#i have no doubt that he would've wanted to absolutely DECK you

[frozenhi-chews]

One of these days I'll expand on this, but HOLY CRAP I cannot imagine the betrayal Starlo must've felt if you kill Ceroba in Flawed Pacifist. This guy, this monster who idolized humans and was so ecstatic to see one that he had them join his posse, killed his best friend. And, just, that's gotta hurt MORE than when she git married to Chujin, because despite his broken heart, she was at least THERE. She was ALIVE.

Here she's not.

Despite her willingness to die, Starlo hates you once you kill her. And part of it is how close they were before she was killed. The other part is the fact you basically betrayed him. You had no inclination to kill anyone beforehand. Heck you probably didn't even SHOOT anyone (unless you were me and was pissed at Axis).

All that training, all that bonding, the fact he stopped you and gave you that Deputy badge, said that he was PROUD of you. Suddenly all down the drain because now his best friend is gone. I cannot even fathom how that must've felt. Like no wonder he sees you less than dirt, you killed his friend and broke his trust. No longer are you his Deputy, even if you wanted to go back to the Wild East. Actually that would likely be a bad idea, he just would not like you around.

Also it's such an interesting contrast of, "yes you're safe in the law, but personally I do not want to see you again." Just, hoough love that!

Have no idea how to end this, so, yeah holy crap Starlo absolutely hates you in Flawed Pacifist

[chirpsythismorning]

I'm sorry but, I really don't know how anyone can still believe with full confidence that Mike is straight after the airport scene.

It's arguably the most blatant, yet overlooked scene between these three characters, specifically Mike's dynamic with El vs. Mike's dynamic with Will.

Although Mike shows up in sunglasses, I highly doubt he wore them the entire flight. This means Mike probably put on the sunglasses to go from the plane, through the Passenger Boarding Bridge, and directly to the gate entrance where they were waiting for him, all of which are indoors.

Yes, it's sunny in California, and that's what makes this such a good excuse (alibi) for Mike.

Now could this just be a coincidence? Yes, it definitely could!

Now, does Mike ever wear his sunglasses again? No..

Not even for sun purposes in sunny California? No.

(At least not technically until the end of s4... but that's a whole other blatant metaphor about 'eyes being windows into the souls' for another time.)

It's only after him and El have kissed and hugged that Mike finally takes off the sunglasses... How convenient.

But you want to know what Mike did in this scene right before this, that's just... there's really no excuse for it.?

If I was a hardcore milkvan fan at this point, THIS is what would've ended that era for me. Like, I just can't think of anything other than one obvious reason for why Mike did this...

Picture it.

You're Mike, reuniting with your girlfriend with whom you haven't seen in about six months. You were even kind enough to get her a gift, flowers, which you, *reads notes*, quickly put in between you and your girlfriend moments before she embraced you, with you almost instantly shouting CAREFUL, CAREFUL YOUR SQUISHING YOUR PRESENT, so that she had no choice but to separate...

How... sweet?

Nope. I'm sorry, but no. Nothing excuses this at all.

Dude literally risked ruining the present he got for her, by using it as a shield. He literally used the present he got for her as an excuse for why they had to separate sooner than later...

Like, this is repressed gay behavior of epic proportions, especially considering what follows.

Notice how when Mike approached El, he's decked out with hat/sunglasses, his hands full with the flowers and his duffel bag?

Well, notice how in contrast, when Mike approaches Will right afterwards, as he's going in for a hug, Mike switches his duffel bag from his right to his left hand (now empty after giving el the flowers) so that he can go in for a better hug with Will, with his dominant arm, only to immediately backtrack and settle for a shoulder bump...

We also get a shot of Mike looking Will up and down, no sunglasses to hide his reaction this time.

So.. basically, Mike's instinct here with El was to not make it so obvious he's not in love with her, while his instinct with Will was to not make it so obvious that he's in love with him (and boy did he fail)...

Mike addressing Will's painting, assuming it's indeed for some girl, only to never attempt to find out anything else whatsoever, for the rest of the season, about said girl his best friend is in love with?

