#scav finally posts something

[sordid-dog]

good ending: my therapist replaced my broken marker!!!

ignore my tiny mental breakdown in the corner

[katagawajr]

BORDERLANDS 4- the lore so far

a post compiling all the tidbits from the trailers/descriptions, about everything we know about the story (so far).

wanted to make this post because i may be borderlands' biggest hater, but this new stuff looks really intriguing so far! call me optimistic but i'm definitely interested for now...

(speculation/theorizing involved here. i'm not actually 100% knowledgeable on all the lore but this is just what i'm gathering from it. if it turns out to be true then i called it here first <3)

so here's the timeline we know so far:

-> At the end of Borderlands 3, Elpis is crashing into Pandora. To save everyone (on both places), Lilith flies up and teleports Elpis away. Presumably, just like Sanctuary in BL2, she can't exactly control where it goes.

-> Where it happens to go is the planet of Kairos: a planet hidden in space- it's insinuated that the "protective barrier" surrounding the planet (made of glass?) turned it invisible. Or at least undetectable.

-> This "revealed" Kairos to the universe. Elpis presumably has been pulled in and is now orbiting Kairos.

-> Kairos is currently being controlled by "The Timekeeper." The Timekeeper is not a PERSON, but rather an Eridian Guardian. AKA... A Vault Monster.

-> This is explicitly stated in one of Nyriad's diary entries from BL3. She mentions the Timekeeper by name as an "Eridian Creation," in the likes of Graveward (BL3) and the Traveller (TFTBL). It's also obvious by the images above that it isn't Human- it has robotic limbs, floats, and seemingly harnesses/is connected to the Vault Gate behind it.

-> The Timekeeper is described as a dictator obsessed with Perfect Order, furthering the idea that this hidden planet was in a perfect state of "Order," with only the Timekeeper + its "synthetic" army. Remnants of whatever Eridian Society created it, and hid it away, for whatever reason.

-> Elpis crashing into Kairos, and breaking the barrier, has enraged the Timekeeper, who's planet is now visible to the galaxy. And a big hole in the ceiling of it's house. Damn.

-> It's confirmed there's a few years' time-skip between the crashing of Elpis and the start of the game. The SCAVS of Elpis (and bandits of Pandora most likely, however they hitched a ride) have now made their way to the surface of Kairos and are causing mayhem. They seem way more mechanical in nature than the last time we saw Elpis, but similar vibes. Very tech-y, robotic, etc. -> These bandits become their own faction known as "The Rippers," and their leader is a robot lady named Callis.

-> Queen Callis is shown in the trailer to ALSO be not human (robot? something else? Kairos's influence, or Elpis tech? who knows.) But apparently she also has the power to control the bandits, through their masks. She puts the masks on them and their eyes turn red, matching hers. So it's possible she's just mind controlling every bandit.

-> Anyways, it's a "robo-bandit" VS. "synthetic Eridian" civil war deal. The Timekeeper appears to be attempting to subjugate the entire planet again, especially based on all the "break free" wording of the teaser descriptions. Whether you're fighting WITH Callis's army or just as a third party, it appears the Vault Hunters are from Elpis (or, were on Elpis when it got yoinked at the very least). And they're trying to escape this planet. -> The last description does mention "cast of characters, new AND old," so it remains to be seen in what capacity old characters are involved. It IS a time-skip, so maybe Sanctuary finally tracked down Lilith's whereabouts and she's stranded on Elpis. Maybe Ava is an adult now and leading the Crimson Raiders. Maybe the whole "Timekeeper" business means there will be timeline fuckery- pulling alternate timeline versions of old characters, bringing back dead ones, who knows.

-> (I'M PERSONALLY INCLINED TO BELIEVE that Sasha and Fiona will also play a role in this game? Because New Tales called specific attention to Sasha being in a different part of the galaxy unable to be found (hidden planet? wink wink?), and Fiona's talk of Sasha's anahatium pocketwatch, with the etched phrase "TIME HEALS ALL WOUNDS.")

-> (Who knows if that is true, or what that really means. Just speculation here. I miss Sasha and Fiona, and they've been hyped up with BL3 Echoes, New Tales stuff, and even their own book. Give us the two best Borderlands characters back please.)

-> Last thing as an aside, it DOES show that we will be getting a Siren VH again. So she either needs to have Steele's unknown power, the Leech power, or some secret third thing. Maybe she isn't a real siren at all. The device on her arm could either be a way to REPLICATE a siren's power (like Anu, making her a "fake siren") or possibly as a way to enhance/contain the Leech power, like Tyreen alludes to in BL3. Interested to find out.

TLDR: we're finally getting the Eridian War plotline! They didn't forget guys! AND it directly involves Elpis, like the game where we first learned about the Eridian War!

Synthetic "Eridian" army led by a Vault Guardian/Monster, THE TIMEKEEPER, vs. the robotic bandit army, the Rippers, led by QUEEN CALLIS. Time-skip again (intrigued to see how long this time. It's canonically been at LEAST two years since BL3.) New + Old characters. New Eridian planet, like Nekrotafeyo. 4 New VH's, either FROM Elpis, or wayward travelers who accidentally crashed onto Kairos.

“Early 2025” gameplay reveal, unspecified 2025 release date.

[macchitea]

Oh oh! I wanted to ask, what is Dedede in the Rain World AU? Iterator? Scavenger? Lizard? Something else? And, would Kirby have moor food pips then a regular pup? What about Meta knight?

Also I just imagine for Meta Knight when you try to drop his favorite funny sharp stick (Galaxia) he just puts it on his back like Hunter with spare spears. You cannot get him to leave it and neither can the garbage worms (which I can see him have a bad universal relationship with). This is your AU though and I’m wondering what you had in mind if you have a different idea, I’m just spouting thoughts

hI ANON!! (i finally have the time to get back to you!! sorry for the wait!)

i'm really glad you asked about rw!Dedede!

i originally drafted concepts of him being a gourmand-like slugcat with a Huge tail that he uses similarly to a hammer. he also is the (self-appointed) leader of a colony of lantern mice that he adopted!!

here were my early design drafts for him!

i eventually scrapped the idea of slugcat dedede since i felt it didn't fit the rtdl team dynamic very well seeing as dedede and bandee are both a different species from kirby and mk, and dedede having a very strong shape contrast to the rest of the dream team in kirby

and then i stumbled upon this post by @peculiurperennial and went feral a little <3; so at the moment, my headcanon is that rw!dedede is a chief scav!! (who still is the leader of a lantern mice colony)

as for why he's with the mice colony and not his own kind, who knows ;)

-

and yes!!! kirby would absolutely have a HUGE food pip requirement, possibly being close to gorm's food requirement; in my au, kirbpup is somewhat of an exceptional slugpup! he was 'born' with an accelerated metabolism and extreme adaptive capabilities that contributes to his giant appetite.

the baby is hungy!!

-

ASDFLDSKF AND I LOVE YOUR HC ABOUT GALAXIA-STICK;

i had the idea that galaxia couldn't be thrown and would be wielded as a melee weapon, but the idea that meta just outright reFUSES to put it down is amazing LMAO, i love it.

if meta somehow loses his funny stick he'll frantically try to search for it; he'll refuse to hibernate without it; its his comfort sword your honor

HATES garbage worms with a passion, if one tries to steal it he'll hold on like his life depends on it

also wary of scavs he doesn't know, but is generally more tolerant of them!

the only exception to this rule is of course kirbpup; its the only instance meta willingly lets go of his sword and lets someone else wield it!

the red cloth tied around the sword's base is actually a bit of meta's handiwork to make it more comfortable for kirbpup to hold :D

[chevvy-yates]

WIP Wednesday

Been tagged by @morganlefaye79 thx! <3

I tag: @imaginarycyberpunk2023, @itzsassha, @medtech-mara, @therealnightcity, @humberg, @pinkyjulien, @hydrasshole @kharonion and @elvenbeard as always: no pressure!

— VP

No plans atm other than preparing and thinking about sth for Arki as his birthday follows up next. Also promised I'll take some pics of Enzo and Jay as i couldn't make it in time for Enzo's bday. So I don't have much to add other than what I sneak-peaked last week that will be posted when I feel ready to push the button in my drafts (some pics are already months old again …). All other VP ideas are on hold as I still would liketo play the game a bit longer and only do random pics in between — but I need to solve first my problem I have with Thyjs' save data that is crashing when wanting to watch the deathshead BD in Judy's van. I want to look into it on the weekend because before I hop back into my bigger VP ideas I plan to get every oc into Phantom Liberty start and have them skilled a bit because that also motivates me to actually play the game from time to time and helps me to describe their fight style in the rp story. If I can't solve it I'll try Vijay next and see if he crashes too at the same point or not as I remember he's not far away from the Scav mission either. Then last I can try is Jay but he needs to get through the entire prologue first which will take me a weekend as well.

FIC/STORY/RP

Once I get Vijay's npv, @nervouswizardcycle and I can finally start taking story pics as well, though I believe she might just wait until she gets her new pc for that. I have overworked "The Golden Demon of Kabuki" text some months ago so it is a better readable fic now. I will place it into layout as soon as the needed pics are done. Then I'll see what happens next. Probably try and get ch2 ready.

I've said enough now, let's give you another snip-bit:

CORPO PARTY RP SNIPPET (my part only):

He noticed that Vijay says something Ry can’t concentrate on since he’s busy staring the redhead down and trying to see through him, but sees V starts walking and so he follows. They walked a bit further away leaving the red-haired man alone, Vijay pleased to stay and wait until they would come back to him. Once they were far away enough, Ryder turns around and raises his voice with a certain gnarl in his undertone “I leave you alone for almost an hour and you take the next best chance to shove your tongue down the throat of one of those Corporats?!” “Ry—” Vijay starts but Ryder is not done and so he hisses dangerously. “ON A JOB!? — Seriously V!” Scharfenberg shifts his weight to one leg, breathes audibly through his nostrils, crosses his arms and waits for V’s explanation.

Somehow Steyr finds it funny because he knows Ryder exaggerates it as always. Nonetheless Vijay feels a bit embarrassed as well because he knows Ry is also right. He should behave in a certain manner here but he is bad at being a Corpo. “Calm down man — Part of the job now,” V answers and gives him a stupid smirk. “You weren’t in reach. Had to escape from that escort chick otherwise I’d have blown cover. Unlike you I dunno how to friggin’ corpo. Dunno how to even pronounce my fuckin’ fake name either. Stainback von Kra– Krawnee–” “Steinbach von Kranichstein!” Ryder repeats fast in exasperation. 

