#I feel like he lost his cloak via fire or something similar

[puppetmaster13u]

Even more of @phoenixcatch7 Possessed Doll Au because I absolutely love the Au too much lol

[supernova-writes]

The Lost Princess (Resistance!Ben x reader) - Chapter 1

Summary: Ten years ago, you were able to escape the First Order’s infiltration of your home planet of Hathov, yet it didn’t stop them for trying to find you. When the Resistance got their hands on the next map piece that they were slowly putting together, it led them to you. You’re cold. Ben is cocky. It’s not a good mix. But there might be more than meets the eye about the two of you. 

Words: 1.6k

You always feel like you're running. Running away from something, whether that be by actual people or even yourself. From the very beginning, you were taught that you won't have to deal with things, there will always be people to do things for you, and now you see the clear irony in that.

The woman working behind the table hands you the fruit that you asked for, responding with a soft “thank you,” and you're on your way, moving through the crowd of people into the forest.

You move the vines covering the cave that has become your home over the past ten years. You take the quiver on your back off, along with the bow, placing it down against the rock wall then you sit on the floor. Being alone is different, something that you're still not used to, and probably something that you will never get used to; going from a life of extravagance, friends, families, and parties, to a life like this was a big change.

Every night you have nightmares of that day. The day that your home planet was infiltrated by the First Order and you had to be dragged out of the castle and into one of the fighter ships with the General, flying out to the planet that you currently live on. Constantly there are moments where you wish that you can rewrite history and change everything, but that's impossible, no one can do that. That's something you have to get out of your head and accept your reality no matter how hard it is.

-

The minute the X-wings landed, the fire and repair crew run over to get to work on any damage done to the ships as the pilots climb out. As her friends congregate together, Rey walks over to them to ask about the mission. “How did it go?”  

“I think it’s pretty obvious,” Poe replied, Rey rolls her eyes at the sarcasm that was laced in the sentence. He's always difficult with her.

She looks at the Sergeant next to the pilot for a real answer. “We got another piece of the map. This should lead us to find what the First Order is looking for.”

Rey nods, Ben takes off leading them down to the underground facility part of the Base. The members of the Resistance hoped that they can reach whatever the First Order is searching for before they did. For months they have been following every move that the other is making, and now they're finally one step ahead and it was all thanks to Sergeant Ben Solo.

Some might think that Ben Solo has it easy with gaining that title in the Resistance, given that his mother is the General and she can promote or demote as much as she pleases, but he only got that title because of one simple thing: he deserves it. He has worked hard to become the skilled fighter that he is now, his closest friends had seen it, onlookers who thought they knew him didn’t but he doesn't care what others thought. He knows who he is. And that’s all he cares about.

“Rose, what do we got?” Ben asked, walking down the stairs and over to the round screen that's instilled on the ground.

Everyone gathers as the hologram of the map comes up. “It’s a planet near the Unknown Regions called Tunov,” Rose explained. “There’s a signal coming from here,” she zoomed in on the place she was talking about that now was flashing red.

“Who could it be?” Poe asked.

Rose shakes her head. “We don’t know.”

“So, it could be someone from the First Order setting us up,” Finn said.

“Or it could be someone in trouble,” Rey added, contradicting what Finn has said.

“Whatever it is, we need to get there before the First Order,” General Organa said. Everyone’s eyes fall on Ben as he is focused on the hologram in front of him, not noticing until the pause in the conversation.

After thinking it over for a few seconds, deciding if it was a good idea or not, he nods. “Let’s go.”

-

Being alone often has its advantages. You have freedom. The freedom you didn’t have while growing up. After living in the forest for so long, it's so familiar like the back of your hand; you even set up spots for training.

You run on the dirt path, bow in hand, and hair whipping along behind you. You step on a log on the ground, launching over it, and landing on one knee. Your hand goes behind, and you're quick to start loading the bow with arrow after arrow, hitting each target that's set up. While you grab the arrows, the sounds of ships fly by ahead. You look up and recognize the silhouette that quickly passes by. A swear is let out underneath your breath and you're on the move back to shelter, freezing as you hear voices. You crouch behind a boulder and try to listen closely.

“The distress signal is closer,” Rey said, watching the way the coordinates change. You slowly and carefully pull out an arrow, loading the weapon once again while moving around.

Something quickly comes flying by the four, sending all into high alert. Ben and Rey whip out their lightsabers while Finn and Poe do the same with their blasters. The group looks behind them seeing that what had flown by, finding that it was an arrow. It couldn't have been a First Order member. They have never used bows and arrows before.

“Who are you?”

Their heads turn back in front of them, looking up as you stand over their heads on the boulder, bow drawn and defenses high. Ben takes the time to look over your appearance, or what he can see of it. Your top is purple, with what looked like tears on the hem of it. Pants that cling to your hips and legs, and boots that make their way up to your calves. Your face isn't visible to them via the current lighting, your head is covered by a hood that is attached to a long grey cloak, the only thing visible was strands of hair that came out of the hood.

“We’re with the Resistance,” Rey said, a calm undertone to her voice. “We got a distress signal from someone out here.”

You scoff. “If that’s true then it sure took you a hell of a long time to get out here. That signal was sent out ten years ago.”

“Not surprised considering where this planet is,” Poe said. You roll your eyes at the remark. Once his sentence is finished, there are blaster sounds that makes them all look but you don't retract the aim on them. The footsteps and blasters get louder, sending them into a bit of a panic.

“Look, we need to hurry,” Finn told you. “Come with us back to the Resistance Base.”

You shake your head. “It’s too late. They’ll find us if we take off,” you said, finally letting your grip fall and put the arrow away. You bend down, placing your hand onto the rock for support as you jump off. “Follow me, we’ll hide until they leave this part of the forest.”

You lead them to your shelter, being big enough to fit all five of you inside the cold cave. It's obvious, at least to Rey, that this is where you currently live. The situation is similar to her own only a few years back before being taken in by the people she now considers family. There's a lot about you that reminded Rey of herself.

“How long have you lived here?” she asked.

“The same amount of time as that distress signal was sent. Ten years,” you replied, pulling the hood off of your head which revealing your entire features, half of your hair being tied up in two buns at the top of your head.

Ben notices the blue jewels sitting on your face and when you move your arm, he gets a glance of a thick gold arm cuff that wraps around your tricep. The jewelry is familiar to him. He has seen plenty of those in his time. They're usually worn by princesses and queens around the universe. If this was any other sort of situation, he would bring it up and ask you, but now is not the time to do that.

Not long after you all get comfortable, Poe’s commlink went off, which he takes in private before returning. “That was Rose,” he said. “She said if we want to get out of here, we have to leave now.”

You shake your head. “There’s no way. Going out there right now is a death-wish.”

“Look, they’re here. We have pilots already out there, as long as we move quickly and quietly we’ll get out of here.”

“And you don’t know this forest as I do. I know every square inch of this place, if you go out there blind, you’ll either get captured or killed. Or both. So either you wait here with me until this clears out, or you go out there. It’s your choice.”

You're getting fired up and Rey can tell. She has to bring you down and maybe you will help them get out of here. “You should come with us. We trust the Resistance, and you should trust us. You said it yourself, you know this forest. You can guide us through while we find the ship.”

You're hesitant. But looking at the faces staring, there's a voice inside that tells you to do it. It is the voice of Marks who had helped you through learning how to survive this way. You had trusted him with your entire life and there was a feeling that he would tell you to trust them if he was with you now.

“Alright. But you follow me the entire way,” you replied, standing while putting your hood over your head once more. They stand as well as you grab your weapon. “Also, my name’s Faye.”

Rey smiles. “I’m Rey. This is Ben, Poe, and Finn.”

You nod in acknowledgment. “Let’s go.”

