#still her take on it is softer. she's the team leader now but she's really pretty lenient aside from the important No Killing rule ofc
Explore tagged Tumblr posts
Text
Between commissions I finally managed to finish this OC set of parent characters! If the looks aren't enough to show you who their kid is, the background colors match them ^_^ but of course more details below!
Name: Thuban
Name origin: The former pole star, before the north star (Polaris), it's name means "Large snake" and is referred to as the “Dragon's tail”
Pronouns: He/him
Age: N/A
Relation: Raised Polaris, though they're not related by blood and have a somewhat distant relationship, until he suddenly went MIA
Weapon: Spear (Same as Polaris's)
Ethos (Power): N/A
Flaw power is based on: N/A
Notes: Make no phallic jokes about the large snake thing and you'll be rewarded
Name: Ananke
Name origin: A moon of Jupiter, named for the mythological spirit of necessity, inevitably, and compulsion
Pronouns: She/her
Age: -
Relation: Bella's mother, she raised her to be a warrior
Weapon: Bardiche
Ethos (Power): Indomination (The ability to freeze the movement of objects and people, and lock them in place)
Flaw power is based on: Her strict enforcement of obedience through authoritarianism, and a lack of concern for the wishes of others
Notes: She believes in tough love. It's better in the long run to give your kid strength rather than affection.
Name: Rhea
Name origin: A moon of Saturn named after the Titan known as the mother of the gods
Pronouns: She/her
Age: 38
Relation: Saiph's mother, though she gave him up to the guild when he was very young
Weapon: None
Ethos (Power): None
Flaw power is based on: N/A
Notes: Was unable to take care of a baby at the time, and gave Saiph to the guild. She wishes she'd visited beyond that but it's probably too late now...
Name: Arche
Name origin: One of Jupiter's moons, it's name comes from the muse of new beginnings and is associated with springtime
Pronouns: He/him
Age: 7
Relation: Saiph's half-brother. Neither currently knows the other exists
Weapon: None
Ethos (Power): None
Flaw power is based on: N/A
Notes: He's just a little guy. He likes flowers and playing with toys. He wants to be a cool hero like his dad
Name: Poerava
Name origin: A star in Tucana, the Maori word for a black pearl of mystical beauty and perfection
Pronouns: She/her
Age: -
Relation: Al's mom. She mostly raised him on her own while her husband was with the knights.
Weapon: None
Ethos (Power): None
Flaw power is based on: N/A
Notes: Probably the best parent of the bunch if we're being real.
#Finn's ocs#Finn's art#oc references#i wrote the descs while w the kids so hopefully they make sense. my attention was split#but anyway here in the tags I'll talk about the designs in relation to their kids lol#polaris is emulating thuban moreso than anyone else. her color scheme and outfit motifs are the same as his- they ARE his#her original outfit is clothes she took and diy'd into her own so she could go off into the world and well presumably look for him at first#the truth is she always wanted to see the world that's why she loved maps. in a way this was an excuse. in another way she was just lonely#but doesn't understand loneliness. also the fact that she's not his daughter by blood is part of that#bc of her actual parents (not as relevant character-wise) she sees all relationships as temporary and she has issues connecting#ananke i wanted to mostly look intimidating in a way that Bella really isn't#Bella puts on skull hairties and fishnets and stuff but she's very much. a cute softie trying to look edgy. she has pink twintails#she's so different from her mom in pretty much every way but she still did have that ideal of strength drilled into her#still her take on it is softer. she's the team leader now but she's really pretty lenient aside from the important No Killing rule ofc#w Rhea and Arche i had a bit of a flower theme. pussywillow (lol) means motherhood and buttercups mean childishness#so. mother and child#but rhea is interesting bc she's raising a whole different kid now that she's in a different place in life#if you do the math she had Saiph young. and it was alright for a while until his dad (again not as important) died#so she didn't have support or money. but she had a connection to the guild because his dad's old sword teacher is a member (hmm)#but she was too scared/ashamed to visit. she just left him his dad's old knife because that's all she had (THE KNIFE IS IMPORTANT)#arche is her kid with her second husband and her new beginning. this will cause some inner problems for Saiph when he meets them...#Poerava was kinda designed to have rich lady vibes because remember Al's family is practically nobility#but more importantly she's designed to look like a mom. with the low ponytail and tired eyes#the black pearl of her namesake as the centerpiece of her outfit too#again she's got the healthiest relationship with her kid here by a longshot#but i mean don't worry Al still got the daddy issues so he's not getting away unscathed#I already drew Taurus with the zodiac knights though so i didn't feel the need to reintroduce him#anyway Mira really has 0 connection to any family at all she was found as an orphaned baby after a monster attack#obviously she had parents but beyond town of origin it's unknown who so she has no connections to any sort of past parental figure#the guild is her one and only family and that's how she wants it. she wants to be with them forever the past doesn't matter
40 notes
·
View notes
Text
Just look at this little angel! I'm so happy for her and for the life she's going to have! She WILL grow up with loving and happily parents, something I did not have, and while she doesn't know how important that is, maybe someday she will.
But this morning I'm in such a good mood that its a banana pancakes kind of morning, and when you make banana pancakes they have to be made with a bit of extra excitement! It's always good to start the day on a high note and right now, I've definitely hit another milestone in my life. Honestly, I can't really imagine things being much better than they are right now.
"So, any regrets?" I ask Pascal as he comes down for breakfast, the aroma of pancakes always brings him to breakfast a little earlier than usual. I am also of course asking about the proposal because it did come out of no where, I hope it wasn't some impulsive thing.
"Why would I? I feel like, you and I, are really just scratching the surface," he settles into his seat and starts to dig into his plate. That means he has nothing more to add. He's simple and always to the point, it takes some getting used to, but I like that about him and he's right. We have not spent too much time together so I feel like there is always this potential for more with us.
"I did expect a proposal to be more hmmmm....in a more remote location than a regular park," I am teasing of course. I've come from the very bottom of the bottom and love, for me, has been fleeting and non-existent.
"Oh, were you expecting on the shore of a Sulani beach or-"
"Yes, yes, something like that!" I throw up my hands mockingly. "A girl can dream right?
He chuckles but his tone turns a bit softer, letting me know that he thought about doing something more. "I would have but...the baby, the time of year, and I really just felt like...why wait? I wanted to make a commitment to you since you've made a commitment to me, it only seemed fair."
"Y-yeah..." I'm happy he said that but...I don't know. I want it to feel like more than a commitment, I want just a little more romance, something that would make a good story to tell to Flora one day. Still, I know not to take things for granted and there is a wedding ahead of us, that certainly will be memorable and Flora will be able to witness it even if she won't fully understand it now.
I'd talk more about romance but I'm tired. That's what waking up to a wailing baby at 3 a.m. will do to you and when you are as exhausted as I am a couch looks as good as any bed. I'll take the naps I can get!
And if you are wondering why Pascal is standing in front of a mirror half naked its because he's been working on his charisma. He says that while he feels like no one can touch him on the field he worries that the team isn't always on his side. He wants to be a better leader, basically, and I guess that means he has to practice his charisma in the mirror? I won't argue with it!
I do eventually wake up because I can't sleep the day away and right as I do, or a little after waking up, I get a message from my friends! Rather one from from Marjorie who I've not seen in a little white. She wants to meet at the gym of course and that sounds like a good idea to me.
And don't worry about Flora, Pascal will be on baby duty for the night! I know she goes easy on him so I'm sure it'll be a nice and calm night for these two.
When I get to the gym I find that Marj and Sara are already into it. They offer me a few hellos but are too focused to do much of anything else and so I settle in behind them and do some light stretching myself. There is something calming about yoga although it can be very physically straining. Yeah, it doesn't look like it is but trust me, you'll be stretching muscles you never knew you even had. I do admit that I'm still not very good at it.
After the yoga we of course have to catch up which is mostly Marjorie asking me questions about motherhood. She seems really curious about it and really I'm happy to talk about Flora every chance I can get.
"We really should come over and see her this weekend!" Marjorie says and her face lights up at the idea of it. I'd love it too! I'd like to see how Flora reacts to strangers as well.
"Yes yes! Chu know, I work from home so any time is a very good time," I tell her. How is my Simlish? I've been feeling pretty confident with it lately!
"Sounds like a plan then!" Marjorie decides.
"No no no, that won't happen!" Sara suddenly jumps in. "She has a new guy that's been taking up all of her time," and just like Sara she's ready to gossip, a teasing grin on her face.
"Oh?" this is new to me, I guess I don't keep up that much with Marjorie, at least not recently. I've had a lot going on!
"Yes, really. What's his name again?" Sara asks, leaning into the desk, forcing Marjorie to answer.
"Ummm, Marcus," Marjorie admits with some hesitation. "Yes, it's Marcus."
"Yeah, Marcus," Sara is happy to confirm. "That's his name. You should see him too, he's definitely her type," Sara adds a little comfy, enjoying herself now. She's always been this way, a little nosy, especially when it comes to relationship gossip. Kind of funny considering how little I know about her own secret boyfriend.
"He's really not all that Sara," Marjorie tries to downplay it but I feel like it's a little too late. Sara has latched on and I can't help but laugh, which gets Sara attention over to me.
"Oh, trust me, you'll know what I mean when you see him," Sara continues, having taken full control of the conversation. This is usually when I have to jump into it and kind of pull her out of this mode or else poor Marjorie will always be on the defensive.
"So you meet him already?" I feel soo out of the loop!
"Mmhmm," Sara hums. "Well, he's always here at the gym, I think he works here, doesn't he, Marj?"
"Yes, he's a trainer here!" Marjorie says with pride which is no surprise to me, she's always been into her fitness.
"Yeah, he's something else too," the curl of Sara's lips tells me that isn't a good thing.
"He's a little intense to be sure," Marjorie jumps back in. "I mean..."
"I know the meaning," I come to her defense because I know how Sara can get. "Just that kind of man, very intense? Pascal is like this and I stay out of his way when he is," my simlish is not that well still but they do understand what I mean.
"No," Sara continues. "You don't get it he's-"
But she stops since apparently he's right behind me and taking the empty chair right next to me.
"Ah, so you're the girl that Pascal dates?" he says, taking a good look at me, one that makes me feel a little uncomfortable. I almost wanted to correct him, I'm the girl that Pascal will marry, but I guess that would be news to Sara and Marjorie and I don't want to break the news to them in that way. "Hmmmm..."
"What?" I say a little defensively.
"I see why he keeps you private."
I'm looking over to Marjorie, you know the look, correct your guy because I have no idea what that means and I don't know if I want to. She turns her attention towards him. "Marcus, she's just had a baby so-"
"Yeah but you wouldn't use that excuse, would you, Marj?" He says to her and I'm still staring at her, wondering what she could see in this guy.
"N-no, of course not, but it's not an excuse either! She'll get back in shape I'm sure-"
"What?!" I jump back in. "My weight?"
"Ummm, yeah? You're at a gym, honey," he tells me so casually, as if he didn't just insult me. "You're a bit overweight, aren't you? How long ago did you have your baby? I believe that a woman should begin a diet routine in-"
"Chu are not my doctor!"
"No," he continues. "I'm not YOUR doctor, I'm a personal trainer, sweety, and if I were yours you'd actually be in shape and Pascal would not keep you hidden in the house and would show you off a little more."
"Marjorie!" I appeal to her because there is no reasoning with a man like this. I'm now more disappointed with her that she sits there and lets him insult me like this.
"Sorry Frida," she chimes in, a little low. "He makes good points, they are harsh but..."
Meanwhile Sara sat in between all of this, seemingly expectant of this and she has nothing to say now. The look on her face mirrors mines really and only awkwardness can follow.
And then Marcus tells Marjorie he wants to go and she apologizes one last time for his behavior and leaves with him. I'm honestly left a little a shocked and looking at Sara for answers.
"I warned you," is really all Sara could say.
"It's no worries, I've dealt with a lot worse," as you all know...
Frida Varela - Next Episode 10.2
#The Sims#The Sims 4#ts4#Sims#Sims 4#sims legacy#my sims#generation 1#soot#sims of our time#pascal alcocer#florencia alcocer#frida varela#sara chavez#marjorie whipple#marcus lawton
45 notes
·
View notes
Text
Galactik Football season 3 rewatch, eps 19 - 21
Episode 19:
Hush Sharky: I should've picked Mark, nothing exciting will ever happen following Thran!
Is that meta
Well this romance between Mark and Nina-8 is progressing quickly huh
Nina-8 says it's hard for her to trust others hmmmm
And there we have it, an explanation for Ahito's sleepiness – he stores the Breath within himself, which can wear him out. Pretty cool, although it does bring up some questions. Does his dad do that too, since he has the same problem? How did that excess get released before he started playing Galactik Football? Why is he just doing better now I don't think we ever actually covered that in season 2
OK imagine you're chilling having a normal conversation and your friend just does a backflip out of nowhere. I would definitely be reacting like D'jok hahah
Thran: I'm coming with you Clamp! Clamp: No, it's too dangerous!
Thran: But the writers said it's MY turn to have a fun adventure with the pirates!
Thran really said, if the writers aren't gonna give me any interesting sideplots, I'll do it myself! RESPECT.
Artegor (completely deadpan): I am excited. It doesn't show?
HE'S JUST LIKE ME FR FR
Ahito covering for Thran is so cute, of course Thran would let his brother know
Why ARE the Paradisia girls referred to by their numbers?
Huh, this data link thing that the Paradisia players do is pretty cool
This hack for the space port entry code is pretty dumb but it's fine I'll just insert some star trek technobabble here in my mind. Aaaaand done, GO THRAN! And yaaaay Thran the Pirates fan gets approval from the man himself
A rare corner kick!
I don't know anything about football but this goalkeeper goal seems kind of bullshit to me. Like was that necessary?
NOOOOO WARREN :( Barry calling it an end of an era, I guess it's not just the Snow Kids who get that press treatment after losing a match. But the Lightnings haven't been to the finals in three seasons and Warren is probably getting older :(
Team Paradisia slayed though
Awww poor Nina-8 :( Hmm what plan is Nikki-4 talking about, I don't remember much after the Paradisia tournament. I do like the conflict between the two, they may be twins but Nina-8 has a much softer personality than Nikki-4. And with her not being on the team until D'jok left, I wonder if she was already trying to distance herself from them a bit and try to live her own life. Which is pretty symbolic for an identical twin.
Well Mark's love drama has more potential than the love triangles they were doing until now, if only they'd given it more screentime and development
Hush Sharky is kind of underreacting for a journalist who just found out a galaxy-class footballer and his coach are in cahoots with the leader of the pirates
Again, the budget of this show might be low, but they actually have quite a lot of locations and the background art is always really good.
Sonny taking his mask off on Paradisia because he saw some plants sfjkdfssf that was unnecessary, he's so extra! And they're lucky the weather conditions are still perfectly fine for humans.
Episode 20:
I guess Mice Delight is delicious to robots only haha
D'jok Mei and Micro-Ice being besties ahhhh I love it
Mice is playing a delicate game? Since he lied to Zo-leen so he could hide he's going to meet Yuki, what are they implying there?
Oooo 3-2 to the Xenons! The Rykers really gave them a run for their money!
STEVENS INTERVIEW! STEVENS IS GONNA TALK EVERYONE SHUT UP!!
OH THEY FUCKED UP HIS DUB VOICE. NEVER MIND.
But seriously Callie should get a raise for finding them LOL, nice little animation touch of him looking around the whole time he's talking to her. Sir you would be harder to spot if you weren't wearing your football kit. It's ok, yeah I know the animators don't have the budget. Hang in there, buddy
Stevens top scorer in the cup!! It might seem strange with him not having a flux, but it seems reasonable to me considering the Pirate's style of play. They always score at least one goal in their games, and he's pretty much always the one who does it. For other teams, the goal scoring is a bit more shared between different players. Plus it's still early in the cup.
KING. I LOVE THIS INTERACTION. Stevens keeping it real even before the Technoids showed up, I'll say we've had some good Pirates moments this season
Ummmmmmmmmmmmmmmm are they suggesting Micro-Ice is two-timing between Zo-Leen and Yuki? Uuuuuuuuuuuhhhhhhhhhh.................
And since when was Zo-Leen all over Micro-Ice again anyway? She seemed just friendly during the Paradisia tournament
Why is this friendship between Harvey and Lord Phoenix actually kind of cute?
