#and Maleigh feels!

[canonfanon]

Rewatching Pacific Rim right now, and there's this tiny moment between Mako and Raleigh that I really love

Toward the beginning of the movie, before any of the main action, Mako is showing Raleigh around the shatterdome, introducing him to the newly-renovated Gipsy Danger

Directly after this, Mako shows Raleigh to his quarters and the two of them have this conversation:

They talk a little more, Mako reveals her amazing simulator score, but also confirms that she is not one of the pilot candidates. They then discuss Raleigh's abilities. He asks Mako for her opinion - she thinks he is skilled but too unpredictable and reckless. She ends with this:

Raleigh thanks Mako for her honestly and says she may be right. Then goes on to say this:

And the tiny detail in this scene that drives me crazy is right here

He says when. Not if, when. Mako has just explicitly confirmed that Marshal Pentecost is not considering her for Jaeger pilot. It has already been established at this point that there are only 4 Jaegers left anyway, and that the program is nearing its end, one way or another. In all likelihood, they have very little time left until the end of the whole damn world. Hell, Mako herself just criticized Raleigh, and he could very well wish to get back at her for that, were he a different person. AND YET, despite all of that, he says when. Raleigh has faith in Mako from the very, very beginning, before they even drift together, before he even sees her fight.

And that drives me crazy! I love their relationship so much

[hawktims]

i just saved a mako x raleigh url and am debating on changing to it but ive had stvrkov for so long...

[fantomette22]

Managed to get at 1/4 of the boss final health

Slowly but surely getting to it!

So yeah won’t beat it tonight and tomorrow gotta finish packing! So next time i will played is either in a few days/ eventually where i will stays at during the trip but i will probably be too busy and tired to set up the console or played.

(WARNING SPOILER FINAL BOSS of Shadow of the Erdtree!!)

I hadn’t expected THIS MOVE. You know the one. When he disappeared in the sky then oneshot you x)

That one is another attempt too V

So the other day i finished to collect the ashes and i just need ONE last scadutree fragments to have them all! Idk where it is 💀 i went to collect the last ones but the last one i have no idea. i feel like i haven’t miss any now

I changed built a little and get Marais’ rapier that is very useful against him. And yes i discovered i never beat Maleigh Marais until today 😂

Also i discovered this behind Castle Ensis

I was like: wtf is this?? Who’s that old man? Hmm anyway the portail lead to Rauh where one warrior is. At the far right of the divine staircase of Rauh.

Now besides get this last fragment and eventually get a better shield it’s just training…

At least it’s pretty cinematographic.. i have some thoughts too.. but later

[bri-the-nautilus]

Malenia is milf 😳 do you know who her partner might have been? I’ve seen some say it’s the guy at the shade castle but I always thought it was Gowry. Hes the father of her kids so that would make sense

How about neither of them? First off, it seems pretty clear that her children were produced asexually. Gowry says he found them in the swamp, making him an adoptive parent. It's clearly a parthenogenesis type situation. Millicent and the others have exactly one biological parent.

Speaking of Gowry, he appears to be an entity possessing a Kindred of Rot (which also spawned from the Aeonian bloom), so I don't think he was really anyone pre-Aeonia. I have a few theories about him, one being he's a Sellian sorcerer who converted to Rot worship to stay alive in post-bioweapons Caelid, the other being that he's a Kindred using the body/spirit of a dead Sellian sorcerer as a front for his dealings with humans. At any rate, Gowry also implies that he's never met Malenia in person. If he is a Sellian, he probably saw the bloom happen at a distance, but that's it. If he's a shrimp, he popped out of the swamp after the fact.

Maleigh Marais is the most obviously parasocial guy ever. If he and Malenia were actually partners, would he need a whole ass waifu shrine with pictures of her and a bunch of her old arms and legs nailed to the wall? If they were a couple, would he keep one of her old arms in a box and talk about how cuddling it makes him feel like "the goddess" is holding him? All of the item descriptions (mask/robe, valkyrie's prot, antspur) pertaining to Maleigh make it pretty clear that he was madly in love with Malenia, but no mention is made of the demigod reciprocating.

I really think the closest thing we have to a canonical partner for Malenia is Finlay. Sure, it's pretty headcanony, but a lot of people seem to interpret her ashes that way. And nobody else has a spelled-out romantic relationship with Malenia either. It's all up to headcanon, and considering that Gowry didn't exist in her life (or at all) pre-Aeonia and the game is clearly portraying Maleigh as a parasocial loser, I think there's far more evidence to support a Malenia and Finlay headcanon than a Malenia and any other character headcanon.

And one more thing: I know exactly which post prompted this ask, and in the same tags where I called Malenia a milf, I also alluded to her and Finlay being romantically involved, so I know you saw that. Please stop with the heteronormative anon asks. It's silly.

[thatboreddrake]

Castellans of the Shaded Castle:

Wanted to include this with yesterday's post, but that one took longer to explain than I expected. More of a mini-theory/headcanon, but I feel like it fits well.

