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rodpupo2 · 3 years

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Research: Persona Project

Ronin by Frank Miller

Ronin was a comic released by DC comics in 1983, and was created by Frank Miller, who besides having worked on the script, also worked on the illustrations.

Ronin is a internal evolution of the author, something that translates into a leap in quality in his work, transforming and aesthetically renewing his work.

It’s like stepping out of his comfort zone to face challenges to innovate.

Frank Miller stood out for his ability to break models, to shape a canon to a new look. And when he got to DC, he had a lot of new ideas involving the past and future, honor, society, discipline, technology, science and ecology. Miller’s mind amalgamated all this essence that culminated in this miniseries, overcoming any obstacles and marking the industry.

Ronin is the story of a past and a future that come together through science. From feudal Japan to the most decadent and technified New York, a samurai without a master, will return to solve the mistakes of the past, and do whatever it takes.

Miller brings with Ronin his interest that he already showed in other comics, which is the Japanese tradition, molding a crucible in which the past and future are mix organically, when technology is the next step in evolution. New York is engulfed by artificial intelligence that replaces the obsolete, the rotten and the dead, with the new and pure.

But for me, the best part of the comic, apart from the script and the whole idea of setting, is certainly the art.

The art of Ronin, maybe not for everyone’s taste, because it looks quite experimental and surrealist.

However, Miller broke new grounds with new page layouts, playing with the text, the thickness of the lines, close ups, cut plans and pictures, violence, death and pain like never before seen and felt in a comic book.

With a super stylized, bold and almost surrealistic streak. This led to a rejection of the miniseries, but it was necessary because Miller opened up, a new path in terms of narrative and composition of art, and invented new graphic tools with which he went in the direction of the unknown.

Josan Gonzalez

Josan is a renowned for exploring themes related to science fiction, dystopia, and above all, cyberpunk. He has already stated in an interview that he is strongly inspired by big names like Moebius, Katsuhiro Otomo - creator of Akira - and Geoff Darrow.

Gonzalez likes to create characters full of personality and compose scenarios rich in details. Josan has a very characteristic artistic artistic style: he uses complex line arts, flat colors and limited color palettes.

Being born in Spain, Josan starts reading comics since he was a teenager and this will influence later in his artistic aesthetic.

Initially he adopted a more painterly style which evolved later in the line work. Despite being always passionate about art he never thought it would make a real career from it. He succeeds in publishing his own books and working for big names such as Dark Horse and Boom Studios.

People is considering Josan’s work as being part of Cyberpunk genre, but the artist doesn’t like to classify them. He enjoy creating illustrations without establishing rules, just giving shapes to a futuristic world. Many of Gonzalez characters are linked by cables, which are a perfect metaphor for linkage human-technology. For a lot of artwork the artist get inspiration from religious imagery. Providing his characters with catholic and Hindu symbols. Mostly this happens, because of his catholic background in Spain. Another aspect, is showing people’s addiction with technology, which keep them repressed. Even if the artist explores different social questions his main goal remains the illustration and making interesting and timeless.

some of his most recent works are, for example, is the cover of the new edition of the science fiction book Neoromancer, and the steelbook art of the game Cyberpunk 2077.

The Story of Miyamoto Musashi

Miyamoto Musashi was Japan’s most famous samurai. He is credited with authoring the most important treatise in Japanese strategy, the “Book of Five Rings”.

Musashi Sensei, as his disciples still call his fighting style, lived from 1584 to 1645.

Musashi dedicated his life to reach perfection through the art of the sword. He fought and won more than 60 life and death duels, and was never defeated. He made contact with other art forms, such as painting, sculpture, calligraphy and poetry, in addition to Zen meditation and Buddhism.

Musashi was born in the province of Harima during one of the most troubled periods in the history of Japan, when the last great battles of the time of the samurai took place.

At the time, it was common in Japan for the same person to change his name at different stages of life. In childhood, Musashi Sensei was called Shinmen Bennosuke. It is believed that he received the first Kenjutsu (famous Japanese martial art) instructions from his father,Shinmen Hirata.

At the age of 13 he won his first duel, and won the second duel when he was 16 years old, as reported in The Book of Five Rings.

In his book Musashi says that his strategy to deconcentrate the opponent and beat him was to arrive late at the place of the duel. On the way, Musashi carved a sword out of a broken paddle and with this sword he dealt a blow to Kojiro winning the duel, which, although fast, is one of the most famous in the history of the samurai. The duel was immortalized in a monument on the island of Funajima representing the figure of the two warriors.

The Funajima duel was a turning point in Musashi’s life because from then on he began to reflect on how he had won so many duels and to dedicate himself to the task of leaving a legacy for future generations. It was from there, too, that Musashi began to dedicate himself to other arts such as painting and poetry.

He worked primarily with a style of ink painting, creating minimalist, monochromatic works portraying nature.

The last years of his life, Musashi spent as a guest with his friend, and then isolated himself in the cave of Reigando where he dedicated himself to meditation and practice of his art writing his Book of Five Rings right there.

Ned Bear Mask Artist

Sculptor Edward (Ned) Bear has combined study in Native education with an Honours Diploma from Vancouver college.

He has an extensive knowledge of Native art and culture, Bears has also made contributions to change as a curator, guest speaker and juror.

Bear was born in the town Frederecton, New Brunswick, Canada. When he was young boy he was inspired by a Native elder carver, and later on he received a formal training at New Brunswick College of Craft and Design, where he became the first aboriginal student to graduate. Bear received additional training at a Indian Federated College in Nova Scotia.

Bear created sculpted masks and marble or limestone figure forms. His masks are approximately three feet high and are usually carved from butternut. Each mask is adorned with horse hair ( symbolizing the free spirit), bear fur ( symbolizing healing) and metal ( symbolizing something which is of the earth). Each mask tells a story and offer a modern interpretation of traditional spiritual beliefs.

When creating art, Bear considered himself to be simply a vehicle through which energy flows from the eternal Great Spirit to the medium he is using. He doesn’t create any sketches for the masks, he said that he allows the great spirit to guide him through the process.

Ned Bear made significant contributions as an instructor of Native art and culture, a curator, a guest speaker, and a juror.

The indigenous sculptor died on the Christmas evening of 2019, at the age of 65. “ We delve into so many past wrongs of our lives that we forget to revel in the present. Learn to capture what you may never have again, now. Do what makes you content for this time, and begin to realize the true purpose of life”, said Bear.

Jim Henson

Jim Henson was an American puppeteer and filmmaker, and most known for creating the Muppets, and directing most of their movies and tv shows.

In the 1960s Henson and his future wife, Jane Nebel, created a puppet show on Washington television station and kept their jobs through the school years, developing the first Muppets (including Kermit) on a one minute television show called Sam and Friends.

The success of Sam and Friends led Henson to create his own company in 1958, initially called Muppets,inc. and many years later, The Jim Henson Company.

Part of the resounding success of Henson’s puppets was due to their innovative view that puppet controllers did not need to be hidden by physical objects while controlling them.

By instructing the camera controllers to focus on the puppets and keep the controllers out of sight, he allowed the puppets to dominate the TV screen and acquire more lively and similar behaviors to real people.

From the productions of Sam and Friends, many characters emerged who became famous over the years and who would become part of the famous cast of the Muppets, including their most famous member, Kermit the Frog.

The Muppet Show, which premiered in 1976 and was produced in England, gained an international audience ( it was shown in about 100 countries) and was soon followed by the film The Muppet Movie (1979).

Henson was able to create an interesting set of characters by developing innovative ideas with a sense of rhythm and humor that won an audience for both children and adults. His works are remembered in part for promoting positive values in childhood such as friendship, magic or love, themes that appeared in most of his works.

Research: Persona Brazilian Folklore research- Lobisomem

The legend of the werewolf is known practically all over the world. It defines him as being, part man, part wolf, who was cursed with lycanthropy ( the act of becoming a wolf).

The one who is cursed, becomes the werewolf on the nights of the full moon. Some variations of the legend say that lycanthropy was the result of the pact of one man with the devil.

Once transformed into a werewolf, the person frantically sets out in search of victims to kill them. Modern popular culture has spread the idea that the werewolf is vulnerable only to silver bullets or sharp objects made of silver.

Naturally, the legend of the werewolf arrived in Brazil through Portuguese, during the period when they colonized Brazil, in our country, the legend arrived and took on different characteristics in each region.

Some studies have concluded that there is no such legend among indigenous people. The closest to that were legends who believed that men or women could become some animals of the forest.

This legend in Brazilian folklore ended up acquiring elements present in its Portuguese version. Thus, it was common to believe that the werewolf was the man born after the mother had seven daughters, although versions of the legend say that if seven sons were born, the eight son would also be a werewolf.

In the north, of Brazil, the werewolf was the man who was in poor health, and the one who was anemic would eventually would become him. Once transformed, it feeds on the blood of other humans to make up for the poor diet as one of them. The transformation took place from Thursdays to Friday nights.

In the south, in turn, the fact that turned the man into a werewolf was incest. In Brazil, there was no record in the folklore of the belief in transformation of women into werewolves. In the folklore, only men becomes werewolves.

In the interior of São Paulo, it was believed that this being tried to invade the houses to eat children. Many believed that the werewolf went after, especially, unbaptized children.

One of the ways in which the person turned into a werewolf, was if he seriously injured with certain objects. One of these objects was a bullet bathed in candle wax from an altar.

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kuriquinn · 4 years

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Wait For Me

Blanket Fic Disclaimer

Original Prompt by: @toscafan

"Olá. Você poderia escrever uma fic onde após Sasuke voltar para a vila, Sakura vai em uma missão e é gravemente ferida. Então Sasuke percebe que seus sentimentos por ela cresceram quando ele a vê ferida no hospital. Talvez com um pouco de Naruto preocupado também. Eu imagino isso entre o período que Sasuke volta para Konoha e antes de eles partirem juntos em suas viagens. Suas histórias são maravilhosas :) eu sinto muito não escrever em inglês :( “

[Roughly: Hello, Could you write a fic where after Sasuke returns to the village, Sakura goes on a mission and is seriously injured. Then Sasuke realises that his feelings for her have grown when he sees her injured in the hospital. Maybe with a bit of Naruto worried too. I imagine it between the time Sasuke returns to Konoha and before they leave together on their travels.]

Author’s Note: As promised during Evil Author Day, I am trying to finish some of my WIPs. I actually managed to finish this one (Prompt # 4), which is a total miracle given how I’ve been feeling lately. And the fact I think this one is like...two years old. So yeah, major backlog of stuff that needs writing. Enjoy!

Beta Reader: None but me and my editing software :)

________________________________________________________________

⁂ ⁂ ⁂

It shouldn’t have happened.

The words repeat themselves on a loop in Sasuke’s head, like a record player tossed asunder, skipping unerringly back over the same line in a song. In every momentary pause where the words begin to repeat, there is a breath, an extended moment of tension where his chest feels tighter and tighter.

She hasn’t been on active duty rosters since the war. Her field is medicine, not defense or combat or infiltration, and as strong and talented as Haruno Sakura is, she’s still human and prone to mistakes. Shinobi work isn’t like riding a bike. You have to continue to exercise your particular skillset daily, or mistakes can be made, leading to mishaps, leading to—

It shouldn’t have happened.

サスサク

When the call came in for a relief-force of medicnin, it wasn’t unusual. War or no, there are still major medical emergencies and disasters. In this case, reports reached Konoha of an earthquake 350 miles away. Though the village had barely experienced a tremor, the quake had apparently devastated the shepherding community living at the base of the mountain.

As a rule, Sakura should have stayed behind to coordinate everything from the village; with Tsunade on another of her gambling jaunts, she was the most senior healer.

But the devastated town was without its own medical corps, and the number of injured was overwhelming. Every able pair of hands was needed and naturally, Sakura volunteered herself for the mission.

“I can do the work of a dozen medics and they might need someone to lift debris,” she informed the Sixth Hokage when he seemed likely to protest. “I also trained the latest group of emergency medics going out there; they’re still relatively untested in the field. Better they take their orders from me than some random jounin that you assign.”

Kakashi knew better than to argue with his former student, but he was reluctant. For some reason, he was uneasy. There was little reason for it that he could discern, but after all his years as a shinobi, he had learned to heed his instincts.

“Please, Lord Sixth, there are many large families there, with children.”

Against that—with no concrete reason to give—he could not say no.

“Do you need anyone else beyond the emergency medics?”

“Any civilians with basic first aid training,” Sakura replied, pleased at the response. “Whichever doctors and staff can be spared. The general surgeons, perhaps, but no one with specialized training or technique that we would supper from losing.”

Kakashi nodded and made a gesture she recognized to mean an official granting of the request.

“Ideally, you’d send Naruto as well. He could use the Nine-Tails chakra to mass-heal the simplest injuries. It would make triage a lot faster.”

“That’s not in my power. I’m already on thin ice with the Elders for my executive order to pardon Sasuke. I doubt they’ll want him leaving the village any time soon.”

Sakura scowled.

Under normal circumstances she would argue—she had long ago made clear her dislike and distrust for the village Elders—but every minute spent arguing was wasting crucial time.

“Can you try to convince them?” she asked as she turned to leave the office. “We should be sending out best for this.”

“We already are,” Kakashi said with ease, and there was a smile in his eyes. The one Sakura returned was only a little strained, mind already on her future patients.

サスサク

Sasuke was on a short, probationary mission at the time, in the complete opposite direction from the disaster zone. He didn’t even hear about the earthquake until two days later.

While handing his mission report to Kakashi, he may have been somewhat surprised to learn Sakura would not be around to greet him the way she usually did—and Kakashi’s eyes had a far too knowing gleam in them when he mentioned it—but it never occurred to Sasuke that she would be in any kind of danger.

At least, nothing she wasn’t capable of handling for herself.

For those two days, Sasuke carried out his usual routine, slowly acclimating to being back in service to the village. It still wasn’t his preference to be around so many people, and there was a constant sense of discomfort that lingered at the back of his mind. The sensation of eyes on him from all over, ANBU and civilian alike, heavy with judgement and fear. The only time that feeling abated, even for just a little, was when he was around Sakura, Naruto or Kakashi.

Still, he wasn’t willing or able to seek any of them out. They all have busy lives, and he earned that judgement and fear from the village. It would be an easy feat to leave and never return, but he didn’t deserve easy. Remaining here was part of his punishment, and so he would learn to live with it.

At home, when the constant surveillance became too much, he went to an empty training ground and put himself through various sword forms or engage in other exercises. In two years, he’s grown used to living and fighting with only one arm, but it’s the constant practice that keeps him lethal.

On the morning of the third day he is going through one of his complex sword kata in the training ground where Kakashi made them genin. He tells himself it’s coincidence and not sentimentality that brought him here this morning, even as the three posts stand vigil over his training like towers of memory.

Today he is working only on form and movement, not using any techniques requiring chakra, just trying to sharpen his movements into their usual lethal grace.

As he uncoils from a low final arc of his sword, returning to a resting position, there is a sudden cracking noise; his gaze snaps toward it, and he watches as—apropos of nothing—the wooden post to his far right splits right down the middle.

Sasuke immediately goes still, focussing his awareness around himself and the area, scanning for danger. There is no one in this place foolish enough to try something—even if he wasn’t lethal on his own, the ANBU escorts hidden in the shadows would have been alerted.

The wind continues meander, sending leaves rustling; the sound of birds and the distant crash of the river do not change. There is not threat that he can detect, nothing but a growing sense of foreboding.

And then the ground begins to shake.

As far as earthquakes go, it’s not the worst he’s experienced. He has no problem remaining on his feat as the ground roils and trembles. Even the trees surrounding him show no sign of shuddering.

It’s small and innocuous, nothing on the same level as the one Sakura was sent to help with.

His eyes drift, lingering on the cracked post.

Memory conjures an image of a gawky twelve year old with too-long-to-be-practical hair and luminous green eyes betraying strain and discomfort as she feeds their third teammate tied to the middle post.

It’s probably nothing.

But for some reason his focus on his exercises vanishes, replaced instead with a growing disquiet in the pit of his stomach.

It only grows with every moment as he returns to the village proper and, without knowing why, makes a beeline for Hokage Tower. All around him, people talk excitedly about the tremor, laughing it off and telling one another what they were doing when they noticed it. It’s just a facet of their day, something that—while uncommon—is not dangerous enough to merit panic.

So why does he suddenly feel uneasy?

サスサク

Sasuke arrives at the Tower at the same time as Naruto, a face which causes his inexplicable agitation to ratchet immediately higher, especially given his friend’s uncharacteristic frown and the absence of his usual joking greeting.

Without exchanging words, they enter Kakashi’s office and are immediately treated to the sight of their former instructor pacing by the window, a frown drawing his brows together. The coiled cord of the telephone stretches and relaxes with his back-and-forth movements. It’s so in contrast to his usual demeanor—lazily slouched in his chair—that Sasuke’s spine stiffens in response.

Kakashi eventually hangs up the phone and faces his students.

“There was a second earthquake,” he tells them gravely. “Right next to the refugee camp we set up. According to reports, about 180 million tons of mountainside have crumble down onto the camp. They don’t know if there are any survivors.”

Sasuke’s fist clenches and Naruto’s eyes blink into slits as he activates his senjutsu.

“I can’t sense Sakura’s chakra,” he says, a panicked note in his voice. “Usually I get a definite flicker from her, even at this distance…”

“That doesn’t mean anything,” Sasuke tells him. “She masks her chakra when she’s on medical missions to avoid presenting a target.”

He’s not sure how he knows this, since he can’t recall if she mentioned any such practice in their conversations since he’s been back, yet he knows it to be true. Still, this knowledge brings no comfort with it, because the uncomfortable pit in his stomach remains.

“She would be healing everyone after a huge disaster like that,” Naruto protests. “I’d definitely sense that. But I can’t.”

Which, admittedly, worries Sasuke a little despite his unshakable faith in Sakura’s abilities.

Naruto turns to Kakashi, his shoulders squared as if in preparation for a fight. “I’m going to check on her. Even if she’s fine, they’ll need help digging survivors out. I can definitely help with that.”

“Fine,” Kakashi says. The fact he doesn’t argue or mention the concerns of the Elders is telling. “If you leave now, you should get there within—”

Sasuke doesn’t stay to listen.

He’s already climbing the stairs to the roof where there is more open space.

He is by no means an expert at using his Rinnegan yet—every day heralds a new ability or application—but he has more or less figured out how to travel between far distant locations instantly.

“Oi! Sasuke! Wait up!” Naruto shouts from behind as Sasuke focusses himself on creating a pathway. He glanced the coordinates he needs on the papers covering Kakashi’s desk, knows where he’s supposed to go—

The space in front of him crackles, displacing the air, and then rips open, forming a portal of swirling violet energy. On the other side, he can discern a giant wall of rubble.

He wastes no time slipping through, trusting Naruto to follow directly behind him.

サスサク

The sight before them is a grim one.

Sasuke hasn’t seen destruction on this scale since the war.

Mountains loom around them, the closest one looking misshapen due to the giant shelf that has vanished as if scraped off with a giant chisel. Its remnants spill out in front of it, creating a smaller mountain of churned earth and rock, uprooted trees and other debris.

People gather around, civilian and shinobi alike, covered in dust and digging frantically at the rubble. Likely the lucky few who were far enough away when the second quake hit to avoid the harm.

There are almost no Konohanin, medicnin or otherwise, that he can see, suggesting a grim truth to him: they are all underneath the remains of the mountain. Dead, most likely, or trapped and dying as the seconds pass.

But where is Sakura?

She could survive being buried under such weight, and should have dug her way out by now. Stone and rock are like cottage cheese to her strong fists.

“Naruto!”

The two newcomers glance up as a Konohanin scrambles toward them. As he gets closer, Sasuke recognizes him as the kid Sakura has taken on as an assistant. Ando something or other.

“We need help!” the kid gasps when he arrives in front of them, dust-covered and exhausted. “We can’t shift the earth using doton because it could hurt the people underneath.”

The jinchuriki is already forming the signs to summon up shadow clones. If this has to b cleared by hand, he’s the best man for the job. “Don’t worry about it, kiddo.”

“We’ll get through this without a problem!”

“Believe it!”

The clones are already spreading out across the landscape, like a sea of orange washing over the scene.

Sasuke stares down at the boy. “Where is Sakura?”

Ando goes pale beneath the fine layer of dust, eyes pained. “When the earthquake stared, she was trying to get everyone in the medical tents to safety. When she realized she couldn’t, she tried to create barriers to stop the worst of the damage using doton. But it was coming on too fast, and so she tried to slow down the avalanche—"

“Of course she did,” Sasuke murmurs to himself, teeth gritted.

“—but it wasn’t enough! The last I saw, she was destroying the rocks coming at her, but then she was buried.”

“And where were you in all this?”

