#and i have so many questions about how he ended up with the covert

[blackkatmagic]

Absolutely obsessed with the idea of sugar baby!Paz, he absolutely deserves to be spoiled by Jaster. How do you think he would react to Tor?

Tor: You're a Vizsla! As your clan head I'm ordering you to get away from that filthy True Mandalorian right now!

Paz 'grew up with an Official Talking Stick' Viszla: Well I didn't vote for you.

Jaster, democratically elected by the clans, meeting a Vizsla who fully believes in both a very Mandalorian set of morals and the right of everyone to have a say in matters: I'm aiming for a spring wedding, but if you want to elope that's fine too.

(More seriously, seeing as Paz was entirely willing to challenge Din for the Darksaber because he thought Din would be a bad leader/hadn't upheld the covert's values [and like. he was right in a lot of ways], I imagine he'd take one look at Tor and his complete lack of honor/morals/decency and be like. Fuck that, fuck you, fuck this, give me the stupid shiny sword I'm giving it to the real Mand'alor.

Paz struck me as someone who is deeply devoted to the idea and the philosophy of being a Mandalorian, as well as being a survivor and someone who really cared for the people in the covert, and I feel like he'd very much vibe with the Supercommando Codex and the rewritten Canons of Honor.)

[flawseer]

Became curious based on a Smaugust piece: What are your thoughts on everyone's favorite royal suck-up, Pike? (also ofc compliments to your writing and art)

Surprise, I am still kicking. And thus my Sisyphean quest to answer all the questions in my inbox continues.

I like Pike. I used to think moderately favorably of him, but pondering this question and then drawing a bunch of pictures of and about him made me realize that, yeah, I am rather fond of him. He is funny and cute in the same way a small, yappy dog is.

I remember once talking to my partner about Pike and I asked: "Do you think the JMA staff has to deal with Pike constantly trying to sleep in the hallway in front of Anemone's room?" Only to then realize, upon re-reading the books, that this actually happens in canon. I was thrilled.

Most of the time when people ask me what I think of a character, they want to hear what my take on them is, so I'll get into that.

Background

I don't think a lot is known about Pike's life, outside him having been assigned as Anemone's (questionably) covert bodyguard. He is one of those background characters that fill out the student roster at JMA but don't get a lot of development, though he is one of the more lucky ones as he gets comparatively more lines and scenes than, say, Barracuda, or Garnet.

We don't ever hear about his home life or familial situation, but I think he comes from a common military family. Not a particularly prestigious one, but rather one of middling significance. I imagine one of his ancestors--like his great grandmother--once made it to captain and ever since the whole family has prided themselves on their military legacy and loyalty to the Seawing throne, even though nobody else really knows who they are.

Pike's parents are both bottom rung palace guards; trusted enough to be stationed vaguely near the seat of government over a remote outpost, but nothing more. As is tradition in their family, they signed up as soon as they were old enough to hold a trident. Pike was expected to follow in their footsteps, and so did the same. He is naturally eager to please, doesn't ask many questions, and knows how to follow orders, so he took to this life relatively well.

One thing immediately apparent when observing Pike is that he is very blunt, headstrong, and reckless. He is prone to self-injury and mishaps, routinely making a tail end of himself during exercises. One day, I imagine, he was out in the courtyard, practicing his combat maneuvers, when he somehow managed to trap himself underneath a training dummy in a humiliating way. Unbeknownst to him, the Queen and Princess were walking past a window overlooking this scene, and the latter happened to spot him.

Princess Anemone, starved for normal social contact due to being permanently leashed to her overbearing mother, immediately took a liking to the clumsy guard and wished to take Pike into her service. The Queen though, hated the idea. Anything she couldn't control with 100% certainty was not to be let near her only living daughter. She didn't even let her own sons approach the Princess for this very reason. So she refused.

But Anemone, sensing an opportunity to finally snatch a tiny mote of control over her own life, didn't relent. She would never overtly defy her mother, but pushed back against her in the most passively aggressive way she could muster. She WOULD have this one thing that was hers, no matter how many times she had to sigh wistfully or forget to eat.

Coral meanwhile still disliked the idea, but after some pondering figured this could work to her advantage. Granting her daughter this favor would make her grateful, and thus easier to keep in check. It was not like the boy would be able to do anything undesirable since she would always be there to watch anyway. And if he ever displeased her, a random guard was easier to dispose of without turning heads, than if she let Anemone play with one of her brothers.

So eventually, she acquiesced, and extracted Pike from the palace guard to assign him to her daughter's protection.

The news hit Pike's family like lightning. Suddenly, after decades of being nobodies with delusions of grandeur, the whole palace was paying genuine attention to them, and the new recruit who, overnight, got assigned to be the Princess' personal retainer. Pike's parents took him aside and impressed on him how important of a task this was. If he did his job well and kept the Princess content and safe, not only would the current Queen think favorably of all of them, but Anemone would remember his service and reward him once she took the throne herself. For his sake and theirs, this was an opportunity not to be squandered.

And thus, Pike shouldered this great responsibility suddenly thrust onto his wings and embraced being Anemone's personal servant and protector. Pushed forward by his sense of honor and loyalty, a desire not to disappoint his family, and the knowledge that, if he were to fail and lose the only heir, Queen Coral would surely kill him.

Day-to-day life

Pike takes his duty very seriously, both out of loyalty to his liege, and because of how much is at stake for him personally. I picture him getting up during the small hours each morning and beginning his daily exercise routine, to stay in shape for his job. His roommate Flame often wakes up to him noisily doing squats in the middle of the sleeping cave and yells at him. "Am I cursed to be tormented by a diminutive idiot Seawing wherever I go!??!" Pike is lucky that his other roommate, Bigtail, is a heavy sleeper. Otherwise the training session would likely be cut short, with Pike tied to the ceiling lamp.

After wrecking Flame's sleep, Pike usually seeks out Anemone and attempts to stay near her at all times. Initially this caused friction between him and the teachers, as he would often skip his own classes to attend Anemone's. He only stopped doing this when Tsunami made it clear skipping classes would get him sent home, and thus away from Anemone permanently.

As they spent time at the Academy, the Princess began to get better and better at giving Pike the slip whenever she got fed up with his overprotectiveness. He freaks out whenever she vanishes, which is often. To help manage his stress, the JMA staff make him attend regular seminars on inner peace and meditation hosted by Fatespeaker. He is not very good at it, but enjoys the exercises that involve listening to running water.

He began to mellow out for a bit after initial growing pains, until the History cave incident occurred. The bombing shook him back into the bodyguard mindset and he began sleeping in the hallway outside of Anemone's sleeping cave. It weirds out Ostrich whenever she has to climb over him. Attempts to get him to stop this have been unfruitful. The current policy seems to be to let him do this until things calm down and he stops on his own.

Anything else

I believe Pike may have a thing for Rainwings. He is generally hyper-aggressive and rude towards everyone he talks to, with two notable exceptions. One of them is Anemone, whom he is sworn to serve and keep safe. The other is Tamarin, whom he is uncharacteristically kind to. My personal impression is that he may have a bit of a crush on her, but keeps himself from pursuing it as to not upset Anemone.

To my knowledge, Pike never really interacts with Turtle. That is a shame, because I would like to know how they would get along. Pike may be greatly disappointed at Turtle's general un-regal-ness, but still begrudgingly respect him out of obligation. I can picture a scene where he berates Turtle for his demeanor, only for someone else to chime in with an affirmative "Yeah Turtle, you suck", upon which Pike turns around and starts ripping into them about disrespecting Seawing royalty.

Concerningly, Pike's future is very uncertain. He is actually in grave danger right now. If Queen Coral ever finds out that he allowed a murderous, seawing-hating ancient wizard to abduct Anemone, she will have some opinions on that. If Coral has one consistent character trait, it is homicidal vengefulness against anyone who fails to protect her children, regardless of circumstance, regardless even if the perpetrator IS one of her children. That means there is a very real chance she will recall Pike from Jade Mountain and try to tear him apart.

I don't think Anemone would allow this to happen, mind you. She has been privy to her mother dragging poor sods out to the plaza to rip their teeth out, enough to recognize the signs of it coming. If she suspected Pike's life was in danger, I believe she would prevent him from leaving.

For now though, he remains at Jade Mountain, doing the best he can with the responsibility he was dealt, acting as Princess Anemone's retainer. It is a difficult, stressful, at times thankless job, but he would not have it any other way.

"Honor, and duty."

[mockerycrow]

are you good at character analysis? I wanna know what your analysis would be for Gaz, I’m trying to figure out his story since he’s my favorite out of TF 141

KYLE GAZ GARRICK

BASIC OVERVIEW — BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION

Kyle “Gaz” Garrick is a British Black man who enlisted into the British Army around 2008 or 2014 (unfortunately, the developers have inconsistencies). His operator biography states 2008 while the official activision website in a blog post about MW2019 states 2014, however it does make sense for him to enlist in 2008. He would have been at least sixteen years old which is the minimum age requirement to enlist. I would like to quickly throw in that Gaz is indeed older than Soap, as this is a misconception that I surprisingly see a lot! Gaz’s blood type is B- and he currently ranks as sergeant (which according to the official British Army website, it typically takes at least twelve years in the service, however it implies it also depends on the person’s abilities).

Gaz spent four years in the Queen’s Lancashire Regiment. During these four years going through a multitude of tests and challenges before passing selection for Special Air Service (SAS). The activision blog says during MW2019, it’s his sixth year serving as a sergeant. However, as Gaz had been selected for TF141, I believe their ranks have paused in time. Gaz has mostly spent his time in anti-terrorism in his military career. He’s an expert in demolitions, VIP escorting, weapons tactics, covert surveillance, and target elimination. He’s been awarded multiple medals, and earned his Parachute Wings whilst spending time at Camp Lejeune in the U.S. whilst collaborating with Navy SEALs. Kyle is a master of evasion and deception, being the only candidate in his entire class to escape capture from the facility and evade detection during resistance training. 

When Gaz first meets Cpt. Price, Gaz is currently assigned to an SAS specific counter-terrorism program in the UK who collaborate with the police, which is another misconception that Gaz was a police sergeant at one point (he was not! I believe some people think this because at E3, Gaz was wearing a police baseball cap).

CHARACTER OVERVIEW

Like true to the original Gaz, he is Price’s protege, being his student. Gaz is overall a serious and hardworking man, loyal and unbreaking. He knows when to joke and he knows when to reload. However, Gaz is not perfect and he does lose his cool (we see subtle development with this later down the road). While being loyal, Gaz does not hesitate to question Price’s choices and actions. We see this multiple times during the series, the most prime example being in MW2019 when Price and Gaz are interrogating The Butcher with Yegor. The Butcher taunts Gaz, causing Gaz to lunge and Price to send him off to fetch.. “The package”. The package being, The Butcher’s family. The reboot games, you have choices, so I’ll give the very basic run down. 

