#one of the biggest reasons i think we’ll see something like this in canon. briefly at least | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

doodleimprovement · 3 years

Text

CSAU :: Moonie Jericho and the Mysterious Case of the Moon-Jumper Mask - Alternate Ending

Or: “The extremely self indulgent 7 page fic were Nell gets to be more helpful and has some actual characterization”

Yeahhhh this isn’t canon to the fic, but I wanted to write it because I can, at LAST give ya’ll Nell’s backstory for how they came to live in Subcon in the CSAU

Per usual, the “Coffee Shop AU” belongs to the ever wonderful @doodledrawsthings

Also, note: Both MJ and Nell use “they/them” pronouns, with MJ being “He/They” and Nell being “She/They” To keep things from getting too confusing, Nell will be “They” and MJ will be “He”

Enjoy!

Nell was honestly a bit surprised when MJ came to their home the morning after Halloween, sheepishly stating that the mask seemed ... stuck.

“Really?”

He nodded.

“Huh.. Come on in then. I’ll get some tea going and see about helping you out, hm?”

He walked into their house, taking a moment to actually look about the place- as he didn’t get much of a chance before- and took a seat in their small living room.

The ambiance of the outside followed inside, with the walls painted chestnut brown with warm yet bright pops of color on the windowsill and the various picture frames full of people he didn’t know. The curtain over the wide window was patterned with little pumpkins, which he found cute, and hanging from a few ceiling hooks were what Clover would call “Low-maintenance” plants. The dark colors match well with the room, making it feel a bit comfier than it otherwise might.

The couch he sat on was across from an armchair, and both were colored a warm orange, with an espresso-colored coffee table. On said table were some envelopes and a copy of “Better Homes and Gardens”

Huh, he didn’t peg them as a reader of those types of magazines. Then again, Clover was the one that knew Nell, not him.

They came back with two mugs - one was purple with the “Snatcher” face on it, and the other had a little grumpy ghost on it, with “I’m spooky before my coffee” written above the drawing.

They handed him the Snatcher mug

“Can I ask where you get all of this Snatcher merch?”

“My best friend is an Etsy fiend. Despite him living all the way in Nyakoto, he ships me Snatcher merch whenever he finds something fun. He’s a real character” they chuckled.

“Huh” MJ acknowledged as Nell walked around the coffee table and sat next to him

“Do you feel the mask?”

He nodded, his hand up at the edge, right where he felt it “When I pull, it just… doesn’t move”

“Hm..” they sipped. “When you try to take it off, how does it feel?”

“Like… it’s like a thousand little… things? Pulling at my face, I think?” MJ pulled up their mug and sipped the tea.

“Like… string? Thread?”

MJ nodded. “I think that's the right word, thread”

Nell puts down the mug as MJ takes another sip. “Let me see” they scooted closer to him, and he put his mug down and turned his head.

Their hands seemed to glow green as they raised it “There we go…” They muttered, hand immediately finding the mask’s edge, and seeing what he was talking about “... Huh, the threads… well, that's the right word. They’re… criss-crossed…”

Before he could ask if they could remove them, he felt a slight burning at the edge of his face and jumped

“Ah!”

“Sorry, sorry, but, that did work… Though, it means you might be here a while” they admit “I’ll need you to stay still, okay?”

“Oh.. okay”

It was... Not Okay.

A few minutes into Nell’s attempt at getting the mask off, they let out a huff.

“You can’t keep squirming”

“I- I’m sorry” He muttered “It's just, you know, hard to stay still”

“I understand that, but I don’t want to mess this up. I’d like to see your actual eyes” They muttered.

“I know, it just.. Weird feeling” He tried to explain.

“Moon” They pressed, but sighed “... You seem still enough when I’m talking to you, need a distraction?”

“I mean, I guess…?”

Nell sighed “Hm… How about I tell you how I came to live in Subcon? That’s a long-ass story”

“Oh uh, if you’re okay with sharing!” MJ tried to be polite. He knew that even Clover wasn’t completely sure why Nell came to live in the town, she just knew that “something happened” back at the coast where they were from.

“Nah. It’s been 5 years. That’s more than long enough” The nurse stayed focused on the magic threads, their magic seeming to thrum in his ears- sounding almost like the hum of a fan in the dead heat of summer..

There was a pause, before they took in a breath.

“When I was 19, I took a job in Nyakoto, and left my hometown as fast as the train could take me. I had a scholarship to a little nursing school there, and before my 21st birthday, I’d gotten a nice, decent paying job as an ER nurse for a hospital in the East Side” They started “The hospitals were all interconnected, so I ended up meeting different doctors and nurses while I worked, and sometimes was called to assist in other hospitals.

“I was.. 25, when I met him” They recalled, something in their voice seeming heavy. “We’ll call him Chris

“He was in residency at a hospital down in the Wesservale neighborhood. We met at a medical appreciation gala… He had something about him I couldn't place. . . A charisma, almost. A kindness. He seemed so eager for the future, so excited for what the next day might bring him. I’d never been like that. His optimism drew me in.

“We started dating the year after. Like with most relationships, everything seemed great. He was funny, kind, thoughtful, all of that stuff. He even went with me to pride stuff, which was pretty cool at the time.”

“Pride?” MJ chimed in. Nell couldn’t hide a chuckle.

“Yes. You’ve heard of the Nyakoto Annual Pride Bonanza, haven’t you? One of the biggest in the country”

“I have, yes”

“Good. Back to the story” Nell redirected “When I was 27, about a year and a half into the relationship, I realized, quite unhappily, that we weren’t actually very different, and didn’t really get along as well as we thought.. It's not that we argued, but.. We didn’t really… talk. I never spoke to him about my problems, I didn’t feel like I could, and that really made me realize that we weren’t actually all that comfortable around each other. So, when he came over to my place that night for dinner, I spoke to him, and tried to tell him that we weren’t compatible, and that I thought perhaps we’d be better off as friends.

“He convinced me that we just needed work, going on and on about all these plans he had for us. Trips, dates, things to look forward to, always looking toward the future, Chris did”

Nell paused again

“.. I really should have noticed how little he cared about happiness in the present.” They commented “Not a traditional red flag, but it was a warning nonetheless”

“Well, I mean, that’s not so bad”

“In a way, no” Nell replied “But when you think about the future so much, you forget the present, you forget to live, and your past just.. Ends up a horrible haze. Even the happy stuff is hard to recall”

MJ hadn’t thought of it like that

“But hindsight is 2020, and in the moment, I believed him. I wanted to believe those bright dreams of the future, and I let go of the fact that I did not even like to talk to him very much.

“... I tried to break up with him 4 more times in the 8 years we were together.”

Okay, MJ hadn’t been expecting that much time passing.

“By the time I was 34, we were living together, but barely seeing each other. From the outside it must have seemed perfect to everyone else. I think only Daph knew about my.. Issues, with Chris. I still never talked to him about anything that wasn’t the future, or how the day was, or.. Just, absolute nonsense.

“One night, after one more attempt to break up, I’d gone to bed defeated, and woke up at 3 in the morning while he was on the night shift in Wesservale.. I came to this… realization

“If I didn’t leave right then and there, I’d marry him…. and I’d …. I’d be stuck. He’d have me, and I’d be stuck for the rest of my life..

“So I grabbed everything I had in the apartment, sent a resignation email to the East side hospital I still worked at, left him a note telling him I was leaving, took my car and just… started driving”

“.. Did he call you?”

“I blocked his number.” They answered curtly. “Drove for days until I came across Subcon.”

MJ didn’t comment.

“I stayed at the Alpine Motel for a few nights, and when I was at the diner, overheard that there was an open position for the school nurse at the elementary” They continued. “I applied for it, and 3 months later cashed in my savings to put a down payment on this little place” They made a motion with their hand briefly “The rest is history”

“Well… If it's any consolation, I think that's a good reason to get out of the city”

Nell couldn’t hold back a laugh. There was something a little… sad, in it, but the laugh was genuine.

“Yeah, then again, every reason is a good one to get out of the city” They commented, and MJ had only just realized that their hands were now on the other side of his face. Nell worked quickly, it seemed. “Hm.. okay. On the count of three, I'm going to try to take it off, alright?”

“Oh, uh, wow, okay!” He replied eagerly, closing his eyes.

“One…” They slowly started, both hands on either side, their nails right at the edge of the mask.

“Three!”

MJ startled as Nell pulled, and a cold, sharp feeling spread over his body before it abruptly ended. When he opened his eyes. He looked at Nell, who had, in their hands, that damned mask.

His hands went up to his face, and he let out a relieved laugh as he felt his skin, glasses and hair “hah! Hahah! I’m human again! No more magic!” He raised his hands and leaned back on the couch “Sweet relief”

Nell let out a chuckle, putting the mask down gently “Finish your tea, I’m gonna grab you a damp towel. You have… paint? On your face”

His brow was furrowed, but he reached for the still-warm mug anyway as Nell got up and went down a short hallway.

He took the few moments that Nell was done to think over the story he’d been told, the exhaustion in the nurse’s voice as she told it. Was he really the first one to learn? It gave him a weird feeling right in his chest.

When Nell returned, she offered a small, damp towel… that had the “Snatcher” smile on it

“... How many of these do you have?” He almost laughed again, and they just answered with an amused smile and grabbed their own coffee cup.

MJ cleaned his face, seeing a candy-red color coming off on the purple towel. “Hm..”

“What?”

“Well uh, the color looks like the magic strings I was able to summon”

Nell Blinked “... Well uh, bring that up with Tim when he’s back in town. That’s a little out of my wheelhouse”

“Noted”

The two fell into silence, sipping their warm drinks and giving them some time to unwind

“Will you need a ride home?” they asked him, putting their mug down.

He hadn’t actually thought of that.

“Oh, uh, it’s fine”

They raised an eyebrow at him

“You live 20 minutes away and Luka isn’t here to … fly you home, per se” They laid out “I’ve got a car, I’ll drive you home”

He turned a little red to the ears “Oh.. Thank you”

“No problem, Moon” They smiled back at him. “I’m going to change real quick, then we’ll leave”

And with that, they left back into the short hallway, to what Moon assumed was their bedroom.

Nell returned a few minutes later, dressed in a loose blouse and skirt that went down to their ankles, a far cry from the tank top and sweatpants that he’d seen them in before. He supposed that it was more so not wanting to go out in Pajamas than anything else. She picked up the mask, wrapping it in a handkerchief before holding it out to him

“It’s chosen you. You have to keep it”

He just nodded, and gingerly took the troublesome thing into his hands.

The two got in their truck (Nell owned a truck??) and drove into town.

MJ took in a breath as they turned onto a main street, passing The Horizon. “So uh, Nell..”

“Hm?”

“About your uh, the story you told me.. I won’t tell anyone”

“I don’t mind if you do” they answered, eyes on the road

“What, really?”

“Like I said before. Five years feels long enough”

MJ’s brow furrowed “I’m still not going to say anything.. That’s a personal story. It’s not mine to tell”

Nell glanced over at him with an unreadable expression, before moving to turn on the radio. Lo-fi started, and it seemed they were right in the middle of a Billie Eilish song.

“.. Thank you” They ended up responding as the song picked up

”I know supposedly I'm lonely now.

Know I’m supposed to be unhappy without someone.

But aren’t I someone?”

MJ didn’t say much of anything else once until they got to his apartment building

“Thank you, Nell. For everything”

“Don’t mention it” They gave him a small, but sincere smile “Get some rest, hm? The bags under your eyes are aging you”

MJ just laughed “I will. Don’t be a stranger, Mx. Buonacci”

The nurse gave him a lazy salute with a soft smile, before the window rolled up, and they drove off

Exhaling, he looked down at the covered mask, wrapped in a…. Snatcher-patterned handkerchief.

He couldn’t help but laugh.

#ahit #ahit coffee shop au #coffee shop au #moonjumper #ahit moonjumper #ahit oc #nell #ahit nell #backstory #antonia writes #this was fun

206 notes · View notes

i-make-fun-of-spn-characters · 3 years

Note

Thoughts on the finale?

Some aspects I really liked, some gaps that fanfic, personal head-canons, and my own narrative interpretation will fill for me.

Not what I expected (to some extent, but not entirely). Here’s the thing... at one point, my idea for an ending was the Winchesters “escaping” to The Empty in death and taking it over—making it into their own version of heaven. Why? Because SPN’s original idea of heaven kind of... stunk? Even from the first introduction of heaven in “Dark Side of the Moon”, heaven wasn’t necessarily a happy place for Sam and Dean. Dean actually fucking hated being there, and I’m pretty sure Sam just felt awkward about it the whole time. We saw again “heaven isn’t that happy of a place” when (as mentioned in this episode) we saw Bobby’s heaven, and found that he missed the boys. This is despite us knowing that Bobby could access memories of Sam and Dean whenever he wanted and relive them. And that’s the difference—that Sam and Dean were just memories in Bobby’s heaven. They weren’t the real thing, and eventually it would just have ached for Bobby like looking at old photos.

Now think about this in the context of an ending for the show. The writers, for example, could have chosen not to kill Sam and Dean at all, or let them die at the same time. They could have brought Cas back to life. All reasonable endings. But it leaves the question of what happens when Sam and Dean die die—for real die. Them really dying, in the “old” heaven framework, means only having each other for the rest of eternity. Nobody else around, for the rest of time. And there’s actually only a small subset of fans who would like that type of ultimate ending—people who are only and all about the brothers’ dynamic, and nothing else. What’s one of SPN’s major themes, though? Family doesn’t end with blood.

Having Sam and Dean die, and go to a place where they get to be with all of the people they love—forever, and not just each other, is something I always wanted, tbh.

I also thought that what Dean said to Sam when he was dying was really touching. I was happy for Sam that he got to have a slice of “normal”. I was happy for Dean that he got, in essence, the ultimate home ending. He gets his whole family together, all at once, and nobody’s going to get taken away ever again. He doesn’t have to make impossible choices about whose life to prioritize. He doesn’t have to manage loyalties or mourn or want. He gets Sam, Cas, Bobby, John, Mary, Charlie, Kevin, Rufus, Ellen, Jo, Pam... maybe even monster friends like Benny, and Crowley. (Rowena? Or is hell still a thing she’s ruling? *shrugs*) We can even infer Adam is there. I can’t imagine a happier place for Sam and Dean to end up in death tbh... though it did suck for Dean to die seemingly right after him and Sam finally got out from under a mountain of apocalypses, in what almost felt like a freak accident after skirting death so many times.

Was this the best ending in every possible respect? Eh... but also... everyone’s ideal ending is going to be different. Basically, the ending here was left open for you to read/write 100 years worth of domestic fluff fics about all the characters in heaven if you want, and them dying isn’t something you have to worry about, because they’re already dead. (The episode where Becky was writing her fanfiction also foreshadowed this ending). Killing Sam and Dean off did (presumably) close the door on any possible mini series or movie down the road, which is kind of a bummer as I know it’s been floated around before. But the odds of that having actually happened at some point were totally up in the air.

Were there some things I found disappointing? Yeah. The biggest being it would have been really nice to see Cas’ face even if briefly. I was really surprised that we didn’t see him (though the implication was that he was in heaven with the rest of the family). I don’t know if we didn’t see Cas because of COVID (it was mentioned that they had to make some changes and I have a hunch about what one of the changes may have been, but I won’t speculate) we’ll find out. My head canons definitely include a post-series discussion between Dean and Cas about what went down in 15.18.

#spn spoilers #being serious for 5 seconds #mail

62 notes · View notes

nexyra · 3 years

Text

I got an ask for Qrow Branwen so here it comes !

My fav ship(s) for the character

I think my favorite ships for Qrow are Cloqwork and Fair Game ! Cloqwork lacked screentime in terms of canon content of course, but I love the potential here. I also have a things for shipping the sad men together xD There are a lot of REALLY great Cloqwork fanfics out there and I love seeing people write about these two <3 It's in the details but I think there's something interesting here. With Qrow who is convinced to be a curse, who came from such a harsh background... And with Ozpin who is so convinced of humanity's inherent goodness and that anyone deserves a chance. At the same time they're both very complicated people who I think would interact in cool ways. Ozpin is wise but does have a mischievous streak that I think also helped in making them both get along. Qrow is much more perceptive than he appears and that's also good for dealing with someone as secretive as Ozpin.

Fair Game also had a very good start ! The relationship was admittedly a bit tilted toward Qrow's recovery in the show, but they were nice to see together. Clover was perceptive & caring as well as patient. All great qualities for a relationship with Qrow, who has a hard time breaking down his walls and a shot mental health. At the same time, Atlas is very professional, straight-to-the-point and I think Qrow is a real breath of fresh hair in that environment. He brings a different viewpoint to the table, he's very loyal & caring and it's clear that his sass amused Clover greatly. We didn't get to learn enough about him, but Clover's VA hinted that Clover's trust was a fragile thing and he wasn't a fan of showing vulnerability. Qrow, who gives everything he has in all his relationships, would have been a great balm for that uncertainty. So yeah !

My least favorite ship(s) for the character

There are, of course, any & all ships between Qrow & the kids or Qrow & Salem's team. But outside of these obvious "nope", I'll have to go with Jailbirds. This is COMPLETELY personal but I have a really hard time liking Robyn's character as of V7 end/V8 so I'm barely interested in her dynamic with Qrow. I did appreciate her talking down Qrow from revenge because he was only doing it for his own sake but... That's about it. I find her way too abrasive (hidden behind her shiny Robinhood looks). And whereas Clover (imo) was pretty good at getting Qrow to face his issus head-on & building him up, I feel like Robyn relies more on humour & deflection... Which is an art Qrow is already acquainted with, and not the best coping mechanism for him. Aaaand I just feel like she put Clover down several time in order to lift Qrow up. That, plus the queerbaiting controversy, plus her having indirectly participated to Clover's death... The ship makes me a bit uncomfortable.

My fav & least fav platonic relationship(s) for the character

My fav platonic relationship for Qrow is his bond with Ruby ! I really hope they bring it back because these two were GREAT together. Ruby's admiration was adorable. Qrow's nonchalent but clearly protective streak. They care about each other A LOT and I really loved them together. I hope they can have more moments together like back in V3-V4 or V6.

I'm not sure what my least liked platonic relationship would be. Saying Robyn again feels like beating on a dead horse but I don't really have a problem with any other ones. They're all, if not kind & good for him, at least interesting (like Raven)

My favorite thing about the character

The combination of his sassy/cynic personnality and how loyal & caring of a person he actually he is. Qrow is rough around the edges, leans easily into banter but he cares so damn much. He fit so easily next to Ruby's peppy enthusiasm in Vol 1-3, and then he was just an incredible badass and yet so damn vulnerable human in Vol 4-6. I liked that about him. How all the pieces fit together

My biggest criticism for the character

Well I have 2 things to say about that. First : V7C12 With Friends like these. What the fuck was this episode qkfazkfhkgh Qrow's brain was nerfed SO DAMN HARD, I was genuinely pissed while watching the episode. This was just a string of dumb decisions from everyone except Tyrian. But I digress -

In a more general sense, I'd say... putting Qrow in the sidelines. Him falling further into depression was a sound decision. It was interesting and fitting of his character imo. But I feel like they tied "Ruby having enough of his alcooholism" and "Ruby growing away from adults" in a way that kind of.... just put Qrow to the side and doesn't allow him to do much. In V6 finale, Qrow expresses understandable concerns about their plan to steal an airship, but instead of dealing with that Ruby's frustration with his cynicism is aired out and... the timing kind of makes the whole thing weird becaus Qrow isn't allowed to disagree with their plan ("we'll do it with you or without you") and then has to trust Ruby and let her go which AGAIN is a great moment in itself. But all that put together just like... rid Qrow of his function as a parental figure because Ruby is the leader now and he's just... kind of following along.

When was their writing at the peak according to me (ex : best season)

Okay for this one Q, I'll have to go with Vol 4 and Vol 6 for very different reasons. V4 was great because we really got to get to know Qrow. His complicated relationship with Raven. How BADASS his encounter with Tyrian was I freaking loved it. What his semblance and how it shaped his life. And it also let him be vulnerable through the poison & seeing Ruby repay his care was very nice.

Vol 6 for fleshing out, taking his issues & drinking more seriously. Showing more hopelesness and cynicism, and that he had a real drinking problem and he wasn't just a fun drunk. Plus the loss of faith in Oz showed how much Qrow needs stability and secure certainties to orbit around despite his nonchalant personnality. But I like it a bit less because it was the starting point of putting him on the side kind of.

A song I think fits them & why

Ship in a Bottle (Steffan Argus) ➸ A song about being alone in your fight, in the sense that your life is like a sail on the ocean and you are the only captain, the only one who can choose what to do with it. At the same time, there are several mentions of a "captain" as if the singer/Qrow adresses someone else. It's reminiscent of his relation with Ozpin or Clover : speaking of a deal, of being honest and sharing what's on your mind. Qrow thinks too much, he's scared and he sinks more & more as he delves into his cynicism (V6). Qrow cries, things get worse, the mention of the glass echoes his struggle with alcooholism. And the Scarewrow loses his brain, "lose touch with all the things that made [him] feel sane."

+ Problem child (Simple Plan) The Star song (Amanda Palmer) Would anyone care (Citizen Soldier) Wasted (8 Graves)

A headcanon to make up about them

Qrow didn't have the most normal childhood and because of that he had to learn a lot for Ruby & Yang. Notably, Qrow had absolutely 0 notion of what was an appropriate presents for young girls. As a result, he tended to simply bring back from his travels whatever shiny thing might have caught his attention. Could be a weird flower. Could be a pretty knife. Or even junk that his corvid brain latched upon.

Tai designed a look(Tm) that Qrow learned to recognize as "No, not appropriate." After a while, Yang learned to mimick it (but rather at random, she didn't really recognze what was appropriate and what wasn't). Ruby always liked his presents though.

What I would change about them if I was making a re-write

I CLEARLY would rewrite V7C12 so that Qrow & Clover keep their brains kzjhfkqhzk There were ways to reach the same conclusion without like... having a Qrow-Tyran team-up which was REALLY weird

I see 2 main possibilities to stick close to canon content - After the crash, Tyrian gets free but he keeps playing dead for a bit. Since there is no 3rd menace, Clover and Qrow's argument devolve into a fight as seen in canon. At one point, Clover manages to briefly disarm Qrow. They discuss for a bit, you can even put the exact same dialog as in the ep. Then Tyrian takes action, moving out of the shadows to kill Clover with Qrow's discarded weapon. Braincells saved. OR - Instead of having Qrow & Tyrian outright team up, Tyrian just... keeps instillating doubts in their mind. Qrow & Clover are temporarily allies in taking Tyrian down but because of this, they don't TRUST each other which cause missteps and make them less effective. At one point, Qrow tries to attack Tyrian who is behind Clover. But because neither Qrow nor Clover really have faith in the other at that moment (and because Tyrian is poisonning their mind), Clover automatically steps back or aside. He doesn't entirely trust Qrow. Because of this small hesitation, Qrow's attack fails. Tyrian manages to disarm him. Tyrian uses Qrow's weapon to kill Clover. There could even be some message here about the lack of Trust & letting Salem divide friends... something of that caliber in any case 🤔 It can even parallel V3 where Qrow did the same thing with Ironwood & Ironwood refused to stand aside even if he thought Qrow meant to attack him... Could lead somewhere ! Like, in V3 Qrow had faith that Ironwood wasn't to blame. Only Ironwood feared that Qrow blamed him, but Qrow knew & trusted that Ironwood wasn't to blame. In other words, Salem didn't divide them. Here, Qrow & Clover let Tyrian get into their head. And as a result Clover dies. "Together we stand, Divided we fall"

My guess for their MBTI/Enneagram

I'm still mulling on it right now but I think he might be some kind of ISTP 416. He has some weird 7ish behaviour but his need to orbit around someone/a goal, his relationship with Oz, how close he stuck to Tai & Summer sounds closer to 6 fix. He wants people to go home to. Certainty and security. His independance definitely is there but seems emphasized moreso out of necessity.

One aspect that I think would be nice to delve deeper into ? (optional)

I'm not sure mhmmm maybe his relationship with Summer ? It would be both cute & interesting. As well as finally giving us insight into who Summer was

#rwby #qrow branwen #rwde #rwby thoughts #send asks #cloqwork #fair game #v7ch12 #with friends like these #v7 spoilers #character song #enneagram #mbti #rwby rewrite

13 notes · View notes

nicnacsnonsense · 3 years

Text

Been thinking about my hypothetical live action remake of Korra (seriously Netflix, call me, I have so many amazing ideas) and how I would tackle season two since it’s definitely the season that needs the most work, specifically and especially the Unalaq & Raava-Vaatu plotline. I kind of got carried away, like I do, but I’m very excited about it; a lot of good strong themes here. I’m going to start by talking about the changes to the first half, pre-Beginnings interlude, then the Beginnings episodes, then the back half. For the most part, all of the major plot beats still stay the same, at least until the climax, but the way those beats are contextualized are going to get pretty different building up to a radically different climax (no spirit being kaiju fight, yay!).

With Unalaq in the front half, the one major change is I want the religious fundamentalism vibes that come on so strong when he’s introduced to ramp up after the Northern Tribe soldiers show up and especially after Korra finally realizes he’s a bad guy, rather than petering out like happens in canon. I want to actually see him impose strict expectations of behavior in accordance with what he feels honors the spirits on the people of Southern Water Tribe. Let’s get some misogyny and restrictive gender roles up in here. That’s going to be great (from a storytelling perspective, obviously) because it’s relatively low-hanging fruit to communicate that the bad guy is bad, it fits in well thematically with where we’re going and the religious fundamentalism, and there is canon precedent in The Last Airbender that restrictive gender roles are a traditional value in the Northern Water Tribe.