[freudensteins-monster]

I wish you would write a fic where Loki and Sigyn try to one-up each other pranking Thor, Valkyrie and the Avengers while on Earth. (Thanks, and Happy New Year! xoxo)

Dear Anon, I know you probably don’t remember sending me this ask, considering you sent it on New Years Day - two years ago - but better later than never, right? (Set post-Ragnarok, minus Thanos)

Loki’s return to Earth had notexactly been celebrated, but the Avengers needed him on an upcoming mission so hispresence was tolerated. Eventually they reached the end of their patience andso he was sent to annoy Doctor Strange at the New York Sanctum. He had to begrudgingly admit that theircollection of magical knowledge and artifacts was impressive, though it paledin comparison to Asgard’s. And didn’t he feel that loss keenly? He’d managed tosquirrel away almost a hundred of his most treasured volumes into his personalpocket dimension during his all to brief reign as king but there were hundreds of thousandsmore that had been lost to the fires of Ragnarok.

The Sanctum also held another mysterioustreasure.

“Sigyn? Is that name supposed tomean something to me?” Loki replied with disinterest, not bothering to raisehis eyes from his latest book.

“It should,” Strange smirked.“She’s your wife reincarnated.”

At that Loki deigned to raise hiseyes, flitting from the irritating Strange to the mortified initiate besidehim. She was fair of face and hair, the latter pulled back in elaborate braidsthat fell down to her shoulder blades, and she wore thick gloves on her hands inaddition to the standard burgundy garb of any initiate of Kamar-Taj.

“Is this a reference to yourlurid mythologies?” Loki drawled. “Because in truth I have never taken a wife.Though if you wish me to take her off your hands I would require a substantialdowry, say the Axe of Angarrumus? I received Thor’s name in Stark’s wintersolstice gift giving game and such a weapon would mean I don’t have to lowermyself to visiting one of Midgard’s marketplaces.”

Rather than reply Strange huffedwith irritation and flounced out of the room (the sorcerer may have justturned, the Cape of Levitation did all the flouncing). The woman gave him acurt bow before disappearing into the rows of shelving, and Loki would haveforgotten all about her the moment she was gone from his sight if Strangehadn’t screamed his name as he stormed back into the library less than a minutelater.

Loki laughed. He couldn’t helpit. The Sorcerer Supreme was standing in the middle of the room, his dark bluerobes now emerald green and his famed cloak a blinding gold, as his face turnedan interesting shade of red. It was the best thing he’d seen since the Hulk hadthrown Thor around like a ragdoll in the arena.

“What? It wasn’t me,” Loki arguedas Strange continued to glare at him after he’d been able to stop laughing.

With one flick of his wrists thesorcerer changed his robes back to their original hue and with another he cutthe legs off Loki’s chair, causing the Asgardian to fall on his ass with athud.

Loki was dusting himself off whenthe woman, Sigyn, reappeared, a heavy tome in her arms and a small smileplaying on her lips.

“It was nice to meet you,” she saidin lightly accented English before leaving the room via a portal she’dconjured.

Loki stared at the space she hadoccupied for a long minute before smiling to himself, “Interesting.”

In the days leading up to theMidgard winter solstice celebrations Loki thought of the curious Sigyn often,and though he frequented the Sanctum he had not seen her again, and dared notask Strange as to her whereabouts and give away his interest. In the end she came to him, arriving via a portal on the balcony of Stark’stower along with Strange and two other sorcerers, a hour late for Stark’sChristmas party.

Since they had last crossed pathsSigyn had apparently completed her training, having exchanged her initiaterobes for more formal ones of grey overlayed with a dark purple sleeveless coatwith silver embroidery. She still wore gloves the same shade as her robes, andtoyed nervously with the bindings. Stark was being his obnoxious self as heintroduced the sorcerers to the rest of the superheroes, scientists, andobligatory celebrities gathered on the 68th floor, and just as Lokiwas sure that Strange was about to push Stark through a portal to the farreaches of the universe, the Man of Iron was distracted by his AI systemintroducing the newest arrivals to step off the elevator – in Latin. Their hostsufficiently distracted, the sorcerers began to mingle (Strange making for oneJane Foster, the next smartest person in the room, much to Thor’s thinly veiledannoyance), and Loki made his way over to Sigyn.

“That was a nice trick.”

“I have no idea what you’retalking about,” she replied automatically as she took a glass of somethingbubbly from a passing waiter.

“Of course you don’t,” Lokismiled. “Just as I have no idea what’s going on over there,” he said, pointingto the bar where Valkyrie was trying drink after drink, growing more frustratedas each turned to water on her tongue.

Sigyn stifled a laugh beforegazing around the room in search of her next target. The slight twitching ofher fingers was the only indication that she had made her play and it was a fewminutes before Loki understood what it was. There was a small commotion acrossthe room and the man out of time stumbled away from a group of overly affectionatedebutantes, a sprig of mistletoe followed him. If he stayed in one place forlonger than five seconds the mistletoe hovered over his head and the peopleclosest to him felt compelled to kiss him. It resulted in the good captainrunning laps of the room as he cursed Stark for inventing some sort ofmistletoe drone.

As the party guests laughed Sigynraised an eyebrow in challenge but before Loki could contemplate his next movea loud slap rang out. All eyes turned to find Doctor Strange getting chewed outby Doctor Foster before the petite brunette stormed off.

Sigyn gasped. “What did you do?”

“It wasn’t me. Itseems as though the Sorcerer Supreme is fully capable of making an ass out ofhimself without my assistance.”

They watched as Thor made tofollow Doctor Foster and the moment he caught up with her Loki sliced the airwith his arm, sending the former lovers flying into a storage closet at the endof the hall. He immediately sealed the room – no one would be able to heartheir cries for aid and for all Thor’s strength he would not be able to breakout of the room before dawn’s first light hit the tower.

“Really?” Sigyn scoffed.

“They have been tiptoeing aroundeach other for weeks. It’s been painful to watch. One way or another it endstonight.”

“Fair enough,” she mused as hersharp gazed scanned the room. With a sly smile she ran a finger around the rimof her glass and half the room fell silent before findingthemselves singing a rather passionate rendition of “Santa Claus is Comin’ ToTown”.

Loki barely had a moment to enjoythe confusion before he felt a sharp pinch between his ribs.

“That’s enough,” the widowcommanded, pressing a blade so hard against his side it pierced through hisleather vestments.

Before Loki could proclaim hisinnocence Sigyn took a sip from her glass and the chaos fizzled out intoconfused laughter and the sounds of drinks being topped up. Loki breathed asigh of relief as the blade was removed from his side.

“If you can’t behave yourself itmight be better for your health if you retired for the evening,” the widowsuggested before rejoining her friends.

“Haha,” Sigyn chortled into herdrink. “You lose.”

“How so?”

“You got caught,” Sigyn repliedas though it were obvious.

“But it wasn’t my trick.”

“It still counts.”

“It does not!”

“It does too!”

In a fit of frustration, and inan effort to best his sparring partner, Loki threw a glamour over Sigyn,ridding her of her robes and dressing her in a glittering golden gown similarto those he had seen a few models in attendance wearing. The figure-hugginggown was quite alluring on her, as was the amount of exposed flesh, until onegot to her now glove-free hands which were misshapen with leathery scars. Sigyndropped her champagne glass with an anguished scream when she realised whatLoki had done, angry tears filling her eyes when she felt the room staring ather. She turned on her heel and summoned a portal with her sling ring,disappearing in a shower of sparks.

“What did you do?” Strange sighedirritably as he appeared at Loki’s side.

“I may have taken things a steptoo far,” Loki conceded.

“You don’t say.”

“Is there any way to follow her?”

With another put upon sigh,Strange summoned a portal for him.

“If my favourite student doesn’tcome back, neither should you,” Strange warned before shoving him through.

The portal closed and Loki foundhimself face first in the snow. He righted himself and in the grey light he wasable to follow Sigyn’s footprints towards a church and the cemetery behind it.He found her seated before a headstone once again dressed in her in grey andpurple robes. Her gloves were lying on the ground beside her and her misshapenhands sat in her lap. Loki approached cautiously and when she failed to attackhim he sat down next to her, joining Sigyn in staring silently at the headstoneof one Marta Magnusson.

“Most days I can forget aboutthem,” she said without preamble, turning her scarred hands this way and that. “But thensomeone will comment on my gloves and I remember it anew. If I don’t wear them I have to put up with looks of disgust or pity. I’m notsure which is worse.”

