#well as best i could

[zelsisi]

How to Properly Kill an Emperor...With Your Problematic Sibling

So this is set in SWTOR during Echoes of Oblivion with Outcast's brother OCs Cuyan (Jedi Knight) and Kaden (Sith Warrior). I’m glossing over things here, it's not supposed to be exactly like the Echoes of Oblivion. I changed some things for the sake of this story considering it's on the OCs and not the story itself.

Also! Hi Outcast! @outcastcommander Been awhile vod! We need to talk more again, only if you want tho. I hope you like this piece (yes it was me as the anon asking lol)!

Here's a preview:

When the two heard what was going down here, of course they wanted to help. Except for very different reasons. For example, Kaden wants to put his former Emperor into the grave for good, afterall a lot of things in the galaxy is his fault. The blue eyes of his brother seem to twitch a bit as he catches the thought through the Force. Meanwhile, Cuyan wants to do it for a multitude of reasons. One to help Satele, the former Grandmaster of the Order and the one that helped him down the road he was on. Two, he hates that he agrees with his brother for wanting to just finally put down the major pain in the osik that is The Emperor. So what if he also wanted to get even for all the bullshit he’s been through? It's not that major. Who is he kidding though? Definitely not his brother who obviously caught wind of the thought through the Force and just gave him a look with his white eyes.

Regardless of why they’re doing this, the fact is that they are doing it. Running head long into danger. Again. For the thousandth time at least. A fact that both have been…quite vocal about as they board the ship that holds the ailing bodies and minds of Master Satele Shan and her students, who they find fairly quickly after carving through the Emperor’s Servants and the Scions.

Both of them kneel and close their eyes, using the Force to go into Satele’s mind. The landscape there is of stars and barren landscapes. Illusions of enemies long dead arrive causing them to fight back to back. The brothers activate their sabers, the glow being the only light close enough to them than the stars. Both are fairly aggressive but Kaden is more honorable in his fighting as he jumps from enemy to enemy, emitting force waves and force slams as he goes. He doesn’t take every opening but that’s his way, better to fight honorably than to take a cheap shot. Cuyan, on the other hand, while he does jump around from enemy to enemy, he’s a bit more…dirty. His fists and feet and head, aided by the force, become his secondary weapons. Every opening he sees he takes, even if it's cheap, his style greatly contrasting to his brother’s.

As the fight winds down, Cuyan’s footing slips on an unstable piece of the area as he dodges to the side, leaving him open to a strike which is quickly intercepted by Kaden’s off hand saber being thrown to throw off the strike. The blue eyes sharpen towards him as they deal with the last of them, “I don’ need your help!”

“Clearly. Tell me brother, how would Kira react if you didn’t come back from this?” That shuts up his brother real quick and Kaden can’t help but feel smug at that and gives a small smirk, “Regardless of your capabilities, this enemy is more cunning than most. As you and I have seen first hand as he was the Emperor of the Sith, saw the way he consumed Ziost, and then saw what he did as Valkorion.” Cuyan’s blue eyes go wide as they go through a wide variety of emotions. The fear of being raised by the Sith so much so that he left and later killed the Emperor as a way to face his own demons. The utter failure he felt after Ziost was consumed, he was a Jedi Knight wasn’t he supposed to save as much as he could? And the utter loathing that he felt when he returned inside his own head after killing him as Valkorion. The final part causes a shiver to run down Cuyan’s spine and he realizes how glad he is that his head is free from that…being.

Kaden sighs lowly as he deactivates his sabers, “Regardless of the past we’ve had, we both want to see that bastard dead. So watch my back, I’ll watch yours.” His hand becomes a fist as it hovers over the area of Cuyan’s armor where his heart is. It's a gesture they used to do as kids before they…made very different life choices. Cuyan freezes and watches it, clearly remembering the gesture but still tenses up. Whenever one of them had touched the other recently it was because they were fighting. Kaden pulls back. He doesn’t know if the touch would even be welcome or if he’d allow it. Both of them turn away from the other.

“How touching.” The brothers whirl around at the familiar voice to see Valkorian. Their eyes narrowing and their sabers activating in near synchronization as they spit out. “Valkorion.”

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

Hey now, Let her cook!

[spiderversegf]

one important thing that Must be understood about interpersonal relationships is that you have to stop interacting with people who love you like they’re one slip-up away from leaving you. you have to trust that the ppl you love mean what they say. you have to believe that when they say “this hurt my feelings,” that they’re also saying, “can you please love me this other way next time?” and you have to wrap your head around the fact that even if you don’t understand Why someone loves you, you can accept that that they do. true, honest, & open love does not function like hp in a video game !!!!!!