They’ve practiced it a few times before and V still wasn’t able to pronounce it right. “Yeah whatever!” Vijay gestures with his hands. “But uh— Arki happened to—” “Oh, it’s ‘Arki’ already?!” “—chill a few feet away from me, so I took the chance to escape and, yeah — he’s my fiancé in disguise now as long as we are on the job here. He’s the dude from the Afterlife weeks ago, ‘member? Could help us out on this.” Ryder raises both eyebrows, his mouth opens a bit and he feels how Beast wants him to yell at V yet he -tries- to stay the calmest he can be. “Afterlife red haired rando? Supposed demon — your fiancé?! Alter Vadder! Tell me this is a joke!?” Ryder throws both hands in the air and makes a few steps as if he wants to walk away now and curses further in German “Ich glaub, ich bin im falschen FIlm!” He wasn’t in the wrong movie, though. “Chill, bro. I’ve got it under control. All good,” Steyr tries to calm his friend. “V, you know he’s a—” Scharfenberg starts but stops abruptly as he realizes something now that doesn’t make much sense to him. Wait. Afterlife merc rando— a true Corporate? How’s that fitting in? “He’s what?” V raises an eyebrow at that. “Forget it!“ “M‘Kay, if y’say so.” V crosses his arms, not satisfied about Ry’s answer.

“Just don’t like to get into a fucking mess,V!” Scharfenberg spits his sentence out rather inappropriately. Judging by V’s face however Ry notices it is meant seriously, so he facepalms with an angry growl as Beast already tells him to just flip the switch, turn around and kill some of those poor dancing souls behind him. “I’m not riding us into a mess. I bet he can help us to klep the info we here for.” Ryder gets immensely fidgety, looking into every direction trying to ignore the voice as best as he can. He fiddles out a menthol cigarette, lights it up and takes a few long puffs inhaling it deeply into his lungs as he walks up and down glad that Vijay waits until he’s done. The least V could use was having Ryder in a critical state on this job, so V gives his best mate time to clear his mind.

“Fine— But we’re not done talking about this!” Ryder states as he throws the smoked up stub on the bottom to rather aggressively put it out with his double varnished fine shoe. He doesn’t look amused about the fact that his best friend obviously seemed to know this dude named Arki already better than he thought. Steyr must have kept this info from him for whatever reason and he doesn’t like it at all. But since it is not part of the job right now, he accepts this now changed situation. So he takes another deep breath and says under gritted teeth “Let's get back to your new flame then, see if he can be of help as you predict and brief him.” Vijay gives him a thankful gaze. He knows it’s not easy for Ry to control but he managed well enough not to raise any suspicion and V does feel guilty too for not telling Ry he knows Arki already better than he might think. They would discuss it later. But now back to business. So they walked back to the redhead who was awaiting them back where they left him, enjoying a cigarette.

[commander-rahrah]

Cyberpunk: Twin Flames - Chapter 7

A SilverV fic

Linked psyches. That was Alt's solution for them. Two bodies -- their own bodies. But souls and minds still intertwined -- feeling each other's pain and emotions. Never too far away, never far behind.

There could never be one without the other.

______________________________________________________

I just posted my seventh chapter of my Johnny Silverhand/Fem!V fic over on my AO3. If you are interested in reading, I have put a snippet below. You can read the rest over on AO3!

______________________________________________________

Only once she was covered, did Johnny finally look over and speak up. “What are you doing, V?” “Are you—? Getting fucking dressed dickhead, what does it look like?” He shook his head, his mouth forming a hard line. “Last night. This morning.” She turned around to face him, a single bow raised. “What?” “Playing fucking house with River.” He spat, waving his hands out. “Like you weren’t being hunted by cyberpsychos or zeroing scavs two days ago. Like you ain’t got a Corp assassin on your speed dial right now, waiting for you.” V rolled her blue eyes, “Jesus Johnny, sorry I want to live a little. Didn’t know I had to eat, shit and breathe your goddamn revolution.” He let out an exasperated sigh, “You don’t. But this ain’t you and you know it.” Something flickered in her eyes, her nostrils flaring. “What the fuck do you know about it?” He marched right up to her, matching the challenge in her voice, “The guy is talking to you about fuckin’ suburb trailer parks and kids and family recipes, V. Are you that stupid?” She shook her head at him, running her fingers through her wet hair, “Okay, so he’s a bit domesticated. But you make me sound like I’m some feral merc who could never—". Tainted anger flared through him. "You could never! He’s a cop, V!” “Used to be. Not anymore—" But he interrupted her correction, “He will always be a cop. And you will always be a merc from Heywood. Making coffee and pancakes after you get each other off ain’t gonna change that.” V groaned, her fists bunching up at her sides, “Jesus Christ— why are you telling me this, huh?” “If you’re gonna do that again, take the goddamn pills.” Johnny pointed a metal finger in her face. “What?” “Next time you fuck him or anybody else. Take. The. Fucking. Blockers." He enunciated every single world. Her blue eyes blinked, genuine shock crossing her face, "You told me not to take those."

He had, and more surprisingly she had actually listened. They had sat untouched, only one missing from that very first, chaotic night. Fuck, he wasn't even sure if she had them anymore. Maybe she had chucked them in a dumpster weeks ago. "I don’t care.” He growled, “Rather be suffocated by those fuckin' pills then go through that again.” She scoffed at him, “You seemed to like it just fine last night. Don’t think I didn’t feel you there, watching like a perv.” “Maybe, at first I—" The honest words stumbled out of him before he caught himself. “Then what?” He felt like he was gonna chip a molar, pierce through his lip. “God, I don’t want to do this with you right now.” “What the fu— you’re the one who brought this up!!" V shouted, completely exasperated as he made to turn away from her. "Everything gets to be on your terms, Johnny, doesn’t it? What you want, who you want. Don’t give a flying shit about the other person in the—" He interrupted her, nostrils flared. “In the what?”

Friendship? Relationship? Whatever the fuck they had.

Did she have a better idea of what this was? Why he felt like this?

“In the conversation.”

No. Of course not, she wouldn't give him the satisfaction. It would never be that simple, not for assholes like them.  "You're a fucking bitch, V." "And you're a fucking coward." She spat right back.  His black hair swayed as he shook his head at her, "I told you not to do this, told you it would be too complicated." "I'm not putting my life on pause for you, Johnny." "This is what you want your life to be?" His dark eyes studied her light ones, flickering between them. "Some fake, domesticated bullshit until you realize you'll never be what he wants you to be? Be my fuckin' guest."   "Better than anything you want for me. If it was up to you, I'd be fuckin' dead right? So you could just take my body for yourself." V went straight for the kill. She might as well have wrapped her teeth around his throat and shredded the skin.  "Fuck. You." She’d thrown that in his face on purpose — she knew the guilt and regret that festered in him from saying that to her. It took all of Johnny to push it all down. The word vomit. The pain, the fucking pain, that was forming like a sob in his throat. "Take the fuckin' blockers next time V. I mean it."

And he glitched away. 

[steamstuckdragon]

yall have NO IDEA how brainrotten i am about artiking/regicide

allow me to demonstrate. I accidentally wrote a regicide fic in a discord channel and im posting it under the cut

The King has his armor completely stripped. Just one more spear, and the mask will be hers... but the other scavengers have caught up. She has to fight through them first...

but she sees one of the scavengers in the very back of the group turn to scoop up a pair of curious scavenger kits, and quickly take them away to safety. Something about that strikes deep in her heart, and she drops her spear and collapses to her knees, the weight of her actions finally crashing down atop her. She closes her eye tight and silently begs that the first spear kills her quickly...

But nothing pierces her hide. She slowly opens her eye to a strange scene- the scavengers surrounding her, spears pointed, all just barely far enough for her explosive ability to be useless. The King then steps in front of her, burnt and wounded but with a cold look in his eyes. He speaks in slugcat to her- he must have learned it somehow.

"Your crimes are too great for death. You will instead rot in a locked room until the rains finally beat this city into dust."

She's locked away in what must have been some sort of storage room for the Ancients. Vertical slats are carved into the wall to act as a window without letting her escape, and one horizontal slot to give her food. She refuses to eat for the first cycle, but eventually the hunger becomes too great for her to resist. Over the next several cycles, a few scavs visit to shout at her, sometimes through tears, and even though she doesn't understand their words, she hears the pain in their voice, and knows that she is the one that caused it. Some cycles she'd weep openly, other cycles she'd claw at the walls and hiss threateningly at any scav she saw, and others still she'd just sit there, thinking about what she'd done. Those were always the worst. She'd close her eyes, and see only the faces of scavengers she'd killed. Old, young, strong, weak, threatening her, running from her. She truly came to understand what it meant to be not worthy of death.

It was one of those terrible cycles when the King came to visit. Her surprise showed in her face briefly, but didn't last long. He talked in her language, asking if the food was sufficient, if the guards had treated her well. He was very polite, but she didn't respond, didn't even react to any of the questions... except one.

*"Why?"*

And it all comes gushing out. She doesn't even know why, but she tells him everything. Her pups, the toll, the pearl, the leeches... And he listens to it all.

Over hundreds of cycles, he'd occasionally visit. Each time, she talks a little bit more. She doesn't to admit it, but she starts to see him not as an enemy, but a friend- someone she can confide in.

Eventually, they let her out of the cramped cell, forcing her to help in efforts to repair and maintain the city. She goes along willingly- it's back-breaking work, but it takes her mind off of things. The King often oversees her work. They occasionally talk during rest time- mostly just teaching her the scav language. Progress is slow, but time is plentiful. As she learns more, she talks with some of the other workers- some of them prisoners like her, others paid workers. She expects to be shunned, despised, hated. Some of them do. But others, not so much. Some talk briefly about little nothings. Some talk about the work they're doing- exhausting, but rewarding. She feels the same.

