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antisocial-af · 3 years

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Title: The Dangers of Petting a Cat

Chapter: 3/3

Square Filled: Cursed Item (For @shadowhunterbingo)

Raiting: T

Wordcount: 1615

No Major Archive Warnings

SFW, Attempt at Humor, Annoyed Raphael, Demon Simon, No Chairman Meows were harmed or even put in harms way to begin with in this fic, Protective Magnus.

Summary:

Magnus tries to sort out what is going, Simon attempts to stay in one piece, and Raphael is done.

Read on Ao3

Story:

Simon stared at the warlock that just passed through the portal.

Shit! I didn’t see him call for backup! Especially from a greater demon’s kid!

Simon hoped that the vampire was too distracted to notice him as he tried to stop the possession. The demon needed out of here now. A banishment would mean an automatic failure on his mission.

When Simon tried to stop his magic and separate from the cat, he found he couldn’t. Something was trapping him inside the host.

The demon started to panic and focused harder. Simon was sure it was just a hiccup and would work this time. Still, once again, his spell stayed in place and seemed to rebound him back into the cat.

“What is going on?!” Simon panicked aloud in an almost yowl. Even that was out of the ordinary, but Simon had let it go, thinking it was just because it was his first time. But, he had never seen one of his friends bound to the voice of their host. He kept cursing at himself for not taking up Kirk on his offer to shadow him for his first possession.

“Raphael, you better tell me someone found a spell that makes cats capable of speech, or I am revoking your babysitting privileges,” Magnus glared at Raphael as he flicked, capturing Chairman Meow in his cat carrier.

“We both know you would be the first to know if someone made a spell like that,” Raphael bit back, glaring at the possessed cat.

“I am supposed to be enjoying a nice drink and relaxing at the beach right now, Raphael,” Magnus complained, allowing his magic to deliver the cat carrier safely to him.

“If you two are having a moment, I could just leave,” Simon chimed in from his less than favorable position.

“I’m sure you figured out that isn’t a possibility,” Magnus replied with a smirk. “Now, do tell what made you dumb enough to possess my lovely Chairman today?”

“You leave your cat with a vampire?” Simon asked before he could think of his words.

“When I must, but that wasn’t the question, little demon.”

“Hey! Just because I’m in a cat doesn’t mean I’m little! I’m over 200 Earth Years!”

“Isn’t that like 20 ish in your realm?”

“Yeah, but I’m on Earth right now, so I can use my Earth age!” Simon hissed and startled himself in the process. He didn’t know he was capable of that.

“That doesn’t even make sense!” Raphael complained and ran his hand through his hair for the hundredth time that evening. “Magnus, can’t you just yank him out already?”

“I would if you would stop feeding him,” Magnus grumbled as he started to read the wards he had placed on Chairman’s collar. “The demon is a Trickster demon, meaning he feeds off your frustration. You have been an all-you-can-eat buffet for him.”

“I don’t deserve this,” Raphael groaned and took a deep breath, trying to compartmentalize his anger and annoyance.

“Does that work for vampires?” Simon asked as he sat up in the carrier. “I mean, vampires don’t breathe, so does it work?”

“It does when there isn’t a squeaky nagging voice in the room,” Raphael continued.

“Not helping, Raphael,” Magnus intervened before it could go on. “Still, my question stands. I have known my fair share of Trickster demons, hell I’ve contracted some myself for the usual joke or prank on a friend, but in all my years, I’ve never known one to possess an animal, much less a cat.”

“I might’ve missed,” Simon confessed. “I was supposed to be the grumpy vampire.”

“So it’s because you missed that I am here instead of with my husband,” Magnus attempted to glare at Simon, but when Chairman’s wide eyes and pulled back ears looked up at him, Magnus couldn’t do it.

“If you let your wards go, I could just be out of your hair,” Simon quickly reasoned. He needed a way out of this quickly. Currently, the Downworlders were distracted by the situation, but Simon had no plans of sticking around when that passed.

“Getting you out is a start,” Magnus agreed as he pulled at the wards around the collar, adjusting the locking mechanism to allow the demon out. “What way you return to your realm once you are out is another question.”

“Wait!” Simon panicked. “You have to promise you won’t banish me once I let the cat go, or else I won’t release the possession!”

“Oh, you are young if you think I can’t safely force you out of my precious Chairman,” Magnus smirked and pushed a bit of his magic through to nudge the demon out.

“Woa-” Simon’s words were cut off when he felt a push of foreign magic push him out. Simon started to get sick when he began to phase through, and his body pulled itself back together. “What part of that was safe!?”

“Oh, I meant for Chairman,” Magnus smiled as he petted a now purring Chairman. Magnus let his magic run through his cat to verify the demon had done no damage. Since the collar activated, he wasn’t too worried about Chairman being scared or traumatized by this incident; it should’ve sent Chairman’s mind into a dream. Still, he needed to make sure. “I don’t usually keep unwanted guests around. By now, I would’ve banished you, so I never know the side effects for you.”

“So I’m free to go then?” Simon asked as he stretched, trying to get used to standing on two legs again.

“No.” Magnus and Raphael both answered.

“Since you missed, I am assuming Raphael was your target,” Magnus reasoned as he glared at the demon. “What did you plan to do once you did possess him?”

“Oh, you know the usual stuff,” Simon answered, looking away. There is no way he could let them know his actual plans; it was already bad enough that he got caught.

“So you planned to cause chaos and play pranks on the vampires of Hotel Dumort?” Raphael growled. “Did someone send you?”

“Well, not exactly,” Simon started to back up and look for an escape route. He had knocked over many of the books and furniture throughout, dodging Raphael in cat form, and his only escape was the window he came from.

“What do you mean not exactly?” Magnus flicked his fingers at the demon and watched a prison form around the demon. “Who sent you?”

“Well, they didn’t exactly send me to the hotel,” Simon gulped and stood still. He didn’t want to find out what would happen if he touched the blue bars around him.

“They send you to New York to cause trouble?” Magnus asked.

Simon looked at the bars and back at the glaring warlock. He was sure his mission was already a failure, so there wasn’t a point anymore.

“I wanted to pet the cat,” Simon sighed and mumbled.

“What?” Raphael questioned, shocked.

“I wanted to pet the cat!” Simon stated clearly. “I was going to possess Raphael and pet your cat.”

“So all this,” Magnus emphasized by pointing to the broken vase and torn drapes. “was because you wanted to pet Chairman Meow?”

“Yes.”

“I’m never pet sitting for you after you get back from vacation,” Raphael declared.

“It’s fine, Chairman prefers Cat,” Magnus snapped his fingers, causing the jail around Simon to dissipate. He pulled Chairman up from the couch chair and into his arms before walking towards the demon. “Go on then.”

Simon looked between the cat and warlock briefly in shock. He didn’t know if this was a trick, and as soon as he touched the cat, he would be hurt. But Simon couldn’t pass up this chance. If not the mission, then at least he was going to pet a cat today. Simon carefully brushed his fingers between both of Chairman’s ears and watched as they twitched from the pets.

“He’s adorable,” Simon whispered.

“Agreed,” Magnus smiled as he kept a close eye on a demon just in case. Chairman’s collar would still activate again if anything happened, but he didn’t want to take a chance. “If this is all you can go back, right?”

“You’re just going to let him go?” Raphael questioned. “He did all this, and you are just going to send him back with a slap on the hand?”

“Trickster demons are harmless; you know that,” Magnus shrugged. “The little demon just got a bit sidetracked.”

“I’m not a little demon!” Simon huffed and immediately regretted it when his new cat friend jumped away. “My name is Simon, and yeah, I will portal straight back to my realm. No need to worry.”

“See, he’s going to be a good little demon and go back home before it even gets dark,” Magnus waved his hands, already making plans to summon his own portal back to his Alexander.

Raphael groaned and sat back down on his couch, glaring at the two people in his room.

“Don’t worry, at least now you will have something new to complain to Chairman about other than your Clan,” Simon teased as he opened a portal to his realm, quickly jumping through as he watched the vampire leader pick up a chair to throw at him. “See you!”

Simon sighed in relief as he stepped through the portal and smiling as he made his way up the Academy steps. He didn’t know if he still had a chance at passing, but he hoped that Prof. Modo would give still approve his first mission. Even if he didn’t, though, at least Simon had petted a cat, and that was worth all the trouble from the mission pass or fail.

#antisocialaf #shadowhunterbingo #shbingo #Simon Lewis #Raphael Santiago #Magnus Bane #fanfic

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sailor-cresselia · 5 years

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The Great Ex-Aid Rewatch: Ex-Aid & Ghost, Part Two

Okay, back to it for part two of who-know-how-many of my Dr. Pac-Man liveblog!

Time for more gamers, doctors, ghosts, and terrible examples of science that people should in no way, shape, or form try to emulate!

––– –––

When last we saw our doctor heroes, they were escaping from Dr. Pac-Man with the victim-of-the-week, and the Ghost team was coming to their aid, leaving Shinnosuke back at the precinct.

We pick back up with Emu, Asuna, and Tougo running, but being blocked from one direction by Doral and Giril, and a still very glitchy Dr. Pac-Man on the other.

Turns out, the Pac-viruses aren’t technically bugsters at all – they’re just… er. Viruses, I guess, that Dr. Pac-Man used to set up a virus detection program. Specifically, to track the Bugster Virus, so that he could hunt down Tougo, who’s a carrier of a new strain.

Wait, so, the fevers that are hitting the people throughout the city aren’t the game disease, then? Or are there more forms to it than the bugster virus? …I may have to go into this in my fics at some point, but not now.

But anyway, it’s a new strain, one that comes from Hatesate Puzzle, so naturally the GenmCorp systems wouldn’t have any information on it – it’s not one of their products, so there’s no reason to expect it to spawn a bugster of it’s own.

Takeru, Akari, and Onari show up, with Takeru accusing Dr. Pac-Man of being Zaizen Michihiko. Fortunately for all of us, he is, and admits such as soon as Takeru brings it up. This means I no longer have to type ‘Dr. Pac-Man’ nearly as often, and we don’t have to deal with his squeaky voice changer anymore.

That thing was obnoxious.

Zaizen, who should have died six years ago, has managed – somehow – to revive as a Bugster. Which, as we know now, is foreshadowing for what happens down the line in-show. (Actually, this might be where Kuroto got that particular plan from in the first place.) He’s come back to finish his plans from back then.

He and his ‘team’ were working on a ‘genome project’, to create a new life form via operating on a patient infected with the game disease. A project to create a bugster.

But things went wrong.

Something happened, and we see the ‘patient’ – his face tactfully hidden by scenery the entire time – bucking on the table, the four ‘doctors’ drawing back in surprise. As a swarm of orange lights emerges from him and form into the shape of a person, lines of light form a game area around the room, while the four ‘doctors’ are dissolved into fragments of data.

And now? Now they’re back from being banished to the shadow realm game world, and ready to fulfill their ‘master plan.’

Emu – sweet, blissfully unaware, ten-episodes-in Emu – says that he may not know anything about this so-called master plan, but to use Pac-Man for this, to endanger all of these people… how can they call themselves doctors?! Doctors are supposed to help people!

Zaizen declares that anyone who stands against him must die, and Hatena – the latest Bugster – summons a massive number of enormous falling blocks. That would be bad enough, since said blocks are approximately person sized, and could easily crush someone.

Except that Hatesate Puzzle is a match three puzzle game. When three blocks of the same color line up? They explode.

Makoto and Alain show up from… somewhere, just in time to see Takeru make a dive to cover Akari with his body to protect her from another wave of blocks.

They are both caught up in the explosions. When the smoke clears, Takeru manages to wake Akari up, barely.

They both start to turn transparent, bursts of static crackling across them, at which point Akari passes back out.

Takeru, having had some very traumatic experiences with being transparent, makes the very natural assumption that they’ve both just died.

Fortunately, Emu is there, and able to yell that no, no, you’re not dead, that’s the bugster virus, please calm down!

Well, they’re not dead yet, according to Hatena, who says that unless someone manages to defeat him in the next 24 hours, they’re done for. This, naturally, pisses Makoto and Alain the hell off, and they go on the offensive.

I love civilian outfit fights, because you can get more of a sense of how the characters really move. I hold to the theory that putting on Rider armor, in any series, enhances the wearers usual abilities, so while you can see how they fight, you can get a far more accurate idea of it when they fight out of suit.

Against Giril, for all that the first part of the fight is more of a dance between her, Makoto, and Alain, you can tell that they’re skilled at this – that they’ve been through battles. They do eventually wind up getting hit – her fighting style is very different from the ones they’re used to facing, and Alain in particular takes some nasty palm strikes and kicks to the chest, but they’re still putting up a good show. (Especially for a pair who lost the majority of their effectiveness in battle once they joined up with Takeru, but that’s a complaint for a whole different season.)

On the other hand, Emu’s fight against Doral can barely be called a fight. He’s getting beaten, badly. Doral barely has to move to dodge Emu’s punches, and when they do connect, he doesn’t even flinch, moving with the punch to soften what little damage there would be.

Emu takes numerous blows to the torso, and I’m pretty sure at one point he just barely avoided a groin shot. He does manage a sweet flip and a roll, but it looks to have been accidental, given he then very quickly gets thrown several meters through the air.

