#you are telling me this is a ship between an almost robot and a human who are the missing parts of their soul

[a-little-bit-of-ships-in-my-life]

So like, i haven't watched any playthrough of SMT V, neither i have a really good idea of the plot. Yet, i read a lot of AoShu fanfiction on the past week (mostly by KivaEmber) and i must ask.

Is the fandom of the ship dead or-?

[ghostsandmermaids]

Fandom Manifesto: Hello From The Hallowoods

(Originally written for the Fandomanifesto community on Pillowfort.)

Here's a (mostly spoiler-free) fandom manifesto for my favorite podcast, Hello From The Hallowoods. (Please try to keep the comments on this post spoiler-free as well.)

What is a fandom manifesto?

Inspired by ship manifestos, a fandom manifesto is an essay meant to introduce people to a fandom and promote it by explaining its appeal. It's a really fun tradition that I would love to keep going.

What is Hello From The Hallowoods?

Darker than your dreams, and farther North than you remember, there is a forest where life and death meet…

Hello From The Hallowoods is a queer horror podcast written and produced by William A. Wellman (they/them). This is the official description (taken from Spotify):

Come walk between the black pines! In this award-winning queer fiction podcast, a cosmic narrator follows the increasingly connected residents of the forest at the end of the world. It's a bittersweet story that explores queer identity, horror genre tropes, and finding hope in humanity's last moments.

It's set in a forest in northern Canada (the Hallowoods) in a post-apocalyptic world plagued by the black rains. The story follows the inhabitants of the Hallowoods—only some of whom are alive and human—as their lives become increasingly interconnected. 

The podcast is narrated by Nikignik (he/they), also known as One Hundred Eyes in the Dark, an eldritch god who speaks directly to the listener via their nightmares. He begins to tell these stories because he's grieving his partner, another god called Marolmar (he/him), and humans were the last thing Marolmar created. Over time, Nikignik changes from a more passive narrator to an active character in the story.

There are a lot of characters, including but not limited to:

a nonbinary Frankenstein's creature piercing together their identity

a trans ghost dealing with his occultist father

an invisible man finding love at first sight

a genderfluid storm witch trying to prove themself

a retired rockstar and her punk butch lesbian daughter

a floral-suit-wearing demon on a celestial audit of earth

a starwolf on a mission to kill said demon

a killer robot skull and his pet dead seagull

an unkindness of ravens (yes, they are one character)

… and many, many more.

How scary is it?

It's a horror podcast, so there are some scary moments, but for me, the story feels very comforting and bittersweet as it explores horror tropes in a really unique way. According to the website:

It's been described as a show that helps you sleep easier, rather than one that keeps you up at night.

The story also explores themes like religious trauma, isolation, death, grief, and queerphobia, so please check the content warnings at the end of each episode description or at the start of each episode transcript. Transcripts are available on the website.

Why should I listen to it?

If the description above didn't convince you, here are some more reasons why you should listen to Hello From The Hallowoods. 

There is so much content! I often complain about books being almost always standalones or duologies lately and TV seasons only being 8-10 episodes. If I really like something, I want to spend as much time with it as possible!

With HFTH, I don't have that problem because there is so much to listen to! There are currently (almost) 150 episodes available (plus a few live shows and bonus episodes), and new episodes come out every Wednesday. There are also weekly 100-word bonus stories on Patreon, and a tie-in novel called One Hundred Eyes In The Dark is currently in the works, so if you're looking for a story you can get really invested in (or if you're angry that all your favorite shows have been canceled), HFTH is perfect for you!

There are so many queer characters, disabled characters, and characters of color! If you're looking for a really diverse show, you will love HFTH. (I cried when I heard a character describe herself as aromantic.) But even aside from the diversity, the characters are just amazing. I mean, "What if Frankenstein's creature got love and support and was an absolute cinnamon roll?" is the perfect character concept. The villains are also really compelling and well-written. 

It's a great introduction to podcasts, especially for book lovers, because it often feels like a very immersive audiobook! The voice acting and music are incredible, and even though there are a lot of characters, you can tell them apart very easily by their voices. If you like fantasy and horror books, this could be your introduction to the world of audio dramas. 

That being said, if you have listened to other horror podcasts before, you will still love this one! It sometimes reminds me of Welcome To Night Vale, but the setting and characters are very unique, and the writing is so, so beautiful. 

It's also a great introduction to horror! I used to avoid horror media because I get scared very easily, but horror podcasts (and especially Hello From The Hallowoods) made me discover how much I actually enjoy horror. HFTH explores horror tropes in such a kind, unique, and hopeful way, and as sappy as that sounds, listening to it makes the horrors of everyday life a little easier to deal with. 

If you like Malevolent (another really great horror podcast), Harlan Guthrie has a guest role in HFTH! You might also recognize Mx. Wellman's voice from other podcasts like WOE.BEGONE, The Silt Verses or Old Gods of Appalachia. 

The fandom is amazing! Everyone is so kind and talented, and we always have a lot of fun theorizing about what will happen next. There's even a fan-run Discord server!

We also have a fan wiki, and in addition to the official information, we also have a "fun gender" for each character. Here are some of my favorites:

Tumblr Sexyman (Official)

Eye-Affiliated Podcast Host

Deer that will fuck you up

Whatever the hell was going on with the guy from Shape Of Water

Nightmare Personality

Hot Topic Goth

Dilf Automobile

How do I listen to it?

You can listen to Hello From The Hallowoods on the podcatcher of your choice. Here are some suggestions from the Hallowoods website:

Spotify

Apple Podcasts

Podbean

YouTube

Google Podcasts

It's not an anthology, so please listen to it from the beginning to see how the different characters and plot threads come together. 

The show is entirely ad-free and sponsor-free, so if you like it and want to financially support it, please consider joining the show’s Patreon.

And that's it! There are many things I didn't include for spoiler reasons, but this should give you a basic idea of what HFTH is about and why I love it so much. 

I hope I convinced you to listen to Hello From The Hallowoods, and maybe you will love it as much as I do!

[allgearlit]

Hello ! I wonder if you're new on tumblr. If yes then i'd like to welcome you and i just read your work with starscream and it was super adorable and also heart warming😭❤️

If it's okay i'd like to request a small drabble with g1 Starscream and female human reader first contact au where a fem reader was taking a walk and suddenly finds abandonet jet and decides to take a look and then i'll leave the rest to you <3

OR something a bit more dark with also g1 Starscream and fem human reader where reader is being an unwilling captive and he decides to explore her organic nature ( could be a little non-con/nsfw-ish if that's okay if not then i comepletely understand <3)

You can pick between those two any you like more <3 thanks a lot for reading ans i hope you'll get a warm welcome🥰❤️

Hello! Thank you so much for the ask - I'm not new to tumblr per-say, I started as an art blog and decided to pivot to writing since that's more of my passion anyhow. Though I appreciate the welcome! <3

I love both ideas - I hope you won't mind if I maybe make the latter at a later date (with credit to you for the idea). The first one though; that screams (heh) mini series. I love the BumbleBee movie so much and fantasize about Charlie's scenario with other bots, so I'll make this into it's own little drabble series. I hope that's acceptable! ��

G1!Starscream x Fem!Human!Reader: The Starscream Movie AU Pt1

I couldn’t tell you the time if I tried. I needed peace, freedom from my thoughts. A walk late in the night was my best solution. Anyone could tell you I haven’t been feeling my best recently, though to pin-point the problem would be an anxiety riddled mess in of itself. I walked down by the nearby lake that always looked so much bigger at night. Perhaps it was the contrast between it’s glistening blue water to the velvety black sky, or the way the stars hit the rippling water, creating a galaxy effect. Regardless, it was one of my few favourite spots in the area.

There was a bench that was almost always vacant, near the centre of the lake, just where the bend dipped over the shore in a gentle fashion. As I approached, something else caught my attention. A ship, or jet? I couldn’t quite tell in the light. It looked like something straight out of the military. I took in a sharp breath as the curiosity bubbled in my throat. I wanted to inspect the craft, anxiety and logic going out the window as I approached. It was a slender build, likely only able to house one person at best. The thought of there potentially being a body in the cockpit made me shudder, but I knew I had to check.

Reaching over with my shaking hand, I rubbed over the golden paneling, to my good fortune, it was empty. However, this lead to a new line of questioning, where had it come from?

I continue inspecting the craft, my hand gliding over the metal nonchalantly as I analyze it like an artifact. Something else catches my eye, a purple symbol - almost like a horned creature. Instinctively, my fingers glide over the etching, mesmerized by its rich colouring and definition. Whatever it meant was unfamiliar to me.

After my thorough inspection of the exterior, a little click and hissing noise arises from the cockpit, opening the sealed space. It was as if I was being invited into whatever this machine was, and I couldn’t help my temptations to peek. Climbing up onto the jet, I shuffled into its cockpit, as quickly as it had opened for me, it slammed shut.

An involuntary yelp escapes my lips as I hear the lock click into place, it was as if the jet was alive. Pressing my palms onto the panel, I whimper as I try to get it to open. A sudden noise fills the air, it sounded like robotic laughter. The noise startled me, and promptly caused me to land flat on my bum in the seat.

“Who’s there?”

Despite attempting to sound confident, my voice comes out as a weak whimper, panicked and unsure. The robotic laughter stops, and a voice comes out instead.

“Stuck on this wretched planet for less than half a cycle, and already an inhabitant has decided to be stupid enough to touch me.”

The voice was snivelly, snarky, and cybernetic. The kind that makes one a pinch uneasy. It filled the air almost too evenly, as if the words were coming from the jet itself. In my moment of logic, I begin trying once more to push the panel up, when the voice mocked me once more.

“Don’t bother, I’m keeping you in here so we can have a little chat.”

Defeated, I let my frame sink into the rather uncomfortable seat. Frustration bubbles within me as I look around the tiny space.

“Alright, let’s talk.” I speak up, my voice hoarse with that anxiety. “What are you?”

A light on the console shines as he prepares to speak, though nothing is obvious or makes any sense to me. Perhaps I was too oblivious to notice it at first.

“The name is Starscream, second in command of the Decepticons. Though, I don’t think your puny little flesh-bag brain can handle all of this info, I’m a Cybertronian.”

Every word that Starscream speaks makes me doubt him, as if the word  Decepticon wasn’t already suspicious enough.

“So, you’re a race of alien jets?”

