#localization language module

[hms-software-timecontrol]

How does TimeControl handle multiple languages?

How does TimeControl handle multiple languages? TimeControl not only includes translations in multiple languages, we also include the entire translation module so clients can modify existing terms or create support for their own language within TimeControl.

TimeControl is in use in virtually every time-zone in the world. One of the questions we are often asked is how we will support the local display for users in different places who are all part of the same organization and same TimeControl instance.  This term is commonly referred to as localization in the software industry. TimeControl has several answers for that. Languages TimeControl ships…

[birchbow]

i really like everything you've done with the concept of troll gender in pof, but i was wondering if you've given thought to why/how they developed the concept of gender as a not really sexually dimorphic species? and who exactly assigns them genders as wrigglers? like are they getting the concept from the lusii? also i was wondering how they can tell each other's genders without asking directly. i know the clowns indicate that with their paint usually, but what about everyone else? i would love to hear any thoughts you have about this!

Okay so. This is only somewhat represented in the actual fic, mostly because I started writing it more than a decade ago when I was a little weenie with no gender imagination, but the grand scope of the xeno loadout I'm contemplating is thus:

in the same way that Lord of the Rings was theoretically a localized+translated legend from another language. PoF is a translation of a troll society that is in some ways localized by its translator (me lol).

THIS IS TO SAY: gender isn't gender. Pronouns are a self-declaration of "the role I take in my use to the Great Hive of The Empire". Trolls we translate as "male" and "female" are just roles of Use To The Hive that a human translator maps to "he" and "she".

If the mother grub, the drones and the trolls are all the same species, I find it delightful to imagine that insofar as trolls have a physical sex, it's BEING "trolls"; "troll"="the farmed ones/caretakers/(trollspecies) servant class" who provide and care for the mother grub.

Some of said class focus more into social violence not intended to kill+loud and posturing to drive away enemies+big emotions for Care About Hive. Because humans are, to quote troll xenonecroscholars, "obsessed with assigning mammal genital configurations to things", humans have dictated these trolls are "men". Some trolls focus more energy into stronger psionics+no patience for posturing/straight for the kill+hone and reinforce the inner strata of the hive. Humans refer to these individuals as "women".

I'll be shorthanding these roles as "masc" and "femme" because I use way too many words already, but just know that's an oversimplification haha.

FIG 1: Karkat by this standard? Very masc, but his insistence that he wants to be the leader/in charge is idiosyncratically femme of him. *cishet bioessentialism voice* Football player repeatedly goes out for ballet.

FIG 2: let's be clear Karkat telling Tavros to "stop playing games for girls" after he got jumped off a cliff was Karkat/Homestuck being classic 2010s shitty. But it doubles in this as "you decided to play with the Scourge Sisters (Deadly High Femme), you moron, you're lucky you're not dead".

how people figure out which one they initially go by... tbh it seems like schooling is pretty much via computers. I feel like you could easily just get like. A module on reproduction, and then a module that's essentially a fucking. quizilla quiz. Assigned pronouns at government-required school module.

Recent chapters have started making characters 'they/them' until the POV character gets a hint what their preference is--in this theoretical setup there would be quite a lot of sussing it out. "Gender presentation" would be a loose constellation of traits with a lot less certainty! The webcomic was not made with this in mind but I do find it fun to willfully reframe the pretty generically human-gendered characters we get.

FOR EXAMPLE!! Long/big hair as a peacocking flair/brag, often by old or powerful classes, or people who are powerful enough psionics they don't have to give a shit about a very grabbable liability in a fight. Trolls whose vocational pronouns translate as "female" often specialize in straightforward impersonal murder and social engineering more than brawling, so longer hair wouldn't be a liability and therefore is correlated, but only loosely.

Feferi has long hair, but so does the Grand Highblood. Equius (reads quite masc to humans) has long hair (nobility fle%), but Kanaya (the most overtly human femme) does not (practical middle-class brawler)! I don't think that's on purpose but I AM taking advantage of it lol.

'They/them' is the equivalent of the "joker" title I made up already for Clown Church--somebody with multiple skillsets, mixed roles, or fields of influence. My gender is undeclared college major. My gender is Jack Of All Trades.

Verato's transness isn't really about his switch from one gender to another--it's more because he plays a "femme" role in society but uses the "masc" pronoun for himself. His self-consciousness about it is more similar to a nonbinary or bisexual human who's used to being told to "pick one" and being told which one they "seem like" or "should be".

Meanwhile the Behemoth's 'it/its' in English stands out as a pronoun usually used for objects, but in Alternian it would be the pronoun trolls use to refer to DRONES. "(Trollspecies) made for thoughtless violence/enforcer/culls the weak". Chilling!!

I would have to go through and edit huge chunks of the fic to drag all half a million words into line with fun xeno shit alongside the clown church worldbuilding I already got in there, but damn if the concept isn't tempting some days.

