#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.

[valkyurii]

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!!

[hoarah-babylon]

let me nerd out for a sec and try to figure out what we are looking at here

so at a first glance to me this looks like an omen adorned with scarce armour, including a golden mask, bracers, hair and omen horns. i'm not sure if the hair and horns belong to the omen wearing it or are attached to the mask. on closer inspection it does appear that the horns/hair belong to the omen itself. notable that in the shadow realm the omen do not remove their horns - aspects of the crucible appear to be embraced in this realm. it reminds me of that boss we saw in the gameplay trailer - the 'chinese dragon' sort of enemy with the omen covered in cloaks with the lion face. that, to me, always came off as these omen making a mockery of the golden lineage, and i get a similar feeling looking at this. the golden mask really stands out to me... having the gold paired with omen horns just seems like a really obvious contrast that i feel like it must be a kind of wink and nudge to a feeling of "we don't respect the golden order/lineage". now let's try to break down different aspects of this image

the bracers remind me of both the guardian bracers and the godskin apostle bracelets (notable again that they are golden)

the golden mask reminds me of the face masks that both Tanith and Maleigh Marais wear

the weapons this omen is wielding remind me of another weapon we saw in the trailer, if just because of the circular aspect

the robe looks a similar colour to the one we see the man wear in the trailer (which also always reminded me of the one morgott wore)

the hair detail on the golden mask sticks out to me... it reminds me of godwyn's long straight hair, and it going through the eye reminds me of deathroot corrupting his figure. which we do see in the original elden ring trailer when his eye goes back in his head. but that's more pure speculation on my part

i'm so excited omg. love these designs. i'll add more if i think of anything else, feel free to add your own observations !

the elden ring twitter just posted this and i’m so alive bc WHAT IS THAT

[hawktims]

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(updated 2023.12.22)

[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.

[valkyurii]

Not trying to be morally superior, but it'll be fantastic if I never see inc*st pairings again. Oh why did this game have to have so many siblings le sigh. If you don't mind answering a question. I must've missed something. But are you saying Malenia stopped at Shaded Castle during the war? Thanks.

I wouldn’t say it makes you morally superior to not like incest, anon. Kind of a hot take here but it is weird and gross how people are so obsessed with it all the time, and the ones who try to make you out to be wrong for not liking their fetish are the worst actually. When the game first came out and I learned they were all related I knew people would be weird about it. They act like GRRM invented incest and so it needs to play a major role in everything he touches. Thank god for blocking and filtering because honestly that’s the safest, healthiest thing you can do for yourself in fandom spaces these days. Anyway, on to your question. As far as I’m aware it’s never stated if Malenia herself ever visited the castle.

This is quite long so I'll put it under a read more.

His mask and armor description read:

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 duel history spanning generations, serving as both executioners and castellans of the Shaded Castle. This mask bears the likeness of the first of their line.”

Marais Robe

“Robe with a black mantle across the shoulders. Customarily worn by the head of House Marais.

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.”

So this just gives us his family’s lore and a bit of context as to why he is so captivated by Malenia. Then there’s his weapon, the Antspur Rapier, which reads:

“Spur of a giant ant which has been fashioned into a rapier. The blade drips with scarlet rot.

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.”

Similar to his armor description it only tells us that he came to worship Malenia because of the rot. None of this suggests he’s ever met her in person though. It’s also interesting that it implies he worshipped the rot before he learned of Malenia. Saying that he eventually found his own personal goddess. I wonder if it was common knowledge that Malenia harboured the rot, or if for a long time it was kept secret.

Then we have the Valkyrie’s Prosthesis which reads:

“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 Shaded Castle, embraced this prosthesis, he claimed to feel the presence of his personal goddess.”

I love how it’s always worded “his personal goddess” like he views her as something only for him. Anyway, we never learn how he came to acquire the arm. Perhaps it was gifted to him? I’ve seen people say that he forges armaments for the cleanrot knights, but again unless I’m missing something, I don’t think it ever says anywhere that he supplies them with gear? It’s a popular theory that he makes the prosthetics for her, but her prosthetics are made of unalloyed gold and so more than likely made by Miquella. His hall is decorated with arm and leg prosthetics and cleanrot armor, but that doesn’t mean he forges any of it. It’s said that he comes from a line of executioners, not smiths. To me it looks more like a fanboy decorating his house with merch of his favourite band or something.

Then we also have this guy.

