#in my head there are like two versions of the clone high canon

[wackydoggs]

season 2 of clone high might have killed joanfk and spat on its corpse but i still love this ship with all of my heart, even if the show does not LOL

[cenorii]

Theory about Chris and Wesker (RE9) [UPDATED]

Hey Tumblr, today I brought you two crazy theories. I promise you that my theories will be very interesting and will make you think about something.

Alive Wesker, BOW Chris. Actual until re9 release!

This is an updated theory, I have supplemented and edited it!

I kept them inside my head for a long time, but coming of RE9 pushes me to release these theories outside. I really love Chriskers, so these two theories are directly related to them. This is not AU, but my assumptions about the canon. I would like to warn you that English is not my native language, so there may be errors in the text, excuse me for that.

Theory about Chris

What could be his immediate future?

We already know that in Shadows of Rose (DLC for RE8) the year is 2037 and at this point Chris is still alive. So it's safe to say that after the events of RE9, which will take place in 2021, he will still be alive. He will not die, contrary to fan theories.

At the very end of RE8, Chris discovers a BSAA soldier who turns out to be a bioweapon (I'll write BOW in the future). Enraged by this brazenness, Chris goes to their headquarters to sort it all out. This will probably be the main idea behind RE9.

Below is a concept of this BOW:

I can assume that this is not an single specimen, and that all the other BSAA soldiers involved in the "village operation" look identical. That is, they are clones.

Cloning BOW is a common thing in their world, clones of Sergei Vladimir were used to develop a strain of the T-virus back in 1992, and created even earlier, so it's no surprise that someone in 2021 used the cloning method.

These BOW soldiers have a consciousness and "upbringing" close to human, because they use weapons and transportation. And judging by their calm facial expressions, they don't show aggression. They can act coherently as a team, which suggests that these BOW are not a brainless herd of armed Majini (RE5), or J'avo (RE6). Their brains must be very advanced and almost unaffected by mutations.

But now let's remember that there was already a project that aimed to create the perfect soldier with an evolved brain. That was Project Tyrant.

I brought up the topic that these BOW soldiers are clones. But whose? Some person with genes suitable for the virus should be taken as a basis. But who could be the donor in this case and have we had any information about this? I have an answer to that question.

This is Chris Redfield. At first, the similarities are barely obvious, but take a closer look at the facial features. The shape of the nose, lips, wrinkles around the eyes, a mole under the eye.

And now look at the gait. This pose is identical to the typical walking of any Tyrant.

BSAA, without his knowledge, used his DNA to create these BOW soldiers.

We can say that this BOW weapon is the most advanced version of the Tyrant, because it is indistinguishable from a human, has high intelligence and is well controlled. And it is also easily disposed of, because after the death of BOW, the soldier did not mutate into a Super Tyrant.

It may not be a Tyrant, but some new project. But the data on the Tyrant clearly formed its basis.

There are legitimate questions - why Chris? Who needs it?

Answer to question 1: Chris is a soldier with a lot of experience and the ability to survive in the most dangerous situations. He is psychologically prepared for anything. If by happy coincidence such a person is genetically suited to be the new version of BOW, then this can be exploited, for it saves "real" human lives in military operations. But that doesn't excuse the BSAA, for they took his DNA without authorization.

Answer to question 2: to guess who needs it, you just need to know Chris's environment. For whom is Chris "one of the best men"? For whom is Chris the only equal opponent? Who does Chris mean so much to that this person would want to subdue him?

I think you've already guessed.

Albert Wesker.

But you ask the logical question, "how could Wesker pull this off if he died in 2009?"

The answer is, he didn't. The theory of how he survived will be below, but for now I'll tell you his motives.

After the defeat, which came hard due to his injuries and overdose of the virus, Wesker decided to poison Chris's life. His own life was wiped out in that volcano, the results of all his research and experiments gone to waste. All of Wesker's plans are ruined by this man, as many times before, he is humiliated and revenge boils in him.

Somehow he has infiltrated the heart of BSAA, of those Chris trusted. Into Chris's "home." And he poisoned that home with a biological weapon. There may well have been some other reason for this, perhaps he had a new plan and "poisoning Chris's life" was just a nice addition to that plan, but not the main goal.

Here is a variant of the main goal:

New Mold was created by The Connections, an organization that partnered with H.C.F. back in 2000. H.C.F. is a unit that Wesker once led. It's unknown if he was involved in the creation of the Mold, but it's safe to assume he was aware of it. This could be the reason BOW were sent BSAA soldiers into the village in RE8 to destroy everything The Connections had a hand in. Perhaps Wesker just wanted to get rid of anything "useless" that might get in his way in the future. A distant future. Because it's been 12 years since his "death" and he's 61 years old himself.

But why is Mold "useless" to him, you ask? Weskers in "Project W" were raised according to Spencer's ideals, so in many ways they think like him, because the upbringing was sufficiently obsessive. And here's what Spencer himself thought of Mold:

Mold is useless to Spencer, so is useless to any of the Weskers who share his thinking.

There's no denying the possibility that Wesker may have been thinking about turning Chris into something for a long time, since he was highly successful as a soldier. He likes to "rate" Chris during their encounters. What if he was evaluating Chris to weigh the pros and cons if he suddenly decided to create something based on him? A BOW based on him? It's also possible that Wesker always spared Chris because he thought he would use him in the future. Other reasons are just excuses.

I can only decipher these Wesker facial expressions as "hmm, not bad"

I assume that in RE9 Chris will meet Wesker. But not the way he remembers him.

I forgot to mention that behind the scenes, Wesker was working on experimental weapons. He had studied various tactics to fight against the BOW and felt that weapons of mass destruction were not always effective, so he favored compact pieces that could be used by experienced fighters. It's unclear why Wesker even considered such a thing if he didn't intend to sell these developments. It's also unclear why he was working on it if his ultimate goal was a "perfect world" with no place for guns and wars. Did he come up with it… just because he could? In any case, after his death, these designs were confiscated by the reconstituted Umbrella Co. (Blue Umbrella) and after being reconstituted, distributed these weapons to various places like the BSAA.

Given the Chris cloning moment, doesn't it seem suspicious that the suddenly revived Umbrella is in the process of recreating Wesker's designs? I get that this weapon is very useful, but then why did they name it after Wesker if he's a "disgrace" to society and a criminal? He, in theory, deserves no mention, even on his designs. But someone in management has respect for him, so allowed the name to remain.

It's also odd that BSAA have taken up cloning, it's more likely the new Umbrella is the originator of this idea, or their executive (leader) who respects Wesker and his designs. Perhaps cloning Chris is one of his designs too?

I mean… literally - it's a clone of Chris with a Wesker gun. This is a very strange coincidence.

Theory about Wesker 1. Why isn't he dead?

Let's start simple, RE5 had enough budget to show the ignition effects, we could see them on the enemies set on fire. And RE5 also had enough budget to show colorfully directed cutscenes.

However, with the franchise's most famous character, we saw neither of these at the moment of his death. Wesker was waist-deep in lava, but not burning, and was also defeated without any cutscenes. A strange attitude with such popularity?

His death was not shown, a basic but not the main fact that makes me sure he survived.

All we can see are the missiles that fly past his head, failing to hit their target, they fall into the lava behind him. If you slow down the video, it's noticeable that for some reason the model of Wesker's head just disappears and the missiles fly right through. This is not done to show that he lost his head, because otherwise the missiles would have exploded in the area around his face. However, the missiles flew behind him. It's a trivial budget saving to not draw the moment of impact. But the question is, why save money in such an important scene for lore?

Character deaths aren't shown only when they want them back. If a character dies permanently, their death is always detailed and elaborate.

Capcom could have done this to avoid expending the effort and expense for a colorful scene that ends up being just a trickery for us, so that there would be a realistic opportunity to re-engage Wesker as an main character in the future.

 And now pay attention to how Alex Wesker's death was shown:

Her death is final, that's why it's so detailed. Her current consciousness is now in another new body (Natalia), so it's not a pity to get rid of the old one.

Now let's talk about burning. The reason Wesker doesn't have a fire effect in Volcano could mean that his clothes are fireproof. Which, by the way, could be true, because on his concept art it says the material should be able to withstand shrapnel and other little shards. Its appearance and properties are reminiscent of modern carbon fiber, which can withstand about 300-370°C in air, while the temperature of lava in a volcano is from 1000°C to 1200°C. This means that his clothes could not ignite, because carbon fiber only oxidizes from high heat. This material could also be Kevlar, which has a temperature limit of 480°C, at which point it begins to decompose.

However, not only his clothes could have partially saved him from the high temperature, Wesker himself is resistant to it, which cannot be said about the Uroboros, for whom fire is a weak point. Therefore, it is logical to assume that the virus vaporized from his body from the high ambient temperature.

But let's get to the point, the fact that Wesker was flooded with lava after the explosion of missiles does not mean that he died, because it is worth paying attention to the fact that he was already set on fire. It certainly doesn't compare to lava, but it does give us some indication that he has fire resistance.

Judging by this point, Wesker can be set on fire, but those burns don't harm him. He also doesn't care about the fire and explosions around him.

He also just needs to shake the fire off himself, which doesn't do any damage.

There is a hint that he survived. I think few people have heard about Umbrella Corps. This failed shooter, seemingly having nothing important for the Resident Evil universe, gave us quite important information. Now I will tell you about it in detail. But keep in mind that this game is canon. The protagonist here is a certain 3A-7.

 The actions of this game take place first in 2012-2013 (single-player mode), and then in 2016 (multiplayer mode). That is, AFTER the events of RE6.

 In 2012-2013, according to the plot, information appears about a certain "man from the high ranks in the organization", who arrived to observe the experiment. In the course of the plot, notes about this person are supplemented with information that "this mysterious boss" was present during the events of RE4 and survived them. And as we know, only two men survived RE4 – Leon and Wesker.

After that, one of the acting characters becomes very interested in "this mysterious man", because "this mysterious man" seems trying to make a show of his own strength. This person finds it suspicious and wants to find DNA data about this "mysterious boss". He even wonders, "Who is this guy? Why is everyone afraid of him?".

I think after that it becomes obvious about "what a terrifying and mysterious person" we are talking about. About Wesker.

While playing in multiplayer mode, there is a chance to catch Wesker's phrase at the end of the match. They are different and there are quite a lot of them.

Here is an example:  www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pe7LEaA7em8

 At the end of the game, it says that there are "plans" for the main character of this game. By the way, the main character is voiced by D. C. Douglas, same with Wesker. Wesker watched the experiment on his clone? Sounds interesting, unless, of course, he is a clone himself.

So now it's time for my theories on how Umbrella Corps can be explained:

3A-7 is a clone of Wesker, who trivially doesn't know about it and is an ordinary person with a meager set of memories. But he has retained the skills of the original, making him a high survivor. And the powerful man who kept 3A-7's DNA secret is the original Wesker. He placed his clone in this experiment to quickly test it in real danger, and after success he took it back to realize plans unknown to us. In favor of this theory is the fact that in multiplayer, Douglas' tone is a copy of Wesker's, even though he voiced 3A-7 differently. Capcom wouldn't have hired Douglas to voice two characters at once if their voices weren't potentially important to the lore. The fact that no one recognized Wesker could suggest that his appearance was badly damaged after the volcano, or he changed a lot with the onset of old age, but 3A-7 is probably a copy of his youthful appearance, so he's hiding it.

3A-7 is a clone of Wesker, but after 3A-7 was taken away at the end of his story, he rose through the ranks of the organization and it is his lines that we hear in the multiplayer, because they are said several years after the events of the game. So these are not the phrases of the original Wesker, but of the changed 3A-7 from the future. The original Wesker is presumably dead, but in that case I can't speculate who the influential person who was interested in 3A-7 might be, if not him. Nikolai Zinoviev, who survived RE3? The real Hunk? It could be anyone with cold-blooded cruelty and strange goals. Also, the question remains, who created 3A-7? If it was Wesker himself, he would have used it for his plans long ago, and if it was an abandoned project, it would have been scrapped. It was done by someone outside who needs Wesker's skills badly, just like Chris' skills, which is the reason the RE8 BSAA created a BOW based on him. Ah, I wish someone would get Chris and Wesker clones to work as a team…

So, let's keep going.

One more important thing - if Wesker had died, he would have been seriously mutated. Think of all the characters who have ever had a virus injected into their body. Upon death or when seriously injured, those characters mutated uncontrollably. The same thing happened to Alex Wesker and to Carla Radames. If Wesker died in a volcano, some creature would crawled out of there. Remember when Nemesis was dissolved in acid and then turned into a huge mess. Lava might be as good a vehicle for mutations as acid is for Nemesis. If Wesker didn't mutate, that's another confirmation that he's not dead.

There is a theory that Wesker didn't become a huge monster due to his body adapting to any virus. But I can argue… I believe that after the injection his condition was unstable + a huge amount of Uroboros in his body. All of this should have set the stage for mutation, but the mutation never happened.

Theory about Wesker 2

Now it's time for real madness. In RE5 in vulcano, we killed a Wesker clone. In general, throughout the game in RE5, we fought with his clone. We could meet the real Wesker only in the DLC "Lost in Nightmares". And now I will explain why.

 The events of "Lost in Nightmares" take place in 2006, 2 years before the events of RE5. In this DLC, we have the opportunity to fight Wesker, who poses a great threat. One of his blows is able to throw the player into the wall and stun, and he also has several different ways to kill the player. He's constantly trying to kill us. Instead of walking, he moves exclusively with the help of "blink". This is the most ordinary Wesker, as dangerous and unpredictable as ever.

Then we meet Wesker in 2009 during the RE5 events. This famous scene, which gave us the quote "seven minutes", must be the most harmless confrontation with him. A child's fight. Here Wesker, to put it mildly, lost his strength. He prefers to follow us instead of "blink". He trying to "show off" in front of Chris and Sheva. It is very easy to deceive him, and his blows do not cause much damage. Instead of throwing the player into the wall and stunning him, Wesker's blow pushes him away only a few meters. At the same time, here he does not have an attack that can kill the player. Is he playing with us? Alright.

Finally we meet Wesker in our last fight with him (before the volcano). He shouldn't be playing with us here, he's serious. But he's no different from Wesker from the last fight... he just doesn't have any "showing off" animations. But he is still weak and does not carry danger. He had an attack that Wesker had from "Lost in Nightmares", capable of piercing and thereby killing a player with a full health indicator. But otherwise he is not dangerous. I don't feel threatened by this Wesker, even though this is the LAST fight with him! This is his LAST chance to shine in front of Chris! But instead of being as cool as in "Lost in Nightmares", he's just a weak. Walking simulator.

 How much Wesker from 2006 differs from himself from 2009 makes you think. Let's think deeper.

 When Wesker kills Spencer, he mimics the old man. It may seem that he really wanted to become a God, but if you don't think about RE5, it really can be mistaken for an ordinary mimicry. Wesker wanted to humiliate him at any cost, because the most important and unpleasant secret of his life had just been revealed to him – he was fabricated. This Wesker is real and he falls off a cliff with Jill and saves her.

During the experiments on Jill, he starts working on some related project and realizes that it will take a very long time. Therefore, he creates his own clone (or maybe even several) to replace himself. And he also "hands" his clone a wild Jill with P30 in the blood, after all, the Wesker clone is clearly weaker than the original and he needs "support". Of course, the Wesker clone does not know that he is a clone, and continues to develop the idea of "becoming a God." He's a defective clone, and that's why he's so paranoid about this idea. In the end, this "clone" loses his mind and becomes fixated on the idea of "becoming a God" and everything that he had from the real Wesker in character simply evaporates. He becomes a laughing stock, macaroni monster.

And eventually Chris and Sheva kill him, ridding the world of a useless Wesker clone while the real one is alive and just hiding somewhere.

Think for yourself which theory about Wesker seems more plausible to you, anything can happen in this fandom. I really want to know WHO made BOW Chris and WHY.

Thanks for reading this madness, it will become irrelevant after the release of RE9 and RE5R, but I'm still proud of the information I've gathered. What if some of this guessed the canon? We'll find out in the future.

[zukkacore]

could you explain the 8 jaces thesis I'm not sure I quite get it

OK SORRY THIS SAT SO LONG LMAO. 8 Jaces thesis is just what I jokingly call like. My personal internal logic on how many jaces there are are exist with both fantasy high and within the minds of the characters. However, for any of this to make sense, once we get to like. The conceptual Jaces. You HAVE HAVE HAVE to buy into the internal logic that Porter cared for at least some version of jace, maybe even loved him. A logic I buy into readily bc of Porter's need to look to the future and see a version of someone that doesn't exist in canon with Gorgug, but also Porter's need to look back to the past with nostalgia and grasp onto something that he views as glorious and true and already gone. Whether Porter looks to the future, or the to the past, he covets what he can't have. There is a future version of jace he wants. There is a past version of jace he wants. He is failing to hold onto either while also having encircled both and made them his. AGAIN. This is not canon, this is an INTERNAL LOGIC you just have to buy into that is extrapolated from the text. And with that, we can get into 8 Jace theory.

It's probably best to work our way up.

