#i cannot be asked to make dialogue it just wont happen

[angel-mira]

wade being hugegfd nnd comfortd by bigb man who cheered ? (i did)

#my art #digital art #deadpool #wade wilson #nathan summers #cablepool #i cannot be asked to make dialogue it just wont happen #imagine whatever you want #it could be nate consoling wade over the removal of the mcrib #for all i care

[organic-guacamole]

this is a dumb excuse but last night I was showing my sister how to type with a Korean 10 key keyboard and then hit my phone stuck on it and that's why I'm late...

HSMTMTS SEASON 3 EPISODE 8 REACTION

yay jet doing the recap

before this disaster begins I just gotta say I love the background music at the start. the stringy rendition of shallow lake is so nice.

ON 3 OR AFTER 3!!!!! if this finale has any more callbacks I will not stop screaming

imagine if ricky did get a heart attack though...🤔

not saying he should but like, it would be original (unlike a certain recycled love triangle plot)

my best friend is old enough to vote now too and it's actually insane

but this isn't about me, BIG RED YESSSSS

how'd he come though, Ricky stole his car 🤨🤨🤨

JET

idk what's happening now, it would be cool if they fleshed out Jet and Ricky some more but they didn't so now it's awkward the way Jet is asking Red.

AND ASHLYN IS STILL JUST STANDING THERE? HUH? MOVE GIRL

EJ I love you.

"where's Gina" *punches pillow, mattress, wall, door-*

no wonder EJ his busting his ass to make sure the show is perfect. Ricky is the male lead and doesn't know the name of the kingdom in frozen? chile please

miss Jenn? do people not have other things to do in this show (me being petty about every little thing because I'm pissed about the storylines of this season)

why are all these elders jumping in the kid's solo smh smh

GO ASHLYN WEEEE

Channing showed up with like 20x more gay and he's so cute

why would they livestream this wth

shut up Richard, I'm so tired of his snarky comments this whole time

DUDE THE WAY THEY ALL TURNED ON EJ IMMEDIATELY I CANNOT STAND THIS SHOW

and then don't apologize for assuming he'd throw them all under the bus after the 2 weeks of him working so hard to make sure they excel I'm so angry I'm gonna cry

Nini? I'm not even surprised atp

she's not coming back.

"these things don't go away in a night" THANK YOU KOURTNEY

why is the crowd laughing so hard I do not understand (nitpicking)

thanks Channing 🧍🏽‍♀️

I know redlyn won't break up but it's scaring me.

not the sign saying no spitting in the middle of the emotional scene between Alex and Kourtney

SUPERNOVA GSHEGSHSHSAJBA I LOVE THEM

no Channing not now

why does Nini have to stand there, isn't it more conspicuous than sitting in the audience?

yes Gina beat that man to the ground

I LOVE KOURTNEY SO MUCH

I'm so happy rn.

bORN TI BE BRAVEEWE I KNOW WHO I AM INSIDE AND I WONT APOLOGIZE WOOOOOO

"we missed you so much this summer" literally no one thought about her (petty guac is back)

Channing is such a fun character, his dialogue is almost always hilarious

and now EJ has to witness THIS. seriously just twist the knife in his heart atp

I love Val why isn't she in season 4😔 (Actually no cuz then they'd ruin her character)

*marches down the path with lanterns and pitchforks* KILL CASH CASWELL KILL CASH CASWELL

EJ deserves so much more than they give him and I'm so upset that not only did he lose the girl he really liked, but also can't even get his dad to say something as simple as "you're not a disappointment"

seriously. born to be brave is just making me nostalgic for s1 and I can't handle that rn

Not Ms Jenn actually being in hsm, didn't Mr Mazzara prove that she wasn't? anyways um

just like that? Corbin switches sides? redemption?

why is miss Jenn pulling every 40 something man in this show

is it just me or does Ashlyn have the bi colours in her hair

EJ SIGNED AS ELTON IM SCREAMING

I hate the last day of camps like this, I've been to 2 and I cried so hard whole waiting for my ride, like those people you just spent days and nights with you might never see again but the bond is just so ✨

BRO LOOK AT THIS? WHEN THEY FOUND OUT NINI WAS THERE DID YALL SEE RICKYS FACE? HES NOT OVER HER (not in the sense of wanting to be with her still, but just not over that relationship and probably craving that feeling again. hence lily and now Gina? why why why should they be the rebounds for him and why is the narrative making it seem like a good thing.)

like this guy that has had his eyes on Gina and only Gina for months is not right for her! fine! but does that automatically make Ricky, the guy who is like the opposite of boyfriend material bc of where he is in life rn any better? no???

NOT THE TIME SKIP

I also just realized this is the longest hsmtmts episode to date, that's cool, literally what we've been begging for since s2 but sure.

no stop. that documentary is not complete within 1 month, no way. especially not after what they said about in a month the trailer will come out.

BRO CARLOS' DRESS??????

and can we talk about the meta-ness of this? what show am I even watching rn? hsmtmtsftmtd?

OMG EVERYONE IS SO HOT

"ok Ricky Bowen and you're watching Disney plus" *does the wand movement* ain't no way son

oh no it's gonna have the Ricky confession scene isn't it

oh jeez not the reality show edits

OMG WHY DID THEY DO THAT TO CARLOS IM CRYING

love how jet's own can't even be excused by some editing

this show has gone off the rails but the documentary trailer is killing me

the awkward shots of Ricky grinning at the camera while Gina says that she wants one thing I'm dying I'm deceased yes.

BIG RED IS BI WE KNEW THIS BUT ITS CANON NOW WOOHOOO (why he got an interview segment? no idea)

"good for him" so true

EJ my man... *shoulder pat*

oh Rina is still gonna happen?

hm

no jeez why is it always the girl confessing to Ricky

SHE DID NOT JUST USE PART OF HER BREAK UP WITH EJ TO CONFESS TO RICKY. IM BACK TO HATING THIS SHOW.

SHE ALREADY CONFESSED DURING THAT FLASHBACK SCENE AT THE S1 CLOSING WHAT WHAT WHAT

HES 18 TOO HOW COULD SHE USE THE FACT THAT EJ'S AN ADULT AND MOVING FORWARD AGAINST HIM WHEN RICKYS ABOUT TO DO THE SAME?? AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHG

NO STOP ICKY EW GO AWAY

nonono, don't get me started

#hsmtmts #hsmtmts s3 #hsmtmts season 3 #hsmtmts s3 finale #ej caswell #ricky bowen #gina porter #carlos rodriguez #kourtney greene #ashlyn caswell

[pastramimommy]

3/3/24

Alright I told myself I was going to journal once a month so here we go. I've been moved into my new apartment for 2 weeks and have been at my new job for 1 week and here's how things are going so far. I love living by myself, I love my apartment. I think my job is going to be more challenging than I initially thought but I think it will be a good challenge and I love the patient population. There is potential for friends on this unit but given that all my coworkers are old or are white women in their mid twenties/early thirties who are married/engaged/pregnant/have kids, the friendships will be different. Maybe this is the pace I need in order to save money. I absolutely LOVE having my weekends and I'm enjoying being an early riser (so far, knock on wood lol) I'm currently working on my morning routine to see what works. I'm having a hard time trying to figure out a workout/work/shower schedule that makes sense for my hair. I've made immense progress towards creating the life I want for myself here, ie pole class, making friends, finding a church, getting a library card, etc. so I am proud of myself there.

Chris has made a great effort to make sure we see each other during the last few weeks and things have been pretty good so far. I do find myself having intrusive thoughts about our anniversary (which I discussed during therapy) and about sus activity happening while he was in Dallas. Will be asking my therapist if this is something worth bringing up. It just sucks because this is the first time i've ever had these thoughts of not trusting him and starting my mental dialogue of what I would say when he would tell me. I know this is something that I have to do the work to manage on my own. I also didnt conceptualize anything about the remainder of this year because i was so focused on the move. but I realized that i wont see him for a lot of the summer, maybe not even my birthday? might be spending it alone just bc it logistically makes sense lol we'll see. but then his lease ends in july, so we're kind of forced to address certain future topics at that point, and i've been thinking about it but trying not to verbalize it until he has to think about his lease length. I catch myself thinking about this or spiraling about if he did cheat or if things didnt work out and how his life would go on as if nothing happened. Like when he lied and he could move on so easily because he knows he's not a bad person, that could happen again. I know I cannot think about these things. Just need to focus on adjusting to my life in the moment here.

I really enjoyed the church service I went to and i really do think it will help me deal with any of this insecurity/uncertainty and spaces that chris cannot fill. I got a little emotional during communion today, i cant remember the last time i did it, and today it kind of felt like a new commitment to God. I'm very excited to see what comes of everything!

#thoughts #personal

[imalovelymoth]

20 Questions for Fic Writers

Oh my gosh, thank you so much for tagging me @retlasute 🤩🤩🤩 Due to how inactive I am on tumblr, I never thought I was going to get tagged so I appreciate it very much!

I also don’t really talk to anyone on this app I’m just going to go with @rreeaahh bc 😌

1. How many works do you have on Ao3?

So I actually just read on Ao3 and I’ve never written anything on it. However, that doesn’t mean I wont try to make something on that platform.

2. What’s your total Ao3 word count?

I think my first answer also answers this question 😗😗😗

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Any honestly, it just depends on which fandom I feel like I want to write about.

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Hahaha, so…I technically haven’t posted any fics at all so…(yeah ik, shame, shame, shame)

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

As you can tell, I don’t post any of my writings at all bc I’m extremely inactive, which means that I don’t get any comments. Though, I wouldn’t mind responding to a few comments, it’s nice receiving positive feedback from others. It gets me motivated and helps me improve on my writing!

6. What is a fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

Never really finalized anything, but I have written angsty pieces that make my heart wrench in ways I cannot describe. There also pretty complicated to write but I still like writing these kind of things.

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

As I mentioned earlier, I haven’t finished an actual fic. I’ve some cheerful things and such so yeah

8. Do you get hate on fics?

Not yet 🫣🫣🫣 (obviously)

9. Do you write smut?

Hahahahha *laughs nervously*, I have tried and it come out really bad. Well, it wasn’t really smut, it was more like spicy but not explicit, if that makes sense. It’s not really my forte.

10. Do you write crossovers?

I have, and it’s…a lot honestly. They can be fun to write at first but after some time they can get very complicated. Plus, I also don’t have a lot of brain energy to just finish it up because it so much more work to make crossover, ykyk🥱😴🫠

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Nope 😮‍💨😮‍💨😮‍💨

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Yeah no

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Not yet! I actually do want at some point (whenever that is) but not right now bc I’m not very diligent abt that kind of stuff

14. What’s your all-time favorite ship?

Gosh where do I start 🤔🤔🤔 I have so many favorite ships that I honestly can’t pick which one is my fav. But, but, but, butttttttt, I’ll just pick one for the sake of this question and that would probably be wolfstar ❤️

15. What’s a wip you want to finish, but doubt you ever will?

There’s this one short story I want to finish writing. It’s going pretty smooth right now but I sometimes forget it exits and I get lazy whenever I start writing it so 😶

16. What are your writing strengths?

I’m pretty good with details. Sometimes I go bit too much on detail with certain things that are but unnecessary to what I’m writing. I like describing how a character, setting, event looks like and what’s happening. I also really like writing about the personalities of my characters bc it just gives me enough insight on who they are as person

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

I get very lazy with my writing. Like if I’m going to write about this really good idea I have I sometimes get a bit discouraged abut it and then I just decided to not to do it bc of how complicated it would be. That’s why I start to slack a bit on pieces of writings I make. Smut writings are something I’m not the best at.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?

I actually find it pretty cool whenever a characters dialogue is another language. I actually have written characters that speak another language such as French (which I know very little) and Spanish but I sometimes I use google translate for help or bc I’m lazy. I might even ask like people that I know such as friends or family how to write describe something in that language.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

Erm soooo FNAF really got me into writing. I did like writing before but it wasn’t like fandoms and stuff it was more about characters I made etc.

20. Favorite fic you’ve written?

I honestly don’t know. Like I have written fics but I haven’t posted any at all…so like idk

Omg, I completely forgot I made this and it’s be more than a week, literally 2 weeks if I’m exact. I’m so sorry 😭😭😭 school has been a real pain in the ass lately but I finally posted so yay!

Also thank you once more to @retlasute for tagging me 😄 I’m so sorry for the 2 week delay!

[kookieswan]

Kim putting his hand on the glass and Jimin pulling back🥺 PLZ DR. KIM TEAR THESE WALLS DOWN!!! I know Minie is good boy deep down😫

Okay so imagine its routine for Kim to lean on the glass and leave a hand print.

And every time, Jimin says “get tf off my cage” or “get tf off the glass”

Kim is like “I thought you hated captivity?” with a little eyebrow raise and a smirk. Like he always has some witty counter. He knows how to handle Jimin. Honestly the meaner Jimin is the more of a kick Tae gets👀 (I’m saying write now Dr. Kim is a brat tamer. You want Jimin to apologize? Have Kim say he’s disappointed in Jimin and this boy will be running to give a half ass sorry cuz he needs his man’s approval back😭)

Of course Jimin scoffs or hisses while also rolling his eyes or glaring. But as soon he’s alone, he likes to put his hand against the print.

And after a few more encounters, Jimin grows used to and even silently craves for Kim to talk to him.

One day, Kim is leaning on the glass one day, just rambling about something before he stops himself and looks at Jimin who looks surprised that he has too.

Then Kim is like “I just realized you haven’t asked me to ‘get off the fucking glass’.” Jimin’s brows raise because Kim isn’t really the type to curse around him, but also he says it so nonchalantly, opposed to Jimin’s harsh tone that its kind of cute, especially with his accent.

Jimin’s either hums and just glares or he says “Are you done talking?” with a attitude that he’s very much faking. And I think Kim knows this too so he plays along. He wont make Jimin expose himself for warming up to him, but he does find it cute how Jimin tries to act like thats not whats happening.

So Kim goes back to talking but Jimin does space out a bit thinking that its cute that Kim noticed that Jimin’s not as annoyed with him than he thought.

So like they’re always having internal dialogue about each other and it just amps up the anti for when they finally do express themselves fully.

Then another time, MC or a guard goes to lean on the glass, especially the spot where Kim usually does, and Jimin gets agitated. But this time when he says to get off the glass there’s actual aura of danger behind it.

Its only till MC sees Kimin interacting that she notices that Tae is the only one allowed to lean on the glass🥺

So now “get tf off the glass” or a straight spray of acid is directed to everyone but Tae. I like to think that once Jimin gives MC a warning every now and then but MC is like “Jimin I hoped you’d figured out by now that I take your boundaries very seriously.” And Jimin just gives a sassy lil hum like he’s almost impressed with her clap back and that he does indeed need to check himself.

Mmmmh I feel like I can’t say too much about how certain relationships will develop over time…..

HOWEVER, this is a super interesting concept and made me giggle thinking about it.

I want to say more BUT I CANNOT so I am running away goodbye.

Everyone read and enjoy. I can’t confirm if this is based on reality or not.

#plymmie ♥️💋 #vvh0adie #answers

[separatist-apologist]

Have you ever said why you don't like From Blood and Ash? I thought most people liked that book. Was it just the newest book that put you off them?

I don't think I ever have, actually. Maybe once, when I answered a "fandom calm down" thing, but not like, my personal problems with it. I have the first three books but I quit after book two. This was right when I was getting back into reading for fun and not academia. My friend who suggested ACOTAR was like, if you liked those books, try FBAA. I trusted her and bought the first three so I didn't have to wait on them like I did for ACOSF.

The first book is...okay. It's interesting enough but the premise of very sheltered teenager who is a badass assassin is always annoying to me, it's why I think TOG also was hard for me. The problem is that the authors tell you "she is the best" and then when they show you, she's actually REALLY bad. Poppy wasn't AWFUL but her experience makes no sense considering she never had any practice until the book starts, and theoretical killing and real life killing are different? Also if Hawke kept catching her, you're telling me no one else did?

To be very honest, I was willing to overlook some of my main criticisms of the book (the cringy dialogue, repetition, and bad editing) because the story IS interesting. It moves, for the most part. Only a few middle places were really stagnant and I chalked that up to first book world-building syndrome.

