#I headcanon Prime taking place right before Forces by the way. Story for another time. 😉

[piko-power]

Sonic and his dumb bi ass just doesn't want to get himself embarrassed on stream for saying something nice about Shadow in front of people online LMAOOOO

(That and he doesn't want to talk about Shadow's fall from space after SA2 so he quickly shifted to being mad at Shadow for starting a fight with him in Heroes, which was after SA2. We know what you are, Sonic!!)

[soranis-sunshadow]

Hordak can’t catch a break even on his birthday...

Oh fandom, you really like this sort of drama don’t you? 

A few days ago, on Hordak’s birthday, there was this ‘interesting’ post in the tag – since, apparently it’s impossible to get any peace even on that day.

I was  too tired to answer it at the time after being on call the day before so, here’s my delayed answer to all of that:

First off: this post has this bit in it when asked what that person dislikes about SPOP.

 He doesn’t need to get a redemption and he doesn’t get one in the show. 

None of his actions constitute a redemption arc. The man merely acknowledged his personhood and freed himself from his master and God. That’s what his arc was about: the right to have a personal identity. 

He gave himself a name and wanted to be his own person. That’s it. That’s all he wanted.

The man was merely freed from Prime’s influence- an influence he was born into since he’s been specifically manufactured to serve as a disposable mass produced soldier and worshipper of Prime.

 If the argument that Catra was “forced” to commit crimes and thus she is not completely guilty of them since she was under duress – then the argument doubly holds for a person who has been directly programmed and conditioned to do so under the threat of death or mental rape (purification).\

Even while away from Prime, he was still conditioned to obey and brainwashed by Prime’s cult. He literally knew nothing else – he was not meant to. It’s how indoctrination works.  

Prime’s clones aren’t people to Prime, they are tools. Those clones, while cut off from Prime still want to serve and please him: That’s what Wrong Hordak’s purpose in the show is- to show us just that.

Hordak is not considered “OK”  because Entrapta likes him. Hordak is merely shown – by Entrapta that he could live apart from his cult and have worth outside what Prime tells him he has. 

Just like real life cult victims, he needs an outsider to help him see a way out of the cult. The nature of indoctrination and brainwashing makes it impossible for the brainwashed person to know they are brainwashed unless someone points it out.

Now for my favorite thing:

and

oh and

Oh boy… this makes me just so damn uncomfortable.

To offer a bit of context as to why. I have never been on social media before SPOP or in any fandom and as such, I have never encountered the ‘all men are evil’ discourse that seems to infest these places. It’s been quite a bit of culture shock for me. 

What is it that makes anyone think it is ok to judge a person because of an accident of birth? (being born male)

Why does hate for 50% of the human population get such a free pass on these platforms? Misandry is just as terrible as misogyny. You are being biased against another human because of their gender. I don’t care that males are perceived as ‘privileged’ – that doesn’t make it ok to be terrible to them unprovoked. 

How does hating all men help achieve equity?

Do you realize that this sort of discourse is exactly how you radicalize people against the very cause you are championing? You breed hate and adversity for the rest of us who actually want to to have a discussion on the topic. 

I’m a feminist myself (in a country where feminism is hard-work) and let me tell you, making all men hate us does nothing but push away potential allies and make it a lot harder for our voices to be heard.

Feminism is about equality, not women dominating.

Now onto the second post: the one comparing Catra and Hordak with the question of which of them is a better person. 

This whole war orphans that were personally abducted and tortured into serving the horde HC that some ppl have is really starting to get boorish. This has been going on for more than 6 months. 

I have no idea why everyone thinks he went down chimneys and stealing babies left and right while cackling villainously. The man had a busy schedule of brooding in his lab, wallowing at his inability to use insulated cables and having his device blowing up in his face with the occasional Skype call to Shadow Weaver to see what the Horde is doing. 

And yet, to a part of the fandom, this is what he looked like:

( @bat-burrito​ made this one and it’s glorious) 

And if you don’t believe me about the lab recluse thing, you don’t have to, the show pretty much states it for me. 

and 

+

Hordak is a recluse that stayed in his lab and let the running of the Horde and most operations to Shadow Weaver and later Catra. He did not personally abuse anyone and he is not the origin of the cycle of abuse.

Shadow Weaver was a child grooming manipulative woman before she even joined the Horde – she did this to Micah while she was not “evil” or presumably abused by Hordak.

Even if you want to HC that Hordak abused her somehow, he is still not the one who started the cycle: Horde Prime is. 

The whole fandom seems to forget about the eldritch monstrosity that created a whole army of brainwashed slaves to worship and die for him. Prime is the one that sent Hordak to die and gave him the motivation to try to prove himself worthy of life and love. If you want to point fingers, point them at the origin of all of this. This fandom has a strange Prime blindness. He is never talked about when it comes to being the start of all of this.

If Prime didn’t exist, Hordak wouldn’t exist. If Prime hadn’t sent Hordak off to die, then his clone wouldn’t have accidentally ended up on Etheria. None of the things in the show would have happened.

Adora would have died of exposure in a field, the monarchies on Etheria would have continued as they are and the planet would have continued to exist in despondos. 

He is a dictator, yes. So are the princesses. Monarchies are dictatorships where the ruler is born into power. Hordak gained his through military might while Glimmer was born with hers and enforced it with tradition. I don’t really care to play “who’s the better dictator”. The princesses have their power because of the runestones- magical rocks put there by the First Ones to channel the planet’s magic and use it as a weapon. How come no one talks about that?

Do you think a king/queen keeps their crown without effort or subjugation of their subjects? 

Also, Hordak had never interacted with Catra before SW dragged her before him to be judged. He was indifferent to etherians in general and didn’t seem to care which of them were his underlings so long as the operations were running smoothly. He was more focused on his portal and returning home than on anything else. He did not set out to “ruin lives” or quest for power. What he wanted was to return to his deity and become a mindless part of the whole again – that is as opposite to power hungry as you can get.

Catra was directly abused by Shadow Weaver throughout her childhood. That makes Shadow weaver responsible for 100% of that abuse.

Catra was found in a box by Adora and adopted by Shadow Weaver. Hordak didn’t know or care that she existed.

He is responsible for the war, he is responsible for the war casualties and the property damage. He is not responsible for Shadow Weaver being a terrible person and mother figure.

Again with the orphan thing. We have 5 cadets in the show. 

Adora was found in a field. 

Catra was found in a box. Lonnie, Kyle and Rogelio are unexplained. The only lizard ppl we see in the show are in the Horde or the Crimson Wastes. The other two could just as well be the children of some of the soldiers. 

I may harp on about what a bitch Shadow Weaver is – the reason I do so is because she is legitimately terrible to the two girls in her care.

I was the unfavorite growing up, I WAS the Catra in my family who could do no right while my sibling was the golden child. I don’t however hate Shadow Weaver. She is a cartoon character in a show and she does the things she was written to do. Hell, she is a very compelling and believable villain. Her motivations are clear and she is consistent. Her voice actress portrayed her splendidly and her character design is superb. I like her but that doesn’t mean that I don’t acknowledge her role in the story. I don’t however make up parts of the story to make her more evil than she was or treat my headcanons about her as absolute fact. 

Again, sigh: Prime is the worst villain in the show. He is quite literally Nyarlathotep and does this to planets: 

 This to people: 

and this to the people he created to serve, worship and love him: 

How is that not worse?

I love Catra and it genuinely annoys me when people erase her agency or try to paint her as one-dimensional victim. Catra was an antagonist for most of the show and she rocked it! She was 400% more efficient at it than cloneboy. Give the queen some damn respect and recognition! Catra had a lot of agency and her actions moved the plot of the show more than those of the protagonists. (they were mostly reactive).

Catra pulled the lever of the portal in a moment of distress after a breakdown, a Shadow-Weaver related breakdown because that’s how trauma works.

Hordak didn’t make her do it, he didn’t send Catra after Adora either. These were Catra’s choices. They came from a place of hurt but they were her choices still.

The portal was a means of transportation, not a weapon. Building it was not Catra’s mission, it was Hordak’s. He built it so he could contact Prime and either summon him here or go home –whichever course of action Prime wanted. Again, Hordak wanted to go back to this:

...

The only person who knew the device was dangerous was Entrapta and she tried to warn Hordak about it. Catra was the one who stopped her, violently so, then sent her to die on Beast Island- the fate Entrapta saved her from a season ago. Catra then tried to have Hordak open the portal before it was ready.

When he wouldn’t – she pulled the lever herself because that is how desperate she had gotten at that point, to show Shadow Weaver how wrong she was. That is how hurt Catra was by her mother figure’s betrayal and abuse.

Don’t take that away from her. Don’t call it curiosity or naivete or whatever. She knew the portal was dangerous but she wanted to prove Shadow Weaver wrong so badly that she didn’t care at that point. She had been pushed that far. 

Catra’s actions led to Angella’s death but she was not directly responsible for it. She didn’t activate the device to kill Angella, it merely happened accidentally. Catra was however glad it happened and wanted to profit from the aftermath of her death.  

Hordak didn’t care or plan to kill Angella personally. There is no in-show moment where any of that is portrayed. Since he doesn’t care about the specifics of running the horde seem to know what they are conquering at the moment, it seems that that was usually a task reserved for his second in command. 

^ - troop movement ordered by Catra

Hordak doesn’t even know what his own army is doing.

Again with the Hordak “drilling into orphan’s minds”… I seriously doubt that any of them had ever seen him out of his lab or that he came up with the propaganda himself.

Manipulation is more Shadow Weaver’s game not his. For all of Hordak’s faults, he is not deceptive or manipulative. If anything, he is woefully incapable of spotting lies. (it might have something to do with him being born in a society where lies were almost impossible because of the hive mind and Prime being able to browse his thoughts at a whim- as such, it wouldn’t be a skill he would have been able to develop).

Hordak canonically despises deception and lies.  I really don’t understand where this image of a manipulative and cunning Hordak comes from. He wouldn’t be able to plot himself out of a paper bag if his life depended on it.

First off.. S4 Catra was his equal, not his subordinate. Don’t take that away from her. She earned it.

He doesn’t look that threatening here... 

And again:  Prime created the system. He made clone slaves and programmed them to serve. His clones have hardware installed for the express reason to facilitate his control over them. He has a religion in place to make sure their thoughts do not stray from his purpose. I am legitimately boggled by this fandom’s tendency to completely forget about his existence.Does anyone really think that these people that are born “prechipped” and programmed to know nothing but Prime’s Light are really knowledgeable about human morality?

That they would know that conquest is bad when that is the express reason for their creation? 

If I were born in that situation, I’m not sure I would have known any better. Hell, if any of the clones even try to disobey Prime, they would get either mindraped (erased) or killed for the effort. They really have no choice, even if they knew that killing in Prime’s name is wrong (they don’t) they really can’t do anything about it. They have no choice but to be what they were made to be. I find it personally abhorrent when these designer slaves are held accountable for what Prime has made them do.

And to the people that say Hordak was free of Horde Prime once he was stranded on Etheria.. That is not how indoctrination works. The fact that I can’t go to church this Sunday because I’m locked in the house and can’t find the keys doesn’t make me an atheist.

Hordak was serving Prime even on Etheria. He keeps mentioning it to both Entrapta and Catra. He started the war because that’s what he thought Prime wanted of him and that’s what he’s been programmed to do. Personal and informed choice really doesn’t factor into his decision at all.

He is not sympathetic because Entrapta likes him. Notice how I haven’t brought up his relationship with her up to this point?

He is sympathetic because he literally had no choice but to do the things he was indoctrinated into doing. He was build and programmed for it, just like all the other clones. They are not able to deviate from that because of the way Prime functions and rules over them.

There is no point in the show where Hordak relishes over his status as a ruler or the “luxury” it affords him. He does not engage in the same behaviors his progenitor manifests.

There is no point in the show where Hordak relishes over his status as a ruler or the “luxury” it affords him. He does not engage in the same behaviors his progenitor manifests. He attempts to emulate Prime in order to project authority in the only way he knows how but since those are some really big shoes to fill, he is woefully inadequate. 

If Hordak had been power hungry, he would have stayed in despondos and ruled his own faction. Being away from Prime is the most powerful and autonomous he’s ever been and yet, he wants to throw all of that away in order to be a powerless, nameless part of the whole. What Hordak wanted was to be enslaved by Prime because that’s what he had been created for.

“vengeful” – and how did Hordak manifest this vengefulness? Who did he take revenge on in the series?  

“apologize” – when and where in his 3 minutes of screentime would he remember everything after 2 mindwipes, realize that the whole worldview he had since inception is wrong, realize that he had been mistaken into doing the horrible things he did and then go to all of the characters and apologize for it?

Would anyone be convinced of that had it happened in 3 minutes? I’d rather they don’t redeem him than do a shit job at it.

Very true. He’s not a better person. He’s just a person in an impossible situation. Both Hordak and Catra were handed a raw deal, I don’t understand why everyone insists on pitting them against one another. They both did bad things and they were both in horrible situations. The specifics don’t really matter since neither of them would have done the things they did had they been more fortunate.

This is the exact reason for which I don’t hold Cara’s actions against her. Catra’s only model of success was Shadow Weaver. She emulated her abusive mother figure because she had no other example and because she wanted to please that woman. It does not excuse the way Catra acted but it explains it.

I really don’t understand why some people want Catra punished. I’d rather she get love and help. That is what she needs. In time, she will want to do better and be better by herself. She doesn’t need to be forced, heavens know, she’s been forced enough as it is.

They are really different. Catra got an abusive, shitty and violent childhood. Hordak got this:

He was literally robbed of a childhood. 

She was taught by Shadow Weaver that weakness gets you killed. Hordak was not allowed to have emotions to begin with, or thoughts of his own, or a name...

Comparing to victims of abuse to see which one of them is more likable is such a strange concept to me.

Catra was robbed in s5 too. I don’t hold that against her. I  blame it on the writers. S5 could have been a lot better. 

[kekeslider]

I’ve been holding on to this one for a while because of sheer laziness, because I knew it would be long as fuck, but I continue to see people saying that Shadow Weaver was redeemed at the end, via one act of good before dying, and I don’t think that’s the case at all. I believe at the end she may have escaped.

Here’s my biggest take on SW, obvious as it is: she is primarily concerned with power and control at all times. It’s consistent through every bit of her story. She recognizes power in young people, Adora and Micah specifically, and seeks to control them. She’s nice to them, affectionate, at first. In her own super messed up way she cares about them. But never more than herself, her own desires and interests.

The common belief after the finale is that Shadow Weaver’s last act before the end was an attempt by the writing to give her a miniature redemption through death. And other people have said it but one of the purposes this actually serves is to show that despite all her efforts, SW never really controlled Adora and Catra, she never turned them into the things she wanted them to be, because they anchored each other. Adora and Catra crying over SW’s death isn’t to show that she was actually not so bad, it’s to show that in spite of everything, Adora and Catra still care about the life of others intrinsically.

Shadow Weaver knew this before her sacrifice. The fact that Adora could not continue on to the Heart without Catra was proof enough that she had lost control, if you could even argue that she ever truly had it. You might view SW’s decision to stop the beast and let them go as an acceptance of this fact, or that she simply did what had to be done to save the whole universe, or that she had a genuine desire to do one good thing in her life. But I’m going to argue for two different alternatives.

1. Shadow Weaver sacrificed her life here because she realized that she had no way out after this. She no longer had sway over Adora or Catra, and throughout the season, and some specific scenes in prior ones, both characters repeatedly call attention to SW’s abuse of them. They’ve reached a point in their journey where they’re both completely aware of her manipulation, her abuse, her two-sidedness. They never believe during this season that SW is a good person now, or that she repents for what she’s done. There’s a recognition that Shadow Weaver is helping the rebellion because she’s chosen to be on the side of the winners because that’s how she’ll guarantee her survival and maintain her control over the situation. She tried in the previous season to control Glimmer like she had the others, but Glimmer was too wise to actually trust SW, potentially because she knew what real love and loyalty was and recognized that that wasn’t what Shadow Weaver offered. In a genius turn, Glimmer uses Shadow Weaver rather than the other way around.

All attempts to guarantee her position after the war have failed. She has no control over Micah, Adora, Catra, or Glimmer. She can’t get Adora to the Heart without going back for Catra, so even if they somehow pull through without it she can’t claim herself a hero for her role in it. She is at the end of the road, she’s run out of tricks, and she makes a decision. She decides that dying in one last act of manipulation over the two girls she almost destroyed is her final way to secure her place in the narrative as a Hero. It’s about the legacy, it’s why she says “You’re welcome,” so they will be forced to believe she did it for them, and that would solidify her life as meaningful. It’s her last attempt to retain some of the power she craved, fought for, and stole throughout her life.

But I don’t think the writers actually intend for her to get what she wants here. Shadow Weaver is an interesting character, she has a lot of pull over events in the story, but there’s no sense that she’s beloved. Not by characters and not by writers. I’m eternally sorry to fall back on one of the most tired comparisons in the universe, but bear with me for a moment. In thinking about all of it, I noticed certain similarities between SW’s death and that of Severus Snape. One final moment before death that they want the child(ren) they abused to see that will justify everything. But that is where the similarity ends, and why I think it’s so different on the writing side of things. Snape’s death was intended by both author and narrative to excuse and forgive him for countless misdeeds. And over the years we’ve become far more critical of that. I don’t get the sense that the writers of She-Ra want us to forgive Shadow Weaver because she was oh so complex. I don’t think there’s a future catradora kid named “Shadow Hope Prime.” I think they wanted us to see this act of desperation for what it was: a last ditch attempt to retain control by a person that can’t care about anything but herself.

2. This is where we go straight into theorizing and headcanons so I’ll try to keep it shorter. My suggestion is this: Shadow Weaver did not die in her final scene, she made a grand escape.

At this point she has no friends, no allies, no one who believes she’s anything but dangerous. She has 4 people in positions of power she has personally and extravagantly harmed. She abused Catra and Adora throughout their lives, she manipulated Micah as a child and eventually sent him to Beast Island for at least 10 years, making him miss his daughter growing up, and never to see his wife again, and while SW never had the sway over Glimmer she did the others, she still was directly responsible for taking away her father, turning her mother into a, to be harsh, cowardly and ineffective leader for years, and indirectly responsible for the strife between Adora and Catra that took the war to new extremes.

Shadow Weaver has no one, and no options, and at that point in time the most likely outcome after it’s all over is prison, and she may not be lucky enough to be treated to Brightmoon’s cushy prison again.

You may ask at this point, Catra, Hordak, all the clones all get a redemption without threat of imprisonment, why not Shadow Weaver? And the answer is simple: Shadow Weaver has not redeemed herself in the eyes of the writers, viewers, or other characters. Catra saves Glimmer in an act of selflessness and love for Adora, and then becomes an instrumental help in saving Etheria. Not to mention Adora’s personal relationship with her and the recognition that they come from the same place and lived much of the same hardships. Hordak and the clones get a second chance because it is now known that they were all effectually mind-controlled and enslaved by Horde Prime, and their lives, as individuals with free choice and no strings holding them down, is only just starting. Not to mention Hordak and Wrong Hordak both have Entrapta on their side, and she’s a princess with her own kingdom and could just grant them asylum and bet the other princesses wouldn’t do anything about it lest they risk a civil war, but that doesn’t seem like a realistic issue for this new post-Horde planet anyway. The point is, the other antagonists from the show have made meaningful connections with other characters for the sake of them, not to be self-serving. Shadow Weaver continues to be manipulative up until the very end, no one will give her another chance at this point.

And she knows this. She’s a smart lady, and there’s a great big universe out there full of people that don’t know her. If Adora saves the day and the universe is saved all she has to do is get off planet, and if Adora fails they all die anyway, so why not have a go at it? My theory is that she uses her great big show of magic as a distraction and a disguise to make her escape. The world will believe she died, they may even celebrate her for her role in saving the universe, and she’ll be free.

You think there’s a hitch in this theory right? Because we see the room after she’s gone and all that’s left of her is her mask. Obviously she was completely destroyed, right?

But this specific scene reminded me of something else

If you’ve watched Teen Titans you know that the mask-wearing Slade was one of the major antagonists throughout the series, was also quite inclined to use and abuse powerful youths, and at the end was at the mercy of one (arguably two) of the children he had hurt. She kills him, he falls into lava, and the last thing we see of Slade is his mask. The next season picks up with Robin obsessed with the search for Slade, believing that he couldn’t really be gone that easily, and driven by this single remnant of him. Only to find out later that while Slade did die, he was resurrected and was once again back to be a massive asshole.