Argyle calling Mike's shirt a knock-off, essentially calling Mike a knock-off?

Mike looking offended at Will's mention of Angela???

Like, this scene is just all around Mike being an absolute gay disaster, and the fact that 99% of audience doesn't realize this, is downright hilarious.

[starpirateee]

I see the sir John Herschel and Anna Hanover tag on your Tumblr drabbles fic, and just know I am looking so hard right now. This has probably already been suggested, but just in case: We will reunite! (In the voice of John screaming at the sky): The besties reunite. They catch each other up on their respective adventures and discoveries, Anna teases John about Rose, etc.

Omg Faery that's adorable!! Yes, absolutely, I can give you the John and Anna reunion that everyone needs <3

Anna had had the chance to contemplate this for a while. She had filled a journal with a log of all the fauna she could see, and she never had found herself more content in their entire life.

This was incredible. Whatever this haven out in the middle of space was, it was beautiful, and quite unlike anything she'd ever seen before. And she would stay forever if she could, but she started to think about John, and then she started to miss John.

It had been so long in their lives spent communicating with each other. Through college, through his stint in South Africa… So, radio silence felt really strange.

She was ready to go home. Back to the township, or back to wherever she could find John, or even Margaret or the Stratfords…

"Wait,"

the Traveller had been so kind to her during her stay. she had helped her to understand, gave importance to every single specimen that caught her interest. And she'd always promised that she'd make the return back home an easy one. But now she seemed hesitant. Anna's brow creased. She really hoped she hadn't been played for a fool this entire time. What kind of sense of security made a return back to normality seem so attainable, and then drew it back at the last second? "Is something wrong?" She asked cautiously.

"Your friends aren't at the Township. I sent them… Elsewhere."

"Why?"

"To protect them. There's a reason you were sent into space, I doubt that threat would've been any less prevalent if they went back… Besides, I'd heard about something else. A threat to Margaret. I had to keep her away from it."

Margaret was the reason why the satellite was launched. She had some kind of… Power. Anna remembered well. That made at least some semblance of sense. She nodded. "Okay, so where are they?"

"Right now, they're heading towards an island in the South Pacific… About forty years from the time you know…"

Anna couldn't help the way her eyes widened.

The Traveller shot her an apologetic glance. "I know how it sounds, but I promise, they are completely safe."

"I have always wanted to know what the future looks like."

"I can take you there, if you want."

"Yes." Anna knew she had every right to be hesitant, but excitement and an inherent curiosity took over, and she found herself more excited by the prospect of seeing the future, and she believed her grin spoke for itself. "Please."

--

"Can someone tell me why we're in the middle of the South Pacific?!"

John was soaking wet, a little more than shaken, and completely baffled. the first thing he did after hauling himself back onto the deck was try and ground himself by looking towards the stars. That's when he noticed it was wrong, that they were no longer in Bermuda. He didn't have Rose to verify that he wasn't losing his mind, but he knew what he was seeing. was overhead. That shouldn't have been possible. Since he was thrown overboard, both he and the Ellen Austin had completely changed locations.

Samuel had done his best to explain what had happened— apparently the captain had been possessed? And the fog was also a person?— but that didn't really help in making anything clearer. If he didn't witness it for himself, he'd have said it was another work of fiction, something straight out of Samuel's notebook.

But, not even he could make that claim.

"We're approaching land!"

He was drawn out of his thoughts— and the lack of an answer to his question— by a call to attention. For all it was worth, his curiosity still got the better of him. He scrambled to the side of the deck to watch the land approaching piece by piece.

"There's no port, I can't get close enough!" The helmsman responded, and the rigger disappeared further the up the structure to convey that message to the lookout.

John, Samuel, Margaret and the Traveller disembarked along with anyone else curious enough to want to explore this terrain. He had the hope enough that see Rose again. He'd seen the flashes of light, and the Traveller had mentioned that she was safe, but he'd watched the entire ship disappear, and that couldn't count for nothing.

