#and his having been involved in the war against the empire is a pretty big deal when it comes to his character+his relationship with jyn

[asofterepilogue]

just saw a poll in which most people apparently voted that they liked cassian's andor backstory better than his old backstory

[scoobydoodean]

I just perused your tags about Dean’s narrative heart, and Sam’s motivations, and I’ve been full of thinky thoughts. There’s nothing to really disagree with in your premise, but I am trying to piece that together with something external to the story.

I knew before I watched the first episode that Sam was The Chosen One, but I didn’t really start watching until s12, and had some catching up to do. So I’m trying to wrap my head around making your Chosen One act so… morally grey. It’s a risky move, but I feel like if Kripke’s story had enough to keep us all so fascinated more than a decade after his personal involvement, maybe there’s a deeper reason Sam seems so young.

Maybe that’s just it, though. Whatever we think we know about his childhood, and Dean’s parentification, Sam is only 22. He’s not sheltered, but he is still maturing.I’m showing my creaky bones here, but to me, Sam behaves consistently with his age group. BUT he’s deliberately not presented against a backdrop of college kids, and Dean leaning into the macho party boy in the first few years sort of deflects from that, like sleight of hand.

And so Sam sliding from the Chosen One straight into addictive behaviours does make a strange kind of sense, because there’s part of the wound the addiction is patching up.

I’m sorry for rambling into your inbox, but I’m pretty interested in your thoughts on this.

I think maybe it helps to know that one of Kripke's influences was Star Wars and to consider this through that lens. Dean was partly based on Han Solo, and Sam was partly based on Luke Skywalker. Luke matures over the course of the original Star Wars trilogy, but he had some growing to do between episode IV and episode VI (and the fact that he has matured is something the characters specifically make note of in the jump from "The Empire Strikes Back" to "Return of the Jedi".

I also think it's reasonable to think Kripke decided to take Sam in a sort of hybrid Luke/Anakin direction after he completed the pilot (Star Wars Episode III where Anakin turns to the dark side came out in May of 2005, and Supernatural began airing that Fall). Playing out the Chosen One trope with Sam, in a Star Wars context means that him going grey and then dark is exactly what you want, because that's exactly what happens with Star Wars' Chosen One, Anakin. When we consider that the only people actually calling Sam The Chosen One in Supernatural are demons... well. Sam, the "chosen one", is actually destined to be used by the dark side (demons). He just doesn't know that in season 4 (or doesn't believe it).

In Star Wars, anger and hatred are considered primary tools of The Dark Side. Anger and hatred are big motivating factors for Sam in season 3 (where he really starts to turn morally grey) and 4, and season 5 is in some sense supposed to be about Sam maturing and learning to let go of some of his anger because it's something Lucifer (The Dark Side) can use (5.10, 5.11, 5.20). I'm not a big fan of anger being treated as "the bad emotion", but it is a big deal in Star Wars, and it helps make sense of what it means for Sam to have a chosen one storyline over the first 5 seasons.

Within that whole framework, there's also definitely a lot about growing up and becoming more mature (like Luke Skywalker did) and the tension of whether the protagonist will be consumed—essentially—by the ghost of his father (just like Vader initially tried to lead Luke to the dark side).

There's an intersection somewhere in this ask with "being the main character" I think? But I don't actually consider Sam to be the sole lead of Supernatural. From a story perspective, that simply hasn't ever been true whether Kripke intended it or not (and I don't even think he did. I think Sam functions as the sole lead in the pilot episode just like Hughie functions as the sole lead in the pilot for The Boys as a relatable vehicle for the audience to be introduced to the world. After that, we get Butcher and Homelander and everyone else and realize it's an ensemble show). Beyond the pilot, there is simply nothing that materially or narratively distinguishes Sam as a sole lead beyond Jared's name being first on the call sheet. He doesn't get more screen time than Dean (Dean gets more in almost every season and there are several episodes Sam is barely in), Sam doesn't get more dialogue than Dean, the found family does not center around Sam (it centers around his brother). He isn't even centered as the most competent fighter in action sequences. I don't say that to suggest Sam isn't a lead, but that seasons 1-5 are about Sam and Dean, and both are leads, which means Sam can be morally grey and even unlikeable at times (and so can Dean) as long as the brothers contrast/oppose one another in those circumstances so the audience doesn't become totally alienated. If Sam was actually the sole lead in any material way, they wouldn't have had the space to explore Sam's "dark side" this deeply, I think. At least not without entirely reframing what kind of story Supernatural is/what it's about.

[tarre-was-right]

ROUND ONE: MATCH-UP THREE

Remember, this is NOT about who would win in a fight. This is about who makes the best leader for Mandalore as a whole.

To be fair, I think we know who's going to win this one, lmao. That said! Go read the Tor propaganda, we got a silly amount of it. Actually we got an insane amount of propaganda for both of them overall.

Explanation post

Seeding

Propaganda below the cut! You can submit more on this post and I will reblog it back to here!

Bo-Katan Kryze

Anon: Bo-Katan propaganda: she babysat a Jedi child without the child dying or killing anyone and leading a planet is basically just babysitting a child on a big scale right

Anon: Bo-Katan spent like three years as a terrorist but she also spent 30 years rebelling against fascists so idk I'm willing to hear her out on this. Welcome back Princess Leia 👏

Anon: as Satine's sister, she would have received much the same early training and education in how to rule their Duchy on Kalevala, as she alluded to in her comments in The Mandalorian - while her involvement in Death Watch is perhaps not a mark in her favor, she did seemingly have many years of experience working as Pre Vizsla's lieutenant, and earned the trust of many of his followers who defected to follow her following Pre's death and Maul's claiming of the Darksaber and throne of Mandalore, forming the bulk of her fighting force during her efforts to reclaim that throne during the Siege of Mandalore - during the Rebels timeline, she has lost the throne once again due to an Imperial-backed coup, but seems to have been working to resist the Empire's rule; during this time, she is chosen to be the figurehead and rallying point of that apparently unsuccessful effort - finally, during the time of The Mandalorian, she has been rallying the surviving clans to reclaim the Darksaber as a stepping stone for reuniting their people; after her work with Din Djarin and the Armorer, she once again is selected by her people to be their leader as they work to rebuild their reclaimed home planet

Anon: Bo-Katan should be the Mando'alor because, while having done a LOT of shit, she tried her best to free Mandalore from the Empire and to give her people the safety they lost when the New Mandalorian Government fell - She worked to redeem herself, and she got back up every time she fell. She united the people of Mandalore from every aspect and kept the warrior traditions alive

@lightsaberwieldingdalek: Literally the only reason I can think of for bo katan to rule is that she’s stubborn. She doesn’t stop trying to get mandalorians organised and on their homeworld. Kinda a Robert the Bruce and a spider in a cave style parable, except instead of the English she’s trying to fight her own bad actions/behaviour towards others

Anon: Bo-Katan propaganda: you know that quote about "It's hard for a good man to be king?" Well considering she's a terrible person she'd actually be pretty good at ruling Mandalore.

Tor Vizsla

Anon: god. ugh. can't believe I'm writing this. but. - he was backed by a not-insignificant number of clans, including those of good reknown such as Clan Wren, apparently spurred by the common sentiment that Mereel's Supercommando Codex was an affront to their sense of honor by extending the definition of honorable professions for the warrior class to bounty hunting and mercenary work (which was an attempt to avert some of the expansionist tendencies of previous generations of Mandalorian warriors)

@lightsaberwieldingdalek: Okay so. Tor Visla. - This is a franchise called Star Wars. There has not been a generation without interplanetary conflict happening somewhere. Mandalore has an imperialist history which left it with a lot of people with grudges against it, and in living/near living memory their homeworld was bombed by the largest government around to the point of having to live in environment domes. The giant war across the galaxy at the moment has one side being almost completely fought by clones of a self-exiled prince of your people, they wear armor clearly based on your cultural touchstone armor and marked with your cultures symbols and speaking at least some of your language. - In that situation, you could see why someone would think its not a great idea to be led by an ardent pacifist and demilitarise to the point of making the people who refused to stop carrying weapons leave the planet. - Of course, what Tor decided to do with that set up is really terrible, he probably should have lead a militia group to kneecap anything that went for Mandalore if he decided Mandalore was weak and defenseless, not start bombing public works and being a domestic terrorist, but I'm just laying out the intentions/set up here. - Now. What he did and what he thought he was doing are different things, of course. - But you can sort of argue that what Tor's little terrorist group actually did kinda helped Mandalore. In an assbackwards, unintentional way, of course. And yet. - Mandalore was divided, and Satine Kryze was doing her best to improve standards of living, but her political views could mean causing more fractures and splits in the society. However. Give people an enemy, an opposing side, and make them so heinous and undefendable that only the most fanatic, the most violent and hateful, will join them, and everyone else will stop bickering over religio-cultural doctrine and band together against the violent fantatics who just bombed a school group. By being an opposition that no one but the people who were never going to help would join, Tor helped keep Mandalorian society together and strong. Like a supporting joint pushing against the wall. - And in the aftermath of the Empire, the experience with urban warfare and terrorist groups meant that Mandalore was more prepared to survive when they scattered across the galaxy to hide. - In conclusion. Tor Visla. Understandable starting point. Unforgivable follow through. Unmistakable impact.

Anon: "He will make Mandalore great again. And don't believe Jaster lie, he isn't a speciesist. He has a Java friend. With him, Mandalorian will do a raid on this weak core world everyday. The galaxy will be their playground and twi'lek girl will fall for them. Alcool will flow every night."

Anon: Tor would be good for gathering people for his cause, and he’d keep the dependent load small. He would also probably have easily accessible supplies (ie food, weapons, medicine, etc).

Anon: Propaganda for Tor Vizsla: Mandalorian

[momojedi]

Bad Batch: Season 3

My Predictions

The final countdown has started and I'm not ready at ALL! Here are some of my predictions for Season 3 and what I could imagine happening!

1. Tech will be back.

Yes, the trope of dead characters returning is incredibly overused. But as many others I have a good reason to believe that Tech might still be alive. Think about it. It’s pretty likely Hemlock managed to locate Tech’s body considering he left us a huge breadcrumb: his goggles.

Why would Hemlock get rid of a genetically enhanced super soldier, especially considering he likely knows how to properly brainwash someone?

I too like to think that Tech might be the black armoured soldier in the front. It’s the same, if not similar armour as Clone X. Maybe these are part of a special type of clone assassins or troopers? Could they be the prototype for the Dark or Death Trooper?

It’s pretty plain to say that Tech will likely come back, though probably not as the Tech we know.

2. Crosshair & Omega Dynamic

We've seen Omega genuinely bond with all of the Bad Batch - except for Crosshair. Despite her trying her best to get to him every time they had the chance to interact, he denied her any kind of response. Whether that would be because he's just too withdrawn or because he refuses to let anyone see his vulnerable side, we don't know so far.

What we do know however, both based on pure logic alone and the fact that we've heard them both involved in a heated debate in the leaked trailer from the Star Wars Celebration last year, is that they likely will spending a lot of time together on-screen now that they're both captives of the Empire.

Hopefully Omega will be able to lift Cross' spirits, he doesn't seem to be doing very well from what we've seen!

3. Ventress will be an enemy!

Asajj Ventress! We all know and love her, so naturally it's incredibly nice to find out that she'll be returning to the screens for the final season of the Bad Batch! Despite they're naturally being some raised eyebrows considering her fate in the Dark Disciple book, I'm curious to see in what way they'll connect the stories!

However, seeing as Ventress could rather be classified as an anti-hero rather than a full on hero, I believe that she won't be helping the Batch but rather fighting them in order to get to what she wants - as she likes to do.

Perhaps she'll end up cooperating when she realises there might be no other solution, but I strongly doubt she'll be any help to them when it comes to following their personal goals.

4. The Fall of the Clone Rebellion

It's sadly no secret that given the events of Rebels and the three remaining clones Rex, Gregor & Wolffe, it's very likely the rebellions aka rescue of the clones didn't go as initially planned.

I could imagine this being explained a bit clearer in the finale, perhaps even leading up to a great fight against the Empire in the end. We can't forget that the series mainly revolves around a rogue batch of clones, so the thought that it might also go out with a clone-centric subject, especially such a big one, isn't necessarily far-fetched.

5. The End of the Mission

And finally, my most tragic prediction: The end of the Bad Batch.

The writers have been making it very clear that season 3 will likely be the darkest season of the show which unfortunately leads me to think that, as much as I'd want it not to be the case, the finale will lead to the ultimate end of Clone Force 99.

I suspect the series to end with the batch ending up together in some way, as the original five, and landing in a tricky life-or-death situation. Perhaps they'll be stuck in a crashing ship with a one-person escape pod or maybe they'll be facing a threatening figure such as Sidious, leading to the decision to sacrifice themselves in order to protect Omega.

Either way, despite season 3 likely becoming a tragic rollercoaster of emotions, I'm glad we had the chance to experience the epic story of the Bad Batch. It's sad to see them go and although these characters have become like a family not only to me, but to many other fans, let's enjoy our last moments with them and let them go out with a bang!

[beskarthief]

Chapter 6 of the Star Wars fic "Order 65". The rest can be found here.

 This had better work, Rex thought, chiding himself for the level of risk this plan involved. General Skywalker would have liked it. Fek, General Skywalker would have come up with it. Rex could almost hear his voice. 

 And how do we find out where the prisoners are being held? That's right. We become prisoners. You've gotta think like ‘em to find ‘em!

 Ahsoka would have rolled her eyes, General Kenobi would have sighed, Cody would probably have done both.

 It would have worked though, and afterwards the General would be beaming and all the rest of them would have to admit that, actually, it had been a pretty good plan. Everything seemed to work out so long as they stuck together.

 But that had been then. And this was now.

 Rex stumbled to a halt as the trooper with a grip on his arm stopped abruptly. He recovered quickly, taking the opportunity to scan his surroundings.