A quick sidebar related to themes, in whatever episode where we first have Unalaq really cracking down on those gender roles, I want a B or possibly C plot with the Tenzin family vacation, where Jinora comes out to Tenzin as nonbinary. She is questioning with regards to the exact nature of her gender, but does say its some combination of both masculine and feminine, though other nonbinary identities – including agender, genderfluid, and a gender that is completely divorced from male-female – are floated. Tenzin is supportive and affirming and also suggests Jinora talk with her Aunt Kya, who he identifies as being a transwoman. (Kya is a trans lesbian in my version; you gotta deal with it.) This obviously serves to contrast Unalaq with his strict gender roles, and continues to build our theme.

For Korra in the first half, I do want to drag her emotional volatility down just a tad as compared to where she’s at in canon for these episodes. I still want her getting emotional and acting rash – that’s a huge part of her character – but I want her anger to feel sympathetic to the audience. Though I do also want at least one moment where Korra gets angry for good reason and starts yelling at Unalaq and he chides her for being emotional and irrational and he’s not going to discuss this with her if she can’t behave calmly and logically, blah, blah, blah, misogyny.

The final and biggest change that we’re making in the first half is Korra does not yet have her bending back. Season one does still end with her talking with Aang and learning energybending, which she uses to restore everyone else’s bending and restore her own connection to the other three elements, but in the opening episode of season two, we learn that she still can only airbend. She says that as far as she can tell everything should be alright and she should be able to bend fire, water, and earth, but obviously she can’t. She also mentioned that while it looks like it should, she feels like there is something missing, or maybe something there that she can’t see. Which my clever readers of course realize is a reference to Raava. After her flashback coma, Korra gains the other elements back, explaining that what she was missing was her connection to Raava had been damaged. Not broken, which is why she could still airbend and do all the other Avatar stuff she was doing, but damaged enough that Raava could no longer switch elements for her or give her access to multiple elements at once.

Moving on to Beginnings, right off the bat, I’m getting rid of the notion that all humans have to huddle on the backs of lion turtles out of fear of the spirits. The two worlds are connected, but humans and spirits co-exist peacefully for the most part. The lion turtles instead act as mediators when necessary, and do sometimes give out bending for humans to defend themselves with, but not as a regular thing every time they need to leave their city. We’ll have to switch up the stealing fire and Chin plot a little to accommodate this change, but somehow or other it happens and Wan gets banished with firebending.

Eventually he comes across Raava and Vaatu fighting and these two characters are getting some major shake ups. First off, in canon Raava identifies as being peace to counter Vaatu’s chaos, but peace is not the opposite of chaos; order is. Now, looking into yin & yang, chaos & order are not aspects that traditionally apply to them, but we’re going to let that addition of order to yang and light and chaos to yin and dark stand. Not everything has to be perfectly aligned. That said, one way in which we are going to switch things to make them fit better is yang is the masculine energy with yin as feminine. We’re switching the voices.

So Wan sees them fighting, and Vaatu calls out for help. And Wan is like, oh no, a damsel in distress; I’ll help you, milady! So, he helps, giving Vaatu the advantage. She beats up Raava, then flies off. Raava chastises Wan, explaining that he is the spirit of light and order, and he has been trying since the beginning of time to defeat Vaatu, but their battles have always ended in a draw. But now Wan has given Vaatu the advantage and if they don’t fix this, she’ll be victorious at the upcoming Harmonic Convergence, sending the worlds into ten thousand years of darkness. To which Wan is like, oh no, that sounds horrible. Well, Mr. Masculine Manly Spirit-Man Raava, I like light and order and you seem like a logical rational person; I’ll for sure help you put that emotional crazy spirit lady in her place. (Have I made the irony here clear enough? I don’t think I can get much more blatant. Though obviously in the show version it would be a little more subtle.)

After that we get Raava & Wan’s training and learning the elements montage, with some encounters with “corrupted” spirits along the way. Corrupted being Raava’s word, and he elaborates to say that all spirits fall under either Raava or Vaatu’s domain, all with varying inherent levels of light & order and dark & chaos to them. Vaatu gaining in power is causing the levels of dark& chaos in these spirits to rise, throwing them out of balance. Eventually comes time for Harmonic Convergence, Raava & Wan vs. Vaatu, and Vaatu wins. Ten thousand years of chaos, baby. With the last of the spirit energy as Harmonic Convergence ends, Wan fuses with Raava, then unleashes a crazy, amazing spirit attack, imprisoning Vaatu, banishing all the spirits from the physical world to the spirit world, and sealing the portals, all as an attempt to mitigate the fall out from chaos ascendent. Since then, the Avatar, imbued with the spirit of order, has fought back against the chaos to try to restore balance to the world.

Korra wakes up and panics. They have to stop Unalaq who is trying to free Vaatu, probably because he wants to destroy the world or something. But when she next has a chance to confront Unalaq, he’s like, not you stupid girl. I’m not trying to destroy the world; I’m trying to save it. Wan was right to side with order, but wrong to think he could stop chaos by teaming up with Raava and destroying it from without. No chaos is inside all of us, the evil infesting every human heart (Unalaq’s words, not mine) and it can only be dominated through one’s own strong force of will and conviction. So his plan is to fuse with Vaatu and then dominate her, destroy her chaos and using her power to allow him to bring his order across all of existence, both in the physical and spirit worlds. Korra’s not too keen on that plan either. She’s still going to stop him.

Korra fails to stop him. Harmonic Convergence begins, Vaatu is freed, she goes inside of Unalaq, and she immediately subsumes him. Turns out you can’t eliminate all the chaos in the world just by willpower, you absolute looney toon. Vaatu explains that even as Unalaq was planning to use her, she was using him to get free and now is going to use him as a meat puppet to help her fight Raava & the Avatar.

So, they fight, and for a bit it’s evenly matched, then Vaatu gains the upper hand. Just as Vaatu appears she’s about to deal the finishing blow, Unalaq briefly regains control and interrupts her – to be clear, he manages this because of his desperate need for order and control, not out of any affection for Korra. While he’s in control he says something in defiance of Vaatu that coming from Unalaq we can hear is clearly some fascist bullshit, but also echoes something that Wan/Raava said back in their battle with Vaatu. And Korra’s like, wait, hold up a second.

Lightbulb turns on for Korra at that moment, and by the time Vaatu has resecure control, Korra has dropped her offensive stance. She tells Vaatu she doesn’t want to fight her; she wants her to fuse with her and Raava. Neither Vaatu nor Raava like this idea. Korra has to go on the defensive holding off Vaatu’s attacks, and has to internally fight against Raava wanting to attack Vaatu all while trying to sell them both on this idea. She explains that too much chaos has been bad for the world, but too much order would be bad too – case in point, Unalaq. Both chaos and order, both Raava and Vaatu are needed for balance. And yeah, they can achieve balance by constantly fighting each other, with every encounter ending as a draw, or they could achieve balance through harmony together. Because even as they are opposites, they are one and the same, a part of a greater whole. A bunch of stuff to that effect, including mentions of the Northern Water Tribe upsetting the balance by trying to dominate the Southern Water Tribe, and also a shout out to Tui and La in there somewhere, the original Yin/Yang Avatar couple. Eventually Korra convinces them, she fuses with Vaatu, and Harmonic Convergence ends in a tie, returning the world to balance once again.

And of course, now that balance has been achieved, Korra leaves the spirit portals open. Remember in this version spirits and humans got along fine, and the separation was only necessary because the world had fallen out of balance. And yes, the rejoining of the physical and spirit worlds was probably something Unalaq wanted too, but we’re not giving him credit for it, because for every good idea a fascist ever had, there’s someone else who isn’t a fascist who had the same idea, but better, because it wasn’t coming from a fascist.

#the legend of korra #atlok #unalaq #raava #vaatu #long post

17 notes · View notes

vios-rockland-corner · 4 years

Text

Dollmaker Talk PT 1

Hey there! Recently the unfinished build of the Dollmaker game got released on Runawayoutlaw’s Patreon. Now as to respect the fact that this is a limited release, I won’t really be talking about specific plot points or characters as they are in the game. That’s probably for the better considering it isn’t called “unfinished” for a reason and some things may be confusing to try to explain.

However, I will go over briefly why I won’t be considering Dollmaker a canon for the Rockland Universe here. I also want to focus on some game mechanics presented in Dollmaker that I thought would be fun to talk about.

(If there are any spoilers for Dollmaker below, they will be minor or insignificant to the plot or characters)

What is Dollmaker and why don’t I consider it part of the Rockland canon?

For those who don’t know, Dollmaker is a game that was previously under development by Runawayoutlaw prominently featuring Sano and Akira Kojima from the Boyfriend to Death game series. This game was originally meant to be a sort of revamp for these characters. I believe they were being rewritten (or in some ways expanded upon) to flesh them out better, and placed in a more concrete world setting (worldbuilding wasn’t really a focus in the original BTD games, so it’s hard to connect characters in that setting).

Development got pushed back for a lot of reasons and currently I’m not sure if a new Dollmaker model is still on the agenda. There are other games in development at the moment such The Misfits: First Blood (a new original survival horror) and Zeitgeist (a complete revamp of Cain Zeitgeist’s story from BTD2).

Just to make things clear, when I do possible future talks on characters such as Sano and Akira in the future, I will NOT be basing canon speculations off of anything I’ve seen in Dollmaker. Dollmaker was either in production before the decision to start crafting the Rockland universe or in production during the VERY early stages of Rockland worldbuilding. As such, it’s best to assume that there have been far too many changes to the universe since then that adapting the unfinished Dollmaker build to fit the current canon will either be far too much work or nearly impossible.

Now we may or may not get to see some of the characters that were going to appear in Dollmaker later appear in a canon Rockland game. The creators have had to rewrite and shift characters around several times to make sure the character connections, setting and even possible plot points we see end up being sound. I can imagine they certainly don’t want to lock themselves into something that they might be forced to retcon later. With unfinished builds and demos it’s not as big a deal if changes are made for the full game later. Once a full blown game is out that, that’s likely going to be the biggest and best source of canon material that the audience will get. You can’t change the games either (other than fix some bugs maybe) after release. We’ll be locked in to what we have. So when it comes to the characters, the creators I’m sure want to be confident with the roles, personalities and connections they give them.

Do I think Sano and Akira will come back? It’s been hinted that maybe yes (they’ve thought about it). I have no idea where though, so they can literally end up dropping these two anywhere at anytime. I’m sure other fans like me will be caught by surprise when it happens, but also very ecstatic. These boys have also had a lot of changes in the past with their character concepts (ESPECIALLY with Akira), so whether or not they’ll resemble their BTD or Dollmaker counterparts in anyway, I don’t know. It could be awhile before a final verdict is made on these two. Also, don’t get me started on Vincent either! Whether that still ends up being a second part of Akira or not, I’m also not sure.

What did I notice in the Dollmaker build that may affect future Rockland games?

New game mechanics/design! Well, at least new in the sense that they hadn’t been utilized yet either frequently or at all in any of the games Outlaw has worked on.

1) “Telltale game mechanic” of characters remembering

2) Click navigation

3) Time based events

For the first one, just in case no one knows what I mean, Telltale games have a special mechanic where your interactions with characters will affect your reputation with them. Usually appearing somewhere at the top of the screen, a certain action or dialogue may elicit a text such as “John Doe will remember that” or “John Doe hated that.” It’s a neat little mechanic that I like because it shows your actions have consequences…and sometimes depending on the text you won’t know until later if those consequences will be positive or negative.

Now some smart cookies out there may already be raising their hands and saying, “Oh! We’ve already seen this mechanic in the Zeitgeist demo.” You are correct! Obviously, Dollmaker was being worked on first, so the creator got to use this build as practice with the mechanic. From what I saw, it worked really well. One thing I saw in the Dollmaker build that didn’t pop up in the Zeitgeist demo was an extension of the mechanic where certain actions may affect characters out-of-site. This was neat to see because to me it felt like you had reached a certain point with one of the characters that you couldn’t backtrack upon so easily. You couldn’t simply hop from person to person without the other character taking note and having it affect your relationship. Neat! We’ll have to see if that gets added later on to any games.

To be perfectly honest, you don’t need the Telltale mechanic for the games that are strictly survival horror. The creators have already pretty much removed meters that would indicate how much a character takes a liking to you. I feel like they could very easily keep the player in the dark as to “how they are doing” with the killer. This gives the player a bit more of a challenge.

Games I could see this implemented in are ones more akin to dating simulators, or…MAYBE the Mark of Belial crime detective games. The mechanic may be implemented in the latter when you’re interacting with team members, witnesses or suspects. I already went over character interaction possibility for the game here. Obviously, the creators have at least thought about utilizing the mechanic for Zeitgeist. I don’t know what genre Zeitgeist is supposed to most closely resemble, but the mechanic may be a hint that associating yourself in a certain way with some characters causes a ripple effect with another (the mirror break ending is definitely an indicator of that).

Now for click navigation! Self explanatory, it just means you’re in an area where you can click on different paths when given the option. For example, you could click to go to the kitchen, living room, up/down stairs or on a door you don’t know. Just like old point and click PC games. Not revolutionary at all in gaming, but considering that the games Outlaw usually makes usually focus on the majority of the story taking place in one area (sometimes a few other places, usually at the beginning of a story before the character becomes stuck in one room). This is to place the full focus off the game on interacting with usually one other character (sometimes a few others that pop in briefly). I should note that click navigation is different from just clicking on objects in a room (though that was ALSO present in the Dollmaker build) to either find useful items or just Easter eggs.

The survival horror games probably don’t need a click navigation mechanic unless they want to make a longer chase sequence to add a few more outcomes. Games like Mark of Belial I could DEFINITELY see wanting to utilize this mechanic for investigate crime scenes or even hunt through areas you suspect the criminal might be in. A crime detective game should be pretty dynamic if you’re not going for a style where you’re just talking to several different suspects and trying to figure out from some testimonies which is the killer. I think the creators want their crime detective game to be more investigative. Click navigation might also pop up in the Welcome Home series. If you’re an MC with a cast of other characters as friends, that means you might not just get stuck in one room the whole time with a killer like the other survival horror games. You may work with your friends to navigate yourselves to safety. If you do end up alone, then the player may decide if they are looking to navigate to find and rescue their friends or simply escape on their own. Zeitgeist I don’t have a clue if it will utilize or even need this mechanic.

Time based events were very simple in the Dollmaker build. It was either day or night when the MC was walking around. Depending on what time it was, certain characters may be in certain areas at that time. I can’t be too certain, but it’s also possible that you will find certain characters in a particular place at a particular time depending on how far you have progressed in the story. Like I said, very simple. It was nice though to have a little bit of change so that even when I’m visiting the same areas, I still always had the possibility of finding something new there.

Again, this could definitely be utilized in something like Mark of Belial. Certain characters you might need to talk to if you want to find the killer may only be present after a certain set of events AND you go to the right place at the right time. Yes, this can sound frustrating, but it’s meant to add to the challenge.

Now of course I know nothing about the program Ren’py and how difficult it is to program these mechanics into a game. How often and IF these mechanics are utilized like I said depends on if it’s worth the time and effort to put them in. Honestly, from what I can tell from the build, the biggest drawback for implementing some of these features is the time the creators will need to craft the artwork for scenes. Sometimes like click navigation for example means a larger number of backgrounds have to be created. There were indeed also missing sprites in the games. I’m sure they don’t like the idea of using one single static sprite for every single character depending on the scenario that’s presented, so that’s extra time needed to create multiple sprites, program those sprites into the game as well as have them triggered in certain places at certain times.

The more complex the games get means the longer a game will take to make. But at it also means the game will feel a little bigger. Hopefully be more fun in the end too. Overall, I’m happy the unfinished Dollmaker build was a nice sample of what we could see from the creators in the future.

#Dollmaker #Sano Kojima #akira kojima #runawayoutlaw #rockland #unfinished build

26 notes · View notes

hellzyeahthewebwieldingavenger · 4 years

Text

Spider-Man v3 2099 #23-25 Thoughts

Some mixed feelings.

There was a lot of stuff I liked, and a fair amount I was disappointed by.

There was some art and dialogue production issues, which I think might’ve occurred because the series was wrapping up and whoever was in charge didn’t catch as they were prepping for whatever the next project was.

But more significantly, I honestly felt that there were several unanswered questions:

· What was the big bad thing Miguel and Liz did that was talked about back in volume 2 #1?

· What actually caused the Maestro’s version of 2099 to happen?

· What caused that future to alter into the Sinister Six’s future?

· What was up with those purple Mohawk mutant people from volume 3 #1 who obviously had something to do with Tempest but it’s never explained

· How was Tempest’s mother involved with the Fist

· Shit there wasn’t any resolution for Tempest’s mother at all was there!

· What exactly did Tyler Stone plan to use Tempest for? Was he really just tempting her to take his treatment so she’d stab Miguel on sight?

· Why should Sonny Frisco be left in the present day? He’s from the future and has some future tech leftover from his Iron Man armour

· What happened to the Sinister Six 2099? Electro is presumably shut down for good but what happened to Venom, Vulture, Doc Ock and Sandwoman? Yeah presumably they’re all going to team up in 2019, but Sandwoman was nowhere to be found and IIRC she wasn’t dead. Moreover they were still around in 2019 under the employ of the Fist.

· How did Tyler Stone travel to the past?

· How did Tyler Stone join up with the Fist?

· How did Tyler Stone rise to what seemed like the leadership of the Fist

· What happened to Venture and Glorianna?

· What happened with Miguel’s fellow time traveller who created the new version of X-Factor? Was that really just very loose and light set up for Secret Wars 2099?

· The payoff for the Alchemax prison facility which was then turned into a terrorist internment facility was...just the place for the final showdown to occur? Really?

Why DID the cure for Tempest’s cancer turn her into an insect monster back in Vol. 2?

Also, not really an unanswered question but the emotional investment into Miguel and Tempest’s relationship is still rather hollow as I talked about back in issue #20. It just kind of feels significant because Tempest has been around since waaaaay back in the backup story from ASM volume 3 #1. Not to mention Miguel’s survival is definitely a dues ex machina.

The harsh truth is the more I think about the resolution of this the more I come to the sad realizing it at best left an awful lot to be desired.

Objectively it’s very problem riddled.

Now that being said...on a pure enjoyment level I did LIKE it.

I don’t think I ever expressed this before, but the reason I started calling posts like this ‘Thoughts’ rather than ‘Review(s)’ like I used to is because, whilst I firmly believe a story can be objectively evaluated, I found it stressful and well...not fun doing it.

Plus I do this blog for me and realized posts like this one are more for me, so I have a record of my thoughts and feelings for these stories.

I’m not saying me liking something or disliking it makes it good or bad objectively. But what I am saying is...well I enjoyed this.

I was disheartened by the lack of pay off to a lot of stuff, but I did enjoy the ride while I was on it.

Let me talk about a few minor things that annoyed me before I end more positively.

So a Pokemon Go parody is intrinsic to the battle to save the future. I dunno, that just feels both on the nose and unearned since Pokemon Go! wasn’t even a thing when this series began. Also Tyler Stone’s motivations were rather underwhelming and Miguel didn’t get enough of a showdown with him. Granted, I guess you could argue said showdown already happened in Secret Wars 2099. He same applies to the Sinister Six 2099, especially Venom given that he is Miguel’s brother from another mother. Furthermore the explanation for who Aisa is, was a tad underwhelming but not illogical as I’ll address later.

Now for positives.

For starters it’s funny that whilst this issue came out in like September 2017, it’s depiction of 2019 wasn’t that far off. The only things it a little wrong was that people aren’t as much into Pokemon Go! as they were in 2017 and Silk to my knowledge doesn’t operate in New York city anymore. But all of those are easily No. Prized so in theory this comic’s depiction of 2019 is actually canon. I think it basically HAS to be or else the Fist’s plan could still happen and Miguel would’ve prevented nothing. Although the Marvel.wiki says otherwise. But they aren’t always right.

My biggest point of praise is in regarding Gabri.

Maybe I was being dense, but I honestly didn’t figure out who he was until he stabbed Tyler Stone with a stinger like Tempest’s.

See, when these issues were coming out I obviously saw the covers of Miguel in his new suit alongside another Spider-Man 2099, one wearing the original red and blue 2099 costume. But I wasn’t paying enough attention to notice the red and blue costume was similar, yet clearly different to the original. I was thinking that it was simply Miguel from another universe, another timeline or another point in time, possibly playing off of the Edge of Spider-Verse issue with the alternate Miguels back in volume 2 issue #5.

But no...this is the son of Miguel O’Hara, the Spider-Man of...well we don’t actually know what year he is from. He’s a time traveller and whilst he’s partnered up with his mother in 2019, he looks to be about Miguel’s age. Giving him a suit similar yet unique to his father’s, with his ‘cape’ evoking his mother’s wings and such was a nice touch. I think PAD in making him a time traveller adds just enough credibility to his powers too as some kind of future technology. I doubt we’ll see much more of this character, but damn I’d like to, even out of his outfit he seems pretty cool.

And if nothing else, I just like that Miguel has a legacy and got to KNOW that.

Another thing I really liked about the structure of the story essentially allowed for there to be two climaxes, one in the future of 2019 where Aisa was the final boss and one in the present of 2017 where Miguel got to settle his business.

Let’s talk briefly about Aisa. So she’s literally one of the Greek Fates. I found this underwhelming, but I can’t say it wasn’t a logical reveal. In fact it justifies the Medea story arc with Elektra as that in hindsight was putting Greek myth on the chessboard for PAD to use later.

In fact these last three issues can be looked at as PAD essentially treating elements across his 2010s Spidey 2099 run (or at least the issues that weren’t mandated events) as chess pieces that came into play here.

· Back in volume 3 issue #1, Miguel referenced Peter, Silk and Miles being around to pick up his slack. Those 3 saved the civilians under mind control.

· The Sinister Six and Tyler Stone obviously all showed up in the Sinister Six arc beginning in issue #10, and in particular Tyler was popping up sporadically since the Secret Wars mini

· Strange 2099 with the help of Cap 2099 ultimately save Miguel’s life and they were showing up before and during Secret Wars

· Tempest’s insect form was introduced back in v2 #11-12 and was critical to the climax of this story. In fact I love the poetry of Miguel and his father Tyler both dying via stingers, stingers passed down from mother to son no less

· Sonny obviously was showing up on and off since Secret Wars

· The Alchemax Prison is something that’s been lingering (and unfortunately was often ignored) since way back in v2 #5

· I already explained the Greek myth angle

· Man Mountain Marko has been building a grudge with Spidey since before issue v3 #10

In a sense it was rewarding seeing all this stuff come back into play for the climax, but it definitely could’ve been done better, in a more satisfying way. Frankly, if the Medea story had been cut to 2 issues tops we might’ve had an extra issue to fix some of this stuff.

The final thing I want to talk about is issue #25 specifically. I don’t know if this was intentional, but to me issue #25 read as PAD delivering a microcosm of Miguel.

In various scenes, organically strung together, we see different facets of his personality. The dives are not necessarily deep, but this one issue, for any faults you might find in it’s plot, speaks a lot to who Miguel O’Hara is as a person.

It’s light, it’s subtle but it tells you the cliffnotes.

He’s sarcastic.

He’s sardonic.

He’s not a murderer, but is willing to be violent, willing to kill.

He is on the side of the angels, but is absolutely not one of them.

He values family but they frustrate him.

He’s far from wholesome.

He’s willing to make the sacrifice play for what’s right, for what has to be done.

He faces his own destruction head on.

He has a cynical streak in him.

He’s got anger in him and acknowledges it can compromise him.

He’s smart, both in terms of scientific brilliance and tactical thinking.

Hell even the use of his powers and gadgets (we could include Lyla in that) get one last ride in this issue.

And it’s all capped off with him saving everyone at the cost of his lover, his child and his own life. Only for him to come back to the world he’s saved, his home and ring in the new yea, the new century in factr. 2099 is OVER at last!

But he doesn’t celebrate. But he also isn’t Peter Parker, so he doesn’t somberely mope. He just gets on with it acknowledging what he’s lost, what it was for and rolling his eyes at the fact that the good times aren’t going to last.

And yet...it’s not depressing.

THAT’S Miguel O’Hara to me.

Over all, this arc 100% could’ve been better. But as a fond farewell to the character, possibly even being the last time his creator will ever write him, it was a Hell of a ride.

And for that ride, I thank Peter David and Will Sliney.

#Spider-Man #Spider-Man 2099 #Miguel O'Hara #Marvel 2099 #Iron Man #Iron Man 2099 #Lyla #Honey Bee #Peter David #will sliney

13 notes · View notes

incorrect-marauders · 5 years

Photo

THE OWLS ARE IN! IT’S TIME FOR THE SURVEY RESULTS!

So, as many of our followers are probably aware, we recently did a survey to get a feel of what people thought of our blog. We got a total of 57 results and we are grateful to each and every one of you for taking the time to let us know your thoughts. Now, we’re here to share the general consensus of what people thought and how we will accommodate these opinions.

We’ll definitely have some changes to the blog, so read on to see what those changes are!

Before we begin, we have a few things to briefly mention.

The results are pretty scattered. We didn’t want to restrict anyone, so most were free response or included “Other”. In hindsight, there were a few questions that could have easily been multiple choice without really restricting anyone. (Side eyes the first question.) Therefore, most of these will just summarize the results we got. Occasionally drop the graph for the multiple choice questions.

Because of the large amount of responses we got, not every answer will be listed here. We highlighted the things that were either most commonly mentioned or had us thinking the most.