CANON

PART 1: JacePrime - the original Jace which I usually call Jaceprime to distinguish him from his 3 clones. There are two versions of Jaceprime

Pre-JacePrime - The canonical Jace that existed before he was shatterstarred. And we can guess that he may have been the jace that we saw in Freshman year. This is the First Jace

Post-Jaceprime: The canonical Jace that existed after getting shatterstarred. I feel like it's valid to compartmentalize these into two different Jaces even tho they are not like. Physically different like the clones are. This feels fair bc in the narrative his personality is pretty different in Junior year, so much that it makes the old jace seem like a nonentity by comparison? There's also the fact that he died and came back to life and is being on some level controlled by Porter. (I think on some level there even is a form of potential possession as well? It's very up to interpretation. Like ruben doesn't remember anything and Porter can definitely call upon shatterstarred people to Do Stuff for him n follow commands)

However, these two jaces are like. Two different versions of the same Jace. But they are Canon

Pt 2. Jaceclones

3. 4. 5. Jaceclones - These are like. Fully people. That jace summons in the final battle. They are not a hivemind and to not share a consciousness. They are not really mirror images. They are like. People. Tbh based on the way the spell acts it kinda seems like if Simulacra could be used to make multiple people instead of one. I also feel comfortable calling these all Jace, they are just a different Jace. Because they are people they have the capacity to basically be him. And they are all canon.

Before I continue. I will say that the original stemmed from ppl making Jokes about 4 Jaces bc of Jaceprime and the jaceclones. But 4 Jaces thesis became 5 Jaces thesis when I was like. To be fair tho the jace we see in JY is not the real jace. There's a fifth jace, freshman year jace, who is dead. Who haunts the narrative (i know overused phrase but idc)

Pt. 3 Jaces that are Conceptual - or exist in a character's head.

6. Porter's Idealized Post-Jaceprime: Technically, Idealized Pre-jaceprime existed first bc it was suggested by @adaines-furious-feast but we're gonna skip to Post Bc I think you need to understand Idealized Post Jaceprime. Idealized Post-jaceprime (I think is an @italicized-oh special? Sorry if I got this wrong. P sure it was a message from them in my inbox) is the version of Jace in porter's head that he thought he would get when he killed jace and brought him back wrong. In my mind, this ties into my whole thing abt Gorgug MCAT Thesis, which is a different thesis on Porter's relationship to Jace. IMO, A lot of the perceived flaws that Porter sees in Gorgug are real flaws in Jace. Porter percieves Gorgug as noncommital, not very bright, timid, and afraid to embrace his natural gifts. Porter wants to actualize Gorgug. This is similarly, the perfect, actualized Jace that Porter thought he would be getting. Making plans with. Being his darling little acolyte saint stardiamond. This is also a fantasy that the real post-shatterstar jace can only fall short of.

7. Porter's idealized Pre-Jaceprime: Again, this is an AFF special. This Jace is the old version of Jace that exists only in Porter's head. Ok. So this is a whole thing that includes having to buy into the internal logic that Porter misses the old Jace. I've made the argument that he has that capacity. he is a nostalgic guy who years for a return to a glorious past. So AS jace exists in his post shatterstar state, the nostalgia Porter has for the old, glorious jace sits alongside his nostalgia for a past that no longer exists. This version in Porter’s head is inherently distorted by nostalgia. Again he covets what he can’t have bc at the time. He could not accept Jace as-is. But now he wants to recapture it. It was perfect as a moment in the past. It is no longer his. It was never his bc it was always in his head.

Outlier Jace who is also a concept but in a different way

8. 25 Year old Green New-Hire Jace: 8th jace is technically an anomaly in that he is both the 8th jace, but also he is a double of all the old jaces. Hence the "this is the 8th jace b/c i'm being generous to your sanity when in reality this is actually 14 jaces. 7x2 = 14) unlike the other jaces, whose ages are kinda indistinct but tend to be interpreted as slightly older, this jace is straight up young. I jokingly call him 25 year old green newhire jace b/c i was just like. Shocked rewatching freshman year how young and inexperienced Jace sounded as a teacher. I think this is a jace we sometimes shy away from confronting, but this Jace is also pitiable in my mind b/c of the sandra lynn connection in which he was exploited by an older person who uses religion as a tool to acrue power, which makes Jace's canonical denial of justice feel very strange and out of place. I actually have kinda come to accept that I do think Jace is canonically probably pretty young and the older middle aged chainsmoker we all make fun of is actually more something we think is funny as a fandom. (And I love cunty middle aged chain smoker Jace. I will never give him up <3)

And there you have it. We have infinite multijace theory. I'm so sorry. Please submit all onceler jokes to my inbox promptly

[onlyanidala]

onlyanidala fic archive

These are fics with titles E-I.

A-D     J-P     Q-T     U-Z

searchable desktop version available here

more anidala fics can also be found in our fic tag!

the link for each fic can be found by clicking the title!

Title: edges of the world Author: glompcat Status: WIP/Unupdated Rating: T Summary:  Leia Organa finds herself stuck in a strange alternate/parallel universe where the Empire never came to exist. Meanwhile, trying to navigate a galaxy ruled by the Sith weren’t exactly the Jedi Trials Leia Skywalker had expected. Or: Leia from a universe where Anakin never fell and canon Leia switch places. Now the two of them - and everyone else around them - have to deal with the consequences of their dimensional swap.

Title: eros turannos Author: emerald-leaves Status: complete Rating: R Summary:  Love the Tyrant. Oderint dum metuant- Let them hate as long as they fear. AU set in time around the Clone Wars. Note: This fic has unfortunately been removed from Fanfiction.net. However, a PDF is available upon request. 

Title: the exchange Author: misslearn Status: WIP Rating: T Summary: The Daughter has a bad day and it irrevocably changes the fate of the galaxy, twice over. Or: ROTS Obi-Wan and Anakin are swapped with their younger, TPM, selves. It changes things, in both parallels.

Title: five weddings and a funeral Author: skywalkersamidala Status: complete Rating: T Summary:  Padmé's feeling gloomy about her perpetual singleness, but everything changes when she meets an attractive stranger at her sister's wedding.

Title: flat tire Author: skywalkersamidala Status: complete Rating: G Summary: Who knew something as simple as getting a flat tire could change the entire course of your life?

Title: for a moment Author: shelivesfree Status: complete Rating: T Summary:  And, just for a moment, all the worries and concerns that troubled the young couple cease to exist. Fade away to just this. Husband and wife. Asleep. Dreaming of the sweet little life they will soon bring into the world and into their hearts.

Title: for a sith to love a jedi Author: silverdaye Status: WIP Rating: R Summary:  Jedi Knight Padmé Amidala, the Heroine with No Fear, has crash landed on a moon after a starship fight with Darth Vader. Now the two enemies are stuck on a strange moon with strange rocks that prevents them from accessing the Force. They form an uneasy truce to leave the other alone. Yet after Vader sees Amidala bathing, she keeps coming back to him and he can't keep his mind off of her.

Title: for you, i’ll risk it all Author: estrangedlestrange Status: complete Rating: G Summary:  Darth Vader was certain he had killed Padmé Amidala on Mustafar, but when a rebel broadcast reveals she is alive, he will stop at nothing to free her from what he assumes is captivity. Former Senator Padmé Amidala was certain her husband had been killed on Mustafar, but after seeing Vader across the room during a mission, she is sure that she had been lied to. Knowing the truth, she seeks out her husband, either to bring him back to the light or kill him, which ever was necessary.

Title: friendly competition Author: skywalkersamidala Status: complete Rating: T Summary:  Playing Quidditch is awfully difficult when you’re in love with the rival Seeker. Snapshots of Anakin and Padmé’s 7 years at Hogwarts.

Title: fruits of malice Author: therealthing Status: complete Rating: T Summary:  In an alternate universe, Anakin Skywalker was taken from his mother at the age of four. He was raised as Darth Vader in a loveless, brutal environment. His life takes an interesting turn when he has an encounter with a certain senator from Naboo.

Title: future imperfect Author: therealthing Status: complete Rating: T Summary:  A time travel story in which Anakin Skywalker is sent to the future to witness the consequences of his actions.

Title: fundamental force carriers Author: tanarill Status: complete Rating: T Summary:  The Sith Lord Darth Vader lived his life. He probably didn't live it well, but he lived it as well as he knew how. At the end there, he'd even managed to woman up and kill Sidious. But he was dying, and at peace with the past. The past wasn't at peace with him.

Title: getting home to you Author: irnan Status: complete Rating: T Summary:  Anakin always said it was Padme's fault, but he was the one who spotted that broom closet. Fluff.

Title: the girl from harvard Author: shelivesfree Status: complete Rating: M Summary:  Absence makes the heart grow fonder. It also makes it grow more paranoid. Padme is in her last year of Harvard. Anakin has just started at the University of Chicago. Though they won't admit it, their long-distance relationship is taking it's heavy toll. Will their love prevail or will the distance prove too much for both of them?

Title: give me a signal Author: stranestelle Status: complete Rating: T Summary:  When Padmé Amidala is unable to contact Coruscant while negotiating a loan on Scipio, the Senate suspects trouble, and sends Anakin Skywalker to go check on her. Of course, the resourceful senator isn’t really in any trouble – don't flatter yourself, Rush Clovis – but there’s definitely some brewing.

Title: hand in my hand and we promise to never let go Author: gemma Status: complete Rating: M Summary:  Anakin Skywalker was sent to build an elite Jedi team to help end the ten-year Clone Wars. Jedi Knight Naberrie trains hard to be selected and grows closer to the Jedi Master in the process. But with Jedi falling every day in battle, is it safe to follow your heart? Or will war take what's most precious to Padme?

Title: the hardest path Author:  catiiasofia & misschrisdaae Status: complete Rating: G Summary:  Padmé does what she has to for her family. Series: Three Paths Not Followed

Title: heart of a sith Author: therealthing Status: complete Rating: T Summary:  Fourteen years have passed since the inception of the Empire. Darth Vader has been asked to go to Alderaan for an unusual reason, one that Vader soon discovers will change his life forever.

Title: heirs of light and darkness Author: skywalkersamidala Status: complete Rating: R Summary:  After escaping the Jedi purge two years ago made him the most wanted fugitive in the galaxy, Anakin Skywalker has at last been captured by the Empire. He expects to be killed, but Lady Padmé Amidala, the imperial heir, has other ideas.

Title: heretic pride Author: fialleril Status: WIP/Unupdated Rating: G Summary:  Like most Republic citizens, the Naberries have never spent much time thinking about the Jedi. But that changes with the birth of their daughter Ilaré. (Or, the AU where the third Naberrie daughter is a Jedi, Padmé offers Naboo as a sanctuary for runaway slaves, Shmi is a conductor on the Tatooine freedom trail, and Anakin jump starts a reformation. Or maybe a heresy. It all depends on your point of view.)

Title: hidden Author: disco shop girl Status: complete Rating: T Summary:  Anakin is woken from his dream before it can warn him of his fate. Without that fear hanging over him he feels a disturbance in the force, and chooses to leave before it can manifest itself.

Title:  high above the clouds, my love for you is eternal Author: rogue darth skywalker Status: WIP/Unupdated Rating: M Summary:  Modern Aviation AU. Anakin is a pilot, Padme is a flight attendant. When they meet for the first time he is captivated by her. But much to his surprise she has a young son. This is a story about how bonds are broken, how families are made, and how sacrifice is sometimes necessary to get people where they are meant to be.

Title: hold me in your arms and i’m home Author: gemma Status: complete Rating: M Summary:  It's the ten year reunion for students from Coruscant high and more importantly, a long awaited reunion for two former lovers.

Title: home Author: skywalkersamidala Status: complete Rating: G Summary:  In which "Darth Vader" is no more than Anakin's playtime alter ego (happy Skywalker family AU)

Title: hypnotic takin’ over me Author: gemma Status: complete Rating: R Summary:  "By the Force… Just how many times had he seen her like this in his dreams? How many times had he run his fingers over her skin? Filled his hands with her perfect backside? Yet, when he was, by some mercy or a cruel joke, granted true sight of her, he was oblivious."

Title: i do take two Author: skywalkersamidala Status: complete Rating: T Summary:  Thirty years after their clandestine wedding on Naboo, Anakin and Padmé decide to finally do the proper wedding ceremony they never got to have, with all their friends and family present.

Title: i know your type Author: shelivesfree Status: complete Rating: M Summary:  "Am I dead?" It slips out, accidentally. She turns her head towards me, a confused look on her face and tips her head. "Excuse me?" Flashing her an impish grin, I lean casually against the wall. "I must have died and gone to heaven, because you look like an angel." The look she gives me is far from impressed. "Do you use that with all the girls, or am I just lucky?"

Title: i wish i could rewrite the stars Author: gemma Status: complete Rating: G Summary:  Suddenly, forever felt like something that could be real. They could make it real, the two of them together and out of nowhere, tears stung at Anakin's eyes. It just meant so much. Padme loving him too was the stuff of his dreams; something he'd only just dared to believe was possible. But she did.

Title: if blood be the price Author: cadesama Status: complete Rating: T Summary:  Anakin promised to free all the slaves and it is a promise he intends to keep. Struck by visions of a slave uprising on Tatooine, he runs away to join the fight. Five years later, it his new alliance of former slave worlds that the Republic fears, rather than a Separatist threat. Enlisted to negotiate a peace treaty, Senator Amidala is dispatched to find Anakin, alongside Obi-Wan Kenobi, who only wishes to bring his former Padawan home.

Title: imperial obligations Author: skywalkersamidala Status: complete Rating: R Summary:  Padmé's advisors suggest that she get rid of Vader and make a politically advantageous marriage. The Empress is less than pleased. One-shot.Series: The Empress and Her Sith Lord.

Title: in his very soul Author:  catiiasofia & misschrisdaae Status: complete Rating: R Summary:  Ten years ago, the effort to liberate Naboo from Trade Federation control failed. Chancellor Palpatine managed to rescue the young Queen Amidala and two of her handmaidens, formally adopting her as his own. The new father and daughter quickly manipulated the Senate into granting him emergency powers and creating the Grand Army of the Republic, letting the Clone Wars begin. Now, assassins are coming for Padmé Palpatine, and her father has entrusted her safety to his mysterious enforcer, Darth Vader. While neither bodyguard nor charge is happy about this arrangement, there is an attraction they cannot ignore.

Title: in search of absolution Author: rogue darth skywalker Status: complete Rating: G Summary:  Padme bit her lip as she placed one last post-it that had the name 'Shmi Skywalker' written on it. She didn't speak. She knew he needed a moment to think - to process what she was silently asking him. 'Are you ready to accept her forgiveness'"She'd want to come to her only son's wedding," She said. He shook his head, "I don't think so. After everything…"

Title: in the past Author: silverdaye Status: WIP Rating: T Summary:  It's been two months after Bespin, and Luke Skywalker is trying to come to terms with the events that happened there. During a dogfight with Darth Vader, both of their fighters crash. When they recover, they both find themselves on Coruscant at the end of the Clone Wars. Vader still aims to claim his son, but Luke has been taken to the Jedi Temple where he meets Anakin Skywalker.

Title: it’s a dangerous love affair Author: gemma Status: complete Rating: M Summary:  Lies, masks, blood and sex. The criminal underworld will swallow you up and spit you out again. One wants revenge and the other wants peace. Can their affair bring the downfall of the two biggest gangs of the underworld?

Title: it’s like deja vu all over again Author: shadowsong26 Status: complete Rating: M Summary:  Three days ago, Padme Amidala closed her eyes for the last time in a sterile white room on an asteroid at the edge of nowhere. Three days ago, she opened them again on a sleek, chrome starship, watching Dorme putting on the finishing touches to Corde's headdress, her own weighted braids a comforting blanket on her back. Padme decides to change things, decides she can save Anakin (and the Galaxy) this time. Except, as time passes, she starts to realize things aren't happening exactly the way she remembers...

Title: (it’s not so bad) being dead like me Author: estrangedlestrange Status: complete Rating: T Summary:  Recently deceased Anakin Skywalker (killed in an taco truck explosion) finds himself not in the after life but recruited as the newest member of the undead, he’s become a grim reaper. He’s told that it’s his destiny but really he thinks it’s just rotten luck. Rotten except for the fact that one of his fellow reapers is Padmé Amidala, the most beautiful woman Anakin’s has seen, dead or alive. As he struggles to come to grips with his death and his new role in the universe, Anakin finds that taking souls isn’t the easiest job out there, he also finds himself falling in love. One-shot.

[likethecities]

In “Defense” of Bo-Katan in Mandalorian S2

(or, why Bo’s refusal to accept Boba as Mandalorian in 2x08, after Din did accept it in 2x06, is internally consistent with her character and view of Mandalore, and is not only because she’s a self-serving ass*)

*(although she is both of those things)

NOTE: This is a discussion of why her view of Boba is logical for her character and where I hope/think it will go in S3 and the concept of “Mandalorian”. It is NOT an endorsement for her behavior.

This is ONLY based in current, Disney canon, not Legends. In Legends, Jango was the leader of Mandalore for several years if not decades. However! that line conflicts with TCW. So we’re using the old rule of “if it conflicts, current canon wins” and tossing it out.  If it gets recanonized, we can come back to it.

Okay first! Let’s break down the major Mandalorian characters/factions in the Mandalorian.

Din Djarin/Children of the Watch

Bo-Katan Kryze/Nite Owls

Boba and Jango Fett

What do they have in common? All three groups place a lot of practical and symbolic/ancestral value on their beskar armor. Bo and Din also place a lot of importance on the value of the Way, although with different interpretations. Lastly, Bo specifically cares about Mandalore as a place. Unsurprisingly, they all have different interpretations of what it means to be Mandalorian.