You have the option to opt into the interrogation or to opt out of it. If you opt out, Price bursts out of the room with the information (if you go near the door, you hear The Butcher’s family sobbing). If you opt in, you have so many options. At the end of the day, Gaz is mostly silent and follows orders from Price. In the police cruiser scene, Gaz questions Price in the car—he did not expect to be using women and children as bargaining chips and he makes that clear, and this is a big teaching moment between Gaz and Price. We have to remember that Gaz is young and considering everything, inexperienced to an extent. Price makes up for that inexperience, teaching him along the way. During the interrogation scene, Price makes a remark: “We’ve taken the gloves off.” This is because Gaz lashed out. Later in the car, Price says “When you take the gloves off, you get blood on your hands, Kyle. That’s how it works.” after Gaz questions him.

CONCLUSION

Overall, Gaz is a very complex character and I enjoyed watching his development during these games. I’ve seen people claim Gaz is boring or plain, but I genuinely do not believe that to be the case. Gaz, in my opinion, is also the most relatable character. He’s young, ambitious, and determined. He’s charismatic and efficient. I don’t believe a character has to be extremely traumatized, or look very very unique to be a well-crafted character and Gaz is a great example for this. 

Gaz is just a man who enlisted; someone who is smart and well-rounded (as much as an SAS member can be), he’s quick on his feet and he molds into group work fantastically. He’s extremely versatile and is a quick learner—and wants to learn. He has his flaws that make him human. Gaz develops great self control, is level-minded and is able to think for himself. A great student questions their mentor in everything and you see this with Gaz. 

You see Gaz struggle with morality in the series in a sea of characters who kill and do things without a second thought. We see him question things, we see his emotions and his extreme reluctance. We definitely see some development down the road as Gaz becomes more ruthless, but he never quite forgets his humanity in a way, compared to Price where he can easily disconnect humanity (ex. Calling The Butcher’s wife and son “the package/leverage”). 

Along with this, we see him struggle with the rules in place. I also think this is why Gaz and Price’s dynamic is great. There are rules for a reason, and both Price and Gaz know when to break them—but Gaz learns that breaking some rules doesn’t always happen for the most heroic of actions (again, Price’s quote about bloodying your hands after taking the gloves off). Gaz wants to save people and keep the peace, we see this in Piccadilly during the terrorist attacks and the aftermath scene with Price where Gaz lets the Captain know that he and his unit had actionable intel on the terrorist cell who committed the act. Of course, we see later down the road that taking the gloves off removes all limits, not just some of them. We also see a glimpse of Gaz’s conflicting feelings when 141, Farah & Alex, as well as Laswell learn about Hadir and his plans, as well as when Farah’s forces are deemed a terrorist organization.

I think I rambled on a lot about him, hopefully this is understandable! 

Sources: price & gaz activision blog intros (2019), inconsistency in enlistment date, cod fandom wiki, gaz scenes mwi & mwii, official british army website.

[noneorother]

The secret timeline inside of Good Omens season 2 revealed, *part2*

Part 1 l Part 2

The ineffable cut is explained in part 1. Please read that first. (I’ve burnt a timecode into this ineffable edit to help pick up the rhythm.)

So now that I've shown you XX:X6 is the number of the beast in the last installment, what else can we glean? Well, it turns out angel numbers (sequences of repeated numbers ex: 22:22 or 20:02) are quite important events in the S2 universe! I've cut together every "Angel Number" I could find in the timeline and put them in order. I first noticed this near the end of the ineffable cut, where Beelzebub and Gabriel hold hands, so I've started with that one just to give you an idea how bonkers this whole sequence is. Don't forget, sound on! Breakdown below the cut.

So we start off with this Beez and Gabriel sequence near the end of the cut. They start singing to each other a little out of time, but lo and behold, at 02:03:20 the music comes in right on time with the seconds ticking by to line them up. By the time they reach 03:33 they're gone.

Aziraphale is excited to get his "record"! He's doing something sneaky, and as a result opens the door to go off to said covert activity on 00:02:22.

Crowley asks "Do they know?" on 03:33. Who are they and why does he want to know? This whole scene is on a St-James park bench so spying and double speak is in progress, clearly.

Crowley then asks "Something big?" on 00:04:44. We get the hint for the main action of the entire second season here. Something's up with the up...

Now the real fun begins! I'll come back to the ones I just skipped in a later post because they're more subtle. Here's the first "real" angel number at 11:11. Aziraphale discovers THE box and touches it for the first time.

At 22:22 Nina and Maggie's signs are "mysteriously" ignored by a human passerby.

This is wild. Aziraphale is learning about the Everyday record and something funny happens. 33:31 Aziraphale says, " Do you have a copy?" 33:32 Maggie says, "Mm, too many of them" and at the same time a car horn beeps twice. 33:33 Aziraphale is startled by the fact that a double car horn happened on a XX:X2 and looks out the window in concern. So the question is: does Aziraphale feel or know the rhythm of the timestamps?? And are things that line up with numbers a signal he's paying attention to?

A funny one! At 44:44 Aziraphale seems to be wanting to check if Gabriel is really who he says he is, and is watching him like a hawk. Gabriel does all he can to do nothing at all and look innocent while the angel number passes by.

Another funny one. Nice. 55:55 reveals that the Bentley likes Aziraphale more than Crowley, and does whatever he wants, including not speeding when he puts his foot down.

This next one's a little peculiar. It seems like an exchange about Gabriel's whereabouts, but it's the halfway point of the edit (1:11:10-11:11:11) of the ineffable timeline and we seem to be having two conversations at once. Shax says on 11:11 "He hates you." Does she mean that she thinks Crowley hates Aziraphale, or... that Gabriel hates Aziraphale. Aziraphale looks noticeably shocked at her reply. After the eyebrow raise of "You don't seem like his type at all" I would bet we're not talking about Crowley anymore. How did she get this information?

01:22:22 Gabriel does a little laugh to himself while signalling with the lamp. What the fuck? Does someone know morse code?

01:33:33 Maggie extends her had to Nina at the ball, to invite her to dance. Nina looks pleased, but doesn't move until... a very odd miracle sound on a XX:X6 happens and she jumps up to take Maggie's hand. That miracle sound is not Aziraphale's, and besides, he would never miracle on a 6. Who's the demon making Nina dance...

Aziraphale's halo toss is the flip from ACT II to ACT III of season 2, and as such, get's a special time right before rolling over to the second hour. He decides to throw it down on exactly 01:54:45, and at 01:54:54 gets a giant tubular bell ring in the music to highlight the action. It lands on the ground at 01:55:01, and incinerates the demons at precisely 01:55:10.

01:59:59 Beez and Gabriel hold hands, and a magical chime sounds at 2:00:00. Maggie start her sentence "Aww, that's really sweet" at the same time, and manages to finish it on 2:00:02. (Dagon politely waits to pretend to barf on a XX:X3 after she's done.)

The last one is a big one : 02:02:02 gets "to face CELESTIAL punishment" by Michael. This is what we've been waiting for the entire season, the Checkov's gun of the book of life. But, where is it? We then get an odd cowboy showdown style stare-off between Michael and Shax. I'm predicting that missing chunk of time in the bookshop before we come back to Michael threatening Aziraphale with the book of life is going to be a pretty interesting reveal in season 3. -------------------------------------------

People, this is the short version of this post. There are SO MANY things to unpack. Next up is doubled numbers. If you want an ides of what it takes to break things down, here's my workflow timeline right now. The stuff after the first big space is numbers I haven't shown you yet... This show is insane.

[pagesfromthevoid]

Cowboy Like Me | d.d. | 9

Din Djarin x princess!reader

Word Count: 2.1k

Warnings: Kidnapping. Angst. Lol

Author’s Note: ✨Woops✨

Series Mastlist | Talk to Me!

The Taken

“Where did you get this?” The Armorer asked, holding the circlet in her hands carefully.

“The princess I saved –it belongs to her.”

Din had left her and the child on Sorgan, simply explaining that he had to take care of something back on Nevarro. She questioned him, asking if she could come, but he promised he would be quick. It was a little over three days worth of travel between Sorgan and Nevarro, so she was skeptical of him. Din had reassured her that it was nothing bad; that what he was doing was for her. But what he needed to do was important.

Which is what brought him before the Armorer of his people, with her circlet. She had insisted she didn’t want it anymore after he revealed what it was made of. He wasn’t sure where she got beskar steel, but she wasn’t opposed to him taking it. It’s rightfully yours, she had said. Do whatever you see fit with it. 

“How curious,” the Armorer murmured, examining the piece. “I made this many years ago.”

Din’s brow furrowed and he stepped forward. “What do you mean, you made it?”

The Armorer looked to him, holding the faded gold piece out to look at. “Our covert was attacked, long before we settled on Nevarro,” she explained, moving next to lay the piece in the flames. “I had been overcome, and the enemy was prepared to kill. But a young man –no older than your princess, I am sure –saved me. I owed him a debt. Yet…All he asked of me was to make him something that would grow with his child.”

“And so you made the circlet.”

“And grow with her it did.” She nodded once, watching as the metal melted down slowly. “You do know what it means to present a weapon to someone, correct?”

“I do.”

The Armorer watched him before taking the molten steel from the flame and moving it to the forge. “Then I will make it into what you ask. Your signet will be imprinted into the blade.” Din nodded once, watching as she poured it into the shape of a dagger. “Your clan of two will become three.”

“Thank you.”

*****

“Well?”

“Well what?” Calisto snapped, tapping her nails against the control panel of her ship, glaring at the screen. 

Silas Credence stood in the doorway, hands behind his back. Calisto wanted him out of her hair, but she couldn’t risk another death so close to her. The Senate was already whispering about her husband’s sudden passing; assuming things. Silas was simply lucky that Calisto wasn’t willing to risk her freedom yet. 

“Have you located my bride or not?” 

Calisto breathed heavily through her nose, nostrils flaring. Perhaps handing her only daughter off to the man was in bad taste, but it was the only thing he wanted in return for handing over Senex’s seat in the Senate. Besides, the little chit should have been patient and just waited him out. He was a frail thing, probably about to keel over at any point. 

But no. The princess just had to make things difficult and run. And then, as if that wasn’t inconvenient enough, she had to find herself with a Mandalorian of all people. 

Calisto didn’t particularly want to deal with a Mandalorian, though she also didn’t think he’d take so long in delivering her daughter. She was under the impression that Mandalorians followed through on their deals; honor and all that. But a little over a month had passed, and Calisto was starting to grow impatient. 

