#not tagging anyone for now

[vodika-vibes]

Stealing the Commander - Part 1

When Fira and her crew stumble on the Negotiator, Fira scoffs and orders her crew to continue on their way. A comment from one of the members of her crew about the legal status of the clones, turns the Firebrand and her little Sparks from just nuisances, into full blown terrorists.

Deep in the Outer Rim, far from the glittering façade of the core worlds, there was a decently sized junker ship named Liberty. The ship had a list of over a dozen different owners over the course of it’s existence, but one thing about it remained constant. It’s owner was always, always, a former slave.

Fira Valencia was born a slave. She was born a slave and she lived as a slave on a tiny little mining asteroid until she was 14 years old. Which was when she snuck about a transport vessel and ran until she couldn’t run anymore.

But that had been years ago, nearly yen by her reckoning, and she was no longer a frightened child who jumped at shadows.

No. She had become the shadows that terrorized the slavers who plagued her galaxy.

Fira absently twirled a dart between her fingers, and then threw it at the dart board that sat on her bedroom door. The dart hit squarely in the middle of the face attached to the board. A Hutt, Fira didn’t know, or care, which Hutt it was, had been their most recent target.

A smirk crossed her face. One shipment of slaves freed. Over 25 slavers dead. And one Hutt who would never be found. It had been a good day. And, well, those days were becoming few and far between.

She opened her bedroom door, and stepped into the dingy hall, she really did need to get around in investing in a cleaning droid, and smacked the button that would shut her room from the rest of the ship. 

“Fira~” A tiny slip of a girl, no older than 7, bounded over to her with a coloring book clasped tightly in her hand, “Good Morning!”

“Morning, Camma.” Fira slightly ran her hand over the young Miralian’s head, “You’re awake early.”

Camma beamed, her face twisting oddly with the array of scars that crossed it, “My hair started growing back! Just like you said it would! Bug gave me a ribbon, to help me look like a little girl.” She proffered a pastel pink ribbon, that Fira knew, for a fact, Bug had bought solely for Camma.

“I see it, it won’t be long until you’re hair is long enough for a braid again,” Fira replied warmly, “Go see if Bug will help you get it on, yeah?”

“M’kay,” Camma darted past her, and then she paused, “Oh! Mister Gray is in the cockpit. He’s mad enough to spit nails. You should check on him.”

“Can do, boss.”

Camma giggled in delight, and continued sprinting down the hall, while Fira turned and headed towards the lift that would take her from the lower levels and up to where Mister Gray was.

Gray was a human, much older than Fira was, who had been a gladiator for the majority of his life. He joined Fira when she freed him from the pits, and he vowed to remain by her side, until she grew tired of him.

“Morning, Gray.” Fira dropped into one of the seats, once she made sure that  the duct tape that was holding the seat together hadn’t pulled away any, “Camma says you’re mad enough to spit nails, what’s up?”

Gray spoke slowly, “Have you heard the latest from the Republic?”

“You know I don’t pay attention to Pubbie Propaganda.” Fira replied.

He watched her steadily, “They want peace agreements with the Hutt Cartel.”

Fira rolled her eyes, “Stupid slugs,”

“I don’t disagree, but if this agreement goes through we won’t be able to hit the Hutts without being put on Watchlists.” Gray said calmly, “...more, watchlists.”

“What’s wrong, boo bear? Nervous?”

“I’m not exactly looking forward to becoming Republic Enemy #1, no.” He paused, and then reached out and flicked her forehead, “Don’t call me that.”

She rolled her eyes, “Yeah, yeah. I hear you. What else did the news say?”

He stared at her for a moment longer, before he turned his gaze back to the datapad in his hand, “Not much. Other than the war isn’t going well for the Republic.”

“Yeah, well...one man’s war-”

“We are not going to profit off of the people who are losing their homes because of this war,” Gray said sternly.

“Did I say that?” Fira flickered her gaze over to him, “I meant that there’s plenty of salvage in B1 droids.”

Gray’s lips turned up slightly, “As you say, Lady Firebrand. Though, that does run the risk of making us look like we favor the Republic.”

“You can’t salvage human limbs, Gray. That’s gross. Though, I bet a lightsaber would sell for a pretty penny.”

“Lightsabers are generally attached to jedi, boss.” Gray pointed out.

“True.”

“Now get out of my cockpit, you’re cramping my style.”

“Oh, forgive me your majesty,” Fira said sarcastically, with an over flourished bow, “So sorry to overstep.”

*****

6 hours later, Fira was lounging in her throne, a dramatic centerpiece that was only hers by right of the fact that it was where she planted her ass several hours earlier, when Juffo, a Wookie who had also been a Czerka slave, strolled into the room.