There’s an accusation in his words that has made stronger men tremble, but Ando merely shudders and clenches his fists. No shrinking violets working with Sakura, that’s for sure.

“I was on water duty. The rivers here were all polluted by the first quake, and so I had to travel far. I saw it all from that cliff up there and hurried down here as fast as I could to help, but…”

He gestures ineffectively, clearly not knowing where to start.

“Sasuke!” Naruto yells all of a sudden, and Sasuke’s head whips toward where he is helping a woman with shredded clothing to climb from the rubble. She is remarkably stable on her feet, considering the situation, and Sasuke understands a moment later when he sees the white creature attached to her shoulder.

“Lady Katsuyu!” Ando cries and hurries over, followed closely by SAsuke.

“Where’ Sakura?” Naruto demands as the younger boy helps the quake victim to sit down. “Is she okay?”

“She’s at the very bottom,” Katsuyu says fretfully. “There’s an airpocket and she’ll still have air for a little while, but she’s gravely injured. Her entire lower body is crushed.” Sasuke’s heart constricts painfully. “I tried to help, but she insisted I attach myself to all the refugees, to keep them alive until help arrives. I fear she won’t be able to keep it up very long. Even my healing can’t save the people buried so long without oxygen.”

“Little fool,” Sasuke growls, the viciousness of the words surprising him more than the situation. Of course she’s more worried about the survival of her patients and the others instead of herself.

“We’re getting her out,” Naruto declares, summoning more clones. “We’ll get her and everyone else out!”

And Sasuke finds himself hoping this is another miracle that his friend’s mere presence and stubbornness will help pull off.

サスサク

The task is arduous and time consuming.

Sasuke is bizarrely conscious of the speed at which the time passes—too fast. They continue dragging survivors out from beneath the rubble—all unharmed, but looking more and more shambled as the rescue efforts reach deeper into the rubble. Every so often, there is a red glow, and the unearth another person being Naruto has managed to sense and enfold in his healing chakra cloak.

Sasuke uses his snake summons for the first time in years, sending them from his sleeve to slither around and crush rocks blocking their path. He digs one-handed while Naruto and the clones make quick work of their chosen debris fields.

They have yet to find Sakura, or a person that as died of their injuries; all of them so far have had a miniature clone of Lady Katsuyu attached somewhere on their bodies.

Yet he can’t sense Sakura.

“Her chakra signature is everywhere,” he frets. “She’s channelling it through Katsuyu to keep everyone alone. I can’t get a proper read on her.”

“And you won’t,” Lady Katsuyu says in a tremulous tone. “The byakugou has disengaged—her strength has finally run out.” She shudders. “We’re too far away. There’s no way we’ll make it to her in time. And I can only linger here a few minutes longer without her sustaining me.”

“We’ll make it!” Naruto growls, tone and eyes harsh like that of a cornered fox. There’s a panic there, belying his words, because he clearly has no idea how they’re going to do that.

It’s that panic more than anything so far that makes Sasuke’s guts roil and a sickening nausea of fear well up within him. Because Naruto never gives up, he always has hope and he always has some kind of harebrained plan to fix a bad situation.

And if he doesn’t have one in this case, it means Sakura’s fate is sealed.

Which—

No.

“You have a clone with Sakura now?” he asks Katsuyu.

“O-of course,” the snail replies, almost surprised at being addressed so directly.

“You can share your chakra between one another. Can you share the chakra of someone else the same way?”

Naruto’s eyes widen as he catches on. “Yes! If I share my chakra with you and your clone, I’ll able to sense where your clone is and we can find Sakura faster.”

“We don’t have that kind of time,” Lady Satsuyu replies mournfully. “And besides, I can’t share your chakra, Naruto-kun. The chakra of biju is too volatile, and unless a blood contract has been made, like yours with the toads, it would become too volatile.”

“You wouldn’t need a contract with me,” Sasuke says. “My chakra is entirely my own.”

The slug’s head bobs to one side in consideration, and then she makes a noise of assent. “We can try.”

Sasuke holds out his hand, allowing Lady Katsuyu to inch closer, pressing herself up against his palm. There’s a beat of tense silence as they both concentrate, Sasuke infusing a burst of chakra in the tiny creature’s body.

She shudders from the force of it, her energy signature changing to a mixture of her own and his.

“It’s done,” she says, and he can feel a tiny twinge in his senses calling from far beneath the crumbled mountain.

Sasuke nods and begins to back away from the rubble. “Get beneath her.”

“I don’t understand,” Ando is saying. “How will that be any different from before? Lady Katsuyu was already able to direct us to Sakura.”

“He’s not just looking for Sakura’s location,” Naruto says with a grim smile. “He needs to know exactly where she is.”

“But why—?”

Sasuke tunes out the useless questions as he positions himself somewhere with a decent amount of clearance all around him. Bracing himself—he’s never tried this particular gambit before—he activates the Sharingan and reaches deep within his chakra reserves.

Instantly, violent purple energy manifests, bones and muscle and armor, as Susanoo encompasses him all around. The burning, ripping pain of it has almost become distant by now, and he focusses past it, still holding onto that shred of his chakra beckoning him from wherever Sakura is.

He turns his head, concentrating on the space in front of Susanoo’s empty right hand and activates the Rinnegan.

A portal twists into being from thin air, and Sasuke hardly waits before raising Susanoo’s hand and pressing the limb through the portal. He can distantly feel the weight of her against the flat of the hand as it materializes directly beneath her body, and then pulls her backward, shutting the portal immediately after extracting her to ensure none of the rubble baring down on her might follow.

As gentle as he can, Sasuke lays Sakura down upon the ground, Susanoo vanishing as her body touches the earth.

サスサク

Everyone is already kneeling around her when Sasuke touches back down, the chakra giant vanishing once more. Lady Katsuyu vanishes, no longer having Sakura’s strength to draw on, and Naruto is snapping something at Ando, probably to get help.

All of it washes over Sasuke in a meaningless, soundless wave as his eyes fall upon Sakura. His lungs tighten as he takes in her broken body.

Her legs are bruised and battered, crushed inward in some places and bones poking out of other places; it’s the same for her hips and several ribs. Her eyes are open and staring, a trail of blood leaking from the corner of her mouth and nose.

The sight is terrifying.

For a short yet eternal moment he is back in the streets of the Uchiha district, surrounded by the bodies of his family. Just as he was then, he is frozen now—inutile and incapable of doing anything.

“Naruto…” he begins, not knowing exactly what he’s trying to ask.

“This is bad,” Naruto says, voice strained. His eyes are slits once more, his sage mode active as a red film covers Sakura’s body. “I can heal the big stuff, but so much has been pulverized…” He swallows as if in physical pain; Sasuke knows the feeling. “She needs someone that can do surgery at the microlevel. If I heal her right now, like this, I could do a lot more harm then good.”

It’s a measure of how far Naruto’s come that he recognizes this, that he knows not to simply ram through his power and hope it helps.

Sasuke doesn’t know what will help now.

Scenarios and plans speed through a mind more suited for battle tactics than life-saving measures, as he tries to think of any way that he can help her and wishing for the first time in a long time that Karin were here.

Wishing he had ever taken the time to learn more about the healing arts than how to kill.

All the while, the sight of Sakura’s shattered limbs taunting him as her blood seeps into the sand.

Sasuke blinks.

Sand.

The memory hits him out of nowhere, the way many of his recollections from before do. Waking in a hospital, distantly hearing people talking about a fight—sand versus strength.

“Tsunade,” Sasuke says, remembering how the Fifth Hokage dealt with something similar. Right around the time she healed his mind from Itachi’s merciless assault on it, she saved Rock Lee from a life of paralysis.

Naruto is frowning, once again on the same wavelength as him. “No one knows where she is.”

“I’ll find her. Get Sakura back to Konoha—”

“No…”

Both of them jump at the pained, feeble voice and glance down.

Sakura’s eyes are closed now, clenched as tight as her jaw when she speaks through gritted teeth. “There are still…people…” She tries to raise a hand, gesture toward the rubble. “Naruto…stay and…help…”

“Sakura, no!” he snaps. “You’re in a mess right now, I need to keep you going until—”

“…Too much…damage…wasting your…chakra…”

“Sakura,” Sasuke says tersely, and her eyes shoot open toward him. Awareness flickers behind green irises, along with some surprise, as if she didn’t realize or expect him to be there.

“Sasu…ke…”

He shivers.

There has never been a time in his life when he and Sakura haven’t been aware of the presence of the other. The fact she didn’t notice him is telling in the severity of her injury…as is her not expecting him to be by her side.

After all, when has he ever been?

What has he ever done for her?

“We have to get her out of here,” Naruto says. “Do you have enough strength for another portal?”

Sasuke nods, though he isn’t sure; he’s used his abilities twice now in quick succession. But for Sakura, he’ll try.

The space beside them rips open, once more opening onto the familiar rooftops of Konoha as seen from Hokage Tower. All they need to do is step through, and so Naruto goes to pick Sakura up, only for her to scream in sudden sharp agony.

Sasuke’s heart stutters, his concentration wavering slightly, allowing the portal to shrink and contract worryingly.

“She’s too hurt,” Naruto says, panicked. “We need to keep her on her back or…I might sever something important.”

There are no stretchers here, no immobilizing aids to move her. If he had any idea where Tsunade Senju was, he’d seek her out and return her here instantly, but he doesn’t have that time and neither does Sakura.

“I’ll bring her,” Sasuke says.

“But—”

“You stay here. Help the survivors.”

There’s something on his face that keeps Naruto from arguing further, but Sasuke is no longer paying attention. Once again, he centers himself, trying to divide his power between the portal and call up Susanoo in just the right manner.

It takes searing concentration to manifest Susanoo’s hand in the space between Sakura’s body and the ground, letting the chakra fill in beneath her and keep her steady and supine.

Sakura’s eyes are wide, trained on him in something like desperation, before they roll back and she lapses into unconsciousness.

Sasuke’s lungs constrict, but he forces himself to work through it, to slide Susanoo’s hand straight through the portal until Sakura is no longer lying among the debris of the dead but in the safety of their village.

Sweat breaks out across his forehead and the back of his neck, and he tastes blood in his mouth, but he manages to retract the chakra within him. He’s about to step through when—

“Wait!”

He grits his teeth, eyes darting back to the kid—Ando—who has returned.

“Let me come too,” he says. “I can keep her stable, or—or go get someone from the hospital, or—”

“Go!” Sasuke snarls, half from effort and half from irritation the boy is taking up valuable seconds.

A terrified expression breaks over Ando’s face for a moment, before he throws himself headlong through the portal.

“Find Tsunade,” Sasuke tells Naruto as he follows. He doesn’t have to hear the response to know he will.

サスサク

He has no right to be here.

The intensive care wing of Konoha’s hospital is a flurry of movement as doctors and nurses and medic-nin rush in and out of the surgery where they are working on Sakura. He lingers outside the doors, his own self-recrimination keeping him out here more than the ‘Staff Only’ sign on the door.

He doesn’t deserve to be here, to hear news of her condition. He left—he’s always leaving—and she’s always waiting. She’s always here and he realizes with a sudden disbelief that somehow, somewhere along the line something in him has taken that for granted.

Ever since the War, ever since watching her blossom into her abilities and to demonstrate power that makes her neigh indestructible, he’s been thinking of her as if she is. As if she’s a constant that will never change, that will always exist.

Like she’s immortal.

Except she’s not, she can die like anyone else.

It’s something taken for granted in their line of work, but medic-nin die the same as anyone else in the service. And Sakura would be the first to insist she is no more important than anyone else, that her life is the same value as any of their comrades. He knows if given the choice she’d sacrifice that same life without any regret—hell, he watched her try to do just that today.

That knowledge—and the reality of what is happening behind that door in front of him, the image of the light in her eyes dying—steals his breath.

Will that be his last memory of her? A broken body pulled from a wreckage?

Very real terror grips him then, something he hasn’t felt in years. A close, clawing sensation and his lungs constricting as something jagged forms in his throat. Nightmares of blood in the streets, blood in his hands and the rush of a waterfall in the background, the chirping of lightning in his ears—

“Sasuke.”

His head jerks up, the world around him returning, senses no longer going haywire to stave off the incoming panic.

Kakashi is standing beside him—when did he get here?—eyes somber. There’s a beat before he reaches out, hesitant, and lays a hand on his shoulder.

It’s as if a current is going through him, memories from long ago, that same hand on his shoulder. It’s the first time Kakashi has reached out to him since he left Konoha as a child.

“I’ve had news from Naruto,” his former instructor continues. “He’s found Tsunade.”

And somehow with those three words, every bit of tension in Sasuke’s body evaporates. He realizes he hasn’t been breathing and tries his best not to gulp for air, forces himself to inhale slowly through his nose, to not lose his composure.

Kakashi, of course, is not fooled. “Sakura will be alright. She’s strong.”

Sasuke wants to reply that he knows, he’s always known, but his tongue is still frozen. Instead, he returns his gaze upon the door, trying to sense what is happening beyond it.

He feels Kakashi remove his hand, but the man’s intense stare remains on him.

“I should go,” he eventually manages to say. Yet his legs refuse to move.

“You should stay. You’re exactly where you need to be.”

“I’m not—”

“You’re exactly where she needs you to be.”

Sasuke’s protest dies before it was truly born, and he goes back to trying to breath. Inhale and hold; exhale and repeat. It doesn’t matter what he needs or wants, after all.

Why?

Sakura is Sakura. Yes, they have always had a connection, a bond, but it’s the same connection he’s had with the rest of his former squad. You can’t go on missions or into battle with one another without developing a synchronicity. Even if the connections are different.

With Kakashi it’s the kindred spirit of someone who has lost everything almost the same as he has, with Naruto it’s a bond that can never be replicated for the most complicated of cosmic reasons.

And yet…with Sakura, there’s something different there.

He always thought it was nostalgia, the last lingering remnants of a weak child desperate for whatever scrap of affection was offered to him after losing his parents. Every moment he’s ever spent with her, he pretended like it didn’t affect him at all; and yet, there was always that eagerness he had to tamp down, wanting to see the smile on her face because he knew he didn’t deserve it.

A smile he missed in the years training with Orochimaru, then wandering the world in penance. He knows she’s had feelings for him since they were children, and has has spent most of his last years hoping against hope that she’ll let him go and move on.

That she’ll find someone else, someone worthy of her, someone who will keep her safe and guard her heart against pain. Because that’s all he can give her is pain; tht, and a soul that will never completely heal.

Except it wont matter, will it, if she dies?

She’ll be gone, and he’ll be empty again. No matter where he goes, he’s always known that somewhere, Sakura is out there, keeping him in her heart. He knows that even if she does find another, there will always be a part of her that thinks of him, just like he will always have a part of him that thinks of her.

But if she dies…if she doesn’t make it through this…

Suddenly he can see it.

Years stretch out in front of him, bleak and empty and gray. Visits to a gravestone of a life that could have been. Regrets and pain and an endless void of existing instead of living.

More of everything he endured as a child, only this time, without the tiny ray of sunlight that Sakura willingly gave him.

And suddenly, he realizes he doesn’t want that.

A world without Sakura in it, is not one that he wants to be a part of.

He wants her—needs her—to be happy. And if her happiness is him…if he could ensure that happiness somehow…

Well, he’ll do whatever it takes.

Sasuke takes a shuddering breath at the realization.

It feels sudden, like a switch has been flipped with realization, and yet at the same time he knows it has always been this way.

He’s in love with Sakura.

The world returns then in sharp focus, ignorant to the realizations he’s just made. Kakashi is still eyeing him with concern. Perhaps wondering if he’s going to have to talk him out of leaving the hospital, even though Sasuke knows that he’s not going anywhere until he can watch her open her eyes again.

Until she smiles at him again.

Maybe not even then.

“I’ll wait for her then,” he says, shaken but still somehow managing to control the timbre of his voice. He leans against the wall, eyes once more resting on the door in expectation.

I’ll wait for her forever.

終わり

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I want to know what you think of my story! Leave kudos, a comment or if writing comments isn't something you're comfortable with, as many of these (or other emojis) as you want and let me know how you feel!

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#sasusaku #ssm18 #ssm18day14 #prompt: wait for me #fanfic prompts/requests #kuriquinn #one-shot #sasuke uchiha #sakura haruno #naruto uzumaki #kakashi hatake #drama #romance #realizations

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skvaderarts · 4 years

Text

Hello and Welcome to Apocrypha!

Chapter One: Contemplation

The Masterlist will be listed when I publish chapter 2 on Wednesday because there is nothing to list yet lol! It’s on my AO3 and my FF.N though.

Chapter One: Contemplation

Notes: Hello everyone! Notes are at the end today! It's great to have you back for book two! Let me know what you think and thanks for coming back!

"Love seeketh only self to please,

To bind another to its delight,

Joys in another's loss of ease,

And builds a Hell in Heaven's despite."

-William Blake

Chapter One:

One week later…

Rays of golden light traced a path between the leaves and branches of a great oak tree and showered comforting warmth down upon the pavement below as large puffy white clouds attempted to interrupt them. After a long and arduous week of storms and overcast skies, the warm embrace of the sun was akin to a well stoked fire in the middle of a cold blizzard: comfortable and reaffirming. For it to be the middle of August, it was uncharacteristically cool today, although that could be attributed to the fact that Fortuna was an island and as such it benefited from a constant coastal breeze. That was fortunate considering the manner in which at least half of the island's occupant's still dressed. It seemed that despite their recent reservations about the Order and their illicit activities, some of them still couldn't shake the habit and it was a constant point of conflict within the community. But regardless, the weather was positively idyllic.

It was almost enough to lule someone right off to sleep. Thankfully, V had not given into temptation just yet, as doing so while he was supposed to be watching the children at a public park would be dreadfully irresponsible. He was many things, but he liked to think that "negligent" wasn't one of them. That wasn't to say that the thought hadn't crossed his midday weary mind, however. He had been awake since the crack of dawn, awoken by accident by the sound of Nero and Nico preparing to leave for an impromptu trip to what remained of Redgrave City. The local military had made the decision to quarden off the area and allow several different groups ranging from scientists to government agencies to come study it. But they were still in the beginning phases of building a containment zone around the city. Considering the fact that it was near several other population centers, the prospect of keeping the general public out was basically impossible. This was a project that was going to be months, if not years, in the making, and there would be a reckoning at the end of it. Somehow he could just feel it.

V tilted his head slightly as he forced himself to sit up right and stop slouching over so far on the park bench, his hair practically blinding him. He had to at least pretend that he wasn't on the verge of passing over the border into dreamland. He had volunteered to take the children to the park so that Kyrie could have some much needed "me time" since every other adult had left for the day. She hadn't asked, but he could tell she needed it. Nero generally helped keep them busy when he was home, but that wasn't going to be the case today. They didn't exactly have a school to be at with everything in the city under repairs, so occupying the time of three young boys who seemed to be practically overflowing with energy was difficult to say the least. Kyle, Carlo, and Julio were a stark contrast to him at the moment. It had been just over a week since he had returned to the mortal realm, and although he felt much less weak than he once had and his injuries had long since healed (at an uncharacteristically accelerated pace, at that), he still found himself limited by a staggering lack of energy. It was as if no matter how much he slept, he never stopped being drowsy. Or was that an unintended consequence of his constant napping? Perhaps his newfound accelerated healing abilities had sapped him of his remaining strength? It was relatively hard to say, and he wasn't going to expend valuable mental energy dwelling on it. He had to make it home, after all.

Home…

What a strange concept.

For most of his life he'd be transient to no fault of his own, constantly moving from place to place, so the idea of having a permanent dwelling was almost totally foreign. He wasn't entirely sure he even wanted that. It wasn't something he'd put much thought into, to be honest. For the most part, he just took things one day at a time, especially right now. There was no undue pressure to do anything besides exist here and he liked that, but the absence of a set goal made him admittedly anxious for no particular reason. V exhaled slowly and shook his head at himself. He was one of those people who was incapable of relaxing, wasn't he? The young summoner took a moment to stretch, contemplating the possibility of standing up. Should he go back to the house? There wasn't anything pressing to do there except ruin Kyrie's otherwise serene quiet time with the abrupt and all to familiar sound of excited children. He could spare a few more minutes for her sake before he went back and did the same thing he was doing now but in a different spot: a whole lot of nothing. It was strange how finding out he was part demon killed the excitement of almost everything else around him. Things weren't going to get too much more impressive outside of that. V smirked, starting to understand why seemingly everyone else in his family had a predilection for combat, one that he was easing himself into in his own way. While he was no stranger to a battle himself, he was most certainly much pickier than the rest of his kindred. But, then again, he had good reason to be, all things considered.