Her droids had been entirely useless. And when she made contact with that fool Karga on Nevarro, he didn’t have any follow up information about the bounty. Just that a Mandalorian took it up and left several weeks ago. 

She decided that if this was going to be done soon, and done right, she would have to damn well do it herself. 

“I have her located, yes.”

Some backwater planet in the Outer Rim planets, Sorgan, was where her daughter had ended up. Calisto loathed the idea of trucking through woods and farmlands —she avoided it when her husband did it —but if that’s where her child was, that was where Calisto would go. 

“We will be landing on Sorgan in an hour,” Calisto explained, moving away from the panel to stand in front of the window of the ship. “Let me locate her and talk sense into her. If she sees you, she will run again.”

“You should have taught her what her purpose was long before me,” Silas hissed, standing beside her now. “Even if she was not intended for me, no one worth their snuff wants a wife that bites.”

“You brought that upon yourself,” Calisto sneered. “I told you to leave her be until your wedding night. It is bad enough you do not leave her ladies alone.”

“It is my right —,”

“Shut up, Credence.” 

The old man snapped his mouth shut, narrowing his eyes at her. But he did not argue. 

*****

She sat on her knees at the edge of the water, shaking out a basket of krill. Omera was chatting with her idly, explaining the history of the village. There was always something new to be learned, and she appreciated that Omera was willing to teach her. However, she was a bit distracted. Din had returned from his side quest early on that morning, having greeted her with a soft hello and his forehead pressed against hers. When she had asked what he was doing, he simply turned her around and tied the fabric around her eyes and kissed her.

“You and Mando seem very happy here,” Omera commented, smiling at her. “Happy together. And the child seems to adore you.”

She looked at her hands for a moment, admiring the dirt under her nails and the wrinkles that had developed from the water. Her cheeks felt hot as she thought of Din, and the way they spent their time together. Back to the kiss they shared that morning. The way his mouth felt on hers –which was only heightened by the fact she couldn’t see him when he kissed her. The other night, when he had her slip into her gown again, she felt powerful with him on his knees in front of her. And the thought of that alone made her chest tighten.

“I…he’s kind to me,” she admitted, glancing at him for a moment before she looked back at her hands. “I think he might ask –,”

“Oh please, don’t say those words. It’ll only break your heart more.”

Omera whipped around, but she stared in horror at the water in front of her. Her blood ran cold as she slowly looked over her shoulder. Calisto stepped forward —Grogu in her arms. Omera moved to stand, to introduce herself, but she shot her arm out to stop the widow. She stood instead, slowly rising from the ground, eyes on Grogu who looked confused as he reached out for her. 

“Mother,” she greeted, tone stern and dare she say, intimidating. “Give me the child.”

Din had turned from the villagers, hand on his blaster. But she motioned for him to stop, sending him a sideways glance as he slowly stepped towards the two. Omera looked between the three of them, eyes wide.

“Why? Have you taken in a ward in the month that you have played runaway?”

“He has nothing to do with me running from you,” she seethed, taking a half step forward. “Let him go.”

Calisto pressed a finely manicured nail into Grogu’s belly, causing the baby to giggle. Calisto feigned a motherly smile —the same she would use to placate her daughter when she was young. She knew her mother well enough that she wouldn’t hurt a baby; not intentionally. She was a cruel woman, but not that cruel. But Din was seething, she could practically feel his anger radiating. 

“No, no. You are right, he does not,” her mother hummed, looking at Grogu with utter disinterest. “I wonder where this maternal instinct of yours came from.”

“Certainly not you,” she sneered, narrowing her eyes. “Give him to the Mandalorian.”

Her mother hummed again, slowly turning her gaze to Din, who was standing close behind her now. “On one condition.”

She closed her eyes, biting her tongue. She knew the condition; of course she knew. And Din knew too –she felt him tense up behind her, hand frozen on her lower back. Calisto wanted her home —needed her to fulfill the bargain she made with Credence. There was never any escape for her, and there never would be. Din was right to stay paranoid.

“Fine. But give me the baby first.”

“Oh, absolutely not,” Calisto hissed, rolling her eyes. “If you think I trust you, then you are sorely mistaken, child. Bring the Mandalorian; he will get the baby when you are secured in the ship.”

She glanced back at Din, who was standing still behind her, no doubt determining every way he could kill Calisto where she stood.

“Come now, child. Am I not being fair? I am a woman of my word —you know that.”

“Even when your word harms your own child?”

“I never said my words were good. Just that I honor them. And I gave Silas Credence my word that he would have a wife.” Calisto stepped forward, reaching out to grab her by the arm and yank her forward. Din tried to intervene, but she pushed him back. Her mother’s voice was low, drenched in venom as Calisto got into her face. “You have embarrassed me. You could have had anyone you wanted —you could have hired that bounty hunter as your guard and kept him around until Credence died. Maker above, you could have bedded him while Credence was alive for all I care. But you were stupid, and impulsive. And now you have lost both your freedom and your fool Mandalorian.”

She tried to pull herself free, but her mother always had a painfully iron grip. There was a reason she rarely caused trouble as a child —her mother was the one who punished her. A very quick lesson was learned the first time she disobeyed. It was one of those moments that showed her who her mother really was. But she did not show her fear; she would never give her mother that satisfaction. 

“At least give him the credits he earned,” she argued, practically being dragged through the village. “At least do that.”

Calisto let out a nasty scoff, shaking her head. “Why, pray tell, would I give him anything?”

“He didn’t kill me when I offered to pay him to.”

“Yet he stole you away, breaking the Guild’s rules,” her mother reminded her, looking over her shoulder at Din, who was hot on their heels. The smile on her face screamed wicked. “I should have him executed for kidnapping the Princess of Senex.”

Quickly, she shook her head, digging her heels into the ground, trying to stop. “I gave him everything I had,” she lied, looking up at her mother. “I told him it was half; I promised him the other half when I found refuge. You cannot blame the man for trying to make more than the original bounty.”

Calisto eyed her closely, shoving her forward towards the Senex ship. For a moment, Calisto considered her options, looking between the baby and the hunter. Then she pushed her daughter up into the hull and set the baby on the ground. She knew her daughter was lying; knew well that Din had helped her escape. But Calisto didn’t care enough about the whole ordeal to keep arguing with the little chit in her hold.

“Take it,” she ordered Din, then pulled a small pouch from the pocket of her cloak. She threw it beside Grogu. “I will say this once, and only once. The moment you are found on Senex, I will raze this entire planet —and everyone on it.”

Din scooped Grogu up into his arms, trying to console the child who was now sobbing for his princess. As the door of the ship shut, she locked eyes with Din —but there was no fear to be seen. She stood tall as she shut into the ship. A handful of the villagers stood back as the ship’s engines ignited and took off, taking his princess with it. Grogu cried out, reaching out. 

Omera stepped forward, resting a hand on his shoulder. “Mando, I –,”

“Have the villagers load the Crest for me,” he ordered, turning away and storming his way towards his own ship. There was nowhere in the galaxy that Calisto of Senex could hide from him –he would find her, he would end her. And he would save the woman he loved.

“Let’s go save our princess, kid.”

———

Taglist (CLOSED): @r4iner @sgt-morgan @mingeniee @darling1darling @teriolan-blog @venusfalling @double—take @sunshine96 @demisexuallover @mxtokko @ellesvoid @waddafaknik @c-ms1ut @kokoirne @sl-ut @munsons-queen @intense-sneezing @geekrenaissance @dancealongthelightofday @tizylish @ruleroftides @aheadfullofsteverogers

[seeeuspaceecowboyyy]

Only Human

Miguel O'Hara x Female Y/N reader (emotional hurt/comfort fic) Wordcount: 2.6k Warnings: brief mentions of blood, loved ones dying, nightmares, crying. Also, Y/N speaks Spanish. Notes: Y'all I need my hurt/comfort Miguel fics so bad that I finally wrote one myself. This might turn into a two-part story? Starts out platonic but that could change if I end up writing more?? Lmk what you think.

Miguel startled awake when his head hit the floor with a thud. Raw panic was clawing through his chest. He scrambled to sit up, confused and disoriented. Where am I? 

He stared at the walls of the hotel living room, struggling to put the pieces together. Slowly memories of the previous day came flooding back to him. He was on Earth 267. He was in the middle of conducting a covert recon mission with you, Y/N, to gather intel on an inter-dimensional crime syndicate that was buying, selling, and experimenting on various anomalies. 

The two of you were staying the night in a hotel because there had been a malfunction with your watches. For some reason that neither of you could figure out, the watches had lost all contact with other dimensions once you came to Earth 267. You were unable to open up a portal or even talk to Lyla. The only good thing about this whole situation was that you and Miguel were still able to talk with each other through the watches and so far neither of you had started glitching. 

Miguel had insisted you take the bedroom despite your protests. You’d argued that he should let you take the couch because of how much bigger he was than you, but he wouldn’t hear it. He’d said he really didn’t mind and wanted you to feel comfortable, but he’d also insisted on this sleeping arrangement for another reason - the nightmares. 

Miguel let himself fall back against the sofa with a shaky sigh. There were no explosions, no threats, no one was dying. And yet the images of his teammates collapsed on the floor, pale and bleeding would not leave his mind. 

It wasn’t real, he tried to tell himself. Just a nightmare. Everyone is okay. 

But what if…? The horrible question flashed before his mind, ugly and unwelcome. What if something happened to any of you while out on a mission that he had assigned you? What if you got hurt during your mission tomorrow and he wasn’t fast enough to save you? What if Peter really did get caught in an explosion one day? What if Miles or Gwen or Pavitir or any of the other younger spiders got crushed under a falling building? What if - and the list went on. 

So many things could go wrong in an instant and there was nothing Miguel could do about it. He knew there would always be risks in this line of work, but he couldn’t help feeling like he was to blame if anything ever happened to his teammates. 

The disturbing image of you and your crumpled, lifeless body flashed through his mind again and he recoiled. 

Your fault. All your fault, the voice in his head whispered. 

“No” he mumbled, shaking his head, eyes screwed shut as he tried to banish the thought from his mind. 

You failed again. You should’ve been faster. You should have seen it coming. You should have known. It was your fault. 

Miguel stood up. Waves of anxious guilt were spreading through him like a tsunami. He walked to the bathroom, desperate for a distraction. As he turned on the faucet to wash his face, he sensed subtle movements behind him in the dark. Miguel whipped around, claws shooting outwards before he even had time to think. 

“Oh”, he breathed, coming to a screeching halt. 

You were stuck to the ceiling, having barely leaped out of the way in time to avoid Miguel’s razor-like claws. Your long hair hung downwards from your face as you cocked your head to the side, staring at him with wide eyes. 

“Sorry”, you whispered. “I thought I heard a noise and came to check if everything was alright”. 

