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lrissa · 4 years ago

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You’re Easier To Kick When You’re Kneeling.

summary: you and eren were both titan shifters, getting your ass beat in the court room by humanity’s strongest

warnings: violence, swearing,

✧ ೃ༄*ੈ✩

“Good luck!”

Where the last words Hanji spoke before shoving you and Eren into the court room. Tension penetrated the air as the Survey Corps gave hard glares to the Military Police.

Spinning around you saw everyone looking to you and Eren. Embarrassment and fear crawled through your nerves, gazing to Eren as he looked just as afraid.

“I’m scared..” You whispered to the brunette, he turned to look down at your lightly shaking physique.

“We’ll be fine.” He gave you a small smile, his eyes creased softly, he wished he could reach out and pat you on the shoulder.

Straining yours eyes forwards you bit down your tongue readying yourself mentally. You noticed two long metal pillars beside eachother, gulping.

“Step forward.” An office spoke as he shoved the barrel of a gun into Erens back. Urging him forwards forcefully, quickly you walked to catch up with him.

Two officers pushed you and Eren apart. Snapping your head to the brunette, he nodded his head to you calmly, his eyes gave you comfort as the man shoved you to your knees infront of the pole.

Together the men picked up the metal and ordered you to place your hands stretched behind you, doing so they let the pole fall back into place. Having you directly connected to the pole and squatted down.

You hung your head low as the hair on your shoulders fell forwards to conceal your face. Your eyes had dilated and your body shook. Fear. Worry. Anxiety.

A door opened followed by footsteps and a chair scraping across the stone as someone seated themselves. The judge.

“Well then, let us begin. Eren Jaeger and Y/N L/N, yes?” He’d adjust his glasses and stare at the small paper in his fingers before continuing. “You are soldiers, sworn to sacrifice your life for the public good. Is that correct?”

“Yes, sir.” Eren answered as he stared bug-eyed at the judge, “Yes, sir.” You repeated after Eren and tilted your head up.

“This is an exceptional situation. The tribunal will be held under military, not civilian, law. The final decision rests entirely in my hands.” The white haired man looked from the paper to us, “Your fate will be decided here. Do you have any objections.”

Looking to the floor you squeezed your eyes shut momentarily, opening them wide again. “No, sir.” You and Eren spoke simultaneously.

“I appreciate your perception. I will be direct. As anticipated, concealing your existence has proved impossible. We must make your existing public in some form, or a threat to humanity other than titans will arise. What I will decide today is which force will have custody of you.”

“The Military Police,”

“Or the Survey Corps?”

“Then, I ask the Military Police for their proposal.”

Your head shifted to the Military Police, watching as a man readied himself before speaking vibrantly.

“Yes, sir, I am Commander of the Military Police, Nile Dawk, I will present my proposal. After a thorough investigation of Eren and Y/N’s body, we believe they should be eliminated immediately.”

Your eyes expanded as he said this. This man hardly knew either of you, not a single fucking thing. Your eyebrows furrowed into a scowl while your hands contoured into fists.

“It’s certainly true that their titan power overcame our pervious peril. However, now their existence threatens to spark a civil war. So we ask them to die for humanity’s sake, leaving behind all information they can.” He finished

Your stomach churned as he spoke, did everyone seriously wish you dead?

“There is no need for that! They are an invasive pest! They have deceived the walls that embody Gods wisdom! They must be killed at once!” A preist yelled at the top of his lungs as he pointed to us with crazed eyes. Freak.

“Preist Nick. Order, please.” The judge calmly stated before shifting his attention to the right side.

“We’ll hear the Survey Corps’s proposal next.”

“Yes, sir. I, 13th Commander of the Survey Corps, Erwin Smith, will present my proposal. We would welcome Eren and Y/N as an official member of our forces, and use their power to retake Wall Maria... That is all.”

You stared at the Commander, that’s all. That’s all? Yours and Erens life were on the line and he couldn’t conjure up another defense statement.

“That’s all?” The judge questioned suspiciously.

“Yes, sir. With their power, we can retake Wall Maria. We believe it is clear what our priorities should be.”

“I see. And where do you plan to begin this mission”The judge stated, “Pixis, the Trost wall has been completely sealed, correct?” He added.

“Yes, it can never be opened again.” A bald man retorted.

“We would like to set out from Karanes, in the east. From there, we will proceed to Zhiganshina. We will determine the route as we go.” Erwin confidently spoke as he stared to the judge.

“Wait a minute!” shouted a man, whipping your head over, “Shouldn’t we seal all the wall gates once and for all? The Colossal Titan can only destroy the gates. If we can strengthen them, we needn’t endure further attacks!” His planned seemed smart but there where missing pieces and it would most likely be difficult to achieve.

“Shut up, merchant dog!”

“With those titan powers we can return to Wall Maria!”

“We can no longer indulge your delusions of grandeur!”

Argued two men as they yelled at one another from across the room, ‘So annoying’ you thought.

“You talk a lot, pig.” A dark voice rung throughout the court, turning your head up you spotted Levi. Behind his tough physique he was actually a bit funny.

“Where is your proof?” Levi continued, “that the titans will wait while we seal the gates? The ‘we’ you speak of are only those you wish to protect, your ‘friends’ who help line your pockets. The people who starve because there isn’t enough land to sow don’t even figure into the thoughts of you pig.” Levi finished as you stared at him with wide eyes, was he seriously protecting you from the Military Police?

“We just thought that we could survive by sealing the wall gates—“ The merchant began, “Silence!” Yelled the priest beside him as he slammed his hand on the railing, nearing the mans eyes. “Impious traitor! Mere humans altering Wall Rose, walls that were a gift from God? Can you truly see those walls? Gods work far beyond human capabilities, and not understand?”

The rest of his words drowned out as your mind took hold, thoughts of the future plundered your head as you squeezed your eyes shut.

The judges taps of his desk brought you back to reality and you snapped your head up, “Silence. You may discuss your personal philosophies and opinions elsewhere.”

“Jaeger, L/N. Can you continue to serve as a soldier, using your titan powers to benefit humanity?”

“Yes, I can!” Eren spoke clearly, the judges cold gaze shifting to you, “Yes, sir.”

“But the report on Trost’s defense says this... ‘Immediately after turning into a titan, Eren swung his fist at Mikasa Ackerman.’” You sucked in a breath and looked to Eren, his eyes extended as he looked to Mikasa. Of course, he doesn’t remember.

“Is Mikasa Ackerman present?”

“Yes, that’s me.”

“You are Ackerman? Is it true that, as a titan, Jaeger attacked you?” The old man questioned her.

You sighed softly, ‘As if he can control it yet’ you thought angrily in your mind.

“Yes, its true.”

Gasps of terror rung throughout the court, all eyes falling on Eren in a deathly glare.

“I knew it... He’s just another titan.”

“What about the girl!” Another protested as your head whipped to them, sending a glare to them.

“But, on two previous occasions, Eren saved my life in his titan form. The first time, mere seconds before a titan would have had me in its grasp, he stood between us, protecting me. The second time, he saved Armin and me from an HE shell. I would like these facts to be considered aswell.”

“I object,”

“I believe these comments are greatly colored by her personal feelings. At an early age, Mikasa Ackerman lost her parents and was taken in by the Jaeger household.” Well haven’t you done your homework, you pondered with a small frown.

“Our investigation had also revealed a surprising fact about the underlying events. At age nine, Eren Jaeger and Mikasa Ackerman killed three robbers who tried to kidnap her.”

More gasps could be heard as the news entered their ears, you shook your head. ‘What stupid fucking evidence to have, like they had a choice’ you considered furiously in your mind.

“Even if it was self defense, I must question their fundamental humanity. Is it right to entrust humanity’s fate, resources, and lives to him?”

Whispering and arguing broke out between the different sides, turning their heads to their fellow comrades to spew hatred. What a loss. Losing to this mans ugly mouth. You hung your head and sighed quietly.

“So is she. Do we know if we can trust her!” Referring to you as he pointed. “That’s right! Just to be safe we should dissect her too!” He looked to Mikasa next.

“Wait!” Yelled Eren and looked up to the man, “I may be a monster, but they have nothing to do with it! Nothing at all!” Eren defended as you watched, his spit flying from his mouth as he spoke from his soul. Your heart clenching in pitifulness as you frowned sadly.

“We can’t trust that!”

“It’s true!”

“If you’re covering for them, it means they’re one of you!”

“No!” He screamed and slammed his handcuffs against the metal pole, looking down in defeat, “I mean, you are wrong. But you’re simply coming up with theories that fit, whatever it suits you to fit.”

“Eren..” You said softly as you stared at him, your eyes in pain for him. He was so much braver than you and it gave you courage to see him so persistent.

Looking up you began to speak, “Besides, all of you people. You’ve never seen a titan! What are you so afraid of? What is your point if you do not have the power to fight? If you’re afraid to fight for humanity’s survival then, help us!” Your voice getting increasingly louder as you glared at the pathetic people who called themselves the Military Police.

“Just shut up and trust us!” You yelled your last statement and looked up to the judge, your chest panting heavily as you meant every word.

“Weapons ready!” The Commander of the Military Police shouted while his cadet set his gun on the railing and pointed it to you.

Until your face snapped to the right and pain shot through your nerves, your vision blurred instantly. Metal was all you tasted. A tooth had even managed to fall from your mouth and rolled onto the ground. You blinked to dimish the haziness and looked to your striker.

Levi Ackerman

“Huh?—“

His steel pointed boot slammed across your face again. Your back slamming against the pole behind you. Blood trickled down your nose and down to your chin, dropping onto the floor. Your blood had even splattered small droplets along the stone flooring.

Levi grabbed your collar and shoved you forwards to him. The handcuffs clanging against the pole as Levi stared down at you, his frigid glare locking eyes with your beaten ones before slamming his knee into the side of your head, sending it flying.

Pain. So much pain. It was burning you alive from the inside as all you could do was endure it. Tch, this guy’s a dick.

“Y/N!” Eren screamed from the opposite end. Hatred and worry evident in his tone as he struggled against his own cuffs, “Stop it!” Eren attempted again as all he could do was watch his friend get beaten to the brink of death.

Levi continued to sock you with his boot, giving you zero remorse as he beat the girl below him. Mikasa glared and got ready to jump the railing before Armin held her back.

Blood streamed down your face, a large puddle had began to form under you. You gasped for air before Levi lifted his leg high and stomped down on your head into the puddle of your demise. Grimacing at the filth and pain, all you did was lay there. If someone wasn’t looking hard enough, they’d assume you were already dead.

Croaks of pain left your body as his boot remained on your head, struggling to breath as blood trickled down your nose and into your mouth, unintentionally swallowing.

“This is a personal opinion. But I believe pain to be the best way to train someone. What you need is to be trained like a dog, not a man.”

Your rigid breathes left your mouth as you stared straight at Eren, his eyes meeting yours as he seemed to become visibly furious. Bruised and cuts tracked your once pretty, soft skin. Blood now coating all the crevices in your face.

“It’s easier to kick you while you’re kneeling, too.”

Levi lifted his boot and slammed it into the side of your head once again, giving you no time to breathe he stomped it back onto the cold ground again. Repeating his tourtue when he kicked your head all over again.

Strangled breaths was all you could muster, along with the rattling of the handcuffs as you were thrown around like trash, filling the silence of the fearful court room.

Kick. Kick, Kick.

All anyone could do was watch your doom, “Wait, Levi...”

Your head was pushed against the pole with his boot flat on your face as he turned his head to the one speaking, “What is it?”

His boot fell from your face as you hunched forwards, croaking as you gasped for air, blood trickling down the sides of your mouth.

“That’s dangerous... What if she gets angry and turns into a titan?”

You slowly tilted your head up to Levi, hair falling away from your face and resting on your shoulders. The raven head stared at you for a moment, then shoved his boot back onto your face and slamming it against the pole.

“What are you saying?” Levi dropped his leg again and gripped a fistful your hair, violently pulling you to his face as your eyes struggled to remain open from extreme bruising.

“Aren’t you going to dissect her?” He dropped your hair and stood straight, peering down to your defeated and beaten figure.

“When she turned into a titan last time, she killed twenty other titans before collapsing. If she is an enemy, her intelligence makes her a more formidable foe. Still no match for me, of course.”

Levi gazed to the Military Police, “But what will you do? Anyone persecuting her should also consider that fact. Do you really think you can kill her?” Levi spoke cooly as he stood infront of you, staring you down.

From afar you heard others speak, but your heartbeat clogged your ears as it deafened any other noise. Staring at Levi’s boots infront of you, you noted your blood coating the bottom before gently shutting your eyelids.

You could only hear Levi as he spoke from ahead of you, “I’m certain I can kill her. The only problem is I doubt I can do any less.” Levi proposed.

Hearing the pound of the desk above you, the judge made his decision. But you’d never make out what he proposed.

Footsteps stepped back from ahead of you as new ones came from behind you, uncuffing you and lifting the pole.

You tumbled forwards onto the unwelcoming ground, cautiously opening your eyes to the glaring sunlight that entered through the windows.

Eren ran to you, crouching down infront of you as you saw him shout words at you. He picked your head up in his hands and cradled you in his lap, checking for your pulse.

Your eyes began to shut again, your head lulling to the side to spot the raven head. Levi stared at you from afar, his arms crossed over his chest. The last thing you saw was the ravens dark gaze before your eyes rolled and all you saw was darkness.

be real, we all wish we were the ones being kicked

#aot x reader #levi heichou #levi ackerman #levi x reader #anime gif #aot imagines #aot fanfiction #aot #levi aot #levi imagine #levi x y/n #snk levi #snk anime #snk x reader #snk #attack on titan

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lillytalons · 4 years ago

Text

How Many Suns to Know Someone

Read on Ao3

“General, sir!”

“At ease Commander. What can I do for you?” Obi-wan looked at the clone in front of him. He had the visor and pauldron of a commander, but no other signifiers. Standard weapons, stood strictly at attention, with his hand up in a salute. He lowered his arm but kept the stance, not at ease at all.

“Sir, I am assigned as your commander in the 7th Sky Corps.”

“Ah, excellent. I’m Obi-wan Kenobi. I assume you were just promoted?” Obi-wan tried to give a comforting smile, but the clone in front of him didn’t appear to react. He pushed the datapads on his desk away from him slightly to show his full attention to the commander.

“Yes, sir. I was senior commander of the 425th until CC-1104 died a few weeks into the war. I was promoted to commander of the 104th.”

“I’m glad to have you, we have a lot to organize and do. The war is picking up quickly.” The Commander didn’t say anything, just gave a short nod. “I’m sorry I didn’t catch your name, Commander…”

“CC-2224, sir.”

Obi-wan stopped a grimace from coming to his face, naming sentient men like units of droids was unfortunate at best, oppressive at worst. Obi-wan had heard some of the men use other names, but it was always at the edge of his hearing. In front of him the men always used their number designations or rank.

“Alright, CC-2224. Have you settled in yet?”

“No, sir.”

“Well, I can have someone show you to your quarters if you would like. Dinner will be in the mess soon.”

“I can find my way, General.”

Obi-wan nodded. “We leave at 0800 tomorrow. Briefing on the bridge at 0830.”

“Yes, sir.” The commander snapped off another salute and let himself out. Obi-wan sighed as he dove back into paper work, untangling the mess of the 7th Sky Corps was going to take an effort.

“Ah, Commander. Are we ready to depart?” Obi-wan glanced at the chrono on the wall and noted it was still 10 to 8.

“Yes, General.” Commander CC-2224 saluted and the stood stiffly near the holotable that Obi-wan had loaded with the overview of the galaxy deployment. It was still messy and overlapping as the council worked to load up fleets and organize defenses. The 7th Sky Corps was mostly in place, other than his still unnamed flagship which was currently above Coruscant where it had been waiting for him, his commander, and final stocking for part of the fleet.

“Good.” Obi-wan turned another clone on the bridge. “Depart when ready, Captain.”

Obi-wan studied the Commander across from him, but much like the day before, he had few identifying marks. His armor was mostly clean, meaning he either hadn’t been in the beginning skirmishes of the war or he was meticulous and lucky. Perhaps he had been stationed away from the ground fighting. He had the yellow stripes of a commander down his helmet and the sides of his arms. Obi-wan hadn’t seen his face yet, but as a clone there wouldn’t be much if anything to distinguish his face from others.

“Unfortunately, Commander, the others aren’t as punctual as you, we’ll have to wait for them to start the briefing. You are free to leave and return in a half an hour if you wish. I’ll be here running logistics I’m afraid.”

Obi-wan could see the twitch of his commander, clearly holding back a comment or question.

“Yes, Commander?”

“Where will the 7th Sky Corps be deployed, sir?”

“That is part of the problem. We don’t know. As of now, the 3rd System Army is going to cover a portion of the Mid Rim. The Jedi Council has asked my help in organizing basic deployment based on my, shall we call it prior experience. Within that, we have to deploy corps successfully, though some will be deployed with specialized goals, others are more general.

“Beyond that many of the armies and corps are in disarray with limited Jedi to assign and with my understanding there were many commanders lost in the battle of Geonosis. Another Master was given command of the Sky Corps temporarily, but was not as efficient as expected. It’s a mess, one that I could use your expertise in sorting through if you would be willing.”

“Of course, sir. That’s what we’re trained for.” CC-2224 walked closer to the map, studying it, and after a moment to let him analyze it, Obi-wan expanded the view of where the Sky Corp was going to be.

“When the others arrive for the brief I have information of specific planets we need to cover immediately, but we need a preliminary plan to move forward.”

The commander studied the planets and the few ships clustered in an unorganized and inefficient couple of groups. “Sir…”

“Yes?” Obi-wan raised an eyebrow at the clone, he could feel his hesitancy in the force like a stutter.

“What is the current plan from the Council? It doesn’t make sense for all of those ships to be so bunched together. They aren’t effective. Sir.” He tacked on the last bit, seeming to realize his blunder of criticizing commanding officers.

“There isn’t one. Master Vexa was sent to start organizing, and he had a commander to assist, but unfortunately they were sent to a skirmish in the Mid-rim immediately, and the commander was killed, along with other high ranking officers. Master Vexa was recalled to another unit when I was able to take charge of the army and the Corps. They never had time to complete organization of the Corps, and all of the officers left were equal in rank as well as not being Jedi. There was no one to truly take charge.” Obi-wan sighed quietly but straightened his shoulders, damage had already been done, it was up to him to fix it.

The commander shifted slightly and nodded after a very long moment to digest the information. “Yes, sir.”

“What about you Commander, you said you were with the 104th? Which Jedi were you with again?”

“I was with General Koon, sir.” Obi-wan hated trying to read the men through armor, there were very few ticks, CC-2224 hardly even twitched a finger. It was like talking to a droid. Except that most droids were idiots. He of course had the force, but the men were tightly controlled and quickly mastered their emotions.

Obi-wan started shifting ships holographically to new locations, slowly expanding the coverage. “And why was there a transfer, problems with Master Koon?” He kept the question casual, but he was curious. Master Koon was a very easy going and talented Jedi. Problems with him could be indicative of his commander. Though of course he was too easy going for some people. They saw his soft nature and assumed it meant lesser skills.

“No, sir.” The clone’s voice sounded even tighter than usual. “His chosen personal battalion specializes in flight missions. CC-3636 is better than me at leading and flying in those kinds of missions, but he was finishing specialized command training until last week. I was informed of my transfer to your command yesterday.”

“Thoughts on the deployment, Commander?” Obi-wan gestured to the holomap where he had been manipulating ships.

“The 4th quadrant is along hyperspace lanes leading to the Outer Rim, it would benefit from a heavier presence, sir.”

Obi-wan moved the ships without comment, studying the map again before asking CC-2224 another question. They continued working until the briefing where Obi-wan presented their rough plan to the other officers. The commander disappeared quickly after dismissal, but Obi-wan thought he sensed a quiet relief or pleasure when his suggestions were taken without fuss.

Obi-wan wandered into the mess hall, looking for somewhere to sit which was unusual for him. He often took his meals in his office, finishing work, especially focused on figuring out how to organize this war. Jedi were constantly being moved around as the council and other highly analytical Jedi assigned Jedi and clone officers, trying to match aptitudes, temperaments, and specialized needs. They were also trying to figure out how many Jedi they could afford to have at each level of the GAR. Many senior padawans were knighted in the first weeks of the war, like Anakin, but were still functioning under increased supervision as they started to lead men into battles. Obi-wan sighed as his thoughts circled these problems while grabbing his food. Jedi were not meant for war.

He sat near a group of clones, close enough to be able to talk to them, but far enough away to allow them their own space if they had no interest in engaging. A few clones in the mess had rank colors, but it was mostly a disconcerting sea of white.

CC-2224 sat down next to him, a slight buffer between him and the other men. Or perhaps a bridge.

“Commander. How are preparations?” They had been in hyperspace for 2 days and were going to be coming planet-side in a few hours, the men were getting antsy to do something more than chores around the ship.

“Almost done, General. We’ll be ready by arrival.”

“Good, thank you.”

One of the clones closest to them seemed to be full of nervous energy, tightly wound. When CC-2224 and Obi-wan said nothing else he finally cleared his throat. “Umm, General? Sir?”

“Yes, trooper…?”

“Stitch, sir.” His face got very red and he hurried to correct himself. “I mean CT-1655, sir.”

Obi-wan smiled at him, the smile that calmed down anxious padawans and bristling senators alike. “Do you prefer to go by Stitch?” The trooper nodded and the slightly tense atmosphere seemed to freeze as clones within several tables of them got very quiet. “Very well. What can I do for you, Stitch?” There was no noticeable noise but the room felt like it had let out a collective exhale and the noise level rose again, though not as loud as it had been before. Obi-wan was certain that many of the clones were listening intently despite appearances.

The trooper smiled slightly. “We were, well, I was wondering where you were assigned before us, sir?”

“This is my first true command, actually. After the Battle of Geonosis I was injured, as was my padawan. We were given leave to heal as well as dealing with Anakin’s knighting.”

“Knighting means he’s a full Jedi now, right, sir? So he’s a general too?”

“Yes,” Obi-wan explained fondly. “He has just been assigned to the 501st I believe. He is assigned to the Sky Corps, so we will likely work with him at some point.”

“Thank you, sir.” The trooper became shyer again and tucked back into his food. His bravery had influenced some other troopers around them however. Obi-wan could feel their focus through the force, though he kept his gaze mostly on his food so they wouldn’t be scared off. Another clone spoke up, not speaking directly to him, but not excluding him from the conversation either.

“Hey Commander, that’s the legion Rex is in right? The 501st?”

CC-2224 nodded. “Last I heard it was.”

“Is Rex another commander?” Obi-wan asked curiously.

The Commander shook his head. “He’s a captain, sir.”

Obi-wan gave a self deprecating chuckle. “I have many names to learn if I’m going to keep up with you troopers. Do you know all of the officers in the Sky Corps?”

CC-2224 gave a wry smile. “No, sir. Captain Rex was in many of my command classes. He’s an excellent tactician and strategist, a good captain.”

“Perhaps he will be good for Anakin then.” At the slightly wary look in CC-2224’s eyes Obi-wan expounded. “Anakin is a peerless fighter and excellent tactician. However, he can be, well, brash at times. Overall strategy isn’t his forte, so I’m sure the clones in his command will help to balance him out.” Obi-wan could still see some hesitancy even though the clones around him nodded and accepted his explanation. He suddenly remembered that their first commander had died in a foolishly fought battle led by a Jedi that the council quickly decided would be better under more supervision. A battle that had taken dozens of troopers needlessly as well.

“Anakin may be brash, but he cares deeply for those around him. He will listen to his captains and commander I am sure. He knows his failings, as all Jedi should.” Most of the tension faded at this pronouncement and lunch was finished with quiet conversations around them, though no one directly engaged Obi-wan again.

As they left to finish preparations, Obi-wan found himself walking with CC-2224 towards the bridge. Obi-wan thought to the several names he had learned at lunch, Stitch was the only one to directly introduce himself, but after that Obi-wan had heard several other names being used around him. He hadn’t quite assigned the names to specific troopers but he knew that would come with time. “Commander, may I ask you a question?”

“Of course, sir.” He was as stoic as ever, though wearing his helmet undoubtably helped with that.

“Is there another name you prefer to go by, or simply CC-2224?”

There was a pause, and Obi-wan wasn’t sure what pros and cons his commander was weighing, but he stayed silent. “Cody, sir.” He finally said in a release of air. “I go by Commander Cody.”

Obi-wan smiled in triumph. “Commander Cody fits you very well.” They stepped onto the bridge and someone shouted “General on the bridge!”

“Ready to get to work, Commander?” The chrono on the wall said 2 hours until arrival and Obi-wan felt anticipation go through him as Cody smiled tight lipped. He didn’t want this war, but neither was he willing for it to go on without him. His troops needed him to make sure that as many as possible survived by the end of the day. And now they could start being useful.

