#well aside some of you i found on tumblr and discord again lol hi

[bugfail]

it's cool finding people i used to know on the woy amino in the wild but also oh my god why are so many of them into hh/hb now like what happened to you.....

[shadowsong26x]

Yes, it’s been a while, yes, I’m aware that it’s no longer 2022, but here we are, back again with the Great BSG Rewatch of 2022!

Obligatory plug for Galactica Big Bang here, since that’s a thing now XD Signups will open July 1, I’ll be posting more about it here and on the event tumblr as we get closer to that. We also have a Discord!

Anyway, that shameless self-promotion aside, we’re picking up with Season 3! This is actually my favorite season overall--despite the fact that it doesn’t include my very favorite episode(/two-parter) and does include my least favorite episode (which we’ll get to in the back half of the season) along with a couple other storylines that irk me. It feels just...IDK, even though this is the real start of the ‘writing by the seat of our pants’ problems that are a Thing in the second half of this series, and it’s not actually all that cohesive, as a season it feels weirdly cohesive? Like, thematically, and so on. And anyway I just like it.

I am splitting this up into halves, like I did with season 2, and there aren’t any Extras in this round (I should probably track down the Resistance webisodes; I know I have the Face of the Enemy stuff, but not those). So this covers everything from Occupation through The Passage.

My notes on the miniseries and Season 1 can be found here; and my notes on the first half of S2 (plus Resurrection Ship and Razor) can be found here. My notes on the rest of S2 (plus The Plan) can be found here.

As before, my notes contain spoilers because I have seen the full series before. I’ve copied over a lot of quotes I like, some with commentary, some with just Flailing. Also some plot/construction notes, and some notes to myself about The Other Battlestar (which I swear I am actually working on; although it needs a better title lol) and a couple other self-indulgent AUs/potential fic projects, which I have deleted. There might be a few I missed, though.

Also, warnings. Very Very important content warnings: genocide, suicide, intimate partner violence, torture, and sexual assault, as well as a lot of other Violence. And, because we are living in a post-COVID world, plague/pandemic stuff. The torture warnings are particularly heavy for both halves of season 3.  Also, there’s quite a bit of dubcon in this first half. And a lot of fatphobia/diet culture BS. Feel free to send me an ask if you want more details.

That should cover it, so let’s get down to business to defeat the Huns wait wrong fandom. MOVING ON.

Occupation:

And the opening bit has changed! At least adding that bit with Caprica waking up and her and Boomer(?) and A Random Five coming to accept the surrender.

Kara gets the previously-on!

…which then dives Right into Creepy!Leoben because Of Course, that whole Thing.

YAY MY 2000-YEAR-OLD DYSFUNCTIONAL ROBOT DRUNKS IN LOVE

I’m sorry I can’t take the moustache seriously XD

Oh that closeup on Ellen’s ring during the flashes of her and Cavil, and cut together with building a bomb and lighting candles in a temple and. I love this arc A Whole Lot guys, there will probably be not much intelligent Commentary, mostly just Flailing.

I do like the way this bit with Ellen is shot, without showing Cavil’s face for a very long time, to let you think it’s Tigh thinking about that while he’s in lockup.

Huh, Bill still wears his wedding ring, I don’t think I’d picked up on that before.

Chief’s post-timeskip facial hair is pretty great.

Aaaaaaand now we’re up to the Creepy Dollhouse.

Lol Cavil just casually putting on his sunglasses.

Aaaaand now we can see she was screwing Cavil. Or hear, at least, the face is still unclear, but given what she says and her attitude when she climbs off…

Yay, bombs!

And this just gets Creepier and Creepier the more we learn about Cavil and the Final Five.

Lol “we gotta get you processed. Bureaucracy, you know.” Cavil just enjoys frakking with him.

Awwwww, the way they Cling to each other when he gets out.

YOU ARE SO CREEPY LEOBEN

Niiiiiice they weren’t even sharp and went all the way through his neck.

Wonder how many times she’s done this. Given how casually he says “I’ll see you soon” probably Many.

And this music as she picks up the knife and finishes her dinner with her hand still bloody and she’s very Mannerly about that part and I love it.

Ooooh, and different words!!! And no survivor count.

BABY! Oh, poor Nicky, did you get screwed over by the narrative.

134 days into the occupation.

Mars day.

Lol Cavil’s air quotes on ‘god’

D’Anna is also only halfway paying attention; hard to tell how much attention Baltar is paying until they suggest executing him. XD

And Caprica’s like “nope” “just because he’s your favorite toy.”

Oooh, and she specifically looks to D’Anna on ‘anyone who wants to challenge that [he’s with me].’ I guess they were setting that up already.

Still wish we knew whether this D’Anna was Fleet!D’Anna or Downloaded!D’Anna or both (probably not both But)

YAY MY BEST BELOVED MOST IRONICALLY NAMED MAN IN THE UNIVERSE FELIX GAETA. AND THE PUPPY!!!!!

Puppy is very very important.

Baby!!!

Nice, dug-out cellar safehouses, that’s what I thought I remembered.

Ah, the Irony XD

So, Gaeta’s been passing stuff for weeks, which seems to have started after Tigh was arrested. I wonder if he tried other things before he worked out this system, or if it just took him a couple months to figure Anything out about making contact?

And Tigh and Cavil are using very similar “send a message” rhetoric, that’s interesting.

And yeah, can’t blame Sam for taking the ‘they’re not coming for us’ attitude. And this argument between him and Saul is just. Amazing, I love it.

And Tigh’s face with “any word on Kara” I love their relationship so much.

“Hi, honey, I’m home.”

Five times, apparently!

Lol the casual way he steps over his own dead body.

And she doesn’t kill him that time, interesting.

“I’m a patient man.” “You’re not a man.” “I’m willing to wait. You just need more time.” SO FUCKING CREEPY.

“To know the face of God is to know madness.” I feel like that’s come up before and every time I hear it it’s followed up with “To love another person is to see the face of God” in my head. IDK if I’m going anywhere with that but…there it is.

“Either way you’ll be spending the night with me” FUCK. “I do love you, Kara Thrace.” Ffffffuck.

Oh man how quiet the flight deck is.

YAY KAT

THIS FUCKING SUBPLOT I HATE IT SO FUCKING MUCH.

Hi Hoshi!

Oh shit collision.

Dee is so pretty. And deserves so much better.

Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaate.

“You’re weak, soft. Mentally and physically.” I HATE THIS SUBPLOT. I REALLY HATE IT.

Not Lee and Bill fighting, that’s whatever. The Fat!Lee subplot, it is every kind of. Fuck it. Just fuck it. I hate it so much I can’t even words.

Playing pyramid while planning a suicide bombing yay.

“Not the first time we’ve sent a soldier on a one-way mission.”

“Some things you don’t do, even in war.” “Maybe you’ll feel different when it’s you sitting in detention.”

And Bill and Athena, yay!!! I still like my headcanon for why her hair is the same exact length as her sisters here XD

“I don’t do guilt,” he lied, like a liar.

“I sat here consumed with rage at all the things that had happened to me. And at some point I realized it was just guilt.” And she does call her betrayal what it is. And talks about choosing to forgive herself and move forward.

This is interesting, I’d kind of like to watch this scene back to back with that one bit with Dee during the Kobol arc.

Dee is so irritated right now and I kind of want to fast forward past this entire scene except I’m Committed to a full rewatch and if I didn’t fast forward through some of the earlier bits like in Six Degrees or Captain’s Hand I’m not gonna skip this. Also Dee’s face is pretty.

“You lost your war. And you’re a soldier who needs a war.” Interesting.

…and that was slightly Awkward exposition “that’s one of the reasons I married you.”

If they had Felix on the ground with them they’d probably have more luck with the comms.

And yep, there is a Raptor because of course there is.

YAY CONTACT!

Her face when they make contact!!!!

Have hope. We’re coming for you.

<33333333333

Tory is also Very Pretty.

I am…actually not surprised that there are 200 people. There were always going to be the Majority of people, who keep their heads down and just try to survive, low-level cooperation as necessary, and then the people on the outer extremes of either Resistance or Collaboration. And there are always going to be enough people on that Collaboration fringe. And they’ll have a lot of reasons for it, it’ll vary from person to person, but…it’ll always happen.

Ohhhhhh this prayer. Even without watching Resistance and getting to know this guy it’s. It’s a Lot.

And Baltar decides at the last minute not to go to the ceremony.

Felix’s hair is so Floofy I love it.

As he BOLTS to the dead drop location.

Tigh makes a very good tactical point. But does allow for the strike to be aborted if Baltar isn’t going to be there but Chief doesn’t get the message in time and…yeah.

He checks the bowl a Minute too early if he’d been just a Minute later…

“They call this a suicide vest, but I think that really underplays the homicide involved.”

OH THAT SHOT WITH THE CRACKED MIRROR

Don’t look suspicious don’t look suspicious

Centurion jumpscare! But then it turns away and lets him pass.

BOOM

Precipice:

Bill gets the previously on, I think!

Subtitles that was not Starbuck

Yessssss prison conversation!!!!! I love the scenes with the two of them talking when one of them’s in prison. They’re just. Some of the best.

(Yeah, no real comments I just. I just love scenes like this with Laura and Gaius.)

“Their only crime was putting on a uniform.” I think it’s this episode or maybe it’s the next one where Bill has a really great line about the importance of symbols/uniforms and just. PARALLELS I LOVE IT.

Well that’s almost certainly not Philosopher!Cavil but he did steal his hat!

“Which side are we on? We’re on the side of the demons, Chief. We’re evil men in the gardens of paradise, sent by the forces of death to spend devastation and destruction wherever we go. I’m surprised you didn’t know that.” I LOVE THAT LINE SO MUCH.

I also love how, whatever other shortages there might be, they Never run out of cigarettes XD

1150 armed effectives, nice to have numbers!

“Eventually, your people will see you as heroes.” “Not tonight."

Oh right Cally got taken I forgot that.

Poor Nicky. Poor poor Nicky.

Oh man especially after “one of these days you’re just not going to come home” she said in the last episode and oh maaaaaaan.

I do like the Bright Colored Coats in that shot of the marketplace.

Yeah, destroying the launch keys would cause more problems than it solved.

And Lee’s not wrong about the weapons drop.

“Detention is run by a separate ministry.” “How do you do it? How do you help them day after day? How do you look yourself in the mirror?" And Gaeta just. Trying to keep his cover. But he promises to do what he can to find out. “Why don’t you try and do something?” He is. But he cannot say it. Especially not where they might be overheard.

And Jammer is having Emotions.

“I bet they’re in over their heads. At first I bet they thought they were doing something good at first. Get the Cylons off the streets.” “Then they were frakking idiots. What did they expect? …you know any names?” “…no.”

“One day when this is all over, guys like Gaeta are gonna get strung up. And guys like you and me are gonna be there tying the knots.” Knowing how Collaborators actually goes, and how Chief handles things in there…MAN.

AND THE CREEPY THING WITH THE TODDLER LEOBEN YOU’RE A CREEPER JUST STOP.

“I remember I blew the crap out of that place.” “It wasn’t a total loss. We were able to salvage certain things. Like your ovary.” CREEP. ER.

She is a very cute little girl, though.

“What’s that?” Lol.

Ohh, that little half-smile as he carries her down the stairs.

YAY COMMISSIONING ATHENA TO SEND HER AS A LIAISON!!!

Okay, 2000 civilians with the battlestars yay numbers.

Oh and that reference to the Centurions being carefully restrained.

“If we go back to New Caprica now, and we lose, then humanity just stops. And admiral stars don’t give you the right to make that gamble.”

And that’s why Bill splits Lee and Pegasus off as a failsafe. “I know why we left those people behind. And I know it was their choice to be down there. And I realize the survival of the human race outweighs everything else. But this time, I can’t live with it.” Yesssssss

And they hug. But they don’t get their music this time.

Leoben is still fucking creepy talking about their fake baby’s future.

No, Starbuck’s not gonna let the little girl starve but. Man.

And this conversation about suicide bombings I love it. I love Laura and I love Saul and just. Love all of this.

Yeah, Saul, you deserved that. And Sam’s face in the background like “oooooh shit”

“Sometimes I think that you’ve got ice water in those veins and other times I think you’re just a naïve little schoolteacher. I’ve sent men on suicide missions in two wars now. And let me tell you something. It don’t make a godsdamned bit of difference if they whether they’re riding in a viper or walking out onto a parade ground. In the end, they’re just as dead. So take your piety and your moralizing and your high-minded principles and stick ‘em someplace safe until we’re off this rock and you’re sitting in your nice cushy chair on Colonial One again. I’ve got a war to fight.”

Tigh has the BEST LINE in this arc.

And Boomer is like “this is fucked up” and Caprica’s like “yes it is but how else to we respond to suicide bombings”

And Boomer is having Emotions!

(Lol Kacey’s mom is going to get one foulmouthed toddler back XD)

And Boomer goes to see Cally! Who was the cause of her (first?) death!

“I want you and Galen to know that I’m happy for you, especially since you started a family. Something he and I talked about before.” “Can you get me out of here?” “I don’t know. I have nothing to do with internal security—” “Then frak off you stupid frakked up toaster. How many times do I have to shoot you anyway? If you can’t help me, then just go away and leave us alone!”

EMOTIONS

Oh man this scene.

Power substation is crippled, two weeks to repair.

Just this pan around the circle of Cylons.

Caprica’s face oh man.

And he looks to her for help and she tries to defend him and.

“The first act of Cylon on Cylon violence” lol no.

“Everything we do requires your signature.”

“They’re covering their existential asses.” LOL.

“Then we’ll find another President.”

So this is…probably the first time Caprica has been killed in front of him to make a point But.

And the other Sixes’ faces.

“She’ll be back.” “But if he pulls that trigger now you won’t.”

Oh man and the change of lighting when we switch to Head!Six.

Interesting implication that she hasn’t been around and turns up after Caprica gets shot and then. And then he looks down and he’s already signed, and they’re just. Lined up staring at him. And that one Five is a little out of breath.

And we get a closeup on Boomer’s face and. Oh man.

YAY SHARON AGATHON

Helo is so haaaaaaappy

Aww, their little smiles as they walk away holding hands.

“Looks good on you. Belongs on you.” Awwwwwwwwwwwwww.

I LOVE THEM SO MUCH

“Can I ask you a question? How do you know? How do you know that you can trust me?” “I don’t. That’s what trust is. Good hunting, Lieutenant.”

Oh man Ellen’s faaaaaaace. And then Cavil asks about Saul and she freezes. And he’s asking for intel about the insurgency.

“We know he’s their leader. Why do you think we let him out of detention?” “I thought it was because of the twist.” “Well, yes, that too, for sure.”

“I want a specific place and a specific time of a very high-level meeting of the insurgency. If I don’t get it, we’ll pick up Saul again. And this time, he’ll lose more than an eye.”

And Saul’s reaction to hearing about Athena’s commission.

And Sam has the map for the meet! And hides it away when there’s a knock but pulls it back out when he sees it’s Ellen and oh man.

Yep, Sam knows how this part of things works, that’s why he’s on this council with the military guys.

And she takes the map when he’s planning to burn it and. Oh man. Her Face.

“Tell me you didn’t sign it, Gaius.”

“Have you even looked at the names?” “I’VE SEEN THEM. I’ve seen them, all right? There was nothing I could do.”

“No one enjoys the thought of mortal death, Boomer. But she tried to murder you. Maybe it’s God’s justice.”

AND THEN THERE’S THIS ASSHOLE (AFFECTIONATE)

And Zarek’s been in detention the whole time because he refused to collaborate.

Aww, Sam and Athena hug!!!

“Been a long time.” “Funny, I feel like I see you every day.” And her little half-smile.

And Gaeta is trying to find Cally in one of the trucks so he can help her.

Oh man and Kara taking Leoben’s hand there because. Oh shit.

“Last year. You tried to steal the election, didn’t you?” “Yes, I did.” “I wish you’d gone through with it.” “Me, too.” And on the one hand, when the Cylons turned up there was absolutely no choice but surrender (it’s everything he did After that that’s the problem). On the other hand, if she’d won, they never would’ve settled. So no one would’ve been in that position.

…but would something similar have played out on a less shitty planet if the Cylons caught up to them there? Interesting thought experiment.

And Jammer pulls Cally out of line and she obviously thinks he’s going to do Horrible Things to her which. Yeah.

Especially when he pulls out the knife. But then he cuts the tie and tells her to run and not look back.

And now all the police flee and Cavil just sidesteps as the Centurions show up. And Tom pulls Laura back and Cally is fleeing and she hears the shots and.

I love this arc a whole lot.

Exodus 1:

Chief gets the previously-on I think.

Maya! She’s like the only Wholesome named character in the entire canon. XD

Oh that shot of the empty socket.

“I want you to know that I would do anything for you.” And she was a split second from confessing and then Chief interrupts.

And he’s shaved!

And Saul cuts through Chief’s panic. “Take four men and get there ahead of the trucks. Chief! Pull it together. You won’t do her any good if you get caught too. Besides, the last thing your son wants is me and Ellen for parents.” There are so many levels of With Context there I can’t even XD

And Chief is still flailing while he looks for the coordinate list I love him. This relationship is very fucked up but I love him.

Yay Cottle’s in this episode!!!!

And Athena had her marines positioned for cover because she is Smart and so are they.

Chief’s learned a lot about ground ops since Kobol. So has Seelix.

“Where there are skinjobs, there are bulletheads. Break out the RPG.”

…oh man, that’s a thought. Chief, Cally, and Seelix were all on Kobol together (with Baltar). And now the three of them are here at that execution site. Does it mean anything? Probably not! But it’s a Thought!

Oh man, Chief holding Cally down under cover. And Jammer took his mask off.

Aaaaaand they find the map on Cavil.

OH RIGHT I KNOW THAT GUY. I forgot he was introduced this early but he’s in the Circle, isn’t he?

“They were waiting for us. Right where we thought.” Marine is like “yep I know my business thank you for listening” and then Sam gets the map back aaaaaand realizes Ellen sold them out and. Oh boy.

