#just in case i guess but i doubt anybody ships it anymore

[hyliareborn]

i can’t believe it took the reveal that urbosa and zelda’s mother were friends for ppl to realize that urbosa was old enough to be zelda’s mother and that shipping them is gross

[illusory-torrent]

Why I prefer the Genshin Impact fandom to the RWBY fandom.

I'll start off by saying what many of us are thinking. It's sad that the ships are nearly the only thing the RWBY fandom talks about because the plot leaves so many in a state of dissatisfaction. I've seen so many RWBY fans and non-fans alike say, "Oh, I don't care about the plot, I'm only watching for [insert ship here]" or "I'm going to drop the show if [insert ship here] doesn't happen". For those who doubt me, please believe me, it's a thing. 

Now, when I say that the RWBY fandom only really cares for shipping, you might ask, "Is that not what every fandom does though?"

Well... yes! You're right. However, I think the RWBY fandom takes it to the next level. 

First off, the theory-making side of the RWBY fandom has completely died. I remember there being videos theorizing if Yang was part-dragon Faunus or Ruby being a fox Faunus. These days, the fandom's theories boil down to, "What's up with the void that Team RWBY fell into?" due to V8's ending, but back during V5-V7, there were hardly any theories being posted. Most people just don't care anymore. 

Second off, Miles and Kerry struggle with writing characters outside of pairs. Not just romantic pairs, but pairs in general. Most characters only have interacts with their team partners, their love interests, their familial relationships, and... that's it. Blake is a prime example of this. Her best interactions are with Yang (her team partner), Sun (her former love interest), Ilia (another former love interest), and Adam (her ex-boyfriend). Her worst interactions are with Ruby (her team's leader, whom she hardly interacts with) and pretty much everyone else. Even her interactions with Weiss are few and far between. Another example would be Penny. Prior to Volume 3, Penny's best interactions were with Ruby. Penny hardly interacted with anyone else in a meaningful way. She dies and Ruby's tearful reaction is focused on. Why? Because she's one of the few characters Penny actually had a relationship with! Penny comes back in Volume 7, and she still only really interacts with Ruby. Her only new relationship that's developed is with Winter... and we find out why. It's because when Penny is killed by Jaune, her maiden powers are transferred to Winter, the rightful owner.

Miles and Kerry being unable to write outside of pairs is why we only have each of our characters only interact with certain other characters. Before Jaune helped kill Penny, did he ever even have a real conversation with her? We'll never know! Has Blake even talked to Jaune before? No idea! Did Yang even care that Pyrrha died? Probably, but we viewers literally never see the two interact prior to Pyrrha's untimely demise.

This type of writing (whether intentionally or unintentionally done) promotes shipping culture. Characters interact primarily with their love interests (who may or may not also be their team partners). This is why RWBY's fandom is so focused on shipping. Hell, even Blake's VA tweeted at Clover's VA with a joke regarding this.

Clover's VA: Has anybody heard of this thing, “shipping?”

Blake's VA: Welcome to RWBY.

[Photo for anyone who needs proof, in case these Tweets are deleted in the future.]

Blake's VA even once had to make a post saying, "Y’all, you know I love my Bees, but not everything is Bee related. Some is just RWBY hype in general. Calm yo’self.". The fact she even had to clarify that not everything she posts about RWBY is related to a ship is astounding. Imagine having to tell your audience that not everything you post is related to a fictional pairing. 

The RWBY cast even had an segment on The Ship-It Show where, you guessed it, they talked about their favorite and least favorite ships. Their tagline even was that "Shipping is a creative expression, so don't limit your creativity!", which went over with the fandom about as well as one would expect. 

Finally, Miles Luna recently posted a Cameo video where he stated, "Just remember: shipping is fun and pretend, and it’s just supposed to be a good time. Don’t be one of those people that attack other shippers and get real mean and toxic. We’re all just here having fun with wonderful make believe characters and make believe worlds, and I think that is a beautiful activity, as long as you’re doing it responsibly and kindly." 

So as you can see, shipping is a big part of the RWBY community. I'd venture to say that shipping is the most important part of the RWBY community. And that's fine! Shipping in itself isn't a bad thing. It's only when it gets completely out of hand where it becomes a problem. And I feel it is becoming a problem in the RWBY community. Rooster Teeth, if you need your show-writers to remind the fandom that shipping is supposed to be fun, you have a problem. 

Well, how does Genshin Impact avoid that problem? The fandom itself is large and the game is quite popular, so how does it handle not becoming a complete shitfest shipfest? 

For starters, Mihoyo doesn't confirm any ships at all. This is for profit reasons, the game is a gacha game designed for players to spend money on their "waifus" and "husbandos". Characters have outfit customization for this exact purpose. Mihoyo benefits from keeping characters canonically single. This is why, while people think soon-to-be-released characters like Ayaka and Tohma are dating, many people also believe these same characters to be single. 

Second off, VAs are unable to give their opinions on certain ships and on lore. For example, the VA for Lumine, the main female protagonist, confirmed that Lumine was 15, before apologizing and deleting her comments. The VA for Childe signed some Childe x Lumine artwork to sell, but blatantly stated that he only really shipped Childe with Childe. The VAs avoid discussing unconfirmed ships/lore and, in this way, Mihoyo avoids controversy. 

Finally, Genshin Impact only recently came out. This means that the theorizing part of the fandom is still alive and well. There's plenty to theorize about since there's so much us players don't know about the story. Lore tidbits are celebrated by lore junkies, folks who want to theorize on the characters' backstories or on the protagonist's journey to find their twin sibling are more than welcome to do so. 

So while the Genshin Impact community engages in tons of shipping, none of the ships are more canon than any other. A Zhongli x Childe shipper might argue that their ship is canon because Zhongli gifted Childe some chopsticks, but a Zhongli x Ningguang shipper could easily argue back that Ninguang is a reincarnation of Zhongli's former friend/partner Guizhong. And of course, a non-shipper could look at both of these arguments and believe them both to be false.

I think this allows shipping to remain a fun and lighthearted activity in the Genshin Impact fandom. You can ship what you'd like, or you can just enjoy the plot and lore like a normal gamer. 

So where am I going with this? Well, my thoughts are that no matter what the fandom, there will always be shipping. There's always gonna be some degenerates (like myself) who see two cute characters and want them to get together. However, it's up to the creators themselves to decide where to go with ships or to even entertain them at all. Mihoyo, in my opinion, handles the Genshin Impact fandom's shipping craze much more successfully than Rooster Teeth handles the RWBY fandom. 

So what are your thoughts? If you're in both fandoms, which fandom do you prefer and why? Let me know!

[iturbide]

today was a wash have a chunk of bad end au vent writing

The first thing Claude became aware of -- besides pain, but he didn’t want to focus on that any more than he had to -- was a steady, rhythmic swaying, something he could feel in his bones as he lay still in the darkness.  Next came sounds, drawing his attention one by one: the creak of shifting boards, the scrape of metal across metal, the subtle clink of glass muffled by wool padding.  Then the smell of the sea, the tang of salt at the back of his throat edging out the metallic bite of blood (if only for a moment, but he’d take what he could get)...

He knew where he was before he opened his eyes: an Almyran ship at sea, tucked away in the infirmary belowdecks.  But the confirmation was still nice, and he spent an extra moment or two watching the brass lamp sway on its hook, the dim ring of light it cast rocking back and forth as the ship cut through the waves and illuminating shelves of tinctures and compounded remedies, copper instruments cleaned and secured in their cases, berths and braced cots in neat rows for the medics to tend.  An alarming number of them were full from what he could see, sporting burns and dark blisters from toxic magic along with the more commonplace bindings and slings for arrow wounds and slashes...though he noted wryly that his own bunk was directly beside the doorway: the immediate access by the medics coming through at both the start and end of their rounds said a lot more than he cared for about his injuries.  The cot on the opposite side was occupied, too, and he waited patiently for the swaying light to sweep across it, curious who else was in sorry enough shape to warrant such special treatment--

A few locks of pink hair gleamed at the edge of the wandering glow, and Claude jerked upright -- only to immediately regret it, slumping back down and reminding himself to breathe, in through his nose, out through his mouth, focusing on keeping the rhythm steady rather than on the pain burning through his chest and threatening to steal his consciousness again.  It took a while...but eventually the agony subsided to a manageable ache, pulsing in time with his heart; even then, he kept still for an extra minute before trying to open his eyes, confirming that the light wasn’t spinning any more than it should be before looking back across the aisle. 

“Hilda?” he whispered.  “You awake?”

She stirred slightly, and he stretched his arm across the divide between them, cursing silently when his reach fell far short.  “Don’t try to move,” he rasped.  “I made that mistake already.  Don’t be like me.”

He swore he heard a reedy laugh as she turned her head toward him...and in another moment, her hand drifted out to touch his, their fingers twining weakly as they both put what little strength they had into holding on.  “You made it,” she breathed. 

He mustered up a grin, hoping she could see it in such weak light.  “So did you.”  He’d been hopeful, even when he fell, that she’d get out...but he could remember, hazily, the sound of her shouting, the weight of her body over his before everything blurred and faded out; he could feel her hand shaking, and squeezed her fingers as best he could.  “...why didn’t you retreat?  I thought we agreed, if something went wrong, you’d get out of there in one piece…”

“I couldn’t leave you like that,” she mumbled.  “You were counting on me.  I wasn’t...it would’ve let you down, if I left.”

“No it wouldn’t.”  From his place at the pier, he’d watched the battle, keeping an eye out for the classmates who’d come to make the final stand with him: he’d seen Petra batter Ignatz until he couldn’t hold his blade anymore, and felt a rush of relief when she hesitated before dealing a killing blow, giving him just enough time to retreat; he’d watched as Lysithea took aim at the Empress herself, only to be blindsided by Hubert’s magic, and when he saw the mage take Edelgard’s hand he’d felt the strangest jumble of sorrow and solace, knowing she would live on but equally sure that Fódlan would soon become a bleaker place for those that survived to see it.  “I was counting on you to get out of there in one piece.  I...you weren’t supposed to die in a fight we couldn’t win.”

“...did you know we couldn’t win it?” she asked. 

“...I’d hoped we could,” he sighed, feeling her trembling grip tighten.  “But I knew it was a long shot.  It’s why I told you all to retreat if things got out of hand.  But...it’s why I pulled out all the stops, too, to try and even the odds.  Requesting support from Almyra, calling in old friends from Garreg Mach...it’s why I asked you to come.  Didn’t really think you’d go for it, when I did.”

“Were you disappointed I didn’t send my brother instead?” she teased. 

“No,” he replied, tightening his grip on her fingers.  He didn’t even need to think about that.  “Having you there...that’s what made me think we might be able to pull it off.  But...it wasn’t enough.  All that planning, all the preparations...I let you down--”

He thought he heard her huff as she squeezed his fingers.  “Hardly.  You tried: you kept us out of the war for five whole years, and gave the Empire a fight they weren’t expecting when they finally came.  Anybody who’s let down by that should try doing it themselves, see if they can do better.”

Claude immediately thought of Lorenz and blew out a thin sigh.  “Guess we’ll see how that goes, huh?  Hopefully he won’t run it into the ground.” 

“I give him a week.”  

Chuckling to himself, he glanced over and saw her smiling back.  They’d made it out -- only barely, but still (and he tightened his grip, just a bit, reassuring himself that she was really there, warm, alive…

“Oh, well!  Look who’s back among the living.”

Claude blinked, tilting his head back at the man standing in the aisle between them.  “Nader?  ...please tell me you’re not helping the medics.”

“Of course not,” the man huffed, crossing his arms.  “I just came to make sure you were still breathing.  Been a day or so since we got a word out of you, I was starting to worry about what I’d have to tell your parents when we make landfall.”

...he hadn’t actually thought that far ahead.  But near-death was also not an eventuality he’d planned for, when war was normally a matter of kill or be killed.  “Please don’t tell my parents I almost died.”

Nader snorted.  “They’re going to find out one way or another.  Would you rather it be when they see you in that sorry state?”

“No,” Claude groaned.  Not that he could keep it from them that long, given that they were bound to ask why he didn’t come along when the general flew back to the capital to make his report.  “Can you at least not make it sound too bad?  You know how they get when they think I’m dying.”

“Last time I checked in the medics still thought you were,” Nader pointed out. 

“It takes more than that to kill me,” he grinned.  Maybe not much more, but he wisely kept that to himself. 

The general sighed, but apparently decided to give up on arguing further.  “Yeah, well, let’s try to avoid finding out what else it would take.  Stay put, kiddo, I’ll round up a medic and be back in two flaps of a wyvern’s wing.”

“Not like I could go anywhere,” Claude called after him, relaxing into his berth and glancing over at Hilda...to find her squinting at him.  “What?  I couldn’t.  Not without regretting it.”

“I don’t even know what you two were saying,” she pointed out. 

...he hadn’t even registered that they’d been going at it in Almyran.  “Nothing to worry about,” he reassured her.  “They’ll have us back on the mend in no time.”

“Well, that’s a relief, at least,” she chuckled.  “Holst would never forgive me if I didn’t make it back.”

Only when he felt her grip tighten on his hand did he realize he was shaking.  The Empire had every reason to think both of them died at Derdriu -- which meant Hilda couldn’t go back.  For Claude, it was only ever a matter of not seeing the Alliance again; for her...she couldn’t go home.  “Do you think you’ll regret it?” he whispered.  “Fighting for me?  Not getting out while you had the chance?”

He could barely muster up the nerve to look at her.  But when he did, she was smiling at him through the wan light.  “It was worth it.”

Even he wasn’t certain of that anymore.  “How can you be sure?”

“Because it was for you.”

His eyes stung, and blinking only made his vision blur.  “Would you mind sticking with me for a while longer, then?”

“Do you even need to ask?” she giggled.  “You just say the word, and I’ll be there.”

Drawing in a slow, unsteady breath, he squeezed her fingers as best he could.  “Thanks, Hilda.  For everything.”  

As the ship’s medics came marching in and finally shooed their hands apart, Claude closed his eyes.  His goal was even further away now than it had been when he first set foot in Fódlan, and he doubted it would get any closer while Edelgard held power.  But he could still plan.  He could still prepare.  And when the day finally arrived when it came back in sight, he would be ready. 

He was still alive.  And so long as he lived, he’d work to make his dream real.

[supermarvelgirl15]

Home- Chapter 5 (The Reckoning)

Summary: An old contact extends an invitation to the Mandalorian and Jesla to make peace with their enemies. Jesla learns something new about what the Jedi are capable of.

Pairing: Eventual Din Djarin (The Mandalorian) × OC!Jesla Gavdo

Word Count: 4,020

Warnings: None really

A/N: So the reason this took forever was because I wrote half of it, and my laptop crashed and didn't save, so I had to rewrite it. Anyway, I'm actually excited about writing the next chapter. Enjoy!

Series Masterlist // Main Masterlist

××××××

    “My friend, if you are receiving this transmission that means you are alive. You might be surprised to hear this but I am alive too. I guess we can call it even. A lot has happened since we last saw each other. The man who hired you is still here, and his ranks of ex-Imperial guards have grown. They have imposed despotic rule over my city, which has impeded the livelihood of the Guild. We consider him an enemy, but we cannot get close enough to take him out. If you would consider one last commission, I will very much make it worth your while. You have been successful so far in staving off their hunters. But they will not stop until they have their prize. So here is my proposition: Return to Nevarro, bring the Child as bait. I will arrange an exchange and provide loyal Guild members as protection. Once we get near the client, you kill him, and we both get what we want. If you succeed, you keep the Child and I will have your name cleared with the Guild, for a man of honor should not be forced to live in exile. I await your arrival with optimism.”

   Jesla and Din both watched the older man's- whose name Jesla came to find out was Greef Karga- hologram message. Jesla looks back at the Child who was asleep, contemplating what their course of action should be. She knew that they couldn't run away forever.

   “I think we should go,” Mando speaks up, turning his chair to face her. 

   “We don't exactly have a choice,” Jesla scoffs, crossing her arms. “We're going to need to recruit some help,” she adds.

   Mando tilts his head, the incredulous look he's currently giving Jesla hidden by his helmet. “Wouldn't that be overkill? We're enough,” he shares, recalling the incidents with both Toro and Xi'an. 

   Jesla she shakes her head. “I can't use my abilities around the Empire. It'll just make our situation worse than what it already is,” she tells him as her fingers start to tap the side of her leg once again. Din realized that she would do that whenever she felt uneasy about something.

   Din sighs, turning back to face the control panel. He spares a look at the sleeping Child before setting a course that Jesla and him were familiar with, and the Razor Crest jumps into hyperspace.

                                            ∞∞∞

   The duo walk into a common house on Sorgan, seeing Cara Dune win a laser tethered boxing match with a male Zabrak. As the patrons hand Cara her winnings, she notices them approaching her. 

   “Looking for some work?”

   They all sit at a table, Cara and Jesla helping their selves to some spotchka as Mando starts explaining their situation to Dune. It seemed like a straightforward operation since Karga and his men were providing the plan and the firepower. Mando and the kid were the snares while Jesla and Cara would be their backup in case anything went south.

  Cara shook her head as she took a sip from her glass of spotchka. “I don't know. I've been advised to lay low. If anybody runs my chain code, I'll rot in a cell for the rest of my life,” she tells them.

   “I thought you were a veteran,” Mando queries with a tilt of his helmet.

   “I've been a lot things since, most of them carry a life sentence. If I so much as book passage on a ship registered to the New Republic I'm...” Cara starts before Mando interrupts her.

   “I have a ship. We can bring you there and back with a handsome reward. You can live free of worry,” Din bargains.

   “I'm already free of worry. And I'm not in the mood to play soldier anymore. Especially fighting some local warlord,” Cara shrugs, placing her now empty cup on the table.

   Jesla takes a swig of her drink before looking up at the dropper. “He's not a local warlord. He's Imperial,” she informs her.

   Dune makes direct eye contact with the ex-sharpshooter, a smirk working its way on her face. “I'm in.”

                                            ∞∞∞

   The Razor Crest flies through space as the group of outlaws prepare for their upcoming mission. Jesla was nervous about going up against the New Empire. As far as everyone knew, she had blew up with the second Death Star. If they found out that she was still alive... Well, she didn't want to think about those consequences. She just had to make sure that no one recognized her.

   Karga didn't even know that her and Cara would be accompanying the Mandalorian and the Child. Hopefully, that wouldn't be a problem. At first, Cara was confused as of why they were going to help someone that neither of them trusted in the first place, but once she realized that they didn't exactly have a choice, she understood.

   And after a little incident with the Child trying to fly the ship, they realized that they needed someone to watch him. Luckily, Mando knew someone that he trusted enough with such a task. 

   Jesla watched from the cockpit window as they landed near a moisture farm on Arvala-7, an Ugnaught trying to tame his blurrgs. Mando had told her that this was the planet where he had found the Child. 

   The Ugnaught gladly invites them all inside his residence, all of them having to bend down to get through the doorway. They all take a seat in the hut, Jesla promptly observing the inside of the house. In her subconscious, she noted her exits and anything that could be used as a weapon. She couldn't help it.

   “It hasn't grown much,” the Ugnaught comments as he looks over the Child. 

  “I think it might be a strand-cast,” Din suggests as he too looks over the kid.

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

   “This is Cara Dune. She was a shock-trooper,” Mando introduces her. Din makes eye contact with Jesla through his visor. “And this is Jesla Gavdo. She was an Imperial sharpshooter.”

   The Ugnaught looks Jesla up and down, as if accessing her. “I too served on the other side, I'm afraid. But I'm proud to say that I paid out my clan's debt and now I serve no one but myself,” he tells her. Jesla nods in understanding, not missing the look Cara gives them both out of the corner of her eye.

   Then an IG unit enters the building with a tray. Cara, Din, and Jesla all jump up and draw their blasters on the droid. “Would anyone care for some tea?” It asks them nonchalantly.

   “Please lower your blasters. He will not harm you,” the Ugnaught informs them.

   “That thing is programmed to kill the baby,” Mando says bitterly, not taking his blaster off the IG unit. 

   “Not anymore.”

   IG-11 continues to pour a glass of tea as the Ugnaught tells them all about how he found the IG unit left behind by the Mandalorian and how he reprogrammed it. He told them about the slow and difficult process that he endured to reconstruct the droid. Jesla carefully watched Mando during the Ugnaught's explanation. She knew he would always have his doubts about the droid. Who could blame him?

   They all simultaneously lower their blasters and sit back down around the table. Jesla gladly accepts the droid's offered cup of tea, taking a small sip of it. She didn't really know this Ugnaught long enough to trust him, but she did trust Mando. And his judgement was good enough for her.

                                              ∞∞∞

   Jesla, Cara, and Mando sit in the Razor Crest's cockpit on the way to Nevarro while the Ugnaught, Kuiil, works on a new crib for the Child down in the hangar. Jesla cleans her blaster, making sure it was in working order. She doubted that she would need her MK, but she was going to bring it anyway. Her blaster was her main focus at the moment though.

   “Do you know what station the Imperial officer is?” Cara asks Jesla, making her stop her movements on the blaster.

   “No, I didn't lay eyes on him before we ditched Nevarro. Mando took out his safe house when he snatched the kid. They've definitely reinforced their troops since then,” Jesla answers her. 

   IG-11 then appears in the entryway of the cockpit. “I have prepared second meal. Would you care to be served here or below?” He questions everyone.

   Before Jesla could respond, Mando beats her to it. “I'm not hungry,” he says shortly. Cara and Jesla share a look as the IG unit leaves without another word. “Under no circumstances does that thing leave the ship,” he states.

   “You got a real thing for droids, don't you,” Cara observes. Jesla sits quietly as she waits for Mando's response. She wondered if he would tell Cara why he hates them.

   “I got a real thing for that droid,” Mando replies, gesturing to where IG-11 had walked out. 

   Cara side-eyes Jesla as her brows knit together. “The Ugnaught said he rewired it,” she reminds him.

   “That droid was designed to kill things. I don't care how much wiring he replaced, it goes against its nature,” Din spits out angrily. Jesla's eyes soften as she continues to watch him, knowing exactly how he felt about the topic. 

   Shooting Jesla another look, Cara stands up. “Well, shouldn't be a long job anyway. You take out the head Imp, the rest will run like rats,” she says before she leaves the cockpit.

   A sigh escapes Mando's modulator as he turns to look at Jesla from over his shoulder. “You should go eat. We still have a while left until we get to Nevarro,” he tells her, pressing some buttons on the control panel.

   Jesla nods as she stands up, placing her weapons in her seat. “I'll bring you up something,” she says before she too descends down the stairs into the hangar. 

  Din turns to look after her, another sigh leaving his lips. He wasn't sure how he felt about his new friend. She was a lot like him in some ways, but there was still something that he couldn't quite put his finger on. 

                                             ∞∞∞

   After what felt like forever to Jesla, Mando finally lands the Razor Crest on the deserted surface of Nevarro. Everyone, except for IG-11, mount on the blurrgs and exit the ship, meeting Greef Karga and his three associates outside.

   “Sorry for the remote rendezvous, Mando. But things have gotten complicated since you were last here. It appears that introductions are in order. It seems we've both provided a security detail,” Greef Karga observes as his eyes scan over Jesla, Cara, and Kuiil. His eyes land on Jesla's MK-modified rifle strapped over her shoulder. “I guess you were the sniper that took out some of my men that night,” he puts together, his hands going to rest on his hips. Jesla just gives him a once over as she proceeds to not respond to him. 

   Karga realizes that he isn't going to get anything out of her and turns his attention back to Mando. “Now, where's the little one?” He questions as he looks around for it. 

   Mando moves the floating crib towards him. Greef opens it and his eyes widen as they land on the Child. “So... this little bogwing is what all the fuss was about,” he takes the Child out of the crib, “what a precious little creature. I can see why you didn't wanna harm a hair on its wrinkled little head.” He gives him a once over before placing him back in the crib. “Well, I'm glad this matter will be put to rest once and for all.”

   Din calls the crib back to him. “The sun drops fast on Nevarro. We can walk for a spell and camp out on the river bank, then make our way into town at first light,” Karga informs them before turning to lead the way. Din looks back at his new friends, following Karga with them right behind him.

   Once night fell, they all decided to set up a makeshift camp for the rest of the night. One of Karga's bounty hunters had put a piece of meat over the fire to cook. Jesla watches as Kuiil feeds the Child, the members of Karga's group eyeing each other suspiciously.

   “I guess the little bugger's a carnivore. Never seen anything like it. They were ready to pay a king's ransom for that thing. Must be for some kind of highfalutin menagerie,” Greef comments, looking at Mando.

   “Let's go over the plan again,” Mando says, stirring the conversation back to business. That was, as always, Mando for you.

   “We both enter the common house. We show the client the bait. We join him at the table, and you kill him,” Karga explains simply with a shrug.

   Jesla turns to face both Greef and Mando. “What about his reinforcements? Surely he's upped his security since last time,” she points out. She knew how these Imperial officers worked.

   A look of surprise briefly flashes across Karga's features. “No more than four. He travels with, at most, a fire team. Trust me, nothing could go wrong,” he tells her as he gets up and grabs the piece of meat that was over the fire. Jesla shook her head. That didn't sound right.

   Suddenly, a winged creature swoops in and grabs the meat out of Greef's hands. Everyone goes into a frenzy after that. They all start shooting at the dragon creatures, Mando closing the crib to protect the Child. Dragons start grabbing blurrgs, even one of Karga's bounty hunters. 

   Another dragon attacks the Mandalorian, both Jesla and Cara shooting it to get it off of him. He luckily fights it off by blasting it with fire. After that, the remaining dragons disappear. It's not until then when Jesla and the others notice that Greef was badly injured.

   Cara immediately springs into action, checking Karga's arm where the dragon ripped it open. “This is bad. The poison is spreading fast,” she informs them as she spills out the contents of her med-pack. She gives him a shot, but it doesn't seem to help.

   Jesla watches as the Child walks up to them as Cara frantically tries to help Karga. Everyone watches as the Child places his hand over his wound, Jesla tilting her head in curiosity. The Child's face relaxes as Greef's wound closes, immediately falling asleep right after. 

   Din looks up at Jesla, watching as emotion after emotion flashes through her eyes. He wasn't sure what was going through her head. It was obvious that she didn't know that the kid was capable of doing such a thing, let alone herself. 