[rosyrubi15]

I needed to draw this as Kyoko lmao

[u3pxx]

KIM KITSURAGI - “Is that. My kineema.”

COMPOSURE [Medium: Success] - Something in him is about to break, *big time*.

EMPATHY - And it’s not going to be pretty, do something!

- DRAMA [Formidable] - Everything is fine!

- “Sure is.”

DRAMA [Formidable: Failure] - Surely he’s aware that he’s not the *only* person in the world who owns a Kineema?

YOU - “Is it really *yours*? I mean, plenty of people have their own Kineemas, right? Like working men, government offices, uh, firefighters I guess, maybe even animal control people? Exactly! A million different people who could’ve driven it into the uh…”

DRAMA - Pause, my liege! Ixnay on the Ineemakay!

YOU - “It could even be our *mysterious* joyrider!”

KIM KITSURAGI - Your frenzied babbling falls deaf to the lieutenant's ears. Instead, he approaches the broken vehicle, sunken in the ice. He moves with a caution and gentleness you haven’t seen him display before.

INLAND EMPIRE - It must be cold and lonely down there, in the icy water. Maybe he could sense its sorrow, calling to him…

PERCEPTION (SIGHT) [Easy: Success] - His hands, which are always stiffly placed behind his back, are trembling.

ENDURANCE - This is the shuffle of a tired, tired man.

HALF LIGHT - He’s going to do something drastic because of you. Oh god, terrible! You’re a terrible liar! You can’t look at this, you just can’t!

VOLITION [Formidable: Success] - It's not *you* who drove his kineema into the sea. You have plenty of faults, but this one is decidedly not yours.

KIM KITSURAGI - He kneels down with his head bowed, casting his face in shadow. He plants a hand on the ice to stabilize himself, squinting to get a better view of the motor carriage. “Detective, it says ‘57’ on it.”

YOU - Sweat drips down your brow, and you feel a terrible headache coming. “Maybe our joyrider has an affinity for that number?”

LOGIC - He's not stupid, he knows that it's not that.

KIM KITSURAGI - “57.”

YOU - “What about 57?”, you brace yourself.

KIM KITSURAGI - “Precinct 57.”

YOU - You wince. “Kim, look-”

KIM KITSURAGI - “When I woke up in the Whirling-in-Rags with no memory of what happened during the days before, I've taken note that something of mine has gone missing.” He grits his teeth. "A very. Important. Something."

He runs his hands over his face, messing his already unkempt hair in the process. Regret creeps up on his features. “God. Fuck. They’re going to fire me over this, they’re not going to hear me out.”

EMPATHY - Desperation settles in the lieutenant's tone. Sadly, you find yourself in agreement, even if you don’t want it to be the truth.

YOU - “People are more valuable than machines, Kim.”

KIM KITSURAGI - “Not people like me.” He rasps.

YOU - “…”

KIM KITSURAGI - Before you can say anything more, you fail to notice the lieutenant carefully walking onto the edge of the ice. He looks over the frigid water, a dizzying blue that mirrors and distorts his exhausted face back to him.

YOU - “Kim?”

KIM KITSURAGI - Seconds pass as he looks to be contemplating something. Out of nowhere, he casually takes another step where the ice ends and the sea begins. It happens all too quick for the lieutenant to even voice a call for help— if he even wanted to — his body plunging into the cold water before your eyes.

YOU - “KIM!!!!”

uhhh bonus stuff? sorry i have swap au brainworms pfttt

(im not sure what skills kim has at the moment so rn he only has narration as his inner monologue ok whoops, i would like to keep harry as the guy who thinks in dialogue trees so im still figuring it out pfttt)

also, this was done bc i wanted to expand on these old scribbles of mine, just like an idea, i just think that he'd be having an even worse time wheezes

[sketchy-tour]

I can't see you. Do you see me? 👁️👁️

[gideonsgirldick]

I just realized that The Locked Tomb series would be waaaay more popular than it is right now if one or both of the leads were male cause people go nuts for hogwarts esc houses, enemy's to lovers romance, and lore as deep as my fingers in your mom.

Someone please talk to me about this I am genuinely out raged.

[turtleblogatlast]

I will never be over Leo’s 4D chess play in “Many Unhappy Returns”. Like, just in general it is a spectacle to see this character who we’ve seen goofing around time and time again, who’s only sometimes decided to take things seriously, only to show him making a maneuver like that.

