#the entire apprentice squad has my whole heart | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

real-jaune-isms · 4 years

Text

RWBY Volume 8 Chapter 7 Review/Remix

Last episode before the holiday break. The long long long holiday break. And here I am only posting my review the night before we come back... I was having a lot of fun playing my new video games, okay? Let’s just get right into this with the joke everyone has already made. War: What is it good for? Actually a lot, if you can believe it. Only in this specific context though, because the warfare in the American streets these last few days is disgusting and emblematic of what has been wrong with the country for a while. A government leader sending his followers into the nation’s capital on a mission of rage and personal catharsis? Ick. At least in RWBY the tyrant isn’t attacking members of his own population... Oh wait, Mantle. :P

For a moment you might be fooled into thinking we’re starting back in the farmlands of Mistral, maybe getting another look at Oscar’s earlier life or seeing a little more of Nora’s mysteriously tragic past before she and Ren met. But no, these are the wheat farms on the outskirts of Atlas and Sabyrs are charging through like raptors through the tall grass in Lost World. A battalion of Atlesian soldiers, human soldiers I might add, stand armed to meet them. But even if they’re armed they are by no means ready. Monstra keeps coughing up a new wave of Grimm, and I do mean a wave, every minute or two and Atlas is pretty damn whelmed in the face of it. There are some big bots with guns standing in straight lines, but the majority of the defense put up by Remnant’s supreme authority on military power and strength is mortal men with fear in their hearts rather than expendable robot soldiers. And the big bots seem to be lined up in a way that the ones in the front block the ones in the back, so that’s just poor planning too. It’s just a concerning sight all together, and they are not efficiently handling the coming enemy. We cut up to Ironwood in his office, and it seems he is not dealing with this situation well at all. We know he’s under a lot of stress from all the recent events, but they are in fact mostly his own fault due to his poor decision making skills in times of crisis, and his single minded drive he calls a Semblance. Speaking of the eternally expanding list of Ironwood’s bad ideas, he decides to evacuate all the civilians into Atlas’ below ground subway tunnels. Fun fact: There were Apathy among the Grimm Monstra has been spitting out. Second Fun Fact: Apathy were last seen thriving and murdering in an abandoned underground tunnel system beneath a well. If one is familiar with fantasy television pop culture of the last decade, the Crypts of Winterfell might pop into your mind as a similarly poor place to hide all your unarmed women and children. Y’know, cuz in Game of Thrones they were facing a guy who could raise the dead as his minions and crypts are just tunnels full of corpses. Just saying, this could end up being a non-birthday massacre. Whatever captain of lieutenant Ironwood was talking to is hesitant to go along with this idea, but Ironwood puts his foot down by putting his fist down. And so his voice comes on over the city-wide PA system to tell everyone they need to get down into the subway for their own safety. Compared to the organized marching and relative calm of the poor folks down in Mantle, these rich fat cats practically trample each other to run and scream down the stairs. A father is concerned his daughter is going to get snatched up by a swarm of Lancers, but seems even more upset by the squad of airships swooping in to combat them.

Speaking of airships, we cut to the one Marrow and Harriet are flying. The Ace Ops have arrested YRJ, because of course they did, and they all hear radio chatter as pilots are reporting in about how Monstra is too tough for them to pierce from the outside with any of the weapons available to them. Winter checks in over comms to report her team’s limited successes, and Ironwood tells her to stay on jailor duty for a bit. Yang snarks at Winter for continuing to follow orders despite the circumstances, but conversation is stifled by Monstra coming into view for the group. Jaune laments that the beast now serving as Oscar’s confinement is larger than they had imagined from a distance, and Vine continues to be rigid in his assertions as to just what Grimm can and cannot do. “Grimm don’t take prisoners” he says, as if that’s an irrefutable fact. It’s not like any Grimm have done anything new or unheard of recently, like talk or grow wings or exist within a river of evil sludge or shoot up miles into the air as a geyser or have gravity Dust crystals in their underbelly to fly, or as you are witnessing right now belch out ponds worth of sludge from with waves of Grimm are emerging to fight your ground troops. Yep, we definitely know every single thing a Grimm does, especially one brought here by the mistress of the entire Grimm collective who is commanding most of them here. You sure are smart, Vine... Yang continues to be riled up and ask they be let go to help, but Elm and Vine hold her in her seat. Ironwood is heard giving the Manta jets new orders and reveals Command is working on a solution for Monstra. Winter, naturally wanting to be kept in the loop, asks what that might be. He reveals the science team is putting together a bomb that might be able to take the whale out if detonated inside it. That means Winter and the Ace Ops will be delivering it into the literal belly of the beast. I don’t know if he intends for it to be a suicide mission with the bomb going off as soon as they’ve got it inside, or if it’s just incredibly risky to try and get inside Monstra at all, but Winter pales at this news and her eyes go wide before sadly drooping closed again. She composes herself and grows determined again as she accepts the new marching orders. Jaune and Yang are again audibly against these plans due to the risk to Oscar’s safety, but they are subdued as needed, though we see Winter’s act isn’t absolute and her hands are shaking.

Meanwhile, Salem is having the time of her life doing her best Mickey Mouse impression. Classical music plays as she conducts the waves of Grimm sludge out of Monstra’s mouth like the Sorcerer’s Apprentice playing conductor to the stars themselves. Emerald watched from a distance, and seems less than thrilled about the whole thing. She heads down the halls and has to use her Semblance to keep a Seer from noticing her and potentially reporting her going where she doesn’t need to be to Salem. And where she’s going is the door outside Oscar’s torture room. He’s coughing up blood, and Hazel is still insisting he start telling the truth before Salem loses her patience and just kills him despite how futile it’d be. Instead Oz starts asking some questions of his own: Does Hazel know why Salem sought to recruit him in particular? It turns out she approached him with the promise of making a new world order where there won’t be any kingdoms or Huntsman Academies. Oz just has to laugh at that naiveté. When Salem gets the 4 Relics, there won’t be a world at all. She’s been around for so goddamn long, all she wants is for it to end, and she thinks taking the whole world down is the only way to get it anymore. This just frustrates Hazel, and we learn why. He’s pretty damn sure Salem can’t die at all, because when she first approached him about working together he spent the better part of a day killing her over and over and over again. This man, whom we know from the Battle of Haven to have massive reserves of Aura and strength to endure and keep fighting, kept fighting until he was too worn down and exhausted to lift his fists again. And in that time of weakness and awe at her power, Salem made her sales pitch that even if he couldn’t kill the one leading the Grimm he could at least have vengeance on the establishment sending young people to their deaths against her. Oz points out that that’s exactly why she went to him, because she could make him believe this was the right way, that it would bring him closure. It’s what Ozpin deserves, Hazel argues, and Oz does not disagree. But does Oscar deserve it? Do the innocent people who haven’t been affected by Salem or Ozpin yet? No, this isn’t for justice, this is personal. Because Salem said it would help Hazel. Has it?

We don’t get an answer to that, instead going back up to Weiss’ room in Schnee Manor where she’s reapplying Nora’s bandages. Still mostly unconscious, Nora mutters “Now what... am I good for?” I can think of a great many things Nora is useful for outside of her great strength and straightforward approach to combat, but its a damn shame no one has actually bothered to tell her that before now. Before Weiss has a chance to offer any, Blake and Ruby enter the room with cups of tea. I’m not ashamed to admit I initially thought they were hot chocolate cuz I’m not used to tea being that sort of amber color. Weiss admits that she’s done the most her limited medical knowledge can offer, and Nora needs more than that. Blake expresses her concern for the other half of their group, but almost slips up and says... well we’re just not sure, but we like to assume she was gonna say she’s especially worried for someone in particular. The shippers can fill that in how they like. Their moping is interrupted by May entering the room with some less than stellar news from Fiona and the others down in Mantle. They haven’t seen Yang’s team in a while, and with everything going to hell like this a search party is at the bottom of the priority list. She’s about ready to get back on the airship and head back down to Mantle, but Weiss protests and this sparks a debate. May points out that Mantle doesn’t have the luxury of the Atlas military protecting them so Ruby’s group and the Happy Huntresses are the only thing keeping the people safe from the chaos of the invasion, but Weiss argues that there are still people suffering up her and I have to agree. Just because a police force is around doesn’t automatically mean they’re doing the best job of keeping everyone safe. But Weiss pushes the wrong button by asking about May’s family. The Marigold’s were ashamed of the way their “son” acted, wanting to help the suffering down in Mantle. And so May would no longer let herself be called that, she became a woman proudly working as part of the Happy Huntresses for the service of the people. She kicked her Marigold name and reputation to the curb and her cousin Henry stepped up as the socialite snob instead.

This cannot have been an easy scene for Kdin to record, but we all need to give a standing ovation for her performance in it. Powerful words that likely hit very close to home. What a queen.

May is sure Weiss gets where she’s coming from with their families casting them aside in favor of a more obedient heir, her being replaced by Whitley after her outburst at the charity concert. Weiss wants to voice her disagreement, but May questions whose side she’s on in all this. Blake doesn’t like that, they’ve heard this talk about taking sides before and judging by her tone she’s none too happy to be hearing it now. May is about to give her a strongly worded piece of her mind too but Ruby stands between them to remind everyone there are no sides. All of humanity needs to be united, and Salem is the one creating the tension that’s dividing them so their real enemy is her. The only question now is how do they get out of this problem? The solution might be hiding just around the corner, literally. Whitley has been listening from behind the door, and he seems a little inspired.

Meanwhile Oz seems to have just finished telling Salem’s dark cursed backstory to Hazel, and it seems her final plan really is to have the world so divided and ruined that when the gods are brought back to judge it they will deem Remnant a failure and destroy it and hopefully her with it. Hazel seems less than inclined to believe this story though, he still holds a damn hard grudge over his sister. Oz is getting nowhere so Oscar asks to be put back in the lead, and so he is just as Hazel is about to wallop them again. Oz is willing to trust him so he can earn Hazel’s trust in return. So he goes right ahead and tells the big guy Jinn’s name and that it’s how you summon her for one last question. Hazel seems mad that Oscar gave up the info so effortlessly after all that, but Oscar asserts that he’s not telling Salem. He’s telling Hazel, and letting him decide what to do with the knowledge and the chance to gain deeper knowledge still. Pretty rad strategy. Wouldn’t you know it though, Emerald is still listening outside the door and heard everything. She goes to tell Mercury, but he’s busy packing a duffel bag for a trip to Vacuo. Guess Salem doesn’t need him here right now so we’ll get to see him again in Volume 9 or 10. He’s less than convinced that they should try and use this behind the scenes knowledge to go against Salem, cuz if Hazel couldn’t do it then why would he change his tune now? And why would they risk their necks too? It’s not like Oz was telling the truth, right? Salem isn’t really gonna destroy the world! But the teens get another surprise lecture from Uncle Tyrian: Of course Salem plans to destroy Remnant!! You couldn’t tell from the start? Everything about her screams end of the world, and it is beautiful! And if you thought she’d do anything different then you must really be crazy... Bold worlds from a psychotic serial killer, but we already know he’s unhinged. Mercury doesn’t much like getting this rude awakening though, especially since Tyrian will be the one going with him to Vacuo. Merc and Em share one last sad look, but he’s made his bed and now he’s resigned to lie in it. Bye bye Mercury, see you after Emerald has probably switched sides and will have to face you as an enemy...

Speaking of ships soaring through the air, we go back to the Ace Ops and YJR heading for Monstra. Yang is protesting the bombing plan since Oscar is still inside, but Vine insists they can’t afford to wait and risk further death and destruction. Jaune offers a side plan, send the three inside Monstra ahead of the bombing squad to scope things out for them and try to rescue Oscar while they’re doing recon. Marrow is shocked that they’d be willing to go into the literal belly of the beast alone, but Yang asserts he’d do the same for one of his teammates if they were in this position, right? He doesn’t have an answer for that. Elm argues that trading their lives just for one other person is stupid, but amazingly it is Ren who objects. Oscar is their friend, and they will do whatever it takes for someone they care about like that. A real turnaround from his attitude of closing himself off emotionally, but I guess he’s realizing how ridiculous it sounds coming from other people? Harriet gets out of her seat to do what she does best and start talking down to someone as naïve and wrong. Feelings are stupid, the job is what matters. When you lose someone you just replace them and forget about them. We find out that Winter is indeed meant to be the new leader instead of Clover, and before Marrow there was apparently a member of the team named Tortuga, but Ren is not about to let anyone tell him that someone is replaceable. You don’t say that to Team JNPR, and we definitely don’t say that about Ren... Not now. In his outrage, Ren suddenly finds... clarity. He starts seeing the world a little differently. In less cryptic terms, his Semblance seems to have evolved and he now sees people’s emotions swirling around them as colorful bursts of flower petals. Harriet is actually furious about losing Clover, she’s lying to herself and trying to suppress her feelings. She does not like being called out like that, but the rest of the squad needs to be put on blast. As opposed to Hare’s red petals Marrow is surrounded by blue that I guess would mean sadness or depression, Elm has orange and some red, and Vine is clouded with green. The meanings of the last two are a little less clear, but they’re all definitely feeling some strong things that they’re trying to hide under a calm façade. This is the reason the Ace Ops lost to RWBY, they’re all held back by trying not to connect with each other so unity and team bonds never formed. Elm does not like being told she’s a loser because she won’t make friends, but at least it’s a a reaction, which means he’s absolutely right. She’s about to deck Ren in the face but Winter steps in to get everyone calmed down. She looks these three “fugitives” over, and makes a decision. She’s going to trust her sister’s friends. They will get the teens in close and give them a small window of time to try and get in and out before the Ace Ops need to bring in the payload and blow it all away. Harriet is pissed Winter is giving these “traitors” a chance, and questions her decision thusly. But you’re outranked, you boob, and you can’t do a damn thing to stop her from showing human decency. They have a very tight schedule to attempt this rescue, and Jaune accepts that fully. The three get uncuffed and are given their weapons back as the ship lands at the front lines. Ren tries to appeal to the doubt and regret he can see in Marrow to get him to switch sides while the getting’s good. Marrow wants to, but he sticks to the job for now. Yang and Jaune head out first, while Ren lingers to tell Winter he knows she doesn’t want to be a part of all this anymore either, and we see a rainbow of many emotional petals around her head. Either she has a balance of many emotions in check and is the most levelheaded of the Ace Ops, or she has the most emotions repressed and her mind is a tempest of feelings that aren’t being addressed and may spell her end... take your pick.