If anyone would like to see the full results for some reason (par the names, to keep anonymity), feel free to email us at [email protected] and we’ll send it over!

And yes, we are making changes to accommodate these results! That’s what this survey was all about!

We’ll be opening applications for new mods within the next couple days as well.

We’ll have a tiny hiatus as all of this is going on.

Now, we begin...

How long have you been following incorrect-marauders?

The most popular answer seemed to be around 2 months or 10 months. A lot of people filling out this survey seemed to either be relatively new or here since the beginning. Kudos to you incorrect-marauders veterans, and welcome newer followers!

How did you find incorrect-marauders?

Somewhat as we expected. Keep reblogging us, lovely people!

What do you love MOST about incorrect-marauders?

"It's funny.” (x50)

No really, we got 50 variations of “It’s funny,” “It’s hilarious,” “The humour,” “The funny text posts.”

Thanks, we appreciate it!

“How weirdly in character the quotes always are.”

(Similar variations include, “How actually accurate your post are,” “That not every post is as funny, imho, but that they do keep true to the characters,” “How much they fit the characters.”)

“They offer new content to the Marauders 'franchise' as it were because some stuff within the fandom is constantly being reused.”

“How correct it actually is if Joanne made it canon.”

“McGonagall with the marauders and that the sources are listed.”

“Accurate representation, variety of ships and relationships, isnt toxic.”

“Very funny and can be great art/writing prompts.”

“The taste.”

“EVERYTHING.”

These are all very nice, thank you all. Glad we hit where we were aiming.

What do you love LEAST about incorrect-marauders?

The most common response was, “Nothing,” or a variation thereof, but that’s no fun for this question, so here are some of the legitimate criticisms we received!

“Quote sources, I think, occasionally aren't there.”

Our original quotes often don’t have sources. But if there’s one where a mod forgot to credit a source, please just message us and one of the admins will fix that!

“There isn't a particularly nice aesthetic to the blog, e.g. a matching layout and profile picture or quote.”

Yeah, we’re working to fix that. I like pretty blogs too.

“Could be updated a little more.”

(”Not much posting in my opinion,” “Long time between posts.”)

Strangely enough, we got this a few times but our later poll about how often to post were contradicting this. So, unfortunately, we will not be adjusting this.

“I mean I would say that Peter is on it, but can’t really get rid of him...”

(Got a few of these, like, ”Peter being seen as a good person.”)

Sorry!

“Some are a bit too small.”

“I don’t like the long quotes.”

Well, then.

“Seeing my #notp but that isnt rly a minus?? Its called diversity so im not gonna hate or anything.”

Thank you for appreciating the diversity. We get occasional hate over it, but we also get hate over not posting some of the other ships. I suppose that’s what happens when you have lots of different followers of different opinions.

“If I send you a text post you credit the source in # but i'd like you to include a link to my tumblr in the post itself so people would actually find my tumblr. I doent send you text posts anymore, cause it doesn't really profit me and it feels like you get credit for my work.”

We’re sorry you feel that way. We always put it in the tags, just in front of the source. We are more of a mod-based blog rather than a submission-based blog. Anyone is welcome to submit, but about 98% of our posts are created by our mods.

“Sometimes I feel like the wrong characters were chosen or not well thought out.”

We can assure you our mods put a lot of thought into what characters to use, but you are welcome to message us with your own suggestion! (But please note that we are a Marauders blog; we got a few comments about how we don’t post enough Hinny or Romione, but that’s not what our blog is about.)

What makes incorrect-marauders stand out?

Once again, we got a lot about how funny we are, so we’ll skip over those and highlight the more unique answers!

"They don't use things from other people without credit.”

“The love and attention put in to everything.”

“Don't think there are any other blogs about marauders in this style.”

(We got this a few times. ”Like the type of blog and incorrect-marauders was the first one Harry potter themed I found,” also, “Its really funny and pretty much the only blog that just does this kind of post and i LOVE it.” But alternatively... “There are a lot of textpost blogs like it, but it is one of the only ones that I have found that consistently keeps characters in character in the posts and appeals to my sense of humor.”)

“I feel the quotes are in character and from multiple sources which Is cool.“

“How open it is.”

“The continuous content.”

“The posts arent so often that my dash is spammed like other blogs of the same nature.”

“Not sure but I like you.”

Not much to comment on these except we’re happy to see people think this about us!

How satisfied are you with the blog and the posts, in all?

So, you’re telling me, we opened a public, anonymous survey and not a single hater filled it out? Am I impressed or disappointed?

Please explain your response to the previous question.

“I just love the whole blog.”

“It's not my favourite blog ever ever which is why it's not a 10 but i still love it.”

“You guys are just so awesome! But it'd also be cool to have a little, meet the creator(s).”

“Its good but I don't have or want notifications on.”

“It’s the #qualitycontent i signed up for.”

"Always room for improvement, and also there's no 9 3/4 option.”

Awesome! We definitely agree that we can always improve, which is what this survey is for!

How often should we post?

We got a lot of variety here. Some say once a day (which is how often we currently post) was ideal. Others put stuff like...

“I wouldnt mind my entire blog just being filled with your posts.”

While Once A Day is the most voted for, the rest of the options put together, which we’ll name Two or More Times a Day, do win overall. Since we have one new post followed by a reblog, we’ll compromise by posting two times a day, but with one new post a day (the second being a reblog).

In UTC, what times do you prefer us posting?

As expected, not many people cared. But two people felt very strongly and voted for 12am, 1am, and 6pm UTC. So, we’ll consider that.

What characters, relationships, universes, etc. would you like to see more represented in our posts?

We got a lot of responses here, primarily being more Wolfstar, Jily, and BFFs James and Sirius. We also got a lot saying we should post about Hinny, Romione, next gen, FBAWTFT, etc. in which I remind you that this is a Marauders blog.

We also got the hilarious response that said we should maybe post about the “merauders”. Well, we can certainly promise you that.

We also got a lot of people saying more McGonagall. That’s something we can definitely do.

Would you like to see more original quotes from us?

For the longest time, the option 50/50 was at exactly 50%. Kind of disappointed that is no longer, but the 25% option is at 25%, so that’s something. Anyway, we’ll aim for 50/50.

What else would you like to see us post?

This was one of the results that will make the biggest change to the blog. People seem to really love these ideas. So expect...

Marauder Mondays! Every Monday we’ll have Marauder Monday, where we’ll answer asks, reblog posts, and have a party! Probably when we’ll post the “extra” posts, like our GIFs, graphics, aesthetics, videos, etc.

How would you feel if we did sponsored posts?

Combined, it seems like ~75% of those who took the survey are good with sponsored posts.

These results honestly surprised us. We’ve gotten a lot of offers of sponsorships in the past but have always denied them because we didn’t know how our followers would feel. We probably won’t do this in the near future, but it’s an option.

What kind of projects would you like to see us host?

We got so many people suggesting merch. Shirts, stickers, pins, other merch... So we’ll keep that in mind! We’d love some Marauders shirts ourselves.

“Projects that other blogs can get involved with to help other accounts grow.”

Noted!

“An art challenge maybe? like, 30 day challenge where you have to draw them as characters from movies/tv shows? like, friends, clueless, avengers, dc characters etc.“

Definitely interesting. Art challenges would be a lot of fun. Hopefully there’s an interest for this!

Which of our other accounts do you follow/would like to follow?

We’ll look into bringing on people to regularly post on other sites.

What device do you use to browse our blog most often (whether through Tumblr or our site)?

Why are we bothering with a redesign again? Oh, right. Personal vain.

How often do you visit the blogsite?

Those numbers are higher than expected...

What kind of things would you like to find on our blogsite?

“Character aesthetics.”

“Fanfiction links.”

“Marauders fan art would be cool.“

We’ll be working on this! Thank you for the suggestions!

More meet the creator(s) (if not comfortable with should, maybe just telling a funny story)

We got a lot of people saying they’d like to know more about us. We are anonymous, but this particular comment had us thinking. We’ll be implementing something in the near future. We will still remain anonymous, but we will have “blog identifies”, I suppose you could say. More info to come!

Other than show, character, and ship lists, what would you like to see in our navigation?

We didn’t get many new suggestions for this, except for fanart, aesthetics, etc. which we will add as more people join the blog!

Do you have any additional suggestions for us?

"Maybe find a blog that could do fan art, but only if you’re comfortable with it. Also, you’re blog is already so amazing, and any redesign would just make it more awesome!!! Don’t let anyone get you down espically if some one puts something negative on the survey because it is so so great already.”

We got no negative feedback (just constructive criticism), but thank you for your concern!

“um. keep doing this. i like it. it helps fill the gaping void in my soul“

Mood.

“Thanks for making the survey, caring about our feedback, and being awesome overall :)”

Of course! This is not just our blog, this is the Marauders fandom blog. Your feedback means everything to us and we hope you will like the changes we’ll make in response to it.

And that covers all of it! Cookies to anyone who read all of that! Keep an eye out for those new mod applications if you’re interested in joining our team!

We’ll be taking a tiny little hiatus as we’re figuring some stuff out.

#admin #survey #survey results #updates

64 notes · View notes

purrincess-chat · 6 years

Text

The Fate of Miss Fortune CH1

I’m finally getting around to posting this!! I’ve had the idea for over a year, and I started working on this chapter about a year ago I’d say. I’ve been holding onto it for so long, and commissioning art of it gave me the push to finish this chapter. I’m very excited for this story! It’s going to be an emotional ride, so I hope you all buckle your seatbelts and take it with me. Shouts out to @learningthomas and @trueblue1999 for betaing!

Read on AO3

Chapter One

“There be tales of the most fearsome pirate ever to sail the seas. Sunk o’er a hundred vessels and taken the lives of countless men. A captain and crew so bloodthirsty that no sailor ‘as e’en the slightest chance of survivin’ should they be unlucky enough to cross canons with ‘em.” It wasn’t uncommon for tales such as this to pass around the room of nearly every port bar from one sailor to the next. Legends and tales were how many passed the time, each seemingly more far-fetched than the last, though many stories, if taken to their roots, were actually based in truth that became victim to drunken embellishment.

“I seen ‘em with me own two eyes. Captain Ladybug ‘o the Coksinelle and ‘is crew took down a royal navy ship ‘fore tha poor chaps could load their powder. Biggest bunch o’ men I ever did see. Could rip the neck right off a navy cap’ains shoul’ers,” The man continued, a small crowd of similarly grimy and roasted men hanging onto every word in awe. All save for one.

“There’s a problem with your story, mate.” Heads swiveled to the smug mop of blond hair seated a few seats down at the bar, the telltale French naval coat with the sleeves ripped off and black hat could only be the mark of one pirate: Captain Chat Noir.

The night was humid and the air inside the bar hung stagnant as Chat Noir loaned an ear to the scrappy drunkard’s tale from his seat. He’d heard every story passed by mouth, and there was only one pirate on the waters that each of them referred to. The most famous pirate in the world, and coincidentally the one who set him on his own path to freedom.

Ladybug.

Most of the stories were true, though many details were often lost in translation, but Chat took it upon himself to keep an ear out for sightings of the elusive captain that he spent his days chasing in hopes of someday actually succeeding in his pursuit. Which, unfortunately, forced him to suffer through tales such as these in vain hopes that he might gain any new information, and more often than not, he came up empty as many pigheaded pirates twisted the stories to better suit their own egos.

“What’d ya say, chum?” He cocked a brow, standing in attempts to seem more intimidating, though his rum-induced stagger killed some of his bite. “Ye got a problem with my story?”

“Parts of it,” Chat stated, taking a swig from his mug and setting it on the counter.

“Do go on then,” The man urged.

“For starters, if no man has any chance of survival when confronted with this ruthless captain, then how are you here to tell the tale?” He began, standing to face the group all adorned with the same skeptical and disgruntled expressions. “Secondly, Ladybug is captain of the ship Coccinelle. It’s French given the captain’s roots and translates to ladybug, the name said dreadful captain has come to be known by. Thirdly, Captain Ladybug and crew are all bloodthirsty for naval ships specifically and tend to avoid merchants and other pirate ships which is why I forgive you for missing my last and arguably most important point: Captain Ladybug as well as the entire crew are all women.”

Loud, mocking laughter filled the surrounding area, something Chat had grown used to at this point, and he did his best to suppress an eye roll. Pirates were just as blind to the strength of women as naval officers. Turns out men were all the same no matter what colors they sailed under, which made the next sequence of events all the more predictable.

“You’re drunk, mate! No crew o’ women could sail a vessel all by their onesies.” One man laughed.

“You’re right, my apologies. I should have known better than to waste my breath educating you disgusting chauvinist pigs as you’re all incapable of any form of intelligent thought outside of lifting your mugs to your lips,” He said with a taunting grin, slapping a silver coin down on the bar. “Nino, pull Kim away from his girlfriends. We’re leaving.”

“Aye, captain,” Nino said with a nod, though he shot Chat a disappointed, yet unsurprised frown as if to say, “Can’t we enjoy one night out without you starting shit?”

“Oi, what’d you jus’ call me?” The first man demanded, reaching for the bottle on the counter. “You lookin’ for trouble, mate?”

“No, truthfully I’m on a quest to find that said fearsome female pirate from your entertaining, albeit horribly incorrect, tale, and I haven’t got the time to sit around listening to egotistical little worms talk themselves up,” He stated with a shrug, and Nino rolled his eyes.

“Here we go again,” His first-mate mumbled with a sigh, reaching for his cutlass as the man sprang at Chat with a growl.

The bar erupted into a drunken mosh-pit, fists flying as fast as insults as several inebriated men joined the fray just for the hell of it. Kim attempted in vain to entice his throng of women to stay, shooting a glare to his captain when they all fled, and Chat easily dodged his assailant’s fist, knocking him over the back of the head with his elbow and rendering him unconscious. Nino tossed another man over a table, stepping closer to his captain and shaking his head.

“What?” Chat asked innocently.

“For once I’d like to enjoy a couple beers without the evening dissolving into a fist fight,” He chided, crossing his arms over his chest.

“Yeah, and I’d like to get laid,” Kim growled, stalking over. He grabbed another man who charged toward them and punched him square in the jaw.

“Let’s just go,” Chat said glumly, sulking toward the door.

“Ivan!” Nino called as their large brute of a friend fought off three men at once. “We’re leaving.”

Ivan shrugged and dropped his hold on his victims, leaving them in a daze as he casually sauntered out after his captain and crew. One convenient aspect of bar fights were that most individuals were too drunk and fixated on their brawl to realize when they slipped out, even as Chat pickpocketed the man who started it all on his way out. He shoved his hands into his pockets with a sigh as they made their way down the street toward the docks. Kim sulked several paces ahead of them, griping about losing yet another potential ménage à trois while Ivan patted his shoulder sympathetically. Nino eyed their captain out of the corner of his eye, pursing his lips to hide his frown.

“Another dead end then?” He asked, cocking a brow, and Chat averted his gaze. “How long do you intend to chase her?”

“As long as it takes to find her- the rest of my life, if I have to,” Chat said solemnly.

“You sure are hellbent on this booty call,” He replied, tensing when Chat shot him a glare. “Sorry but that’s what most of the crew thinks.”

“I’m not after her for sex. She saved my life, and I just want to see her again, no matter how briefly,” He said softly, and Nino shifted his gaze to his feet, biting his lip.

“You know you’re my best mate, and I’d die for you, but you can’t keep blue-balling Kim every time you don’t get information you want,” He said, offering him a small smile and prompting a cheeky grin and a chuckle from Chat.

“I’m not so worried about him. He still thinks I don’t know what he and Max get up to in the supply room, but I suppose in the interest of keeping things amicable between us I’ll do him this favor,” He said, whistling over the two women standing on the corner and tossing them a small pouch of gold coins. “The one in the red coat could use a little pick-me-up.”

Their eyes widened as they turned their payment over in their hands, excited giggles passing their lips as they skipped down the hill and grabbed Kim by the collar. Chat sauntered onto the dock toward the ship followed by Ivan and Nino, and Nathaniel hopped off the railing as they approached, standing at attention as the captain set foot on deck.

“Nothing unusual to report, sir. The rest of the crew is still out in town. Shall I round them up?” He said dutifully, but Chat waved him away.

“Let them enjoy the night. We’ll set out in the morning,” He said, pushing the door open to his cabin. “Resume your post.”

“Aye, captain.”

Chat hung his hat on the hook and ruffled his hair, a sigh passing through his lips as he leaned over his map littered with pins and threads that documented every location sailors reported seeing her in a vain attempt to discover her pattern, but he’d had no such luck. So many times he’d come so close to finding her only to lose the trail at the last moment. She was surprisingly elusive, much to his dismay. It had been three years since he’d last seen her in person, the night he asked to join her crew, but she only sailed with women. He’d been crushed by her rejection as he’d spent months hunting her down just to ask that question, but now he sought after her for a new reason.

She was the most magnificent woman he’d ever met with eyes as blue as the sea and hair as dark as the night sky. He longed to see her again and memorize every detail of her face even if she never held any desire for him… Perhaps his crew were right. Maybe he was running a fool’s errand, but he refused to give up. Not after all of this. He trailed his fingers along the red strings with a pensive frown before leaning back in his chair and propping his feet up.

Nights like those were exhausting, and sometimes Chat wondered if he’d ever see her again if he had to keep relying on such inconsistent tales. He closed his eyes painting the image of her face in his mind so that he wouldn’t forget a single detail. A girl like her was worth chasing to the ends of the earth, and soon he lulled himself to sleep with thoughts of their reunion.

***

“Captain!” Chat jerked awake, drawing his gun and pointing it in Max’s face instinctively before releasing a breath and returning it to its holster. He glanced out the window where the first cracks of sunlight were peeking out over the horizon.

“What?” He asked sourly, rubbing his eyes.

“Sorry to wake you, sir, but I have someone with information that might interest you,” Max said, and Chat’s head snapped to face him in an instant.

Chat followed on Max’s heels intently as he led the way to the library with Ivan, Nino, and Theo in tow. He kicked open the door, startling the librarian inside into dropping the books he was carrying. The man straightened his glasses and squared his shoulders, though his eyes widened in fear as they approached.

“You! You have information regarding a pirate named Ladybug?” Chat demanded, leaning into his face.

“I’m not inclined to say,” He said, shrinking back a little and startling once more when Chat pointed a gun in his face. “Okay, okay! My younger sister recently joined her crew a-about a week ago when she was in port. Said they were making a quick stop south of Puerto Rico then setting sail toward Bermuda before she left, but she swore me to secrecy!”

“And you’re sure it was Ladybug?” Chat quirked a brow, and the man nodded frantically.

“I saw her colors myself, and my sister specifically mentioned that this pirate sails exclusively with women which matches up with stories I’ve heard,” He said, and Chat lowered his gun.

“What’s your name?” He asked, cocking his head to the side.

“Jalil, sir,” He said, adjusting his glasses with a shaky hand.

“Nino, Ivan, bring Jalil aboard. He’s coming with us, and if his information proves false then we’ll find a nice island to maroon him on. Max do you still remember how to get to the one infested with cannibals?” He snapped his fingers, and Jalil paled, resisting only minimally as Nino and Ivan lifted him up and carried him back to the ship.

“How long do you anticipate it will take us to reach Bermuda from here?” Chat asked as they walked, and Max tapped his chin.

“About three days if the winds are favorable,” He replied, and Chat nodded thoughtfully.

“Then there’s not a minute to lose. Nathaniel!” Chat called as they boarded, and the redhead stood at attention. “Round up the crew. We’re setting sail.”

“Even Kim?” Nathaniel’s nose wrinkled.

“Do you want to man the guns if we get attacked?” Chat asked pointedly, and Nathaniel groaned, sulking off to retrieve their gunman from his tryst. “Max, get me a heading! We’ve got a Ladybug to catch.”

***

“It’s been a while since I’ve seen you this fired up,” Nino remarked a couple nights later as Chat peered through his telescope.

“It’s been a while since I’ve had a lead,” He said, lowering it and glancing over at his first mate.

“Do you really think we’ll find her?” Nino cocked a brow, and Chat’s eyes narrowed into a glare.

“For the librarian’s sake, we better,” He said with a twisted grin, and Nino gave him a look.

“You and I both know you’re not that cruel, mate.” He smirked, and Chat turned back to scan the dark water.

“I know, but he doesn’t, so it’s fun to watch the color drain from his face,” He said darkly, and Nino threw his head back with a laugh.

“Maybe you are that cruel.” He patted his shoulder.

“Ship sighted to the east, captain!” Nathaniel called from the crow’s nest, and Chat whipped his telescope out as the crew rushed to his side.

“Is it her captain?” Ivan asked. “Is it Ladybug?”

Chat squinted at the colors flying, a semblance of a smile twitching on his lips as he snapped his scope shut. “Douse the lamps and ready a boat.”

“It is her!” The phrase passed excitedly around the deck as his men rushed around frantically to carry out his orders.

“Do you think you can catch up to her in this thing?” Nino asked as Chat climbed into the small rowboat and took hold of an oar.

“The main sail is raised, and she’s just coasting. Her crew has likely gone to bed for the night,” He said. “Raise ours and follow at a distance. If she spots us, she might run. You’re in charge until I get back, Nino.”

“Aye, captain.” Nino nodded curtly as Ivan lowered the boat. “Oi, Chat! Good luck, mate.”

Chat tipped his hat as the boat hit the water, and he unlatched the ropes before beginning his trip. Fortunately the night was still and the waters calm as he paddled, and within a half hour, he was close enough to see her standing at the wheel. Her hair was longer than the last time he’d seen her, and his pulse quickened as he set the oars down gently so as to not make a sound and tied the rope to his waist loosely before beginning his climb up.

He peeked up at her from under the railing, a small smile curling on his lips as he watched her studying her compass, occasionally glancing up at the stars. Her cheekbones were more pronounced than last time, and his memory did her beauty no justice. He could have stared all night, but he’d never forgive himself if he didn’t speak at least one word to her, so he climbed up, tying his rope off quietly before making his move.

“Greetings, m’lady! I hope you haven’t missed me too much.” His voice caught her off guard which was something even the lowest swabbie on her deck knew never to do. She spun around as his leg hiked over the railing, but before his boot could touch the deck, she tugged the loose rope hanging from the mast that laid at his feet and dragged him into the air. He yelped in surprise as he found himself hanging upside down and face-to-face with Ladybug’s unamused scowl. “Have I ever told you, you turn my world upside down?”

“Captain Chat Noir. How many times need I tell you that men are forbidden from setting foot on my vessel unless they wish to decorate it with their blood?” She stated bluntly with a small sigh.

“If we’re counting honestly, this is only the second time I’ve tried,” He said pointedly.

“Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t kill you,” Ladybug retorted with a bored frown, crossing her arms over her chest.

“Because I brought you a gift,” He replied with a cheeky grin, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a small jewelry box. “I stole them from a duchess in Spain.”

“How romantic,” She said sarcastically, lifting the lid to reveal a pair of diamond earrings.

“A beautiful woman deserves beautiful things.” He winked, and she rolled her eyes, snapping the lid shut. “You know, you should really pay attention to the stories people are telling about you. There are a lot of details that people get wrong.”

“I don’t particularly care what others say about me,” She said with a shrug. “I didn’t become a pirate for the fame or glory.”

“Me either.” He said, and she held his gaze for a long moment. “I’ve been looking all over for you, ya know.”

“So I’ve heard,” She said with an amused smirk, looking him up and down as if she were sizing him up. “Captain Chat Noir, the pirate on a desperate quest for a piece of ass.”

She chuckled as his eyes narrowed into a glare. “That’s not true!”

“Now who needs to pay attention to their stories?” She asked teasingly, leaning down into his face and causing his breath to hitch when she traced his jaw with her finger. “So why do you spend your days tracking me, Chat Noir?”

“Because you set me free and I am in your debt,” He said gently, pouring every ounce of sincerity and tenderness into his expression, though such feats proved hard with the blood rushing to his head. “And I long to know something.”

Ladybug cocked a hip to the side, leaning against the rope and quirking a brow. “What would that be?”

“Four years ago you attacked my naval fleet. Killed all of my men and sank every last vessel to the bottom of the ocean. You saw me floating on a piece of drift wood and chose to let me live,” He recounted. “Why?”

“Why what?” She shrugged. “Why did I sink you fleet? Because I hate the navy. Why didn’t I kill you?” She paused for a moment and pursed her lips. “You were just a kid playing captain, and I don’t murder children. I do have some sense of decency, you know.”

“I know. It’s one of the many reasons I admire you.” He winked, and she rolled her eyes, flicking the wheel sharply and causing the sail to shift. She released her hold on the rope, effectively flinging Chat into the water then paced over to the railing and leaned down with an amused glint in her eye as Chat resurfaced.

“Farewell, Chat Noir. Until the next time you find me.” She waved.

Chat watched in awe as she retrieved her sword and sliced through his rope before swimming back to his boat. He laid on the floor, panting and adorned with the widest grin. Ladybug remembered him. She knew that he was searching for her. She smelled like flowers.

Ladybug returned to her post at the wheel, restating their course before pulling out the box of earrings Chat had given her. She eyed them for a moment, trailing her fingers over the gems before snapping it shut and looping a rope around one of the rungs then heading below deck.

“What was all that ruckus?” Alya asked, meeting her halfway on the stairs.

“Just a dazed little kitten who tried to sneak on board,” She said nonchalantly with almost a hint of boredom.

“Chat Noir?” Alya’s eyebrows raised in surprise. “You’ve been giving him the slip for years. He finally caught up to us?”

