#Masters Admiralty

[dargeereads]

Power’s Fall by Mari Carr and Lila DuBois

5 stars

I’m screaming about after reading the epilogue and the deleted epilogue!!!! But that, those, are setting some bigger picture things up, so let’s focus on our trinity. Those three, well those three are just perfect, for people who were set-up, sent into danger, and have no idea what they are supposed to be doing. But like always, the seemingly so different people, find where they mesh, how they fit, why they work. Action, there was a lot, and the last third of the book raced by as I tried to keep up with the developing story. I loved these three, their heat, their fun, their understanding, and I can’t wait to see and hear more from them <3

[andrew-rannells-mustache]

Trapping these two in an elevator together. For research <3

[thegreatyin]

the masters are so deeply unserious workplace sitcom coded. how do these fuckers even get anything done

[thekenobee]

Jack: Acheron more like ACHE-ron

Stephen: Jack no

[ltwilliammowett]

In door no. 10 we have a couple today. The US Brig Niagara and HMS Bounty, aren't they cute together?

More about them here:

The Bounty was a British three-master on which one of the most famous mutinies in maritime history took place on 28 April 1789 near Tonga. Since then, the story of the ‘Mutiny on the Bounty’ has repeatedly become the subject of novels, non-fiction books, films, theatre plays and radio plays.

The merchant ship, built in Hull in 1784 and originally used as a coal freighter under the name Bethia, was purchased by the British Admiralty for an expedition to the South Seas. After extensive modifications, it set off on a voyage to Tahiti in 1787 under the command of Lieutenant William Bligh of Spithead to bring cuttings of the breadfruit tree from there to the Antilles. After their exploits, the mutineers settled on the remote island of Pitcairn. Off its coast, they set fire to the Bounty.

The Bounty here, however, was a replica from the 18th century built in 1960 and 1961. It was built especially for the film Mutiny on the Bounty (1962). The ship was sometimes referred to as HMS Bounty II or variants thereof to distinguish it from the original, but neither the abbreviation HMS, which is reserved for British naval vessels, nor the numbers were part of the ship's name. After being used in several other films, she was used for charter and adventure trips with passengers and as a museum ship.

Unfortunately, she sank off Cape Hatteras during Hurricane Sandy on 29 October 2012 with the loss of two crew members.

The U.S. Brig Niagara, otherwise known as Flagship Niagara. This version here of ‘the Brig’ is a replica reproduction of Oliver Hazard Perry's relief flagship during the American victory at the Battle of Lake Erie on 10 September, 1813. All iterations of this ship were constructed within the sheltered natural harbour of Presque Isle Bay in Erie, Pennsylvania including this version which began construction in 1988. Her first sailing season commenced in 1992 and has been sailing nearly continuously since.

[vonlipvig]

bad news, guys

don't worry london, i'm at the bazaar doors and by god those bats are going to pay attention eventually, i'm here like

[frostbitebakery]

A Disturbed State Of The Natural Environment, Gods-Fucking-Dammit

A Pada-Wan Story

for @lttrsfrmlnrrgby

“Obi— Commander Kenobi-“

“You can call me Obi-Wan, Cody,” the kid huffs. “Neither you nor I will suddenly combust into a ball of fire if you do.”

You don’t know that, Cody thinks, not liking how his voice sounds in his mind.

Four days since the incident - or, “The Incident,” how Boil and Waxer like to say in unison with the bucket lights under their chins -, two since the 104th of all Battalions received their signal and towed the 212th fleet to the nearest station within the Republic that would allow them to overhaul the ships’ electronics.

It has been exactly two point five hours since Wolffe stopped wheezing at Cody over comms. Nearly as much time as the kid had vanished from under Cody’s paranoid nose.

“Councilor Kenobi is safe and sound,” General Koon had assured him while Wolffe stood at perfect parade rest a step behind, shriek-laughing his armor off.

The kid sighs. “You have come here for a reason?” he asks, stubborn and prim. “Or is Wooley babysitting me not enough?” He points a thumb over his shoulder to Wooley popping up several yards away, waving.

“If you haven’t noticed Hook, Line, and Sinker also keeping an eye on you, my trepidations are justified.”

The kid rolls his eyes, gesturing to three empty looking spots in the distance. “I am well aware Master Koon is in league with you.”

Cody will not explain safety precautions again. He’s saving that for when the kid really sets out to stomp on any and all walls Cody had to hastily and thoroughly built when his General, his partner, suddenly turned into a child at the worst possible development stage for Cody’s sanity.

The kid studies him while Cody is trying to come up with a legitimate reason for looking for him. Direct admittance to personal concern would backfire on Cody in multiple, entertaining ways, and he frankly doesn’t want to deal with that. From the kid being smug that Cody cares about him very much so keeping his distance must mean something more. To accusations of not trusting Obi-Wan (which, correct, Cody doesn’t know him after all), seeing him as a kid (also true) when he’s sixteen and basically a stone’s throw away from becoming a geezer.

Sixteen. Cody shudders. He remembers very well that half year when he was that developmental age. He shudders again. Gods, the mood swings alone.

“I am reasonably paranoid about your welfare,” he says at last. Wooden which makes him cringe but he’s never lied to Obi-Wan and he’s not starting now.

The kid stares at him for a while. One corner of his mouth quirks up with a shrug and a shuttered look in his eyes Cody desperately wants to make better. “It’s different when they really are out to get you, isn’t it.” The Council had explained how precarious his older self’s safety was at the best of times. Cody had only seen the aftermath and the accompanying ranting about life choices with the occasional visibly happy understanding that Obi-Wan could, actually, grow a non-patchy beard when he’s got a few more years on him.

“May I sit with you?” Cody asks. Shoveling his own metaphorical grave is so much easier with mixed signals after all. But he misses the older Obi-Wan. It’s not fair of him but he needs this.

The expected blush blooms on freckled cheeks. “Yes, of course!” is the eager reply, followed by more blushing.

It’s endearingly cute and Cody would like to chew on his bucket now.

The kid scoots over, wide eyed and expectant.

Gingerly, Cody lowers himself, ignoring the armor digging into his ass and thighs. And lets the silence stretch.

This, really, is what he came here for. A self-indulgent little break to catch his breath. The High General of a Systems Army is compromised and that fact has to remain eyes only to an exclusive handful of people. Only the Jedi Council knows out of obvious necessity. So it’s up to Cody to keep everything else running, keeping the admiralty in the dark because even teenaged Obi-Wan had said he’s got a bad feeling if they were to tell the brass. So they haven’t.

Usually, when flimsiwork and war horrors keep stacking up and expand into an avalanche, Obi-Wan and Cody sit together in silence, sharing a precious cup of real tea, being together and lending support and strength they can’t find for themselves but can always, always find for each other.

Selfishly he wants that strength from Obi-Wan now, the warmth of his body nearby. He’s already breathing easier.

The kid is looking at him curiously, but Cody chooses not to say anything. Instead he turns forward once more, watching the busy night markets of the station and the stars behind it. After a moment the kid does the same.

Shoulders slowly relax and the silence becomes comfortable.

[enigmaticxbee]

Tropes & More - Fic Recs

All the tropey-goodness!

Body-Swap:

Underneath Your Skin by crescentmoon222 - Dreamland AU, NSFW

What if Feels Like for a Girl by @mldrgrl - Dreamland AU, NSFW

Dreamland III by @admiralty-xfd - Dreamland sequel

Flea Market Economy by Punk

I’ll Show You Mine If You Show Me Yours by Tv_Saved_The_Teenage_Girl

Masters of Time by @sisterspooky1013 - time travel to 1960s Masters of Sex, NSFW

Times Colliding by onlytheinevitable- time travel 1998/2018 body swap, NSFW, WIP

Cubed by Louise Marin - Scully wakes up as an alternate version of herself, NSFW.