“Of course, General.” And so they got to work.

——

Cody grunted as he took a punch to the stomach, but he waited for an opening. When Crys swung at his head, he ducked under it and used the momentum from Crys to further imbalance him, ending with Crys on the mat, Cody pinning him. There was other noises from other clones as they continued training, shooting or sparring. But above that there was a single person clapping.

Cody and Crys looked over to the doorway where General Kenobi was standing. “Great job, Commander.” He stepped closer to them, and Cody saw he was dressed the most casual he had ever seen. Most of his robes were gone, he was just wearing base underclothes. Cody got off Crys and gave him a hand up.

“Thank you, sir”

“And good job to you as well…”

“Crys, General.” The General nodded and smiled. “If I could offer a suggestion, Crys?”

“Of course, General.” Crys straightened and locked his eyes on the General.

Obi wan stepped onto the mat and gestured to Crys to come closer. “Your punches are solid but you telegraph your moves, allowing Commander Cody to anticipate them. There wasn’t much you could have done once the punch was swung, but if you shift your stance like this,” he demonstrated it “you’ll be more difficult to imbalance.”

“Thank you, sir.”

“Ready to practice?”

“Sir?”

Kenobi ticked an eyebrow up and grinned. “Well, the best way to learn is to do.” He clearly saw Crys hesitance and added, “You won’t break me, trooper.”

“Yes, sir.” Crys got into the ready stance, and Kenobi swung his fist at him at half speed. Crys blocked him and when he tried the same move Cody had done Obi-wan was able to shift away before he was thrown on the mat.

“Good. Switch.” Crys threw a punch and Obi-wan blocked it like Cody had. Crys wasn’t able to avoid the throw completely, but he was able to roll out of the fall before the General could pin him. The General immediately disengaged. “Good, more practice and you’ll be an expert.”

Crys nodded. “Thank you, sir.”

Obi-wan nodded at both of them and moved to a corner of the room. He pulled out his lightsaber and started doing slow sequences with it, avoiding the other clones training. They all looked at him, but quickly went back to their own tasks.

“You ready to go again?” Cody asked Crys. Crys nodded but then a look of confusion crossed his face.

“How did he know who you were?”

Cody was about to respond, but realized he didn’t have an answer. Crys and he looked exactly the same, in fact most of the clones did. Some had started doing different hairstyles within regulations, or even drawing on themselves every couple of days. Normally his armor or even the fact that he always stayed by the general identified him. But all of them were in blacks at the moment. “You know, I don’t know.”

Crys shrugged in that pragmatic way that clones have and fell into another starting position.

——

Pain. Pain surged through his face, his head, his eye. It felt like a knife cutting again and again, the pain fading for a part of a moment before coming back worse than before. He would not have opposed just passing out to have the pain end, but he was doubtful that would happen.

Voices faded in and out, yelling incoherence as his battalion continued to push back the droids. He thought he heard someone yell medic, but wasn’t sure until minutes later when fingers felt along his neck.

The medic started requesting help and Cody was about to help him by trying to sit up. As soon as he moved the pain intensified and Cody wasn’t aware of anything else.

He woke with the smell of chemical and blood filling his nose. He blinked his eyes open and though the bright light blinded him for a moment in one eye he recognized the medbay on their flagship.

Several clones had suggested the name The Negotiator and Cody had approved the name a few days before. When they got general approval from the GAR their fleet would be completely organized and operational from the clones perspective as well as the natborns. His men refused to consider the corps complete without proper names on everything deserving of names.

If that meant that the best working caff maker was jokingly called Jimmy, that was neither here nor there.

He realized his mind was wandering and pulled it to the present, just to realize that he couldn’t see out of one eye. His other eye was covered in bandages and he could feel the swollen and warm skin on that side of his face.

A face came into his field of vision, the medic, and he smiled slightly at seeing Cody awake.

“Ah, commander! Glad you’re with us. How do you feel?”

“Like a bantha stepped on me. Or like I got blown up.”

“Well you would be right. You were caught in the edge of an explosion and shrapnel hit your helmet hard enough to leave a mark.”

“How bad is it?”

“Well it missed your eye we think, so you should have full range of vision once the bandages come off. Unfortunately we found you late, and it took a while to get you back to medical, the droids were persistent. I’ll need to monitor you closely for infection. We got bacta on it, but it will probably scar.”

“That’s fine.” Cody tried to swallow past the uncomfortable dryness in his throat and the medic handed him a glass of water before moving on to help another trooper.

They pulled the bandages off the next day and Cody was relieved that his vision was fine after it adjusted to the light. The medics tried to get him to stay another day, concerned about other repercussions from the explosion but he overrode them both with his rank and the fact that he could rest better in his quarters. He only felt like a small bantha ran him over now, rather than the whole herd.

The general found him a few hours later, delivering more datapads. He passed them over while waving Cody to stay sitting. He leaned on the desk casually, like the first time in his commanders room was something completely ordinary. Jedi had odd rules regarding interactions with others, but maybe that was down to less rank and structure in their normal lives.

“Cody, I’m glad to see you are alright. My apologies for delivering more work, but the war stops for none of us.”

Cody hummed and accepted the pads with a shrug. “I understand, sir.”

“I have been in explosions before, they aren’t pleasant.”

“No. But I’m well enough, sir.”

“You’ll tell someone if you feel dizzy, a headache, any lingering side effects?”

Cody looked at him with a raised eyebrow. The way it tugged at his skin was odd but no longer painful. “I’m fine, general.”

“Of course,” General Kenobi smiled at him innocently. “How does the scar feel, do you need more bacta?”

“It doesn’t hurt,” which was true thankfully. He still wasn’t sure if Jedi could read minds, but the Jedi always seemed to know when someone was being untruthful. Whether that was the force or reading body language Cody didn’t know. “Might was well save the bacta, and the medic said more bacta probably wouldn’t help much anyway.”

“I see. Hopefully we all come out of this war with minimal scars, realistic or not.”

“Scars distinguish us. I don’t mind.”

“I hadn’t thought of it that way,” the General tilted his head in acknowledgement and stood, “I should let you get back to it. Let me know if you need anything, Commander.”

The Jedi turned back and Cody looked at him questioningly. “My apologizes for calling you Cody, Commander. I had no intention of being disrespectful.”

Cody was shocked at the apology, especially since he had given the general permission to use his name weeks ago. He hadn’t even realized that he hadn’t until he had apologized. “You can call me Cody, sir.”

“You may call me Obi-wan you know.”

Cody shook his head. “It wouldn’t be proper, general. And it would set a poor example for the men.”

Obi-wan smiled slightly at him but it seemed a little sad. “Very well. Rest up, commander.”

Later as Cody scanned the new datapads he realized that they were all low priority and could have been handed over by anyone. The explanation that made the most sense was general had come to check on him, using the pads as an excuse. But that was weird to think about so Cody pushed it aside.

——

“Eh, I’ll paint my armor one day, Commander, just you watch. You’re gonna turn around one day and I’ll have that commander yellow.”

“Dream on shiny. You’ve got a ways to go before you make commander.” Cody noticed the pensive look on the general’s face, but couldn’t figure out exactly what he had to think about. Maybe it was an unrelated look, figuring out battle tactics. Or maybe he was considering if the trooper would be able to be a commander. Cody doubted he would be promoted that far, possibly a captain but from what Cody remembered he wasn’t much of a strategist. Maybe that’s what the general was considering.

Two days later General Kenobi commed Cody to come to the bridge. “Cody, I would like your input on something,” He said as soon as Cody got to him.

“Sir?” The general started walking away from the others to give them some privacy.

“How effective do you think the paint for officers is in the field?”

Cody weighed whether to keep his opinions to himself, being critical of the Kaminoans never went well. But he wasn’t directly under their thumbs any more. “It’s effective for men to know the rallying point sir, if the officer is leading the troops from the front.”

“But?” Cody didn’t know if Obi-wan could tell he had dislikes from his tone or whatever force magic he had, but it was going to get annoying very quickly.

“It makes us a target sir. The droids are stupid, but not that stupid. And it hurts morale if the troopers can’t see the paint, whether or not the officer is down.”

“That has been my observation as well. Some identification can be useful, but everyone being in white is rather plain don’t you think?”

“Sir?”

“The Council and I are discussing assigning paint colors to units rather than as ranks. I volunteered us to be one of the units testing it.” Obi-wan paused, clearly waiting for him to say something.

Cody had no idea what to say. Did the General want his opinion on colors? His blessing? Why in the world would Obi-wan Kenobi need his approval? “Very good, sir.”

“I’ve had some idea for colors, do you have any opinion, Commander Cody?”

“No, sir.”

“None at all commander? Surely you have some opinion.”

Cody sighed internally. If his opinion was opposite Obi-wan’s it wouldn’t end well. “I’m not partial to red, sir.” After living with red clothes his entire life, he disliked the color almost as much as pure white.

“I was thinking a color similar to your command color. But I wasn’t sure if you were already tired of it. It will likely be permanent for the rest of the war.”

“I would like that, sir.”

“Excellent, I will order the paint and we can pick it up on our next supply.”

“Will other units be painting, General?”

“Yes, some of the other units working directly under the High Council. I think the troopers assigned to Coruscant as well.”

Cody idly wondered what colors the others would pick but pushed it away, he would see soon enough.

When they finally got the paint two weeks later the General handed him a small bucket with a smile. “I’m excited to see what you design, commander.”

It took Cody longer than he wanted to pick his design, but when he did he felt like his armor was finally his. He had no real interest in tattoos or unique hairstyles like the men were starting to do, free from the restricting sameness of Kamino. But his amor could never be any one else’s now.

When he walked onto the bridge the next morning, every trooper did a double take. He could see many of them trying to stare discretely. He kept his head high and his gait even like nothing was different or unique in any way. Let the men draw their own conclusions. They knew that they had received paint for the ships, but Cody hadn’t told them to paint their armor yet, and he was almost positive that General Kenobi hadn’t said anything either.

General Kenobi strolled onto the bridge and smiled broadly at Cody. “I like the design, Commander. It suits you.”

Cody nodded at him. “Thank you, general.”

They both got to work organizing troop movements, but Cody felt more eyes than usual following him around for days.

He was told to start spreading the paint, though they had a limited supply, so Cody focus on the captains of the battalion, then the lieutenants, then to slowly spread down the ranks. The newest troops wouldn’t get paint for quite a while, but that was okay. The term shiny was already being used because of how pristine their armor was and the lack of command colors. Now it was becoming an even more fitting name.

It was thrilling in a way to see some of the white fade as yellow/gold replaced it. The troopers started talking about what they would paint when they finally got the chance, and Cody even saw the hairstyles start to get more interesting. If they could be unique in their armor, it would make sense that no one would care about their haircuts.

Cody made sure no one grew it longer than regulation of course, but Cody thought he saw the General smile at one of the unique razor patterns he saw in the mess hall so he left it mostly alone.

Soon after all the lieutenants had their paint, Cody dragged him back from yet another canon blast, into the arms of a lieutenant, Wooley. Wooley shot a droid before it could shoot his General, and Obi-wan nodded at them while coughing the dust out of his lungs. “My thanks, Commander. Wooley.”

In another free moment they had, crouching under a barrier, Cody found himself speaking to fill the silence. “At least the paint helps to tell us apart, right General?”

General Kenobi gave him a bemused look. “Oh Commander, I don’t need paint to tell you all apart. It’s simply nice to see your individualities.” He poked his head up to check their surroundings and readied his lightsaber again. He gave that little smirk that always meant trouble and said, “Besides, all white can be a bit of an eyesore,” before jumping over the rubble and charging the droid line once again.

Cody didn’t know what to say, but since he had to make sure his General didn’t get blown up he didn’t have much time to worry about it.

——

Cody sighed and signed yet another form. He found himself glancing up every few minutes to check on the general. The general had been unconscious for hours now. The bone mender had fixed his broken ribs, and the lung had been repaired before anything lethal had happened, but Cody was still keyed up from everything.

Kenobi groaned and shifted slightly. Cody found himself almost dropping his datapad. He leaned forward and looked at the vital signs. He was no medic but between his upbringing and how many of his brothers ended up in the medbay, he could tell that the vitals were good.

Cody looked around for the medic but he was dealing with another patient so Cody decided it was probably better to leave them alone until the General woke up all the way.

The man who should still be asleep for another couple of hours started moving his mouth like he was trying to speak. Cody almost spoke before the general swallowed and tried again. “Evr’yone ‘right Cody?”

“Yes, sir. We lost a few men, but casualties were low. You’re the worst off, general.”

“…you?”

Cody felt a brow raise, the general was basically incoherent but why would he care so much that it was the second thing he asked on waking up? Not about the council, or progress of the campaign, or even how hurt he was. He asked about the men first and Cody second.

“I’m just fine general. You should rest.”

The ginger man nodded and his breathing evened out again immediately. Cody would be surprised if he remembered any of this when he woke up.

——

“Sir? May I ask a question?”

“Of course, Cody.”

Cody was tense again, like he hadn’t been in weeks. They had fallen into a rhythm with doing paperwork and organizing the army. But in the force he felt more like he did in the first weeks of their partnership than the familiarity they had fallen into. Cody met his eyes and slid his paperwork away from himself.

“How do you always know it’s me, sir?”

“I’m not sure I understand.”

“All us clones look the same. You can sometimes tell us apart by armor, I always had command paint or 212th paint. But you recognize me when you shouldn’t. Even before I got the scar. You knew who I was when you were half conscious and not looking at me. I’ve noticed you generally can differentiate the men too. The Kaminoans couldn’t tell us apart, and no other natborns can unless we have obvious marks.”

Obi-wan felt a rush of understanding and sorrow. These men hadn’t had anyone outside their own brothers truly know them. The galaxy saw them as interchangeable and empty. That was the furthest thing from the truth but who would chose to see reality? “Oh, it’s quite simple Cody. The force.”

“The force, sir?”

“Yes, I can tell all of you apart because of your presence in the force.” Obi-wan hesitated, did Cody want the lecture on how it worked? Anakin generally tuned him out or only caught the ends of his explanations, unless it was something that he felt he needed to know. “May I ask how much you know of the force, commander?”

Cody shifted slightly in his chair, but his voice was steady like he was giving a report. “It can be used to move objects and people, including assisting in large jumps. You can occasionally sense danger, and your reaction times are faster than normal parameters,” Cody paused but added as a quiet afterthought, “There are rumors you can read minds and control them.”

So Cody knew what he could observe, and little else. “Very good. Your observations were correct, though reading minds is generally an exaggeration and outright controlling someone is impossible.” Cody nodded and Obi-wan knew he was storing the information away like he did enemy movements and battle maneuvers.

Obi-wan leaned back from the desk and crossed his legs. He collected his thoughts, explaining the force to someone who didn’t know anything about it or how it felt it was more difficult than even teaching initiates. They breathed the force, so while they needed guidance they could grasp the theory quickly. “Well, the force is the energy of universe. It binds everything together, and is contained in every living thing. Some living things can manipulate that energy, like the Jedi or the Sith. We can augment our physical selves as you have seen. It allows us to do the things you have seen like moving objects or cushioning our fall, but it is much more than that.

“Force sensitive beings can feel the currents around them, for lack of a better analogy. Some Jedi get premonitions, shapes of the future, events that are about to happen. Often we can receive warnings if we are attuned and paying attention. We can use the force to sense around us, like another sense. It is possible to sense objects, but it is much easier to sense living beings because of the way the force moves through them.

“I can sense each of the life forms on this ship and they are all distinct from each other. Does that make sense?”

Cody nodded slowly. “How do we feel different? We’re all the same genetically.”

Obi-wan hummed in thought. “Force signatures don’t rely on genetic code. It’s a combination of personality, experience, and the unique thing that makes each person. It’s extremely hard to describe, but it’s somewhat like the difference between voices. Well voices for non-clones I suppose. Perhaps like a visible fingerprint. Everyone understands it slightly differently, but more force users can tell the difference between beings through the force.”

“So once you meet someone you always know them?”

“It’s a bit like learning someone’s voice, you may think they are familiar after you meet them, but it takes true familiarity to recognize them. Some Jedi are better at it than others. And of course, it is often simpler and faster to notice those around us with the mundane methods.”

“Is there a way to trick a Jedi?”

“It is possible for some masters, but it requires use of the force.” Cody looked pensive but nodded again.

“Thank you for explaining, general.”

“Of course, Cody. I don’t mind explaining things, feel free to ask questions.”

They went back to their paperwork, but Obi-wan could tell Cody had another question. After a few minutes, Cody cleared his throat, “Sir?”

“Yes?”

“What do I, uh, look like in the force?”

Obi-wan smiled. “As difficult as it is to explain, you shine in the force, Commander. You are steady and decisive, confident and determined. You are light.”

Blush spread up Cody’s neck and on to his cheeks, visible even through the dark skin. “Thank you.”

He didn’t say anything else but Obi-wan could feel his quiet pleasure. Slowly and surely they were getting to know each other. Obi-wan felt the web of light slowly growing week by week that connected him to his men, and basked in it. Even in darkness there is light.

#my writing #obi wan kenobi #commander cody #sw #fanfic

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bellygunnr · 4 years ago

Text

Checksum

[Previously...] [Next]

Chapter 2: Profit Margins

PILOT ORVILLE FREEBORN MCS JAMES MACALLAN // TITAN BAY 4 EN ROUTE PLANET TYPHON, IMC-CONTROLLED SPACE

The simpod's indicator light winks green. Orville watches it, lulled slightly by the deep hum of the egg-shaped machine while his colleagues talked around him. They were clustered together, talking freely about the two men semi-unconscious in front of them, though he had long since lost the thread of conversation. He never paid much attention to gossip and he wasn't about to start now.

Besides, the rifleman wasn't that interesting. He seemed quiet and never looked anyone in the eye. What Lastimosa saw in the man, Orville didn't know. But Lastimosa had only told them what he was doing-- not why he was doing it.

The kid could be his son, for all he knew. At the end of the day, the lone notion of the kid simply became the Marauder Corps's worst-kept secret.

"Say, Freeborn," Shaver says, nudging his shoulder.

Orville starts, dragging his gaze away from the 'pod to focus on his mate, Crane. He raises an eyebrow.

"You think Anderson and Grenier are even alive by now?" Crane asks.

His tone is light and conversational. Orville hums, rubbing his chin thoughtfully.

"Sure, right? Why would they be dead?" Orville says.

He glances up at the crouched Titan behind them, BT-7274. It's focused intently on Captain Lastimosa, but he hasn't any doubt it's eavesdropping on them. Captain Cole has taken to opening and closing an electric lighter repeatedly, filling the space with anxious clicking.

"Apparently, the SRS outpost we had here went dark," Crane explains.

"So? That's just standard protocol. We've had ops like that more than once, Shaver," Orville says, gaining an edge to his voice.

"But this one just seems weird, y'know? Some backwater IMC planet, a mystery testing facility... Very hush-hush, I've heard."

"El-Tees Shaver and Freeborn," a deep, smooth, but still clearly synthesized voice erupts, "you are in violation of confidentiality codes regarding Oscar-Two-One-Seven."

Crane has the good sense to wince and Orville crosses his arms over his chest, rolling his eyes. For a second, he wanted to retort, but...

BT wasn't wrong. With Cole and the rifleman in the hangar, they really shouldn't be so loose-lipped.

"Sorry, BT," Orville says.

There's a pause as they both wait for a response from the Titan. Predictably, he says nothing, but the shutters in his optic suddenly twist, that blue pinpoint of an eye leveling on the 'pod. Orville, Crane, and Cole all turn their gazes to it, curious.

The green light was now blinking. It turns solid amber.

"They must be finished," Cole says.

BT-7274 draws itself to its full height with an abrupt scrape of metal. At the same time, the lights in the hangar stutter, plunging them in a half-realm darkness. Orville reaches for the pager at his belt, tapping the screen on, his chest already tight with alarm.

There's nothing on the pager. The lights flicker again.

"I thought they fixed this shit back at Harmony," Crane says.

Tai jerks to life with a start, the same instant the simpod beeps and pops its latch open. Orville turns to stare at a dazed Jack Cooper.

Alarms start blaring. Five pagers go off at once, shrill with the sound of a non-standard alert. The intercoms crackle, but it's not the ship's AI that speaks. It's the captain.

"All hands, abandon ship."

"Abandon-- but we haven't--?" Crane stammers, shocked. "What?"

"Get off your ass and go, pilot," Tai snaps. "Prepare for Titanfall, everyone. Rifleman--"

Orville hurries after Crane, where his Titan resides, already crouched and open for embarking. He jams his helmet on and flops into her palm.

He had a bad, bad feeling about this.

BT-7274 MCS JAMES MACALLAN // TITAN BAY 4 IN ORBIT PLANET TYPHON, IMC-CONTROLLED SPACE

The faux field BT-7274 finds itself in is reminiscent of the prairie surrounding much of the Militia's HQ back at Harmony. He takes it in cautiously, scanning the horizon for threats despite being fully cognizant of the simulated war fog obscuring the distance. A considerable distance away, Tai and the rifleman stand, both excited.

"That's my partner, BT. He's a Vanguard-class. Homegrown Militia technology... "

BT-7274 pushes himself upright.

"The first Titan chassis we designed ourselves. One we didn't have to steal from the IMC. Now, go ahead, Cooper. Call in your first Titan."

He flicks his gaze skyward to witness the sky ripple, a pixelated rift bubbling and expanding, spitting the under-rendered silhouette of a Titan-- a mere copy of himself-- to the ground, high-speed.

Before it can land, that rip in virtual reality explodes. The system error that rocks the simpod flashes in the corner of BT's own HUD. Quietly, he detaches itself from the program.

Titan Bay 4 is in chaos. Pilots and ground crew run between his legs, shouting orders and clambering for their gear. BT-7274 checks his own inventory compulsively.

"They're killing us down there, rifleman. Trying to, anyway," Tai says.

SHIP AI UTAH to ALL UNITS: ABANDON SHIP. REPEAT, ABANDON SHIP.

BT-7274 splays his massive hand out flat for Tai to step onto, cockpit already open, obscuring its vision. It would take them fifteen seconds to return to their ejection stall. In a few ticks, he was pulling sensitive information from the ship's AI and the MacAllan's internal systems reports.

"We're going to see a new planet today, Cooper. Maybe even die on it. I'll see you down there, alright?"

Tai settles down with a grunt that's lost in the din. He shuts the hatch before BT can get to it, but pauses, allowing the neural link to wash through them both.

"Transferring controls to pilot," BT-7274 says. "You know I do not like it when you say that."

Tai chuckles. "But it's the truth, BT."

"Again, I ask-- do you want to die on these planets?"

The conversation keeps its nerves, so to speak, steady, as they move with haste to their stall. The platform dips beneath BT-7274's colossal weight, groaning in protest as it carries them into position.

"The 9th Militia Fleet has encountered a formidable screen of orbital defenses. Apparently, two of our own have already been lost," BT explains, summarizing the data he'd just pulled. "It seems our intel from Anderson was wrong."

The ship shakes violently.

UTAH to BT-7274: GET OUT OF THESE CHANNELS.

BT-7274 to UTAH: I will soon be out of effective range.

Odd, that it's now that Utah chooses to stop BT from looking where he shouldn't. He extracts himself from the MacAllan's diagnostics.

Tai and BT-7274 hunker down and lock their joints for impending Titanfall. The automatic ejection system rotates them outward, even as another hit jostles the mechanism. BT shutters his optic against rapidly strobing lights.

"Please wait," intones a modulated, cheery voice. "Titanfall in 10... 9... 8-- 8--"

The hydraulic frame holding BT-7274 and Tai in place shudders, then appears to fold in on itself, collapsing the floor and pushing its chassis through. Coordinates, speed, and other targeting information flies through BT-Tai's head, coalescing into a single point.

"Well, that wasn't normal," Tai says cheerfully.

"Planetside in 17 seconds," BT states, splashing a timer in a corner of their HUD. "Expect heavy IMC forces."

CLAY NGUYEN CICHLID SQUAD, 34th DIVISION JUNGLE CANYONS TYPHON, IMC-CONTROLLED SPACE

Clay wipes the sweat off his hands and compulsively triple checks his station, useless as it was in the deep, suffocating darkness of the jungle-like canyon. He could see nothing beyond the loose perimeter his team had setup, a consequence of the moonless nights that had been become the new norm, as well as the lightning storms that started around the same time. But who was keeping track, really?

Not him, surely.

"The Militia should just hurry up and get here," his partner grumbles.

"Why? So you can watch the drones do all the work?" Clay shoots at her.

It wasn't like they were going to be doing any fighting-- not against ground forces, anyway. But they'd been here for hours already, since the sun went down, and had nothing to show for it.

That was fine with him. His team? Not so much.