As usual, we start with our research (item descriptions as always):

Marais Mask: "Mask in the image of a white-haired young noble. Customarily worn by the head of House Marais. Increases arcane. The Marais family has a dual history spanning generations, serving as both executioners and castellans of the Shaded Castle. This mask bears the likeness of the first of their line."

Fact #1: the Marais family has inhabited the Shaded Castle and served as executioners for a very long time (unclear how long)

Fact #2: the Marais Mask boosts Arcane, a stat which among other things increases build-up for bleed and poison. For our purposes, we'll be focusing on the poison.

Fact #3: the Shaded Castle is built directly on top of a poisonous swamp.

Poison Armament: "Those who dwell within poison know rot all too well. The death that begets life, that comes to all equally. That is to say: it is the cycle of rebirth put into practice."

Fact #4: poison has a direct connection to rot and death as a method of rebirth.

House Marais has operated as bringers of death, executioners, for an unspecified length of time. Given its hidden and out of the way location, I presume that they have operated since before the establishment of the Golden Order.

Mushroom Crown: "Long ago, great lords served the scarlet rot. Perhaps such fungal bodies served as their crowns."

I propose that these "great lords" were indeed the scions of House Marais, representing death and its connection to rot, decay, and eventual rebirth. They well understand the importance of rot and death in the cycle of death and rebirth, dwelling in a castle beset by poison.

Mushroom Head: "To those enraptured by the scarlet rot, they are holy vestments that root one to the earth."

They built the Shaded Castle either on top of a poison swamp or cultivated the swamp because poison and fungus is sacred to worshipers of rot. Then, the Golden Order comes along, the god of rot is sealed, and House Marais elects to bend the knee and become executioners for the new regime rather than go down with the ship. I believe this is supported because the Marais Robe is incredibly similar to the Official's Attire, worn by Marika's Inquisition (Ghiza).

See what I mean? Anyway, fast-forward to the present day (ish).

Antspur Rapier: "Scarlet rot is an old legend, of which Maleigh Marais of the Shaded Castle was a private believer. And indeed, he eventually found his own personal goddess."

The Marais line carries the legend of the god of rot with it, but it is a closely guarded secret among the heads of the family. Marika would not take kindly to her executioners continuing with their heretical religion.

Marais Robe: "The sons of House Marais are all sickly born. Little wonder that Maleigh Marais would be so beguiled by the beautiful and fierce goddess who was born into rot."

Maleigh Marais becomes the head of the family. Considering that the family is consistently in "not great" health, I would imagine he's pretty young when he takes over this role. Naturally, he has official duties to attend to, mostly ceremonial (there's not been much need for executions since the end of the Second Liurnian War). Anyway, he's at court in Leyndell one day for some reason or another and encounters the Twin offspring of Queen Marika and King Consort Radagon.

He is captivated by Malenia, both for her beauty and for her position as the vessel of the rot god. This is about the time when the Twins are preparing to leave Leyndell and establish the Haligtree. Given the Shaded Castle's secluded location, it's the perfect spot to offer inconspicuous passage to the Consecrated Snowfield (remember that the Forbidden Lands are strictly off-limits). Eager to prove himself to his goddess, Marais offers his services. Miquella is skeptical of his intentions: people feel sorry for his sister, but they are never as nonchalant about her curse as Marais is. However, he needs his help so they strike a deal to use the Shaded Castle as a port (this part of the lore courtesy of @catcas22).

In return, Maleigh requests a simple boon: a token of Malenia's favor. Perhaps he could serve as caretaker of her prostheses when she outgrows them?

Valkyrie’s Prosthesis: "When Maleigh Marais, Lord of the Shaded Castle, embraced this prosthesis, he claimed to feel the presence of his personal goddess."

Obviously, this prosthesis is protagonist-sized, as it fits Millicent perfectly. Thus, it must have been one of Malenia's earlier models from before she grew to demigod stature. This is largely why I say that Maleigh became involved with the Twins early in the Haligtree's development. I imagine that this was the first prosthesis that Malenia granted to him, thus explaining why this one was particularly special to him.

So, yeah

Conclusion: House Marais served as executioners to continue the cycle of life, death, and rebirth during an age when the god of rot was a natural part of the world, and Maleigh was thus enchanted by Malenia as the return of his family's deity.

[catcas22]

Environmental Storytelling

-- Marais Executioner's Sword description

Imagine you're a Cleanrot Knight stationed at the Shaded Castle. You've been stationed here for a very long time. Lady Malenia has yet to return from her campaign in Caelid. New orders from the Haligtree ceased long ago. The few travelers who dare approach the castle bring rumors of a disastrous defeat in Caelid. So you hold to the last order you were given. You and your small band of comrades stand guard over the Shaded Castle, keeping the way open for a retreat by sea.

If Malenia is even still alive to require such a retreat. It has been a very long time.

Maleigh Marais is an odd man. He insists on keeping a menagerie of undead in various stages of horror around the castle. He has at least one king revenant amongst them. And he spends far too much time brooding over the spare prosthetics Lady Malenia left behind. But he is, ostensibly, an ally of the Haligtree, and you have been ordered to guard his castle.