The fires of hate in her belly have become nothing but aching embers. Her hate is no longer directed at the scavengers at all- they've been nothing but kind to her, despite all she's done. No, her anger is reflected inwards- how she failed to protect her pups, how she failed to cope with her loss, how she failed to remember why she was fighting, how she failed to complete her mission (or at least get herself killed along the way). The King has begun to enter her cell when they talk, and their talks have gotten longer. Embarrassingly, his words ease her pain. She looks forward to the next time they talk, even though she tells herself that it's ridiculous. He visits more often, too. He seems happier. She rationalizes it as growing prosperity of the scavenger colony- it would be silly to think that the King was enjoying his time with the Red Demon herself.

But despite her reservations, he *is* enjoying himself. He thought it was ridiculous too, but talking with her helps clear his head. He can't help but feel pity for her, but he feels more than that when he watches her work, tirelessly moving stones, spreading mortar, and conversing with those who she had once hated with every fiber of her being. He doesn't want to put a word to that feeling. She must despise him by now. Denying her the warrior's death she wanted, extending her suffering and multiplying it tenfold, forcing her to carry not only the weight of her pups but all the scavengers she slaughtered in her blind, grief-fueled rage.

The Great Cycle marches on. Buildings are saved from collapse, made from unstable ruins to livable homes, working farms, gathering spots. He visits her less and less, but still watches her work. He's obligated to- it is his job to oversee the construction. He could delegate it to another scav, but he doesn't. He hasn't mentioned his feelings to any other soul. He can't- he doesn't understand it himself, how could someone else understand? And so he watches from his perch, eyes following that streak of cherry-red clamber over piles of crumbling brick, help lift stones many times her size, chat with the others as if she were one of them. He smiles a little.

...She misses him. She can't help but scoff at the idea, but it's true. He doesn't visit her cell nearly as often as he once did. Her cell no longer looks so desolate- she's been given a bed of dried plant matter, a pillow of woven cloth, a table to eat at. Gifts of goodwill, rewards for her good behavior. She's thankful for all of it from the bottom of her heart- it makes her feel more real. Almost lets her forget the burden she must carry. The other workers help, too. They're clever, funny, kind. Her nickname- Red Demon- is no longer a term of derision. Her scavenger-speak is almost fluent, now. She's not sure how many cycles it's been- she gave up on keeping track after covering half of one wall of her cell with rows of little vertical nicks. Not that it matters, really. What does matter is the quieting of those burning embers in her gut. The scavengers she'd hurt have forgiven her- those that could, at least. She can't do the same to herself- not yet- but the pain strikes less deeply now.

She's met a few kits. They're cute, energetic, naïve. They remind her of her own pups. She can't stay around them long- the tears start forming in her eyes, and she slips away before they could see her crying. No reason to worry the kits with that.

Despite all the other improvements, her nightmares have been getting worse. Rarely does she see that scavenger toll now, and when she does it's never her pups she sees die. It's always one of the kits, or occasionally a friend from the work sites. Usually, though, she has nightmares about terrible accidents- explosions, collapses, injuries. Sometimes she dreams that she loses control and kills all the scavengers. Sometimes she dreams that they all suddenly turn on her. Sometimes she dreams just being alone at a construction site, carrying loads nobody will place.

She also sees the throne room, rarely. Sometimes she sees herself plunge a spear into the King's heart, sometimes he does the same to her instead. He never looks furious, like he did back then. He always looks sorrowful. Those dreams are always the worst, and she always wakes up with tears on her cheeks. She doesn't mention the nightmares to anyone. There's no reason to. Especially since the King visits so rarely now. Sometimes she dreams up a visit- one of the rare few nights her dreams don't turn dark. Those nights are nice.

A day like any other. A hot day. The sun shines harshly down upon the metropolis. The King takes his perch above the construction site. He hasn't visited her in many cycles. He decides that he will visit her tonight. All is well.

CRACK.

The unmistakable sound of crumbling echoes down the alleys. A loose brick tumbles down from the top of the building the workers are restoring, and nearly strikes one. More terrible noises. The top of the building starts to sag. Scavengers pour from the site in a rush, evacuating to safety. Not all of them make it in time.

RUMBLE, BANG, CRASH!

The building collapses in upon itself and kicks up a massive plume of dust. A pup screams in fear, somewhere. Other voices cry out with them. The King has dismounted his perch, and is helping direct confused scavengers, helping to form order from the chaos. He thinks of her, prays she made it out.

The dust slowly settles. Heads are counted. It takes the rest of the cycle just to get everyone to safety and save whatever wounded they could find. He feels his heart sink as he looks out at the stone-powdered crowd. The Red Demon is nowhere to be seen. Some scavengers theorize that she escaped in the pandemonium, but the King doesn't waste time making theories. The scavengers watch as he drops his mask, rushing out to the rubble, tearing stones aside in the dwindling light of sunset. Seeing their leader, some scavengers join the effort, tired as they are. Others rush to get food and water. The others return to their beds to prepare for the next cycle.

The King struggles to see clearly- his vision is blurred. The dust, he thinks at first. But, as he throws bricks aside and digs into the rubble, he can't help but notice the moisture on some of them, and it gives him pause. He catches his breath, blinks away the tears, wipes his face with a dirty hand, and continues his labor.

That cycle, he and the other rescuers find some of those who were trapped in the building when it fell. Most are already dead. Few are alive, albeit on death's door. The King himself saves a life, but it doesn't give him relief from the weight in his chest. Lanterns are brought out to fill the void the sun has left. He continues to dig.

A stone he lifts has black char on it. He stops, looks at it for a moment. The next stone does, too. He flies into a frenzy, the tears returning again, clawing at the rubble with beaten, bloodied hands. Each rock he throws aside has more black marks. Charring from explosion. It doesn't take long before he sees a hint of red between the stones. He doesn't stop.

Most of the other scavengers have stopped by now. It is quite late, and it would not do any remaining survivors any good if their rescuers were too weak to lift the rocks trapping them. A few remain, but they, too, stop when they hear their King cry out. They rush to his side, ready to free him from whatever mountain of ruin had collapsed atop him, but find no such thing. Instead, they see their powerful King, cradling the bloodied body of the Red Demon in his arms, weeping openly. They can't help but hesitate a bit, but urgency wins out over confusion, and they help him carry the slugcat to safety, to water, to food. The King manages to collect himself enough to be presentable, though he is still visibly distraught. She's still breathing, and a sigh of relief rolls through the small crowd as the King announces it. The chief is surprised by his own sigh.

A little water on her lips, and after a moment of silence where the King felt his heart *stop*... She gasps and coughs out a little dust. The King squeezes her to his chest, tears rolling down his cheeks. The Red Demon, still disoriented and delirious, hugs him right back. A few other scavengers join the embrace as well- other workers from the site, caked in dust but alive.

It takes her a cycle to properly come to. She wakes up in a hastily pitched tent outside the shaman's dwelling, in a bed laid out with other wounded scavengers all around. Her chest stings, her head throbs, her left arm feels numb. The King is assisting the others in digging out any that remain. She tries to get up, managing to stand on shaky legs, but the world around her spins and she lets herself drop back down onto the dried plant fibers before she hurts herself any further. There's a bowl of water at her side, and she drinks the whole bowl rather quickly. While time passes, she talks with her neighbors- mostly asking about the King. They recount the previous cycle's events, and she feels her heart flutter in a way she hadn't felt in a long, long time...

The cycle drags on. The King is one of the last scavengers to leave the rubble. Exhausted, dirty, grieving, content. Every lost soul was found- most dead, some alive. Every life they saved that cycle was a miracle. The older kits run around the medical tent, dispensing food, water, bandages, and company wherever needed. The shaman would certainly have more apprentices once this is all over. Artificer cranes her neck to see through the crowds.

Finally, her savior arrives, with little fanfare. Scavengers thank him as he passes, and he responds in kind, but quickly moves along. She sees him approach and, in her excitement, attempts to stand once more. He uses the last of his strength to run to her side, just in time for her legs to give out. The Red Demon collapses into the arms of the King, and he pulls her close. Their lips meet, in spite of the gasp that rolls through the others around them.

He fusses over her, making sure here needs were all met, her wounds all bandaged. She assures him that she is fine, that her serious wounds were minor, that the bruising discoloring the flesh around her ribs was merely a flesh wound and not the broken bone it clearly was. He can't help but smile. And as the sun slips below the edge of the superstructure's ceiling once more, she locks eyes with him to ask a simple question.

*"Why?"*

And he just smiles.

[cardworksartblog]

@threedeliciousflavors i saw ur tags on the Cannibal post!! I'd be glad to explain the theoretical mega rabies mechanics ive thought up >:3c!!!

I theorized that it'd be akin to the Spearmaster's handicap when gaining food pips, where you need to spear something while it's still alive.

So, I thought that Cannibal's handicap to balance higher damage and ability to be generally more stealthy than other slugcats, would have her get a random amount of red food pips every cycle. They'd range from 1 red pip to 4 red pips, with Canni's max belly being around 8 pips (3 of those being extra belly space). These red pips could ONLY be filled by killing and consuming either a scav, or another slugcat/slugpup (which would spawn way more commonly in Canni's campaign).

The longer you'd go in a Cannibal campaign, the more likely it'd be for you to get a 'Bloodmoon Cycle', a cycle where ALL your pips are red and the screen gains a dark red tint, forcing you to commit a massacre of the highest violation of geneva conventions in order to hibernate again.

Every time you'd get a Bloodmoon Cycle, the possibility of it happening would be set back to the lowest chance and locked there for a few cycles to prevent ppl from getting Awful Luck and getting like 4 bloodmoons in a row.

Cannibal would also have trouble focusing in on prey enough to stalk properly due to her Mega Rabies, forcing you to go for a head-on one-man assault on a toll or against another gang of stray slugcats since the stealth simply wouldn't work- she'd be just as stealthy as every other slugcat on a Bloodmoon Cycle.

I hope u enjoy the (purely hypothetical) Mega Rabies mechanics!!! I'm not a game designer or programmer so take it w a grain of salt, but I tried to make it sound as balanced as possible in theory at very least. Also I think hunter's post final-cycle Super Cancer screen effects r really cool and took inspo from those for the bloodmoon cycles effects.