This prompts a grunt, and I swear if he had eyes they’d be rolling.

“No fleshie. We’re robots who can change our forms. This jet you’re in is my alt-form.”

Before I can even ask, I’m suddenly shuffled inside the cockpit as it literally changes shape with me inside. I roll around like a towel in the washer, when suddenly it finishes with me in the palm of a massive robot's hand. Starscream looks down at me with piercing red orbs. He has a smirk on his face as he looks at me, before proceeding to tousle me in his hand.

“You’re cuter than I thought, I might just keep you.” His voice is the same snarky tone as  before, though now it’s clear that he is far more comfortable with me. I feel my face grow pink at the prospect of becoming his - human pet? I’m not sure what he’d make me, but regardless, I try to refute.

“Now wait a second -”

However, He places his thumb over my lips to promptly silence me, walking to where who knows where until he stands still and look down at me.

“...Where is your home fleshie?”

[shiningdesignersreflections]

Chapter 3: Stranger's Promise

Narrated by Marina.

Narrator: I glance around Cersei's stall. On the black velvet tablecloth lies an old, frayed set of tarot cards.

Narrator: A tall girl in an elegant, classy gown and a crystal crown is sitting behind the table. She looks like a beautiful princess!

Narrator: She shuffles the cards gracefully. I'm surprised to spot some green stubble under her veil.

Narrator: Cersei's deskmate, the youth in the noble outfit, is also standing at the side.

Noble Youth: Where are you from, young lady?

Marina: The voice...

You: So that "youth" is actually a girl...

Narrator: Meanwhile, a figure clad entirely in metal scraps is attempting to get up from the couch in the back, producing a series of loud clangs.

Robot: Activating... 20%... 30%, 35%... Activation failed.

Narrator: The strange metal man gives up his attempt and sinks back into the couch.

Cersei: Hey, Robot, don't scare our sixth member away.

Marina: What a group of weirdos.

Cersei: Bingo! That's right! We're weirdos indeed. You're indeed destined to be our sixth member.

Cersei: Let me introduce you. This is our Princess. This one is Prince. The robot dude is human, but you can just call him Robot.

Marina: You can call me Marina.

Prince: A very good name. Easy to remember.

Cersei: We all live in the Dorm of the Strange. The other students all call our building a forbidden zone!

Marina: Is that something worth being proud of?

Cersei: Anyway, if you join our club, you get free access to the Dorm of the Strange. You'll be one of us!

Narrator: Her words simply put me in a bad mood once again.

Marina: But I'm not even a student in your school.

Narrator: Princess, who has been standing silently at the side, finally sighs.

Stubbled Princess: Yeah, she's right. She's a kid. Can't you tell?

Cersei: So? She can just join the club now and enter Cicia School of Design later.

Narrator: I look up in surprise to meet Cersei's genuine, intense gaze.

Marina: B-but by the time I get in... you'll all have graduated.

Cersei: Nah, I should've graduated 4 years ago, and I'm still here. Who knows when I'll graduate? We might become classmates.

Cersei: By the way, where do you live, Marina?

Marina: I live on a big, big ship! Bigger than the whole campus, actually.

Marina: We sail all day. I don't know where to, but my brother says we'll find our destination someday.

Cersei: Wow, that sounds amazing. I deserve my own ship, too.

Narrator: Princess nods elegantly, stroking the stubble on her chin.

Stubbled Princess: It'd be nice to go tanning on the deck with a glass of champagne.

Prince: So, do you know how to steer a ship, Miss Marina?

Marina: Of course! I can do anything!

Robot: A ship bigger than the whole campus... It must be powered by cutting-edge technology. Maybe tech from the Ruins.

Narrator: They all start chatting. It's like they've already accepted me and fully believe I really do live on a gigantic ship.

Narrator: I feel right at home hanging out with them. It's almost magical. How should I describe this feeling?

Choose either "It's friendship" or "It's the mutual understanding between weirdos."

If "friendship," ...

You: It's friendship! You've made some great friends.

Narrator: So, is this what having friends feels like? Now I see why people find university fun.

If "weirdos," ...

You: It's the mutual understanding between weirdos. You fit perfectly with each other.

Narrator: Who cares if others find me weird? And what makes them so "normal" anyway?

--

Marina: But... I'm the 6th member, right? Shouldn't there be one more person here in that case?

Cersei: She went out to buy something. Oh, I see her over there!

Aeon: Marina!

Narrator: Before I can see the face of the fifth member, my brother has come looking for me.

Aeon: Where have you been? I've been looking for you for a while.

Marina: Aeon! You're already done?

Aeon: Yeah, it's time to go home.

Narrator: I hurriedly say goodbye to the members of the Research of Magical Humans Club and run over to take my brother's hand.

Narrator: From a distance away, I turn back and let my gaze linger on the stall a little bit longer.

Narrator: A new, grayish figure is standing by the small table now. The silhouette reminds me a little of a mirror we have on the Ark.

Aeon: What are you looking at, Marina?

Marina: Nothing, nothing! I didn't see a thing.

Marina: Aeon, can I study here in the future? I made some new friends and promised we'll become classmates someday!

Aeon: You want to go to school? Of course, you can go.

Marina: Really? You're the best!

Aeon: But if you want to pass the exam, you'll need lessons in history, languages, math, and more. Let's start lessons once we get home!

Marina: Huh? Nooooo! I don't wanna go to university anymore!

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

[ficbrish]

Tiny Scene Tuesday (missed week, whoops!)

[11Jul2023]

That day's three little words: Gun, Upset, Speculate

[Create a short piece (art of fic) that encompasses those 3 words]

Thank you @mallaidhsomo for the prompt!

Any stray Shenkos out there, come join the Big Place Shenko Discord for weekly art/fic prompts! ✨

"Priorities"

[[tw/cw: Violence]]

Their guns were trained on each other’s heads.

She’d been so eager to see him too.

See him okay; alive. To see his smile of recognition. Share an embrace if she was lucky.

Then they greeted each other with the end of each other’s barrels.

Hi honey, I’m home!—But make it the end of Humanity; the end of the whole galactic cycle. Make it “if everything goes south here, the Council falls and the final cry for unity across species, across planets will die out in an uncomfortable scream.”

Sprinkle in a history with Cerberus. Add a pinch of Udina.

That’s how you get guns in faces.

And that’s why it was a god damn miracle to see Kaidan on the Normandy again. Or the SR-2 for the first time.

“This is the Cargo Bay.”

“I know. Shepard, we’ve been here together. I stood over there, and you stood over there.”

“Right.”

Right. That’s right. Right before Mars. Before the thing that was EDI, before she was EDI, smashed his skull against steel with a sound that—

“Oh, fuck!”

EDI!

“Wha—?”

“Uuummm…. Uh, so,” Shepard was doing great, “There’s um, something you, um, I…”

She trailed off at the end of her sentence, leaving Kaidan alone in his head to speculate everything that could possibly be wrong within the space of the Big Bang until now.

Shepard continued in the worst way possible, “I don’t want you to be upset. So, I don’t exactly know how to tell you this.”

“Uhh…”

“EDI!” she called out, “Can you meet me in the Cargo?”

A mechanical voice rang through her omnitool, “Is there a reason you need me?”

Shepard rolled her eyes, “Guess Joker’s really rubbing off on you.”

“I do not recall Jeff rubbing me anywhere.”

They could hear his distressed cries in the radio background.

“Can you please just come down here?” Shepard’s voice was strained with more anxiety than impatience.

If robots breathed, there would have been a sigh, “Yes, Shepard.”

Kaidan had no idea what was going on.

“You remember that robot?” she asked, looking slightly unhinged.

“Robot?”

“Yeah! The um, uh… The uuuhhh,” she laughed nervously, “So we stood here. Because?”

“…Because?”

Damn, that bitch showed up so fast.

“You needed me, Shepard?”

Fear spread from Kaidan’s eyes to his eyebrows to his forehead all the way into his L2 implant, bathing him in a ready glow.

“This is fine!” Shepard shouted in panic.

“That’s—”

“It’s not!”

Kaidan kept looking between Shepard and the Cerberus assassin.

“I’m EDI.”

“So, um,” Shepard explained, “My ship is alive, and—and she took over the body of the robot who almost killed you. Right? But we’re, uh, we’re all cool now. So… And I really think you’ll get along! EDI, this is Kaidan. Kaidan, this is EDI.”

Joker’s voice came over the comms, “You forgot to tell him, didn’t you?”

“Yes, Joker. I forgot.”

His radioed laughter echoed through the cavernous, metallic Bay, “She forgot!”

Kaidan ignored them and shook EDI’s hand like a gentleman. Still trembling a bit, but also manically calm after his sudden flood of relief.

[Read more snippets on AO3 🥰]

[squipy]

Oh boy I'ma get cancelled for this but like anyways we're talking about proshipping...again

Ya know what's odd I like the IDEA behind what proshipping stands for basically ya know don't harass people over what they ship even if it seems problematic to you. See that is fine to me THE ISSUE IS WHEN PROBLEMATIC BECOMES OUTRIGHT DANGEROUS!!!!! so for example a big surprise to literally no one I'm a self Shipper and a lot of my romantic F/O's are villains who have done some shitty things which can be seen as problematic such as for example I don't think a robotic wolf with an ego trying to murder a child is exactly #unproblomatic but see that's the thing EVERY SINGLE HUMAN is problematic we aren't perfect we make mistakes and with that in mind that means that good written Fiction Characters are also by design problematic in some way just some more than others. THE ISSUE IS WHEN PROSHIPPERS ARE SAYING ITS OKAY FOR SOMEONE TO SHIP A CHILD AND AN ADULT TOGETHER!!?!? OR TWO BROTHERS!!??!? that's where I have an issue because at this point you are romanticizing these very serious fucking issues!!! It kinda reminds me of ya know violence in cartoons almost. I'ma use Steven universe as an example sense I've been thinking about that a lot. Steven universe shows a fantasy violence that is based on real use of these weapon's but is shown in a way where the child or adult watching it doesn't have a need to do these things in real life. NOW with proshipping that's the issue here you are Putting these not sure problematic things but straight up ILLEGAL things in a good light. Now now I know what your about to say "well death and murder is shown in fictional media all the time why is that okay" okay sure good question you wanna know why BECAUSE IT'S NEVER SHOWN AS A GOOD THING?!!?!!? for example in the new puss and boots movie it's never seen that what death is doing is good he's the antagonist. When you make these ships between an adult and a child you aren't putting it in a way that the viewer can obviously tell "okay this is just a really dark headcannon the person behind this headcannon obviously does not think this is a good thing* but no instead you guys make these edits with up beat sexual music. Now another argument you may make is "well people simp for fictional murderers why is that okay??!??" Again good question and this might be different for everyone but for me murderer is seen as an obvious bad thing but again I feel like people aren't into the character because there a murderer but because of other factors. Unlike proshipers who will be into a shipping dynamic straight up just because it's child x adult or sister x mom or whatever. It's honestly the same reason why I personally don't like the yandere Troupe because it puts the idea of straight up murder and toxic possessiveness in a positive light.