“…How did it happen?”

“When I was but a child my fatherthrew me into the fireplace during one of his drunken rages, pushed me down bythe heel of his boot, my little hands pushing back against the burning logs asflames licked my face. It felt like hours of agony but my mother assured me itwas only seconds, either way the damage was done. Recovery was almost aspainful, and whenever I cried about it my mother would wipe away my tears andsay, “Women are defined by what they can endure, little Sigyn, so it is in allthe great stories, and you are far too strong to give up now.”

She fell silent then, content toignore her companion in favour of losing herself to long buried memories. Itstretched on long enough to make Loki fidget, a dozen empty platitude dying onhis silver tongue.

“I’m not showing you mine,” hemuttered, just loud enough to draw Sigyn’s attention.

“Hmm?”

“I’m not showing you my scars soyou’ll think us even,” he bit out petulantly. “Just know that I have them. Also,”he added with a belligerent sigh, “I’m sorry for bringing yours to light the wayI did. It was cruel.”

She accepted his apology with abrief nod but made no move to bury her past once more and leave the frozen cemetery. Loki sighed again, cursing his newfound sentimentality, and outstretcheda hand towards the headstone. Within minutes an ice sculpture formed behind itin the shape of a mother embracing her child. The child may have resembled Sigynbut, Loki realised too late, the mother was most definitely Frigga.

Sigyn’s eyes lit up inappreciation but as she turned to Loki her smiled faded. Loki followed her gazeto his outstretched hand, now azure blue. Chastened, he gave it frustratedshake as though his true heritage was something he could easily rid himself of.He crossed his arms to hide it from view until it returned to his prefershade and avoided meeting her eyes.

“Can you only manipulate ice?”she asked, surprising Loki.

“What?”

“Is it only ice you can create?”she repeated, smiling as her eyes drifted skyward to the flurries of snowflakesthat drifted past on the wind.

Loki, sensing mischief, smiledback. “What did you have in mind?”

The karaoke portion of Stark’s Christmasparty was due to begin, but as the host took the stage a blizzard developed outof thin air, pouring in from the balcony and blanketing the room with snow.Panicked and freezing guests sought to escape it but where met with icy gales thatpushed them back from the elevators and stairwells.

It disappeared as quickly as it came but left the entire floor covered in two feet of snow. Stark was thefirst to regain his senses, but before he could call for Loki’s head his ownwas struck with an icy projectile. He turned on the spot to find the SorcererSupreme smirking back at him, his cocky cloak dusting snow off whatever its equivalentto hands were.

“Oh, it’s on now, Strange.”

Loki hoisted himself up onto thebar and helped himself to an abandoned glass of champagne, laughing at thechaos before him as dozens of enhanced individuals engaged in an all-outsnowball war. Sigyn joined him moments later after quickly forming a portal withher sling ring to divert a wayward snowball down the back of Wong’s robes.

Loki beamed at his partner inmischief and pushed a drink into her gloved hand. “To what doesn’t kill us,” hetoasted.

Sigyn laughed and clinked herglass against his. “May it always make us a riot at parties.”

[technologicalgambler]

  ((Well, that whole December/January shtick went so well.  Hope ya caught my sarcasm, because I’m mad at myself.  The inability to complete plot threads was mostly due to end of year depression/anxiety, school being a bitch, and the fact that neither of us (Technomun who is simultaneously Grimmun, and Cathartimun) can get our shit together. 

  ((This post is just playing catch up with all of the shit that happened out of tumblr over the course of the last two months.  So a lot of stuff has happened, that’ll be under the cut.))

  ((Alright, let’s get this started.

-The Birthday Weekend

  That went.  Fairly alright, all things considered since it involved several parties that hate each other.  Eridan was an ass the entire time (no big surprise here), and harassed the shit out of Vriska.  Terezi was an obnoxious brat through and through, Karkat cried a lot, Vriska got drunk to avoid her feelings...so nothing new among the trolls.  Well, other than the fact the Destiny Islands crew and the Radiant Garden crew got to meet up again.  Eridan, an ass as usual, tormented Vriska whilst invisible until he got caught.  This is why she drinks.

  Dave had to be mostly tipsy through the whole thing, and practically leashed to Karkat to avoid him killing Dirk, and later got REALLY drunk...Dirk got horribly drunk on only a few drinks, and kept going between sober and smashed through the weekend.  Those two still aren’t on good terms, but on...better?  Dave can at least (slightly) stand being in the same room with him.  Roxy’s tired.  Grim got drunk...Terezi was hitting on everybody (except the trolls).  Jade was one of the two people who remained totally sober (the other being Eridan), and declared the couch the Sane Zone, for anyone who was sober or could handle being drunk (translates to her, Eridan, Roxy, and Grim).  Anyone who succumbed to intoxication was promptly, and literally kicked off of the couch and onto their ass.  This happened to Karkat at some point.  This allowed her to be on...eh, better terms with Eridan.  They got to talk shit over, and now they’re not at each others throats most of the time and can agree on a few things.  Not great friends, but not openly shit talking each other.

  It was the last day of the weekend - Roxy and Grim’s birthday - that they actually distributed presents.  Here’s the list that we made to keep shit straight because there’s so fucking much.

To Dave

Sword from Jade

MIDI fighter from Roxy

Crow from Karkat (Dave named it Fido)

A knife named The Ace from Karkat’s boss (story about that later on)

A suit from Dirk

Ice troll skull from Vriska (as in Skyrim)

“Oh my god, it’s R2-D2! I loved him in Star Trek!” (Dalek) shirt from Grim

Red and white Scalemate with shades sewn onto it from Terezi (Red with a white belly)

To Jade

CD case/shelf from Dave

RHCP album from Karkat

New bass from Vriska

Soldering kit from Dirk

Danger Days Union jacket from Roxy

Badlands/Halsey sweater from Grim

Black and green Scalemate from Terezi (Black with a green belly)

To Roxy

MCRX Black Parade jacket from Jade

Pokemon Sun from Dirk

Pokemon Moon from Eridan

Super Mystery Dungeon from Terezi (and her 3DS)

MCRX flag and album from Grim

A poster that Dave drew of one of Roxy’s favorite scenes from the Complacency of the Learned – the scene where Calmasis cruelly curses Frigglish

Pink and violet Scalemate from Terezi (pink with a violet belly)

To Dirk

Last minute gift from Jade of Genji’s sword

Entire series of the Free! sub from Roxy

Iwatobi jacket from Eridan

Orange and black Scalemate with shades sewn onto it from Terezi (orange with a black belly)

“I’m BATMAN” shirt with the words in the logo, and a nice Batman cape from Grim

To Grim

Galaxy aesthetic assault rifle from Jade

Black and pink Scalemate with white eyes from Terezi (black with a pink belly)

Authentic Atom Cats jacket from Dave

Exorcism book from Vriska

Tickets to Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them from Dirk and Roxy

Harry Potter movie collection from Karkat

Glowing pink nautilus necklace from Eridan

  This is why we needed a list.

  Suffice to say, the birthday weekend was...eventful, hectic, and fun.

-Christmas Weekend

  This time, they spent Christmas weekend at the Radiant Garden castle.  Which was an adventure, since they not only had to leave Jackie behind (like they were bringing a Deathclaw to a place like that), but also had to deal with Eridan’s dogs, Pronauma and Terancor (note: they’re massive, not adults yet, and will be about the size of Polar Bear Dogs from ATLOK), and the looming threat of being thrown into the dungeon with Dragon Mom.  

  More drinking, more antics...Dirk had to be dragged out of his room more often than not.  Nothing MAJOR happened (other than Jade embarrassingly mentioning something about her and Karkat, causing Roxy and Grim to scream), but it was certainly something.