But BOOK TWO was a SLOG it was so awful. The world building was out of control at that point, the constant "Why?" "Poppy with a question" jokes got old like, the third time it happened. There is just NOTHING happening for like, 300-400 pages that at some parts I was just skimming to get through it. Everything interesting happens in the last 50 pages and the build up is wonky or non-existent. JLA isn't interested in creating ACTUAL tension so she resolves it with a snap of her fingers and then creates more instead of teasing out her more interesting plot narratives. The pretend "will they/wont they" with Casteel and Poppy was the worst, though. I hated that so much. It made no sense and wasn't believable and instead of them working on their relationship its just snap "we're together now after I said we wouldn't be".

And all the old problems, of course (bad editing, cringy dialogue, repetition). I'm a big believer that reading should be fun and if books are boring/bad, stop reading them. You'll never catch me doing a hate read. I have the third book on my shelf but I've never read it and I never will. And seeing the blow up on book 4 was kind of validating because FINALLY people were admitting that these books are way overhyped for what they are, they're badly written, the world building is so big and complex the author cannot keep track of it and instead of fleshing any of it out she just adds more and more as it suits her. I don't think they ever should have been more than three books. Whatever is happening now could probably all exist in three tightly written books.

And obviously if you like them, you're allowed to. I'm not saying anything about the people reading them. I like plenty of trash nonsense (ask me about the reverse harem monster books I can't put down, like I am no stranger to badly written smut books). I think my issue is that they get treated as if they ARE really well done and the people who don't like them are just haters of popular fiction.

#anti jla #just to be safe #not tagging anything else because like read and let read #they are not for me

[kellyvela]

Has GRRM ever said in any interview or on his blog that he hates Sansa's complete storyline after 4th season? I dont really follow all of his fan/media interactions but from what I can recall he has spoken abt how LF in books wont give sansa to ramsay or how noone had issue when Jeyne was given the Ramsay storyline in books etc. Asking this question to you bcs you rightly point out how ppl misunderstood his interviews/posts ( sansans/targ stans etc) & I cant recall him ever saying he 'hates' sansa's story in the later seasons of the show ( not s5 in particular but even s6 to s8).

Capclave 2013:

A change that has repercussions for season 4 is Marillion’s tongue removal from the first season. Martin said that the change was made (from an anonymous singer being the victim of a de-tonguing) because they wanted Joffrey to maim someone the audience would recognize. He believes this is an issue because of the part the singer plays in Sansa’s storyline, how he affects her interactions with others in the book, and he doesn’t believe another character will be fulfilling that role on Game of Thrones.

—GRRM talks season 4 & beyond - Winter is Coming - October 13, 2013

2014 Fan Reports about Capclave 2013 (*):

In a convention panel this year, George said on the record that he had no idea what they were doing with Sansa or where they’re taking her storyline, which now makes sense perhaps. He was not pleased when he was talking about it, so who knows what’s going to happen with her! Knowing GRRM, that could mean they’re going off the canon reservation, and/or that they’re going to be making a lot of shit up

I have notes I’ll be responding to (thanks!) but enough people commented about Sansa that I thought I’d share that tidbit, since it happened back in September iirc (was the same panel where he criticized the exclusion of Tyrell brothers)

—starkalypse - June 3, 2014

GRRM’s comments at capclave about Sansa (which I was in the third row for, for those asking about legitimacy) were among others during the panel that had a general theme of dissatisfaction with show changes. He was not in good spirits for that con and didn’t really have anything positive to say regarding the show. So take it with a grain of salt; there are deviations away from the books in the episodes he gets writers credit for, so maybe they’re doing something stupid or they really don’t have a gameplan!

—starkalypse - June 4, 2014

(*) These reports were posted in June 2014, during the airing of Game of Thrones Season 4, about Capclave 2013 that happened in October 2013.

Just after the rape episode:

How many children did Scarlett O’Hara have? Three, in the novel. One, in the movie. None, in real life: she was a fictional character, she never existed. The show is the show, the books are the books; two different tellings of the same story.

There have been differences between the novels and the television show since the first episode of season one. And for just as long, I have been talking about the butterfly effect. Small changes lead to larger changes lead to huge changes. HBO is more than forty hours into the impossible and demanding task of adapting my lengthy (extremely) and complex (exceedingly) novels, with their layers of plots and subplots, their twists and contradictions and unreliable narrators, viewpoint shifts and ambiguities, and a cast of characters in the hundreds.

There has seldom been any TV series as faithful to its source material, by and large (if you doubt that, talk to the Harry Dresden fans, or readers of the Sookie Stackhouse novels, or the fans of the original WALKING DEAD comic books)… but the longer the show goes on, the bigger the butterflies become. And now we have reached the point where the beat of butterfly wings is stirring up storms, like the one presently engulfing my email.

Prose and television have different strengths, different weaknesses, different requirements.

David and Dan and Bryan and HBO are trying to make the best television series that they can.

And over here I am trying to write the best novels that I can.

And yes, more and more, they differ. Two roads diverging in the dark of the woods, I suppose… but all of us are still intending that at the end we will arrive at the same place.

In the meantime, we hope that the readers and viewers both enjoy the journey. Or journeys, as the case may be. Sometimes butterflies grow into dragons.

—The Show, the Books - Not A Blog - May 18, 2015

Report about the last Game of Thrones Script that GRRM wrote:

No Wedding for Sansa and Ramsay: Without question, one of the most controversial changes the show made in trying to streamline the books was by slotting Sansa into the role of Ramsay’s wife and rape victim in Season 5. In the books, Ramsay marries and assaults Sansa’s best childhood friend, Jeyne Poole—who is being forced to impersonate Arya—instead. (You can actually see Jeyne briefly sitting next to Sansa in the show’s pilot.)

At the time Martin wrote this script, though, substituting Sansa for Jeyne was not yet the plan. Martin has Roose Bolton tell his bastard son: “We have a much better match in mind for you. A match to help House Bolton hold the north. Arya Stark.” It should be noted, however, that in Martin’s script, Sansa isn’t free from menace either. At his own wedding-day breakfast, Joffrey still threatens to rape the older Stark sister—once he’s “gotten Margaery with child.”)

—Game of Thrones: The Secrets of George R.R. Martin’s Final Script - Vanity Fair - December 7, 2018

A month before the Game of Throne S8 Finale:

Sansa’s story, in particular, has really deviated from the books. Ramsay Bolton — that marriage obviously was with a different character. When they start deviating like that, did you initially have any emotional reaction, even though you worked in Hollywood for many years yourself?

GRRM: Well, yeah — of course you have an emotional reaction. I mean, would I prefer they do it exactly the way I did it? Sure. But I’ve been on the other side of it, too. I’ve adapted work by other people, and I didn’t do it exactly the way they did it, so ….

Some of the deviation, of course, is because I’ve been so slow with these books. I really should’ve finished this thing four years ago — and if I had, maybe it would be telling a different story here. It’s two variations of the same story, or a similar story, and you get that whenever anything is adapted. The analogy I’ve often used is, to ask how many children did Scarlett O’Hara have? Do you know the answer to that?

I know it’s different in the book and the movie …

GRRM: Three children in the book, one by each husband. She had one child in the movie. And in real life, of course, Scarlett O’Hara had no children, because she never existed. Margaret Mitchell made her up. The book is there. You can pick it up and read Mitchell’s version of it, or you can see the movie and see David Selznick’s version of it. I think they’re both true to the spirit of the work, and hopefully that’s also true of Game of Thrones on one hand, and A Song of Ice and Fire on the other hand.

—George R.R. Martin on the Stark Sisters and Ending ‘Game of Thrones’ - RollingStone - April 22, 2019

James Hibberd’s Book:

GEORGE R. R. MARTIN: Jeyne Poole was included in the pilot—she’s shown giggling next to Sansa—but she’s never seen or referred to again. I actually wrote Jeyne into “The Pointy End,” my first script, when Arya killed the stableboy. I had some stuff with Jeyne running to Sansa being all hysterical and dialogue in the council chamber with Littlefinger saying, “Give her to me, I’ll make sure she doesn’t cause any trouble.” That was dropped.

DAVID BENIOFF: Sansa is a character we care about almost more than any other. We really wanted Sansa to play a major part in that season. If we were going to stay absolutely faithful to the book, it was going to be very hard to do that. There was a subplot we loved from the books, but it was a character not involved in the show.

GEORGE R. R. MARTIN: I was trying to set up Jeyne for her future role as the false Arya. The real Arya has escaped and is presumed dead. But this girl has been in Littlefinger’s control for years, and he’s been training her. She knows Winterfell, has the proper northern accent, and can pose as Arya. Who the hell knows what a little girl you met two years ago looks like? When you’re a lord visiting Winterfell, are you going to pay attention to the little kids running around? So she can pull off the impersonation. Not having Jeyne, they used Sansa for that. Is that better or worse? You can make your decision there. Oddly, I never got pushback for that in the book because nobody cared about Jeyne Poole that much. They care about Sansa.

—Fire Cannot Kill a Dragon: Game of Thrones and the Official Untold Story of the Epic Series by James Hibberd - October 6, 2020

GEORGE R. R. MARTIN: My Littlefinger would have never turned Sansa over to Ramsay. Never. He’s obsessed with her. Half the time he thinks she’s the daughter he never had—that he wishes he had, if he’d married Catelyn. And half the time he thinks she is Catelyn, and he wants her for himself. He’s not going to give her to somebody who would do bad things to her. That’s going to be very different in the books.

—Fire Cannot Kill a Dragon: Game of Thrones and the Official Untold Story of the Epic Series by James Hibberd - October 6, 2020

I hope it helps you.

Thanks for your message.

#sansa stark #grrm

[casualotptrash]

Sorry, but [REDACTED] Doesn’t Matter

Spoilers for Persona 3 after October and the ending, and for P4 and P5 “choice moments” or endings

I’m keeping this intro very vague just in case this pops up for someone who hasn’t gotten to this point in the game, or beaten it, but I will go into full spoilers mode under the cut. To give the most basic overview of what this is, it pertains to the loss of a party member in Persona 3.

Now with that over with, welcome to me complaining about a really big issue I have with the whole debate between saving Shinji or letting him die.

Whenever this debate comes up, the number one complaint against the option to let him live is that it “goes against the meaning of the game.” Personally, I find this claim to be untrue for two major reasons. One is that I don’t think it really goes against the meaning of the game in the first place, and also that the game does a very bad job at...making any difference between the two at all?

For my first point, I’ll clarify what I believe the meaning of the game to be. Obviously there are tones of death, and moving past death. However, I don’t believe the message is just “Everyone will die one day, and we need to accept that.” The message is “Everyone will die one day, so we need to make the most of our lives.” This is why Akihiko and Ken find their resolve, because Shinji is gone but they can still continue living their lives for him. This is why SEES continues to live their life to the fullest, because it is what the MC allowed for when they sacrificed themselves. I’m not sure how some people seemed to miss this, or maybe they just didn’t make the same connection, but it seems like it would be hard to miss.

The reason that saving Shinji’s life does not go against this message is because he will still one day die, probably still young because of the drugs, so he still has time to live his life to the fullest. Perhaps you could connect it in a certain way that he is also living for the MC, because they saved his life. The fact that he didn’t die does not take away from the weight that he was willing to die, and thought he would, by saving Ken. It could even go to show that even if you are ready to die, and you somehow get a second chance, that second chance should not be squandered.

That being said, I find the second reason to be a bigger issue for me personally. Before I played P3P, I knew it was possible to save Shinji. I played the Male route first where you cannot save him, so I experienced his death. While I liked the impact, I decided to see the other side of the coin and saved him in my FeMC playthrough. When I actually got to the point where this happened, I was legitimately shocked by how....meaningless it all was?

What I mean by meaningless is that outside of the different scene with Akihiko mourning over his hospital bed instead of the tribute, and the very end of the game where one person who is optional to talk to who says Shinji woke up from his coma (also the NG+ scene but that’s only if it’s NG+ and you romanced him), all of the dialogue is the absolute same. Don’t get me wrong, the two mourning scenes do have a different “feel” to them and are both executed well, but legitimately there are no difference outside of those 2/3 instances, and 2 of those 3 are completely miss-able. Everyone else acts like he is dead. I don’t know how Atlus messed up so bad with not changing any of the dialogue (which is not even voice acted most of the time), but I’m guessing that they just didn’t want to spend the time on it. Even after one quick search on google, I found another person who asked if they actually saved him because everyone was talking the same.

As I mentioned earlier, I knew it was possible to save him and I also knew it was kind of a divisive topic in the fandom, so after figuring out the real “impact” of saving him I was....so confused. I thought “All of that discourse, over nothing?” I at least suspected that maybe the group would visit him, or he would show up in the base game at the end (not NG+ scene), or at the very least Akihiko or Ken would talk about him as if he was still alive, but nah there’s nothing like that. Obviously the player knows he survived and can imagine maybe what the rest of his life will be, but the game does a shit job at actually making the choice mean anything. Both scenes with Akihiko talking to him are sad and impactful, and the dialogue with Ken’s resolution doesn’t change in the slightest. Honestly, like I said outside of those 2/3 possible scenes, I see absolutely nothing to gain in doing one over the other unless you want to see Akihiko cry in an auditorium or in a hospital room.

On top of all of this, there is also the sentiment that this person wrote, and I believe many others also agree with (in relation to FeMC and P3P. I took out the rest of the post because it wasn’t relevant to this topic at all).

Now, they didn’t elaborate much on this, but after what I just said about how the game doesn’t really make any changes at all and sorting out the “meaning of the game” I’d be really interested to see what their reasoning is. Otherwise, it’s hard to imagine how this “literally ruins Akihiko and Ken” when their dialogue, cutscenes, and growth are 99.9% the same. That part alone is a bit frustrating, but what really gets me is how they don’t like the FeMC at all (or p3p, which was said earlier in another comment by them) because she can do this optional choice?

Obviously, anyone can dislike choices that are optional in a game. That’s just how it goes if you have multiple ways of doing things. Some you’ll like, and some you wont. However, why is it that basically every time I see someone say they don’t like the FeMC it’s because of a choice in the game and not something about her actual character? I really can’t stress enough how insane it is (to me) that people cannot disconnect what you as the player can choose in a game from the actual character. Because, do you know....believe it or not...there are people who play the FeMC route and don’t save Shinji? Or don’t romance Ken? Baffling, I know!

Is the FeMC somehow a better character if Shinji still dies or Ken isn’t romanced? Not to these people, I suppose. Somehow she’s still just as disliked, because the option was there in the first place. I honestly don’t know why this happens, but it’s also complete hypocrisy on their parts. Do they not like Yu for being able to murder Namatame? Or how about Joker, who can enslave all of Tokyo (the world? I don’t know if it’s made clear) if he accepts Yaldy’s deal? It’s very likely they still love those two, or at least one of them.

“But Casual, those don’t matter because they’re not canon!”

Neither is saving Shinji or romancing Ken, so kiss my ass :)

.

.

Anyway.

Just to make this clear, this post isn’t meant to bash people who dislike saving Shinji (or perhaps the implications of doing so) or dislike FeMC, but to point out how the game really takes none of this into consideration and that it’s a bit ridiculous for people to dislike FeMC for reasons that they seemingly don’t take into consideration for the other protagonists.

It’s kind of hard to put into words, but I’m just utterly baffled on how much trouble this causes when it’s really worth nothing. I can understand how people who only experienced his death could be affected, but only in the sense that they either think it goes against the “everyone will die” message and/or comprehend Shinji’s impact even after the game/story is over (which is done by their own volition and the game does not hint to at all).

However, at least as far as the game is concerned, both choices result in essentially the same outcome. Sorry, but Shinji’s death doesn’t matter (to the game).

#persona 3 #persona 3 portable #p3p #persona 4 #persona 5 #persona series #shinjiro aragaki #akihiko sanada #ken amada #minako arisato #hamuko arisato #kotone shiomi #if you cant tell I'm passionate about this #also saving shinji or not are both valid choices #still wish the game cared though #literally the ??? meme when this happened in my second playthrough #thought to myself did I actually save him or what because they're talking like he's fucking dead #akihiko: oh I'd love to see shinji again #THEN JUST GO SEE HIM HE'S AT THE HOSPITAL

[palettes-and-prompts]

hiii! can i get some spooky halloween prompts? anything goes: supernatural, terror, costume party... thanks!