Specifically, you have been asked to guard one of said spare prosthetics. You're not sure why. Lady Malenia would have outgrown this one long ago, and there are a dozen more like it upstairs. Still, you do your duty diligently. It fills the time. It even makes you feel a bit better about things, having something to do.

This morning, Marais left on a rare expedition beyond the walls of the castle. He took the king revenant with him. Apparently there's been a bell-bearing poacher skulking about on his land. This will not stand.

He returns near sundown. Somehow he managed to catch the poacher. Even more shocking, he managed to take him alive. The absolutely massive man is chained up and slung across the back of the king revenant.

Marais is in a rare good mood. The last you see of him, he's heading for the courtyard, captured poacher in tow, and yelling for one of the undead bellhops to bring his sword -- no, not the rapier, the BIG one. It's been ages since he executed someone, and he wants to do this properly.

Not fifteen minutes later, you hear a blast of arcane magic and a piercing scream.

Marais comes tearing up the walkway. Without so much as a word to you, he jumps the battlements and takes off through the poisoned swamp, running as if Maliketh himself were nipping at his heels. A moment later the poacher emerges over the ladder, the ancestral executioner's sword of House Marais propped on his shoulder.

He's an absolute monstrosity of a man, easily seven feet tall, armored head to foot and wearing a crooked war mask held in place with altogether too much barbed wire.

Then again, you're nearly as tall, and even now the red and gold of the Cleanrot Knights is recognized and feared.

He looks at you. You look at him.

You decide this is above your paygrade. You clear your throat and gesture to the chest behind you.

"I'm just guarding this arm."

He nods, a moment of awkward silence lingering. He points back at the castle.

"I'm taking the great hall."

He turns and lumbers away. You remain at your post.

The sounds of metallic clattering and someone cursing a blue streak drifts in on the wind. You dare to peer over the battlements. Out in the garbage heap behind the castle, you can just barely make out Marais attempting to jumpstart a long-defunct golem. You shake your head at the futility of the endeavor just as the golem groans to life and Marais begins laughing maniacally.

You decide that this is also above your paygrade. You have an arm to guard.

[slavonicrhapsody]

The unidentified Volcano Manor portrait UPDATE

A little while ago I made a post discussing the costume design of the nobles’ robes in Elden Ring, and I said that based on the robe’s green color, the unidentified person in this Volcano Manor portrait was likely Rykard. At the end of the post, I uttered this phrase:

WELL… as it happens, recently, a video came out that displays all the in-game portraits in neutral lighting, and guess what… the robe isn’t green, it actually IS blue! That means that this person isn’t wearing an Upper-Class/Ruler’s Robe, but an Official’s Robe… which means that they must be an executioner/torturer/inquisitor! Which opens up some more possibilities…

Putting this under the cut:

First of all, I think it could still be Rykard. The reason why I think so is because Maleigh Marais, who wears a blue Official’s Robe, is both the castellan of Shaded Castle AND its executioner. We know that Rykard was both Lord of Volcano Manor, and Praetor— a justiciar who enforced law. Rykard’s inquisition carried out surveillance, tortures, and executions in the name of the law. Taking that into consideration, Rykard’s position could’ve been similar to Maleigh’s—both a noble and an executioner, who wears both a noble’s mask and a blue Official’s Robe. The figure also wears an important-looking crown, which befits the status of a lord. Lastly, the central pattern on the figure’s robe is actually different than on the standard Official’s Robe. This could possibly indicate Rykard’s status as the official-in-chief, who commands the other blue robe-wearing officials.

But as you can see, there are other characters who wear blue robes, so this portrait could just as easily be of someone else… but first, lets establish some parameters:

The other portraits hung in Volcano Manor are Rykard himself, his brother Radahn, and the video also shows a portrait of Tanith that exists but must have been cut from the game for some reason. Anyway, this tells us that Rykard is inclined to own portraits of people he really cares about.**

So we know that this person must be a) an executioner/torturer/inquisitor, and b) someone important to Rykard. This description fits pretty nicely with the early version of the Daedicar’s Woe talisman:

Daedicar v1 was both a torturer, and someone important to Rykard, but since his character was changed into that of Rya’s mother, his status as a legit character is dubious.

However, the description says “paramours,” plural — Rykard could have been having relationships with any one of his inquisitors! We see Inquisitor Ghiza in-game, and he indeed wears the blue robes. He also wears bandages around his face, and we know that Maleigh Marais wears bandages underneath his mask — I wonder if the figure in the portrait has bandages under the mask too?

So, to recap, this person could still be Rykard, but they could also be Daedicar v1, Inquisitor Ghiza, or any other rando official in Rykard’s inquisition who he was romantically involved with. Honestly, I still think the portrait is Rykard. But I also think the idea that Rykard has a portrait of his ex hung up on the wall is really funny

**Conspicuously absent from Rykard’s portraits is Ranni. It should be obvious at this point that there’s no way this unidentified portrait is of Ranni. So, if Rykard cares for his sister, why doesn’t he have a portrait of her? Literally who knows. Personally, I think Ranni doesn’t have a portrait because she has bad feelings associated with her empyrean flesh and perhaps Rykard wanted to respect her wishes. He did help her kill that body, after all.