  The loot pile this time is as follows (WARNING: LONG)

To Roxy

VR set up from Dirk

Ugly Christmas sweater from Grim

A cat plushy from Vriska

A plasma rifle from Jade

A robotic cat tail from Dave

Super Mario Maker for the 3DS from Terezi (along with Roxy’s copy of Fire Emblem: Conquest)

Pink cat cloak made of fleece from Terezi

A blue LED constellation scarf from Eridan

To Dirk

A Cintiq from Roxy

Ugly Christmas sweater from Grim

A Kamina body pillow from Jade

A Genji butt mousepad packaged in a condom box from Dave

Fleece Batman hooded cape (similar to the dragon cape) from Terezi

A tank top like this from Eridan

To Dave

Final Fantasy XV + Season Pass from Roxy

Bleach: the Diamond Dust Rebellion from Dirk

Ugly Christmas sweater from Grim

A new DSLR camera from Karkat

A Princess Peach 3DS carrying case from Vriska

A new skateboard with a crow deck from Jade

A black, fleece cloak based around a crow from Terezi

To Jade

Seasons 1-3 of Sherlock from Roxy

A Fionna hat (Adventure Time) from Dirk

Ugly Christmas sweater from Grim

A GIANT husky plushie from Karkat

Glow-in-the-dark space-themed guitar/bass picks that come with stickers from Vriska

A Tunnel Snake’s jacket from Dave

A white wolf cloak made of fleece from Terezi

A set of camo bandana collars for Becca from Eridan

To Grim

Black and gray leopard print weighted blanket from Roxy

Resident Evil VII from Dirk

Ugly Christmas sweater from Terezi

A devilishly sultry Alternian romance novel from Karkat

The Bible from Vriska

A pink beanie with cat ears attached to it from Jade

A Lucid Plasma Caster that has a slag element from Dave (picked it up from a job in Pandora)

Black cat cloak made of fleece from Terezi

This tank top from Eridan

To Terezi

Super Smash Bros for 3DS from Roxy

Professor Layton vs Phoenix Wright; Ace Attorney from Dirk

Ugly Christmas sweater from Grim

Super long red dragon plushie from Karkat

Replica of Falchion from Fire Emblem: Awakening from Jade

Red dragon shoulder puppet from Dave

A D&D starter kit from Eridan

To Eridan

A book heavily detailing battles from WWII from Roxy

A coffee mug with skull and crossbones on it from Dirk

Ugly Christmas sweater from Grim

An Alternian wartime romance/tragedy movie that the two would always watch back on Alternia from Karkat

Some more of that Death’s Brew coffee from Jade

A violet sea horse cloak made of fleece from Terezi

To Karkat

Ugly Christmas sweater from Grim

Condoms from Vriska (JOKE PRESENT)

Yurio’s leopard print hoodie from Vriska

A red sickle that looks a lot like this from Jade (custom made! <3)

A Krabby plushy from Dave

A silver fleece dragon cloak trimmed with red from Terezi

A copy of the sketch of the Signless and his group from inside of Dualscar’s journal, copied meticulously by hand by Eridan, and framed (gift from Eridan)

To Vriska

Ugly Christmas sweater from Grim

Hardcover collection of the Spider-Gwen comics from Karkat

A red, electric guitar (Charvel Desolation DS-3) from Jade

A Spider-Gwen sweater from Dave

A tiny poop emoji phone charm from Terezi

  Too many people.  Eridan got his girlfriend, Aradia, a new necklace he made, but he gave that to her later on to avoid Vriska’s prying eye.

-New Years

  I can skip a lot of shit with this one because we wrapped that up recently.  New Years was just a few people getting drunk, Jade and Dirk getting into it and resolving shit, and then setting out on a quest to find her siblings, Jake and Jane.

  What’s more interesting is the month that followed, as they proceeded to search worlds she had coordinates to to see if his soul string ability reacted, via her workshop door.  They nearly got killed a few times by some of the worlds’ fauna, nearly lost Dirk to some of the worlds, and Jade managed to scoop Dirk’s fake eyes out from his skull, and replace them with better prosthetics.  Roxy caught them because Dirk’s medical bot, HAL, showed up to the workshop when he felt Dirk go under, and have some nerves severed.  Roxy knows about the eyes now (and got a ton of new prosthetic arms, and a better anchor for them), but doesn’t know about their project.

  Like I said, a lot of shit went down.  This is just a summary of all we talked about when I was dealing with finals, and we were both dealing with the weird funk of the holidays, and coming of the end (of the year).  Finally able to write again, so here ya go.

  Let’s see if they can actually get shit moving again.))

[boendark]

A tale of faith and sorrow~

Boen:

The early morning would come all to soon as the light started to shine upon Azeorth once again. Leaving the night in the past as both Elia and Boen stirred once more. Though the two separated by cities and memories as a letter would be received by the both of them. The letter was simply and straight to the point.

“Dear Elia; We need to meet at your earliest convenience; it is a case of dire emergency and life or death. I will be located in the back of the Ruins of Lordaeron. Please make haste. Thank you, A-“

The other would receive a message all too similar as he grew curious of whom the letter was from. A sense of concern did of course proceed over his mind; but the opportunity to be hired and money being available was always something that seemed to sway his decisions. Boen made haste from Dalaran as he started to his destination.

 Upon his arrival to the place stated within the letter, a slender brow arched as he peered back and forth. He was alone, or so it would seem at first as he crossed his arms over his chest. “Hello?” He called outward as his head peered back and forth; hoping that the person hadn’t left. “Someone sent a letter?” He called out forth again. “I understand that help is need!” Yet again, silence.

 Elia:

Another morning, and for once she found herself alone at the foot of the bed of her room in the Legerdemaine Lounge. Something must have required the attentions of her Master for him to leave without taking her, and as such she warily uncuffed herself from the frame as it was now a matter of showing her submission instead of it being forced upon her. She dressed slowly, taking care of her burns and donned the required outfit for that day. Always revealing one portion of her or another, and never very protective. With cloak and hood donned, she exited and made it her purpose to catch up on the things she couldn't do when she was encumbered.

After retrieving her mail, and discarding a few requests for aid (as she knew she couldn't fulfill them now), her brow furrowed as she read the letter from the mystery sender. Who sent this? Who would go by the same initial she was branded with? Curiosity got the best of her, and she made her way to the requested location. Her cloak and hood made her difficult to identify, and the way she wore the shadow made sure only her silhouette was distinguishable.

 Her heart seemed to stop in her chest as she saw Boen with a letter in hand, hollering for whoever sent it. She approached cautiously, prying her hood back behind her tiara so that her face was revealed, though she kept the shadows that clinged to her at neck height.

 "...Boen?" She called. "You received a letter as well?" She spoke in a curious tone.

 Boen:

The sound of the familiar voice caught hold of his ear as he turned to peer upon Elia. This in turn caused a brow to arch carefully as he crossed the remaining distance between the two of them as he held up the letter for her to grasp upon if she saw fit. “Miss Solarsong.” He muttered forth as he stood before the woman he had worked with in the past.

 Though to Elia, the past for them was so much more. “And yes, someone with the initial ‘A’ has requested me here. Matter of life and death; I take it you’re the same?” He stated once more as his gaze drifted from her features to peer upon the robe and hood that adorned her form. “Looks like they are a no show though; or we both missed them..”

 His gaze pulled from Elia once more as his hues began to shift about the ruins; something seemed off. The odd feeling of dread started to spread over him as his gaze shifted back to Elia once again. “Huh..did it get warmer?” He muttered forth; an odd statement to be muttered from him giving who he was.

 Elia:

Elia held as neutral expression as she could, simply allowing him to approach and offering to trade letters to inspect. She had a hard time stifling a heavy swallow, sniffing the air absentmindedly as she peered over the letter he offered. "I can't imagine who would request something of me via letter who would sign with only an 'A'." She murmured with a nod, confirming the reason for her appearance.

 The cloak she would have allowed a glimpse of what she wore underneath, if she did not cover her features in the violet caress of shadow magic. All he would be able to discern was she wore no robe, and the material underneath was impossibly...shiny? Perhaps it was a leotard? One wouldn't know until she removed the guise. It was already warm enough with him close, though the familiar heat only climbed and she felt off all the same. "I figured that was you..." She answered back in a confused, her gaze peering around for anyone else near them. "Wonder what that is.."