Compare this to his first fight in-show, when he’d just gotten the belt, and had no idea what he was even getting into. In level one, he didn’t take a single hit from the Bugster Union, and when he fought Salty directly, he got hit maybe two or three times, but no more than that, and they didn’t effect him at all.

Early Emu has no idea what he’s doing in a fight, without actively being Ex-Aid.

Onari and Asuna carry Akari off to the hospital, escaping, while Makoto and Alain manage to literally hold Giril back, telling Takeru to ‘take care’ of Hatena.

Takeru’s punches do nothing, aside from make his knuckles hurt, and make Hatena chuckle. CHUCKLE. Not even LAUGH, just a quiet chuckle.

Emu gets grabbed, and Doral is trying to choke him out, when freaking Tougo – who is, admittedly, in a bit of a bad way, seeing how he’s rather see-through at the moment – yells at Emu. He’s a doctor, right?! Then why isn’t he saving him?!

You know, never mind that you said it was pointless earlier, or that Emu’s getting his ass kicked and currently is having a bit of trouble breathing, just go ahead and guilt trip him. That’s totally a way to make people like you.

Oh, and then Zaizen tells this asshole that nobody can save him, and pulls Tougo into a bugvisor. Because that totally makes sense.

All four riders present – Emu, Takeru, Alain, and Makoto – get hurled down by their respective opponents, Emu internally apologizing to Tougo. Doral advances on Emu…

And is met with a spin-kick to the face.

Kiriya, Hiiro, and Taiga have arrived. Here’s their basic reactions to the scene:

Kiriya: More research data! Yes! (Also, time to save the Ace, because he’s the only person in this show who has even remotely tried to be a decent person, and was the only one who bothered trying to trust me.)

Taiga: Okay, shows over, freaks. (Why do people keep using Protogashats?! Are they all just stupid?!)

Hiiro: You look pathetic, intern. Also, here’s the new Legend Rider Gashat, the CEO wanted you to have it, for some reason.

Doral’s all ‘oh, so you want to fight, do you?’, and he and Giril pull out their gashats. Kiriya gives a sarcastic whistle, before Makoto and Alain shove their way in front, saying that this is their fight. I mean, it’s not, technically, but I get their reasoning. Also, Makoto literally shoved Hiiro to the side, and Hiiro takes a moment to come back to facing front, looking incredibly offended. Kiriya tries to point out to them that they’re already pretty beat up, and maybe they should take a back seat for a bit, but let if never be said that Makoto and Alain are anything but stubborn.

Giril takes off one way, Makoto and Hiiro in pursuit, while Doral goes the other, with Alain, Taiga, and Kiriya chasing after. Emu is still on the floor, slightly dazed, and presumably very confused.

–––

Hiiro and Makoto Vs Giril.

Makoto’s fighting style here is very… I dunno, like he’s a brawler? I guess? It’s not really refined, there’s a sort of brutality there. He uses the mooks momentum a lot, at one point pulling one of those ‘roll with the grab and use it to do a spin kick while on the mooks back’ tricks.

Hiiro, meanwhile, is quick and efficient, focusing on disabling mooks by going for the torso. Once again, he’s weaponizing CPR, just like when he originally used Doremifa Beat. At one point, he actually just flat out does a chop to the back of one mooks neck, which I find hilarious coming from Hiiro, of all people.

Eventually, Giril transforms, and Makoto hastily follows suit. Heh, suit. Because they’re transforming heroes. Hiiro, who saw full well that Specter isn’t exactly in prime condition, tries to tell him to wait, and heads into level two to join the fight.

–––

Taiga, Kiriya, and Alain vs Doral.

Taiga and Alain’s fight styles aren’t too different, outside of suit. They both favor quick blows that are still slightly showy. The main difference is that Alain’s more willing to rely on both his arms and legs for attacks, while Taiga’s more likely to dodge attacks. Kiriya… may as well be street dancing. Like, there’s a lot of streetdance type moves going on there.

…Dark Toei, give me the forbidden streetdancer Kiriya lore.

Eventually, Alain starts getting into a slightly more berserker style, Kiriya is getting somehow even flashier, and Taiga…

Taiga stole the sword off of one of the mooks.

…SWEET.

Doral transforms, and Alain angrily follows… and immediately starts doing worse. Seriously, the Necrom suit is a definite hindrance for Alain. He was great when he was in civilian attire – because he could move. Loose fitting clothes are far better suited for his personal style than the tight, controlled movements he has to use as Necrom. I mean, he really shouldn’t keep the scarf on in battle, but it doesn’t seem to slow him down, so I guess it’s okay.

Taiga looks a little disappointed that Alain just rushed in there like that, and once again it’s Kiriya who says that he’s getting ahead of himself.

The two of them transform, and Taiga visibly enters level two, doing a sweet flip over a fire projectile before getting into the battle. Kiriya says he’s leveling up, but we don’t actually see it, or him.

–––

Takeru vs Hatena.

This fight is not going nearly so well as the others. Takeru is getting shoved around like a ragdoll by Hatena and his staff, but still struggling back up, despite the copious pain he’s in, because he’s going to save Akari, dangit!

Emu’s still down on the floor, just barely getting around to picking himself back up in order to stop Takeru from advancing.

Zaizen says that all these struggles are useless. Without Ghost’s power, they can’t possibly beat Pac-Man, and he’s going to make them fear just how powerless they are!

He then proceeds to fire his bugvisor into the air, a massive swarm of Pac-viruses emerging from it… and then they all form into a GIANT PAC-MAN. The version with arms and legs, no less, before it pulls those into itself and becomes the more classic Orb Pac-Man.

Then it sort of… shudders, and glows a bit red, and oh look, everyone, Pac-Man’s got a mouth of fangs now!

Wisely, Takeru and Emu realize that being faced with a two-or-three story Pac-Man, who is clearly intent on eating them, is the point where they should be running away.

–––

Pac-Man chases them outside. They manage to avoid his barreling into them, but also he takes a bite out of a building, so there’s that. They’ve both fallen from their dodge.

Takeru pushes himself back to his feet, struggling to walk forward to fight.

Emu tries to hold him back, because it’s too dangerous, he’s too hurt, if he tries to fight like this, he could die-

Takeru shoves him off, saying it doesn’t matter if he can still transform or not. Yes, he doesn’t want to die, but if he can save Akari, then that is far more important. He’s going to do this. He has to do this!

Ghost’s powers are intimately linked to Takeru’s emotional state. They always have been, as far back as his first episode. His resolve summons the Ore Eyecon back to him from Dan Kuroto’s desk (because of course he didn’t give that to Hiiro to bring back), and the Ghost Driver reappears around Takeru’s waist.

(The, uh, the handle on that thing’s looking a little worse for wear. You guys couldn’t have, I dunno, wiped it down or something? Given it a little touch up?)

“HENSHIN!”

:cue fangirl grin:

Takeru gets to fly again! In base form, no less! …You know, outside of the first episode, and his guest previews in Drive, I don’t think Takeru actually got to use his levitation in his base mode more than maybe once or twice until after his season. I’m pretty sure he didn’t even get to do it in his own movies, outside of the finishing blow to the giant Ganma from the Ghost & Drive film. I don’t recall him levitating at all during Ichighost. If he used that power outside of the final battle in 100 Eyecons, I don’t remember it, and I know that time it was in Infinite.

Basically, I’m in the ‘Let Takeru Use His Powers’ camp. Also, I’m thinking that this might be where he basically… re-unlocked that for his base form? I dunno, just a thought that I might use in ReUnited, might not. Hard to say.

Anyway, Ghost! He’s flying around, kicking Angry Emoji Pac-Man while dodging storms of Pac-Viruses. Emu, in the meantime, is having a slight crisis of personal faith. He’s been getting his ass handed to him all day, even more so than usual, with people berating him left and right for not being good enough at his job – as a doctor or as a Kamen Rider.

Screaming to the sky, he somehow finds his resolve. Pulling out the Kaigan Ghost gashat, a breeze blows his hair back, and he transforms.

…Okay, yes, it’s a level ONE form right now, but he still gets to fight in-air with Takeru, both of them with that cool orange glow effect, so it’s worth it!

–––

At the Next Genome Hideout, Zaizen and Hatena arrive just in time for… Uh. What was his name again? Ah, there we go. Kuruse Soji, also known as the Robol Bugster. For consistencies sake with the rest of his group, I will be referring to him as Robol from here on.

So, those two arrive just in time for Robol to finish the… I don’t even know what it is, some sort of genome re-mapping design.

Hatena is the one to ask Zaizen “Hey, are you sure about this whole ‘using yourself as a lab rat’ thing? You’re putting your life on the line, here.”

But nope, Zaizen’s determined to carry out his plan, and he’s fully intent on becoming a life form ‘to surpass creation.’

Hatena’s response is basically a silent “Well, okay then, it’s your funeral,” before raising his reality-warping staff up, and starting what is basically a reprogramming process on Zaizen.

Additionally, Zaizen seems to very quickly have at least a few regrets with regards to his haste, or at least didn’t think Hatena was going to just go ahead and start immediately. Having ones genetic structure re-written is not exactly painless.

The thing is… I don’t know what Zaizen doing this to himself would prove for any sort of proof of concept. We find out later on that his plan is to do this all over, and yeah, most people won’t survive, but the ones who do will be stronger for it. Which is all standard mad scientist stuff. However, he’s already a Bugster. He’s said as much, so his base makeup isn’t the same anymore. He has no way to prove this will actually work on a normal human! I mean, yeah, he’s trying it on Tougo simultaneously, albeit a little differently, but Tougo’s infected with the bugster virus already, so there’s good odds that the alterations are working with that more than anything else.

Basically, Zaizen, you’re a terrible excuse for a doctor and a scientist, and you should be ashamed of yourself for so many different reasons.

–––

Back at the Giril fight, Makoto uses all three of his regular Legend Eyecons to try and take her down, and even at one point using Houdini’s chains as whips! It gets to a point where we have Specter with Nobunaga preparing a finisher, and Giril sending energy slashes at him, only for Brave to use the ice mode of his sword to freeze the attacks in place so that Makoto can shoot through them.

Seriously, Hiiro, why can’t you use tactics this cleverly more often in show? It’d have gone a long way toward making me like at least watching you fight, even though it wouldn’t do anything for you as a character. The only times I can think of that were anything like this were the few occasions you used the sword to make an ice path to hold enemies still, your first time using Doremifa beat, and the way you got Taddle Fantasy by basically emulating some of Emu’s tactics, in using the energy items to your advantage.

But I digress. The two Riders switch into Deep Specter and Doremifa Beat to try and finish the fight.

–––

Brief cut to the Doral fight, where everyone is still in base forms, until Necrom gets knocked down and swaps into Grimm. I am reminded of why I would vastly prefer him to be using an eyecon at all times, because the helmet for Necrom is AWFUL without a cover.

Lazer and Snipe are still in level one and two respectively.

–––

Back to Giril.

Everyone launches finishers, starting with Specter, who doesn’t have much effect, but knocks her back a bit. Brave and Giril launch simultaneous ones, which create a huge chain reaction explosion that results in all three participants getting kicked out of their transformations.

Giril is still okay enough to run away.

Hiiro and Makoto are struggling on the ground. Makoto tries to get up to give chase, but collapses. Hiiro, in not much better state, tries to wake him.

–––

Back to Doral.

Necrom is using Sanzo for a bit, before getting dropped back down to normal. Okay, so, I may hate the transitional phase of Necrom, but it’s not fair to Alain for him to go the whole series without an upgrade. It’s even less fair for him to finally get one after the show… in the Specter V-Cinema. At which point he gets his ass kicked. By Specter. To make matters even more devastating? The single upgrade Alain gets is called Yujou Burst. FRIENDSHIP BURST. It’s ugly as all get out, and he only uses it in a single scene, in which, as mentioned earlier, he gets his ass kicked by Makoto. And you can’t even really see it in that scene, because it was so dark, which was not helped by Yujou Burst being black and gold.

ALAIN DESERVED BETTER, IS ALL I’M SAYING.

Okay, okay, lost potential complaints aside, the fight scene. Lazer and Snipe both enter level three, and I’m fairly certain Kiriya curses the day he blackmailed his way into getting a Driver, because he still has to go through the bike form anyway to get to higher levels.

Necrom and Lazer launch their finishers – Necrom with an energy punch projectile, and Lazer with that gloriously massive rain of arrows. This is followed by Snipe’s finisher, which involves a jetpack and LOTS OF BULLETS.

Man, if Jet Combat weren’t so hideous, I’d probably love it.

Doral gets knocked out of his transformation, and runs off. Necrom and Lazer drop theirs willingly, at which point Alain apologizes to Takeru, and drops to the ground, out cold.

Taiga lands. Specifically, TAIGA lands, dropping his transformation MID DESCENT and landing in a three point touchdown. He sneers, saying that Alain’s an idiot who over did it.

Well, at least the three of you came out of your transformations on your own, unlike the actual secondaries of the two seasons, who both got knocked down.

I mean, I really didn’t expect to find more evidence that Hiiro’s not nearly as good at this Rider thing as he thinks he is, but it sure looks like I did!

–––

Okay, over at the FIRST main fight, with Ex-Aid and Ghost versus a literally two story tall Pac-Man, two lads in black and orange land.

Ghost pulls out the Ex-Aid Eyecon, and we get an incredibly chaotic shot of Takeru entering Ex-Aid Damashi, and Ex-Aid leveling up his Ghost form.

