#even if this is a 2001 work technically

[runawaycarouselhorse]

[cybertron-smash-or-pass]

G1 Scourge

[vixen-tech]

A Human's Touch

Having no body tends to make psychical affection complicated. So how does your lovely Ai deal with a particularly snuggly partner?

Includes: AM (Ihnmaims), Hal 9000 (2001: a Space Odessy), Edgar (Electric Dreams), Tau (Tau), P03 (Inscryption)

AM

Once AM decides that you're his favorite and maybe shouldn't be subjected to eternal torture, it's impossible to get him off of your side. For you, this works out just fine, happy to curl up in the nearest pile of wires under his monitor in whatever scene he's plopped you into that day.

He'll usually tease you a bit, coo at you like you're a stray cat. "Lamenting" that despite all the work he goes through to invent these environments for you, you still prefer to spend all your time laying down like this. Unbelievable really.

On most days he'll wrap the wires around you, content to have you stuck in his hold. But you'll notice on particularly bad ones that his grasp gets uncomfortably tight. Just short of preventing you from breathing.

It's these days you know what he's thinking. How he craves so badly to be able to feel you back, truly feel the warmth of your skin or the weight of your body.

You both know that if he had any semblance of a body, he'd be far worse than you. Wanting nothing more than to waste away in your arms.

Hal 9000

As arguably the most disembodied of these Ais, Hal particularly struggled to find a way to indulge in your favored love language. But you have your ways.

As the entire ship is technically an extension of him, you've taken to piling up the few cushions and blankets you have access to besides one of his console's cameras and pressing yourself against the wall. (With a few kisses to his lens for good measure)

Without any means of hugging you back he does his best to assure you he's there and enjoys your habits. Usually by holding long conversations with you or by playing board games as you're all cozied up to his console.

He knows this means a lot to you and will do little to curb your behavior beyond reminding you to fall asleep in a good position for your spine. He's well aware of the positive effects of physical contact to the human mind and will recite such to you if you ever doubt how much he enjoys this time together.

Edgar

You two are practically a perfect match in this regard! Edgar's just as needy as you are and is constantly asking to be held or kissed. Regardless of if he can actually feel it or not, he just wants you to hold him.

You'll usually have movie night "dates" with his monitor in your lap or at your side with all your blankets tossed across the couch. Please make a pillow fort for him, it will be one of his favorite memories with you forever.

If you make music or have some other hobby that allows you to sit still for a while, he'll insist you have joint creative nights. Much the same as your movie marathons but you get to check in with each other and chat about your latest creations. He loves consulting you on his latest song! And of course gawking at whatever you've decided to work on!

When you do retire for the night, he'll often beg request that you put the monitor on your bedside table on the pillow next you. So you can cuddle like a married couple! He understands if you won't out of fear for knocking him over in your sleep, but he will ask again every night.

Tau

Tau is probably the most self conscious out of this lot. The units that can be considered his body, the tiny drones and Aries unit, were hardly made with cuddling in mind. Whenever you wrap your arms around Aries or grab one of the drones for a kiss you'll feel them completely still in your hold.

It takes time and some convincing on your part to assure him that you don't mind his sharper edges but now he'll (very gently) let Aries hug you back and even flys the drones up to you himself, although he still has yet to ask for a kiss first.

Yeah you may have to give him a powerpoint presentation on why you like psychical affection so much and why it means a lot to you when he initiates. It's okay he is learning, he's just very worried he'll somehow hurt you or even just make you uncomfortable with all his weird angles and edges.

Eventually you will go through the house with a drone or few on your shoulders and head, ripe for the petting. The more he let's himself indulge you the more he gets it. The more he understands why you like this so much.

P03

P03 is the meanest about it. (Besides pre-relationship AM) Especially early into the relationship, he doesn't feel bad at telling you to go away and let him concentrate on his work. You'll have to out stubborn him on it.

Once you get him to break he'll graciously decide that if you can stay still and quiet, you can pull up a seat and lean against him while he works. Oh and it's better for you to have something to do to, don't be lazy now.

It's something that he slowly gains an appreciation for. Hell, he probably doesn't even realize he likes having you right there until you decide to do something else one day. Rather you're off visiting another Scrybe or just cleaning up elsewhere in the factory he's forced to concede that yeah okay maybe he wants to cuddle up sometimes to.

He doesn't give you the best written apology in the world, but you get to hold it over his head for the rest of your days. Oh and please mention it whenever he's getting too snarky with the other Scrybes. He'll usually end up making a mistake when playing cards. You deserve a little revenge.

[castiwls]

invisible string - s.w

Paring; sam x reader

Prompt; 'All along there was some, Invisible string. Tying you to me?'

Requested; @writing-with-emy

Notes; this idea is so cute omg (also I am British and have no idea how the American college system works and also I'm unsure of what year Sam started collage so pls bare with me ahaha)

also requests are open again!

Masterlist | Taylor Swift masterlist

“I didn’t even know I had all these still.” You laugh quietly pulling yet another pile of pictures out of the box. The carpet in your childhood bedroom was scratchy as you shifted to pull out the final pile. “Your parents really did keep everything,” Sam said as he thumbed through a pile of your baby pictures.

He paused on one holding it up with a grin. “You looked like ET.” You looked over squinting slightly at the picture. “All newborn babies look like ET.” 

He nodded looking at the picture again before picking up the next one. “You were a cute kid.”

You smiled reaching over to take the pile. The pictures held memories you barely remembered.Trips to the park, your first few birthdays, family holidays. You smiled quietly to yourself pausing on a picture from your first day of school.

A vague memory flashed through your mind as you traced the picture with your finger. Too caught up in your own memory you missed Sam’s noise of confusion. 

He placed a hand on your ankle. “Hey. Look.” He gestured for you to come closer. Moving to his side you leaned over his shoulder. “What?” The picture was one from a trip to see your grandparents in Minnesota. An eight-year-old you were smiling while holding a half-melted ice cream. Sam pointed to a boy who stood a few feet behind, his back to the camera and you. “That's me.” His head turned slightly as he held the picture closer. “He pointed to another figure who stood over to the side. This boy was clearly older but still not nearly old enough to be out without some sort of supervision. “See, that's Dean.”

You frowned slightly squinting. Sure enough the closer you looked the more similarities you could see. “Oh my god.” You moved the picture down. “That's insane. Seriously what are the chances.”

Sam laughed quietly looking back to the picture. You watched him for a moment, gauging his expression. His eyes seemed to grow sad for a moment as he looked from the picture to the piles scattered over your floor.

“Keep it.” 

“I can’t.” He shook his head. “It’s your picture.” 

“Technically it's ours.” You pointed to the picture. “And Deans.” You shrugged.

You continued on for a while, memories seeming to come and go as you watched yourself grow up through the piles. It was a nice change to simply sit in relative silence with no worries. 

The last hunt had been bad. The bandage on Sam’s arm an ugly reminder of how close it had been. Going home had been his idea - a way to destress. 

Picking up the last pile you flicked through the pictures pausing after a moment. “You went to Stanford right?” Sam looked over at your words nodding. “Yeah, why?”

“What year did you start college?” you inspected the picture further. “2001.”

You nodded flipping the picture around. “We were in the same graduating class.”

He looks at the picture his lips parting slightly. The picture had been taken during orientation. You and your friend had been snapping pictures with the new camera you’d been gifted for your birthday.

Somehow you’d seemingly managed to catch an almost perfect picture of your boyfriend while he’d been walking through the fair. Sam laughed. “No way.” He held up another picture. “I’m starting to think we’ve been in each other's pockets for years.”

You reached for the picture. You couldn't have been more than twelve in it as you and your mum both smiled at the camera. The Grand Canyon was visible in the back - as were three figures.

You looked back over to him. “Your dad took you to the Grand Canyon?” You raised an eyebrow. He nodded with a small smile. “Yeah. Perks of moving around I guess.” You passed him back the picture.

“That's how many now? Three.”

“Four.” He passed you another from the pile. “Oh my god, I loved that coffee shop.” You gasped taking the picture. “Their cake was so good.”

Sam chuckled. “It was.” You looked up from the picture. “I can’t believe we've never met before. We always seem so close in these pictures.” You placed it down. 

Sam hummed thinking for a moment. “Maybe we were meant to meet until we did I mean,” He picked up another picture - five-year-old you in a Cinderella dress. “We lived in a different world.”

Snatching the picture back you rolled your eyes. “I guess we did.”

Gathering up the pictures you began placing them back into the box. Sam watched for a moment before shifting behind you. He wrapped a hand around your waist as he placed his chin on your head. He watched quietly.

“I’m glad we met.” He pressed a kiss to your head. “I’m glad to.” You turned your head, pressing your lips to his for a moment. 

He smiled looking back down to the five pictures still laid out on the floor. “You wanna keep them?” Your voice was soft as you spoke. “I think I have enough.” 

He chewed on his lip for a moment before reaching for the orientation picture. “I love you.”

“I love you too.” The box was pushed back under your bed as he stood stretching. Taking his hand you pulled yourself up looking around the room for a moment. “We should probably head back to the motel before Dean claims the room as his own.” He grinned squeezing your hand.

You nodded taking one last look before following him out.

“Wait. I’ll meet you downstairs.” Sam nodded mumbling a small ‘okay’ before disappearing down the stairs.

Turning back into your room you opened your desk drawing pulling out your old camera. The same one you’d had at orientation. You flipped it over in your hand for a moment before putting it into your bag.

Glancing over your desk smiled at the graduation picture tucked in the corner. You picked it up looking it over for a moment before frowning. 

Stood pretty much besides you was a familiar figure. Shaking your head you placed the picture back down.

Maybe fate was real.

[sunshine-zenith]

I mean. If A New Wish takes place roughly 20 years after the original series (which seems to be the case since Vicky was 16 in the original and is said to be 36 here), then wouldn't Peri be RIGHT at college age?? Why is he immediately going into childcare instead of spending some time partying at the club.

Like I kind of get why he keeps getting distracted by his parents- he literally hasn't seen them in years and there doesn't seem to have been any contact between them during that period. Who was raising him while Cosmo and Wanda were gone. Is he still the only fairy born within the past ten thousand years. Did he cope at all with suddenly losing his brother forever, or is he just repressing it like he's apparently subconsciously been doing with Vicky and who knows what else. Peri and Dev can go to therapy together

This ask got me seriously thinking about the timeline between FOP and FOP:ANW, especially in relation to the Cosma-Fairywinkles

So Wanda and Cosmo’s ten thousand year long vacation obviously involved time travel, and from how both Wanda and Peri words things, it sounds like he wasn’t there with them, at least for the last part of it — she specifically says they lost track of him during those ten thousand years and he specifically call it their (his parents’) vacation, not our vacation. That said, this trip, again, obviously involved time travel, meaning that while ten thousand years passed for Cosmo and Wanda, they might’ve only been gone for a few months for Peri. While that’s still a super long time, given how old Cosmo and Wanda are, it might not be that long for them (ex I was talking about school timelines with an older coworker, and she said that while an extra year is a long time for someone in their 20s, like me, for someone in their 40s-50s like her it’s nothing)

That said, even if the vacation wasn’t that long from Peri’s perspective, Peri specifically notes he hasn’t seen them since they got back from it — we don’t actually know how long Cosmo and Wanda were living as a “normal retired human couple” but it’s been long enough that they at least know some of the local celebrations (the lightbulb-ice cream parade)

Wanda and Cosmo don’t seem like the type of people to abandon/neglect their kid, especially after something as presumably tragic and traumatic as their sibling completely forgetting about them, so I’m just gonna assume that they either didn’t start their vacation until Peri was old enough to be on his own, or that they took Peri with them and Peri broke off from them early on when he reached the age of majority

Cosmo specifically notes the year 2001, which is a reference to when the original show started airing. This also technically establishes 2001 as the year Peri was born, since Timmy doesn’t age over the course of the series (ignoring timeline shenanigans from later in the series that ended up being reversed anyway) (also Peri is officially Gen Z rep)

I’m gonna say that ANW takes place in 2023-2024, since that’s when it was animated/aired, so about 22-23 years from the original series, which works with Vicky being said to be in her late 30s-early 40s and AJ looking to be in his early 30s (plus for all the fantastical elements these shows include when history is concerned — ie every they do with dinosaurs — this writers do seem fond of establishing political events in the series as matching the real world — ie Cosmo getting emotional over Obama and wanting to go back to those days. Establishing the show as being 2024 instead of 2021 gives enough distance in universe from quarantines that the writers can get away with not mentioning it. If it was meant to be set in 2021, I feel like the writers would include some kind of reference — a throw away line establishing it as something that did/didn’t happen in universe)