Sure thing! Normally I would have done these last since I do requests in order but since they’re Halloween themed I decided to do them first just in case I’m not done with the prompts in my inbox by the end of the month or something.

Dialogue Prompts

1) "Hey, I got us invited to a costume party but we've got to bring a live animal for some reason." "Were you invited by someone who sacrifices animals?" "You know, they mentioned something about a sacrifice but I just thought they misspoke and meant to say sack of ice." "Yeah, we're not going to that." 2) "Hey, I accidentally joined a cult again, can you come pick me up?" 3) "Were you making out with Person A?" "It was just heat of the moment!" "We thought we were going to die when you chased us around with that fake chainsaw!" "Does Person B know about this?" "DO NOT TELL THEM." "Oh...I'm gonna." 4) "Grab a shovel, idiot, we've got to raise another person from the dead." "Ugh, again? Didn't we just raise someone else?" "Yeah, and now another person is dead so we have to do it again." 5) "Great. I'm alone. I'm alone in the fucking woods dressed like this. I'm gonna get murdered. I am. I'm gonna get murdered because Person A doesn't know how to follow simple fucking directions. It's great. Perfect, just where I wanted to be." "Are you talking to yourself?" "Jesus fucking Christ! Don't sneak up on me like that. God! Should put a fucking bell on you!" "I've been behind you the whole time." 6) "Sun comes up in two hours, we have to go back home." "I don't want to be a creature of the night like you." "Yeah, well, no one asks to be but you are. And it's either hide or burn." 7) "Hey, my shithead relative's in town so we're taking their things and burying them in the woods, wanna come?" "Wont they notice things are gone?" "Yeah, but they think my house is haunted so it's fine." 8) "Person A?" "What? Did you hear another noise?" "There's someone watching us over there." "Get in the car. Quickly, quickly!" 9) "You absolutely cannot wear that costume." "Why? Cause I look fucking sexy as hell in it while you're dressed like some furry?" "First of all, I'm not dressed like some furry. I'm dressed like the Cheshire cat from Alice in Wonderland. You know that. And Second of all, it's a Halloween themed birthday party for CHILDREN. No, you can't wear your sexy BDSM catsuit. We're going to celebrate a birthday not get hit on by single mothers/fathers." "Maybe you're going to celebrate a birthday. I'm looking to get some phone numbers." "Change." "God you're a buzzkill. Fine!" 10) "Oh my god, there's the killer!" "You know, they're looking kinda sexy in this lighting." "They've murdered six people." "Maybe I should ask if they're up for destroying my-" "Stop talking!" 11) "Oh no, I sure hope no murderers are out there looking for me, Person A, a sexy and single person who likes long walks on the beach and having a good time with fun, adventurous, sexy singles in my area!" "God. Can you just act like a normal person for five fucking minutes, please? Please? I am literally begging you." "What? I just want to let everyone know I'm not afraid of a little danger!" "People are dead, Person A." 12) "You're holding my hand." "I just don't want to get lost in the woods at night." "You keep squeezing it tighter when you hear a scary noise." "Okay, so I'm scared. What? You going to call me a chicken?" "No. I think it's cute when you hold onto me tighter." 13) "You look like you're going to vomit." "I am, I'm incredibly sick. I was gonna go home, but Person A showed up and they hate me so I swallowed a handful of blood capsules so when I throw up it looks like blood." "Why would you do that?" "Because I hate Person A and want to scare them." "But what if they don't care." "Then they look heartless in front of everyone. Basically a win for me." 14) "How'd swallowing blood capsules go?" "Turns out they're super toxic and I had to go to the hospital immediately. But I did find out that Person A doesn't hate me, they're actually in love with me but didn't know how to express that because they're bad at expressing feelings. So we're dating now." "Jesus Christ, I can't believe that's the story you're going to have to tell your future kids." 15) "Don't panic, but I have a knife in my chest." "You what?" "I fell when I was carving a pumpkin and ended up stabbing myself in the chest with a knife. I'm fine though." "You're not fine, you stabbed yourself." "I'm fine, I'm driving myself to the hospital right now." "You're driving?!?!" 16) "What are you going to be for Halloween, Person A?" "Myself." "That's a horrible costume, it'll never win the contest. Go as a dog." "Sound's like Person A already is!" "Fuck you, Person B!" 17) "Person A got hammered and threw up in a child's Halloween bucket." "That's okay, they said trick or treat. Not everyone can be lucky enough to get a treat. It's about time kids started receiving some tricks." "I'll go give them the rest of the candy bowl and apologize. You keep A here." 18) "HEY! DID YOU FUCKING BUY THESE WAX CUBES THAT SMELL LIKE CANDY CORN?!" "Yeah." "Don't you EVER buy these again. Person A just ate seven before I read the packaging." "Why didn't Person A read the package? They're a grown ass person and it fucking says wax cubes on the front of the package." "They're a dumbass, Person B! You know you can't leave inedible things that smell like foods around them. Remember what happened with the scented erasers?" "Yeah, that was a weird hospital visit." 19) "Why would you want to go on a hay ride when you can ride me right now?" "Never been disappointed on a fucking hay ride." 20) "Switch costumes with me. Person A and I accidentally ended up matching and if they notice and point it out to everyone and call us twins I might end up killing someone." "Person B, is that you?" "Oh fuck me..." "Person B!" "I have to go, distract them so I can get away!"

Regular Prompts

1) A and B are invited to a party thrown by someone they work with, Person C, but don't know them that well. They get there early and it's just them and Person C tells them to help themselves to food while they fix something outside. A opens the freezer and panics when they find a severed head. It looks real and A and B decide they need to leave. Just as they're about to leave the power goes out. 2) A's in an unhappy relationship with Person B. Instead of going to a party with their friends like A wants to do B insists they play with the new ouja board they got. A doesn't want to but B complains until A gives in. They accidentally summon a demon and while B leaves them behind, the demon, Person C, insists that B was a piece of shit anyway. A and C form an unlikely friendship and when A finds a way to bring C into their world permanentally the two decide to live together and C helps A get out of their relationship. The two then get together after getting to know each other and A discovers dating demons is way better than humans. 3) A and B are close friends who almost kiss but then it's interrupted when vampires show up and start terrorizing the town. The two begin a hunting spree with a few friends to take down all the vampires and the experience makes their friendship stronger and the two share a first kiss after they take down the last vampire together. 4) A and B are at C's house for a party, someone they've known their whole life. They realize halfway through the party that the locked basement they've never been in is unlocked. They decide to go down to see what's down there but immediately regret it when they turn the light on and find C surrounded by bodies and their hands and mouth covered in blood as they tell both of them they can explain everything. 5) A group of friends sneak into the park during Halloween even though it's closed and discover that the public bathroom has a body and the whole place is covered in blood. They decide to leave and call someone but they don't get a signal and now five people in dark cloaks are chasing them with knives. 6) A and B are known for being unscareable since nothing's ever made them scream out of fear. Their friends try to scare them throughout the whole day but they're unable to. The go to visit A's grandparents in the nursing home after A's parents insist. But when they go there they walk into the wrong room and find two old people doing it and A and B, along with the rest of their friends, scream in horror before closing the door. Unable to look at another old person they visit A's grandparents, but don't make eye contact and none of the friends make fun of them for it. They all just go trick-or-treating and agree to never speak of it again. They all forget about it until the next Halloween when they're sitting around watching TV and A's parents walk in telling A to go visit their grandparents. The group of friends simultaneously scream NO in horror and the story ends with them all shuddering at the memory. 7) A is unscareable so their friends hire someone to fake a news broadcast and pretend to be a murderer loose in their area. A isn't scared but when the fake murderer walks by and A sees them through the windows they all pretend not to believe A because A's a known prankster. A sees them more and more around the house with a knife but it isn't until A turns around and the pretend murderer is right behind them in the house that they scream. Everyone either records it or takes pictures before admitting to A it's just a prank. (Bonus if A already knew about the prank and hired the fake murderer to pretend to be murdered by someone A knows who actually just got out of prison. No one gets hurt but A definitely gets back at the others for trying to scare them.) 8) A group of friends find a giant pumpkin in the woods and when they find it has a door only Person A is brave enough to go inside. The door closes behind them and disappears and when someone comes towards the pumpkin they don't know they explain their friend is stuck inside. The person explains that the pumpkin is actually a carnivorous plant that digests the people who walk in on Halloween and that it can eat twenty people at a time. Before they can get worried or call someone Person A bursts out the side of the pumpkin carrying two kids and telling the others to come help the rest of the people inside. The others are still shaken from being inside but A tells the others they're going to need a chainsaw and a truck. A ends up saving more people and making sure it's empty before the friends help them make pumpkin pies for the entire town. A ends up getting a first place ribbon at a pie contest they didn't enter and the friends are hailed as town heroes. 9) A group of friends go camping and ask Person A and Person B to go find Person C, who's near the road and doesn't know where everyone else is. The two hate each other and end up getting into a heated argument where they end up wandering around and getting lost. Unable to get a signal on their phones or figure out how to use a compass they end up getting more lost and end up seeing someone watching them. The two are terrified and run away. The stranger chases after them and soon more people pop out of nowhere, terrifying them as they run around. When they finally see a light they run towards it and find out they walked all the way across town where the community had set up a haunted house in the woods for people to walk into. The two end up hating each other less but agree they're never going camping again. They end up getting a cab and just decide to get Person A's car and go to a restaurant for food. 10) Person A and B are dating when Person A gets their head stuck in a fake pumpkin and B has to call the fire department. A laughs at their situation and B just stands by, completely embarrassed by their significant other.

#prompts #writing prompts #write #halloween prompts #spooky prompts #mentions of death #writer #mention of blood #dialogue prompts #mention of vomit #writing #mention of knives #lightly nasty #tell me if i need to tag anything else

[macklives]

session 92 end (bye 413...)

this session was so long but so fucking hectic what the fuck

im going to try and slim it down to its bare essentials rather than go on a full rant because im pretty sure i want to make a post later on about vriska’s characterisation (not anything about me liking her/disliking her, just an analyse on her life really, so it wont be too bias because thats not the point of an analysis. i also want to do one on aradia, been meaning to for a while... hmm... damn i havent done much analogies lately, and i THINK the last long post on a character i made was about davesprite??? so its been a fucking while. that being said, ill leave a lot of details out for this end of session notes so i dont just repeat myself later on. rather will keep to plot points here and then make character points in another)

alright

first we had a page or two where aradia confided in nepeta about her being dead which means nepeta is the only one to know this revelation. im pretty sure aradia confided because there was no other way around it, since nepeta was her server player, so it was inevitable. either way, aradia still put her trust in nep, which means, if you think about it, nobody else knows and nobody else ever will. and considering aradia asked nep to keep it a secret, it probably wont get explored by others until MAYBE later on, whenever its plot relevant, so everyone will be in the dark about it for a while which ill have to remember for future dialogue and scenes with aradia in them

then we met vriska

which, yes, is a meme. i may not have been on a lot of fandom platforms, but you cant escape some of the stuff that goes around the internet. even if you dont know undertale, im pretty sure you know of sans. or komaeda if you have/havent seen danganronpa. its just.. the memes, ya know? ive heard from many sources of the “vriska did nothing wrong” quote (even through mbmbam which??? WHAT) but since i didnt even know what it meant, i never explored it so then i never knew it was a homestuck thing. imagine my surprise...... i think even at the time, i wouldnt have known what homestuck was either honestly so it wouldnt even matter. i only recently learned about the fandom.... uhh, maybe half a year ago??? yeah, august, so my knowledge was slim but vriska is a thing ive heard before, which still shocks me

goddammit

anyways back to her

so her intro was something, we pretty much found out she likes DnD (a FANATIC in fact) and feeds her lusus the flesh of living trolls. which is fucked up. but i wont get too much into detail about that until i make a post about her life on alternia and the consequences of such. or maybe just alternia in general...?? or *both* heheheh but i feel i need more information before i go off on a tangent about that

then we met??? white text dude?? who is a major asshole but an asshole with insults that hURted, to think i felt bad for VRISKA when that happened. woah.

i said before, but... karkat, he cant really hit deep because his insults are just HIM and his way to express himself. like some people find it natural to just go “FUCK YOU” to show emphasis on a point, and thats just karkats way. he may do it so aggressively that it takes you a second to realize what he said, but usually i dont take anything to heart whenever he spurts out some insults. ive progressed to the point where whatever he says, is just “karkat” and not him trying to be actively mean. rather, its now funny whenever he does say anything SOMEWHAT creative, dude has an imagination that goes on for miles

but vriska?? she IS trying to be a bully, you can tell. but i feel theres something much more to that. like shes trying to prove herself and her “blueblooded” demeanours or whatever the hierarchy is. she doesnt want to show emotions so she makes herself a barrier by being mean is what i can gather from her conversation with kanaya. im pretty sure youre not supposed to understand her until its pointed out and rather see her as an “antagonist” at first, but yeah, her insults are more pitiful than anything and i also cant take her too seriously. i may not like her as a person but her character is interesting because you cant always have the goodie two shoes as the protags. it doesnt diversify the characterisation so i like vriska as someone who makes the plot work and it becomes more interesting since you have someone that makes it harder for the main crew to progress. a happy-go-lucky adventure with no trouble and no turnabouts would be boring in a way. so having a character like vriska, or like this new white text guy, it makes you stop for a second and realize oh shit okay, here’s where shit CAN go wrong and WHY. and i do especially like it when these bastards of characters somehow have more depth than being the “bastard characters”. kinda humanizes them in a way. doesnt mean you have to LIKE them continuously, but theyre humans (trolls whatever) in the end and every person has their own story whether its for better or for worse

for example, i like her being placed into the story, along with white text, by how its all leading to this “accident” and is slowly showing us hints on what happened, but in the end, it wont be until later that we know the full story. even if it was in the past, it apparently is very vital to the plot and shapes how the characters act in the future, so important aspects like that are to look out for. and usually they only occur when theres been some trouble within friend dynamics. so without these bastard of characters, plot wouldnt grow AS strong and i often keep that in mind when i explore a story.

anyways, I HAD A POINT TO THIS: so vriska and karkat are characters who are yes, mean, but it seems to be their personality, and the way they either show emotions and convey feelings (karkat) or make a barrier so they DONT show emotions to produce vulnerability (vriska), white text guy seems to mostly be out to be an asshole. he told vriska she was useless to sum it up but im not too sure if this is one of those “first dialogue” to mould out a bias opinion before we even get to the character themselves, but judging by how vriska and karkat played out, he surely means something bad and i dont know how to explain it. but i cannot base anything off from one piece of dialogue. i dont even know what else to call him other than white text guy so...... ill just leave that out for now, until we finally get his introduction

though, i do wish to mention, and will expand on, im not wrong when i say karkat and vriska are similar but in different context. sorry if youre favourite is karkat and you dont like vriska, or vice versa, but uhhhh their introductions are so similar its uncanny and the way they’re portrayed is the same except one is more on crack about the meddling, while the other is angry about the meddling. similar to how it was with karkat, we were introduced to vriska talking with someone we knew (tavros) whom she obviously didnt like, so obviously, from her point of view, she wanted to be menacing. like how karkat was menacing to jade because she wouldnt listen to his point... he got angry, so he lashed out. but us, the readers, didnt know that. we thought “oh god its this asshole” until we made it further in the story and started to warm up to karkat. it may not be the same with vriska, she may be a bully regardless, but you cannot tell me we moulded a bias towards her character as we did when we first read karkat. theyre both truly mean to other people, maybe both for different reasons, but i do want to point out the similarities and not leave that out. im pretty sure andrew basically gave us a conversation that formed our opinion of a character right off the bat rather than go into depth of WHY they did it, and how they are naturally without the conditions of the game. which, you can also see with vriska when she conversed with kanaya. andrew started off with a character who only appears to speak once, and makes you judge them from first appearance alone, without any explanation as to why they said what they said and how they are with other characters, let says. so you assume they were simply a rude character. now look how karkat turned out. so im guessing in homestuck, the first impression should never be the opinion you stick with until MAYBE 5 more conversations with that character (each one different)

