#anything that makes the Operator more of a character and participant really

[newbiespud]

I don't have a whole lot of post-TennoCon-2025 thoughts and speculation, because all of it was just plain ol' good stuff in my opinion. Not as explosive as 1999 was, but still an exciting direction to explore.

...Okay, maybe I got a couple in me.

I was definitely thinking "Don't you need a bit more time to come up with a whole second galaxy chart while you're still ironing out the kinks of the first?" Turns out I was right - we're going there in single-node alternate-universe form before we go there for real next year. Smart way to cheat our way there for a test run. (Meant entirely positively - I will always be in favor of clever, sustainable cost-effectiveness in gamedev.)

That mission drop entry was extremely Helldivers-coded. (Again, complimentary - these devs wear the inspirations they clearly love on their sleeve and I support stealing strong inspirations.)

I'm actually not as excited about wall-running as everyone else, mostly because it's going to be interesting on older maps where there's a lot of wall geometry. And I've been playing this game long enough to actually remember the original wall-running that used stamina and was finicky as all heck. But I can't deny it's a guaranteed crowd-pleaser, if only because it's a little silly that our space ninja game is missing such a classic ninja move, even if infinite wall-hopping accomplishes the same thing mechanically.

This is definitely going to be an instance where the question "Are we the baddies?" turns out to be a more clear "Yes." Because there's no way the Orokin Empire actually making it to Tau ultimately turns out to be a good thing for anybody involved. (Who didn't immediately cringe at Ballas being back in this timeline?) But hey, it's an alternate possible reality, so we can more safely indulge in a bit of what-if.

Finally, time for the 33% of us who picked Operator over Drifter at the opening of The New War's third act to shine. The Drifters had their time in the spotlight, now it's our turn, darnit!

...Hold on, wait, doesn't that mean the Warframe / Transference development projects took a VERY different route post-Zariman-jump since it actually succeeded? What ARE the Tenno in this timeline, what do they represent, and why were the Warframes created? These are very different circumstances!

Archimedean Yonta's comments about "I had just figured out how to actually do it" are probably going to come into play. This'll be the timeline where she actually solved it.

The whole academy setting feels very much like DE's take on the "young adults with superpowers in a military academy on the edge of war / colonization / apocalypse" that is such a common setting for online multiplayer action RPGs these days, especially coming out of east Asia. And I love that for them, because I usually hate that setting, but getting to see the Sentients as such strange classmates is well worth it, and you know they're going to poke the right holes in the premise.

...I dunno, I just love when they add new UI styles to the game, like the new communication popups on the side. I don't know why, that's just a thing that tickles my aesthetic sensibilities because it says so much without being intrusive.

Tired: Breaking up with your best friend because you had to defend yourself and kill one of their kind. Wired: Breaking up with your best friend despite everything you've overcome together because this is an alternate reality and you never became friends at all in the prime timeline

[a-bad-case-of-the-stephs]

Out of all the stuff Steph says and does towards the end of Robin 1993 that signals that her core characteristics have been totally perverted and that she has a character has been fundamentally broken post War Games- (participating in a Batman Mindgame™️ against Tim, allying with multiple villains, going to Batman to ask his permission to operate as Spoiler etc etc) I think you can really see it so clearly in just her lines here alone:

Steph is a character driven by love. Love and anger, to be completely fair, but still at her core love. And unlike Batman it’s not really this all encompassing love for Gotham or its people, it’s not a catch-all feeling, Steph’s love is targeted and intense, just like her anger. It’s so very human. It’s not idealistic and broad, it’s specific. She loves her mom, she’s angry at her mom. She hates her dad, she’s angry at her dad. When she loves someone she’s there for them, she has to protect them. Her relationship with Crystal, no matter how complex, is based on Steph loving her mom so much that it drove her to reassure her, to take care of her, to pick fights with her, to make her breakfast, to sew together fabric in the middle of the night Crystal a few feet away passed out and drunk, to create Spoiler in the first place.

Steph’s relationship with Tim is also defined by her love. Honestly this feels so obvious I don’t think I even need to elaborate on it much. Attaching an applicable panel below anyway.

Point being so much of who Steph is is her love for other characters. What motivates her can be by a large part found in that love. What causes her to become a vigilante in the first place was love.

But now? After everything? Steph isn’t a vigilante out of love anymore. Her loyalty to Tim - so strong that she had no qualms at all calling out Batman and jeopardizing her just earned place on the team immediately after getting hired, twice, is gone, or at the very least diminished. Likewise, Steph’s willingness to defy Batman, another staple of her early character, which meant she was always willing to push away and set out on her own after she’s told time and time again to quit, the same assuredness that allowed her to tell Batman to go to hell, point blank, is gone. She goes to Batman and asks if she’s allowed to fight crime, and she agrees to a plan she in no world would have participated in before her death. Her first traits that cause her to be a vigilante, her love, and the traits that very early on allow her to push on and keep being a vigilante, her determination and doggedness and willingness to stand up and disagree with Batman, are gone.

Like we see this transformation on page. Think about the massive difference between her reaction to her first firing where she, despite the cold cruelty of the rejection, is pretty much immediately able to understand the situation and she reacts with understandable anger, and she immediately confronts Batman with that anger. But by the time she’s fired as Robin she’s much more broken down, she reacts to her firing with just dejection. She doesn’t try to fight back or get a final cruel word in. At this point, being a vigilante has started to become much more about earning Batman’s never winnable respect and trust. And then she tries again, and then she dies, and then she spends a year on another continent, and then she goes back home.

And here, in her journal, she thinks to herself ‘what’s love got to do with it anymore?’. She is not who she was. She is not doing this for the reasons she was a vigilante before. The thing that got her in a costume and on a roof in the first place, this huge factor in how Steph interacted with her world, just has nothing to do with anything anymore. She’s broken.

[au-roulette]

To celebrate the fact that we are halfway through the month of June and only a couple of weeks from the start of AU Roulette, have a post detailing the 36 AUs included in this year's challenge!

Like last year, this year's AUs have been curated to be intentionally broad, in the hopes that they will encourage unique takes on each prompt and the creativity of the authors participating. You are welcome to write anything that falls under the umbrella of your assigned AUs, whether it's an original universe, a fusion inspired by another fandom, or something else entirely.

(What's AU Roulette, some of you might be asking? An explanation can be found here, along with the link to sign-up!)

Without further ado -- the AU list, under a cut:

Roleswap - Maybe you want to switch two characters' places, do a class-swap for a D&D fandom, try your hand at an age-swap fic, or you have another idea.

Superhero -- Invent an original universe or do a fusion with one of the many popular big-screen superhero stories. Play it straight and give your favorite characters cool powers, or try a deconstruction of the genre. With great AUs comes great responsibility

Gothic Horror -- Castles. Ghosts. Vampires. Drama. Love that conquers Death. Take your inspiration from classic literature or a newer entry in the genre, like The Locked Tomb books. But be sure to make things spooky.

Post-Apocalypse -- Will the world end in fire or in ice? Or maybe economic collapse, war, zombies, or one of many other options? You write what happens next!

Fairy-Tale -- Pick a classic tale from the Grimms, Hans Christian Andersen, Asbjørnsen & Moe, Charles Perrault, or another favorite author to inspire your AU, try out a more modern re-telling, or use fairy-tale elements to craft your own story.

High Seas -- Including but not limited to Pirate AUs and other Age of Sail adventures. Try out something more historical, or throw in as many fantasy elements as you'd like -- or a bit of both.

Time Travel -- For fixing mistakes, making things worse, or time loops. Or maybe you want to write a fusion inspired by a piece of popular time travel media, like Doctor Who.

Western -- Another AU where writers are free to do their history research or to lean into more outlandish genre conventions. Cowboys, cowgirls, and cowpokes all welcome, of course.

Mythology -- Write a story inspired by your favorite myths and legends, from a whole host of different cultures. Or maybe you'd like to try your hand at writing some epic poetry?

Coffee Shop -- A classic everyone knows and has strong feelings about. Play it straight or add a twist, whichever suits your fancy! After all, no one said where the coffee shop has to be...

Ghost/Cryptid Hunters -- Maybe you want to write a story starring the next Scooby-Doo crew, or maybe there really is something strange in the neighborhood. Or maybe it'll never be clear what really happened -- it's your choice!

Secret Agent -- Code words, code names, you name it. Write a story about spies, cryptographers, or any other clandestine operators. Take inspiration from history or from James Bond. Just don't spill your secrets too soon.

Cyberpunk -- Time to write cyborg identity crises and fight the machine (literally)! Take inspiration from classic media like Neuromancer or Blade Runner or make a totally new cyberpunk universe of your own creation.

High Fantasy -- Elves and dwarves and gnomes, oh my! This AU could encompass everything from Middle Earth to D&D AUs to your favorite high fantasy books you read over and over as a kid. Or maybe you have your own spell to weave.

Band/Musicians -- Whether you decide to make the characters in your AU famous pop stars, part of an orchestra, students at a conservatory, jamming together in their garage, or otherwise musically-inclined, have fun with it!

Cosmic Horror -- You don't have to love Lovecraft to get creative with this AU. Make characters comprehend the incomprehensible, send them messages from beyond the stars, and get a little creepy.

Space Opera -- The genre encompassing works like The Expanse, Imperial Radch, Mass Effect, and Star Wars, brimming with galactic empires, alien species, and chivalric adventures. Write a fusion set in the universe of your favorite work in the genre, or invent a new one!

Sports/Athletics -- Pick a sport, any sport -- whether a team game like hockey, an individual one like archery, a paired one like figure skating, or something a little unconventional, like roller derby or HEMA. Then it's ready, set, write!

Historical Era -- An AU type absolutely bursting with potential, from medieval romances to 1920s Prohibition AUs, to ones inspired by historical fiction like Les Miserables. Whatever era of history strikes your fancy, you can write it.

Space Exploration -- Whether you want to write modern-day astronauts, a futuristic Star Trek AU, or something inspired by the space race, the sky isn't even the limit with this AU!

Urban Fantasy -- For all your modern-with-magic settings. Write an AU inspired by something like Teen Wolf, Artemis Fowl, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, or Rivers of London, or invent your own world where witches and websites coexist.

Library/Archives -- What secrets are hiding in the stacks? Whether it's some kind of ancient evil or just some mis-shelved books, a librarian's work is never done so long as there are materials to catalog and patrons to assist.

Camping/Wilderness Survival -- Could be anything from a fun summer camp or camping trip to a nightmare survival scenario. Write everyone having s'mores around the campfire or something inspired by media like Yellowjackets, where they might be having... something else.

Steampunk -- A fantastic opportunity to get creative with your worldbuilding. Try your hand at some alternate history, or invent a world of airships and other flying machines of your very own.

Shapeshifter -- Can the characters in this AU turn into anything they want? Or maybe they're more limited, like selkies -- even unable to control their shapeshifting at all (can I get an "awoo" from the werewolf fans?)

Classic Literature -- An AU somewhat more dependent on fusion ideas, but still very flexible! Pick a favorite classic book or play and let it inspire your writing!

Dystopian -- Create your own awful society or let a favorite piece of media guide you, like writing a Hunger Games AU. Will the characters break the cycle, or end up trapped in it?

Scientist/Mad Science -- Write characters as normal biologists, physicists, chemists, the next Frankenstein, or as hapless experiments themselves!

Mecha -- Giant fighting robots, what's better than this? Opt for a classic Pacific Rim AU, one based off your favorite anime, or something of your own creation.

Medical/Hospital -- Are the characters working there, or the victims of some unfortunate accident? Or maybe it's a bit of both. Take it wherever you feel like.

College/Academia -- Are the characters in your AU students? Professors? Weary adjunct? Throwing hands at a conference? Some mix of the above?

Stage Performance -- Theater, ballet, stage magic, circus performers -- there's no end to the possibilities for this AU. But whatever you choose, the show must go on!

Fusion -- Mix your chosen fandom with another of your favorites! Perfect for classics Daemon AUs, or for newer popular choices like Severance. The choice is entirely up to you!

Mystery/Detective -- Whether you're writing the world's greatest detective or some meddling kids, play up the mystery! Use a classic locale like 221B Baker Street, or invent your own.

Archaeologist -- Send your characters to work at a dig or a museum, or possibly toss in a little extra adventure, Indiana Jones style. Or maybe you just want to nerd out about pot sherds.

Heist -- Will you write a story about master thieves? Vigilantes righting some wrong? What's being stolen and why? Try a Leverage AU, or a caper of your own making.

[thydungeongal]

Hey, so what’s your opinion on “system-agnostic” modules?

I think they work best as a starting point for GMs, because ultimately the game system you end up running a module in will invariably end up affecting how the module itself runs. As such, with system-agnostic modules more than anything designers really shouldn't try to present a neat progression of scenes that the characters can be expected to go through regardless of system, but instead a situation with multiple ways to approach it.

Like, the reason it's kind of popular to present an "adventure" in modern D&D and similar games as a sequence of challenges that the characters can be expected to get through, the main variable being "how many resources do the characters expend," is because D&D is ultimately a game where challenge is the main gameplay and things are skewed in favor of the player characters. If you however tried to run a Mythras group through a D&D 5e adventure, even if you somehow managed to convert the stats so they're fair approximations of the original stats in Mythras, it would still result in heavily different gameplay because Mythras is very different from D&D (despite them both being very trad!).