“Been a while since I had a woman throw me to the ground. Not quite as much fun as I remember.” LOL.

And Seelix makes sure the gun is out of range so Cavil will die slow.

And now Whichever D’Anna This Is is having Visions! I do love the really cool greyed-out lighting effects for this whole thing. And she sees the bodies, and hears Hera crying and sees herself picking the baby up.

“It doesn’t matter to me, really.” “You can stop that right now. My ego’s not so fragile as all of that.” Lol I forgot that bit was in there. “These things happen. Or they don’t happen.”

Okay Doral is not Entirely wrong about the importance of sanitation (and also that ‘lack of toilet paper’ comment hits a little different post-COVID lol)

“Four months of this, Gaius. Four months of watching you slip further and further down into this well of self-hatred and loathing. Do you know what I’ve given up for you? Do you?” “Do you know, what with the occupation and everything. I really can’t say I’ve given it that much thought recently.”

And this is why I headcanon that they actually don’t talk that much during this period. Not about anything serious or real. Except when he lashes out like this. They don’t talk about what they did. What they’re doing. It came up in a fic I wrote ages ago (which probably should’ve been two fics, it was two conversations) but like…yeah.

And then he says “Don’t go. …please.” And she watches him drink, and she does come back. Because they do love each other, even if there are these hollow places between them, these things they can’t say. (I do ship them very much; I do love their ending together; and I have…many more things to say about this period in their relationship but that is not the purpose of these notes lol.)

And that is actually Good Parenting, to apologize to the little girl and say it was because “I was upset with myself, not with you. Grown-ups do stupid things sometimes.” I love Kara a whole lot.

And Kacey grabbing her finger as she turns to leave and FEELINGS.

And Leoben is watching them.

D’Anna going through the city, seeing little flashes from her vision/nightmare…

[yeah there are reasons she’s another one I headcanon as force-sensitive for crossover purposes darth lawless is a cylon]

“Don’t be afraid, I know who you are, what you are. Poor thing. You must be terrified.”

“Zeus sees all. Sees you, Number Three. Sees your pain, your destiny. All the gods weep for you.” Oooooooooooh.

“There’s no Zeus. No other god but God.” “You don’t believe that anymore. You don’t know what you believe, and that is why you’re here.” “Not true. I don’t even know why I’m here. Stupidest thing I ever did.”

I’m really loving this scene more than I remembered omg.

“I have a message for you, from the one you worship. He speaks through me to you, just as he does in your dreams. The message is: the fruit born of two peoples is alive. A child named after the wife and sister of the all-knowing Zeus. Hera lives.” “That’s not true. The child is dead.” “You will hold her in your arms, and you’ll know for the first time what it is to feel true love. But you’ll lose everything you’ve done here.” And D’Anna is crying. “…wish I had some chocolate caramels.”

Okay but I love this oracle I want twelve.

Aww, Dee and Helo are being cute. “Will you quite looking at me like that?” “Like what?” “Like we’re never gonna see each other again. We will.” “Take care of the Admiral?” “Take care of his son.”

And this goodbye/separation ceremony I love it so much.

Racetrack reads from the Scrolls, I think! I can’t always recognize her out of her helmet, I’ll admit…

“Always together.” And then the hugs. My heart.

AND A FISTBUMP

“If I’m not back in 18 hours, find Earth.” “Yeah, right.” “I’ll see you at the rendezvous point.” “18 hours. Try not to be late.” “I’m getting old, I’m a little slow. But I’ll be there.” AND NOW WE GET THE MUSIC AND I DON’T LIKE LEE AND. EVERY. GODDAMN. TIME.

“Don’t make me cry on my own hangar deck.” FUCK YOU I’M CRYING YOU CRY WITH ME.

PUPPY!

“You don’t care who I am, do you? All God’s creatures in your eyes.”

YAY COTTLE! “Can’t sleep?” “Bad dreams.” “Didn’t know you people had dreams.” “Sure. Everybody dreams, Doc. That human or cylon blood?” “Cylon. One of the Fives got pretty shot up today by the insurgents. But he’s gonna make it.” “You could’ve let him suffer.” “That’s not what I do.” YES I LOVE HIM SO MUCH.

And now D’Anna (D’anna? Which is correct lol) turns the conversation to Hera and Cottle is like “…ah yes. That mess. Yay.”

“When that child died on Galactica, why did you cremate the body? The first cylon-human hybrid, and you threw it into the incinerator?” “It wasn’t my decision. It was the President’s call. I was just following orders.” “…that’s a very funny thing. ‘Cause this stuff all looks the same.”

…I don’t think this is the same dog that Lampkin later gets, I think he gets a yellow lab but I might be misremembering. The POINT is there are possibly TWO ENTIRE PUPPIES in the fleet.

“They left me in the hot sun with a bullet in my guts.” “What a noble race you are.” Shut up, Doral.

“Skin’s a lot tougher than you think.” Yikes. “Now that’s three for me. Three downloads. The first I just got a headache, but I could handle it. Now it’s worse and worse. This time it was like a white-hot poker through my skull. It’s not worth it. None of this is worth it.”

“He’s right, you know,” Gaius says quietly. While crying. …oooooooh. “It’s not worth it. Which is what I believe I’ve been telling you all along.” “Caprica, can you please control him?” “Why don’t you just shoot me, if that’ll remedy the situation?”

Watching Boomer in this scene, as she listens to Cavil’s story and is having Emotions and…knowing where that relationship is going (assuming this is Primary Cavil which. It’s hard to tell, but one can assume if there’s only one One in the scene it’s Probably him unless otherwise specified? Especially for Important Shit like overseeing the mass execution and these meetings.) and also her whole story arc in general. Man.

Caprica’s more ‘I don’t want to hear this but I’ll listen because I am the main reason we’re here.’

And the little glare she shoots Doral when he tells her to control Gaius.

Also the way D’anna was watching Gaius talk.

Oh, and while he was saying ‘why don’t you just shoot me’ Caprica apparently turned away, because she spins back around when Doral suggests cracking down harder.

“Consensus used to be so easy. Now look what they’ve done to us.” Oh, it’s not just this, though it definitely accelerated the fissures here. But.

“Worst comes to worst, we can always just nuke the city and be done with it.”

Aww, Athena refusing to give up her dogtags.

“Thanks for the concern. Makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.”

And Ellen gets dragged in and is Shocked to see Athena and. Oh man. Oh man oh man oh man That Scene is coming up and. GDI I’ve already cried once this episode.

“Where is my husband I want to speak to my husband!”

And Sam asks Athena to keep an eye out for Starbuck “I don’t know if she’s alive or dead, but it’s been four months.” “I’ll do what I can.”

“We’ll keep her on the move, along with other high-value targets. She’ll never stay in one place longer than two or three days.” I wonder who the other high-value targets are?

And Sam doesn’t know why Maya is so valuable, but he trusts Roslin and he will keep her safe. “How far do you want me to go? If it looks like the Cylons are gonna capture them…” “No. Don’t let it get to that point. That’s all.” He does asks what’s so important, and gets the “she may very well be the shape of things to come. That’s either a blessing or a curse” answer, which is vague, but enough for him to figure it out, maybe???? But he was clearly going to do it regardless of the answer, which is I think why Roslin actually let him in on the secret? That was a FASCINATING little moment omg gotta watch it again.

OH MAN ESPECIALLY SINCE THIS FLASHBACK COMES IMMEDIATELY AFTER HIS CONVERSATION WITH ATHENA AND HE KNOWS BUT. BUT BUT BUT OH MY FUCKING GOD.

…I wonder what the original purpose of this dug-out room where they’re having this conversation was. Maybe they just had the basement-type storage under several of the tents? They probably couldn’t’ve started digging them after the occupation, it would’ve drawn too much attention…

His FACE as he puts the pieces together and OH MY GOD OH MY GOD OH MY GOD I NEVER NOTICED THAT BEFORE BUT HE KNEW SAM KNEW AND HE’S ONE OF THE PEOPLE WHO’S KNOWN/WORKED WITH ATHENA THE LONGEST IN SOME WAYS SO HIS CHOICE NOT TO TELL HER IS OH MY GOD OH MY GOD THIS IS BREAKING ME HOW DID I NOT NOTICE THIS SHIT BEFORE OH MY GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD.

…ahem. I’m okay. Um.

holy shit though omgomgomg

…right, back to D’anna.

She’s wandering through the city, focusing on babies…but that one’s too young to be Hera.

And now the Resistance is talking weapons.

“No Pegasus, just Galactica.” “Why?” “Don’t know, sir. Way beyond my paygrade.”

Zarek asks if they’ve rehearsed. …he’s keeping to his carefully-constructed persona here, but I imagine that if he wasn’t satisfied with what Chief et al are telling him…if anyone knows how to sow chaos, it’s him. [if I write for GBB along with running it, one of my possible ideas (since most of my Ideas are way too long lol) is to do something Zarek-focused; possibly surrounding his original arrest…]

((and there’s this sam knew sam knew sam knew in the back of my brain that I’m not gonna stop thinking for a while lol it’s like https://64.media.tumblr.com/0ac9d8e9014935480bcfb5b3e643c385/f3631f541e57a655-5c/s1280x1920/7280e89354e384b744b17c5be078c1c177d243f3.jpg ))

And Mathias is pointing out that “when there’s shooting and chaos and panic it’ll be different” and Roslin doesn’t exactly tell her she’s wrong but…like there’s nothing else we can do about it, we have to trust we’ve prepared enough and hope for the best at this point.

“I trust you because I trust him.”

And then Ellen gets brought in.

Athena walking through the town, getting Looks and a bottle thrown at her and she just. Keeps moving.

And they confront Saul and Ellen with the map and.

“He said…he said he’d kill you.” “Who said it?” “One of the Brother Cavils. I did it for you, Saul. It was all for you. I had to. I didn’t have any choice. Don’t you see that?” and their FACES oh my god my beloved dumpster fire 2000-year-old robot drunks in love I can’t take it.

And Athena just puts her hand into the datastream, no unsettling self-injury this time Thank Fuck.

Oh, nice, voice-activated storage!!!

And D’anna (or some Three) interrupts. “…my God, it’s you.” Athena pulls a gun. “You’re betraying your own people. For what?” “I’m a Colonial Officer.” “You’re not one of them.” “I gave them my word.” “That’s not what counts. It’s who you give it to.” “I’m gonna have to shoot you now.” “Hera lives.” Oh, okay, it is D’Anna. “…what?” “Your daughter Hera is alive. Your new friends tell you that?” and Athena’s face and her flashbacks and oh maaaaaan.

“They faked her death and hid her from you.” “You would say anything—” “I had dreams. I had strange dreams that made me question my faith. Made me question God. And in the dreams, there was a human oracle, so I went to see Dodona Selloi.” “I’m not going to kill you, but I’m going to wound you so you can’t warn the others.” “The oracle said that the fruit born of two peoples is still alive. That Hera lives and I would hold her in my arms and I will know true love. Put down the gun, and when I find her, you can hold her, too.” And Athena kneecaps her. “Adama wouldn’t lie to me.” “You’re wrong. YOU’RE WRONG!”

Just. Athena’s face during that whole thing.

Enough fuel to make at least one jump! And she congratulates him on his son! “What’s his name?” “Nicolas, after Cally’s grandfather.” “You remember when you helped Chief spread Hera’s ashes? You actually saw the ashes?” “Yeah, of course. Why?” “Nothing. …just make sure Cally never lets her kid out of her sight.”

EMOTIONS.

And Helo is just bursting with pride when he reports that his wife successfully got the launch keys.

And Kat is fidgeting in the rec room and Racetrack is pacing and picks up the phone when it buzzes and IT’S ON!

“You’ve heard the news. You know the mission. You should also know that there’s only way this mission ends. And that’s with the successful rescue of our people off of New Caprica. Look around you. Take a good look at the men and women that stand next to you. Remember their faces. For one day you will tell your children and your grandchildren that you served with such men and women as the universe has never seen, and together you accomplished a feat that will be told and retold down through the ages and find immortality as only the gods once knew. I’m proud to serve with you. Good hunting.” YES YES YES YES YES.

…apparently Captain Kelly was in that episode??? I always miss him, lol…

Exodus 2:

Previously on from Bill!

“I’m having trouble accepting this.” “I know but we have to push forward. Keep the fleet together. Find Earth.”

“I haven’t given up hope.” “Yes, you have. I saw the look on your face when you got back from Galactica. Like you were never going to see him again.” “Am I that easy to read?” “Just to me.”

“No matter what the cost. No matter who we leave behind.” “You can do this. You can get us there. You are the commander of this fleet, and you will guide us to safety.”

(I don’t have a lot of Thoughts on this scene because I generally don’t have a lot of thoughts on Lee, but I do get flashes of why he and Dee love each other, even if she was his second choice.)

Oh no oh no oh no.

Sam pushing at Tigh with all the reasons and he’s like “I get it, all right?” “You know what has to be done here. If you don’t want to do it, I understand. But believe me, Colonel, someone is gonna do this. Now it would be better for her sake if it was you.”

His FACE oh my god oh my god oh no my heart.

(look I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again; Tigh grows on me more and more with each rewatch and so this is gonna kill me I will be deceased he is now one of my favorites and he and Ellen are just. Oh my god.)

“I had to do it, Saul. I had to. It was all for you. And I want you to know that I would’ve done anything to save you.” “I know. I know. It’s all right. It’s going to be all right.” “No, you don’t understand. I got you out of detention, Saul. It was me. I got you out. I went to see them, the Cylons. Finally got to the one (One?) in charge. And I got him to notice me the way men notice me. I slept with him. And I felt like puking every time he put his filthy hands on me. But I smiled and I faked it to save you, Saul. But you listen to me. I’d do it again. Frak anybody. Do anything. Even gave ‘em the map. I didn’t want anybody to be killed.” And he holds her and she’s crying and. And his face. And. And then he gives her the poisoned cup, and she nods a little. “I could use the drink.” And the LOOK they share. And. Kate Vernon has said she knew and she’s DEFINITELY playing it that way and oh my god his face and how calm she is and. “You’ve always been there for me when I needed you. Oh, I’m exhausted. I feel like I could just curl up here. Should’ve listened to you, Saul. Should’ve stayed on Galactica.” “Don’t worry about any of that now. You just…you just go to sleep.” “I’m sleepy…”

BAWL. ING.

I don’t even care that that was Really Fast for an orally-consumed poison to work I just.

“I love you, Ellen. Do you hear me?”

((this will come up again on the algae planet arc but…like…we have these instances of someone murdering their spouse, and that’s usually a certain Thing, especially when it’s a man murdering his wife, as both cases are, especially in a show with this much intimate partner violence, and yet. AND YET. Both murders are just. EMOTIONS. FEELINGS. BAWLING. FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK.))

And the way he cries over her body and just. That last line of his. “I love you, Ellen. Do you hear me?”

FUCK FUCK FUCK.

Gaeta is just sketching; Baltar is drunk and rambling. “And where are we now? And more to the point, where’s Laura Roslin? Where’s Tom Zarek? At large. Whereabouts unknown. Free, at any rate. Probably with Colonel Tigh. Solidifying the insurgency’s hold on the public’s imagination.” “What would you have us do, Gaius?” D’Anna asks. “Leave. Pack up your Centurions, and go. Please. Go.”

And D’anna’s like “would you really leave us alone if we did that? Or would you raise your children to continue the war? Would you tell them to tell that story to their children, and their children’s children, so that one day they could go out among the stars and hunt the Cylons once more?” “Blood for blood. It has to stop one day.”

OH SHIT. OH SHIT, I THINK HE SAYS THE SAME THING WHEN HE’S TALKING CAVIL DOWN IN DAYBREAK. “Blood for blood. It has to stop one day.”

And ALL OF THE THINGS are exploding!

((Man, the Fours generally get…not a lot to do. I think one Four has had one line in this entire arc.))

Tory coordinating the evacuation!

OF COURSE THERE ARE WEAPONS HIDDEN UNDERNEATH THE PYRAMID COURT

Sam’s running the attack on the detention center.

And the maneuver from the beginning of this arc! Only now it’s For Real. And they do pull it off yay!

And there’s chaos in the office and Caprica goes over to Gaius who is just. Slumped over in the corner. “For nothing. All for nothing.” “We’ll start over, Gaius. A new city to rise from the ashes.” “It’ll be buried. Buried like the cities of old. Consumed by the wrath of God.”

And Boomer (probably) reports that the drone thing worked and we have two battlestars in orbit! “Adama’s back.”

And Leoben hits Starbuck when she tries to overpower him/kill him again to get out the door.

“You’re coming, right?” “My ship’s up there.” “You sure have a sense of the dramatic.” LOVE IT.

“Hey, you, you were on Galactica right?” “I didn’t do anything!” LOL But also poor Jammer. ((also the Parallel to when Helo singled out Baltar in the miniseries i love it))

“All hands, brace for turbulence.”

A second line for Simon! “Where’s Galactica?”

YES YES YES YES YES YES YES DROP THE BUCKET!!!!

FIRE!!!!!!

And Chief’s FACE while he watches this happen torn between “thank fuck” and his mechanic brain SCREAMING

“Well, this oughta be different” LOL HOTDOG

Oh, there’s Kelly.

And the Backlash when Galactica jumps away!!!

And they have Explosives for the prison!

Sam finds Kara yay!

And he’s so relieved she’s breathing and he kisses her “I’m gonna get you out of here” and oh no Kacey

There are too many baseships, they can’t hold off four, they were hoping to hold them off long enough for the civilians to escape and I mean I know how this ends I’ve seen it before but just. Bill’s voice when he says “we can’t hold off four” omg

Bill is running cords and there’s a medic (I don’t think Ishay?) there. And they don’t have their jump drive. And.

“Then that’s it. It’s been an honor.”

And this MUSIC

And then SUDDEN UNEXPECTED PEGASUS

“Damn you, Lee.” “…thank you, Lee.”

Love it.

And Lee is sacrificing Pegasus, putting it right in the center of the basestar formation.

