#“it occurs to me we aren’t exactly in a command structure anymore

[the-ghost-fangirl]

The way Chakotay calls Janeway “Kathryn” is pet name coded.

And no, I won’t be taking criticism at this time.

[thelittlesttimelord]

The Littlest Timelord: The Fall of the Eleventh Chapter 44

TITLE: The Littlest Timelord: The Fall of the Eleventh Chapter 44 PAIRING: No Pairing RATING: T CHAPTER: 44/? SUMMARY: Elise Smith is now a teenaged Timelord. In addition to losing the Ponds, the fields of Trenzalore are calling. But first they have to figure out exactly who Clara Oswald is.

[A/N - I am having so much fun with this! We find out some more about Elise’s backstory and our little Timelord is starting to bond with the Tenth Doctor.]

They were shoved into the cell.

The Doctor and Ten started fussing over Elise and she pushed them away. “I’m fine!”

“Ow,” the older Doctor muttered.

Elise looked over at him.

“I’m okay, my dear.”

“Three of us in one cell? That's going to cause some nasty anomalies if we don't get out soon,” Ten said.

The Doctor picked up a piece of metal off the floor and started scratching at a stone pillar.

“What are you doing?” Ten asked him.

“Getting us out.”

The older Doctor tried sonicing the door.

“The sonic won't work on that, it's too primitive,” Ten said.

“Doesn’t do wood,” Elise explained.

“Shall we ask for a better quality of door so we can escape?” the Doctor asked.

“Okay, so the Queen of England is now a Zygon. But never mind that. Why are we all together? Why are we all here? Well, me and Chinny, we were surprised. Elle has no idea who you are, but you came looking for us. You knew it was going to happen. Who told you?” Ten asked the older Doctor.

“Oi, Chinny?” the Doctor snapped.

“Yeah, you do have a chin.”

Elle? The Doctor had never called her that, so why was his younger incarnation calling her that?

“In theory, I can trigger an isolated sonic shift among the molecules, and the door should disintegrate,” the older Doctor said.

“We'd have to calculate the exact harmonic resonance of the entire structure down to a sub-atomic level. Even the sonic would take years,” Ten explained.

“No, no, the sonic would take centuries. Oh, we might as well get started. Help to pass the timey-wimey. Do you have to talk like children? What is it that makes you so ashamed of being a grown up? Oh, the way you both look at me. What is that? I'm trying to think of a better word than dread.”

“It must be really recent for you.”

“Recent?”

“The Time War. The last day. The day you killed them all,” the Doctor said.

“The day we killed them all,” Ten corrected him.

“Same thing.”

“I don't talk about it,” the older Doctor told them.

“You never talk about it. I have been with you for hundreds of years and you’ve never once sat me down and explained what you did that day,” Elise said.

“Because you don’t need to know,” the Doctor said.

She rounded on him. “Who says I don’t need to know! I am an adult! I’m not a child anymore! Quit treating me like one!”

Ten couldn’t help but smile. He’d missed her sassy personality (even when it was directed at him). It reminded him of Donna.

“I killed you. I killed the one thing that means more to me than anything in the universe. And then you died again while you were under my watch,” the Doctor whispered.

“You didn’t know who I was,” Elise told him.

“Doesn’t change the fact that I did it.”

Ten turned to her. “Tell me.”

“Tell you what?”

“How did you escape the Timelock?”

Elise’s hearts froze in her chest. “How do you know about that?”

“It’s kinda obvious.”

“It’s complicated.”

“Ellie,” her father said softly.

If there was a time to come clean, now was it.

Elise looked at the three Doctors and sighed. “My father was on the High Council, so I knew what they were planning. I heard all the discussions and the arguments about what to do. I listened to them read off the number of causalities. Civilians and soldiers alike. They didn’t care. All they cared about was winning the war against the Daleks. They didn’t care who lived or died. Imagine being four years old and in all that time all you knew was death, destruction, and war? My father worked long hours. When he came home, all my mother and him did was fight. So what did I do? I quit talking. Why talk when no one will listen to you anyway?”

“But how did you get out of the Timelock?” Ten asked.

Elise knew it hadn’t happened for him yet, so she had to be careful what she said. “What my father didn’t know was that I was clever.”

“You ran?”

“I wanted off Gallifrey. I didn’t care how.”