Awwww the Snow Kids are the best Yuki fanclub
These seats at Genesis stadium aren't actually seats, it's more like an amphitheater and they're not very comfortable. No back rest!
I love Stevens's goals, obviously he can't just use the flux to smash it so his style is more technical
ASHDFJSDF in this season you can hear the Pirates celebrating (and also grunting while running?) and it's so silly, they just gave them stereotypical gruff pirate voices
Games between other teams are funny because there will be like. Exactly one new animation in the whole game. Literally everything else is stock footage
This soundtrack slaps by the way
The Pirates goalkeeper's signature head shake lol
Sorry guys I love Yuki I really do but you know who I'm rooting for
The Elektra's flux confuses me, it looks solid enough for them to ride on it?
This season is really just dunking on Barry whenever they can huh, Artegor's laugh and trying to pass it off as nerves SDJFKDFS I LOVE HIM THANK YOU VOICE ACTOR FOR NOT LEAVING
Oooo that water skating trick does look really cool! I like that since season 1, we've seen more creative fluxes
Well as much as I love the Pirates I'm happy for the Elektras, and Yuki! She's come so far from her nervous self in season 2 and I'm so proud of her
TIA SECOND TOP SCORER YESSS!!! I would go back to check if the number of goals is actually correct but I cba
If I had a nickel for every time a romantic breakup has happened this season at the taxi stop with one of the parties telling the other to forget about them, I would have 2 nickels. Which isn't a lot but it's weird that it happened twice.
AND NOW MICE IS HAPPY JUST BECAUSE ZO-LEEN KISSED HIM?? YUKI ALREADY KISSED YOU IN SEASON 2! YOU JUST FORGOT ABOUT HER NOW? YOU DIDN'T EVEN CARE FOR ZO-LEEN This love plot with Mice is so stupid I can't even be bothered to comment on it anymore.
Episode 21:
D'jok seems to be perfectly back to normal and on friendly terms with the others as if nothing happened. Compare to season 2 where Rocket's Netherball stint had consequences and his return was not so smooth!
Ahito you couldn't think of a better excuse for Thran leaving? 😂 I do feel like we could have had a better reason in the story for Thran ending up with the Pirates, it IS a bit weird that he says he has to go on a mission with them but he doesn't actually have a reason to, and this is before the SEMI-FINAL. That's a bit too important to be sneaking off because... you just want to?
I need this screenshot in good quality
I love that Bennett being the hacker guy is a thing that's consistent throughout the season
Lord Phoenix somehow grabbed literally all of them at once sijfsdkdk except Harvey. Fuck robot rights I guess
Warren coaching time! I love how he's always willing to lend a helping hand for these things, whether it's giving D'jok a talk about what's important in season 1, trying to get Rocket out of Netherball in season 2 or helping with training here. What a guy, truly Mr. Galactik Football
Huh, that's an interesting little way to use the Lightning's flux. It's like static electricity keeping them together
sfdkjdsf I would do this too. Actually I do do this to my short friends. I'm also short but they're shorter so I gotta take my wins when I can
Micro-Ice and Tia duo! I love them I wish we saw more of them as a fun pair, they would get up to such hijinks together. Sibling vibes!
Emo Mark hours
Well, you tried Mice. Maybe try to get him to open up about his problem instead of just trying to cheer him up?
Clamp: No, that's not it, it's- Sonny: What is it, Clamp? Say something!
Clamp: BITCH I WAS ABOUT TO BEFORE YOU INTERRUPTED ME
Nice one Brim Simbra, I like that we got to see him actually doing something lol
This dilemma about Adim and Aarch's relationship due to her being league president was never mentioned before, why did they never consider this? Should've built that up earlier instead of that random Artegor plot
Lord Phoenix: Paradisia was such a beautiful planet
Idk man it doesn't look THAT bad right now, the UK looks like that every day
I can't show the video because I used my 1 video per post limit for Stevens talking but there's this super fucking weird segment where Nork says the Elektras-Paradisia match will be the first all female semi-final ever, and Barry dreamily says this is a "fantasy" GFC? And Nork is like "you said it! Team Paradisia...." in this dreamy way again and Callie has to cough and change the subject? Hey what the fuck was that???? This season tried to be more blatant with the girl power messaging but then puts in moments like this?????
YAAAAAAY XENONS TIME
Wait Thran is in this teamup shot? Did he already get back?
Oh I really love this interaction between D'jok and Luur before kickoff – no intimidation dance from the Xenons, just a meaningful handshake between a guy who almost plummeted to his death last season, and the player that saved him. Idk if the writers were intentional with this but if so, it's a really nice example of subtle writing and events of the previous season carrying over.
Wait yeah the Pirates aren't back yet! In which case, Aarch is pretty chill for a coach who is missing a player for A SEMI-FINAL MATCH. Eh I guess at this point he's just given up with these kids
Oh damn Brim Simbra actually died, I like that they went through with that so the explosion on Paradisia had consequences. Could have also opened up some interesting avenues with the new flux society leader in season 4 – maybe he'd want to do things differently?
But it's also kind of hilarious that Brim Simbra's very last action as flux society leader... was to delegate the galaxy saving to Sonny Blackbones yet again LOL
10 notes
·
View notes
Text
Okay but to take a brief break from me only talking about Peet in the Wingfeather Saga show, I really love how they’re foreshadowing things about the kids and showing us key aspects of their personalities in little moments scattered throughout the show. (spoilers if you haven’t seen ssn. 1 episode 5)
Tink is smart and brave but impulsive. He thinks he has a better strategy in the zibzy game and while he does score he overlooks details and ends up costing his team the game- and Sara’s ball. He wants to join the Florid Sword and explore Anklejelly because he thinks it will be fun, but when he gets there and finds out it’s creepy and dangerous instead he wants to go home. He runs into Peet’s treehouse and immediately starts going through the man’s personal things which ends up causing Peet to have one of his fits. He bravely rushes into the jail to rescue Nia and Podo, because he’s right, if they wanted to escape they needed to do it now, they couldn’t wait- but he never once thinks it could be a trap and his impulsivity gets he and his siblings captured, though the dagger he stole from Anklejelly helps them escape. He won’t listen to Janner and take his brother’s advice because he thinks he knows better.
Janner has the planning and detail-oriented mind that Tink lacks but he thinks he knows better and doesn’t try to see his brother’s point of view or work with him- he only tries to stop him, even when Tink’s ideas have merit. He resents having to look after Tink and Leeli all the time- he doesn’t want to be “stuck” with them all Dragon Day, he told Nia and Podo that when Tink went into the jail he “had to follow him” with frustration and resentment in his voice. He’s thoughtful and his knowledge of the forest creatures helps protect him and his siblings when they go to Anklejelly (the squeeblin, knowing that fire attracts the hounds, etc). He has good instincts but doesn’t know how to use them yet. He’s angry that his mother and grandfather have kept secrets from him all his life. He’s not usually impulsive but he’s quick-thinking even in a crisis (locking him and his siblings in the weapon chamber to hide from the hounds, killing Gnorm).
Leeli is kind and compassionate. She’s the softer side of the boys, the quiet, gentle one who reaches out. She sees and understands a lot more than adults realize and she’s intuitive (figuring out Podo and Buzzard Willie’s friendship, understanding Peet and that he’s good even though he’s strange). We haven’t gotten quite as much with Leeli yet, but there’s more to her than this, good things and flaws, but what they’re showing us with her is still very important, I think.
Sara is a leader (she easily and confidently takes charge in zibzy, despite never having been a captain before), and she’s also kind and understanding (she chooses Leeli to be on her team even though Leeli isn’t good because Sara knows how to use Leeli’s strengths. She’s endeared by Janner’s attempts at romance). She notices people and she believes in them and tries hard to find light in the world (she saw the flower on the cliff and thought it was beautiful, she wanted to share it with her friend).
So yeah, this is just all stuff that’s going to be really important later and I think it’s really cool how they’re showing it to us. I’m especially noticing a lot of foreshadowing with Tink and Janner, which makes sense because theirs is the key relationship of the books, and it starts coming into play very quickly in book 2. I also loved what they showed us of Sara even though she wasn’t in the story till book 2 originally. Leeli’s character doesn’t get fully fleshed out till book 4 so I’m guessing that’s why there’s less going on with her.
#the wingfeather saga#the wingfeather saga tv show#wingfeather saga spoilers#janner igiby#tink igiby#leeli igiby#sara cobbler#janner wingfeather#kalmar wingfeather#leeli wingfeather#I love the kids a lot too I just don't talk about them as much because usually what's going on with them is more obvious#and I figure other people are more likely to talk about them#I'm so excited that they're showing us so much of tink being impulsive and janner being resentful#they're setting up season 2 so well
30 notes
·
View notes
Text
So the spouse and I recently finished watching all of the original Captain Scarlet - the one with the puppets and the incredibly high on-screen body count for a "kids' show".
And I tell ya, I have theories. If I can get them into any sort of coherence I'll probably post them, but for starters:
This man is a gay icon and - I'm pretty sure - Lieutenant Green's dad. I will elaborate.
I am aware that Gerry and Sylvia Anderson's stated backstory for Charles Grey (his actual name) is that he's a widower whose wife died possibly in childbirth - but where's the fun in respecting canon?
White is exceptionally Dad-like to the whole Spectrum team; even to the point where, during the penultimate episode*, he pulls Captain Scarlet in during an emotional life and death situation and tells him to get a haircut.
Throughout the entire run, he just gave me the strongest vibe of a very "straight gay (yet catty and sarcastic)" father figure who had seen some shit and thrown hands in the past. Again, referring to his backstory, he was a rebel leader against a tyrannical British government, helping to overthrow it, and then became not only the youngest fleet admiral on record but retired to head up the London branch of the 'Universal Secret Service', becoming a feared spycatcher.
I imagine that under this tyrannical government, a lot of LGBTQ+ rights were repressed, which has led to his particular attitude (as perhaps an artefact of the show being made in the 60s, he really gave me the vibe of someone forced to live in the closet for much of his life, who now doesn't give a fuck).
Speaking of giving a fuck. He's Lieutenant Green's dad. Perhaps this happened during a time of indiscretion after the death of his wife, before he fully came out of the closet, I don't know, he might just be bisexual! But he's definitely Green's dad, and Green doesn't know this.**
I base this theory solely on how overly protective he is of Green, even more so than the rest of Spectrum. He refuses to let Green go into the field except under duress, keeps him literally within eyeshot at all times at the communications desk, and goes far softer on him than his peers.
Incidentally, the show takes place in 2069 of what we can assume to be an alternate history where architects think that a "car park" consisting of one giant spiral concrete entrance/exit looming over London is a good idea - but assuming for a second that the divergence point is still in our future, and that Colonel White is in his fifties during the show, that means he would have been born in the last decade.
And that the UK becomes a fascist dictatorship as if that would ever happen lol ahahaha i made myself sad
Anyway. Yeah. Colonel White is the best character in the show. I'd follow him into certain death against an immortal and unkillable enemy any day of the week.
*This episode is revealed to be All A Dream but I have no reason to believe everyone in it was acting at all out of character.
**I know that in the CGI remake Green is not only gender-flipped but also there's an episode where she has to literally kill her own father, but that's clearly a different universe.
#deafmangoes#captain scarlet#supermarionation#captain scarlet and the mysterons#colonel white#sylvia anderson#gerry anderson
3 notes
·
View notes
Text
"You killed someone that had not only attempted to kill you but caused harm to other, it's justified Dilan, and if any of the council choose to take an issue to it they really don't have grounds for it since it was protection and in a way saving the town from further harm." This was not outright condoning murder but the circumstances had to be taken into consideration, "What they will let me do or won't do should not be a concern of yours right now. I'll admit I have not been a part of the council as long as some of the others, a leader less, but we vote on decisions together." At least she could only hope it would be as a team rather than individual voices raising themselves to the top. "But if you are still feeling like you deserve some kind of sentence, how about I punish you by saying you come back to the court? That way I do get more control in what happens regarding you. I'm not giving up on you."
Though she had expected Dilan to question it, as natural curiosity would have anyone ask, Nyra took a moment longer before responding. The memories were buried deep into her mind, especially not now when she had seen the dead bodies of her family in the nightmare-scape that had been conjured, it was still haunting even after so many years. "My family was involved and so were hunters," she began, "I was around fifteen or sixteen when they were murdered in front of me. My father, real one, got me out in time but we couldn't save my human family. The hunters were after us not them. So I waited, took my time, and..." she trailed off not seeing a need to finish the rest when it could be easily guessed "Revenge was not gratifying." With a low sigh she put that behind her, "I didn't take many lives after that, there was a drowning once but I heard he made it out fine, long dead now though." She shrugged, "I threaten a lot more than I action, which might seem like all bark no bite, but the bite would be a thunder strike which I'm sure people won't want to face." It was simply the nature of the game as she saw it. "From what I've just shared believe that I understand you," her voice was softer now, "I know it's hard and what ifs are a natural part of this, but what does torturing yourself in retaliation achieve? Sometimes it might seem like there is no end, all I can ask from you is to not neglect yourself in the pain you feel, know that there are others that will help you through this, as involved or removed as you want us to be."
─── · 。゚☆: *.☽ .* :☆゚. ───
Listening to Nyra’s words made Dilan hug herself, she wanted to believe that, but a part of her also prayed eventually that this would fade. That she would heal, even though right now it was all she could truly focus on. Tucking her messy hair behind her ear as she finally looked up at Nyra with confusion on her face. “I still murdered a fae though and broke the accords Nyra. They’re going to throw the book at me. Especially considering my past. I mean there’s no way they’ll let you reduce my time.” Dilan didn’t want to get her hopes on the sentence being reduced especially since she’d broken the accords with the dead of Hande.
Snapping her head up at Nyra’s confession, she stared at the other woman while she explained her situation. “Can I ask what happened? That is if you’re willing to share.” She knew some stories were too personal to be shared, that this one she could barely make it through without tears; she didn’t know if she’d ever see the other side of this pain. “I can’t heal from this Nyra. How do you even move on? Cause all I can do is see her dying over and over again.” She cried out, letting the tears fall from her dark eyes and down her cheeks. “I know she was a horrible person, but I still killed her. I wish I hadn’t. Maybe if I had just—“ She didn’t even know what she could do differently.
6 notes
·
View notes
Note
I'm not sure if you ever stated but, where would adult Simba and Nala lie in ship war? I mean it would align well for them to ship Yuu with Leona. But it also wouldn't be a stretch that shipping the human(ish) counterpart of your evil uncle with your new friend is kind of weird so possibly someone else.
So Simba and Nala ship Leona with Yuu. Eventually.
You see, Simba had his reservations when it comes to the younger lion that appeared to be a carbon copy of his nefarious uncle, what with his laziness and the way he'd use his cunning to manipulate and harm others to get his way to the top - all down to the scar over his eyes.
I mean, when he finds out that he was responsible for other students getting hurt and that he was planning to overthrow Malleus similarly to the way his uncle successfully overthrew his father and caused a lot of pain and suffering to his mother, he's not exactly the happiest camper. His protective dad instincts are just telling him to keep Yuu as far away from him as possible. Plus, he doesn't really trust Ruggie - hyenas bring back bad memories and he doesn't trust them at all.
(Listen, Lion King 2 showed that Simba had a lot of PTSD from the childhood trauma Scar inflicted on him, which causes him to act more on emotion than logic at times due to his overprotective nature. Not gonna lie though, dad Simba is adorable and one of my favourite scenes is at the end where he chases after her at the waterfall similarly to how Mufasa tried to rescue him. Like his face was just screaming 'I need to protect my little girl' even though she is a literal grown huntress)
Yuu would have to explain to Simba how Leona is one of her close friends now and he's atoned for what he's done. She's forgiven him so bygones are bygones. And it does take him a while but he sees him interact with Cheka and even though he looks disinterested, there's never any harmful intent and he's clearly just being a grump instead of holding actual resentment or bitter hatred for the young cub. Plus it's clear that he does care about his brother and sister-in-law and that he dislikes what the throne represents instead of the actual king and queen themselves. He sees how gently and kindly Yuu speaks to him and how clearly he cares for her and how he's much softer when he's with her than with anyone else and our Lion King realises that Leona is still young and because of Yuu he won't grow up with hatred and resentment the way Scar did. Unlike his father's murderer, Leona sees his faults and he feels genuine guilt. He does care for others and is an actual good leader who is incredibly respected by his dorm and the spelldrive team he captains. And yeah, he is lazy and he does dump his work onto others whilst he does the bare minimum but when he gives it his all when the time does call for it. He went on the wrong path so did Simba, and like Simba did after Rafiki hit him on the head he's making an effort to fix himself (and Yuu didn't even need a stick).