[study-with-em]

🌼 hello!! 🌼

my name's emily, i'm 26, and i'm a third year english literature student! i'm originally from scotland, but i'm currently in my second semester of a year abroad in new zealand! i've had this blog for about six months and i'm hoping to use it a bit more intentionally and post more consistently this semester 😊

this semester i'm taking three english modules and one classics module:

🧛‍♂️ irish-scots gothic: this is definitely my favourite so far! i loveee gothic literature and the texts for this class are super fun

🏝 māori & pacific lit: this seems interesting but it's the first year this course has been run so you can tell the lecturers are still finding their feet a little

📜 poetic revolt: i think this class has the potential to be the most educational if i engage with it properly as i'm not super into poetry or experimental/avant-garde forms of literature

🏺 graeco-roman myth: this class deals a lot with the psychology behind myth, which is a way i haven't looked at it before, although i have studied classics in the past

about me:

📚 favourite book: fahrenheit 451 by ray bradbury

🎬 favourite movie: whisper of the heart

🎸 favourite artist: bruce springsteen

i love baking 🍰 and i loveee to travel ✈️ when i can afford it!

i really enjoy spending time in nature 🏞 and i love having plants and flowers 💐 in my house <3

outside of university i'm currently learning six languages on duolingo: italian, french, spanish, german, scottish gaelic, and greek! there's a local woman who takes italian language classes, so i'm considering signing up for those as well

i'm planning on posting weekly to-do lists and updates a couple times a week, as well as reblogging general study aesthetic/motivation stuff and useful study tips

[wandixx]

Ghost of fries and hero of cookies part 6

All work words count: 14 643

Words in this part: 2 686

Summary of whole work: Duke wasn't expecting to wake up from his quick rooftop nap to some meta kid with fries. He also wasn't expecting kid to stay

Or

Danny asked Dani to stay safe while she was in Gotham. Where would she be safer than under the wing of local hero? And he looked like he needed bad day combo anyway

This part summary: Batman wants an explanation. His kids however, wouldn't be themselves if they did add some chaos

Beta read by @audhumla-sailor though English is second language for both of us, so proceed with this in mind. I also know all of the charaters through fics alone, so probably ooc. Stay catious if it's something you don't like

First part, Previous part

“Signal.”

Duke bit back a sigh as his last hope to leave Cave undiscovered disappeared. He shot Steph message of:

Having The Talk. Come as moral support

and turned around to face Bruce.

“Yes?”

B grunted in disapproving and ‘Signal report’ way but Duke decided to buy some time and answer only questions that were actually asked. He slowly sat at the briefing table and looked at the man expectantly.

Lift chimed and moments later Tim and Cass went to Batcomputer and training mats respectively. Duke was, like, 80% sure they were there to eavesdrop. He knew them well enough. He knew them well enough.

“The girl”

“Izzy?” Was Duke annoying on purpose? Yes. He really didn’t want to have this talk. Like, at all. Psychological warfare it was “I mean, I know she is civilian and you don’t approve but at least she isn’t doing anything illegal, right? Like, you know, robbing museums or killing people?”

Bruce looked repulsed and Tim snorted.

“Low blow Narrows, low blow” Jason announced through speakers. He was slightly winded as if he just finished a fight “Good job kid”

“So you’re listening too, great” Duke muttered under his breath before louder he added “Is everyone who wants in on a show, here already?”

“Give me a sec- here Dick you’re going live now”

“Thanks Babs, you’re the best”

“I know. Donuts, you know which one”

“Of course. Glad we’re finally going to talk about Duke’s kid”

“Shut up, she is not my kid!”

“Steph ETA 2 minutes” Cass interrupted.

At least Damian didn’t show up- as if summoned by this thought Damian stomped down the stares, Alfred the Cat curled in his arms. Maybe others had a point, calling him Demon kid and stuff.

“What is an emergency?” he demanded and Duke decided to take what little relief he could from the fact that Bruce seemed equally defeated by sheer number of people around for this talk. 

“It seems like… oh, literally everyone lost an adoption bet” Babs explained. Huh, so Steph didn’t change her stance.

Damian looked genuinely terrified as he muttered “No” eyes darting between everyone present in silent calculation.

“Oh, shut up” Duke whined knowing all too well his stalling had to come to the end. Maybe it was wishful thinking but he almost heard roar of engine of Steph’s motorcycle. Her presence would be double edged sword but she would help him advocate for Dani and that was more important.

“Thomas, what have you done?!” if it was anyone other than Damian, Duke would call sound he made a whine. As it was, he preferred his entrails to stay inside and since the boy showed up, called by thought, the older boy preferred not to take risks.

“Nothing, Babs is overreacting”

“Don’t deny it. She went about it kinda Tim Lite style but it worked”

“I don’t even know her surname, where she stays or really, anything about her life outside of our patrols, how do you expect me to go about adoption?!”