OKAY done with the vriska introduction, now to slutquius

yes, hes kinda weird, i have stated that many times. i have no idea what to say about him other than he likes porn, he likes centaur dick which just so happens to be his lusus as well and if that isnt a red flag idk what is

he also likes his lusus milk, right from the udders of his guardian

fun times, fun times

my opinion of equius kinda.. differs. which i should really put in place the “dont judge by first impression” rule, because at first i thought he was rude with, then i thought he was hhh okay, because i understood why he was being so protective over nepeta and her team placement, since the people she was going to play with WERE dangerous. but if you think about it, both sides will probably put you in danger. it just depends on which ones you confide in more to protect your back rather than those which would cause trouble on purpose, in my HONEST opinion. so equius was a little overdramatic on that part, but i got what he meant. he was on the blue team and he didnt want to leave nepeta alone without him on the red. but then this session happened. and he went back to being weird again because of the whole porn thing, especially being so open about it like dude chill youre 13. but the thing is, then i felt bad for him because hes basically touch starved. to say that he could break anything he touches, i doubt people would go up to him for hugs. in fear they would be crushed to death by a simple hug. so im guessing hes rather lonely and doesnt really know how to interact because of this. so i felt sad that he had to live a life where he needs to be careful of everything he touches so it doesnt break randomly. see? poor dude. but then things got weird. and im pretty sure hes a masochist. so my opinion on equius is a fucking cosine graph

which brings us to the final point:

gamzee and equius’ conversation

i dont even know.....like.........gamzee was unaware that equius was using him for his own power play roleplay, right? gamzee knew it was a roleplay but it had had some.. idk.... obvious sexual implications? and i bet gamzee didnt really know that? he thought they were only venting out through a simple roleplay and trying to get closer because he originally thought equius hated him, considering equius flat out said “i hate you” and gamzee went “you tell me everyday and im okay with that” so.. gamzee probably wanted only to get closer to equius so he helped out his little problem which.. thats so sweet but i feel bad he was coerced into something he didnt get, especially since he was innocent enough to go along without knowing equius’ true gain

anyways, equius was getting off with the hierarchy thing. considering he’s “lower” than gamzee, and gamzee is surprisingly ...high on the spectrum??? so equius wanted gamzee to boss him around, because it felt only natural to him since he’s the “inferior one” and gamzee is The Big Man. like i get that, but it was written in a way that was so uncomfortable, that i wish i didnt. equius is just a weird character... hes not BAD per say, but hes... hes something alright

but im really liking gamzee. the two things which struck me in that one conversation, was the “i dont get why we should dictate people by the colour of their blood, i just see people as people” piece of dialogue and “i cant go around pleasing just everything so its alright if you hate me”

thats... so good, idk. i really liked that. i also really liked when kanaya said “youre dangerous but dangerous people are needed and are important because it shapes you” like <33 my fucking heart

god homestuck may be a tad on the weird side with some of its characters but it surely knows how to create great lines of dialogue

and that concludes the long 4 hour session i did, hope you all enjoyed it

with that, i rest

#homestuck #homestuck liveblog #hs92 #hs92 end #i wrote more than i should have but i had a lot to say #just you wait for those analogy/analysis posts

[firebuug]

for 93 fun oc asks: 9, 93, 81, 69 (im just curious abt the question OK 🤬) and 65 for Farrow and Buggy!! :0

sorry to spam questions i just happen to like that meme

NO ITS OK I LOVE DOING THESE THANKS let me put it under a cut just in case it gets long winded

9. What is their favorite color? Favorite animal?

ok so farrows is obvious possums and possum adjacent animals and rodents but his fav colors are like. yellow and red and neon blue specifically. buggy likes yellow, orange, and black and really likes every animal but specifically has chosen sheep and goats to latch onto apparently. also cats and many sea animals. he cant choose. he used to have a dolphin phase if that counts

93. What’s the most iconic line of dialogue they’ve ever said?

GOD so i dont actually write enough for buggy to actually have any Iconic Lines but lucky enough for farrow him and skuggy have years's worth of beef for him to have time to have developed an iconic line and it's just "you and i will never be a we" ndhfjkfdf. cheesy as fuck but does the job. if i were to do some digging around in the juggy event i could probably pull something i liked from buggy but nothing stands out too much for me . WAIT. ok so this is funny when compared to the weight farrow's line holds but the only line that stuck with me from buggy is "my fires are the ones that're hot" and that came from his old ask blog bc people tried to hit on him

81. Are they bothered by the sight of blood?

it'd be kind of insane if farrow were since he dies every other day in varying ways so no he's gotten pretty used to it KJHGKJH. even before that he grew up in the mafia infested city on his own without parental supervision so i. jfhd once his dad died and he saw the most blood he's ever seen in his life he started growing accustomed jhfdkjs. also he's lowkey a bit of a medic so he can handle shit like that

buggy on the other hand cannot bc while he Does like. kill ppl. theres never any blood and hes usually very far away from them. whenever he does see anything gruesome he cannot handle it considering he Was that gruesome scene a good few years ago KJDFHD. he does not like blood he wont faint but. its not fun

69. How did the people in their environment growing up affect their personality?

GOD THIS QUESTION. ok so buggy was very much molded by his experiences throughout towns. he used to be kinda standoffish and not very social but the more he lived in trial towns the more he realized he'd do much better both survival-wise and emotionally if he just. was friendlier and worked with people instead of against them kjhdff. the whole dexter ordeal happening while he was still kind of. malleable and impressionable didn't really help his self worth at all so he became kind of a doormat but since he keeps getting shoved atround THAT'S teaching him "hey maybe i should stand up for myself sometimes" but. its. its a process for sure

farrow grew up surrounded by evil people jdhfdksj i dont think he had a single person to look up to that treated him with love and patience growing up so this is why he is the way he is. like genuinely i think before he met skuggy he has never met someone who he knows is being nice to him not out of obligation or to try and get something out of him/to survive LMAO. so i. you can understand why he's so fucking mean to everyone including people he likes

65. What’s their immune system like? Do they get sick often? How do they react to getting sick?

i. HAVE NOT THOUGHT OF THIS UMMMMM like i rarely ever consider the fact my ocs can get sick like. illness is not real in salem ♥ umm i think buggy's would have a pretty good immune system he has like a 300 in constitution. what he lacks in everything else goes to his strong constitution fjdfg. and farrow would be. Fine? but i guess since he was necromanced and died for a good while thatd probably do. Something to his immune system fuck if i know. i guess it isnt as good as it used to be fkjsf. whenever buggy is sick he takes it easy and stays in bed for the most part but still. does things he needs to like cook breakfast and if he lives with anyone he doesnt want them doing everything for him he'll feel bad. farrow on the other hand will be pissed off at himself for having the AUDACITY to catch ANYTHING that makes him perform at 99% instead of 100% and will go on like he is FINE and he is NOT sick and FUCK YOU DAD I DONT NEED SOUP IM F😡😡😡😡ok maybe some soup BUT IM FINE!!!!!! until he forcibly has to keel over and rest hjdkg. even then he'll still be enraged

THANKS FOR THE QUESTIONS SORRY FOR THE ESSAYS LMFAO

#HELP I WROTE TOO MUCH FOR SIMPLE ASS UQESTIONS THANKS FOR ASKING THO! #ask #ocs #farrow #buggy #blood tw

[wolf-stark]

You ask I deliver — both tfatws asks in one!

tfatws weekly ask 1

i finally saw ep1!! i wont be able to see ep2 until thursday at the earliest but i already have some Thots on this ep. here are the ones I remember

first is, and i'm so sorry for this, a grammar lesson. an appositive is when you stick an additional phrase in between commas, dashes, or the like. i actually just used one! the "and i'm so sorry for this" in the first sentence of this paragraph is an appositive. thing is, most english speakers don't normally use them when they speak, only in writing. so i'm always on high alert whenever i hear somebody in tv or movies use one. (it's generally a marker of bad screenwriting). anyway there was one right in the beginning of the episode. the white army guy yelling at sam wilson said "first lieutenant Torres, our intel officer, will be helping on the ground." yeah so. the writing of this series started out on the wrong foot for me. but the rest of the episode was obviously tons and tons better (every interview i see with malcolm spellman makes me love him more and more)

the contrast between the opening minutes (falcon action sequence) and the rest of the ep.... i would 100000/10 rather watch a series with just sam and bucky dealing with life. i dont give a single crap about the flag-smashers or any of that. i just want sam, sarah & fam getting their boating business back on the ground & yeeting racist dickwads, bucky going through therapy and making amends, sam and joaquin being bros, sambucky homoerotic tension, etc.

the cinnamontography! wandavision mostly used cinematography to signify era n stuff. tfatws doesn't have wv's premise to go off of, so here's some tricks i noticed:

with sam there's obviously all sorts of shots with the captain america iconography next to his face, but he hasn't totally claimed it. there's the mural of steve rogers in the background; there's sam staring into the shield like it's a spectre of steve's face; there's sam looking into the exhibit, the shield and sam separated by glass and a layer of camera focus. steve is a constant spectre, always there, an idea, a symbol himself. sam's relationship with this iconography is distanced. he is separated by glass exhibit walls. by painting canvases. he doesn't yet feel worthy to take on that iconography. this whole thing was pulled off quite well but also a bit on-the-nose if only in quantity. there's just sooooo much fancy iconography stuff

speaking of the exhibit, there's something that i get real pissy about. it's when like, there's an action going on you're supposed to be paying attention to but the cinematographer is like,,,, hey! check out this location! or this headline! or something! there was a lot of that in the exhibit. the camera was like, you could focus on sam and rhodey's convo (which was fine but could have been so much better with an extra like 10 minutes of deep character study talk) but noooo you want me to look at the symbol for the united nations and read all the text about bucky who hasn't even showed up yet. shut up i know the lore and ill watch the shot-by-shot breakdown yt vids you don't have to make the shot this long jkdsalcjklasejf

my fav trick was with bucky and the therapist. i had seen a clip of the scene with bucky and the therapist beforehand and i thought the cinnamontography was super obnoxious, but then i was like, oh duh. the shots frequently change the distance between the camera and its subject. sometimes it's uncomfortably close and sometimes it's really far. a clear allegory for the duality of therapy, esp for bucky! therapy is an invasive process wherein he is ruthlessly examined, picked apart, and berated for his trauma (this therapist is crap in every way btw, "mean therapist" works for greg house and greg house only). so the camera goes close. it makes the viewer claustrophobic like bucky. but when he's like "no i haven't had any nightmares" the camera suddenly goes really far. we see bucky as this tiny head in the center of the bottom of the frame. we are distanced from him. he has pushed us away. we cannot see him. he lies because he is vulnerable. so yeah, amazing work there. the therapy scene was hard to watch on purpose!

did bucky slip a note to yori inside the dollar bill? bucky stop making me emooooo. the suuper awkward fake smile has me 😭 (veteran trying to adjust!)

mark my worrrrds when sam asks someone y the govt picked john “white bread” walker they’re gonna say “we needed somebody everyone can get behind....someone uncontroversial, someone everyone can see themselves in” like that exact racist dog whistle

tfatws weekly ask 2

just saw ep2 so im taking advantage of the 2 seconds i can be on tumblr without worrying about tfatws spoilers before new episode drops

when isaiah said "your people put me in prison for being a hero" and bucky thought "your people" means hydra. 🤦‍♂️

speaking of racism, the interplay between sam being Black (anti-Black racism) and sam being the Falcon (negrophilia, "can i take a selfie w you as i deny you a loan?") and the intersection between the two (j*hn lichrally called sam "steve's wingman"! he takes the crypto out of crypto-racist in like 2 seconds!) !!!!!!!! a Black celebrity's Black experience, the separation of man and identity!!!! (thinking about vanessa bayer in snl in that skit "beyonce is black" telling her black friend "you're not black, you're...my girl!")

after sam gets racially profiled by cops we see j*hn standing in front of cop cars cinematic parallels turns out j*hn is racist who knew

this therapist sucks major ass but she got bucky and sam together in the same room and ready to collaborate...that's something ig. it was lichrally couple's therapy she said she used her miracle exercise with couples sambucky antis get blended

bucky says "he was wrong about you so maybe he was wrong about me"...that's not how people talk. when therapist asks bucky, the guy who doesn't talk at all about himself, "y do you hate sam", the last thing bucky's gonna do is actually connect his hatred of sam to his own self-worth issues. bucky generally refuses to talk about himself, so why would he talk about himself in the one context that nobody ever links back to their own neuroses: hatred of other people? one thing human beings hate most is admitting we're wrong. admitting you hate someone because of your own issues? that's a major therapeutic step. bucky would absolutely have to be prompted to do that. even like one or two lines of dialogue more would have set up that line better. but in terms of the actual thought? an amazing way to take the sam/bucky relationship. bucky bases his self-worth on steve believing in him, and if steve is wrong bucky has no self-worth, so 1) he has to develop self-worth disassociated from steve's assessment of him and 2) he has to love himself before he can love sam, and 3) he has to realize that sam giving up the shield is a sign of sam's humility not his unworthiness.

conversely, we don't get into why sam hates bucky? yeah sam has the right to hate a guy that has tried to kill him (albeit while brainwashed) multiple times, and now shows up in his life just to bash him but. everything happens so fast i cant follow their relationship

in fact i dont feel like i understood much of anything. like y did bucky and sam go on that mission together? how connected are sam/bucky/joaquin with the government? doesn't bucky just want to retire now? literally what is everyone doing/feeling and why???

if battlestar becomes a knowing commentary on the black best friend stereotype i'm gonna party, but i dont expect much of that

the interplay between man and symbol. captain america is obviously a symbol. the shield is obviously a symbol. but steve rogers? the. man behind the cowl? he too seems to become a symbol. a paragon of a good guy, so good he's unreachable. steve was just a guy stop idolizing him the last thing steve would want is to be idolized

as the resident musician/music nerd on mcublr, 1) that captain america rally music slaps, but 2) re: the song at the end of the ep, if you're just gonna rip off mozart's lacrymosa then at least play mozart's lacrymosa. we wont blame you the lacrymosa slaps (if you dont know what im talking about go on yt and search it up youll recognize it fo sho

look i love enfys nest as much as the next guy but if tfatws is gonna get erin kellyman to play another innocent little gurl blackmailed into the fakeout-villain position (her text seemed to suggest as such) then 😡 like why can't women just....be evil? young, freckly, innocent-looking women? girls are not untouchable pure objects but full of rage and resentment just as much as anyone can be

bonus ep1 comment: bucky says about that senator whose car he hijacked, "she continued to abuse the power i gave her." fictionaldarling on yt say that he says "i" because he can't disassociate himself from his winter soldier persona which begets endless and senseless guilt. like dude. can i not be emo for like 1 second.

OKay. First off, as much I enjoy your sending it to me, what made you decide to send me these??

-

TFATWS WA #1

Don't worry about getting this to me as early as possible. I usually don't watch the episode right away.

1. Cool writing lesson.

2. Everyone wants a comedy show [like Friends] about the MCU superheroes.

3. Cinematography is always a beautiful thing.

4. Sam definitely has to carve his own Captain America status for himself, outside of Steve's ya know everything.

5. They have to do that for people who was just now tuning in because they're in love with Sam Wilson or Sharon Carter.

6. I think the therapist was taking a 'tough love' approach for Bucky, because she likely has some very strong opinions about the literal assassin she's been assigned to give therapy too. She did not choose to talk to him, she was assigned that make that clear in the second episode.

And, Bucky isn't lying when he said it wasn't a nightmare. It wasn't a nightmare, it was a resurfaced memory. So, technically he wasn't lying - and yes, the camera does move away because while he's saying he didn't have a nightmare, he's not expanding on what actually happened - so, he's still pushing the therapist/us away.

7. Bucky, and Steve, have/had a TON to adjust to.

8. Yeah, I agree that will be the bullshit line they give. If they ever actually talk about it.

TFATW WA #2

Yeah, always got to take advantage of avoiding those spoilers lmfaoo.

1. Honestly, that line was double meaning. Both about White people and Hydra [which is made up of mostly white supremacists/nazis] So, the line is gesturing to both White People in general and Hydra assholes together. I think the terminology is “double edge sword”??

2. This whole paragraph structure confused me, ngl - so I'm going to answer it the best I can. I do like that they're not ignoring the fact that Sam being Black is 1000% the reason he's not the Official Captain America - because the gov't is racist as hell.

I also like the little lines about how they point out little things about Sam's Falcon persona, like that kid calling him 'Black Falcon' specifically and Sam's response show the split between Sam and Falcon itself.