Parallel by @sisterspooky1013 - Scully wakes up as an alternate version of herself, NSFW.

Fake-Dating:

Never by Allison Kinney - Undercover, NSFW

Diversion by @sisterspooky1013 - Stakeout, NSFW

Just Another Dinner Party by @somekindofseizure - Undercover at a swingers party during Arcadia

Amish Country by Lolabeegood - Undercover with the Amish, NSFW

We’re Married Now by @skinfull - Undercover in a cult, NSFW

Hallowed by onlytheinevitable - Undercover in a cult, NSFW

More Than a Feeling by @sisterspooky1013 - Undercover at a carnival, NSFW

Undercover Swing by 2momsmakearight - Undercover at a sex party, NSFW

It’s Just Pretend by @storybycorey - Undercover in a motel, fake sex turning into real sex, NSFW

The Marriage Spectacular by @cecilysass - Lost FBI agents. Stormy weather. A marriage retreat in a mountainside inn with one room available.

The Newlywed Game by onlytheinevitable - While going out for dinner, Scully runs into an ex and Mulder valliantly pretends to be her husband. However, that little lie traps them into having to play the Newlywed Game in front of a bunch of strangers and they have to navigate admitting feelings they haven't even admitted to themselves.

Baseball Metaphors by @leiascully - Scully runs into an ex and they pretend to be dating, NSFW

Just Go With It by @skinfull - Mulder runs into old high school classmates and they pretend to be married, NSFW

The Annapolis Grant by @slippinmickeys - AU, Scully pays Mulder to play the role of her boyfriend, NSFW

Wedding/FBI Ball Date:

Plus One by @alienqueequeg - Mulder convinces Scully to let him be her plus one at an old friend's wedding, NSFW

Hardball by Missy Pennington - Scully gets a sexy red dress to wear to the FBI ball when she finds out Phoebe Green will be attending

Five Ballrooms by @admiralty-xfd - Five Christmas parties. Five separate POVs.

The Twelve Tropes of Christmas by @mangokiwitropicalswirl - Christmas ball and all the tropes

Holidays:

far away and to the west by @audries - Thanksgiving with the Gunmen

at the close of the day by @audries - Thanksgiving on the road

Fairies, Skip Hence by @slippinmickeys - Christmas at the Scullys, NSFW

Shades of Winter by @piecesofscully - Christmas at the Scullys, NSFW

Marshmallow World by @agoodwoman - Christmas 1998, set Season 6, our beloved agents are working under AD Kersh. Mulder and Scully get into the holiday spirit. NSFW

Regular People by @chimerical1975 - Thwarted Christmas plans, impulsive decisions, and unexpected visitors make two extraordinary FBI agents into regular people. NSFW

Chicken Dinner by @cecilysass - Dinner at Mrs. Scully’s. Mulder overhears Maggie speaking to her friends about her daughter’s relationship with her partner. What he hears floors him.

Gingersnap by @cecilysass - Holiday baking, NSFW

if the fates allow by @all-these-ghosts - Christmas with Mulder and Scully, 1993-2016

Birthdays by @syntax6 - seasons 1 through 7

One Bed (see Faking Dating above too):

Let’s Play a Game by @danasculllie - Motel room Truth or Dare, NSFW

Truth or Dare by Adrienne - Mulder and Scully have a wicked game of Truth or Dare while sharing that hotel room in Rain King. NSFW

Twenty-Questions and a Winter Storm by @danascully77 - NSFW

Designated Mulder by onlytheinevitable - Mulder had always wanted to see what Scully would be like drunk, but he didn't anticipate it would finally happen on the one night they had to share a bed. NSFW

Sexy Snowed-In by @peacenik0 - Mulder and Scully are snowed-in together, will they find a way to escape their boredom? NSFW

Hot and Sticky by Megan Reilly - One hotel room, two FBI Agents...and it's a hell of a hot night besides. NSFW

One room. One bed. by spooky66 - NSFW

Free Merlot at the Cool View Motor Court by @sarie-fairy - post The Rain King, NSFW

Turn that damned thing off by @sunflowerseedsandscience - The Rain King missing scene.

Time Enough At Last by bayloriffic - The Rain King missing scene.

Conversation in the Dark by Cass - The Rain King missing scene.

Stop Me by Gina Rain - post The Rain King, NSFW

Unbidden by @phillippadgettwrites - NSFW

Bunkmates by @leiascully - There's only one hotel room, and it's got a special surprise.

Expense Report by 13th_blackbird - The Bureau conducts an audit, and Scully considers the costs.

Scully/Other:

Universal Invariants by @syntax6 - set over the course of a canon-parallel version of season 1 and early season 2 where Scully’s boyfriend Ethan who was cut from the pilot sticks around. NSFW

Early On by @sunflowerseedsandscience - Mulder and Scully are drawn to each other from the start but Scully is still with Ethan. NSFW

Homicidal Tendencies by Swikstr - Casefile crossover that pairs Scully with the detective from Homicide: Life on the Street. NSFW

You He Did Not Fail by extraordinarily_ordinary - After Scully leaves the X-Files for a position in LA a case brings them back together. Starts Scully/Other but ultimately MSR. NSFW

Original Sin by @syntax6 - post FTF Scully moves to Utah. Scully/Other but great MSR. NSFW

Arizona Highways by Fialka - Visions of Melissa lead Our Heroes on a case confirming the existence of a series of Emilys. But does Melissa really have a message, or is it all in Scully’s head? Scully/Other but ultimately MSR. NSFW

No Regrets by MystPhile - During Arcadia Scully reconnects with Detective John Kresge. Ultimately MSR but not until the very end. NSFW

Promises to Keep by Prufrock’s Love - post Requiem Scully/Skinner, I really struggled with this one, but still an interesting read. NSFW

Heart’s Desire by @malibusunset - post Two Fathers/One Son Scully reconnects with an old boyfriend during a case. My favorite Scully/Other fic - ends in MSR, but it’s probably the only fic where I’ve thought that Mulder might be the wrong choice. NSFW

La Lacuna by @aloysiavirgata - Scully explores her feelings after Milagro while investigating a murder. Scully/Other but ultimately MSR. NSFW

Mulder/Other:

The Waters of Babylon by @aloysiavirgata - As they prepare to become Rob and Laura Petrie, Mulder thinks back on his life and the paths not taken.

Seventeen by @scapegrace74-blog - Explores how Mulder's sexual relationships shaped (and mis-shaped) him as a man. Each chapter represents a different partner. Mulder/Other, ultimately MSR, NSFW

Triptych by @iconicscullyoutfits - married to Diana AU, ultimately MSR

To Love Somebody by Tess and Jacquie LaVa - In the midst of attempting to have a normal romance, Mulder's escalating feelings for Scully, and her deteriorating health due to her advancing cancer, make it impossible for him to commit... Mulder/Other but ultimately MSR. NSFW

The Guts by @wtfmulder - How would Scully react if Mulder dropped an open condom wrapper in front of her? MSR but dealing with Diana.

Dr. Scully's School for Exceptional Boys by Prufrock’s Love - post series, Mulder/Other and MSR, NSFW

One for the Road by @phillippadgettwrites - post breakup, Mulder has a girlfriend but mostly MSR, NSFW

Pregnancy/Baby/Family:

The Family G-Man by Neoxphile and FelineFemme - A double tragedy strikes Mulder the week before Christmas of 2003. What if he could go back and change things, save the son one lost and give the other the family she wanted? Could it keep them safe? NSFW

Five Years and a Lifetime by @monikafilefan @slippinmickeys - One night stand AU. Five years later, Scully and Mulder work at the same pediatric hospital, and Scully's four year old daughter bears a striking resemblance to the picture of a dark haired girl that sits on Mulder's desk... NSFW

In the Best Interest of the Child by @mldrgrl - AU When tragedy strikes, Mulder is forced to take guardianship of his young niece, but the matter is complicated by the arrival of a sister-in-law he's never met.