[dimitrscu]

it actually baffles me that people think malenia was romantically involved with either gowry, a man who isn’t even really a man but rather a rot pest and not to mention a person she has never met. or maleigh marais, a guy who is obsessed with her and quite literally has a shrine to her in his dining room with a massive portrait and several prosthetic arms and legs adorning the walls. like the guy is a loser and likes to jerk off over her old prosthesis. i feel like when we hand it to millicent she’s going to asks why it’s all sticky

[elden-ring-item-descriptions]

Valkyrie's Prosthesis

Golden prosthesis once used by the one-armed valkyrie. A masterwork of craftsmanship, with practice and skill it can be used as proficiently as a real arm.

When Maleigh Marais, Lord of the Shaded Castle, embraced this prosthesis, he claimed to feel the presence of his personal goddess.

[waiting-on-mars]

Top 5 movies!

pacific rim: i could watch this movie over and over, its so fun but also so hopeful, humanity coming together to fight giant monsters in giant robots, drift compatibility aka soulmate au basically, what more do you want? maleigh my beloved <3

pan's labyrinth: i just recently watched this and loved it!! the anti fascist message is clear, and tho it has its devastating moments, the end cements that fascism cant win if people unite together

they cloned tyrone: this one is pretty trippy, a secret cloning project being used against black people to control them; three characters who are looked down upon in society: a gangster, a pimp, and a sex worker, unite to fight against this evil plot, amazing acting by all of the cast and the style gives you 70s blaxpoitation feels

spirited away/nausicaa/mononoke: i can never choose which of these ghibli films are my fave, theyre so good!

wolfwalkers: such a good movie, the animation is gorgeous and the anti-colonial message is great, but i also love all the irish folklore trilogy!! also the girls are gay and in love cuz i say so

[forcebookish]

Hi!! What’s your top 5 ‘they are canon for me’ ships?

hi!! excellent question!

ichiruki

ichiruki

ichiruki

ichiruki

ichiruki

nah jk but they are at the tippy-top. honestly i probably could make a whole list just of bleach ships that are canon to me... i'm not going to include ships that Were canon but broke up or one/both of them died (so like cangel, nyssara, etc.), because at least they had their moment. which ones i pretend are still together or miraculously alive is a whole other list hahaha

madohomu

maleigh (pacrim)

rinharu (free!)

bluepulse (young justice)

madohomu, maleigh, and rinharu feel like cheating because the subtext is so obvious it's basically text. they effectively are canon... like i don't even have to delude myself for those... IF WE'RE NOT COUNTING THOSE then it's stucky, royai (fma), and malnara (firefly). technically, malnara were canonically in love, but they never got together in the series and movie, and i haven't read the comics so idk.

ANYWAY, SORRY FOR TAKING TOO LONG AND TALKING TOO MUCH. thanks for popping in and asking!!

[hawktims]

mobile bio.

— info.   mara. 21. she/her. indonesian. infj. editor and newbie gif maker. avid caramel latte and matcha latte drinker. current fav movies/series of all time are pacific rim, fellow travelers, top gun: maverick, interstellar, blade runner 2049, mission impossible movies. i (used to) read a lot whenever i have time, but i haven’t been doing much of that lately though i am trying to pick it up again. listens to a lot of kpop (mostly bts + le sserafim) and taylor swift. 

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(updated 2023.12.22)

[neverreallythoughtaboutthefuture]

Anyone can fall...

So, as some of you may already be slightly aware of, one of my favorite characters of “Pacific Rim” that I strongly relate to is Chuck Hansen.

Therefore, I became curious to see if there was any information on if or how Chuck’s sacrifice was being honored and remembered in “Pacific Rim: Uprising”, and googled “Pacific Rim uprising Chuck Hansen Wall of Heroes”.

This lead me to a preview of the “Pacific Rim: Uprising” official novelization of the movie on Google Books, written by Alex Irvine…

And then, while reading a few excerpts from that book (since I’m a total spoilers brat), what I saw in there spurred me to do another Google search for more details regarding something I found about Raleigh…

Which lead me to a similar preview of a book called “Pacific Rim Uprising: Ascension” written by Greg Keyes, that is meant to be the prequel novelization of “Pacific Rim: Uprising”.

And from there, all I will say is to click on “Keep reading” bellow only if you know what you are doing, and wish to be spoiled regarding Raleigh Becket’s current whereabouts and what he’s been doing in between “Pacific Rim” and “Pacific Rim: Uprising”.

Extremely heavy spoilers for “Pacific Rim Uprising: Ascension” under the cut.  Read only if you truly want to know before you read the book (as I’ve read that Raleigh’s whereabouts in “Pacific Rim: Uprising” are not addressed in one of the movie reviews I saw.  So there are no actual spoilers for the movie itself, only the book dealing with what happens in between the two films).