As this militant Schnee considers her options, we go homeward to see Weiss and the others heading for the front door. May isn’t keen to stay her any longer than needed, and the kids need to make a choice about where she’s dropping them off. Either they go to the front lines here in Atlas or back down to Mantle to help with the chaos there. No other options, and especially no breaking their jailbirds out for an assist. May doesn’t have the optimism and heroic hope that Ruby still holds dear, she won’t entertain the idea that this can become a complete victory all around. This isn’t that kind of world. Either they help one place, or they help another. And even then, that’s no guarantee wherever they go will be successful at stopping the invasion. It’s very depressing, and it’s on these kids to accept the facts and make the hard decisions. If you take a look at the last few Volumes, Ruby does seem to have a bit of a habit of ignoring the dreadful possibilities/facts in favor of pursuing a hopeful and bold plan that could fix everything immediately so she doesn’t have to cope with reality and actually grieve her mistakes and losses... I’m not saying it makes her a bad character or that she’s wholly wrong for trying to see a bright side whenever possible, just that this is an unhealthy strategy for a leader with so much on her shoulders. But before anyone has time to make a decision right now, there’s a hard knock on the front door. Everyone draws their weapons and approaches slowly, before Weiss cautiously opens the door. In a most definitely welcome surprise, she is greeted by Klein!!! She missed him dearly, and apologizes for whatever fault she had in his being fired, but while cycling through personalities he assures her she has nothing to be sorry for since it’s all Jacques’ fault, the bastard. Turns out, Klein is here to use his medical knowledge to treat Nora. What, didn’t you know all butlers to heroic millionaires have field medic training? Alfred Pennyworth set the gold standard, I dare say~ But of course, Weiss didn’t call him and none of her friends know his number so who told him to come?... Would you believe it, Whitley is responsible and we could not be more proud of him! Weiss certainly is, and she gives him what might be his first genuinely loving hug in years. Klein heads upstairs to begin treatment, while the rest of the group share a hopeful moment. But this silence too comes to a crashing halt as there is further ruckus outside. This time Ruby answers the door, to see a smoking crater in the front driveway. RWB rush outside and kneel at the edge of the crater as the smoke clears. Penny has crash landed, and lies there in a pool of what we can only presume to be her green synthetic blood. All she has the strength left to do is apologize before she passes out and the screen darkens with her. There lies the end for the next 6 weeks, and we were left to panic and speculate all the while. Too bad I’m a lazy bugger who only got this review out now and there’s no tension left before the thrilling continuation comes tomorrow morning. So lets all get one last panicked sleep in before the living nightmares come for our girls! Penny is totally gonna be under Watt’s control, the Hound is coming, it’s all gonna be a huge damn mess... Can’t wait, can you?~

8 notes · View notes

mytastessuck · 3 years

Text

Gorillaz: Humanz

SHere it is, the comeback tour! I was so excited for this album, I sucked all the singles that came out before I could download the album. This album basically reminded me of the reasons I love Gorillaz. All of them. One particular reason a little too well...

Okay, let's get the elephant out of the room. This album is a bit controversial among the community for playing a little too hard to one of Gorillaz' strengths: showcasing cool artists. There are more than a few tracks where Damon doesn't even show up. Hell, my favorite track doesn't even have it on him. Me, I honestly don't care about that as long as I get to hear good music but for the rest of you die hard Gorillaz fans? Just think of this as a compilation album like NOW That's What I Call Alternative/Indie Hip-Hop/R&B/Electronica/Pop.

See? Rolls off the tongue. Now let's get started.

1. Intro: I Switched My Robot Off

Nice. Real ominous. Gorillaz really know how to build up a presentation. Feels like you're walking through the doors of the doors to the Shrine of the Silver Monkey. Anybody remember Legends of the Hidden Temple? Were there doors on that stage? Anyway, awesome.

10/10

2. Ascension

Holy hell, Vince really knocks it out of the park on this one. Different beat, nice flow, social commentary...He was not fucking around on this track. Damon's barely on the track but Vince makes up for it with his existential rhymes and chorus back-up. Man, Gorillaz has gotta take advantage of gospel more often.

9/10

3. Strobelite

That didn't take long, did it? Anyway, this is my favorite song on the album. Peven has an incredible voice, the music psychically compels you to dance and...that's it. Sometimes, well usually with me, you just need to go with Simple Yet Awesome. Have a good voice and a good beat. This song has both and I'm pretty sure that one day, a scientist will hear this song and will be inspired by it to cure diabetes.

100/10

4. Saturn Barz

Ah, the lead single from the album. Remember the 360 house, everyone? Yeah, you remember. Glad to have Gorillaz welcome back Reggae into their line-up with Popcaan manning the helms. He and Damon tag-team the eardrums with the power of dread as the instrumentation makes you feel like you're in a haunted house. Welcome back, guys.

25/10

5. Momentz

WELCOME BACK, GUYS! De La Soul returns to say some real shit about time and how you should, respect and stuff. Seriously, awesome track. Kicks so much ass and you can even dance to it as you wonder if this MOMENT will be one of the last times when you feel really happy. Nice...

9/10

6. Interlude: The Non-Conformist Oath

Hey, Steve Martin! I like to imagine a bunch of assholes listening to this and...just not getting it. Not us though. We get it. We're smart. Smarter than those guys...

10/10

7. Submission

This song had to grow on me but years after I got the album and after I learned to appreciate Danny Brown a little more like all humans should, this song became one of my favorites off the album. Don't worry Kelela, he doesn't carry the whole song. Her voice is so beautiful that it can calm a charging rhino or a coked-up Connor McGregor. These make the song a lot classier than it had any right being.

90/10

8. Charger

She's beauty, she's Grace...she's also Jones. Man, I haven't heard from this woman since Corporate Cannibal and she has clearly been keeping up practice. God, how can a woman's laughter both scare and arouse me? Damon's no slouch on this track either, singing about the monster that keeps us all tethered: the charger. I kid, I kid. Hey, did Damon really get a boner on stage when he sung this or are you guys messing with me? Message me if you know.

9/10

9. Interlude: Elevator Going Up

On a recent trip, I tried to go up the elevator but it was card-activated so a desk lady had to help me. That's it.

8/10

10. Andromeda

Damon has to do the heavy lifting here and his muscles have not completely wasted away from lack of use. He tells us to take in our heart and you know what? I did. I took this song directly in my heart...and my playlist.

50/10

11. Busted And Blue

Yeah, this song is a bummer. A good bummer. It's Broken's younger brother who joined the army to make his parents proud after he couldn't get into university like his older brother who managed to form a separate family with his squad and began to think that maybe he was good enough after all before his squad gets bombed and, as he lies legless dying painfully on the ground, a blue butterfly land directly on his outstretched busted hand...

Directed by Mervyn LeRoy

10/10

12. Interlude: Talk Radio

You ever wonder how we get voices in machines? I know you think it's a complicated process but I know a dude who picked up the radio in his electric fan once. Think about it.

8/10

13. Carnival

Again, this song had to grow on me but one day, while I was thinking about Gamzee for a godforsaken reason, I thought "Geez, he talks about the Dark Carnival and the Dark Carnival isn't even some of ICP's best days. What's a good song about a carnival?" Anyway, Anthony can spin a person's mind and mind around just by singing. He's wild.

80/10

14. Let Me Out

Hey, wouldn't it be funny if Mavis was Vince's mother? She's not but that would be funny as well as cool. Her and Pusha T bang on the walls of this track as they rant about the politics at the time of this song. Yeah, they're talking about Trump. That car horn can't protect you forever, you orange bastard.

9/10

15. Interlude: Penthouse

Dear Penthouse: Hi. Does anyone check in on you, just you? I'm here to say I think you're important and you provide a necessary outlet for men to brag about being perverts. At least before the Youtube comment section existed.

Thanks for everything,

mytastessuck

8/10

16. Sex Murder Party

Ooooo, this track puts me in a funky mood. Like, there's a part but there's sex there...and MURDER. So you know it's an awesome party. Kick-ass, right? I know it's kick-ass. Keep dancing, people.

11/10

17. She's My Collar

Pretty sexy song. Gotta love people vauging about being used in a song. That's why we love Offspring, that's why we love Damon on his knees onstage. Hey, there was a post that said Noodle wrote this song about her girlfriend. That was an excellent post. Well done.

9/10

18. Interlude: The Elephant

I SAID GET OUT OF HERE, YOU BASTARD!

8/10

19. Hallelujah Money

Ah, the technical first single. Remember when they said that they weren't going to put this song on the album? Anyway, this is exactly the song we needed after The Incident occurred. Benjamin manages to calm down an entire populace while Damon just fearfully wonders what our future will be like...and he's in the UK. This song is one long terrifying lullaby to an entire country...until the end, anyway.

75/10

20. We Got The Power

A great way to remind listeners that no matter what's happening, no matter who's in charge, we have the power change everything. An excellent message for people who were still recovering from The Incident.

10/10

21. Interlude: New World

Okay, the bonus tracks. Should be nothing special here, right? Just some B-sides and I've never shown favoritism towards B-sides, right?

8/10

22. The Apprentice

A nice song from the same Rag n' Bone Man who brought us "Human". Zebra manages to lay down some nice rhymes as Ray BLK backs them both up with the force of her voice. These guys should form a team with how well they work together. Oh, they should make a virtual band! All they need to do is find an artist...

9/10

23. Halfway To The Halfway House

A very nice song if a bit overshadowed by the others on the album. Still, Peven can't be beat when it comes to crooning and he raises a song from a solid C to a B.

8/10

24. Out of Body

This song had to grow on me also but when it did...lord, this song is weird. Hypnotic suggestions, telephone tones, the song starts then Zebra jumps in to help then who is this person?! Why are people applauding?! Who are you people?! Why are there so many crows gathering outside my house?!

60/10

25. Ticker Tape

Well well well, look who's back. Damon returns with his old friend Kali to join the accuser of the vain Carly Simon to beg us to stay on the album. Sorry Damon, but I got places to do and people to go. There's nothing you can do to convince me to stick around after how long this album already is.

9/10

26. Circle of Friendz

Huh. Seems like a riot is going on. Weird for Gorillaz to get this real. What, this guy is just going to keep saying Circle of Friendz again and again? Is this supposed to affect me? Get real. It'll take a lot more than a nice voice and implications to...

To...

...

...Maybe I should listen to the album again.

11/10

Album score: 25/10

Damn, that took a while. Shouldn't be the case next week when we cover The Now Now. See you then!

#gorillaz #humanz #music #review

5 notes · View notes

lady-griffin · 5 years

Text

So, I just saw Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn)

Really fun and very enjoyable. It’s a pretty great movie in my opinion and is just a fun “superhero” movie.

I feel like the word “fun” kind of undercuts this movie, but it really was fun and just a good film to watch.

I had a great time.

And I feel like you can tell this movie was clearly written and directed by women with women in mind. Which as a woman, I greatly enjoyed.

I’m sure this movie will probably rub some guys the wrong way, just because of that alone, but honestly it’s a good movie. I don’t think it alienates men or discourages them from watching it or enjoying it.

If you can’t enjoy this movie, because the characters aren’t “sexy” enough, then that’s on you.

And speaking of that. The Outfits.

Harley Queen and Black Canary have style, I want their clothes. Oh my god, do I want their clothes. Just so stylish and it works with who they are as characters.

Cassandra, Renee and Huntress have clothing that looks comfortable and works with their characters as well, and Renee and Cassandra’s clothes really makes them look like actual people and normal woman.

Which is nice! I like it when you have female characters who clearly are different and dress differently. It feels ridiculous when you have a show or movie or comic, where you're suppose to believe all these “very different” female characters all love wearing supery sexy stuff all the time.

I’m not against ladies dressing sexy, but it has to fit with the character and not just cause of the male gaze.

Also Roman/Black Mask gets some serious style points.

Bird of Prey is a fun, violent movie wear badass ladies beat and murder their way through Gotham City. Go and see it.

It comes highly recommended by this random internet chick.

Also, there isn’t an after-credit scene just a Harley Quinn voice over. The music is good in the credits, so if you want to stay, you can, but honestly you can skip it.

Spoilers Below

The movie does make a few choices that bug me. You know how in Suicide Squard, they spent like the first 30 minutes (maybe more) introducing characters.

This movie does that too. Kind of.

Honestly, now that I think about it, it does work a lot better here. Much better than I was initially thinking.

For one thing, the way the characters are introduced works with the plot and what’s happening and overall are pretty quick. For the main characters it’s fine. But Harley and her narrative kind of introduces everyone and their cousin.

But unlike Suicide Squad, this movie doesn’t stop everything to introduce a character with like a 2-3 minute character trailer/ad.

It’s not awul or anything, but I could’ve lived without it. It worked well and was humorous at times, but it did bug me to a certain degree.

And on that note, Harley has kind of Deadpool thing with her narration. I just think it was the wrong balance for this movie, it should’ve been in the movie either some more or some less and it probably would’ve worked better. It just seemed a bit off to me.

I kind of wished Harley’s narration was just in the beginning and in the end.

But let’s get into the characters

Harley Quinn/Dr. Harleen Quinzel

If you enjoyed her in Suicide Squad, you will definitely enjoy her here. She’s fun, she’s wacky, she’s violent and crazy, and she does have a bit of a heart. She has a soft-spot for the kid.

It’s definitely Harley’s show. But I’m not mad at it. I think without Harley no way this movie (with the other characters) would’ve been greenlit. No way. But now, maybe...I’m certainly not oppose to the idea.

So while Margot Robbie is definitely making sure the spotlight is on Harley Quinn, the light does get shared.

Also her action scenes were so good, I mean she really gets to shine and it’s just awesome. Really amazing action scenes that really do the character justice I think, truly some amazing fight choregraophy. Just Excellent.

And honestly I just want a Gotham Sirens movie with her, Poison Ivy and Catwoman even more now.

Oh, and while not Bud and Lou, I love me some Bruce and Harley.

Black Canary/Dinah Lance

If anyone has watched Arrow and has been annoyed, frustrated, angry or sadden how that version Black Canary is not like Black Canary at all. Then I think you will love Jurnee Smollett-Bell’s Canary.

I certainly did.

She’s not the star, but she has a nice on-going story of how she doesn’t want to follow in mother’s footsteps of being a dead hero. Basically she doesn’t want to get involved in anyone’s bullshit, but can’t help herself or is force to get involved.

They have a scene where they hammer that in a bit too hard. It was unnecessary, I felt like just by watching her scenes you get her story, without the details.

She has some amazing style. She wears a few suits and boy not only do I want her wardrobe but also goddamn, was she sexy. You can see why Zsasz was nervous about her stealing his boss/lover away.

I mean really the only negative thing I can say, is that she makes me hold a grudge against the Arrow show, because their version of Black Canary has got nothing on this one.

I would love to see more of her.

Huntress/ Helena Bertinelli

I greatly enjoy Huntress or the Crossbow Killer (loved that). I would say out of the other ladies (minus Harley obvi), she really does hold her own and her story while is as interconnected as everyone else’s to the main story, it just pops a bit more.

A badass assasin murdering mob bosses/ goons to avenge her family, who also happens to be one social awkward baby.

Loved that dichotomy. I laughed several times at that. Just great stuff.

It’s hard stricking the right balance in having a badass character and scenes/moments that undercut them for humor. And they struck it here. Really well done.

She was such a delight.

Really Mary-Elizabeth Winstead does such a great job as Huntress.

Other versions of her character don’t really seem to get the whole wanting to murder everyone who was responsible for her family’s death, in my opinion, because they also want her to be sexy. Here sexy isn’t really her thing and that’s more than okay with me.

The other birds think she’s a badass and I bet every other women (and hopefully some men) in the audience think so too.

I certainly want to see more of her, especially with Black Canary.

Also this Black Canary and Huntress and their dynamic come so close to ousting my favorite versions of them from Justice League: Unlimited. Which is a big compliment.

Renee Montoya

A cop with some serious issues, who maybe isn’t doing her best and probably has a drinking problem, but she’s trying okay. She’s trying.

She’s an intelligent detective who knows her shit and does not get the respect she deserves from her colleagues. Due to combination of both sexism and her own personal problems. Luckily for her she found some new colleages who have their own issues.

I certainly enjoyed that her problems at works seemed to be a combination of sexism at the work place, but not entirely, Renee is flawed. Wonderfully so.

Rosie Perez brings the more human element to this movie with her Renee and is a nice grounded contrast to the others. It’s also nice seeing her more grounded style of fighting.

Sometimes the scenes with her weren’t great. They sometimes felt forced, particulary the one with her and Canary and her trying to convince Canary to be like her mom. I could’ve lived without that.

That being said the movies has fun, pointing fun at her and basically saying she’s an 80s cop movie come to life. Which I liked.