“Falling for that severed harpy” ah yes, bad Malenia for making that man lose his house and fortune /s. But seriously this line is so funny to me. The dire ramifications of simping too hard I fear. Again though, it doesn’t necessarily mean she was there. Only implying Marais was somewhat remiss in his duties and Elemer saw the opportunity to escape. I don’t think Malenia was there and that was what distracted him during this time. I’m sure if that were the case Elemer would be dead. I doubt she would have allowed a prisoner to kill everyone and take the castle if she were currently housed there with her knights.

So the only reason why I guess some might believe she had visited the castle at some point is because there are a few cleanrot knights there. The other places we find cleanrot knights are places we know Malenia has been. Namely Caelid and Elphael. There’s a few in the catacomb in the snowfield too, but I don’t honestly know if there’s a lore reason for that, or if they are simply there because it’s an area close to the Haligtree and they wanted to add enemies relevant to the area.

TL;DR we don’t actually know for certain if she ever visited in person. However there is a possibility that she may have stopped there on the way to Caelid. The march south would have been long and they may have gone there to rest and restock on provisions.

[katyspersonal]

Yura's love for Eleonora, this is the most intimate feeling he kept in his heart

Morgott's whole motivation (love the Erdtree even if it won't and can't love back)

Malenia gave sick Maleigh hope by her existence

Rykard offered Tanith to drink a potion to forget him to not drag her down with him because he loved her enough to not be selfish

Tanith in turn refused to abandon Rykard no matter how far he'd come, and also gone mad after he died

Patches literally risked his life to cheer Tanith up, despite being a cowardly rat otherwise, and genuinely admired her

Varé cries for Mohg's love before his death

Mohg's love for Miquella, but also he named his dynasty Mohgwyn after himself and his brother, and genuinely hoped the dynasty would come. I find it very bittersweet that even the most broken and deluded madman still had the same motivations of love and hope at the core

Loretta's care for Abinaurics

Tiche's love for her mother Alecto and dying to protect her

Latenna trusting Tarnished to take her on journey in hopes that new Albinaurics will be born, and we also meet her saying goodbye to her beloved wolf Lobo

Aureliette waiting for her sister Aurellia for god knows how long

Roderika's escort wanting to let her know they loved her until the very end and she was worth fighting for

Her whole found family thing with Hewg

Godfrey cradling Morgott in his arms until he vanishes

Berhanl giving up his whole mission after having lost his maiden

Perfumers being a thing because of hope to heal Omens and Misbegotten, especially Tricia that would stay with them until the end if she failed them to make sure they pass without pain

Ds twins loved each other, Devin completely loses his shit and crawls out from his hole probably for the first time for revenge after Darian is killed, and thanks to Zullie the Witch datamining it we learn Darian's last words are uttering Devin's name

Lionel the Lionhearted who took in Fia and declared himself her father just when she was driven away from her home

Kindred of Rot hoping that Malenia would embrace them the unwanted children and there would be a new era, Gowry kinda hopped on bandwagon too

The Nox doing many trial and error with the silvertears in hope for the Lord of the Night

Miquella wishing a true death on his brother Godwyn instead of existing in a sorry state as a husk of his former self

There is a statue depicting Godwyn embracing the twins and statues of the twins embracing each other. I know it is more like nonverbal lore-telling, but from internal logic of the setting standpoint it is kinda bold to have architecture of how much some people cared about each other.

anyway, Elden Ring is about love and hope

Marika burns everything she has build out of sorrow

Ranni banishes the Outer Gods and also fucks off the Lands, giving agency back to the normal beings of the Lands

Fortissax endlessly fights Death for his friend/lover

Melina burns herself and Erdtree in hopes of a better world in the hands of the Tarnished

Blaidd fights against the very reason he was created out of love for his sister

Ranni and Rykard always keep an eye on their mother, protecting her

Radahn evokes so much love from his troops that they organise a whole festival to give him a honorable death even in his madness

Radahn learns an entire new school of magic in order to still ride his favourite horse

Boc's love for his mother, his mother's love for him

How all but two endings are build on the hope that this new era (whatever it might be) will be good

Miquella attempting to create an whole new world-tree to host the forsaken and the damned

Miquella turning on the faith he was raised and even believed in to an extent, when it was unable to cure his sister's curse

The Cleanrot's loyalty to Malenia and their endurance of the Rot, only to stay in her service

Malenia marching through the entire continent in search of her brother

Finlay traveling all the way back on her own, carrying the incapacitated demigod on her back

Tanith's love for Rya

Dialos' entire questline

Edgar being driven mad after his daughter dies

Vyke embracing, to a point, the Frenzied Flame in order to save his finger maiden

or you know, that's just how I see it

[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!