#tldr: i LOVE star wars

[sheepfulsheepyardinspace]

i think discussion of the prequel trilogy is really hampered when you consider the pt a stand-alone piece. it’s not! it’s only half the story. anakin skywalker’s story doesn’t end on mustafar; neither does obi-wan’s, and padmé’s influence lives far beyond on her death. the original trilogy is fait accompli. the main characters' story arcs in the pt work so because it was directly reverse engineered from the ot.

most, if not all, of the questions the ot brings up both mechanical as well as thematic (what happened to the jedi order? what about the twins' mom? what was the galaxy like before the empire? what caused anakin's fall?) are answered in the pt. equally, all of what appear to be loose threads at the end of the pt (what is the future of the jedi order, who is the best of the jedi? luke. what is the cure to the dark side? love, connection, it's how luke saves anakin. will the galaxy ever get better? yes, luke and leia are leaving the galaxy better than their parents left it) are answered in the ot.

you can't divorce the prequel trilogy from the fact that it is a tragedy. nothing about rotj would be triumphant if there was nothing for luke to redeem anakin from or anything left to fix. it's also, by definition, a prequel, so the characters are never going to entirely succeed, and that's their tragedy and dramatically ironic end. padmé never gets to reform the republic (she's murdered by the republic's killer); obi-wan doesn't get to see anakin defeat the sith (anakin destroys the order and joins the sith); and anakin never gets to free the slaves (instead he becomes one, again). who's at fault, here, for the state of the galaxy at the end of rots? everyone and no one. there's more blame to be assigned to some than others (palpatine, for one; anakin, who's doing the murdering) but these characters are not real people actually on trial at the hague. all the pt characters all have to have made irreversible mistakes in someway, by demand of fate and plot, wherein every single character's decision––especially those made with the best intentions––will doom them in some horrific, completely unforeseeable manner.

and all of this would be an understandable end to a tragedy. but the last scenes of rots, like fortinbras arriving to find horatio, do provide hope and luke and leia's existence begin to transition the story to the classical hero's journey. the two trilogies are fundamentally intertwined, spiritual sisters and spiritual antitheses, and it's only the original trilogy that can provide answers and solutions to the pt's problems. parts of obi-wan, padmé, and anakin's characters fundamentally could not be resolved without the characters of the ot. and there's real beauty to it! the relief, the comfort, the hope you feel when binary sunset plays at the end of rots is what makes the ot's triumph so much more emotional in light of the pt's dark tragedy.

#sw #sw meta #star wars #anakin skywalker #luke skywalker #my stuff #darth anakin #swpt #swot #jedi order #empire #republic #i mean you could also resolve this with a determined fanfic writer #but im speaking here about writing analysis/meta on sw as opposed to sw fanfic #tldr: i LOVE star wars #obi-wan kenobi #padme amidala

[foggysirens]

one thing i love so much about andor is how each week they manage to weave in these subtle underlying themes within the episodes that are just so impactful to all the characters (and the audience) in different ways.

like shows do this often, have their characters in different situations but explore the same overall theme- but with andor each storyline is so rich and have these stakes that are so impossibly high that the emotional gut-punch of each one just drives home how well written and executed this show is and the heavy theme of sacrifice in this last episode just hit me hard.

like in the prison break scenes it is so thick with it, we see the prisoners coming together, ready to die fighting than stay there- and many of them do. but they are prepared to do it. one way out. its the grim yet hopeful moment of rebellion. and we get to see some of the best scenes in all of star wars as we watch these men revolt, as we listen to kinos powerful speech, how cassian pushes him and we get these lines: "you need to help each other. you see someone who is confused, someone who is lost? you get them moving and you keep them moving." which just hit me in the gut because the entire speech is just an emotional hit after emotional hit, but this line. this line is indicative of everything we've seen of the show so far. these calls for action, call for rebellion. to stand beside one another and fight. climb. and then we reach this heartbreaking end where we see them at the end, the light at the end of the tunnel- and kino cant swim. one way out- just not for him. and were stuck with that feeling of sacrifice again- that he must have known, but pushed and helped them escape anyways. the one man for the many. and when we see cassian and melshi running off, free, we know they'll remember that too.

and then with mon, her presence in this episode was much smaller than it has been, but the theme of sacrifice was still there for her- just vastly different. because the sacrifice that we see in her scene is not the heroic kind. it's mon being asked if she would be willing to sacrifice her daughter, marry her off, to further her cause. and again, its so poignant and filled you with this sick feeling because it's not mons sacrifice, it's her daughters, but its in mons hands anyways. and no matter how vehemently we see her reject the idea, just like davo says, we can see her genuinely considering it- knowing she's out of options- but at what cost?

and lastly with luthen and lonni, their entire conversation, right at the end, is openly about sacrifice. and we get this amazing dialogue between them where luthen reminds us that the rebellion is built on sacrifice, how it's personal and at the cost of others. it slams everything that we've just seen back in our faces. forcing us to go back and look at it with new eyes. it's the perfect mixture of the other two storylines in the episode. the prison and kino, and mon and her daughter. its fifty for the sake of one, and one spy at the sake of his family. the sacrifice is everything.

andor spends this whole episode showing us there is always a cost, always a sacrifice- something that again is such a true theme for star wars in general. the sacrifices in this show mean everything. the true cost of the rebellion. what has to be done isn't always kind, isn't always pretty. there is no thanks. there is no seeing the sunrise. there is not a one way out.

#andor #andor series #andor spoilers #star wars #TLDR I LOVED THIS EPISODE #THE PRISON BREAK WILL GO DOWN AS ONE OF THE BEST STAR WARS SCENES EVER #mj.chatter

[corellianhounds]

Amidala the Resilient

Media: Revenge of the Sith

Rating: T

Word Count: 3,942

Warnings: Canon-typical violence, pregnancy, Force-choking, blood and injuries, traumatic labor and delivery, death in childbirth, no happy ending.

Art Credit: Iain McCaig, The Art of Star Wars, Episode III: Revenge of the Sith

Summary: In a universe where Anakin gradually descended into the Dark side of his own volition from the beginning— where his ambition and love were genuine and admirable, but the temptation of power too much— his turn is something much more destructive and purposeful. Amidala’s plan for retaliation is just as much so.

Padmé Amidala can feel tension twinging in her back and thighs. The pit in her stomach has coalesced into a tight knot as she steels herself for what she must do; she’s bringing a mattock and salt to the ground where pruning shears should have been used long ago.

Anakin had been too far gone for a long time, and the fault lay in her and everyone in his life willingly turning a blind eye too often to his myriad of faults. In the past two hours she has seen actions the result of which came from an upbringing where his temper, jealousy, and ambition were allowed to slide because those who thought him destined for some great cosmic good were willing to overlook occasional— and often objectively justified— acts of wrath and ruthlessness. He had always been so good at justifying his reasons and putting his actions in a more favorable light, showing enough willingness for correction over the years people thought he was receptive to guidance and change.

What she’d come to realize with dawning horror was that the seeds of destruction had been sown long ago, and though the vines had borne occasional good fruit, they had always grown with selfish intent, inevitably choking out everything around them in an effort to keep his own desires hidden behind the barrier of thorns.

In the next hour, she will come face to face with the monster of a man he’s become.

The Jedi master doesn’t know. Kenobi knows she has some plan but wrongfully assumes it is to appeal to whatever mistaken shred of humanity might remain in Anakin. Obi-Wan— even now, even after what they saw— cares for him as a brother and would sooner cut off his own hand than see Anakin completely lost to the Dark. Padmé however has finally seen clarity of purpose.

For Anakin to be stopped, he must be killed.

The ship arrives on Mustafar. Padmé wrenches herself away from the viewport as Obi-Wan lands and she gingerly lowers herself to the cargo hold, donning a cloak. Obi-Wan hurriedly finishes the landing cycle, calling her name as she gathers her strength, but she’s hardly listening to him at this point and she knows she must conceal herself from him so he has no chance of stopping her.

A hand on her shoulder makes her flinch, and the Jedi lets go almost in surprise. “Padmé, you don’t have to do this. I will talk to him.”

“No,” she says, keeping her left hand secured across her waist beneath the voluminous sleeve as she cleared a path to the lowering gangway. “He’s made it very clear he’s past the point of reasoning with the Jedi. I will speak with him, and if I cannot convince him to come with us calmly, or I cannot ascertain his next move, I expect you to do what’s necessary to end this treasonous rebellion. That is an order.”

It was all false diplomacy, of course, for his sake. Padmé had no intention of believing Anakin was anywhere close to the realm of negotiation. They were far past that.

But she needed assurance that she could get close enough to Anakin to act decisively. She couldn’t have Kenobi interfering, not at this juncture.

Oppressive heat surrounded her as she swept down the ramp to the barren ground. Magma roiled and churned, flames flickering at the edge of the peninsula as Padmé approached the figure so cloaked in darkness an aura of blackened energy almost seemed to emanate from his form. The grip of the hidden dagger dug into her hand, grounding her as she approached.

Padmé’s eyes burned with a ferocity to match her husband’s. It was time for this to end.

When Obi-Wan had seen her determination in the hold of the ship he had never for a moment anticipated what it would lead to.

Padmé steadily approached Anakin, cloak and hood protecting her from the blaze. He could see her speaking forcefully with him, her face hidden from view but Anakin’s darkening by the moment in response. His right hand, devoid of glove, clenched the hilt of an already ignited saber, the bloodshine blade standing in stark contrast to his own cloak. Its presence alone was alarming, but Obi-Wan had been subject to so many tragedies that night already, he merely assumed Anakin had readied it in the expectation of facing his master.

What Obi-Wan hadn’t known was what Padmé concealed until she tried to close the distance between them, her own blade in hand. What followed happened in the span of a heartbeat.

Anakin’s saber blocked it on instinct, easily halting the approach of Padmé’s dagger, his eyes widening in surprise. In the following moment his left hand raised and with it, so did Padmé.

Obi-Wan’s astonishment lasted only a fraction of a second as he yelled “NO!” Padmé’s feet left the ground as an invisible force clutched her neck in a crushing, intangible grip, and in the breadth of time Padmé scrabbled at her throat, Obi-Wan acted.

Anakin stumbled back from the force of the bolt hitting his shoulder, releasing his hold on Padmé. Padmé crumpled to the ground in a heap, and Anakin’s sights zeroed in on Kenobi, standing at the mouth of the ship with both blaster and lightsaber in hand. Snarling, Anakin stalked towards his old master and brought his lightsaber down, red clashing against blue.