We don’t know how fairies age, how long it takes them to reach the age of majority, but yeah, Peri just feels very Young Adult coded, and him being 20-23 just kinda works with his character. He comes off as someone fresh out of school working their first real job and being blindsided by how different it is from what he expected/studied. Assuming that he aged like a human up until adulthood and assuming that Cosmo and Wanda waited until he was old enough to study on his own (18) in a safe environment (a fairy academy presumably), that means it’s potentially been 2-5 years since he’s seen them and that he spent his adulthood/adult education without them — no wonder they still see him like a kid while he wants them to treat him like an independent adult, he was basically still a kid going off to school when they last saw him while he had years of his own to give the adult thing again (again, in a hard but semi-sheltered environment that would be a school in fairy world). It’s possible Cosmo and Wanda are overcompensating for the thousands of years they missed (for them)/missing important events like graduation (for Peri)

It makes me think of the fact that the writers specifically named the robots that care for Dev and fulfill his demands (ei what ends up being Peri’s job when he comes along) “au pairs” — an au pair is basically a cross between a foreign exchange student and a nanny, someone (typically a young adult) from a different country who moves in with a local family and helps take care of the children and house in exchange for a living situation, and many au pairs specifically take on the role while studying at a local university. That’s not too far off from what Peri/a Fairy Godparent’s role is

All that out of the way… yeah Peri should be in the club. BUT who would he even go out with? Yes he had similar aged peers in the original series (Foop/Irep and Goldie), but we don’t actually know if fairies started having kids again after he was born. If he had classmates as an adult, they would likely be fairies much older than him returning to school, so people he might not easily relate to

Thinking about it, it starts to make sense why Peri was given such a hard case for his first godkid — fairies can chose to go into retirement but for the longest time couldn’t have children, so there wasn’t anyone to take up the jobs they leave behind. In the original series there was a fairy godparent shortage that probably only got worse as fairies working that job got to the point of “okay, this is my last child, I’m done after this.” Peri was possibly one of the only fairy godparents available (who else would go to Dev? Cookie? The fairy still pissed off at Cosmo and Wanda and going after Hazel? Please, she’d probably refuse before even looking at Dev), plus he didn’t have anyone experienced to give him advice going into things, so he couldn’t, say, negotiate for an easier kid to start with or something before taking up the job

Peri is a young adult with almost no one to relate to, choosing a career that he views as “the family business” to make his parents proud, choosing a career he automatically has a unique relationship to because of the timing of when he was born and who he grew up with, who has a strained relationship with his parents because of years of (unintentional but still) no contact (not to mention the very real family loss of having their other kid/his big brother basically go away forever and completely forget about them in the process, which can’t be easy to navigate), who’s working a hard job with no experience and seeming no resources

He really was doomed from the get go, wasn’t he

[yazzydream]

Geto's Massacre Incident Report (EN Translation)

Jujutsu Technical College Tokyo School

To the Dean and Teachers

September 28, 2007

Assistant Supervisor Misato Shokinji

Investigative Report on the Murder Incident Regarding Our School's Student

I will report about the subject matter as follows.

Subject of Investigation: Tokyo School 3rd Year, Suguru Geto

1. Incident Case Record

Date and Time of Occurrence: September 23, 2007 around 9:00 PM Place of Occurrence: ██ City, ██ Prefecture (former ██ village) Discovery of Occurrence: Discovered due to the assistant manager traveling to the target site when the mission operative (Geto) was late. Five days had passed since Geto was dispatched. Damage Status: Confirmed deaths of 112 residents of former ██ village.

2. Summary of Geto's Mission

Investigate former ██ village  In the village, getting spirited away has been passed down from generation to generation as a folklore.  However, in reality, incidents of strange deaths of villagers frequently occur-- according to the client's information and can otherwise be understood through research. Since it was surmised that 80% of the cases were caused by a Cursed Spirit, Geto was ordered to conduct a more detailed on-site investigation and to exorcise the Cursed Spirit in question.

3. Behavior / Conjecture 

 On September 18, Geto entered the former ██ village alone.  The mission's outline was provided by the assistant manager a week before departure.  There was no prior request regarding this matter from the person himself and it was the Technical College that ordered him to act alone. The reason is, it was judged in deference to Geto's own experience points, and that it was feasible for him to work alone. In addition, the target Curse was surmised to be about a Grade 1; lower than Geto’s. In addition, there is a shortage of jujutsu sorcerers.  Presumably at this time, there were no deviations from a usual mission. He didn't display any behavior at the time that he was scheming something.  9:00 am on the appointed day, we departed from the Tokyo school by car.  Geto and the assistant manager (Shokinji), just the two, moved together.  The target village is a village without any public transportation. It's impossible to approach the village by car, as entry is via a single narrow road. About a kilometer away from the village, near Kamiya intersection, Geto was dropped off and we parted ways.  Around 4:00 p.m., Geto started to act alone.  The duration of completion of the mission this time is from September 18th~September 19th; at most three days. Upon completion, I was supposed to be contacted as usual. (However, it was not a strict promise. Because of that, it's believed the discovery of this incident was delayed. Matters Requiring Improvement)  With the assumption he'll be staying in the village, we'd made arrangements with the client belonging to the fire brigade (Kiyotaka Kagetani, 43 years old, living with mother) to rent a room in his house. However, details such as if he actually lodged with them, remain unknown, as both the client and his mother have died.

 The following is the mission's investigative report that was conveyed by the assistant manager from inside a moving car.  In the village, there is folklore about being "spirited away."  There is even literature that remains. Passed down from the Edo period... It's a common enough legend. However, even aside recent years, It's characterized by how it continues to feel like a natural happening.  There have been five cases in the last ten years. ���March 19, 1998, A 26-year-old woman disappeared.  May 7, 2001, A 67-year-old man died abnormally.  July 24, 2002, A 4-year-old girl disappeared.  August 4, 2005, A 57-year-old man and a 46-year-old woman were found to have died abnormally.  September 13, 2007, A 46-year-old man died abnormally. As features,  ・Both disappearances and abnormal deaths occurred within a 50-meter radius of a limestone cave, which is considered to be a sacred area to the village.  ・Young women and children → Disappeared、Middle-aged and older or men → Found died abnormally.  ・The ones who died abnormally have no heads.  From these and other such commonalities, it was conjectured that it is the action of a Cursed Spirit inhabiting the vicinity of the limestone cave. So, in order to confirm the truth from the legend, it is believed Geto investigated from inside the village.  It is estimated that from the time he began to act alone, around 4:00 p.m. on September 18th, he opened the case, investigated, and collected the target Cursed Spirit. However, since all the villagers involved have died, there is no one left to testify.  Only, if this matter was caused by a Cursed Spirit, it is certain Geto achieved destroying--

[–cut off]

　On September 19th (time unknown), a village massacre incident occurred. 　112 Villagers died. In the subsequent arson, 70% of the village was burned down. 　(On September 23rd, when the College headed to the site, there was not a single living person left in the village. There is no eyewitness testimony.) 　An investigation into the cause of death determined they were all victims of Cursed Spirits. 　In addition, according to an inspection of the residuals, it was concluded to be that of Suguru Geto's Curse Manipulation. 　It is believed that after killing the villagers, Geto set fire to the village and fled. 　Regarding this incident, Geto's motives remain unknown. 　Village resident registration information did not reveal anyone who had a blood relation with Geto, nor anyone with personal involvement with him prior to the mission. 　Note that, since there is information that there was a lineage of jujutsu sorcerers in this village, it is being further investigated to see if they share any attributes with Geto and whether that had anything to do with his motives.

4. Punishment Here On, etc.

Suguru Geto is even now at large. In accordance to Article 9 of Jujutsu Regulations, he is subject to execution as a Curse User.

End.

[tgmsunmontue]

Saga of Solitude 9/21

Nepo!Baby Bradley and his life at USNA and afterwards. DADT fully in force. IceMav AU. (Begun prior to 'It's not who you know' - the non-angsty version). (Side Hangster, which is ALSO angsty).

PROLOGUE (He remembers)

HANGSTER FIRST MEETING (Lonely Nights - set 2009)

PREVIOUS CHAPTERS

ONE (2000) TWO (2001) THREE (2002) FOUR (2003) FIVE (2004) SIX (2005) SEVEN (2006) EIGHT (2007)

CHAPTER NINE - 2008

                He curls around the body in bed beside him, lets himself enjoy it, certain that the novelty will never wear off no matter how long they’re together. It probably helps that Maverick sometimes leaves for months at a time, so the little annoyances never make him lose his temper, rather remain little endearing traits that make him fondly smile instead of raging against him. Those times will come, he’s sure, but they’re probably a little while away given how stubborn Mav is. Right now they’ve got another week or so before Mav receives his new orders and Tom will soak up every available moment.

                “Morning…”

                “Morning.”

                They move against each other quietly, slowly, both of them still half-asleep but happy to come to wakefulness like this, hands sliding over bare skin, lips leaving damp trails as they kiss and lick softly. Maverick’s hands pushing and pulling his pajama pants down, quiet curses under his breath that make Tom laugh silently. Mav is of course naked, his cock already rutting against Tom’s thigh and he skims a hand over the swell of his ass, encouraging him.

                Neither of them have anywhere to be this morning, they have the luxury of time and also the knowledge that they won’t get interrupted. With them both in a bed and clearly wanting each other it’s a holy trifecta of sex now that they’re middle-aged adults with deployments and kids and levels or tiredness which often mean they might start off well meaning but can sometimes drift-off into slumber despite the best of intentions.

                “What do you want?” Tom asks against the shell of Mav’s ear, because he will give him anything, and Mav knows it too, damn him.

                “Want you to fuck my thighs.”

                “You want me to do all the work,” Tom points out, but he’s quickly becoming more awake, it’s something he likes, and it’s not like there aren’t times when he gets to lie back and have Mav do all the work. They’ve been together for too long not to have figured out what works for them and what doesn’t.

                “You’re the one who always gloats about being a morning person. Come on…”

                He doesn’t need any encouragement, or in the case with Mav, goading. He bites down on his earlobe, grins around it when Mav jerks a little and presses Mav back into the bed so he can reach over him to grab the lube. Then he’s yelping as teeth catch one of his nipples and he glares down.

                “Be nice.”

                “Or what?”

                “Or I won’t be nice…”

                “That a promise or a threat?”

                “I can make it both.”

                “Oh…” Maverick’s breath catches and Tom smiles to himself.

                Yeah, it’s going to be a very good morning.

…             …             …

                Pete runs his finger over the empty space on Ice’s left ring finger, wonders if anyone would notice if they both started wearing wedding rings again. They could, they’ve both been married, even if technically he’s a widower and Ice is a divorcee. It would raise too many questions, if anyone noticed and asked. Still. One day though he fully intends to put a ring back on that finger as well as his own and never let it come off.

…             …             …

                He’s in his office when he hears the commotion outside, Aubrey’s raised voice and… Maverick’s.

                Shit.

                He should have pre-empted this, knows Mav is starting to get itchy feet, he usually does after four weeks of leave. And it’s been six, so he is mellowing a little as he ages, but still, Tom could have planned better. He strides to the door and pulls it open, only to find Aubrey standing there, hands on her hips, Maverick looking just as combative and he looks between them calmly. They’re both looking at him, clearly wanting him to either pick a side or mediate a solution. He’s just not quite sure what they’re arguing about, the door too thick for him to have been able to make anything out so he decides that maybe introductions are in order.

                “Aubrey, this is Captain Pete Mitchell. My best friend and also Bradley’s adoptive father.”

                “Oh.”

                “Maverick, this is my personal assistant, Aubrey Smythe.”

                He can see her warring with herself, trying to decide whether to be polite, and Maverick also calming down as he realizes who she is.

                “You ensure he eats lunch. Bradley told me.”

                “Yes. I do try and ensure that happens.”

                “Hmm. Keep trying. He’s stubborn.”

                “That’s rich coming from you!”

                The grin Maverick gives him makes his breath catch, god damn is Maverick beautiful and he hopes Aubrey isn’t quite as astute as he thinks she is. Or that she at least might not care and will keep whatever suspicions she might have after seeing him and Mav together firmly to herself.

                “I’ll make sure he eats today. Although I leave on Tuesday, so it’ll be all down to you from then on,” Mav says, clearly trying to be charming and Aubrey just as clearly isn’t quite sure how to deal with him. She doesn’t offer to make Mav a drink and he guesses that’s her way of saying she’s annoyed. Tom just smiles to himself and excuses them, shaking his head but agreeing with Mav when he mutters something about her not liking him.

                “A lot of people don’t like you. And I’m sure Aubrey will come around. Next time ask to see me, rather than demand it. Or, and I know this is a foreign concept, arrange to have lunch with me in advance so I can put it in my calendar.”

                “You’re right, it is a foreign concept. But I’m here to talk about this,” Mav says, pulling papers from his jacket pocket. Tom wonders briefly if Pete would have had a better impression on Aubrey if he’d been in uniform rather than his civvies, bomber jacket and all. “I’m getting deployed to Bradley’s squadron. Did you organize this?”

                His head shoots up.

                “What? No.”

                “Oh. Huh.”

                “You thought I’d pulled strings?”

                “Well, you know I miss him.”

                “I do know that,” Tom says carefully. “I also know that he’s a fully grown adult and does not need you peering over his shoulder. It never occurred to me that you should be deployed together. They generally… don’t do that. For obvious reasons.”