Miguel lowered his arms, claws retracting. Embarrassment burned in his cheeks. 

“No, I’m sorry”, he mumbled. “I didn’t mean to attack you like that. I was just having a hard time sleeping is all. You can go back to bed”. 

You landed lightly on your feet, still watching him. You were wearing a light camisole and cozy pajama pants. You rubbed your eyes. 

“Why were you having trouble sleeping?” you asked, yawning while stretching. “Are you not feeling good?”

“It’s nothing” he muttered, feeling even more self conscious by the concerned look on your face. Great now I’ve gone and scared her, he thought. “I’m fine. Just a bad dream, that’s all”. 

You stood there still staring at him with searching eyes. What on earth is she thinking? he wondered. Does she think I’m a psycho for lashing out at her like that? Great. The awkwardness of the situation was getting to be too much for him. 

“I’m really sorry I woke you Y/N. You don’t have to worry about me. Please, go back to sleep” he said, voice sounding a little gruffer than he meant it to be. “You’ve had a long day”. 

He waited for you to go back to your room. You didn’t move. 

Maybe it was because you were still kind of out of it with sleepiness, or maybe it was just the look on his face that made you do it. Instead, without really thinking about it, you took him by the hand and led him to the living room. 

“What are you-“

“Shh”, you replied, guiding him over to the couch and gesturing for him to sit. He looked down at you, hesitant. 

“Miguel”, you sighed, giving him a slightly exasperated look. “Sientete”. 

He did. 

You smiled gently and then turned to the kitchen. It was a small one - just a stretch of countertop with a stove, microwave, and a few cabinets above. “I’ll be right back”, you told him as you headed towards your room to grab your bag. When you returned, Miguel saw you were holding a small box of teabags. 

“My mom always made tea for me as a kid whenever I had nightmares”, you explained in response to his raised eyebrows. “It always helped calm my nerves”. 

You set about your task of heating the water, feeling his eyes on your back all the while. For some reason it made the hairs on the back of your neck tingle, but you tried your best to ignore it. 

While waiting for the water to heat up, you came back to sit with Miguel who was hunched over, elbows resting on his knees. It was the first time that you really noticed what he was wearing - a black T-shirt and some faded, navy blue sweatpants. It was so different from how you usually saw him in his sharp, bright colored, holographic suit. He seemed less formidable - softer somehow, though you knew that was far from the case. 

“What’s going on Miguel?” you started tentatively, watching him as he gazed at the floor. You noticed his fists clawing into the fabric of his pants. “You seem a bit off”. 

Miguel wouldn’t look at you. Couldn’t look at you. What would he even say? Hey Y/N I know we’ve never really talked much and I’m supposed to be your boss, but I’m terrified that one day you’ll die and it will have been my fault and every night I have nightmares about my friends dying.

He internally rolled his eyes at himself. Shock, why was he like this? Why couldn’t he just pull himself together? He was supposed to be the leader, the one who always knew what to do, the guy everyone could count on to get the job done. He wanted to be someone you could always depend on, but here he was waking you up in the middle of the night and having you try to comfort him from a stupid nightmare. 

Miguel chuckled humorously at the whole situation. You glanced curiously at him. 

“What?” your eyes narrowed. “What are you laughing about?”  

“Nothing”, he lied. “I was just thinking how this is the first time anyone’s ever made me tea”. 

“Really?” This is stunning to you. “In my universe that’s all anyone ever does when something happens. You buy a house? We make tea. You win the lottery? We make tea. You lose your car keys? We make tea. You have a bad dream?-“ You look pointedly at Miguel before continuing. “We make tea”.  

He smiles a little at your rather obvious attempt to bring the conversation back to his nightmare. It’s not that he didn’t want to talk about it, it’s just… he’d never talked about his dreams with anyone before, not even Peter. Ever since the tragedy with Gabriella had happened, he’d noticed everyone trying to give him space. No one would approach him about it because they didn’t know what to say, and honestly … he didn’t know what he wanted them to say either.

But here you were, so much care and concern in your eyes, your tone, and your gestures. You radiated comfort and he craved it. It was hard to resist. The walls Miguel constantly surrounded himself with felt weak. Maybe he could be open with you, just a little bit. 

“Hold on, let me grab your tea”. You hopped off the couch and brought out two mugs. When you returned you handed one to him and settled into your corner of the couch, sipping and waiting patiently for Miguel to start. 

“Ha, thank you”, he said, staring at the white mug that looked ridiculously tiny in his massive hands. Warmth seeped into his palms and he unconsciously began to settle a little as well. He rocked back, leaning into the sofa. Okay, he thought. He would try to open up. 

“You know”, he sighed, “there used to be a time when I thought I was invincible. Anything I wanted to do, I could do it. I was smart, I was strong, and I had everything I needed”. He took a sip, trying to formulate his next words. 

“But I was selfish and I got …. greedy you could say. I’m sure you’ve heard from the others about the ah…’incident’ I had a while back”, he said, glancing at you. You nodded silently. No one ever talked about it in Miguel’s presence, but you’d heard the rumors. A dimension crumbling into oblivion. The loss of a beloved daughter. 

Miguel swallowed hard, feeling an uncomfortable lump in his throat. “Ever since then”, he grunted, trying to clear his throat, “I’ve been….so……” His voice broke off. He turned away, surprised by the tears suddenly forming in his eyes. Shock I’m a mess, he thought. 

You leaned forward, scooting a little closer to him, sensing his discomfort but unsure of how to help. 

“So what?” you whispered softly. Tenderly. 

He took a shaky breath, trying to steady himself. Something was cracking inside him. Not the time to fall apart, he told himself. He could feel you next to him, hovering hesitantly by his side. He needed to be strong, for you at least if not for himself. But shock he could not get the words out. 

“Miguel”. You reached over to move his mug out of the way and then took his hand in your own. “You don’t have to talk about anything you don’t want to. It’s okay, honestly”. You squeezed his hand reassuringly. “But I’m here for you okay? We all have our struggles. You’re not anymore messed up than I am”. 

His mouth was set in a hard line, jaw clenched in agony as he tried to keep the waves of grief at bay. 

“I know it’s hard”, you continued gently, “but the best way to get through it is to share it with others. Let other people help you carry the burden. No one’s meant to go through these kinds of things alone”. 

Miguel nodded briefly. You squeezed his hand again and this time he returned it. Tears blurred in his eyes and streamed down his face. He couldn’t stop it. The lump in his throat was choking him, forcing him to take a breath. When he let himself breathe the sobs finally came out. First one, then another, and then what felt like a million more. 

“Oh”, you breathed, heart breaking at the sight. Instinct took over any previous reservations or awkwardness you’d felt before and you did the only thing that felt right - you got up, wrapped your arms around his big shoulders and held on tightly. He was hurting so badly. You could feel his shoulders shake with grief as he strained to quiet his sobs, putting a hand over his mouth. You just rubbed his shoulders and back, trying to soothe him as much as possible. 

“It’s okay”, you repeated over and over again. “Todo esta bien”. 

You kept holding onto him, squeezing his shoulders every so often as an offer of comfort while he fought to regain control of himself. After a while, he rubbed his eyes with exhaustion as his breathing began to relax. He could finally catch his breath again. 

“Ugh”, he groaned, burying his head in his hands. “Wow, that was ….” He didn’t even know what to say. Pathetic? Pitiful? Mortifying? Although he had to admit he did feel better. Lighter somehow. The chokehold weight that had gripped him for months on end was gone. 

“Human”, you answered. He looked up at you, speechless. What?

“It was human, Miguel”, you repeated. “You may be Spiderman, but you’re still human and it’s human to feel pain. To grieve”. You spoke like you knew it for yourself and you did. You’d lost your own loved ones. You’d grappled with fear of the future and regrets of the past. The only way you’d been able to keep moving forward was by sharing your burdens with others. 

“In my dream”, Miguel started, “I lost everyone I cared about. My family, my friends, my teammates, you…” He closed his eyes in anguish. “I wasn’t fast enough. I wasn’t strong enough. I wasn’t… enough. It nearly killed me to see everyone like that, just completely….gone”. He took a big breath. “I felt so alone”. 

You squeezed his hand again and he squeezed back, hoping you could feel how much he appreciated your comfort. 

“I’m so sorry Miguel”, you whispered sympathetically. “That must have been so hard to experience all that. But just know that I’m here. I’m right here and I’ll be here as long as you need me. I know it’s hard not to worry about but it doesn’t get us anywhere right? The only thing we can do is try to live as best we can right now. Okay? Me oyes?”

Miguel nodded, the smallest hint of a smile forming in the corners of his lips. It reminded him of his mother when you talked like that. 

“Do you want to sleep in the same room tonight? We could bring the mattress out here or…” you looked questioningly at him, rubbing your eyes as a spell of sleepiness started to settle over you. Now this made him smile, albeit a shy one. 

“Sure…if you honestly don’t mind”, he said, feeling a bit better about the night. It would be nice to not have to sleep alone with his thoughts for once. 

“Of course not”, you yawned, getting up to go grab it. Together you were able to maneuver the mattress into the middle of the living room floor. “Sure you don’t wanna switch?” you asked with another yawn once everything had been arranged. 

“I’m sure”, Miguel chuckled as he watched you practically collapse onto the mattress with exhaustion. “Sleep well Y/N…. and thank you. For everything”. 

“Ya sabes”, you mumbled, already sinking comfortably into your pillow. Miguel waited until he could hear the rhythmic sound of your sleeping breaths before he lay himself down on the couch. 

With the new, light feeling in his chest and the steady lull of your breathing just a few feet away, Miguel let his eyes close and slipped into a peaceful slumber.

[thewitchofbooks]

A few things about Cyril Rose, Chevalier Michel and Lucian

I was always curious about Chevalier's behavior towards Cyril, especially after Lucian was introduced as the covert and the royal guard later on for Chevalier. The question in my mind was, if Chevalier really trust Cyril to become the lead knight of the foreign affairs faction, then would he ever call him by his name? The post is based on Chevalier's election promise party event

Spoilers and facts about Cyril (and a few about Lucian) under the cut!

After obtaining Chevalier's Early Clear Bonus from this party event (promise from 2nd anniversary/election):

The story was in his POV and fully voiced (meaning that his thoughts and dialog were voiced, except for a few lines of narration).

But from this story, we are able to see a few sides of Chevalier that we never saw before, nor did we hear him talk about. Including Cyril Rose.

The story starts with him training with the knights, before "killing them" as he said after knocking them out. And it ends with Cyril being the only one standing. From the Mc's POV, Cyril could keep up really well, but Chevalier kicked his sword. In Chevalier's POV, Cyril actually got distracted, else the battle would have continued.