“I let him,” Ladybug admitted, crossing her arms over her chest. “It’s no fun to let him chase us if he gives up, so I suppose I’ll let him ‘catch’ me from time to time to keep his spirits up.”

“You are wicked, lady. That poor boy follows you all over the world because he fancies you, and you dangle just out of his reach,” Alya laughed, stopping short as Ladybug tossed her the earring box.

“Not me. He got those just for you. Said so himself. I think it’s you he’s after,” She said, passing her down to the lower deck as Alya opened the box with an eye roll.

“Most women would be floored if a man brought them a pair like this,” Alya commented with a prying tone Ladybug knew all too well. “We raid countless ships with gorgeous earrings, yet you’re so attached to the ones you’ve got.”

Ladybug touched them thoughtfully, pausing at the base of the stairs for a moment before turning back over her shoulder.

“They’re lucky.”

#miraculous ladybug #adrien agreste #chat noir #marinette dupain-cheng #ladybug #pirate au #my writing

29 notes · View notes

airanke · 6 years

Text

Actually I have some ideas (?) I wanna’ discuss-- it’s mostly Amita story stuff, but for Legion and Battle For Azeroth stuff (so I’ll put everything under a cut because... I already accidentally spoiled someone on what happens in the Zuldazar raid and like I feel horrible =_=;;; ).

But yeah it’s just points that I want to see if they make sense, because obviously Amita’s story is going to fork off completely from Legion (the biggest two factors being that Vol’jin AND Varian don’t die, because I have a really good idea for Varian that forces him off the throne and puts Anduin in his place and wow amazing it doesn’t involve his death I never knew that was possible wow).

Okay, onwards! I also apologize in advance it gets rambly and long but I have a lot of ideas and I need to make sense of them all :C

First I’ll briefly mention Warlords. I feel like Blizz wanted to put player characters into the forefront more and that’s why Vol’jin “didn’t do anything”. One major thing that happen in Lascivious Ophidian (from here on referred to as LO) is this:

Jaina and Vol’jin tag-team to kill Garrosh. This is proper poetic justice for both the Bombing of Theramore, the Divine Bell incident, the attempt on Vol’jin’s life, and the attempt to wipe out the Darkspear tribe. Remember when Vol’jin tells Garrosh that he’ll get an arrow through his black heart? Yeah.

Anyway, moving on to Legion:

Sylvanas was more than capable of taking out the fel guard before it hit Vol’jin, and so, she does (keep in mind I personally characterize Sylv as being empathetic and deeply caring - perhaps, somewhat compassionate - but she masks it all under anger and indifference. Broken Shore actually supported this and then... BfA happened smh).

Vol’jin and Varian end up fighting the fel reaver together while everyone else gets their shit together and Sylv / Jaina provide long range support, though the latter is considerably mana depleted. Vol’jin still breaks a tusk and ends up losing both.

In the retreat, both Varian and Vol’jin are injured but Vol’jin still manages to shoulder Varian anyway and carry him to Jaina, then he collapses and Sylvanas picks him up and sounds her horn to call her Val’kyr. Horde and Alliance soldiers alike then find themselves either scrabbling onto the Alliance gunship or scrabbling onto the Horde boat. Sylv and Geblin are helping to pull soldiers onto their respective ships.

Slightly off-topic, but an Alliance Paladin and Horde Death Knight (and probably a few other hero / champion aka player characters) stay behind on the shore to prevent demons from pursuing their leaders. They die, of course.

Vol’jin, being a troll, recovers from his critical injury (not sure what it is yet, but trolls are well known in lore from being able to recover from anything, plus in that short story Judgement Vol’jin regenerates his thumb). Varian, on the other hand, is not so lucky, and ends up paralyzed from the legs down. Geblin of course builds him an incredible wheelchair. He begins to mentor Anduin in kingly duties (see? Can “take him out of a story” and not kill him and still have Anduin become king and not have Anduin SHOVED into being a king. Wow. Amazing. Didn’t realize that was even remotely possible).

What events lead up to Amita actually ending up in the Dreamgrove are up in the air, but she does becomes the Archdruid of the class hall in it’s entirety (I need this to be canon to set up BfA events). Thrall also does not disappear, and instead stays at the Earthern Ring to continue mentoring shaman (and passes on the Doomhammer to another shaman as a result). I’m actually not sure if Aggra will even be IN Amita’s story, as she... is literally unimportant and has virtually no impact on Lore as it currently is, except for Thrall’s personal story (I am also Thraina trash, because have I ever told you that Thrall x Jaina was legitimately my first ship before I even knew what shipping was? Yeah. Exactly).

I have no thoughts yet on whether or not I will have Ysera still die in Amita’s story, but we’ll see. This is mostly because I’m still debating on having Amita be nightmare infected in canon (currently it’s just an AU idea I have), but either way, There Will Be A Dragon Fight.

Okay here’s perhaps the most important point. I’m still considering having Vol’jin pass on the mantle of Warchief, but it won’t be to Sylvanas. It will be to Baine - or rather, Vol’jin makes Baine acting warchief in his absence. I remember reading somewhere that the original plan for Vol’jin disappearing on BS was that he “needed to go talk to someone” and then made someone else warchief in his stead so that he could have the freedom to do that. In this case, I’m going to have Vol’jin make Baine acting warchief, and Vol’jin goes to scout out the Zandalari islands, which is where he ends up learning that Talanji and Zul have gone missing, which will of course lead to the infiltration of Stormwind yaddayaddayadda because yes Teldrassil still burns.

Okay, Battle for Azeroth:

I think everyone collectively agrees that the War of the Thorns stuff was horrible because it’s the same old story that everyone is tired of hearing. Anyway. After the Legion’s defeat, Azerite still poses a problem (resource war. I’m going for a resource war). He agrees that taking Teldrassil would be strategic, so War of the Thorns kind of proceeds as is, but he’s THERE, and lets Sylv go after Malfurion.

Horde gets Teldrassil. Baine tells Tyrande to evacuate her city because the Horde will be occupying it soon. Dead are given proper burial rites because Baine is a tauren and Saurfang is an orc and that’s honourable. When the Horde get to Teldrassil, they find siame-quashi crawling all over the place but they soon disappear into the shadows, but Baine knows his brother well enough to be aware that Vol’jin has been in Teldrassil long before they arrived.

Genn incites the burning of Teldrassil - and no, not because he’s malicious and petty but because it makes sense as a war strategy. Yes he knows people are probably going to die, but he corners a Forsaken soldier and pins it on the Horde (the Undercity will also still be blighted into oblivion, and Idk it makes sense to me for the Alliance to make a move like burning the tree if it means taking away a strong foothold from the Horde - or at least, Genn does, but no one finds out that he was the one who started it until Zuldazar Raid stuff. I’M GETTING THERE I PROMISE). Anyway, speaking of that, Vol’jin watches Genn do all of this and then of course has to book it the fuck out of there because no thank you. And he’s not sure how to process the information so he tells Baine to help evacuate the tree as much as he can before yeah they’re forced to leave (also hey the Alliance has shamans too, and if Genn mother-fucking Greymane tells you to do something I’m p sure my scared ass would listen).

Debating on if Sylv starts shooting civillians who can’t make it to the portals / are stuck due to the fires because “killing them with an arrow through the eye is more humane than letting them burn to death”. Compassion, but twisted in a sense. Horde / Alliance mages though try to teleport as many people as possible and both sides suffer some significant losses.

Instead of Legion BS being the reason Jaina becomes furious with the Horde once again, the burning of the tree is. She gets so angry (understandably, plus I can imagine her and Tyrande being rather close as some of the few female leaders in the Alliance) and it’s like an extra blow because Jaina’s already lost Theramore. So then she leaves on her little soul-searching expedition and Thrall wants to go after her but because none of them know how to bring up the news that Greymane was the one who started the fire they kinda go “well shit” and do nothing (which of course bites them in the ass).

Undercity proceeds practically identically to in-game however the comment Sylv makes to Greymane while sitting on the throne is more in-line to “oh yeah you mean the throne you abandoned when you built ur wall and let the Lordaeron citizens - who are basically the Forsaken, btw - die to the scourge you uh. You mean that throne?” obviously way more eloquently but you get the idea.

Amita is coaxed into being under human guise (and goes by the name Juliet, which is also one of Jaina’s nicknames for her) because Jaina decides that she needs the emotional support from her good friend as she goes to Kul Tiras because this has now become a resource war with both Horde and Alliance furious over losing two major important cities respectively. Horde of course infiltrates Stormwind and gets Zul and Talanji out (I’m actually not sure what happens with Saurfang but I think I can still have the event with him facing the Alliance leaders alone happen but more as a “SYLVANAS YOU NEED TO PREPARE EVEN THOUGH I DONT’ AGREE WITH WHAT YOU’VE PREPARED I’LL HOLD THEM OFF” instead of “RAGRGARGR I’M SO MAD HOW DARE U” so Baine is like “I’mma finish evacuating you get yourself ready for the confrontation”).

Lots of shit happens but I’m gonna’ skip to Rezan stuff. Mostly because Amita kills Yazma so I’m not sure how the corruption thing happens, but I’m still going to have him die (perhaps while trying to face off against Mythrax? Translating some raids / dungeons into story points is pretty tough so I haven’t really gotten to that point yet... I’m totally not avoiding it LOL). Either way, whether or not Rezan lives or dies (because that’s important to the story Blizzard wants to tell, but not important to the story I personally want to tell), something does happen that causes Rastakhan to still rapidly age (could easily be something like Bwonsamdi messing around with the connection between Rezan and Rastakhan, after all, Bwonsamdi reeeeeeeeeally wants Rast’s soul).

Oookay so... Siege of Zuldazar:

Amita is in Boralus when the Alliance is planning this. Yes amazingly still no one in the Alliance is aware of what Genn has done (lets just say that he dealt with anyone who tried to let Anduin and Varian know). She ends up ousting herself and Jaina tries to calm her but she ends up furious enough to say “if you march on Zuldazar, the Dreamgrove stands against you. Remember, I am the Archdruid now”. And then she leaves because you don’ fuck w/ a dragon.

So the Dreamgrove of course ends up sweeping into Zuldazar to stop the Alliance in their tracks, and then the Earthern Ring shows up because Thrall is like “I stand with you, Amita”. Amita’s priority is keeping Rastakhan alive so she has Hamuul and Thrall take him and his council to a safe place, and then instructs the druids and shamans to evacuate / protect the civilians, in a sort of “let the alliance and the horde come to blows, I don’t care, just get as many civilians to safety as you can” (wait.. I don’t know if I made it clear that Amita is Champions of Azeroth / Khadgar / Neutral aligned. Okay. She is. Okay back to my rambling).

Basically there are vines everywhere.

Now I still don’t know how the raid ends (like if it ends with a huge naga / old god thing or what, but I’m gonna’ tentatively roll with the idea of Azshara forces rolling in like “durrhurhurr heeellLO LANDWALKERS”), but I know how it ends in LO. Vol’jin confronts Genn in the throne room or... wherever it is that the Alliance confronts Rastakhan, and he and Genn basically have this duel where the whole time Vol’jin is like “why don’t you tell them, Genn, why don’t you tell them who REALLY burned down Teldrassil? Haven’t you told them about how you shoved a torch into the hand of dead forsaken soldier? What about those shamans that were at your side when it happened, what’s become of them?” etcetc which leads to a break in the Alliance’s resolve and they retreat out of Zuldazar because honestly Anduin doesn’t know how to handle this information and I wouldn’t blame him. Neither does Jaina.

As the Alliance is falling back, however, the naga are like “EEEEYY LANDWALKERS” and the Dreamgrove / Earthern Ring come to the rescue with Jaina and Thrall tag-teaming to beat the fuck out of either an Old God herald or a huge Naga mmyes. I will have my Thraina. And the mages show up too because Ollwen is a good friend of Amita’s and she brings the Kirin Tor to HELP. This also saves the Alliance time cuz then they just teleport all the Kul Tiras boats and shit back to Kul Tiras and... then Anduin has to confront Genn. And Tyrande can still become a night warrior lmao don’t worry (as much as I apparently... dislike her???), because even if the Horde wasn’t behind burning Teldrassil, they were still very much behind everything that led UP to burning Teldrassil.

Rastakhn therefore lives but only solely because I want to write him sucking up his pride and stepping down from the throne to let Talanji lead with him as her mentor for at least a year before he finally passes away quietly in the night. Not all deaths have to be blood and glory on the battlefield to have impact. A quiet death is just as impactful (and honestly I have some experience because of how recently I lost my grandfather. Death hits hard regardless of how it happens). So my plan is to have Rastakhan pass away quietly and Talanji goes to greet him in the morning only to come across his cold form. Yeah. The ouchies are still there.

Annnnnnnnnd we’ll see how I decide to proceed from there. Yeah. Wow thanks for reading all the way if you did LMAO?!?!!? You are literally a trooper.

I guess you can tell me your thoughts?? //cries softly.

#Air's antics #BfA spoilers #Battle of Azeroth spoilers #Please don't read if you don't know datamined stuff because EUUUGEUHGHGHGUEH

8 notes · View notes

quileuteima-blog · 7 years

Text

The new guy

Part 1

My writing is a bit rough in this I'm sorry, but ill try get Part 2 up within the next week hopefully <3

Warnings: Swearing

Pairing: Paul x male reader

Requests:

-Imagine Paul Lahote and Embry Call both secretly crushing hardcore on the same guy, which probably strains their close friendship somewhat -Imagine being a new guy in town who Paul imprints on, which shocks him because he's never been attracted to guys before

--I’ve set this in a school which i realise doesn't go with canon as they left school after they phased but lets pretend thats not the case lol thanks

You see the high school getting closer as you walk along the sidewalk, bag slung over your shoulder and earphones filling your head with music to try block out nervous thoughts. However, as you got closer you couldn’t help but think how glad you will be when the day is over, first days at new schools are always the worst. Especially the school you’re starting at isn’t the biggest so it’s likely all that most of the students know each other, making you stand out even more. You sigh as you walk through the high school grounds, you can feel a few people look at you but you keep your eyes focused on the main entrance in front of you.

A chatty and kind member of staff at the front office gave you your books, class times, and a speech, about how welcoming the school, so detailed that you are now fifteen minutes to your first class. “Do you want me to show you to your classroom?” she elder lady asked smiling at you, “I don’t mind finding it myself, but thank you.” you smiled back at her before turning towards the door into the corridor “Have a nice day�� you turned to the staff member that helped you “you too!” she replied as you closed the door behind you. You were already late so you figured a few more minutes wouldn’t hurt whilst you found your way around the school. You realised you didn't even know where you were meant to be going, you looked at the sheet in your hand which showed you had math ‘great’ you sighed under your breathe whilst you walked down the corridor looking for the class number.

It only took your 5 minutes to find the class. You knocked on the closed door and waited for the teacher on the other side to open it, you saw through the small window the man who would be teaching you math and he didn’t look too pleased when he heard the knocking. You ran your hand through your hair and rested it on your neck as you waited, when the door opened your slipped your hand down and held it out to shake your new teachers hand. The man’s expression softened as he saw your face, he must’ve realised you were the new guy. The teacher looked down and saw your hand extended, he gave you a warm smile and shook your hand, seems like your manners may have saved you a lecture about being late. “You must be y/n?” the teacher asked, you nodded your head. “Nice to meet you, I’m Mr. Andreou.” he said before turning to face the class “Everyone this is y/n” your eyes wandered over the bored faces sat in the room. Your gaze fell on a guy who sat at the back of the room, he was slouched in his chair, watching you with a vacant expression. Not that you were expecting a welcoming party, but this guy looked at you as if he were un-impressed or somehow even pissed off. “Y/n there’s empty desk in the middle over there, feel free to sit down.” you broke eye contact with the guy at the back and looked at Mr. Andreou whose hand gestured for you to sit at the empty desk. You pulled your bag off your shoulder as you walked to the desk, dropping it next the chair. As you turned to sit down you briefly looked back over to the guy at the back, who was still watching you. Great, you thought to yourself, he’s probably pissed because I’m the new guy and he’ll give me the whole warning about staying away from the chicks; because for some reason new guys are magnets for girls. This guy will be glad to know that you weren’t even interested in girls that way.

The teacher spoke about Pythagorus theorem for the time that was left of the lesson. However, you didn’t concentrate fully as you focused on working out where you needed to get for your next lesson, Physical education. Plus you had missed the majority of this lesson anyway so it didn’t matter if your attention wasn't fully on task.

The harsh bell signifying the end of period rang out, causing the class to collectively feel relieved from the stress of Math. Mr Andreou sighed in frustration, “...it seems I’ll have to cut off my lecture about pythagorus, but we’ll continue it in next lesson.” A guy sitting somewhere behind you cheered sarcastically and everyone began collecting their bags and leaving the classroom for next lesson. You stood up from your chair and grabbed your bag, placing it on your desk whilst you packed all your stationary in. You felt a tap on your shoulder “Hey, have you got Phys ed next?” a voice asked from behind you, the same voice that cheered a few seconds earlier. “Yeah” you turned to face the guy behind you “Cool that means you’re in our class then, wanna walk with us so you’re not late this time?” he grinned, gesturing to two boys talking next to him. “Sure, thanks” you smiled back. You swung your bag over your shoulder and began walking out the class with the boys you just met. “I’m jared by the way” he introduced himself whilst you walked next to each other down the corridor “this is Paul and Embry” he turned to refer at the two guys walking behind you “hey” you turned to smile at them both, Paul was the guy who gave you the strange look when you came into class. “I’m y/n” you said turning back to face in front. “Do you have any sports kit with you?” Jared asked walking round a corner into the next corridor, “Not yet” you replied following him round the corner and down the corridor which led to a doorway outside. “I’ve got some spare shorts” Embry said from behind you “and I’ve got a spare top” Jared added. “Are you guys sure? Thanks” you turned to smile at them as you all walked on a path between the main school building and the sports field. “Sure, no problem. Saves you having to wear lost and found kit that hasn't been washed in years” Embry said, wrinkling his nose at the thought of the smelly clothes. You looked down at your feet, which were tied inside converse sneakers “Do you reckon i will get away with wearing these?” you turned to ask them, pointing down at your shoes. “Yeah, normally the coach is an asshole about uniform, but you’re the new kid he won’t be strict with you yet.” Paul said bluntly, briefly meeting your eyes before something on the field caught his attention. “The changing rooms are over here” Embry said leaning on your shoulder and pointing to the small building in front to your right.

You placed your bag down on the bench in front of you in the changing rooms. “Here” Jared called out over the loud chatter filling the room, and a top with the school logo flew into your chest. “Thanks” you caught the tshirt and smiled at him. “So why did you move here?” Paul asked whilst you took your hoodie off “I just moved here from a different city” you said, your voice slightly muffled by fabric as you pulled your top off over your head and put in your bag. You picked up the spare top Jared gave you and turned it the right way round. You looked up at Paul, who was changing at the bench opposite you, catching his gaze wander up your torso before briefly meeting your eyes and quickly looking away. You watched Paul as turned to face his gym bag with a frown and his hand running through his hair irritably. You didn't get why your presence seems to piss him off so much. “How long have you been in town?” he asked clearing his throat, his eyes still staying on his bag whilst you pulled your top on. “I,uh, got here this weekend” you said pushing your arms through the sleeves and pulling them hem of the top down. “Oh so only like 2 or 3 days then? Have you seen much yet?” Jared asked turning to face you “Oh! I’ll find the shorts for you” he suddenly remembered and began digging around in his bag. “Not really, obviously there’s the national park and I heard there’s a beach with decent waves” you replied, placing your foot up on the bench and untying your laces. “Yeah La Push. We have parties and bonfires there, and we surf when we can” Embry said pulling shorts out his bag and throwing them to you “Next time we go you’ll have to come with us” “Sure, thanks” you said catching them and placing them on the bench in front of you so you could pull your shoes off. “I’m gonna go warm up.” Paul said to no-one in particular, barely putting his top on properly before rushing out of the changing rooms. You watched Paul’s abrupt exit and turned back to see Jared and Embry carrying on un-phased by Paul. “Is he normally this moody?” You asked them as you sat down and pulled your jeans off, swapping them for the shorts you borrowed from Jared. “Paul is prone to mood swings pretty often, they're un-predictable but you get used to it.” Even if Paul is in bad moods often, you can’t help but think you have something to do with his today. “Do you guys know what we are going to be doing in gym today?” you say standing up and putting one foot on the bench to tie up the laces on your sneakers. “Soccer, so technically it’s not gym because we’ll be on the field.” Embry replied also tying up the laces to his own shoes. “Are you any good?” Jared asked, and they both looked at you awaiting your reply. “Uhh, I’d say average. I mean i have enough co-ordination to kick the ball in the direction i aim for.” You played a lot of soccer with friends as a kid and at previous schools, so you had enough experience to at least hold your own but you still weren’t amazing. “That’ll be good enough” Embry grinned “but just to warn you, we all get a little competitive” “a little?” Jared questioned and Embry laughed “Fine, a lot.” “A lot competitive? Great english bro.” Jared mocked, making you all laugh. “You ready?” Embry stood next to you as you finished tying the laces of your other sneaker “Yeah let’s go.” you said following them out the changing rooms and towards the pitch marked out on the field. You weren’t surprised the boys here got competitive, but the pressure of proving yourself was starting to make you nervous.

The coach was your typical no-nonsense, drill sergeant teacher. He welcomed you in his own way, which was acknowledging you were new to the school and asking how good you were at soccer; you gave him the same answer you gave Jared and Embry earlier. The coach put you in teams by throwing blue or green bibs randomly at the students. You were pleased to see Jared run up to you wearing a green bib matching your own, at least you knew at least one person on your team. Paul and Embry were on the blue team, and they were trash-talking your team relentlessly, mainly aimed at Jared as he was eagerly sending witty insults back to them until the coach had to blow the whistle to shut everyone up.

Once the teams had finished assigning positions the coach blew the whistle once again for the game to start. You had gladly agreed to take centre midfield as the other guy playing centre midfield seemed extremely confident as he said he was happy to take the most control in the centre field for you both; which saved you the worry of messing up too much. Also Jared was left mid-field so he could be in a space near you to help you out. Immediately after the sharp whistle rang out over the pitch, two boys were clashing over the ball, and a forward from your team managed to tackle successfully. You ran over to back them up with the other centre midfield, whilst Jared sprinted ahead to receive a pass and dribble the ball past a player on the green team. The speed and co-ordination that Jared was moving with took you by surprise, not that you didn't think he would be good but he definitely was a skilled player. You slowly jogged behind and stopped once Jared and another player on your team weaved through opponents towards the goal. Paul and Embry were in defence for the green team, and they were fast approaching Jared to go in for a tackle. You couldn’t believe how quick their reactions were, their feet were moving with the ball so quickly and before you knew it Jared and Embry had completely dismissed the ball and they were now wrestling in the middle of the field. You weren’t sure if it was a fight at first, but you heard laughter echoing over and caught glimpses of them grinning so you knew it was just play fighting. No one else really reacted so it must be a common occurrence between the two friends, and it took the coach several whistles until they actually quit rolling about.

Everyone got back into a space and the whistle blew once again, setting people off running to the ball. The green team had the ball this time, and they were heading this way so you and your centre midfielder starting running towards the opponents to try and make tackles and block passes.

Embry stood near the goal, his arms leaning down on his bent knees whilst he watched the players on the other side of the pitch. “What do you think of y/n?” he said watching your frame blocking a pass and kicking the ball to a member of your team. “Seems alright.” Paul said nonchalantly from where he stood next to Embry, his eyes still focused on the activity in the distance. “then why are you acting so pissed around him?” Embry frowned looking over to his pack brother, only for Paul to continue avoiding his gaze; his eyes still looking straight ahead. “Im not pissed because of him, i’m just having a bad day- you should know my moods aren't exactly controlled.” Paul huffed, bringing his arms up to cross over his chest. A grin creeps onto Embry’s face as he sees an opportunity to wind Paul up “Are you sure you’re not just playing hard to get?” he cocks an eyebrow waiting for a reaction, which was sooner than expected. “What?” Paul snaps his head round to look at Embry, a mix of shock and anger swept across his face. Embry laughed after getting a reaction he was looking for “I'm just kidding, dude” Paul looks at Emrby for a bit longer, a frown still etched onto his face which softens slightly as he slowly turns back to face the direction of the ball, brushing of Embry’s comment. “...I know you're more into taller guys anyway.” Embry bit his lip, which still failed to hide his grin, as he knew he was really testing Paul with this comment. “What the fuck is your problem?!” Paul says sharply, his whole body snapping round this time as he began walking up to Embry, who quickly lifts his torso up to stand straight. His grin now completely fading off his face. “Woah Paul chill? I was kidding, you know that.” Embry said defensively, but ensuring his body language is submissive to prevent Paul spiralling out of control. “Well, when are you gonna stop taking it so far? It’s funny occasionally but after a while it gets annoying, you talking shit all the time.” Paul stood and frowned at Embry, his voice clearly showing his frustration. “I was just playing around? I don't get why you let me get to you so easy, sorry if i annoyed you but how is this any different from our every day interactions?” Embry knitted his eyebrows in confusion as he looks at Paul. “I wasn't affected! I’m not, you're just getting on my nerves. Why did you even make those comments, what were they supposed to mean?” Paul’s frustration increased with each word that left his lips, his voice beginning to strengthen, getting more aggressive as his anger levels start rising. “Paul, hey calm down ma-” “Don’t tell me to calm down!” Paul barked, marching up to Embry and shoving him.