Cassandra Cain

I like the character, don’t get me wrong, but this is not Cassandra Cain. And it does bother me as a huge Batman Comic fan. It just does.

I feel like they should’ve based her on some minor character from the comics or hell just created a new character. BTAS did that with Harley Quinn in 1992, so why the fuck not.

That would’ve worked so much better in my opinion. Sometimes rewriting a character works, here it feels odd. Because I don’t get why they decided to call this character Cassandra Cain.

Honestly, remove the Cain part from her name and you have a great little apprentice for Harley, who brings her own moxy to the table.

Ella Jay Basco does a great job holding her own as a screen partner against Margot Robbie. And she did such a good job protraying a street kid who thinks she can handle shit, to a scare kid who is way over head.

It was nice watching all these badass ladies keeping an eye out for Cassandra.

The characters reminds me a lot of Jade from Jackie Chan: Adventures. I mean both characters eat a valuable object and a bunch of bad people are willing to cut them open. Just saying.

If you’re a big fan of Cassandra Cain, I would suggest just ignoring the times they say her full name and try to think of her as a different character, named Cassandra.

Roman Sionis/ Black Mask

A murdering psychopath who thinks everyone and everything belongs to him. He’s power-hungry, cruel, violent and sadistic and is plenty messed up in the head. You see enough to get the picture and they don’t elaborate nor do they have to.

He wears some amazing clothes, by the way. I liked this version of the character a lot. Even when he’s being nice and friendly, you know that he can snap at any second (which he does). He does not have it together.

He doesn’t steal the show, but that’s a good thing. He’s a good villain, that allows our girls to be the perfect heroes/anti-heroes to his villany.

Victor Zsasz

Boy does he have it bad for Roman. He is very jealous and you know he wants to kill anyone who steals Roman’s attention away from him. A different kind of Zsasz, but enjoyable.

I love the rivalry between him and Black Canary, or what he percieves as a rivalry.

Female Empowerment/Some Reviews

So some reviews, I’ve seen basically say they don’t like this movie or have problem with it, because this kind of “female empowerment” has been done before and isn’t good or isn’t as good as it thinks it is.

And while, it’s not untrue that violent women willing to murder are not the greatest role models, I also am a bit annoyed at these reviews.

I mean, this movie does have a girl-power vibe to it without a doubt.

But it feels more like the message is --

Girl are Awesome. Here are some awesome ladies with varying degrees of violent tendacies, who are badass and who all should definitely know a therapist aside from Harley Quinn.

I don’t think girls have to violent to be badass, especially not in real-life, but I also don’t think female characters can’t be violent or angry. And 3 out of 5, weren’t starting anything or actively seeking violence at least not to the degree of the other two.

Also, it’s an R-Rated movie about a villainous comic book character...I mean, what were you expecting.

I understand the issue some people are having with this film, about women-empowerment and the celebration of violence and I don’t disagree with that.

In my opinion, the women-empowerment comes less from the violence and more from the fact that you had women as the center focus who were all pretty different and unique, and all of them had clear individual stories being told that created the plot of the movie.

For me, the movie was saying here are some awesome comic book characters who are also women, enjoy watching them beat and murder their way through Gotham City. Also enjoy them kicking several men in the balls, it’s quite fun.

I had great time with this movie.

So I hope people see it and I hope they have a good time.

#Birds of Prey #Harley Quinn #birds of prey and the emancipation of one harley quinn #birds of prey and the fantabulous emancipation of one harley quinn #Birds of Prey Spoilers #Black Canary #Huntress #Renee Montoya #Cassandra Cain #Dinah Lance #helena bertinelli #Harleen Quinzel

98 notes · View notes

ramblings-of-a-mad-cat · 5 years

Text

HPHM Profile - Luca Fawley

This template was posted by @Hogwartsmysterystory and it looks pretty awesome. I might just go ahead and use it for the whole damn Fawley family. But let’s start with Luca. I’ll try to stay true to canon while still respecting the “Remembrance” timeline’s ideas.

(That eye color edit looks so bad omg)

Identity

Name: Luca Jude Fawley

Gender: A-Gendered.

Age: 17 as of Year 6.

Birth Date: December 26th, 1972

Species: (Human, Lycanthrope, Metamorphmagus, Vampire, etc) Human, Wizard.

Blood Status: Pureblood.

Sexuality: Panromantic, Asexual.

Alignment: Neutral Good.

Ethnicity: Biracial, half Scottish and half Iranian.

Nationality: British.

Residence: The Black Sand Apothecary, in a place called Dulcimer Beach.

Myer Briggs Personality Type: INFP.

The Mage

1st Wand:Hazel and Unicorn Hair, 10 1/4 Inches, Swishy. This wand was owned by Nina, Luca’s mother. It was given to them after Jacob’s disappearance rendered Nina unable to use her magic anymore. It was just before Luca went to Hogwarts, where they used Nina’s wand until it was broken by Rakepick.

2nd Wand:Cedar and Unicorn Hair, 11 3/4 Inches, Pliant. This wand was fashioned by Rowan before they came to Hogwarts, but it never “chose” them. It did choose Luca though, in fifth year, just in time for Luca to need another. Rowan could not be happier at this turn of events, and Luca feels as though it’s an honor they don’t deserve.

Animagus: Black Cat.

Misc Magical Abilities: (Legilimen, Seer, Parselmouth, Obscurial, etc) Luca has extreme proficiency in all types of mental magic - Legilimency, Occlumency, Memory Charms, etc - due to a Dark Curse they inherited. A Curse that has plagued the Fawley family for generations. They also have a magical eye, similar to Moody’s, that replaced their left eye at age thirteen.

Boggart Form: For Years 1-5 it was Jacob, embodying all of Luca’s subconscious uncertainties about him. Post-Portrait Vault, it became Merula getting tortured.

Riddikulus Form: Usually nothing. Luca struggles to find humor in their anxieties, and they don’t stand much chance facing a Boggart alone.

Amortentia: (What do they smell like?) Luca’s hair has a distinctly cinnamon-like scent, so probably that.

Amortentia: (What do they smell?) Cat fur, Pine Trees, and Cloves.

Patronus: Cat. Specifically, it takes the form of Luca’s cat, Mitten.

Patronus Memory: Either the Celestial Ball, or the time they reconciled with Rowan after a feud about Ben, and cuddled them in cat-form.

Mirror of Erised: After Chapter 18, I’ll give you one guess. They want their best friend back. They want to take back what happened in the forest.

Specialized/Favorite Spells:The Patronus Charm, the Tickling Charm, and the shrinking Charm.

Appearance

Faceclaim: Keanu Reeves.

Game Appearance:

This is pretty much their mood half the time.

Height: 5′8.

Weight:141 lbs.

Physique: Very skinny and small, overall scrawny.

Eye Colour: Naturally dark brown, but their left eye is a bright blue prosthetic.

Hair Colour: Dark brown.

Skin Tone: Olive skin.

Body Modifications: The Magical Eye replace their left eye, and their right hand has a birthmark of a black star, known as the Mark of Despair. A byproduct of the curse placed on the Fawleys.

Scarring: They still have a few faint pockmark scars on their neck and shoulders from when The Fawleys all caught dragon pox in Luca’s childhood. But these can only be seen under the light.

Inventory: (what do they carry on them?) Luca has a tendency to travel light, but they’re also an emotional sap. They carry their wand, the clothes on their back, and “Beatrice Jr.” the puffskein that Beatrice made for them. After the events of the forbidden forest, they also start carrying Rowan’s cracked glasses.

Allegiances

Hogwarts House: Hufflepuff.

Ilvermorny House: Pukwudgie.

Affiliations/Organizations: Hufflepuff Quidditch Team, Curse-Breaking Apprentices, The Circle of Khanna

Professions: I see Luca eventually becoming a teacher at Hogwarts, as the permanent Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. Can also see Talbott and Penny working alongside them in Transfiguration and Potions, respectively.

Hogwarts Information

Class Proficiencies: (OWL Grade or ★☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆)

Astronomy: Poor.

Charms: Outstanding.

DADA: Exceeds Expectations.

Flying:(N/A. I refuse to accept that Flying has an O.W.L exam.)

Herbology: Poor.

History of Magic: Acceptable.

Potions: Acceptable.

Transfiguration:Acceptable.

Electives:

Care of Magical Creatures: Outstanding.

Ancient Runes: Acceptable.

Quidditch: Chaser.

Extra Curricular: Luca tutored students in Charms, and spent a lot of time doing volunteer work in the Creature Reserve.

Favourite Professors: Flitwick, Mcgonagall, and at one point, Rakepick.

Least Favourite Professors: Dumbledore, Snape, Sprout

Relationships

Brother: Jacob. Luca’s favorite person in the entire world. As Luca grew up, Jacob’s disappearance and the subsequent investigation of his actions led to a serious re-evaluation of their relationship. But ultimately, Jacob was always fighting to protect his sibling.

Misc Siblings: Gail, Luca’s twin sister. Depending on which AU we’re talking about, a lot of different things could have happened to her. She could be still-born. She could be raised apart from Luca. She could grow up beside them. She could take their place as the HPHM protagonist. Take heed, anyone writing twin OCS...all these different paths are going to confuse the hell out of you.

Father: Eric Fawley, who died of a Dragon Pox fever when Luca was seven. Though they were still very young when they lost him, Luca and their father had a positive relationship and Eric’s temperament is probably the closest to Luca’s out of anyone else in the family.

Mother: Nina Fawley, formerly Nina Greengrass. She and Luca always had a positive relationship as they were growing up. For the most part, Nina usually appeared to be a pleasant person. However, she also had skeletons in her closet, and as the years went by her mask began to slip.

Love Interest: Canonically? It’s very likely going to wind up being Merula. She hasn’t been cut from the dating quests yet and I’m an absolute sucker for their dynamic. Merula is lashing out because she’s in pain, but Luca is Healer...otherwise, I really like Luca/Tulip, as well as a poly-ship between those three characters called the Trouble Trio. A small sliver of my heart has also started shipping Luca with Skye as well. Basically, I’m an indecisive bean - but since I’m keeping this as close to canon as possible, let’s say Merula.

Best Friends: By the end of their first Hogwarts term, Luca had formed a true squad with Rowan, Penny, Chiara, and Tonks. The four of them teamed up to trade off sleeping beside Luca each night, to help soothe Luca’s night terrors and insomnia. Luca also saw Ben as a little brother from a young age.

Rival: Ironically enough, it wasn’t Merula. Their rivalry with her was always one-sided. Luca saw far too much of Jacob in Merula, to ever have in them to sincerely dislike her. The only person Luca felt a legitimate rivalry with growing up was Diego. Their personalities just did not click well, and it wasn’t until the N.E.W.T. years that they were able to get past it and find common ground.

Enemy: R of course, has become the deadly enemy that Luca does not understand, but knows they must be defeated. If you were to ask though, Luca’s immediate answer would be Rakepick. There was a time when Luca saw her as a mother figure. But now...after everything she’s done...she needs to die.

Dorm-mates: (Who’s in your MC’s dorm with them?) Rowan, Murphy, Diego. Though Luca also frequently sleeps in the Girl’s Dormitory with Penny, Skye, Tonks, and Chiara.

Pets:Mitten the snowy cat. Merula also has a black cat of her own called Bitten.

Closest Canon Friends: Rowan, Penny, Tonks, Chiara, Ben, Jae.

Closest MC Friends: This one always makes me shy, because I don’t want to be presumptuous, but some of my favorite MC’s that I’ve seen that I bet Luca would get along with are @missnight0wl @thewasp1995 @back-on-my-tulula-shiz @dat-silvers-girl @salaofthenight and @weirdcursedvaultkid

Background/History

Luca was the child of two Healers that met at St. Mungo’s before starting an Apothecary together. Luca saw a lot of their grandparents on Eric’s side, but never met Nina’s family as she was estranged from them.

Luca knew Jae when they were very young - Jae was friends with Jacob prior to his disappearance. Jacob and Jae would combine their efforts to make mischief, and Luca would never approve. They had a falling out with Jae not long before Jacob vanished, and they maintained an uneasy distance until fifth year, where the kitchen detentions saw a reconciliation between the two of them.

The Fawley family was notoriously unlucky, and known for madness. Alice Fawley, Luca’s aunt, went insane after she was tortured by Bellatrix. In the last two years of his life, Eric had a breakdown and cut off his own hand in an attempt to remove the curse. But the Mark of Despair simply reappeared on his remaining hand.

After Jacob disappeared, Luca had a mental breakdown and for years, they could not recall the day that their brother vanished. In the years to come, Flitwick would give them a Pensieve to help them sift through all the turmoil in their head. Luca would eventually learn that their inability to recall the day Jacob disappeared was due to a memory charm placed on them by an unknown entity, perhaps Jacob himself.

Personality

In some ways, Luca is healthier than most people because they are quite emotionally open and not afraid to express their feelings, but know how to do so in an appropriate fashion. They’re also empathetic and able to show kindness and listen when another person needs to express feelings.

In other ways, Luca is a mess. They’re extremely depressed and this interferes with their productivity and relationships. They’re prone to having breakdowns of crying at any emotional shift. They have low self-esteem and tend to believe that they are worthless or a burden.

That said, they appreciate their friends and loved ones more than they can ever convey. To a fault, even. Not only is Luca loyal, but they are highly forgiving of a person’s flaws if it is someone they care about. One could call it enabling, as they are rarely bothered by offenses that such people commit against them.

Luca also has a very merciful attitude. Day one, even though they knew it was Merula who blew up their cauldron, they said nothing and simply took the fall, apologizing to Snape. However, once Luca has been pushed to a breaking point, they can show a surprising amount of backbone. It just takes a lot to get this out of them.

Luca has a nurturing nature and a tendency to reach out to underdogs, to care for those in need. This is what drew them to Ben, Merula, Orion, and Beatrice. Though Luca never holds anger in their heart, the quickest way to see them get angry is to hurt or abuse one of these outcasts that Luca cares for. Part of the reason they become so disillusioned with Dumbledore is because he is in a position of educational power, and the longer Luca attends Hogwarts, the less it seems to them that Dumbledore has any interest in doing his job with integrity.

Misc

Not going to get too much into Fawley family head-canons, since I’ll save that for a different post. But I think Luca was raised Jewish.

They’re lactose intolerant.

Their favorite flower is the chamomille, which is the type of tea they prefer.

They’ve always been Pro-Muggle, though they don’t know the first thing about muggle culture.

Luca never truly wanted to be a Curse-Breaker. It just seemed like a necessary skill-set to learn to find Jacob, and break the Fawley curse.

They’ve known they were trans for as long as they could remember.

They have exceptional abysmal unique skills at naming. Examples include “Barnaby Jr” the Bowtruckle and “Penny Jr” the Abraxan.

They are ambidextrous.

Despite being a mellow person, Luca is oddly drawn to people who are trouble. If a person is problematic, chaos-aligned, or just an overall disaster of a human being, there’s a greater chance that Luca will find them attractive.

They suspected Rowan of being R for a while, much to their own guilt. It led to a feud, but they made up and were closer than ever.

On the other hand, they never suspected Ben, not even when he was unmasked as the Red Cloak. Luca just had a gut feeling that it was too easy, that it was a setup. But Rakepick saving their life cemented her as an ally in Luca’s eyes...that did not end well.

Luca never wanted to be a Prefect, but Rowan and Flitwick talked them into it.

They vastly prefer Wizard’s Chess to Gobstones, something they have in common with Murphy.

They have an unfortunate tendency to unconsciously project familial roles onto people. Bill and Orion were substitutes for Jacob, Flitwick was a substitute father figure, and for a time, Rakepick substituted for Luca’s absentee mother.