“We’ve exited hyperspace near Fos,” He said, “There’s a problem.”

Fos was a Mid-Rim world that had a bustling underground slave market. The plan had been to disrupt the auctions happening this week, free the people who were trapped there, and maybe find some hint as to who was funding this particular market. Fira had her money on the Hutts. Gray was convinced it was someone else. 

“More problems?” Fira asked. She hated problems. Problems meant that she had to think to solve them.

“Yes. There’s a Republic Ship in orbit.”

“There’s a lot of Republic Ships all over the place, Juffo.” She pointed out, “They’re at war.”

He inclined his head in agreement, “This is General Kenobi’s Flagship. The Negotiator.”

Kanna made a face. She had opinions on the Jedi. For all that she’s never, actually, met one. Republic Lap Dogs was one of the nicer opinions she had. “How’s this a problem? We ignore them, they ignore us. Everyone’s happy.”

Juffo regarded her steadily, and Fira felt anxiety creep up her spine. The large Wookie had known her since she was an angry teenager. He knew her better than anyone on the ship. She was not going to like what he was about to tell her.

“Were you aware,” He began, his gaze never wavering from Fira, “That the clones have no rights. They aren’t citizens of the republic, and, in fact, I don’t believe they are even classified as Sentients.”

“That’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard in my life. They’re obviously sentients.”

“The Republic intentionally refuses to classify them as Sentients. Because, as you know-”

“You can’t enslave beings that aren’t sentient.” Fira finished. She soft flicker of rage that burned in her chest at all times, burst into a raging wildfire. “How many of our people are field ready?”

“What are you planning?”

“A visit to the Negotiator.”

“We are not capable of taking a warship.” Juffo’s voice was flat and no-nonsense. 

“Of course not,” Fira lightly tapped her lower lips with her knuckles, “But, we have an adorable 7 year old girl who can cry on command, and a comm that will reach the negotiator.”

Camma, who had been listening in, grinned. “I can do that! How many people do you want to come on board?”

“Just the one. Something-something don’t want anyone else to get hurt. Or something.” Fira said absently, as she waved her hand around. “And we’ll have Gray jump us to hyperspace as soon as we’re grab the person.”

“You’re advocating kidnapping, Fira.”

“Sounds festive.”

*******

“General,” One of the Vod’e working the comms had a troubled look on his face, “We have an incoming distress call coming in.”

“Just the call?” General Kenobi asked, frowning under his beard.

“Yes, sir. There’s no video feed connected at all.”

“Patch it through,”

There was silence for a moment, and then, just a little too loud, as though the person on the other end didn’t quite understand how these things worked, “H-Hello?”

A young child’s voice echoed through the comm, her voice was shaking, and she was obviously trying not to cry. “Can you hear me?”

“We can hear you.” Obi-Wan said gently, “My name is Obi-Wan, what’s yours?”

“...Ammy.” She replied, after a moment of hesitation, “Somethings wrong!”

“How do you mean?”

“We were coming here to go shopping, and then people just starting falling over!” Ammy wailed over the comms, causing a very uncomfortable feedback noise to echo across the bridge.

“Just started falling over?” General Kenobi murmured thoughtfully.

“Some kind of ship malfunction, perhaps?” Cody offered, frowning in thought.

“Makes the most sense, the ship does look pretty ancient.” General Kenobi replied, flicking his gaze from the holo, and out the viewport at the ancient looking vessel. “Ammy, can you tell me, are the other people on the ship still alive?”

Cody winced. That...wouldn’t have been how he worded that.

“I don’t know! I’m scared!” Ammy wailed even more.

“Okay, it’s okay.” Cody interrupted, “Where are you located, on the ship?”

There was a sniffle, “Um...In the cockpit.”

“Alright, someone will come over to check, I promise.” Cody continued.

“You’re sending people?” Ammy asked.

“Just the one. We’ll-” He paused when the comm crackled loudly and then went to static, “What happened?”

“Seems like their comm stopped working.” The tech answered with a frown, “Serious ship issues, it looks like Commander.”

“Who do you want to send over to the ship, Commander?” General Kenobi asked, ever the professional even when a child was in danger.

“I’m going myself. I won’t send anyone else into this situation blind, but I can handle most things, and,” He lightly rapped his helmet, “This will filter out most toxins.”

General Kenobi nodded slowly, “Alright. I’ll allow it.”

Cody rose a single brow, he hadn’t been asking, but he supposed it was nice to have his General on his side for this. He pulled his helmet on in a smooth motion and he left the bridge.

Less than 10 minutes later, a small shuttle left the Negotiator and attached itself to the Liberty.