So yeah, system-agnostic modules if anything require the designer to be more aware of all the various gleeblors they are operating under. Are you assuming a baseline of competence that is only true in a very specific type of game? Are you assuming that characters will have access to verbs which are in fact not universal? Are you assuming that the characters will be working together? All of this and more is important stuff to think about and make explicit in the text!

So yeah, none of this is to say that you shouldn't write a system agnostic module, but if you do you REALLY have to remember that you are not writing a story: the story is what HAPPENS in the game, and you as a module writer cannot write a progression of events that will be unaffected by the game system, because the game system is an active participant in creating the story. What you can and should write is a setup, a starting situation, with lots of room for the story to emerge from the empty space.

[accirax]

Meta Voting, Milgram, and Why You Should Inno Sweep Trial 3

One thing that I've always admired about MILGRAM is how clearly and frequently the series reiterates that you can vote whichever way you like for whatever reasons you like. A genuine judgment of the crime, an attempt to reach a "happy ending," what most benefits your fave, a ritual to get concert tickets-- as Jackalope says, all of these are equally valid ways to participate in the MILGRAM project. The anything-goes policy makes it really easy to introduce the series to new people, as you can assure them that there's no "wrong" way to vote. Everything is open for discussion, as the project itself refuses to railroad you towards one conclusion or another.

... So, with that philosophy as the project's baseline, why have Deco and Yamanaka tried to stop us from voting everyone innocent in Trial 3?

Many people in the MILGRAM fandom have seen and internalized the message from Yamanaka that "if we vote everyone innocent in Trial 3, they'll show us hell." However, I've begun to question whether this is advice we're really meant to follow.

As most MILGRAM fans already know, the MILGRAM project is based off of the real-life experiments performed by Stanley Milgram in 1961. In it, real college students were brought in to perform in an experiment alongside (unbeknownst to them) actors. All of the students were assigned the role of "teachers," and all of the actors were assigned the role of "learners." The learners were brought into an interrogation room, where they were hooked up to (fake) electric torture devices operated by the teachers. The "experimenters" (the scientists running the study) would tell the teachers to continuously shock the learners any time they failed to correctly repeat memorized content, with the punishments getting more and more drastic with each failure. In reality, the experiment attempted to test how much a person would be willing to hurt others while under the instruction of someone seemingly knew better. The results of Stanley Milgram's study showed that the teachers became very willing to hurt other people because someone told them to do so.

MILGRAM recreates this setup with its characters. Our ten prisoners are the learners, and while they aren't actors, their fictional nature fulfills the same purpose as the actors, making it so that no one is really being harmed through the results of our votes. Jackalope is the experimenter, because he's the one telling us to cast the votes, while Es is the teacher, as the person following instructions with very little context. Or at least, this is what the project wants us to believe.

In MILGRAM, it's pretty clear that, while Es is a person in their own right, they're also the stand-in for us as the audience. Obviously, we as real-life people are the ones actually casting the votes for who's innocent and who's guilty on the MILGRAM website and app. But that meta aspect of the project is also directly referred to within the project itself, as Es struggles with their identity as a person instead of a thought collective in many of the audio dramas. Therefore, in relation to the Milgram experiment, I would argue that we, the viewers are the equivalent to the Milgram experiment's "teachers," not Es. They're more so, like, the button that's being pressed.

However, if we're willing to accept that Es as their own entity isn't really the one being tested by the voting system, then I think we need to consider whether Jackalope as his own entity is really the one who's testing us with the voting system. Us viewers aren't really being jerked around and told to vote by the cartoon rabbit himself; we're being told to participate in the show's direction via our votes by the real-life creators of the project, Deco and Yamanaka. Thus, Jackalope is not the experimenter in this metaphor, Deco and Yamanaka are. And these experimenters have only given us one steadfast rule: "don't vote everyone innocent in Trial 3.

Hurt these characters because we told you to do so."

If the teachers in the real Milgram project wanted to "beat" the system, they needed to take a stand for themselves and say that enough was enough, refusing to administer lethal electric shocks to the learners. While Jackalope hasn't really told us to do anything, Deco and Yamanaka have. Therefore, I theorize that if we want to "beat" MILGRAM and get the best possible ending, we have to vote all of the characters innocent in the third trial. While refusing to pass verdicts by giving everyone an even 50:50 would probably be even better, the odds of that happening are basically impossible, so to the extent that MILGRAM was built with a win condition in mind, I think this has to be it.

While it might seem scary to directly defy authority in that way, deciding against defying authority was exactly how the Milgram experiment's teachers failed the test of kindness that was put before them. Not to mention, choosing forgiveness seems to fit with the question Undercover posits of whether it's really okay to judge/punish someone based merely on your own opinion, and an interview I saw once (but couldn't find again, sorry) where Yamanaka said that one of his goals with Milgram was to get his audience to think harder about so-called "villains" they might see on the news or the internet, and what circumstances might have led them into that situation.

As someone who self-identifies as a meta voter in MILGRAM, it's my belief that the heart of meta voting has always been an attempt to help everyone. We didn't vote Amane guilty in T1 or Muu guilty in T2 because we hated them, but because we thought that telling Amane that the methodology of her church was wrong and reeling back Muu's blame-shifting would be the best thing for their personal growth. Even if we were seemingly very, very wrong about what was best in some circumstances, every choice was made in an attempted act of love.

For any fellow meta-voters who feel the same (or non-meta voters who are willing to dip their toes into voting meta-textually for the sake of the characters' happiness), I encourage you to vote everyone innocent in Trial 3, as I believe it's the most likely path to the happiest ending we have available to us. It's scary to throw the prisoners we've tried so hard to protect directly into the line of fire of something we've been told is "hell," but hopefully this little essay has managed to convince you that that "hell" might just be a false premise designed to keep us in line.

Thank you for reading, and here's to a non-soul-crushing T3~!

[seaglassmelody]

Thursday (Friday) Bangers

What a cool idea, @woundedsoul12! Excited to give it a try, thanks to the tag from @thedissonantverses!

If I understand, the rules are to write a blurb based on the lyric prompt (does not have to incorporate the lyrics though!)

This week's is from Fall Out Boy's The Last of the Real Ones

I wonder if your therapist knows everything about me.

I decided to dabble a little into Sabriel's backstory- to establish that she's been at the "solving people's personal problems" game for a lot longer than she's been helping out the Veilguard.

Tagging @mythals-whore, @awardenandacrow, and @operative-arrow if you guys wanna try!

(Had to make up a bunch of random characters for this so welcome to The Cohort of Mourn Watch Class of Dragon 9:40-something)

----

"Saaaabi-!"

Sabriel glanced up from her thesis draft, looking alarmed. "Miriam, we're in the library!" She hissed. "I need this table, don't get me kicked out!"

Miriam's face crumpled as her eyes started to well up with tears. Sabriel sighed and gestured for her friend to take the seat next to her.

Honestly. She told everyone she was busy, but she couldn't just leave a crying girl to suffer, right?

"Now, what's wrong?" Sabriel asked in a gentle tone, turning to face her friend.

"It's…" Miriam sniffled, "It's Alfonse…He- He's been ignoring me for days now!"

Sabriel frowned. That seemed unusual. Alfonse was usually fairly happy-go-lucky and rarely got angry at anyone, let alone his…lover? Best friend? Partner in crime? She honestly didn't know exactly what their relationship was, but he and Miriam were close.

"Did something happen? I know there was that little…unapproved excursion into the tombs last we-"

"Shh!!" Miriam hit Sabriel's arm frantically. "Not so loud! No one's supposed to know about that!"

Sabriel rolled her eyes. Everyone knew about the group of apprentices that wanted to see if they could find where the Necropolis had hidden the chambers of the lich lords- to attempt it was basically a rite of passage in the Watch at this point.

"Didn't they get caught?"

Miriam shook her head furiously. "Only a couple of them did, including Al-" She gasped suddenly, "What if he's mad at me because I abandoned him when they got caught…?!" She was attempting to whisper but the effort combined with the emotion in her voice was clearly straining her throat.

Sabriel hummed thoughtfully. "If anything I'd assume he's probably trying to act like you guys aren't very close because he's trying to keep your participation from coming to light. He's much more of a protective type, you know?"

Miriam's eyes shone with tears again. "You really think so…?"

Sabriel patted her arm consolingly. "Alfonse has always been an honest sort, Miriam. Remember that big fight he got in at dinner that one night because Bernhardt stole his paper topic?"

"Oh that was so bad…they had to write three extra papers because of it…"

"Exactly." Sabriel nodded, "And Bernhardt is his best friend and now they get along famously again. So I'm sure you two will be fine."

Miriam sniffled once more and wiped the tears from her eyes. "You really know a lot about everyone, huh Sabi?"

Sabriel pulled a handkerchief from her bag and offered it to the other girl with a smile. "Only what people tell me. They just…like to tell me a lot, I guess!"

Miriam laughed a little, dabbing her eyes with the handkerchief. "I'll get this cleaned for you. A-and let you get back to your thesis. Thanks Sabi, you're the best."

Sabriel waved goodbye to her friend then turned back to her thesis with a sigh. Maybe she should make it about Necropolis gossip instead…

[homestuckreplay]

chumhandle etymology pt.3

Today on Rose and Dave's computer we saw the presumably final seven of the twelve trolls - Jade has counted twelve (p.1000), and between the twelve trolls and four kids all two-letter combinations of A, T, C and G are represented. These are the letters representing DNA bases in both real-world DNA sequencing and in ectobiology, as practiced imperfectly by Rose and her mom (p.934)

I wrote about the beta kids' chumhandles here, and the first five trolls (CG, AG, TA, TC, CA) here - now here's a quick overview of the rest of the set.

gallowsCalibrator [GC] – execution by hanging, or the structure made for it, and an instrument used as a reference to check that similar instruments perform accurately, or the person operating that instrument. So this is the person who ensures the gallows are used correctly, a real middle manager who doesn’t order or carry out executions themself, but enables them still. Possibly like a Jack Noir or a level below him.

arsenicCatnip [AC] – a toxic heavy metal used in car batteries, bullets, semiconductors and pesticides/herbicides, and a plant related to mint that is loved by many cats, or colloquially anything that is irresistible to someone. This evokes environmental destruction, Famine in the horsemen of the apocalypse, or more generally someone who is trying to kill or make toxic things that are enjoyed.

cuttlefishCuller [CC] – a shallow water squidlike mollusc among the most intelligent invertebrates that was once valued for its brown pigment, and a person who kills animals for population control or to eliminate rejects. This is a ruthless person who believes in survival of the fittest and their own intellectual superiority, and only cares about other creatures in terms of what they can personally gain.

centaursTesticle [CT] – a mythical creature with the upper body of a man and the lower body of a horse, also a small solar system body between Jupiter and Neptune, and a reproductive organ in male mammals. Someone who is obsessed with physical strength and prowess, has likely internalized toxic masculinity, perhaps the sort of gym bro who takes questionable supplements to increase muscle mass. Does not seem like a super online person, so this one is surprising. Also my initials are CT and I can’t believe this is the character I got.

grimAuxiliatrix [GA] – serious, foreboding or gloomy, and Latin for a female assistant or helper. This is someone in a service role who either takes their job very seriously, or their job itself involves working with dark and forbidding forces, like the person who translates the melodious chirps and tongue-clicks of NRUB'YIGLITH, SHAMEBEAST KING OF GROTESQUERY, WRITHE-LORD OF THE MOIST BEYONDHOOD (p.303) to the general public.

apocalypseArisen [AA] – the final destruction of the world or a world-altering event capable of causing this, and something that has begun to occur, become apparent, or gotten out of bed. This one is the most passive of all the handles (alongside twinArmageddons) and basically says ‘the end of the world is about to happen, or is happening now’ which it’s hard to argue with based on the story so far. Could be a highly religious person who sees themself as an agent, prophet or herald of a higher power.

adiosToreador [AT] – Spanish for goodbye, and a participant or performer in a bullfight. This person knows five words of Spanish and thinks they’re really cool because of it. They also see themselves as the bull in the bullfight, a more raw and animal strength instead of the fighter’s honed technique, and are probably a counterpart or rival to centaursTesticle.

Much like the first five, all of these names have negative connotations, although these vary between physical pain, disease and toxicity, dark bureaucracy, and cosmic-scale catastrophe. These are definitely names chosen to be hostile or intimidating, it just doesn’t work well on Rose and Dave who are plenty capable of appearing hostile and intimidating by themselves. But for people more susceptible to being trolled, these chumhandles definitely feed into the abrasive personas these kids(?) are crafting.

[t00thpasteface]

Just thought I’d tell ya that i came to your blog for all the Stabby bois (Ezio, Lucien- Ect) and Oblivion love— and then i stuck around for the M.A.S.H. - and since im strange i am trapped in the wondering limbo of your thoughts on Crossovers? And if you’ve ever considered what would happen if it happened between M.A.S.H. and literally any other fandoms??