“Sound familiar?” her father asked.

“Hey, if I knew what a TARDIS was, I would’ve stolen one of them. I was just working with what I had.”

“Did you ever count?” the older Doctor asked.

“Count what?” the Doctor asked.

“How many children were on Gallifrey that day?”

“I have absolutely no idea.”

“How old are you now?”

“Ah, I don't know. I lose track. Twelve hundred and something, I think, unless I'm lying. I can't remember if I'm lying about my age, that's how old I am.”

“Four hundred years older than me, and in all that time you've never even wondered how many there were? You never once counted?”

“Tell me, what would be the point?”

“2.47 billion,” Ten answered for him.

“You did count!” the older Doctor said, surprised.

Ten turned to his older incarnation with disgust. “You forgot? Four hundred years, is that all it takes?”

“I moved on.”

“Where? Where can you be now that you can forget something like that?”

The Doctor grabbed Elise and put her between them. “Because of this girl right here. She is the reason you move on. Because she’s the one you saved. After that, nothing else will ever matter again. Except her.”

Ten looked down at her wide emerald eyes and stalked away.

“I don't know who you are, either of you. I haven't got the faintest idea,” the older Doctor said, “No.”

“No?” Ten asked.

“Just, no.”

The Doctor started laughing.

“Is something funny? Did I miss a funny thing?” Ten asked him.

“Sorry. It just occurred to me. This is what I'm like when I'm alone.”

Ten started tossing his screwdriver in the air and the older Doctor pulled his out.

“Four hundred years,” the older Doctor muttered.

“I'm sorry?” Ten asked.

“At a software level, they're all the same device, aren't they? Same software, different case.”

“Yeah.”

“So….” The Doctor said, pulling out his own.

“So, it would take centuries for the screwdriver to calculate how to disintegrate the door. Scanning the door, implanting the calculation as a permanent subroutine in the software architecture and, if you really are me, with your sandshoes and your dickie bow, and that screwdriver is still mine, that calculation is still going on.”

The Doctor and Ten checked their screwdrivers.

“Yeah, still going,” Ten said.

“Calculation complete. Hey, four hundred years in four seconds. We may have had our differences, which is frankly odd in the circumstances, but, I tell you what, boys. We are incredibly clever,” the Doctor said, smiling.

The door suddenly swung open and Clara was standing there.

Elise had never been so happy to see Clara in her life.

“How did you do that?” the Doctor asked her.

“It wasn't locked.”

“Right.”

“So they're both you, then, yeah?”

“Yes. You've met them before. Don't you remember?”

“A bit.” Clara looked at Ten. “Nice suit.”

“Thanks.”

“Hang on. Three of you in one cell, and none of you thought to try the door?”

“It should have been locked,” the older Doctor said.

“Yes. Exactly. Why wasn't it locked?” the Doctor asked.

The door swung open a bit more and Elizabeth stood there. “Because I was fascinated to see what you would do upon escaping. I understand you're rather fond of this world. It's time I think you saw what's going to happen to it.”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Elizabeth led them deeper into the Tower dungeons.

The walls were covered in red pods.

“The Zygons lost their own world. It burnt in the first days of the Time War. A new home is required.”

“So they want this one,” Clara asked.

“Not yet. It's far too primitive. Zygons are used to a certain level of comfort.”

A Zygon walked up to them and Elise jumped back into her father and Ten. They both put a comforting hand on her shoulder. She’d never seen one before, so it was quite off-putting.

“Commander, why are these creatures here?” the Zygon asked.

“Because I say they should be. It is time you too were translated. Observe this. I believe you will find it fascinating.”

The Zygon placed it’s hand on a glass cube and disappeared into the painting they saw earlier in the Under Gallery.

“That's him! That's the Zygon in the picture now,” Clara said.

“It's not a picture, it's a stasis cube. Time Lord art. Frozen instants in time, bigger on the inside, but could be deployed as…” the older Doctor started.

“Suspended animation. Oh, that's very good. The Zygons all pop inside the pictures, wait a few centuries till the planet's a bit more interesting, and then out they come,” Ten finished.

“You see, Clara, they're stored in the paintings in the Under Gallery, like cup-a-soups. Except you add time, if you can picture that. Nobody could picture that. Forget I said cup-a-soups,” the Doctor said.