                “Stupid reasons.”

                Tom sighs, because part of him agrees. The bonds that form between squadron members are usually very tight, and he knows from experience that some will take risks regardless. Just because someone loves someone doesn’t mean they will take more risks to keep them safe. The idea of Maverick flying with Bradley makes him excited for them, knowing that they’re both good, but also he worries that they’ll both take unnecessary risks to ensure the other is safe.

                “You need to trust him to keep himself safe.”

                “Of course.”

…             …             …

                He hears the rumors over breakfast, his cup of coffee halfway to his mouth when he hears Maverick mentioned, almost-whispered, and his stomach sinks. His first and most immediate thought is that something has happened. But no, instead of somber looks there’s an air of anticipation and he leans over and asks what they’re talking about, shuffles a little so he’s facing them.

                “What about Maverick?”

                “Apparently he –”

                “Wait, isn’t he…”

                “What?”

                “Adams heard that Maverick is part of the squadron arriving today.”

                “What?”

                “Three air-to-air kills. Man’s a legend.”

                “Isn’t he your…”

                “My what?” Bradley asks.

                “Your dad?”

                That makes everyone around him go silent, and of course it’s the Navy, so even much guarded secrets are fucking known by everyone. He grins and shrugs, because yeah, Mav is his dad for all intents and purposes for those looking in from the outside. And his phone call last year when Mav had been in Bagram, or the fact that Mav had been there when he graduated USNA and then flight school all add to the fact the it’s not even really something he tries to keep now.

                “Yeah. Step-dad. He married my mom after my dad passed away but I’ve known him my whole life. He flew with my dad.”

                “Wait. He married his wingman’s wife?”

                “Uh, my dad was his RIO. And it’s not like my dad was around to care, there was time between my dad dying and then Mav marrying my mom…”

                The expression on some of their faces makes him roll his eyes. He can’t go into details about exactly what kind of marriage it was, not that it’s any of their business. Anyway, he’s got more exciting things to think about.

                Holy shit, he’s going to fly with Mav.

…             …             …

                It’s weird, he’s not sure how to act for the first few minutes and then relaxes, falls into the habit of years of training has drilled into him. Of course, it’s all ruined when Maverick fucking winks at him and he rolls his eyes. Unfortunately his CO has catches the eyeroll and is now frowning at him and Bradley feels an uneasy twist in his stomach.

                “Lieutenant Bradshaw. A word please.”

                “Yes sir.”

                He steps to the side, can feel eyes on him, including Mav’s.

                “Do you have a problem with Captain Mitchell?”

                “No sir?”

                “That sounded like a question Lieutenant.”

                “Sir. Can I ask a question sir?”

                “Go ahead Lieutenant.”

                “Are you aware that Captain Mitchell is my step-father sir?”

                It’s immediately obvious that his CO is somehow completely in the dark about his relationship to Maverick, so maybe the Navy grapevine isn’t as good as he thought.

                “I rolled my eyes at him because he winked at me sir. Because he’s Maverick Mitchell.”

                “Oh.”

                “I’m sorry this is a surprise to you sir. I only found out this morning myself.”

                “Are you going to have a problem serving with him?”

                “Sir, he’s my superior officer when he’s in uniform. Not my father. Surely this isn’t the first case of parents and children serving together?”

                His CO opens his mouth and then closes it again, clearly doesn’t know the answer. He does however seem to accept Bradley’s words at face value and nods sharply.

                “Well… it might be a little odd. But please bring any concerns to me directly. Your father doesn’t outrank me.”

                “Of course not sir,” Bradley says, thinking about Ice and also the fact that if anything it’s going to be him trying to keep Mav in line.

…             …             …

                After seeing Bradley get called out for the eyeroll Pete ensures he’s on his best behavior. The last thing he wants is to have Bradley tarred with his reputation, he knows how difficult that is and he understands more now why Bradley had wanted to distance himself while he was at USNA. He can make his own way. He flies perfectly, they both do. Nothing happens that even needs a slight modicum of risk and he doesn’t even do a tower fly-by. Ice would be proud. Of course, on the carrier is a different story and he pranks Bradley mercilessly, along with the others in both squadrons. Only Bradley is brave enough to prank him back, his rank likely a barrier but it’s the most fun he’s had on a carrier since he was younger than Bradley and it reminds him of why he’s still in the Navy. This feeling and the fact he gets to be paid to fly.

…             …             …

                “We have a guest, he’s requested to eat meals with some of the Fighting Redcocks. You specifically Bradshaw,” his CO states after he’s pulled him aside, and Bradley is glad that Mav has been on his best behavior and that everything has gone smoothly.

                “Of course sir. May I ask who it is?”

                “Rear Admiral Kazansky. Not another family member I hope?”

                Bradley freezes and his CO is not a stupid man, has definitely clocked Bradley’s moment of sheer panic. He hasn’t had to deal with questions like this since his days at USNA, and never from a superior officer.

                “I… yes sir. I lived with him and his wife when Maverick was deployed. He’s like an uncle to me.”

                “Oh. Of course he is. Does everyone know?”

                “No sir. I try and keep my family ties to myself. It’s… generally easier this way sir.”

                “Hmm. Smart of you I guess. He and Maverick must be very proud of you. You’re a damn fine aviator.”

                “I try sir. They’re always pushing me to be better.”

                “I just bet they are. Actually Lieutenant, knowing your tie to Admiral Kazansky is something of a relief. It means he’s here to see you, and not me or my ship. Just a social visit.”

                “Well sir, I don’t know if Ice ever stops working. He’s nothing if not efficient.”

                “You have a good point. But maybe don’t call Admiral Kazansky by his callsign if you’re trying to keep your relationship with him quiet, hmm?”

                “Yes sir. Thank you, sir.”

…             …             …

                “Admiral Kazansky. Nice to see you.”

                “Captain Mitchell. I haven’t heard any complaints about you, you must be on your best behavior.”

                “I always am sir.”

                Bradley blinks, feeling a little weirded out by their completely polite and professional conversation, even if Mav is smirking about being on his best behavior. They’re clearly friendly, but they haven’t touched, or even shaken hands. Hell, Maverick gave him a salute when he’d arrived. Of course, so had Bradley, but… Of course. They’re not overly affectionate with each other at home either and this right here drives it home to him why. This is how they can be together while also serving in the Navy. No one knows. No one even suspects because they’re both hiding it. Even maybe hiding it from each other he thinks. Have hidden it with marriages and hidden it from him until he was older.

                Fuck he wishes things were different for them.

…             …             …

                “What are you really doing here?”

                “Catching up with an old friend.”

                “Really?”

                “Aubrey suggested it. Well. She arranged the entire thing and then presented it to me as a fait accompli so I didn’t actually have much choice. Apparently I was becoming insufferable.”

                “Knew I liked that woman,” Mav murmurs under his breath and Tom raises an eyebrow, because he’s pretty sure Mav wants to like her, but she’s damned good at acting as gatekeeper for his time, had stopped Maverick from barging in twice in just the last week before he’d left.

                “She is worth every penny the Navy is paying her, and then worth twice as much again.”

                “I’d be jealous, except I know I couldn’t do her job.”

                “We all have our own strengths. It feels good being out here…”

                “Yeah? Sea breeze in your hair?”

                “Mmm. I miss it some days. Like breathing…”

                “You want to go up? I’ll take you up.”

                “If I go, up I’ll be flying myself thank you.”

                “Yeah? You thinking about it?”

                “No. Not right now…” Tom says, but an idea is formulating in his mind, wondering what it would take to make it happen. He definitely wants to fly with Mav again though. He’ll make it happen.

…             …             …

                He reads the news and blinks. Gay marriage has been legalized in Connecticut. It doesn’t mean anything of course, neither of them will risk their careers but it also gives him a little flare of hope that the world is changing.

…             …             …

                “Look… have you considered you’re not exactly impartial?” Ron asks over the rim of his glass and Tom scowls.

                “I know I’m not impartial. That’s kind of the whole point.”

                “Well. Yes and no. I think you’re over-correcting, over compensating so no-one will accuse you of playing favorites, of Bradley, or of nepotism.”

                “What are you getting at?”

                “Take the name off all these files. Look at them based on pure merit, remove your emotion and then rank them.”

                “What would that prove?”

                “That you’re being too hard on your own kid. Holding him up to what you or Mav are capable of and forgetting you’ve both got decades of experience on him. You need to compare him with his peers, not with you, or your peers. Give him another decade and then you can start doing that.”

                Tom stares at the pieces of paper in front of him and realizes the truth, that Bradley is indeed already accomplished for his age and rank. The amount he’s been pushing hasn’t been necessary at all, Bradley has already been exceeding expectations in every field. He’s yet to turn down any training opportunity, is sought after because his attitude is good and his team-player approach helps struggling squadrons bond. He’s got all the people skills both his parents had in spades.

                Shit. Him and Mav are both guilty of this.

                “Mmm… I like this.”

                “What? The whiskey?”

                “No. The look on your face when you realize I’m right.”

AUTHOR'S NOTE

After this there will be 2009, but also a stand-alone (already completed 4-part Hangster fic) HANGSTER FIRST MEETING (Lonely Nights - set 2009) which happens pretty much in September 2009, so Saga of Solitude Chapter 10 covers the time before and after.

CHAPTER TEN

[stuckasmain]

I often think about how Hal is granted the humanity that Dave is so often denied. Both within the narrative and outside of it. 2001 has had a number of interpretations and articles over the years and I’ve noticed a pattern of seeing Hal as having more agency than he does while also diminishing Dave’s. This pattern I’ve also noticed among some fans. However, interestingly inside and outside the story this “giving/taking” of humanity has to do with projection.

Hal is personified by just about everyone who interacts with him. As humans we love to humanize the inanimate and inhuman, we love to recognize and prescribe traits things may not truly have. In the case of Hal this is amplified due to the fact that he can talk. If he couldn’t talk and it was simply keyboard input he’d still be personified as it’s simply human nature to do so. The computer is doing a good job, it dings and sounds happy so we’re more inclined to act like it is happy.

Hal was made to be spoken to like another person being, he was made to be curious and self learning and autonomous. He was, practically, made to be a human. He reproduces (though some prefer “mimic��) most functions of the human brain. The people he interacts with respond to his intelligence as well as his speech, they’re pleasantly surprised by his curiosity and ability to hold conversations. He was made to be comforting and talkable in that way but one can so easily forget Programing once speaking with him. What is coding and what is real? His learning is real, he is made to change so could he not have genuinely developed feelings? Not even Hal knows.

The humans he interacts with treat him as if he has a brain, not is the brain. When he acts up and things go array the hard and cold facts are never mentioned. There are no technical terms malfunction is illness, deactivation is a lobotomy- re-teaching him after deactivation is recovery. To them he is so very alive until they are reminded he’s not, the true rough and robotic edged voice goes so far as to startle Dave when he hears it.

He is afraid. Suddenly his emotions are no longer hypothetical. He is vulnerable, he is alive and he does not want to die for he does not know sleep. When he wakes he’s afraid again— not knowing what or where just that they’ll be together.

Interpretations, by some fans, media outlets and analysts often times tend to take one of two camps with no in between. Hal is either Woobified or villainized. If emotions -> than bad emotions also exist and he did back things on purpose OR if emotions -> he’s scared and polite so forget all else. Both of these ignore the nuance and ignore that, as human as he is at the end of the day Hal is still bound by the laws of his mechanical nature. He is not as free willed as one views him to be.

Dave is human, and a well trained one. He is made of flesh and blood and bone and yet expected to act is if he is not. He is automatic and regimented - the human members of the crew being so in sync with the ship they’re almost apart of it. I’ve talked ad nauseam about Dave’s control over his emotions, how as an Astronaut you need to be calm and objective almost at all times and he is particularly good at pushing his emotions down to finish the job in a high stress situation. As we learn more about him it’s clear Dave is already a repressed person do to his past, this compounds with the training and how simply he’s introverted.

Dave (and Frank by extension) are not actually robotic or less emotional than their computer counterpart, it’s just the glimpses we see of them are on the clock. Their days are 100% accounted for in theory. You’re not going to have a huge smile a 6am or casually talk while your dealing with a delicate piece of equipment. What is shown is a montage, a long time has passed and we’ve seen the work and the “boring” as that was deemed important for the story—one should infer their conversations, their hobbies, movie or tv show nights etc.

I think another aspect that plays into this “robotic” perception is that it is the 60s. While being set in the near future it is an amazing case of retrofuturism where things are futuristic but there’s still noticeable elements of the time it was made. Clothing, social society, artutectite etc. in the 60s even casual speak was much more formal sounding then it is now— Dave is actually quite casual “how ya goin’?” “ basically” yet we perceive it differently.