“No communication from the Commander, General.” The Tech said quietly.

There was no movement for a moment, and then the computers started lighting up, and the techs sprang into action. “Sir, the ships engines just came to life.”

“Sir, they’re engaging their hyperdrive!”

The men on the bridge watched, horrified, as the Liberty vanished into hyperspace. With Commander Cody still on board.

*****

Cody woke with a blinding headache. He woke up with no weapons and no armor and locked in a cell. An actual cell. With bars. He squeezed his eyes shut and tried to remember what happened. 

He entered the ship. He remembered seeing old bloodstains on some parts of the floor. He remembered it was uncomfortably hot, he had started sweating as soon as he entered a hallway. And then-

Oh. Right. The Wookie.

He heard the sound of boots against metal, and he slowly sat up, his mind racing. Who had him? Separatists? Ventress?

Well, whoever had him, wasn’t going to get anything out of him. He was Marshal Commander for a reason.

He lifted his gaze to glare at the person holding him, only to falter. It was...a girl? No, young woman. Short, but not tiny, wearing a clean leather jacket. She looked just as surprised as he was.

“Ah. You’re awake.” She greeted, turning and hopping to sit up on a cargo crate, “I’m Fira. Nice to meet you.”

He regarded her thoughtfully. She didn’t seem to be under any duress, she was clearly armed, though only with a pistol, and she didn’t seem to be openly hostile to him. “A member of the crew, I take it?”

“Captain, supposedly.” She replied, “Though Stars know that I don’t actually have any control over anyone on the ship.”

“...you kidnapped me.”

“I mean. Yeah. Technically.”

“Technically? Literally. You literally kidnapped me.” Cody snapped.

She squinted at him, “It wasn’t supposed to. We had plans! And then someone said something and I got mad, and it was a spur of the moment plan.”

Cody opened his mouth to respond, and then he frowned at her, “Why are you being so honest?”

“Cause we’re in hyperspace and you couldn’t go anywhere if you wanted to, love.” Fira shrugged easily, and leaned against the wall, “So, we might as well talk.”

“I don’t negotiate with terrorists,”

“Good thing this isn’t a negotiation then. And I’m not a terrorist. Pirate, maybe.” Fira grinned at him, “We, my crew and I, free slaves. You’re a slave, ergo we had to free you.”

He stared at her, stunned. Sure, he and his brothers were technically slaves, but they were doing what they were made for. It wasn’t right, but it wasn’t wrong either. Right? “Where’s my armor?”

“Safe. As are your weapons.” She looked him over with a small frown, “Bug isn’t happy. He says your underweight for a man your size, he’s going to fix that. The cells get cold, also, so you should have plenty of blankets and pillows to be comfortable.” Fira tapped her chin thoughtfully, “As for clothing...I’ll have Camma being you something a little less...ah...uniform-y. Be nice to her, she’s just a kid. And don’t stare.”

Cody scowled, he would stare if he wanted to, thank you very much.

“Right, well. Since you aren’t interested in chatting, I’ll be on my way. Unless you want to tell me your name?”

“...CC-2224.” He was surprised when a look of genuine grief crossed her face.

“Please don’t take this the wrong way, but I’m absolutely not calling you by a number.” Fira hopped down from her perch, “For now, I’ll just stick with Love.”

He did not want to be called that. But he was also not telling her his name. So he just scowled at her. She, in return, smiled at him, waved, and left the room.

Oh. He hated her.

Less than 10 minutes later, a little girl bounded in the room. Her face was covered in scars, and Cody had to force himself not to stare. “Hihi! I brought you some new clothes!”

“...Ammy, I take it?”

She giggled, “Camma! Fira asked me to bring you something new! She’s really nice isn’t she?”

“I don’t really like her,” He admitted.

“That’s okay. It’s hard, suddenly being free. You know?” Camma crouched and started slipping clothing through the bars, “I hated her for a long time after she freed me. But now I’m really happy she did.”

“You were a slave then?”

“Mm-hmm.” She nodded, “We all were. Including Fira. My Master’s daughter complained that I was prettier than her...so my master did this.” She gestured to her face, “but Fira saved me! And she made sure that my master would never hurt me, or anyone, ever again.”

“She kills slave owners then?”

Camma looked up at him, “They get what they deserve.”

He didn’t really have anything to say to that, so he just picked up the clothes, “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome. I also brought a printed book! It’s one of Bug’s favorites. He’s coming by tomorrow to talk to you about your health.” Camma smiled at him, “I’ll come and visit too! But I have to go now, Fira says it’s important for me to get my education.”

“Okay.” He watched as she sprinted out of the room, and then he looked down at the clothes, and he sighed. 