Did I miss anything? Hope you guys like it! Should I post others for the Fawley family?

26 notes · View notes

shealwaysreads · 5 years

Note

16 and 25 for the end of year asks please! 💙💙💙

Hello darling! Thanks for playing, and apologies for being...days late with my reply 😅❤️

16. fic(s) you completed this year

So, every fic I’ve ever written for the Harry Potter fandom has been done this year - and every single one has been a joy and a journey of learning.

Here they are - all 15 (FIFTEEN?!) of them!

Heaven’s Embroidered Cloths -

In which the Yule Ball opens Harry's eyes to beauty and splendour, and it takes him eight years to find someone who realises exactly what he wants. Magical fabric, solstice celebrations, and first kisses in borrowed clothes.

My first ever fic for Harry Potter, my first every drarry! Encouraged, aided and abetted, by @diligent-thunder @tepre and @bixgirl1 and our collective obsession for Wizarding clothes. Looking back I can see the flaws and my baby-foal fumbling with characterisation, but this was the beginning of my little fandom frolic (and ongoing kink obsession with their clothes) so I love it dearly!

Simple Little Kiss -

Harry slid his knife and fork together, and leaned back in his chair to watch Draco finish the last sip of wine in his glass, the long line of his neck exposed as he tipped his head back. Satisfaction and longing vied for the top spot in his mind. One appetite had been thoroughly sated; another was growling its hunger in his chest.

Prompted by the lovely @malenkayacherepakha this little ditty was based on: ‘One Small Kiss, Pulling Away For An Instant, Then Devouring Each Other’. Needless to say, that was right up my street 🙌

Those Who Favor Fire -

In which Harry and Draco ride out the effects of a potion, revealing every feeling that lies beneath.

My first ever Drabble for the monthly Drarry Discord Writers Corner Challenge - this server full of talented, creative, and encouraging folk has absolutely been pivotal in my swan dive into writing this year ❤️

Crow’s Feet - a gift for @erin-riwen - and a very self-indulgent one at that. I’m a sucker for love, and gentleness, and life well lived for my darling Harry and Draco and this was me just revelling in that!

Writing’s On The Wall -

In which the Auror department is surprisingly artistic, Draco is still an overdramatic shit, Harry still makes the most of any trouble that finds him, and getting horizontal is the solution to everyone's problems.

This is really showing up my terrible summary habits isn't it 👀 ANYWAY! This is another fic inspired by the fabulous drarry squad server - and my first attempt at being funny? (Also, Draco is fresh out the shower and if that isn't entirely on brand for me idk what is)

Honesty Is The Best Policy -

In which Auror partners Malfoy and Potter discover a trunk full of depraved tools, and Harry might have to explain himself.

Another Drabble for the Drarry Discord gang!

A Shorts Story About Love -

House-sharing with Slytherins, student life, magic weed, and short shorts. Harry's life at university might be strange, but he wouldn't change it for the world.

Entirely inspired by the lovely @rose-grangerweasleyisbae and her prompt over on the Drarry Discord. I had a ball writing this, it was one of those pics that just flowed, and I loved the little world I dreamed up - might even revisit it at some point...

Sunkissed -

Burnt toast, international Portkeys, ancient ruins, and Harry's own special brand of support.

Written for this years @hpdrizzle - my first ever fest fic, prompted by @maraudersaffair who I have to thank for igniting my lowkey head canon of freckled!Draco into a full blown writing brand™️ ❤️

Patient, Hungry, Waiting -

“Potter looked every inch the picture of the war hero that the Ministry loved to trot out for events like this, and nothing like he had on the day he actually did end the war. A decade of rising through the Auror ranks and hunting down dark Wizards, with all of the efficacy and subtlety of a natural disaster, had turned a skinny boy with knobbly knees into a strong, self-assured man who fairly commanded the room. He was resplendent in wine-dark robes, gold buttons and epaulettes, and a profusion of medals; a world away from the exhaustion, grime, and worn out jeans he wore during the Battle of Hogwarts. Draco, for one, approved of the changes.”

...

Unspeakable Draco Malfoy has learned the value of patience, the scintillation of delayed gratification, the thrill of waiting out his prey. Tonight, he's going to show Potter that good things come to those who wait.

A gift for my darling @tackytigerfic on her birthday, and one of my favourite fics of mine. As much as this was written to indulge her every whim, her tastes align so closely with mine this felt pretty damn self indulgent - can I say leather thigh wand-holster anyone? 😉

Pathless Woods -

“There is a pleasure in the pathless woods” Lord Byron.

Harry finds himself unexpectedly reacquainted with Draco Malfoy when his work as an apprentice wandmaker takes him to Wiltshire. Amongst the trees Harry finds magic, growth, and a man who might finally be proving he’s worthy of the wand that chose him.

Hawthorn, Unicorn hair, 10 inches, reasonably pliant.

A story of found family, trees with feelings, belief in the power of growth, wandlore, and gratuitous description of Handsome Estate Owner™ Draco Malfoy swanning around in white shirts and leather boots.

Written for @hd-fan-fair and it’s my longest fic to date - a little out of my usual wheelhouse - it’s gentle, more of a tale than a rollicking ride, but I adored writing it, and love the way it turned out.

Logical - Inspired by this stunning art by @potter-art! I just couldn’t help myself, I was thirsty enough for Draco in leather to be one of the many to prompt her the outfit in question for drawing - and then the finished product was so GODDAMN hot I had to write poor Harry having to deal with it! ❤️🔥

No Absolutes - The first of my ‘I finished all my fest deadlines for the year prompt me Hozier songs for ficlets’ project (all of you who prompted, I promise I haven't forgotten, I’m working on them!)

This one is for @littlebozsheep who suggested Take Me to Church, and I had a lot of fun making this not-quite-poetry-not-quite-prose little baby of mine.

And my rarepair babies:

A Study In Contrasts -

In which Neville grew up hot, but still doesn't quite remember it all the time, and Theo is freckled, handsome, and likes plants. You know what happens next.

Okay so the lovely @drarryruinedme7 slid into my DMs and started talking HP rarepairs with me and when she started talking about Neville x Theo my eyes lit up and my writerly ears perked up - think excited meerkat, that's about how it felt.

After rummaging through the internet for their facecasts - see Neville and Theo (important research okay, the fact they're devastatingly gorgeous is neither here nor there) I had the delightful excuse of the @growing-neville fest to light a fire under my arse and write a fic, which I gifted to @drarryruinedme7!

All Our Strength, And All Our Sweetness -

In which Neville cooks, Theo is seriously into being manhandled, these two finally get each other naked, and it turns out they're compatible outside of the greenhouse too.

I was NOT DONE with these two! I still have lots of feelings about this little ‘verse I created and I will be playing with these delicious toys again soon 😉

Devil’s Snare -

In which some late night extra-curricular work in Greenhouse Nine turns into a whole new Herbology discovery for Neville Longbottom.

Did I ever see myself writing Neville x Devil’s Snare? No. Did I commit 100% once I decided to go for it? Yes. Do I entirely blame the kinky gang on the Drarry Discord? Also yes.

21. a fic you read this year you would recommend everyone read

Gosh, okay Corie pick the hard questions why don’t you?! I have read so many incredible fics this year - let’s face it - every fic I’ve read is brilliant in it’s own way (and I’m thinking of doing a ‘this is what I read this year’ list to cover them all) but I’m going to try and nail it down to...5...okay so, 10. Alphabetical, cause these are all adored equally.

amid this warm and steady sweetness by warmfoothills (drarry)

All Bets Are Off by @dualwieldteacup (drarry)

Before the World Was Made by @13pawns (drarry)

Brick by Brick by agentmoppet (drarry)

Cupid Disarmed by @chromat1cs (wolfstar)

Offer Up Our Hearts by @tackytigerfic (drarry)

Trouble, My Old Friend by @tepre (drarry)

You Burn Me by @etalice (linny)

White As Snow by @bixgirl1 (drarry)

with exactness grinds he all by @thistle-verse (drarry)

I’m playing the Fanfic end of the year asks game!

❤️

#drarry #drarry fic rec #drarry squad #lovely people being lovely #coriesocks #ask me #fanfic ask meme #isobel talks #isobel writes #things to read #hp

23 notes · View notes

3wisellamas · 6 years

Text

Because there still aren't enough Deltarune theories: Fun Facts About Cards

So, I was thinking a lot about @pirenja's older post on Jevil and Seam as The Fool and The Magician, the first (or first and last, depending on who you ask) cards of the Tarot major arcana and which usually map to the Jokers in a standard playing card deck.

There's also the MINOR arcana, though -- the plain numbers and suits that make up the rest of a Tarot deck, and look a LOT like a typical 52-card deck. I knew about those, but didn't know those, so I got curious and spent a couple days looking into it, just for funsies.

So, uh...holy shit. The card-based Darkners aren't just playing cards, they're TAROT cards. The characters we know fit almost ridiculously well to their cards, and there were a couple parallels I found particularly interesting. Allow me to infodump, and add in a few extra fun little things that also came up in some card research, and which might have some...interesting implications on the rest of Deltarune. A lot of this is gonna come from Wikipedia, as well as this site.

Just a heads-up, this post is gonna include a lot of theories (some of which may or may not be pure crack) and will be LONG, and much of it will look like this:

...But in a fun way, I promise. ~^

First, let's go over some REALLY brief info about some of the cards we've seen so far in Deltarune. The ties between these guys and Tarot are pretty damn obvious, especially when you look at the four suits:

Diamonds: In Tarot, their equivalent is Pentacles or Coins. These are associated with wealth, business, and physical possessions.

Sounds a lot like the Rudinns and the King of Diamonds, right? I mean, they're so obsessed with their treasure that they sold their beds to have more of it!

Hearts: The Tarot equivalent is the Cups. Associated with emotions and bettering oneself.

Hathys are pretty big on emotion -- they're the ones you keep flirting with in encounters, after all, and the proceeds for Hathy's bake sale go towards their health.

Clubs: The Tarot equivalent is the Wands. This one I had to work a bit to figure out, but it seems to be more associated with social things, passion, and desire/drive.

Clover is definitely a social one, seeing as how they're throwing their birthday party in the castle when you arrive. And they're also VERY passionate about three specific topics, which actually plays into pacifying them!

Spades: Now for some fun. In Tarot, these are Swords, and are most associated with...take a wild guess. Ambition, power, violence, and the military.

Yep. Shall we look a bit closer at the actual cards in the Spades suit, then?

First off, the King of Spades/Swords. The card is LITERALLY called The Warlord, and is associated with force and discipline, ruthlessness, intelligence, and sometimes coldness and abuse in a negative reading. Pretty damn accurate to the King, I gotta say. Not a lot of room for interpretation here.

The other Spade we know of, though? A...little less clear-cut, but still works. Lancer is the Jack of Spades, meaning his Tarot equivalent is the Page/Knave of Swords -- same card, just an older name -- which is indeed all about youth and energy, as well as learning and observing, and keeping cool in danger. However, the card is also called The Spy, and also has a meaning of concealing oneself and keeping secrets.

Hm. Some of that really sounds like Lancer, some...doesn't? Perhaps our boy has an arc and some more character development ahead of him. Or...I'll get back to this. Because there is some interesting theory fuel here once I bring in another point.

Now, for a Spade we DON'T know yet, but that we know very well is coming: The Queen. The Queen of Swords is associated with intelligence, strategy, independence, and...repressed sadness and divorce? Hm.

HM. If the King of Spades is meant to be a Dark World mirror of Asgore, could the Queen end up being a dark mirror of Toriel, out in self-exile? Time will tell. And when we do finally meet the Queen in future chapters, she will very likely be one hell of a big deal, if the Tarot theme holds, so keep the card description in mind for that!

But, we can't stop at the Queen; we're missing a big, major detail. In Tarot decks, and in fact in historical playing card decks in general, there are FOUR face cards of each suit, not just the three we see in a typical deck. At the top are the King and Queen, obviously. At the bottom is the Page or the Knave, as I said up there the equivalent of the modern Jack. And the last one, between the Page and the Queen? The Knight.

No, really. The Knight is a CARD. But, I'm gonna go further than that: We already know someone, specifically a card person, in the Dark World who fits the description of the Knight of Swords/Spades, quite well in fact:

Associated with major, drastic changes -- pretty appropriate for the person who's been jailing kings and opening up dark fountains, huh?

Impulsive, and constantly takes actions without much planning beforehand.

Fanatical and single-minded, obsessively loyal to one thing and one thing only at a time.

Confident, to the point of arrogance. Basically, obsessed with themselves.

Articulate, good with words, and a sweet-talker, able to get what they want through speech and charm alone. Ironically, not often associated with direct action, and can mean cowardice.

Also, a bald-faced liar -- their whole thing is trickery and deceit. They also keep a LOT of secrets, like the Page.

Worth noting, the Knight often replaces the Queen entirely in older decks, and is considered the card right under the King of Spades, as his main servant or advisor.

Notably, according to that Tarot site up there, they are heavily associated with major career changes and promotions.

You figured it out yet?

Oh yeah. Worm knight.

Let's go through some points with both Rouxls Kaard and that card description in mind, if you don't believe me.

Uh, hello? Confident, impulsive, acts without thinking, fanatical, self-centered? The card description may as well be the guy's Wikia bio.

Articulate...well, he tries. Can't fault him for that. (yes you can)

Honestly, aside from that "God. Damn it." moment, can you give me one instance in which his manner of speaking WASN'T overly flowery and fancy, to the point of ridiculousness? That's, like, his most defining trait.

He's a coward, never actually facing you himself until you reach the castle, and instead preferring to vandalize puzzle solutions and throw minions at you.

He seriously butters you up during the entire second shop conversation, and in fact almost constantly from the moment K.Round is defeated for the final time -- he says he's always on the winning side, which at the time is you, and does his best to claim he never truly opposed you at all, that everything was a test, he just wants to help you, etc. The guy even tries to BRIBE you at the very end if you went pacifist, offering Susie a plate of worms for letting him lie about his involvement in your adventure, to boost his own ego.

Did I forget to mention he's pretty much got a lot of the Rudinns and Clover (and a lot of fandom it seems) charmed with his looks and manner of speaking, and wrapped around his finger as well? Because that.

Throughout the game, Rouxls really is nothing more than a big talker and a big liar. Most obviously, the first time you talk to him in his shop he says quite a bit, but does a COMPLETE 180 on ALL OF IT after he's defeated for the final time, suddenly going from praising the King to hating his guts and claiming to be undermining him, from mocking the Fun/$!? Squad to praising them and offering assistance, and from complaining about Lancer to admitting he cares about the kid quite a bit.

Also, consider: His "ultimate puzzle", which he suspiciously refused to show us...

Even if it's not explicitly pointed out as such, Rouxls is King Spade's second in command, the guy serving directly under him in the castle in the absence of the Queen (or any other castle staff besides the guards, for that matter). In very old decks before the Queen was a thing, Knights are in between the Page/Jack and the King and are considered the King's advisor/right hand guy.

Knights also have a lot of very close connections to Pages, both in card games as well as history. A page is literally a knight's very young (age 7-14) apprentice and servant, and stick close to them and learn from them -- similar to Rouxls' lesser dad/son relationship with Lancer! (Also, a thought: medieval knights would often carry lances, supplied by said page!)