“B knew even less about me when he decided, yes this tire thief is my new son!” Jason chimed in and Duke knew he was grinning despite voice modulator.

“What from my origin story was lost to make Lite version?”

“Identities weren't breached as far as we're aware. Just ‘came one day and refuses to leave’ part and some light stalking. She was smart about it, invisible, keeping out of sight and to the hot spots. Wouldn't find her if I didn't know she was there”

“She could still just not tell, I mean I knew for years before telling anyone…”

“There is no way. Believe me, she has no brain-mouth filter, I swear”

“But-”

“She introduced herself by her first name,” Duke deadpanned ”She told me civilian names of heroes from her hometown, in context that didn't require me to do any actual research to clue me. I did anyway. I don't think she even realized she did it. If she knew our identities we would know already”

There was a moment of silence as everyone digested the thought of just how gigantic breach Dani accidentally caused.

“Well, it's as good of a proof as we can get for now,” Babs bristled. 

“Who let her in on such secrets then?!” Damian sounded genuinely appalled and Duke wasn't too surprised.

Like on a cue, Steph stormed inside on her Spoiler in civies. Bruce looked about ready to get aneurysm. Duke was a bit glad that everyone was doing such good job in distraction department.

“IT’S OKAY, WHY? BECAUSE I AM HERE!” Steph yelled, jumping from before her vehicle fully stopped. She threw something small in general direction of Batcomputer “Timmy plug it in, I made a PowerPoint!”

Duke felt blood leave his face. He wasn't sure if he wanted to know what Steph put together but he probably didn't. Tim opened it anyways.

WHY HOOPOE IS ADORABLE&CHAOTIC BEAN AND SHOULD BE PART OF THE TEAM

The title slide said, one of the clearest photos of Dani from before she started wearing mask in the background. It was close-up of girl smiling, bits of brownie on her cheeks.

“Was this photo taken with a goddamn calculator?” Tim asked with disgust so clear Duke could taste it. Metaphorically of course.

“Nah, just body-cam. Her powers mess with technology a bit”

Tim still looked displeased at the craftsmanship.

“Don't worry, it's not  a bad photo. Baby Bird is just being perfectionist,” Dick placated.

Duke didn't realize that Damian froze until he unfroze and made his way to the screen, stopping less than one foot away from it. His movements were rigid, his face scrunched with distress. Alfred the Cat escaped its master probably due to hoe tense he was. Everyone in Cave quietened as soon as boy took first step and expecting mood had to run through microphones because nobody from the on-line crowd quipped in.

“This is the green of Lazarus” he whispered finally, sounding actually scared. Jason swore. Bruce and Cass visibly stiffened. Tim choked and he wasn't even drinking. Dick did his whinny breezy name saying thing when he wanted explanation and felt lightly betrayed. 

It was Duke's turn to freeze because… it wasn't. Of course he wasn't all that well versed in the Pit, less alone its color but he did bust quite a few trafficking rings with Jason and he saw his eyes afterwards all raging, toxic, neon green glory and it wasn't the same as Dani’s. As much as he liked English and how good he was at it, it failed him at simple task of describing the obvious difference between each other. He'd have more luck describing tastes with set of color samples from IKEA or something. And really, even if he tried he would lose the fight of competence with Damian. Who wouldn't.  But-

“There is no way she has any connection with LOA”

“Why is that?” Damian seemed to misinterpret it as challenge like he always did when emotions were running high. Duke took a deep breath. Well, it was a moment to use all of his diplomatic skills and speak in the language of the demons.

“I've seen her fight. She would be utter disgrace”

“It does not prove-”

“It does” Duke interrupted with the tone and mimic of person who saw too much because he did ”None of you have any say until you watch a tiny and I mean tiny ten year old tackle five Joker goons like it's a joke, by sheer virtue of super strength and intangibility-means-I-can-ignore-bullets-Signal-don’t-be-such-worrywart. She should get shot, like, three times at least. And she kept laughing!” he was low key wheezing at the end because even after all this time (a week) it was fucking horrifying. Bruce made a huff that meant he was laughing and put a hand on his shoulder as a sign of support. Dick's lighthearted laugh sang from the speakers.

“Don't worry Duke, it never gets better” B said with mirth.

He refused to elaborate whether he meant ‘kids keep jumping into danger like there is no tomorrow‘ or ‘it's equally terrifying every time’ and Duke decided to reflect on that sentiment later. It put some things into perspective. A lot of things if he was being honest.

Also, he was not ready for stuff like that to become even semi-normal occurrence. He was ready to give her all of his Alfred cookies if it could change anything. He knew it wouldn't. 

“Do you have any other evidence that your new acquaintance does not just fake being less experienced to make you lower your guard?” Damian asked warily.

“I had to teach her out of putting her thumb in her fist,” he deadpanned. Several people hissed in empathetic pain. Steph coughed to bring attention to where she stood in front of Batcomputer, other slide of her Power Point open. Duke recognised video from his body-cam.

