#keru watch

[klissblog]

Are Saiki and Teruhashi based off Asō-sensei and Furukawa-san? Part 2

This post will make you know more about Asou-sensei and Furukawa-san, and perhaps about Japanese manga characters. Sorry some information you might have seen it already.

How mangaka based off their characters?

1       appearance 

When people saw Asō-sensei, he got comments saying he looked like Saiki Kusuo. The same as Nishizawa, the author of 5mm (西沢５ミ��、Nishizawa 5miri). 

「こちらの写真の一番左に映ってるメガネの方が麻生周一先生になります。

どことなく斉木楠雄に似ているような…..」

→The person with glasses on the far left in this picture is Asō Shūichi sensei.

He looks somewhat like Saiki Kusuo......　

Ps. I have never read 5mm, but this went viral, So I knew about it.

If you want to read more about the author, here is the link https://mangakasan.com/asoshuichi-565

Some other characters that resemble the real people. The author of one piece, Oda-sensei, had confirmed some of these.

2 characters based on personality or anything else besides appearance.

This´s quite difficult. The author has to admit it or you must really know that character.

The author of Berserk did give an interview in 1996.

“For the relationship between Guts and Griffith, I'm using myself and my close friend and fellow manga artist Koji Mori (Suicide Island, etc.) as a model. Which one of us is Guts and which is Griffith switches from time to time, but I think it serves as a symbol of male friendship. Guts' friends in the Band of [the Falcon] are actually based on my friends from college. But if it's about Guts' personality or his belief... I guess some of it comes from myself.”

Source: https://berserk.fandom.com/wiki/Interviews

NBA players were the model for the characters in slam dunk. I'm not into sports, but many redditors had theories about these because they knew about different styles of play in basketball. A Japanese blogger said that the author of slam dunk did not admit or deny when he was asked if slam dunk characters were from NBA players. That means there is no right or wrong answer. The author said the readers could imagine who was the model. But the blogger said its not true because he watched NBA for a long time and he had theories to prove that.

Source:  https://happynarublog.com/slam-dunk-who-is-the-nba-player-who-became-the-model-of-the-characters/

Is teruhashi based on the author's wife Furukawa-san or is she a model for teruhashi? (Whatever the correct word is, sorry 😢 ).

We knew from the last two posts that the author started basing teruhashi on his wife after they met in 2014. The author made Teruhashi loves one, have a fan club and be able to sing from 2014.

When the author drew someone else as kokomi, Furukawa-san tweeted right away.

In 2016, his wife tweeted 「おっふしてもいいんだからね！」 → it´s okay (if you’re going) to offu! 

To prove that she´s the real kokomi.

In 2018, his wife tweeted 

「斉木楠雄のΨ難、麻生先生描き下ろしジャケ！ 

照橋さん枠はえいたそだったのか、、、！ 

けるくんも可愛く描いてくれています。サイズ感ぴったり！どんどんメディア進出！ 麻生先生！ありがとうございます！！すてき！！」

“The CD jacket newly drawn by Asō-sensei, the author of “The Disastrous Life of Saiki K”!

Teruhashi-san's quota (yellow frame) was Eitaso (nickname of Eimi), huh? It has a cute drawing of Keru-kun (her pet) too. The size is perfect! More and more media coverage! Asō-sensei! Thank you!! It's so nice!!”

And then Furukawa-san tweeted again with excuses that Eitaso wasn´t teruhashi because….

いや、えいたそ＝後光 → No, Eitaso = Halo, aureole

照橋さん＝オーラ → Teruhashi-san = Aura 

だからちとものが違うか、、、→ so maybe it’s a bit different...

I guess the author explained to her that Eitaso wasn’t Teruhashi and that’s why furukawa-san tweeted again. Well, Furukawa-san thinks she is Teruhashi. And can't stand if someone else is Teruhashi. There must be something to make her believe/sure about this. It is a secret between the author and Furukawa-san. The question about if Furukawa-san is Teruhashi. She has already given the answer!

Think why the author made Kokomi have fan club and kusuo a tsundere in 2014? Coincidences? Why did his wife have so much confidence about she’s Kokomi? Why didn't the author do that in the beginning of Saiki k? Why started basing them in 2014 the year he met his wife?

Q: Is the author a tsundere?

Is Saiki based on the author or is he a model for him? After the author met his wife in 2014, Saiki admitted that he is a tsundere.

I would like you to find out what a tsundere is on the internet. So you will understand more about it.

Nendō pet is based on/kind of like Furukawa-san's pet because keru-kun uses her hand as a toilet.

Source: https://natalie.mu/music/column/307931

the author said 「りさ推しよりの箱推しです！今日はライブです！」→My Oshi is the whole group, even though I prefer Risa a little more! Today is the live concert!

ps. Ppl/fans who don’t know him in person thought Aso-sensei liked Risa-san until they announced that they gonna get married.

Here are some comments

もっとも麻生さん本人は、15年の時点ではツイッターで、「りさ推しよりの箱推しです！」と投稿しているなど、メンバーの中では古川さんより相沢梨紗さんの方が「推し」だったようである。これもでんぱ組.incのファンには知られており、

→ However, Aso himself seemed to have his “Oshi” as Risa than for Furukawa-san, as he posted on Twitter in 2015, “My Oshi is the whole group, even though I prefer Risa a little!” This is also known to fans of Denmagumi.inc,

「推しアイドルと結婚相手って別なんだろうね」 → “I guess the Oshi idol and the person you're marrying are two different things.”

「麻生先生チケ代払ってでもでんぱガチガチで遠征してるヲタクで相沢梨紗推しのはずがまさかのみりんちゃんと結婚」

→“Asou-sensei, an otaku who pays for tickets and goes to meet Dempa in far places. I thought he had an Oshi as Risa, but surprise surprise, he’s married to Mirin-chan.”

「麻生先生でんぱ組好きって言ってて結婚はすげぇな　推しとは違ったらしいけど」

→“I knew that Asou-sensei liked Dempagumi, but marriage is surprising. But looks like the partner wasn’t his Oshi.”

と、むしろ推しメンバーと結婚相手に分別をつけた選択として、好意的に受け止められている様子だ。

→Rather, this seems to be favorably received as a sensible choice between an Oshi member and a marriage partner.

Source: https://www.j-cast.com/2019/09/19367999.html?p=all

If I were Furukawa-san and read these comments….. I felt hurt. There were some comments on x (twitter) saying that Aso-sensei liked Risa-chan or his oshi was Risa-chan from 2015-2019 (her first response to the author was in 2016). As a woman, I read comments saying my boyfriend likes my friend. Did people think I stole him from my friend or my friend rejected him so he chose me and ended up marrying me. Was I his second choice??? No wonder Furukawa-san couldn't accept when someone else was kokomi.

However, colleagues confirmed their relationship No. 3&4.

2. In 2018, the marriage purpose. No. 3 「でんぱぐみのだれかと（けっこん）」 → (Marry) someone in Dempagumi(.inc). The word “marry” was coverd by Nendou´s hand.

P.S. If anyone thinks it's a word other than the word marry …hmmm. That person doesn't understand Japanese in context (that chapter).

3. His assistant, Mitsuhara-san mentioned that Furukawa´s his favorite member and Asou-sensei replied his comment (without denying it) saying 

「わー！忙しいのにわざわざ漫画まで描いてくれてありがとー！！あれはそういう策略だったのか…w」

→ Wow! Thanks for drawing all those manga even though you're so busy! (Now I know) what kind of strategy was that...lol

(You can read his manga in English at the end of this post)

What Asō-sensei did to Furukawa-san

Didn´t say his feeling to Furukawa-san. He said he preferred Risa. But his coworker, Mitsuhara-san said Furukawa was his favourite member. Asou-sensei attended dempagumi.inc activities/events, but he wanna leave after he talked to his wife for a word or two. At first I thought their relationship had to be a secret. he could write about Risa-san but Furukawa-san. <(ꐦㅍ _ㅍ)> ……… tsundere.

Did tease his wife by drawing someone else as Teruhashi. He drew dempagumi.inc only 2 pics and teased his wife both of them. Aso-sensei drew Furukawa-san with arms crossed. ʱªʱªʱª (ᕑᗢूᓫ∗)

Source: the same link as above (telling that he drew Dempagumi two pics) https://www.j-cast.com/2019/09/19367999.html?p=all

P.S. The CD jacket supposed to release in April 2018, but his wife saw it in February 2018. So, she tweeted with those messages right away. Arms crossed = disagree. The author knew that Furukawa-san disagreed that she wasn't kokomi, but he teased her. I saw one post that he still teased her after they've got married.

Didn´t write the word “marry” in a marriage proposal. I wondered when I read it, but now everything is resolved. What a tsundere! Finally, he grouped his wife with Teruhashi even though he wrote the word "someone" on no. 3 instead of Furukawa-san (because of idol status). However, it’s really sweet of him to do it in anime and it will stay forever.

4. His coworker, 大石浩二、Ōishi-san (mangaka) who works at Shonen Jump+ said

麻生先生&みりんちゃん結婚おめでとうございます。前から知ってはいましたが、未だにえっマジで！！？なんだその漫画みたいな展開！！って思ってます。みりんちゃんのハートにＢダッシュした麻生先生。末永くお幸せに🎊

Congratulations to Asō-sensei & Mirin-chan on their marriage. I've known about it for a while, but I'm still thinking "What Really!!? What a manga-like development!!” Aso-sensei made a B-dash into Mirin-chan's heart. I wish you a long and happy life🎊.

However, Ōishi-san compared them to a manga. What manga? Did he mean Saiki k manga? I don't know much information about Aso-sensei and Furukawa-san compare to Oishi-san, but I knew Asō-sensei is an otaku and his wife is an idol. So I think otaku & idol. That's why the author did a self-insert to Saiki k manga. Plus, he did mentioned himself (as an otaku) made his favorite idol sang the theme songs in 2016 (chapter 234).

When they were in a relationship in 2016, The author asked their friends, family and co-worker for the vote (to make Saiteru got 1&2 place) because they (ppl who knows him) knew about Furukawa-san. He wanted their votes instead of votes from readers. Who the hell didn't know that he's saiteru shipper?

Plus, Dempagumi started to sing saiki k anime songs in 2016. The author wasn't just an otaku who attended only dempagumi events, but this made them had more time together.

2nd popularity poll, chapter 115, chapter 234, Aso-sensei and Dempagumi (he wears black and Furukawa-san is on his left, the video.

After the author and Furukawa-san announced they going to marry. Someone made a video and put the author, his wife, Saiki and Teruhashi in the video. And at the end shows Imu saying "just like a mangaka whose anime main theme was sung by their favorite idol!" in japanese. Many knew that the author made the self insert (mentioned himself in chapter 234).

Source to watch video (1.5 min): https://www.nicovideo.jp/watch/sm35700889

To answer the question of if the author based on Saiki or using him as a model.

- In terms of appearance, I'm not the only one who thinks the author looks like Saiki.

- For the personality, what he did to Furukawa-san (2015-2018), the author’s a tsundere to me.

My point with this post is that it´s not strange or stupid that the manga creators/mangaka use the real people as models for their characters in the manga or based on themselves. It doesn't mean that characters are 100% like the authors, and have to be a warrior like Guts from Berserk. The author said “Guts' personality or his beliefs... I guess some of that comes from myself.” So did Asō sensei and Saiki about tsundere.

I hope this post will make you understand about mangaka and their characters. Thank you. ٩(ˊᗜˋ*)و ♡

Wanne read about how Asō sensei became a big fan (otaku) of Dempagumi.inc. Read below.

update June 2024

Another evidence that saiki is based on the author is asou sensei tweeted in July 2015「りさ推しよりの箱推しです！今日はライブです！」→ “My Oshi is the whole group, even though I prefer Risa a little more! Today is the live concert!”

2 months later Aiura appeared in manga chapter 162 assuming Saiki was her soulmate. 

I mean he made Saiki’s life like his real life by tricking people that Risa’s his oshi the same as tricking people to believe that Saiki was Aiura’s soulmate.  And lastly, but not least

The author made this art into the hidden cover of the last volume. I always say the cover of the last volume is the hints from the author. Normally, it shows who ends up with who. If something unclear, the cover might help 😊.

Look like the author did wrap up everything about saiki and Teruhashi are canon and him ❤️ his wife. Clearly see that saiki and teruhashi are based on aso-sensei and furukawa-san. He drew the same face expression and plus a hint on holding shoulder. Normally, saiki always has a grumpy face, but the author shows saiki is happy and smiles when Kokomi is with him and holds his shoulder unlike Aiura and Makoto hold his. Some manga ends with holding hands showing that they are a couple. At first I thought saiki holds Teruhashi hands (that’s why the author didn’t draw the full body of them), but it seems like the author gave a hint on holding shoulders instead. Well, doesn’t this show Saiki and Teruhashi are a couple for a gag manga?

Thanks for reading (*´▽`*)❀.

⛔️⛔️⛔️

This message below is for someone who claimed to be asō-sensei number 1 fan and posted about me. The rest of you please ignore this.

I hope you get to know the author better and find it interesting, rather than saying misinformation without sources and lying to others because you have no knowledge and no information about manga. Real people are models for/based on manga characters existed before you were even born. Shocking? This has never happened before. Still think this information isn´t credible? And want the the author to admit or deny that he and his wife based on Saiki and Teruhashi. Good luck with that, a tsundere like him who never told/said Furukawa-san his feelings online (direct way) until they announced their marriage. He isn't a criminal he has to accept or refuse this if he doesn't want to. The author never said about it, but it doesn’t mean his wife and coworkers wouldn’t say anything. I’d rather believe his wife and coworker than you. The one who knows nothing about the author is you. How could you claim to be a big fan of the author? You believe info from his wife and coworkers were not good enough. You don’t even listen and respect his wife and coworkers. On top of that you spread this information from his wife and colleagues are misinformed (your belief are based on what? Your favorite headcanon?) Next time, please find info by yourself before accusing others, so you can learn about Japanese or practice your Japanese language. Didn’t you say so?

I asked you about did you read what Japanese people said about him and what his wife said, but you avoided to answer it for 3 days because you couldn’t answer it. Then meow’s blog who also believed you deleted my comments. I wonder why they believed you without sources. Because you claimed to be a fan of the author? Anyways, your comment about “nope 1. misinfo 2. hella fucking weird compare these two.” was delete after I posted this. Did you delete it? Huh?

I thought I did make it clear about last two post and I thought I didn’t need to write more about it. This story seems so exaggerate and hard to believe. So some people think they know about the author and think it´s misinfo. Please don’t judge Japanese manga with your different background/culture, but try to understand it. You asked for souces, I gave you. Where are your sources saying misinfo, or you are full of bias? Huh?

When you disliked someone’s (especially my) posts and comments, you disproved it by using the excuses like You dont know the author or you are not the author. Please remember even I pointed out the author drew Toritsuka´s hair pink in chapter 73 and explained that he’s Aiura´s soulmate in the 1st post. You didn’t even accept Reita x Mikoto and the evidence from the author. You are in denial bro. So don't mention the author as an excuse for debate. Please use logic and respect the authors decision rather than using your emotion in making judgments. There are much more you have to learn about japanese manga. Please keep an open mind.

You are right about running around with the big #1 Asou-sensei Fan, but "even jokes like that stink with entitlement. Please have some self awareness. You arent shuuichi asou, opinion disregarded”

Look who’s talking!

I don’t mind about your headcanon, but I do mind the way you wrote about me and your excuses. On the other hand, if I hadn’t read your rant about me on tumblr …. I wouldn’t write this post. THANK YOU 😉

[somethingclevermahogony]

Find Four Lines

Thank you for the tag @illarian-rambling! Sorry its been so long since I responded to one of these!

These are going to be a lot more than just a line haha

My lines: A line about friendship, A line about a fight, A line about nature, A line about sleep

Your lines: A line about love, A line about fear, A line about water, A line about wonder

A line about friendship

  A key element of Southern Kishite wedding ceremonies was the practice for both partners to be pulled on beautifully adorned wedding carts. The village had at one point even had two oxen, one for each cart. Unfortunately one of these oxen had fallen prey to the very same kiriki which Narul had hunted months before. Lacking the time or money to purchase a new ox, the married couple had instead found an alternative, Narul. It was agreed that the remaining ox would pull Shela while Narul would pull Otilia. They had even placed two horns, made from wood and copper on his head, held there by a band of cloth. The two carts waited at opposite ends of the village, waiting for the two brides to emerge from the houses where they were bathed and dressed.  Kumad who had elected to join in the bedecking of the so-called oxen smirked, throwing yet another crown of dried flowers onto Narul’s head." I like this look, you should keep it, maybe you’ll have more luck in the ways of romance.`` Before Narul had time to respond one of the older women of the village stepped from the house which held Otilia. She lifted her hand to her mouth and sang a single long haunting melodic note that echoed through the hills, meant to be heard across the village, like the calls of the shepherds. It was known in the southern regions of Kishetal as the keru and it was a sign that Otilia was ready. A moment later a similar call echoed back from the other side of the village. Narul felt Otilia step into the cart, its many tiny bells ringing gently. " It’s time to go. I'm ready, Narul," Otilia said softly, the nerves made her voice quaver. 

A line about a fight

The warrior, Zatar, appeared as if from the blood soaked dirt itself, one arm brandishing a spear soaked in blood, the other a shattered shield, a curved sword at his belt. Galatides threw himself at the Kishite warrior. The fumes of noxious potion still curled from the Korithian’s nostrils, tongues of fire spat forth from betwixt his charred lips. And yet for all the ferocity of the plantbrew’s gift, Galatides’s bronze plates clanged and squealed as he was forced back by the flurry of blows that rained upon him. The warrior was like a swarm of hornets personified, so quick and vicious in his attack that even mighty Galatides could not protect himself. The fire which once roared forth from his maw, now dripped down his own chin, burnt troughs left in its wake. Zatar’s spear and shield now blazed, but the spearmaster took no notice. The blaze cast sinister shadows over his angular face. The spear snaked around Galiatides shield with ease, striking between the joints of his armor, so that soon the mercenaries armor seemed to run with crimson. Galatides’s companions could only watch, kept at bay be the whirling cyclone of bronze.