The Way Things Are by Sukie Tawdry - One night and their whole lives were changed forever. Season 1 AU. NSFW

Right Hand Return by humphreywrites - Scully is returned from her abduction with a baby, no memories of anything prior to her captivity and some PTSD.

All That Is Dark and Bright by @malibusunset - Emily lives AU. NSFW

Five Years and One Night by Shalimar - Scully leaves the X-Files post-Emily but gets drawn back in when Mulder discovers Emily wasn’t the only child created. NSFW

Intimacy Deux by Mojo - The one in five billion happens. NSFW

40 Weeks by @malibusunset - What if the IVF attempt in Per Manum had been successful? NSFW

A Boy and His Fox by 6hoursgirl - What happens when two FBI agents have a platonic relationship based on trust and mutual respect...and an exchange of genetic material. NSFW

The 13th Sign and 7 Days in May by Prufrock’s Love - Post-Deadalive. Mulder saw no reason for life, death, sex, Armageddon, or emotional dysfunction to stand in the way of true love.

Hurricane Season by rah and beduini - Post-Existence week at the beach with the Scully family and baby Wim. NSFW

Terra Firma series by @malibusunset - Post-Existence domestic family drama, a classic comfort read for me. NSFW

Misc:

Partners With Benefits by onlytheinevitable - Friends with benefits, NSFW

Truncated by Lysandra31 - Scully and Mulder find themselves in a tight spot. Spooning ensues.

You Send Me by @spooky-nerd - Portals keep popping up around Mulder. It's rather inconvenient until he realizes it's possible the universe is trying to tell him something.

[tip-top-cloud-surfer]

Grand-Mav and Baby Chick

Pairings: Bradley "Rooster" Bradshaw / Unnamed Spouse; Implied Pete "Maverick" Mitchell / Tom "Iceman" Kazansky

Word Count: 0.9k

This work, all my works, and my entire blog is 18+ Only

Warnings: Parental Stress; Dad Joke Humor; Rooster's Spouse is Unnamed; Implied IceMav; There's no way that the Navy allows babies into the offices, but let's just pretend

Summary: Rooster needs a babysitter for his son last minute. Maverick volunteers.

Master List

Despite objections from a large portion of the admiralty, Maverick somehow managed to secure a job teaching at Top Gun again after the uranium facility mission. And an even more shocking aspect of that whole situation was the fact that he managed to actually keep the position. 

And the best part of the job for Maverick? The fact that he saw Rooster just about every day. Rooster had been stationed in Miramar for two years now and even though they no longer worked side by side, they tried to eat lunch together at least once a week. It helped them rebuild their relationship quickly and strengthen it even further as Rooster went on to get married and move onto the next stages of his adult life. 

Maverick loved spending time around Rooster’s family. But Maverick wasn’t expecting Rooster to burst into his office with little baby Nick Peter Bradshaw tucked in his arms. 

“Aren’t you a little young to be here?” Maverick teased, waving at Nick before turning to look up at a very flustered Rooster. “Why did you bring him to work?”

“Daycare is closed and I couldn’t find a babysitter,” Rooster explained rapidly. Quickly remembering that Rooster’s spouse was out of town, Maverick glanced back up at Rooster, who looked on the edge of a breakdown. “I have a briefing in ten minutes and I’m out of options, Mav, and—”

“—Give him here,” Maverick replied without hesitation, already reaching for Nick. 

“You don’t have anything?” Rooster asked, handing his son over.

“Just a class. Nothing too crazy,” Maverick stated, happily accepting Nick into his arms. Rubbing Nick’s belly and earning a coo in return, Maverick smiled down at the little chick. “And it’s never too early to teach him about aviation.”

“Thanks, Mav,” Rooster sighed, handing over the baby bag as well. “I owe you one.”

