’t blame you. I am a bad person.”

In a few steps, you reached him. He looked up at you and felt his eyes widen as his hand hovered above his cheek. You hit him. No, you slapped him.

“Stop talking about yourself like that.”

“Why? You think like this too.”

“Because you’re me.” You stiffened, “Everything you do is something I’ve considered. Every plan you make is one I dream of. Every life you put into my hands is one I know I can leave.”

“But you still...”

You kneeled next to him and grabbed his hands, “Because I am more than these thoughts. I know how much it’d hurt if I let them die, how much their families would cry. I see it, Kaeya. I see the ways you care for people. You can’t tell me it’s all an act.”

“What if I did?”

“I wouldn’t believe you. I don’t believe someone who hates his people would spend time listening to Glory or look into medicines for Anna. You do it even when you think nobodies looking and I...” you took a deep breath, “I’m sorry.”

“What?”

“My anger for you was directed at myself. I do think you need to change the way you plan things, have more care for people's lives.” You smiled at him and wiped the tears from his eyes, “I’m also really sorry for hitting you.”

“It’s fine, I deserved it.” He chuckled lowly.

“No, you don’t. You did like... a month ago. But not tonight.”

“So, what now?” He looked at you with small tears still in his eyes.

“Well, I think first we get out of here. Next, we should spend some time and work on ourselves. And finally...”

“Finally?”

You blushed, “Let me buy you dinner.”

The two of you left the Domain, and for a reason, no person in Mondstadt could explain, you and Kaeya became inseparable. His plans suddenly became more conscious of his men. 

And together, you began to heal.

[abombihoney]

Mother Knows Best Chapter 2 (AO3 link)

Content Warnings: Major Character Death (kind of), Major Character Injury, Graphic Depiction of Injury, Mentions of Non-Consensual Medical Procedure

You are Leif and you woke up aching and disoriented. You'd felt as if you'd stepped off the last stair only to realize there was one more, a short sensation of falling, followed by the jarring feeling of your foot hitting the ground both sooner and later than you thought it would. But the jarred feeling didn't go away, only becoming stronger and sharper, a painful ache throughout your entire body.

It took you a long time to realize the cause of your suffering.

And for a moment you think it was all a vivid dream. Becoming Leif (home). Vi and Kabbu (friends-family-yours.) Sunlight and food and people and exploring all through the land. Just a simple (vivid, complex) dream to pass the time between experiments and tests and whatever else you will have to endure.

Your past was horrible and awful but this is so much worse. Now you know what you're missing.

(One thing about being fungus, and solely fungus, is that you can no longer pretend you are a moth. Thoughts and patterns and memories long thought forgotten slipping to the surface, leaking into the careful persona you've built.)

You were a bug, you were Leif (you were home and safe.) And you have been torn from your own body. Somebody took you apart, ripped you in half, killed you and left you alive.

You- you were in the hive, attacked by the guards, Vi and Kabbu (daughter-brother-yours-missing-where are they) fighting alongside you. A stab to the chest, soft chitin spreading like a knife through a wing, Blood and mycelium spilling out through your fingers-

Focus. You were in the hive. You most likely still are. HB (enemy, captor?) and Crow (friend, enemy?) are nearby. HB always did want to see what was inside you (see what you are). Did Crow want this too? Were you not enough of a bug for her to hesitate? To stop?

Why did they leave you alive after killing you? (You will finish dying soon, you are dry and cold and hungry.)

Neither Kabbu nor Vi are close by, you would be able to pick them out from a thousand others.

Vi is a summer day, the kind so hot you don't want to move. Where if you have to be outside, you walk in the shadows of buildings and foliage to protect your feet from the burning ground. The sort of day that has Vi and Kabbu hanging off you to leech off your ice magic.

Kabbu feels the way ice cream tastes. Cold, sweet, and comforting, melted just enough that you won't get brain freeze if you eat it quickly. A sensation you never tire of. (You miss them both so terribly where are they?)

They are either captured as well (how dare someone steal what's yours), or planning on how to reach you. Likely both, if your past adventures are anything to go by. There is little for you to do but wait, and be ready for when they come for you (if you live that long, homeless and weak.)