A line about nature

To Narul the forest felt different when he was alone. It already made him feel small, but without the familiar voices at his side, he felt absolutely miniscule. The birds above cried and whooped as they hopped from branch to branch and insects buzzed, swirling round the giant’s head. The rustling of the leaves to him felt almost deafening. He couldn’t decide whether he found the isolation relaxing or unnerving. In the absence of Suru or Bira to distract him, thoughts of Labisa, of shattered bodies laying on the ground played in his head, images usually reserved for his nightmares. He paused and ran his fingers along the tiny white lines that criss crossed his arm, left there by the plantbrew’s knife. He could feel that familiar panic welling in his chest, gripping at his heart. Seven days had come and gone, now on the eighth, he was gripped by a deep sense of unease. He quickly lowered his arms, holding them tight against his sides.  Perhaps if they were out of sight they would also be out of mind.  He stepped over logs and boulders, skirting through thickets of saplings, occasionally stopping to drink at the little streams that flowed towards the river or to stare in awe at the blooming hasir flowers. The fiery red petals which gave the flower its name were coaxed open by the chill of fall nights, covering the hills and wilds of Kishetal with a swaying carpet of crimson, disrupted only by the towering trees and the paths left by horned rabbits. Narul gently stooped to pluck a hasir flower for Bira. “I should get one for Ninma too…and Otilia. Maybe Suru too?” Narul mused to himself. Soon his hands were full of the fiery wildflowers. With no place to put them, he pushed the long green stems into his hair. He was sure he looked quite ridiculous with this makeshift crown of red blossoms seemingly sprouting from his scalp, but then again there was no one here to see him.

A line about sleep

Hours passed, and the soft sound of the hull slicing through the swells threatened to lull Ninma to sleep. The last of the seabirds had fallen away, driven away by the moon’s pale face, and preferring to stay within sight of their roosts. Ninma could hear Narul gently snoring behind her. Her eyelids felt heavy. As she looked down into the water, something caught her eye. It could have easily been mistaken for a strange reflection on the water or some sort of bioluminescent reef, a massive underwater structure only a few meters below the surface. However, much to Ninma’s terror, it was moving. A great scaled hide and gleaming white horns, as long as the entire Chibalian fleet lined prow to rudder, slithering through depths, glowing an ethereal blue. Ninma had never seen a beast so giant. It was as if one of the monsters from her father’s stories had slithered into the real world.

Tagging @winterandwords, @kaylinalexanderbooks, @rivenantiqnerd, @elsie-writes, @paeliae-occasionally

[confusedbyinterface]

Gaylede

"I mean, yes, we do have a gay lead, but I'm not sure what that has to do with this bowl."

Of course I had to try some for myself. I looked up the recipe:

Take Almaunde Mylke & Flowre of Rys, & do there-to Sugre or Hony, & Powder Gyngere & Galyngale; then take figys, an kerue hem a-to, or Roysonys y-hole, or hard Wastel y-diced and coloure it with Saunderys, & seethe it & dresse hem yn.

I soon found a much easier to follow recipe by SCA member Lady Bronwyn ni Mhathain:

Simple enough! Here's my own process

4 cups/1 litre almaunde mylke (mine was sweetened)

Half cup flowre of rys (I used glutinous rice flour, ymmv)

As much hony as fits on a wooden spoon

1 1/4 teaspoons powder gyngere

bit over half a teaspoon galyngale

1 cinnamon stick

dash of cinnamon powder

1/4 teaspoon vanilla paste

Step 1: Procure the ingredients. Do your usual shopping and realise you forgot the almond milk in the line. Rush back to the dairy section. Buy some bread at the bakery, and some galengal powder and rice flour at the asian supermarket.

Step 2: Pour the almond milk into a pot with a cinnamon stick because you like cinnamon and the shops don't have sandalwood. Add in some more cinnamon and the vanilla paste because it tastes nice.

Step 3: Wait for the almond milk to simmer. Get frustrated that it's taking too long and just add in all the other ingredients after about 10 minutes

Step 4: Notice the glutinous rice flour is forming clumps and realise you should have used regular rice flour or added it in more slowly. Break it up with a fork for a while until it looks more manageable

Step 5: Give it a taste, decide it needs a bit more ginger

Step 6: Finally it starts to boil. Keep stirring it until the texture seems about right

Step 7: Put it in a big mug. Chop up a bunch of bread for yours. Watch @kitstacean put progressively more fruits in hers

Step 8: Delicious

All in all, a great success! I like the texture the glutinous rice gave it, but you might prefer it with regular rice flour. The big problem is my gas stove is a bit crap.

[drudeger]

Beyblade Burst Quadstrike Review

(spoiler warning for the entire show)

ok so let's talk quadstrike.

I think we can all acknowledge the low expectations we had for a hasbro produced season of the anime, and while the season definitely delivered on those expectations in some aspects, it also managed to surprise me with its quality in others.

Animation

let's start with the animation. the quality of the animation ranged from abysmal to passable for a large majority of the season, with the only really good animation being reused from previous seasons. that being said, in a couple of episodes, including the first and last, it was actually pretty good. overall, I'd say the quality was most comparable to that of the sixth season with only some episodes ever managing to surpass or dip below that.

Voice Acting

the voice work was great overall. the returning cast from quaddrive maintained a level of voice acting quality on par with that season, which is to say, pretty damn good and it’s a similar story for the returning cast from before quaddrive. you might expect the part of the cast returning from a 2+ year hiatus from their previous roles to need to readjust and settle back into performing their characters, but honestly most of them seemed perfectly comfortable jumping back into it with the only exceptions being xander and kit. both character voices definitely feel just slightly rusty, but considering the massive ~4 year real life time gap, you really can’t blame them and honestly they do a great job getting mostly settled back into their roles pretty quickly.

when it comes to the casting decisions made for quadstrike specifically, kieran regan was a great choice to portray a more grown-up and mature ken and he absolutely nailed the role. keru and besu’s voices were also just right, sounding like characters that are voiced by ken but are still distinct-sounding from him, and the quality of all three performances speaks to kieran’s skill.

anjali kunapaneni was practically perfect as pri, giving her a full voice that matches her character but doesn’t overdo it with shoutiness despite pri’s boisterous personality, balancing it out to accentuate the more cool outward appearance she tries to impress upon other bladers. they really bring a level of depth and nuance to their performance that gives pri a very real and unique voice and it was easily the best voice performance in the season.

darren delfin’s performance as pax is definitely a close second and his ability to portray character depth shows through a lot here with the subtle differences in tone when pax is being disingenuous (e.g. when he pretends to be happy about pri making friends) and when he genuinely wants to show appreciation and admiration (e.g. when he talks about his admiration for red eye.) honestly, I’d be lying if I said I’d caught any of this on first watch. it’s just not the sort of depth I believed I had any reason to look out for. the only reason I say it was the second best performance and not the first is because the accent feels awkward and it doesn’t sound quite right, an unfortunately important skill gap when you’re asked to voice a character with a foreign accent.

Plot

the plot itself was. ok. plot points were arranged in a sensible enough order and it almost never managed to feel too forced. except for the part where pax just calls aiga up on his phone and THAT'S how they decided to have pax challenge aiga? and absolutely nobody questions how pax got his number?? I literally laughed out loud when that happened like bro what??? 😭😭 also that one part in the finale where we get a somewhat dramatic shot with some random fucking kid and get absolutely zero explanation????? aside from these (admittedly incredibly weird) oddities, the plot was ultimately unengaging but passable. there really just isn't a lot to say about it due to its overall lack of substance.

Story

but if you asked me to describe what quadstrike is actually about — its story — I'd tell you it's a story about a bunch of kids running around with highly marketable toys. which sounds comically cynical but, despite its best efforts, quadstrike struggles to be much more than that. although that isn’t to say I wasn’t pleasantly surprised by the unexpected amount of depth in some aspects of the writing.

Themes

the season has two themes, one of which is executed decently but neither being given the time or care needed to feel nearly as impactful as they could have.

Identity

the most prominent and complete of the themes is that of identity, which is explored through the season's secondary (arguably primary) protagonist, pri forsythe/quadra. the season introduces the foundations for this theme when quadra loses to drum in the abyssal tournament after taking off her mask. pax tells pri to keep her mask on in battle because it will increase her elemental power and make her strong and pri begins questioning if he's right. it was also revealed in a flashback that pax made the mask and when pri wears it, pax says she assumes an entirely different persona and becomes quadra. this poses to pri as well as the audience three questions: does pax know what’s best and should pri therefore listen to his instructions, allowing him to control what decisions she makes? are pri and qudra the same or different? if “becoming quadra” makes her stronger, should she be ok with being her when she battles?

the first question takes a backseat for a bit while the second and third questions are explored, although we see it reiterated as pri continues to battle without the mask.

we are introduced to one position for the last two questions when, during a flashback, pax says that pri becomes a different blader entirely when she assumes the identity of quadra during battle. the other position is introduced when pri asserts that it shouldn’t matter if she doesn't wear the mask because it’s still her battling regardless. the second position is built upon when ken’s mom explains to pri that keru and besu are a part of ken’s identity and pri restates the question later that night, asking herself if she’s pri or quadra. after she loses to ken, he gives her some advice — that quadra is her too. then, after her first loss to xander where she doesn’t wear the mask, pri finds a letter to her from ken that says "it doesn’t matter if the mask makes you stronger. you’re you with or without it, it doesn’t define you,” explicitly stating the answer to both questions. with all of this in mind, pri decides she’ll wear the mask for her rematch with xander and from now on will wear it in battle at her own discretion. so at this point in the story, the last two questions have been answered.

having pri’s decision be one that retains her agency is the strongest choice they could have made, but having ken spell out the answer for her, especially not even an episode after he gives her his advice, just feels bad, and it ends up feeling unearned since she’s given such little time to actually struggle with the question and deliberate on his advice or develop as a character before coming to the conclusion she does.

(tw: this section contains discussions of emotional manipulation and generally toxic behavior from a caretaker)

but that’s only two of three questions and now that the last two questions have been answered, we finally get to see the first question being explored — does pax know what’s best and should pri therefore listen to his instructions, allowing him to control what decisions she makes? during the battle camp, we learn that pax was forced to quit blading due to an injury and it was his dream to become a legend like valt. this, combined with previously revealed information as well as pax’s constant use of phrases like “our goal” and “our dream,” makes it clear that pri partially accepts the role of quadra for pax and this sets up another part to the first question: is it really ok that pri/quadra center her identity around a dream that isn’t completely her own? while she does have her own reasoning for wanting to battle, she wants to help pax in his goal to create the ultimate elemental bey which was the entire point of him making and having her use pandora, the mask and the quadra persona in the first place. it’s a driving force behind the question, as we see pri struggling between her want to do things her way and her want to make her brother happy and we constantly see them both grappling with the idea that if pax is happy, pri should be happy too because they're convinced that this is what they both want.

as the story continues, pax begins pushing even harder for pri to do things the way he wants. near the start of the battle camp, quadra uses lightning pandora when pax wants her to use tidal pandora. pax asks why and intuits it’s because of her loss to xander. he says that it doesn’t matter if she loses, everything is going according to “their” plan, and pri lashes out from her frustration that he won’t explain what the plan actually is and he snaps, yelling at her that she doesn’t need to understand everything going on and tells her to just do as he says and she hesitates for a moment before agreeing.

later, pax tries to get wakiya to withdraw pri from the tag-team tournament because he doesn’t like the possibility of bell influencing her. jiji gets pax to allow pri to continue participating in the tournament by showing how happy pri and bell are to be battling and says there’s no doubt the two will help make each other stronger. and while pax gives in, knowing he’d only come off as unreasonable had he protested further, it’s clear pax isn’t happy he wasn’t able to maintain full control of the conversation and therefore make the decision for pri. this scene is meant to show how pax thinks he knows what's best for pri and wants to convince not only pri but the people around her of that too.

later, during the tag-team tournament, pax convinces bell to try and win the next match all by himself and he loses the match for both himself and quadra. pri, having deduced that pax said something to provoke bell, confronts pax and he says pandora should be battling on its own and the tournament is a waste of time. this upsets pri greatly and she runs from him. this scene is meant to establish pri beginning to realize pax might not have her best interests in mind.

then, aiga shows up to hell’s gate and challenges pri and bell to a 2-on-1 battle, and if they win he’ll battle them both individually. before she makes a decision, she calls pax and he says she doesn’t have to accept any team battles she’s challenged to, but she retorts that aiga will battle her individually anyway if she and bell can win. pax, not-so-kindly, tells pri to do what she wants before hanging up. this is actually a common tactic of highly controlling and manipulative people where they basically say “you don’t need me, so do whatever and see what happens when I’m not there to tell you what to do,” usually under the guise of wanting what’s best for the victim so when something does go wrong, the victim feels obligated to go back to them. she battles aiga with bell and without her mask and they end up losing. everything pax has done so far has been to convince pri to give up her individuality for the sake of achieving “their” goal, and quadra losing this battle is exactly what pax wanted to happen so she’d feel obligated to listen to him.

after the first couple of rounds in the champion challenge tournament and the first individual battle is announced as kit vs quadra, pax confronts pri and tells her she must win against aiga and that everything will work out if she just listens to him and she once again agrees. during the match, wakiya and valt explain to aiga pax’s situation and valt posits that pri took up pandora and the identity of quadra to carry on pax’s dream of becoming a legend. aiga restates the thematic question, asking if that’s what quadra wants and explains that he couldn’t ever see himself blading for the sake of someone else’s dream. after quadra loses, pax confronts her and tells her pandora should have won and that the reason they lost was because quadra chose a flawed strategy. aiga goes out of his way to defy pax and tells quadra her strategy was perfect. he declares pax has no say in the matter because it wasn’t his battle to begin with, which of course offends pax. then later, quadra loses to valt, frustrating pax even further and cementing pax’s growing belief that pri does not have what it takes to achieve his goals as long as she has any say in what she does.

later, valt gets a call from shu about the ruins in england and valt plans to leave to see what’s going on. pri talks to pax, saying she knows he’s leaving for england too. she asserts that it has nothing to do with them or their plan but pax responds saying that he’ll be the one to decide that, a clear declaration to pri that he’s the one who knows what’s right. he goes on to tell her that there isn’t any reason pandora should lose to belial and that if she loses, the only explanation is that she’s the problem. pax then admits he doesn’t believe in pri and challenges her to prove to him that he should. while at the ruins, pax declares that “his” pandora is the only bey capable of reaching the highest level of elemental power and pri hopes he meant to say that pandora was both of theirs, again giving pri more reason to doubt pax. aiga approaches pri and tells her she’s her own person and she should do things the way she wants to and reassures her that pandora is her’s as well.

the next day, it’s announced that quadra and bell will battle to determine who will face kit in the finals. pax tells pri to use twister break against bell but pri says bell knows twister break because of how much they used it in the tag-team tournament. pax says it’s the perfect chance to master twister break so she can beat aiga and valt and that bell shouldn’t be of any concern. he reminds her that it’s “their” dream to create the ultimate bey and then reassures her that pandora is both of theirs. for the first two rounds of the battle, she listens to pax but ends up hesitating before the third round, causing pax to insult her and say that if it were him battling, he would have won. this causes quadra to break from pax's plan and battle her own way and while she ends up losing, she finds herself happy in spite of the outcome. at the end of the episode, pax confronts pri demanding she tell him why she broke from his plan when she would have won if she hadn’t. she finally asserts to pax that, even if he would have won, it doesn’t matter because she isn’t him, she is herself — pri and quadra. pax demands pri give back pandora, but before he can take it, bell stops him. pri then proclaims that she’s been the one making pandora stronger, not him, so pandora belongs to her.

(end trigger warning)

and so that’s a wrap on the first question and subsequently pri’s arc as a whole. this particular exploration of the theme was good. it wasn’t nearly as deep as it could have been and the last two questions should have been far more substantial parts of pri’s arc as they have just as much bearing on the outcome of the first question as all of the things in the story that seem more directly related to it. as stated before, it’s frustrating that the last two questions get answered so quickly and require so little struggle or introspection for pri to find the right conclusion for herself, but the conclusions she comes to are those that would be rewarding and feel great if they’d actually allowed pri to earn them. the third question was obviously the most prominent with a very decent build up, though there could have been far more emphasis placed on pri’s struggle with it. we know how much she cares for pax and wants to make him happy and we know she knows to do that she needs to do what he wants, but we also know how much pride she takes in being able to do things her own way and seeing her grappling with the two conflicting motivations is engaging and impactful, but we just don’t get enough of it.

with all this being said, we aren’t quite done with the theme of identity as it is also explored a bit with pax, which makes sense considering he’s as important as he is to pri’s arc dealing with the theme to begin with.

(tw: this section contains brief mentions of emotional manipulation and generally toxic behavior from a caretaker as well as mentions of an ableist trope)

the exploration of the theme of identity through pax is shown with how he projects his identity onto pri. after it’s revealed his injury barred him from blading any longer, we see in flashbacks how devastating it is to him as it was his dream to become a legendary blader like valt and shu and pri sees this too. it’s shown to us how close they are, and that beyblade has helped them bond and so the previously presented information that pax made pandora, the mask and the quadra identity for pri and the constant use of phrases like “our dream” makes it clear that pax has to some degree imparted parts of his identity onto pri so she can carry out his dream and she accepts it because she cares for him. as the story continues, it becomes even more clear how he takes advantage of this part of pri, constantly guilt-tripping her into listening to him by reminding her that this is “their” dream until it culminates in her snapping and asserting her own identity to his face. pax is a character who goes through a devastating loss, becoming disabled which forces him to give up on something massively important to him, something entwined with his sense of self and identity. losing something like that would make anybody feel completely lost, and with pax the grief results in him pushing that part of himself onto pri so he can live vicariously through her. the logical conclusion would then be to have part of his arc be about him finding a new sense of identity, one that doesn’t require pri to subjugate herself to him, but they don’t give him that at all. in the end, pax doesn’t need to do any sort of introspection or search for a new sense of identity because he is simply cured of his disability and he doesn’t have to face any consequences for how he treated pri.

(end trigger warning)

Grief

and that brings us to the second theme of quadstrike — grief. this theme is primarily explored through the main antagonist, pax forsythe, although pri has some part of it as well.

as stated before, it’s revealed pax goes through a devastating loss after his injury forces him give up on blading and his dreams and the loss causes him an immense amount of grief. throughout the season, we’re shown through flashbacks how he feels lost without this part of himself and then it’s revealed he finds out about elemental power. he is in denial that his dream is over and he sees elemental power as a means to give pri the power needed to carry on his dream and he becomes obsessed with it and achieving those goals vicariously through her. it also explains his admiration for shu while he was red eye, a time in shu’s life where he had obsessed over power so he could achieve the dreams he had been unable to previously.

later on, after he decides he has no need for pri any longer, he creates a new bey, some sort of mechanical brace for his injured arm, and a mask. the mask actually conceals the vision on his right side, making it so he can’t see his injured arm and during the lodestar battle tournament, shu explains to pri that when pax sees his injured arm, it causes him emotional pain, compounding how much his grief has affected him and showing the extent of his denial.

