#altho at times that was more frustrating b/c i could see how it COULD have been good arghhhhh

[ace-trainer-risu]

Well I sat down to write all my thoughts about Uprising and did you know that tumblr text posts have a word limit? I hadn't known that.

let it suffice to say - and I know this will shock you dear friends - but I didn't think Uprising was very good. But you know what, it did make me feel something, even if that something was primarily "this makes no sense!" and "[laughing inappropriately at dramatic moments]" and "Oh....Hermann :)" so I officially rate Pacific Rim Uprising as COULD BE WORSE

[inaaontheskyways]

Pittyober, day 13: hide

And here’s my 2nd piece for @stormyykat’s Pittyober, this time with my privateer of the Shatterhands, Titania Xandros, and her experiences in Aquila! Altho, I gotta be honest here, I’m not really sure about this one b/c it got me stressing the whole time I wrote it, pfffft, even to the point where @brewbellwizardry had to help me with the editing, so pls be kind here 😭🙏🏽

(CW under the cut: really gory, it’s just a gore fest up in here ngl-)

There is nothing that Titania prides herself in more than her gift for strategy.

After all, she originally came from a long line of warriors whose specialty was to know every tactic and trick in the book of war from cover to cover, so of course she would end up the same, even if not on the same battlefield as she had expected—wanted—it to be. Though, it isn’t like piracy is much different, really. Raiding an enemy ship and taking its resources for the crew’s own benefit isn’t unlike the ones she had been trained to perform as a soldier, with the only real change being whether a pack of yum would also be included with the gold payment.

As the second-in-command of the Shatterhands, it isn’t far-off to say that Titania’s strategies are what pulls or even saves them from the missions that they go on, nor would they have been half as successful if not for her input. Her captain and the rest of her crewmates know it too. She can think of all sorts of ways to get under the enemy’s skin and figure out what makes them tick, and to do it as efficiently as possible that makes the best use of everyone’s skills and resources; but most impressive yet, that always ensures their survival first. ‘Know thy self, know thy enemy,’ as they would say. And she would usually hold that philosophy close to her chest, a reminder to always stay cool, collected, and calculated with her plans, lest they end up failing—and failing the others by extension.

Although, there have been times where Titania would forgo her tactics because fuck it, I just want this bastard dead and now. Some opponents happened to be real frustrating pieces of shit to go up against, be it due to exceptional strength, speed, or plain stubbornness; so she would have to get a little more messy, more carnal with her moves than she would normally prefer to do. But even then, she wouldn’t let those emotions run too far away, no, those were to be kept on a tight leash. She could never let them consume and keep her from seeing the full picture, because for a member of the Shatterhands, of the Alexandrous, the mission should be her number one priority above all else.

Except, when it comes to revenge, it is a whole different story.

Because the Shatterhands are nothing if not vengeful.

A smile that is blinding and full of madness—ecstasy—is spread wide over Titania’s face, lazily twirling the handle of her xiphos as she follows after the trail of blood left haphazard through the palace hallways. Her pace is leisurely, looking more like someone out on a morning walk rather than a hunt for murder. It drips from her victim’s battered body in the same way spilled wine does at a party, carelessly lost in his rush to get as far away from her as possible, stumbling around like a frightened drunkard and bumping into furniture along his path. She chuckles darkly, finding the situation not only amusing but downright ironic to her. It is almost nostalgic, knowing that she used to be in that same position; desperate, terrified, and stripped of her pride, begging with all of her heart to be given his help, his support… only to be met with nothing more than a sneer most devastating, I don’t have time to deal with vermin.

Oh, how the tables have turned, muses the blonde with another chuckle, hard and low, gaze predatorily sharp when it catches her victim collapsing onto the floor. He lets out a pained groan, trying to get up, but the wear-and-tear of his body only allows him to drag himself across the floor, staining its once-pristine surface with long, messy streaks of blood. A weak position like that allows her to finally catch up, but really, she has only been walking slow to fuck with him, mock the fact that he now has to limp just like she does; yet is too pussy to handle what she always lived her whole life with. Her boots shake the marble, purposely creating loud stomps with her braced leg to startle him bad even if it stings. He’s about to find that there are much worse to deal with than a sickly leg.

“Dear cousin Antinous…” greets Titania with a drawl, though its nonchalance doesn’t match the sadistic gleam in her eyes, reddened like rubies, like anger—like death. Kneeling down, despite its being braced, she digs her knee against the said man’s back, not caring for the painful swell that is building into it; those ugly cries are just too therapeutic for her to let up. “You’re pretty bad at hide-n’-seek, y’know? You’re not supposed to make it obvious where to find you.”

“Fuck you!” her cousin screams out, hoarse yet defiant, wriggling around in a futile attempt to free himself of her tight grasp, “I only did what I had to, any other man worthy as I would’ve done the same! I’m an Alexandrou, I deserved that position, it was always mine to take!”

Titania scoffs, “Oh yeah? Don’t remember our duties involving treason or betraying the Emperor,” and moves the xiphos towards his neck, threatening to slit it if he speaks another wrong word. “Doesn’t seem as profitable now that you’re in this position, though, huh?”

Suddenly, her cousin’s body begins to tremble from underneath. She cocks a brow questioningly, until sounds of grating laughter cawed out of his beak, equally-red eyes staring up at her with a shine of demented glee within them. Clearly, he isn’t considering her warning nor the fact that he is at her mercy right now, as if this is still five years in the past and he can continue to play her for a fool without retaliation, string her along like the puppet he once forced her to be.

But Titania isn’t someone to be used and strung along anymore.

“Oh, dearest cousin,” he spits the term out disdainfully, “Wouldn’t you of all people know that best? You were the one who was caught with that package, with reason for treason. None of that was ever connected to me.” he smirks when he notices that she has grown quiet, grip loosened up on her blade ever so slightly. “You really think that by revealing me, the family will commend you and take you back in? That they’ll finally see you worthy of respect?”

He cackles further, “You can delude yourself all you want, but you’ll never amount to anything, Cousin, you’ll never belong. There’s no point in trying, not for you. You coming back here was a fruitless endeavor, and you and I both know it because even after all this time, you’ll always be worthless—”

Then, he ends up cutting himself off with an abrupt, loud screech of agony, accentuated by the sickening crack of his shoulder, Titania’s hand firm on his wing and twisting it all the way backwards in calculated silence. She digs her nails into his skin, watching it draw another wave of blood against his pale feathers, mulling over the curiosity that if she were to apply more pressure, will it completely snap off? Hang and lay useless like a noose by his side?

Well, wouldn’t that be quite a sight to see.

“How- how dare you! What’re you, some type of brute!?” screams her victim still, thrashing and slamming his other wind against the floor, “Wait until I get out of here, I will ruin you, I will be the death of you, do you hear me!? You’re nothing but a little bitch, you are dirt beneath my feet, you’re a defect who should’ve never been born—!”

“Hoh? You really mean that, my dear cousin?” the pirate pulls him up by his shoulder, straining it even more forcefully, causing him to choke and gurgle from the pain.

And finally, there is fear in her victim’s eyes, widening at the full realization that not only will he not make it out of here alive, but not even his death would be quick and painless either. Not when he sees her face and the vibrant furor that has fully consumed her, grin wide and teeth bared like the fangs of a predator, seeming just about ready to eat him all up and pick his bones clean from a silver platter of her own making.

“Perhaps I should show you what it really means to fear.”