I think Shadow Weaver’s last scene does what it is meant to at first glance. Audience and characters believe she’s dead, which makes for a tidy ending, the death is non-explicit so kids don’t get too traumatized, but the ambiguity of it also means that if they wanted to, Shadow Weaver could return for a future installment in the series, be it comics, a movie, or another season. Whether those things are likely to be produced isn’t my interest in arguing here, it’s the possibility.

There’s still a lot of potential for Shadow Weaver to be used as the primary villain, and facing her again could be used any number of ways to shake up a domestic bliss the characters end up in, to have them, older, more mature, having spent time healing from how she hurt them, no longer be affected by her in the same ways. Or the complete opposite, they may still be affected by her, seeing her again could tear open old wounds, but in the end show that while hurt remains, they still carry on.

[imagines-for-the-fangirls-soul]

Return to Me - Chapter Ten

Chapter Ten: The Galaxy Within Reach

A/N: Again, sorry it’s late! School is crazy. A few notes about this chapter: unfortunately, Poe is not shirtless in this chapter, but I thought his expression was perfect (and the gif isn’t too bad to look at either). I headcanon Poe as having a few tattoos, so that’s present in this chapter. I promise, this is (I think) the last time we see the pink dress again. Since we haven’t seen him in a while, I’ll add the link to Lin Ral’s faceclaim again. The speech Poe gives Black Squadron and the title are taken from the Poe comics, which again, you should all read if you love Poe. Umm, I think that’s it. Lemme know if you wanna be tagged and your feedback is welcome! 

Pairing: Poe Dameron x Reader Word Count: 4,031 Synopsis: As the Resistance scrambles to find a place to go after Crait, the reader has to make the tough decision to reveal her connection with Count Lin Ral in order to save everyone aboard the Millennium Falcon. Both Poe and the reader take the first few steps to getting the Resistance back on track.

Tag List: @xeniarocks, @too-many-baes, @araceli91103​, @holybatflapexpert​, @themihala​, @idocarealot, @treblebeth​, @treestarrrrrrrr​, @thescarletknight2014​, @charlottie2998​, @ibikus​, @mellow-f1​, @mrsdaamneron​, @trustme3-13​ @missjess71, @ella-solei​, @minelskede​, @gleigh42​, @usuallyweepingnacho, @givemethatgold​, @and-claudia​, @constantdisgrace​, @wordsinwinters​, @readingvogueonprivetdrive​, @trshbb​, @kaitlynw011​, @ihave2muchtimeonmyhands​, @constantdisgrace​, @fairytalesforever​, @thanos-jeep​, @mixedfandxms​, @pastelbunny1501​, @emotionalcal​, @daniellajocelyn​, @getyourselfaunicorn​, @spider-starry​, @jimhalpertcanbuymelove, @angelicaxhouston

Previous Chapter - Next Chapter

Just get away from Crait. That was the only instruction Leia had given Chewbacca as everyone boarded the Millennium Falcon. Together with Rey, they quickly jumped the ship into hyperspace and left behind Kylo Ren and the First Order on the red salt covered planet. But now that you all were far away from the First Order, you needed to have a more specific course in mind, and preferably to a location that could help get the Resistance back on its feet.

Crowded around the table that Chewie usually Dejarik on, you sat with Leia, Poe, D’Acy, Finn, Rey, and Nové, arguing over where the best location would be.

“But we have allies on Naboo!” you yelled, hitting your hand against the table.

“Our allies may as well be enemies if they are under control of The First Order,” Leia said sternly. “I would love for us to return to Naboo,” she said, softening somewhat, “But until we can send a reconnaissance down to see what has happened, I won’t risk it.”

“What about any of your parents’ friends?” Nové asked, “Could any of them help us out?”

“No one is going to want to stand up against the First Order. Not after what they did to the Hosnian System. People are too scared. They need something to believe in, and that’s not me,” you added quickly, “They knew my parents well, they barely know me. Just by name.”

“What about Yavin 4?” Poe asked with a grin, clearing his throat at your side. “I’m sure my dad would be glad to host us.”

“Maybe for a moment, but we need somewhere to set up a permanent base. The old base on Yavin 4 isn’t operational, and the First Order knows where it is. We need to go somewhere that they would never expect,” Leia said. You found Nové’s eyes across the table and knew that she was thinking of the same place you were thinking of. A place that the First Order would never think to check.

“What about Serenno?” you said.

“Serenno,” Leia said with a smile, mulling the decision over.

“We don’t have any allies on Serenno,” D’Acy said, looking to Leia for some clarification. “At least, none that I’m aware of.”

“I have one,” you said with a smile, “And I think I can convince him to keep us hidden. It might not be a base, but we can definitely lay low for a while, catch our breaths.” Poe looked at you curiously, especially when you said him.

“That’s a great idea, Y/N,” Leia said, “Contact Serenno, and Poe, get this ship on course.”

“Yes, General,” you said at the same time. You both stood, but you allowed Poe to walk out first. Leia gave you an encouraging smile.

“Serenno is the best option,” she said.

“I know,” you said with a frown. She nodded at you once more as you made your way towards the doo with Nové following close behind, as Leia turned her attention to D’Acy. Once you were alone, you gave Nové the same worried look you had given Leia.

“She’s right,” she said with a sigh, “Serenno is the best choice.”

“I know, I’m just not sure Lin will see it that way,” you said, chewing your lip.

“Well, it’s a good thing you can be so convincing.” You frowned at her as she patted your arm. “Come on, we better give him a heads up before we land on his front step.”

You moved down the Millennium Falcon until you found a private corner to reach out to Serenno within. You waited anxiously as Nové tried to make contact, and tried not to focus on everything at stake. You had all lost so much already, you weren’t sure anyone else on board could put up with another loss if Lin Ral refused to help you.

“Alright, Y/N, he should be up soon,” Nové said, pulling you from your thoughts. You turned your head to look at the holographic image of Lin Ral materializing before you and put on a fake, forced smile.

“Y/N. I’m so glad to see you safe,” he said once the connection solidified in front of you. “I got word about Naboo, and only assumed the worst.”

“Thankfully, Nové, Zaisa, and I are safe. I do not know if the same can be said for my people.”

“How did you get away?”

“I was off planet when the attack happened,” you said. He nodded and moved in his frame, seeming to try to get a sense of where you were.

“Where are you now?” he asked.

“It’s a long story, and one that is better said in person. You have been asking me to come to Serenno for quite some time, I hope this isn’t a terrible time.”

“No, absolutely not,” he said with a smile. “It’s perfect timing, actually. I have a surprise for you.”

“A surprise?” you asked, shaking your head.

“Yes. But I’ll wait until you’re here.”

“Alright,” you said with a confused smile, “Lin?” you asked as it seemed he was about to sign off.

“Yes?”

“Can I ask you for another favor?”

“Of course, my lady,” he answered with a smile.

“Don’t tell anyone I’m coming. There is too much left unknown in this galaxy since the destruction of Hosnian Prime, and I don’t know who I can trust.”

“You can trust me and my word,” he said sincerely. “I won’t tell anyone you are coming.”

“Thank you.”

“I shall see you shortly, then?”

“Yes.”

“Fantastic.”

“Oh, and Lin? One more thing?”

“Yes?” he asked, his handsome smile never leaving his face.

“I may be coming with more people than just Nové.”

“Oh?”

“I’m bringing the remainder of the Resistance with me.” His eyes widened, but his smile never faltered.

“With an explanation, I hope?”

“In person, yes.” He laughed gently and nodded his head.

“Alright. I’ll see you soon. Be safe.”

He signed off, and with your bit of good news, you stood up to leave Nové . She was still trying to reach out to anyone on Naboo, even if her hope seemed to be shrinking by each failed outreach. You left her alone and went searching for Leia. At least, that’s where you told Nové you were heading, but you soon found yourself just outside of the cockpit.

“So, this is the legendary Millennium Falcon,” you said appreciatively, taking a step in. Poe looked back at you and smiled. He was sitting next to Chewbacca, co-piloting the Falcon, which had been a dream of his since he was a kid.

“Think you’ve got it from here?” Poe asked Chewie, standing up. The Wookie called a response, making Poe chuckle. You backed out of the cockpit and waited until you were both a few steps away before you looked at him.

“How are you feeling?” you asked.

“Good, considering I was knocked into a wall.”

“Twice,” you reminded him.

“Twice,” he agreed with a laugh.  

“You should get some rest. And you definitely need to get looked at again.”

“I don’t know, I think I look pretty good,” he said with a grin.

“You’d look better without the limp.”

“Help me out?” he asked carefully, nodding his head down the hall.

“I was supposed to go tell Leia that Serenno is awaiting our arrival,” you said, looking the other way.

“Then why’d you come here first?” he asked, taking your hand. You smiled and let him lead you down to a more private room down the hall.

“There’s got to be a first aid kit around here,” you said, beginning to open cabinets and rifle around as you both stepped inside.

“Y/N.”

“Hang on.”

“Y/N,” Poe called again, this time softer. You shut the cabinet you were searching in and turned to him. He was propped up on a bench, his bad leg extended. He had a soft look on his face, his eyes looking up at you pleadingly. “Come here.”

You walked to his outstretched hand and laced yours in his as you sat next to him, your pink dress spilling out onto the both of you. He chuckled as he pushed a lock of hair out of your face and smiled at you.

“Thank you for bringing me back to my senses,” he said, his voice deep and gentle.

“Back in the cave? That was—”

“Not just in the caves. I was beginning to lose my focus, the thing that kept me going. Being around you again,” he said, sighing with a smile, “I’m just really glad you came back when you did.” You smiled softly and looked down at his lips. He tugged on your hand, leading you to his mouth. You met in a gentle entwine. Poe put his hand in your hair, pulling you in closer just as you pushed him off. “What?” he asked.

“Take off your pants.” He raised an eyebrow at you, a smile growing on his face. “So I can check your leg,” you said with a smirk of your own. “I’m sure when you were stunned you opened up the cuts again.”

“I’m fine.”

“You’re not. Pants.” He sighed and awkwardly stood and stripped his pants off, moving gingerly around his injured leg. You tried to keep from staring, but it was impossible with him. You saw the end of his back tattoo, a large depiction of the Force tree that was planted in his childhood home’s backyard, and suddenly felt breathless.

“Happy?” he asked, sitting back down. You smiled and looked at the gauze wrapped around his knee and lower thigh. Blood was beginning to seep through it again, as you suspected.

“You should have got this checked out a long time ago.”

“Well, I’ve got you looking at it now,” he said with a smile. You rolled your eyes and carefully started to pull the bandage off of his skin. He grimaced as you pulled a little too strongly and grabbed hold of your wrist.

“Sorry,” you said, stopping your movement.

“It’s alright. Just distract me,” he said.

“How?”

“Tell me about this ally in Serenno.” You looked back down at his leg, not wanting to have this discussion.

“He’s a count. I don’t know him all that well.”

“And yet you trust him to keep our operation secret?” The bandage had come off, and now you could see the bloody burns and scrapes that Poe had sustained when the hangar on the cruiser blew up.

“Does it hurt?” you asked.

“It’s fine.” You frowned and quickly brushed his cheek as you stood up again. “Where are you going?”

“To get a first aid kit. There’s got to be one on this ship somewhere.” You didn’t take more than a few steps down the hallway before you found the basics needed to clean him up. When you came back in, you forgot for a moment that he was only in his boxers. You tried to fight the heat in your cheeks, but it was hopeless.

“What?” he asked with a smile.

“Nothing.” You sat down next to him and looked him in the eye. “This is going to sting.”

“I’ve handled much worse.” You frowned at him and turned back to his wound. You poured the liquid into his leg, and indeed, it did sting as he grabbed your arm tightly.

“Ow,” you complained. He smiled at you and soon relaxed as the medication started working. You reached for the new bandage, but he took your hand.

“If you’re going to do that, you have to answer my question.”

“Poe,” you tried, but he frowned at you. He wasn’t going to let it go. “Fine. If you must know, Count Lin Ral is trying to court me.”

“Oh,” Poe said angrily.

“It was arranged by Lord Broden.”

“I thought queens couldn’t marry.”

“They can’t,” you said, beginning to rebandage his leg, “Broden is only looking to the future.” Poe shook his head, looking anywhere but at you. “I don’t want to marry him, Poe.”

“Good.” You scoffed and finished wrapping his leg, cinching it too tightly at the end. He grimaced but didn’t reach for you that time. You stood up and made to move for the door until he called your name again.

“What?” you asked, looking back at him with a sigh.

“Don’t go.”

“I have to give him an answer soon.”

“What are you going to say?” he asked as you moved back to his side.

“I don’t know. My parents were pushing for it, of course,” you said, rolling your eyes as you sat down next to him, “But I don’t want to.”

“Is he nice?” he asked. You looked into his sad eyes and frowned.

“He is.”

“Handsome?”

“I’ve seen better,” you said with a smile.

“He is probably politically connected, too.”

“He is.”

“Sounds like the perfect candidate to become your husband.”

“He is.” Poe looked hurt and pursed his lips. “According to my parents, anyways. There’s just one thing that’s wrong with Lin Ral, that’s wrong with every other man.”

“What’s that?” he asked, looking back at you with wide eyes.

“They’re not you.” He smiled and took your hand in his again. “I don’t know what I’m going to do. That’s why I’ve been so reserved with you. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you before, I just couldn’t bear it.”

“I understand,” he said with a nod. He looked you over slowly as a smile spread across his face. “You could make it up to me by taking off your pants, too.” You smirked and rolled your eyes.

“Not here,” you said.

“Then let’s go find a bed.”

“That sounds like a great idea, you need to rest,” you said, standing up.

“Why don’t you help me rest,” he suggested, standing too, and awkwardly shrugging into his pants again.

“I can’t.” He wrapped his arm around your lower waist and pulled you into his chest. “I have to go check with Leia, remember?”

“Yeah, but what if—”

“Poe!” You both turned towards the door and saw Finn and Rey walk in. You pushed Poe off again and took a step back, making him roll his eyes.

“What’s up?” Poe asked.

“We just got a transmission from Jessika.”

“What?” you and Poe asked at the same time.

“A distress signal, for you,” Rey said. Poe looked over at you and frowned.

“I guess resting will have to wait. Go.” He nodded at you and gave your hand a quick squeeze.

“I’ll see you soon,” he said, the worry evident in his face as he slipped out of the room.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 

You delivered the news to Leia, reveling in the fact that she looked relieved for the first time in a very long while. She sent Connix away to confirm the news with Chewbacca, just as Poe walked in. He apologized for the intrusion to your meeting and took Leia away for a few minutes. You looked up at them hopefully when they returned.

“Commander Dameron will not be coming with us to Serenno,” Leia said, looking at you with a frown.

“What? Wait, Commander?” you added with a smile.

“Yes, as long as he doesn’t fuck it up this time,” Leia said with a smirk. “Black Squadron is in danger, and as Poe put it, they are the Resistance.”

“I agree completely, but how are you going to get there? You aren’t going to take the Falcon, are you?” you asked, looking to Poe.

“No, I’m going to borrow a ship.”

“From who?”

“Grakkus the Hutt.” Your eyes widened as you looked between the two of them. “A lot has changed, Y/N/N.”

“Clearly. How soon do you leave?”

“Now. BB-8 just informed me that my ship has arrived, and Black Squadron can’t wait.” You nodded and looked at him with wide eyes, before remembering that Leia was still in the room. She cleared her throat and made a sorry attempt at excusing herself, giving you and Poe a chance alone.

“I know there’s no point in trying to convince you not to go,” you said, standing up as the two of you walked to each other. “But I would really like to.”

“They need me,” he said, taking your hands in his.

“I know, but so do a lot of other people.”

“If you would just say you need me, I would stay,” he said with a smile.

“I don’t think that’s true,” you said quietly.

“No harm in trying it, though.”

“Save Black Squadron, and then come back, safe,” you said, squeezing his hand. “I need you.” He nodded his head and leaned in to kiss you.

“Be safe,” he said when he pulled away, resting his forehead against yours.

“I will.” Leia walked into the room a few moments later, breaking the two of you apart. Poe took a step back and left after you both wished him well. Leia took a seat once he was gone and beckoned for you to sit next to her.

“So, what’s going on with you two?” she asked plainly.

“Nothing,” you said with a smile.

“I don’t think that’s ever been true.”

“Well, nothing has changed.”

“You have,” she said. You smiled at her gently. “Are you ready for Serenno?”

“I think so.” She nodded her head.

“What are you going to tell Count Lin Ral?”

“The truth.”

“All of it?” she asked, cocking her eyebrow.

“We’ll see,” you said with a shrug.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 

“It’s bad, isn’t it?” Snap asked, standing with Poe after he had come to their rescue on Ikkrukk. “Whatever happened, I mean. Whatever you aren’t telling us yet.”

“Yeah, Snap,” Poe said with a frown, “It’s bad. I’ll tell you all the story, but not just yet. You almost died here, but you didn’t. In fact, you won. You deserve a chance to enjoy it.” Snap smiled back at him and touched his shoulder.

“So do you.”

“I don’t know about that,” Poe said, shaking his head. “You know, I’ve been thinking about all of this. Thinking about the fight.”

“Yeah?”

“I don’t think it’s about heroes. I used to. Got that idea burned right out of me. It’s not about the Jedi, or the best pilots in the galaxy winning against impossible odds. It’s not about saving the galaxy. It’s about saving your galaxy,” he said as Karé joined their group. “The one within your reach. You choose right over wrong. When it’s dark, you try to bring some light. You end your journey knowing you made things brighter. If everyone made that choice, well, I think everyone can. Maybe they just need to see how you do it. I think that’s the fight.” The rest of Black Squadron had gathered around him and he smiled back at them. 

“I really am so glad you’re all safe,” he said.

“You too, Poe,” Jessika said. 

“Now how about that drink? We’ve got a lot to discuss.”

“Oh, hell yes,” Snap said, leading the group. Poe made sure to catch up with Karé and pull her back from the group.

“What?” she asked.

“What happened on Ithor? I thought there was a general who wanted you to stay for a while.”

“Yeah, well it wasn’t just my flying he liked,” she said, giving him a knowing look. “I bailed after he revealed his real intentions. I’m afraid that means we won’t have their help, though.”

“No worries,” Poe said, shaking his head. “It’s better that you’re here. That we’re all here together.”

“So, that speech Y/N gave me,” she began with a smirk. “That was something else, wasn’t it?” Poe laughed and nodded his head.

“Yeah.”

“I’m guessing she’s part of that galaxy of yours you’re trying to protect.”

“Yeah, just like you,” he said, putting his arm around her shoulder. She wrapped hers around his waist and smiled at him.

“You’re different,” she said with a laugh.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Well, it’s not exactly different, it’s just a side of you I haven’t seen in a while.”

“And what side is that?” he asked, approaching the rest of the group.

“I don’t know. But definitely like the one I saw when you and Y/N were together,” she said. Suralinda handed him a drink, a peculiar look on her face, but Poe tried to ignore it. Once they all had glasses in their hands, Poe raised his first.

“To a great win, and many more to come. To Black Squadron!”

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 

You waited next to Leia as the drawbridge of the Millennium Falcon extended onto a nearly quiet base. You wrapped Poe’s jacket around you tighter as the cold air reached you. A thick cover of trees protected the Falcon from anyone’s line of vision. Even if they weren’t there, the hilly terrain of Serenno made it impossible to see anything more than twenty feet in front of you.

A mist covered light stood a few yards from you, with a tall man standing regally underneath it. You laughed to yourself at his hands behind his back, which was straight as ever.

“Lin,” you said as you approached. He took your hands in his and smiled cordially.

“Welcome to Serenno, Your Highness.”

“Thank you. May I introduce my close friend, L—”

“No introductions needed, General Organa,” he said, bowing softly. “Welcome to Serenno.”

“Thank you for accommodating us on such short notice,” Leia said.

“It was no problem. Anything for Y/N.” You smiled at him before quickly glancing at Leia. Being around Lin in front of her felt like cheating on Poe. “Please, come into the castle. We have food prepared and any medical assistance you might need. We weren’t sure what kind of condition you would arrive in. And don’t worry, my lady, I’ve only told the necessary people, and they’re all sworn to secrecy like myself.”

“I cannot thank you enough.”