And Kara wakes up and is like “put me down!” and she kisses Sam “is it really you?” “it’s really me, come on, we have to get back to the ships.” “where’s Kacey?” “who’s Kacey?” and yep Starbuck’s running back and Sam goes after her “GODSDAMMIT KARA NO!”

A third line for Simon! “There’s a heavy raider ready to evacuate us.”

The Cylons are pulling back, D’anna says she’ll stay behind to set off the nuke.

“You should go as well, Caprica. …and you. I don’t think you’ll want to be here after we’ve gone. There’s a place for you, too.” “For me?” “You were right and we were wrong. Should be some reward for that.”

“Gaius, we should go.” “I just want to sit here and die.” “You’re gonna get your wish, Gaius.” I LOVE YOU FELIX. And I do remember this confrontation and I love it so much.

Only a few civilian ships left on the ground.

“I believed in you. I believed in the dream of New Caprica.” “Gaeta, we all did,” Caprica tries, and he turns the gun on her. “No! not him. He believed in the dream of Gaius Baltar. The good life. Booze, pills, hot and cold running interns. He led us to the Apocalypse, and I—and I—I turned out to be…” “An idealist,” Gaius says quietly. “There’s no sin in that. Everything you say about me is true. Every word. But you have to listen to me. The Cylons have a nuke in this complex. Nobody…I mean nobody is getting off this planet alive unless I stop D’anna.” “Gaius, she’ll kill you.” “Then she’ll kill me. Or it’ll be down to Mr. Gaeta. Either way, the human race dies with me. Go ahead, shoot. What are you waiting for?” and he pulls the gun up under his chin and says “please. I’m begging you, please.” And that shot of their hands together on the gun. and Felix…still an idealist. Some part of him still a little bit in love with the best parts of Gaius. Gives him the gun. “You have one chance to put things right. Do you understand me? Get the frak out of here! Stop that nuke! Go!”

And Caprica pulls him away, his eyes still locked on Gaeta and. Man that’s another one of my favorite dynamics in this series, all the things that happen between these two. ((there’s a reason I had two versions of my ‘no one mourns the wicked’ icon for these two; one with this scene, the other with gaeta’s execution))

(his finger was actively on the trigger, too, before Gaeta’s hand joined his)

“Good work, and I’ll see you on the other side,” Lee says, when he gives the order to abandon ship.

“You too, Commander.” “Yes, sir.” Lol. But he does take a moment to say goodbye to Pegasus, which has been his home and his command for like a year and a half. “Thank you,” he says.

FUCK I’D FORGOTTEN THAT PEGASUS JUST. STRAIGHT-UP BATTERING RAMS A BASESTAR TO DEATH. TAKING IT WITH IT. WELL FUCKING PLAYED.

And then that piece of debris with the name of the ship.

And it’s eerily quiet under Starbuck yelling for Kacey. And Leoben comes down the stairs with the little girl. “I knew you’d be back. I saw it.”

LEOBEN. STOP. FUCK.

“Say the words. I want to hear it. And I want the rest of it. Like I told you.”

FUCK YOU.

“Fine. You win. I love you.” “Say it again.” And Kacey just looking up at the adults like ? “I love you.” “Now the rest.” And there’s a kiss and. Yikes. Just. Yikes.

“Was it everything you thought it would be?” “That and more. I’ll never forget this moment.” “Neither will I.” More kissing, and then she stabs him. And twists the knife. And Kacey looks down at his body, and here comes Sam!

“I’ll explain later. Let’s move.”

And Caprica and Gaius are looking for D’Anna. And they hear the baby crying!

“Frakking liar,” D’anna says, and then she hears the crying, too.

Poor Maya. Poor, poor Maya.

And Head!Six! “It’s her, Gaius. The first of God’s new generation.” “Hera,” he says.

“It’s a miracle,” Caprica says. “God spared her.”

And he stands up, holding her, as D’anna comes out of the tent.

“Hera,” she breathes. “Can I hold her?” And he hesitates for a moment, and then lets her take the child. And then he turns the gun on her.

“No!” Caprica says. “She won’t set off the nuke. Not anymore. Come on, Gaius. We have to go.”

And he follows her through the ashes and away.

And that shot of Laura back at her desk is Amazing. “All right. I’m ready to go.”

Chief’s face on seeing Kara with a baby. “I thought you were dead!” “Yeah, so did I!”

And then Kacey’s actual mom!!!

And that frozen heartbreak on Kara’s face, and then she forces a smile and.

“But you saved her. Gods bless you.”

That wild look on Kara’s face oh man oh man oh man.

Bill welcoming everyone aboard and Helo and Athena HUGGING and

And then Lee and Dee getting off their raptor and Bill like. “I guess you didn’t understand my orders.” “Never could read your handwriting.” MORE HUGS

“Permission to come aboard sir.” Oh, Saul. Oh poor Saul. “Permission granted.” And they exchange salutes, and. And the looks on their faces. “You did it. You brought ‘em home, Saul.” “Not all of them.” “I’m sorry.”

EMOTIONS. SO MANY EMOTIONS.

And then Bill is pulled away by the celebrating evacuees and Saul is just. Broken. :((((((( and back to Kara’s face and. And and and.

Oh, and there’s Gaeta leaning uncertainly against a raptor and.

EMOTIONS. THAT IS ALL.

“We’re still double-checking the manifests, but it doesn’t look like Maya made it off New Caprica.” “What about the baby?” And Tory just shakes her head. “I was there when the two guards left to take them to their ship. I don’t know what happened. I’m so sorry. I let you down, and I know that.” “No, you didn’t. it’s not your fault.”

…want to remember this for when I get to S4.

“This is bigger than us. This is life.”

And shaving off the moustache!

The FUCKING LIGHTER MUSIC AGAIN

Collaborators:

Gaeta gets the previously-on!

Oh, Jammer.

And Chief isn’t super thrilled about this whole situation but he’s doing it. It is really interesting to watch the faces/feelings/reactions of the different people in the circle.

Oh man Chief just quietly asking “did you do it.”

Okay, three days off of New Caprica at this point. I do love timeline markers! Don’t think we get a whole lot after this (except in No Exit?) but they’re nice while they last, lol.

And Chief didn’t watch the execution, his back was turned. Everyone else did.

Anders is starting to doubt the mission of the circle. Chief…isn’t doubting in the same way, but he hates it.

Nicky is such a cute pudgy baby I wanna squish his li’l cheeks I love him.

Chief asking Cally if Jammer was telling the truth. Too late to change his decision, and it wouldn’t have changed anything either, but he just…wants to know.

“How did you know about that?” Good question Cally.

Back to the usual titles! 41,435.

RIGHT THIS BIT. I love the blooper where Mary McDonnell and James Callis both crack up when she goes in for the kiss. XD

“Oh no.” “What?” “I’m dreaming, aren’t I.” Yes, you are.”

Oh right, the part where he’s just. Naked. For a good chunk of the episode.

I will say that, while this show doesn’t get nearly up to Spartacus’ level, it is pretty good about equal-opportunity nudity. And a fair amount of the nudity isn’t really sexual, just…naked.

…wonder what the last three days on that basestar have been like.

And Sam is trying but he doesn’t really know how to help Kara, and she doesn’t really know what she needs from him, and…

Three more days to swear in a new Quorum! And then we play musical chairs with the Presidency XD

“The whole thing should take less than an hour.” “You’re stepping down without a fight. That means you want something. Why don’t you put your cards on the table, and let’s see if it’s a price I’m willing to pay.” And yeah, Tom’s like “yeah I’m a realist, I know I’m not gonna actually hold on to power, especially since Bill doesn���t like me. But I want to be part of the new government.”

The thing about Tom here is that…yes, he stood up to Baltar/the occupation regime. He is very good at making a gesture/statement/Point like that. It’s a significant chunk of What He Does throughout the course of the series. But there’s these sort of two sides of him, when it comes to his approach as a public/political figure--making a Point, and being ruthlessly practical. Part of him believes at least a portion of his own rhetoric, part of him just wants power. He cultivates being liked as a means to gain and hold power (as a contrast to Baltar, who cultivates power as a means to being liked/respected, or Laura who just wants to get shit done and knows she can do it/looks at the alternatives and…yeah.) Anyway, the point I’m trying to make is that, if he’d been in Baltar’s position on New Caprica, meaning if he’d been President and not VP when the Cylons showed up…I genuinely don’t know which side of him would have won out. Because like I’ve said a couple times, once we get to that point, surrender is the only viable option. And part of Zarek would know that. But he’d also know that, once he made that call, his political career/power base would be absolutely destroyed. Especially given the specific reputation/persona he’s spent the last two years building. Even if he’d managed to get out of Cylon custody and work with the Resistance, even if the alternative to surrender is, best case scenario, he gets shot and they keep going down the chain of command until they find someone who will…so, does President Tom Zarek do the practical thing, or does he take a Stand? As VP, he can afford to take a stand, and show that courage that the Fleet needs, as Laura puts it.

…yeah, there’s a reason my Zarek tag is “and then there’s this asshole (affectionate)” and I might write about him if I write for GBB along with running it. He’s just. Fascinating. There’s so much to dig into here (I mean, there is for most of the characters, that’s kind of what this show Does, but).

…ANYWAY that tangent aside. Presidential musical chairs, resume.

Poor poor ironically named Felix Gaeta. I just wanna give him a hug.

“Who gave this man permission to enter the CIC?” Can’t really blame Tigh. And Helo’s like “Admiral ordered it, to fix the comms.”

And Gaeta just quietly stands there and takes it. “Do you know where my eye is?!”

Bill’s trying to get Saul calmed down, and…yeah, this is all very messy.

“Oh yeah. Just go to sleep. Forget about it all. Just forget about everything. Well I’m not forgetting. I’m not gonna forget.” I really love this in contrast to the way he is very Insistent on keeping things within correct bounds when working with the Circle when Connor wants to be Excessive.

57 more people to try in absentia, three days to do it. “Stop wasting time bitching and moaning. We all knew there was a clock when we signed on to do this.”

Yeah, like I was just saying. Connor “Most of these fraks are so guilty they stink. I can get through 50 of these things in an hour.” And Tigh slams his head into the table, and his voice is. So calm. And like. We know damn well Saul doesn’t have a problem shouting, he does it all the time. And just. Damn. “You think we’re thugs, handing out punishment on a whim? Jammer didn’t get airlocked because you thought he was guilty. There was evidence. You read the witness statements. He was tried and convicted by this circle. This is about justice. You got that? Justice!”

And now Gaeta’s name comes up.

And Tigh is like “You think I want to do this? I stood next to him in the CIC for four years. He was like family. But the fact remains he was Chief of Staff to Gaius Baltar, and that alone is enough to convict him.”

Anders is like “we don’t have any hard evidence, no witness statements, it’s not enough.” Chief agrees. Tigh points out that Baltar probably wasn’t directly running things because…the man has certain skills but. “He was the public face, but Gaeta was the brains. Everyone knew that.” And…honestly, during the year before the occupation, that’s almost certainly true. If only because Gaeta knew if he didn’t do it, Zarek would. Anything that actually did get done was probably mostly Gaeta. …or Zarek, depending on the specific thing.

“We don’t know what Gaeta did or didn’t do when he saw that list.” And Barolay’s like “you see a list like that, and you do nothing about it?”

And they call the question. And Sam’s like “No. I’m done. War’s over for me. I’m sorry.” Conner wants to push ahead without him, Jean’s like “we do need six votes.” Chief’s like “we don’t have six votes, I’m out too.” And Tigh, whatever his other personal feelings, has to agree. Because he wants to do this right. This is about justice.

Oh my god D’anna is so pretty in that dress.

“How are you, Gaius?” “…I’m alive, I suppose that’s something.”

((Also it is. Definitely my headcanon that the pills are 95% to shut Head!Six up. They didn’t really work; she was quiet for other reasons, but.))

The way her fingers linger when she hands them to him, though. And the way he pulls away when she sits down on the couch. “You’ll have to excuse me, I’m slightly confused. …how long have I been here, exactly?” “Three days.”

And the vote to let him stay/live is deadlocked. Three to three. And the Sixes are the swing vote, which surprises him. (I…wonder if it’s along the same lines otherwise as the Cylon civil war? The Threes are definitely voting to let him stay; the Ones are definitely voting to ditch him; the Fives probably follow the Ones’ lead. Probably the Eights are voting in his favor, but the Twos and Fours…)

Aaaaand yeah there are Missing Persons reports that Lee has to bring up. And ‘thousands’ of people got left behind on New Caprica, which is helpfully vague ((for fic/rp numbers I’ve used whatever number feels right in the moment))

Lee’s like “no, these are people we know got out, like Jammer.” “…yeah, I just saw him yesterday.”

So, thirteen people are missing, that means thirteen Circle executions. Plus 57 people left to try. Given that they were complaining about the time constraint for the remainder, probably we can assume no more than half of that have already been tried, especially since it probably took Zarek a day or so to set things up, pick his people, etc. There are 70 people on the list For Sure. If we assume maybe a handful don’t get convicted (or aren’t known to have gone missing after evacuating the planet)… 75 is a nice round number of people for Zarek to prioritize. Or maybe 72, that’s a multiple of twelve. Or 84, maybe. I don’t think any higher than that, though.

Ugh this FUCKING subplot again I hate it I hate it I hate it so much. “Hey, I dropped half a stone.” “Keep jumping.” HATE.

And Gaeta is isolated, and Starbuck is glaring at him from across the room, and she approaches and he…wants to believe she’s willing to talk to him. But he’s wary and. Can’t blame him.

“I heard about your situation.” “Right. I just try not to think about it anymore. You know? Kinda like you.”

“What do you want me to say? Maybe I could’ve done more, but when the Cylons landed, I thought it was important for me to keep my job. To help from the inside.” “By propping Baltar up and letting the Cylons walk all over us?” “No! I fed information to the resistance. I set up dead drops. There was a dog bowl. I passed along Cylon positions, internal memoranda…” “Riiiiight, Felix. You’re a frakking hero.”

And he leaves. Because what else can he do at this point.

And Caprica looks so sad. “Whatever feelings I had for you have to stop. I let my feelings cloud my judgment. I protected you. I gave your species a second chance. I even turned against a sister Cylon, and for what? I’m a Cylon, Gaius. Somehow I lost sight of that.” “You are much, much more than a machine. You’re a person. A real person. A woman. And you’re in love with me. And it hurts. I know it hurts. But believe me, I am the only one that can make it better. Don’t you see? I am the only one.” …yeah, you started out okay there, Gaius, if you had stopped with ‘I know it hurts’ or pivoted to ‘because it hurts me too’ or something along those lines…buuuuuuut nope. XD

He's not allowed out of the room, Centurion blocks his way. And then belatedly. “And I need you too! ……….maybe I should’ve started with that.”

((once again, resisting the urge to go on a long tangent about the two of them and their relationship, lol. Look, I love them, I’m invested in their eventual happy ending; I get very different things from the two of them than my other primary ships in this fandom; there’s a Lot to unpack particularly in this phase of their relationship and why it falls apart here despite the fact that they never stop loving each other and Because Destiny Said So is in play.))

Kara joins the Circle! And Tigh is very, very clear on the rules, because it is important to him. …probably because that’s one of the ways he can live with himself. Especially after Ellen.

And it really is interesting, the way Sam (and Chief) are trying to walk away from the hell they went through, trying to move on and keep living. Sam walks away, decides he needs a clean break; Chief stays involved because maybe he thinks the Circle needs someone with that perspective on it. And Tigh in his own way is clinging to that…especially given his line about being demons down there on that planet. Clinging so hard to doing this right. To making it justice, and not chaotic vengeful bloodshed like it was before.

“It’s not about settling scores or personal grudges. It’s a jury.” “We’re just dealing with the worst of the worst. People who did more than put on an NCP uniform or make a deal with the Cylons.” Yeah, because…well, like I said before, the Vast Majority of people are going to mostly keep their heads down and try to survive. And that is going to involve, for a lot of them, a limited level of cooperation, and where you draw the line between that and collaboration is important. And, like, look at Cottle and his sense of medical ethics. (lol if Zarek did try to put him on the Circle’s list he was definitely acquitted, but I genuinely don’t think his name came up. Just. A thought that occurred XD)

“None of this is legal, right?” Kara asks. “No, it’s legal,” Chief says. And shows her the orders from Zarek. “…you’ve got to be kidding me.” And Tigh asks for her commitment. And she’s in.

They give her a minute to go over the evidence. And Chief once again points out that they don’t know what Gaeta might have done when he saw that list.

…I bet Chief is wondering if Gaeta was his source. I’m sure a part of him is hoping he was. He likes Gaeta, Gaeta is a likeable dude. He liked Jammer, too, but Jammer’s guilt was a lot more unambiguous and also he wasn’t in a position to be the inside source. [for crossover purposes where I headcanon Chief as Force-sensitive…possible evidence? Lol.]

“My gods, the whole things like a bad dream, only we woke up and the traitors are all still here.” And Kara votes guilty immediately. Seelix says it has to be unanimous, and turns to Chief, who’s the last to vote. And Sam interrupts to talk to Kara. Tigh agrees because she’s already voted. …there’s a Thing here, about Tigh and his sense of duty and loyalty, but I can’t quite find the words for it. Maybe when I get to Crossroads.

“I quit because I’m not looking for ways to keep killing people.” “I need this, Sam.” “What, throwing a few people out an airlock is going to make you feel better about yourself? Because believe me, those aren’t the people who kept you locked in that room.” “They’ll do! And not just for me, but for every person we left back on that planet. Someone’s gotta pay. So you can either get with it, or you can get lost.” “Is that what you want, Kara? You want me to leave?”

“A lot of good people had to pay the price for what they did. Choices they made on New Caprica. Like my wife. And I liked her a lot more than I like Gaeta.” I do love that line.

“Look, Sam…I’m in a different place now. I…I don’t know how else to explain it to you. But I got out of that cell, and it’s like someone painted the world in different colors. And I look at you…and I wanna tear your eyes out just for looking at me. I just wanna hurt someone, and it might as well be you. So you should probably go before that happens.” :((((((((((((( I want to hug both of them so much.

“Baltar, not Gaeta.” “It’s the same damn thing.” “He’s right, Chief. A lot of people died because of them.” And Chief caves, and votes guilty.