Hnnnn I don’t like either of these legend rider forms. I think it’s in the eyes. Takeru winds up with Ex-Aid’s eyes on his faceplate, which makes sense, because that’s what his Legend Rider forms do. He gets their helmet’s appearance on his. It’s just weird with Ex-Aid’s eyes, is all. I’ll give credit to the jacket for being way better than his one for Drive, though.

The Ex-Aid Legend Rider forms, though… are so incredibly cursed. His chestplate takes on the appearance of whatever’s there on the OG rider, which. Okay, fair. I went to go look at his form for Drive, and the tire just Does Not Translate well to 2d. But the real problem is the helmet.

See, I’m okay with the helmets in Ex-Aid. I don’t care about the anime eye aesthetic, I’m all for it, because they manage to make something this ridiculous look good. Right up until that’s not what’s there anymore.

The helmet takes on an appearance similar to a slimmed down version of the legend rider, which I would be fine with… if it didn’t keep the frames from around Ex-Aid’s eyes. It’s unsettling, and invariably cuts across the eyes of the helmet it’s imitating, which just makes the whole thing uncomfortable.

And, of course, he still has the duplicate faceplate on his back, which makes it really weird when he’s facing away from the camera in the upcoming scenes, because we’re still getting Ghost looking at us. I don’t know why it doesn’t bug me nearly this much with Regular Ex-Aid, but this is really unsettling with a different rider’s helmet.

–––

Okay, okay, sorry, back to the show.

Emu’s gotten Ghost’s ability to levitate, and Takeru’s picked up Ex-Aid’s jumps. So they’re still able to bounce around Pac-Man, but they aren’t both flying anymore.

And then he eats them.

Like, I’m not even kidding, Pac-Man opens his mouth, they get pulled in, and WHOOPS suddenly they’re falling toward a suspiciously familiar maze!

Oh, man, I wish I were better at screencapping, but this goes by too fast for me to catch it. When they land? Takeru has a color-burst effect right out of one of Ex-Aid’s special effects. Nice touch!

Oh, and the walls of the maze, along with the dots, are an appropriate size for a two story tall Pac-Man. So, you know, the lads are a bit dwarfed by the scenery.

If you look carefully, you can see that when Pac-Man’s chasing them through the maze, the dots he passes by aren’t there anymore! He’s still actually playing by his own rules! … right up until they jump out of his way when they’re backed against a wall, and he just plows on through.

(Pac-Man, noooo! You can’t do that! That’s illegal!)

So they just start trying to slash at Pac-Man amid the rubble from the wall he just broke through – and then he starts shooting out beams of light every which way?

I don’t remember that being part of the game…

While they’re jumping and dodging, Emu’s still got Ghost’s glowing effects, and Takeru still has Ex-Aid’s impact stars, so that’s cool. They do that neat cross slash, where one rider goes horizontally around the Giant Kaijin and the other goes vertically… and it’s still not the finisher.

Emu, sweet, game-loving Emu, tells Pac-Man that it’ll just be a little longer. (Emu, he’s currently trying to KILL YOU. You don’t even know if the Regular Pac-Man is IN THERE, for all you know this is just an evil duplicate!)

So, actual finisher time.

Interestingly, the visual flairs when Emu puts the Kaigan Ghost gashat into his finisher slot and pushes the button are all orange. Nice touch. Even nicer is the touches on the emblem that appears behind Takeru when he does his finishers. Usually it’s a glowing orange, or rainbow, in the case of Infinite. But this time it’s pixellated and pink.

(please ignore the awful neon blue lines in the background, those are part of the maze.)

I’d say that “lasers don’t chase people like that” and “jumping doesn’t let you curve in mid-air”, but I don’t think the laws of physics actually apply to these two in most battle circumstances. Also, they’re about to kick Pac-Man in the face because that’s just what we’re doing today, I guess!

They land back out in the real world, where Pac-Man slowly changes back to normal.

(THE BACKS OF THESE SUITS ARE SO CURSED)

Pac-Man dissolves into the air.

Takeru, sweet precious cinnamon roll that he is, is still only thinking of saving Akari.

“I have… to save Akari…”

He falls to the ground, out cold.

–––

Asuna and Onari make it to the hospital, with him carrying the unconicious Akari, to see specks of yellow light streaming down to the infected patients.

Asuna thanks Pac-Man for curing those who were hit by his strain of the Game Disease.

–––

On a nearby rooftop, music from 2012 plays as a man with rings steps into view.

––– –––

Well, that seems like as good a place as any to cut off, narratively speaking! I’m about halfway through the movie at this point, so this should only take one or two more installments to finish.

I have work the next three nights, so I’m not going to be able to pick this back up until Saturday, at the earliest. It sucks, because I really, really wanted to watch this movie again, preferably a lot faster than this whole “three to four hours to get twenty five minutes” deal, but I guess that’s just how I’m watching Ex-Aid, now!

(Disclaimer before anyone gets on my case: Yes, I switched order of those last two segments. Partly it’s to have a better liveblog ending, and partly because that’s the order they should have been in, dang it! It flows way better to have the Pac-Man Fever subplot end before Haruto first shows up, instead of awkwardly inserting him between the last two related scenes.)

#kamen rider ex aid #kamen rider ghost #sailorcressy says

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tarralin · 5 years

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4. Orchid

This is the continuation of Diabolicus. You can find my other works here.

Thank you to @alloveroliver and @xathia-89 for beta reading and support!

Enjoying my work? Buy me a Coffee @ http://ko-fi.com/tarralin

Previous Chapter | Next Chapter

~*~

They came to an accord. A needless one, truly, but an accord all the same. Kennyo had already decided not to interfere with her nightly creations before she stated that was one of her terms as well as agreeing to the same herself. She would craft the environments but would not alter them once he arrived to the Dreamscape.

It was odd having an agreement without the bindings of a formal contract but, for her, he was not opposed to it. And did they not bargain something for greater than the usual price? Something more valuable than a soul upon collection time?

They exchanged names.

Names had power over an entity for all time and—when given to those who knew what to do with them—even soulless demons like himself could be subdued with the right incantation. An exchange of names, however, created an invisible bond that could grow under nourishment or fade to null with neglect. Such bonds were popular among witch covens and allowed them to share a collective power source that grew with each new member. But a demon agreeing to such a thing?

Unheard of… but he proved it possible.

The bonding, for him, meant greater depth to the fleeting twinges of emotion he'd experienced since meeting her. Some warmed and swelled within him while others chilled and sought to bring him to his knees. As foreign as they were, he came to terms quickly with the new found sensations and he wondered if this was that ‘light’ she originally saw mixed within him. Demons shouldn't have these. Demons shouldn't have light.

Yet, for the first time in centuries, he could feel. Not just understand the internal driving forces of the mortals, but had them of his own. Joy at the new lives that were born to her village. Sympathy for the sick she treated. Sorrow at the passing of those she couldn't.

All of which he continued to observe while hidden behind the veil.

Kennyo knew she needed time to adjust to the situation just as he did. Along with the appearance of their own novelties, there was the phenomenon of the shared connection between them. A sharing of emotions. A linking of minds. Sometimes, images flashed across his eyes that should have belonged to her. Showing himself on the mortal plane would only add undue stress. He’d always been an oddly patient demon, he could wait a while longer.

Aside from the shared connection with him, the bonding honed and sharpened her empathic abilities. The townspeople’s internal musings seemed to turn visible for her like an open book. With a single touch, she knew immediately what ailment needed tending. She could locate his presence in the veil easily throughout the day and usually waited at the portal entrance of her dreamsphere each night.

“Kennyo,” she sang his name merrily as he stepped onto a fisherman’s pier nestled along a mountain lake. It was a morning scene with the first rays of a new dawn ghosting through the opaque mists wafting off the water's surface. In much the same way his name on her voice pierced through the tangled mess his insides became at the sight of her.

“My Lady,” he wrapped his arms around her as she leaned into him, resting the back of her head on his shoulder and smirked up at him.

“You disappeared for a time today. Did Mrs. Johnson’s child birthing unsettle you that much?”

“Not at all,” he chuckled under her ear as he thought on his next words. “I was called away for… business.”

A sudden chill flashed across his conscious from hers. “Is everything alright?”

“Never better.” He grinned against her neck and allowed her to feel the Pride that had swelled within him at the first successful contract against her former brother. Pride was a warm emotion, it would melt away the ice caused by Fear.

The routine continued for several weeks. She’d taken to calling him her ‘Shadow’ as he’d observe her schedule and activities throughout the day then discuss them in dreams at night. Snow had started to fall and that meant more sickness would spread through her township. She had worked ahead over the warmer months to build up a stock of salves and dried herbs for broths, but even that wouldn't last the winter. Most days, she spent all daylight hours in her garden shack—greenhouse, she called it—to cultivate and harvest as much as she could, staying out well past dusk most nights.

Kennyo could feel her growing tension through the bonding and wondered on why she wished to remain on the mortal realm.

“Why not become an Angel?” He finally inquired one night. She'd crafted a beach scene this time with a near full moon hanging in a sky peppered with softly shining stars and the occasional streak signaling one’s fall. Their fingers played lazily, intertwining just to withdraw and repeat the game again while she relaxed with her cheek resting on his shoulder.

“Guardians are only ever bonded to ten mortals at a time and Crossroads work would only be dissuading those who’ve already made a decision of their own free will. As I am now, I can help far more people than I ever would as a full Angel.”

He felt his lips pull into a smile and, in that moment, he knew what it was to behold true glory and he wondered how he hadn’t been banished back to Hell already. Surely no angel could ever think so purely. Crossroads only turned mortals away from contracts while Guardians were often allowed to forgo their true protective duties.

Kennyo shook his head and, again, marveled at the circumstances that led him to her until he noticed the indigo sky turning lighter with each passing moment.

“Dawn approaches.” If he had his physical body, he was sure she’d nearly shatter his ribs with the sudden grip she possessed. He nuzzled his favorite spot below her ear. “I'll return tomorrow, of course.”

“Mmm, yes tomor—wait, no!” She pushed up onto her hands. “Not tomorrow, it's a full moon and I need to tend the garden when my magic is at its peak.”

“Oh, that’s your secret to the miracle remedies, is it? You, My Lady, are a witch.”

“I haven't an inkling as to what you’re alluding to, My Shadow,” she grinned as she settled back onto his chest, teasing her nose across his. “I’m a simple medicine woman who grows her own herbs.”

He nuzzled her back until dawning sun awoke her, a plan forming in his head. She still hadn't guessed his race and he suspected she still thought him a dream wraith...

It was time he met her outside the Dreamscape.

~*~

It was past midnight now.

Kennyo had listened to her mill about the greenhouse for the last hour, bouncing on his toes the whole while. What am I doing here? Why am I doing this? What if I scare her? What do I say?! ‘Hi, here I am. Have a plant!’ Certainly not!

He’d always known what to say to the mortals in his years of dealsmithing and he had no trouble speaking with her these past weeks. Why was this so… frightening? He chuckled without humor. He survived centuries in the Fire before serving centuries more as a Crossroads Demon and yet facing a woman is what frightened him? Kennyo was suddenly thankful for his Lady’s proficiency with wards. The hut’s invisible barrier was the only thing keeping his inner turmoil from her as he picked up three pebbles about his feet, careful the potted gift in his other arm didn't tip out.

With a final mental slap, Kennyo paced as near as the warding would allow him and in quick succession, tossed the pebbles against the door to mimic a knocking hand. All movement in the greenhouse ceased and silence filled the night. He quickly gathered another set of pebbles and repeated the action which earned him the sound of footsteps approaching the door, he stared down into the pot as if the flowering plant were suddenly the most interesting thing in the world.

The squeak and groan of rusty hinges echoed throughout the darkness, almost as deafening as the Hound’s howl… but somehow much more terrifying. He remained frozen in place by his own apprehension, glancing up only when the chilled night air was silent once more. Even from his place ten paces away, he could see how her eyes widened in disbelief. He tried for the grin that she normally enjoyed but there was still no change from her for several long moments.

“I… I now realize I didn't think this through, my Lady, but I truly need to hear you speak. Something. Anything. I—”

“You're not a dream wraith…”

“No,” he confirmed with a quick shake of the chin. “I'm not bound to one realm or another.”

“Why can’t I feel you?”

“The garden, you've warded it impressively well. It skews even our bond while within its protection. This is as near as I'm allowed.” To demonstrate, Kennyo slowly pressed his free hand forward into the ward’s coverage. A soft sizzle could be heard from the bared skin of his fingers and tendrils of smoke lifted into the air when he pulled back to safety.

A grimace flashed briefly over her features at the sight. “There are only two beings the garden is warded against… and you're not an angel.”

“Correct.”

She ran a hand through her hair before releasing a puff of air and reached back into the garden. “I guess we don’t need this then...”

Kennyo heard a slight scratching for a moment while she worked at a panel until the invisible barrier preventing his passage faded to nothing. She gasped the same as he once their bond snapped back into place. He paced slowly while her mind worked to right itself. She could still deny him, by all logic she should deny him. Withholding truth was the same as lying, was it not?

“The angel ward is still intact so you-know-who is still barred from entry.”

“I imagine there's a story to that and I imagine it has to do with why you are so impressively gifted in ward casting?”