Let’s start with Din and the Children of the Watch (CotW). Here’s what we know about their definition of Mandalorian:

high cultural and symbolic value on Mandalorian armor

foundlings/non-Mandalorian children can be raised Mandalorian

very strict interpretation of the Way/Creed

non-Mandalorians cannot wear Mandalorian armor

As a final note, they don’t appear to have much actual beskar. Most of their armor, though forged in Mandalorian style, isn’t made of beskar, but other metals instead. It’s a big deal when Din rolls up with enough beskar to forge a whole suit; that kind of windfall doesn’t just happen.

So when S2 rolls around and Din runs into people wearing Mandalorian armor who don’t follow the Way as he knows it, he assumes they aren’t Mandalorian, with the following results:

Cobb (2x01): admits to not being Mandalorian when Din challenges him, offers to return armor to Din (standing in as a representative of all Mandalorians) once Din helps him. Din agrees, helps, and then leaves with the armor.

Bo-Katan/Nite Owls (2x03): claim a different interpretation of the Way, declare ownership over their armor through family heritage. Din recognizes their claim.

Boba (2x06): identifies himself as the rightful owner of the armor, refuses to claim clan ties or the Creed.  Din (eventually) recognizes his claim.

Once Din has accepted that other Mandalorians don’t have the same interpretation of the Way that he does, he’s willing to accept proof of ownership as enough.  Likely, this is because the CotW don’t have much beskar, and so they recognize prior claims much more strictly. For Din, at least, owning the beskar is enough to drop the argument about being Mandalorian or not. Now let’s move to Bo and her supporters. Here’s what we know about them:

high cultural and symbolic value on Mandalorian armor: status symbol, but not required by all members

looser interpretation of the Way

high value on clan/community membership, or connection to Mandalore as a planet

non-Mandalorians cannot (or at least shouldn’t) wear Mandalorian armor

We know from SW Rebels and TCW that Bo, her followers, and most of the Mandalore-based people that you do not have to wear armor to be Mandalorian. Sabine’s father is an artist and is never seen fighting or wearing armor, but no one questions that he’s Mandalorian. The armor and Creed alone aren’t a requirement.

How else do we know this? Because Bo spent several seasons backing Pre Viszla and the darksaber for the Mandalorian throne, but when Viszla lost the darksaber - and his head - to Maul, Bo objected. Maul wasn’t Mandalorian; he didn’t care about the place, the community, the culture, or the Way. So Bo turned to Satine, the leader that she had just deposed, as a more “Mandalorian” challenger. Satine still has her House Kryze ties and close attachment to Mandalore as a place; that was enough to make her Mandalorian and a better choice than Maul, even though she’d nearly completely broken with old Mandalorian ways.

(And, we should note, that some Mandalorians did switch their allegiance to Maul after this, because they recognized the right of the darksaber over any community or clan ties. They’re also still Mandalorian.)

So when Bo and her team meet Din, they recognize Din as Mandalorian.  He’s part of a Mandalorian offshoot sect: that’s his clan/community. They think his rules are weird and antiquated*, but they recognize them as related to the Way as they know it.

*yes, Bo is a jerk about this, because Bo is a jerk about a lot of things. She does accept it, though, which is the important part for this discussion.

Okay, now let’s turn to Boba.

Boba never explicitly claims to be Mandalorian, with Din in 2x06 or in the bar 2x08. He says that Jango was a Mandalorian foundling, but despite Din giving him multiple opportunities to claim to be Mandalorian, Boba rebuffs every single one.  He doesn’t have any clan or community ties, and he doesn’t care about the planet; he’s actively derisive about Bo’s goal to retake it. He doesn’t appear to follow any parts of the Way.  Frankly, Boba doesn’t seem to even want to be Mandalorian, he just puts up with being associated with them because of the armor.  He certainly doesn’t care who considers themselves Mandalorian or why. The only things that Boba cares about are that a) his ownership of his armor is acknowledged, and b) he’s recognized as Jango Fett’s son. That’s it.

Again, for Din, that’s enough. Boba can prove that the armor is his and he can prove that Jango obtained it properly (ie, as a Mandalorian foundling). Conflict solved, everyone move on.

For Bo and her followers, that’s not enough. The armor isn’t the sole thing that marks you as Mandalorian, and Boba (and Jango after becoming a bounty hunter, apparently for much of his adult life) has none of the clan/community ties that are part of her definition and no attachment to the planet or culture of Mandalore.  Ergo, he’s not Mandalorian, and rightfully-obtained armor or not, him wearing it is against their culture. And yes, Bo is being racist (something -ist, at least) when she calls Jango his “donor”, but she also has a point. There are millions of Jango Fett clones in the galaxy, and none of them were raised in Mandalorian culture or have any connection to Mandalore except DNA.  Rewatching the bar scene, she doesn’t seem to have any idea who Boba is until she recognizes his voice and identifies him as a clone.  Why should he or any clone deserve to wear Mandalorian armor, especially when they don’t participate in Mandalorian culture?

(the answer, obviously, is because Jango raised Boba as his son and heir and chose to pass down his armor/ship accordingly. But Bo has no reason to know this and she wouldn’t consider him Mandalorian either way, so there’s no point in Boba proving his ownership even if he cared enough about her opinion to bother.)

This also ties into the problem of the darksaber. Gideon isn’t Mandalorian, and it seems likely he obtained the sword when the Imperial Remant “glassed” the planet, so he’s not recognized as ruler of Mandalore even when he holds the darksaber. Din

is

Mandalorian, and he won it in combat. That’s an undeniable claim. He’s also worked with Bo multiple times, it’s not his fault that Gideon outplayed both of them, and he’s very, very good in a fight. Bo really wants that weapon to shore up her claim, but she also knows it’s not very honorable to attack an ally who didn’t ask for this, and she probably doesn’t want to risk the possibility that she might lose. She’s in a bind.

Similarly, Din really doesn’t want the darksaber or the responsibilities that go with it, but he can’t just hand it over because that’s against the Creed. Sabine did, but she never “won” the darksaber; she just picked it up out of Maul’s garbage cave, which was vague enough for everyone to accept her passing it up. (She was also probably 17 or 18 at the time and was considered a traitor by most Mandalorians, which probably helped). But Din is also very honorable; if he can’t find a way to pass the saber off, he’ll probably feel obligated to fulfill the requirements to the best of his abilities until he either does find someone else to take them or accepts them permanently (kinda like Grogu himself HMMMMMM).  We already know that Din is fairly good at diplomacy from 2x01, but he’s never worked with Mandalorians outside of his clan before, so he’s got a steep learning curve.

So my guess: S3 is going to be about reuniting the disparate Mandalorian groups, all of whom have different versions of what it means to be Mandalorian, and finding some common ground. They will either attempt to retake Mandalore or find somewhere else to make a homeland, or possibly make the decision to stay dispersed. If Bo stays as a major character, we might see her trying to recruit Din into her clan to influence him; if not, she might slink off and wait to see how he does.

Something that could be cool? Din putting a lot of effort into trying to connect with other Mandalorians and Bo admitting that he’s actually doing a pretty good job, even if she wanted to do it herself!  #growth for both of them.  Meanwhile Boba, who again appears to not give two shits about any of this, will probably be chilling on Tatooine, maybe throwing some info or weapons Din’s way if he thinks Din actually has a shot at something.  Or ignoring all of them and taking over the Hutt empire instead, who knows.

Either way, I hope we get more discussion of what happened to Mandalore, Mandalorian identity, and Mandalorian politics in S3.

[bedlamsbard]

Some new concept writing! There’s backstory for this one, but I’m not sure how much will get written because it’s relatively different from most of my extant concept writing and/or canon.  The short version is that the Clone Wars ended, but not with Order 66; the Purge and fall of the Republic happened about 8-10 years later than in canon.  (Caleb and Hera would have been in their light teens/early 20s at the time, so about the same time as AND in canon.)  My worldbuilding brain is clicking over the differences and repercussions, but, uh, we’ll see if there’s more. (If I went forward, there would be some characters I haven’t written in five or six years turning up.)

About 3K below the break.  Please note that I don’t warn.

***

Parasites, Hera Syndulla thought, but kept her face pleasantly bland.  The description was unfair to only a small handful of her fellow senators, but as far as she was concerned was more than accurate in regards to the remainder. She sipped her wine and tilted her head a little to make it look like she was listening to Senator An’s description of the opera he had attended two nights previous, wondering if it was too early in the evening for her to go back to her apartment and scream into a pillow.

The occasion was a gathering to welcome freshman senators who might be inclined to the opposition party, which meant that a number of loyalist senators were here just to find out which of the freshmen were actually considering it.  In Hera’s experience the opposition mostly just made noise before agreeing to whatever legislation the Emperor wanted to pass, but the numbers mattered and a show of disapproval was better than nothing.  She wasn’t a freshman anymore, but her absence at the party would have been noticed by both sides; Ryloth didn’t hold much political sway but it was well-known.

A break in Senator An’s storytelling let her step away, gesturing vaguely at her now-empty wineglass as an excuse.  There were serving droids roaming the room so she was able to deposit it with one of them; she was trying to decide whether to stay longer or leave when she noticed an eddy in the crowd, people stepping aside and trying not to seem like they were doing so.  Riyo Chuchi was suddenly at her side, the older woman’s face drawn.

“What is it?” Hera asked her, low-voiced.

“The Emperor’s Inquisitor is making his rounds,” Riyo said, equally soft. She snagged two glasses from a passing serving droids and handed one to Hera.

She took it, tasted it, and then looked sharply at Riyo. “His?”

For the past two years, as long as Hera had been serving in the Senate, the Inquisitor assigned to Coruscant had been a woman, a huge Dowutin who delighted in terrifying the senators of both parties, as well as anyone else she came in contact with.

“I saw him in the other room,” Riyo said; the party spilled through half a dozen rented rooms and onto the balconies of each.  “He’s human, young.  I think I’ve seen him before, but I can’t think where.”

Hera raised her gaze as the movement in the room reached them.  She felt Riyo draw back, but Hera stood frozen, her heart in her throat.

The Inquisitor was a tall human male, amber-skinned and dark-haired, with a fading bruise visible on his face.  Despite that, and the scars that cut across his cheek, he was handsome; if he hadn’t been an Inquisitor Hera knew a dozen senators, female and otherwise, who would have been throwing themselves at him.  His pale gaze moved across the crowd without seeming to see anyone in it, as if he did so only to make sure they knew he was there.  If he saw Hera, he didn’t show it, just kept walking with steadied patience toward the balcony.

Hera put the glass back into Riyo’s hand and followed him before the Pantoran had a chance to protest her departure.

By the time she had reached the balcony, most of its occupants had fled back inside, though there were a dozen senators and their aides still standing by the refreshment cart there, trying not to watch the Inquisitor.  He had retreated to the far end of the balcony and was standing with his gaze fixed on the cityscape beyond.

He must have sensed her approach, but he didn’t show any sign of acknowledgment until she stepped up beside him and said quietly, “Caleb?”

He turned towards her, his eyes widening.

He had, Hera knew immediately, been very badly hurt.  There was something mad in his gaze, something more like a wounded animal than a sentient being; the scars that cut across his face had the look of something done deliberately rather than being incidental to combat injuries.  For an instant his mouth worked silently, then he looked over her shoulder at the other guests still on the balcony.  Hera turned in time to see all of them flee back into the room, leaving the two of them alone.

Hera had intended to be more circumspect about it, but since now everyone inside knew they were out here alone together she reached out and put her hand over his.  He looked at it as if he had never seen anything like it before, but didn’t pull away.

“What are you doing here?”

His voice was rougher than it had been five years ago, something that sounded like an injury rather than a reaction to her presence.

“I’m the senator for Ryloth,” Hera told him.  She wanted to take him into her arms, but didn’t dare, not when they were somewhere as public as this, not even with everyone else inside.  Instead, she squeezed his fingers and asked, “Can you come home with me?  I’ve got an apartment twenty stories down in the connecting building.”

He nodded.  She could feel him starting to shake, the shock from her unexpected appearance beginning to set in. “You go first,” he said, low-voiced. “I’ll follow.”

Hera nodded, hesitating briefly before she released his hand.  She wanted to kiss him, but couldn’t, not here, and not when she didn’t know how he would react to that.  She licked her lips and told him her apartment number, then stepped away and went inside without looking back at him.

People stepped away from her as she came in, as though she had been contaminated by her interaction with the Inquisitor.  Only Bail Organa and Riyo Chuchi came up to her, with Mon Mothma following them.

“Are you all right?” Bail asked her immediately. “Are you hurt?”

“I’m fine,” Hera assured them. “I know him.”

“How?” Mon Mothma asked, startled.

Hera hesitated, then said, “I need to talk to him first, somewhere that isn’t here.  Alone,” she added, seeing Bail open his mouth. “He won’t hurt me.”

From their expressions, she suspected that they guessed “I know him” meant “I had an affair with him before the Republic fell and everything went to blazes in a handbasket,” but none of them said anything along those lines, for which Hera was profoundly grateful. Instead, she said, “I have to go.”

None of them tried to stop her.  Bail said, “Be careful,” and Riyo squeezed her arm, her expression worried.

Hera smiled at them, then started to make her way out of the suite of rooms.  As crowded as they were, it took her some time until she could get her cloak and leave; most of the guests hadn’t heard about her tête-à-tête with the Inquisitor and get out of her way as a result, the way people had done with anyone who encountered the previous Inquisitor assigned to Coruscant.  By the time she had finally managed to leave, Hera was out of breath and irritated, and the effects of the wine she had been drinking earlier had worn off.  The walk back to her own junior senator’s apartments gave her time to calm down and think over what Caleb Dume’s appearance might mean.

He had been a Jedi. He had been a Jedi, and he had believed in it so profoundly that it had sometimes made Hera feel a little ashamed of herself.  Not for sleeping with him, which she knew his master had been aware of and somewhat amused by, but because she had never believed in anything that much in her life. She couldn’t believe that he had fallen in with the Emperor after the near-genocide of the Jedi, not willingly.

The look in his eyes hadn’t been entirely sane.

Hera went into the kitchen to start water boiling for tea, then into her bedroom to change out of her evening gown for something more comfortable.  She was just pouring hot water into the teapot when her door chime sounded.

She set the pot down on the kitchen table and went to get the door.  Caleb didn’t say anything as he came in, just waited for her to shut and lock the door behind him.  Hera opened her mouth, but he put a hand up to stop her, then went prowling nervously through the apartment.  Hera guessed that he was looking for listening devices and went back to the kitchen to finish making tea.

He came in a few minutes later.  Hera went over to him, hesitated, then took him in her arms.  For an instant he was stiff, then he returned her embrace.  He was shaking badly, his skin fever-hot when Hera reached up touch his scarred face.  He flinched when her fingers accidentally brushed the bruise around his left eye, but didn’t pull away.

“Can I kiss you?” Hera asked him.

Caleb nodded, bending his head to hers.  Hera kissed him slowly and carefully; he kissed her back with desperation.  When they stopped, breathing hard, he tipped his forehead against hers, his eyes closed.

“Tell me,” Hera whispered.

“He killed her,” Caleb said, his voice so soft that the words were almost a thought rather than spoken. “He killed Depa.  Then he – he – he’d bargained with the Emperor for me.  He killed her, and he – he –”  He was shaking again, so badly that his teeth were rattling together. “It took a long time, what he did to me,” he said eventually.  “Then he had me, and so did the Inquisition.”

“Come and sit down,” Hera said.  She got him into a chair and a cup of tea into his hand, then pulled another chair over so that she could sit next to him, close enough to touch.

He drank his tea slowly, his eyes narrowed in concentration as if it was the only thing he was capable of focusing on.  This close to him, Hera could see the scars barely hidden under the high collar of his black tunic, the same kinds of scars she had seen on freed slaves – left behind by a metal collar worn for too long.

Hera remembered the day the Purge had started.  It was burned into her memory, coming down to join her family at dinner and finding them all watching the HoloNews coverage of the Jedi Temple burning.  It had been barely a month after Depa Billaba and Caleb Dume had left, after Caleb had kissed her goodbye and promised that he would return after he had his knighthood, which he expected to attain within the year.  She had stood there, sick to her stomach, and known that he was dead.  He had been in her bed recently enough that she still had blankets that smelled like him and he was dead.

Except he hadn’t been dead.

“Who is he?” she asked him once he had finished the tea.  Hera poured more, but he just played with the cut-glass cup, running his gloved fingers over the silver holder. “The person who hurt you?”

“My master.”  His voice was utterly without inflection, but Hera could guess he wasn’t talking about Depa Billaba.  He pushed the cup away as his hands started to shake. “He’s – he was a Jedi, a Temple Guard.  He’d wanted me for a padawan years ago, but I didn’t know, and Master Billaba didn’t – but he was angry about it.  When the Emperor – he bargained with him for me.  We were still at the Temple.  He killed Depa, and he – he hurt me.”  He looked down at his hands as if he had never seen them before.  “I heard them killing the others,” he added eventually. “He and the others who betrayed the Order.  The other Inquisitors.”

“They’re Jedi?” Hera said, stunned. “They’re all Jedi?”

He nodded.  “After he did – what he did – it was a – a stopgap, almost, you could call it – he left me in that room with Master Billaba while he went to the rest of the…of the killing.  And when the others were all dead, he came back and did it again, to make sure it had taken, before he took me to the Inquisition headquarters on Mustafar to finish it.  The Emperor had been planning this for a long time,” he added, his voice very soft.