This whole training thing was never something that Chevalier would have done, but he feels the need to show off in front of Emma.

Back to the topic, while training and inwardly praising all the knights, who were able to keep up so much longer against him, Chevalier thought of Cyril.

And while thinking of him as Clavis' knight, he also acknowledges his name!! The same way Lucian's name is acknowledged, meaning that it's written right on top of his job in the castle:

Translation:

Chevalier's thoughts: 'Usually, I leave the management of the knight's to Clavis and the red head (Cyril),'

So he does, indeed, acknowledge him with his name. Conclusion: Chevalier loves to "make fun" of others with these nicknames (more like he points out what describes them XD). Lucian is also called the long black haired royal guard (Since Chevalier is the king, Lucian is the royal guard).

A few things for Cyril:

In the party event story (previous discussion), it shows how much more familiar the knights are with Chevalier and how much more they are scared of Cyril (as their master in training). Chevalier told them to run 100 laps around the castle, making the knights complain about it (with no fear towards him). Translation of the moment:

Knights:"Hyahhhhhh.....100 laps!?"

Chevalier:"Even if I'm showing the losers mercy?"

Cyril:"Thank you for your mercy! Everyone, keep your mouth shut!"

When Cyril told them to shut their mouth, they all stopped complaining and run out to train

Before that, Chevalier admitted to Cyril that out of all of the knights, he would be the only one standing at the battlefield. And not only that, but he told him to make sure to withdraw if something goes wrong and return to the castle before he dies. He also said that he should help and save as many of those around him, leaving Cyril at a loss but he was quick to agree with Chevalier.

Thank you for reading this far! This event was truly enjoyable and definitely worth to get the ECB. A small flashback of Chevalier and Clavis is also in there, but in Chevalier's thoughts.

Chevalier was drawing Benitoite in huge detail and Emma was watching in amazement, before she complimented him. Chevalier thought that he never payed attention to drawing before, but he once tried it, because Clavis made him draw to find a weakness, but Chevalier knew how, so Clavis threw a tantrum when he saw the finished project.

And of course, after he finished drawing Benitoite, he drew Jade and gave attention to the huge greenhouse, because it looked like it came out of a fairy-tale, so he knew Emma would love this the most.

Although he finished with the drawings, gave them to Emma after she asked to keep them, knowing that all he was doing was useless and had nothing to do with their lessons, he still asked her to draw something for him.

(Keep in mind that Sariel doesn't give Emma lessons as much anymore, it's mostly Chevalier when he is off of work).

Emma drew roses, books (Chevalier's thoughts were that this was a rose garden with her favourite things), and in the end, she added added tiger! And Chevalier took the quill pen from her hands to draw a little rabbit too. He started praising Emma a lot and her expressions changed a lot, so he laughed very hard at her (his thoughts were that he never laughed this hard in his whole life).

[scythemichaelfaraday]

“A Nice Guy”

Edgar Vargas is painted as a kind Christian soul with conviction and faith that was tragically brought to an untimely death at the hands of Johnny C.

Sure no one wants to die horrifically by the works of a homicidal maniac, but the way that Edgar goes about attempting to do so is quite covert and sheds a lot of light on who he is not only as a character but as a self-proclaimed person of faith.

Also to note before I begin: this is not a personal attack against those that see Edgar in a positive light.

Playing Nice to Get You to See Their Way (And Get What They Want)

A common tactic of Christians is to find the downhearted, the “broken”, the outcasts and build them up with friendship, affection, and support that susceptible people often lack. But their goal is not to make a lasting relationship, it’s to chip away at the person’s boundaries ever so slowly until they can indoctrinate them.

Now, Edgar’s goal obviously is not to indoctrinate Johnny, but he uses the same tactic of listening to Johnny rant about the mistreatment he experiences, offering some degree of sympathy, and ultimately showing that his primary goal of hearing Johnny out is so that he can slip in the request that he be freed. And he does this several times, most prominently, here.

The common pattern of listen, wait, and ask for what they really want.

Christians Don’t Deserve Bad Things Obviously

When asked about what he’d done to Johnny to end up in the torture device, Johnny responds that he hadn’t really done anything except for being a person.

When Edgar learns about this, he questions why then Johnny, as person, doesn’t kill himself.

The first hint that he believes only the bad, the unworthy (whatever that could mean to him) should die. Johnny is just one of the unsavory, evil people that Christians like Edgar believe deserve to be condemned (unless they ask for divine forgiveness).

And the second hint is illustrated here:

“What if I’m not like all those goblin people? You just randomly picked me out, when you could’ve taken someone more deserving.”

Many Christians like to believe that they are holy people divinely picked by God himself to show the people of this Earth how wrong they are and to come to faith to be fixed. So why would bad things happen to them? Are they not God’s special children, his “Army?”

Don’t those queers, those atheists, those left-wing lunatics, that street performer who impersonates robots and makes that irritating wheezy whistle noise more deserving of this anguish than them?

Christians don’t see any other line other than “people of Faith and my lifestyle” and “people not of Faith and my lifestyle” and anyone who fits into the latter is grouped altogether whether they be child abusers, people who get abortions, or a little child in Africa that worships another higher being than them.

Why poor innocent undeserving Edgar?

“A Heaven for Me, and a Hell For You”

This deserves its own point because in addition to claiming he is undeserving of his death, he also makes it clear that he believes in divine punishment (and reward) as all Christians do. And finally the niceties that Christians wear falls away.

He doesn’t know really anything about Johnny other than he’s a deranged, ill murderer, but he has already decided that he is deserving of Hell. Again, anyone that a Christian perceives as not being of their lifestyle and Faith is condemned to Hell.

In fact, as a bit of an anecdote, a youth group leader at a church I used to attend was very adamant and very certain that children who die before they are “saved”(including infants) go to Hell. It doesn’t matter that they are innocent and have done nothing wrong, just because they don’t serve their God, that person deserves to go to Hell.

If one takes all of this into account, the only thing we can credit Edgar with is that he was civil with Johnny until he wasn’t (I think telling someone they’re going to Hell kinda ends a civil streak). We don’t really see much more about him outside of this brief interaction, but I think most people who have been burned by Christians can see through the kind façade that he puts up.

Again this is all just my personal opinion. Take what you like and leave the rest.

[dutifullynuttywitch]

Eva watched from the top of the watchtower. The soft morning was almost a blessing, the tireless hours of work behind her. From working patrol to finishing up the foundation for the new greenhouse, it was a tough job. To bask in the few good hours of sunlight was heaven and there was something particularly interesting about the way the sun rose and set - melting into orange and red, before filling the skies with blue. A beginning.

“Happy birthday!”

Eva didn’t have to turn her head around to recognize the person. “Not my birthday, Troy. You know, it was cute at first, but you bringing it up randomly and guessing your way out of this, isn’t”

“No, I am being serious.” Troy reached into his pocket and gave her a piece of paper. 

“What’s this?”

“A while ago, I ran a covert operation with the Raiders to the Tower for meds and everything - we kept it a secret and I came across the records room and found your birth certificate. Your real birth certificate, not the bullshit date the Tower gave you. Hundreds of hundreds of them out there in the room, I saw it all and -- well, now isn’t the time to dwell on something that has happened, it’s a new leaf and -- the birth certificate puts your birthday sometime around now, actually.”

“This -- this is real?” Eva gave the piece of paper a tap. It felt real. It was real. The certificate issued the names of her fathers in bold detail, the place and time of her birth - at approximately 5:30 in the morning, just enough for the night to wither away and the day to break. Signed by a nurse in the hospital she would never see, broken down and reclaimed back by nature many years ago. “Oh my god- this is real.”

“I know you aren’t a huge fan of pomp and circumstance-”

“I could go for some cake, though.” Eva teased.

“That can be arranged.” Troy grinned. 

“Leave it to you to literally steal a birthday present for me.” she chuckled. “Thank you - I don’t know what to say.”

“Well you don’t have to.” he responded. “It’s your day, Eva. I don’t think you have to be grateful for your day.”

“No, I have to. But -- for now, I’m just glad you’re here to celebrate it with me. Cake or none, I’m just -- happy.” Eva clutched the piece of paper, almost hugging it with her arms. She gave Troy a quick kiss, resting her head on his shoulder as they watched the sun slowly rise up to the horizon.

___

Happy birthday Léa! I hope you liked the little drabble I wrote with a half-cooked idea lmao. I hope the year treats you well, my friend! Thank you so much for being so kind, such a positive force in this fandom and I wish all the kindness, all the wonderful things back to you <33

ohh I adore this idea!!! Thank you so much Mads for this thoughtful gift!! 🤩😍🥰

Eva's always had so many questions about her past, her fathers, how her life was before the outbreak. She and Brynn were so young when it all started. I HC that with the trauma from losing their fathers so violently, running from drones and being picked up by strangers to suddenly end up in the cold, sterile, unforgiving intake room of the Tower, Brynn and Eva would completely freeze up at the questions and orders barked by the intake guards. Resulting in fake birthdays based on approximate age as they were quickly sized-up... The Tower scavengers would eventually find the certificates, but why correct dozens of fake birthdays if it didn't change the usefulness of the unimportant workers/clogs in the system?

“Leave it to you to literally steal a birthday present for me.” she chuckled. “Thank you - I don’t know what to say.”

This is so Troy!! I adore that he ran a covert operation with the raiders - I do HC he'd become drinking buddies and eventually good friends with Boots, Knuckles and co. - and stole Eva's birth certificate. And that he kept it a secret until her actual birthday!! And.. and.. right at sunrise, literally around the time she was born 🥹🥰 This is what I love about the guy, all the underrated little gestures to brighten Eva's day. ❤️

I loved everything about this, from the descriptiveness of the sunrise, to the playful banter, the brilliant idea around Eva's birthday... thank you so, so much my friend!!!! I will treasure this drabble 🌼🌺💛

[curator-on-ao3]

20 questions for fic writers

Thank you so much for tagging me, @divinemissem13! ❤️

1. How many works do you have on Ao3? 127

2. What’s your total Ao3 word count? 660,997

3. What fandoms do you write for? Star Treks, mostly Strange New Worlds, Lower Decks, Picard, and Voyager.

4. What are your top five fics by kudos?

Tuvok’s Secret (G): Tuvok has a secret — and he trusts only one person onboard to keep it. (Kathryn Janeway & Tuvok)

Feet on the Ground (G): Something solid slams into Kathryn’s back. She stumbles forward, bumping Mark, who in turn careens into someone else. Kathryn turns to glare at the probably inebriated party-goer who didn’t watch where they were going. But, instead, she looks up to achingly familiar dark eyes and the curves and lines of a tattoo that Kathryn spent the last eighteen months telling herself she didn’t miss. (Chakotay/Kathryn Janeway)

The Halo Effect (M): Tom Paris and Kathryn Janeway didn’t intend to fall in love. (Kathryn Janeway/Tom Paris)

Fly Me to the Moon (E): Kathryn Janeway and Tom Paris never met each other years before Voyager. Never served on a covert mission together. Never fell in love. Never planned a future together. Nope, never happened. Because a secret like that could lead to some … complex dichotomies. (Kathryn Janeway/Tom Paris)

Bad Ensign (T): Harry Kim finds out he missed out on an important part of the Starfleet Academy experience. Hilarity and dirty jokes ensue. (ensemble, friendship fic)

5. Do you respond to comments? Yes. If someone was kind enough to leave a comment, I’m going to thank them.

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending? I used to not know how to answer this question, but I recently got a kudos on Honey, I’m Home and while that story definitely isn’t “sit down crying” angst, I feel like maybe it qualifies? (Though In the Doorway might also fit under that criteria? Both stories are Kathryn Janeway/Tom Paris, but they only get together in one of them.)