“Nonsense. You have nothing to thank me for,” he said, offering you his arm. You smiled and took his arm, sparing a glance back to Leia. Behind her, the rest of the Resistance began to file off of the Millennium Falcon, just as ready to see what Lin had prepared as you were.

“I hope you’ll enjoy your stay as much as you can. I will wait for that explanation until later, but it seems like quite the story,” he said, looking back at the following group.

“It really is,” you said with a yawn.

“I know you must be eager to get some rest, but I cannot wait another moment to give you your surprise.”

“You really don’t have to do anything. You’ve done enough,” you said.

“This is a good one, though,” he said, finally leading you out of the dark tunnels that connected the isolated hangar to the castle. You entered into the warmly lit entertaining area. Your eyes traveled along the rich furniture and the warm fire, longing for a deep sleep anywhere in the room. As your eyes glanced around, they found the surprise Lin had for you. Two figures walked towards you, and for a moment, you had to convince yourself that it wasn’t a dream.

“Mom? Dad?”

[ax100]

Ax’s Promare headcanons - Post-World Blaze (pt3)

Hello, I’m back again with more headcanons! I had fun writing this part because I ended up having to consult with an intellectual property lawyer in my family about how patents and royalties work lmao. What’s crazy is that this is not the first time I’ve had to consult a specialist for fic (I previously consulted with a friend of mine who has a degree in political science and another friend who’s a university professor for this same fic that these headcanons are for). The more you know!

If you are not familiar with what is happening, I’ve been writing a series of posts trying to figure out a more specific timeline / sequence of events before canon events in Promare. An expansion of the literal FIRST FIVE MINUTES of the film, if you will (check the timestamps in the movie, I’m not even kidding). This is the fourth post in the series, and you can read the others here!

Pre-World Blaze

Post-World Blaze (Years 1-10)

Post-World Blaze (Years 11-20, Loosening Grudges)

And here’s the masterpost, for easier access: Ax’s Promare Headcanons (masterpost)

This post zooms in on Promepolis and the rise of Kray Foresight into power. I have a few notes here and there on my interpretation of the character peppered throughout to help you guys understand why I wrote this part the way I did.

Do note that this is just my personal interpretation of things and I am in no way saying that this is actually what happened! Anyway, I hope you enjoy!

HISTORICAL CONTEXT (POST-WORLD BLAZE: YEARS 21-PRESENT, PROMEPOLIS AND KRAY FORESIGHT)

The news of the renowned Dr. Prometh’s death shook the world. Murder. Gunshot, straight to the heart. No evidence had been left; even the CCTV footage had been wiped. To make it even worse, all the data banks of the lab had been purged too. Whatever the professor had been working on was lost to time; he’d been notoriously secretive about his work during his lifetime, and never shared his research with anyone. The culprit was never caught, but the widely-held belief was that it was Mad Burnish’s doing—who else would want the professor dead? The trail eventually went cold, and the case would remain unsolved for the decade to come.

It wasn’t long after Prometh’s death that a local news story gained traction in Promepolis, one of the numerous city-states that had cropped up after the Great World Blaze. A young man by the name of Kray Foresight had saved a young boy from a house fire, losing an arm in the process. What made the story even better was that Foresight was an undergraduate engineering student, working on anti-Burnish tech. The press ate the sweet irony up, and regurgitated the information till it was all Promepolitans could talk about. That Foresight was such a darling too, such a kind-hearted soul—when interviewed about his stance on the Burnish, he was of the opinion that, while they were dangerous, they were victims of circumstance. His research was on anti-Burnish tech, to protect humans from the threat of Burnish fire, but he wanted to find a cure for the Burnish condition too. And wasn’t that a more sustainable solution for everyone involved? The young ones his age celebrated him—this is the kind of face their movement needed (compassion over retribution)—while the older ones, those who hated the Burnish but were charmed by this promising young man, started to think a little more.

Moved by these sentiments and impressed by his research, private and public entities alike lined up to invest in his tech. Almost overnight, Kray Foresight had become a billionaire. His research grew by leaps and bounds with the new lifeblood of steady funds, more money than a college student knew what to do with. Many companies tried to recruit him into their labs; others tried to buy the research from him. But he was steadfast in his refusal. The patents would not go to a corporation; of that, he had been adamant. Instead, a year later, right after his graduation (which had been publicized), he founded the Foresight Foundation, which became the holding entity for the patents of a slew of anti-Burnish tech that would soon become standard issue in all police forces and Counter-Terrorism Units around the world. The royalties from his inventions ensured a steady and impressive flow of funds, big portions of which were generously donated to the Promepolis City Government to fund their projects, while the Foundation worked on setting up its own network of schools, clinics, and social support programs for the citizens of Promepolis. All throughout this, the press kept reminding the public of what he had done in the past—the young man who had saved a boy from a fire, losing his arm in the process, was actively making the world a better place. He was poised for great things, and all eyes were on him for what he’d do next. They didn’t need to wait long. Only a little less than two years after the Foundation’s founding, Foresight made an unprecedented statement: he was going to run as Governor in the upcoming city elections.

There were concerns on Foresight’s intentions to run as Governor—one, he hadn’t served in public office previously, though he did have experience running a large foundation with a wide reach, which had also worked with the City Government closely in the past; and two, he was so damn young. His platform came heavily tinged with wide-eyed idealism, reflective of the new wave of thinking characteristic of the younger generation—“We in Promepolis protect our own, Burnish and human alike. The world has moved past the need for grudges; we must let go of the past and think of the future. At this point, we must strive, more than ever, to maintain peace,” he’d said in a campaign rally. No Promepolitan left behind was his battle cry; Burnish needed help, not anymore punishment, and he promised the establishment of a Burnish rehabilitation program, the first of the world would ever see. To all the Burnish in Promepolis, he’d promised, don’t worry, we’ll make sure you never hurt anyone ever again. And of Mad Burnish, which had largely lost its influence but still remained a thorn in everyone’s side, he promised that they would see their end during his term as Governor.

It made international news when Kray Foresight won as Governor of Promepolis by a landslide; even other city-states had a stake in it, after all. Promepolis was the first to establish a Burnish rehabilitation program in partnership with the Foresight Foundation, with many of the forward-thinking city-states investing huge amounts of money into the program as well. If proven to be a success, if the Foundation could really find a way to rid the world of the Burnish problem once and for all, they were all too happy to throw their money into the project.

(As viewers, ofc we all know this is a front. If Kray had the Parnassus Project in mind since the start, I don’t believe it would have been in his best interest to drive all the Burnish out of the city. So he pushed for a narrative that yes, the Burnish condition does make you violent and a threat to those around you, but we in Promepolis protect our own. We will help you, we will cure you. Many people voluntarily entered themselves or their family members into the program, even though Foresight said it could take years before they would be able to be released. This was fine, as long as they didn’t hurt anyone again. Many of them died, the lucky ones were busted out by Mad Burnish.)

(Any Burnish caught not submitting themselves to the rehabilitation program would be arrested on grounds of being a threat to public safety, and immediately put into the program. Those found complicit in the act of hiding the Burnish would also be arrested and subjected to appropriate jail time or conscripted community service.)

(The money that was being invested in the rehabilitation program was being used to fund the Parnassus, alongside the crazy big money the Foresight Foundation was making off the patents for anti-Burnish tech. The Financial Director of the Foresight Foundation was also the Administrator of the Department of Commerce, Industry, and Trade at the time—more on this in another post)

Kray Foresight was a firebrand of a politician. Promepolis’ Governors before him had largely been passive, but Foresight was a visionary. Though they had been few, being the darling of Promepolis and all, Foresight had shut the naysayers up quite swiftly. He not only proved to be competent in the role, but extraordinary, open to change and innovation in a way the previous Governors had not. With him and his appointed Council of Administrators, Promepolis began to change, developing in a way it could only hope to achieve previously. People attributed it to his age—maybe injecting youth into the politics of this city had been the right decision after all—and he proved to be popular with his constituents again and again, across all demographics. He would remain in his position for the better part of a decade, winning another term before his fall from grace. At his prime, he was seen as benevolent and compassionate, but capable of making hard decisions all the same.

(By the Second Great World Blaze, Kray would have been Governor of Promepolis for 7-8 years already.)

I personally headcanon Kray as someone who pulled the wool over everyone’s eyes. Competent people who are also nice enjoy an almost privileged position in with the general public, and I think he would have capitalized on that. Which means that, in a world where the Burnish are demonized, he would have used it to his advantage by playing the nice guy. Even to the people funding the Parnassus Project, I think he would have kept up that front-- “It is unfortunate, but we have no choice but to do this,” even if inwardly he was just. Really fuckin racist haha. A saint till the end, that Kray Foresight. Or so he would have wanted people to believe. (Support for this: it is apparently so far removed from his public image that he would do bad things to the Burnish that Galo’s immediate reaction to Lio telling him the truth was, “That’s a lie, the Governor would never do that.”)

Anyway, thanks for reading until the end of this post!

(Btw, I have an AO3 account! All these headcanons are going to be put to good use, eventually, in a fic, but I hope you check out what I have so far!)

NEXT UP: ???

[kemonododo]

Decided to rewatch the whole series after seeing the finale, here's my thoughts as they come along part 3

There was an old He-man reboot that was cancelled after two seasons, season 3 was being set up as the horde conquering Eternia with He-man and his kingdom being forced into hiding as rebels. Apparently She-Ra would also appear, though knowing that show she'd be lucky to be 1/4th as interesting or engaging as our Adora. I'm saying this because, even though that cartoon was cancelled before it could finish it's story, we were lucky enough to see ours to it's end and in a way that story they wanted to tell exists here with us now. Plus I always disliked that they called themselves "The Rebellion" when they weren't really rebelling against anything, but they are now!

Poor Adora, even after all this time she still has that hero complex eating away at her, telling her she's useless unless she's serving others.

Entrapta's ramblings about space this season are very relatable.

Catra's face when she sees Glimmer be manipulated, you can see so much behind her eyes. Fear for her standing, flashbacks to her own manipulation, shock at how unprepared Glimmer is for this. Love how Horde Prime sees right through her afterwards, she has no power over him.

Poor Entrapta, she hasn't been with the other princesses since season 1, they're opinion of her has been soured by her betrayal and appearance to not care. We know she loves her friends and is trying her best, but the wound is still sore.

Horde Prime using Glimmer's dad as a bargaining chip is extra horrible when you remember that this is when she discovers he's alive.

It's great that the show takes a moment to allow Adora to come to grips with no longer having a clear destiny she can follow. She's so used to being told what to do, this is the first time she's truly making her own decisions. Agency that Shadow Weaver begins to take away from her later.

I love Catra's internal struggles in these first few episodes. She's trying to do what she's been doing, working her way up the ladder, but she can't. Not anymore. Her heart isn't in it, she knows this isn't what she wants, she's just going through the motions. Spending time with Glimmer is the only thing she enjoys, she finally slows down for a moment to just enjoy someone's company and really bond. Her turn to good isn't a 180, we see her mind working and how she comes to the decision of sacrificing herself. Seeing that Horde Prime is a complete psychopath helped of course.

I love how Horde Prime's ship has star themed beds.

I don't know how they did it, but they made Hordak recognizable among the other clones. It's like twins, once you get to know them the difference is obvious. You can look at a clone and see he's Hordak, yet he looks identical to the others. It's remarkable.

These flashbacks Catra has, wandering the empty corridors that her decisions have left her in, it's a testimony to how far she's come that they don't reaffirm Adora's betrayal to her anymore. She wants to absolve herself of her sins, and she decides a sacrifice is the best way. She wants to go out on one good grace, redemption by death, but that action and her apology is what makes Adora sure she still has good in her. Catra has shown she is willing to be good, and that alone is enough for Adora to give her another chance.

This is the first time the best friend squad has been together since Glimmer pulled the queen card, a lot of the wounds are still fresh. I definitely think this is the point Bow and her truly realize they love each other, they probably had a schoolyard crush but the realization of where they are without each other and how much they mean to each other, something really deep sparked here.

The Star Siblings are here to show what life under Prime is like, but also as a quick show of the Rebellion's message expanding. That's a little underdeveloped though, which is mostly a product of time.

Adora's little "she's not my friend" bit is adorable but a bit out of place imo, Adora hasn't really been this outwardly lovestruck over Catra before, and while Adora has decided to give her another chance I don't think that reignition of love would have happened yet.

The thought that Entrapta went out to find that LUVD crystal to bring with her in the slightest hope she would find Hordak and that he would recognize it. Plus the noises she makes and the fact she immediately adopts Wrong Hordak and that we get to see her without her mask, ah she is so cute!

Hive Mind Catra is terrifying and tragic, it feels so violating. He talks about how she wanted Adora to save her, how afraid she was when she was assimilated. We see that numbness and how it would seem appealing to her, but under the cracks Catra is still suffering, and Adora promises to bring her back, tells her how much she cares about her, transforms into She-Ra to save her. And finally, they are together again.

I love Adora constantly checking on Catra, this is the first time in years she has been with her, she just wants to be with her. Catra starts falling back into her old ways though, that anger still persistent, and Adora's honeymoon phase is over already and for a second we're all afraid nothing has changed. You can see Catra doesn't want to make that mistake again, and she finally lets Adora help her, and likewise Adora finally steps back and lets Catra help her too. They've both grown so much, and that growth is what allows their relationship to blossom.

It's great that Spinnerella and Netossa get their time to shine this season. Their arc here parallels Catra and Adora's earlier, and I would say it's unfortunate they have to go through this, but I love the angst.

Double Trouble! Back for a five minute appearance where they admittedly don't do much, but hey they're fun to watch and have some great lines so it's worth it.

Catra in a healthy relationship, with friends that don't fear her and people she sees as equals. People she can just joke around with and be teased by. You love to see it.

Melog is a pretty important addition, as he gives Catra someone that she can fully trust without the baggage from before. He's literally her therapy support pet, and he's the one that stops her from running away again.

Shadow Weaver's little speech here is great, she's been told that the First One's made the magic stronger when they did the exact opposite. It's a commentary on colonialism, "we brought you civilization, our conquest was good actually" is a very common lie.

Catra holding Adora's hand, Glitra kiss, Best Friend Squad hug, Catra's smirk when Adora says she's right. You love to see it.

I love how Noelle made a self-insert character and also decided she should be evil. "So the only person I'm fighting here is... My own wife" is a mega ouch.

I love Wrong Hordak so much, he not only shows how the Horde Clones are just regular people without the influence of Prime but he is also ridiculously cute.

Did I mention how much I love the new She-Ra look? I liked the old one but damn this blows it out of the park.

I will admit the Heart having a failsafe a d Mara having a rebellion of her own is a bit out of nowhere, but it was a nice reveal of the origin of Grayskull.

I'm a huge sucker for friendship saving the day messages I admit. Not the rainbow lazer kind, but that love and kindness reaching through Prime's control is beautiful. Plus it's wonderful for Catra to see what real friendship is like.

This is a great little moment with Castaspella and Glimmer, this is the first time they've seen Micah since his death.

I love Shadow Weaver so much, she sees Adora and immediately shifts into child manipulation mode. This is the first time I'm actually getting pissed at her though, obviously because she's starting to drive her chisel between Catradora but also because she's reversing all the development Adora has had up until this point.

Hordak: "Go, then maybe these memories and imperfections will leave me " Entrapta: "Remember, your imperfections are beautiful!" The fuck I'm crying in the club again.

I love this Catradora moment, "what do you want Adora" "I have to do this". Obviously their relationship isn't going to be easy after all these years, and both these girl's flaws and insecurities are flaring up again and driving each other apart.

Adora tells off Shadow Weaver for good, she ruins people. This is a huge moment for this character, SW has convinced herself she is the good guy and that she is making the necessary actions to save the world, but this is the one moment she really looks back at herself.

"Adora chose Shadow Weaver, not me. Adora doesn't want me, not like I want her" oof ouch my soul. That with Adora's memories, it's clear they can't just go back to the way it was anymore. They're love is too important to them now.

My headcanon is that Shadow Weaver is drunk here. She's slurring, she's drinking, her daughter is going to sacrifice herself. Maybe her decision to die was one she made totally wasted lol.

Catra promised Adora she'd look out for her, and the soft version of the promise song in the background. Ow ow ow ow my heart.

Glimbow canon!

Mara is here, telling Adora the same thing Razz told her in the 3rd episode of the entire show. Stop looking for what other people tell you to do, you have a choice.

Spinnetossa, Seamista, Entrapdak. It's cliche, but love conquers all is a message I'll never tire from.

I started tearing up with the Glimmer Micah fight, and full on sobbing when Angella appeared. Something that didn't really stop.

I was mixed on SW's sacrifice, but I think it works. Each of them were trying to take the selfish way out, to die for the ones they love. So it's fitting that SW is the one that does it.

Fuck yeah Hordak! What a monumentous but short lived moment.

CATRADORA!!! God, the confession, how Catra whispers it but how Adora hears it as a scream, how it wasn't Catra that made Adora weak but infact the exact opposite, how they're both so surprised and relieved that these feelings they've felt for years are real and strong and true and reciprocated. It's the best conclusion possible for them and it makes me cry so much.

This beautiful moment, where Adora saves Hordak, the ultimate repayal for him saving her all those years ago. He remembers her. Fuck I'm sobbing again.

Scorpia sees Catra again after leaving her, and of course she hugs her.

And it's over. The best show ever made. Netflix automatically resets your watch history and here I am looking at the button to play Season 1 Episode 1 again. This 1 and a half year journey feels like a millenia, it feels so long ago that Adora first picked up that sword. This is a show I will cherish forever, I can see myself binge watching in the retirement home already.

[cyberneticfire]

Fandom: Transformers Prime

Characters: Soundwave, OC - Quickshot, Ravage

Warnings: Torture, drugging

This is partially an AU based off of a roleplay I was part of and so Soundwave may seem pretty ooc. This takes place on cybertron before the war and before the revolution. In my au/headcanon Soundwave is a teenager (around the human equivalent of 17 almost 18) and ran away from his house as a result of his jerk of a Sire. He shows his emotions much more considering most of the life-changing things in his life happen in the Pits of Kaon and the war. His Carrier passed years before this story takes place. He only has Ravage at this point and hasn’t found or lost any of his other cassettes. Soundwave is a telepath, he uses his cables to refuel, and his voice box is messed up so his voice glitches often. Quickshot is insane, sadistic, and obssessed with collecting ‘oddities’ such as Soundwave. (His frame and build are fairly unusual for cybertronians in my au) His seeker ability is enhanced speed (like how Skywarp can teleport).

~~~~~

Soundwave really didn’t ever think he’d be finding himself sitting alone in the corner of a shady bar at 17 but, well, his function was just full of surprises wasn’t it? He hadn’t ordered any high-grade - not that he could’ve afforded the stuff - and he certainly didn’t want any. He barely had enough credits for the regular cube of energon he was currently nursing.

Ravage wasn’t allowed in and so had to find a way to occupy himself outside, but that was fine. Soundwave had barely made it in, his visor being the only reason they didn’t immediately throw him out for being a minor. They couldn’t tell. Either way, Ravage could take care of himself. Soundwave was only planning to stay long enough to not draw suspicion anyways.

He ducked his helm slightly snaking up a cable to sip at the fuel. He supposed he would be an unusual sight either way, but one never could be too careful….and there was no way he was expanding his range in a place like this. The stench of high-grade was bad enough; if he had to deal with the overcharged thoughts that came with it…

He shuddered at the thought, pitiful as it was.

The regular energon was enough to keep those negative thoughts at bay. It was heavenly compared to some other types he’d refueled with; a bit sweeter than he remembered, but he drank it slowly, ensuring he left some for Ravage. The cybercat deserved it for sticking it through this rough time.

Leaving about half of the cube full, Soundwave deemed it a good time to make a hasty exit. He subspaced the rest of the energon and made to stand.

He was not ready for the dizziness that assaulted him, forcing him to plant his servos against the table or else crash heavily to the floor.

He hissed out a slow vent. Normally he’d write this off as him standing up too fast or…possibly an insufficient amount of fuel making him nauseous, but the more he thought about it, the more something seemed…off.

Soundwave quickly decided he didn’t want to be here any longer. He was ready to leave and find Ravage and he wasn’t dealing with this right now.

Turning slowly, to keep his pedes under him he started walking towards the exit. A heavy feeling was starting to overtake his limbs and his sparkrate spiked as he staggered to the door. Nope. This wasn’t happening. This was NOT happening. Not right now, not when he wasn’t anywhere near Ravage, not when he was so close to-

Soundwave lurched out the door, desperate to put as much distance between himself and the bar as he could manage - he must’ve been drugged; how stupid was he not to check his fraggin’ drink?! - and to top it all off his legs just weren’t working right, his processor was getting foggier by the cycle, and he needed to get to Ravage! Where was Ravage-

His digits gripped uselessly at the wall and when he stumbled this time, there was no resistance as he collapsed.

Black pixels swarmed the edge of his vision as he struggled to push himself back up. He let out a weak gasp at the utter numbness tingling throughout his limbs; the churning in his tanks as his systems rejected whatever drug had been forced into him. Soundwave was suddenly grateful that he hadn’t drunken the whole thing.

Oh Primus, if Ravage were here he would’ve drunk some too. Or…maybe he wouldn’t have. Maybe he would’ve been smart enough to check it…and warn Soundwave while he was at it. He groaned into the ground. Stupid.

His tanks felt utterly ravaged - ha - and he couldn’t do a thing about it. After a moment of trying to focus, he was finally able to lift his helm and his intakes nearly stopped as pedes started into his line of vision. His helm was pounding and he almost didn’t hear them coming, which was terrifying enough in itself, but no matter how hard he tried his frame wouldn’t obey his commands to move.

The vague blurs of black shifted repeatedly in and out of his vision and he thought he heard them speaking but his processor was too addled to grasp any meanings. His digits dug mercilessly into the ground and he almost flinched back as one of them crouched down, exposing a silver faceplate.

The strange mech smirked and his mouth was moving but Soundwave couldn’t make any of it out past the energon rushing through his audials. They reached forward, servo roughly grasping the side of his helm and tilting it up, optics peering curiously at his visor. Soundwave forced out a snarl, making his displeasure known even though his spark was beating erratically in its casing.

The hold on his helm released abruptly and he saw the figure frown in confusion and look at someone he couldn’t see. He said something unintelligible and Soundwave barely had time to drag in another intake before there was a sickening crunch and pain exploded in the back of his helm.

The darkness closed in and his consciousness fled soon after.