“Exhibit A” she announced. She played a video with Dani’s first mugging attempt he witnessed. Let it be said, it was a disaster.

“Exhibit B '' One of Dani’s most epic fails at side-kick that ended with her falling face first to the ground.

“Exhibit C” Dani fumbled with zip-ties, looking at him utterly at loss.

“Exhibit D” the talk about her prior training.

“What’s was that sound?” Dick obviously on the verge of cooing when girl on video growled. Steph stopped video.

“Very angry kitten” Tim stated with soft smile.

“Honestly, furious girl” Cass corrected “She was really mad at you”

“Yeah, I know but promise of Alfred’s cookies was enough to placate her”

“You gave her Alfred’s cookies?!”

“She started by giving me a lot of food on a really shitty patrol, had to repay somehow”

“Was it from your share or-” Dick asked like it was most important thing in the world.

“Miss Hoopoe was added to my plans after she picked her new name” Alfred explained and shit, Duke really should get used to how man just appeared sometimes. Jumpscare the original.

“Alfred, you knew?” Bruce sounded so utterly betrayed.

“I have yet to meet her but I was informed about her presence about two weeks ago”

“He caught me printing mask for her”

“About that” Steph clapped and skipped her slide show “Look at thi clueless child with such horrible disguises and codename ideas” There was whole list of every name Dani wanted to try out and photo of her bare face.  Duke kinda repressed his memories of it. It was worse than he remembered.

“Did she really tried kenting that?”

“Got it after her cousin. He used his first name as part of his alias for almost half a year” Duke admitted in carefree tone, knowing it would cause a mess.

“Cousin?!” several people yelled in surprise.

“Caped cousin?!”

“Yup. Small time hero from Illinois. As far as I’m aware she’s alone in Gotham but they’re in regular contact and she has strong believe that he can and will help her if she used her panic button”

“Who in their right mind let’s kid alone in Gotham?!” Jason sounded about ready to strangle Phantom.

“He seems to be fifteen himself. And has anti-meta parents if I’m picking things up correctly. She didn’t mention them much. I highly doubt she has present parents at all, so…”

“What the hell Narrows.”

“I don’t know, it’s just a wild guess”

“Does it call for the rescue?” Steph asked eagerly.

“We’re not going to Illinois to rescue Phantom if he doesn’t ask for it. He has means to it” Bruce interrupted with bone deep sigh.

“How do you know I meant Phantom?” Duke perked up because he never mentioned this name.

“He is from Illinois, looks almost the same as far as I can tell from the photos and they share a lot of powers”

“I didn’t know you knew about random kid hero from other state?”

“He dropped by on few Justice League’s mission. There is still dispute whether we should approach him in his city or not. He was very clear on his opinion that we should stay away. I think we really shouldn’t”

“How you haven’t gone or sent anyone there yet?” Tim teased.

Bruce just stared at him then gestured at mountain of cases they were currently working on. Yes, they were printed. Apparently for man it made it easier to work on them like that.

“Can we focus back on untrained child you let join you on patrol, Duke?”

“You act like I could stop her from doing her own thing if I didn’t  let her. Plus, even though she doesn’t have combat training, she can handle herself well enough. And has this damn intangibility that makes her really hard to punch”

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I didn’t tell anyone other than Alfred and Steph and I wanted to wait a bit before leaving her to the wolfs”

“The bet”

“Shut up Steph”

“When did you plan on letting us know?” Bruce ignored what blonde insinuated. Duke was utterly grateful for that, he knew he would get lecture for that later but he was more than happy to leave it be for now.

“Somewhen next week. I hoped to introduce her gradually but apparently everyone knew already?”

“Kids tell me things. Hoopoe made a good impression on them” Jason explained.

“Hero sightings on Twitter” Dick admitted without a shadow of shame.

“What he said” Tim agreed “This person from crochet dolls made one for your kid too, so in public eyes she’s our already”

“For the last time, she isn’t my kid!” Duke groaned but as always went ignored.

“Nobody expected old man’s tendencies to rub on you so fast, Narrows”

“Shut up and this is half a reason I didn’t let you meet her. All of you”

“With all due respect Duke” Babs started teasingly “You gave us ammo yourself. You improved her diet, you brought her to The Food Track Of Mental Breakdowns, you teach her stuff, you check in on her almost as often as her cousin and their friends do…”

“How did you hack her pho- No, wrong question, why?!”

“We’re all paranoid bastards, I needed to check out the newest bird. She legally doesn’t exist btw so I suspect some shady stuff with her birth but otherwise nothing sus about her. Comms and trackers for her are waiting in drawer C19. You will give it to her tomorrow”

“Aye, aye captain Oracle ma’am” he joked.

“Wait, you showed her The Food Track?”

“She deserved it” he gritted out.