Plus, he sees the way he behaves when Yuu is around - the way his tail sways in happiness the second he detects her presence or how it would curl against her arm as if to stop her from leaving or how his ears would flatten when he gets flustered or perk up when her footsetps draw near or how he'd softly purr when Yuu threads her fingers through his mane (yes, in my world, lion beastmen refer to their hair as manes) (also, yes, I know lions don't purr but please let me have this). Sorry, Leona but you're not the only predator around here and he gets the feeling that your elevated heartrate has nothing to do with exercise. And if anyone knows a thing or two about a lion in love, he does. For me, his big lightbulb moment of realising that Leona has a thing for Yuu is that he's taking advantage of Yuu's obliviousness to just do lion courting rituals. Like sometimes he'd rub his head against hers or he'd cuddle with her during naps so that his scent is on her or he'd just give her gifts at random times of the day or how he's much more territorial and protective of her. And since he's warmed up to him already, he's going to ship Leona and Yuu with all he can.
Simba: When you go swimming, you should drag her into the water
Leona: Why on earth would I do that?
Nala's just there for a good time. Watching these two silly lions trying to figure out how to court Yuu is prime entertainment. Plus, she can tell that Leona greatly respects her and treats her with high regard by always being polite and courteous in her presence. She likes hearing about the lionesses in his pride and about his sister-in-law.
I've said it before but most of the heroes that fight The Great Seven ship Yuu with the NRC boys at first mainly because they're from their story, which gives them a lot of bragging rights (I swear some of them are just kids). Yes, at first all of them were incredibly skeptical seeing their beloved Yuu with villains when she's so sweet and kind and 'Disney Princess like' but then they see how Yuu stopped them from going down a dark path and because of her, those boys won't become like the villains from their stories. Yeah, they're still a bit twisted but they're also so horribly down bad for her, even the blind can see that they would never allow any harm to come to her.
159 notes
·
View notes
Text
happy at last
levi ackerman x yeager! reader
🪶being the older sister of eren yeager, you made sure that you kept you relationship with a certain captain a secret…. until eren finds out.
- warning: fluff, slight angst, frantic eren, mushy levi. this is really cute that’s all.
(this was not fully proof read because i was tired so if there is anything funny, i’m really sorry!)
“hange, for the last time, i can’t give you medication to test use on titans,” you playfully roll your eyes to the woman and softly punched her side. “i’m so close to a breakthrough! just a little bit. i won’t tell, levi!” hange begged, following you around the medic room like a lost puppy.
“fi-” as soon as you wanted to cave in to the woman, two people walked in, stepping right behind you. “oi, shitty glasses. step pestering y/n for medicine,” levi wedged in between the two of you, flashing his famous glare. erwin opted to stand right behind you instead.
“don’t all three of you need to welcome the new cadets?” you budged in so as to stop levi’s intense glare towards hange.
“yeah but we were thinking of bringing you along. you are part of our team,” erwin spoke. you snorted, adjusting your doctor coat and taking off the gloves you had on. “you guys run the survey corps. i’m just a doctor,”
“a good one at that,” hange flashed a smile, trying to coax you into giving some medicine or substances to test on titans. this immediately earned them a slap on the back of their head by levi.
erwin once again, being peacemaker, pulled hange away from levi and out the infirmary. now it was just you and levi. “i heard your brother’s one of the new cadets,” this got your attention.
after titans demolished the whole of shigansina and.. ate your mom, eren had devoted his life to taking down titans. you were definitely against it at first, not wanting to lose another family member. but he talked you into giving in.
since mikasa and armin were joining to, at least he had someone to shoulder him.
“i’m terrified of what the survey corps will make of him,” you huff, turning to face levi. he moved in closer, wrapping his arms around your waist, pulling you in more. “we’ll make a good soldier out of him, that’s for sure,” you nodded, worry dissipated but still lingering.
you arms were now around his neck and head on his shoulder. it felt nice being around him and being the only person who has ever seen the softer side of him.
levi and you have been together a total of 3 years. in that time, only your parents had known about you relationship with the captain. you made sure eren never found out because he would most definitely break down. as for mikasa, she find out everything somehow.
“my brother’s going to freak when he realises his sibling is dating his captain,” this earned a small chuckle from levi and a peck on your lips. a small peck turned into a small makeout session. “we should get going. can’t keep those cadets waiting,” you pulled away, hands to his jacket and pulling it to make him look proper.
“i love you, y/n,” a small swell of happiness burst in your heart. you will never get enough of hearing him tell you how much he loves you.
“i love you too, levi,”
——
you were standing off to the side, looking at the new cadets who were currently being briefed by the commander. hange was with you while levi was up there with erwin.
“it’s crazy that one day they’ll be taking over us,” you whispered over to hange who were scanning all of them. “they all look so tiny,” you looked over to erwin who was beckoning hange to come up.
“cadets, this will be one of squad leader in the survey corps, hange zoë,” hange had one of the most liveliest introductions. a lot of hand waving, smiles. it was to cheer most of them up.
“last but not least, doctor y/n yeager,” that was your queue to come up. it was fantastic finally see the new cadets up close.
before you could open your mouth, a curious cadets who didn’t mean to shout her thoughts out interrupted you. “are you eren’s sister!” a small brunette girl who immediately clamped her hand on her mouth.
this made you chuckle. it seems your little brother has been getting quite a lot of attention during his time in the training corps.
“yes, i am! i didn’t think it would be that obvious. considering i’m the prettier sibling,” you joked and it got the reaction you wanted to see out of worried kids.
you saw your brother in the crowd casting you an embarrassed stare, hiding his face. you gave him a small nod and he returned a smile. it was good to see eren again.
“but i’m not just eren’s big sister. i’ll be the one patching most of you lots up after every exhibition. so be ready to see this face around,” after a brief and small introduction, you stepped back down so that erwin could debrief them.
levi was with you, pinkie’s intertwined but out of sight from the cadets. “you seem nervous,” levi whispered and you turn slightly. “i’m scared for eren. i don’t know if he’s up for this,”
levi knew how much you loved your brother and how his friends were like your siblings too. it was already hard loosing both your parents that you wanted to protect eren as much as you could.
“don’t worry, love. if it makes you any better, he’ll be with me,” you let out a small giggle that had attracted some attention. erwin lifted his eyebrow and smiled. “something funny, doctor?” erwin teased like a dad sometimes. your face heated up and you shook your head. “n-nothing, commander!” you hid your head and felt levi shake.
you turn to see him trying to hide a chuckle. “are you kidding me? i’m suffering and you’re laughing?” levi put on his stoic face again. “you’re too cute,” a smile slipped on your face once again and you turn to face the cadets.
only to find your brother staring at you. he was trying to piece together whatever is happening. you motioned him to pay attention to the commander in front of him.
“it seems your brother might be much smarter than i thought,” levi teased, unlinking your pinkie’s and walking off. you can’t believe he left you here to deal with the problem which is your brother finding out.
“are you kidding me?” you muttered to yourself, walking towards your brother and his group of friends.
“y/n! it’s good to see you again!” armin went in for a hug and mikasa opted for a head pat. eren looked as if he was trying to piece together things.
“it’s good to see you all of you too. looks like commander shadis made something out of you three,”
a few other new cadets had walked over to you. one being the girl who asked you if you were related to eren.
“this jean, connie and sasha!” armin happily introduced you to them. jean and connie seemed to be awestruck from the expression on their faces. “eren do you need a brother in law?” the jean kid implied which earned his a jab by mikasa.
“she’s taken, idiot,” mikasa lowly said to jean.
“you’re taken?! by who? why wasn’t i informed? who’s the guy? how does mikasa know and i don’t?!” eren burst out in question which was quite uncharacteristic of him. you nervously laughed trying to get out of the situation but instead you bumped into a wall.
a wall that has its arms wrapped around yours.
“training starts soon, brats. you should stop wasting time chit chatting,” you swore you saw eren’s eyes twitch as his eyes trailed to levi’s arms. his mouth hung open.
“c’mon, eren. please,” armin coaxed the boy into following him. “we will have a chat about this,” was all eren said before walking off.
“that’s was.. something,” you turn to see levi smirking. instinctively, you start smacking and punching his chest until he let go. a smile reached his usually monotonous face.
“this is serious! eren’s probably in full freakout mode. and it doesn’t help that you’re his captain!” you felt levi pull you around a wall where you were away from the others.
levi pulled you into a hug while you pouted. his soft lips reached your forehead and you leaned in more.
“everything’s gonna be fine. eren will come around just like your parents,” you meekly nodded and sighed. you wished everyday was like this. you and levi.
but titans just had to put themselves in between everything.
“you should get back to the medic room before hange steals things again,” your head shot up. that’s why some of your items were going missing and popping up and random times.
“i love you, levi,”
“i love you too,” you walked away first but not before levi could sneak in another kiss.
back to your everyday routine.
——
“i heard your brother found out,” erwin sipped his tea and you smacked your hand over your face. now all four of you were hanging out in erwin’s office to discuss the next exhibition. you were there because levi wanted you to be there.
“yeah. and small guy over here was making fun of me rather than helping me,” you flick you finger on levi’s forehead.
erwin loved how the two of you interacted. he was happy someone could make his friend just as happy and less… stoic.
“well i may or may have not asked him to come by,” and just your luck, there were three knocks on the door. oh dear god, things were going to be interesting.
“commander, you asked to see me,” eren had brought mikasa and armin along. you watched as they saluted erwin. “yes. sit,” there was a strange tension in the room, eren not wanting to make any sort of contact with you. mikasa and armin just smiled at you.
“now we have the two siblings together, we can start the conversation,” erwin settled by his office chair.
“eren-”
“when, how and why him?!” eren rambled whatever was on the top of his mind. “eren!” mikasa tried to stop him from talking but you stepped in.
“3 years ago,” you answered him. he quickly shut up.
“3 whole years? did mom and dad know?” you nodded and his question. eren expression were changing ever so quickly. he was in shock after all.
“but why the captain,” he muttered leaning into the chair. you somewhat understood why he was acting this way. though part of you felt it was selfish but this was his way of showing he cared for you.
and that you were grateful.
“aren’t you happy that i’m happy though?” that question seemed to take eren off guard. he took a big gulp and groaned.
truth is before you met levi, you were miserable. albeit having a wonderful family, life working for the survey corps as a doctor took a toll on you.
seeing all the dead bodies, soldiers screaming and crying in pain. it was depressing for you. your parents saw the pain you were going through when you started pushing them away.
eren didn’t understand why you were so upset.
in all that mist and pain, was when levi walked in. it started off with him coming in to get himself patched up. then he was coming in for injuries like burning his hand on the stove or stubbing his toe. slowly, you understood his intentions and reciprocated it.
when you told your parents about levi, they had mixed feeling about it. he was the captain of the survey corps. going out of the walls was part of his job. they were afraid one day he was going to get himself killed and you would have to face a whole new cycle.
but once they met him, they saw how capable he was. how much of an excellent soldier he was and decided to open up.
everyone saw the change in you. eren the most. he was happy to see his big sister smiling again.
eren didn’t know that the cause of your happiness was levi. it was only now he managed to piece the puzzle together.
“i’m happy to see you smiling again. you could’ve told me you were seeing him though,” eren mumbled the last part but you caught onto it. you walked over to where he sat and pat his head.
“i know. that was on me,”
eren huffed and looked at levi dead in the eye. it was brave of him to look at his captain that way. you knew however, that this wasn’t eren talking to his captain. this is eren talking to levi as your brother. your only family left.
“do.. do you love my sister?”
levi looked at you, adoration in his eyes.
“i love y/n with my life,”
it was nice to see eren opening up to the idea. slowly but surely. eren nodded at his answer and over to mikasa and armin. they both had a say too since you used to take care of them as if they were family.
“if you hurt my sister in any way, i will feed you to the titans,” the threat didn’t hold well since levi can easily fend the titans off by himself. you gave him a look to tell him to just play along. levi nodded at the threat eren gave.
“i would never hurt her,”
“good. good,” eren seemed a little shaken up. the adrenaline had probably reached him already. “and if you ever want to marry her, you have to come to me,” eren stepped in like the protective brother he is.
“what if i already asked your parents?” this caught your attention immediately. eren had the same wide eyes look on his face. “i’m kidding. but i’ll keep it mind,” levi looked stoic the whole conversation, not moving any of his cheeks muscles.
“alright. i got the answers i need,” eren stood up looking at the commander. he saluted and walked right out, leaving mikasa and armin to follow right after.
“goodnight everyone!” armin sweetly wished and chased right after eren.
hange let out a small heave. you had totally forgotten that both erwin and hange were there.
“was it necessary for the both of you to be present the whole conversation?” you genuinely asked, waving your finger between the two of them.
“most definitely. i’m your commander,” erwin simply replied with a soft smile on his face. “i just wanted to hear some gossip,” hange truthfully answered. you rolled your eyes at her.
levi abruptly stood up and took his paper work. “i’m tired. goodbye,” he took your hand and dragged you both out of erwin’s officer and right into his. as soon as both of you were behind the doors, his hands were around your waist.
“are you tired?” levi asked, running his hand in your hair. you nodded softly. his paperwork were discarded on his table and he effortlessly swooped you off your feet and into his bed.
“thank you for today. eren and all,” you played with his hair and placed your warm hand on his cheek right after. he shook his head. “i’m glad he’s accepting of us,” you nodded snuggling into his chest.
you loved your life no matter how traumatic it could get. levi by your side and eren knowing about your relationship with him.
“hey, y/n?”
“yeah?” a small pause filled the air before levi continued.
“i wanna marry you,”
tags:
#attack on titan#aot fanfiction#levi aot#levi ackerman aot#shingeki no kyoujin x reader#snk x reader#snk levi#snk fandom#aot x y/n#snk x y/n#levi ackerman x reader#levi ackerman x you#levi ackerman x y/n#attack on titan x reader#attack on titan x female reader#attack on titan x you#levi x you#levi imagines#levi ackerman imagine
124 notes
·
View notes
Text
she has to believe he can do this, because he clearly doesn't. it seems like he's bowed to xavier's request to take control of the x-men but actually it's not something he really wants. which makes sense, since he and charles had never really shared the same dream. the x-men were all about xavier's dream and so the sudden and dramatic switch to erik trying to ready them all for war is jarring to say the least. of course it's putting people on the back foot. the doubling down on training and sudden portents of doom and destruction even as the ball gets rolling on things like genosha joining the united nations shows how little he actually agrees with the dream. how he still doubts it can happen.
is it any wonder the x-men are fighting him on it?
" i'm not implying anything, erik, i'm saying exactly what i think. " that's something else she's good at. she'll say it like it is and damn the consequences. he might not like to hear it, but that doesn't mean she's going to sugarcoat it for him. maybe years ago when she was younger and more naive and unsure of herself but anyone can see that being in the x-men has improved her confidence and now she's about as stubborn and outspoken as they come. " and i think that's it's okay if ya ain't totally sure about running the x-men and takin' on xavier's dream. he's askin' a lot of ya and it ain't exactly fair. "
she's not being unsympathetic. it's hard to change your own opinions- almost harder than changing other people's opinions. so it makes sense that he'd be focused on trying to bend others instead of himself. god forbid he do a little soul searching. instead he's going to accuse the x-men of not wanting him around. now, he ain't wrong, but an adjustment period is needed.
" they didn't exactly want me around when i first joined either. it's a tough transition from enemy to friend- even more so enemy to leader. but they're not tryin' to backstab ya. " the paranoia has never been more evident. " sure, scott's mad but that's not because it's you, that's because it ain't him. he's upset that the professor didn't leave the x-men to him. but he's got a lot more on his plate now. " juggling two wives and a son who's lost in a different time is hard for anyone. " the rest of the team will get used to ya, but if ya push 'em, they will rally against ya. " as for her vouching for him, she's already been trying. the friction is...palpable. but he spins a far more dramatic story, cutting right into her. if the team find out about their history then they're both out on their ears? " they wouldn't do that.. " suddenly, she sounds unsure, the wind removed from her sails, the bluster turned to gentle breeze. " they're not like that, " she adds, softer now. " they don't kick people out for havin' sketchy pasts or makin' bad choices. " but would they be angry at her? yes. that's why she's hiding it, right? why they're hiding in here right now. her teeth worry at her lower lip.