Oh no oh no he’s giving her back the dog tags I’m gonna cry :((((((((

“Sam—” and then she pulls him back and kisses him and. Fuck. Fuck fuck fuck. And then she walks away. And that shot of him alone on the deck in semi-darkness I just. Babies. I love them.

And Gaeta is offered a chance to defend himself…after conviction. And he looks to Chief, who begs him to talk. “We’ll listen.” And then Connor cuts in. And Jean is like “say something.” And Felix says, “what’s the point? I already tried to explain. I’m not gonna beg.” And I can’t really blame him. “Too bad you didn’t grow that spine four months ago,” Tigh says. And Felix remains quiet. But Kara, in her blind unfocused rage and pain, saves him. Unintentionally.

“Beg. Beg.” “Thrace—” “No. Beg. Come on, Felix. Tell ‘em how you were working for the resistance the entire time. COME ON! Tell them about all the important information you gave them. Tell them about the messages, and the dog bowl, and everything else.” And that catches Chief’s attention! “What? What did she just say? What did you say to her? Tell me. What did you say to her?” “There was a yellow dog bowl. It was a signal. It meant there was a message in the garbage dump. I turned it over. It was a signal. It meant there was a message in the garbage dump.” “…that was you. Oh, my g—” And he cuts him free. “There was a yellow dog bowl. I used it. You were wondering who the source was, Colonel. There’s no other way he could’ve known. He’s the only other one who would’ve known.”

And Gaeta just quietly says. “I did what I could.” And slowly gets to his feet. “I don’t know what else I could’ve done.” And he walks through them and away. And the Look Chief and Tigh share.

And Bill and Laura are calling Zarek on this crap. …and Tory is there, too! Because all of the Five have to be involved in this (except Ellen). I doubt she says anything but the fact that she’s There.

“They have a jury. But they don’t get lawyers. They don’t get to showboat for weeks on end while they find ways to blame the system. And they don’t get lasting fame as martyrs or innocent people just in the wrong place at the wrong time. They just disappear. Now. In the grey twilight between the long night of the occupation and the dawn of a new era. You come into office clean, without their blood on your hands.” “Well, thank you. That’s very poetic.” A) I love the look on her face that’s like “someone’s speaking from Direct Personal Experience don’t think I’ve forgotten how you became a household name Tom” and B) just the way she cuts him off I love everything about this. And the boundaries she works to set, just like when she and Tigh were arguing about suicide bombers on New Caprica.

“You think by making the trials public, you’ll find justice?” “Yes, I do.” “Come on, Laura, you’re not that naïve. Let me tell you what’ll happen, if these cases go to trial. It’ll consume this fleet for months, maybe years. People will be lining up to testify against their neighbors. It’ll be a circus, an entertainment for the mob, and you’ll be signing death warrants every day. Is that how you want to spend your term, Laura? As executioner-in-chief?” he’s not Entirely wrong here and she knows it and she hates all of it. Which is why she does what she does next; if he hadn’t had the Circle in play, maybe she would’ve done something different re: the amnesty (like she says she was planning to do), but…again. He’s Not Entirely Wrong. But definitely after Zarek did what he did, she’s backed into a corner there.

Also oh man her speech playing over Kara hanging up the dog tags Sam gave her back and Saul finding Ellen’s clothes and hanging them up and…

“We all feel the need for justice, and we all feel the need for vengeance, and telling the difference between the two can be difficult at times.” And the way it panned over Zarek and Bill there was. Amazing.

And cutting to Baltar and Caprica on the basestar when she says “we are all victims of the Cylons, and none of us can be impartial.”

Caprica leaving Gaius clothes; she did vote to let him stay in the end.

“There will be no prosecutions. I am issuing a general pardon for every human being in this fleet. This will not be a popular move today, but I truly believe this is the only way for us to move forward in strength. In the spirit of healing and reconciliation.” And that it goes to Tory when she says that.

And lol once again Bill leads the applause for Laura I love it.

Gaeta still eating alone. Until Chief goes over to him.

I do appreciate that Gaeta didn’t have to cut his hair again when he resumed his military position. I like Floofy!Gaeta XD

Torn:

This weird-ass fucking arc here we go!

Baltar gets the previously-on.

Hurray for beachside fantasies! ((…I mean, I know some of it is because of the lakehouse, but it is interesting how many of his fantasies involve water. Mostly in context of the Selkie AU which I probably will write more of someday XD) And Head!Six is back. “I thought you’d abandoned me to your Cylon comrades.” “Would I do that?” “You’ve always been more…unpredictable than your flesh and blood counterparts.” “A man who loves women as much as you do should’ve learned that a long time ago.” “I’m a slow learner.” “Then take this period to learn all you can about the Cylons. You’ll need it in the days ahead.” And now she tells him about projection! “What are you, really? You’re either connected to the woman I knew on Caprica, or you’re a damaged part of my subconscious struggling for self-expression. So which is it?” “I’m an angel of God sent here to help you. Just as I always have been.”

And he’s no less afraid (of her) when he wakes up, for all he pretends not to be in the dream.

((and now I’m distracted by wondering where the clothes he was given came from. Were they. Like. Just what he was wearing when they left New Caprica, only cleaned? Did they get taken from one of the Fives? I mean, they’re a little too…sedate in color for that But XD))

Yeaaaaah time would Absolutely not feel real in that room, especially when he’s alone most of the time.

“We’re all part of one big ecosystem.” “…yes, I can feel it breathing…” that’s Fascinating and I love it.

And then Caprica comes in and D’Anna pulls away a little. And they start asking him questions about Earth. “Do you know how to find it?” “Not really, no. That’s unfortunate. There was a hope—my hope—that if you knew about Earth, it would justify keeping you alive a little longer.” “Wait. Wait! When I say I do not know exactly where Earth is, that is not to say I don’t know a great deal about it’s possible location. I spent hours—days—weeks—months!” Lol. I mean, he’s actually probably telling the truth here; along with the other projects he was working on for the science part of his job. But just. Watching him flail after D’anna pulls that “what a shame” thing.

And Caprica is still being a little distant. “We’ll get back to you.”

And he asks the real question! “Why do you care about finding Earth?” and the look on his face when D’anna tells him “we’ve decided it’s going to be our new home.”

41,422!

Back to training exercises; Lee and Starbuck are back in their cockpits, Helo is still acting XO.

Aaaaaand collision when Starbuck ignored orders and went out of formation.

“How’d you land this thing?” “Pointed it towards the deck and stopped when I got here.” Lol.

Lee benches Starbuck which. Yeah honestly kinda fair at the moment.

And Tigh is hallucinating Ellen’s voice! And he goes into the hall looking for her and…

…

Yeah.

https://textsfrombsg.tumblr.com/post/6491550426/submitted-by-derevko

Awwww, Kacey!

“Gimme a hug!”

I wonder when it changed from Camp Oil Slick to Dogsville.

“The last thing I need is a two-year-old friend. And Kacey does not need me in her life. So do us both a favor and don’t bring her around here again.” Can’t really blame Julia for being Annoyed, but also…yeaaaaaaaah.

FUCK THIS SUBPLOT WITH A RUSTY SPOON.

And yep, he wasn’t lying, Gaeta’s building on the same research. “If there was one thing I learned about Baltar, it was his extraordinary capacity for self-preservation. I think he wanted to find Earth because he wanted to get there.” That is. Certainly at least partially true. And also probably part of it was that it was an interesting and challenging Science Problem for him to solve.

“Initially, I thought the doctor might be off his meds as well.” That shouldn’t be as funny as it is XD

I do love that little flash of her soft smile as they’re walking down the hallway and he’s bitching about his conflicted feelings.

Random naked Eight doing her naked Tai Chi because Eights are just very comfortable with their bodies XD and he’s distracted for a moment because…well, yeah, and then he’s like “…sorry, didn’t mean to intrude.” And LOL him putting his hand up to cover his eyes as Caprica drags him away.

And he gets her to actually explain projecting. “Have you ever daydreamed and imagined you were somewhere else?” “…I have an active imagination.” LOL “We choose to see our environment in any way we wish. You see us as standing in a hallway, but I see it as a forest. Filled with trees, birds, sunlight…” “Like the walks you and I used to take. On Caprica.” “…the aesthetic is what gives me pleasure. Not the specific memories.”

I wonder if they can do this outside of basestars, or if they need the network/datastream to do it?

“Instead of looking at blank walls, I choose to surround myself with a vision of God’s creation.”

And now he’s back on the beach with Head!Six. …and starts to wonder if it’s the same. “Is it a coincidence?” she asks. “What are you saying? Is there a connection? Because of my experiences with you—am I a Cylon?!”

And back to Caprica. “What was that?” “…nothing. Just thinking out loud. Silly me.”

((Like, I know that the writers specifically had a rule that anyone other than Roslin or Adama was fair game for a Cylon reveal, but I genuinely think that it could never have been Baltar. It would have broken too many mythology and thematic rules. He and Helo are the ones who never could be Cylons because of the way the narrative is structured around them; Bill and Laura could never be revealed as Cylons because of the emotional rules/core of the story.))

And Racetrack is willing to fly second chair for Athena, and calls her Boomer, and she’s like “…that was someone else.” And then Helo gets everyone to pitch new callsigns and most of them are terrible jokes (as callsigns often are) but then someone suggests Athena and. Yep! …and by someone I mean Hotdog XD “usually accompanied by the goddess of victory” and the little SMILE the Agathons share and their hands and that little kiss and I love them.

Aaaaand in comes Tigh who’s still in a Mood.

Dead Man’s Chest is apparently another card game besides Triad!

Aaaaaaaand now Kat is needling at the gap/wound between the people who were on the planet and the people who were in the fleet and.

Helo does briefly step in to defend the crew, but knows when to back down, even when Tigh takes a…not even really a shot at Athena, more at the whole Situation. “While you were pinning wings on your Cylon girlfriend, our people were strapping bombs to their chests to take the bastards out. So forgive me if I don’t get all misty about your sacrifices.”

Kara and Saul have never gotten along quite as well, it’s a problem.

“You seem distracted, Gaius.” “…do I?” “You can rest easy. Your navigational data and your rescue of the child have gone a long way to convincing the others, for now.” And then he’s doing the math, and she starts softening a little, “I used to think that you and I might have a baby one day…”

(still clinging to my headcanon that the glowyspine is related to conception, even though I know there’s an Official explanation)

“There are twelve Cylon models, but in the entire occupation, I only ever saw seven. Here, only the same seven. Who are the final five?” “I can’t talk about them.” “Can’t, or won’t?” “I can’t. it’s complicated, but we don’t talk about them.”

Aaaaand now we get to the Actual plot of this episode! “Six, we have a problem.”

Basestar hybrid yay!!!!

The datastream here is fairly literal and it’s kind of beautiful.

And that Four does seem to think the disease would download with the victims which…I don’t think that makes a whole lot of sense but what do I know. …but it is probably better to assume it might and take precautions just in case.

And Head!Six orders him to volunteer. “You have to prove to them you can be counted on in an emergency. Show them you’re worth keeping alive.” “And if you are a Cylon, one of the five you haven’t seen yet, wouldn’t you rather just die and get it over with?”

And he does volunteer, and Caprica’s face when she says “what?”

“A truly selfless act…” Well. Not really. But.

“Here’s to knowing that someone will always have your back.” “The sentiment’s good, but in my book, trust is an overrated commodity.” And everyone’s drunk and everyone’s still hurting and Kat and Kara are always good at Escalating a situation.

“Every colonist that landed on New Caprica was loyal…to a point. It was amazing watching those people that you thought you knew go over to the Cylons.” Yesssssssss.

And Helo’s like “I…really don’t want to talk about the problems Tigh and Kara are causing, in part because Kara is one of my best friends, and in part because after my own experiences in occupied territory and coming back to the fleet, I do get it. But the Admiral is asking me directly, so…I can’t not.” “Suddenly, it’s like if you weren’t in the ground war, you can’t be trusted.” “They’re destroying morale and unit cohesion.” “They both know better.” “I don’t think they care, sir.” Right now, no.

“Atrophy. Don’t ask me how. I’ll be dead in a thousand light years.” I really genuinely love the basestar hybrids, they’re Amazing.

Also the way all these…disconnected/sort of floating/almost…dissociated isn’t the word I want but. Just. The Vibe of these sequences on the basestar during these first couple episodes is Really Cool.

Also Baltar in a flight suit is the weirdest fucking visual XD

Lol, of course the Twos are the ones who pay attention to the Hybrids’ babbling.

“She is the baseship in a very real sense.” “Mind gone mad.” “She experiences life very differently than we do, Gaius. She swims in the heavens, laughs at stars, breathes in cosmic dust…maybe Leoben is right. Maybe she does see God.”

And that ‘to know the face of god is to know madness’ (with the ‘to love another person is to see the face of god’ corollary) pops back into my head…

Oh man the creepy floaty dead raiders.

He’s trying to be detached and analytical but. His face. At least until he sees the beacon they brought on board.

“I would never do anything to hurt you.” Oh, man, this scene with this Six. Just. Oh shit. And she asked him to kill her, and he doesn’t want to, and then she accuses him of doing this on purpose and does she believe that or is she trying to get him to do what she asked in the first place and then he does and. Man.

Oh shit. “I see nothing. Nothing of consequence. There’s nothing left to do here.”

“Whatever you think I did, I didn’t do it, honestly!” “We followed your coordinates and found a disease with no treatment or cure.”

And they’re arguing and then D’anna just slams her hand into the datastream. And they have to abandon that basestar. And the Hybrid is screaming.

“Mists of dreams drip along the nascent echo, and love no more. End of line.”

“The Hybrid objects.” “She doesn’t get a vote. Jump the ship.”

“You noticed nothing suspicious on the infected ship?” And Caprica finds the proof he’s lying when he says ‘nothing,’ as she goes through the pictures he took.

And Bill goes to talk to Kara and Saul.

“Give me your sidearm.” “…what?” “Your sidearm.” And she has no idea what’s going on, but she does pull out the gun for him. He cocks it and tosses it back on the table.

“There’s a live round in that!” Tigh says. “One of you, I don’t care who, pick that up and shoot me,” Bill says. “Admiral, I don’t—” “I didn’t say to talk. You’ve done enough of that already. I said to pick up that weapon and shoot.” “You gonna turn the rest of my pilots against each other? Poison the crew? You’ve already done that. Both of you.” “Yeah, well, if you’re looking for an apology—” and he shoves her chair over. “You were like a daughter to me once. No more. You’re malcontented and a cancer. And I won’t have you on my ship. So you have a choice. You figure out how to become a human being again and an officer, or you can find another place to live, off of this ship. You’re dismissed.” That first bit was a lie, she is still his daughter. But. “You gonna kick me out of my chair, too? Don’t patronize me. Say what you came here to say.” “If you need time, Saul, you take all the time you want. But I gotta run a ship. The last thing I need is a one-eyed drunk sitting down here sowing discontent and disobedience. So I’ll tell you again Saul. You can pick up that gun and kill me, or you can go back to your quarters until you’re ready to act like the man I’ve known for the past thirty years.” And Saul empties the gun. “That man doesn’t exist anymore, Bill. And you won’t be seeing me again.”

Man. Just. The way he gets from there to how he reacts to the Reveal at the end of the season I just. I love Saul. Every time I watch this show, I love him more and more.

And Kara is cutting off her hair and everyone’s just kind of baaaaaacking away from her and her knife. But she is resetting, as best she can.

And Saul is just. Back in his quarters. Drinking.

And she goes to see Kacey yay!!!!

Who really is a very adorable two-year-old. And probably swears as much as Kara now XD

Oh Kara’s face when she holds her my heart :(((((((((

And Saul staring at the picture and holding Ellen’s jacket and……..man.

And Racetrack is so excited to see the nebula! And Athena’s like “something is Off” and then they see the drifting raiders and the basestar and… “When God’s anger awakens, even the mighty shall fall.” “Frak, Athena, we need to get out of here!!!”

A Measure of Salvation:

Previously on is…Lee, maybe? Maybe Helo? Does Helo ever get a previously-on?

Oh man the way they keep cutting to Athena as they board the basestar and. Anxiety.

Also everyone else has a helmet even lee why doesn’t she get one.

(also lol because Dean Stockwell is Sir Not Appearing In This Two Parter there are no dead Ones XD At least the Fours get stuff to do this episode…)

Oh, man, Athena’s face when she kneels next to her dead brother.

And now she’s putting her hand in the data stream and I know she’s immune but aaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

Oh god the datastream is all sludgy. “You sure you want to do that?” “It’s how it works.”

And Lee’s brevet promotion to Commander has been revoked, he’s back to Major.

Five living Cylons! A Two, a Four, a Six, an Eight, a Five.

And they’re praying.

Athena cradles her sister Eight’s head. Eight calls her a traitor, then tells her to save herself. “Get away from us.” And the Six tells her the same thing that other Six told Gaius.

“Infected?” “…son of a bitch!” Lol Matthias’s tone XD

“Uh, Galactica, Apollo. We have a situation down here.” You sure do!

((lol imagine if their recon ran into Gaius and the other basestar that would’ve gone real weird real fast I’m sure someone’s written that fic but))

41,420! …wait, who died in the last episode I’m confused.

Yay Cottle! And yeah, this is Absolutely the kind of shit the military would have an Established Procedure for, he just has to brief command on the specifics since it’s his department.

And yeah, while Cottle wanting the beacon to study makes sense, Bill deciding it’s too risky also makes perfect sense, so he doesn’t fight it and just moves on to the question of the five survivors/prisoners.

“How many prisoners?” “How many you got?”

And the basestar goes Boom!

“Massive energy discharge from the basestar! …it exploded, sir.”

Back to the other basestar for a little light torture!

“How long have you planned to betray us?” Yeah, because that was a STUPID lie you told. Like. I get that you were panicking because of that Six and what she said but like. Lying about the beacon when you already have a picture of it is going to cause you way more problems than it solves!

And Caprica’s crushed face, and D’anna’s disappointment.