As if possessed by a need to spread his wings to keep himself awake, Griffon suddenly materialized and fluttered around the space between him and the sparse playground equipment, unintentionally highlighting the stark contrast between himself and the brightly colored children's attractions. Although a mostly nature oriented space, there were still swings, slides, and climbing equipment to occupy the time of younger visitors. A recent edition as the city attempted to add more outside influences in a bid to reinvent itself, even if only a little. V shot his avian companion a slightly irked look as he flew over to him and perched on the back of the wrought iron park bench he currently occupied, his arms spread out along the back of it leaving only a small space for the demonic bird to claim for himself.

"Pipe down, hot stuff. We're in a park! No one can even see us down here!" Griffon said, flapping both his wings and his beak. He already knew that V was going to object.

V schoffed. Now that they were in a populated city that wasn't composed of demons and the husks of what used to be it's unlucky residents, he was more careful about when and where he allowed his familiars to roam free. Even if Griffon didn't speak, he wasn't the most inconspicuous bird in existence and Shadow was a dead giveaway more likely to send people feeling for their lives than anything else even if they didn't realize she was a demon. While he had no choice but to acknowledge that they were sentient beings with their own wants and desires, they all had to admit that much like discretion was the better part of valor, not drawing the attention of literally everyone on the island was the better part of not causing issues for everyone they lived with. He was privy to the fact that Nero had only recently gained the trust and cooperation of the locals after a lifetime of being ostracized. V himself turned curious and cautious heads alike when he ventured outside of the confines of their cozy home. While no one had said anything to him (at all, really), he was sure that allowing people to see that he possessed demonic helpers in a city that had been terrorized by demons for generations wasn't the greatest way to gain the trust of the locals. That being said, he couldn't say that he was particularly intimidated by the people who lived here, either. They seemed more afraid of him than anything else, and that wasn't too much better if he was being honest. He didn't really enjoy being feared unless it was by his enemies. V possessed enough unsure feelings about himself as it was. He didn't need total strangers to add to it.

"Still though," V said as he threw a cautionary but unconcerned glance in either direction," my previous point still stands. We're not in Redgrave City anymore. I'm asking you to try and be discrete. Nothing more."

"Sure thing, Dorthy. I'll keep it in mind." Griffon said sarcastically as he preened himself.

V closed his eyes for a moment, thinking. At the end of the day, he knew that Griffon wasn't going to be uncooperative. But, at the same time, he understood where his companions were coming from. While they had more or less free roam of the house, there was significantly more room out here for his airally inclined pet to really stretch out and get comfortable. It was a difficult temptation to refuse. And they could almost instantaneously convert back into tattoos. Was he being too stern about this? If there was no one around to see it, what harm could it do? Did they all just need a good flight?

He opened his eyes again, content to put the matter aside for now. There was no harm in it and no rush to come to a decision, but there was definite harm in indecision and stress. Why was coming to a park so stressful to him? Why did he have to overthink everything? Or was he even overthinking in the first place. Ah, there he went again, overthinking things. He needed a distraction…

The white haired man spared a glance at the children. They were as they had been moments ago, playing happily and running amok, causing a ruckus. In a way, he envied them. He'd never really been interested in the concept of physical activity as a child, his attention firmly rooted in literature even then. And he'd never really had the energy… or any friends to play with to speak of…

This was a terrible distraction. Revisiting his childhood was never a healthy idea.

Why did every thought process in his infinitely expanding mind lead down some unwanted or unfortunate path? What he wouldn't give to be able to space out and think nothing at all like a normal person. Was that some facet of his demonic blood; that he should always be on high alert even when at rest? Perhaps he just needed a hobby or some sort of task to complete so that his mind didn't have time to dwell on these types of things. While running from his problems had never been advisable (or worked very well) he needed to set them aside for another time and focus on something more engaging. Or maybe he needed professional help. Who knew?

V uncrossed his legs and leaned forward, propping his elbows up on his knees and resting his face in the palms of his hands. There honestly wasn't much to do on this island, but if he left town and went to the mainland that was a different story. He hadn't done that in the entire time he'd been living with Nero, and he'd never visited the town that the other half of his immediate family lived in. Capulet, was it? Wasn't that next to Enamel, the city that Magnolia dwelled in? And then there was that matter as well. He hadn't visited her yet like she'd asked of him before she'd departed after she'd left the hospital a week earlier. Perhaps he could visit her and browse the local vacancies while he was at it? After all, even though there was no urgent need to leave, looking never hurt. It was something to do at the very least. That had to count for something. And following up with Vergil about the cult was still on the table even if he wasn't entirely sure what to do about that situation just yet. Or if it was preferable. But it had never been about that in the first place. At some point he would have to talk to his father...

Yes, he would start with Magnolia. That seemed to be a favorable course of action given the circumstances. Griffon shook his head, repressing the urge to laugh at how indecisive V was being. While he didn't have a play for play book on what he was thinking since V wasn't talking to him specifically, it didn't take a mental giant to figure out that he was going back and forth over something. And he wasn't getting anywhere from what he could tell.

"I think we should head back now," V said as he stood up. He stretched as much as his eager to protest body would allow him to and gestured towards the children. They pouted as expected, but didn't protest. Throwing a fit wasn't going to earn them a return trip and they knew it. That wasn't a hypothesis they needed to test out. Griffon did a second lap around the playground while V waited for the children to join him before flying back over to dematerialize and rejoin with his master. The group then turned their attention to the path that led out of the park. Home wasn't more than three blocks from here, a fact that V was grateful for considering his continued lack of a cane and his current energy reserves. They would be there in no time at all and it was just past noon. They all had the whole day ahead of them.

-~-

Welcome back everyone! Just a few quick points! As always, I am happy to hear your comments and feedback! I decided to not stress myself out with an arbitrary work count minimum so the chapters will be a bit more organic this time around. That doesn't necessarily mean they will be longer or shorter, just that they will be however long they need to be to tell the story correctly. That being said, chapter two is longer than this one, so that's fun! I also want to give a special thank you to everyone who filled out the questionnaire for me at the end of the last book! At this time, it's closed, but it made a huge impact on how I arranged things in this book. The way this is going, I may very well just keep writing for this AU for the foreseeable future as we all seem to enjoy it. I even went out and purchased a new laptop just for this (I'm not rich, it's just a nice chromebook since I use Google Doc and my table is having a hard time) Wednesday and Friday between Noon and six pm CDT is still the publishing time. And thank you all very much for reading chapter one! See you back here on the 22nd of July! I hope my spelling was better this time around!

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reformedkingsmanagent · 5 years

Text

A Werewolf in Vizima — Part 2

A/N: I decided to break up the last bit into two pieces, for my own sanity, otherwise I’d continuously edit and re-edit the same bits over and over again because I’m never satisfied. I really hope this is okay, and I promise, in the next one things will pick up drastically. Thanks so much for spending your time here, I truly appreciate it. Accepting any/all criticism and suggestions. Also, a friendly reminder, this is much less based on CD Project Red’s interpretation of Geralt and more focused on what I anticipate the new Netflix series will look like. AKA I really just like Henry, alright? There, I said it. Now try to enjoy.

[PART 1] [PART 3] [PART 4]

“And you’re sure she hasn’t been out?”

The matron looked horrified. “A young, ill woman like herself? Absolutely not. She wouldn’t have even made it down the steps on her own.”

Geralt had to admit, for all his theories on the way over, he didn’t smell dog. In fact, he was beginning to wonder if he’d just stepped into a completely different issue entirely as his eyes traced the runes carved into the inside of the wooden doorframe.

He looked towards the various gifts and plates gathered around Johanna’s door, none of the items touched. “Well liked.”

“Yes. She has quite a few admirers, and good friends as well. This is a terrible thing to happen to such a lovely young woman. Everyone hopes she’ll pull through before winter comes.”

Geralt wasn’t listening anymore, he was looking deeper, vision swimming slightly with every subtle turn of his head, looking for something—

“Pleasemyheadissplittingmakeitstopmakeitstop—”

He could smell the antiseptic chemicals, the much softer iron leftover from cleaning her wounds. Not the werewolf he was looking for, but there was definitely something off about it all.

“She’s extremely ill,” he interrupted.

“We’ve done all we can for her,” the matron insisted. “She just needs to rest and the fever will pass on its own.”

“I think if you let me take a look at her, I could help. She needs someone who—”

“I’ll not be releasing her to the care of some sorceress, or yourself, for that matter. Whatever you might think, Witcher, I assure you, there’s nothing more to be done.” The thinly-veiled insult fell off Geralt’s shoulders, as he was much more concerned with the suffering young woman on the other side of that door. With the woman standing in front of him so entrenched in the idea that she knew what was best for poor Johanna, Geralt knew he’d get nowhere himself.

“She is beyond your care.”

His pleas made no difference.

The matron crossed her arms over her chest, her impatience clear. “I’ve had enough of you nosing around. You can leave. Or shall I call for one of the guards?”

The busy streets offered Geralt a chance to clear his head. He zoned out briefly, the din of evening conversation filling his head as he thought out his next move.

Definitely still looking for a Werewolf, he mused, images of the disemboweled guards filling his head. Unusual to find one hiding so well in the city. Someone should’ve noticed its comings and goings.

The trail had gone cold just a few feet after turning off the main street, a problem the expert tracker wasn’t used to having, but such is the reality of trying to track footsteps in a city with paved streets. It didn’t help that the streets were absolutely filthy, a by-product of being at the center of all the major trade routes across the region.

Still, the captain of the guard had mustered up quite a large purse of coin to see this dealt with, before any more lives were lost. He needed to return to the scene, to try again to catch a scent, anything that would help.

“Help me.”

It was whispered weakly, but it reached Geralt’s ear anyway. He squeezed his eyes shut. This girl, something is very wrong here. Geralt couldn’t shake off the desire to figure this one out, even without the lure of coin, though the woman in charge was proving to be quite an obstacle.

Just then a laugh cut through everything, clear as day. There you were, crossing the street, large bag slung over your shoulder to hold the supplies you were surely taking home. Milla, the tavern owner, walked beside you, sharing your laughter.

Geralt had an idea.

***

“Can you believe the nerve of him? I almost whacked him over the head with the Erveluce, and what a waste that would’ve been!”

“I definitely believe it. Some people think they deserve the world—”

As you spread your arms wide, embellishing your mocking tone, a gloved hand wrapped around your wrist, stopping you from smacking the new arrival in the face.

“What—”

Your shock was short-lived as you locked eyes with the Witcher from before, the one who’d mocked your meager resources and left a sour taste in your mouth as you cursed him while cleaning up.

A firm stare-down later, he released your wrist.

A gentle hand met your shoulder and you turned to see Milla smiling, her meddling obvious to anyone who knew what to look for. “I’ve got to head back. You’ll see her home safe, sir?”

Geralt nodded. You watched her go, shooting her a ‘how dare you’ look until she was a good distance away and the quiet was uncomfortable.

“I need to ask you a favor,” Geralt began, sounding hesitant.

Good. A chance to counter with all the words you’d been stewing over throughout the day.

“Is there pay involved? Much like you, Witcher, I now only work for coin, and as you are well aware, I possess but a pittance at the moment.”

The words cut the way they were meant to, but Geralt recognized that there was less malice in your voice than just genuine hurt, as much as you tried to hide it.

“I’ve offended you.”

“No, no, certainly not.” It was difficult to hide your grin as his expression changed to register that this wasn’t going to be a simple ask.

He sighed, moving in front of you to prevent you from continuing on past him. “This is important, I need your help.”

He sounded serious enough that you briefly considered giving up on your crusade. Briefly.

“My help? What on earth could I help you with, Witcher?”

“Geralt,” he muttered, eyes glancing skyward while he tried to shake off the annoyance that rose in him. It shouldn’t bother him that much, but there was something about you calling him ‘witcher’ that felt wrong, as if you too thought of him as the mud and shit caked on the bottom of your shoe.

“What?”

“My name. Geralt. I’d rather you didn’t—”

“Call you by your profession? What, like barmaid?” You stepped around his imposing figure, interested in getting home before dark, especially as you didn’t expect he’d actually walk you home. Besides, did he forget? There was a monster on the prowl.

“I didn’t realize you were so easily bothered.”

“Oh, so it’s my fault, is it?” As you glanced over your shoulder, you were startled to realize he was right behind you.

“You are…”

“What? Difficult? Obstinate?”

“...different.”

You didn’t have a good response for being called different, and you weren’t sure if it was an insult or a compliment. Almost sounded like a compliment. Fortunately, you were relieved of the need to come up with a witty answer as he fell in step beside you.

“It’s about Johanna,” he finally explained. “I think there’s more to this.”

“Are you done thinking she’s a murderer?”

“Of the guards in the square? Yes. Can’t rule her out completely though, not without your help.”

“Why me?”

“You’re the only access I have to her.”

“But I don’t have access. That woman forces me out if I linger too long. I won’t be allowed in.”

He stayed quiet for a good while, following dutifully beside you as you took the winding way home. You noticed all the stares and harsh looks he was receiving, along with people giving him—and you, by extension—a very, very wide berth.

“The only thing I’m sure of is if things stay as they are, she’ll be dead inside of a few days.”

“What’s wrong with her?” You felt a bit lightheaded at the news. Johanna, dead? In days? He had to be wrong.

“Not entirely sure, but it’s beyond traditional healing. Her sickness, I don’t get the sense it’s entirely natural. There were some carvings in the doorframe. Could be nothing, but…”

“Could be something?”

“Is something. Just not sure what. And that’s what I need you to find out for me. I’m still on a hunt, and I need to take care of it before someone else gets gutted in the street, but if you could trace the runes, give them to me, I can ask someone for help.”

“Another Witcher?”

“A sorceress. You’ve probably already heard of her—Keira Metz.”

“Advisor to Foltest himself? How on earth do you have such high friends?”

“Done a few favors for Foltest in the past.”

“Not favors though, you got paid, right?”

“No matter how much he pays, he always expects something more in return. It’s the risk you take, doing work for a King.”

“What sort of favors would a king need?”

“The kind I’m not quick to talk about,” Geralt answered, shooting you an amused glance. Still, the message was received and you kept quiet, mulling over the news about Johanna.

As the path home wound higher up the hill, you redoubled your grip on the bag slung across your chest, grateful for the supplies, but cursing having to carry them.

“Need some help with that?”

He held out a hand to you, and while you detected no catch to his offer, you still declined, shaking your head.

“I’m fine.”

He let out a chuckle, and the smile that spread across his face was visible even in profile. You forced yourself to look down, pretending it had anything to do with not stumbling over your own feet.

It’s nothing, put it right out of your mind.

His earlier words echoed in your ear. ‘It’s something.’

“Do you usually take the long way around?” he asked.

Your face burned. He knew, of course he knew. He’s probably been up and down these streets a million times before.

“Just wanted to be able to yell at you for a little while longer.”

“Feel any better?” He stopped on the corner, forcing you to turn around to face him.

The last bit of sunlight reflected in his amber eyes, his slight squint only adding to how disarming he looked for the moment. With the top half of his hair pulled back out of his face, he looked much less intimidating.

“Not sure. Somehow I think you might’ve got off easy…”

You trailed off as a scream filled the evening air. You didn’t know why, but it sent your pulse racing. Geralt took only moments to process it before running towards the end of the street, in search of the source. After his monster.

You followed him.

#geralt of rivia #geralt x reader #the witcher #yeah it's focused on the netflix series that we know absolutely nothing about #hope you like it!#henry cavill honestly

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goldstonegolem64 · 4 years

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Ok I know ive post this three time now but the first post was just a mess and the second was and still a mess that didn’t save any of my edits. So this one as all of my edits. Ok I have been having this though bouncing around in may head for about a few days now after watching She-ra for the first time and had the though how can I add my own flair to it. So I had this idea for another Fan-Fic called Theta Squad. I might write this after I Finish hope return as just another one of my side projects I didn’t I'll think about now onto the plot and Main cast

Plot

Are story begins after the battle that killed The Kings of the Kingdom of Snow Force Captain Durge waited at a meet up for the rest of his squad after they were separated . Only to find out that only five member of his squad survived.Them being His son Jace, Blaze a pyromanice, The team Medic Quirrel, A sniper Named Millie, and a Shock troop named Zote. An after seeing his remaining troops loss of morale and the will to fight .Durge decide take his remaining troop and Leave the horde.Three years later of living/ Hiding in the Kingdom Plumeria .War came knocking at their door again. This caused Durge and the other to rejoin the war but this time to work under Brightmoon .Now Theta Squad must now prove their loyalty to the Rebellion ,help train the new She-ra , Face their past and Save as many people from the horde’s control as possible

Characters

Durge

Age 45

Height: 6′.3″

Race Lizard man

Ability and traits Poisonous bite, Razor Claws. Super human strength, And able to breath under water for a hours

Looks; Purple and gray scales and Yellow eyes.

Durge was a young mercenary when the Horde landed in the fright Zone. At first his original mercenary tried to fight off the Horde not for money but for the fear that the horde was a danger to the world. Sadly they failed and Durge was the only one who survived the fight and was given a choose by Hordak either die here or join him and serve as his new Force Captain. He choose to join and was given commanded of Theta Squad a strike team made to eliminate any problem that could stop the horde. He enjoyed doing this killing the horde;s enemies and taking more territories. But that changed when a Mission to eliminate a Rebellion Stronghold but the intel was wrong and Theta squad destroy a Village of innocent people . As he looked around the destroyed Village the cry of a child could be heard . Durge followed the crying and found a small Magicat child crying for his mom or his father. This put into perspective how many children he had orphan and Some what . To make up for this He took the boy and named his Jace and promised him that he would protect the boy and His squad no matter what.

Jace

Age 23

Height 5′.8″

Race Magicat .

Abilities and traits: Jace is a very dexterous, agile and flexible. He can climb up any object with relative ease, natural night vision and heightened sense of hearing, sight and smell

Looks: Black furry with orange and white patches on it , Bright green eyes and missing half of his tail and sharp claws

Jace was born into the horde and into theta Squad and that’s all he ever knew. An he was fine with that he had brothers and Sister that cared for him and a father that loved him. But there was always some thing that nagged at the back of his mind. An that was what was he. He knew he was a Magicat but what did that means were there anymore of his kind or was out there and this haunted him for years. He tried to look up his race on the horde Date base and found nothing about his people. This bothered Jace but didn't stop him from look for more of his kind

Blaze.

Age 22

Height: 5′.7″

Race: Etherian

Abilities and traits: pyrokinesis,,Fire breathing, Fire immunity and mix martial arts

Look : Dark skin with short orange and red hair that catches fire when angered purple eyes

Blaze was given to the horde by the kingdom of Flame along with a few hundred other kids from the kingdom as away to keep the Horde from invading them. This caused Blaze to believe that all royal were nothing more then spineless cowards that only cared about their position of power. An She devoted her life to fighting against the Rebels of bright moon.She was put in to Theta squad do to her expert fighting skills and hated for Royalty . But that all change after the Mission to eliminate the Rulers of the Kingdom of snow. She was left to rethink about her enter purpose in life.

Quirrel

Age: 19

Height: 5′.2

Race: Forest elf

Abilities and traits Healing support and protection magic , flight and medical knowledge

looks: Dark pick skin pointed ears and yellow eyes wings that are four feet each

Quirrel is was only three when the horde attacked his Village and he was taken from his home and was force to serve the horde and when his magic finally manifested itself. He was place upper Shadow weavers train and was Basically tortured into learning all sort of Magic .This caused Quirrel to become a timid and scared man who was obedient to shadow weaver . But after years of learning under shadow weaver the only kinds of magic he could learn were healing Defensive and support. This infuriated her to a point so she just sent him off to work with medical staff and was later transferred to Theta. When he first join the team he was scared that they would be treated the same way Shadow weaver did. But that was not the case when a teammate named Millie became his first real friend and he would do anything to protect her

Zote

Age: 27

Height 6′.10″

Tail length. Four feet

Race: Scorpioni

Abilities and traits Super strength, paralyzing poison , and strong Pincers

Looks peach skin ,green carapace and lite brown hair and silver eyes

Zote join the horde originally to try and find princess Scorpia and bring her to a rebel cell of the scorpioni people but sadly he was put into Theta Squad. Which had being him to be sent from place to place eliminating threats to the horde. He didn’t like this job but he started to like the people around him and he started to feel like he was part of a family again. Something he hadn't felt in a long time . But after the Kingdom of Snow Mission went South and majority of Theta Squad gone. Zote decides to protect what was left of his team with his life

Millie

Age: 25

Height 5′ .4″

Race; Human

Abilities and traits. None

Looks: Peach shin ,black curly hair and green eyes

Millie was raised by the horde like most people. But unlike most people the indoctrination didn’t work on her seeing as she tended to Zone out during those moments. But she still fought for them not for the glory but for the fun of it . She was placed in theta Company do to her deadly precision and accuracy on the battlefield. She in joyed working in Theta squad and made friends with Squad mate Quirrel. She was happy with to be apart of the team but she was slowly getting board with the horde and was going to leave with Quirrel .But after the Snow mission she decide to stay with the rest of the squad to make a better life no matter what it was

#she ra #she-ra oc #she ra bow #she ra scorpia #she ra entrapta #she ra catra #spop adora #glimmer #glimmadora #scorptra #shera scorpia

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prettywordsyouleft · 5 years

Text

Aftermath // AIRFORCE7

Summary: The war was over, yet Youngjae couldn’t quite find his way forward in life even with you at his side.