[rw-ethology]

(@paradizetobefound hopefully it's ok to post this and tag you! Didn't think i could respond as indepth as I would have liked in replies oops. also not at all spammy, this is great I promise)

Yeah, that's something i DEFINITELY thought about while writing the post, just figured if I got too far into it i'd probably have a whole other post on my hands (which I kind of did, hence the reblog oops). But absolutely, the similarities are there! Taking care of other creatures just because you can/getting attached to them is a very "human" trait, and so is a lot of other stuff slugcats do, or can be inferred to do.

Still, I'm a little hesitant to say for certain that I think slugcats are Definitely going the exact same way as early humans. Though the hallmarks are undeniably there, environment plays a huge role in what traits are evolutionarily beneficial, and it's unlikely the hostile world left behind currently is in any shape to give rise to more Truly humanlike intelligences in its current state, let alone the frozen wasteland it becomes later (the rain/snow leaving only barely enough time for everything to find food then hibernate or die definitely doesn't help this). And even besides that, it’s difficult to try and establish anything like a consistent food source or built shelter when out in the open, any second a vulture the (comparative) size of a truck could drop in for an easy meal! Developing intelligence, resourcefulness and sociality is one thing, but real sapience is another entirely, and even if the foundations of it have been laid it's not necessarily guaranteed to go any further as long as the conditions aren't right for it. It kind of comes back to the cycle, too- as long as they're still struggling within it day to day, they can't really see beyond it.

Perhaps in the distant future after the imminent ice age, once the iterators are gone and the weather presumably finally regulates itself, things will look a lot different. Assuming the conditions become less hostile and predation risk goes down, and slugcats as a species actually survive that long (entirely up to speculation, I couldn't say for sure one way or another), who's to say they couldn't end up cobbling together some kind of early society and going from there? my money's still kind of on the scavs first if anything, though

Slugcats, Sociality and Altruism

Seems like a decent place to kick off the blog :)

Even from just the intro cutscenes, dreams, and alike that provide a glimpse into their lives before braving the harsh ecosystem alone, it's easy to tell that slugcats in general are very much a sociable sort. Whether part of a large colony like Gourmand's appears to be or the single family shown in Monk and Survivor's cinematics, none of the "wild" slugcats we actually get to learn about the circumstances of are alone before the events of the game- and some of them don't stay that way either, with the recent introduction of lost slugpups to find and take care of. But what's so unique about that?

(Long post under cut.)

At first it might not seem like anything special- a given, even. Animals grouping up or remaining with their families into adulthood, eating, sleeping, grooming and playing together, isn't that unusual; even if you're not particularly bothered about companionship, there are many survival benefits to being part of a closeknit group when you're a small and squishy prey animal. Perhaps most straightforwardly, the statistical odds of you specifically being picked off by a predator go way down when your prospective attacker has more targets to choose from, and more trying to drive it off- safety in numbers is a given, when it comes to everything from finding food to raising offspring. The more eyes and ears and hands the better, and it just so happens many creatures that do this are also very sociable with each other.

Sociality to the sheer extent slugcats seem to take it, though is actually considerably rare in the animal kingdom. A lot of animals, even those that are very close with their families, simply don't care all too much about anything outside of their immediate circle- while protecting their own mate and offspring is important, any stranger could be a potential threat or after their valuable resources, and there's little reason to expend time and energy rearing young that aren't theirs. But then in certain more large-brained, intelligent species (and slugcats are undeniably intelligent), where the payoffs and benefits of collaboration and compassionate acts between peers become great enough to create a huge social advantage, things can get a little more interesting. Over time, evolutionarily, an emotional motivation to help others in need starts to emerge.

This is a big deal! Animals with lower comparative intelligence just don't do this; this particular response goes beyond instinct, it creates the capacity for true altruistic behaviour, even in the absence of any immediate tangible reward. And considering the behaviour is learned, reinforced and reciprocated between an entire group so that everybody benefits, it's easy to see how it's so effective. For virtually any creature on its own, missing one too many meals or becoming badly injured or otherwise incapacitated can be as good as a death sentence. Within a group that's personally invested in your wellbeing, however, you've got the insurance of the stronger, fitter members of your family being willing to provide for you catch-free while you can't for yourself, giving you increased survival odds that other animals in the same predicament simply don't get. In a world where just about everything larger than you wants to eat you, having companions who would rather nobody gets served up for dinner is one of the biggest advantages you can have!

However, problems do arise when you lose that advantage of numbers. Having apparently evolved to pass up on sharp edges and defensive strategies in exchange for smarts and compassion, a lone slugcat with no support system has little to rely on but their own resourcefulness to survive- while also likely battling the psychological effects of separation and loss commonly observed in highly social animals. But not all hope is necessarily lost; even in the absence of their own kin, a slugcat's motivation to care is hard-wired, and evidently not limited to their conspecifics either. They can befriend scavengers, another intelligent, social species with a similar inclination to return favours and good deeds; tame lizards (their own predators!) by acting as a provider of food or rescuing them from harm, which will then defend you against others; and in some campaigns, take in lost pups as their own, who will also attempt to come to their aid when in danger. And then, of course, there's perhaps the most interesting friends they could make in the circumstances.

After all, it would be amiss not to mention their apparent affinity for meddling in the affairs of passing gods! Whether or not you fetch them in your own playthroughs, Looks to the Moon has more neurons the later you encounter her in the timeline, and by Rivulet's time even the old cloak recoverable from the depths of her superstructure, suggesting their canon* retrieval- not to mention the events of Rivulet's entire campaign. Considering extending kindness to something as wildly different to them as an iterator is clearly not a stretch for even wild slugcats, it's probably not just a coincidence they seem to make such effective purposed messengers, either; there are likely stronger, faster options to choose from, sure, but you'd be hard pressed to find a creature more loyal, versatile and sympathetic to the plights of others anywhere else.

All things considered no matter the campaign or how aggressively you personally play, just from looking at the overarching plot and events considered canon, it can be said everything happens as it does because slugcats are just how they are- motivated to act based on how strongly they feel for others, whether for better or for worse (read: Artificer's grief-driven rampage). Despite being just another little creature struggling their way through the cycle, time and time again a lowly slugcat manages to affect the world around them and/or its inhabitants in ways far beyond their comprehension and well into the future, just by following their nature. If things were any different, in all likelihood the overarching story and timeline as we know it wouldn't be remotely the same!

*Not technically confirmed as far as I can tell, but for the purposes of this post I am going with the implication that Monk and/or Survivor are responsible for the extra neurons and returned cloak.

[wanderingaldecaldo]

Heyyyy, this is something I've been meaning to do for ages and finally got around to! I'm WanderingAldecaldo, aka Wash, a writer, screenshotter, and modder for Cyberpunk 2077.

Before following...

Please, no minors. I'm old enough to be your parent. It's weird.

No biphobes. If you think I'm less than queer because I'm a bisexual woman married to a man; or if you think a man has to be gay because he is attracted to other men, go on and fuck off right now.

Also, terfs/swerfs can jump off a cliff. Women are women. Period. Sometimes they’re wemon too but that’s beside the point.

About Me

I'm a fanfic writer and lifelong console gamer whose life turned upside down because of Cyberpunk 2077 and one set of pixels. I'm now a committed PC gamer, modder, and screenshot enthusiast because someone needed to fill my the demand for Mitch/Fem V content. My Meat Husband™️ has accepted that he now has to share custody of me with Mitch.

About This Blog

Besides my Mitch Cyberpunk obsession, I also post about BioWare (Mass Effect & Dragon Age [DA:I in particular]), Red Dead Redemption 2 (and possibly GTA6 👀), other video game nonsense, random nerdery, sometimes music. I'm also not shy about my politics, whether in general or in relation to fandom. I try to tag things thoroughly but let me know if I can help by tagging something for you.

Currently anon asks are turned off due to the bullying anon I received about another fan's headcanon of Mitch. If people want to be hateful to me, they can "say it with their chest" and have the courage to put their name to their hate. If you need to speak privately, DMs are open. Mutuals can ask for my Discord, too.

My OCs & Ships

I welcome asks about my OC Val and my ships, as well as HCs I have about them or any other character. I have a lot of thoughts on the Aldecaldos in general, and Carol in particular. Note: I won't debate others' HCs so leave that at the door, please.

My V, Valerie Vermilion #valerie vermilion

Mitch & Val, aka Apex Predators #ship: apex predators

Mitch & Driss, aka Panzerboys #ship: panzerboys

Hilary Navarro, Aldecaldo netrunner #hilary navarro

Carol & Hilary, ship name tbd

My Writing

My AO3 profile

Drabbles, excerpts, prompts, and more #wash's writing

That time an anon tried to spread information bully me for my Mitch/Fem V content

My Mods for Download

Clothing Mods:

Edgerunner recolors [fem V]

Edgerunner recolors set 2 [fem V]

Edgerunner recolors [masc V]

Scav Pants [both fem & masc]

Other Mods:

Fem V Photomode Pose Pack - "Night Out in Night City"

Locomotion Mods - including: Teddy to corpo; Placide to male average; Scorpion to corpo

Mitch’s jacket fix - fixes the janky mesh that CDPR decided was good enough

My Tutorials

MagicBorder - Reshade Effect

Mods I Use Regularly [in progress]

Val's Clothing:

Meluminary (like..75% of Val's wardrobe)

Ladybella

wingdeer

bubbles's Alt jacket

ygollonac's Alt jeans & harness

Always Cuff Your Jeans, a bisexual requirement

assorted Discord exclusive & custom mods

Val’s Appearance:

Kala’s cyberware - gold recolor

Discord exclusive cyberware facial tattoo

Rattail with No Tail

Photomode:

Meluminary facial expressions - amazing!!! subtle and beautiful

Anims (photomode) - meluminary, jenvi, mine

Pose packs - meluminary, noralee, fereldanwench, gloryride, mine

NPC Animations:

Male avg - jenvi, wingdeer, mr dude

Male corpo - wingdeer

Quality of Life mods:

Relic Be Gone - controlled via CET so no adding/removing archive

Wardobe Outfit Manager - life-changing!