                                             ∞∞∞

   The next morning, they all set out to continue their trek to the town. Jesla walks behind the group, the events of last night still fresh in her mind. She absentmindedly watches Mando and Cara converse with one another in front of her, but she didn't hear anything that they were saying. 

   Her eyes drift to the crib that was floating beside Mando, the Child hidden in it. She wondered how he did it, if she could do it. Did she have the ability to save so many people that were dear to her and she didn't even know? 

   The Mandalorian looks back over his shoulder, seeing Jesla lost in her thoughts. With a nod to Cara, he falls back to walk beside Jesla. She didn't even notice his presence until he spoke to her.

   “Did you... know that he could do... whatever that was?” He asks her, looking straight ahead. He himself was still surprised at the new information.

   “No,” she answers shortly. She didn't mean to be short with him, but her emotions were starting to get the best of her.  Jesla knew that she was overreacting, but she couldn't stop the guilt that was slowly taking over her.

   You could have saved your brothers. You could have saved your master.

   Din sees the internal conflict going on inside his partner. He wasn't sure what he could say to make her feel better. He didn't know how to talk about these things, wasn't trained to do it. His mind drifts back to the time of his life before the droids attacked. His mother would probably know what to say in this situation, so would his father.

   He opens his mouth to say something, but is stopped when Karga and his men halt ahead of them. “I guess this is it,” Karga announces to the group.

   Before either Din or Jesla could register what was going on, Greef suddenly spins around with his two blasters and shoots his two bounty hunters. He then immediately raises his blasters in capitulation as the others train their own blasters on him.

   “There's something you should know. The plan was to kill you and take the kid. But after what happened last night I couldn't go through with it. Go on, you can gun me down here and now, and it wouldn't violate the Code. But if you do, this child will never be safe,” Karga quickly explains to them. 

   “We'll take our chances,” Cara tells him, her finger on the trigger.

   Karga's eyes widen slightly as he tries to save himself. “The Imperial client is obsessed with obtaining this asset. You tried to run, but where did it get you? Listen. We both need the client to be eliminated. Let me take the Child to him, and then you three--”

  “No.”

   “Let's just kill him and get outta here.”

   “He's right.”

   Both Cara and Jesla shoot Mando an incredulous look. As he lowers his blaster, Jesla sighs before reluctantly following suit. What was going through his head? 

   “As long as the Imp lives he'll send hunters after the Child,” Mando points out. Jesla knew that he was right, but she also knew that this whole thing could be a trap. 

   “Bring me. Tell him you captured me. Get me close to him, and I'll kill him,” Mando tells Karga. Now he was being insane, especially when he handed Karga his blaster.

    However, Jesla knew how stubborn this beskar cladded man could be, so she knew that there was no way he was going to change his mind. “Well, I'm coming with you,” she states, Cara also jumping in.

   “No, no, no. That would make them suspicious,” Karga opposes as he shakes his head in disagreement. Both Jesla and Cara shrug, not caring less.

   “Tell ’em they caught me. I have a plan. Kuiil, ride back to the Razor Crest with the Child and seal yourself in. When you're inside, engage ground security protocols, and nothing on this planet will breach those doors,” Mando orders, turning to face Kuiil.

   Kuiil nods as he walks up to him. “Here's a comlink. I will keep the Child safe,” he turns to Cara, “don't forget to cover your stripes,” he reminds her. He then takes the Child out of the crib and hops on the remaining blurrg, heading in the direction of the Razor Crest.

   Mando hands Karga his handcuffs, Karga placing them on him as Cara covers her tattoo with a piece of fabric. Jesla made sure to take off her hood and mask, anything to hide her real identity from the Empire. They didn't know her face, only her name.

   “Let's go.”

                                          ∞∞∞

   The group walk up to the entrance of town, greeted by Stormtroopers standing guard. Jesla tenses up once she sees them, subconsciously trying to hide as she stands on the other side of the Mandalorian. 

   Greef produces his ID card for the Stormtrooper to scan his chain code and they continue on their way. More Stormtroopers march pass them and Cara comments on how Karga said there was only supposed to be four. 

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

   Once they finally get to the common house, the door opens to reveal the Imperial officer and four Stormtroopers. Jesla didn't recognize the officer, but then again, she didn't really pay attention to them.

   “Look what I brought you. As promised,” Karga greets the officer, gesturing to Mando. Cara and Jesla share a look before looking back at the client.

   The client approaches them, caressing Mando's beskar armor. “What exquisite craftmanship. It is amazing how beautiful beskar can be when forged by its ancestral artisans. Can I offer you a libation to celebrate the closing of our shared narrative?” He asks, looking back at Greef. 

   Karga nods and shoves Mando to sit in the booth, Cara and Jesla standing beside the table. The officer also sits as more Stormtroopers enter the building. “It is a shame that your people suffered so. Just as in this situation, it was all avoidable. Why did Mandalore resist our expansion? The Empire improves every system it touches. Judge by any metric. Safety. Prosperity. Trade. Opportunity. Peace. Compare Imperial rule to what is happening now. Look outside. Is the world more peaceful since the revolution? I see nothing but death and chaos,” he rambles before adding, “I would like to see the baby.”

   “Uh...it is asleep,” Karga fibs, glancing over to the pod. 

   “We all will be quiet. Open the pram,” the client orders as he reaches for the pod. Luckily, a Stormtrooper comes over and whispers something to him, making him halt his movements. “Don't think me to be rude. I must take this call,” he apologizes before walking away.

   Mando takes the opportunity to loosen his cuffs under the table. “Gimme the blaster,” he whispers to Karga. Greef obliges as he sneakily hands it to him, making note of the extra Stormtroopers.

   “This is bad. You said four,” Jesla whisper yells, her eyes scanning over the multiple Stormtroopers. However, she knew they could most likely take them. It would just cause a big scene.

   “Well...there are more. What can I tell you?” Greef replies gruffly, both Jesla and Cara rolling their eyes.

   All of a sudden, the client goes down as blaster shots are fired through the window, peppering inside the common house and killing everyone inside, except for the outlaws. Once the shooting stops, they all move out of cover to both sides of the window. An Imperial firing squad sits outside, another transport of Stormtroopers arriving. 

   Cara turns to Karga with a glare. “Four Stormtroopers?”   

   Din takes out his comlink, bringing it close to where his mouth would be. “Kuiil, are you back to the ship yet? Are you there? Do you copy?” He questions frantically.

   “Yes!”

   “Are you back to the ship yet?”

   “Not yet.”

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

   Jesla tenses up when her eyes land on a TIE fighter landing outside. Her fingers itch towards her lightsaber hidden beneath her cloak as a man exits the TIE fighter to stand in front of the common house. She knew if she used it, she would be on the New Empire's radar. Was she ready for that?

   “You have something I want,” the man states aloud to them. Jesla looks him up and down, not recognizing him. Who was this guy?

   “You may think you have some idea of what you are in possession of. But you do not,” the man continues. Was he talking about the Child? 

   Looking to Mando, Jesla sees him trying to get through to Kuiil. “Kuiil, are you back to the ship yet? They're on to us. Kuiil, come in!”

   “In a few moments, it will be mine. It means more to me than you will ever know.”

   “Kuiil... Are you there?! Come in, Kuiil! Kuiil, come in! Kuiil! Are you there?! Do you copy?! Kuiil! Kuiil!”

   When Kuiil doesn't answer, Mando looks over to Jesla and she can feel his desperation. This was not going well.

××××××

@living-that-best-life

Tags are open!

[meowdymista]

Van der Driscoll pt 4

idek how this is still going but here we are. I like to please people like our bae, I guess

Part 3 & Masterlist

Part 5

In this booth in some rundown town west of Lemoyne, you’re grateful to have Arthur’s thumb rubbing calm circles on the back of your hand. His eyes are azure in the sunlight pouring through the shutters, watching the road outside for the third day since you’ve arrived.

The sound of you pushing your plate away attracts his attention.

“You need to eat something,” he murmurs, squeezing your hand with a small frown. You shrug indifferently, although the voice at the back of your mind is nagging the same thing. Your stomach is a separate entity to you now - it will betray you at the drop of a hat by suddenly dropping through the floor and pushing bile up in its place. How are you supposed to eat when you aren’t hungry? When anything that does pass your lips tastes like dirt, and tastes worse when it passes them again?

He sighs heavily, kissing your knuckles before enveloping them beneath both of this own. It’s like you’re watching him jump forward and backwards in time. The lines etch deeper in moments like these, when you’re sat by the window waiting. They drove themselves in hoards when conversation pulled you into heated discussion about right and wrong.

“A baby shouldn’t be born on the run from the law.”

“What about the boy? Jack?”

“It was different then - there weren’t so many Pinkertons, and they weren’t so determined.”

“OK, so why is he still running with you?”

“It’s different - they’re safer with us than out there where they can be grabbed for ransom.”

“Who would hold a boy and his mother for ransom?”

A dark look reminds you of the ten dollar murder. “These guys are the law-”

“And the law hire bounty hunters, don’t they? And them bounty hunters are anyone that steps off the street.”

Despite some strong arguments that stir doubt in your already unsettled insides, you can’t help but see the twinkle in his eyes when the barman talks to you about his own newborn daughter, promising that the baby will be worth every second - although it could be the lack of sleep making him delirious.

You came to bed late last night to find him passed out on top of the blankets still fully dressed. Taking pity on him, you removed his boots, stirring him from his sleep enough to get underneath the quilt and hold it up for you to curl in next to him. You slipped in, gasping as his strong arms wrapped around your waist and pulled your back flush against his front, his nose buried in your hair.

“My lady and our baby,” he mumbled against the back of your neck as his palm flattened on your unchanged stomach.

“If you’ll have us,” you whispered in return, inhaling sharply as his grip tightened.

“I can’t be what I ain’t.” A kiss tingled your bare shoulder. “But I want you both more’n anything.”

“You promise?”

His warm breath chuckled over your back. “I ain’t lyin’ if that’s what you mean.” You turned your head, finding his heavy lids in the darkness of the room. “I’m sorry for how I acted - I loved being a father, and I’ve loved being with you. Best o’ both worlds but I know this world don’t work that way - for outlaws at least.”

“It’s worked for your brother.”

“Mm. That fool was always lucky.”

“We make our own luck in this world, Arthur. Have faith.”

He chuckled at that, burying his head deeper into his pillow. “A’ight. I’ll try.”

You push a piece of meat into your mouth and force yourself to chew. You’re sure this would taste amazing if you had found this place before you lost your appetite.

Arthur moves to his feet suddenly, eyes fixed outside. “He’s here.”

You follow his gaze to see a curt old man dismounting a stormy coloured turkoman. You recognise him instantly.

She can’t go free. Not with the Pinkertons after us.

"Arthur!" Hosea calls to the man half running off the wooden porch to meet him, hitching Silver Dollar on the side of the road. "Everything alright?"

"Hosea - you got the letter! I-" He moves his hat on his head, raking his hands through the mane of hair before setting it back down. "I didn't know who else to ask."

"Guess it fell through, whatever you intended to do?" The brown eyes drift to the window where you shrink out of view.

"Somethin' like that," he admits, rubbing the back of his neck. "I… we need to talk. I was hopin' you might be able to… to help in some way or at least lend another mind to workin' out what we gotta do now..."

"Is she worth it?" Hosea holds his son’s gaze steadily, tilting his chin towards the saloon.

"Yes. She's-" He breathes out shakily, looking over his shoulder to your peeping eyes. "She's important to me,  Hosea."

A hand clamps on his shoulder, squeezing it reassuringly. “Let’s get properly introduced then.”

You hold your breath as the two men walk up to where you’re sat shrinking into the wall. Arthur slides in beside you, squeezing your leg with a small (albeit worried) smile as the stranger settles himself opposite you, his brown eyes bland and unreadable.

"So what is it you need to be telling me?" he asks calmly to no one in particular as he waves for a drink. "What's brought you all this way east for christ's sake?"

"I was gonna get her outta the country," Arthur explains lowly, his knee jittering again. "There're boats - ships that are taking people out of America. Get her away from Colm and us for that matter."

"But…?" He takes the whisky and throws it back, tucking a dollar in the garçon's pocket as he asks for the same again.

"But she- she weren't well."

"I'm pregnant." Your voice breaks, eyes blinking back tears. "Arthur's. I'm carrying Arthur's child."

He blows out his hollow cheeks, looking between the two of you as though expecting a cry of "April Fool's!" in June. Arthur's shoulders sag at his guardian's response.

"An' we ain't even told you the best part. Her cousin was on the ferry in Blackwater. Heidi. She's the one Dutch… you know."

He drags his hands down his face. "Could you bring us the bottle?" he calls before the barman can return. "The bottle and- two? Three glasses?"

“We owe it to her, Hosea!”

“Are you-” He waves his hand, looking between you. “What are your plans?”

“She’s keeping it.”

You nod in agreement, holding onto him for dear life as the man pours you each a glass and toasts. You try to follow suit, but the smell knocks your stomach before you can drink it. You set it back down, pushing the glass away as Arthur rubs your back understandingly.

“Don’t start this again,” growls Arthur, surprising you with his tired hostility. “Please.”

The old man’s voice is hushed, eager. “Think about it - this is an opportunity to get outta this life!”

“I can’t do that, Hosea.”

“This could be whatever deity is up there giving you a second chance! You’ve said it yourself, Arthur. We’re thieves in a world that don’t want us no more.”

“I ain’t leavin’, Hosea. You know I can’t, ‘specially now.”

Regret saturates his sigh, the twinkle in his eye extinguished as he leans his head against the back of the bench. “I know, son. Can’t blame a feller for hopin’.” Silence stretches out between you before the older man speaks again. “So what is it you’re wanting to do? We both know you ain’t dumb enough to want to bring her into camp.”

“What else is there to do?” Urgency cracks his voice as he tries to speak quietly. “Dutch killed her ticket outta here - we owe it to her!”

“He’s paranoid enough without introducing someone with motive. Morale is as low as it’s ever been right now - if word gets out that the girl was related to the new O’Driscoll? People will panic, Arthur. We’ve already lost too many-”

“I just want to keep the baby,” you interrupt, your eyes begging for him to find your honesty. “I know what it looks like, but I didn’t know Arthur was runnin’ with anybody.”

“How did you get caught again? After kidnapping Bill, wasn’t it?”

“That wasn’t me!” you cry desperately.

“But you were there when he was tied to a post?”

“I only went down to see what- what Heidi did. I just wanted to put a face to the story- Please believe me! I ain’t about revenge, and I ain’t about to do anything to put Arthur or the baby in danger-”

“Promises aren’t enough to vouch for you.”

“I won’t leave her side,” intervenes Arthur, squeezing you tight enough to fuse your sides together. “And if I do, you can watch her. Make sure she stays outta trouble.”

“And if both of us are away?”

His exhale is harsh, his mouth searching for words that can’t be found. Hosea tuts, more to himself than anything.

“I know I shoulda realised who I was gettin’ involved with,” Arthur says slowly, blue eyes begging. “But it’s too late for that. If there’s any way of keeping them with me, I gotta try. Please, Hosea. Help us?”

The bony man shrugs tiredly, shaking his head in defeat. "It ain’t me you need to convince, it’s Dutch."

“Do you think he’ll take it?”

“I don’t know anymore. Maybe if he sees how important she is to you.” He sighs, eyes searching the ceiling as though the answer might be hidden in the flaking white paint. “Like I said, he isn’t going to execute a woman carrying a child, and handing her back to Colm would be just that. Can’t hand her to the authorities neither in case she feeds them information.” Lips pressed together they all but disappear, he pours himself and Arthur another glass. “I suppose, until she proves herself to still be a threat we’re at an impasse.”

Arthur taps the glass with his free hand in time with the bounce of his knee. "I- I just don't wanna be the one bringing this gang to its knees."

“You won’t, Arthur.” A ghost of a smile dimples his cheek. “You know what you mean to us. Everyone knew something was happening with you - couldn’t not, knowing you as well as we do - and at the end of the day, you wouldn’t be fighting like this unless you trusted her. So… it’s time we trust your judgement.”

He throws the amber liquid into his mouth, wiping his hands over his thighs. “But - I will say this to the both of you right now-” He fixes you with an unforgiving stare, his neat voice hushed. “-if anyone in camp comes to harm as a result of your actions, I won’t hesitate to put a bullet in you. Baby or no baby.”

“Hosea-!”

“I mean it.” His gaze doesn’t flicker, holding you like a snake charmer. “We aren’t like Colm, we don’t pick people up to expand our numbers. The Van der Linde gang is family. What we have is thicker than blood. Don’t go shedding any. Understand?”

“Yes,” you croak.

“Good.” He drains your untouched glass and gets to his feet. “Arthur, you should go on ahead. Tell Dutch what’s happened, but leave out the family history. I don’t want to play that card unless we absolutely have to.”

“And Y/N?”

“We’ll be behind you in the cart. On Silver Dollar, you should get back in a day and a half at a push - if we aim for two and a bit, that should give him plenty of time to cool off and think rationally.” The older man squeezes his son's arm. “Don’t look at me like that, son. She’ll be safe with me.”

****

As promised, after two nights travelling with Hosea, you arrive back to the heartlands of New Hanover. He explains, whilst pulling out a book from his bag, that you’re waiting here until Arthur comes to fetch you both. No point walking into camp if the heat is still on.

“And if it doesn’t calm down?” you ask.

“Well, I imagine he’ll come get you and take you on to Valentine.”

You wait for a few hours - it’s only as the sun is beginning to dip lower towards the horizon that Arthur comes out from between the trees. He gives Hosea a look that can only be described as… terse. Understanding immediately, Hosea clambers down.

“Give me five minutes before coming in. No point in talking if nobody can hear what you have to say.”

The two men exchange a series of pats as they pass each other. The shadows under Arthur’s eyes are almost black as he climbs up beside you.

“How’d it go?”

Hesitating, he squeezes your knee, placing a deep kiss to your forehead before flicking the reins. “Well. Guess we’ll see if it was enough.”

He guides the wagon a little further down the dirt track parallel with the train tracks. You can see a glimmer of light through the trees for a brief moment, but it’s not until you turn down a narrow path you wouldn’t have noticed otherwise that you recognise quite how sheltered the camp is. You brace yourself for a sniper to take you out, but you make it through to the clearing without crossing anyone’s path.

Arthur parks the cart, releasing the horses before helping you down.

“How do we even know it’s his?” you hear Dutch cry from the all too familiar central tent.

"You saw how she came in, so she was telling the truth about that. Why would she bother with that get up if they knew?"

“It’s Colm! He’s been trying to take us out for years!”

“Arthur cares for her. We should give her a chance.” A hefty scoff sounds. "He isn't like you or John; they've been intimate. Of course he cares! And she’s pregnant - that baby could come out blacker than the night sky and he’d take it in as his own."

Arthur’s fingers weave through your hair, pulling your ear to his chest. His hammering heart alone almost blocks out the noise but a growl makes you lift your head.

“Herr Morgan!”

“Herr Strauss.”

“There’s a debt I need you to collect.” The man’s face is long and thin with small round glasses perched at the very end of his nose - perfect for looking down into the book he’s carrying. “A rather reluctant client by the name of Downes.”

You jump at the sinister snarl that curls from Arthur’s lips. “I’m busy.”

“You don’t need to go immediately, Mr Morgan, but the sooner the better. Fellow seems determined to die before paying his dues.”

“If it’s so important, get someone else to do it.”

“I’ve tried but Mr Bell was a little too heavy handed. We can’t collect debts from the dead.”

“Well it’ll have to wait. I got more pressing matters right now.”

His beady eyes gleam as he surveys you. “So I’ve heard. The O’Driscoll girl, isn’t it?”

“Git outta here!”

“Arthur! Y/N!” Hosea calls you both from the flaps of Dutch’s tent. With one last sneer at Strauss, Arthur leads you to the castle by the hand, his fingers interlaced with yours as he steps in front of you, entering first to take the brunt of the hostile atmosphere.

Dutch is stood, feet planted apart beside a gramophone, arms folded across his chest as his eyes burn into yours with a fierce intensity.

“What are you wantin’ from us, Miss? To kill us in our sleep perhaps?”

“Dutch-”

“Let her speak, son!”

You take a steadying breath. “Mr Van der Linde-”

“Miss O’Driscoll,” he returns sarcastically, lighting a fat cigar.

“Miss L/N, actually,” you sneer. “I’m not here to harm any one of you. We’re in a predicament, and we’d appreciate it-”

“We got a sayin’ here,” he interrupts brashly. “We save people as need savin’, shoot fellers as need shootin’ and feed those who need feedin’. Which is it you’re needin’, Miss?”

“Feedin’ if you can, Dutch,” Arthur growls, squeezing your hand as he throws you a look. “Savin’ us if you will.”

He scoffs, shaking his head in despair. “So it’s ‘us’ now?”

The apple in Arthur’s throat bobs, his chin still held high. “Yes. We’re in it together. Where she goes I go. You’re my family and I want to stay, but if you can’t accept her, I guess we’ll have to go somewhere else.”

“Come now, Arthur-!”

“She’s carrying my child, Dutch.”

“That didn’t stop John disappearin’.”

“I ain’t Marston. You know that.”

“I know you’re still holdin’ a grudge on him, that’s for sure.”

Arthur sighs harshly, pulling your body flush with his. “What’s it gonna be, Dutch? She needs to rest. Can she stay, or am I takin’ her to town?”

He takes a long drag of his cigar, casually blowing the smoke into your face. “What happened to you, Arthur? You got so sour in your old age.”

“I got tired of worryin’ about everybody else.”

“Worryin’ about everybody else? Son, you want us to take in another O’Driscoll! It’s suicide!”

His shoulders fall, his grip tightening. “Well then, I guess it’s time to thank you for all them years.”

He tuts. “You don’t mean that.”

“Dutch, I ain’t slept proper since I brought her here, an’ I’m gettin’ real tired of talkin’. I can’t risk losin’ her like I did Eliza and Isaac.” They stare at each other, both stubborn and unrelenting.

He takes another long slow drag of smoke and lets it cloud the air between them. “Fine. She can stay. But first sign of trouble and she’s out!”

“A chance is all I’m askin’ for.” Tugging you out of the tent, he keeps his body between you and Van der Linde. “Thank you, Dutch.”

“This is on you, Hosea,” you hear as Arthur leads you to a small cot a dozen feet away. “Soft, the both of you.”

[diavolodigitale]

The Hitchhiker’s Guide to Andromeda Galaxy - pt.2 Kadara

I must admit, editing this 2 years after writing is a real pain in the you-know-what. It almost doesn’t seem worth saving anymore, but I am determined to finish this. The last 2 chapters are kind of fun after all.

Genres: comedy, romance (vaguely), friendship maybe, nothing serious, really.

Pairing: m!Ryder/Evfra 

Characters: Ryder, Evfra, Reyes

Rating: PG

Size: around 6 pages

Pt.1 - Pt.2 - Pt.3 - Pt.4 ----- All chapters in PDF

Kadara port had everything a weary traveller could ever wish for: water for when you were thirsty, food for when you were hungry, protection for when you were in fear for your life, and for when you were thoughtless - a knife to stab you in the back. From time to time even James needed some of its special offers, but not as radical as what most of the mercs coming here were looking for. The job of the Pathfinder was dangerous and, sadly, unrewarding, so he developed a habit of coming to the port to give some rest to his fagged body and worn-out mind. People there openly disliked him which gave him the perfect opportunity to behave however he wanted without thinking much about the role forced onto him.

Ryder enjoyed observing dozens of different people visiting the port every day. Sometimes he would even become the witness of some utterly disgusting and dishonest affairs which had, to put it mildly, not the best outcome for one of the sides of the conflict. Nevertheless, he learnt his lesson about not trying to help every single person on Kadara very well literally on the day of his first visit. As such, those situations turned into mere inconveniences he had to steer clear of while staying there. Helping his race survive was at the moment more important than dealing with exiles and the problems they caused. Priorities first.

What he liked even more than observing people, was talking to his crew members in a kind of informal atmosphere. No doubt, the air that prevailed on the Tempest was mostly friendly and peaceful, but work is work no matter what they say. Here, on Kadara, on the other hand, every one of them would find something more enjoyable to occupy themselves with in their free time so the general mood shifted from busy to more casual. Whatever they were doing – drinking in the bar, trying to persuade the merchant to give a discount, or checking the incoming supplies for the ship – it was still interesting for him to see them act in situ.

Having no plans in particular for the evening, Ryder was strolling in the direction of the local bar when he noticed a familiar silhouette. A renowned angaran commando stood near a bunch of crates piled up in a secluded alley. Quite far from any vendor or stall, as Ryder noticed. It was already enough to get him interested.

He cautiously approached Evfra from behind just to startle him with a loud “greeting” of his.

“Is it really you who I see here? Or is it just a black-market VI? I would really be astonished if technologies went so far,” he yelled cheerfully.

“Is it a rhetorical question?” Evfra turned his head and gave Ryder a tired spiritless look.

“I hope something happened,” responded Ryder and pouted, “‘cause if you’re so dull only because I’m here, I will be deeply offended.”

“Fascinating.”

Evfra watched a few strangers pass by the alley they were in and clicked his tongue disappointedly. Clear as day, he was looking for something or someone.

“So, what is the leader of the angaran Resistance doing here all alone? Such a famous figure should be an object of desire for local bounty hunters,” said Ryder. His curiosity always got the best of him.

“Same goes to you, Pathfinder.”

“I guess, more people want me to actually do something to improve the quality of life in the galaxy than just to die in the slums. And you haven’t answered my question,” noted Ryder, unsatisfied with the reply he got.

“It may be hard to believe but lots of people here have heard stories about me. Despite that, hardly anybody knows what I really look like. It is very useful when you hold such a position. Of course,”—Evfra sighed before continuing—“if you do not have a Pathfinder nearby, who will yell that it is indeed you and not somebody else.”  

“Don’t worry, my lips are sealed.” Ryder propped up one of the nearby crates and pretended to zip up his mouth.

“I would really like to see that.” Evfra sighed yet again.

“That’s just an idiom that–”

“I know. Jaal told me about this strange phenomenon of yours. Seems like everything about humans is as confusing as it is annoying.”

“It won’t be so confusing when you get to know us better.”

“If I get to know you.”

“Believe me, I will do everything for this alliance to work out,” declared Ryder. He sounded completely confident in what he was saying. “I am always ready to help and even make some necessary sacrifices for the sake of our union.”

“Spare me the details, please.”

Evfra looked around one more time. His search wasn’t successful which was obvious from a disgruntled look on his face. Ryder noticed that, and his interest towards the goal of Evfra’s pursuit on Kadara grew even more.