 Boen:

A shudder seemed to fall upon the man as he peered about once again; something was indeed off. His gaze flickered once more to Elia as he took in her features once more; as a smile drifted over his lips. The sudden meetup of the long-lost friend was welcomed to say the least; though it was alarming for them to meet in such an odd place with someone who had yet to show. Or at least the two thought.

 Elia would take notice first as the massive being seemed to almost materialize out of thin air; though that wasn’t the case at all. Chances are neither would notice the Stealthman 54 drop to the ground as the monstrous creature who towered over the both of them raised a single hand. His eyes burned forth with fel green energy as it peered over the two of them. His form massive was massive in size, and built like a tank. The horns would be the obvious clue that he was an Illidari; but once Boen realized he would know that to be a false disguise.

 The creatures arm was the size of one of them alone as he clenched a fist; which in turn caused a shadow to cascade over them both. “So how have you-“ Boen muttered as he saw the shadow expand over Elia. “Been..” He muttered in a low tone as his arms came forward suddenly. They were aimed to place upon Elia’s chest. And as painful as it might be as he attempted to push her away; what came next was even more painful for the man.

 Boen turned his head as the massive fist collided into the side of his body; his form seeming to mold into it at first before being flung what would be quite the distance. His body rag dolled before it hit the ground as he flipped again and again; dirt being kicked up with each bounce upon the ground until finally he skidded to a halt just under a tree.

 Azazel would let forth a cackle as he peered to the fallen Rogue; before slowly turning his gaze upon Elia once more. “Long time dearie..good to see you both act on the fear of someone in danger.” He stated as he took a step towards the woman; his feet leaving an imprint upon the forsaken grounds as he walked. The already dead grass being near burnt each time he moved. The tone of his voice was deep and what seemed to be demonic corruption seeped past his lips as he spoke. “We are going to have quite the fun day..” He said with a horrific grin as each slow step continued towards the woman.

  Elia:

 The priestess could only offer a faint smile in return. It was in her best interest to not involve herself much with him, and by keeping her guard up she saved him the pain of remembering her, and realizing her awful situation. The smile faded as quickly as it came, and her eyes widened as she noted the massive Illidari that appeared before them. Her mouth fell open and she meant to speak, though Boen's shove cut her off causing her to stumble back and fall onto her ass. It was out of reflex her hand darted out and webbed in her light, forming a shield around the man while she was knocked back. The shield would take quite an impact before breaking, but with as much force as the Illidari hit him for he would go flying regardless.

 It was a bit of a shock as she looked to Boen and saw him tumbling off after the hit. The audible collission was enough to strike fear in her frame as her eyes darted back up to the massive Illidari. She'd not seen one of this insane stature before, and her eyes only widened further in fear and anger as the man addressed her. With each step and the scent of a great fire growing nearer, her eyes scanned downward and noticed the scorched footsteps, finally piecing together who had called them there. "Get away from me Azazel!" She howled, shuffling to her feet quickly. She had not forgotten his deception and how he tortured Boen prior. She had not forgotten how he pretended to be him, and how foolish she was for not seeing it sooner. He had laid with her... And now her body reviled even the idea of him in existence. With a flick of her wrist and the webbed light between her shrouded fingers again she garbed herself in a shell of light, pacing back from the man as he approached.

 Boen:

 The monster merely laughed as her voice echoed towards him. “Come now Elia.” He muttered forth as he took another step forward; though he came to a stop “We had such a good time..don’t you remember?” He stated as his gaze drifted along her form. “You moaned and begged for more time and a time again. Like the good little whore that you are..” He stated with tainted words that were meant to get under her skin.

 The sight of the golden shield that covered her being and taunted him caused his natural reaction to dash forward. His movements were much like that of a normal illidari as his massive clawed hands went to strike against her. It would be the left hand and then the right unless she was able to fend off the attack her shield would soon ‘pop’ and he would be upon her in no time. “Maybe you want me to take on the appearance of him once again?” He stated as his voice seemed to boom forth; yelling with each strike against the shield.

 Boen would clench his hands against the soil that laid under him. His entire body ached to the core; along with the broken hadn’t snapped back together. He moved to sit upon his hands and knees as he lifted his head to peer upon the two off in the distance. His very form began to shutter at that very moment as the molecules within his body were forcing themselves to hold together. “Not yet..” He muttered lowly to himself; knowing quite well that the energy it took to heal him was causing him to dwindle.

 Boen raised to his feet once more as he staggered in his steps; his eyes fluttering for a brief moment, causing him to take a few steps back and rest upon the tree. His breath hitched in his throat as he continued to peer towards the two of them. “Pull it together..” He said in a low tone. “She needs you.”

 Elia:

 The fear soon left her eyes and all that was left inside her was rage as he recounted the times he spent inside her. She only dignified him with a snarl as he taunted her, her body visibly shaking out of anger as she continued her steps back. It wasn't until her shield manifested and he sprinted towards her that she let the shadows that covered her frame engulf her completely in a plume of violet shadow leaving only a shadow doll behind.

 To her benefit, she had spent much time forced to care for an Illidari, so she came to learn their modes of attack, and used the opening to slip through the shadows to Boen's side. As Azazel found himself on what he thought was Elia, the first strike would be enough to dispel the illusion she remained would be lost from sight briefly. She knew the hit would have been significantly shattering, and as soon as she made it to him the shadows coalesced and formed her again, dropping completely as she knelt down next to him. The white-hot light spider-webbed between her fingers again as she placed her hands upon his cheeks, and with a few short flashes she had passed some of her energy to him. Not enough to fully heal him, but enough to help hold him together. "Careful next time, please..." She pleaded quietly, turning to look to Azazel and assess her next mode of action.

 Boen:

 Boen kept his body pressed to the tree as he took a few more short breathes; in turn his body began to shudder and his molecules shifted as they drew upon the reserves of his power supply. Though as the hand upon his cheek was felt; his hues opened and peered to Elia. The warmth of her light filled him as his body seemed to latch upon it and the heat. As if he couldn’t get enough; though it was just what he needed as the sound of multiple bones being shifted together would be heard all of a sudden.

 Boen would give a single nod to Elia as he pushed himself from the tree; drawing forth his blades as he glared towards the monster that had begun to assault upon the both of them. “You need to go, run as fast as you can. I will deal with him; and buy you sometime to get yourself to the city..” Though even with the words graced past his lips; and not knowing the history. He pretty much knew that Elia wasn’t going anywhere.

 Azazel would look upon the two as he drew forth a single blade from its sheathe. It looked like a literal slab of steel as he wielded it with one hand and pointed it directly at the two. Even some of the mightiest warriors wouldn’t be able to wield it with a single hand; needing two just to keep it from dragging upon the ground. “Enough games! It is time for you both to unite in death!” The monster yelled forth as he charged once again; keeping his other hand oddly free, even though he had another weapon that was ready to be used against the two.

 In the time between the last meeting of the two; Azazel had been training and preparing himself. He may not have been a true illidari; but he knew how to fight like one and now mimic the abilities of them. The free hand was planned, knowing quite well that Elia would attempt to be one step ahead. He needed to strip her of the powers and he waited, hoping for another spell to go off as he aimed to consume it and leave her prone.

 Elia:

Elia offered him a small, worried smile as he looked up to her, and felt her own energy diminish a little in turn as he drew from her heat and his body regenerated itself. The audible crackling of his frame pulling together set her on edge, but that wasn't a thing to worry about, she knew. As quickly as he pulled his blades she pulled her hands from him, shaking her head rapidly as he tried to command her to flee. "No, I am not leaving you here! He'll kill you!" She pleaded, staring down the massive faux-Illidari as the wheels in her mind turned. There was no way she would let him fend the monster off himself.