He would wait until the right moment, and then he would escape. Like Fira said, he couldn’t go anywhere while they were in hyperspace anyway. At least the clothes looked clean. And he even had a fresher in his cell.

He would be fine until he could escape. They didn’t seem to want to hurt him, at the very least.

[butchfalin]

the funniest meltdown ive ever had was in college when i got so overstimulated that i could Not speak, including over text. one of my friends was trying to talk me through it but i was solely using emojis because they were easier than trying to come up with words so he started using primarily emojis as well just to make things feel balanced. this was not the Most effective strategy... until. he tried to ask me "you okay?" but the way he chose to do that was by sending "👉🏼👌🏼❓" and i was so shocked by suddenly being asked if i was dtf that i was like WHAT???? WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY TO ME?????????? and thus was verbal again

[bastardiando]

posting across the targetverse here bc it did numbers on twitter

[posalis]

"You can only be jealous of someone who has something you think you ought to have yourself." Margaret Atwood, The Handmaid’s Tale

[ryllen]

[ x ]

[risingsunresistance]

pigy,,,

[randomloserlover]

cobs destroys mephone's objectsonas

[mumblesplash]

in honor of last season’s poem being called “”end poem”” (all quotes mandatory) this season i made one out of pieces of the actual end poem

[umblrspectrum]

part 4 of a lot funnier in my head than on paper

[vulpixelates]

i know it will never happen but i so desperately desire an origins-type playable backstory thing in all games but especially veilguard. i feel like it added so much depth to origins and made you feel instantly connected to your character in a way that gets lost in games like inquisition where you fill in the blanks as you go except for the bare basics. like, i do enjoy the freedom to willy nilly decide where a character was before the events of the story from a creative perspective, but the playable origins were just so good! especially when you go back to where your warden is from and can engage differently with the arcs there

[daeyumi]

i keep forgetting to post this but here’s the piece i drew last year for the twisted wonderland planner~

i’m really happy i was able to include so many characters 💙

[yjcorefourenjoyer]

I need to see Tim meet a kid who’s mentor “died” but they don’t believe it.

I need Tim to see this kid who’s just begging Tim to give him a chance to explain his reasoning, begging Tim to be the first person to look at the evidence he’s brought logically.

I need to see Tim say “I believe you, I’ll help you” to him. I need to see the adventure they go on to bring that mentor back, I need to see Tim make sure another kid doesn’t go through what he did.

i need to see that kid healing from what other people said to him while Tim heals from what those people used to say about him

[secretagentspydetectiveninja]

posting this with absolutely no context

[ducktracy]

there are a lot of evil people in the world and a lot of darkness in the world and so it’s very important for me to stress that now more than ever is the time to spread kindness and compassion. combat the evil by not only not partaking in it, but actively refuting it. destroy the notion that being compassionate or generous or kind to someone is uncool or embarrassing or even scary. be the change you want to see. start a chain reaction. positivity only breeds more positivity. do an act of kindness for someone so that that person who is too afraid to do it themselves can see you, realize that they’re not alone, and perhaps sheepishly follow your example. and then the next person who is too afraid but sees that person can do the same. when bad news comes out about bad people or horrible atrocities in the world it’s such an easy impulse to despair, and obviously it’s important to feel what you need to feel. grieve. be angry. be sorrowful. be empathetic. but dust off your pants and get up and be a part of a chain reaction that, no matter how small the scale, and spread compassion and love and care. all the reasons why you might not—“it’s hard! it’s scary! people will make fun of me! it’s useless because there’s too much evil!” are all grade A arguments as to why you should. you have no idea how many people you could inspire to do the same. even if it doesn’t get you anyway far, you can at least say you have the nobility of trying. please choose love and please choose life. you are worth loving and you are worth inspiring others to love

[itsbasicallycanon]

more tidepod shenanigans: annoying little sibling edition

[Picture ID: A slight birdeye's view of Leo and Mikey with a minor emphasis on Leo's exasperated expression. Mikey is holding Leo's arm with sparkles in his eyes as he excited tries to convince Leo to get whatever it is he wants. Behind both of them is Mikey's wall of text as he rambles on. (The full text is included under the line break.) Second image is an alternate version of the same drawing but without the text. In its place there is white sparkles around Mikey and downtrodden lines on Leo's forehead.]

"c'mon leo c'mon pretty please you'd be the best big brother ever of all time c'mon please pretty please hey pretty please hey hey hey c'mon please just look into my eyes c'mon please big brother c'mon please please please pretty pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeease please please please please please hey please pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeease you know that i love you right you're the bestest sibling ever who i love forever please please please please please please"]