“So, what could be so important that it managed to make you come here personally?”

“Resistance’s matters.”

“That I have already figured out,”—Ryder raised his eyebrow and crossed his arms—“I mean, why you? As far as I know, you have countless field agents that could take up this business on your behalf.”

Understanding the Pathfinder wouldn’t be shaken off so easily, Evfra decided to give up without even starting an argument. He wanted this conversation to end as soon as possible.

“I am looking for my informant. He hasn’t contacted me for a few days, although I’ve been waiting. And I loathe waiting,” he responded.

“And for that you spared the time to come personally? I’m impressed.”

“Do you trust everybody on your team, Ryder? Do you trust everybody on the Nexus?” asked Evfra, staring at Ryder intently. There was no point in continuing this conversation, but he just couldn’t hold himself back.

“That’s the question not to be answered in front of the people I work with,” chuckled Ryder.

“Then you know why I’m here. If you want to do something, do it yourself. In this case, you will have no one to blame if something goes wrong or the desired result is not achieved.”

“I can understand that.” The Pathfinder nodded slightly and went on, "I think, you’re a real professional, you know?”

Evfra gave Ryder a gloomy glance and left the question unanswered. He was not entertained by this talk the way Ryder was. He probably never had been.

“Is it Reyes you’re looking for?” asked Ryder bluntly.

“Are you going to expose identities of all people working for the Resistance?”

Evfra did not even sound mad anymore. Just tired.

“If nobody here knows who you are, then there’s no harm in mentioning that you’re looking for him. Lots of people on Kadara work with him as well, so saying his name out loud isn’t really that much of a deal.”

“Your thoughtlessness is going to get you killed some day.”

“Not while you’re around to take care of my safety.”

No reaction followed, so all Ryder could do after such a remark was stand silently and awkwardly scratch his neck. There was still nothing special he wanted to do in the port besides just sticking around for some time, so he figured he’d stay here and see where the situation would get him, but the atmosphere was killing him.

“Reyes seems to like you,” said Evfra after a few minutes of silence.

“He does?”

“Yes, even though I cannot see why.”

“I’ll pretend I didn’t hear that,” said Ryder and forced a little smile that looked sincere enough. He knew that arguing with Evfra would never lead him anywhere. “So, do you mean he likes me as a person or…?”

“I do not possess such knowledge. We don’t discuss personal matters.”

“Oh, I see. Then how do you know he likes me?”

Evfra exhaled loudly and sat down on one of the crates, perhaps, tired of standing on the same place for what could be hours.

“He speaks highly of you. It seems that he admires your methods and purposes, although it is hard to tell, since you, humans, are so bad at expressing your true feelings.”

“Guess we have something to learn from your kind.”

“You have a lot to learn from us,” corrected him Evfra. “First of all, how to read the attitude and recognize when it is better to stop the communication.”

“I’ll take that into consideration, but don’t promise anything.”

Ryder considered something for a few moments before deciding to be bold till the end and taking a seat near Evfra. There was high chance the angara would stand up, not wanting to be near him after the last incident, but Ryder really hoped he would just leave it be.

Evfra looked at the Pathfinder with dissatisfaction, but said nothing.

“How’s your arm?” asked Ryder, relieved by his reaction.

“Healed.”

“Good to hear that.”

“Do you want to ask me how my head is?”

“As good as mine, I’m sure,” answered James, but still threw a quick glance at Evfra’s forehead to make sure he was fine.

“It was foolish of you to perform such an act. My bones could have been much stronger than yours, and then your people would have lost another Pathfinder,” muttered Evfra between his teeth.

Evfra’s words made something about Ryder change. For a few moments, he wasn’t so upbeat anymore – just an ordinary exhausted and disappointed in life individual on Kadara.

Evfra mused over the idea of saying he was sorry, but the situation seemed so weird to him, that he decided not to.

A familiar voice of someone speaking with a charming accent rang out not far from Evfra and Ryder’s location.

“Well, isn’t that the great Evfra himself?”

“Reyes!”—Evfra stood up abruptly and took a few steps towards the tan-skinned man—“I’ve been waiting to hear from you for days and you didn’t send me a word. Don’t make me come here once again or else I may find someone more responsible to take your place.”

Ryder tried to recall when he last saw him this angry but failed.

“Did you come all the way just to see me?”—Reyes made an ironic bow—“I am pleased and honored. If I may ask, did Pathfinder Ryder also come here looking for me?”

“Not this time, Reyes, but it is good to see you alive and well,” said Ryder and nodded with a hint of a polite smile on his face.

“What a shame. I was already intrigued by the possibilities of our prospective cooperation.”

“Pathfinder Ryder will be the only one available to you for cooperation if you do not explain yourself right now,” said Evfra almost growling.

He was visibly unhappy with how the conversations developed. Ryder got the feeling he’d better return back to the Tempest and leave those two to discuss their business in privacy. He stood up, displaying his intention to withdraw from this soon-to-be battlefield.

“I see you need some time to catch up. I also have some business to take care of while I’m in the port, so I’ll probably get going.”

“Leaving already?” A slight disappointment could be heard in Reyes’ voice as he spoke. “I thought maybe we could grab a drink or two after Evfra and I… resolve our issue.”

“Enough!” shouted Evfra, raising his voice like he rarely did. His chest was heaving with suppressed rage. Ryder thought he was most likely really angry with Reyes’ careless and provoking manner. Or anything else. From James’ experience, it really didn’t take Evfra long to find a reason to be angry about.

“Maybe next time. It was nice seeing you, Evfra. And you, Reyes, as well,” he declined, not wanting to provoke the angaran commando any further.

“Likewise, Pathfinder. I sincerely hope to see you here again in the nearest future,” responded Reyes and gave him a wink.

Ryder lightly nodded and gave another polite smile. Evfra only sniffed and abruptly turned away, facing the other direction when Ryder was leaving. Once more, not bidding farewell properly.

[the-magnus-backlogs]

Statement of Suzanna Harkness regarding a manuscript she reviewed for publishing.

Statement taken direct from subject, 27th December 1993.

You wind up stumbling down a lot of weird rabbit holes when you work for a small press long enough. Niche genres you’d really rather remain oblivious to, arts majors trying to break the mould by submitting something they swear up and down you’ll have ‘never seen before’. Never mind if it’s actually legible, but that’s…that’s another matter, I guess. I’m not here to talk about the subpar sci-fi erotica or whatever, I’m here because I found something weird.

I’d like to say right off the bat that I’ve got a strong stomach. Wouldn’t have lasted this long in the company if I didn’t. We only publish a couple hundred books a year, but we take in all sorts around here. Sometimes it feels like our only real submission requirements are ‘unmarketable to the general public’, and it seems like anybody with a half-baked idea is willing to try their luck at tossing their unedited manuscript into the ring.

That’s where I come in. Wading through the mountains of unusable garbage, hunting for hidden gems. I’ve even found a couple, but mostly it’s just about finding something readable. Or something we can pass off as being readable for those rare readers capable of ‘comprehending the author’s artistic vision’. Yeah, the marketing team winds up throwing phrases like that around a lot.

Maybe I’m being unfair. I was a lot more patient about that sort of thing when I started. So preoccupied with not coming across as judgemental, but I’ve worked in publishing over ten years now.

It used to be more common for us to get manuscripts sent in through the post, back then. Nowadays it’s pretty much all done online. A couple we get from literary agents, but most are just emailed in by aspiring writers who stumbled across our site, usually after receiving their rejection letters from the two dozen publishing houses that show up above us on pretty much any search engine.

Every once in a blue moon, though, a manilla envelope will find its way onto my desk. Some bright spark who thinks they’re above using a laptop decides to send their manuscript in the old fashioned way. Sometimes it’s just a precaution in case we somehow miss the half dozen emails they’ve already sent out to every listed staff member on the site. Hell, sometimes it’s written by typewriter.

You know typewriters require special paper to print? Special ink, too. They probably spend more writing the damn thing than they’ll ever see in royalties, but to each their own, I guess. I even got one handwritten, once. The idiot sent a follow-up a month later anxiously asking if he could have it back if we weren’t going to consider it because it was his only copy. Can you imagine? Mailing off the only copy of your handwritten manuscript to some backroom small press without any insurance.

By comparison, this manuscript was relatively normal. It had been typed, I think. The paper was…I guess it was sort of crumpled, but I didn’t think much of it at the time. The postal service isn’t always the most careful about this sort of thing, and it wasn’t really packaged properly. Just shoved loose in a box and shipped out.

It was pre-bound. Just a bundle of papers held together with a few strands of red string. A little unusual, but not exactly throwing up any red flags. Even when I started reading it, I didn’t know. How the hell could I have?

It was good, though. Maybe that should have been my first clue. The prose dragged on a bit, but hey. There are plenty of successful writers out there who probably could have benefited from a harsher editor. They made up for it, in my opinion. Even just skimming those first few pages, I was hooked. Didn’t even really realise it when I was due my lunch break. I was so focused on that damn book.

The visuals were the thing. Plenty of writers can pour out half decent prose, but something about this writer…they had a way of making it feel real, you know? All the little touches, the scenes they crafted from the ground up. It felt…it felt like I couldn’t stop reading. Even if I’d wanted to, and trust me, back then I didn’t.

I didn’t leave my office that day. Barely noticed it when the phone rang, ignored all my emails. I really, really thought we’d accidentally stumbled on a gold mind. Not just a passable debut novel, but an honest to god genuine talent.

The funny thing is, I can’t even really remember what it was that drew me in. Couldn’t tell you what genre it fell under. The plot itself was practically non-existent. A girl who dreamed of being a dancer and crept out of her house to practice under the moonlight in a clearing in the forest behind her house.

Then, one blissful night, illuminated by the full moon, the forest provided her with a partner. The partner.

Nothing too out there, right? Your basic fantasy-romance type stuff. Pretty tame compared to a lot of what we publish, but I was enthralled from the first description of their first dance. Barefoot and so light on her feet her toes barely skimmed the dew-slick grass. They loved each other, and in that moment, I think I understood that. Really knew what it was to love someone so much you’d offer them your still beating heart if it would mean holding onto them for just a second longer.

Except it wasn’t love. Not really. It was an obsession.

I couldn’t stop devouring page after page as their budding romance grew and spiralled, twisting into something unrecognisable. Those whispered words of I can’t live without you became their mantra as they clung to one another so tightly they left bruises on one another’s skin. Soft kisses turned sharp as they came to understand what it was to need to consume and be consumed. They needed one another in a way neither could truly provide. Not really.

In their despair, they begged the forest to offer them a solution, and it gave them one. A way to lie in the sweet summer meadow forever, and in their glee they didn’t think to ask what it would cost.

Not until they began to rot, anyway.

My memories around here get a little hazy, or maybe the words were just less clear. The writing seemed…hurried towards the end, but the couple didn’t seem to mind much when the insects began to burrow through their skin and make their homes inside. They had so much love to give, literally brimming with it. As sickening as it was, it sounded almost…fond. Like the writer truly wanted to give them the happy ending they deserved, but somehow couldn’t think of anything more befitting than allowing their decaying corpses to be infested with creepy crawlies.

It was sick. The concept was sick. Everything about it was sick, but even now I can’t truly convey how vividly they described it. The picture they painted was so clear. Even the affection the insects lavished upon them as they crawled and burrowed through their decaying flesh. It was…God, it used to make me sick just thinking about it, you know that?

Because it wasn’t enough that I had to read it. That I physically couldn’t tear my eyes away. I had to see it. The idea of it…It got its hooks in deep.

By the time I got to the end, I was at a loss for what to do with the manuscript. On the one hand it was probably one of the best written pieces we’d ever received, and there are plenty of twisted readers out there looking for something to churn their stomach.

Somehow it didn’t feel right to publish it, though. I’ve read body horror before, but this…It wasn’t right. I couldn’t…I couldn’t just inflict that on people. How do you make someone understand, truly understand, when they’re signing up to read something that won’t ever let them go? How do you make them understand that the words they’re paying you to read will imprint themselves against the backs of their eyelids? That they’ll grow and spread and fester.

I dream about that dancer in the moonlit meadow. The descriptions of her actual appearance were relatively scarce, but I can still see her face when I close my eyes. I see her intertwined with her dance partner, caked in a mossy fungus that failed to disguise the living hive crawling beneath their skin. I can’t tell where one ends and the other begins, anymore. Not even sure if I could tell them apart looking at them, what with their withered skin being so covered in filth and grime.

That damned book made it sound like something beautiful, but their beauty decayed with their childish notions of romance. They chose to become hollow husks of themselves to make room for the love they could no longer contain, but that’s…that’s not love. It can’t be…right?

So why can’t I stop thinking about the way their fingers intertwined before rigor mortis set in and cemented their bond forever?

I can’t concentrate on anything else anymore. At first it was just a niggling seed of doubt at the back of my mind, but it’s grown so much since then. That image burrowed so deep inside my mind turned its hungry mouth towards the parts of me which were most vulnerable, eating and eating and eating and eating until I could think of nothing else.

I don’t know why I never thought to burn it. Maybe I was worried it would make it worse. Maybe it felt too much like sacrilege. I never read it again after that first time, though I considered it often. It sat on my desk while my other assignments lay scattered around it, disregarded without a second thought. After all, there was no room left in my mind for anything else anymore. Every other passage I tried to read just seemed so…dry. So false. I used to get so invested in the lives of paper people, but now I know what true love is, how could the half-baked notions of romance ever compare?  I tried at first, but by the end I just…stared at it. Waiting.

Maybe if I’d tried to destroy it…Too late now, I suppose. I never let it see the printing presses, but I did let it go in the end. Some old man came in asking for it specifically. Something about it being a collectable.

I don’t know how an unpublished manuscript could be considered a collector’s item, and frankly I didn’t ask. I’m not sure if I even really cared about what he’d do with it by that point. Did it bother me that I might be condemning him to share my fate? It doesn’t now, I know that much.

It’s…I was hoping this might help me clear things up, but I just couldn’t see any of it straight. I can’t see anything, anymore. Not really. It may have started in my dreams, but once I let her in…They’re everywhere, now. I saw him in the faces of my colleagues before the press finally let me go… I don’t remember how long ago now. I think the power company cut the power at some point. It doesn’t matter now.

The funny thing is, I really thought they cared about me. They did, at first. I think. It all sort of blurs together, but I remember how they used to talk about me when they thought I couldn’t hear. The nervous looks they’d send me when I zoned out at my desks. Then they staged their first intervention, and I saw it. I saw her. It was the man I saw painted across the features of everyone I knew, in the arches of eyebrows and slants of cheekbones, but it was her I saw reflected in their eyes.

It was her I saw in the mirror, before they ran out of space inside my skull, and the maggots took my eyes…or maybe I imagined that part too.

I’m pretty sure it’s too late for me now, but when I heard about you guys I figured it was worth a shot. I’m full of it. Whatever that feverish contagion that claimed the couple was. That sickly, rotting thing they mistook for love. I can feel it now. I can understand it now and it’s so much. Already I’m on the brink of bursting with it, I think.

I just can’t wait to share.

[handlewithkara]

There seems to be some confusion on what the state of Mon-El and Imra’s relationship is. 

In 3x18 Mon-El and the Legion people decide to leave because their mission is done. Brainy stresses explicitly that Imra needs to be back, presumably because of whatever fuels the whole political marriage thing. 

Brainy:  It is imperative that Imra return to the future. We don't know that the Titan Alliance will have held given the change to the timeline.  Every second we waste could bring us closer to intergalactic war.

(this is stressed one more time in another scene “ Besides, we have to get Imra home”)

Later, on the ship, Brainy also tells Mon-El what danger Kara&friends are in from the power surged Reign. Mon-El is clearly torn but determined to stay the course. 

Imra then tells Mon-El he has to stay. 

Imra:  you need to go back so you can figure out what's been weighing on your heart

Mon-El defends himself that nothing happened between him and Kara intentionally (which Imra confirms). He is still determined to stay the course (I’m with you,  You must know that I would never do anything to dishonor you). 

Imra lays down the groundwork for this whole going back deal. 

Imra:  I need a man, a partner...who will choose me with a full heart. Go back. Help her fight Reign. If you stay, then that's your destiny. If you return, I'll know you have no doubts.

Mon-El then goes back, admits to J’onn that he longs to tell Kara exactly how he feels, but him and J’onn agree that it would be selfish to tell Kara. 

Kara and Mon-El go off and find Argo. They come back, separate Reign from Sam and mistakenly assume that Reign is defeated. 

At this point, Mon-El is still determined go back to the future, because in the next episode he asks Kara for help to send a beacon to the future. 

Karamel spend some time on Argo and at the end, it seems at this point the beacon has been sent? Karamel run into each other and Mon-El does fess up about some things. 

Mon-El:  When I left Imra, she asked me to sort out how I felt. And not just about her. About you. And I've been trying to convince myself that friendship between us was the right thing. But I think I've been lying to myself. I'm sorry to spring this on you in the midst of you trying to acclimate here. I just don't want to hide things, pretend like they don't exist.

So he tells Kara that there is still something going on. 

Karamel get attacked and find out about the big bads. It seems to me at this point Mon-El has made his decision that he wants to stay when he talks to Winn: 

Winn: I thought you were gonna call the Legion and go straight back to the future. Mon-El: Yeah, I was. But then, the time beacon broke, and Kara ran into some trouble, so I decided to stay back [...] I lost her once, Winn. I’m not sure I can do it again.

In the finale Imra returns because they received a signal from the beacon. 

From an acting POV, it looks to me that this is where Imra realizes that Mon-El didn’t actually want to reunite with her. 

Mon-El:  The beacon must've had a fail-safe, to send a message even if it powered down.

I personally don’t get how she gets that from that line, but this is what the acting seems to imply. 

Mon-El and Imra meet up and Mon-El thanks her for coming but tells her it’s not for a reunion. 

Mon-El:  thank you for being here. I know the circumstances weren't what you were expecting.  And I'm sorry.

Imra seems fine with this, says things happen for a reason and that they both have closure now. Seems like her time in the future led her to question their relationship anyway. 

Imra:  This distance has made me realize our marriage was never what it should have been. The fact that I didn't feel I could tell you about the Pestilence mission. The fact I lied to you...

IMO this gells well with what she said that she needs a man who will choose her with a full heart. And that’s genuinely why I always scratch my head to why would anybody argue on Imra’s behalf that Mon-El should go back to her. Imra clearly wants something more, real romance. Even if they get along well professionally Mon-El is clearly not going to be able to provide the “full heart” bit for Imra and imo Imra deserves to be single and find that kind of love for herself with somebody who loves only her. 

Anyway, Mon-El stresses that they are still good partners on of professional/Legion level. 

Mon-El’s “we are getting divorced” face! 

They hug (I think it’s noteworthy that Imra keeps her eyes closed during the hug, while Mon-El blinks a bunch during it)

IMO it’s fairly clear: Imra gave him a condition, either he chooses her or chooses the present and if he doesn’t choose her, they are done. When she comes to help out Mon-El apologizes in case the time beacon gave her the wrong impression that he was calling her to reunite (circumstances different from what she was expecting, “I’m sorry”). 

This is the last we see of Imra and none of the scenes regarding Mon-El’s return to the future imply that he has changed his mind on the state of their relationship. Brainy tells him that he is needed in the future for hero reasons. Mon-El tries to put up a fight, briefly. But Brainy insists that it has to be Mon-El specifically. 

Brainy:  the Legion needs the both of you.[both being Mon-El and Winn here]

Brainy:  The future needs heroes. The future needs leaders. Mon-El: The future has leaders. Brainy: The future needs you, Mon-El. To fight.

When Mon-El explain Kara why he needs to go back he first leads off by saying how much he loved fighting by her side, how he thought (for a moment) that this was his place. He then explains what changed his mind:

Mon-El:  I learned some troubling things today about the future. I need to go back. I can't abandon the Legion. Or the world that I swore to protect, right when they need me most.

Something that heavily mirrors what Kara says: 

Kara:  I had this moment, this realization that Argo City's not my home anymore. National City is. Earth is. And my mission is to protect it.

Personally, I think they did the story dirty. It really seems like there should have been a scene where Mon-El is shown to send the beacon which Imra refers to in 23. 

Instead we go directly from Mon-El asking about where to find spare parts for it in episode 21 to him saying it has been destroyed in 22, while 23 tells us that beacon was sending a message at one point. 

I feel like the dialogue strongly implies that Mon-El repaired the beacon, activated it, powered it down again, pocketed it, leading it to be destroyed in the explosion in 22. 

But since there was no scene of Mon-El actually trying to activate it, I guess it could be read that Mon-El never actually activated it and it just went off by accident? (I think even if this case we should have gotten a scene where he has the finished beacon and puts it away)

As a sidenote: The whole back and forth with the beacon really reminds me of the myth of Theseus (especially since the finale brings up Greek Gods) Where Theseus has an agreement with his father that there will be black sails if he died and white sails if he lived. They accidentally put up black sails (or rather forget to change them), and the father kills himself, thinking his son his dead, because he got the wrong message. That’s what I thought of, that Imra return because she got the wrong message, but Mon-El tells her the message actually isn’t that he is choosing her. 

I can see why some people could look at that scene and think that it is too vague, but I question, if this wasn’t what Mon-El was telling Imra there, why would he say “I’m sorry”? Why would Imra jump to “yeah, it’s okay, our marriage was never that great in the first place”? 

I can also see how some people could headcanon that Mimra reconciled in the future while fighting badguys. I just don’t understand why anybody would want that considering what Imra said what she wants out of a marriage? Why would you want her to be stuck with Mon-El? 

[shortcakemonster]

Go-Away Green pt. 9

Summary: You try to fix everything you messed up, but you get caught up in wondering if you should.

TW: Some dark thoughts in this one, more than usual for this fic.

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 10

Peter went back to class in a weird kind of haze. First off, he’d woken up, more or less, in an alley, dressed in his Spider-Man suit. With his mask partially off. And a random man he didn’t recognize webbed to the ground.

He’d had to ask Karen who the man was; Reuben Holt, the leader of a human trafficking ring, the associates of whom Peter had taken out the day before. He vaguely remembered being on the ship, diving into the ocean for some unknown reason...

For the life of him, he couldn’t remember how he’d managed to track this individual criminal down and capture him. Had he seen him on the ship the day before? He’d have to go through Karen’s footage to find out.

Or had Holt merely been trying to abduct someone when Peter found him, and this superhero’s arrest had happened almost out of pure chance? If that was the case, then where was the victim? They were close to Midtown- had Holt tried to abduct a teenager? The thought made Peter shudder.

He wasn’t given much time to contemplate all of this, as soon enough, a black van pulled up to the entrance of the alley and a half dozen people in black suits spilled out. Happy emerged from the passenger’s seat to briefly thank Peter for catching Holt and assure him that they’d have more information soon. After Peter dissolved the web fluid, Happy’s associates made quick work of restraining him and depositing him into the van before speeding away.

After realizing that school was starting soon, Peter went into autopilot and found his regular clothes, changing into them before heading to his first class. Going about this often-exercised routine on this particular day took about twice the time that it normally did, making him late to physics.

He all but lumbered into class, ignoring his teacher’s passive-aggressive remark about punctuality before making his way over to his desk. He couldn’t focus on the lecture at hand, and not because of his preoccupation with Reuben Holt, but because of a strange, indeterminate sensation slowly creeping up on him, spreading over his skin.

A warmth in his hand. Soft skin, fingers clutching his.

He furrowed his eyebrows. When was the last time he’d held somebody’s hand? And who had it been? Peter balled his hand into a fist, trying to remember the feeling.

Whatever it was, it masked over the subconscious suspicion that somebody was watching him. Occasionally, the feeling would bob to the surface, and Peter would look up to locate the source, until an odd forgetfulness drifted over him and he returned to his previous thoughts.

Ned approached him in the hallway between classes. “Are you okay? You seem really out of it.”

How could Peter even explain the feeling? He couldn’t focus, there were strange gaps in his recent memory... Was this the work of one of Holt’s associates? How had they accomplished it? Or was Peter losing his super senses?

He tried to put it into words that Ned (the best friend, not the guy in the chair) could comprehend. “I feel like I’m forgetting something really important.” Hell, that was all that Peter could comprehend, for the time being.

“Homework?” Ned suggested.

“No.”

“Is it May’s birthday, or something?”

“No, it’s not that.”

“The Stark internship?”

Peter shook his head, despite the two matters being partially related. “No. Well... I- I was in an alley before school started, with the suit on, and I can’t remember what I was doing there. There was just this guy lying on the ground, all webbed up. So I had to have taken him out, but I don’t remember doing that at all. On top of that, apparently he’s the leader of a human trafficking ring, which I helped take down yesterday on a freaking cargo ship, but I barely remember any of this! And I can’t- I can’t...” He mad vague gestures with his hands, as if they would help him find the right words. “There’s something else, I think. Something unrelated to all of this, I just... I’m missing something really big, here.” He curled and uncurled his fingers in a claw shape, that weird, empty-yet-full feeling still plaguing his hand.

Ned was, by nature, a very smart person, as well as Peter Parker’s best and most loyal companion in life. Regardless, he couldn’t quite absorb and decipher everything that his best friend had said. “Look, I’m sure if it was anything major, your senses would alert you, wouldn’t they?”

Peter shrugged. That was about a substantial answer as he could expect from anyone, for the time being. He decided he wouldn’t tell Ned about the feeling of being watched, he didn’t want to worry his best friend, especially if there wasn’t really any evidence in relation to the matter.

He had no choice but to continue his school day as usual, trying to look as normal as possible while obsessing over Reuben Holt and that weird feeling in my hand what is it doing.

Come lunch time, Peter got a call from Mr. Stark and excused himself from the table to go answer it. If it was more information on Reuben Holt, or if he could pick the billionaire’s brain for possible reasons as to why he was feeling so strange, then he was all for it.

In typical Stark fashion, Tony didn’t even let Peter get out a polite “hello” before diving into the topic at hand. “Hey, kid. Hate to interrupt you during your education, but I thought you should know that we got that captain guy in our custody, now. Sent the info to your suit, if you wanna look more into it.”

“Reuben Holt?”

“The very one. He was pretty out of it, but I guess that was (Y/N)’s doing. How’s she holding up, by the way?”

(Y/N)!

Peter felt himself light up with recognition. He smacked his forehead at the realization, disbelieving at the idea that he could forget you so easily. Hadn’t you talked, earlier that day?