(tw: this paragraph contains a brief mention of an ableist trope)

and with all of this in mind, you’d think pax’s arc should have been about him learning to accept his disability and the things it prevents him from doing, beginning a long journey of healing, but that isn’t what happens (and, to be clear, that journey of healing wouldn’t have had to have happened during the show. sometimes the end to an arc marks the beginning of another that’s implied to happen after the end of the show, and arcs that end like this can be incredibly powerful). again, he doesn’t have to accept his loss and grief, he is simply cured of his disability. aside from the gross implications of this that I will get into later, it’s just such an awful way to end an arc. no introspection, no emotional compromise, no real consequences for his actions. he’s just handed a conclusion and the conclusion is everything he wants it to be so they can force in a “beyblade is fun, buy our products please” message instead. and it doesn’t end there.

(end trigger warning)

with pri, we're shown how she sees pax grieving for this loss and how it affects their relationship. they’re no longer able to bond through beyblade the way they were able to before and pax can no longer find happiness and meaning through beyblade in the way he wants, which of course hurts pri. she cares for him and so she does what she genuinely believes will help him heal, taking up the identity of quadra and his goal to create the ultimate elemental bey and become a legendary blader for him. through her, we get to see the way grief impacts the people around the grieving person as well.

we know she eventually breaks away from his control, or at least that’s how it starts out. of course after what happens between pri and pax, pri would be going through grief herself. she denies to herself that pax just doesn’t care about her now that she’s asserted her own identity and this could have been taken in several interesting directions, but they simply go for the worst option imaginable. they have her continue to orbit around pax, every decision she makes from this point forward being for him, completely undermining her original arc and practically abandoning this second one. there is no introspection or closure and the only compromise is them compromising her entire character arc.

quadstrike starts out so strong with this theme so I have genuinely no idea how they ended up fucking it up so unbelievably badly. and the mishandling of themes isn’t the only reason quadstrike’s story feels like it lacks much substance.

Characters

quadstrike’s use of its characters for its story manages to be impressively refreshing at times, disappointingly safe and boring at others, and infuriatingly incompetent at its worst.

first, let’s talk about the secondary characters. this part of the cast doesn't really have anything all too interesting going on, which is understandable. they’re there for the purpose of serving the plot and the main characters’ narratives and they fulfill those roles perfectly competently. that doesn’t mean they couldn’t have been more interesting, but what we got wasn’t bad. a lot of the issues of shallow character-writing with most of the returning characters are things that are rooted in characterization from past seasons, and at this point you can’t really change that without either dedicating way too much time to characters that just aren’t meant to be all that important in this season or completely retconning parts of those prior seasons. if this season had been 51 episodes, maybe we could have gotten some of the former as well as more time to flesh out other parts of the plot and story, but that just wasn’t ever going to be in the cards for quadstrike.

Bell

now let’s get into the protagonists. between bell and pri, bell is very clearly the weaker character and it’s not a close competition. while pri’s arc is written to develop a theme as well as to explore her as a character, bell isn’t given an arc at all. well, ok, he gets an “arc” where the conclusion is just for him to upgrade his beyblade again so hasbro has more product to sell and it’s frustrating because they get so close to doing something actually interesting with his character.

throughout the season, bell loses. a lot. yes, he wins a lot too and a large portion of them are not deserved, but he actually does lose more than he wins. in episode 12 in particular, he’s provoked by pax to try and win the tag team battle with pri against hikaru and hyuga by himself. being an egotistical 10 year old, he falls for it and ends up losing the match for himself and quadra. while this moment is mostly used to further pri and pax’s story, bell is shown to be massively affected by this loss, at least at first. but of course, he couldn’t care less after the next episode begins. then, after bell loses the title match against aiga, he’s shown once again to feel incredibly upset and frustrated with the loss, but he simply gets over it immediately when he decides the solution is to evolve belial. and before any of this, bell loses to several other opponents as well, but only ever seems to be shaken by it a minimal amount if at all.

the reason I bring any of this up is because I think it’s such a wasted opportunity. bell loses so much and if they’d leaned harder into bell’s frustration with losing so many battles (and honestly if they’d had him lose more, like his final battle against ken and/or his second solo battle with hyuga) then they could’ve had an actual arc for him. like, have him get super upset and angry with himself that he keeps losing and maybe have him push too hard and end up breaking belial. that’d even give them an excuse to have him evolve belial. yes it would be a very similar arc to aiga in cho-z but at least it’d be SOMETHING. obviously this is only a single idea for the direction they could’ve taken and I have absolutely zero doubt any of you in the audience could come up with something more interesting than what ended up happening in the show.

that aside, bell was mostly just his usual over-confident and obnoxious 10-year old self committing acts of sillay mischief (which to many of you might be a negative but I love him and I like it when he’s obnoxious so this was a win for me<3).

Pri

on the other hand, pri was a very strong character for the vast majority of the show and was easily the highlight of the entire season. when it comes to her characterization, I found her to be very enjoyable. she’s kind and incredibly passionate and boisterous and playful but she tries to put on a cooler outward appearance in front of other bladers which she often fails at because of her hot-headed and stubborn nature. she’s caring but prideful which often ends up causing conflict between her and pax since she cares about making her brother happy by doing what he wants but she can’t help but disobey at times because she takes pride in doing things her way. her cocky demeanor in the beginning is par for the course with burst characters, but it becoming more and more a mask (haha, get it) for her decreasing self-confidence as the story went on was a level of depth I hadn’t expected to see in a new burst character at this point in the series. because of all of this, her dynamics with other characters, especially bell, are so much fun and it was an absolute joy to see her relationships with the rest of the cast and it was always fun to see her getting silly with it.

unlike bell, she was written with an arc in mind and the arc in question was pretty good for the majority of the show’s runtime. as stated previously, it wasn’t nearly as deep as it could have been but by burst standards, it was a massive breath of fresh air. seeing pri make decisions that retained her agency felt good and the moment when she stood up to pax and asserted her own identity was great.

so yeah, it sucks how they then managed to drop the ball as hard as they did right at the finish line. having pri be in denial about pax’s behavior towards her is fine, but they never give her the moment of realization she deserves. she never leaves him despite what he’s done and every decision she makes after standing up to him continues to be for him, which is such a monumental moon-jump backwards from the incredibly strong writing they’d done for her before. her identity once again becomes centered around pax and it is infuriating to watch play out, like literally what was the point of her asserting her own identity if this was what was going to happen afterwards. it’s like they just decided to completely drop everything interesting about her after her moment in the spotlight (a very familiar problem they seem to have with every strong girl character in this series hmmmmmmmm 🤔.)

Pax

(tw: this section contains discussion of an ableist trope)

and pax. oh boy what to say about pax. well, first and foremost his arc started out as another one of the best in the season. which isn’t really saying that much when there’s only two other arcs and one of those arcs concludes with the character just making more beyblade products, but still. but then they managed to blow it so fucking hard at the end that it easily became the worst of the three.

the setup for his arc centering around his grief and lost sense of identity was good, and the build-up throughout the season was even better. his motivations were understandable, but it became increasingly clear just how unhealthy his obsession with holding onto his dream was, not just for himself, but for pri especially. you want him to accept his disability and what it prevents him from doing so he can finally heal and find something else to live for and you really want him to see that what he’s doing is wrong and for him to apologize to pri. so why does none of this happen and instead he just has his disability cured.

ok, let me make something super clear here. this is a disgustingly and infuriatingly ableist conclusion to a disabled character's arc. pax’s entire arc centers around how he has to give up on his dream because of his disability, a common reality for disabled people in real life. it is an absolutely devastating thing to go through, but something disabled people stress is the importance of coming to terms with their disability so they can find some semblance of peace and continue living their lives to the best of their ability. there is no cure for disability in real life and every attempt to do so has resulted in failure at best and outright eugenics and genocide at worst, and so disabled people have made it clear that the “cured disability” narrative commonly seen in fantasy and sci-fi settings is a harmful trope. in some stories, it’s used as a “reward” for the hero, while in others it’s used as a copout so the creators don’t have to deal with having a disabled character or so the previously disabled character can have a happy ending. curing their disability is used as a conclusion to an arc because able-bodied writers cannot for the life of them imagine a character living a happy life with a disability and that’s very much what it’s used for here. from the beginning, I was hoping so so much that they weren’t going to do this, and I’d gotten my hopes up because of their surprisingly deep and empathetic handling of pri and pax’s characters for most of the season, but they went for the easy option resulting in an insulting and vile conclusion to an otherwise great arc.

(end trigger warning)

pax is, however, a great antagonist. as obvious as it may be to the audience, in the story it starts out pretty ambiguous what exactly his role is meant to be in the season, but as the season goes on, his mask begins to slip and his sinister personality becomes more apparent. this is actually a somewhat common trope with antagonists in the burst series, but pax stands out due to the fact that he isn’t even a blader until the last few episodes in the season. most of his time is spent as a coach to pri, using manipulation as his main weapon rather than a beyblade. again, not necessarily completely unique to him but it feels more present and impactful in this season due to his deep history and close ties to one of the main protagonists.

let me elaborate a bit: with drum and gwyn, the slow reveal of gwyn’s manipulation doesn’t feel as significant because, throughout the season, drum isn’t only naive to gwyn’s ulterior motives, but to literally every stranger he meets. we know he isn’t going to see it until it’s too late and we know at the end he’s going to win gwyn over with the power of friendship and beyblades. additionally, he has no previous relationship with gwyn either, so there's no reason to be invested or feel impacted when it happens.

with pri and pax, however, we see that they have a close familial relationship. pri’s trust in pax isn’t just her being naive by nature, it’s because she cares for him and has little reason to do otherwise. yes, she disobeys him early on, but it’s not out of a sense of distrust for him, but because of her own pride. and it’s not that pax just straight up doesn’t care about pri at all, he has thoroughly convinced himself that what he wants is what pri wants too. so as the story unfolds and pax’s selfish, controlling, and manipulative behavior comes through, it has a far more obvious impact on pri and therefore the audience too, and it creates a stronger reason to be invested in the developing story around their relationship.

and speaking of that story, it is easily one of the most interesting aspects of the entire season. pax’s descent and the slowburn reveal that he’s only interested in his own goals and happiness once pri has made it clear she doesn’t want exactly what pax does is paced so well and feels genuinely devastating. which makes it even more frustrating when they fuck it up right at the end. again. one part of this has to do with what I discussed about pri’s arc before. the fact they never give her a moment of realization means the break in their relationship is completely one-sided, which makes any realization pax has about what he’s done/is doing way less impactful. and then the fact he doesn’t even really have that realization, but instead realizes that “beyblade is fun,” a conclusion to an arc that pax never has, is just. what. and then on top of that, the fact he realizes this because of bell instead of pri??? there’s no real closure between them, everything is just fixed all of a sudden at the end. it just feels awful and it makes it clear that the only reason they never had pri leave pax was so they could minimize pri’s writing at the end and have bell fix everything and it is, once again, rage-inducing to watch.

and all of this — quadstrike’s unwillingness to dig deeper into its themes, its baffling mishandling of said themes and its characters, and insistence on derailing every interesting part of its story for a “beyblade is fun, please buy our products” message at the end (a message they could have easily ended with without throwing out every character arc and theme they’d established) — is why quadstrike struggles to be anything more than an advertisement. it’s a story about kids running around playing with highly marketable toys that seems to desperately want to be about a pair of siblings grappling with grief and their own identities after having experienced loss, but can’t be that because the toys need to get advertised.

Conclusion

so yeah. I enjoyed it. ok I know after how harsh I’ve been, you might be a bit confused. let me be clear: I don’t “like” quadstrike. in fact, I fucking hate it. I hate its unwillingness to defy its status as “just a children’s toy anime,” I hate what it represents as a symbol of the compromise and degradation of story-telling as an artform and art as a form of story-telling for the sake of corporate marketing, I hate how it comes so. SO close. to being something more than what it was expected to be just to fall short right at the end. I hate it!

but I also can’t help but love it. I love this series. I love the characters and their stories. I love the ridiculous and stupid shit that happens to and because of them. I love their relationships and dynamics with each other. it’s all so much fun and they all mean a lot to me, which is why I’m so hard on the burst series whenever it fucks it up. because I see so much potential in what’s here and seeing it be wasted constantly, over and over again, hurts. I know beyblade is a kid’s show and none of this is to say that it can't just be dumb fun, but the problem is when it clearly wants to do something more but ends up compromising out of fear, and I can recognize the parts of it that don’t treat its audience like idiots whose sole purpose is to be marketed to and I just wish it would wholeheartedly embrace that part of itself. I want kids to see stories about trauma, identity, grief, communication, etc. because these are real world things that kids are dealing with and are going to deal with for the rest of their lives and they deserve quality stories and art that teach them about these human things and about being human just as much as anyone else. so that's why I ask: why can’t it be that. when it constantly comes so close, why can't it just hit the mark once and be something more than a marketing trick. just once, why can't it be a piece of art instead of a piece of advertising.

with all that said, if I ever decide to do a rewatch of the burst series, you can be sure I'll only be watching quadstrike through episode 19 and then making up the rest in my head, and if you're wanting to watch the season too I'd suggest you do the same.

[deusn-determined]

A shout-out for a friend

My dear friends, followers and those who watch my content, i have lovely news for you all. Do you like art with a certain kind of personality, skill and spice ? Well in that case, go no further then into the hands of my friend Keru ! This incredibly skilled artist is amongst the best i know, when it comes to badass art pieces and great skill ! If you like my stuff, you will definetly LOVE his !

LINK https://www.tumblr.com/keru-the-green

Be sure to check them out ! Especially if you are looking forward to have a commision made !

[letsrilakkusu-blog]

Thoughts on the final Given chapter

I got my copy of Cheri+ so these are just some thoughts after using my basic Japanese and piecing together the panels with Keru's wonderful twitter translation.

-- SPOILERS AHEAD --

I was hoping for a cover illustration of Mafuyu AND Ue together but I'm okay with solo Mafuyu too. This was ultimately the story of his grief, discovery, and growth, so to see him smiling at the end of it all is so beautiful. He's surrounded by cherry blossoms, which symbolize change and a new season, and is set against the ocean, which holds special meaning in both of his relationships. I cry.

The fold out poster (pictured above) is so cool!! I really want to cut it out of the magazine and display it somewhere but I'm afraid I'll mess it up...

Given debuted, rejoice!

It's really nice that Kasai wasn't just cast aside as "that jealous girl" competing with Mafuyu for Ue (although she never stood a chance lol) and grew to become kind of a confidant and supporter for him. They may not fully understand each other, but they share a mutual respect and provide little bits of unexpected encouragement for each other and it's so wholesome.

Hiiragi being a menace but also sparkly, usual stuff. It's so funny because Hiiragi and Ue don't get along on the surface (two ore-sama types am I right), but they totally jive as artists, which is why Ue will continue playing support - and "ONLY SUPPORT" says a very bitter Mafuyu - for SYH.

I'm surprised at how little Haruki and Akihiko showed up in the chapter, but we did get crumbs that Haruki is apartment hunting~ They are so stable, just get married already.

When Keru initially tweeted that a significant portion of the chapter covers something she was hoping would happen but wasn't sure if it would, my mind immediately went to the gutter and assumed it was RitsuMafu sex lolol. It wasn't just me, right???

Anyways, they went to the BEACH. Mafuyu has gone to the beach with Yuki, but they went during the biting cold of winter and weren't "officially dating" so they didn't really do date-y stuff. His experience with Ue was totally different. There's several pages of them just eating and having fun, and they look like they can't get enough of each other.

Ugetsu calling Mafuyu out of the blue to thank him for the CD was really sweet. When I initially watched and read the series up to the end of the AkiHaru arc, I wasn't too big on Ugetsu and I actually thought that he was romantically interested in Mafuyu and would stir things up or cause trouble. Clearly I was wrong, and I'm glad. Their friendship is so valuable for both of them as two musical geniuses who are a bit socially awkward, and they've taken turns being there for the other when they needed a push, whether it was to say goodbye to an unhealthy relationship or to take a step towards love and music.

Ugetsu's wish to Mafuyu back when Yoru ga Akeru was in the works - about hoping that despite everything that's happened between him and Akihiko, if at least the music could remain - ends up being the driving point of this chapter and the end of the series. Mafuyu tells Ugetsu that he believes that Ugetsu remains in music, and so does Yuki, even if he can never see him again. When Ue comes back and kisses Mafuyu before offering him a drink, Mafuyu muses that someday, he'll probably forget this moment too, and that's why he wants to keep making music. It ties back to his last time at the beach with Yuki, because Yuki insisted that Mafuyu would eventually forget that day, but now with Fuyu no Hanashi and Umi e, these moments are able to live on.

The kiss had me squealing! It's nothing big or grand, but Ue is kneeling and he looks up at Mafuyu for a moment before going in for the kiss. This is such huge growth for Ue~ Their first kiss was a result of his overwhelming emotions after the live, and he didn't even remember it later! When they shared the classroom kiss after their fight, Ue wanted to take initiative but got shy and so it was ultimately Mafuyu who made the move. Now Ue has kissed Mafuyu on his own, in public!!! and with full intent and absolute love and affection. When he pulls away, the look in his eyes is like Mafuyu is the most amazing being in the world and he can't believe he's his. Ughhhhhh.

There is a full blank page of just text that says, "If only everything could stay like this forever." This is what Mafuyu is thinking as they ride the train back from the beach. I found it a weird thought to highlight because obviously, things WILL and SHOULD change.

As they get up to leave the train, Mafuyu (blushing slightly) calls out to Ue and says, "When we get back, should we do it?" to which Ue responds with "EHHHHHHHH?!" A little unexpected as the final panel of the final chapter but it's a nice callback to when Yuki asked Mafuyu the same question. MAH BOY UE IS FINALLY GRADUATING! I knew Mafuyu was going to have to take the lead, hehe.

MINOR GRIPES AND FINAL THOUGHTS

I've had two months to deal with the series ending and I had already tempered my expectations knowing the ending was going to be rushed, so honestly as long as Kizu-sensei didn't like, spontaneously kill off a character or break up a couple, I was pretty okay with anything the chapter was going to give us. I do still have some some gripes and things I just wish had been explored more.