Still here?!

Good!  Sort of...  First, you will need a box of tissues, some chocolate or ice cream, and possibly someone to hug you after...

Because as I was saying, when I clicked on the preview regarding Chuck Hansen and the Wall of Heroes, I came upon this:

And went: “Wait. Fallen Rangers… Yancy AND Raleigh?! OMG!!! What happened to the puppy?!”

So, I continued to search the preview, and then came across this…

And noticed the year…

2026!!!

The Breach was closed in 2025… Meaning Raleigh wouldn’t have remained in the world he helped save back then for more than roughly a year (or perhaps close to two, should that have been late 2026 given that the Breach was closed in the beginning of January 2025).

Doing some research, I then found a reference to it in “Pacific Rim Uprising: Ascension”, where Mako recalls what happened to him.

And JFC! I wasn’t ready!

Because he died in the most Raleighesque fashion ever, quietly reassuring Mako that it’s okay – that all you have to do is fall… Anyone can fall…

Before drawing his last breath, Raleigh used the same words he said to her when he saved her life, finally coming to terms with having been unable to save his brother’s.

The same words that have always made me wondered if what Yancy had been trying to tell Raleigh before his own life, and sentence, were tragically cut short, wasn’t something along the same idea... 

Something Raleigh wouldn’t truly have gotten until he found himself in a similar position of needing to help the one between them with the most chances of surviving - someone he loved and had chosen to become responsible for - carry on...

Raleigh told Mako “I felt his fear, his pain, his hopelessness and then…he was gone,” and somehow, I’ve always believed that Yancy’s despair and fear came in large part from knowing he’d be leaving his little brother behind, and there was no time for him to make sure he’d be okay or to protect him from suffering the same fate.

Sure, seeing a Kaiju stare you down like that knowing you’re utterly exposed and vulnerable to its next attack is plenty terrifying on its own (unless you’re a Hansen with a flare gun. But that’s another story!).

But copilots also know the depth of each others’ souls. Meaning Yancy likely would have known just how much Raleigh relied on him and looked up to him. I can’t remember if it’s Del Toro or Beacham that once expressed the belief that, should their roles have been reversed, then Yancy likely would have stayed with the PPDC and/or continued to get actively involved in some capacity with the war efforts (building walls one doesn’t believe are actually helpful to numb the pain and pass time doesn’t quite fit that category).

That is not to say that Yancy wouldn’t have been greatly affected by Raleigh’s passing, but they seemed to have different sets of coping skills, levels of overall impulsiveness and emotional maturity. Not to mention that Yancy was established as the dominant copilot, the one having chosen to take responsibility for his little brother after their parents died, and having adopted more or less the role of a mentor and a guide to his younger sibling.

Losing someone whose well-being you feel responsible for has the potential to deeply affect you, and perhaps recovering from that will be extremely difficult (and accompanied by feelings of wrongness and failure). But you might be less likely to feel utterly lost and destabilized than if you’re losing the person you’ve been actively relying on to guide you through life until then.

And Yancy did express frustration with Raleigh for lacking initiative in “Tales from Year Zero”. He might have gone about it the wrong way (while reacting defensively to Raleigh’s own anger over the fact that he’d slept with a girl that Raleigh had expressed what Yancy thought was just a passing interest for); but the message was still there – if Raleigh wanted certain things in life, he had to take that clear first step towards them, and stop waiting on them to happen on their own, or for others to lead him towards them!

So, there was that slight annoyed “Jesus, Rals! Don’t blame me for us sharing a lot of interests and wanting some of the same things you do in life – go for them!  I don’t need to oversee or approve of everything you do, Kiddo!  Why didn’t you call that girl, or clearly told me you had feelings for her?  What’s stopping you from taking charge and leading the way, too?” big brother vibe I got from him.

If Raleigh had been the one to die during Knifehead’s attack, I thus think it would have made sense that Yancy would have been able to maintain his footing, and continue to get involved in something that mattered to them both. Or, that he would have found another way to keep on going while honoring his brother’s memory, and mourning his loss.

While Raleigh got the Jaeger back to shore, but then seemingly didn’t know what to do with himself anymore. Not until he reluctantly allowed someone else to take his hand and guide him back to where Stacker believed he was still needed and could do some good.

And deep down, I think that Yancy knew something like that was bound to happen should Raleigh make it out alive. And that his “Raleigh, listen to me – ” might have been his last heartbreaking and desperate attempt to protect his little brother, and let him know that he was much stronger than he gave himself credit for. That he could do this without him, and it would be okay.

Anyone can fall… All he had to do was fall…

Everyone falls, multiple times, every day. Sometimes, you choose to take a chance, jump and start falling while hoping you’ve made the right choice and there’s a soft landing at the bottom.

Sometimes, things happen that will push you, and make you fall towards something good, bad, or even neutral.

Life is unfair, bad things happen to good people, but there are those times when you stumble face first into little miracles that remind you some risks are worth taking, and life’s still worth living.