And here’s what gets me the most about his plan against Big Mama: he comes up with it on the spot. The second he sees that Big Mama has the solution they need, he’s already in game mode.

It is so satisfying watching the episode back when you realize his plan, because he literally sets the stage entirely for a decisive victory. He sees that the champion is a kraken, and comes up with both the solution to defeating it and a reasonable excuse to get that solution into the battle with them on the fly:

“Like your champ aaand those six guys. In fact, we don’t want this over too quickly. You should armor up those rookies. The whole shebang. Especially with these pointy helmets.”

And this is why giving him teleportation powers is perfect, too. He analyzes the battlefield and makes use of all the assets, moving pieces around to guarantee a win. It is honestly so impressive to witness and one of my favorite parts of his character.

[thresholdbb]

I'm a Kai Winn apologist but not because I think she's a good person. She's a compelling tragic character

[journey-to-the-attic]

the rest of the cast got their new song covers, so i wanted to try putting the others in a band :>

i did want to make it look a bit like an album cover but i have no idea how those are designed so eh?? i also couldn't think of any band or album/song names so. if anyone has any ideas...

[cutter-kirby]

I adore Caleb’s expression here. “die faster. bitch.”

[sesamenom]

Gil-galad Variations, featuring all the gil galad theories i've encountered.

[starflungwaddledee]

some rather strong first impressions were made.

required reading for the magical "voice" headcanon and another for starstruck's signature in particular. asked by @trainerbob23 !

[peachyutdr]

i finished it, was kicked out of the game, and then spent the next 10 minutes drawing this. i will now go take a shower, most likely cry, and then go through the emotional turmoil of convincing myself to reset so i can do a geno run. i hate it here :D

[oseike]

"This person, who not so long ago searched for herbs with me so earnestly....

"It's too sudden. There's so much everyone wants to say, wants to hear.

"If only he could open his eyes one more time..."

If funerals are for the living, what of one's final moments? For whom do they exist? Is it okay to force wakefulness one more time, even if it should cause pain?

EDIT: @keidokusha has translated this to Vietnamese:

Many thanks to them!

[anistarrose]

the thing I keep coming back to about TAZ Balance, I think, is that there's heroes — lots of them, even — but there's not really a hero, not a singular one. when our characters try to save the world all on their own, and oh, do they try, their arcs — while eventually culminating in happy endings, for the most part — are, at the time, cast as tragedies. lone heroes, in TAZ Balance, are invariably tragic heroes.

Lucretia can't gather all the Grand Relics and defeat the Hunger on her own. Barry can't find Lup, much less sway Lucretia from her plan, on his own. Lup, crushed by guilt, sets off to neutralize her greatest mistake without even facing her family as she leaves, and that decision sets the story into motion in the first place. their intent to spare their family, to shoulder the burden alone so no one else will have to, fixes little and leaves them isolated. lonely. trapped.

even Magnus, rustic Folk Hero of Raven's Roost, fails to avenge the community that took him in. he sets off on a solitary mission to do so, never opening up about his pain to even his closest friends, but he never sees Kalen again. yet, maybe not too late, he learns, or rather, remembers — the strength to protect and avenge others comes from the strength to ask for help. the last thing helping anyone is trying to do this alone.

Lucretia assembles the Bureau, and as soon as she sees a way, brings Tres Horny Boys back under her wing. Barry, the very same day that Lucretia recruits them, sees the Phoenix Fire Gauntlet surface, and realizes it's time to put his trust in his family again — he shows himself to them soon after, and even with him putting up a facade, that's progress. and Lup, with endless time to reflect, is possibly the first of all of them to see where she went wrong. she won't be making that mistake again.

there's not a singular hero of the story, because taking on the burden of saving everyone is no task meant for one person. there's "our heroes," Tres Horny Boys, and there's the secondary, "secret," but no less important heroes who complete the ranks of the IPRE, but none can defeat the Hunger — nor reunite their family, nor vanquish an old foe — without leaning on each other, and on the new bonds they forged on this cycle. leaning on Johann, Kravitz, Team Sweet Flips, and the whole ensemble; every single connection that convinced them not to flee but to fight.

accepting that none of them can, that none of them should, be the hero alone — that's what averts the tragic end. the Hunger, terrible as it is, is wholly united, sharing and amplifying each other's despair. the only way to victory is to rely on each other, to care for each other, to learn how to be cared for, and to let your loved ones grant you hope.