My biggest complaint is in regards to the treatment of Ue as an individual and his relationship with Mafuyu. If we recall, Given actually starts off from Ue's point of view. He had been in a musical slump until Mafuyu came along and rocked his world. He had to come to terms with his unfamiliar feelings, and then he also had to deal with the fact that he knows almost nothing about the boy he likes. Even after they started dating, Mafuyu really didn't share anything about Yuki with him, so whatever he knew was very vague and second-hand knowledge. THEN in addition to that, he's tasked with finishing the demo of a piece that Yuki had obviously intended as a love song for Mafuyu. And ironically, he works on this song at the expense of his relationship with Mafuyu. He had brief moments of vulnerability, once when Aki called him out for his feelings toward Mafuyu (this is one of my favorite scenes in the anime), and again when Mafuyu rejected his invitation to SYH's debut concert. But then we never really see him working through these complicated feelings. My boy's been through so much and he is strong, but I wanted to see more growth and development from him. After all, he's just a teenage boy who fell in love for the first time and is trying to balance that with music, school, a part-time job, etc.

As for Ue and Mafuyu as a couple, they are my endgame, my OTP, so while I enjoy the arcs that focus on AkiHaru and ShizuRagi, I was never as invested in them. I was okay reading 20+ chapters of them because I always assumed that the series would circle back around to have a final arc focused on Ue and Mafuyu. I also found the resolution to their problems in the hiiragi_mix arc to be very rushed. They had MAJOR communication issues, which is completely understandable for two young guys. Ue was trying so hard to finish the song as a gift for Mafuyu, but Mafuyu pulled away because he saw a repeat of what happened with Yuki coming again and got scared. The root of the issue is that they've never talked about Mafuyu's relationship with Yuki and Yuki's death.

At SYH's debut live, Mafuyu hears Umi e, instantly recognizes that the song came from Yuki, and then is so moved and inspired that he basically proposes to Ue that he wants to make music with him for the rest of his life. And then the final chapter just cuts forward after this declaration to Given debuting. This resolution is too fast and unrealistic. I would have preferred at LEAST one whole long chapter dedicated to Ue and Mafuyu after the live debriefing and talking. In an even more ideal world, they would have also done it after the talking. I never expected anything explicit but I would have at least liked to see the lead up, because it would have been the truest form of intimacy they could share, and Ue coming to terms with his sexuality and what exactly he wanted to "do to Mafuyu" was such a big part of the series early on.

Regardless, Kizu-sensei wrapped everything up nicely, brought back every character for at least a cameo, and ended things on a happy, meaningful note. I've seen that many people are unsatisfied with it but I mean, I watched Game of Thrones, so I know a bad ending and this was just fine. Although I didn't get everything on my Given wish list, I am glad that I got to see the end. I prefer that over it getting cancelled at some point for whatever reason and being left unfinished. And we still have more to look forward to! I'll be hoping for some extra manga content with the volume 9 release and waiting to hear Umi e in the anime.

Just like Mafuyu says, Given and the music will remain with us. It touched my heart and will always have a special place there. Thank you for everything, Given!

[enigma020]

TAG 9 PEOPLE YOU WANT TO GET TO KNOW BETTER

Special thanks to @brytnoter for mentioning/tagging me ^-^

Currently Reading: Epictale Comic Remake. Like, is it really a surprise? I like the art (especially the intense/fight scenes) and direction of the story, even tho it's just being made by Yugo on the spot THAT'S JUST AWESOME MAN!

Favorite Color: Pink. Pink is pretty and I like it don't judge me -w-

Last Song: Lofi Girl - lofi hip hop radio - beats to relax/study to

Had to study for a two-day national exam so it kinda makes sense why I'd listen to this-

Last Movie: Shazam! (2019). My classmate / friend actually suggested me to watch this one and honestly, it's not a bad suggestion.

Sweet/Spicy/Savory: Spicy, especially when it comes to ramen. Like, not too spicy, just the right amount of spice is very yummy to me.

Currently working on: Noveltale. Stay tuned, cuz soon enough I'll be doing the reference sheets before I start the actual comic~ (I still need good breaks tho-)

And of course, the 9 peeps:

@datduckthedestroyer @revolvius @keru-the-green @bluekeysworld @ilayboter @iceartzz @iceysghost @doctor-milky @yugogeer012

[keruwolframio]

A short Pokémon animation :P

You can watch it on Instagram

[i-cant-stop-fandoming-help]

Coated in Feathers and Blood

This was originally supposed to be an angst/comfort fic but when I started writing it I did a double take and decided to hurt these two. The original title was “Wrapped in Feathered Wings”

Anyways, the ending is up for you to decide, because it’s 1:54 AM at the time I am posting this and I am tired out of my fucking mind.

Anyways here’s a fantasy AU.

TW for vampirism and blood loss.

-

Hope's Peak Academy is filled with mythical creatures. Dragons, Gryphons, cervitaur, you name it. So it's not odd to see a vampire roaming the halls- unless it's covered in blood and distressed.

-

Hope's Peak Academy. One of the most prestigious schools in the world, but also filled to the brim with mythical creatures. There were dragons, gryphons, vampires, werewolves, fae, and centaurs- so it wasn't really glanced at when a vampire had blood on their mouth.

However, it was noted when a vampire roamed the halls covered in blood and wearing a distressed look on their face.

Kanata Inori was in that position, letting out whimpers and cries for help as tears streamed down her face. No matter how much she didn't believe it, she had done something bad. She had hurt someone. She was only supposed to feed off of the blood bags- she swore she'd only feed off of them when she needed to. She would be fine.

But it happened. 

  Kanata held onto Kakeru, smiling as they watched the sun set. Even in his more humanoid form, he had feathered wings and small claws instead of fingernails- all of which Kanata found adorable. It was all going fine, with Kakeru's wings wrapped around her so she could keep warm.

The sky turned orange and pink as the sun sank to the end of the horizon, Kanata putting her hand on Kakeru's affectionately. He let out a small chirp in response, and the vampire could guess that his face was red. Ah, she loved him so much, no matter how shy he was.

Everything was calm, until it wasn't. The moon shone brightly in the sky, and the scent of fresh, warm, blood filled the air. It was driving her crazy, but she couldn't ignore it, when the smell came from right behind her. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't stop herself.

She turned and grabbed onto Kakeru as tightly as she could, biting his injury. How he got it, she didn't know, all she knew was that she was hungry. However, his shoulder became hard to continue biting- and not because of his pleads for her to stop. Her usually royal blue eyes were now rufous red had narrowed to his neck, and she immediately lunged to it, her right arm placed on top of his shoulder wound and the white sleeve of her coat being covered in crimson blood. 

Kakeru was losing color by the second, with Kanata biting him on any exposed spot. Blood began to get on the rest of her clothing as it dripped from each wound, the warmth only making Kanata hunger for more. 

The lawyer weakly pushed her off before scooting backwards, charcoal gray eyes dazed but scared as he began to let out weak whispers. "Stop, Kana... Please, stop..."

Kanata moved to get closer only to freeze up at seeing how pale he had become, and how much blood was on herself. With eyes becoming slightly purple, she came to her senses and gasped in horror. "Did... Did I do that?" She murmured, reaching to him before pulling her arm away upon seeing his dazed expression. "I did, didn't I... Oh god, Keru, I'm so sorry..."

Standing up quickly, she knew he was nearly to weak to move, and didn't want him to waste time getting to the infirmary, when he could pass out at any second. So, alone, she rushed down the halls with tears pricking her eyes.

Kanata shook her head, gasping as Akane poked her head out of the room and froze at seeing Kanata covered in blood. Kanata let out a near-silent whisper, pleading for Akane to follow, and the cervitaur agreed.

God, Kanata could only hope that Kakeru hadn't lost too much blood while she was away. 

[kusanagistan]

character negativity under the cut, here's your warning ✌

maybe "t*keru is shoichi's replacement" is too hot a take, but t*keru's introduction and immediate prominence really did coincide with the writers deciding shoichi just isn't a main character anymore, huh. because he wasn't generic shounen sidekick enough i guess. it's especially obvious when there's a merch collab with a restaurant and the restaurant owner character isn't part of it......... i realize i'm heavily biased and honestly t*keru is fine in a vacuum, but established characters like shoichi and go really got the short end of the stick just so t*keru could be the writers' specialest boy, and i know it's at least partly because his archetype lets konami basically just print money. occupational hazard of watching a glorified trading card ad for the story and characters 🤭

[keruworld]

Feelings about KR Saber till ep10 (without spoilers)

I’m happy to have waited till ep10 to vent why I’m truly enjoying KR Saber more than prev series. Saber is delivering exactly where prev series failed. So just let me throw it all:

-THEME: Books! There is something magical about books, libraries, books stores. I just love it. And the take of children books in the gimmick is a really win for me in a KIDS SHOW. I love POPUPS books, in fact I did one for my graduation project, I know how difficult is to make them. So watching a POPUP in Saber was just so exciting for me.

-PROTAGONIST: There is a lot to say about our protagonist, Kamiyama Touma! There is something magical about Touma, starting with his wardrobe, personality and his book store. His book store seems like a magical place for children, with an awesome big model in center, plushies around, childrenbooks, pictures. Have a big heartwarming feeling for me that I almost cry in the first ep. It was like: I could have loved a place like that when kid, I could have loved an adult like Touma when kid. In fact, Saber first ep made me feel like a kid again, something that no Kamen Rider series had done… not in the first ep at least.

-PROMISES: I think this was the first and most interesting Touma’s traits that I payed attention since his description. The first BIG deception that a kid will probably have is about promises. Adults don’t compromise with promises, they lie, they always lie and us as kids learn that quite fast. Touma taking promises at heart being an adult is probably something unrealistic, but it has a big and good message that I love.

-STORY: till ep10 we don’t know exactly Touma’s backstory. But it’s obvious since the preview of the series, that Touma’s memory is important, in fact, all Saber plot revolves around Touma’s memory. We can say that Saber story is Touma’s story. There’s a PROMISE that in some point we will know. And if till ep10 we don’t know all, is because they are building things, for make us emotional, for hit us when the time comes (exactly what Build did), and ep10 is like a taste of what will become so… is exciting. There is a feeling of RUSH in the show’s pace, but I feel is because the toys. Toei/Bandai needs to sell toys so all the gimmicks and upgrades and stuff get a lot of attention and time on the episodes, but till now I feel they have done a good job trying to tell a story and sell toys at the same time. In fact, Saber have WORLD BUILDING, and it’s quite awesome how they have managed to tell us about it while selling toys. They still have a lot of things to tell about the story, about the world of Saber… but with 10 eps… this is only the beginning.

-CHARACTERS: I have already talked about Touma, but Saber offers a varied cast, that seriously put a smile in my face. Rintaro is one of the most heartwarming second rider that exist, Mei is a so extroverted and happy going heroine that feels unreal but makes you smile every time she is in screen; she is like a little girl. Kento, Ren, Ogami san, Sophia, Daishinji san, the villains: Storius and company, Calibur, Desast, the narrator Tessel, even if we don’t know exactly much about them… their characters and roles are so well stablished in the story and they interact. Saber have characters for move around and that’s good (can be a double edge sword but that… only time will decide).

-SUITS: I wasn’t a fan of Saber suits at first. But I loved the visual with the Pop Up book in the background. Saber suits are heavy with a lot of things and details and bright colors… but when you watch them in movement… they are graceful and beautiful. Hands down to suits actors, action directors and suit designers. Now I’m really loving the suits, they are truly made for move with swords. And yeah here comes the comment: the suits feel SENTAI like with the bright colors and even with the red, blue and yellow for the main riders. But… really? Visually… there is no way that a Sentai could look like that; they have more simple designs. Also there this stigma that because the riders in Saber works as a team… they are Sentai like. TEAM WORK is not only exclusive of Sentai. Team work is how jobs works, and here in Saber world… being a Kamen Rider is like a job. Sword of Logos is the organization where they work and the other Riders are comrades. Im quite loving how they work together, it’s heartwarming. TTvTT

-MUSIC: For some reason I love the OP, I keep listen to it… is slow but peaceful and warming, the visuals put a smile in my face with the main characters following Touma’s lead in a Pop Up like background. The dancing ending… another thing that people say that is SENTAI LIKE, but really? that dancing is no way a child dace… the steps are difficult and I feel it’s perfect for the show. Also love the background music that feels like a medieval epic.

-3D BACKGROUNDS: Saber is a series to enjoy in HD, have alot of 3D backgrounds and bright colors...some people could not like it (in fact i think most of people hate it). But i seriously think it’s good, it adds a magical feeling to all the series aesthetic. In fact i feel the 3D in Saber is better than prev series.

-PHRASE: “I determine how this story end” I love how in this ep10 was changed to “We determine how his story ends”. Be it I or WE, the phrase it self have the feeling of resolve and positivity.

Loving the series so far, it’s magical, lighthearted, it have books, knights, friendship, cool suits and sword fights, characters that interact and have the heartwarming feeling of human touch.

I don’t know if Saber will end being a good series… but have a lot to deliver… and I hope it does till the end.

I think i will do this again by ep20 to see how the series is progressing.

[hantuyangsepertiburung714]

Teto Keru Territory!!

Wanted to draw my G&W OC again, so here's the freckles red team boi!! (keru)

With Teto Territory because I just started listening to it a few weeks or days ago, and I thought it kind of fits him

[DO NOT REPOST WITHOUT PERMISSION AND CREDIT!!!!!!!!!!]

[iamyounicorn]

🖍️!

I am late to answer this so as an apology I offer you: two colors!

[bluepecanpie]

[stormkobra-5]

Star Wars: The Heir of Djarin

Episode 5: Chaos on Coruscant

Summary: After making a deal with Edda the Hutt, Poe and Laylah-- along with Grogu and BB-8-- must locate the crime lord Keru Lar in the lowest depths of Coruscant, where law fades away and the criminal underworld takes over. And that’s the easy part.

A/N: None

Notes: None

Warnings: This chapter is rated MATURE, for canon-typical action, violence, language, and themes of canon drug usage (spice), excessive alcohol consumption, and a club where adult entertainment is implied. Nothing explicit. The main character OC is recovering from a traumatic backstory for the plot, so there is mention of self-doubt, social anxiety, distrust, and emotional damage.