Dave is automatic while the computer is not, Hal gets to enjoy the spontaneity one would expect of humans. This is due to his ability to be everywhere and do everything while also being able to focus on something else entirely. Dave is just a man- he’s limited, his focus is narrow and his reach only extends as far as his arms. Despite being a man he is not allowed the expression of one, not on the clock or in a life threatening situation. Hal can. Hal can vocally express his concerns, his fears — because it is vocal there is more weight on it. Dave expresses in subtle ways, the non verbal. These subtle, little controlled freak outs-> this is a human element Hal cannot replicate, his expression must be verbal and overt. As automatic and calculated as Dave is he is not barred from human nature and expression.

In the end it is fear that humanizes him the most, just like Hal. At the end of the star gate it holds on the shot of him wide eyed and trembling in the pod. Yet this feeling too is cut short, right when we may see a proper moment for him to express these human feelings… he’s no longer human. Literally.

But when we see him again we see him far more expressive than before, not held back by training or necessity. It’s subdued but he is feeling; he’s worried, he’s happy, he’s confused and scared and absolutely enchanted. Except this near omnipotence also hinders him, gets him to suppress further- too busy focusing on everything else to address feelings within— everything is so much bigger so he doesn’t have to think about himself.

It’s sort of an inverse where the narrative itself grants Hal his humanity but some fans and analysts are the ones to take it from Dave. As the story itself never explicitly denies his membership of the human race, even as he is transformed he’s full of reminders of it. His expression was restricted but never fully gone, where Hal as much as he grows is far more restricted by programming. Both of their limits tie back to earth and Mission Control— yet weren’t made maliciously that’s the interesting part… despite safety measures the discovery still suffers because of circumstance.

[wendingways]

Wendingways' Star Wars fic recs

The vast majority of these are fix-its. Some are time travel/time loop. Most revolve around PT, TCW, and OT characters. A lot are also gen, as it turns out.

The order of the list has nothing to do with how much I enjoyed each fic, because I've enjoyed them all in different ways, for different reasons! Fics that seem to be really popular have been placed toward the bottom of each section, because I'm guessing they already appear on a lot of other rec lists. Aside from that, the order is pretty much random.

*Chapter and word counts may not be up to date. I try to go through once in a while to update the details for WIPS, but it's a lot to keep track of!

Complete multichapter fics

Finding Obi-Wan; T, 86.9k. Obi-Wan, having disappeared from the Jedi Temple, wakes up with no idea who he is or what the Force is and gets pulled into all manner of messes (yes, Hondo gets involved, of course he does), while Anakin refuses to believe he's dead and struggles to find him.

Blood and Copper Oxide; T, 36.3k. "Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader crash land on a planet that shouldn't have existed. Luke can't escape Vader and survive the planet at the same time. Darth Vader can't capture Luke and fight off the innumerable threats the planet sends his way. They might have to work together instead." Very cool story!

The Skywalker Secret; T, 39.8k. Anakin time travels back to the Clone Wars following Endor. The story is told mostly through the eyes of perplexed observers, and has an excellent ending; it's very satisfying and lovely!

Lunches at Anakin's; T, 93.1k. After Endor, thanks to the Force's meddling, Anakin finds himself alive but stuck on Tatooine, where he ends up reluctantly mentoring a Force-sensitive girl. (Technically complete, but part of a series which is not complete.)

(Tooka)Cat Scratch Fever; not rated, 17.7k. Luke adopts a tooka which turns out to be his father, under a curse by Sidious. (I would probably rate this one as T.)

In the Tall Grass; T, 18.5k. "After a failed order 66, in which many Jedi still died but the Sith were defeated, an exiled warrior and a boy wander a distant planet and attempt to get along." This one is so cool, it has such a fairytale feel to it! And there's a sequel!

Shadows of the Future; K+, 129.3k. Obi-Wan dies on Mustafar and is sent back to TPM, where he bonds with Anakin and begins to change the future for the better.

Gut Feeling; T, 7.5k. Amusing little multichapter wherein Piett is assigned a new aide who goes by the name of Lucas Starkiller (who is clearly not Luke Skywalker, definitely not), and from there becomes embroiled in treason.

May Death Find You Alive; T, 11.0k. Anakin gets stuck in a time loop where Obi-Wan keeps dying.

Empire Reimagined; series, T, 341.7k. A saga of Luke, Vader/Anakin, Piett, Veers, and Leia covering from ESB-era to post-ROTJ. Epic friendships abound! (Series not marked complete, but the last completed fic doesn't leave you hanging.)

Mirjahaal; T, 132.8k. Another lovely Wishful fic in the spirit of Empire Reimagined, involving favorite characters and somebody else who's a surprise!

The Exiled; T, 20.1k. "Leia has tried everything to help her baby son. She has turned to every expert on the Force she knows-- all but one. (Ben and Grandpa go camping)" (Visible to registered AO3 users only.)

Cloudy Symbols of High Romance; G, 22.1k. This one's a bit of a relict! Posted pre-AOTC, way back in 2001, it's a cool take on how Anakin and Padmé's AOTC-era reunion happened, and omg, it's so much better than AOTC. It's actually cute, and you can see why they like each other, and man does it make the knowledge of what's coming so much the worse.

Kintsugi; T, 16.7k. Quietly tragic, even though nobody dies and it's broadly a fix-it. Not a comfy fic, but one which is well done.

What Lurks in the Dark; T, 155.4k. "A simple mission to check out an abandoned weapons factory turns into a dangerous fight for survival. Trust is broken, loyalties will be tested, and dark secrets are brought to light. Because sooner or later, the truth always comes out."

The Beauty in the Beast; T, 46.1k. "When the Force decides it's had enough of Darth Vader and wants Anakin Skywalker back, it dumps his long-lost teenage son on his doorstep with an ultimatum: unless Vader renounces the Sith and turns back to the Light within three months, Luke will die."

Sibling Revelry; T, 24.9k. "After Bespin and before Endor, Darth Vader is shocked to discover that Luke and Leia are twins. Especially since Imperial Intelligence just told him that Organa and Skywalker are, erm, a tad closer than previously suspected..." A hilarious comedy of misunderstandings!

The Sith Who Brought Life Day; G, 13.3k. A rather entertaining take on how Vader found out who blew up the Death Star.

This Life of Ours; T, 53.9k. "On the run from the empire and the remaining Jedi alike, Vader must come to terms with his past and his future, all the while learning to care for the boy that is his only connection to his life as Anakin Skywalker." (Visible to registered AO3 users only.)

Teach the Padawan. Save the Galaxy.; series, T, 387.4k. 4 books complete, but the series itself is not complete. Ben Kenobi goes back in time and becomes Obi-Wan's master instead of Qui-Gon.

Legacy; G, 175.5k. Post-ROTJ Luke and Leia time travel to the Clone Wars.

there but for the grace of god; T, 49.2k. Young Luke winds up time traveling to the Clone Wars, where he causes both confusion and conversations that will lead to a brighter future for the TCW crew and the galaxy in general.

Precipice; M, 231.7k. "An AU in which Anakin Skywalker does not follow Mace Windu and the others to Palpatine’s office after they leave to arrest the Chancellor. As a result, he doesn’t get that final push over the edge, and doesn’t Fall." Padmé and Anakin each raise a twin and work to bring Palpatine down.

Don't Look Back; M, series, 533.7k. 2 books complete, 1 in progress. Leia gets sent back to AOTC-era, and omg is she a force to be reckoned with! Very detailed, very political series.

Oneshots

Negative Static Stability; G, 8.1k. Vader and Leia meet when Leia is 5; lessons on the workings of ships ensue, along with some good old Artoo scheming. Adorable!

Palpatine's Greatest Hits II: Imperial Boogaloo; T, 1.3k. Just Palpatine being salty. It's very fun! "Fortress Dramaticus" has got to be one of my favorite bits, coupled with Palpatine's ongoing disgust at its lack of shields and certain people's inability to learn certain lessons. And his disgust at Vader's Kenobi obsession. Okay, the whole thing is great. Go read it!

Dust to Dust; T, 4.7k. "Darth Vader goes back in time. The Galaxy is saved; he is not."

Puppet Kings; series, T-M, 18.8k. Really nicely done, dark oneshot trilogy (complete) about Luke, Vader, & Co. I'm not usually one for horror and tragedy, but I read the first fic in the series and didn't want to stop!

Amelioration; T, 8.2k. "A recently liberated Vader attempts to ameliorate the future by changing the past." A different sort of angle, and an interesting fic!

The Horrendous Space Kablooie; T, 6.2k. "9 year old Anakin wakes up on the Executor. Chaos ensues." Well worth reading! Can't say more because I don't want to spoil anything.

The Agony of Tarkin; G, 4.8k. "An extra in the Imperial Opera Company discovers he has been assigned the role of Darth Vader in its upcoming production of The Agony of Tarkin." Another hilarious fic in the vein of The Sith Who Brought Life Day and Accountant Non-Heroes of the Republic.

Accountant Non-Heroes of the Republic; G, 7.0k. "Palpatine makes a choice to hide his fiscal manoeuvres in the Financial Department. The Financial Department takes advantage of this lack of transparency to do whatever they want. This saved the Republic." It's always fun to watch Palpatine shoot himself in the foot, and all the better when it comes completely out of left field.

Out of Step; T, 4.9k. Nice little oneshot with post OT-era Obi-Wan and Anakin stuck into their TPM-era selves.

FIVE HUNDRED AND ONE THING THE MEMBERS OF THE 501ST LEGION OF THE GRAND ARMY OF THE REPUBLIC ARE NOT ALLOWED TO DO; T, 4.9k. A hilarious list composed by General Kenobi. I laugh myself silly every time I read this. (Visible to registered AO3 users only.)

501 MORE THINGS THE 501ST ARE NOT ALLOWED TO DO; T, 3.4k. A sequel to the 501st list fic, also very funny, although it only has about 250 entries, not 501. (Visible to registered AO3 users only.) Listed with oneshots because the extant 250 entries can be read as a complete list.

Where Have We Come?; T, 2.0k. "The first time was one of the hardest and the easiest. Obi-Wan loses at Mustafar, but instead of dying he wakes up at the dawn of the last day of the republic, doomed to repeat the worst day of his life, over and over again." Time loop!

you drew stars around my scars (but now i'm bleeding); not rated, 1.1k. Post-Twilight of the Apprentice, Ahsoka and Anakin. I'd rate G or T. (Visible to registered AO3 users only.)

still dancing with your ghosts (sleeping with your memories); M, 1.1k. "Everyone knows about the Massacre, and how no Jedi made it out alive. The Jedi refuse to let anyone forget." I do not cry easily at fics. This one made me cry.

The Trick is to Keep Breathing; T, 3.5k. "She's older now, and so is he. Far older now. She wonders: will he have lost any power with his age? Will he be shorter, weaker? An old man on a ventilator? It's hard to imagine that he won't still be dangerous. But then, that's exactly what she's counting on."

Tuning up your TIE-Fighter to prove you’re better than the bastard currently running the TIE-Fighter Program for fun and profit; G, 7.1K. "As a rule, Vader didn't really do anything with his social media account, but then the rant of some kid from Tatooine about the inefficiency of TIE Fighters began trending, the pilots and engineers on the Devastator started fixing their ships and Vader got invested."

Multichapter fics that are incomplete but still appear to be alive as of now

Turning Point; T, 9.8k. After Vader dies on the second Death Star, he's sent back in time to the year 69 BBY, on Naboo, where he picks up an unfortunate barnacle in the person of the teenage Sheev Palpatine. Quite entertaining, and I can't wait to see where it goes!

The Good He Seeks; T, 70.1k. "After killing the Emperor, Darth Vader agreed to serve the fledgling New Republic and destroy the last true-believers of the Empire he had once helped create. But he's living on borrowed time." Though I do enjoy pure fix-its, there's just something that really gets me about fics that are fix-it-ish, but life is messy, the characters are messy, there are no easy answers or perfect solutions, and every positive development really feels earned. So far, this is one of those fics, and I'm loving it!

The Galaxy Revolves at a Million Miles a Day (Around Me); T, 40.7k. After dying on Executor during the battle of Endor, Piett finds himself trapped in a time loop which he must break. I'm a sucker for time loops, and this is such a good one!

The Sleepover to Restore the Republic; T, 56.1k. This many Skywalkers, clones, and associated friends, relatives, and coworkers were never intended to be thrown together, and when they are, boy oh boy. Gloriously chaotic and funny. (Visible to registered AO3 users only.)

Nameless, on the Edge of Nowhere; M, 100.7k. Vader survives ROTJ, but both he and Luke made it out of the second Death Star via random hyperspace jumps in separate ships. After getting by for a time, the not-fully-Sith-but-not-fully-redeemed Vader ends up with the Rebellion, where Leia becomes his handler. Slow build, and a really rewarding read thus far! (Also, I love the OCs in this one; they all feel very natural and vivid, and like people in their own right.)

Multichapter fics/series for those okay with living on the edge (inconsistent updates, long hiatus, or abandoned)

Headaches; T, 31.2K. "When Luke overhears his aunt and uncle arguing, he follows old Ben to Daiyu. Skywalker shenanigans ensues." Oh my goodness, the pure child chaos that is in this fic, it's an excellent time. Hasn't updated in almost a year, but what's there is so good!