“And now the world is worth conquering. So the Zygons are invading the future from the past,” Clara surmised.

“Exactly.”

“And do you know why I know that you're a fake? Because you're such a bad copy. It's not just the smell, or the unconvincing hair, or the atrocious teeth, or the eyes just a bit too close together, or the breath that could stun a horse. It's because my Elizabeth, the real Elizabeth, would never be stupid enough to reveal her own plan. Honestly, why would you do that?” Ten asked as Elizabeth narrowed her eyes at him.

“Because it's not my plan. And I am the real Elizabeth,” Elizabeth said.

“Smooth, Casanova,” Elise muttered.

“Yeah, shut-up. Okay. So, backtracking a moment just to lend context to my earlier remarks,” Ten said.

“My twin is dead in the forest. I am accustomed to taking precautions,” Elizabeth told him. She pulled out a dagger from underneath her skirts.

“That’s familiar,” Ten said, looking at Elise.

“These Zygon creatures never even considered that it was me who survived rather than their own commander. The arrogance that typifies their kind,” Elizabeth explained.

“Zygons?” Clara asked.

“Men.”

Elise snorted in amusement and then turned to her father. “You just love strong women don’t you?”

“Oh, shut-up.”

“And you actually killed one of them?” Clara asked.

“I may have the body of a weak and feeble woman, but at the time, so did the Zygon. The future of my kingdom is imperiled,” Elizabeth said, “Doctor, can I rely on your service?”

“Well, I'm going to need my TARDIS,” Ten told her.

“It has been procured already.”

“Ah.”

“But first, my love, you have a promise to keep.”

[randomrainman]

american conservatism and the minds of people: a black man’s perspective.

Hi, it is I.

I often think long and hard about the mind states of the people around me, and my inevitable conclusion is that the vast majority of people are monumentally and irrevocably fucking stupid.  As it turns out, people have a really hard time letting go of things with which they have grown familiar or fond, and therein lies the basic principle of conservative thought.  

“But aren’t some things okay to keep?”

Well, obviously, not everything needs to be thrown out in order for improvement to occur.  In the Army, we have things labelled “sustains” and “improves”.  The two terms are pretty self-explanatory (as are most things in the military): sustains are the things that work, and the improves are the things you either completely nix or need to, erm, improve.  Of course, this begs a question: as it relates to a society of living, (mostly) breathing human beings, how does this apply?

"Don’t throw out the baby with the bath water,” it is commonly said.  I am not entirely sure who was throwing away bathing children, but that’s a discussion for a different time.  The baby in this idiomatic expression is whatever it is we are supposed to be maintaining.  Let’s start with an example: police.

Obviously, it is entirely infeasible to literally abolish police.  We absolutely need the police force as an institution, and good and effective policing is a pillar to a modern, functional society.  However, we can abolish unprofessional, unnecessarily violent, racist, or otherwise unbecoming behaviour from police departments, and also demonstrate that such things are intolerable and met with appropriate punishments every time these rules are broken.  NWA didn’t make “Fuck The Police” because they wanted to express interest in having thoroughly arresting cop sex; it exists because they don’t trust the police.

Above: An Autistic Swedish dude spitting shockingly accurate commentary-by-proxy about American society. Flames!

Due possibly in part to dubiously worded slogans such as “defund the police”, modern conservatives balk at the thought of changing anything of significance about how policing in many communities in the United States is conducted, even going as far as to label the reform for which we call as an attack on the very idea of police.

That said, historically, the very pillars of police forces in the United States have their foundations in slavery and post-slavery racist institutions, which means that, while much has changed on the surface, the way police implement policy reflects structural and societal racism.  As a result, simply attacking individual instances of misconduct will almost always fail to elicit any meaningful progress, which is why some do seek to dismantle police departments (an option I cannot fathom as being realistic, especially not in the short term). 

The lack of a centralised police organisation from which to implement policy certainly does not help, and while some police departments, to include the Department of Justice itself, have introduced implicit bias training, it would appear that change was difficult to measure. Additionally, many police departments have not addressed the more overt problem of explicit racism in law enforcement, which is a nigh-impossible thing to tackle expeditiously without a top-down structure to deal with it. It has improved steadily overall, however, but not without significant disapproval...