You fall in love, you fall for an exciting project or idea, you fall back on unexpected new resources you didn’t even realize you had, or you just fall – let go of things outside of your control and find peace in the act of falling alone.

Falling can be scary, falling can be hard, falling can be easy, but it can happen to anyone. And that’s okay.

Sometimes, falling is all you can do

Meeting Mako gave Raleigh the push he needed to fall out of that frozen, numb state he’d kept himself in for five years, start growing again as a person, and actively take initiative. He fell for her – for her passion, her drive, her desire to achieve something deeply meaningful to her, and became dedicated to nurturing that passion and helping her achieve those goals. He became another guide and mentor figure in her life, a positive leader, the supportive “dominant copilot” that Yancy had always been to him.

And in his last moment, according to this, it would seem that Raleigh was given the opportunity that Yancy never had - the chance to quietly remind Mako that all you have to do is fall… Let go, find peace, keep on living and falling… Believe in yourself, and take those chances…

And while she keeps on falling through life, Raleigh will be falling back asleep - falling alongside his brother and all those other Rangers that have fallen before him…

As much as I’ve always said that I’d have been okay with Raleigh not surviving Pitfall while watching the movie because I got that sense of peace and acceptance from him, and was grateful he’d been given the chance to find it – the chance to learn who he was, individuate from his brother, connect with his own hidden strengths, and realize that he was capable of the same heroism, love, and selflessness that I don’t think he’d ever realized was there before, but I’m sure Yancy always saw in him…

I WAS NOT READY TO EXPERIENCE SO MANY FEELS OVER IT, DAMNIT!

I’m not even sure if that preview really is the official version of the final book, or if some things have been changed since, but if it is, that’s a very beautiful and moving (though very painful) ending for Raleigh’s story…

I may have had that slight moment of anger and indignation over the fact that Raleigh only survived Pitfall to then develop a bad case of alien radiation poisoning that ended up being fatal to him, apparently...  But that’s in great part due to the fact that I know that his death wasn’t originally planned to happen at the end of the first movie.

There’s this little part of me that can’t help but feel some bitterness over the idea that they were looking for an excuse to get rid of the character permanently, since Charlie Hunnam asked to be released from the contract that could have forced him to do the sequel in order to do the movie “Papillon” instead.

It’s hard not to consider the fact that, although they said they understood and respected his decision, eliminating any possibility of having him return to the franchise later on might have been some way to make him ‘pay’ for it and entirely cut any ties he could have had with the series.  Though, with what I’ve seen and heard about the sequel thus far, I’m not exactly unhappy that Raleigh’s character won’t be directly affected by it.

But, if we forget the idea that the politics of film-making might have had a role to play in the storytelling choices they made with Raleigh, I find myself being glad that Raleigh had the chance to rise back to the surface after completing his mission, open his eyes – learn that all the efforts and sacrifices that were made to close the Breach were successful - and be given the chance to properly spend some time with his co-pilot and say goodbye before closing them, and falling for that one last time in his life.

(And I won’t even try to pretend that the Chaleigh shipper in me is not comforted by the thought of them being reunited so soon after Pitfall, since I have a very hard time dealing and coping with fictional lovers or even potential love interests being separated by death.

It’s that thing I have…

Real life? 100% in favor of the surviving member of a relationship learning to properly mourn their loss, go on with their life, and use the love they’ve experienced to help them grow while keeping the memory of their partner alive. The death of a surviving partner is not remotely being perceived as a more acceptable nor comforting alternative to them living long and happy lives and recovering from their loss.

In fiction? What do you mean one of the two characters just died? Nonsense! Tell the idiot to walk it off, or the other to hurry up and catch up with him if it’s not something you can walk off from to fix it!

Which Raleigh sort of did… Apparently…

Okay, one of the main differences and possible explanations is that in real life, I don’t know if there’s an afterlife.  So, I’m of the rather strong opinion that you better not waste any of the time you’ve been given, since that may be all you have.  And the only immortality you can achieve is through the love and support you can offer others - those other lives you touch and connect with - so that they will be able to carry that love with them through their own lives, become stronger for it, and, in turn, offer love and support to others, too.

Then again, perhaps each of us has some form of individual spiritual entity that survives beyond death, but I simply do not know, so I won’t bet on it until I do.

In fiction? 

You can bet there’s some sort of afterlife where characters are happy and at peace and continuing their adventures together!  Damnit!  Not even willing to consider otherwise! Lol!

Bring on all that juicy and comforting Chaleigh afterlife fanfiction, so Raleigh can be given a proper greeting after having crossed over, yes?

Poor little puppy deserves some love after having been poisoned to death by the Anteverse...

Becket brothers reunion is also a must!  I say!)

Still haven’t found what happened to Herc, by the way! But his name is not yet featured on that Wall of Heroes besides Chuck’s, so I guess that means he’s still alive somewhere, at the very least. Though I’m starting to wonder how many characters from the original movie will still be left breathing by that time “Pacific Rim: Uprising” ‘s credits start rolling.