“You’re only making this harder on yourself.” “We know about the beacon, Gaius. You knew it was out there. You knew it contained a deadly virus.” “This is a most profound understanding. Yes, I did discover it on the baseship, and I should’ve told you sooner, but I thought you’d link me to the virus, I was wrong, it was a mistake, it will never happen again, and…”

And Caprica is on the edge of tears because after everything she does still love him. “I’m sorry, Gaius.” As the Centurions come in.

And D’anna’s little sad smile. “Things would have been so much simpler had you only told the truth.” And she adds, very matter-of-factly, “We think you know more about this virus, and we intend to find out.”

“Relax. Have a drink.” Head!Six says. “I can’t. The pain.” “It’s all in your head, Gaius. Pain, pleasure, they’re all just neural impulses sent to the brain. You decide how to interpret them. They can be pleasant…or unpleasant.”

[gotta love when I’m watching this particular torture scene and the dog interrupts saying ‘throw the ball plz’ XD]

[I did in fact pause to throw the ball what kind of monster do you think I am]

And Caprica’s face as she listens to him scream, and turns and walks away. And the look D’Anna gives her is soft, and sympathetic. Almost empathetic.

“I want it to stop, Gaius. I don’t want you to feel this pain. And neither does Caprica, do you?” “No.” “I love you,” he says, looking at Caprica, and her face oh man.

“You feel anything yet?” “Yeah, I feel sick. Sick of you bugging me.” “You didn’t touch any infected skinjobs.” “Not my fault you’re clumsy.” “You can kiss my infected ass.” Lol I love Hotdog. And Racetrack. I’m getting better at recognizing her out of her helmet!

“Well, you can kiss it, but it’s not infected.” LOL COTTLE I LOVE YOU.

And humans are immune but Athena still might not be so she has to stay in quarantine. And oh no Helo waiting outside and his face. “Please tell me she’s okay.” And Helo very briefly accuses Cottle of prejudice, but is more focused on reassuring Sharon as best he can and then “you come for me the second you know” and I love those two so fucking much.

Cottle goes to check on the prisoners, and has them take the Five. “He’s the furthest gone.” And he can’t cure them, but he can keep them alive.

And some medical technobabble about a vaccine but Cylons have an antibody that will break it down so it won’t function as a cure, and they’ll need several injections in close intervals. It’ll treat it but not cure it.

Lee asks “should we bother keeping them alive.” Which. …I mean, yeah, it does need to be asked. Helo suggests keeping them alive to question for intelligence. And Bill agrees, with Roslin pointing out that dangling the vaccine as a bribe to get them to talk might work. “They don’t need to know it’s a stop-gap.” So far, so good, but I do know how this meeting ends soooooooo yeah.

Hey, we’re using Helo’s name! “Karl’s wife called it ‘the prayer to the cloud of the unknowing’.” I think that’s. like. One of three or four times in the Entire Series someone calls him Karl, lol. “She said they only use it when they’re facing an imminent death that’s final, no chance of resurrection. They were ready to die.” And Laura points out, just because they’re ready to die doesn’t mean they don’t want to live/none of them would take the chance if it was offered.

And the Four takes it!

God I love his voice.

“It infected everything. Baseship. Raiders. Centurions. Until we were finally abandoned by the other Cylon ships.” “Why not just put you under quarantine until they found a cure?” “Fear of spreading the disease. They told us there was a bioelectric feedback component to the pathogen, it corrupts how our brains manage our immune systems. If one of us dies and is resurrected, the disease will follow, infecting the resurrection ship and the fleet.” I still say this makes very little sense, but again if there’s Even A Chance I can understand not wanting to take the risk. “Why were you in this area?” “We were sent here to look for the lion nebula. Baltar…said it would point the way to Earth.” And reveals that Baltar is alive and on the baseship, helping them find Earth! Huh, I thought they didn’t know until the algae planet, guess I misremembered.

“We want a new beginning. Much like you. I gave you information. She said that there was a cure.” “Doc Cottle will be giving you the medicine.”

The Fours really do need more love [which is why there’s one in TOB]

…I still feel like it’s weird that Lee is the one who immediately jumps to genocide via biowarfare. I mean, not that he’s willing to do it, but that it was his idea. …granted, I’m not sure whose idea it should have been, out of the people in the room. But…ah well, this is a Weird Ass Arc anyway.

“You sure the virus will download into a new body?” “The Cylons are sure of it.” Again, even if they’re not sure, making the choice to sacrifice the infected basestar Just In Case is a horrible but…you can see the logic of the decision. Even if the Hybrid objected. So, if we’re going this route, following that same logic only in reverse “we can’t be sure but it’s worth trying.” “The fact that they left their wounded out there to die alone with no hope of rescue tells me all I need to know.”

And Helo is the one who calls it what it is. Using the word genocide.

“They’re not human. They were built, not born. No fathers, no mothers, no sons, no daughters.” “I had a daughter. I held her in my arms.” “She was half-human. These are things. Dangerous things.” “You can rationalize it any way you want. We do this, we’re no different than they are.” And Laura says, “I respectfully disagree. They started this war, and not being content with wiping out billions of human beings, they pursued us relentlessly through the galaxy, determined to wipe us out.” And then Helo brings up what they were trying on New Caprica which. Was a Mistake. Because he’s not wrong but that is Not the argument to use.

((also this whole situation is…weird, the writing is weird, Choices Were Made.))

“You would serve your fleet better if you would remember that the Cylons are a deadly enemy of the human race.” “I’m talking about right and wrong. I’m talking about losing a piece of our souls. No one wants to hear that, right? Let’s keep it on me. Yeah, I’m married to a Cylon. Who walked through hell for all of us how many times? And she’s not half anything. How do we know there aren’t others like her? She made a choice. She’s a person.” This is absolutely true; but there’s a point (and we’re past that point) that you can’t wait and hope for that. “They’re a race of people. Wiping them out with a biological weapon is a crime against—it’s a crime against humanity.” “But they’re not human, they’re programmed,” Lee says. “We will take your input under advisement,” Laura says. “Thank you both.”

And once again, we have a lot of that same rhetoric used—for the suicide bombers, for how the Circle was supposed to operate…that recurring theme of ‘we have to be worthy of survival’/’there are some boundaries we have to maintain/some lines we Cannot Cross or we will lose ourselves.’ And the Pegasus arc, too. And just. …again, this arc is weird for a lot of reasons but it does hit hard on that point once again and does so fairly well.

Back to the torture porn! …well I think I’m funny. …although actually the torture isn’t super graphic. Although the minimal BGM, just the machine whining and Baltar’s shaky breathing and occasionally screaming is. Effective.

“I can guide you through the torment and beyond, but you have to do the work.” “I’ll do anything,” he tells Head!Six. and D’anna hears him. “Tell us what we want to know,” she says, softly. “Look at me,” Head!Six says. “When you make love to me, you don’t always think about me.” LOL. “Your mind wanders, I know that. You think of equations, puzzles, your laundry…” okay I love that ‘equations’ is on that list just. What a Delightful character note. “It’s the nature of the mind to disconnect from the body, enjoining on its own. Separate your mind from your body. Keep your mind in that room. Use your intellect against her. Reason. Logic. Analysis. Find the holes in her psyche.” “I can’t—the pain—” “The pain’s only in your body. So keep your body here with me. Don’t worry. I’ll take care of it.”

“This is what the absence of pain feels like,” D’anna says. And that little almost wink. “It’s easy to forget.” This is so fucked up I love it.

“It was a coincidence.” “There’s no such thing as coincidence. God wills the universe according to his design.” “Focus on her. As a Cylon, not a woman. Be a scientist. Examine her faith.” As she starts undoing her dress.

“I’m a scientist. And as a scientist, I believe if God exists, our knowledge of him is imperfect. Why? Because the stories and myths we have are the products of men. The passage of time. Religion in practice is based on a theory. Impossible to prove, yet you bestow it with absolutes like “there is no such thing as coincidence.”” “It’s called faith.” “Absolute belief in God’s will means there’s a reason for everything. Everything. And yet…you can’t help asking yourself how God can allow death and destruction and then despise yourself for asking, but the truth is, if we knew God’s will, we’d all be gods, wouldn’t we?” I love that last line so much. “I can see it in your eyes, D’Anna. You’re frustrated. You’re conflicted. Let me help you. Let me help you change. Find a way to reconcile your faith with fact. Find a way toward a rational universe.” As she’s selecting her next torture instrument.

“Give your body to me. Only your mind is there. Feel me. Feel this where she wants you to feel pain. Look at me. Look at me, Gaius. Do you want me to believe you’re worth saving? Do you? Say it.” “I want you to believe in me! Don’t stop! Don’t stop! Please! Please, don’t stop! You have to believe in me! You’re all I have left!” and D’Anna’s face, because as far as she knows, he’s talking to her. “Now tell me you believe in me. Tell me you believe in my strength!” “I believe in you! I believe in you.” And he whispers, crying, “I love you with all my heart.” And that’s. that’s a lot of blood from his ear. Wow.

And D’anna just sort of…petting him as he passes out.

YAY ATHENA IS OKAY! “Something about fetal blood cells, whatever, I’m immune” aww that tacklehug the way she jumps up to him I LOVE THEM THEY’RE SO CUTE ONLY GOOD THINGS FOR THE FIGHTING AGATHONS. “Our baby saved my life. She’s gone forever, and she saved my life. Hera kept us together.” And she’s unfastening his belt for Victory Sex and he can’t help thinking about the genocide that’s being discussed, and he tells her what the plan is. And she starts crying. “The infection’s gonna spread everywhere.” And he’s crying a little, too. That shaky breath before it cuts to Bill and Laura.

(Also I love her curled up in her chair super cute.)

“There’s a point I’d like to make,” Bill says. “The law forbids me to use biological weapons without a direct Presidential order.” “Which means you’re passing the buck.” “On this one, yes. Helo’s right on one thing. We start destroying entire races, even mechanical races, we’re liable to tear off a piece of man’s soul.” “The Cylons are coming to Earth. If they find us, they’re coming for us. Those are the stakes. They always have been, Bill.”

And Athena is. Not going to fight it. “You think I don’t know that? I made a choice to wear a uniform. To be a person.” “You were a person before you put on that uniform, okay? You were a person before I fell in love with you. You don’t have to prove that.” “I have to prove it every day. Let me tell you something, Helo. My people may die. My entire race may be wiped out. But this Cylon will keep her word, even if that means she’s the last Cylon left in the universe. Can a human being do that?”

“Posterity doesn’t really look too kindly on genocide.” “You’re making an assumption that posterity will define this as genocide. If they do, at least there’ll be someone alive to hate us for it.” …yeah. Yeah, that is a point she’s making. I don’t know that it outweighs the rest, but…it is a point. “The Cylons are our mistake. We created them.” And she gives the order. “The use of biological weapons is authorized.” “So say we all.” “So say we all.”

Athena is even flying in the mission oh man.

Starbuck’s back in her cockpit, yay!

And Helo is Doing A Thing because Helo is a Good Man and he will not cross this line, even if it means he has to cross another.

Gotta love when murdering five people is the lesser of two evils.

And there’s Something about Gaeta relaying the ‘terminate the prisoners’ order after All of the Everything.

And Lee is leading the execution party. Along with Matthias. Only to find the prisoners are all already dead in their cell.

“They were dead before the resurrection ship was in range. They didn’t download the disease. We missed our window.”

“Seems like they’re always coming for one of us.” Aww, Helo. “I’m not a traitor. I love my people. I love this ship. Besides you, the first thing I wanna see on any morning are the lights in that CIC. I did what I thought was right. If it was a mistake, fine, I can live with that. It’s you I can’t live without.” And she holds him. And I love them both so much. “I’ll always love you, Helo.”

“Someone did this manually,” Bill says. “Someone?” Laura asks. “Seems to me there’s only one or two likely suspects. Who will lead the investigation?” “No one. I’m closing the book on this one.” “How convenient.” And it was an accidental contamination based on Cottle’s findings. “According to Cottle, the virus was an exact match to one reported over 3000 years ago, right around the time the 13th colony left Kobol.” “The beacon was a signpost to Earth.” “We’re on the right trail.” “So are the Cylons.”

Well that was certainly a two-parter! But I love Helo and Athena so goddamn much, that’s what I’m choosing to care about right now, lol.

Hero:

Another weird one, hurray. Uh, to be completely honest, I have very little memory of this episode? I mean, I remember the broad/overall plot but no real Specifics. …probably because none of this is ever mentioned again.

Bill gets the previously-on!

Hi Corinne!

I think these flashbacks are recent enough that we won’t have to see that crappy wig from the ones in the beginning of S2, at least.

LOL THE PAINTING I FORGOT ABOUT IT.

Laura’s hair is really cute here.

Awwww, Billy gets mentioned!! I love Billy and I miss him a lot.

45 years in the military which just. Highlights the way the Caprica retcon makes absolutely no sense.

((as ‘one last time’ from Hamilton starts playing in my head… “after 45 years of my life/dedicated to its service with an upright zeal…”))

I forget what CBDR stands for, I know it came up at one point. I do not care enough to Google it but.

Lol did Bulldog also bring his own brain to the party.

Helo’s ‘huh?’ face is great.

Starbuck got her haircut evened out, I see.

Starbuck’s ‘wtf’ face is even greater.

41,421! Bulldog Immediately gets added to the count, I love it.

…they are actually still using the Cylon detector XD I guess at some point it got tweaked and put back into use? Or a different one got built, IDK. But yeah, that’s definitely a useful thing to know.

Lol, Cottle. “The conspiracy theorists are going to be disappointed.”

Okay, so Bulldog went missing three years ago, which means… if we add up the ~10 months of S1 + S2, plus the two timeskips, plus however long between the exodus and now, it’s been somewhere between two and two and a half years since the miniseries. So the Valkyrie mission has to have been between six months and a year, give or take, before the attack. Maybe a bit longer, to allow for rounding. And since Cylon infiltrator agents like Caprica and Boomer had already been in position for at least a year at that point…yeah, no, this stealth mission did not kick off anything, even before the Final Five reveal stuff Conclusively proves otherwise.

…now I want noodles.

((…I keep calling them ‘basestars,’ but I keep hearing ‘baseships.’ Did I…did I totally make up ‘basestar’ lol.))

“After a while I felt the institution no longer had anything to offer me, so I left.” Lol.

“Thought maybe the Cylons had beaten the bullshit attitude out of you.” LOL.

Ooooooh was he on the infected basestar??? Or did a second one get infected and also cut off? But then where did the pursuing raiders come from…?

Hi, Random Three! (oh man especially since this comes off the episode of a different D’Anna torturing Baltar…I wonder if they do most of it? I had assumed it was the Fours because doctors, but…)

Okay, yeah, it was about a year prior to the attacks, I did do the math right!

And of course the Taurons were causing issues; which given that Adama is ethnically Tauron…

Roslin is…about 85% sure this cover story is just that, I think. Especially when Bill says ‘there was no distress call, no sign of ejection, so I just left.’

So she asks Tory and Bulldog to leave, Tory will see if she can track down any family, and LOL THE LOOK SHE GIVES BILL. “So, you gonna tell me what really happened?” And he just says “you’ll have to trust me. It’s my mess, I’ll fix it.”

And this dream sooooort of supports that the Primary Three is Final Cut!Three instead of Downloaded!Three? Both being on Galactica and also I thiiiiink that’s the same yellow shirt? Except they can access each other’s memories in the datastream…

And the door says ‘end of line.’

I really love the super casual threesome reveal XD (way back when I wrote something about how D’Anna brings Caprica in for it; I found it on an external hard drive a while ago; I can post it somewhere if anyone actually wants to see it)

Hurray for the creepy eye socket and Tigh in his Dark Place still. But he actually is together enough to have this actual conversation with Bill when he comes in to tell him about Novacek. “So are you here to talk to your friend or your XO?” …well, closer than he was last time we saw him, at least, but maybe not fully there yet XD. “Last time I checked I was neither. Oh, yeah, I get it. This is gonna be a little complicated for you, Admiral. You gonna tell him what you did?” “I did what I had to do.” “So tell him.” “It’s not gonna make a difference. It’s in the past.” “You’re equivocating.” “I don’t know why the frak I came here.” [if I ever do actually do a soulmate AU, even though I’m mainly interested in how it would impact Caprica and Athena coming from Cylon culture ((since it would not be an ‘everyone has a soulmate’ AU)) …anyway, there are a Couple reasons why I’d write it out that Bill has two—Laura (romantic) and Saul (platonic) but just. I love the scenes the two of them have together.]

…still doing the thing with Ellen’s clothes, I see.

Saul not quite sure what to do with the hug, lol.

“Drink?” “You have no idea.” “Yes, I do.” …ow.

Ooooh, and that scene paralleled with Bill and Lee talking.

“He still does his share of ass-covering.” LOL.

Aaaaaand, yep, Saul is going to spill the beans but in fairness when he brought it up he thought Bill had told him. “…he didn’t tell you, did he. That son of a bitch.”

“I shot him down.” “If you did, you had your reasons. You were following orders, preventing something worse, right?” “No. I shot him down to avoid detection. Protect the mission. So it wouldn’t be discovered by the Cylons. The sole purpose was to ascertain the likelihood of a Cylon strike.”

Oh man Lee’s face as he’s putting all this together.

“You’re saying that…that we knew they were out there? That they could launch an attack on the Colonies?” “We didn’t know anything for sure. there were theories in some circles that the reason the Cylons had stayed dormant for so long was because they were building a war machine, preparing a strike.” “But I thought…I thought that no one had seen or heard from the Cylons in over 40 years.” “That’s true. …partially. The Admiralty had grown restless with the Adar administration. They thought we were resting on our laurels, unprepared to protect from an attack. My mission was to escort a recon ship just over the armistice line, gather evidence.” “And if the Cylons discovered you across the line…then they would see that as…” “An act of war.” Again, even at this point, the timeline adds up—maybe Bulldog’s mission sped things up, but preparation for the attack was already underway and had been for at least a year; we’ve known that since the miniseries, since Caprica and Gaius had explicitly been together for two years at that point.