A bright flash illuminates the darkness. Clay looks around for the source before finding the good sense to look up-- where a web-like pattern had flared to life, suspended and writhing miles above their heads.

"The anti-ship cannons," Clay breathes. "Jesus."

"Look alive, Cichlid," crackles their radio. "There's reports of Militia drop pods starting to enter Typhon. Look out for ships, too-- it's quite the fireworks show above our heads."

Clay can sense his partner starting to move, but he's fixated on the sky above. Pinpricks of light were rapidly exploding into white streaks that descended into obscurity.

"Archer's showing potential targets," Suvia announces. "Would you get off your ass already?"

She shoves his shoulder. He pushes her back, momentarily rankled, but hurries to where the second rocket launcher stood. The tiny digital screen offered several potential targets, but no locks.

"I think it's just--" Clay starts to speak, but a colossal, bone-shaking boom drowns him out.

His teeth chatter, then his world turns over, as four distinct booms impact the earth. It's all he can do to keep his grip on the Archer despite the hail of rock and soil raining on his position.

"Suv, you okay?"

"I've got dirt in my mouth!"

When the initial spray clears, Clay sees fire, smoke, and the battered, conical frames of drop pods. He has to remind himself that they're Militia. The IMC war paint was from capture and thievery, but only two had met the ground levelly.

The other two had smashed against the jagged rocks hard enough to ignite something in their internals.

"Some of the pods hit the rocks," Clay says tightly. "Shit, they're firing."

"They don't know we're here," Suvia says. "Here comes our birds."

He watches the Archer's targeting system instead of the evolving battlefield. He wasn't interested in the slaughter. He wasn't interested in facing a Titan, either, but...

The Archer chirps. Clay adjusts his grip on the launcher as it automatically adjusts itself on the tripod, tracking a blue blip in a sea of red and yellow.

"Titan," Clay calls. "Tone's good."

"Tone's good," Suvi repeats.

Clay searches the sky briefly. It's difficult to make head or tails of what he sees, but the enemy Titanfall attracts his gaze by triggering its Distortion Brakes. IMC technology again, a little voice reminds him.

The enemy Titan unfolds itself and sticks the landing gracefully.

Two Archer rockets zip toward it, trailing smoke.

#titanfall #jack cooper #tai lastimosa #bt 7274 #gunny fic checksum #gunny writes #many thanks to cbt for letting me yell at them about this and also proof read

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antoine-roquentin · 4 years ago

Quote

If every language is acquirable, its acquisition requires a real portion of a person’s life: each new conquest is measured against shortening days. What limits one’s access to other languages is not their imperviousness but one’s own mortality. Hence a certain privacy to all languages. French and American imperialists governed, exploited, and killed Vietnamese over many years. But whatever else they made off with, the Vietnamese language stayed put. Accordingly, only too often, a rage at Vietnamese ‘inscrutability,’ and that obscure despair which engenders the venomous argots of dying colonialisms: ‘gooks,’ ‘ratons’, etc.12 (In the longer run, the only responses to the vast privacy of the language of the oppressed are retreat or further massacre.) Such epithets are, in their inner form, characteristically racist, and decipherment of this form will serve to show why Nairn is basically mistaken in arguing that racism and anti-semitism derive from nationalism – and thus that ‘seen in sufficient historical depth, fascism tells us more about nationalism than any other episode.’13 A word like ‘slant,’ for example, abbreviated from ‘slant-eyed’, does not simply express an ordinary political enmity. It erases nation-ness by reducing the adversary to his biological physiognomy.14 It denies, by substituting for, ‘Vietnamese;’ just as raton denies, by substituting for, ‘Algerian’. At the same time, it stirs ‘Vietnamese’ into a nameless sludge along with ‘Korean,’ ‘Chinese,’ ‘Filipino,’ and so on. The character of this vocabulary may become still more evident if it is contrasted with other Vietnam-War-period words like ‘Charlie’ and ‘V.C.’, or from an earlier era, ‘Boches,’ ‘Huns,’ ‘Japs’ and ‘Frogs,’ all of which apply only to one specific nationality, and thus concede, in hatred, the adversary’s membership in a league of nations.15 The fact of the matter is that nationalism thinks in terms of historical destinies, while racism dreams of eternal contaminations, transmitted from the origins of time through an endless sequence of loathsome copulations: outside history. Niggers are, thanks to the invisible tar-brush, forever niggers; Jews, the seed of Abraham, forever Jews, no matter what passports they carry or what languages they speak and read. (Thus for the Nazi, the Jewish German was always an impostor.)16 The dreams of racism actually have their origin in ideologies of class, rather than in those of nation: above all in claims to divinity among rulers and to ‘blue’ or ‘white’ blood and ‘breeding’ among aristocracies.17 No surprise then that the putative sire of modern racism should be, not some petty-bourgeois nationalist, but Joseph Arthur, Comte de Gobineau.18 Nor that, on the whole, racism and anti-semitism manifest themselves, not across national boundaries, but within them. In other words, they justify not so much foreign wars as domestic repression and domination.19 Where racism developed outside Europe in the nineteenth century, it was always associated with European domination, for two converging reasons. First and most important was the rise of official nationalism and colonial ‘Russification’. As has been repeatedly emphasized official nationalism was typically a response on the part of threatened dynastic and aristocratic groups – upper classes – to popular vernacular nationalism. Colonial racism was a major element in that conception of ‘Empire’ which attempted to weld dynastic legitimacy and national community. It did so by generalizing a principle of innate, inherited superiority on which its own domestic position was (however shakily) based to the vastness of the overseas possessions, covertly (or not so covertly) conveying the idea that if, say, English lords were naturally superior to other Englishmen, no matter: these other Englishmen were no less superior to the subjected natives. Indeed one is tempted to argue that the existence of late colonial empires even served to shore up domestic aristocratic bastions, since they appeared to confirm on a global, modern stage antique conceptions of power and privilege. It could do so with some effect because – and here is our second reason – the colonial empire, with its rapidly expanding bureaucratic apparatus and its ‘Russifying’ policies, permitted sizeable numbers of bourgeois and petty bourgeois to play aristocrat off centre court: i.e. anywhere in the empire except at home. In each colony one found this grimly amusing tableau vivant: the bourgeois gentilhomme speaking poetry against a backcloth of spacious mansions and gardens filled with mimosa and bougainvillea, and a large supporting cast of houseboys, grooms, gardeners, cooks, amahs, maids, washerwomen, and, above all, horses.20 Even those who did not manage to live in this style, such as young bachelors, nonetheless had the grandly equivocal status of a French nobleman on the eve of a jacquerie:21 In Moulmein, in lower Burma [this obscure town needs explaining to readers in the metropole], I was hated by large numbers of people – the only time in my life that I have been important enough for this to happen to me. I was sub-divisional police officer of the town. This ‘tropical Gothic’ was made possible by the overwhelming power that high capitalism had given the metropole – a power so great that it could be kept, so to speak, in the wings. Nothing better illustrates capitalism in feudal-aristocratic drag than colonial militaries, which were notoriously distinct from those of the metropoles, often even in formal institutional terms. 22 Thus in Europe one had the ‘First Army,’ recruited by conscription on a mass, citizen, metropolitan base; ideologically conceived as the defender of the heimat; dressed in practical, utilitarian khaki; armed with the latest affordable weapons; in peacetime isolated in barracks, in war stationed in trenches or behind heavy field-guns. Outside Europe one had the ‘Second Army,’ recruited (below the officer level) from local religious or ethnic minorities on a mercenary basis; ideologically conceived as an internal police force; dressed to kill in bed-or ballroom; armed with swords and obsolete industrial weapons; in peace on display, in war on horseback. If the Prussian General Staff, Europe’s military teacher, stressed the anonymous solidarity of a professionalized corps, ballistics, railroads, engineering, strategic planning, and the like, the colonial army stressed glory, epaulettes, personal heroism, polo, and an archaizing courtliness among its officers. (It could afford to do so because the First Army and the Navy were there in the background.) This mentality survived a long time. In Tonkin, in 1894, Lyautey wrote:23 Quel dommage de n’être pas venu ici dix ans plus tôt! Quelles carrières à y fonder et à y mener. Il n’y a pas ici un de ces petits lieutenants, chefs de poste et de reconnaissance, qui ne développe en 6 mois plus d’initiative, de volonté, d’endurance, de personnalité, qu’un officier de France en toute sa carrière. In Tonkin, in 1951, Jean de Lattre de Tassigny, ‘who liked officers who combined guts with “style,” took an immediate liking to the dashing cavalryman [Colonel de Castries] with his bright-red Spahi cap and scarf, his magnificent riding-crop, and his combination of easy-going manners and ducal mien, which made him as irresistible to women in Indochina in the 1950s as he had been to Parisiennes of the 1930s.’24 Another instructive indication of the aristocratic or pseudo-aristocratic derivation of colonial racism was the typical ‘solidarity among whites,’ which linked colonial rulers from different national metropoles, whatever their internal rivalries and conflicts. This solidarity, in its curious trans-state character, reminds one instantly of the class solidarity of Europe’s nineteenth-century aristocracies, mediated through each other’s hunting-lodges, spas, and ballrooms; and of that brotherhood of ‘officers and gentlemen,’ which in the Geneva convention guaranteeing privileged treatment to captured enemy officers, as opposed to partisans or civilians, has an agreeably twentieth-century expression. The argument adumbrated thus far can also be pursued from the side of colonial populations. For, the pronouncements of certain colonial ideologues aside, it is remarkable how little that dubious entity known as ‘reverse racism’ manifested itself in the anticolonial movements. In this matter it is easy to be deceived by language. There is, for example, a sense in which the Javanese word londo (derived from Hollander or Nederlander) meant not only ‘Dutch’ but ‘whites.’ But the derivation itself shows that, for Javanese peasants, who scarcely ever encountered any ‘whites’ but Dutch, the two meanings effectively overlapped. Similarly, in French colonial territories, ‘les blancs’ meant rulers whose Frenchness was indistinguishable from their whiteness. In neither case, so far as I know, did londo or blanc either lose caste or breed derogatory secondary distinctions.25 On the contrary, the spirit of anticolonial nationalism is that of the heart-rending Constitution of Makario Sakay’s short-lived Republic of Katagalugan (1902), which said, among other things:26 No Tagalog, born in this Tagalog archipelago, shall exalt any person above the rest because of his race or the colour of his skin; fair, dark, rich, poor, educated and ignorant – all are completely equal, and should be in one loób [inward spirit]. There may be differences in education, wealth, or appearance, but never in essential nature (pagkatao) and ability to serve a cause. One can find without difficulty analogies on the other side of the globe. Spanish-speaking mestizo Mexicans trace their ancestries, not to Castilian conquistadors, but to half-obliterated Aztecs, Mayans, Toltecs and Zapotecs. Uruguayan revolutionary patriots, creoles themselves, took up the name of Tupac Amarú, the last great indigenous rebel against creole oppression, who died under unspeakable tortures in 1781. It may appear paradoxical that the objects of all these attachments are ‘imagined’ – anonymous, faceless fellow-Tagalogs, exterminated tribes, Mother Russia, or the tanah air. But amor patriae does not differ in this respect from the other affections, in which there is always an element of fond imagining. (This is why looking at the photo-albums of strangers’ weddings is like studying the archaeologist’s groundplan of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon.) What the eye is to the lover – that particular, ordinary eye he or she is born with – language – whatever language history has made his or her mother-tongue – is to the patriot. Through that language, encountered at mother’s knee and parted with only at the grave, pasts are restored, fellowships are imagined, and futures dreamed. 12. The logic here is: 1. I will be dead before I have penetrated them. 2. My power is such that they have had to learn my language. 3. But this means that my privacy has been penetrated. Terming them ‘gooks’ is small revenge. 13. The Break-up of Britain, pp. 337 and 347. 14. Notice that there is no obvious, selfconscious antonym to ‘slant.’ ‘Round’? ‘Straight’? ‘Oval’? 15. Not only, in fact, in an earlier era. Nonetheless, there is a whiff of the antique-shop about these words of Debray: ‘I can conceive of no hope for Europe save under the hegemony of a revolutionary France, firmly grasping the banner of independence. Sometimes I wonder if the whole “anti-Boche” mythology and our secular antagonism to Germany may not be one day indispensable for saving the revolution, or even our national-democratic inheritance.’ ‘Marxism and the National Question,’ p. 41. 16. The significance of the emergence of Zionism and the birth of Israel is that the former marks the reimagining of an ancient religious community as a nation, down there among the other nations – while the latter charts an alchemic change from wandering devotee to local patriot. 17. ‘From the side of the landed aristocracy came conceptions of inherent superiority in the ruling class, and a sensitivity to status, prominent traits well into the twentieth century. Fed by new sources, these conceptions could later be vulgarized [sic] and made appealing to the German population as a whole in doctrines of racial superiority.’ Barrington Moore, Jr., Social Origins of Dictatorship and Democracy, p. 436. 18. Gobineau’s dates are perfect. He was born in 1816, two years after the restoration of the Bourbons to the French throne. His diplomatic career, 1848–1877, blossomed under Louis Napoléon’s Second Empire and the reactionary monarchist regime of Marie Edmé Patrice Maurice, Comte de MacMahon, former imperialist proconsul in Algiers. His Essai sur l’Inégalité des Races Humaines appeared in 1854 – should one say in response to the popular vernacular-nationalist insurrections of 1848? 19. South African racism has not, in the age of Vorster and Botha, stood in the way of amicable relations (however discreetly handled) with prominent black politicians in certain independent African states. If Jews suffer discrimination in the Soviet Union, that did not prevent respectful working relations between Brezhnev and Kissinger. 20. For a stunning collection of photographs of such tableaux vivants in the Netherlands Indies (and an elegantly ironical text), see ‘E. Breton de Nijs,’ Tempo Doeloe. 21. George Orwell, ‘Shooting an Elephant,’ in The Orwell Reader, p. 3. The words in square brackets are of course my interpolation. 22. The KNIL (Koninklijk Nederlandsch-Indisch Leger) was quite separate from the KL (Koninklijk Leger) in Holland. The Légion Étrangère was almost from the start legally prohibited from operations on continental French soil. 23. Lettres du Tonkin et de Madagascar (1894–1899), p. 84. Letter of December 22, 1894, from Hanoi. Emphases added. 24. Bernard B. Fall, Hell is a Very Small Place: The Siege of Dien Bien Phu, p. 56. One can imagine the shudder of Clausewitz’s ghost. [Spahi, derived like Sepoy from the Ottoman Sipahi, meant mercenary irregular cavalrymen of the ‘Second Army’ in Algeria.] It is true that the France of Lyautey and de Lattre was a Republican France. However, the often talkative Grande Muette had since the start of the Third Republic been an asylum for aristocrats increasingly excluded from power in all other important institutions of public life. By 1898, a full quarter of all Brigadier-and Major-Generals were aristocrats. Moreover, this aristocrat-dominated officer corps was crucial to nineteenth and twentieth-century French imperialism. ‘The rigorous control imposed on the army in the métropole never extended fully to la France d’outremer. The extension of the French Empire in the nineteenth century was partially the result of uncontrolled initiative on the part of colonial military commanders. French West Africa, largely the creation of General Faidherbe, and the French Congo as well, owed most of their expansion to independent military forays into the hinterland. Military officers were also responsible for the faits accomplis which led to a French protectorate in Tahiti in 1842, and, to a lesser extent, to the French occupation of Tonkin in Indochina in the 1880’s . . . In 1897 Galliéni summarily abolished the monarchy in Madagascar and deported the Queen, all without consulting the French government, which later accepted the fait accompli . . .’ John S. Ambler, The French Army in Politics, 1945–1962, pp. 10–11 and 22. 25. I have never heard of an abusive argot word in Indonesian or Javanese for either ‘Dutch’ or ‘white.’ Compare the Anglo-Saxon treasury: niggers, wops, kikes, gooks, slants, fuzzywuzzies, and a hundred more. It is possible that this innocence of racist argots is true primarily of colonized populations. Blacks in America – and surely elsewhere – have developed a varied counter-vocabulary (honkies, ofays, etc.). 26. As cited in Reynaldo Ileto’s masterlyPasyón and Revolution: Popular Movements in the Philippines, 1840–1910, p. 218. Sakay’s rebel republic lasted until 1907, when he was captured and executed by the Americans. Understanding the first sentence requires remembering that three centuries of Spanish rule and Chinese immigration had produced a sizeable mestizo population in the islands.

Benedict Anderson, Imagined Communities

#citation 24 is gorgeous

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fulcrum-agent · 4 years ago

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010. Heady [FFXIVwrite2021]

His voice comes over the Linkpearl unexpectedly.

"A-Aquila......Father is here...I don't know what to do; he's standing right outside Calcifer.....what do I do?" He says in a slightly panicked tone.

"You stay the fuck in the lab and let me deal with him," she replies immediately.

She's given a timid reply, "Ok...."

"Once some ground rules are out, I'll let you know," she explains to him. "But he gets to find out all the ways he will die if he messes with you."

His voice pitches upward a little as he asks, "A-are you bringing Leth? Rolno? Locke? any kind of backup?"

"Locke's still recovering, Rolno's about to get laid, and Leth got shanked earlier," she explains calmly. "Besides, I don't NEED back up now, thanks to Merrick."

Sounding more than just a little concerned, he murmurs, "Alright..."

Their father takes a sip from the cup in front of him as she arrives. Upon seeing him, she draws her blade, assuming the same stance that the former Blade who owned it used.

"...what are you doing here?" she asks coldly.

The man, without looking up, speaks - his cold, nearly monotone, and emotionless voice carries over the wind.

"Is that any way to address your Father? Daughter of mine, I taught you better."

He finally stands up and brushes himself off, and faces her fully, his hands neatly folded behind his back. His eyes looked down at the sword, then back to her; a slightly raised eyebrow was the only indication that he had acknowledged the weapon.

"You PROGRAMMED me - you didn't teach," she corrects him harshly, not taking well to him using that particular phrase. "Not that such'll save you anymore. One of your little projects saw to that."

The man tilts his head. "Oh?"

"Yeah. C-04-01B. Merrick. Somehow, you managed to make him even more monstrous than yourself," she retorts sharply, blade still ready to strike. "Again. Why. Are. YOU. Here."

Her father seems lost in thought for a moment.

"Interesting, I was sure I destroyed him when he malfunctioned.....I suppose he must have found an escape and has since degraded since his creation," He did not seem too concerned with the escaped Clone. "It took me quite a while to find you and Liocyon; I've come to bring you home....seeing as you failed to even do that."

"Spoilers: We're not going, and you've lost the power to make us," she immediately slings at him, still debating on just attacking him. "It was NEVER in the plan to go back, especially after finding out why Lio left."

He sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose as he replies, "These antics of yours are growing tiresome, my child."

"You created them at the end of the day," she points out. "I'm pretty sure you were entirely aware of how trying to enslave me was gonna work out."

She's given what passes for an incredulous look by her father as he echoes, "Enslave? is that what you think I was doing?"

This finally breaks from her calm tone of voice.

"Septimus is DEAD because of what you did!" she shouts at him, giving him a gaze that likely has made some random primal rollover disturbed in their sleep. "YOU should be the dead one."

He gave the barest hint of emotion at the mention of Septimus's name; his eyes seemed to soften just slightly.

"What happened to your brother....was a tragedy," He said in a slightly softer tone, "Believe me when I say....that I grieved with the rest of you."

"If that's fucking so, why did you even programme me to kill our family!" she shouts; for the moment, the last vestiges of the conditioning can't fight past her seething rage. "I nearly killed LIO because of your bullshit!"

The almost emotionless state returns the response, "Better to die at the hands of a family member than one of these barbarians."

"If not for these 'savages', Merrick would have succeeded. You're only dealing with me because they rescued me," she retorts hotly, clearly provoked by his words. "If not for them, Lio would be dead. Because that's Merrick's goal - to replace my brother."

This actually gives her father pause before he brushes the information off again.

"That clone is delusional; I never made him for that purpose, for replacing Lio."

"Intent or not, that's what's going on, Father," she counters, the last word sounding like pure venom. "You've created one hell of a mess. He's MURDERED dozens of people - 'savage' and Garlean alike."

Her father furrows his brow as he flatly states, "A pity but hardly my problem or my concern."

"Oh?" she slowly lowers Talekeeper, assuming her...perceived lack of a stance. "Actually, it is. And you're going to fix it."

She's given what passes for a quizzical look as he states, "There is nothing to fix."

"Yeah. There is. Put on that damned monocle and LOOK," she orders him. "There's something only you can repair. It's the only reason you're not dead."

Without bothering to do as asked, he questions, "And what is that?"

"I have an aetherpool. Two pre-teen kids worth of aether. Enough to use aether," she explains to him, like he's five, "but not enough to dispatch your monster."

He makes a motion for her to continue, seeming undisturbed by this news, and she sighs a little.

"I...need you to finish what he attempted. So that I can eliminate the threat he poses to Liocyon," she explains, voice returning to that sort of mimicry of his own. "But don't think I won't stab you, somewhere non-fatal, if you do ANYTHING to Lio."

The man quirks his brow. "You want me to...expand your limited aetherpool?"

She nods at Cicero, "Yup."

"If this conversation had happened a few years ago, I would say it's impossible...." he ruminates before stating, "as it stands, I think I have knowledge and capability to do as you ask; there is one hiccup, though."

Her eyes narrow at him.

"Hiccup? The fact your lab in the Capital can't be accessed?" she asks him.

The man's lips form a thin smile as he gives what might be a mock-praise, "What a smart girl you are."

She smirks a little at that.

"Smart enough to know how to get all your equipment out," she almost teases him.

"Not only my lab equipment but my research notes..." he emphasises, "unless you have a team willing to infiltrate Empire territory and access my lab."

"Pfft. We HAVE your notes already. Tana grabbed every tomestone that wasn't nailed down when she left," she explains to him. "What we don't have, currently, is any of your equipment or anything close enough to it. All that shit here is Sharlayan."

He shrugs and continues, "If you can bring me my equipment, I can work on your little request...I have a condition, though."

She rolls her eyes faintly. "Because, of course, you do."

"I want to see Liocyon."

"And I have conditions on that," she retorts immediately, voice razor-sharp. "You do ANYTHING harmful to him; I will make you regret it. Slowly."

"To the pain."

With a faint sigh and a small wave of his hand, he agrees, "Your theatrics are noted. I assume he is inside that......establishment."

She nods once.

"Yeah, but Calficer's more likely to kill you than let you in," she somewhat smugly points out. "I can go get him, though."

He makes a motion, "By all means."

She decides to prove a point before such. Without warning, she blinks into the Lifestream only to reappear with her sword right across Cicero's neck, edge gently touching such - enough to leave an extremely thin red mark but not enough to cut deeply.

"Just remember my conditions, "Father," she states before blinking again, displacing back to where she was before turning to get Lio. Talekeeper stays out.

Her father seems unphased by the threat "Noted."

She enters the House of Mystery, looking to her pacing brother immediately. "He's aware of the conditions."

Her twin turns paler shade. "He's not g-gone?"

"Nope. We've a little arrangement. He's allowed to speak to you, so long as he doesn't do anything shitty," she explains to her twin. "If he does ANYTHING harmful, I'm corps-a-corps'ing his dick."

He takes a deep breath, his body trembling slightly.

"Alright..." he says weakly. "Ok...just....stay with me, please."

She nods at Lio, grinning. "He can't stop me anymore," she reminds Lio, "so I'll be right beside you unless I have to suddenly castrate him."

Her reflection nods before looking to the door. "Alright then..."

Aquila Aurelius returns with Lio in tow, the rapier still out and perhaps at the ready. Her lack of stance is maddening to anyone who knows how to sword fight.

After they exit the house, her brother stands behind her. "H-hello F-Father...." *He says weakly, his eyes looking towards the ground.*

Cicero Aurelius would calmly watch his daughter and son exit the building, a small smile turning the corner of his lip* "Liocyon....you've changed quite a bit since I last saw you, have you finally embraced science?"

She mutters, "...wears the coat better than you ever did..."

Her twin looks over at her before looking back to his father, trying to explain himself, "I have...it was...it was required, someone needed it..."

Their father looks over to her for a moment before looking back to Lio and nodding.

"Good, good..." He takes a few steps forward as he speaks, "You look so much like your mother....she wanted to be here, you know.."

She glares at him at the mention of their mother, despite the accuracy. "Then why isn't she?" she retorts sharply.

Their father gives her a look as he answers, "It is unsafe for us outside of the safehouse."

Her twin takes a step forward as he eagerly asks, "Mother is here? what about the others?"

She moves her blade between her reflection and their father.

"Ah ah ah," she notes to their father. "And who the fuck's fault is it that she's not safe?"

"The fool that sits on the throne now," the man said simply. "He turned our country into a damn cult."

This causes her blade to focus on their father again, pointed aimed right at his throat as she retorts, "Nah. YOU made it, so none of us are safe outside the estate."