He had only ever led through force, out of necessity, out of a conviction that no one else would do the job right. Someone had to make the hard decisions and it would always be HIM who made them. But the X-Men did not operate like that and that left him with an impossible choice to make. Relinquish control, trust that their work was enough, that they would survive without the need for force and violence — or dig his heels in and demand they walk his path, follow his rules. The latter he knew would get him nowhere except in the middle of another fight between their own people, him against the X-Men, that was how it always had been, how it always would be? He needed to CHANGE his approach.
How could he prevent this change from feeling like betrayal?
Maybe that was the reason he was letting Rogue talk to him like this, allowed her to take a sledgehammer to whatever walls he had tried to raise up again. She knew what it felt like to change sides, to leave an old cause behind for something new. Maybe she held all the answers he was seeking. That did not make this conversation any EASIER on him. " You're implying quite a lot, don't you think? " Had he been speaking to anyone else his words may have had been an underlying threat, a warning at the very least. With Rogue, they were merely an attempt to keep up appearance, to pretend like she did not have a POINT, like she had not seen right through him.
" Do you truly think I can earn the X-Men's trust? Cyclops is just waiting for the right moment to declare me his enemy again and decide he has the right to disregard Charles' testament and the others will simply follow suit. They will hardly give me a FAIR chance to prove myself. How much longer do you think they will tolerate my presence here before they get sick of me? Before they find a reason to remove me from this team? " He was almost expecting it every time one of the others approached him. Every conversation was a fight, every comment a potential attack. " And don't tell me you'll vouch for me. We both know it will only get worse if they find out about ... " about what we had — he gestured at her and back at himself, unwilling or perhaps unable to say it out loud. " I'm sure they are ALREADY wondering why you seem less frustrated about my presence than anyone else. They'll take it as a betrayal to their beliefs. At best they will be angry at worst they cast you out alongside me. "
9 notes
·
View notes
Note
Could you please write a crossover of Rescue Bots and TFP? Rather than dying on the Nemesis, a critically injured Dreadwing fleas and crash lands on Griffin Rock. The Rescue Bots find him and nurse him back to health, not realizing he’s a Decepticon because his markings got scratched up in the fight. Dreadwing wakes up while the Rescue Bots are trying to contact Team Prime, but can’t since, unbeknownst to them, they’re all on Cybertron, fighting the Cons for the Omega Keys and Omega Lock.
So, this one turned out to be much, much longer than I thought. So long, in fact, that I had to divide it into three posts. The second post will be linked at the bottom of this one, and the third will be linked at the bottom of the second. Dear god, apparently I had a lot of more thoughts about Rescue Bots than even I was aware of. Oh well. Either way, I hope everyone enjoys! (FYI: most prompt fills will not be this long. This one was just so long cause I have many emotions and ideas about this scenario.)
———————————————————————————————————
Dreadwing felt the betrayal of Lord Megatron as surely as if it were just as physical a wound as the hole blown through his chest. He had heard the weapon powering up, and his war-forged battle instincts had had him diving to the side just as the fusion canon had fired. It has still torn though his chest, but rather than destroy his spark chamber the blast had torn a hole straight through the right side of his chest near his shoulder. He lived yet, but if he could not escape the Nemesis that would not be the case for much longer.
He had served Lord Megatron with loyalty and honor for millennia, ever since he and his brother had joined the Decepticons after Vos had fallen. Dreadwing had sold his very spark to the Unmaker to act on the wishes and orders of his leader, and this is what his loyalty had earned him? Megatron attempting to offline him, and protecting the mech who had desecrated his brother? The same mech who had, countless times before, betrayed Megatron himself? Dreadwing could scarcely understand it. Why would Megatron spare Starscream, who had given the warlord no true loyalty, when Dreadwing himself had been nothing but loyal? Is this what his loyalty bought him, among the Decepticons? Dishonorably killed solely for attempting to avenge his brother by killing a traitorous coward?
If so, he wanted nothing to do with it.
He dragged himself down the halls, finally making it to the flight deck, and looked down to see the ship flying above the ocean. Rather than attempt a proper take off, he simply pitched his body forward off the edge and allowed himself to fall. As he neared the water, he forced a transformation, ignoring the agony of the action, and his engine roared to life. Lucid thought slipped away, then, as baser survival coding took over and guided him away from the warship, away from danger, away from what would have been his death.
Only one thing was certain, now.
In attacking Dreadwing to protect Starscream, Megatron had lost the loyalty of his most devoted frontline warrior.
Dreadwing simply refused to follow a mech who would protect the one who desecrated his brother.
And so, survival protocols overriding every other thought or higher system, the large Seeker allowed his higher processor functions to shut off. His mind quieted to blissful silence. Instinct alone drove him forward, flying towards a destination even he did not know. He could only hope it would be somewhere safe.
——————————
Blades didn’t know what he was expecting when he went on a walk along the beach, but it most certainly wasn’t a large Cybertronian lying in in the sand, looking like he’d crashed landed and resting lifeless on patch of sand soaked with energon. Technically, the copter wasn’t even supposed to be out here, as Sigma-17 had to maintain their cover, but everything at the firehouse had just been several kinds of too much that morning, so he had, for once, flown off on his own and landed on a beach he knew no humans ever really came to, intent to just take a walk and clear his head.
Except, upon coming around a bend, he’d found the aforementioned Cybertronian. For a moment, he’d simply frozen, but then the instinct ingrained by his training kicked in and he sprung into action. See, Blades was a trained and licensed triage medic. He couldn’t perform complex surgeries or anything on the level of a proper medic, but in the Rescue Academy on Cybertron he’d taken the courses for field level medical aid so that, if he’d ever run into someone during a rescue who’d been hurt, he could treat them and keep them alive until they could get to a medical facility. The training g had been fun, especially when he’d studied with-
He shook his head roughly before that thought could complete itself. He didn’t want to think about the time….Before. It hurt, remembering what and who he’d lost during his millennia of stasis. Before he could fall back into grief, training snapped back into place and his processor quieted. He knelt next to the fallen Cybertronian, noting that they were a Seeker frame, and carefully turned the bot over. His next thought was an observation that the bot was a mech, and that the energon soaking into the sand under his frame was spilling from a large hole torn straight through his chest. That meant the first thing he needed to do was seal the leaking lines to keep him from losing more energon. After that, he could call Heatwave. He didn’t have the skills to patch this wound up fully. Once he’d made sure this mech wouldn’t die here and now, he would need to get him to proper care. One of the stasis pods would certainly help, though if they wanted the wound healed fully he’d need to be in the pod for a while. The other alternative was contacting Optimus. Blades knew the Prime had a proper medic on his team, which might be the better option.
As his processor raced, trying to think of a plan, his hands worked on autopilot. He slipped the tools he needed from his subspace, cleaning and removing grime where it was needed to prevent infection, removing bits of sand and stone from the wound, and using a small welder to seal off the free-flowing energon lines. He covered loose, sparking wires and circuits, , rerouting a few of them in places where it was needed. Finally, after many long minutes, he finished and sat back on his heels.
It was then the helicopter realized his comm. was pinging with an alert for an incoming message, and had been for quite some time. In fact, it seemed he’d missed several messages. From Heatwave, Chase, Boulder, Dani, the Chief, Cody…Pit, even Graham had sent him a message. Embarrassment and guilt settled heavy in his chest, and he lifted his hand to his audial to accept the current call. As soon as his comm. clicked to life, Dani’s voice was coming through it.
“Blades! Finally! Where are you? We’ve all been worried sick, you know.” his partner scolded. Blades couldn’t help the small smile that twisted his lips upwards. It was nice knowing she cared. He loved Dani dearly. She was family, after all. “You know you’re not supposed to even be out of the firehouse on your own, you idiot bot!” she continued, her voice holding an undercurrent of worry despite the insult. Blades didn’t take it personally. “What if someone had seen you? You need to-“
And now that was enough. “Dani.” he interrupted her, his voice uncharacteristically serious. “I’m sorry for ignoring you and everyone else, but right now there’s a bigger emergency than me risking our cover. I found an inured bot on that small beach behind the mountain. You know, the one no one likes to go to because the hike is too long? He’s in a really bad way. I have triage training, and I’ve patched him up, but he needs either a stasis pod or a proper medic, as close to immediately as possible.”
There was silence on the other end, before-
“Alright. I’ll tell everyone to come to your location. I’m with Dad and Chase right now. We all split up to look for you, but we’ll meet you there. Don’t move, and keep the bot alive.” Dani instructed. Despite himself, Blades was smiling again. Yes, he really did love Dani. She knew when it was time to get serious. He had a feeling he’d be forgiven for his blunder today, given the circumstances.
“Will do. I’ll see you soon.”
“Just hang tight, partner. And stay out of trouble.”
“You too.” he chirped, hands still working over the bot to patch up his more minor wounds now that the life-threatening one was dealt with. “And Dani?”
“Yeah, Blades?”
“I’m sorry for worrying you.”
There was a beat of silence, and then her voice came though, softer and fonder.
“Don’t worry about it. You did the right thing.”
Then the comm. line cut off, and Blades was left alone to in the silence. He let his processor drift, kneeling in the energon soaked sand as he worked on saving the life of a bot whose name he didn’t even know.
——————————
Chase was worried. He knew Blades was more capable than the others thought he was, but that didn’t stop him from worrying. He hadn’t been surprised when the copter bot had left the firehouse that morning. He’d seen the way he had held his rotors tight to his spinal strut, seen the way he’d fidgeted around the others, seen the way his optics had slipped and gone dull and distant. He knew today was not a good day for Blades, so his disappearance had not been a surprise. He’d been mildly concerned, simply because he did not know if Blades would be able to avoid being seen in his more distracted state, but he hadn’t been too worried. Still, when Heatwave had insisted on going to track down their rogue teammate, he hadn’t protested. He’d even offered to let Dani ride with him and the Chief to make things simpler.
But then Blades had finally picked up Dani’s comm. and that was when he started to worry. A strange bot, found injured on Griffin Rock? It raised many questions. Where had they come from? Who where they? How had they been injured? Chase wasn’t worried that the bot would die. He knew Blades had triage training, so he was confident his teammate would be able to keep his unexpected patient alive. Even so, this new development raised many questions that Chase did not have the answers to, and that was what worried him. There were not many Cybertronians on Earth, he knew. Aside from Sigma-17, there was Team Prime, and….the Decepticons. As far as Chase was aware, and he admittedly did not know as much as he would like, there were no unaligned bots on the planet.
Which meant this newcomer was either one of Prime’s team, a Decepticon, or he had crash landed on the island from space and wasn’t attached to either faction. It would be easy enough to confirm; they simply had to contact Prime and ask if he was missing a teammate, and if not ask if he recognized the bot in question. If this stranger was a neutral party or an Autobot, Chase knew there would be nothing to worry about. But if they were a Decepticon…well, that was the root of the police bot’s concerns. Sigma-17 was a rescue team. They knew rudimentary combat skills, enough to defend themselves or those they were rescuing in an emergency, but they were non-combatants. By the standards of the War, his team would be classified as civilians. If this new Cybertronian was a Decepticon…Chase wasn’t sure they’d be able to protect Griffin Rock, this time. He wasn’t sure they’d even be able to protect themselves.
Before he could slip even further into his own processor, they arrived at the coordinates Blades had sent. His snapped into focus, his doors popping open to allow his passengers out, and then he was transforming and walking over to where he could see Blades. As he approached his friend, he heard Boulder and Heatwave pull up behind him and transform. Blades looked up from his work when his three teammates stopped next to him, and Chase was mildly disconcerted to see the amount of energon soaking the sand and coating the copter’s hands.
“Blades, what happened?” Heatwave demanded, voice rough.
“I don’t know.” he shrugged helplessly. “I came out here for some space and to take a walk, cause I know this beach is practically abandoned, and I just found him like this.”
Indeed, this close, Chase could see that the mystery bot was in fact a mech. That answered one question, but none of the others. How irritating. It was also making him very nervous and queasy to see just how badly injured the very, very large bot was. Boulder too, seemed to feel ill at the sight of such horrible wounds and so much energon. Distantly, Chase noted that the bot might be even bigger than High Tide. He had no idea how they were supposed to get him back to the firehouse.
Heatave made a frustrated noise, clearly displeased with the lack of information though he knew Blades was not to blame. “Well can you tell how he got so injured?”
“A weapon of some sort, though not one I’ve ever seen the damage of before.” Blades said, frowning. His processor was clearly working hard, trying to turn over the facts he knew to figure out the bigger picture. “There’s also signs of older damage. I can’t be 100% sure, but I think this bot is, or maybe was, involved in the War.”
Heatwave paused, seeming more wary with this new information. “…can you tell which side?”
“No. Any faction identifier or badge has been destroyed or scraped off like most of his paint. I can only just figure out what his colors are supposed to be, and even them only barely.”
Chase could tell that Heatwave was annoyed, but the fire truck only grumbled his curses under his breath before sighing. “Alright. What do we need to do?”
Blades startled, looking surprised. “You’re asking me?”
“Of course.” Chase cut in before Heatwave could snap something rude and further stress the already clearly frazzled helicopter. “You are the triage medic here. Protocol dictates that, in the absence of a full medic, any medical decisions would fall to the next available medical expert. In this case, that would be you.”
Blades blinked a few times, before shaking himself and sitting up straighter. “Like I said earlier, he needs a stasis pod. Badly. I don’t have the ability to fix him completely, my training only covered keeping patients alive until they could get to someone who could repair them fully. The only one on planet I know who might be able to help is Optimus’s medic. He can also heal completely in one of our stasis pods, but it would take longer than just asking Optimus for help.”
Heatwave grunted. “Got it. He needs a stasis pod now, and a medic later. We can do that.”
That seemed to be enough to startle Boulder into awareness, and the bulldozer jumped before nodding and turning to Heatwave. “Graham and I can figure out a way to transport him safely. Though we’ll need your help, Blades. You have a better understanding of his condition than us.”
The copter nodded, and Chase let that be his que to retreat to back to where the humans were waiting. Apparently, they didn’t want to get too close in case their presence caused an issue with the unknown bot’s care.
“Well?” Chief asked. “How’s our newest guest?
“Unwell.” Chase said succinctly. “He is severely injured and appears to be involved in the War in some fashion, though it is impossible to tell for which side. We are going to transport him to the firehouse in order to put him into a stasis pod so that he may heal. Graham, I believe Boulder requires your assistance in that respect.” he said, directing the last part to the engineer.
Graham nodded, making no protest as he jogged forward towards his partner, Boulder already turning and crouching to begin discussing plans. Dani followed him quickly, though she split from his path to join Blades, clambering up onto his leg and patting his canopy as she shot him a reassuring smile.
It was here that Kade made his own opinion known. “Hey hey hey, let’s slow down!” he protested. “You just said you don’t know what side this guy’s on, and you want to bring him back home? We can’t do that! Why can’t Blades just fix him here and we can send him on his way?”
Chase tilted his head. “Blades is a licensed triage medic. He does not have the training necessary to fully repair him. Besides, even if he did, I do not believe it would be wise to simply ‘send him on his way’, and you said. If he truly is a Decepticon, then doing so would risk leading the entirety of the Decepticon army right here to Griffin Rock.”
Kade froze, seeming suddenly queasy. “Oh.”
Chief sighed. “Fair point, partner. I agree we can’t just leave him or let him die. It wouldn’t be right, even if he isn’t on our side. But for safety’s sake, would it be possible to keep him unconscious until we can confirm his identity with Optimus?”
Chase nodded. “Indeed, Chief. I believe that is the current plan. As soon as he is safely in a stasis pod, we will attempt to contact Optimus. With luck, we can have this matter sorted by the end of today.”
“Good.” Chief smiled. “Then let’s get to work.”
“Agreed.”
Chase returned to his team, Chief and Kade following at his heel, to find they had come up with a plan to transport the unknown Cybertronian. Working together, the rescue team was able to get the large flight-frame settled into a make-shift trailer the engineer duo had thrown together, and after hitching it to Boulder’s vehicle mode the whole group made their way to the firehouse using the tunnels in order to avoid being seen. Barring Blades, of course, who instead flew straight to base with Dani in order to prepare a stasis pod.