Hera swallowed back nausea. She didn’t think Caleb meant by that what anyone else would have meant, but she wasn’t entirely certain that he didn’t, either.  She was trying to decide how to ask when he said, very quietly, “There’s a way to force a master-apprentice bond, if the apprentice’s first master is dead.  The Jedi won’t do it unless there’s no other choice because it’s so dangerous; it’s better to let the bond develop naturally, even if it’s weak.  But – he –”

“It sounds like psychic rape,” Hera said hesitantly when he didn’t go on.  She couldn’t shake the mental image of Caleb locked in some room with Master Billaba’s body, probably injured himself, as the rest of the Jedi fought and died outside the door.

He nodded without looking at her.

“Is he here?”

Caleb shook his head. “Five years is long enough that he can let me out of his sight without worrying that I’m going to run away.  Or fall on my lightsaber,” he added, his voice a little distant.  He licked his lips, a nervous gesture, then raised his gaze to her. “I’m glad to see you.”

Hera leaned forward, slowly enough that he could pull away if he needed to, and kissed him gently. He put one hand up to curve the backs of his knuckles against her face, kissing her back. “You can stay with me as long as you’re here, if you like,” she said. “I have a spare room.”

He nodded a little, kissed her again, and then sat back in his chair.  After a moment of silence, he admitted, “That might not be a good idea. If anyone finds out, it won’t be safe for you –”

“Will anyone in the Empire challenge an Inquisitor if he wants to keep a mistress?” Hera asked. When he blinked, she said, “I don’t mean – you don’t have to sleep with me.  But it’s what people in the Senate and the HoloNews will think.”

“My master would,” Caleb said quietly. “And he’s the only one I can’t beat in a fight, if it comes to it.”

“I have friends too,” Hera told him. “I know the Senate is pretty useless in the Empire, but it isn’t without meaning, even now.”  She hesitated, on the verge of telling him that there were other Jedi who had survived, people who might be able to help him, but finally held back.  Even if he had been forced into it, he was still an Inquisitor, and Hera didn’t know him well enough anymore to be able to gamble anyone else’s life on what would he would do.

“What happened to your face?” she asked instead.

He touched a finger to his scarred cheek. “I tried to run away and my master caught me.  I’ve got others.”

“I meant the bruise,” Hera said, feeling a little sick.

“Oh.  I was in a fight.”  He hesitated, then reached out to take one of her hands, running his thumb over her knuckles. “How long have you been a senator?”

“Two years,” Hera said. “I ran against Orn Free Taa in the last election.”

“You’re smarter,” he said. “And prettier.”

“Right on both counts,” Hera said. “And I don’t take bribes.  And my father’s a war hero.  That helped.” She winced a little, but Cham Syndulla’s record was still better than Orn Free Taa’s, especially since Palpatine had removed his backing from the previous senator.  She suspected that the Emperor thought that a pretty young female senator, especially a nonhuman one, would be more or less harmless; Orn Free Taa’s decades in the Senate had given him allies in both main parties and most of the smaller ones, even if he himself was mostly ineffectual.  Hera had connections, but not the kind that would make her a serious threat, inasmuch as any single senator could be these days.  “How long are you here for?”

He shrugged. “Until I get reassigned.  They wanted someone as different as possible from the Hammer – the Inquisitor assigned here before me – as they could get, and I guess that was me.”

“Did you want to be assigned here?” Hera asked cautiously.  She wanted to ask how he felt about the Inquisition, if he was a true believer – from what he had said she suspected not – but couldn’t come out and ask it, not yet.

Caleb shrugged again. “I didn’t have a choice.  But my master’s not here, and that’s always a relief.”  He smiled shyly at her. “I’m glad you’re here.”

She leaned forward and kissed him again.  He had relaxed as they talked, and he kissed her back with less desperation now than he had before.

“Do you want to go to bed with me?” she asked him.

Caleb raised his eyes to hers. “Yes,” he said. “If you want to.”

Hera smiled and kissed him again, then got to her feet, drawing him with her.  She could have and probably should have waited until she knew how firmly he believed in the Inquisition and the Empire, if he had, as the Jedi she knew put it, gone over to the dark side, but he was here now, and she had been so certain he was dead.  For all the brevity of their affair, she had loved him very much, and she had known he had loved her – enough to know that even though they had never talked about it, the idea of leaving the Jedi Order had crossed his mind.

“Come on,” she told him. “If everyone’s going to think we’re having an affair anyway, we might as well have one.”

[cross-d-a]

fic tag game

aaahhh @vishcount thank you for tagging me!!! These are so fun and I adored reading about your fic journey~!  ೖ(⑅σ̑ᴗσ̑)ೖ ❤

OH as a note!! For the ppl I tag at the end I don’t expect you to read all of this bc it’s A Lot!!! but I figured you might want to do this game yourself? haha :)

Name: cross-d-a shortened version of my first ever username. unfortunately stuck with it now haha but i’m fond of it :p wish it was cuter tho!!

Posting the rest of this under the cut so it doesn’t eat up people’s dashes!! 

(｡•̀ᴗ-)✧

Fandoms: 

oKAY YIKES there are....honestly too many too name. I’ve got a short and obsessive attention span so it’s either all or nothing with me usually. When I can stay in a fandom for a long period of time it’s a miracle. I’ll name the bigger ones that I’ve all written fic for! Even if I’ve never posted them haha

Right now I’m very firmly into Daomu Biji (dmbj). It feels like it’s both got a crap ton of content and yet barely anything at all haha. Maybe because the English fandom is so small. But at least there are a bunch of dramas and books!!! I really, really, really adore dmbj so much!! And a large part of that is the fandom!!! It's been a really cool and unique experience! Everyone in it is truly so kind and wonderful, and I’ve made some really incredible friends because of it (looking at you vish!! ❤). I’ve got a bunch of wips, but I’ve only posted two fics for dmbj!

Before this I was very into Guardian and mdzs. MDZS was my first foray into cdramas and Guardian’s Zhu Yilong really suckered me into watching more haha I also have fics for both these fandoms!

My very first fandoms were Fullmetal Alchemist, D. Gray-Man and Naruto. My very old ffnet account has fics for these and I’ve got a bunch of newer wips on my tablet. Then Star Trek, Twilight, BBC Merlin, Sherlock, Death Note, Harry Potter, How to Train Your Dragon, Battlestar Galactica, Avatar the Last Airbender and Marvel were a few of my main ones in high school. Plus a bunch of anime (like Fruits Basket! and Kuroshitsuji and Natsume Yuujinchou). 

Then college hit and I renewed my childhood love of Tolkien (mainly lotr and the Hobbit), and Star Wars. I also found Teen Wolf! Then after college it was Stranger Things. 

I find myself in a cycle of mild fondness and complete obsession with these fandoms haha I go back to Star Wars at least once a year!! Then I’m in the gffa hole for a few months. Marvel also reoccurs, depending on how interested I am in new content! Star Trek I always always always go back to. TOS is my comfort show and it will never fade from my heart ❤

But for now I’m stuck in cdrama hell and I love it

Tropes: 

Time travel, found family, whump+hurt/comfort, fairytale-like elements, resurrective immortality (thanks to a “Nine Lives” Hobbit fic), CROSSOVERS

I’m a slut for all these things so they often worm their way into my plots haha

I also just- love weird premises. I think that’s the anime influencing me haha

Fic I spent most time on: 

My series he leaves sand and stardust in my wake (main fic is hurricane on the edge of oblivion), I have...spent five years on now. I have done so much research for this fic it’s insane. 

The premise is force ghost!Obi-Wan getting shunted back into his tiny 10 year old self. I incorporate a shit ton of legends and I try to stay as canon as possible. I basically want this au to feel like it’s 1000% plausible while still getting all my gay shit. It’s chock full of whump, redemption, found family, minor characters turning into major characters, and I’ve got slavery uprising on the mind, too. It’s just- everything I could ever want to explore in the Star Wars universe basically. 

It’s my first big project. I started doodling and scribbling ideas in the margins of my notebook in my Scottish History class. I adore it so so so much. But, because of my hyperfixation and fleeting intense obsession with things it makes it- really difficult to consistently update. I leave it for months at a time and I am constantly guilt-ridden about it. Because it’s my baby and I have a lot of wonderful readers. I fear I’ll never be able to finish it. Especially since I’ve written so much and I’m still only in the beginning of it. ( ; A ; )

Also, I’ve spent so much time with Xanatos, Feemor and Bruck that they just feel like mine now. I can’t read any fics that involve them, it’s too strange. Which is a damn shame because I love them so much haha OH ALSO!! I think it’s the first really big fic to include those three?? So I’m very proud about that haha (I’ve had so many ppl comment about how they actually Give A Shit about these three and are Invested bc of me haha)

Favorite fic(s) you’ve written: 

hurricane on the edge of oblivion (with nowhere to go) (Star Wars)

My long-term passion project. My love-letter to Star Wars, I suppose. Reading it now I feel like a lot of it is clunky or long-winded, but I think it really shows the foundation of my writing today :) Main characters are Obi-Wan, Xanatos Du Crion, Qui-Gon Jinn, Bruck Chun and Feemor. Eventually we’ll get to Maul, Savage, Feral, Shmi Skywalker, (more!) Ahsoka, Anakin and a shit ton of clones ❤

things we hunger for (Guardian)

My Ye Zun self-indulgent fic. It’s a time travel amnesia Weilanzun! Honestly has some of my fav writing I’ve ever done. It’s so soft and really indulges in the hurt/comfort. It gives Ye Zun the friends and family I think he deserves. Also, he gets to grow into a (mostly!) functional person and I adore him.

the beast that slumbers within your soul (mdzs)

Jiang Cheng centric fic!! I feel like all my favourite fics I’ve written are love letters haha. This is one def my love letter to Jiang Cheng. This fic possessed me for two whole days. I wrote 16k in almost one sitting. I went to sleep at 6 in the morning bc I couldn’t stop writing. And when I drifted off I kept thinking of new ideas so I’d whip out my phone and write down lines and notes. I- have never ever ever felt that way about anything. It was- insane. It felt insane. It was so amazing. I’m still riding the memory of that high.

 Basically Jiang Cheng actually finds Baoshan Sanren and it turns out she’s a fox demon and Jiang Cheng is descended from wolves. It’s- okay I said the fic above this had my favourite writing?? That was a lie. This has my favourite writing I’ve ever done. It’s unfinished bc I am in dmbj hell but I am still excited about the next chapter which features Wei Wuxian’s pov!!

the whispers of spirits (dmbj)

My current passion project. In a way it kinda feels similar to hurricane? Bc multiple povs, incorporating different aspects of canon (we’ll get there!! I promise!), shit ton of research, etc. etc. I really really really love it for so many reasons. I’m basically taking all the things I was unsatisfied with in Reboot and Sha Hai and running with it. Found family and whump galore! It’s also a love letter to the women of dmbj who really deserve so so so much better.

Honourable mention to:

One Day (you’ll have given more of yourself than is meant to be taken) (Marvel)

This fic also kinda possessed me. I just- couldn’t get rid of the idea of a trans!Thor. And I mean a mtf Thor! It’s just? So many people look at Thor and go “that’s a Real Man.” Full stop. They never think there could be anything more, and it really really really bothered me. So I wrote out my feelings. I’m not trans. I don’t have that experience at all. I’ve had issues and confusion about my gender but nothing like this. I just wanted to do justice to this idea of Thor in my head. And I still feel a bit nervous having posted it. But I've gotten so many comments from people who really connected with what I’ve written? So I’m very very thankful I wrote it and it has a very special place in my heart. It’s a very cathartic fic.

Fic I spent least time on: 

Probably we rise (Star Wars) and I think it shows haha. I wrote it in response to Dave Filoni posting a drawing of Ahsoka and Gandalf telling her “People thought I was dead, too, and look how that turned out...” So I incorporated Ahsoka (and Din and Grogu and Ezra!!!) into the ending of Rise of Skywalker, kinda explaining how I think they could all still be alive. :)

Longest fic: 

hurricane is my longest fic (159k) but I’m kinda worried whispers will eclipse that.....

Shortest fic: 

Of my posted ones it’s The Five Moments it Took Tony and Scott to Admit They Were Best Friends (and the first time they ever did), currently clocks at 1.6k. It’s unfinished tho so maybe that doesn’t count.... otherwise it’s we rise which is completed and 2k.

Most hits/kudos/comments/bookmarks: 

hurricane overall has the most of all these. Though I don’t think hits counts as much bc it’s multi-chapter. If you discount multi-chapter stuff, most hits goes to my obikin smutfic Homecoming, bc people are horny af haha

Fic you want to rewrite/expand on: 

If I had energy I’d like to rewrite the beginning of hurricane bc it feels so so wordy. I’d want to expand on One Day bc I really would like to write a whole series with trans!Thor. And like- I’d really like the focus to finish any of my WIPs.

Share a bit of a WIP: I really wanna share my Guardian/dmbj crossover that I started back in August. Bc I adore the idea of wu xie&shen wei&ye zun triplets! Plus time travel!!! I dunno if I’ll ever finish it tho ( ; A ; ) It just feels like a lot to deal with right now.

This scene takes place during the Mountain Awl arc. Guardian crew and desperado fam run across each other at the village! Wu Xie has recently found out that he’s adopted and he’s searching for answers in the area Sanshu originally found amnesiac!toddler!Wu Xie in :) Gonna pull two snippets bc I’m v excited and this might be the only time anyone else sees this fic haha:

“Oh?” Pangzi focuses on Yunlan now, lips twisting. “You think I’ve ‘got the wrong guy,’ huh?” He laughs, but it’s not a nice sound. “That’s rich! Are you that cocky or are you just stupid?”

Bristling, Yunlan drops his hands and scowls. “Excuse me?”

“Sir,” Shen Wei tries. “I think—”

Pangzi’s eyes snap back to Shen Wei, sharp and blazing. “How dare you fucking steal his face!”

What?

Automatically, Zhao Yunlan turns to Shen Wei, but the professor looks just as shell-shocked as Zhao Yunlan feels which- is seriously something. Since everything about Shen Wei is so carefully controlled, kept to the minimum. Except for those delightful little smiles that bloom across his lovely face, or the startled little bursts of laughter that fall from his lips. Or even when anger and frustration spark across his features, cracking his calm veneer open enough that he can see a glimmer of what lies beneath, the fire in those eyes. Zhao Yunlan delights in those moments, makes a game of making Shen Wei’s control slip.

He tells himself it’s nothing more than a game. Nothing more than trying to find out what makes Shen Wei tick.

Zhao Yunlan’s always been very bad at lying to himself. Or very good. Depending on who you’re asking.

“What the hell are you talking about?” Yunlan splutters.

But before anyone can say anything else, a very familiar voice calls:

“Pangzi? What’s wrong?”

Yunlan can feel Shen Wei stiffen, and Yunlan himself is pulled to that voice like a planet in orbit, like the inevitable plummet to the ground.

Another shadow wavers in the doorway before it steps out onto the dirt. Light illuminates shaggy hair, limning it gold, sharply casting everything else in shadow. But as the figure nears, the contrast softens until Yunlan can see the newcomer’s face properly and- and—

“Wu Xie!” Pangzi growls. “We’ve got ourselves an impostor!”

The man wearing Shen Wei’s face steps up to them, brows furrowed and mouth pulled down into a sharp frown. He glances between them, eyes landing on Shen Wei. His scowl deepens. He opens his mouth, but then—

“Wu Xie?” Shen Wei breathes, all trembly and lost and hopeless.

Heart in his throat, Yunlan turns to Shen Wei again. Turns and flinches at that stricken look upon Shen Wei’s pale pinched face.

“A-Xie?” Shen Wei chokes. “Didi?”

and

Pangzi snorts. “Professor?”

“I-it’s true!”

Startled Yunlan swings his attention over to Jiajia who clenches her backpack to her chest, face screwed up in admirable determination. “P-professor Shen took me and Xiao Quan on a field trip to investigate an archeological site around here!”

“Oh?” Wu Xie drawls all slow and amused. “Well, what a coincidence. We’re archeologists, too.”

“With guns?” Yunlan bites out.

Wu Xie raises a brow, grin full of teeth. “Well, you can never be too prepared.”

“Right,” Yunlan drawls right back. “Are you a professor, too, then? You come here with your students?”

Wu Xie outright grins. “You could say that, I suppose.”

Out of the corner of his eye, one of the men rolls his eyes. He’s the one with sharp features, glasses and looped earbuds. Does he think it’s appropriate to listen to music at a time like this? Yunlan admires the man’s gall.

aahhhh vish thanks so much again for tagging me!! This was so fun to relive my fic memories!! I’m gonna tag @alwaysaslutforshakespeare @jockvillagersonly @tehfanglyfish @lichelleme @undyingsunshine @humanlighthouse  @thewindsofsong I’m curious about your guys’ writing and fandom journey!! As always, no pressure to actually complete this!! I just thought it was fun ❤

Wow if you read all of this I am very humbled and impressed, thank you!!

╰(*´︶`*)╯♡

[dettiot]

Star Wars Fic Masterlist

I’ll be updating this as I write more Star Wars fic, since a galaxy far, far away has eaten my brain. :-)

Also feel free to visit me on AO3!

Anidala

Male Solidarity: Leia brings Han home. 

Sick Day: Padme takes care of a sick Anakin.

Communication: Anakin discovers how extraordinary his children are.

You’re My Only Hope: Obi-Wan has to save Anakin.