“Don’t worry about it. Now get to your briefing," Maverick stated, shooing Rooster out of his office.

~~~~~

“And remember, when you’re flying in low visibility, you have to . . .”

Maverick continued on with his lesson, completely ignorant or simply uncaring about the odd looks that his students were shooting him. But then again, it wasn’t every day that the famous Maverick, who was pretty much a living legend in the naval aviation community, showed up to class with a random baby strapped to his chest. 

Maverick turned away from the board with notes and schematics up on it and back to his students. He pointed at the schematics and gesticulated to emphasize the important facts of the lesson, causing Nick to smile and drool a bit as Maverick indirectly entertained him with his movements and gestures.

“What the fuck is going on?” one of the cadets whispered quietly. 

“Whose baby is that?” another added on, leaning back in their seat.

“And why did he bring them to class?”

Maverick continued on with his lesson, but when Nick started to whine, he momentarily paused. Quickly reaching into the baby bag, Maverick fished out Nick’s binkie from one of the top pockets and quickly got him settled again. And then Maverick went right back to the lesson as if nothing happened to disturb it in the first place. Minus a couple odd bounces around to make sure that Nick stayed calm and happy in his carrier.

One brave cadet slowly raised his hand with a dumbstruck expression on his face. Maverick motioned for him to speak and the cadet slowly lowered his hand to point at Nick.

“Sir, why do you have a baby?”

“Oh,” Maverick realized, glancing down at Nick for a moment. “My son had a briefing and he didn’t have anyone else to watch his son, so I'm watching him for today.”

“Is that safe?” another cadet asked, sharing an odd look with their fellow students. 

“Oh, don’t worry. He’s up to date on his shots. And he can’t bite because he doesn’t have any teeth yet,” Maverick explained, earning even more incredulous looks as a result of his explanation. “Now, back to the maneuvers that we’ve been discussing this week . . .”

“What. The. Fuck," one cadet murmured under their breath.

“You know, when people told me that he was a little crazy, I didn’t think that he would be this crazy.”

“This day can’t get any weirder.”

But, of course, a knock at the door proved the cadets wrong. Because not three seconds later, the Admiral Tom “Iceman” Kazansky walked into the classroom.

The cadets tripped over themselves, rushing to stand at attention for the most senior naval officer this side of the Rockies. But Maverick was completely relaxed and strode over to Ice to make the smooth hand off.

“You got out of your meeting early?” Maverick guessed, handing Ice the baby bag. 

“Well, I am the COMPACFLT,” Ice replied with an easygoing smile. “And besides . . .” Ice reached out to grab Nick from the baby carrier that Maverick tucked him into, “. . . someone has to watch the little chick.”

Nick cooed and made grabby motions for Ice, clearly happy to see him. Ice happily greeted Nick and held him protectively in his arms. Maverick handed off the rest of Nick’s belongings to Ice before the usually rigid and stern admiral turned to the class full of cadets. 

“We apologize for interrupting your lesson. We’ll get out of your way.” Ice shot Maverick a wink before turning to Nick. “Can you wave ‘bye bye’ to everyone, Nick?”

Nick held his half-curled hand up in the air and waved his whole arm at Maverick and the class before Ice turned and walked out of the room. When the door shut behind them, the entire class was completely silent.

“Any questions?” Maverick asked, breaking the stone-cold silence. 

All twenty hands immediately rose into the air with each cadet sitting on the edge of their seat to ask their question.

“About the lesson," Maverick emphasized a moment later.

All twenty hands quickly lowered back down, some more sheepish than others. Turning back to the board, Maverick carried on as if nothing odd or unusual happened.

[fanfic-obsessed]

Ten Years in Two months

While the meat and potatoes of this idea comes a bit later, it does require some finangleing beforehand. Some of the beginning does feel a bit contrived, because it is. In order for the dominoes of the plot to fall right later, we do have to force them into shape now in a series of improbable actions. 

Bear with me for a bit, we’ll get there. 

There is not really a particular point this starts, save that it is after Padme becomes pregnant (though well before she realizes she is) but before the Umbara arc (or ignoring the Umbara Arc), for no particular reason other than I want Waxer there.  A mission is assigned to the 212th to escort Padme Amidala and her retinue to a neutral world for negotiations with the Separatists.  They are taking with them commander Ahsoka Tano (the in-world explanation being that she was on Coruscant catching up with course work and they would rendezvous with the 501st, who were on a campaign in that region). 

On the way to this neutral world, from the perspective of the rest of the galaxy, the 212th in its entirety vanishes for two months. 

From the perspective of the 212th they become trapped on an uncharted planet for 10 years. 

For the rest of the galaxy those two months are enlightening into Anakin Skywalker's particular brand of instability.  Without the tempering influence of the bonds to his Master and Padawan, compounded by the fact that his secret wife disappeared as well, Well…his attempts to find them could, in the best of lights, be described as unhinged. He did not fall in at this time, for he was given no reason to make that choice (and falling to the dark, into evil is very much a choice. One does not fall by accident, after all), but he made it very clear that the war, protecting innocents, the Republic, or even the lives of his own men meant nothing compared to finding Padme (occasionally he would remember to make it seem as though he was focusing on finding Obi Wan or Ahsoka, though he never quite remembered to include the rest of the 212th). His obsession presented itself in such a way that even Palpatine was reconsidering some of his plans (he still intended to break Anakin into Vader, but he was now inclined to let Padme-and maybe even Ahsoka; Obi Wan was always going to die-live on as a stabilizing influence to his ultimate apprentice). 

He was swiftly removed from command of the 501st and had to be kept partially sedated for at least 6 of those 8 weeks. 

With the 212th for the first few months, from their perspective, they tried to contact the rest of the fleet. Tried to contact anyone.  Tried to escape from their orbit around this one planet, thankfully habitable and with an abundance of edible food. However, though they did not know it, the planet was out of sync with the rest of the galaxy.

Over the period of about two years they shifted from living mostly on the ships with just enough people on the surface of the planet to keep everyone fed to a more permanent settlement on the planet with a rotating skeleton crew up on ships to keep everything running. 

Padme found out about her pregnancy pretty early on, and with it came the knowledge that her relationship with Anakin was not the secret she thought it was.  Nor was the relationship forbidden like Anakin told her. The marriage was forbidden, because of the Oaths Anakin swore as part of the Jedi Order and how they conflicted with the traditional Nabooian Wedding vows (though she also finds out that the Jedi Order would have helped revise both sets of vows so they did not conflict).  Even beyond her own misunderstandings of the Jedi, she started to see the many places where Anakin either deliberately misunderstood his own culture, or deliberately misled her.  

In fact it became obvious within the first six months that every culture represented in the ships (The variety of cultures from the natborn admiralty, the Nabooian Delegation, The clones, and the Jedi) all had some misconceptions about all of the other cultures ranging from the humorously minor to massive misunderstandings (One of the minor misunderstandings is between the Jedi and the Clones on names and numbers. The Jedi believe that they are making sure that they are calling the clones what the clones want to be called instead of their designation. The clones think that the Jedi as a whole are uncomfortable with their designation AS names-Which yes but also no-so even though most of the clones prefer a name to their designation, even the few that want to use their designation are told by the other clones that the must choose a name to use around the Jedi). 

Obi Wan takes over Ahsoka’s training and the gaps that Anakin had left become very obvious; the place where he taught her something that was outright wrong even more so. About three months in, Ahsoka tells Obi Wan about Anakin’s ‘training’ of being surrounded and fired upon by the 501st.  One of the few things that Anakin was right about was that he Jedi would not understand, nor condone, that training. Ahsoka had not realized how disconnected from her own culture she had become in her short time with Anakin. How isolated he had made her from her people. Though she and Obi Wan were the only Jedi, she felt closer than ever to everything she had grown up with as he took on her tuition. 

In month 8 Obi Wan, who was looked to as the leader, arranged for a series of times to address the misconceptions held by an for each culture present.  When it became clear that they were cut off for the long haul, he helped the variety of people to start to live instead of just surviving.  And at the beginning there were a number of natborns among them that were anti clones, or anti Jedi, just as there were many clones that were anti nat born.  But with only about 1500 people in total (1300 clones, about 50 natborn officers and support staff, about 150 senatorial support staff) there were simply not enough people to support those kinds of prejudices.  It is hard to say that the clones were not human when you listen to the stories of decommissioned batchmates during one of the remembrance ceremonies.  Or hate the natborn lieutenant that got drunk and cried all over you about the pregnant wife they left behind.