_______________________________________________________________

    We’re woken up by Poe’s watch beeping obscenely loudly.     Which is really kriffing rude, because I was dreaming about the cheesecake covered in bluish blackberry-type stuff that the mess hall got that one time.     “What the kriff, Poe?” My voice is groggy and muffled my his jacket, so I wonder if he even hears me. Grogu turns with an angry little look on his face and I think he’s gonna use the Force to tear Poe’s watch off, but with a groan, the pilot reaches over and shuts it off before he can.     Both of us are stiff. The platform isn’t the best place to sleep, after all. Poe-- who had all of us on him-- seems to have the worst of it. He’s rolling his shoulders and shaking his arms, trying to get feeling back into them as Beebs and I slowly get off of him; my joints pop and crack. I’m sure my beskar wasn’t too comfortable poking into his side, either. He winces when he stretches his back with a horrible crunch that makes me flinch. Grogu, still on his lap, pokes at his chest curiously and asks something in a babbling little slur of half-formed Basic words. “I’m good, buddy.”      I shift to my knees after I’m done with stretching my own sore muscles. “What was your watch beeping for?”     He rubs his face, clearly still tired. “I set it for half a standard hour before we’re supposed to drop out of lightspeed.”     “We’ve got time, then. Let me see it.”     He furrows his brow as he looks up at me, flushing. “See what?”     My eyes roll seemingly of their own accord. “Your back, dumbass.”     “Oh.” He carefully sets Grogu onto the platform. I guide him to Poe’s bag, instructing him to eat actual food for once-- which takes several minutes of convincing.     “Grogu...” I wave the nutrition bar under his nose even as he turns away from it with a squint of distaste.    “Bah.”    “C’mon, Gizmo. Please? What would Dad say?” At this, his ears twitch, because if he doesn’t listen to me, he mostly listens to Din. Alright. Gotta do what I gotta do. “Gizmo. Buddy. Pal. Friend. I swear if you eat actual food on this journey instead of nothing but cookies, then I, personally, will go out and get you twenty frogs.” His big eyes light up eagerly. I raise my eyebrows and nod to show that I’m serious, though how the hell I’m supposed to get him twenty frogs at once is beyond me. “Twenty. That’s a mighty fine deal right there, my friend. And all you gotta do is eat.”    “Du.” He reluctantly takes the bar, squinting at me, and takes a slow, purposeful bite. Once I promise him again that I’ll get the frogs, he continues to eat the bar, albeit very hesitantly.     When I turn back, Poe’s shirt and jacket are laying beside him and he’s watching Grogu fondly. Kriffing kriff... I’ve never actually seen him shirtless until now (despite the fact that he has a whole open-collar thing that makes pretty much everybody on base go crazy for him behind his back), and by the Maker I’m not disappointed. A combination of working out and pulling Gs has him extremely fit, and the chain around his neck that holds his mother’s wedding ring just sets off the whole look. The stubbled jawline and messy black curls does nothing to help. For a brief second, I freeze up, flushing up to my ears and hairline. Poe pretends not to notice, but I see him smirking. Thankfully he doesn’t say anything. Yet.    I clear my throat and come forward with the pack, leaving Grogu to be encouraged by BB-8. Professional. I’m a professional. “Nice... Um... You’re in good shape.” My voice is an octave higher than usual and hoarse, giving me away; Poe smiles, biting his lip to try and keep from saying anything. He only nods as I crouch behind him.     “Thanks, Bez.”     My fluster leaves completely when I see the state his back is in. I know he doesn’t have any cracked bones, but he’d landed pretty hard on that duracrete, and his back is a black-and-blue mess because of it. “Kriffing hell, Poe-- hold still, dummy.”    As I rummage through my bag, now he starts talking. “It’s funny, really. You’re this badass Mandalorian, but all I have to do is take my shirt off to stun you. Paralyze you.” I flush. Sometimes he does catch me staring at him, and sometimes he does tease me; I don’t blame him. I act like a kriffing idiot. “But as soon as you see a wound, the effect wears o-- Maker, what the hell?!”    I effectively stem his mocking into a high-pitched yelp as I place the ice-cold bacta pack on the worst part of his back, a little smugly. Seconds after his exclamation, he relaxes with an “Ahhhh,” leaning into the pack instead of arching away from it. “I don’t know what you’re doing, but damn, it feels good.”     I take on an all-important tone. “An ice-cold bacta pack, my flyboy friend. I am now going to bandage it to your back. Hold still.” It takes me only a few minutes to wrap the bandages around his torso, under his arm and over his shoulder. I pat his shoulders when I’m done, and he moves to put his shirt back on as I stand. “We should eat. I dunno about you, but I haven’t eaten since breakfast. And on D’Qar, it would be...?”     “Late evening,” He replies immediately; I discovered a long time ago that he’s a math genius, so the fact that he answers so quickly doesn’t surprise me. I mean really, he once tried to explain to me how lightspeed-skipping works, and I just. I seriously cannot understand what the hell he’s talking about.    We each take a nutrition bar, agreeing to get more food on Coruscant before hunting down Keru Lar-- can’t exactly get the shards of Palpatine’s lightsaber if we starve, right? Not soon after we finish do we drop out of lightspeed. I’m piloting, since Coruscant has a fairly temperate climate even if their skies are full of traffic.    When Poe told me that, I looked at him like he was crazy. Now I realize it was absolutely stupid of me to doubt him. At first, I think it’s just dark on this side of the planet, and that there are a lot of cities. But not even a whole planet can be covered in cities, right? The whole planet is a city. The entire thing. It’s like a giant city has been rolled up into a ball, and various sizes of ships come and go in the general space.     Compared to the Dyson sphere, though, this is nothing. Although I immediately hate it. Where the kriff is the nature? I feel like Katniss Everdeen when she first arrived in the Capitol. Do these people not go for walks? Do they even know what trees and grass look like? The metropolis makes me feel edgy and trapped before we’ve even entered the atmosphere.       That doesn’t stop me from giggling to myself, because it bears striking resemblance to a certain place in a certain movie franchise directed by Michael Bay. “Heh. Looks like Cybertron.”     Poe seems genuinely curious, scanning the view outside the window; probably looking for threats. “I wonder if there’s an Earth reference for every planet.” We both look around, I even perform a scan, but there aren’t any First Order ships in the area that we can tell.     The comlink crackles to life. “Firespray 31-class, please identify yourself.”     The voice on the other end sounds like a droid, but in either case, I slowly turn in my seat so that I’m facing Poe. “I am so kriffing tired of hearing that.”     Poe sniggers to himself as he leans over to press the button. “Better get used to it, Bez.” Into the comlink, he says, “Just travelers stopping for a break.”    After a momentary pause, the droid responds, “May I suggest a list of hotels?”    Poe’s response surprises me. “Yes please.”    “What? Hotels? What’re you planning, Poe?”    He shoots me a look. “Think it’s not gonna look suspicious if travelers don’t request a list of hotels?”    Ah. “Excellent point. Do we have enough credits?” I always keep about 100 on me, as a general rule of thumb. You never know when you might need it.   For a second, Poe scans the contents of the list that pops up on one of the screens, then turns his attention back to the window. “The hotels they’ve listed are cheap enough. I’m sure we can get something small. We’re only gonna use it to eat, anyway.”   I start to follow the coordinates given, edgy at the thought of flying in such close proximity to freighters and transports. “Coruscant hotel food any good?”   He makes a face. “It’s okay. Not the best stuff in the galaxy, but not as bad as rations.” We both shudder involuntarily. Rations are just little airtight packages of synthesized nutrition. You drop it in water for a few minutes to make something like a loaf of stale bread filled of protein, vitamins, and nutrients. It can fill somebody up for awhile, but it tastes kriffing awful. Since the First Order started cutting off our supplies, there’s been a lot less food like corn or beans or gruel, since we’re trying to stretch what we have, so rations are served most of the week now. That kriffing cheesecake I was dreaming about earlier I’ve only tasted once.   The cookies? The stash of candy? Those are there for a reason. I specifically hoarded cookies away for the sole reason that Grogu kriffing loves them, and so do I; I have like, one cookie every two weeks and I randomly appear with a pack for Grogu every so often. I have the hard space-butterscotch that he can’t have, after all-- although it seems I might have to share with Poe.   Poe raps his knuckles on my beskar pauldron rapidly to get my attention. “You’ll have to take off your beskar, Bez.”   I balk. “I am a Mandalorian--”   “Yeah, and try explaining that to the group of stormtroopers that’s gonna greet us when we land,” He counters swiftly, “Mandalorian armor is automatically associated with bounty hunters. Even if they let us go-- with all our weapons stripped, mind you-- they’re gonna keep a close eye on us. Getting down to Keru Lar is gonna be pretty damn hard when we’ve got ’troopers breathin’ down our necks.”   A heavy, drawn-out sigh escapes me. I made a promise to Din that I’d wear my armor off-world no matter what. I’ve already stunned him and kidnapped his kid. Do I really have to break my promise to him, too?   Poe tries to act nonchalant, but his sympathetic glances let me know that he understands the fact that I detest this idea. “Your clothes will look fine without it. Normal. We’ve gotta blend in.”   Oi. Damn him and his good thinking. I reluctantly put the ship on autopilot and unbuckle, mumbling to myself in Mando’a, which I don’t speak often. “You’d better pilot, then.” I huffily wave my arm at the seat as I head to the platform behind him, but he’s already slipping into the straps and half-buckling them.    I strip off my beskar in record time, leaving me in only my leathers, belts, and undersuit. I’m done before the Slave even pitches into a landing, so I can hold onto Grogu as the ship goes horizontal for a landing. As the ship is powering down, Poe meets me nearer to the exit ramp as I’m undoing my braid, letting my hair down completely. I hear him stop abruptly, but don’t think much of it until I turn to find him just staring.    Like the reverse, sometimes I catch him staring, which is unusual for him. For something to have his attention so fully and completely, it usually either has to be a mission, BB-8, or his X-wing, so I’m immediately flustered and frozen most of the time. I take a second, then decide to be a little bold. I’ve never teased him.    “What, my hair the equivalent of you taking your shirt off?” That snaps him out of it. He flushes and blinks rapidly, which is a first, and clears his throat, jerking his chin toward me.    His voice is low and deep when he asks, “What are you doing?”    I point at the long mane of fluffy, static-enlarged hair rolling from my head and down to my knees. “They see this, they know I’m not gonna want a fight. Would you wanna start a fight without this properly braided? Though I’ve got a perfect idea to keep the beskar close: I’ll just say it’s my aunt’s, that we’re going to drop it off at my mom’s and I wanna keep it near me.”     Poe is nodding, but he’s not listening. He’s still staring, and I can’t think of anymore mocking comebacks. “Sentiment... A good ploy, but it doesn’t always work. They might confiscate it.”    At this, I can’t help but laugh. “They might kill us. They might take the ship. We might die. There’s a lot of mights here, Poe. But I’m going with the fact that I’m gonna try my hardest not to go into those lowest depths filled of mobsters without my beskar.”     He’s still not really listening to me. He’s in some kind of trance as he watches me with a distant smile on his face. Suddenly he reaches over, running his fingers through my hair. “I’ve never seen you with it down before.” He sounds awed.     Swallowing hard, I try to keep the flush down and my voice steady. Neither happens. “’C-cause it gets in my way. I told you about my Cherokee heritage, right? My people keep it long because it keeps us more in touch with our surroundings.”    His next words make my heart ready to burst out of my chest. It doesn’t help that he’s still kriffing stroking it.    “It’s beautiful.”    Friggin-- yeek-- kriff-- guh--    I avert my gaze, trying to hide the effect his words have on me. I’m blushing and beaming in a not-at-all Mandalorian fashion. He’s my best friend, so I don’t want him to think I have feelings for him-- I mean, maybe I do, but what does that matter? He’s probably not really interested, right? He’s this nice to all his friends, isn’t he? Right? I just don’t want to risk losing him. I can’t imagine my life without him now. Poe shrugs his jacket off and puts it on my shoulders, surprising me even further. “Wear this.”     Thankfully, though, I can at least look at him now. “Why?”     “It’s chilly here. And...” He nods in approval once I’ve slipped my arms into the sleeves. I’m swimming in his jacket. I mean, I could curl up and fit completely inside with room to spare. Although... I’m not complaining. It’s warm and comforting and it smells like him. A part of me wants to ask to keep it. “Just like I thought. Makes you look smaller, less dangerous.” His hands slip behind my neck and pull my hair out of the jacket; his hands on the back of my neck make me blush, which I try to hide by biting my lip. He even zips it up most of the way, pausing when he’s finished to inspect how it looks, but... His smile doesn’t reach his eyes at all; he’s worried.     I grab his arm, making him look at me. “What is it?”     He hesitates; but I’m not going to let him just walk away without telling me what it is that’s bothering him, and he knows this. Finally, Poe sighs and gives in. “The ’troopers might recognize me. It might be dark, but the city lights give more than enough light to see by.”     Oh. Yeah, that is bad. He doesn’t exactly have the luck of being a lesser-known Resistance member, he’s practically their poster-boy. I mean the words Resistance’s Best Pilot might as well be written in bright neon yellow on his forehead. Stormtroopers recognizing him is a very real and stressful possibility, but I have to make him feel better about this. If he goes out there looking nervous, they might take a closer look at him. Pointedly, I gesture to his stubble. “Can’t you just grow a beard real quick?”     He snorts with amusement, demeanor lightening. He rolls his eyes. “Me. With a beard. Yeah, that’ll happen.”     Poe helps me stuff my beskar into one of the spare equipment bags before strapping on Grogu’s satchel. Grogu babbles something that may or may not be offensive and then hurls the wrapper of his nutrition bar at me. He retains his stance of dignified anger as he glares at me from his place on the seat, even as the wrapper flutters harmlessly to the ground in front of him. Poe stifles a laugh as he picks him up to put him in the bag. “Don’t throw things at your big sister, Grogu. It’s not nice.”   “Don’t litter in the Slave, Grogu,” I mock Poe’s tone as I pick up the wrapper, turning to stuff it in the designated trash pocket of our food bag. “It’s not nice.”    BB-8 whirls questioningly at Poe as we make our way to the ramp. “Yeah, Beebs, you can come on this one. We’ll be way too far from the ship to make a quick getaway, and we’ll probably need you.”     He pushes the button and the ramp lowers. Just like he’d predicted, four ’troopers are waiting for us, though they seem bored and relaxed. Like they couldn’t possibly be bothered to chase us down even if we ran by them screaming “Resistance forever!” The poor guys look ready to go to bed, honestly. If we could see their faces, I’m sure they’d be yawning.     We’re searched thoroughly, patted down from head-to-toe, and even scanned to make sure we haven’t swallowed any bombs for concealment. They check our weapons and have to approve them, which they do, after a moment; even travelers need a form of self-defense, and what good are a couple of blasters going to do against fully-armored stormtroopers? A lot, I think to myself, but these ’troopers are too tired to care.    “Wanna tell us why your ship isn’t registered?” One asks, and it sounds like she stifles a yawn.    “Our ship’s engine fried over Jakku,” Poe answers smoothly, “We had to settle for an old piece of junk replacement.” I have to keep from spouting off, piece of junk my ass you kriffing love that ship how dare you but I just nod along with him. “We’re gonna get this registered as soon as we get home.”     “Make sure that you do,” The stormtrooper says; they’re too tired to even bother with the paperwork of issuing us a ticket.     Of course, they notice Grogu, who has poked his head out of the bag to observe our surroundings; I realize the last time he was on Coruscant, he witnessed Anakin Skywalker turn to a Sith. The poor guy’s probably having flashbacks. Nobody grabs him, but a stormtrooper gestures to him vaguely before returning his hands to rest on his blaster. “What’s this?”     “Family pet,” Poe replies immediately. Damn, I am so tired of having to refer to my baby brother as a pet.     “And this?” Asks the stormtrooper that opens the bag filled of my beskar. He rummages through it a bit, checking for extra weapons.     I play on the tears the wind is making in my eyes and sniffle a little. Act like you’re upset. “That belonged to my aunt. We’re bringing it to my mother on Tatooine-- her final wishes.”     “That’s very unfortunate,” Says the ’trooper blandly. Good, they don’t care at all. He passes his bag back to me. I’m zipping it up and hoisting it up onto my shoulder when Poe’s asked, “Your names?” by the ’trooper who had asked him about our registration.     He hesitates for a split second, just a split second, so I say in a cheery, smiley manner, “Isaac and Kara Hérnandez.” Kriff. Now we’re posing as a married couple. Why did I do that?    Poe glances at me briefly, then regards the ’trooper as she marks our aliases in her datapad; he looks completely relaxed, casual-- there’s something slightly off, but that could be the fact that he’s supposedly a husband escorting his mourning wife to her mother. Son-in-laws aren’t supposed to like mother-in-laws, right? Yeah, that’s it.           The stormtrooper takes a minute, then says, “Alright, you’re free to go.”     Thank the Maker. Grogu babbles and tucks himself back into the bag. BB-8 rolls along with us, as Poe takes my bag for me and offers me his elbow with a cocky grin on his face. We make our way off the platform and into the lobby, where we gather into an elevator. Luckily, there’s nobody in here, but you can never be too careful of cameras. He leans down to whisper in my ear. “So we’re married now, huh?”     I smack at his chest, making him laugh and pull away. He turns his eyes to the lights at the top, counting the floors rushing by. “Hush.”    He leans down again, undeterred. “This means I can kiss you, right?”    Blushing furiously, I push him away again. “Hush up... Isaac.”    He comes to whisper in my ear a third time, and I expect him to keep teasing, but then he’s trying not to laugh. “Don’t look now, but there’s a camera in the upper left corner of the ceiling.” I bite my lip to stifle a smile, but it doesn’t work. I see where he’s going with this. “We look like a couple of newlyweds, you know that, right?”    Oh. Huh. We do, huh? Whispering and snickering? Yeah, that sounds like newlyweds. The thought that the guy behind the camera believes that we’re innocently flirting instead of Resistance members trying to find the shards of Palpatine’s lightsaber for medicine-- it’s so ridiculous I start sniggering along with him.     “Let’s give ’em a show, huh?”     At first I’m terrified of what he might mean-- Grogu is to, from the way he mutters and buries himself back into the bag, and BB-8 does the WALL-E wow-- but he only puts an arm around my waist and pulls me close, kissing my cheek, then my temple; he’s showering the side of my face in kisses and all I can do is stand there and gush with heart eyes. This is nice. I like this.     The elevator ride his over too soon. He pulls away with a smile, and I frown. Oof. Just ask me out? Maybe? You can fly headlong toward a Star Destroyer’s cannons but you can’t ask me out? Like??? The kriff kind of sense does that make???     But he keeps his arm around my waist all the way to the hotel. He only lets go when we check into a hotel under our aliases, but then once he hefts my bag back up onto his shoulder, he hands me the keycard and actually holds my free hand. Fingers entwined and everything. And gives me another kiss on the cheek. Kriffing... GUH... By the time we make it up to our little room it’s a miracle I haven’t fainted yet.     Once we close the door, Poe drops the bag at the foot of the bed, only then letting go of me. I snort with amusement. “You seem to be enjoying this, Poe.”     He takes that to mean he can give me another kiss on the cheek, which, I’m not complaining. He shoots me a cocky grin as he takes Grogu’s bag off and starts helping him out of it. “It was fun, though, wasn’t it?”     I can’t help it or hide it: I’m beaming, because yes, that was fun. “Yeah. It was.”    Poe flushes a little, his grin turning to a warm smile; after a second of waiting for him to say something, BB-8 rolls up and zaps him in the calf with a series of beeps that sounds like make your move, idiot. Though the zap makes Poe jump and slam his shins into the base of the bed. He turns to glare at the little droid. “OW! Beebs! What the hell?!”     A scoff escapes my throat. “Sounds like he’s trying to be your wingman, flyboy.”    Poe huffs, leaning down to rub his shins. “Yeah, well, this isn’t exactly the most romantic place to ask you out.”    Well, that’s not a no... I start to braid my hair back. “So? What’s the plan?”     “We eat,” Poe lifts Grogu out of the bag and sets him on the bed. The little guy squeals and starts bouncing when he realizes how soft and fluffy it is, so Poe stands by, ready to catch. “We’ve got some credits on us, and we can’t exactly do this on an empty stomach. Especially Grogu. He needs to eat like what, twelve times a day?”     “Not that many,” I chuckle and sit on the other side of the bed as I wrap my hair around my head in the crown braid. Grogu mutters a stream of half-formed words as he tries to show us how squishy the bed is; Poe leans with both hands on the bed beside him and helps him bounce, making the little guy laugh. “Just... a lot. Dad feeds him like six times a day, with snacks between...”    I’ve never seen Poe look so panicked. “Hell, Bez, he’s probably starving!” He tickles Grogu’s stomach. Grogu keels over in a fit of giggles. “Yeah? You hungry, buddy? Your idiot babysitters didn’t pack enough food for you, did we? We’ll get you some food, don’t worry.”     I pick up the holozine on the bedside table and flick it on. The Aurebesh I can read completely, though I’m still not used to seeing it instead of the English alphabet-- sometimes I even still revert to it. The format, though, is all messy and confusing. It’s like when you accidentally click on a link to a Japanese website and you’re left staring at it wondering what the kriff you’re looking at. “How much do you think we should get?”    “Just enough,” Poe answers, climbing over the bed to look at the holozine over my shoulder; he absentmindedly keeps a leg stretched out across the bed to ensure that Grogu doesn’t fall off. “After leaving Coruscant, we should swing through a cantina on our way to... wherever it is we’re going. Fill a pack with food and water. I stand by my earlier statement: his dumbass babysitters should’ve packed more.”    I think it’s funny that he’s worrying so much about whether or not Grogu’s eating enough. It’s one thing for me, his big sister, but for Poe? It’s just sweet. “Thank the Maker for space-McDonald’s.”    Poe raises an eyebrow, confused. “For space what?”    “It’s a fast-food place on Earth. You can swing through the drive-thru on a roadtrip or whatever to get something to eat.” He reaches over when he sees I’m struggling with trying to figure out format, pushing a few buttons hidden in the bright neon reddish-pink sidebar. I raise an eyebrow at him as he navigates the site, having an idea for later. “I should seriously make you a cheeseburger. Although I’d have to use bantha meat instead of cow... But I’ve tasted cheese that’s like cheddar, and there’s stuff like lettuce and tomatoes and onions... Ketchup and mustard, too... Pickles... But would it be the same...?”    “You just gonna sit there and fantasize about food?” He somehow keeps a straight face, though he slowly starts smirking.    I pretend to think about that for a second. “...Yeah, actually.”    “Just checking.” His face lights up when he finds the menu. “Ah-hah. Grogu, c’mere. Pick something.” He turns and picks up Grogu, bringing him up onto his lap. I turn so they can both see the holozine. I see something BB-8 can use and immediately perk up, glad he’s not going to be left out, “Oh look, Beebs-- a portable charging dock!” He gives a little whir of excitement, bumping against my leg since he’s unable to climb up onto the bed. I reach down and pat his head as Grogu excitedly taps on what might be broth.   We don’t have to wait long. Soon enough somebody knocks on the door, and Poe and I launch ourselves across the room to hide Grogu and Beebs on the other side of the bed with my bag of beskar. I stand guard, pretending to scan the holozine, while Poe answers the door, retrieves the tray, and brings it in. “Maybe you should’ve answered the door,” He makes a face as he sets the tray down on the bed. “That guy was doing double-takes. Somebody’s gonna recognize me.”    Both of us freeze as, without any warning at all, Grogu floats from the floor up onto the bed. Then Beebs-- entirely surprised himself and emitting a series of beeps and whistles-- is lifted up right behind him. Grogu takes his broth, waddles over to the pillows, and settles down to eat, totally ignoring our reactions. Beebs whistles in the droid equivalent of a shrug, sticking his robot arm out to grab his charging pod before rolling over to sit by Grogu, nestling himself beside him.    Poe-- still mid-passing out the forks-- glances to me with only his wide eyes. “He do that a lot?”    “I’ve seen him do some crazy things; like lifting logs with his mind. But that was expected.” I grab my fork from him without taking my eyes off Grogu for a second, then lean over to grab my own bowl. “Guess he was hungry.”