Bathtime: Padme and Anakin, on their honeymoon, in a tub.

The Sleeping Senator: A Sleeping Beauty AU.

“How much does it hurt?”

It’s late at night on Coruscant.

Padme Amidala knew there was no reason to be scared of flying.

Don’t Freak Out: a gender-swapped Chuck AU

We Are Gathered Together: Padme’s thoughts during Leia’s wedding.

“My torso isn’t exactly a pillow you know.”

“I had an important appointment later but… you only live once. I can cancel.”

Happy Fifth Anniversary

Out of the Mouths of Babes

It’s very early in the morning.

grown more beautiful

Ceasefire

the festival of light

in the wee small hours of the morning

peut-être vu

“They’re just so small,” Anakin whispered, holding Luke and Leia in his arms.

Anidala in High School AU

of flower crowns and family

we’re having a heat wave

election night

love and politics the credit drops settling the matter shopping trip talking to the future brother-in-law

late-night interruption another late-night interruption a new late-night interruption

late-night interruption: an expanded and revised version of the ficlet. (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) (9) (10) (11)

a mama meltdown

hope in each other

Ahsoka walks in on Anakin and Padme kissing

cuddling

R2′s holofootage of Anakin and Padme’s wedding lets the tooka out of the bag

beauty and the beast

Han asks the Skywalkers for permission to marry Leia

the king and his bodyguards

nightmares about shaaks

Padme is kidnapped

Anakin doesn’t like that Padme got kidnapped

can’t you see?

For Want of a Lightsaber (1)

sleeping in

grocery shopping

Padme is a criminal--kinda

Unexpected Knowledge

The Skywalker Twins Run Wild

Space Disneyland

the meaning of safety

love and coffee, served hot

Anakin’s strange punishments

Padme is a librarian and Anakin is a library menace

Cutting Edge AU

Obitine

On the Run: A duchess and a Padawan.  One: The first meeting. Two: A moment in the dark. Three: Almost close enough. Four: A breaking point. Five: A decision is made.

“I can’t love you.”

“Hi, I’ve been subtle at hinting that I want your attention all day and you haven’t noticed once and now I’m pissed.”

a bright sun

Opposing Counsel Case Law Statute of Limitations Amicus Curiae Cause of Action Precedent De Novo Discovery Moot Proof of Claim Habeas Corpus

Obi-Wan is not nearly as fluent in Mando’a as you’d think

watching the sunsrise

Of All the Spice Joints in the Galaxy . . .

Satine said the word

Changes The twins miss the parents they’ve never met

Space horses

Anidala & Obitine

better late than never

dinner with the family

double date

Now is the Month of Maying

Obi-Wan’s surprise Life Day party

Living Every Day

Luke/Mara

Snippet 1: From a fic that may or may not happen . . . a conversation between Han and Luke about Mara. Snippet 2: Luke talking to Mara and Karrde about his plan. From the same fic that may or may not happen.

“You’re the only one who gets to call me that, you know.”

Luke and Mara watches security drone footage of Anakin and Padme

Luke tells Padme that he and Mara are dating

telling the master

“Dad! Ben took my X-Wing model!”

an unwanted invitation

the extended family

Luke and Mara celebrate Beru’s third birthday

Gen

Luke Skywalker is six years old.

Mara meets Talon Karrde

“Get away from here.”

family bonding

graduation

a grief shared

battle brothers

Luke and the Tooka

mirror images

under the trees

birthday holo call

brunch with the in-laws

morning at Varykino

heads-up display

the twins prepare a surprise

the disaster lineage vs. the coolaster lineage

An Ahsoka and Anakin hug

heart-to-heart

Padme and Luke are sick Anakin is worried

Anakin visits Leia late at night, post-The Last Jedi

Padme & Ahsoka bonding

do droids dream of electric nerfs?

News of the Galaxy How our faves deal with the holopress.

One: Duchess Satine appears on Rotation. Pre-Clone Wars. Two: Senator Amidala participates in a debate about the Military Creation Act. Three: General Anakin Skywalker cooks on the  Raché Ré Show.

Anidala Week 2020

the secrets of the heart: written for Day 2: Canon Divergence or Favorite Canon Work. After Padme helps present the Declaration of 2000′s petition to Palpatine, she is threatened with arrest and Anakin helps her flee Coruscant.

Tam Lin: written for Day 3: Fairy Tale or Mythology. Recently returned to Scotland, Padme meets a strange man in the wood.

Bench Trial: written for Day 4: Modern AU or Fusion/Alternate Fandom. Padme and Anakin meet within my Opposing Counsel Obitine lawyer AU.

love or a cough: written for Day 5: Favorite Quote or Song-Inspired. Padme thinks about her love for Anakin.

Anakin vs. the Feelings: written for Day 7: Free Day. More of my gender-swapped Chuck AU, this time from Anakin’s POV.

Days of Love: A collection of romance ficlets written and posted in February

jedis don’t do surprises (Luke/Mara, post-Thrawn duology)

it seemed like a good idea at the time (Anidala, The Mummy AU)

steeped with love (Obitine, year on the run)

there was only one bunk (Han/Leia, pre-Empire Strikes Back)

id’s nod a colb (Anidala)

the town on the prairie (Obitine, Anidala, historical AU)

double date (Luke/Mara, Han/Leia)

love washed clean (Anidala, mid-Revenge of the Sith)

the prince heir part 1 || part 2 (Luke/Mara, The Princess Bride AU)

early morning with leaders of the Rebellion (Anidala, Anakin doesn’t fall AU)

father sometimes knows best (Han/Leia)

a quarrel between friends (not lovers) (Obitine, set pre-Voyage of Temptation)

sons of old friends (Luke/Mara, Obitine)

a pet-friendly fencing salle (Anidala, Obitine)

ROTS Vader vs. ROTJ Vader (Anidala)

plans for the future (Anidala)

sometimes you don’t have to decide (Din/Luke, Luke/Mara)

love despite exhaustion (Han/Leia)

the fly on the wall (Obitine)

the red carpet (Anidala)

[hargrove-mayfields]

Headcanons Part Two!!!

My last headcanon post was all about Billy and Steve, but they won’t be the only ones showing up in my stories, so here’s some hcs for a few of the most recurring characters!

Starting with Max!!

My preferred middle name for Max is Nicole, because Maxine Nicole sounds pretty, but can double as being intimidating if someone was yelling at her. Also, she’s named after her aunt Nicole just because I can see Susan being like that.

Most important thing to know about Max in my writing is that she is ALWAYS autistic. I might not specify depending on the content of the story, but she is never ever ever meant to be allistic. I imagine her as being on a moderate support needs level, meaning for those who don’t know the term that she has highs and lows! There’s days where she can pass as allsitic and days where she can’t, and she maybe doesn’t need a lot of assistance in everyday life, but she still needs lots of stimming and has meltdowns and stuff!

Related to this fact is that in the 80s, autism was not a very common diagnosis at all, and so I don’t think she’d really have a word for it other than like, that just being the way she is. Because no one will give her the official diagnosis, Neil thinks she’s faking, so she gets told to stop stimming, isn’t treated fairly during a meltdown, told to “act normal” etc, etc, and she needs a lot of therapy in the future for it.

Her favorite ways to stim are rocking on her heels, humming, listening to loud noises (like sirens/car engines/lawn mowers, NOT things like music/Susan doing the dishes, those do the opposite) and dancing!

Her least favorite sensory things are raindrops touching her skin, her hair brushing her shoulders or her face, overwhelming smells (cologne, candles, food on the stove) and furniture that’s too firm! (like a memory foam mattress or a leather couch)

The first time she feels truly seen in the way she is is when Fraggle Rock starts airing in ‘82. Susan tells her to watch it because she thinks Max is still a baby no matter how old she is, but the minute she lays eyes on Wembley Fraggle she knows he’s like her. He stims vocally and with his hands, his friends don’t understand him, he’s empathetic, bad at choosing, gullible, and in every way just so much like her! Her and Billy have an inside joke where, if she’s putting something off or can’t make a decision, he’ll tell her to stop her Wemblin’ and sometimes he calls her Wembles without thinking!

There isn’t a lot of personalized furniture in the Hargrove-Mayfield, so I think it’s safe to say that she doesn’t really have any comfort items lying around. No favorite blankets or stuffed animals or toys of any kind, and I think because of that she clings to people. That’s why she is so insistent on getting in with the party, and why was so excited about having a brother in Runaway Max, because she relies on comfort people instead of objects.

She’s not very good at putting a name to her relationships. Like, she doesn’t really know how to describe how she feels about somebody, she just knows if she likes them or not. If she feels happy and sage with someone, that’s all that matters, she doesn’t feel the need to classify them beyond that. But she’s also aware that others don’t feel that way! And she feels pretty special when Lucas calls her his girlfriend!

In the future, there can be a lot of different outcomes for her.

If Billy stays dead, I can see Max ending up two ways, either staying in Hawkins because that’s where her brother is dead and buried and trying to move on in her own way, or leaving Hawkins entirely, just cutting ties completely with everyone and everything there to move away from the trauma that’s there, except for every year on B’s birthday when she comes back to visit.

If Billy lives though, I think there’s again two outcomes for her. One where she feels guilty about not noticing the mindflayer and her and Billy’s relationship gets a little strained, because they don’t cope well when they’re trying to pin the blame, or one where she is just grateful her brother isn’t dead and decides to live life to the fullest after that.

In any scenario, she would obviously get the happy ending she deserves, she just has to get there a totally different way.

And also, regardless of what path she takes, I think she’d make for an excellent writer in her future career. She’s smart, she’s got lots of story to tell and draw inspiration from, and it just seems right for her, because it isn’t super constricting and it’s a job most people who do it love!

Now onto Robin!

Her middle name is Leora!

For some reason I have this idea in my head that she doesn’t live with her parents anymore. Not that she got kicked out or anything, just that she moved out pretty early on.

I also think she isn’t from Hawkins. I like the idea that her family moved there just before high school from either Ohio or Maryland, not sure which.

In band, I think she’s a flute. She just gives me flute vibes but I got kicked out of the band so maybe I could be wrong.

It’s canon that she’s goth, wearing her spiky leather bracelet with her work uniform and all, but I think she also sometimes goes in the totally opposite fashion direction, like, sometimes she’s just feeling the patterns and fabrics and colors of the sixties and seventies her mom gave her.

One of her favorite things to do with her friends is go shopping! Not like, around malls, in part because other than Starcourt, the closest mall to Hawkins is forty five minutes away, but she likes to go out with her group and visit all the local thrift shops and cafés and stuff like that.

And she’s super crafty! She has embroidery hoops, beads, jewelry making kits, all of it scattered everywhere!

She has like, the tips of her hair bleached, they sort of look like highlights in a way, so I think it was her that convinced Steve to get his highlights done too.

Matter of fact, I think she teaches Steve a lot of things about himself without either of them realizing. She’s just so, not-superficial I guess, that it starts to rub off of him.

In my head she’s just always got like, a suuuuuper good read on people even if they just met, like, she just sees straight through everybody ever, and that’s why she even gives Steve a chance despite knowing how he treated her in school.

Her Scoops! shorts are pretty big while Steve’s are tight as heck, so I hc that those are his shorts. The uniform used to be a skimpy sailor skirt, but she’s seventeen and not particularly keen on being creeped on by older men when she gets hired there, so she refuses to wear it. She gets in trouble on the first day for wearing jeans, and Steve feels bad about it so he gives her the extra pair of shorts from his uniform!

Robin totally bottles up everything from Starcourt until she can’t anymore. Like, Steve is very open about his struggles with what happened under the mall because he wants help and he’s done it alone before, but she feels like she should be strong, grateful that they survived, and just, move on and forget about it. It doesn’t work and she ends up crashing hard. Like she goes from silently suffering to getting panic attacks all the time, and falling in a super deep depression rut. Obviously her friends are very supportive and provide her with the help she needs, and with time (lots and lots of time) she gets better!

Heather!

Her middle name is Ernestine! It was her grandma's name!

I head canon that she is a lesbian and I ship her and Robin!

She calls Billy William all the time because she was raised to be formal and respectful, and Billy just doesn’t feel or sound right when she says it. Even though she insists her name is Heather and she doesn’t need a nickname, Billy calls her Hetty or H!

She wears clip on earrings! Her parents refuse to let her get her ears pierced because they say she needs to respect her image and all that, but she always felt like she was missing some accessories, and found out from one of her friends about clip ons, which they allow!

Even though she has popular girl vibes, I don’t think she was in high school. Just sort of a floater, and she liked it that way! She’s way too sweet to be in with Steve’s crowd, but had some things in common with pretty much everyone else. Once she’s graduated she sort of falls into that popular category around Hawkins because she’s rich and older now, but she’s still the same old Heather.

Heather is a super good baker and cook! Her mother always had her helping in the kitchen while her dad was staying late at work, and eventually she got really good! Sometimes she’ll just randomly bring her friends like, a load of banana bread or a hot dish because it makes everyone happy!

She's a very affectionate person! If she hasn’t seen her friends for a while she’ll kiss them all over, and everytime you see her you have to hug her (unless you don’t want to, she’s equally as understanding as she is lovey!)

I reject canon! Heather is not dead! I know it’s very unlikely but I think the clones in the upside down were like fail saves, and the real versions are all still alive somewhere!

In the case that this is true, when everything gets fixed I don’t think her memories of what happened to her would be intact, and I think that would be super traumatic for her. Almost worse than how she would be feeling if she knew.

In the future she wants to be in the entertainment industry! I can totally see her becoming a country singer or a soap opera actress or both!

Robin becomes a librarian at the same school that Steve works at when he becomes a teacher! She also does art commissions on the side. Sculpting, painting, charcoals, all of it, she’s good at all of it!

And last but not least, Tommy!!

My hc for Tommy’s middle name is Byrd. It was like a super common name at one point and then just sort of plummeted, and I like to think his parents thought they were being original choosing that one. All of his friends call him Tommy Bird to make fun of him, but he secretly doesn’t hate it.

Tommy and Steve didn’t really become friends until middle school! Hawkins has two elementary schools based on which region you live in, and because they live in like, opposite ends of town they go to different ones. But the first day of middle school when the two schools merge, they’re out for recess, Steve sees Tommy alone and approaches him, and they become instant besties!

Tommy is very insecure about his popularity. Steve is cool with letting his slip because he has other things to worry about, but Tommy doesn’t. His grades are alright and his home life is decent, and he’s not involved in upside down business, so when Steve ditches him and people start to lose interest in him, he gets extremely upset. It consumes him sort of, the fear that nobody likes him anymore. That ends up being why him and Carol break it off for good.

Another reason he thinks a reputation is so important is because he used to be picked on before being friends with Steve. When he was little he had giant glasses and dressed kinda lame, and he internalized that a lot. He’s scared that without Steve they’ll go back to that.

All of that is why he clings onto Billy so tight. Like, his best friend for the past six or seven years just walked out without looking back, and he’s terrified that he’s going to be bullied again. So when big tough guy Billy Hargrove rolls into town he’s like I have to be friends with this dude right now or I’ll die.

I ship him with Steve! A lot! But also I like the thought of Tommy and Steve and Billy, platonically and shippy-y!

As for where he’s from, I don’t think Tommy is Hawkins born and raised. He grew up down south, maybe Georgia, or Tennessee?, but then his uncle over in Indiana starts a snake oil business with his dad and they have to move.

I think he’s very much a lightweight. Alcohol isn’t really his thing because his dad was an alcoholic and it scares him that he’ll be like that, so he never really tried it and his tolerance is super low. He always designates himself the driver, only he doesn’t have a car of his own, he’s not allowed to until he’s on his way to college, so he always drives other people’s cars to their houses and walks home.

I don’t know if Tommy is able to avoid the upside down beyond st2. Maybe him and Billy try to keep in contact once school lets out, but he notices somethings off with him because he’s flayed. This could result in him also being flayed, depending on the situation, or if not he might get involved later, because he starts putting the pieces together after Starcourt.

Tommy owning up and joining Steve in monster hunting quests! Heck yeah!

If there is no involvement with all that mess though, I’d say it takes a few years out of high school for him to finally admit to being wrong. Like, he always maintained that he was right to be mad at Steve for driving away and right to be basically just a bully like he was, but once he’s older, mid twenties maybe, he realizes that wasn’t the way to be and calls a bunch of people up to apologize to them.

He goes to beauty school and becomes a hair stylist and makeup artist on television sets!

As for other background characters, like other party members or adults, I don’t have a whole lot of specific ideas that aren’t already canon! In the future if I write anything where they are more central characters that might change, but as of right now I don’t really have any headcanons for them!

[diloph]

I recall Adam Malkovich being an Other M character. I take it you don't like him or Other M?

Oh boy, isn’t that a can of worms?

Yeah, having played Other M all the way through more than once, the shortcomings of the game are pretty much on display from the get-go. Lackluster voice-acting, confusing and sometimes nonsensical plot-points as well as baffling story structure; its only saving grace is its gameplay and even then, I’d only really enjoyed Samus’ mobility and physical ability to grapple/finish opponents.

Of note, the characterization of Samus is all over the place. As I’m going through the E-Manga right now and have seen other characters with similar, I’m not adverse to Samus having some form of PTSD from her traumatic backstory it’s just that it’s done in such a piss-poor manner that it leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

The Ridley confrontation is nonsensical, considering that she’s reduced him to a bloody smear several times over by now. On a ship where everything from Zebes seems to have been cloned (including the Metroids and an android emulating Mother Brain) Samus wasn’t even expecting him to appear in any capacity whatsoever?