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending? Either Feet on the Ground or Youthful Exuberance (Some Kind of Love). Feet on the Ground has Janeway and Chakotay finding their way together after their Delta Quadrant trauma (note: Chakotay is afraid to leave the Sol system for fear of getting pulled into the Delta Quadrant again — Prodigy!Chakotay didn’t exist yet when I wrote that but, from what I’ve heard, he could possibly relate). Youthful Exuberance lets our heroes, Christopher Pike and Una Chin-Riley, have all manner of ups and downs, but the tags promise a 100 percent happy ending and I was determined to deliver.

8. Do you get hate on fics? Not that I’m aware of, usually.

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind? Yes. Vanilla because I find that interesting to write. (I’ll read all sorts of stuff.)

10. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written? I write crossovers within the Trekverse. The two craziest allowed Tuvok and Geordi LaForge to have tea together (Asunder [T] Kathryn Janeway/Tom Paris) and Shannon O’Donnell Janeway to tell Benny Russell how much his writing has meant to her (Meeting of the Minds [G] Shannon O’Donnell Janeway & Benny Russell, Kathryn Janeway & Benjamin Sisko).

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen? Other than by ChatGPT, not to my knowledge.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated? Yes, In the Doorway was translated into Russian.

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before? Yes, and am doing so again.

14. What’s your all time favorite ship? NCC 1701

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will? There’s one I technically finished about Tom Paris and Owen Paris in the aftermath of Owen’s beta canon torture by the Cardassians. But it’s really dark and I don’t know if I’ll ever edit or post it.

16. What are your writing strengths? Adaptability (to prompts), brevity, details.

17. What are your writing weaknesses? I’m having trouble lately with voice and lack of vocabulary variety.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic? If necessary, a beta fluent in the language can be very helpful.

19. First fandom you wrote for? I consider that to be Voyager, but recently reflected on an even earlier fandom for me.

20. Favorite fic you’ve written? My most recent fic always holds a place in my heart, so Disarmed (Mirror Una Chin-Riley/Mirror Christopher Pike) is special to me, and also was an interesting mental stretch because I’d never before written sex that the characters think is good but I think isn’t good. But my all-time favorite? Youthful Exuberance (Some Kind of Love). It’s my novel length love letter to Chris and Una, and it means a lot to me.

Tagging: Tumblr has been doing this fun thing lately where I don’t see posts from people I follow. So, if you actually see this, please consider yourself tagged with no pressure. Also, in addition to the wonderful people tagged by @divinemissem13, I’m tagging @grissomesque @fiadorable @emilie786 @genius2mania @lorcaswhisky @enterprise-come-in @marymoss1971 @sun-lit-roses @kejsarinna @iamstartraveller776 @isagrimorie @emonydeborah and the fantastic folks I’m not thinking of right now because I have tag anxiety.

[cha-melodius]

20 for the writing meme, please!

Thanks for asking! You picked a doozy, lol. (Ask me questions about my writing)

20. Tell us the meta about your writing that you really want to ramble to people about (symbolism you’ve included, character or relationship development that you love, hidden references, callbacks or clues for future scenes?)

All right, here's some meta for chapter 2 of Nova, Baby (why chapter 2? Because it's an entire 5+1 inside a single chapter of a multichap fic, which is meta enough reason to choose it).

So yeah, it's a 5+1! I thought this was very clever, lol. Also a little bonkers, but there you go. I love this chapter because it really is a huge arc in Alex and Henry's relationship development, plus I got to play with these little encapsulated moments, and some other characters got to come in too (Nora, Pez). I'll give you some "behind the story" and lists of references for each section!

Below will be spoilers for the entire fic, so be forewarned.

I. My excuse for food-as-a-metaphor-for-love. I love that canonically Alex is a good cook, and this was my excuse to have them indulge when normally you might not get much of that in spy fiction (although, this is also a bit of a reference to my other fandom, The Man from UNCLE, where one of the spies is also a good cook; fancy dishes at safehouses is kind of my jam). I chose molé as a dish because making a traditional one has so many ingredients, to really drive home Alex putting a lot of effort into his relationship with Henry.

II. I had such fun writing this one so that, even though it's from Alex's POV, the reader doesn't know he's wearing a vest until Henry does. He might not have been risking his life (much), but he was definitely risking some broken ribs. This one has a bunch of little references in it, mostly to other spy media:

jumping through a fifth story window into a swimming pool—this is a Burn Notice reference. Throw a mattress into the pool first. Also I just love the idea of Alex being a little Extra when it comes to being a spy.

three guys who look like they walked off a Guy Ritchie set—TMFU is a Guy Ritchie movie, plus I love his movies in general.

Alex hadn’t gotten any confirmation from Langley that MI6 would be a part of this op, Henry had just shown up and Alex hadn’t really questioned it—Meant to sow a tiny thread of doubt in Alex's mind, which would pay off later when the fake burn file comes through.

he notices the way Henry’s eyelashes are wet and clumping together and his eyes are rimmed in red—Henry fucking lost it here. See also the part where he kills the men rather than his usual incapacitating, nonlethal shots. This is probably the point where he realizes how deep he's in.

Turns out, they don’t argue about what to do with it. They destroy the hard drive—direct TMFU reference, (spoilers for that movie), this is what Illya and Napoleon do at the end with the missile plans.

III. The classic Nora-and-Alex-have-a-conversation-about-his-bisexuality scene. Also I just loved the idea of Alex being so oblivious to his bisexuality that he's actually sucked cock before and written it off because 'that's just what spies do'. The layout of desks/offices in this fic roughly comes from the show Covert Affairs, since it's one of the few I've watched that actually regularly shows CIA interiors.

IV. Behind the story peek: Henry bails on this mission because he's concerned, after Lisbon, that he's getting in too deep. Also this scene Alex being a Henry-sexual (not interested in going home with any other people in the bar but can't figure out why), which I love. Also Pez in a poncho, because he would. Pez and Alex have an absolute blast on their mission, and Pez gives Henry no end of shit about Alex when he gets back.

V. Tender wound-tending my beloved. This was such a moment of honesty for them. I mean, not completely honest, but I think this is the first time Alex really realizes just how much Henry cares about him (save the full romantic feelings). There is, of course, a massive callback to this scene near the end of the fic where Alex tells Henry that he can't die because promised he'd always take care of him. All that time, he's carried that in his memory. So yeah, this is a pivotal moment.

+1. Ah, the kiss moment. I always love a kiss-as-a-cover trope, and it made for a good first kiss in this one where it would be easier to write off the potential for feelings, since it was all for the mission. Lots of canon references in this one:

in another life, he would have made a great politician—obvious reference is obvious.

I suppose I could, I don’t know, fall into the dessert table or something—a refence to Cakegate of course.

Christ, you’re thick sometimes—I changed the quote because I wanted it to be a bit less severe than "as thick as it gets." Alex is only thick sometimes in this universe, lol.

Henry’s back hits the wall next to some kind of small, indoor tree—always kissing under a tree, these two.

public displays of affection can be strategically useful for diverting scrutiny away from yourself—yes, this a CA: TWS reference

ALL RIGHT, that's probably enough lmaooooo. You asked me to ramble and I rambled. I hope this was interesting to at least one person.

[androgynouspenguinexpert]

gather round, children, because op made an irreversible error on her graduate project three days before it's due and this blog is the only thing keeping her from snapping!

let's talk about camelopardalis!

unfortunately for him (and this analysis), cam is more of a narrative device than a character, but he has a handful of standout moments. if i had to pin him to a theme for the sake of consistency, i'd probably say processing and recovering from trauma.

cam, despite his specialty as a serenity daemon, is an incredibly anxious person - he usually keeps it under wraps, but cam starts to spiral almost immediately when he loses control of a situation. notice how quickly he bounces after someone offers him help instead of the other way around, which is what he's used to. it's his comfort zone. camelopardalis helps people; he sees it as his only purpose. he becomes incredibly stressed when he's not helping, and god forbid someone offer to share some of the emotional weight he's always carrying.

i think camelopardalis has the opposite problem to someone like avior - he's a little (read: a lot) too tied to his identity as a serenity daemon, and doesn't really consider himself an individual. it certainly doesn't help that the department has snatched him up to use as a mobile therapist-slash-trauma response worker. camelopardalis ties his self worth to his usefulness, and the department is all but happy to exploit that. maybe not consciously, but having your memory modification team want to work 24/7 at full capacity isn't something any government branch would complain about.

the tidbit that memories can be moved around but never fully destroyed is incredibly interesting to me - because, among other things, that means that cam is holding the worst memories of who knows how many people. we get a tiny peek of that later in his (what i hesitate to even call) series, but cam shuts it down as soon as he realises he's opened up too much. all this poses an interesting moral question - what are we meant to do with horrible traumatic memories if they can't be destroyed? obviously, most people just have to work through them themselves the old fashioned way, but what about people like ivan? or baby? people who have been victims of horrific magical crimes (cheers vega) that need to have their memories removed for their own sakes, and to maintain covert? is it really fair to cram all that trauma into one person? (spoiler: it is not)

okay, so we can't just shove the worst emotions known to man into a daemon and hope for the best. but now what? do we make them take turns on the trauma? do we split it up, ending up with more people holding smaller pieces? do we just pile all the horror into one person and kill them? there really isn't a good answer here, at least not that i can see. serenity daemons holding onto the memories of their charges is really only pushing the trauma one rung up the ladder, and leaving the daemon to work through recovery acoustic style.

i doubt we'll see cam in any meaningful capacity any time soon. he's really not relevant to the current A plot, and i'd argue he's bundled in somewhere with the F or G plots at the moment. still, i think camelopardalis has a lot of potential. if he eventually decides to open up to someone, he might get to experience some of that peace he strives to grant to others.