He scanned the shore carefully, looking for any sign that the prize crew of the Antikythera had survived whatever had happened to them. It was a relief beyond measuring when he saw Morgan on the beach, already being accosted by his friends from the Austin. If he was there, then that meant—

"I haven't seen him since, we were separated…"

"I hope he's okay…"

Not one, but two familiar voices. The first was, undoubtedly, Rose's. And he knew the second, too. He picked up the pace, relief and excitement flooding him, and managed to find the two women behind the voices.

"Rose! Nova!"

Both of them looked up in tandem, and Anna couldn't hide her delight as she raced to meet him halfway. "Hershey!"

She went to embrace him, but then hesitated when she realised something. "God, Hershey, you're soaked! What happened to you?"

John hadn't been able to ignore the way that his hair had plastered itself to his forehead, or the way his shirt had stuck fast to his arms. He was freezing cold, and he could still feel the stray droplets running down the side of his face. "I was... Thrown overboard in the excitement," he shrugged, absently wringing off the cuff of his shirt. "I should be fine."

A thousand or more questions ran through his head at once, and he had to still himself before he asked all of them. "Anyway, what about you?" he continued as the two of them made their way towards Rose.

"What about me?"

"How was the extended stay beyond the satellite?"

"Oh, it was wonderful! I'll tell you all about it! Where are Samuel and Margaret?"

"They're here. Somewhere. And Rose?"

"She's fine, Hershey."

John managed a smile. The events of the last few days had certainly unnerved him enough, but he was glad to know that Rose was okay after all that.

They approached. rose was still exactly where Anna had left her, and lifted a hand in greeting when she saw John. Seeing for himself, knowing that she was fine, it brought the relief back tenfold.

"It is so good to see you again, Rose. I saw what happened to the Antikythera, and I thought— well, I assumed the worst..." he admitted, noting that she, too, was completely soaked.

"Wait, what happened to the Antikythera?"

"What do you mean, 'what happened?' Were you not on board?"

Rose blinked, tried to recall the last thing she could clearly remember, and then shook her head. "No, I don't think anyone was. That's a... Long story... Did you know there's more than one Traveller?"

"I did not. So, this is the work of someone like Sia?"

"Like who?"

John glanced back, hoping that the other half of their party was still in his line of sight, and nodded over when he caught them.

"Our Traveller has a name?"

"Apparently so. And your brother is still with her and Margaret... He had asked about you..."

Her eyes went wide. "Samuel! Are they okay, Herschel?"

"Don't worry, Rose. All is well. They're still on the coast." He saw the eager look in her eyes, and urged her into going to find them and making sure that they knew that she was okay. When she went running down the coast after her brother, Anna once again beckoned him over, and the two of them sat side by side on the green verge just beyond the coast.

It hadn't been all that long for him in retrospect. The length of this voyage, give or take a day, but he couldn't imagine how long it could've been for her.

"You have a story, I can tell." Anna drew her knees closer to her chest and shot John an eager glance.

He sat back against his hands, trying to relax for the first time in god knows when. "Mine isn't half the fate I imagine yours is..." he speculated, earning a chuckle in return.

"Try me."

"I can offer you a ghost ship, and— you are aware of which year we're in, aren't you?"

"I've been told... That took some getting used to."

John hummed his agreement. "I do have a tale, actually. You'll never guess what happened to the township."

Anna turned to him, fully intrigued. "What?"

"It finally got a name."

"No way! What's it called these days?"

John grinned. He couldn't help it. The delight he'd felt upon hearing Morgan tell them the first time was radiating. She absolutely deserved this, and he was honoured to find himself with the knowledge that her hard work had paid off to this extent.

"Hershey?"

"They call it the port of Hanover."

Anna clapped a hand over her mouth to catch the way she almost screamed. "You're serious?"

"You were honoured by name at the port, too. The satellite truly changed lives, Nova."

She laughed. God, if only her father could see her now... Knowing that she had changed the face of navigation by introducing her satellite into the skies.