Padmé Amidala, heartbroken and dying, drags herself bleeding to the communication console.

Kenobi can hear her movement in the bay and yells her name, telling her not to move, that he’ll come to help her as soon as the ship breaches the atmosphere, and she stalwartly ignores him, cradling the underside of her belly with one hand and using the other to support herself on the railing around the sparse artillery deck. Her broken ankle protests at every movement, sending lightning arcing up the leg where she puts her unsteady weight. The cramps in her abdomen spread like bone-coral, sharp and hot and agonizing in her pelvis, sides, back— Every tendon and muscle in her body screams at their owner to relent, to succumb to the creeping darkness pressing around her vision, but she cannot allow herself peace until she finishes what she started.

Padmé staggers at the ship’s turbulent acceleration, her forearm slamming out against the bulkhead as the lights flicker, and she curses the unsteady pilot she thought was her friend. Perhaps if she’d been accompanied by someone more decisive, someone whose fatal flaw wasn’t a love too great for a brother that no longer existed, Anakin would have been dealt with and she’d have the wherewithal to fight against the added pain of a labor she was sure would tear her in two.

Sweat pours from her brow and forces her already shaking, slippery hands to scrabble for purchase on the blasted polished finery of a spoiled noble’s ship. Her muscles spasm and she gasps in abject terror as she feels something inside her snap; the membrane within her had ruptured.

Gravity pulls on her bones as her muscles betray her, and she collapses against the bench. Fingernails scrape vinyl and she chokes out a guttural, rending cry of pain in the effort it takes to haul herself upward into the seat.

Obi-Wan is yelling again. Traitorous coward.

Padmé punches in the covert frequency on the transmitter. Her other hand rests on her stomach, her infants moving restlessly under her touch. She forces the hot flashes of pain back, shoving down every instinctive response to curl in on herself.

“Sabé—,” she says into the comm, gritting her teeth and tasting blood once more; the contractions were stronger and with a strangled grunt she yanks the comm closer, ignoring the frantic waves of worry rolling off of the useless Jedi in the pilot’s seat.

“Sabé, if you find the man who was my husband,” she chokes, the creeping black at the edges of her vision beginning to overtake her.

“Kill him.”

Obi-Wan sat listlessly on a bench in the hold, what bloodied clothing he still wore sticking to him like a second skin. His hand rested on the makeshift bassinet, a gun locker repurposed into a cradle.

He could only imagine what directive she’d felt necessary enough to strain herself to get across the sublight waves; he could only imagine because the message was encrypted and the recipient unknown, and her mind had been shielded from his probing. He didn’t know whether to blame his failed use of the Force on the heartbroken, distracted nature of his psyche being pulled in a thousand directions as he’d manually flown from Mustafar’s orbital pull in order to make the jump to lightspeed, or to blame some unknown energy stalwartly blocking him from Padmé’s mind. Reaching out to her had felt like hitting a steel wall.

The tumult of their departure had preoccupied him until he was sure he’d escaped whatever enemy fighters Anakin’s new master had sent after them, the maneuvering less of a dogfight and more of a half-cocked evasive prayer for the hull to remain intact long enough for them to break atmo. Klaxons blared and the astronav’s interface barked orders, warning him of too many systems he already knew were damaged enough that if they took even one more hit to the hull they would be obliterated; shields were failing, exterior panelling being shorn off, the pursuing fighters gaining on them— Until by some stroke of luck he’d found a slip in space to pull through and immediately jump to lightspeed.

Lightspeed jumps themselves were already hazardous to expecting parents’ health. He was terrified of the condition she had been in when he’d finally gotten her onboard, and the fact he could sense her moving with purpose somewhere below decks while he tried to shake the fighters had sent his heart rate skyrocketing.

Piloting had never been his forte. As soon as they’d hit hyperspace he’d slammed a hand against the autopilot controls and bolted from the dash, scrambling down to the hold below.

He swore under his breath, calling her name and skidding to a halt beside her. Her face twisted in agony, her hands clutching the underside of her abdomen. Obi-Wan knelt beside her, hesitant to move her and instead ran a quick check over her vitals, astonished at what he found.

Broken bones in her leg, fractured ribs, internal bleeding, damaged trachea— how had she even moved?! By all rights she should be dead and yet something had propped her up long enough for her to drag herself to the terminal and send a message.

And now she was in labor.

“Kenobi—” she spat derisively, grabbing his tunic. “Get— up—“

“Padmé, hold still, let me—”

He was cut off as a violent shudder wracked her body, her limbs curling in on herself with a gurgling cry. Panicked desperation lanced through him as he reached out and grasped tendrils of the Force, gingerly cradling her neck and attempting to delicately, swiftly mend ligaments he couldn’t see. If he was even a millimeter incorrect, she would die.

A misaligned vertebrae shifted back into place, and Padmé screamed.

Obi-Wan bit back a sob, carefully tracing his fingers on either side of the back of her neck with as much force as he dared in an attempt to still her and provide what pain relief he could as his own energy was leached from him. Padmé gasped, her eyes flying open, her expression stricken as she looked up at the ceiling. Her iron grip loosened as the tension dissipated, if only in one area. She gulped air as if coming up from the bottom of a lake, and Obi-Wan settled as he felt his strength wane. A concrete task was better than guesswork at unknown variables.

The reprieve didn’t last long; Padmé grunted in pain, convulsing as a contraction rippled through her torso again. Further assessment revealed her leggings and the floor beneath her to be drenched, and Obi-Wan’s panic flared again.

“I have to get you up—”

“If you move me I will kill you,” she spat harshly. She trembled despite the ferocity of her glare, her hand still twisted in his robe. “There is no time— Here and now, Kenobi. Make do.”

“Padmé—”

“Look around you,” she seethed. “There’s no level surface in this blasted ship big enough to work. There are no other choices. There is no one else to help. Sleeves up. Now.”

Kenobi’s brow remained twisted as he stripped off his outer tunic, knowing it was laden with silicate and volcanic dust. Padmé propped herself up on her elbows as he raced to scour his hands and forearms, coming back to remove her boots so he could work her outer garments free. Whether the blood seeping between her teeth was due to the injuries she’d sustained or because she was gritting them hard enough one had cracked, he didn’t know.

Padmé gasped again as the fracture in her shin shifted— He wanted to settle her, to fix this, but the contractions were coming more quickly and closer together. They were running out of time.

He finally seated himself before her, kneeling and shaking in just his undershirt and trousers, feeling acutely unprepared for what was to come. Battlefield triage and casualty care were the extent of his healing knowledge, and though he was adept at relieving or numbing acute nociceptive responses, it was usually with soldiers whose minds were open for him to assess areas of injury. A commander with a blaster burn would be focused on the point where his plastoid hadn’t covered. A civilian’s attention after suffering a fall would be turned to the joints and bones that took the brunt of the effects of gravity.

Labor and delivery were far too different from his experience in the medical field.

And Padmé was still blocking him out.

Her knuckles gripped bone-white to a ridge of floor plating, one knee bent and her foot planted flat. The other lay weakly to the side, and Obi-Wan grit his teeth as he raised it up to rest over his thigh despite the lancing pain he felt radiating from her, tucking a blanket beneath her and readying his hands for whatever instruction he prayed she could give. With him gathering his wits and her gathering her strength, they set to work.

The whole ordeal couldn’t have lasted longer than thirty minutes, and it was the longest and most arduous process of their lives. Between her strangled cries, his intuition, and the muscle spasms that told him everything about this was wrong, Kenobi’s concern grew with the pool of blood beneath her, and she forced him to focus on the children, refusing to allow him any modicum of time spent healing her injuries between her screams. Untended bone cracked further as she thrashed, her screams echoing back in the cargo hold.

By the time Kenobi had swaddled the two squalling— living!— infants in what sterile dressing he could find from the field kit, Padmé had gone a sickly pale. Her skin was waxy under the recessed halogen lighting, her hair sticking to her forehead. Dark circles rimmed her eyes and different muscle groups continued twitching of their own accord as if sparked by electricity. Obi-Wan was torn between ensuring the infants had been properly cared for, and wanting to drag Padmé to the captain’s berth to fully assess her wounds and heal her: Padmé kept stubbornly shoving him away, tears tracking unnoticed down her face as she continued to choke out instructions for the care and keeping of her children.

He’d finally been forced to stop when that iron grip returned in full force— Padmé grabbed his arm and yanked him down to where she had propped herself up against the wall. Kenobi lurched forward, her ashen face now level with his. She forced her voice to obey despite the strain in her throat, rasping the words she needed to say.

“Keep them away from him.” The venom in her tone was undeniable. “You keep them safe, Kenobi, get— get them as far away as you can—”

Kenobi grunted, refusing to let her continue her orders. He pressed a palm to her chest, willing those wisps of energy to sustain her just a few moments longer as he tried to haul her up into his lap, coax her arm around him so he could lift her— If he could just get her somewhere comfortable, somewhere clean, if he could focus—

Padmé shrieked in pain, clawing at his chest and arms, and the sum of their separate fights came crashing down on him as the Force dissipated from his mind’s grasp. His knees gave out, his strength sapped from the energy he had poured into her, and they lay heavily back against the terminal yet again. The children cried distantly behind them.

“Padmé, please…” Obi-Wan pleaded, tears streaking down his face, but she shook her head yet again.

“Keep them safe,” she coughed, begging for the first time. “Get them away f-from—”

“He’s gone, Padmé, Anakin is gone—”

She shook her head fiercely, squeezing her eyes shut. “No. He’s there. I can feel him.”

“Listen to me— Anakin is dead, I saw him—”

“You’re wrong,” Padmé said. Her breath rattled. Tears dripped from her chin. “If— If you won’t k-kill him then t-take care o-of them. Wh-Whatever it takes.”

Her chest hitched as she gasped around the liquid filling her lungs. Her bloody hand trembled against his neck. She hiccuped, her eyes went glassy, and her hand fell away.

And in the stillness of hyperspace, Padmé Amidala Naberrie passed from one life to the next.

It had been an hour since then. Only an hour since Obi-Wan had had to keep himself from buckling under the weight of his grief, an hour since he’d sobbed on the floor of a ship as one of his oldest and dearest friends died in his arms. The former queen of Naboo, dying in the bloody cargo hold of a stolen ship, her own life stolen from her by the one person the two of them had trusted beyond measure while her infant children cried out for comfort he felt wholly incapable of providing. Obi-Wan wept alongside them, digging his fingers into the cold, unfeeling floor, wanting to scream as the agony of heartbreak threatened to overwhelm him.