“Yes, a story for a later time,” she answered with a smile as she stepped away from the entrance. “Please, My Shadow, enter freely of your own conviction and without invitation… and please tell me about what it is you have there. I've never seen flowers like those.”

Kennyo set the plant on the nearby potting table before moving aside for her inspection. “They are an undiscovered family—”

“Yet, you found them,” she grinned up as she gently handled the petals of a center bloom, blushing under the eyebrow he threw her way. “I’m sorry, continue.”

“They are undiscovered and unnamed… but I had a gifted colleague of mine look into their future. In nearly three centuries they will be known as an ‘orchid’ named Telipogon diabolicus for its devilish appearance.” He paused to raise his fingers to the petals just she did, enjoying the radiance of the smile blooming across her features as she tested the new terms on her lips. “If there were ever a bloom worthy of you, I’d like to think this would be the one.”

“How so?” She blinked up at him.

“I was sent on a rather tedious assignment when I first became a demon centuries ago. One of Hell’s pets managed to jump the precipice and entered the mortal plane so I was sent to bring it home. I found these orchids only by chance as I stumbled through a jungle chasing after the beast. Now, I’ve been all over the earth and have never found them elsewhere. As you can see, they are rather striking and one would remember ever laying sights on such rarity.”

“Yes,” a whisper so soft he only heard when he stepped behind her,

as close as he dare without the needed permission of touch.

“The same as you. I was stumbling through a half-thought, useless plan to cause trouble for your Brother Once Was when I found you and made the mistake of trying to use you. That was why I sent the nightmares that you called ‘games’ since they didn't work as intended. You arose smiling every morning after with a giddiness and continued about your day.”

Her teasing grin was back in place as she rested the back of her head on his shoulder, the same as so many times on the Dreamscape. “Was it frustrating?”

“Infuriating!” He chuckled before dropping his voice back down to a whisper. “Everything about you was infuriating for a time and I couldn't figure out ‘why’, only knew that something kept pulling me back… but I don't regret any of it.”

“Well, My Shadow, let me tell you something I regret.” She pivoted to face him but despite the harsh sounding words, only warmth and acceptance radiated from her still grinning eyes as she lifted his knuckles to her lips. “I regret… you not meeting me here sooner.”

“I amend my statement, I do regret that as well,” again he stepped as near as he dared. “My Lady, you are free to touch all you like but, as a demon, I need permission to touch you… and I would really like touch you.”

Her usually warm eyes seemed almost endless in the dark of the greenhouse. Lavender, amethyst, violet... Kennyo couldn't tell where one color ended and another began but his mind was already laying the ways he could find out. All he needed was—

“Yes.”

~*~

Be sure to check out the Telipogon diabolicus orchid here, if you’re interested. Thank you @naiyabladesinger for reminding me of this perfect addition and for all the love and kindness you’ve shown!

#ikemen sengoku #ikesen #ikesen kennyo #diabolicus #nephilim angels and demons. oh my!#my writing #dem!kennyo #colonial america au #1700s #orchid #ikesennw #ikesennw reblog #angels #demons #nephilim

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ketzwrites · 5 years

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Rewatch 109: Rise Up

This might be my least favorite episode of the whole show. I make no secrets that my biggest interest in Shadowhunters is the political scenario and the possibilities of it.

This episode takes the political scenario and cynically destroys all the potential real-world criticism that could be done. Clary gets to play the white savior, the Downworlders are childish and incompetent, Alec is complicit to torture, and - ultimately - the Clave’s twisted distrust of Downworlders is proven right.

I really hate this episode.

Teaser

Alberto is such a good actor. I wonder if this is the first time Raphael is dealing with a fledgling. He seems to know what he’s doing.

Act One

It’s good that Clary intends to tell Simon that it was her decision to bring him back, not Raphael’s.

I don’t get why Alec can’t just Iratze his arm. I also don’t get how Jace didn’t feel it when half of Alec’s bicep was smashed away.

Oh, okay. So, the Forsaken was after the MC. Not exactly the best plan to send the Ogre-like creature for a heist, but it’s not like Valentine is supposed to be a mastermind- No, wait. He is.

Look, it’s great that Clary was able to fight one Shax demon. Really, kudos for her. But when every single person in the Shadow World is looking for her, she is not right to want to stay on the streets and look for Simon. I swear, I don’t get this logic.

I enjoy how we are always reminded that Magnus is performing magic for payment. It’s part of his autonomy as a warlock (in fact, as the High Warlock since Magnus doesn’t take other clients besides the Institute).

Izzy has zero qualms in hugging Meliorn in the middle of the Institute. Noted.

Again, it makes no sense whatsoever to think the seelies would be working with Valentine. This “seelie always take the winning side” doesn’t work when Valentine’s side means, at best, their permanent banishment to the seelie realms, and at worst, their annihilation. That’s why Shadowhunters never showed the conversation between the Seelie Queen and Valentine in 219. There is nothing that Valentine can offer the seelies that truly interest them.

Wait. Wait, wait, wait. Maryse and Robert made a deal with the Clave prior to the Uprising? The event that Maryse helped organize? Honestly, the history of the Shadow World is so poorly crafted. The Clave knew the Uprising was coming but still failed to prevent it. Oh, but one shadowhunter and a recently turned werewolf were able to stop Valentine. I’m not buying it.

Both Alec and Jace have good points about Maryse and Robert. They are hypocrites and Alec is right to refuse to do their redemption for them, especially since neither Maryse nor Robert shows any regret for their past actions. But Jace is right to doubt they are working with Valentine again.

Can you imagine if Clary had told Elaine that Simon died in an accident and then Simon showed up at home like that?

Act Two

Clary is smart again and looks for Simon at his own house. Though, the lighting of this scene is so weird. In Simon’s bedroom is night time, but the corridor looks like it’s illuminated by the sun. It’s really weird.

Shots fired. Spill the tea, Alec.

I’m glad we get Simon telling Clary off for turning him into a vampire. She did it for love and it wasn’t her fault that Camille is a murderous monster. But actions have consequences nonetheless.

Lydia is terrible at interrogations and Meliorn is great at shifting the focus. He was called in to talk about the seelie blood in the Forsakens and, instead, he got the shadowhunters investigating each other. Lydia walked out with no confessions, no leads, and inner division.

Act Three

Oh, look. Raj!

Anyway, here is where Jace puts Clary’s need above Alec’s needs. He isn’t just prioritizing Clary’s quest to get her mother back over the safety of the Shadow World – which is bad enough for other reasons. He is purposefully deceiving Alec in the name of Clary’s interests. This is a betrayal of trust.

The dispute between Luke and Raphael is a classic vampire vs werewolf dispute. Fair enough. But it’s a writing decision to keep that animosity in a context where both races are oppressed by a third race. A writing decision that will annoy me in a couple acts.

Izzy and Jace are correct: torturing Meliorn will lead nowhere. That decision, though, follows the modus operandi of the Clave: Lydia failed to properly interrogate Meliorn but the blame for her lack of success in getting information from him is blamed on Meliorn’s supposedly ability to skirt the truth.

That said, there is no logic casualty between the Clave getting the MC back and the Clave doing bad things to Downworlders. In fact, I’m surprised Izzy doesn’t urge them to give up the MC as a way to prove Meliorn is cooperating and, thus, spare him from torture.

“If the Clave is willing to do this to Meliorn, what do you think will happen when they get the Cup?” Logically, they’d stop. Like they will stop in a few episodes when Imogen gets the Cup and stops Izzy’s trial.

Not that keeping people in cells is a particularly nice move, but I'm surprised Raphael is the first to do it to Clary. Lucky her the person in charge of the Institute when the story started was Alec: had it been Lydia or Aldertree or basically any other shadowhunter, she would’ve been put in a cell in the first episode.

Act Four

Fun fact: Simon almost becomes a Daylighter this episode as he struggles not to feed on Clary.

The stele stealing scene is actually very entertaining to watch even if it’s about the two people Alec should trust the most betraying him.

This conversation between Alec and Magnus breaks my heart. Rewatching the whole season, I don’t have a problem with how Magnus reacts to Alec’s marriage announcement anymore. It’s a matter of miscommunication: Alec came to the conversation looking for a confidante, Magnus came to the conversation looking for a hookup. When Magnus realizes Alec is set on following shadowhunters costume in detriment of his own happiness, Magnus gets angry but ultimately minds his own business. It works for me.

Hodge’s character is all over the place. He is the opposite in this scene as he was with Alec in 103. It’s essentially the same thing: Hodge catches the Lightwoods preparing for an unauthorized mission. But, with Alec, he was ready to let him go without further comments until Clary was mentioned. Then Hodge got angry because she is Valentine’s daughter. Now, Hodge gets angry because Jace and Izzy were about to lie to him but lets them go if that means saving Clary. The only intention I can see behind this is that Hodge is supposed to be seen as a sketchy character.

“Do you think I’d be sending Meliorn to the Silent Brothers if I thought there was another way?” Yes, I do. Because you suck at interrogations and clearly doesn’t care about Downworlders. I’m glad Alec doesn’t answer, forcing Lydia to further explain herself. Also, it seems this isn’t Clave’s orders after all, but a decision that came from Lydia herself.

Lydia’s sob story perpetuates the shadowhunter biased notion that all Downworlders are the same. One warlock in Rio betrayed her – after being threatened with torture -, so all downworlders are liars and should not be trusted. The fact that Alec doesn’t realize that is a huge problem but at least the ominous music is proof of that the writers know that.

Simon forgives Clary because he sees her need for his support as an opportunity for them to get together romantically. Understandable reaction, though I wish it was revisited when they do get together and then break up.

Up until Clary meets with Raphael – a public meeting, for some very idiotic reason on Raphael’s part – I’m on board on Izzy, Jace, and Clary trying to protect the Downworlders side by side with Luke and Simon.

But then her first words are “we’re offering an alliance with the seelies”. No, you’re not. You have no authority to do so. Also, Luke still holding a grudge against the vampires at a time like this is childish and uncharacteristic of him.

“We are a new generation of shadowhunters. We believe everyone to be equal” said by one of the people who attacked a whole clan for the actions of a couple vampires with no way of knowing it had been the leader’s orders to kidnap Simon. The person that, up until a few minutes ago, had to be told by a fledgling that this world sees them as different. The person that, during that same conversation, presumes to speak for Simon and is against him joining the vampires, who clearly know how to take better care of him that she does.

Maybe it’s a good thing that this show doesn’t delve into politics. If this is the best they can do, I don’t want it.

Act Five

More childish animosity between werewolves and vampires to prove that, without Clary, they would be incapable of working together.

Clary doesn’t know how the portal shard works. She’s only ever activated it by mistake. Do the writers think the audience is stupid?

And, in the same episode that Clary is being glorified as the conciliator of the Shadow World, she is ready to “call the whole thing off” because it might inconvenience Jace to fight his Parabatai. Oh, I’m sorry saving Meliorn might personally affect your boyfriend, Clary. You’re right. Forget about it. It’s just a Downworlder life you believe to be saving. Jace’s feelings are more important. Fuck this episode and whoever came up with it.

No women among the shadowhunters with Alec, hm?

It’s a smart writing choice to have Izzy use the whip against Raj. It seems an insignificant thing in this episode, but it entails bitter consequences for the next one.

As wrong as Alec is for going through with this plan, I’m happy he gets to punch Jace on the face for making Alec’s choices all about him. And for winning the fight and refusing to work outside the system again just because Jace asked him to.

Act Six

I’m really not interested in watching Jace being jealous of Clary and Simon’s friendship.

I ship Meliorn and Izzy so much.

Did Izzy also tell you Clary offered to call off your rescue if Jace felt uncomfortable in fighting Alec, Meliorn? Or are we ignoring that to sing her praises she does not deserve?

I guess the worst part of this entire episode is that, in the end, Lydia was right. Meliorn was being uncooperative. He knows a way to find Valentine and chose not to disclose it. That also shows that the seelies are rather incompetent: they can get to Valentine and kill him but choose not to.

#ketz rewatches shadowhunters #sh 109 #sh meta #as a brazilian I stand with the warlock that lied to the gringos wanting to torture him #fuck them #there #i said it

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ecoamerica · 2 months

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steve0discusses · 6 years

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Yugioh S1 Ep 38: Yugi Dies

Something I have to hand to Yugioh is that when stuff happens, a LOT happens at once. So, lets just get into it.

Things are getting a little smokey. Kind of unfortunate that Yugi’s hair resembles a five pointed leaf when there’s just…a lot of smoke that happens whenever the Shadow Realm comes around. But, I’m going to assume most people point out the purple urkle references immediately, so I don’t need to retread on that territory, right?

To be honest, if the shadow realm players really were vaping, they’d probably be way better off. It seems like a really anxious activity to be constantly opening the gates to hell every time you want to play some games.

And then out of no where--this happened:

What is that!?

His hair was already SO BAD and then it just...took off and flew away?

Listen, when I was kid and didn’t know anything about Yugioh, I saw a lot of attempts to draw Bakura, and I just assumed everyone was collectively drawing the same bad OC. I thought it was like a webcomic that I had never read that was purposely drawn wrong (I’ll be honest, I thought he was a Homestuck for a good while because I also haven’t read Homestuck). But no, it’s this TV show with a lot of professional artists on it who were like “hair wings? I like it.”