(Not of course because i’ve looked up Assassin’s Creed/M.A.S.H crossovers before and found nothing but the gnawing desire to hunt down anyone who may have thoughts on it- no siree definitely not me- totally)

I've never really been one for crossovers, personally, at least as actual explorations of fused/swapped settings. The most I ever really care to see is Pokemon teams or Animal Crossing fursonas for whatever other random thing I like, and that's really just eye candy without thinking too hard about any narrative.

I'm very hesitant to do genuine MASH crossovers with anything, or shift the setting into AU territory, because I feel like introducing too many extraneous elements cheapens the message.

Under all the satire and farces, the meat of the show is that war is manmade, gruesome, and pointless. Once you start cross-contaminating MASH's ultimately very grounded historical fiction with the lore of things like Assassin's Creed, where alien-gods created humans and made special artifacts to mind-control them, MASH gains very little and loses a lot. The human element of war, cruelty, and bigotry is blurred or entirely lost in the face of fantastical fictitious concepts like alien mind control, genetically inherited memories, etc., because it provides alternate explanations for the core conflict (the war and the existence of war), thus cheapening the central pillar of MASH.

Note: yes, the show has a couple nods here and there to some degree of metaphysics, like Radar reading Hawkeye's mind in one episode or Mulcahy willing a patient back from death's door in another, but these are not loadbearing concepts and those individual scenes have little bearing on the setting as a whole and the logic it operates on; you could excise those brief scenes and never feel their absence in the narrative(s) the same way you would if you cut out any scene involving the Apple of Eden in AC II.

Because even on a deeper level, besides just a setting and its rules and logic, there's also the issue of crossing-over MASH with things that have an oppositional message. Again using AC, even if the games had absolutely none of the crazy alien sci-fi going on and it was just about following Ezio Auditore's adventures in slaughtering noblemen and beating the shit out of the Borgias, the tone and arcs of that story, and the other main historical stories in the series, is ultimately that of a power fantasy, because that's what the games are designed from the ground-up to be. Crossing-over MASH with another work of realistic historical fiction that still doesn't meet its message— a movie or a book or something where patriotism is a good thing and America represents some noble ideal— would undermine MASH just the same way as adding aliens or vampires or timeloop-magic would.

If I absolutely gun-to-my-head had to make a MASH crossover with some other work of fiction that I like, it would be Catch-22. To be fair, the book is far more absurdist (one character is literally named Major Major Major Major), but it's grounded in the very real horrors of war and the senselessness of human cruelty on both a societal and a personal scale. Yossarian witnesses, and participates in, a very real kind of death and violence. No acrobatics, no magic: just raw murder and suicide. There's no glory in it. There's no magazine-worthy photos of men wading ashore onto a beach or leaning on each other to plant a flag. There's just a bunch of officers and businessmen all trying to make some numbers go up at literally any cost.

Of course, to have Yossarian and the chaplain anywhere near the 4077th means they'd have to be forced back into a warzone, and I don't think they could survive that, so... you probably won't see any MASH-22 fics from me any time soon.

[scottsummersevents]

Valentine's Day Bingo Mini-Event 2025

Now that we have cleared away the snow and Yule trees and wrapping paper from the Secret Santa Gift Exchange, we are ready to embrace a whole new year of prompts and mini-events! The first being for February (yes, our cards are coming out early this year!) and Valentine's Day! Who is ready to create a little love for all our favorite characters and ships? You don't have to be signed up for our regular bingo event to take part in this, and you don't have to belong to our Discord group to have fun with these prompts (though you really should join to have fun discussions with the rest of us - we don't bite, promise! *unless asked).

Event Rules

Please no character/ship bashing! Also, no kink shaming on other’s work! This is a place where we encourage people to feel safe in their creativity. If you don’t like something someone creates then try to follow the rule “Don’t Like, Don’t Read/Comment/Etc”. We want this to be a friendly zone for everyone to feel included so please keep that in mind. We want you to create and explore, but be sure to be mindful of your other Marvel loving fans because we want everyone to have a good time!

While we understand that everyone has their own thing that inspires them, we ask that your fills do not contain incest, underage (under 18), rape/non-con or any bestiality themes. If you have any questions about this rule, please feel free to contact us so we can clear up anything for you.

Any fan works that you have made are allowed to be in this event. This Bingo is not just limited to writing and drawing, so if you have something else that inspires you, let your mind roam free and create!

When making a fill be sure to label it accordingly. Warnings are important to readers so if you think you might need one please include it!

In this bingo event we want everyone to have fun, but for safety purposes we want this event to be for those 18+. We encourage authors and artists of all ages to keep creating, but for this event we’d like to keep it adults only. Thank you so much for respecting that and we appreciate your interest moving forward! We are operating on an honor system as we can’t check everyone’s age, so please be respectful in moving forward in signing up.

Bingo and Badges

This event will run through the month of February and we intend for it to be a fun, low pressure event. We want to see how creative you can be so for this event with the cards you can choose from one of the pre-made cards listed below and have fun creating. You can pick ANY of the cards below that inspire you (or more than one if you like), but to qualify for a bingo you must have 4 fills. Other badge information is listed below.

Because these cards are a little different than the normal cards, to get a bingo and be eligible for a Valentine's bingo badge, you have to complete four square prompts. That's it for this one as it is a smaller card. Anyone who does 1 fill can get a Valentine's badge of participation. Anyone who fills out an entire card can also qualify for an event cover all badge as well.

Fills

When you are making fills for the event please be sure to add share them in the ⁠special-events-fills channel (in Discord) with others. When making posts on Tumblr be sure to @ us at @scottsummersevents so we can reblog your posts there too. There will be an AO3 collection for this set up, which we will post as soon as it's set up and ready to go, so be watching for that!

If you have any further questions about the event don't be afraid to reach out and ask us in the ⁠ask-a-mod section (Discord) or send us an Ask here as we're always here to help!

We hope you all have a lot of fun with this mini-event and we look forward to seeing what you come up with! Enjoy!

The Bingo Cards

Please choose any one of the following cards for your selection. All members have the same choices of the 9 cards below as it is open to whatever participants want to choose for this event! You'll see that there are three NSFW cards, three SFW cards, and three that are geared toward the artists among us! Have fun and happy creating!

NSFW #1

NSFW #2

NSFW #3

SFW #1

SFW #2

SFW #3

ARTIST #1

ARTIST #2

ARTIST #3

[pumpkinmetaphor]

I read a post a week or so ago but Tumblr refreshed and ate it on me. But the jist of it was something along the lines of Kyoya not being motivated by romance. And I think that's so correct BUT I would push it a little further and say it's not just that Kyoya's arc is unromantic and he's motivated by factors other than romantic love. I think...most characters are. Ouran is fundamentally a bit of a bait and switch when it comes to romance. It's supposedly a rom-com; where no one's arcs have much to do with love.

The love triangle doesn't significantly come into play until about half way through the manga. I made a post before about the primary character motivations being friendship, family, and freedom. I stand by that! Because sure, people are in love in Ouran. Hikaru loves Haruhi, Haruhi loves Tamaki, Tamaki loves Haruhi, there's other stuff happening lmao. But all of these "loves" can also be read through the frame of friendship, family, and freedom.

Family and friendship is SO important to Tamaki that he's willing to operate entirely in the delusion that his love for Haruhi is familial. Hikaru's realisation that he's in love with Haruhi is framed entirely by the breakdown of his familial relationship with Kaoru, and then as it develops past that Hikaru spends half of his narrative time crying over possibly ruining his friendship with Tamaki. So much of Haruhi's arc is realising that she actually cares about these guys, she has been consumed by their found family, and they are genuinely her friends. Her crush on Tamaki is there, but her actions towards the end of the manga (AND ANIME) are because she loves the host club as a unit, and they can't be a family without Tamaki. Ouran the anime, classically ending with no kiss kiss fall in love but instead the heartfelt declaration that Haruhi LOVES the host club, they all do!

Back to Kyoya- of course Kyoya isn't motivated by romance. I can't think of a less romantic guy. But, like every other character, he's motivated by family, friendship, and freedom. And like every other character, these elements come into conflict. So I think that actually makes Kyoya a hysterical rom-com protagonist. Completely unwilling to be there, adamantly refusing to participate in the asinine qualities of a rom-com, refusal to even accept that this might be the genre he's stuck with. He deserves his corporate BBC drama! He deserves a CBS procedural about international trade! But he's got terminal side character syndrome so he's stuck in this rom-com with these other gay losers!

(cough) Anyway. I don't think Kyoya would ever do anything for love. But he doesn't have to because Ouran is a series where everyone does everything in the name of friendship, family, and freedom. And Kyoya would do absolutely nothing for love, but he would do it for his friends, he would do it for family, and he certainly would do it for freedom.

(And technically, if you're in love with your friend, it's tearing the closest thing to a real family you've ever had apart, and this game doesn't feel like winning your freedom any more; well maybe that's motivating enough without love ever really coming into it. Who said that.)

[au-roulette]

Happy June!

To celebrate the fact that we are now officially one month away from the start of AU Roulette, have a post detailing the 36 AUs included in this year's challenge -- or don't, if you'd rather be surprised.

This year's AUs have been curated to be intentionally broad, in the hopes that they will encourage unique takes on each prompt and the creativity of the authors participating. You are welcome to write anything that falls under the umbrella of your assigned AUs, whether it's an original universe, a fusion inspired by another fandom, or something else entirely.

(What's AU Roulette, some of you might be asking? An explanation can be found here, along with the link to sign-up!)

Without further ado -- the AU list, under a cut:

Roleswap - Maybe you want to switch two characters' places, do a class-swap for a D&D fandom, try your hand at an age-swap fic, or you have another idea.

Superhero -- Invent an original universe or do a fusion with one of the many popular big-screen superhero stories. Play it straight and give your favorite characters cool powers, or try a deconstruction of the genre. With great AUs comes great responsibility

Gothic Horror -- Castles. Ghosts. Vampires. Drama. Love that conquers Death. Take your inspiration from classic literature or a newer entry in the genre, like The Locked Tomb books. But be sure to make things spooky.

Post-Apocalypse -- Will the world end in fire or in ice? Or maybe economic collapse, war, zombies, or one of many other options? You write what happens next!

Fairy-Tale -- Pick a classic tale from the Grimms, Hans Christian Andersen, Asbjørnsen & Moe, Charles Perrault, or another favorite author to inspire your AU, try out a more modern re-telling, or use fairy-tale elements to craft your own story.

High Seas -- Including but not limited to Pirate AUs and other Age of Sail adventures. Try out something more historical, or throw in as many fantasy elements as you'd like -- or a bit of both.

Time Travel -- For fixing mistakes, making things worse, or time loops. Or maybe you want to write a fusion inspired by a piece of popular time travel media, like Doctor Who.

Western -- Another AU where writers are free to do their history research or to lean into more outlandish genre conventions. Cowboys, cowgirls, and cowpokes all welcome, of course.

Mythology -- Write a story inspired by your favorite myths and legends, from a whole host of different cultures. Or maybe you'd like to try your hand at writing some epic poetry?

Coffee Shop -- A classic everyone knows and has strong feelings about. Play it straight or add a twist, whichever suits your fancy! After all, no one said where the coffee shop has to be...

College/Academia -- Are the characters in your AU students? Professors? Weary adjuncts? Throwing hands at a conference? Some mix of the above?

Theater -- Put those characters on Broadway or cast them in a disaster of a community theater production. Or a school play! All that really matters is the show must go on.

Ghost/Cryptid Hunters -- Maybe you want to write a story starring the next Scooby-Doo crew, or maybe there really is something strange in the neighborhood. Or maybe it'll never be clear what really happened -- it's your choice!

Secret Agent -- Code words, code names, you name it. Write a story about spies, cryptographers, or any other clandestine operators. Take inspiration from history or from James Bond. Just don't spill your secrets too soon.

Detective -- Whether you're writing the world's greatest detective or someone who just can't get a clue, play up the mystery! Use a classic locale like 221B Baker Street or invent your own.

Cyberpunk -- Time to write cyborg identity crises and fight the machine (literally)! Take inspiration from classic media like Neuromancer or Blade Runner or make a totally new cyberpunk universe of your own creation.

High Fantasy -- Elves and dwarves and gnomes, oh my! This AU could encompass everything from Middle Earth to D&D AUs to your favorite high fantasy books you read over and over as a kid. Or maybe you have your own spell to weave.

Band/Musicians -- Whether you decide to make the characters in your AU famous pop stars, part of an orchestra, students at a conservatory, jamming together in their garage, or otherwise musically-inclined, have fun with it!

Reporter/Journalist -- For everything from local anchors and newspaper staff to big-league investigative reporters. Write characters who'll do anything to get a scoop or with a strong sense of justice -- it's your call!

Cosmic Horror -- You don't have to love Lovecraft to get creative with this AU. Make characters comprehend the incomprehensible, send them messages from beyond the stars, and get a little creepy.

Heist -- Will you write a story about master thieves? Vigilantes righting some wrong? What's being stolen and why? Try a Leverage AU or a caper of your own making.