[kaitropoli]

Metropolis (1927)

Metropolis, one of my most favorite films, is a sci-fi drama created by Thea von Harbou (originally in 1925 through her homonymous novel) and directed by her then-husband, Fritz Lang.

This Weimar-era silent film tells the story of a futuristic dystopia, ruled by industrialists who feed off working class labor of those who live underneath the city. Explored is a forbidden relationship between Freder, son of city head, Joh, and Maria, a working class member who holds underground sermons to promote unity between the ruling and working class.

WARNING: PAST THIS BORDER ARE SOME SPOILERS.

THERE IS ANOTHER SECTION PAST THIS LONG PART WITHOUT SPOILERS IF YOU'D LIKE TO READ THAT INSTEAD &lt;3

Rotwang, a scientist associated with Joh, creates a robot with the likeness of Maria. Maria is soon chased and kidnapped by the scientist, who puts her in a cylinder and gives her life to the robot.

Portrayed as the Whore of Babylon, Maria the robot performs a lustful dance for a crowd of men, including Rotwang and Joh, hypnotizing them (represented through lecherous imagery, death parading around, and title cards such as "'Death descends upon the city---!'"

As human Maria used to promote peace to the workers, robot Maria is used to antagonize her original message. Rotwang tells human Maria of Joh's plan to use robot her as his mouthpiece, to promote rebellion between the workers so then he can quell them when trouble arises. Maria is in disbelief, but Rotwang assures her that much worse is to come, revealing that he's tricked Joh since orders to robot Maria only obeys Rotwang.

Robot Maria entices the working class to revolt, and violence soon follows, resulting in destruction and stabbings. Soon, a flood breaks out in the city, which causes commotion leading to blaming Maria, calling her a "witch". However, robot Maria celebrates, while human Maria gathers children to save from the wreckage.

In a misunderstanding, workers believe human Maria was trying to drown the children, and they start chasing her. Surviving almost being grabbed, one of the workers finds robot Maria and take her to be burned at the stake.

More Information on Metropolis

Where to watch: Pluto TV, Tubi, Redbox

Fun (Personal) Information Involving Metropolis

I've seen robot Maria in real life, and you can too! Robot Maria is displayed at Carnegie Science Center in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It is part of their Robot Hall of Fame, featured alongside The Iron Giant, Tom Servo and Crow, and C-3PO (just to name a few). I've seen her just two months ago, despite a bunch of articles clickbaiting that they took away the robots permanently in their headline (don't believe them lol).

"Metropolis" is a word that exists (wow, no way, Kaiti! I didn't know that AT ALL), and if you have eyes, you probably can tell that my username is "Kaitropoli." You've guessed it, I was inspired by the movie to put combine my name with it--almost like a ship-name lol. Originally, it was "Kaitropolis," but problems rose, so I decided to go with the Italian spelling (aka: forget the "s"), so now we're here. Whenever you think of me, always be reminded of this sci-fi film classic!!

Video information

Edit: Made by me (@kaitropoli)

Song: Mermaid Motel by Lana Del Rey

Footage: Metropolis (1927)

Maria's Transformation

Maria's Dance

[luckycheesefoodie321]

Ok so I watched Transformers: Rise of the Beasts (SPOILERS)

I guess this is Michael Bay’s soft retcon of the Transformers franchise since this is meant to be a sequel of sorts to the Bumblebee movie. Which I did really enjoy. This one was like a 7/10 if I put it all together.

The whole arbitrary angry robot alien coming to take over Earth with his equally angry main henchman doing his dirty work is kind of how all the transformers films go in terms of plot lines so that was kind of whatever. You don’t really come to a Transformers movie for the plot anyhow. You hope for some good action sequences and maybe some fun character moments.

I feel like a lot what of the individual characters in RotB had going on was a lot of fun but the character relationships felt a little lacklustre to me.

Like in Bumblebee you could see the connection between Charlie and Bee but that’s always been something Transformers has done well. Bumblebee is a staple and has often been the main Autobot and so we all hold affinity towards him. He’s the robot we can relate to and is our tie in to the story. Optimus isn’t quite that. He’s more a tie in to the world building, the sage mentor-instructor who expositions everything, and also gets to have his badass leader moments and epic speeches.

But regardless there’s always a really strong human-bot relationship, usually between MC and Main Autobot, which previously has almost always been Bee (I confess I have not seen the Mark Wahlberg Transformers movies).

This time it was Noah and Mirage (I see y’all with the shipping tags, I salute you but for right now I’m sitting in a more bros vibe XD). Noah and Mirage and to an extent Noah and his brother, had the most chemistry in the movie. Each of their scenes had fun, had natural banter, and then they brought down that banter to something sweet and heartfelt and I genuinely felt sad when Mirage “died”. Part of that was because we see Noah and his brother’s bond, and Mirage gets to see that bond, and so we kinda see Noah’s brother through Mirage. And we all know we love to see a goofball who has a serious moment. Mirage parroting back the same words Noah always said to his brother just ties in that bond and makes Noah feel that much closer to Mirage. So yeah the “death” scene was sad. It led to a goofy ass moment where they got Mirage to turn into an iron man suit for Noah and I was honestly like wtf is happening.

But I would argue they were the best dynamic in the movie.

They kept trying to have Noah and Optimus be mirrors of each other but it was a lot more showing not telling. They sacrificed a lot of that good storytelling of demonstrating their similarities in favour of big explosions. If they had axed the exposition at the start, and made the Maximals like a big surprise later on that hey we’ve been here all along and now we’ll exposit some info on you, that could’ve given them a lot more leeway to building those mirrors between Noah and Optimus.

Like again you’re not going to a Transformer’s movie for the story, but I will say the first couple of movies did a lot in the way of demonstrating the chemistry between Bee and Sam Witwicky and why Optimus saw potential in Sam and why Mikaela was drawn to Sam.

Like I could see how Optimus’s personality had subtly shifted. He was still wise and delivering banger lines. But he was also tired, frustrated, angry, distrustful and I genuinely found that so interesting given how we’ve known him in the past. They’ve kind of paired down on Optimus’s visual scale. Like he used to be freaking huge, as tall as buildings. Like Sam was like half the height of his head. Which I do miss. They really make you feel the size and majestythat are the Autobots in the earlier movies, specifically Optimus Prime, who is a living legend by all accounts. But if that means we get more depth to his character outside of knowledgeable and understanding old veteran, then I’m all for it.

And again we see a lot of Noah’s home life but they just don’t quite go far enough to make it home how difficult he has it, and leave a lot to be assumed. But you see enough of how it is and how tough he has it. But then he’s suddenly raring to go in saving the world and yeah I guess they tie that in to wanting to keep his family safe but it did feel kinda abrupt. And that’s definitely a scripting issue. Some of the lines and line delivery was very stiff and uncomfortable. I think the cast tried their best but some of the more heartfelt lines or intimate moments felt very monotone. When it was Noah on his own kinda just reacting to the situation, it felt much more natural. But the exchanges between characters didn’t flow as smoothly as they could have.

That said, we got enough of two characters to understand them. But you can’t pit them against each other as being similar to each other without banking on more dynamic interactions between them or demonstrating how they individually mirror each other.

Like I said. The individual characters were enjoyable enough. I liked Optimus’s tired dad vibe. Noah was a decent MC. But there could have been a few different avenues they could have taken in letting Optimus and Noah see eye to eye.

Show Noah not immediately trusting Mirage and the Autobots but slowly building that rapport. He was taken aback by Mirage at first and then immediately made peace with his presence. Show me how that dynamic shifts so that the sad “Mirage dies” moment feels earned. And while you’re doing that show Noah going out of his way to save an Autobot when he could’ve escaped. Show Optimus placing trust in a human BEFORE the trans dimensional space key thing gets stolen. Then they have the big apology moment where Optimus says he should’ve trusted Noah and yadda yadda big team up moment ensues.

Also just a weird side bar. I’m sure they talked like this in the 90s (I’m a 98 baby) but the part where Noah goes “squad up!” Kinda took me outta the immersion for a second. Also it felt so awkwardly placed. Like potentially adlib but idk. At no point had I seen Noah having demonstrated leadership skills or authority where he can just order around the Maximals/Autobots like that. I mean he wasn’t, but there was no gravity to his words. Like if he had said that to me, I wouldn’t immediately jump into formation. Not to mention it was followed up by really poor line delivery where he said something like “there’s gotta be something we can do. Just think” and it had no urgency to it… then in comes Optimus Primal who delivers his line so much better like “it’s too late” and I’m out here like I believe him.

Tbh the action moments were fine. Could be desensitisation to big scale fights bc we’re so over saturated with them now. The whole iron man suit moment was just goofy as hell and when he somehow managed to catch Optimus and stop him from being sucked away?? Like Optimus Prime. The dude as big as skyscrapers?? The dude who was carried by helicopter??? That part was absurd.

Bringing it back to Bumblebee. I think the best thing they did for this story was to take Bumblebee out of it so that a new Autobot could have his time to shine they wanted this to be about Mirage and Optimus interacting with Noah and they got that chance. Now don’t get me wrong. Even if I knew it was a fake out death, Bumblebee dying made me upset and him coming back brought a lot of joy back to the story. Like we love a comeback moment (cue that song XD). The moment could’ve been a touch more devastating to make his come back more powerful. But it was a lot of fun when he did come back and there’s a reason he’s such a compelling character and a staple fave of Transformers.

But had he been there, it would have taken away from what I have already said to be the best character dynamic in the movie which was Mirage and Noah. It would have turned into another Bumblebee movie. I do like the tie in to the Bumblebee movie and mentioning his history with Charlie. That was cute.