So many dead, or lost. There was no solace even in the Force.

But as Obi-Wan Kenobi found himself doing so often in his life, he shoved his feelings down into the furthest recesses of his broken heart, let go of another loved one returned to the Force, and turned himself back to the task at hand.

The infants were asleep now. He’d shakily scrubbed at his face and arms with cold water and spared only enough time under the sanisteam to ensure he was clean enough to handle them before finding a spare undershirt for himself. He fed them, cleaned them up, and held both of them together against his chest as they squirmed, dissatisfied at their situation before accepting their present accommodations and falling asleep. By the ship’s chrono he had roughly two standard hours before the ship was due to drop out of hyperspace.

He sat unseeing in the captain’s berth with the ad hoc bassinet nearby. Padmé was still in the hold; he couldn’t be two places at once, and he couldn’t stay down there with the children.

Something bothered him about the infants in his arms, though. Once the girl had passed from Padmé’s body, it almost seemed like the barrier keeping him from sensing Padmé’s thoughts had broken. He was too drained and scattered to dwell on it as his last moments with her had been focused on her well-being, but despite his utter exhaustion he had a suspicion that had already begun to crystallize under the sheer openness of the twins’ young presences within hyperspace.

It troubled him.

Whatever message she’d sent was evidently received by the people she’d needed it to. Bail Organa met him at the hastily assembled but covert rendezvous, his ensuing shock and horror upon entering the ship’s docking ramp turning to commanding resolve as he followed the trail of destruction to Kenobi’s station. Organa had to shake him from his stupor before Obi-Wan could tell him of Mustafar, of the newly appointed Sith and Padmé’s scheme, and of Padmé’s last words. The senator’s brow furrowed. He knelt next to the Jedi, looking over the sleeping children.

“What of Anakin?”

Obi-Wan shook his head tiredly. “I cannot sense him. I don’t believe Anakin is alive.”

“… Who else did she contact?” Bail asked.

Tears dripped onto Obi-Wan’s shirt. “I don’t know.”

Bail sighed, bringing one hand up to rest on his shoulder. “I am truly sorry, Obi-Wan. For everything.”

Obi-Wan couldn’t respond.

Bail’s team, handpicked and vetted by the senator himself, worked below decks as the men weighed their options. The aftermath of the despotic coup was rippling out and changing by the minute; the Jedi had been slaughtered and scattered, the clones had broken all communication, and the Senate had reached a fever pitch of chaos. Anything that needed to be decided needed to be done now.

The feeling of loss that bordered on consuming him was one he’d rarely felt in his lifetime as acutely as he did now. The comfort he found in the Force was absent. He’d felt like a ship unmoored when his master was killed. Now it was as though he’d been dropped into the middle of a hurricane.

Bail’s hands were clasped loosely together against his forehead, elbows resting on his knees as he bowed his head in thought. Kenobi could have been a corpse for how still and gaunt he was.

“Obi-Wan…” Bail began. “Are you certain Skywalker is dead?”

“Yes,” Obi-Wan said. “I cannot sense him at all.”

Bail was quiet for a moment before he spoke again. “… But you, of all people, couldn’t sense what must have been growing within him. Is it at all possible the body of Anakin remains, but the reason you cannot find him is because the man we knew is entirely lost to the Dark?”

A chilling fissure of clarity cut through Obi-Wan’s senses. His reaction told Bail everything he needed to know.

Even if it was only a suspicion, they could not afford to waste time figuring out the emperor’s next move. Anything that could be used to motivate Vader had to be hidden from public knowledge. They couldn’t leave a trace of his past behind.

Bail mulled over his thoughts, then stood, gesturing for Kenobi as his resolve hardened to steel. “Come. We have work to do. We will mourn when we are done.”

Sabé trembled with the effort it took to control her breathing. She stowed her bag behind the seat of the starship and brought the engine to life, moving with purpose as tears streamed unbidden down her face.

The ship rose, coordinates locked in place to meet the others of her gathering retinue. These weren’t the orders of former nobility, of a governing senator— This was the last request of a dying friend, someone whose very existence was woven into her bones. Padmé Amidala’s death would not be in vain.

Sabé looked out beyond the stars, her breathing finding stasis despite the ocean of grief beneath it.

“My hands are yours, Padmé,” she said to herself. “For as long duty compels them.”

She wasn’t going to kill Anakin. Not until he felt every bit of the pain and suffering he deserved.

Notes:

The line “clarity of purpose” comes from Saw Gerrera in the Andor TV show

I wrote Sabé’s line before seeing that one similar was used in one of the books. Good to know I was on the right track with a character I know very little about lol

#Revenge of the Sith #Star Wars fanfiction #Padme Amidala #Obi-Wan Kenobi #Anakin Skywalker #Bail Organa #Sabé #Heed the tags #prequel trilogy #The Force works in mysterious ways #my writing #If you’re aiming to write a tragedy. make it tragic ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ #I think Amidala and Kenobi should have known there was no reasoning with Anakin given everything they find out prior to Mustafar #I think Kenobi’s lack of action at seeing his best friend strangle his pregnant wife is utterly baffling #Like that should have been the point Obi-Wan realized ‘‘OH’’ and pulled a glock on him #I also think it’s dumb to reduce Padme’s death down to just a broken heart because Anakin DID strangle her #(In case it isn’t clear here. Padme tried to stand and fight Anakin again after Kenobi started fighting too.) #I was nooooooot going to write out the literal longest swordfight in cinema history. It simply wasn’t going to happen 😆 #The prequels needed more of a sense of urgency at every turn. Just from like a storytelling standpoint there were— #— way too many calm conversations being had about events or topics that needed to be paired with active choices and danger/deadlines #ANYWAY my point is #I only wanted to write this epilogue to revised prequel trilogy #not the whole thing #I’m already revising other stuff. Prequels would be too much work #TLDR: Anakin would have been better served as a character if he were the one driving the action instead of the story happening to him #He needed to be more impressive. more powerful. more loved by a multitude of characters. #More dangerous. and actively seeking out the power himself. He is otherwise uncompelling to me. #If he were written more like Boromir these movies would have been more of a tragedy #AO3 link in reblog

[dickytwister]

deep fried ben affleck smoking meme. please and thak you

TEEHEE wip that means sm to me,,,,, it's abt my boy carter post-dnd game when he becomes emperor from the pov of his bodyguard,,,, but carter is just. an littol guy,, and being an emperor away from all his friends is soooo hard for him,,,,, snippet under the cut be upon ye,,,

Daerhen is plucked from his position as General of the King’s armies a day before the new emperor’s coronation. It comes as a surprise; he’s been nothing but loyal to the empire, from the very moment he left his mother and sisters on Eter to become a soldier, when his hand first held a pistol, when he first took a life in the name of his lord. To be taken from his position in the army, one he’s worked tirelessly for many years to deserve, and be demoted to bodyguard, would have had any lesser man protesting vehemently.  But Daerhen is no lesser man, and he keeps his discontent well hidden under the thick cotton of his new uniform.  The coronation is grandiose, as one would expect. The King has been ruling for decades and has been desperately trying to reach his heir for half as long. This, the great hall crowded with nobility and what few people of lower standing managed to pay their way into the citadel, decorated from the marble floors to the painted ceilings, tables lined with appetizers and delicacies more delectable than the next, has been a very long time coming, and everyone is celebrating to their hearts’ content. King J'son stands next to the throne, one hand draped over the back, and looks at the crowd with a satisfied glint in his tired eyes. From where he’s leaning against a pillar, fingers loosely wrapped around the stem of a flute, Daerhen observes the new emperor. The young man is sitting on the throne with his back straight, his arms carefully placed on either side of his body, chin held high in a way that makes the ceremonial crown shine under the colourful lights of the plankton and the flickering ones of the candles that have been lit merely for aesthetic purposes. He is dressed in the finest silk, with hues of purple cascading along the seams of his outfit. Yet, for all that he wears the crown and the hues of purple and sits upon the same throne his grandfather sat upon before him, Carter Quill looks nothing like the ruler he’s meant to be.  If he didn’t abhor him for being the reason behind his demotion, Daerhen would pity him; while the band starts on another song and people gather round to dance, the emperor sits still under the weight that’s now resting heavy on his shoulders. 

#oc:carter #sorry this is so long i'm insane in the head abt my boy #i know he does great as an emperor!!! but it makes me sad!!! he's just a baby and he's forced to become a big man so fast!!! #when will he get to smell flowers again?? to look at the stars without thinking of the other empires out there who want to go to war?? #when will he see his friends again?? his family?? no one here knows he hates the heat or loves hot cocoa. no one knows that. it hurts me #tldr he is just a littol guy and he deserves better!!! #also daerhen is so dilf. fyi. important fact to me. they end up dating also #tag game #answered; #quickhacked

[cherryredcheol]

"bug"

tldr: the way vernon uses your nickname

a/n: not proofread. also, stoner!vernon is alive and well in this.

deadpans: in the middle of the night

“bug.” he startles you. he can somehow sense your eyes on him even with closed lids. you thought he was asleep and he should be considering the time and his schedule in the morning. 

“why aren’t you asleep?” you almost tell him you were just thinking the same thing about him but instead you just giggle when he cracks one eye open to peer up at you leaning over him. you hadn’t meant to wake him up but you were so hungry and he always made ramen the best for you. 

“you’re lucky i love you, bug” and you thought about how true that statement was as you followed him from the bedroom into the kitchen, perching yourself on the counter as he got the hot water going to make your snack for you. 

cheers: from across the practice room

“Bug!” after a long day of practice, and a longer night ahead, he shouted when he saw you enter the room with food. the oily smell of fried chicken wafted through the air and if his shouting didn’t catch everyone’s attention, that did.

he bounds across the room to you in five strides, carefully setting the plastic bags you were carrying down on the ground before squishing you into a bone-crushing hug. 

“you’re the best” he whispers into your ear, his breath setting your sensitive skin on fire. you blush, telling him it was no problem, the chicken shop was practically on the way. he pulls back, smiling at you so big your cheeks hurt just looking at him. you reach a hand up to his cheek, returning his smile with one of your own. he nuzzles into your hand wrapping his fingers around your wrist, holding your hand in place. 

“Yah! you turn to see Suengkwan, “Stop being gross in front of the food!” 

giggles: when he puffs the smoke from his lungs

“bug” he chuckles when you look at him with blown-out pupils and a soft smile. you were sitting across from him on the floor of your living room as a movie played softly in the background. star wars, you think. It was nice to spend this time together after a long week of schedules and shifts.