John is a dick for calling Sam the wingman of Steve Rogers. Sam was a hero all on his own before Steve asked him to join up again. [Side note, it's lichrally??]

3. Exactly, the parallel of Sam being profiled and surrounded while just on the street and John being surrounded by fans and being able to spring Bucky with apparently only a few sentences shows a Loooooot

4. Honestly, at this point I wonder if she's not actually a therapist and is just an agent assigned to assess Bucky outside of an Official Building. I do know, however, that her 'look at each other and speak' exercise is actually a real therapy practice. It's just a little slower.

5. Actually, I think he would've blurted that out. That whole line. I don't think Bucky hates Sam. I think they could've done the scene better, but I think that had Sam prodded him/the therapist been more annoying Bucky would've lost control of his emotions and blurted out the whole "If he was wrong about you, he was wrong about me" but I feel like the writing for this show is just... not there. Sometimes you blurt shit when you get overemotional and I think that was what Bucky was supposed to be like.

6. I don't think Sam hates Bucky, I think he doesn't trust him though. I do wish they'd talked about that though. The whole 'talk to each other' scene should've been a LOT longer and a LOT slower.

7. Sam and Bucky's relationship is being fast tracked because they don't really know how to work the relationship out, writers-room-wise. Bucky is technically retired, but I feel like he's trying to live up to Steve's expectations and doing what Steve would've done and we all know that if Steve was there, Steve would've jumped on that plane with Sam. It looks like Sam/Bucky/Joaquin are a side-team based from Military services but as Sam says they're all free agents so...?

8. Sadly, They seem to just be propping up to be another stereotype.

9. Captain America is a symbol. Steve Rogers is a man. But now Steve Rogers is an idol because of all the shit he's been through and honestly, it's not a bad thing he's become an idol for people - it's using Steve as a reason to make White Bread Walker the next Captain that makes Steve's idolization so fucked.

10. I don't know anything about music so I have no opinion here, sorry.

11. Enfys?? Also, I think they did the whole Innocent Girl Thing as side commentary for Bucky lowering his guard about seeing a young girl rather than a guy.

12. Bucky is the Winter Solider. The Winter Solider is Bucky. That is how Bucky will always see it because although he was brainwashed, it was still him and he remembers all of it. When you have constant memories of something 'someone else' did, you tend to not be able to pull the two personas out of each other. I want Bucky to take up the title, White Wolf instead of Winter Soldier. Honest.

This is all my opinion, I’m honestly a little disappointed with the writing of TFATWS so far so... I’m not really optimistic about this.

#Asks

[acidmatze]

I said “I wont elaborate” under my Gojou is autistic blurb earlier but that was because it was 3am and now its not and im more or less conscious (Awake would be an overstatement) and my need to overshare is as big as my brain telling me not to because my words dont make any sense anyyway (Unstoppable force VS unmoveable object)

This isnt meta or an analysis its just me screaming excitedly into the void while i wait for my headphones to charge so i can leave the house (music blocks out noises)

So why would I say he is autistic in the first place? Because I can. “Oh but he doesnt seem autistic hes so open and extroverted and talkative” Bruh, if i would have to list all extroverted, talkative, open autistic people i know we would still be sitting here tomorrow. Autistic = introverted, quiet and shy is a false equivalency and we should bury it. Anyway, I wouldnt have thought of him as autistic too until i read how everyone else around him (sometimes including the reader) reacts to him. How they describe him and I realised that this didnt match up at all with what I was perceiving. And then i realised that people used to perceive me exactly the same way as they perceive Gojou now. The reason they now view me differently is 1. I avoid people out of fear 2. I did years of therapy and introspection and think i have the worst mistakes under control now. NTs are really picky with what behaviours they accept and when and seriously i still dont know what their deal is, just chill out. I am still consciously choosing different dialogue options than i normally would but those would piss people off for reasons i can only vaguely understand. Gojou meanwhile doesnt limit himself like that, he does what many of us really want and just says whatever. Hes still respected cuz hes the strongest sorcerer while when i would say whatever i naturally would people would beat the shit out of me. (Catch me throwing hands with Barbara in the soup aisle because i let her know that her coat is hideous. After all, if people are allowed to openly and loudly tell me that the way i look is weird then i should be allowed to tell people that their fashion sense sucks. At least their choice is deliberate while i can do very little about my face)

Okay back on track. Gojou actually sucks at communicating. But he has enough self-esteem to not care. If they dont get him they dont get him and those who will, will. People would perceive him differently if he wouldnt suck. He sucks at communcating empathy He sucks at communicating his thoughts and intentions He sucks at communicating his emotions He only sucks at this in the eyes of many neurotypicals, mind you. My autistic bff and me understood him plenty. (Pls dont ask me what he Actually means cuz i just cannot put it into words. If i could i would have more friends cuz i wouldnt suck at communicating too) Somehow his use of metaphors stroke some people as odd which stroke me as odd cuz many people do that to help others or themselves understand complex issues better. But apparently when he does it its wrong? Maybe because you need to know the source of the metaphor? I dunno. Probably. I think if he opens his mouth to say something you only get roughly 50-60% of the actual message. The emotions, true intentions and everything else is left behind cuz shits hard to communicate, especially when your mind has a million thoughts at once and everything is happening so much. Its something you just learn to live with eventually. Some start overexplaining, some dont realise that the other party doesnt get the entire message and some dont care. I mostly overexplain, Gojou doesnt care. Its like youre getting only raw data and data isnt the most emotional stuff ever, right? (Unless youre a nerd like me and get Very Emotional over raw space data because SPACE IS BEAUTIFUL, MAN) I forgot what else i wanted to say because

Unlimited Void just reads like a sensory overload. Someone should trap me in there and I would probably say it feels like a regular Tuesday. The entire eye thing reads like either constant sensory overload or having shitty eyesight or both. (As someone who has both..... both) I have to block out sounds and Gojou has to block out sight, understandable. Sight is the sense we take in the most with so i can imagine that gets overloaded the fastest, especially when you see more than regular people do. (Sometimes it DOES feel like we see more than everyone else. Maybe we do? Who knows) Like yesterday i went absolutely ballistic in the supermarket cuz they changed their entire layout and colour scheme and its already a big and noisy and overwhelming store to begin with and the new layout made everything even worse. New things sucks. They make me anxious. Unless i want them. Years before i was only able to enter a store with music on and blocking out every other noise and dont even attempt to talk to me Im focussing on not loosing my shit over all the other senses being overloaded. Now i learned to suppress the shutdown until im back home so i can loose my shit there. Have you ever seen everything at once? Heard everything at once? If youre NT you maybe say yes but i would say nah you havent. If you would you would loose your shit, you wouldnt even know what to do anymore, you would probably either lie down on the floor screaming or shut down completely and not do anything, because just breathing is now taking all energy. There is nothing because there is everything. Yeah sounds like Unlimited Void to me, if you ask me.

I forgot every other reason i had because what is Taking Notes So You Can Remember Later, theres only one impulse after another cuz ADHD. (They too see and hear and notice everything at once) This is a jumbled mess, have fun

#should i tag it.......? #no im afraid of angry people coming at me #i dont know how to deal with that #jjk #whoops i gave it One Tag that should be enough #im not a meta writer anyway so it doesnt really matter #good thing im not a meta writer im not eloquent enough for that #blablabla

[idanwyn-et-al]

(XIV||20) 25. Wish.

Anne-Sophie and Oberic stood on the shores of the lake that had buried a city; his city, Voeburt, gone from bustling metropolis to moss-covered sunken ruins while he spent a hundred years spelled into stone on its outskirts. 

The midlander spoke after a long moment of silence. “When I read about this place, the wings on the castle were sketched differently. Smaller; still growing. The Hingan mystic who penned the tome that ultimately led me here, led us to be having this conversation; he swore that one could climb the castle, make a wish on those wings, and it would come true. If that is a sound theory—which I have some doubts about—would you do it, Oberic? And, if so, what would you wish for?”

Oberic chewed at his lip in thought. He followed her gaze, though he frowned as an errant bout of fog rolled in. His eyes instead turned to the water that had drowned the village beneath the castle. “There’re so many things I could ask for in that situation.” he said openly and quite honestly. His arms folded across his chest as he thought. “…to go somewhere that I’m needed. A new home that has need of an old Knight.”

The knight-scholar watched the gleaming wings as they were subsumed by fog. “You wouldn’t ask for all of it to be undone, then? All to be returned as you remembered it?”

Oberic hesitated at the question, furrowing his brow before responding. “Voeburt had fallen before the Flood. That was simply the knife that cut her throat.” He ran his left hand over his hair to smooth it down. “And if I were to undo all of that, where would that leave you, after all? If I were not encased in stone? Would you go looking for another Knight? Would there even BE another?”

Anne-Sophie turned a curious little grin to him. “The nature of wishes is truly one of the last great mysteries, I should think. There are no magickal disciplines that deal with such capricious fates; no way of knowing if your wish upon those wings would simply restore your lost kingdom while leaving everything else intact.” She paused a moment, running the possibilities through the sieve of her mind, arriving at a few possible conclusions dense enough to withstand its scrutiny. “Theorem the first! You do not climb the castle. Nothing changes. Theorem the second; you climb it, and everything changes. I am awoken back in Ishgard; or, more likely, reduced to a dream in this world, much like…hmm. That is…never mind. Theorem the third; we consider this a thought exercise, and you do not actually wish to climb the castle.”

The knight of the ruined kingdom listened as she spoke, rolling his neck. As she finished the end of her haphazard presentation, he raised an eyebrow. “And if that were the case. The wish was true, and I chose to climb the castle, would you want me to?” He closed some of the distance between them as he spoke.  “…would you want to climb the castle yourself? Presuming the same rules would apply? What would you wish for?” he asked before looking over his shoulder to the Shelves. “And what if the wish granter was a malicious entity? Would it be worth the risk? There are stories where such things exist, you know.”

Anne-Sophie tilted her head, then began restlessly pacing while postulating, as was her wont; he’d gotten her started. “Even with my aetherically-augmented strength, I doubt I would be able to reach some of the finials, nor could I guarantee my step would be sound on the corbels. Even assuming that I reached those wings—which are quite material, as you can see by their shadows moving across the lake—I am uncertain if I would have the wherewithal to make my wish upon setting a hand upon them. What is their nature? Am I aetherically shocked by them, tossed like a ragdoll into the lake below, landing at terminal velocity? Do I enter the castle’s confines by interacting with a very visible form of its magicks, wherein I encounter this hypothetical malicious entity? One merely cannot say, Oberic.” She finally paused to breathe, fussing with her embroidered sleeve cuffs. “Though…truth be told, I have spent much of my life forming a wish, if one could call it that, though it was actually a ritual of exacting specifications, and if it failed, I would have…well. My ‘wish’, if we are reducing it to that? Was to come here. And you said earlier, that I was perhaps not meant to find you…but I am telling you, I saw other worlds, and none of them had you, or any facsimile thereof.” Turning her eyes to his, she jabbed at his chest with her index finger for emphasis. “My. Wish. Came. True.  I came to this beautiful, sleeping, dreaming kingdom, and I awoke a dreamer within it. Thus, it is no longer a wish, but a rite manifested.“ 

Her scholar’s fury left her all at once, her fingertip still resting on his exposed chest, and she faltered, drawing her hand back as if she’d touched live coals. “Ah—that is—that is to say. I am glad I met you. And…no, I would not wish to go back, nor to change anything along the way.” The pair of them watched the fog melt from the beauty of Il Mheg, revealing the castle, the mountains, the rivers in all their splendor.  “I should think that is clear by now,” she murmured; she was here as long as she was welcome to be.

((Big hugs to @knight-in-voeburt​ ; all of Oberic’s dialogue and actions are his from tonight’s RP, which just happened to align perfectly with the prompt!))

#FFXivWrite2020 #prompt 25 wish #my writing #Anne-Sophie Bale #ffxiv hyur #ffxiv midlander #Oberic Brightroar #ffxiv highlander #voeburt #il mheg #others' writing #friend writing #rp snippets #not pictured: us RPing for like 7 hours #it was an amazing session tbh #ffxiv scholar #actual scholar RP

[arguments-rants-conspiracies]

A MDZS Theory That will Make You Want to Slap Me

Warning: This only applies to the MDZS novel.

So, I was thinking about Mo Xuanyu and Jin Guangyao one day, as one is wont to do these days, and I’m thinking --

What if instead of Mo Xuanyu sexually harassing Jin Guangyao during his time at Jinlintai, it's the other way around? Namely, what if Jin Guangyao had been the one to sexually harass, if not assault, Mo Xuanyu?

Now, to be honest I don’t think this is what MXTX had in mind, and this is more of a "Hmm won’t this put things in a different light” conspiracy theory than an actual deduction of what happened, but hear me out.

First, let’s look at their circumstances:

Mo Xuanyu:

- Was a minor (14) when he was called back to the Jin family.

- Not in a position of power. (Didn’t grown up in a cultivation family, and was only there because Jin Guangshan wanted someone to hold Jin Guangyao back. Thus, the only backing he had was Jin Guangshan, and I highly doubt that accounted to much, if at all.)

- Physically weaker (No spiritual powers or fighting experience).

In contrast, Jin Guangyao:

- Was an adult (Exact age is unclear, but he’s born on the same day as Jin Zixuan, who’s around Wei Wuxian’s age, so 21 plus and minus some?)

- Had significant power and influence. (Yes, he’s the son of a prostitute, but  he made enough of a name for himself in the Sunshot campaign to strong-arm his way back into the Jin family. In addition, he has some pretty powerful people (Lan Xichen for one) on his side so he definitely could move a few things around, and he probably did.)

- Knows how to fight, not on the same level as some other cultivators but keep in mind, the dude was a soldier.

- Has shown himself to be manipulative multiple times.

I can’t help but notice a power dynamic going on here, and to be frank, Mo Xuanyu’s profile reads more like that of a victim than a perpetrator. While a child can perpetrate sexual harassment against an adult, it is VERY, VERY rare. Unfortunately, these things are usually done by adults in power.

Second, why sexual harassment?

Isn’t it odd that of all the crimes and transgressions Jin Guangyao could pin on Mo Xuanyu, he picked sexual harassment?

Why not just have him, you know, killed and done with? Some may argue that he couldn’t outright kill Mo Xuanyu because that’d be suspicious, but even so, I’m sure there are a million ways to embarrass him and get him kicked out.

Fake sexual harassment is literally the worst plan for him. Why? Because sexual harassment is disgusting not just because of the act itself, but because of how people react to it. Even in modern society, victims are often not believed or accused of being somewhat responsible for the harassment by “seducing” the perpetrator. And I can’t imagine things being any better in ancient China for the son of a prostitute, especially considering that, as I argued earlier, he could easily be seen as having more power over Mo Xuanyu.

As unfortunate as it is, I can already hear the following dialogue at Jinlintai:

“Hey, did you guys hear? Apparently Jin Guangshan’s youngest bastard has been harassing Jin Guangyao.”

“Mo Xuanyu? The kid who couldn’t hold a sword to this day? Harassing the dude that killed Wen Ruohan?”

“Yeah, I don’t believe it for a second either. Who knows if that son of a whore was really harassed? You know what I think it is? That snake led the kid on with his brothel tricks and Mo Xuanyu, being stupid, fell right in.”

“Or maybe it was him that’s the real cut-sleeve here. I’m not saying Mo Xuanyu is particularly great, but how’s the child of a pure mother supposed to know about cut-sleeves? Lianfang-zun on the other hand...”

Even if he can silence these counter-accusations, rumours still go around and Jin Guangyao would be associated with “deviant sexual things” and I don’t see him wanting that, given that there’s nothing he hates more than being reminded of his parentage.

So why would he choose this path?

Because he had no better option.

This could be one of several cases:

There's no other way Mo Xuanyu's going down.

Mo Xuanyu actually did harass Jin Guangyao.

He harassed Mo Xuanyu and was discovered, and Jin Guangyao had to address it in a way profitable to himself.

1 seems unlikely. As I said earlier, Mo Xuanyu is a kid with no political power and a familial background only marginally better than Jin Guangyao's.

And take a million steps back, even if framing him of sexual harassment was the only way to get Mo Xuanyu kicked out of Lanling Jin, Jin Guangyao didn't have to frame himself as the victim. There are others (Jin Ling for one) whom he could have utilized as pawns to deflect the hit in reputation sexual harassment victims get.