I didn’t mind Alana/Elaina/Alayna (I have no clue how her name is spelt). I enjoyed her most in her initial intro showing her historical knowledge and then she was given some of the driest lines to deliver. Idk if it’s her acting but her dialogue was clunky and uncomfortable.

All in all. Average action movie. Some nice moments. Wasn’t expecting a GI Joe tie in but sure. 7/10

[akystaracer22]

James kept sending glances at the Staccek representative. His palms clutching his desk so tightly that his knuckles were white.

Human's were judged to be in the top 20 most dangerous races in the intergalactic council, and for seemingly good reason. A history bloodied by war and fuelled by destruction, and a prey based race becoming the apex predator of their home world.

It was an open secret how violent, yet intelligent humans were. It lead to them being feared, kept at arms reach, and generally left alone. What a terrible fate for a species that just wanted to make friends.

Then there were the Stacceks.

The Stacceks, who were seen as a peaceful and harmless version of the humans. Who looked virtually the same, except that they had reportedly never committed murder in their colonies, no had a single war waged. It was an idealistic dream that many species fell in love with.

Trades with human's were abandoned in favour of working with the Stacceks. Allies were lost, and it was almost impossible to even attack a Staccek without the entire species being ostracised.

Which is why human's were seen as jealous of the Stacceks.

So of course, to try and "mend the rift" they sat the Staccek representative right next to James.

He stiffened as the Staccek representative turned to him during the brief break the council held during the day, a placid smile on it's pale lips as it opened it's mouth to speak.

"You're Alone In A Crowd."

James flinched, violently. It's voice was exactly like his own, exactly. Alarm bells rang in his mind as every instinct in his body was screaming at him to run, to get to his ship and get to the nearest Terran colony so he can get support.

He just barely managed to reign in the instinct to ask what it was talking about.

"Everyone Here Considers Human's To Be The Most Dangerous Race In The Council. Look Around."

He didn't need to, he'd know what would be waiting for him. Secretive glances and guards training their attention solely on him. It pissed him off when he started. There were species here with venom that could kill in minutes and yet it was him that was treated like a maximum security prisoner.

"You See? You Are Alone. No One Considers Us A Threat. But You Do. Why?"

And wasn't that the question. Why did Stacceks provoke the fight or flight?

The answer slipped from his lip's before he could stop it, "You fit in the Uncanny Valley, and no species like ours has a complete lack of bloodshed. It just doesn't happen."

"The Uncanny Valley, The Phenomenon Whereby A Computer-Generated Figure Or Humanoid Robot Bearing A Near-Identical Resemblance To A Human Being Arouses A Sense Of Unease Or Revulsion In The Person Viewing It."

James nodded regretfully, but froze at the Stacceks continuation.

"You Are Correct In Your Assessment Of Us. We Indeed Have A Past As Blood Filled, If Not More So, Than Yours."

"...What?"

"Indeed. However, Unlike You Human's, We Have The Mean's To Disguise That Past From The Rest Of The World. Allowing Us The Freedom That You Humans Are Lacking In."

"Wh- How-"

"Tell Me, Human. How Would You Go About Hiding Something From Another?"

The Answer was obvious, "Illusion's, but that's-"

"A Matter Of Simply Having Patience And Good Reason To Do So."

"...Why are you telling me this."

"Because You Are A Member Of The Single Most Feared Species In The Universe, A Species With A History Of Jealousy Between Our's."

And at that, the Staccek's appearance glitched for a moment. And for a single blink, James saw something else. Something ancient and terrifying and unnatural. The abomination looked unholy, and a single glimpse in one of it's many eyes revealed a hunger that could never be sated. He understood now why his very being screamed at him to get away and get help.

This thing shouldn't exist. Whatever this species was, it was an affront to the very concept of life itself.

"Not A Single Individual Would Believe A Humans Words Against Ours."

There is only one alien race that humans fear; a race that can send them into a panic almost immediately. It just so happens that race was voted the most harmless in the universe. One was recently voted a seat in the intergalactic council next to the human judge, who was silently shaking.

[nathsolkyoako]

O shit I forgot to post that fic here yesterday here that is

On ao3 it’s the same title if you wanna read it there idk bro

Question? Answer

Inanimate: adjective, not alive, especially not in the manner of animals and humans.

“What do you do if you break?”

A seemingly random question from seemingly out of nowhere. Question from living to inanimate

Most of the crew was asleep at the moment. What crew was here with the captains gone who knows where. Ollie in the captains quarters (chips hammock. If it’s what he asked they couldn’t see why not) and Drey somewhere in the kitchen. So for now it was just Gryffon and Alphonze awake I n the treasury

The limonade stand was making a surprising amount of money and it needed to be sorted. Either to have something to do or for convenience of having everything clearly laid out for ease of access. So while they had free time at the end of the day

The table in the middle of the room was strewn with an assortment of gold silver and copper coins (even some jewelry!). Small piles of each were scattered around the corners of said table

Speaking of the table, across from Alphonze (inanimate) was Gryffon (living) sitting in a chair, supposedly helping but he’s barely moved since joining the other in the room. Just watching alphonze with one of his hands on the table and the other hovering over the many many coins on the surface in front of them both

It took alphonze a minute to answer the question. Pausing a response to move coins across the table to random (were they random?) piles

“It depends” he started “if it’s a minor issue I just fix it myself. If it isn’t and needs multiple pairs of hands I’d need help”

He moves a small pile of silver coins to the rest on the side of the table gryffons on “Again it’d depend on the severity and what specifically happened”

“That seems risky” gryffon noted. being alive was risky. But alphonze tried anyways didn’t he. If he didn’t he wouldn’t be on this ship. He wouldn’t be having this conversation

“I’ve already had to fix a few things” alphonze stated “ There isn’t anyone who knows how to fix, me, nearby at the moment so doing my own maintenance has had to happen before”

“Is that safe?” At that Alphonze looked up at him. Looking at his face you could almost see worry. Almost. Gryffon seems to emote less than the literal robot with one panel for a face

“Safer than not having any” Alphonze replied

“What if you taught me some things? I already know, uh some” Gryffons lifts his gun slightly “both my gun and you were made in the same place it might not be that difficult”

“It’s a lot to go over, it might take a few days”

“There’s time, the captains have already been gone a few days who’s to say it won’t be a few more?”

Alphonze looked at him again. Or at least his head did. He didn’t have facial expressions, nothing moved over there, so it was difficult trying to tell what he meant

“D’you have a notebook?”

A few moments later they were sitting on the ground abandoning the money above, various metal plating (including Alphonze’s face) on the ground next to the two. A metal hand pointing at bunches of wires and small moving boxes and pistons while a voice sounding much cleaner than before filled the room with explanations as to how he worked, How he thought, how he moved, how he spoke.

How do you think, How do you feel, How do you navigate, how do you speak were also questions the new, clearer voice answered. Or at least tried. Certain parts were more difficult than others, especially for trying to explain to someone who only knew how a gun was made

He could tell Gryffon was already trying to make sense of the warforged in front of him, he watched the eye that could move sift through the cavity that made up his head, dull LEDs instead of eyes tucked between tied bunches of wires and plastic boxes that probably held many things that’d never make sense in Gryffons lifetime. Why not explain, make more sense of the whole world Alphonze was beneath layers of silicone and metal. He had asked after all

Hands known to break bones, to move inconvenient things out of the way, to break blades. Those same hands were taking himself apart slowly to show how he’s made up, how he’s alive. Alphonze knows the dangers of doing this. if Gryffon went back into bounty hunting and tried to kill him he’d know how to do it.

He’ll just have to trust him right now. Would he be looking so intently at organs that didn’t breathe if he wanted to make them stop. Would he be this patient just to turn around and betray that trust?

Surely he knew what this felt like, prying questions about a whole limb. Pestering about how he moves it how it turns, shoots, kills, whatever. It was similar enough. Most likely the only other one close by who knew how, for lack of a better word, terrifying it is to explain how a weapon works. One being a tool the other having a mind. Or close to one. It’s complicated

A dance without moving, a conversation hidden behind complicated words and explanations. Already this made more sense than figuring out how a ship moved or where they were in regards to an oceanic map he rarely had access to. This made more sense than most things alphonze had encountered. For something made to know and follow orders he didn’t know as much as he should

Eventually the metal hands held out a glass looking icosahedron which pulsed a yellow glow. Strange looking wires poked from the corners and different angles of the glass. A cloudy liquid swirled just below the glass making strange unidentifiable shapes every few seconds

“In there is me” Alphonzes voice stated

“You?” Gryffon said making a confused face

“My soul so to speak. I control everything else you see from here” one of the hands tap the glass making a dull clinking sound. The “liquid” beneath made a shape similar to a spiky tornado, and then a triangle. And then back to swirling incomprehensible shapes

Gryffon made a sound to show he understood. He did that a lot. Doesnt speak unless he has to. Others understand him anyway. he seemed to be half paying attention to what Alphonze was actually saying most of the time. Looking more at the clumps of wires and metal boxes and lights tangled around the metal exoskeleton that made up the artificial person in front of him. Maybe he has a good memory and doesn’t need to take many notes. Maybe

There was a pause, two minutes staring at the living shape between them. The the more organic of the two held his one hand out under the Heart, as a question without speaking. Alphonze answered, lowering it into the hand gently without a sound and letting go.

It landed safely. Question answered. So simple.

They spend a few more moments sitting there like that before Gryffon asks

“Why do you stay here”

The liquid swirls slightly quicker making a circle, and then a donut shape, and then spins and-

“On the ship?”

The swirls made more blobby shapes. Looking more like a small lava lamp now

“Yeah, why you don’t have to”

The blobs turned into sharp shapes. There isn’t a better way to describe it. Sharp shapes.

“I do have to” he takes the glass “heart” again and puts it back in the nest of wires in his center, something made a soft (click) sound and the Heart didn’t fall further. “I was asked to by the captains”

“But you don’t-“

“Do you have any other questions”

“You don’t have to listen to the captains” maybe he didn’t have a good memory

“I do” where his eyes would be stared holes into Gryffons face. “Until I have someone else to serve I have to take the captains orders.”

There was a pause before Alphonze re-asked “Do you have any other questions”

the slight hum of various machinery paired with the others breathing sounded much louder than it was being the only sound in the room. For a moment that’s all was there. Humming without a tune. Almost thinking out loud.