I can understand her shock, fear and even hesitance to re-engage, but it’s never stopped her before; why did Meta Ridley not provoke the same reaction aboard the Orpheon, according to canon his first resurrection proper? Or to play into post-Other M events, such as Ridley’s return in Super/Proteus Ridley? Ridley-X?

Why does this appearance of Ridley reduce her to a frozen state?

Spoilers for when I get to it, but the E-Manga does this far better. That’s not to say that perhaps it goes too far as well, I’ve yet to have a good hard think about it, but the execution is far better than what happens in Other M and matches what had happened in the volume by that point. Samus’ life is hardship and suffering and it all comes to a head in those particular scenes.

But that confrontation in Other M is just the start of the odd decisions made that reduce Samus from the incredibly capable woman she’d been portrayed as up to that point, into a naive, shrinking character with nothing resembling her drive or will.

She becomes unable to make even the most minor decisions, especially if they fly in the face of common sense (a reoccurring theme with characters I dislike in “serious” works, as you might have noticed, so having one I like suddenly doing that almost seems like a challenge to get me to dislike them).

I’m supposed to believe that this woman left the Federation to become an independent bounty hunter? It extends beyond her character to even her design; she loses a foot and two inches of height so that she’s shorter than all these guys, all of her established muscle and tone evaporates and high-heels appear on the Zero Suit that, while skintight, was deliberately designed to NOT have them.

And, of course, her general (borderline suicidal) deference to Adam.

It’s so bad that I’ve genuinely come to believe that this version of Samus is a GF clone that was meant to act out her own Shadow Moses simulation, like Raiden did in MGS2, only for her to go rogue and save the day regardless.

As a matter of fact, the whole game feels like a bad attempt to emulate a Metal Gear game, with its rumination and navel gazing, but lacks the talent or focus to actually discuss the topics it wants to.

It’s badly done and what’s worse is, even in Metal Gear’s most nonsensical or badly written moments, they’re at least funny or tragic and Other M is neither.

Which brings me to Adam Malkovich.

Oh, Adam, Adam, Adam.

What the fuck am I meant to see in you? Samus’ dialogue tells us one thing, the actions, visual direction, the way in which he addresses Samus, orders her, controls her and ignores her tells us another.

We’re expected to root for this guy. To agree with Samus’ assessment of him. But all it does is further that idea that Samus is, in fact, an idiot who needs people more capable than her, to do everything for her.

Simply put, Samus, when not doing everything in her power to remember the Baby (another botched take on what was fondly remembered, the bond between her and the infant Metroid has now forever been tainted, even with Samus Returns’ efforts to save that whole thing) talks about Adam, how wonderful this commanding officer is, how patient and kind and caring and-

Yeah, no, he’s a dick and he acts like he can’t stand Samus’ very presence.

Without even going into the hated authorization mechanic, he never once looks at her with anything resembling warmth in his face; you could put that down to the models looking uncannily robotic to begin with, but Anthony Higgs seems to be the most expressive and can do... emotion. Even in dialogue and his VA’s recorded lines, there are no smiles, no change in inflection or in-jokes.

He comes off not as an aloof CO, but somebody who dislikes being in the same room as Samus herself.

And the big part is, for all Other M draws from previous canon and the E-Manga, now that I’ve read further ahead, guess what? Adam is a completely likable human being in it.

By that, I mean he’s an average filler manga character and not a raging asshole; he’s ranked higher than Samus, but is a bit accommodating towards her situation when they meet and later they do seem to have struck up something similar to the relationship stated in Other M.

He jokes with her, smiles, when she goes independent he goes out of his way to help her, she’s quick to remind him of her boundaries and his lack of control over her which he quickly agrees with. Samus and Adam have a much healthier working relationship there and the one in Other M is meant to reflect it? Rubbish.

In short, from what I’ve gathered, Other M was an attempt to canonize or at least further develop the E-Manga and completely shot itself in the foot by contradicting the E-Manga, prior Metroid canon, Samus’ character and archetype and ultimately, itself.

But hey, looking at it with the benefit of hindsight, at least we got a game to put up there with Hotel Mario and the CDI Zeldas that rounds out the embarrassing meme trifecta of Nintendo’s Big Three.

[breakingbadfics]

Thought Experiment. Part 1.

or “How would I have done it” 

So The Sith Resurgence is a petty bashfic driven purely by a desire to spit in the face of canon, but specifically ReyLo Shippers, specifically the Kylo Ren/Ben Solo lovers of the ship. The plot is hollow, the only characters given any consideration of depth are the romantic leads making the supporting characters even more bereft of substance. and in trying to fix certain things with in the canon it somehow has even less than canon

What does a good version of this look like? 

“Course Correction”

So lets start with an easy version of this question. The story is sitting at 35 chapters as of my writing this section of the essay. 

Lets say Hypothetically Lily Orchard reached out to me to outline the final arc for the story. How would I do that? 

So as of the end of chapter 35 these things happen 

Kylo Ren is intending to fake the return of Emperor Palpatine. 

Aliana and Rey have just gotten married

Rey’s growth in power has been climbing and causing concern among her friends for her safety. 

The First Order know the location of the Resistance’s new base after they survived the events of episode 8

There is still some sort of conflict between Aliana, Rey, and Leia.

Kylo Ren is Angling towards setting up the fall of the republic. 

Rey and Aliana are sent to Nathema  reinforce the extraction of child recruits from The First Order. 

I’m missing something I’m sure, but we’re moving forward from these points. 

Chapter 36 begins with Aliana and Rey arriving on Nathema, They do the fighting, clear out the base, begin the evacuations and save a bunch of children. During this The Message is sent out to all First Order bases. The Emperor has returned from the dead. 

On Nathema The Message arriving causes a shift in the morale of the fighting and while Rey and Aliana make it out in time along with any resistance back up they had, but everyone is ratttled. 

in spite of that Aliana is basically no-selling the threat of The Emperor’s return. and while Rey is also nervous about it Aliana assuages those fears by explaining that, that wasn’t Palpatine at all. Because there was no shock in the force. If Darth Sidious had cheated death, it would have been something everyone force sensitive could have felt, and would have been felt long before the emperor even composed the message. 

And so Chapter 36 ends

Chapter 37 

With the force bond having been unblocked Kylo Ren was able to detect Rey had left the Resistance base. And in an impulse chose to personally lead an attack on the base. During this he made sure to have The Message from The Emperor sent out 

During the attack a lot of casualties occur, but The Core Cast srvives but the big casualty is that Kylo Ren slashed a path through and took out his mother. 

the rest of the story is trying to recuperate and then convey that Palpatine’s message was fabricated as propaganda. 

during all this it’s decided amongst the remaining resistance that when they make the retaliatory strike it has to be the final blow that sets off the collapse of the first order. 

Chapter 38

Aliana and Rey train more, Rey start learning various Sith Techniques. 

Captain Phasma leading the last remnants of The Knights of Ren reveal themselves to have been waiting in hiding, they’re further accompanied by a collection of bounty hunters aiming to overwhelm the jedi and the sith through sheer numbers and power. 

It is not an easy fight but Phasma’s attack force is defeated and the captain is forced to retreat as one of the sole survivors of this attack. The victory is owed in both to Rey and Aliana’s capabilities as a unit as well as Finn and the remaining Resistance assisting where it counts. 

--

Kylo Ren is continuing his own private solo training and has found a collection of sith holocrons in Snokes original private quarters that have aided in honing his skills.. 

The First Order itself has made an order for all forces across the galaxy to return to the original coordinates of Star Killer Base.

once the full force of The First Order arrives in one place the plan is revealed that they intend to pull a full final assault on The Republic, intent to basically glass the surface of Corruscant. 

Chapter 39

The First Order again. 

They are preparted to set out only to find themselves faced with The Resistance and The Sith Fleet having arrived to make their own final attack. 

The fight begins

During all this Rey, Aliana, and friends infiltrate the lead ship with intent to find and eliminate the leaders of the first order. 

The eventual final confrontation between Kylo Ren, Aliana, and Rey happens. 

And Then everythings for a moment as hundred of thousands of Imperial Star Destroyers warp in from nowhere. And start attacking both sides. 

A mesage relayed across all channels. 

Emperor Palpatine is actually somehow alive, and has arrived to reclaim control of his fleet. 

Chapter 40 

Emperor Palpatine’s message is simple; he’s returned to take his throne as ruler of the galaxy. To the Resistance he demands surrender so that their deaths may be quick and merciful. To The First Order a message to stand down, declare fealty to him or die. 

The entirety of the battle as far as the fleets go dissolves into chaos and immediately Rose and Holdo declare a fall back and as many people in the resistance get out, leaving the first order and imperial forces to engage in a massive civil war. 

While this is happening Aliana and Rey are trying to gauge what to do while also fighting Kylo Ren, only for Kylo Ren to get shot in the back of the head by General Hux, who retreats to take his side with the empire. 

Aliana and Rey spend the rest of the chapter escaping and being very very angry they were denied the catharsis of killing Kylo Ren 

Chapter 41 

everyone is panicking. 

The resistance is down to their last legs and the entire galaxy is with little hope 

meanwhile Hux and Phasma are called forth to see The Emperor personally. where it is explained that even in spite of the unifying desire to re-establish the empire the first order was not the entirety of the remaining imperial forced and some chose to quietly seek out planets known to be inhabited by the dark side of the force. during this a ritual was carried out to allow a suitable individual to become the vessel for the emperor. The Emperor is basically wearing full fitting body armor at all times. but basically he’s inhabiting the body of a Galen Marek clone. 

Oh also Hux is executed, because the emperor saw what he did to Kylo Ren who was the acting supreme leader of the First Order, and so determined Hux to be not trustworthy. 

The resistance are still having doubts to their abilities now that they’re low on forces. further faith in Aliana is wavering due to the whole “I’d know if the emperor was back” blowing up in her face. 

However because Palpatines Message was delivered across the galaxy, and on all channels they get a message from The Senate that basically declares that they’re going all in on the resistance and fully endorsing them. planets from across all systems as well as former rebel alliance members are en route to bolster their forces. it is now a full scale war to snuff out The Imperial Remnant. 

Chapter 42.  

Aliana and Rey are declared high generals with only Holdo and Rose Tico holding equal authority to them 

The Resistance manage to find the current whereabouts of the emperor. 

They set out to finally put an end to his reign of terror once and for all. 

Chapter 43 

Rey, Aliana, and crew launch a strike on Emperor Palpatines personal cruiser. 

It’s revealed that Palpatine has “resurrected” Kylo Ren. though no more than a puppet to act as an extention of Palpatines will. 

The final fight for the fate of the galaxy and the right to be The one true sith lord begins. 

Chapter 44 

The fight happens.

 Rey fights the husk of Kylo Ren, The final step in Rey Beniko’s empowerment, destroying and ending the life of her abuser, lamenting only in that the soul of kylo ren never occupied the husk so she couldn’t revel in the end of his pathetic existance. 

Aliana and Palpatine fight, The right to call themselves the True and Rightful Sith Lord. Palpatine almost wins, even with the act of the fight becoming a one on two drag out brawl between the two lovers and the emperor.

However Galen Marek proper, and Finn arrive, and proceed to even the odds in a 4 on 1 fight.

As one last attempt at a moral blow is Palpatine reveals that somewhere along in the past he set up an arranged marriage with the Beniko line of sith lords something that had been set up several hundred of years back somewhere between lana and aliana’s grandmother. The suitor was a member of his bloodline which he says to be rey. And that in falling for one another they’ve played into his plans to the letter 

Aliana, does not care. Murders palpatine, and as to whether or not he was telling the truth. No one cares about that either. taking it as an attempt to fuck with the both of them 

Chapter 45

The story ends with the usual “where are they now” 

Finn and Poe get married, Rey and Aliana adopt. under the leadership of Holdo and Rose The Resistance slides back into being the officially backed “Rebel Alliance” hunting down the last remnants of the first order and the empire with the full scope of the republic military 

The future for Force users is made a little more weird because the sith and the jedi are effectively the same thing trying with what ever opposes them being recognized as extremists of both sides

Somewhere the sole remnants of the first order and empire gather quietly to lick their wounds, lead by “Supreme Leaderl Phasma”  as a potential sequel bait

The story ends with Rey and Aliana drinking wine. and a toast to the future. 

[drifting-mindspace]

Things we deserved to get from the Naruto manga and anime that we never got -

• JONIN NARUTO -

We followed him around as the lovable Genin knucklehead. Now it goes without saying that him being a Jonin is just a rank and honestly doesnt mean much. Rescuing Gaara, going after Kakuzo, Mount Miyaboku were all A & S-rank missions.

But I would liked to have seen him doing missions post war in a slightly more mature yet typically knuckleheaded manner instead of the passing phrase he made tonShikamaru about being too busy doing missions for the next 6 months.

We grew up with Naruto and now that he's older and stronger we dont get to see him in action.

• A Happily Married Kakashi & Shizune- 

Hatake Kakashi has led a deeply traumatic life. His mother died when he was very young, his father committed suicide when he was 6 causing him to distance himself from everyone around him. The first person he opened up to and formed a bond with died moments later protecting him, the girl he deeply cared for and probably harbored feelings for which he was too afraid to confront died at his hands as he desperately tried to protect her, a year later his sensei died protecting the village. When he became a sensei to Team 7 he felt he was on a path to finding inner peace by ensuring these children avoid his traumas but his prized pupil went rogue shattering that hope. After all this I’d hoped he would’ve finally found a happy ending.

Why Shizune? Well I considered him and Kurenai getting together and him helping raise Mirai but Shizune has always felt like the only Kunoichi in Konoha who has her shit together. She is perfectly at peace with where she is in life. She is incredibly mature and level headed as she helps run the village with Tsunade. Someone who is at peace with herself and her aspirations is the perfect anchor for a man with a whirpool of trauma brewing in him.

Alas it seems like the showrunners have no intention of a romantic arc for Kakashi and the Hatake name will die with Kakashi.

• The Uzumaki Clan

Within a span of 3 months Naruto meets 3 Uzumaki clan members. Nagato, Karin and his own mother. While speaking with Kushina he finds out about the dark fate of the Uzumaki clan. How they were blessed with unimaginably high chakra reserves and were gifted in Sealing Jutsus, longevity and how it led to them being targeted by those who feared them leading to their village being wiped out and scattered across the shinobi world.

Instead of turning the Naruto saga into the Uchiha Chronicles Id have preferred a deep dive into the Uzumaki clan. Maybe even have a Sasuke-like venegeful figure who wants Konoha to suffer because they failed to provide aid to the village they called their strong allies in their greatest hour of need.

Like Sasuke this villain would’ve witnessed his fellow clansmen cut down, unlike Sasuke however he wouldn’t have had the likes of Naruto, Itachi or Kakashi to anchor him in the light leaving room for redemption.

This could have been the one villain that was so far gone in his pain and hatred that no amount of 'talk no jutsu' could have changed his mind and would've pushed Naruto to the very brink until he finally had to choose between killing his clansman or protecting his village.

Naruto would make the ultimate sacrifice for Konoha and this would all the more set his resolve to pulling Sasuke back from the darkness or dying with him.

An Uzumaki villain gifted in Fuijutsu and the use of the Uzumaki Kekkei Genkai, the Adamantine Chains along with massive chakra reserves would be the perfect power scaled villain for Post Pain Arc Naruto.

Instead we got Uchiha chronicles where everyone did whatever the fuck they thought of doing and chakra limits were all but history. This one really disappointed me. Which brings me to my next disappointment.

• Naruto Killing a Villain

Now I know it seems like an odd hang up. Naruto? Kill? But he is so fixated on redemption. That is exactly why I wanted this to happen. The series has gone out of its way to make sure Naruto hasn’t killed a character. The worst of it was against Kakuzu. The kind of attack unleashed upon Kakuzu SHOULD by all means have killed him. Yet somehow he was left in a ‘dying state’ and Kakashi was the one who did the deed. 

Naruto being forced to kill a villain as a last resort and making a choice between saving someone dear to him or tainting his hands with blood was the ultimate moral conundrum for a shinobi whose biggest goal was rescuing his best friend from the dark. It would take him back to Itachi’s words where he asked Naruto what he would if Sasuke decided to destroy the village.

Instead we saw Rasen Shuriken and Rasengan getting scaled down to a point where they always injure and opponent but not kill him. For an S-rank jutsu, Rasen Shuriken happens to be quite lenient.

• Neji beoming the head of the Hyuuga Clan

This pisses me off the most. Neji was supposed to be to the Hyuuga was Naruto was to Konoha. I always expected Neji to overcome all the obstacles and get recognized by Hiashin who would then redeem himself and disband the branch system once and for all. Hiashin as a character was never redeemed. Here was a man who let his brother get executed to avoid punishment (albeit he was against it but it did happen), constantly abused his kind daughter and belittled her for being too soft and put her down to a point her personality was underdeveloped and she had deep seethed confidence issues.

Disbanding the branch system and making Neji the leader would redeem him in the eyes of the readers/ viewers and would clean up the Hyuuga clan.

Instead Neji was scrapped aside to give Naruto and Hinata a bonding moment. They had a bonding moment, it was when she almost died saving his life. Neji didn’t have to die for them to get together ffs. What a wasted potential.