He let your name fall softly from his lips, and that was his undoing.

An overwhelming mental tidal wave washed over him, making him slightly dizzy. The hand on his forehead was now being used to steady himself, keep himself grounded in reality. He couldn’t even remember what he’d been talking about. He shook his head, squeezing his eyes shut, trying to clear his mind. “Who?”

A pause came from the other end. “(Y/N)?”

Another wave; it was like he forgot the name the very instant that he heard it. Repeating the name to himself didn’t do any good, as it just started to sound like a weird jumbling of letters that didn’t belong on his tongue. 

“Mr. Stark, I’m not sure who you’re talking about.”

“You introduced me to her two days ago,” Tony explained. “Super shy, powers of invisibility? Is this really not ringing a bell?”

And for one second, he had a perfect image of you standing before him. (Y/E/C) eyes. (Y/H/C) hair. A faint, but genuine smile. A soft hand holding his.

But then, a tsunami of mental weakening. And with it, several aftershocks.

Peter felt like he was going to pass out. He collapsed against the lockers, trying to steel himself against the sensation. Was that why this was happening? Was he sick? He hadn’t gotten as much as a cold since the spider bite.

“I don’t know anybody who can turn invisible, Mr. Stark,” he barely managed to gasp out. “I think I’d remember that.”

There was a moment of silence, which Peter used to try and gather his quickly disintegrating thoughts together, then-

“You know, I barely got any sleep, last night. I’m probably mixing some stuff up.”

Peter let out a sigh of relief. He couldn’t even remember half of what Mr. Stark had said during the conversation, he was just glad that it was over, that he wouldn’t have to use his mental energy for anything other than trying to piece his memories back into place.

“Yeah, okay. Feel better, Mr. Stark.”

Another pause. “Thanks, kid. Good job on today. Bye.”

Night fell early over Queens, as was customary for the season. You’d exhausted yourself by trying to make everyone at school forget about you. On the surface, it didn’t seem like too difficult a task, as there was only a handful of people at school who even knew your name, let alone had any substantial memory of you. Sure, everyone at school was very smart, but the challenge was lost due to a lack of attachment to you.

But then there was Peter. Much smarter and much more attached to you than... well, anyone else you’d ever known, at least recently.

You hadn’t expected it to work so well. Factoring in his super senses, you thought that Peter would immediately pick up on your efforts. After all, his senses were what had gotten you in trouble in the first place. In this instance, you supposed that your powers were stronger than his, and for his sake, you would have to use them.

Neither of you were truly safe, anymore. Not with each other. A human trafficker had come after you, and that was indeed terrifying. But even more terrifying than that was what he’d intended to you with you.

Be a good girl, and you won’t get hurt. At least, not yet. We gotta get our information somehow, don’t we?

More likely than not, he would have used any means necessary to get information from you, and you had no doubt that the information in question would have to do with Spider-Man and his identity. And yes, you probably would have been able to get yourself out of the situation, given your powers. If you were desperate enough, your abilities could have worked in your favor.

But, still...

Before all this, your powers had been focused on keeping yourself in the shadows, keeping people away from you, protecting yourself. None of that mattered as much as protecting Peter.

That was what this really came down to. That was how your powers worked. When you really, truly needed to accomplish something, your powers always came into play. The boy at Delmar’s. The woman in the alley. The people in the shipping container.

And now, Peter.

Peter Parker didn’t think things through. He was vastly intelligent, sure, but his heart pretty much always ruled over his head. For his sake, you had to favor your head over your heart.

But boy, did it suck.

You’d only had a few days of friendship and attention before it was stripped away from you. Alright, you’d technically taken it away from yourself, and you had all the power in the world to restore things back to the way they’d been before, but of course, there was the issue of keeping Peter safe.

And besides, this was what you deserved, wasn’t it? He was better off without you, anyway.

Wholly invisible, you slowly opened the door to your apartment, ever careful not to make any noise as you entered. You were startled slightly when you saw your parents standing across from each other in the living room. Your heartbeat spiked when you saw your mom crying, until you saw the small, plastic device in your dad’s hand, and that he was crying, too.

You felt time stand still, all the oxygen leaving your lungs.

Your mother was pregnant.

As a child, you’d occasionally wish for a sibling, dreamed of your parents paying attention to someone other than you. You’d go to sleep at night, imagining your parents sitting you down and giving you the obligatory talk about how Even Though We’ll Have To Give A Lot Of Attention To The New Baby, It Doesn’t Mean We Love You Any Less. You’d seen that conversation on multiple kids’ shows. You’d heard your young classmates discuss it with their friends at school. 

That conversation was your childhood fantasy, and sometimes you would imagine being sandwiched between two other siblings, of being the infamous Middle Child, never getting any attention from your parents because they were too busy with their other children.

But now, in this particular circumstance, the news made your stomach sink.

You don’t matter, anymore. You never did.

For what seemed like the millionth time in only a few days, you felt a lump developing in your throat, the familiar tremble of your lips as tears began to form in your eyes. You covered your mouth with your hand in an attempt to hide a pathetic sob, but the noise prevailed in spite of your effort.

Your parents didn’t notice.

Which was what you wanted, wasn’t it? Wasn’t this your dream come true? 

Your dad hoisted your mom up by the waist and kissed her, then carried her into their bedroom. She laughed the whole way.

You stared wistfully as the bedroom door shut, the noise snapping you out of your daze. Eventually, you willed your legs to move and approached the doorway of your own room. The thought of this room being converted into a nursery briefly passed through your mind as you opened your window. You’d probably have to clear out your stuff to stifle any risk of your parents remembering you. They clearly had bigger things to worry about now, and you couldn’t get in their way.

You climbed out the window and onto the fire escape, noticing how much more difficult it was to accomplish this task when you couldn’t see yourself. The last time you’d done this, you’d merely been flickering.

You made the trek up the stairs to the rooftop, heaving yourself over the side and landing on the concrete. You lay there for a second, staring up at the night sky. The light pollution of the city often made it difficult to observe the moon and the stars in clearer detail, but they weren’t impossible to see. You liked how small the sky made you feel. At least, you used to.

You sat up and crossed your legs, staring at the neighborhood below. The perpetual state of traffic clogging up the streets, the pedestrians knocking into one another, the alleyway where only days ago you’d helped to rescue that woman.

Where Peter rescued that woman. Period.

You sighed, trying to suppress another bout of crying. It wasn’t like anyone would hear you up on the roof, and even if they did, they would be powerless to your ability to make them forget about anything you said or did.

How do you expect to survive the rest of your life without talking to people?

I don’t!

So, this was where you were, now. Your dream scenario. No connections, no relationships, no nothing. You’d perfected your “mind control” abilities, whatever the hell they ever were, and now there was literally nobody on the planet who could even think about you ever again, let alone care about you.

A choked sob emerged from your mouth, accompanied by a brief flicker to your form. You blinked on and off, like a shorting out lightbulb.

God, what’s wrong with me?!

Your conflicted thoughts were answered much sooner and in a much more literal sense that you’d expected, as a sudden sound of whirring machinery- almost like some sort of flying metal suit- suggested that you might have missed a few people in your efforts of self-erasure.

“Hey, there, Invisi-Kid. You got a second to talk?”

Tag list:

@1enchantedfantasy1 @11mb0 @3003st @aubreylovesthegames @bookchic20@catnolannn @embracethemagic @gladerofcabin4 @greenarrowhead   @hawaiiantozier @honestlysasha @ivykinsnake @justapotatonow @lucille-lovely @maybesomeday @meyrapp @myhealingstar @satansladydoor  @soullesstrashcan @southsidejournal  @stone2576 @thekidsofneibolt @timelordy-fangirl2 @uwu-sebastianstan @wicked-wiccan-witch @dat-one-goat @eye-of-the-owl @qandnoablog @millennialpinksimblr  @speckles-s @cartwheelandfaceplant @the-spidey-dork @spider-stud@meashy-moo @boogie-woogie-wooogie @be-more-heidi-hansen @cartwheelandfaceplant @khaleesiclifford @veryhealthyobsessions

[serenagaywaterford]

1) Okay, I'm late (bc rl sucks), but I'm back and I'll gradually address everything. "Also do not feel any pressure to respond to my multiple essays! I understand completely!"The same goes to you, bc I feel like I'm bothering you too much. That being said, I truly enjoy talking to you. Not only you offer fresh/perceptive insights into the characters' minds (which made me a. reconsider scenes and motives, b. wanna rewatch S1 --some scenes you're commenting on are SO fuzzy in my head-- mind you,

2) 2) I’m already rereading the book), but you also provide such hilarious, sarcastic lines (some of them are absolute killers).

3) personalities” I know you have an inkling of who’s who. :D But damn, that ‘lesbianing’ bit had me giggling. Kudos, fellow anon. Since we’re on the subject, I have another question about your fic (if you don’t mind): is it post s2 or s1/s2 canon divergent? b) “Add horrid fangirls to that and it’s a big ass no lol.” Ugh. Fandom smh manages to sour my opinion of characters/ships/series I personally like. Especially when fans start pestering the creators to cater to their whims or harass actors

4) or start ship wars. Double ugh. c) “So, that’s the Mass Effect connection!” Two more similarities: i. Mass Effect’s Miranda Lawson got a lot of fandom hate back then (even though she was a famous character), just like Serena. ii. She has a back-and-forth, bickering (hateful but not THAT complex) relationship with another female character. d) “I have seen Westworld! Well, okay, just the first season. I got too tired/confused to get past the 2nd season premiere.” Oh, sorry. I shouldn’t have

5) assumed. Believe me when I say it’s a good thing you stopped watching when you did. The overall quality of the series remained pretty much the same (e.g. acting, cinematography, direction), but, oh boy, some new plot twists (which I usually like) are SO OVER THE TOP in order to impress (?) the audience. It’s reached a point where some characters are unrecognizable, bc they’re servants to the plot. Maeve has a lot bigger arc in S2 and Newton is thriving (imo, S2!Maeve >> S1!Maeve), but so is

6) Strahovski/Serena. :D e) “don’t go around bitching at people who say shitty things or stuff I don’t agree with, or blocking anybody who doesn’t like her."Ah, another thing we have in common. There were times I’ve been blocked by fandom people (with beautiful edits) that I NEVER interacted with (except for maybe reblogging from each other). That’s not me complaining. Like I said, each to their own.I just find this phenomenon funny at times. Story time. Once, an out of nowhere anon (whose msg I

7) didn’t publish, bc drama is SO not my thing) said they’d block me, bc of an uploaded gifset for a canon pairing (which wasn’t to their taste apparently) that was tagged as #[series]edit (although the ship!portmanteau was right there, too, so that people could easily block it). I remember being like: "Okay. Good for you, anon!” LOL. f) “I dunno if you see spoilers but there’s one about them.) She needs therapy so much more than a cutesy feelgood storyline.” I did NOT actually, but feel free to8) enlighten me.

——–

I am sort of back! (RL does get in the way of incredibly lengthy essays about fictional TV shows!) NO APOLOGIES NECESSARY!! I am just so happy I get to read all these excellent thoughts, analyses, and feelings you have! (and that we clearly share lol, including the sheer amusement of your writing!). I really want to write more at the mo but my hands are doing that weird old lady thing where you can see the veins popping out and it makes me v uncomfortable to look at. Especially since I have little baby hands. I hate it.

Ok, I’m now kneeling on the floor and the computer is on the kitchen island. This is better. I cannot see the top of my hands. 

SO. Where was I? OW. my kneeeessss. This is a bad idea.

I’m so lost. Fic question. right. It’s post-S2. Like… quite post-S2. I didn’t even deal with HOW or WHY June is back in the Waterford’s house tbh cos I can’t be bothered to sort that out. (Thanks, show.) So, it just assumes that for some reason, she’s back. Which, if the BTS pics/video is to be believed, that’s the case anyway. 

Fangirls (and boys ofc) ruin so much for me. Even if I like the same thing initially. Ugh. Then sometimes they’ll annoy me so much that I end up liking the complete opposite of what they like. Dunno why.

No worries about Westworld! It’s a reasonable assumption! Please don’t apologise, my friend. I do agree that Thandie was very good in S1. IIRC, her character was my fav (other than Clementine lol). Yvonne S2 was just next level shit to me. Like, what you’re saying makes me wanna give S2 WW another shot but when shows get overcomplicated, they’re not much fun anymore when I’m like “BUT WHAT IS HAPPENING LOL”. 

>> “There were times I’ve been blocked by fandom people (with beautiful edits) that I NEVER interacted with (except for maybe reblogging from each other)”

EXACT SAME. It was actually in THT fandom most recently lol. Like, I reblogged one of their pretty edits once. Ever. I didn’t even say anything snarky or bitchy or rude in tags. I don’t think I added any commentary at all. Next thing I know? BLOCKED. Never interacted with them in any way whatsoever. (Typical N/J fangirl lol.) It’s the strangest behaviour and it’s that kind of thing that sours me towards sects of fangirls, and sometimes even the characters they like. Maybe that’s just petty but I think it actually just reinforces pre-existing feelings I had towards the character or pairing.) The only blogs I block are ones that are gross, RP, or spam. (RP blogs is a long history of them stealing and spamming and adding awful commentary to my posts way back in the day, so I just… block em. lol.)

>> “they’d block me, bc of an uploaded gifset for a canon pairing (which wasn’t to their taste apparently) that was tagged as #[series]edit (although the ship!portmanteau was right there, too, so that people could easily block it). I remember being like: “Okay. Good for you, anon!” LOL.”

Oh. My… WHAT. There’s a very odd sense of entitlement here that seems so peculiar to me. Like, that’s what the blacklisting feature is for? I’ve put every version of my most despised pairings, characters, etc. and it works? Very rarely does it miss on. I guess we’re just dramaphobic, mature old fandom farts. Like, “Kids, let me sit you down and tell you about this site before you could block things. Before even XKit was invented…” Not to mention every other website ever lol.

HOLY GROSS… I just got up and a centipede fell off me!! WHYYYYYY. THIS IS WHY I DON’T SIT ON THE FLOOR. (we live near the beach/woods so we get lots of bugs no matter how clean we are…) no more painful kneeling for me i guess…

OKAY. Spoilers. It’s not much but other than the June in Martha costume (which was shown in the teaser Superbowl trailer anyway by now)… there were set pics of Emily, Sylvia, Nicole, and Luke all happy and smiling. IIRC. I can’t find the post anymore. So it may not have been in character. But I dunno… it all seems… too easy? Like, I’m glad Emily is safe but omg. She’d better not be all hunky dory “I stabbed a lady and threw her down the stairs, murdered another, and ran a dude over with a stolen car, but now I’m Canada, I’m all healed!” (Not including the heart attack/crotch kicking here cos that was fair play to Emily. She deserved that.) Like, honestly, as much part of me was like YESSSS at all of those, still… that’s grievous bodily harm with intent to kill, flat out murder, and vehicular manslaughter. For Emily to do those things, you don’t do those crimes without being really broken and damaged. And… yeah. That doesn’t magically disappear when you hop over a border.

[inkognito97]

Lionheart II

Part 1:

Summary: Obi-Wan, his Master Qui-Gon and their two spirit animals run into trouble...

He felt his Padawan’s presence, before said male opened the door. He had also felt the younger male’s irritation, almost as if it were his own. That was probably due to the strong bond they shared.

“Hello Obi-Wan,” he called from his spot at the kitchen table, where he was sipping his favorite tea and reading the current temple news on a datapad.

“Hello Master,” the Padawan replied. Qui-Gon heard the rustling of clothes and he assumed that his Padawan must have hung up his robe.

“How was your day?” asked Qui-Gon, without turning around to face the door.

The ginger haired teenager made a thoughtful noise. “I am not sure…”

“Why not? Did anything happen?” he put is datapad away, waiting for Obi-Wan to finally step into the kitchen.

“No,” he finally entered, “Bruck didn’t pay me any attention and there was nothing else wrong today. No, I think something is wrong with Tilkie…”

That caught the Master’s attention and he watched carefully when his Padawan sat himself in the chair right next to his own. He pushed his half finished cup to the younger male, who accepted it gratefully. They were both too lazy to simply make new tea.

“Can you explain it to me a bit more perhaps?”

The Padawan shrugged and took a small sip of the tea. It was not his favorite one, but he enjoyed the warmth that spread from his insides out, nevertheless. “He is behaving a bit… different. I don’t know how to put it. He is restless and that makes it hard for me to concentrate and he is also frustrated, which is why I couldn’t stop myself from punching Bruck last week.”

“He deserved it though… don’t tell Master Yoda that I told you, you are supposed to be severely punished for your lack in control after all,” he quickly added. Obi-Wan shook his head. “Restless, huh?” He wondered.

“Master?”

Qui-Gon did not reply immediately. He had suffered from Aslan’s restlessness too, but that was nothing unexpected. A lion, especially not a tame one, did not like to be confined for so long. Perhaps it was the same with little foxes.

“And our dear one is still a pup,” added Aslan over their bond.

“Tell me Padawan,” the long haired Jedi began hesitantly, “what would you say to a small trip?”

The ginger haired boy furrowed his brow, “I would like that, but aren’t we still confined?”

Qui-Gon chuckled, “When has that ever stopped me?” It earned him a grin from his cheeky student.

“In this case…” he trailed off.

“Then it is settled. Go ahead young one, pack a few things and then we will be of, searching for trouble and adventures.”

“Please, don’t joke about something like this. You know what will happen then,” he still couldn’t stop the amused smile on his face.

“I know, the Force hates us,” Qui-Gon sighed overly dramatic.

“Where to Master?” he wanted to know so that he could pack all the things they would and might need.

“Not far, just bring the standard kit with you.” The standard kit was practically their belt and the pouches on it. The pouches included the most basic things for survival, they wouldn’t need more. Actually, Qui-Gon doubted that they would need anything at all, but he had learned from years of experience that it was better to be prepared for everything.

“Will do,” with that the young Jedi in training had already vanished into his bedroom. Qui-Gon just shook his head in amusement.

“Ah, youth,” he chuckled to himself and finished the tea, before setting the cup into the sink

“He reminds me of you,” stated Aslan.

“I was never so clever and certainly not as subtle with my insolence and insults,” Qui-Gon shrugged and went into his own bedroom, to get his own things.

Aslan chuckled, “No, but we were just as young once.”

“True,” he admitted.

“Why can I not shake the feeling that you have planed something?”

“I don’t know what you are talking about,” he grinned, “I just want to spent some relaxing time with my Padawan… and who knows, perhaps I will teach him more about his spirit animal.” Aslan growled lightly at that, he approved of the idea.

“Teach him how to survive in the wild… teach him how to hunt,” Aslan suggested.

“Master?” called Obi-Wan.

“In my bedroom,” it didn’t take long for the Padawan to stand on the threshold. He only entered, when Qui-Gon beckoned him over.

The ginger haired male sat on the bed, his legs dangling forth and back in the air, while he watched his Master collecting his things.

“I was planning to travel to a resort like planet that is not too far away from Coruscant. I read about it. There should be a few tribes there, non-violent and peaceful. Also, it would be the best opportunity to test our survival skills. What do you think, can the four of us survive a week, without provisions?”

“I am not sure about you and me Master, but I know that Aslan and Tilkie can,” he replied with a huge grin plastered on his young features.

Qui-Gon should have known that his brat would catch onto it, “Then this is settled.” He straightened, stretching his muscles and bones.

Obediently Obi-Wan jumped from his Master’s bed and he followed the older male out of their shared rooms. They avoided the most public hallways, so that they would not be stopped from their small escape plan. Not that they actually looked as if they were leaving the temple for a longer period of time, but you could never be too sure.

In the end, the Master-Padawan team made it to their ship and left both Coruscant, as well as the temple, behind.

“I should have known that this was a bad idea,” grumbled the ginger haired Padawan. Qui-Gon could not even blame him.

“Well, who could have thought that the cave entrance would collapse?” He received an annoyed and pointy look from his student.

They had arrived relatively late on the nature planet Qui-Gon had decided to visit. It had only been a natural decision to search for shelter, especially since their surroundings were unfamiliar to the two Jedi. After a while of searching, they had eventually found a small cave, nothing too fancy, but abandoned and it would provide them with the needed shelter. It was just their bad luck that the entrance had chosen exactly this moment, to collapse.

“And what are we supposed to do know, Master?”

“Cheering up might be a good start. Don’t concentrate on the negative aspects, Obi-Wan. Focus on the positive things.”

“Like?”

Qui-Gon sighed, “We are together for an instance. We are safe from other creatures and from rain and wind. We still have out lightsabers and belts, which meant we have light and food pills . And we are not in the temple anymore. Also, we are not injured.”

“I think I would have preferred the temple over this,” he gestured with his arm around the small cave.

Qui-Gon had nothing to say to this. He too, would rather be in the temple now, but they couldn’t change that. They were here, on a planet and in a cave, without having told anybody that they had left. Of course it would be noticed when Obi-Wan missed his classes, but still.

“I think I can fit through this,” the ginger haired Padawan suddenly said aloud.

“Excuse me?” he had been so deep in thoughts that he had not even registered his Padawan moving around and looking through their prison.

“Alright, not ME, but Tilkie can definitely fit through.”

Qui-Gon crawled over to where his Padawan was kneeling. There was a small hole in the cave wall, not very big.

“Obi-Wan,” he was uncertain.

“This might be the fastest way to escape. A try won’t hurt and I promise I will come back.” “I have absolutely faith that you would not run of and leave me here Padawan,” he teased, “but what if something were to happen to you? I wouldn’t be able to help you then.”

“Master,” his tone was serious, “I am not an Initiate anymore. I CAN take care of myself. Besides, I am not alone, I have Tilkie with me.”

His defense was crumbling. “Are you sure?”

“Yes Master.”

Qui-Gon sighed. This was their best option and he knew it. “Alright.” He didn’t expect the teenager to tackle him in a bear hug.

“Don’t worry Master, I will be alright, I know it.”

“Just stay safe,” said Qui-Gon while returning the hug just as fiercely. Reluctantly did he let go.

Midnight blue eyes watched how the ginger haired male closed his eyes and entered a trance like state. The teenager inhaled and exhaled a few times and then, his form began to shift and change. His body was shrinking, fur was appearing and where previously his Padawan had stood, sat now a small little fox.

“May the Force be with you, Tilkie,” said the Jedi Master.

The fox brushed his tail against the Master’s side and started to crawl into the hole. It was a tight fit, but with a little help and guidance from the Jedi Master, the fox got in.

“I guess it is only the two of us now,” Qui-Gon mumbled and Aslan growled in agreement.

Qui-Gon didn’t know how much time passed, he had not focused on it. He only knew that he was beginning to get restless. Meditation did not work, Aslan was too uncomfortable, troubled and unsettled for the Jedi Master to truly focus. The lion in him did not like to be held in such a small room, without any chance of escape. Qui-Gon decided then and there, that this was something they had to work on. Perhaps Obi-Wan would help and join him, the proud lion seemed more comfortable with his ‘dear one’ nearby.

“Do you think he has forgotten us?” the long haired man joked.

Aslan growled VERY low in his throat and Qui-Gon was sure that he would have been bitten, were that physically possible.

“You know that he would never forget us, not if his life depended on it.”

“Yes…”

A sound from outside the cave caught the Jedi Master’s attention. He was sure that he would not have heard it, hadn’t it been for his heightened senses which he had to thank Aslan for.

“Master?” came a questioning voice over the training voice.

“What is it Padawan mine?” he retorted immediately.

“I found a few natives, who are willing to help you out… but you have to allow Aslan to take over.”

For a moment Qui-Gon did not know what to reply. “Why?” “The people I brought are from an old tribe. They were not very happy to see me. I had seen the countless statues of catlike creatures, among them a lion, which is why I told them that Aslan was my companion, who had been trapped.”

“I see,” apparently they were dealing with an old tribe, who worshipped cats. Was this perhaps the Force’s way of saying sorry? Either that, or they were in even more trouble than before.

“Please hurry… I think they are planning on killing me, if they don’t find a lion in that cave.”

There was a loud shuffling noise outside the cave, followed by rock hitting the ground. Apparently the ‘help’ was already in the middle of their rescue mission. Qui-Gon concentrated. It took him much longer than his Padawan to change and he did not want to endanger his and Obi-Wan’s life.

One by one the stones at the entrance were shifted away. A few rays of light were already shining through the cracks. Aslan knew that it would not take long. Still, he remained where he was, majestically resting on the floor, facing the blocked entrance, or from his point of view, the blocked exit.

With calm fascination did Aslan watch how the last remaining stones tumbled to the ground. Light from the outside blinded him momentarily and he had to squint against it. When his eyes had finally adjusted to the light, did he look at the two human forms at the exit, they were obviously male and none of them was Obi-Wan.

The lion stretched and got up from his position, before he proudly walked out, into freedom. His golden eyes immediately spotted Obi-Wan, who was flanked by two half naked tribe men. The Padawan’s eyes lit up upon spotting him and he was able to shake the hand from one of his guards off his shoulder and he ran forward. Aslan got on his two hind legs and his forelegs came to rest on the teenager’s shoulders, who huffed at the extra weight, but accepted it with delight. The ginger haired boy hid his face in the golden mane and his arms circled the lion’s neck as far as they could reach.

“Don’t talk,” did Obi-Wan whisper into his companion’s ear, so that only Aslan would hear him. The lion gave an affirming purr and rubbed his massive head against Obi-Wan’s.

Aslan got back on all his fours, but he couldn’t help himself, but to rub against his companion’s abdomen. He had really missed his dear one. Stupid Jedi, who would not allow him to come close to his Padawan.

“I heard that,” said Qui-Gon over the bond.

“Good,” answered Aslan.

 One of the villagers had bravely stepped forward, but Aslan had simply bared his teeth and growled dangerously at him. The man had stopped dead in his tracks.

“Aslan,” Obi-Wan started, but the lion sent him a pointed look. He didn’t want to have anything to do with those people, not when they had obviously threatened his pup.

Another man stepped forward. He was wearing fancy headdress made of feathers and fur. He certainly was higher ranked than all the others. Aslan guessed that he was their leader.

“We humbly apologize for our suspicion,” the man said directed at Obi-Wan, yet his gaze rested solemnly on Aslan. “But you have to admit that it seems highly unlikely that someone so young travels with such a magnificent creature.”

“No harm done,” replied Obi-Wan, ever the diplomat. Aslan positioned himself at the Padawan’s right.

“We would like to invite you to a banquet in honor of you and your friend,” his grin was fake.