 He'd guessed they were underground by the length of the elevator ride, and the room around him confirmed it. There hadn't been anything this big on the planet's surface when they'd flown over. The cool, metal walls of the compound reflected the cold white light that emanated from panels in the ceiling. The space was mostly empty, save for a few crates here or there and a lone shuttle. For a moment Rex's heart dropped as he thought that they had missed them. Again.

 They had checked five different leads before this; nearly a week of hopping around the galaxy only to be disappointed. There were always signs that his brothers had been there. But they'd either been moved or... Rex didn't want to think about the other option.

 He couldn't have missed them. Not again.

 But he might not have. As Rex waited, he began to hear footsteps. Sharp and clipped against the metal floors of the facility, reverberating slightly as they got closer. And from around the side of the shuttle came an Imperial officer, datapad in hand.

 "Oh. Another one." the man said, sounding almost disappointed.

 "We found him snooping around the perimeter, sir." the trooper holding Rex said, grip showing no signs of loosening.

 "I don't care where you found it, just put it with the others."

 The others. They weren't too late. The words filled Rex with a sense of hope he hadn't felt in a long time. But it was just as quickly dashed. How was Echo supposed to see him give the signal if they were underground?

 "Yes, sir." the trooper didn't miss a beat, just turned and started dragging Rex away down another hall.

 He escorted him through a maze of passages, Rex being careful to make note of every twist and turn, until finally they emerged into what was clearly a cellblock. Though a rather small one.

Rex couldn't help but be disappointed, Unless they were piling them up five clones to a cell, he doubted there could be more than six here. But that was always the way with these facilities; size sacrificed for discretion.

 He wondered what could be so bad that even the Empire wanted to keep it hidden.

 The trooper with the death grip on his arm shoved him forwards, tightening his fingers around Rex's arm as he swiped a key card through the slot next to one of the doors. The cell opened with a faint shunk sound and Rex was unceremoniously thrown inside.

 He threw his hands up and caught himself against the far wall, door already clicking shut behind him. The trooper’s footsteps receded back the way they had come and he was left alone in the darkness. Or so he thought.

 "Before you get any ideas, this corner's mine." came a voice from the darkness, and Rex spun to face it.

 Leaning his back against the wall was another clone, stripped of most of his armor, though what remained was dirty and striped with a muted, green color. He stretched his legs out in front of him, the space small enough that his feet touched the far wall.

 "How many others are there?" Rex hissed, not sure if the Imperial might still be within earshot.

 The other clone shook his head. "Nope. Not doing that again."

 "Not doing what?"

 "A prison break." he sat up, turning slightly to face Rex. "Do you really think we haven't tried it? It just... it just makes things worse."

 A flicker of pain passed over his brother's face, and Rex saw the familiar lines of his own loss. But that was exactly why they couldn’t give up. Not yet. Not ever.

 He scooted closer to the other clone, close enough that he could speak in the faintest of whispers so as not to be overheard. “I have a guy on the outside.”

 “Oh, really? Well, let’s hope he stays there.”

 “If you could just tell me how many others there are, maybe we could join him.”

 “Look, pal.” Rex didn’t like being called pal, or appreciate the clone’s tone. “It’s not like I want to stay in here. But I’m not getting shot just because you think you’re the one in a million that can pull off a jailbreak. So leave me out of it.”

 Rex sighed. “What’s your name, trooper?”

 “Doesn’t matter. We’re all the same to them.” he jerked his head in the direction of the hall. Rex waited, and after a long moment he let out a breath. “Clik. My name’s Clik.”

 “I’m Rex. Captain Rex.” 

 “Oh yeah, I heard about you. 501st huh? Not bad. Doesn’t matter in here, though. You’re not captain of anything once the Empire gets you.”

 “What if I told you I let the Empire get me?”

 “I’d say you better be joking cause that’s about the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard. And I’ve done multiple shifts with Fireball.”

 “Is he here?”

 “...Yeah.” Clik said begrudgingly after a moment. “But like I said, it doesn’t matter. We’re not getting out of here. Nobody does.”

 Rex ignored him. “When I give the signal, will he follow your lead?”

 “Signal? Are you even listening to me?”

 “When I give the signal, will he follow your lead?” Rex reiterated. 

 “Yeah.” Clik sighed. “Yeah. He’s that kind of stupid.”

 “Good.” Rex replied with the beginnings of a smile. ���You’ll know it when you see it.”

 “I’m still not helping you with this idiotic plan.” the other clone reminded him.

 “Good thing it’s not idiotic then.”

 It wasn’t long before the Imperial returned, this time with friends. They opened up the cells and Rex stepped out into the hall, only to immediately have cuffs slapped onto his wrists alongside the others. But at least he was finally able to see what he was working with. Three other clones beside himself and Clik. Assuming one of them was Fireball, that meant two clones that he had to find a way to let in on the plan. He just hoped they would follow his lead. And that Echo would see the hangar doors opening and be able to slip inside. The shuttle had to get out somehow. 

 A lot of this plan was relying on hope. 

 The guards stopped them before the shuttle, giving each of them a final pat down to make sure they weren’t carrying any kinds of hidden weapons. Rex thought it was probably unnecessary, but was thankful for the distraction nonetheless. At least he could rely on protocol to be menial as ever. Some things never changed. 

 And then it happened. The trooper was halfway down the line when the hangar doors began to grind slowly open, dropping bits of leaf litter onto the ground. It wasn’t ideal; the doors were above them, so Echo would have no way of sneaking inside. But, on the other hand, that also meant that it was even more obvious from the air.

 He watched the edges of the slowly opening ceiling until the officer had returned, looking them over with an expression of extreme distaste.

 “Are you quite done?” he asked the trooper still in the midst of a pat down. “I would like to get this over with as quickly as possible.”

 “Almost, sir.”

 Rex was fairly sure he would like to have working for this officer over as quickly as possible. He knew the type. 

 “Well, hurry up.” the man glared down his beaky nose at his datapad, scrolling through it with a flick of a finger. “Five, yes?”

 “Yes, sir.” 

 “CTs, yes?”

 “Yes, sir.”

 “Are you done yet?”

 “Almost finished, sir.”

 “I’m not interested in a status report, trooper. It was a yes or no question.”

 “Yes, sir.”

 If Rex hadn’t of felt a deep seated hatred towards the Imp that had thrown him and his brothers in a cell, he might have even felt sorry for him. Just then a flash of movement at the edge of his vision caught his eyes and he glanced at it, careful not to turn his head and give anything away. 

 Echo. He was perched above them, rifle in hand. The reflective surface of the sniper scope flashed at him and Rex inclined his head ever so slightly to let him know he’d seen him. 

 Now he just needed to get the Imps’ attention. As the officer walked past him Rex stretched out his foot, catching the end of the man’s step and making him stumble.

 He grimaced, looking down his nose at Rex.

 “Don’t start a fight you can’t win, clone.” He said it with such disdain that Rex had to smile. 

 “I wouldn’t dream of it, sir. Not what us clones were made for.” He said innocently. 

 “Oh really?” the Imperial raised a thin eyebrow.

 “That’s right, sir. We don’t start fights.” Rex said, tilting his head in Echo’s direction. “We finish them.”

 He brought both his fits up in unison, still cuffed together at the wrists, and felt the resounding -  and very satisfying - thwack as they connected with the man’s jaw. One of the troopers leveled his gun at Rex, finger inching towards the trigger, and then a shot rang out from above and he slumped to the ground.

 Then everything happened all at once.

 Both Rex and one of the other Imperial troopers lunged for the fallen man’s gun at the same time, but Rex got their first, rolling into a firing position even as he slammed the butt of the weapon into his opponent’s helmet. The trooper toppled backwards, thrown off balance, and fell directly into the line of clones still standing single file behind him. They weren’t orderly for much longer.

 Clik, despite his earlier hesitations, was the first one in; grabbing the gun out of the Imperial’s hands while he was distracted and shooting another of the swiftly approaching guards point blank. He then tossed it to one of his comrades, who moved to cover his back as Clik began searching the stunned guard for the keys to unlock their cuffs. When the Imp tried to get up one of the other clones hit him in the head; knocking him out cold. 

 “Get to the ship!” Rex yelled, gesturing towards the shuttle even as the hangar doors above them began to grind closed. He glanced around for the control panel and spotted another trooper standing by the far wall, the blinking lights of the console beside him, leveling his blaster at-

 “Get down!” Rex barreled into Clik, knocking him to the ground. He could feel the searing heat of a blaster bolt fly over head, barely missing the top of his head as he covered his brother with his body. Another shot followed it, and then the sound of someone falling to the ground. Rex raised his head in time to watch the Imperial’s gun fall from his now limp fingers. Thank the Force for Echo.

 But it wasn’t over yet. He could already hear the echoes of footsteps approaching from back the way they had come, and when he scanned the hangar bay for the officer he was nowhere to be seen. Rex cursed himself. He should have known the coward would go for reinforcements. If they were going to do this, they had to do it now. 

 “Everybody to the ship! Now!” he shouted, waving them on. Clik tossed the keys into his outstretched hands, cuffs already dangling off his own wrists, and Rex saw the flicker of light back in his brother’s eyes. It looked like hope. 

 And then it was gone.

 Rex saw the flash of light before he heard the shot, reflecting off the cold metal halls of the hangar. Clik’s eyes widened with shock for a fraction of a second, then he went limp and slumped towards the floor. All of it had happened in the time it took for Rex’s hand to close around the keys. 

He was gone before he even hit the floor, the light snuffed out with him. Rex blinked hard, once. All the time he had to grieve right now if he didn’t want to lose any others. 

 “Everybody, move!” he shouted, voice raw as he urged the others - the survivors - onwards. One of them was already standing on the ramp that led up to the shuttle, pulling his brothers in one by one. He helped Rex up, then continued to wait, as though expecting Clik to get up and follow them. 

 “He’s not coming.” Rex forced the words out, every syllable taking something from him.

 The other clone lingered for a moment more, not wanting to leave his brother behind. Rex grabbed his shoulders and pulled him inside as another blaster bolt hit the side of the shuttle.

 “We have to go!”

 That seemed to snap him out of it and he nodded, turning and bolting into the ship after the rest of them, hitting the panel to close the shuttle doors as he did. Rex followed him, clambering up into the cockpit and settling into one of the seats. Three of them. He had gotten out three of them.

 But somehow the loss of one felt so much greater. 

 Rex took a deep breath and added him to the list. He didn’t have time to mourn now, but he would later. They all would. Once they’d won this war. Once it was over. He owed it to all of them. 

 To Clik.

[alarajrogers]

Just re-reading some of my old "for the love of God vote for Biden so we don't get Trump" posts, and I'm super happy that instead we have Kamala Harris, who people seem to be excited about... but I did notice a recurring theme in the leftist opposition (aside from refusal to actually understand electoral politics or pay attention to what's going on outside of the one issue they care about):

"We need to smash the existing system because it doesn't serve anyone! We need a revolution!"

It is understandable that Americans should believe in this fantasy. We have been taught that our Glorious Revolution that started this country was the height of righteousness and a wonderful thing for the whole world.

The problem is, it wasn't a revolution except in the most technical sense. It was the overthrow of a distant colonizing power and the institution of locally controlled government.

"Revolutions" that get rid of distant colonizing powers and grant the locals self-governance are often pretty successful, because the locals have a structure for self-governance already -- no distant colonizing power has ever been successful by installing nothing but puppets at every level of government in the entity they're trying to govern. But they're not really revolutions. They're the overthrow of occupying powers.

France took inspiration from us, misunderstanding what our "revolution" really meant, because they hadn't had 250 years to understand colonialism and what it meant and how it behaved... and their revolution involved unspeakable bloodshed and then takeover by a strongman who wanted to conquer Europe, and came damn close to doing it. How many French people died in the revolution? How many in the Napoleonic wars? Yeah, eventually they got their shit together and got a better government in place. It only took them a hundred years after the revolution... which, by the way, killed 16,000 French people. There were not that many nobles in the country. During the century of unrest that followed -- Wikipedia quotes this:

"Every [French] head of state from 1814 to 1873 spent part of his life in exile. Every regime was the target of assassination attempts of a frequency that put Spanish and Russian politics in the shade. Even in peaceful times governments changed every few months. In less peaceful times, political deaths, imprisonments and deportations are literally incalculable."

The Russian Revolution killed even more people. They started with the idealistic notion of a state that would wither away, and ended up with totalitarianism, and widespread hunger and black markets, because their version of Communism had to start with a state strong enough to strip everyone's property. They had a brief period of free press and free speech from the mid-80's when the Wall fell, to the 10's when Putin started turning them back into a colonizing empire. Now they are no better off than they were before the Revolution -- overall better food and health care, maybe, but less freedom to speak out against the government.

Oh, but our revolution would be different, right?

I want y'all who hope for revolution to seriously ask yourself these questions:

In the US, who has the most weaponry (outside of official government functions like military and cops)? How strong is our military? How leftist are our soldiers, in general? How leftist is the country, in general? Who controls the media that tells most of the country what to think?

I will answer those questions for you:

Right wing gun nuts who hate queers, Jews and Muslims and are not real happy with the notion that women and black people are human

Strong enough that if every single right wing gun nut rose up in revolution to kill our elected leaders, the military could put them down

Not very leftist at all

Our "left" is the rest of the world's center or moderate right

Big corporations, and a disproportionate number of evangelical Christian billionnaires who control those corporations

In other words, a violent leftist revolution is NEVER GOING TO HAPPEN. Never. Not in our lifetimes, at least. And I'm including three year olds in that "our" there. And if it did, it would probably condemn our country, and most of the world, to unrest for a hundred years, and might result in us ending up with a far-right-wing dictatorship at the end of the churn.