 The massive blade was surely enough to cleave the both of them in two, and she swallowed heavily trying to anticipate her own next move. She didn't have much of it though, as he charged them with reckless haste. "What do we do?!" She barked to Boen, sprinting away to try to keep distance between herself and Azazel. On the run, she held her hands close, desperately trying to channel the light to shield the both of them once she was able to get to relative safety. Though, knowing the Illidari and their penchant for anti-magic, she knew she needed to keep it hidden. Try as she may to hide her channeling, her spell was far more than obvious and when she paused to cast the shield he would have a clear opportunity to steal the light right out of her.

 Boen:

 The two of them would sprint from the tree as Boen would peer to Elia for a moment. She wouldn’t give him a choice in the matter it would seem. “I just need to get in close. He is powerful..but he will go down.” He muttered forth towards Elia. Boen gave a sudden glance over his shoulder at that very moment as he saw Azazel charging, and charging quick. He would catch up to them in no time flat; and Boen knew it.

 As Elia would go to cast the spell; Azazel simply grinned and attempted to consume her magic with one single sweep of his hand. If he was successful in his cast, Elia would find herself suddenly pulled towards the illidari as he casted ‘Leap of Faith’ upon her. Her form would be yanked from the side of Boen almost instantly and when she was close enough? His massive hand came forth and gripped her by the throat; hefting her off the ground, leaving her feet to dangle in mid air. “Mm..I prefer to impale by other means; ask Raya.” He said with a taunting grin. “But today? You get the sword.”

 Elia:

 "We'll figure it out!" She shouted as she ran, the light balling up in her hands though a moment before she released it it flickered and was pulled from her, away from Boen and towards Azazel. The familiar yet still jarring sensation of having the light itself pried from her caused her to weeze, and in the next instant she found herself flying back to Azazel as her own magic betrayed her. As he gripped her by her throat she coughed and sputtered as her feet kicked at the air, looking to the would be Illidari with great concern and worry.

 "P-p-le-" She couldn't even form the words as his hand crushed her throat, for once thankful of the heavy collar she wore as it kept her able to breath, although barely. The pressure still cut off her blood supply, and her own hands clawed at him as she struggled to free herself. It took all of a moment to realize he only stole the light from her for now, and made sure her fingers were able to contact flesh before she projected her thoughts to him in retort. "Raya?? You have her?! Please!" Her voice echoed desperately in Azazel's mind. "Please don't kill me! Please! Anything but!"

 As he held her in the air he would get a clear glimpse of what she wore beneath the cloak: a shiny, black latex leotard clung to her body like a second skin, and a thin layer of lace speared down her chest, between her breasts, allowing only the faintest glimpse of skin underneath. Her hips and upper thighs were bare, and latex clung to her legs until they disappeared into a matte-black wedge boot that only helped her figure. Her arms also were covered in latex, and the rubber looped around her ring finger and left her palms and fingertips otherwise bare. Should he want, she was already dressed the part of a pet, and part of her hoped that he would see as such and hesitate.

 Boen:

Boen turned his head all of a sudden as Elia was yanked backwards; his eyes wide as he turned to peer to the dual as he held Elia like a mere rag doll in a single hand. “No! You bastard let her go!” Boen muttered forth as he saw his opening. Elia was where Boen should have been; but would he be able to pull it off in time? Boen started towards the two of them; moving as fast as he could to cross the distance and be close enough for it to work. “Elia!!” He yelled forth to give her the slightest amount of hope.

 Azazel narrowed his gaze upon the female in hand as he lifted the blade upward, letting the tip of it press against her stomach as he grinned wickedly towards her. “Be glad he doesn’t know what happened..” He muttered forth. “This would be all the sweetie as I spray your insides upon the ground.” And with the last of his words his sword reared back and stabbed forward; though to his surprise a hint of resistance would come to halt the blade.

 Azazel peered downward as he saw what could only be described as particles of Ash forming around the blade as it attempted to hold it in place and make a barrier between the two of them. “Ha! He has a protection on you!” He let forth a laugh, as his gaze shifted to Elia once more. “They aren’t strong enough though.” He muttered as he reared the blade back once again; putting all his force behind what was to come next; leaving nothing to chance as he stabbed forward.

 Boen pulled forth what looked to be a gun and aimed it directly at Elia, which would cast a sudden flash of light over the woman as she resided within the monster’s hand. He watched as the creature reared the weapon back a second time; not quite understanding how she was able to fend it off the first time, but it was exactly what he needed. As Azazel’s blade plunged forward Elia and Boen would switch places at the last moment and the blade would drive through Boen’s stomach first and then his chest from the mere size of the blade. Boen would grit his teeth as he brought his other hand upward that held his dagger and drove it instantly upward. It struck through the illidari’s chin, up through his mouth, into his skull and then out through the top of his head. “Fuck you!” Boen yelled towards him; feeling the grip suddenly cease upon his throat; dropping both Boen and the sword to the ground.

 Azazel would stare upon Boen at that very moment as his mouth seemed to hang open; almost as if staring in disbelief as his grip upon the man and sword fell from his grip. Azazel took a few steps back as his hands clenched tight together for a few brief moments before his entire body came to relax. The ashen lord’s eyes would roll to the back of his head at that instant and begin to fall backwards. His form hit the ground instantly as his entire body exploded and burst into billions upon billions of ashen particles that soared high into the air. They crept further and further along until finally? They would no longer be able to be seen.

 Boen would fall upon his knees as the monster had been beaten; at least for now. Both hands raising forward as he grasped upon the sword and started to force it out of his body. Letting forth horrific yells of pain as he pulled the long blade out of his chest and stomach until finally it fell to the ground and laid silent. Boen would raise to his feet slowly; and if Elia looked she would notice the hole within his body continued to remain set. He didn’t have enough energy to pull himself together; it would take a volcano at this point. Though he attempt to make strides to her, though slow until finally he halted under a tree.

 Elia:

The sword tip nicked the rubber at her stomach and all the tension it held tore it open, all while the priest remained as still as she dared while she watched him in horror still suspended in his grip. With his words she thrashed once more as the sword reared back though watched as the blade halted pressed to her skin but not further. Was it a trick? Was he deceiving her? It wasn't until he declared it was Boen that shielded her that she let out a sigh of relief, but the second attempt at a thrust caused her breath to hitch again. She clamped her eyes shut and then she felt the heat of the light on her and in a flash their positions had changed, and she stared on with horror as Boen was impaled in her place.

 Despite Boen's dagger thrust through Azazel's skull, her stomach tied itself in knots and ached with sympathy as he fell to the ground, meaning to dart forward but she hesitated, watching as Azazel simply fell back and exploded into ash that slowly disappeared and faded. That was all the waiting she would do, running to Boen and wincing as his cries and screams sounded while the blade was drawn from him. No mortal would survive this, she knew, but he could, as long as she got him the heat he needed to regenerate. She did what she could to help, in that she kept a hand upon bare skin wherever she could find it, until it drained her to the point that she could no longer sustain it.

 "We need to go, Boen. We have to get you to heat!" She spoke with great worry, her sapphire hair now easily in view as the cloak hood fell back. She tugged on his arm, motioning towards the Lordaeron stables, offering to support him the best she could despite their waivering strength. "He has Raya..." She whimpered, scared. She had hoped to put all of this, Boen and Azazel, and her old comrades behind all for the best. But she could not dismiss that he needed her now, could she? Perhaps she could find a way to look out for him, even if it was just a little?

  Boen:

 Boen would seem to rag doll briefly upon Elia’s tug of his arm; before raising his own hand and laid it upon her shoulder. “Stop.” He muttered forth towards her as he pulled away and pressed his back against the tree. Boen would slowly slide down it at that very moment as he let forth a soft groan. Winching as his open wound would trail along the bark of the tree until finally he sat upon his rear. “Sit with me.” He said in low breathy gasps as his gaze peered forward; he already knew that no matter what Elia did. They would not get to anything in time for him to fully revitalize his form and body.

 “Elia Solarsong.” He said as if confirming her name; before peering towards her; reaching for her hand as she moved so to sit by him. (At least I am assuming she does) “Let me just look at you for a moment, alright? I just..I need to keep the image of you fresh in my head.” The man muttered forth. To some those would-be words of hope that he was going to pull through the injuries upon his form. Though to those that truly knew Boen? They were words of not wanting to forget about someone; wanting to keep the memory of them as he resurrected once more.