2 also seems improbable. Even ignoring the fact that Mo Xuanyu doesn’t match the profile of a sexual harassment perpetrator (which I’ve mentioned far too many times), another thing to note is that Jin Guangyao seems...somewhat fond of Mo Xuanyu.

Yes, Mo Xuanyu could enter Jin Guangyao's personal quarters and peruse top secret documents. But also, Jin Guangyao's not a nice person to those that wrong him or get in his way. He killed a fellow clansman for taking credit of things he did, musically poisoned Nie Mingjue for calling him the son of a prostitute, and murdered his wife and son when they became not useful to him -- why would he leave Mo Xuanyu alive?

It’s probably not because of commiseration because we know he killed off all of his other brothers, some of whom must have came from backgrounds similar to his. Also, brother or not, if someone sexually harassed you won’t you want their heads off? And we know Jin Guangyao’s...a little pettier than the average person, so why would he let someone who sexually harassed him live?

Also, as long as Mo Xuanyu is alive he is a potential liability to Jin Guangyao. What if he takes revenge? Sure, he's mad and harmless, but what if he's faking it? A lot had happened that could have been entirely avoided if Jin Guangyao just offed Mo Xuanyu when he had the chance.

All of this points to Jin Guangyao feeling like he “owes” Mo Xuanyu something for having wronged him. Now, why would he feel like that? Maybe because he dragged an innocent kid into his lust for power, but combined with option 3, I’m going to stretch it and say another reason could also be because of guilt for sexually harassing Mo Xuanyu.

Abusers (ouch, that’s a heavy word) often use “gifts” to mollify their guilt and to manipulate their victims into compliance [source], and it’s possible that Jin Guangyao saw giving Mo Xuanyu his trust and, ultimately, keeping him alive as “gifts”.

Perhaps the abuse continued after Mo Xuanyu left, perhaps it didn’t.

Third, let’s look at what happened on Mo Xuanyu’s side after the “scandal” happened.

After Mo Xuanyu went back to Mo village, he supposedly “went mad”. Sometimes the madness goes away, and sometimes it acts up. A couple of years under abuse from the Mo family, and the madness got worse.

I’m going to go out on a limb and say that sounds an awful lot like PTSD, which could be caused by the sexual harassment or the traumatic aftermath.

A prominent symptom of PTSD is uncontrollable thoughts about the traumatic event, in the form of reliving the event, distressing emotions regarding the event, or anxiety and panic attacks. [source]

This theory could explain the sporadic nature of his madness. Notice that even the victim themselves cannot control the flashbacks, so the anxiety and panic attacks, as well as other actions undertaken, could definitely come across as episodes of insanity to observers.

But if that’s the case, why doesn’t he ask Wei Wuxian for the revenge on the Jin sect?

The answer - Because he thinks he’s not worthy of it.

At the beginning of the novel, we get to read Mo Xuanyu’s “will” of sorts through Wei Wuxian’s eyes, and it’s from there that we know he was kicked out of a prominent sect for being a cut-sleeve. However, Mo Xuanyu doesn’t tell us which sect he was kicked out of and whom he supposedly harassed.

Why doesn’t he tell us that? He went so far as to tell us a brief history of the Mo family and his cousin’s obsession with cultivation, why wouldn’t he tell us which sect he had once been a part of? Even if he was kicked out in the end, being related and having once been a part of the LanLing Jin sect could be an honour of a lifetime.

And why would he (to Wei Wuxian at least) openly admit that he was kicked out for harassing a fellow male? It sucks being a victim, but there’s no way that being a cut-sleeve sexual harassment perpetrator could be seen as an honor. He even seems to be protecting Jin Guangyao, by not giving his name.

Note how both of these actions serve one purpose - to demean himself. This letter reveals what Mo Xuanyu thought about himself at the time of his suicide - A cut-sleeve bastard who shamed his family and harassed an innocent man.

You might ask: why would he think this lowly of himself?

Well, remember what I said about sexual harassment? Victims are often not believed or accused of being responsible by asking for it.

Mo Xuanyu is also gay, so he was a teenager, on the cusp of puberty, that had his sexuality outed and ridiculed. And combine this with the fact that not only was Mo Xuanyu not given any support, but every adult blamed him for it.

Perhaps Mo Xuanyu was convinced, either by Jin Guangyao or by the homophobic rules of his society, that since he sexually preferred men, he must have liked the “attention” Jin Guangyao was giving him, and that he deserved to get kicked out for “liking” it.

This, combined with the guilt that sexual harassment victims frequently have regardless of gender and sexuality, made for a difficult recovery. Even his own mother committed suicide in shame, and that, combined with the abuse that came from his aunt afterwards, likely further exacerbated his spiral into low self-esteem.

And judging by the fact that he waited many years to commit suicide, I think he genuinely tried to recover. He tried standing up for himself in front of his aunt and convincing himself to live, but it was a very, very tough war that he lost more often than he won. Thus, when Nie Huaisang gave him an incentive, he likely took it without much protest.

So what, according to this conspiracy theory, actually happened?

This, I repeat, is more of a “what if” situation than a serious guess at canon. Thus, do not attempt to stab me over the internet. You will only wreck your own device in the end, and you do not want that.

Mo Xuanyu is a closeted, 14-year-old gay boy who has yet to come to terms with the fact that he’s one of them despised “cutsleeves”.

His mother placed a lot of hope on him when he was taken back to LanLing.

He grows close with Jin Guangyao, because the guy is charmer and a really pleasant guy to be with when he doesn’t want to kill you.

In spite of his best wishes, Mo Xuanyu’s sexuality begins to show itself. No secret is safe at Lanling Jin.

And Jin Guangyao, for whatever reason, decides to make a move on Mo Xuanyu.

And Mo Xuanyu 1) couldn’t reject him and 2) was gas-lighted by him into believing that he was at fault.

How far the “sexual harassment” went depends on how you want to believe it.

Regardless, Mo Xuanyu and Jin Guangyao grows close, and Jin Guangyao gives him gifts.

Then, someone catches them together.

Jin Guangyao quickly pushes all of the responsibility onto Mo Xuanyu, leading to his being kicked out of Jinlintai.

He lets Mo Xuanyu live, and pats himself on the back for it.

After being shamed by Lanling Jin and kicked out, Mo Xuanyu was shamed by his own family.

His mother, especially, was disappointed in him, and Mo Xuanyu didn’t defend himself because there’s nothing to defend - he’s a disgusting cutsleeve who harassed Jin Guangyao.

Mo Xuanyu down spirals into depression after his mother’s death.

He tried to convince himself to live for many years, but is teeming on the edge.

Nie Huaisang comes and gives him an easy way to die.

He takes it.

#mdzs meta #mdzs #jin guangyao #mo xuanyu #mxtx conspiracies

[entering-mymind]

Chapter 7 - The Reckoning

This is the seventh episode of the series where I have inserted my OC character (Mando’s daughter) into the Disneyplus television show. With her addition I believe this helps the viewers understand the choices Mando makes in the series. Would love to hear feedback! I do not own these characters and the story and dialogue goes to the respected credit of the screenwriters and creators of the show.

The Razor Crest flew through vacant space with no destination in mind. Mando piloted the ship maintaining at the wheel while pressing specific levers and controls in order to keep the ship at its finest. Mando was accompanied in the cockpit by his daughter, who sat in her usual co-pilot seat behind him, as the child’s pod was positioned in the seat opposite of her. The two Mandalorians were busy obtaining to the ship while the child slept soundly.

“Papi, a transmission was just received,” young Mando stated.

“Send it through,” Mando declared when she tapped a few buttons and a hologram of Greef Karga appeared.

“My friend, if you are receiving this transmission that means you both are alive. You might be surprised to hear this, but I am alive too. I guess we can call it even.”

“Did I miss something, did you shoot Karga?” young Mando asked but the transmission continued.

“A lot has happened since we last saw each other. The man who hired you is still here and his ranks of ex-Imperial guards have grown. They have imposed despotic rule over my city which has impeded the livelihood of the Guild. We consider him an enemy, but we cannot get close enough to take him out. If you would consider one last commission, I will very much make it worth your while.”

“You have been successful so far in staving off their hunters, but they will not stop until they have their prize. So, here is my proposition. Return to Nevarro. Bring the child as bait. I will arrange an exchange and provide loyal Guild members as protection. Once we get near the client, you kill him, and we both get what we want. If you succeed, you keep the child and I will have both you and your daughter’s name cleared with the Guild, for a man of honor should not be forced to live in exile. I await your arrival with optimism,” Karga ended his message as the two sat silent.

“You know it’s a trap,” young Mando blurted out.

“Yup,” was all Mando replied while entering specific navigational coordinates into the Crest.

“And we’re just going to walk right into it?”

“Yup.”

“Really?” this didn’t seem like her father and could tell he was formulating a plan, “Okay, bring it on,” young Mando began pumping herself up when she saw the location they were headed.

“But first we need a team of our own,” Mando clarified making the Crest adjust its position when it jumped to lightspeed.

                                                      *   *    *

The local tavern on Sorgan was wildly loud, a large group of spectators circled Cara Dune and her opponent – a Dathomirian – who were vigorously battling each other in a brawl. Both of them were connected to each another by an electric cord at the waist, making sure neither could escape the other until one was defeated.

Both opponents held up to each other’s kick and punches but once Cara received the upper hand she seized it. Cara pulled the Dathomirian to the ground and then put him in a headlock, once he was losing conscious she flipped on top of him and pulled him to his knees wrapping the electric wire – that conjoined them – around his neck.

Seeing no way out, the Dathomirian tapped out declaring Cara the winner, “Pay up, mudscuffers,” Cara pointed to specific spectators as they approached with her winnings, “Come on. That’s mine, thank you.”

Once everyone paid and cleared out Cara recognized the two individuals who lingered behind; Mando and his daughter.

“Looking for some work?” Mando asked while young Mando gave Cara a sly thumbs up, impressed with her street fighting skills. All Cara could do was chuckle more at young Mando and ignored her father’s question.

Cara sat at a table when the waitress poured her a cup of spotchka while Mando, his daughter, and the child accompanied her.

“It seems like a straightforward operation,” Mando began.

“Trap, is what he means,” young Mando slipped in but her statement went ignored.

“They’re providing the plan and firepower. I’m the snare.”

“You mean we’re the snare,” young Mando corrected, “Papi gets confused sometimes.”

“With the child,” Cara declared.

“That’s why I’m coming to you,” Mando said.

“I don’t know. I’ve been advised to lay low,” Cara reminded, “If anybody runs my chain code I’ll rot in a cell for the rest of my life.”

“I thought you were a veteran?” young Mando asked.

“I’ve been a lot of things since kiddo. Most of them carry a life sentence. If I so much as book passage on a ship registered to the New Republic, I’m…” Cara was cut off.

“I have a ship. I can bring you there and back with a handsome reward. You can live free of worry,” Mando hoped to persuade her.

“I’m already free of worry and I’m not in the mood to play soldier anymore. Especially fighting some local warlord.”

“Did I need to remind you that we will be walking into a trap,” young Mando whispered hoping to gain sympathy.

“He’s not a local warlord. He’s Imperial,” Mando clarified.

Suddenly as if the winds changed Cara’s face went from uninterested to disgust, “I’m in,” Cara raised her drink in salute to the mess she just entangled herself in.

                                                   *   *    *

“Does your contact need to vet me?” Cara questioned while Mando flew the Crest.

“Doesn’t know you’re coming,” he informed.

“Really? That could be a problem.”

“It wont, but if it is, that’s his problem,” Mando said rising from his seat and directing Cara to the lower deck.

“He alright up there alone,” she referred to the child who was left in the cockpit, “Where’s your daughter?” Cara searched.

“She needs some time for herself,” Mando said knowing it was prudent for his daughter to receive a breather from continuously watching the child.

Cara just nodded understanding a girl needed time away from the men in her life. On his gauntlet Mando pressed a button and opened a compartment revealing a plethora of weapons.

“Pick one,” he gave her free reign.

Gladly Cara went through the selection while still getting information about the mission, “You trust the contact?” she asked.

“Not particularly. He and I had a run-in last time I was there on some Guild business.”

“So then why are we going?”

“I don’t have a choice. You saw what happened on Sorgan. They’ll keep sending hunters. The kid will never be safe until the Imp is dead,” Mando stated while noticing a slight hiccup in the Crest’s trajectory.

“And you’re okay with bringing him back there?”

“Not really. That’s why I’m bringing you.”

Suddenly Mando and Cara were flung off their feet because the Crest began to go erratic. Instinctively Mando flew up to the cockpit while Cara followed behind, there they witnessed the child at the controls attempting to steer the ship. Quickly Mando removed the child and handed it to Cara to hold, he sat at the wheel, switching levers and pressing buttons to stabilize the Crest but nothing was working.

“What’s happening?” Cara questioned noticing the interior of the ship was beginning to crack from under pressure.

“No!” Mando realized the actual issue and flew back to the lower deck without explanation.

He made his way to his daughter’s workspace when he rounded the corner and found her on the floor huddled in a fetal position, shivering uncontrollably and moaning in pain. Mando dropped to his knees trying to assess how far she was in her episode. He slowly tried to unravel her but instead she swung herself over unintentionally and shoved Mando vigorously across the room with the assistance of an invisible force. He was slammed against a wall and became pinned as if someone was holding him there.

“Mi Pequeno, let me go,” he grunted through a tight chest, “Hear me, focus on my voice,” Mando tried but she couldn’t be reached, she had submerged within herself.

He could see she was doing everything in her power not to release what was inside her because if she did they would all parish, but her undivided attention turned to anything and everything.

“Mi Pequeno, please release me,” finally her hand dropped when the invisible force let him go allowing Mando to slowly gain full mobility. Powerless, he watched items in the ship take life by either crushing into itself or being thrown across the room.

The Crest continued flying erratic as Cara carried the child looking for Mando or his daughter. She turned a corner witnessing almost exactly what she experienced at the battle of Sorgan. The ground quaked beneath them and items floated in the air by their own free will. Cara couldn’t fathom, for a second time, what was happening.

Grabbing hold of the walls while she walked, Cara noticed Mando sprawled on the opposite side of the room when young Mando arched her body in agony, trying to keep in the pulse that radiated around her structure.

“Mando, what’s…” but Cara was cut off.

“Watch out!” Mando warned, he sprung to his feet and tackled Cara and the child out of harms way.

The three fell to the floor luckily dodging a steel panel that could have crushed them.

“What… how…” Cara stuttered cradling the child who shivered in fear.

“Listen to me, she’s too far along, I’m going to have to sedate her,” Mando informed, he opened a hidden compartment on his gauntlet reveling two viles containing a clear liquid. Mando then pulled out a syringe from his belt inserting the vile and prepping it for injection.

“Then do it already,” Cara shouted.

“Please, I have to revel her arm,” Mando stated.

Cara understood what he was implying, Mandalorians couldn’t expose a single part of themselves to the outside world due to the threat of expulsion weighting heavily on them.

“I won’t look just do it,” Cara demanded and turned her head from view.

“DAD!” young Mando screamed through a banshee cry doing everything she could from releasing the blast that commanded to escape.

He knew his time was up, Mando had to act now, he crawled to his daughter and immediately removed her gauntlet and rolled up her sleeve. She withered in torment and groaned in horror, but he would put her at ease. The serum would take effect instantaneously once injected into her bloodstream, shutting down her abilities.

Mando wasted no effort and clutched onto the syringe with his whole hand, he struck downwards ready for the needle to pierce her skin, but something prevented the action. The invincible force was at work again, in mid-air Mando struggled, the needle was centimeters from entering her body. His hand withered and strained, he used all of his might but became powerless to do anything.

The Crest started to crack and enfold into itself, warning bells sounded throughout the interior, informing its passengers to abandon ship. Mando took his other hand and put it on top hoping for added strength, but he still wasn’t budging.

“Come on, Mi Pequeno, don’t do this, hear me,” but she couldn’t hear her father, the force had consumed her.

Young Mando let out a blood curling scream when her body arched violently upwards signaling the blast would follow. Mando mustered everything he had when he received some much needed assistance as Cara slammed her hands on top of Mando’s, overcoming the invisible barrier together.