Pairing: Choi Youngjae x reader (ft. GOT7 in AIRFORCE7)

Genre: pilot au / late 1940s – early 1950s era / angst / fluff

Warnings: Due to the era it’s set in, this will contain minor war conflict in some of the stories. I will not be making the war-zone my main focus in this series however.

A/N: This story has a focus on recovery after trauma. It is dark, and may be triggering to some survivors. I tried to contain the feelings as best as I could despite the time period. Since Youngjae is known as our sunshine, I really felt this idea fitted him the best to play around with his character. Despite the high level of angst, I hope you’ll give it a go!

Once again, I’ve just edited this, so if there’s any errors, I will fix over the next couple of days.

Word count: 4132

This series will continue every Thursday until completed at 10am NZST.

Because of the war, Youngjae had missed out on so much.

He had lost the remaining years of his teenage youth by training to be a pilot, and subsequently spent the time he had planned on studying in the air force. Those weren’t bad times, and nor did he regret them. Ultimately though, the war had travelled his way and he had spent many more years losing. Friends, time, health; when it was all done for, he was as broken as a warplane with holes in it. Sure, the plane had been repaired with sheets of new metal, more rivets punched in to hold it in place. But the wound still sat open under the surface. Youngjae had dealt with some of the holes he received whilst flying but he was far from healed.

He wondered if he would ever be able to forget the things he saw.

It was when he was grounded in the midst of all the chaos that he had met you and fallen in love. He had never been much of a believer in love, yet it was the first thing he could think of when he saw you for the first time. Your smile breathed new life into his tired soul, patching up those internal wounds of losing friends and his own sense of compassion. The arduous way of killing enemies and throwing damage at foreign places was placated with your gentle caresses and uplifting nature. Youngjae hadn’t laughed in years nearly as much as he did with you during those short six weeks. And so, before the next orders were sent his way, he married you in secret, the only witness to your love being the pastor in a small town church and the skies above.

It was you who made Youngjae keep fighting. To win the war and bring back peace and prosperity. He had a new future building, and he didn’t want to waste any more time in securing his dreams with you.

Yet, he still continued to miss things. When away from you for weeks at a time, he was colder than he had been before meeting you. Your arms were nowhere in sight, and he was left to cuddle himself at nights, shivering with a loneliness that he couldn’t quite describe to his comrades. He knew some of them felt the same though, watching his Lieutenant and friend Jaebum stare at the photo he carried around everywhere he went. Youngjae had asked you for a photo soon after your first letter arrived, finding solace in staring at your captured smile until he was dreaming of it.

And through a new photo he received a couple of months later; he discovered he was missing out on something else. “You-you’re pregnant?”

You laughed down the phone line happily. “Are you pleased to know you’ll be a father?”

“Well, how soon will I be?”

“I have just under five months to go. I didn’t know whether to tell you or not, with the way things are right now. But I wanted you to know, Youngjae.”

He wiped back his tears, unsure if he was elated or crushed. He wanted a family with you, yet Youngjae had envisioned you being pregnant after the war.

Not during the midst of the hardest fight.

“Baby, you’re carrying a baby!” he said with a laugh, coughing back his tears. “This is amazing news!”

“You’re not upset that I fell pregnant so soon?”

“No, no,” he assured, his mind racing. “I just wish I was there to watch you grow.”

“You’ll be here for the next one,” you replied easily and Youngjae envisioned you standing there with a hand pressed to your protruding belly. The tears continued to fall, despite his efforts to close his eyes and entrap them with his eyelids. Without even being with him, you seemed to know. That was just how you were. “Youngjae, it’s going to be okay. You’ll get to be a part of our child’s life soon.”

“Not soon enough.”

“We’ll be the first people you see when you come back home, hm?”

“I sure hope so.”

He was air-raiding enemy fortresses when his daughter Younghee was born. You had suffered greatly, so your sister had told him in a phone call. The labour had been difficult and knowing he hadn’t been there to hold your hand tore open another wound inside of him. He started to resent this endless war, unable to not blame it for taking precious moments away from him.

You were right, however. When the nation had won the war, you were the first person he saw waiting for him at the airbase. And when he first held Younghee in his arms, Youngjae had cried as he soaked in all her little details. He had lost out on holding her as a tiny baby, though she was still the smallest life in his world. And thankfully, he had made it back before her first birthday too. For a brief moment in time, everything seemed settled. The nation now focused on recovery from the war efforts, and Youngjae spent every waking moment with his family.

But even with the war over, he couldn’t escape it all.

He woke with a start, snapping his upper body upright as he gasped for air, the endless firing sounds slowly fading into the background of his bedroom now that his eyes were wide with fright. Your hands were swift in enveloping him, holding him tightly as the tears stained through your silk nightgown from yet another nightmare. You soothed him with humming sometimes or rubbing his back in slow circles. And yet, you both knew sleep would now be over for the night.

“Daddy, look!” Youngjae glanced up from the newspaper he read and smiled at Younghee drawing happily on the floor. She held up her artwork proudly. “It’s you!”

His smile faltered at her attempt of drawing the plane in the photo over the fireplace. He chuckled all the same. “Now why would you draw Daddy driving a plane when he does a better job at playing the piano?”

Youngjae gestured to the grand instrument in the front of the family room, the one that was now his bread and butter. He had finally finished with his schooling, and now held a doctorate in music. Being a piano teacher seemed a far cry from his previous life, yet music had been a way of healing some of his wounds, making new sounds that he could play over and over to drown out the ones he had heard every day and night as a fighter pilot.

Younghee shook her head adamantly. “The sky looks better with Daddy in it.”

“Maybe one day we’ll get to see it too,” you mentioned, entering the room with a tray of assorted snacks. You smiled warmly as you placed them down on the table. “Daddy always did look rather dashing in his uniform.”

“Is that what made you fall in love with me?” he teased, and you nodded honestly. Youngjae grinned. “You sly thing!”

“Now, they had driven it well into the minds of the nation, pilots were there to serve, protect and look handsome whilst doing so. Why wouldn’t a thing like me fall in love with the suit that you wore?”

Younghee giggled. “I want to see!”

“Daddy doesn’t wear it anymore,” Youngjae mentioned softly, thinking back to the pledge he had made with his fellow comrades of his team AIRFORCE7. Jaebum had promised they would all continue on with their teamwork even after the war. Youngjae hadn’t returned though, no matter how often Jinyoung or Mark reached out to him. Now that he had his life set up with you, he hadn’t been back near a plane since.

Four years had passed, and yet the sounds, the crimes, the horrors, Youngjae wondered when they would leave him.

He had always loved planes, and flying had been his dream ever since he first sat in a cockpit of his Dad’s biplane. Now, he held another empty hole within him, unfulfilled from avoiding what he loved doing the most.

You seemed to notice his brooding and reached forward for his face. “Maybe Daddy should think about wearing his uniform again.”

“I’m happy with teaching music,” he stated, his voice unwavering unlike his gaze did. He stared up at the only image in his home that showed his previous career. Every other aspect of being in the war had been packed away from sight, in attempts to get it out of his mind. He clasped a hand over yours and smiled. “I’m happy with how we are.”

He found you sitting out in the grass by the outside toilet, the washing unattended in the basket beside you. Tears streamed from your eyes and you were as white as the sheets waiting to be hung out in the morning sun. Rushing to your side, Youngjae scooped you into his arms, wondering why you would be crying so much this early in the morning. Unlike him, you had always been bright, wonderful and optimistic. Whenever you cried, it was normally from laughter or jubilant experiences with your family.

There was no smile in sight today.

“What’s wrong?”

“Youngjae, I think, I think I was pregnant.”

“...Was?” he repeated and you nodded, your gaze moving towards the door to the lavatory. He stood back to his full height, slowly walking towards the door. On the inside, you had left something folded up on the floor of the toilet, and he opened it, finding why you were crying so hard. He clamped his eyes shut, trying to stem his immediate flow of emotions. He needed to be strong for you for once.

It took him some minutes before he returned, dropping back to his knees and holding you to his chest tightly. Hearing you unravel in his arms was enough to break him into a thousand pieces. He had already suffered enough in life, he thought, but now you had to carry pain as well. It was his wish to be the only one who was burdened with such a cruel twist in fate.

“We’ll try again when the time is right,” he murmured into the side of your head and you just wailed harder. “I’m sorry we’ve lost again.”

The miscarriage haunted you both. He often thought back to the time where you were telling him you were pregnant with Younghee. How he wouldn’t miss the birth of the next child. Yet, no child was coming your way. You had both wanted a large family, and he wondered if his scars from the war made him unsuitable in fathering another child with you. Before, when you had first fallen pregnant, you were both happier, laughter healing all his wounds.

He wondered why he couldn’t laugh as well these days.

“I think we need help,” you mentioned a month later in bed, placing down the book you had been reading. Youngjae glanced at you and you smiled weakly. “Maybe we are both carrying too much around to wait until we simply get over it.”

“We can though, and we will.”

“Youngjae, it’s been almost five years and you still have nightmares often. I know it’s not my place to pry or ask you what happens in them. I know I’ll never understand and maybe my sympathy will be lost on you. What about seeing your old friends again? They might help, you know.”

He stilled with his heavy thoughts, the laughter of Jackson and BamBam infiltrating his mind for a moment. He swore he even felt the friendly slap on his back from Jaebum and blinked back the tears before they had a chance to fall.

“I want to make you happy, but I feel I never will. You’re holding back with all the pain you face. Can you truly tell me you’re happy how we are?”

“I’m happy with you, I always have been,” he breathed, his voice unstable. “Y/N, you are the best thing that ever happened to me. And with our daughter, we are complete.”

“Are we? I wanted a big family, yet I worry I’m not a good enough wife since I can’t seem to fall pregnant or stay that way.” You blinked rapidly. “I worry I can’t keep you happy. Maybe I’m not enough.”

He watched you for an immeasurable time, your face falling with his lack of words. Youngjae didn’t know how to express them. He could force being bright and happy when he needed to. And he was good at covering most of his scars with newfound interests and the change in career. More importantly, he knew not to be ungrateful. What he had, his family, home, career; some of his fellow comrades would never achieve in this lifetime. He felt selfish every time he couldn’t smile, couldn’t laugh properly. When he looked at you, he still believed he was happy. You were a wonderful, beautiful wife and mother. You provided so much for this family, and he was proud of who you had become over the years. He knew his wounds somewhere along the line had become yours at times too. You had nursed him through the hard times and Youngjae knew without you, he’d be nothing.

How long had you soldiered on in silence though? Had you always viewed yourself as not enough or was that more recent? He was a doting husband and father, and you and Younghee were everything to him. Did you not feel his love enough?

“If you’re not happy, then I’m not happy,” he finally told you, long after the lights were turned out. You rolled over to face him and Youngjae kissed you softly. “I love you, Y/N and I know it’s hard right now. Maybe you’re right. That we need some help. I just want to see you smiling again and I’ll do anything to see it.”

It was easier than he imagined. The whole trip had been driven in an anxious state; you even taking over in driving from fear Youngjae would crash the car before arriving at the township he had spent his youth in. You had only been here once to collect him after the war, and yet every corner and every face seemed to serve him a memory, a story that he was eager to share with you and Younghee. He had taken over driving again; going along the lane he knew all too well that was just outside of the airbase.

Although it felt welcoming to be back where he was stationed for years, Youngjae struggled to look over at the grounds he had once called home.

Turning into the driveway that had last been overgrown and disorderly, he grinned at the grand home that stood before him, small children playing happily in the front yard. He chuckled as he got out of the car and helped you out soon after. You frowned. “Didn’t you say this place was old? It’s absolutely beautiful.”

“Why thank you,” a voice appreciated and Youngjae grinned when he saw the owner standing there. Mark shook his head at him before pulling him into a hug. “You have been missing for too long, Choi.”

What was only meant to be a few days at Mark’s home turned into two weeks of reminiscing, catching up, and learning all that was new in the lives of his six other teammates. He was surprised to hear the team force had been grounded since the day he left.

“What, you thought we could continue on without you?” Jackson mentioned with a shake of his head. “We’re a team and we were without you.”

“I distinctly remember us flying without you for some time,” Jinyoung quipped and the former grumbled.

“That was different, Park. Stop being a cocky asshole.”

Yugyeom laughed and pointed at BamBam. “Even this one who wasn’t ever the happiest in flying has missed having you up in the skies at his side. He claims he won’t fly without you.”

“And that’s not to say I can’t,” BamBam assured the men in the room, everyone laughing in response. “What?! I can fly, you bastards!”

“I’ve missed this,” Youngjae admitted and Jaebum nodded at him. “I was stupid for staying away.”

He had been so certain that what he needed in the aftermath of the war was to move away from it all, start anew in life with you. Now, Youngjae realised he needed those who mattered to him from his pilot days as well.

“You’re back now,” Mark mentioned with a smile, looking around his group of friends. “Why not make it for good?”

Youngjae took Mark’s advice. The move wasn’t too hard to achieve, with your previous home being sold for more than market value. You easily picked up work in the bakery Mark’s wife now owned, and Younghee was ready to start school for the first time in the fall.

Your new home was always full of laughter and music, Youngjae swinging you around the living room before being tackled by Younghee and dancing with her instead, much to your delight. Sure, he still had his nightmares, but facing it head-on by being back where his journey had started was actually more beneficial than hiding away in the town you had first lived as a married couple. His heart began to heal and he even met up with Jaebum’s wife and his old Captain on the airfield a few times a week to help train the cadets. It wasn’t something he had imagined returning to, but he enjoyed watching the excitement on their faces when they got their plane up into the skies.

“Will you ever climb aboard again?” Jaebum asked as he worked with Youngjae on a plane in the hangar. She was older than the new aircrafts and talk of animosity brewing overseas again seemed to have given a need to order more planes in. It was odd seeing the base so full of fresh war-birds when the last time he was here, they looked beaten, tired. Jaebum nudged Youngjae. “You know you miss them.”

“I don’t miss what being in one of these planes means.”

“I know, and I know you won’t go back to that. Intelligence reports are saying that the world isn’t at ease after all, and some of us might have to fight again. You know you don’t have to, right?”

Youngjae nodded softly. “I can’t, my life is different. Maybe I’m just meant to love planes from the ground now.”

“Before the war, didn’t we fly planes for a different reason?” Jaebum asked and Youngjae frowned. His friend scoffed. “You don’t remember sneaking into your Dad’s plane and flying it over these fields? Wasn’t it then that the Corporal went to your family and asked if you planned on joining the force when you were of age?”

“You remember me telling you that?”

“I remember a lot of things, some good.” Jaebum quickly shrugged. “Some not so. But I know for a fact, flying is in your veins. You love the whistle when there’s too my wind on those wings too. Don’t fly because you’re ordered to. Do it because you enjoy it. After all, don’t those kids out there call us veterans now? I thought I was bloody young, but they all see us as the last fights’ heroes. Shall we leave it up to them now?”

It was tempting. Youngjae stared at the plane he was working on, mindlessly rubbing circles with the work rag he had been mopping grease away with. He thought of how easy it would be to climb up into the cockpit right now and take her for a spin. The clouds always seemed so far away from him now.

Yet he didn’t take up Jaebum’s offer, returning home for supper instead. You watched him curiously all night long. “What are you thinking of, my love?”

“Huh?”

You smirked. “You’ve been out of it all night long. Did something happen today?”

“Oh, no,” he started and then smiled. “Well, almost.”

“Almost?”

“I thought about getting up in a plane.”

You clapped your hands together. “Really?!”

“You’re excited about that?” he questioned, surprised. “Why?”

“Because you love flying, Youngjae.”

“That’s not the first time I’ve heard that today,” he murmured, and then turned to face you entirely. “Would it bother you if I did?”

“No, why would it bother me?”

“Well, planes are dangerous.”

“So are you when you’re moody, you know that?” you teased and Youngjae laughed. You cupped his cheeks in your hands and smiled. “I think if your heart craves it, you should do it. After all, your heart craved me and you didn’t waste any time in making me yours.”

“I could have married you the very next day after meeting you. I thought my wait to have you as my bride was modest,” he told you and you giggled, wrapping your arms around his waist instead. “I love you, you know that right?”

“And I love you even more. Just do it at least once before you claim you can’t, Youngjae. You said you couldn’t ever return here and now look at how happy we all are. Younghee has made friends at school and I’ve met some lovely ladies linked to your brothers. This township has done wonders for us all and I know there’s more to come. You’re genuinely happy here, you know that? I’ve never seen you this bright before. It’s rather intoxicating.”

“You’re drunk on me?” he wondered and you blushed, nodding softly. “Is that so?”

“I’ve always been attracted to you Youngjae, but now I’m seeing my husband glow, how could I not be overwhelmed?”

“Hold onto that thought,” he instructed, hoisting you up into his arms and you shot him a look, tapping him on the arm as he carried you into your bedroom. “I want to make sure I take full advantage of this amazing mood you’re experiencing.”

“Is it ready yet, Daddy?”

He glanced down at Younghee standing beside the plane and nodded, leaping down off the wing he stood upon. “We’re almost ready for takeoff.”

“It’s not quite time yet,” you called from nearby, holding onto the lead of the little white dog yapping in excitement. You pointed to the sky. “The sun isn’t yet ready to set.”

“When will it?” Younghee demanded, stomping her foot in annoyance. Youngjae chuckled as he fastened the jacket she was wearing and then reached for her helmet and goggles. “Is this all necessary?”

“Do you want to fly safely with me or stay grounded here with Mummy whilst I go alone?”

“I’m coming! You promised!”

Youngjae nodded, smiling brightly. “Well then safety first.”

He helped Younghee up onto the wing before setting her up in the second seat in the cockpit of his plane, triple checking the belt was secured before he leapt back down to you. He reached for your neck with his hand to pull you closer to kiss you, smiling when he shifted back. Youngjae then bent down to repeat the action to your protruding stomach, and then even kissed Coco the dog as well. He finally stood back up with a grin on his face.

“You keep her safe,” you warned, though you were smiling far too much. “She looks so happy sitting up there.”

“Younghee is a Daddy’s girl after all,” he reminded coyly and you laughed.

“Well then this child here will be mine,” you decided, stretching up to kiss him again. “I wish I could come with you.”

“You’re pregnant.”

“I am,” you agreed, rubbing at your stomach proudly. “And you better not be out for too long. It’s just a short flight tonight, you hear?”

“I’ll be back in time for supper.”

“I’ll never believe you, Choi Youngjae. You love flying too much.”

“I love you more,” he promised, waving you off as he jogged back to the plane and climbed into his own seat. The sun was starting to send out its last rays for the day and he flicked at the gears expertly, asking if Younghee was ready one more time before making his way down the grassy runway, soon pulling the plane up into the clouds.

You were right, he loved to fly. And ever since he started again, he didn’t want to stop. Youngjae didn’t need to be up in the clouds to soar, though it was always exciting when he could be, especially now that Younghee was an avid young pilot herself.

Even when he was on the ground though, Youngjae felt like he was flying. You were pregnant and life was finally how he had imagined it would be all those years ago.

He finally had his wings back.

_________________

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askmerriauthor · 4 years

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Pokemon SwSh Thoughts - Post Game

So I’ve finished Pokemon Sword’s primary content. All that’s left is to finish up the PokeDex and drive myself insane trying to whip up all the variations of Alcremie. That, and delaying buying an online subscription for as long as possible before I bother with trading to get the other game’s exclusives. Here’s some thoughts on the game after the fact:

Pokemon SwSh really needed to come out in late 2020, period. I’ve enjoyed the game so far, but I’ve played it for about a week without putting in too much time/effort grinding and I’ve already done pretty much everything there is to do. I had my Starter leveled up to 100 before I even left the Wild Area for the very first time. The pacing and content depth of this game are pretty much non-existent, whereas the majority of the effort has clearly been put toward refining the competitive combat development. That’s great for those players who really like the battle system, but not so much for those of us who like story and broader gameplay elements.

Pro - Streamlined Gameplay One thing I’ve wanted in Pokemon for ages has been the ability to skip tutorials. I understand the necessity of having them, as every game that comes out is going to be some player’s first and their presence is for that player. But at least having the option to skip them for us old hats would be nice. SwSh does that! I was delighted to discover that the game allows you to bypass tutorials with a simple yes/no prompt when a new element is introduced. How to catch Pokemon, type match-ups, how to heal at Pokemon Centers, and so forth - all the stuff previous games led us through by the nose has been made optional this time around.