Edgerunner Bazaar

Appearance Change Unlocker

No Intro Videos - helpful for modding & restarting

Last updated: 4 Apr 22

[sordid-dog]

every time I draw something I remember right before I go to bed

here is Millenia! Bonus: edited to make the paper white like its traditional because my math teacher is quirky™ and all her papers are different colors

echo scav real!! love her

I draw better on my math papers with a stolen pencil than when I actually want to draw in my sketchbook

[mi6-cafe]

Out With a Bang Week

As 11:59 P.M. on July 31st comes ever closer, we encourage you to channel your energy into an explosive finish! Maybe that means making one last headcanon, finishing that WIP, posting that recipe, getting that last Scav Hunt item, or making comments on works posted during Fest. Whatever ‘out with a bang’ means to you, we hope all of you will feel proud of your final efforts and end up walking away from Fest with your Q-Branch-issued sunglasses on while something explodes in the background.  

Go teams!

[smilepal]

🐍 and 💧

Character ask meme for @solo-net :)

🐍: Is your OC a good liar? How easy is it for them to tell lies? What is the biggest lie they’ve ever told and did they ever get found out? On the other hand, what is the biggest lie someone has told your OC and did they believe them?

Hiro is a very, very good liar. He sees it more as acting, than outright lying though. It kept him alive through some adverse situations though, so he doesn't regret it in that regard. One of the biggest lies he's continuously been telling himself, at least post-TC is "no, I don't need help from other people." Jackie and Viktor didn't let that stand for long, and Vic/Johnny eroded it even further, through sheer persistance. He's stubborn as all hell but they won that battle.If it was going to end up hurting someone else though, he'd rather be truthful, especially with the people he genuinely cares about. As for biggest lies he believed? Probably "You can trust me". He's still trying to wrestle with that one. He's not sure if he quite believes it yet.

💧: What is something from your OC’s past they’re the most ashamed of and why? What is something they’re really proud of? And lastly what is something in their past that could make them shake with dread?

Honestly his whole past with the Claws is something he's ashamed of. He was born into it, due to his parents involvement so there was never a conscious effort to join, it just sort of happened and he was young when it did. There was a lot of complacency there, and a lot of fear, at least in the beginning and he tried to leave when he was sixteen. He failed misreably and didn't try again until he was in his mid twenties. He knew the only way out other than running was going to be in a body bag, or in pieces the scavs had picked over. There's a lot of guilt still there, for people he sit by and let get hurt, and for honestly, just surviving. A lot of people didn't, and they were better than him. He doesn't ever, ever want to be in a position where he feels like he has no agency/control of the situation again. At least as a merc there is more freedom/agency. If there's a job that goes against his moral compass, he can reject it, or complete it to his standards/show a degree of mercy. As for things he's proud of? Finally being able to ask for help/staying out of TC for good. He's taken jobs as a merc that perhaps didn't pay/outright rejected pay for others that he felt wrong asking for it and figures it's the least he can do, and if he can protect people instead of letting them get hurt at least that's a step in the right direction. At least, maybe he can stop people from making the same fuck-ups he did. Things in his past that make him shake with dread? Just visiting some of the old haunts, Clouds, Jig Jig Street and particularly the Ho-oh Club. There's still a lot of fear there, both for his allies and himself. The idea that his past with TC could come back to potentially hurt his loved ones is deeply terrifying to him. He's always hoping he doesn't run into his old bosses, as they parted on rather, unpleasant terms.

Thanks for asking!! Those were challenging to answer, but really good for character development <3

[reylo-trash-4ever]

HELLO REYLO FAM!!!

Wow... I am incredibly nervous about posting this because I haven’t shared my writing in years, but the incredible @lana-n95 gave me the idea when I made my prompts post, and I just rolled with it and made it an entire fic. SO HERE YA GO! 

Shout out to @scav-eng-er for being my Reylo Soul Mate and literally giving me the courage to do this!! I couldn’t ask for a better support group in @mojona1999 and @firethebluesky as well! You lovely people are who keep me going and I promise I’m working on getting us all a group chat so we can be friends for life.

This will be updated fairly regularly, but please do not expect a lot yet. I’m working towards bi-weekly, but for right now, this is all I have. I hope you enjoy! EEK!!

“The Game” - a Reylo AU

Universe: AU/Modern day New York

Rating: M (this chapter only has some mild language and sexual themes)

Word Count: 3629

Pairing: Rey and Ben Solo

PART ONE:

The New York winds were especially biting that December morning as Rey made her way through the bustling streets of the city. She wove in and out of passersby as everyone went about their day, each individual having separate lives, separate troubles, and separate dreams.

Rey had quite a few dreams of her own, but they were sometimes hard to make into reality. She had worked her ass off to get to where she was today, though. It was a great and classic story; a ‘nobody’ girl who came from the rural countryside making it big in the city. She’d always been passionate about helping people and doing what she could for the underdog, probably because she had felt like one all her life. Nobody thought she could do it, but she graduated at the top of her class in almost every subject, excelled in sports, and even dabbled in the theatrical arts when she had time. Her determination and hard work didn’t leave room for many friendships, but she didn’t mind putting all of that behind her when she moved to the city to study law.

College was good to her. She finally met some people she would call lifelong friends. She studied hard, and she learned harder. She was still kind of a ‘loner’ at heart, never really being the person to be seen out at parties, bars, or clubs. Every once in awhile she let herself go crazy, but it was rare. So much so that her friends started calling her “The Black Cat” because it was such a shock, and slightly unnerving, whenever she actually showed up to events. She knew the superstitions and implications surrounding a black cat, and she easily could have taken offense at the nickname, but Rey secretly liked it. Let her be known for her sly, hard work and mystery, not how well liked and popular she was or wasn’t.

It was this mentality that ultimately landed her a job as an intern at Skywalker and Associates straight out of college. It was a miracle from the stars that she got accepted into one of the top law firms in the state so soon after graduating. She didn’t really believe in a “higher power”, but something up there in the infinite galaxies must have been on her side. She knew she was good, and had the potential to be the best, but she had never before had the resources due to her upbringing. The opportunity was something she would never be ungrateful for.

It had been almost eight months since she started interning, and already she was making her way up in the company. Her dedication to cases and her keen eye for detail had gained her the attention of some of the more prominent names in the office and she hoped it was enough to be the next Jr. Partner.

Rey pulled off the street to step into a small coffee shop. A little bell chimed as she pushed open the door and the wondrous smells filled her nose as she took a deep breath in. The warmth filled her body and was almost a shock coming from such a drastic difference only seconds before, but she welcomed the comfort.

She stepped in line and perused the menu, even though she already knew what she wanted. It was the same thing she always got - a french press, dark roast with just a little bit of half and half - as she was a woman of pattern and repetition. Getting the same thing day in and day out had never bothered her. It was safe, it was what she knew. Why risk something that would rock the boat? Even though she didn’t normally believe in “luck”, she didn’t want to risk it today. This was her chance to finally start doing real cases and to work on projects that would make a difference.

“Would you like to round up your order and donate to the Children’s Hospital for the holidays?”

The barista’s voice took her out of her own head after she had apparently told them her order without thinking. Rey smiled and nodded her head quickly in response. She felt in a ‘giving mood’ that morning. Send as much “good karma” out into the universe as she could.

“Thank you so much, and have a nice day!”

The words faded into the hustle and bustle of the crowd as Rey stepped away and waited for her drink. She dug her phone out of her pocket and soon got lost in social media, scrolling mindlessly. Friends and distant family passed her screen, seeming to all be living happy and comfortable lives with their loved ones.

Rey had always wished for that kind of security and ‘home’. It was one of the reasons she worked as hard as she did, so she could hopefully someday give that life to herself. The one she never had, but always wanted. Her mother passed away when she was in grade school and her father left before she was even born. Being an only child, her uncle had offered to take her in, but he was a bachelor with a demanding job and very little time for another human being besides himself. He wasn’t the worst person in the world and they got along well enough, he was just never really much of a ‘parental figure’. She learned early on that she would have to find her own place in the world, and her fierce determination was set from that moment on.

She didn’t know why this was the morning of reminiscing, but something about the possibility of change must have had her brain in that mode. Rey brushed off the weirdness as she got up out of her seat after hearing her name being called. She made her way through the crowded cafe and grabbed her coffee.

She turned to leave, thanking the employee behind the counter again over her shoulder, when suddenly, she was almost knocked off her feet by an incoming stranger. She caught herself and her coffee, thankful for the lid stuck solidly to the cup, and turned around with a glare.

A tall man with broad shoulders and dark, shoulder length hair had been the culprit. His tall frame towered over her, but he seemed intent on barely even acknowledging her in his attempt to rush past. She caught his attention though, and he turned to look back at her over his shoulder. Rey, astounded by the audacity of the stranger, continued to glare and silently dared him to apologize for the discrepancy.

The man simply blinked at her for the briefest of moments, a glint in his dark eyes as they gazed back at her with an air of pride and so little remorse that it sent a shiver down her spine. Then, without a word, he continued on his way as if he had never hit her at all.

Rey scoffed angrily and whipped around on her heels as quickly as she could to get out of the coffee shop, now with a sour taste in her mouth. Some people are just assholes, she concluded as she once again walked out the door. A gust of blistering cold air hit her face and she closed her eyes. She tightened her scarf around her neck and pulled it up so that it was covering her nose, trying to shelter as much of her face as she could. God, she hated the cold...

***

It was as busy as always at the office. Rey quickly got lost in her work, and she didn’t realize how much time had passed before she heard her co-worker, Rose, calling her name.

“Do you ever take a break?”

The short cropped, black haired girl crossed her arms over the top of Rey’s desktop computer, forcing her to break from her work. She couldn’t help but smile when looking up into her ever cheerful, grinning face.

“I don’t have time for a break,” Rey said, trying to see past the distraction.

“I admire your dedication,” Rose stood on her tiptoes to lean over and look at Rey’s computer upside down. She was one of Rey’s favorite coworkers. Unlike the other women, she didn’t sit around the office and gossip all day, but had just about as much dedication to her job as Rey did. Well, almost as much.

“Did you hear about Rex and Ava?”

“Oh my God, no! Did they hook up?”

The chatter of the women standing behind them was too much for Rey. The office was notorious for rumors, especially of the romantic kind. Apparently, the people who worked there were infatuated with who was dating who, who had an affair with who, and who slept with who. Personally, Rey wanted nothing to do with it and couldn’t care less about the love lives of her coworkers. Unless it was Rose, but one of the things Rey liked about her was that she was pretty private and kept her personal life separate from her work life.