“Don’t do this,” Tigh says in the flashback. “Think about it. You don’t want to do this.” “Do you have any idea what it will mean if he’s discovered?” And Bill gives the order to launch a ship-to-ship missile.

“The sooner you admit [that you know it’s true], the sooner you’ll get that haunted look out of your eyes. Sometimes surviving can be its own death sentence. I know that.” Saul. Ow. :((((((

“All those years, I told myself I didn’t know what they were. But I was just lying to myself. Pretending that it couldn’t be true. …it is true. I started it. Initiated it.”

Again. We already know the math doesn’t add up, and I think…I think if he weren’t in the moment of confronting his guilt and all the feelings Bulldog brought up, he would probably realize it, because Boomer had been under his command for two years, which means the Cylons were already sending their agents in at least that long ago. (Although…timeline conflict here; I thought she had only ever been on Galactica?)

And Lee is trying to absolve his guilt. “They put you there. You had no choice. You were one mission, you were one man. One man.” “It only takes one,” Bill says, which is true.

Awwwww, Caprica checking in with D’Anna, being a good girlfriend. “I think God’s trying to tell you something.” “It’s about Gaius, isn’t it?” “No, it’s not. It’s about something much bigger than that.”

Right, this is the part where D’Anna keeps setting herself up to download for Revelation purposes. And ordering the Centurion to forget.

OOOOOH FLASHES OF THE TEMPLE. …and these memory bits come from Downloaded so IDEK anymore.

I really do wonder what the resurrection goop is.

“There’s something beautiful, miraculous, between life and death.” And the other Three and the Six are. Concerned.

Starbuck is watching the footage of the dogfight and has Questions. “Why the hell do they keep missing?” Because, yeah, they’re missing by a fair margin.

Bulldog doing pushups again, sometimes on fists, sometimes on flat hands.

Oooh, and Kara brings her concerns to Saul! “Novacek was hit and smoking, flying straight and level. Any nugget could have made that shot. They let him escape.” “…Cylons don’t do anything by accident.” “Yeah, that’s what I was thinking, too.”

…Bulldog, if you choke him with the pipe, he’s not gonna be able to answer your questions…

“When I saw they left that door wide open for me…” “Is that what they did? Did they leave the door open for you? Did they let you escape?” “That’s not what I meant! That’s not the truth! I beat them! I beat them at their own game! I frakking killed her, and I escaped! You trying to take that away from me?!”

Goddamn Tigh is frickin badass at hand-to-hand I love it. Even with one eye and coming off an unknown length of time spent drunk and grieving.

“The truth hurts. But it’s better to know the truth than live a lie. We’re all soldiers. We’re all expendable. We did what we had to do to protect the mission. It’s ugly, but there it is. The Cylons let you go. The question is why? Ask yourself that, Danny. Because up until a minute ago you were doing exactly what they wanted you to do. You almost gave them what they wanted. Tell you a dirty little secret, the toughest part of getting played is losing your dignity, feeling like you are not worth the oxygen you are sucking down. You get used to it. You start to believe it. You start to love it. It’s like a bottle that never runs dry. You can keep reaching for it over and over and over again.” “So how do you put that bottle away, Saul?” “I don’t know. One day, you just decide to…get up and walk out of your room.”

…there’s a Whole Heck Of A Lot to unpack there holy shit. About. About a lot of people, about a lot of storylines. About Boomer, about Gaius, about Ellen, about…damn. Tigh says the coolest things no wonder he grows on me more and more with each rewatch.

((also I do find it interesting that, despite being a lieutenant (i.e., same rank as Kara and Helo and most of the other main military people except Lee were at the start of the series), Bulldog is on first-name terms with Bill and Saul in a way that pretty much no one else is.))

“Your resignation? You have got to be kidding me.” “I said before, we can’t hide from the things we’ve done. I see no other way around this situation. Maybe it’s time, Laura.” “Sit down, Bill. I think you’re being naïve.” “Naïve?” “Did it ever occur to you that the Admiralty may have set you up to provoke a war they wanted? It’s naïve to think that horrible things that we can’t understand have simple explanations, because simple explanations make us feel like we have control when we don’t. We know why the Cylons attacked us. And it wasn’t any one thing, oh my gods. We did a thousand things, good and bad, every day for 40 years to pave the way for those attacks.” AND ALSO THEY WERE DEMONSTRABLY ALREADY UNDERWAY FOR A YEAR BEFORE THE VALKYRIE MISSION. Even though they don’t know much/anything about Caprica’s mission, they do know that Boomer was in place for at least two years, discounting if she actually went to an Academy or all of her records there were backstopped, we don’t know. “Something has to be done.” And she still wants to give him the medal. “This was before I heard about this resignation of yours. So, hmm. I’d like to propose this. You seem hell-bent on paying some kind of penance for whatever it is you think you’ve done. So instead of resigning, why don’t you get up and walk out of here, meet me on the port deck tomorrow evening, and let me pin a frakking medal to your chest?” “I can’t.” “It’s not for you. It’s for them. Stand up there, acknowledge your fleet, and give them what they need: a hero. And that’ll be your penance. Even if it kills you.” She is very much not wrong and I love her.

I wonder who those three random civilians on the dais are.

Aww, Cottle sees him off and there. …may actually be a psychiatrist/psychologist/therapist in the fleet??? Given that Cottle is specifically sending him to a Dr. Stoffa and we’ve already confirmed that he’s physically okay. “It’ll take time,” he says. Which. Yep.

And Bill gives him back his uniform, and Bulldog tries to refuse, but. “Once a pilot, always a pilot.” “Yes, sir.” And they exchange another salute, this one much less Tense than at the beginning of the episode.

…I think they reordered these scenes, unless this is Supposed to be a flashback? Since Bill is in his blue uniform with Bulldog but in his dress greys for both the medal ceremony and the next scene in his quarters…I think reordered, since they don’t cut back to the medal ceremony which would’ve made more sense for a flashback.

Saul has an actual Eyepatch now, yay! The real sign his coming out of his dark place.

“I heard you won a medal.” “Yeah. They give ‘em out for anything these days. Good behavior, attendance, playing well with others…” And the LOOKS ON THEIR FACES. The way Saul won’t quite look at him, and the way Bill is looking at Saul, and…I love them. “I need you back in CIC. It’s just not the same without you there, intimidating the inmates.” “No, that’s not what I came here to talk to you about.” “Okay.”

…Saul has been keeping himself shaved while in his dark place.

“You want to tell me what happened to Ellen?” “…I could use a drink.” “Me, too.” I love these two and their relationship A Whole Lot.

Yeah, that was a Weird one, and there are some issues with continuity/etc., but I have to say I genuinely like it, for the Bill and Saul stuff. So, there it is. XD

Unfinished Business:

I have admittedly mixed feelings about this one XD Mostly because I have zero patience for the Quadrangle of Why subplot, and while it’s been around since at least mid-S2, this is where it really kicks in. But I really love the Bill and Laura flashbacks, and some of the other stuff is great.

And also I used As Long As You’re Mine for this episode on my S3 mix and I have never been prouder of a fanmix decision in my life XD

Lee gets the previously-on.

Still can’t take the moustache seriously, though.

First people in the ring are Lee and Helo!

Okay but that flashback location looks like it would have all the same problems as sex on the beach. Namely sand/dirt in places where you really don’t want it.

Lol Helo’s little ‘come at me’ gesture.

Dee is super pretty and deserved so much better.

And even if their relationship is in a weird place, Kara is still inviting Sam over for sex. “That was exactly what I needed.” “Glad to be of service.” And he’s going along with it, but.

((because this is the point where it’s Apropos: https://textsfrombsg.tumblr.com/post/7085786879/derevko-not-even-kidding-i-bet-this-is-what …and also possibly this one: https://textsfrombsg.tumblr.com/post/18017419131/derevko-kara-can-be-pretty-blunt-in-her-texts ))

…Sam also deserved better.

Ah, he decides to hold her bra hostage so they can try to have a Feelings conversation. “I want our marriage back.” “And what if I’m not ready for that?” “I don’t know. Maybe you’ll never be. Maybe because I’m not what you really want after all.”

Yeah, Kara, don’t…don’t hide from your feelings with one man by running to another. ((which is why her having Angry Sex with Kat doesn’t hit the same buttons because that’s a very different relationship dynamic.))

AW YAY FIGHTING AGATHONS IS AN ACTUAL CANONICAL NICKNAME

“He’s a tough little frakker, I’ll give him that.” I love you so much Helo.

Oh, good, they straight-up establish that Cottle’s observing.

Ugh did we Have to bring back the fatphobic jokes again WHY I thought we were DONE with that bullshit.

And Cottle is the one who says ‘nope, Lee is done here.’ And Lee is Not Thrilled at him.

“I’m done, Kara.” “I’m not.” Aaaaaand Dee watching from afar and. Sigh.

“Now who’s biting off more than they can chew, Captain?” “Not me from where I’m standing, Major.” And yeah that was a very. Charged. kiss-or-kill distance moment.

41,422! I guess someone had a baby since last episode??

Okay, flashback to 17 months ago, which is 8 months before the occupation, so 4 months after the initial settlement, give or take. Which means…this episode takes place 5 months after the exodus, give or take a couple of weeks for the actual plot of those four episodes.

“Awww, that’s such a load of crap.” “There’s an open bar!”

I love that outfit on Laura.

“I do not gaze at—” sorry wrong fandom XD and a very different dynamic but the way he looks at her there XD

Aww, her dad was a fight fan!

“Did you throw your tags in there?” “I wish. All the frustrations that I have--” lol the way he cuts off there.

Is Gaeta managing the bookmaking XD

I love Kara’s Challenge smirk.

And yeaaaah of course Starbuck wiped the floor with Hotdog.

XDXD Gotta love a noodle incident. “So then they come back to the locker room with the same set of handcuffs and two straws!”

Awwww, Saul looks so happy in the flashbacks, and I love this little bit with him and Ellen.

“Did I ever tell you how happy I am I married you?” “Not once.” “Then I’ll save it for a special occasion.”

And Gaeta is so happy to talk Infrastructure but then he has to go talk to the finance minister and I love him, he’s so cute. “Oh, my gods, I didn’t think he’d ever leave” LOL LAURA. The one thing she doesn’t miss about the presidency is having to listen to stuff like that XD And then Bill says he’s a good kid and I love all of them so much.

Yes that was a Very Transparent invitation Laura was giving you, Bill XD

And Bill is starting to spot some Discipline Issues he needs to fix in the present.

And awwwww, him and Chief having a drink 18 months ago because Cally is pregnant. “First boy born on Galactica.” I love them a lot. Except Cally doesn’t want him born on the ship. “And neither do I. not if he can grow up breathing fresh air.” And Bill initially refuses to let him.

YES KAT KICK HER ASS I HAVE NO IDEA WHO SHE IS BUT I LOVE YOU AND ALSO I REMEMBER WHAT THE NEXT EPISODE IS I’M GONNA CRY.

And Bill is making a point of putting his tags in. “Chief! Get your fat, lazy ass up here.”

And Helo wrapping his hands. “Make ‘em tight.” “Yes, sir.”

…hey was that Zarek in the crowd? Probably not, Richard Hatch is too expensive/important for a two-second cameo but it kinda looked like him XD

And Bill gets off one heck of a punch as soon as the bell rings and everyone’s like OOOOOOOOOOH

“Get up, Chief. We’re just getting started.”

And Chief in the past is trying to put the best face on it. “There’s doctors, sickbay, medicine…” And Cally is trying to look on the bright side, too. And that little kiss, poor babies.

((yeah they totally had sex in that hammock))

“Maybe we should just enjoy this.” “I am.” MY HEART.

“This how you fight your enemies, Chief? How you fight for your life? No excuses. Show me you’re a soldier.” And the look on Chief’s face, omg.

“Is that what you want? Is that what you want, Admiral?”

Aaaaand Kara using this as an excuse to needle Lee.

“You literally drank Anders under the table.” Lol.

I do love all the random couples slowdancing in the background while Lee and Kara are having that conversation.

And Cottle wants Bill to tap out but he refuses and I LOVE LAURA HERE OKAY. “He’s swinging wild, so hit him with a left hook” I LOVE HER SO MUCH YOU GUYS

“You wanna win?” “I’m not gonna win.” Yeah, that’s not the point he’s making here.

And then the next morning Bill changes his mind and lets Chief and Cally muster out. “I’m gonna miss you, Chief. I wanna wish you good luck.” And this music in the background and the look on his face when he smiles and Cally’s FACE. And “I want you guys to have at least a dozen.” “We’ll see about that” and she kisses his cheek and MY HEART.

And the way the same music continues as they go back to the fight scene where Chief is pounding the crap out of Bill.

And then it goes very quiet because he has his Verbal point to make. “When you stand on this deck, you be ready to fight, or you dishonor the reason why we’re here. Now remember this: when you fight a man, he’s not your friend. Same goes when you lead men. I forgot that once. I let you get too close, all of you. I dropped my guard. I gave some of you breaks, let some of you go, before the fight was really over. I let this crew and this family disband. And we paid the price in lives. That can’t happen again.”

And the way Laura takes his arm to help him down awwwwww.

And Tigh says it’s over. “So, what, you’re just gonna call it?” Kara says, because she hasn’t fought Lee yet, which is what she really wants to do.

“It’s over, Kara.” “So, what? You have the guts to try and frak another man’s woman, but not to fight one? I wonder if Dee knew what she was getting. Think she would’ve settled for sloppy seconds?” And he hits her. “Truth stings, don’t it?” “You want a fight, Captain? You’ve got it.”

I really do love her Fight Me smile.

And she took off her tanktop for this one, she didn’t with Hotdog.

And Dee comes in and. The look on her face. Poor Dee. She deserved so much better than this bullshit. (like, yeah, she’s not…it is kind of hard to forget the way she handled ending things with Billy but that doesn’t make the way Lee and Kara screw with her and Sam at all okay.)

“I’m not getting married.” “Then what’s the point, Kara? You love him, right?” “Where are we going with this, Lee?” “That’s the question, isn’t it. Where are we going?” ugh, I’m already exhausted. “Is this how you want to spend [the rest of your life]? Is this who you wanna spend it with?”

And Sam shows up to the dance and finds Dee. “What’s going on?” “What does it look like?” “Looks like they’re trying to kill each other.” “That’s one perspective.”

Again, I feel like fucking in this dirt is a Poor Life Choice. …I mean, not just for all the Relationship Drama reasons, I mean because dirt/sand in Uncomfortable Places. I guess they did at least Try to layer their jackets/etc. on the ground to prevent that but Still.

“Well that makes things more complicated.” “Yeah.” “What are we gonna do?” “What are we gonna do? We accept it. Tomorrow, I tell Dee, you tell Sam.” “Just like that?” “Just like that.” And right after Dee transferred to Pegasus to be with him. “Yeah, we tell them how we feel. We shout it to the skies. What, you don’t think I will?”

This shouting to the sky bit is so dumb in all the best ways and would be Super Adorable if it weren’t for the entire Quadrangle of Why that comes from it.

Also how drunk are you two right now I assume Very.

Aww, Helo cheering Starbuck on.

…you know, Kat is another person who almost never gets called by her actual name? Always her callsign. I don’t know if anyone ever says Louanne out loud.

Aaaaand now it’s going in an MMA direction which is probably against the rules but Kara and Lee are beyond caring at this point, Cottle’s gone, Saul may be, too…

“You look like you had a good time.” LOL.

“It’s been a hell of a morning. You missed all the excitement.” “Problems upstairs?” “No, good things. Kara got married.” “…what?” “Yeah, about an hour ago. Found herself a priest, went down by the river, and got married. …you okay?”

Yeah, Kara, it’s…really not cool to run from your feelings with Sam by going to Lee and run from your feelings with Lee by going to Sam.

“She deserves it. We all deserve to be happy. I gave her permission to muster out, along with Chief and Cally, a few of the others. So it’ll be up to us to make sure there’s no mass exodus.”

…I think this is the same music (or very similar) as what was playing in the Opera House vision with Baltar and Head!Six on Kobol?

Anyway Lee is not listening and…yeah, his face as he goes to meet Sam and Kara.

And Sam is just Elated and missing the other Drama because he just got married!!!!!

“No, it was crazy, she comes down, she wakes me up, she pops the question, drags me down to the priest, and bang, like that, we’re married!” “So it was your idea.” “Yeah. It was my idea.” “…do you guys want a minute to, you know, talk?” And Lee just tells him congratulations and good luck before walking off with a “you’re gonna need it” parting shot. …and going to make out with Dee.

((at least this time, unlike at the end of S1 when he was being an UTTER ASS, he kind of has room/reason to be pissed at her.))

Oh, Sam and Dee in the crowd, watching as Lee and Kara’s fight winds down. They’re both wobbling, but they won’t quit.

And they wind up hugging, and Sam has to look away briefly, and Dee just keeps watching, with this blank but devastated expression. And I just. Those two deserved so much better.

…yeah, I guess my final thoughts on this episode are I really love everything about Bill’s half!

The Passage:

Aaaaaand now I’m gonna cry.

Either Starbuck or Kat for the previously-on, I think.

Ah, yes, the flashback to the JUST HAVE ANGRY SEX episode aka Scar.

…do we ever see any of the male models download? I think we see Ellen later, and I know we’ve seen Sixes and Eights and now Threes…

Aaaand the food processing is contaminated, but Sharon is looking for a route to the planet where they can harvest algae. 7-10 days on current rations if it doesn’t work and oh my god Helo trying to stay Calm and Professional but he’s so worried about whether or not Sharon will make it back through the radiation okay especially since she’s late back and my heaaaaaart.

“I gave it to Cottle.” “Right, after I gave him head.” Lol.

The pilots divvying up crumbs, man.

41,420 again! So…two people died since the last episode, I guess?

Also this vaguely unsettling and largely repetitive piano music for the Basestar stuff. And D’anna quietly moves Gaius’s hand, lol. But he wakes up, she tells him not to wake up Caprica, and that she has things to do. “I’ll never understand what you all do all day long. Where do you suppose she takes herself off to, then?” “You’re not the only one asking that.” “I’m not?” “She’s been doing things.” “…doing things?” But Caprica falls back asleep before answering him.