I’ve seen some people saying that this game holds the player’s hand too much as it leads us from one gameplay element to the next and doesn’t let us progress at our own leisure. To some degree this is true, but it’s far less egregious than in previous games, such as SuMo. There’s yet to be a good balance between giving the player free reign and giving them enough guidance to ensure we never feel lost, but this has been an inoffensive example as far as I’m concerned. The game does end up feeling rather railroaded, but I don’t necessarily consider that a fault of hand-holding. I’ll get to this matter later on.

Pro - The Style Galar is a very pretty region and the game makes good use of the Switch’s higher capacity to produce excellent backdrops for the player to explore. Many of the Pokemon have charming animations (Falinks is my favorite on this respect). The towns are all really well-designed in terms of visuals, especially compared to the bare-bones looks of older generations. I feel like there could have been more, but what we got is still great.

Pro - Implications in Lore Those of you who know me know how much I love lore and world building. Pokemon, as a franchise, is ripe with opportunity to examine its lore to the most tiny and obscure detail, so any new addition to the franchise is welcome on that front. Galar has some pretty fascinating nuggets to contribute.

I love that the League in Galar, as well as competitive Pokemon Training in general, is treated like a career sport. In specific, I love that this view and practice is exclusive to Galar - I wouldn’t like it at all if the entire franchise shifted to this angle, but it works great for a one-off region. I like that Kabu specifically relocated himself from Hoenn to join the sports league as it doesn’t exist in his home region. The Champion being a sort of major celebrity/superhero, the way Gym Leaders can recruit proteges or even inheritors of their rank from among contenders, the sort of clique all the Gym Leaders have with one another - it’s a really neat dynamic. I also like the notion that actually completing the Gym Challenge isn’t something common and most Trainers who try rarely make it even halfway through. That’s an interesting contrast to other regions where collecting Gym Badges seems almost as a given and the League itself is considered the real challenge, or where the whole endeavor is designed to be finished as a matter of course, like in Alola.

There’s also some really neat additions to the overall lore brought in from the Pokemon Masters mobile game. While its place in canon is questionable, it does specifically mention Galar in a few places. The idea that Pokemon who do not appear in the current Dex are banned from Galar by customs (perhaps identified as potentially dangerous/invasive species) is an interesting one. So is the claim that Iris - the Champion of Unova in BW2 - is a cousin of Leon and Hop. I love it when there are connections amid titles like that as it really helps build a more unified setting.

-Edit-: Darn, apparently those screenshots were fakes. Strike that positive from the list, I suppose.

Mixed Pro/Con - The Availability of Pokemon and the Wild Area I’m not talking about Dexit - I have my own thoughts on that explained elsewhere and frankly don’t think it’s going to end up as bad as everyone is fretting over in the long run. No, in this particular case I’m focused on the availability of Pokemon that are in the game itself.

To put it simply... it’s too easy. I know that filling out the PokeDex isn’t supposed to be a huge challenge, but I’ve gotten the majority of it done - evolved forms, item-reliant forms, gender/size/color variations included - with pretty much no effort whatsoever. I like the idea of the Wild Area in principle but what it ends up being in practice is lacking. It’s too easy to just hoover up Pokemon at a breakneck pace, which leads to other zones and the Wild Area itself becoming pretty much immediately obsolete. I have no need to return to them once I’ve gotten everything I need and there’s not enough general content to urge me to visit again.

The Wild Area itself is a big open sandbox that you can roam around in, which is nice compared to more linear zones in past games. Galar has its railroad routes, but they’re brief (aside from the obligatory overlong water route, which even then is still quite a lot smaller than other regions’ have been). However, it’s just that - a big open sandbox. You can wander through it very easily and even traipse into the “high level” zones without fear because you can see all the Pokemon coming and give them a wide berth to avoid them. There aren’t any obstacles or challenges within the Wild Area itself, and the game makes it supremely easy to find Pokemon even under specific weather/time conditions, which I feel is a missed opportunity. I would have rather the Wild Area been MUCH bigger and more involved, full of places to explore and puzzles to solve. Similarly, I would rather that Pokemon were more difficult to come by as well - that a greater deal of effort would have been put toward tracking and discovering certain harder-to-find Pokemon, with more in-game detective work to find your prize.

Mixed Pro/Con - The Characters The ensemble cast of new Gym Leaders are great - I enjoy the majority of them and frankly want more interactions, more encounters, just more in general. That’s sort of the problem though - I want more. The game itself criminally under-utilizes these characters, especially compared to how much more involved and explored Gym Leaders have been in recent games. There is precious little content using the Gym Leaders here in Galar as it stands and I constantly found myself wanting them to hang out longer and have the chance to learn more about them. Their League Cards are a neat little addition full of interesting tidbits about their histories, natures, and relationships with each other, but I would MUCH rather have gotten to see all that play out in the game itself rather than read it as a flavor blurb.

On the con side of this, however, is the fact that all of the characters are extremely one-dimensional. We’ve been seeing a steady increase in the depth and development of supporting characters in the games since BW onward, with SuMo arguably having the most to date. The overall characterization in SwSh is incredibly lacking by comparison as we don’t get nearly enough time to be with the cast, nor is the cast given the chance to present more than one note per. Nobody has any sort of emotional growth or development. The closest thing to a character arc in the game is Hop’s acceptance of the idea that he’s not going to be the Champion, but it doesn’t have anywhere near as much punch as it could and is over in the blink of an eye compared to how he spends THE ENTIRE GAME repeating the same “I’m gonna be the Champion/Hokage/Pirate King!” spiel every time he’s on screen.

Con - Dynamaxing and Max Raid Battles I’m not really on board with the whole “Mega-Evolution is best! No more gimmicks!” train because that’s just silly to me. Every game has its gimmick and the way Pokemon gradually picks up tricks and traits from its past versions to consolidate into newer titles is one of its strengths. That said, Dynamaxing is worthless and a pointless addition to the game, both in presentation and practice.

The visual of a Pokemon going kaiju is a neat concept and one I was initially intrigued by, but in practice it falls flat because it’s as thin as cardboard. It’s just Mega-Evolution and Z-Moves smooshed together with an additional 3 round time limit tacked on. All it functionally does is buff your Pokemon’s HP pool and add additional weather/status effects to certain attacks, but in some cases the Dynamax versions of attacks are actually weaker/less useful than their base form. In Gym Battles all the way through the final League fight with Leon, I didn’t bother with Dynamaxing because my Pokemon were strong enough to not need it. I could one-shot Dynamaxed Pokemon with ease using a non-Dynamaxed Pokemon and that really shows a flaw in the design if ever there was one. Dynamaxing doesn’t add or improve anything vital to gameplay - it’s just fluff.

Max Raid Battles as found in the Wild Area are even worse. For those of you who don’t know, these are instanced battles against a Dynamaxed/Gigantamaxed wild Pokemon where you team up with three other players/NPCs. If you win, you get a bunch of useful items and have the chance to catch the wild Pokemon as well, which is the only way you can get certain Gigantamax-capable Pokemon reliably.

The issue with these Max Raid Battles is that they’re an absolute slog. In the early stages of the game they’re all super easy to the point that I could solo them and thus gathered mountains of EXP-boosting candies, which let me overlevel my Pokemon beyond reason. Since the whole “your Pokemon is too high level and won’t listen to you” thing apparently doesn’t apply to Starters and special Event Pokemon, I was able to max-level and run rampant across all opposition with my Starter and my special “thanks for buying early” Meowth. HOWEVER. The difficulty scale of the Max Raid Battles increases with your game progress, so by the time I finished the game and went back into the Wild Area, the Max Raid Battles’ difficulty had ramped up. That’s an okay compromise on its face, but the manner in which the difficulty has increased is poor game design. The battles aren’t any harder, they just take longer - the wild Pokemon has more HP, tosses up a few rounds of shields to soak damage at the start and again halfway through the fight, and purges stat boosts from the player and party throughout the battle. It just makes the fights a pain in the ass to get through rather than making them more challenging or fun, and it’s gotten to the point that I don’t even bother with them anymore. They’re just not worth the trouble, not even for the sake of trying to farm EXP candies because, at this point in the game, all Pokemon in the Wild Area scale up to level 60+ and thus are perfectly serviceable as EXP farming fodder themselves.

On a lore side of things, Dynamaxing is really confusing. There’s the whole visual aspect of the Pokemon growing to giant sizes and sometimes changing their appearances, and there’s these massive arenas built to facilitate the whole thing. But the game itself goes out of its way to impress the fact that the Pokemon aren’t actually getting bigger. They just appear to grow in size and haven’t actually physically changed themselves so Dynamaxing is more like a giant hard light holographic projection than anything else? It’s just a really weird design choice to have made and I don’t understand why it was included.

Con - The Writing So, writing is very important to me. It’s literally been my job for the past decade with various game studios. I don’t consider myself any sort of literary snob as I feel there’s a place for schlock right alongside masterpieces - they all serve a specific purpose and fulfill a particular hunger the reader would like satisfied.

That said, SwSh’s writing is abysmal.

Right on the face, there’s not enough of it. The game is criminally short and light on content, which directly impacts its pacing. Remember earlier when I mentioned that things felt railroaded? That’s because there’s not enough story to rest on - it all flies by as fast as can be, forcing the player along a very narrow and brief chain of events that don’t feel consequential at all. Further, the player has no agency in events whatsoever. It’s not the player’s story - it’s Hop’s story. We’re the supporting role to his journey, shallow as that arc may be. Hop is the one who initiates the events of the game without our input as a character and then we spend the entire game following him around, or being pushed into the next event by other characters who are facilitating Hop. At no point is the player ever given the chance to express their own characterization, motivation, or even opinions. Nearly every two-choice dialogue option that appears boils down to “Yes” or “Slightly More/Less Enthusiastic Yes”, which is a huge downgrade from the genuine negative responses and NPC reactions that were present in SuMo.

In terms of overall plot, SwSh has pretty much the same level of depth and complexity as the original Red/Blue titles, and that is as scathing a criticism in this modern age as I can possibly imagine. The whole story is “run in a circle, collect badges, fight vaguely present villainous threat, fight league.” We are actively forced from one gym fight to the next with no time to breathe, no story-focused events in between, and not even any chance to appreciate the gym, its leader, or even the towns they take place in. It’s one and done - once you’ve got the badge there’s no reason to hang around and the story shuffles us along quickly as can be. I mean that literally in some cases - there are hints of a greater plot at hand with Sonia investigating the history of Galar’s legends and the potential machinations of mega-corporate mogul Chairman Rose. But each time those are broached in game play, the game pushes the player off-screen and says “Well, that’s not something you need to worry about. Go get another badge!” I mean, LITERALLY! There’s a point where The Plot begins to kick in where Pokemon begin to spontaneously Dynamax and cause havoc, which is the narrative queue for the player to become involved and for the story to reveal a new facet. But when that happens, Leon LITERALLY says “leave this to the adults, you just focus on your Gym Challenge” and runs off-screen to handle it himself. It would be a good narrative subversion if it led up to things eventually getting out of hand and the player getting roped into things, or the player having the ability to defy such warnings and interject themselves into danger. But that doesn’t happen - the game just forces us to focus on the Gym Challenge alone and keeps all the actual plot of the game off-screen away from us. This is very poor narrative design and game design alike, and it all comes to nothing because we’re forced to clean up everything in the end anyway by battling the villain and legendaries as per usual.

Though I should also point out that there’s no villain in this game.

But what about Team Yell and Chairman Rose, I hear you ask? They’re not villains, both literally and figuratively respectively. Team Yell never really does anything other than act as brief gate locking elements throughout the game until you finish the Gym you’re at, then they bounce off to the next part of the route they’re set to block. They don’t do anything bad and, as it’s later revealed, they’re actually just a bunch of Spikemuth Gym staffers who are posing as hooligans to support Marnie. They’re literally not villains and, once you beat the Spikemuth Gym, they actually become supporting characters who cheer for the player character and help out against the actual supposed villain of the game.

The actual “villain” of the game is Chairman Rose and his assistant Oleana. However, they’re only villains because the script says they are. They don’t actually do anything bad throughout the entire game nor is there any indication that they have some sort of grand master plan. The most we get is some unusual happenings like small quakes and explosions in the distance, but the game never allows us any chance to investigate - we’re just shoved off toward the next Gym each time. So when Chairman Rose is finally revealed to be the Big Bad, it comes completely out of left field and seems to happen for no reason whatsoever. Further, IT IS FOR NO REASON WHATSOEVER. Chairman Rose’s plan and goal is never explained in depth - all we get is the vague indication that he believes that Galar isn’t sustainable and there will be an inevitable energy crisis in about 1,000 years, and somehow his EVIL SCHEME will fix it. But, like, even Leon flat-out says “I understand your concern but you’re being hasty, this doesn’t need to be rushed, chill out for five seconds and let’s figure this out reasonably”. Instead Rose interrupts the Champion match and announces his EVIL SCHEME on global broadcast for literally no good reason. There was no dire immediacy that required him to do it right then and there, or in that manner, but the plot needed to move us along so that’s how it goes.

It really doesn’t help that, prior to all this, there’s absolutely no indication at all that Rose nor Oleana are bad guys. They’re just business folk who appear to have nothing but good intentions and support for Leon, with the other adults of the cast all happily trusting them. There is nothing to make them seem suspicious in practice and they offer no reason to doubt them at all, so them suddenly being the bad guys is just confusing. Further, how the player is first introduced to the concept of them being antagonists is easily the most ridiculous logic jump and overreaction I’ve seen since the old Adam West Batman television show. So get this: after a battle, Leon says he’ll meet Player and Hop for dinner to celebrate. Player and Hop wait for Leon, but he never shows up. Another NPC explains that Leon was called in for a last-minute meeting by Chairman Rose (who is his boss and has made such requests of Leon’s time throughout the game, as I feel is important to point out) and apologizes for having to miss the dinner plans. Simple enough sort of situation, right? The sort of thing that any reasonable person would shrug and say “Well, that sucks but okay, let’s go eat on our own then” to, right? So what happens here instead?

The Player, Hop, Marnie, and her Gym Leader brother GATHER A SMALL MOB AND STORM CHAIRMAN ROSE’S BUSINESS HQ, FIGHTING THEIR WAY THROUGH SECURITY.

I mean, escalation much? We all have smartphones - just send Leon a text, for goodness’ sake. I’m playing through these events constantly going “why the hell are we doing this and why is everyone acting like it’s some sort of dire emergency?”. And do you know what happens when we finally kick down the doors to Chairman Rose’s office? We find Chairman Rose and Leon quietly having a peaceful chat, after which Leon apologizes for having to cancel the dinner plans and we all walk out together like nothing happened. It was just this huge, needless overreaction that has no consequence and that neither Rose nor Leon even bat an eye at. We, as the players, learn absolutely nothing of importance and are back on the Gym Challenge immediately with no functional changes to the narrative.

Like... what was the point of that?! How was that the best option to try and put Chairman Rose and his underlings into the role of antagonists for us to oppose?

So what is Chairman Rose’s EVIL SCHEME anyway? Basically he wants to provide Galar with renewable clean energy which... uh... is bad? Somehow? Apparently he plans to use a Legendary Pokemon called Eternatus - apparently the source of Dynamaxing - which is literally never mentioned at any point in the game except precisely when it’s time to fight/capture it, nor does fighting/capturing it have any impact on the story or setting. You would think that the player being in control of a massive Eldritch horror that has UNLIMITED POWER at its disposal would be something of a sticking point somewhere in the story, but no. Eternatus and Rose’s plan are never mentioned until precisely the time you need to deal with them, and once that’s done they’re both never mentioned again. Done and done all in one. No gradual seeding of information, no hints and clues throughout the game, no development of lore - just wham, bam, thank you ma’am and off we go.

Y’know, call me silly but in a game that has undertones referencing climate change, extinction of animal species, and criticisms against capitalism run amok, is it really a good idea to depict the guy advocating for clean energy to be bad? That feels like a missed mark to me.

The post-game plot, should one bother to call it that, is just inane. It basically boils down to a pair of one-shot baddies who show up and say “Ha ha! We’re rich and that means we’re better than everyone! Watch as we cause trouble for vague reasons, get hoist by our own petard, and then fuck off forever! Byeeeee~!” The post-game is completely pointless and doesn’t add anything of value at all. Which, again, compare to older games like ORAS’ post-game expansion content and it’s nothing but a damn shame.

SwSh’s writing is shallow and limited at best, with one-dimensional characters, no genuine conflict or resolution, terrible pacing, and repetitive elements that boomerang around over and over and over again to the point of annoyance. Compared to what we’ve seen Pokemon achieve in earlier titles like BW, ORAS, and SuMo, it makes it all the more obvious that SwSh was not given ANYWHERE near the time and love it needed in development and is a massive downgrade in that respect.

Con - Lots of Style, No Substance To wrap all this up - I enjoyed playing SwSh as much as I did any other early Pokemon game. I think that, as a first installment on a new system, it’s fine. That’s all - it’s just fine. It’s serviceable as a means of establishing the franchise onto the Switch and completing its move off purely-mobile mediums like the Gameboy and 3DS. It’s pretty to look at and has a superficial level of engagement, but its prettiness and level of content very quickly reveal themselves to be only skin deep. Once you get past the initial gloss there’s really nothing to this game compared to the content, involvement, and writing quality displayed in past titles on lesser-powered systems. The towns are all pretty but there’s nothing to do in any of them aside from a Gym battle - there’s no additional fun to be had in each location, making them little more than set pieces. The characters have initial appeal and potential for more, but the game never explores them at all. There’s room for a bigger narrative and interesting story with the elements presented, but no opportunity to actually see them fleshed out. The Wild Area seems big and involved at first, but as soon as you’ve gone around its loop once or twice you suddenly realize how small and compartmentalized it really is, and it lacks any reason to revisit in the end game. The major game play function - Dynamaxing/Gigantamaxing - is little more than a novelty that is basically irrelevant to gameplay itself and, in an absolutely baffling decision by the folk behind the official competitive scene, is actually somehow banned from being used in competitions? Like, not even “we’ve disabled the Dynamax button in online” but rather “if the competitive Pokemon you’ve spent so much time perfectly constructing has a Gigantamax form, it will not even be allowed access at all, so you better have an identical non-Gigantamax version on hand if you want to play”. So, what exactly is the point of even having Gigantamax Pokemon then?

Everything about SwSh seems half-baked. The ideas are there but they aren’t finished. It should have been given much more development time and, having been in the position of the creative/dev team under demands from the shareholders, I completely sympathize with Game Freak’s devs in all this. SwSh is ultimately a weak product but one with a lot of good ideas that weren’t given the chance to really shine. As such, I’ve got rather high hopes for the next installment to improve on the unfortunately thin foundation SwSh has set. Game Freak’s team has given us some amazing Pokemon games in the past and, assuming they’re given sufficient time and resources to make a title to their satisfaction, I have every confidence they’ll do so again.

#pokemon #pokemon swsh #game review #wall o'text #game freak #thank you game freak #hey nintendo - quit breathing down the dev team's neck and stand up to the shareholders for them #spoilers

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thephilosopheroftheboudoir · 5 years

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Grim History

The Crime of Being Ethnic: Japanese-American Concentration Camps During World War II

Racism and hatred of immigrants has been a disease ever since the founding of the United States of America. Every immigrant group not originating from northwest Europe has suffered persecution from a small minority of ignorant citizens who think of themselves as the only true Americans. At the time of World War II, when Japan joined forces with the Axis powers of Germany and Italy, ethnic Japanese people gained first hand experience of the bigotry and hate that remains a chronic sickness in American society to this day.

In the mid-nineteenth century, Meiji era Japan opened its doors to international trade and commerce in a bid to modernize their kingdom. An economic recession resulted and many Japanese people fled to America in search of work and economic opportunity. Most of them were peasants and farm laborers and the majority of them relocated to Hawaii and California. The Japanese immigrants were highly successful as agriculturalists and businessmen; farmers in California brought with them a new irrigation technique that made raising crops in difficult terrain much easier. They lived in quiet communities, spoke their own language, and practiced their own traditions. The white farm owners, many of which were less successful financially than the Japanese immigrants, were not happy about their presence on American soil.