(read more under the cut)

So now I’m thinking, ah, Tristan will solve this by doing some sacrificial thing in a card duel or something. Like maybe offer up his own body by knocking himself out? Maybe saying “put me in a card instead of taking Mokuba” ?

nah.

They can’t actually show the punch I’m thinking, because of kid’s show reasons--but like, how did he hit him and pick up Mokuba at the same time? What happened? Why does Bakura look so thrilled that it happened?

Anyways, now Bakura has permanent brain damage. Well, even MORE permanent brain damage.

WOW, THEY FIGURED IT OUT.

I mean I’m not going to think that it’s permanently gone, especially since Bakura has a bit of a Frodo dilemma but...it’s not like there’s a ready active volcano on this island.

But ya, problem solved for now. Kind of. Honestly, I don’t know how good of an exorcist Tristan is, but it’s a good substitute for Pharaoh’s little band-aid solution.

Man, so many problems on this show are solved by punching.

Yugi’s situation is...very similar, actually. Pegasus has realized he can’t beat him unless he does a real quick exorcism. So, lets see if Yugi can fare any better.

I just realized I have no idea what is going on with Yugi’s collar. Why are there hooks on both sides? Shouldn’t one side have buttons?

Anyway, now that the field can’t be observed, the peanut gallery desperately needs something to do.

Bro has told me that my biggest error in these recaps is that I make Joey sound too smart. I apologize for this, but for the record, I do think he’s smarter than Tea.

How strong is Tristan!?

After all that happened, watch Tristan just brush it off like it wasn’t that big of a deal.

WHY!?

We spent 3 episodes finding Mokuba and they just--they just left him behind? Couldn’t one of them have stayed behind!? What was the point of any of this if you were just going to leave Mokuba laying there?

Pegasus decides to be the only person in fiction that decides the best way to do an exorcism is to exorcise the original person and not the ghost. I mean, the ghost can’t posses someone that doesn’t exist anymore. It’s effective.

Also, unlike Tristan, Pegasus has a much better to way to go about it than chucking some kid at Yugi’s face.

Oh hey, it’s another Yugioh lore fact they never introduced before now!

Anyways, even at the risk of Yugi’s soul getting consumed by shadow realm in this toxic-aired environment, he can’t be bothered to play any faster. It’s like playing Carcassonne with my mom.

The hell? How have these guys never noticed their psychic link to Yugi before? Is it because they are never outside of 5 feet of their friend? Whatever, I’ll roll with it. It is one of the least weird things that has happened this season.

He’ll be fine.

Or not.

Anyways, time for a Pharaoh eulogy. That’s right. This guy. This asshole.

I do admit it is sad, but more in a pathetic way than in a “wow I really think Yugi is actually dead” kind of way. I mean, Yugi really is Pharaoh’s only link to the human outside world. The rest of the Yugi crew has only really known Pharaoh exists for like a day, and he was banished for about half of that time. Now, without Yugi, he’s back to being a lonely ghost of an ancient kingdom that doesn’t have Pharaoh’s anymore.

It’s very melodramatic and hammy, and I’m sure many pre-teens shed so many single tears and immediately made fan videos to the ironic tune of “Can’t Get You Out Of My Head.”

It’s probably the first time in this show I honestly felt something for Pharaoh, although I couldn’t stop laughing during the following scene because WOW, Did they seriously do a PIETA!?

I’m loosing my mind, it’s a freakin Peita!

For those not in the know of art history this is a freakin Peita:

Holy literal Mother of Joseph, it’s both a deep cut AND foreshadowing. This storyboarder! What balls it must take to do a freakin Pieta in your show--not as a joke--but completely seriously.

Man, I love it when people die in anime, especially when you know they’ll come back to life 75% of the time. The real question is, when he comes back, will there be any actual consequences?

Pegasus takes the opportunity to immediately dunk on Pharaoh, by saying something along the lines of “Wow, I’m very impressed by how quickly you let that kid die.”

I mean, they have to something with their time.

Next week, on Yugioh:

Will Tea figure out that if she falls into the same portal several times, she can launch herself up to the rafters? Will Pharaoh have to figure out how to do an proper burial ceremony for Yugi that doesn’t involve removing your brains through your nose? Did all of Kaiba Corp’s VP’s fall asleep or are they actually following what’s happening here?

#Yugioh #Yugioh recap #photo recap #humor #s1 ep38 #secret pieta #yugi muto #tristan taylor #ryou bakura #bakura #joey wheeler #tea gardner #Maxamillian Pegasus #Pegasus #long post

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ralfstrashcan · 6 years

Text

3x08 Reaction / Commentary

Clary is so rebel putting her hands up first and then dropping her stele lol.

“So you can salt-ify her, too, when she inevitably attacks.” Great thinking, Luke! Also, how did they know it's salt? Did they lick it?

Ohhhhhhh I like where this is going!!

Ominous Elevator Rattling Powers Activate!

FunFact: I thought the shadow moving on the wall behind them was some demon Lilith summoned but it was just Simon's shadow. Oh dear.

Instant Sunroom Powers Activate!

Also, Lilith is a dirty liar. They totally didn't 'stay exactly where we are.’ (Also, now I'm having Reichenbach Fall Flashbacks.)

But what's with the other disciples? Do they get texts with the new address of the moved hang out spot? Man, that sunroom's gonna be so crowded.

........you mean New York, right, because the Lightwoods were banished from Idris for being in the Circle, which is why the Lightwood kids grew up in the NY Institute? *sigh*

.........because any orphaned Shadowhunter immediately gets tossed out into the streets instead of being raised by other Shadowhunters, you know, to be a soldier and serve the heavenly duty of killing demons. Makes sense. Okay, sorry, I get it. Jace is trying to get into Alec's head and it's clearly working and that scene was totally dramatic, but... it also didn't make sense.

How the hell does Possessed!Jace know about that? Alec had two opportunities to talk to him about his drama with Magnus (in 3x05 and in 3x06) and he chose to evade the topic altogether both times. In case he didn't change his mind off-screen and talked to him in the short time between Jace allegedly returning from the City of Bones and them discovering his possession (time that was spend with Maryse at the Hunter's Moon btw) then Jace can't know it from Alec. So, where did this knowledge magically appear from? @kaysgreenery suggested that Lilith did some research on Magnus's dating history and taught Jace all the details but why the hell would she do that. I'd like to think that this Possessed!Jace has the ability to somehow warp into the thoughts and minds of the people around him and snatch information on how to hurt them the best, but.... I don't think that's the case or that it will even be addressed how he learned that.

Again, arguing with possessed people. I still don't get it. Then again, from Simon I don't really expect more. (Sorry, Simon.)

.....yeah, Disgraced-Ex-Circle-Member-turned-Downworlder-who's-not-even-allowed-to-enter-Alicante, do tell how you plan to get that intel.

................................dude you're so sounding like Clary right now it's not even funny anymore. So yeah, thank you Izzy for being the voice of reason.

For a second there I got my hopes up that they were going to address Possessed!Jace's mindreading-powers. </3

Alec doesn't approve, lol. But I'm super into it. Lightwood siblings gooooo!! Also, love that face.

This sounds like they're gonna dive into Jace's subconsciousness or dreamscape or whatever and this would be so cool!!!!

1) Pretty skylight 2) I acknowledge that that Equilibrium Rune does make sense on the wall

Yo but why was he standing there holding the sword? He could have put it in its fancy stand as soon as he arrived. And why wasn't it on the fancy stand from the get-go? Where do they store it when there's no trial?

Sassy. I like it.

Yeah, way to misunderstand your assignment, dude. Did you even go back to that building or did you go straight to Maia to whine a little? *sigh*

“Right now, bigger fish to fry.”

Wow, finally someone who can prioritize sensibly. I'm impressed.

Yeah, a decision that should have been Simon's. Because he's the one who the case is about. And if he's constantly hating on Kyle that's helping no one. Just sayin'.

“I'll still take my not-magically-invincible girlfriend with me, you know, just in the unlikely case I get the upper hand and Lilith needs some leverage.”

Seriously, this whole Mark Business started because he was up against someone more powerful (the Seelie Queen) that held Maia hostage and blackmailed him into obeying. Didn't he learn from that?? Apparently not.

Especially because the Vampire nose at their disposal seems to be malfunctioning, falling out of commission whenever the Plot calls for it.

That smile tho.

“Especially when the Clave kicked you to the curb for breaching the Accords, slaughtering Downworlders.” Yeah, those werewolves really look like they're seconds from throwing Maryse a welcoming party.

“Well, then a deruned ex-Circle member is the last person you should be talking to.” Lightwood Women being extra reasonable this Episode, I dig it!

Also, how exactly does Luke want to “negotiate Clary's release”? I mean, call me old-fashioned, but I thought you needed leverage for a negotiation. What exactly does Luke have to offer the Clave in exchange? A few Selfies? (They might actually go for that lol.)

I'm sooo calling bullshit on this because of Maryse's behavior during the entirety of Season 1, but whatever. Also, “was having an affair with”? Does that mean Robert's relationship with this Anne-Marie person fell through? Why? In the two weeks tops that passed since 2x16? I need answers!

Luke/Maryse-Shippers crying in the distance. What is that pairing even called? Luryse? Marke? Lightluke? lol. Lightway?? (Tho that's probably a li'l ambiguous cuz there are several Lightwoods. And now I imagined Luke with Robert. Ew.)

YEAH I LIKE THAT

Imagine, if you could harness the luminous power of Parabatai Runes you'd never need electricity again.

NO WAY ALEC I THOUGHT HE WAS A C C I D E N T A L L Y THWARTING YOUR ATTEMPT AT RESCUING JACE

Dramatic Stare is Dramatic

What the hell dude lol are you trying to get yourself kicked out of the van (possibly while it's still in motion)?? Seriously. This I-know-you-so-much-better-than-your-current-boyfriend-talk is waayyyy out of character for how Kyle behaved towards Maia and Simon so far so what the hell.

On a different note, I find it very intriguing that Simon doesn't feel temperature (and is maybe even immune to very low or very high temperatures?) and I'd love to see this explored in the show.

Okay but what are the chains chained to? Magnus's furniture?? (There's not one shot where you can see where they end. Very frustrating. They're probably chained to Plot Convenience.)

That is a fine comeback.

What was Magnus even doing? He couldn't have been prepairing because he was prepared already when they tried earlier. So, what was he doing? Reapplying his make-up maybe?

Okay, but Alec's eyes were already rolling back in his head earlier

did he specifically un-roll them again

to have the last roll??

Drama Queen. Magnus chose wisely.

THAT HAIR FLICK I CAN'T

This confirms like every head canon I have on how incredibly badass Izzy is and always was, so thank you. I always had the feeling that she's probably a better fighter than Jace but didn't show it because she knew he needs the limelight and she doesn't. Also, they have super limited time and the first thing they do is watching sweet childhood memories. Priorities.

Well, I would hold hands in that case, just to be sure.

.........could have prevented this from happening. *sigh*

Lilith killed all those Seelies, does that mean she has to stay in the Seelie Realm now and that the Seelie Queen owns her life? lol

So that exchange between them was kinda enlightening but also not at all because whaaaat. Can't Lilith just track Jace, the person she herself possessed? That's a little inconvenient and dumb because she's ass powerful but can't do this easy thing? If the Mark of Cain can only be borne by a Daylighter and is also the only thing that can banish Lilith, does that mean there was a Daylighter before who bore that Mark and banished Lilith? Or was she never on earth before and banished, in which case, how does she know that's the only thing that can banish her? How do her visits to the Seelie Realm work? I thought you need to be summoned to leave your home dimension as a demon so if she was in the Seelie Realm before could she have easily walked over into the Real World as well? Was the Seelie Queen alive when Lilith last visited the Seelie Realm (which would have been at least during the time of her predecessor) or do they have pictures of her somewhere so that's why she knows what Lilith looks like? Also, that line with the complexion

is rich, coming from the Seelie Queen, like seriously, glass houses, bricks.

Same, Jia. Because what the hell, Clary.

One, I don't get why Clary told her the truth about the wish when she didn't have to, like, wasn't it her main goal to keep that truth from ever coming out?? Why would she just spill? Just because it was a dramatic gesture? Then again I also don't understand why those guards tried to restrain her immediately after she let go of the sword, like, did they want to put her back in her cell right away? And why does she need to be unrestrained to talk? Why not just put the sword back on its fancy stand and make her touch it again to tell the rest of the story? So many questions.

Two, the wish from the angel wasn't a one-time-voucher to kill everything with demon blood. Clearly, because Clary used it to bring back Jace. It was simply a wish that could be shaped by the person making the wish. So just because that wish was powerful enough that it could be used for mass murder doesn't mean the wish itself is inherently evil?! What the hell, Clary. It's like she's trying to argue why using the wish was like a public service to Shadowhunter Society?! Who's going to believe that?? At least she didn't say something pathetic like “To you, an insurmountable evil is a world overrun by demons, to me it's a world without Jace in it” because, honestly, I was half expecting her to, lol.

Sidenote: Until the end of Season 2 the Shadowhunters hadn't even figured out that the Mortal Mirror was in fact Lake Lyn, so without Clary figuring out what the Mortal Mirror was, still having that wish wouldn't have done them any good. Of course the middle of the apocalypse is always the best time to try and start figuring out where the long-lost third Mortal Instrument is, so I totally see your point, Jia.