You are cold and thirsty, captive, and it is terrifyingly familiar.

-

You are Crow and you helped your boss essentially kill a man. It would have happened regardless, with or without your help, the least you could do was make it as painless as possible. And well, you don't really disobey a direct order from the queen, especially not with two squads of soldiers watching the lab.

Queen Bianca told you and HB to keep Leif contained, and to let him starve to death. But, well, she never said you couldn't talk to Vi or Kabbu, or that you necessarily had to stop anyone if they were to say, break into the lab. Or rescuing Leif from said lab. Or breaking out of the hive.

You were never told you couldn't hack the main doors, so that they could be remotely opened, say on a signal. HB didn't instruct you to clean up and put away all the tools in the lab, things that could easily be used to defend oneself in a pinch.

You were informed that Vi and Kabbu were to be kept separated, which doesn't really stop you from passing on a message or two. Or making sure that Kabbu was informed that the Hive couldn't actually hold him here, and that he could leave at any time. No one explicitly said that you couldn't make a distracting mess down in the middle rings that would distract a decent portion of the on-duty guards for an hour or so.

It really is a shame that centuries old research is a great place to start but a bad place to stop. That they didn't listen when you said that Leif's security scans are nearly identical to what they were a year ago.If anyone were to be "infected" it would be Vi and Kabbu, whose scans came up perfectly clean.

And really is such a shame that Vi doesn't really understand what happened isn't it? She's always been a bit difficult, always had a hard time understanding things she couldn't see. We've done everything we could to save him, and she's just so young.

Oh well, it's a bit of a stretch, but do you think she'd benefit from viewing the cordyceps? To see the truth, maybe it would help her with closure? To know that we really did everything we could, but the mycelium really was in every muscle and tissue, that we could only remove the largest tendrils? It is rather morbid, but wouldn't it be worse if she never believed us?

And you're just going over to Jaune's to give Vi Leif's things, and well, if you convince Jaune it's for the best, you'll be long gone before anyone figures it out won't you?

-

You are Vi and you walk into HB's lab alone. Crow and Jaune are just outside, and you probably only have a few minutes before Jaune insists on coming in. Man, if only Jaune would be down with treason, then Crow wouldn't have to run interference and could help you out here.

It's fine though. You just gotta find Leif and run.

The last time you were here, the room was mostly empty, tables and machinery pushed against the walls. now it's full of tables and charts and large glass tubes, they look a lot like the ones in Snakemouth lab. You don’t immediately see Leif.

You find him in the very back of the room, in a row of glass tubes, like they had in Snakemouth. Most of these tubes are empty, and a few are covered by tarps. Leif is the last tube, weird tentacle arm things waving and pressing against the glass. All of the arms have sudden, flat ends, like they were cut-

You swallow the bile in the back of your throat, you need to focus on getting Leif away from here.

"Hey Leif," you say, you could just touch him if this stupid tube wasn't in the way. "I'm gonna break you out of here. And we're gonna fly to the tunnel by the elevator and meet Kabbu in the Ant Kingdom okay?"

Leif wiggles. You take that as a yes, leaving him to look around the lab. You need to find a weapon, something you can fight with and something you can break the glass with. Bianca sucks for telling HB to keep the code to herself.

Looking around, you find several strangely shaped tools, including knives that are weirdly uneven, enough that they won't work for throwing. Is this what they used to-

You grab one anyway, it's always useful to have something to cut with. Actually, that gives you an idea.

Leif is as big as you are, you could cut up one of those tarps and tie it up like a bag, making it easier to carry Leif around. The tunnel to the Ant Kingdom takes hours to walk, and you're sure this will make it easier to carry him for that long.

You pull the tarp off the tube closest to Leif and-

And you see Leif. His body floating in some kind of liquid, just like the zombies in Snakemouth, but his chest and abdomen are wide open. Organs and fungus twisted all together and on full display.

You puke up everything, barely managing to aim into a container of something on a nearby table. You give yourself one minute to pull yourself back together, and then you get to work.