The needle successfully entered young Mando’s skin and without thought, Mando immediately injected the serum into her body when everything seized. The Crest returned to a normal flight, all free floating objects fell to the ground, and young Mando went limp.

Cara and Mando both breathed heavily, acting like they had just fought off their greatest opponent. Mando ejected the empty vile and placed the syringe back in his belt for future use. He then, in anger, threw the vile upset by not being there for his daughter sooner.

Taken aback Cara didn’t know what to say or do, she watched him roll down her sleeve and strap her gauntlet back on her wrist. He then picked his daughter up and carried her out of the room. Cara looked to the child wondering if it had answers but it just glared in concern.

                                                     *   *    *

Knowing to tread lightly, Cara followed Mando seeing him place his unconscious daughter in her bed. He sat at her side practically slumped over appearing defeated, he placed a hand on where her cheek should be and caressed the spot with his thumb. He seemed to be in a deep thought when he heard Cara approach, not wanting to go into detail he shot up and headed towards the cockpit.

“Hey, wait a minute,” Cara followed, “I think I deserve an explanation.”

“There’s nothing to explain,” Mando sat down and began attending to the Crest, steading it and setting the ship back on course, but Cara was deciphering clues on her own.

��That was no phantom detonator back on Sorgan, that was your daughter,” Cara declared but Mando stayed silent, practically confirming her suspicion, “How can she do that?”

“I don’t know.”

“You don’t know, or you won’t tell?”

“Both,” Mando turned and stood in Cara’s face, “Because the less someone knows about her the safer she remains.”

“How are you protecting her, she’s a danger to herself and to others, she almost killed us plus I saw in your gauntlet, you only have one vile left. What happens when you run out?”

Mando stayed silent.

“Who ever made them, can’t they make you more?”

“No, he’s dead because of us,” Mando said truthfully while returning to his seat and piloting the Crest, “Can you get the child, I can’t have him trying to awake her,” he informed.

“What happens when she does awake?” Cara said in a bit of a panic.

“Please don’t fear her, she doesn’t need that. Can you please get the child?”

Cara stayed silent, angry that Mando didn’t fully trust her even though he was already asking a lot of her with this mission.

“Fine, but we’re going to need someone to watch him and her,” Mando didn’t say anything but Cara continued, “You got anyone you can trust?”

“To watch the kid, yeah I’ve got someone in mind,” as Mando steered the Crest towards the planet of Arvala-7.

                                                       *   *   *

The Crest landed near the home of the Ugnaught who had helped Mando and his daughter find the child. Mando began powering the ship down when Cara made her way below in order to lower the platform, when suddenly she noticed Mando’s daughter shyly hiding around the corner.

“Geez,” Cara stepped back, hand to her chest.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to frighten you,” young Mando meant more than one way.

“It’s okay, just wasn’t sure how long you would be knocked out,” Cara stepped forward but young Mando kept her distance and head lowered in shame, “Listen, I’m not scared of you, I’m just curious. How are you able to do that?”

“I don’t know.”

“You sound like your father.”

“But we don’t, honestly,” young Mando stepped out of the shadows happy she was able to finally discuss her episodes with someone other than just her father, “When I was a child we looked for help, my dad tried, but anyone who found out about me wound up dead. So we went into hiding until the Creed discovered our whereabouts, I didn’t want to go but according to my dad it was safer being under the Mandalorians protection. We were still hidden but yet in plain sight, able to search for answers, but none were ever found.”

“And they know of your abilities?”

“Yes, but even the Creed couldn’t help me. I don’t know what’s inside of me, it appears to always be there, but it stays dormant and then suddenly awakens overtaking me. I try so hard to control it but I can’t seem to find a way. I’m running out of ideas and that terrifies me because it’s only getting stronger.”

Even though Cara couldn’t see young Mando’s face, Cara could hear the panic inflicted in her voice. She wanted to help the kiddo out, talk to her more but Mando came down with the child’s pod floating behind.

Quickly before Mando realized Cara was drilling his daughter for answers, Cara grabbed some gear and lowered the platform. Mando glanced to his side seeing his daughter keep her distance, he outstretched his hand for her to take but she refused.

“Hey, we have a trap to fall into, remember,” Mando said hoping to raise her spirits.

Luckily his choice of words did the trick because she couldn’t hold back a small giggle and took her father’s hand.

                                                      *   *    *

The sun was slowly setting on the desert planet, still giving the Ugnaught plenty of time to tidy up his homestead and rally up the Blurrgs when he noticed the Mandalorian’s ship land nearby. The Ugnaught stood at the entrance to his home while he watched the four individuals approach, he invited them in as everyone took a seat.

“It hasn’t grown much,” the Ugnaught said analyzing the child.

“I think it might be a Strand-Cast,” Mando suggested.

“I don’t think it was engineered. I’ve worked in the gene farms. This one looks evolved. Too ugly. This one, on the other hand, looks like she was farmed in the Cytocaves of Nora,” the Ugnaught pointed at Cara.

“This is Cara Dune. She was a shock trooper,” Mando informed.

“You were a dropper?” the Ugnaught looked at Cara’s tattoos.

“Did you serve?” she asked.

“On the other side, I’m afraid, but I’m proud to say that I paid out my clan’s debt and now I serve no one but myself. You are awfully quiet,” the Ugnaught addressed young Mando who kept her head down.

“She is a bit under the weather,” Mando tried to steer the Ugnaught’s attention away from his daughter, but that was achieved by IG-11 walking through the front door holding a tray of beverages.

Immediately all three stood, blasters drawn ready to destroy the machine when the IG-unit spoke, “I heard someone was sick, would they care for some tea?”

“Please lower your blasters. He will not harm you,” the Ugnaught put his hand up to signal that there was no danger.

“That thing is programmed to kill the baby,” Mando reminded.

“Not anymore,” the Ugnaught stated when he began telling the story of how he acquired the droid.

“It was left behind in the wake of your destruction. I found it laying where it fell. Devoid of all life. I recovered the flotsam and staked it as my own in accordance with the charter of the New Republic. Little remained of its neural harness. Reconstruction was quite difficult but not impossible. It had to learn everything from scratch. This is something that cannot be taught with the twist of a spanner. It requires patience and repetition. I spent day after day reinforcing its development with patience and affirmation. It developed a personality as its experiences grew.”

“Is it still a hunter?” Mando questioned.

“No. But it will protect,” the Ugnaught declared as everyone still remained skeptic.

                                                      *   *    *

The Ugnaught went to attain to his Blurrgs when Mando approached, “I’ve run into some problems.”

“I figured as much. Why else would you return?”

“I wanna hire your services.”

“I’m retired from service.”

“I can pay you handsomely, Ugnaught.”

“I have a name. It is Kuiil.”

“I need someone to protect the little one, Kuiil,” Mando said.

“I’m not suited for such work, besides why doesn’t your kin look after it?”

“I need her for the mission.”

“Well, I can reprogram IG-11 for nursing and protocol.”

“No, I don’t want that droid anywhere near him.”

“Why’re you so distrustful of droids?” Kuiil asked.

“It tried to kill him,” Mando clarified.

“It was programmed to do so. Droids are not good or bad. They are neutral reflections of those who imprint them. Do you trust me?”

“From what I can tell, yes.”

“Then you will trust my work. IG-11 will join me and we do it not for payment but to protect the child from Imperial slavery. None will be free until the old ways are gone forever,” Kuiil remembered those horrific memories of serving the Empire while Mando pondered over a similar memory, but had the ability to save that someone from the same fate.

“Okay,” Mando agreed with Kuiil.

“And the Blurrgs will join me as well.”

“The Blurrgs?”

“I have spoken.”

                                                    *   *    *

The Crest took flight making its way to Nevarro, Mando set the ship on autopilot where everyone took occupancy in the lower deck. Kuiil attended to his Blurrgs (which were penned up in the corner) while young Mando sat on the opposite side keeping to herself and sketched out a new piece, where Cara and Mando became involved in an arm wrestling match as the child watched from its pod.

“I got you, Mando,” Cara said through gritted teeth.

“Care to double the bet?” Mando grunted.

The two continued their match when the child looked on in sadness, wanting to do something, it raised its tiny three-fingered hand and squinted its eyes, concentrating. Suddenly Cara let go of Mando’s hand and began clutching at her throat, choking as if someone’s hands were around her neck.

Everyone in the room stared at Cara, who’s face was starting to turn red from lose of air, baffled by her actions. Mando quickly turned to his daughter who appeared to be in shock like everyone else, and realized she wasn’t having an episode because she was aware and coherent.

“It’s not me,” young Mando said when she pointed her father’s attention to the child.

“No, no, no, stop,” Mando picked up the child hoping this would free Cara, “We’re friends, we’re friends. Cara is my friend,” Mando clarified which did the trick, Cara was released but she spoke in a raid.

“First your daughter, now him, this is not okay,” Cara exasperated through a short breath.

“Hmmm…curious,” Kuiil said pondering over everything that had been said and performed.

“Curious? That’s the second time I was almost killed. Geez Mando what kind of kids are you raising?” Cara said out of anger when young Mando quickly rose from her seat and went into the adjacent room.

“Hey, none of this is their fault. I understand you’re upset Cara but please don’t voice your opinion on a matter you don’t understand,” Mando said heated.

“Like you understand it any better, you’re just as clueless about her abilities as his,” Cara stated truthfully.

“Her abilities?” Kuiil peered around for Mando’s daughter but she wasn’t in sight, “Everything seems a bit clearer now. The story you told me of the Mudhorn now makes more sense.”

“Do you know what the child is?” Mando asked possibly about to receive some answers.

“What it is? I don’t know, but what it does, this I’ve heard rumors of.”

“What? What do you know?” Mando couldn’t believe finally someone knew what this might be.

“Rumors, like when you worked for the Empire,” Cara spat.

“When I was sold to the Empire, in indentured servitude,” Kuiil spat back.

“Yet somehow, you walk free.”

“I bought my freedom through the skill of my hands and the labor of three of your human lifetimes. Do not cast doubt upon that of what I am nor whom I shall serve,” Kuiil’s voice rose when IG-11 walked into the room ready to protect its master.

Mando wanted all this animosity to end, even though he would be losing the chance to possibly learn what was causing his daughter’s episodes and the child’s abilities when Mando directed Kuiil’s attention to him.

“Tell you what. I could really use your craftwork right now,” Mando put the child in its pod, “Can you pad this container so the child can sleep better?”

“I shall fabricate a better one. Then perhaps this Dropper can see how one can win their freedom with the skill of one’s hands,” Kuiil stated when he left to craft a unique pod all on its own.

                                                           *   *   *

Mando let Kuiil be while Cara paced staying far away from the child. He felt the tension was low enough and went in search for his daughter. In her workspace she sat on the floor in the dark lazily making pencil marks on her canvas.

“Hey, I could really use some help in the cockpit,” Mando tried but she wasn’t buying it.

“Please Papi, I just want to be alone right now.”

Mando sighed in defeat and placed a caring hand on top of her helmet. He understood she was having a rough time with this last episode and hoped she would recover mentally soon. All he could do was support her and let her go through the emotions.

“You know none of this is your fault, you had no control,” Mando reassured.

“You’re right, I had no control, but that still doesn’t give me an excuse,” young Mando replied in a sad monotone.

                                                      *   *    *

Mando returned to the cockpit as Cara followed, she stayed silent unknowing if Mando or his daughter were upset with her previous comments.

“Hey, I just wanted to apologize about what I said earlier,” Cara said hesitantly.

“You don’t have to apologize to me, apologize to my daughter,” Mando said without looking at Cara.

“Noted,” Cara stated thinking on the best time to speak to her when Cara saw where Mando was taking the ship, “So, we’re going to Nevarro?”

“Have you ever been?”

“No. We lost a lot of our forces there. The city’s dug in pretty deep. No cover when you drop in. It stayed in Empire control until the end of the war.”

“The warlord we’re taking out was an Imperial officer,” Mando informed.

“What station?”

“Hard to tell. No insignia anymore. I took out his safe house when I snatched the kid. More Imps have reinforced since.”

“There’s something more going on, more than the trap your daughter predicts.”

“Maybe. We’ll find out more when we land.”

Their conversation was interrupted as the cockpits door opened revealing IG-11, “I have prepared second meal. Would you care to be served here or below?”

“I’m not hungry,” Mando said with distain while Cara didn’t respond when IG-11 left, “Under no circumstances does that thing leave the ship.”

“You got a real thing for droids, don’t you?” Cara said through a chuckle.

“I got a real thing for that droid.”

“The Ugnaught said he rewired it.”

“That droid was designed to kill things. I don’t care how much wiring he replaced. It goes against its nature,” Mando reminded.

“Well, it shouldn’t be a long job anyway. We take out the head Imp, the rest will run like rats,” Cara said in confidence.

                                                      *   *    *

Greef Karga waited on the outskirts of Nevarro’s wasteland with three other hunters standing at his side. Karga watched the Crest touch down and saw four Blurrgs step out with their riders. Mando, his daughter, Cara, and Kuiil lined up in front of him and his men while the child’s newly constructed pod floated near Mando.

“Sorry for the remote rendezvous, Mando, but things have gotten complicated since you and the kiddo were last here,” Karga and his hunters drew closer while Mando and his team stayed on alert, “It appears that introductions are in order. It seems we’ve both provided a security detail,” Karga stayed silent analyzing them, “But I suggest the kiddo stays back and guards the ship,” he pointed towards young Mando, “These lava fields are lousy with Jawas.”

“She’s safer with me due to the bounty you also placed on her head,” Mando spat.

“It was not by choice, trust me at least on that, but the town is now run by ex-Empire. I don’t think you want the kid mixed in with that kind of heat.”

“I can handle myself Karga,” young Mando jumped in.

“All right,” Karga put his hands up in defense but then placed his eyes on Cara, “And what of the Shock Trooper? If a Rebel Dropper is with us, they’ll all get their hackles up.”

“Everybody is coming,” Mando enforced.

“Fine, at least cover your tattoo. No need to flaunt it. Now, where is the little one?” Karga said with open arms.

Everyone turned to Mando when he pressed a few buttons on his gauntlet and the pod zoomed forward. It hovered in front of Karga and then opened revealing the child inside.

“So, this little bogwing is what all the fuss was about,” Karga picked up the child as everyone was put on edge, hands on weapons, “What a precious little creature. I can see why neither of you didn’t want to harm a hair on its wrinkled little head.”

Karga put the child back in its pod, settling everyone down, “Well, I’m glad this matter will be put to rest once and for all. The sun drops fast on Nevarro. We can walk for a spell, camp out at the riverbank then make our way into town at first light,” Karga ended when Mando closed the child’s pod reversing it so it was back hovering at his side.

                                                      *   *    *

Everyone got a move on, trekking over the black terrain and avoiding the small lava rivers that serpentine through the land. Night approached fast when they made camp with each party taking a side while keeping an eye on the other across the fire.

Majority ate the goat that was roasting over the fire when Cara took a seat next to young Mando with two plates in her hand. Cara slide one over to young Mando when she noticed small portions of meat were cut up.

“Thought those sizes would be easier for you to fit under your helmet without removal,” Cara stated.

“Thanks,” young Mando said in a dry gratitude, taking the tiny pieces and easily fitting them under the rim to pop in her mouth.

Young Mando seemed still a bit stand offish so Cara addressed what went unacknowledged, “You know I never got to answer your questions from when we first met,” Cara hoped this would make young Mando warm back up to her, “I really didn’t get to participate in the well known battles, I served just like everyone else and went where I was needed.”

Young Mando turned and gave Cara her full attention, “Technically the war was everywhere, and you couldn’t really escape it. In some form or another it would affect you from losing a comrade, a friend, or family member.”

Young Mando could see the hurt emitting from Cara’s eyes and the distant memories playing before them.

“And for your second question, no I did not see the Death Star blow up, neither actually, but I did see a lot of its scattered debris when I was on Endor. I guess I’m not as thrilling as I make myself out to be,” Cara stated.

“Oh no, you are still very compelling. When my dad and I spar I know his every move and I still can’t take him out, but when you fought him there was no competition. Don’t tell him I said that,” young Mando whispered her last part while putting up her hand to cover her invisible mouth.

This made Cara smile, adoring young Mando even more, “Hey, I’m sorry for what I said on the Crest. You’re a really good kid,” Cara stressed.