Space Opera -- The genre encompassing works like The Expanse, Imperial Radch, Mass Effect, and Star Wars, brimming with galactic empires, alien species, and chivalric adventures. Write a fusion set in the universe of your favorite work in the genre, or invent a new one!

Sports/Athletics -- Pick a sport, any sport -- whether a team game like hockey, an individual one like archery, a paired one like figure skating, or something a little unconventional, like roller derby or HEMA. Then it's ready, set, write!

Historical Era -- An AU type absolutely bursting with potential, from medieval romances to 1920s Prohibition AUs, to ones inspired by historical fiction like Les Miserables. Whatever era of history strikes your fancy, you can write it.

Road Trip -- Pack your favorite characters in a car and don't forget the snacks. Or maybe the spaceship, or something else if you're feeling adventurous. Where are they headed and why? Only you know the answer!

Space Exploration -- Whether you want to write modern-day astronauts, a futuristic Star Trek AU, or something inspired by the space race, the sky isn't even the limit with this AU.

Urban Fantasy -- For all your modern-with-magic settings. Write an AU inspired by something like Teen Wolf, Artemis Fowl, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, or much of Neil Gaiman's oeuvre, or invent your own world where witches and websites coexist.

Museum/Archives -- Have the characters in your AU working in the exhibits or behind the scenes, down in the collections or even as archaeologists or paleontologists. What secrets are waiting to be unearthed there?

Hospital -- A surprisingly flexible AU option -- are the characters working there, or the victims of some unfortunate accident? Or maybe it's a bit of both. Take it wherever you feel like.

Camping/Wilderness Survival -- Could be anything from a fun summer camp or camping trip to a nightmare survival scenario. Write everyone having s'mores around the campfire or something inspired by media like Yellowjackets, where they might be having... something else.

Steampunk -- A fantastic opportunity to get creative with your worldbuilding. Try your hand at some alternate history, or invent a world of airships and other flying machines of your very own.

Shapeshifter -- Can the characters in this AU turn into anything they want? Or maybe they're more limited, like selkies -- even unable to control their shapeshifting at all (can I get an "awoo" from the werewolf fans?)

Classic Literature -- An AU somewhat more dependent on fusion ideas, but still very flexible! Pick a favorite classic book or play and let it inspire your writing!

Dystopian -- Create your own awful society or let a favorite piece of media guide you, like writing a Hunger Games AU. Will the characters break the cycle, or end up trapped in it?

Renaissance Faire -- A recipe for chaos. Write a bunch or faire-goers or have the characters in your AU working at the faire! Adventures await.

Scientist/Mad Science -- Write characters as normal biologists, physicists, and chemists, the next Frankenstein, or as hapless experiments themselves!

[tangents-within-tangents]

The thing about the "Clone Rebellion" show

I've become a lot more critical of The Bad Batch lately and I think I realized that’s because it’s over. 

That means that 1. I can look back on the whole show retrospectively, and 2. any issues or hopes I had no longer have a chance to be addressed or resolved.

I realized I’ve been very caught up in thinking about the missed potential of the show, and a lot of my disappointment/frustration with the direction TBB took (esp in regards to the "reg" clones) is coming from the fact that a Clone Rebellion show does not exist to make up for it. For now this is all we have, and it’s hard for me to just accept TBB for what it is, because I at least have been operating under the assumption that this is all we're going to get, that this fabled spin-off show is just not going to happen. 

Because here’s the thing: We all kinda talk about it as if it's a given, a not if but when, but as far as I can tell the concept came entirely from the fans. Just speculation and wish-fulfillment. I don’t really keep up with news/interviews/behind the scenes stuff, but I’m pretty sure there have never been any mentions from official sources (y'all freaked out about one animation job listing that could be for literally anything). If there's something I’ve missed let me know, but for now at least there have been no announcements or plans or anything.

The only thing really is that the gaps left in TBB feel like intentional setup (we never got an Echo and Rex solo episode like we did with Crosshair and Cody which feels like they are saving it for something else, Echo’s fate was specifically left open-ended by not mentioning him (for better or for worse) in the epilogue, Emerie joins them at the end setting up for a female character to be in the main cast, etc) but that still doesn’t guarantee that we will ever actually get a show. That feels more like leaving the possibility open, not necessarily making plans. Especially since TBB actually puts any potential Clone Rebellion show in a really weird position:

There's a lot of important clone-relevant stuff going on during TBB (like Order 66, Kamino, the stormtrooper bill, Tantiss) but I doubt they would go back and show that again since it would either be repetitive by rehashing TBB’s timeline, or confusing by relying too much on people having watched another show. Yeah most people probably would have, but that still doesn’t work very well narratively if your important beats are just implied and happening offscreen. Like I would kill to see more of Nemec and Fireball but then they would just disappear after being killed off (for pretty much no reason) in another show! Hemlock and Tantiss base were designed specifically to be clone-centered threats, and the underground network were the ones who actually spent time searching for it, but then they weren’t there for the rescue so there would be no resolution. But if we instead pick up at the end of TBB it seems like most clones have already been phased out of the Empire by then anyway. Yes you could still make things work either way and come up with new plots and stuff but it’s still a tight spot to be in and it doesn’t really feel like the writers took that into account.

Whether we do get another show or not, I think it still had a negative impact on TBB though. Like that show already had a cameo problem, but 'setting up potential future show at the expense of the current one' is such an issue in any media (esp Star Wars and Marvel these days). Since we got pieces of both 'important stuff happening to the clones' and 'fun mercenary adventures with the Batch' rather than just committing to one or the other, or equally to both, it just causes issues for both shows. I’ve been working on a full post about the lost potential, but for now I’ll summarize as:

It hurts TBB bc we get these glimpses of a more meaningful story that our main characters, the ones the show decides to dedicate screen time to, choose not to participate in. It’s like that trope/bad writing thing where the story they mention (Budapest, or like the Cullens' backstories) sounds more interesting than the one they are actually showing us. Like it’s okay that the Batch didn’t take the same route as Echo and Rex, but the route they did take should be of equal or greater importance/intrigue, and it just really wasn’t. It was mostly directionless side quests and that made the characters seem selfish and a lot of the plots feel filler-y because there are so many important things going on elsewhere. 

It's just starting to feel unlikely that we'll get TWO post-RotS "clone-centered" shows, so why waste the one we did get avoiding the more important clone-centered storyline? Why not at the least equally divide the time you did have between the Batch and Echo and Rex? Why make an ensemble show if you're not going to try to actually balance all the characters? Why bring back a fan favorite clone just to push him to the sidelines and ignore all his potential? Why focus on the "clones" who aren't affected by/don't care about clone issues?

Believe me, I still want a show focusing on Rex and Echo's efforts to save the clones (I just wish it was the show we got in the first place)! I genuinely hope that we will get this show someday, not just because I love clones and this concept, but because I really see a need for it, there's a lot of gaps and potential to be filled there (which is also why I'm okay waiting bc frankly I don't trust the current state of Star Wars writers to properly handle that potential). But I’m treating it with a more “not until proven otherwise” approach (because we all know what happens when we get our hopes up lolll). So for now this is what we have, and unless that changes, I think we should treat it as such.

A lot of times when I see people mention the idea of a new show it's as a way to fix any issues within TBB. Like ‘this wasn’t resolved that well, maybe in the clone rebellion show…’ ‘Maybe Tech could still come back in the clone rebellion show’ ‘Maybe Crosshair’s character arc could be more complete…’ etc. But again we don’t know for sure if there ever will be another show, and even if there is, TBB should be able to stand on its own. There are some things I think another show could do (like address the plot hole of why the Empire never came back to Pabu, or actually doing something with the CX troopers) but narratively it does not work for major plot arcs or character development like that to be resolved elsewhere (like how a major Mandalorian plot point happened in the middle of TBOBF???). If we do get a Clone Rebellion show I don't think it would make much sense for the Batch to play much of a role in it. TBB ended with a clear send off for those characters, whether that was fully satisfying to you or not, that was the narrative intention. The Batch could show up as cameos, but this wouldn’t be their story anymore, and we know it couldn’t be because they were very intent on retiring and clearly never cared much about the regs or Empire so why would they suddenly change their minds?

A Tech lives plotline would have to be centered on the Batch, that’s his family, but that would just be really out of place in a separate show, especially post-finale (which confirmed that Tech did not come back in canon (at least until Omega joins the rebellion, if you want to be nitpicky ig)). There always could be ways to make it work anyway if you really wanted to, but we saw what retcon battles did to the Sequel Trilogy, and it still wouldn’t really fix any problems in TBB as a show. I’ve said it before, but if the writers were going to bring Tech back then they simply would/should have (they knew season 3 was the final season and they had plenty of time which they spent fighting space gators and whatnot instead).

I'm not saying this to spoil the fun or like dash anyone's hopes or anything. I don't actually know any more than anyone else, I have no impact on what Disney and Lucasfilm do (and clearly they don't really care about making narratively functional choices anyway, get roasted). For all I know this post could age horribly. I just had some thoughts to get off my chest, because I think it’s unproductive to judge TBB based on the idea of an unconfirmed potential other show--that does not (yet?) exist and wouldn't be about them--instead of looking at it for what it is. 

TBB is over. Canon happened, what we have is what we got. We can love it and hate it and critique it and write our au’s and fix-its, but I really think that it’s done. We have to make space for endings, that's an important part of storytelling (which is also why they need to be well-written but whatever). And we also have to make space for other stories to be told. The Batch had their show, they spent the screen time they had on what they did. Those characters got their time and they got a happy ending wrap up, and now it's (hopefully) time to let some other clones take the spotlight.

[caligvlasaqvarivm]

Rogue of space OC would??? I think they'd just be able to teleport anything that Exists, so kinda like the opposite of Roxy??? But your thoughts on it?

class = character arc and aspect = fundamental personality traits.

Rogues are actually really fun to talk about because they're the one class whose powerset is about using the opposite Aspect!

So to understand the Rogue powerset, let's first look at how a Thief operates, using Vriska as an example. Vriska conceptualizes Light as "luck," so when she uses her classpect abilities, it's to steal luck from others. This leaves her victim in a deficit of her Aspect - in game turns, it's a debuff. I believe we see this in action in Alterniabound, where she steals the luck of an underling, and its newfound unluckiness makes it go plummeting into the earth.

Thieves are an Active Class, meaning they exploit their Aspect for themselves, so this makes sense for the Class that steals. But Rogues are a Passive Class, meaning they allow their Aspect to be used by others, so what does it mean when they steal?

Well, let's take a look at Roxy, who's our only Rogue that ever actually saw success with her quest at all. When Roxy steals the Void from something, which she conceptualizes as its nonexistence, it comes into existence and becomes more real. In game terms... it's a buff, though a buff of the opposite quality to her Aspect. Moreover, she's seen doing regular Void-y things - turning invisible/intangible, blacking out her session - meaning Rogues naturally have access to the regular suite of powers implied by their Aspect.

Thus, the way Rogue stealing works is that they can cause their target to exhibit more of the opposite Aspect, rather than simply leaving their target with less of the original Aspect. This gives them incomparable flexibility, as they're the only Class that's able to provoke opposite effects in a non-harmful way.

The problem Rogues have is that this non-traditional side of their powers is basically impossible for them to figure out alone. Rogues are the team's rebels: the common thread linking our three Rogues is their innate desire to buck authority, societal norms, and the status quo. Nepeta is the only Alternian troll who has outright stated that the hemocaste is stupid and shouldn't exist ("what does green blood mean anyway, it doesn't mean anything to me and shouldn't mean anything to anyone else"), and Roxy has a very personal vendetta against the Batterwitch and is seen providing for the carapacian community she grew up in, regardless of their naturally oppressed state. Even Rufioh had shades of this, with his choice to join the Lost Weeaboos rather than participate in a society where he'd be culled, and, as the Summoner, leads the second-largest rebellion Alternia has ever seen, the one that got adults banned from the planet.

However, their rebellion isn't thought out very well. They know they have enemies, but not how to fight them; they know society is injust, but don't know how to fix it. In the same way, while they can often instinctually tap into the more obvious side of their powers, the part that aligns with their Aspect, they generally have no clue how to use their Rogue abilities to their fullest extent, if they even know that that fullest extent exists.

This leads to the Rogue's core conflict: since they don't know how to address the discomfort they feel with society and authority, left unaddressed, they have a tendency to start acting as rebels without a cause - breaking taboos and bucking norms just to discharge this rebellious energy. Rufioh's tendencies in this regard are the most stark: the fucking affair. Not happy in his relationship with Damara, he opts to break the taboo of adultery and cheat with Horuss. Nepeta's death was also a direct result of this poorly-thought-out rebellion; Equius tells her to stay put and stay hidden, and Nepeta deliberately disobeys him, following him in the vents to Gamzee, and leaping out in the open, where he kills her. Even Roxy nearly got Jane severely injured by coding a fake SBURB program to explode her computer.

So the Rogue's core resolution is pretty obvious - they need outside help. Passive Classes are at their best when helping or being helped by others, and many of their character arcs center around others in the same way - Maids need help shaking off the forces controlling them, Bards need help restoring their faith, Sylphs need interventions, etc. - Rogues need teachers, to expand their worldview. They need to be taught politics haha. They need help learning how the puzzle fits together, and from that, what form their rebellion should take. Their abilities are subversive, and so are they as people; societal injustice can't stand in the face of a Rogue, if only they can figure out a battle plan.