By the time Chase and the others arrived, the pod was set up and open to admit the unknown mech. It took all four of Sigma-17 working together to lift him into it, but then the glass door was sliding shut and frost soon hid the bot from view as the stasis function of the pod took affect. Now, all that was left was for Blades to clean himself up, and for Heatwave to contact Optimus about their guest.
Chase just hoped this development didn’t come back to bite them.
——————————
Dreadwing woke to the hiss of an unfamiliar system disengaging and onlined his optics to see icy mist billowing to the floor as a glass door slid up from in front of him. A stasis pod? That was odd. The Nemesis had no stasis pods and he knew the Autobots did not have the means to maintain or build one either. He was also not aware there were any other Cybertronians on the planet. So where was he, and how had he gotten into a stasis pod? The last thing he remembered was fleeing the Nemesis, although….he did have very vague, hazy memories of a crash. Had he been discovered and saved before he could offline? If so, he would have to thank his unexpected savior. Unless, of course, it was an Autobot and he had only been saved so he could be locked away. If that was the case, a bot was going to die here today and it would not be him.
The stasis pod fully disengaged from him, and he was able to step out and onto the floor. He glanced down at himself, humming idly. It seemed that he had been fully repaired either before or while in the pod. That was good for him. He looked around, frowning at his odd surroundings. The location he was in had medical supplies, but was clearly no full medical bay. Perhaps it was only set up for emergencies, then? His wings twitched when he picked up the sound of pede steps beyond the doorway, and his gaze turned towards the sound. After a moment, he realized whoever it was wasn’t coming towards him, but rather they seemed to be…pacing? Yes, that is what it sounded like. Curiosity piqued, Dreadwing strode towards the door, making sure his own steps were quiet so as not to alert the other to his presence. He stepped though, looking around…and his optics blew wide.
It was a youngling. A small, orange and white helicopter bot was pacing back and forth in tight circles in the center of the room. Dreadwing was willing to bet that this little flyer was even younger than the Autobot scout. As the mechling turned to pace in another circle, the Seeker caught sight of the emblem on his chest. At first, he saw only a badge similar to the Autobot brand and his frame began to stiffen. Then the rest of the badge processed in his mind and his vents froze.
The Rescue Bot insignia.
This tiny little flying mechling was a Rescue Bot. But how? Megatron had seen to the destruction of the Rescue Bot headquarters in the early days of the war, and had sent his soldiers to systematically hunt down and offline any who had survived the initial attack or had not been present during it. Dreadwing and his brother had joined the Decepticons after massacre, but it was one the only acts the Decepticons had committed that they had wholly disapproved off. The Rescue Bots had been unaffiliated with any faction. They took an oath of neutrality, a vow to save any and every life they could regardless who who or what that life was. Megatron had wanted them gone because he’d wanted to make a statement, but also because he wanted to deny the Autobots any potential allies or any aid that the Rescue Bots would have given them.
It had been a great loss, and had been one of the reasons Dreadwing had initially wished to avoid choosing one side or the other. The Decepticons, in his mind, took things too far. The Autobots, while more restrained, had initially risen from the regime in which he and his brother had suffered under. But then….Vos had fallen, and word had spread that his city’s destruction had been the doing of the Autobots. He and Skyquake had been forced to pick a side, then. He’d gotten over his hesitance at the Decepticon methods and given Lord Megatron his undying loyalty. And now…he was here, betrayed by the one who he as sworn himself to, watching a youngling Rescue Bot pace in nervous circles. It was something that should have been impossible.
Suddenly, the mechling froze, and wide amber optics turned to him. Idly, Dreadwing realized he must have made some noise, and then the little copter was yelping and scrabbling back. He paused, then hurried forward, his hands fluttering as if unsure what to do. Before the little one got too close, Dreadwing locked his own sharp, red optics onto him, and the bot froze in place with a startled yip.
For a long moment, there was only silent staring.
——————————
Blades was pacing. There wasn’t much else he could do. The day they had brought back the large Seeker, Heatwave had contacted Optimus. Only, the Prime had very quickly shut him down, explaining they were busy with an issue of “upmost importance” and that he would return their contact when he was able to. That had been three weeks ago, and he hadn’t called back. The Seeker was still in stasis, and Heatwave was once against attempting to make contact, for the 15th day in a row. Chase and the Chief were on patrol, and Boulder and the other humans were at Blossom Vale, having a picnic. Blades had opted to remain behind, wanting to keep an eye on the Seeker.
In the time since finding the large mech, Blades had done some research. He’d had to dig around the Sigma’s files, and dig through the files of the computer that connected them to Optimus, as well as dig through the various data-pads that had been left to them by High Tide and Optimus. It wasn’t much, but it was enough that he’d been able to piece together information about the War that the Prime hadn’t been telling them. Now, Blades understood why the War had started. The civil unrest had been a thing even before Sigma-17 had been formed, when he was still in the early days of training, it had been mild, then, but it had been there. So he wasn’t surprised that it had grown worse, especially if the root causes of the unrest hadn’t ever been addressed.
He also knew, from the information he’d dug up in his search, that after the fall of Vos, most Seekers had joined the Decepticons. Which meant that his patient was, in all likelihood, a Decepticon himself. He wasn’t sure how to feel about that. But he hadn’t told the others his suspicions. Mostly because…something about the situation was odd. Optimus didn’t strike him as the type of mech who would inflict or approve of that type of wound being inflicted on a mech. So unless he had someone on his team who was excessively violent and he couldn’t control, Blades didn’t see that wound coming from the Autobots. Which meant it had come from the Decepticons. Of course, that only raised more questions. Namely, why would they do that to one of their own, if the mech really was a ‘Con? He wanted to get answers before he shared his suspicions. He didn’t want to condemn the Seeker to anything bad if he was wrong.
Unfortunately, that hadn’t been all he had learned, in the past few weeks. In one of the data pads High Tide had left about the early days of the war, there had been a mention of the “end of the Rescue Force”. It had just been a mention, a reference to an event that was probably detailed in a separate data pad. But he hadn’t ever found that separate data pad. And when he remembered What Optimus had said, when he’d first found them..”
“I was not aware Rescue Teams were…still active.”
He’d said it slowly, haltingly, as if choosing the words carefully. He’d paused before saying the last part too. At the time, Blades hadn’t thought much of it. But with the information about the War Optimus had allowed them to have, and the mention of the “end of the Rescue Force” in that one data pad, well…Blades was starting to think that “active” had not been the word that the Prime had actually meant. Something had happened, something he didn’t have enough information to figure out yet, but the faint picture he was starting to get from the pieces of information he did have wasn’t one he liked. It was another reason he was hesitant to share what he suspected about the Seeker. Optimus was keeping vital information from Sigma-17. He didn’t care if the Prime didn’t want them fighting in the War. He agreed that it was a bad idea. But he was withholding information that Blades suspected his team would very much want, and they didn’t even know it.
So here he was, pacing restlessly as his processor turned over the information he got, unsure how or even if he should share it. Would his team even believe him? He doubted they would. He knew they thought he was silly and couldn’t understand complex ideas, but that was far from the truth. After all, of all the Rescue Bots he had the greatest understanding of human nature and culture. His understanding wasn’t always 100% accurate, and just because he understand the what didn’t mean he understand the why, but he still understood more than any of the others. And sure, he applied most of his ability to learn new information to pop culture rather than the things the others might consider more “worthwhile”, but that was only because pop culture was more fun. Plus, pop culture was where humanity really displayed they way they ticked. Did it really make him that much of an idiot if all that was the case?
He was startled from his spiraling thoughts by a sound from the direction of the make-shift medical bay. The copter glanced in that direction, thinking it was one of his teammates, only to yelp and leap back upon seeing the Seeker. He’d known the other bot was large, but seeing him awake and up just confirmed how large. The red optics too, made discomfort curl in Blade’s tanks. The data-pads had suggested that red optics were typical of Decepticons, though they shouldn’t be used as an identifier of such. Even so, it was another tick in favor of his theory. Then the scene caught up to him, and medical training overrode his temporary moment of panic.
This bot wasn’t supposed to be up yet. In fact, even if he had been fully healed by the pods it was supposed to keep him under until Optimus could arrive. Except….Blades must have put in the settings wrong. He was so used to setting the stasis pods to release once the healing process was complete that he must have input that setting without realizing it. Which…presented a problem. Is this mech was hostile, he didn’t think his team could handle it. Those thoughts circled in the back of his processor as he directed the bulk of his worry towards making sure his patient was alright. His hands flapped awkwardly as he approached the larger flyer, ready to skim over his frame to check out his condition, when piercing red optics locked onto him. He froze with a high pitched squeak, his own optics blown wide as that gaze pinned him in place.
For a long moment, the two Cybertronians merely stared at each other.
Then Blades, getting increasingly nervous, broke the silence. “Are you okay?” he asked, curling and tucking his hands against his canopy. “The stasis pod should have healed you completely, but you were hurt pretty bad. Even most of your paint was gone, though it looks like your color nanintes were able to fix that while you were healing.”
Indeed, the mech standing in front of him was now in full color, his purple and yellow paint bold and bright on his frame. It did seem, however, that he was still missing a faction brand. If he’d ever had one, of course, though the copter strongly suspected he did.
The Seeker seemed put off for a moment, as if he didn’t know why Blades was worried. “I am well.” he said carefully. “Are you the one who repaired me?”
“Well, sort of?” Blades’s rotors fluttered against his back. “I’m a triage medic, so I couldn’t fix you completely, but I kept you online until my team and I could get you into a pod.”
The Seeker narrowed his eyes. “Team?” he repeated, obviously suspicious.
Blades squeaked again, shoulders hunching. “We’re Rescue Bots.” he gestured at his insignia before his hands tucked back against his canopy. “Team Sigma-17. I’m Blades.”
The Seeker was silent for a long moment. “You may call me Dreadwing.” he said slowly. His gaze was still piercing.
Blades nodded, then took a few steps forward, and when Dreadwing made no move to stop him, he closed the gap between them. “Do you mind if I scan you over one last time? I just want to be sure all your systems are in order.”
The Seeker bowed his helm, and Blades lifted his hands to skim over plating, using his built in scanning systems he’d gotten in his triage training to check his patient over. Everything was coming back fine, but with a wound as serious as his had been Blades away taking no chances.
“You are a Rescue Bot.” Dreadwing spoke. His voice was low, and there was an odd note to it.
“Yep. Me, Boulder, Chase, and Heatwave. We crashed here a while ago and Prime stationed us on this island to act as a rescue team for the locals.” he explained distractedly.
Dreadwing made a soft hum. “Prime knows you are here? Are you Autobots, then?”
Blades frowned. “He knows. He visits, sometimes, but not often. We haven’t been able to contact him lately though.” He was too focused on his task to think about whether he should actually,be answering so freely. The second question gave him pause, though. “No? At least, not really? We’re a Rescue Team. Rescue Bots take oaths off non-affiliation. We can’t side with any particular group or individual since our job is to help any bot or being that needs it.” He was reading over the results of his scans, mouth turned down. “We’re more closely tied to the Autobots right now, but that mostly because we don’t know much of what happened with the war. We were in stasis until we crashed.” He let the readings flicker away, and froze when he realized how much he’d shared. “Uhhh….”
Dreadwing only snorted, actually looking fairly amused. “Yes, I think it is quite clear now that you are no warrior, little youngling.” he rumbled. His expression darkened. “I understand why Prime stationed you here, out of sight. Megatron would see you hunted and slaughtered if he knew a Rescue Team still functioned.”
This made Blades freeze, and as he recalled Optimus’s first words to them, and that data pad, dread began to build in his spark. “What?” he asked weakly.
Dreadwing stared. “You were not told?” he sounded…angry. “That is foolish. It is not a pleasant tale, but you should have been told if only to ensure you understand the importance of your existence remaining secret.”
Blades swallowed. “Optimus doesn’t really tell us much of anything about the War, and the data pads he leaves only really cover the basic and important bits, not the details.” he whispered. “Does…does Megatron wanting my team offlined have anything to do with the “end of the Rescue Force”? I read about it in one of the data pads, but it was just a mention. I couldn’t find any details other than that one phrase.”
Dreadwing’s gaze was solemn as the little bot lifted his optics to meet it. “Yes.” he said bluntly. “In the early days of the War, Megatron grew angry that the Rescue Bots aligned with no faction, and he wanted to deprive the Autobots of any who might aid or help them. He ordered the destruction of the Rescue Force. The Headquarters was destroyed, and all Rescue Bots present were massacred. Any who survived, and any who had not been present in the initial attack, were systematically hunted and slain.”
Blades’s knees felt weak. He pressed his hands to Dreadwing’s chest to steady himself, grateful that the larger flyer didn’t protest it. His rotors rattled madly against his back with his distress, and his optics were blown wide.
“But that would mean…”
“You and your team are the last Rescue Bots in existence. All the others are offline and have been for many, many millennia.”
The copter’s knees gave out, and Dreadwing was quick to grasp his frame to keep him from hitting the ground. A sharp keen left Blades’s vocalizer, and the Seeker blessedly said nothing and made no moves to push as the youngling processed the new information.
It was, of course, that moment that the others chose to return.
——————————
Part 2
#silkling request fics#request fic#rescue bots#tfp#Dreadwing#tfp Dreadwing#rescue bots Blades#rescue bots heatwave#rescue bots chase#rescue bots Boulder#Sigma 17#Dani Burns#Cody Burns#Charlie Burns#Graham Burns#Kade Burns#Dreadwing lives#Dreadwing crashes on griffin Rock#he basically adopts the rescue bots#Dreadwing becomes a dad#Dreadwing and Blades bond#spolier alert: Blades is a Protectobot#transformers prime#aligned continuity#maccadam#of moments in life au
157 notes
·
View notes
Text
Just In Case (Emily x Reader)
Request: Emily x reader where the reader is deployed in to the military and got permission to video call Emily while she is at camp and something happens to the base while on the call and it ends the call with no goodbye and then like the team seeing news articles and trying to get in contact with reader but they can’t and Emily eventually gets notified that’s she’s in the hospital
There was nothing quite like waiting for the little green dot to appear next to your Skype name. The way excitement mixed with anxiety and impatience. How your wife never knew exactly what state you would be in, only that you would greet her with a wide (probably exhausted) smile.
It was rare that Emily actually got to call you while you were deployed. You were the assigned medic to a forward operating special ops unit, meaning you spent more time in the middle of nowhere doing dangerous missions than you did on base. She was excited she’d get to see your smiling face after almost a month (a year since she’d actually seen you in person).
She jumped when the little dot appeared on the screen (much to Lindsey and Kelley’s enjoyment) and clicked on your little icon.
The screen blinked, and your wide smile greeted her. “Hey darling, how’s champ camp?” Your little southern twang came through the computer.
Emily mirrored your smile (your accent always made her swoon just a little), Turning the camera so you could see your two best friends also waving at you. “Super fun. Me and Linds beat Kelley during the scrimmage,”
You smirked at your wife, shaking your head. You knew how competitive they all were (it had led to some very fun game nights at your house- especially with your wife who adamantly refused to be competitive off the pitch). “Bet the squirrel loved that,”
Emily shrugged. “She’s not taking it so well,”
She again pointed the camera towards your pouting sister. You cracked a smile at the woman.
“I’ll get her next time, don’t worry,” Kelley winked at the screen.
You looked off to the side for a second, nodding to whoever was talking to you behind your computer.
Emily wasn’t upset, hell she was more than used to the two of you never really being alone (you were the team leader after all). Instead, she took the opportunity to take in your features. Every new wrinkle of your forehead or dark circle under your eye (that looked more like a bruise or black eye at this point). Was that a new scar you kept rubbing under your chin?
Emily shook her head. She didn’t even want to think about how you got that until you were back safe in her arms. Your job was dangerous, she didn’t need any reminders.
“How are you holding up?” She asked, drawing your attention back towards her. It was a safe question, one she knew she could ask over a live feed. One that didn’t cross any “clearance” lines you had warned her about (though she was sure that your superiors knew you told her many stories deemed classified over the years in the safety of your bedroom).
You shrugged, your crooked smile not quite meeting your eyes. “I’m alright. Super tired. We just got to base a little while ago,”
Your vague answer didn’t surprise her. You didn’t like to worry her, and half of your missions were pretty secretive anyway. It was one thing to share your darkest stories, the things you had seen that you couldn’t un-see, while the two of you were pressed together, and another to try and explain from a million miles away.