~~~

Soundwave groaned as his systems booted sluggishly back online and he was rapidly beginning to wish he were still unconscious. His helm felt like it was going to split open. A hot, sticky liquid trickled down the back of his neck and fell to the floor in a steady drip drip drip that he was sure he wouldn’t forget anytime soon…

…Scrap. He wasn’t on the ground anymore. Awareness promptly crammed it’s way back into his aching processor and he realized he could feel his limbs and move them again.

Well…move was a bit of an exaggeration. He flexed his servos experimentally and failed to hide the hitch in his intakes at the fact that his arms were tied with chains to the chair he’d been forced into. There were no stasis-cuffs so police obviously weren’t involved, but he didn’t know if that was better or worse. Either way, someone had still taken him and he had no clue as to who or why.

His legs were tied to the chair as well, leaving him in a slightly hunched over position that was beginning to make his spinal struts ache. Looking around slowly through the dimness of the room he stuffed his panic down and forced himself to intake normally. Whoever his captors were, they didn’t seem to be showing themselves just yet. They were sneaky enough to slip something in his energon, implying that they’ve probably done this before…

He definitely didn’t want to be here when they came back. Soundwave strained against the bindings as hard as he could, twisting about and trying to loosen them in any way but by the time he was panting and slumping back into the chair he hadn’t done more than make his arms sore. Perfect.

Soundwave was keying himself up to try again when a door behind him creaked open. His frame went rigid as the even clicks of a mech’s heels began to approach from behind. Light, clawed servos found themselves upon Soundwave’s shoulders and he jerked forward, a snarl ripping away on instinct. It was cut off almost immediately with a sharp intake as one of the servos grabbed at the back of his helm, undeterred by the stickiness, and pressed hard enough to make his thoughts cloud with pain. This effectively silenced him as the matching voice spoke up.

“Nice to see you awake,” he started, voice light as if Soundwave hadn’t just snarled at him and as if this weren’t a hostage situation, “we were beginning to think we’d overdone it…that was a pretty nasty hit you took.” He curled his digits into said wounded area drawing another pained hiss for emphasis.

The offending servos moved away and Soundwave slumped back as the throbbing abated but he twisted his helm around, struggling to get a glimpse of the new mech. This wasn’t good.

The clicking echoed throughout the room and Soundwave strained to see the mech, jolting in surprise as he popped up a mere inches away from his visor from the darkness. Neither moved for a long cycle and Soundwave hardly vented as he took in this…unusual mech.

He had wide blue optics - one of which had an old looking scar tearing through it to Soundwave’s horror - that hardly blinked and a lithe black and yellow frame that seemed to be more suited for speed rather than strength. What he lacked in physical power he certainly seemed to make up for in height as he would be towering over Soundwave even if he weren’t stuck sitting down. The mech’s servos were pressed against the arms of the chair and his digits were sharpened to points that looked like they could disembowel a mech. He gave a little shudder and tried not to think too hard about that. He was the most shocked to find movement behind the mech’s back and he tilted his helm in the slightest to find a pair of wings.

What was a seeker doing all the way down here?

Soundwave leaned back slightly, not liking this close proximity, and flinched in surprise as a servo grabbed his visor and pulled him forward again. The servo encompassed almost his entire screen and the claws dug eagerly into the sides of his helm as he tried to jerk backwards, intakes stalling as he wasn’t allowed to. The servo must’ve been the one used to grab him earlier because he felt the energon slick against his screen and his tanks turned over violently.

“Now now, there’s no need for that,” he chided, baring a mouth full of sharp denta and seeming to enjoy watching Soundwave make himself sick. “I noticed you admiring my wings…” he flared them out behind his back, never once taking his optics away from Soundwave’s visor, “and I do suppose you’re wondering what a seeker like myself is doing so far away from home?” He paused as if actually considering answering the spot on question before he shook his helm and dismissed it. “Never mind that, it isn’t important…What I will tell you is that I am Quickshot. You would do well to remember that.”

Quickshot’s other servo tapped methodically against the chair and Soundwave couldn’t help but tremble slightly in fear because, frag this mech was insane. He radiated a wrongness that Soundwave had never felt before and it was just hitting him now how badly this could end. He desperately didn’t want this to be happening to him. He would not let himself be killed by the whim of some psychopathic mech…

“Wha-at d-do-o y-you wa-ant fro-om me..?” Frag it all. Soundwave had meant for the question to come out serious and stoic but his vocalizer apparently had other plans, shaking throughout the whole thing. He sounded pathetic.

Quickshot appeared utterly delighted for a moment and Soundwave recoiled as soon as his visor was released, chassis expanding faster now because he didn’t know why he was being looked at like that so intently.

“So you can talk!” Quickshot purred, bringing his servos together before his own chassis in his excitement. He bared his pointed denta in a mockery of a smile that couldn’t hide the predatory look in his optics.

Soundwave stiffened at the derogatory remark, offense and shame burning within him.

“O-of c-course I-I c-can ta-alk!” Soundwave snapped before he could think too hard about it, “wha-at do y-you thi-ink I-I-!” He cut off with a noise of pain as Quickshot promptly backhanded him. He shut up immediately, vision blurred by the energon smeared across his screen and helm throbbing again as he glared in disbelief, shrinking away from the mech as best as he could.

Quickshot continued to peer at him with a fascination that made Soundwave feel like he was under a microscope, even as he rubbed at the servo he used to strike him, idly flexing his claws. “So you can talk and you’re mouthy. Duly noted,” he hummed uninterested in the bound mech’s feelings whatsoever and then smirked at his first question, “Do I need to want something from you? I’d say you’re giving me what I want just fine.” Quickshot started pacing a circle around him and Soundwave’s sparkrate skyrocketed as he tried in vain to keep him in sight. He kept talking all the while, entirely aware of Soundwave’s internal panic.

“I was just looking for some poor hapless grounder to take my frustrations out on, what with all grounders being much the same. Brutish and utterly incompetent.” This was the first unsatisfied tone he’d heard from Quickshot yet and it was making his plating crawl. The mech continued heedlessly, “Of course you seem much too scrappy to be a grounder. Your arms are better suited to flying but you seemed to be the easiest to grab.” He chuckled under his breath, “I mean seriously, it was almost too easy….only half of the cube had you on the ground in cycles. I’ll admit I didn’t expect you to be conscious when we’d finally caught up with you, however, I can’t say I am disappointed. That just means you have a higher constitution and trust me you’re going to need that here.”

Soundwave was shaking visibly now and it took quite a bit of willpower to stutter out his terrified question.

“Whe-ere a-are th-the o-othe-ers…?”

“They decided to leave you to me,” the drawl came from right beside Soundwave’s helm making him flinch away violently at the volume and earning a laugh from Quickshot as he struggled to catch his breath. “I find you quite fascinating…I thought you a drone at first but you’re obviously shaking and that means you’re scared and, in fact, capable of emotions.” He chirped, ticking off the notes on his digits. He took a moment to stroll around Soundwave again, flicking his wings higher. He stopped in front of the bound mech and hardly blinked before curling his servo and ramming the fist into his unprotected abdomen, seeming pleased when he earned a staticky cry. “And entirely capable of pain,” he finished his demeaning description with a honeyed tone.

Soundwave tried and failed to curl around his stomach, groaning quietly at the pain blossoming there and mentally revising his previous assessment of the mech. He threw a mean punch…

Soundwave shivered violently, leaning away from the deranged mech and gasping out once he’d caught his breath, “y-y-you’re i-insa-ane..!” There was no reason for him to be here! He was here because some twisted mech seemed to enjoy making other bots suffer. Soundwave really would’ve loved any kind of help right about now but a sinking feeling in his spark helpfully let him know that he was alone in this.

“Now, that is a horrible accusation and I can assure you that I am entirely sane.” He punctuated his questionable statement by grabbing the side of Soundwave’s helm and digging his claws in, eliciting a pained intake followed by rapid venting. There was energon trickling down the side of his helm now too and he suppressed a whine as his helm was forcefully tilted back, putting more pressure on his neck.

Quickshot hummed lowly, bringing up his other servo and just letting it hover near his screen for a moment. Soundwave was trying in vain to pull away as the other servo crept closer and he thought he should say something but his processor went terrifyingly blank.

“Insulting me won’t do you any good…Trust me,” he grinned, “my feelings are far from hurt.” Quickshot pressed the tip of his clawed digit into Soundwave’s visor, pleased when the action made him freeze. He probably could press hard enough to crack the screen if he really wanted to…He settled for dragging the tip across the visor instead, light enough not to leave a mark, but hard enough to make the threat clear.

That does it. Soundwave’s intakes shook and he stared nervously as Quickshot continued to look him over critically, wings twitching in thought. He didn’t wait any longer, lashing out violently with both of his cables now that he was close enough. One slammed into Quickshot’s faceplate, knocking him back and the other latched onto his chassis. Soundwave sent as much energy as he could spare into the electrical charge and was able to send the mech dropping to the floor with a shriek.

He immediately got to work reeling his cables in and tearing at the chains around his arms. He probably didn’t have much time before….

He glanced up. Quickshot was gone.

How the frag-

He twisted and managed to wrench an arm free. He barely threw it up in time to catch the claws that were arching down towards his chassis. He stared in mute horror at this mech that was moving impossibly fast. There was no way he’d recovered that quickly and- Soundwave lost track of him again. He panicked as he tore at the remaining restraints with his free servo, energon dribbling from the new scratches in his forearm.

“Going somewhere?” Quickshot’s voice droned from somewhere behind him and then claws were digging into his back, tearing down before he could react and Soundwave screeched. Rivulets of energon were rolling down the back of his chassis and he slashed his arms in Quickshot’s general direction but he was already gone again.

He fumbled with the other set of restraints pinning his legs and with another tug, was finally able to undo them. Soundwave lurched to his feet, ready to make an escape but Quickshot was suddenly there, expression surprisingly devoid of anger while energon dripped from his servos, bright and luminous as it coated the floor.

He cocked his helm to one side, optics gleaming with a new curiosity, “Well you are an unusual one aren’t you?” Soundwave shuffled back a step shaking his helm, almost tripping over the chair again in his haste to get away. Primus he was getting tired already…his entire frame burned with a vengeance from the various cuts and he was having trouble keeping his legs from buckling under his weight.

He focused again and, as expected at this point, Quickshot was no longer in front of him. Soundwave decided to take his chances, staggering into a run towards the nearest door he could see. He made it about halfway there, spark pounding in his chassis, before something was jammed into his neck.

“Tsk. I thought you were smarter than this.”

Soundwave couldn’t even compose a response before white-hot fire was tearing through every circuit and wire, sending him to his knees and cutting out any attempts to speak or intake and it hurt but his throat wouldn’t let him force out anything more than a low keen and his frame arched against his will before everything just stopped. He crumpled to the floor, gulping in intakes desperately and shaking harder than before.

“Really, I never said you could leave. Unfortunately you’re not quite as smart as I would’ve hoped but no matter…” Quickshot’s airy voice addressed him from somewhere to his left through the painful haze that was slowly beginning to fade. “I’m more interested in what you are because you are unlike any cybertronian I’ve ever seen.” He was acting as though this were a casual conversation and as though Soundwave wasn’t twitching and struggling just to vent regularly a few feet away.

Soundwave’s vocalizer spit out static before he could choke out a spiteful curse as he tried to get his servos under himself. Quickshot just grabbed the back of his helm again, forcing his visor back into the ground relentlessly, and continued without acknowledging the pointed curse or struggles, “Some might call you unique. Rare. One-of-a-kind.”

He paused and Soundwave couldn’t see what he was doing, so he took the time to shift his arms slowly under himself, leaving some room between his chestplate and the floor. Intakes rattled painfully out of his chassis and the floor was becoming a rather nauseating blue with his own energon but he wasn’t out yet…

Quickshot, seemingly uninterested in his shifting, kept going, “I, on the other hand would be blunt, and call you what you are. An anomaly. Freakish.”

Something twisted painfully in Soundwave’s tanks at the lack of malice in the mech’s voice. Quickshot wasn’t insulting him; he was just stating what he thought to be facts. And he said it in such a way that made him shudder at what seemed to be undertones of admiration in his voice.

He had one more shot. He was going to get out of here if it offlined him - and hopefully it wouldn’t. One of his cables crept out into the space he’d left and the tips clamped together, spinning with a low whir. Soundwave didn’t give the mech time to say anything else before the tendril shot out, drill-tip hitting where he assumed one of the mech’s wings to be. From the shrill wail and the servo jerking away from his helm, he assumed he’d hit the mark.

There was a crackling sound and another howl of pain from Quickshot as Soundwave rolled onto his back, wincing when the newly identified energon prod dug into the ground where he used to be. His cable was still in the seeker’s wing and Soundwave took a klik to jerk it out, drawing out another cry, and forcing himself up and to his knees. He lunged at the other mech, knocking the prod out of his hold and him roughly to the floor.

Quickshot stared at him with wide optics as energon gushed from his wing, looking almost genuinely surprised before he let out a high, crazed laugh tinged with pain that made Soundwave cringe.

“Y-You think this is it?! You won’t get away for l-long! My friends will be coming back shortly a-and when they do w-we’ll find you! You’ll pay for trying to leave!“ He cackled towards the end. His wings twitched erratically, pinned under his frame as he devolved into a quieter fit of wounded giggles and Soundwave found he couldn’t feel anything but contempt for the mech.

The only response he gave was a grim, “No-o y-you w-wo-on’t!” before he pulled his servo back, knocking Quickshot out cold with one hit.

He scrambled away from him a klik later, panting as the adrenaline started to wear off. He didn’t think he’d be able to offline a mech no matter how insane and so he didn’t try. He didn’t need to give the police another reason to come after him and he would be long gone before Quickshot came to. It was high time he and Ravage left this area anyways.

Ravage.

Soundwave forced himself to his pedes, steps unsteady as he staggered to the nearest wall. He was starting to feel light-helmed but he didn’t think he’d go unconscious just yet. Energon still leaked sluggishly from his back and the multiple scratches that cut deeper than his armor. His frame felt battered to the Pits and back and his helm felt like it might still explode but…he was online. He could be thankful for that.

He shakily made his way to the door, pleased to find it unlockable, and he was stepping outside when he paused. He rooted around in his subspace for a moment, pulling out the half-filled energon cube. He tossed it over his shoulder without hesitation. He certainly wouldn’t be needing that later.

Now ready to go, Soundwave stumbled forward at a faster pace, frantic to find his cybercat and leave with him. His gaze darted to every corner and he flinched at each shadow that seemed to move. It took several cycles of him walking pressed against walls before he heard a familiar voice from behind, calling out to him in a mixture of pure ecstasy and worry that finally loosened the knot in his chassis and let him vent in relief.

“Soundwave! I’ve been looking for you everywhere!”

Soundwave slowly turned to face Ravage as the cybercat ran forward to meet him. He took a step towards him before his legs buckled, sending him to his knees. He took in a sharp intake but immediately pulled Ravage into his arms when he was close enough, cutting off any concerned questions or comments and just clutching onto him with a renewed desperation. He did not want to get separated again.

Soundwave would explain everything in a moment, but for now, he was content to let Ravage nuzzle worriedly into his chassis and just hold him close.

They could stay like this for a klik, then they would leave. Soundwave was ready to put as much space between himself and this place as possible.

[telesthisia]

(No reblogs! Make a new post please!)

|| The Basics ||

Name: Zelda of Hyrule Nickname(s): Zel, Zellie, Elle, Ellie Age: 19 Species: Human or well Hylian 

|| Personal ||

Religious Belief: The three golden goddess + Hylia but... she’s known as the forgotten goddess in her timeline since certain legends faded away from the public’s knowledge but not at all the royal family’s. Sins: Lust / Greed / Gluttony / Sloth / Pride / Envy / Wrath Virtues: Chastity / Charity / Diligence / Humility / Kindness / Patience /Justice Primary Goals In Life:  To create a brighter future for her people for generations on end, leading to the eventually famed Golden Age before the Hero of Time’s downfall... though Hyrule has recovered once she’s born there are still remnants of ruin from that era as such she wants to protect her people as well as make Hyrule safer, while she doesn’t do it within her lifetime because limited lifespan her dream does still come true years later aka LOZ and LOZ 2 don’t be fooled by the plot, Hyrule was in its prime during those games!  Languages Known:  Hylian Secrets: Well... it’s no secret among her staff but outside the castle, she keeps her poor health (heart condition and undiagnosed rare anemia problem) and near lack of magical stamina a secret since that can put her at a pretty bad disadvantage. She has plenty of enemies, namely those who align themselves with Ganon and the resurrection of him is still possible provided the person is a powerful mage with knowledge of doing that sort of stuff in the first place. And then there’s also court drama she has to worry about but that’s for another long lengthy headcanon post I should have out... soon... ish. Also while obvious with partners and in a meta sense and if you’re super observant but her guise Elle is, in fact, her, the princess of Hyrule so... ye...  Quirks: Her birthmark of the Triforce is... certainly unique. But if we’re talking mannerism rather than physical then allow me to just ramble because hoo boy! When nervous or worked up, she often tucks her stray hairs behind her ears, even when she’s not feeling those emotions she’s always fiddling around with it (in her royal wear) often flipping it out of her face or trying to make it look a little neater. She has the Pendant of Courage, a gift from Link and often clutches on it when she feels the need to summon her courage if she’s feeling not that brave, often trying to recall Link’s courage during his many adventures. When using any of her PSI powers she tends to have a nose bleed, as such, she often carries around a handkerchief and tries to cover it up before going off somewhere to stop the bleeding. When laughing, she likes to hold her smile behind her hand... and when yawning she tries to cover her mouth. SHE IS THE WORST COOK TO EVER EXIST holy crap but can make mean cookies. When flirting (more like embarrassed flirting pft) she looks away to the side and twirls her hair around her finger trying to hide her red cheeks. Her romantic out view on life stems from the fact that she was constantly surrounded by death and history and art so there’s morbid beauty in the melancholy... this girl gets excited over Friday the 13th and samhain ok like... there’s a lot to unpack with that. THERE’S MORE BUT I’VE RAMBLED FAR ENOUGH!!!  Savvies: Well... she bakes pretty good cookies BUT UH!!! YEAH she’s pretty proficient with her light magic! While she can’t do the amazing things other Zeldas can do because of limitations she’s not someone you would want to mess around with. She’s learned to work around those limitations and has great control over her powers. On top of that, she somehow knows how to use a crossbow so :’) while not the light arrows (she’s too weak to wield a bow) and it was a lucky shot she at least knows enough about how it works to fire it in the first place. She reads a lot, even as a kid she’d sneak off to the library to read the history about Hyrule or read maps and well she’s pretty knowledgable about her nation as a whole! And thanks to sneaking out she knows how to sneak past the guards and knows all of the secret passages in her castle like the back of her hand! Can’t forget her amazing political insight and ability to think outside the box! She has pretty innovative ideas for her times esp when concerning the common folk, but sometimes they don’t always go through because well... nobles. 