“do you want any more of this?” he asked you, lazy smile on his face as he held the blunt out to you. there was about half left and you hate the roach so you take it from his hand, huffing a few more drags. you were pleasantly high and so was he. you hold the blunt out for him to take, and he leans in wrapping his lips around the end, and breathes in deep, looking into your eyes the entire time. 

he exhales and you’re on him in an instant, joint forgotten in the ashtray on your coffee table. you climb into his lap not wanting to be away from him any longer. he smiles at you, wrapping his arms around your waist to hold you in place. “can’t resist me can you, bug?”

coughs: with your back turned

“bug” he sounds so pathetic. you turn around, careful of the tray in your hands holding a half-empty bowl of soup he was too sick to finish. you raise a brow at him, wondering what else he could possibly need. you had gotten him everything he asked for these last couple of days while he’s been home sick from his schedule. 

“when you come back, can we cuddle?” and you melt. the way his eyes are half closed and he’s barely able to lift his head off the pillow. you nod, hurrying quickly to the kitchen to clean the dishes. 

walking back into the bedroom, you can see he fell asleep in your short absence. you shake your head, supposing you should give him the cuddles he asked for earlier. climbing in next to him, already feeling warm from the heat radiating from his feverish body. he snuggles in closer, humming to himself, “much better, bug.”

chokes out: over the phone

“bug-” the broken word stops your heart. He’s clearly crying, or had been recently since his voice is still thick. he’d been in japan for over a week working on promotions with his members. the distance was tough, but nothing you hadn't dealt with before. 

‘i miss you so much” he finally lets out after much prodding on your end. he was never very forthcoming about his emotions, especially negative ones. it took a long time to get him to open up to you so you knew you had to tread lightly or he might clam up again. 

you stayed up that night, talking to him on the phone, calming him down so he could get some sleep for his big schedule tomorrow. sniffles gone and tears dried, you finally float the idea of going to bed by him and you can hear the pout in his voice when he asks, “stay on the phone a bit longer with me, bug?”

#vernon #hansol #hansol vernon chwe #hansol x reader #seventeen hansol #vernon x reader #hansol fluff #vernon fluff #seventeen #seventeen fluff #seventeen imagines #vernon imagines

[traveller-of-word-and-screen]

You know what I love and hate? Well I love that they’re doing it. Even though I hate to see it.

I love that it’s very obvious that Omega has major survivor’s guilt more so than maybe anyone we have seen in Star Wars. And yet she still puts all her energy into helping crosshair.

Like she continuously blame herself for leaving the clones on Tantiss, having Nemec, Fireball, Samson and Greer die and every little thing in between, but she is just like “Crosshair my bestie you need some therapy” no Omega you need therapy. I know you love helping Crosshair but sweetie please for the love of god help yourself. The potential angst and fallout is killing me. (I love angst)

Also I am feeling it in my bones that Omega’s gonna straight up dip cause she feels like she’s putting to many people at risk and costing to many lives. She didn’t deserve this. She deserved to be happy. Ironically the only times she’s happy is when she’s distracted with being Crosshair’s therapist.

TLDR: Omega has a major Survivors guilt and just blames herself for everything (this has been building up since season 2)

#star wars #starwars #the bad batch #tbb #TBB omega #omega TBB #crosshair TBB #tbb crosshair #clone troopers #tbb spoiler #tbb spoilers #the bad batch spoiler #the bad batch spoilers #cbr posts

[husbandohunter]

hello!! this is my first time requesting something ever so if i did something wrong im so sorry 😭

but i’d really like to request something with xiao where reader really wants to go to the festival with him but obviously he can’t/doesn’t want to so he rejects them :’) and reader ends up not going and just watches the fireworks alone from afar untilllll xiao comes and sits next to them and it’s just the two of them enjoying each other’s company 🙊🙊 and maybe like an angst to fluff/comfort typa moment

idk idk AHH if u aren’t comfy writing that it’s all good! this scenario just been stuck in my head for a while.

The Lights Bring me to my Qixin [Xiao x Reader]

Synopsis: He was hard to love, you were easy to love

Genre: angst/comfort, gender neutral reader, You fell first but Xiao fell harder and I WILL DIE ON THIS HILL!!

(A/n): tldr; Xiao needs to love himself 😤 also I'm so sorry it took this long anon. And you didn't do anything wrong! Thank you for sucha cute prompt :)

===============================

Xiao materializes himself on a bridge, a gust of wind fading beneath his feet. He doesn't move for a certain time, standing still as if he had no presence and just stares quietly. Only the moon was present tonight. No stars. A lone glow emitted right above where he remained and briefly he imagined, there was something melancholic about it. How the scenery made the lights in Liyue Harbor more apparent.

You would have loved to see this.

The adeptus recoils immediately and shakes away from those impending thoughts. No, he musn't dwell too much. He already made his decision. When you asked him to spend the lantern rite together, a voice inside his head acted before he even realized.

"No."

That was what he told you. It came out far more blunt than intended, followed by the poor choice of teleporting away. The pain on your face was something Xiao didn't want to think about. Because to him, you were like the city he gazed upon. Best admired from a distance. What affected the adeptus at the cost of what he wanted didn't matter.

His heart tightens. It's better this way.

"Why hello there! Care to join me for a drink this fine evening?"

Xiao spun around and saw Venti crouched on the handle while holding out a ceramic cup. Was he there the whole time or had his senses been dulled? It was hard to tell coming from an Archon.

Normally, he would refuse just as he would with anybody. But a part of him wanted to. Part of him wanted something that would help him take off his mind from those bothering emotions.

The two anemo users share a glass of rice wine pudding under the sky. Venti downs his fourth drink and Xiao glances at the watery reflection held by the glossy rim.

"If I recall, festivals are meant to be celebrated with wine and laughter. Maybe more of the former but it can't be complete without the other!" The bard cheers, his voice echoing around them, "Is the taste not to your liking?"

Xiao frowns, "No."

"No? Hmmm," Venti hums and taps his chin, "That's a shame. You were the second person who told me that."

As if he waited for Xiao to ask him who exactly, Venti proceeded to answer anyways, "As a travelling bard, I like to spread tales of heroic stories far and wide. Just so happened I landed a spot at the Teahouse yesterday. This good fellow sat in a corner, not even reacting to a single word I spoke, hmph!"

The teahouse? Wasn't that the place you always told him about? Repeating exaggerated stories about the mighty Yakshas who fought beside Rex Lapis during the Archon war?

"Ridiculous. Adepti cannot transform to anything but what they're already given. Mortal imagination are incomprehensible these days."

"Though you gotta admit, Bosacious with a serpent guardian sounds pretty cool...hold on, are you...laughing?"

"...Ridiculous."

"Did they say anything in particular?"

"Let me think, aha!" The bard snaps his fingers and looks upwards, "They said my interpretation of the story brought back good memories. That it reminded them of someone, which, they didn't tell me the name. But poor thing looked as if they were about to cry."

"...I see," he downs the drink in one gulp.

"Not even curious about who this mysterious person may be?" Venti insisted.

The adeptus huffs quietly and turns his head, "I have no recollection of such events. I must have mistakened them for someone else."

That's right. Whether you were happy or sad doesn't affect him in any way. Xiao knew where he stood. Karmic debt was a heavy burden to bear, it could be contagious and destructive if he wasn't too careful. Although you didn't like whenever he mentioned this, he truly believed that soon the curse will consume him completely. The yaksha's sole duty exists primarily for Liyue and to serve Rex Lapis whenever needed. Everything else becomes insignificant.

It's better this way. Xiao tells himself again. Mortal desires have no substance to him and neither does his own. I really don't care.

Settling down the glass, the adeptus walks toward the opposite direction, his back facing Venti away from the Harbor they watched.

"Leaving just when the celebration started? Someone's in a hurry," Venti chirped.

Xiao looks with downcasted eyes, stopping right at the edge. The trees rustle and a soft breeze picks up, brushing against his skin. It was colder now.

"Sorry," he breathes out, "Tonight, I just want to rest."

•••

You headed home through your usual route, sword in hand, except now there were no monsters to be dealt with.

How strange. Surely the landlord didn't suddenly commission members from the adventurer's guild, at least not regularly. It had been reoccuring for the past couple of days. Hilichurl masks sprawl across the field and whoever left this mess surely wasn't the type to play gently. Judging by how it looks, they were probably an aggressive fighter. A very powerful and aggressive fighter.

"Totally not complaining, though..." you mumbled, still perplex. It would be nice to know who did all this.

...

Xiao pierces the eye of a ruin guard and grunts as he retrieved his spear forcefully.

Just how many lives does he need to keep taking until he can finally rest? The question occasionally pops into his mind. Though seeing that he was fighting another day is proof enough. These hands were meant for war and destruction. Whatever comes near him, whatever he touches, would wither like a Qixin affected by poison.

When Rex Lapis appointed him, the adeptus said to be treated at his disposal. Xiao was a tool for battle. An extension of his blade and a mind equivalent to the vigor of any weapon. If he was ordered to throw his life away by facing the gods of Celestia, then there would be no hesitation.

But really, Xiao was more of a shield than a blade. He took every blow without complaining and did so for many years. Even if his achievements resulted in no glory, Xiao would remain in the shadows, exactly where he belongs. Just as you would one day come to hate him for hurting you that day, despise him for his silence, and see him as untrustworthy, Xiao would never leave his post. Because...that was his duty. The guardian yaksha.

Yes he'd rather had you hate him. Yes, he distanced himself without explanation and left things unsaid in more instances than one. Yes, it was better this way.

What am I even doing?

Regardless, in this year's lantern rite, he wanted you to enjoy the festival as you did the last. It was the least he could do. Xiao thought by eliminating the monsters that crowded your path would somehow alleviate the trouble he had caused. So he tosses blow after blow, harder than the last, trying to eradicate that pain and these unecessary emotions.

And right before the final strike, he stops. Within the adeptus a Qixin flower sprouted alone amongst the depths of his withered heart. Something that had already been planted during last year's lantern rite. Xiao made his decision. But he hesitated, unable to gather the strength and remove the thorn that bothered him incessantly.

"Adeptus Xiao."

The yaksha's breath races. Your voice. Thankfully he didn't sense any danger and concluded you made your way home safely. Did you eat yet? What were you doing out this late? Xiao waits and listens, once more, watching from a distance.

"Nevermind. I just missed saying your name, that's all."