Before this could turn into a fight or something, Alfred demanded:

“Since we are all on the same page now, I would like to extend an invitation for family dinner to miss Hoopoe”

“We’ll eat it down here in full costumes”

“As you wish master Bruce. Master Duke make sure to let her know”

“Of course Alfred”

And he planned to do that but Dani didn’t show up. He hadn’t thought much of it because she was unpredictable like that. She tended to disappear from the face of the Earth for a day or two and return with tales of her “autograph hunting trips”

But then she didn’t show up on the next patrol too. It was unprecedented. And she hadn’t responded to the check in. Three times in the row. He was getting kinda sick from the stress.

He knew Dani well enough, she wouldn’t ghost him like that and in Gotham disappearing meant three things: getting kidnapped, trafficked or six feet under. To their knowledge, Dani didn’t have anyone who would pay ransom for her other than Signal and no demands were made so the first option was out.

Bats launched full fledged search.

Duke himself found and busted two trafficking rings in three weeks which was around how much he did in two months on a daily basis.

Thanks to Oracle, they found Dani’s utterly crashed phone in the dead end in the Narrows. It didn’t look any better.

Duke really hoped they wouldn’t be too late.

With each day it seemed more likely.

********

Bruce: *wants to have private conversation with his son about unknown child he's been working with*

All of the Batfam: Hello there

Duke: I managed to keep Dani secret my family of detectives!

Everyone other than Bruce: I knew for past two weeks, but goood job kid

Random o Twitter: I'm sooo disappointed with Signal for letting Hoopoe fight crime. She is just a little child, she shouldn't have to witness Gotham's worst

Other Random: Have you heard about Robin????? Have you seen teories that Signal is teenager???? With proofs????? Are you mad at child for not taking proper care of the other child????? That's messed up my dude/gal

Yell at Batman

Signal: You act like she isn't personification of feral cat I try to coax home so I can prevent her from getting in trouble. I dare you to try and stop her

Phantom: I do too, 100$ if you manage. It would save me from so much stress

Random: Now, who the f*ck are you?!

(Guess who never touched Twitter with 20 meters stick in her life)

Next part

Tag list: @pickleking8 @mynameisnotlaura

[gallifreyinstituteforlearning]

so! as it turns out, my buddy is a time lord after all! unfortunately, he… uh, hasn’t really gotten all his memories back. we think it might have been a problem with the biodata module buuut we’re not sure. so while we figure that out, i figured i might as well ask some questions that we think might be important. luckily there doesn’t seem to be much in the way of identity issues, so we can sweep all the existentialism under the rug.

is there any way to check how many regenerations a time lord has left?

is there any way to check if a time lord is linked to a tardis, and if so is there any way they can reach out to it?

are there any immediate health issues that may arise upon successful use of the biodata module to bring back a time lord’s physiology?

is the whole thing where you insult species when you’re stressed out a normal thing in gallifreyan culture? he’s been a time lord for less than an hour and he’s already called me an “upright hairless ape” three times.

My friend just found out they're a Time Lord ...

🔄 Regenerations Left: Can You Check?

Only in two ways:

Ask Them. If your Time Lord knows and is willing to tell you, they can give you the number.

Use Specialist Equipment. Regeneration potential is tied to levels of lindos. Detecting it requires high-end Gallifreyan medical tech and good luck sourcing that from your local chemist.

🧬 TARDIS Bond: Can They Tell? Can You?

They'll know if they're bonded to a TARDIS via their symbiotic nuclei. It's a visceral, psionic connection—somewhere between true love and owning a goldfish.

As a human, though, you might notice clues with an unusually persistent piece of furniture that:

Seems to keep following them around

Seems to be humming

🧠 Post-Biodata Module Effects

No known physiological issues occur when a biodata module restores Gallifreyan traits. Everything cellular just remembers how it's meant to be.

However, psychological side effects could vary:

Mild psionic static

Sudden flashbacks

Vivid dreams

These tend to settle.

🗣️ Insulting Other Species: Is That Normal?

Oh yes. Deeply normal. When stressed, confused, or mildly inconvenienced, Gallifreyans are culturally inclined to insult entire species in sweeping terms. It's nothing personal. Give it a week, though it may persist.

🏫So…

Your friend sounds like they're adjusting exactly as expected. Watch for memory instability and signs of a wandering TARDIS.

Related:

💬|📱👹 What could happen if a Chameleon Arch transformation failed?: Some hypothetical scenarios of Chameleon Arc transformations going wrong.

💬|🧬🛸How long can a bonded Time Lord be away from their TARDIS?: If extended absences can impact symbiosis, and also annoy your TARDIS.