|| Physical ||

Height: 5′0″  Weight: you never ask a lady her weight! >:0 Scars/Birthmarks:  Has a cat scratch scar on her right palm which is also where the triforce is located! Abilities/Powers: Light magic, as the descendant of the mortal goddess she has been blessed with the Light Force. On top of that she’s come from a line of sages and has the Triforce of Wisdom so as you expect she has so much magic. She can heal, bless your weapons, smite away darkness, sense darkness (As a matter of fact she’s pretty sensitive to it and it makes her lowkey sick if it’s too much) and then there’s her PSI abilities which includes clairvoyance and telepathy! And then... her connection to the spirit realm.  Restrictions: AHAHAHA SO MUCH, she’s a glass cannon which is why she’s so, so, so easy to kidnap in the first place. She may put up a fight but not for long, as such her tactics are always to make a distraction and then escape. But she has poor stamina and just a poor heart, she can’t really overexert herself without a) causing pain and b) passing the hell out which was common in her younger days. Using magic takes up a lot of stamina as shown in ALTTP esp with the more powerful spells, you need an amazing reserve to cast all of that and sadly while she has good control she doesn’t have good reserves. SOOOOOOO to fix this she always has to take medicine of magic. Mana blockage is a thing that can happen, more often than she’d like to admit which causes pain once again and makes using magic pretty hard. Now onto her telepathy and clairvoyance. While they sound useful there are restrictions on those as well, for one with telepathy while she can contact anyone so long as she finds their signature subconscious she doesn’t have to worry about distance too much so long as they are within her range which is... maybe more than 200 meters? I need to think about the range more because there are certain places where she can reach you and cannot but there’s def a range limit. She tends to get nosebleeds and headaches from using telepathy. Her clairvoyance is where she can see bits of the future, but they are very vague and hard to decipher and there’s always a chance of the future changing or not changing. As for her connection to the spirit realm, pretty much she can see dead people... in her dreams and there’s no way of shutting this power off she’s gotta deal with the horrors that is this realm. Now seeing spirits isn’t anything new in LOZ but contact to the spirit realm is something that’s implied that only royal family members can do... as implied by Zelda’s words in BOTW where she said her mom (or grandma??) could hear the voices of the spirit realm.  

|| Favorites ||

Favourite Drink: Rose tea Favourite Pizza Topping: Basil...  Favourite Color:  Blue!  Favourite Music Genre: She pretty much likes slow and relaxing music, piano comes to mind but *kayne shrug* Favourite Book Genre: Romance aHEM as a princess she doesn’t have time to read cheesy romance novels and fantasize about the day where someone riding on a white horse will sweep her off her feet and they ride off into the sunset never having to bear the burden of her heritage and responsibilities hahaha..... but history and folklore. She likes tragic stories that have bittersweet endings.  Favourite Movie Genre: Fantasy, tragic tales, suspense, romance flicks  Favourite Season: Spring Favourite Butt Type:

Favourite Swear Word: "Goodness me!”  Favourite Scent: Forest scent, the fields, that ancient scent you smell when visiting old places, the smell of book pages  Favourite Quote: “Time has stopped for me long ago.”

|| Fun Stuff ||

Bottom or Top:

Sings In The Shower: Yes!!! Well... rose soaked bathwater because she’s spoiled stupid by her castle staff and Impa but she’ll hum a tune here and there!  Likes Bad Puns: Of course! She has the playfully innocent attitude so puns is right up her alley! Morality: Lawful / Neutral / Chaotic / Good / Gray / Evil Build: Slender / Scrawny / Bony / Fit / Athletic / Herculean / Babyfat / Pudgy / Obese / Other. Favourite Food: APPLES!!! Namely baked apples and more importantly apple strudel! Her nation is famous for having delicious apples that can help cure fatigue and even rise up stamina a bit! She’s very much a follower of “an apple a day keeps the doctor away” esp if that doctor keeps giving her bitter medicines.  “Boss” Theme Music :  Excuse me for using a sad track... but... sAD MUSIC HONESTLY SHE’S DEPRESSION PERSONIFIED!! It reflects her hidden melancholy for like everything. I feel like if you have to fight her as a boss it’ll be more of a beautifully sad moment than something epic like that boss fight with puppet zelda which slaps honestly.  Their Opinion On The Mun: “Does she thrive on my pain?”  

Was tagged by: no one

Tag 15 People: wHO EVER WANTS TO DO THIS

[neuxue]

(Part the 1st)Now that you are in the Chapter 50-52 bubble, I wanted to share something. I've messaged you before about how your continuous comparisons of Rand and Egwene's arcs helped/caused me to see the depth and complexity of their relationship, and the way in which Egwene acts as Rand's counterweight in the series, providing the a balance to the Dragon Reborn in a series that is, at its heart, about how vitally important balance between forces is (at least within a strict binary system).

(Part the 2nd) In light of that I wanted to add that I had previously been a little dubious of your theory that Lew’s Theron’s voice in Rand’s head was actually a defensive construct and not necessarily Rand’s madness. It just felt like the writing was so clear that LTT’s voice was legit, and maybe it is on some level. But I was recently rereading earlier sections as part of another read along (it covers 1-2 chapters a week and is in the TSR, who will finish first? :P lmao). But I noticedin the lead-up to the battle outside of Cairhein against the Shaido, there are SEVERAL instances of Rand just suddenly *having* memories or knowledge from LTT… and at this stage there was no voice at all. The voice doesn’t appear until AFTER Rand nearly runs himself to exhaustion in that battle. And it’s presented so faux casually (as in, it’s a big deal and it’s pointed out, but within the context of us seeing the beginning of Rand experiencing the Taint. Much like the Joker’sline in The Dark Knight about people being ok as long as events are following “The Plan” even if The Plan is horrific. We are expecting to see Rand loosing it, so we don’t really over analyze it when it happens) if I had not been primed by reading your analysis from that perspective, I probably would have just KEPT reading and not noticed, so once again; thank you for this blog and for adding ever more depth and meat to this series for me!

Yeah, I do talk about this one a lot. I’m glad it works for you!

And in my defence, it’s because most of the time I’m trying to work out what’s going on, as new information comes in and things change. Because it’s definitely taken me a while to figure out what’s happening – and I could very well be wrong! This is one where I think there’s a whole lot of space for different reader interpretations, depending on what makes sense to you (and, honestly, on what feels more satisfying to you; I often feel like explanations of a character’s internal landscape or mentality or psychology work better when they’re left a bit open to interpretation).

Your description of it as a “theory that Lews Therin’s voice in Rand’s head was actually a defensive construct and not necessarily Rand’s madness. It just felt like the writing was so clear that LTT’s voice was legit, and maybe it is on some level” is interesting because I never really thought of it in those terms; this is partly no doubt because I’ve been trying to work it out as the story unfolds, but also because I think the very nature of the whole…situation in Rand’s head also changes as time goes on. But I suppose you’re right; that is sort of where I’ve eventually ended up.

That is to say, yes, I think at this point in time, what is portrayed as Lews Therin’s voice is not an accurate representation of Lews Therin Telamon as he was in life, and is more something Rand has – inadvertently and more or less subconsciously – created, as a way of dealing with something that probably absolutely no one is actually equipped to deal with.

But I think initially it was much closer to a manifestation of Lews Therin’s actual personality and thoughts, as they might have been if he were there to experience what Rand does. And in between then and now, we see a transition.

It’s something I definitely want to focus on more closely in a reread, because again, my own understanding and interpretation of what’s going on has changed so much as the story progresses, so I think it’ll be different looking at it from the perspective of having seen the whole thing.

That said, I see it as progressing something like this:

We start with not even a voice, but just occasional things Rand seems to know, or remember, or be able to do, that he has no business knowing in this lifetime. It’s like that barrier between lifetimes has been thinned and torn, and then things start to slip through. It’s hardly even noticeable at first.

Until it is, and we move into the beginning of an identity crisis, with Rand occasionally responding to Lews Therin’s name and not his own, or not even realising when he’s saying something that comes from Lews Therin’s lifetime/memories rather than his present one. Because he has all this extra stuff in his head, and right now it’s not compartmentalised at all, so he starts to get a bit lost in it, or inundated by it, and he doesn’t have a way of anchoring himself against it (because what is himself?)

Then it starts to become not just memories and thoughts, but an actual voice. Initially, like I said, I do think this is probably very close to how Lews Therin himself would have sounded; lines like ‘I would burn the world and use my soul for tinder to hear her laugh again’ certainly seem like something that would come from Lews Therin Telamon. But that’s part of the same extended scene where we get ‘for a moment, he could not remember his name’. This is the barrier actually starting to dissolve in places, and Rand is no longer ignorant of what’s happening but is terrified by it (and as a reader, I was as well! I’m a proponent of reunification now, but at the time? Yeah, watching your protagonist forget his own name seemed like a sign that All Is Not Well), and – crucially – has no real coping mechanisms for it yet.

That is, I think, where we start to see a transition from a clear distinction between Lews Therin Telamon and Rand al'Thor (perhaps ironically, as I think a lot of what happens next is because Rand’s afraid of losing himself). Rand asserts his own identity in TFoH (it’s a major part of the climactic battle, even), and in doing so he more consciously sets up this distinction between himself and Lews Therin.

Despite that, though, the barrier between lifetimes is eroding (this, I think, is the taint madness…I personally headcanon this as being the same for all saidin users, but people react to it differently and it manifests differently in each of them), so more of Lews Therin’s memories and knowledge and even personality are there, accessible, in Rand’s head.

So I read it as Rand…creating his own barrier, in place of the one that’s falling apart, in order to hold on to what he defines as himself. It’s a self-vs-other kind of divide he sets up…but this time he’s the one defining it, which means we see it manifest a little differently than the one the Pattern put there for good reason.

From about…oh, Lord of Chaos onwards, we get what I see as a gradual transition from Rand al'Thor 100% on one side of that barrier and Lews Therin Telamon 100% on the other side to…a barrier being there, but a mixing on either side of elements from each…personality? Lifetime?

Because Rand starts using the voice as a tool, as something he can point to and say ‘that is a madman; I am sane’, or as a source of knowledge, or as a touchstone of sorts, or as someone to bounce ideas off of, or – I think – something he can contrast himself with. Like a mirror he can look into, not to see what he is but to see what he is not (what he refuses to be).

And it’s this last one that’s crucial, because this is what I think causes a lot of the shift in the first place. Rand knows he is Lews Therin Telamon reborn. Rand knows what Lews Therin Telamon did. And above almost anything else, Rand is terrified of doing the same. So we see him deliberately setting anything that falls under ‘not myself’ or 'madness’ or 'killing everyone you love’ in contrast with himself; he uses it as a way to set some of those thresholds (that he later crosses), to set himself up as distinct from all the things he refuses to be. He needs to see them as separate entities in order to hold to a) his identity, b) his sanity, and c) his hope of…not a second chance, exactly, but of not repeating Lews Therin’s fate. His autonomy, I suppose.

But then we start to see that shift, as well, because now it’s no longer the actual barrier between lifetimes that seems to exist (and for good fucking reason) in everyone, if this is a world in which everyone is someone reborn but no one remembers their past lives; but is instead a replacement barrier. A barrier Rand has made for himself, in order to keep his identity and sanity and autonomy safe.

Because ultimately here’s the thing: Rand and Lews Therin aren’t separate, really. Rand is Lews Therin reborn, so it’s the same…person? Soul? Entity? Whatever you want to call it, but with two distinct lifetimes and thus sets of experiences. It’s just that the files have been corrupted and there’s this weird bleedthrough, so the separation isn’t working the way it should, and everything we see next is Rand trying to, essentially, figure out from this mess of two lifetimes who he is (and who he wants to be). Does that mean shutting one entire lifetime away? But what if some of it is useful? Maybe some of who he is now is anathema to him, given what he has to do, so maybe it’s better if that gets shut away. Maybe he should take some of that old knowledge, maybe he should recombine some things (maybe he should learn from his past, both successes and mistakes, so that he can take this as a true second chance). But to go from zero to just accepting the whole thing is uh…unrealistic at best, so instead we see Rand struggling with it, and the situation evolving as a result of that.

And yes, I think a lot of this comes from how everything is presented in the story, and how it unfolds, and how we’re primed to interpret it. It’s one of my favourite aspects of Rand’s character and arc, honestly, and is definitely something I intend to spend some more time on during a reread or post-series.

[saunteredslowlydownward]

Born As the World Burns Episode Headcanons: Season 4

Are You There God, It’s Me Dean Winchester

Has waaaaay too much fun researching angels

What Witness would Emma see?  Dean, maybe?  Would it be Lydia, for having a daughter that betrayed the Sisterhood?  Corbett?  One of her first hunts, where she wasn’t able to save someone in time?

In The Beginning

Wakes up just after Dean is transported to the past by Cas - first one on one meeting with Cas?

Metamorphosis

Emma is torn on the issue of Sam’s powers.  Cause if Dean sees that as Sam being something other than human… what does that mean for her?

Painfully aware that other hunters would consider her something that needed to be hunted.

But very not on board with the blood drinking, obviously.

facepalms whenever Sam and Dean reveal that they’ve been keeping something from one another.

Goes to research with Sam.

Hates the use of the term “long-pig”… cause memories.  Considers going vegetarian after this (tries and fails- Amazons are obligate carnivores)

Silently cringes every time Dean says something about ‘monster’.

Sam: “This is my choice.”  Emma: “Then good for you, Sam.” *proud*

Monster Movie

Emma has a map in her journal where she tracks all the states they go to.

Headdesks about the whole “rehymination” *eye roll*

“…there’s nothing wrong with being a virgin.”

But also, teases Dean by suggesting that she probably ought to be looking to lose hers as soon as possible if that’s how things are meant to be done.

Yellow Fever

Some of Dean’s early fears heavily revolve around Emma and her safety

Or maybe Emma is sick right along with Dean? she does use fear as a weapon

Sees the Amazons coming for her and Dean turning on her and trying to kill her

It’s the Great Pumpkin, Sam Winchester

Emma’s first Halloween!

Sam: “Two words: Jail bait.”  Emma: “Dude, they’re like… my age!” *gag*

Corrects everyone’s pronunciation of Samhain

Cas: “Tell me, Dean, when your father gave you an order, didn’t you obey?” Emma: “When my mother gave me an order, I ran away so I didn’t have to obey.  Orders aren’t always right.”

Wishful Thinking

Disappointed that Bigfoot is a hoax

Tries to actually sit down and talk to the giant teddy bear… cause why the fuck not?

What would Emma wish for?

Discount Rupert Grint was a prime candidate for “Vigilante Feminism” with his shower spying

Damn it, Sammy, maybe he doesn’t fucking want to talk about it cause it’s traumatic! *eye roll*

Gives Wes a kiss on the cheek in thanks (she finds him cute)

Starts to consider sharing some of the details of ‘boot camp’ with Sam and Dean to help Dean feel open to sharing about Hell

I Know What You Did Last Summer

Sam: “Let’s trade stories.  How was Hell?  Don’t spare the details.”  Emma: *glares at him a second and then busts out the story of how they forced her to eat human flesh*

Can Anna see Emma’s ‘face’?

Goes with Ruby and Anna

flashbacks show Sam ditching Emma at Bobby’s, Emma semi catatonic in her grief

Heaven and Hell

Emma is the only one surprised when Uriel announces that Sam’s  been screwing Ruby (cause she wasn’t there for the big heart to heart last episode)

An angel, a demon, and an amazon in the back seat of a car

Family Remains

Having three in the car makes sleeping in it a lot more cramped

Emma always has at least three knives hidden on her at all times, so at least they have some weapons left.

Stays out in the shed with mom and daughter to keep them safe

Criss Angel Is A Douchebag

Emma investigates parallel to the guys, masquerading as an aspiring young magician

After School Special

Emma enrolls in school - that’s an adventure

“Dude, Dad, those girls are my age!  …kind of.” re: legal teenagers

Sex and Violence

Junior Agent Emma ^_^

just rolls her eyes at Dean’s joy over a case with strippers

goes straight to the back room to talk to the girls, who try to be super helpful but can’t actually help much other than give a bit of confirmation to the siren theory

“They’re princesses.  All the girls that the siren is masquerading as have Disney princess names.”

Emma is tricked by the siren’s illusion but it’s venom doesn’t work right on her (weaker, easier to fight off) but still enough to get her for a bit

Follows along with Dean and Nick to the strip club, letting Sam have some alone time with Cara

wanders off, having befriended a few of the dancers who have decided to adopt her

Dean and Nick leave her behind there

Hitches her way back to the hotel just in time to help Bobby break the guys out of it and kill the siren

says nothing about their little ‘we good?  yeah, we’re good” bro moment, but definitely left with the feeling that they are not, in fact, all good

Death Takes a Holiday

Can’t agree more with Pamela on how crazy they are.

Emma can’t do the astral projection thing so she has to stay behind and keep an eye on their bodies and Pamela

kicks some demon ass and keeps Pamela safe, thank you very much

On the Head of a Pin

Emma fights so hard against Uriel and Castiel taking Dean to torture Alastair that they have to literally knock her out.  Probably breaks her hand punching Uriel.

And she doesn’t even make a move to stop Sam from killing Alastair.

Doesn’t leave Dean’s side for one second while he’s in the hospital until after he wakes up, and even then it takes some serious convincing.

It’s a Terrible Life

Emma Browning, recently hired to be Dean Smith’s new personal assistant.

Of course she follows along as the weirdness happens.  Like he could stop her.

There might be a bit of flirting going on between Dean and Emma… and once they remember just exactly who they are, they both agree to never speak of it again.

The Monster at the End of This Book

Can’t stop laughing at the cover art.

Reads through them voraciously.

Skips the sex scenes.

Oh lord, you know that there are Sam/Dean/Emma fans in this verse. *facepalm*

“I mean… are we *sure* that he’s not actually a god?”

Of *course* Emma asks Chuck for an autograph.  Probably hangs out at his place if Chuck and Dean let her, asking all sorts of writing questions.

Jump the Shark

“… it’s a binder, the rings open.  Why the hell did he tear the pages out?”

Gets a weird scent off of Adam, can’t quite place it until they figure out about the ghouls - it’s death.

The Rapture

Emma points out that getting him back to his family might not be the safest of ideas.

I wanna say that Emma catches Jimmy sneaking out and tails him.

“Hey, I’m not gonna stop you from going back to your family, but I *am* going with you.”

Manages to hold the demons off till Sam and Dean get there.

Suggests getting Amelia and Claire some protective sigils maybe?  Or anti-possession tattoos.

"Put pressure on the wound, Jimmy!”

“Uh, Sam, you got a little something… on your face…”

Emma makes an actual attempt to stay in touch with Claire.

When the Levee Breaks

“If you think that Sam is a monster…. then what does that make me?”

Dean: “Then at least he dies human!”  Emma: can’t handle it, leaves the house before Dean sees her cry.

Emma refuses to choose sides between Dean and Sam on the demon blood thing... but she does follow after Ruby when Sam tells her to get out of there.  Ruby manages to slip away from her, though.

Lucifer Rising

Backs Bobby up on Dean being a better man than John was, adds “a better father, too.”

Once again left behind when Dean is taken to the Beautiful room

[crqstalite]

pt. 12, into the lion’s den, pt. 4.

finally added in tri’ama and malavai’s slightly dysfunctional relationship (where their ages difference is more pronounced and their personalities clash harder). and! the sith court. headcanons for that will come soon!

written: 8.25.19. word count: 3,268

tri’ama’s dress <<

kira’s dress <<

naji’s dress <<

mierrio’s dress <<

note: im sorry i really like fashion lol. hence why kept describing their outfits n dresses.

════ ⋆★⋆ ════ character song: teeth, 5sos

character file: tri'ama amarillis-quinn, the emperor's wrath & naji iresso, barsen'thor of the jedi order.