You lay the tarp on the ground and cut a few strips, and then stab some holes in the corners of what's left. You tie the strips in the holes, making a crappy bag that should hold uh, like most of Leif by your best guess.

You set the bag and the knife on the table closest to Leif, away from the puke, and look for something you could reasonably fight with. Eventually you find a metal pipe, fairly light and just a bit longer than your arm. You give it an experimental swing, and it nearly slips out of your hands, it'd be a decent weapon if it just had better grip.

You jog back to the row of tubes, grabbing the knife and some super stick glue that you know Crow always keeps in the first cabinet on the far wall as you go. You pull down another tarp, and make more hasty strips. You take a strip, pouring the glue on one side as you wrap the strip around the pipe. It sets almost immediately, and this time when you swing the pipe it stays perfectly in your hands.

You throw what's left of the tarp on the table. You take the extra strips, wrap one around the knife to hide the sharp edge, ball up the rest, and throw them in the bag on the table. Good thing you made the bag, most of this stuff won't fit in your secret pouch, which is already full of snacks and Leif's things.

You think this is as prepared as you're going to be which is good. 'Cause you've been in here for a bit a few minutes now, and Jaune's gonna bust in any second.

You place a hand against Leif's tube. "Leif, I'm gonna need you to back up as far away from my voice as you can, okay? I have to break the glass."

Leif's weird wiggly arm things rotate around each other until he is back up against the other side of the tube.

You hit the glass, cracks form on the surface and spread, but it doesn't shatter. Jaune is shouting. You brace yourself again and pull your arms back as far as you can.

You swing.

It shatters this time, glass falling and scattering over the floor.

You put the pipe in the bag and toss the tarp on the ground over the glass. You grab the bag and walk carefully over the tarp, glass crunching underneath your feet. The moment you reach the edge of the glass Leif's arms grab onto you, climbing up and wrapping around you.

"Ew, you're cold." You say as you pull Leif up and guide him into the bag. "Come on, get in here, I'm gonna fly us out."

Once Leif is settled in, you grab the handles and fly, hovering so that Leif is a foot or so off the ground. The bag holds, and Leif isn't as heavy as Kabbu so you can definitely make this work.

You fly to the door, Jaune and Crow are arguing, screaming really. You kick the door.

The door slings open, and you dart right past an upset Jaune and frazzled Crow, heading straight for the doors.

"Violet! What are you doing!" Jaune screams.

You fly towards the doors, they're opening, just like Crow said they would, but there's a whole platoon in front of them. Crow and Jaune catch up to you while you and the guards stare at each other.

"Balcony." You whisper to Crow, turning around and flying in the opposite direction. The sound of more than two pairs of wings follows you.

An alarm begins wailing as you pass through the residential hall. You pass right by the single guard in the hall and right through the balcony

More alarms are going off now, loud and abrasive on your antenna even as you speed away from the hive. Guards are flying out of the hive, they're closer to the tunnel than you are. The outskirts are too far away from here. The grasslands are closer, it'll take longer to get home, but there's a tunnel and less chance of getting tackled mid-air.

You take off northeast, daring a glance behind you. Crow's been overtaken by a few guards, the rest still chasing you.

The longer you fly the louder the sounds of wings behind you gets. The sound of flapping wings is deafening as you fly over the wall at the edge of lost sands. You drop low, and stumble into running as you enter the far grasslands.

You put some distance between you and the wall. Unless Bianca explicitly told them they could leave bee kingdom territory, they won't follow you. And you are solidly out of halberd throwing distance, so you’re golden.

You stop and catch your breath. Whew. Man you haven't flown that long, like ever. Eugh.

Leif is moving around a lot, an arm sneaking out of the bag and pulling at your arm.

"Dude, what? I don't speak wiggle-"

There's a bright light- like concentrated sun and a noise so loud your antennae ring after and you can't hear anything else. Your entire right side feels like it's on fire. Leif is tugging on your arms, frantically. Right you should, you should run.

You sling the bag over your shoulder and run into the grasslands. Did they throw a bomb at you? Leif has a single arm out, he's squeezing you so tight it almost hurts. It had to be a bomb right? But you've never seen a bomb that strong or loud or bright. You can't actually see great while you run, everything blurry and dark like it's suddenly night. They tried to kill you and Leif. Your whole body hurts and you are so tired but you have to keep running. Who knows what Bianca ordered them to do?