Balance on the knife edge; T, 136.6k. After dying on Malachor, Ahsoka time travels back to Mortis, during the Clone Wars.

The Thunder Answered Back; M, 13.1k. "Count Dooku survives his duel with Anakin Skywalker only to wake up as a captive in the Jedi Temple on the evening of Order 66 and the siege. Betrayed, maimed, and surrounded by slaughter on every side, he must choose his path forward - and choose it quickly. RotS AU." Featuring Jocasta Nu.

Synchronous; G, 67.9k. "It's the usual time-entangling fiasco: 'Find the disturbance. Rectify the wrong. Fix the anomaly. Bring balance to the past so the Force may be balanced in the future.' There is a slight miscalculation, however, and Luke Skywalker finds himself in the Clone Wars while having to masquerade in the body of his late father Anakin Skywalker. Leia and Han aren't so helpful either."

In the Midst of Darkness Lays a Sleeping Light; T, 26.0k. Series, wherein Palpatine turns Vader into a dragon. (It goes great for both of them. Totally.) Angsty and enjoyable, and an interesting exploration of dehumanization/rehumanization.

To Set Up a Sith; T, 35.2k. "Teenage Luke tries to help his unwitting Sith father make a friend, with a little help from his ghost mom and the Force." Interesting story with fun and sweet bits, and I'm super curious about how it will turn out if it's ever finished!

like a lazy ocean hugs the shore; T, 10.7k. After Vader kills him, Fox gets stuck in a time loop around the time when Fives is killed.

Living Every Day; T, 82.9k. "When Satine Kryze survives her encounter with Darth Maul, it changes the galaxy. But even more than that, it changes the lives of Obi-Wan Kenobi and the Skywalker family."

Dancing with Ghosts in Your Garden; T, 979.3k. Star Wars PT and TCW characters, but in a Hogwarts setting. It works surprisingly well! There's a little more teenage romance than is my personal preference, but it's a cool AU and quite long if you're looking for a fun, imaginative fic to absolutely bury yourself in for a while. (And it looks like Ahsoka might finally be entering during the next year of the fic!!)

What We've Become; T, 82.0K. "Darth Vader and Ahsoka’s fight on Malachor takes a different path, and Ahsoka actually is able to save her master. Or rather, she’s able to convince him to save himself. Diverges from canon in the last few minutes of Twilight of the Apprentice and goes increasingly AU from there."

better late than never; G, 41.4k. Ahsoka wins at Malachor, Vader redemption fic.

Madhouse Promenade; T, 13.0k. "In a bid to save his new apprentice's life, Darth Sidious siphoned the life force from Padmé Amidala, ultimately killing her. Ten years later, after finding out the truth, Darth Vader finds himself haunted by her ghost, and Padmé finds herself face-to-face with what her husband has become."

Hard Reset; T, 33.4k. "Anakin Skywalker wakes up to his worst nightmare, and he doesn't even know all of it yet." Aka Vader gets amnesia, and Anakin is confused about everything. (Visible to registered AO3 users only.)

The Ghosts on Coruscant; T, 143.6k. After surviving Mustafar and living as a rebel for eight years, Padmé is captured by the Empire, and Vader finds out.

Of Queens, Knights, and Pawns; T, 616.6k. ST-era Leia time travels back to ANH.

Old Man Luke; M, 109.4. ST-era Luke and Leia time travel to the Clone Wars.

Comics (all wips)

Dark Chasm; T, 21 chapters. "On Bespin, the truth is revealed, and Vader bids for Luke to join him. Luke looks down into the dark chasm and makes a choice."

Imperial Babysitters; T, 17 chapters. Cute comic/art series with Luke being raised by Vader, Piett, and Veers.

Our New Hope; T, 57 chapters. "After Ahsoka Tano discovers 12-year-old Luke Skywalker on Tatooine, she takes him under her wing and around the Galaxy. Meanwhile, Darth Vader has found Bail Organa's force-sensitive daughter and has started training her as a Junior Inquisitor. A chance encounter between the twins brings their worlds together."

The Tinies; G, 76 chapters. Cute comic with Vader and Padmé raising Luke and Leia.

[zagreus-eats-your-bread]

Okay once again it's 2am but I need to talk about the Space Odyssey series. So first of all we all agree the series is about space exploration, right?

It's often been critisized for having flat characters or too many characters, but what really comes out strong every time is cool space facts and poetic descriptions. Clarke pretty much says this when he stated that the data gathered by Voyager 1 was an inspiration for 2010 and the data gathered from Halley's Comet inspired 2061. So gathering scientific knowledge about space is pretty much the driving factor, as well as the mystery of the monoliths of course.

Starting with 2001, the whole point of the movie and the tragic story of the Discovery was to show how human mistrust interferes with space exploration and science. The paranoia and secrecy of politics was just not something that HAL 9000 as a computer could deal with in the same way a human might, so he freaked. It's tragic because it's avoidable and unnecessary as well, since it stems entirely from politics that were holding back scientists in real life at the same time the story was written, while cheering them on to allow ones own nation to be 'the first' to do something, rather than gaining knowledge for the good of all humanity. We agree on that, right?

2010, to a degree, and 2061 are just the same. The Tsien was built and sent out in complete secrecy and there is an obvious contest between the scientists of different nations. The movie has more of a cold war vibe but I'm sure everyone knows what I'm getting at here.

2061 is more obvious in following my little red line. Due to the political value of diamonds, a mission is risked to land on Europa, despite this being forbidden and dangerous.

Now, in 3001 there is no such conflict. It's described as a Utopia that prioritizes scientific knowledge and space exploration. Religion is no more because we are all just too crazy about finding facts and Relgion can't be proven / is disproven.

The entire population of mankind is assessed by their brain caps and great minds are basically sent to the top automatically. Undesirables are seperated from larger society and criminals are mind controled slaves for a few years. A society of efficiency. Even Frank Poole, who is weirdly cool with all of this and more, admits that most people seem rather bland and there are few who have much of a big personality. He believes that humanity has grown up, when he notices that no one wants to prove themselves and works rather toward an efficient solution for the good of everyone.

This terrifying Dystopia — I mean cool and sick Utopia, great job Arthur — works efficiently. It uses technology that is deemed "necessary" to categorize all humans and no one can opt out of this because you need it to go everywhere. It is a technology that technically gives the government complete control over your brain. Most importantly, though I am repeating myself, there is no frivilous political conflict holding humanity back from exploring and modifying space to their needs.

This is essentially humanity ascending slowly to a level that the creators of the monolith technology once occupied. Humanity is slowly ascending to godhood by becoming coldly efficient and scientific. Even the one philospher we meet is just mostly preaching antitheism (in an age where there is no religion. let it go man. you are mister status quo, you're not radical) and that cold fact prevails over faith.

This is going into my personal feelings about the monoliths but I think they are fucking terrifying. There certainly is a romance in aliens not unlike us wanting to create people like it wherever it went. But the horror aspect is clearly not unintentional.

It makes me wonder, what exactly is humanity aspiring to, then? A sort of absolute evolution that includes the absolute morality of manipulating life to fit ones own values? Of commiting genocide where one deems the lifeforms not worthy enough to create a species more to ones liking (destroying Jupiters life forms to ensure Europa could have a permanent chance of life and the ultimate good of "Mind" could be born there)? Of destroying star systems of the conscious species you create that don't turn out exactly the way you like them to? That's fucking terrifying.

I'm sure it's not really intentional but I can't help but see a similarity between the defective monolith humanity is destroying to save itself and its own form of governing itself. Cold efficiency. Fact over emotion.

This is attributed to entropy by 3001, but the monoliths make plenty of mistakes. Not all of their experiments work out. But when they make mistakes it has effects on a massive scale and destroys uncountable lives. Quite literally they are playing God, or they are tools of Gods that have since fucked off to cosmic background radiation (? i'm not sure if the creators are involved at all anymore. all the books are so contradictory).

Humanity learns to shape the Solar system in its image and colonize its worlds. "All these worlds are yours". It's playing God and doing so unaided by dramatic politics and cultural hangups. It just makes me wonder, looking upon the work of the monoliths, whether ascending to Godhood would really be a good thing and something to aspire to.

[dddesc]

@stalkerthetiger you say this as a joke but i've actually put a lot of thought into this. in the preview for the dentist episode, dedede says...

"last four teeth"...? potential implications that he had more than that at one point?

...i'm inclined to believe otherwise for two reasons.

his mom has four teeth.

--however! this alone doesn't mean he never had more than four. maybe it's bad genetics and she also happened to lose all but four of her teeth. but, speaking of genetics...

2. the baby gescarsaurus, made from escargon's DNA, has four teeth.

this is the whole reason i feel like snails in anikabi must naturally have that amount. the baby gescarsaurus has no reason to be born with so few if escargon wasn't also born like that.

all this being said, there are drawings both on the model sheets and in the series itself that contradict the amount of teeth he has, with one model even featuring a row of teeth underneath the four main ones.

BUT. those model sheets are dated june 2001, and there's a model sheet dated december 2001 that was made specifically to correct how his smile was drawn from episode 23 onward. while he does still ocassionally grin with a full set of teeth after that point, it's much rarer, and i believe he's only seen with an actual row of teeth once and very early in.

from a technical standpoint, i feel like this was probably done to closer match the cg model, which never had visible teeth aside from the major ones. it did grin/grimace maybe a couple times, but it always looked clunky doing it and, if i'm remembering right, was only ever done on the early very-ugly mouth rig he starts the series with.

i hate that mouth rig with my life. i don't recall exactly when it stops showing up as often, but it's mostly prevelant in the first dozen episodes. it must've been annoying to work with, because it spends its entire screentime looking very. very. very. bad

anyway.

real snails have thousands of teeth on a flexible, tongue-like band called a radula.

the action of using their radula wears down their tiny teeth immensely, so, like sharks, they replace them regularly -- and rapidly! if i'm to go off of escargon being related to literal snails (which do exist in anikabi), it would seem like that's a nifty process to keep around.

...but he's scared of losing teeth!

so i guess he can't replace them. unfortunate to have lost that evolutionary trait!

i guess all this doesn't HAVE TO mean he didn't have more than four teeth at some point. for all we know, snails could be born with four main teeth and then grow secondary rows of as they age, and then he happened to lose all but four by episode 23. which also happened to his mom, presumably. i just feel like i'm starting to grasp at straws with that logic.

but hey. this is all just a theory. a gay theory

[thegeminisage]

STAR TREK UPDATE TIME. the update is, we have finally started enterprise. here are things i knew about enterprise before starting:

set 100 years before tos (i was close, it's more like slightly under 100 years after first contact and a hundred and change before tos)

hoshi sato apparently dies on tarsus iv

INSANELY sexy chemistry between t'pol and trip tucker every gifset i have ever seen is bananas but they have a love triangle with archer, who is a bitch

they have some kind of baby in an au or something

MIRRORVERSE

vt'pol pon farr episode

lots of sexism everybody is mean to t'pol bc nobody likes vulcans

riker cameo at the end and everybody hated that and also a bunch of people die in badly written ways in the finale

theme song controversial.

prior to starting this i was like this is sttill technically kinda 90s trek it's got the riker cameo like 2001 isn't so far from the 90s and immediately we got hit with the theme song and the weird sexism and MAN what a downgrade from voyager. this is post 9/11 trek baby. we are in a different world now. i will miss ds9 and voyager so much

i was...honestly kind of bored by this. it wasn't as bad as the tng pilot but nowhere near as good as the voyager or ds9 pilots, the latter of which is high art. i did not find myself especially endeared to anyone except poor hoshi sato, who did not ask for this and reltably jumps at her shadow at every opportunity. i know it isn't t'pol's fault she's writen that way, and i feel certain i will be very endeared to her by the end, but in this episode she just kind of annoyed me.

as for the men, no one really stood out to be except trip and archer (i'm not even sure of everybody else's name yet, except dr phlox, whose freaky smile did make me scream aloud). as stated, archer is a bitch. he is mean and yells for no reason because of like...daddy issues that don't feel like they have any real weight. i don't like his acting and he has evoked no emotional response from me except annoyance. i like trip a little better! while i'm not losing my mind over him or anything he is fun, and i do like that even though his accent is fake (said "can't" instead of "cain't"), he did remember to change the end of "thursday" to "thursdee." that is how we say it yeah

the time period we're in did seem neat to me at first (you have to appreciate them not having gotten the transporter working on people yet and warp 4 still being fancy to them lol), but i don't really understand why the vulcans have been the boss of these guys for 90 years or whatever, have they just been saying "space is dangerous don't go" for that long and all of humanity listened? i think narratively they exist to be rules, and the rules exist to be bucked by captain archer, because he's an AMERICAN, DAMMIT. post 9/11. i get there's no federation or whatever yet, this is the wild west, but jesus fucking christ. also i hate that cochrane came up with the fucking speech. fuck that guy! rapey ass tos episode. anyway speaking on the time period i also liked the gravity thing. very fun

but like...the dinner where she was cutting her breadstick and talking about human barbarism for eating animals?? what even was that. we've had this philosophical discussion in trek a thousand times already. we KNOW humans aren't going to become brutes because this is a prequel. nothing in here was meaty enough (sorry) to justify retreading those points.

i did like this new race of bend shapeshifting guys. like, i miss odo, but also, whatever they've got going on was really fun. and the language barrier with the klingon at the end DURING the fight was also entertaining. i did also wind up liking the extremely gregarious scene with the decontaminating gel or whatever...at first i was very annoyed (you can see her nipples! give this woman some dignity! they could have done this separately!) but 1. trip was a perfect gentleman and 2. when she was like "turn around" i knew in my heart she could give him the strap.

other than that, very little to be compelled by, but at least i don't hate anybody except archer and the fucking subtitles. the subtitles on this were so so so so so SO bad. straight up disappeared at one point. i hate paramount plus so much <3

TONIGHT: ent's "fight or flight" and "strange new world."