Your wife knew how your job weighed on you.
“But you’re ok?” She pressed, unwilling to let you deflect the question. She needed to know. You ran a hand through your tousled hair (one of your biggest tells), leaning forward just a bit. “Just some bruises. Promise.” You paused, leaning forward, your fake playful smile reappearing with a wiggle of your eyebrows, “What about you? Kelley’s a beast on the field,”
Emily cracked a smile, despite her worry. “I’m good babe, but Lindsey’s got a nice one,”
“Ooo let me see,” you said, leaning closer to the screen like a little kid. Emily turned the computer so you could harass Lindsey instead of her.
“No,” the midfielder pouted, crossing her arms.
“Come on, I’ll show you mine if you show me yours,” You wined dramatically as Emily turned the computer around and Kelley butted into the frame.
“That sounds like some teenage boy-...” She started, only to be cut off by a loud crash and the blaring of an alarm.
“Fuck,” you hissed, looking off-screen, as more yelling started, and the screen shook.
“Babe-“ Emily said, and you glanced back at the screen as if suddenly realizing your wife was still there.
“I love you Em. I’m sorry I gotta go,” you said quickly, looking directly in the camera.
Then the call ended. The screen went blank and the three women sat frozen. Emily very slowly placed her hand over where your face had been mere seconds ago. “Love you too, be safe,”
The “please,” was softer, almost breathless. And the sound broke Kelley and Lindsey’s hearts. All they could do was hope you would be alright.
****
Emily had learned to not read the news reports a long, long time ago, on your first deployment (back when the two of you had only been dating for six months).
As it turned out, most of the time they had no real information about what was going on. They just reported on the overarching bad thing that was happening, or whatever appeared to be happening, and tended to ignore the boots on the ground (your words not Emily’s).
But still, she couldn’t help but stare at the articles rolling in about an attack on one of the bases near where she knew you were stationed. Especially after the abrupt end to your semi-distracted phone call.
“Em, reading it repeatedly isn’t going to change the words,” Kelley said softly, prying the phone from her grasp and sticking it on the chair beside her.
Emily sighed heavily. “It’s just hard,” she mumbled, scrubbing a hand over her eyes.
Lindsey, Kelley, and the rest of the table nodded understandingly. They may not have the same relationship with you that Emily did, but they loved you all the same.
It was terrifying to not know where you were, or if you were alright, but they had to be strong for Emily right now.
“She didn’t answer your text yet?” Lindsey asked, reaching across the table to grasp Emily’s hand tightly. You might not be able to call, but texting was usually a good way to get a hold of you.
Emily bit her lip, shaking her head tightly. “Nah uh,”
She pinched the bridge of her nose. It wasn’t uncommon for you to go radio silent, especially when you were on a mission, but it had been 4 days since your phone call and You always sent her a little a-ok when you were finished with whatever you were doing. She was starting to get worried.
“What about Kara, she’s always with her,” Kelley asked gently, rubbing her back, mentioning your best friend.
The two of you were practically attached at the hip, but as you always said, experience in a war zone will do that go people. Kara was your right-hand man and always answered Emily, especially when you weren’t.
“She hasn’t answered either,” Emily mumbled, shaking her head. The women at the table all shared a look. The last time Kara hadn’t responded while the two of you were away, you had been stuck doing emergency surgery on one of your guys in the field after an IED blew up one of the hummers in your convoy.
“I’m sure they’re just busy. You know the news likes to make a big deal out of nothing. They always do,” Lindsey said reassuringly.
“Yeah, and no news is good news right?” Kelley added, with a half-smile.
A dark look crossed Emily’s features. She knew (and feared) what happened when things went wrong. She dreaded that phone call or god forbid an officer showing up with your “just in case” letter (one she knew you always carried with you, but she had never physically seen).
“Only until it isn’t,” she said softly, her voice deadly serious. The women at the table sobered and nodded, equally as somber. It was a terrifying truth that was easier to ignore than confront.
“I’m sure she’s just busy being a hero,” Lindsey said softly, leaning over to grab Emily’s hand tightly, as Kelley squeezed the woman comfortingly.
“I hope you’re right,” Emily sighed.
“She promised Em, and she never breaks her promises,” Kelley said, equally as serious, trying to hide just how worried she was. You swore you’d always come back to them, and she would kick your ass if you didn’t.
*****
It felt like Emily’s heart was going to beat out of her chest. It was hammering harder than it ever had, even after a full ninety. She tapped her foot impatiently, waiting for the receptionist to find your room and clear her with the MP’s apparently stationed outside your room.
The second she got the 3 am call, it had been a mad dash to get here. The drive from Orlando to the hospital at the Jacksonville Air Force base was a blur, but she was pretty sure Kelley had broken just about every speed law there was to get her here faster (and to get herself here too, she was your sister after all).
“I’m her wife. I have permission to see her,” Emily growled at the poor receptionist, who continued to rapidly type on her computer.
“I’m sorry miss, but due to the circumstances I have to check,” She clicked her tongue, leaning forward to get a better look at the screen, apparently oblivious to Emily’s growing rage.
Kelley placed a careful hand on Emily’s arm, trying to quell the brewing storm before the receptionist took the brunt of it.
“Fuck the circumstances. Let me see my wife,” Emily hissed, completely ignoring Kelley’s “calm down Sonnett,” (your older sister was worried too, but flipping out at a receptionist wasn’t going to help their cause).
“I’m trying ma’am. We have protocols too, especially after a Rescue and Evacuation,” the woman behind the counter sighed, more frustrated than sympathetic. Emily’s eyes widened. Kara hadn’t said anything about a rescue mission over the phone, only that you were hurt and being transferred to Florida from a hospital in London.
“A what?!!” Emily screeched, and Kelley grabbed the back of her hoodie to prevent her from launching herself over the counter at the frightened-looking receptionist.
Before the woman behind the counter could respond, your very tired-looking best friend appeared around the corner.
“Hey, Em. She’s back this way,” Kara smiled tightly at your wife, nodding towards the receptionist and gesturing down a hallway to her left.
“Oh thank god,” Kelley sighed, practically shoving Emily into Kara’s arms. Kara caught her, and held her hand out to your older sister, carefully beginning to guide them down the maze of hallways.
“I have to warn you, she’s in pretty rough shape,” Kara said softly as they approached the door, her hand pausing on the handle to look both women in the eyes. Emily and Kelley both nodded solemnly, steeling themselves as Kara gently pushed the door open.
“Damn,” Emily and Kelley gasped as they stepped through the threshold and took in your sleeping form.
Your normally strong form looked so small under the mass of tubes and wires surrounding you (but Kelley notes that you were very much breathing on your own). The whole left side of your face was bruised, and the left half of your chest and arm was wrapped tightly in gauze.
Emily very carefully approached the bed, her fingers hovering over your right side, afraid to touch you and cause you more pain.
“Oh baby,” She breathed out, settling into the chair beside your bed, finally grabbing your uninsured hand very gently and pulling it to her lips.
She heard Kelley ask “What happened?”, but her eyes never left your face.
Kara blew out a long breath, seemingly trying to steady herself. “Our base got attacked- retaliation for freeing a village probably,”
Kelley raised her eyebrow at the woman. She wanted to know everything, not the edited version.
Kara swallowed hard before continuing. “We split into teams. One to pull security and one to evacuate the hospital. We lost communication after one of our own went Rogue. In the chaos, an intruder slipped through us and went to attack the hospital wing. Y/n got ambushed trying to get an injured private to the helicopter,”
Silence stretched between them as the soccer stars tried to take in the story. It was so you to do everything in your power to help someone else, even if it was dangerous or detrimental to you.
“How bad is it,” The words left Emily’s mouth barely above a whisper, muffled slightly by your hand still at her lips.
“She got hit 3 times. One was a through and through to the shoulder. It chipped her collar bone, but mostly just got some soft tissue. The other two were worse. The through and through in her leg nicked an artery, and the other one in her chest did some damage. Luckily she was able to drag herself back to the hospital wing and they could get her stable. The PJ’s got her to London and they did emergency surgery,” Kara listed off, rubbing the back of her neck and closing her eyes tightly.
Emily didn’t doubt that seeing you like that was probably one of the most difficult things Kara ever had to do, and she felt bad for making her relive that.
“Is she gonna be alright?” Kelley asked after a few seconds, cracking with emotion.
Kara nodded. “Yeah, Lena looked over the X-rays. Said that she would need a lot of rehab, but she should make a pretty full recovery. Right now she’s just sedated to help with the pain,”
Emily felt her heart unclench at the news, made even sweeter by the mention of Kara’s own wife. Lena was a straight shooter, someone who was brutally honest and equally deft at her job (which was part of the reason the two of you got on so well). She wouldn’t bullshit them and give them false hope.
“Thank you,” Emily croaked. Kara snorted and shook her head.
“Wasn’t me. She promised you she’d make it and she wasn’t about to let you down,”
You had dragged yourself nearly 800 yards to the hospital wing, and the only thing they said you said was that you couldn’t die because you swore to your wife you’d come home. Kara was convinced that you had survived purely on adrenaline and stubbornness (that and dumb luck). At least she hadn’t had to deliver your just in case letter.
Emily smiled softly at your sleeping form, allowing the steady beep of your heart and your warm hand to comfort her “I know,”
It was easy to relax now that you were here safe in her arms. Sure, you would have a long road to recovery (and getting you to actually follow the doctor's orders was bound to be a fight), but you were alive with no imminent threat hanging above your head.
She would be there for you every step of the way.
363 notes
·
View notes
Text
The Mosley Review: Devotion
There's a certain romanticism to Naval Air Pilot films that never stops being intoxicating. Whether it be about a fictional war while retaining as much realism to the fighters that are used today or the airmen that paved the way for pilots today, there is still a charm that is never lost. This film takes a look at a war that is often not explored since its sandwiched between The Cold War and the Vietnam War. We had the Forgotten Generation of the first World War, but the Korean War is often known as the Forgotten War. I do like that more films have started to explore the many other wars and skirmishes in America's history. Now this one tackles the majority of the aerial combat done with the bombings, but it doesn't shy away from the boots on the ground and I liked seeing the divide between them. Where most films based on the true story of the soldiers and the enemy they fight in massive battles, this film decided to focus on the inner battle of psychological torture of the racist injustices of the times, the personal lives of the men in the air, the brotherhood that is forged between pilots and the amount of pride that could be detriment to the team even it gets the job done. I appreciated that and I'm glad the film left the portrayal of the real pilots the story is based upon in the hands of a very capable cast.
Johnathan Majors is on a hot streak right now and there's no sign of stopping. His portrayal of Ensign Jesse Brown was fantastic and endearing. He brilliantly sometimes hides and then releases the characters anger and pain in a number of looks and body language. The mirror scene is one of the most iconic and gut wrenching scenes of the film. When he wasn't constantly putting on a brave face, we get to see the character's charm and humanity shine through. Christina Jackson was wonderful as his loving and strong wife Daisy Brown. She brings out the light within him when he is home. Her sweetness and wisdom really shines in the softer and more intimate scenes of the film. Glenn Powell was great as Jesse's wingman as Lieutenant Tom Hudner. His charm shines at all times, but I loved that he always respected his crew and the way he naturally earned Jesse's respect. The two of them were excellent together and I loved that their friendship was the soul of the film. Daisy had a touching scene with Tom and I loved their immediate bond. I always enjoy seeing Thomas Sadoski in anything and as their team leader, Dick Cevoli, he was just as awesome and solid as you'd expect. He is such a great character actor and this film showcases that yet again. A standout in the film that took me by surprise was Serinda Swan as Elizabeth Taylor. She nailed the persona, charm, attitude and mystique of the real life socialite. She had a number of great scenes with Jesse and I loved every second of it.
The score by composer Chanda Dancy was uplifting, somber and heroic at the right times and really brought home the emotional core of the film. Visually the film was nice to look at, but at times I felt it was almost too murky in the darker lit scenes and even in the interior of the ship scenes. It sometimes took away from the more intimate moments between two characters talking in their bunk. Even though this was a true story, I felt that the story dragged a bit and felt almost too clean. The focus is the power of friendship, but I wish there was a little less levity with the tone of the film. In the end, this was a good film about a real friendship that was forged in a time where it was frowned upon. I will definitely add this to the list of good Naval Aviator films, but somewhere in the top 10, but not top 5. Let me know what you thought of the film or my review in the comments below. Thanks for reading!
6 notes
·
View notes
Text
She smiled at the Hug, which only made her remember how much she missed the Wildcat! With how dicey things got in Eggperial City she didn't even know if she'd get a chance to talk to her again! It was close, she realized that now, real close! Like got a gun pointed at her face close! That really opened her eyes to how quick things can turn, but thankfully it was all ok--- and she got a cool story out of it!
" Woah! simmer down girl! don't worry! eggy couldn't end me if he had a whole army! which he does... and i'm still rockin' it! same as always! "
She grinned ear to ear as she twirled the cheese cake on her tails finger!
" Why dun we enjoy some of this here cheese cake smothered in strawberries! and i'll regail you with how one feisty Lemur! got to take the fight to old eggman! up close an personal! "
No way she was gonna tell the story as it happened! The last thing she wanted was for Carol to worry! besides embellishing a story was like half the fun! Still now that she thought about it, she nearly did die a few times! and the whole ghost thing had scared her her straight! she still had to get checkups from Tails to make sure there were no side effects.
She set the Cheese Cake down on one of Carol's tables and plopped down in a chair and swished her tail back and forth! She had a long story to tell! but no sense rushing it! Gotta save the juicy bits for the grand finale! So she focused on her team first! She'd just string Carol along till the end to find out how she became a ghost!
" But as for my team! You already met Whisper during your wedding, she was the tall stoic blonde wolf! She's an amazing marksman and sniper! teamed up with her wisps she's a force all on her own! "
She explained with a softer smile, she clearly liked that wolf!
" Then... we have Lanolin our team leader! she's a hard headed sheep! a bit by the books, and all I AM THE LAW! hah! but she's got a good heart... and always sees us through no matter how tough things get! and last but not least our resident rookie Duo! he's still learning but he's got spirit! we'll shape him into a real contender! "
" Course... if you wanna hear about our super secret amazing mission! that's a pretty long story! ya sure yer up for a whirlwind adventure! full of robots! evil scientists! and amazing lemur heroics! cause its AMAZING!!!! but kinda long... and full of twists! turns! and death defying adventure?!!? "
"Ooooooo, sneaky.
"I love it! Especially if it means seein' ya more often." She gave her another hug, tighter and quicker this time, along with a light chuckle. "You also gotta introduce me to your new team! Oooo and ya gotta tell me about all your super cool secret mission stuff! I can keep a secret or two, or twenty.
"How'd ya turn into a ghost, anyway? Did you die--
"OH FU--FOXTROT, DID YOU DIE??? HOW'D YOU DIE??? WHY DID NOBODY TELL ME???"
#Ring Tailed Mischief Maker#Tangle#Wild Hearted Feline#Carol#Catching Up!#Death Defying Stories!#Tangle vs Eggman!#Battle of The Century!#that's totally how it went down!
2 notes
·
View notes
Text
strike
part 3 of the ‘hey batter batter’ series
pairing: Francisco Morales (Frankie, Catfish) x reader
wordcount: 2k
warnings: extremely mild mentions of sex, unwanted advances that don’t get far (not by Frankie)
summary: it’s a Triple Frontier baseball au - trust me, you don’t need to know anything about baseball.
In this chapter, we learn that a ‘strike’ is when a batter misses the ball when he swings, even though he shouldn’t have. And some strikes don’t just happen during baseball.
>>
“Jimbo, I'm here!” You called as you kicked the door closed behind you, arms heavy with grocery bags. Your grandfather would be in the living room, no doubt impatiently waiting for you to unload so you could watch the baseball game together. It was a few states away, which meant the two of you could enjoy evening on the couch with affordable snacks and air conditioning. Games in person were more exciting, but climbing all those stairs wasn’t great for his knees, and it was nice to chat with him without the roar of the crowds.
There was a faint squeak to his favorite rocker, and you unloaded half the bags onto the coffee table – his favorite treats – before tossing the rest haphazardly into their places in his little kitchen. You raced the commercials, listening to the final advertisements with one ear as you hurried to get yourself settled, even though he was always happy to chat with you during the game. For these times with him, you hated to miss even a moment. The chair to the left of his was yours, newer and softer and it would have been the perfect evening, eating and catching up with your favorite man.