Awwww, Helo hovering. And Athena’s nose is bleeding, as she goes into decontamination.

And Helo just takes her hands ‘are you okay’ and she gives him a quick nod before reporting to Bill and Lee. “She’s a Cylon, she can handle a radiation dose that big.” “We think!” Helo snaps.

“Nausea from the radiation exposure will take care of our appetites.”

“We’re all flying solo on this mission, so there’ll be no one to bitch slap you if you start to drift or start seeing little toasters on your ass.” Lol, Kara.

Aaaand that’s how Kat (or Sacha) gets caught; one of her friends from her old life catches her. “My name isn’t Sacha. It’s Captain Louanne Katraine. Sacha and you were a long time ago.” Awww, yay, she got promoted! Probably when she was CAG earlier but she didn’t get demoted back again which I appreciate.

Back to the basestar “could you believe I’m lost again” lol Gaius. “If I spoke to the relevant Simon, would I actually find out you were at this meeting?” “Who would tell you anything about my business?” “So, it’s true?” “Caprica?” and he quickly shifts to put her on the defensive in a different direction. “Did you know you have some dried goo in your hair?”

“Do you have any idea what you are accusing me of?” “Yes. Intentionally killing yourself over and over so you can download over and over. But death’s just a revolving door, isn’t it?”

Aaaaaand of course her ex is blackmailing her.

“Since when is it a crime to take care of your own? Remember, I know who you are. I know how to make you happy.” And he goes in for sex, and she rebuffs him.

And all those shots from the top of the stairs…was that to indicate Kara or someone else was listening in?

YAY TIGH IS BACK AS XO!!!

Or he’s hovering outside the door, working himself up to coming in and aww Bill’s little smile.

Felix and Dee are like “don’t make it weird don’t make it weird don’t make it weird” and then people start applauding and my heaaaaaaaaaart.

“Enough! Don’t you people have jobs to do?!” And Bill and Gaeta are the ones not making it a Thing. Bill just quietly says “welcome back”

Tigh looking at the sigil/symbol on the wall <3333333

Helo trying to talk Hotdog through “ease up on the throttle, this is not a viper.”

Aaaaaaand they lost one ship on this first jump through. :((((((

Aaaaand Kat’s patch is black. But she found her ship that she thought she’d lost!

Or maybe not.

Her face when she comes out of the decon shower oh man. :(((((

And Hotdog pukes on the deck. Not for the first time.

She looks around at the other pilots, many of whom are. Not Doing Okay. Helo’s doing better than most, at least. Which is why she picks his patch to steal, probably.

“We gotta get better at tracking our sheep. Racetrack, don’t call out coordinates to the wrong ship.”

And Kara watches Kat go, but helps up one of the others first.

100 marines down, 200 close to it, civilians causing Problems on the other side…

“I heard they were eating paper. Is that true?” “No. Paper shortage.” And they both start laughing because what else can you do at this point.

Oh, this is where Starbuck sees Kat and her ex, because he’s still hanging around, and she’s checking out one of the raptors and sees them arguing on the catwalk.

“So, when you resurrect, you see the faces of the final five Cylons? The ones that no one’s seen.” “Why do you want to know about them?” “I could be a Cylon. I would stop being a traitor to one set of people, and be a hero to another. And have a place to belong. You would help me understand my destiny. Have you seen my face?” “Your face? I can’t remember.” And she’s been trying to draw while it’s still fresh on her mind, but nothing much comes out. “Cylons, humans…we’re all just trying to discover who we are, aren’t we?”

Aaaand Kat’s ex flirting with random girls, and Starbuck approaches him, calling him by name. and then she goes to confront Kat.

“I took the name Louanne Katraine from a girl who died two days before the attack on Caprica. Got me through the background checks.” “Yeah. Times were rough. Keep going.” “I was a drug runner. Enzo was my supplier. What do you want? We were truckers, okay? We just moved stuff.” “People. You see, some think that that’s the way the Cylons infiltrated Caprica. They seeded themselves in the outer colonies and then used criminals to get them into the capital. Anyone who’s found guilty of helping the Cylons is considered a traitor.” “We didn’t carry Cylons.” “How do you know?” “Because nobody knew they looked like us!” “Then how do you know you didn’t?!” and then the way Starbuck leans in. “You think I’m a traitor. You think I’m a traitor?” “No. I don’t think you’re a traitor. You’re a smart young woman. That’s what the old man said. You’re just not smart enough to accept who you are. You see, you lied your way into the company of good people.” And they’re at kiss-or-kill distance and Kat is crying and begs her not to tell Bill. “Please don’t, or I—” “Or what?” “Please just let me tell him myself. Please, just let me. Can you do that?” and Starbuck is…the way she looks at her then. And then she just says ‘gods’ half under her breath and walks away.

And D’Anna and Gaius are going back to the Hybrid.

“This is where you got the idea to start…intentionally downloading? …let’s see what we can find out.” And he approaches the tank, kneels next to her, and rolls up his sleeve. “What do you think you’re doing?” And he closes his eyes and visibly braces himself, slowly lowering his hand into the tank. “Don’t touch it!” but then the Hybrid grabs his arm and looks directly at him which is New. And the Terror on his face omg. “Intelligence. A mind that burns like a fire.” “…yes, I’m here.” “Find the hand that lies in the shadow of the light. In the eye of the husband of the eye of the cow.” And he pulls back and he seems like he’s in pain, and her head returns to its regular orientation. “Are you all right?” D’Anna asks. “It just speaks nonsense, right?” “…I don’t think anything it says is nonsense. The husband of the eye, the eye of the…Hera. Hera, sometimes referred to as cow-eyed Hera. And the husband of Hera…” “is Jupiter. The Eye of Jupiter. It’s written about in the ancient texts. My god…could there be a connection between their gods and ours? What does it mean?” “It’s a location. A planet, hidden in the shadow of light, probably a cluster of stars…that’ll lead us to the Eye of Jupiter, and to the hand hidden in the shadow of light.” As he stares at his hand, and his logic brain keeps going. “Probably some kind of artifact. As in five. Five faces. Now all we have to do is find the right planet.” And he drags his sleeve back down so slowly.

Kat studying her reflection in the mirror, struggling to decide what to do. She finds her hair is falling out. Checks her patch, thinks, remembers “accept who you are.” Goes to see Enzo. “Thieving bastard. You’re going to cost me everything I’ve got.” And then she has sex with him, and running her hand along the raptor, and…yep, breaks into Helo’s locker to steal his patch.

God she looks like hell. Poor Kat.

Oh noooo she lost her last ship too…

And they have to jump, but she refuses to lose another one, so she stays to look for Faru Sadin, even though her patch was already black and—oooh, algae planet has Rings!

…huh, I guess either of the two seats in the front of a raptor can be used by the pilot? Because some of the pilots seem to be on the right and some on the left.

And her stolen patch is black now, too, and. And and and.

Aww, Saul. “Come on, Kat (or possibly kid?). Come on home.”

And that calm look on her face as she spots Faru Sadin and then she brings them home my heart.

“Galactica, Kat. Mission accomplished.” And her face. And. And I know what’s coming. And. :(((((((((

And Helo starts a round of applause for her and and and and she’s barely standing as she comes out of her raptor, but she puts her arms up for Victory and takes off her helmet and reaches up to take off her helmet and then Lee realizes and glances to the side and then she collapses and.

MY HEART. “I don’t think we should end the way we ended.” “Listen. Everybody is stuck with the things they’re not proud of. That, uh, that thing about good people, I…I didn’t mean that.” “Yeah, I know.” And Starbuck gives her sleeping pills. “Enough,” she says. “Take ‘em if you want.” BAWLING. “Thank you.” “…Igottago.”

And the way Bill puts his hand on her shoulder as she flees and goooooooooood.

“Admiral, I…I’m so sorry.” “I’m not here to lecture. I’m letting you know about a promotion. I’m making you CAG again.” “…sir, you know I’m not getting out of here, right?” “You earned it. What you did was harder than facing a bullet. And you did it without putting one other soul in harm’s way. Don’t know if I could’ve done that. I wish there was something more that I could give you.” “No. it’s good. I’d like to be CAG very much. Thank you. …sir, there…there’s a thing. A reason why you might not want to do this. Kara knows what it is, but I wanted to tell you myself.” “I don’t need to know anything other than what I already know. When you were CAG, you protected your people. Made them feel safe enough to be brave. What you were gonna say, does it change that?” and he goes to get a chair to sit with her and BAWL. ING. “Are you…you staying?” “Oh, I’m staying. I love this sickbay, in a way. Reminds me of where my son Zak was born. Carolanne was so happy. She was convinced both times that she was having a girl. So it was a surprise at the end.” “Did you want a girl, too?” “Yeah. Three’s a good round number.” GODDDDDDDDD MY HEART I CAN’T TAKE IT. And then he changes the board and ;____________;

AND THERE’S A BIT OF WANDER MY FRIENDS IN ALL STRINGS AS THE OTHER PILOTS WATCH HIM DO IT AND FUCCCCCCCCCCCCK

And Kara puts her on the memorial wall.

God fucking damn it that episode. Fuck. Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck.

[jayshq]

So, if you look at my followers I actually have 1,183, but that’s because this hasn’t always been Poe. I started this blog way back on Nov. 8, 2014 as Dean Winchester. It has gone through AT LEAST ten characters since then. So, a lot of these followers are dead accounts or abandoned accounts. However, when I started up Poe on here I made note that I had 1,083 followers. So, this is for the 100 of you that came here for my baby.

So, let’s get the follow forever out of the way. Let me start off by saying I’m going to forget people, I’m human. Also, I don't do very big follow forevers whenever I do them because I firmly believe in only having people who have had a very strong impact on me or Poe should be present on the list. That said, if you’re not on this list you are still very loved.

special mention of @bondforce for making this happen, thanks for being my 100th follower, lol.

REYS:

@dawnsabered : so, despite us not having any threads you’re first on this list because you re-sparked my love of the sequels and made me want to hop into this fandom again. Rping with you on Steve made me just adore the fandom more and more and made me want to bring back Poe. I’m eternally grateful to you for that. I have found such an amazing and welcoming home in this community and I wouldn’t have it without you, I love you loads, thanks a bunch.

@jedirisen : okay, so we met pretty early in and thank god we did. i adore your Rey, but more than anything you’ve been such an incredible friend. You’re always down to plot and create and just talk. You put up with my constant recommendations and are just one of the sweetest humans I’ve ever met. I’m super pumped that we found each other and I hope we have many great years of friendship ahead of us.

@fxrcefound​ : you’re a babe, you know that? Like, just such a good bean! Thank you for putting up with all my bullshit and being so fucking welcoming. I showed up in the fandom and within the first week we had multiple threads. I adore you, as does my Ben. Love’s his princess wife so much, tbh. But, no honestly I’m so glad I’ve found a friend in you. A gem, truly.

@scavenger-warrior : Ahhhh! Hi, I love you. So, first of all let me just say that our beautiful time leap verse (that all of our followers are currently being deprived of bc discord is so much better lol) is one of my all time favourite verses I’ve EVER done. It makes me so immensely happy and Ben is just in love.

@choosenskywalker : I’m TRASH! I’m so excited for the verses we have started, I’m just awful at replying. But, I really am so excited and I adore your writing, you’re very talented. You’re also super sweet and have the patience of a god. Thank you for being lovely, and I swear I’ll get better because I’m so excited to see where these things go.

@aequusjedi & @killingpast​  : you guys get a joint one because i love our poly babies despite me being a lazy bitch and not writing much with them yet. Nah, can I just say how excited I was when you joined our group Cas. I’m so excited to see how this develops and watch our babies fall in love. Aside from that though, both of you have been just lovely people OOC. I’m so lucky to have such wonderful partners like yourselves.

BENS:

@sithroyal : hey there! We also met in my early days here, and you’ve been such a joy to write with, no matter what character it’s on. You’re portrayal is one of pure perfection. I love writing with you and any reply always makes me so excited. On top of that you’ve been so kind and inviting and it really meant a lot since I was HELLA INTIMIDATED by you when I first got here.

@endheir : LOOK EVERYONE, IT’S J.J. ABRAMS EVIL TWIN, come to fix all the shit J.J. broke. No, seriously I am so impressed and will never not be intimidated by how amazing you and your writing is! THIS IS THE BEN SOLO WE DESERVED! But, you’re such a peach and so nice and I adore plotting with you. Thanks for being the bomb dot com.

@dyadalone : WE ARE CRACK ROYALTY, thank you very much. No, really though I love when we (and our friends) get up to our shenanigans. But, aside from that Poe is also just IN LOVE! And, I adore you OOC. Such a kind and loving person, you da best! I am so happy we found each other through this hellsite and can’t wait to see what nonsense our future brings.

@brokendyad : HELLO I LOVE YOU! You’re such a solid friend and such a talented writer. I’m so happy we get to have so much fun writing and plotting. You’re an absolute dear and I’ll never get over how lucky I am to have such amazing friends. Thanks for being great and I hope we stay close forever.

@lghtpulled : okay, so i can’t explain my infinite love for you. I can’t. All my characters over here being obsessed over your Ben. I’ve told you how much I adore your Ben, but I can’t say it enough. Also, our high school verse GIVES ME LIFE! But, nah you’re just so talented and SO KIND! I’m so glad that despite being SO FUCKING INTIMIDATED by you we managed to form this amazing friendship. I’m keeping you.

THE FAM:

@kesdameronn : SCARF DAD! No, lol I love that Poe’s dad is around. We haven’t done much yet but we have all the time in the world for the Dameron bros to get up to shit together. Also, Zep you are such a kind and cute soul and I just love ya!

@lieutenantxbey : Mama Dameron, how could we not love? Poe loves his mama so much and lowkey wants to be just like her. I love seeing Shara on the dash. And the few times we’ve spoken you’ve been just a ray of light, so keep being awesome.

@legacybeyne : this little shit! No, I’m kidding, Poe loves his cousin. Like wants to throw him out an airlock sometimes, but loves him. I adore this character so much and I’m so happy Poe has more family around. Also, OOC you seem like a super cool person, so definitely don’t stop that.

LUKE:

@jedishope​ : SHANE! I don’t know if I could tell you how much I actually adore you? Like, I don’t think I could. And, I low-key don’t want to because it would deffo scare you off, lol. But, no you’re just an absolute ray of sunshine and such a beautiful person. A person only has to talk to you for a second to see how just full or love and kindness you are. You bring so much joy to my dash and I’m forever thankful for it! Not to mention your Luke is hands down the best Luke I’ve ever seen. Absolutely perfect! I was so scared to approach you at first because you were just so fucking talented and obviously still are! I love your Luke with my whole heart and so does Poe.

HUX:

@muddledbloodlines : I am so excited for the verse we’ve created for our lonely babies and can’t wait to see where it goes. You have such an interesting take on this character and I love it! I’m so excited to get to know you better and really explore this. I’m honestly just in love with your writing and imagination.

OCS:

 @congeriemgriseo : so it won’t tag you, which is RUDE! But, anyway: I adore Any. Such an incredibly well thought out and beautiful OC. I’m quite picky when it comes to OCs, despite having one of my own. But, I was enraptured from the moment I read her bio, and you have not disappointed! She’s such a beautiful little chaos machine and I love her.

@orderengineer : okay, so I actually usually despise OCs that are really kind. Because as much as Mary Sue characters are fine to write, I personally can’t write opposite them. However, that’s not what Syla is! She’s so much more complex than that and I adore her. Both Ben and Orion find her insanely interesting and think she’s super fucking talented. I love this character you've created. It’s also just insane to see my characters name on the dash lol. You’re also such a sweetheart OOC and it always makes my day.

@petitehux : so for anyone who doesn’t know? I LOVE Kat. Like, I am obsessed, I have 100s of photos of her saved on my phone. I am just in love. Her and Dove Cameron are my two ultimate celebrity crushes. Which was the original reason I decided to check out your blog, and I’m so fucking happy I did. Ryann is so fucking cool and I think she brings such an interesting dynamic to the whole trilogy story. I can’t wait for myself to stop being lazy and get some bomb shit going with this incredible OC.

I’M A STALKER (also we need to rp!):

@hopedyad : I love seeing you on my dash and I adore keeping up with your posts. You’re a super talented writer and I hope in the future I stop being a shy bean and we can actually do cool things lol. You seem super sweet and like you’ve got a wicked sense of humor OOC too.

@tornbetweenthestorm : So, I LOVE FN! It’s so great to see such an interesting OC. I adore the work and thought you’ve put into this character and his struggles. Anytime I stop to read one of your replies to a partner I’m just overcome by your brilliance. I’m so happy I stumbled across your blog (thank you tumblr recs) and have been lucky enough to be mutuals with you.

@iamthecrder : well hello there. So, yeah I think your Hux is super cool and right on the money. It’s so interesting to see a different version of him and I honestly think you’re so incredibly talented! Keep being awesome, my good dude.

OTHER:

@mangohub : Monroe. My love, what can I say? You’ve followed me from my original Alec all the way to here. Despite not being a Star Wars fan you still follow me on multiple of your blogs. I will always love you. I will also never stop being astounded by your talent and world building capabilities. In case there was any confusion, YOU ARE  MY FAVOURITE PERSON ON TUMBLR. Also, you are the most talented person I’ve ever followed. I will never stop being so happy to see you, no matter the blog, on my dash. On top of being the most talented writer I know, you also happen to be the sweetest human on the planet. You have so much love in your heart and you pour into your friends like it’s going out of style. I’m so so lucky to have you and I love you, okay?

Obviously I don't talk to you lads enough, but a special shoutout to @poewingsdameron, @lightskipped, , @flyjacket, @sprklit & @vuuelo for playing this amazing bean alongside me. 

Okay, now onto the giveaway. So, friendly reminder that I make all my own stuff, so if you want examples of my work just check out across my blogs. That being said, when it comes to graphics, icons, etc I’m not very talented with creating stuff myself, so I use other peoples free templates, borders, psds and so on. I think I’m decently talented at putting them together, though. Also, having me do it just saves you a stupid amount of time lol.