💬|🧬🛸Is the Rassilon Strand the only way to bond with/fly a TARDIS?: Alternate methods of TARDIS piloting

Hope that helped! 😃

Any orange text is educated guesswork or theoretical. More content ... →📫Got a question? | 📚Complete list of Q+A and factoids →📢Announcements |🩻Biology |🗨️Language |🕰️Throwbacks |🤓Facts → Features: ⭐Guest Posts | 🍜Chomp Chomp with Myishu →🫀Gallifreyan Anatomy and Physiology Guide (pending) →⚕️Gallifreyan Emergency Medicine Guides →📝Source list (WIP) →📜Masterpost If you're finding your happy place in this part of the internet, feel free to buy a coffee to help keep our exhausted human conscious. She works full-time in medicine and is so very tired 😴

[thydungeongal]

What are some of your favorite OSR / BX dungeons and modules?

Oh this is a fun question! First of all, there's Necrotic Gnome's first two Old-School Essentials modules, The Incandescent Grottoes and The Hole in the Oak. These two dungeon crawls actually connect to form one big starter level dungeon which has enough to explore for dozens of sessions. They also demonstrate a lot of the best practices of a good dungeon crawl: there's intelligent creatures living in these dungeons with actual interests and desires, and they don't mindlessly attack player characters unprompted. The group I've been running this for instantly went and negotiated with some kobolds they ran into, despite the language barrier!

The Stygian Library and The Gardens of Ynn by @cavegirlpoems are "depth-crawls" that are broadly compatible with pretty much every OSR game under the sun. The former features an infinite library that is not unlike L-space from Discworld (an infinite space connecting all libraries in existence) where one can theoretically find any book in existence, while the latter features an infinite garden that seems to operate on fairy tale logic. The Stygian Library has an easier "hook" for inserting it into a campaign, since it has a mechanic for tracking the party's progress in finding a piece of information they're looking for, so whenever a party is without some piece of information the GM can simply hint at the existence of the library, while The Gardens of Ynn doesn't have such an easy hook, but simply the idea of exploring the garden is often enough to draw in characters. Both use a procedure for basically making a randomly generated point-crawl where mapping out the exact space doesn't matter as much as the rough relationships of places of importance to each other. Eventually results on the tables will lead to "deeper" locations having secret shortcuts back to earlier locations, and with enough time spent exploring them the map will end up looking very strange and convoluted.

Barkeep on the Borderlands is an event-based "pub crawl" where player characters must look for a missing antidote for a local ruler amid an almost Mardi Gras-like festival. While the module uses a lot of procedures from the Errant RPG, as written it is actually more immediately compatible with B/X. It adds dynamic rules for drinking into the mix and has a huge bunch of cool locations and fun NPCs to encounter.

Ultraviolet Grasslands and the Black City is an absolutely massive point-crawl module that comes with a system attached so it is technically a stand-alone product. It is an absolutely fantastic adventure of leading a caravan through a massive science fantasy sandbox inspired by prog rock covers and the art of Jean Giraud, aka Mœbius.

Tomb of the Serpent Kings by skerples is an absolutely fantastic starter adventure. The purpose of the adventure is to provide something akin to a "Super Mario Bros level 1-1" of old-school play, where players will learn the principles of the old-school playstyle through actually playing the module. It is a fantastic module and completely free!

[novlr]

Do you have any tips on how to improve on character beats, verbal cues and overall dialog descriptions? I struggle a LOT with those! Much appreciated!

One of the most overlooked ways to write interesting characters is through dialogue!

1. Start with the basics

Before you can write convincing dialogue, you need to thoroughly know your characters – their personality, backstories, motivations, and quirks.

Start with in-depth character development. Delve into their past, their relationships, the significant events that shaped them, and the dreams or fears that drive their actions. Your understanding of who your character fundamentally is will naturally guide their conversation style, topics they would discuss, and how they would react in dialogue, bringing authenticity to their interactions.

2. Know your character beats

Character beats form the backbone of a character’s development, marking transformative events, consequential actions, and insightful choices. Once you’ve developed your character’s personality, plot the key milestones that challenge and change them.

These milestones reveal how they react to their environment and to other characters, demonstrating their growth and change. Character beats are not merely plot developments; they encapsulate the internal evolution of your characters, paving the way for an authentic and compelling character voice.

3. Use verbal cues

Verbal cues serve as subtle indicators of a character’s underlying emotions and intentions, enhancing readers’ understanding of the character’s internal world. Voice modulation—from a soft whisper to a booming shout—can depict varying moods.

Unique speech patterns, like a nervous stutter or specialized jargon, differentiate characters and reveal aspects of their personality or background. Even the silence between words can be telling, with pauses and lapses in conversation often speaking volumes about a character’s emotional state.

Examples of verbal cues

Volume modulation: A character speaking softly when feeling vulnerable or shouting in anger.

Speed of speech: Fast-paced speech could indicate excitement or nervousness, while slow speech may show calmness or thoughtfulness.

Use of pauses: Strategic silence or pauses can suggest hesitation, contemplation, or underlying tension.

Stuttering: A character might stutter due to a speech disorder, nervousness, or anxiety.

Laughter: This can vary from sarcastic chuckles to uncontrollable laughter, indicating a range of emotions.