Shaking his head, the man intones, "Everything I did was to make it safe for you and Liocyon."

Her brother gently places his hand on her shoulder in an attempt to calm her, softly murmuring, "Aquila.."

Reluctantly, she drops the sword away from their father's throat, though Talekeeper remains out.

"I don't think experimenting on your own kids and turning them into monsters is really for the best," she points out with a huff.

"Perhaps one day you will understand what I was trying to do,"

their father sighs, "In any case, fine....bring me my equipment, and I will expand your aetherpool...after that, perhaps we can sit down and discuss things as adults?"

Her twin looks between her and their father, moving closer to his sister.

She shakes her head at her brother a little bit.

"...he wasn't supposed to know that, but...fine," she concedes, looking at their father before adding, "...but the conditions stand, even then."

For his part, the man makes a mock 'oops' face as he flippantly states, "My mistake, but fine."

"...I have a shorter blade that I can use," she points out. "Won't kill you, but it'll hurt."

Their father waves his hand as he mocks, "Yes, yes, you're threats are noted...I will take my leave; contact me as soon as you have my equipment."

She nods once, Talekeeper remaining out until he's well and gone.

"Yeah, sure. Say hi to mum for us," she quips.

The man looks back at Lio. "It was.....good to see you again, son."

Her reflection nods as he murmurs, "Father..."

In a flat tone, as he turns, their father states, "Aquila."

"Father."

((Adapted from an RP with Liocyon.))

#ffxivwrite2021

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thecanadianowl · 4 years ago

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Justice league Snydercut review

Wow talk about a long movie. Remember Mass Effect's 3 shit endings that were later improved (sorta) with DLCs. Well that is kinda how this movie is.

Before we start this, I just wanna say that I was very impartial throughout the whole snydercut movement. I wasn't part of it but I do see the good that they did in regards to some of their charities and with how the fandom itself has been painted in a negative light. So its good that they got what they have been demanding for quite some time. Snyder as director for me, I really am not the biggest fan of. His movies have some great cinematic moments that look amazing but the context around it is what muddles it for me.

Is it better than Whedon's JL? YES. To start I'll look at some of the things that I do like.

I do like how it was split into parts. Gives it that miniseries/Comic book feel

Thank god they removed that stupid cringy flash landing on top of Diana's chest scene.

Darkseid looks good. I know some people have issues with it but I liked it. I mean looking at it first glance has me convinced its Darkseid. His voice isn't too bad either. Reminds me a bit of Injustice 2.

As much as I have issues with Darkseid being introduced so early I do like that he had a brief confrontation/glaredown with the League, foreshadowing a possible in person encounter and that the League needs to expand if they are going to fight against Darkseid.

Steppenwolf's design has greatly improved and looks better than before.

Loved the scenes between Alfred and Diana. Wish there was more of that.

I loved how the movie added Cyborg, Aquaman and Flash attempting to stop Superman from getting to Batman. I also liked how in this version, Batman pleading to Clark's humanity telling him that world needs him and he needs to snap out of it. Also bonus for taking out that scene of Batman on the ground groaning about how old he is getting.

Okay seeing Clark get the black suit and having the voiceovers of both his father's merge together works in terms of Clark's arc into becoming the person he was meant to be. Also like the use of Zimmerman's Ideal of Hope score wished they let it play out a little longer. Probably my favourite moment in the film is where Superman just takes Steppenwolf's Axe like its nothing and freezes it.

Now to go into some of the more critical stuff that bugged me when watching.

For a movie that is 4 hours long, pacing issues were bound to happen. I think the first example of this can be found in the opening with the Superman scream wave (which started to get a bit hilarious when his screams could be heard every now and then) hitting all three mother boxes. they are shown individually reacting to it and it takes time, where it could have just showed them together or an compilation of each of the motherboxes waking up. I know it Snyder's thing but tone down on the slow mo. Like some instances its fine (like with bullet time or Flash's scenes) but other instances I'm just like alright I get it.

The scene involving Cyborg transferring money into that single mother's bank account. Is he gonna do this for all the people suffering just like her? or just for that one person? I mean if you can hack into the world monetary system, you can solve a lot of financial issues affecting the majoirty and not just one person. Did I miss the scene but why did Cyborg go from helping one poor person, suggesting the potential good he can do to change the world for the better to "Fuck the world". Seems a bit inconsistent in character. Especially since he knows who Diana is (from what he says) and that Parademons are after the motherbox. Maybe her offering help, you should take it? idk Vic. Also the whole Auto defense system malfunction, would it not be better if this was established beforehand where we see Vic struggling to maintain his body's autonomy leading up to the Superman confrontation? Prior to that it seemed he had it under control and his biggest conflict throughout the movie seemed more to be with him coming to terms with his new body. With that being said, Cyborg's character here is much more interesting and better than it was originally. I can see why Ray Fisher is so pissed (well that and the abuse he faced). I am glad this was improved and gave the character a lot more to do.

The movie still has the same issue as before in regards to the whole motherbox plot and how convenient it was that all three are located on earth. You would think that with the involvement of Darkseid/Steppenwolf that separating them to distinct locations across space would make it more difficult to collect them. I mean we know that the Green Lanterns exist (we saw one get chomped), you'd think that they or the guardians would take one and secure it on Oa. The pushback to this would be "well there was only one green lantern and he died, so how could they retrieve the box?" which begs my question, why send only one? I mean it has been established that Darkseid is a known conqueror of worlds, you'd think the Guardians would be smart enough to send more than one Lantern to aid Earth in their fight. Did they not think it would be a good idea to have the corps be more involved/keep an eye on earth since it is the only planet that was able to repel Darkseid's forces?

Why is it that the best idea of security when it comes to humans is to bury it? Would it not be better in optics to look over it and know its location instead of dropping it somewhere on the off chance that someone might find it due to being curious or the land changing/altering making the box more easy to attain? A situation as dire/serious as this, you would think that the Amazons/Atlanteans would have been better prepped with armor/weapons for such an event. I mean you have the arrow of Artemis that shoots quite a distance to give Diana a message but not some kind of weapon that hurts/cripples Steppenwolf? Or better yet, how about the moment that the boxes started acting up after Superman's death, that Atlantis/Themiscarya would put aside any differences they had with one another and to the outside world to come together to secure the boxes? How could Darkseid forget the name of the only planet that was able to force him to retreat? nor does he know that it harbors the anti life?

Did this movie break Aquaman's continuity? because from the dialogue between Mera and Arthur, its implied that Atlanna abandoned/left Arthur at Tom's doorsteps whereas in the movie, we see Atlanna spend a couple of years with Tom and raising baby Arthur before she was forced to come back. You'd think Zack being a producer for the Aquaman movie would have edited that line or made it more clear. Well that or James Wan F'ed up when making the movie.

"I've never seen a being as strong as Steppenwolf" Did Diana just forget Ares aka the god of war who killed the Greek Pantheon/Old gods and orchestrated the first World War? Hell from the looks of the flashback it seemed Ares (I'm assuming its Ares, if its Hades, my bad) was getting some good hits in on Darkseid, who is superior to Steppenwolf. While we are on the topic of Diana, it's a bit odd that Snyder who was a producer on WW84 where one of the biggest focuses on the movie that Patty Jenkins talked about was how Diana doesn't solve her problems with violence (even though her primary weapons in this movie are a sword and shield but okay. Then again New 52 hasn't done a good job in disproving that), yet in this movie we see her using her gauntlet smash to fucking kill the one remaining terorrist. Like sure you can argue that they were terrorists and deserve to die, but given how easy and quick it was for her to take out the previous guys, why do something that runs the risks of destroying the very building that you are in (with hostages). I mean from the look of the blast and how much debris fell from the building outside, and it was a miracle no one (but the terrorist) got hurt/killed.

Why did Steppenwolf kidnap them in the first place? Just use that mind extracting device you used on the Atlantean soldier to see if they know. Seems like a waste of time to collect them in one location only to interrogate them later.

Okay, I'm sorry but even in this cut I still don't like Miller's Barry Allen. He isn't as bad as he was in the theatrical cut but man does it stick out. When he is helping to escort the kidnapped civilians out, why doesn't he just grab them and transfer them to a safe distance? He even makes a comment about how slow they are going. Can I also just say how weird it is for Barry to take time saving Iris to caress her hair and look at her more creepily in slow mo? Like yeah its in slow mo but still I think your priority should be to get everyone to safety as quick as possible and check if anyone else could get hurt. I will admit that Barry's speech as he is running so fast to reverse time at the end was really good. Tho the more I think about all the slow mo Flash scenes are good.

They still kept the "Let's use the mother box to bring back Superman plot". Why? This is a piece of tech that you don't fully understand how it works and you are going on the whims of someone you just met. Especially if they come back as a different person/mindset all together. If Superman 's death was the reason that allowed for the Mother box to call to Steppenwolf/Darkseid, what the hell were they doing prior to Superman's arrival on earth? I mean we've seen how easy it was for Steppenwolf to attain the two boxes even if they were guarded, so why the wait ?. I get that Batman is going through an arc and trying to change from the person he was but how does go from "1% chance of absolute certainty" to "let's go on a whim and have faith" when it comes to resurrecting Superman?

Its gonna be awkward as to how Clark will explain his sudden return from the grave around the same time Superman came back.

I was wondering when the Knightmare scene will play out. Jared leto's Joker isn't over with me, it seems way too try-hard to be edgy. Other than that yeah, not much I can say about it. Tho do we seriously need another iteration where Superman (or someone with Superman like powers) is evil?

I also love how nonchalant Bruce is about J'onn appearing in front him. However the revelation that J'onn was that army general all the time breaks so much of continuity (and just why now did you decide to show up and help and not idk the time Zod invaded and nearly terraformed earth, HELL WHY TF DIDN'T SHOW UP TO HELP THE LEAGUE IF YOU KNEW ABOUT DARKSEID, I'M SORRY TO RAG ON BUT REALLY THIS CAMEO JUST OPENS UP SO MANY QUESTIONS, IT JUST SEEMS LIKE AN "PALPATINE WAS BEHIND THIS ALL ALONG" KIND OF THING ).

In terms of getting a sequel, I am not sure if WB is going to go through with it given that their current vision seems to be a different route than the one Snyder intended so who knows. Despite my criticisms I do believe this is Snyder's best DCEU film to date and probably one of his better films. You could tell that he put in a lot to make this. The movie itself does have issues mostly due to the plot surrounding the motherbox as well as pacing. I would say it's worth the watch at least once, though I think its best to watch it in doses rather than one sitting. Ultimately this is the version that we should have gotten and I can see why so many people who were supportive of Zack wanted or vouched for him to finish it. Regardless, I think the very least I am happy for Snyder. If you like Snyder's previous stuff, you will like this one, if you don't, your perception of the film won't change significantly other than some cool bits here and there.

#dceu #justice league #snydercut #snydercut spoilers #dc comics

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lena-in-a-red-dress · 5 years ago

Note

Hey :) Can I request a Lex vs Lena showdown with some drama and hurt/comfort? Also supercorp and if possible some big sister !Alex and Kelly thrown in the mix. Sorry if it's too vague!

Her plan never fully comes to fruition. It never does, Lena acknowledges. Not when her brother is involved. But with a gunshot wound in her side steadily oozing blood and her hand wrapped around a deadman’s switch, it looks like at least this will be the last of him.

The last of both of them.

“Don’t pretend you’re going to let go of that detonator,” Lex sneers from where he lays. He has his own pool of blood spreading around him, thanks to the fight that had ended with Lena’s rapier in his gut. “We both know you’re too weak.”

“Last time you doubted me, you ended up with a bullet in your chest.”

Her brother coughs wetly. “Proudest day of my life. My baby sister finally growing a spine.” When he laughs, bloody spittle spatters against the tile floor. “Shame it didn’t stick.”

Lena knows he means her resolve, but her brain jumps to his death. She’d killed and the bastard had somehow crawled his way back not only to life, but to the same pedestal he’d fallen from years before.

“This time, I’ll make sure it does.”

“And take yourself out with me? Kamikaze isn’t your style. Never was. Too much good left to do, right? Always.”

Lena shakes her head, and moans when it sets the world to spinning. She slumps against the wall behind her, exhausted. She’s done. She knows it. She can feel it in the warmth of her own blood coating her chilling skin, in the empty room around her.

She gazes at the detonator in her grip, and feels her fingers start to relax.

“Not this time.”

Dying without anyone to mourn had always been a possibility for her future. She just never imagined it would feel this lonely.

“Lena, stop!”

The sharp shout snaps her back into focus-- her grip reflexively firms on the detonator, ensuring her death would last just a little bit longer.

She looks up to find Alex Danvers sprinting towards her with James’ sister on her heels. Kelly. A sob claws its way up Lena’s throat. They aren’t the faces Lena wants to see, but the sight of them still spreads a bloom of warmth in her empty chest.

Alex slides to her knees in front of her, only stopping when Lena finally has the presence of mind to pull away.

“Don’t come any closer,” she rasps, lifting the detonator in warning. “Don’t try and stop this Alex.”

“What are you even doing?” Alex beseeches. “Why didn’t you wait?”

“Wait for what? For him to get away? Or for the goons to come for me too?”

A shadow of doubt flickers behind the agent’s eyes. “Face it, Alex. If I’m arrested, I’ll be the only Luthor who stays in prison. We both know it. This is the only way to stop him.”

Alex shakes her head. “No. No it isn’t. You’re not a murderer.”

Lex laughs, low at first, then tumbling into a gasping guffaw. Alex ignores him.

“Lena, listen to me.”

A warm hand touches her knee.

“I know things have been rough. I can only imagine what it must feel like, to have your entire world turned upside down again and again. First your brother, and then Kara, and now Lex again--”

“You too. You lied too.”

“I did. And I’m sorry for that.”

Lena isn’t expecting the admission or the apology. They sit, heavy and sour, waiting for a response that Lena can’t provide. Her thoughts feel slow, and she knows it won’t be long until she doesn’t have a choice. None of them would.

“Go,” she croaks. “Only Luthors need to die today.”

“Bullshit.” Alex’s pleading sharpens into anger. “That is such bullshit. This isn’t some grand attempt to rid the world of your poison, or curse, or whatever the hell you’re calling it! You’re giving up!”

Huffing a laugh, Lena nods weakly. “Late to the party as ever.”

“I will not let you--”

“What else is there?”

“Everything! Jesus, Lena!”

Everything.

The idea forms bittersweet in Lena’s mind. She used to have it all. Everything she ever thought she wanted. Now… now she has no friends, no company, and no reputation, good or bad. She’s just… a name. A shell. No one in this reality knows her. No one cares to.

Mind wandering, Lena calmly observes that her entire life ended the day she shot Lex. She lost Kara. She put Lex in a position to reset reality. This… this would just be a formality.

“You have L-Corp, Lena. With Lex gone you’ll have full control-- you can rebuild everything--!”

“Just to lose it all again? No, thank you.”

Doesn’t she realize how hard it was to rebuild L-Corp the first time? To claw every success from the jaws of defeat, only to be knocked down again on the next pass? While she had found enough happiness in it at the time, it had been a neverending struggle. The idea of accepting that struggle again when true peace was so close at hand… It fills every inch of her, and she knows the darkness at the edges of her vision will soon swallow her completely.

She’s ready.

But Alex isn’t done.

“I lost my father,” Alex confesses. The urgency of before is gone, and suddenly it feels as though they are the only two in the room. “More times than I can count. I’ve grieved my sister’s death. I looked down the barrel of reality unraveling itself, and I still can’t imagine how you must feel right now. But I know... I know how inviting it is to just… let go.”

Lena struggles to lift her head, until a callused hand cups her cheek and helps tip her chin up to regard Alex gazing steadily back at her. Unwavering.

“All I’m asking is for you to let us help you let go,” that kind face says, “and keep going.”

The words don’t process in a way that makes sense to Lena’s dimming mind. All she knows is that the agent settles on the ground like she’s in for the long haul, and Kelly hovers unwilling to leave Alex. They’ll both die with her.

However willing she is to die, Lena knows she can’t bring the both of them with her.

She summons the final dregs of her energy to nod. When fingers reach for the detonator, it’s not to take it from her, but to wrap securely around Lena’s failing grip. Though it’s just her hand, the touch feels like an embrace, and when Lena blinks fat tears squeeze from her eyes to splash on numbed cheeks.

Behind Alex, Lex cackles roughly, lifting a detonator of his own.

“Like I said. Weak.”

He presses the button.

“ALEX!”

Kelly darts forward, Guardian’s shield expanding on her arm. Alex hunches over Lena’s fist, squeezing with all her might. Lena’s last thought as her vision fills with Kelly shielding all three of them under a shimmering blue forcefield is that she really should upgrade James’ gear.

---

Lena wakes to nothingness.

Ow.

Oh. Maybe not quite.

She pries open her eyes and squints at the medbay around her, registering the glass panes separating them from the rest of the building and the sleeping figure slumped in a visitor’s chair at the side of her bed.

Kara.

“For fuck’s sake.”

Supergirl bolts awake, eyes blinking blearily before focusing on Lena. “Lena--”

“Don’t.”

There’s a surprising bite to her tone, contrary to scrape it takes to get her voice to leave her throat. It stops Kara in her tracks, and she sits back as though Lena had smacked her hands away from reaching.

Huh. Looks like she might have a superpower of her own.

Guilt trips.

Lillian would be thrilled.

“I’m just… too tired to do this again.”

Kara’s gaze falls briefly, before returning to Lena’s gaze. “Do what?”

“This. All of it. I don’t-- I don’t want it.”

Oh, sure. Now her voice decides to wimp out.

She switches tacks, reaching for the first thing that came to mind. “Alex?”

Kara nods. “She’s fine. So’s Kelly. They were both discharged days ago. You would be too, except for the bullet in your side.”

So the gunshot wound is what kept her here in Kara’s reach. Great. She’d have to thank Lex for…

Alarm twinges in Lena’s chest.

“And Lex?”

A pause precedes Kara’s response, and in that interminable moment Lena’s mind races towards the worst.

“Dead. As far as we can tell. His remains were identified through his dental records, and DNA is pending, but…”

“Death doesn’t seem to stick, does it?”

“Only for those who deserve it least.”

Lena can hear the weight of lives in Kara’s words: lives lost, lives she still answered for, lives she would never forgive herself for losing. She’s sure Alex is one of them. Maybe even Kelly. Lena’s not so sure she does, anymore.

“Lena?”

Turning her head, Lena meets Kara’s tear-filled gaze.

“Alex, um… she mentioned some of what you said, in the bunker, and-- I just…”

Lena rolls her eyes back towards the ceiling. “Don’t flatter yourself, Supergirl. It’s been a long time coming.”

Silence follows, long and deep. Lena can almost imagine she’s alone, and then-- “That’s not what I meant.”

Oh, god. The tears are audible in Kara’s voice, and a lump rises to Lena’s own throat unbidden.

“I only meant to say-- I’m sorry you had to struggle with that alone.”

Shit.

“And that I’m here, whenever you want to talk.”

Lena wants to huff in derision, or roll her eyes again, but she doesn’t trust herself not to break down into tears. She’s spent so long being so angry that she stopped feeling anything altogether. And now all she can feel is sad-- for herself, for being unable to reciprocate any of the emotion Kara is exuding with every syllable. The tears in her eyes are sympathetic reflex, nothing more, but there’s no way in hell she’s going to give Supergirl the satisfaction--

“I’m not going anywhere.”

All Lena can do is let her fingers curl around the palm that settles in hers.

For now, it’s enough.

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robotnik-mun · 5 years ago

Photo

So, what happens when I decide to throw caution to the wind and mash together as many fucking Sonic Continuities as I possibly can? You get a big ass tangle of a family tree that needs to be split up into five separate images, that’s what.

It’s ugly, it’s unpolished, and I made it on a whim. Because the mental image wouldn’t leave me. And because I actually started developing this godforsaken nightmare of a family tree, born of merged continuities, headcanons, and sleep deprivation.

Now keep in mind that this thing is pure crack- it implies a world where Sonic eventually collapses from exhaustion of having to fight TWO Robotniks. It’s a mish mash of what-if’s, continuity mergers and personal ideas glued together. And I wanna stress it has nothing to directly do with my current setting- this is just like, The Path of Insanity.

Anyway, yeah. Against my better judgement I made notes for this insanity. Also, you may notice pictures of characters from other franchises being used as portraits for various characters. Those are basically faceclaims of sorts, meant as abstract representations rather than the literal idea of what they looked like... since, honestly, even I’M not cruel enough to inflict my ‘art’ on you.

Anyway, let’s get the ball rolling-

“Robotnikhotep”

-Robotnik Ancestor in ‘Mobigypt’. Was probably some big important muckity-muck.

“Julius Robotnikus”

-Probably Mobius’ answer to Caligula. His family eventually fell out of power and was forced to re-settle in what would eventually become Overland.

Ivo Kintobor

-Yeah, that whole ‘House of Ivo’ thing? This is the guy responsible. Most likely a douchenozzle, as there is a high concentration of that in the bloodline. Basically a minor warlord who unified a bunch of clans to form his own Kingdom, that was subsequently absorbed into Overland during the unification.

Brutus Kintobor

-Oh wow, a SKINNY Robotnik/Kintobor. This douche canoe attempted to conquer Angel Island for the Overland, but failed miserably. Sent back home in disgrace, a failure.

Gerald Robotnik

- Originally born Gerald Kintobor of the House of Ivo in Overland. He was more interested in science than politics, and after completing college he left that mess behind and immigrated to the United Federation. He changed his name to signify the break from his family history.

-Explored Angel Island in his youth, where he learned about Chaos Emeralds and the like from the various ruins there. He was even friends with then-guardian Janelle-Li.

-Started up Robotnik CORPS. He founded it as a way to disseminate his technology to the people of the UF and earn money to fund more experiments.

-You know the rest. The ARK, Maria, NIDS, Black Doom, Shadow, yadda-yadda-yadda.

Olga Robotnik

-Gerald’s wife. Duh.

-She met him while he lived in a spare room her father was renting out. She’d collect his rent. They grew close and eventually had kids and started a family.

-The shit this poor woman endured is amazing, but she managed to remain unbroken by it, and tried to remain close to her surviving grandchildren.

Grigory Robotnik

- The first son of Gerald. He wasn’t a genius, but he pursued a career in academics and became a doctor of physics. He had two children, Warren and Maria.

-After the ARK incident he became paranoid and accused the government of covering up what really happened. The obsession to uncover the truth destroyed his physical and mental health, and he died a shunned outcast ranting on pirated radio stations about various conspiracies.

-Died in a halfway house, but he managed to get ahold of Gerald’s diary before biting it. While he never got to use it to bring down GUN, it still paved the way for Eggman’s eventual use.

Amelia Robotnik

-Maria’s mother. After the ARK incident and the supposed death of her children, she fell into a deep depression and eventually committed suicide. In case you haven’t noticed, the story of the Robotnik family is depressing as fuck.

Warren Robotnik, ‘Warpnik’

-Maria’s brother. What a tweest!

-He was with her on the ARK, and demonstrated a similar scientific gift to his grandfather. He wasn’t close to Shadow the way Maria was.

-When the ARK was raided, he was captured and subjected to brainwashing treatments by GUN in the hopes of turning him into a loyal, in-house mad scientist. All it did was make him batshit crazy.

-He escaped some time during the Great War, and is now loose in Mobius, a lunatic geneticist fixated on continuing his grandfather’s ‘great work’... or at least his own warped perception of it.

Maria Robotnik

-You know her. You love her. Her life is a tragedy. She’s Maria! Nuff said. Years later, and she still weighs heavily on Shadow.

Ivo Kintobor

-And here is where things get a bit confusing! Ivo was born ‘Ivo Robotnik’, the second son of Gerald. Long story short, he was a douche more interested in politics and profit, and as such did not get along with his father, who bequeathed the family company to his younger brother.

-Despite this, Ivo SOMEHOW managed to reproduce. And when the ARK incident happened, he bought the government line hook line and sinker. He changed the family name back to Kintobor and moved everyone back to Overland to start anew.

-He’s like 50% responsible for Julian winding up the way he did.

-And yes- he DOES want to bulldoze the puppy orphanage to create a combination oil rig/toxic waste dump.

-Was murdered by Julian, who disguised it as an accident.

Lydia Kintobor

-ICE BABY ICE.

-Julian and Colin’s mom.

-She 100% supported her husband’s douchery, and was an active participant in tormenting her secondborn son in the hopes of ‘breaking’ him out of being a genius.

-Killed in the same ‘accident’ that took her husband’s life.

Colin Kintobor Sr.

-Born in the United Federation, but moved to the Overland as a child and grew up there.

-Major league Nationalist and Human Supremacist. Prick.

-Hated Julian basically forever and was encouraged by his parents to do so. He became their ‘golden child’ and was pushed to succeed at everything.