The hard line of his mouth opens halfway as he tried not to make a single sound. He camaflouges himself among the trees, your back in his view while you hugged your knees close. Xiao leans against the bark, a shadow casting over his features.

He really shouldn't be here. An adeptus has no right to traverse into the realm he does not belong in. Xiao knows better than anyone exactly how the events will turn out between god and humanity. Like dark and light, made to balance the other, but too close would result in one's destruction, and the thought of that terrifies him to the core.

"I wonder if I said something wrong back then," you softly said, "He always did how much of a nag I could be. What if he...was fed up with everything I did...?"

Xiao caught his breath on hold, almost saying something he shouldn't. That's not true! Those words are clawing on his throat. You have no idea how hard it was for him to reject you over and over again. He pushed you away because he was afraid he would hurt you in more ways than one. Do you realize these feelings have been torturing him? Seeing you hurt, on the verge of tears, why can't you just understand that all he wanted was for you to be happy?

"I'm sorry. I had no idea that my actions affected you so much."

Yes. Yes they have, and he was forever grateful for it.

"Are you...happier though? If you're out there."

Silence passes through between the mortal and yaksha, accompanied by the chilly touch of a sky's breathly sigh. Bright rays thinned across the plains built upon Wuwang hills as the sun sets and around your small form. A golden reflection mirrored in the adpetus' eyes. 

He could never.

You hear a thump and the sound of leaves falling down as Xiao unmounted himself from the branches. Seeing him was like a dream, you hardly believed it was real. The man wore an unreadable expression, often carrying the hard edge in every part of his features. However perhaps it was the sunset which hindered your perception. There was something different this time, something you haven't seen before and you were oblivious to.

"You called?"

Even until now the shock hasn't left you completely and you struggled on what to do next, "I did, but," still seated where you were previously, you dared not to blink, "Why are you here?"

Xiao casted his gaze to the side as if unable to look at you any longer, "I should be asking you that question. Didn't you want to see the lantern rite?"

What a silly statement. Of course you wanted to watch the lanterns, and most of all, with him by your side.

You stood up and dusted the grass of your sides, "It's not the same without you, Xiao."

"They're just lights," he dismisses.

"Yeah, now that you mention it, there really are just a bunch of floating lanterns," you shrugged your shoulders, "But not for me. When my siblings passed away, I thought nothing would ever be the same again. We used to make lanterns every year. I didn't have the courage to do them on my own because I just thought there was no point."

For the first time in a while, Xiao stays instead of leaving, "Is that so?"

The adeptus has observed the changes Liyue had gone through. If there is one thing in this world which can carve the core of every human, it was loss. He has known many who were victims to it or were the cause of each grief. An emotion that can warp a man, to something more darker, more distant.

"I was right. Things won't be the same," you parroted, yet grinning from ear to ear, "When we watched the festival with you last year, I realized just because you've lost something good doesn't necissarily mean you won't find it again."

"Don't ever change," his gaze on you was softer now.

"I didn't but you did," stomping up to him, you puffed out your cheeks with an angry look, "What has gotten into you? If I did something to upsetting, don't just get up and leave me hanging! Here I thought I made you so angry which caused you to he in a bad mood around everyone else."

"I-- I apologize..." Xiao nears himself to you, little by little, he examines your countenance, "It wasn't my intention."

"I was worried, you know?"

Although you were showing signs of relief, you continued to bring forth your hands and wipe away the tears building up at the corner of your eyes. What an emotional creature. His Qixin. While you slowly recovered, Xiao waits patiently, with every passing moment filling his withered heart. And then things became clear to him.

It was impossible for the adeptus to severe his bond with this human.

"You can be such a fool sometimes," you meekly stated, sniffling from the cold, "The worry you cause others. Always putting up a mask when you obviously don't want to."

"I know."

"And going off on your own without considering how they feel."

"I know."

He wasn't going to argue against your words and admittedly, well deserved. You let out a breath and the two of you stayed there in comfortable nothingness. No exchanges but the gap mended itself somehow. Xiao hadn't moved all that much even when you were in arm's reach. This man was always so careful and you knew he wouldn't hurt anyone out of his own selflessness.

You took a hold of both his hands and brought them to your face.

"What are you doing?" Xiao retorts, desperately, "You can't touch me."

The nudge indicates that he wanted to pull away, but when you squeezed them a little tighter, his tugs have grown weaker.

"You're saying they do nothing but kill and destroy," whispering, you closed your eyes and reveled in his warmth, "They're rough from years of use but so soft. I can't help think about those horrible things you said about yourself, weren't true at all."

Xiao feels as if he was being washed away in a current he couldn't control. It brings him from his own sense, watching you fondly speak of him with words he didn't think was very fitting. Not a single drop of urge from the adeptus wanted to remove your touch. Like water to the Qixin growing in his heart, a healing balm to his tattered soul, he revels in it.

"Stay with me," you whispered.

How could he refuse?

In the sky, a thousand lanterns lit up among the stars. Xiao wonders to himself, if it would be selfish for an adeptus to dwell in human feelings. The battles he fought over a milennia was enough to make him solidify his identity as a warrior. Yet the new emotions he have come across, Xiao doesn't know when he will ever have the courage to give it a name.

Time. He has plenty.

Whatever the future may bring, Xiao will accept it as long as he can see you flourish into the beautiful Qixin he'd come to cherish.

#genshin impact xiao #genshin impact #xiao x reader #xiao headcanons #xiao #genshin x reader #genshin #genshin headcanons #genshin impact x reader #genshin scenarios #genshin impact scenarios #genshin impact headcanons

[grassbreads]

I’d love to know about Yulma and how important it is to representation in shounen manga

This has been sitting in my askbox for a couple months (because I am incapable of punctuality), but anon sent this to me back when I was talking about Yulma over on my vnc blog. For those unaware, Yulma refers to Yu Kanda and Alma Karma from the manga D.Gray-man.

So the thing is, to be honest, I don't know if you can say Yulma is/was important for representation. They don't tend to get brought up as an example of representation (except by diehard d.gray-man fans like me, lol) in shonen, and their whole thing is complicated enough that I feel like the queerness of it all flies over a lot of people's heads.

However! They're very important to me personally, and I do think it's kind of remarkable their story came out in like 2010. Because even though their queerness gets overlooked a lot, it's like. really there no matter how you interpret it.

The short version of their very complicated story is that Kanda and Alma are a couple who were resurrected into new bodies. Alma was a woman when they were originally together in their past lives, but is physically male in the present. Kanda is still very much in love with them by the end of their story, which, depending on the reading, makes Kanda very bi and/or Alma very trans.

This sound like something you want details on? If so, let's talk about how D.Gray-man's fan favorite edgy badass toughguy character briefly became the star of his very own heart-wrenching tragic queer romance.

Here's a brief crash course in Yu Kanda and Dgm for the uninitiated:

D.Gray-man is a manga about a group of exorcists (in the loosest and most anime sense of the term) in the 1890s fighting a holy war against mechanical demons powered by the souls of the dead. There are two things you need to understand about this plot for me to explain Yulma:

The Black Order, the secret branch of the church that exorcists work for, has a long history of committing horrific human experiments to further the war effort.

Due to complications of world building, only a tiny number of people can become exorcists, and tracking down new ones is extremely difficult.

Yu Kanda is one of the exorcists, and though not the actual main character (that's the lad in my icon), he's a very important secondary character. Arguably he's the most important secobdary character, since he's the main guy's biggest foil and the first character to play deuteragonist in a major story arc. He's also a huge fan favorite. The character popularity polls that Jump used to do always had him and the mc going back and forth over who won #1 most popular.

Kanda was also a classic edgy toughguy character. His first two scenes are him almost murdering the main guy because he thinks he's an intruder, then complaining about people grieving for their friend too loudly. He never smiles. He argues with the righteous mc about wasting time/energy protecting civilians. He threatens (and delivers) violence on anyone that annoys him. He looks like this:

TLDR; Kanda was an adored-by-fans mean badass archetype in a 2000s shonen manga. Not generally the guy you peg for starring in a piece of queer romantic storytelling.

And for the entirety of the original anime adaptation's 103 episode run, for the first 188ish chapters of the manga, you do not learn a single thing about his early life. You learn he joined the Black Order very young, and you meet the mentor that took him in at that point, but although there are little hints, a couple cryptic mentions of him searching for a certain person, his early origins remain a complete black box.

Then came the Alma Karma arc.

This is the point where I start getting into spoilers.

To make a very long story short, the Alma Karma arc reveals that Kanda is one of the Black Order's human experiments. The Order ran a secret project 9ish years before the start of the series in which they essentially tried to re-use dying exorcists (since finding new ones is so hard). They took the bodies of dying or recently deceased exorcists and harvested their brains, implanting those brains into new magically grown child bodies.

Key to this project—the second exorcist project—is that these newly grown second exorcists were not supposed to remember anything from their previous lives. Kanda, however, recovered a few hazy memories from his past self. Most importantly, he can recall an unclear image of the woman that his past self was in love with. This memory gradually becomes Kanda's reason to live. He wants desperately to find and meet that person.

Now, aside from Kanda, there was one other successfully revived second exorcist. This was a boy named Alma Karma.

Over the course of their brief shared childhood, Kanda and Alma become extremely close. However, due to a series of horrible events that I'll spare you the details of, Alma is eventually driven to murder-suicide. He wants himself and Kanda to die together to spite the Order, and Kanda almost lets him do it.

The one thing that keeps Kanda from letting Alma kill him, the thing that drives him instead to kill Alma, his most beloved and only friend, is that he can't bear to die without finding that woman again.

Have you figured out the twist yet?

9 years later, in the present, Kanda discovers that he didn't actually quite kill Alma. The Order kept Alma secretly half-alive in order to do more dubious experiments. And, more importantly, when they meet again, Kanda discovers the truth. The woman that he's been searching for his whole life, the woman he's in love with, the woman he tried to kill Alma in order to find, was also killed and made into a second exorcist. And her brain was placed into the body of Alma Karma.

After quite a lot more violence and tragedy, Kanda and Alma end their story arc by running away together on their deathbeds. Alma dies, for real this time, in Kanda's arms, and his last words are to tell Kanda he loves him. These words are presented as something Kanda hears from both the boy and woman versions of Alma's soul.

So! At the end of a very long and complicated story, one thing holds true: Kanda and Alma are in love. As passed down from their past selves, they are specifically in romantic love. They were a couple. And to speak as a fan, the sheer absolute devotion to how Kanda's love for Alma is presented is seriously intense and moving.