“I heard they got lunch yesterday and-”

“That’s crazy! I thought she was seeing that Lando guy from Brooklyn-”

“Look,” Rose said, “you eventually have to take a break. You know that, right? It’s bad for your mental health to be so busy all the time. And it’s kind of required by law.”

Rey smiled at her friend. “I know,” she said, placing her palm on Rose’s head and softly pushed it back so that she had to move off of her computer, “and thank you for caring, but I’m alright.”

“You would let me know if you weren’t, right?”

“I heard that the CEO’s son was going to start here in the new year.”

“No way! That arrogant jerk wants nothing to do with his father’s company. And he’s supposedly a real ‘ladies man’.”

“But I heard he’s super attractive and has that ‘rich bad boy’ vibe. Wouldn’t that be so hot?”

“Well, I have to admit, that would be a welcome change around here.”

Rey tried to drown out the distractions of the noises and she managed to plaster another reassuring smile on her face. “Of course I would.”

“It’s a long shot, but we’re all getting drinks at Naboo’s, that new cocktail bar down the street, if you’d like to join us?” Rose asked, motioning to a few of the other women who were all filing behind her and collecting their coats and respective purses. Her dark eyes begged Rey to come along, and she hated to disappoint, but she knew she didn’t want to go.

“I wish I could,” Rey said with a hint of genuine sadness in her voice, “but I just have so much work to do. I was planning on staying a little late tonight anyway.”

“Well, you can’t blame me for trying,” Rose chuckled with a shrug. She turned to leave and gave Rey a little wave over her shoulder.

“Have fun without me,” Rey called after her as she walked away, grabbing her own coat as she passed by the coat rack.

“Would be more fun with you,” Rose teased. There was a small ding and the now collective group of men and women who were leaving for the day clamored into the elevator.

Rey watched as the doors slid shut and just like that, it was silent in the office. She let out a breath she didn’t know she had been holding and sighed with relief. It was always nice when she could be here by herself. She found that she got more work done with less distractions. She wouldn’t be there that late anyway and her bosses didn’t mind as long as it helped further the business. Some of them were still working in their own offices, so she wasn’t completely alone.

She grabbed her laptop to take to the conference room and finish some paperwork on a particularly difficult case. Although, she quickly discovered that maybe not taking a single break that day, even to eat, was probably an issue. Her stomach growled and at first she tried to ignore it, but when her hunger headache began, she knew she wouldn’t be able to keep it up for too much longer.

With a long sigh, Rey stood and made her way to the break room. Taking a peek through the floor to ceiling windows, she could see the city all lit up for the evening. There was something special about New York at night, but especially around the holidays. People had candles in their windows and hung colorful lights on balconies and railings and really wherever they could find space. She loved upstate, and not just because of the expensive look of her surroundings and the other rich things it had to offer, but because the city really did look stunning at night. Like a million, twinkling stars, but unlike the unreachable night sky above, if you reached out to touch them, they were almost in your grasp.

***

After making a quick protein filled smoothie, Rey went back to the empty room to finish her work. Only, when she got there, she discovered that she was not alone.

A man lounged in her chair, his back towards her. Without even seeing him standing, she could tell how tall he was just by how far his legs extended out from under him. He was sitting with his feet propped up on another chair close to him, one leg crossed over the other, and he was staring at her open laptop. The light from the screen illuminated his frame and she couldn’t see past his thick shoulders and broad upper torso. Something about him was so familiar to her, but she didn’t care enough to think too deeply on it as her focus was more caught on how he was snooping in on her personal case.

“Excuse me, what the hell do you think you’re doing?” She said sharply, expecting to see him jump in surprise at being caught, but he didn’t move a muscle. Instead, she heard a calm, deep voice come from the opposite side of his large body.

“I’m reading.”

The response was simple, but the tone of it made her feel like she was the stupid one for even having asked the question in the first place.

“That’s my laptop,” she said plainly, taken off guard and not knowing how else to react.

“Is it? That’s interesting,” the man sounded bored and Rey thought for a second that he didn’t even seem to be listening to her at all.

“I’m sorry, but can I have my seat back? I was working on an important case.” Rey took a few defiant steps closer, trying to be as brave as she could. Something about this man unnerved her and she was suddenly very aware that she was alone with a stranger in an almost completely empty and dark room.

“I can see that,” he said, reaching a hand up to his face and rubbing his chin, “you’ve missed something important in your report though.” He still didn’t turn to her, but his other hand appeared beside him and he wiggled two fingers, motioning for her to come over to him. Rey felt her face heat with anger and embarrassment. How dare this strange man try to correct her on her case. Who did he think he was, anyway?!

Against her better judgement, Rey couldn’t suppress her pride and she realized she had to know what he was talking about. She’d looked over this case for almost an entire week now, and she was sure there was no way she could have missed a thing. It was a pretty cut and dry case, anyway. A man cheated on his fiance and she was suing him, hoping to make him pay for all the money her and her family had already spent on the upcoming wedding.

“What are you talking about?” Rey asked bluntly as she stepped over to the man. She leaned over his shoulder and squinted her eyes in the laptop light, trying to find the discrepancy she was sure was nowhere to be found.

“Right here,” the man’s deep voice was directly in her ear and she could feel his hot breath on her neck, instantly sending shivers down her spine, “the report says that your client’s ex-fiance cheated on her with another woman. That’s a lie.”

“No it’s not, the evidence proved that he was seeing another woman while they were together, and one of the witnesses all but admitted to being his mistress. It’s a cut and dry case.”

“Except that he wasn’t seeing another woman. He was seeing three.”

“Excuse me?!” The accusation was so outrageous that Rey had to turn and give the man the most incredulous look, and when their eyes met, she suddenly remembered where she had seen him before. The scene from that morning in the coffee shop played in her mind like a rerun of a bad TV show. Her breath hitched in her throat as he stared back at her with a wry smile on his lips.

“The sample of hair they found on his suit coat the night of the supposed affair is blonde. The color of your witnesses hair is a muted brunette,” he began to explain his reasonings, never breaking eye contact with Rey while she stared dumbfoundedly back at him.

“That’s only two women. You said there were three.” She stood up straight and looked down on the dark haired man who leaned back further into his seat to keep her gaze. She knew her response was weak, suddenly doubting everything she thought she knew about this case and hating herself for missing something so obvious as that. But she was still determined not to let this stranger get the better of her.

The man’s smile faded and he moved from his seat, slowly getting up. It seemed to take him an impossibly long time to rise, but when he stretched to his full height, he towered at least a good foot above her. He looked down at her with little interest in his eyes, as if he had just gotten bored of their conversation and was bothered by her presence.

Suddenly, he was leaning in towards her and Rey’s hand instinctively grabbed the pepper spray she carried in her jacket, but the man reached past her and pulled over a plastic baggy full of evidence. Rey’s breathing was heavy with a mixture of fury and fear as he grabbed the bag and pulled it towards him.

“The perfume found in his car is an original vintage bottle of Versace made in 1983. There are only a few of these rare finds left and their price runs around one thousand dollars a pop. Judging from the size of the pocket books on both of the ladies he was seeing, neither of them could afford such a luxury. Which of course suggests that he had another, more prominent and wealthy woman on his hands.”

Rey swallowed hard and tried to keep her expression as blank as she could, but he was making too much and too little sense at the same time, and her head was spinning with confusion. Who did this arrogant bastard think he was to come in here and completely destroy her work like this?

“Not to mention, I happen to know the lovely lady who owns this particular bottle,” his fingers traced the side of the bag and he looked at it with such a perverse smile that it made Rey’s stomach turn, “She can be very… persuasive when she wants something. Her father, who owns a tenth of the real estate in upper Manhattan, will do everything he can to fight the scandal. Which means new, expensive lawyers on the defendants side and probably a lot of shaddy underground work to get him out scotch free. I have a feeling your client isn’t going to get the money, if anything, as easily as she thought.”

The silence that followed was excruciating. Rey was shocked by the revelation and the ridiculous outcome of this case she had been working her life away on. There was no way that they could have hidden this from her, was there? Her mind raced with all the possibilities that this could mean and she scrambled to find a way, any way, to turn this back in her client's favor. Could she beg for a settlement and at least get some money to the poor, mistreated woman? Or maybe she could convince the judge that this was a gross misuse of trust and blame emotional manipulation? There had to be something, anything...

“Or,” the low drawl of the man’s voice as he drew out the word snapped Rey out of her spiral. His black eyes glittered once again with something she couldn’t place and the corner of his mouth twitched up in a cocky smile as he wiggled the evidence in his hand, “this could just be a regular old department store perfume bottle and I was simply fucking with you.”

Another silence filled the room and Rey found she couldn’t breathe again. What… the… hell had he just said?

“I-I’m sorry, what?” She hissed her question and the smile on the man’s face grew wider.

“That was fun, sweetheart,” his condescending words made Rey’s blood boil, “let’s do this again sometime. When I need comic relief in this shithole of a job, I’ll look for you.” He stretched his arms behind his neck and sauntered around her, making his way out of the room. He stopped in the doorway and turned over his shoulder to give her a taunting wink.

“See you around.”

*to be continued*

[scav-eng-er]

“If Nothing Else, We Have This.” TROS Alternate Ending Part 2/?

okay..so I’m very tired and literally re-wrote the beginning so many times and I’m very tired lol (it’s almost 1 am) But here is the second part of my Alternate TROS Ending! I have an outline for part 3 already and MY REYLO HEART IS SCREAMING. Please be aware that I tried to give Leia the best of the best, so if there is something you guys think I could edit, please let me know. I really hope you guys like this and I am sending hugs and kisses to @reylo-trash-4ever and @mojona1999 because you two are my sweet reylomates and beans and ily <3.

Update: Im so sorry i forgot the first part if anyone needs the link lol sorry im a wreck. 

Part 1:  https://scav-eng-er.tumblr.com/post/190171393259/if-nothing-else-we-have-this-tros-alternate

“Any news from Poe and his team?” 

“Nothing yet General.” 