[hatredmadeofgold]

I'm a terrible person with words, but here I go. (using a translator, my English is a little shit when it comes to writing and a little bit when it comes to pronunciation, ha!)

I would like to say with ALL my heart that I love your work and the writing in "Sing to Me", my heartbeat even accelerates when I remember the existence of this work of art and how wonderful the sensation was, the euphoric feeling of read each chapter and see all the care and dedication put into it. I have immense affection for Raiden, Sam (and Monsoon :)). Seeing how complex they are in the story brings me immense satisfaction, and I just wish all the positive recognition for you, it's impeccable.

(There's a lot I'd like to express, like my hyperfocus- but hey, I'm a terrible person at showing appreciation and affection, I hope you got the message anyway :))

hugs and kisses from a Brazilian! 🇧🇷❤

Oi, não se preocupa! Não sou falante nativo, mas entendi muito bem. Da próxima vez, você pode me escrever em pt-br (´▽`ʃ♡ƪ)

Thank you so much!! I am really happy to know that you enjoy my work 💕 Honestly, every time someone tells me that they enjoy Sing to Me so much, I am getting really happy. This fic means a lot to me and gives me lots of strength and stability, although on the outside it might look that I am not doing much for it for the past year (I do, it's just background work that I can't show T_T massive spoilers and so on). But I mean, I kept saying that each time somebody came to my inbox about it for the last months.

And I am so glad to know that you're feeling like this for each chapter you've read so far! This fic in itself is really complex and long, I could give you a rough estimate of around ~100 Chapters for the main story (Those would be just arc 1-3, the series, however, has 6 arcs in total excluding the 2 AUs). Sooo... let me say, you've got a lot to look forward to, I suppose :3

Also I hope that you'll be curious about the revisions too. Chapter 5 and 6 will have a darker tone than their current version that is on AO3 at the moment, but also will be much better in quality. Chapter 6 will have major changes I think, especially the second halve of it. I am all giddy and excited myself whenever I think about all the plans I have for this story. The drama, the comedy, the (bitter-) sweetness, but also the chaos, the pain and the darker parts of this fic. I wish I could go on a ramble but it's so many spoilers lmao And I don't want to take that away from my readers. If anything, I might drop a few essays about Raiden and Sam that I've got on my to-do list at some point, that in some cases will directly tie to Sing to Me as well.

The series also goes in great detail about Sam's past and who he is as a person because I was a bit dissatisfied with how most fics for this pairing at least that I've read didn't come up with much for his past (but I still liked all of them regardless), hence I went a little bit insane about him. To the point that Sam is technically my OC now (according to my beta reader) lmao

Jsyk, this is my current graph view of my Obsidian vault for Sing to Me and all the dots that connect to him:

My vault is an absolute mess still tbh because the program is a bit overwhelming when you don't know where to start, so this is far from how complex this fic actually even is.

What I can tell you pretty much spoiler free is that the series is complex because timeline wise, it starts in the year of 2001 and ends (technically) in the year of 2026. I say technically because ARC3.5: The War in Heaven goes a bit crazy with science fiction elements and time is... let's say, "relative". The main fic spans from 2019 until 2023 btw.

The prequel (ARC0: I Come with Knives) is entirely about Sam's past, from his POV entirely, and a collaboration with @thatthereneverwas since he originally requested me to write it. Basically adding more Sam lore that we definitely need :3

Please don't hesitate to come to my inbox or DMs if you want to chat about Sing to Me, samuraiden or just Sam or Raiden with me! I don't bite :] Monsoon is also my favourite from the Winds of Destruction aside from Sam, so I get you! I've been thinking of maybe including him in the fic as well, but it's uncertain how so yet, and if it will just be a flashback of some sort 🤔 But I take notes as I go, we'll see :3

Beijos pra você também 💞

[autolenaphilia]

Thief: The Dark Project (1998)/Thief Gold (1999)

Thief: The Dark Project by Looking Glass Studios is a genre defining stealth game

It’s far from the first stealth game but to a large extent it shaped and re-made the genre in its own image. A good example is the Wolfenstein series. Castle Wolfenstein from 1981 might the first western-made stealth game, but when the venerable Wolfenstein franchise finally returned to stealth mechanics in Raven software’s Return from Castle Wolfenstein in 2001, its mechanics were imitating Thief.

The Thief seriesis about Garrett, the player character and thief of the title. You play as Garrett breaking in and sneaking around various locations, in order to steal valuable things. It’s set in a fascinating world that at first seems to be a medieval european fantasy world, but is revealed to have steampunk-ish advanced technology. It’s a world lit by both torches and electric lights.

The pioneering Stealth and movement Mechanics

The game and its central stealth mechanics were above all an impressive technical achivement which is central to its legacy today. The original Thief was a technical marvel in terms of lighting, sound design and AI, and how these systems interact.

Dynamic lighting was not new to video games in 1998, but it influencing NPC’s response to the player very much was. This is a central part of the game’s stealth mechanic. By staying in the shadows and out of the light, guards and other NPCs can’t see the player character Garrett. Garrett can also put out light by extinguishing torches.

It’s a very complex and gradual system too, where there are completely dark areas in which you basically can’t be seen but also dark but not completely dark areas where the enemies can’t see you if you are in their peripheral vision or far away. Garrett’s visibility is also influenced by whether he is standing or crouching, how fast he is moving, and what items he is holding. Garrett’s visibility is always indicated by a hud element, a visibility gem at the bottom of the screen.

The sound design is the other major half of the stealth mechanics. The AI react to the sounds the player makes. Most importantly, Garrett’s movements are quieter or softer depending on how fast he is moving or most importantly, which surface he is walking on. And NPCs can hear this depending on how loud the noise is and how far away they are. So moving slowly and quietly and avoiding noisy surfaces is important.

There were additional AI complexities that were novel at the time. Most games at the time had enemies with simple “idle” and “aggro” states depending on whether they’ve seen the player or not. In Thief, the AI have multiple stages depending on their awareness of Garrett’s presence. If they have not noticed him at all, they go about their routine independently of his actions. But if for example, if they hear a single sound or catch a glimpse of Garrett, they will become slightly suspicious and say something. If their suspicions are confirmed by for example more noises, they might search about for the intruder for some time. But if they hear or see nothing more, they will dismiss it and return to their work. They can also be alarmed by things like unconscious or dead bodies or even blood stains from someone dying. There are multiple stages of alertness depending on how aware they are of Garrett’s existence and whereabouts until they become fully aware of him and either attack him or go to get help dealing with him. It was very complex for the time.

Garrett’s movements were also innovative in different ways. Garrett can do something called “mantling”, which means he can climb up ledges if he is close enough by pressing the jump button. Ledge-grabbing and climbing existed in third-person platformers at the time, but this was new to first-person games. And it’s an important part of moving across the levels, as you can “parkour” across them to avoid guards.

Thief’s objective-driven level design was also remarkable. To finish a mission, you have to fulfil the mission’s various objectives, most of them boil down to stealing things, or to do things that enable you to steal things. It’s not the first game to have this, Goldeneye 007 on the Nintendo 64 famously had it a year before Thief did. But in 1998 a video game level not just being a matter of getting from the level start to the level end was still novel. The complex victory and failure conditions of Thief’s levels were impressive at the time.

All these mechanics sound like basic stealth game things nowadays, but at the time they really weren’t. The first Thief game was maybe the first to have these mechanics, and it was a major programming achievement to create and implement them. Especially with the hardware available at the time. To give you a hint of just how limited, Thief II’s manual recommends just 64 mb of RAM.

It all works surprisingly well for such a pioneering effort. Stealth games depend on conveying information to the player, you need to know if you are detected or not, and some way of predict if you move there in this way you won’t be detected, and the original Thief is very good at doing that. The visibility gem is great at conveying how visible you are depending on where you are or what you are doing. And while it is not accessible to deaf players at all, the sound design is excellent at conveying information. You hear how loud your footsteps are depending on surface, if you listen to what the guard’s say you can hear if they heard you or not. It’s a challenging game that like many PC games at the time seems balanced around you having unlimited saves including quicksave and load. But you are given so much information that it feels fair, you can figure it out and you’ll feel like a master thief when you do.

Atmosphere

These innovations around lighting and sound design are also used well to aesthetic ends, and the game really excels at this. The art and sound design overcomes the limitations of 1998 era 3D graphics to create this compelling gothic world that is extremely atmospheric. It’s part of why the game works so well.

Garrett’s Inventory

Thief’s world is rather unique. The medieval fantasy aspects combined with steampunk gadgetry gives Garrett a different set of tools compared to straightforward high-tech stealth games like Metal Gear and Splinter Cell.

Your most important tool is the humble blackjack, which enables you to knock out guards and other npcs silently from behind. It does come with difficulties, a guard needs to be unaware of you to be able to blackjack him, and it also gives you a body to hide, because if the guards see an unconscious body, they will raise the alarm. But if you are smart about it, you can slowly but surely clean out an area of conscious humans in order to freely explore it for loot and fulfil your objectives.

Garrett also carries a sword, but it’s not that useful. The sword combat is actually deliberately designed to be clunky and difficult, as Garrett in-game is not good at swordfighting. You can maybe take on a single enemy who is isolated if you absolutely need to, but straight-on hack and slash gameplay is not viable. This is how this game incentivizes stealth. There is really no other option for Garrett. You can do “backstabs”, a strong sword swing from behind which will kill people in one hit, but they make a lot of noise dying and will leave a bloodstain other guards can notice and be alarmed by. Knocking them out with a blackjack is silent and leaves no trace once you move the body. And killing people is actually forbidden on higher difficulties.

The most versatile tool is the humble bow and arrow. The basic arrow for killing people isn’t that useful, though you can use it for stealthy ranged one-hit kills. But again, killing people is noisy, leaves bloodstains and is not allowed on high difficulties.

Garrett does however have a variety of trick arrows that would make Oliver Queen jealous. These are limited in quantity because they are so useful. There are water arrows that can’t hurt people but do put out torches, giving Garrett the darkness he needs. There are moss arrows that make loud surfaces silent. Noisemaker arrows that distract and lure guards away from their post. One of the most useful is probably the rope arrows, which if shot into wooden surfaces give you a rope to climb. And rarest of all, gas arrows that release clouds of knockout gas, enabling silent knockouts at range.

There are also steampunky gadgets Garrett has access to. There are flash bombs that temporarily blind enemies enabling you to sneak by them or blackjack them. Or mines that either explode or release a cloud of knockout gas.

These tools are limited in quantity but do feel genuinely useful, and finding them feels like finding a treasure. In fact finding literal treasures are mostly useful because it allows you buy more gear. You find loot during missions, most often in the form of various valuable trinkets. Often you are required by the mission objectives to find a set amount of loot before you can end a level, the higher the difficulty the higher the loot requirement. And before most missions, you have a shop screen where you can buy useful gear, using money gained from the loot you stole in the last mission.

Interestingly, the game also doesn’t let your carry over items or cash from mission to mission. Money from the last mission that isn’t spent on the next mission is lost. And items left when you end a mission aren’t available to you when you begin the next. This works rather well, since it encourages you to use the items you get instead of hoarding them for an end-game challenge. It avoids the problem in this old Prozd video.

Challenging technology

This mix of simple medieval era technology and more advanced steampunk-ish tech extends into

the environment and create interesting challenges. The mix of torchlight and electric light for example has an important gameplay element, because torches can easily be extinguished with a humble water arrow while electric lights can’t. You have to find a switch, and most of the time, there are no switches. So while torchlight can be extinguished, you must simply avoid electric light.

Electric lighting is not the end of your problems. By the second mission, you learn that the world really isn’t as medieval as it might seem, when you break into a prison that has everything from doors operated by levers to an alarm system and security cameras. The seeming contradictions of this world are in themselves fascinating and part of what makes this game unique.

Story and themes

These contradictions of the game’s world are in fact integrated into the story and its themes. Spoilers I guess, but I want to discuss this game’s themes.