Now, given the absolute hell that is Alma's life, gender identity is frankly the last thing they have time to worry about, so it's hard to say how the whole "literally a woman's brain in a male body" thing might have settled for them if given time to think about it. But that is inherently a pretty trans narrative. And given the whole Alma gender situation, there's simply no reading of their whole situation where neither of them is queer.

If you take present day Alma as a guy, which is more or less how he's presented in canon (though again, who knows how he would've felt about that male body in different circumstances), then congratulations! You've got mlm in your shonen manga. They were straight in a different life, but now one of them's a dude, and they are still deeply in love with each other. They've even got not one but two "let's forget it all and run away together" scenes, just as every mlm couple seems to have.

On the other hand, if you go with the angle that Alma's still a woman based on her mind/soul, even in her new body, then Kanda may not be canonically queer, but Alma is inarguably trans. Again, literally a woman's brain in a male body. It may not be how most people end up trans, but that doesn't change the facts of her situation.

You see what I mean about how they're undeniably queer, but also kind of easy to miss? There's so much other insane shit going on in their story that Alma's whole gender situation can get passed over. Plus, you can look online to this day and find people arguing that Kanda's not "technically" explicitly in love with the present day male version of Alma, since he doesn't 100% unambiguously say as much. I love reading comprehension.

Also! As a possible extra reason for why people don't talk about them much, the official English translation of the manga translated Alma's final "I love you" very differently. There's always a lot of nuance and argument when it comes to translating "大好き" into English, but given the full context of their relationship and the scene it's in, Viz's handling really sets off the censorship bells in my head.

Here's the different versions (Japanese then fan then official), if you want to compare:

Nothing more classically queer than censorship by way of questionable translation 🙃.

At the end of the day, Kanda and Alma are in kind of a strange middle ground. They're each in love with the other one, but the whole second exorcist brain transfer situation makes it complicated enough that people argue their feelings aren't explicitly romantic (and thus not gay) in the present. Alma is literally a woman's brain implanted in a male body, but we don't have time to dwell on the gender complications of all that because of the hell that is the rest of their life. They're canon but not canon—queer people whose stories don't have space for them to be queer.

However, given that all this messy, tragic ambiguity was published in a fairly popular shonen manga back in 2010, it still feels kind of remarkable to me. Alma is somewhat an antagonist (it's complicated), and he dies at the end of his arc, but once again, Kanda was/is the fan favorite! And when he re-enters the main story after Alma's death, he's more important than he's ever been, and his history with Alma continues to be a huge part of his character.

Katsura Hoshino took the much-beloved edgy toughguy character from her long-running shonen series and, after keeping his origins secret for such a long time, confirmed that his whole life has revolved around love this entire time. Almost every facet of his character can be traced back to his love for his lost best friend or his yearning for his past life's missing partner. And then she reveals that the best friend and the partner are one and the same.

You can go back and forth about the degree to which they work as representation, but in any case, I think their story is something people ought to know about. It's romantic and it's heart-wrenching and it's fucking wild, especially given the context in which it was published (a Shonen Jump spinoff in 2010). I never see anyone besides the few remaining hardcore dgm fans talk about them, and I think that's a shame.

So anyway, that's tale of one of the most insanity-inducing romances I've ever seen put to paper. I love queer people.

Here's some choice pages if you want to cry with me (the last two are a sequence):

#followers!! I know my demographic #I know that most of y'all are Tragic Queer Romance Enjoyers #and if that describes you. you should read this post #come learn about a truly wild piece of manga history #I bring you the gift of discovering Yulma without having to read almost 200 chapters of shonen manga for context #don't pass this up <3 #dgm #d.gray-man #yu kanda #yulma #alma karma #invasion of the frogs #also I really hope that at least one of the besties reads this and has a Realization about who/what my queue tag is a reference to #maybe I flatter myself to think that anyone remembers what my queue tag is. but I just think it would be funny <3 #also also. I really did not intend for this post to turn into an entire essay when I started writing it #so uh. whoops #ID in alt text #anon #ask

[shepscapades]

I have two minds to answer this, because part of me is going 'WE GOT EM!!! WE GOT EM!!' While the other part of me is like 'oh god how do I tell them. Who’s going to tell them.' The easiest way I can explain: Tom, Ben, and Harry are not in a minecraft series together, and the lore that I have for them is not based in any actual series. HOWEVER. DON’T LET THE TRAGIC TRUTH MAKE YOU CLICK AWAY /silly so I can explain properly LMAO

Here’s a TLDR for anyone who likes these guys and is a lil interested in them!!

Most of the lore for these three is based on an amalgamation of inside jokes, non-minecraft character trends, and general yogs minecraft world lore!

Tom was an editor (now has a YouTube channel, AngoryTom) and did behind-the-scenes minecraft prep for the Yogscast for so long that he was never really interested in any actual "main channel" series besides [Dig Site - 10 episodes] with Simon, Lewis, and Ben, and [Skyblock - 2 episodes] with Ben! Although he’s also played several npcs throughout various main channel series since he was helping run the show lol. My take on his character is that he’s a former yoglabs employee due to [YOGLABS CLASSIFIED INFORMATION] and now lives his laziest life ever in an undisclosed remote location. He’s also the demigod of death but he’ll never tell

Ben started doing main series mc content a few years ago, but hasn’t done anything mc with Tom and Harry until recently (see below)! His character is a Shark Hybrid due to [YOGLABS CLASSIFIED INFORMATION] who now lives with Tom at the same undisclosed remote location.

Harry has been an insane speedrunning minecraft legend for ages, but was never in any main series content bc he’s actually a graphic designer for the yogs. But he was part of Iskall’s twitch vault hunter event back in November, and he’s now in the [Vault Hunter Series - Ongoing] with Ben and Duncan on YouTube! <3 so there’s plenty of mc content of Harry and Ben, but not so much Tom. c!Harry has lived remote for as long as he can remember, locked in Hardcore, until…?

But again, I base their backstories on a bunch of kinda loosely connected lore dots that are half based on jokes <3

Below the read more includes: links to clips, compilations, and very brief lore explanations (though you can check my other lore drawings in Tom’s tag (#Angory Tom), Ben’s tag (#bedgar), Harry’s tag (#brryhrry) or posts that have any of them, which should be under the (#the outcast trio) tag)!

BEN AND TOM

I’ve been in love with Ben and Tom as a duo forever, since the TTT (modded Trouble in Terrorist Town) days, where Ben’s player model was Left Shark, and Tom’s model was Emperor Palpatine (yes from Star Wars. I can’t stand them). But Ben and Tom have been yogs editors and Behind The Scenes guys forever, so it wasn’t until more recently that they became known personalities in the main yogscast circle (4-5 years is pretty recent in the 10+ years of yogs content timeline LMAO).

Through Warhammer streams and behind the scenes stuff, I kinda fell in love with their chemistry and idiocy, and they worked so well with the “main cast” that I just had to put them in the yogs minecraft universe, somewhere. Turns out, Tom had actually done a majority of the "behind the scenes" work for the Yoglabs series (he built a majority of the main building, did mod research and testing, was present during recordings to make sure things went well, stuff like that) so it only made sense to have his character be the Right Hand Man/ Behind The Scenes Assistant to Xephos (Lewis), the Morally Questionable Head of Yoglabs.

For anyone who’s unfamiliar with Yoglabs, it’s one of the yogs’ more famous series featuring Simon (Honeydew) and Lewis (Xephos) where they tested mods! more info can be found here!

c!Tom also ended up as a Lumian (the fanon alien space species for the yogs fandom, vaguely inspired by Star Trek Vulcans) because of a one-off joke where one of the Yogs artists drew him as a star trek commander, and I really didn’t need any further reason to make him a weird little guy LDKFJG

As far as the “demigod of death” thing goes, it felt right to give him a lore thing that vaguely coordinated with the whole “Emporer Palpatine” vibe, since that’s kinda the mc skin he’s used most recently. There’s another reason there that I don’t think I’ve properly explained, so I’ll leave the rest of that be for now ;]

Ben, on the other hand, plays a shark character in pretty much every video game he ever participates in, so shark hybrid was a pretty obvious way to go. And of course, since the duo had to be in the same place… involving Ben’s shark Hybrid-ness with yoglabs experimentation made good sense and good angst. What can I say :]

Here are the bigger lore posts I’ve made so far (in the order i posted them i believe!), explaining in a little more detail plus art to go with! :] [x] [x] [x]

HARRY

Harry is kinda known as the yogscast’s token memelord? But in the ironic way. He somehow makes it genuinely hilarious idk man. His humor is very dry, witty, and sarcastic, but he’s a sweetheart and kind of a god at minecraft. I’ve been arguing since day one that this man should be in mcc but we won’t go there

There aren't many solo harry compilations, so here's a link to a Harry and Ben compilation hehe

Regarding his minecraft lore, pretty much all of it is based around the idea that he’s a god at speedrunning and hardcore Minecraft. A common consensus in yogscast minecraft lore is that respawning is actually a Yoglabs-based mechanic tied to clones and clone making. I thought it would be interesting if Harry could be tied to a hardcore element in the yogs lore purely by having Somehow slid under yoglabs’ radar. And since he was never in any main channel (aka modded) series, i usually associate him with Vanilla mechanics, and since i also view mods as a Yoglabs-related lore element, it made sense! So basically— no clones, no respawns, no mods!

except that he’s in a main channel series now. So I’ll need to find a new lore reason around that DTBJDFGHK

And his design, well… this man’s skin is straight up Mr Mime, and there’s only so much I can do with that /silly But he’s a HUGE Pokémon fan! He’s played a couple of Disaster Nuzlockes with Lydia from the yogs a year or so ago, if that’s something you’re interested in! Was a huge comfort series for me for the longest time and rly good background noise, theyre soooo good at Pokémon I promise <3

Harry does more twitch stuff (hrry on twitch) than youtube stuff, so twitch is the best place to check him out if you're interested in his solo content!

Last thing I'll say about him is that he designed and ran an original minecraft minigame called "Capture the Wool" and he and Martyn are the hosts for a few episodes i think! i dont think there's any way to explain how entertaining it is to listen to him announce the chaos of yogs members trying to play competitive minecraft LOL

Um, so. TLDR…2, These guys are basically my ocs and now I get Actual minecraft content from them which is crazy. I love them as content creators and cool guys so so much though, so! Definitely recommend listening to these idiots (affectionate) babble and ramble to each other, mc or not <3

#yogscast #bedgar #angory tom #BrryHrry #hrry #ben #tom #the outcast trio #art escapades #sorry that's so long but my love for them is showing hehe #i haven't completed decided if i want the “the outcast trio” tag to be for posts with ANY of them or just ALL of them so -- #if you have a preference feel free to lmk <3 #also feel free to lmk if you check them out :3 they are everything to the me!