(Back to your POV)

You were in the middle of tackling an opponent to get the ball off them, the past few minutes have been chaos of the ball bouncing between the two teams, and you were impressed with how well you've kept up. “Don’t tell me to calm down!” A deep voice shouted, snapping everyone out of their momentum as you and all the other players look over to see Paul’s large frame clash against Embry’s. Immediately murmuring started, and the coach ran over to them. Jared also began running over, and got their quicker than the coach, pulling Embry back from Paul as soon as he reached the pair. You could see Jared lean to murmur something to Embry, pushing him gently on the shoulder before Embry stormed off towards the changing rooms. Jared then walked over to Paul, where the coach was already trying to diffuse Paul’s angry state, you could see Paul and Jared were having a heated debate by the way their hands were gesturing as they spoke. Not before long Paul also stormed off, running his hand aggressively through his hair as he walks off towards the side entrance of the school building. “What do you think that was about?” you said to a guy watching from next to you “I don't know, but it doesn’t take much to set off Paul’s temper. He’s a cool guy, but sometimes i think he's got a screw loose.” he replied. The coach and Jared walked over to where you all stood on the pitch. Jared came and stood next to you, giving you a small nod when you looked at him to signal it was alright. “Well, i think we’ll call it a day after that. Put your overalls in the basket and go get changed.” The coach sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose, walking away towards the school building; probably to grab a coffee and shut himself in his office to avoid any more teen drama.

“Will they be alright?” you asked Jared, as you walked towards the changing rooms “who Paul and Embry?” Jared looked at you and you nodded in response, “yeah that’s nothing, they’ll be back joking around probably by the end of next lesson.” Jared said distantly, he didn't sound so sure. His mind seemed occupied by other thoughts. It wasn't awkward silence whilst you were getting changed, Embry was still worked up and you could tell you were all thinking about what could have caused Paul’s foul mood.

Paul’s temper was still the topic of conversation whilst you three walked to the literature block. You didn’t mind though it was nice having a break from the polite conversation you've had to make with so many people today. “...I just don’t get why he was so sensitive? Paul and i are always winding up so I don't understand why he reacted so quickly today.” Embry said whilst he trudged alongside you and Jared. “Well, what did you actually say to him?” Jared replied looking over to Embry, who turned his gaze in another direction “ummm” he thought, scratching his head “well, I can't remember exactly but it was barely two sentences.” You and Jared faced each other, sharing a frown, before Jared turned back to face Embry “dude, you are shit at lying. What did you say?” You both continued to look at Embry, waiting for his reply, as you all continued walking along the path next to the school buildings. “Fine, I just said something about how I thought Paul’s type was taller men blah blah blah you get the idea.” Embry rolled his eyes, turning his head to face you both. “Is that it?” Jared replied and Embry nodded. “Weird.” Jared said after a few seconds. “That’s what I mean! Why did that hit a nerve so bad? I’ve said a lot worse to Paul before when we wind each other up and he hasn't batted an eyelid.” Jared hummed in thought whilst Embry continued rambling on until you all reached your classroom.

The literature lesson was spent with the teacher briefly explaining the back story of a play, and they clearly didn't want to be there which was confirmed when they told the class they were putting on a clip of the play for the rest of the lesson. You ignored the dull audio coming form the TV at the front of the class. You’re gaze fixed on the sky through the window, whilst the events on the soccer pitch replayed in your mind, the thought you couldn’t get out your mind was ‘am i the reason Paul is so pissed?’ even though you can’t think of why you would be.

The rest of the day went daily smoothly. You sat with Jared, Embry, and the rest of their friends for lunch where they all excitedly talked over each other to give you the low down about their school and your fellow classmates. However, Paul wasn't anywhere to be seen that afternoon. Once you got home all thoughts of him had faded out your mind, as you were exhausted from the first day at school you just put your headphones in and collapsed on your bed.

-To be continued-

#Quileute imagines #Paul lahote imagine #Paul lahote #Paul lahote x male!reader #Embry call #Jared Cameron #Twilight wolf pack

315 notes · View notes

sanjiafsincedayone · 7 years

Text

Sanji and Purin - My view

So chapter 876 happened and I just wanted to update my thoughts on Sanji and Purin after what was shown in the chapter. I’ll also talk a little about what my thoughts are regarding where Oda might take the story with these characters. Or at least what my personal hope for it is.

Now, I don't want to come off as rude to anyone who likes Sanji and Purin together, but if you're sensitive just avoid my post.

First, looking briefly at chapter 876, I want to just mention the strawhats’ reactions to meeting Purin again.

I must say even though we did get a reaction from Luffy and the line “Then piss off!” was hilarious I think he forgave Purin rather easily… Or not forgave, but his reaction wasn’t that big. I assume Chiffon made it better? And it seems like there is this “We have only one option” vibe about making the cake… Which I suppose is ok, but isn’t really explained well. But anyways, back to Purin. I found it interesting that not even Sanji seemed all that interested in Purin except for his normal cute girl reaction he had at first. Which I understand, I mean it’s still Sanji. If he had even worse reactions when he knew she wanted to kill him this is very understandable in comparison even if she is clearly crazy. But I definitely don't see it as a sign for future romance or true love. Just a few chapters ago we saw Sanji going heart eyes over Nami and saying he wanted to be her slave. So how does this moments indicate anything deeper than Sanji's other love-cook moments? The only real differance is that Purin is seemingly attracted to him too, but we’ll get back to that.

Personally I find Purin’s character interesting as she goes between extreme yandere and tsundere… But I do wonder how Oda is going to handle this… I feel like he might go the “Sanji’s kindness changes Purin” by the end, meaning Purin’s evil side might disappear completely. Which would be a very simple solution in my opinion. If she really has some psychological problems, like a split personality it’s a little odd to just “make it go away” by something like that. But it’s a shonen, so I guess it’s to be expected if that happens.

Either way, despite finding her quite funny and interesting I’m not sure I like how Oda has treated Purin in general, making the readers confused more than anything… Which I assume is mostly for shock-value. But not knowing who the real Purin is makes it harder to understand and thus also perceive her as a character. For me as a reader this has meant I haven’t been able to form a proper relation with or feeling towards Purin, except for confusion. So I don’t like her for being a bad character and I don’t like her for being a nice character. I don’t hate her either, I don’t really feel much about her at all. She was rather funny the last time we saw her, so that’s an improvement, and there is some time left of the arc, so I guess Oda still has time to present her in a less confusing manner now that we know why she seems to switch personality. But either way since not even the strawhats know if they can trust her I still can’t trust her fully either.

And that is a big problem. If Oda really want Purin to be a love interest he has to make it clear that she’s someone trustworthy. Oda can’t just give Sanji a pretty girl and expect people to be happy with it. It takes a lot more than that to develop a genuine relationship, not even a romantic one but just one of friendship or less needs to be shown clearly. Which is difficult when we don’t even know if we can truly trust Purin. You get my point? Oda needs to make things much clearer regarding Purin before anything else.

Anyways, I guess we won’t get to spend that much time with Sanji, Purin and Chiffon… Baking a cake shouldn’t be all that interesting to watch, so we’ll probably just get a few updates here and there until they are on their way back and things can go wrong again.

Now, when it comes to Sanji x Purin, I can see a few options on how the story might evolve, but I can’t see them actually becoming a canon couple by the end of this arc. I know many seems to ship them now, and I kind of get it but at the same time I don't. I’ll state my reasons why Sanji and Purin doesn't work for me if we speak about canon romance.

First there is no reason for Sanji to get a love interest now. I personally think Sanji strives to find true love and that he’s not the playboy type so many fans seem to think. So by the end of the series, yes I'd love for Sanji to have changed enough to have a real romance. But adding a love interest now would mean that Sanji’s personality would be altered from now on out.

It would change the dynamics of the crew and I don’t think Oda would get rid of Sanji’s perverted side (even though I personally would love to see it toned down a lot), but if Sanji stays the same even after getting together with someone he will get a bad (even worse) image. Which is why I think Sanji needs to gradually change for him to end up with a love interest.

That being said, rejecting Purin despite a mutual attraction would be a perfect way to show that Sanji is not shallow and that to him love isn’t just about attraction. Especially since he’s already said himself that he doesn’t want to marry a girl he just met and barely know. Imagine him going back on that statement?

This panel sums up the ship’s shallowness for me, because the only thing that has happened after this is that Purin has hurt and tried to kill Sanji and his close ones while also proving to be crazy.

Also imagine what a message it sends out. “If a girl is pretty it doesn’t matter what she does, she’ll still get prince charming.” I’m all for Purin getting some sort of redemption, but not through romance. I’m actually pretty sure her redepmtion will happen in some way, but it doesn’t change how much evil she has done and it doesn’t change the fact that she and Sanji barely know each other.

Basically there is not enough development. No time for two people to actually fall in love properly. Perhaps a crush, but nothing more. It’s too shallow. Purin falling for Sanji because of one compliment is horrible but understandable because of her past. But it’s still shallow, and doesn’t sound like a healthy way to start a relationship at all. And Sanji falling for someone as crazy as Purin just because she’s beautiful is also extremely shallow. I see no purpose of ruining both their characters like this by actually trying to show their development as a real love story. However, if Oda instead uses the opportunity of this small crush to show development in both characters, I will be more than happy. It will also be consistent with what Sanji has already claimed.

If Sanji rejects her that will be further development for his character, and Purin could also end up on a similar path as Lola, being free to search for her own true love instead of getting together with the first person that comes along and compliments her, making her basically obsessed instantly. If Sanji helps her on this road surely there will be enough to keep on shipping them happily, but having them turn canon just doesn't make sense at this point.

Also, frankly Purin is crazy and Sanji deserves better. Oda should have made Purin likeable from the start, or at least made sure to do a Violet and show she wasn’t actually evil and enjoyed taunting Sanji. Despite Purin turning good and possibly even getting rid of her “evil side” because of Sanji it doesn’t erase the fact that she tried to kill Sanji and his loved ones, just a few hours (minutes?) ago. I haven’t even forgiven Ceasar yet, how would you expect me to forgive Purin so easily? Just because half of her seem to like Sanji now?

She went too far to deserve being together with Sanji. The switch is too sudden, and even if she proves to be trustworthy by the end of the arc she’s still a crazy person who acts obsessive and just last chapter threatened to kill Sanji’s nakama. That is not a good relationship.

If so Violet was a better choice and Oda decided not to further develop that at all. In hindsight the only reasons I can see for Violet’s interactions with Sanji are

1. To remind the audience again about Sanji’s problem with fighting women in preparation for the current arc and the reveal of Sanji’s past.

2. To show that Sanji is in fact a good catch and can have women fall for him. Which is also a good set up in preparation for WCI. And also possibly show that Sanji is interested in love, not just lust.

3. Once again highlight Sanji’s ability to turn enemy into friend with his kindness.

4. To prove that Sanji’s nakama are of course more important to him than a woman he just met. Which Oda showed again when Sanji first rejected Purin.

5. Convenience for the plot.

I feel like Purin could be the next step in this development, and possibly change the view of Sanji because of what many One Piece fans consider the biggest flaws in Sanji’s character.

The chances of Purin becoming a new nakama are slim, but that is most likely the only way Oda could get enough time to develop a proper relationship between Sanji and Purin. Why I don’t think that she will become a nakama are because of a few reasons, but quickly I’ll just say I don’t think it’s likely because: Her job on the crew would be redundant. Either she would be there to bake or possibly to read poneglyphs and Sanji and Robin already perfectly fill those roles. She also doesn’t seem to be much of a fighter, and her ability with manipulating memories could in the long run be a hassle for Oda to keep track of. I don’t know, but I just don’t see her set of skills fitting with becoming a nakama.

She being on board as she is now with a double personality would of course be funny, but probably get really old in the long run since it’s not just a temporary gag. It would of course also mean that Sanji could possibly change and I am sure not many readers are interested in seeing romance being displayed on the regular. Most people who even wants romance in One Piece agrees it’s not the focus and that it would be better to wait with possible romance until the end of the series. Development towards that is of course needed, but in Purin’s case where it’s basically already confirmed she has a crush on Sanji I feel like it would be too much of a distraction. Even though Sanji actually does seem to be rather calm about her reactions.

There are also much more likable and possible choices for new nakama, like Carrot. I don’t know, I could be wrong, but personally I just don’t see Purin becoming a nakama neither a permanent love interest for Sanji.

I've also seen many talk about Purin being somthing similar what Kaya is for Usopp. But again, this is completely different. Kaya and Usopp have history together and got to know each other over a long period of time. They also fell in love/like each other for the right reasons, and there is nothing shallow about that possible ship. Sanji and Purin doesn't know each other, and what they know they don't seem to like. With the only exception being Purin's looks and Sanji's compliment. Everything else is ambiguous at best and even if there are more genuine feelings there, there is no way it's love already. Hence, I can't see Oda making it canon, at least not the way things look right now.

So, in short I does seem like Purin will be redeemed to some degree, but no matter how the story goes from now it doesn’t seem like making Sanji and Purin a canon couple is a very good idea. Also, my hope is for Oda to use this oppertunity to once and for all prove that Sanji isn’t as shallow as so many seem to think.

Thank you for reading, I know there’s a lot in here you’ve probably heard before, but I wanted to put out my own thoughts anyway. I really wanted to post this sooner, but my computer hasn’t really been on my side recently. ^^’’ And again, I’m not against shipping Sanji and Purin, I just think it’s a really bad choice for a canon romance. Let me know what you think!

#sanji #purin #pudding #sanji x pudding #whole cake island #one piece #romance #spoiler #manga analysis #charlotte purin

75 notes · View notes

avidbeader · 7 years

Text

Voltron Season 3 Speculation Fic - Part 5

I thought it might stay G-rated, and then I had an on-page death, so T rating for mild violence. Sheith pairing.

I’ve developed this mini-rhythm of long chapter, “interlude”, long chapter, “interlude”. I have thought of something for at least one more short interlude, then at least one more longish chapter that should deliver on the Sheith.

Still debating titles.

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>

Shiro studied the updated plans of Zarkon’s command center from the agent, noting just how deep in the red dot showing Keith’s location was. His chest ached at the thought of Keith in Haggar’s hands, remembering bits and pieces of his own torture. The need to get to him before she could do any permanent damage ate at him. What if she discovered he was part Galra? How would that change her tactics? Would it make it easier or harder for her to brainwash him the way she had tried with Shiro?

Pidge watched him from her station.

“Is there any chance of replicating the virus attack? That would give us a huge advantage.”

Shiro shook his head. “We can’t count on it working again. Zarkon’s programmers almost certainly came up with a defense for it. Plus, we don’t have any way to get the codes to this Davrith.”

“You and I could take Green and sneak aboard. Or one of the Blades could come with me.”

Shiro paused at that. “You have a point. Maybe. What I’d really like to do is find a way to boost the Blue Lion’s sonic attack so it could take out the bigger target and leave it down for longer.”

“Have you asked Lance about it?”

“Not yet. He’s still dealing with his misplaced guilt over assuming Keith was dead because he saw the explosion and jumped to conclusions.”

“Conclusions that the Galra wanted us to jump to.”

Shiro dragged his hands down his face. “I know. But Lance isn’t listening yet.”

The doors slid open and Kolivan entered. He wasn’t smiling but had an air of satisfaction about him.

Pidge tilted her head. “You look like the cat that ate the canary.”

Kolivan’s eyebrows knit together as he tried to parse her statement. “Is that good?”

“She means that you look like you have good news. Do you?”

Now Kolivan’s mouth quirked up at the corners. “Yes. We have a contact who deals with highly specialized chemicals. He has reported an order placed by a Galra commander on the main ship for a very specific gaseous compound that is used to provide sustenance for someone encased in an isolation unit.”

“Sustenance…for a prisoner?” Pidge caught on immediately.

“An isolation unit? That could explain why Red didn’t go after him! She can’t find him!” Shiro pounded one fist on his console.

“And…we have a way to get the virus on board, if Slav can alter it enough to guarantee that it will work again.” Kolivan’s face showed a proper smile at this.

<> <> <> <> <>

Slav came through in a big way. Shiro told himself he would never, ever lose patience with the troubled Bitor again.

The initial thought of getting the virus code to Davrith through the delivery of the gas tanks was immediately shot down by Allura.

“We have no way of communicating with her that it will be there and no way of knowing what kind of scanners they might be using to screen the delivery. We have to think of something else.”

“Elves!” Slav shouted.

“Uh, no. She said ‘else’.” Lance tried to reason with the suddenly excited scientist. Slav ignored him and began leaping around the room.

“Computer elves! Tiny, tiny computer elves that will crawl everywhere and shut down everything when we say so! There’s over an eighty percent chance that it will take down the entire ship if we give them twelve vargas!”

Antok stepped over to Slav and laid one hand on his head. To Shiro’s astonishment, Slav immediately calmed down.

I have to remember that trick…

“Please explain, Slav. And talk as if you were telling Borot.” Antok’s tone made it clear that Borot, whoever he was, was not very bright.

But all Slav had to do was say, “Nanites!” and Pidge was on her feet as well.

“Yes! That’s perfect!”

“Nanites?” Allura looked lost.

Pidge bobbed her head eagerly. “They’re super-tiny machines, like microscopic computers! We can plant them on the delivery and activate them once they’re inside! They’ll multiply and spread throughout the entire ship and on our command will dismantle anything we tell them to! We’ll be able to walk in the front door totally undetected!”

Slav waved multiple arms. “And if we vary the attacks the nanites can cause and set them to deploy in waves, we might even have vargas of time to work with!”

Hope rose in Shiro’s chest. “Pidge, you and Hunk work with Slav to get these nanites ready. Allura, would you contact the Olkari and see if they might be able to help them? Lance, work with Blue to see if you can get any more strength into your sonic canon as backup. Kolivan and I will set things up with his contact. Coran, we need the Castle’s teludav in perfect working order for a fast getaway.”

He looked around. “Is everyone clear?” He got a round of nods. “Then let’s get our Red Paladin back!”

<> <> <> <> <>

They approached the Galra command ship from the other side of a red giant star, stationing the Castle out of view in the atmosphere of one of the system’s gaseous planets. Coran and Allura had prepared the teludav to allow up to three wormhole jumps without her presence. Shiro waited with Pidge in the Green Lion’s cockpit. Hunk, Lance, and Antok would take one of the cloaked pods. Allura and Kolivan were in the other.

When the command ship went dark, Pidge gripped Shiro’s hand briefly before guiding the cloaked Green Lion in toward a large landing bay. He gripped back, then let go so she would have both hands to land.

“I’m coming in hot!”

Shiro shook his head. They had to stay focused.

“Team Alpha is in position.”

Hunk’s voice responded, “Team Beta is ready.”

Allura finished the roll. “Team Gamma is in position.”

“All right. Move in and head for the Komar lab.”

<> <> <> <> <>

They met no resistance at first. The metal bodies of deactivated sentries littered the hallways, but there was no sign of any Galra soldiers. Pidge connected her vambrace interface to a console long enough to send a command to the nanites: open all doors and lock them in place.

Moving freely through the corridors, they worked their way in. Things had been going smoothly long enough for Pidge to get careless and she moved into the next hallway without checking it closely.

A purple energy bolt just missed her and Shiro yanked her back. Laser fire came from the other end of the hall and they heard Lance yell, “All clear!”

<> <> <> <> <>

When the lights suddenly went out, Davrith reacted instantly. She slapped one hand on the control panel for the iso-pod, sending magic into the unit to maintain its power. A few other quick-thinking druids raised their hands, casting faint light around the lab.

Haggar looked at them, then tried to raise the commanders. When she got no response, she gasped. “The emperor! He’ll be defenseless!” Her gaze swept around the lab, nodding approvingly at Davrith. “Yes. You and Kalech stay here and guard the paladin. Everyone else, come with me!” Puffs of inky smoke erupted as the rest of the Komar vanished.

Davrith shifted so she could change hands, ostensibly leaving her dominant hand free in case of an attack. Kalech headed for a communications panel and tried to power it up. She counted thirty ticks, waiting for him to get heavily involved in his task, then summoned her power.

Lightning shot across the lab and engulfed Kalech, turning him into a pile of dust on the floor.

<> <> <> <> <>

At the next turn they found Allura, shifted into a Galra appearance, with Kolivan and Antok. They had managed to obtain guard uniforms. The leader of the Blades indicated the upcoming left turn. “That’s the entrance to the lab.”

Shiro nodded at Allura to try first as they had planned. She strode into the open doors and called out, “You there! We need support at the bridge!”

The response was an instant magical attack. The paladins cried out at seeing Allura hit. But before any of them could get a shield up and intercept, a vivid aura formed around her.

Everyone paused. A lone druid halted the attack and tilted their head, watching as Allura looked in shock at her glowing hands and arms. Shiro ran toward the druid, intent on taking them down before they could pull their vanishing act.

Pidge raced with him, her speed making up for his longer legs. Then she skidded to a halt as she spotted just who was inside the chamber that the druid seemed to be guarding. She screamed, “Keith! Keith!”

Shiro swung and overbalanced in surprise as the druid did not vanish but ducked instead, keeping one hand planted in place on the apparatus. Shiro grabbed their free hand with his human hand and twisted the arm up, forcing them to bow. “Back away from him!”

“I can’t if you want him to live. I am the only thing keeping this pod powered right now, and we can’t set him free until I’ve had a chance to disengage it properly.”

Shiro eased up the pressure at those words. “Davrith?”

“Yes.”

Shiro let go immediately as the others gathered around, Lance and Hunk facing the doors. The druid used her free hand to remove the mask covering her face and pull her hood back, revealing a Galra with sharp features and a long mane of hair. “Hello, Kolivan.”

“Hello. You’ve done well here. How can we get Keith to safety?”

She pointed back to the hallways. “We need an antigrav runner, the biggest one possible. There should be some two hallways to the left in a cargo bay.”

“Antok, you and Hunk get it.”

“I can camouflage us as we move, but we need another way to keep this iso-pod powered.”

A memory flickered across Shiro’s awareness.

All you need is power?

Yeah, but one that's compatible with Galra tech.

“I can do it.”

She glanced down at his cybernetic hand and nodded. “Yes, your hand will work. Here!” She reached over, guiding him to lay the metal palm and fingers on the panel next to her hand. He activated the hand and she nodded.

“Between you, me, and the princess, we can keep it going until we get it to your ship.” She stepped away and pulled off the hooded robe, tossing it to the floor with the mask.

Kolivan watched. “I take it you’re coming with us now that your cover is blown?”

“It might not actually be blown, if I can pull this off. Princess, I need your help.”

Allura moves to stand beside her.

“I am going to funnel a bit of my quintessence into these, enough for Haggar to get a reading and be able to identify me. I need you to take that energy within you, what you just used to defend yourself, and turn it outward. Make it an attack—I want this uniform burned to a crisp.”

Allura nodded. “This will suggest that you died trying to prevent us from rescuing Keith.”

“Exactly.”

She waited as Davrith sent waves of power into the robe and mask. When the agent lowered her hand, Allura reached in, looking for that same path to her inner self that she had used in the Balmera’s rebirth. She focused a small part of that energy into her hands, then shoved…

The clothing turned into ash before her.

Davrith nodded. “Consider this my notice, Haggar.”

<> <> <> <> <>

Shiro crouched next to the pod, riding the transport as the Blades and Hunk directed it toward the closest of the ships, Allura’s pod. Pidge rode on the other side, trying to establish the iso-pod’s parameters on her interface. Allura and Lance were on the front, ready to attack if they were detected. Davrith rode on the back, keeping up the illusion of empty hallways as they moved.

They reached the pod without incident. Allura took the pilot’s seat with Kolivan next to her. They shifted the iso-pod into the hold, Shiro maintaining contact. He looked around and made a decision. “Allura, swing around to the landing bay where the Green Lion is. It’ll be safer to circle the ship instead of going through it again. We don’t know how much longer the nanites will keep their systems down. Pidge, you take everyone else around to the other pod for Lance and Hunk to pilot back.”

Within a few minutes everyone was en route back to the castle. Shiro laid his free hand on the glass separating him from Keith. “We’ve got you. We’re going to get you out of there.”

Abruptly the pod rolled and Shiro was tossed to the side. As his cybernetic hand lost contact with the iso-pod, the lights flickered out, enveloping Keith in darkness.

“NO!” Shiro’s body seemed to be all knees and elbows as he scrambled back, smacking his metal hand back onto the control panel and ramming power through the connection. The lights flared and inside the pod he could see Keith, the cords in his neck standing out as he strained against something.

No, no, please no!

The pod veered again and Shiro braced himself into place.

“Allura, what’s happening?”

“A Galra warship just came out of hyperdrive! I don’t know how, but they can see through the cloaks! Pidge is on it—” Allura broke off to yell in joy, “Coran! Coran’s bringing the Castle in!”

“Allura, your priority is to get inside that Castle now! Where’s Davrith?”

“She’s with us!” Lance replied.

“Head straight for the Castle—we need her to dismantle the iso-pod. Then get your Lions and help Pidge. I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

“Whoa! Nice shot, Pidge! I think she’s got it covered, Shiro. She already vined up their engines and she just took out the ion cannon by firing vines into the hull under the particle barrier! They tore it apart!”

“Yeah, I need just one more shot at the bridge—whatever their sensing capability is that ruined our invisibility is likely to be there. We don’t want them to keep that.”

“Bay doors are open for everyone! Hurry!” Coran shouted. “Wormhole is ready as soon as we’re all on board!”

“Make sure you close the doors before we jump this time!” Hunk shot back.

<> <> <> <> <>

They set the iso-pod up in the cryo room, in the center. Shiro peered in at Keith, who no longer looked like he was in pain, but had a frown on his face that had not been there before.

Soon, we’re getting you out of there soon, I promise.

Davrith entered with the others and strode over to Shiro’s side. She zeroed in on a line of code flashing and threw a sharp look at Shiro.