At least, if that really is the ending they chose for Raleigh, that means he is in a safe place with other beloved characters from the first movie they can’t hurt or touch anymore… Though, at this pace, we’re starting to move from “there are no heroes in a world where heroes can’t die” to “all heroes of the Breach must die”.

At least, the more it goes the more they can expect to have one Hell (or Heaven) of a welcoming party when they join the rest of the group!

Along with the Jaegers they lost because I’ve suddenly decided they’re totally sentient!  Don’t question it!

So, good morning (or apparently, afternoon) everyone! Hope you’ve been enjoying those feels you totally didn’t ask for as much as I did last evening when I came across those few passages!

You’re totally welcome!

[swinging-stars-from-satellites]

Up the Hill

for @christian-latte-anon, based on my response in this post

"What do you think about moving out of the city?" She asks, not hesitantly, but a little haltingly. Like she thinks he'll want to stay here, in their little apartment where they'd moved right after they got married, and she doesn't want to press it too hard. Neither of them has had one, solid place to stay for a very long time. Maybe it's time they did.

Raleigh's immediate, almost-before-she-finishes-her-sentence response is, "I've always wanted to build my own house."

Mako's whole face lights up, and then Raleigh mirrors her grin, and they're looking up properties for sale by evening. They don't care where it is, anywhere calm and safe where they can make a home. A place they can stay, for a very long time.

It's just outside a reasonably sized town, a place that looks like a snapshot picture taken long before the Kaiju War. The property is down a long driveway, up a long, mellow hill. It's fall when they sign the papers, and the leaves on the trees are vivid red as they drive through the valley. There's a foundation in place already, a framework in place for whatever they're going to build together.

They design it together, of course, with plans to build a detached garage later on — for tinkering, mostly Mako's, but to keep Raleigh's tools as well — and Raleigh starts building as soon as spring hits. He's always enjoyed this kind of work, though the majority of his experience is more industrial. Now, he's building using logs and timbers instead of metal beams and panels. It's different, but he likes it.

Mako climbs up onto the framework with him one day in the middle of the warmest summer he's experienced in years, and they eat lunch right there, looking down over the half-finished house the same way they'd looked out over Gipsy Danger in the Shatterdome almost five years before. How far, geographically, emotionally, relationally, they've come.

Raleigh has never been the best at domestics with anyone but his brother. There was an uncomfortable adjustment period, directly following their marriage, that neither of them had known what to do with a semi-normal life. They'd spent most of their time following the destruction of the Breach focused on cleanup and recovery efforts, still living in the Shatterdome for nearly a year afterwards.

Even when Raleigh had finally gotten up the guts to get down on one knee — which hadn't even surprised Mako, latent drift and all — they'd still been working out of one base or another, traveling around mostly together, but often not. The apartment was their first step back into a world where Jaeger pilots weren't needed any longer, and it was more like stepping down a set of stairs when you thought you were at the bottom already. Neither of them was prepared for what normalcy meant — grocery shopping, delegating household chores, Mako's twice-yearly need to rearrange all the furniture. It was intensely uncomfortable for about a month, before they finally, finally managed to relax into it, and into each other again.

Now, with a truck (and a car) packed full of boxes, ready to move in to a house that is solely, fully theirs, both of them are ready to tagteam making the bed, tidying the living room, checking for any final unwashed spoons (from sneaking ice cream) or mugs (late night tea) before sinking silently into bed. It's fall again, and according to the locals the first snow should hit soon — perfect timing for finishing a house. Raleigh convinces Mako halfway up the hill to let him carry her over the threshold.

His work building the house, along with past credentials that make a trail across coastal Alaska, catches the attention of some of the locals in town, and within another few months, Raleigh has a steady job working with a local construction company. Mako does not let him kiss her, or try to surprise hug her from behind — which doesn't work, anyway, he can't surprise her — until he's washed his hands. She's a hypocrite, the way her hands are often stained with grease from whatever vintage or otherwise car she's tinkering with, so half the time they both end up smeared with the residue of each other's labor.

They keep to themselves, there in their cabin up the hill, but they aren't hermits. Mako's mechanical engineering skills make her popular with the town's teenagers, particularly those looking for a skill to learn. If they're willing to drive — or, in some cases, bike — up the hill, they can fiddle around with her in the big detached garage with all her pieces and parts. One boy, a quiet, curious-eyed high schooler living with his aunt downtown, walks up the driveway in mid-September to show off a robotics project. That night, Mako sits at the kitchen island and makes a phone call to the school's principal.

"Do you have a robotics club?" She asks, not hesitantly, but unsure. She's still an outsider to many people here. She waves over her shoulder at Raleigh as he walks into the room, before he even says anything. When the principal says no, is there interest? Her face lights up and she replies, "I have interest in starting one."

So: Raleigh with his construction work to keep him from going stir-crazy and purposeless, Mako with her robotics club and a gaggle of teens around her — most of whom surpass her in height, which Raleigh takes far too much pleasure in pointing out and gets elbowed in the ribs over quite often — and a place they can stay for a very long time.