-

malavai quinn is a puzzle. and tri'ama is usually relatively good at puzzles when all the pieces are there at her disposal. slowly fitting them together as she finally finds out what makes the person tick. and then usually exploiting those flaws.

however, malavai is still missing pieces, and tri'ama has yet to put them all together. she's never hugely sure how he feels about her on any given day, his true emotions hidden so far beneath his imperial conditioning that she's sometimes afraid he's renounced his feelings for her. they sleep in the same bed, attend the same meetings together. tri'ama has received the most thoughtful gifts she's ever been given from him, and she hopes she's done the same for him. they've been married for four and a half years, if he has any sort of problem with her, she hopes that he'll tell her.

she ponders if she's done something wrong as she fits a silver headband into her golden hair. she tries her best not to be an annoyance, and tri'ama is hoping the seventeen year age difference isn't what's getting to him. while she's barely in her prime, he's gaining grey hairs around his temples. it's handsome, she believes. but, as she runs a brush through what hair she has left, tri'ama realizes it will be years until she reaches the same age malavai was when they first met. she's only twenty-four, and he's coming upon his forty-first birthday. an astronomical age gap that if they met at any younger of an age, it could be considered illegal by imperial standards.

that would remind her to buy a present for him once they returned to dromound kaas.

and then there's the whole matter of the insufferable, childish darth nox that arrived three days late to the court. choking her out hadn't been as much an act of power than one to remind her of her place. a previous slave, stars what was the academy thinking, allowing her grow her power base like this? tri'ama was aware of slaves that became apprentices to other darths, but rarely ever made it above one. not to mention her reckless actions that often nearly foiled tri'ama's missions. she wasn't as all-powerful as she would've liked others to believe, and she was not going to be brought down because one simple inquisitor couldn't make time for her shiny new dark council position. it's enough to give her a headache, one that malavai's aspirin couldn't fix. and because darth nox is relatively new to the council, they others see it fit to put them together.

did she hate darth nox?

possibly.

most definitely.

but, that isn't her main focus tonight. pulling a pair of earrings out of their box, she fastens them onto her earlobes as her pale grey eyes meet in the mirror. tonight, the court occurs. a three night event, the court invites all sith in the known galaxy to mingle and visit with each other, hoping to strengthen ties between all force-sensitives that tune to the dark side. her pureblood adoptive parents have said they met at one such court. chuckling, she hopes she doesn't disappoint them, taking the hand of an intelligence agent instead of a sith.

the thul palace has it's fair share of commodities, and the luxury room she was given for the nights of the peace discussions is beautiful within itself. the duvet cover is thick, but warm during the cool nights. the lights illuminate her face as she paints her lips a striking red, eventually tousling her blonde curls out around her shoulders. recently, she'd received a rather severe hair cut, straight in all dimensions with bangs and corners that could cut on the strands that just barely brush her pale, bare shoulders.

she enjoys how it makes her look oh so powerful. like the galaxy is here for her taking.

her breath hitches once she senses someone come up behind her as she picks up the exquisite necklace she'd received for life day the year prior, a stunning ruby hanging off the golden chain as she turns to see the dark haired male come up behind her. "may i assist, my lord?"

"if you wish." she says calmly, allowing him to take the delicate chain from her and he swiftly fastens it around her neck. it almost seems as if it were made for her, the ruby cut in a diamond as it glints off the room's lights. well, it was made for her, specially cut and enscribed on the jewel with her name and the date of their marriage. her hand brushes his before holding it to her chest as they look at one another in the mirror. it's rather nostalgic, in the same position when they took their marriage photo after the ceremony. however, instead of a strapless maroon gown, she had worn a full white dress and he in his dress uniform. that day, had been one of her most precious. "are you enjoying yourself, malavai?"

he pauses for a moment, considering his answer. "i enjoy every moment i spend with you, my love."

there's no distinct shift in his ice cold blue eyes, so she figures he has little else on his mind. or, that he knows that's how she can tell when he's uneasy these days. his dress uniform is pressed and sharp, as always as she stands from the chair she'd been sitting in, closing her jewelry box and placing it back in one of her bags. "you've never been to a sith court before, have you?" she questions, turning to face her husband as he adjusts one his cuffs.

"not many of intelligence have. those who've returned are tight-lipped about their experiences." malavai responds, turning his attention towards his wife. "it is truly an honor to be here."

"you would say such a thing. i'm curious how long it will take before someone begins a yelling contest with another lord." tri'ama says sarcastically as she picks up her handbag. "i suggest milling around and mingling with the lower lords and their apprentices, but those on the council i can wait to see until tomorrow. with any wine in my system, i can not be responsible for my actions with them. i'd rather they not speak to me in such a vulnerable state."

"understood, my lord." she tries not to grit her teeth at the honorific, and whether malavai picks up on it or, she isn't sure. opening the door for her, she steps out into the hall, locking it behind them once he shuts the light off. "my love." he says, offering her his arm.

she threads her arm through his, lying her head on his shoulder for just a moment as he stiffens before relaxing. "well, i suppose we should get going, yes?"

"it seems that way, yes."

-

naji is shivering, though felix comments that the open hall is rather warm. she feels as if she's attending a funeral, with all the black clothing that's being worn. her long blonde hair is out and loose around her shoulders, the contacts almost making her weep. she has yet to see a sith without the telltale amber eyes, so while they're uncomfortable, they are necessary to remain undercover.

master delux is with kira, who wears a black gown that trails on the floor (she'd meant to hem it for the older woman, but had run out of time when she'd had to assist with the search). some give them odd stares, due to kiveqil's pale skin in comparison to the ruby red skin of other zabrak sith. however, his story has been convincing enough thus far, as no one has pulled a vibroknife or lightsaber on him just yet.

the other things she's learned, is that sith tend to argue and gossip quite a bit. the black and white clad crowd is hushed, but she can hear the lies and gossip trailing behind her. mostly, they are comments on her clothes (it's rather scanty, a tight floor length midnight black dress with a plunging neckline and straps that she's sure will snap under any sort of stress), but others comments on how healthy her skin looks, and the lack of paleness and corruption to her. they only concern her more to whether they have already sensed her light nature.

"hey." felix's voice is hushed as he leads them to a more desolate corner of the room with only a few sith milling around. "are you going to be okay?"

"i'll be fine." she responds in whisper, as she slips her arm from his to slip her fingers in between his. "it's just...cold."

"sith-ish cold?" she nods, shivering as she tightens her cloak around her arms. "is it better if we stay here, away from them?"

"they'll become suspicious if we do." shaking her head, she stands a bit taller. "look proud, as if you belong here." her voice deepens into an imperial accent, mocking that of those around her without sounding horribly cheesy like the padawans at the temple did.

"i'll try." his impression is surprisingly better than hers, as they continue on around the room. naji declines an offer of champagne from a passing servant, keeping her eyes open for the woman she'd seen on the holo. "have you seen darth nox yet?"

"i haven't. if she's here, she's gotta be short or something." felix says, trying to receive a good-natured laugh from her. she's about to respond her own sarcastic comment when she's interrupted by another voice.

"she is rather short, i'll tell you that." naji panics for a moment, spine straightening to that of a ruler as she hears the voice of a pitch-perfect imperial accent. "why, do you require something from her?"

turning slowly, a blonde sith in a full red strapless dress (one of the few splashes of color she's seen all night, she believes only a select few wear any sort of color. the most common is red.) has come up from their right, arm entwined in a similar fashion as them with an imperial on the other end. the couple is rather imposing (she learned how to read the pins that officers decorate their uniforms with, this is a captain), and she hopes to give off the same air.

thinking of the story she'd told herself every night before her arrival here, she calms her racing heart and presses her lips into a firm line. "she and i were, daresay acquaintances during her time at the academy. i wasn't aware she'd become a darth until now."

"and who might you be?" the blonde questions. "i've never seen you before in her company."

"lord mankael o'vare." she nods. the blonde raises an eyebrow, but says nothing else towards her, her pale grey eyes flickering to her husband. "we were acquaintances during her time at the academy."

"i see you've taken a force-blind as your escort. what is your rank, soldier?" she asks, directing the question towards felix (which they'd meticulously fashioned a stolen uniform into a that representing a lieutenant, the highest rank they could achieve without requiring more pins and questions about his station).

"lieutenant irex fess, my lord." he says, his voice smooth and calm, as she wishes her heart would be. she doesn't look like a sith, the amber eyes not present and without a lightsaber. however, muscles are evident underneath her pale skin and her hair seems to be partaking in a regulation of some sort. the air about her is cold and collected, which sets a fear in her.

"your station?" the male asks, his voice cold and devoid of emotion.

"currently on shore leave. previously on hoth, sir."

they seem to look them both up and down, considering the pair. however, the woman makes a move to leave naji and felix to their own devices. "if i see darth nox, i'll make sure to tell her a certain mankael hopes to speak with her."

"thank you, my lord." however, naji's halfway sure the sith lord didn't hear her as the two walk back into the crowd. and she's thankful. thinking back to her research on who else was attending, they'd just had a run in with a certain emperor's wrath. with the armor and such, she hadn't immediatly recognized the woman, but the scar over her cheek was distinctive enough that naji immediatly remembered who it was.

and she's got a horrid chill about her, the coldest she's felt all night. naji's frightened, how many crimes had this darth committed compared to darth nox? was she worse? if that was the case, she'd need more thermal armor than the skimpy dress provided.

it isn't until much later during the night after the hor d'oeuvres are served that the chilled feeling she'd felt earlier with the wrath invaded her mind and body again, however much, much stronger than she'd originally expected. goosebumps dot her skin as felix slowly leads her off the makeshift dance floor at her request, the feeling still following her as they make a show of him helping her onto a sofa. she only lifts her head from her ankle when she hears yet another sharp imperial accent break through that of the classical music playing for those dancing in the hall.

"lord o'vare, i presume." the woman speaking is a dead ringer to the description given of darth nox, hair shoulder length and pressed straight with a strand of silver jewelry through her dark brown hair. her dress is less decorative than that of the wrath's, but instead of red, it's a deep royal purple strappy evening gown with intricate white lace over her plunging neckline. "what is it you require?"

she pauses for a moment, unsure of how to answer before her nerve runs out, playing with her blonde hair. "to make a bit of conversation is all, my lord. it has been such a long time since i saw you last."

a look of confusion runs through her eyes, not as well hidden as the other sith they'd spoken to tonight. "i have no recollection of you, o'vare."

"possibly you don't remember me from your days at the academy?"

"i do not. if you do not remember, i spent a majority of time searching for relics for a certain deceased lord zash." naji makes note of it, though she has no idea what or who is a lord zash. she'll make sure to research the imperial holonet for any mention of her time alive or dead. "if i did, i would at least make note of a mankael."

"ah, yes." she attempts to seem dejected at this remark, "possibly you'd enjoy spending a bit of time together? take a walk around the palace gardens?"

confusion is imminent now, but at least she doesn't seem angry at the proposal. "i don't typically take walks, mankael. however, because it is insufferably hot here, i suppose i will take you up on that offer. you and i can enjoy what the gardens have to offer, and possibly a bit of champagne will jog my memory of you."

"that would be delightful, my lord." she says, taking felix's hand to rise from her seat and brushing out the folds of her dress. another dark skinned male strides up behind darth nox with a glass of champagne in either hand. he's more disheveled than many other males she'd met tonight (most gossiped about how the dress's neckline was much too low for her cleavage-or lack thereof), with his collar undone and a red tattoo decorating the right side of his face. felix tenses for a moment before turning back to her.

"sith? you goin' somewhere?" the husky voice asks as he plants a kiss on her cheek, one that the other sith woman does not shy away from. "tryin' to leave me behind, huh?"

"never." she says lightly as she takes one glass from him, sipping on it before answering. "an...acquaintance of mine has invited me to walk the gardens with her. i'll return before you even know i'm gone."

his dejection is as clear as day, but she makes note that their rings are rather similar. with how friendly they are with each other, she figures this must her husband. the pirate that the their collected notes had detailed, she edges away from him and closer to felix. he's rather dangerous apparently, and she has no intentions of dying tonight. "alright mier, i'll stick around and have a chat with the soldier."

"and i'm sure you will, nikky. mankael, if you intend to walk with me i suggest we leave now. it will get absolutely freezing when the sun finally sets." the sith woman says, beckoning her in another direction towards the hall doors. lifting the skirt of her dress to hurry after her, she slows to a walk in time with the inquisitor. being alone with a sith lord wasn't in the plans, but it was in her deck now. whether she played her cards right or not, could lead to a disatrous end to their excursion into the lion's den.

-

"my lord, i'm not sure i've ever met a lord o'vare." malavai says as they dance in the center of the hall. "nor have i ever heard of a lieutenant irex fess."

"i'm fully aware, my love." she says, laying her head on his chest. he smells of after shave and cologne, two smells she's not sure she'll ever get over smelling or hate. her mind flickers back to the nervous energy she expelled, as well as the light, flowing feeling of her aura. it is so much different than the comforting cold of the sith that surround them now that she knows there is something very not right going on. she seems too curious, too bright.

too new.

it does not help that there are other presences here that she does not recognize. they feel similar, but much, much colder. possibly they are in league with her, or they are simply fallen jedi as they admitted to. the zabrak is pale, but clearly corrupted as his red headed friend is. "don't fret."

"what if they are intruders though?" he asks, readjusting his hand on her as they continue along the floor, his gloved hand in hers as she leads, another hand on the small of her back. his brow furrows in thought. "darth nox could be in danger."

"like i said, do not fret, malavai. i have a plan for everything, and this happens to be one of them." lowering her voice, she leans closer to him, careful not to make him trip over her gown as he twirls her, "you may not feel it, but that is a light-sided jedi through and through. i have never felt such blantant light from any sith before."

"are you sure, my love?" he questions, raising an eyebrow. "we could be raising suspicions for no apparent reason."

her eyes catch the long blonde hair of mankael with the only royal purple gown in the room. they're headed off somewhere, and she intends to keep an eye on them for the next few days of court. possibly to prove that mankael is not who she says she is, or possibly disprove nox's reputation.

or both. she'll decide tonight when she's slowly being undressed by her husband.  "i am always sure, malavai. that is a jedi, and she is here for reasons other than falling to the dark side."

"i intend to find out who she is, and then crush her as a message to the jedi council."

[dragons-bones]

FFXIV Write 2018 Entry #27: Loyalty, Unity, Liberty

Prompt: Fling

So you know the female Highlander dance? Looks an awful lot like the Highland Fling. So I indulged my headcanon that Ala Mhigan dancing includes things like the Highling Fling, Scottish sword dance, and various Georgian dances like the xevsuruli.

The first night that Ala Mhigo stood free in two decades, griffin banners waving from every tower and wall, the people of Gyr Abania threw one hell of a party.

In Ala Mhigo itself, its rightful citizens broke into their old homes taken from them by their Garlean overlords, gathering food and drink from the kitchens and storerooms and bringing them back to the slum districts they had been forced to live in. Most of the flavors were wrong, reflecting the spices and palettes of Ilsabard, but it was food, and better eating than many had had in a long time. Wine bottles were passed between strangers and friends alike, bread and cheese and dried meats pressed into the hands of children, and elders granted places of honor as they shared stories about folk heroes that hadn’t been spoken in twenty years.

In Ala Mhigo, and Ala Gannha, and Ala Ghiri, and the Peering Stones, and every other village and town throughout the region as the news spread, bonfires were lit. Garlean flags and banners served as the fuel. As the flames reached towards the heavens, townsfolk and villagers sang “The Measure of His Reach” as tears poured down their cheeks. (Years later, grandparents would tell their grandchildren that the mountains had echoed so strongly with the triumphant voices of Gyr Abania that all of Eorzea had heard them sing.)

And at Porta Praetoria, where the Ala Mhigan Resistance and Eorzean Alliance were camped, they sang the loudest and drank the deepest—and danced the hardest.

Synnove was half draped over Heron’s shoulder, the pair of them watching Rereha drink a mixed group of Resistance soldiers and members of the Immortal Flames’ Ala Mhigan Brigade under the table.

“Gods, that’s sad,” Synnove said.

“Hilarious, though,” Heron said.

Rereha drained her sixth pint and slammed it on the table in front of her. “Another!” she bellowed. One of the Resistance soldiers slid out of his seat and onto the ground, groaning. Another simply passed out.

Synnove and Heron shook their heads and laughed.

“Synnove! Synnove Synnove Synnove!”

The Highlander in question straightened up, eyebrows raised, just in time for a blur of blonde hair and red silk to crash into her. Synnove flailed and yelped, until Heron reached out and shoved them both upright.

“Thank you, Heron!” Lyse said brightly, before turning back to Synnove. “Synnove, this is very important! Do you know how to do the sword dance?”

Synnove looked aghast. “Do I know how to do a sword dance? How dare you ask me that, my da’s a weaponsmaster! My aunt’s family founded the Blue Wing Dance Troupe! Of course I know how to do the sword dance!”

“Perfect!” Lyse crowed, grabbing her hand and dragging the taller woman behind her to the center of the camp. “We’re doing the quartet variation and need a fourth!”

Synnove looked over her shoulder at Heron and shrugged. “Guess I’m dancing tonight!” she called back as they disappeared behind a tent.

Heron reached over and tapped Rereha on the shoulder. “Come on, Rere, you’ve humiliated the professional soldiers enough for one night,” she said. “Synnove’s dancing.”

“Oh, fine.”

The pair of them made their way to the open area at the encampment center, at the base of Porta Praetoria, picking up Alakhai from a dice game on the way. The trio unceremoniously shoved their way to their front, although most of the milling crowd moved out of the way of three Warriors of Light. Heron gracefully dropped to the ground to sit in lotus position so she wouldn’t block anyone else’s view, Rereha shamelessly crawling into her lap and Alakhai kneeling next to them. A circle fifteen paces across had been staked out for the dancers; a group of musicians sat just at the edge a little to their right. The three waved to their friend at the other side of the circle.

Synnove waved back before she ducked back down into the small cluster she had formed with Lyse, M’naago, and one of the other Resistance officers, Hele. Every now and then one of the women gestured; the quartet was apparently still conferring on details.

Finally, the group split up, each of the women standing at one of the cardinal points: Lyse north, Hele south, Synnove east, and M’naago west. The milling crowd went silent as the dancers each took their positions. Heron could see the Alliance leaders in some of the prime viewing spots along the circle’s edge, along with General Aldynn and Vice Marshal Tarupin. Pipin, like many of the other Eorzeans, looked curious; Raubahn and many other Ala Mhigans wore expressions that were equal parts excited and wistful.

Rereha quietly clapped her hands in excitement and Heron could see Alakhai flash a grin out of the corner of her eye. Heron felt herself tense in anticipation: the three of them had seen Synnove practice this dance before with her Aunt Angharad, but a quartet sword dance would be a new experience.

At a signal from Lyse, the musicians raised their instruments and began playing: pipes and drums, and a lone fiddle.

Five beats into the song, the women all raised their arms above their heads, hands poised gracefully, and began to dance.

The music was lively and so were the dancers’ movements: floating leaps interspersed with high steps, the four bouncing and grinning as they moved in a circle. The crowd began clapping along with the drummers’ beat, laughter ringing out as the women whirled around and occasionally interrupted their own dance to interact with the crowd in some manner. Lyse reached out to hug Alphinaud, cheerfully swinging him around in a circle while he shouted in protest, before setting him down, leaping back into place with a broad wink. Synnove blew Ser Aymeric a kiss, the Lord Commander bowing in response, both of their wide smiles near blinding with love. Hele took it a step further, dragging her own apparent ladylove into an enthusiastic kiss; the crowd catcalled and whistled. M’naago rolled her eyes and made a ‘what can you do’ gesture as she leaped along, then grinned and exchanged a complicated handshake with two of her squadmates before whirling back into sync with the others.

When the dancers had made two full rotations and reached their starting points again, two things happened: four members of the crowd darted forward and placed Ala Mhigan style scimitars crossed with their scabbards to form a quartered square beneath the dancers’ flashing feet; and the music changed, the fiddle falling away to leave the pipes and drums as the latter began playing a faster, almost more militant beat.

The women remained stationary for this phase, circling instead their own sword and scabbard as they stepped high. Their arms and hands flowed gracefully, in contrast to the quick movements of their legs and feet, moving from each quarter either side to side or diagonally.