“Dear one,” Aslan said over the bond he shared with the ginger haired Padawan.

“I know Aslan, but what can we do?”

Instead of answering, the lion bend his forelegs and bared his teeth. He was in a battle position and it was obvious that he was out for blood. Obi-Wan swallowed heavily when he looked at the well build and muscled men that surrounded him and his lion-Master. They were greatly outnumbered. Instinctively he reached for his lightsaber.

The clan leader stepped back, “No need for such hostility,” he raised both his hands, palms facing Obi-Wan. “We are friends, are we not?”

“Not when you are planning to sacrifice MY lion,” said the Padawan and he activated the blue blade of his weapon. The clan people were obviously awed and afraid of the strange and unknown object. In this moment, Obi-Wan was glad that they were not that as far developed at most of the galaxy.

“Leave, or you will regret it.” To his surprise, the clan leader actually chose to do exactly that. The Padawan didn’t know, if it was the fear of the great lion or the fear of the unknown device in Obi-Wan’s hand, but he did not care either. He just wanted to return back to the temple, far away from any tribes, who prayed to cat like creatures and sacrificed them in order to ‘free’ them. At least that is what Qui-Gon had explained to him and Aslan.

“Don’t return, or,” the tribe leader did not come further, for Aslan’s roar drowned the sound of his voice.

“No wonder that this planet is not very well visited,” grumbled Obi-Wan and Tilkie silently agreed with him.

“I’m sorry Obi-Wan, I guess I was so eager to escape the temple that I forgot t research more careful.”

“It’s alright,” sighed the Padawan and he snuggled closer against the older Jedi. Why was space always this cold? He really could do with a certain furry animal right now.

Qui-Gon tightened his embrace. “I think we all learned something today…”

“Oh?”

“We both need to learn, how to be in better synch with our spirit animal,” Qui-Gon said.

“Well, I think we just need to leave the temple more… preferably to some peaceful planet… I heard that Naboo is quite beautiful.” Qui-Gon chuckled, “Insolent brat.”

Obi-Wan smiled, “I learned from the best… right Tilkie?” His spirit fox gave an approving yelp.

“I think,” the Master’s tone was serious again, “that we should add a new lesson into our timetable.”

Obi-Wan nodded in agreement and Tilkie, as well as Aslan did too. The latter only agreed, because it would mean that he could spent more time with his pup. Tilkie agreed, because his human half did.

“Glad that we agree,” mumbled Qui-Gon. Obi-Wan had already fallen asleep at this point and the Jedi Master soon followed suit. Thankfully his dreams were not disturbed by the knowledge of the trouble the two of them were in, when they arrived back at the Jedi temple…

[prepare4trouble]

Star Wars Rebels fanfic - Good Intentions, part 2

Little By Little AU Masterpost

(Part 1)

The ship appeared deserted as Sabine exited her room and made her way to the lounge.  That made sense; it was late in the day, and most likely anybody wanting to eat would have done so a few hours ago, and people still had duties they needed to perform.  It didn’t matter what was happening in their lives, they still had jobs to do.

Now she thought about it, there was probably something else that she should have been doing too.

The tip of her finger felt strange; it tingled, almost buzzed with the sensation of a thousand tiny bumps passing underneath it.  Her arm still itched slightly where the droid had taken the blood, and she was exhausted, physically and emotionally wiped out.  If it hadn’t been for her stomach’s insistence, she might have stayed where she was in the dark of her room and fallen asleep.

The door to the lounge opened, and she found herself faced with Ezra, standing frozen in the center of the room, gripping a ration bar in one hand.  He looked at her as though he had been caught doing something he shouldn’t.  Sabine froze too, surprised.  “Oh,” she said.  “Hi.”

He hesitated for a moment, then tucked the bar in his pocket and forced his face into something that looked like a close approximation of a smile.

She stepped a little further into the room, allowing the door to close behind her.  “How’s it going?” she asked.  It was an ask-on-instinct question, just something to fill the silence.  She didn’t think until the words were already out of her mouth that she had a good idea already of how it was going, and the answer was probably not so great.  She resisted the urge to slap herself in the face — that probably wouldn't look so great either — and waited, half hoping he would, and half hoping that he wouldn't answer.

“Um…” Ezra ran his fingers through his short hair awkwardly; clearly he had realized her error too.  “Great,” he said, unconvincingly.  “Good.  Fine… not bad.  You know.”

Despite herself, Sabine couldn’t help but smile at that.  “Sorry,” she said, and raised a hand to her mouth to cover the evidence.  “That was a lot of answers.”

“You know me,” he said.  The obviously fake smile softened into something that looked almost natural.  “I like to be thorough.”

Sabine walked past him, heading to the kitchen area.  Ezra turned to watch her as she did.  There was something wary in his expression, but something hopeful too.

“What about you?” he asked.

Something about the whole exchange felt awkward somehow; stilted, but she couldn't tell whether that was real or happening inside her own head.

She reached up into the cabinet above her head, and grabbed first thing that qualified as food.  She picked up two cups and filled them with the first drink she could find — which happened to be water, but that was fine — and placed them on the table.  She sat down, and pushed one in Ezra’s direction.  “Same,” she said, in answer to his question.

He relaxed incrementally, and took a step closer, reaching across for the cup.  He took a sip, hovered awkwardly next to the table, not sitting down, like he was keeping his options open in case he decided to leave suddenly.  She knew that feeling, she had experienced it more than a few times; that wariness, knowing that the other person doesn't mean you any harm, but being half convinced that they were going to cause it anyway.  She ripped open the wrapper of her nutrient bar and bit into it.  She realized as she did that she had chosen one of the bland, flavorless bars with the unpleasant texture.  She forced herself to chew and swallow, and made a mental note to look at what she was choosing next time.

Or, maybe she shouldn’t.  Ezra wouldn’t be able to do that soon enough, Kanan already couldn’t.  Although she doubted that an inability to read the labels on rations was the worst part of losing your sight, it was just one small example of how unfair this whole thing was.  And now she couldn’t stop wondering whether it was something that Ezra had considered.

“You’re eating late,” Ezra said.  “Forget again?  Busy working on some project?”

Well, yes, but… “Something like that,” she said quickly.  He had meant art, but he hadn’t actually said so, which meant she could withhold some of the truth without lying.  She wanted to ask him whether he had made any progress with the dot writing information she had given him, maybe try to gauge whether he was ready to move on to trying out reading by touch.  She didn’t mention it, for now.  It didn’t feel like the right time.  Instead, she took another bite of the flavorless bar and washed it down with a swig of water.  “You too,” she said.  “Eating late, I mean.  I didn’t expect to run into anybody.”

He shrugged and subconsciously touched the pocket where he had stashed his own lunch, or snack, or whatever he had intended the meal to be.  “Been busy,” he said.  “With Kanan.  Training…” he stopped abruptly, looked away.  “Stuff,” he added, unnecessarily.

Training with Kanan wasn’t anything unusual; far from it.  It occurred to her that something in the training this time had been.  The way that Kanan used the Force to get around, to fight, to do… a lot, now she thought about it.  Ezra would need to know all of that, and more besides; things that maybe didn’t even require the Force to do.  The average blind person didn’t have that advantage after all, and while they might not all be running around the galaxy fighting a rebellion, they still managed to live their lives.  

Her mind took her back unexpectedly to the darkness that had filled her room as she had studied, that same darkness that Kanan now inhabited, that Ezra was facing.  The idea of training must have suddenly taken on a new level of meaning for him now.  Or perhaps it wasn’t that, perhaps his reluctance to talk about it came from the presence of Kanan himself, some kind of mental connection that Ezra was making between Kanan’s situation and his own.  Or maybe it was nothing to do with that either, but he was assuming that she might think it was, and reacted accordingly.

Not knowing what was going through his mind was making this incredibly difficult.  She could normally read him easily — or she had thought she could, the huge secret that he had been carrying had managed to slip under her radar somehow — but he was closed off now, holding back from her in a way that she had never imagined possible.  Gone was the easy grin, the teasing tone, the jokes that they had shared the last time they had been alone together in this room.

Silently, Ezra took another sip from his cup, put it down and pulled out his ration bar.  She noted with envy that it was one of the good ones, the ones with an actual flavor, and a flavor that didn’t want to make her puke.  He ripped it open and slid into the seat opposite, to join her for lunch.

“So…” he said.  He raised the bar to his lips and allowed it to drop away again, “I guess this wasn’t the welcome home that you and Zeb were expecting was it?” He smiled nervously, fingers fidgeting with the wrapper that surrounded his food.  “Sorry about that.”

She wasn’t sure how to respond to that.  He had nothing to apologize for; he had done nothing wrong, everything that was happening was happening to him, not because of him, and anything that she, or Zeb, or anybody else might be experiencing was nothing compared to what Ezra must be going through.  On the other hand, he knew all that.  Or rather, she assumed he knew all that.  He didn’t appear to be fishing for sympathy, but rather aiming for a conversation somewhere in the general vicinity of normal, and probably trying to confront the bantha in the room as he did.

It was a valiant effort, and probably better than she would have achieved if she had tried it.  She decided to go with it; to sidestep the thing now would probably make it worse.  “Yeah, you better be sorry,” she told him.  She affected an exaggerated scowl, but carefully allowed a hint of a smile to creep into her expression at the same time, to let him know that she was joking.  Could he see that?  Surely he could, he wouldn’t have been able to keep it from them if it was that bad.

She really needed to read that file Hera had given her again, try to concentrate this time, really understand it, then she would know these things for sure.

Maybe she should ask Noisy to print it out in the tactile alphabet, at least then she could be learning that at the same time.  And maybe not having to look at the words would make it easier.  Of course, at her current reading speed, she wouldn’t finish it for years, and by then she wouldn’t need the information anymore.  By then, Ezra would already…

She forced herself to retain the joking, scowling expression, and ignored the sudden urge to cry.  “Zeb and I had this whole ‘tales of the recon mission’ story worked out, you kind of stole our thunder,” she added.

Ezra stared at her, and for a moment she thought that he had misunderstood, that he genuinely believed she was upset with him, then the apparent shock melted into relief and he grinned.  Sabine felt herself relax for the first time since Hera had met them off the Phantom and told them about that meeting.

“Oh yeah?” Ezra asked.  “So, did that story include the part where you both came back reeking of sulfur?”  He leaned back in his seat with an easy smile.  “Don’t think I didn’t catch a whiff of it around the ship yesterday.”

“Must have been yourself, Bridger, because your intel was faulty, that place actually smelled pretty pleasant.”

Ezra folded his arms and glared at her, and her stomach gave an unexpected lurch.  How long would he be able to do that for?  How long before the jokes and the actions that accompanied them would have to change?

He must have seen, or perhaps sensed the change of mood come over her, because he backed off and directed his gaze back at the table.  He raised his cup to his lips and took a sip, she got the impression that he was doing it more to give him something to do than because he was thirsty.  “Seriously though,” he said.  “I’m sorry.  I should have told you all months ago.  I had a plan to do it and everything, but then I couldn’t because…” he shook his head.  “Hey, do you know about the dokma races?”

The sudden change of subject made her head spin.  “Uh, yeah,” she said.  “I’ve been a few times.  You’ve seen me there.  Not as often as you though, Mr. Compulsive Gambler.”

He nodded and took another sip of his drink before breaking off a piece of his nutrient bar and popping it into his mouth.  “Oh yeah,” he said.  “Forgot.”

They fell into silence.  Not quite the same awkward one from earlier, but not exactly their usual comfortable familiarity either.  They’d get back there, eventually.  How, she wasn’t so sure.  Had it only been a week ago that they had been here, in this very room, poking fun at each other, talking about the upcoming mission?  That whole time, and for so long before, Ezra had been carrying that secret.  She knew secrets, she understood them, and she had kept them herself, but nothing so big, and never for so long.  And never, ever, from family.  She rested her elbows on the table and looked across at him.  “How’d you manage to hide this so long?” she mused.

The question was out there before she could stop it.  She felt her eyes widen in panic as she tried, and failed, to think of a way to take it back, or to make it sound as though she was asking about something else.  It was too late.  She knew the answer anyway, not that Ezra was going to answer it: it was just life.  To him, anyway.  Given enough time, it was possible to get used to anything, you simply assimilated the new facts into your world view, and carried on, and the longer you did it for, the easier it became.

He paused, obviously taken aback by the unexpected question.  She watched him, caught between the urge to apologize and tell him not to answer, and the equally strong desire to hear what he might say.  The silence went on too long.  “You don…” she began.

“I’m a pretty great actor,” Ezra told her, at almost exactly the same time.  “So, I mean, there’s that.”

Sabine relaxed again.  Crisis averted.  Or maybe there had been no crisis in the first place.  Maybe it was all in her head.  Maybe Ezra was more okay than she had realized and she was projecting her own discomfort onto him.

She rested her elbows on the table and shook her head.  “I’ve seen you pretending before,” she told him, incredulously.  “‘Great’ is not the word I’d use.”

“Well, there’s ‘brilliant’, or I guess, ‘amazing’,” he said.  She got the distinct impression that his relaxed demeanor was a front, but it was one that she wouldn't have noticed if she hadn’t known him as well as she did.  Maybe he was a decent actor after all.  “I just didn’t want to sound too big-headed.  Anyway, fooled you, didn’t I?  You never suspected a thing.”

He said that in a faux-mocking tone, as though gloating at his deceptive prowess.  It felt easy and normal, though she was sure it had taken effort for him to achieve.  She wanted to respond in kind, send some sort of veiled insult his way, keep the conversation going in the same tone, but she couldn’t muster the enthusiasm, the words wouldn’t come.

“No, I didn’t,” she said quietly.  She popped the final piece of her ration bar into her mouth and tried to chew the thing.  It was dry and difficult to swallow, in addition to being almost entirely devoid of flavor.  She took a sip of water to wash it down.  “You did good there.”

Ezra’s smile faltered as she failed to respond as he had presumably hoped.  She sighed.  Since she’d gone and broken the spell, she might as well go one further and address that rampaging bantha head on.  “How are you though?  Really?”  This wasn't the same throwaway question she had asked when she had first seen him there, plucked from the air without thought to fill the silence.  She genuinely wanted — and did not want — to know.

“Fine,” he said, repeating his response from earlier.  He leaned back in his seat, shuffling slightly to the side as he did, opening up an escape route in case it should be needed.

Sabine frowned.  “You’re not ‘fine’, Ezra,” she told him.  “You can’t be.  I’m not ‘fine’, and I’m not the one this is happening to.  Talk to me.”

“Hey, it’s just a pair of eyes, right?”  He plastered a grin on his face; it was fake, the smile didn’t reach his… his eyes.  She looked at him, unsure what she was supposed to say to that.  “I mean, I’m a Jedi, so it’s not like I need them,” he continued.  The grin and the confidence faltered slightly.  “Just look at Kanan, he’s fine.”

She thought of Kanan; of how his nightmares had woken her in the middle of the night from the next room.  She thought of those times when she had sat with him in the days and weeks after his injury, his listlessness, his disinterest in everything.  She thought of the blankness of the mask he had taken to wearing to cover his injury and how, to her, it had been almost worse than the wound itself; how she had been forced to paint it because she couldn't stand to look at it anymore.

She thought of his almost complete absence for six months, how even when he had been there, he had been gone.  She thought of him now; he still wasn’t quite the same man she had known.  Something was missing, something other than the obvious.  He didn’t smile so much anymore, even now, when he appeared in other ways to be ‘back’.

She wondered what Kanan would have made of Ezra’s statement.

Ezra stared at her intensely, as though he were trying to will her to believe him.  She nodded; to do anything else would have been cruel.  “Yeah,” she said.  “I guess you’re right.”  Her voice cracked just slightly as she spoke.

“Really,” he said, somehow picking up on her response.  He ran his fingers through his hair again and didn’t look at her.  “I’m fi…coping.  I can still… It’s… it’s really not as bad as it seems, you know?  I’ve got time, I can learn.  I’m learning.”

She bit her bottom lip, teeth pressing into the flesh so hard that it hurt.  She hadn’t expected a real answer.  She had expected him to make an excuse and leave, as he had the previous day, when he had stammered his way through the basics of what he needed them to know, and then fled before anybody tried to get him to talk about it.  She knew for a fact that he hadn’t slept in his bed the night before, and the only reason she could think of for that was an attempt to avoid Zeb.  He had spent the past day, and she didn’t even know how many days before it, running from this, and she hadn’t expected that of all the people on the ship, she would be the one he would speak to.

Now that he had, she didn’t really know what to do.  She leaned forward, closing the distance between them slightly, though the table still served as a barrier separating them.  She wasn’t sure whether that made things better or worse.  “What are you learning?” she asked, in a voice so quiet that it was almost a whisper.

Still not looking at her, he sat still, and didn’t reply.  Sabine waited, as the seconds stretched into minutes; finally he shook his head and slumped slightly.  “Nothing,” he said.  “Nothing useful, anyway, Kanan doesn’t think I’m ready.  And every time I try, on my own, to do anything more than sitting around meditating, it just doesn't work, I think I can get an idea of what’s around me, and a second later it’s gone, and I’m not even sure if it was real of if I was imagining it, and anyway, even if it was real, if I can’t keep it up for more than a second, how am I going to be able…” he slumped further in his seat, looking suddenly so utterly lost, so…

So he definitely wasn’t ‘fine’.  He wasn’t even close to it; she felt as though she was watching him crumble before her eyes, and she didn't want that.  She had wanted him to talk, she had wanted the truth, but she realized now that she hadn’t wanted the truth to be this.

At a loss for anything else to do, she reached across the table.  She couldn’t hug him, not without getting up, pulling him to his feet, the whole thing would be beyond awkward.  Instead, she placed a hand on his arm, a small gesture that she hoped would be enough.

He flinched back as though he had been burned, so suddenly and unexpectedly that the surprise made her almost mirror the movement. She pulled her hand back quickly and cradled it in her other.  “I’m sorry,” she said.  “I didn’t…” What?  She didn’t know what had happened, what had prompted that kind of a reaction from him.  Clearly, he was tense and on edge, uneasy with the direction the conversation had gone, and probably feeling trapped, like it was too late to back out and flee now.

A thought occurred, a horrible thought.  “You didn’t see me, did you?  I surprised you.”

“What?  No!”  Ezra got to his feet, leaving his half-eaten nutrient bar forgotten on the table.  His hands clenched and unclenched, and he shook his head angrily.  “I mean yes… I mean...I can see,” he said.  “I’m not… I saw you just fine, I just don’t want you feeling like I need…” he broke off and shook his head.  “I saw you just fine,” he said, and turned to leave.

“Ezra, wait.”  She slipped out from her chair and took a few steps after him.  She didn’t know what she was doing, why she was calling him back, or what she was going to do if he stopped.  All she knew was that they couldn’t leave it like that.

He stopped, and turned back to face her.  “It’s been a day, and I’m already sick of this,” he said.  “I had this thing for months.  Longer than that, even.  Nothing’s changed just because you know now, I’m still me!”

She frowned, taken aback by that statement.  “I know that.”

“Then just... don’t treat me like I can’t do things, I can still do everything I could before, nothing has changed.”  There was a pleading tone in his voice, like he was hoping desperately that she would believe it.  “There was no reason for him to…” he tailed off.

Sabine waited, curious to know what someone had done, but when no continuation came, she decided not to probe for more.  No point making it even worse, whatever ‘it’ was, because there was something else going on here that she didn’t know about.  “I won’t treat you any different,” she promised.

Ezra finally looked up and locked eyes with her.  “Oh really?  So, ’The Tactile Alphabet - Reading For the Visually Impaired’, that’s a file you like to hand out to everybody, I suppose?”  He practically spat the words at her, then spun around quickly and left the room, leaving her staring after him, wide-eyed in shock as the door closed after him.

She stood alone in the center of the room, with no idea what to do next.

[airoasis]

Amaury S?chet & Shammah Chancellor - Behind Bitcoin Cash

New Post has been published on https://hititem.kr/amaury-sechet-shammah-chancellor-behind-bitcoin-cash/