But the Japanese people remained. Then on December 7, 1941, Japan attacked Pearl Harbor in Hawaii and public sentiment turned from quiet resentment to open hatred. Fearing the possibility that the ethnic Japanese community would rise up to fight the USA on its own shores, possibly even building espionage networks to assist their Asian ancestors, became a fear of the American military. The government began a clandestine investigative committee and surveillance program to spy on the Japanese people and assess their level of loyalty to the United States. The committee found that they were deeply committed to their adopted nation with little to no sympathy for Japan. No anti-American propaganda was found in their communities, no pro-Japanese sentiment was heard of, and no spy networks were uncovered. Despite these positive findings, the military leaders insisted that Asian people were incapable of being true Americans and in the end their loyalty would go to the Japanese aggressors. Empirical evidence counted for nothing and racist hatred counted for everything. When it came to bigotry in politics, nothing could penetrate the thick fog of stupidity that clouded the vision of white Americans of that time.

Franklin D. Roosevelt, long considered a champion of the poor and oppressed people of the USA, passed Executive Order 9066. The forced relocation and imprisonment of Japanese-Americans had begun. At first, zones of exclusion were drawn up. Territories in California, Oregon, Washington, and Arizona were demarcated on maps and Japanese people were informed that they were not, under any circumstances, allowed to leave those areas. Next a curfew that only applied to Asian people was put into effect, making it illegal for them to be outside their homes after dark. Then the military ordered all Japanese people to voluntarily bring whatever they could carry to the train stations; they were put on trains, and transported to redistribution centers in the desert northeast of Los Angeles. Finally they were transported to concentration camps located throughout the country; all of them were on the most inhospitable land in deserts, swamps, and Indian reservations. People who were thought to be potentially dangerous were sent to a high-security facility in Nevada.

About sixty percent of the detainees were legally naturalized American citizens, mostly second and third generation people who were born in America. The government defined a Japanese-American as anyone being 1/16th Japanese, meaning having one great-great-grandparent of Japanese ancestry qualified the individual as being a potentially criminal ethnic minority. Elderly Japanese people as well as little children and the mentally disabled were deemed too dangerous to be allowed to live freely in American society. Ethnic Korean and Taiwanese people were also imprisoned because the Japanese had once conquered and colonized those respective nations, thereby making them potentially suspicious communities.

Obviously, life in the internment camps was not easy. Most were located in high desert regions and the weather was hot and extreme in all of them. Surrounded by barbed wire fencing and monitored by guards armed with rifles, the barracks style houses were cramped and uncomfortable. Hastily constructed, they were little more than mosquito-infested wood boxes with tarpaper roofs. Families were kept together but 25 people were forced to sleep in houses that were made to hold only four. The beds were small cots and having so many people crowded together in small confined spaces led to outbreaks of illnesses and disease. Physically-fit adults were put to work doing manual labor to maintain the camps; they were paid 49 cents a day so that they could buy food from their captors to feed their hungry, malnourished families. Children and teenagers were forced to go to school where conventional curriculum was not taught; instead they were force-fed a steady stream of pro-American propaganda making the schools look uncomfortably like the communist re-education camps that were later to be set up in China and Vietnam. In the evening, men and women were forced to play baseball in an attempt to use the sport to make them more “American”.

Some of the Japanese prisoners were given chances to prove their loyalty to their country, even though none of them had ever been anything but loyal. Questionnaires were distributed asking the people their opinion about how much they loved their country. Being worded in complicated and confusing ways, some people, especially those who were only moderately fluent in English, had trouble answering the questions correctly. Some, infuriated over their unnecessary imprisonment, sarcastically answered that they felt no admiration for the USA. Those who gave the wrong answers were shipped off to the high-risk concentration camp and eventually deported back to Japan. Many of them were old or uneducated people who did not understand what they were doing. But some young people who proved themselves to be intelligent were sent to progressive colleges on the east coast. Others were allowed to enlist in the army; these Japanese soldiers formed the 442nd Regimental Combat Team and went on to become some of the most decorated fighters for America in World War II since they assisted in the liberation of Dachau and were involved in a major operation to disrupt trains taking Jews to concentration camps in southern Germany.

Very few prisoners tried to escape. The ones who did were either shot and killed or sent to the maximum security camp in Nevada.

In 1944, World War II began to wind down. The Japanese-American prison camps were starting to closed. Most inmates were given $25 and a train ticket to return to their former homes. Most of them found their houses and possessions to be stolen or vandalized. Some of their property was burned or destroyed. Many American citizens treated them with hostility and contempt. A group of white supremacists petitioned the government to permanently remove all people of Asian descent from California. Otherwise Americans mostly remained silent on the issue for many years.

Then during the 1960s, young Japanese-American college students, inspired by the Civil Rights Movement, began agitating for reparations. Eventually both Presidents Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter gave speeches condemning the internment camps. By the 1980s bills were passed through Congress with bipartisan support and the Civil Rights Act of 1988 was ratified by Ronald Reagan, giving $20,000 in reparation money to the survivors of the concentration camps. The disbursement of the money was overseen by both George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton during their terms of office. Bush gave a speech proclaiming that the forced imprisonment of innocent ethnic minorities will never be allowed to happen again. As we pass into the 21st century, it is obvious that some Americans have refused to learned this historical lesson.

Ultimately, reparation money and the building of monuments is fine. However, one has to ask if these gestures are really enough to heal the psychological damage that has been done to American society because of sadly idiotic mistakes made in the past.

References

Kelly, Edward H. and Harbison, Winifred A., The American Constitution: Its Origins and Development. W.W. Norton & Company, 1946.

Takaki, Ronald. A Different Mirror: A History of Multicultural America, Revised Edition. Back Bay Books, 2008.

https://grimhistory.blogspot.com/

#grim history #asian american history #american history #japanese american history #world war II #wwII

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usuk-hell · 5 years

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Happiest Place On Earth (2p1p USUK)

simple, fluffy mint chocolate usuk one-shot requested by the lovely @mapleburger! i hope u enjoy <3 rated T.

A feeling of loneliness often struck Arthur in the busiest of places. Though he would never admit it out loud, he found himself somber at the fact he had few friends. He tried his best to be a charming lad, but no matter how hard, he always had an aura about him that made him come across as unapproachable and cold. He had a handful of close friends back in London, but ever since crossing the pond with the romantic idea of starting over in a new place, their contact had slowly fizzled out over the years. Work was boring and draining, he spent most of his day hunched over a desk editing other people’s shitty writing, and his sex life was… dry. Los Angeles was draining the life out of Arthur it felt like, and he ironically found himself missing the fog thick streets he had abandoned.

After one particularly lonely Saturday morning where he had found himself staring at his ceiling fan for hours into the late noon, he decided he needed to do something about this predicament. It took a few google searches before he finally decided on a destination, and before Arthur knew it he found himself at the entrance to Disneyland. Alone. Because where else would a lonely middle-age Englishman find himself with nowhere else to go on a Saturday? The happiest place on earth. Arthur had hoped some of that so called happiness would be shared with him if he spent a few hours there, but so far he had spent most of his time wandering aimlessly, surrounded by young couples and families, all with bright smiling faces. And much to his dismay, the overwhelming feeling that he was alone in this world, and would always be alone, solidified itself in the pit of his stomach in a way that had him weaving through the crowds in search of a smoking zone.

Arthur eventually found one tucked to the side of New Orleans Square, and spared no time in tearing open a new pack and greedily stuffing one of the tobacco filled rolls between his lips. His hands fumbled in search of his lighter, and after a moment of looking his heart sank with the realization he had left it on the dashboard of his car. His skin itched at the thought of not getting his nicotine fix when a voice to his right startled him from his habit filled thoughts.

“Need a light?”

The decal of a half naked woman was the first thing Arthur saw as the flame flicked to life in front of him. Tattooed fingers held the lighter to Arthur, and his gaze trailed up to meet a pair of dark eyes peaking through a few disheveled locks. A large grin revealed a sharp jawline that Arthur’s gaze did not overlook, and he found himself subconsciously stiffening in place.

“Thank you.” He nodded politely towards the man, leaning forward and allowing the fag still dangling from his lips to catch fire. Inhaling deeply, Arthur accepted the thick smoke into his lungs graciously and instantly felt his body grow lax at the familiar sensation.

“You know that shit is bad for you.” Arthur was surprised the man was still there, and he merely shrugged in response. However, the other seemed unbothered and continued his one-sided conversation. “I actually used to smoke a lot of those things myself. Drove my ma crazy. I’d come home from school smelling like an ashtray, used to tell me they were gonna drill a hole in my throat when I got older.”

“My mum used to tell me the same thing.” Arthur snorted, eyeing the embers as they fell from his hand. “Obviously, I don’t listen very well.”

“Me neither! Took me a few years after I graduated to quit.” As he spoke, the tall man reached into his jeans and pulled out a thin, black pen. He put the piece to his lips and took a long drag, and Arthur watched incredulously as he exhaled the earthy smelling contents. He didn’t notice the Brit’s stare immediately but when he did, he tipped his head to the side almost like a dog would and held the object to him. “Wanna hit?” And again with that shit-eating grin.

“What ever happened to that shit killing you?” Arthur asked, bemused.

Allen released a harsh, barking laugh so loud Arthur stepped back slightly from the force of it. “This? Nah! It won’t kill ya, but it might make you feel a little…. psychedelic.” He waggled his eyebrows.

Arthur stared back blankly. “You brought marijuana into Disneyland?”

Allen’s eyes widened in mock horror as he pressed a finger to his lips and shushed the Englishman sarcastically. Arthur couldn’t help but chuckle a bit. Not aloud, but his shoulders bounced with good nature, and the reaction had the American nearly beaming.

“I’m Allen, by the way. And what can I call a handsome face like yourself?”

Arthur jolted in place. “What? I mean, Arthur. Thanks. Bloody good to meet you.” Had he heard that right?

“Arthur… what ‘British’ name.”

“Not when you say it like that.”

Allen raised an eyebrow in confusion. “Huh?”

“Arr-thurr.” The Brit snorted, obnoxiously emphasizing his R’s and cocking a thick eyebrow right back at the man. He basked in his own wittiness until that stupid fucking smile returned to Allen’s features and caused Arthur to look away grumpily as he took another drag from his cigarette.

“Fag.”

Smoke caught at the back of Arthur’s throat and he instantly responded with a series of harsh coughs, puffing out of him in clouds like some sort of flustered chimney. “… pardon?” He asked, his voice broken and small after such an outburst.

“That’s British, right? ‘Fag’?” Allen asked, amusement twinkling in his eyes as he gestured innocently to the burning stick between Arthur’s fingers.

Arthur blinked at him in disbelief. “Oh. Yes. Bloody good. I should actually really be-“

“So, what brings you here, Art?” Allen interrupted, once again bringing the pen to his mouth. He took a long drag before parting his lips slightly, allowing the thick, white fog to be pulled upwards into his nostrils from his mouth in tendrils, disappearing before Allen released it, dissipated, into an exhale.

Arthur rolled his eyes. Show off. “Are you asking why you’re talking to an Englishman in America or why a thirty year old man is wandering around Disneyland by himself?” He muttered sardonically, though he felt his pride dampen as he said it and wondered why he had said it at all.

“Wait, you’re here alone? I thought you must’ve come with your kid or something!” Allen laughed, but Arthur visibly deflated, his cheeks red and his eyes low. The Brit felt a hand on his shoulder and he looked over to see Allen smiling. “Hey, there’s nothin’ wrong with that! I’d come here more often if I could afford it.”

Arthur stared at him curiously, eyes flicking down to his tattoo covered arms. “Really now?”

“Hell yeah!” Allen exclaimed. “Amusement parks are fun. They help get your mind off of things.” Allen brought the pen to his lips and for a moment, the two of them stood in silence. Arthur slyly peeked over at Allen to see the man staring off into New Orleans Square with a faraway look in his eyes, and for the first time in their conversation he wasn’t smiling. Despite his raw energy, in that moment, the man looked quite tired. His dark eyes were accentuated by a pair of dark circles, and he noticed that one of them might have been healing from a black eye. Arthur looked down at his hands and realized that he wasn’t the only one here with things they were running from. It made him feel less alone.

“I was bored, and desperately needed time outside of my flat. How about you?”

Allen blinked, tilting his head to one side. “Hm?”

“Why are you here?”

“Ohhh. I came with my bro and neice. It’s been awhile since I’ve been here, so I figured why the hell not? And to be honest, I’m pretty glad I did.” He grinned over at him and Arthur snorted, though he could feel his stomach tighten and his cheeks burn.

“You blush a lot. Need a water or somethin’? It’s pretty warm out today.”

“I do not. And I am very well hydrated, thank you.”

“Really? So does your face normally get this red talkin’ to people?”

“And what exactly are you getting at here?”

“I think you like me.” The cigarette fell to the floor and Arthur blinked at Allen with wide, saucer like eyes.

“Pardon?”

“You think I’m cute.” When Arthur didn’t respond, Allen confidently kept going. “You’ve been checking me out this entire time. I’m smarter than I look.”

Arthur’s mouth hung open, empty with a retort that wasn’t there. Allen reached over and placed two fingers under Arthur’s chin, gently closing it. “It’s ok, I think you’re pretty fine yourself, toots. You looked lonely so I thought I’d come over and introduce myself.” His brown eyes bore into Arthur’s, and as the sunlight reflected against them Arthur saw hues of amber. “I’m hittin on ya, if you couldn’t tell.”

It was time for Arthur to respond. He was silent for a few more moments, biting the inside of his lip. His brain felt fuzzy. “Yes.” He shoved his hand into his pocket and quickly fumbled with his cigarettes and pulled a second one to his lips. Allen raised his eyebrows in a mixture of surprise and confusion, but almost obediently lifted his lighter to the end of Arthur’s cigarette and lit it for him once again.

“To…?”

“Yes, I think you’re cute.” Arthur rolled his eyes, blowing out a thick cloud and turning his head to avoid another comment about his tendency to flush easily. “It isn’t everyday a handsome lad walks up and starts laying it on me so thickly. I’m flattered.” Arthur reached into the inside of his jacket and pulled out a wad of sticky notes and a pen, and it was Allen’s turn to stare incredulously as he quickly jotted 10 digits onto the surface. “Here.” He mumbled, folding the note and shoving it into Allen’s large hands. “And that better be the only one you’ve gotten today.”

After another moment of stunned silence Allen threw his hands up innocently and gave Arthur the widest smile he’d seen that day. From the side of his mouth, a missing tooth peeked out slyly and Arthur wondered what exactly he’d gotten himself into.

“How does Disneyland sound for a first date?”

#I POSTED THIS ONCE YESTERDAY BUT TUMBLR KILLED THE FORMAT IDK WHAT HAPPENED #also disneyland doesn't have designated smoking zones anymore but we're just gonna ignore that fact LOL #and yes #arthur keeps a wad of sticky notes in his jacket u never know when u might need them #ALSO IM SO SORRY THIS TOOK SO LONG #mint chocolate usuk #2p1p usuk #Arthur kirkland #allen jones #aph england #2p america #hetalia #2p hetalia #mine #'

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nadziejastar · 5 years

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So how do you think Isa would act/react after being saved, if they had gone with the mind control angle instead? Because, by my understanding, it wasn't a "clean" takeover, like with Terranort, instead more of a gradual infection until there was nothing of Isa left in Saix, enough that he hadn't noticed it himself. I feel like after the fact there would have to be a lot of soul-searching to figure out where Isa had ended and Xehanort began.

That’s a very great and also very complex question. It’s going to require a pretty long response, since there really are SO many plot holes to fill in. But I feel like any explanation I give won’t make sense without knowing what exactly happened to Isa in the first place, and what the true nature of Saix is. And I can’t do these concepts justice unless I go into detail. You’re absolutely right that Saix is very different from Terranort. I have a theory as to why Saix is such a unique case and it has to do with his orange eyes.

Three elements combine to create a life: a heart, a soul, and a body. But what of the soul and body left behind when the heart is lost? When the soul leaves the body, its vessel, life gives way to death, but what about when the heart leaves? A being does not perish when its heart leaves its body. The heart alone disappears into the darkness.

But first, in order to explain what I think happened to Isa, it’s important to get down to the basics. This chart is the most analogous I could find to the metaphysics of Kingdom Hearts. A complete person consists of three aspects that combine to make the true self. These aspects are Body, Soul, and Heart. When these three aspects are united, they connect the person to the Higher Self, henceforth referred to as Spirit.

Body: Pretty straightforward. These are the 5 senses. The biological “shell” we exist in to interact with the physical world.

Soul: “Soul” and “mind” are used interchangeably in KH. It’s basically our life force, as well as the “database” of accumulated lifetime experiences. Our memories, our thoughts, etc. All information is recorded here like on a hard drive.

Heart: The seat of our emotions that allow us to form interpersonal relationships. The Heart is absolutely vital because it acts as the bridge between the Spirit and the lower aspects of our being. If the Heart is compromised, it cuts someone off from their connection to their Spirit. If it breaks it also cuts them off from the Soul and Body.

Spirit: This term describes a person’s essence when they are connected with the Divine Source. This would be their true, fully conscious and aware, spiritual self. This is the complete self that is capable of making fully conscious decisions with love, meaning, and purpose.

Kingdom Hearts mythology borrows heavily from ancient shamanism. There is a term called “soul fragmentation”. Minor fragmentation can disrupt soul energy and cause someone to not feel fully alive and engaged in life, develop chronic depression, addiction, etc. However the most severe form occurs when a living being is tormented into feeling extreme pain or suffering, especially when the trauma is repeated and they are never given the ability to heal. When the person reaches their breaking point and they cannot take the pain anymore, they will disassociate from their body and reality in order to get relief, and the soul will fracture into pieces. The ego that has been hurt or traumatized literally splits off and hides itself away. The most extreme type of soul fragmentation is where the soul leaves the body entirely and is caught between realities. Not dead, but pending in the astral realms.

It’s a natural and healthy survival mechanism that protects your soul from being annihilated, and shields the individual from the pain of severe trauma. But it also hinders the being from experiencing completeness. Since soul fragmentation is a natural coping mechanism, most of the time it is not severe and the fragments return on their own once things settle down. But this is not always the case. When the trauma has been particularly severe, repetitive and accompanied with extreme feelings of vulnerability and zero safety, the fragments do not return to the body. They refuse to return for fear of repeated trauma. Fragmentation may continue even after the consciousness has transitioned from the body.

Xehanort: Your body submits, your heart succumbs—so why does your mind resist?

Unfortunately, when the soul becomes fragmented it also makes possession by a low-vibrational spirit possible at the moment of dissociation. This is because nature abhors a vacuum, and will try to fill the void with something to be complete. When someone is not self-aware, they become susceptible to dark forces that can overpower their consent. A negative entity can keep the fractured pieces trapped in time, enabling full control of the possessed person.

This was what the Lingering Sentiment (also called the Lingering Will) was. A disembodied soul fragment of Terra that had taken up refuge in his suit of armor. The residual thoughts and sentiments that Terra had at the moment of his possession. Unable to move on, it remains trapped in that moment of trauma. It has a will of its own, but it’s not a truly conscious being in the way that complete humans are.Soul fragments are similar to a ghosts or poltergeists.

What it comes down to is this: if you can control the thoughts of the mind, you can control the soul, and you will then have control of the physical body. This is what Xehanort was attempting to accomplish with his mind control experiments. He wanted to fracture a person’s soul in order to make them a vessel. Fracturing the heart doesn’t work, because that results in the total breakdown of everything, including the body, which is the only thing Xehanort actually wants.

Mickey: You want him to dive back into Sora’s sleep? But Master, Sora’s heart is down in the darkest abyss. If Riku’s not careful, he might just get trapped down there with him. No… I’ll go instead.

The more fragmented the being, the more disconnected and less evolved the consciousness gradually becomes. If it is not healed and remains that way for long enough, it enters a danger zone; it continually sinks into the lowest dimensions of reality, where the personal shadow of the individual’s psyche and the collective unconscious start to flow together and merge.

Where this merge with the collective unconscious occurs, dark shadow beings start to emerge and multiply. In other words, the soul enters the the demonic realm, or the Underworld. This is no doubt what inspired the idea of the beach in the Realm of Darkness and even the Pureblood Heartless. The beach represents the meeting point between individual’s shadow self and the shadows of the collective unconscious; the darkness inherent in all people.

Yen Sid: The “Sleeping Keyholes,” are harder to reach. You’ll recall, in your first journey, that you brought many worlds back from the darkness–but some never returned completely. They still sleep, cut off from all outside channels. Not even the Heartless can enter.

If the soul is still not healed, it goes even deeper than the Underworld. In KH terms, that would be the Realm of Sleep. It becomes totally unaware of what is happening in the “surface” world as it escapes to a place of total darkness and safety with no conscious awareness whatsoever, just like going to sleep. In physical reality, it results in a sleepwalking, amnesiac or trance-like state of consciousness.