Pictured: “disapproval”.  A civil rights demonstrator is attacked by a police dog in Birmingham, Ala., in 1963. (Photo credit: AP)

The Origins

As I noted earlier, there is plenty of shit people want to keep, and most for relatively understandable reasons -- after all, those things provide a sense of familiarity.  “It’s always been this way -- why change it?” they ask.  One needs only to look at our, um, flowery history to see countless examples of things that required change...

The transatlantic slave trade transported up to 12 million forcibly enslaved Africans to the Americas, many of whom arrived in what is now the United States.  As unspeakably horrifying as the actual journey was, this was only the beginning of the tribulations that would befall the slaves and their descendants in the future.

While Europeans played a large part in introducing the idea of race-based caste systems into colonised lands, the American brand of discrimination is different in the fact that the idea that Blacks and Native Americans were genetically inferior to whites was endemic to our inception, and thus, formed the basis of the things enshrined into American democracy.

Photo credit: Alexander Gardner / Wikimedia Commons

Abraham Lincoln entered the chat.

Naturally, having someone even so much as threaten the idea of racial dominance after literal fucking centuries of treating Black people as property did not sit well with the slave-owning populace (even if Lincoln’s motives were not exactly altruistic).  While the Southern states did in fact operate an agrarian economy heavily dependent on chattel slavery, it was that notion of superiority combined with societal comfort they felt that ultimately catalysed the secession of the Southern states from the Union...

Pictured: Civil War reenactors (from the Confederate side) simulate the Battle of Antietam, the bloodiest battle in US history.  Also, why the fuck is Civil War reenactment a popular thing to do? It’s deeply weird. (Photo credit: MPRNews.org)

...and then they decided to have the deadliest fucking war in American history over that comfort.  Spoiler alert: the Confederates lost both the war and their precious bullshit institution of slavery -- but even after the Emancipation Proclamation was issued, many Southern slave owners did not even pass the news of freedom to their slaves for months.

In keeping with the preservationist and racist mindset which occupied most Southerners’ brains, any attempt to integrate Black people into society during the Reconstruction period was stymied at every turn.  To them, despite Black people being de jure full citizens in accordance with the Civil Rights Act of 1866, we were still subhuman.  Due to Jim Crow laws, Ku Klux Klan terrorism, and other assorted nonsense, we made virtually no progress toward equality until the Civil Rights Movement and resulting laws such as the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Voting Rights Act of 1965, and the Fair Housing Act of 1968.

“Well, you got what you wanted!  YOU’RE EQUAL!  Quit yer bitchin’!”

Ah, if only things worked that way in real life.  As previously noted, even if things are codified into law as changes, there are still people who try really hard to keep everything exactly the fucking same, so it does not end up happening in practice.  Things such as residual effects of redlining and continuing disproportionate and excessive imprisonment of minorities, amongst other issues, still affect people in the present day. In other areas, people exploit loopholes in order to lawfully discriminate against others they might deem “undeserving”.

Lots of things, especially when it comes to role of minorities in society, have historical precedents.  When arguing said precedents with conservative types, the conversation almost always leads to one of several (predictable) conclusions: the person believes that 1) negative historical events (e.g., slavery, Native American genocide, etc.) were not that bad; 2) those things did not happen at all; or 3) those things were bad, but somehow do not affect modern society.

Obviously, all three are emphatically wrong.  This is why typical conservative behaviour, even in this modern era in which information sharing is instantaneous, does not surprise me: often, the rhetoric is not rooted in reality, and often resorts to appeals to emotions to elicit a knee-jerk response.  This is not to say that this does not occur on liberal ends of the spectrum, but modern conservative rhetoric is rooted primarily in unjustified fear of change and anti-intellectualism.

Pictured: A screenshot I took of someone on a pro-President Biden post desperately trying to be oppressed.

This kind of shit is utterly exhausting.  Neoconservatism, in a nutshell, is people literally inventing problems and subsequently getting angry at their own creations.  It is the equivalent of setting up a bear trap, immediately stepping in it, and wondering why the fuck you’re stuck in said bear trap and your foot doesn’t work anymore. During the Obama administration, the only thing I would witness is people insisting (without any evidence, of course) that President Obama was the Antichrist and that he would usher in the New World Order and take everyone’s guns.  All zero of those things happened, of course, but when Donald Trump assumed the presidency, the rhetoric completely reversed, and he was named “God’s chosen" by evangelical figures, despite him having broken perhaps all of the Old Testament’s Ten Commandments.  Of course, as you can see with the above screenshot, clearly, they have returned to the Obama bitching method, but diminished, partially because President Biden is also an old, white male, and they don’t need to ask where he was born.