[trashquisitor-shirozora]

Hey! I saw your reply to that anon ask about mandalorian, and i gotta say i agree with your view. There is something different in season 3 that i couldnt really explain, but you managed to put it into words. The past seasons feel character driven, while this season is more plot driven.

Honestly, i didnt have high expectations, because the ending of season 2 feels conclusive, so i dont know what theyre going to do after that. And when they said that din wont be the main focus of season 3, i felt a bit sad about it haha. I was thinking that maybe we're gonna explore more of din's identity crisis or something like that. But uhhhh idk. I have thoughts and emotions that i cant put into words. I hope you understand what im saying here lmao

Y'know, in hindsight - and can I really say so when we still have an episode left of Season 3, a whole ass Season 4, and however many seasons left until the Disneyfied Thrawn Trilogy Movie? - I feel comfortable saying that Din's story should've ended in Season 2 and he never should've gotten the Darksaber. I also want to argue that he got the Darksaber because Favloni did have plans for him, specifically, until something (Ahsoka and the Thrawn Trilogy and a movie) happened that made them decide to pivot hard into propping up Bo-Katan, whitewashing and sanitizing her backstory, and giving her all of Din's possible storylines. I mean, what did she really do over a season that made her better than Din, who lost everything saving Grogu from Gideon and finding a Jedi who could take him in?

Din was left alone on the bridge of Gideon's cruiser with Bo-Katan and Koska. He is truly alone. Does he follow them back to Bo-Katan's fleet, a CotW among others who don't trust him and his covert? Does he start his search for the Armorer and survivors of Nevarro? Din showed his face to another living being. What does his crisis of faith look like? We saw a glimpse of that in TBOBF; he wasn't doing too hot and then he was banished from his covert and told hwo to atone for his sins. We could've had a multi-episode arc following his journey to Mandalore and visiting the history of Mandalore and its desecration by the Empire. We could have seen him waver in his faith, struggling between what he believed and what he experienced and all the ways they intersect and conflict. Din won the Darksaber in combat. He now holds an ancient Mandalorian Jedi weapon that the Mandalorian diaspora now say marks him as Mand'alor (or the best candidate for Mand'alor). Does he grow into this role using his experience and skills earned as a bounty hunter and his covert's provider, or does he choose to surrender it to somebody else because he never wanted and still does not want the power and authority that comes with the title? Does he ever see Grogu again? Is Grogu doing well? How will they reunite? Well, TBOBF answered all those questions and we just have to accept they're back together at the start of Season 3.

Thse are just some of so many potential character-driven and character-centric stories that I'm never seeing in canon now. He's been wallflowered, pushed into the background, Bo-Katan's newest and biggest supporter in her so-called redemption arc even though you wouldn't fucking know that her redemption arc maybe should've included some mention of what she fucking did in the Clone Wars and the fucking Season 3 logo features Din and Grogu front and center.

(A lot of newer merch I see at the Disney Store, Heroes & Villains, Her Universe, etc. now feature multiple Mandalorians and Mandalorian helmets, so maybe that was a giveaway that we are following more Mandalorians now... and I am still forever struggling to find decent Din Djarin merch that puts him front and center. Fuck me, I guess)

I truly wonder what kind of Season 3 we could've gotten if Favloni, Kennedy, and Disney decided not to MCU-fy Filoni's precious darlings, if we were allowed to follow Din the way we did in the first two seasons. You could bring him back to the covert without losing him to the crowd. You could have him cross paths with Bo-Katan again and have her play a more significant role in his journey(s) without taking all of the spotlight.

I did have high expectations after Season 2, Anon, but once TBOBF came out, i realized I was fucked. And, well. Here we are.

[starlitangels]

hey I was just wondering if you could explain what Redacted’s inversion is exactly? Because it still kinda confuses me.

The Inversion—not to be confused with the Imperium (of which I’ve already done a summary of each season so far)—was an event that occurred in-universe on December 31, 2021 right as the closing ceremonies for the 39th annual Elemental and Energetic Games were supposed to begin at 7pm. At 7pm, a portal from the alternate reality plane of Death opened and an army of Shades poured out (Shades are loose formations of magic pieced together from the magic in the River of Death).

The Inversion is called that because for a few hours, the River of Death “flowed both ways” usually it flows from Life into Death (Death being the alternate reality plane that acts as an in-between because the River flows to the Veil and that’s when there’s no more hope for a human to make it back, presumably) and beyond the Veil. But with the outpouring of Shades into the plane of Life, killing 1,500 people, the Death was flowing into Life as life was flowing into Death by how many people were killed.

The ward used to keep the magic contained to not breach covert was reactivated because it could hold the Shades and everyone in that stadium was trapped inside for hours, but the entire rest of Dahlia was saved from the attack due to that decision

That very same night, Elliott and Sunshine were attending the CloseKnit meeting and got caught by Blake and held hostage and all that

And, less than an hour before the portal opened, Avior and Starlight ended up in, and subsequently escaped, their trap in the Meridian

Vega’s story is still going on in October of 2021 so whether he and Warden get anywhere close to the Inversion is still unknown but wouldn’t surprise me

So yeah everyone in the ward boundaries was fighting off Shades for several hours before the ward dropped and a wave of magic from an assembled crowd outside the ward wiped out the remaining Shades. Leaving all of our favorite characters with trauma and injuries and all that not-so-fun stuff

Then in the post-credits scene it’s revealed that Brachium figured out the Inversion wasn’t an invasion. It was a feast of Life-force and magic for What Lies Beneath the River (the defeated, imprisoned Sovereigns)

If you have any more questions or if I wasn’t clear enough about something please feel free to ask! I did this in a bit of a hurry

[awholelottayeehaw]

I know, another post by me. If you're going "oh my god not again just stfu Billie" I absolutely will not and I am not sorry so anyone who doesn't want spoilers, just skip over this, otherwise enjoy my 3/5 A.M episode 7 thoughts/theory.

Who's Behind the Betrayal?

I know, another post by me. If you're going "oh my god just stfu Billie" I'm not sorry so anyone who doesn't want spoilers or to hear my dumbass 3 A.M thoughts on who it could be just skip over this, otherwise enjoy. Or suffer. Whichever you prefer.

The Armorer

I know a lot of people have their eyes set on The Armorer, but I'm not completely sold on her being the one who sold everyone out. I could see The Armorer wanting Bo out of the picture so that she can go back to having a tight lead on her cult again and didn't plan on Din or even Paz getting hurt, but it's still a leap of faith to trust someone like Gideon to keep up his end of any bargain. One I can't see The Armorer risking. She's not dumb. But in terms of not wanting to get people hurt, I honestly wouldn't put it past her that she doesn't care. I know people may get offended over that but after 35+ years with Din, she was willing to toss him out the moment he admitted he had gone helmetless and that was all I needed to know that her loyalty ends the moment you stop following her standard of the Creed. Even her reaction to being at the forge surrounded by the empty helmets of following Mandos in Season 1 felt empty, like she's able to disconnect from loss like that and she either has experienced it enough to where it's water off her shoulders or she just doesn't care.

It IS suspicious as hell that Gideon's goons had Beskar armor, but she would have had to sneak away from the covert enough times to not be detected and I have a hard time believing no one would notice her constantly coming and going at all hours. Even if she came up with an excuse to go off world, it just feels contrived that no one would pick up on odd or questionable behavior like that. We're assuming one must be trained to forge the Beskar armor and isn't something anyone can just pick up and do, but someone from the Survivors on Mandalore or even Bo's fleet could easily have been Armorers before the Purge.

The other thing that tripped me up at first and I know many others is why she changed her mind so quickly to make Bo out to be this person of prophecy after dismissing her Mythosaur claim when she warned Din in BOBF that:

"Bo-Katan is a cautionary tale. She once laid claim to rule Mandalore based purely on blood and the sword you now possess. But it was gifted to her and not won by Creed. Bo-Katan Kryze was born of a mighty house, but they lost sight of the way. Her rule ended in tragedy. They lost their way, and we lost our world."

At first, I had a hard time believing The Armorer would willingly follow someone who she knows was the reason for Mandalore's downfall. But after re-thinking it, I realized The Armorer never went into detail as to how Bo was a cautionary tale outside of being a tragic leader victim of circumstance when the Armorer only mentioned "they" and not "she." Pair this with how she told the Mandalorian Survivors that

I realized The Armorer may not have any idea that Bo is the reason for Mandalore's current state nor does she realize that Bo had been a member of the very terrorist group she mentioned. The Armorer said she was from the Moon just like Din was, and it's possible that everything she heard was second hand information because she genuinely didn't seem to know that Bo has a crime rep sheet as long as she is tall.

Bo, throughout this season, has been made out to be a broken leader who lost her way and Bo has been playing into that. This is probably the first time she's had a semi-clean slate. And if the Armorer knew about Bo's past and is just fucking with her... I guess we'll find out but I genuinely do think that The Armorer wouldn't follow someone like that if she knew they were part of their people's/planet's downfall and is doing this purely out of a change of heart for Bo, but we'll see.

Koska Reeves

I know others are guessing Axe, but between him and the Armorer it feels way too obvious. We already know Axe's loyalty starts and ends with whoever he thinks is worthy of owning the darkaber, and we already know even then there's no true loyalty to Bo or anyone else from him, so I honestly wonder if the spy/whistleblower would be Koska and not Axe. Koska's loyalty to Bo is much like Axe's despite the fact that Bo treats her like a close friend/confident. When sitting together on the survivors' ship and Bo barely scratched the surface as to what she had done and her involvement in Mandalore's current state, Koska opened her mouth as if to spill the beans and Bo just waved her off like

Koska clearly knows of Bo's tragic past to some extent, probably the most out of any of the other Nite Owls, and would be the last Bo and Axel would expect to be a spy. However, I just can't think of a good motive for her to side with Gideon. But it's hard to rule her out when, as I mentioned, the whole fleet and even Din's cult behind Bo aren't there because she's a worthy leader to follow, but is someone that Din has put his faith in and is the current "owner" of the darksaber." Loyalty to Bo, outside of Din's naivety, doesn't exist. At least, not without major conditions. And this leads me back to...

Bo-Katan Kryze

Do I think Bo is the spy/traitor? No. At least not intentionally.

If you've seen Bo in CW and Rebels, there's two things that have always been consistent about her character: Bo will do anything to achieve her goals regardless of who or what gets hurt and she never learns her lesson. In the past, she worked under both Maul and Count Dooku until both betrayed her. Her loyalty starts and ends with who best benefits her goals, and that has remained the same even in Mando. When she mentioned:

“In exchange for submitting to the Empire and disarming, all remaining cities and Mandalorian lives were to be spared. It was the only chance I had to save our people.”