Specialized jargon: The use of profession-specific terms can give clues about a character’s background, knowledge, or occupation, just as colloquialism and local jargon can give examples of a character’s location, social status, background, and upbringing.

Choice of words: A character’s diction can reveal their education level, their cultural background, and their personality. Intentional choice can also indicate aspiration, an attempt to change, or an intentional misdirection.

Repetition: Repeating certain words or phrases could indicate a character’s preoccupation or fixation, or simply be a character quirk, like a catchphrase.

Tone: A sarcastic, cheery, or monotone voice can cue readers about a character’s current emotions.

4. Dialogue descriptions

The way you describe dialogue can significantly impact the reader’s perception of a character. Using descriptive adjectives in dialogue, like “he grumbled” versus “he exclaimed,” can drastically change the tone. Also, pay attention to sensory details – the sound, tone, pitch, and pace of a character’s voice can enhance reader understanding. Physical reactions and body language, like facial expressions, gestures, and posture, during the conversation further enrich the description, making the dialogue more engaging and revealing. Good dialogue varies description with dialogue tags, so mix and match the simple with the descriptive, and you’ll find a good rhythm.

See also: A Beginner’s Guide to Dialogue Tags and Vary Your Language With Synonyms To Use Instead Of “Said”

[rakurairagnarok]

Hi there! I'm heading to the U.A.E. from America in a few days and I'm quite anxious. I was wondering if there was any clothing at Rakurai Inc which would help me fit in better with the locals and boost my confidence and assertiveness?

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You found a package when you got home from work. It was a completely blank box except for a small sticker reading Rakurai Inc.

You open it up to find a slick looking headset in it, with some arabic inscriptions on it. You look around the box, but can't find anything on how it works. It doesn't seem to have a jack in it nor any way for you to connect it to your phone with bluetooth so you decide to put it on.

Immediately it starts to play a tape.

"Learning module activated. Scanning for necessary courses"

Suddenly a weird humming begins to drone in your ears. Along with it certain arabic sounding phrases started playing in your head. The first few times you couldn't understand any of it, but suddenly you understood most of it.

"Big, strong, fertile"

Images of big strong arabic men appear in your head. You stumble a bit as your sense of balance was thrown off. You look down and see the legs of your pants have gone up your legs. You watch it with facination as the headset continues.

"Large, Leader, Rich"

Your head begins to spin again and you can barely get yourself on the couch.

You look down to see your pants tight on your legs, almost painted on. You see your bulge growing in your pants, and with it waves of pleasure start spreading through your body.

The tape speeds up, a larger variety of phrases being pushed into your brain, while your mind fogs over due to the pleasure.

"Plump, handsome, regal"

"In charge, charismatic, addictive"

"Cultured, gorgeous, playfull"

Your body keeps growing. Bisceps exploding through the fabric of your shirt, while your pecs are involuntarily bouncing. Your waist snaps, slimming down while your abs flex and push to the surface. Your back widens, shoulders rounding out. Your growing cock starts leaking, before bursting free from the confines of your pants. Your moans echo through your appartment, a previously unknown amount of pleasure radiating through your body.

Your hands explore your growing body.

"Wanted, desired, needed"

"Hungry, hungry, hungry"

You are hungry. A primal hunger that you couldn't satiate here. You need ... you want to be...

"Topped, fucked, bred"

Yes... your mind racing, you want cock, you need it, but you are in charge.

Your ass growing, you feel your hole pucker. It tenses, and releases. You know. You don't get fucked. You fuck. You aren't just a bottom. You drain your partners. They aren't penetrating you, you allow them to enter you, for them to experience the best moment of their lives.

"In charge, draining, dominant"

A grin appears on your face, a face that has been perfected due to your new toy. Sharp jaw, perfectly trimmed beard. Plump lips to get their tool ready.

You make them desperate for more. You got loads of different "tops" on speed dial. They say they're a top, but they are actually too afraid to take it, but you're much better.

You take of your headphones and look around your room. It's a penthouse in one of the most expensive buildings in the U.A.E. which had been gifted to you by one of your clients. You look at your phone and see a few notifications telling you of the massive amount of money you have made from your previous night out.

You smile, life is good.

I hope you enjoyed our trial edition language learning headphones!!! As seen in the picture they are state of the art and can be modified to fit any needs. Be aware some side effects may occur, cultural switch, sluttyness, or iq loss are some of the most common. Please continue your patronage with Rakurai Inc.

[honeyedmiller]

Close | Din Djarin

pairing: din djarin x f!reader

warnings: so much fluff, like literally this whole thing is just pure tooth rotting fluff and din and so soft in this, helmet comes off, reader and din are in LOVE

word count: 5.1k

synopsis: the man in shining beskar armor is one of mystery, and you were determined to get close to him.

based off of the song “close” by nick jonas

not revised (go figure) so sorry if there’s mistakes.

divider by @saradika

“‘Cus space is just a word made up by someone who’s afraid to get too… close.”