The far left wing of this country -- the communists and extreme socialists who want to see all or most capitalism destroyed -- are a tiny minority of the nation. The progressives, who want stronger socialist protections but are okay with capitalism existing with stronger controls, and who want to see all people being treated as equals, are not a minority but have almost no guns in comparison to the right wing. Guns are actually necessary in rural areas due to the existence of wolves, bears, coyotes who will eat your chickens, etc, so even if we had excellent gun control measures, the majority of the non-government weapons would be held in the rural areas, which are predominantly white, Christian, and have been largely taught that queers, Jews, Muslims, atheists and socialists are evil subhumans. But most of the non-military weapons are held by cops... who exist to protect property rights and are so riddled with racism, sexism, ableism and corruption that good cops often end up dead rather than being able to change anything.

When do you think a minority of leftists who mostly do not have guns are going to be able to mount a revolution against the most powerful military in the world, against cops who are willing to drop bombs on civilians (check out the story of MOVE in Philadelphia, and recall that the cops have gotten worse toward civilians since then), against the people who feel like they're not really safe unless they have twenty-seven guns in their home and they know how to shoot all of them?

Your leftist violent overthrow of the wealthy will never happen, because all the wealthy will do is use the media to redirect a substantial number of you into attacking Jewish doctors and lawyers for being "rich" instead (or for being "Zionists", which is happening right now, because anti-semitic hostile powers like Iran and Russia have infiltrated your leftist spaces and filled them with misinformation), and the people who should share your class consciousness think you should be dead for not being a straight evangelical Christian, or for believing in Communism, or both.

Your only hope is to change the culture. Change the government through non-violent ways like peaceful protest, calls and letters to your representatives, and voting. Change people's beliefs by writing, teaching, running for office and speaking, controlling school boards to make sure the next generation are taught to question authority and not mindlessly accept everything the media tells them. Make things better in little ways, then crow about it so everyone knows you did it, then use that to prove that you could make things better in bigger ways if you were given the power to do so.

You have tried, election after election, to "teach the Democrats a lesson" by withholding your votes, to make them go further left. As a result they went further right. Because if leftists don't vote, why should an elected politician care what they want? Go after the people in the middle who could maybe be pried loose from the right wing, by catering to them. That's how we got Don't Ask Don't Tell and the Defense of Marriage Act and welfare "reforms" that fucked over poor single moms and why we still don't have national marijuana legalization despite the fact that Bill Clinton admitted to smoking it in college. When a strategy has not only failed to work but has made matters much worse, over the course of at least 20 years, maybe 50, why do you keep pushing it like it changes anything?

You argue, votes don't change anything. Has nothing changed in 50 years? Corporations have more power now than when Howard Beale yelled "I'm mad as hell and I'm not gonna take it anymore" in the movie Network, in the 70's. Real wages are down. The job I do paid $90 an hour in 2010 and now it pays $70 -- that's not "with inflation", that is actual numbers. AIDS happened and killed untold thousands of gay men, drug users, hemophiliacs and people who needed blood donations, because the left wing didn't come out to support Jimmy Carter, so we got Reagan instead. Reagan didn't cause AIDS, but he did his damned best to make sure that AIDS research got no federal funding. Many things got worse because you didn't come out and vote.

Things have also gotten better. Because people who are nowhere near as far left as you economically, but who believe all humans should have rights, have voted, so now we have a world where on paper everyone is equal and discrimination is illegal, which is nothing at all like a world where everyone is actually equal but a hell of a lot better than a world where people are allowed to legally discriminate. But meanwhile things turned to shit for the working class. Because you guys are the ones who put pressure on the government to protect people's economic rights, and you abdicated because you wanted to teach the politicians a lesson. Well, you sure did. You taught them that nobody who votes cares all that much about economic justice. It's only now that late-stage capitalism and corporate/right-wing control of our economic system has gotten so toxic it affects the middle class, that we're seeing any economic reform at all or any pushback against corporations -- because you gave up. Because you declared, on the basis of no evidence because most of you are 20 and the rest have become so beaten down by life that you're hopelessly cynical, that votes don't matter.

The right wing buckled down and voted. Every election. Dogcatcher, school board, municipal waste authority, whatever. Vote for the person who gets you closer to where you want to go. And as a result, we are on a precipice where, despite how unpopular their extreme ideology is nation-wide, they are on the verge of being able to achieve it -- the rollback of everything we've successfully achieved throughout my lifetime, 55 years of progress, gone. Or, we can have leadership who have been trying to push a progressive agenda, uphill both ways but they're doing what they can.

This is where we are. Because you want moral purity. You want to absolve yourselves of all the bad things American leaders do by not voting for any of them. But since you had the power to vote and you didn't use it, there is no absolution for you. Everything an American leader does that is worse than what his opponent would have done, your hands are dirty if you didn't vote against him. And if you wilfully refuse to understand that voting third party in a presidential election is basically not voting at all, and that all it does is make both of the large national parties that are capable of winning ignore you, and that this behavior is why we are in such a shitty place right now...

Well, maybe you think your conscience is clear, but honestly, you are the guy standing next to the trolley lever operator, saying, "Well, I didn't do anything to stop him from making sure 1 guy died instead of 5, because making 1 guy die is as bad as making 5 guys die, so my hands are clean!" And then the next trolley operator comes along and wilfully kills the 5 people on the train tracks and you didn't stop him either, because the last guy killed 1, and you refused to accept that your choices were 1 or 5. And because you gave away all your actual power, and fantasized about power you don't have and never will, you imagined that someday, in a perfect world, you and your friends will fix the trolley system so it never hits anyone. But you aren't even engineers, you won't pick up tools, you don't join public transportation planning committees, and you won't even stop the guy who keeps turning the lever to kill 5 people because the 1 on the other track gives him money, because the other guy killed 1 to save 5 and that makes him just as bad in your eyes.

[ego-osbourne]

My last oneshot in the backlog. Probably maybe don’t expect another one for a short while? Atm this is pretty canon to how I want things to go in TDI. Enjoy :)

Invite Only

Status: Incomplete Oneshot

TW: Alcohol Consumption, Alcohol Mention, Sex Mention

Summary: Delphine asks the Masquerade to infiltrate the Thalmor Embassy. Ego is thought to be the only one that can do so, until they invite a friend.

———

Erandur was the last of the Masquerade to make his way into the secret basement. He glanced back up the stairs, ensuring the false back panel of the wardrobe was shut before exhaling a short sigh. He wasn’t sure why, but this hidden area of Riverwood always made him nervous.

In the room was Erandur, Miraak, Serana, Ego, and Delphine. It was usually dark, but the Blade had casted magelight on the ceiling just above the table that sat in the center of the room. It illuminated the area, but created harsh shadows against the walls and floor.

“Alright, Delphine. What have you got for us?” Ego asked, keeping their voice somewhat low to avoid detection from the inn patrons upstairs.

“I’ve got a hunch. And a plan. But it’s nothing I’ll be able to do due to my reputation,” she answered.

“Well, give us details,” Ego beckoned.

“I have a theory that the Thalmor are involved with the dragons returning. But, theories need evidence and we need support. So, I’m sending your group on a heist.”

“Stop,” Miraak spoke, raising hand to accentuate his words. “You… What? The Thalmor?” It was one of the few times that the group could catch him sounding genuinely confused. “Why do you think the Thalmor are behind the dragons returning?”

Delphine huffed. “Like I said, it’s just a hunch. I don’t have much to go off of, but I’ve noticed a lot of Thalmor patrols poking at dragon burial sites. Sites that weren’t shown on the Dragonstone.”

Miraak and Delphine had a short stare-down before the First Dragonborn spoke, “That’s not much to go off of.”

“I know, I know. But what else do we have?” the Blade turned back to the others, trying to find luck with any of the rest of the party. “Besides, what I do know is that they have information on the Blades that I don’t have. Secrets that belong to our organization that could help us in the fight against the dragons.”

“What exactly are you asking us to do?” Erandur queried.

A large, detailed map was scrawled across the table, marking dragon burial sites, Thalmor camps, and what looked to be possible Blade camps—all now wiped over and forgotten about. Delphine turned this map around so it faced the priest, then pointed to an area in Haafingar. “This is the Thalmor Embassy. It’s one of their more public areas of work, but they hold a lot of information there. It used to be a Blade torture camp, but that was before the war. Now it’s been turned into a public front to show face and gain public favor.”

“And there’s information there on… what, exactly?” Erandur asked.

“Blade camps, Blade members, and just general things that would help the organization. That would help us. Blade secrets that everyone has forgotten and that they don’t want anyone else to have. Secrets that could take down their organization and take down the dragons. And, if I’m right, maybe there’s even some information on their involvement with the Dragon Crisis.”

“So, you want us to sneak in and find this information?” Ego asked.

Serana added, “And why can’t you do that? Why does it have to be us?”

“Well, that’s just the thing. You’re not exactly sneaking in with cloak-and-dagger finesse,” Delphine rebutted. “The Embassy is locked up tight. There’s really no way to infiltrate it without tearing down the gates, and doing that would be suicide. No, here’s the plan,” she fixed her posture and composed herself, “In a week, the First Emissary Elenwen will be hosting a party there. It’s a party of formality, bringing in a lot of Empire-supporting parties to the gathering, and other folks of high-status. It’ll be big. Easy for someone to slip in as an ‘invited’ guest and sneak into the more vital parts of the Embassy.” She motioned to the group, “I have any number of fake invites you want. I need all or one of you to go to that party, hiding in plain sight.”

The Masquerade stood in silence for a moment, letting Delphine’s words sink in for a moment. Erandur inhaled and touched his face in frustration, “I’m not… exactly sure how well that will work.” A pause. “And, going back to Serana’s question, why can’t you do this?”

“My face is plastered all over their wanted lists. Even if I tried to sneak in, I’d get caught immediately. But, assuming none of you have had any serious run-ins with the Thalmor…” she looked at each of them individually, receiving head shakes and shrugs, “…you won’t be recognized.”

“We’d be well-recognized after the fact, though, wouldn’t we?” the priest argued. “And with all the drama we already have, I don’t think we want another group of enemies on our hands.”

Delphine sighed, “Well. I’m not sure, then. I’d figure someone needs to do this. If not you, then who else?”

The room was quiet for a moment before Ego drew a breath in to speak. They’d been thinking for a while, having come up with an idea that they didn’t particularly like but thought would be worth sharing. “No. We can do it. I can do it, anyway.” The others looked at them, confused, and Ego continued. “I’ve got another persona. I’m the Dragonborn with the mask, but without it, I’m just some random person. I could infiltrate like that, then put the mask back on after the whole ordeal is over with. In and out, clean.”

“No,” Erandur immediately retaliated. “You’d be going in alone, and I don’t want that.”

Delphine butted in, “Why can’t Miraak do the same thing? Then they wouldn’t be alone.”

Miraak answered, “My mask is irremovable.”

“Hm,” the Blade frowned. “Well… then either one of you are going to have to go in, or Ego will go alone.”

“I can go in by myself,” the Dragonborn said, mainly to Erandur, who countered, “No, you can’t.”

“I’ve done solo missions before. I went through Apocrypha alone, didn’t I? That’s leagues more dangerous.”

“I don’t care,” Erandur argued, “Letting you do that was a terrible idea and it nearly got you killed.”

“And Hermaeus had a slight interest in keeping you alive,” Miraak added, “I reckon he made his realm slightly more comfortable for you.”

Ego shook their head, “Someone has to do this, still.”

“No, I don’t think so,” the First stated, shooting a glare at Delphine. “I think someone is chasing after something that doesn’t exist. I doubt the Thalmor have any sort of connection to the dragons, and I doubt that the Blades have anything more useful than two Dragonborn.”

“The only Dragonborn I recognize is Ego,” Delphine hissed.

“You only recognize them because they’re feeding into your fantasy, and because I don’t live up to your shining example of that bastard Septim.”

“Miraak,” Ego barked at him, “Lay off. We’re not getting into that.”

The First huffed, backing off from the table and folding his arms while eyeing down the group.

Erandur added, “I don’t think your worries are unfounded, Delphine. I just can’t approve of your plan. There has to be a better way.”

“Trust me, if there was, I would tell you.” She sighed, “You wouldn’t technically be alone in there, also. I’ve got a spy, Malborn, who’s going to be hosting the drinks at the party. He won’t be by your side but he’ll make sure there’s a way for you to get to the vital areas of the base.”

Erandur shook his head. “That’s not enough.”

The group was quiet again, shoulders heavy and minds clouded. Eventually, the Blade glanced up at the vampire across the table from her. “What about you, Serana? You’ve been quiet for a while… Any ideas?”

Surprisingly, Serana nodded. She met eyes with Delphine, going, “Yeah. I do.” She then turned to look at Erandur. “But you won’t like it.”

The priest frowned, muttering, “Gracious Mara…” under his breath.

Serana continued. “I know someone else with a secret persona who could go into the Embassy with Ego.”

“Who?” the Dragonborn asked.

* * *

“Oh yeah, I can do that,” Sanguine nodded, finishing off his glass of wine that he’d been summoned with.

The Masquerade (without Delphine) was holed up in one of the bedrooms of the Bannered Mare. After Serana gave her idea, they agreed to it and figured it would be best to make a supply stop in Whiterun and summon the Prince there. Bigger rooms, but more private than the inn in Riverwood. Erandur sat in a chair close to the door, head in his hands and as stressed as could be. Just like Serana had predicted: the priest did not like the idea. Ego would cover their hands and take off the mask, appearing as no one special, while Sanguine would don his Sam Guevenne getup and enter that way. They figured they should both take on different names for the occasion.

Sanguine set the glass on the bedside table and uncrossed his legs, standing before the group. “When is it? In a week?”

“Right. Up in Haafingar. Delphine said we’ll have a carriageman take us up to the exact location,” Ego answered. “We should meet in Solitude before then.”

“Ooh, we can go shopping for the party,” Sanguine chuckled, “Ever been to the Radiant Raiment? They’ve got a lot of pretty stuff.”

Miraak sighed at the Prince’s lack of priorities while Ego fed into the idea. “I don’t think we’ve even been to Solitude.”