-Pursued a career in politics, law, and the military, and eventually served as a general in the Great War.

-Was eventually murdered by his own brother

Miriam Kintobor

-Colin’s first wife, via arranged marriage.

-She was pretty much his opposite, yet despite that fact the two came to genuinely love one another.

-Died giving birth to their son. Have I mentioned the Kintobor/Robotnik family history is a trainwreck yet?

Angela Kintobor

-The second wife of Colin. She probably met him while serving as a military functionary during the Great War. She is also the mother of Hope Kintobor.

-Other than that, I got nothin’. She likely died when Hope was young, by way of Swatbot invasion. Seriously, do NOT become a Kintobor Love Interest.

Colin “Snively” Kintobor Jr.

-You know him, you hate him! It’s the Snivster, bay-bee!

-His mother died giving birth to him. His dad blamed him for this. You can guess the rest.

-You know most of the story- crappy childhood, admired his uncle Julian, helped him take over the Kingdom of Acorn, spent a decade as his punching bag, etc etc.

-After seemingly offing Julian during Endgame, he briefly took over the Robotnik Empire.... and promptly lost it to Naugus, forcing him to flee for his life. In exchange for information about Robotropolis’ defenses, King Acorn spared his life but sentenced him to be imprisoned forever.

-Was busted out by a returned Julian so that his uncle would be able to properly ‘thank’ him for losing his empire. Helped the FFs to escape Robotnik’s revenge, and after spending time bumming around with them (and hating it) decided to throw in his lot with Crazy Uncle Ivo.

-He’s regretted it ever since... though he sticks with him because its either Ivo or Julian, and Julian will ensure his death is cruel, messy, and lingers for years to come.

Hope Kintobor

-The second child of Colin Kintobor. She was born during the later years of the Great War and spent much of her early life living in siege conditions as Overland tried and failed to stop the advancement of Robotnik.

-Eventually she witnessed the death of her father and remaining family at the hands of Robotnik before being saved by Sonic. She had an extended stay in Knothole afterwards, where she slowly learned that much of her people’s views of Mobians was innacurate.

-She eventually moved to the United Federation as a ward of GUN, serving as the technology expert for Team Dark. She is close to all of them.

-Seeks to redeem the name of her family so that it’s legacy won’t be one of bloodshed, conquest and madness. She’s got a waaaays to go, to put it mildlry.

-Despite everything she still cares about her awful, awful half-brother.

Dr. Julian Robotnik

-Had a REALLY goddamned crappy....well, life, basically. Take my word for it.

-Has basically murdered his entire immediate family by this point.

-Prior to the Great War he aided the Overlander Ministry of Conflict in toppling the legitimate government of the Kingdom of Amunopolis (Aleena’s Kingdom), forcing it’s royal family to flee to the Kingdom of Acorn and re-settle under new identities, with crown princess becoming ‘Bernadette Hedgehog’. That’s right- he’s indirectly responsible for Sonic existing.

-Blah blah blah evil experiments blah blah war crimes blah blah sentenced to be executed by Overlander government during the Great War and blah blah blah coup.

-Took over a large swathe of Mobius and expanded to conquer more, and for a time seemed like he might conquer the entire planet. The Robotnik Empire is.... not a fun place. Then or now.

-Then Sonic and the FF’s happened. Then Endgame happened, and he was... indisposed for a while, leading to his empire being diminished. While he has returned, he has suffered numerous setbacks since then, and the Robotnik Empire is now greatly diminished from its peak.

-That being said, he still rules a pretty big part of the planet, and is still the biggest danger to the world at present.

-Hates his cousin Ivo.

-REALLY goddamn hates That Hedgehog.

Laura Kintobor

-That’s Doctor Laura Kintobor (nee Ellison) to you, buster.

-She and Julian both worked as scientists with Overland’s science ministry, where they met and befriended one another. She eventually managed to coax Julian out of his shell, and their friendship bloomed into a romance, which led to the two marrying.

-She worked in the organic sciences division and was an expert on biology and zoology. In contrast to most scientists, she was very much an outdoorswoman. Even managed to convince Julian to partake.

-Much like her unfortunate sister-in-law, she died in childbirth... giving birth to a stillborn daughter.

-Yeah, this shit is grim.

Theodore Robotnik

-Third son of Gerald. Blatantly named in reference to Theodore Roosevelt, who was used as a visual reference for Eggman.

-Basically a professional beancounter who later inherited Robotnik CORPS. He chose to stick with his original name even after the ARK incident, and struggled to keep Robotnik CORPS afloat in the immediate aftermath of the incident.

-Set up a trust fund for his son Ivo, and tried his best to raise him to be a contributing member of society.

-Sufficed to say, that didn’t work. If he’s still alive, he has a REALLY tense relationship with his son.

-Named his son after his older brother as a passive-aggressive act of spite for abandoning the ‘Robotnik’ name.

Dolores Robotnik

-Mother of Ivo. She was a professor of chemistry who decided to put her career on hold in order to be homemaker.

-Was much closer to her son than Theodore was, and often wound up having to play peacemaker between the two. ESPECIALLY during Ivo’s tumultous teenage years.

-Sufficed to say she is not exactly pleased with how he turned out, assuming she’s still alive even.

Dr. Ivo “Eggman” Robotnik

-HE IS THE EGGMAN. HE’S GOT THE MASTER PLAN! Really, do you NEED to know any more?

-Well, okay, you do. He was born very shortly before the ARK incident and never knew his grandfather.

-His childhood wasn’t horrible, but it was rough in areas due to his high intelligence making things more difficult for him than they should of be. Loads of disagreements with his dad over pursuing science. Spent years plagued by the derogatory name of ‘Eggman’ due to his weight problems.

-You know how you fantasize about ruling the world as a kid? He never really left that stage of things.

-He initially worked as a research scientist in the fields of AI and energy. During the Great War he was approached by GUN to develop weapons for them. His research would go on to form the basis of the robotic soldiers later used by them in the Robotnik war.

-Began his plot to take over Mobius during his time there, and secretly began to appropriate resources and machines to build a hidden base on the distant South Island. Eventually his schemes were discovered by GUN, but he fled.

-While his cousin conquered portions of Mobius elsewhere, Eggman began his long term Death Egg scheme as a means of conquering Mobius in one fell swoop with the aid of the Chaos Emeralds.

-You can guess how it goes from here- he encounters Sonic on South Island and in the Scrap Brain Zone and is defeated, thus setting the tone for MANY other defeats in the future. He eventually took on the name ‘Dr. Eggman’ as a way to differentiate himself from his cousin, and to make the insult that dogged his life into a name to be feared ala ‘Penguin’.

-When his cousin Julian was seemingly killed and the Robotnik Empire in dissarray, Eggman started new bids to take over the world. He established the Metropolis Zone as his ‘capital city’ and founded the Egg Army to help supplement his Badnik Horde. The Eggman Empire now exists as a terrorist army at the beck and call of Dr. Eggman, though he’s still got a ways to go.

-Has four sons by three different women. Slut.

???

-Haven’t got a name for her yet. She was a random girl that a college age Ivo knocked up, which putty much put an end to her collegiate ambitions. She gave birth to two sons, one of whom she bitterly named ‘Ivan’ as a reminder of his origins after failing to get child support out of her babydaddy. She re-married and is currently leading a comfortable enough life. Humors her son because she knows it annoys his biological father.

Ivan Eggman

-The oldest of Eggman’s sons. In his mid 30s or so. Scientifically gifted, as his father was.

-Has numerous, numerous issues pertaining to his stepfather, a hard and strict man with little toleration for nonsense.

-Idolizes his biological father and desperately wants to be acknowledged by him, even changing his original surname to ‘Eggman’. Eggman the 1st was NOT amused.

-Eventually founded a company, Eggman Industries, and grew rich rapidly. Settled by the Bygone Islands where he pursues life as a ‘villain’ now, though really he’s more like a public nuisance than anything.

-Honestly he’s basically living a ‘second childhood’ of sorts using his scientific know-how and riches, and has vowed to one day impress his father and earn his acknowledgement. As you can imagine, it is.... not working out at all, given that he’s even more of a goober than his pop.

-Ironically, he isn’t naturally bald- he SHAVES his head.

Steve

-Yeah, he ain’t a robot here- Steve is the organic, younger (by about a minute) twin brother of Ivan.

-Utterly unconcerned with science or any of that jazz. He’s basically a bohemian beach bum, complete with californian accent- he spends much of his time surfing and earning cash from side jobs.

-Really mellow and easy-going, and doesn’t really dwell on stuff.

-Utter himbo.

Mrs. Robotnik

- Ex-Wife of Ivo Robotnik. Haven’t given it too much thought, but she and Ivo met while working in acadamia, and eventually married.

-Initially the relationship was pretty solid, and they even had a child together. However things swiftly deteriorated between the two as Ivo’s immaturity and increasing anger at the world strained their relationship, along with him being a lousy parent to their son. She eventually divorced his ass.

-After going through a rough patch with her son, she has begun to re-connect with him after his years a delinquent, and now happily supports his endeavors.

Ivo Robotnik Jr.

-Middle son of Dr. Eggman. Had a nonexistant relationship with his father while growing up, which combined with the divorce eventually turned him into a juvenile delinquent.

-He roamed with a biker gang for a while, and prefers to be called ‘Junior’ rather than ‘Ivo’.

-Fell in with Breezie for a while, the both of them unaware of the other’s connection to Eggman. They eventually went their separate ways once Junior began to turn over a new leaf. He still carries a torch for her, though is painfully aware it’d never work out. Their relationship is... complicated, these days.

-Has since become a software security engineer, making a living providing Anti-Eggman/Robotnik software to companies.

Lindsey Thorndyke

-A famed actress. She and Ivo had a drunken tryst at a wrap party where he’d been invited to act as a consultant on scientific accuracy. To avoid scandal she informed her husband, and they passed off the baby as their own.

-What more do you want. Its LINDSEY.

Chris Thorndyke

-The youngest son of Ivo Robotnik. Spent much of his life completely unaware of his true parentage.

-Eh, what can I say, I kind like the theory of him actually being a Robotnik in some capacity or the next.

-When he was a boy, he befriended Sonic and his friends and even hosted them during the days when Eggman’s schemes for global conquest caused him to haunt Station Square for a while.

-Admired his grandfather Chuck and pursued science to be like him, studying physics and engineering.

-Thanks to his mom he’s something of a film buff.

-In college he learned the truth of his heritage. This has put a strain on his relationship with his parents.

Francis Kintobor

-The youngest of Gerald’s sons. Pursued a career as a schoolteacher. While he changed his name in the aftermath of the ARK incident as his older brother Ivo had, he chose to make a small joke at his brother’s expense over the ludicrousness of the name change by naming his own son ‘Ovi Kintobor’.

-Named after Francis Mao, aka That Guy Who Made That One Comic Adaptation From 1991.

Elizabeth Kintobor

-Dr. Ovi Kintobor’s mother. A career veterinarian with a strong love of animals. That’s about it.

Ovi Kintobor

- Grew up on Westside Island, among Mobians. Had a pretty happy and contented childhood, and like many of the other various members of the Kintobor/Robotnik clan developed a pronounced interest and skill in science at a young age.

-Developed a particular interest in researching Chaos Emeralds.

-A Concientious Objector, he served as a medic during the Great War.

-Deeply, deeply shamed by the actions of his more notorious cousins, he has essentially hidden himself from the world to pursue his research and evade their notice, while helping against them in whatever way he can.

-Has secretly transported people threatened by his cousins to safer places, and once caused a mass sabotage of their respective robotic forces through the ‘Nicenik Virus’.

-An ally of the Freedom Fighters.

-Deeply distrusts GUN (which frankly isn’t a bad call).

-Bit of a hippy, but really is a genuinely nice guy who wants to help others through science.

-In some villages he is known as ‘Mr. Tinker’.

#Sonic the Hedgehog #Dr. Robotnik #Dr. Eggman #Colin Kintobor #Chris Thorndyke #Gerald Robotnik #Hope Kintobor #Snively #Warpnik #Maria Robotnik #Robotnik Junior #Boom Eggman #Steve Eggman #Robotnik Jr #Truly this was the best way to spend the finite thing known as my time on earth

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kinetic-elaboration · 4 years ago

Text

June 2: 2x21 Patterns of Force

Took a nap after work today!! Perhaps a bad idea.

Anyway, some thoughts on the... awkward Patterns of Force.

Another story about Jim looking for his hero, I see. That never (always) ends badly.

Definitely getting an image of little Spock (teenage Spock? young adult Spock? all little Spocks) reading about Earth history.

Oh no, an armed drone. That does not bode well. Why do Kirk’s heroes always betray him?

A subcutaneous transponder. That seems like a useful device to introduce into the narrative. (Slash remember for future purposes...)

Also it reminds of me “He’s a...a... a transponster!”

Spock in a hat. I guess the Ekosians and/or Zeons don’t have pointed ears, then.

“It’s our old enemy...fascism.”

Well this guy literally was not subtle in his references to Nazi Germany. (I’m referring in universe to what’s-his-face but this also applies to the episode writer.)

“The evidence is clear... someone did interfere.”

“You look quite well for a man who’s been utterly destroyed, Mr. Spock.” This man canNOT stop flirting for one second.

Lol, using Spock to distract the Nazi.

“It’s logical to pretend to be a Nazi? Okay, I’m convinced. You said the magic word.”

“Look! I captured him!” So proud.

Kirk’s face when Spock says he would make a convincing Nazi. Bb, you’re not doing the compliment thing right. (I’ll actually be quite honest... I find the humor in that moment but it also makes me uncomfortable given both these actors are Jewish.)

That said, Kirk is canonically better at blending into undercover scenarios than Spock is. He thinks better on his feet, creatively.

How do these people NOT recognize two whole-ass aliens.

...Maybe they do.

I do like when Kirk is being interrogated and still tries to be charming..

That Nazi really lost a lot of authority after being dressed down by his superior in front of the captives.

I like this Zeon.

“The flaw in the plan is this locked door.” Thanks Spock. It’s this subtle humor that I think people often miss in him. Like where you can’t tell if it’s intentional or not.

Kirk is so smart!!! He never gets credit for being this smart.

Hmm, taking out the transponders is such a weirdly intimate scene.

The Zeon wants to be included in this adventure so much but they’re obsessed with each other, like “What Zeon?”

“I’ll be your platform, Mr. Spock.”

This is such a weirdly humorous interlude for a story about Nazis. Kind of reminds me in a way of that conversation with the police man on City on the Edge of Forever. I mean that ep was much better but just like the sudden switch in tone.

Spock’s like “Oh, that was cool. Made a laser.”

I heard Kirk say, “You, over there,” as in directing Spock to stand over there, but the subtitles say “Beautiful. Over there.” As in, “we did a beautiful job getting out, now Spock, stand over there.” But combine them...?

Not gonna get a disguise for Spock huh? Just gonna let him be shirtless a little more for no apparent reason.

Poor Zeon. These aliens are inscrutable and not letting him in on anything.

“Alien pistols.”

“Who would win? the entire military force of this planet or two phaser-less space husbands?"

I probably shouldn’t laugh every time Kirk impersonates a Nazi but I do. "Don't mind me... completely believable Nazi here..."

The unsubtle of the Hebrew names. And of course.. .Zeon.

“We’ll be just as bad as the Nazis.” No, actually, you’re not and never will be that’s not how it works. BUT you definitely should help the aliens. Like, that phrase grates because it’s usually used to refer to, like, use of violence, use of “censorship” but here’s it more about turning away people who are different or minority and so then it does make sense but....the connotations.

Spock’s like, “May I... get away from this emotion? Has enough time passed for me to ask that?”

More Nazis! Following them everywhere!

Oh, psych. Not Nazis after all.

Spock’s like “Betraying your own father, you say? I have never thought about that.”

“The Fuhrer... is an alien?” Actual real line AND a correct summation of the situation.

This ep does not paint the Federation in a great light. Although to be fair... John Gill was breaking the rules so.

Documentary corps... I love it. Great disguise. Flash lights in people’s eyes, have an excuse to stay in a group, no on looks at you. Genius.

Spock is honestly so bright-eyed and bushy-tailed about EVERYTHING. He cannot be tamed. Again, really an aspect of him I miss in the reboots.

Kirk really is the captain of everyone in his vicinity.

“Think positively, Spock.”

Uhura is unflappable. “A Nazi Colonel’s uniform? Of course, Captain.”

Send him down naked if you have to!! Yes, please, send him down naked.

Spock giving McCoy detailed instructions on how to put on boots... Why was dialogue like this not in the reboots?

McCoy is so polite. Polite first, confused later. “Nice to meet you, Nazi--wait, Nazi???”

I love how McCoy immediately put on his drunk face and Spock was like, "An opportunity to insult McCoy?? Awesome.”

So I assumed the Chairman was either dumb or didn’t recognize them with their shirts on but apparently he was yet another mole, so. At least it’s not a plot hole.

“The speech has no discernible pattern or logic.” Hmmm, I wonder what it feels like to have a leader who speaks with no discernible pattern or logic?

Guys. Pals. Awful people. Did he really give orders, or did he just say random shit? People will flock to anything. I'll be honest, I actually think this is one of the subtler and better parts of this episode: how chilling it is to contemplate how people will rally around any non-speech that has the right tone and a few key words. This is garbage language. But it incites people to kill.

McCoy and his stimulants again.

Spock and his mind probing again.

Wow Spock really messed with his mind there. “He can answer questions but not otherwise speak?” What kind of crazy shit is that?

They are being so mean to Spock. “Malformed ears.” “Low forehead.” That’s not a low forehead, that’s bangs.

Nice triumivirate scene at the end. Feels good, feels organic. Kirk likes to hear his two BFFs bickering because it feels like all is right with the universe, and I agree. Nature is healing.

This episode has a very weird (and very hard to swallow imo) backstory. Like, who primarily associates the Nazis with efficiency? And even if you do, if you think there’s something to the way they put together the country so fast post-WWI, all of this “efficiency” is directly tied to hatred and violence. Like Isak said, the Ekosians have nothing to hold them together BUT hating Zeons. That's at the center of the design. It's not like Gill’s plan backfired it was just... a horrible plan?? It doesn’t even make sense to me that his “effective regime” was co-opted by one hateful person because what was at the center of the “Nazi” regime before the hatred of Zeons? What could it have been? There are no other alternatives provided. Also, even if it could have been somehow accomplished without the use of a scapegoat.. is fascism really an ideal? Like the story never reckoned with that concept at all, which I find disturbing.

Here’s the thing about Gill. He is a certain real type and I appreciate his inclusion up to a point. He’s the Naive, Hubristic Intellectual. He thinks because he’s studied something, academically, he knows more about it even than people who experienced it, and he can fix all of its problems. “I can do this, but better. I am so smart, I am so well-informed, I have no flaws.” I can even see this sort of person being someone a young Kirk would admire because there’s an optimism and idealism to this naivete. I don’t think Kirk is arrogant but he is very idealistic, and when he was a young man, still in the market for heroes, or at least idols or mentors? Yeah, someone with that kind of attitude toward life--that we can deeply understand and then improve upon history--would have appealed to him. It’s possible that Gill even was the “compassionate, gentle” person that Kirk thought, or that he had that side to him.

Where I think the episode erred is in absolving Gill of most of his guilt for this state of affairs. He does die and he does admit he was wrong, but his biggest sin is allegedly in introducing a regime that could be co-opted for evil rather than one that was inherently bad. He is literally drugged (tortured in a way), to emphasize just how non-culpable the narrative thinks he is. Also, while he does apologize for interfering at all, even this is fairly brief and not expanded upon in the rest of the narrative. The truth is he shouldn’t have interfered in general, because that’s not his place or his right, and he shouldn’t have interfered in this way specifically. Even if Malakon hadn’t risen and taken over, the ideal Gil was imposing was one of unthinking uniformity, lack of autonomy, worship of a leader over the rule law--these are not the values of the Federation, the show Star Trek, or me. But he’s used more as a device to explain why the show is so unsubtly Nazi, rather than a real villain or object lesson. Even though Gill is a much better object lesson than Malakon.

And what about Malakon? The ending presents him, literally and in so many words, as the “one evil man” responsible for all of this. I think we know both from studying history and, unfortunately, from our own times, that this is untrue because impossible. One evil person is just a lunatic ranting on the street corner. One evil leader became leader because others agreed and gave him power, or agreed in part, or made a deal with the devil, or disagreed but said nothing, or spoke but were overwhelmed. It’s a disservice to the subject matter to say that dictatorships or authoritarian regimes are that simple. I get that the episode is only 50 minutes and it needs to wrap up, and it’s simpler to say “Okay, killed the Villain, now we can go back to being Not Evil, all the Ekosians will be as happy as the Zeons because we never really wanted this.” But Hitler and his henchmen weren’t the only Nazis. Regular people--and in this context, regular Ekosians--weren’t Nazis too.

Overall, the episode was okay. Very awkward though. Very blunt. I think it would have been better off not using the Nazi symbology so literally. Like the idea that a human would come into a society and purposefully create something from our history is interesting (and “what if Earth but alien?” is certainly something TOS likes doing and finds various ways to do--like the gangsters in A Piece of the Action or Neo-Rome in Bread and Circuses or even literal Greek Gods in Who Mourns for Adonais?) but not worth it given which society was being emulated. It seemed to be too much an excuse to dig out the old WWII movie costumes (and put Jewish actors in Nazi regalia which... is very... distressing) and not so much an excuse for some kind of commentary along the lines of what I said above re: the hubris of historians, the hubris of time. That aspect leaves a bad taste. It had some good ideas but I think, again, it was hindered rather than helped by how literal it insisted (for some reason) on being. Compare it to A Private Little War, which was just about as obvious a Vietnam allegory as you can get, and yet still didn’t literally transport anyone to Vietnam, and this ep looks all the more clunky. I’m probably judging it more harshly than I have on previous viewings, but I really feel like... you can use sci fi to make a commentary on the rise of authoritarianism, but the delicacy of the subject matter requires you to be particularly thoughtful in the way you do it and the actual statements you’re making.

Anyway, the Enterprise Defeats Nazis is a good episode summary at least.

I think in my last attempt at a whole rewatch I stopped at around this point. I seem to have watched the next two episodes, according to Amazon, but I have a weird feeling I only watched one, the next one, By Any Other Name, and then stopped. I don’t remember either of them so we’ll see how that goes! Will they seem familiar or not?

#the year 2021 #2021: fandom thoughts #2021: star trek #star trek tos

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thekrazykeke · 5 years ago

Photo

Title: Without You, I...

Fandom(s): Attack on Titan/SnK

Masterlist: Here.

Pairing(s): Levi x reader

Rating: M

Series: You’re Perfect

Summary: The greatest act of love is to pay attention.

Warning(s): OVA spoilers. Acrobatic moves (I mean, anything with the ODM gear is pretty flexible and awesome in my book but whatever). Canon typical violence.

Taglist: Click here to be added.

Tagging: @misspooh @ginghampearlsnsweettea @naomithenerdgirl @wojtud-widvut-fecret @indigorose049 @queenofhearts579 @fallinoutoforbit @ashthebootyholetickler @one-twisted-bee @stichpatchedsoul @supremethunda @mattiekins @zenon-babie @moustachioed-tactician @sml200117 @fivefootab-i-tch @seventeen-stan-1027 @wolfdragon731 @thecuteaspie @professor-melanin @sekhmxt-hxka @thefluffyphotographer @ktyprryholms @korianrdr @multiaxxer @keya168 @ace-the-elf-quinn @katsumeii @magicalhumanoidpaperlover @pananegra @enchantingpeachgalaxy @queex-c @anameidrawer @harry-poc @chocolate-noddles @velvetstay @allthingsgay007 @azulplanta @amethyst09 @shortiedaartist

Part One

Levi is my guilty pleasure.

I want to spoil him when I’m happy, so increased imagines for him. That’s great but also not okay. This series is to expand my writing repertoire after all and it’s more likely I’ll remain in a slump if I focus solely on just one character the most; I mean, it did take me like five plus months to even get my shit together enough to refocus on this series fjsdklfjslfjs.

Anyways, as usual, if you liked what you’ve read, please hit that like button, reblog, or comment!

Episode 7

Cultivating Friendships & Gaining Affection A Choice With No Regrets

You open your eyes.

Only an inky darkness surrounded your vision for as far as you could see. You blinked and let out a quiet, very quiet, exhale. Don’t panic, there’s no time to panic. Assess the situation, find out where you are and how you can escape.

Before you could put that idea into practice, that’s when you heard it. The footfalls of someone approaching. Looking around for something to use as a weapon proved to be an exercise in futility.

And then you saw her, the AI. The mirror image of yourself. How you really saw yourself before this whole simulation began and you’d undergone multiple transformations, been dressed to impress and kill in new outfits, etc.