“When did you interrupt the connection?”

“Allura had to evade out there. The first time I wasn’t expecting it and got tossed away from the pod. How bad is it?”

“Rather bad. I have no idea what interrupting the illusion might have done to his state of mind. I can still draw out the illusion itself, but his mind may have set up his own parameters and I have no way of reaching him without knowing them.”

“Reaching his mind? Like connecting in each other’s thoughts?” Pidge asked.

Davrith nodded.

“We can do that, can’t we? We can use the mind-meld bands!”

Shiro brightened in hope. “Yes! I’ll do it! Coran, can you get those for us?”

Davrith waved at Allura. “We’ll need you, princess. We have to maintain power until he’s completely clear of the chamber. If Shiro is going to connect mentally and I am detaching him from the illusion, you need to keep power going. Place your hand here and channel your energy like you did before, but slowly and gently.”

Allura let the Galra woman place her hand on the control. She summoned the power within her and let it flow in a minute trickle into the machine.

Davrith laid her hand on top of Allura’s. “A little stronger. A little more. There, try to keep it steady.”

On her other side, Pidge and Hunk were talking a mile a minute about interfaces, Shiro trying his best to follow along. Pidge asked Coran to bring the head of one of the training robots as well as two mind-meld devices and Hunk sent Lance out to fetch his toolbox.

The Blades were standing to one side, unsure of how to help. Davrith called them over. “Kolivan, look inside. Can you see any physical connections between the paladin and the pod?”

Kolivan leaned over and peered inside. “It’s a bit hard to see through his hair, but yes. I see three, maybe four cables running from the panel behind him into his neck and shoulders.”

“I was afraid of that. This is going to take a while. Champi—Black Paladin?” He looked up at her. “If you’re the one who will be entering a mind joining, I strongly suggest you take a few minutes to change from your armor. The more comfortable your body is, the easier it will be for you.” He looked through the glass at Keith, clearly reluctant to leave him even for a moment.

Davrith looked sympathetic, but insisted. “Shiro, was it? I mean it. Go, get changed and return.”

Allura added, “That goes for the rest of you. Pidge, Hunk, you can set up your machine after Coran gets back.”

<> <> <> <> <>

Shiro would be lying if he said being out of his armor and back in his own clothes didn’t make a difference. But he still seethed at the delay.

He entered to find Lance directing Antok in setting up one of the cushioned chairs from the observatory next to the iso-pod. Pidge and Hunk scurried in behind him, making a beeline for Coran as he arranged things.

Kolivan’s voice carried over the activity. “That’s three! Can you tell how many more?”

“Two more…” Davrith’s voice sounded strained. “Shiro, get in place. You will enter the mind meld first, alone. Once you are fully immersed in your mind, you will be able to join with the first presence you detect. That will be Keith, as soon as these two finish getting the two machines to talk to one another.

“It may take quite an effort on your part. Keith may not believe that you’re actually present. You’re going to have to coax him back.”

“I understand. Do it.”

Coran placed the device on his head.

<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>

Part 6

#voltron #voltron legendary defender #sheith #fanfic: voltron #voltron fanfic

18 notes · View notes

sasusakufestival · 7 years

Text

Samsara (Part 2/3)

Summary: Sakura’s words die in her throat as the man’s eyes shoot open, and the coldest red irises she has ever seen meet hers. She is hit by a wave of terrifying certainty about two things right then – that she knows these eyes better than any other and that, if he wanted to, this man could stop her heart with just a look. [SasuSaku Festival 2017 – Day 15 – Prompt: “The Biggest Gesture”]

Disclaimer: This story utilizes characters, situations and premises that are copyright Masashi Kishimoto, Shueisha, Shonen Jump and Viz Media. No infringement on their respective copyrights pertaining to episodes, novelizations, comics or short stories is intended by the author in any way, shape or form. This fan oriented story is written solely for the author’s own amusement and the entertainment of the readers. It is not for profit. Any resemblance to real organizations, institutions, products or persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental. All fiction, plot and Original Characters with the exception of those introduced in the books, manga, video games, novelizations and anime, are the sole creation of KuriQuinn and using them without permission is considered rude, in bad-taste and will reflect seriously on your credibility as a writer. You will be squished by a Susanoo wielding demi god if you are found plagiarizing.

Warning: Spoilersfor pretty much everything up to Naruto Gaiden.

Canon-Compliance: Takes place during the Blank Period.

Fanon-Compliance: Takes place several years before An Inch of Gold and Unplanned.

AN: So, I decided I didn’t feel like waiting to post this. It’s unedited, but I will put up the edited part as soon as is humanly possible. Also, although I had originally planned for this to be a two-part fic, my plot bunnies decided to hit me with a bunch of other plot possibilities. So it’s probably gonna end up three parts. Therefore, if you want to read the continuation, you guys’ll just have to follow on my blog or something once SasuSakuFestival is over. I hope to post the next chapter within the week :P

__________________________________

“Indra.”

Sasuke repeats the name slowly, sounding out the syllables as if the word is completely foreign to him. There is a deceptive calm in his voice, as if he is putting every shred of his considerable concentration into not reacting to Sakura’s tale.

“It’s…it’s not exactly a common name, is it?” she murmurs tentatively, hanging on to that tiny shred of hope that’s taken root since she awoke in a terrified sweat.

“No.”

They regard each other in heavy silence. Neither knows quite what to make of this development.

“Do you…” she begins, then pauses, because the question is utterly ridiculous and there’s no possible way… And yet. “Do you remember any of it?”

She doesn’t know what exactly Sasuke saw or experienced when he interacted with the Sage of Six Paths, whether the transfer of his chakra also meant a transfer of memories. It’s not a time they speak of very often.

“No. Whatever I knew that day disappeared quickly,” Sasuke tells her quietly.

“Oh.” She wraps her arms around herself. “So why am I dreaming this then? If anyone should be dreaming about you – past-you – it should be you. Or Naruto even. Unless –” She peeks up at him. “Maybe it’s my past life?”

“Then why are you only experiencing it now, after everything we’ve seen?” he counters, the calm from earlier giving way to something sharp.

“I don’t know,” she admits. “It does kind of seem like something the Sage of Six Paths should have mentioned when we all met. But what else could it be? It’s like I’m her, Sasuke.”

Sasuke’s eyes narrow in contemplation, jaw clenched and she swears she can hear him grinding his teeth. She reaches out – it’s instinctive to want to comfort him, even though she’s the one who woke upset – and places a soothing hand on his shoulder. The other automatically covers her still flat stomach.

Sasuke’s eyes follow the movement, and then snap back to her face.

“The dreams didn’t start until you found out you were pregnant,” he says in a low tone.

“It’s possible,” she allows.

“That’s the connection,” he muses, almost to himself, staring into the distance like he is seeing something she can’t. “He is the ancestor of the Uchiha…you’re carrying the next generation…it has to have something to do with that.”

“You really think so?” Sakura asks. The idea is unsettling.

“Do you have any other explanation?” he replies, almost harsh. The calm from earlier has begun to erode.

“Well, no, but we can’t just jump to conclusions,” she reasons. “Maybe it’s just…maybe every woman in your clan has dreams like this. Or…or maybe only women who are about to give birth to someone of Indra’s bloodline. Or –”

“Or maybe it’s because I’m Indra’s reincarnation that it’s happening,” Sasuke interrupts, running a hand across his face in agitation. His right eye flickers briefly between red and black. “Of course, we’ll never know for sure and there’s no one to ask because –”

“Sasuke, stop,” she cuts him off, taking hold of his hand. She squeezes it, trying to transmit some sense of calm, despite the fact that his obvious panic is frightening her. She has never seen him lose composure like this, and her immediate instinct is to put a stop to it. “It’s not something worth getting worked up about. These are dreams. Dreams that might not even be real, and are probably just my mind shoving together a bunch of information. You know, odd facts I know about you and me and maybe some of the plot from that horrible romance novel I was reading. If it helps, I’ll stop reading it.”

“Sakura –”

“Let’s not worry too much about unwanted commentary from dead people, okay?” She makes a face. “And that is a sentence I never though I would say.

The look Sasuke gives her now is equal parts awed and disbelieving.

“You are taking this remarkably well,” he says, sounding almost accusing.

Sakura tosses her hair. “I told you, didn’t I? The day we met the Sage of Six Paths? Nothing will ever surprise me again.”

“Not if I have anything to say about it,” he says stonily. “Are you sure you don’t know any sleeping draughts you could take? Just to stop the dreams until we know more.”

“Nothing that wouldn’t harm the baby,” she confides. “Relax, darling. I’m sure this is all just a big coincidence. We’re reading too much into it.”

“I’ll have to watch out for you better. Until there’s a way to protect you from this, I need to know everything you see.”

Sakura snorts at this. “Right, and what exactly are you going to do, pry my eyes open when you think I’m having a nightmare and use the…Sharingan…to…Ehhh!” She sees the subtle shift in his expression. “You’re actually th– no! No, no, no! You can’t do that!”

“I wasn’t going to. I was just…considering.”

“Well, considering me breaking your nose!”

“Using the Sharingan that way wouldn’t be possible anyhow.”

“Possible or impossible, that’s never going to happen! You promise me right now, or I’ll put you down so hard, losing an arm will look like a bee sting!”

Sasuke’s skin turns a shade paler, and he nods.

眠り

Sakura might have quelled at least some of Sasuke’s fears, but she isn’t as confident as she pretends. The idea that the fetus inside her is connected to as dark and tragic a past as Indra Ōtsutsuki is worrisome, but at the same time…

She has to admit she’s curious.

That doesn’t stop her being relieved when the dreams inexplicably stop bringing her to the strange beach. Her nightly visions become vague again, bursts of colour and emotion, occasionally faces that are familiar to her but inconsequential. She still experiences the frustrating moments of abuse, attacks from a faceless father and sister; her experiences paralyse her as she sleeps, and leave her irritated upon waking. But overall, there is such a vague and hurried quality to these that she suspects she is experiencing time passing.

This pattern continues long enough that it’s almost a shock when she falls asleep one night and finds herself once more in a completely lucid, detailed dream.

She is sitting uncomfortably at a table in a richly decorated room, and the dim memories Sakura can access suggest that her attendance here is rare, perhaps even only occasionally required. Sitting across from her are two people whose presence not only disheartens her – the small, curious part of her had been hoping to meet Indra again – but also fills her with overwhelming wariness.

“There’s talk among the court of a newcomer,” Father says as the servants place their meals before them. “A man of great talent, said to be the son of a wise sage from the East. They say he can call lightning from the sky and breathe fire like the dragons of old.”

“It would be useful to have such a man beholden to you,” Older Sister remarks, sounding bored as she picks at her food.

“Yes, it is better to be on the side of a demon than in his path. Should the stories of this man be true, I intend to offer him alliance. I am told he is young and ambitious. Command of my armies should sway his loyalty. Or, perhaps, marriage.”

Older Sister scowls. “Marriage to a foreigner won’t grow the coffers of this land.”

“Maybe not, but talents he is said to be able to teach could,” Father says. “I am confident you’ll do your duty, daughter.” He then suddenly turns and barks, “What’s that look for, Shachi? Have you something to say?”

They are both looking at her now and she realises that she is Shachi.

Her lips part. “If…if…”

“If…if…if…” Older Sister mocks. Sakura inwardly snarls, knowing if she had control of her body right now, she would wipe the floor with the painted doll before her.

“I-If Older Sister doesn’t wish to marry h-him, I w-would take on th-that duty, F-Father. If it would p-please you.”

He snorts. “Dishonour an important man with a concubine’s spawn instead of the heiress to the land? I intend to court an ally, not lend insult. Keep your ridiculous opinions to yourself. Don’t make me regret my generosity in allowing you to sit at my table.”

“As you wish, Father.” She bows.

“May the gods soon find me a man who can look past your whore of a mother’s legacy and take you off my hands,” he grumbles to himself.

Sakura – Shachi – looks down at her knees, shoulders sinking.

Older Sister sniggers. “Oh, don’t look so downcast. Besides, if the stories of this stranger is true, he attracts many followers. Maybe someone among the riffraff will take an interest in you.”

The two of them laugh, leaving Sakura – Shachi – clenching her fists.

夢

They are at the back of an izakaya, scouring dishes from a busy dinner rush; they don’t have any money tonight, and in exchange for a room they’re helping with hostess out. Sasuke washes, Sakura dries. There has been nothing but companionable silence until she breaks it.

“Can I…can I ask you something?”

“Hm.”

“It’s about your brother,” she goes on, hesitant, because the topic is a difficult one, and usually provides some cue for him to make an escape. She’s hoping soapy hands make that a little harder this time.

From the tense set of his shoulders, she knows he’s already planning bolt, and she hurriedly continues.

“It’s about your relationship before – before all of it. You never talk about it, and you don’t have to now, I just…I never had an older brother or sister, so I don’t know myself. I was wondering…is it normal for an older sibling to hate the younger one?”

She winces, because it still came out awkwardly, and she bets he’s going to ignore it, because it’s not exactly what she was asking but –

“For a long time, I thought so,” Sasuke answers in a low voice. “But over time, I learned it’s the exception, not the rule.”

She exhales at this. “Oh.”

“Why do you ask?”

“No reason. Just thinking.”

“Sakura.”

She scowls, because he’s getting a lot better at reading her voice. Or maybe he always could, now he just chooses to react to it.

“It’s something I noticed in my dream –”

“You had another one?” he interrupts sharply, nearly dropping one of the bowls in his hand.

“Yes – and no, I haven’t seen him again, if that’s what you want to know. Don’t you think I’d tell you right away?”

“Hn.”

“Well, I would. I just…haven’t had to say anything lately because nothing happened. I don’t think he’s in the picture right now. But this – the person I am in my dreams – her name is Shachi, I think.” She peeks at him. “Does that sound familiar to you?”

Since their conversation about a possible past life or odd Uchiha-specific pregnancy quirk, she has found it easier to ask him these questions. After all, between the two of them, he’s the only one who has a definite link to whatever it is she’s dreaming.

He closes his eyes, frowning in concentration, then shakes his head. “I feel as if I’ve heard the name before, but it could be from anywhere.”

He’s right, they meet enough new people every day, perhaps it’s a name they’ve encountered in their travels.

“It’s just, her family – or, I guess the people who raised her – they treat her so badly. It’s as if she’s beneath them, and I don’t…I don’t understand how family can do that,” she exclaims, frustrated. “How can someone not protect their younger sibling? How can a parent not love their child? I can’t imagine a world where you look at our baby like he – or she – means nothing.”

“It would never happen.”

He says it so instantly and certainly that she feels a wave of pure joy wash over her, and she offers him a loving smile. “I know that. But in my dream –”

“You said yourself your mind might just be processing things,” Sasuke continues. “You’ve mentioned feeling weak, held back. It’s possible that you’re drawing on experiences you’ve actually lived and your brain is interpreting them in the simplest way.”

Sakura shoots him a suspicious look. “You’ve been reading my medical scrolls, haven’t you? The psychology ones?”

“They offer the most logical explanation to all this.”

She sighs. “Darling, you can’t search for clues based on the answer you want.”

“It’s not what I want. It’s what it could be. And all of this could simply be a quirk of your dreams.”

They work in silence for a spell.

“You don’t really think it is, do you?” she asks eventually.

A pause.

“No.”

“So, if it is something that happened, why do you think she’s treated so badly?”

“Back then, people saw children differently. A means to an end, a legacy.”

“And what’s our child?”

Sasuke holds her gaze, no trace of doubt there, and simply says, “Hope.”

眠り

For some reason, after this conversation, the tone of her dreams changes. Her awareness of being in a dream fades faster. Memories of an entire life crowd out her identity during waking hours, and so when the stranger arrives in their land, her first reaction – Shachi’s first reaction – is of surprise.

Even though she shouldn’t be. Because there aren’t many men who can control lightning, after all, and there is such a commanding air about him that the idea of him as the leader her father spoke of is not impossible.

The day he steps foot in her father’s court is grey and overcast, inauspicious in it’s normalcy, and yet her body – both in her dream and her present self – feels taut with awareness. He arrives quietly, with little pomp, into Father’s audience chamber. If he notices her sitting on the dais by her sister’s feet, he gives no indication, his every attention focussed on the lord of the land.

He says very little, and yet before the audience is over, everyone knows who he is: Lord Indra of the Eastern Lands, a master in the secret arts. He is well-spoken and a warrior by bearing and – based on Older Sister’s expression upon seeing him for the first time – an acceptable possible match.

He seeks followers, those he will impart with teachings, and who he intends to make stronger, asks only for the freedom to recruit whoever he wants.

“My methods are difficult,” he warns quietly, “and only those willing to lay down their lives in dedication will succeed. In exchange, I will instruct the soldiers in your armies as well.”

Father is beside himself – this is exactly what he wanted, after all – and the accord is soon settled. He celebrates by throwing a lavish banquet in Lord Indra’s honour, despite the obvious fact that the young man has no use for the gesture. He appears restless and impatient, as if he wishes to get started on his mission as soon as possible.

Sakura – Shachi? – watches him with wide eyes, thinking on the helpless man she nursed back to health, the one who could have killed her but didn’t. As frightened as she is by him, she can’t fight down her interest.

He notices her watching him and looks up, holding her gaze. Her entire body tenses, and she feels as if she’s looking into the eyes of a snake moments before it strikes. She can’t look away until he does, and once free, her entire body shivers. Her breath comes in sharp bursts and she wonders if, perhaps, he hasn’t used some of his strange power on her.

夢

“It sounds like genjutsu,” Sasuke as he sets up a wire-trap.

“I don’t think so,” Sakura muses, leaning against a nearby tree. “He wouldn’t need to use that on her. She’s too afraid. Too docile. You only use genjutsu on someone if you expect resistance.”

She and Sasuke exchange a tense look, both of them acknowledging a bitter shared memory.

Sasuke grunts and hops down from the tree.

“When we’re done here, we’re heading to that temple we passed. Maybe there will be someone there who can explain why you’re seeing this.”

“We might as well stop at a hospital too and have me speak to a bunch of therapists,” she deadpans. “I don’t think anyone is going to have answers on this one.”

Sasuke scowls. “So, your strategy is to wait and see?”

“Yes.”

“I don’t accept that.”

“Well, tough. While I’m incubating the tiny human, I make the rules. And as of right now, I’m not in any actual medical danger, and other than being annoying and sometimes confusing, what I see when I’m asleep isn’t affecting my health in any way.”

“Yet.”

This time it’s Sakura who scowls. “Need I remind you of your history of overreacting?”

Which Sasuke can’t exactly argue with, and so he settles on beleaguered silence while they set up the remainder of the traps.

She sighs to herself and wonders if there’s a point to keeping him updating about her dreams if he’s just going to get so upset about them. And she definitely doesn’t want to admit to him that the longer these dreams continue, and the more often she has them, the more she feels as if she’s living a completely different life.

“Sasuke…I know there’s no way to be one-hundred percent sure about all of this, but…would it be so bad?” He stares at her, askance. “If this actually was my past life. It would just mean that I’ve care for you longer than be both thought.”

“You know it would mean more than that. You know that it’s a story that doesn’t end happily.”

“We don’t know if that’s completely true.”

“He broke everything he touched,” her husband says darkly. “He had everything, and just…” He cuts off, making a disgusted sound. “Because of him, my family… because of him I did the same. Might still do the same. What if this is a reminder, a warning, that I’m going to break this too?”

The question is so soft, so distressingly uncertain that for a moment Sakura doesn’t have an answer.

Sasuke very rarely shows any type of vulnerability, and to this day she is certain she is the only one alive who has ever seen that part of him. What makes this particular display so heartbreaking is that she knows he isn’t even asking it for his own sake, but for their child’s.

Tears fill her eyes, but she holds them back. Crying right now will do nothing to help him; she swore long ago that when he was struggling, she would support him. And if that means shrugging off her puzzling dreams, so be it.

“I never thought you were the superstitious type,” she says, trying to break the tensions with levity.

Sasuke scowls. “It’s hard not to be when your past life decides to haunt your wife’s dreams.”

She smiles. The fact that he sounds so waspish is a good sign.

“Come here,” she says, and without giving him opportunity to resist, she presses his hand above her womb. “Listen to me: you are not going to break this.” He opens his mouth, and she drowns him out. “No – listen. You are not going to break this. I don’t break easy, and you can summon a giant chakra monster to protect yourself. This child? Half you, half me. Definitely not breakable.”

He still doesn’t look entirely reassured, but the tense set to his shoulders fades somewhat.

眠り

Lord Indra becomes a guest in their kingdom, permitted to walk among the people and seek students. He accepts any who come to him, man or woman, and weeds out the weak. Many of them die – strangely enough, it’s usually the soldiers that Father sends who are unable to succeed – and yet still more continue to seek him out.

He is the only one who knows this strange, magical teaching. He calls it ninshu, yet when he says it there is a sneer in his voice, as the very name offends him.

She finds this odd, but Father doesn’t care. As he sees it, his kingdom will soon grow to rule over all the rest, if only he can convince Lord Indra to remain here instead of moving on. Older Sister preens and poses, trying to entice a smile from the sullen faced stranger, and taking it out on Shachi when he doesn’t.

No…I’m…Sakura?

That name seems so distant to her when she is here, when she is Shachi. Though she knows this is but a dream, she feels tethered to it as much as if it were real.

She watches Lord Indra from the sidelines. Although drawn to him, longing for him to acknowledge her again, or at least thank her for saving his life, she feels safer in the shadows. Sometimes, he is apparently alone, training or meditating by himself, and yet when she makes a move to approach him, she imagines she hears someone speaking to him. Whenever this happens, she hurries away. After all, their last encounter up-close is fresh in her mind, and as compelled as she is to seek him out, she is also afraid of him.

And so she keeps away, watching his training sessions from the protection of the forest.

Sometimes she is caught, receiving a reprimand or a beating from her father, but these days both are more an afterthought; Father only cares about her whereabouts when someone reminds him, and Older Sister, only if she notices her. For the most part, she is free to watch the stranger as she wishes.

Lord Indra teaches with brutal efficiency. He never raises his voice above a murmur, yet retains perfect control over his students. He can make a simple nod feel as if he has fallen to his knees in praise, and a derisive glare make a man want to fall on his sword to avoid dishonour.

Several do.

Only once he is satisfied with their ability to maintain discipline and control does he teach them the new abilities. Shachi watches as men learn to bend water in their hands, or call up mounds of earth like fangs from the ground. Some command the wind and others turn blades of grass into needles. With a flash of his red eyes he instructs them all, precise instructions, having them repeat them over and over, making motions with his hands as he does.

She mouths along his words, trying to capture the sound of his voice in her mind. When he speaks normally – not threatening her life as he did that day on the beach – his voice is pleasant, inviting. Despite the danger he represents, he makes her feel safe, and that is something she isn’t used to feeling.

From her place in the shadows, she makes the hand gestures as well, arranging her fingers until she can do it perfectly. Soon she does it without noticing, can allow herself to just listen to the sound of his voice as he instructs. One day, his words seem closer to her than usual, even though he is so far away, and she closes her eyes, imagines that he is watching her, not his students, is telling her –

You build up chakra, stop it once it collects between the mouth and the chest area. Once you have enough, you release it all at once.

She inhales deeply, focussing on the warmth in her chest, and then breathes out.

To her absolute shock and horror, flames spew from between her lips and incinerate the tree in front of her.

She stumbles backward in shock and fear, unable to believe what just happened. She takes a split second to look around, to see if anyone saw her, and then takes off at a run, pulling her cumbersome skirts to her knees and stumbling back through the forest.

In the distance, she hears people calling out, confused shouting, demands for water. Commotion as students try to put out the flames with buckets, or with their new chakra wielding talents, she isn’t sure, because she keeps on running –

Only to find her way blocked by Lord Indra.

His eyes blaze at her and she recoils, dropping to her knees and bowing her forehead to the ground.

“I’m sorry! I’m sorry, I didn’t meant to – I didn’t even realise I was – please don’t tell me father, I – I’ll never do it again –”

“How long did it take you?” he interrupts.

She blinks at that, chancing a glance up at him. “M-my lord?”

“You have been watching for weeks but you have never attempted anything before,” he informs her, earnings a small squeak of surprise. “Today you tried. How long did it take you.”

“I-I… not long. I just… I listened to what you said, and I tried it.”

“Hm.”

He gives her an inscrutable look, like he’s considering something he hadn’t before, and she bows her head again. “I didn’t meant to hurt anyone or cause trouble.”

She is aware of the sound of feet near her ear, and when she looks up he has begun to walk away, back to the training grounds. She isn’t sure if she imagines it or not when he mutter, “Next time don’t stand next to a tree.”

夢

“You forgot again, didn’t you?”

Sakura scowls at the gash in Sasuke’s leg, the product of a stray flail and misguided intentions. The villagers in this part of the country are so wary of strangers, they attacked before letting Sakura explain herself. Sasuke, of course, instinctively pushed her out of the way, but ended up with another limb nearly being severed.

“Forgot what?” he grumbles, observing as her fingers glow green over the skin there.

“That you don’t have to protect me,” she chides him. “Even if I didn’t have a basic capacity to dodge, a flail isn’t going to hurt me.”

“Maybe not, but as far as I know, your regenerative abilities don’t apply to the baby,” he reminds her. “You’re not as invincible as you’re used to being.”

Sakura blinks at this, surprise waylaying the retort on her lips.

He’s right.

For a minute, she did forget.