..........why would Shadowhunters allow a feral wolf pack in the forest around their capital when Downworlders aren't even allowed to set foot into Idris? That makes no sense.

...................did Luke forget to mention the weird bloody altar? What was even the point in sticking his fingers in then? *sigh*

If Jonathan's in there I will flip my shit. Lilith definitely took him with her in that fancy display vitrine.

Okay, no Jonathan, I'm relieved.... but Jonathan was clearly stored in there in 3x03, so, Show, explain yourself. Why did Lilith decide to repot him? To better stare at him longingly? (Also, why aren’t the ley lines getting corrupted again? I’ve been wondering for a few episodes about that already....)

Just don't let your phone fall in there. That would be awkward as hell. Pun intended.

........................................................Simon. Si-mon. Are you for real. I don't even have words for this level of stupidity and recklessness. But sure. Leave those two alone to fight whoever decides to come in, without your fancy forehead mark to protect them. I mean, it's not like this is the exact reason you told them to stick close to you less than five minutes ago.

Yeah well, would have been weird if he had been studying ancient demonic languages when he was still a mundane. Also, why is no one taking advantage of the great change-werewolf-pun-opportunity??

Are you shitting me why doesn't she just say she's Izzy? She has the same Runes as Young Izzy in the same spots and everything. Then again, they cast Young Izzy looking nothing like Emeraude Toubia, so I couldn't even blame Young Jace on calling bullshit and not believing her. But this line of reasoning only makes sense if Izzy is aware that her younger self looks nothing like her which she can't possibly be because they're supposed to look alike, being the same person and everything.

Okay, so their little sing along was a little touching (tho a lot ridiculous, too, sorry) but I'd be seriously creeped out if some stranger wanted to prove their legit-ness by singing my kiddie lullaby to me like what the hell man.

Those are a lot of Claries, but why are they all wearing the same thing?

Absolutely loved the whole scene with Alec and Jace.

Okay but how did Young Jace know that he needed to bring her here? Did Young and Regular Jace ever meet? I need answers!!

Thank you for this precise and not at all vague information, Luke, as always.

I can't really make sense of that Maia Kyle Whatever Scene so I'll just leave it uncommented.

Edit: Since I was delayed in posting this for several days (because my lappy decided it would be a great time to die on me) I've had some time to think about it. I didn't like the scene when I first saw it, but I couldn't really put my finger on why. Now I know it's because of the way Maia acts, I feel like this is ooc for her. Maia is unapologetic, she takes no shit from anyone. Remember how she told Kyle off in that flashback when he wanted to decide if she got to go to college or not, or how she put Russell in his place when he thought he could comment on her relationship with Simon, or even how she pre-emptively refused to apologize for hooking up with Jace when she thought Simon expected an apology? The case I'm trying to build here is that Maia is very aware of what she wants, what she will accept in regards to behavior of another person towards her, and where she draws the line, where she will put her foot down and not accept something. So seeing her basically begging Kyle to not act like he's in any way likable so she can cling to her resentment for him is strange for two reasons:

1) It makes it seem as if she's not in control of her emotions, as if her resentment is something she needs to actively fuel to maintain it. This is the stellar opposite of how she acted towards him in the last episode, where she was confidently hostile.

2) It makes it seem as if what Kyle did isn't something where it's entirely reasonable and justifiable to be angry and hurt and unforgiving about even after a long time has passed. When someone betrays and abandons you like that (like Maia undoubtedly experienced his actions) you don't really need to exert yourself to not-forgive that person. That's natural, isn't it? Of course one could argue that it's not as black-and-white here because she was in love with him and it's not like he was some stranger betraying her.... but to be honest, the way she acted towards him up until this very scene, including the flashbacks, didn't really make it seem as if their past loving relationship was influencing Maia. So I really don't get why it's suddenly the case.

I mean, I do. If Sizzy is endgame (yikes), then Simon and Maia will have to split up at some point and Maia and Kyle will probably be a thing somewhere along the way. But I feel like this current behavior isn't really ic for Maia and that's why it annoys me, even though I have nothing against the pairing Maia/Kyle per se.

Where they seriously trying to make it seem as if Izzy would kill Jace lol I didn't believe that for a second. I was also totally distracted by the fact that she licked her lips and her lip stick stayed on fleek like how do you do that Izzy let me in on your secret powers please.

Leaving all that aside this scene was perfectly acted and very intense..... but. I don't know if that makes me really insensitive or something, but they were under immense time pressure. If all it took to get them back was grabbing hold of each other's hands I really don't get why Alec and Izzy didn't do just that. There would have been enough time to placate Jace when they were back in their own bodies without the very real threat of getting lost in Jace's mind forever hanging over their heads. Of course it would have been a shock for Jace to be ripped out of his environment and be thrown back into his body, but honestly, he must be so heavily traumatized by all that Lilith did to him that this little thing wouldn't even register in comparison. So yeah, call me heartless, but it would have been more efficient to grab Jace and talk him down once they were safe.

I'm asking again. How did the Seelie Queen know where Jace was? And, seriously, why didn't Lilith think to check Magnus's appartment, I mean she must know Alec is Jace's parabatai and that Magnus is Alec's boyfriend and a powerful warlock. When Jace didn't come back to her it would have been reasonable to assume that the other Shadowhunters had gotten to him and would try to save him, seeking out capable help.

Soooooo Magnus is officially Asmodeus's favorite. Dubious honor.

I don't know if it's the camera angle or that cute eyebrow crunch, but to me Magnus looks so much like a cat while Lilith is choking him, so I was inappropriately cooing during this scene. Shame on me.

If those are the chains immediately after Lilith takes Jace... does that mean he was chained to himself the whole time??? Like, ankles to wrists?????

Edit: Found a BTS pic that explains it:

So apparently there are these neat anchorages that anchor the chains to..... the fluffy rug!! Extremely durable and a hundred percent tearproof!!! Hell yeah.

I get that Alec feels super guilty but honestly, think about it. If he'd killed Jace he wouldn't have killed his body. He would have killed his consciousness, his soul maybe. Meaning the possession would have been given free reign over his body. Killing Jace while they where inside his mind would have killed the last part that was fighting against the possession. It would have made everything way worse.

Funny you say that like it's a cute quirk when really it's pretty invasive and selfish.

Oh man, those subtitles totally ruined the suspense. (Also, how is Clary supposed to learn and understand when she's dead, lol.)

I'm so thrilled to find out how they're gonna get rid of that death sentence. Or will Clary be a fugitive from the law for 3B? I'd totally be up for that, too.

(Gif Source, BTS Pic Source)

#shadowhunters #3x08 #alec lightwood #magnus bane #jace wayland #isabelle lightwood #clary fray #maia roberts #simon lewis #kyle #luke garroway #maryse lightwood #jia penhallow #lilith #the seelie queen #ollie #reaction

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motheatenscarf · 7 years

Text

Title: Convergence, Part Two

[Part One] - not required, but encouraged

Words: 5450

Rating: T, mild language

Series Summary: Redeeming the Sith and reforming the Empire was never going to happen overnight. Setbacks were inevitable. Finding the right people to get the job done would a good start, but in an Empire where fear and paranoia reign supreme, that was going to be a task in and of itself.

Characters: LS Female Jedi Knight, Lord Scourge, Satele Shan, Somminick Timmns

Pairing: Female Jedi Knight/Lord Scourge

Chapter Preview: Satele’s poise and conviction called out to her, the beacon in the Force that Aerasuni had always tried to follow to guide her through her doubts. She could picture the Grandmaster’s face now, twisted and despairing as she was forced to confront the mistake she’d made in believing a Sith blooded being like herself could ever truly obey the Jedi code.

Certainty was a comfort for all Jedi. All true Jedi, at least.

There were many certainties Aerasuni held in her life that gave her comfort, but as she leaned against the handrail in the elevator, her mind fixated on her newest certainty and reeled in turmoil.

“She knows,” Aerasuni wailed into the elevator, her leg bouncing anxiously against the rhythm of the soothing music echoing out of the walls. “Satele has to know about us. That’s why she called us in, she knows and she’s going to kick me out of the Order.”

Beside her Scourge stood inscrutable as ever, his hands clasped calmly behind his back to minimize how his imposing frame crowded her in the tight space.

Throwing her head back dramatically, she caught their reflection in the mirror on the ceiling and almost had to laugh at the spectacle they made. An unwaveringly serene Sith and the fidgeting wreck of a Jedi he accompanied. Quite the pair they made.

Which, she feared, was rather the problem.

“Good,” Scourge replied flatly, unmoved by her fretting. “You outgrew them long ago.”

The Jedi snapped her head at him, her ridged features lending themselves well to the ire she wanted to convey. The way her scarlet curls flounced from the action, however, severely diminished whatever threat the glare was meant to convey.

“This isn’t funny,” she chastised, “this is going to be awful for us both.”

Scourge continued to ignore her, staring blankly ahead at the numbers ticking by above the doors to mark the floors they passed as they ascended the Senate tower. “I fail to see how,” he droned back.

She huffed, forcing the air out of her stomach to keep it from twisting into knots. “Because,” she continued, “even if I wanted to leave the Order, which I don’t, we’ll never get anything done without their support. Not a cure for you, not finding the Emperor, nothing.”

“That seems unlikely,” Scourge dismissed with a scoff. “Once you’re free from pretending not to strain against their shackles, I suspect you’ll only find your narrow minded ambitions all the easier to prevail against.

Aerasuni crinkled her nose, her lower lip jutting out into an exaggerated pout. With Scourge she normally kept her arguments strictly in the realm of reason despite how he was constantly encouraging her to explore her passions. Reason and a considerable amount of patience usually carried most of the burden in getting him to see her side of things.

“Narrow minded or not, they’re still my ambitions, and it still hurts,” she explained. She knew there wasn’t a way she could ever make someone like him understand how she gained genuine fulfillment from the life of service and sacrifice that marked her life as a Jedi.

“And the Jedi will not even permit you your pain,” he maintained, “let alone your ambition.”

It wasn’t the Jedi’s fault, she wanted to argue. It was her own. The rules had been clear from the beginning and it had been her choice to break them.

“Will you stay?” She asked him.

“If I must. Your Council did insist I accompany you to this summon.”

“No, not that,” she clarified, leaning further against the railing to compensate for how vulnerable she suddenly felt. “I meant with me. Will you stay with me if I’m not a Jedi anymore?”

Scourge craned his head to look at her finally, cold red eyes falling the half meter’s distance between them. “I had not thought to do otherwise.”

He spoke as a statement but the line drawn across his brow made the underlying question apparent to her; should he leave?

“You said your vision had a Jedi with my face who defeated the Emperor,” she shrugged morosely. “And if I’m not a Jedi then I can’t be the right person.”

“Believe me,” Scourge answered with exasperated dismay, “even if you are barred from the Order and banished from all Republic space, you drank of their poison too deeply to ever truly be anything but Jedi in your heart. You are undoubtedly the stubborn fool of the Light from my vision.”

She turned her cheek into her shoulder to hide her smile from him.

Scourge’s backwards attempts at reassurance had taken getting used to. Many an awkward conversation was endured before she learned to translate from his inability to say anything genuinely kind or comforting. After a time, though, she grew to find herself far more responsive to his underhanded support than the well-intentioned insults her Masters had raised her on.

The hulking Sith might deride her adherence to the Council’s demands, but he never hid that it was because he believed she deserved more from them. More wasn’t something she’d ever been taught to expect- not when the Masters of the Enclaves she’d been shuffled to and from looked upon her crimson skin and condemned her for already having too much.

Although the dark power Scourge wanted for her wasn’t what she wanted for herself, it marked the first time in memory that someone had looked upon her and found her lacking only in recognition, not ability.

“Well, I don’t know if I’ll be able to help cure your immortality like I promised is all,” Aerasuni answered. “The Jedi would probably be your best bet. If you could play nice with them long enough, anyway.”

The thought of being torn from the Jedi and from Scourge at once sat heavy on her already overburdened heart. Leaving the Jedi would be painful enough, but it was a pain she thought to brave with him at her side to embolden her.

She would endure without complaint though if it meant even the chance at helping him. It was the least she could give after all he’d sacrificed.

“An eternity of torment and nothingness or kneeling before the Jedi in supplication,” he pondered aloud, sarcasm dripping from his every word. “What enticing options you present me with.”

She rolled her eyes at his contempt. “You pretended to kneel to a world devourer for three hundred years,” she reminded him. “Don’t try to tell me this would be worse.”

“Vitiate rarely spoke,” he excused. “Your council on the other hand never seems to cease.”

“Fine, be evasive. I just want you to do what’s best for yourself,” she admitted, her head hanging in defeat.

“I’ve considered all my options,” Scourge answered, reaching his hand out to turn her chin to meet his eyes, “and can find no complaint with my current arrangements.” His shadow fell over her as he leaned down to catch her lips.

Taking the cue, she rose to meet him halfway, trailing the rough hide of her gloves against the vermillion talon-like spurs that hung from his face.

He held no fire, no storied Sith passion as he pressed his mouth gently against hers. It was almost innocent but still enough to draw her eyes closed as she sighed against his lips.

The elevator doors chimed open as they reached their floor.

“After all,” Scourge concluded, pulling back and tucking a wayward lock of hair behind the earring he’d given her. “You at least can be silenced from time to time.”