                                                           -  -  -

   The streets of Coruscant are busy, bustling with people even this late at night-- they’re all partying on this level, the level where you can see the sky, apparently making money off of businesses down below in lower levels with workers paid low wages that work deep into the night. I hate it here-- rich people living off of others reminds me of Earth.    Traffic is thick in the sky, echoing with honks and engines, and music blares from every street corner. Each level down feels less carefree and like its own little world, and each level down is farther from the sky. I start to feel claustrophobic. The farther down we go, the grimier it gets. We pause three levels down, where we find an abandoned alleyway for me to put my beskar on. Poe and BB-8 stand guard, and Grogu keeps his head covered in the bag at Poe’s waist.    When I’m done, I come up beside Poe and pass his jacket to him. “Thanks.” He hands me Grogu, then addresses all three of us with his commander voice. “Alright, listen up: we’re about to enter a really dangerous place-- not as bad as Tiersa, but still dangerous. Keep an eye out for threats and stay close. Got it?”    “Got it.”    “Badu.”     BB-8 beeps in acknowledgement. Poe leads us onward to the next level down. BB-8 sticks close to his heels on his left, so I flank his right, keeping Grogu on my left hip and a hand on him at all times. My helmet’s systems are activated, and we go alert. Any noise or movement catches our eye, and I make a point to keep watch for people overhead.     Down two more levels, and the trash-filled streets are full of groups of ruffians that eye us, looking to see if they can get away with mugging us. I’ve taken up the same mindset I had on Tiersa, but now I also have to keep an eye on BB-8, who would make a nice pile of well-kept parts for somebody to sell at a scrap market. The thought makes me shudder. Grogu, sensing we’re in a bad area, curls up and goes quiet.     “You know where the old podracing arenas are, right?” I keep my voice extremely low. We’re passing by a group of guys wielding crowbars and pieces of old metal strapped to handles to make crude knives, trying to decide whether or not they should take on a group with a Mandalorian in their midst.     “I was here once before, but it was a different gang leader,” Poe explains, eyes flicking to the same thugs I’m watching, “And for a wholly different kind of mission. One that was authorized. I had a guide then.” Lucky for us, Poe has a memory like an elephant when it involves maps and cities, even apparently the criminal underworld of Coruscant. He seems to take us right to them, determinedly striding forward without pause.     The entrance to the old podracing rings is just an arch of old duracrete, unimpressive. There are two burly alien guards blocking the grimy archway from which distant music beats and thuds out into the polluted night air, muffled.    Poe approaches them confidently, apparently unconcerned that they’re seven feet tall, covered in rippling muscle, and each bears a huge knife that could slice even a wookie right in half. “We’re here to do business with Keru Lar on behalf of Edda Hutt.”    The guards sneer at each other before one of them leans down to snarl at Poe; my systems register him tensing, ready to draw his blaster. I’m prepared to spring forward at a second’s notice and trigger my flamethrower. The alien looming over Poe says, “I think Lar would’ve told us to expect somebody. Nice try.”    Poe is completely unfazed. After a good five-second count, he nods in understanding. “Okay. You really wanna be the one to tell your boss you botched up a deal with Edda? Alright-- your funeral.” Poe turns and dips his head to me quickly, indicating that I should turn around and head the other way. You better have a pretty good feeling they’re not gonna attack us, flyboy. I do what he tells me to, reluctantly. Putting my back to these guys makes me uneasy. Din’s voice clearly echoes in my mind saying “Never turn your back on an enemy.”    “Wait--” Says the other guard, and we turn just in time to see him hit the other guy so hard upside the head that he knocks him out cold. The guard steps aside, gesturing for us to go in with a sweeping of his arms. “Wouldn’t want to mess up a deal for the boss.”    “I’ll put in a good word for you,” Poe says drily, but the guard inclines his head in appreciation. Dumbass really thinks we’re gonna do that for him, huh? He doesn’t even check us. Once we’re in the vacant tunnel and the party music is louder, I say to Poe, “Does anyone on Coruscant have even half a brain?”    He keeps his eyes on the bright, neon lights of the party at the end of the corridor; a very different kind of the light at the end of the tunnel. “Depends. Today, we got lucky. So far. Keep an eye on Grogu. Stay close, Beebs.” He grabs my arm as the droid beeps in response. “Whatever I do or say, play along. Just like on Tiersa. Do not attack anyone unless you have to, Bez.” I nod, refusing to have a repeat of reckless, dangerous events. Only if necessary.    Another guard stops us just before the party-- an extravagant explosion of yellows, reds, pinks, and oranges, the whole place is illuminated with neon lights lining the ceiling and floors. And now I really feel like Katniss-- the people down here have the craziest outfits I’ve ever seen, in the brightest colors imaginable. Hot pink, cherry reds, cobalt blues, and bright greens are accented by clashing hairdos of equally bright colors, styled slicked-back, afros, or any other kind of style one can think of. Their dresses are angular, their tuxes sharp-shouldered like Cruella DeVil, and their shoes look more like weapons than a clothing item. The aliens seem to at least have some taste, but the humans have painted their faces white, adding makeup in golds, reds, or pinks to their eyes and lips. They’d make Effie Trinket look normal.    Not to mention, the air smells distinctly of alcohol and spice. Their music, while on-tempo, is overly-loud. Their singer is more screaming than singing, and she’s also slurring her words. Some sections are more dim than others, and on tables people gather to watch holoprojections of suggestive dancers.    Yikes.    “Isaac?” I say, since the guard is standing right there, “Are all men-- and some women, I see-- pigs? Like, throughout all space and time?”    “Pretty much,” He replies with a half-shrug. To the guard, who’s mumbling something in such a deep voice I can’t understand what he’s saying, Poe says, “We’re here to do business with Keru Lar.”    The guard hesitates, then turns to mumble into an comlink in his ear. After a second, the guard nods and beckons another guy to take his place. We’re led through the party, which calms a bit to stare and gawk at the two very out-of-place characters that have just entered their little celebration. “Hey,” I whisper to Poe, who turns his head to let me know that he can hear me, “If I dressed up like a clown and you dressed in drag, we’d fit right in.”   He scoffs. “Wouldn’t be the first time I’ve had to go that deep into disguise.”   That takes a second to hit me, and I can’t tell if he’s being a smartass or if he’s serious. Suddenly I forget where we are and feel like I have to demand to know the rest of that story. “Wait what--”   “I’ll tell you later,” He promises.   “That’s two stories you owe me, Dameron.”   The guard pulls aside a curtain of beads. Up here, in this little room, the music is quieter. Inside reeks of cigarette smoke and spice, and clouds of it make Poe sputter for a second before he’s able to stifle it. Windows, kept very clean but steamy, overlook the party, filtering an eerie twilight glow into the room. Cushy sofas and loveseats made of velvet are positioned around a rug. A little weirdly-shaped table of glass sits in the center of it, piled with fruits and half-empty wine glasses.   Behind the main couch are three wookie bodyguards that look ready to rip our arms off if we so much as breathe wrong. Scattered about the room are women of all races, some quite near human, in immodest outfits of shimmery curtain and lace, all glitter-and-glamour. The center of attention is Keru Lar himself, who appears human at first glance.    Extravagantly dressed in a silver tuxedo, his dark hair is braided in rows on his head and then rejoined together at the base of his skull to be draped over his right shoulder. His dark skin is decorated with gold geometric tattoos, and he seriously reminds me of Snoop Dogg for a second.    Until I realize his arms and legs are far too long, that he’s easily ten feet tall, and his tattoos are pulsing with his blood. His hair moves with a life of its own. He pulls his glareshades down with a four-fingered hand to reveal gray reptilian eyes that blink sideways. His fanged teeth are golden when he smiles.     “You’re Keru Lar?” Poe asks.     “I am,” He smokes from a long green-shafted cigarette, pushing his glareshades back up. His voice is gravelly and far too deep, like it doesn’t belong to him at all and is being masked. Honestly, it kind of freaks me out. “Welcome, welcome! Make yourself at home!”   Keru Lar snaps his fingers, and a couple girls stand up, immediately making their way to Poe. Oh hell no. I don’t know why I feel so protective: I want to jump in front of him like I did on Tiersa, but I take a deep breath and act calm. I casually step in front of Poe, stopping the girls. They share a terrified, uncertain glance, so I say with a dip of my head, “Sorry, ladies. Business only for now. Gotta keep the boss focused on behalf of the higher-up.” Their faces soften and their stances ease. “Maybe next time,” I add, and they both nod in understanding and return to their original places.     I step backward into my own place behind Poe. I catch his eye and see a spark of approval as he inclines his head.    “No entertainment?” Keru Lar asks in disbelief, and briefly I wonder if I made a mistake and should’ve just let them do what they wanted, which is a thought that infuriates me; but then I see that Lar is grinning, amused, and I ease a bit. “This must be a very big deal indeed! Tell me, who are you, and what can I do for you?”    “I’m P--” He corrects himself so quickly I hardly catch it. It just sounds like he coughs on some of the smoke. “I’m Isaac Hérnandez. I’m here to make a deal with you on behalf of Edda Hutt.”    “Edda!” Lar leans forward with interest; he’s so large that the movements he’s making look unnatural and unfriendly. “How is he? It’s been so long.”    “He’s looking for a trade,” Poe replies.    “Oh? Is he? What can I offer the old slug?” He gestures to me vaguely with his cigarette, smiling greedily. “Does your bounty hunter there have what Edda wants to trade in that bag?”    I tighten my grip on the strap; Grogu shifts worriedly. Poe takes a subtle step in my direction, warning me not to do anything rash. “No, that’s her pet. For good luck.”    Lar makes a show of pouting. “Ah. A real shame.”    Poe continues. “Edda wants a particular map in your possession. In return he’s--”    “You mean the map to Palpatine’s lightsaber,” Lar drawls out knowingly, “Did he tell you that none but a Jedi can read it?”   Oh kriff.    “It’s not my business to ask questions.” Judging by the tone of Poe’s voice, he’s thinking the same thing I am: there are no Jedi left save for Luke, if that. Leia never used the Force, and we can’t have her read it anyway without giving up on the mission entirely. Sure, there are rumors, but we don’t have time to hunt for an elusive space-wizard. That leaves us only Grogu, who’s a baby. The map is useless. It’s all been for nothing.    “Edda wants the map,” Poe continues unwaveringly, and I wonder why we’re still here, “But what do you want in return?”    “Look around you, Hérnandez,” Lar spreads his arms. “What can Edda possibly give me that I don’t already have?” He takes a whiff of his cigarette and bares his teeth in a wicked grin. “Oh, but there is something. See, I’ve been a bit bored recently. I started up podracing again down here! But, unfortunately, my last driver had a bit of an... accident. He ended up only a black mark on the pavement.” Oh kriffing... I can see where he’s going with this. And from the way Poe stiffens, so does he. Lar leans forward. “If I win, none would dare to question my power here. If you win for me... then I’ll give you the map.”    Despite the fact that we’re supposed to be in character, Poe turns to give me an entirely unimpressed glare. I’m half tempted to lift up my hand in silent demand of him paying up on his ten-credit bet against Lar making us race him, but I’m too worried. Lar’s little area is open to the podracing ring on our right, and even with my helmet enhancing the dim track below, it’s extremely ill-lit. It’s old. And podracers are built by their pilots, so if Lar’s last driver got killed, then Lar’s probably bought an old, beaten-up racer from before the Battle of Yavin.    “I’m going,” I say before Poe can, but he shakes his head and lifts a hand for emphasis as he leans close.    “You ever fly a racer, Bez?”    “I’ve gotten the Slave to recover from a crash. I think I’m good.”    Poe puts his hands on his hips. “A racer’s a lot different from the Slave, even an X-wing. Nothing like a speederbike. You do this, you crash--”    “I’ll survive. I’ve got my beskar.”    “...Sure, whatever. And then how are we gonna get the map? You’ll survive a crash, but I’m the one that’ll win the race.” Poe ignores my protests and even those of BB-8 as he turns back to Lar. “I’ll do it. You got a racer?”    Lar’s grin makes me want to let my flamethrower loose on his face. “That I do.”