“No” Gryffon answered

[aufredpratt]

Anything to Save You part 1

Ships: FredXSpike

Warnings: none in this one afaik

Summary: A "what if" fic of what if Spike had rescued Fred from Pylea instead and she joined the Scoobies. Takes place between season 5 and goes into season 6 of btvs. An expansion of a quick drabble I posted in my drabble collection (over on Ao3) but this time with alternating POVs! Not connected to my timeline just posting cus I'm proud of how it's coming along. Oh and title is a ref to a song by Sleeping Wolf. Spike parts will be in third person, Fred parts in first person.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`

Spike hated Pylea, it was never fun to go to. Sure, it looked pretty and had sunlight he could walk in, but something about the local Demons and how they watched him unnerved him. Despite this he had been hiding the parts of that robot in one of the caves. Keeping it out of sight and out of mind as it were. Trouble was, he could never remember which cave. It was about the third one he looked in when a movement caught his eye. It was a young lady, a human lady at that. Her brown eyes were wide as she froze looking up at him. She couldn't have been older that early 20's but it was hard to tell based on how time worked in these places. Even so something about her captivated him.

"What the-this is no place for someone like you love." he said gently. Lowering himself to her level so she wouldn't be too afraid. He made a decision then and there, and maybe it was because the group back at home had rubbed off on him, he would help her out of here. Holding out a hand to her "Come with me I know a place where there are people who can help." he kept his voice low and as soft as he could manage.

She blinked at him and took his hand "You're savin' me?" her voice was soft as well and sounded like she hadn't used it in a while. He also couldn't ignore the Texas twang that chopped off the 'g' so much like his own accent. Carefully he supported her, noting how fragile she was and how she practically clung onto him. There was something in how she entirely relied on him that warmed him, metaphorically anyway, it was almost like having a soul again...almost.

"yeah, guess I am. Been doin' that a lot lately," He laughed "Saving people. What's your name love?"

She licked her lips nervously watching him intensely, "They call me Fred, I think that's my name. Or part of it anyway." her brown eyes held his own blue ones in a moment. He enjoyed the way they seemed to have flecks of gold in them as the two stepped into the sunlight. "What's your name?"

"Spike," he smiled at her in what was hopefully a reassuring manner "you ready to run, Fred?" he enjoyed saying her name.

She nodded and through the dirt over her face he could catch the hints of a blush. He took off to where the joining point to the two worlds were.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

(copied directly from the Drabble)

The trees blurred into blackness and suddenly we were in the middle of an open field at night. He looked up and then glanced around "Good, no one saw us." he remarked I could feel him start to release my hand but I clung on tighter. He glanced at me and nodded softly "I won't let go." smiling he made a grand sweeping gesture with his other arm "Fred I would like to welcome you to Sunnydale." He looked down at me and laughed softly.

I giggled softly in response and something seemed to light up behind his eyes.

"C'mon I  have some people I want you to meet. They'll help you get fed and bathed properly. Readjust to life on earth stuff." He laced his fingers through mine as we walked. Soon we arrived at a house that only had a few lights on inside. "Can't be that late..." He trailed off as he knocked on the door.

A young woman opened it her red hair was curled at the bottom but cut short. She sighed and crossed her arms "We were just settling down what-" she seemed to finally register me standing there "Spike whose this?"

"Willow this is Fred, I found her when doing some er...business in Pylea." he scratched the back of his neck nervously. "She needed rescuing and I couldn't just leave her in that cave."

The woman, Willow apparently, immediately softened  stepping back "oh jeeze ok yeah, lets get you something to eat first then a bath. You can use the guest room, we did have plans for that room but that can wait for a bit." She lead the way inside though I still clung to Spike using him as an emotional anchor. As I looked around my memory for what certain things were called slowly seemed to seep back in. "Forgive me if this is an insensitive question but do you remember why you were in a place like Pylea?" She asked as she dug around in the fridge.

I thought carefully for a moment as I sat at the counter "not really... I just know it was against my will."

"That's perfectly ok, memory can be a fuzzy thing." she smiled gently at me as she pushed a plate of food to me.

I tried to take my time eating, some part of me knowing that if I ate too fast it would only be worse for my stomach in the long run. Once I had finished I pushed the plate back towards her and she took it and placed it in the sink. "Alright lets go start you a bath." She stopped in the doorway when I didn't move from my chair.

"Um can Spike do it?" I asked quietly.

She looked nervous "Sweetie I don't know if you want-"

"He saved me, I trust him."

She glanced at Spike biting her lip nervously.

"I'll be respectful of her I promise." he said standing up.

Willow sighed again "Alright go ahead."

I smiled brightly at her and let Spike lead me up to where the bathroom was.

[thecleverqueer]

Random thoughts during A New Hope:

*Rogue One really did enhance the first scene of this movie for me. They went through such an epic battle to get those plans, and now they must follow through to honor the sacrifice that brave crew made. Get ‘em!

*I just love R2-D2 and C3-PO. Those damned droids have changed hands so many times, and yet, they’ve been kept in the family.

*Leia Organa was the original. She’s such a badass. Smart, snippy, resourceful, all around brilliant character.

*GNK or gonk droids are also amongst my favorite. I wouldn’t want one personally, but I appreciate that they exist.

*I’d forgotten C3-PO’s first job was programming binary load lifters. Holy shit! I’m going to assume because his memory was wiped at the end of The Revenge of the Sith that it wasn’t the same binary load lifters that Ahsoka and Trace chased down in the under city on Coruscant, and none of that was C3-PO’s fault (though it wouldn’t surprise me).

*Owen blatantly telling C3-PO to shut up is peak Star Wars. Seriously.

*That red R2 unit’s motivator blowing at the moment that it did was either a fine example of how coincidentally chaotic the universe is, or how incredibly the force works in mysterious ways… and since this is Star Wars…

*It warms my heart that Luke was still playing with that space ship that Obi-Wan gave him so many years ago.

*C3-PO telling Luke that he’s not good at storytelling is also bullshit. We saw you in The Return of the Jedi telling your story to the Ewoks… with your compelling narrative and your sound effects. Come on.

*Since Owen calls Old Ben a wizard, does this mean Obi-Wan was being ballsy and tinkering around with the force after his rescue of Leia? Is that what the kids are calling Jedi these days? Space wizards?

*I love how Obi-Wan emerges using force scream to frighten off the sand people. That might be a power I would want. I dunno. It wouldn’t be my first choice if choices are given.

*I also wonder why Obi-Wan doesn’t seems to remember R2-D2 and C3-PO. How could he forget them? They were always there running around with him in space…ESPECIALLY, R2-D2.

*Oops. Luke just called the droids “robots”. Close, not quite.

*Leia probably could have resisted it, but I wonder why Vader opted to use drugs to get the location of the Rebel base and not mind probe? That’s a power all good Sith Lords should possess.

*I really wish Disney would release the original versions of the original trilogy before it was digitally remastered. I watched it hundreds, if not thousands, of times on VHS before they did it, but it’s hard to remember and I’d like to.

*Luke’s Intro to Jedi mind tricks.

*Obi-Wan is the undisputed king of chopping off arms.

*You also have to give it to Obi-Wan when he pulls out the lightsaber in the cantina in the first place. Balls. It didn’t seem to bother the majority of the patrons that there was a Jedi in their midst, people looked, the Bith band kicked back up and folks returned to their drinks. Still, there’s always a fascist rat in the crowd someplace that squeals to the Empire. Every. Time.

*”I’m never coming back to this planet again.” -Luke. Don’t be so sure.

*Han shot first.

*One of my least favorite things about the digitally remastered version of A New Hope is the conversation between Han and Jabba in the hangar. Han and Greedo had the exact same conversation in the cantina that he and Jabba had in that hangar verbatim. It’s almost as if Lucas just couldn’t help himself as the Jabba/ Han conversation was probably his original plan that he couldn’t pull off when Star Wars was originally released. And at this point, they couldn’t replace the Han/ Greedo interaction because it is iconic. Now, it all feels like a pointless, redundant afterthought. Also, it’s odd that Han calls a Jabba a wonderful human being. What!?! Jabba is a huge f*^%ing space slug! TF you mean, “human being”?

*The Millennium Falcon is a badass ship. That is all.

*I can’t stand Tarkin. He’s such a f*^%ing fascist asshole.

*Oh Alderaan…. The Empire did that shit on purpose. They blamed / tried to guilt Leia, but I bet they wanted to take out Bail equally bad. RIP Bail.

*”That’s no moon. It’s a space station!” -Obi-Wan. You can feel that HOLY SHIT moment. Yeah. I don’t know. It’s one part Geonosian (because those stupid f*^%ing bugs) and one part Galen Erso… luckily, Galen rigged it to blow. The bugs would have destroyed the galaxy.

*This goes without saying, but stormtroopers are kinda stupid.

*Tarkin says “the Jedi are extinct”. Nah, fam, there are, like, four of them and a part-timer…

*I have to wonder what all the water was in the trash compactor. Was it sewage, or… ? Yuck. Get out of there! There’s some sort of space worm in there amongst human excrements and god knows what else!

*I appreciate the fact that they left the scene where the stormtrooper hits his head on the door in the digitally remastered version.

*Luke tells C3-PO to shut up. See!?! Peak, I’m telling you.

*Vader telling Obi-Wan that he’s the master is laughable. No. You’re still not a master. You’re Palpatine’s bitch.

* Turns out, Anakin was the death of Obi-Wan. Sadly, Obi-Wan becomes one with the cosmic force. It’s okay. He will manifest himself into a force ghost. Now there are three Jedi and a part-timer…

*Does a simulator where you sit in those gunner seats of the Millennium Falcon and blow up tie fighters exist? If it doesn’t, it’s a hugely missed opportunity in every arcade on the planet. What a game that would be! I’d play.

*They’ve got 15 minutes to blow that shit up before it beats them to the punch.

*I feel like Wedge Antilles is an often underrated character. Wedge is an utter badass, and one hell of a pilot.

*Three minutes.

*One minute.

*Thirty seconds.

*”You may fire when ready.” F*^% you, Tarkin.

*Han comes in clutch. Luke blows up the technological terror (and Tarkin). Party on Yavin!!

*I can’t believe that Chewy will have to wait until The Rise of Skywalker to receive his medal.

[cherrygirl-28]

How would you describe L? it's okay if you don't wanna answer.. Just asking because it's um his death day.

Hello anon!