Sanguine gasped, then snickered. “Ooh, after this, I need to show you around there. Gorgeous, rich city. And the Bards College knows how to throw some damned good parties.”

“Sanguine,” Erandur interrupted, “Focus on this mission first. It’s very sensitive and dangerous. We need to make sure this goes well.”

“What? I’m not allowed to plan for the future?” the Prince light-heartedly butted back, to Erandur’s nonexistent amusement. He nervously laid off before looking back down to Ego. “Alright, alright, I get it. My full attention is on you and the Embassy. But, still, you’re gonna need party clothes.” As he spoke, his form morphed into that of Sam Guevenne, shrinking his size significantly. He wrapped an arm around Ego’s shoulders and began to head for the door. “We could even shop around here, if you want.”

“Delphine already gave them an outfit,” Miraak stepped in front of them, blocking their way from the door.

Sam pursed his lips and thought for a moment. “Hm. Well,” he pulled his arm away from Ego, “Wanna do something today, anyway?”

The Dragonborn opened their mouth to speak, but Erandur cut them off. “We need to leave for Solitude as soon as possible. It’s about a week’s journey, anyway. No time for lollygagging.”

Sam gave a quick frown before shrugging, “I could join you on your trip. Maybe even prove some of my worth,” he struck a joking pose, which Ego chuckled at. “I’m not one to show but, hey, if you need a bodyguard…” he grinned.

“I think it would be safer if you weren’t seen with us. That way no one is suspicious of us early-on,” Erandur said.

The Prince stopped the theatrics and awkwardly held his hands at his sides. “Well… Alright,” he faked a smile for Ego. “Sometime later, then. See you in Solitude.” He gave Ego a light punch to the arm, and the Dragonborn gave him a light punch back. “Can’t wait,” they responded.

Sam hummed as he walked back over to the bedside table, taking his empty wine glass and waving to the group. “I guess if I’m not needed anymore, I’ll head off. Safe travels, guys.” Ego waved to him as his body was enveloped in a red haze before disappearing completely.

Erandur let out a sigh of relief, standing from his chair. “I can’t believe we’re purposely letting that oaf near you.”

“Erandur,” Ego scolded quietly. “He’s not an oaf.”

“You’re right,” the priest opened the door of the bedroom and led the way out, “He’s a drunkard, too. And irresponsible, foolhardy, brazen—”

“Cut it out,” Ego hissed as they pushed past him. “He’s willing to help.”

“Probably only to get you in bed,” Miraak scowled.

Ego raised their voice, “That’s not—” They stopped themself, shaking their head, “He’s a friend!”

“He’s a Prince,” the First fired back. “A possessive, tunnel-visioned, reckless Prince. They all are. Don’t let him fool you.”

Ego frowned and turned away from the group, marching ahead. “Nobody’s fooling me. I know good character when I see it.”

“Tch,” Miraak rolled his eyes under the mask. “Just punch him if he pulls anything, alright?”

Ego rolled their own eyes, looking over their shoulder to Serana. “Help me out, here.”

But the vampire only shrugged.

“It was your idea!” Ego tried.

“I never said I liked it much, either,” Serana responded.

The Last sighed heavily. “Let’s just get on the road.”

* * *

[iturbide]

Wait what all did Naga do aside from the Tiki thing?

Naga has done a lot of things across the various Archanea games! the Tiki thing is the big one I take issue with, but it's not the only thing she's done.

A (Reasonably Comprehensive) List of Naga's Achievements:

Led the Divine Dragons in the war against the degenerating Earth Dragons after they refused to become manaketes and became feral. At the end of the war, she ordered the Earth Dragons be sealed in the Dragon's Table and appointed Medeus, the prince of the Earth Dragon tribe and its only embodied survivor, as its guardian.

This one is a mixed bag. On the one hand, she went to war to protect both dragon and humankind, since the rampaging Earth Dragons probably would have caused unfathomable damage and potentially wiped out the other tribes and Archanea's human population if left unchecked. The Divine Dragon tribe was nearly wiped out in the war, which shows just how potent the threat was.

At the same time, appointing the last survivor of the defeated tribe to guard his peoples' tomb for eternity feels pretty callous. Medeus was the only Earth Dragon who adopted a dragonstone and become a manakete, which is why he didn't degenerate with the rest of his tribe, but living with the constant reminder of his peoples' death, watching mankind abuse and oppress the remnants of other dragon tribes after what they went through to ensure mankind's survival...it's not too surprising that he eventually snapped.

Fearing that Tiki might degenerate despite her power being sealed in a dragonstone, consigned her infant daughter to a magically induced coma and entrusted her to Bantu's care, along with the dragon-slaying Falchion.

This is the one that gets me. Falchion's original resting place being the same as Tiki's has Implications along the same line as giving Duma a Falchion before exiling him with his sister. There's only one reason to put those two things in the same place, especially since the Binding Shield used to seal away the Earth Dragons was hidden elsewhere. Also, Tiki's sleep was supposed to be endless: she wasn't supposed to wake up at all. Bantu eventually took pity on her, after a millennium of lulling her back into that sleep when she woke to nightmares, and let her experience the world.

Following the destruction of Thabes, fought both Duma and Mila for nine full days and eventually emerged victorious; as punishment, exiled both of her former friends to another continent, gifting the Kingsfang Falchion to Duma before their departure in the event that they should degenerate.

This one reads as an attempt at mercy. Duma attacked Thabes and in three days reduced a bustling human city to rubble, and Naga was pretty understandably horrified by that. When she tried to punish him, though, Duma's sister -- who had not been involved in the Thabes incident -- came to her brother's aid to try and save him, though she wasn't able to tip the balance in the fight and eventually both were defeated.

Given how recent and raw the events at Thabes were, I would not be shocked if humans -- survivors of Thabes, people of nearby settlements, anyone aware of what had happened -- were clamoring for Duma and Mila's immediate executions. And that makes sense: Thabes was gone at that point because Duma decided that humans were too powerful, so what would stop him from doing the same again, to someone else? But those were not just Naga's allies, they were two of her closest friends. How could she bear to kill them? Exile seemed kinder: it put the humans' minds at ease, since Duma would not be a threat to them anymore; but it also let her friends survive, even if she would never be able to see them again.

Along with eleven other dragons from other tribes, granted her blessing in the form of a blood pact and the Book of Naga to Heim of the Twelve Crusaders, allowing them to oppose the Loptyrian Empire and its emperor Gair XVII -- who, in actuality, was the Earth Dragon Loptous possessing the human who inherited his bloodline.

Again, this one's a bit of a mixed bag. Loptous escaped the downfall of the Earth Dragons, not by becoming a manakete, but by making a blood pact with a human and separating his soul from his body and binding it in a book: the Loptous Tome. Anyone who inherited his unHoly (Major) Blood would, upon coming in contact with the Loptous Tome, become his new vessel, allowing Loptous to found an empire and terrorize the humans he loathed over the course of seventeen generations in about 200 years before Naga realized what was up. Something needed to be done about him, absolutely, and Naga rallied eleven other dragons make that happen.

But what she made happen...was giving her Holy Blood to a human, along with a powerful weapon in the Book of Naga, before leaving everything in the hands of humanity. She probably thought this was the best thing to do in the situation: when dragons get directly involved with human affairs, it tends to end badly (see the whole thing with Thabes). So she gave humans the power to help themselves. And because of that lack of direct involvement, it took another fifteen years to bring down the Loptyrian Emperor -- during which time a lot more humans suffered, including the innocent people who were living in the Empire and who were forced from their homes and oppressed by those who came after.

Gave her blessing to the First Exalt of Ylisse to seal Grima, and a millennium later unlocked the true power of the Falchion so that Chrom, descendant of the First Exalt, could oppose the Fell Dragon after their resurrection.

Again...kind of a mixed bag? On the one hand, we're told that Grima would have destroyed the world if they hadn't been sealed away; on the other hand, it did lead to a thousand years of conflict between the eastern and western nations, including at least one attempted genocide on the part of Chrom's father which he dubbed a 'crusade,' thus implying a religious connotation and making it highly likely he did it in Naga's name.

Naga's not perfect, but it's also complicated. She did a lot of good, but also caused a not insignificant amount of harm, up to and including putting her infant daughter into what she'd intended to be a permanent magically-induced coma which has left Tiki dealing with what amounts to magically-induced narcolepsy a full 3,000 years later. But she did it all because she thought it would cause the least harm to the fewest people. And I respect her for doing the best she could.

[rjmhereunderprotest]

I Survived the "Voltron: Legendary Defender" Fandom Ship Wars

I've seen my fair share of fandoms, and the subsequent warring that can go on within them. Shipping tends to be the primary focus of a lot of it, and that was no more true than "Voltron: Legendary Defender" and I'm reliving my experience with it because shut up.

I literally was only in this whole thing because, as the Megas XLR theme song states, "I dig Giant Robots", which is true of pretty much everyone. I wanted a fun space opera quest with giant friggin robots that was done better than the anime from the 80s. The prospect of former members of the crew of Avatar: The Last Airbender being on the project sweetened the deal. And for a time it was good... and then it all imploded because idiots had to ruin it.

This was honestly the dumbest dip in fandom engagement I've ever seen and it was all over shipping and seriously stupid fucking people. A series if idiotic actions that led to compromises at the creative level that severely undercut the end product. Everything that transpired in the run up to the series finale, from the 7th Season onward, perhaps even before that, you can trace to one thing... the Shipping War between which dude Keith, the Red Paladin, should fuck. His older mentor Shiro, who turned out to already be in a same-sex relationship, or Blue Paladin Lance... the literal Lancer of their five man band.

Oh it got ugly fast, Shiro was too old for Keith, they were reading too much into rivalry of Lance and Keith, accusations of pedophilia, nasty screaming about whether they'd LET these characters be gay, I watched it all and rolled my eyes thinking "Who gives a flying fuck?" Let's not even get into how the fandom treated the potential female rivals for Lance and Keith's affections. Allura and Lance shippers were a lesser front in the war of words. The main screaming matches were between the slash ships, but there was always a little ire reserved for anything hetero. I remember how desperate they all were to find a way out. To prove that Space Azula, Acxa, was not into Keith, maybe even his sister.

For a while it stayed like this, angry fans on reddits and twitters and tumblrs and forums of all sorts. Then the shippers did the big No-NO, what EVERY fan sooner or later seems to forget. You bring this drama to the attention of the creators... and you involve them in it. Suddenly it's no longer about preferences, it's about fans making demands of the creative team. "Make us Canon or die!" And it probably wouldn't have been so bad if the Voltron Team wasn't so active on social media, but they were! Poor sweet summer children, were they ever.

Any tacit support for one side over the other was seen as damning condemnation. How DARE the creatives speak about their own preferences? Or ideas? Or lend credence to that side over the others! Maybe they're pedos too if they seem to want Keith and Shiro to be together. How dare they dismiss all this evidence of Klance and ruin their whole super important character development that is clearly integral to the story about the intergalactic war against an even empire utilizing a giant robot.

I just did not care for ANY of this. I was paying attention to Pidge exclusively at this point as her story was far more engaging and or interest than over some stupid romance most people had made up in their head. And I felt that getting on the asses of the creators to bend to one side of the other was becoming more and more fucking disrespectful. Let them tell their story, ya jerks, stop trying to force them to tell what you want. Just write fanfics if you're that desperate.

Then... someone did something VERY stupid. Well, two someones actually. During a tour of Dreamworks Animation, someone thought it would be quite "corking" if they allowed their fellow "high school chums" a look at some classified storyboards and sketches. A few neat little spoilers online that they snuck out of the tour on a hidden camera. Clever little scamp, posted it online... and instantly drew the ire of Dreamwork's legal department. Net wide, Dreamworks demanded the removal of the spoilers. But one moron thought it would be a brilliant fucking idea to keep them up... unless demands were met.

"Make Klance Canon and I'll take the spoilers down!"

The idiot's understanding was, since other sites had the pictures, that they couldn't be liable for stealing anything. They didn't take the pictures, they just had them. So really, if the other sites were going to be pressured into removing the material, they could keep it up and use it as a form of protest. To make their stupid ship real.

Other people told them, that's fucking blackmail, that's illegal. And eventually that thought stuck.

Yeah ya did, Sunshine. People thought these two fans were one in the same, but from every indication it seems like it really was two people with the "blackmailer" likely being a really stupid kid who took advantage of a situation without realizing that their plan was gonna potentially land them in a ton of legal trouble. But the damage was done at this point. Because once fans start threatening to ruin ALL of your creative plans, that's when the higher ups get involved. That's when shit has to change and drastically.

To summarize what happened, from what most people have gathered, a lot of story points, ideas, plots, etc. got up ended by all of this. They had to alter their original ideas because the fans had fucked it up by going overboard. Now, whatever plans they had for the series were basically thrown out the window in favor of a new direction that NO ONE LIKED!

Allura and Lance get rushed into a relationship, Shiro's husband dies and he finds a new one some rando background dude. Any potential Keith romance is just thrown out because both sides are already losing, might as well not anger them more, oh and then lets kill off Allura next just as quickly as we finalized this relationship. EVERYBODY LOSES and it's all because a bunch of shippers could not fucking chill!

And I just laughed, I just had so much fun watching the rest of this trainwreck slide into the on fire tire fire on the garbage scowl before sinking into the sea and hitting an unexploded atomic warhead from a sunken sub! They all went ballistic, every single fan just fucking went off at once in a screaming angry tirade of abject total failure. But I was mostly cool, because Pidge got a great ending and I didn't care about anything else at that point. So out of ALL the fans of Voltron, I won. I won along with every Pidge fan and I was more than happy to watch the rest burn. And fuck'em anyway, they did this to themselves. Let them all shriek and screech and run around mad at the creators. They made themselves so fucking toxic, so goddamn impossible to deal with that I'd have probably done it sooner were I in charge and probably worse.