During battle, the King calls the Knight "My Knight". This might confirm that the Knight is indeed a member of his own court, the Knight of Spades, and not of another suit. However, from the tone and some of the other things he says throughout the battle, it’s clear that King Spade actually owes allegiance to the Knight, rather than the other way around. Possibly even some fondness for him, from that particular tone. And...I'm not gonna beat around the bush on this. King Spade is totally Rouxls' sugar daddy. The King just up and fires everyone in his castle, and gives this random unqualified prettyboy the next-highest position after himself out of absolutely nowhere? Yeah. No. Even incompetent kings don't just do that. There's something really weird going on there, something about their relationship that screams there’s some shady business going on behind the scenes. Though, potentially, one could also flip the script, seeing the new job as repayment for putting King Spade in power...

One final point, getting a bit away from the card again. In the game, The Knight is supposed to have a close connection with the Dark Fountains, able to “pull them from the Earth” and manipulate their power to bring darkness or whatever, right? When using the Card Castle fountain to go home, Kris and Susie teleport in a massive column of white light, that looks like this:

(Sorry, screenshotting that particular moment is tough...)

Look a little familiar?

Yep, I'm gonna go there. The same goddamn teleport animation. Nowhere else in the game is that particular animation used, even when it kinda should -- for instance, Jevil’s scythes also teleport in vertical columns of light, but those look entirely different!

There's some other things about Rouxls that actually make me super suspicious of the guy, but one that does so even more now, that I really should bring up if I'm claiming him to be The Knight: Remember that last battle against K.Round? When Rouxls brings out his "Control Crowne"? That lets him control anything “disc-shaped”, and (if we take Ralsei's word for it) looks incredibly painful?

...What the actual living FUCK??! Seriously, is no one else IMMENSELY ALARMED by the fact that not only is this crown a thing that exists, but for some goddamn reason it just happens to be in the puzzle guy's possession??

I'm bringing that point up for a pretty big reason, though: Another name for the Diamonds/Pentacles suit is DISKS. If Rouxls wasn't just bluffing (like he does on everything else, admittedly), there's a good chance he might be able to use that crown on Diamond cards as well.

And Rouxls DEFINITELY has a lot of interesting connections to Diamonds himself, beyond that. Rudinns generally seem to be pretty enamored with the guy, and the whole suit is all about money and even represent the Merchant, or if you will, the shopkeeper class. (And if you ask him why he’s selling things to you, he will admit he's raising money, for...some reason.) In a four-color deck, Diamonds are usually represented by the color blue instead of red. Also, Diamonds/Pentacles represent the Earth element, which is where one would find worms and insects. So, he may very well have a close connection to Diamonds, as well as being the Knight of Spades...

I'll get back to that one as well, though, because there's another point I wanna bring into this whole card mess that might complicate things. Because while researching, I found a very, very interesting little bit of trivia about the Joker card...

Second half of this post and a LOT more fun cracktheories under the cut. Yep, you heard me, I'm still only halfway done here!

So. The Jokers, Fool and Magician, former members of the card court, before...something went wrong. You know how Jevil (and presumably Seam, as his only equal) can apparently do anything? Well, while researching Tarot, I also randomly looked into the Jokers and their functions in a couple of other card games, the biggest being Spades, because why not.

In Spades, the Joker card can attach itself to any non-Spade card in the deck to make it count as the equivalent Spade, though still inferior to the real Spade card. In other words, Jokers can turn other cards into Spades.

No, I'm serious. Look for yourself.

This idea I’m mostly just having some fun with here, but if this little bit of trivia happens to come into play in the next few Deltarune chapters, it might have some SERIOUS implications on what we know about the Spades court. In particular, it means we might not be able to take...really, any of the Spades characters we meet at face value (pun not intended, but appropriate).

But you know what? I think we should take a closer look at the Spades we already know, and see if that might already be the case.

The King fits his card description very well, and we actually see the other three kings locked up in a cage, so none of them could have been converted into the King of Spades. So, we can pretty much confirm he's who we think.

But, then there's Lancer. So far, he's the only Jack we've seen -- I know the card characters were originally based on a set of playing card designs by @kanotynes, and that the Jacks in that deck included not only Lancer but also the various minor enemies we see: Rudinn, Hathy, and Clover. But, in the game, those three don't seem to have any royal ties at all, definitely not as princes! So, I think we can confirm that they're not actually the Jacks of other suits in Deltarune.

So, I'm gonna go back to my first Tarot loose end -- the Page of Spades/Swords, Lancer. Remember how I pointed out some pieces of the card's description didn't fully match the kid? The secrets, the concealing of one's true nature?

What if Lancer's not the Jack of Spades at all, but rather another Jack that was converted into a Spade by one of the Jokers for whatever reason? Let's take a quick look at the other Pages, and see if one fits Lancer a bit more, shall we?

The Page of Hearts/Cups: A "sweet-natured child", immature, creative, naive, a bad childhood, and self-centeredness. Not a bad fit for Lancer, gotta admit!

The Page of Diamonds/Pentacles: Planning for and seizing future success and opportunities, loyalty, sometimes associated with fruit trees and harvests (”Delicious little apple” / "Sweet little peach"?), and most importantly, a student, constantly learning just like the Page of Swords. Also not a bad fit, though maybe a little less than the Page of Cups.

Now for the really fun one. The Page of Clubs/Wands: Inspiration, optimism, also creativity and making plans, rushing into things without thinking (appropriate for the Knight's charge...), "a bit of a cheeky charmer or lovable rogue", impatience, laziness, and a big emphasis on "losing yourself". Also, did I mention that Wands represent the fire element?

So, really all three other Pages have elements that fit this kid in different ways, but some of the things about that Page of Clubs are...striking, to say the least. This possibility might be worth keeping in mind when chapter 2 ever gets released!

Now, then, there's also another Spade we know, even if unconfirmed, with no known equivalents in other suits to rule out. Could Rouxls also have been another suit, and got converted into the Knight of Spades?

Remember all those weird connections to the Diamonds suit I pointed out? Well, let's talk about the Knight of Diamonds -- A Red Knight, if you will!

"A young man who is dark of complexion and features." This is an actual quote from Wikipedia.

Defensive -- focus on protecting home and family.

Hard worker, determined, stubborn, finishing what you start.

All about questioning one's work or home life, or where they stand on an issue.

An animal lover.

The "wish card", about making your wishes and dreams come true, via perseverance and ambition.

Also, a negative interpretation is a loser or laziness, expecting results but not putting in the effort.

Not a PERFECT fit, but still an interesting comparison, no? Especially those things about fulfilling your wish, but failing by not putting in the effort required, kinda like how Rouxls is quite proud of becoming the high-ranking and privileged "Duke of Puzzles", but doesn’t actually put together anything other than simple block-pushing puzzles. Another thought that comes up: The control crown(e). If Rouxls was originally a high-ranking Diamond/Disk suit, that fucking thing suddenly makes WAY more sense. (Also, it would make all the Blue Diamond comparisons really funny in hindsight. Just saying.)

Yeah, I know, claiming that Rouxls is the Knight is a big enough deal, and this extra cracktheory about him being a Knight who switched suits is one even I'm admitting it’s crazy, and over-analyzing is just what I do. Who knows if all or any of this will still be plausible by chapter 2. However, worth noting: If Rouxls was originally another suit, and got converted into the "Lesser” Knight of Spades/Swords by one of the Jokers, then there is very likely ANOTHER Knight of Spades/Swords out there, a much more powerful one. Hm...

...Naaaah. Too obvious. And on the same note, if my cracktheory about Lancer being the “lesser” Jack of Spades up there ends up actually being somewhat accurate, then there's also an original one out there somewhere...

...Maybe? If you look at that description up there again, it actually seems to fit Ralsei even better than it fits Lancer -- the things about concealing one's true nature, keeping secrets, intelligence, and analysis suddenly become quite fitting. And didn't Ralsei's original concept art include a reversed spade instead of a heart on the front of his robe?

So, if these are the case, what card is Susie? I'm...admittedly not sure. ^^; I bet someone else can find a card that fits her though, so I'll leave that one open.

Okay, okay, I'm done with the wild theories now. Lastly, I just wanna mention a couple of other interesting, weird card things I found out while researching. Won't go as in-depth with these, but including them because why not:

A lot of people have been theorizing about the idea of Darkners bleeding like humans, and unlike monsters. What if I told you that "bleeding" is an actual card term? When you bleed your cards, you're accidentally exposing your hand to other players out of turn.

Remember when Rouxls called the party "mine amigose"? Kind of an odd line, especially coming from him, but it was actually another card game reference! Also from Spades is the term "Three amigos": A nickname for the Ace, Queen, and King of Spades. Interestingly, the Ace of Swords is all about cutting through lies and exposing the truth. (Maybe that could be a card for Susie in future chapters?)

Hell, there’s just a LOT of card references thrown all over the place. A cute one is when Jevil says “piip piip” during his fight -- like the dots on dice, the individual symbols on number cards are called pips.

Want another fun Tarot card meaning? Take a good look at the Nine of Swords. It's generally considered the worst card you could get, even in a mostly positive reading -- It's literally called The Nightmare, and represents fear, stress, being overwhelmed, grief, doubts, cruelty, etc. Basically, if it's bad, it's in this card, up to and including a complete breakdown. Now, recall another line that seems totally benign at first, courtesy of Jevil: "From now, a nightmare will awaken in your hearts. In the shadow of the Knight's hand..." If I were y'all, I'd make damn sure to WATCH THIS CARD.

Also, "The Knight's hand"...of cards, perhaps? :P Okay, bad joke.

There's sometimes three Jokers in a deck -- a white one in addition to black and red. Just sayin'. Might wanna also keep your eyes open for a third Joker in chapter 2, maybe chilling out with the Queen wherever she is?

#deltarune #delta rune #undertale #spoilers #I guess?#emtheories

17 notes · View notes

spacebunniis · 6 years

Note

meta topic: Yexia and how she changes over the course of the story :3c (i know i already Know This but i love it a lot and i think it deserves to be OUT THERE ON YOUR BLOG !!!) ♥

you are the bessssttt ;;U;;❤️❤️❤️❤️

prepare for a LOT

I HAVE

SO MANY FEELINGS ABOUT YEXIA AND HOW SHE GROWS AND CHANGES

uhhh under a cut because even I wrote more than I expected to

alright here is angry nightmare child’s growth to semi-decent tough girl with a good(ish) heart

let’s start! all the way at the beginning!

Yexia is the 5th of 6 siblings, and the clear favorite of her parents because she’s the strongest (physically, and more importantly, in the force). It’s not exactly a favoritism that is rewarded with anything other than her parents at least do praise her versus the cold indifference (or sometimes disdain) her parents show to her siblings. They still push her to be stronger, and only encourage her to push herself, to go far, and make it obvious that she’s only successful if she has something to show for it. She’s the one who is going to carry their family name, who is not only going to hold their prestige, but raise up their legacy, make their family name better. Yexia and her siblings are all regularly encouraged to fight each other to ‘improve’ their skills, and they do not hold back. At a fairly young age Yexia has a spar against her force-blind sister Izhae, and leaves half of Izhae’s face covered in a burn scar. (sidenote that I don’t know if I’ve talked about before - instead of base game abilities, I always imagine Yexia’s force abilities being more fire based, to match her…explosive…personality :’D ) This isn’t the only time she leaves scars on her siblings (granted, she’s also got quite a few from them).

By the time she arrives as an apprentice at Korriban she is well and truly awful. She’s her parents favorite, so she’s nothing but a cocky, overconfident asshole. She thinks she’s the best, and she deserves whatever she wants just because she’s so great. There’s not a lot of people who get along with Yexia because she’s hard to get along with. She’s blunt, and not in the good way - it’s just plain rudeness. Yexia delighted in tormenting and taunting others, because that’s how you show you’re better than them. Whatever she’s doing she rushes in with blind surety and recklessness because of course she knows what’s best, of course she can take down anything and anyone.

However, as an apprentice she’s also faced with, for the first time, realizing that everything isn’t going to come easy to her, it’s not all going to be handed to her. It’s not that she isn’t strong, she is, but in what is news to her, so are plenty of other people. There’s plenty of other strong force-users, some who even rival or exceed her. But she has to be the best, and her instinct in the face of this is just to get angrier, and more reckless, and just be more of an asshole in the quest to prove she’s the strongest.

One of the first things that begins changing her world view is Vette, who really is the first to both not be afraid of Yexia AND not to immediately just (rightfully) hate Yexia for being so insufferable. The two of them working together, and Yexia having to rely on Vette for something she can’t do starts to make Yexia reconsider some things. And also you know, first ever friend! Yay! So Vette is able to put up with Yexia’s assholery, give some of it back, and still be enjoyable and nice and well…it feels good to have a relationship with someone that’s based on anything that isn’t hate or rivalry. Yexia doesn’t really know what to do with herself (which does lead to her falling back on just saying rude or angry shit when she’s overwhelmed/doesn’t know how to correctly process feelings).

And of course next, one of the most important factors, naturally, is Azhiera. Apart from being forced to work together, Yexia is drawn to Azhiera for many reasons, just many she can’t exactly figure out at first. For one, she is definitely attracted to her, but doesn’t even realize that until MUCH. MUCH LATER. But also at the beginning I think, she’s a little afraid of Azhiera to be honest. Azhiera is strong, and in the face of a lot more obstacles than Yexia has ever had to face. Even not knowing Azhiera’s entire history, she is still an alien (and a chiss at that) at the academy. And like Vette, Azhiera is never really intimidated by Yexia, which definitely throws her off. This small, sassy, blueberry just refuses to be intimidated, and actually messes with Yexia. Azhiera sasses Yexia back, “accidentally” zaps her, and Yexia gets angry but always comes up short of actually doing anything more than being all bark and no bite at responding to whatever Azhiera is doing.

The more they work together the more Yexia realizes she likes Azhiera, and that, in a weird way they are friends. But she has no way of … properly conveying that, or conveying how important Azhiera is to her with words so it comes out more through actions. She’s always a shield between Azhiera and enemies, she tries to say nice things even if it usually comes out weirdly phrased, in a yell, or roundabout way.

She also begins talking more about feelings with Vette because Vette (mostly) doesn’t make fun of her. The relationship she ends up having with Vette is, Yexia eventually realizes, the kind of relationship most siblings have. They bicker, they tease each other, but at the end of the day they have each other’s backs. They don’t try to one up each other, she doesn’t feel like she has to be better than Vette - they’re equals. And she starts seeing Azhiera as an equal too (or, honestly maybe placing her above a little bit, not that she’d ever admit it but she’s pretty damn smitten).

Which, as cliché as it is, also contributes to her growth. Finding something other than anger as a passion, something like love, a desire to protect her friends and found family - that really pushes her to finally start thinking beyond herself. She (as long as it took) finally begins to realize the ways everyone she encounters has a whole life, their own passions and goals, and that she could never be the best at everything. Everyone has their own strengths - and for the longest time she was only using her strength in the pursuit to become stronger and nothing more. She is still a pretty brutal Sith, and still works her way up in the Empire, but she’s not quite as unforgiving, she’s more willing to show mercy rather than brutally end anyone who crosses her.

(I still haven’t finished warrior’s story though know most of it so bare with me as I skip ahead to expansions!)

Later on she ends up working as Linalae’s right-hand officer (whatever that position is?? idk), because by the time they’re facing Valkorion and Arcann, Yexia is a much more mature person. She still uses her outside voice more than often, is quick to anger and often very intimidating but she’s better at stepping back and actually evaluating situations, in actually giving fair responses to situations. She’s also finally able to take orders from others, and recognize someone like Linalae as a good leader, and someone worth following. (Begrudgingly she also becomes something of a squad 'leader’ for a group of blueberries that has until now been Vette and Azhiera, is joined by my inquisitor Ziseshis, and eventually any other blue babe in the alliance who realizes, they can all kind of stand behind her and let her take all the damage for them, even if she complains and yells about it, she’s gonna protect them).