I wasn't planning to post anything in particular about his death day since it makes me sad. Basically, I was planning to write about his personality through my eyes, even if it wasn't his death day.

Anyway let's get started!

If I had to say five adjectives to describe L, I would say he's a genius, risk taker and brave at the same time, shy and above all sweet.

The truth is that he's a complicated character like everyone in DN. His character isn't black and white. He's presented as an eccentric detective who neglects his personal hygiene, which shows he's passionate about what he does. However, we see he's a man with a sharp mind. You can't easily fool him. That's how every detective should be.

I also think he would have been very good friends with Hercule Poirot. You see, I read a lot of Agatha Christie and I have noticed a lot of similarities between L and Poirot. If their stories took place in the same time period, they would've become great partners.

Ohba himself describes him as "slightly evil" but I believe he means it in a good way. He respects human life even if circumstances don't allow him to respect it as he much as he should. And well... I could say why he tied up Misa in an almost inhuman way, or why he tells "lies", but I don't think it's necessary. The account @my-one-true-l explained it much better. I completely agree with the statements. Here's the link: https://www.tumblr.com/my-one-true-l/189990755859/can-we-talk-about-l-he-is-canonically-viewed-by

He also has an odd sense of humour that not many can understand.

Example: "Bang! If I was Kira you'd be dead right now." Meaning the police officers should be more careful about introducing themselves to strangers.

Likewise, he's direct in his words. He'll tell you what he thinks even if it's harsh.

Of course, what I admire most about his character is his bravery and courage. If I was him I'd be like: "please no, I love my life. Don't get me involved with this! I don't wanna die!" or something like that. We could also call him risky since many of the things he does are considered "unnecessary". For example, when he went public on TV and challenged Kira to kill him, was risky. He had the protection of anonymity with his face covered, but it was still risky since he still didn't know much about Kira. He only knew he needed a name to kill but not the details about shinigami eyes and such.

As for the movies, I think both the director and his actor Kenichi Matsuyama did a very good job. They went from 10 to 20. Like they upgraded him. The same goes for Light of course! I disagree with the choice of him dying, but it was needed for the plot. It's weird when you think about it because I didn't really like him at first, but by the time the series was over I missed him! 😅

Since I mentioned the movies, I could say that L: change the world is canon, but on the other hand, we don't see that happening in the manga, and also L dies before finishing the case. While in L: change the world he dies after finishing it. Am talking about this particular film since it's my favourite of the four DN films. (Netflix adaptation doesn't count!)

Anyway, we see the human side of L and understand he's not a robot. He has a heart too, it just isn't beneficial for him to show personal feelings when it comes to such a difficult case as Kira's.

There's even a scene in the book where when Maki is kidnapped by the Blue ship, L tries to save her and in the end, finds out what it's like to lose someone you love. I don't remember what exactly happens, but I think he holds Light's watch and says: "let's explore the world of nothingness together" or something like that. The point is that under other circumstances they could have been friends with Light if he hadn't found the death note. L knew he was Kira but maybe deep down in his heart, wanted to be mistaken about his suspicions. Just maybe...

I don't ship them but it makes me emotional anyway... 😢😢

So, to summarize: I'd say L is eccentric but genius. Cold on the outside but sweet on the inside. Bold and brave but also funny. I think these are the main features that made me root for him! 💕

[niqhtlord01]

Humans are Weird: The Nightmare of the Universe

Below are transcripts from former Eternal Federation president Dokova Mince regarding humanity.

“When I was a child, my father would tell me that unless I did what he and my mother said the Packrils would get me and take me away. They were small scaly creatures with dozens of talon arms that they would grab you with and drag you away into the night.”

“At the time I didn’t understand why my father would do this to me, but in time as I grew older I came to realize his method. He told me this because he knew I would be more afraid of monsters than I would be of him, and that I would do everything I could to make sure they didn’t take me.”

“When I learned the truth I was outraged, and yet I could not deny its effectiveness. I did everything my father and mother asked of me and in return the Packrils never came storming through my windows in the dead of night. Over time I came to find it rather amusing, the notion of imaginary monsters creating such order in my chaotic life. I thought to myself “Why did I ever believe monsters were real?””

“It wasn’t until much later on in life when I became the sitting president of the Eternal Federation that not only were monsters real, they had a name.”

“That name….was human.”

“Upon first discovering humans the other great powers of the universe thought them a joke; the latest in a long line of primitives trying to reach space by strapping themselves to explosives and shooting off into the sky. I must admit that I was among those who laughed at their feeble stumbling into space as they tried to colonize their home system. It wasn’t long though that their stumbles began to turn into sprints.”

“As time passed so too did these savages, these humans come ever closer to reaching the galactic community. It took them nearly 7,000 years before they left the bounds of their world’s gravity. A mocking number for many but it was what came after that which began warning me in the very back of my mind that something was very wrong.”

“Eight of their years after they achieved space flight not only did they land on their moon but they also established their first orbiting space station. Seven years after that their first robotic explorers began traversing the outer worlds of their system, relaying countless images of red barren wastelands that enthralled the small minds of humans all across their tiny world. Within the next twenty years they established a vast and complex network of satellites for sharing information around their planet for every moment of every day. Fifty years later they were landing manned missions to other worlds and spreading out like a deadly plague.”

“These small beings, these humans, though slow to progress went through a rapid paradigm shift and began a rapid expansion of science and technology; pushing the very boundaries of their understanding farther and farther.”

“Still, the powers that were stood by and watched; yet only I saw the danger unfolding before our eyes.”

“Only I could see the monsters waking from their sleep.”  

“These humans…..they were walking paradoxes of themselves.”

“They claimed to want long lives, and yet they bathe in their suns radiation for enjoyment.”

“They claimed to want peace, but their military spending far exceeded every other aspect of their society.”

“They said they were explorers cresting the ever changing tides of the cosmos, yet with every planet they touched a flag was planted and a claim staked like conquerors.”

“It wasn’t long before I was not the only one to see this rising threat, and together we decided to act.”

“Energy barriers and engine disrupters were placed around their system and any attempt to leave was halted immediately. A rotating fleet of ships to patrol the system and ensure any ship disabled would be safely returned to the nearest human world.”

“We thought by closing them off from the rest of the galaxy would  ween their more confrontational traits away, that they would mature more; to give them time to understand their place in this vast and wonderful universe. At the very least it would give me peace of mind that the monsters were still far off from my doorstep.” “Instead we only drove them deeper into the pits of madness. They looked up from their worlds and saw the wonders of the universe all right; but they saw it through the iron bars we put them behind. They saw our protection as an insult, a challenge. “Why should we be denied the grandeur of the cosmos? Why must we be locked away and forgotten?” “

“The years passed and our watch began to wane as the rest of the galaxy required our attention. Our watch became lax and in time even I forgot about the humans. That was until one day I received a priority message from the patrol fleet.”

“The humans had breached the barriers, engaged the patrol fleets, and had stolen their ships. I immediately ordered replacement ships to be sent in but by then it was too late.”

“Human ships poured out of the breach in every direction. Primitive compared to our ships, yet their jump drives were effective enough to spread them in nearly every direction before we could close the breach again.”

“They spread out like rodents fleeing a sinking ship at best and a deadly plague at worst. We tracked as many down as we could, but with them fleeing in seemingly every direction many slipped through our fingers. When we did find them many years later what we found was almost too impossible to believe.”

“Somehow they hacked into our captured ships and stole our star charts. They pulled dozens of uninhabited worlds and set coordinates for them at the fastest speeds they could go. Some of these worlds could support life, and yet many more were near total death worlds floating in space.”

“On planets so cold a single second spent outside was enough to freeze you solid they had carved elaborate cavern cities of dazzling beauty.”

“On planets of nothing but scorched sands they planned massive rail systems that carried entire cities around the planet at just the right spot between the night and day sides to maintain life.”

“On countless asteroids and dead moons massive space stations clung to the rock faces housing hundreds of thousands of living beings that lived in conditions borderline unimaginable.”

“Worse yet was how humans began appearing in other civilizations across the galaxies. For all their barbarism they seemed to have a knack for merging themselves into different cultures; adopting new customs and beliefs as easily as one would breathe air. Some even rose to positions of power within these new cultures and gained followings.”

“I had the government issue demands that any humans found outside of their containment system should be handed over at once. Some of the species gladly handed them over, eager to keep us on their good side. Some bartered and negotiated for the humans, seeing them as a resource to be used. More often the other powers out right refused to hand them over. The reasons varied but the theme was that they did not see the humans as the monsters I knew them to be. It wasn’t until my own government began to question my own sanity and even began softening the rules against humanity that I knew I had lost.”

“For all my efforts, all my struggles, all my sacrifices to stem the tide of monsters at our door I was defeated by the weakness of others.”

“Now as I lay here dying in my bed I find it rather ironic that the only face I now see every day is that of my human caretaker Julie. She smiles at me every time I see her; yet I can see the dark glint behind her clear green eyes. She knows who I am and what I have done to her people, and she smiles not at me personally but at the soon to be moment when my life sheds off this mortal coil once and for all.”    

“I had done everything that was ever asked of me and the monsters were still waiting at my door…..waiting to drag me away.”

[lloydshoulddyehishair]

What we miss and what we gain | 2-Odd one out

Summary: After Lloyds fight with Kai, Zane reaches out to him and manages to cheer him up a bit.

The first person to come and check on him after three days of not leaving his room was – surprisingly – Zane. It was probably due to the fact that Nya and Uncle Wu had left the day Kai had snapped at him because of some special tea the Sensei needed.

“Leave.”, the blond had mumbled, from where he laid under his blanket, as soon as he heard the door open.

The footsteps, coming towards his bed made the wood crack, he hated the sound, hated everything about this situation. He wanted to be alone. He didn't want one of the boys to come and do– do what exactly? Throw him off of the Bounty? Get him to apologize to Kai, even though it was the elder that was in the wrong? Bully him even more?

He just wanted them gone, he wanted them to leave him and never return. His mother had no problem doing so, so why did they–

“I do not want to bother you,” a calm voice spoke out and even though Lloyd would never admit it out loud, knowing that Zane was the one standing next to him did put him slightly at ease.

Zane had never been necessarily mean to him, at least he didn't go out of his way to make his life even harder like the others always did. The robot – or nindroid? – usually avoided him and at least shot him a few smiles at the breakfast and dinner table, which gained him some points, the boy guessed.