I'd have had Auxia kiss Keith full on the lips while she lifts one of his legs to lightly straddle her while both Shiro and Lance look on giving thumbs up and hugging close their own significant others. Shiro's would've been a dude at least because I'm not so cruel as to throw away LGBT representation. But still, totally would've done that shit in like season 5. Trust me, I would've drunk the angry screeching of everyone because they all deserved it at that point. ALL OF THEM. I have no sympathy.

Voltron: Legendary Defender is a lesson for fans the world over. Shipping is all fun and games when you keep it that way. Write fanfics, share your headcanon, create all the racey sexually explicit dude on dude, girl on girl, human on tentacle monster, etc. art you can paint or sketch to your heart's desire... but leave the creative team out of it. It's ultimately their story, not yours. And believe me, most of you here and Tumblr played RIGHT into all that shit because I know at least a few of you fucking did this.

As for me, to prove I'm not completely above it all, I'll pony up. I had one Voltron Ship, one I actually liked, supported and was totally cool with knowing it was never gonna happen. And it's not any of the ones you think... I wanted Lance to get with one specific person. Well, not person, fish-person.

Plaxum! That's right! I wanted Lance to end up with the Mermaid Revolutionary voiced by Mae Whitman! Because fuck it, Mermaids are fucking awesome and you can try however you fucking want to ruin the fantasy of mermaid love under the sea with your fish biology lessons, I know for a fact you're all wrong because if anything, mythical mermaids are more akin to sharks than regular fish and SHARKS actually DO have sex. The males have TWO big fat ones down under in fact, so what does that say about mermaids?

So in conclusion this has been a very long winded way of me justifying my mermaid fantasy and possibly grossing a lot of you out. I have no regrets and if any remaining Voltron Fans want to take issue with it, tough. The show's over I can make up whatever I want. Namely that Lance eventually returned to Mermaid world and had a hundred or so babies with Plaxum, because I live in fanfic land and you can't drag me out of it if you tried!

I have now thoroughly wasted ALL of your time. Good day!

[the-firebird69]

Criminal took his anger out on the potato chips #movie #series

He says this is the beginning of the character sandman and this is the first one working with Hellboy and I agree it's because he's doing this Nazi routine. There's a big problem and trying to leave a large has sprayed it out it's John remillard unfortunately the morlock with her and saying that they don't need the overlords. And we don't like the warlock that much either because they're trying to hunt our people down all the time and they hunted Dave's people and they wouldn't let him have kids and they did it to the max and we don't really like the max and we didn't really stop to warlock that was the more locker who did that has pseudo empire because we know that the max would have their hands full with forgieners and the warlock but might be able to defeat them. But the warlock turned on the pseudo empire and were attacking them for stuff and did not relent and Trump was hitting that up and he ruined them and granted the max probably had him do it and there are Max in the ranks of the pseudo empire as in there running it mack Daddy and Stan Ben and you don't hear about their wives it's because we think that the retards killed them their own people or these and they say it's both and they do it to everyone who's normal so they don't like these people and if these people attacked in the foreigners there be a war and the max would come top side but these guys fighting each other to Extinction would also give the max the advantage and my husband doesn't really know what stan and Mac and Ben are up to but he realizes that the idiots probably messed them up back there and that people know about it that's a long time though to be the enemy of the max and be accepted and people like mac know that it might not work at all. But he says it's better than this and that these people can't handle the program at all anyways and from his point of view and it's true and we also believe a portion of it that these people can't handle the program at all mentally and physically they can't do the work it's lots of don't want to and it's dangerous so I actually know what happened to use these three guys and their hatred to turn you against each other but it prevented a massive war if there was a massive war they would have come up and out with all that hardware and then tells me it would have taken trumps over in a few minutes and they would have been as one and would have taken over society they would have too much pressure as it is there's huge actions on them but they're handling it and we needed the time we weren't ready for that so it works both ways no because these guys start fighting each other it didn't pressure them to do anything and really is

Hera

We know what it means you're pretty Sharp but retrospect is 20/20 and we noticed it is a real pain in the ass to live here with this idiots and not to be able to breathe and we're trying to do it too but it looks like you're correct sounds like it and these guys got in the way of themselves again and it actually save the day and we don't know where it's coming from it's a warlock attacks along with the foreigners and they have distracted us from the foreigners and they could have made more equipment if they did it in a certain way and that's true it also probably would have just pushed us to take over a lot of stuff and that looks like it's squarely the faults of these warlock but really they're fighting each other to the death the way it worked out is not helpful it was not enough heat to do the job and it was smoldering and was trying to go backwards and the boy is just gotten involved in all this math over the past 4 years really or 5 years and you were dragging in there kicking and screaming and dragging him there to do what and the answer is is part of the program he makes a lot of sense and it does make sense from the viewpoint of the recreation stuff too that we came up with it looks fairly harmful to us now and we can say it doesn't really look that good from this perspective cuz it really doesn't and we're in trouble that's for sure he wanted to kill each other in order for us not to be motivated and you went a little bit past it and it's what we found believe it or not you more like actually know the history of it and this kid didn't really what do you know that we would come flying out there if we were going to get frustrated away and so what dude you're sitting there and crazy and telling him s*** you know your army is not his you're not doing a damn thing he wants and that is the kids you completely you and your bosses and people your friends with and you should leave him alone

Macs

It's really a waste of time and energy what you do John reavillard you're sitting there trying to blame you still and they just said it and you're going to get in writing they said it's a waste of space and time because you're taking me on and we're going to destroy you I said that was years ago territory to me and you're losing tons of stuff to me because you insist on just opening your mouth and your little assholes are opening their mouths all over the place it doesn't do s*** but you keep doing it and you and I found out from me shouting at your useless ass I can be in WWF

Zues it certainly sounds like it you've been going to get up there and do something Hera

Yeah this is ridiculous these people are ridiculous the situation is ridiculous and they've done this in the past and we see what they're up to there's a whole bunch of questions but Jesus Christ why wouldn't there be the idiots are at the helm

Mac propper

That's funny is me Ed McMahon I won't even be there he says it's just like fake wrestling and I said it's not really but it's close and it probably won't be there it says you would now take a bow I got to get out of here this is crazy really this is what we're doing but we've done it before but no I'm kind of sucks for them and the part that really sucks is that we proud of stuff and it kind of ruins it for them and they know it was us apparently so I guess we're moving on to something else pretty soon no cuz they were moving on to you and I get that

Trump

We're going to start a war with these idiots no we're going after them though it's going on pretty good

Mac proper

Wow this blows but it's true

Mac daddy

Olympus

[diaphin93]

No problem, you actually do catch me on a special interest of mine, which I love to headcanon alot about.

When it comes to Edelgard, I think it boils down to my position which I mentioned when it comes to her vs Dimitri, that every approach will end uo leaving somebody out and cause suffering. Though I have to admit, that my biggest problem is actually how the whole conquest works in Azure Moon. Not necessarily when it comes to Adrestia, as this is basically similar to the reverse and we should assume that people would be very unhappy with him coming in and re-introducing the status quo and the rule of the Central Church to the nation, but Leicester, how it just ends up falling in line and submit to Faerghus rule, when their history is how Faerghus backstabbed and annexed them when they tried their own revolt against the Kingdom and had to fight a war against Faerghus to win their independence, as well as the Kingdoms meddling with House Daphnel. When it comes to Rhea, the rationale behind it is there, but it is still ag reat betrayal of the Empire, which helped her to begin with and basically yet another example of Rhea making bad compromises and choices that end up biting her, and all of Fodlan, in the ass. When it comes to her trauma, it is understandable, but it is also her putting all of humanity on a collective burden for the crimes of very few people.

But the Thales and TWSITD topic is much more interesting, lol. And I agree with you. I really like Epimenides because he is the one nuanced agarthan we ever get. He is outright heroic, he just happens to be on the opposing side, which I think is always interesting and I like how he is singlemindedly dedicated to save his people. It puts the agarthans in a very different light, the implications where already there, but its different when somebody who seems somewhat noble puts them forward. I also generally like him as this counterpart to Rhea and Sothis, despite his godlike power being adamant of being a mere human and taking pride in his humanity. I just generally love this kind of character, who reject the megalomania of calling themselves gods and taking pride in their archievements as humans. I also like how apologetic he is about sacrificing Solon. It creats a sense of human connection, that he is not viewed as this mad evil villain by his own people.

So this really generally leads me to some of my frustrations with the games, like how Hopes itself feels very unfinished and abandoned. Like Hopes introduces very interesting implications, combined with the Shadow Library document for example the idea, that the original Sothis might not have been fully good and much more cruel and ruthless than we would have assumed, as seen in her more vengeful and ruthless demeanor in Hopes. Some hate it, but I kinda like the idea of the Goddess Sothis not being as good as Rhea makes her out to be. It adds relationship to the way Byleth shaped Sothis through their shared experiences and more nuance to the background of the world. Though I also kinda feel like Epimenides and Arval were somewhat of a largely aborted story for Hopes? Its basically handled inside a bonus chapter that has no lasting consequences to the ending of the game and we never gain more clarity on Shez Background and origins, which are implied to be agarthan. We know that Hopes ends more open ended so to not devalue Byleths involvement in Houses, but I can't stop but feel like they also held really back on the entire concept of Byleth & Sothis being villains in Hopes, which was what the game originally advertised itself as, which could have had Epimenides take a bigger role in the story and show us the agarthans in a different light. Then there is also how the game feels pretty much aborted to move towards Engage, when it just feels like it was created with at least some story DLC in mind.

But generally the agarthans and them being one-dimensionally evil inside the games is my big criticism. The world building, informations from interviews and ingame documents feel like the entire concept was imagined to be more nuanced, but then they ended up being really flat. And with the way they are presented as and handled, there are some messy implications due to the choice of making them not some ancient evil cult, but actually a human race of people and seemingly also the original inhabitants of Fodlan. Like to they have civilians? Do they have children? Its super messy and I feel like the game would have done better by giving us at least an agarthan recruit. You know, basically a Tharja, who gives us more insights and depth to the agarthans as a people and offers a route of redemption and survival for them through their ending, instead of us just wiping them out or be stuck in an eternal gridlock with them. Though I guess its a good place for headcanons, rpgs and fanfic though, where I love to expand on the agarthans more for myself, giving them more depth and purpose. I think offers the potential of an interesting circle of hatred narrative, being more critical of Sothis just wiping them out with a flood and effectively commiting a biblical genocide on them, which forced them into the dark and turned them vengeful and evil, in turn enacting their own cruel and unjust collective punishment on all Nabateans for the sins of their mother. Though I personally just like the idea of a narrative, where there are nuanced agarthans and that offers a story about how agarthans and nabateans have to learn to share the world with each other and with the current humans inhabiting it as equals, instead of one side trying to wipe the other out for eternity, with humans being their puppets in all of it.

If you are familiar with FF14, I also feel like the Ascians are basically the Agarthans, but done right. The Ascians in this game are themselves a race of sinister and scheming bodysnatchers who try to spread chaos to revive their dark god, but then we learn more about how they were advanced ancient humans, who survived the end of the world and try to rebuild the world as they knew it. They are still villains, but there is empathy for them, the suffering and loss they faced. Like there is one who clearly views himself as the hero who will save the world, who at one point is enraged over us, the player character, having murdered his brothers. They are never justified, but we get to understand their position.

Please tell me I'm not the only one who feels like Crimson flower did a terrible job of making Edelgard....not a villain

Like, I feel like IS sort of couldn't find a good way to justify siding with Edelgard to the player beyond liking her as a character and the only way the could sort of doing it was by reducing Rhea to near Duma levels of insane, but even then while I won't condone her actions I can understand why she lost it, from her perspective she just saw someone she allowed into her home, break into the burial site of her dead siblings with the intention of desecrating them and robbing their graves and then watched what is, from her sad, broken perspective, her own mother choose to side with the person trying to take all she has left of her family away from her, I too would lose it under those circumstances. And then there's Edelgard not even being very smart, like, does she really believe her troops would hear "the church has nukes" and not either, question why they only dropped the one on the one location and why only now or just....lose all morale??? And then there's the battle at the Tailtean plains and the good old conversation between Dimitri and Edelgard, "must you continue to conquer?continue to kill?!" "Must you continue to re-conquer? Continue to kill in retaliation?" Like.....it's like even she realises she has no moral high ground over him and is just trying some desperate redirection to not be the villain she knows she is. And also the entire "king of delusion" scene where Dimitri, in his final moments, swears to avenge everyone who died for her, who she killed, to avenge all his fallen friends and family who died because of her and her ambitions and she basically just calls him a nut job.

Like??? Did IS just....give up on trying to make Edelgard look good and just hope that off her fucking rocker Rhea and Edelgards tragic backstory would cover that up???

[staygolddindjarin]

Grief

Chapter two: Rebellion

Din Djarin x Reader x Cassian Andor

Series Summary: Raised on Mandalore, born into a bloodline of warriors, no one ever expected for the daughter of a Clan leader to go rogue. Leaving the life of security and making the journey to fight in the war against the empire meant many things... giving up the way of the Mandalore, and giving up a solid future. A future that involves an arranged marriage to a foundling from another clan.

Chapter warnings: some brief angst, this ones pretty mellow ngl

Words: 3.3k

A/n: i was not expecting such a good response from the first chapter but bruh you guys are amazing- anyway here's part two of my brain's misery

Part 2/?

The trip from Mandalore to the planet of Dantooine was long, and still ongoing. We all took turns, watching to see if we were any closer. After each jump from hyperspace, the transport would stop at a space refueling tank, before slowly going onward toward the destination. We must have been traveling several systems across the galaxy. We had a few laughs, mainly while watching Gander try and steal Shyloh's food from his knapsack while he was sleeping. Most of the other time we all just sat in silence, up until this point.

"What do you think we're all going to do once we get to the rebel base?" Merc raised his voice slightly, barely capturing our attentions as we had all been dozing off, and Shyloh was taking watch at the view point.