[hotchocolatefanfics]

Kingdom of The Planet of The Apes Movie Thoughts:

⚠️ Warning! Spoilers ahead! ⚠️

I loved this movie!! ❤️

Ok, so one of the reasons why I love it is because it actually took the time to explore this new ape world which we didn’t really get in Dawn or War.

It also explored different ape colonies and cultures too! Given the locations in contrast to the end of War, I don’t think Noa or Proximus’ colonies are related to Caesar’s original colony but that just expands the world beyond those apes (much like Bad Ape did but even more so!).

I especially loved the eagle raising culture in Noa’s colony! That was just so much fun to watch-and Soona and Dar actually had SPEAKING roles!!! 🤩❤️

Proximus is an awesome villain too! Like I think he’s now one of my favorites-next to Koba and Red! 🦍 But what makes Proxy different is he’s halfway between a king (by that I mean it’s possible he is of royal blood but not necessarily related to Caesar-maybe there’s other legendary ape hero’s in this ape world??) and a cult leader (I mean, good gawd! He literally twisted Caesar’s laws in a way that Caesar would absolutely hate!). But Proxy is also aware of and embraces his limitations-meaning, he may not care for any any humans or other apes but he knows he can use them to get what he wants and he’s willing to let them live as long as he has control over them.

This might be an unpopular opinion too but I was glad that Mae (and the old guy who read to Proxy, forgot his name) were the only humans to directly interact with the apes. I don’t hate human characters but just having these two gave the ape characters a chance to truly shine and for us to see the humans from the apes perspective (and yeah the fact that they can talk despite most being able to-plus that ending-makes me think this will be relevant to any possible sequels).

Also!! I was NOT expecting that beginning!! I was hit with all the sadness of losing Caesar but also in awe of how Maurice, Rocket and the others mourned for him! It really connected War to Kingdom and set the tone for the whole movie.

Ok! Now for the best part in my opinion-the references to the original first Planet of The Ape movie!! Here’s the ones that I noticed!

- The tall grass chase scene

- Humans talking even though they couldn’t anymore

- The baby doll that said ‘mama’

- The beach setting

- Humans drinking water before being chased by the apes

- The soundtrack! Seriously, either they remastered the original one to make a whole new version or it’s different music meant to sound a lot like the original

- And I don’t know if I’d call it a reference but the human base in the ending with the hazmat suit human reminded me of the mutants from Beneath the Planet of The Apes.

- Also the telescope looking up at the stars reminded me of Taylor and his crew being astronauts in the original movie.

- And Caesar being referred to as the first ‘lawgiver’ by Raka

- Humans being called Nova (which is also a callback to Nova from War-which I absolutely love!)

TLDR, I am in love with Kingdom of the Planet of The Apes!! ❤️🦍🦧

#pota #planet of the apes #planetoftheapes #caesar #reboot pota #planet of the apes franchise #kingdom of the planet of the apes

[purgetrooper77]

I just saw the final episode of The Bad Batch, here are my thoughts

The ending is beautiful, I'm so glad that Crosshair didn't die. I'm also glad the children didn't die. Wrecker and Jax would get along great due to both of them having a fear of heights. Hemlock and Nala Se are finally dead. The fact that Hunter, Crosshair, and Wrecker was able to raise Omega until adulthood was like the best thing ever.

I would have consider this finale perfect if DAVE FILONI DIDN'T SCREW THINGS UP!!!!

Allow me to explain my frustration so people would understand why I am so angry.

First of all, what took Tarkin so long? What kept him so long that he couldn't rescue Hemlock from Crosshair and Hunter? Was he in Coruscant, Tatooine, Pantora?!?!? I need answers. Also I thought Captain Bragg and Tarkin worked in two separate Imperial Divisions, why are they together?!? It doesn't make sense.

The other thing I am upset about is Scorch's death. Why the kriff did Scorch have to die? Filoni, WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?!? Disclaimer: I did not play the Republic Commando games, but I know the characters and I believe all members of Delta Squad should have more screen time. Now Republic Commando fans are gonna be upset knowing that Scorch is gonna be dead. His death is not gonna be memorable for like five years. Come on, man!

Last but not least, we don't know who CX-2 is. Crosshair should have unmasked him but he didn't. I still think it's Dogma, but thanks to you, Filoni, nobody is gonna know who CX-2 is. Again, I still think it is Dogma.

Yes I know Jennifer Corbett and Kevin Keiner were also a huge part of this series but they are not the issue, Filoni is.

I respected Dave Filoni for as long as he was in control of Star Wars, this respect is Shattered. What the heck dude? What the kriffing heck!!

TLDR: I loved the finale, but it wasn't perfect and Dave Filoni Shattered my hope for future Star Wars Projects.

#star wars #the bad batch #tbb #sw #clone commando #clone assassin #cx 2 #tbb omega #hunter #tbb hunter #tbb wrecker #tbb hemlock #nala se #republic commando #rant #tbb spoilers #tbb season 3 #tbb s3 #tbb season three #tbb crosshair #crosshair #tbb batcher

[say-hi-intrepid-heroes]

hi everyone!! i’m currently in the process of opening up a shop on Redbubble (mainly for stickers) just for funsies! However, i would love some requests/ideas.

[by sending in an ask with a suggestion or request, you are in no way obligated to purchase it or anything else from the store once its up! this (the store and these requests) is just my way of getting more involved with the community and having fun with you all :D]

y’all can request/suggest anything, but the stuff i’m most likely to be familiar with is Dimension 20, d&d/ttrpgs in general, nature- or LGBTQ-themed things. i’ll make a more exhaustive list of fandoms i’m a part of under the cut, but as this is a Dimension 20/ttrpg block first and foremost, that will likely be my main thing.

TLDR: send requests! have fun! just vibe ✌️

list of fandoms i’m a part of and know enough about to probably make something from them [list will be updated as i think of more, please refer to the link in my pinned post that goes to this original post, since i think edits don’t apply to reblogs]: (yes, technically Harry Potter could be on this list but I’m not comfortable making art about that and making money from it)

Six of Crows/Grishaverse/Shadow and Bone

How to Train Your Dragon

Disney in general (Star Wars and Marvel included)

specifically Loki

naddpod (although i’m only on the Eldermourne campaign rn)

Good Omens

#personal #art requests #sticker requests #dimension 20

[ecoamerica]

Watch the 2024 American Climate Leadership Awards for High School Students now: https://youtu.be/5C-bb9PoRLc

The recording is now available on ecoAmerica's YouTube channel for viewers to be inspired by student climate leaders! Join Aishah-Nyeta Brown & Jerome Foster II and be inspired by student climate leaders as we recognize the High School Student finalists. Watch now to find out which student received the $25,000 grand prize and top recognition!

#ACLA24 #ACLA24HighSchoolStudents #youtube #youtube video #climate leaders #climate solutions #climate action #climate and environment #climate #climate change #climate and health #climate blog #climate justice #climate news #weather and climate #environmental news #environment #environmental awareness #environment and health #environmental #environmental issues #environmental education #environmental justice #environmental protection #environmental health #high school students #high school #youth #youth of america #school

[ranahan]

Mando’a masterpost

Most of my Mando’a linguistic nerdery you should be able to find under the hashtags #mando’a linguistics and #ranah talks mando’a. Specific topics like phonology and etymology are tagged on newer posts but not necessarily on older. I also reblog lots of other peoples’ fantastic #mando’a stuff, which many of these posts are replies to.

I also post about #mandalorian culture, other #meta: mandalorians and #star wars meta topics, #star wars languages, #conlangs, and #linguistics. Not Star Wars content tag is #not star wars. I like to reblog well-reasoned and/or interesting takes on Star Wars and Mandalorian politics, but I am not pro or contra fictional characters or organisations, only pro good storytelling. You can use the featured tags to navigate most of these topics.

Currently working on an analysis of canon Mando’a. Updates under #mando’a project. Here are my thoughts on using my stuff (tldr: please do). My askbox is open & I’d love to hear which words, roots or other features you want to see dissected next.

#Phonology

Ven’, ’ne and ’shya—phonology of Mando’a affixes

Murmured sounds in Mando’a

Mando’a vowels

#Morphology

Mando’a demonyms: -ad or -ii?

Agent nouns in Mando’a

Reduplication in Mando’a

Verbal conjugation in Ancient Mando’a & derivations in Modern Mando’a

-nn

Adjectival suffixes (this one is skierunner’s theory, but dang it’s good, so I’m including it)

#Syntax

Middle Mando’a creole hypothesis— Relative tenses — Tense, aspect and mood & creole languages — Copula and zero copula in creole languages — More thoughts about Mando’a TAM particles

Mando’a has no passive

Adjectives as passive voice & other strategies

Colloquial Mando’a

Alienable/inalienable possession — more thoughts

#Roots, words & etymology

ad ‘child’—but also many other things

adenn, ‘wrath’

akaan & naak: war & peace

an ‘all’ + a collective suffix & plural collectives

ba’ & bah

*bir-, birikad, birgaan

cetar ‘kneel’

cinyc & shiny

gai’ka, ka’gaht, la’mun

jagyc, ori’jagyc & misandry

janad

*ka-, kakovidir & cardinal directions

*maan-, manda, gai bal manda, kir’manir, ramaan & kar’am & runi: ‘soul’ & ‘spirit’

*nor- & *she- ‘back’ (+ bonus *resh-)

projor ‘next’

*sak-, sakagal ‘cross’

*sen- ‘fly’

tapul

urmankalar ‘believe’

*ver- ‘earn’

*ya-, yai, yaim (& flyby mentions of eyayah, eyaytir, gayiyla, gayiylir, aliit)

Regional English in Mando’a

#Non-canon words

Mining vocabulary

Non-canon reduplications

Many words for many Mandalorians

What’s the word for “greater mandalorian space”?