 Elia:

 Elia cringed and sniffled as he told her to stop, and in an instant she slipped down to her knees next to him and began to softly cry. If he didn't want to try, she knew that he would simply cease to be, and in a day's time he would be even less without his wits and further from his own memories: even the ones of her. She motioned closer as she sat pressed against him, though it took all of her willpower to keep from simply embracing him as she would have in the past. That only made her sob more, as she looked upon him and nodded, letting him just look at her for the time being to try to commit her face to memory. Try as she may, she simply raised a hand to his cheek and smiled weakly. "I'll get your armor and your weapons to your grave, b-" she paused. "Boen."

 Boen:

 His form simply leaned into his touch at that very moment as she pressed it against his cheek. His grave? How did she know about his grave? The thought seemed to echo through his head over and over again; though he would decide not to act upon it. Boen didn’t want to question her within his last few moments. A single hand came forth as it rested upon her cheek; gently trailing tears away from her eyes. “Don’t worry.” He muttered forth towards her; letting his hand gently trail to her chin as he offered her a kind smile. Even in his state; he did his best to bring her some hope.

 His other hand came forth at that moment as took hold of the cloak that rested upon her form and gently pulled it to the side; gazing upon what laid underneath. “I thought I saw this odd thing on you when you were behind held up..” He let forth a mere chuckle before it suddenly went into that of a cough. He hacked for a few moments before he laid his head back upon the tree once more; pinning her hand between his cheek and the tree. “He is one lucky man though. Can I say I am a bit jealous?” He said with an amused smirk that remained set upon his lips as if trying to make light of the mood. “Because I won’t lie I thought about things with you back..in the Bouquet. You know; I am quite the charmer? Quellys speaks highly of my talents. Apparently, I can charm the pants off a priest.” He said as he continued to smirk towards her. It was starting to become obvious the man was doing his best to life her spirits.

 Elia:

 Elia simply coughed a little and smiled as his hand rose to wipe away her tears, though she shifted a little nervously as he moved to peer underneath the cloak. His laugh made her grin though it was quickly erased as he let out a round of hacking coughs, her brow knit with worry as she tried to suppress his pain. As he regained his sense, her thumb trailed his cheekbone, and her face flushed red as he spoke of the 'lucky man'. Her heart sank for the briefest of moments until he stated his thoughts of her. She simply bowed her head and smiled in earnest, the memories of all their time together such a bright, shining part of her past that she hated she had to forfeit. "Shame I have no pants to charm off then, huh?" She jested back with a genuine smile, leaning in to kiss his forehead. "Rest... it'll be okay..."

 Boen:

 A smile drifted over his lips as she made a comment upon ‘no pants’ and the eager smile kept upon his lips as she leaned forward to place the soft kiss upon his forehead. As she pulled away, the man kept his gaze upon her as if giving her a longing gaze of one a lover might give to the other. His hues would force upon her as if afraid to pull away and as the moments past the breath in his chest would start to pass from his lips slower and slower. Tears started to flow down his cheek; yet he remained his gaze remained focused upon her. The touch of his skin would begin to feel cool to the touch as his gaze simply peered forth and the breath that escaped past his lips seemed to halt. His hues peered directly at her; though now through her at this point as he laid still. His skin started to change color almost instantly as his form took on that of a greyish hue. Even with all of his memories tattered and torn throughout his head; he fought to protect her and keep her out of harm’s way as he would have done in the past.

 Elia:

 As her lips pulled from his forehead she smiled to him, and the way his gaze remained on her, unwaivering, caused her to let forth more tears of mourning. She didn't know what to do with herself, but simply caressed his cheek and smiled crookedly to him through her evident pain as his own tears began to pour down his cheeks whilst his skin cooled and life passed from him. She had not had the misfortune of witnessing him pass before, and she hoped to never see it again, crumping into his lap and letting forth wracked sobs and wails of pain as she mourned his passing and a little more of his humanity.

 She remained in his lap for a time, until his form hardened into ash and began to flake and litter her cloak and skin. Only when it ceased to hold form did she fold his leathers and collect his blades and made her way to his grave. It wasn't to bury them, but to be left for him when he came about, ready for him to don again instead of having to find them once more. It was a painful pilgrimage, and she remained a mournful, sobbing wreck for the duration of it, but it was a necessary thing, and oddly cathartic. She wanted to be there when he woke, though she knew duty called her elsewhere. Fetching a pen and small piece of paper, she wrote only a note for him with his belongings.

 "I brought your things so you need not fetch them. Though I am not with you, I am not far. Know that my love is with you.

 -E"

 Boen:

 It was such a bitter sweet end to the tale that brought to the two together once more; his body collapsing upon itself as she laid her head upon his lap and mourned for the passing of the man she once called beloved. His form broke apart into the millions upon millions of ash as Azazel did before him, letting his form slowly begin to rise upward and swirl about Elia before they ascended to the sky as if they were to reach the heavens, though fall just short and return to the soil that resided as Boen’s grave once more.

 The particles would seem to kiss against her form as they passed, as if giving one long lasting goodbye before they vanished from sight and set towards their location where they would halt for how many hours it would take him to regenerate. It was his curse that he had carried on for many years, though one thing would be certain from this point. The Priestess would not fall from his memories, not anymore. She knew things about him, and the proof of the letter he would receive after his rest would cause him to figure out what he had missed; this was certain.

[ashroadtrek-blog]

Balance of Terror

Air Date: December 15, 1966

Writer: Paul Schneider

Director: Vincent McEveety

Balance of Terror is one of those episodes that seasoned Trekkies revere for some reason, yet new fans may have a difficult time understanding why. I thought it was a good episode, but I’m a sucker for continuity and worldbuilding and this is arguably one of the more important episodes in the franchise for that because it establishes a species so enduring they sort of bookend the Prime continuity via Nero and his gang in the 2009 film.

Why does every post-Enterprise alien antagonist need to be bald?

Romulans appear in every series in the franchise except Discovery (so far!) - they even manage to squeeze into Voyager and Enterprise a few times! The Romulans are almost always an effective counterweight to the Klingons; where the Klingons revere honor (in theory if not practice most of the time), Romulans are notoriously duplicitious; where Klingons entertain notions of peace with the Federation, Romulans openly sustain hostilities and enmity; where the Klingon warrior culture is detailed and fleshed out over the long course of the franchise and even examined from new angles time and again, the Romulans remain almost rigidly enigmatic and mysterious (and perhaps that’s part of their appeal.)

The episode establishes a basic history of the Earth-Romulan war that later canon rarely deviates from.

Not even to force a confrontation between Archer and Big Chin. Seriously, that thing was carved from a Seth MacFarlane cartoon.

On a conceptual level, I like Romulans. I listened to Mike Duncan’s The History of Rome podcast over the summer (twice), and I’d consider myself something of an armchair Roman historian, so the whole “Roman Empire IN SPACE!” thing really engages my thrusters to maximum if you detect my warp signature. 

Ahhhh

Indeed, there seems to be a bit of Roman influence in the Romulans...at first. Words like ‘centurion’ and ‘praetor’ are thrown around in this episode, but that’s really it - they’re thrown around. I guess the helmets are vaguely Roman inspired, and there’s a guy named Decius, but that’s about the extent. I’m just disappointed that the Romulans are no more Roman than the Klingons never really cling to anything except a vague medieval-inspired aesthetic and pretenses to honor. 

I can’t wait to get to this episode - and would it have been so hard to give the Romulans these costumes?

I hope you’ve enjoyed Part 1 in my 6 part series tentatively titled “How Star Trek Fucked Up the Romulans.”

Moving on.

So the episode opens wonderfully with a shipboard wedding, and in the honored tradition of offshore weddings, the captain is the officiate. Scotty assures him that the event will be broadcast over the whole ship, and Yeoman Rand carefully lights candles in the background. 

You crazy kids!

I noticed both are wearing command gold, and the male is the female’s superior officer, and both work in the phaser array section of the ship...and that’s about all the episode really needs to tell us; it’s scaffolding to heighten the tragedy of the episode, to invest the audience and give us a reason to care about the ship-to-ship battle that is coming.