Space, meanwhile, is frivolous and permissive by nature. Space is about interconnectivity - cycles like reproduction or recycling, the present moment, and journey over destination, are Space's domain. Thus, its players are distractible, and tend not to sweat the small stuff - they're usually quite silly, and have difficulty bringing full gravitas or seriousness to a situation, because it's easy to lose track of the finer details when you're looking at the big picture. This applies to their interpersonal relationships, too - because they're so unserious, they tend to be very passive, and often struggle with fully asserting themselves. It's very easy for them to end up being doormats, or for them to let things go that they probably shouldn't. At a toxic overabundance of their Aspect, they're space cases - so completely distracted by irrelevant bullshit that they're utterly useless in the here and now. At a dearth of their Aspect, they're demons of poor prioritization, working really hard for all the wrong reasons, chasing down threads that don't really matter.

Jade is probably our most representative example: she's literally introduced as "silly," and the rest of her introduction plays out as a very weird, lighthearted romp of seemingly unconnected events that she's just kind of doing. She has a problem with typing to her friends while asleep, and thus, in an even sillier and more distractable mindset than usual. She also gets harassed by so many shitty guys (Tavros tried flirting with her after killing her grandpa, Karkat forced her to mediate an argument he had with himself, and Davesprite... Davesprite. Eridan, who was just rude and persistent, is actually one of the less bad ones... which is both extremely funny and a HUGE L for the other three dudes on this list), but even after the Tavros thing, was trying to let him down easy.

Kanaya seems to buck this trend, holding long, unreasonable grudges and being more "mature," but let's be real here: Kanaya is also very silly and easily distracted. She gets distracted during her quest to troll the humans by flirting with Rose; she interrupts the story of Doc Scratch's creation to mention that she made Lil' Cal a nice suit; she stops mid-rant to buy blood from Jane, so on and so on. She, too, has trouble asserting herself - she never tells Vriska about her red feelings, it's Rose who has to make the first move (and then Kanaya enables her drinking), and as much as she hates Eridan and mocks him constantly, she's never blocked him and never just told him to go away - in fact, she caves to his demands to make him a wand, and actively entertains his shitty persona, which lead Eridan to believe that he and Kanaya are really good friends (Eridan is not smart).

Porrim doesn't seem to notice all the horrific things happening in her team, and literally got so distracted during her game with her bra-burning rampage that she outright ignored frog breeding - AKA the most important part of the game, what you could maybe even call The Whole Damn Point. She winds up being a very passive member on the team, willing to sleep with anyone and act friendly to everyone, even the assholes who definitely don't deserve it.

And Calliope, too, is victim to this - she downplays and ignores her brother's threats until it's far too late, preferring instead to turn her attention to cosplays and fanfic and shipping. Poor prioritization, and the ability to ignore ugly things brewing, are real problems Space players have.

So the Rogue of Space takes form. This is probably a very silly person - not that they don't take things seriously, but that it's just difficult for them to stay stony-faced and uptight. Because of Space's interconnected nature, they have a bonus towards knowing what the problem is that ails society, but they also have a debuff to knowing how to deal with it for the same reason. They see this complicated, interconnected web of societal, political, and cultural norms that are harmful, and have no idea where to start trying to untangle it. It's very likely that their attempts will be hare-brained and erratic, if not reliant on full moon logic, as they struggle futilely against something that only makes sense to them, with methods that only make sense to them. The Rogue might also dip the other way, and simply begin detaching from the people around them and the important quests assigned to them - Space is naturally distractible and patient, and this will likely be the cause of a Rogue of Space's failure to start.

Moreover, Rogues are reliant on outside forces to help them self-actualize - this also means they're easily influenced by them, and Space, being naturally passive, falls victim to this, too. Sinister agents will have an easy time if not tricking the Rogue of Space, then taking advantage of them somehow, whether via manipulation, coercion, or simply pestering them until they give in. If a Rogue of Space is to rebel in the wrong ways, this will likely be the impetus It's very dangerous for a Rogue of Space especially to veer off-course and start defying orders for the sake of it, because the Space player is responsible for frog breeding.

At their worst, a Rogue of Space has the greatest potential to go totally AWOL, getting so caught up in some irrelevant rebellion that they - like a black hole - pull everyone around them away from the important matters, leveraging Space's interconnectivity for ill, aimless purpose.

But if they ARE able to find clarity and a supportive team, then the good news is, the Rogue of Space already knows what needs fixing - and their powerset is perfect for making sure that the fixing gets done. Not only are they able to use Space to steal their teammates out from sticky situations, or take possession of key items right under the noses of the guards, but they can also steal Space in a way that resembles a buff of Time. The exact form of this theft is heavily dependent on story needs, as Homestuck has a soft magic system, but some examples would be that stealing Space from someone would temporarily unmoor them from physical laws, and shift them to a higher dimension (specifically, the fourth - Time), or remove their distractions, and buff their ability to focus on a single task. They could probably cure cancer by stealing the cells' reproductive qualities, allowing them to die (in a good way). World's your oyster!

But yeah, Rogues are super weird, even Calliope says so. But I think that suits the class of rebels!

[dumbbitchenergy17]

Clan of Three - Chapter 21

Chapter Twenty-One: The Spies

Plot: A Mandalorian, an infant with a history of the jedi, and a teenager with similar powers and a heavy role to bear. Now reunited their journeys across the galaxy are just beginning to complete their final mission.

Word Count: 8K

Pairing: Father Figure!Din Djarin x Platonic!Teen!Reader

Warnings: fighting/violence, injuries, some wholesome moments, father-daughter moments, character death, massive angst, PTSD, just really fucking sad and depressing

------

An evil out in the galaxy, the remnants of a destroyed empire forced to hide in the shadows slowly rebuilding until they can make their return. A man in imperial armor flanked by several soldiers wearing white armor and red sensors. He enters a laboratory full of tanks holding deformed and growing lifeforms, entering a conference chamber that was already going on via holograms.

“The New Republic is vulnerable, but we must be cautious and show no sign of our true strength.” One of the imperial officers states.

“Easy for you to say, Captain. There’s a fortune to be had plundering the hyperspace lanes,” A bald male commander disagrees as the man in the room actually watches the disagreement.

“Commander, your hit-and-run operations are gaining too much notice,” Captain Gilad Pellaeon reminds the commander, “If we are perceived as anything other than a group of unorganized remnant warlords, the New Republic will increase their efforts to hunt us down.”

“There are citizens loyal to the Empire on every planet in this galaxy,” A female officer speaks up, “They’re already getting sick of this New Republic and its rules and regulations.”

Another bearded officer nods agreeing to the woman’s statement “And if we give them a show of strength, they will rally behind us.” The woman nods but Pelleaon shakes his head

“But that strength must not be wasted. Grand Admiral Thrawn’s return will herald in the re-emergence of our military, and provide Commandant Hux enough time to deliver on Project Necromancer.” Pelleaon mentions the formidable Admiral. Hux smiles and the imperial warlord steps forward and Hux motions to speak.

“Captain Pellaeon, you always speak with much authority, and yet, I see,” He scoffs looking around, “Once again, that Grand Admiral Thrawn is missing from your delegation. Any word on when he will be able to participate in the Shadow Council?”

Pelleaon scoffs before replying, “With respect, our one hope for success relies upon the secrecy of his return.”

“Captain, secrets are my stock-in-trade,” The warlord reminds him, “I hear whispers from one end of the galaxy to another, and never a word of Thrawn. You have spoken of his imminent return…perhaps, it’s time we look to new leadership.”

“Hear, hear.” The female imperial officer agrees and Hux nods, “Project Necromancer is in place for that.” He asks the warlord.

“Yes, Commandant.” “What has become of Doctor Pershing and the research you promised us?” Hux asks and the warlord is silent, “Doctor Pershing was captured by the New Republic. His research is lost. For now, at least.” He says and Hux nods,

“I also hear whispers, Gideon. You held Pershing and were attempting your own experiments on Nevarro.” He questions the warlord, Moff Gideon. 

“The creation of clones is your obsession, not mine. I account for what goes on in my sector, no more, no less,” Gideon looks around at the council, “The same can be said of every member of this Council.”

“Yes.” “Of course.” “That’s right.” “Yes.”

“And yet, we individually scrape and claw resources awaiting the grand plan to take shape, while you and Pellaeon amass countless resources and equipment which should be shared,” Gideon observes each warlord and Hux nods holding a datapad, “Oh, we already received your request. Three Praetorian Guards,” He scoffs, “Sounds like someone is concerned about an assassination attempt.” Gideon is silently his hand scratching his chin feeling the scars that litter his face. It was more of a second chance of an assassination attempt.

“And he thinks I’m being the flashy one,” Pelleaon remarks, “But following your first attempt it’s remarkable you’re still standing today.” The news had spread quickly through the empire of Gideon’s capture before he was soon rescued. The warlord with control over Nevarro and eyes all over the Outer Rim. But he had a key asset to taking control of a vital planet that could bring the return of the empire and it was thwarted by a man in beskar armor but the scars that would stain his skin forever caused by a young girl with abilities assumed to be extinct.

You stand over him the Darksaber in hand ready to deliver the killing blow. The rage and wrath you were going to enact your revenge.

“And reinforcements for your TIE interceptor squadron,” Hux asks and Gideon lowers his hand from the scars marring his face pushing away those memories, “And… bombers.”

“Yes, I see. And what is your security concern?” Hux asks and Gideon moves towards the middle of the room, “Mandalorians.” The council is confused by this information.

“What? They continue to be an issue?” An officer asks and Gideon nods, “They do. I am increasingly confident that they are preparing to retake their home world of Mandalore. They have a Jedi among their ranks as well that is Mandalorian too.” The council knew of this Jedi girl that had been involved with Moff Gideon but the news she is Mandalorian as well the pieces connected. The name whispered in alleys, through bounty hunters, even the New Republic was looking for her, is seen as the person who took down the Warlord Moff Gideon. Of Mandalorian and Jedi blood. The granddaughter of Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi and Duchess Satine Kryze and current wielder of the Darksaber.

“A resurgent Mandalore would hamper our efforts.” Pelleaon remarks and the warlords a nervous about this news.

“Which is why we need to stamp them out now.” The others agree as he meets Pelleaon’s gaze, “You’ll have your reinforcements and your guard.”

“We shall be rid of the Mandalorians once and for all,” Gideon turns around looking at his fellow warlords, “Long Live the Empire!”

“Long Live the Empire!”

All repeat as Gideon leaves the council with only one thought in mind. While the Mandalorians were a threat to him only one stood out to him, a man who was willing to tear the galaxy apart for two individuals and his daughter that wouldn’t let someone stop her from finishing off the warlord. Din Djarin and Y/n Kenobi-Kryze were a threat to him but to finish this once and for all both parties need to be separated. The young princess would have wished she accepted his offer so long ago…

The planet Nevarro is serene and peaceful when the loud rumble and citizens look at the sky in shock, High Magistrate Greef Karga works in his office when he notices the tremor seeing a shadow overcast his city. “High Magistrate! High Magistrate!” The protocol droid enters the office, “An Imperial shuttle is advancing over the city.”

The Magistrate moves to the balcony viewing the large fleet over Nevarro City, “First, that’s a light cruiser. And second, it’s not Imperial.” “With apologies, sir. According to my data, it is.” The droid says from its information, and it wasn’t wrong technically.

“No, no. It was an Imperial ship. Look at the markings,” On the bottom of the light cruiser is the large design of the mythosaur, “See, those, my friend, are Mandalorian privateers. I’ll bet you, half that fleet was captured from the Empire.”

“So, they’re on our side then?” The droid asks and Greef nods, “I should hope so. They’re our welcomed guests. Come.” From the Mandalorian covert, the Armorer emerges from her tent other members of the Tribe gaze at the approaching Mandalorian fleet in wonder. On the Gauntlet the four of you fly before the fleet approaching the covert,

“I hope these two groups get along. They’ve never met, and what little they know of each other, they hate.” Bo-Katan says warily, with the new fleet and the new owner of the Darksaber a lot of pressure was on her.

“They will if they wanna survive.” You say trying to soothe her worries as the Gauntlet and the rest of the fleet land. Exiting the ship Bo-Katan led followed by her followers as they move forward as the Mandalorians of the Child of the Watch stand on opposite sides.

“Take the children inside.” Paz Vizsla orders his son and the boy is leading the children away from the situation between adults. You spot amongst the tribe the copper and white armor relieved to see him again. Bo-Katan and her followers remove their helmets as silence fills the area the tension between two groups of different beliefs. You were certainly a fight was to break out when a clanging fills the air you sigh of relief as the Armorer lowers her hammer and tongs.

“Welcome, fellow Mandalorians,” She greets the newcomers, “We invite you to make camp. Let us prepare a feast for our guests.”

It was uncomfortable and tense leading to the feast of the animosity between two tribes as you were pulled away, meeting the new IG-11 when Din and Grogu returned inside the droid while you were with Bo-Katan and the Armorer. You caught glances of the Mandalorian you wished to see but you were too far apart and when he left to join the hunting party for the feast you didn’t see him until night. A large bonfire was used to cook the animal but also to light the area, the two fractions divided a very awkward meal with only half eating the other not allowed to eat before others. They talk amongst their own clans before Bo-Katan rises to stand knowing she has to say something,

“Mandalorians. It is time to retake our home world. Even though the planet is not cursed, there are still dangers. Dormant species have been awakened from the bombings. The remaining magnetic interference has made it impossible to scan the surface from above the atmosphere.” She explains as they all listen in, “Which is why I’m proposing that we leave Nevarro and move the fleet into orbit above Mandalore. We send down a small recon party. We’ll scout the surface, find out what remains of the Great Forge, and establish a safe perimeter. Only then, will we bring down the others. I need volunteers from both tribes.” She says and silence fills the encampment of those averting their eyes from their technical leader’s gaze. You look around before making eye contact with Bo-Katan who tries hiding her nerves but you can feel them.

“I will go,” Din speaks up and Bo-Katan nods gratefully, “Y/n and Grogu as well.” He says and Grogu coos while you nod. It’s quiet once again before you see Koska Reeves grab her helmet holding it to her side as she stands.

“I will go.” She says and Bo-Katan nods now having two from each tribe, “I will go.” Woves says with a nod rising to stand.

“I will go.” Paz Vizsla states standing up as well his gaze meeting Woves as they watch each other. “I will go.” You hear Kaz’s voice and you spot him standing his gaze meets yours and he gives a small nod and you return one back. Soon others are standing volunteering themselves before the Armorer speaks up, “I will go as well.” The scouting party created the rest of the night a bit tense but lighten up.

You don’t even wait for Bo-Katan to return to your small group, you’re already up moving away from the adults towards the person you’ve been dying to see since returning to Nevarro. Din sighs watching you disappear amongst the Mandalorians seeing where that boy Kaz once was is now gone from his spot too. Bo-Katan pats his shoulder as she takes your seat, “She’s going to be alright, besides it’s good for her to be a normal teen for once well I guess adult.” It didn’t seem real that you were an adult, just yesterday Din met the girl on Arvala-7 and Bo-Katan didn’t know it was her grand-niece while helping hijack an imperial cruiser.

“I know..” Din sighs breaking apart pieces of meat for Grogu to eat who accepts it with open hands, he spots you and your Mandalorian off to the side beside the tents your hands holding the sides of Kaz’s helmet. You speak to him with a large smile across your face as he presses his helmet against your forehead. “I don’t want her to have her heartbroken…I wouldn’t know what to do. I barely got her back from Gideon.”

“Kid…hey cyar’ika..will you please look at me?”

He calls out to you, he feels like he lost two of his children, one with the Jedi that had long left and the girl in front of him but seemed to be millions of lightyears away. Moff Gideon was removed from the light cruiser going off with Boba Fett, Fennec Shand, and Cara Dune on the Slave I. Leaving himself, you, Bo-Katan, and Reeves as they went to meet up with the other Mandalorians. The female Mandalorian that was apparently your grand-aunt had allowed you two to stay willing to bring them anywhere in the galaxy before they went off for their plans to reclaim Mandalore though without the Darksaber that was now in your possession.

Your eyes were glazed over but they seemed to be focused on an item gripped in your hand as your breathing suddenly picks up. Din looks realizing the weapon in your grasp, prying from your strong grip and throwing it off in the private room you two were given. Din still hadn’t put on his helmet there was no reason to try to hide at the moment, he had already done the worse thing any Mandalorian of his creed could do. Remove one's helmet in front of a living person and he did it for you and the child.

“It’s gone..okay it’s gone.” He whispers holding your face between his palms forcing you to look at him and you barely even register him tears welling in your eyes. The blood drips to the floor from your fingers as it freely bled, your knuckles were shattered no doubt just drenched in your blood and the Moff’s. Your clothes were bloody parts of them ripped and tattered a large open hole was at your stomach and on your back and he assumes it was from…he didn’t want to think of that. He still wasn’t sure how you were standing before him and he thanked his gods and the Force that comes from you. Blood speckles your face and your messy hair as he tries swiping at the dried blood as a tear slides down your cheek wetting some dried blood before another one and they pour down your face like a waterfall. Din felt helpless seeing your innocence completely stripped away from you. Your lip wobbles as a strained whine like a wounded animal is held in your throat as you try not to break down. Din feels his own eyes burn but forces his own sadness to be pushed down as you choke back a cry. It was repressed as you hold in your cries your shoulders shake and before Din can try comforting you hit the ground a cry of pure terror comes out. Din hits the ground with you as you frantically start rubbing at your arms tearing at your skin blood spewing from your deep scratches.

“get it off…get it off…Get it off!” You scream as you try to rid the blood that marks you and Din has to wrestle with your arms to pull them away from each other and from you to stop causing harm to yourself. “Stop it Y/n! Stop!” Din yells fearfully of you being so terrified of Moff Gideon’s blood on you that you were hurting yourself in your panic. Tears blind your vision as he looks over you forcing your hands into one of his and cups your cheek with the free one. He could only describe pure fear in your voice and your face as Moff Gideon continues to plague you despite the fact he was lightyears away from you. “He tried to…” You break down as he pulls you into his arms holding you in the crook of his neck your arms clutching his cape.

“Oh cyar’ika…I got you…you’re safe..it’s just us.” He reassures you blinking away the tears from his eyes as you sob in the safety of his arms, “Din.” You whimper as he presses a kiss to the top of your head whispering into your hair.

“You’re safe…you’re alright. I’m not leaving…I got you cyar’ika.” It was a promise…a vow to always protect you to make sure this never happens again. To never see another tear be shed, shelter you from the harshness of the world, to keep yours in his embrace safe in his arms. He would put his life on the line, let himself die, and break his creed a thousand times over to make sure you never go through this kind of pain ever.

Din watches you speak to that boy as he holds you in your embrace Bo-Katan sees the nervousness and fear coming off the bounty hunter, “She can’t go through it again. That kind of pain isn’t meant for her…this life isn’t meant for her.” He voices his worries. He would bring you away from here, hide you away from the world even if you would hate him for the rest of your life if it keeps you safe he was willing to. But he couldn’t be selfish…he couldn’t live in a world where you hated him, and they were so close to the end. Returning home to Mandalore, start anew and when that time came he would hang up his blaster and sit back and watch you grow older and be a father, not a bounty hunter. So he watches you be happy in this moment of serenity praying to the highest being to keep that boy safe for the sake of your heart.

The next morning after bidding goodbye to Magistrate Greef Karga, the fleet, and its Mandalorians depart from Nevarro to Mandalore. The Mandalorians sit in the hull for the drop while you, Grogu, Bo-Katan, and the Armorer sit in the cockpit. Both the N-1 and X-Wing left on the light cruiser and R4 sadly stays on the cruiser. He was a bit disappointed but you reassured him, he would be the first person you bring when you return from the scouting party. All the ships exit hyperspace reaching Mandalore as the Gauntlet heads towards the stormy surface, “Scouting party descending to surface. We’ll lose comms shortly.” Bo-Katan says speaking to the people in the back as the ship rattles entering the thunderstorms that surround the planet’s atmosphere. Soon you’re breaking through the storm flying over the destroyed cities of your homeworld.

The doors slide open as Din enters holding onto your seat to stabilize himself, “They’re ready.” Bo-Katan presses on a keypad, “Secure infill zone.” Soon the Mandalorians depart to the planet you remain hovering over before you hear a transmission come through, “Gauntlet, landing zone secure.” Woves announces and the ship lands the five of you disembarking. Grogu controls IG-12 as you touch the glassy surface.

“Somewhere below is where our ancient capital once stood,” Bo-Katan tells the other Mandalorians, “We’ll survey the surface until we find the Forge and create a safety zone. Only then will we begin to bring down the settlers. We start scouting in that direction.” She points in the direction of the sunset.

“Form up.” Your expedition begins walking in pairs through the terrain, you walk beside Kaz in front of Din and the Armorer. A large distance is covered before you sense something. You pause and Kaz and Din look at you confused.

“Kid?” “Something’s heading towards us.” You comment to the Mandalorians sensing a large presence looking out and seeing something on the horizon, “There, on the horizon.” You point out as a large land ship with wheels approaches.

“Nite Owls.” Bo-Katan commands and the Nite Owls quickly get into position the rest of you holding your weapons ready for whoever it was. “Flanking left.” You were more surprised about the fact that people were actually here and if so how did they survive the Purge? The ship comes rumbling to a stop a distance away before a voice shouts out.

“Do you have food?” “We do.” Bo-Katan replies and another man onboard shouts, “You wear the crest of the Nite Owls?”

“I should hope so.” Bo-Katan says, “They’re Mandalorians.” The Armorer says.

“Is that the voice of Lady Bo-Katan Kryze?” Your party is silent as Bo-Katan decides to confirm, “It is.” Suddenly three Mandalorians activate their jetpacks leaving their ship and landing in front of the scouting party. They remove their helmets revealing tired but hopeful faces.

“We knew you would not forsake us, Lady Bo-Katan. We have failed you, but our blasters remain in your service.” They lower their heads slightly bringing a hand to rest over their hearts. Your group found itself on the ship eating dinner only those who took off their helmets at. You sat between Din and Kaz with Bo-Katan at the head of the table.

“They intercepted any ships they saw leaving. They took no prisoners. They bombed every surface twice over. They punished us as a warning to the whole galaxy because we refused to surrender.” The Captain of the landship explains and Bo-Katan grows quiet.

“That’s not true….I did surrender.” She says and the Mandalorians went silent before whispering amongst each other, “After our forces were annihilated in the Night of a Thousand Tears and defeat was imminent, I met with Moff Gideon. The ISB had reached out to me to negotiate a cease-fire. In exchange for submitting to the Empire and disarming, all remaining cities and Mandalorian lives were to be spared. That is how Moff Gideon came to possess the Darksaber. I didn’t trust him, but it was the only chance I had to save our people. And then he betrayed me and we were helpless to resist the Purge of Mandalore.” She explains. The air is tense as the truth of the destruction of this planet is revealed.

The Captain swallows harshly turning to the still helmet Mandalorians, “How did these others survive?” “We were hidden on the moon of Concordia.” The Armorer explains.

“Are you Death Watch?” The Captain questions a bit suspicious of the terrorist group that went into known hiding on Concordia, “Death Watch exists no longer. It shattered into many warring factions.”

“Our people have suffered time and again. From division and squabbling factions,” Bo-Katan says looking over the table, “Mandalore has always been too powerful for any enemy to defeat. It is always our own division that destroys us.”

“And what does a Jedi have involved amongst our kind? The last time Jedi and Mandalorians fought side by side was the Seige of Mandalore during the Clone Wars,” The Captain says remembering fighting there as well, “I thought the Jedi were all killed off?”

“That is true…I make no sense here. To some, I am an enemy..to others a reminder of the past allies you once fought alongside,” You say holding your hands over the table, “I am here to return to my home planet and see the rise of Mandalore and its people. My father once wished for Mandalore to be a planet for all Mandalorians despite which fraction or division they came from to have a homeworld, no matter if you are Mandalorian by blood or Mandalorian by Creed.” Your gaze meets Bo-Katan's and then Din’s.

“Though I no longer wield the Darksaber….I fight alongside my grand-aunt for the chance that we and the Mandalorians scattered across the galaxy may all return home.” The table is silent surprised and shocked by the words coming from you. The diplomacy and leadership exuding from you, Bo-Katan sees her sister in you with your words.

“You’re…her grand-niece.” The Captain says shocked many of the Mandalorians stuck on this planet see the resemblance between you and the redhead. “I am Y/n Kenobi-Kryze.”

You leaned against the railing of a secluded part of the land-ship it was stationed the traveling continuing in the morning. The breeze cooling on your skin as your elbows rest on the wood looking out on the destroyed planet that was the home of your family. “That was a good speech…told you I can see a leader in you.” Kaz’s voice comes from your side as you glance over at him. You hum returning your gaze to the open space of Mandalore, you only wished you could have seen this planet in all its glory.

“Do you ever wish you were here on Mandalore when it was still standing and in all its glory,” You ask and he leans against the railing beside you as he thinks for a second, “I think it would have been nice being on a planet of our people, but I don’t think I would have survived the Purge of Mandalore.” He says honestly and you give him a look.

“That’s morbid.” You say and he chuckles slightly, “No but it also meant we wouldn’t have met. I mean if you were here you would be in the capital as a princess and me just a lowly commoner.” He says teasingly and you shove him producing a laugh from him.

“I am definitely no princess. Maker imagine me in a dress and those uncomfortable shoes!” You ramble and you notice him silent watching you, “What?” He keeps looking at you before shaking his head and looking away, “No you can’t just not tell me!” You grab his arm and he looks down at you.

“Does my princess command me?” You hear the smile on his tone and you roll your eyes, “Yes she does now tell me.” You cross your arms across your chest and he’s quiet before leaning forward and pushing a piece of hair that gets in front of your face.

“I think you would like quite pretty in a dress.” He says and your face flushes and you turn away making him laugh, “What you told me to tell you!” He says between laughter before he spins you around to look at him and he presses his forehead against yours and you close your eyes slightly.

“Naboo.” You say and he leans back looking at you confused, “What?” “I will only wear a dress on Naboo. I was told that it’s the most beautiful planet in the galaxy. And there are lakes and waterfalls and fields of flowers and plants as far as the eyes can see. So if you want me to wear a dress it has to be on Naboo.” You explain and he nods.

“With the uncomfortable shoes?” He asks and you smirk, “We’ll see.” The two of you stare at each other a silence falling over you two its two magnetics coming together. His hand covers your eyes the other pulling off his helmet then his lips meet yours. He drops his hand seeing your eyes closed his hand wraps around your waist and pulls your closer while the other holds the back of your neck. Your hand plays with the back of his hair the other holds his face as you kiss him. It’s gentle but filled with passion as you both pour in your affection for each other. There wasn’t any room left between you two as he slightly bends over and you push yourself on your toes. You both pull away holding your face against his chest trying to catch your breath and you feel the rise and fall of his own chest. A pair of lips press against your hairline and you smile into his chest before you hear the metal hiss as his helmet is put back on. You pull back staring at the copper and white beskar as you feel his gaze on you his thumb strokes your cheek.

“I should go before Din starts his own hunting party.” You say a small chuckle comes from the two of you as he nods. He leans forward his forehead meeting yours, “I’ll see you tomorrow then mesh’la.” You pull away giving one last glance at him before you head back toward the group. You spot on the second level of the ship just before the group is you see the flash of silver beskar under the moonlight. Heading up the stairs spotting the familiar armor of Din and you’re silent as you join his side. He seems to have the same idea of lean against an object and pondering.

“You alright?” You ask and you can feel his brief glance at you before you both stare forward. “That boy…Kaz, is he your partner?” He asks and you're surprised by his question and more of his phrasing.

“Kaz and I aren’t together like that! I mean I don’t think so…we haven’t really talked about it.” You ramble as he looks over at you, “But you do like him.” You’re quiet now that you think about it you two discussed what you two were. Sure he said he liked you and you liked him but did that make you two together? It was all strange new territory that you had no guide to help you.

“I do...It’s just...I’ve never had this before..people like me like that,” You felt embarrassed what if you had it all wrong and this was just a big thing you thought it was. You bury your face in your hands, “Maker I’m so stupid..” Din leans on his arms on the railing looking at you.

“Look, I have no idea what that boy’s intentions are, but…I do know that he would be lucky to have you.” Din says and you lift your head up looking at the older man, “Really?” You ask and he nods and it grows silent once more before you speak up.

“Do you feel like everything is going right that it’s meant to go wrong?” You voice your fear for only him to know, “I mean everything we’ve been through, Grogu and I get rescued by you and the Mandalorians--we get the bounty hunters to come after us, we get to meet Ahsoka and she can’t train us, we go to the seeing stone--the empire gets us, even on Tatooine we got Cobb and the people of Freetown and he almost died. Every time we get close to winning something horrible goes wrong,” Your tone gets slightly frantic all the possibilities making you more nervous.

“What if something happens to the Mandalorians, to Grogu, to Bo-Katan, or you!? I don’t know what to do if you’re gone-” “Hey calm down nothing’s going to happen,” Din grabs your shoulders making you look at him, “I promised you I was never leaving you and I’m not. Ever.” He reassures and you nod before he pulls you into his arms just holding you there. His chin rests on the top of your head nothing is said between the two of you but you could tell he meant every single one of his words.

“I love you, dad…” You say and he freezes slightly before his arms squeeze you tighter to him, “Love you too, kid.” He responds his voice thick with emotion. He was glad to have the beskar helmet on his head covering the tears in his eyes. Hearing the title you called him and the meaning of it to both you and him. Din would always be there for you, to protect you and care for you as a father would.

The following morning the landship returns to the Gauntlet so the Armorer and the weak Mandalorians can return to the fleet to be taken care of while the others lead you to where the Forge is. “Onward, Mandalorians! To the Forge!” The Captain yells to his crew as you set off. Sat on a crate beside Din you see most of the Mandalorians resting or waiting for the arrival of the forge. Two however play a game of chess. Vizsla grabs his enforcer making a flank jump and Woves sighs, “You can’t move an Enforcer like that.”

“It’s a flank jump. And you’re about to submit.” Vizsla says and Woves gives him a look, “But only the Wing Guard can flank jump.”

“The Enforcer moves like a Wing Guard when it’s flanking.” Vizsla retorts and Woves sighs shaking his head and turning to his companions with a laugh, “These primitives make up their own rules for everything.” Insulted by his accusation of cheating Vizsla draws out a vibroblade.

“Seriously?” “Submit or fight.” Vizsla demands to Woves who looks at the Mandalorian, “Can you believe this?” The two suddenly break into a brawl with their blades, punches, and kicks both getting their fair licks in.

“Should I step in?” Din questions and Bo-Katan shakes her head, “Neither side can step in. It was bound to happen sooner or later.” The two continue fighting both ready to strike each other with their blade when Grogu comes between them with IG-12 breaking up the fight as he spams the droid’s vocabulator,

“No. No. No. No. No. No. No.” The two men are silent before retracting and heading off to different sides of the deck, “You taught your apprentice well.” Bo-Katan comments and Din looks over at the child who is looking at the three of you,

“He didn’t learn that from me.”

A sharp whistle fills the air as the Mandalorian in the highest peak shouts down to the Captain, “There, on the starboard bow!” The ground crackles ahead of you all seeing the green glass shatter and some dragon-like monster appears from the ground its tail swinging down on all of you

“Abandon ship!” The Captain shouts and you feel arms wrap around your waist you quickly wrap your arms around their neck as you’re sent up into the air as the tail smashes into the ship it exploding in a ball of flames. Landing a distance away, Mandalorians land haphazardly around you as debris rains down on you and Din covers you with his body. He pulls back looking over you as people around you shout, “This way! This way!” “Hurry up! Faster!”

“You good?” He asks you and you nod you’re brought to slightly underneath the surface but the rocks above you shake falling around you, “We’re not far. We need to go further down.” The Captain yells and you’re all sent underground the rumbling of the creature that attacked you recedes the deeper down you went. The cave leads to a tunnel that opens up to a large open space.

“Where are we?” You ask looking at the enormous machines that lined the deep trench, “This is what’s left of the Great Forge. This was once the heart of our civilization. But the fires have been extinguished since the bombings.” Woves says as you walk alongside the small outlook showing the forge.

“You lived here?” Vizsla asks and Reeves glances at him, “We all did.”

“We never left,” The survivors’ captain adds, “Survived by migrating along the surface until the war ended. Some tried to explore below, but none survived.” The distant sound of jetpacks echoes through the cave and you see a multitude of them heading toward you all.

“Jet packs?” Din says confused, “More survivors?” Woves comments when you notice the design of the armor and a wave of panic rushes over you. That bad feeling of being close to winning and something going horribly wrong starting.

“Those aren’t Mandalorians.” You call out as they immediately take fire, ambushing you all, “They’re Imperials! Take cover.” All the Mandalorians take cover firing at them. Your saber pulls from your belt instantly deflecting blaster fire it hitting the armor in return but making no impact as they continue firing.

“They’re wearing beskar armor!” You shout as a few land before you and you dodge blaster fire spinning your blade around and aiming at spots not covered in the lightsaber-resistant metal. It’s harder combat against them, one grabs your hair pulling you towards the edge and a vibroblade is stabbed in the trooper's neck releasing you. Kaz’s hand pulls you to your side as you go back to back fighting against troopers that try to get the drop on you.

“We’re pinned down. We need backup.” Din shouts while fighting his own pair of troopers. Casualties happen on both sides as many questions run through your head through the battle. Where had they even come from?! You thought you were the only ones on Mandalore unless they were tracking you and followed.

“I can make a run for the fleet and get us reinforcements.” Woves volunteers firing at the troopers that are up in the air raining down on you all. “No, it’s too far.” Bo-Katan disagrees not wanting to lose any more men and women.

“I can make it. It’s our only shot at taking the planet back.” Woves pushes.

“There’s a split in the ceiling there.” Vizsla points at the opening leading to the surface and moves forward with his large machine gun, “I’ll lay down cover.” Blaster bolts are fired at the troopers some getting hit fatally as Woves takes off. One tries attacking him mid-flight when its armor is crushed quite violently and send falling to the ground. Making brief eye contact with you he continues and flees to the surface. You spin around stabbing your saber between the gaps of armor your free hand pushing out Force pushing them into the cavern. The dwindling troopers against the resistance you show make them retreat into another tunnel.

“They’re retreating!” Vizsla shouts as Bo-Katan reloads her blaster before rushing forward, “Advance.”

“For Mandalore!” The Mandalorians shout as you run alongside Kaz firing after the troopers, Din reaches your side as you suddenly leave rocky terrain and enter imperial flooring and walls. That sense of nerves adds weight to your chest the deeper into their base. The troopers fly off on the jetpacks leaving you all in the base. You take in the TIEs and Bombers that wait patiently to be deployed your fear only growing stronger. The Imps didn’t follow after you…they were here on Mandalore all this time, and with how much was here they must have been here since the Purge.

“What is this place?” Bo-Katan says as you look around when a door hisses shut and you spin around seeing all of everyone minus, yourself, Kaz, Din, and one other Mandalorian on the other side of the blast door. You raise your saber to cut through the door when you hear Din shout and an alarm goes off.

“It’s an ambush!” A squadron of Imperial commandos lands on the platform firing at the four of you. Spinning your blade to deflect blaster fire but it was too many as one takes down one of the Mandalorians. Din and Kaz fire their blasters at them when a fibercord whip wraps around Din’s neck yanking him back. “Din!” You shout barely dodging a blaster fire blocking the attack as he fires another cable wrapping around his wrist and he sends a wave of flames. You thrust your hand out crushing the trooper that was choking Din, his limbs snap in a horrid position as he crumbles to the ground. A loud cry fills the air and you feel the life drain from your body. Spinning around and seeing Kaz holding his hands to his side as he crumbles to the ground, you release a yell raising your saber to attack his perpetrator when a blaster rifle slams against your temple. Stars blind you as you hit the ground your saber falling out of your hands and your quickly jumped by three troopers. Their hands grab your arms and pin them behind your back as you thrash violently.

“Let me go! Kriffing let me go! You son of a bitch!” You shout feeling cuffs being placed around your wrist and you try calling your lightsaber but it remains laying on the floor. Your shouts fill the air as you see Kaz on his side his hands pressed to his side blood quickly spilling from his side, “No! stop it. Stop it! Kaz!” You cry out struggling more and your face is slammed into the ground and blood spills from your mouth and nose.

“Don’t you touch her!” Din roars seeing three of them manhandle you to the ground. He fights against his own restraints, the cable tightly around his neck and one on each wrist forcing his arms to cross his chest so he couldn’t use them as three troopers for him bringing him to his knees. Your gaze is focused on Kaz as he bleeds out, alive but losing blood too quickly. Someone lands on the platform seeing a person in Dark Trooper armor, the Mandalorian-style helmet with spikes on the crown similar to the Armorer.

“Disarm them.” A modulated voice calls out and you struggle in your assailants’ grasp as they remove your blaster and vibroblade from your holster. The Dark Trooper motions to the troopers restraining you and you’re pulled from laying on the ground to shoved on your knees as you fight in their grasp. You watch them grab their helmet removing it and the air leaves your body and it’s silent as you stare back at the man. Who tormented you, ruined your life, kidnapped, assaulted, and tried to murder you, the man you tried to kill but failed. He wasn’t meant to be here…this wasn’t real you would open your eyes and be back on Nevarro or at the Great Forge and you never got into a fight with the Empire. He wasn’t real..this wasn’t real. But when he spoke your worst nightmare was confirmed,

“Thank you for gathering the Mandalorians into one place,” He says, and you are unmoving. Moff Gideon was back. He finds delight in seeing the horror and pure terror in your expression as the Mandalorians behind the blast door has no choice but to watch. “You were a talented people, but your time has passed. However, as you can see, Mandalore will live on in me. Thanks to your planet’s rich resources, I have created the next-generation Dark Trooper suit forged from beskar alloy and the most impressive improvement is that it has me in it,” Gideon holds his hands out showing his suit off. If looks could kill Din would have killed Moff Gideon a billion times over, his gaze kept moving from Gideon, to Kaz who continues bleeding out, and you who was paralyzed in fear.

“You see, every society has something to offer. The cloners. The Jedi. And even the Mandalorians. By aggregating the best of each, I will create an army that will bring order to the galaxy.” Gideon felt power knowing his plan had worked and he had everyone where he wanted them to be. “Why don’t we take your fleet off the board while we still have the element of surprise? Activate the interceptors and bombers.” He orders and Bo-Katan slams her fist against the glass.

“No!” The Klaxon alarm blares as the Interceptors and Bombers are activating, “In but a few moments, the Purge of Mandalore will be complete.” Gideon grins and a harsh cough fills the air he looks down and spots the weak Mandalorian a few feet from you still kicking. You see Gideon’s gaze on Kaz and you go feral fighting harshly against their hands.

“Don’t you kriffing touch him! Leave him out of this!” You shout blood mixing with tears and your words and emotions reveal the one weak card he was willing to fully exploit. “Strip him of his armor.” He orders and the pair of troopers keeping guard moves forward as you scream for mercy they pull up the Mandalorian to his own knees as one holds him the other being pulled off his armor.

“Let him go! Stop it, please! If you want your heirs you can have them! Please let him go…please!” You shout out as Kaz cries out in pain as he’s stripped of his armor leaving his helmet on Gideon strides forward kneeling before you admiring the tears in your eyes and the blood that comes from your injuries. You hear Din yelling from behind you and Bo-Katan as well. Gideon grabs your chin forcing you to look at him and you feel sick staring at the man his touch sending you into shock.

“Unfortunately that offer is now off the table,” He rises back up and you see him walk towards Kaz not before reaching down and grabbing your saber as you scream and cry out realizing what he was going to do. Grabbing the Mandalorian by the chin of his helmet he rips it off him and you’re staring back at the man you had cared for, giving your heart to. His skin was pale but not sickly, his features sharp with a few cuts littering his perfect face. He was beautiful with short straight black hair you had felt in your hands but didn’t know the color of anything and his eyes piercing and blue like the clearest waters. They were filled with pain but also sadness as he looks at you and you see the acceptance in his gaze that sends you into a panic.

“Kaz, get up. Kaz, kriffing get up and fight. Please stop! Please don’t do this…I’ll do anything please don’t. I beg you!” You shout as he takes in your features one last time though tear-filled and bloody you still look beautiful in his eyes, “Kaz, please get up!”

“I love y-” The blade cleaves through his body and a scream of anguish rips through your throat. Kaz keeps staring at you until you see the life fade before you and Gideon as the boy you loved crumples to the ground.

“Nooo!” You were dead this wasn’t real. Screams and cries tear you apart as you hunch over in the troopers’ arms sobs raking through your body as the air is ripped from your body gasping for air. The Mandalorians behind the blast door and the one behind you are silently looking in horror as Gideon kills the love of your life and worse with the saber that was the symbol of your kind. The weapon of a jedi used to slay your lover. Your gaze was focused on Kaz’s lifeless one as he stared at you with those empty eyes already glossed over. “I’ll kriffing kill you...No! No...I’ll kill you.” You shout not a threat a promise with hatred in your voice. As Gideon holds your weapon in his grasp attaching it to his person.

“Take him to the debriefing room and bring the dear princess to the command center.” Gideon orders and Din is forced to his feet struggling in their grasp seeing the lifeless look in your eyes as you scream out into the air. He failed you, to keep you safe, to make sure you’re heart would never be broken. Din had seen you lose everything important to you and he knew you had lost a part of yourself with this final strike.

You’re pulled to your feet but you can’t stand weak and nauseous as they hold up your weight, “None of this would have occurred if you had accepted. He’s dead because of your actions, princess.” Gideon mocks you as you’re sent into a spiral sobs racking your body and hyperventilating from the shock that has taken over. You’re pulled as you cry out whispering to the man you failed. “i’m sorry…i’m sorry…i’m sorry.”

You didn’t see the meaning of waking up in the morning, a reason to smile, to eat, to breathe, to live. You had lost greatly and your heart could only take so much. His love with haunt you like a phantom, his touch burns and scars your skin, his kiss a mere memory, and his death will drown you until you too leave this plane of existence. You didn’t deserve happiness…you would never love again. You had nothing left in you to love. Your happiness, your love, and yourself had died right alongside him held in his arms with dead promises to visit the far-off planets you dreamed of.

A/N: I'm sorry🫣 Also for those wondering the face claim for Kaz is Freddy Carter. I live for Kaz Brekker so just picture that gorgeous man. One more chapter left!!

[chacusha]

Don't watch Section 31

I'm going full hater mode here, but yeah, in case you're tempted to watch the Section 31 movie, I suggest you save ~1.5 hours of your life and do... literally anything else. I had pretty low expectations going in because I had heard zero good things about it, and I knew the politics were going to be shitty (because... Section 31), but even with those low expectations I wasn't expecting something just so completely lacking in any kind of entertainment value?

Long rant:

Like, imagine the most formulaic, by-the-numbers action flick, except that at every point, the execution is terrible. The dialogue is painfully bad; the action scenes are blurry messes that make you think, "Hm, could we just NOT do this action scene and say that we did?" The plot is filled with so many plot holes / plot points that rely on information not actually established earlier in the film, which would be obvious to anyone who has spent five seconds thinking about the plot. The characters are colorful and bizarre, each with their own niche -- as the formula demands they be -- and yet somehow also utterly forgettable. The last time I felt a movie had so thoroughly wasted my time was probably, like, The Last Airbender film. And the badness of the movie is not even a "watching a trainwreck and I need to see more" entertaining sort of way; it's just a "this is generic and boring and I'm yawning" sort of way.

I am increasingly of the opinion that you need to be an incredibly good writer in order to pull off a Suicide Squad plot ("motley team of anti-heroes just barely under the government's control come together to become Big Damn Heroes just long enough to save the world"). Your writing has to be REALLY strong to strike the right balance between the assholeness of the anti-heroes and the satisfaction of them finally finding that capacity for competence and a single shining moment of heroism. When it's done right, yes, it's a super satisfying and complex watching experience. But... it's so rarely done right. If you make the anti-heroes too assholeish, then they won't endear themselves to the audience. The viewer spends two hours around deeply unpleasant characters who never earn their place in the sun. If you don't make them assholeish enough, you might as well just write a normal hero team film. Also, to write a Suicide Squad plot, you NEED a strong, believable reason for why the assholes are doing the hero thing here. The hack strategy is to explain that the self-interested assholes are doing hero shit because the world is about to end, and hey, it's still in a self-interested asshole's self-interest to not have the world end. To which the response is: no shit, Sherlock! You have not actually made the anti-hero a hero by making them save the world from world-destroying stakes -- you've just made them, like, some random guy who happens to be best positioned to stop the world from ending.

Like, a Suicide Squad plot lives or dies on how lovable/charming/"rootworthy" (able to be rooted for) you manage to make the assholes despite the fact that they are clearly also assholes. It is only possible if you're really good at doing both of those things (writing assholes, writing endearing characters) and you have to push strongly in BOTH directions in order to maintain the moral tension that a Suicide Squad plot relies on. Only a good writer can actually pull that off. And yet we keep on getting Suicide Squad films! Suicide Squad films out the wazoo! I am BEGGING Hollywood to please stop making Suicide Squad films. The film industry seems to be full of hacks unaware of the fact that they absolutely do not have the writing chops to pull this kind of plot off.

I haven't even gotten into the politics of the Section 31 film, which are awful. I didn't even realize this until after watching the film, but the Starfleet lieutenant in this film who is participating in this Section 31 operation as an outsider, Rachel Garrett, is actually the same character as the woman who historically captained the Enterprise-C in the TNG episode "Yesterday's Enterprise." Choosing to feature THAT character in this movie as part of a black ops mission... my god. And I cannot believe that they treated her ambition and rising-up-the-ranks in this film as a girlboss, "Yeah, she wanted to make captain and look, she became captain of the Enterprise -- isn't that neat?" thing. This is INSANE to me. Like, the whole point of the "captain of the Enterprise" character is to display what kind of person the Federation views to be their best representative -- someone who they view embodies their ideals. So this character? Who participated in a black ops mission for Section 31, where she learned to embrace her inner girlboss and Learn to Love the Extrajudicial Murder?? That is disqualifying for the captain of the Enterprise. There is no way in hell someone who worked for Section 31 would ever be chosen to be the captain of the Federation's flagship, and the fact that whoever produced this film thought it would be a good idea to connect the characters/write this backstory for Rachel Garrett, thought that wouldn't completely ruin/tarnish a brave and admirable character, and thought it would be a good idea to play it off as a girlboss story... Jesus. That's disqualifying. The sheer level of "does not understand morality" vibes to this film was downright uncomfortable. So yeah, impressive that this movie (already so bad) somehow managed to get worse after I had finished it!

Anyway, I will say one (1) good thing about this movie, which is that some of the costumes were nice. But it wasn't enough to make this movie watchable.

The world is pretty shit right now, and I was really hoping this movie would at least cheer me up, but somehow it managed to depress me even more. Please learn from my mistake: do not watch this film. The world is already miserable enough as it is without this film in it too. 😞

[skunkox]

Country Lovin Darlin and Rambles.

Is this gonna be self indulging? Very much so. I'm starting to realize no one can stop me, but hear me out real quick. Forgive me if you do decide to read all the way through. It's a lot. 🥲

Before moving to Dahlia, Darlin' used to spend half their summers with their grandparents in Texas. Sorta old money/ retired folk. Big land, but not too much on it. Plenty of room for the shiftsr grandchildgren to play. Passively still making money via whool sales. Yeah, there's other animals, but it's not a giant operation. They do have other empowereds working as ranch hands for them, though.

Anyways, a good moth or so out of each summer as a child, Darlin would help around the ranch, learn to cook and bake, and even participate in town events. (I'm telling you the fucker can cook. Just not for one person.)

Lazy Sunday mornings were spent in front of the TV with their grandfather watching old westerns or things like "The Andy Grifith Show," "Little House on the Prarie," and "Tales of Wells Fargo".

Not even halfway into they stay, they'll have developed a country accent. They still struggled to get be friends with most of the kids their age. Was it because they picked up a garden snake like it was just a piece of rope? Was it because they alegedly chased a kid girl with it that had been giving them hell? Who knows.

I wholeheartedly believe that Darlin was a pageant kid at some point in their life. Regardless of how ruff and tough they are, they were a cute kid. Don't pay the bandaid brand character bandaid any mind.

This is where I say this is really just my version of Darlin and a little bit of Sweetheart. It's Redunk Time.

Specifically for my version of Darlin (fem), "Southern Bell" like fair competitions are what her grandmother would enter the kids in. The one day out of the year she's happy to put on a frilly dress and bows. Not a whole lot of confidence for themselves on stage for the most part, though.

Diving more into the idea that Darlin and Sweetheart used to be friends before the move idea. Sweetheart has gone with them once or twice. Especially when the older cousins were visiting for less time, if at all. The old wolves like a full house, so they had no problem hosting another empowered child.

Sweetheart loved taking pictures and video of their adventures. Still currently holding footage to a misshap of sorts that they swore to never tell anyone about. They also have footage of competitions from the fairs. Including the pageants. Do they plan on telling the pack? Yes. (That's a post for another day)

The duo thought it was weird that the they would be leaving at separate times. They noticed the soured moods of the grandparents but the older wolves couldn't bring themselves to say anything on it in the days leading to their departures. Sweetheart took the flight home alone. Darlin was under the impression that the family was taking a short trip to California before summer ended.

Much to their distraught, their parents had either been moved and or found new jobs in Dahlia. The move was in the works for nearly half a year and they had no idea. Their older siblings knew, but they did everything their parents told them. They got no warning that they wouldn't see their friends anymore. That they wouldn't be attending school that fall with the same kids. That they wouldn't even get to say goodbye to their old house. No proper goodbye to Sweetheart.

Summer visits to Texas were just about haulted. Their parents wanted Darlin to better acquaint themselves with the other pack children. This was a struggle for years.

Sweetheart moving to work for the department and finding themselves with Milo was one thing. But the first time they happened to see each other in a pack meeting was rough. They knew almost instantly who each other were.

Sweetheart had seen a photo in Milo's living room. It was framed next to a lamp. The picture was of Christian and Amanda who awkwardly sat side by side. Hands just nearly touching. On one end of a log. David sat facing forward while Asher sat crooked with an arm thrown over David's shoulder. Both had been laughing. Milo and Darlin had been on the ground and back to back. Darlin had thrown up a rock sign with a small smile, attempting to no ruin the picture with their resting pitch face. Milo sat leaning on one knee, trying his best to look cool and composed.

To make a long story short. Both played dumb as to knowing each other for one reason or another. It wasn't till the Quinn situation, and Darlin coming back to the pack did the two start to speak. It took it all being over for them to finally become close again.

Back to the country thing

Hearing Sam speak for the first time really took them back especially at the end of their conversation with "Didn't your mama teach you not to talk to strange men in the dark, all alone?"

It felt familiar. It disarmed them and put then at ease. Sam's voice is something Darlin couldn't and still can't get enough of. They slip into an accent every once in a while. To them it feels right. Some slips happen in front of the pack and they've been teased for it. Sweetheart knows thr truth and is waiting eagerly to spill the beans on their country loving friend.

So... didn't mean for this to be as long as it is. Really putting a lot into Darlin's character cause it feels right. I like old TV. I mean sorta staticky box tv vibes. My grandfather was into a lot of it. My mom started me on LHOTP and I recently discovered a live channel for it and only it.

I really do apologize for how messy this all looks. It was an accident. Anyways, some bits and pieces of this will eventually be drawn out. Got weeks worth of stuff to do for this Fandom alone 😭