Tensing, prepared to...to do something, lash out maybe, when your(?), her, mouth opened.

“A new player has entered the simulation.”

‘...What?’ Confused, as you so often are, you’re unsure how to react. A new player? What did that even mean...? Perhaps anticipating this reaction, the AI thrust a hand out, palm first, in front of her and a screen appeared in front of your face.

The person there is... He’s vaguely familiar. Not an anime character or anyone from a movie or series, but someone that you actually know from the real world.

‘That’s... [Male Character Name]. ....So, so... that means-’

“There are some simulations and situations that would work better with a partner to back you up. Indeed, co-op mode can be toggled on and off from the Main Menu. Would you like to do that now?”

You select yes, and while you’re perusing through the Main Menu, you swipe until you come across Settings, bypassing Options altogether. You check the box that would allow Co-Op Mode, scrolling down until...

“There we go...” You mutter underneath your breath, checking the box(es) that would always show off a minimized screen with your choices, and the option to rewind and select different choices without prompting. Default voice commands were pre-chosen so that it wouldn’t distract from game-play, words such as Pause would obviously freeze the simulation, whereas the word, Begin, would start the simulation again. You changed the command Menu to M1 after some thought, and that would take you back to the Main Menu, and instead of Return, you switched it to R1, and that would take you out of the simulated reality entirely, returning you to the real live world.

For a second, you deliberated with that idea.

Going back to the real world, in a pretty epic house, working at a company that did pretty awesome stuff, its just the people that you were consistently annoyed with or barely tolerated, and your dating record was pitiful...

And then you shook your head. ‘It’s nice to have the option to bail out, at least.’

Too many times had you read horror fanfics or a string of conspiracy theorist nonsense about the situation that you’re currently going through right now. The possibility of being stuck for years in a simulated reality that you couldn’t escape from... Not fun, of course.

However, for the most part, you are having fun right now. You got to drool over, oggle, fuck, and walk alongside some of your favorite characters. You wanted to see more, discover more realities. The real world and it’s bullshit could wait another day.

Once you’re completely done with that, you look up and see that the AI is still standing there, watching you. Creepy, really. And then she gestures behind her.

Five doors open, one after another.

Maybe she said something deep and profound, maybe it was a warning, but you didn’t care. Didn’t listen. Your feet guided you forward of their own accord and without hesitation, you step through the doorway that called to you.

To the start.

‘The Underground can almost be called beautiful in a way, with this view...’ You think to yourself hazily.

The lingering sensation of being bathed in warm water as you stepped through the doorway into the simulation dissipates rapidly, only to be replaced by the sound of rushing wind.

“Pull up!”

Levi’s warning nearly comes too late.

Instincts that you didn’t even realize you had kick in at the correct moment.

You run forward quickly, doing a handstand on top of a stack of crates on an old fashioned cart truck, tuck, then roll, and pop back up again, continuing to flee the scene. There’s a crash from behind you and you don’t look back to confirm what’s going, the curses and complaints of the Underground merchants are enough of a clue.

Getting up high is the goal and you don’t think twice as you put on an extra burst of speed, jumping up and beginning to scale along a wall of a dilapidated house, thankfully its not that big and there’s a couple ledges. All this exercise is more than you’re used to and you take a couple quick breaths, ignoring the stitch in your side as you begin to run again.

Momentum, momentum, that’s what you need. Don’t look down. Just do it...!

You vault of the edge of the house and the bottom of your stomach feels like it’s fallen when there’s nothing but straight stone if you fall, and oh my God, fuck, holyfuckballs, black people do not do this daredevil crazy shit!!

Again, instincts, or the game settings, perhaps, whatever it is, kicks in and saves you as you work your ODM gear like a pro. You’re like straight up Spider Woman as you zip through the air until you catch up with Isabel, Farlan, and Levi, taking up position in the rear of the group.

“Wooohoooo! Yeah! You’re so cool, [Your Name]!”

Unbidden, your mouth quirked upwards in a little smirk. Stil, she’s looking backwards and not paying attention. You’re about to call her out on it, only to catch a glimpse of forest green in your peripherals and your heart skips a beat.

“Levi, pursuers coming up fast.” It’s a wonder that your voice is so steady.

“Heh. Military Police, again, eh? Haven’t learned their lesson, have they?” Again, Isabel looked back, her face smug, and arrogance was clear in her tone. “Levi-bro, what I said was a cool line, right!?”

“Are you an idiot?” Levi asked bluntly, not at all impressed.

Isabel’s face comically dropped and she looked at you beseechingly. “Big sis, what about--” Farlan interjected though and moved the conversation along. “They definitely haven’t yet, and they’re still sending elite soldiers.”

“The merchants must have alerted them.” Levi deduced.

“Most likely.” Farlan agreed. “Last time, we got quite a big “donation” from their safe.” He smirked. “We saved them from getting any fatter and further ruining their health. They should be grateful!” Isabel tacked on, smirking.

The banter and easy camaraderie with these two is adorable.

“Farlan, Isabel, [Your Name]. Let’s go.” Levi swooped down low, almost touching the ground, only to swing his body easily, twisting about in the air and getting even higher. For a moment, you can almost see him decked out in Survey Corps gear, his future(?) bright and clear, why everyone looked up to him.

Then a bright white arrow flashed on the wall in front of you, pointing to the left, and you had the feeling that this was part of the game’s mechanism. Not even thinking twice, you followed where the arrow pointed, splintering off from the main group and with your ODM gear, you swooped right through an open window. Dashed past a small family, avoiding stepping on the children’s toys, and dodging the father’s frantic swings with the kitchen knife, he probably thought you were a burglar or worse.

You slipped out the open back window (why, oh why, so careless, Papa-san) and dropped down onto the next building. The landing could’ve been better. Thankfully, you didn’t break anything, though you might be a little bruised. The arrow flashed again, insistently, pointing forward and you see another building, this one looking emptier from a distance.

Dusting yourself off, you caught your breath before you started running, and when you leapt, this time you did the smart thing and didn’t look down and have a freak out mid-air.

Your ODM gear worked like a dream and you were inside the abandoned building where a couple satchels of knives and a gun waited for you.

The gun was typically old time-y and it threw you for a loop.

Luckily for you, you didn’t have to puzzle out how to assemble it or anything weird like that. Or so it seemed. The arrow kept pointing down at the gun so you picked it up after a moment, and just as you did, you heard a loud crash. Glancing out over the ledge carefully, you watch as Levi fights Mike with just a little pocket knife, almost, compared to the blades that Survey Corps’ members carry around.

He even manages to knock one of those blades away, and thrusts the knife forward and up, aiming to stab Mike in the chest or throat, more than likely. Only to be intercepted by another Survey Corps member, the hood falling off to reveal a familiar looking man with a head of blonde hair.

It takes you a couple seconds to place exactly who he is.

‘Shit, it’s Erwin!’

You watch, heart in your throat, as Levi and Erwin are engaged in a locked standstill for a few seconds. Then two more Survey Corps members come out with Isabel and Farlan in chains. Despite his reputation as a hardass at first glance, Levi is kind of soft to the people he cares for, and you’re unsurprised when he lets his weapon fall from his hand.

Gritting your teeth, you watch the proceedings. Levi, Isabel, and Farlan are on their knees, Erwin is interrogating them, it looks like. For a moment, you even dare to think that things might go differently, somehow Levi will pull a trick out of nowhere and...

And then Mike slams Levi’s head to the ground, right into a puddle of filthy water.

The gun in your hand feels heavy, but you know what you have to do. You settle down, set it up and aim. Finger on the trigger, inhale, hold the breath. Erwin is kneeling in front of Levi now, so close.

If you miss... Pushing that thought away, you pulled the trigger.

The recoil is enough to almost put you on your ass if you’d not been expecting it, but you manage to stand strong, only barely. The bullet hits the intended target, felling the female soldier. Your ears are ringing and you know you have only seconds, if that, before the remaining fuckwits pull their shit together. You reload, aim again, and... Your chosen victim, the other random Survey Corps member, he’s right there and boy, does he look pissed. He’s thrusting his blade at you, screaming something, but you don’t hesitate, you fire, he tilts his head to the side, narrowly avoiding the bullet to the brain.

What kind Matrix-esque, Jet Li bullshit is this?

Your incredulity is put on the back burner as you’re in struggle for your life. The gun is knocked away from you and the soldier is swinging his blade at you with angry precision, the desire for vengeance clear in his gaze. He’s all fancy footwork and speed, while you’re like a bull in a china shop in comparison. Eventually, he makes a mistake, letting his guard down and you don’t even hesitate before you’re doing something dumb. You ram into him full speed, not realizing, or forgetting, how close he is to the window and you barely even have time to think ‘Oh shit!’ before the two of you are sailing out of it.

The soldier is better in the air than you are and you hate to acknowledge this fact. Legit, the asshole doesn’t even blink as he uses his ODM gear to swing free of the potential danger (and death), you along for the ride. He drives his elbow into your face once, twice. You taste blood and know that you’ve got a bloody nose, gross. The next time he goes to hit you, you punch him back, hard. You hear a crack and know that your hit has broken his nose.

Pettiness satisfied, you let go of his waist, using the ODM gear to your advantage and swinging off, around him. He’s still got his blades, aiming to skewer you. You retrieved a couple knives from the gun holster strapped to your shoulders and back, and without hesitation, you throw them with deadly aim.

He hits the ground, holding his shoulder.

You only get enough time to use the sleeve of your shirt to roughly wipe away the blood dripping down your nose grossly before Mike is upon you. His characteristic blank expression is still in full effect as he engages you in a fight.

At first, it takes place in the air, but he’s easily dominating that and he grounds you forcefully.

You scramble away, getting up and going for hand to hand combat, with a couple knives, but you’re no Levi. Good, decent, yes, you are, but Mike is obviously on another level and he isn’t holding his punches at all, even though you’re a girl.

Maybe even because of that fact, who knows.

The fight is over before you know it and soon, you’re in the same predicament as Isabel, Farlan and Levi. The manacles on your wrist make you highly uncomfortable for a lot of reasons and you immediately want them off. Erwin seems to sense your feelings, being the weirdo with the power kink, or whatever, because he stares you down like an animal at the zoo.

“Keep looking at me like that, Eyebrows, and I’ll get ideas.” It might be considered flirting to some people, but your tone is distinctly sardonic. Isabel snorted, only to cut herself off abruptly, and at the corner of your eye, you note that Farlan elbows her.

“Apologies. I’m just inspired by your cunning. I’d have thought you would have left you companions to their fate.” You don’t say anything. “Then again, based on the intel we’ve collected, you’re in charge if Levi is occupied.” Again, you stay quiet, but either your poker face must not be as good as you thought or Erwin is just a conniving, controlling bastard and wants to milk the situation for what it is, or something because he lets out a slight chuckle and then looks you dead in the eye. “Please forgive my reprehensible manners. My name is Erwin Smith. You are..?”

He’s got charisma out the ass, you can acknowledge that much at least. You glance off to the side of his head, the very image of put out. Annoyed. “...[Your Name].”

“[Your Name]. I’ll give you the same opportunity that I just offered Levi. Lend me your strength. Join the Scouts.” Although you kind of expected this, it's not any less shocking to actually hear him ask.

“But, sir!” The injured Scout piped up, looking at you hatefully. Erwin did nothing more than raise a hand and he shut up.

There’s silence for several moments.

The urge to look behind you at Levi is strong, but you strangle the impulse.

“And if I refuse?”

Truthfully, you’re asking partially to be an ass and also you just want to know, really. Is it worth it, going out there day after day, witnessing giant naked people chomp down on smaller human beings? Do you really want to throw your lot in with these soldiers who really were just cannon fodder, for like, years?

You heard the sound of metal against metal and then felt a blade pressed against the nape of your neck. Erwin looks you in the eye, his features blank and cold. “You did kill one of mine...”

“Heh. So I did.” You’re unapologetic about that fact too. “...Fine. You’ve got me ass over a barrel. I’ll join the Scouts.” A chill ran up and down your spine, and you wonder what will happen going forward. Glancing at Farlan and Isabel in your peripherals, you make a vow that you won’t let them die for nothing, without a fight.

You risk a glance at Levi and his face is blank, closed off like normal. As Erwin turned away to talk to the angry Scout, and Mike removed his blade from your neck, just before you glanced away, Levi’s expression softened only slightly and he nodded as he caught you watching.

This is the job that you, he, Isabel and Farlan agreed to do.

Now it’s just about seeing it through.

»»————-　　————-««

And thus another episode ends. You’ve cast the die and made your pledge. Will you survive the horrors that await. That is to be seen...

#fic #anime fic #attack on titan #captain levi #attack on titan fanfiction #captain levi fanfic #black reader #levi ackerman #levi ackerman x reader #misc fics #snk #anime / manga #snk fic #you're perfect series #thekrazykeke

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bipabrena · 5 years ago

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Beautiful, So Beautiful (AO3 Eruri fan-fic)

After losing his arm, Erwin finds adapting difficult. More than anything, he feels self-conscious and broken because of his new appearance. But Levi finds him as beautiful as ever, perhaps more. And he intends to let Erwin know this. Read it here.

Levi’s white shirt stuck to his muscles, and his strong feet stepped from one position to the next. The movements of his hands were fast, purposeful and precise.

He swung his leg in the air, connecting with an invisible opponent. He jumped back, punched and kicked, then dodged invisible blows.

He paused, then wiped the sweat off his brow.

He remained still for a moment.

Suddenly and quickly, he grunted and threw another punch, then another and another, left right, right left, jab and hooks, on and on.

He continued his shadow boxing, as though he had something insatiable burning inside him, but couldn’t quite get it out.

“My,” he heard, “two in the morning and still training.”

He stopped. He turned as he wiped the sweat on his upper lip, and he left his fist there.

He was met by a slightly smiling Erwin, with eyes lidded in both exhaustion and fondness. Levi took a good look at him, and found pitiful the sight of the dangling sleeve where his right arm should be.

“What are you doing up at this hour?�� Levi asked, walking over to a crate. He grabbed his satchel of water, and drank.

“I’m certainly not being as useful as you,” Erwin jested.

Levi looked at him, unimpressed.

“I was heading to the mess-hall for some tea. I’m craving that herbal tea you introduced me to.”

Levi’s eyes sunk, and his unimpressed expression shifted to a scowl of annoyance.

“Come on,” Erwin said. “Why are you looking at me like that? Has your pity for me died down?” he placed a hand on his chest. “I get cravings like everyone else.”

“Yes, and that’d be fine and all,” Levi said, “If I believed you, that is.”

Erwin didn’t say anything.

“I’m getting tired of repeating myself. I’ve already told you we need that head of yours well-rested. You’re already dead weight without that arm of yours, so the least you can do is take care of your brain.”

“Would you believe me if I said I just wanted to see you?”

Levi’s eyes wavered.

He took a moment before answering, because if he did so right now, his voice would quiver—even if slightly.

Levi wiped the sweat off his face with a rag.

“More importantly, I keep wondering why you’re training at this hour. It seems that’s all you do, when you should be sleeping.”

“I’ve never been much of a sleeper. You know that.”

Because he had to grow stronger, Levi thought.

He wasn’t there when Erwin needed him most. It’s because he wasn’t there that he lost his arm. Had he not gotten injured fighting Annie, had he been in full shape and joined the fight, Erwin wouldn’t be in this state.

In this state that he was agonising over.

Erwin wouldn’t say anything, but Levi knew better.

He knew how useless he felt. He knew he was mourning his missing appendage, he knew that he didn’t feel whole.

And it was true.

Erwin would’ve never imagined just how frustrating weakness could be. He’d adapted well, but learning to dress, write and just do daily chores with his non-dominant hand was frustrating.

He knew there was always a risk of dying, he never overestimated his own mortality—but he had to admit to himself he’d never imagined he would be a cripple.

Levi had to help him around. He helped keep his office clean, he helped him stash books and he helped him with mundane things such as carrying things and cutting his meat.

It was humiliating.

Levi knew just how much Erwin agonised over this, and since he couldn’t move the way he used to, Levi had to be there for him.

He had to be twice as strong, because his priority was to keep Erwin safe.

Not for humanity, not for the future of the Survey Corps.

But because it was his Erwin.

“Go to bed, old man,” Levi said. “I have to hit the showers anyway, so I’ll bring the tea to you.”

“Old man?” Erwin smiled derisively. “How many times do I have to tell you we’re almost the same age?”

“You’re still older,” Levi said, with a slight smile that did not go unnoticed by Erwin.

“I’m serious,” Levi said, wiping his arms. “Go lay down and I’ll get your tea for you.”

“Oh, fine. I guess losing an arm isn’t too bad if it means I get to be pampered by you.”

Levi organised his belongings, and he couldn’t help the smile from contorting on his face. “You’re disgusting,” he said with that wide smile, which made Erwin smile in turn.

Levi then looked at him, and Erwin was surprised to find Levi’s glistening eyes.

Those eyes he adored so much. Those eyes that went from dull and slanted to wide and glimmering whenever Erwin said something that moved him.

“I won’t take long,” he said. “So go make yourself comfortable.”

Erwin nodded and left for his room.

After Erwin left, Levi hit the common showers.

He closed his eyes as he stood underneath the shower head. The water ran down his body, and he held a hand against his firm, muscular abdomen. He lathered himself in soap, and when he unexpectedly thought of Erwin, he felt a strong, hard beat against his chest.

He didn’t take long showering, not wanting to keep Erwin waiting.

In the mess-hall, he prepared a tray with two mugs, a kettle and biscuits. He headed to Erwin’s office, and knocked with his feet.

“Come in,” he heard.

He balanced the tray on one hand, and opened the door. He walked in to the sight of Erwin sitting at his desk, looking over some papers.

“You idiot,” Levi said, eyes slanting. “I told you to lay in bed, not work.”

“You told me to look after my brain,” Erwin retorted. “There is no better way to do so than keeping it fresh. It is a muscle of its own, you know. You must exercise it.”

“Tch,” Levi scowled, “you’re trash.”

He placed the tray on the whisky table, and poured the tea with his very pronounced scowl—a scowl that charmed Erwin to no end.

He placed Erwin’s mug and small platter of biscuits on his desk.

Levi grabbed his own mug, and sat across Erwin. He crossed his leg and rested an arm against the top railing, holding the mug in his usual unusual way.

“What were you doing?” he asked.

“I was reading Bertolt and Reiner’s files.”

“Why?”

“Curiosity,” Erwin said sincerely.

“That’s a lame ass excuse if I’ve ever heard one.”

“It’s the truth, though.”

They were in silence for a moment, until Erwin closed the files and finally grabbed his mug of herbal tea. He thanked Levi with a smile, and Levi nodded.

They drank their tea and ate the biscuits in silence.

When they were finished, Levi insisted it was time for Erwin to sleep.

But Erwin was having none of it.

They argued and argued, until Erwin gave an ultimatum.

“Only if you spend the night here.”

How could Levi refuse?

“You’re a clingy, old man,” he said as he grabbed a pillow and shook it to make it fluffier.

Erwin shrugged, with no intention of arguing against him.

With a sigh, Levi plopped on the bed. After him was Erwin, and the mattress jiggled from the impact.

Erwin lay on his back, and Levi turned to his side. He crossed his arms, and his expression softened as he looked at Erwin.

“Two months, huh,” he said softly.

Erwin remained quiet and still, but he then turned to his side as well. He looked at Levi.

His eyes, his nose, his lips—until his eyes trailed up to meet his gaze again.

“That’s right. We’ll finally plug that hole.”

“But we have to kill these two brats first,” Levi said. “Otherwise it will be for nothing. Do you think we can do it?"

“Frankly,” he said, “I don’t want to talk about it right now.”

Understanding and with no desire to refute Erwin, Levi nodded.

They were in silence, until Levi scurried closer to Erwin, and there was little distance between their faces.

They looked into each other’s eyes, and almost simultaneously, they could feel their hearts beating a little faster.

It was then that Erwin wanted to grab a strand of Levi’s soft hair and place it behind his ear, but all that happened was that his stump moved.

Erwin frowned, and Levi could only frown back.

Erwin looked down to avert his gaze from Levi’s eyes, clearly embarrassed.

It deeply pained Levi.

He was beautiful. So beautiful.

He had nothing to be ashamed of.

It was then that he scurried even closer to Erwin, until there was practically no distance between their bodies. He gently held the stump, and stroked it with his thumb.

“Beautiful,” he said.

Erwin looked up at Levi, and was amazed to find his sincere, glistening eyes.

They clearly looked at Erwin with adoration, and Erwin couldn’t stop the light in his eyes from expanding.

His brows then furrowed, and he smiled.

Levi brought his face closer to Erwin’s, and he closed his eyes as he pressed their foreheads together. “So beautiful,” he said.

With his only hand this time, Erwin cupped Levi’s cheek, and his lips met Levi’s.

Levi closed his eyes with a long inhale, wanting to take in Erwin’s scent.

Erwin stroked Levi’s cheek with his thumb, and Levi wrapped his arms around Erwin. He kissed him tenderly, and embraced him with all the love in the world.

Their lips locked and moved more quickly as the kiss became more passionate.

Levi wrapped his legs around Erwin’s waist, and he brought them even closer, sealing off their warmth.

Erwin moved his lips to Levi’s throat, and he plastered kisses across it. Levi moved his head up to give him more space, and with a little moan, he squeezed Erwin.

“So beautiful…” he said, running his fingers through Erwin’s hair.

They both felt heat travelling through their loins, until their pants began to feel a little tighter.

With a sharp inhale, Levi took control and rolled Erwin on his back. He sat on his lap, and he brought his head down to kiss Erwin.

Read the rest here.

#snk #Eruri #levi ackerman #Erwin Smith #eruri fic #attack on titan fanfiction #snk fic

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medea10 · 6 years ago

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Medea’s Top 20 Animes of the Decade

Hey all! Disappointed in some “best of” lists of this past decade? Well…prepared to be possibly disappointed some more because I’m doing one now! Here’s a top 20 list of my favorite animes that came out in the 2010’s. I seriously couldn’t do 10 this time due to how many awesome animes came out this decade. Unlike my anime superlative list, I’m going to be stricter here. Anything that aired in Japan before January 2010 is stricken from the list (which sucks because that means Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood & InuYasha: The Final Act are disqualified). And these are going to be MY favorites from this decade. Be aware that there will be popular animes I leave off the list due to my own personal opinions and the fact that some of them I have not watched yet. So I’m just going to tell you right now, don’t expect My Hero Academia, Hunter x Hunter, or Demon Slayer on this list because I have not watched any of that shit! Let’s get cracking!

20. Cardcaptor Sakura: Clear Card (2018)

After nearly 20 years since the end of the first series, Cardcaptor Sakura returns with a sequel no one asked for and no one expected to come back. But it definitely brought back the nostalgia for those who grew up watching CCS. This story gives a continuation where Sakura is in middle school and ends up collecting a whole new set of mysterious cards. And the series is what you would expect with the cutesy feel whenever Sakura is with Li or it gets really intense when Sakura’s up against a really powerful card. While the ending leaves us on a bit of a cliffhanger with no continuation in sight, this series was one of the best reboots I’ve watched in recent years.

Available to watch on: Crunchyroll, FUNimation, & Hulu Coming soon to home video

19. The Rising of the Shield Hero (2019)

This is my first (modern) Isekai and I gotta say I really enjoyed the story. Unlike other anime characters that travel to another world, the main character Naofumi is not praised as a savior nor put on a golden pedestal. Quite the opposite, this guy has to fight for even a shred of respect from anybody. Because after watching past protagonists like Miaka Yuuki, Kagome, and Kirito, that trope gets boring. Despite many of these episodes making me physically ill as I watched Naofumi being shit on by the other heroes and everybody else, it was great to watch this struggle with Naofumi to become a great shield hero.

P.S. Myne is still a raging cunt!

Available to watch on: Crunchyroll & FUNimation

18. My Love Story!! (2015)

One of the BEST rom-com animes out there! The story of a gentle giant boy named Takeo falling in love with a sweet, petite girl named Yamato and their story as a couple. Yeah, the big difference between this anime and a bunch of other anime rom-coms is that Takeo and Yamato reveal their love for each other in episode 4 in a 24 episode series! By anime standards, that’s unheard of because most love stories want to wait until the finale for something like that. This anime is just a cute story of watching Takeo and Yamato bloom with their budding relationship. Yeah, I admit some of the stories can be a little boring. Sometimes the beginnings of romances have a slow-start before we get to the good stuff. But even when they’re doing little things, they’re just so cute to watch.