And, to come full circle, let’s end with family too!! By the time she’s in the alliance she’s lost contact with all her siblings. It’s not like they were ever close to begin with. But she does return home one last time to formally let her parents know she’s not carrying on the family name the way they want her to. At this point she’s lost an arm (that’s a story for another time!), and she tells her parents she’s in love with Azhiera, a chiss, and she doesn’t plan on returning home ever again. Needless to say her parents are furious, and rather than yell or explode at her Yexia just, finally receives the cold indifference they had been giving to all her other siblings. She’s just ignored. So she leaves and returns to her real family.

Eventually out of morbid curiosity she asks Linalae to check in on her sister Izhae. All Yexia knows about her is that she was in the military, since it was her only way of proving any strength. Linalae discovers Izhae also became a Cipher Agent, however, is listed as KIA. It’s not something Yexia can cry over, or even feel a deep sadness over, but it still stirs up something more now than it would’ve in the past. She at least wishes she could’ve apologized to Izhae, for a lot of things. However, she does get the chance to apologize to one of her siblings. When she and her siblings came of age, it was her family’s tradition to send them out to face a large and hard to take down beast as a right of passage (how Yexia got the scars on her face). It is expected that they defeat the monster and return, or die in battle (because coming back without defeating the beast would be unthinkable). Her sister Jaeyi never returned from the fight, and was presumed dead when Yexia was incredibly young. She was used as an example of how Yexia and her siblings shouldn’t be weak, of what not to be. Jaeyi was brutally injured facing the beast, but in her nearly last moments she became so fearful for her death that she was able to drag herself to freedom, far away from the beast before collapsing. She was discovered and healed, and eventually found herself among Jedi who wanted her to join them. Her upbringing and this experience made Jaeyi an incredibly fearful and meek person, bad at standing up for herself, scared of her own shadow, but still trying her best to prove her worth among the Jedi - to prove that saving her was worth it. Still, she never fit in that well, and didn’t feel she was particularly strong or worth while. And since I’ve already rambled enough about Jaeyi on accident - the long story short is, Yexia ends up finding Jaeyi and bringing her back to the Alliance, where Jaeyi is welcomed and slowly begins to fit in. The two of them have a lot to rebuild in their relationship; when Yexia finds Jaeyi, Jaeyi is terrified Yexia will drag her back to their parents or kill her on the spot. It takes a long time for Jaeyi to stop being scared of Yexia. But she gets to watch the way Yexia interacts with everyone, how Yexia has respect and people listen to her, but they don’t respect or listen to her out of fear - Yexia’s actually earned it.

Overall, by the end Yexia is still rough, and speaks somewhat crudely, and jumps to conclusions or actions too quickly a lot of the time. She still yells a lot, and isn’t always good at expressing genuine emotions, or saying nice things. But, underneath all that she is pretty sweet - she genuinely tries to help her friends, she definitely does everything she can to protect what and who she believes is worth protecting. She learns how to step back and assess situations, how to do things that will benefit her and others, she learns how sometimes she needs to put the needs of others before herself. And she’s also pretty good at giving those back-breaking, lifted off the ground hugs.

So that’s !! A lot on Yexia :’D a very angry tomato. I love her so much and to anyone who reads all this thank you so much????? i have lots of thoughts and feelings and so much i wanna write for her and idk if i even conveyed everything properly but ;v; here’s a big long wall of words and love!! TvT

#cipherr #answering things #yexia zveris #azhiera #HOLY WOW THIS WAS SO MUCH #i feel like i could write more too but I WILL SAVE IT #and try to write actual fics fdfdskfdsj #oh i guess i can also start tagging #izhae zveris #jaeyi zveris

6 notes · View notes

princesssarcastia · 7 years

Text

I thought we had more time

The Clone Wars, The Wrong Jedi AU.

Ventress’s head still ached as she bribed her way onto a freighter and off of Coruscant. Her lightsabers had been taken from her, and her mask. Ventress didn’t need to feel the warning pulsing through the Force around her to know she shouldn’t stick around. Coruscant was a big planet, sure, but it wasn’t that big. Especially not for a Jedi.

The threat of future violence circled around her neck, whispering Skywalker. Ventress idly rubbed her throat as the ship initiated its flight sequence: for a man who walked in the light, Anakin Skywalker was full of darkness. Ventress could barely defeat him on her best day. Now, with a concussion, no lightsabers, and the anger on his side (yes, yes, Skywalker used his hate; he used it ruthlessly, without regard, in a manner that put even her former master to shame), well. Never let it be said that Asaaj Ventress didn’t know when to flee.

As the ship broke from Coruscant’s orbit, Ventress shivered as the feeling around her throat faded away, only to be replaced by something…cold. Empty. Angry. It sent shivers down her spine, so violently she almost demanded the pilot turn back.

Almost.

∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞

Anakin snarled as he watched the security playbacks, the comm station’s image glitching every few seconds from the rough splicing he’d just pulled to get ahold of the footage.

Of course Ventress would flee, coward that she was. He just hadn’t expected her to flee so far. Into the depths of Coruscant, he could track her; he could catch her in time, but off world….

No. He would find her. He would bring her back, to take Ahsoka’s place. To pay for what she’d done to his Padawan.

As he rushed off to the speeder he’d taken to the lower levels, he activated his personal comm. “Padmé, I found Ventress; she snuck her way onto a ship, headed to the Outer Rim. I’m on my way to the Jedi hanger bay now, I’ll catch up to her soon.”

Padmé’s voice was quiet, and small. “Just…hurry. Please. I don’t– I don’t know. Something’s not right here, I can feel it.” She paused. “I don’t know if I can get her out of this, Ani. They’ve pulled Tarkin for the prosecution, and given that he has the Chancellor’s favor–“

“Hey, so do I,” Anakin said, ignoring the feeling beginning to pool in his stomach. “Don’t worry, Padmé, I’ll be back soon with Ventress, and we can put this whole thing behind us.”

I hope you’re right, she doesn’t say, and cuts the link.

The feeling grows stronger, but Anakin ruthlessly pushes it down. He’ll make it back in time. He will.

He will.

∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞

Padmé stares at Ahsoka as the girl stares off into the distance, her eyes listless. She fights the urge to reach for her hands, her shoulder; anything to try and comfort the girl who was like a sister to Ani. (A daughter, a treacherous voice in the back of her mind whispers. She pushes the thought away, gently. There isn’t time for that, not now. Not with the shreds of Ahsoka’s defense drawn around the girl like tattered robes, shielding her from nothing)

“It’s alright to be nervous, Ahsoka, but don’t worry. We can work with your defense, and Anakin will be back soon.”

Ahsoka slowly pulls her eyes away from the invisible point in the distance, and Padmé feels her chest tighten at the emotions swirling through them. Sadness. Anger. Fear.

Resignation.

Padmé hesitantly reaches out a hand, resting it on her shoulder. Ahsoka stares at it, her ability to grasp the intent behind it muffled by the roaring in her ears; the roaring in the Force. Something is coming, it murmured. Something is coming something is coming something is comingcomingcomingshiftingchangingwrongwrongwrongbalancetotheforcedestorythesithnotjointhemPLEASE–

Her breath hitched as her mind slipped back into the present. The flash of clairvoyance lasted no more than an instant, yet long enough to force tears to trail down her face, to have Padmé pull her in until her arms were around Ahsoka, holding her so tightly, as if she could protect her from everything that was coming.

“I have a bad feeling about this,” Ahsoka whispered as she clutched at Padmé, tears streaming and a heavy weight pressing on her mind.

∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞

Obi-wan shifted in his seat as Anakin’s Padawan entered the high court, the overwhelming swirl of the Force around her full of anguish and sadness and a touch of something other, something that had never fully gone away after their visit to Mortis.

“Oh, Ahsoka,” he whispers, letting her emotions push at his mind, pull at his heart, until he can barely stand it. And then releases them.

He watches with a drawn expression as Padmé steps into the view of the holocamera, her presence a soothing balm of light, and lets his fist tighten ever so slightly as Tarkin does the same, a smirk already fixed upon his face.

He glances at Plo as a wave of anger crashes through the Force. The man’s face is as impassive as ever, but his presence is full of the slow, deep fury he so rarely allows to build. It’s like the tide, drawing him out until Obi-wan’s own doubts and angers and fears are born anew.

“Divided indeed,” he murmurs quietly, knowing they can all hear him. Knowing they can all sense the feeling of wrongwrongwrongwrongwrong cutting through him. The living Force has never been strong within him, but when it calls to him, oh did he listen. Qui-gon had taught him that much, at least.

Obi-wan feels his fellow council members’ sudden doubts, as similar feelings overtake them, and for a brief moment he hopes they choke on them.

∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞

Ahsoka watches distantly as Tarkin tears her future to shreds.

This is important, she knows. She knows. This is important like Christophsis had been important, like Mortis had been important. The Force is still, so still; it’s waiting. Waiting to see which way the wind will blow. Waiting for the right moment to pounce. It feels like a reflection of herself, in that moment. A fearful predator.

Her heart seizes with every word that comes out of the admiral’s mouth. Her tongue is dry, her hands are shaking, and that feeling presses down even harder on her mind…yet she is empty. Not calm, no. Just empty, as if there is nothing left of her.

She wonders if this is what her teachers mean, when they speak of peace.

She wonders if she cares, anymore. If it matters.

She watches Padmé defend her, fire in her eyes and justice in her mind, and something clicks. It’s so blindingly obvious, now. Of course Anakin loves this woman; how could he not? Her passion, her empathy, her inability to stand by as injustice is done.

Ahsoka watches her world burn down around her, and occasionally catches glimpses of her face on the screens in front of her, when she dares to look up. She looks…tired. She feels tired, she realizes. The kind of tired that sleep can’t fix.

∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞

Padmé feels something in her heart burn as she looks up at Palpatine. It was basic psychological manipulation, reminding people of their personal opinions and hinting at the fact that any vote in favor of Ahsoka could be construed as biased. Forcing them to over correct in order to appear fair in the eyes of everyone watching.

She’s one of the leaders of the opposition; she isn’t blind to Palpatine’s political machinations. Even when she was Queen, her view of the then-senator had never been as idealistic as Anakin’s was now.

There are whispers, of course there are whispers. A man couldn’t shrug off two galactic elections without political consequences. Padmé had never believed them, though, never believed that he could be manipulating the senate into giving him more and more emergency powers. She had never believed that Palpatine was discouraging peace talks, prolonging the war to cling to the power he’d amassed. Even now, she didn’t really believe it. But…still.

There’s something in his eyes. Something in the lines of his face, the tensing of his hands, as if he were grasping at…

Padmé looks up at Palpatine as he stares down at Ahsoka, who looked so frightened and alone, and recognizes the look in his eyes.

It’s triumph.

∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞

Oh, it was so beautiful when something like this fell into your lap. An act of providence, delivered to him on the cusp of victory.

The Republic is crumbling. His apprentice is Falling. And here is one scared little togruta; framed so nicely that Palpatine would be remiss, really, in not pretending to believe whoever had trapped the girl.

Who would have thought that the Jedi themselves would so directly bring about their own downfall? They abandon one of their own at the slightest pressure from Tarkin, abandon her to be punished for crimes she didn’t commit, leave her to die in a way that will shake Skywalker’s trust in the order, in the Republic, in the Light side of the Force, to its very core. Not even his dear, precious Obi-wan could justify this; not when the man’s own suspicionconfusionsorrowpain clouds the Force around him almost palpably.

How convenient that there is still just enough power in the Senate’s proceedings to prevent Palpatine from interfering in any lawful way.

Palpatine maintains his cloaking in the Force and his even expression as he idly weighs the benefits of having the former Padawan executed by clone firing squad. He knows Commander Fox will be more than happy to carry out the order, and what a delicious irony it will be: a Jedi executed by a clone, without a single order from Palpatine himself. A faint taste of what’s to come.

And there would tip Anakin’s trust in the clone army, the soldiers assigned to guard his back.

He really should thank whichever disillusioned Jedi was responsible. He himself could not have planned this out more perfectly.

∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞

Rex stares up at the holoscreen, his hands clenching and unclenching as they rest on the table in front of him.

Fives gave up watching the proceedings almost an hour ago, instead focusing on methodically cleaning the blaster in his hands.

The entire torrent company sat around them, along with almost a third of the 212th. There are a few scattered brothers from other battalions on leave, but other than that, they’re alone.

Cody left the minute Rex switched it over to the trial, his eyes cold.

Kix glares up at the screen. “They can’t– they can’t believe this poodo. I mean, Chuchi’s on the jury. She’ll talk some sense into the rest of them.”

Murmuring sweeps across the 501st; many of them had been on the Pantoran mission, and still more remember the story Ahsoka had spilled, about her rescue of the Pantoran minister’s daughters.

“Aren’t those juries supposed to be impartial?” Trapper calls out from the back of the room.

“Yeah,” Rex says, not taking his eyes off of Ahsoka. “We all know how that goes.”

And suddenly the murmuring stops, replaced by a cold anger. Dogma is still a sore subject with all of them, as is his trial.

And subsequent execution.

“What are we going to do about it?” Fives asks, suddenly looking up. “We can’t just stand by, not again. This is wrong, and we all know it!”

Kix runs a hand over his head, then turns to Rex. “Will Fox–“

“No; he’s convinced Ahsoka murdered his men.” Rex flexes his hands again.

Appo calls out from the back. “This isn’t the front, either. We can’t just hold all of Coruscant at gunpoint and demand they hand ‘er over, it’ll never work. We’ll all get court marshaled, then executed.” Just like Dogma, he doesn’t say, but they all hear him anyway.

Conversation breaks out again, growing louder and louder and louder until–

“Ahsoka Tano.” The Chancellor’s voice rings across the room, freezing every trooper in their place.

“By an overwhelming count of votes, you are hereby found guilty of possession of illegal explosive devices, resisting arrest, conspiring with enemies of the Republic, sedition against the Republic, and over a dozen counts of murder.”

Rex swears and pushes away from the table, then stands and kicks his chair, hard. Jesse barely manages to dodge it, his eyes still glued to the screen.

“Given the overwhelming evidence and the serious nature of your crimes,”

Fives slowly starts to shake his head. “No, no, they can’t, she’s a Jedi–“

“Not anymore,” Rex reminds him grimly.

“This court has no choice but to accede to the demands of the prosecution. You are to be executed in three days time.”

Rex’s hands begin to shake as he hangs his head, horrified and resigned cries rising up from his brothers around him.

“Thank you, senators, for you service to the Republic. This high court session is adjourned.”

∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞

As the Chancellor’s finals words fade from hearing, the Force rings like the toll of a bell, clear and bright, centered on the results of the trial. It demands the attention of every Jedi within range, piercing them with unadulterated sorrow and regret.

∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞

Ahsoka stares stone-faced up at the Chancellor, and wonders distantly if he’ll adhere to military protocol and have her executed by firing squad. The thought is horrifying enough to clear the fog that had lain across her mind, but it does nothing to shake her deep-seated calm. The man meets her gaze with his own, however, and the spark of hatred within it is enough to push her away.

She slowly turns to look at the Jedi Council, sees the regret pulsing through the Force around them, and stares at them hollowly. Too little, too late.

∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞

Padmé Amidala grasps the bars of the walkway in front of her so tightly her hands begin to creak as righteous fury burns through her. She imagines her hands wrapping around Palpatine’s throat, around her fellow Senators’; around the Jedi’s.

It does nothing to satisfy the krayt dragon awakening within her.

∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞

Ventress raises her glass to the holoscreen above the bar. Her head is ringing with the strength of the Force around her, pushing at her mind, telling her this is all bantha poodo.

Like she didn’t know that already.

She takes stock of her emotions, slightly puzzled at the amount of regret taking root within. Slowly, she examines it. Ahsoka had been kind, righteous; a fierce warrior and a powerful ally.

It almost makes Ventress feel guilty, like she had abandoned the girl as surely as Skywalker had. Like Dooku had abandoned her. (And there’s something else they have in common, now: left for dead by the people they trusted the most)

Almost.

∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞

Anakin Skywalker growls in rage as the force darkens around him and his ship begins to vibrate, thrumming with the strength of his anger.

He could tear it all apart, piece by piece, and not so much as twitch.

Ventress is still hours away from him.

Ahsoka was abandoned by the Jedi Order.

Ahsoka is sentenced to die. By the Chancellor.

His Padawan wasn’t going to die, she wasn’t. She wasn’t.

Anakin won’t let her. He still has time.

(He ignores the voice inside of him that urges him to turn back now, and stay with her in her final hours. Comfort her. Hold her like he’d held his mother, too late to save her too, angerfearpainrageNO– kill them, kill them all, slaughter the ones responsible)

(He doesn’t silence it)

∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞

Obi-wan sits in the gardens at the center of the temple, allowing the Force to roil around him. Wrong, it whispers, untruthframedinnocentsedition. Slowly, he lets his head fall into his hands, his weight sagging underneath his own regret.

Somewhere, light years away, he can feel Anakin burning. Hatred. Rage. Passion, determination. Fear.

His former padawan has always struggled with his emotions, but never with shielding them from everyone else. Anakin’s mind was a fortress, a Naboo lake, a desert with no end; you could become lost seeking anything from him. The fact that his mental defenses were so lacking was… well. It would be surprising if it didn’t add to the weight pressing down on him, pulling him deeper into the horrible feeling that hadn’t left him since the Jedi Temple was bombed.

Normally there would be dozens of other Jedi in here with him, seeking peace, or solitude, or companionship, or the Force. Now there is only him. The war has taken so much from them: masters, history, serenity, purpose, honor. Children. Children they send into battle with their masters, knowing they won’t come back. All in service to a Republic Obi-wan is surer with every day, every battle, every death, does not exist anymore.

Suddenly it all stretches out in front of him, and he knows with wild certainty that if it goes on much longer, the Jedi will cease to exist. Their number will continue to dwindle, they will continue to compromise their beliefs, their younglings will continue to learn more of war than philosophy or peace, and they will die.

He stays on the bench, too tired to be surprised. Too aware already of what this war means to be surprised. Somehow it feels like he has always known, from the moment he followed Jango Fett to Kamino, that he would end up here. Tired, desperate for peace, and alone.

Grief settles into his heart like an old friend, Anakin burns in the back of his mind, and he knows the Jedi will not survive this.

∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞

Plo Koon settles down next to him, anger gathered around him like the violent storm that ravaged his home world. “Obi-wan.”

Obi-wan says nothing, knowing his shields are in tatters. Every time he tries to release his emotions into the Force, it shoves them back at him, suffocating.

“You sense it too, then.” His voice is sterner than usual, low enough to be mistaken for a growl.

Finally, he looks up, feeling the marks his hands have left on his face. “We should not have expelled her from the Order.”

We didn’t, the High Councilor doesn’t say, because that way lies schism. Something they cannot afford during a war. “She is innocent in this; that is the one thing the Force is clear on.”

He straightens suddenly. “How fares your padawan’s search for Ventress?”

“I’m not sure,” he says, anger still thrumming in the back of his mind, turning darker by the minute. “Badly,” he corrects after a moment, quieter.

“Anakin will not make it back in time,” Plo says, and his intent strikes Obi-wan suddenly. Knows that this is an offer, a request for assistance.

“He might,” he protests uneasily, but it’s token and they both know it. It’s what he’s supposed to say, as a Jedi Knight of the Republic. “We have a duty to uphold the laws of the Republic,” he tries instead, but that doesn’t feel right either.

“Our duty is to the Force, and to each other; not the Senate.”

The Force swirls around them as he tries to balance the scales in his mind. On one side, Ahsoka, and Anakin, and the Jedi Order. On the other, the Republic, and the consequences their actions will bring about. Either way, the Jedi will never be the same.

In the end, it isn’t even a question.

∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞

Ahsoka sits with her knees pulled up to her chest. Her chest is tight with everything she’s holding inside, fearing the emptiness that had plagued her during the trial. The master in the Temple would be unhappy, would tell her fear and anger and pain had no place in a Jedi’s heart.

But I am no Jedi, she thinks bitterly. Not anymore. So she lets it all fester inside of her as the rest of her life slips through her fingertips.

Something inside of her is fracturing, shattering; she could withstand battle after battle, death, loss, the dark side, but she cannot withstand this. The Jedi have abandoned her to die, for something she didn’t do.

Ahsoka is innocent. She didn’t do this, how could they think she did this, she’s innocent, innocentinnocentinnocentinnocent–

Her lungs shrink until she can barely breathe and her chest heaves, desperate for air that’s right in front of her. Tremors wrack her hands, her limbs, her whole body; her vision becomes clouded with tears, and she curls up even tighter, trying to stitch the gaping wound in her chest back together, but it won’t be contained.

They were going to kill her. They were going to kill her. She was going to die, the order has left her to die for something she didn’t do; a firing squad appears before her in her mind, familiar armor and blasters she knows almost as well as her sabers pointed straight at her.

There’s a dull roar in her ears drowning out the humming of the ray shields that have been her only company for the last two days, and it’s all she can do not to scream as she loses everything. Grey durasteel walls closed in on her, trapping her, and suddenly she can’t even do that.

Ahsoka’s throat is raw and her ragged screams tear through the facility around, falling on deaf ears.

∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞

“Chancellor, please, I beg you! Master Skywalker is still conducting an investigation, if you could–”

“My dear, I have no authority in this matter. The Senate’s decision is final, no matter how much I wish I could help.” Palpatine’s face appears drawn, darkened by grief; Padmé doesn’t believe it for a moment.

Anger burns through her as it has been since Palpatine sentenced Ahsoka to die. The image of him triumphant over a vulnerable, innocent sixteen-year old girl haunts her every waking moment. She knows it would haunt her nightmares if she slept at all.

She continues on like he hasn’t spoken. “You could petition the Senate for a stay of execution–”

“Senator Amidala, I am truly sorry, but…there is nothing more I can do.” His voice is gentle, like he gives a damn, like this grieves him. She wants to throttle him. He has enough influence with both parties to do exactly what she asks, but he refuses. The only thing she can’t figure out is why. There is nothing to gain from his inaction, nothing but the murder of an innocent girl.

Something in her face must speak to her emotions because he leans forward. Before he offers more platitudes, she sighs, and forces the anger in her expression to display something more useful. “Can you at least grant me permission to speak with her? The guards have been barring my passage, even though I served as her council.”

He nods, all grandfatherly, paternal concern, and she has to fight to keep her muscles locked in resignation. “Of course. I will send instructions to the prison straight away.”

Still too angry for courtesy, she turns on her heel and stalks out of the room. The disrespect will cost her down the road, she knows. Speaking with him these days is a dance of what is right and what is necessary to retain any of her political clout. More and more senators are flocking to him as the war continues, voting for any measure he supports without hesitation. There are only a little over two thousand systems willing to oppose him anymore.

Typho, Dormé, and Moteé wait for her in the antechambers. “My lady,” Typho begins hesitantly, but he stops when he sees her face.

“I need you to drop me off at the prison, then head back to my apartments and contact Rabé. Tell her I want to speak with her tonight.”

Dormé breaths in sharply. Rabé had gone to join the Naboo Intelligence Force after leaving her service; she’ll have contacts that Padmé doesn’t, ones who could help. All three of them know what she’s suggesting.

After a moment, Typho nods his head. “I imagine you’ll be wanting to return to Naboo soon, my lady. These are trying times; you deserve a break.”

Padmé smiles thinly. “Yes, I believe I will.” They could all use a rest, she knows. She stops for a moment, squeezes her eyes shut and lets her shoulder sag under the weight she carries.

A warm hand comes to rest between them, and Moteé is there, something glimmering in her eyes. “We’ll have your ship ready for departure after…after this is all over, my lady.”

“Thank you.” Then she pushes her shoulders back and marches out of the room, suddenly grateful for the wide skirts of her gown. They allow her to get to Ahsoka that much faster.

∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞

Ventress knows the moment Skywalker’s ship enters the atmosphere; his anger is strong, stronger than anything she has ever felt. It feels as though the whole planet is suffocating in it, and suddenly those whispers her former master had scoffed at, whispers of twin suns, seem more plausible than ever.

The future has narrowed down to two paths, neither of them good. Neither of them certain, for her or anyone else. One of them is much more likely to end in her death, though, and that is the one where she runs again.

Precog has never been her talent, but she knows what regret tastes like, with or without the Force. She should have stayed on Coruscant and let him find her there, because the only way this mess ends is in pain. Her pain, Skywalker’s pain, his little apprentice’s pain. It all felt too much like the way Dooku had abandoned her.

The Force presses down on her with something like guilt, making her feel small. Her fear doesn’t help with that; she makes sure to saunter into the landing bay with enough confidence even Kenobi would be fooled.

Instincts she didn’t know she still had rear up as he exists the ship; primal ones that scream predator and run. She tilts her head back instead and smirks at him.

“Well, well, well, look who’s here. Skywalker, come to beg for my– “

Her hands fly to her throat as it’s squeezed shut, and she notices wildly that he doesn’t even have to extend a hand to choke the life out of her. How impressive, she thinks faintly as her lungs cry out for air.

“I’m sur–prised you’re not– with– your apprentice–” she gasps through the pressure. Her body is slowly being lifted in the air, and suddenly he’s right in front of her, death on his face.

“You’re coming with me,” he growls, twitching his hand to yank her closer to him. “You’re going to go before the Senate and confess to the crimes you framed my padawan for.”

“Not– your– padawan–anymo–” His grip tightens enough her vocal cords don’t have room to move, and then the panic sets in.

Alright. Even she can admit the banter probably wasn’t a good idea given the circumstances, but old habits die hard. He starts to drag her toward his ship, still by the throat, and the spots in her vision tell her she won’t last much longer.

Her own hands flex, using her own power with the force to give herself some breathing room. Skywalker jerks back around, anger surges around them, but before he can kill her– and she knows for certain now that he will– she gasps, “Wasn’t– me! I wasn’t the– one who– framed her!”

Everything slows to a crawl, adrenaline speeding up her ability to process to world around her. She feels more than sees the muscles in his flesh hand begin to flex, lives in the space between one heartbeat and the next, and knows it all hinges on Skywalker.

What a terrifying prospect.

The moment passes, and his eyes narrow before he abruptly lets go of her. She collapses on the ground, heaving, and he kneels next to her. His voice is suddenly soft, and all the more chilling for it.

“Talk.”

Her glare is a reflex, but the words are harder to force out. “I heard about your little padawan on the run, and thought she might fetch a large bounty.” Roughness leaks into her voice, a result of being choked half to death. When his hand twitches toward his lightsaber she starts again. “I’ll admit, I was just interested in the money, and maybe a little bit of revenge, but then I realized your fallen padawan and I have a lot in common.”

The Force sings out a warning two seconds too late, and Skywalker’s anger surges again, so strong she almost chokes on it. “How dare you compare yourself to Ahsoka.”

“It’s true! My master abandoned me, and that’s exactly what you did to her. You and your precious Jedi Order,” she spits, suddenly disgusted with the lot of them.

Her muscles seize in fear of another attack, but his eyes widen slightly and she knows she has him.

“They’re about to execute her, Skywalker, and, where are you? Halfway across the galaxy, instead of by her side. Pathetic,” she sneers.

Despair and desperation pour out of him now, twining with the anger, and she jerks back, not expecting her words to affect him so much. Ventress catches flashes of what must be his memories– coldsandangergrief, too late, a woman covered in lacerations in his arms– bodies falling to the ground as he howls in rage–

Her eyes widen as his squeeze shut and he rocks back. That didn’t feel like something a Jedi would do, not even one who dances on the edge like Skywalker does.

“What happened,” he says, and suddenly the anger is gone. Or at least, it isn’t directed at her anymore. She’ll take what she can get right now, and puzzle over those memories later.

She tells him.

∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞

Obi-wan and Plo Koon spent the night pouring over schematics and security measures for Ahsoka’s cell block. It was a daunting prospect; there was little room for error in their plan, and none for surprises.

Her execution was scheduled to be in twelve hours; it had been two and a half days since the end of her trial. Obi-wan knew Padmé had been making appeals to the Chancellor, but to no avail. The senator spent the night with Anakin’s padawan, and left early that morning. Something about that pulled at him in the Force, but there was no time to puzzle it out.

No one had stopped them on the way out of the Temple; no one had even run into them, which was suspicious enough. Perhaps they weren’t the only ones who knew this was wrong, but that almost made it worse.

They were half-way to the sewer entrance chosen as their entrance when Obi-wan’s comm went off.

Plo looked at him sharply, but he ignored him. “Anakin,” he answered quietly. “Have you found something?”

His former padawan’s voice is completely wrecked, and if he focuses hard enough he can feel that his mind is completely without shielding now. “It wasn’t Ventress, master. It was a Jedi who bombed the Temple.”

Both of them jerk to a stop at that. “Who?” Plo demanded, stepping close enough to him to appear in the range of the holoprojector.

“Bariss Offee,” he says darkly, his features twisted with rage. “She’ll have Ventress’s lightsabers with her. Please, Obi-wan,” he says, his voice breaking, “You have to get her before the Chancellor, get her to confess. Ahsoka doesn’t have much time left.”

Obi-wan nods slowly, shock twisting up in his mind as he agrees and turns off the comm. He and Plo turn to face each other, caught up in the hesitationsuspicionmistrust curling around them both.

“I don’t… I don’t understand,” he says blankly. “How could Bariss–“

“There’s no time,” Plo says harshly, and he’s right. No time to wonder, and no time to argue. “I will go to apprehend Bariss; continue on with the mission, and keep them from executing her before I can get to the Chancellor.”

Obi-wan nods jerkily, still swimming in shock, but then shakes his head. There’s no time. He sprints, drawing on the Force to edge him onwards, and Plo heads back the way they came. He does not envy the fallen Padawan now, he thinks grimly. The price for her deception will be more painful than she imagines; especially if Anakin arrives in time to help arrest her.

As he heads into the drainage system, something dark curdles in his gut, something twisted and regretful.

He’s running out of time.

∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞

Ahsoka pushes herself upwards on her elbow as one of the troopers cancels the ray shields on her cell. Her face has swollen up, and she knows if she tries to speak now her throat won’t be capable of it; she screamed it into oblivion last night, raging into Padmé’s chest until there was nothing left.

The troopers come forward and bind her hands and feet, dragging her out of the cell with rough hands on her shoulders.

∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞

Captain Rex marches up the steps of the facility, Kix, Trapper, Fives, Appo, and Jesse flanking him to the right and left. He checks his pistols one more time, then pulls his helmet on, indistinguishable from the rest of his brothers.

It was last minute desperation. The chances of this working were…well. There were none. But Rex knew he would never be able to live with himself if he let this happen without trying to save his Commander. Just last week they had been flying over a battlefield, fighting for the very Republic that was about to murder her in cold blood.