He was quick to reassume his posture, stepping out into the hallway past a timid and scrawny looking bureaucrat. The petite administrator nearly bowled Aerasuni over as he pushed past them to get into the elevator, deliberately keeping his eyes glued to the floor.

Aerasuni was left standing on her toes, eyes still half lidded and bewildered with her hands hanging in the air.

Scourge folded his gauntlets neatly in front of him and raised a brow as if to ask her what the delay was. The smugness radiating off him was enough to burn her now exposed ears to an almost maroon color.

“Excuse us,” she implored, side-stepping the bean-counter and shaking her head roughly enough to free her wild hair so as to have something to hide behind.

She led their way silently through the hallways, refusing to give Scourge the satisfaction of a response. Of course that only proved his point, she realized, that he could, in fact, silence her whenever he needed to. Eventually that trick was going to stop working.

He didn’t love her, she reminded herself. The very nature of his immortality made it so he couldn’t love her. She had to remember this fact whenever she caught herself reading too much into his displays.

Aerasuni’s fluster was quick to give way to dread as she sensed the Grandmaster’s presence more strongly the closer they drew to the Council chambers. Her hands gripped into the hem of her robes for some kind of purchase, refusing to seek out Scourge’s hand for comfort he couldn’t give.

Satele’s poise and conviction called out to her, the beacon in the Force that Aerasuni had always tried to follow to guide her through her doubts. She could picture the Grandmaster’s face now, twisted and despairing as she was forced to confront the mistake she’d made in believing a Sith blooded being like herself could ever truly obey the Jedi code.

Burying regret, Aerasuni carried on, ignoring how every step forward felt like a nail piercing into her heart. She had chosen this path for herself knowing full well what the consequences would be. She would follow it until its conclusion.

Arriving at the enormous entryway, her hands faltered before reaching to activate the automatic door sensors.

“Promise you won’t make fun of me if I wind up crying?” She asked, trying to laugh through the tears that threatened to fall at the slightest provocation.

“You carry in you the great passion of our people,” Scourge answered without looking at her. “That they see it as a flaw to be driven out of you is their own weakness. You will see when it is done.”

She gave a faint smile at his answer. “Okay then,” she sighed, “let’s get this over with.”

The towering golden doors separated with a quiet rush as she stepped forward to accept her fate.

“Master Aerasuni, thank you for coming,” Satele greeted, tearing herself away from the enormous round table in the center of the room as they walked in. Her silvery tone and thin smile shifted into a taut grimace as she added, almost as an afterthought, “and you as well, Lord Scourge.”

“Grandmaster Shan,” Aerasuni replied, her voice higher pitched than she’d intended as she struggled to remain calm.

Now that she was here, she didn’t sense the usual air of ease Satele always affected. Instead she was mired in disquiet and suspicion, her fears manifesting as an oppressive weight that hung overhead like the crystal chandeliers hung over the table, ready to crush any who were caught beneath if given the chance. It took considerable willpower for Aerasuni to keep herself from sympathetically retching as Satele’s turmoil infected her own already compromised disposition.

There was only one other Jedi besides Satele in the room, a Mirialan whom Aerasuni had never seen before. He was older, perhaps mid forties with his head so clean shaven it reflected the array of files he’d been considering on the holo-projector as he turned to greet her.

“Young Master Hannan, at last,” he said with warmth in his voice and gave her a small bow of his head in respect. “I’m Master Somminick Timmns. It’s an honor to meet you.”

“Likewise, Master,” she replied humbly, hope clawing its way out of the depths of her spirit as she scrambled desperately to ascribe meaning to his much lighter and amiable presence.

“I’m sorry to drag you all away from your efforts on the warfront,” Satele began, never one to extend introductions, “but this matter was urgent and I did not wish to discuss it with you via holo.”

This was it, Aerasuni realized, bracing herself for the coming blow.

“I’m sure by now you’ve all heard of Master Kaedan’s passing,” the Grandmaster continued, surprising Aerasuni. “We called you here because we’ve identified the person responsible for his murder.”

Aerasuni’s eyes widened, fighting the smile that nearly spread across her face at the realization that she was safe from discovery. After all, she berated herself, Satele might still drum her out of the Order if she caught her grinning upon hearing word that Kaedan had been killed.

Not that she ever would have smiled at such news, of course. Even if he’d questioned the worth of her only friends and gone so far as to draw his blade on them in the heat of argument.

She pressed her lips thin into a forced grimace as she exchanged a glance with Scourge that she hoped the Masters would read as concern.

To his credit, Scourge only held a pleased glint in his eye by way of silent celebration.

“Don’t,” Aerasuni mouthed to him sternly, warning him not to gloat at the news and ensure he made himself a replacement nemesis on the Council.

The Sith conceded with a dismissive roll of his eyes.

Without needing any kind of instruction, Master Timmns reached over the table to swipe his hand over a data-pad, the projected reports that been hovering above them being swept aside to reveal a lone holograph of a single figure.

A human woman spun slowly out of the projector in the center of the Council’s meeting table. From the look of her black armor and extravagant embellishments of bone and fur, Aerasuni could only assume she was Sith. Her face was marred by deep scars with an intensity that carried over even through the static personnel file the image must have come from.

“Her name is Eschatallia Soranus,” Timmns explained, “and she makes claim of being the Emperor’s Wrath.”

Eager to put her earlier panic behind her, Aerasuni set her mind to the task of converting what was left of her emotional reserves toward the single-minded focus of whatever new task it was Satele was building up to give her.

Hunting Kaedan’s killer and getting back on the Emperor’s trail would be exactly the sort of thing she needed to prove her dedication to the Masters, and to herself.

Satele and Timmns turned their attention to Scourge in anticipation of his reaction. He gave them nothing save for a clear and curious “Is that so,” as he studied the image.

“It is,” Satele confirmed. The suspicion Aerasuni had sensed around her earlier thickened as she clasped her hands behind her back and began to pace, her steely eyes considering Scourge like a specimen in a cage. “We’re attempting to build a profile in light of her recent crimes. We hoped you might be able to shed light on what you know of your successor.”

“You have me at a loss, Jedi,” he answered. “This is the first I’ve heard of there being a Wrath to replace me.”

“You’ll forgive me if I find that difficult to believe,” Satele chided back at him. “In three hundred years you never trained a single apprentice? The Emperor you claim planned for every contingency never ensured one in case you wound up betraying him?”

Aerasuni shot a sullen glower in Satele’s direction before she could help herself.

Part of her had hoped that with Kaedan gone, the Council’s endless interrogations of Scourge were past them.

“You will note there is no clear line of succession for the Emperor’s throne, either,” Scourge reasoned. “One needs no apprentices to carry on his legacy when one is immortal. If the Emperor made plans to replace me, he kept them as well hidden from me as I kept my own schemes against him.”

“Have you been able to confirm this woman’s assertions?” Aerasuni interjected, hoping to draw the attention away from Scourge. He hadn’t given them reason to doubt him yet and she wasn’t going to encourage their suspicion with her silence. “Is it possible she could be an imposter?”

“I spoke to the woman on Belsavis myself about six months ago,” admitted Timmns. “Given how quick the Dark Council was to knock down Malgus, I don’t think they’d tolerate someone making such claims for this long without the real Emperor backing her up.”

The timing of it unsettled Aerasuni.

It was nearly six months ago that she’d fought through an army of Sith into the heart of the Emperor’s fortified sanctum on Dromund Kaas to cut him down and prove her will to resist him stronger than his need to devour. It wasn’t impossible that he had barely appointed his new Wrath when Aerasuni had caught up to him, but it was far safer to leave no stone unturned when it came to bottom feeders like Vitiate.

If the Emperor was still alive, his presence still lingering strong enough to appear to his followers and give orders, then it could only mean he was preparing his return to power. If he was left to do so, everything they’d fought for and endured had been for nothing. She wasn’t going to let that happen.

Scourge’s head tilted slightly to the side to concede Timmns’ reasoning. “Were you able to pry any other information from her?”

“Not much, I’m afraid. It was an interesting experience, definitely one of the strangest interactions I’ve ever had with a Sith but there wasn’t much time to sit and chat. I did get the impression that you and she might have something in common, however. I don’t think she’s entirely loyal to the Emperor she’s Wrath to.”

Uncertainty filled the room in an undulating haze as Satele’s hand rose to her chin in contemplation, her pace halting.

“It’s possible,” Satele began, “but we must remember that speculation is not evidence. And we have a great deal of evidence that speaks to the contrary. This woman has now killed a Master of this Council, and that’s on top of the three Jedi she’s already corrupted on other occasions.”

Something about the incensed sigh Timmns let out told Aerasuni this was a debate the two masters had had many times in the months since his encounter.

“All due respect, Grandmaster,” he contended, his tone implying that there was in fact very little respect due, “but I don’t believe it’s fair to count one of those Jedi. I spoke to Jaesa Willsaam myself and there was as much light in her as you or young Master Hannan here. And that is not speculation, old friend. That is the Force.”

It was almost pathetic how Aerasuni’s heart soared at hearing Timmns compare the light’s power within her to someone like the Grandmaster.

“Argue your philosophies later,” Scourge berated. “There is a larger threat at work here than this pretender’s supposed loyalties. In order for there to be an Emperor’s Wrath, there must be an Emperor to grant the title.”

“I agree,” said Aerasuni, “it’s proof the Sith Emperor is still alive.”

“That is our concern as well,” Satele confirmed.

Aerasuni gave a quick nod, squaring her shoulders resolutely. “Then we need to seek this woman out.”

“Absolutely not,” Satele ordered without consideration, deflating the Pureblood Jedi before her. “This Sith has proven too dangerous to risk sending you into her clutches. Those she cannot kill she corrupts toward her own dark purpose. We cannot afford you falling victim to her manipulations.”

Aerasuni stood humiliated at Satele’s insinuations, stammering out a weak protest in defense of her resolve. “Master Satele, please, I-”

Before she could finish processing her thoughts, Scourge stepped in with a more articulate argument.

“Your prized pupil has failed to succumb to the dark despite my continued efforts,” he began, voice already steady from his earlier outburst. “Surely the fumbling manipulations of a child cannot compare to the Sith who deceived even the Emperor for three centuries?”

His tone was elusive as he attempted to draw some explanation out of Satele.

Aerasuni squinted at him, trying to remember where she’d heard him employ that same tone before.

“The fact remains that this new Wrath is simply too much of an unknown factor,” Satele countered, the Force around her clouding as she guarded her thoughts. “We cannot risk what few Masters we have left until we have more information.”

Scourge’s lip sneered into a toothy smirk.

That was it, Aerasuni realized. Scourge was trying to trap the Grandmaster into revealing all her cards. He’d used that same exact tone on Aerasuni those first few months he spent on the ship, subtly steering her into a corner until she had to admit why it was he caught her staring at him so often.

What was it he was trying to get Satele to admit though?

“Odd,” he countered with a particularly smug lilt to his voice. “You assert she is too great a danger because of her victories against the weakest of the Jedi in one breath yet in the next admit you know nothing of her. Which is it, Grandmaster? Only Sith gain power from doubt. Regale me with your certainty.”

Satele’s eyes narrowed in on him. “I am certain we’ve gotten all the help out of you we can expect in this matter,” Satele warned. “Thank you for your time, Lord Scourge. Now please wait outside while this Council finishes its discussion.”

“Satele, really,” Timmns protested but was silenced with a halting gesture from the Grandmaster. He scowled but made no further exceptions.

Scourge let out an amused huff and looked to Aerasuni for instruction.

She answered him with a nod. “I’ll catch up.”

Having him make a scene and antagonizing Satele into a full blown duel wasn’t going to help anyone.

Scourge’s cloak billowed behind him as he left, careful to shoot a final warning glance at the Grandmaster before making his exit.

Satele was quiet as he made his way through the doors, her silence chilling the room and not so much halting time as running it backward until Aerasuni felt again like a youngling being pulled aside by her tutors.

She kept her eyes fixed to her feet as she waited for Satele to say something. No matter how many times she’d been chewed out by her elders, their disappointment never grew any easier to bear. Even the heart palpitations beating against her chest felt as painful in that moment as they had the first time an Enclave leader had scolded her for laughing during a lecture.

“Aerasuni,” she began softly, “please understand that everything I ask of you is for your own well-being.”

Aerasuni opened her mouth to speak, searching desperately through the dry cavern for the right words. “Master, I know but… I only ask that you heed your own wisdom. The Emperor is too great a threat to ignore.”

“And we’ve already lost you to his darkness once,” Satele countered gravely.

Oh, she realized. Of course that was the problem.

Sith in blood, Sith in name. They couldn’t trust the future of the Order to a faltering Master who had already failed to resist the Emperor’s control once and failed to kill him properly at their next encounter. Satele couldn’t take the chance of her failing a third time.

Satele couldn’t trust her.

“I think it’s time we allowed you to recover from that experience,” the Grandmaster suggested, gently placing her hands upon Aerasuni’s shoulders. “It would be a shame to see your own intent to do good turned against you a second time through naivete.”

She knew it wasn’t the new Wrath Satele was referencing.

Aerasuni swallowed hard. “Yes, Master.”

Fighting her on the matter would only serve to prove her point for her.

“Let Master Timmns and myself carry this length of the chase for you. We’ll bring you back in when we feel it is appropriate. Until then,” she gestured toward the exit, “please take some time for yourself.”