A wave of worry flushed over General Organa as she watched the makeshift screen blink rapidly. Tiny dots, indicating Poe’s X-wing and the rest of his ships, hovered around the grid, pinpointing their locations out in the battle. Occasionally, a red dot would disappear and across the base, another screen with the profile of the pilot would burn red with large letters titled: Connection failed. The chaos ensued back at the main base and was just as hectic as the actual battlefield. Commands were announced or yelled through holo-coms and com-links while groups from the skies and land asked what the next plan of attack was. More pilots ran around the princess, prepping their fuel tanks and testing their blasters, oblivious to see the exhaustion in her eyes. Technicians gave last minute check-ups on weapons and hurried back  and forth along the forest floor. Lieutenant Connix continued to give orders, her brows furrowed, her eyes flickering back and forth between the many screens. Leia sensed it, both sides were tired. The resistance were on their knees, using their last push of hope to try and defeat Palpatine. But she also sensed doubt in the First Order. In Ben. 

He was confused, hurt and torn. Pulled in different directions. This unknowing in him had already impacted the First Order and their so-called impenetrable power. When she felt him begin to question everything, just a few hours ago, she had finally felt more hope spark in her heart. She felt the heat of his saber as it impaled her son, Rey didn’t miss. Her heart soared when the refreshing feeling of Rey’s life force healed Ben’s wound. Yes, there was still hope. But was it enough?

Would this be enough to finally end it all? 

A sudden pain erupted from Leia’s chest. Sucking in a gasp, she quietly sat on a boulder, hiding her pain from scurrying pilots as they prepped for another take-off, soon to assist wounded comrades at Exegol. Her body was cold, and she felt weak, defeated…dead. Something had happened to Ben, her Ben. Her hand shook as she covered her mouth to prevent the whimpers of her sobs escape. Blinking back tears, and with the last reasonable idea she could think of, she reached out. Out to the one person she knew could help.

“Luke.” She whispered. 

He appeared to her, glowing brighter in the sun. His transparency, in no way hid his happiness to see his sister, aged with time from living her life. Even after all these years, Luke could see how youthful Leia was, her smile was timeless and her strength spanned generations. It inspired those who were now part of the resistance. He had told himself a million times how he wished she had continued her studies. Perhaps the galaxy would’ve turned out different, less pain, less hate. She would’ve saved Ben before Palpatine had even tried to touch him, preventing the world from becoming what it was now.

Yet, here they were, on the precipice of an ending war. The battle happening galaxies away that would determine the outcome of their family, resting on the shoulders of his nephew, her son. 

“It’s time.” Leia stated, her voice calm and strong despite the streaks of tears down her rosy cheeks. She was prepared, ready for this day. Luke sensed it too. He knew just how far a mother would go to save her son. He said nothing, but kneeled down and like so many times before, placed a sweet kiss on his sister’s forehead. Leia closed her eyes, not seeing the few tears making their way down Luke’s cheeks. 

And just as quiet as he arrived, he was gone. 

For the first time, in a very long time, Leia felt at peace. She stood up, no pain in her heart, no worries on her mind. The princess gazed at the base around her. Everything moved in slow motion. The sounds of people and engines droned out. Leia took a step into the sun. It was warm against her skin, as she remembered her life. 

Han, her loving, brave, handsome, and annoyingly-arrogant husband. He had filled her life with laughs, tears and love as they stuck together. He was at peace, she knew that. He had never been upset with Ben, he just missed his son. Their son.

Ben. Her only child who was caught in something so much greater than him. He was used and played with, torn and pulled apart until there was nothing left. Leia knew deep down, her baby Ben was there, waiting. The same Ben who wanted to be a Jedi, who wanted to come with her to meetings and visit as many galaxies as he could. The biggest thing Leia missed was how much he needed her. Ben would never admit to how many times he crawled into her bed after a nightmare, or how he pretended to not miss her when she was away. As a teenager, she saw him pull away, trying to be tough, and hide how scared he was, or that he needed help. She could never forgive herself for ignoring how he practically begged for her in his eyes, as the cold, grimy hands of the Dark Side gripped him by the shoulders. But now, Leia felt like she could still save her son, from everything. She could prove to him how much she loved him. 