There's a secondhand shop in town, across the street from Raleigh's favorite grocery store. Their deal is that he does the grocery shopping, which Mako hates — "You take too long," she complains, "Just get what we need and be done!" — while she putters around the thrift store. The mantelpiece of their fireplace at home is cluttered with little trinkets and knickknacks.

Their second Christmas in the house they built up the hill, they drive out to a tree farm an hour away and pick a bushy, fragrant fir. Jake is coming for Christmas, Raleigh's invited Tendo too, and the fake tree they'd brought from the apartment and used last year currently resides in the garage for the robotics club kids to have a small celebration around. Mako has never had a live Christmas tree, and Raleigh suddenly feels as if he's failed her — so, a live tree they shall have.

It probably takes up too much space, but it fits, including a silver and gold star on the topmost point. Mako sits on Raleigh's shoulders to hook an absolutely ridiculous amount of ornaments — half of which were collected from the secondhand shop, little trinkets that probably meant something different to their original owners — to the upper section of branches. It isn't until a little too late that they realize they should have strung the lights around first.

"Save some for the kids to decorate the little tree," Raleigh says over his shoulder, heading into the kitchen to drop off empty hot cocoa mugs. He pauses, then, turns back. Mako is facing away from him, her hand hesitating over a branch, poised to hang another ornament. Her head is tipped to the side, as if she's thinking hard about something.

Something quiet prods at Raleigh's mind, but he can't discern it. Something about her kids, about the way he'd said it so casually — the kids are almost a constant presence, when they aren't holding meetings at the high school; both he and Mako have gotten used to the questions about Jaeger piloting by now — and it's playing along the edges of their remaining drift bond, a quiet loop that's more vague feeling than words.

Mako places the ornament, a silver and blue fish, on the tree, and Raleigh turns away again. He zones out a little bit, watching snow blow off the eaves just outside the kitchen window. Mako won't stay quiet if something is bothering her, but he doesn't think something is. For a moment, he considers refilling his cocoa cup, but it's probably not a good idea. He's driving to the airport in the morning to pick up Jake; a sugar high to keep him awake isn't much help.

Still, it's nearly midnight by the time the lights are strung — slightly tangled with ornaments — and the remainder of the decorations are safely in the garage, where the kids will spread glitter and goodwill on Christmas Eve night. Raleigh almost dozes off as soon as his head hits the pillow, the hot cocoa sugar high turning into a sugar crash, but that little thing is still bouncing around in his head. The kids; he'd said it unthinkingly, like a given — like he would talking about their kids, if they had any.

Mako is curled up asleep already against his side, and Raleigh is about to drift off and join her. He's going to pick up Jake in the morning, Tendo is coming the day after, the kids are going to decorate the little tree for Christmas Eve; it's going to be a busy week. The house up the hill is going to be slightly bustling in the way only holidays, no matter the amount of guests, can cause.

Neither of them has brought up the topic of starting a family yet, not hesitantly, not at all. Maybe it's time they did.

[drrav3nb]

[catcas22]

The original lord of the Shaded Castle was a wicked sorcerer, his name long since lost to time. He had a particular love of turning his enemies into stone, creating the many statues decorating the castle. The man was such a horror that even his own executioner could not abide his cruelty.

The executioner betrayed his master, striking him down with a magic sword from his homeland of Eochaid. With his dying breath, the sorcerer cursed the man and all who would follow in his bloodline.

This is the story told by the scions of House Marais, lords of the Shaded Castle. For generations, every son has been born feeble and sickly, an occurrence which is attributed to the sorcerer's curse.

When Maleigh Marais heard of the exploits of the Scarlet Valkyrie, he was inspired to take up the sword, the first Marais to do so in hundreds of years. Too weak to wield the ancestral greatsword of his homeland, he instead learned the rapier.

When Malenia led the warriors of the Haligtree on their first missions of mercy within the Lands Between, Maleigh opened the doors of the Shaded Castle. He offered his home as a beachhead, allowing the followers of Miquella to evacuate refugees of the Grace-spurned races by sea rather than pass through the hostile city of Leyndell.

When Maleigh made his infatuation known to Malenia, she confessed that she did not share his feelings. The nobleman abandoned his pursuit, instead throwing himself into the perpetual pining of courtly love. A theatrical and romantic sort, he found that idealized longing suited him quite well -- after all, it was the idea of the Scarlet Valkyrie that he had come to love, long before he met Malenia in the flesh.

While Malenia's feelings toward Lord Marais range from ambivalent to friendly enough, the same cannot be said for her brother.

Despite the strategic importance of the alliance between the Haligtree and the Shaded Castle, Miquella absolutely loathes Maleigh, on a deeply personal level. Between his bloodthirsty nature and his unrequited infatuation with Malenia, Maleigh might as well have been created in a lab with the express purpose of annoying Miquella.

He is one of only two people (Marika being the other) who can have Miquella ready to start throwing hands before he's even finished a complete sentence.