                                                             -  -  -

   “This is a piece of junk,” I kick the engine of the racer, and a whole panel comes off. Eesh... Beebs rolls out of the way just in time to avoid getting scraped up, beeping up at me in alarm. Poe comes around from the other side, picks up the panel, and starts reattaching it. He’s had me hold his jacket, and his sleeves are rolled up; he’s covered in oil and grease, even on his face. His hair’s a mess. It’s a good look, but the situation has me wanting to knock him out cold and drag him to safety.    “Hey. Have faith in my--” the panel falls back off, and he hurriedly picks it up and starts repairing it again.    “...You were saying?”    Poe hardly glances at me. “Have faith in my repair skills.”    I cross my arms. His jacket, tied around my waist, makes me feel awkward and off-balance. “I have complete faith in your repair skills. But this pile of scrap metal is beyond even your help.” BB-8 gives a series of whistles and beeps that indicates he’s agreeing with me. “See?”     Poe switches a mock-glare between me and BB-8, but says nothing. Maybe because he knows we’re right.    The racer has to be been one of the first ones ever built. Rusted all to hell, it’s a dingy green-and-blue color, paint worn well away. The power couplings connecting the repulsor engines to the cockpit had been matted thick with dust before Poe had went about dusting it all off with an old rag to reveal cracking rubbers and eroded plugs. It won’t start without a shudder, smoke, and a horrible rattling sound in the left engine.     “You’re gonna get yourself killed. Let me drive. Can’t be much different than a car.” Of course, on Earth, I hadn’t gotten my license yet, but if I can fly the Slave, then I can drive a car.    Poe shakes his head, finally just grabbing a blowtorch and welding the loose panel into place. “No.” With a sigh, he turns the blowtorch off and turns to face me, lowering his voice. “You ever drive a podracer?”    “No, but--”    “You ever drive a speederbike?”    I’m shaking my head. His reasoning, of course, is flawless, except for the whole risking-his-life bit. “Poe--”    “Then no.” He interrupts sternly, “If you drive, you’ll only crash and kill yourself. For nothing. If I drive, I might not crash, and then we’ll have the map.”    “Going on this mission was my--”    “Our.”    “--idea, and you’re doing all the work! I’m literally just standing by as your bodyguard!” It’s infuriating. The only thing I’ve done to contributing to this mission is occasionally fly the Slave and occasionally almost get everybody killed. I need to do something, or else this mission is basically just Poe sticking his neck out without any help.    “Alright, alright...” He puts his hands on my shoulders, looking into my eyes meaningfully. “On the next step, wherever, whatever it is, you can pull the next death-defying stunt, okay?” With the deep, over-loud thrum of repulsor engines, the other five racers are pulling up adjacent to Poe’s considerably-smaller, definitely lesser podracer. If he dies here...    Without thinking, I wrestle my bear-claw amulet out from under my leathers, my undersuit, and the breastplate. It’s a long cord, but it’s still difficult to pull up-and-over my helmet. Thankfully, Poe holds still, only looking on in confusion-- he knows that I’ve never taken it off since the day my grandfather gave it to me. He knows how important it is to me. I swing the cord over his head and let the claw fall to his chest. “For good luck,” I say, but the meaning goes deeper than that and he knows it.     He regards me carefully, like he wants to say something. “Bez--”     “To your places, pilots! The race will begin in five minutes!”     “Badu,” Grogu sticks his hand out of the bag, holding the little old orb of metal. Poe hesitates for a second, then takes it with a fond smile, reaching in to ruffle Grogu’s ears.    “Thanks, buddy. I’ll bring it back to you.” He crouches to give BB-8 belly scratches. “Take care of ’em, bud.” When he stands and meets my eyes again, his dark eyes hold an emotion I can’t place. “Watch my back, Bez.”    “Always,” I reply immediately.    He doesn’t dare give me a hug-- not in this place, where weaknesses and vulnerabilities could be preyed upon. Me giving him the pendant was risky enough. He nods instead, delivering an assuring squeeze to my shoulder. Neither of us say anything more. Poe clambers up into the rickety cockpit, and I pass him the ill-fitting, old helmet with a cracked visor. It’s like Lar is trying to get him killed, which is probably the sole purpose of the race.     If he dies, I’m gonna set the whole place on fire.     All the pit crews-- myself and BB-8 included-- climb back onto the viewing platforms, where a fence is raised. I take in the crowd, trying to see anything amiss; so far I see nothing out of the ordinary, but that could change at any given moment. The podracers start their engines; four out of six of them have trouble. The other two sputter, but at least start. I keep a hand on Grogu and an eye on Beebs, who whistles in concern at my feet, wobbling uncertainly. I can’t bring myself to tell him not to worry, that it’ll be okay, because I’m absolutely terrified of Poe crashing into a wall or another podracer.     My hands are shaking, so I grip the rail tightly with one of them and the buckle of Grogu’s bag with the other. I position myself against the wall, where I can see the podracers to my right but also see the whole of the hideout to my left. The announcer begins spouting off names, models of the racers, whatever. I’m not paying attention. My attention is on potential dangers and Poe, who is checking his systems and bracing himself for one hell of a ride.     “Three... Two... One... RACE!”     The podracers shoot off down the track. Poe’s is slower than most of them, which is good, because the bulkiest one rams one of the others into a wall, causing an explosion that incinerates both that racer and another. Already the race is down to four racers, and they’re not even out of sight yet.     There are four laps. On the first, Poe is still behind. On the second, an explosion in the distant end of the loop has me anxious with worry until the three remaining pods shoot by with Poe gaining ground.     On the third, Grogu-- who had poked his head out to watch, against my protests because if something does happen, he doesn’t need to see it-- suddenly squeaks in alarm and ducks his head back into the bag. Shortly thereafter, I feel what he does: an awful, dark foreboding that something is about to go horribly wrong. Out of the corner of my left eye, I see them just before the crowd goes silent.     Stormtroopers. There are at least twelve of them. In the lead is a gigantic ’trooper wearing armor such a bright sheen of silver I wonder if it’s beskar. A black cape of rank hangs from her shoulders, nearly reaching the ground. I know who she is from stories of the other Resistance members, from Poe himself.      Captain Phasma.      The fact that she’s here worries me. She’s usually seen around General Hux or Kylo Ren, which means there’s a Star Destroyer nearby, potentially with either of them on it. Someone must have recognized Poe, or maybe Kylo Ren found a way to hunt me using the Force. Either one is very, very bad.      “This is an illegal gathering,” Captain Phasma announces in a cold, commanding voice. “If anyone attempts to leave without permission, they will be shot.” Three of the stormtroopers haul a huge piece of machinery toward the fence. They kick a piece of the railing down and start building their weapon. Is that a gun?      I’m panicking. What can I do against twelve stormtroopers and Captain Phasma? I’d have no help if I attacked. My whistling birds can take care of the troopers, but what about Phasma, who I’m certain has far more ’troopers waiting outside? Maybe some in any back entrances? Blocking the exits? I’m outnumbered and have no way to warn Poe, who is stuck on a racer speeding around a dim track.     Lar comes to greet her with a smile. “Why, my lady! Welcome! I’m sure you’ll find plenty of--!” There’s the sound of blasterfire and his chest is smoking, charred and blackened and bleeding. People scream as he collapses, dead, and the ’troopers aim their weapons at the crowd and order them to shut up and keep hands where they can be seen.     Captain Phasma continues unwaveringly despite the fact that her blaster is still smoking. “The First Order has reason to believe that an important member of the Resistance is currently among you.”     Poe. My eyes flick to the ’troopers building the gun, set up right on the racer track. They’ve finished, and the hum of the approaching podracers is growing ever closer. What are they doing?     “You are to comply with questioning. You are all currently under arrest for involvement in illegal actions.”     Poe. My only concern is how to warn him of the gun. How to stop his racer. If I shot my whistling birds down the tunnel and targeted his power couplings, would that disable his podracer? Or only blow it up? I don’t have any more time to worry, though, because the gun is fired, and I realize it’s not a gun at all.     It’s a cable.     It buries itself into the duracrete on the other side, and I realize its purpose seconds too late.     The podracers collide full-force with the cable, turning them to nothing but metal wreckage and fire as they’re thrown into the ceiling of the tunnel before skidding for several hundred yards.      I’m moving before the explosion is even over, shrapnel imbedding itself in my leather and bouncing off my beskar. Grogu, I keep safe by keeping a hand on the bag. BB-8 races alongside me, emitting a scream of worry. Everything is silent, like in those movies where somebody loses someone they care for and it all just stops. I see flashes of red as the stormtroopers open fire on the crowd, and I feel two blasts bounce of my beskar. I’m running for the wreckage. I think I’m screaming Poe’s name, but I can’t hear.     It should’ve been me. It should’ve been me. I see remains of cockpits and engines, hardly recognizable. I see the charred body of the alien pilot from one of the other podracers. I’m lifting things I shouldn’t be able to, huge panels of metal and wiring and I’m walking through fire, ignoring the heat. It should’ve been me. I find the dying pilot of the only other podracer, but he dies before I can even do much more than acknowledge his pleas for help.     And then I see him.     Thrown from the wreckage and on his side, back facing us. His clothes are charred in places and smoldering in others, and he lays just shy of a barrier of fire. BB-8 screeches a string of high-pitched machinery noises, rolling faster than I’ve ever seen him. I’m right behind him, calling Poe’s name, but he’s not moving. When I reach him, skidding to my knees, I hesitate in rolling him over, scared he’ll be like the other pilot.     But he’s not. The side of his face is covered in blood and there’s a nasty lump on his head, concealed mostly by his hair. I try to assess his condition, but I’m stopped short by the shrapnel in his thigh and the fact that he doesn’t have a pulse. Grogu immediately tries to reach forward and Force-heal him. “NO, Grogu!” I know that if he does that, he’ll forfeit his own life. I swing Grogu behind me and lay Poe flat, immediately starting chest compressions.    That’s carelessness. Din’s words come back to haunt me.    Nothing’s happening, and I’m starting to panic-- I can’t call it, I won’t. I’m so sorry, Poe...    BB-8 whirs and reaches over, stabbing Poe with a different robot arm right near my hands after nudging me back. It works like defibrillator. He zaps Poe with a jolt of electricity that makes his whole body arch, then he comes back to life with a yelp and a gasp.      “Poe!”      He coughs, wheezes, eyes wide as he blinks trying to clear them. His ears are bleeding, chest heaving, and he’s clearly in pain. He holds his wrist at a weird angle, and the shard of metal in his leg must go down to bone. But he’s alive.      “W-what--” His voice cracks painfully, and he winces.      I think I’m crying, but I don’t care. He’s okay. He’s okay. “D-don’t try to talk. Can you hear me?”      “I-I can’t hear you...” Poe vaguely gestures to his head and tries to move his other shoulder, but it takes effort. He’s severely injured.     “We need to get you back home...” I can’t carry him. I’m not strong enough. I try, but it only causes him more pain and I can hardly move. I order BB-8 and Grogu to stay with him as I scour for a piece of metal large enough to drag him on, trying to ignore the chaos of what’s happening close by. None of the stormtroopers have noticed yet that I’m missing, if they even saw me in the first place. There’s still blasterfire and people screaming, trying to escape. A couple people jump into the ring, only to be shot dead. The stormtroopers are merciless.     I find a relatively intact piece of metal sheeting and start to pull it toward Poe when I hear him call me in a panic. “Bez!” I whip around just in time to see him grasping at Grogu, who’s falling over into the bag with a squeak. Poe’s arm is no longer bent weird, the shrapnel is out of his thigh, and he’s sitting up, alert.    Oh no...     When I reach them, Grogu’s fine, but exhausted. He’s in a deep sleep, curled up in the bottom of the bag. Poe looks up at me in terror. “I-I didn’t do--”     “He Force-healed you,” It’s both an explanation and a comment. I check Grogu over and ensure that’s all he did, then loop the strap back over my head. “Gizmo, buddy...”        I check Poe. His shoulder is still dislocated, so I have to help him pop it back into place, and we have to tear off a piece of his shirt to bandage his thigh-- the wound isn’t as deep, but it’s still bleeding. His once-broken wrist is perfectly functional, and from what I can tell he seems perfectly fine otherwise; his hearing has returned fully, leading me to believe Grogu focused on internal injuries that could prove deadly before we reach D’Qar.     “What happened?” Poe manages, taking in the scene around him.     “Captain Phasma,” I answer curtly, and then I do risk hugging him, tightly, careful of my helmet hurting his face. “...You almost died.”     Poe may not be as badly injured now, but he’s still hurt. He holds me back as tightly as he can manage. “But I didn’t. I’m fine, Bez.” He pulls pack, rapping his knuckles on the forehead of my helmet with an exhausted smile. “Now tell me what happened.”      As quickly as possible, I explain everything while Poe silently assures BB-8 that he’s fine; he keeps an arm around the droid and keeps him very close, while BB-8 keeps inputting beeps to ask him if he’s okay.     When I’m done, Poe glances toward the calming firefight of the nearby hub. “So... We’ve still gotta get the map.”     I sit back on my heels, amazed. “The kriff-- Poe, this mission’s a bust!”     Poe is pissed. I’ve never seen him look so angry and determined all at once. “Not until I say it is. We’ve come this far.” He reaches for me. “Help me stand up.” I help Poe to his feet and we half-sneak, half-limp back to the platform, staying just out of sight. Even from here we can see dead bodies hanging half over the edge or in the ring, moaning injured, and smell burnt flesh.     “Does anyone else wish to object?” I hear Captain Phasma challenge. Poe and I freeze, listening closely. He focuses on the ground, trying to come up with a plan; I already have, and it’s probably stupid, but what else can we do?     I pull Poe down to my level so that I can whisper, “Stay here and play along.” I climb back up onto the platform before he can stop me and then quite suddenly I have every blaster in the complex trained on me. I keep my hands up where they can see them, and play the same confident, cocky role that Poe keeps assuming. “Easy, boys.” I point to Phasma without lowering my hands. “You. Shiny. Yeah. You went and shot up my bounty. Now, see, that’s a problem.”     Phasma lifts her chin a little. “Are you speaking of the crime lord?”     “Yeah. Blew a hole right in his kriffing chest. Lucky for you, my boss wants him dead or alive, but he wants proof. SO. If you’d just ever-so-kindly let me take his over-dressed corpse off your hands, I’ll be outta your hair. If you have any. Kind of hard to tell under that whole fake-beskar shebang.” With one hand, I vaguely indicate her head.    “Search her, and search the tunnels.” Captain Phasma orders. I stick my arms out casually, though inside I’m freaking out over how Poe and Beebs are gonna hide. Two ’troopers come pat me down and scan me, and I cooperate. The other goes to check the tunnels.     “What’s this?” One of the stormtroopers reaches for Grogu’s pack, but I shift him out of range.    “Easy, easy-- it’s my good-luck charm. A pet, y’see.”     One of the ’troopers turns to his silver-clad leader. “Nothing out of the ordinary, ma’am. Just the standard arsenal of weapons. Should we confiscate them?”    “Who are you?” Captain Phasma demands, ignoring her ’trooper, who stands beside me nervously awaiting orders. I feel bad for the poor guy.    “The name’s Bond. Jay Bond.” It’s the single worst line I’ve ever uttered in my life, but it’s all I can think of on short notice. “Burgeoning bounty hunter from the Mid Rim. And you are?”    “My name does not concern you,” Captain Phasma counters. “All that concerns you is that if your story does not satisfy me, you are under arrest.”    I take a couple of arrogant strides forward, stopping when the stormtroopers lift their blasters. “Ah. Gotcha. Whaddya wanna know?”    “She’s lying!” Shouts a Rodian, and I try to act very, very calm. “She was with him! The one you’re looking for! He said she was his bodyguard!”    “Cuff her,” Phasma orders, but the stormtroopers falter when I start laughing. Poe? Nah, go all Deadpool on her ass.    “Wow, ain’t even gonna hear my side, huh? Yeah I was with him-- this Dameron, the cocky bastard-- but not of my own accord, I assure you.”    “Go on,” Phasma urges slowly, though I can tell she’s itching to put me in stuncuffs.    You’ve seen Burn Notice. Just chill and naturally step into this false persona like that guy. Just like acting. “See, I was here to find Keru Lar, yeah? You already know that much. Been casin’ the joint for weeks. Then comes along that pilot from the Resistance. Struck up a deal with him-- I don’t care who I get credits from so long as I get ’em, and doubling is never a problem. He wanted something from Lar, some kind of chip, didn’t really care. So long as I helped him get it, I got to take Lar in. Alive, was the deal, ’cause he’s worth more that way. Thanks for that. Now I’m comin’ outta this with a quarter of what I woulda made.”     Captain Phasma takes a couple of menacing steps forward. I’m short anyway, only 5’ 4", so this stormtrooper commander has to be at least 6’ 4". I hardly come up to her elbow. “Then why were you coming from the tunnel Dameron crashed in?”    Kriff. Say something, anything! “Wouldn’t you dive into hellfire to get the key to a stuncuff? Rather, stuncollar. Hidden right under my leathers, tight around my throat. I said I wasn’t in this of my own free will, yeah? Bastard put a stuncollar on me to keep me in check. Keep me from bringing him in-- the bounty on him woulda set me up for life! Had to get the key. Didn’t wanna deal with a stuncollar for an undisclosed period of time. That thing was kriffing uncomfortable.”    Phasma’s head tilts. “You took the key off of his dead body?” She sounds hopeful. Of course. If they can confirm the death of Commander Poe Dameron, that’d be one hell of a de-moralizer for the Resistance.    I choke out what I hope sounds like a cruel laugh. “What was left of it. I’m surprised the key even still worked.”    Captain Phasma looms over me menacingly. “And where is your stuncollar, Bond?”    Okay. That was... kinda cool. I talk like she’s four. “Uh... I trashed it. You gonna keep your restraints? Don’t think so. Can I take the body now?”    Phasma jerks her head to the stormtroopers beside me. They grab Lar’s body and drag it over to me, as if it’s incredibly light. I lower my hands, mock-saluting at her. “Thanks, Shiny.”     “We want no business with the bounty hunter guilds. Take your quarry and be done with it.” I start dragging Lar’s body toward the tunnels, piquing her interest. “Where are you going, Bond?”     “A bounty hunter never reveals their secrets.” I roll Lar’s body off the edge carelessly-- he actually is surprisingly light. “Bye.” I chirp, then hop off myself, finding no sign of Poe or Beebs. I can’t exactly call for them, so I drag Lar’s body in the direction of the place they’d last been standing. I pull the body far past the wreckage and am starting to get concerned when I hear “Psst.”    I glance over my shoulder first, scanning for life signs, but the heat from the fires are messing with my sensors. I’m pretty sure I’m not being followed, so I turn to find a grate as the source of the voice. “Poe?”    “Yeah. Hurry!” The grate lifts and I see Poe, but no sign of BB-8. He answers my question before I can ask it. “I sent Beebs back to the Slave. We’re gonna need a quick getaway.”     I pull Lar into the vent. The vent is spacious, but also filled with years of grime and old skeletons that imply we’re not the only ones that have done this.    It also explains why Poe looks like he’s gonna be sick.    I reach forward to steady him. “You okay?”    “I’m good.” He coughs and puts his back to the bones, managing a smile. “Didn’t expect that little performance. You’re a natural, Bez.”    I beam, not only from the praise, but also because I was certain my idea was stupid. “On Earth I was considering being an actor as a hobby. Guess I would’ve been a good one.”    We start searching Lar’s body, each taking a side. “How do you come up with names so fast?”    “Well, Bond? From my world he’s the star of a famous series of spy movies going back to like the ’60s-- er, decades before my mom was born. It’s cliché, but it worked, and, honestly? It felt really cool.”    Poe glances up at me with a smirk. “I bet. Y’know we gotta start looking to see if any of the movies you’re talking about’ve been turned into holovids.” He seems to find something, tearing off Lar’s expensive silver shoes and dumping them to find both a handful of credits and what’s distinctly a keycard.     “Jackpot!” I point to the keycard triumphantly, giving a little clap. “Key to his apartment?!”     “Key to his apartment,” Poe confirms with a grin. I stuff the credits into one of the pockets of Grogu’s bag, then we make our way through the vent, which leads into the grimy streets. Careful of stormtroopers, we take back alleys only as we make our way up a few levels, to a nicer, richer, but more corrupted portion of the city-planet. No one pays us any mind as we ascend the floors of a massive apartment complex via the stairs instead of the more public elevator, or when two people who are clearly out of place hurriedly enter Lar’s apartment.     Lar’s former home is richly furnished, overly-decorated, and filled with all the latest tech. There’s a pool table, a bar, gambling tables-- hell, it looks like he lives in a mini-casino. One wall is entirely glass, looking out over the city. The congested scene of city lights and traffic makes me shudder. “Nice view,” I say sarcastically as we start searching.     