Pictured: what happens when you fuel millions of self-victimising people with QAnon conspiracy theories and possibly loads of Bang energy drinks.  Photo credit: ABC News

The hypocrisy is absolutely palpable amongst these types of people, and if I tried to sit here and continued to provide examples of conservative figures contradicting themselves, I would die either of old age or myocardial infarction, whichever happened first. The difference in the reaction to Black Lives Matter protests versus the storming of the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021 makes the double standard quite transparent: justice and equality, while technically codified into law, are clearly are not administered equally in modern-day America.  We’re still not like the others.

Our brand of conservatism, by and large, is the enemy of those two very important American ideals.

|the kid|

[mrneighbourlove]

A Gerudo Story: Klinge and Zarazu

Zarazu took a breath of fresh air as she stepped off the cart. It was such an inconvenience to travel by horse, but due to Klinge’s distrust of Ba’Puu, he vowed to never ride him, despite how much faster he would have been. The dragon was never too far though; the only time he wasn’t with Zarazu was when he was with his own children. Covarog stepped out after her, taking his wife’s hand as he awkwardly got out of the cart. The first thing he noticed was how humid the area was. Lurelin Village was indeed as tropical as Klinge indicated it would be. The king had not heeded the commander’s word to be dressed accordingly, instead wearing stuffy business attire. It was immediate regret.

“It’s much hotter than I expected it to be, especially around this time of year.”

Klinge got off from the front of the carriage, internally sighing at the King. “Lurelin Village has a unique geography that keeps it in a pocket bubble from the rest of Hyrule. The only time it is cool is at night or when it rains. I brought you a change of clothes in the back.”

“But what about keeping proper business attire?”

Klinge pointed to a group of men approaching, and Zarazu had to stifle a giggle. The tanned hylians lacked any shirts, simply clothed in shorts. The lead spoke in a thick accent, waving his dreadlocks as he walked. “Ah! King Covarog! Thank you for traveling to our village! I hope that the trip wasn’t too bumpy!”

The commander held his tongue. They had traveled through a jungle full of dangerous bugs that had seemingly targeted him, and him alone, to drain him of what little blood he had. It had been anything but a smooth ride. Covarog simply shook his head in light hearted fun. “Ay,  a little bity maybe, but we turned out alright. Excuse me a moment, wasn’t expecting it to be so hot.”

The chieftain nodded as he turned to Zarazu. “Ah, you must be the lovely Queen Zarazu! I can smell a fellow ocean lover from a mile away!”

Zarazu giggled at the man’s compliment. This environment felt incredibly nostalgic to her, feeling much like home. The houses were large tiki structures made of tropical wood. A small port held fishing boats and stands full of fresh merchandise. Despite being much smaller, the little village did make her feel at peace. “Why thank you. A man who knows the ocean, knows life itself.”

“I second that my Queen. Apologies that the gathering is for the King’s special touch only, but I didn’t want his lovely wife to feel left out. Please enjoy the charms of our little sunny home!”

“I’m sure I will!”

Covarog finished getting changed in the cart, looking to Klinge. “Look after her, chief bodyguard.”

While Covarog found the notion of Klinge being Zarazu’s personal bodyguard to be rewarding and a safe investment, Klinge had found this to be a massive emotional burden. It was not that he didn’t care for Zarazu. She was his closet friend, whether he cared to admit that or not. No, it was due to how it came about. Ralnor had planted the idea in his brother in order for Klinge to stay out of the prince’s affairs. It kept Klinge on an invisible leash, always staying close to the Queen now. To the king, he would never know the depths of Ralnor’s trickery or Klinge’s contempt. “…You look ridiculous in shorts.”

Covarog frowned, but then shrugged. “At least I can pull them off.”

Leaning up, Zarazu gave her husband a kiss. “I’ll be waiting for you so that we can start to enjoy our time here.”

“Certainly. Have fun with the iron giant here.”

“Will do.”