"What do you mean?" I had asked, not quite sure of what he was getting at. I sat up straighter against the wall, showing my interest in the newfound conversation.

"What branch do you think you'll end up in?" He was in a daze as he spoke, almost unsure of his intentions of bringing it up. His dark eyes were nearly emotionless under his furrowed brow.

"I hadn't really thought about it. I would say maybe something like mechanics," I said, thinking of the best possible use of my talents. I'm sure there's plenty of mechanical help already assisting the rebels, but with the galactic empire growing it's forces by the day, they needed all the help they could get.

"What about flying?" Shyloh perked up from his seat at the window.

"What about it?" I asked, curious as to why he suddenly thought of the new topic.

"You could do it of you wanted to. Be a pilot, I mean. You have the skills," He told me, but I scoffed. He wasn't in any way shape or form was making an ounce of sense at all.

"Speeder control races are a bit different from piloting fighters against the imperial troops don't you think?" I laughed at the idea, but he rolled his eyes, persistent with his opinion.

"It's less different than you think it is. Also mind you, I never saw you lose a race," He objected, but I wasn't having any of it.

"That's because when I raced, my own credits were on the line," I joked, seeing what he would try and come up with next, only to be met with a cold hard stare, before an answer that would shake me to my core.

"Well, now the freedom of the galaxy is on the line."

My smile dropped from my face and I turned to face the other two, who were looking back at me. They didn't expect that answer either. Shyloh was well known to be a boy of few words, and only really spoke to his friends and family. He was a founding just like the rest of them, but he had been with ths clan longer, due to having been saved from a war infested home as a baby.

He could sometimes be very wise, even if he didn't think he was being so. We weren't sure what it was, but he had this sort of presense that was so powerful. We knew when he would walk in a room, or walk out of it. It's like the air would change. Much like it changed now, with his words rendering us all speechless.

The silence was uncomfortable, and I was the one who left it unresloved, so I spoke up in favor of my crewmates to not keep quiet any longer.

"Perhaps I shall see where I am needed first."

"Perhaps you shouldn't be so afraid to explore an option you would excel in," He again rendered me speechless, and I did not have anything else to say this time. I was young, but my mind was not. I could comprehend thoughts the same way that an adult could. I could handle things just as well and if not better than some, too. He was right. I was simply afraid.

"I think we're finally here," Shyloh said, turning back to look out of the view port again.

"Its about time," Gander stood up, slinging his knapsack over his shoulder and standing at the transport door waiting for it to slide up.

We all followed suit, but Shyloh stopped us and held up a warning finger to stay still.

"There's manding droids, we gotta sneak off carefully. They don't look like bulk but they could be armed," He suggested. We were not yet at the rebel base, meaning these were probably droids of the land, and belonged to whoever oversees the exports on this planet.

When the panel opened, we were all careful to first peek out of the transport. This planet was nothing at all like Mandalore, which was dry and hot. This planet was lush with plants. And the air was slightly humid. It was a very welcome contrast from where I spent most of my life.

We all sneakily bolted out of the transport, ducking down behind one of the cargo units placed outside. We saw an opening in what looked like some sort of forrest patch.

There was a chill in the air on this planet, even in the middle of the day. Mandalore only ever got colder at night, when the sun was down and the moons were shining.

"That was close." Merc mumbled as we began to turn around and head into the grasslands, trying to find the rebel base.

We made sure no one was behind us, and were careful to check if any droids had caught sight of us.

We all went to turn around, but as soon as I did, I collided with someone's chest, rather hard might I add, sending me to the ground on my bottom. I didn't even collide that hard with the person, it was just the shock that sent me backwards.

"Need a hand?" I looked up to see a man, a sly smirk on his face as he held his hand out towards me. I took it without question, heaving myself up from the grassy, and somewhat muddy ground beneath me.

"You must be our contact," Merc smiled, and the man nodded, turning and begining to lead us to a speader that was hovering nearby behind a large set of trees.

"We must be careful not to use names outside of the base. I would be more than happy to formally introduce myself once we reach our final destination," He chuckled. It was only now that I realized he had an accent, a thick one. Probably left over from his native tongue that spilled out his mouth when he spoke galactic basic.

I know that sometimes my accent slips in when i speak. I never had to worry about using Mando'a around my fellow crewmates. They were foundlings, and hadn't been raised to speak it. Shyloh was, but he prefered to use galactic basic anyways because he had forgotten so much of it.

We all boarded the speader, Gander and I sitting on the back, our legs hanging off as we held onto the side bars.

"This might be a bumpy ride for you two," The man said, looking at both of us before giving me a wink. I scrunched my face up, not sure how else to react to it. The man was definitely on the younger side, but I wasn't sure how he could possibly see an interest in me.

Maybe he did and I just didn't want him to. Maybe I was still hinged to the idea that I would go back to Mandalore someday and marry my betrothed. I was so young, and hadn't the slightest idea of what feelings I could possibly be harboring, if any at all.

I couldn't deny I found him appealing. Anyone would, at least any human with eyes that is.

His hair was dark, and so were his eyes. He had a bit of stubble along his jaw and above his lip. He was somewhat scruffy looking, but in a good way.

As the speeder went through the forresty stretch of pathway, I kept turning around to catch a glimpse of him. Each time I did I had to look away fast because Gander would give me weird stares.

I would play it off like I was simply taking in the view of the green planet around me, and he wouldn't seem to notice.

After a while, with quite a few twists and turns, and Gander and I nearly falling off the speeder twice, we arrived to our destination.

We all hopped out of the transport, following the man into a giant cargo port. As soon as I looked to my left I could see an X-wing fighter in all it's glory. I had never seen a real one before, just heard stories and viewed holograms.

"Alright. We have about twelve other recruits arriving on this base today, so you will all be attending orientation this evening. As for right now, you look beat, and should rest. PX-74 will assign you to your bunks," He said, gesturing to the droid before beginning to walk away with a nod, but I stopped him before he could take a step.

"Wait a minute... I believe I recall something about a formal introduction," I crossed my arms over my chest and shifted my weight, trying to give off the look of having as much confidence as I could muster. I was putting on a facade, possibly to make me seem more mature. I didn't know the real reason.

He smirked, raising an eyebrow as he scanned me up and down with his dark eyes.

"Cassian Andor," He smiled, then looking right back at me with questioning eyes. "And how about you... you got a name?"

"Y/n from clan Maldrix," I said, my confidence wavering a little when he looked at me the way that he did.

"She's a Mandalorian," Shyloh perked up, and I sent him a warning glare.

"Yeah, sixth generation," Merc added, his cocky smile pasted on his face for all to see and be annoyed by.

"A mandalorian? I've heard the stories but I haven't ever met one. Are you-?"

"I'm not," I cut him off before this got twisted into one big lie. "My mother and father are."

"Doesn't that make you one too?" Cassian furrowed his brow but his tone was somewhat joking and humorous.

"No, it does not," I wasn't harsh with the way my voice came out, but I was firm. Though I wasn't one of them, the mandalorians and all they stood for were very important to me.

"Mandalorian is not a race, it's a creed. Some of the best Mandalorians I ever had the pleasure of knowing didn't even have a bloodline from Mandalore. They were foundlings, like these three," I explained, laying out the facts so that there was no longer any confusion lingering, but now there was a tension that was thicker than the trees on this planet.

"Even still, she can fight just as good as any soldier taken the creed," Merc jumped in, trying to clear the air, and thankfully, it seemed to be working.

"She flies even better," Shyloh mentioned, and I swore I could kill him. He was just so pushy sometimes, even with his massive sense of wisdom.

"You fly?" This peaked Andor's interest, and immediately he seemed more engaged towards me.

"I'm not as good as they say I am," I admitted, but he shook his head.

"No, really... if you can fly we could really use you. We're putting together a team for an air raid that's set to happen about one month's time from now," He came up closer to me and stared me in the eye.

"I'm just a kid, I might really let you down," I joked, trying not to get too caught up in his eye contact. His eyes were much darker when you could see them closely.

"I tell you what, I can arrange for you to have time in the flight simulator after orientation. If we feel you would be an asset, we can add you to the strike team," He said, nodding along to his words. I understood that they might need backup, and if push came to shove, I could maneuver faster than any pilot back on Mandalore. I never lost a race, nor did I ever lose a bet.

"Okay."

I could tell I was blushing from the extra attention I was receiving. I wasn't so sure what about me was so enticing that I deserved it.

"I have to go now to pick up the other recruits from a drop station. I leave you in the capable hands of PX-74," He said, returning to his speeder and letting us be lead off into the base.

"There are only so many open bunks left. Two of you will share one, and the other two will be placed with bunk mates." The metalized voice of the PX unit was strong in our ears, and we all followed after him as we ventured into the long hallway at the end of the cargo port.

The droid stopped at a door about midway through the hall and opened it using the side panel on the wall, revealing a young man that seemed almost younger than me even.

"One of you will be staying here. Which will it be?" The droid asked, turning towards our small group.

"I'll take this one," Shyloh said, stepping forward into the bunk to meet his new roomate.

The boy looked a bit frightened at first, but because of Shyloh's powerful yet calming energy, he seemed to relax almost immediately.

He turned and smiled back at us, waving before the IG unit closed the door and kept us going.

He walked us down passed several more doors, maybe more than twenty, before he stopped at another one and opened it up.

Inside sat a young woman, her legs crossed as she sharpened a knife with a smirk on her face. She looked up and made eye contact with me first.

"I wondered how long it would be before they got someone else in here." Her voice was somewhat low and raspy, but it was kind of soothing in a way.

"One of you-" the IG unit began again, but I stopped him, stepping into the bunk with the girl inside.

"I'll take this one." I smiled at the two boys left before the door closed on my new bunk.

I moved to set my knapsack down on the bottom bunk, but my roomate stopped me.

"Bottom one's mine." She said, looking up from her sharpened knife again to inform me of the sleeping arrangements.

I instead threw my knapsack on the top bunk, trying to climb up into it, but failing miserably.

"You need a hand?" She chuckled, watching my lame attempts to swing my leg up high enough. The fact that there was no ladder should have tipped me off.

"I'll be okay, thanks," I laughed, keeping my attitude loose and positive, though this bunk bed was already causing unnecessary problems for me.

"If you say so," She chuckled again, seeing as I finally managed to haul myself up and onto the bed.

"First try," I joked, and she laughed like it was the funniest thing in the world. I think that we would be getting along, because no one ever laughed at my lame sense of humor.

I laid back, resting my arms behind my head and staring blankly at the ceiling.

"So, where are you from?" She piped up, not taking her eyes away from her previous knife. That thing must mean a lot to her.

"Mandalore," I let out, trying to get comfortable on this lumpy pad that was under my head.

"Actually?" She seemed surprised. Everyone had heard of the planet that the mandalorian tribes had resided upon, and usually they understood what kind of people the place would breed.

"Yeah. Left just in time. Tomorrow's my birthday," I shut my eyes continuing our converastion with one less sense. It didn't matter, though. I was still fully awake.

"What would you have had to do?" She pondered curiously, finally looking up towards the bunk in interest.

"Well, to put it short... tomorrow I would have had to swear my freedom away. No living being would ever be able to see my face again till the day I died," I laid it out plain and simple, and she seemed to understand.

"How old are you?" She asked, her trail of questions getting longer and longer.

"Sixteen tomorrow," I answered, feeling a bit more tired now that my eyes had been closed, and the lights in the bunk rooms were dim.

"You're just a baby," She scoffed. "How could they possibly expect you to make that choice so young?"

"It's just the way it's always been there. This is the way," I remembered. Those words used to be said to me nearly ten times a day, and now they only rung in my mind as a memory.

"That's insane. The people on your planet must be crazy to take an oath like that," She muttered.

"You would think so... the strangest part about it is that there are kids brought back as foundlings that take the creed without hesitation. They don't even belong to a bloodline, they just feel as though they have right to the creed as much as anyone else," I silently remembered Din for a moment. He was the bravest, strongest, most loyal Mandalorian I'd ever known. A foundling.

I began to get bitter at the thought of leaving him. He could have made things better for me if I had just given him a chance. I had to let my head get in the way. I needed to think about something else.

"What about you, huh? Where you from?" I asked, changing the subject as quickly and painlessly as possible.

"Alderaan. Born and raised," She said, getting up from the floor and dropping herself on the bottom bunk.

"You been a lot of places since then?" I asked, but she first let out a heavy sigh before speaking.

"Only too many to count," She said, settling herself on the bunk like I had done.

"Must be nice..." I muttered. Finally able to relax on this pathetic excuse for a bed pad. Of course I couldn't complain. I'm the one who chose the life of the rebellion, including their miserable bedding. "I've never been anywhere outside my home planet until now. I haven't even seen the entirety of my own planet."

"Most new comers are the same. They haven't been anywhere else, then they come here and its like we're moving non stop. Base to base, on just about every planet in this galaxy," She reassured. At least now I didn't feel so out of place.

"How long have you been stationed here?" I asked, unsure of how long I would get to adjust to things.

"A few months. It's likely we'll have to leave soon. There's rumors of the imperials knowing our location," She answered, rolling her eyes, thought I couldn't see from the top bunk.

"You're kidding," I scoffed. After just getting here, I might have to up and leave again. I'll have to learn to accept this new life, it's what I wanted.

"I wish I was, kid," She added.

"I have a name," I retorted back, not a fan of the nickname 'kid'. I waited for her to ask me what it was, but when she stayed silent I sighed. "It's Y/n."

"I'll call you what you are... now get some rest, they'll come pounding on that door in a few hours for orientation," She said, as though she somehow had grown to a habit of mothering me only five minutes after we met. I dropped the conversation and drifted off to sleep, my eyes were too heavy to keep open anymore anyway.

.

.

Tags open

A/n: okay so like i wrote this a while before everything with gina carano happened and i do not in any way condone her whatsoever so let's pretend she's been recast already...