It’s all so new – the changes in her body, the adjustments she’s had to make. No more chakra suppressors, she can’t drink coffee anymore, she’s tired more often – it sometimes feel so disconnected to her. Some days she is completely aware of the new life within her, unable to stop thinking about it, and other days, when everything gets so busy and confusing – like today – she forgets. Even looking in the mirror is deceptive – she doesn’t look pregnant at all, even with her clothes off.

There is movement to the left, and she glances up as two young girls carry in buckets of water; she smiles at them gratefully, earning half-awed, half-shy expressions in return, and then they hurry off.

The villagers backed off when she sent a crushing blow to the ground, forcing them to retreat if they didn’t want to fall into the broken earth. Upon watching her lean down to heal him before he bled out, they finally realised that she was a healer and spent the rest of the evening apologising profusely. They even insisted on putting her and Sasuke up for as long as they wanted to stay, hence the small apartment where they are currently staying.

They even carried Sasuke back here on a litter so she could preserve her healing abilities. He nearly threw a fit at that (he still hates appearing weak in any way) but the people felt so terribly about it, Sakura insisted they go along with it.

Somewhat out of deference to this, she decides to relent a bit.

“I’m sorry,” she tells him, checking the progression of closing skin. “I’ll try to be more careful in the future.”

“Hm.”

“I’m just not used to hanging back. It’s been a while since I had to stay out of the direct line of danger.”

“I know.”

He finally relaxes, however, allowing his eyes to close and breath to even out. As if he didn’t expect her to take it easy until she said the words.

Ridiculous man…

She shakes her head, considering the calm picture he provides. It reminds her of those first few dreams she had, of healing Indra on that beach.

Sasuke’s former incarnation is starkly different than he is, she realises that now. He watched her – watched Shachi – with the distrustful gaze of someone who expected her to be incompetent or treacherous. Sasuke’s attention is intent, but in a different sense – watchful and wary for the sake of he health, not his.

As if being pregnant made her breakable.

She’s forgotten what it’s like to need to be protected. It makes her nightly sojourns in the life and mind of Shachi all the more confusing.

The other woman is such a stark contrast from her. Docile, obedient, hesitant – all of these are qualities she either never possessed or grew out of in her early childhood. Their very nature is utterly opposite.

In fact, even their ability to use chakra is completely different, judging from the way they learned to use it. Shachi’s first act was so powerful, charged enough to destroy an entire tree. Sakura remembers the first time she used ninjutsu, she had to try her hardest just to manage a passable substitution.

And that’s another thing. It’s not just their different temperaments. Why does Sakura have an affinity for water, when Shachi is clearly more suited to fire? Isn’t that the type of thing that should carry over?

“Not necessarily.”

Sakura jumps, realising suddenly that she has been musing out loud the hold time. Sasuke is frowning at her thoughtfully.

“The goal of reincarnation is to be reborn as a better self. Perhaps it means stronger, as well. Water is superior to fire.”

“Oh.”

“I take it you’re dreaming of him again then?” he asks, voice entirely too casual.

Sakura looks away, caught out. She’s been trying to avoid bringing it up because she knows it upsets him. “Only recently. Only last night, really. It’s a little confusing, so I didn’t say anything until I could get my thoughts in order.”

“I’m not going anywhere for the next little while,” he reminds her, nodding to his leg. It’s completely healed by now, and she shoots him an amused look. He raises an eyebrow, as if challenging her to call him on it. “Tell me what you dreamed.”

“As long as you don’t get upset every time I talk about Indra.”

His jaw clenches but he nods. “Fine.”

眠り

Eventually Father grows tired of Lord Indra skirting the issue. He wants to ensure everlasting loyalty, wants someone who will train and preside over his army in perpetuity.

In front of the whole court, he offers a permanent, eternal bond between them.

“My daughter, Shibasuri,” he declares proudly, gesturing to Older Sister. “She will make a fine wife, and through her, your children will be the heirs of my land.”

Every other man in the court seethes at this, because Lord Indra may be strong, but he is a foreigner. And more than a few covet Older Sister for themselves.

But the solemn stranger shows no interest in either offering.

“I have no interest in possessing this land,” he says quietly, his words easily audible in the stunned silence. “And I have no need of a woman who revels in her looks and is ignorant to the world. A creature whose body is starved to uselessness in pursuit of fashion, who will never be fatted with child.”

Older Sister makes a noise born of incandescent fury, and Father turns scarlet in anger.

“You dare – !”

But Lord Indra has turned away from both, and instead his gaze falls upon the crowd.

Upon her as she stand with her guardians.

“I will take this one instead,” he declares imperiously. “On that condition I will remain here.”

She gasps, because this makes no sense. He has never, ever given any indication of seeing her, let alone –

“Shachi?” Father inquires, confusion dampening his anger. “Why would you…? She is of lower status, not of any importance – ”

“I will hear her answer,” Indra interrupts. “And if she has no wish for wedlock, I will take my leave with any disciple that will follow.”

There’s a stunned silence then, a dangerous note of expectation in this, and then the whispering begins. Already the members of the court are wagging their tongues, expressing surprise and glee at this turn of events. They imagine blackmail, a play for power from a younger daughter, a secret love –

It is none of these things. From her weeks observing him, she knows that Lord Indra has his own mind, his own plans that he follows. If he prefers her over her beautiful older sister, there is a reason, and not one as basic and superfluous as caring for her.

Older Sister glowers at her, as if Shachi has indeed done something to organise all of this, and Father frowns at her with a look in his eye that promises a lifetime of broken bones if she doesn’t accept.

He needn’t bother, because she knew the instant that Lord Indra spoke, what her answer was going to be.

Even so, it feels as if she is signing the death warrant of her fate when she whispers, “I accept.”

夢

Sakura stretches a hand over her head, making a high-pitched, purring noise at the back of her throat, and then relaxes once more, head pillowed on Sasuke’s blanket-clad inner thigh. They lie head-to-foot, naked and sated, the smell of sex still lingering in the air.

Sasuke is on his side, his face pressed against one side of her abdomen, his hand curved around the other. His eyes are closed, and his mouth is pulled into a not-quite-smile of tranquility. It’s far too early for any kind of kicking to be felt – for anything to be heard – but it doesn’t seem to matter to Sasuke. Sakura’s own smile is gentle as she reaches forward, brushing his hair back from his face. He cracks his right eye open and there’s that brief look – soft, content and happy – and then he closes it again.

It’s a look that’s reserved only for her and, she knows, their future child, and which encompasses everything. Even though he rarely says it – only when she has him reduced to panting, overwhelmed gasps as she did minutes earlier – she feels the unquestionable love he has for her. Seeing it fills her with warmth from the inside, because it’s something she never truly believed she would experience.

It makes her feel guilty for asking him, once, if the only reason he wanted to be with her was to repopulate his clan. Sasuke was, by then, a changed man.

Such a difference from the man in her dreams.

She wonders about him. His temperament, his motives, his relationship with Shachi…

“Why do you think he chose her?”

“Hm?” Sasuke’s voice is low and rough from sleep.

“Indra,” Sakura clarifies dimly, gazing up at the wooden ceiling. “He washes up in this strange land, tries to kill her, disappears, then comes back. And her father offers him practically the world, anything a guy back then would want, and he throws it back in his face over Shachi. A girl he barely even spoke a hundred words to.” She shakes her head in confusion. “That’s something a person does for the one they love, but I don’t…do you think he was even capable of it at that point?”

“Capable of?”

“Love.”

Sasuke is silent for a long moment, leaving her wondering if he intends to answer the question. Then he says, “I don’t think it was possible in the way you understand it.”

“Meaning?”

“After being betrayed – or rather, after deciding he had been betrayed – by Hagoromo and Ashura, he would have been more guarded than ever. He wouldn’t have been capable of feeling for her what…” He trails off here, his voice becoming more quiet, more furtive, “For what I feel for you.”

She doesn’t acknowledge the admission beyond a soft smile – he gets defensive and grumpy if she makes a big deal out of moments like this.

Instead, she returns to the topic. “So why choose her?”

“She did help him. He may have seen it as repaying a debt.”

“But he also said she reminded him of being weak. And she was weak. Wouldn’t the likelier choice have been the older sister? The one with status?”

“A man like him would chose a bride more suited to his purposes. You told me she had the ability to use chakra – which she learned just by observing his teachings,” Sasuke points out. “To members of my clan, Shachi would be the more sought-after candidate.”

Sakura considers this, and then nods. “That make sense.”

“I don’t believe it was the whole reason though.”

She shoots him a confused look.

“He might have seen her as a parallel of himself,” Sasuke continues, thoughtful. “A child mistreated by family. In his view, he was betrayed by his; this girl, she’s the scapegoat of her own kin – and for an utterly underserved reason, based on what you’ve told me.”

“But in that case, wouldn’t it make more sense to kill her family? Why agree to a marriage with her? An actual link to these people?”

“I have no doubt he had some kind of long-term motive. However…I suspect it may have been different than anything he actively planned.”

“What do you mean?”

“It’s entirely possible, she provided him with something he didn’t even realise he was missing,” Sasuke tells her, staring off into the distance. “As far gone as he was, he needed something to ground him. When Indra first awakened his abilities, he was strong because he was protecting someone precious. His brother. And he remained strong, even as he became more drawn to the darkness, because he always thought he had the support of his father and brother. When that was gone – when Hagoromo named Ashura as his successor – for the first time in his life, he was truly alone. When you have as much power as he did, and as much hatred, you need something to justify your actions – some goal that makes everything else you do worthwhile.”

She knows now that he is speaking of himself, and not Indra. Of how his love for his brother drove him to commit horrible acts.

“Then he meets this girl, and she’s obviously drawn to him, and she helps him,” Sakura suggests. “And he keeps seeing her, and he knows she’s in a bad situation, so he starts to feel what it’s like to have someone trust in him again.”

It sounds far too plausible, and Sakura shivers. She doesn’t like the idea of Indra using Shachi’s misfortune for himself, but at the same time, she knows that the other woman – this shrinking violet – would see it as an opportunity to escape. In a way, the two are saving each other, even if they don’t know it.

“Hm.” Sasuke nods here. “She is someone who will be utterly loyal to him – both because of who she is as a person, and because as a wife, it is her duty to be subservient to his will.”

Sakura lifts her head and shoots him a sardonic smirk. “Oh, so I have to be subservient to you now?”

“…I refuse to answer that question on the grounds that I may incriminate myself.”

“Damn right,” she nods, falling back, and then squeaks indignantly when he tweaks her left nipple in retribution. She slaps his hand away and then jabs a finger in his general direction. “Don’t start something if you don’t intend to follow through.”

Sasuke snorts. “Who said I didn’t intend to follow through?”

眠り

The wedding approaches, and for the first time in her entire life, Shachi finds herself treated according to her station.

She is bathed in scented waters and anointed with rich oils, adorned in silks and jewels, and fed the finest foods that her servants tease will ensure she bears healthy children.

Older Sister lingers resentfully in the background, while father busies himself with the preparations. Whatever he felt for her in the past, whatever he feels for her now, his greed for the power Lord Indra can provide has increased tenfold since seeing what the young man can do. He pretends like he has never resented her, calls her his “beloved child” and introduces her to visiting dignitaries.

The wedding is meant to be lavish, a way of showcasing Father’s current wealth, and offer hint of what it might become. In this, he is able to stand up to Lord Indra’s more frugal nature. For his part, the prospective bridegroom is nowhere to be found and makes no effort to involve himself in the affair; he continues to train in the courtyards up until the day of the ceremony.

That morning, she is woken at dawn and bathed. Her handmaidens draw long black ribbons of henna across her forehead and face, crisscrossing around her neck and again above her breasts, winding down her arms and legs as if she has been encircled by a snake. Her hair is braided with freshly picked cherry blossoms, and golden rings are fitted around her wrists, neck, fingers and even one through her nose. It all feels heavy and cumbersome but she knows better than to complain. The bridal gown is of red silk, the only garment she has ever worn that was not one of her sister’s castoffs, and the final touch is a purple, rhombus-shaped jewel set in the centre of her forehead.

Father walks her down the aisle at a quick pace, as if worried that the longer he takes, the sooner his future son-in-law may change his mind. Older Sister holds her veil for her, and as she goes to sit at her place, sneers quietly, “Do not think your life will be without hardship.”

Lord Indra stands at the front of the assembled guests, bored and irritated, and he doesn’t even acknowledge her when she is beside him. The high priest begins the ceremony, raising the sacred marriage cup before them, his words washing over her.

Shachi’s mind is strangely blank at this, either from disbelief or fear for the future, and Sakura feels more present in the moment than she has in months. The marriage ritual is very different from any she has ever seen, from her own wedding to Sasuke, and while she is uneasy about the circumstances, she can’t help being fascinated.

The priest places a smooth, obsidian rock – taken from the sacred river of their land – and wishes them an enduring and lasting union. He pours wine and honey as well, wishing fertility and health, and then takes their hands, lightly pricking their palms over the rim of the cup, to signify the mingling of their blood now and in the future. Then, he passes it first to Lord Indra, who will be master of the union.

Her bridegroom takes a tip – barely wets his lips – and passes it back. His expression never changes, and he still doesn’t look at her.

Then the cup is in front of her face, the priest reminds her of her duties as wife now. She begins to lift the cup to her lips as well –

Lord Indra chokes suddenly, and doubles over.

There is stunned silence all around, the high priest stares in wide-eyed horror, and there are gasps from the other guest.

“My lord?” she whispers, reaching for him. “Are you…?”

His eyes snap toward her, flickering red and black and she gasps. But it isn’t the Sharingan that have her shocked. Instead, she rapidly takes in the sight of his features – pupils dilated, mouth slackening, a bluish tint around his lips.

“Poison!” she cries, because she can’t do anything else here. “He’s been poisoned!” Her head whips around, looking for someone who might help. “Fetch a healer!”

Father appears shell-shocked, slow to realise what is happening, and Older Sister –

She stands to one side, smirking and with a look in her eyes that is all-too-knowing.

“You…” Sakura – Shachi? – realises. “Why would you – ?”

Indra begins to convulse, and the answer never comes. Instead, she falls to her knees, trying to hold his flailing arms as he convulses. Shachi is terrified, that fear returning her to full control, pushing Sakura’s awareness down again, but she refuses to allow this.

You can stay out of this right now, or he’s going to die!

She focusses her attention – sees the cup dropped by the priest, liquid spilling out. The sacred rock as rolled a few inches away as well, leaving a strange, chalky residue.

So that’s what it was. Poison in the marriage cup. Indra wasn’t the only intended victim.

Her mind flips through a mental catalogue of poisons, all while calculating the amount of time it will take before he dies. Given how fast he reacted, the chalky nature, the blue veins on the mouth

“Ainu,” she determines. It’s a relative of aconite, albeit much more potent. There isn’t much out there that can save him, and in the limited time she has, she doubt’s she’ll be able to find –

Then she freezes, remembering herself.

No way. No way could it be that much of a coincidence.

Her hands fly to her hair, tugging out the delicate blossoms there. Cherry blossoms have some healing properties, but aren’t used very often in antidotes –

Except in cases of ainu poisoning.

She doesn’t pause to dwell on the improbability of it all. Instead, she begins to crush up the petals – in her fingers at first, then an idea occurs to her and she puts them in her mouth, chewing them into a pulp and leaning forward to press her lips against his. As she pushes the petal paste into his mouth, she wills her chakra into him as well, calling up every bit of her concentration to do so. She visualises her energy moving into him, chasing the poison through his veins and overtaking it.

She doesn’t find out if she succeeds or not, because that’s when she suddenly loses her control. All of her concentration, all of her focus in helping him, recoils like an elastic band. She is once more, no more than a passenger, and Indra gives one last violent tremor, and then goes still.

Someone emits of a moan of grief.

It takes a stunned second for Sakura to realise the sound came from her. To understand that her dream self is weeping, throwing herself over Indra’s chest. This man, who she saved, who in demanding her hand offered her a future away from the abuses of her blood kin, and now he has left her before there was even a chance.

Tears streaming from her eyes, she looks up as Father demands of Older Sister, “What were you thinking? You’ve ruined it all!”

“I have done nothing but save you from a charlatan,” she replies airily. “He had no interest in becoming your right hand, Father, he would have taken his students and left you with ease. And if he truly intended to honour your wishes, he would have accepted the bride you offered, not that.” She tosses her hair. “Now, we have men who have sworn oaths of loyalty to you, who know of his teachings, and they won’t tempted to disappear with their wandering master.”

Father’s expression becomes thoughtful at this, and he nods slowly.

“Besides,” Older Sister goes on, a cruel set to her mouth. “He gave me insult, in public, and that is something that cannot be abided. How dare – ”

But her words are quickly and brutally cut short.

A bolt of lightning rips through the ceremonial hall, through her shoulder and out her heart, leaving a bloodied and black hole in its place. Shachi screams in horror, staring at the shocked expression on Older Sisters face as her body crumples to the ground. Father’s bellow of surprise turns to terror, and she understands why, because Indra is alive.

He shrugs her off and stands, moving like the lightening that just passed through her sister’s body, and grabbing Father by the throat.

“Those who break oaths are scum. Those who betray their own blood are worse than scum,” he growls. “And that cup was meant for her as much as it was for me.” It’s the only warning he gives before twisting his fingers, snapping the man’s neck. “A man who makes a move against me makes a proclamation that he is my enemy. And I will not allow my enemies to live and take a second opportunity to weaken men.”

Eyes still blazing red fire, he turns to the stunned guests.

“Your lord is dead. Either rise up and avenge him, or flee. One of those choices will lead to a swift death, so choice wisely.”

As he takes a few steps down the procession toward the door, there is a flurry of movement. Guests and members of the court scatter, tripping over each other in their finery. She is left on her knees, gaping at his back, unsure what just happened.

Then, as he did before, he turn to face her once more.

“You have saved my life twice,” he tells her coolly. “And so I will offer you a choice. An opportunity. Save yourself. Forget this farce of a ceremony and ties you agreed to for their sake. Leave this place and seek a happier future, with a man who will offer you the respect and fondness you desire. Or –” his eyes darken back to black here, “come with.”

Her mouth parts in surprise at this.

“If you do, know that from this moment, you will be completely mine. And I am not a patient man. I am neither gentle nor kind, and your life will be one of duty. You will bring forth children to whom I can pass on my legacy. So long as you are loyal and obedient, I can make you a goddess by my side, but if you falter I will make their deaths look enviable.”

Terror and confusion make it hard to understand what he is saying to her. For several seconds, she can only stare from his intent face down to the corpses of her father and sister, turning over his words in her head.

And then it makes sense.

He is giving her a choice.

She has never, in her entire life, known what it is to make a decision that is not based on the will or needs of another. For the first time, she is free. She gets to decide what her destiny will be.

The gesture brings tears to her eyes, because she knows he is not a man who operates in choice. There is his will and death, but here he is, offering her the chance to leave that behind. And with the same certainty that he could stand against any of her father’s vassals who would challenge him, she knows he would let her walk away to a better life if she chose.

She wonders, as she takes his hand, if he realises how terrifyingly easy it is to make her decision.

__________________________________

つづく

To be continued in another prompt :)

I hope you enjoyed the story! As part of the SasuSakuFestival, please go to the ssfest page and vote, like and/or reblog, it would be majorly appreciated!

クリ

#ssfest17 #sasusaku #ssfanfiction #ssfestday15 #submission #ssfestentry

83 notes · View notes

marvelyningreen · 3 years

Text

It Will End in Rain

Part 2 - Establishing Care

(Previous | Next)

[Summary: If somebody’s sole counterpoint is ‘I’ll be fine,’ or ‘I’ve had worse,’ Hank knows better than to take their word for it.

Warnings: references to injury

Notes: Generally in line with XCU canon. POV character this time is Hank. It’s funny; I usually find that OC fics work better when written from the OC’s point of view, but these first two parts just felt more natural with Logan and Hank’s perspectives. Go figure. Skye finally gets her turn next time, though!]

Hank McCoy was used to being distrusted. Humans were suspicious of him because he was a mutant. Many mutants didn’t want anything to do with him because he was a doctor, which was at least understandable. So, while the feeling was still unpleasant, it was familiar.

But it didn’t stop him from trying to win people over. It exasperated Raven at times. She’d shake her head, saying that he was just as bad as Charles. Hank chose to take that as a compliment.

The long and short of it was that Hank had gotten fairly good at the whole thing, which is why he waited a few days to visit their most recent guest. To be honest, his biggest hurdle was learning to smother his own curiosity. The newcomer was some variety of teleporter, he’d been told, and what he’d heard had him fascinated already.

But she was also pretty aloof, and allegedly with good reason. Hank wasn’t sure of the specifics – just that she’d spent time with the GLA and left under a cloud. Charles wouldn’t say much beyond that, pointing out that it wasn’t his story to tell. Logan said much the same, but finished by muttering that he needed a drink just thinking about it.

It’d surprised Hank that Charles brought Logan in to speak to her. Logan was a man of many admirable qualities, to be sure, but tact wasn’t one of them. Usually, it was Kurt who was sent to befriend newcomers. His unassuming nature and genuine kindness made it practically impossible to dislike him. It was little wonder the young man was studying to become a counselor.

But in the absence of Kurt, and with Hank already a bit concerned about the newcomer’s wellbeing, it fell to him to make a house call. He knocked on the door of her room, and waited.

Several seconds later, the door opened, and the newcomer peered out. She cast her eyes over him, and Hank saw her expression harden ever so slightly at the sight of the medical-looking bag slung over his shoulder. But she didn’t slam the door in his face, so that was something.

“Can I help you?” she asked.

Not exactly a welcoming tone in her voice, but it wasn’t unfriendly, either. Hank could work with that. He smiled.

“I’m Hank McCoy. And you’re Skye, is that right? Is it alright if I come in?”

Skye winced slightly as she shrugged.

“It’s your mansion,” she said. She stepped aside to let him enter.

“Thank you.” It never hurt to be polite.

As Skye had sized him up, Hank was doing the same. He could usually tell if a patient was going to get hostile or aggressive, but he wasn’t picking up any indications of that from her. She seemed reluctant to let him in, wary of him, but more resigned to his presence than anything else.

She’d kept the room neat, as well. Her own belongings – the contents of that large backpack, Hank assumed – were contained to a small area. Just several items placed on the nightstand, but not much else. There was a radio on the desk, and books that he was certain came from the mansion’s own library.

Skye herself watched him wordlessly.

“I’ll get right to the point, then,” said Hank. “I heard you ended up with a few cracked ribs the other night, so I was hoping you’d let me take a look at you, just to make sure that everything’s healing alright and that there’s no signs of pneumonia.”

Skye’s expression somehow went even more blank than before.

“I appreciate your concern,” she said, “But I’ve had worse than this. I’ll be fine.”

That first bit was delivered very politely, for an obvious lie. Of course Hank didn’t want to push her too much on the issue, but if someone’s sole counterpoint was ‘I’ll be fine,’ he knew better than to take their word for it.

“I’m sure you will,” he said, offering a lie of his own. “Still, for my own peace of mind.”

Hank phrased it almost as a question, but Skye was silent, neither agreeing nor arguing back. Outwardly, she didn’t look scared or irritated or uncomfortable, just… well, resigned. There wasn’t really another word for it. It was like she was awaiting orders. Hank tried again.

“Listen, there are a lot of people here who don’t like doctors,” he said. “I understand that. I’ll be quick, and if you change your mind and want me to stop, just say the word and we’ll be done. May I have your permission?”

“It’s fine,” said Skye, then clarified, “You have my permission.”

Resignation, still. His bedside manner undaunted, Hank smiled.

“Alright, just have a seat, then,” he said, gesturing to the bed while he set down his bag, retrieving a thermometer and stethoscope. “Let’s check your temperature first.”

Skye had what had to be the world’s most patient thousand-yard stare. She didn’t even look up as she let Hank place the thermometer under her tongue, and sat perfectly still while he waited for its reading.

“One hundred point nine. Under normal circumstances, that’d be considered a low-grade fever,” Hank said, frowning. “Does your temperature usually run high?”

“Only after an injury,” said Skye. “It’s part of the accelerated healing, I guess.”

“Hmm, good to know,” said Hank, making a mental note to make sure the girl was staying hydrated.

On a more scientific level, he noted it as a baseline for Skye. And he wondered if Logan was similarly affected. Of course, Logan’s healing generally took seconds, so an elevated temperature wouldn’t be noticeable. But it would explain why he didn’t like sleeves.

Hank stowed the thermometer in favor of the stethoscope.

“Now I’ll just have a listen to your lungs, make sure there’s not any fluid building up. Alright?”

Skye nodded as Hank stepped behind her. He rested a hand on her shoulder, and noted two more things.

First, in spite of her unconcerned attitude, she was incredibly tense. Second, the bony shoulder confirmed his suspicion that Skye was far too skinny for her frame, and definitely hadn’t been getting enough to eat for a while now. Neither of which he’d bring up at that moment, of course.

“Alright, now I need you to take a deep breath for me, please,” he said, positioning the stethoscope. He listened carefully as Skye breathed slowly in and out. “Good. And again, please.”

On the third time, Skye’s breath seemed to catch for a second. She leaned forward abruptly as her body was wracked with a coughing fit, which she tried to smother in the crook of her arm. Worrying, no doubt about it, and certainly painful with cracked ribs.

Hank glanced back at Skye’s belongings. She didn’t seem to have any pain medicine of her own, and she hadn’t requested any so far. But accelerated healing or no, she was clearly still in pain.

As the coughing fit subsided, Skye took a few shallow breaths as though to steady herself.

“Sorry,” she said hoarsely.

Apologizes for no reason – that was another thing to note.

“You’re fine,” Hank said gently. “Are you able to give me two more deep breaths? Then we’ll be done.”