Klinge shook his head silently at the king’s childishness. Once Covarag and the chief started to walk away, he was surprised to see Zarazu pull him by the arm. “Come on! Let’s go to the market!”

“Must we?”

“Like you have anything better to do? Or do you just want to stand around like a big grump in that unfashionable black armour?”

“… You don’t like the black armour?”

“Not in this environment Klinge. You deserve more colour in your life.”

Klinge paused at that, contemplation filling him. As they walked, he took in the sun glowing down on them. “I find it fascinating that you are so vocal about believing that.”

“Of course Klinge. You put yourself through the wringer so many times for this family - over and over. I want you to enjoy life like anyone else.”

Reaching the dock, Zarazu looked over the fish the locals had caught. They were big and colourful, and some small and exotic. A merchant offered Zarazu some mushrooms, explaining the fish loved them so much that it could help you catch them by hand if you stayed still enough.

“Klinge, do you like traveling with me?”

“Your company is enjoyable Zarazu.”

“That’s not what I meant. With the orders?”

“My orders take me where I need to go. I find purpose in serving my kingdom.”

“As a servant?”

“Because I like the people in it.”

Zarazu smiled brightly and gave a light giggle. She felt that slowly but surely, she was having a positive influence on him. Klinge wasn’t exactly sure why she giggled here and there, but it was comforting. The woman had a light in her that made him feel more at peace. He had never appreciated the value of friendship until the recent decade. Picking out a few arrows from a shop keeper, he exchanged a bag of rupees for them, turning back to his Queen. “And what of you? Do you enjoy this old warrior’s company?”

“Oh, stop that, you aren’t that old!”

“I could be anyone’s great grandfather in this country ten times over.”

“Would you like it if I referred to you as gramps then, hmm?”

“Very well… small child.”

Zarazu waved her hand and laughed. “Fair enough.”

Having bought a mushroom to test the fisherman’s tale, Zarazu continued walking down the beachside with Klinge. “What’s on your mind Klinge?”

“Pardon?”

“I know that something is eating at you.”

Klinge looked around the sky, not a cloud spotted with only the sun to make its shining mark. Looking at the seaside he watched his reflection as he kept walking. This undead black knight with a sword in hand. “I’ve been thinking about how everything has been changing around me.”

Zarazu listened intently, feeling that the tropical heat could put them in a perfect mood for relaxation and opening themselves up to discussion. “Such as what?”

“This Kingdom for starters. I thought I knew everything about it, down to every rock, only for new developments to occur. A partnership like never before blossomed between Ganondorf and Zelda. That  gave birth to those beautiful children, flaws and all, a brand new line of Gerudo. It also made me open to new alliances and tribes I never would have made contact with on my own beforehand. And face forces of Darkness that laid dormant. Because if it isn’t Ganon, it’s always something else… If it weren’t Zelda taking the first step, and Ganondorf accepting her hand, I would still be content being a hate filled monster of the blackest hearts. And I’d never have met you on more friendly terms.”

The Queen was confused by that. “More friendly terms? Whatever do you mean?”

“Oh I’m sure you would have still attempted your little raid against the castle to recover your stolen artifacts once you heard the Dark Lord Ganon had taken his hold around Hyrule. Then you might have even teamed up with the legendary hero to stop him, slay whatever forces he had, and I’d fight and die defending my lord, or perhaps wait all over again for the cycle to continue once more.”

“Well, for what its worth, I’m grateful that fate allowed for a better outcome for the world. Is there more to it?”

“Yes… It’s those kids I watched and took care of all these years. They’ve become adults now, some with kids of their own. Kanisa and Tebanam, my …”, Klinge paused himself, not wanting to come across as too possessive or protective. “… they’ve grown up and even left Hyrule. Out of my protection from god knows what.”

“You wanted to kill Vidar and Faris.” Zarazu stated bluntly. She still wasn’t happy Klinge gave into his anger with those two.

“I didn’t try to kill Faris. My heart wasn’t entirely into it. It was more of a test to know he could protect Tebanam when I am unavailable.”

“And Vidar?”

“He was a dog who stuck his nose in places it should never have been… But if Kanisa loves him, and he’s good to her, then she can keep her pet.”

Zarazu chuckled with concern at that statement. “R-right.”

“Yet, as they grow older and move on with their lives, I remain the same…”

“No. I don’t think that’s so.”