-

Eventually you can't run anymore.

You stop, panting heavily. "I'm, I'm gonna lay down." You say as you set the bag on the ground, gently. Then you let yourself fall to the ground, you're so tired.

You feel awful. You feel cold even though you just ran more than you've ever run in your entire life.

The longer you lay there the more you hurt. It starts as a dull ache that sharpens and sharpens until your breath starts hitching. Don’t cry, you're both safe now right? You don't need to cry. But the pain just keeps getting stronger and you’re cold and damp- And damp?

You sit up and the pain is so much worse. You just try to breathe. A shaky breath in, a shakier breath out. The tendril Leif has on your right arm squeezes a little tighter. You scoop as much of him as you can into your arms and hug him tight.

"Hey Leif, you." Sniff. "You need a host right? Like you won't, you won't survive very long all squishy like that, right?"

Leif moves around a little and you don't know what that means, you wish he was healthy and whole and you could hear him speak. You wish Bianca had minded her own business.

"Uhm, You won't, won't survive on your own. And uh I- I don't think I am either."

It's so much more awful when you say it out loud. That you aren't going to survive. You don't want to die.

You're in the middle of grasslands, way off the path and hours and hours from someone who can help you. The guards are hunting you, and not to give you medical attention.

You're scared and in so much pain, your whole body aches and, and every breath hurts, but you can't stop sobbing. You're bleeding. Not the clear blood of a light scratch to your chitin, but a full dark green that's oozing and pooling into a puddle beneath you.

All that blood from just a little hole in your carapace. It's just barely the size of your hand, but you're bleeding more than you've ever seen Leif bleed, even at his most injured. And he's sitting in your lap right now and he's dying too.

"And, and. I'm hurt, like my- my-" You can't say it. It's already too real and you just can't. "Uh, I'm not gonna leave you. I, uh, don't actually know where we are anyway, but I wouldn’t leave you anyway and. And can you, stop, uh, moving, it- it hurts a lot. I'm sorry."

Leif freezes, then he moves real slow, pressing at your legs. And huh, your right shin actually moves with Leif. Oh. He's checking you for injuries. You must be bruised there but you're already in so much pain you hadn't even noticed. Well, it doesn't look bent out of shape, so it's just a light bruise. Probably.

He moves past your legs onto your sides and before you can stop him he's brushing against the hole in your carapace. You didn't know you could feel any worse but you do and you bite your lip to muffle your scream. Leif throws himself off of you.

"Oh, it's- it's okay. " You say, over and over again. "It's okay, it's okay. You didn't- you didn't know. It’s okay. Uhm, As- As I was saying. Neither, neither of us is gonna survive, I don't, I don't think. I know. I know you don't want this or, or want me. But you need a host, host and. I love you, I don't want you to die."

You pull at Leif's arms until he's back in your lap. And you hug him, as tight as you possibly can. No matter how this goes, this just might be the last time you get to hug him.

"And I know you're, you're scared. That you'll hurt me or- or erase me or something, but. I trust you. And, I'm not just, not just saying that 'cause I'm- I'm dying. But, I trust you. I mean that. I trust you, okay?"

[multimetaverse]

Riverdale 5x04 Recap

Reggie getting lines is the first sign this must be a dream sequence

The Saving Private Archie sequence was well done. The twist where Hiram shoots Archie was a good one I’ll give RAS that

When discussing Archie in the army with some friends last week I said that they would only refer to Archie having been in a war and would only refer to the enemy as the enemy and lo and behold

Archie reading a book is already the most unrealistic thing abut this ep

Archie reading a Farewell to Arms is in keeping with the writer’s usual subtlety 

The Second World War style army uniforms work great with the show’s aesthetic 

Toni’s pregnant! And the White Wyrm is Pop’s basement!

RAS said we’d probably find out who Toni’s baby daddy is in 5x08. Presumably it’s someone we know which doesn’t leave a long list of potential father: Reggie or Sweetpea would be at the top of the list

Pop Tate better not be dead

Trash bag killer sounds nice!