I couldn't put my finger on why that confession bothered me the way it did. And it clicked: that doesn't sound like Bo. This is Bo-Katan Kryze, the woman who joined a terrorist group because she disagreed with her sister's pacifist ways. This is the woman who burned down a village and enslaved the people there for fun. This is the woman who trusted TWO Sith lords to help her and her fellow terrorists to achieve their goals and only fought against them the moment they were betrayed and not because "Siths are bad." This is the self serving woman who will do anything to get what she wants, including hiding the Mythosaur from Din after gaslighting him that it doesn't exist, and I have a very hard time believing what she said is true when she's never done anything like that in her history as a SW character because it requires the type of sacrifice that Bo wouldn't do willingly. So her comment made me wonder if that was a white lie pertaining their current predicament.

I could see Bo originally planning on sacrificing Din and his cult to Gideon in exchange for them to leave Mandalore alone and the darksaber so she can rebuild the planet just as she's been saying she's wanted to for decades. It's the only reason I can think of (other than bad writing) to explain why she openly lived in a castle in the same sector as Mandalore despite knowing an Imperial presence was present. It would explain why she felt so confident walking around Mandalore despite knowing the true threats were Imperial and not the Troll species or angry robots. It would explain why TIE fighters chose to blow up her home only AFTER Din was in her presence and wasn't too bothered by it. And it explains why she hide the Mythosaur from Din. Bo losing her home means now having a reason to be welcomed into Din's cult and earning their trust to push them into Gideon's trap, but I don't think Bo expect to end up experiencing what it's like to actually like to have people around you who are there because of honor and loyalty and not because you're waving around an ancient, glowy sword that people need to listen to.

Bo witnessed first hand, finally, how respected Din is within his covert and even the people of Nevarro. She saw how much foundlings meant to them, and how far they'd go to ensure the safety of their people that didn't come with strings attached. She witnessed Din's selfless acts and how he gave her unfair credit for a lot they got accomplished and, even if all of that was part of her initial plan, I don't think Bo realized how good it felt to be seen and welcomed as a hero for once and not a terrorist. Although she made a weak attempt at admitting out loud how she may have had a part in Mandalore's current state, she still hid the truth from everyone to have control over the siege because she knew people would back out of helping her. Because until Din volunteered himself and Grogu

No one was willing to volunteer. As I said: no one here willingly follows or trusts Bo. She hasn't earned that trust between her history and her "onward!" and not "follow me" leadership tactic. So with Din not only volunteering but saying this to Bo:

Bo, for the first time, experienced someone believing in her and willingly following her as a leader and not as a resented leader who people only follow because she had the planet's royal talking stick in hand.

She expected Din to reject her as a leader after her weak admission to her sins and that look she gives him after he walks away isn't because she's fallen for him (I won't piss on people who want to see it as such), she's looking at him with awed guilt. She's touched that she finally has someone who respects her as a person and not as the Heiress and that makes her feel guilty if it is revealed that she had planned on sacrificing him and his covert to Gideon all for a chance to rule again and awed that maybe, just maybe, she could be something other than a selfish jinx to their people. Her expression is very bitter sweet.

So where I think, if my theory is right, that her intensions had originally been malicious, I think her experiences with Din's cult inspired her to try to turn the tables on Gideon. That would explain why he wasn't surprised to see her but was surprised to see her fleet working with Din's cult. I don't think Bo knew or expected there to be a full on base built right under her nose like that nor did she expect Imperial soldiers to have Beskar armor. I have no doubt her reaction to Din being kidnapped and Paz potentially killed was genuine, along with her trembling in panic not just from losing her two best fighters, but also from the grief of once again setting history up to repeat itself. I think she'll try to use the darksaber to get people to help her save Din and Paz but will be met with silence because she's not the person they followed and believed in in the first place. I can see her trying a last ditch attempt at winning everyone over by finding and riding the Mythosaur but will be unable to find it. I'd put money on Din, Grogu, or even Boba being able to ride it before Bo does. And I know some people may be upset by this, but I also wouldn't be surprised if she dies doing the first selfless thing with her people in mind in her decades long journey. When Din mentioned Bo's song was not yet written without realizing that it's been told three times over, it was a perfect set up for Bo's death to be a "Swan Song." It would honestly be a beautiful way for Bo to go and giving the saber and title to Din before going out with a bang, recognizing that he's the one that the galaxy and strangers on the internet trying to figure out how to get to him through their TV would follow and be the peace bringer the galaxy has longed for. But like I said: we'll see.

No One's a Spy

I know some of you may be wondering why I didn't mention the surviving Mandalorians they run into, which is fair, but I think they'd be too obvious to be the spies. I am surprised Bo and Din's respected people didn't suspect them of anything and trusted them right off the bat on top of them somehow not knowing that the Empire built a whole base without their knowledge and somehow either forgot or choose to forgive Bo for being the reason they're even like that in the first place, but I would put money on that being bad writing cause it would be really out of character for Din and his people at the very least to not suspect these strangers of any malicious intent. They're so distrusting it wouldn't be logical for them to be blindsided by the most obvious choice. So in the end, the other option is no one is the spy. No one set anyone up to be betrayed and it was an unfortunate circumstance cause by poor planning and strategy and now everyone's paying for it. But we'll see tonight/tomorrow!

I meant to post this earlier this week but I've had a bad chronic flare up from a food allergen. I'm fine, but I'm exhausted and in a lot of discomfort waiting for the flare to pass. Until it does, I'm curious to hear all of your thoughts and I'll see you on the other side.

[black--sun]

Ichigo blinks. “I don’t know. I’d have to see the panties first. No promises.” He wouldn’t of course. But he wouldn’t be beyond enjoying seeing what Shiro has in the department of skimpy or lacy. 

“You’re worried what I’ll think of you?” He shoots Shiro a doubtful look. “I went to jail for you, jackass. Don’t underestimate how much I want to be here. And don’t assume just because you haven’t let go of your past that I won’t be able to either.” He sighs. “I’m serious though. You don’t have to tell me anything. I’m just saying you can and I’ll listen, and maybe I’ll like you more because not just anyone comes back from where you’ve been.” 

Shiro acts like Ichigo is a novice, and he is, but the end result is being told he needs to have more of something he enjoys, and he’s willing to bet Shiro will serve him all the mixed drinks he wants, so for once, he doesn’t argue. “You remember that you’re not that much older than me, right? I’ve had some time to acclimate.” Clearly not enough though. 

Ichigo feels his mouth bend into a frown at that question. He wrinkles his nose. “Kind of… yeah. I guess.” Shiro is going to give him a crisis if this conversation keeps going. He likes that he keeps Shiro busy and likes hearing it, and that’s a much safer place for his mind to be. 

Fuck, that little display of swagger works better for him than he wishes it would. Ichigo’s left scowling lightly and watching Shiro drive off until he’s out of sight. He’s so attracted to the asshole it can’t be healthy. Even when he goes out of his way to make sure all possible attention lands on him. 

His time at the hospital is mostly uneventful. He walks in with Ishida and nimbly sidesteps too many questions about the guy he feels comfortable groping in public places. He does give a few details. They’re dating. It just started. He didn’t go to their school. Which was fairly obvious. He even makes tentative coffee plans to run by Shiro later. Then he gets around to questions about looking into whether Yhwach is dead somewhere on the elevator ride. He’s careful not to actually give a name. Preferably he can look into it without being suspicious as hell. If he had his way, he’d bring Shiro Yhwach’s head as proof if he finds a body, but that’s probably not realistic. Maybe a snapshot would work. 

He tables going to find proof as he’s led to his appointment. And instead of the lecture on fucking around while he has a stab wound, he gets one on why it’s irresponsible to leave a hospital before being cleared by a medical professional— which he should know because his father is a doctor. The whole thing kind of tapers off into his actions being his dad’s fault somehow and Ichigo is fine with passing the buck if it makes it all end sooner. He tunes it out in favor of imagining Shiro’s outfit coming off. 

He has to wait another half hour for Ishida to be free to give him a ride. He spends it having a nurse check records for him. Its easier than it should be, since he’s been in the director’s office instead of a waiting room. He’s guessing Ryuken doesn’t work in a lot of people off the cuff. It barely takes a few minutes to find out what he wants to know before the nurse asks him if he’s a relative. He strongly considers posing as Shiro and pretending to be, except if anything happens, he doesn’t want to actually get Shiro into anything. He claims to be a family friend instead. She’s so helpful she nearly does all his covert work for him, going so far as to write some of the details on a card, and he leaves her station before either Ishida can spot him talking to her. 

He fills his scripts after that and spends the last few minutes in the cafeteria where there’s better food than what he got in the other place. Not that he can eat most of it, but it works out and he picks up some crispy fried dumplings and teriyaki for his nearly always ravenous boyfriend. 

Ichigo makes it back to the warehouse a few hours and some walking time after Ishida drops him off. His hospital trip wasn’t that bad of an ordeal, but he’s still heated from his earlier car ride, and he’s been itchy and restless nearly the entire time. And now he’s ready to find Shiro, even if it’s just to stand around and look threatening. He considers stopping at the stairs to rest a while, but he takes them instead, ignoring the way his body wants to drag.

He makes a face. “Ew. I’m not gonna catch you sniffin’ my panties or something, am I?” But ok, Ichigo’s not actually talking about his dirty laundry and he knows it. He knows what Ichigo’s saying. He sobers up and shrugs. “It’s not really a big deal, I guess. You already know I was a dumpster fire. How much worse of an option could you have of me? It doesn’t really get worse than you’ve already heard, just-” he kind of motions from one spot to another, indicating distance. “kinda keeps going. Maybe later.”

He looks over with an arched brow and a scoff. “No one starts out liking what I drink, you gotta age into it. Drink enough sugary, sweet things and develop a taste for the alcohol itself first. You’ll get there, don’t worry.” He’s not trying to make Ichigo an alcoholic, but it is nice being able to share something with Ichigo. And it’s nice to have a drinking partner, instead of drinking alone most of the time.

Well ok that answers that: they both work there. Weird. Who wants to work with their parents? He blinks when Ichigo tells him to fuck the two of them, which he really has not been considering or wanting, but then…. “….are they hot? No. No, nevermind, I don’t care. I’m not interested. You keep me busy and satisfied, they could only be disappointing.”

He cracks up at that awkward little wave he gets back. The poor guy looks like he’s still trying to figure out what just happened while he tries to keep an entirely different conversation going with someone else. And he’s not bad looking, but not nearly Ichigo level hot. Kind of twink-y and breakable looking though. His attention slides to where Ichigo is looking annoyed and embarrassed. He knows where the exit is, he doesn’t need that pointing. He winks before putting the car back in gear and revving it a little harder than necessary to pull away.