Skye nodded. “Sure.”

Finishing his assessment, Hank went back to put away the stethoscope.

“Well, things sound alright at the moment,” he said, “But we should keep an eye on that cough. Here – this should help you breathe a little easier.”

Skye took the bottle of ibuprofen from him, and Hank figured it was time to make his exit. Skye hadn’t started looking agitated yet, but he didn’t want to risk overstaying his (admittedly tepid) welcome.

“Well, thank you. You didn’t try to stab me, which is more than I can say for some of my patients,” said Hank.

Skye’s expression went blank again, then slightly worried. “You’re… joking.”

The sentence was a statement, but her expression was a question mark. Hank smiled.

“Not hardly. Like I said, you’re not the only one who doesn’t like doctors. No, it’s alright,” he said hurriedly. Skye’s shoulders had started to tense up again, and she seemed to be slowly shrinking into herself. “I don’t mind. Really. All I ask is that you let me help, if and when you need it.”

Skye nodded, but didn’t straighten up. She didn’t just look nervous; she looked guilty, and Hank was having a hard time figuring out why. Just because she thought she’d offended him? Maybe.

“Well, before I go, is there anything that you need, or want?” he asked.

“No, thank you,” said Skye.

Was he imagining the hesitation in her reply? It was hard to tell. Hank folded his arms, smiling faintly down at her.

“Skye…?” he prompted.

“Is it-” she paused and grimaced briefly. “Is it alright if I walk in the hallway later? Just to stretch my legs a little. I thought I saw a, a window seat at the end of the hall…? I won’t go any farther than that – I promise.”

Maybe it was just the years of having to keep the students out of off-limits sections of the mansion that made Skye’s request sound so strange to him. Hank wasn’t sure he could remember anyone else asking permission to simply leave their room. It was almost funny, until he thought about it a little more. Then, it was just concerning.

“Of course,” he said. “You’re free to look around anytime. I could go with you, if you want, or find someone else to.”

Kurt wouldn’t be back for a few weeks yet, unfortunately, but most of the people Skye had already met would probably be willing to help. Jubilee often took responsibility for showing guests around. The Maximoff twins were pretty obliging, when they weren’t up to shenanigans. Even Logan might be prevailed upon, seeing as Charles brought him along to his first meeting with Skye.

But Skye herself was shaking her head. “That’s alright. I’ll just wait until tonight, so I won’t be in the way.”

Hank wasn’t so sure that Skye realized she was a guest here, but he didn’t want to push the matter.

“That’s fine, if that’s what you prefer,” he said. “I’ll come back to check on you in a couple days. Try to take it easy until then. If you need anything in the meantime, don’t hesitate to ask, alright?”

Skye nodded again. “Right.”

As Hank walked away from the room, a nagging sense of unease settled in the back of his mind. Physically, the girl was about as well as could be expected. That’s what he’d gone to asses, after all. He could leave it at that. Perhaps he should. And yet…

Skye willingly put herself in harm’s way for a stranger. She was the reason Jubilee hadn’t been injured. Something else was clearly ailing her, and Hank wanted to do something about it. They owed her that much.

Charles would be no help – he kept overheard thoughts to himself except in instances of imminent danger – but it didn’t stop Hank from asking him for his opinion.

“You went to see her yourself,” said Charles. “What’s your assessment?”

Hank sighed. “She’s all resilience and no fight. She could easily survive getting hit by a bus, but I don’t think she’d bother to avoid getting hit in the first place.”

If Hank wanted more information, and wanted to gain it without bothering Skye herself, he’d have to look elsewhere. He may as well start with the other people who’d spoken to her.

Jubilee said she that was sorry, but that she couldn’t tell him much. She’d been hoping that Skye would venture out of her room at some point so that she could thank her, but no such luck. When asked what she remembered about Skye’s abilities, Jubilee said that she’d gotten a strange feeling before the teleportation switch.

“Like you were being watched?” Hank had asked, recalling mentions of a psychic link.

“Not exactly. More like… being watched over, I guess.” Jubilee had laughed. “Or like I was being haunted. It’s hard to describe.”

The Maximoff twins, it turned out, had paid her a visit. It seemed that they hadn’t forgotten how everyone had made them feel welcome when they first arrived at the school, and now they wanted to do the same for the newcomer. The radio Hank had seen in Skye’s room was on loan from Tommy, and the books were from Billy.

“She’s… spiraling, I guess,” Billy had said. “It wasn’t that bad when we met her, but the next day-”

He’d shrugged, saying he hadn’t felt right about looking any further into her thoughts when she was already having such a hard time with them.

Strange. Why would that be? Was it something that Charles or Logan had said? Or was Skye just genuinely uncomfortable staying at the school? If so, that’d throw a wrench into Hank’s plan. He’d been going to suggest sending Skye to Genosha after she recovered.

He and Erik may have more than a few differences of opinion, but Hank had thought that his guidance might be more in line with what Skye needed. That, and Genosha was a good alternative refuge for a mutant who was too old to attend the school.

Most mutants were, generally speaking, relieved and reassured to find a community of their own kind. Skye… not so much. Genosha might be out as a solution, but Hank didn’t like the idea of letting Skye just go back to living on the road. It clearly hadn’t been a healthy situation for her.

Hank went down to the kitchens as well, seeking further information. Remy asserted that he wouldn’t be much help, since he mostly brought the food up to Skye’s room and came back later to take away the dishes. He said that Skye usually looked like she’d just woken up when he saw her, and he felt a little bad about interrupting her sleep.

When Hank asked if she’d been getting enough to eat, Remy grimaced. The first couple meals, he said, she’d cleaned her plate but always refused to accept his offer of seconds. Since then, he’d started sending up larger portions. When she’d start leaving food uneaten, then he’d know she was getting enough. Good man.

Remy also mentioned that there were a few things she flat-out didn’t eat – oatmeal, pudding, and jello. He wasn’t sure why, but Hank had a feeling he knew. Subpar hospital food often included those items.

When Hank considered his observations, the picture that all the disparate details painted was… concerning. He kept his worry in check, though, and waited another two days before paying Skye a second visit.

It seemed very little had changed. Her condition hadn’t worsened any, and she was a little less pale. But she hadn’t relaxed at all. Her belongings were still confined to a small area, and the only real change was the different books on the desk.

Well, those, and the bottle of ibuprofen he’d left for her. As for that…

Hank picked up the bottle, hearing the pills inside rattling around. Now, he’d left just enough for two days. Even if Skye had only taken half the maximum amount, it would’ve made a noticeable dent.

“You haven’t taken any of these,” he remarked.

Skye hadn’t moved, but her gaze flicked away from him the instant he turned back to look at her. She hesitated just a second too long before replying, just long enough for Hank to be certain she hadn’t wanted to be called out on this.

“I didn’t need them,” she said.

Hank frowned slightly. “Skye, I’ve had cracked ribs before, and I like to think I’ve got a pretty high tolerance for pain. I don’t believe for a second that you aren’t hurting right now.”

“I’ve had worse,” Skye said quietly.

After what he’d heard from Charles and Logan, Hank didn’t doubt it. He sighed, setting the bottle back down.

“Like I said, it’s your choice to take them or not, but I’d rather not have any patient of mine let herself suffer unnecessarily.”

Hank turned away, absently reorganizing the contents of his bag. Not because they were out of order in any way, of course. It was just a way to give the poor girl a break from feeling like she was being scrutinized.

“By the way,” he went on, “It sounds like you’ve been on the road for some time. Is there anybody you wanted to contact – family, or friends? Just to let them know you’re alright.”

“No, thank you,” was all Skye said.

Well, that wasn’t much to go on. Hank tried a different route.

“I’m sorry if I overstepped there,” he said. “Quite a few of the students and staff don’t have much family to speak of.”

“That’s not-”

Skye hesitated. As Hank suspected, she wouldn’t volunteer information, but she’d readily correct his misconceptions. He glanced back at her, waiting patiently for her to continue.

“My parents do a lot of traveling,” she said at length. “I left a message for them a few weeks ago. I doubt they got it yet. They won’t be worried.”

“Oh, I see.” Hank nodded as though he understood. “I bet your family did a lot of traveling when you were young, then.”

Skye shook her head. “Never, actually. They always planned on traveling when their kids were grown up, but… Well, my sisters are twelve years older than me. Once I was old enough to drive, our parents got back on track, though.”

It would hardly take a genius to read between the lines there. Normally, it’d be rude to respond with an unrelated anecdote of one’s own. But in this case? He didn’t want to press Skye too hard.

“Is that a fact?” he said. “A friend of mine – his name is Scott. He’s about your age. Anyway, he had a brother who was almost twenty years older than him.”

“‘Was?’”

Instead of looking blankly ahead like a soldier, Skye had turned to look at him.

“Ah, yes. He was, uh…”

Hank was thrown off. He hadn’t quite thought it through when he steered the conversation this way, and he hadn’t expected the sympathetic curiosity in Skye’s gaze. He cleared his throat.

“It was before Cairo. Alex was killed trying to protect Professor Xavier.”

“Oh,” Skye said quietly. Her brows furrowed. “I’m sorry.”

“Thank you.” Hank shook himself, smiling apologetically down at her. “And I’m sorry. Talking about that sort of thing is not at all what I was here for.”

As Hank turned to go, the corner of his bag clipped the chair, knocking it from his hand to land near Skye’s feet. He paused for a second, almost amused by his own clumsiness. He shouldn’t have hesitated.

Before he could move or say a word – the second the bag hit the floor – Skye with her half-healed cracked ribs swiftly knelt down to pick it up.

She immediately let out a smothered groan. Even as she gripped the bed with one white-knuckled hand, she lifted the bag with the other to return it to him.

Hank quickly took it from her and tossed it onto the desk. Instinct taking over after the second of stunned horror, he knelt down next to her.

“Skye! Here, lean on me. Steady, now.”

Blue or not, Hank was still strong enough to easily help Skye up again. He half-expected her to refuse his help. Instead, she gripped tightly to his arms as he got her back sitting on the edge of the bed. Her eyes were still squinted shut in pain, and her breathing was quick and shallow.

“Try to breathe deeper if you can,” Hank instructed gently. “In, and out. Just like that. In, and out.”

Skye nodded. After a few more breaths, she seemed to be through the worst of it. Hank straightened up, taking a few deep breaths himself. What on earth had possessed her to do that?

“I could’ve easily picked that up myself,” he said.

Skye shrugged – or winced, it was still hard to tell. “I was closer.”

“You were cl-” Hank broke off abruptly and sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose.

It was difficult to argue with that kind of logic. She was completely in earnest, wasn’t she? Hank tried again.

“Skye,” he said patiently, “Please don’t go throwing yourself around and aggravating your injuries. At the very least, don’t do it right in front of your doctor. I’m going grey fast enough as it is.”

“Sorry.”

In spite of his incredulity and exasperation, that quiet, defeated little ‘sorry’ hurt his heart a little.

“I’m here to help you, not the other way around,” he said.

Hank had never once seen Skye smile. For a moment, he thought he was about to see her cry. But her expression simply smoothed itself into its default blank state.

“Just take it easy for a bit, alright?” he said. “I’ll have them bring up some icepacks with your lunch.”

Skye nodded and said nothing, her gaze once again fixed on the floor. More uneasy than ever, Hank took his leave.

He knew this wasn’t really a cause for alarm. Skye healed at an accelerated rate and this likely wouldn’t set her back much. But it was just… It was reckless; that’s what it was.

It didn’t seem calculated, though. It looked like instinct, or force of habit. If one was close enough to help, then one must help – injury or no injury. And the more he thought about it, the more that worried him, too.

From what he understood, that’d been Skye’s role with the GLA – to help regardless of injury. And with her repeated assertions that she’d had worse… Hank was starting to wonder how much worse that worse was. But Skye had volunteered very little information about herself. Maybe it wasn’t any of his business.

… No, it was his business. As primary caregiver – Hank highly doubted that Skye had seen a doctor in years – this absolutely was his business. He sat down and picked up the phone.

“Hello, this is Dr. Henry McCoy. I’m requesting a complete medical history. … The patient’s name is Skye Schultz. … With an ‘e,’ yes. … I’d like it faxed to me as quickly as possible.”

Hank entered Charles’s study without knocking. It’d be difficult to sneak up on Charles in the first place; Hank was certain he’d heard him coming.

Charles himself was near the window, admiring a bowl of fresh-cut flowers. He looked up curiously as Hank marched in.

“I’d been expecting you to stop by sooner or later,” said Charles, “But not in this state of mind. What’s happened?”

“Just… look at this. Please.”

Hank set the file folder he’d been carrying on the table. He took a step back, giving Charles room to approach.

Charles raised an eyebrow as he looked at the cover page. “Skye’s medical records?”

Hank nodded, gesturing for Charles to continue reading. He was too worked up to answer out loud; he’d just start ranting. This’d at least give him a chance to regain his composure, and give Charles a chance to understand his agitation.

And, judging by his grave expression as he leafed through the pages, Charles definitely understood. “And this is all from-?”

“Her time with the GLA, yes,” said Hank. “I’m… I… I can’t even articulate how sickening this is. The cumulative effects of repeated concussions alone, not to mention every other injury she sustained- And she doesn’t regenerate! Accelerated healing is not the same as regeneration. Did they just not bother to understand the difference, or did they just not care?”

“Hank-” Charles began, but Hank wasn’t finished.

“These were mutants, Charles! This wasn’t Trask, or Stryker. She was exploited and used by other mutants – by her own kind.”

Hank broke off, taking a deep breath. He’d go blue in a minute if he wasn’t careful. He sank onto the sofa, rubbing at his temples.

“No wonder she doesn’t trust us,” he said quietly. “After reading through that, I can’t say I blame her. Charles – did you know?”

His face still grave, Charles shook his head. “I didn’t know the extent of it. All I knew was that there were memories she was trying to keep buried.”

An understatement. Hank leaned his chin against his hand. At its most basic level, Skye’s story was hardly unusual. Nearly every mutant he’d ever meet had experienced hardships, neglect, outright abuse – and those were the ones who lived. Hank didn’t know why this particular story troubled him so much.

Maybe it was because he was a doctor. It’d be impossible to read that litany of injuries and not be alarmed. Repeated orbital fractures, dislocated shoulders, spleen bruised a few times and ruptured once – there were professional cage-fighters who hadn’t accumulated as much damage as this girl had. And Skye’s former teammates just let it keep happening. Encouraged it, even. How could Hank not be infuriated?

Or… maybe it was the fact that the GLA’s failings echoed his own. He thought of his younger years, of how his insecurities and internalized prejudice led him to hurt and alienate someone he cared about. He’d grown, and learned from his mistakes, and been forgiven.

While that couldn’t undo the past, and while the circumstances weren’t the same, maybe he could help someone who’d suffered because of the same sort of mistakes.

If only he had more time.

Charles smiled faintly, shaking his head in response to Hank’s unspoken thought.

“We can’t force her to stay here, Hank,” he said.

“Then we have to find some way to convince her to,” said Hank. “If we let her leave, she’s going to get herself killed.”

Charles was silent for a moment, watching him. Hank had long since grown used to the feeling of being scrutinized like this.

“It’s more than scientific curiosity or professional concern for you this time,” he said, and it was almost a question.

Hank nodded. He was always interested in every mutant he met – getting to know them, learning about their abilities. But Charles was right. This was different. Hank wasn’t sure if he himself could quite explain it.

As a younger man, he’d allowed himself to be pushed around, made a doormat of himself in an effort to be accepted. And Skye, made to feel unwanted at home and exploited by the people she thought were her friends…

She was just a kid – just a kind person who only wanted to help. There’d been no Charles Xavier to reach out to her, to believe that she was more than what others perceived her as.

Hank looked up again, and Charles nodded, able to glean some coherence from the jumble of thoughts. Charles glanced once more at Skye’s medical records before closing the folder, letting his hand rest on it for a moment.

“You stood by me in my darkest hours, old friend,” he said. “I’ll follow your lead in this, and assist you in any way that I can.”

“Thank you,” Hank said quietly. He took off his glasses, rubbing at his eyes. “You’d think that after all this time – after all the stories we’ve heard and the tragedies we’ve witnessed – we might get desensitized to it all, but we haven’t. I can’t give up on this any more than you could give up on your students.”

Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed the faint smile on Charles’s face.

“Don’t give me that look,” Hank said wryly. “You take on protégés all the time. I’m allowed one.”

Charles was grinning in earnest now. “Raven’ll never let you hear the end of it, you know.”

“Oh, I know.”

Hank smiled fondly at the mention of his wife, but the brief moment of levity faded quickly and took his outrage with it, at least for now. He was resolute. He had a responsibility to Skye, and he was going to help.

#x men oc #x men fanfiction #hank mccoy #charles xavier #fox x men #xcu #xmen oc #xmen fanfiction #iweir #skye schultz #just shouting into the void #who ordered the angst?#x men

4 notes · View notes

artwithoutconsequence · 7 years

Text

Rogue One (temporarily) relieved the biggest fear about Star Wars

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, is an important film in many regards. Let’s not get delusional and say it’s more important than The Force Awakens, but Gareth Edwards’ helmed entry carries a weight that J.J. Abrams did not have to worry about with Episode VII, and that is the question of what exactly are Star Wars films outside of the Episodic saga of the Skywalker family? For those who don’t remember, this question was briefly addressed by George Lucas himself under the “old rules’ when in 2008, The Clone Wars, which would later become the only piece of expanded universe to make the transition to Disney’s canon, premiered as a film. It didn’t go down so well, panned by critics and fans alike. It was fortunate that the series turned out quite the opposite, with many fans liking the show’s depiction of the famous conflict better than the prequels themselves.

But that’s neither here nor there, Disney paid a lot of money for Star Wars, and they’ll be making sure to maximise returns on their investment, and part of that plan seems to be releasing one Star Wars film per year until civilisation ends after an alien invasion goes awry. But Disney knows you can’t have an episodic entry every year. Otherwise we’d be seeing Episode 27 in 2035. No, instead you release episodic titles every other year and have “anthology” films in between. That way episode 27 doesn’t get released until 2055. Much better, right? Let the adventures of Han “Obi” Skywalker and Leia Padme Kenobi reign on!! (You know what, you’re right, that’s a bit unrealistic - it won’t be until the 2099 centennial celebration of The Phantom Menace that Disney acknowledges the prequels, so it will be just Leia Kenobi)

So the first of these non-episodic films is Rogue One, and it’s a story from John Knoll, who has worked in visual effects at Industrial Light and Magic since the Special Editions of the Original Trilogy at least, and it was initially pitched as a story idea over a decade ago, so it’s been around the docks for a while. It’s the first of no doubt, many non-episodic films, and it’s poetic in a cliche sense that it deals very closely with the events of the first Star Wars film itself. Now, Disney is calling these movies ‘stand-alone’ movie, which is a bit ingenious, because Rogue One has no feet to stand on without A New Hope, but we’ll talk about that a bit later.

A New Hope’s opening crawl begins;

“It is a period of civil war.

Rebel spaceships, striking

from a hidden base, have won

their first victory against

the evil Galactic Empire.

During the battle, Rebel

spies managed to steal secret

plans to the Empire's

ultimate weapon, the DEATH

STAR, an armored space

station with enough power

to destroy an entire planet.”

And it is in those three yellow sentences where most of Rogue One is set. In an attempt to distance itself from the episodic entries, Rogue One has no opening crawl, and it wouldn’t work because while the Star Wars saga films typically start at Point A and end at Point B over a set amount of time, usually days, Rogue One begins with a sequence fifteen years before the rest of the film, and then picks up the events later. But Rogue One can only distance itself so far from A New Hope and the filmmakers know this, which makes the labelling of it being a “standalone” Star Wars film all the more confusing

There are many things to talk about with Rogue One, most of which has been covered ad-nauseum elsewhere. Overall, i think it is a good film, with some flaws, and scars which clearly point to studio intervention, but there’s one thing I wanted to really talk about in this piece and it was something that i was quite relieved to see.

With Star Wars now set to hit screens at least once a year until the end of time, one of the biggest questions that few people ask is; how are they going to keep it fresh? How are they going to keep it special? Because as of 2017 Star Wars is still special, to most people anyway. Maybe Disney doesn’t care to keep it fresh, or special so long as the money keeps rolling in. But Rogue One is the key indicator as to how Disney will manage Star Wars on the silver screen, if at least for the foreseeable future.

Before Rogue One, however, there was also an indicator, one that was worrying, and that was the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Disney bought Marvel, for arguably the same reason they bought Star Wars - after years of trying to capture the young-teen boy market (“Does anyone remember TRON: Legacy?”) they gave up and decided to buy it instead. It’s worked too. Marvel movies are big business and have inspired a dull trend in Hollywood where everything has to be one big connected universe.

The true crime of Marvel films however, is that they’re almost factory produced Ford T-models at this point, each rolled out with a different coat of paint. (At least Ford told people it was the same car they were buying) It started with one a year and now we are at one every six months or so, sometimes even less. Trailers come out, almost promising a new adventure never before seen, only for it to be an adventure that very much follows a formula that has been audience tested down to the end credits. What was once an exciting build up now feels like dread as 2017 brings the fifteenth, sixteenth, and seventeenth films in the “MCU” to screens this year. (with the exception of anticipation for Taika Waititi’s Thor: Ragnorok, because with the exception of perhaps Edgar Wright, he has the most unique voice Marvel has hired to date)

They are good films, but they aren’t unique, they barely have any artistic individuality at all, they feel the same, and perhaps worst of all they rarely surprise the audience. Naturally this is a concern that could happen to Star Wars, which arguably set the field in motion for this sort of risk-adverse film-making in the first place. (For those not in the know - consensus largely sees that Star Wars and Jaws killed the New Hollywood era - a almost-decade long spell where directors and writers saw unprecedented control over Hollywood cinema resulting in what could be seen as the greatest output of tinseltown. But that’s another story for another time)

But despite that, Star Wars has always remained special, even if the prequels didn’t meet expectations, it was still an event seeing the trilogy be released; watching the completion of “the circle” started almost 30 years prior. Avengers was an event. When Age of Ultron released, it wasn’t. Would this happen to Star Wars? The Marvelication of Star Wars. That, more than anything should have been the #1 question heading into Rogue One.

And ultimately, on the “special” front - It doesn’t feel like it now, but in a few years after we’ve seen a new entry every year for five years, they won’t feel as big of an event. Episode XIII will not be as big as Episode VII, and Episode XVI won’t be as big as either.

But in terms of Star Wars being a soulless factory produced machine, Rogue One went a long way to alleviate many of those fears. Though it’s story can’t stand on it’s own, It makes a big effort to differentiate itself from episodes in terms of style and structure. It both does and doesn’t feel like a Star Wars film at the same time which is an achievement to be touted by Mr. Edwards and co. to be sure.

The film is gorgeous, with some beautiful locations. It contradicts nicely with the tone of the film. Edwards makes you feel the Empire’s oppressiveness throughout the picture, and it’s something that is always there, and it’s felt in a way that’s really only present in Empire Strikes Back. It’s well done because it should be oppressive for the characters living during this time, and it’s something we’ve been told about so it’s good to see. Unfortunately, the tone is somewhat tarnished by showing stormtroopers as bumbling idiots at every moment they show up in the film. Now yes, stormtroopers are notorious for poor aim, but they’re usually shown to be competent/scary at some part in other films. Like destroying the village in the opening of The Force Awakens - it adds credibility to your stock level bad guys instead of leaving it all to Vader.

The Star Wars saga has a distinct style to the stories are told and filmed. The Force Awakens fit like perfect glove, as it should have. Rogue One gave filmmakers a chance to branch out and not only show different things in that giant universe, but show them differently too. Perhaps we visit one too many new planets in the films opening act as we jump around introducing various characters, It makes the locales a bit less memorable, but the right intent was there.

Some critics have said that this movie put the “War” in Star Wars, which isn’t quite true. All six fimls have signature battle sequences, but they are very much shot in a way where there is spectacle and a large conflict, but you never really lose focus on the main characters. In The Battle of Endor, there is a massive battle occurring outside the second death star, yet the scenes between Luke, Vader and the Emperor feel so personal and carry a lot of the weight of the film. The saga films are space operas after all, the characters come first. Everything else add to the stakes.

Rogue One is the first of the Star Wars films to really zoom out a bit, and that’s partly because we don’t care about these characters as much, but with the conflict directly tieing into A New Hope it does make some sense to focus on the larger picture, even if that means your characters are less engaging than the Skywalker clan and company. It’s actually a bit of a chicken and the egg situation, are your characters weaker because of the larger focus, or is there a larger focus because your characters weaker?

Whether this different style makes for a better movie or not is down to subjectivity, but the fact that the film does have a unique style is a big strength for the future of these anthology ffilms because it has a tone and style that seems like it won’t translate through to other movies. Partly because the nature of each story will (hopefully) be different. Not every film will be set in the Empire’s heydey, and the expanded universe before Disney showed just how massive the potential for exploring great, unique stories is within that galaxy far, far, away. Because Rogue One is flawed - but it stands out in all the right ways, and has put fears to rest of a once special franchise turning into the Assassin’s Creed of the movie world.. For now. These anthology films should take over as the main storytelling point of the Star Wars galaxy. It’s much bigger than just being a world of Skywalkers. Disney run the risk of not only Marvelifing Star Wars, but adding in the worst parts of Harry Potter too. The Skywalkers are just a tiny part of an enormous play, much like our own place in our universe, and hopefully Disney will see that before it’s too late.

#starwars #rogueone #disney #lucasfilm #movies #art #writing #review #garethedwards #cinema #hollywood #modernmovies #critique

0 notes