Dral’Han & derived words

besal ‘silver, steel grey’

derivhaan

hukad & hukal, ’sheath, scabbard’

*sen- ‘fly’ derivations

tarisen ‘swoop bike’

*ver- ‘earn’ derivations

#mando’a proverbs

#mando’a idioms

Pragmatics & ethnolinguistics

Middle Mando’a creole hypothesis

Kinship terms

Politeness in Mando’a: gedet’ye & ba’gedet’ye — vor entye, vor’e, n’entye — vor’e etc. again — n’eparavu takisit, ni ceta

Mandalorian languages

#mandalorian sign language

Concordian dialogue retcon

Mandalorians and medicine, baar’ur, triage

#Mandalorian colour theory (#mandalorians and color): cin & purity, colour associations & orange, cin, ge’tal, saviin & besal, gemstone symbolism

#Mandalorian nature, Flora and fauna of Manda’yaim

starry road

Other

A short history of the Mandalorian Empire

Mandalorian clans & government headcanons

Names of Mandalorian planets

Mando’a timeline

What I would have done differently if I had constructed Mando’a

Mando’a handwriting guide: part 1, part 2, part 3

Free tactical medicine learning resources for medics & those who write them

FAQ

Can I use your words/headcanons in my own projects? (short answer: yes please)

What’s your stance on Satine Kryze and the New Mandalorians? (tldr: they’re fictional and I don’t have one beyond their narrative being interesting & wishing that fandom would have civil conversations about them.)

LGBTQIA?: I’m about a flag short of an entire pride parade. Oh, you meant is this blog safe for you? Yeah, I don’t stand for any shade of discrimination. If I say something insensitive, rest assured it’s because I temporarily misplaced my other brain cell, not because of malice.

Asks under #ranah answers

P.s. Let me know if the links don’t work or something else is wrong (some items don’t have links, they are articles in my draft folder/queue which I’ve listed here so they don’t get lost—sorry for the tease!). Also please tell me if you need me to tag something I haven’t so you can filter it (this blog is for readers—if I was writing just for myself, I wouldn’t bother to edit and publish—so let me know what I can do to make it work better for you). Thanks!

#faq #mando’a #mandoa #mando'a #mando’a language #meta: mandalorians #ranah talks mando’a

[amorfista]

I have some news to share ^^

A few days ago I had a revelation while at work.

For over 8 years I've been a big fan of the Dark Souls franchise. The first Dark Souls felt to me like a journey; a full-on immersion into an incredibly complex world, marked by disparity: old royalty, splendor, trust, hope, magic, nostalgia, wonder, gold, light... but also decay, dread, betrayal, horrors, darkness, death, monsters, disease, anguish. This game left a deep print on me that hasn't faded. Ever since I played it, fantasy changed in my eyes. Dark Souls I, II and III became a standard, a reference point. Even when I didn't draw as much as I do now, I aspired to one day pay good tribute to the games that meant so much to me! And, of course, I created fan art, but I always felt like I could have given more.

Now. As you probably know I'm also a big Star Wars fan, specifically TCW fan. And a few months ago I watched The Bad Batch for the first time. This show left a print in a very similar way as Dark Souls had before. It fueled my inspiration significantly, motivated me and, most importantly, helped me form friendships that I'm incredibly grateful for ♥. So... the other day, while I listened to some Dark Souls music at work, I thought...

Why not combine my favorite show with my favorite videogame franchise?

So that's it guys. May I present to you:

-The Bad Batch: Dark Souls AU-

That's it! That's my brilliant idea! XD This is going to be a project, a BIG one. So I would like to briefly (i promise i tried) explain how it will affect my content, under the cut: (I'll also drop some older DS artwork at the bottom!)

TLDR: From now on I will focus on TBB DS AU as my main and basically sole project . Even if you didn't play DS, that's okay! I will make it people-who-didn't-play friendly, to ensure everyone enjoys the journey. However, if this isn't for you, it's okay to unfollow <3 -I would say that, since I came to tumblr this early summer, my "signature" drawings are the TBB beach episode ones. I have WIPs for this project but I've been feeling stuck for far too long, so I am going to put it on hold. In fact, I am going to put on hold virtually everything that I was planning on doing, with a few exceptions. This means that I will rarely draw anything outside this AU.

-I am CLOSING commissions. I found that they put a kind of pressure on me that doesn't feel too good, and, honestly, I'm lucky to say that I do not need the money at the moment. I'm still open to requests, though, so don't hesitate to send anything and I'll draw it if I feel like it :) I'll even try to set up a store at some point!

-The project will consist on three journeys, featuring the 6 members of the Bad Batch, and corresponding with the three Dark Souls games. Each of those journeys will, more or less faithfully, follow the events of EACH season of TBB, adapted of course to the universe of Dark Souls, AKA Dark Medieval Fantasy. This means that, until the third season of TBB is released, I won't make any DSIII-related drawings.

-The journeys are adapted to the universe, and thus, will follow the real player journey as faithfully as I can, staying within DS canon and allowing people who have played the games to enjoy my drawings. However,

-THE DRAWINGS WILL BE 100% NON-DS-PLAYER FRIENDLY. I know that my followers are not DS fans but TBB/TCW fans. I am NOT here just to please DS fans. I want TBB fans to enjoy this journey, without having to google meanings or go easter-egg hunt to understand what is happening. I will tell a story and you will only have to enjoy it.

-This is a project for myself. Both DS and TBB mean A LOT to me, and this idea had me vibrating with excitement. I am making this project to PAY TRIBUTE to two things I love. However that does not mean that I will neglect the very people who have motivated me to keep creating. I promise to still deliver my very best with every drawing.

Do not hesitate to unfollow if this isn't for you.

I can understand that some people might follow me only for my wholesome beach episode drawings or for regular, HC TBB content. And that's okay. That's what this announcement is for! To let you know. This community has given me so much and I want to give back. And if you do stay, I can almost 100% assure you that you will enjoy what's to come!! <3 It will be a long but satisfactory journey. I'LL BE POSTING THE FIRST DRAWINGS IN THE UPCOMING DAYS!

OKAY, SORRY FOR THE WALL OF TEXT!!! 😖 Here are some older DS drawings ^^ (jesus I have way more than I thought and these aren't even all of them)

AIGHT. NOW YOU KNOW IT'S SOME SERIOUS SHIT WHEN I SAY I LIKE THESE GAMES.

Anyway. Including a taglist, because I think it would be unfair not to let you guys know about this project in case anyone wants out (or to not be tagged). Send me a DM if that's the case, it's NO PROBLEM!!! I wouldn't want to tag someone who doesn't want this content.

ALSO PLEASE, ANY QUESTIONS YOU MIGHT HAVE, TOSS THEM TO ME! And thank you kindly for making it this far <3

@dukeoftheblackstar @justalittletomato @darthmaulshispanichousewife @botherbother-blog @aftergloom @badolmen @ihaventpickedausername @ohboi @stardustbee @nik-barinova @the-chains-are-the-easy-part @gen-has-green-vibes @ejfivercommander @herbalinz-of-yesteryear @eyecandyeoz @noesqape @lune-de-miel-au-paradis @staycalmandhugaclone @callmesunny04 @freesia-writes @ginnymilling @sunshinesdaydream @sev-on-kamino @cloneloverrrrr @moon-wrecked @idontgetanysleep @tech-aficionado @followthepurrgil @renton6echo @queen-jiru @shoe-bag @eyayah123 @eloquentmoon @and-loth-cat @ladyzirkonia @stardusthuntress @bambambunny @morphofan @gt13tbbart @amalthiaph @cameronirat @nobody-expects-the-inquisitorius @anxiouspineapple99

#the bad batch #dark souls #TBB DS AU

[n30nkn1ght]

star wars: dark disciple spoilers (idk if i have to write that bc it came out in 2015 but)

y'all watched the bad batch s3 trailer, right? and we're all collectively freaking out abt our girl ventress returning!!!

except me. i'm horrified. ventress has the same hair she had in dark disciple. the same outfit. the same lightsaber. and this is post-O66. so.. she's alive post-O66, looking how she did before she died.

in dark disciple, asajj ventress and quinlan vos team up to try and assassinate dooku, they fall in love, vow to run away together once the mission is completed, vos Falls, ventress dies to bring vos back into the Light, and dooku lives.

it's post-O66. so. ventress could be planning to assassinate sidious instead. but. we could get to see vostress with our own two eyes AND THEN LOSE THEM. i know TBB is about the clones and will be focused on the clones, but i have been begging for TDD content animated for years now. and TBB isn't afraid of killing off beloved characters, clearly.

tldr; i'm very excited for TBB s3 but i am also very terrified at the sight of ventress in that fit in the trailer

#star wars #the bad batch #tbb #dark disciple #star wars: dark disciple #tbb s3 #asajj ventress #vostress #i've never been so scared seeing my beloved #ventress if i watch you die on screen on film on tv i'll never recover #that said pls i'd love to see bits of dark disciple adapted omg

[isagrimorie]

I read Star Trek Picard: Stargrazer comics and I'm actually pleasantly surprised that it answered my question about the diplomatic duties in the new Enterprise G command team.

Raffi can handle it but as Captain, Seven would need it too.

It turns out that for Seven's Kobayashi Maru's officer training, her KM is not action-oriented but diplomatic incidents.

This falls in line with Picard saying in s2:

Seven initially failed the diplomatic test and Seven still doesn't like failing. (Also it's weird to me she's got the gold color when I still feel like she should be blue, but okay).

This prompts Seven and Picard to discuss about this new Kobayashi Maru and why Seven is taking this.

This time it's Seven who walks away, anyway tldr, Picard, and Seven end up on the same mission. Seven comes in guns blazing things get out of hand and Picard is abducted by the local war leader.

The conflict ends when Seven talks to the war leader and empathizes with her about their shared experience and talks the war leader down.

As things wind down Picard tries to talk Seven into giving Starfleet another chance. Now that they're ready for her, Starfleet is the one chasing her.

But also I love Picard's reason for Seven joining Starfleet and makes sense for Seven's character at this point.

Picard: Don't be mistaken, Seven. I am quite aware that you don't need Starfleet. It's Starfleet that needs you.

And honestly, this is true. Because at this point Starfleet is so broken, it's been broken since after the Dominion war and the Romulan Prime exploding.

This gives Seven pause but Picard doesn't push it.

Janeway however....

Now that Starfleet is more amendable to accepting Seven of Nine, Janeway is not going to let this moment pass her by. She's been trying to get Seven into Starfleet for 20 years.

And as we see in season 3, Janeway and Picard successfully tag team Seven into accepting.

But also, I'm fascinated that Seven did go through accelerated Officer training. And I'm also glad that she's got diplomatic training under Picard and Janeway. And Raffi is also there too, politicking and relationship work is a huge part of intelligence work.

#seven of nine #star trek: picard #raffi musiker #kathryn janeway #jean luc picard #star trek #picard s2 #picard s3 #star trek comics

[ecoamerica]

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