So if they stuck with the mind control plot, how would that affect Isa’s true consciousness? Basically, he would be in the same boat Sora would have been in if Riku didn’t dive into his heart to save him. Same with Terra if Aqua didn’t jump in after him. He’d sink down into the deepest, darkest abyss. Would Isa be conscious of what’s going on with his possessed self? Well, the spirit is only consciously aware of the contents of the soul when it is actually connected to the soul. When the spirit is disconnected from the soul, it becomes unconscious of the soul’s “database” of accumulated experiences. So, I would say no. He’d have no actual awareness of what his Nobody is doing.

But what about Saix then? What would that make him? And what about Isa’s heart? Well, basically I believe “Subject X” was nothing but a badly plagiarized version of Isa’s original backstory. So here’s what I’ll do: I’m going to use Nomura’s interviews and the Secret Reports to tell a story, and I’m going to edit the Reports from KH3 to more accurately reflect what I think was originally going to happen. This is my speculation on what the story would have been like if BBV2 never got cancelled.

Nomura: Master Xehanort commandeered Terra’s body, and became Ansem the Wise’s apprentice. According to Secret Ansem Report 1 From KHII, the young man asked to become a test subject for Ansem’s research so he could get his memories back. After that they began the study of darkness, but did he really lose his memories? And are those memories Terra’s or Master Xehanort’s?

At what point were Ansem and Xemnas separated from Xehanort? When did they lose their memories?Nomura: Sometime between Birth by Sleep and Kingdom Hearts I. It happened during the events in the Ansem Reports from Kingdom Hearts I. Was it really memory loss? In the Birth by Sleep Secret Movie, Braig doubted it

When Terranort first becomes an apprentice, he seems really uncomfortable around Braig, suggesting that Terra is actually the one in control at first. Nomura also suggests as much. He probably does have amnesia, and it’s just his subconscious reacting to Braig. But Terra’s presence definitely seems to be the dominant one, at least at first. This is no doubt thanks to Aqua saving him from the abyss and Eraqus’ influence on his heart.

Secret Ansem’s Report 1

If I explore Xehanort’s heart by means of psychological tests, I may be able to awaken the past locked away within. My apprentice Even, too, has shown great interest in Xehanort’s memories. But is he really the right subject? Xehanort does indeed exhibit extraordinary talents…Too extraordinary…Perhaps they are even superhuman.

Even is very intuitive. He could sense that Ventus had no darkness in him at a glance. I think he could also sense darkness, and he took a special interest in Terranort because of this. I don’t think he trusted him. Anyway, Ansem conducts the initial experiment and successfully restores some of Terranort’s memory. Memories of Terra’s old life start coming back, but not fully. He’s desperate to know who he really is, so Ansem agrees to continue the experiments.

Secret Ansem’s Report 2

I have made a grave mistake. My study of the “darkness of the heart” began with a simple psychological test and quickly snowballed. Spurred on by my youngest apprentice, Ienzo, I constructed a massive laboratory in the basement of my castle. Unbeknownst to me, my six apprentices then began collecting a large number of subjects on which to perform dangerous experiments into the “darkness of the heart.”

From Ansem’s point of view, the experiments seemed to be having favorable results, and he even decides to build a huge laboratory in the castle’s basement. Ienzo spurred this on, but since Ienzo was just a child, he was no doubt told to suggest this idea to Ansem. Probably by Braig.

Ansem’s Report 7

I am studying material from the meteors that rained down that fateful night. What a find! The material is foreign to our world. It is elastic to the touch, and when two pieces are combined, they bond easily. None of the records even mention such a substance.

Was it introduced to this world when I opened the door? I wonder how many other such materials drift through the atmosphere of this tiny world… I wish I could soar off and find out! Could there be uncharted worlds up there? My curiosity never ceases to grow. But I should stop speaking of such unrealistic dreams. For now, there is no way to venture outside this world. My people and I are all but prisoners of this tiny place.

After repeated experiments, Ansem probes the depths of Terranort’s heart. But in addition to Terra’s memories, the experiments also restore his memories as Xehanort. Terranort remembers being a Keyblade wielder and his plan to create the X-blade. He regains his ability to use Master Xehanort’s Keyblade and opens Radiant Garden’s Keyhole.

Nomura: While studying darkness the young Xehanort opened the door to the heart of Radiant Garden. This would have been possible if he had a Keyblade, but according to the Ansem Reports 4-8 in KH, he did not yet know about the Keyblade at the time.

Since Xehanort is possessing Terra, he also regains a lot of Terra’s fragmented memories along with his own, and they become intertwined. This creates a very mixed-up sense of identity, similar to someone with multiple personality disorder. They have “alters” that are totally compartmentalized, completely unaware of the other’s existence. Terranort constantly flip-flops between alters; sometimes, he can use the Keyblade, and other times he doesn’t even know it exists. The title for Birth By Sleep Volume 2 was supposed to be 0.5 A Fragmentary Passage. It seemed like it would totally revolve around this concept of soul fragmentation, and its style of story-telling would reflect that. It was supposed to be “bits and pieces of something whole” and tell the untold stories of many characters across the entire timeline. It’s probably why the producer went “…what?” when Nomura told him about the idea.

Although Terranort flip-flops between alters, Braig can see that the memory experiments worked, and the Xehanort alter remembers their original agreement. So, they decide now is the time to create vessels. Braig acts as Xehanort’s handler during the times he goes back to his Terra alter and they begin the experiments.

Ansem’s Report 2

It is my duty to expose what this darkness really is. I shall conduct the following experiments:

Extract the darkness from a person’s heart.

Cultivate darkness in a pure heart.

Both suppress and amplify the darkness within.

The experiments caused the test subject’s heart to collapse, including those of the most stalwart. How fragile our hearts are! My treatment produced no signs of recovery. I confined those who had completely lost their hearts beneath the castle.

But the experiments are not working. All the subjects experience the collapse of their hearts, making them useless as vessels.

Ansem’s Report 11

If the princesses and the Keyblade are connected, they should resonate.I’ve chosen a girl. I don’t know if she holds the princesses’ powers, but I will find out. She may lead me to the key bearer.

Sometime before Mickey’s visit from his flashback in KH2, Kairi is abducted by the apprentices and is experimented on.

Memoirs

On the day we finally secured our entry, we descended the long spiral stair at the heart of the castle to find a dark space below it, lined with cages. There wasn’t light enough to see if they were inhabited, and we were in no position to call out to any occupants within. Yet we could feel it. A definite presence, there in the black. Terror washed over us, and we immediately regretted coming. But just as we turned to flee, we heard the faintest of voices. The urge to run was nigh overpowering, but someone or something beckoned us on. There, framed by a tenuous sliver of light, we found her. It was too dim to make out her features. We spoke to her in hushed whispers. Who was she? Why was she imprisoned here? She had no answers for us. Had no memories at all. She was an enigma, but I knew I wanted to help her. Lea was determined to free her, too. We slipped deeper into the castle that day knowing only that we wanted, with all our hearts, to save her.

Isa and Lea also come to the castle for their own personal reason. But at some point they become aware of Kairi’s situation and try to help her. I think the “stray puppy” scene was actually foreshadowing. I think Kairi was going to be another “stray puppy” that Lea would want to help.

Since Isa is basically a male tsundere, he may scold Lea for it, but he likes puppies just as much as Lea does. Even the manga jokingly references Isa’s love of dogs. One of Isa’s weapons in 358/2 Days is named after a lunar goddess who is often depicted with a hunting dog as a companion and she was considered the patron and protector of young girl children. So given their personalities, they both attempt a rescue of Kairi. They are unsuccessful and the apprentices catch them.

Xemnas: “As your flesh bears the sigil, so your name shall be known as that…of a recusant.”

Isa, as a Moon personality archetype, has a large capacity for darkness. Even can sense this. So Braig and Terranort take a particular interest in him and dub him “Subject X” for being the most promising prospective vessel for the X-blade. He becomes Xehanort’s favorite lab rat. They do horrible things to him, including carving the Recusant’s Sigil onto his flesh.

Lea doesn’t go through anything nearly as horrific, because as a Sun personality archetype, his potential for darkness is not as great as Isa’s. Plus, there’s a better use for him. He is a good source of trauma for Isa. If the apprentices threaten to torture Lea instead, they can greatly increase Isa’s mental anguish and also get him to submit more easily. He’ll let himself get tortured to protect Lea. Isa’s Mystery Gear weapon (the one that’s supposed to bring out the wielder’s true personality) is actually a reference to a myth about a rabbit who is so selfless, he offers himself as food to a hungry beggar because he has no other food. So I think this is a fitting story line for his personality. Isa endures as much as he can possibly handle until he reaches his limit. He dissociates, his soul fragments…but his heart doesn’t break. Everyone realizes what a special subject he really is.

Isa is now an amnesiac in a trance-like state, leaving his body wide open for possession. Terranort successfully implants a piece of his heart into him. Isa gets Xehanort’d, and gets gold eyes and pointy ears. Weirdly, his BbS concept art shows a young Isa with gold eyes, along with his normal version with green eyes. Was there going to be a scene in BBS showing him get Xehanort’d? Was this reference art for BbS Volume 2? Who knows. But from here, I will refer to him as “Isanort”.

Secret Ansem’s Report 2

As soon as I found out, I called my apprentices together and ordered them not only to cease their studies, but to destroy the results of their research thus far. What on earth was happening within the hearts of my six beloved apprentices? While pursuing the mystery of the darkness of the heart, could they themselves have strayed into its depths? Yet I remain the most foolish of all, for having begun these experiments. We are not meant to interfere in the depths of another’s heart, no matter what our reasons for doing so…And my error plunged me into despair.

Experiments of the Heart – Notes on Subject X, Excerpt 2

Subject’s memories have not returned, and our conversations remain less than lucid. My pilot studies used a handful of subjects, but none possessed the fortitude to endure them. Ultimately, all suffered the collapse of their hearts. I knew it would be a heavy blow to lose a subject as unique as him. Upon discovering the tests I’ve been conducting, my master demanded that I cease my work immediately and destroy what research I have compiled. Worse still, he ordered the release of my remaining subjects. He is gone. Where is Subject X now? Has “wise” Master Ansem hidden him away? Whatever the case, I will not be deterred. I will get back the first successful subject of my grand experiment. —Xehanort

Anyway, Ansem the Wise discovers what Terranort and the other apprentices have been doing and he is horrified. He demands they destroy their research and release all the subjects immediately. He falls into despair for having begun these experiments in the first place and blames himself. Mickey arrives and consoles him. From the novels, we know that the apprentices kept Kairi sleeping in a pod even after Ansem ordered the release of the subjects; I would wager they kept Lea as well. He’s Subject X’s friend. But Ansem the Wise does get a hold of Isanort and takes him away. Terranort wants him back, though.

Experiments of the Heart – Notes on Subject X, Excerpt 1

Subject was found in the castle basement shortly after dawn. Male, approximately fifteen years old. After seven days’ observation, he spoke his first words, but could not provide a name. Subject exhibits signs of profound amnesia and displays concern for where his friend is. His words suggest that he arrived with another, though he cannot recall the name of his erstwhile companion. All efforts to explore those memories have met with a rejection response.

After my initial experiments on my apprentice, I ceased my research into the heart, my hand stayed by some profound fear I could not fathom. My fears proved to be well-founded. And now this subject is just like my apprentice was when I first discovered him: devoid of memories. The fault is mine for having begun this research. And yet this subject is someone who could actually benefit from my original work. My apprentice, Xehanort, had begun to reclaim his lost past thanks to these very experiments: by traversing the heart, we have a direct path into memory. If my research can help him regain his memory, perhaps I can atone for the mistakes I have made. Who is he? This is a question I cannot ignore. I must ascertain his identity.—Ansem

It’s funny to me because I honestly don’t even have to change the Reports that much to make them fit Isa’s situation perfectly. It’s really too easy. Like, they’re just too good of a fit to be a coincidence. Anyway, Ansem takes Isanort away and tries to figure out who he is. Because Lea is gone, no one can identify him and Ansem has no idea what to do with a mysterious teenager with profound amnesia. He feels it is his duty to help him regain his memories, and reluctantly performs experiments on his heart.

Recollections

Am I alive? I awoke in a cell, alone until the researcher came and asked me countless questions to uncover my identity. I had no answer to offer him. A friend…that is the sum total of my memory. I could not even recall my name. I was simply called “X” there. I found no solace during the time I spent in that dark and lonely cell. One day, a man came to take me from the prison. I could not see him for the darkness, save that he wore an eyepatch. Even now, I feel no closer to understanding who I am. —Unknown

This is how Isanort would be after Ansem takes him into his custody and he helps him become coherent enough to talk. He has Xehanort’s heart fragment in him, and his soul was fractured, so his memory is a total mess. A person’s heart getting swallowed by Xehanort’s is a gradual process, so he’s still not fully Xehanort yet. His heart still remembers certain things. He remembers a friend, that he was called “X”, and that a man with an eyepatch took him from the prison cell to somewhere else (probably when he was going to be tortured). And his memory cuts off there. It’s too traumatic; these memories stay blocked out and relegated to his subconscious.

“The mind forgets, but the heart will always remember. And what is the heart’s memory but love itself?” ― Twan Eng Tan, The Gift of Rain

During the experiments, Ansem connects with the depths of Isanort’s heart, bringing back his lost past. Since Terra and Isa were both fragmented previously, a piece of Ansem gets left behind inside of their hearts, affecting their eye color. This is how Saix gets orange eyes, not the gold ones the other vessels have. Since the heart is the bridge, Ansem can restore the “databank” of information, even though the real Isa is still lost in the Realm of Sleep. Even when Isa’s heart gets completely consumed, the soul data will remain. So this alter ego of Xehanort will now gain access to the collective sum of Isa’s memories, thoughts, experiences and emotions. He will believe he is Isa—the real Isa. He has no other memories to give him any other identity. But of course, he’s really not.

Sometime later, Isanort is stolen back from Ansem the Wise, who gets banished to the Realm of Darkness. But then something goes wrong. Terranort is struggling badly with his split personality, as well as Ansem the Wise’s influence on his heart. He starts thinking he’s actually Ansem and he turns on everyone, steals their hearts, then becomes a Heartless himself. He becomes Ansem Seeker of Darkness, who also has orange eyes. Everyone becomes a Nobody at this point. Saix is created as the Nobody of Isanort, similar to Xemnas being the Nobody of Terranort. He’s STILL another self of Xehanort. But thanks to Ansem the Wise’s experiment, Saix retains all of Isa’s memories. So he doesn’t seem any different from the other Nobodies who never lost their memory.

Lea has no reason to think his friend’s situation is any different from his. They were both wearing black cloaks then they became Nobodies. They were both experimented on and are both victims, though Axel wasn’t hurt as badly. He’s still mostly the same person afterwards. Nobodies lose their heart, but what makes them unique is that their soul and body remain due to their strong will. He has no clue what really happened to his friend, though. And despite being another Xehanort, Saix actually thinks he’s Isa and he genuinely wants to overthrow Xemnas with Lea. They make these plans together and work cooperatively. Saix doesn’t trust Xemnas and wants to figure out his secrets. And Lea feels the same, plus he wants to support his friend. Xemnas really likes Saix for some reason, so they work together to get Saix to the top of the hierarchy.

Nomura: It is a fact that Saix and Axel probably wanted to take over the Organization, however they didn’t understand what they were going to do or how to do it. As for Xemnas, he knew about this betrayal, but never brought it up. Generally, one’s conduct was for the sake of their purpose.

Xemnas knows ALL about their plans to overthrow the Organization, but he doesn’t try to get rid of them like he did with Marluxia or Larxene. Why? Nomura says that they were serving their purpose. With Lea, it’s probably because he’s very useful. He follows orders, eliminates traitors and since Xemnas knows where his loyalty stands, he can predict his behavior.

Xemnas: But weakness has the power to awaken that which is dormant. It is clear that through his actions, however foolish they may have been, Axel has touched Sora’s heart. Perhaps HE will soon awaken.

Axel was very useful to Xemnas in 358/2 Days. Riku wound up in Castle Oblivion because he “resonated” with Sora. And Axel grew closer and closer to Roxas during Days. I think that’s why they kept sending him back to Castle Oblivion. Xemnas thought that Axel might “resonate” with Ventus, allowing him to find the Chamber of Waking. It didn’t work, though, because Ventus’ heart was said to be inside of Roxas.

I just did what I thought was the best thing at the time. For Roxas, for Xion, for the Organization—and for Isa. But most of all for me.

This is from the novel. It’s Axel’s inner monologue after Roxas gets angry at him for attacking Xion. He’s STILL loyal to his friend, even though his friend is no longer even there anymore. I think this is why Axel was never considered a traitor. He’s technically still loyal to Xehanort, even if he doesn’t realize it.

Xemnas: The poor fool. How long will he keep chasing the illusion of friendship, when he himself lacks emotion? Trying so hard to retrieve what he has lost, when it may never have existed in the first place. He deserves nothing more than our pity.

I think Xemnas’ quote in KH2FM+ was even more about Axel’s relationship with Saix than it was about his relationship with Roxas. Xemnas’ face was shrouded as he just stared at Saix. It seemed like the same visual cue they used when Xigbar was asking about the Chamber of Repose and the Chamber of Waking. It felt like a hint that there’s more to be revealed on this subject that is still shrouded in mystery. Axel’s friendship with Saix never existed in the first place. It was all an illusion. Xemnas knew. It really shows how he was able to use Axel’s desire for friendship to manipulate him.

Poppet…? Apparently he meant Xion. But what resemblance was he referring to? Xion was just as much a puppet as ever. Saix had no time for these deliberately oblique remarks from Xigbar.

“Nonsense. I see no problem whatsoever.”

Xigbar only laughed louder. “Pa-ha-ha!” No, apparently you don’t!”

“Something you find amusing?”

“Oh the things you hear from a guy with no heart,” Xigbar said through his hilarity.

As for Saix, Xemnas was probably just amused because he is not actually a threat to him. They’re the same person, even if Saix is none the wiser. This conversation is from the novel, but it also happens in the game, as well as the movie. Saix clearly has no idea he has been Xehanort’d. Braig does know, and he finds it hilarious.

“Don’t let us down now, kiddo. Shouldn’t be too much trouble without a heart,” Xigbar told Saix.

Then there’s this scene later on, also from the novel. It’s when Xemnas decides to eliminate either Roxas or Xion, and orders the memory devices to be placed. Xigbar calls Saix “kiddo”. I think Braig played a huge role in the human experiments and Isa’s condition. Seeing Saix act so clueless made him remember experimenting on teenage Isa and he nostalgically calls him “kiddo”.

“I’ll bring him back to our side. Let me—”

“That’s enough.” Saix turned his head, giving Axel a sidelong look over his shoulder. “Traitor.”

Axel scowled darkly.

“I’m going. You know, don’t you, that you won’t stop me except by force? And even if you tried, you would fail.” Saix went on his way. Memories informed him that he hated this kind of thing.

There are other scenes from the novels that are phrased in a manner that made me feel Saix is simply Xehanort who has Isa’s memories. Right after Roxas leaves the Organization, it talks about how his “memories informed him” that having conflict with Axel and fighting was something he hated. It’s just phrased in a way that makes his memories sound so…foreign to him. Like they’re so at odds with his current personality that even he doesn’t understand them.

Saix blocked the sweep of the Keyblade. It brought back those long-ago days when there had been some pleasure in fighting. The Claymore slammed into Roxas…And he recalled things from long, long ago.

This is while he fights Roxas. What exactly is he remembering? It sounds like he’s remembering Isa’s past. What pleasure did Isa get while fighting? That’s definitely not something we ever got to learn in KH3.

So why can’t Saix just regrow a heart like everyone else? Nature dislikes a void and seeks to fill it as soon as possible. Well, I think Saix does have a Heart…sort of. He shares a heart with Xemnas and Xehanort. The jokes Xigbar makes about him having no heart are a reference to Isa’s heart.

This is a scene from the KH2 novel that isn’t in the game. It happens after Kairi is kidnapped by Axel, and Saix faces off with Riku in Twilight Town. Namine is with him.

“You have no part in this!” Saix slapped her across the face, hard enough to throw her to the ground.

“I feel bad for you, too,” she told him.

“What are you talking about?” Saix towered over Namine.

“You haven’t even noticed yet…that you have a heart.”

Several Nobodies emerged from a rift out of the corridors.

“A heart? I have a heart? No one wants your nonsense!”

Saix raised his sword over Namine—but Riku was there with Soul Eater to intercept the blow.

“Hmph. I don’t have time for these games.” Darkness welled up from a rift behind Saix. “Run along and help your dear hero.”

With that, he disappeared.

“Are you all right?” Riku helped Namine to her feet.

“Now I understand…,” she murmured.

“Namine…? You understand what?”

She was silent for a moment and quietly shook her head as she stood. “It’s nothing. We have to find Kairi.”

Namine realized something important about Saix, but she had no time tell Riku about it. I think she realized at that moment that Saix’s true heart is actually captured by Xehanort. So, where exactly is Isa’s heart, then?