A Fargo name drop

Is Betty sleeping with her instructor? That’s so unethical

Oh god they’re going full Silence of the Lambs with Betty having been kept in a pit by the trash bag killer

So the Trash bag killer captured an FBI agent and instead of killing her he held her captive for 2 weeks until she either escaped or was rescued or was let go? Unless there’s gonna be some big twist that really doesn’t sound likely to me

That serial killer brother (along with her serial killer dad) is exactly why Betty would never have been let into the real FBI

Chadwick is such a douchey name ( and he lowkey dresses like Hiram). He wants kids after just a year of marriage and wants Veronica to work less? Lotta red flags already

I’m going to quote an interview RAS did with E News regarding the timeline:

"Yeah, we're definitely in a time paradox," he says. "I think it would have been less jarring if we'd had the organic season break. But yes...the show's timeless so that's what we're hanging on to, to be honest. Like yes if you if you really, if you really analyze it it's like we're either in 2028, or we've been seven years in the past...there's a discrepancy there for sure." And yes, he also acknowledges that Veronica claimed post-jump that it is still 2021."Yes, she says it's 2021," he agrees. "But I think in the graduation episode it was also 2020...there's a discrepancy there for sure."

I have extremely low expectations for the Riverdale writers but fucking around with the timeline you’ve already established is just a slap in the face to the audience. Better shows than Riverdale have botched their timelines and it’s always a symptom of big problems in the writers room when they can’t even handle that basic task. Not to mention the contempt it shows to the audience 

Graduation was in 2020 so it should be 2027 now. Even if they didn’t graduate in 2020, Fred’s tombstone said he died in 2019 so how does that math add up? If  it’s now 2021 and the kids graduated back in 2014 then that would mean that Riverdale High’s first graduating class was in 1939 rather than 1945 which would mean that those classmates who inspired Archie to join the army were enlisting months before the Second World War broke out and two and a half years before the attack on Pearl Harbour caused the USA to enter to war

All strong marriages are built on deception (was that a reference to Katy Keene from the now cancelled Katy Keene show?). This accident better have really been serious if they keep bringing it up

Nice to see Hermione again

They look fine for surviving a helicopter crash

Chadwick collects faberge eggs just like Hiram... and Veronica decided to sell it... methinks Chadronica is not gonna last

Ah yes Fitzgerald and Hemmingway, two writers known for their happy lives and  peaceful deaths of old age, really good examples to live by Jughead

Lmao! Only Jughead would be seduced by a chick wanting him to read her book

Good on Kangs for staying together this whole time

Cheryl is straight up living in the 19th century and I’m here for it. Thank god Nana Rose is alive

Reggie working for Hiram is an interesting twist

Kinda weird that Toni is trying to get back together with Cheryl when she’s pregnant with some dude’s kid. Honestly it makes perfect sense that Cheryl would believe that she’s cursed

Omg is Cheryl gonna get into art forgery?? That would actually be so great

Of fucking course we’re circling back to Hiram’s real estate deals

Thank god Pop Tate is alive

Man how stupid do you have to be to hitch hike nowadays especially when the truck that pulls up has a fucking skeleton on the front!

Once more I’ll quote RAS on the serial killer plot:

"As that mystery unfolds, it starts enveloping all of our characters," Aguirre-Sacasa says. "And in some ways tragically, including a character we've known and loved since season one."

That’s a vague statement that something bad will happen but if he means that a character we’ve known and loved since S1 is dying then it won’t be any of the mains. Sheriff Keller would be a good tragic death, the last of the good dads left in Riverdale

In another interview focusing on the ships RAS mentioned that Bughead would still have a lot of trauma from the Barchie kiss to work through, that Barchie would have a deep connection, and that Varchie still have a spark but Archie wouldn’t make a move on Ronnie while she’s still married

I would be surprised if Chadwick doesn’t meet a violent death at some point so I don’t think he’s a long term obstacle. If Hiram is the big bad for the remainder of the series then there’s a path to get Varchie back together as they team up to take him down