The twins were born with a village of aunts and uncles, and though they are the oldest, they were not the only ones. Sache, one of Padme’s former handmaidens and part of her senatorial retinue, entered into a relationship with Waxer and Boil, having a child with them that was a year younger than the twins.  Many relationships formed and broke apart during those years.

Ahsoka and Padme ended up co parenting the twins, with Padme being called Mom and Ahsoka being called Mom Ah.  It was the twins who insisted on their names from their earliest ability to speak. 

In year four Cody and Obi Wan get married. Though theirs is not the only relationship that develops, nor the only one with healthy communication, their relationship does highlight to Padme how unhealthy her relationship with Anakin actually was. (It should be noted that, although Anakin’s instability and actions were flashier, this is not Anakin abusing/coercing the poor innocent Padme. In this they are toxic together, both acted in unhealthy ways that compromised their own morals).  Padme was able to see how Cody and Obi Wan did not use their love for each other as a bandage for deeper wounds. That CodyWan did not become all consuming; each man had friendships and hobbies and duties separate from each other (even with the friends they shared, they did not act as a single unit, inseparable from each other).  The other relationships she saw only drove this point home. 

At some point in those ten years she tells Obi Wan of what happened on Tatooine, just before the start of the war. And Obi Wan, eyes betraying his grief and horror at the massacre of the Tuskens asked her why she absolved Anakin of his crimes (By technicality, as a senator Padme did have the authority to absolve Anakin-so even if Tatooine becomes part of the Republic, and the crime is reported, Padme’s actions mean that Anakin cannot be tried under Republic Law). Padme cannot answer him.  

Though it does take time, Padem is eventually able to meet Obi Wan’s eyes again after the revelation. 

6 years in, Ahsoka and Padme realize that they have fallen in love.  Driven by the Jedi teachings for healthy and open communication (though many cultures value open and honest communication, few need it in the same way as the Jedi who are all some degree of Empath), they talk about what was happening. Neither is sexually attracted to the other, but they do want to date each other.  But Padme is married to Anakin. And it might have been six years, so they do not know if Anakin even still lived, and if did, he had likely moved on (both of which are reasonable assumptions) but being together without first speaking to Anakin felt too much like giving up the idea that they would find a way home. So they agreed to wait until they were ready to give up that idea. 

They had not given up by the time that the 10 year mark rolled around.

In year 7 the chips begin to deteriorate. The material they were made up of were not meant for the extra years of use, plus the method Helix used to stop the accelerated aging (discovered within 5 months of actually having time) created an enzyme as a byproduct that had no effect on the clones, but accelerated the deterioration of the chips.  The first three chips were removed after the clones involved complained of migraines. All the documentation in the computer banks (the archive of what was readily available, instead of what was stored on the galaxy’s version of the cloud) of the ships said the chips were to inhibit excess aggression. No one had any reason to not believe the documentation, not even with the realization that the chips were not in the right place for what they were supposed to do (the assumption is that the Kaminoans, for all their genetic know how, just do not understand near human neurology enough to have put it in the right place).  Obi Wan met with Helix, the head medic, with Cody after the removal of those first chips.  Obi Wan assumed that he did not know about the chips because he had not been on the council when the order was put in. Helix is able to confirm that all of the clones have these chips and what they are supposed to do (according to the literature) and that some were beginning to deteriorate.  After it becomes clear that the removal will not hurt the clone, they make the decision to remove all of them. However, believing them to be behavioral modifiers (if incorrectly placed), and as they did not have the optimal equipment to decode them, they all left it at that and put the Chips into storage and basically forgot about it. 

Just 15 days shy of the 10th anniversary of their arrival to the uncharted planet, whatever grip that was holding the ships bound to orbit the planet vanished (The planet was in sync with the rest of the galaxy- it is a window of time that is six hours long in the larger galaxy, or 15 days long on the planet) Still not able to raise communications to anyone outside of the planet’s orbit, not knowing how long they would have before they were stuck again, and fearing that they would be cut off from anyone left behind (no one had forgotten that the planet had not registered as there until they were trapped), everyone was loaded onto the ships along with all of their food stores and the 212th left the uncharted planet. 

As soon as they hit the galaxy at large again, alarms began to shriek. Every system that communicated with the central systems (basically everything outside of life support) experienced a fatal error upon reconnecting with the galaxy’s central system. It takes 4 days to fix. They have to reset all of the internal clocks/calendars in their computer systems to a date and time two months and 3.5 days after they became trapped (the last 24 hours of that time was spent inputting random dates into the system). 

NOTE: There is a very important reason for this. Computers are very black and white about some things, and communicating between computers is often validated on specific information to make sure that both systems are dealing with the same information at the same thing. Current Date/Time had to be validated for the purpose of navigation. Galactic/Stellar drift is very real, and in the mapped regions of the galaxy that drift is precisely calculated.  It is impossible to keep a real time map of every object in the galaxy, instead there is a systematic ping that goes out at specified times (Twice per Galactic Standard year) remapping every object in the known galaxy and correcting the location in the centralized system.  Then Navigation computers calculate how long it has been since the last ping to figure out where everything is and a safe route.  That only works if the current date time matches the current date time of the centralized system exactly (some of those object movements, even objects large enough to damage the largest of ships, can be measured in microseconds). 

No one realizes why this is an issue. The entirety of the 212th believe that 10 years have passed (born out by their time keepers, which had ticked along for ten years) and yet to the larger galaxy only two months have. They absently notice that by the time anything is working again the planet they were on had vanished. 

A message is sent to Coruscant, to the Jedi temple, but it is a hesitant thing. Deliberately vague in details. Obi Wan has no idea what 10 years has done for or to the war effort.  The response is almost immediate,  a call from the Jedi council. The very first question out of Mace Windu’s mouth is a cranky sounding ‘Where in the Force have you been for the last two months?’ (Look Master Windu is absolutely ecstatic that they are safe and not dead, but he has spent the four days helping to keep Anakin contained-the sedation began to wear off faster now that he could feel Ahoska and Obi Wan in the Force again-, the last two months realizing that Obi Wan ran about a third of their side of the war, and had been in the middle of sleeping for the first time in weeks).

There is quite a bit of confusion as both Obi Wan and Mace were absolutely sure the other had lost it over how long the 212th had been gone (Obi Wan: we were trapped for ten years; Mace: Bullshit! You’ve been gone for 2 months).  It is Ahsoka’s appearance that convinces Mace that something more is going on (he would not know the children, and Ahsoka is the only other one for whom 10 years-or 10 years and 5 months for the clones- would make a huge visible difference). Mace is able to convince Obi Wan that they really have only been gone two months and the 212th makes its way back to Coruscant, reeling over the disconnect (The Lieutenant who spent the last 10 years mourning over the missed moments with their wife and unborn child…hasn’t even missed the birth).

The mind healers who have been dealing with Anakin nearly weep in relief at the news that Padme Amidala is with the 212th and safe. They know that Anakin needs many much therapy still but they have hope he will actually pay attention now that his wife is back. 

The 212th, now a community in a way that they had not been, returned to Coruscant.  They do not split in the ways that they would have before (before relationships and children) and peer at the lives they had left behind that they no longer quite fit the shape of. 

The lieutenant brings home their best friend (a clone who had not picked their name before the mission, but decided to go with 29, which they picked to reference the number of a decommissioned batchmate)  to meet their wife, only for some of the wife’s family make an awful comment about flesh droids and being a pet (thankfully their wife was equally embarrassed by her brother’s behavior). 

Obi Wan, Cody, Padme, and Ahsoka go to the Jedi temple, to the Jedi Council (the twins, like the rest of the children, were left aboard the Negotiator in the care of their extended family). They speak of the planet where they had been trapped and the lives they grew there. 

Padme took the time to apologize to the Council, formally, for the violation of their beliefs that she and Anakin had perpetrated by marrying as they had.  She could admit that while Anakin had not told her of any Jedi traditions for marriage, or really any traditions they might be violating by marrying, she had made no effort to check either. 

As an afterthought Obi Wan told the Jedi Council about the chips deteriorating, but that they did not appear to be doing anything anyway (To which every other member went: “What chips?”). Upon being asked Obi Wan calls for Helix to get a chip or two out of the storage closet they had been forgotten in. Which was then promptly handed to people with specialized equipment for decoding bio mechanical chips. 