Then the pipes fell away, and the drums began thrumming hard and loud, and each of the four dancers shoved a foot beneath the crossed join of the scimitar and scabbard, throwing both up into the air. Each scimitar was caught by the hilt, the scabbard by the throat, and the women leaped towards the center of the circle: Hele and Synnove’s blades met high, Lyse and M’naago’s met low beneath the other pair, and the song of ringing steel joined the drums.

Cheers and whoops of delight rang out from the crowd; more than one Ala Mhigan had tears streaming down their face. In a heartbeat, the dancers disengaged, leaping back and beginning to move around the circle again, but this time they were each a whirling dervish of live steel. They swung the blades tightly around them, but they darted across the ring, too, to take each other’s place: Hele and Synnove, Lyse and M’naago, blades meeting so quickly sparks flew. They mock fought, as well: Synnove and Lyse, Hele and M’naago, then Synnove with M’naago and Lyse with Hele, swords clashing and metal scabbards flashing to act as makeshift shields. Despite the seeming chaos, all of their movements were coordinated, and not a step was out of place.

As the drums reached a crescendo, the dancers leaped to the center of the ring again with a shout, all four blades meeting in a shower of sparks and an echoing clash of steel. The quartet disengaged their blades and whirled on the balls of their feet to face outward towards the crowd, scimitars held before them. As the last drumbeat rang out, the dancers sheathed their blades, and bowed.

The crowd’s roaring applause was thunderous.

[higuchimon]

[fanfic] Just A Little Trade

Almost absolute silence reigned. What kept it from being absolute was the quiet tick of machines and sometimes the far off noise of footsteps going by. Very few of the locals wanted to come too near this place anyway, and those who had the right to be here were busy elsewhere at the moment.

In point of fact, there were only two people there at the moment: Edo Phoenix, former Commander in Chief of the Fusion occupation force, and Kurosaki Shun, member of the rebellion and a Lancer.

Kurosaki, so far as Edo knew, wasn’t much of a talker under normal circumstances. Now wasn’t a bit difference, given that he hadn’t woken up being struck on the head even with the best efforts of the healing pod.

He checked it carefully, just to be certain. Everything seemed the way that it should be, and if everything continued the way that it should, Kurosaki would probably wake up in another day or two. Three at the most. He would be very confused when he did, of course. When he’d been struck, Edo had still served Academia and the Professor, and those who’d been shown a different path by Sakaki Yuuya still were his enemies.

I’ll have to explain everything. He wished Saiou would be there to help him. Saiou didn’t do people any better than he did, but he could still find the words that Edo didn’t always have. The two of them worked reasonably well together.

Only Saiou wasn’t strictly a part of Academia. He dueled, of course, but he’d never joined the school, let alone the army. He visited Edo on occasion, or had before Edo achieved this promotion, but how long had it been now? Months?

He would have to find a a way to get in touch with Saiou, he decided, and let him know everything that had happened. Saiou had never overtly disapproved of the Professor or his goals – Edo wouldn’t have been his friend in those days if he had – but the more Edo considered the matter, the more Edo suspected Saiou would approve of his changes.

Edo let out a tired sigh. It would take time to get a message across to the Fusion Dimension safely, especially now. They’d kept quiet for the most part, not wanting anyone from there to find out what was going on. What Edo hadn’t told anyone else was that there was a good chance a faction of Obelisk Force or some of the other members of Academia might well come over here.

XYZ was, after all, considered prime hunting territory even now, with so little left. It had been part of his job to scoop up those he could find who would be suitable prey and keep them ready should anyone from there arrive.

The thought of doing so now sickened his stomach. He’d believed so much in the Professor’s cause that to look back on himself since then sent his heart racing and sweat trickling down.

He glanced at Kurosaki’s sleeping face for a few moments. If he didn’t wake up in the next handful of days, then Edo knew he would have to somehow get some form of help. The tube should manage everything. The tech was almost as advanced as the procedure for carding. But everything and anything could have a flaw in it.

Footsteps outside drew closer. Edo frowned; they didn’t sound like ones that he knew, and there weren’t any voices accompanying them.

That made it a little sketchy already. This was their territory and they had no reason to keep their voices down. Their few nervous XYZ allies might, but they also tended not to make any noise when approaching.

Not to mention he shouldn’t have heard them anyway, because they weren’t there to be heard. Or shouldn’t have been. They’d gone out to search for either new allies or survivors, for supplies, or for anything else that could help those they’d already found.

He suspected Kaito had also sent messages to whatever blocks of the Resistance remained. The official story on both sides was that there weren’t any left. Edo didn’t believe that for a moment. If Kaito still fought, then everyone else there did too, in whatever ways they could. They’d not given up before. Edo didn’t think anything had happened so they would.

But footsteps drew closer and there were no voices and the sense that something was far more wrong than it should be ran icy talons down Edo’s neck. He reached for his duel disk, ready to defend no matter who it was.

“There’s no need for that, Commander.”

The most mocking voice he’d heard in all of his life spoke. It wasn’t his first time hearing it. But just like every other time, he hated it. He didn’t think there was a single person around who actually liked hearing Yuuri talk.

“What are you doing here?” Edo’s gaze flicked up and down, left and right, until he spied the younger soldier standing not that far away.

He was far too close to Kurosaki Shun, all things considered, and Edo started to reach for his deck again.

Yuuri raised one hand. “As I said, no need for that. Though if you really want to be stubborn, then it would just make what I want that much easier.” A smile slid across his features, sly and sweet and sarcastic. “You don’t really think a traitor could stand up to me, do you?”

Edo’s lips pressed together. He’d not for a moment suspected that seeing Yuuri here was in any way good. “What are you doing here?” Edo repeated, wanting answers.

If he could stretch it out a little, keep Yuuri here until some of the others arrived, then maybe…

He may or may not stand a chance in a duel but Edo suspected the principles of entertainment dueling could stretch far enough to deal with Yuuri, whose idea of entertainment involved pain, shrieks, and terror for everyone who wasn’t him.

“Oh, didn’t I tell you? Everyone already knows about your little mass defection.” Yuuri smiled that dangerous smile of his. “The Professor really doesn’t care though.”

That sent another warning chill through Edo. He refused to twitch an inch in reaction. Yuuri had to want more than that.

“That doesn’t tell me what I asked.”

Yuuri nodded solemnly. His main focus hadn’t left Kurosaki for a second. “I suppose it doesn’t.” He took a step closer. “Let me tell you this much. No one cares. I could card all of you or I could let you go. The Professor has so much else that he’d rather do than worry himself about all of you.”

“So why are you here, then? Surely you’ve got better things you could do.” Edo didn’t trust that smile, didn’t trust the way Yuuri kept too much of his attention on Kurosaki, a possessive tilt to his lips.

“Because you have something that I want, and I’m going to take it.” Yuuri chuckled softly, reaching out to rest his hand on the healing pod. “And you’re not going to complain about it.”

Edo took two quick steps, a low growl sliding between his teeth. “You’re wrong about that!” He’d made a promise and he wasn’t going to let it be broken.

“I don’t think I am.” Something flickered and Edo’s attention followed a sudden line of something falling.

It was a card, he realized, the thought trailing along a heartbeat later. The card fell face-up and his heart froze in the moment it took him to realize just whose face that was.

When the Professor first began to build his army at Academia, he’d started at various orphanages, choosing the children there and bringing them together. They’d had few ties to anyone, and most of those who they did ended up at the Academia as well.

But when Edo joined, he’d not only left his closest friend behind, but his father as well. He’d never known his mother; his father told him that she’d passed away shortly after his birth. It hadn’t been Edo’s fault, Mr. Phoenix assured him over and over, but simply an accident, and he’d come to accept that.

And now he saw his father’s face staring up at him from the card.

It shouldn’t be. This shouldn’t be. He’d talked to his father only a few days before. Everything had been fine then.

Only now there was that gentle face, that had seemed ever so faintly disappointed in him over the last few months as he’d risen higher in the army and made his debut as Commander-in-Chief.

“Father...” He murmured for a heartbeat before his eyes jerked back to Yuuri. “What did you do? You said...”

Yuuri waved one hand casually. “I said that it didn’t matter to the Professor. And it doesn’t. So he doesn’t care if I do this. I’ve already finished my duties for him anyway.” That demonic smile flickered back into being. “So now I get to have some fun for myself.”

Edo’s stomach sloshed and tightened in terror. He worked as hard as he could to keep himself focused. He could guess what Yuuri meant. He just didn’t want to.

Another card fluttered down. Edo’s heart twisted even farther to see a spill of night-black hair and a pair of calm, wise eyes looking back up at him. His breath froze in his throat.

Part of him cursed Sakaki Yuuya for showing him how much different everything could be, should have been. If he hadn’t listened, if he hadn’t chosen this different path, then he wouldn’t be here now, seeing the faces of those he loved the most staring back at him like this.

They wouldn’t be vulnerable to someone like Yuuri.

“You’re not going to argue with what I want, are you?” Yuuri questioned. “What does it mean to you, anyway?” That mocking smile wasn’t going anywhere. Edo hadn’t ever realized how much he could genuinely hate such a smile. It mocked everything he’d believed in his life, Academia or otherwise. “I’ll take him and you can continue to put this broken toy of a world back together, until the Professor finishes his plan, and you’re all disposed of, one way or another. Do you understand?”

Edo’s nails dug so hard into his palms he could feel trickles of blood working their way through. “I’m not going to let you have him.” He bit the words off cold and hard. He couldn’t do this. Trading lives was something that those of Academia did. Something they thought was easy and fun. He refused to be a part of that anymore.

More of that horrid anticipation worked its way through him. If Yuuri had his father and Mizuchi already sealed like this, then what else did he have?

Who else did he have?

Edo didn’t have to ask the question out loud, not when Yuuri would be more than happy to answer it regardless. He raised one hand and a third card gleamed there.

“I thought that’s what you say,” he murmured, and flipped the card around.

Saiou Takuma, brilliant waterfall of evening-blue hair and eyes of a violet so rich that Edo thought amethysts would envy him stared from this last card, the last person that Edo truly cared about in all the worlds.

And Yuuri did not let go of it.

He said nothing else. What he did was take hold of Saiou’s card by the top and bend it. Not tear, only bend, but it was warning enough. Edo reached out, paler than he’d ever been before.

Edo couldn’t let that happen. It didn’t matter if anyone would ever forgive him for letting Yuuri have what he wanted. He’d never forgive himself if he let Saiou be destroyed like that.

He swallowed, reaching, a few empty steps in between them, but Yuuri easily kept his distance.

“What was that you said?” Yuuri taunted, fingers still in position to tear. “I think you said something about giving me what I want?”

Edo pressed his teeth against his lower lip. He wanted the others to come back. If they did, then Yuuri might be distracted enough for him to take Saiou’s card back. If he had the card, then all the power would be on his side.

But there weren’t any other sounds. Just the two of them, and Yuuri’s burgeoning smile of triumph.

“Why do you want him?” Edo asked, grasping for any extra time he could. Yuuri sniffed.

“Everyone needs toys of some kind,” he said. “This is the toy that I want.”

“He’s hurt,” Edo pointed out. “That’s why he’s in there. He’s getting better, but he’s in no shape for you to play with.”

Yuuri laughed, a sound that called back too many echoes to Edo’s mind, of hearing Sakaki Yuuya laugh. They did more than look alike, Edo realized. They sounded alike too, voices that could have been that of brothers.

“I did notice where he is. But I take very good care of my toys. I hate it when they break too soon.” Yuuri’s fingers tightened on the card just a tiny bit more and Edo thought he saw a tear appearing.

There wasn’t any more time to delay, to bargain, or do anything. He steeled himself, ready to hate himself from this moment on.

“How do you intend to get him out of here? He’ll wake up if I open the tube.”

“Not for a while yet. I can keep him under control until we’re home. He’s certainly in no condition to fight me.” Yuuri pointed out. He gestured with a jerk of his head. “Open it. Now.”

Edo reminded himself that he did this because he wasn’t going to let someone he cared about be torn apart in Yuuri’s hands. That was something he hadn’t mentioned to Yuuya and the others: any card torn apart, shredded in any fashion, meant that the person in that card died.

He’d seen it happen before. He couldn’t let it happen again.

Kurosaki can be rescued, he told himself as he began the sequence to open the tube. If he tears Saiou’s card, he’s gone forever. And Yuuri would still find a way to take what he wanted.

As much as he justified it to himself, it still hurt to do this. Perhaps it hurt even more to justify it.

Yuuri kept hold of Saiou’s card even as the tube opened, mist pouring out, and he stepped closer to Kurosaki, possessiveness in every line of himself. Somehow he kept it even when he had Kurosaki lifted over one shoulder.

Then he casually tossed it toward Edo. “They screamed your name, you know. When I carded them. It was the last thing on their lips.”

Edo dived for the cards, scooping all three into his hands, heart racing. He wanted to hear no more. He wanted Yuuri gone, once and for all.

He wanted a chance to warn people about what had happened. As important as stopping the Professor’s plans were, Edo could not bring himself to just let someone be Yuuri’s prisoner as well. If he had to, he would take care of it himself.

Yuuri turned toward him, eyes bright with anticipation, one hand resting on Kurosaki’s back. “You’d better be a very good boy. I’d really rather not have to take those cards back from you.” He moved the fingers of one hand in a motion that was somewhat a wave and yet reeked of far more mockery than anything that Edo could remember seeing.

Another card appeared between his fingers; Edo had just time enough to read it: Violet Flash. Energy every bit as bright as the sun flashed, and when Edo could see again, he was the only one in the room. The pod remained, open and empty, and in his hands there rested those three cards.

Edo wanted to get back to Fusion, to collect a team and mount a rescue mission. Yuuri’s last words echoed in his mind as soon as he thought of that. The cards might be safe in his hands now, but if there was one person in all four dimensions who could change that, who could extract revenge at a moment’s notice, no matter the defenses put up against him, Yuuri was that person.

What he wanted to do and what he could do and what he should do tangled up in his head and his heart, his fingers pressed against the cards, and the sun rose, and he had explanations to make that he’d never thought he would.

The End

Notes: Some day I may write a sequel. That day is not today.

[lilacsolanum]

For your headcanons meme: Darwin and/or Madra (Sorry if this is a repeat)

THIS MADE ME SCREAM WITH DELIGHT even though I didn’t really have headcanons about Darwin and Madra so I had to THINK OF THEM, sorry this took me so long, also sorry this is kind of more of a fic(?) about Eva but Darwin and Madra are there, it’s just what happened when I started brainstorming. And also sorry to everyone who is particularly sensitive to horror of getting infested because CONTENT WARNING: THIS IS A LOT OF THAT!!!

Send me a character and I’ll write 10 headcanons!

As soon as Eva heard Marco’s voice, both she and Edriss went quiet. There was a certain calmness shared between the two of them, a revelation and a premonition. They both knew how resilient the “Andalite” bandits were, and they both knew how carefully Marco had played Eva’s rescue. Her son never played impulsively unless the odds were somewhat in his favor. They knew that Edriss would die, and Eva would be saved.

Edriss did something in that moment, something she had never really done before. She opened up the connection between them, and let Eva see through Edriss’s brain in the way Edriss always could Eva.

In the height of her starvation induced insanity, Edriss’s memories were scratched and imperfect. Human faces had crooked Gedd teeth or blood red Taxxon eyes or had no faces at all. Sound was distorted, mixing with memories of Eva’s own Edriss induced screams. Languages were were a harsh, unnatural, jumbled mess, but because Edriss understood them, Eva understood.

Eva saw Edriss seeing a blue sky and feeling sand whip across her face. She felt the unspeakable pleasure of writhing beneath Hildy Gervais and knowing he was Essam. She felt the hardly suppressed joy of those increasingly rare moments when ten-year-old Marco would put his head in his almost-mother’s lap. Through it all, she saw two ever shifting images, two faces that Edriss was desperately trying to build with her tortured, fragmented mind.

She saw Darwin, and she saw another young girl, and it did not take someone of Eva’s abilities and wit to figure out that she was Madra.

Edriss couldn’t quite give her exact addresses, but Eva managed to pick out street names through the flickering images. She picked out street numbers, and she saw the city maps Edriss showed her, and she figured it out.

Edriss managed.

Eva replied.

–

Edriss had send her twins to two separate places, both far from Santa Barbara, but not too far. She still liked to visit them. Through Edriss’s jagged memories, Eva learned she would take temporary hosts, then pose as some sort of teacher or doctor or friend and talk to Darwin or Madra. This explained away Edriss’s odd day trips. At least once a year, Edriss would tell Peter and Marco that Eva was going to some kind of retreat with her friends. Then, she would find some guileless junkie in the seedier areas of the city, and convince them to get in Eva’s car. She would then go to a Yeerk controlled gas station, drug the addict, and blindfold herself. One of Edriss’s trusted lackeys would drive them to some cabin. There, Edriss would set up a television with a feed to the outside of Eva’s house. She would explain that the house was set up with explosives, and if Eva tried to run and attempt to find her way back to Santa Barbara, her lackey would wait until both Peter and Marco were home and hit a button. Eva would always, always promise to behave. Edriss would wash her new host’s body, make it presentable with make-up and expensive outfits, and leave.

This would continue even after Eva’s “death,” though the temporary host was often presented to Edriss by the lackey rather than Edriss risking getting caught out in the city herself. Eva watched what happened to her bright, beautiful boys in the aftermath of her false death. Edriss found joy in her pain, and once bugged the inside of Peter and Marco’s apartment, just to torture Eva more. They ended up moving, and Edriss never found the time to bug the new place. Then, Peter got his shit together, and Eva started delighting in Marco and Peter’s progress. Eva never bugged their new places. If she had, the Animorphs would have been found out within weeks. To this day, Eva freezes with the nearness of it all.

When Edriss returned to the cabin and reinfested Eva, she would kill the temporary host. Eva knew the blood on her hands didn’t really belong to Eva, but her nightmares didn’t.

—

Edriss was obviously going to infest Darwin and Madra one day, that much was clear. But Edriss wanted to control the infestation, make sure that her children were given to high ranking Yeerks that Edriss trusted. That was why she found parents that lived so far away. When Eva thought back to it, she had a feeling Edriss was priming two of her subordinates to take Darwin and Madra, a Sub-Visser Forty-Nine and a Umlash 979. Edriss had always a strange and sickening parental attachment to those two. She forced both of them into human hosts, even if Umlash had a strong attachment to Hork-Bajir. Edriss would occasionally call one of them into her quarters simply to talk, or to give them a gift, or to offer them sweets. Once, she forced Sub-Visser Forty-Nine to lay xir head in Edriss’s lap, and Edriss stroked xir hair while singing in Korean. 

Gom semariga hanjibe isseo. Appa-gom, eomma-gom, aegi-gom. 

Eva could still hear her voice singing tunelessly, her tongue perfectly enunciating words in a language Eva did not recognize.

Eva had never understood it, but neither had her chosen surrogate children. Eva could feel their hesitance, sense their bafflement, but somehow Edriss could not. Eva suspected Edriss turned off the connection she had to Eva in those moments. She was living out some fantasy, and Eva did not belong in it.The first and only time Eva had mocked Edriss for these meetings, Edriss silenced Eva with drugs, pumping their body full of hallucinogens and then disconnecting herself from the effects. Eva never said anything about it again.

–

At first, Eva did not want to find Darwin and Madra. They were not her responsibility, because she was not Edriss. Edriss was her captor, her slaver, and she had said goodbye to her when she crushed Edriss in her hand. However, after a few months of perfect strangers seeing her and breaking down in grocery stores, Eva accepted that Edriss was part of her. It was not a happy acceptance, but it was an acceptance that would allow Eva to move forward with her life.

Eva couldn’t shake the idea that if Edriss was part of her, then so was Alison Kim, and so were her children. While Eva doubted her ability to help Darwin or Madra in any meaningful way, she knew Eva herself would never feel truly at peace until she tied that loose end. They were not her responsibility, but without Alison or Edriss, no one would ever take responsibility for them. They were not her children, but they would grow and they might wonder about their birth mother, and Eva was the closest thing they would ever have.

She wouldn’t speak to the kids. She would, however, set up some arrangement with the parents.