RAS also mentioned how nice it was to not always have to write couple scenes, to be able to have Betty scenes without Jughead and Veronica scenes without Archie and vice versa. An odd statement to make as no one was forcing him to keep those couples together. The writers could easily have broken up Varchie after Hiram’s numerous attempts to kill Archie or used the fact that Bughead had a shared half brother and their parents were living together in a romantic relationship to sink them

Well until next Riverdalers

[sonoftatooine]

Whumpay 2021

DAY 16: “PUT DOWN YOUR WEAPON”/ KEEP FIGHTING

Characters: Anakin Skywalker, Commander Fox, Padme Amidala (mentioned), Captain Typho (mentioned), Sheev Palpatine (mentioned)

Summary: Instead of running to Palpatine’s aid after informing Mace Windu of his identity as the Sith Lord Darth Sidious, Anakin gets a call informing him that Padmé has gone into labour and rushes to her side. Sidious, however, is not about to let his prized apprentice and political enemy slip through his fingers at the advent of his new empire without a fight.

***

It was deep into the night on Coruscant, and the blazing fires rampaging throughout the Jedi Temple meant that the flashes of stun blasts and the whirling glow of a blue saber blade coming from Senator Amidala's apartment went largely unremarked upon by the residents of 500 Republica. Inside, however, a battle as fierce as that in the Temple was raging, the Coruscant Guard facing off against one lone Jedi Knight. Anakin Skywalker leapt and ducked and whirled, deflecting bolt after bolt as he tried not to stagger under the weight of his own exhaustion and the screaming in the Force. Even as he reached out to it to aid him in the fight, it howled back at him full of unbearable agony as Jedi upon Jedi was struck down, mingling both with his own terror and the pained cries of his wife in the next room. His wife whom he could not under any circumstances let the troopers get to. His wife and his child, who had chosen the worst time possible to come into the world.

He had received the comm call in the Council Chambers, just as he was preparing to make a mad dash to the Chancellor's office—though to do what he did not quite know. All he had known was that Padmé was going to die and that if he didn't do something, he would never forgive himself. Then, Captain Typho had called, telling him in tones far too calm when Anakin could hear his wife's pained groans ringing in his ears through the static of the commlink, that Padmé had gone into labour and was asking for him. He had panicked, the terrified voice in his head reminding of his dream, hissing at him that it was too soon, he still didn't have a solution and he was out of time. In the end, all he could do was make a mad dash to 500 Republica and Padmé's side instead, trying desperately to ignore the crushing sensation of the dragon in his chest with its endless whisper of “all things die, Anakin Skywalker; even stars burn out” in favour of the crushing sensation of Padmé's small and deceptively strong fingers clutching down on his flesh hand as waves of contractions tore through her.

Then the lights of four Jedi Masters blinked out of existence. Then the Force howled its pain direct into his distraught mind and the Temple burnt. Then the troopers came for them.

Another scream from the bedroom. Padmé, alone save for the emdee, as he fought and fought, trying to drive them back, refusing to let them pass. At first, Typho had dashed out to hold the troopers off when they marched up to Padmé's door with orders from the Chancellor to arrest the newly fugitive Jedi and traitorous senator by any means necessary. But Padmé's security team had only lasted so long against the relentless Coruscant Guard. Now, Typho was lying unconscious on the floor, caught by a blaster bolt in the shoulder, with only a faint spark in the Force to reassure Anakin that he was still alive. Now, it was only him left, his family's last line of defence.

A bolt whizzed too close past his ear, and he flinched. Commander Fox had ordered his men to set their blasters to stun when he had come charging out of the bedroom, lightsaber raised, at the sound of Typho's cry of pain. He was, apparently, not to be harmed, by order of Chancellor Palpatine. Darth Sidious. The realisation had sent a sharp spike of fear through him even as he forced himself to focus on the fight. Did the man still want him as his apprentice? Surely not, after he had sent the Jedi Council to arrest him—perhaps he wanted to take his revenge after such a blatant refusal? But Padmé...he wanted Padmé captured alive too. Oh Force, what could he possibly want with her—?