Now, the Romulans (or at least, the Romulan ship that is our antagonist) in this episode appear to be attempting to bait the Federation (by attacking outposts) into crossing the Neutral Zone in order to accuse them of breaking the treaty between the two powers and, in the words of the Romulan commander, give the Romulans the gift of war with the Federation. 

Spock gives us the requisite exposition on the history of the Earth-Romulan war, and today’s navigator-of-the-week Stiles reveals a vendetta against the Romulans going back to grand-relatives killed in that war; Kirk reminds him that the war was a century ago and it was their war - not his. 

What I got about the enemy commander is that he was some hotshot dickweed Romulan with a fancy new weapon and toy (the cloak) who wanted to bring glory to Romulus and impress his boss the Praetor by making the Federation seem like the instigators. I get the impression that the Romulans were on the losing side of the treaty and wanted to get the war back on track to recover lost possessions and perhaps dominance in the region. 

Kirk broadcasts a message throughout the ship to warn the crew that they’re going to go into some deep shit, and we get a few shots of different people - like the lovebirds, and a couple of guys who I remember from other episodes but aren’t named on-screen, like this guy:

And this guy:

The former appeared in Miri and Dagger of the Mind, and this dumb looking kid showed up in the background of What Are Little Girls Made of, looking as confused and constipated as ever.

Anyways, everyone on the ship is tense and wound up because they know the stakes: the Romulan war was such a big deal that people who fought in it have grandkids who are still pissed at the Romulans. I tried putting this in perspective with a clumsy WWI analogy, but it’s different because Germany isn’t several dozen or hundred light-years away from the US. 

Spock says something I find very interesting in light of Discovery’s use of cloaking devices on Klingon ships; he says that invisibility screens are only theoretical up to that point. Naturally, Enterprise screwed this up already with Suliban Cabal cloaking technology, so I’ll give Discovery a pass on that one.

Kirk chooses strategic observation over direct confrontation, which I think it a good call and Mr. Styles thinks merits a whiny objection and fear of Romulan spies aboard the Enterprise. (This is actually because of a cut scene where the crew remarks on the similarities in Romulan ship design to Federation specs, which alludes to Romulans stealing designs or something...)

Ever notice how the Enterprise keeps losing navigators?

They technobabble a way to get a shot of the Romulan bridge, revealing that the Romulan in question is none other than...

SAREK!

Just kidding, but he is played by Mark Lenard. 

Everyone proceeds to stare at Spock like he just took the last slice of meat lover’s at a tolerant vegan buffet.

Even Leslie!

Kirk has to tap on Stiles’ console to get him back to work. Stiles is a bit racist, and Kirk shuts him down by telling him to leave his bigotry in his quarters. Spock offers some logical considerations as to the similarities in appearance between him and the Romulans; aggressive period of interstellar colonization. If I remember my TOS correctly, this shows up again with a character named Sargon, and we know Vulcanoids show up in TNG on Mintaka - the Romulans themselves are expatriates who wanted to do their own thing. 

There is then a scene on the Romulan ship to establish and characterize them, which is something that the show hasn’t done yet and I’m not sure ever does again until the movies. I get the impression that the older Romulan is on his last mission before he retires, and also that he’s the commander’s version of Bones. 

The bridge crew puts their heads together to give Kirk options. Spock says the weapon is too strong - their strongest material is castrodinium and the sample he shows them has been reduced to sheet metal. Kirk asks if they can fight the Romulans without dying, to which Scotty responds they can outrun them. Naturally, Stiles wants to fight them, only to be countered by Sulu that they can’t attack without visuals...which is dumb for a variety of reasons, but I’m not going to go into them because it’s a narrative decision. 

And then Stiles says more racist shit.

Sulu quietly rethinks his recommendation of Stiles as navigator and wonders if he should stop making suggestions altogether...

Stiles accuses Spock of being a Romulan spy, and to be fair if you’ve never seen a Romulan and you already think there might be a spy on the ship and then suddenly you see the Romulans have pointed ears like the high-ranking officer with pointed ears, well...

But this is the 23rd century, and we’re evolving past that.

Spock agrees with Stiles about attacking - and Bones is wholeheartedly against war, because he’s a contrarian when it comes to Spock. Spock then offers some logical considerations as to the similarities in appearance between him and the Romulans; aggressive period of interstellar colonization. If I remember my TOS correctly, this shows up again with a character named Sargon, and we know Vulcanoids show up in TNG on Mintaka - the Romulans themselves are expatriates who wanted to do their own thing.

The show then plays cat and mouse as the Enterprise parallels course to appear as a sensor ghost on the Romulan space radar, then they go into a comet tail, then they fire on the Romulan ship. The commander loses his buddy and gets pissed.

Rand shows up on the bridge asking Kirk if she should continue log entries, but I get the feeling she showed up because she was scared and wanted Kirk to hold her - which he does, briefly, when the Romulans fire back at the ship. 

The Romulan commander’s buddy dies, and in an example of how committed they are to getting out of the situation, he is coldly ejected with some debris in an attempt to trick the Enterprise - but it doesn’t fool Spock. 

Nine hours later...

I’m not kidding, the two ships spend 9 hours waiting each other out. Kirk is not exactly cracking under the pressure, but he is not enjoying it. He snaps at Rand so hard she transfers off the Enterprise, but when Bones walks in his entire face changes and he confides in his old friend...the Romulan commander must wish his old friend were still alive right about now. 

Spock forces the Romulans out of hiding, and the commander orders his lieutenants to prepare an old-style nuclear weapon that they apparently carry only for self-destruction purposes. It’s a dirty trick in case of compromise; obliterate their ship (and therefore technology), damage the enemy (but it’s space! they aren’t going to be close enough for it to matter!) and irradiate them to boot if the nuke overloads their shielding and hull polarization. Primitive but lucky vessels are screwed. 

The Enterprise is NOT a primitive vessel (though it is a lucky one), yet McCoy still refers to 22 casualties from radiation burns. I’m on the fence here - did they lose 22 crewmen? Googling led me to believe no, those crewmen may have been wounded but did not die. 

Unfortunately, the Romulans knock out everyone but the lonely male lovebird in the weapons array, so Kirk sends him there and has Uhura fill in navigation. To be honest, she’d probably make a better regular navigator than Stiles, or Riley, or Bailey (seeing a pattern?) - or even old Easily Wounded Ego himself, Gary Mitchell. I think Sulu may have been carefully considering this based on the long look he gave her. 

Spock passes through weapons and Stiles starts shit yet again (seriously, guy), and then there’s a coolant leak at the eleventh hour right as Kirk gives the order to fire on the Romulan ship! Spock rushes back, firing phasers and rescuing our bitter navigator so that he can learn a very special lesson in sick bay. 

Kirk offers to rescue the Romulan, who refuses because duty. He’s going to self-destruct, as every Romulan in this situation should. He then makes overtures of comraderie towards Kirk; those two have gained a mutual respect for each other’s tactical prowess in this confrontation, and only through luck did the Enterprise prevail. 

In sick bay, Bones reports that the male lovebird has died, and Stiles expresses gratitude mixed with incredulity that Spock saved him in spite of all his bullshit; Spock assures him there was no emotion behind the action, that it was done in the name of duty.

Finally, Kirk goes to confront the female lovebird, that her husband-to-be died for a reason if it makes any sense. I for one am amazed she was able to be so calm and serene about the whole affair, telling Kirk she’s alright. Maybe she’s in shock, or maybe (this is what I prefer to think) she knew the risks of serving on an exploratory vessel, of falling in love with a comrade stationed on the same vessel, of being married to someone on the same vessel. She made a choice, and this was a possible outcome that she faced, accepted, and now lives with. 

It was a good episode.

Rating: 4/5; Rewatch

Balance of Terror is an essential episode because it introduces the Romulans, and it’s also a pretty solid ship-to-ship action episode that plays like something of a precursor to Kirk’s battle in Wrath of Khan.