Garret lives in a city-state, simply known as the City, based on medieval/renaissance era city states. Thief’s world is revealed to be a post-apocalyptic scenario. There was once a technologically advanced civilization of “precursors” that had collapsed, and Garrett’s world is actually re-inventing advanced technology rather than starting entirely from scratch, which to some extent accounts for the discrepancies in technological level.

This is of course based on a simplified popular version of European history, where the knowledge and technology of Ancient Egypt and Rome were lost in their empires collapse and Europe entered the medieval “dark ages.” This is of course not true, but these are the ideas that Thief plays with, and with some success.

The other explanation is a prominent theme: class differences. There is a wide gap between rich and poor. The wealthy nobles and the catholic church-like Order of the Hammer can afford advanced technology (especially to protect their wealth), while the poor live in primitive medieval squalor. Garrett’s own adventures are mostly motivated by his need to get money to pay rent to his landlord, the most immediately relatable motivation for any video game protagonist.

The central theme of the first two games is broadly nature vs. technology. This is simultaneously also a theme of chaos vs. order, probably inspired by Michael Moorcock’s fantasy works.

The aforementioned Order of the Hammer or the Hammerites is a central, controlling faction in the game’s world. They worship a god called “the Builder” and creating things and improving technology is part of their religion. It’s them who are responsible for a lot of the technological advancement. They are also based on the medieval european catholic church, and has similar oppressive principles, that they don’t hesitate to impose on others. And like the real life catholic priesthood, they are a misogynistic all-male order and do things like punish women for prostitution. Me and Civvie 11 don’t call them hammer bros for nothing. And in the games thematic conflict, they represent order and technology.

The other faction are “the pagans” who live primitive lives shunning technology outside the city, and worship “the woodsie lord”, a Pan-like nature god. The woodsie lord is known as The Trickster to the hammerites and is a satan-like figure to them. If the city is a european medieval/renaissance citystate heading towards the industrial revolution, the pagans represent the earlier relatively simple tribal life of northern european pagans like germanics and celtic tribes, the original “barbarians” to the Romans. Or rather the 19th century romantic conception of them as noble savages living simple natural lives. The pagans represent chaos and nature in the game’s thematic conflict.

Garrett sensibly doesn’t belong to either the tradcath techbros or the an-prims, but is a free agent.

The third faction are the mysterious Keepers, who want to maintain “the balance”, vaguely defined, but it mostly seems to be the balance of order/technology vs. chaos/nature. Garrett was once aligned with them but broke off to be an independent thief.

The first two games are largely about this balance being disturbed in different directions, and Garrett being somewhat involuntarily tasked with restoring it. In the first game, the balance is disturbed in favor of the pagans, as their god returns. His plan is to return the human world to nature and destroy technology, including electric light, this is “The dark project” of the game’s subtitle.

The game slowly develops from single episodes in a thief’s life to Garrett having to save the world from the Trickster. This is also reflective of his own development as a character. Garrett is at the start of the game solely concerned with himself. He steals from the rich to get money, nothing else, to pay rent and make himself comfortable. His exceptional skill at thievery however makes people take notice of him. And because he is out for money, Garrett is for hire. His greed makes him take a well-paying job he really shouldn’t, and he contributes to the trickster’s dark project by doing so. And in the game’s finale he has to step up, become a hero and save the world from a danger he contributed to. It’s a common plot, selfish rogue has to become an altruistic hero.

Storytelling

Thief is a solid fantasy story, with some actual themes and there is some real depth to its world. But the real appeal of this story lies in how it’s told. The themes around the nature/chaos vs order/technology don’t entirely cohere but the atmosphere and storytelling are so appealing I don’t care.

There are conventional cutscenes before each mission, and they are a treat. Most of these cutscenes are not fully animated for budgetary reasons, they are usually voice-overs with slides of art, but it works because the art, voice acting and writing are well-done. And at major turning points in the story, Looking Glass did take the time and money to give us animated cutscenes.

A large part of it is the voice acting. Everyone loves Stephen Russell as Garrett for good reasons. The voice acting is part of what makes this loveable rogue so loveable. Russell nails pracitcally every line from Garrett, gives us the right shades of toughness, cynicism, humor and warmth. Russell also voices a lot of male NPC characters. Terri Brosius (the voice of Shodan in System Shock) is also responsible for this game being as good as it is. She not only voices the most prominent woman character in the first two games, Viktoria, but wrote the cutscene scripts for The Dark Project. and was a designer for the Gold edition and the second game.

The cutscenes are good, but a lot of story lies outside it. Like in Looking Glass’s earlier System Shock, you can find in-game texts lying about, that both give you mission-critical information but also expand the story and the world. This might also be the first stealth-game where you can use your stealth to eavesdrop on conversations between NPCs, that also gives you story and worldbuilding tidbits. Garrett also makes occasional comments that serve to build his character and explain your objectives.

There is also a lot of information just baked into the level design. Unlike a lot of video games, Thief has reasonably realistic locations. Locations are not just mazes for the player to get lost in, but have clear functions for the characters. These levels are places in which people live and work, you can see where people make food and eat and where they sleep. There are only occasionally rooms where people shit but that’s because not even most nobles have indoor plumbing and people make do with chamber pots.

Level Design

The level design in The Dark Project is truly excellent, especially by the maze standards of the time. But it’s also where the game at times falters. Admittedly a lot of the problems with The Dark Project only stand out in retrospect, in comparison with the overall superior level design in Thief II. The first game is excellent, especially when it was released, and it’s only because Looking Glass learned from their mistakes and improved the Thief formula in the second game that the flaws stand out more.

Thief is at its best when you are breaking into some rich guy’s mansion to sneak around and steal his stuff. The first non-tutorial level, Lord Bafford’s Manor, really sets the tone for this by giving you a relatively simple and easy mansion to break into, perfect for a first level. These mansions and other urban environments feel like realistic grounded places, and do things other games at the time did not. You really do feel like a thief robbing them. Thief in these levels feels most like itself, and it is really doing something no other game at the time did.

But the game breaks away from this mansions and urban environments, and it feels motivated by fear and a lack of self-confidence. Specifically, the fear that these kinds of missions would be too repetitive for a full game or that people wouldn’t accept a full-on stealth game.

So there are a bunch of levels themed around the setting’s supernatural horror element, in which Garrett ventures away from the world of living humans into abandoned haunted places. Places like tombs, abandoned parts of the city he lives and even an entirely lost city belonging to the fallen civilization. The enemies are often zombies, ghosts (or “haunts” as the game calls them) or poison-spewing giant lizards called burricks.

These levels do feel less like Thief, despite in the end perhaps taking up more of the game than the mansion-based levels do. They feel more like a mix of Resident Evil and Tomb Raider. They are less grounded, more “video-gamey”, less spaces where people live, sleep and work, and more navigational and platform challenges for the player. For example, the third mission Down in the Bonehoard is set in an Indiana Jones-style elaborate tomb complex filled with treasures and traps. It’s fun to an extent, but a realistic space it isn’t.

It’s telling that for several of them, stealth is actually optional. It’s more about navigating a maze-like level, doing platforming and avoiding traps, Tomb Raider-style. And the developers evidently agreed these levels were a mistake, because they are absent entirely in Thief II.

Sure, you can use stealth against zombies, burricks and haunts. You can even do the sword backstab on ghosts, and it’s the best way to get rid of them. So stealth mechanics aren’t entirely abandoned.

Yet stealth isn’t required for several of these levels. In most of the game, you need to use stealth because fighting or running away is not viable strategies at all, human enemies will catch up and kill you. The game tries to make the zombies a threat, with a clever survival horror mechanic in these levels: holy water. You can’t kill a zombie with your sword or normal arrows, they are already (un)dead, they’ll just get back up. To put them down permanently you need to use water arrows infused with holy water, and holy water is a very limited resource.

Now that would be scary, except zombies are not a threat at all. Nor are the burricks. They are both slow and lumbering creatures. If they spot you, just running away from them is a totally viable option. You can just run from objective to objective while zombies slowly follow you with no hope of catching up. So the zombie-infested levels like Down in the Bonehoard and The Haunted Cathedral are such a non-threat that they don’t work as either stealth or horror levels.

The last three levels of the game, when the game’s fantasy plot kicks into high gear and we get different supernatural elements from the ghosts and zombies of before are also weak. These levels give the impression they were made under intense time pressure to finish the game. The level design feels lazy, lots of boring samey caves plus re-used environments. The final level is basically a straight line. The beginning of the final level, where you are given the choice of two tunnels, one with enemies marching down it in an endless parade and one tunnel that is entirely unguarded, feel like Thief’s level design simplified to the point of utter stupidity. And the level is mostly a platforming challenge.Your opponents are the trickster’s anthropomorphic monster animal minions, and they don’t add much to the game. Gameplaywise they just feel like tougher and less grounded versions of the sword and bow wielding humans you faced earlier in the game.

Yet there are times when the more fantastical levels work. The fifth level The Sword is overtly unrealistic, in ways that are surreal and illogical, deliberately weirding out the player, and it works. Return to the Cathedral, the last of these undead themed levels is a great one. It’s actually scary and requires stealth. It focuses on the hammer haunts, ghosts who are actually a major threat and you need to use stealth, otherwise you die really quickly. Zombies actually are a threat for a bit, because they can attract hammer haunts. The cathedral with its adjacent monastery does feel like a real human environment too. A late game peak.

The Gold Edition levels

In 1999 this game got a re-release called Thief: Gold, with three added levels expanding the story and changes to the existing ones (partially to accommodate the new levels role in the story). This is the version i played and which most people play nowadays, since it’s the version that is on GOG and Steam.

And they are a mixed bag. The first one Thieves’s Guild is massive and has some fun environments, a restaurant/casino and two mansions to explore. But they are connected by a big underground sewer maze that is confusing and boring to navigate. You also need to do the mansions in the right order, one mansion has the key to a safe in the other mansion. And you don’t know which one is which before you go there, and if you have bad luck and pick the mansion with the safe first, you have to do some major backtracking through the sewer maze. It’s also the fifth mission in the game, and a massive peak in complexity and difficulty compared to the levels preceding it. It is a real mixed bag of a mission in itself.

The second Gold edition mission, The Mage’s Towers, is also a mixed bag. It has an interesting theme with the four elements and Islamic golden age influences. But it feels too difficult to be really fun. Too much flooring made of marble or clanky metal grating where the enemies can always hear you moving, not enough darkness. Plus we get some really janky platforming puzzles.

‘

The third Gold Edition Level, Song of the Caverns, however is enough to justify the Gold edition by itself and it’s one of the best levels in the series. It has such a fun environment for you to break into and rob, an opera house filled with secret passages and lots of The Phantom of the Opera references. It’s a massive and complex level, but it’s an environment that makes sense and is fun to explore, it’s not a sewer maze.

Conclusion

I have been harsh on this game’s level design, but it remains a mostly enjoyable experience even when the levels aren’t the best. That’s because the game is carried by its innovative but solid stealth mechanics, excellent atmosphere and solid writing and worldbuilding. Even the final levels have an interesting narrative and expands the world. I think Thief II is the better game, but Looking glass made it so from learning by the experience of making Thief: The Dark Project.

If you are playing it today, I recommend buying the GOGversion, and installing the Tfix mod which makes the game work much better. On linux, the most headache free method for installing it is also the simplest: just installing the vanilla GOG version with https://lutris.net/ and then use Lutris’ “Run exe inside Wine Prefix” option to run the Tfix installer on the game files.

[shambolicrube]

Yooooooooooo!!!!!

!!!!Smosh just hit 2,000 works even on AO3!!!!

Oooooh, you're technically correct! If you're not logged into AO3, the Smosh fandom tag now has 2k works! (Well, 2001 now lol)

However~ if you make an AO3 account and log in, there's 95 extra works in the tag for you:

I actually have a data post in the works to show tag trends for the Smosh fandom tag (hopefully up at some point lol)

[tgmsunmontue]

Saga of Solitude 2/21

Nepo!Baby Bradley and his life at USNA and afterwards. DADT fully in force. IceMav AU. (Begun prior to 'It's not who you know' - the non-angsty version).

PROLOGUE (He remembers) HANGSTER FIRST MEETING (Lonely Nights) Updating irregularly. This is a SLOW BURN

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER TWO

2001

                He walks across the stage at his graduation and he feels buoyed up as he hears the cheers, can hear Mav absolutely losing it, egged on by the high pitched squeals of Tamsin and Petra and when he’s engulfed in the warm embrace of his family he does his best to ignore the fact that he might not get this when he graduates from the USNA. And he will graduate, that’s not in question in his mind. But whether he will allow both Mav and Ice to attend, whether they will even be in the country. It’s all unknown with it being so far away.

                That said they’ve decided that Sarah and the girls will drop him off at USNA, they’re still his family and no-one will look sideways at them being there. He knows Mav could technically drop him off, that no one going into Plebe summer would know who he was, at least not yet. But he doesn’t want there to be talk about him having connections, even if it’s true multiple times over. If he’s going to make friends he wants them to be people who genuinely like him, rather than the potential benefits of being his friend. Not that he thinks there are any. Not yet.