After the latest round of sedation has worn off Padme, Obi Wan, and Ahsoka go to see Anakin. They are told that before Anakin can be released he needs to be assessed by three different mind healers. They go intending to tell Anakin of the twins. Padme also goes with the intent to test the waters about the possibility of separating (She does not know that her and Ahsoka dating would go anywhere, nor are either of them even thinking of it right now, but even leaving that aside Padme has realized that her and Anakin are not healthy together). Things do not go quite as intended. 

At first Anakin is so happy to see all three of them, he exclaims over Ahsoka being so grown up (she is now 24, now older than Anakin). It rapidly becomes clear that Anakin expected he would be released immediately, now that they were back.  There was a small blip, a frown and a strange heaviness when he realized that all three of them were backing the healers that he needed to be assessed.  Anakin also did not like how close Ahsoka and Obi Wan were, oh before they vanished he would joke about Ahsoka being their shared padawan, but he preferred it when Obi Wan’s lessons unintentionally reinforced the idea that Ahsoka was better off with Anakin than any other Jedi.

There were a few moments when he could speak to Padme alone, and the way he spoke left  Padme feeling cold. There was nothing overt but it all reinforced a possessiveness that Padme realized she did not want in her or her children's lives. They leave without telling Anakin about the children. 

Padme tries six more times to go and talk to Anakin about separating. At best he acts like he does not hear or understand her words.  At worst he starts ranting about Obi Wan trying to steal his wife and needing to be sedated. 

Regretfully, and with the backing of both the Jedi and the 212th community, Padme starts the process to get a divorce. Nabooian traditions insist that a couple that wants to divorce must meet with a Nabooian marriage counselor first, to see if reconciliation is possible.  Setting this up takes several months as, upon being informed of proceedings Anakin had a second breakdown. His connection to the Force was such that the Jedi needed to block the connection lest he become very destructive. Only the Force Blockers left him not coherent enough to attend the session with Counselor. In the end the Jdi built a special room just to block Anakin’s specific connection to the force for them to meet in.  Traditionally the divorcing couple meets at least 5 times before permission is given to divorce.  It took one meeting for the Counselor to grant Padme her divorce. 

The 501st had not been assigned a new general by the time the 212th returned, and Ahsoka was almost ready for knighthood.  She took command of the 501st for a total of 4 months, it was too uncomfortable and too much like she was replacing Anakin (made weirder by the fact she still wanted to date his soon to be ex wife  and was helping to raise his children).  In the end Obi Wan ended up taking direct command of the legion, with Cody taking the lead of the 212th.  This also made everyone uncomfortable, thankfully the war ended three months after that (the revelation of what the chips did had the council contemplating finding the planet that 212th had been stranded on).

Palpatine had been indiscrete around someone who he had assumed would back his power play for an Empire. To be fair, in another world that family would have been high ranking imperial with very human centric tendencies. 

Palpatine had not expected a Lieutenant of the Galactic Navy, member of the 212h or not, to whip out a slug thrower and shoot at a party when Palpatine had admitted to knowing about the slave chip in the clones' heads. 

To be fair, neither did the Lieutenant.

[thesunfyre4446]

The period where alicent was viserys's regent should not take as as a gotcha moment by you. Kinglanding was In the most total degradation, many problems ignored by the Crown which used the money intended for the welfare of the people to buy allies for the usurpation and hold parties to celebrate the death of their relatives. Not to mention all the money used for redecorating the red keep when the targaryen already pledge allies with the faith 💀

i think you're confused

"Ser Tyland Lannister was named master of coin in place of the late Lord Beesbury, and acted at once to seize the royal treasury. The Crown’s gold was divided into four parts. One part was entrusted to the care of the Iron Bank of Braavos for safekeeping, another sent under strong guard to Casterly Rock, a third to Oldtown. The remaining wealth was to be used for bribes and gifts, and to hire sellswords if needed. To take Ser Tyland’s place as master of ships, Ser Otto looked to the Iron Islands, dispatching a raven to Dalton Greyjoy, the Red Kraken, the daring and bloodthirsty sixteen-year-old Lord Reaper of Pyke, offering him the admiralty and a seat on the council for his allegiance."

the greens transferred the money to castly rock to make sure that even if the blacks will manage to take KL they'll have no access to the royal treasury. there was no lack of money during aegon's first days as king, and having one ball is def not going to bankrupt the kingdom. and all of this happened after the dance, and i was talking about pre-dance when alicent and otto ruled in viserys's stead. otto was hand ever since jaehaerys was king. he's competent at his job and has taught his daughter how to actually run a kingdom. deal with it.

[bomberqueen17]

Liveblogging the Aubreyad: Post Captain Part The Last

I've lost track of how many parts I put this into. I should've pared it down more but I wrote the notes in an insomniac fever dream and like.... writing them made me realize that I hadn't really followed it thoroughly the first time I read it, so perhaps the summary is mostly useful to me after all.

Part 1: honeys and financial ruin part 2: bearsona and Indiaman read the footnote part 3: HMS Shitshow vs. The World now part 4: gibbon-related crimes, sixty thousand bees, spanish treasure

I was going to tell you about the promotions first. Yes, the cutting-out expedition was considered a resounding success, both in the press and by the Admiralty, and so glory is showered down upon the participants, surely in parts equivalent to how deserving those parties are, yes?

no.

Jack gets his promotion-- he is made post-captain at last, which was his dream.

But this means he is now too important to command the Fanciulla, which was what he had been hoping for. So he is instead cast ashore.

The Fanciulla is suitable for a master and commander. So someone is going to be rewarded with a promotion from lieutenant to commander!

Rewards such as this are given by seniority. The senior lieutenant-- yep. Parker. Not Pullings, who actually did the work, who fought like a lion in the boarding party, with his bloody axe to cut the cables. Not Babbington, who was so nobly wounded, staggering around weak from blood loss with his arm bound to his chest still carrying out orders and doing his level best dizzy and sick and brave as fuck.

No. Fucking Parker.

Lord Melville asks Jack, looking very closely at him, if Parker is fit to command. Jack cannot, cannot, cannot tell the truth; he has to do the kind thing. (Not just to be nice, but because Parker does in fact have influential friends, and carrying tales against him would set Jack up to look very distastefully like a scrub himself, even though not doing so means lying directly to the First Lord.) And so, despite having nearly lost the ship to mutiny against Parker's incompetence and tyranny, despite Parker having spent the entire action ineffectually shaking on Polychrest's deck, largely incapable of speech, Parker is rewarded.

Jack diplomatically suggests that the former Polychrests be divided up among other ships, and the Fanciulla manned out of a fresh body of men, which to an attentive ear says all that needs to be said, but Melville is not a seaman and does not catch the significance. Still, it hopefully sets Parker up for more success, and frees those who have suffered under him already from further such treatment. (He later gives Parker a pep talk about not being such a fucking idiot. Parker swears he'll do better. He's so happy. Jack takes slight consolation from this.)

Lord Melville feels so badly about casting Jack on shore after having given him the world's most wretched ship and being repaid with this absolutely beautiful little action, knowing as he does that Jack cannot spend time ashore without risking arrest, that he offers him a temporary command. Jack goes aboard the Lively, a crack frigate, to allow her regular long-term captain to spend time ashore to attend a session of Parliament.

He invites Stephen to come along as his guest. Stephen for some reason cranks up all his weirdo dials and smashes the knob off, coming ashore in a knitted onesie carrying, for some reason, a glass beehive, to Jack's astonished mortification. The people of the Lively have all been together a very long time and are set in their ways, not unkind but not very open to outsiders. They are extremely competent, can perform complex operations of the ship following one single general order, can sail their ship perilously close to land without danger, because everyone aboard knows their duty and knows their ship. Well-bred all, they politely avert their eyes from Stephen's bizarreness, and carry on.

But they haven't practiced much gunnery, so Jack has something to improve upon. He avoids being scolded for wasting too much powder by finding various little onshore French batteries and blasting the shit out of them, which answers the purpose very nicely and motivates the people to like him at least a bit.

There is a bizarre interlude with the preserved head of a gibbon. Jack is required to oversee punishment, and a sailor is charged with stealing the taxidermied head of an ape from another sailor, but insists it is his own taxidermied ape's head. Stephen provides some hint of his worth in this case, as one of the sailors' apes was female and the other male-- Jack shows him the head and asks whether it is a male or female gibbon, and Stephen immediately identifies that it is male by the cheek pouches, thus exonerating the accused of the charge of theft, as the ape's head he claimed to have owned all along was that of a male.