-

It was happenstance that the Yeerks had found Darwin at all. As it turned out, Darwin’s mother wanted to pursue television writing, so Darwin’s father got a job at the University of California Santa Barbara. They moved to a suburb somewhere between LA and SB. The commute was killer, but there weren’t a lot of colleges that needed a professor of medieval literature, so Darwin’s father took the Santa Barbara job with grace. Darwin’s father was the sort of young, hip college professor that drew trust from his students, something an unfortunate controller managed to zero in on. It was child’s play to use The Sharing to draw Darwin’s father into The Pool. Darwin’s father became Avis 2771, and Avis was fond of taking Darwin on walks. One day, a man stinking of unwashed clothes, urine, and liquor approached them. It would have been annoying but otherwise unremarkable if the man had not directly asked Avis if he was a Yeerk.

Avis took the man home and got as much of a coherent story from this “Spacey” as he could. Between Spacey’s half sentences and the fact that his mouth was the same shape as Darwin’s, Avis managed to piece together some of the story. 

Avis went to Visser Three immediately, hungry for a promotion. They infested Darwin, and formulated a plan to use Darwin against Visser One. Avis became Sub-Visser Eighty-Seven.

By the time Eva found the family, they were all in post-Host recovery. They had all gone through it, and were very supportive of one another. They had moved closer to Santa Barbara to allow Darwin access to other post-Host children. 

They were doing everything right, and that warmed Eva’s heart. It was more than she could say for her own family.

—

She set up a meeting with them through the school, making sure she saw the parents without Darwin. She knew the sight of her would be a bit much for a ten-year-old child. 

“I know you know who I am,” she said calmly. “And I know you know the origin of your son. You may also know by turning on the television at any given moment of the day that my son is currently making me more money than I can spend. Would you like a college fund for the boy? Perhaps a new house?”

Darwin’s parents agreed to the college fund, but said they were happy with their current home. They didn’t want to disrupt Darwin’s life too much. They told her Darwin didn’t really understand his parentage, and that his memories of being a host were spotty at best. Eva was more than happy to hear it.

—

Madra was harder. Madra had been sent to a sweet but dangerously naive family, the sort of family that defined themselves by white fence standards and didn’t seem to have soul. Eva hated the mother especially. She was the sort of woman Eva would meet at her old churches, before she found a community that truly understood and delighted in the pure joy of Jesus. These women were more into the idea of absolution than they were in living the radical Word, and Eva had never liked them. She could see hypocrisy in the woman’s exact shade of Stepford red lips, could read lies in the shape of her eyebrows. This woman had probably stood in front of her church and proclaimed God told her to adopt, and most likely found more joy in the attention for her “sacrifice” than she found joy in the actual child. Eva had a feeling that if she tried to tell this woman her adopted daughter was the product of a sick Yeerk marriage, the woman would simply call the police. The father wasn’t much better. He made ball-and-chain jokes about his wife, and spent as much time away from his spouse and their children as he possibly could.

She would need a different tactic. She would also need a different face.

—

She thought about asking Marco. She knew her son had a few alternate human morphs, and she didn’t blame him. Her son couldn’t walk outside without getting mobbed these days, and if he had the ability to disguise himself beyond a wig and sunglasses, Eva was all for it. Only she knew he wouldn’t like that she was finding and supporting Edriss’s lost children. Marco was far, far more sensitive about Edriss than Eva. Eva had lived through being infested, and she found power and healing in being frank about it, because she had been in her mid thirties and had decades of experience to hold her up. Marco had lived through a hell of his own, with all of thirteen scant years to help him. He tried to bury his nightmares by acting like it had been a fun adventure. When Eva spoke about Edriss, Marco bristled. Eva understood why, and knew that forcing him to think like her wasn’t going to help him heal. She just made it clear she would support him, and when Marco did open up, it was always to her. If she wanted him to continue to open, she had to never, ever tell him about Darwin and Madra.

So she called Jake.

—

Marco never shut up about how Jake never returned his calls (and his tears over the situation were one of those rare moments he only showed his mother) but Jake got back to Eva almost immediately. Perhaps because it was very, very odd for Eva to reach out to Jake at all. They had been close before the infestation, but after Eva’s “death” and their shared time in the Hork-Bajir Valley, they weren’t exactly on speaking terms. It wasn’t malicious, it was just that Eva tried to reach out to Jake multiple times, but between her lack of stability and his, every outreach ended up awkward and went nowhere.

Still, she had been Auntie Eva, and sometimes she had even beenmom, so Jake returned her call. When she explained the situation, Jake immediately agreed to help. There was a sort of desperation it, a need to give what he could to those affected by a war he didn’t start, but accepted blame for. Eva would have contacted Jean about it, but Jean was afraid of her these days, and all Eva could do was wait it out.

Eva fed him a story, and Jake fed it to Madra’s mother. Jake appeared as himself, which was much easier for Stepford Mom to swallow than Eva would have been. Jake was a good guy in the invasion story, and his face was only associated with stories of triumph. Eva’s face did not have the same association.

Jake (through Eva) spun a tale of a sacrificial woman who aided the Animorphs when they needed her most, who had made Jake promise to help out her daughter and her son. Madra was delighted at news of a long lost twin, the secret fantasy of nearly everyone. Jake agreed to set up trust funds not only for Madra, but for her two siblings (biological children of her adopted parents.) It was a happy story, full of closure. The family took pictures with Jake.

—

Darwin and Madra met for the first time in a McDonald’s. Madra taught Darwin how to dip fries into a milkshake. They played in a ballpit, giggling and free

Eva was there, in her wig and sunglasses. She whispered to Darwin’s parents, and they agreed not to tell Darwin and Madra the truth until they were eighteen.Eva didn’t plan on finding out how that went down.

I did what you wanted me to, bitch, she thought to a blissfully empty place inside her. Your children are happy and safe. Now rot.

[spitfcre-a]

drabble: sawyer’s deal with proserpine.

the following is a drabble for a pretty significant moment in sawyer’s story where she sells her soul to a crossroad demon - who actually turns out to be a knight of hell. sawyer makes the deal to bring back her now biological brother dean, who is killed by thiel, an archangel, because of sawyer. to give it some context, sawyer has by now found out who her birth family are and has spent the past six months being possessed by thiel. now free of the archangel and having previously witnessed dean’s death and brought his body back to the bunker, sawyer sneaks out to make a deal for dean’s life without telling anyone. the following is my headcanon for how it all went down. (* sawyer’s dialogue is in bold and proserpine’s is in italics).

the night air was almost freezing and another reason why she shouldn't have been out here. but a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do. sawyer disembarked from the impala quickly, after pulling up roughly at the edge of the crossroads. she moved quickly to find a good spot before dropping to her knees as soon as she had done, starting to dig a small hole with her hands, fingers diving into the dirt without so much as hesitating. she couldn't think about what was behind her, how fast they might find that the impala was missing and she along with it, that she had raided its trunk of the ingredients would need, arranged in the small box she now placed carefully into the ground and covered over with the remaining dirt. 

brushing off her hands and getting to her feet, sawyer looked around, waiting for a sign of something. several tense moments passed before sawyer heard a voice, turning to see a woman who had appeared out of nowhere.    ❛       well hello, sweetheart.      ❜   the demon chirped, happily.    ❛       you're a crossroad demon ?     ❜   sawyer asked, no trace in her voice that what she was about to do seemed in any way a joke, or certainly anything she should be exchanging pleasantries for.     ❛       why else would i be here ?      ❜   the demon asked, just as chipper, raising both of her arms briefly to gesture to the emptiness of the road surrounding them.    ❛       okay, well, i've got a deal for you. bring back dean winchester and i'll give you whatever you want.     ❜

the demon pursed her lips.    ❛       that's not how this works, cupcake. but it does give this a very dramatic edge, so you know, thanks for that. really keeps things fresh for me.   sawyer frowned, irritated.    ❛       how is that not how it works ? you're a crossroad demon, we're at a crossroads, i wanna make a deal, i told you the deal. end of story.     ❜   the demon smiled again.    ❛       you have to offer something you can actually give. years off your life, things like that.      ❜   sawyer nodded. ❛       okay, so take one of those, take as many as you want. i don't care, just bring him back. " the demon practically giggled this time.    ❛       wow, has anyone ever told you that you're a little desperate ? just, relax. we've got all night.      ❜   she said, casually closing the distance between them, stalking around the blonde like she was prey prime for the taking. 

sawyer followed the demon with her eyes the entire time, save for one glance to the impala in the distance, aware that time was not something she had. she had to make the deal before anyone was able to stop her, or before the rational part of her brain could talk her out of it.  ❛       you wanna make the right deal, right ?      ❜   sawyer's jaw clenched.  ❛       .. right.        ❜    the demon smiled.   ❛       right. so we should take the time to get to know each other, hash out all the dirty details, introduce ourselves even, i'm proserpine - posie if you'd prefer - and you are .. ?     ❜     sawyer tried not to sigh, though even if she had done, her frustration was clear enough on her own. ❛       sawyer.      ❜   she responded.  ❛       and why are you here, sawyer ?     ❜    proserpine asked.   ❛       .. i got my brother killed and i want him back, whatever it takes. so if you could please, tell me what i need to do to make that happen, however many years from me you want, so i can see that he's okay.     ❜

the smile was playing on the demon's lips, apparently happy to see the girl cooperating with her in the way she wanted, as if she didn't have the hunter at her mercy. if sawyer wanted her deal, then apparently she'd have to jump through hoops to get it.    ❛       alright, i'll bring him back. but i want something more than your life or your soul.     ❜    posie said after pausing in thought, still unable to keep the cheer from her expression.    ❛       then what do you want ?     ❜    sawyer asked, frowning, wondering what else there could be for her to give.    ❛       this body,     ❜    posie gestured to herself.    ❛       it's feeling a little stale.     ❜    she said,    ❛       i'd like a new one.     ❜    sawyer quirked a single eyebrow at the demon.    ❛       you want me to find you a new meatsuit ?     ❜    sawyer asked, a little perplexed.     ❛       no, cupcake. i want you.      ❜   sawyer stared at proserpine for a long time before she spoke again.    ❛       why ?     ❜    was all she could seem to be able to ask, after just getting out of one nightmare being possessed by thiel less than a day ago, was she really about to give herself up to another monster, even for dean's sake ?

❛       having the recently discovered winchester as a vessel ? that's pretty high end where i'm from. so, do we have a deal ?     ❜    sawyer hesitated, blocking out the last of the shouting in her head telling her to run.    ❛       if i do this, you bring him back alive ? .. no tricks, just - he'll be okay.     ❜    the demon nodded.    ❛       all you need to do is seal it with a kiss and he'll be good as new.     ❜    she said, her tone oddly reassuring that she would stick to her word, even with an uncomfortable lack of physical distance between them now. ignoring the feeling of her stomach turning over in fear of what she was about to do next, sawyer nodded.  ❛       deal.     ❜   she said, grabbing the back of the demons head to pull her into a kiss roughly, practically yanking the woman into place and crashing against her lips. 

she felt the demon smile against her lips, making her grimace as proseprine deepened the kiss, forcing sawyer's mouth to open wider, the young girl writhing in place as she felt the smoke entering her body, unable to hear the others shouting for her in the near distance, already too late. proserpine's body dropped to the ground, the demon now standing in the blonde's body, her eyes as black as the night around them. she practically grins at the sight of the younger winchester brother and the angel.    ❛       sorry, boys.      ❜    she raised a hand to snap her fingers and vanish a moment later, the deal complete, leaving the crossroad almost empty, save for the two men failed in their mission and the headlights of the impala still shining on the spot where sawyer had been.

[weaselbeaselpants]

Disney Universe Headcanon/fan theories

I’m glad someone has asked this question cause now it gives me an excuse to expel my weird Disney HCs and such on you guys. After my recent reinfatuation with Beauty and the Beast, I’ve been dabbling into the headcanons I’ve made up for the original film, but I just know because of how my life works that I won’t be writing them down. I have commissions to do, a job to maintain, am searching for a place to live, and have my personal commitment time taken up by Halloween Town and Mouse. No time for more projects.

Thing about me and Disney, as well as most of my associated fandoms, is I like the idea of shared universes. However, I think people can take it a little overboard with movies/films/shows that are made by the same people or company. I don‘t like stretching little details sooooo much that films which have a totally different set of logic or style than another film are totes canon in the latter’s universe.

This is why the Pixar theory rubs me the wrong way. Cars and The Good Dinosaur can not possibly be distant pasts or futures of the other Pixar flicks, and trying to explain all the ins and outs of the monster world or why toys are alive is stupid. Same goes for Tim Burton/Selick/Laika’s catalogue as well. These movies so clearly are meant to be stand alone films because -shock of all shocks- not every writer or director is trying to make a mega cinematic universe.

I will touch on my take on the Pixar movies and Tim Burton headcanoning later, but for now here’s my explanation for what Disney movies share the same reality and why:

Aladdin>Beauty and the Beast>Little Mermaid>Princess and the Frog = Disney Prime Universe

Magic and magical creatures exist in this universe, however, it isn’t common knowledge to your average Joe, hence why characters like Aladdin are in disbelief of the genie or why Belle and Tiana adjust pretty well to the enchanted stuff happening around them. Speaking of Belle and Tiana, I have a stupid headcanon that they are distantly related. Or at least, both gals married into the same royal family. My HC name for Beast/Prince (though he rarely uses it) is Narcisse Cocteau, and he was the youngest, long thought missing prince of Maldonia, a fictional country/territory off the coast of France and Spain, and a melting pot of the two cultures. The Cocteau’s were in power before giving way to a new family through marriage. Over the centuries that family came to where they were at the time of Princess and the Frog and that’s Naveen and his peeps. The mystery and stories that surround the lost-and-found prince Narcisse and his commoner wife were always a source of fascination to young Naveen.

Elsewhere in history, Aladdin and Jasmine’s leadership creates a vastly different Arabia than we have now and the nature of mermaids is lost once Scandenavia goes from an empire to a democracy. I.E: History runs it’s course but without some key historical figures running the gambit and with a little more prat falls and musical numbers.

The three champions of the Disney renaissance and the ever meta Princess and the Frog come off as having a very similar tone and logic behind them. Their styles are very similar too, with people ranging from realistic to exaggerated.

Canon sequels:

Little Mermaid 2

Parts of Return of Jafar and King of Thieves, but not the tv series.

Tangled>Frozen>Moana = Metaverse

Similar in nearly every way to the prime universe but with said people and stories there existing as fairytales or legends to the inhabitants off this universe (hence why Rapunzel is reading those stories in a library). Not much to ad other than magic, again, being a vague but not very spoken of or acknowledged presence unless spoken of directly. I’ll leave it up for you to decide if Ti’ fitti and Maui are integral to this world’s creation or if they are merely the creators of the Polynesian culture in Moana.

Obviously the style of these movies play a big factor in why I put them in the same universe as well, though personally I’d rather not go overboard connecting them with each other.

Canon sequels and spin-offs:

Frozen Fever

Tangled Ever After

Hunchback of Notre Dame>Pocahontas>Mulan>Brother Bear = Srs Business Universe

Unlike the last two universes, this world is a lot more true to actual history with the exception of certain people’s life stories. Magic exists here as well, but it may be outright disbelieved by some communities, be obtained by only certain individuals, or play weird gambits of logic in and out of different cultures. Kenai’s tribe are right in believing that the great spirits are not only real but capable of affecting them. Ancient China and the Powhatan tribe have their beliefs too but they simply don’t take it as literally as Kenai and co. Meanwhile in Medieval France, magic is seen as an offense to the lord, despite many “unholy” things being a form of divine intervention in it of itself.  Like in real life, these acts of miracles or supernatural forces can be seen as anything from otherworldly or religious.

These movies style is very different than those at the start of the renaissance. Characters look a lot more realistic and have less rounded features than in BatB or PatF, for example. These films also have a big problem with mood whiplash, combining weird humor of the supernatural or inhuman with very realistic human monsters such as Frollo or the Huns. IDK. These movies always felt like happily ever after was not as picture perfect for the leads and certainly not for the rest of history like it was in other Disney films.

Canon Sequels and spin offs:

Brother Bear 2

Pocahontas 2

Lady and the Tramp>Fox and the Hound>Bambi>The Aristocats>Oliver and Company>100 Dalmations =  Animal Verse (nontalking)

Virtually the same as our world but told through the point of view of the animals who can’t speak to humans. There’s some suspension of disbelief to be had as opposed to real life people and animal relations - what owners allow their neighbor’s dogs to come in and sit with their pets on Christmas, or why in god’s name would a woman leave everything to her cats? - we don’t know but that’s not important.

Not much to add here. Regular, non-magical world told from the point of view of the dogs and cats and stuff. No magic. Animals simply have their animal language.

The Rescuers>The Jungle Book> = Animal Verse (talking)

Near identical to the last universe except for the fact that people can understand animals, and there are fantastical animals such as a giant eagle that exist in this universe.

There’s a difference between characters like Fagin in Oliver and Company, who has his dogs and family and basically understand them, and Mowgli who can talk to Baloo and his wolf fam like it’s no big deal. The mice in The Rescuers wear clothes, but are not so anthro that they may as well by teeny tiny humans like in Great Mouse Detective. The Rescue Aid Society are mice and they know it.

Canon Sequels:

The Rescuers Down Under

Jungle Book 2

Hercules>Emperor’s New Groove>Home on the Range = Wut Universe

This universe is silly, simply put. History and mythology is almost the same as in real life, or at least in the Prime or Srs Universe, but it’s different enough that Hades is evil, Hercules is Hera’s son and the Inca empire was....that.

Again, similar tone and styles shared throughout these movies. 

Canon sequels:

Kronk’s New Groove

- Movies which exist in their own reality:

Treasure Planet

Great Mouse Detective - Mice are way to anthro in this world to be shared with Rescuers.

Snow White

Zootopia - No, it does not take place in the same universe as Robin Hood. Zootopia is populated by talking mammals. Robin Hood has talking reptiles, birds and other animals which limit any and all options for what our predators have to eat. The animals are clearly not separated by “feral” or “anthro” in this world either. Bunnies are people, bugs are not.

Atlantis the Lost Empire

Lilo and Stitch - Would put in the Srs business universe if not for the fact that Mulan seems to exist as a movie here and it’s more about sci-fi than magic.

The Black Cauldron

Dumbo

Alice in Wonderland

Wreck it Ralph - This is the only Disney canon film which I place in the same universe as Pixar. More specifically it shares it’s reality with Toy Story.

Bolt

Sleeping Beauty

Cinderella

The Sword in the Stone

Peter Pan

Sleepy Hollow

Big Hero 6

Pinocchio

Chicken Little

Robin Hood

Tarzan - No magic here and overall more realistic, but it doesn’t have the same mood whiplash or even stylistic shtick as the Srs universe. Tarzan is confirmed to speak gorilla and the animals and humans can’t communicate willy nilly, but again, tone and style clash way too much for me to set it in the same universe as Lady and the Tramp or Aristocats.

The Lion King - Lion King is an allegory. The story it tells is a very human story, it’s only told with animals. Compare this to Bambi, which is more directly about the life of a deer. You can change all the characters to humans in Lion King and nothing would change about the story, plot or character dynamic wise. Bambi being a deer is integral to the story.

-----------------------------------

Other stupid things of note:

Like in Halloween Town, wherein Beetlejuice does not exist in the same universe as Jack Skellington but Sandworms do (Sandworms can dimension hop in and out of different realities) so too do the magical beings in the different Disney universes. Some of them can be able to do this more than others, but all of them can go from one universe to the next with as much ease as they can see into the future. Said characters include: Merlin, Madam Mim, Jimminy Cricket, Flora, Fauna and Merryweather, Genie, the Blue Fairy, the Fairy Godmother, Maleficent. Their power will bend to the rules of magic in said universe they choose to visit.

I take bits and pieces of sequels and spin offs I like and leave ones I don’t take as much issue with canon. Little Mermaid 2 is far from the best but it doesn’t deface the original for me, so Melody stays as she is. The Enchanted Christmas and Mulan 2 on the other hand may have ideas here and there which are kind of cool, but have such an infuriating resolution or take on the characters that they are not canon as far as I’m concerned!  If I had time I’d be able to personally write out my version of Mulan and Shang’s engagement and tell you what Christmas was like for Belle and the Beast within his castle, which take a lot of pieces and ideas from these sequels but are not the sequels directly. Characters from the sequels and spin offs, such as Kion in The Lion Guard do show up but their roles are different in my head than how they appear in the media. I think Kion would be much better suited as Simba and Nala’s second cub after Kiara is grown up but hasn’t taken the throne yet. Wouldn’t she, Kovu and Kion have the cutest David/Nani/Lilo dynamic?