Available to watch on: Crunchyroll, HI-DIVE & Hulu Available for home video

17. Durarara!! (2010, 2015-2016)

This story is a complete cluster-fuck, but I don’t care. The stories that come from this anime and the characters make this one of my favorites. Durarara follows the strange stories that happen around the town of Ikebukuro with a headless motorcycle rider, super-human strengthed men, an internet troll who loves to mess with humans, otakus, a mad scientist, a parasitic carrier, and gangs of different sorts. But if you would ask me what’s my favorite thing about Durarara (because there’s a lot of random things for anyone to choose), it would of course be any time Shizuo Heiwajima is on the screen. This guy is just pure rage in a bartender’s outfit. He’s able to casually pick up and throw a vending machine at a person, he can punch the clothes off a guy’s body, and even kick a mid-sized car down the street.

Available to watch on: Crunchyroll, Hulu & Netflix Available for home video

16. Daily Lives of High School Boys (2012)

If you’re looking for something random and hilarious to watch, look no further with this one. Each episode has random segments, mostly featuring three boys, Tadakuni, Hidenori, and Yoshitake in some of the most absurd moments ever showcased in an anime. Just to name a few fun moments; being caught experimenting with women’s underwear, finding a clever way to kill a hornet (indirect kiss), intellectual talk with a cute girl, using your jacket as a soccer ball replacement, and how to unzip your fly without using your hands! That last one still confounds me. But the show also expands to other characters around school and town. I know this series is severely random to have a coherent plot, but sometimes I prefer randomness. And that’ll continue with the next entry!

Available to watch on: Crunchyroll Available for home video

15. Nichijou (2011)

Yet another random segment anime (only this time with girls)! I know the official title is “My Ordinary Life”, but there is nothing ordinary about an anime where you have a six year old professor, a talking robot girl that was created by the six-year old professor, a talking black cat, high school girls capable of body-flipping police officers, a young boy who rides a goat to school, a high school girl capable of firing a bazooka, and a principal who fights a deer. That last one is just epic! If for no other reason to watch Nichijou, just watch the scene where the principal fights a deer! Much like Daily Lives of High School Boys, this series relies more on the random shenanigans of many of these characters (but mostly the main three girls, Mio, Yuuko, and Mai). It’s silly and fun! Check it out and give this anime a little love. Because there’s no way it’s getting a second season (Japan showed no love for this one)!

Available to watch on: FUNimation Available for home video

14. ERASED (2016)

I don’t care what manga readers say, this was a fine anime, you anal-rententive fuck-wipes (soooo not sorry for that statement)! This murder-mystery captured my attention when it first aired. The story is about a man named Satoru who has this ability to go backwards in time (usually a few seconds or minutes) to prevent a tragedy from occurring. But after an incident involving his mother, he ends up going all the way back to his ten-year old body in 1988 in order to prevent a tragedy from his childhood. This included saving his classmate, Kayo from her premature demise. It was a catchy time-leaping mystery that would enthrall me week after week…up to a certain point. Yeah, you can already guess who the culprit was early on. But all the suspense leading up to this was still a great tale.

Available to watch on: Crunchyroll & Hulu Available for home video

13. Panty & Stocking w/ Garterbelt (2010)

GAINAX, you wishy-washy, crazy-ass, can’t give a full conclusion to a story to save your life, leaving us on a decade-long cliffhanger bastards, YOU’VE DONE IT AGAIN!

So this bizarre-ass anime is about two bitch-angels kicked out of Heaven, named Panty and Stocking. One likes to fuck men and the other gorges herself on sweets! In order to get back into Heaven, they must exterminate ghosts with the help of a black priest named Garterbelt, a fanboy named Briefs, and an Invader Zim knock-off named Chuck. And did I mention Panty and Stocking use their own lingere as weapons to take down ghosts? This story is balls-to-the-wall insane! And it gets crazier when you pop in the English dub! Dick jokes, fart jokes, and a whole lot of fucks! As any superhero show will do, this anime does stay to the villain of the episode trope with a few leeways here and there. This included a segment dedicated to the late Satoshi Kon and a music video. All of this leading to an ending NO ONE expected to happen leaving us on a cliffhanger that is now going on 10 years. Regardless, this absurdity in a thong is a treasure to behold. I would also advise not doing a drinking game whenever one of them says “Fuck”. You’d be dead by the end of the first episode!

Available to watch on: FUNimation Available for home video

12. Attack on Titan (2013, 2017-2019)

*singing incoherent Japanese*

YEAGER!!!

Get ready to get hooked on two of the catchiest opening themes of all time! I thought it was just about a young boy taking revenge on a race of titans for the death of his mother. No one expected there to be a twisted, messed-up origin to the titan race where the main character is connected to everything! That’s all my messy thoughts coming out after witnessing the climax portion. As for the rest of you, Eren Yeager’s world is turned upside-down when the town he lived in is demolished by titans. As a result, the entire town is demolished and left for dead and Eren watched as his mother is eaten by a titan. Eren ends up joining the Survey Corps along with his friends Armin and Mikasa to take down titans and prevent another town to suffer the same fate as Eren’s home.

Going into this anime, I SERIOUSLY thought this was going to be a comedy. You would too if you were going off of all the memes that emerged in 2013. But this anime takes a sharp left turn when Eren discovers a horrifying secret involving his own body. After that, this lead to more unbelievable discoveries involving people we all initially thought was the supporting cast. And this is as cryptic as I can be without delving into severe spoilers. The only way to get my meaning is if you watch this series. It’s just…WOW!

Available to watch on: Crunchyroll, FUNimation, Hulu, & Toonami Some seasons are available for home video

11. Kill la Kill (2013-2014)

A girl with a giant pair of scissors picking a fight with the main bitch at school, all the while wearing a sailor suit that talks to you! That is the balls-to-the-wall insanity Studio Trigger gives you in a show like this. Ryuko Matoi enrolls in Honnouji Academy in search of the person who murdered her father. There, she comes face-to-face with the potential murderer, Satsuki Kiryuin. Satsuki rules over Honnouji as she has a special uniform capable of giving her super-human strength. But what Satsuki doesn’t know is that Ryuko is about to get a special uniform to give her that as well. A talking sailor uniform named Senketsu helps Ryuko in her journey of finding her father’s murderer. Yeah, this series goes all-out with the special powers brought on by certain clothing. Then again, it’s Japan and fanservice is a must in at least 75% of animes! I mean, there are moments where Senketsu gets skimpier on Ryuko, not leaving much to the imagination. As absurdly off the wall this anime was, I enjoyed every frame of it and it’s easily one of Studio Trigger’s best works.

Available to watch on: Crunchyroll & Netflix

10. Food Wars! Shokugeki no Soma (2015-2019)

You’d think with my picky-ass, I would have never watched an anime about cooking (and if my family is reading this, close this page now and play a wholesome game of shutting your gobs). But Food Wars never fails to increase my appetite. Yukihira Soma ends up in Japan’s most elite cooking school (with a 10% graduation rate) where he finds himself up against Japan’s and even the world’s greatest up and coming chefs. And every now and then, he ends up having to go up against one of these chefs in a cook-off known as a Shokugeki. If it wasn’t for the food orgasms, I would easily tell my cooking-show obsessed family members to watch this. I know no normal person would ever strip off all their clothes and have a raging orgasm when eating delicious food. But hey, it’s Japan! Gotta stick in fanservice somewhere! With inventive ways to spice up a regular dish, I may one day broaden my taste-buds into more exotic food-stuffs. Just, keep the peanut-butter squid away from me.

Available to watch on: Crunchyroll, HI-DIVE, Hulu, & Toonami Some seasons are available for home video

09. Your Lie in April (2014-2015)

Grab your tissues, children. We follow Kousei Arima as he regains his ability and passion for playing the piano with the thanks of new-found friend Kaori. What can I say about an anime that’s so beautifully animated with likeable characters and music to die for? OHHH…I shouldn’t have said that last thing! Yeah, the main character Kousei goes through quite a bit in his life dealing with the aftermath of his mother’s death and having to relive seeing someone he cares about die the same way. There’s just so much you wish would happen with these characters and watch as it’s dashed away during a Chopin piece. OHHH…I did it again! Well folks, if you’re into tear-bait and classical music, definitely watch Your Lie in April!

Available to watch on: Crunchyroll, Hulu, & Netflix

08. The Promised Neverland (2019)

One of the newest entries with one of the most shocking first episodes in recent history! I know in the past decade we got a lot of first episode hookers like Attack on Titan, but if you came in this blind-folded, get ready for a trip. We follow orphan children Emma, Ray, and Norman as they plan to escape their home before they become food for hungry demons. In a weird way, this anime is almost like the 2000 film Chicken Run. I know I’m not the first person to think that up, but yeah, gotta say it here. This was one of my favorite animes of this year and I was hooked week by week with what was going to happen next. It got so intense that immediately after the series ended, I picked up the manga to find out what happens next. And let me tell you, it gets more insane after the events of episode 12. But one thing that always astounded me was watching all of these kids plot an escape so elaborate when all of them range from ages 6-12.

Available to watch on: Crunchyroll, FUNimation, & Hulu

07. Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid (2017)

What would you do if you opened the door one morning and found a dragon standing outside? Not just that but what would you do if you were living with more than one dragon and you now find yourself hanging around other dragons?! Kobayashi’s world changes for the better as she meets a dragon (named Tohru) that loves her so much that she would happily become her maid. And given the stigma for eons between humans and dragons, this series we see cute interactions with humans and dragons. Up to a point that it feels like all these characters are becoming family! There’s a dragon named Fafnir who finds humans horrible people, but ends up changing for the better when he finds himself hanging with a human that plays video games and creates manga. But I’m always so drawn to the relationship of Tohru and Kobayashi. Kobayashi was never really close to her family and when she moved away she mostly spends her nights drinking alone. But once Tohru and Kanna move in, it’s always a fun day with their cute shenanigans. It’s definitely brought Kobayashi out of her shell and gave her a family of dragons to live with.

And there’s this cute little dragon named Kanna! She’s so cute and adorable! Look at her nom at just everything she eats. She’s so adorable! Who’s a cute wittle dragon? Yes you are! Yes you are!

As a final note in this particular entry, I want to mention one particular member of the staff. Yasuhiro Takemoto! This man was the director for Miss Kobayashi, as well as many other animes from Kyoto Animation and I feel the need to thank this man for all the hard work he had done. I’m thankful for all of your work in the anime community and we miss you.

Available to watch on: Crunchyroll & Funimation Available for home video

06. Pokemon XY (2013-2016)

It might be cheating a bit to put a Pokemon series on this list since they’ve been around since 1997. But it’s not a continuous shot like Detective Conan and One Piece, so I’m counting the XY arc for this list. Even though this series didn’t show me my favorite character and it gave me a shipping that’s worse than Herpes (with a cult for that ship that’s on par with MAGA), this was one of the best arcs to the Pokemon series. And I was excited for this series when it first came out because with the introduction of Mega Evolution, I was hoping for Ash to delve into that. While Ash wasn’t the one using Mega Evolutions, we did see him grow more through a synchronization method with Greninja that brought about so much in terms of battling. Just to name a few awesome moments with these two, he took down an iceburg pokemon, went toe-to-toe with a champion, and even made it all the way to the finals of the Pokemon League. Now did he win that league? That’s not important! What is important is that these were some of the best moments this series had to offer.

But it wasn’t just Ash we followed, but an anime-only character introduced named Alain as we followed his journey to becoming stronger through Mega Evolution. It felt risky following a different person for 5 or more episodes (without mentioning Ash), but it was all worth it when we came to the climax of the series when Team Flare came from the shadows. Listen guys, I know Pokemon has given some disappointing seasons before (especially the arc prior to XY), but if there’s any season you should watch, it’s definitely this one.

Also, Rica Matsumoto sings this one song called XYZ. I don’t know if you all have heard this song, but I think you should. It’s so bad ass and always pops up in some of Ash’s best battles in this series…in the Japanese version! I love it so much that I always feel the need to bring up XYZ whenever I talk about this arc.

Available to watch on: Disney XD, Hulu, & Pokemon TV Available for home video

05. Puella Magi Madoka Magica (2011)

I will always be a sucker for magical girl animes. Especially since Sailor Moon was the very first anime I watched fully! But Madoka Magica was…different and edgier. The premise is that a cute, white animal asks you to form a contract with it so you can become a magical girl. Magical girls defeat witches that cause havoc! Better read the fine-print on the contract ladies, because what the little rat doesn’t tell you is that you eventually become a witch yourself and will end up dying a horrible death, thus repeating the cycle. This anime would always leave me in a state of awe when watching it, whether it was the shocking deaths or the clever animation used when a witch emerges. But when you’ve got Shaft Studios animating this, expect some trippy moments. I think it’s because episode 3 was a big turning point that many of us were caught off guard by what happened and were scared of what happens next. Although thanks to Madoka, many other magical girl animes are following down the same path and trying to make it edgier. I don’t know if that’s a good thing or a bad thing, but I gotta say Madoka has definitely set the bar on edgy magical girl shows.

Available to watch on: Crunchyroll, FUNimation, & Hulu Available for home video

04. Violet Evergarden (2018)

Prior to this anime’s release, Kyoto Animation had a reputation for putting out anime that was geared to the “moe” genre. But with recent releases of A Silent Voice, Miss Kobayashi, and Violet Evergarden, their style has evolved into something I can’t describe in just one sentence. This anime is just beautiful to look at. The animation is just stunning, look at it. Now, I was a bit turned-off by the main character of this series, Violet. First of all, she literally looks like Saber from the Fate series and has arms that rival Ed Elric of FMA. Secondly, her almost robotic personality really turned me off. But it wasn’t until later in the series where we watch her interact with the people she was helping in each episode that made me truly appreciate what she’s doing.

Violet was once used as a tool for war and would always obey her commanding officer. But once the war was over, she found herself as an “Auto Memories Doll” where she’s writing letters people want to send to someone. Many of these episodes, we watch her see the world outside of the war and hell she was put through in her past. Her words were able to bring people together, heal two fighting nations, bring a family closer together, give closure to a grieving family member, and so much more. Add to that, this series gave out one of the most heart-breaking episodes I’ve ever watched in anime. It made me ugly-cry and that rarely happens! Not just me, but litereally everyone who ever watched this episode, but also Violet herself. This episode (that’s episode 10) was like the first time where she felt actual human emotions for anyone other than the person she once loved. This episode felt like a turning point in how I felt about Violet as well as the show in general.

I feel I have to say a little more on this entry. This anime is without a doubt, the most beautifully animated anime of this entire decade (despite what OTHERS have to say). And it couldn’t have gotten that way without the talented folks at Kyoto Animation. I can’t express enough how much I’m blown away by this series. Only now when I think about it, I get horribly depresssed due to the recent tragedy that struck KyoAni. Only now, do I appreciate all the hard work to put this masterpiece into action. And I wish it didn’t take me until a tragedy to watch this anime. But I’m glad I was able to watch Violet Evergarden. And I wish for you all to take the time to do the same!

Available to watch on: Netflix

03. Assassination Classroom (2015-2016)

Stand. Bow. Kill your sensei! Middle school students being trained by professional assassins to take down a yellow-tentacled monster (who is also their teacher)! These students must assassinate their teacher within one year, otherwise the world will blow up. Now I had my reservations watching a cast this big! I mean, we’re watching an entire 28-person class try to shoot their teacher. Thankfully, I didn’t grow to be annoyed by the concept like with Negima. I loved nearly all of the students and remembered many of them. One of the biggest drawing points with me is that, all of these students were seen as the ones to give up on. They were in the lowest-level class where school, family, and society have just given up on these children. Being in a much similar situation in middle school, I can relate. That’s why when I saw someone like Koro-sensei teach these kids so much more in the world of academics, it made me happy to see these kids have someone to look up to. Many of these episodes were fun to watch. Koro-sensei is a laugh-riot sometimes when the class has to do an activity together. Add to that, one of the hardest to watch goodbyes in recent history. For a good laugh and a good cry, Assassination Classroom is the way to go.

Available to watch on: FUNimation & Hulu Available for home video

02. Yuri on Ice!!! (2016)

AAAAAAHHHHHHH! *random screeching noises*

Why yes I love this series! It is so beautiful. I wish to see more of this in the future. I would like for Viktor to have Yuri’s babies. Don’t at me! I didn’t expect this series to give the female viewers an actual loving relationship between two of the main male characters. But halfway into the series, we get the kiss that cemented the deal. So besides the gay relationship, we’ve also got a beautiful soundtrack, animation that’s stunningly gorgeous, a story about an underdog working his way to receive a gold medal with the help of his hot, Russian coach…God, I just love this anime!

I’m a sucker for a root for the underdog story. And Yuri Katsuki definitely fits that description! Before Viktor came along, he was coming off of a humiliating defeat at a previous competition where he came in dead-last. But throughout the series, we watch Viktor mold Yuri into something audience members have overlooked in this boy. Viktor taught Yuri what love really is in more ways than one. But Yuri isn’t a total zero-to-hero in a span of 12 episodes, but at times he does come damn-near close. Every week, I’m amazed at how much Studio MAPPA put so much effort into this. While the quality did take a slight dip in some of the final episodes, so much has happened before that I’m willing to let that go. Watch Yuri attempt at making history with Yuri on Ice.

Available to watch on: Crunchyroll & FUNimation Available for home video

Before I get to my anime of the decade, how about I quickly do my TOP 10 ANIME MOVIES OF THE DECADE? No commentary, just announcing them quickly.

10. The Last: Naruto the Movie (2014)

09. When Marnie Was There (2014)

08. Maquia: When the Promised Flower Blooms (2018)

07. Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Gods (2013)

06. Kizumonogatari (2016-2017)

05. The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya (2010)

04. Pokemon: I Choose You (2017)

03. Your Name (2016)

02. A Silent Voice (2016)

01. Wolf Children (2012)

CLOSE CALLS FOR THE LISTS: Black Lagoon – Roberta’s Blood Trail, Sailor Moon Crystal, Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure, Fate/Zero & Fate/stay night: UBW, Angel Beats, The Wind Rises, Parasyte, One Punch Man, Aggretsuko, Steins;Gate, Inu x Boku SS, and Dragon Ball Super.

And now, #1…oh, you should already know what it is by now. One of my favorite animes came back with the vengeance in 2019 that no other anime can touch it. Rightfully so! You know it, I know it, let’s get it over with! So say it with me now, three, two, one…

01. Fruits Basket: 1st Season (2019)

Thank you! Just…thank you! In a time where I hate reboots, this one was handled with the utmost care. What can I say about this anime that everyone else hasn’t said already? This anime is like warm soup on a cold day. The nice pick-me-up when you had a shitty day on the job! That beautiful rainbow you see after a rain shower!

Coming upon a family with a terrible secret, there’s much hesitation on who (if any) can be let in without being hurt. Tohru Honda accidentally learned of the Sohma family secret, where if one of them is hugged by someone of the opposite sex, they’re turned into an animal from the Chimese Zodiac. These people have had to live with this stigma their entire lives. Because of this, relationships are put in turmoil, obtaining friends was damn-near impossible, and everyone has to be on a constant state of worry in case their secret comes out. But Tohru loves and accepts everyone, no matter what. In many of these episodes, we see Tohru reach out to the members of the Sohma family to tell them that she sees the good in them and that they are loved. To reach out to the hurt, silent tiger, Kisa! To reach out to the mentally-scarred rat, Yuki! To reach out to the heart-broken dragon, Hatori! And to give a hug to Momiji…when his momma won’t!

All of these individual stories always gets to me! Even re-told, these stories have improved 100%! And in some cases like Ritsu’s story, done better than the original! I watched the original story God-knows how many times! But with the remake, I found myself re-watching random episodes in my off-time when I should be watching something else. I always have to go back to watching everything from this series. From the good and the sad! From the ultra-laughable moments, to the jaw-dropping moments! In a time where many of us yearn to be accepted for who we are, an anime like this feels absolutely necessary. I know it might be biased of me to pick something from this year and cheating a bit considering at the beginning of the decade I was heavily into the original series. Regardless, this is still my pick for Best Anime of the 2010’s.

Available to watch on: Crunchyroll, FUNimation, & Hulu

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arlingtonpark · 5 years ago

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SNK 128 Review

Attack on Titan/Terminator crossover when?

The last two chapters were an inexplicable low point for the series. Quality storytelling zoomed by us and jumped right out the window.

It was like the opposite of how most fans viewed the early days of the series. In those days, the story was good, but the art was atrocious. Now the art is great, but the storytelling is atrocious.

Characters said things without explanation, events happened without explanation, there might have been a teleporting horse or two at some point. I don’t know, but it was bad.

Now, I’m happy to say this chapter is SNK back in full form. This was peak Attack on Titan.

…For good and ill.

Let’s start with the good.

One of the best things about this series is the action. The action is almost always great, and a big reason why is that Isayama isn’t afraid to go big.

There were lots of big moments in this fight sequence.

Mikasa crashing through the window, Armin shot full of bullets, Annie and Reiner, Kiyomi beating Floch’s ass. It all made for an exhilarating read.

Isayama also understands how to pace an action scene.

Unlike every other part of his story. This was an obligatory potshot sorry not sorry.

There’s a beat to the sequence. Big moments punctuate lengths of relatively calmer action.

Mikasa crashes through the window and saves everyone. Next big thing is Armin getting shot down, but in between the two moments is Mikasa and everyone fleeing the thunder spears. It’s something of a reprieve between major plot beats.

There are reprieves like that between all the major moments. Isayama is inexplicably uneven with applying these principles to the whole story, but he typically does it well in action sequences.

See: the last two chapters.

Relatedly, another great thing about the chapter is the stakes. This is also to do with the pacing.

There’s a great escalation to this chapter.

Armin and Connie try to trick Floch because they want to avoid a fight, Floch doesn’t take it, Kiyomi fights back unexpectedly, Mikasa steps in, they flee for their lives, Armin is taken out, Annie and Reiner step in with their titans, and Connie kills in cold blood.

The stakes get higher and higher. That’s what good pacing looks like.

And on a more macro scale, we get an update on Eren’s progress and it’s worse than we thought. He’s already reached the mainland. Millions are probably dead.

That’s a big thing to drop on us just before a make or break action sequence.

Stakes have been risen.

Ok, now for the bad.

First off, Magath.

I mean, he’s saying things that make sense, but you can’t just have a character do a 180 with no build up.

Magath is talking like he’s thought a lot about this. Sure would have been nice to see some of that thinking.

The fatal flaw for this chapter is that it’s just a retread of the Uprising arc. All this action is cool and well done, but at base, it’s all stuff we’ve seen before.

Once again, we’re faced with a brother vs brother kind of conflict. People who should be comrades in arms are forced to turn their arms against each other. The only difference is that this time the government our heroes rebel against is a bit too in love with fighting for survival.

This could have been an interesting contrast. Attack on Titan has usually been emphatically supportive of fighting for survival. The OG Uprising happened because the government refused to fight and the Survey Corps decided they had to overthrow them.

This time, the government is so in love with fighting that death means nothing to them. Floch kills people just for talking back to him. I’m sure he’ll gladly die if he thought it’d help his race.

This was a great opportunity for the series to explore a new angle on its usual themes.

To some extent, the series has already touched upon this. That’s why Eren is a 3000 lbs. dino-titan right now. He took the SNK mantra too close to heart; now he’s a lumbering monstrosity bearing down on innocent lives.

So put this down as a missed opportunity to expand on that.

Instead of that, this chapter is spinning its thematic wheels, stuck in Uprising-era thinking.

“O, woe is me, must I really turn thine arms on my fellow countrymen? Must the world be so cruel?”

That is the conflict of this chapter in a nutshell.

Totally a retread of the Uprising arc.

The final scene, where Connie has to kill a compatriot in order to save Armin’s life, is exactly the same as the scene in Uprising where Armin had to kill the soldier threatening Jean.

Same setup. The killer, Armin in Uprising and Connie in this arc, has expressed reservations about harming his compatriots even to achieve his goals.

That person finds themselves in a situation where the life of a comrade is threatened by a compatriot.

They have no choice but to take a gun and shoot the compatriot in the head, killing them in cold blood.

The moral is the same too: sometimes, you have to kill to survive.

The character writing suffers because of this.

For some reason, Isayama decided be wanted to make the exact same point again, but he didn’t want to put any fresh spin on it.

Thus we are served with the absolute disservice of Jean, Connie, Armin, and Mikasa forgetting the Uprising Arc ever happened, and the lessons they learned from it.

Their experiences from Uprising are directly and obviously applicable to this current situation, but it never occurs to them. It’s honestly stupid of them.

That’s a problem with Isayama. It’s really hard for him to present a viewpoint genuinely opposed to his own in good faith.

There is no debate in this manga. Characters disagree sometimes, but one side is always obviously wrong and one side is always obviously right, and you can tell because the wrong side is always struck silent when confronted by the right side’s #truth.

I get that the point is that they don’t want to kill their compatriots, but still, Jean, Connie, Armin, and Mikasa…are adults, right?

They should be able to articulate a strategic vision that doesn’t entail killing people, even if it’s just to avoid doing something they don’t want to do, shouldn’t they?