He still didn't like him of course. Zane was weird. He wasn't like them, he wasn't human and he behaved – well, weird. He was always so calm and made strange jokes, that would make Lloyd uncomfortable. He didn't think that the White Ninja meant to do so but he did, nonetheless. (And there was also that little something that Lloyd was, in fact, Lord Garmadon's son and he didn't like anyone who was an enemy of his father.)

The sound of a tray being placed on his bedside table brought him back to reality. “I just wanted to make sure you have something to eat and drink. Going three days without food or water is incredibly unhealthy.”

Blond hair and red eyes finally revealed themselves from under the white blanket, staring warily at the tray holding a plate of soup and a cup of tea.

Was Zane trying to poison him? Was that what this was?

“It's not like I'm not used to it,” he muttered, sounding more bitter than he had intended to. Icy blue eyes softened as they looked down on him and Lloyd almost wanted to groan because the last thing he wanted from any of the Ninja was pity.

“That doesn't make it any better.”

Silence fell between them. Mostly because the former Darkley's student just didn't know what to reply because technically Zane was right – but he wasn't going to let him know that, just like how he wasn't going to let Kai know that he was right about his mothe-

“Is something on your mind, Lloyd?”, Zane suddenly asked, sitting down at the edge of his mattress and tilting his head slightly.

The child blinked up at him, surprised, most likely looking like a deer in headlights.

Was this some sort of trick? To make him feel like he could trust the nindroid and tell him about his thoughts, just for him to rip them up in front of his face and bully him for them? Just like Pythor had done? (Or did Zane maybe actually want to talk to him–)

“Like you care,” he hissed before he even knew it.

The teen raised an eyebrow at him. “I do. You know that I care about everyone on this ship.”

Lloyd felt like laughing because how dare him lie to his face like that? No one on this ship cared about him, Kai had made that crystal clear to him.

“You don't need to lie to me. You don't care about me and that's fine – I don't care about you either.”

“Is that so?”

“Mhm.”

“Well. If that's the case then–“

“You said you didn't wanna bother me and now you are. Back off,” Lloyd interrupted him, sounding, in all honesty, like a brat. Not that he cared. He wasn't here to be nice.

Zane shot him a bewildered look, at first, before nodding. “I suppose you are right. My apologies, I didn't want to annoy you.”

Once again silence fell between them, with Lloyd only staring at the food on the meal tray and Zane looking at him, seeming to be lost too deeply inside his mind thinking about– what exactly did nindroids think about?

The ten year old tried to ignore the grumbling his stomach was making, giving away his hunger, but he wasn't going to eat what Zane had brought him – it just seemed too good to be true. He was convinced that the Ninja was just trying to deceive him.

This situation reminded him of when he had still been living at Darkley's, when Gene had brought him tea once when he had been sick. Lloyd – in his childish naiveness – had taken it, thinking the redhead wanted to help him, only to be poisoned and throwing up for three days straight–

Zane's voice ripped him out of his thoughts with a question that caught Lloyd, rather, off guard.

“Do you want to help me with baking?”

“What–“

“Well, you don't seem like you're going to eat this–,“ he gestured to the soup with a slight nod. “–any time soon. I assume because you're unsure of what I might have put in there,” he said, almost as if he had read the boy’s mind. “But if you come and bake with me you can keep an eye on the food and eat it safely afterwards, correct?”

His mouth hung open slightly, big red eyes staring up at him with confusion. “I mean technically, yes?”

“So, will you join me?”, he thought about it – really did.

On one hand he knew that this was some sort of trickery, maybe Zane was trying to figure out all his weaknesses by spending time with him, in order to take him out easily afterwards. On the other hand, though, he was hungry and the Ninja was right – if Lloyd saw how the food was being made and what was done to it, he could eat it without worrying about being poisoned again (and maybe some part of him wanted to believe that Zane's attempts were genuine).

“Okay.”, the elders' eyes lit up at his response, sitting up from his bed.

“Better get started then, it's fairly late already!”

He was so going to regret this.

------------------------

As soon as they stood in the kitchen the White Ninja handed Lloyd a list of things to get out of the cabinets. At first it was quiet, except for the annoyed sighs the child would let out whenever he had trouble reaching some of the ingredients with his short arms. That was until Zane started a conversation, once more.

“I know I said I would not bother you– But I would like to ask you something. You do not have to answer of course,” he continued, not even looking at him, while getting some utensils from the higher cabinets, which the young Garmadon wouldn't even have been able to reach if he really wanted to.

His red eyes squinted slightly. 'Knew it. A trap.'

“Okay?”, he mumbled trying to read the rest of the things on the list the nindroid had given him and doing his best to try to look like he wasn't struggling.

“Do you feel happy here?”

Lloyd almost dropped the package of sugar he held in his hands out of surprise at the question.

He had expected a lot of questions, like ones about his father or the serpentine or maybe even about if he had any evil quests in planning – but Zane's actual question almost made it seem like he was really interested in him, not Lloyd Garmadon but instead just– just Lloyd. He didn't remember the last time that had been the case and it seemed to have struck a nerve because suddenly he felt himself get sentimental.

“Uhm.”, he laughed awkwardly while trying to reach the flour that was in the far back of the cabinet.

He just stayed quiet for a while, as did Zane who waited for some kind of answer.

The boy could easily lie to him if he wanted to, but the way Zane had asked the question, as if he actually cared– he didn't want to ruin this like others had ruined his attempts at a friendship before.

Was he happy on the Bounty? He hadn't really thought of that yet. Yes, he finally had food and a warm place to stay but now that he thought – truly thought – about it he noticed just how lonely he felt. Not that he wasn't lonely on the streets, either, but – here, on the Destiny's Bounty, the feeling of loneliness was even bigger than it had been while he had lived at Darkley's.

At Darkley's he had felt somewhat understood and he technically had had friends – or at least the Darkley's version of a friend which included lots of backstabbing and absolutely no amount of loyalty and empathy.

But Brad – his former best friend – had at least understood why he wanted to conquer the world, why he wanted everyone to suffer (even if it only was his goal because he wanted to make everyone feel what he felt). Brad hadn't judged him for it, neither had Brad judged him for petty pranks and Brad also wouldn't have judged him for freeing the Serpentine Tribes – though, he himself regretted having done that now.

All of these things were things the Ninja did. They just didn't know what it was like to be the son of an evil warlord, to grow up being raised by evil people. He felt like he simply didn't fit in.

“I don't know,” he finally said, his tiny hands placing all the ingredients on the counter. “I guess I don't feel like I belong here, I'm just too– too different, I guess.”

Zane walked up next to him taking a bowl and putting some of the butter and eggs in, stirring them. “What would make you think that?”

“None of you–“, Lloyd felt frustration building up inside of him, slowly getting angry. “None of you know what it's like to be judged for something you can't change!”, his hands formed into little fists and he tried his best to stare at the bowl, instead of meeting the teens eyes. “It's not my fault I just happen to be Garmadon's son! It's not like I got to choose! And I don't think it's necessarily a bad thing either but everyone judges me for it! You all think I am bad and that I am just like him but my old school thinks that I'm too little like him! I just want to be seen for me! I just want to be understood,” he rambled far faster than he had intended to, letting out thoughts that not even he himself knew went through his head.

His words were met by quietness. And then–

“I do understand, you know.”

Lloyd raised an eyebrow at the other. How was Zane possibly able to understand what he went through? He was literally– oh.

“Being a nindroid makes many people think I am somehow lesser or that I simply cannot feel emotions or have a personality of my own. Many think that I am just a machine.”

He felt like someone had punched him in the gut.

Here he was ranting about how no one understood what it was like to be judged for nothing but your very existence, and how he just didn't fit in with the rest of them, to the only person on the ship who wasn't even human.

Now he really felt like he was behaving like a brat.

Zane had been nothing but nice to him and he– he even did the exact same things he hated the others for. He had labeled him as “weird” based on the fact that he was a nindroid just like how the others had labeled him as “evil” based on the fact that he was Garmadon's son.

“I'm sorry.”, he spoke before he could stop himself.

“What are you 'sorry' for?”

“Because I- because I thought so too,” he let his head sink. “I thought you were strange because you're not human but you're not! You're like me, just– different. That doesn't mean that that is bad, though.”

With big eyes he looked up again, seeing the Master of Ice smile down at him.

“Lloyd, there will always be people who will judge us for how we came into existence – you, being the son of Garmadon and me, being a nindroid.”, the young man crouched down to be face-to-face with the boy. “But you just have to make them see you for you through your actions – and if they decide to just close their eyes and ignore everything you do as you try to make them see that you are not what they think you are, then they are not worth wasting your time on.”

“Are you saying–“

“I am saying you should try to make them see the real you, not the you who just wants to be like his father, not the you who hides behind the mask of not caring, but the actual you.”, Lloyd blinked away the moisture dwelling in his eyes, knowing exactly who Zane's 'them' was referring to and nodded slowly.

“I think I get it.”

“Shall we continue making waffles then?”

“Waffles?”, the child dressed in black asked, perplexed. “That's what we are making right now? I thought we were making something cool like– like cake!”

The elder laughed, grabbing some of the flour and sugar.

“Well, I thought we should make something that does not take long to finish since you should eat, rather sooner than later– Do you want to stir it up with the mixer now?”, he asked pointing at the bowl, making him nod in excitement.

“Yes! I've never used a mixer before!”, he smiled, already grabbing the little machine and putting it in the bowl.

“Perhaps I should explain to you how to use it then. You– Wait, Lloyd!– No, not the highest –!”, but it was too late, the child had already put the mixer on the highest level, making the flour fly right into his face and everywhere else in the kitchen.

His red eyes widened at first when looking at the scene in front of him, before he started to laugh. “Look at me, Zane!”, he squeaked, turning around with a grin and throwing his hands up, presenting his white palms and sleeves. “I look like a ghost!”

Zane, who was currently pinching the bridge of his nose while shaking his head slightly, couldn't help but laugh quietly.

“Now we need to clean you and the kitchen too before we can make any waffles.”

“We can just make them tomorrow! For breakfast.”

“No, you need to get something warm to eat today.”

Lloyd just smiled at him, already half out of the door, “Actually, I think the soup you made for me looked pretty tasty.”, and with that he sprinted away already, leaving tiny white footprints and a smirking Zane behind him.