Except this was the first real opportunity for him to grill you about your unexpected lunch with his heroes.
There had been laughter in his voice when you had tried to call him afterwards, and he had told you he would wait to hear the story. To him, even over the phone you couldn’t hide how flustered you were, just moments after Francesco’s eyes had been in yours. All things considered, he had been more than patient, so as you fidgeted and you kept your eyes on the screen, you told him what had happened as casually as you could.
It was the top of the first inning – the very beginning of the game, and his boys were mostly crowded into the dugout. Their fingers were grabbing fistfuls of sunflower seeds or pulling on batting gloves or hanging on the wire, watching as Will walked up to bat. There was a fun country song playing, and it was surreal, thinking it had just been a few days since he had tossed a chunk of fried food into the air and his brother had caught it in his mouth. James thoroughly enjoyed you story, laughing and for once not lecturing you about leaving them alone to live their lives. He seemed approving, proud of you for taking a change, and proud that the boys from his favorite team did his favorite granddaughter well. You answered this questions and indulged his excitement over the little things, trying not to reveal too much of your own daydream fodder. Thinking of Francisco’s eyes as he laughed at the Miller boys, you grabbed a pillow to give your hands something to hold onto, to ground yourself.
The camera panned over to Tom adjusting his cap and without thinking you winced. When you realized that James had caught the movement, you winced again.
You had to explain, then, the biggest detail that you had glossed over – the only one that would disappoint your grandfather. The outfielder had looked at you with confidence and hunger in his eyes. His fingers on your hand left cool, invisible lines, slimy like residue of the stadium cup holders.
James listened with sad eyes, before he was reaching over, gently squeezing your hand, and asking about Will’s family in town to find out if he knew a relative. It was kindness - changing the topic, rewarming the memory as he coaxed out more details of their interactions with you and each other, making you blush and laugh and smile.
The discomfort that had been lodged in your heart regarding the athlete lessened as you remembered that they were all human. It had been clear the other players respected him, maybe even looked up to him, and that had to be good for something. Even though it had just been a lunch, a single moment in time, the assessments of a group of open hearted baseball players already held weight on your opinion.
As you began to tell James about a joke Santiagio had told, you noticed that Tom’s turn had come and gone, and he had struck out.
-
Every professional sports group had a second team, full of people who pushed papers and cleaned locker rooms and handled press conferences. One of these people was a woman who was in charge of sorting through and organizing special fan appearances.
Flipping through applications and mail, she would have hardly noticed the broad shoulders and hazel eyes of the man who entered, had he not kissed her breathless the night before.
For all they were on and off and she knew he was a player in all senses of the word, she couldn’t help but stand, and let his hands find her hips as he pressed into her.
“Hi, Tom,” she whispered, already dazed and adoring as his beard scraped at her neck, warm and insistent.
“Hey, babe,” he returned, absentmindedly, squeezing her hips before pulling away. There was something about his eyes, the way he held his head, like his shoulders were comfortable bearing the weight of others, like he’d prefer it that way, that made him seem like a natural born leader.
She knew him better. He had the crowds and the rookies and the managers and even his brothers on the team wrapped around his fingers - the perfect mentorship allusion, but she knew. There was another side to him, a darker side, filled to the brim with pride and arrogance and power. Of all the men who flashed smiles as they shook hands and carried kids on their shoulders for photos – he was the one who preened the most. There was a hunger in his eyes, even greater than when he’d love her, when a chance came for him to do an extra interview, put some senior input in, or take a newbie to his first after party.
Still, she loved him. Too much, maybe, but her mind whispered not enough, and she hungrily took what ever he would give her. There were always flowers and jewelry and coveted high-status sex in his apologies, anyway, and she knew he’d always come back to her, eventually. She knew better than to guess.
“What can I do for you?” she asked, star stuck in spite of it all, but knowing there must be something. His “cousin” had stocks in the team, or a certain string needed to be pulled. There was always something.
When he asked for the number of a girl from a few weeks ago, there was an all-too-familiar twist in her gut.
“Tom, you know that information is confidential,” she whined, masking her fear, turning back towards her desk. It was infuriating how disarming, intoxicating, and how solid he felt behind her, how smooth his words felt on the shell of her ear.
“It’s for Benny, babe, he’s got it bad for her,” it was a lie, but she didn’t know it, and the knot in her stomach loosened a little. His hand slipped under her blouse and it came undone, submitting entirely to the façade.
“Let me help the little guy out.” For all his charisma, she wanted desperately to believe he was sincere, so she did. Her hands started steady as she opened a thick binder and began flipping through the glossy dividers. She moved as slow as she could, hopelessly savoring his touch, knowing when it was gone, the unpleasant feelings would be just as strong.
But it didn’t take long to find you number and hand it over, and exchange more heated kisses and half promises before he slipped out.
The woman settled in her chair again, fingers tracing the letters of your name, the knot reforming below her breastbone. She reached for her phone, telling herself it was a courtesy, to give you a heads up.
-
When a player was about to steal second base, you always wondered if Santiago Garcia could tell, without even looking. If he could feel it in his bones, or if the hairs on the back his neck rose, against his sweat.
If he could, that was exactly how you would feel now, walking into the bar to see only Tom Davis waiting for you. The building was dim, strategically chosen by Will, allegedly, so they could drink in peace. As before however, there was no hiding the silhouette of a man like him, not when he was oozing confidence like sap from a tree.
When he had called you, it had been so shocking you had agreed without thinking. It was surreal, but like following a trail of candy through a forest, not at all like the knights in shining armor of before.
He swung his arm around, cocky smile across his face, and you shook his hand.
There could not have been a more awkward boundary made, but he laughed it off as you considered turning tail and running. It was ridiculous, but you couldn’t help how guarded you felt alone with him, so you turned to the polished woof of the bar and ordered a lemonade. It would buy you time, anyway, to reassess.
You had always thought of baseball players as beer guys, but he had a short glass of something gold and expensive, as if he were trying to prove a point. Slipping onto the stool next to him, you set your bag in between you like a wall. He was broad and he pulled close, making you almost press against his side, giving you the opportunity to realize his skin almost cold. Slow sips reminded you that there was no basis for your feelings, and you were the one being strange.
It wasn’t bad, talking to him. You chided yourself internally, thinking you made unfair assumptions. Really, he was a nice guy. He talked highly of his friends, even defending their lateness, taking the blame for the mix-up. It felt like one of those interviews your grandfather would watch sometimes, the way he could go on about himself and somehow tell you nothing at all. Fighting your instincts to give short, guarded answers, you found yourself sharing about your life more than you expected. Not a lot, but not nothing either.
It was awkward and nice, not unlike a first date and when his large hand covered yours, it didn’t feel half as slimy as before.
A spider’s web was feather-light, so subtle it was almost impossible to feel until it was too late.
His eyes were sharp and deep and certain as he shifted closer, and you felt dazed, despite all the alcohol you hadn’t consumed.
When he leaned in, though, a thought struck you. With his deep hazel eyes, the perfect beard, and tanned skin, he looked like a prince. Not our prince, though, it was just someone else’s fairytale.
Clarity and your own confidence warmed you like a jacket one rainy day, and you touched Tom’s cheek, holding his face at enough of a distance. You shed the web before it stuck and something flickered in his eyes – doubt, maybe, or something like fear, as you spoke the most prominent thought on your mind.
“What about Molly?”
-
When he heard you, again speaking words that weren't meant for his ears, warm pride shot through his chest.
That’s my girl.
Of course you weren’t, but it felt like you were.
You turned to him like you knew he was there, hand leaving Tom’s stunned face to wave at the grinning catcher.
Frankie had been at war with himself across the bar as he looked towards the two of you, heart wrenching. He had seen from the far side the room first how close you were to the other man. It was unreasonably terrifying to see that you weren't immune, to see you consider his friend. Then he saw how non responsive you’d become to Redfly, how politely you regarded him as he lathered on the charm. By the time he reached the two of you, he found you fully awake, handling it yourself.
When the woman had called you, her voice had betrayed something. It was formal conversation, just admitting she had shared your contact information, and disclosing that it was Tom, and he’d made it clear you guys were friends. Her tone, however, told you she was territorial and jealous, but also desperate, longing. It felt right to get out of the way – that’s what you and she wanted and you sort of thought that’s actually what he wanted, too. He was moving away from you, still processing, trying to play off the moment, and even more than pity, you felt a touch sad for them.
Still, you were impressed you were able to manage yourself. It was the same confidence that had filled you when you stood up for James, a confidence that came from a feeling that whispered something good was coming, something well worth the boldness.
When you felt a warm presence at your side, you felt even more sure. It felt wonderful, the way Francisco was looking at you. It was too early to read into it, but you were sure you wanted him to look at you like that again - like you were capable of telling mountains to move.
You smiled up at him, relieved, and he couldn’t help but beam back, wanting to hug you. He wasn’t feeling quite brave enough yet, but there was a resolve settling in his heart. There was no way he was going to leave your side tonight.
The other guys came quickly. Each of them was excited to see you again, and you pretended not to notice them shooting confused glances at Redfly when he slipped outside to spit on the ground and stare at the sky.
It didn’t take long for him to rejoin you, anyway, and his shoulders seemed lighter, his eyes just a little more thoughtful.
The group as a whole accepted you into their fold like they needed you, like each one of them had missed you when you were gone, like you missed them, like you belonged there from the start.
You had no idea how long the daydream would last, but in that moment it didn’t feel like it mattered at all. Collecting stories for James even faded as a priority as you just enjoyed the feeling of the glass in your hands, the laughter in the air, and teasing the men like they were just boys. Even after the last half hour, it was easy to trust Will’s sincere tone, and Ben’s eager blue eyes. The others were grounded at your side, steady and comforting - you felt yourself open like a flower to the sun.
There was something about the shape of the catcher at your side, safe and warm, like his presence was reaching for yours, aching with yours. Through the stories and the jokes you relished it, and his eyes made it clear that you weren’t alone. And even though the universe made it abundantly clear that you had no idea what would happen next, you didn’t feel any need to hurry. Fate seemed to know what she was doing.
In the darkness of the bar, only Santiago’s eyes saw Frankie’s hand find the small of your back.
<<
taglist:
@fangirl-316 @scribbledghost @writeforfandoms @beautyagegoodnesssize
hey batter batter taglist:
@icanbeyourjedi @studyofawearymind @hnt-escape @athalien
#francisco morales#francisco morales x reader#francisco morales x you#frankie x you#frankie x reader#catfish x you#triple frontier#baseball au#triple frontier baseball au#hey batter batter#maybe i don't know people
79 notes
·
View notes
Text
The Lady in Red | Jennie
Mafia AU | Meet messy/Strangers to lovers | “Are you sure this is legal?”
Warnings: blood, death, anxiety symptoms
Wordcount: 3,373
A/N: The gif is kinda flashy, please tell me if that’s a problem for someone, then I will switch it out!!
“I guess I don’t need to tell you that his infiltration into the ‘circle of trust’ was unsuccessful.”
Seungyeon chuckled sadly next to you and you turned around with a shaky sigh, not being able to look at your patched-up colleague in the hospital bed any longer.
“When will we finally manage to take them down?!”
You growled while angrily kicking the chair that was standing next to the door for the police officer that would have to be there 24/7 for safety reasons from now on.
“I’m starting to believe that we will never be able to. The Kim Clan isn’t the most powerful criminal organization in the city for no reason. Their network is bigger than we could have ever guessed when we started to investigate them and the mastermind behind all this seems to be a ghost. I mean we have no idea what The Lady in Red even looks like. Five years of thorough investigation and there are no clues about her, except that she has to be the most ruthless person on this planet considering that none of her subordinates dare to betray her...”
Seungyeon buried her face in her hands in defeat but you instantly shook your head. You couldn’t let The Lady in Red win; especially not after all the blood, sweat and tears that you had put into this case. You had become a detective to make this world a better place. You couldn’t let the biggest criminal of this city get away.
“Let’s wait till Jihoon wakes up. Maybe he remembers something.”
You tried to sound hopeful although you weren’t even sure whether Jihoon would wake up at all. You had found him in front of the police station this morning, drowning in his own blood after he had joined the Kim Clan almost a year ago to investigate undercover. He had been the great hope in your team. No other cop had ever managed to be a part of the clan for that long before, making you think that you had finally achieved a breakthrough. A foolish hope that made you feel like a failure now that you were standing in front of his hospital bed.
“Do you really believe that?”
Seungyeon replied doubtfully and you huffed in frustration. Of course, you didn’t believe that. With his injuries, you could be glad if Jihoon would ever be able to walk and talk again. But it was too hard to admit that you had hit another dead end; that Jihoon’s sacrifice had been in vain. Angrily, you clenched your fists and closed your eyes in order to calm down again, but it felt like you were riding a roller coaster. Your heart was beating out of your chest and your head was spinning, making you feel nauseous. You couldn’t bear to look at your half-dead friend any longer.
“I need to get out of here.”
You uttered breathlessly before bursting away. Blindly, you stumbled through the hallways, bumping into people left and right before eventually reaching the underground parking. You just needed to get away from those bright lights, the sterile smell, and the constant beeping of Jihoon’s heartrate monitor that seemed to be making fun of your obvious incapability to catch The Lady in Red. This was all your fault. If you were a better team leader, Jihoon would still be making his bad jokes that had always made night shifts more bearable in the past in some way or another. Tears immediately started to pool in your eyes when you thought about the possibility of never being able to hear your friend’s goofy laugh again that had managed to make everyone join in even when his joke had been terrible. What had you done? How could you have allowed him to go undercover?
In hopes that you could flee your bad conscience if you were only fast enough, you hastily unlocked your car before diving into the driver’s seat. It still seemed like your head was spinning in circles and the extreme ringing in your ears didn’t really increase your fitness to drive, but you didn’t hesitate a second before starting the engine and backing out of the parking space full speed.
You just needed to get away.
A loud collision, however, cut your escape short and forced your car to come to an abrupt halt, causing your body to be painfully pressed back into your seat by your seatbelt. For a second, you stared ahead dumbfounded as you tried to understand what had happened until a roaring voice managed to rip you out of your state of shock.
“You idiot!! Use your eyes!!”
A man yelled and you realized that you must have rammed another car. Frustrated, you huffed because your day really couldn’t get any worse before exiting the car reluctantly. A tall man dressed in a suit came rushing towards you and judging by the crimson color of his face, he seemed to be nearly exploding from anger. Subconsciously, you took a defensive stance, ready to parry off a punch in case that he would decide to physically attack you. Just before the man could reach you, however, a loud, high-pitched whistle suddenly made him stop. Like a well-behaved dog he froze and turned around to look at the source of the noise.
“Junho, where are your manners?”
A mysterious voice asked, and you tried to look past Junho in order to catch a glimpse of your savior. You could only see a pair of red high heels and slender legs emerging from the car that you had rammed before a breathtakingly beautiful woman eventually got out of it. Against your will, your eyes automatically started to scan her from head to toe and you had to stop your jaw from slacking. She was simply stunning. Something about her was mesmerizing although you didn’t know whether it was her piercing gaze that seemed to be sharper than a knife, the way she moved her body so gracefully or her clothes that screamed ‘rich’ to you. Of course, you had managed to damage the only car that cost more than your annual salary out of all the junk cars in this parking garage... Remorsefully, you looked to the floor when the woman walked closer to you, figuring that you should probably show respect to her as money usually equated power where you lived. As soon as she was standing in front of you, you opened your mouth to give the most heartfelt apology that you could come up with in order to save your own neck, but the sound of her voice put an end to your plan.
“Are you ok?”
The woman asked and to your surprise her voice wasn’t filled with anger or annoyance, but with concern instead. Confused, you looked up and you realized that her feline eyes appeared to be a lot softer now while scanning your face worriedly. Automatically, your hand reached up to touch your face and you discovered to your surprise that your cheeks were tear stained. In embarrassment, you quickly used your sleeve to wipe away the remainders of your breakdown just a few seconds ago and cleared your throat to sound more or less poised.
“Yes. I’m sorry for ramming your car. I’ve been incautious for a second.”
You pointed at your cars that were surrounded by bits of red, broken glass, but the woman didn’t avert her gaze from you.
“I don’t want you to worry about the cars right now. Are you sure you’re ok? That was one hell of a collision. Are you hurt?”
Her reaction caught you off guard and you stared at her speechlessly. Why wasn’t she yelling at you? Was she that rich that she didn’t even care about her car anymore?