Simply enter by liking AND/OR reblogging, the winners will be chosen using a random number generator. I will contact each of you via IM (or discord if we have each other) to discuss getting to work on the prizes. The only real rule is DO NOT SPAM YOUR FOLLOWERS. I’m not gonna put a limit on how many times you can reblog, but be fucking courteous to your followers, okay? This giveaway ends on APRIL 10th at NOON GMT-6.

1st PLACE: 200 icons of the character of your choosing, a promo & a dash icon.

2nd PLACE:  100 icons of the character of your choosing & a dash icon.

3rd PLACE:  100 icons of the character of your choosing.

[renaer-is-allegedly-hot]

session 6

so pdfing and jpging things for tumblr is hard so ur just gonna deal with this have fun

I'm sleepy

Also criminal minds is v good

"rain makes sleepy" or smth I can't process anything rn

"can I just stop.. Stop trying .. With discord"

We're so quiet

And out of it

"if I have an extra belt, I'll just hook it to it" - dom2020, about the loss of his window blinds stick thing

The only people w blinds problems r jacob n dom apparently

Jacob: can we start at 3

Jacob: can we start at 4

Jacob: can we start at 5

Lol ok

If lillian is a reformed horse girl dom is a reformed cow boy

JACOB IS GOING TO REPLACE THE MILK IN DOM'S HOUSE WITH HIS

"I'm going to go to your house and replace the milk in your house with mine"

Dom didn't know males could lactate

  Last time we finished downtime w a bomb I guess

An explosion outside of our home

N then we found out the one goblin or smth killed by the explosion was the last key holder of the oh it was a gnomes it was an associate of renaer's father

Asyna given a necklace by a child + asyna's fish spirit thing

  We go into mirt's house in one of the sitting rooms

Renaer is pacing and looks concerned n frantic

U missed sylvia's question oops

Ok wait suddenly we started talking about trump and politics what happened

Ok so when it comes to protesters burning stuff like cars and businesses there are a lot of reports that it's not protesters and that it's police and/or random ppl just joining to break things

I haven't looked into that as much but one of the biggest arguments is that ppl who were really protesting wouldn't b burning down the low-income businesses n stuff that have been

  Adam asking to renaer and floon if the gnome had a reason to come to our house

Maybe gnome found out ppl were watching and maybe wanted to give us the thing

Adam asking if we need the body

if he didn't have it on him then the authorities would've confiscated

There r speak w dead practices ig

Not really any reason to believe it's not on the body

Mirt asks us to recount the events

Looked like zents

Why would zents want the gnome

Renaer said smth

All of us r flustered from day's events

Theo got 15

One of the neighbors fallah the elf person had said someone wandered off

Adam tells them abt which building the attack probs came from

Asyna brings up necklace and said it was from a puppet

Mirt takes the necklace and is looking at it

Four jewels hanging from the broken necklace, reddish-orange almost marbles

Looks like one of them had been pulled off

Stone impervious to scrying magic

Stone looks like ?????

Either with the police or on the zent or idk

Could ask trench to find it bc expert tracker

Adam runs arcana check on it

Rolls 18, learn it could have smth to do w the element of fire

"can we throw it into the fire?"

Gonna dangle the necklace over the candle

No reaction

Asyna has her deer, summons it

Comes out, paces, looks at asyna expectantly

Naya is a scrying deer so u can tell it to scry

"I'll show naya the necklace, be like, 'scry'"

Jumps around, backs up toward house front then looking for us to follow

Mirt is meeting w associates

Adam: "invite us" . "sometime"

Renaer says he'll lie low probs bc worried abt his fate

Floon says ditto basically

We're following naya and watching it move through the streets

Right as the sun sets make it further into sea ward and then naya stops and returns to the token

Back in the direction of our house toward a gated, walled-off manor house w elegant metal bars blocking some sight and a low wall covering it, locked gate

Building behind it looks two stories tall

You do not recognize the building

No visible guards, just the wall itself

Some light coming in from windows but no one in front of the windows walking around

Some light lit on the second story

Sylvia's gonna jump over it ig but I have to play w thE CHILD

Sylvia wants to use a bear

R we using my dog

Or is asyna turning into a bear

No one's around it's night

We're gonna try picking the lock first ig

Oh nvm we're knocking

Asyna is knocking

Waits a little, no response

Door made out of solid wood but we're just gonna lockpick instead of letting adam destroy it

Theo tries lockpicking, puts ear to door and eventually can't pick open lock

If asyna turns into an animal she can open the door

Squirrel!asyna time does it ez

Rolls 15 for perception

Squirrel!asyna is on the wall, there's a pathway that goes forward and one branching off towards the left to what's probably a guest house

Adam is gonna send message, eventually we notice a groundskeeper w two mastiffs

They're kinda far from us, over 100 ft away they're just making rounds

Asyna might try to unlock the door as a squirrel

Strength check as squirrel

Dogs r getting closer

Asyna can't open it

Could knock when the groundskeepers r closer

When mastiff+groundskeeper come closer we'll try that

OOP just asyna is rolling initiative as a squirrel

Lmao rolled nat20

Asyna might die ???

Climbs up wall again

Gets onto top of wall

Older human gentleman just pulls dogs aside

Groundskeeper says we can't go in and eventually walks away

Adam "not even someone who has official business with the house's master ?"

Rolls a 9, groundskeeper says come back in the sun

There's a dirt path ???? One going forward towards a porch into the main building, and a side path that eventually diverges abt 50 feet up the path further into the courtyard

Not a manor w manicured gardens, otherwise just p flat

We're gonna stealthily run for it

We make it to the main door of the house, it's unlocked - doesn't even look like it could be traditionally locked bc it's just a display door

We forgot to lock the door we left

60 feet away

Adam is giving me bardic inspiration whispered

He's playing a soft lullaby

You RUN

Can kinda shut it, to left you see the two dogs and groundskeeper but they don't notice you and you sneak back

We go into the villa

Go in, shut the door haha frozen computer

We enter and see immediately to the left 15 ft away a shut door, further down the hallway a long dinner setup

Dinner table turned over on its side

Staircase and another set of doors to right

But most of all there r dead bodies littered in the hallway

Probs 10ish

Some dressed in typical guardsmen attire w spears, smaller number of bodies covered in zents attire

We hear sounds of active fighting upstairs

Inspect the dead bodies

No one recognized, one of them collapsed in front of a doorway leading into a

Five different exits including door we came from and stairs

Check the other exits

Naya is summoned but it doesn't work

Oh bc it's once a day

Nvm there are four different doorways

One w a guard slumped over in front of it

Go to door to immediate left

Adam stealthily cracks door open, looks like a storage room

There's a skinny 5ft wide staircase to the right

Gonna check another door

Peek into another room w two human men dressed in black zent robes w maces at their belts and at the sound of the door, turn and r shocked for a second

Cel goes first

Groot gets 6 for initiative idk if there r any modifiers

They're running forward to attack

U roll 17+4 for first insight

U have sneak attack against one of the targets

14 pts of damage gOD I'M SO SORRY Y'ALL I TOOK A FAT MINUTE

U run up and stab him and he looks p heavily wounded

Cel has tripped and fallen for reasons

U get 4 damage he tries to hit u in the head so the wooden part of the mace hits ur head

Asyna

Pulls out ice knife

21 to hit, going for the one that hit me

Rolls a 1 LMAO

Ice knife

Couldn't hit him w full attack but secondary part of the attack hit him and has some damage

Adam

Runs into line of sight, they look cut up but not bloodied

Casts vicious mockery on the one u stabbed

Points at hole in gut "I bet the hole in ur gut is not as large as the hole in your heart"

4 damage

Theo

Strikes and misses

Groot

2 damage

Dom's gonna

kill my dog

Other guy attacks theo

Hits

U do 5 damage

Ok so

Ig every time u fight

U can use sneak attack ??

9 pts to damage

Ok I think ur using sneak attack wrong

Adam technically saved ur dog

Asyna

Rolls nat20 to hit

Rolls

Kills the guy

"I mean, shillelagh"

Howls in pain, slumps over on the ground

It's the bald one the guy u stabbed

Adam

Casts vicious mockery

Threatens baldness

2 damage

Theo

2, no hit

Groot

Doesn't hit

Other guy

Trying to hit theo

Hits

3 damage

Aerana

Shortsword

6 damage

Asyna

8 to hit

12 hits

7 damage

Siiiiiis imagine killing both of them wait is he dead

Oop he's not dead yet tho

Adam

Vicious mockery

Lives

Theo

16 to hit

ROLLS A ONE

LILLIAN

Four damage

BRUH

Groot misses

Other guy

Drops his weapon

Adam walks into the room

"hey buddy . What's goin on ?"

Persuasion check at disadvantage

10

Might as well kill

You kill, groot pushes adam so adam doesn't see

[rpbetter]

Hi, my knowledge is mainly from the blog. You're right, I think Rolescape can benefit from more varied takes. I want to add my two cents. I just wish there was another way to do it. I don't know if I can stay on the server that long because I get bad stage fright. I joined briefly, but I felt like I was walking into a clique that already formed. I just don't like servers. That's another problem I have with this I guess. It feels unfair, exclusionary to people like me. Can you share any tips?

Thank you for replying back! I didn't want to just imply what your experience was, especially as that easily comes off as a snooty, "well, if you were in The Server you'd know!" kind of thing that I am not cool with.

I absolutely understand! Despite running this blog, my RP blogs, and trying to be a reasonably social presence, I'm really not very socially inclined. I actually held out on joining the RS server for months, had to have a friend vet that it was relatively chill, not an incredibly busy atmosphere. Honestly, and y'all can despise me for this, free pass, I don't like discord in general, it's just become the only option for messaging off of tumblr, and that's what I keep it to - messaging friends and trustworthy, not hyper-social, mutuals. Servers and other group chat situations give me hives lol I'm only somewhat joking! I hate it. It overwhelms and exhausts me.

So, notably, RS's server is not like that. There are some busy moments when several people are joining at once, there's a conversation going in a channel, or the developer drops something new/asks for feedback. That's really it, though, and even then, I've yet to see anyone having to like, rapid-fire answer to get a word in edgewise. I've not been stressed out enough to (and I do mean this absolutely literally, I have a trichotillomania issue, hats are my besties, shhh y'all don't tell anyone my Secret) pull my hair out or anything. The opinions expressed are incredibly civil, everyone is very respectful. Even when you can tell that things are getting a bit intense between differing opinions!

It really helped my anxiety over it to have someone already there, someone who also has some anxiety issues and gets socially overwhelmed, no less, who could tell me that it was a chill place. Maybe knowing that will help you as well! I would totally, and too bluntly, tell you if I felt like it sucked there.

On that same note, if it would make you comfortable enough to join and eventually be able to speak up there, I'd be happy to PM you my discord so you'd know of one person there. Again, as a rather private and less social person, I totally understand if that wouldn't help you, and you can just know that I am, in fact, there.

Because you're right...when you enter any established space, even if people don't treat you that way, you feel like an outsider. They've established roles in the server and friendships with each other, you haven't. It's totally natural to get a clique vibe and be uncomfortable! Making the only way you can get over that really difficult, as that way is to dive in.

Now, again, full honesty, cheery people kind of freak me out lol but the folks in the general chat are pretty welcoming! If you could always respond to them and get some comfort level established by jumping into a recent conversation then, or asking a question that might start a short conversation with them. Like, asking how everyone's day/night has been, or how they're liking the server. Just little, casual questions like that to get someone talking. If you are there when I usually am (overnight, America, CST), it's very slow and quiet, only one to four people are very active then, so it's a great time to interact with fewer people.

Do you enjoy pets? They have a pet channel if so! That's always a great sort of place to make yourself comfortable and meet people in a purely friendly atmosphere. Pet people want to share and talk about their pets, they also want you to share yours. These are positive conversations waiting to happen! If it's your deal, check out this channel, you'll see recent pictures and discussions surrounding the pet(s) in them that you can then add to the conversation on. "Adorable cat! This has to be a cat thing, mine does it too, see -picture of your cat on clean laundry-" If there has been nothing new recently, add a funny or cute picture of your pet or a pet you know that you enjoy.

There are also the "fun stuff" and "self-promo" channels. With the former, you might find a way to join a conversation about something shared or, again, share something in the same vein of humor you see present. The latter, you might end up finding someone sharing their RP blog(s) who you know and didn't realize was in the server as well.

Then, there is the "feedback and questions" channel. I found it easier to just jump in there on a topic that I felt compelled to join in on. The same might happen with you! It's easier for me to speak about something I care about than it is to engage in casual conversation, especially with people I don't know. If you feel the same way, this might be your answer in getting a push to feel comfortable enough to say something.

Again, I very much understand where you're coming from, Anon! Servers in general are not meant for people like me either. They're inherently exclusionary when you have problems functioning and feeling comfortable in those environments...I can't even properly enjoy servers set up by friends when either more than two of them are actively speaking or even a single person is especially "busy" (effusive about something, excited/excitable, etc. none of which are bad things, friends who see this lol y'all know how I am and I appreciate that you love me regardless). I 100% feel you, no judgment here!

If it isn't something you can do, at least you tried, right? You should still feel proud of trying, of caring enough to try. If you try again, it's okay to just lurk quietly and be aware of what is going on, too. For however long you need to. Maybe a topic will spur you into commenting like it did me! If you see something you like, say it. I don't think there is ever enough detailed positive commentary either. Most people just say that they like something, pop up a sticker, etc. and it's good. Having run businesses, sites, forums, blogs, and yeah, discord servers, I know how unhelpful non-detailed positive feedback can be. It's great you like this, but what do you like about it? That is useful application in other things, as well as being something I know I should try not to change in the future flippantly. So, if it's easier for you to establish yourself as existing there by saying something positive, by all means, do that first!

Otherwise, like the concern over leaning too much in the purity direction, no one was nasty to me for giving a different opinion than the more vocal people. It wasn't brushed aside or treated with hostility. No rushed to talk over me or refute anything I said, either. Definitely a less awful environment than tumblr has trained us all to expect!

It is additionally worth noting that I was not the only person in there with a different take. There are people who will politely and respectfully counter issues like "but survivors" and they are engaged with by the developer with just as much interest as the other side. Chances are, you're not the only one who feels the way you do, so long as you're expressing yourself politely, your feedback is welcome and going to be treated as such. It just seems to me that, as on tumblr and twitter, the most vocal and capable of public opining group happens to the purity police.

Probably because the rest of us have had our already present social anxieties and difficulties exacerbated by the purity police at some point or another, making it more difficult for us to speak up. Whereas their experience is being able to run on mob mentality, having their experiences forcing themselves to socialize rewarded. So...maybe not letting the entire phenomenon win is helpful, too?

Whatever you decide to do, whenever you decide to do it, I appreciate that you care enough about your concerns to have tried and even asked for tips on how to try again. That's awesome of you!

[scytheforhire]

KNOWING YOUR PARTNER WELL CAN POTENTIALLY MAKE WRITING TOGETHER A LOT EASIER.

1. BASICS

NAME: Meiri PRONOUNS: I truly don’t give a flying fuck about that. SEXUALITY: uuuh... see above. Bisexual I guess? ZODIAC SIGN: Taurus TAKEN OR SINGLE: single. probably for-ever

THREE FACTS:

1. I got a very busy shitty job and some other troubles that allow me basically no time to write atm so my activity is always really sporadic 2.  I practiced historical rapier fencing for a few years 3.  All my OC’s are assholes X,)

2. EXPERIENCE

HOW LONG (MONTHS / YEARS?): asdfgh- should be about 12 years by now? but srsly the first years hardly count as ‘good’  lol

PLATFORMS YOU’VE USED: chatrooms, forums, the German community Animexx, gaiaonline (*COUGH*), skype/discord now, P&P if you will, and tumblr BEST EXPERIENCE: it always depends on the people, you can find great rp partners everywhere. thus, you can hit me for that if you want to, but aside from the people I found here on tumblr, my best experience has ACTUALLY....been on gaiaonline oO

3. MUSE PREFERENCES

FEMALE OR MALE: male muses, I somehow feel better when there’s more..distance between me and my muses? And while I do have some female characters, I’m just worse at writing women? MULTI OR SINGLE: I’m unable to run more than one blog at a time, organisation wise ...but I -for myself, mind you - prefer having single muse blogs. Solely for aesthetic reasons and because I like things to be orderly. I want my blog to be centered about one character, from theme, over color, down to the posted aesthetics x,) (which is why there is a lot of dark blue on yun’s blog, even in his aesthetics that have nothing to do with the color)

4.  WRITING PREFERENCES

FLUFF, ANGST OR SMUT:  All of it, seriously. It always depends on my mood but I have no real writing preference, I really like dark themes though. BUT  there’s so much more than just these three!  I also really like to write action and fight scenes and humor/adventure like stuff (I think even in dark threads/plots it’s good to have a chuckle about a sarcastic comment or something else now and then). PLOTS OR MEMES: Again, depends on the mood. Memes are great for fun and relaxation and to develop a character quickly. You even can build whole relationships between muses on them. And plots can be so epic, giving you the possibility to fully indulge in writing and developing your muse~  I love long plos that spin even while still writing them. LONG OR SHORT REPLIES: While I can do both, I know myreplies often tend to get longer and longer (and therefore take an eternety DX I’m so sorry)  because, naturally, the more inspired I feel the more I write ^^” BEST TIME TO WRITE: in the evening, but alas, I barely ever acually HAVE time then. ARE YOU LIKE YOUR MUSE(S): Mh... no. As I said before, I actually need a certain distance between me and my muses to feel comfortable. So I bet none of them is quite like me XD Of course, some habits or character traits might be similar, but I guess that is natural. I DO however often take some quirks or hobbies from myself to attach them to my muses so I simply know better what I am actually writing about ;)   To see, for example, in Yun’s tea preferences or video game affinity.

tagged by:  @double-bite (thank you!  also made me realize I had forgotten to follow that blog o’ yours) tagging: @dolorousheart @resignedfaith @wrenthewitch @tessitore @dalish-delights and the rest of you who’dlike to do this thing