In fact, I’ll do that right now.

“We want to be at full strength when we face Eren, so we should avoid a fight at all costs.”

I came up with that on the fly! -flexes-

When Reiner tells them to just hang back and let the warriors fight, Connie rightfully points out they’re basically being infantilized, so I guess that Isayama’s point is that they are being childish, but still, their characters should be past that point.

(Mikasa gets points, though, for coming closest to a smart rationalization.)

The strongest example of this character regression is Connie’s outburst. Connie is pressed on avoiding a fight and he explodes on them.

“You know we’re here in order to save people, right?! So, why are you making it sound like we’re going to have to slaughter all these people on the island?! How did it turn into this?!”

Da fuck is he talking about?

How, indeed.

No one is talking about slaughtering everyone on the island. Where is this even coming from?

Well, maybe that’s the point. Isayama, flawed writer that he is, can only think of Connie’s reluctance to kill his compatriots as deranged, so he’s having Connie talk like a deranged man.

Yeah, that would make sense, if only…

Annie: You’re right.

No, he’s not! What are you doing!?

Look, maybe I just have the wrong perspective on this, but I think Annie is completely fucking wrong.

It’s true the warriors are the only ones with a personal stake in this. They’re fighting for their homeland’s survival; the 104th is not. So she’s right, the warriors have no right to make them kill their fellow countrymen.

But that lack of a right goes deeper than that. The warriors have to right to force the 104th to help them at all.

And you know what that means?

It means no one is forcing the 104th to be here.

The warriors can’t ask them to fight their compatriots because more broadly they can’t ask them to fight Eren. They chose to stand against Eren anyway.

Choosing to fight Eren very clearly extends to fighting his pissant lackeys.

The warriors cannot ask them to fight the Yeagerists because that is an extension of not being able to ask them to fight Eren. Naturally, them choosing to fight Eren means they’ve chosen to fight the pro-Eren Yeagerists.

So, ok, our heroes are forced to dirty their hands, and the series wants us to think about why that is. Why did it have to come to violence?

K, I’ll bite. Let’s think about this.

Let’s dive in deep on this. Why does this violence keep happening?

And don’t say it’s because of the cycle of violence Isayama talks about.

I’m talking even deeper than that.

Why does the cycle happen in the first place? And what perpetuates it?

It happens because people always forget the past. They don’t remember history.

Ok. And why don’t they remember?

They don’t remember because of a complex web of factors, some personal and others structural.

Think about it this way:

Right now, brothers are killing brothers. Why? To get an answer, why don’t we look at another time when brother killed brother.

In the 1860s, a war was fought in the United States. Many states tried to destroy the country to preserve their fundamentally racist way of life.

Brother killing brother. Why did it have to come to that?

I think Abraham Lincoln said it best.

“On the occasion corresponding to this four years ago [1861] all thoughts were anxiously directed to an impending civil war. All dreaded it, all sought to avert it. While the inaugural address was being delivered from this place, devoted altogether to saving the Union without war, insurgent agents were in the city seeking to destroy it without war—seeking to dissolve the Union and divide effects by negotiation. Both parties deprecated war, but one of them would make war rather than let the nation survive, and the other would accept war rather than let it perish. And the war came.”

This is from a speech he gave in 1865, a month and a half before his death, and a few weeks before the end of the war.

The war happened for structural reasons and personal ones.

For both sides, war was acceptable as a means to an end because of the incentives of the moment. The situation was structured to make war an option.

At the same time, there were personal factors involved. It’s not that the war would have happened no matter what personalities were involved. Indeed, the right man at the right time can make a big difference.

Why did Connie and Samuel have to fight?

Part of it is because there’re hotheads like Floch calling the shots.

Floch is the absolute worst man for this moment.

But so far, this has been purely descriptive. Ethically speaking, one side is clearly in the right.

Lincoln nailed it in his speech:

“Both parties deprecated war, but one of them would make war rather than let the nation survive, and the other would accept war rather than let it perish. And the war came.”

One side countenances war, while the other merely tolerates it.

So why do you think this had to happen?

I’ll tell you what not to think.

“Violence is one thing you can’t take from humanity.”

Thinking about it in terms of violence and being violent, as Yelena does, is lazy.

There are reasons why the world is cruel, but that’s actually a good thing, because if the world is so cruel for a reason, that means we can change the world and make it less cruel.

And that, if you squint really hard, is another theme of Attack on Titan.

#shingeki no kyojin #attack on titan #snk 128 #snk chapter 128 #spoilers

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inusecretsanta · 6 years ago

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Hey there @inukouga! Your Secret Santa is Walter205. Since he doesn’t have a tumblr, I’m posting on his behalf. He wishes you to enjoy and have Happy Hollidays!

Giving a better future

A light snow had started falling outside in the early evening hours as the brunette woman walked into the living room and offered her brown haired companion a mug with steam emitting contents.

"Hot Cocoa?" said Kagome as she handed one of the two cups over to Sango.

"You know I would, thanks," she replied while graciously accepting the offered drink with a nod of appreciation.

"Can't stop thinking of how special this Christmas is going to be. Could you ever have imagined six years ago that we would be where we are, here and now?" asked Kagome as she settled down next to her lover and used an index finger to gently press the little marshmallow floating on top of her cocoa down into the liquid.

"Our first with little Shippou. No, six years ago I was all set to move on from the Academy and find a prospective man to be with. The monk thought it was going to be him and perhaps it would've been, but then *it* happened," Sango reflected with a sad and distant look in her life. Kagome reached over and placed her hand on top of Sango's as they both thought about *it* and how *it* had changed everything.

Demons had long been believed to be nothing more then the product of wild imaginations, myths and legends spread over the centuries. In truth, they had been in hiding, living in secret in both the untamed wildernesses left in the world and amongst humans themselves. But in the inexorable drive to expand territory and tap into the remaining resources of the planet, humans had inevitably triggered a worldwide conflict of interest, a war of survival of the races, now known as the Great Demon War, or what some call as World War Three, since it had raged across the globe.

One year and one hundred million dead living beings later, it had ended. Neither humans nor demons had been wiped from existence, but the dramatic reduction in population of the latter had seen humans claiming a victory in the history books, but really no one had won anything. Sango had been drafted into the JSDF and trained for the new Tajiya Corps and had seen heavy fighting on the frontline, fighting which had seen her father and younger brother perish in perilous combat. Kagome had been drafted as well but after the discovery of her latent spiritual powers had been transferred to the Special Spiritual Service, also known as the Purifiers. Kagome's father, who had passed on his spiritual powers to her, had likewise perished in the conflict.

At the end of the one year war they had both been casually discarded from the service, battered, bruised, and nearly broken by their experiences. It was during a counseling session that they had found one another and formed an instant bond, one that had been cemented further as they grew to know one another. Romance had eventually ensued but although it had come unexpectedly somehow neither was surprised. Deep down both had come to the realization that although their society and culture had demanded them to be normal wives to expected husbands, what they really were was something different and both had come to believe that they were soul mates to one another.

Both now hoped that one day they could formally be allowed to marry each other but regardless of that day arriving they would forever remain life partners by a vow made by each of them on the third anniversary of them meeting one another. In the midst of their passion came the talk about whether to have children and if they should adopt or inseminate their offspring.

Their answer had been to adopt, at least for now. There were plenty of war orphans that needed good homes and after all of the killing both had done during the conflict they felt that it was the least they could do. And so after a few months of searching, they formally adopted Rin into their family and nine months later they decided to add another member to their family, at least in part so Rin had someone relatable to play and share experiences with.

The decision to adopt Shippou had been one of the most trying ones in their growing family. They could play innocent for now but both knew that one day he would find out about both of their past. Both dreaded the prospect that they may have even been the ones to have made the young fox kit an orphan in the first place. But the moment she had laid eyes on him Kagome had formed a special bond with the young kit and Sango had recognized that when she watched the two of them interact.

Now the two of them sat on the couch in the living room with Christmas carols playing on the television as images of a campfire flickered across the screen, both deep in thought before Kagome suddenly remembered about something else that she was going to mention to Sango.

"Oh Sango, I've been giving a lot of though lately about us conceiving children of our own...," started Kagome, gaining Sango's full and undivided attention before she continued, "And I agree that one child each would make us a full family. But if and when we do proceed with having children of our own to go along with Rin and Shippo, I'd like you to go first."

"Kagome! Are you sure about this? I know how much you've been wanting one of your own lately, the way you've been helping to take care of Rin and Shippo and how you interact with them," replied Sango in a startled gush. Kagome smiled and moved her hand from Sango's own hand up to her shoulder.

"Hey listen, I still have biological family left, I have my mother, grandfather, and younger brother that I can visit at anytime. But I know that you have none of your original family remaining and I want you to have someone that you can call your biological own, someone you can truly appreciate as your own flesh and blood. You could even name them Kohaku, if it turns out to be a boy," said Kagome with a wink.

"Oh Kagome," Sango sobbed as she started crying, "Thank you so much, yes I'll absolutely take the first child, our third child."

"Our third," Kagome agreed as her hand moved from her shoulder to her flat stomach. The two leaned in close then for a passionate kiss, only for them to pull apart sooner than appreciate due to the arrival of the pitter patter of small feet.

"Whatcha'll doing?" asked Rin as she arrived with Shippo in tow, the two of them clasping their hands behind their backs.

"Oh, just talking about the future," Kagome smiled at them with a light blush on her cheeks, the more heavily embarrassed Sango hiding her blush with both of her hands to her face.

"Okay then. Hey, about the present, is it fine to have a game night tonight? Shippo wants to learn how to play the new game we got the other day," asked Rin with a 'please' expression written across her face.

"Sure, why not? If you'll get the game we'll set up the play area," said Sango as her face return to normal and she got up.

As she and Kagome headed to the table with empty mugs in hand, Sango turned and winked conspiratorially at her lover companion before saying, "You know, we won't be able to have too many 'private' moments once we start expanding again."

"Sango! Shippo's with us," said Kagome as she lightly blushed herself.

The three of them were fully seated when Rin skipped into the room and set the game down on the table.

"Rin knows that we have four players, but the game says it can be up to six! Rin wishes that we had six players for it," said Rin glumly.

"Cheer up, at least we have four. And as for six, give it a couple of years," said Sango with a quick wink to Kagome.

Now it was Kagome's turn to hide her face with both hands as Sango burst out laughing while Rin and Shippo both looked on in confusion.

Plenty laughter was to be had that night however and in the end all three ladies ended up burying their heads in humiliation after Shippo ended up beating all three of them in his first time playing.

The End

#secret santa #inusecretsanta #kagsan #family #hollidays #inukouga

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spectraspecs-writes · 5 years ago

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Kashyyyk - Chapter 70

Link to the masterpost. Chapter 69. Chapter 71.

@averruncusho @ceruleanrainblues @chubbsmomma thank u for reading you get a tag. @skelelexiunderlord thank u for support you get a tag

A/N: Okay, one more complete chapter to type before I drift into the abyss for another week or so.

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

I think it is! It’s green, and it flashes quickly, accompanied by sounds of the beasts. Four at once, and they aren’t backing down. But before I get close enough to help, he takes out all four himself. Cool.

He turns and sees me. “Ah, the damnable racket of battle!” he swears. He sounds crotchety, but he’s got the same kind of attitude I have, which I love. “Watch yourself, even more of these crawling beasts are hiding in the underbrush.”

“Who are you?” I ask, “You’re not Czerka, are you?” He certainly doesn’t look like Czerka.

“I'm Jolee. Jolee Bindo,” he says, “Follow me to my camp and we'll talk a bit.”

“You use a lightsaber in battle,” Bastila asks him as he starts to head back to his camp, “Are you a Jedi?”

“Ah, don't start fawning just yet, I'm too old for it,” he complains, and then he sighs, “I…I know a few things, but we can talk about it at my camp. Keep close. It's nearby under a log.” He scoffs. “Yeah, I live like some burrowing rodent. I fought the Sith… now look at me. Hmph!”

We follow where he leads. He has a charming little hut-house, and he’s kinds enough to let us in as it starts to rain a little. The rain exacerbates my allergies, so I inject another of Canderous’s stim packs. Jolee huffs a little at that. “Well, welcome to my home,” he says, “such as it is. Pull up a stump and be comfortable. We should discuss a few things.” He offers us some fruit, being a kind host.

Bastila and Canderous both take the offer in earnest, but I’ve got business on my mind. “No offense,” I say, “I’m sure you know a lot, but I don’t have much time.”

“You'll have nothing but time if you don't take what help you can,” he says gruffly, “I've been here for many years. I know things. Remember that.” He shakes his head and sits down. “My days of glory are behind me, but… perhaps there is something I can do for you. You must have questions.”

“I would like to ask about you,” Bastila asks, “If that’s all right.”

“Ah, what is there to tell?” he says simply, “Jolee Bindo is the crazy old man in the dangerous woods. I'm content with the impression I give.” My kind of guy.

“But you use a lightsaber in battle. You are a Jedi,” Bastila says.

Jolee sighs. “I follow the Jedi Way and I command the Force, yes, and I suppose that makes me as much a Jedi as anyone,” he says, sounding almost a little reluctant to admit as much, “… but what of it? Why should being what I am compel me to entertain others with tales of the 'good old days' huh?” Bastia doesn’t quite like his gruff manner. I like it, personally. “I've seen my share of the dark and the light. And frankly, both extremes annoy me. Of course… I have felt the rumblings of change… “

Bastila gets a small smug look on her face. “I can feel the power of the Force within you, old man,” she says - is she… trying to tease him? - “but I do not sense the taint of the Dark Side. I think you are a servant of the light, despite what you claim.”

While Jolee would certainly be understood if he gave her a talking-to, he doesn’t. “Well, I assure you, I see more grey than dark or light. I'm just a stubborn old man, tired of the foolishness of others.” I certainly agree there.

I’m here for a reason, though, and if he knows the area, I’m going to try to get the information I need to finish what I came here to do. “Chuundar, the Wookiee chieftain from R… Ruh-wook…”

“Rwookrroro,” Jolee finishes for me.

“Right, yes, thank you. He sent us after a crazed Wookiee,” I say, “Do you know anything about this Wookiee? Have you seen him?”

“Crazed? Maddened with grief, perhaps, but not crazed,” Jolee says. See, I didn’t think he was crazed, exactly. “I helped him pass to the lower forests where only a Wookiee could follow. Some other matters will determine if you can follow. There is a barrier that… well, we'll talk of that more in a moment.”

He’s a cool dude and everything, but the less time I spend on Kashyyyk the better. “I’m looking for a Star Map, mainly,” I say, “Do you know anything about it?”

He grins. “Now why would you be asking about that, hmm? Don't answer. I knew that had to be why you were here. The problems of a few Wookiees don't amount to anything before the concerns of the Jedi.” Now, that’s not fair. If I wasn’t allergic to this planet I would do everything I could to help the Wookiees. I’m just in mild agony and have been for several hours. “No,” he finishes, “you are here for the map.

“Kashyyyk is an interesting place, more so than anyone suspects. If Czerka Corporation knew,” he says with an ironic laugh, “the planet would be a strip mine.” Doubtless. Czerka is willing to destroy anything if it gets them a few more credits. “The Wookiees have their legends that they were not always here, but it is more than that. The trees themselves are strangers.”

Uh… what? “That sounds fascinating,” I say, “and I would love to hear more, but I’m confused.”

“What I'm saying is that there are literally walls in your way,” he says - and I don’t exactly see how that relates to the trees being strangers, but okay, “and you won't find what you need without my help. And my help has a price.” Of course it does. “You must do a task for me, and then allow me to join with you. I will then remove certain barriers in your path.”

“Oh, hell, no,” Canderous protests, “The port quarters are crowded enough as it is. You want to add a cryptic old man to your current entourage of a Wookiee, a Mandalorian, and your Republic boyfriend?”

“Canderous, Carth is not my boyfriend.”

He laughs. “You know what they say about people who protest too much.”

“Leave her alone, Canderous,” Bastila says, gently smacking him. She smiles at him but she doesn't like his suggestion any more than I do. “I’m sure we can accommodate you, Jolee.”

“Glad to have you aboard,” I say, “So what’s the task?”

“I’m glad you asked,” Jolee says, “Since they began expanding in the Shadowlands, the Czerka have left me alone, for the most part. Until recently, anyway. A group of them set up camp not far from here.” He scoffs. “Poachers, is all they are. I'd like them removed from this place.”

And this is supposed to be a difficult task? I’d chase the Czerka away for fun. “So you want me to get some kids off your lawn,” I say teasingly.

He takes the joke and returns it. “Yes, yes, I’m an old man that’s getting fussy,” he says, “Call me foolish if you will, I don’t care.”

“Perish the thought,” I say, “I’d do this just for fun. Czerka has absolutely no respect for the native environment or animals, I‘m sure they’re threatening the wildlife and the ecosystem balance, and I know some of the Wookiees hate the idea of them being down here.” Gorwooken expressed as much, and I get the impression he’s not alone. “Out of idle curiosity, though, if you want them gone so badly, why haven’t you gotten rid of them yourself?”

“Don't talk back to your elders, child,” he says, teasing a bit, “Look, they know me quite well, and are always on alert when I approach. The only way I could get rid of them would be violence, which would eventually lead to trouble for the Wookiees.” I can see that. The Wookiees know he’s down here. If he removes Czerka, Czerka may ask why they haven’t removed him. Any hint of conflict could exacerbate this whole situation. “I want them gone,” Jolee continues, “but with as little fuss as possible. They have already caused enough trouble as it is.

“Their camp is in the far northeast,” he says, “And remember, if I wanted them dead, I'd have done it myself. Find a better way.”

“Gladly,” I say, “I don’t like Czerka any more than you do. I’d love nothing more than to get them all off this planet.”

“Well, you can start with the poachers,” he says with a smile, “Go on, now. Shoo! Shoo!”

Ah, he’s not so tough as all that. Despite the rain picking up, I still head out. Bastila and Canderous reluctantly follow me out into the wet. The moss glows brighter in the rain, and helps guide me close to where the Czerka poachers are hanging out. It’s dark, but my eyes adjust quickly to the low light. And I’m honestly enjoying myself. This is the closest I’ve gotten to my old scouting lifestyle in months, and I was starting to miss it. The days when water was scarce so the closest you got to a shower were rain storms like this one. When you kept lights low at night so as not to disturb the local environment too much, and to keep unwanted attention away from you. When what you ate was what you could kill, harvest, salvage, or store for months at a time, and you never took more than you needed. You were only a guest. You lived off the land, surveyed, gathered information, traded with any locals you found, learned their methods for surviving. I was with a Republic-aligned corps - not in the same field as the soldiers but I followed some of the same rules - but when we met up with Mandalorian squads, Hutt-funded expeditions, or even Sith corps, there was never much conflict between us. It wasn’t worth it. We were all at the mercy of the planet, the changing conditions. Would we ever keep information to ourselves? Yeah, of course, but nothing that would risk anyone’s lives. We’d keep shortcuts, or secluded resources to ourselves - I know about a hot spring on Utapau I’ve only told a few people about - but if my group ever came across another, we’d trade stories and tips, advice about where to camp, what to eat, who the natives were. Much as I hate Czera, their scouts were even tolerable. For them, Czerka was just an employer, not a way of life. Czerka may have funded their trips and asked for reports, but their reports were no different than mine. They may have had Czerka gear, but when it broke down they made do and improvised the same as I did. They were there to explore, provide reconnaissance for whoever paid the bills, just like me. I tried not to think about the fact that their information would lead to the leeching of a planet.

But Czerka scouts and Czerka yes-men are two different types of people. It’s not hard to find the camp of these Czerka poachers. All the light hurts my eyes. The moss doesn’t glow. It looks a bit sickly. There are no tachs here, no beasts of any kind. When an animal starts to approach, it shrieks painfully and runs away. And for any that aren’t deterred, there are mines. They have tarps set up over some of their equipment, keeping it dry. And beyond the small camp, I can make out… something. A massive force field. Must be the barrier Jolee was talking about.

Something hurts my ears. Gives me a headache. Not the allergies, but I can ignore it well enough. There are four Czerka grunts and one with a hat - only bosses get the hats. And the boss comes up to me with his blaster. “Who are you, another civil merchant like that core-slime up on the docking ring?” he asks derisively. Rude-ass bitch. “This is my territory. I don't make deals and I don't persuade easily, so go back topside. Mess with my profits and I'll see you dead.”

What a jerk. Is a poacher incapable of being a nice person? “Are you going to stop me? You’ll need more than a blaster to do that.”

He rolls his eyes. “Look, I don't care if you want to play tourist down here, but you behave yourself or we'll have a problem. I've got a job to do, and I won't be gentle if you get in my way, understand?”

Geez, okay, fine. I’ll get out of your way. I’m not going to get anywhere with him. And I don’t want to. He moves away and I go past him, further into the camp. I hunker down under one of the tarps set up. (There’s an open plasteel cylinder with only one thing in it, some animal organs. I have to assume they’re tach glands. It doesn’t smell, so I reach in and grab it before anyone notices. There we go, I got the tach gland for Griff and possibly inconvenienced some Czerka asshole. All in a day’s work.)

Under the tarp is a piece of equipment with a slowly rotating head. Weird, wonder what it does. I would start messing with it, but one of the Czerka grunts is standing close to it, I don’t want to tip him off. I try to read him, see what I can see. There’s a patch on his jacket, or rather a spot where a patch has been removed. The shape is distinctive, because I’ve seen it so many times before. That’s the shape of the patch Czerka scouts wear. Which means I’m cut from the same cloth as this guy. “Hey,” I say to him, “you a scout?”

He seems surprised to see me or hear me. “Used to be,” he says, “But then Czerka decided my skills would be more valuable here.” He scoffs at that. Yeah, you can’t get rid of the scouting bug. We’re not happy sitting still. “You?”

“Yeah,” I say, “Republic corps. They called me in to the fleet, put me on a ship. I hated it.”

“Not on that ship anymore.”

“Yeah, Sith blew it up,” I say, “But then I met a Jedi, one thing led to another, and here I am.”

He looks impressed. “How’s Jedi life treating you?” he asks, “I bet you don’t miss roughing it.”

“I do sometimes,” I tell him honestly, ”Jedi aren’t really explorers. I miss exploring. Dropping down on a planet and going where the wind takes me. How about you?”

He drops his blaster to his side, relaxed. “I wish I could be here as a scout, honestly,” he says, “I’d love to explore down here, see what’s hiding in these trees, Can I tell you something? Scout to scout?” I nod, and he comes close. “I hate what Commander Dern has us doing. He’s in the tach harvesting business, selling their glands to make stims.”

“You could put in for a transfer,” I suggest.

“Yeah, sure,” he says sarcastically, “And risk them sending me to one of their corporate offices? No way. At least here I get fresh air in my lungs.”

“Maybe you could ask about being stationed to the docks,” I say, “Out of the Shadowlands.”

“That’d be a lot easier if there weren’t operations down here,” he says, “I wouldn’t say this to anyone else, they wouldn’t get it, but these emitters take all the fun out of being down here.”

“Emitters?”

“Yeah,” he says, tapping the spinning-head device with his foot, “this stupid thing. This and those other three generate a sonic barrier that allows us to stay down here. It keeps the big predators away, mostly katarns.” Must be those big things Jolee was fighting earlier. “I don’t know how it works, really. I just know that if they go down, the camp would be overrun. They’re permanent, too - these things will run for years. They say it makes harvesting easier. Personally, I think they should just equip it with a blaster and station us all somewhere else.”

“Hang on, let me get this straight,” I say, “The emitters keep you safe down here. What would happen if someone… shut it down? Theoretically speaking, of course.”

He gets a little grin on his face, and reaches discreetly into his pocket. Then he says, a little louder, “These emitters can only be programmed with a special code, specific to each emitter. I would never share my emitter’s code.” He says, while handing me a small programming strip. Then he whispers, “Thanks,” and turns away from me. With that strip, shutting the emitter off is simple. Now my headache lessens - it must be these emitters that are hurting me.

“Well done, Rena,” Bastila says, “How did you know he was a scout?”

“I recognized a patch spot on his jacket,” I say, “Czerka makes all their scouts wear a certain patch. I got to know that patch pretty well after all the years I spent scouting.”

It doesn’t take much persuasion to get one of the other guards to give me his code, too (admittedly for different reasons - this one just really didn’t like waking up every morning to find a tach in his tent), and with just two emitters down, the field deactivates. It doesn’t hurt my ears anymore. Shouldn’t take too long before…

“Run! Run!” the commander shouts, as a small group of katarns overtakes the camp. And just like that, the poachers are gone.

#knights of the old republic #star wars #kotor #fiction #autistic artist #kotor fic #specs writes stuff #rena visz #oc #fem!revan #ls!revan #bastila shan #canderous ordo #jolee bindo #kashyyyk #chapter 70 #fuck czerka

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