He intrigued you from the moment you set your eyes on him. Tall, broad, glinting in beskar, and a complete mystery underneath the helmet.

You often passed him and his little green apprentice in the marketplace. It started off with you glancing at him. It then turned into small smiles on your end, and a curt nod on his.

The spring air was fresh the first time he spoke to you. You were picking out some fruits for your home, when you turned around and saw him standing behind you. You gasped softly, beaming up at him.

“Those are Grogu’s favorite,” The masked man said, tilting his visor down at the fruit you had in your hand. “I was going to get him some, too.” His modulated voice was deeper than you expected, but had a warm tone to it nonetheless.

“They’re my favorite, too.” You respond with a smile, splitting the fruit in half after quickly peeling it and handing it to the small creature.

“Oh, no, you don’t have to—” He starts, but you shake your head.

“I insist.” You grin as Grogu coos up at you, his ears perking up.

“He likes you.” The Mandalorian says, and you give him a small smile.

“Well it’s nice to officially meet you to, uh,” You pause, not knowing what to call the man.

“Mando.” He says, and you nod.

“Mando.” You repeat, holding out your hand. He looks down at it for a second, like he’s contemplating on shaking it or not. After a couple of beats, he extends his hand to shake yours.

“What’s your name?” He asks you, and you just grin up at him before slowly backing away from him.

You knew Mando obviously wasn’t his real name, so you decided to be a mystery to him all the same. You didn’t know much about Mandalorians, but you did know they had a creed they followed. It was strict and hid their identities, and you respected that. You just thought it’d be a bit fun to mess with the man in glinting beskar for awhile.

He knew it, too. He knew you were playing a little game, and honestly, he thought he’d hate it. He was a straight-to-the-point kind of man.

But he didn’t.

He saw it as a challenge. He asked people around to see if anyone knew your name, and no one did. Maybe you were just a private person. Which, in all honesty, you kind of were. You minded your own business on Nevarro. You were friendly, just not very talkative.

You on the other hand had went to the local library to find any books you could on Mandalorians. There weren’t many, but you did find one that explained some of their history and their language. Next time you saw Mando, you’d surprise him with your newfound learnings of his culture.

That wasn’t going to be for a few months, though. He ended up getting a job that sent him to the near other side of the galaxy.

He thought about you every single day. He didn’t know what it was about you that had you in his mind stuck like glue. Maybe it was the way you smiled up at him, how you were so friendly to his son, how you remained a mystery to him. Maker, it was just you in general. Your sweet voice, your kind eyes, your beautiful smile.

Mando felt strange about the way he perceived you. He barely even knew you and he was already thinking about you nearly every waking second of the day. He’d never felt this way with anyone, except for one other person.

Omera.

When he was on Sorgan, he almost thought about risking revealing his identity for her. He’d started to feel strongly about her, but he whisked those feelings away quickly.

He never knew how to connect with someone. His lifestyle always prevented him from settling down and allowing himself to actually get close to someone for once. He had a hard time expressing his feelings, and when they overcame him, he just shut down. He’d go into panic mode and close himself off completely so nobody would be able to experience the softer side of the man underneath all of the armor.

He couldn’t help but wonder from time-to-time what life would be like if he’d just settle down. Sure, he had a house to come back to now, but he had no home. Someone he could come back to after a long journey to ask him how it went, assure him everything will be okay, be there for him when he needed someone.

He craved that so badly, but he knew he just couldn’t get it.

The next time he saw you, it was the peak of summertime. He spotted you first. He was in the marketplace trying to restock on food for him and Grogu, when he saw you talking to the spice vendor. You had that same pretty, kind smile on your lips as you shook the vendor’s hand, putting your purchase in a bag you had slung over your shoulder.

You wore a black sleeveless shirt with a floor length green skirt. You looked even more beautiful than when he left.

You turned your body in his direction, saying your goodbye’s to the vendor as your eyes snapped to the familiar shine of beskar in front of you. You halted for a split second before approaching him slowly.

“Mando.” You greet, smiling up at him.

“Cyar’ika,” He nodded down at you, and your heart skipped a beat. Sweetheart. He’d called you sweetheart.

“It’s been awhile.”

He nodded.

“It’s nice to see you again, Mando.” You softly grabbed his bicep for a second, not wanting to overstep your boundaries. You let go of it quickly before walking off into the opposite direction, leaving each other to wonder about the other for the rest of the day.

That day, Din made it a point to stop by Greef Karga’s office.

“What can I do for you, Mando?”

“What can you tell me about this woman?” He pulls up a hologram photo of you from his glove, feeling nearly guilty about what he’s about to ask his old friend.

Karga quirks his brow at Din. “She’s not a bounty, is she?” He strokes his chin as his stance goes wide, gaze flickering between the hologram and Din’s visor.

“No, I just–” