#*༺ ❀ ༻* ; fade away〘 ooc 〙.

[eorzeashan]

Long time no swtor thinkpiece, but.

Thinking about Eight in the IA class story and then who he is post-Alliance; going from a bold, daring and casually ambitious wildcard to someone who feels as if he's lost most of his zeal to become rather...listless. Empty. Not to say that he isn't fulfilled by his work in the Alliance (who all make exceptions to have him do anything but murder all day) but he starts picking up more mundane activities like, peeling potatoes for the Alliance cantina, or doing minor tasks that don't involve much thought on his own volition-- a stark change from a man who only cared about his blade and who it fell on. It's like he's been soundly defeated by the circumstances surrounding him.

Then there's the issue of his companions, who only knew him as their cunning leader who stopped at nothing to achieve his goals, even using some of them in the process, who now appears to be an entirely different person. One who quietly fades into the background, instead of being in the thick of it. He's changed.

His skills haven't waned, but his voice is flat, his eyes without gleam, his all consuming desire that drove him to accomplish the impossible by the day naught but simmering ashes by the time they reunite with him in KOTXX. He even apologizes to some, without explanation. This distresses Vector, in particular, who witnessed the worst of his sides way back in the day. "It's not me you should apologize to, Agent." Vector can only quietly say, "I have never held you in ill regard for the choices you've made, anathema as they were to my principles." It's a conversation that peters off, but one that Eight never had, never had soon enough --his firm refusal to rectify or acknowledge that Vector could choose him over his own ideals is one that gnaws at him on the inside for years, on his own belief that people cannot change what they truly believe in, and so there is no point in trying to make amends for what bridges he burns in the pursuit of his own wishes. This, and many other denials, compound over the years into a rather hurtful self-made solitude that follows him long into the Alliance. (A mother will never give up her son. There is no other way. I cannot change my nature as a weapon. Their rejection of me is something I must accept.) A punishment, but for who?

Perhaps he still feels he's failed the last mission Keeper entrusted to him. The one that asked him to become a real, living person, and not just a sword dressed in imperial colors.

Eight spirals during the events of the Eternal Empire. He watches his downfall happen in real time. There's little he does about it. His home is gone, as are the people he fought for--Keeper, Watcher 2, Intelligence--and this new age is only filled with allies he cuts down faster than he can imprint their names into his memory. He's alone in this fight at the behest of others who do choose their ideals over him, who, in the end, turn away in fear and disgust when he bloodies his blade in their name. He makes no effort afterwards to right his image in their minds. He plays the villain, if others will not. For the first time, he tires of killing.

This leaves him alone, an outcast even among friends. Eventually, amongst the ruin their failed Alliance leaves in its wake, someone asks why things turned out this way; his lack of a will in the greater fight comes to light and sets several alarm bells off. Lana reduces his duties on the battlefield. Others, out of shared guilt and a fear of the bloodshed he wreaked on their orders, give him a wide berth to live normally for a while. It's not much and does little to his disillusionment and estrangement with his allies, but...it's a start.

Eight the Assassin turns into just Eight. And Eight the former agent, ex-Cipher, killer extraordinaire who never once dreamed of the stars, turns into someone who quietly watches the sun set on a world he barely recognizes,l but still stays up to see it, potato peeler in hand.

[clarafell]

Green Kyubey has an announcement!

[ochazos]

.

[precipine]

The rift thrums to life, reality ripped open and bleeding technicolor as it falls into itself. He clutches the journal to his chest, bracing himself in spite of all their hard work and experimentation that told him it was fine, it was safe. Stan never would’ve let him do this on his own otherwise. 

He wanted Stan here, he did, but he couldn’t bear to watch his heart break again (and, yeah: the part of him, however tiny, that was still holding onto reality as he used to know it was worried that he may not make it if they were met with another failure. No matter how many times he seems to be proved wrong, he knows that Stan can’t actually do everything and he won’t actually live forever). 

Even now when it actually did seem to be working for once— it was stable, anyway— the sight would just bring back… bad memories. He still remembers it like it was yesterday. M—she’s floating up, up, and away from him. Stan’s begging and pleading. A sickening cacophony screams in their ears.

He still dreams about it, morphed and twisted up in the memories of That Night. Stan doesn’t talk about his dreams, but Dipper’s old enough to guess. 

Hell, he’s old enough to know. 

Everything stops, though, when he hears voices, when he sees an arm and a leg— they’re so small, was he ever that tiny?— covered in neon bandages come through the rift. There’s a winning smile still bedazzled in braces and hair that still probably smells like strawberries and bubblegum pulled back with a headband. 

His legs give out and he watches as that smile immediately falls from her little face, her sweet brown eyes getting big and wide. 

“You don’t have to be scared,” he hears himself saying. Why is it so cold? There’s a flurry of tan and red and black somewhere in the corner and his eyes start to burn, but he only sees her. “It’s okay, Mabel.” 

He reaches a hand up to brush his bangs back, revealing the familiar birthmark.

“It’s okay. I promise.” // @starsandpigs & @slqhv liked for a starter!

[zoomingupthathilla]

did no one notice max taking pills in s4? like -- did no one at school see her downing them OFTEN? or were they like 'oh, yeah, that seems pretty normal for the school freak?' like I don't get it..

[kirkw4ll]

breaks down the door ok au where hawke is found outside of the fade and but it’s not just hawke, it’s a spirit of perseverance who bonded with hawke and offered her one more shot to keep making things right

[moonrevolutions]

I'm still not over the Robert DeNiro thing, mun!

oh you mean with the whole like........... he'd let a current 80-yr-old de niro hit it? he stands by it. virote would get right in line w. the harem on that man and swang on the dick, sw-sw-swang on the dick... and he will not rupaulogize for it!

he'd let robert de niro of today sneak right up in his hen house, give a whole new meaning to free range chicken.

:|

let him have his fantasies? he doesnt have anything else!

[rosysins]

OOC.

when i said i want gekkouin on his knees, i didn't exactly mean this.

Its hilarious to me how Gekk seems like this bad boy mfer, but he's over here letting this potato-looking mfer handle him like this.

[mizithejellyfish]

You're a lesbian, right?

...lesbian? What's that? I don't think I've heard of that before. Is that like an American from old Earth?

[darabeatha]

/ F INALLY

[heartfe1t]

y'all ... she's just a baby ...

[carmen-vanido]

Ma'am, with all due respect-

That anon wasn't lying. Were they cruel about telling you? Yes. Were they making stuff up? God, I wish.

Carmen deleted your ask before even revealing the pictures as soon as she reads the 'with all due respect', sighing in annoyance.

[harleykeener69]

I’m actually getting scared

[serpulalacrymans]

//are you slash j or slash srs? "Lamb" isn't aware of any of Laws encounters. Time repeats itself in different ways/j

//like in my tags ??? i'm sorry this whole ask has my foot in my mouth edfjkdfier trying my best to interpret the "right" way

//I was fully joking in my tags fdjfdg- just being silly, because we know Law is out of his friggin mind !

//as for the actual text- just implying he would like to see how "lamb" is resting, and is also expecting updates. I REALIZE PAIRING THESE WITH THE TAGS IS,, CONFUSING UHJDGNFI- SO SORRY FOR ANY SCRAMBLING, FULLY MY BAD

[yukioujo]

i will be minding my own business making icons

and then i

and it’s all over for me

[rifleseye]

i do think a lot about how much perceptor sturggles to form any bonds with other people.