[shades-of-stony]

Royalty Stony AUs

A King for Christmas by iam93percentstardust

Summary: In 1867, Tony Stark flees New York after refusing to marry the alpha his parents chose for him. His money runs out in the small kingdom of Dacia, ruled over by King Steven of the Rogers line. Somehow, and he’s not entirely sure how, he ends up accepting the position of nanny to the king’s four children: Harley, Peter, Sarah, and Morgan.

Tony bonds with the children easily but their father is harder to get to know. Steve is still grieving his wife’s death four years earlier. His continued mourning has turned the once bright halls into dark and somber shadows of their former glory. Tony isn’t entirely certain what he can do but he knows that he has to do something or else the whole country, so attuned to their leader, will sink into despair. He begins by reconciling the king with his young children.

Meanwhile, the children have decided that it’s high time their father fall in love again—and Tony is the obvious choice. They concoct elaborate plans to force the two together, hardly realizing that Steve and Tony are falling in love, not through their shenanigans but through the quiet moments they share bonding over the love they have for the children.

A Higher Form of War by sabremc

Summary: Tony is a King with a surprising number of people out to kill him. Steve and the rest of the Avengers are fighting for Pierce's rebellion and end up with Tony as their prisoner. Oops.

Basically one of those bodice-ripping romance novels I don't read (ahem) but with far more gay.

rearrange my heart (to fit your smile) by starklystar

Summary: "You dare," Howard's chair makes an ugly noise as it scrapes against the stone floors, the chatter of the room shifting into hushed whispers and stolen glances. "I am your father and your King!"

"My King is my husband," Tony tips his chin up, defiant. "And I refuse to hear you suggest that my husband has been anything other than good to me."

Next to him, he feels Steve's shoulders stiffen in surprise.

Howard's fist slams loud on the table. "Your husband does not even love you!"

Tony jerks back, burned. He knows that. Knows that Steve did not marry him for love – does not need any reminder of the cold truth, of what he desperately yearns for and can't even hope to have – but the harshness of Howard's words was scalding, and Tony can't afford for this to go any further.

----------

Or, King Steven marries Prince Tony, Tony is pretty sure he shouldn't panic when he falls in love with his own husband, and Steve tries his very best not to cause diplomatic crises.

Keyword: try

Fealty by  Lasenby_Heathcote and Robin_tCJ

Summary: Steve Rogers is Lord of America, and was gifted his corner of the kingdom of Starkland after amazing acts of heroism in the war against Hydra. A long, brutal winter forces Steve to go to King Howard for aid, and Howard agrees – under the condition that Steve bond with his Omega son, Tony. Steve agrees, of course, for the good of his people. Prince Tony is a trained Omega Consort – an Omega of status sent to a prestigious academy to become the perfect Consort Mate to high-status Alphas throughout the kingdom. At this academy they learn diplomacy, negotiation, proper manners, and, of course, the various ways to pleasure their Alphas.

I will wait by Shellhead616

Summary: Prince Stark was to marry a Prince he never met, for money he never wanted, to reign over a realm his father didn’t care for. But the Prince did care for his people. So he ran away, accidentally joined a group of misfits calling themselves the “Avengers”, with their fierce leader “The Captain". Although, when he discovers the secret the Captain has been keeping, everything changes.

one day by mvrcredi

Summary: One day.

One day Prince Steven would be king. One day he would have all the qualities to be an even better king than his father.

And maybe, one day, Tony would be his husband.

(But maybe, before that one day, Steven should reveal his secret to the man.)

My Loyalty to You by Hazein, Shi_Toyu

Summary: The Israelite nation has gone to war, Howard is acting erratic, and it’s everything Tony can do to argue with the war council to find the most advantageous strategies for their men. Then Thanos strides out of the enemy ranks and issues a challenge unlike any Tony has ever heard. If an Israelite can defeat him in one-on-one combat, their entire army will surrender. Too bad Thanos is twice the size of any man they have. Enter Steve Rogers, local sheppard and the king’s newest harp player, who claims he can fell this giant with nothing but a sling and a stone.

Whether he can manage it or not, Tony is just trying to figure out how you get to looking like that by tending sheep...

Arranged by NotEvenCloseToStraight

Summary: Royalty AU-- Howard arranges a match between Tony and Steve, but when Tony tries to run away with Tiberius instead, Steve goes after his betrothed and brings him home. Things are difficult between the couple at first, but an impulsive kiss leads to softer moments, and finally the arranged pair find happiness together.

Knight of Wands by  Sineala

Summary: Steve has reigned as king for ten years, and in a few days peace will finally come to his kingdom. Representatives of the Kree Empire are soon to arrive for the negotiations that will end the war between them once and for all. Steve is looking forward to settling down, with his hand-picked Avengers at his side -- led, of course, by the masked knight Iron Man -- and also his trusted advisors, the most beloved of whom is Tony, his court magician, the most powerful mage in all the land.

But when Steve's life is endangered, Tony makes the greatest sacrifice of all to protect his king, a sacrifice far greater than his life. And when Tony disappears under mysterious circumstances, Steve learns that even his closest friends keep secrets that he could never have suspected.

Chasing Daydreams by comecatchmeifyoucan

Summary: “Promise you’ll be there?” He mumbled into Steve’s chest.

“Of course.”

“Good.” Tony separated from Steve but his hand was still gently gripping the blond’s wrist. “Because the party only starts when I arrive, and I’m obviously not going if you won’t be there.”

Steve felt the brunet’s hand slip down to graze his, and he let it linger there for a second before it was suddenly pulled away from him. He could only hope that he had hidden his disappointment well.

Fortunately, Tony didn’t seem to notice Steve’s abrupt drop in mood.

✧ ─────── ♡ ─────── ✧

After years of pining for the brunet, Steve was finally going to get his chance to confess his feelings for Tony. If only he could find him in the crowd of masked-people first...

Luckily, when his hopeless crush is nowhere to be found, Steve meets a beautiful stranger to keep him company throughout the night.

heavy is the crown by theappleppielifestyle

Summary: “Why did you pick me? As a match. Howard forced you to marry, but you had - there were other options. Many of them.”

“Maybe I wanted to help you,” Tony says. “To help - anyone, for once. Your people needed it.”

Oh, Steve thinks dully. So it wasn’t about him at all. It’s - a comfort, in some ways. In others, it’s… less so.

“And-” Tony hesitates. "Everyone said you were kind. I thought… if I had to marry, I’d prefer to marry someone kind.”

(Or, Arranged Marriage AU.)

WIP:

The Crown- the stony au nobody asked for by Jo_StClaire

Summary: Tony is the sole Omega prince of Angsold, who falls in love with the Alpha Army Captain of a neighboring nation. When his father, King Howard, suddenly falls ill and passes, Tony's life is thrown out of wack when he becomes a reigning monarch at 25. Follow Tony through the struggles of being a newly-wedded Omega as well as a leader of a nation. He must learn to balance his love for his people with his love for his husband Steve. (Loosely Based off of the Netflix series The Crown)

No More, No Less by ABrighterDarkness

Summary: His father had been discussing it again, amongst his advisers. He was barely eighteen , what did he need of a wife at eighteen? Frankly, he was already tired of hearing about it. Tired of meeting the daughters of the various men that were deemed important enough. None of them had caught his attention in the least and he suspected that they never would. Not when his daydreams already consisted of intelligent brown eyes, rich brown curls and a wickedly charming grin.

Protea by Anonymous

Summary: After witnessing the injustice done onto his parents, Steve Rogers sneaks into the Ferrite Royal Palace to try and find answers. Fate decides to saddle him with solving shady scandals while unknowingly becoming involved with the nation’s omegan king, Anthony.

And deal with all the baggage and drama that comes along with it.

Or…

A Concubine!Steve AU

they're both princes in this one by vapaad

Summary: Steve Rogers is the first son of the United States The entire nation sees him as America’s golden boy. Handsome, smart, charming, and overall perfection– Steve is an icon to the youths of America. But Steve, well he has one little issue. He thinks Prince Anthony, yes the british prince, is a big jerk. Arrogant and an overall asshole.

So when an encounter between the two results in chaos, Steve and Anthony “call me Tony” are thrusted into a PR stint of being best friends. But soon enough, they both come to the realization that they want more, and there, bloomed a secret relationship between the first son of the united states, and the prince of England.

tell me i'm your national anthem by oopshidaisy for chasingconstellations

Summary: Red, White & Royal Blue AU. Tony Stark is the unwilling First Son of the United States, whose rivalry with beloved Prince Steve threatens UK/US relations. After an international incident involving a wedding cake, Steve and Tony are forced to fake a friendship for the public eye - a fake friendship that evolves into something real, and dangerous.

[fandom-blackhole]

Okay you have no idea how excited I was to see that you're open for requests! I love your Mando stories so could I please request my big boi Paz? I'd love to witness you do magic with prompts : 14 (bodyguard AU) and either 49 (fake marriage)/63 (mistaken for couple)/80 (green-eyed epiphany) *can you tell I couldn't decide* *I'm a Libra* *I do apologize*

Im honored that you love my mando fics and that you got excited about me opening requests 🥺💕Also, as a Sagittarius sun and moon, I relate on not being able to make decisions 😔, but I have a great idea for:

14. Bodyguard AU 

63. Mistaken for Couple

80. Green-Eyed Epiphany  

Pairing: Paz Vizsla x GN!Reader

Words: roughly 2k, woops

Send me some AUs/Tropes??

Note: So I just wanted to start this off with what I'm thinking about this mash-up, like whats going on and the situation. A little backstory/world building, if you will. So, im seeing this as after the tribe on Nervarro scatters after the fight with Grogu, Din, and the Stormtroopers. Paz is by himself and in need of work for credits, to both support himself and save up for when/if he is reunited with his tribe he can help rebuild and contribute. That leads him to a small midrim planet that is pretty divided. You are the head of the government, but there is a group of people who keep trying to kill you and harm your supporters because they want the "true ruler" to be in your place. Said "ruler" is part of a bloodline of radical tyrants that had been controlling the planet until around the same time the empire fell, their downfall resulting from being too involved with the empire. SO, the head of your defense team brings in Paz to protect you, because not only is he a big scary dude covered in big weaponry and armor, but also because you keep insisting that all the soldiers and guards should be protecting the people not you, so bringing in Paz was his little loophole. Now on to the story!

You were not happy with this arrangement, and you had told the head of your guard just as much. You didn't need a protector, it only showed your rivals that you were scared of what they were capable of, that they had the possibility to win this war they were waging. The man- the mandalorian that had been hired was unfazed by your indifference towards him, always just trailing silently behind you look just as menacing as mandalorians were said to be. It was easy to tell that he knew his way around a variety of weapons, it was easy to tell that he had been through battles and suffered their consequences. And it was easy to tell that this job seemed to be a bit boring for him. He didn't have any excitement, most days the mandalorian was stuck following you throughout the capital building, attending meetings that he could care less about, standing guard to your study as you paced around in thought. Nothing much happened, but as time went on and the war worsened and the threat of your rivals loomed over your head you started to notice that the mandalorian would do little things that shaved a little of your stress away, or would brighten you day if only a little. Little treats would show up on your desk, or cups of teas or caf just the way you liked them, walks through the garden would result in a vase of flowers- handpicked and cut with a sharp knife at an angle, delicately- placed in your room. The first time you broke down in front of him, the stress of loosing nearly an entire village not far from where you were to the grievous ways of your enemies broke you to the point of sobbing hysterically and the mandalorian surprised you with his gentleness, as he softly grabbed your arms and made you look up at him, his blue helmet staring down at you as he said, "You will get past this...you...you are a good leader, you care for your people more than yourself, and in the end, that is what will have you coming out on top."

After that night, something changed between the two of you. Instead of following behind you silently, you started walking beside the mandalorian, in meetings instead of letting him stand silently behind you, you started asking his opinions on the battles or if he had any suggestions to help combat. The two of you got closer, and you weren't sure when, but eventually you found yourself calling the mandalorian a friend, and you liked to believe he thought of you as one as well, he at least trusted you enough that he told you his name, which you only used in the private of your quarters or study during your late night talks. When you started to show signs of the stress becoming too much, or that you were nearing another breakdown, he would gently lead you away from whatever you had been doing. More times than not he lead you to the gardens and sat you down as he would tell you stories of his childhood or of his people and culture. One evening, he went as far as to set up a little spot for you to relax and eat a little snack with tea, to give you time away from everything, to give you a break from holding your home on your shoulders. It had been nice, and it helped you clear your thoughts, the gesture had you smiling fully for the first time in months, and it was one that was not quick to fade. As thanks, you had asked Paz what you could do, to which he only replied, "Seeing you smile is enough." So you did, you smiled at him and gently reached out and placed a kiss on the cheek of his helmet.

The smile Paz had gifted you stayed for a few days, your people noticed the happiness and it it seemed to affect all of them, each person growing their own little smiles. Melancholy still hung in the air, but you felt like you had the energy and will power to deal with it now. But as all good things must end, this happiness was ripped from you, when the head of your guard rushed into a meeting with the delegates of the planet, his face was crumpled in worry and he whispered apologies as he reluctantly handed over a letter addressed to you. Your heart pounding, you opened the letter only to freeze at the sight of a photo taken of the moment that had only radiated happiness until now, staring down you only saw yourself pressed close to Paz’s form with lips pressed against his helmet. The moment now felt tainted, and you felt sick to your stomach, the happiness that was shown in the picture gone, only replaced with pure terror. Glancing at the man stood before you, he took the picture and flipped it before handing it back with a somber look. On the back, in deep red ink and scratchy handwriting read:

Now, do you really think courting a mandalorian is going to protect you from your death by my hands? Ill make sure to kill him in front of you so you have to watch as he falls.