Amaury S?chet & Shammah Chancellor - Behind Bitcoin Cash

Hello there. I am Kieren Chandler and at present we’re fortunate sufficient to be taking a peek at the back of the scenes of Bitcoin ABC. We’re going to be speaking to one of the most persons behind the science and getting their views on the today’s developments within the industry. Welcome to at the back of Bitcoin cash. I am here with Amaury and Shammah. Gents thanks very a lot for becoming a member of us at present. To kick matters off, possibly for our viewers, might be you would introduce a bit of bit about yourselves. Simply tell us who you are and the place you form of come from. So i’m Amaury Schet. I am the lead developer of Bitcoin ABC. And Bitcoin ABC is the the first node application that used to be supporting Bitcoin money and it nonetheless is the majority node program but no longer the only one anymore. My title is Shammah Chancellor. I am one of the maintainers for Bitcoin ABC. I have been a application engineer for approximately 18 years and i’ve been concerned with economics and forex distribution for a very long time. And i suppose Bitcoin is an first-class replacement to fiat forex. Okay high-quality. So how about Bitcoin ABC? Might be you would sort of inform us just a little bit about that.Sort of how did you get involved in Bitcoin ABC? Well I received involved because I created it. So that is commonly how it happened, proper. Bitcoin was going in no longer an excellent course, not a path I used to be very cheerful with, and so we would have liked some alternative to it. And yeah , there used to be some quandary with the… Bitcoin ABC used to be no longer the first replacement node program to check out to vary things a little bit. However there used to be some issues with how things were done in the past that resulted in that now not quite succeeding. And yeah creating our own program used to be a solution to, the only option to do anything we wanted and it ended up working.So it used to be a excellent choice i guess. A excellent moment when that happened. So how did you get involved? The place did you are available in? So i have been following cryptocurrency considering that about 2011. Style of from a distance. And that i had some notion error about how Bitcoin worked. And about June of 2017 I was speaking to my buddy Amaury, who’ve known for about five years, and that i was questioning why he was once working on Bitcoin. And that i got a few of my inspiration mistakes cleared up. After which in August of 2017 I heard that Bitcoin money had forked and i began speaking to him and i desired to get worried.First-class. And definitely Bitcoin could be very wonderful position to be. Its undoubtedly an interesting field. Media is painting it as a really glamorous image. However i’m definite on your form of day-to-day lives it can be customarily not rather so glamorous. I mean what are style of the biggest challenges you face on on a every day basis? Like usually it can be extra elaborate to maneuver things ahead in a Bitcoin related project then in other initiatives considering the fact that you ought to get a variety of men and women on board. All these people they want distinctive stuff. And so you have got to in finding something that’s going to make every body sufficiently completely happy. Or at the least not so sad that they may be gonna go away. It can be at all times…..There’s various looking to get all people on the table and trying to have all people agree on whatever to make it happen. Which is not that so much the case in different application initiatives. And plus the truth that you know technical people they tend to be argumentative to with, and you throw cash on prime of that and also you get an explosive mix. First-class! Ought to be be unsteadying. So who are these key stakeholders? Who who are these people that you are variety of communicating with on a day-to-day groundwork? So there are different implementations and then there are individuals engaged on pockets program or quite a lot of like fee processors, exchanges..I mean identical to, miners as good without doubt, there’s similar to numerous exceptional events that kind an ecosystem. And those distinct parties they’re thinking about you realize whatever industry they’re doing. So the aspects of Bitcoin that pursuits them are going to be slightly extraordinary. Nice! And Shammah: if we’re talking about that Bitcoin cash ecosystem Bitcoin ABC is a part of that. So how do you fit in? How is your working relationship with the leisure of the bigger image? So proper now I work on ..Sort of….Like whilst you ship a transaction in Bitcoin you have got to pay a fee, that’s probably the most foremost matters i have been working on right now. And then also communicating strategies from different developers and taking part in special proposals. Mainly the largest undertaking there is, like Amaury said, is how do you communicate recommendations in the sort of means as that it is intelligible for each person inside the community and that they realise why alterations are being made. Ok and speakme of changes, one of the colossal changes that is not too long ago been introduced is this "Miners Initiative" which is all about lowering the dust restrict.And possibly for our viewers, possibly you would give an explanation for that in actual sort of general layman’s phrases? What do we without a doubt mean by means of this "Miners Initiative"? What’s it? Okay, So there is a quantity of principles, which can be consensus associated, that everyone has to agree upon. The dust limit and fees will not be a kind of matters. Those are configurable by using the miners. So it can be nice that they’re, that Coingeek is taking this initiative to kind of get everyone to lower those expenses. There are some technical boundaries around that i’m presently working on fixing with a view to make it feasible. And Amaury do you may have whatever to add? Do you believe its a good initiative? Do you consider it is going to work? Sure and no. I have like blended feeling about it. So I agree one hundred% with the intention. This is the place we have got to go. But if it is completed in a naive means it can expose the community to a couple dangers. So that is what Shae is working on. Like you need to try this in some exact means that is no longer going to open the network to vulnerabilities. And what do you imply by using naive approach? Maybe that you may broaden on how….. So should you alternate various configuration of the node program to similar to reduce the price dramatically and scale down the dust limit dramatically, then you expose…. You create an alternative for anybody to have a behaviour that may be very high priced for the community. And achieve this close to without spending a dime. So it’ll create problems. So we ought to change the rate constitution in this kind of manner that typical average every day usage patterns can come to be more cost effective, however patterns that are amazing and that for essentially the most part are going to be used through persons that want to be hostile to the community must be made high-priced ample in order that those assaults maintain being high-priced.Ok. So this is a solvable challenge, however this wishes to be thoughts and there may be some work to be finished there. And what form of timeframe are you envisioning? How lengthy do reckon you’re you’ll need to clear up this predicament? Well without a doubt Shae might be can talk more about this. When you consider that he has been working on it. But there is been good growth made on that. So i’m more often than not finished with the patches to do one of the most matters which might be required for that. I expect them to be done before November. But they surely have got to be confirmed on testnet and made sure that there are not any facet results to these alterations. K. Bitcoin being a permissionless procedure and being open, its consistently discipline to folks attack seeking to assault it and so it’s important to totally experiment changes earlier than the are launched on major-net. Undoubtedly. There was once additionally the information in regards to the up to date assault that got here into the news the day prior to this proper? (june 2018) Did you hear about that? In South Korea? An assault on Bitcoin? I believe, I don’t know if we’re regarding the same stuff, but there’s a one of the most tremendous exchanges in Korea that has been hacked? Yeah. It can be no longer persee an attack on Bitcoin. Its an attack on the alternate. Which is like probably the most explanations people really normally propose like: do not preserve all of your cash on alternate! You send your money to an trade when you need to trade it. But then get your cash out of the trade and preserve it relaxed to your own probably use a hardware pockets or anything like that. And for that very rationale. In view that the trade gets hacked and you can have your money stolen. Basically when you put money on an exchange you trust the trade goes to do the correct factor. Many exchanges do the proper factor but now not at all times. And as soon as in a at the same time there is…. Each few months or so there’s one trade that gets hacked and lose a ton of cash. So tip number one is to maintain it on some style of hardware and and take it off of the exchange. Yeah a hardware wallet is regularly the first-rate alternative. Okay first-rate! So there’s plenty of buzzwords floating around Bitcoin on the minute and i think that maybe for kind of the fashioned man that is frequently one of the things that makes it very elaborate to get type of involved in it. And a real buzzword that has come out lately is UTXO-commitments. Probably one in every of you might kind of tell us a little more about that? What can we mean with the aid of UTXO-commitments? So Tomas, some of the different Bitcoin cash builders, has been main that up.And sincerely a UTXO-commitment is a method to cryptographically decide to kind of all the money owed in Bitcoin. Who owns what money. And so if that commitment is in each and every block it might permit node software to enter the community very quickly. Proper now full node program, that exchanges and miners run, require like six hours to sync up with the community. When you consider that they have got to down load the entire previous knowledge. And with a view to most effective broaden in time as Bitcoins continue to be used. So UTXO-commitment allows you to brief-circuit that process and just download the current state of the whole Bitcoin procedure.This is high-quality initiative. I’m particularly completely satisfied with what Tomas is doing. Okay pleasant! And is it the style of thing that you will discover being competent for the subsequent rough fork? Possibly however that’s not going. So there is quite a few ramification in the UTXO-commitment stuff. Lots of them in phrases of performances. And so it wishes to be performed very cautiously. So proper now there is a prototype. Actually Tomas has used the prototype to supply some UTXO-commitments on the testnet. So there is some code that has been written that’s out there, but we have to ensure that the whole lot is super proper. When you consider that of the doubtless measurement of the alternate and the complexity of it November seems a little bit quick.I imply might be if the whole thing goes well but i might assume probably extra like subsequent yr. Additionally the opposite factor is effortlessly including UTXO-commitments to the blocks just isn’t enough. There wishes to be a community layer protocol to surely download the UTXO-set from one other node and then investigate it and that component shouldn’t be performed but. So UTXO-commitments itself might be achieved in November, however the precise potential to make use of it would not be executed yet. So it’s sort of an extended-term thing. So that you two had been both very busy gents and at BitcoinABC you’ve just lately released a paper all about promoting a new transaction ordering approach. Probably that you would be able to provide an explanation for for our viewers just a little bit more about that and the story in the back of that? Ok so that is an proposal that has been floating in the space for a very long time.This is not relatively new, but we’re attaining a factor the place we can simply execute on it So correct now there is not any designated ordering of the transactions within the block. There are some principles about what you can’t do however you realize in case you admire those few principles then you are able to do mainly something you want. It factors more than a few problems. One of them is that you simply must examine those few rules about what you are not able to and do checking these principles is a system that’s tricky to do in parallel. So when you need stuff to get greater and bigger and better, you wish to have to be able to parallelise the workload. So which you could add extra CPUs and you are able to do extra of it. Or even like if matters get very huge which you could add a few servers and every server does a piece of the work. If you can separate stuff like that and you can do chunks of the work in parallel, then it’s very effortless to scale. But if in case you have some procedure that’s serial, that every step of the method depends upon the previous step, then you’ll grow to be in a challenge the place you cannot add more machines and make the approach turbo. So this is without doubt one of the fundamental explanations. That we’ve this serial method in there. So we would like eliminate that to scale higher. And there may be one more tremendous reason. It’s: if we specify the order of transactions in a technique that each node, if they’ve the list of the transactions that are within the block, they are able to agree on the equal order, then what happens is that while you transmit the block from one node to the opposite, you do not ought to transmit that order anymore. You just have got to transmit knowledge structure that explains: here are the transactions which are within the block and the transactions that aren’t within the block. After which when you’ve got the set of transactions you can reconstruct them in the same order.And because it seems transmitting the order is honestly various data. Like way more than you may anticipate. Far more than you can expect intuitively. Due to the fact that when you have no order then there is, so it’s a bit technical, but there’s a set of methods, that goes under the umbrella term "set reconciliation", that you should use to nearly agree on a set of elements, without agreeing on the order, that is way more effective. And that we are able to leverage to propagate work blocks rapid. And the way’s this paper been acquired with the aid of the industry? Has it been received well? How has the suggestions long gone so far? So i assume if we go with what I stated or the 2 papers we’re referring to, one goes to be "Graphene" which is a community protocol layer that transmits blocks that take talents of canonical ordering, what we call canonical ordering, so of the fact that if the set of elements which are in the block which you can agree on the order.And that permits almost an order of magnitude reduction in the quantity of information you must transmit to transmit a block. So that may be a beautiful big win. That has been no longer done through us however by using a different team of people. I consider Brian Levine and Gavin Andresen and some different persons. The paper that we’ve got written it is extra oriented on the efficiency and parallelisation aspect of it. Yeah. Oh yeah. And It has been got? I believe for probably the most phase positively. There are a number of men and women that are not blissful about it but I believe when this concept used to be offered there were more men and women. Now most of them they kind of agree that it can be a excellent proposal. You continue to have just a few redictable however i assume that is at all times going to happen. It appears like you could have bought an awful lot in your plate. At BitcoinABC at the minute there’s various stuff you are working on. Are there any more protocol alterations that you’ve got been engaged on that you just would might be share with us in these days? So some thing else of interest? There is I feel one new OpCode that individuals want to add in November.It enables you to embed and verify information from relied on oracles. That might enable a number of other use circumstances on Bitcoin cash. That’s kind of being pushed through Bitcoin limitless. Exceptionally Andrew Stone after which any other folks as well. So what are the form of use cases that that would permit? What is the advantage that may provide? So the basis of the difficulty is that any know-how that originates from the blockchain could be very handy to make use of in the blockchain. But any understanding that comes from the true world just isn’t obtainable to the blockchain. So say I need to do a contract centered on who is going to be the following president of France after Emmanuel Macron. I have no idea who that character is at the time. But when we get to the following election and that character goes to be elected there is not any way for whatever that is in the blockchain to know about this election system that’s outside of the sector of the blockchain. And so there is this suggestion called oracle.And an oracle goes to be anybody we trust or might be it may be a group of people we believe that is going to certify that sure this man or woman gained the election and that is going to signal a special message that you can use within the blockchain that says who gained the election. After which that you could make wise a contracts and stuff like that within the blockchain founded on that external world expertise. So I take the election certainly however some thing that’s… Any information that you’d want to import within the blockchain you should use some trusted social gathering to try this for you after which everything else can run in the blockchain.It is exciting you acknowledged the election considering that that’s some thing that block chains could be used for sooner or later. That’s correct isn’t it? So is an election a excellent use of a blockchain? It definitely makes balloting audit-ready. I consider that will be a potential use case. However i have not obvious a entire lot of extraordinary approaches that that might be completed. I suppose one of the crucial the more than a few ways that vote casting can also be done on the blockchain I’ve learn, i haven’t honestly noticeable the technical heritage to back up the ways that would be used there. Some men and women are recommending threshold signatures and every other matters like that however i have not surely seen how you can do threshold signatures on Bitcoin without adding some exclusive technology that is now not currently there.Yeah so well there are approaches. So it depends on the trade-off you need to make. And there is a set of alternate-offs that may be very problematic to breed with any computer process that we’ve got with paper balloting, it’s that it can be very easy to make certain that every person votes but everybody will vote as soon as. We will determine the folks who vote. However even as we will audit the entire ballot. We are able to open the field and notice all the papers. It relies on the nation, but in France anyone can can go and notice that this is performed correctly. That you would be able to go watch the persons doing it. However whilst you don’t have any proposal who voted for who. When you consider that all these envelopes they are mixed up. And it seems that developing an digital system that has all those homes is definitely quite problematic.Surely utilising a blockchain helps with the fact that every body’s gonna vote as soon as. On account that in computer phrases it is also the Byzantine general drawback. So you wish to have to be certain that any person is, like in the electronic variation of it, however any individual indicates up to one of the vital vote Bureaus and votes for anything, but shows up on the different one and votes for some thing else with out the 2 Bureaus being ready to agree that this man or woman voted twice. So it appears as an alternative silly in real existence on the grounds that absolutely you are not able to teleport yourself from one place to a further.It’s a particularly effortless problem to remedy within the in the real world nevertheless it’s virtually a very tricky predicament to resolve on computer networks. Since i will attain one laptop however i can reach a second laptop someplace else on the web like typically whilst and post two exclusive votes. So the blockchain is very good at reconciliating this style of stuff and stopping me from balloting twice. It’s also superb at making certain that the result aren’t tampered with. But the whole set of….Like how do you make certain which you can audit elections whilst preserving everyone who voted nameless is more of a complicated challenge. K so let’s sort of transfer back to kind of the Bitcoin facet of things. Fascinating to talk about elections and stuff like that. Quite often I need to be slightly bit careful what we say here on account that my boss Joannes Vermorel sort of stated it. Is he used to be talking about subdividing the Satoshi even further. Is this anything that you simply guys believe and what do you suppose to that? Yeah I suppose is that it is without doubt imperative if if Bitcoin cash had been to claim reach 5% adoption of all buyers on the earth for all transactions, the rate would go relatively a bit of from the place it is right now and if so the fee constitution on Bitcoin cash would be type of problematic on the grounds that there would not be sufficient granularity to verify the prices anymore.So discussing it now earlier than that truely turns into a obstacle is quite valuable. Yeah i would add on that it’s not quite a obstacle now but if we grow significantly it can be gonna be. But doing this type of trade, nearly the price of doing this form of alternate directly is dependent upon the scale of the ecosystem. Considering the fact that you have to get extra humans on board, synchronise the exchange with extra persons, so it is like as the ecosystem grows better it is extra complicated. So I think honestly it is higher to do this variety of alternate now considering by the point this transformation is integral it can be gonna be like 10 instances extra tricky to do it than it is now. So we speak about this style of timeframe. Now’s the correct time to do it. How much time have we obtained? What sort of period of time are we looking at here? I don’t know completely. As little as possible. For the reason that we’re gonna have as so much development as viable correct? Its elaborate to understand. Sorry the growth of Bitcoin money; what are these variety of limitations that you simply ought to overcome. What’s holding again that kind of progress on the moment? I think a better consumer expertise is obviously necessary, however there is plenty of corporations external a Bitcoin ABC that are working on nice wallets proper now.Nice hardware wallets. I also think various computing device-to-computing device payments as extra like video games and whatnot to come back online. That would be excellent for the development. A number of different mobile games and whatnot have in-sport repayments and i think Bitcoin money is an great platform for those to utilising And if that have been the case that would really increase adoption. Amaury we spoke earlier once we pointed out elections we type of talked about that opacity of seeing who’s voting for what and and it’s form of the equal for the Bitcoin cash right? Is there anything that can be performed to decrease the style of opacity of transactions and how much you can find what other users are doing? So there may be a right away trade off. You have some additionally cryptocurrencies which are rather more opaque on that entrance than Bitcoin or Bitcoin money is.Things like Monero or more recently there may be this notion of Mimblewimble…. Mimblewimble? Yeah Mimblewimble. An awfully made word that one. Good on account that in Harry Potter this is one of the magic stuff that they do to avoid men and women from speaking. And so this can be a cryptographic system that nearly prevents any person from watching on the blockchain and making any experience out of it. So basically it can be like stopping the blockchain from speakme. Metaphorically. And so those applied sciences they’re high-quality, they provide a bigger measure of privacy, but they arrive with exchange-offs. So within the case of Monero for instance it is tremendously more intricate to scale Monero than to scale a technological know-how like Bitcoin.For a science like Mimblewimble it makes some weaker or enhanced, like is dependent upon how you want to appear at it, however just about it has a cryptographic assumption that’s gonna spoil earlier than Bitcoin if they damage. Like we don’t know if they’re going to smash or now not but when they wreck the whole lot is toast almost. And so there’s a measure of threat related to try this and there is a degree of improvement so that’s a further trade-off. In terms of what we can do on Bitcoin money I consider we must not go in the direction of what Monero or Mimblewimble s doing considering that that relatively changes the scalability and safety assumptions which are made within the procedure. However what may also be accomplished is best…. So we already have a technology like CoinJoin that permits a few humans to cooperate together to create transactions and so you don’t know whose money goes the place. And higher integration of this variety of science in wallets and stuff would go a ways in the direction of making the method extra nameless due to the fact the entire cash would be mixed up so you wouldn’t be rather definite what belongs to who.Ok fine! So let’s kind of talk about an different style of challenge in the enterprise. There is a number of talk about fake news at the minute and a number of persons speaking about that form of pump and dump. So there may be plenty of false media being put available in the market. Can you see this propaganda obstacle in the industry, are you able to see it ending every time quickly? Or is that this a trouble that we’re gonna variety see carrying on with evermore? So there’s numerous brief-time period incentives for individuals to do this, however I think will start to leave as adoption of cryptocurrencies increases. It’ll be a lot tougher to do like pump and dump schemes when the market caps are much greater.However for the brief time period I think that yeah it’s gonna continue to be a tremendous main issue. Yeah so I agree there may be short term incentives to try this but i’d also say there may be long term disincentives to do it. That is the kind of stuff that you can do a few times. But every time you do it you lose credibility. So I think like the actors which might be doing it they may be gonna disappear but new ones are gonna come. But then you may have the effect that Shae, Shammah is speaking about where because the system grows bigger it becomes more and more intricate to try this variety of stuff.So it can be more often than not gonna go away naturally because the ecosystem grows. And the way about within the discussion board’s. I’ve heard within the news there may be humans deleting posts? Equal with censorship, is that additionally gonna be a obstacle that we’re still speakme about in years yet to come? Frequently yes. I might assume that…. So what has been taking place is that this censorship and stuff like that has been going down over probably the previous two years or so, it is been particularly serious, however while over the past two years the cryptocurrency market has long past up and up and up and up. So some thing, like it doesn’t matter what used to be your opinion, in case you agree you disagree or something, like no one has been punished by way of the market but. Like when the market goes like 20x over a yr every person is a first rate trader. Every body is aware of, like you know, each person knows the whole thing and all people is right. But absolutely there are some humans that fully grasp expertise higher and when the market is a little more tough than it was once during the last two years then it’s gonna make a change.And the people that aren’t good advised, many of them are most often gonna lose their shirt. So in that sense it is often a self pleasant… You already know, self fixing procedure. But you have got to provide the time for the market to do it to do its work. So the sensation I get is that a number of the unhealthy press that Bitcoin is getting is right down to a small minority of folks. Is there in the brief time period, is there whatever that can be achieved to this small minority? Is there any way we can identify them? Good they are very so much identified i might say. Like men and women that followed that intently understand who these men and women are And as I was saying like proper now they have been no removing of any individual. Like any person could have come over the past two three years on this market and see a large increase. So no one has been like…… There was no unhealthy selection. Like it doesn’t matter what, besides maybe Bitconnect, Like each single different, you understand, every single different determination was a excellent one. In most cases something you did. So proper now everybody is a genius correct? But certainly how shocking that will be if every body’s sincerely is a genius.I just like the sound of that: everybody is a genius. So recently within the information Roger Ver stated the bitcoins recent screw ups were down to humans as an alternative than being technical. Is that some thing that you simply trust Shammah? Yeah I feel that’s undoubtedly real. I suppose the important failure in Bitcoin used to be that the builders of Bitcoin Core were incentivised to do matters that weren’t an interest of the Bitcoin ecosystem itself because of the place they took investments from. It can be no longer always like some evil plan, it is only a part effect of who they have got to report to and who they have to generate a profit for. So by not being funded via miners they wouldn’t have an incentive to do what’s in the best interest of the men and women aiding the forex.Bought whatever you like to add to that at all? No frequently what we see is that some persons took the whole progress of Bitcoin significantly and people men and women that they had one of a kind plans than most humans in Bitcoin had and seeing that all people else was once now not taking it as seriously i suppose then these persons ended up having a disproportionate value. And that’s also the market at work. Like there are men and women that put their money the place their mouth is greater than others that ended up growing the quandary. So in that sense I agree that is , and this can be a human misjudgment. And so on that front we’re careful with Bitcoin ABC where we take funding from and we’re very cautious additionally to have a structure that makes it possible for only for donation.Which is like you already know, like literally we couldn’t offer you like a mug or a t-shirt or anything in opposition to the donation. Seeing that in order to change our constitution. Our constitution is headquartered….Is such as we can not offer you something for your money. You cannot contract us to do whatever. No longer even give you a mug. But then it can be gonna be as much as the people to make a decision if that is major or not. If persons behave like they did behave during the last 5 years with progress then we’re gonna see the equal style of outcome reproducing.But i’m hoping that you understand a number of men and women realize what occurred. Apparently humans like Roger Ver is familiar with what occurred. First-class. Otherwise it is going to happen once more. So that you recounted BitcoinABC there. So to circular matters off i would prefer to type hear from both of you. How do you see the long run for Bitcoin ABC each in the quick and medium time period and likewise in the long term? Shammah if we begin with you? I would like to see, you understand, as people provide donations for Bitcoin ABC, I wish to see more legit engineers come on board and provide various checking out and first-class assurance on the merchandise in order that…. When you consider that we’re clearly targeting one hundred% uptime for the Bitcoin cash network. It is rather unacceptable if like several payments in the world went down proper? And we’re focusing on all repayments on the earth. So having all of the enough checks and balances in place to make certain that we’re hanging a pleasant product out is it is fairly foremost. And that takes various time and resources. So that is my drawback for the way forward for Bitcoin ABC. You realize Amaury is extra engaged in scaling and making certain that there’s ability for all these transactions that we wish to see happening.Yeah normally. But these two challenges they are relatively elaborate engineering sensible. They are , they have been solved. Like you do not see Google taking place that commonly for instance. And they are absolutely very big. Most likely they’re…..You can say they are centralised within the experience that there’s like a Larry web page, or whoever is the CEO at the time, that makes choice for Google, however the infra like you know the actual hardware infrastructure is absolutely highly distributed. So in case you have any you already know any single laptop that fails, the whole thing works. So these style of problem on the engineering aspect of it, there are answers. However we’d like additionally to get the engineers which have experience with all these techniques and that suggests we’re gonna must attract engineers that work at Google or fb or Amazon or this type of manufacturer that I’ve expertise strolling most of these techniques. So it’s kind of of a venture for the reason that these are these are appealing areas to work for as an engineer. So we need to have some convincing to do. So how can we help bitcoin ABC in a ultimate word? I believe Amaury perhaps the quality one to reply that query despite the fact that you guys are watching at me.Ok ok. There are more than a few approaches. Find it irresistible is dependent…. Good it will depend on who you’re, like a person or a company, and what is your talent set or you realize what are the method that you’ve got. If you happen to… Like any individual that is a developer can undoubtedly help setting up some stuff. If this is a enterprise watching toward building whatever within the ecosystem then they need that the infrastructure part of the ecosystem works well. Like think you might have a shop or you may have a manufacturing unit or anything, you want the street like between your factory and and whoever you are selling to be excellent so that you can ship vans on them. You know what I imply? And within the case of roads customarily it is taken care of by using the federal government but in the case of Bitcoin we must construct the infrastructure our selves. So for humans that have companies that rely on infrastructure working well I suppose it makes good industry feel for them to spend money on the infrastructure.After which for other men and women like there is a ton of labor that isn’t mainly that technical that needs to be accomplished. There’s stuff like if people have some design skill could also be helping with the internet site could be a excellent inspiration, or if individuals have some writing skill…. Could also be teachers they can support you recognize do the overview of the specific strategies and write papers about them. I mean like despite the fact that you realize a language like if you already know English and every other language which you can help translate some stuff. I mean there is is a ton of ways that someone can help. That being said, to make certain that it’s in reality now not more of a burden on the venture and also you comprehend it wishes to add extra value then…. We’d like people that may be like you realize that may be sufficiently self pushed. Correct so if you happen to say you’re a individual that’s from Turkey so you utilize you communicate Turkish certainly and you also converse English and you are keen on Bitcoin. So you’re gonna say k we will do translation in Turkish for instance, we need to be equipped to trust you that it’s gonna happen and we do not must go in opposition to you over and over again.Yeah like being consistent or trustworthy on a thing that you just pick to do is large. Yeah. Would not have to be like a giant stuff fairly that the extra principal stuff seeing that if if this isn’t constant…. It doesn’t have to be significant however it needs to be consistent! In view that if it’s now not constant then it can be gonna have quite a few overhead in phrases of managing what occurred in that field. And proper now we are not that colossal that we can manage this type of overhead. Okay good thanks for a fairly exciting discussion and for taking the outing to talk to us in these days. It can be been rather relatively fascinating. So thanks for tuning in today should you’ve got any questions or any comments we’d love to hear from you. In the event you could leave a remark in the box below. So that’s keen on in these days and we’ll see you again subsequent time. Bye Bye. .

[batterymonster2021]

Amaury S?chet & Shammah Chancellor - Behind Bitcoin Cash

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Amaury S?chet & Shammah Chancellor - Behind Bitcoin Cash