Aerasuni took in a shuddering breath and nodded. “Of course,” she conceded and hung her head, unable to bear looking into Satele’s eyes.

“Be well, Master Hannan,” Timmns called out to her as she turned on her heavy legs.

“You as well, Masters,” she answered over her shoulder.

With her back to them, she was able to rub at her eyes, pressing hard to contain them from overflowing. The last thing she needed was for the Masters to see her reduced to tears like a child.

She hadn’t cried the first, second or even third year her Enclave leaders delayed her Padawan trials. The Masters in their wisdom gave her the time she needed to grow and overcome her inherent proclivities. That was all this was.

Of course, the only thing that had made those lonely years bearable was the certainty that someday she would be a Jedi. Someday, if she was obedient enough, serene enough, good enough, she would prove herself enough to them that they need never doubt her because of the sins of her species.

As she stepped through the doors toward her waiting companion and fellow Pureblood to join him in exile, she felt that certainty slipping away from her.

“Well,” she exhaled, forcing a smile as the doors shut behind her, “at least I only got kicked out of the meeting, not the Order.”

Standing pensively with his arms folded, Scourge made no movement to acknowledge her return, simply staring into ornate patterns on the carpeting.

“Scourge?” She asked, concerned.

“Hannan,” he answered.

Aerasuni blinked, taken aback at being called by her surname. “Yes?”

“Your name,” he replied, a wild look taking to his eyes as they grew distant.

“Yes, that’s my name. Scourge are you feeling alright?”

Opting against any kind of real elaboration, he gripped onto her shoulder and ushered her quickly away from the Council chambers.

“What-” she demanded, racing to keep up with his pace.

“I thought it coincidence when I first heard your name,” Scourge interrupted at a harsh whisper, lumbering through the corridors as her shorter legs struggled to match his stride. “It’s common enough in the Empire, but before he joined the Dark council and abandoned his identity, Darth Vowrawn once shared your name.”

She had a hundred questions for him: who in the void was Vowrawn supposed to be, why was he whispering, why were they running?

A confused “… yay?” that croaked out of her throat was the only one she had the clarity of thought to voice.

“Hardly,” Scourge sneered, peering over his shoulder for anyone who might be listening in, pushing her forward to keep up as she skidded along on her heels. “He is a sniveling sycophant who attempted many times to ingratiate himself to Vitiate during my tenure as Wrath. He thought himself my rival in his delusions of grandeur.”

Aerasuni gave a lazy loll of her eyes at his condemnations, shrugging herself free from his grip as he finally slowed. “Yes, he does sound insufferably arrogant. I’m not sure how you ever coped.”

Scourge glared at her now. “It’s almost shameful I did not see it sooner. Your painful attempts at wit and inability to heed anything I say should have made it obvious you share his blood.”

She grumbled and adjusted her robes back into place over her armor as they carried on at a reasonable stroll. “Alright, so… I’m related to some bad people,” she shrugged, trying to turn her belt from where it had been twisted asked. “I’ve known that my whole life every time I look in the mirror.”

“This goes beyond your convoluted sense of identity,” he scoffed. “Every Darth has beneath him a sphere of influence and many Sith who answer to him. When Vowrawn attempted to unearth my secrets, he sent his worms to root them out. One such worm was an assassin who bore the name Soranus.”

Aerasuni stopped dead in her tracks and blinked.

“Scourge are you telling me you just lied to the Council?”

“No,” he insisted. “Nothing I said to them was inaccurate… but neither was it the whole truth.”

Aerasuni growled and slapped her hands over her face. “Scourge, that’s still lying!”

No wonder Satele had been so incensed and suspicious.

“Then your Grandmaster is also, by your own definition, a liar.”

“No, I’m not encouraging whatever this is,” she refuted, grabbing his bicep and attempting to drag him back the way they’d come. “We’re going back right now to tell them the Emperor is sending your old rival’s cronies after you, come on.”

Despite her best efforts, Scourge remained impassive, not even budging from where his feet remained firmly planted.

“Did you not think it strange the Grandmaster forbade you from seeking this fraudulent Wrath?”

“You got kicked out for that part,” she groaned, pulling with all her strength. “Satele doesn’t think I can resist the Emperor’s new manipulator and doesn’t want to risk me getting controlled again.”

Scourge grabbed onto her shoulder and turned her to look at him as she dropped his arm in defeat. “When has that exact fear ever once given her pause to send you against the Emperor’s forces alone before today?”

Aerasuni paused, clambering to think of just such an instance. “Well, she… she’s always...” Drawing upon nothing, the only defense she could muster was an evasive, “She has her reasons.”

“Her reasons being that she is interested only in controlling you,” he argued. “She has blinded you with your insecurities. Cast them off. Doubt your Masters. Why would they lie to you unless they feared the truth?”

“And what truth is that?” She asked, shoving his grip off her shoulder.

“Unlike them, I make no pretense of holding all answers,” he admitted. “What is undeniable right now is that you and I are both connected to this new Wrath in such a way that frightens your all-knowing Council. And I think anything that makes them tremble with such fear worth investigating.”

Aerasuni frowned, unable to argue against his reasoning. “I hate doubting them…,” she finally admitted, giving in to his conclusions.

“You should doubt them more.”

She shouldn’t, though, she lamented. Knowledge over ignorance was a core tenant of the Code. The entire Order was built on trusting in the Masters to guide them toward knowledge and certainty. It was at the very heart of what it meant to be Jedi.

Scourge had said it himself in the Council chambers: only Sith gained power from doubt.

“You never seem to doubt me,” she realized.

“Lies,” he rebuked, taking clear offense.

“Oh, you argue,” she placated, drawing a hand to rub at her forehead. “Endlessly. About everything I do, and say, and think. But in the end, even when you disagree, you always trust that I can get it done. Why?”

Scourge gave her a questioning look, as if the answer should have been obvious. “Because I need no faith in what has already been proven.”

The rare glimpse of his sincerity in his eyes was enough to make her clear her throat bashfully, averting his gaze.

He didn’t love her. He wasn’t capable of loving or hating her in any capacity. But he was always sure of her.

Maybe that was better than love.

“You know, Satele did just order me to take some time off for myself. Maybe I should use it to look into some long lost family,” she offered, brushing lightly past him as she resumed their walk back to the elevator. “What else do you know about that Soranus assassin my apparent relative sent after you?”

She caught the faintest smirk grace his lips as he followed.

If Scourge could still call himself Sith without doubt and without passion, it only stood to reason that she could still be Jedi with her heart full of both.

She’d find a way to prove that to the Council until they shared in her certainty.

#Caitlin Plays SWTOR #do i dare post this in the scourge tag?.....#i dare #Lord Scourge #I'M SORRY.#Aerasuni Hannan #Caitlin Writes Shit

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ancient-trees · 7 years

Text

Current WIPs Meme

Rules: List all the things you’re currently working on in as much or little detail as you’d like, then tag some friends to see what they’re working on: writing, art, gifsets, whatever.

Tagged by @theticklishpear and indirectly by @brynwrites. Going with Bryn’s question format because at this point the “expected length” for all my projects is a big ol’ SHRUG EMOJI. Or just plain “long.”

Novels - I am unfortunately a huge fan of ensemble casts and multiple interlocking plotlines, so my (still unnamed) series consists of several novels in a not-necessarily-linear order that merge into one cohesive whole by the end of the thing. The story is about a world that was broken in a magical cataclysm thousands of years ago and never quite healed correctly... and now something has begun picking at the seams.

The Self-Slaying Dragon (...working title. I like the wordplay, but I don’t think it quite FITS the story the way I’d want a title to) Status: Right now I’m rebuilding it from the ground up, in the interest of giving full-on Planning a go (rather than Plantsing like my previous attempts), outlining the whole story before I dive back into prose this time. Counts: 50,195 words of an unfinished NaNoWriMo first draft, 3,927 words of an attempted restart, and a shit-ton of pages of notes. Blurb: Dragons are forces of nature: half-physical, half-spirit nexuses that anchor Magic into the world, sometimes also serving as metaphysical guardians to humankind. But when a power-hungry wizard's attempt to soul-bind the Great Storm Dragon and commandeer his magic goes horribly wrong, the Dragon is ripped loose from his anchor-point and takes off in a roiling storm of magic, raining blind fury upon the people to whom he’d been sacred protector. The wizard is left to answer for what he has done... only, somehow in the failed binding the Dragon’s consciousness has become lodged in the dying wizard’s body. And so it’s the Dragon himself, along with the wizard’s traveling companion and a young dragon-priest in training, who must figure out how to set things right... before his mindlessly-raging Dragon-self destroys his people, his people find a way to destroy the revered protector who has apparently betrayed them, or some even worse consequence occurs.

The Unbreaker’s Tale Status: Writing is on hold while I focus on Dragon, story’s being developed bit by bit in the background as I work out how the novels weave together. Counts: 22,172 words Blurb: Ever since he was a child, Perrath has had a magical talent for mending broken things - and a passion for helping people to go with it. Then one night a strange wind sweeps away all the magic in his village... including his innate gift. He’s been searching for it ever since, with a scruffy dog at his side for companionship and a probably-still-functional finding charm leading the way. While he misses his magic, he’s found that in the meantime he really enjoys a life of wandering - going wherever his finder points him, meeting new people and exploring places he’d never heard of, using his mundane skills to repair people’s things in order to get by. Until he finds himself in a sticky situation out in the uncharted wilds, and learns that promising to fix something for malevolent shadow-demons is maybe not a good idea…

Other stories in the series, which aren’t being AS actively worked on (except obliquely, as the whole thing gets built):

(still don’t have a title for this one) Status: Was written for NaNo AGES ago, before I knew it would fit into a series. Will need to be 99% scrapped and redone (this is a good thing). Counts: 50k+ words, draft unfinished Blurb: A holy fae prince and an unsuspecting message-runner wind up someplace they’re emphatically not supposed to be. Rules are broken, prophecies are mislaid, bounds are transgressed - and in the frayed wilds of the spirit realm, no rule ever gets broken without dire consequences.

(No title for this one yet either) Status: Another old NaNo draft. SLIGHTLY less of it will need to be scrapped than the previous novel. Probably. This one might be an aside for personal worldbuilding and not make it into the series proper at all. Counts: another 50k+ unfinished draft Blurb: Ages before the present-day events of the series, there lived a people who could use magic as easily as breathing. They kept the peace and ruled over the surrounding lands unchallenged for countless years, until one day the unthinkable happens: a threat arises against which all their magics are useless. A young queen must decide the best course for her people in a time when all roads seem dark.

The Hollow Road (That title might end up going to a later book, depending how events line up) Status: Vague planning stages. Some of the characters for this one actually date back further than all the other novels, but they’re getting massively overhauled from their original versions. Counts: A lot of notes and a few sketches Blurb: Thanks to a valiant sacrifice-beyond-hope made by the parents she’s never known, Aleoth supposedly harbors within her the soul of a great evil… and no one has ever let her forget it. Stifled and stigmatized by those who were supposed to be her protectors, she runs away and takes up with a band of notorious brigands. But whatever she does, she can’t escape the unnerving creature that has haunted her dreams all her life, or the disasters that seem to follow her steps. When events begin to come crashing in around her, she’ll have to figure out who and what she is and what she really stands for.

Non-writing WIPs:

Tamuran Webcomic. I do the art and some editing and write a few characters, and a friend of mine does the story-plotting and most of the writing. Status: Still on hiatus right now. Counts: Writing - 828 chat logs of various lengths, which cover about 2/3-3/4 of the first story arc. Comic - 551 pages in 16 chapters. Blurb: Nashua is a wild elf searching for his wife, children, and entire clan, who have all vanished without a trace. Kip is a shapeshifter and spoiled court lady left reeling after losing her place in the world. Hhr’skhygh is a deadly forest predator who likes hunting, exploring, and reading unabridged dictionaries... but can’t seem to escape his trouble with curses. Ranon is a young royal heir forced into exile when his brothers conspire with long-banished sorcerers to seize their father’s throne no matter the cost. Together they find themselves racing across the wilds of Tamuran on a desperate quest for aid, as strange forces close in and the consequences of the princes’ dark pact begin to engulf the land.

(Tamuran is awful to write blurbs for. Any attempt at basic plot summary ends up sounding like the most excruciatingly generic fantasy story ever created, and kinda.. misses the entire spirit of the thing.)

Costuming - Thranduil’s battle armor from The Battle of the Five Armies (I hate sewing. I like making stupid-elaborate things out of foam and whatever else I can find to work with...) Status: Progressing very slowly, since the room where I have space to work on it is getting renovated and I’ve been focusing on other things lately. Counts: I have most of the materials gathered and scattered pieces and templates made... which will get adjusted and remade ad infinitum before I’m happy with them. I have a coat prototype mocked up, and about 2/3 of the ventilating done on the godforsaken wig...

Tagging: hm. @aetherdragon, @adrastuscomic, @whitherling, @greyliliy, @titherdel, @zyrenskistudios, @locirodrawsstuff, @wigglytaf, @elfyarts, @felix-duskglass. (I know I’ve heard about some of you guys’ projects elsewhere, but if you’d like an invitation to talk more about them here, go for it.) And anybody who has WIPs they want to talk about, really - tag me, I’d love to hear about them!

#memes #writing #my novels #webcomics #long post #writeblr

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