And another hint of Stephen's true worth comes out in this notable conversation occurs at a festive dinner, spawning a joke that is repeated throughout the rest of the series:

“Dogs,' said the chaplain, who was not one to leave his corner of the table silent long. 'That reminds me of a question I had meant to put to you gentlemen. This short watch that is about to come, or rather these two short watches - why are they called dog watches? Where, heu, heu, is the canine connection?' 'Why,' said Stephen, 'it is because they are curtailed, of course.' A total blank. Stephen gave a faint inward sigh; but he was used to this. 'Mr Butler, the bottle stands by you,' said Jack. 'Mr Lydgate, allow me to help you to a little of the undercut.' It was the midshipman who first reacted. He whispered to his neighbour Dashwood, 'He said, cur-tailed: the dogwatch is cur-tailed. Do you twig?' It was the sort of wretched clench perfectly suited to the company. The spreading merriment, the relish, the thunderous mirth, reached the forecastle, causing amazement and conjecture: Jack leaned back in his chair, wiping the tears from his scarlet face, and cried, 'Oh, it is the best thing - the best thing. Bless you, Stephen - a glass of wine with you.'

Jack repeats that one constantly.

But by day he is in lower spirits and confesses to Stephen that he should never have pursued Sophie, he will never be solvent again and has no business trying to marry anyone, he could never offer her any kind of life and will not "pester her" any longer.

Stephen goes ashore, goes to Sophie, tells her she must go down to where Jack is anchored and ask him for a lift to the Downs. (Meanwhile he is informed that Diana has gone into keeping with Canning, as his mistress. Utter scandal.)

Sophie insists she will not do such a thing, could never be so bold. But, she does.

Stephen has to go do more intelligence things, so he leaves them to it. Sophie journeys briefly on the Lively, she and Jack come to an agreement-- not quite an engagement, but an agreement. Her mother strenuously objects and Sophie is left miserable at this conflict between desire and duty, but she remains resolute.

Stephen meanwhile has discovered that Spain is entering the war on France's side, and to do so needs the contents of a treasure convoy enroute from the River Plate to Cadiz. There's time to intercept it. Stephen asks that the Lively be included in this intercepting squadron, and his wish is granted.

(He goes to the opera after relaying this intelligence, and Diana is there, in a royal box, being a decorative mistress, on display, all artificial poise and poses, deliberately charming. Stephen is horrified by this tacky display. She sees him, but he is in a box and keeps the door locked, so when someone comes and knocks he does not answer.)

He goes aboard the Lively, where there is much confusion and uproar about the new orders. And despite his efforts, Jack finds out a little something of his role in Naval Intelligence.

'I have no idea,' said Stephen. 'God damn and blast the Admiralty and all its lords,' cried Jack. 'Utmost dispatch - muck up all one's plans -I do apologize most humbly, Stephen.' He read on. 'Hey, hey, Stephen? I thought you had no idea: I thought you had just chanced to come down with the messenger. But in case of separation of one or more… certain eventualities and all that, I am requested and directed to avail myself of the counsels and advice of S. Maturin, esquire, MD etc., etc., appointed pro hac vice a captain in the Royal Navy his knowledge and discretion.' 'It is possible that you may be required to undertake some negotiations, and that I may be of use in them.' 'Well, I must be discreet myself, I find,' said Jack, sitting down and looking wonderingly at Stephen. 'But you did say…' 'Now listen, Jack, will you? I am somewhat given to lying: my occasions require it from time to time. But I do not choose to have any man alive tell me of it.' 'Oh no, no, no,' cried Jack. 'I should never dream of doing such a thing. Not,' he added, recollecting himself and blushing, 'not when I am in my right mind. Quite apart from my love for you, it is far, far too dangerous. Hush: mum's the word. Tace is the Latin for a candle. I quite understand - am amazed I did not smoke it before: what a deep old file you are. But I twig it now.'

The Admiralty gave Stephen a temporary commission so that he would share in the prize money. Stephen is still hoping to use diplomacy, but without revealing himself as the agent; he has asked for and received a Spanish-speaking negotiator who he has carefully fed lines to, and rehearsed the arguments with.

They encounter the Spanish squadron, and the negotiator goes over to speak with them. Stephen knows the Spanish admiral does not fully support this war, and had hoped that with a large enough show of force, the man would feel he could honorably surrender without a fight. But no. The negotiator is returned, unsuccessful. They fight. The Spaniards fire first.

It is a complicated action, and bloody-- one Spanish ship explodes, which is always horrible-- and at the end, the fastest Spanish ship, bearing the treasure, strikes her colors but then hoists them again and runs.

The Lively is the fastest of the British ships, and so she pursues. The Spanish ship seems to be outrunning them, and Stephen wonders that Jack is not concerned. Jack has dinner laid for four-- himself, Stephen, the captain of the Spanish ship that struck to him during the action and who is even now a prisoner on his ship, and the captain of the fleeing ship ahead of them.

And then he spreads his last remaining sails, having needed a few moments to repair the spars that held them, damaged in the action. But now that they are up and drawing, as he knew they would, the Spanish ship has no hope.

They catch her, and he invites the captain to dinner.

At dinner, they drink a toast to Sophia.

Yes that's the end of the book! Finally omg. Congratulations we did it! The other books are nowhere near this long and hopefully now that I am getting better sleep I will be better able to summarize shorter rather than quite this extreme length. But we'll see.

[stuckinthedeadlights]

James with his "How any man achieves his post on an expedition is less important than how he spends it" in E2 means so much more once you've watched E8 and get him telling Francis how he got appointed to the expedition

"I saved Sir John Barrow's son from a scandal. By chance. In Singapore. I paid... to have a very base master settled that would have blackened the Barrows' name, and the admiralty by association. As soon as I returned to London I was promoted to commander. When the Admiralty announced they would be another attempt at the Passage... well, I only had to say the word."

And then we get him telling Francis "I am a fake, brother." But he doesn't let that stand, he tells him he's not. Francis essentially tells him then and there that he's spent his expedition well.

[thevelaryons]

Corlys was the eldest son of his father, Corwyn, who was the eldest son of his own father, and its suggested that Corlys intended for his own eldest child to be a son, but it turned out to be a daughter. She gets named Laena upon her birth.

On the isle of Driftmark, Daemon Velaryon’s eldest son became a father for the first time when his lady wife presented him with a handsome, healthy boy. The babe was named Corlys.

— Fire & Blood, Birth, Death, and Betrayal Under King Jaehaerys I

“You have your own battle to fight. Lord Corlys will want a son, I am sure, and I would like a grandson.”

— Fire & Blood, The Long Reign

“The boy in the belly,” the unborn child who had been the subject of so much debate, proved to be a girl when born late in 92 AC. Her mother named her Laena.

— Fire & Blood, Heirs of the Dragon

In the end, Corlys’ successor ends up being his youngest child, a son. That very same son states his wishes for a son, but instead receives a daughter. This child is also named Laena.

Returning to Hull to gather his fleet and take on provisions for the long journey, he said his farewells to his wife, the Lady Baela, who sent him on his way with a kiss, and the news that she was with child. “Name him Corlys, after my grandsire,” Lord Alyn told her. “One day he may sit the Iron Throne.” Baela laughed at that. “I will name her Laena, after my mother. One day she may ride a dragon.”

— Fire & Blood, Under the Regents

Shortly thereafter, Baela Velaryon was brought to childbed and delivered of a healthy baby girl. She named the child Laena after her mother.

— Fire & Blood, Under the Regents

Both Corlys and Alyn are viewed as ambitious individuals. At the time their wives are pregnant with their Laenas, both men are travelling at sea: Corlys was dealing with the Myrish pirates who’d conquered parts of Tarth and Alyn was on his way to deal with the Iron Born that had conquered parts of the Westerlands.

Upon his return Corlys learned that his wife was being supplanted in her position as heir apparent (after her father, Aemon, the Prince of Dragonstone). He, and Rhaenys, believed that their unborn son’s birthright was being usurped. As a result, he quit from his position as Master of Ships. His daughter, Laena, was born later in the same year. Since her parents have removed themselves from the center of court life, Laena’s birth is a quiet affair.

His sons and daughters would soar through the skies, Lord Corlys expected, and one day one of them would sit the Iron Throne. Unsurprisingly, the Sea Snake was bitterly disappointed when Prince Aemon died and King Jaehaerys bypassed Aemon’s daughter, Rhaenys, in favor of his brother, Baelon the Spring Prince.

— Fire & Blood, Heirs of the Dragon

Rhaenys herself was the first to raise objection. “You would rob my son of his birthright,” she told the king, with a hand upon her swollen belly. Her husband, Corlys Velaryon, was so wroth that he gave up his admiralty and his place on the small council and took his wife back to Driftmark.

— Fire & Blood, Heirs of the Dragon

The finality of Corlys' wife & children being removed from the line of inheritance is confirmed upon the selection of Viserys I at the Great Council of 101 AC. Corlys obviously does not take well to this news. He had previously quit his position as Master of Ships and he keeps to this decision by continuing to maintain his distance from the royal court.