Hello there. I am Kieren Chandler and at present we’re fortunate sufficient to be taking a peek at the back of the scenes of Bitcoin ABC. We’re going to be speaking to one of the most persons behind the science and getting their views on the today’s developments within the industry. Welcome to at the back of Bitcoin cash. I am here with Amaury and Shammah. Gents thanks very a lot for becoming a member of us at present. To kick matters off, possibly for our viewers, might be you would introduce a bit of bit about yourselves. Simply tell us who you are and the place you form of come from. So i’m Amaury Schet. I am the lead developer of Bitcoin ABC. And Bitcoin ABC is the the first node application that used to be supporting Bitcoin money and it nonetheless is the majority node program but no longer the only one anymore. My title is Shammah Chancellor. I am one of the maintainers for Bitcoin ABC. I have been a application engineer for approximately 18 years and i’ve been concerned with economics and forex distribution for a very long time. And i suppose Bitcoin is an first-class replacement to fiat forex. Okay high-quality. So how about Bitcoin ABC? Might be you would sort of inform us just a little bit about that.Sort of how did you get involved in Bitcoin ABC? Well I received involved because I created it. So that is commonly how it happened, proper. Bitcoin was going in no longer an excellent course, not a path I used to be very cheerful with, and so we would have liked some alternative to it. And yeah , there used to be some quandary with the… Bitcoin ABC used to be no longer the first replacement node program to check out to vary things a little bit. However there used to be some issues with how things were done in the past that resulted in that now not quite succeeding. And yeah creating our own program used to be a solution to, the only option to do anything we wanted and it ended up working.So it used to be a excellent choice i guess. A excellent moment when that happened. So how did you get involved? The place did you are available in? So i have been following cryptocurrency considering that about 2011. Style of from a distance. And that i had some notion error about how Bitcoin worked. And about June of 2017 I was speaking to my buddy Amaury, who’ve known for about five years, and that i was questioning why he was once working on Bitcoin. And that i got a few of my inspiration mistakes cleared up. After which in August of 2017 I heard that Bitcoin money had forked and i began speaking to him and i desired to get worried.First-class. And definitely Bitcoin could be very wonderful position to be. Its undoubtedly an interesting field. Media is painting it as a really glamorous image. However i’m definite on your form of day-to-day lives it can be customarily not rather so glamorous. I mean what are style of the biggest challenges you face on on a every day basis? Like usually it can be extra elaborate to maneuver things ahead in a Bitcoin related project then in other initiatives considering the fact that you ought to get a variety of men and women on board. All these people they want distinctive stuff. And so you have got to in finding something that’s going to make every body sufficiently completely happy. Or at the least not so sad that they may be gonna go away. It can be at all times…..There’s various looking to get all people on the table and trying to have all people agree on whatever to make it happen. Which is not that so much the case in different application initiatives. And plus the truth that you know technical people they tend to be argumentative to with, and you throw cash on prime of that and also you get an explosive mix. First-class! Ought to be be unsteadying. So who are these key stakeholders? Who who are these people that you are variety of communicating with on a day-to-day groundwork? So there are different implementations and then there are individuals engaged on pockets program or quite a lot of like fee processors, exchanges..I mean identical to, miners as good without doubt, there’s similar to numerous exceptional events that kind an ecosystem. And those distinct parties they’re thinking about you realize whatever industry they’re doing. So the aspects of Bitcoin that pursuits them are going to be slightly extraordinary. Nice! And Shammah: if we’re talking about that Bitcoin cash ecosystem Bitcoin ABC is a part of that. So how do you fit in? How is your working relationship with the leisure of the bigger image? So proper now I work on ..Sort of….Like whilst you ship a transaction in Bitcoin you have got to pay a fee, that’s probably the most foremost matters i have been working on right now. And then also communicating strategies from different developers and taking part in special proposals. Mainly the largest undertaking there is, like Amaury said, is how do you communicate recommendations in the sort of means as that it is intelligible for each person inside the community and that they realise why alterations are being made. Ok and speakme of changes, one of the colossal changes that is not too long ago been introduced is this "Miners Initiative" which is all about lowering the dust restrict.And possibly for our viewers, possibly you would give an explanation for that in actual sort of general layman’s phrases? What do we without a doubt mean by means of this "Miners Initiative"? What’s it? Okay, So there is a quantity of principles, which can be consensus associated, that everyone has to agree upon. The dust limit and fees will not be a kind of matters. Those are configurable by using the miners. So it can be nice that they’re, that Coingeek is taking this initiative to kind of get everyone to lower those expenses. There are some technical boundaries around that i’m presently working on fixing with a view to make it feasible. And Amaury do you may have whatever to add? Do you believe its a good initiative? Do you consider it is going to work? Sure and no. I have like blended feeling about it. So I agree one hundred% with the intention. This is the place we have got to go. But if it is completed in a naive means it can expose the community to a couple dangers. So that is what Shae is working on. Like you need to try this in some exact means that is no longer going to open the network to vulnerabilities. And what do you imply by using naive approach? Maybe that you may broaden on how….. So should you alternate various configuration of the node program to similar to reduce the price dramatically and scale down the dust limit dramatically, then you expose…. You create an alternative for anybody to have a behaviour that may be very high priced for the community. And achieve this close to without spending a dime. So it’ll create problems. So we ought to change the rate constitution in this kind of manner that typical average every day usage patterns can come to be more cost effective, however patterns that are amazing and that for essentially the most part are going to be used through persons that want to be hostile to the community must be made high-priced ample in order that those assaults maintain being high-priced.Ok. So this is a solvable challenge, however this wishes to be thoughts and there may be some work to be finished there. And what form of timeframe are you envisioning? How lengthy do reckon you’re you’ll need to clear up this predicament? Well without a doubt Shae might be can talk more about this. When you consider that he has been working on it. But there is been good growth made on that. So i’m more often than not finished with the patches to do one of the most matters which might be required for that. I expect them to be done before November. But they surely have got to be confirmed on testnet and made sure that there are not any facet results to these alterations. K. Bitcoin being a permissionless procedure and being open, its consistently discipline to folks attack seeking to assault it and so it’s important to totally experiment changes earlier than the are launched on major-net. Undoubtedly. There was once additionally the information in regards to the up to date assault that got here into the news the day prior to this proper? (june 2018) Did you hear about that? In South Korea? An assault on Bitcoin? I believe, I don’t know if we’re regarding the same stuff, but there’s a one of the most tremendous exchanges in Korea that has been hacked? Yeah. It can be no longer persee an attack on Bitcoin. Its an attack on the alternate. Which is like probably the most explanations people really normally propose like: do not preserve all of your cash on alternate! You send your money to an trade when you need to trade it. But then get your cash out of the trade and preserve it relaxed to your own probably use a hardware pockets or anything like that. And for that very rationale. In view that the trade gets hacked and you can have your money stolen. Basically when you put money on an exchange you trust the trade goes to do the correct factor. Many exchanges do the proper factor but now not at all times. And as soon as in a at the same time there is…. Each few months or so there’s one trade that gets hacked and lose a ton of cash. So tip number one is to maintain it on some style of hardware and and take it off of the exchange. Yeah a hardware wallet is regularly the first-rate alternative. Okay first-rate! So there’s plenty of buzzwords floating around Bitcoin on the minute and i think that maybe for kind of the fashioned man that is frequently one of the things that makes it very elaborate to get type of involved in it. And a real buzzword that has come out lately is UTXO-commitments. Probably one in every of you might kind of tell us a little more about that? What can we mean with the aid of UTXO-commitments? So Tomas, some of the different Bitcoin cash builders, has been main that up.And sincerely a UTXO-commitment is a method to cryptographically decide to kind of all the money owed in Bitcoin. Who owns what money. And so if that commitment is in each and every block it might permit node software to enter the community very quickly. Proper now full node program, that exchanges and miners run, require like six hours to sync up with the community. When you consider that they have got to down load the entire previous knowledge. And with a view to most effective broaden in time as Bitcoins continue to be used. So UTXO-commitment allows you to brief-circuit that process and just download the current state of the whole Bitcoin procedure.This is high-quality initiative. I’m particularly completely satisfied with what Tomas is doing. Okay pleasant! And is it the style of thing that you will discover being competent for the subsequent rough fork? Possibly however that’s not going. So there is quite a few ramification in the UTXO-commitment stuff. Lots of them in phrases of performances. And so it wishes to be performed very cautiously. So proper now there is a prototype. Actually Tomas has used the prototype to supply some UTXO-commitments on the testnet. So there is some code that has been written that’s out there, but we have to ensure that the whole lot is super proper. When you consider that of the doubtless measurement of the alternate and the complexity of it November seems a little bit quick.I imply might be if the whole thing goes well but i might assume probably extra like subsequent yr. Additionally the opposite factor is effortlessly including UTXO-commitments to the blocks just isn’t enough. There wishes to be a community layer protocol to surely download the UTXO-set from one other node and then investigate it and that component shouldn’t be performed but. So UTXO-commitments itself might be achieved in November, however the precise potential to make use of it would not be executed yet. So it’s sort of an extended-term thing. So that you two had been both very busy gents and at BitcoinABC you’ve just lately released a paper all about promoting a new transaction ordering approach. Probably that you would be able to provide an explanation for for our viewers just a little bit more about that and the story in the back of that? Ok so that is an proposal that has been floating in the space for a very long time.This is not relatively new, but we’re attaining a factor the place we can simply execute on it So correct now there is not any designated ordering of the transactions within the block. There are some principles about what you can’t do however you realize in case you admire those few principles then you are able to do mainly something you want. It factors more than a few problems. One of them is that you simply must examine those few rules about what you are not able to and do checking these principles is a system that’s tricky to do in parallel. So when you need stuff to get greater and bigger and better, you wish to have to be able to parallelise the workload. So which you could add extra CPUs and you are able to do extra of it. Or even like if matters get very huge which you could add a few servers and every server does a piece of the work. If you can separate stuff like that and you can do chunks of the work in parallel, then it’s very effortless to scale. But if in case you have some procedure that’s serial, that every step of the method depends upon the previous step, then you’ll grow to be in a challenge the place you cannot add more machines and make the approach turbo. So this is without doubt one of the fundamental explanations. That we’ve this serial method in there. So we would like eliminate that to scale higher. And there may be one more tremendous reason. It’s: if we specify the order of transactions in a technique that each node, if they’ve the list of the transactions that are within the block, they are able to agree on the equal order, then what happens is that while you transmit the block from one node to the opposite, you do not ought to transmit that order anymore. You just have got to transmit knowledge structure that explains: here are the transactions which are within the block and the transactions that aren’t within the block. After which when you’ve got the set of transactions you can reconstruct them in the same order.And because it seems transmitting the order is honestly various data. Like way more than you may anticipate. Far more than you can expect intuitively. Due to the fact that when you have no order then there is, so it’s a bit technical, but there’s a set of methods, that goes under the umbrella term "set reconciliation", that you should use to nearly agree on a set of elements, without agreeing on the order, that is way more effective. And that we are able to leverage to propagate work blocks rapid. And the way’s this paper been acquired with the aid of the industry? Has it been received well? How has the suggestions long gone so far? So i assume if we go with what I stated or the 2 papers we’re referring to, one goes to be "Graphene" which is a community protocol layer that transmits blocks that take talents of canonical ordering, what we call canonical ordering, so of the fact that if the set of elements which are in the block which you can agree on the order.And that permits almost an order of magnitude reduction in the quantity of information you must transmit to transmit a block. So that may be a beautiful big win. That has been no longer done through us however by using a different team of people. I consider Brian Levine and Gavin Andresen and some different persons. The paper that we’ve got written it is extra oriented on the efficiency and parallelisation aspect of it. Yeah. Oh yeah. And It has been got? I believe for probably the most phase positively. There are a number of men and women that are not blissful about it but I believe when this concept used to be offered there were more men and women. Now most of them they kind of agree that it can be a excellent proposal. You continue to have just a few redictable however i assume that is at all times going to happen. It appears like you could have bought an awful lot in your plate. At BitcoinABC at the minute there’s various stuff you are working on. Are there any more protocol alterations that you’ve got been engaged on that you just would might be share with us in these days? So some thing else of interest? There is I feel one new OpCode that individuals want to add in November.It enables you to embed and verify information from relied on oracles. That might enable a number of other use circumstances on Bitcoin cash. That’s kind of being pushed through Bitcoin limitless. Exceptionally Andrew Stone after which any other folks as well. So what are the form of use cases that that would permit? What is the advantage that may provide? So the basis of the difficulty is that any know-how that originates from the blockchain could be very handy to make use of in the blockchain. But any understanding that comes from the true world just isn’t obtainable to the blockchain. So say I need to do a contract centered on who is going to be the following president of France after Emmanuel Macron. I have no idea who that character is at the time. But when we get to the following election and that character goes to be elected there is not any way for whatever that is in the blockchain to know about this election system that’s outside of the sector of the blockchain. And so there is this suggestion called oracle.And an oracle goes to be anybody we trust or might be it may be a group of people we believe that is going to certify that sure this man or woman gained the election and that is going to signal a special message that you can use within the blockchain that says who gained the election. After which that you could make wise a contracts and stuff like that within the blockchain founded on that external world expertise. So I take the election certainly however some thing that’s… Any information that you’d want to import within the blockchain you should use some trusted social gathering to try this for you after which everything else can run in the blockchain.It is exciting you acknowledged the election considering that that’s some thing that block chains could be used for sooner or later. That’s correct isn’t it? So is an election a excellent use of a blockchain? It definitely makes balloting audit-ready. I consider that will be a potential use case. However i have not obvious a entire lot of extraordinary approaches that that might be completed. I suppose one of the crucial the more than a few ways that vote casting can also be done on the blockchain I’ve learn, i haven’t honestly noticeable the technical heritage to back up the ways that would be used there. Some men and women are recommending threshold signatures and every other matters like that however i have not surely seen how you can do threshold signatures on Bitcoin without adding some exclusive technology that is now not currently there.Yeah so well there are approaches. So it depends on the trade-off you need to make. And there is a set of alternate-offs that may be very problematic to breed with any computer process that we’ve got with paper balloting, it’s that it can be very easy to make certain that every person votes but everybody will vote as soon as. We will determine the folks who vote. However even as we will audit the entire ballot. We are able to open the field and notice all the papers. It relies on the nation, but in France anyone can can go and notice that this is performed correctly. That you would be able to go watch the persons doing it. However whilst you don’t have any proposal who voted for who. When you consider that all these envelopes they are mixed up. And it seems that developing an digital system that has all those homes is definitely quite problematic.Surely utilising a blockchain helps with the fact that every body’s gonna vote as soon as. On account that in computer phrases it is also the Byzantine general drawback. So you wish to have to be certain that any person is, like in the electronic variation of it, however any individual indicates up to one of the vital vote Bureaus and votes for anything, but shows up on the different one and votes for some thing else with out the 2 Bureaus being ready to agree that this man or woman voted twice. So it appears as an alternative silly in real existence on the grounds that absolutely you are not able to teleport yourself from one place to a further.It’s a particularly effortless problem to remedy within the in the real world nevertheless it’s virtually a very tricky predicament to resolve on computer networks. Since i will attain one laptop however i can reach a second laptop someplace else on the web like typically whilst and post two exclusive votes. So the blockchain is very good at reconciliating this style of stuff and stopping me from balloting twice. It’s also superb at making certain that the result aren’t tampered with. But the whole set of….Like how do you make certain which you can audit elections whilst preserving everyone who voted nameless is more of a complicated challenge. K so let’s sort of transfer back to kind of the Bitcoin facet of things. Fascinating to talk about elections and stuff like that. Quite often I need to be slightly bit careful what we say here on account that my boss Joannes Vermorel sort of stated it. Is he used to be talking about subdividing the Satoshi even further. Is this anything that you simply guys believe and what do you suppose to that? Yeah I suppose is that it is without doubt imperative if if Bitcoin cash had been to claim reach 5% adoption of all buyers on the earth for all transactions, the rate would go relatively a bit of from the place it is right now and if so the fee constitution on Bitcoin cash would be type of problematic on the grounds that there would not be sufficient granularity to verify the prices anymore.So discussing it now earlier than that truely turns into a obstacle is quite valuable. Yeah i would add on that it’s not quite a obstacle now but if we grow significantly it can be gonna be. But doing this type of trade, nearly the price of doing this form of alternate directly is dependent upon the scale of the ecosystem. Considering the fact that you have to get extra humans on board, synchronise the exchange with extra persons, so it is like as the ecosystem grows better it is extra complicated. So I think honestly it is higher to do this variety of alternate now considering by the point this transformation is integral it can be gonna be like 10 instances extra tricky to do it than it is now. So we speak about this style of timeframe. Now’s the correct time to do it. How much time have we obtained? What sort of period of time are we looking at here? I don’t know completely. As little as possible. For the reason that we’re gonna have as so much development as viable correct? Its elaborate to understand. Sorry the growth of Bitcoin money; what are these variety of limitations that you simply ought to overcome. What’s holding again that kind of progress on the moment? I think a better consumer expertise is obviously necessary, however there is plenty of corporations external a Bitcoin ABC that are working on nice wallets proper now.Nice hardware wallets. I also think various computing device-to-computing device payments as extra like video games and whatnot to come back online. That would be excellent for the development. A number of different mobile games and whatnot have in-sport repayments and i think Bitcoin money is an great platform for those to utilising And if that have been the case that would really increase adoption. Amaury we spoke earlier once we pointed out elections we type of talked about that opacity of seeing who’s voting for what and and it’s form of the equal for the Bitcoin cash right? Is there anything that can be performed to decrease the style of opacity of transactions and how much you can find what other users are doing? So there may be a right away trade off. You have some additionally cryptocurrencies which are rather more opaque on that entrance than Bitcoin or Bitcoin money is.Things like Monero or more recently there may be this notion of Mimblewimble…. Mimblewimble? Yeah Mimblewimble. An awfully made word that one. Good on account that in Harry Potter this is one of the magic stuff that they do to avoid men and women from speaking. And so this can be a cryptographic system that nearly prevents any person from watching on the blockchain and making any experience out of it. So basically it can be like stopping the blockchain from speakme. Metaphorically. And so those applied sciences they’re high-quality, they provide a bigger measure of privacy, but they arrive with exchange-offs. So within the case of Monero for instance it is tremendously more intricate to scale Monero than to scale a technological know-how like Bitcoin.For a science like Mimblewimble it makes some weaker or enhanced, like is dependent upon how you want to appear at it, however just about it has a cryptographic assumption that’s gonna spoil earlier than Bitcoin if they damage. Like we don’t know if they’re going to smash or now not but when they wreck the whole lot is toast almost. And so there’s a measure of threat related to try this and there is a degree of improvement so that’s a further trade-off. In terms of what we can do on Bitcoin money I consider we must not go in the direction of what Monero or Mimblewimble s doing considering that that relatively changes the scalability and safety assumptions which are made within the procedure. However what may also be accomplished is best…. So we already have a technology like CoinJoin that permits a few humans to cooperate together to create transactions and so you don’t know whose money goes the place. And higher integration of this variety of science in wallets and stuff would go a ways in the direction of making the method extra nameless due to the fact the entire cash would be mixed up so you wouldn’t be rather definite what belongs to who.Ok fine! So let’s kind of talk about an different style of challenge in the enterprise. There is a number of talk about fake news at the minute and a number of persons speaking about that form of pump and dump. So there may be plenty of false media being put available in the market. Can you see this propaganda obstacle in the industry, are you able to see it ending every time quickly? Or is that this a trouble that we’re gonna variety see carrying on with evermore? So there’s numerous brief-time period incentives for individuals to do this, however I think will start to leave as adoption of cryptocurrencies increases. It’ll be a lot tougher to do like pump and dump schemes when the market caps are much greater.However for the brief time period I think that yeah it’s gonna continue to be a tremendous main issue. Yeah so I agree there may be short term incentives to try this but i’d also say there may be long term disincentives to do it. That is the kind of stuff that you can do a few times. But every time you do it you lose credibility. So I think like the actors which might be doing it they may be gonna disappear but new ones are gonna come. But then you may have the effect that Shae, Shammah is speaking about where because the system grows bigger it becomes more and more intricate to try this variety of stuff.So it can be more often than not gonna go away naturally because the ecosystem grows. And the way about within the discussion board’s. I’ve heard within the news there may be humans deleting posts? Equal with censorship, is that additionally gonna be a obstacle that we’re still speakme about in years yet to come? Frequently yes. I might assume that…. So what has been taking place is that this censorship and stuff like that has been going down over probably the previous two years or so, it is been particularly serious, however while over the past two years the cryptocurrency market has long past up and up and up and up. So some thing, like it doesn’t matter what used to be your opinion, in case you agree you disagree or something, like no one has been punished by way of the market but. Like when the market goes like 20x over a yr every person is a first rate trader. Every body is aware of, like you know, each person knows the whole thing and all people is right. But absolutely there are some humans that fully grasp expertise higher and when the market is a little more tough than it was once during the last two years then it’s gonna make a change.And the people that aren’t good advised, many of them are most often gonna lose their shirt. So in that sense it is often a self pleasant… You already know, self fixing procedure. But you have got to provide the time for the market to do it to do its work. So the sensation I get is that a number of the unhealthy press that Bitcoin is getting is right down to a small minority of folks. Is there in the brief time period, is there whatever that can be achieved to this small minority? Is there any way we can identify them? Good they are very so much identified i might say. Like men and women that followed that intently understand who these men and women are And as I was saying like proper now they have been no removing of any individual. Like any person could have come over the past two three years on this market and see a large increase. So no one has been like…… There was no unhealthy selection. Like it doesn’t matter what, besides maybe Bitconnect, Like each single different, you understand, every single different determination was a excellent one. In most cases something you did. So proper now everybody is a genius correct? But certainly how shocking that will be if every body’s sincerely is a genius.I just like the sound of that: everybody is a genius. So recently within the information Roger Ver stated the bitcoins recent screw ups were down to humans as an alternative than being technical. Is that some thing that you simply trust Shammah? Yeah I feel that’s undoubtedly real. I suppose the important failure in Bitcoin used to be that the builders of Bitcoin Core were incentivised to do matters that weren’t an interest of the Bitcoin ecosystem itself because of the place they took investments from. It can be no longer always like some evil plan, it is only a part effect of who they have got to report to and who they have to generate a profit for. So by not being funded via miners they wouldn’t have an incentive to do what’s in the best interest of the men and women aiding the forex.Bought whatever you like to add to that at all? No frequently what we see is that some persons took the whole progress of Bitcoin significantly and people men and women that they had one of a kind plans than most humans in Bitcoin had and seeing that all people else was once now not taking it as seriously i suppose then these persons ended up having a disproportionate value. And that’s also the market at work. Like there are men and women that put their money the place their mouth is greater than others that ended up growing the quandary. So in that sense I agree that is , and this can be a human misjudgment. And so on that front we’re careful with Bitcoin ABC where we take funding from and we’re very cautious additionally to have a structure that makes it possible for only for donation.Which is like you already know, like literally we couldn’t offer you like a mug or a t-shirt or anything in opposition to the donation. Seeing that in order to change our constitution. Our constitution is headquartered….Is such as we can not offer you something for your money. You cannot contract us to do whatever. No longer even give you a mug. But then it can be gonna be as much as the people to make a decision if that is major or not. If persons behave like they did behave during the last 5 years with progress then we’re gonna see the equal style of outcome reproducing.But i’m hoping that you understand a number of men and women realize what occurred. Apparently humans like Roger Ver is familiar with what occurred. First-class. Otherwise it is going to happen once more. So that you recounted BitcoinABC there. So to circular matters off i would prefer to type hear from both of you. How do you see the long run for Bitcoin ABC each in the quick and medium time period and likewise in the long term? Shammah if we begin with you? I would like to see, you understand, as people provide donations for Bitcoin ABC, I wish to see more legit engineers come on board and provide various checking out and first-class assurance on the merchandise in order that…. When you consider that we’re clearly targeting one hundred% uptime for the Bitcoin cash network. It is rather unacceptable if like several payments in the world went down proper? And we’re focusing on all repayments on the earth. So having all of the enough checks and balances in place to make certain that we’re hanging a pleasant product out is it is fairly foremost. And that takes various time and resources. So that is my drawback for the way forward for Bitcoin ABC. You realize Amaury is extra engaged in scaling and making certain that there’s ability for all these transactions that we wish to see happening.Yeah normally. But these two challenges they are relatively elaborate engineering sensible. They are , they have been solved. Like you do not see Google taking place that commonly for instance. And they are absolutely very big. Most likely they’re…..You can say they are centralised within the experience that there’s like a Larry web page, or whoever is the CEO at the time, that makes choice for Google, however the infra like you know the actual hardware infrastructure is absolutely highly distributed. So in case you have any you already know any single laptop that fails, the whole thing works. So these style of problem on the engineering aspect of it, there are answers. However we’d like additionally to get the engineers which have experience with all these techniques and that suggests we’re gonna must attract engineers that work at Google or fb or Amazon or this type of manufacturer that I’ve expertise strolling most of these techniques. So it’s kind of of a venture for the reason that these are these are appealing areas to work for as an engineer. So we need to have some convincing to do. So how can we help bitcoin ABC in a ultimate word? I believe Amaury perhaps the quality one to reply that query despite the fact that you guys are watching at me.Ok ok. There are more than a few approaches. Find it irresistible is dependent…. Good it will depend on who you’re, like a person or a company, and what is your talent set or you realize what are the method that you’ve got. If you happen to… Like any individual that is a developer can undoubtedly help setting up some stuff. If this is a enterprise watching toward building whatever within the ecosystem then they need that the infrastructure part of the ecosystem works well. Like think you might have a shop or you may have a manufacturing unit or anything, you want the street like between your factory and and whoever you are selling to be excellent so that you can ship vans on them. You know what I imply? And within the case of roads customarily it is taken care of by using the federal government but in the case of Bitcoin we must construct the infrastructure our selves. So for humans that have companies that rely on infrastructure working well I suppose it makes good industry feel for them to spend money on the infrastructure.After which for other men and women like there is a ton of labor that isn’t mainly that technical that needs to be accomplished. There’s stuff like if people have some design skill could also be helping with the internet site could be a excellent inspiration, or if individuals have some writing skill…. Could also be teachers they can support you recognize do the overview of the specific strategies and write papers about them. I mean like despite the fact that you realize a language like if you already know English and every other language which you can help translate some stuff. I mean there is is a ton of ways that someone can help. That being said, to make certain that it’s in reality now not more of a burden on the venture and also you comprehend it wishes to add extra value then…. We’d like people that may be like you realize that may be sufficiently self pushed. Correct so if you happen to say you’re a individual that’s from Turkey so you utilize you communicate Turkish certainly and you also converse English and you are keen on Bitcoin. So you’re gonna say k we will do translation in Turkish for instance, we need to be equipped to trust you that it’s gonna happen and we do not must go in opposition to you over and over again.Yeah like being consistent or trustworthy on a thing that you just pick to do is large. Yeah. Would not have to be like a giant stuff fairly that the extra principal stuff seeing that if if this isn’t constant…. It doesn’t have to be significant however it needs to be consistent! In view that if it’s now not constant then it can be gonna have quite a few overhead in phrases of managing what occurred in that field. And proper now we are not that colossal that we can manage this type of overhead. Okay good thanks for a fairly exciting discussion and for taking the outing to talk to us in these days. It can be been rather relatively fascinating. So thanks for tuning in today should you’ve got any questions or any comments we’d love to hear from you. In the event you could leave a remark in the box below. So that’s keen on in these days and we’ll see you again subsequent time. Bye Bye. .

[survivor-themyscira-blog]

https://cdn.dtbrownseeds.co.uk/product-images/op/z/19780z.jpg

FUCK U

JORDAN

I WASNT YOUR LEAK

LOOK WHERE IT GOT YOU

GOD DAMMIT!!

Like literally Logan, was like "you were the honestly honest one".

And Toph's all like "we can't trust emily."

And Jaidens like "im so happy you brought me back AND took out pines." And like mad n ian are like "alliance needs to be strong."

And yeah I haven't spoken to anyone else.

But im sure they're like "damn kai was hot in that tribal."

Or something similar.

So Jordan Pines, you are so very welcome to join my hall of trophy votes. The idol I played wasn't mine but Kai's. Kai transferred it to me because Emily told us you were gunning for me with swapped antiope. QQ You join names such as Seamus, Brandan, Tyler, and Catfish Alexa on my stuffed and mounted

I’m so scared Logan is suddenly being so nice to me he messaged me like hey love and then started telling me to drink fluids and stay healthy and I’m scared he’s plotting against me. And Toph is the complete opposite. He’s being flat out rude to me sending me snapchats of him flipping me off and telling everyone that I can’t be trusted and it’s SO RUDE like wtf I know they can’t but like don’t tell them that!

ok so this puzzle is literally destroying my sanity

i shit you not i turned on GHOST MODE for this motherfucker what was i thinking??? "GEE I REALLY WONDER WHAT THE FUCK THIS PUZZLE MIGHT LOOK LIKE, AND GHOST MODE WILL SURELY HELP ME PUT IT TOGETHER"

god no wonder its called the hell puzzle, i never wanna see this spiky shit again

I feel like the past 24 hours or so have been a lot of “firsts” for me. This is the first time in a Tumblr game I’ve ever been voted out, and later returned due to a twist!! This is the first time I’ve beaten Jordan Pines in an individual challenge :~) (my favorite accomplishment). This is not, however, the first time I’ve felt like a complete outcast! Fuck!!

Basically, I join the merge tribe after vanquishing the Goliath to my David. I expected triumphant cheers of happiness that mister Pines was finally eliminated, but there was nothing more than a sigh at my entrance. Nobody even initially congratulated me.

So here we are, hours after I got back into the game. I guess it’s been almost a full day since then, actually, but I put my absolute all into this competition. I knew from the get-go there’d be no chance in flaming hell I’d win immunity today unless everyone else just decided not to bother. No matter how quick I get done with that puzzle, I had a feeling that I’m still going to get second or third at best. But I’m actually okay with it!

Another first that I accomplished was that I didn’t give up when faced with an incredibly difficult task. Look, beating Jordan Pines wasn’t as hard as it seemed. I’ve gotten him voted out of games before, how much harder could it be to just get him out of a simple ten-point challenge? In comparison to today’s immunity, it was like jumping from little league to major league in a minute. Thankfully this puzzle wasn’t last night’s challenge, lmfao. So I accomplished just getting the puzzle done. Win or lose, this is a proud moment. I literally spent over 8 hours just trying to get the pieces together, and 7 of those hours were spent just today alone. The outcome won’t take this feeling away from me. I’m proud! This gives me a really good argument for myself at a potential final tribal council – I came back, stuck to my guns, and proved that I never gave up at any moment in this game. EVEN KNOWING I could lose such a challenge, I dedicated eight whole hours of my life to getting this shit done. Whew.

I mean I guess there’s a little hope inside me that anyone who completes the puzzle gets some sort of reward out of it… I doubt that’s the case, but it was enough to really kick me into high gear during the first 20% of the puzzle or so to just keep at it. I needed that push.

Anyways, now that I’m back in the game, I need to find some allies. I started working on Rhone and they gave me some useful information about what went down in the game. None of it made ANY sense because I’ve missed so much, but Kai was another person that really tried to instill in me an idea that I could work with him, too.