“Zarazu?”

She turned to look him in the eye, her perfect smile radiating in the sun. “I think their love for you has changed you. They grew up with you in their lives, and you made an impact on them.”

“For better or for worse…”

He received a flick on the nose of his helmet, the Lorliedain having to stand on her tippy toes to give him that. “Hush. And just listen without going into an angsty self-loathing like some teenage boy.”

“… Continue…”

Zarazu backed up and raised her hands in self defence. “Sorry. Maybe a little too far, but you know I’m a little right. You have so much to be happy for.”

“Humour me.”

“For one, a happier family. You gave them the skills to defend themselves. That type of security is a special thing to have. Not to mention the security you’ve provided, in that anyone can come to you with any problem and you won’t judge them for any personal weakness. You want to make sure that everything is ok for everyone. Deep down, you’ve become a kind person. This kingdom doesn’t need a black knight of war anymore. And I believe you’ve adapted yourself to a happier lifestyle with time.”

Klinge pondered on her words. All the children of Ganondorf had indeed given him new motivation in life. Their quirks had mellowed the undead with time. When was the last time he was so goal focused? Everything was… peaceful. True, there would always be another threat, but it wasn’t his focus anymore. He valued the people that he protected, instead of the mission to do so, more now.

Just outside the village, the two of them reached a channel of water further into the mainland that lead to the ocean. Zarazu found a nice rock to sit on and relaxed as she let her bare feet cool off in the water. Taking the mushroom, she dipped it into the water and waited. Soon enough, a carp swam up, swimming around Zarazu and nibbling at the mushroom. “Hey! Look at that!”

There was that innocence again. She was right, he had become happier with this lifestyle. Klinge finally decided to heed Zarazu’s words, and allow her to be the first to witness a piece he had been preparing.

“You know, there is something I have been working on with some help from Tebanam.”

“Oh? What?”

Klinge took a deep breath and focused his magic. With a snap of his fingers his figure glowed brightly. After the light vanished, he had stripped away his black armour, stepping into the water. “What do you think of this?”

Zarazu turned back and her eyes widened. “Holy Vatra, look at you!”

Klinge’s armour was much brighter, with golden brownish plating. Attached was a old Gerudo loincloth that the first incarnation of Ganondorf once wore. His helmet now had decorative horns and, etched in each, Gerudo writing that spoke his name as a Blade of the Gerudo. Right in the centre of his chest was a bright red emblem of his people. “I take it that you like it. Tebanam had shared ancient designs of our people he has discovered. I’ve been working on this particular set for over a year now.”

“I love it! It’s amazing on you!”

Klinge shrugged, to modest to boast. He felt incredible pride that she enjoyed it though. “Thank you my friend.”

Zarazu pet the fish below her in the water. After feeling its scales, she threw the rest of the mushroom out into the ocean. Rising up from the rock, she smiled brightly, actually able to see her reflection spots on the armour now. “Its very dashing, but still very you. Scary to outsiders, but now you have a symbol to be proud of connecting you to those you love.”

Klinge tapped his sword on his right shoulder plate. “I still have a reputation to uphold you know.”

“I bet you do. Say, would you say your armour is lighter now?”

“Hmmm, I’m not entirely sure. Why do you ask?”

Zarazu grinned mischievously. “Because whoever makes it back to the village has to buy the winner lunch!”

Before Klinge could say another word, the Queen was bounding off. With a light sigh he chased after her, the noise of the ocean waves and seagulls wringing in his ears as he bounded after the Lorliedian. The sun shone down on them as they went back to the village. Zarazu was proud of her friend becoming more and more free with himself.

(Merry Christmas! This gift goes to Lindsay of @ridersoftheapocalypse. Art is done by the talented @dreadlock-detective. She’s the literal best, and I wanted to give you the best. Happy Holidays Everyone!)

[thisdayintrek]

Trek Trivia - January 9, 2017

Roughing it? Let's see, we have shelter, furniture, research equipment, tricorders, a replicator. It's too rough for me.

We don't have a bathtub.

 A bathtub?

I love a bath. It's my favourite way of relaxing.

Captain, I'm sure you can learn to love the sonic shower.

You know, Chakotay, it occurs to me, we aren't exactly in a command structure anymore. Maybe you should call me Kathryn.

Give me a few days on that one, okay?