“I-I...yeah...I’m fine.”
You stammered, causing you to facepalm yourself inwardly. It seemed like you were trying to do everything in your power to prove that you were a complete idiot.
“I’m glad to hear that. I was worried for a second.”
The woman smiled softly, causing you to feel weak in your knees. If she would continue looking at you like that, you could not be held responsible for whatever rash action of yours it would cause. A blush started to spread in your cheeks as the two of you simply stared at each other and you frantically tried to come up with something smart to say in order to save your face. Once again, however, the woman beat you to it.
“I’m Jennie by the way.”
She introduced herself while holding out her hand and you quickly wiped your right palm on your pants just in case that it was as sweaty as it felt.
“I’m Y/N.”
You shook her hand, feeling how the touch caused a tingling feeling in your stomach. Embarrassed, you wanted to pull away again, but Jennie kept holding on to your hand a little longer before allowing you to loosen your grasp.
“It’s very nice to meet you, Y/N. I hope that we’re not the reason for you to be late to something, you seemed to be in a hurry earlier.”
For the first time, Jennie averted her gaze from you to assess the scene of the crash before calmly looking back at you as if her multimillion won car wasn’t damaged. You expected her to finally scold you for your lack of concentration that had caused this accident, but Jennie didn’t seem to blame you for anything. Instead, she patiently waited for you to reply to her assumption, so you quickly shook your head.
“No, don’t worry. I don’t need to be anywhere. I just...”
You trailed off because you didn’t know how to finish your sentence. I just needed to get away, because it’s my fault that my friend is probably dying, and I couldn’t bear to look at him anymore? It wasn’t like you could blindside a stranger with a confession like that. Your head immediately started spinning again when you thought about Jihoon and your eyes roamed around the parking garage as you thought about your answer before focusing on Jennie again. As soon as your eyes met, you felt how her serenity had a soothing effect on you and a sense of calmness spread from your chest to your whole body. Somehow her intense yet gentle gaze seemed to draw you under her spell, and you opened your mouth without even being aware of it.
“I just had a really bad day because my friend was hospitalized because of me.”
You blurted out, feeling how tears immediately started to pool in your eyes. Ashamed you turned your head to the side to hide your emotions, but a sensation on your arm caused your gaze to dart forward again. Jennie had reached out to you and was now patting your arm encouragingly.
“I’m sorry to hear that, Y/N. But I’m sure your friend wouldn’t want you to torment yourself. I don’t know what you did, but you don’t seem like you would have wanted your friend to be hospitalized.”
She tried to cheer you up and you nodded hesitantly. She was right. Jihoon wouldn’t want you to blame yourself for what had happened. He was a dedicated detective and it had been his decision to go undercover.
“I-I think you might me right... Thank you.”
You stammered perplexed, wondering how it had been possible for Jennie to calm you down that fast. You loved whatever she was doing to you though and you sighed in relief when your head started to feel steady again, causing Jennie to smile at you widely, seeming to be genuinely happy that she had been able to help you.
“Well, now that this is settled, let’s take care of this mess?”
Jennie giggled while pointing at your cars.
“I feel very guilty for this accident. Junho was driving too fast; you couldn’t have braked in time. Please, let me invite you for a coffee to apologize and we can discuss how we want to handle the costs.”
She continued and your eyes widened in shock. This was not how you remembered the accident; it had definitely been your fault. You simply couldn’t steal any more of Jennie’s time after causing her so much trouble, even if you wouldn’t mind talking with her all day long.
“Aren’t you here to visit someone?”
You asked hesitantly, not wanting to be the reason for her to miss visiting hours.
“Ah yes. I’ve been very unsatisfied with the way how one of my dear friends has been... taken care of. So I came here today to do it myself. Some jobs are better done by yourself, you know? But I’m confident that Junho will be able to get the job done as efficiently as I would have done, right?”
Jennie looked at Junho who had grimly stood at the side till now and simply nodded in response. Satisfied, Jennie grinned before giving you her attention again and wordlessly asking you with a slight movement of her head to agree to her offer. Not being able to resist her charms, you sighed in defeat and locked your car again.
“Ok fine, one coffee.”
You agreed, causing Jennie’s eyes to glint in excitement.
“Great! Junho, go park the car and then go upstairs. I know that you will take proper care of my friend. I don’t want any more...complications. I want everything to be clean and neat. Let’s give my friend what he deserves.”
Jennie smiled sweetly and you felt your heart flutter. It was endearing to see how much she seemed to care about her friend. Happily, you looked at her before following her back into the building to grab a coffee in the little café for visitors on the first floor. It didn’t even need you a minute to figure out that Jennie apparently was a master of distraction. The way she talked was simply captivating and you almost didn’t think about Jihoon at all. Your conversation flowed with ease right from the start and it seemed like you had known each other for years already. Together you sat down at a table, each with a steaming hot cup of coffee in your hands and Jennie immediately propped up her elbow on the table to rest her head on her hand in order to look at you attentively.
“So what do you do for a living?”
She asked curiously and you straightened up proudly. You loved your job and it made you really happy to talk about it.
“I’m a detective.”
You stated, causing Jennie’s expression to change like expected. Most people were impressed when they heard that you were a detective and wanted to know more about your work.
“A detective? Wow. What kind of cases do you work on? Is your job as exciting as in K-dramas or is the movie industry just lying?”
Jennie raised one eyebrow suspiciously and you giggled in response.
“Well, I’m afraid my job is not quite as spectacular as in K-dramas, but there are definitely more boring jobs. Right now, I’m working on a really interesting case for example. We’re investigating the Kim clan; you might have read about it in the news maybe. It’s a huge criminal organization with a ruthless leader. We only call her The Lady in Red.”
You started to chat, feeling how you suddenly had the urge to talk about all your built-up frustration.
“The Lady in Red?”
An amused smile played on Jennie’s lips as she curiously tilted her head to the side, and you chuckled.
“Yes. We don’t know a lot about the leader, not even her name. But over the past years we have accumulated some bits of information about her. We’ve managed to catch some of the criminals that worked with her and although none of them ever betrayed her, they revealed little details. For example, we know that she often could be found wearing red lipstick or a red trench coat. And in combination with the trail of blood that she leaves all over the city, we eventually started calling her The Lady in Red.”
You felt a little embarrassed to admit the ridiculous nickname that you had given a serial killer, but Jennie seemed to be very intrigued by your story.
“Is this top-secret information? I mean, can you even tell me all this? Are you sure this is legal?”
She joked, causing you to laugh off your embarrassment.
“As long as you’re not a journalist...”
You narrowed your eyes to fake mistrust and Jennie put on a serious face.
“No, don’t worry. Your secrets are safe with me, I promise. I’m just a simple businesswoman, not a journalist. I own a little company and try my best to survive.”
She crossed her fingers to underline her statement, causing both of you to crack up. After calming down again though, you had the urge to know more about this seemingly perfect woman in front of you. Considering her expensive clothes and car, you doubted that her company was as little as she described it and you were genuinely interested in learning what it took to get all the way to the top of the food chain.
“You own a business? That’s impressive! What kind of business?“
You asked, but you shouldn’t get to hear her answer right away. The moment Jennie inhaled to start telling you about her life story, the screens of both of your phones on the table suddenly lit up, indicating that you had gotten a message.
“Excuse me.”
You excused your bad table manners before picking up your phone to check the incoming message because you were technically still on duty and obliged to be reachable. Unless someone had been murdered, however, you didn’t plan on working today after the events of this morning, so you simply wanted to skim the message before giving Jennie all your attention again. The content of the text message was very short and comprehensible at a glance though, managing to instantly knock the air out of your lungs. As if you couldn’t trust your eyes, you read the text over and over again in disbelief, hoping that it’s meaning would change eventually. But the cold, harsh words stayed and mercilessly slapped you in the face.
Jihoon is dead
The three words were simple, but that didn’t make their impact any less destructive. An intense pressure seemed to crush your chest and your eyes started to burn immediately. How could this be? How could he have died so quickly? He had been stable when you had seen him just a little over half an hour ago. Helplessly, you looked at Jennie who was smiling at her phone before meeting your eyes. Her expression changed in a split second and she was quick to leap to her feet to walk over to you.
“He’s dead.”
You managed to choke out before a loud sob tore from your throat as your tears began to fall in a rapid pace. Without hesitation, Jennie wrapped her arms around you to pull you against her body and you clung to her in need for comfort while your whole body shook violently.
“I’m so sorry, Y/N.”
Jennie said on a loop while rubbing your back in circles, attempting to get you to calm down again. Her gentle touch and soothing voice prevented you from completely breaking down and you tried to remember her words from earlier. I’m sure your friend wouldn’t want you to torment yourself. You repeated this simple statement over and over again in your head to allay the weight of the guilt that was pressing down on you. No matter how much you tried though, you weren’t able to completely erase the ugly voice in your head that told you that this was all your fault. Nevertheless, you were glad that you had Jennie by your side right now. You hoped that her serenity would manage to save you once more, so you held on tighter to her in an attempt to allow her strength to prevent the darkness in your head to seize you.
Who would have thought that joy and sorrow could be so close together?
#drabble game#jennie drabble#kim jennie#jennie scenario#jennie imagine#jennie x reader#blackpink x reader#idolxreader#girl group scenario#girl group#kpop scenario#kpop#mafia au#girl group imagine
197 notes
·
View notes
Text
Star Trek Beyond ramblings under the cut, because I love this movie so much:
I was just watching Star Trek Beyond again, and it’s really just such a good ensemble movie. It wasn’t a Kirk-is-the-hero movie or a Kirk-and-Spock movie, it was an Enterprise movie. Everyone in the crew had roles, not just isolated moments of badassery or humour, but actual places in the narrative that showed off their character and development. I mean, we see:
Bones being a doctor, what that actually looks like apart from waving a scanner around and jabbing people with needles. How he interacts with his patient, the brusque bedside manner that nevertheless goes hand-in-hand with his genuine concern, improvising treatments when he doesn’t have the advanced tools he normally does. Damn it, the man is a doctor, and he’s a good one, and we get to see that!
Sulu and Uhura taking initiative, being leaders! Uhura putting herself at risk again and again to do what’s best for the crew, Sulu taking a leadership role with the surviving crew members and trying to keep them safe. TOS Sulu eventually becomes a captain, and you can really see the echoes of those leadership skills emerging here. And Uhura, separating the saucer to give the escape pods a chance, breaking out of the cell to send a distress signal, asserting what’s right and standing up to Krall. In many ways, she gets the hero(ine) role that in the past, has been given to Kirk or Spock.
Spock’s more introspective side. He spends a lot of the movie considering his place in the universe, his responsibilities, the legacy of Ambassador Spock, mortality. He doesn’t Vulcan-logic up a genius plan in the nick of time to save the day, it’s a softer, more measured Spock we see here, and it’s fantastic.
Scotty being a mentor and a father-figure, reaching out to Jaylah and being a figure of kindness and encouragement and concern. He saves the day in a different kind of way than whipping up an engineering miracle or three - he saves the day by reaching out to someone who was lonely and being a person who cares.
Chekov alone had less to do in the movie, but we still see him taking on leadership during the attack, making sure everyone on the bridge got in an escape pod safely, being the second last to abandon ship, only after everyone else had already gone. It’s a far cry from the childish, almost comedic role he’s had so far.
Jim being a captain, not a hero. When Commodore Paris congratulated him on saving Yorktown and he said that it wasn’t him, that really rang true. Kirk spends pretty much the entire movie affirming and reaffirming that his crew is capable, that they achieve things together, and it’s something the movie’s structure reinforces as well. More on that later.
And yes, the ensemble structure means that individual characters don’t get a ton of time focused on their own arcs, but you don’t necessarily need a lot of time in an ensemble movie, you just need to make effective use of what time you do have. Which I won’t claim every character had amazing character moments, but there was pretty solid and consistent characterization throughout, and the characters who did have time to shine shone brilliantly.
The whole theme of this movie is, as Uhura asserted to Krall/Eddison, “strength in unity.” It’s very much not an action/super hero type movie, where a single extraordinary individual saves the day. It’s the crew of the Enterprise, working together to their respective strengths, that succeeds.
Conversely, Krall/Eddison is strong so long as he still has his crew with them, but once he loses them, he loses his power. While he still has Kalara and Manas, his plans proceed well - Kalara ensnares the Enterprise, Manas helps him get away to Yorktown. Without them, he has no support. The contrast of that final confrontation with Kirk, Kirk with the entire crew of the Enterprise talking to him, giving him instructions, providing back up, and Eddison, standing alone, dying alone and in silence amidst the emptiness of space.
I mean, that scene when the U.S.S. Franklin is facing the swarm, if you watch, it’s literally the entire crew coming up with the solution together. One person has a realization, another follows that up with a suggestion, another builds on that, so on and so forth. It’s all of them, talking together, that solve the problem. No one person has all the pieces to the puzzle or some sudden mastermind plan, it’s everyone contributing what they have.
And I think that leads me into another thing that’s so great about this movie, is that it recognizes the competence and the ability of these characters. When faced with danger, everyone knows their duties, everyone performs their duties with competence and skill, they’re not just cogs in a machine, but well-oiled cogs. The movie respects these characters, respects their capabilities and their foibles and their development.
Which goes into this movie and legacy, and honouring what came before while growing into something new. We see the impacts of previous events on these characters, we see that they mattered. Someone else has already pointed out how the escape pods are called Kelvin pods - the destruction of the Kelvin in the first movie mattered, not just to Kirk, it mattered to Starfleet and they made damn sure that their crews should always have a chance to live. The destruction of Vulcan and Spock wondering about his potential duties to his people - of course that’s going to be something that lingers! The horrors of genocide aren’t just the immediate loss of loved ones, of a planet, it’s something that continues to have an effect on survivors’ lives and futures.
(There are the good legacies too, the bittersweet legacies. Ambassador Spock’s belongings, that picture of TOS cast, ugh)
((Also, the core of Eddison being that he can’t move forwards from the past, from the legacy he was a part of, that he helped build. Wanting things to stay the same - and the irony is that in trying to keep the universe at war, he changes himself so drastically from what he was. And to have his legacy, his crew’s legacy, be changed by his actions. As Commodore Paris said, “For generations, we taught that they were heroes.” Now they’re a tragedy))
It’s interesting because both Spock and Kirk have storylines around questioning their place in the universe, of living with legacies and living their lives now. And we have Kirk and Bones having that conversation at the start, Bones very keenly pointing out that Kirk has been living for his father for so long but not for himself, and then the movie switches gears and works out these feelings with Spock.
(Love how both of them end up having these conversations with Bones, give the man a gold star friend award)
And we don’t really see Kirk working through this, except we do. Kirk doesn’t talk about it outside of his captain’s log or with Bones, but we have Spock’s conversation. We see the static-y legacy of the Franklin, we see Eddison’s despair and rage in his captain’s log, we see the crew of the Enterprise rising up to the task, confronting the past and saving the present. We see Jaylah face the trauma of her memories and find trust and belonging in others, we see old meeting new, loneliness and despair but also love and hope.
We see everything except Kirk’s own internal struggle (save for Chris Pine’s frankly stellar facial acting), but maybe we don’t need to. Because everything Kirk wrestles with is everything we come to realize through the movie, and as much as we are watching what’s going on, so is he.
(See? It is a Kirk movie in a way, in that his internal conflict inspires the overall themes in the movie. But Kirk is also the audience, watching the tragedy of Eddison and the Franklin, seeing the crew, his crew, work together.)
Also, loved the unconventional character groupings. We have Sulu and Uhura as a team, Kirk and Chekov, Scotty and Jaylah, and the absolute genius of Bones and Spock. I wish all Star Trek Beyond scriptwriters a very pleasant evening for giving us the absolute gift of Bones and Spock together. We have been so blessed.
#the valley is posting#star trek beyond#these ramblings are by no means coherent but this movie just makes my media analysis heart leap for joy#it's also just a really enjoyable star trek movie because it feels like it was made with love#it's not meant to be a franchise or box office superstar; it's a love letter and an homage to the series that people love#and it's not to say that it was perfect! there's definitely stuff they slipped up on or could have done better#but thematically and character-wise - oh; it was so good#this post inspired by a wonderfully kind comment from its-all-ineffable#i started a post like this months ago but i couldn't remember the details until i rewatched it tonight
54 notes
·
View notes