Before coming back, I was super anti-Jordan Pines. I knew that he was gonna be a tough cookie to crack if I were to magically return and have him still here. So I played that up a lot to Kai in particular, at least to give myself an option if I need one. This might give him a sense that we’re on the same page, wanting to take out the remainders of Jordan’s allies. I’m just kinda waiting for him to swoop down and take me in under his wing. Really, I’m waiting for anybody to do that at this point…

Then again, I’ve got Rhone as a potential “in”. I’ve never played with Rhone before, but I know they’re really smart just by talking to them. I don’t want to even flirt with the idea of lying to Rhone or being a little bit dishonest. I need to be as straight-forward with them as I can because they’re NOT the kind of person I want to lie to for any reason. They’d see right through me and call me out on it, which I don’t need right now.

An idea I’ve had would be to just fill in the spot Jordan Pines made with his alliance. Hopefully they’ll accept me as a new number, because clearly I’m very against Ian. There’s like, no chance I’ll work with either Ian or Madeline or Toph at this point (and I’m not even going to talk to the latter two because… choke), so if I can find a way to send those three out back to back to back? Sign me right up!

Logan’s changed his profile picture to a leek because of some mysterious “leak” drama going around. Like, oh please keep sinking your ship. I promised Dan I wouldn’t target Logan for a bit because Dan wants to see him go far, but like Logan is kinda unnecessary to my game at the moment. I don’t trust him because he doesn’t trust me, and although I don’t have a lot of options, shattering Jordan’s old alliance *might* be beneficial for me in the long-run.

I don’t understand subtlety, so I don’t care if I win immunity and if I do, it’d be a freaking dream. I am going to make my presence in this game known one way or another, so these people had better prepare for that. I should, too. Thankfully, I’ve got this redemption idol so if things look grim for me tomorrow night, I know I’m getting at least tenth place. I don’t want to position myself as the easy vote since I’m a returner, so… let’s try hard to stick around this time and not get messy. Since I’m here, I may as well try to get to the end this time and not be chaotic as fuck. It doesn’t take big moves to win the game, but it does take strong relationships to get people convinced you deserve to win over everyone else. Like I’ve said, I have to right my wrongs from before I was voted out. Then again, I don’t let go of grudges so who knows what the future has in store for me. All I know is I’m glad I'm over that hell of a puzzle.

I worked on that puzzle for over ten hours. The most I got was 35%. At least I tried.

Step one of my master plan. Cry in everybody's PMs and tell them why I DO NOT want to go home.

Step two of my master plan. Become Jordan Pines. Everybody loves Jordan Pines, so why would they vote him out? It just makes no sense. Only Ian and Kai and whoever else voted for him yesterday, and there's no fucking way I'm not getting AT THE LEAST Ian's vote. I kinda need the majority here, so it seems like my best bet is to just make them think I'm not Jaiden.

Step three of my master plan. Scramble. Hard.

And finally, step four. Play the idol on myself. Hopefully I have enough votes coming my way (aka all but mine) and I can look like a good fucking player for once and take out someone I don't like (aka Toph).

HOPEFULLY everyone votes for either myself or Ian. If Ian goes home, then yay he's dead. If they all vote me, then boo you guys just fucked up and now I cancel all the votes : D

I don't know who is willing to work with my cracked ass at this point, but I'm not going down without a fight. I'm gonna pull out all the stops to make shit happen, I'm just really really scared that I won't do it correctly.

me @ everyone in pms: "hi this is your master speaking, please vote for ian"

we all know the real jordan pines uses mind control

I'm going into the second hour on a private call with Ian while we're talking in two different alliances we're in together and discussing our PMs with people. NO ONE can sneak anything past our duo.

I love Logan my only goal in this game now is to get him to not hate me

https://youtu.be/5hV-WJy_kUI

I’m waiting for someone to Jeff Varner themself to make this vote easy

Honestly it's so funny when I have to pretend I don't talk to Ian much and even say he's sorta awkward to talk to. IF ONLY PEOPLE KNEW JUST YESTERDAY WE TALKED FOR 5 HOURS.

my dad is dead

i dont know who to trust

im immune tho

and i got a super idol

neat.

I've heard my name all day long and that gets mentally draining and I tried to set in place a plan to keep myself in, if it works,great, if not oh well it's been a fun ride so far.  The reason it wouldn't work is one it's very contingent on Nicholas throwing his vote and Two- Dammit Toph spilling the real name to someone we don't need knowing, the point of getting people to throw votes is them not knowing who we might be coming for. Anyways, we will see and if I go out no one can say I didn't try

I did the thing that I wanted to do the least in this game tonight well maybe not the least I don’t know I’m using voice text for this just so everybody knows in case this is a total mess I blame Siri anyways tonight was horrible I had to cast a vote for road and I love road to death and just hoping that Rome doesn’t hate me for a bit is it just God I just really I don’t even know what to do anymore in this game I’m just I’m really relying on dudes James and to do each oh my god this is such a mess and I just I recorded a video confessional earlier but I just know I won’t have time to upload it and I’m just leaving rehearsal now and I just I don’t feel like typing but everything is it’s a mess I want to cry and a half like God Charlotte JD LA I’m so upset this This is the fucking worst and I I don’t even know if the boat is going to go my way tonight I feel like I’m really betraying Nicholas because he’s going to cast a vote for Jaden thinking that everybody else is going to vote for Jayda but nobody except I haven’t so I don’t even know if I’ll trust me after this of Oracle try to get me out or something I don’t know what I’m really trusting telephone and really trusting Madeline and Ian and Kai and I’m just  so so so upset I’m going to listen to Pasha to drown out my sorrows hopefully I’m home in time for life tribal but do I even want to be on live tribal tonight I really don’t think I do god this is such a mess why do I play these games all it does is make me sad and stressed I don’t know fuck

Sorry Rhone, I was the one who convinced Dudes, Dames, and a Deutch to write your name out then convince Toph to his a double vote. It was nothing personal other than you were JP's right hand and you voted me. We just had to go with a name that wasn't being thrown around in fear of an idol...Which one was played it was just Jaiden(I told you guys we couldn't go after Jaiden this round) and he played it on me. That's two idol's used on your boi right here, I am in your house stealing all your idol'd votes. The best part, neither of them have been idols I have found! Who needs to search the island when you can get people to play their advantages with you as a beneficiary. As per usual shout out to my girl Madeline, love ya girl we couldn't have pulled off the moves we made so far without being 100% honest with each other. Special shout out to Jaiden as well, thank you so much man you made my day and I think I can start to rebuild a relationship with you, eventually all alliances must end and I feel if you stay in the game for when that time comes we can pull something off.

The only idol that won't be getting played on Ian this game is going to the idol of my heart. I SWEAR TO FUCKING GOD IF THIS BOY PLAYS ME HE'S OVER.

[tara-firma-blog]

Major Quest 4: See You at the Crossroads

Who: Vicente Serrano and Tara Grayson

What: Tara’s rock collection finally comes in handy, and Vicente is extremely competent.

Tagged: @actofrevision

Word Count: 3800 Words

Number of Replies: 82 each

Status: Complete

Tara: Crossroads? These were literal crossroads? Tara and Vicente had just innocently been handing out QSA badges when she overheard the possible translation of the dungeon clue. "Hey," she said, nudging Vicente in his side. She nearly jabbed him with the metal straight pin of the badge, but mercifully did not murder her veep. "Do you think that Jonathan actually knows what's what or is he just leading players on a wild goose chase?"

Vicente: This. This was not what he had envisioned going into this game. This was also not what he had envisioned after being trapped in game. This was... better than either of those things. And oddly comforting. He looked over and then raised a brow. "Jonathan? Quien es Jonathan?" Vicente mused then frowned. "Is that the bartender?"

Tara: Tara nodded toward Jonathan, indicating exactly which NPC was indicated just in case it was unclear. She supposed some people might like to pretend to bartend to sell their own wares. "Yeah, Damian's obsessed with him for some reason," Tara said with a shrug. "I have no idea why, but for a barkeep he seems potentially trustworthy."

Vicente: "Who is.. Damian?" He asked and looked over to the 'Jonathan' in question. "I doubt a NPC is capable of lying." Vicente asked, "what did he say about the clue?"

Tara: "One of the grumpiest players in this entire game, basically," Tara said, shrugging. "NPCs could totally be capable of lying if they were programmed to be. Anyway, I kind of only over heard it, but something about the clue everyone got being the literal Crossroads. The Crossroads of Cafford. West side of the floor, maybe?"

Vicente: "Yes, but in this case it would defeat the purpose of the game." Vicente pulled out the clue and looked it over. "It would make sense. These are all... crossroads." He looked over to Jonathan, "Want to ask?"

Tara: "I don't know if the purpose of the game is so clear anymore," Tara said, frowning. Maybe Damian had the right idea being sweet on an NPC, though. It certainly made communication easier. She wished him the best. "I don't want to ask, but I do want to know... Sure. He looks like he'll be done talking to that person in a moment. Maybe we could stand awkwardly next to them so that nobody can jump on him faster."

Vicente: "Or-" Vicente hummed then walked over, sliding in next to the other group. He waited patiently as Jonathan finished giving the clue then immediately drew in his attention. "Hello, can I buy a drink and also will you help me with this?" He asked and offered out the clue.

Tara: "That works too," mumbled Tara. She listened as Jonathan explained essentially what she had overheard, but with less chance to mishear something. "Okay, so we should go there? Is it safe or- Oh, it probably isn't safe is it..." Tara shook her head, not wanting a drink if they were about to have adventure.

Vicente: He downed the drink and smiled at Tara. "We should go. It will likely be dangerous so debemos comprar- We should buy potions and such."

Tara: "Don't you get some healing abilities?" Tara asked, just to get some clarification. Running her hands through her hair, she quickly reconsidered, "I guess it could not hurt to get one or two each in case of emergency."

Vicente: "Yes, but I need mana potions." Vicente replied, "And Healing is only a minor pick me up."

Tara: "Ohhh," Tara said with a nod. "Sorry, I think of health potions when I think of potions. I'm only just starting to care about my skills. What's your play style?"

Vicente: "I'm not sure. I was not an avid gamer." He frowned, "I'm not good at hanging back."

Tara: "Oh, I wasn't much of one either... Wait, aren't you a Druid?" Tara looked over at Vicente, concerned. "I'm the tank."

Vicente: "Druid. I can heal and fight." Vicente said in agreement. "I think we'll be okay."

Tara: "I can't let you hurt yourself, though," Tara insisted. "If things get really bad, will you please stay behind me?"

Vicente: "I will. I'm better at running up and then ducking back." He explained. "I won't endanger us both by playing it too fast and loose"

Tara: "Okay. I trust that you're fast enough to disengage," Tara agreed reluctantly. "To the store?"

Vicente: "Yes of course." He gestured. "I don't think I've been to the physical place just yet."

Tara: "Really? Well it's a good as time as any to go. I got my shield there. I'm still hoping they stock weapons that I'm not allergic to someday," Tara rambled wistfully. She started toward it. "Guessing you aren't a shopping spree kind of guy."

Vicente: "Allergic to?" He looked over with a raised brow, "And no. I've looked at the online version." he tapped his menu up. "Not the physical store."

Tara: "Iron," Tara said with a shrug. She pulled up the message boards one more time to look at the clue translation. "Let's get in and get out. Anything else that you're looking for?"

Vicente: "Ah," he nodded and shook his head as he walked with her rapidly. They made it to the shop and he purchased mana and health potions a plenty. "There we are."

Tara: "Okay, now that we're done with the shopping, should we like, tell people where we're going?" Tara asked, looking around in hopes that she would see someone she knew. "To tell our people if we die how we passed?"

Vicente: "Oh... I suppose." He paused in the middle of the street and typed out a message to Cisco.

Tara: It was at that moment that Tara realized that she did not have anybody that she really could call hers- nobody that would really knew her. Frowning, she drafted a message to send to Aidan, and shot it off before she could think too hard about it. "Okay. Out we go?"

Vicente: "Out we go." He agreed after a beat and shut off his menu. "Vamonos."

Tara: "Do we have to do more sailing for this one?" Tara asked as they walked, feeling a little funny about all of this.

Vicente: "I hope not." He grumbled and pulled up the map.

ara: "Agree... Last time, I got too annoyed to even get off the boat," she said, crossing her arms. "Did you sail much outside of this?"

Vicente: "/Jesus, Jose, y Maria/." he murmured lowly, "There is sailing. And no. But I can promise you once this game is over, I will never be setting foot on a boat again."

Tara: Tara was not entirely sure what that meant, but she understood the sentiment. Wanting to cheer Vicente up, she said, "It's okay. We'll get there, and hand out more badges to everyone sympathetic that we pass along the way. I made extra."

Vicente: "You're a dear. Excellent president. /Mejor quel cheeto/ in any case." Vicente patted her arm and started to walk, "We can avoid ships by heading down south along the coast first."

Tara: Avoiding ships for any amount of time sounded like an excellent plan to Tara. "I don't mind sacrificing a little time if it means that we can put off that sailing. But will we be going through difficult terrain along the way?"

Vicente: "You might be able to read maps better than I." He admitted after a moment.

Tara: Tara pulled her map up and looked it over. "It looks mostly open, which could be good or bad. But you're right, if we skirt down through the isthmus- That's the narrow bit right here- then we can shoot straight west."

Vicente: "Which might save us time in the long run. Oceans are more... touchy than land." Vicente pointed out.

Tara: "Right. Ugh. I don't think I like storms much," Tara said as they left the center of civilization. "I'm almost scared of getting robbed, but I don't know how that would work."

Vicente: "I know a captain." He shrugged. "He seems to be everywhere."

Tara: "Is he an NPC captain? Because maybe that's just his thing... being everywhere," Tara theorized.

Vicente: "Maybe. And yes." He nodded, "We are going to be close quarters for a bit, will that be alright?"

Tara: "I'm not too fussed about it," hummed Tara, imagining how that could go. "The crew isn't crude or anything?"

Vicente: "No. They're fine. I'll keep them off you." He promised.

Tara: "I mean, I can handle myself, I just don't want to be uncomfortable," Tara said, shrinking in a little on herself. "You're a gentleman, though."

Vicente: "You won't be," Vicente said sternly then patted his shoulder. "You'll be treated like a queen."

Tara: "I'd like to hope that in a fantasy-oriented game that they'd empower the players so that they did not feel the need to be scared," Tara mused, scratching her temple. "I trust you."

Vicente: "This is not the regular sort of game," Vicente reminded her. "If it were we wouldn't be in this situation to start."

Tara: "Well- Well- Well, yeah," Tara said, face falling. "Unless we're already dead, and this is just what purgatory looks like."

Vicente: "Gross." He wrinkled his nose.

Tara: "I mean, it was just a bad thought," hummed Tara, skipping.

Vicente: He snorted at her. 'I'm sure we're really here."

Tara: "I'm not," Tara said, shrugging and looking over her shoulder. "If you skip, you move faster."

Vicente: "I would rather not submit myself to that." He said, taking off his glasses and cleaning them off.

Tara: "But it's fun too," Tara argued, very stubborn. "It's fun, I swear."

Vicente: "That's lovely," He said dryly as he set his glasses back on. "I won't."

Tara: "Am I annoying you?" she asked, starting to get insecure about it.

Vicente: "No. Feel free to skip." Vicente assured her, "I simply am not a skipper."

Tara: "But you're gonna have to catch up with me, and that's just no fun for you," she sighed, slowing up.

Vicente: "I'm sorry," Vicente patted her shoulder. "Perhaps once we get back you can get me drunk."

Tara: "What would I do with you drunk? Nobody ever wants to play drunk truth or dare," Tara said with a pout.

Vicente: "Buy me drinks?" Vicente said with a smile.

Tara: "As a reward for our completing the quest eventually," Tara conceded. She pulled up her map. "Looks like we're getting close to that islet."

Vicente: "Then we should probably ferry across."

Tara: "Hmm? No, an islet is like, a strip of land. We can walk it," she said, jabbing the map with her finger.

Vicente: "Ah, person. No entiendi." Vicente said with a  frown.

Tara: "I like walking better than boating," Tara said, holding her hands up. "So we'll take it?"

Vicente: "Yes of course. Walking. Over boat. Every time."

Tara: "I like agreeing too," Tara said, secretly getting somewhat sick of walking too. "So... How are you?"

Vicente: "Reduced to small talk already?"

Tara: "...Yes, don't point it out!" Tara said, waving her arms around.

Vicente: He snorted and patted her arm. "How about I teach you Spanish?"

Tara: Tara recoiled at that. "I... don't really think that will work out so well."

Vicente: "Why not?"

Tara: "Languages and I don't get along," Tara mumbled. "I'm sorry..."

Vicente: "That's fine, just trying to find a way to kill time."

Tara: "You can try," Tara said, feeling really bad about it. "Maybe it will stick and then we can communicate better."

Vicente: "Don't worry about it. I understand the difficulty of language."

Tara: Tara ducked her head down. "Okay, so, like, where do you start? Languaging. I really hope we're almost to the captain, though."

Vicente: "the basics. Hello and goodbye." Vicente laughed, "Then bathroom."

Tara: "Bathrooms are kind of scary, but okay. Throw 'em at me," Tara said, bracing herself as if there would be actul throwing.

Vicente: "I'm not going to force you." He shrugged.

Tara: "I want to though," Tara said in a small voice. "I can at least hold onto hello and goodbye."

Vicente: "Well hello is /hola/". He smiled gently

Tara: "...And here I thought my brother was making up words. He doesn't say it like that, somehow," Tara said, frowning. "Hola. Got it."

Vicente: "Goodbye is simple /adios/." He looked over to her.

Tara: "Adios," Tara said to herself. "But I'm not saying good-bye to you. Stay here!"

Vicente: Vicente laughed and gave her a half hug. "You're adorable."

Tara: "And entirely threatening and dangerous," Tara insisted. "Oooh, hey, do you smell the sea?"

Vicente: "Yes, I smell the sea." He replied. "Let's get a move on."

Tara: "Okay," Tara said, increasing her pace and resisting the urge to skip. After a while, she asked, "Do you see your captain friend?"

Vicente: "I can go find him." Vicente looked over. "Wait here."

Tara: "You'd be surprised how often I hear this," Tara sighed, squatting on a boulder.

Vicente: He chuckled and left. He returned a moment later and they embarked on their voyage. Somehow the whole thing went a lot faster after that until suddenly they were on the island.

Tara: "Well now that we're here, do you think we should start paying attention to our surroundings?" Tara asked, playing with a pretty leaf. "Because I sure haven't. Probably not good in a danger zone."

Vicente: "Danger zone." He said slowly and nodded. "You're right. We should be armed and ready."

Tara: "Yeah!" shouted a more enthused Tara, brandishing her shield. "Now an enthusiastic march!"

Vicente: He grabbed his stave and inhaled deeply. "Let's go then."

Tara: Tara looked around suspiciously. "Having the distinct feeling that we're being watched. The eyes in those trees aren't helping."

Vicente: "Don't say that." He breathed out.

Tara: "It's too late," Tara said, accidentally dropping her leaf. "I already did. Sorry..."

Vicente: "Eyes in the trees." He grumbled and shivered.

Tara: "Beady eyes in the trees," Tara mumbled, knowing it didn't help.

Vicente: "Tara." Vicente glared over at her.

Tara: "Yes? Oh, right, shutting up now," she mumbled.

Vicente: "Thank you." He gripped the stave tightly as they walked.

Tara: "Mmmhmm," Tara said without saying words, wanting to comment on how big the eyes were getting.

Vicente: Vicente nudged her hard, "I hear you thinking."

Tara: "You do not," Tara muttered, turning away.

Vicente: "Just stop." He breathed out.

Tara: "Stop what?" she said, still looking away.

Vicente: He gestured to her with a half smile. "We'll be okay."

Tara: "Nuh uh," Tara said, coming face to face with more eyes. "Because, uhm, they kind of have fur."

Vicente: "Then... perhaps you aren't just seeing things."

Tara: Tara squinted, peering closer at them. "They look kind of cute. Are foxes a monster in this game?"

Vicente: "We are going to get attacked. Can you focus?" Vicente asked quietly.

Tara: "Yes," Tara said in a small voice. Clearly she was not so good at this focus thing. Mace, wielded. Shield, out. Man, she really needed another leaf.

Vicente: "Just try not to die, deal?" Vicente asked softly.

Tara: "Deal," Tara agreed, heart sinking as three foxes leaped toward them. "Here they come..."

Vicente: Vicente spun his stave before moving forward, hitting one fox out of the way and against the tree before taking on another one.

Tara: Tara steeled herself, whacking the fox coming toward her with her mace (not a strong hit, but a stabilizing one). She followed it up by chucking her shield at a fourth fox joining the fray.

Vicente: Vicente's eyes seemed to glow as he summoned some vines. Slowing the attacking foxes as he and Tara fought off the rest.

Tara: They were doing okay, even working well together now that Tara had her focus together. The foxes started to come in waves, but by the end there could not have been much more than a dozen. Wiping her brow at the end, she looked over to Vicente. "You okay?"

Vicente: He looked over, pushing off his glasses to clean them of fox blood. "Yes. On the plus side we have some pelts and meat." He gestured then smiled at her. "We'll eat well if we are ever able to rest."

Tara: Tara nodded grimly, feeling a little weird after having actually killed a whole bunch of virtual foxes in self-defense. "We'll find a cave or a hold in the ground or something if we get tired. There's got to be something so this doesn't turn impossible. No more eyes, by the way."

Vicente: "That's good to hear." He pushed on his glasses and smiled, "Let us continue."

Tara: "Yeah," Tara said, looking over her shoulder. That had been a doable battle, but it certainly had not been a cakewalk. It was time to focus and move. So she walked. "It's almost fun, this."

Vicente: "I'm sure eventually we will regret those words." He gave a grim smile before they continued on deeper.

Tara: "Yeah, well..." She paused. The trees were bickering or something. "Okay, I think the trees are mad, but they won't be cooperative about whatever is worrying them."

Vicente: "You can hear the trees?" Vicente said sharply.

Tara: "Yes, they won't shut up sometimes," Tara said, rolling her eyes. "Either that or I've tried talking to them so many times that I'm losing my mind. Fair either way."

Vicente: "...." he nodded and kept close to her. "Well then keep me informed about the acorn gossip."

Tara: She thought that she was supposed to stay quiet, so she just nodded and plowed on until deciding it was relevant to say, "Yeah? Oh, maybe there's something in the trees."

Vicente: "Well yes I'm sure that's the idea."

Tara: "...Right, yes," Tara said in a small voice. "Think it's birds. Get ready."

Vicente: "Oh god, birds." He swung his stave and looked up. Sure enough the birds dove down over them.

Tara: Flying creatures en masse were always a source of distress. Tara lifted her shield to fend off the one going right for her neck, and swung recklessly at another. "They keep coming!"

Vicente: Vicente growled as one scratched at his face and another pecked at his arms. Swinging the stave he hit one hard and then grabbed Tara's hand. "Follow me!"

Tara: Juggling all of the things in her hands, she decided not to think too hard about it before following. "Okay!" Where were they going? This hurt, and was confusing.

Vicente: "Okay." he ducked under some shrubs, keeping the worst of the birds off them as he threw her shield up over their heads. "We need a better plan then try and hit and miss."

Tara: Diving into the shrub was an adventure, but it felt awfully cowardly underneath the shield. Defending as one thing, but, well... "I mean, can we throw rocks? I sort of have a lot. They might not do much damage, but it could scare them off."

Vicente: He frowned, thinking. Trying to come up with a plan as he listened to hers. "What if you cause a distraction while I summon my vines? If we piss them off badly enough, we can get them to come in close and I can choke them out."

Tara: "That's great! I can do that, definitely," Tara said, removing a very silly amount of rocks from her inventory. "I'll send these stones further than where they are so that they don't want to go too far away. Sound good, then?"

Vicente: "Yes. It does." He nodded in agreement once again and settled down to start the spell.

Tara: Tara took a deep breath to center herself. She only needed that moment to focus, before taking up the rocks and chucking them one by one in the distance. Of course they did not hit any of the birds, but she was definitely putting out enough volume to make the monsters freak out a little.

Vicente: The vines rose slowly, an extension of himself as the magic breathed through him. Vicente inhaled deeply and shivered, "Get them down now."

Tara: Get them down? Well, the vines were doing their thing. Tara pulled up her shield, throwing caution to the wind, and charged. It was messy, but she managed to get the bulk of them felled while they were caught by surprise. "They'll be up in a second!"

Vicente: Vicente growled and launched out his vines, eyes blue as his magic wrapped tight around the crows and strangled them. Finally the world was silent and the vines vanished with the dead birds.

Tara: Turning her head slowly, she looked at Vicente with a terrified sense of awe. "That was incredible," Tara praised. "Hey, we might almost be there if we press on? Then we can eat something."

Vicente: "Yes of course. Just.. a moment." He dug out two potion, one health and one mana then downed them both.

Tara: Trees were good. She hoped that the rest of the way had some trees. Tara thought that she could make it one more bout without needing healing based on past experience and that nice surprise trick. Although that would be cutting it close... "Cool, let's go."

Vicente: "You should heal before we go." he whispered gently.

Tara: "No, I'm fine," she said stubbornly. "I swear."

Vicente: "... okay Mrs. Presidente." Vicente nodded and stood.

Tara: "Thank you," Tara mumbled, looking ahead. Well, they would just have to walk on, wouldn't they? So she started on. "Almost there. Hope the trees stay quiet."

Vicente: "I do too." He whispered and continued forward, soon enough they came to a large swath of vine. Vicente breathed out. "There's something behind that."

Tara: "Good spotting. But I'm not trying to talk to that," Tara said, simultaneously ensuring that the vine was not a snake as she pulled it back. It was all pretty big, so she could not see through. "Anything good?"

Vicente: "I'd imagine that's the doorway to the next floor," He whispered, "That's what I would do if I were the writer."

Tara: Tara released the vines. "Wait, so that's the dungeon entrance thing that we're looking for? I remember somebody mentioning a dungeon."

Vicente: "I suppose so." He inhaled. "We should rest before heading in."

Tara: "Sounds good to me," Tara agreed, circling around the area to make sure that they were not under threat. "This is as good a place as any."

Vicente: "Let's set up a perimeter and eat. "Vicente glanced around, "I'll gather fire wood."

Tara: "Guess I'll get a camp itself set up," Tara suggested, trying to remember if there were any particularly good bed-like leaves around. "Might need to retreat here later. We good?"

Vicente: "We're good." He smiled at here before ducking into the woods for wood.