• NaruSaku

Now I’m not a fanatic shipper. In fact when I read and watched the original series I absolutely HATED Sakura. My hatred for her reached it’s peak during the Zabuza arc when Naruto ran at the S-rank villain, got kicked away and got up to show he went in for his forehead protector. “What do you think you’re doing Naruto? Even Sasuke-kun wasn’t a match for him.” I just wanted Naruto to turn around and tell her to stfu in that moment. As the series approached the time skip I was well and truly content with NaruHina.

But Shippuden changed things. The hints towards Sakura’s changed feelings were sprinkled all over the series. One moment that stands out for me was the Clone Training arc where Sai tests her by abusing Naruto and she goes on a rage rant about how great he is. Let’s not forget that in her darkest hour, as she saw a ruined and destroyed village the only person she thought of and cried out to was Naruto. Not because she felt he could save the village (she was as shocked as Shikamaru as she found out he was facing pain alone) but because when things when bad for her the only person who she felt comfort around was indeed Naruto and that is indisputable.

She goes as far as ruining her friendship with Naruto, a bond she truly cherished as it was all she had left after Sasuke abandoned the village, and confessed her feelings to manipulate him. Yes manipulative, scheming and downright a bitch of a thing to do. But it was all she could think of to make Naruto stop chasing after Sasuke. She, more than anyone wanted to see Naruto become a Hokage and realize his dreams and dying while rescuing Sasuke was a risk she couldn’t take and she decided she’d have him hate her than die. Wrong yes. But oddly noble.

This combined with all the blatant attempts to establish her being like Kushina and Kushina saying she wants Naruto to find someone like her changed my mind from NaruHina. I still adore Hinata. She is a wonderful character. But organic plot progression is far more important to me than my ships being canon.

A Naruto-Sakura family would’ve been incredibly entertaining and the dynamics would be perfect. We’d see a Minato-Kushina couple on screen for the next series. Which brings me to my next disappointment.

•HinaShino

I don’t know if that’s the official name for the pairing but I always felt these 2 would make a great couple.They are both people of a few words and are both incredibly intuitive and understanding individuals. Shino would accept Hinata for who she was and vice versa. Being with someone who was happy with the person they were would go miles in helping them come out of their shells.

Altho this isn’t a massive disappointment for me. I’m happy that Hinata ended up with Naruto. But like I said organic plot progression matters to me and if Naruto ended up with Sakura I’d prefer Hinata to end up with Shino.

•Hiraishin No Jutsu

Sadly as the series progressed Naruto had become so OP that not letting him master his father’s improved version of Tobirama’s jutsu was a great decision. It would’ve just made him senselessly OP. 

However instead of giving him all those God Tier power ups which he just gains in single training sessions I’d have preferred him working hard to master the Hirashin. Instead of sending him off to an island and treating him like a fucking idiot and asking him to survey animals I’d have preferred if Tsunade gave him an impossible task.

“You can’t fight in the battle. But I will only allow it if you can master your father’s jutsu.”

It was a period of 6 months between Danzo’s death and the start of the shinobi war. Ample time to show him training hard to learn a jutsu that for once required him to study. Hiraishin deals not just in physical acts of speed but also mastering seals.  Seeing his friends go off to fight in the war as he was left behind would have only added to his frustration and motivated him more.

Showing Naruto training hard like they showed him training for Rasen Shuriken would’ve only made us cheer all the more harder when he’d make a badass entry on the battle field as Tobi came close to killing Kakashi and a three pronged Kunai swished between the two, an orange flash appeared and Naruto kicked Tobi away.

Sadly this was swapped for Pokemon evolutions where arc after arc Naruto levels up just like that. The show’s entire premise was based on hard work and guts.

Sasuke was the genius who gained his power through natural ability. Sure he trained hard but his strength came to him with ease. Naruto had to slog. He manged to make the Rasengan after nearly 15 episodes of training and even then he had to get stabbed to be able to use it. It wasn’t until another 10 episodes that he properly used it. His training for the Rasenshuriken took an entire season to yield results and even then he didn’t learn to throw it until he trained for another 3 seasons till the Pain arc.

Post pain all this is tossed aside. He sits at the waterfall twice and beats the darkness. He sits in the room once and tames Kurama. Later Kakashi and Guy are in trouble, he has an inner dialogue with Kurama and suddenly he mastered the two man team with no prior training. Rikkodu Sennin touches him once and suddenly he’s learnt how to grow eyes, stop death and fly just like that.

The series stopped being the Naruto series we grew up with post Danzo and it saddens me.

• Naruto Sensei - 

And finally my last and greatest disappointment of all. Not seeing Naruto as a sensei. We’ve seen glimpses of his nurturing side in his interactions with Konohamaru but I’d have loved to have seen 40-50 episodes of him leading his own squad of genins. A perfect combination of Kakashi and Guy as he’d wow them with his brilliance and equally embarrass them in day to day interactions with his goofy tomfoolery. His genins would be in awe of him. Naruto Sensei - the hero of the war. 

His students could have an arrogant son/daughter of a feudal lord who insisted he be trained by the war hero, Naruto and Kakashi had to cave in for diplomatic reasons. Naruto refuses to take anyone who doesn’t work hard to get where they are but after the bell test sees potential in the child. A child with no ninja background. His parents were farmers outside of Konoha who were very poor. His sole aim is to be a ninja so strong that he’s always assigned big missions that will help him ease his family’s financial burdens. A genin from the Inuzuka clan (or any other clan, maybe even Hanabi if the show wanted to push more Naruto-Hinata interactions) who thinks he’s better than the other 2 because of his family background but is taught humility by Naruto.

Sadly another development in Naruto’s life we were denied.

Well that’s my rant essay. I know a lot of people won’t agree with what I had to say but I wanted to get it off my best anyway. Why? 

Because I wanted to dattebayo!

[traincat]

opinions on the new taylor swift album (in terms of spider-man ships) ? 👀👀

YES okay yes I have lots of thoughts. One of my favorite things is when a new Taylor Swift album comes out and I get to decide which songs are what Spider-Man ships. I did a twitter thread about this when the album first came out, which has my initial reactions, but I’ve had time to sit with it now, so let’s dive back in:

the 1: first reading is this is a Peter/Felicia post-breakup. But we were something, don't you think so?/Roaring twenties, tossing pennies in the pool/And if my wishes came true/It would've been you.

(Spectacular Spider-Man #112)

However, I think Taylor Swift’s oeuvre is one especially good for applying to One More Day from Mary Jane’s point of view (New Year’s Day, anyone?) and the 1 doesn’t let us down here.  

I have this dream you're doing cool shit/Having adventures on your own/You meet some woman on the Internet and take her home/We never painted by the numbers, baby/But we were making it count/You know the greatest loves of all time are over now. (ASM #561)

cardigan: My first impression was that this is like the ultimate college years Peter/MJ/Gwen song -- leaning slightly more towards the GwenMJ leg of the love triangle/threesome -- and I have not changed on that front. Sequin smile, black lipstick/Sensual politics/When you are young, they assume you know nothing? A friend to all is a friend to none/Chase two girls, lose the one?? 'Cause I knew you/Stepping on the last train/Marked me like a bloodstain???  Tried to change the ending/Peter losing (G)Wendy?????????????

You drew stars around my scars, but now I’m bleeding/”She saw through the party girl mask I always wore. Saw the frightened, abused kid inside.” (Marvel 1000)

the last great american dynasty: this one’s a little too biographical to work for a Spider-Man ship but I think it could be a good women of Spider-Man song. The maddest woman this town has ever seen etc etc. Alternatively it’s for the version of canon where Doc Ock marries May for her nuclear power plant inheritance and then she turns the tables and poisons him for his criminal empire. good for her.

exile: look, this is a love triangle tragic breakup song, and Spider-Man is the king of both of these things. I’m going to make a call and say that exile, while I think it’s both an excellent PeterFelicia and PeterMJ, leans towards PeterMJ after MJ rejects his first proposal, when they’re seeing other people but everyone keeps trying to get them back together. I can see you starin', honey/Like he's just your understudy/Like you'd get your knuckles bloody for me/Second, third, and hundredth chances/Balancin' on breaking branches/Those eyes add insult to injury.

The dueling narration of 'Cause you never gave a warning sign (I gave so many signs) and I never learned to read your mind (Never learned to read my mind) is a pretty perfect early PeterMJ summary.

my tears ricochet: okay okay okay so my tears ricochet + mad woman are my ideal “Gwen Stacy gets a resurrection revenge narrative ala Bucky Barnes and Jason Todd” song duo. And if I'm on fire/You'll be made of ashes, too.

mirrorball: Taylor Swift released THE definitive Mary Jane Watson song in 2020. We are talking about the feminine art of performance, we are talking about masks, we are talking about trauma baby!!! I want you to know/I'm a mirrorball/I can change everything about me to fit in/You are not like the regulars/The masquerade revelers/Drunk as they watch my shattered edges glisten.

I've never been a natural/All I do is try, try, try (ASM #143)

We are ALSO thinking about Mary Jane’s iconic mirrored mini dress from ASM #59. An entire Mary Jane anthem.

seven: this song CRIES OUT for childhood friends, which Spider-Man is a bit lacking in, what with the entire friend group coming together in college, but in my head it belongs to a version of canon where Gwen and Mary Jane were friends as children and lost touch with each other. alternatively, it’s the Peter/Flash childhood friends song, since they’re as close as we get to childhood friends in canon, and also because these lyrics in conjunction with that make me want to cry: And I've been meaning to tell you/I think your house is haunted/Your dad is always mad and that must be why/And I think you should come live with/Me and we can be pirates/Then you won't have to cry.

Also, “just like a folk song, our love will be passed on” makes me cry thinking about longform storytelling like superhero comics so like that’s fun. A real Spidey fivesome sort of feeling.

august: I’ve been thinking about it, and I think this is a Peter/Betty set during their initial romantic relationship. Your back/Beneath the sun/Wishing I could write my name on it/Will you call when you're back at school?/I remember thinking I had you.

this is me trying: A FLASH THOMPSON SONG. Like, I think “I didn’t know if you’d care if I came back/I have a lot of regrets about that” is a big PeterMJ sentiment during several key points of their relationship, but overall the vibe of this song is a Flash. Probably a Peter/Flash, while we’re at it. 

illicit affairs: okay, in my heart, I want this to be another Peter/Betty, because the point in canon where they’re sleeping together behind Ned’s back is just so sexy of them, and it’s a favorite fictional extramarital affair. However, I also don’t feel like this song is straight enough as its core to be about them. I also feel like “and you want to scream don’t call me kid, don’t call me baby” is a BIG Gwen Stacy mood. So I’m kind of leaning towards an MJ/Gwen affair while PeterGwen is happening. Which would also be very fun of them all. I think at a push we could also make this a Peter/Flash while Flash is seeing Sha Shan, if we wanted to warp canon around to have a good time. What I’m saying is Spider-Man should have a few more affairs in its body of canon. For the song.

mad woman: I mentioned this up with my tears ricochet but we’re going to say AGAIN for the people in the BACK: this is a Gwen Stacy jam. If they were ever to make an extremely good movie about resurrected Gwen on a murderous revenge spree, this song should be playing in it. What do you sing on your drive home?/Do you see my face in the neighbor's lawn?/Does she smile?/Or does she mouth "fuck you forever"?

(Spider-Island: Deadly Foes) Also, not that the Gwen clones get like, full narratives or are allowed to be their own individual characters like the Peter clones (it’s the misogyny) but if they were, mad woman would be such a good Gwen clone song. No one likes a mad woman/You made her like that.

epiphany: this is very rare for me in Taylor Swift’s discography, but I think this is really a Peter solo song. 

Crawling up the beaches now/Sir I think he’s bleeding out (Peter Parker #89)

betty: You have no idea how badly I wanted this to be a Peter/Betty, but it is just not. I think there’s a version of Spider-Man high school canon though where this is a Betty/Liz. 

peace: This album is light on Taylor Swift Spideytorch hits -- previous examples including Love Story and Call It What You Want To, among many others -- but peace is such a Spideytorch. But I'm a fire and I'll keep your brittle heart warm/If your cascade ocean wave blues come/All these people think love's for show/But I would die for you in secret/The devil's in the details/But you got a friend in me/Would it be enough/If I could never give you peace?

(ASM #790) @bipeteparker said that Johnny COULD give Peter peace but they’re dramatic, so it works, and I stand by that, but I also like it with the juxtaposition of their lives -- Johnny being so famous and such a public figure and Peter having eschewed that life by keeping the mask on. 

hoax: and we’re closing the album the same way we started! I think there are various Spider-Man readings you could do, but my big two are PeterFelicia and PeterMJ -- both with the lens of the post-One More Day deal and how that altered both of their relationships with him. 

Your faithless love's the only hoax I believe in (ASM #16HU)

My only one/My kingdom come undone (ASM #545)

[kingbennyboyyy]

benny's RWBY rewrite: the main 4

heya, i told y'all i'd be back on this pretty fast. truth be told, this is a rough transcription of my notes app from like 4am last night, because my brain wouldn't let me sleep until i wrote all of this down somewhere. just ADHD things, i guess.

anyway, let's get into the girls!

ruby rose:

- the youngest of the main 4, ruby is characterized by her naive nature contrasted with her combat prowess. i think that part of the allure the "red" trailer had was a new demographic being exposed to the idea of a little girl in a frilly skirt absolutely bodying a bunch of hell monsters. this contrast is one of the most striking elements of her character, at least in my opinion. i want to lean into this and have ruby be filled with conflict. she's described time and time again as a masterful wielder of an extremely dangerous weapon, and i think contrasting this solo power with an inability to make strategic and high-stakes decisions could be interesting. especially when forced into a leadership position, i'd love to see ruby grow into a child with a deadly weapon, to a leader with a deadly weapon.

- ruby's friendly and outgoing nature is one of her most defining traits, along with her optimism. she sees the good in everyone she comes across, and does her best to make sure that everyone is happy. nothing against her, but ruby isn't the most wise (using the D&D definition of the term). however, i think that she should be somewhat comparable to deku. she built her own weapon and taught herself how to use it, so i don't think it would be out of character for her to do something similar to velvet, taking notes of the interaction between people's semblances, weapons, and fighting styles. this plays into her strategic evolution- the more training she has in understanding how people fight, the better she can direct her allies and teammates.

- (for this section, i'm assigning names to the combo of ideas i describe) real roses rot: ruby is an idealist at heart. she wants to be a huntress because she wants to fight monsters and help people, and the simplicity of this desire speaks to her naivety as a character. she knows what she wants to be, but not yet what she has to be. as the series goes on, ruby should realize that life isn't all sunshine and rainbows, saving people and fighting monsters. sometimes, sacrifices have to be made, and sometimes the monsters look like friends. she has to learn that real roses rot eventually.

- silver eyes: i think that ruby's eyes have a lot of potential as a symbol. ignoring for the moment the fact that ruby's silver eyes literally mark her as a grim-killing machine, her eyes are a crucial part of her character. what she sees in people, the good that she's able to find in others, defines her. her inability to see the sacrifices that need to be made, and the evil in the people around her, should be something she overcomes.

weiss schnee:

- the resident ice queen, what struck me most about weiss at the beginning of the series was her awareness. ironically enough, the only other member of her team as aware of her place as she is is blake. she is extremely cognizant of the expectations placed upon her by her father, and by the SDC as a whole. thus, she is a perfectionist, but judges herself the most harshly. this perfection is evident in everything about her- her fighting style is precise, ballet-inspired, and clean. similarly to her struggle with her familial expectations, she struggles with the family semblance. i think that this struggle has the potential to symbolize a lot for weiss. exiting the bubble of high-class atlesian life presents a lot of struggles for weiss, some of which i'll get into later.

- weiss comes off as cold, and sometimes can be just plain mean, but this comes from a constant awareness of the fact that she is being watched. where her older sister, winter, is the paragon of atlas' military might, she is expected to be a similar paragon for the hunting capabilities of the schnees. for her, a favorable image cannot be cultivated without perfection and control. control is paramount in weiss' character: she often uses the same techniques that her father used on her to attempt to control others, but she should learn that it is impossible to control people through fear for long (perhaps by learning not to fear her own father). when not in control, she struggles to take direction for two distinct reasons: because she doesn't agree with the directions or director, or she doesn't believe she can perform to her director's standards.

- stained snow: something that bothered me about weiss' character was how quickly the racist history of her history was forgotten by the people around her. while potentially very uncomfortable, i think it's important to show how weiss' upbringing and surroundings have clouded her judgement. while canonically a member of her family was killed by the white fang, i think it would be much more compelling for her family to have pinned the murder on a faunus to save face. in reality, the murder was a power grab for her family. she has to realize the role the oppression and violence against people has in the maintenance of her privilege. in having to interact with the people wronged by the oppression that was supported her lifestyle, she will be confronted with a question: does she even want to represent the schnee family, or does she want to try to change the course of her family history?

- golden voice: in her promo (as far as i recall), we hear singing in front of guests at a party we can assume her family has thrown. i think that her voice has a lot of symbolic potential: despite presumably having been forced to bend to the whims of her father, weiss is not afraid to speak her mind. i think that her struggles with her semblance should be overcome through the use of her voice. this serves a dual purpose- for one, it shows that she can use her powerful voice to affect positive change instead of negative. secondly, it shows that she doesn't need to abide by her family's standards in order to succeed.

blake belladonna:

- mysterious and aloof, blake is the member of the team with the most things to hide. the estranged ex of the leader of a violent sect of the white fang (not the whole thing, good christ), a faunus-in-hiding, and closeted trashy romance connoisseur, blake is somewhat defined by her secrets. despite her young age, her life has been marred by conflict, and rather than face these challenges head-on, she would much rather turn tail and run. she's been forced to give up pieces of herself to help others, and in spite of her proclivity to flee and her outward apathetic appearance, she is a deeply sensitive character, and cares deeply for the suffering of others.