She loved how much Ben needed his mother as a child, and now he needed her more than ever. The general’s world went black as she collapsed to the forest floor.

~~~~

Rey played with the hem of Ben’s shirt, the fabric wet with sweat, dirt and blood. He smelled like earth, and Rey realized she had never been this close to know that he smelled so..intoxicating. Every breath she took was so soothing, she couldn’t help but lean in closer. Ben’s eyes never left her, and Rey’s cheeks reddened at how beautiful he made her feel. The comfort in his arms was new, yet felt so familiar that she never wanted to leave. His thumb circled her arm as he held her, and goosebumps scattered down her body.

“So..long..” Rey mumbled, annoyed by how long they had tried to cover it up, or deny just how powerful their feelings for each other really were. This..connection was created before either of them were even born. This attachment and need to be near each other, to be together finally had an explanation behind it. Rey believed this would be the one and only thing she could actually thank their grandparents for. The two mens intertwined fates had curled and twisted. Hate, deceit, years of pain and darkness came to an end with her and Ben, here and now. So yes, she could thank them, for giving her Ben. 

Ben hummed in agreement, “Who knew we could be so..” he trailed off.

“Dumb?” Rey stated.

“I was going to say stubborn!” Ben couldn’t help but laugh, before engulfing her lips once again. Every time Ben kissed her, Rey felt like a bad memory was wiped away. Bit by bit, she was losing more details about her life of Jakku. She already couldn’t remember some scars she got as a child, or the names of rival scavengers who occasionally tried to gang up on her. It felt like he was taking away her pain and grief, replacing it with passionate kisses and featherlight touches she hoped she would never forget. 

They held each other for a few more moments in sweet, silent bliss before Rey interrupted with the lingering statement.

“We have to go back.” 

Ben sighed, “Or we could go…just…leave.” 

There was nothing more Ben wanted to then to just be with Rey. They could anything or nothing and he would be happy. If she wanted to boss him around on the falcon? He would do it without hesitation. If she wanted to settle in the greenest galaxy and continue her training? He would make her stronger than him. 

But the resistance? He would not just be away from Rey, but behind bars, in chains, with every other soul on the planet, maybe the galaxy, wanting him dead. 

“Ben,” She sounded serious, though her voice was quiet. “We’ll figure something out.” She continued to play with his hair. The black, damp curls twisted in her finger and she wondered what he would look like with braids. 

“Leia will help us, reduce your sentence. Banishment to another planet is better than life imprisonment right?” 

Hearing his mother’s name made his heart sink. Could she even look him in the eye? Would she cry? Scream at him? Forgive him? Ben had hurt her so much, he would understand however she reacted. He undoubtedly deserved it. Even so, he wanted to see her, to hear her voice. He pulled Rey’s hand to his lips, giving a heartfelt kiss before nodding.

Her heart beat rapidly in hope. Ben was going home. He was going to see his mother, going to see Chewie…but he would also see the resistance, including Finn, Poe and Rose. Rey didn’t care. She would do anything to prove just how alive Ben Solo was, with the pieces of Kylo Ren dying long ago. 

“Just..no matter what happens, you’ll come back to me right?” He mumbled into her fingers, almost afraid to let go. 

Rey smiled so hard, she could almost laugh. She stood up and pulled him with her, her hands never letting go. Even as he towered over her, he looked worried, his eyes trailing up and down her body, making sure she was still alright, still alive. Rey pulled his attention to her warm eyes.

“Nothing could keep me away. Not even death.” She declared. Standing on her toes, Rey wrapped her arms around Ben as she pulled him to her lips. He felt comfort in her embrace, like she would truly never leave him. Even when he would eventually be pulled from her grasp and thrown in a cell, he knew she would fight for him as hard as she could. They would be separated, of course, by distance, guards, and maybe even Leia. But he could wait, he had been waiting for her his whole life anyway. So many had passed through his life in fleeting increments, he could hardly remember any faces, knowing they would all be there one moment, and gone the next. Rey was solid, sturdy, and there for him, with him. At the end of all this, Ben finally felt like he could belong somewhere, in her arms. 

The two pulled apart when the noise of battle erupted the from the skies and shook the ground beneath their feet. They ran back to the surface, forgetting the pain they had just endured, ready to take on the next adventure together. 

Rey burst through the stars in the X-wing, Ben seated behind her. They danced among the falling debris as it crashed back onto Exegol. He watched as Palpatines undead fleet fell, returning to their graves. Feeling his darkness fall with them, a small smile grew as he said goodbye to the shadows that had trapped him in. Feeling light as a feather, Ben settled into his seat. His eyelids were heavy, and he suddenly felt so tired that he just couldn’t stay awake. As he felt himself drift to sleep, he could vaguely hear the voices and shouts from Rey’s helmet comlink, screams of victory as everyone announced the First Order had officially fallen. 

[magicbat]

A Mortal Engines Review/Outrage

Here thar be spoilers.

When I saw that Mortal Engines was finally getting a film, I was super excited. I finished the last book 7 years ago and always thought they had great cinematic potential. The film has finally come and, while as a standalone film it’s fun - and don’t get me wrong, visually gorgeous, basically exactly what I imagined it would look like - it doesn’t do the books justice. Like, at all.

I understand that there’s only so much time in a film and there is a lot that happens in the books, so naturally some things were cut or changed - things that immediately spring to mind:

the fairly natural introduction of Bevis Pod at a more audience-appropriate time so that he’s actually a character of reasonable significance when his time in the spotlight comes.

The removal of Chrysler Peevey - the pirates are a fun diversion but don’t contribute a huge amount overall to the plot at large I guess.

Less time spent in Batmunkh Gompa (erroneously referred by characters in the film as Shan Guo even though that refers to the land BEYOND the wall and it appears on a MAP in the film as Batmunkh Gompa so???????)

Equally, some things of real consequence were cut or changed to the significant detriment of the film:

Magnus Chrome being completely sidelined as a villain and all of his maniacal power being transferred to Thaddeus Valentine. Chrome instead just kind of appears and is ineffectual for two scenes, when actually he’s meant to be a key message carrier for the book - weapons of mass destruction are a BAD idea and you shouldn’t play with forces you don’t understand.

Continuing with the role swap of Magnus and Thaddeus, Thaddeus was absolutely a villain in the books but he was a bit more sympathetic. The one thing that the film DID get right is that Thaddeus was ambitious - but mostly because he wanted the best for Kate, not because he actually particularly cared about London. He was an out-country scav who had something that Chrome wanted (also touched on in the film), which afforded him the life of luxury he never could have had otherwise. He had a charade to keep up that got well out of hand.

Literally everyone hating Tom on Airhaven for being a Londoner. Yes, there are some people who are suspicious of him, but aeronauts are the driving neutral trade force of the world. Captain Kora is a warm and friendly man AND an anti-tractionist - the whole point of it all was to give Tom a reason to question Municipal Darwinism and challenge his convictions and stereotypes that AT’s are vicious and savage.

And then, there’s the absolutely unforgivable sins...

The extent to which London survives. London is meant to be obliterated by the meltdown of Medusa, taking the vast majority of its population with it. Chrome and Thaddeus are meant to be two sides of the same coin when it comes to facing their demise as a result of their hubris - Chrome weeping that he “only wanted to make London strong,” and Thaddeus clutching his dead daughter, the one thing he wanted to keep safe, watching the Jenny Haniver fly away with his other daughter, the one he treated so badly, and coming to terms with the fact that he did some pretty shitty things and that, really, a lot of this was his fault. And then dying in a fire. London was meant to be absolutely obliterated by MEDUSA and its survivors were meant to learn from its mistakes. More on the absolutely nuking of the series later though...

K-Division. This is meant to epitomise the degree to which Chrome’s reign had gone absolutely batshit. The creation of stalkers from Deep Gut prisoners was meant to be absolutely abhorrent and show how totalitarian and authoritarian Chrome’s madness for power had become. And speaking of K-Division and stalkers...

Shrike. Oh my God, Shrike. So, fair play to Jackson et al. - Shrike looks and feels absolutely fantastic in the film. He is terrifying, utterly unstoppable (but is apparently weak to a boot to the chest? More on that in a sec...) and exactly as uncanny as he is supposed to be. Also his war-shriek? Terrifying. Kudos there. But his characterisation is soooooo lacking and flawed. Shrike was meant to be an aged relic, relatively harmless unless you got in his way, to the point that he actually lived on a settlement. He helped out, didn’t need food and generally kept to himself, so what was the problem with him being there? While he was distinctly no longer human, he was, to a degree, able to think rationally - and the film does, I will concede, do a reasonable job of showing that it is specifically his dangerous obsession and confusion around Hester that activates the insane killing machine part of his head. Ok, sure, in the film he has his own little microtown and he takes Hester on board, exactly like he’s meant to, and they did a good job of showing how something deep within him is stirred by Hester’s ‘brokenness’ and his latent memories of his own child. But here’s the real problem I have, back to that point on the chest-boot - I was so incredibly disappointed to have Shrike die half way through the film? He’s the fucking NARRATOR of the ENTIRE SERIES! He survives THOUSANDS OF YEARS, experiencing and relaying emotion in a way that is so brilliantly uncanny and murderous and complex that... anyway. They done fucked up Shrike by having him be a metal Freddie Kruger for about half of the film and then suddenly and inexplicably having Anna Fang kill him with a This Is Sparta kick. Absolutely ridiculous.

Oh, but Shrike’s leitmotif? Brilliant. Absolutely terrifying musical queue. Good job on that one.

And last of all...

Hester. You knew this was coming. What have they done to you, Hester? First of all, ok, maybe it was difficult to give her a literally disfiguring face scar. But she is meant to be literally broken. She’s meant to have a crooked smile and one eye permanently locked in a scowl. I told myself that it was fine and that they only changed that to make Hester a bit more relatable and main-character material. It was a long shot and a vain hope but hey, I hoped to be proved wrong.

Hester is meant to be an insecure, selfish, murderous and wild girl. And they did a reasonable job of showing this at the very beginning of the film. They even included the bit where she robs Tom! Nice! But then they make her far too nice far too quickly in the subsequent sequences. And Tom doesn’t even like her all that much to begin with! More importantly though, Tom and Hester’s relationship develops much more organically in the books. Again, screen time, yada yada, but there’s so much important stuff! Hester’s desire for revenge is so strong that she sabotages so much just to get even an inch closer to Valentine, which really pisses Tom off when he’s trying to show her what is, to him, a more reasoned point of view. Hester has no qualms with killing - Tom does. In fact, unless I’m much mistaken, Tom scarcely raises a hand to anyone. Ever. In fact, one of the main things that happens is him getting shot and developing a heart condition as a result. Tom is absolutely a pacifist, give-peace-a-chance kind of guy, who may fantasise in the same way that many young people do about going on grand adventures, but never actually WANTS to kill anyone. Part of his arc with Hester is that, while he disagrees with a lot of the things she does, he never stops trying to see the good and shows her humanity and compassion. Again, Batmunkh Gompa was glossed over, but Tom is meant to buy Hester a new scarf, showing acceptance of her insecurities and empathy, if not agreement, with her situation.

All of this is for the sake of making Hester a bland dull tough girl Katniss Everdeen young adult protag. She is not a hero. She is not a good person. She is deeply flawed and scarred and traumatised... but she’s still human! As valentine is trying desperately to save Kate, Hester comes to help, and the book highlights how confusing this is for her!! I could go on and on about how the main characters of the book are so badly butchered by the entire thing but I’m acutely aware of how long this post is already.

So that’s my verdict. It’s a fun film. It’s a good watch. But honestly, as a huge fan of the books, it’s left a sour taste. The ending even conveniently ties everything up in a half-arsed bow that destroys the entire overarching plot of the series through to the 4th book. I suspect that they had so little faith in the committee-approved screwup of a script that they made sure there was no precedent for a sequel.

[reylofanfictionanthology]

More Than Love: the 2018 Reylo Fanfiction Anthology Gift Fic Exchange Treats Masterpost Part Two

The More Than Love collection on AO3 | Master Post Part One on Tumblr | Master Post Part Two on Tumblr | Treats Part One on Tumblr

Tryst by Anonymous for paynesgrey

Kira Ren isn't ready to die, not when her handsome smuggler finds her among the rubble and promises to save her life.(It started out as a tryst, how did it end up like this? It was only a tryst, it was only a tryst!)

Something New by Anonymous for NaniKoreFeller

Rey and Ben wake up together, on the cusp of something new.

Carnivore by Anonymous for TearoomSaloon

“What’s wrong, sweetheart?  The rebels not feeding you enough?”  His thumb brushed across her swollen lower lip.  Rey nipped at the tip, unable to resist.  Ben chuckled.  “My poor Rey.  You finally escape starvation on that Maker-forsaken planet only to end up right back in its clutches.” His voice was as dark and thick as raw honey, and Rey whined as he moved out of range of her mouth, a teasing smirk curling one side of his lips.  “Don’t worry, little one.  I’ll make sure you’re satisfied.”

Love Ain't Just a Word by Anonymous for paynesgrey and ChromiumHeart

"...Kylo Ren has to be tried as a war criminal in a fair and public trial to give the galaxy the right example. This is true. But also, he is still her son, no matter what she says and I don’t think she could bear the idea of giving the kill order herself. You have to respect this. We do not play the way the First Order plays.” He paused. “But then again, Leia didn’t say exactly how we should treat our prisoner, you know.” This time, there was a little nervousness, a dark undertone in his voice. “As long as he lives, and can be tried, he is in our hands. Yours and mine. And we both owe him a friendly reminder of his hospitality.” Poe’s jaw clenched. Finn felt the sweet taste of revenge surge up in him again. Yes, this was necessary. This was the right thing."

Beloved by Anonymous for SaintHeretical

In the world of Gala, when someone is marked with “The Symbol,” it is said that person has a soulmate in their world.  Once they come together, they can never be parted.  But when the the symbol appears on young Rey of the Scav tribe, connecting her to someone in the Order, she knows she must hide the mark, or she won’t live long enough to know of the love destined to find her.

gravity won't stop us from taking off by Anonymous for thewayofthetrashcompactor

Several years into Breha Solo's post-war exile, her calligraphy lessons with a visiting Rey take an interesting turn.

Echoes of Light by Anonymous for ophvelias

A connection that stretches beyond distance and allegiance, connecting Kylo Ren and Rey as not just enemies but something more.

I'll Love You 'Til My Breathing Stops by Anonymous for merrymegtargaryen

Years after deserting the First Order, Ben Solo wonders if he made the right decision. He doesn’t have to look beyond his bed to find the  answer.

Tapout by Anonymous for anythingtomakeyoustay

With The Resistance gym about to close, Rey decides to put her boxing skills to use making cash in underground fights.Little does she know that this means working with Kylo Ren-- former fighter turned promoter, member of the criminal First Order, and worse, her ex-boyfriend.

By Feel by Anonymous for CoupDeFoudRey

This holiday probably wouldn't be so terrible if she'd ever known what it felt like to be loved. If she believed in it.

lust for life by Anonymous for LarirenShadow

In which Rey doesn't know she's an Omega and Kylo doesn't know he's an Alpha and their first encounter is what they least expected.

in this white wave by Anonymous for meritmut, kimaracretak, politicalmamaduck

In which King Kylo of the Winter Court and Rey of the Summer Court struggle with the past, themselves, and their ferbidden Seelie/Unseelie luuuuuurve. This is actually a story of attraction, the ways we hurt the ones we love and ourselves as we come to terms with who we are and what made us that way, and the complexity of balance.With fairies!

Tug of War by Anonymous for LearaBribage

Forced by his mother to attend a veteran’s peer support meeting, Ben Solo runs into a woman who makes him want to change.

unexpected by Anonymous for mitslits

For many reasons, Rey isn't the typical tribute given to Kylo Ren as emperor. He's perfectly ready to be rid of her, but she's not sure she agrees.

When the Abyss Gazes Back by Anonymous for ChromiumHeart

“Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster. And if you gaze long enough into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you.”

Under the Summer Sky by Anonymous for ursaminors

At midnight on Skywalker Ranch, two camp counselors meet up for one last night together under the stars.

I'd Give Up Forever to Touch You by Anonymous for AstridMyrna

Undercover, Kylo Ren and Rey meet at a bustling cantina just so they can touch each other in person again.

why don't we go somewhere only we know by Anonymous for Applesith

They were the blemish amongst the pure white, huddled together as the planet tried to pull them apart with sub-zero temperatures.

Flickering Light by Anonymous for anythingtomakeyoustay

Rey and Kylo run into each other after TLJ, but this isn't the first time. They deal with the aftermath of their first meeting since the throne room.