And he had some kind of power—something that gave her that weird feeling when she fought him. Like a Saix aura. Who was he?

That’s what Xion says in the novel after she fights Riku. She says he gives off a “Saix aura”. Interesting choice of words. We know that Riku has Xehanort’s Heartless living inside of him, which is the cause of his dark aura. Why does Saix give off the same aura unless he’s different from the rest of the Organization in some way? In Days, there are a couple of optional boss fights that really stand out. Anti-Riku and Anti-Saix. The only Anti-form boss fights in the game.

In “KHI” when Sora stabs the “Keyblade of people’s hearts” into himself to release his heart and Kairi’s, Sora’s Heartless and Nobody were born. When Master Xehanort and Terra:Xehanort stab themselves with the Keyblade, were his and Terra’s Nobodies not created?

Nomura: That is not yet clear. However I will say that the fixed sentiment that remained just after Master Xehanort stabbed himself with the Keyblade was not a Heartless.

If Isa’s heart has been swallowed by Xehanort’s heart, then he should be in a similar state to Terra, who became Xehanort’s Guardian. It mostly does his bidding, but it is capable of recognizing certain people that it had a strong emotional connection to. It clearly remembered Riku in DDD, and he recognized it as well. And it refuses to attack Aqua and Ven in KH3. Nomura said that it is not a Heartless.

What happens to the hearts of those who have had Master Xehanort’s heart planted within them?Nomura: They’ll gradually be swallowed by it. As for Master Xehanort, he plans to control them completely. The planted parts of the heart are captured rather than disappear.

It’s Terra’s captured heart that’s being controlled by Xehanort. That’s what I think Saix’s Berserk state is. That’s what I think happened to Isa’s heart. The Berserk state is his repressed shadow self.

Second in command who longs for the heart he does not have. Only the moon breaks his icy calm.

Soul fragmentation plays a huge role in creating the shadow self. This is a part of the subconscious that is composed of repressed feelings, instincts, impulses, weaknesses, desires, and fears. The heart remembers even when the mind forgets. The Berserk state contains all of his rage and pain from the repressed memories of being experimented on and tortured. So it goes insane during the full moon, which brings the repressed memories of the subconscious to the surface. Because of this pure rage, it’s a very effective weapon.

Saïx: Do you know what happens to those who lose their true purpose? Inevitably, they destroy themselves.

The Berserk form is used when Saix fights Lea at the Keyblade Graveyard. I noticed during the final battle that Lea doesn’t try too hard to fight Saix. He pleads with Isa to stop attacking and looks directly into his eyes. Berserk Saix raises his Claymore, but he stops and doesn’t attack Lea. Then Xemnas shows up. Of course, canon!Saix was fully in control of himself and was just pretending to be loyal to Xemnas (which makes no sense).

I think originally, that scene would have showed that Isa’s heart still remembered Lea even when his mind didn’t, and he didn’t want to hurt his best friend. Just like The Guardian wouldn’t attack Aqua and Ven. He promised his friends that he would set things right. Terra remembered his true purpose. Same with Saix. His heart would finally remember that friend whose name he couldn’t remember. So Xemnas has to step in and take over the fight.

Young Xehanort: It’s for traversing hearts to reach worlds. Not for traversing worlds to reach hearts.

Lastly, there’s the issue of how to heal Isa and what his personality would be like after getting saved. There is a concept called “soul retrieval”. Soul retrieval is an ancient practice that shamans use in order to bring an individual who is suffering from soul fragmentation back to wholeness. The shamanic approach to healing this condition is to enter an altered state of consciousness and journey into the inner spirit world, retrieve the lost parts of the soul, and reintegrate them into the psyche of the afflicted person. This is where the whole concept of “birth by sleep” and “the power of waking” comes from.

The soul cannot return, in whole or part, if there is anything occupying that space. So it is not just about calling the soul back in, but also removing from the energy field all that is blocking the return of the soul parts. The inner spirit realms are often inaccessible and are guarded by heavy defenses that make it difficult or impossible for the fragmented person to go through on their own, without the guidance of a shaman.

Generally, it is not recommended for anyone other than experienced shamans to attempt a soul retrieval. It can be very dangerous even to experienced shamans. Only one who has gone through a shamanic death initiation can go to these realms without risking injury or even physical death. There are some scary parts of someone’s subconscious and the astral realm in general; parts that could be threatening, angry, violent, self-destructive, primal, and so forth. It’s probably why it’s considered something that only a Keyblade Master can do.

Mickey: There’s something real strong that binds us to each other. Even in the darkness, you can reach him. All you gotta do is follow that connection!

Soul fragments generally hold a lot of psychic pain and trauma. Realigning them is not an easy endeavor and requires assistance from those who are balanced and connected with the higher realms of light. Fragmented soul pieces may appear as shadow selves as well. When Riku dives into Sora’s heart, he sees anti-Soras as well as normal Soras.

In these soul retrieval journeys, harsh energies manifest in the form of archetypal images of monsters, demons and other dangerous beasts. These are the guardians of the soul, or in psychology they are known as defense mechanisms of the psyche. The shaman must overcome these in order to persuade the soul fragments to come back.

Once the lost fragments are located, the shaman communicates with them, in order to ascertain how or why it left. They will acknowledge the former pain and gently negotiate the soul’s return to the body. Each part is gathered and brought back through the “veil” between the worlds and gently reconnected into the person, by blowing into their heart.

The soul cannot be forced back, though. It has to want to come back. The shaman can only persuade it. The soul pieces must process the original trauma that caused the splitting and find a way to overcome it. I think this is why the theme song for KH3 is “Face My Fears”. It’s all about confronting the darkness within and emerging stronger and more whole than ever before.

Soul retrieval brings back one’s consciousness, personal essence, life force and vitality. It is a major action that changes a person’s life. A soul retrieval is one of the most powerful forms of healing a person can experience. Upon the return of lost soul parts, people feel a sense of well being and wholeness, childlike joy, exuberance and vitality. They experience a dramatic shift in consciousness, a sense of personal power, and a new level of spirit to heart connection. Not only do I think Isa would be the same person he was before he fragmented and not influenced by Xehanort…I think he’d be more spiritually healthy than ever.

But someone would need to perform this soul retrieval on Isa. You need to be able to ease the person’s pain to convince them to come back to reality. For such severe fracturing, a deep heart connection with the person is mandatory. Anyone else would just wind up hurting him and fragmenting him even further. This is another danger of soul retrieval. The only one who could do it for Isa is Lea. But he’s not a Keyblade Master.

Nomura: Ansem’s research results will become the key to healing the “pain” in the future of the story.

Nomura: The data that Ansem has hidden within Sora is the secret to that revival. When Ansem had become DiZ, and studied the heart and emotions, the results he found he hid within Sora.

Nomura: You could say it’s the key. That data contains the details explaining the way to connect lost hearts.

Nomura: There are two possible meanings of the “key.” One of which is the ‘hardware’ key, which opens doors - this is what keys are in general, and the other is the ‘light’ key, that opens something else. In this case, it is currently unknown as to which type of key Sora must find. This is the main storyline of Kingdom Hearts III - Sora must go on an adventure to find the “key” without knowing what or where it is.

Although the ancients discouraged untrained people from performing soul retrieval, technically anyone can do it. Truly empathetic and unconditionally loving humans gain the spiritual power to recollect the consciousness fragments of traumatized people that are trapped in the astral realms. When someone practices unconditional love, it helps to integrate and heal the fragments, as well as neutralize any negative emotional energy in the environment. THIS is what I think Ansem’s research was originally all about. The “power of waking” exists in us all. Sora is looking for a key that is inside of him the whole time.

Go on, you just keep running. But I’ll always be there to bring you back!“

The Realm of Sleep exists in the deepest, darkest abyss. Only the farthest-reaching light could possibly penetrate darkness that deep.

#long ass post #kingdom hearts #kingdom hearts meta #kingdom hearts 3 meta #kh3 spoilers #anti-kh3 #kh saix #kh isa #kh axel #kh lea

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incessantwritersblock · 6 years

Text

Friends

Pairing: Sirius Black x Reader

Warnings: cursing, jealousy, idk man

Word Count: 2643

Summary: Friends get jealous when they’re interested in other people, right?

A/N: So, my hand is doing better, but I am still healing. Anyway, have this in the meantime. There will probably be typos since all of this is typed with my non-dominant hand, and I haven’t edited it.

“We’re friends.”

That phrase came up too often in any conversation regarding Sirius and you. Friends since third year, you were two peas in a pod. Witty banter and playful teasing were your trademark. Even James couldn’t compete with your sharp wits whenever Sirius and you were remotely near each other. Naturally, it prompted a lot of curiosity from anyone who noticed the kind of friendship you had. You constantly had to assure people that Sirius and you weren’t flirting, and it was simply your sense of humor.

Still, every time the excuse left your lips, waves of mixed emotions involuntarily stormed inside you. You knew Sirius wasn’t just your friend. You definitely wouldn’t feel comfortable talking to Remus or Lily the way you acted with Sirius. He wasn’t officially more than a friend, though, and you didn’t want him to be. That would be messy. You liked things the way they were, with Sirius as whatever he was to you, sans any label.

However, sixth year, Sirius began dating a nice girl from Ravenclaw. He never dated, so of course, your friends gossiped about it whenever they could. You couldn’t count how many times you’d been asked for your opinion on her. You didn’t care much to be honest. Sirius would go on a date or two, probably get bored, and break up with her. Things would return to normal after that.

Weeks past, but they hadn’t broken it off. You weren’t too bothered, except for the fact that the Sirius you knew and loved began to disappear. There were no more snarky remarks or teasing pet names, and the lack of his presence had you feeling a bit hurt. One night, you must’ve been scribbling angrily on your essay since James snickered under his breath. He sat across the table while he folded parchment into paper planes, smirking, “Take it easy, Y/N. What’d that parchment ever do to you.” You rolled your eyes at him and returned to your work. He obviously wasn’t satisfied, so he plucked your quill from your hand to stop your writing. “C’mon, what’s up?”

“It’s not a big deal. I’m just upset Sirius is completely ignoring me in favor of a girl who he’s gonna break up with any second now, you know? We haven’t spoken in four days. The last time we talked, he couldn’t even form one good comeback to anything I said. He just gave me this condescending, almost pitiful, look. Merlin, he’s acting like a prick.”

“Aw,” James cooed, “someone’s jealous.”

“Hell yeah, I’m jealous. He hardly knows her. I’ve been his friend for years.”

James sat back in his seat with a sigh. “Well, if it helps,” he confessed, “I don’t think she’s right for him either… I really don’t know why he’s with her.”

A beat of silence settled over you both until a hint of an idea sparked in the back of your mind. “You know,” you reluctantly mumbled your proposal, “we could always give him a taste of his own medicine.”

“You really want to get under his skin, don’t you?” Your fingers began to trace over the wooden table in front of you to spare yourself from James’s knowing gaze. James simply beamed deviously. “I’m in.”

“Really?”

“Hell yeah! Let’s get everyone together tomorrow to play a quidditch scrimmage,” He recommended. “It’ll be perfect!”

…

Captains Dorcas and James stood with their brooms in hand opposite the line of the players. James was the first to choose a player.

“Y/N, get your adorable ass over here.”

You rolled your eyes with a smile across your lips before you trudged over beside James, pausing to whisper into his ear, “Really? That’s what you choose to say?”

This prompted James to smile to himself while you returned your attention to the draft. Once you’d decided who was on which team, your teammates began discussing who’d play which position. When you usually played, James, Sirius, and you were chasers. James always distracted the other team while Sirius and you made the real moves to score. You three were a well-oiled machine, always on the same wavelength. Until now.

“Hey, Y/N,” Sirius interrupted your strategy conversation with James to ask, “would it be cool if we changed things up a bit and switched you with my princess for our third chaser today?”

Containing your shock as best as you could, you brushed it off. “Of course. I feel like playing beater anyway.” You gave James a smirk before continuing to him, “That is, unless you can’t bear to part with me.”

“I’m tempted to say I can’t, but you can do wonders with a bat, sweetheart.”

“Don’t call me sweetheart, Potter,” I smiled at him teasingly, causing Sirius to quietly huff in annoyance.

“Whatever you say, sweetheart.” At that, James strode away from the conversation, leaving you shaking your head while Sirius tried keep from glaring in James’s direction.

“Hey, Aileen,” you called to your Hufflepuff teammate after a moment, “I need a second beater. You up for it?”

“Definitely!” she agreed while tossing a bat your way. Remus decided to play keeper, and Marlene was a perfect choice for seeker.

Now, everyone was ready for the scrimmage, so the game began. James was a bit thrown off without you as a chaser, and with Sirius focused more on his girlfriend than the game, your team fell behind with the current strategy, 30 – 0.

You met James’s gaze at one point, and you could tell he was nodding at you to change the strategy. Flying past Aileen on your way to him and the other chasers, you quickly mentioned, “We’re zoning. Play offense, I’ll stay on defense.”

She took your direction by flying towards the other side of the field, to assist a bludger currently giving the other team some difficulty. The other MIA bludger wasn’t anywhere you could see, so you tried distracting the other team in the meantime.

Whizzing through the maze of players, you noticed Sirius had the quaffle. As you approached him, he passed it off to his girlfriend despite James being in a better position to score. Your friend looked at you while flying and nodded towards the missing bludger returning straight towards her. Just when you were about to fly to it, James nodded towards Sirius. You knew exactly what he was thinking, and you liked his idea more than you’d ever admit.

Your broom took off towards the bludger’s target, and just when it was about to knock her off her broom, you swung your bat as hard as you could physically manage. The bludger went barreling at another angle, but you lost your balance in the process, and fell off your broom for a second. Thankfully, you were able to remount it sideways and continue flying just in time to see Sirius duck below the speeding bludger you’d knocked his way.

With Sirius absent from his spot, James swooped in to steal the pass from his girlfriend. You could’ve sworn Remus was laughing from his position on the field when his friend took the opportunity to score ten more points. Now the score 30 – 10.

Springing into action the second you noticed, Marlene sped into a swan dive towards the snitch with Frank, the other seeker, beside her. You followed them slower while you searched for a bludger to distract Frank when Aileen spotted you. She helped you out by whacking one your way, and you barely had enough time to redirect it within an inch of your friends. Since they were getting closer to the gound, the bludger spooked Frank enough for Marlene to gain a decent lead, and she grabbed the fleck of gold within the minute.

“We win!” James shouted, prompting your entire team to erupt in cheers. Well, the entire team except for Sirius, who still seemed to be angry about the bludger you’d sent his way. However, you ignored him just like you’d planned.

All the players were making their way back to solid ground with orders from James and Dorcas. As soon as you dismounted your broom, familiar arms wrapped around your waist to pick you up. “That was an AMAZING shot! You won us the game!”

“James put me down!”

“He’s right, Y/N!” Marlene cheered, “you had my back there. Couldn’t have done it without you!”

James finally put you down, so you could reply to Marlene. “Thanks, but without your flying, the whole thing would’ve been in vain. Don’t sell yourself short because I hit a ball.”

“She’s right,” agreed Dorcas, “You guys all won fair and square.”

“Now let’s all get cleaned up. It’s almost time for dinner.” Remus was, of course, the one to suggest freshening up, so everyone slowly returned to the castle once the balls and brooms were all put away. Sirius was still pouting when you locked up the shed of equipment, and he even waved his girlfriend off when she tried to get him to talk, so she instead caught up with Marlene and Dorcas. You couldn’t suppress the spring in your step while walking to catch up.

However, you unexpectedly laughed when James snuck up behind you to whisper “winner, winner chicken dinner” in your ear and tickle your sides before he ran ahead of you to avoid your wrath. He fell in step with Sirius, but when James began to talk, Sirius wasn’t having any of it.

“Merlin, that was fun!” Sirius kept quiet, pretending that he didn’t hear James speaking. “Everything okay, mate?” Attempting to get away from him, Sirius sped up his pace, so James gradually fell behind. James brushed it off with a roll of his eyes before he slowed his pace to fall in step with you.

“The fuck was that about?” you inquired, watching Sirius stomp up into the castle.

He shrugged. “No idea. Maybe the plan is working too well.”

Even back in their dorm, Sirius entirely refused to acknowledge James, so he tried again when they were the last two in their room. “Got any plans after dinner? I had an idea I wanted to run by you to get Snivellus back for saying those nasty things about that sweet Hufflepuff muggleborn.”

Sirius simply huffed a sigh, paying no attention.

“Alright, mate.” James was fed up. “The fuck is up with you? You’ve been acting like an utter prick since the scrimmage.”

“Oh!” Sirius must’ve been on the last straw too. “I’m the prick here? Well excuse me. You should probably take a long look in the mirror before you go around saying I’m the prick.”

“What?”

“I almost got taken out today with a bludger today when Y/N hit it straight towards me! I’m your best friend, and you have the nerve to tell her, ‘good job!’ Do you want me in the hospital wing or something? I swear, I could be bleeding out right in front of you, and you wouldn’t even notice if she was anywhere near us! Besides, you were looking quite cozy with her. Here, I thought you were after Evans. But then again, I must not be a good enough friend for you to tell me that you decided to peruse Y/N instead.”

“She didn’t ‘almost take you out with a bludger’. It was headed straight for your girlfriend. She probably didn’t have anywhere else to hit it and knew you could handle it if she hit it your way. After all, the two of you are friends. You remind everyone of that on a daily basis. Y/N and I are friends too. Nothing more. Just because I hang out with her doesn’t mean I don’t like Lily. Are you the only person allowed to be Y/N’s friend now, because I think that’s her choice, not yours! Even if I was crushing on her, what does it matter? She’s single. I’m single. It’s not like it’s a crime or anything. You and your girlfriend were two single people who liked each other. I’m friends with her too despite her throwing off our entire quidditch flow. You don’t see me being a little bitch about it.”

Sirius was quick to defend himself. “That’s different.”

“How on earth is that different?”

“It just is.”

James almost laughed at his friend’s reasoning. He was about to crack. “No, it’s not.”

“Yes, it is!”

“How the fuck is it–”

“Because I’m crazy about her! Okay James!”

“Y/N?” James already knew the answer, but playing dumb was too fun.

“No, fucking Helga Hufflepuff, dickhead.”

“So why are you dating someone else?”

“Because I can either suffer in silence, which I’m sick and tired of, or I can get over this stupid crush. It’s pathetic.”

“Or,” James nearly laughed out loud, “you could grow a pair and ask her out like a normal person?”

“You’re shitting me, right?”

“No. Just tell her. Kiss her for Godric’s sake. I don’t care. Just put us all out of our misery.”

Sirius didn’t even bother to say anything more on the subject. He was already rushing out of the room in search of you. James was right. Dating other people wasn’t working for him. Plus, he wasn’t spending nearly as much time with you, and the combination of it all made him feel worse than the whole suffering in silence thing.

After he accomplished one last thing, he caught sight of you humming a tune while strolling through a corridor on your way to the Great Hall. He took your hand when he was about to pass by you, urgently stuffing the two of you into a cupboard and shutting the door. Before you had a chance to ask what was going on, he slammed his lips against yours.

You couldn’t think. The way his hands gently caressed up the sides of your waist had your eyes fluttering closed. His lips were slightly chapped from the game, but yours were in the same condition. Gently threading your hands through his dark, silky hair, you turned your head the slightest bit to deepen the kiss. Had he always smelled this nice? You had no idea, and you didn’t care. All that mattered was the goosebumps his fingers left wherever they went. Gently cupping your cheek with one hand, his touch dipped down your jaw and your neck.

Your eyes snapped open. Removing your fingers from raking across his scalp and clinging to his neck, you shoved him away. Thankfully, he caught himself from stumbling backwards while you frantically began, “What the hell is wrong with you? You have a girlfriend!”

“I’ve been crazy about you since second year. That’s what’s wrong with me.”

“Merlin, you’re a jerk… kiss me again.” Sirius stepped closer to you and gently placed a hand on your hip. He was about to lean in when you held a hand to his lips to stop him with an afterthought. “Wait, wait, wait, wait… did you break up with your girlfriend yet?”

As though she knew you were talking about her, a scream echoed through the door from what sounded like ten feet away. With a smirk on his face and a glimmer in his eye, Sirius softly chuckled, “She’s probably going to break up with me any second now because frankly, I’m immature, and she deserves better… She’s not wrong.”

“Sirius Black! I know you’re around here somewhere! Get over here this instant!” his girlfriend screamed, causing you to poke him in the chest.

He stepped back reluctantly at your touch, but his shoulders slumped in annoyance. You knew he was about to whine to let him stay, but you beat him to it. “Go talk to her,” you insisted, “I’ll be here when you’re done.”

He thought about it for a second, glancing towards the door before he raised a brow at you suggestively.

“With kisses?”

“With kisses.”

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