His Grace thanked the lords for their service and gratefully conferred the style Prince of Dragonstone upon his grandson Viserys. Storm’s End and Driftmark accepted the decision, if grudgingly; the vote had been so overwhelming that even Laenor’s father and mother saw that they could not hope to prevail.

— Fire & Blood, Heirs of the Dragon

Nor was the Sea Snake pleased when word reached Driftmark. House Velaryon had been passed over once again, his daughter, Laena, scorned just as his son, Laenor, had been scorned by the Great Council, and his wife by the Old King back in 92 AC. [...] When King Viserys took Alicent Hightower to wife in 106 AC, House Velaryon was notable for its absence.

— Fire & Blood, Heirs of the Dragon

Unlike Corlys and Rhaenys, who did seek to claim the Iron Throne, their narrative successors, Alyn and Baela, don’t feel the same.

Baela knew that she was technically Aegon III’s heir, but she went out of her way to distance herself from the position, most especially when she chose to marry Alyn. I think she would be well aware how her actions would be perceived by the Small Council, but she remained unbothered by loosing her position as heir apparent to the Iron Throne.

For the Hand and council of regents, Baela Targaryen’s midnight flight across Blackwater Bay had confirmed all their doubts about her. “The girl is wild, willful, and wanton, as we feared,” Ser Willis Fell declared mournfully, “and now she has tied herself to Lord Corlys’s upjumped bastard. A snake for a sire, a mouse for a mother…is this to be our prince consort?” The regents were in agreement; Baela Targaryen could not be King Aegon’s heir.

— Fire & Blood, Under the Regents

When it comes to Alyn, there’s greater suspicion placed on his intentions to claim the Iron Throne (probably because bastards are considered treacherous by nature), through a son by Baela. He certainly doesn’t help matters through the comments he’s making when he’s trying to joke with his wife.

The Hand would have preferred a longer betrothal, but the regents felt it prudent for Rhaena to wed quickly, in the event that her sister was already with child.

— Fire & Blood, Under the Regents

Never fond of Lady Baela, he now had reason to mislike her sister Rhaena as well; both of them, he was convinced, were working against him, most like at the behest of Baela’s husband, the insolent and rebellious Oakenfist. The twins had deliberately and with malice aforethought wrecked his own plans to secure the succession, he told his own loyalists, and by seeing to it that the king took to wife a six-year-old they had ensured that the child Baela carried would be next in line to the Iron Throne.

“If the child is a boy, His Grace will never live long enough to sire an heir of his own body,” Peake said to Marston Waters once, in Mushroom’s presence.

— Fire & Blood, Under the Regents

Unwin was really going around trying to convince people that Alyn was going to assassinate Aegon III. Silly old man.

Alyn’s daughter, Laena, is born while he was still travelling. He obviously does not find out until months later. Despite his previous statement in which he declared his intentions for a son who could one day claim the Iron Throne, Alyn then does the unexpected: he brings home with him the actual heir to the Iron Throne, the future Viserys II.

The leading elements of the Velaryon fleet returned to King’s Landing bearing a cryptic message: Oakenfist had sent them on ahead whilst he set sail for Lys to secure “a treasure beyond price.”

[…]

Oakenfist’s “treasure” was Viserys Targaryen, the king’s lost brother, the youngest son of Queen Rhaenyra and Prince Daemon, presumed dead since the Battle of the Gullet, and missing for nigh unto five years.

[…]

The return of the lost prince resolved the question of succession as well. As the king’s brother, Viserys was the undisputed heir apparent, ahead of any child born to Baela Velaryon or Rhaena Corbray, or the twins themselves.

— Fire & Blood, Under the Regents

The first thing Alyn does when he returns home, before he even greets the King and Queen, is to see his wife and child. It’s at this point that he learns he has a daughter.

There, before the eyes of tens of thousands, Lord Alyn Oakenfist beheld his daughter, Laena, for the first time. After kissing his lady wife, he took the child from her and held her high for all the crowd to see, as the cheers fell like thunder. Only then did he return the girl to her mother’s arms and bend his knee before the king and queen.

— Fire & Blood, Under the Regents

It’s easy to see how despite being similar type of characters, there’s still some key differences that set Corlys and Alyn apart.

[ltwilliammowett]

Examination of Midshipmen entitled to pass for a Lieutenancy when his ship is on detached service

What to do if you want to take your exams as a midshipman but your ship is no longer on duty - well, that's what this section from an Admurality Memorandum explains

Admiralty Memorandum,

17 Dec 1841

The Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty direct that in cases of a Midshipman having completed the required time to entitle him to pass for a Lieutenancy, when the ship to which he belongs shall happen to be detached, so as to prevent his obtaining at the moment an examination according to the established regulations, the Captain or Commander of the said ship in which such Midshipman may be serving, with the senior Lieutenant or second officer, and the Master or Second Master (according to the class of ship and the rank of officers on board of her) assisted by the Naval Instructor, if there may be one on board, may proceed to examine such Midshipman as to his qualifications to perform the duties of a Lieutenant, and if they find him to be in their opinions duly qualified, they are to give him a certificate to that effect, dated on the day of such examination, and the Captain my forthwith give him an acting order as Mate, and if on the first opportunity that shall afterwards offer for his being re-examined according to the established regulations, he passes successfully, his rank as Mate shall be enrolled according to the date of his first provisional certificate above ordered.

[capn-twitchery]

hi this is @neathyingenue! your drawing of lt. grace and capt. twitchery was so dynamic and i would love to know more about their relationship if you'd like to share 👀

OHOHO rubs my hands together--you've activated my trap card >:3 (also thank you sm!! :D♥︎) SO-

short answer: their relationship is a complicated nightmare at best, and it changes a ton over time. they meet in weird circumstances, things stay weird for a long time, & they end up "together." what that means, i have no idea, bc i think they would die before they talked about it or said they were Actually Dating

long answer: they meet when twitch rescues a very nearly dead grace from the arctic. twitch thinks this poor guy looks very haunted, which is apparently interesting enough for them to reroute the entire ship so they have an extra couple months to hound him for secrets.

upon getting back to london, they want nothing more to do with eachother: twitch got all the secrets they could, grace wants to get far away from this weirdo, preferably as soon as possible, thanks

so they part ways, for a while. grace starts working with the constables (he thinks he can help people there. poor guy) they keep giving him the unwanted jobs: drag bodies back home, sort the paperwork, stand guard outside the cells because this new inmate is chatty and it's annoying everybody else and-oh, it's twitch. of course it is.

they get talking, since there's nothing else to do, and twitch is Very Persistent. they strike a deal: grace can use his connections to get twitch on the good side of the legal records, and in return, twitch will give him free zee trips when he needs it. twitch thinks this will be basically never, since grace has nothing going on, right? so they got the better end of this deal for sure-what do you mean he's on an unhinged revenge mission to murder a fucking master of the bazaar? oh, they have got to see this.

grace is too reluctant to zail himself, has no other contacts & doesn't know anything about the neath. twitch is his only real, consistent source, and they want to see & know everything about how it's going-- this is like the most interesting story in the world to them! so they're spending a lot of time together. a weird amount of time together, really, for two people who don't spend lots of time around any one person in particular.

and it's...kind of fun? sure, twitch is very unreliable, their weirdness is still offputting to grace, sometimes-- but less than it used to be. they're nicer than he gave them credit for, smarter, and their enthusiasm is infectious. and grace is very helpful, it turns out, and it's nice to have company in the captain's cabin, and making him smile instead of looking miserable all the time starts to feel kind of like an accomplishment, and- oh, no.

they both react to their feelings about as well as you would expect: ignore them! or in twitch's case, ask the ship's surgeon to surgically remove them (and get refused. cruel.) they both deny their feelings for a long time. it could never work anyway, right? they're far too different.

except, not really. grace later finishes nemesis, and after parting (somwhat bitterly) with twitch & a brief stint at the grand geode, he realises maybe the laws here fucking suck, actually--maybe he doesn't need to uphold them to help people. lucky for him, twitch has a hell of a rivalry with the admiralty & it's only a matter of time before they cross paths again. he deserts the admiralty in the midst of a naval battle, onto twitch's ship.

til i give either of them an ending, they stay together from that point--at least, as much as they want to. old habits die hard--twitch still likes zailing off to do weird shit, twitch is still a criminal, grace is very much not (more of a vigilante, i guess.) they still can't talk about what they are, they still clash sometimes. but they make it work! captain & (honorary) first mate.

(& twitch's crew breathe a sigh of relief. bc they've been waiting for their emotional brick wall of a captain to semi admit it for at least a year)