“No worries, really,” young Mando stated showcasing all was water under the bridge.

                                                   *   *    *

Kuiil sat next to the child feeding it the meat off his plate, it ate the tiny pieces with delight while Karga sat next to Mando pointing out the obvious.

“I guess the little bugger is a carnivore. Never seen anything like it. They were ready to pay a king’s ransom for that thing. Must be for some kind of highfalutin menagerie,” Karga informed.

“Let’s go over the plan again,” Mando interjected.

“We enter the common house. We show the client the bait. We join him at the table. And you kill him,” Karga vaguely laid out.

“Tell me about his reinforcements.”

“They’re all ex-Empire. As soon as they lose their paycheck, poof, they’ll all scatter.”

“And what if they don’t,” Mando pointed out.

“They will.”

“That’s not good enough.”

“If, for arguments sake, a few of them don’t realize that I’m their best path to alternative employment, and they elect to react impulsively, then these three fine Guild Hunters, along with that battle-hardened shock trooper will cut down anyone who bucks,” Karga informed.

“How many will there be?” Mando questioned.

“No more than four. He travels with, at most, a fire team. Trust me. Nothing can go wrong,” Karga rose from the ground and approached the fire.

He plucked a piece of meat from their roasting meal when out of the shadows a massive creature of flight scooped down to acquire the goat, scaring Karga backwards. Immediate panic erupted throughout the camp, everyone grabbed their weapons and started shooting upwards because more creatures rained down from the sky. Sensing the danger, Mando closed the child’s pod when young Mando went to her father’s side as the two went back to back firing from both angles.

The flying creatures attacked from all sides when one grabbed hold of a Blurrg and another took one of Karga’s men. Everyone continued their reign of fire, focusing all their firepower on one of the creatures that had a hold of their second Blurrg, but another creature made a surprise attack on Mando.

Its massive wings pushed young Mando out of the way and grabbed Mando in its claws. The creature drilled him into the ground when Cara turned her blaster on the thing, but Mando ignited it in flames sending it off into the night still on fire.

Young Mando ran towards her father making sure he wasn’t injured as everybody regrouped with their eyes and weapons still pointed to the sky. The danger appeared to be over with but groans from Karga could be heard. Mando quickly looked over his daughter and then checked on the child. No one else appeared to be injured when Kuiil went to Karga’s aid.

“He’s hurt badly,” Kuiil informed.

Three long gashes were visible on Karga’s arm and seemed to get worse by the second. He grunted through gritted teeth declaring he was fine when everyone encircled him in order to help.

“Hold still,” young Mando opened a pouch on her belt and injected Karga with an anti-bacterial serum, “It got you good.”

“How bad?” Mando asked.

“Bad, the poison’s spreading fast,” she informed.

“So this…this is how it happens,” Karga stated while young Mando received bandages from Cara who instructed for a medpac from the group but no one had one.

Young Mando sat in silence unable to register Karga’s outcome, sure he put a bounty on her head but his heart was always in the right place. Just like her father Karga would look out for her, make sure she wouldn’t be put in danger with the missions, but mostly he would encourage her with her art. Young Mando couldn’t accept his fate when the child approached and put its hand on young Mando.

“We need to get him to a medical team,” Cara said grabbing a device and scanning Karga’s arm seeing the venom spread further, “Get this thing outta here,” Cara said to young Mando but she wasn’t listening because it appeared as if she was in a trance.

The child and young Mando glared at one another like they were communicating mentally, their hands were stacked on top of one another when, without words, they placed their conjoined hands on Karga’s wound.

“Save me kiddo, it’s going to eat me,” Karga blurted out but a different scenario occurred.

Together the child and young Mando focused on Karga’s injury, they could see the venom spreading throughout his body but immediately put a stopper to it. Together they evaporated the poison from his bloodstream and infused their vitality into Karga in order to heal the three gashes. Both shook with concentration, using each other’s energy to achieve this feat, when Karga’s wounds healed before their eyes and were no more.

Once the task was a success the child and young Mando immediately collapsed from exhaustion. Karga glared up at Mando in utter shock but Mando rushed to his daughter and the child. He quickly checked on the obvious as the both of them were breathing normally, he then searched for any injuries but they appeared unharmed, just unconscious.

“Kuiil, please put the child in its pod,” Mando said picking it up in one hand while placing his daughter’s head in his lap, but everyone was still glaring in shock, “Kuiil!” Mando shouted extending the child for Kuiil to take.

“Yes, of course,” Kuiil responded carefully taking the sleeping kid and placing it in the pod.

Once the child was safe inside, Mando immediately closed the lid and sensed the impeding judgment from the group. Without hesitation Mando placed his body between the others and the pod while wrapping his arms around his daughter, blaster at the ready, because everyone stared at his children with either curiosity or a malicious intent.

                                                      *   *    *

Morning came and everyone regrouped silently where both parties kept close to their own. The child and young Mando appeared to be fine, the child cooed happily thinking nothing of the incident but young Mando could sense something else, a possible plot brewing among the hunters.

Kuiil mounted on the only Blurrg that had survived from the attack last night when Mando approached his daughter.

“I want you to ride with Kuiil,” Mando insisted.

“I’m fine,” young Mando replied.

“You don’t seem fine, you were stirring in your sleep, mumbling, you haven’t done that since…” but Mando was cut off.

“Since I was little, I know. Its just, the nightmare came back.”

“The one you sketch out?”

Young Mando nodded her head with confirmation, “The child triggered something when it touched me, its like we’re connected somehow. I could hear what it was thinking, he was directing me, channeling our abilities together in order to save Karga. I can’t explain it,” her voice went up an octave like she was afraid.

“You don’t have to.”

“What does this all mean?”

“We will figure it out, I promise you,” Mando assured her by placing his hand on the side of her helmet and then lifting her on the Blurrg situating her behind Kuiil.

Both parties moved out, Karga and his hunters lead while Mando, Cara, and the child’s pod followed as Kuiil and young Mando came up the rear. Karga and his men were quietly discussing certain matters among themselves, leaving Mando and Cara to do the same.

“You think they’re having second thoughts?” Cara questioned the obvious.

“Most likely. I need your eyes,” Mando said.

“I’m watching,” Cara confirmed making sure nothing malicious would manifest.

                                                      *   *   *

Karga took point, his hunters fell back behind Mando and Cara when Karga stopped and gazed out at the distance, “I guess this is it,” Karga stated knowing his two hunters drew their blasters and were ready to end Mando and Cara’s lives, but he made the first move blasting his own men.

Immediately Cara and Mando pulled their weapons and pointed them at Karga who held both of his guns towards the sky signaling his surrender.

“There’s something you should know,” Karga started when he kicked over his men making sure they were indeed dead.

Karga put his blasters away but Mando and Cara kept there’s on him when he continued, “A new plan was formulated from what they saw, it was to kill you and take the kids for profit. But after what happened last night, I couldn’t go through with it.”

Kuiil approached with young Mando but she stayed on the Blurrg when he dismounted. Mando and Cara didn’t move from their position ready to fire at any moment.

“Go on. You can gun me down here and now and it wouldn’t violate the Code,” Karga confirmed,” Sure the kiddo’s secret dies with me, but if you do, this child will never be safe,” pointing out that bounty hunters would never stop searching for it.

“We’ll take our chances,” Cara stated.

“The Imperial client is obsessed with obtaining this asset. You tried to run, but where did it get you?” Karga said.

“This is ridiculous,” Cara said.

“Perhaps you should let him speak,” Kuiil chimed in.

“Listen, we both need the client to be eliminated. Let me take the child to him and then you two,” but Karga was cut off.

“No,” Mando said.

“Let’s just kill him and get out of here,” Cara suggested.

“Papi,” was all young Mando had to say in order to get him to think things through.

“He’s right,” Mando declared putting away his blaster.

“What are you doing?” Cara questioned.

“As long as the Imp lives, he’ll send hunters after the child,” Mando stated.

“It’s a trap,” Cara confirmed.

“Bring me,” Mando said.

“Bring you?” Karga asked.

“Tell him you captured me. Get me close to him and I’ll kill him,” Mando stated.

“That’s a good idea and all but the bounty was placed for two Mandalorians,” Karga reveled in fear.

“She didn’t accompany me at the Imps safe house. He should have no idea of her existence,” Mando declared in anger, “I thought you just put a bounty on her head from within the Guild?”

“The kiddo was marked during our scuffle, that’s why my hands were tied and I had to place a bounty on both of you, so the Imp expects two Mandalorians,” Karga said as Mando drew near with his fist raised ready to make contact with Karga’s face.

“Stop it!” young Mando interjected putting herself between Karga and her father, “Of all people my father should have known the risks he was putting me in by enlisting me in the Guild.”

“You’re blaming me for this?” Mando questioned in horror.

“No, its just I’m ready to do my duty as a bounty hunter and Mandalorian. The Imp expects two prizes then he will get them. I’m coming with whether you like it or not Papi.”

Everyone could see there was no loophole for young Mando to not come but their concerns were about something else other than her presence.

“And yes I know what you are all thinking. Give me the vile and syringe,” young Mando’s hand extended towards her father, “If I sense anything I’ll take myself out, agreed?”

“What is she referring too?” Karga questioned in skeptic, “She can do more?”

“You have no idea,” Cara said in vague when Mando broke and gave her the vile and syringe.

“Okay now we got that out of the way, both of you give me your blasters,” Karga said.

“This is insane,” Cara pointed out.

“It’s the only way,” Mando realized.

“Well, I’m coming with,” Cara told rather than suggested.

“No, no, no. That would make them suspicious,” Karga said.

“I don’t care. I’m coming,” Cara snarled.

“Tell them she caught us,” Mando informed.

“Fine. Then she can bring the child,” Karga said.

“No. The kid goes back in the ship,” Mando declared.

“But without the child, none of this works!” Karga pointed out.

“I have a plan. Kuiil, ride back to the Razor Crest with the child and seal yourself in. When you’re inside, engage ground security protocols. Nothing on this planet will breach those doors,” Mando instructed.

“The code is 030830 in order to activate it,” young Mando informed as the numerical sequence had been permanently burned into her subconscious.

“Here’s a comlink,” Kuiil handed to Mando, “I will keep the child safe. Don’t forget to cover your stripes,” he reminded Cara, “And keep a clear mind young one,” Kuiil ended with young Mando.

“Let’s go,” Mando said handing two sets of binders to Karga as he placed the first set on Mando and then the second on his daughter. Karga checked every weapon on him, Cara wrapped fabric around her arm tattoo, when Kuiil took the child in his arms and headed to his Blurrg. The pod was sealed and followed the four individuals who made their way towards town.

                                                       *   *   *

The four approached the entrance to the city as two bored Scout troopers monitored the personnel of entering and exiting of the city. In the distance, Cara and Mando could make out several more Stormtroopers occupying the streets, way more than Karga implied.

Getting to his feet the Scout trooper looked over the individuals and then spoke to Karga, “Chain code?”

“I have a gift for the boss,” Karga said but the trooper wasn’t having it and repeated for the chain code.

Karga sighed in frustration when he handed the trooper the chit card, the trooper scanned it and then gave Karga a price, “I’ll give you forty credits for both the helmets.”

“Ha-ha! Not a chance. Those are going on my wall,” Karga emphasized but Mando glared at him in scorn.

“On your wall?” Mando whispered in a sneer.

“Go with it,” Karga said through pressed lips.

“Go ahead,” the trooper waved them through when they headed towards the Guild cantina.

As they made their way through the street Cara pointed out the obvious, the numerous amounts of Stormtroopers occupying the city, “You said four. There are more than four troopers.”

“Four guarding the client. Many more here in town. Things got really heated once Mando crashed the safe house,” Karga said.

“Slip them their blasters,” Cara commanded of Karga to arm both Mando and young Mando.

“Not yet,” Karga said, “Here we are,” Karga opened the door and as they walked in he addressed their concerns, “You see? Four.”

Karga escorted both Mando and his daughter towards the client who rose from his seat and approached them.

“Look what I brought you. As promised,” Karga showcased both Mandalorians.

“It appears there are more Mandalorians then expected, where I was informed this is your daughter. How extraordinary,” the client glared over young Mando amazed by her existence, “It appears the Beskar not went to waste,” the client went to touch young Mando’s armor when Mando jerked forward but Karga restrained him, “What exquisite craftsmanship,” the client briefly brushed the back of his hand on young Mando’s armor, “It is amazing how beautiful Beskar can be when forged by its ancestral artisans, and even more beautiful when you can share that with your offspring,” the client could read Mando was on high alert and moved the conversation to Karga, “Can I offer you a libation to celebrate the closing of our shared narrative?”

“I would be obliged,” Karga acknowledged.

“Please sit,” the client instructed, he pointed to the droid bartender for two drinks when Karga lowered Mando into the booth first as Karga slide next to him. The client sat on the opposite side while Cara stood behind young Mando acting as if she was obtaining her.

“It is a shame that your people suffered so,” the client continued when several more Stormtroopers began entering the room, “Just as in this situation, it was all avoidable. Why did Mandalore resist our expansion? The Empire improves every system it touches. Judge by any metric. Safety, prosperity, trade, opportunity, peace. Compare Imperial rule to what is happening now. Look outside, is the world more peaceful since the revolution? I see nothing but death and chaos. Is that what we want to leave for our future generations,” the client motioned towards young Mando but Mando stayed quiet, “I would like to see the baby,” the client instructed reaching for the pod.

“Uh, it is asleep,” Karga put his hand between the client and the concealed pod.

“We all will be quiet. Open the pram,” but a Stormtrooper came and whispered something in the client’s ear,” Don’t think me to be rude. I must take this call,” both Karga and the client rose when he left the table.

Young Mando unclasped her binders when Karga turned and snuck her blaster into her hands. Karga sat down and did the same with Mando as his binders were already off.

“You got one shot,” Karga said to Mando.

“This is bad. You said four,” Cara whispered though the side of her mouth.

“Well there are more. What can I tell you?” Karga said almost in defeat.

The client approached the bar when a trooper set up a transmission, once activated a man appeared in high ranking officer attire as the client addressed him as Moff Gideon.

“Have they brought the child?” Gideon questioned the client.

“Yes, they have. Currently, it is sleeping.”

“You may want to check again,” suddenly a rapid stream of blaster fire shot through the window killing the client instantly and all the troopers inside.

Karga, Cara, Mando, and his daughter took immediate cover, flipping over tables to hide from being hit. Finally the blaster fire seized when the four of them got into position in order to hold their ground.

Outside a line of Death Troopers stood fierce with their rifles held high, while a military transport landed with dozens of Stormtroopers filing out and getting into position.

“Four Stormtroopers?” Cara pointed out again but no one responded, “This is bad.”

“Kuiil? Are you back to the ship yet?” Mando radioed, “Are you there? Do you copy?” but Mando wasn’t the only one picking up on the conversation.

“Yes,” Kuiil responded.

“Are you back to the ship yet?”

“Not yet.”

“Get back to the ship and bail. Get the kid out of here. We’re pinned down!” Mando instructed.

Hearing his panic, Kuiil kicked his Blurrg to go faster but two Scout troopers were already in pursuit heading to Kuiil’s position.

                                                    *   *   *  

The troopers outside the cantina waited patiently, weapons drawn, and ready to attack at a moment’s notice. All four waited in skeptic wondering what the trooper’s plan of attack would be when a TIE-fighter landed in the quarter.

“I’ve got a bad feeling about this,” young Mando absentminded stated when Moff Gideon stepped out of the TIE-fighter and walked to the front of his troopers.

“You have something I want,” Gideon demanded.

“Who’s this guy?” Cara asked but Mando stayed silent.

“You may think you have some idea of what you are in possession of, but you do not,” Gideon informed.

“Kuiil, are you back to the ship yet?” They’re onto us!” Mando clarified.

“In a few moments, all will be mine,” Gideon declared.

“Kuiil do you copy?” Mando radioed in a panic.

“It means more to me than you will ever know.”

“Kuiil! Are you there? Kuiil, come in, Kuiil!” Mando shouted but with no response from the other end.

“No!” young Mando whispered to herself because she watched the event unfold in front of her eyes; the two Scout troopers had no mercy and blasted Kuiil off his Blurrg, leaving him for dead while they scooped up the child who was now in their possession.

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