Yours loving,

The True King

You hadn't even realized you were shaking, nor breathing heavily, until a gloved had reached into very and took the note away from you. You watched as Paz looked the note over before passing it back to your head guard. He told him something, but you could not hear as your eyes started ringing. Gently Paz helped you stand, before leading you away from the meeting. You didn't care where he was taking you, at that moment you couldn't think straight, couldn't get past the thought of, how did they get so close to take a photo without anyone noticing?

After the letter had been delivered Paz took care to never leave your side, he became more overbearing and involved with planning your schedule. No longer were you allowed in the gardens, or outside for that matter, for the time being, Paz only really allowed you to go to your quarters, your study, and the meeting room. You didn't fight him, too tired from the lasting conflicts and worry over what would happen next. A month went by, and everything quieted, the attacks stopped, and it almost felt like your enemy had gone into hiding. You didn't relax though, the note still whispering in the back of your head. Paz found himself often sleeping in the chair beside your bed, after too many nights of having been awoken to you yelling out his name and finding you rushing to his room to reassure yourself that he was safe.

Then it happened. You knew the quiet was only leading to something, but you weren't prepared to be a woke in the middle of the night to Paz scream to you. It had been the first night you had been able to fall asleep and stay asleep without nightmares of Paz’s death, but you were only thrown into a different nightmare as your eyes few open and you saw Paz fighting off an attacker. You yelled for you to run, and as you hesitated he only growled your name and told you to go, so with a heavy heart you did, you ran. All around the capital you could seem fires burning and hear your guards fighting with silhouettes your tired eyes could not make out in the low light of night. You did not know where to go, only letting your feet carry you, only stopping when you were out of breath. Looking around, you found yourself in the garden, feet from where you gave Paz the soft kiss, the memory still churning out a small amount of happiness, but quickly turned sour once more when the grinning face of the man you loathed most in the world stood from the bench hidden in the shadows.

"My dear, I was hoping you'd come here. I know you are especially fond of the gardens, most certainly this area."

"What do you want Alun? Why wouldn't you stop this fighting? People, my people, our people are suffering!"

He scoffed and turned to look at the city burning around you both. "The people deserve what they are getting for forgetting their true leaders. And you for forgetting what you once were."

"Stop this. You are doing nothing but destroying the planet!"

Alun turned to look at you, small smile curling onto his hate filled face. Slowly he reached out and placed the rose he had picked behind your ear, the thorns pricking your skin, one digging in enough to make a drop of blood run down your ear.

"When I have control again, and we are again together, things will go back to the way they were. I promise you, love. You just need to stop fighting me."

Disgust formed on your face as you stepped back, "We may have been engaged before you fell, but I never loved you. I was forced into that position by you and your father, and I do not regret being apart of how he and you fell from grace. I will never stop fighting you."

"Oh, but I love you, and I will have you, my love."

"Not if I have any say," a voice growled from behind you. Whipping around, relief flooded you at the sight of Paz marching towards where you stood. He was covered in blood from fighting, but seemed like he was uninjured himself much to your relief. But he seemed angry, livid almost as he pushed you behind him, standing toe-to-toe with Alun. "If you want them, you will have to get through me, and I will not stop fighting until my dying breath for them," Paz’s words settled into your chest, warmth flowing through you as the next few second moved in slow motion. Paz reached out, before Alun even had a chance to grab for his weapon. Paz lifted him like a rag doll to his height, making direct eye contact, before growling out, "because I love them, and you will never have them."

And with that said, Paz simply slammed his forehead into Alun's forcefully knocking him unconscious, then carelessly dropping him to the ground where he laid unmoving buise already forming on his forehead. Paz then turned to you and reached for you, but you simply flung yourself onto him. "You're okay, i was so worried, I didn't want to leave you, I was so scared that something would happen and that Id...."

"That you'd, what cyare," Paz whispered as he held you close, arms wrapped around you as if he'd let go and you'd disappear. Looking up and into his helmet's visor you were quiet for a moment, before speaking up softly, "I love you too... I thought I'd never get to tell you that I loved you."

Gently, Paz pressed his forehead against your own, before whispering, "You don't have to worry. I'll always be around to protect you. And," a teasing note coming out in his voice making you smile, "You can tell me how much you love me anytime you want. As long as you don't have anymore previous fiancés out there professing their love to you. I don't think I could hold back from ripping off their heads like I did just now."

Giggling you shook your head, "No more love professions, I promise. Only yours matter."

Everything Tags: @mysticalgalaxysalad @phoenixhalliwell @moodsare @perpetual-fangirl900 @night-snows00 @dumbass-simp-for-fredweasley @stargazingthenightaway @meabravo @just-here-for-the-moment @masteracewindu @litakino

Paz Tags: @bunny-fairy @elinedjarin @shellyc9 @blackmarketmummy @djarin-junk

Join the Taglists

[dreamsmp-au-ideas]

You know what? Fuck it. STAR WARS AU.

For the story's sake let's say this takes place a few years into the Empire but before all the big Rebellion stuff.

Tommy, Wilbur, Techno, and Phil are Mandolorians that just travel around the galaxy doing crime, hunting down some bounties, just causing general chaos. Their ship is called the Angel of Death, and their clan might be small but it's all they need : )

Phil was probably the only one actually born into Mando culture and the kids are all ones he took in Din Djarin style.

Tubbo is a padawan that survived Order 66 that also got scooped up Phil and yes, he does know that the Jedi and Mandolorians are traditional enemies and he does not fucking care, thank you and goodnight.

(Some Tubbo angst: Jordan was his Master. May or may not be alive depending on how angsty you want it to be.)

Dream Team are Imperial agents. I know at least one of them would be an Inquisitor, but I have no fucking clue who. So many options.

The Badlanders are a separate bounty hunter which SBI frequently clashes with and gets into hijinks with - sometimes hilarious, sometimes deadly serious.

While Phil is usually pretty insistent on steering clear of the Empire's business altogether, Wilbur's been getting some pretty revolutionary urges - especially after speaking with Puffy and Niki, a pair of resistance fighters on a small Outer Rim world called L'Manburg, and that desire has only heightened ever since they met Tubbo...

Oh fuck yeah. I love this. I like this a lot.

Tommy, Wilbur, Techno, and Phil as Mandolorians who does crime, hunt bounties, and cause chaos? Perfect. I love it. They all Dirty Crime Bois.

And then we got him just adopting everyone and not giving a fuck about Tubbo being a Padawan. He does not care. That’s his kid now. Fuck off to anyone who disagrees.

The Captain as Tubbo’s master? Ouch. On one hand I want him alive but on the other hand, narratively, it may be better if he’s dead.

Badland as bounty hunters? Great. We can now get both Dadza AND Awesamdad! We get bonding! We have good bonding times and awesome Badlands and SBI!

Dream Team as Imperial Agents? Nice. Let's have that. I can see Sapnap as a pilot, one of the best really. George maybe as a commander of one of the bigger ships who can go and fight very well if pushed to. And I can see Dream as an Inquisitor. Let him have a lightsaber.

And as a treat I’m going to add Punz in there as a Mandalorian who also works with the Empire a lot and also may be looking for his brother.

Which means I’m going to go and give them such a big redemption arc. I love them too much now. Fuck. 

I can already see Sapnap and George getting a redemption arc first by accidentally being mistaken as rebels by their side after crashing onto a planet and having to get new clothes. Quackity and Karl may have also roped them in on something bigger than all of them and one adventure later and the dismantle of Imperial Propaganda Sapnap and George has seen all their life and some comfort, you got them fully on the ship, El Rapids.

Those four are all funky and going to do bounties and stealing and crime and accidentally get involved in the Rebellion completely after Karl figures out he’s fucking force-sensetive somehow. Whoops.

Dream on the other hand is going to be go and be dragged into his redemption arc by getting dragged kicking and screaming by Puffy and then her group being shown this. We’re going to get Puffy, Eret, HBomb, Fundy, and Niki. Punz is just following behind because Dream is sort of his friend and he’s heard rumors that Purpled may be somewhere in the Rebellion. 

So they are Dream and Punz were dragged through their redemption arc while Sapnap and George just kind of awkwardly trailed behind two morally good people.

They all have trauma and they’re going to heal from that trauma. They going to heal and go have redemption arcs.

L’Manberg being a resistance against the Order at the Edge of the Galaxy? Perfect. We’re going to have Wilbur, Tommy, Techno, and Tubbo be all on board for Revolution and Phil is just making sure that his kids are okay and oh whoops. He’s adopted more kids by the conclusion of the plot.

ANyways if we making our own plot, then I propose that the Egg is the leader behind all of this. I just feel like it’s perfect and then we can get the Egg, or the Crimson as we’re going to be calling it now in this au, threatening certain people’s loved ones to make them work willingly for the Empire.

This is how the Eggpire is still formed. It’s now angstier. So much angstier.

Anyways I love this au. Please send more ideas. Please. I want the hurt/comfort, the angst, and found family we can make with this au.

[themattress]

Star Wars ramblings

So, a certain Youtuber who’s been very hit or miss for me (more misses than hits though) did a video about The Rise of Skywalker. Now, the funny thing is that he’s pretty fair and even-handed about it, reiterating that he doesn’t think it’s the worst Star Wars movie since he dislikes all the Prequels more (though he did lower his initial score of 6/10 - the same as his score for Return of the Jedi - to 5/10, the same as his score for Revenge of the Sith although he still dislikes that movie more on a personal level; incidentally I adore all three of those movies equally), and makes sure to mention how The Last Jedi knee-capped the potential for a sequel and how most almost everyone involved, the actors in particular, were doing the best they can and not half-assing anything. He also mercifully pointed out that at the end of the day Star Wars is “dumb space wizard movies” not worth investing that much serious thought and emotion on, and how so many other Youtubers could stand to recognize that.

With that said....three points he made drive me up a wall and I just want to vent a little.

1. His first and worst objection, which I’ve heard a million times before and am sick of it, is, to paraphrase, “the decision to bring back Palpatine, who was dead and not relevant to the Sequel Trilogy’s story and barely even mentioned in the previous two movies, was terrible and is the primary source of all the movie’s problems”. I will never fathom how the entirety of Palpatine’s Empire being brought back by another wrinkly decrepit Skywalker-corrupting Dark Side user from out of nowhere in TFA is viewed as acceptable, but bringing Palpatine himself back and positioning that he was responsible for it is a bridge too far.... or that any of that stuff I mentioned can’t be seen as evidence / foreshadowing of Palpatine’s return in the Sequel Trilogy’s story. Or that it’s unbelievable that a guy who went on about how the Dark Side is the key to cheating death and securing immortality in ROTS would cheat death via falling down a reactor shaft, but it’s perfectly fine that this guy’s first apprentice who got cut in half somehow survived it long enough to graft himself to a set of mechanical spider legs. 

And really, given that the next point of his is about TROS failing to be a satisfying conclusion to a nine-part saga, let’s step back a minute. Who was the Big Bad at the start of that saga? Palpatine. He WAS “the phantom menace”, his machinations and then his Empire were the main source of antagonistic conflict in the story for six whole movies. So why on Earth should a saga that starts with a villain like that conclude with a battle against some punk who has nothing to do with him? Even IF Palpatine wasn’t outright brought back to life, he HAD to be relevant to the Sequel Trilogy if it was going to feel like part of the saga at all. People can (and have) reasonably argue that there was never a need to continue the story past ROTJ to start with. Well, I say there’s much, much less of a need to if Palpatine wasn’t involved.

2. And yeah, “TROS is not a satisfying conclusion to the saga”. I’ve heard that all the time too. However, I’ve also heard a similar sentiment twice before....about ROTJ and ROTS (well, mainly ROTJ, with ROTS it was more “it as the final Star Wars movie isn’t good and it doesn’t redeem the Prequel Trilogy at all”). He says the big epic climax TROS has isn’t earned because the rest of the movie that preceded it didn’t properly build to it and it wasn’t properly earned; that the movie was a cliché, retconning McGuffin chase beforehand. To which I’d have to point out there was precious little build-up to ROTJ’s climactic finish either, since the movie beforehand was largely spent wrapping up a filler subplot and then having a random chase scene followed by a teddy bear picnic in a bog-standard forest. That didn’t make the climax any less invigorating, emotional and satisfying (at least in my opinion). Honestly, ROTS is the only one that did the build-up to its pay-off right...its problem was that the build-up was ominous and suspenseful but the pay-off was more hilarious than dramatic.

Which really connects with the “dumb space wizard movies” thing. Star Wars, at its core, has always been derivative shlock meant for cheap thrills. The original film coming out at exactly the right time, a once-in-a-lifetime combo of talent creating a sequel that actually made something more profound while still staying true to the original’s goofy and child-accessible roots, and the nostalgic elevation of the Original Trilogy in the 90s has unfortunately obscured this for so many, but it’s the hard truth. “A cliché, retconning McGuffin chase“ is exactly what Star Wars ultimately is (people freak out over TROS retconning stuff from TLJ, but do I really need to point out just how much goddamn retconning has always been going on in this franchise, from TESB and onward?). The filmmakers were aware of this and going a step further by riffing on Star Wars itself the same way Star Wars riffed on Buck Rogers, Flash Gordon, samurai movies, westerns, fairy tales and other stuff George Lucas liked. Tbh, peoples’ real problem is that TROS is actually far too appropriate a note to end the saga on!

3. The last thing is that he said if he could make only one change to the movie, he would have Rey’s death stick and Ben Solo survive, so that he’s the “Skywalker” to rise and has to live the rest of his life undergoing redemption and repairing the harm he’s done to the galaxy. Beyond Star Wars just not being that kind of story, I am shocked that he and likeminded people don’t stop to consider the implications of such an ending (especially given the largely undue flak Ben as a character has already received online), not to mention the improbability that he’d even be allowed to have such a living redemption when the whole galaxy would be calling for his execution given that he was a mass-murdering dictator for about a year. And you can count this guy among the many who miss the point of the “Rey Skywalker” ending. She’s not stealing or claiming anything...she is stating who she has always been spiritually.

OK, I’ve spoken my mind. Now how to end this post? Um....er.....