- read by others as aloof and disinterested, this impression couldn't be further from the truth. blake is considerate, insightful, and kind, but builds up a wall around herself as a result of being burned and used too many times. it's exhausting to care as much as blake does, and it's easier to pretend that she just doesn't. this facade can't last forever, though. i don't think blake should lash out in anger or violence. i think she should try to run, and if she can't, she should crumble rather than explode.

- the burden of fixing things: as a means of protecting herself, blake has taken to masking her emotions and avoiding conflict at all costs. she ran away from adam and his sect of the white fang, runs away from her identity as a faunus, and hides behind a wall to protect herself. afraid to be consumed by emotion and emulate the monsters she fights against, she has to learn that apathy is more dangerous than emotion. she has to choose whether she wants to risk being hurt to help people, or risk being useless to keep herself out of harm's way.

- shadowed footprints: blake's fighting style is one of my favorites just because of how dynamic it is. however, i think that leaning into her use of kicks would allow for a powerful piece of symbolism. she literally leaves shadows behind as a part of her semblance, and she runs away from her problems a lot. but she has the potentially to do a lot of good when she decides to stand her ground. letting people in will make this task less frightening, but not any easier. in addition, i think this evolution should be accented with mixing her shadows with dust: launching frozen statues of herself at people as projectiles, running at people with flaming clones, things like that.

yang xiao long:

- ruby's older sister and the resident tank of the group, i kind of see yang like a much more concentrated version of ruby. as the older sister of a family marked by the absence of parents, she's gone through a lot. she had to step up when raven left and when summer died, and when tai was grieving. yang is kind of like katara, but instead of embracing the stricter part of maternal responsibility, she'd much rather pretend everything's fine to protect her sister from the sadness she was subjected to. yang surrounds herself with people because she's petrified of being abandoned again. she likes when people are close, and doesn't want them to leave.

- i'd call yang a herbo. not a bimbo, because she doesn't ooze traditional femininity, but a herbo because of her hard-headed and combative nature. she is hot-tempered and brash, prone to not thinking things through all the way, and being motivated by emotion rather than logic. her semblance is literally her being empowered by her anger. despite her caring nature, she tends to not think through what being ruled by emotion does to the people around her. she's more concerned with end results than the steps taken to reach them. she can push herself and others too far, and not know what she did wrong.

- controlled burn: as previously stated, yang is ruled by emotions- she fights when she's angry, cries when she's sad, and radiates joy when she's happy. however, she is often so blinded by her overwhelming emotions that she fails to consider the consequences of her actions. yang should have trouble controlling her semblance, specifically when it activates, and should burn hot and fast. combat-wise, she should ironically have the least stamina of all of her teammates, opting to take people down as quickly as possible to combat this. however, as she learns to be more considerate and thoughtful, she should be able to control her semblance. she gains the ability to burn slower, storing energy until the perfect moment to strike.

- open palms: yang punches people a lot. a lot. i think it'd be fun if she leaned into giving people slugs in the shoulder as a sign of affection. she uses her hands in combat to keep enemies away from the people she cares about. she should also use these hands to keep the people close to her nearby. grabbing people's clothing to stop them from leaving, shaking hands with friends, maybe even kissing the hand of her love interest. yang should use the same hands she clenches into fiery fists to embrace the friends and family she has.

hopefully this didn't run too long! i had a lot to say, and i hoped to articulate it in a way that made sense. if you've come this far, thank you, and feel free to send me any questions you have! i'll be covering team JNPR at some point soon, and talking about how i think the team can function as an interesting foil to team RWBY. until then, thank you again!

[ct-offical-sexyman]

Viveza and all the prequels

First of all; how dare you make me write out the plot of my own story. Second of all: thank you, this will probably help in the future.

Remember that this can all change in the future.

Spoilers for Viveza’s story below.

The Phantom Menace

Melinoe Lanami is sent to spy on the young queen of Naboo under the fake name Nize Raza. Her orders are to keep an eye on the girl until told otherwise. She takes up the disguise of Captain Panaka’s second in command.

She escapes the blockade with everyone else. A small communicator gives her a new order to signal the group's location to Maul.

When they arrive on Tatooine, Melinoe tries to go with Padme, Jar Jar and Qui Gon into town, but Qui Gon says they have enough people and forces Melinoe to stay behind. She doesn’t push it, knowing that insisting on following them would be too risky and blow her cover.

For the scenes on Tatooine Melinoe’s scenes are made up of her talking/sparring with Obi Wan or interacting with other members of the crew. I’m currently having reader block with this part of the story, because I’m trying to work out what Melinoe and Obi Wan talk about in regards to the life of a Jedi and the politics surrounding it. Because I feel like it could be really easy for me to fuck it up, and made really obvoius that Melinoe is a spy/sith.

Anyway; Jinn brings back Anakin and friends back to the ship where they’re attacked by Maul. Once they escape Melinoe and Anakin have a scene together where Anakin is still getting used to the cold on the ship. Melinoe finds him a blanket and sympathises with him saying that she grew up on a cold planet and it took a little while for her to get used to warmer places. This scene was originally between Anakin and Padme, but this is a good way to show Melinoe’s personality under the mask she puts up for herself.

At some point before they get to Coruscant Melinoe lets her guard down for a second and accidently reveals her real name to Obi Wan through the force.

During the Coruscant scenes Melinoe is put on guard duty over the handmaidens. So she doesn’t witness any of the stuff at the Jedi Temple.

When everyone goes back to Naboo, Melinoe is given orders to kill the Jedi just as Maul shows up to fight them.

Melinoe and Obi Wan get septured from Qui Gon and Maul when Maul pushes Obi Wan into Melinoe causing them both to fall off the platform. Obi Wan saves Melinoe by grabbing her hand, but they don’t talk about it because they’re both more focused on catching up with Qui Gon and Maul.

When Obi Wan starts fighting Maul, Melinoe gets caught behind the red force field. She has the opportunity to help Maul several times, but she realises ‘why should help him? I fucking hate him and hurt Eglantine on muiltable occasions’. Melinoe ends up leaving Maul for dead in order to make her escape from the planet.

She’s later seen back on Byss, giving Darth Heiss a report of what happened while leaving out and lying about several things. She’s informed that she’ll be punished for failing her mission and is dismissed.

Later on; she tells Eglantine about what happened, while being much more honest. Eglantine expresses relief about Maul’s death and Melinoe’s safe return.

Interlude

Abridged version of events in between TPM & AOTC;

Viveza stops using her birth name after Eglantine is killed by Heiss.

She disavows Darth Heiss and defects from Byss three years after Maul’s death, and two years after Eglantine’s.

Gets a ship and a T7 unit after taking it from a group of mandalorians.

Viveza travels to Eglantine’s homeworld of Marazi where she meets her first apprentice, Jaks Jr, and her eventual second in command, Jaks Snr.

While on Glee Anselm, Viveza meets her second apprentice, Thea, after Thea tries to chew her arm off. While breaking up a slave ring, Viveza meets Orianna and Nizzal, who become her third and fourth apprentices.

Meets Obi Wan again several times, but it’s always in a situation where she’s able to escape.

Attack of the Clones

Viveza is dragged into the plot when Obi Wan seeks her out to find information on the Kamino Saber Dart (knowing that after years of breaking up slave cartels she’ll have information about underground criminals like bounty hunters).

Since she owes Obi Wan a favour for saving one of her companions at some point, she agrees to help him. She tells him that the dart is from Kaimino. She later helps Obi Wan find his way to Kaimino when he hits a dead end.

While Obi Wan is having his conversation with Lama Su, Viveza is given a tour of the cloning facilities. This is where Viveza would meet Margo for the first time. They have a conversation where Viveza asks Margo what her life is like living on Kaimio. Margo avoids the question and eventually leaves.

They later meet Jango and work out that he’s the one who was hired to kill Padme. While Obi Wan is getting the council an update, Viveza is the one to notice that the Fetts are trying to escape.

After the fight between Obi Wan and Fett, Viveza is the one to throw the homing beacon on the Slave 1.

They follow the Fetts to Geonosis. Where they find out about Gunray making the order to kill Padme. They go back to Viveza’s ship where Obi Wan sends his findings to the council via Anakin's and Padme’s ship.

They are then captured by Jango and the droidekas. Viveza has her lightsabers taken and eventually they end up in the hands of Margo.

Viveza is put in a different cell to Obi Wan, and Dooku also tries to persuade her to join (but with a completely different speech). She refuses to hear him out, due to remembering the 14 years of suffering she endured at the hands of Heiss basically saying ‘I spent 14 years trying to escape and you expect me to go right back because of some empty words’.

I thought about having Dooku try to appeal to Viveza by playing the ‘i knew your father’ card, but then I realised there was no way Dooku could know who Viveza is, so :P.

Viveza is sentenced to death in the Geonosis Arena. Where she’ll face off against a Gundark. She manages to escape by tricking the gundark into running into the piller she’s chained to, causing the whole thing to crumble.

When the battle between the Jedi and the droids starts, Viveza holds her own without any lightsabers and still has her hands tied together.

When the Clones get there, Viveza takes the opportunity to leave and go look for her ship. When she finds it, she also finds Margo, who’s having a breakdown because her father just died and her brother tried to murder her.

Viveza’s plot on AOTC ends with Margo returning Viveza’s lightsabers to her and becoming Viveza’s fifth apprentice.

Interlude 2

I love you, Lou, BUT I CAN’T SUMMERRISE ALL THE CLONE WARS IN ONE POST! All you need to know is that Viveza wants revenge on Grievous for a lot of the stuff he’s done to her and her allies during the Clone Wars.

Revenge of the Sith

Viveza learns that Grievous is on Utapau and travels there hoping to kill Grievous herself. She runs into Obi Wan and they agree that it would be in their best interest to take Grievous on together. After defeating Grievous and getting Obi Wan’s lightsaber from Cody, Obi Wan starts escorting Viveza’s back to her ship via Boga (best girl, rip, I think?).

They get blasted off the side of a cliff but manage to escape. They meet up with Bail and Yoda and head to Coruscant to change the Jedi Beacon to make sure any other survivors know to stay away. Aftering finding out that Anakin turned to the darkside, Viveza is enraged that he killed all the younglings.

They go to question Padme about where Anakin is, but she refuses to tell them anything. When Padme leaves to find Anakin, Viveza and Obi Wan stowaway on her ship.

On Mustafar when Anakin thinks Padme betrayed him by bringing Obi Wan and Viveza he tries attacking her, but Viveza stops him by shooting him with force lightning. Padme is able to get away from Anakin with minor injuries.

Viveza and Obi Wan engage in a fight against Anakin. After the facility’s shields get deactivated, Viveza gets separated from Obi Wan and Anakin.

I can either have Viveza and Obi Wan meet back at the ship or have her find them just as Obi Wan gets ‘the high ground’, but the thing about the second option is that Viveza wouldn’t want to take any changes and would probably put Anakin out of misery when he’s burning alive.

Either way they end up back at the ship with Padme. While on the ship Obi Wan and Viveza have a moment where they just lean on each other in exhaustion.

Padme goes into labour as they're travelling to Polis Massa. She gives birth to the twins and is predicted to make a full recovery in time. (because fuck you canon!). She’s heartbroken by what Anakin has done, but vows to fight for her children.

The ending is another point where I’m not quite sure where to take it. I could just go with the original ending where Leia is adopted by Bail, and Luke is sent to Tatooine right away, but I feel like Padme wouldn’t want to be separated from her children. At the moment I’m thinking she’ll go into hiding for around two years but after one too many close calls she begrudgingly accepts to send each of them into hiding. With Leia being sent to live with Bail and having her name changed to Leia Organa and Luke being sent to live with Owen. Maybe I’ll find some other direction.

Viveza sets out to see how many of her allies and connections are still loyal to her or if they decide to shift their loyalty to the newly formed Empire. Her first order of business to find out what happened to Margo, because she hasn’t contacted Viveza since Maul’s capture.

[fountainpenguin]

How does Longwood fit into the Reedfilter AU? Do any other pixies that we know of from Origins/Knots play any notable roles?

Alternate universe ramble under the cut.

[EDIT: From where I’m looking at it, Tumblr trashed the Read More by putting it in the ask itself again. View on blog instead of on dash; there’s nothing I can do about that. Until further notice I’ll stop using Read More links because I’m sick of this. Blacklist my Long Post tag as needed.]

.

Technically one of my FOP worldbuilding rules is that you have a parallel self in all [accessible] universes, even if some are more difficult to identify as “you” than others are (Ex: You might be someone’s child instead of a sibling, or you might die as a child in one universe but survive to adulthood in another). A huge portion of Fairies have parallel lives as pixies in the Reedfilter Rules verse (Ambrosine for instance). Soothsayers (Anti-Fairies skilled in reading karmic weaves) can read the options for your future, but can’t usually tell which options go with which universe. It’s still the future path of your soul, just... might be in the wrong save file.

This is where the Negaverse (Plane 16) comes into my worldbuilding, and we’ll see how this plays out in Identity Theft and the tail end of Frayed Knots; in the episode “Playdate of Doom,” Foop was able to breach the gap between two universes and this is a detail I kept in my canon. Parallel universes can be viewed by those who are skilled in that. Travel between universes is possible, but dangerous and difficult enough that even those who are desperate to run away or hide themselves rarely attempt it.

Things get even more complicated because reincarnated forms still can’t co-exist in the same universe at the same time; the soul only gets one body on the playing field no matter which universe they’re in. So when Foop entered the Pivotverse, he began pulling his alternate self’s soul towards him and would have eventually absorbed the whole soul, killing his counterpart. Didn’t happen in the end, but we’ll get to that in Identity Theft.

It’s very similar to Jimmy Neutron’s clone creating new people in “The Trouble With Clones” who nearly killed the originals simply by existing. The JN and Hartman universes are also examples of parallel universes; if Jimmy flew in his hovercraft to Dimmsdale, he’d realize the JN version of Timmy doesn’t recognize him because only FOP Timmy knows him. Post Season 5, all the Nickelodeon universes are smudged together thanks to Shirley’s Pizza being a permanent portal hub between them, as we saw in “The Pizza Place Where Worlds Collide” (Come What May Chapter 4).

None of this is what you asked, but it never hurts to explain when discussing who plays roles in which universes. All the pixies from my Classic universe exist in Reedfilter Rules AU, so you’ll see their names pop up now and again, with roughly similar personalities. Fairies too. I also feel like it’s worth pointing out that Foop’s alternate personality, Hiccup, doesn’t count as a separate entity in the eyes of the universe and he’s immune to some “universal rules” because of it. Might wanna tuck that fact away for later...

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As for RR!Longwood (AKA Markell), he ran the complaints department until Sanderson took over from him, but was rapidly promoted very high in the company, so he gets a lot of suspicious sideways looks. His mother, Columbine, is known to be very loud and pushy. Fergus does not remotely get along with her and honestly has no interest in Longwood for that reason. Basically the situation is Longwood doing a great job and having great ideas and getting acknowledged and praised by lots of people, but Fergus barely glances at him.

Once Fergus becomes H.P. and Longwood gets promoted, Longwood has an itch to impress him due to not having a father figure in his life, so his reaction to winning the praise of others but only a grunt from H.P. is a constant “...’kay //Thumbs up while secretly crying.” He’s not jealous of Sanderson because he doesn’t see Sanderson getting praised either. Fergus isn’t one to easily praise. Longwood just doesn’t want to do things without his boss’s permission and he takes the unenthusiastic “yes” to mean “That’s not a very good idea, but whatever, I guess.” Longwood’s out here in Pixie World trying to find enthusiasm in a land where enthusiasm is practically outlawed, and he overthinks the monotone too much, haha.

Longwood plays a bit of a role because he holds a high position in the company, but the vice president position is not guaranteed to take over from the Head Pixie, so he doesn’t have as much power as he does in Classic. In the RR universe, the Head Pixie is the CEO of Pixies Inc. and the vice president helps them run Pixies Inc., but they’re not involved in checking in with all the other companies the Head Pixie also manages across the universe, and they’re not involved in interracial politics (Sanderson is the one who tags along for interracial meetings with the Anti-Fairies and fun stuff like that). So technically the Head Pixie has more authority and power in RR than in the Classic universe, but the vice president position has less.

In short, RR Longwood likes to please, but isn’t a total suck-up about it. He feels sad that his father figure doesn’t seem to like him, but none of the whiny desperation that you see in Classic Sanderson. RR Longwood is more obedient than Classic Longwood since there’s no clash of gyne instincts here, and there’s also no Anti-Fairy zodiac culture for Longwood to pursue either. 

There’s a small amount of rivalry between him and Sanderson because Sanderson doesn’t always follow protocol and that irritates Longwood, but they’re more professional in this universe since they don’t have that sibling rivalry like they do in Classic. Sometimes Sanderson steps on Longwood’s stuff and that makes Longwood sigh, but they’re civil. Longwood is a good boy.

As for other pixies, you’ll see some familiar names and some have high positions of power, but they’re generally confined to the background. RR universe focuses on Rani, Fergus, and Sanderson mostly. You’ll glimpse the others but they’re not major characters.