Poe locks the door and starts up a casual conversation as we begin to sweep his apartment. “You don’t like the city, Bez?”     I start opening cabinets, running my hands along the edges to check for hidden swtiches and panels. “I prefer the woods.”     “You should see Yavin. You’d love it there.” Poe-- without much effort-- turns a couch over. I tear the cushions off, shaking them out and opening them with my knife. What he’s implying, though, makes me jittery.    “You inviting me to your homeworld, Dameron?”     He starts running his hands along the walls while I focus on the furniture. “Maybe...” He briefly turns to see my face-- or rather, stance, since I still have my helmet on-- then flushes and clears his throat, changing the subject abruptly. “You know what we’re looking for, right?” When I shake my head, he continues with, “Most maps are stored on little silver drives. It could be an old format, though, so just... point out anything unusual.”     Unusual... Hm... I wonder... I press a button on the outside of my helmet. My surroundings go blue and yellow. Footprints-- up to five days old-- are in red. “Poe. Chill for a second. Stop moving.”     He freezes, throwing his hands up as if I’m gonna say that somebody has blasters pointed at us. “Uh... Why?”     “Watch and learn, my non-Mandalorian friend.” I gesture around at the floor in my general area. “Okay, so, this cluster-kriff is our mess. So... These enormous footprints over here are Lars’. Looks like he’s had some guests over.”     “Wait-- are you... Are you tracking?” Poe looks around in astonishment. He knows how to track just as well as I do, but that’s without a Mandalorian helmet. “...Inside?”    I tap my helmet in answer. “This thing works wonders.”    Poe comes up behind me, trying to lessen the effect we have on the place by following me around. “Huh... Maybe I will take the Creed... Then I’d repaint Fett’s armor to match Black One.”    “Not a chance,” I kneel to closer inspect the footprints far larger than a humans’, humming with thought as I watch them circle around the room as he entertained his guests. I follow them around his house for fifteen minutes before I find something out of the ordinary. Poe jumps when I laugh. “Looks like you were onto somethin’, Poe. These footprints go right into the wall.”     Positioned right next to the glass window-wall, it looks like it couldn’t possibly contain anything behind it. Poe and I start inspecting the edges, tapping and listening for hollow spots-- then Poe reaches over and pulls a knife out of my belt. With all the strength he can muster, he stabs into the wall and cuts out a piece of drywall hiding a control panel. I’m nodding with appreciation as I take the dagger back. “Nice. Now what?”     He messes with the panel for a second. “It needs a code.”     “But we don’t have a--”     He steps back, draws his blaster, and shoots it open. We high-five as the wall pops open with a hiss, though it’s heavy-- it takes both of us to swing it open. Inside is what looks like a giant fridge, glowing with blue lights and glass shelves, each of which contains half a dozen items or more. Neither of us have any idea what half of them are; it’s a collection of weird and strange artifacts from across the galaxy, some ancient, some new... Of course, since Lar’s apartment is built for a giant, the higher shelves require us to climb, carefully using the glass shelves as a ladder. We each take a side and start searching.     Not long after we start, halfway toward the top, I chirp, “Ooh. What have we here?”     “Find it?” Poe doesn’t stop his own careful search to turn and look at me as I reach for the device.     “I thi--” I don’t get to finish my sentence, because as soon as I touch it, I’m given a surge of energy much like the one I’d felt when I’d first touched Grogu-- a burst of Force. An image flashes before my eyes of a young tree on a grassy hill, and I hear a woman’s voice say my name very clearly, as if she’s standing right beside me.      “Follow your instincts...” She adds, and then I’m back in reality. With a shout of alarm, I yank my hand away from the map and fall backward, landing hard on my back.     “Laylah!”      That was much more intense than what had happened with Grogu. This was... powerful. Terrifying. Rising up in me is this want to use this power, the Force, and I push it away. I will not be a Sith.     I’m out of breath, but I scramble to my feet anyway and hold my arm to my chest, taking several steps backward, away from that damned chip. Poe’s in front of me, grabbing my shoulders, the map forgotten. “What is it? What happened?”     I point to where the map is on its shelf, but I don’t look at it. I refuse to. “That one’s it. Has to be. But I’m not touching it again.”     “Wha--”     “I’m not touching it, Poe!”     My bag moves, and with a yawn, Grogu pops his head out, babbling softly. Poe slowly nods when he realizes that I’m shaking. “It’s okay. I’ll get it.” He’s back down with it in a second, holding it like it’s made of glass and staring in awe. He’s Force-sensitive, just like us, so he can probably feel its importance; if he sees anything, he shows only astonishment. Grogu fixes his gaze on it with a strange intelligence and familiarity. I take several steps back, away from it.     Poe’s eyes flick to my face. “...What’d you see, Bez?”     I shake my head, trying to get rid of the memories. “A... A tree. I heard a woman’s voice.”     “What’d she say?”     “...To follow my instincts,” I admit, albeit reluctantly.     Poe hands the map to Grogu, who very carefully takes it before disappearing into the bag with it. “That doesn’t sound so bad.”     “...I felt the Force,” I whisper, “Like when I first touched Grogu. That woman that spoke to me... she was one of them... A Jedi.” I knew she couldn’t have been a Sith. The presence I felt was good, not evil, even comforting and welcoming. The fact that I’d felt her at all is what scares me. If she can contact me, why not a Sith? I close my eyes, letting my head fall forward a bit. “Every day it gets harder and harder. To block the Force. To keep it away from me.”    Poe is sympathetic as he regards me. His voice is barely audible. “Then why don’t you stop fighting it?”    Because if I let the Force in, that might let my control over my anger out. If that happens... “Because if I do, it’s over. I don’t want to end up like Kylo Ren.”    He sighs, shaking his head in disapproval. “Why are you so convinced that you’ll become a Sith?”    Of course, he already knows all my reasons. Somehow, he still thinks that if I stop ignoring the Force and start using it, I’d be just like Grogu. If I were ever trained, he’s absolutely certain that I would be a Jedi. But even a Jedi is the last thing I want.     I don’t get to say anything in response though, because suddenly he’s throwing me to the floor. The kriff--     Blasterfire obliterates the secret storage, and we’re covered in a shower of glass shards. With a horrible crash, the window is fractured before it turns to dust, bursting out into open air. Wind and city noise overwhelms us, and even the blasterfire ceases momentarily as everybody tries to reorient themselves. Poe pulls me to the makeshift shelter of a bar counter, the now-open window to our backs. We’re twenty-one stories up, so if we fall or are pushed, we’re done for.      I twist around and pop over the counter, higher than Poe can, managing to get three ’troopers in the chest and see a glimpse of Captain Phasma entering the doorway before blasterfire becomes too intense. Poe and I duck back down behind the bar. “Three already!”     Poe is appalled that I’m counting. “This isn’t a competition, Bez!”     “You’re just saying that ’cause you only got two.”     “Poe Dameron,” Says Captain Phasma, all high-and-mighty.      Poe goes snark mode. “Phasma! It’s been awhile. How’s the arm?” He quips, then to me mouths, “I shot her,” and I give a gesture of appreciation as if we’re just casually talking bad about someone behind their back.     She ignores him. “We understand that you have found something of the utmost importance to Lord Kylo Ren.” Poe mimes a gag. “Despite your innumerable crimes to the First Order, we are prepared to let you go if you would just give us the map.     “As for you, Bond--” I giggle at the use of the name, finding it ridiculously hilarious now, “--you are now wanted for deceiving a First Order officer.”    “You’re just mad ’cause you were outsmarted,” I call over the wind, “Not that it’s hard.”    I can feel her clenching her fists around her gun. Still perfectly calm, she adds, “If you both would turn over the map, we will let you go.” We’re shaking our heads at each other, unimpressed.    We both know they’ve got us surrounded and will shoot us to hell as soon as we offer it to them. We both know that if they don’t shoot us, they’ve got a Star Destroyer in orbit to take us to. “Just a sec, lemme think,” Poe says to her.    “Y’know those holovids where the guy grabs the girl and swings her to safety with a rope or something?” I whisper excitedly as I indicate the open air just a couple of feet away.    Poe looks at me like I’m crazy. “I don’t have a grappling hook! I left it on the Slave!”    Pointedly, I hold up a vambrace. “I do. We’re goin’ reverse here. Gonna jump right out the window.”    “It’s a crazy, deadly idea,” A wild grin spreads across his face and sparks dance in his eyes. “I like it. Let’s go.”     Hurriedly, I explain as I holster my blasters. “I’m gonna stand up and use my flamethrower. It’ll blind ’em, mostly. We’ll back up, and you hang onto me while we repel down.”    Poe nods eagerly. “On three?”    We count down as Phasma begins issuing orders to surround us and take the map by force. Just as the stormtroopers begin to move, I stand up, immediately triggering my flamethrower and waving it back and forth in front of me. Oh, they’re shooting, but their aim sucks anyway. Grogu is swung behind me to keep him safe from stray blasterfire, just as Poe stays behind me as shoots at stray ’troopers. We back up to the edge of the window as Phasma is shouting to her ’troopers to get down to the ground level; but they’re too late, they’ll never make it in time. Poe wraps his arms around my torso, and we jump-- I don’t trigger my grappling hook immediately. Instead, we plummet.     “Bez!” Poe warns, while Grogu is laughing and cheering loudly; once I have a clear shot for a window ledge where the ’troopers won’t be able to reach it, I fire-- there’s a few-second delay, but then we’re yanked to a stop. Poe lets out a breath of relief and rests his forehead against my shoulder as I start repelling us to the ground, which is dangerously close.     “This was fun. We should do this again.”     “We are never doing that again.” Poe tells me breathlessly, then Grogu babbles excitedly. “I said never.”     Once we’re on the ground, I disconnect the wire-- I can get a new one later. The stormtroopers are trying to fire at us from the window, so Poe and I take off as fast as we can for the nearest ride to the next level-- we have a head start, but the stormtroopers seem to always be right behind us. Crammed full of people leaving for the day, Poe and I slide in amongst the crowd and blend in, completely ignored by the platoon of stormtroopers guarding it. Idiots.     We get all the way back to the landing platform without Phasma’s ’troopers catching up, even with Poe’s injured leg. We’re just about to exit onto the landing platform when we’re cut off by BB-8, beeping wildly in a panic. We skid to a halt, which is difficult on such a smooth floor. “What?” Poe demands, then turns to me in a mix of exasperation and helplessness. “’Troopers are guarding the Slave-- they’re guarding all the ships that have landed recently. A dozen of them-- Bez!”     I’m running past him, shoving Grogu in his arms. No better place to use the whistling birds. I race out onto the platform headlong and am greeted with every blaster facing in my direction. “Hey! Stop!”     I obey immediately, but only because my whistling birds need to lock on. A five-second count is all they need, and I bring my arm down to push the pressure switch on the vambrace. Blasterfire gets me in the shoulder, but my beskar keeps me from the worst of it; I’ll probably have a pretty nasty bruise.     The whistling birds stream from my vambrace. The stormtroopers cry out as the tiny missiles find their necks, the soft parts of their armor, or blast them clear off the platform. “Poe!” I cry over my shoulder, but him and BB-8 are already hurrying up. On the other platforms, the ’troopers seem to have realized what’s happening and start firing at us. I draw my blasters and jog a few steps back to open the ramp, providing cover for Poe, Beebs, and Grogu as they bolt into the ship. I’m right behind them, flying for the cockpit. “Strap yourselves in-- it’s gonna be one hell of a ride.”     I can hear the stormtroopers opening fire on the ship as I’m getting into the cockpit, powering up the systems. I’m not even done buckling when I push the Slave into takeoff. The radar starts sounding off an alarm-- six TIEs are screaming after us from a patrol grid they’d been working nearby. “Kriffing unfair.” Unsure what else to do, I send the Slave straight up and at full speed. The TIEs lock on and open fire-- the whole ship lurches when they land a hit.      “Bez, what’s happening up there?” Poe calls from behind me, but I can hardly hear him over the alarms of one of the TIEs locking on for a missile-- or the fact that I see a Star Destroyer in orbit.     “Kriffing hell--” I stall out on purpose, flipping the Slave until I’m falling toward the TIEs. The turrets thunder out a round of bright red, catching two of them-- the rest break free.      Something on the back of the seat makes me jump-- it’s just Poe. He’s clipped a harness to himself and latched himself to the arm of my seat by a caribeener. “What’re you doing?”     “What am I doing? What are you doing? You need to be strapped in! How the hell--”     “On your right!” I dive just in time to avoid the TIEs stream of green blasts. “You ever been in a dogfight with TIEs?”     “No!” I pitch the Slave up again-- like I’d hoped, the TIEs give chase. Without hesitation I drop a seismic charge; they don’t dodge, they don’t have time. The charge detonates, sending a shockwave of blue energy outward. The TIEs are incinerated on impact.    “They’re launching more TIEs,” Poe warns as we exit the atmosphere, I hit the lightspeed, and in a couple minutes we’re over whatever planet I randomly inputted; I have no idea where we are-- five TIEs managed to follow us. I swing the Slave up and around, straight for them. The unexpected assault makes two of them scatter, but the other three open fire as I do-- two of them combust and spiral into the third.    “Behind you,” Poe says calmly.    “Stop backseat driving! I know! I can see all the systems, Poe!” I spot canyons and dive in. The TIEs give pursuit. “I was never good at games like this!” The red-orange stone threatens to clip us and I feel like I take each turn too slowly. One wrong move and we’re dead. One of the TIEs shoots into the rock, causing an avalanche that nearly squashes us all. The edge clips us, rocks and debris clanking of the transparisteel and the hull. “Real smart, nerf-herder.”    Finally, I find an advantage: a natural bridge. I swoop under and over, firing on the TIEs upside-down. I snag one, but the other evades me, follows me. We’re right-side-up again and still being pursued. “Got a plan, Bez?” Poe questions casually.    “Maybe.” I push the Slave into full-speed and do my best to fly through the canyon without crashing until I find what I’m looking for: a sharp turn. “Bingo.”    “...That sounds stupid.”    “It’s an Earth word.”    “Yeah, I got that. But that sounds like a name. A stupid name.”    “You’re just mad ’cause I called you a backseat driver.”    We sweep around the corner, but we don’t keep going. Instead, I tuck the Slave into a cleft, and we wait for the TIE to speed by. Please work, please work; don’t slam into us. But it does work. The TIE flies by without even realizing what’s happened. The Slave blasts off after it. My turrets lock on just as the TIE starts to swerve in an attempt to fly up and away. I open fire, and the TIE is obliterated in a burst of smoke and fire.     Poe forgets that he’s supposed to be pouting and cheers, clapping me on the shoulder. “You sure you wanna be a doctor, Bez? Maybe you could be a pilot part-time? I’d let you join Black Squadron!”     “The offer’s tempting, Poe,” I answer as we leave the canyon behind. He hasn’t noticed the way my hands are shaking, and I’m glad I have the helmet on or he’d see how clammy and queasy I feel. “But... no. I didn’t like it.”    “You didn’t like kicking ass?”    “I didn’t like shooting them down,” I specify, “Or killing the stormtroopers. I didn’t like it, and I don’t ever want to do it again.”     Poe reaches down to squeeze my shoulder reassuringly. “Well I don’t like it either, Bez. None of us do.”     “I know.” We exit the atmosphere, and for a second we’re just floating in empty space. I expect the Star Destroyer to appear, but when it doesn’t, I realize the TIEs must not have transmitted our location. “...You’re stronger than I am. You, and all the other pilots. I can’t do what you do. I wish I could.”     Poe’s silent for a second. He reaches around me to input coordinates into the navicomputer, and we’re jumping to Tatooine. “It never gets any easier. But with every ’trooper or TIE you take down, you save a life. Think of it that way. I’m sure there’s good people in there somewhere, but the problem is finding them-- or giving them the courage to come out.”     My voice is small and meek when I say, “...Dad worries about me being a First Order traitor.”     Poe turns to look at me; I see disbelief, astonishment, but not understanding. “Wait, what?”     I flip on autopilot and talk as I’m going around to the platform behind the cockpit. Poe follows close behind. “I told you about my life on Earth, right? Well Dad worries that I’m not really actually from Earth. He worries that I betrayed the First Order somehow and they released me with memory implants in the hopes that I’d go crazy.”     “Joke’s on them,” Poe scoffs, putting his hands on his hips; then he seems to realize something and he reaches over to grab my arm. “Wait, is that why you’re so worried about becoming a Sith?”    I shrug; the thought had crossed my mind many times. “Sometimes I wonder if Dad’s right, and I was being trained to be a Sith. So I worry that if it is true, then if Kylo Ren finds me, he’ll finish whatever was started.”    “It’s impossible,” Poe sounds completely confident as he comes closer, tapping me on the helmet. “Hey. Look at me, buckethead.”    “That’s owl-buckethead, to you.”    “That’s impossible,” He says again once I’m looking at him, “You know why? Leia-- no, not just Leia, every extremely-Force-sensitive person in the galaxy-- wouldn’t have seen you if that was true. And even if it were, then what’s that say? You were being trained to be a Sith and did something they didn’t like, and they pretty much accept all forms of evil, so you probably did something good. Now look at you. You don’t have it in you to be a Sith, Bez. You don’t even like killing stormtroopers.”     The warmth in his eyes is calming, reassuring. For some reason Poe’s reasoning puts me at ease a bit, though I’m also just crushing all the fears into a little manageable ball that I refuse to think about. I manage to smile. “...Thanks, Poe.” A tap on my leg makes me look down to see Grogu-- but I skitter back from him when I see that he’s trying to hand me the map. “Uh-uh, Gizmo. You read it.”    “Badu,” He says insistently, and starts chasing me around the platform. He’s not very fast and he’s easy to avoid, but the platform is small and he’s a persistent little guy.    “I don’t think he wants to read it.” Poe points out, having watched for about five minutes in full seriousness.    “Well, I’m not reading it!”    “You’re the only one who can,” Poe gestures to himself and BB-8 as he continues, “I can’t read it, Beebs can’t read it, and Grogu won’t read it. That leaves you, unless you wanna turn around and have Leia read it.”     We stare each other down for a few seconds, and for a moment I seriously contemplate what it would take to convince Leia to read a map leading to the shards of Palpatine’s lightsaber. Probably nothing-- and then this whole thing really will have been for nothing. I flex my hands, nervous, thinking, but I can’t see any other alternative. Reluctantly, I kneel down and reach for the map tentatively. Nothing happens-- no vision of a tree and no voices. I’m still in the Slave.      “Bah,” Grogu says, and toddles over to Poe’s bag to rummage for something to eat.     I stand as I address Poe, sighing with relief. “Why are we going to Tatooine?”     Poe stands beside me with his hands on his hips, watching as BB-8 helps Grogu unwrap a nutrition bar. “We’re going to that space-McDonald’s you mentioned. Oh, and we need a safe-ish place to read that map.” He claps me on the back and moves to help Beebs when Grogu tries to fight him with his food. “Guys-- no, Grogu, do not stick that in BB-8’s compartment-- Beebs, stop it, be nice-- guys--”     My eyes trail down to the map drive, resting in my palm, heavy with importance. I wonder who the woman I heard is-- is she still alive, or is she a ghost? Are there ghosts in space? I’m sure there’s no reason for them not to exist in the vast cosmos. I turn it over and over, but can find no buttons or switches or anything to indicate where I can activate it. So, what am I supposed to do? Meditate?     Guess I’ll figure it out, somehow.

    “Bez, you gonna give me a hand or not?”

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[equinoxts2]

We now return to Kulo Seeri!

After having to return to a backup... again... KS is back, and regular story posts wil resume from rotation 1, household 4: Zera’s family, the last one I posted about before I restored the backup. Here’s a run-down of the stuff that went on off-camera:

Lydia zan-Avira and Keru zan-Tia’s marriage is most definitely on the rocks. I don’t even know why, but Keru spent the last three iterations picking fights with everyone and their cat... this time, that includes Lydia. I wouldn’t mind but I haven’t even played these two yet...

Arafa sho-Carmela, the tribe’s elderly herbalist, started training an apprentice: Alana zan-Avira. Arafa’s granddaughter Zema also seems interested in learning the healing arts.

No fewer than four of the six Vedraloga awarriors are struggling to keep their vows of chastity. They may need to rethink that aspect of Vedraloga life!

On the last night of the Vedraloga rotation, Sparrow zan-Ace was whisked into the spirit world while watching for omens, returning pregnant.

And finally, Headwoman Etan caught her future husband, Abraxius, flirting with Zera at the village centre. She immediately bounced back with Zera’s uncle Melchol... one of Etan’s many exes, who broke tribal law by divorcing her.