He yelped as one of the stun blasts slipped past his defences, clipping against his upper arm. Numbness spread from the spot where it struck, and he panicked. No. He wouldn't let them get the upper hand. He reached into the Force, pushing through the agony that rushed at him like the vicious winds of a sandstorm on Tatooine. Then, before he could truly understand what he was doing, he drew upon the pain, had pulled it into him and pushed it out again, hard. He screamed in fury, and the troopers lost their footing, thrown back into the wall with a clattering thud.

The Force roiling within him, Anakin froze, suddenly unsure what to do. A voice whispered in the back of his head to attack, to hurt them before he hurt his family, but something stayed his hand. These may not be his men, but he knew them. Had known them for years—years of visiting the Senate, to give reports, to see Padmé, years enough to know there was something not quite— But he had known Palpatine for years as well, and he had been gravely mistaken in him. And Padmé. He had to protect Padmé—

His hesitation lasted barely any time at all, but it was enough for the troopers to recover themselves. They scrambled back to their feet, levelling their guns at him once more.

“I won't ask you again.” Fox's voice came flat and expressionless through his helmet. He felt just as flat and expressionless in the Force, as did the men who flanked him, all wrong, all wrong— “Put your weapon down.”

Panting heavily, hair in disarray, numb flesh hand shaking violently from the stun blast that had clipped him in the arm, Anakin gripped his lightsaber tight in front of him. He made no move to follow the command. He couldn't. He couldn't let them pass. Couldn't afford to fail, to be captured when he was their last line of defence. Not with Padmé on the line. Padmé and the baby.

“Go to Hell!” he snarled.

Something in his mind shouted at him that there was something wrong with the men, but a week of sleepless nights and stress combined with the sight of Typho bleeding on the floor and Padmé's screams ringing in his ears had left him too overwrought to think of anything else. He could think of nothing but the danger they presented, the harm they had already caused, the threat they posed to his family, to his wife and child. He had to protect her. Above all else, he had to protect her.

A flare in the Force and a subtle nod from Fox to his men was all the warning he had before the storm of blaster fire started up again, and once again he was whirling and spinning, dodging and deflecting, hitting the bolts back at the troopers with as much accuracy as he was able after so long without rest and the searing, burning pain that was reverberating in the Force from the attack on the Temple. A few of the men collapsed as he managed to hit one of the stun bolts into the gaps in their plastisteel armour, but it seemed as if nothing he did made a difference to their numbers. There were too many of them, overwhelming him, beating him down. His arms shook with the strain of it, but he couldn't stop. He refused to stop. He had to protect Padmé, get her and the baby safely away, find medical attention for Typho. This was a battle he could not afford to lose, couldn't—

A particularly loud, agonised scream from Padmé over the sound of blasters discharging, and Anakin, an image of the dream that had been haunting him for the past week flashing before his eyes, faltered. It was barely a second's distraction, but that was all the troopers needed. The bolt from Fox's gun hit above the chest, knocking the air out of him as his vision went black. The world tilted sideways, and he felt his shoulder jar painfully as it hit the floor. He fought to stay awake, to get up and keep fighting—but he could barely see, let alone fight, the numbness from the stun blast spreading alarmingly through his body. Wild, unrestrained panic flared through him. No. No. He couldn't— He had to—

“You should have come quietly, Jedi,” Fox's voice came from above him. He bit back a groan, trying desperately to get his sluggish limbs to respond. Padmé was still crying out wordlessly, and he could hear heavy footsteps marching past him to the bedroom. Fear flooded through him, burning in his chest like molten hot lava. No. They couldn't. They couldn't. “His Excellency will not be pleased with your resistance.”

Kriff His Excellency, he wanted to snarl, but he could not form the words, and all that came out was a formless cry of rage and terror. Kriff him to Hell! Padmé, oh Padmé, I'm so sorry, I'm so— A sharp spike of panic not his own in the Force, a scream from the bedroom, hands grasping him by the arms and pulling him to his knees, holding him still. No! No, no, no. He had to keep fighting. Please, please, he couldn't lose them, he couldn't, couldn't—

He heard the click of a blaster above him, and the last thing Anakin knew was the hum and flash of a stun bolt before blackness consumed him.