The thought struck a chord with him for a moment; fighting for the Republic that had bought him and his brothers, put them under the command of people like Pong Krell, executed Dogma for saving his life. Even if this did work, even if by some miracle they all got off scott-free… he wasn’t sure he would be able to do that anymore.

But this wasn’t the time. They had about thirty minutes before someone discovered the troops from Fox’s command he and his men had ambushed and stolen their armor from. By then, they needed to have Ahsoka and be well into the Coruscant underworld.

Cody had found them halfway into their frantic planning; it had stopped Rex’s heart dead for a beat or two, because he and Cody were close but Cody was a good soldier through and through. He followed orders to the letter.

He hadn’t said anything, though; just given them a comm number and a name, then walked back out. The fact that it never happened didn’t need to be said, and Rex couldn’t ask any more from him because Cody has given them the one thing they didn’t have: a way to get her off Coruscant. A besalisk named Dexter Jetsetter had given them transport, no questions asked.

No fees, either, but when Fives had voiced his suspicions, the man said he was an old friend of Qui-gon Jinn’s. Rex was the only one who recognized the name, but it was enough.

They reached the entrance to the prison unchallenged, looking exactly like a shift-change. Rex only hoped it was enough, but there was a sinking feeling in his stomach that was getting harder and harder to ignore.

∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞

Ahsoka tries to drag her feet, tried to wrench herself from their grip, but she’s still tired, so tired; exhaustion has seeped into her very soul, and her attempts at escape get weaker and weaker each time.

Finally, the troopers seem to have enough of her resistance and one of them pulls a stun baton from nowhere, jabbing it into her unprotected side. Ahsoka cries out, the electricity seizing her body in a way that’s too familiar, but hurts the same as it always does.

She sags in their grip, wishing she could collapse on the floor and lie there, pain stiffening her joints, but they haul her up and push her foreword.

As they continue on, she quietly collapses inwards. There’s no escaping this; no last-minute rescue. All she can think, with each painful step, is that she wants nothing more than to see Anakin one last time.

∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞

Padmé knows what this favor cost Rabé to give her; she owes her friend a bottle of Corellian brandy and a long explanation at the very least, when she makes it out of here with Ahsoka. There had been no time for any of that last night, when she called her over the most secure channel either of them have; it’s the one she uses with Anakin, when he’s off-world. Rabé had taken one look at her face and given her everything she needed; Padmé’s not sure she wants to know what she looks like, right now.

Localized security system blockers cost a fortune; the programming involved was extensive, and it required a backdoor into the system you were circumventing regardless. Not to mention they were illegal in the Republic. Her senatorial access codes had done the trick, though, and now she was crawling through the ventilation system towards Ahsoka’s cell. It’s just tight enough that the pistol strapped to her inner thigh is desperately uncomfortable, but she’s done things like this before.

Gregor and Moteé were waiting on her ship, ready to leave the moment she gets there. Dormé is in a meeting with Mon and Bail as Senator Amidala, and she trusts her friends to not notice the slight differences in their bone structure and height, to provide an alibi for her when she eventually needs one. Rabé isn’t the only one she owes an explanation to, but they’ll understand. This– this madness, this terrible injustice had to be stopped. She can barely believe it’s happening herself.

The Chancellor and the Senate had fallen so far, and Padmé’s faith in both was shaken to its core. She wasn’t sure there was any going back from this, but right now that didn’t matter. All that mattered was Ahsoka. As long as Padmé got their before they took her from her cell, they would be in the clear, and there were still ten hours left until she was scheduled for…

There’s still time. That was all that mattered now: there’s still time. Padmé will make it there in time.

She will.

∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞

The distance between her and her death is closing so rapidly Ahsoka can almost feel the individual seconds slipping away from her, step by step. Her vision narrows until all she sees are her own feet carrying her forward, the achingly familiar sounds of clone armor fading from her mind as her heartbeat echoes through her body. So few of those left, now.

She’s teetering on the edge now, between panic and…something. Something familiar. A memory blooms in her mind, tinged with sadness because suddenly she knows for certain…

“It’s called moving meditation, Snips,” Skyguy says, completely relaxed for once.

She makes a face. “Moving meditation? Isn’t that kind’ve a paradox, Master?”

“Not really,” he chuckles. “Meditation is about calming the mind, allowing the Force to flow through you. Not everyone can do that while sitting still; we can’t all be like Obi-wan.”

“Well, you can’t, anyway,” she grins, and he shakes his head fondly.

“Did you want to learn how to do it or not, Ahsoka?”

Ahsoka nods eagerly, and he gives her a real smile this time. “Alright. Before you so rudely interrupted me,” he says pointedly, “I was using a kata to do it; that’s what most people use, because for Jedi they’re almost as familiar as breathing. It keeps your mind free of any distractions, but takes just enough focus so you don’t get restless.

“Of course,” he qualifies, “you can do it with any movement really as long as you take the time to focus, because the Force will always be with you, Snips.

“Ready to try it with me?”

“Ready.”

…she’s never going to see her Master again. But he taught her well; he taught her everything. How to meditate, how to use her lightsabers, battle strategies; he taught her how to fly a ship, and how to crash one. He taught her how to be brave, and she won’t disappoint his teachings now by going to her death in fear.

Her footsteps jar her body with every step, and she allows the motion to fill her mind until it is all there is. Breathe in. Step. Breathe out. Step.

In.

Step.

Out.

Step.

Everything slows down around her as the Force flows freely through her. A powerful ally, she thinks distantly, recalling Master Yoda’s teachings from the crèche.

Not powerful enough to free her; she knows that for certain now, and releases the panic it would have caused into the Force, allowing its currents to carry away her fear. What it does is let her See.

∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞

Obi-wan creeps through the facility, using the blind spots he memorized last night to remain undetected by the cameras, and the Force to redirect every clone he comes across.

He stretches his senses out in the hopes of preventing any catastrophes before they arrive; he knows time is running out faster than it should, but he will not fail here. All he has to do is stall until Plo can bring Bariss before the Chancellor, and clear her of any wrongdoing.

∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞

The Force in the Temple trembles as Jedi cross blades for the first time in centuries, clashing with terrible anger as they battle across the halls. Sparks fly from their lightsabers and leave marks on the walls.

Guards had come running at the first sign of conflict, but the pair are fighting viciously enough their interference would only spell destruction for one or the other.

Bariss snarls in desperation as her blades lock with Master Plo Koon’s again, and she heaves desperately against them to give herself room to break through the window and fall to the courtyard below, uncaring of the audience they gain in moving the fight down there.

Plo nearly snarls back as he jumps after her. He barely checks his anger as he follows her, knowing if he doesn’t she will die here, from his desperation and her own.

She comes at him from the side, almost catching him off guard. He barely gets his sabers up in time, and wonders darkly whether they could be held responsible for the deadly dueling skills a Padawan specializing in healing had. Perhaps they could. But her actions in framing Ahsoka speak to a deeper, more personal darkness in Master Luminara’s apprentice.

And there is another mystery to puzzle over, when this ordeal is behind them: why Luminara could not sense Bariss’s intentions before they were all reduced to this.

He twists his blades around, pushing the hilt of one of Ventress’s lightsabers out of the fallen Padawan’s hand, but she jumps away from him, snatching it back up and turning to face him again.

As she attacks once more, all he can think is that there is no time left for this; their luck is about to run out.

∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞

Padmé pulls herself over Ahsoka’s cell with a muffled groan, pushing through the aches in her arms and shoulders. She’ll still have to get out of here with Ahsoka, she knows, and it’s the only though that keeps her going.

The grate leading into the holding sticks for a moment, sending a spike of adrenaline through her, but it slides up and over once she gives it another tug. She can’t see Ahsoka immediately from this angle, but the cot is still hidden from view.

“Ahsoka,” she calls quietly, but there’s no answer. Something takes root inside her, something tight and aching that makes her breath catch in her throat.

Her movements become frantic as she lowers herself through the hole in the ceiling and drops neatly into the cell. As she looks around, her stomach rolls and the world drops out from underneath her.

Ahsoka isn’t here. She’s gone already; they– they’re executing her ahead of schedule. The Chancellor must have realized what she was going to do and–

Padmé slaps a hand over her mouth, shaking her head. No, no, nonononono– this can’t be happening. She can’t….

Her legs give out from underneath her and she collapses on the floor, trying to calm her breathing because if someone finds her here she’ll be arrested on sight. The moment stretches out into eternity, the weight of Ahsoka’s death on her conscience because she was too late.

Anakin’s padawan was going to die because she failed; they had all failed, today. Democracy had failed, condemning an innocent being to death.

Her eyes squeezed shut and tears began rolling down her face. She was supposed to have more time! It wasn’t supposed to end like this; it wasn’t supposed to end at all.

Padmé curls up in the empty cell as her faith in the Republic, in herself, shatters.

∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞

They make it halfway to her cell before Fox’s men catch on; then every step is a battle.

Fox’s men are good, but they’ve been here on Coruscant for too long; Rex and his men have been on the front lines, serving under the best strategists in the Republic. Their numbers aren’t an issue, are something closer to an advantage, because with the size of these hallways it’s easier to bottleneck the larger squads they come across.

The problem is that they’re shooting to stun, and Fox’s men are shooting to kill. Rex takes a blaster to the shoulder that’s almost blindingly painful, and he thinks he saw Kix take one to the thigh earlier but there hasn’t been time to stop and check, and he’s keeping up well enough.

They’re almost to the right cell block when he gets an inkling something’s wrong. There aren’t enough guards here, not for a prisoner as high profile and dangerous as Ahsoka; no for a prisoner who’s already tried to escape once.

He ignores it, though, ignores the dread creeping through his body like he had on Umbara before it all went to shit. Fives can feel it too, he knows; sees it in the way his brother keeps eying every corner like its hiding a trap for them.

“This is it!” Jesse yells, gesturing to the door. The ray shields are still active, so they all turn to cover him as he yanks open the panel to splice it open; they weren’t able to get ahold of the new codes in time.

None of them think to check the cell before it’s open, and Rex feels shock start to kick in as they see who’s inside.

Senator Amidala, of all people, is collapsed in the middle of the cell with tears streaming down her face, shaking her head. Rex takes in the stealthwear she’s in, the open grate in the ceiling, the device on her belt, and has an inkling of what’s just happened.

“She’s… she’s already gone,” the senator gets out, her voice hitching with grief, and Rex closes his eyes in resignation.

“She could still be in the facility,” Fives says, his tone dull.

They’re all silent for a moment, until Trapper calls from outside the cell. “We’ve got incoming, maybe thirty seconds. Whatever we’re gonna do, we’ll have to do it fast.”

It’s Appo who speaks up. “I’m not giving up yet; not without a fight.” The steel in his voice makes them all straighten their shoulders, and he sees the Senator take a deep breath.

“Let’s go, then,” she says, pulling herself to her feet and drawing a diplomat’s pistol out of nowhere.

“Senator,” Rex says haltingly, before seeing the look in her eyes.

“We don’t have time for this! If we’re gonna go, it has to be now!” Trapper yells again.

The senator races out ahead of them and they fall in around her. Appo memorized the way to the execution site, just in case, but they’d all hoped it wouldn’t be necessary. They should have known better. Known it wouldn’t be that easy.

Fox’s men are two corridors over, waiting for them. Senator Amidala ducks easily back behind the corner and starts taking shots at them, and they all do the same, but at this point they all know it’s an empty gesture.

They’re out of time.

∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞

Ahsoka breathes in. Steps. Breathes out. Steps. Sees her friends racing to save her, failing, falling. Love, a voice inside her whispers. Attachment, says another.

Unconditional, murmurs the first one, and it sounds like Anakin. She knows now, she loves him. Loves all of them, unconditionally, and it hurts so much that for a moment she can’t breathe; she almost loses her focus.

There is no emotion, there is peace. She breathes in. Steps. Breathes out, and releases her emotions into the Force: the fear of dying, the anger at the Order, at the Republic, the pain of losing all of them.

Breathes in.

There is no ignorance, there is knowledge. Ahsoka Sees, she knows; they all tried to come for her, all tried to save her; they did everything they could, and it eases her mind.

Breathes out.

There is no passion, there is serenity. It hurts to let go of this, but it’s easier now than it was before. She offers her passion for the Republic that failed her, for the people she tried to protect, and for the Order that had been her whole life, to the Force, trusting that none of these will fall without her when she’s gone. It whisks them away, leaving her mind clearer than before, offering her strength to go on in return.

Breathes in. Steps. Breathes out. Steps.

There is no chaos, there is harmony. The troopers force her into position in front of the wall and she kneels gracefully, resting her hands on her thighs and feeling the Force settle around her; it swirls as it always does, caught in the gravity of every living thing, before settling into a more solid presence. Something warm, and comforting; fierce, protective, loving. Light.

Ahsoka feels Force binding them all together: Master Plo stands over Bariss, his lightsaber pointed down; Padmé and Rex relentlessly fight to reach her in time; Obi-wan steps into the other side of the execution chamber, close enough to shout to her;

Anakin, flying as fast as he can to reach her in time.

Anakin, she thinks. Skyguy. I love you, Master.

Daughter, the Force murmurs to her. Come with me.

There is no death, there is the Force.

∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞

Obi-wan reaches his hand out to Ahsoka where she kneels in front of the clones as they prepare to fire.

“NO!” he shouts, pushing at her executioners with the Force, but he’s too late. The first shot strikes her right between her ribs; the second in her stomach;

The third goes through her heart and time slows as she collapses to the ground, her presence in the Force dissipating into nothingness.

∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞

Yoda clutches at his chest as the Force screams at him, at all of them. The younglings around him begin to cry out, confused and hurt, but it is Master Plo who whispers “No,” and collapses to the ground, bracing himself against it.

Bariss trembles with fear, and anger, and confusion; when Master Plo asks bitterly, “Is this what you wanted, Padawan?”, tears slowly drip down her face.

“N–no,” she heaves, shaking her head frantically. “This is what I wanted at all.”

∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞

Ventress feels the Force surge with the anger of a thousand Jedi and bows her head, letting her own join their chorus.

∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞

Padmé rushes into the chamber with the squad of clones behind her and stutters to a halt.

There are still bodies scattered about the room, unmoving, and Obi-wan sits in the center of it all gently cradling Ahsoka’s head in his lap.

She distantly feels her weapon slide out of her hand and onto the floor, but it doesn’t matter. Her footsteps are muffled over the roaring in her ears as she makes her way over to Obi-wan and collapses next to him, reaching out a hand to Ahsoka’s face.

“We were too late,” Obi-wan says thickly, and Padmé bows her head until it rests on Ahsoka’s chest and sobs.

∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞

Anakin clutches the arms of his chair tightly, letting Artoo pilot back because he doesn’t trust himself, not now.

Anakin. Ahsoka’s voice sounds in his head like they’re in the same room, like they’re right next to each other, not half a galaxy apart.

He bolts out of his chair. Ahsoka? He calls back.

Skyguy, she says, and he feels something in his chest shatter. Snips, he says desperately. Snips, please.

I love you, Master.

I love you, too, so much; just hold on, Ahsoka, hold–

Their training bond snaps and Anakin collapses, falling to the floor of the ship. He feels her die, feels something in his heart burn and he screams. He screams and the Force explodes around him, sending waves of anger through it.

He screams and the ship begins to vibrate as he loses control, Artoo rolling up behind him to ask what’s wrong before the ship suddenly drops out of hyperspace, unable to withstand his loss of control.

The ship loses power and Anakin lies there, screaming at the absence in his head where his Padawan used to be.

I thought we had more time, he thinks blindly. Ahsoka, please, come back. I’m sorry, I should have been there, I’m so sorry I–

I thought we had more time.

8 notes · View notes