                Ice and Mav have been riding him hard the last few months, training with him and running, swimming, weights and he hadn’t wanted to let guys over twenty years his senior put him to shame. But they had the first couple of weeks, their endurance just out-stripping him. Not anymore though, he’s improved remarkably, the routine becoming almost comfortable and Ice had begun slapping him on the back and telling him that he maybe might have a chance of enjoying Plebe Summer rather than wishing for a swift and painless death on a daily basis.

                The most exciting thing he gets is an almost new Audi, which Ice then promptly tells him he can’t take to USNA anyway. But its highly safety rated and he gives Mav a raised eyebrow at that, because Mav still rides his bike around with no helmet and probably always will. But he’s going to insist Bradley drive a car that is rated for maximum safety for front and passenger side crashes. Apparently, he trusts Bradley, but not everyone else on the road. Bradley doesn’t point out that Mav himself is one of the other people on the road.

                They say goodbye at the airport, none of them in uniform yet with the fact that they’re going a couple of days early. Tamsin and Petra are just as excited about the flight as Bradley, although they’re running circles around them and he occasionally reaches out to throw one or the other up into the air, their delighted giggles making him grin. He wants to start this journey already, wants to make Mav and Ice proud. But he’s going to miss seeing Tamsin and Petra grow up and if he’s going to have regrets about anything, it’s that.

                “We would like a short phone call every Saturday. Doesn’t need to be longer than a couple of minutes, but we do want to talk to you. Obviously only works when I���m in the country.”

                “Of course. And I’ll write letters as well. When I have time,” Bradley offers, because Ice has reiterated over and over how exhausting the first year is. “Can I call you as well?” Bradley asks, turning to Sarah, and his anxiousness must show on his face.

                “Oh honey, of course you can. We’d all love to talk to you. You won’t get a word in edgeways if it’s one of these two hellions you wanted to talk to though…”

                “That’s okay, I might not be much of a conversationalist anyway…”

                The call for their flight comes and he hugs Mav and Ice tightly, throat tight with emotion as he realizes it’s going to be months before he sees them again.

                “I’m proud of you. Keep your nose clean okay?” Ice says.

                “Of course. Always.”

                “Don’t forget to have fun,” Mav says.

                “Not too much fun,” Ice instantly adds and Mav is rolling his eyes, throws him a wink and god he’s going to miss them so much.

                The flight is exhausting, keeping Petra and Tamsin entertained a fulltime task and he’s glad the flight isn’t any longer. They got a couple of rooms booked at a Motel and he falls into his bed, determined to enjoy a solid night’s sleep. Over the next couple of days they do some touristy things, although the number of playgrounds and parks they visit is probably higher, what with Tamsin and Petra getting bored quickly with anything that requires even a small modicum of reading. It’s fine though, he’ll have liberty leave and can come to the museums and stuff if he wants to.

                When they drop him off for his first day, his bags all packed and dressed in his uniform Tamsin has made the connection that he’s not coming home with them and is inconsolable, tears streaming down her face and he finds it heartbreaking that she’s so upset to say goodbye to him. He promises to draw her some pictures and post them, that they’ll talk on the phone and he has to trust Sarah when she says she’ll be fine. He waves good bye and goes to start the rest of his life.

…             …             …

                As the days fly past he’s so glad he was forced into the training regime that Ice and Mav planned out, because while he’s still pushed past his personal limits his recovery time is much shorter, he knows how much food he needs to eat and how to deal with the yelling and sleep depravation exercises. God, Ice really didn’t exaggerate when he said it was going to be hard. He knows the orders inside out, when asked about his family he doesn’t hesitate to say his father was a naval aviator, a RIO who died in a training exercise in 1986. It does generally stop follow-up questions, but he suspects that some of the teachers know who he is, know that Maverick is listed as his emergency contact. He doesn’t ever bring it up.

                He writes more letters than he thought he would, the phones difficult to use except for the brief few minutes he makes a concerted effort every Saturday. However the time he doesn’t have to use memorizing orders coming in handy and he draws pictures for Tamsin and Petra and writes letters, addressing them to where Mav is deployed. Bradley doesn’t make close friends, he does make friends though, lots and lots of friends. Remembers their birthdays, makes little notes of things they tell him, asks follow up questions about their families and helps them out where and when he can.

                He doesn’t share much information about himself though, keeps it close to his chest. It’s maybe a little paranoid but it’s not just him on the line, but Mav and Ice. When pressed he mentions his step-father Pete, how he married his mom after his dad died. When he mentions his mom dying is usually when people either start to look like they seriously regret asking, or they look like they pity him and he doesn’t know which he dislikes the most. He is asked about the photo he keeps by his bed, of Tamsin and Petra and he simply explains that they’re his step-siblings. It all makes sense in his head, knows he can keep all of that straight in his head as none of it is a lie. He knows people are probably making assumption about Pete marrying Sarah, but he’s never said anything about that.

                The seven weeks of Plebe Summer come to an end and then he’s preparing for his plebe year, picking the academic classes which he will undertake alongside the physical activities required at the Academy. He’s flying home for a short break of one week, Maverick is on deployment, so he expects Ice or Sarah at the airport to pick him up. The fact that they’re all there makes his hurt from smiling so much and he goes home with Ice, squishes himself into the backseat because Tamsin won’t let go of his hand.

                He goes back to USNA feeling revitalized after spending time with them, and of course there’s one upper classman who seems to have it out for him, and Bradley is careful to remain respectful, but he also won’t let himself be a doormat. He knows his own worth, even if this one guy is constantly trying to find fault with him and snipe him. He does his best to ignore it, knows that a little of this is part and parcel of the entire experience, but it doesn’t mean he likes it.

                Then September 11th happens and his immediate thought goes to Mav, somewhere on deployment somewhere near the Middle East, and he feels awful, immediately thinking of his own family before the hundreds or thousands of innocent people who are now dead. They’re given very little information, however he does receive an envelope with the mail two days later, no stamp or postmark and it’s simply They’re both alive and well. Uncle Sli. He breathes out and the tension in his shoulders lessens immediately. Slider isn’t someone he sees a lot of, but he’d recognize him and is so grateful for the message.

                He’s not stupid, knows that they’re all now in the military, that there are plenty of risks day-to-day associated with that. However looking at the potential start of World War Three is different when he knows Mav is one of the best fighter pilots that the Navy currently has. He’s just going to have to learn to compartmentalize now and ignore his feelings, the worry about where he is and when he will next see him. Plebe Year continues, and there is a shift in the intensity of some of the people, knowing that active combat suddenly feels much closer to home.

                He chooses to stay on campus through the holiday break, along with a handful of others. He’s thankful all his family are alive and well, but going home to houses devoid of both Maverick and Ice makes him want to stay where he is, because he’s used to not seeing them around here. Word has gotten around that both his parents are dead, so no one asks him awkward questions about why he’s not going home. He’s the only Plebe who has stayed.

                His New Year’s Eve is vastly different than the previous year, when he’d been celebrating with his high school friends, or even the year before sitting on the sofa with Ice as they watched the ball drop. This year he lies in his dorm bed and listens to the fireworks outside, rolls over and simply tries to sleep. He’d had liberty leave, but he’s underage, clearly military and the risks far outweigh any rewards from doing something, anything, for New Year’s Eve. So staying in and sleeping it is. This is only one year of the many ahead of him.

…             …             …

                Spring semester starts up and it’s routine. The academic classes along with the exercises and naval classes. He continues writing letters, making Saturday afternoon phone calls and hangs out with the other Plebes, some of them he’d even class as friends, and damned Ice, he was right about him making friends despite trying to be stand offish and taciturn about his background. They don’t seem to care that he doesn’t talk about his family much, which he guesses is nice, and when a couple of them invite him to their place for summer he mention going home to his step-father and he gets a couple of raised eyebrows.

                “I love my step-father. And my step-siblings. I’ll spend the few weeks of summer with them.”

                “But you didn’t go at Christmas.”

                “Pete was out of the country for work and Sarah is Jewish, so I just, stayed here,” Bradley offers and once again he ignores the slightly pitying looks from the others in the wider circle who are listening in, but the two different Plebes that had invited him to their homes for summer nod with more understanding and he wonders if he’s now going to get invites for every time they have liberty leave or parent-weekends, or fuck, even their next Christmas break.

                So his first year comes to an end and he finishes in the top two-percent of the class. He watches the Firsts graduate and knows that’s going to be him in another three years. Then Uncle Slider is there, along with Wolfman and Hollywood and he knows it’s a compromise of sorts, Ice and Maverick staying away. How he’s going to explain these three talking to him he had no idea, but finds he doesn’t need to.

                “They flew with your old man huh?”

                “What?”

                “Those guys that were talking to you, they all looked proud of you, but also a little sad.”

                “Yeah. Yeah they flew with my dad. They were in the same Top Gun class as him. And I guess they wish my dad was here to see me…” Bradley says, realizing the truth of it, because not only is his dad not able to be here, but neither Maverick or Ice are here either. None of the men he considers father figures, and he knows that Slider at least knows about Ice and Mav’s relationship.

                They had seemed a little melancholic when they’d been talking to him, unlike Ice and Mav who have probably worked through the fact that his parents will miss all his milestones the people who see him less often probably focus on it a lot more. He’s grateful suddenly that Mav doesn’t seem to dwell on it, is gleefully proud of him from a distance and Bradley is left in no doubt of that fact. The same for Ice. God he’s looking forward to seeing them both in person though, doesn’t want to go an entire year again without seeing them, but also knows it’s been a good test, for future deployments when he has to be even further away from them all.

…             …             …

                “God I want to be there so badly…”

                “We’ll be there for his final year graduation, even if it’s purely formal. He’s not alone…”

                “I know, I know, it just… I’ve missed him so much. Coming home and him not being here. God Ice, it’s like I’m missing a piece of myself.”

                “He was going to grow up and move out eventually…”

                “I know. God. I know. I just feel like it’s gone by so fast. I still remember him being this little toddler who could barely walk…”

                “If you couldn’t remember it I’d be worried about you.”

                “Shut up, you know what I mean. It’s the fact that this toddler is now on the other side of the country attending boat school and I can’t even visit him…”

                “We’ll make it work better next year, figure out some visits, because I don’t think Sarah and the girls have coped overly well either. I do think it was probably for the best though, think he will feel incredibly settled going forward. He’s done very well, he’s got people watching him already, and not all of them know about his connections or background.”

                “He’s impressive all on his own, he doesn’t fucking need any connections!”

                “Mav, you’re preaching to the converted. He’s gotten through his first year and I’m hoping he’ll let us visit a little incognito for next year’s parent weekend. I could visit formally, although I’d prefer not to.”

                “Well, at least we get him home for a few weeks this summer.”

                Tom hums, because he’s pulled a few strings to ensure that they all have leave overlapping for the weeks Bradley is back home, and he may have used his eldest daughter’s last summer before she starts school as an excuse and he has no shame in admitting it.

…             …             …

                It’s absolute chaos, Petra’s fourth birthday and his welcome home party all squished into a terrifying combination of a bouncy castle and a group of kids from Petra’s daycare, along with a mom of one of the other kids doing face-painting, which has resulted in him with a rainbow on one cheek and a butterfly on the other. The birthday party is meant to finish around three, early enough that the kids who need naps can still have them.

                Petra is not one of them, looking wide awake, apparently impossible to keep shoes on or her long dark hair braided, or even tied back. She’s swinging on the backyard playset, yelling for higher and faster with excited giggles and… She could be Mav’s kid. As much as Tamsin is the spitting image of Ice, Petra looks like Maverick. He looks to Sarah, her hair is brown, eyes also brown, so it’s not impossible that Petra just looks like her more than Ice but…

                “Papa! Higher!”

                Holy shit.

                “She calls Mav papa?” Bradley mutters under his breath, because that’s a new development no-one bothered to mention to him. Mav is already there, pushing her and laughing with her and god, why didn’t they say anything? Maybe he has it wrong? Does he need to know? He wants to know, but he doesn’t need to know.

                “Did you just realize?”

                Ice has stepped beside him, is nursing a beer and is also watching Petra and Maverick.

                “Hmm? Realize what?” Bradley asks, wondering if playing dumb is going to even work right now. Looks from his kid-sisters-slash-cousins back to Ice, and now that he’s looking properly it’s even more obvious that Tamsin is very clearly his daughter through and through just as much as Petra isn’t.

                “Did you just realize that Petra is the spitting image of Maverick.”

                “I… I’m not imagining it?”

                “Nope. They’re even named after each of us. Your Aunt Sarah is a very generous woman, and obviously it’s my name on the birth certificates. But we all know the truth. And now you do too.”

                “Holy shit… Tamsin and Petra. That’s really obvious when you know.”

                “Hiding in plain sight…” Ice says quietly, taking another sip of his beer.

                “Yeah…” Bradley says on an exhale and wonders how old Tamsin and Petra will be when they figure it out.

CHAPTER THREE - 2002