“Wait– You don't think I'm going to clean up the mess you made all by myself, do you?”, his calls were only met by childish snickering and the sound of a door locking. “Lloyd Montgomery Garmadon–!”

Perhaps he didn't regret accepting Zane's offer that much.

[crumbledcastle28]

Chapter 16: An Understanding

Warnings: this one really isn’t bad, just a droid death and sappiness.

Author’s Note: Thank you to anyone who has supported this. We are almost there!

(If this is your gif please lmk!)

The sweet moment between the three of you was quickly ruined by a distant explosion, so the Mandalorian woman quickly rushed you all out after she quickly gave Mando a gift.

A Mandalorian jet-pack.

You had seen other Mandalorians use them in the past, and Mando seemed incredibly honored to have one, so if Mando was happy, you were happy.

The team followed the tunnel towards the smell of sulfur, trying your best to track the lava flats. You didn’t have much of choice. That was the only way out.

As you walked down the tunnels, you held the sleeping child in your arms, keeping him close to you. Mando walked next to you, stealing glances at you as you walked. You would glance back, but he would always face forward once more, trying to make it seem like he wasn’t starring. You would always smile at him when he would turn away, obviously embarrassed.

Who knew you could make a beskar covered warrior like that be embarrassed?

You felt at peace. At home. For once you actually had one. You didn’t even know how to describe the feeling. It’s like your anxious brain and beating heart finally subsided. Like your body relaxed, and you had nothing to fear. Sure, the team was still stuck in these tunnels and the exit would be swarming with stormtroopers, but you had backup. A team. A clan.

It felt like a new start.

Once you finally made it to the river’s edge, a boat was leaned up against the land. It had obviously seen better days and the droid inside hadn’t been used in a long time.

Great.

Mando and Karga tried pushing the boat, but that did no use, so Cara raised her rifle and shot the boat free from the hardened lava.

You smiled at her and chuckled, thinking about the fact she had outsmarted a Mandalorian and a well known Guild member. You were not surprised in the slightest.

You could’ve sworn she laughed back.

Everyone climbed into the boat, and by some miracle, the droid inside sputtered to life. It stood up, raising its paddle and dropping it into the orange liquid beside it. It then said some droid gibberish, which IG-11 presumed was a request.

“I believe he is asking where we would like to go,” IG said.

“Downriver. To the lava flats,” Karga said, and the droid set to paddling.

Mando was to your left, while Cara was at your right. The child had woken up once more, using his energy to chew on your thumb. Mando brought his hand up to his helmet, activating the thermal scanners.

“That’s it,” Karga yelled, pointing to the growing light coming from the end of the tunnel.

“We’re free!”

It had been a long time since you had heard something like that.

“No,” Mando said, squashing your elated mood.

“Stormtroopers. They’re flanking the mouth of the tunnel. They must know we are coming.”

“Stop the boat,” you said sternly to the ferry droid. The droid, however, gave no sign that he actually heard you.

“Hey,” Cara said firmly, walking up to the droid.

“She said stop the boat,” she said before shooting the droid’s head off.

You appreciated Cara’s act of defense for you, you really did, but it didn’t do any good. The boat kept moving.

There was no other way. You had to stand and fight.

You pulled your longspear from your back and tucked the child deeper into your arms. You had fought stormtroopers before, why would this time be any different?

“They will not be satisfied with anything less than the child,” IG said, and you turned your head to look back at him. Your confused expression accurately represented the feelings of the rest of the group as well.

“This is unacceptable. I will eliminate the enemy, and you will escape.”

“You don’t have that kind of firepower pal,” Mando said in reply.

“You wouldn’t even get to daylight.”

“That is not my objective,” said the droid. “I still have the security protocols from my manufacturer. If my designs are compromised, I must self-destruct.”

“What?” you asked the droid.

“I am not permitted to be captured. I must be destroyed.”

The droid looked at Mando and said, “Sadly, there is no scenario where the child is saved in which I survive.”

“No,” Mando said, moving closer to the droid.

“You’re not going anywhere. We need you.”

“Please tell me the child will be safe in your care,” the droid said, now looking at both you and Mando.

“But you will be destroyed-” you began to say.

“And you will live,” IG said. “I will have served my purpose.”

He looked to Mando and said, “There is nothing to be sad about.”

“I’m not…. sad,” Mando said, but you were no where near convinced. His voice was the only way for you to humanize him, and emotions were very easily traced on the voice. When you can’t see someone’s face, the voice is all they have. You had gotten good at that.

It seemed IG had gotten good at it too.

“Yes, you are. I’m a nurse droid. I have analyzed your voice,” IG said before coming to the child and brushing his hand along his forehead.

No matter how little Mando wanted to deny it, the droid was your saving grace.

The droid then stepped into the boiling lava, and started making its way down towards the exit.

You watched the droid with wide and curious eyes. You had never seen a droid be so… selfless. You had always seen droids as mindless robots who only acted out of survival, but this one gave its life for you.

You wished you could repay him somehow.

When the detonator on the droid finally exploded, the child in your arms lifted his ears and watched. Even though the droid had been there for a small time, he was still the reason you and the child were alive. It seemed like the kid was loosing a friend.

You could see the pain in his eyes, and you wished you could take it all away from him and put it into your own.

Once the boat finally drifted into the tunnel, you saw the bodies of the stormtroopers on either side of the bank.

Maybe this actually… worked?

But, like many… many… times before, the scream of a tie fighter ruined all chances of an easy departure.

“Moff Gideon!” Cara shouted before raising her blaster and shooting at the aircraft. Mando and Karga immediately joined her, while you used your longspear to shield you and the child from any blaster fire.

The ship’s canons rained fire on the group for a couple seconds before the ship went roaring completely over your heads.

“He missed,” Karga said in relief.

“He won’t next time,” Mando said. The ship was already starting to turn back around.

“He mentioned he knew you,” Mando said to you, referring to when he was trapped in the town not even an hour before this.

“Yeah….” you said.

“I’ve pissed him off,” you chuckled out, and Mando looked at you with a breathy laugh as well.

“Hey,” Karga said suddenly. “Let’s have the kid do the magic hand thing.”

Oh great, you thought to yourself.

“Come on baby! Do the magic hand thing,” Karga said to the kid while wiggling his fingers.

The child only giggled in your arms and waved back, and you let a light chuckle come out of your nose.

“I’m out of ideas,” Karga said.

“I’m not,” Mando said, turning around to get the jet-pack from the boat.

You watched him walk away with a slight smirk on your face. You believed in Mando more than anyone, and you prayed he had enough training to know how to use that thing.

You saw the tie fighter making its way back to you through the corner of your eye, but you continued to watch Mando. He attached the pack to his back and then locked eyes with you before shooting into the sky like a rocket.

You watched him with a beating heart as he flew right in front of the tie fighter, allowing it to go under his feet. He then hooked his grappling cable onto the wing and used the jet pack to propel himself onto the cockpit window.

Even though you were scared out of your mind, you still managed to smile at the sight above you.

Your Mandalorian was incredible.

Mando’s blaster did almost no damage to the cockpit door before Moff Gideon jerked the ship to the left. The ship was starting to spiral, and your awe quickly turned into worry.

Mando was holding on with everything he had.

He all of a sudden let go and went soaring through the air. The left side of the ship completely exploded, which sent the ship careening to the ground. It burst into smoke on impact.

Barely a second later, your Mandalorian landed before you in a slight crouch, before standing to his full height.

The smile on your face said it all.

He chuckled slightly at your shocked and happy expression before taking the child from you and holding him in his arms. You walked to stand beside him and stare up to his face, proud and joyful.

You got a Mandalorian.

Karga and Cara stood before you two with equally shocked expressions

“That was impressive Mando,” Karga said. “It looks like your Guild rates have just gone up.”

You grinned at Karga, enjoying his little tease.

“Any more stormtroopers?” Mando asked.

“I think we cleared the town,” Cara said with a laugh. “I’m thinking of staying around just to be sure.”

“You’re staying here?” Mando asked, equally confused as you were.

“Well, why not?” Karga asked. “Nevarro is a very fine planet, and now that the scum and villainy have been washed away, it’s very respectable again.”

“As a bounty hunter hive?” Mando asked, and you once again giggled at his bluntness.

“Some of my favorite people are bounty hunters,” Karga said with a bit of a chuckle.

“And perhaps”- he said while placing a hand on Cara’s shoulder- “this specimen of a soldier might consider joining our ranks.”

“And you, my friend”- he said while turning his attention back to Mando -“will be welcomed back into the Guild with open arms.”

Mando looked to the child in his arms, beaming up at him with utter adoration. He then looked to you at his side, and you gave him a smile that said I’m with you. With whatever you choose.

“I’m afraid I have more pressing mattors at hand,” he said, turning his head back to the child.

“Well you better keep watch of this one,” Karga said to Mando while gesturing to you.

“She could take your place at the Guild in a second,” he says, while snapping his fingers for emphasis.

“And she would do a damn good job,” he says, and you laugh in reply.

Mando gives a slight nod in agreement which only makes you laugh harder.

You can’t recall ever laughing this hard.

“Y/n,” Cara says, and you divert your attention back to her.

She is trying to look at you, but she just can’t meet your gaze.

“Listen… I… I’m really sorry. The Empire hurt me a lot and I just couldn’t…” she chokes out.

You could tell she was trying to apologize to you. For when your identity got revealed, for doubting your loyalty, or anything in between. She was obviously struggling, so you decided to help her along.

“Cara,” you said, and her eyes met yours.

“Your reaction was perfectly understandable. Truly. There is nothing to be sorry for,” you say, and a flash of relief skates over her eyes.

“I just saw how you were with Mando and the kid today and I…. I owed you an apology,” she said, and you smiled at her.

“Thank you, Cara. I’m glad we could come to an understanding,” you respond, and she smiles back at you. A genuine, relieved smile.

“As am I,” she says while leaning forward to caress the child’s ear.

“Take care of this little one,” Cara said to you and Mando. You gave her a respectful nod, acting as a promise that you would.

“Or maybe,” Karga added, “it will take care of you.”

You looked to Mando with a light smile, and you could tell he was grinning too.

The weight of guilt and shame had been lifted off of you. The people you cared for most forgave you. They looked at what you did right in the eyes, but looked past it, and saw you. You were sure it would take some time for them to completely trust you, but they were willing to try.

You couldn’t ask for anything more.

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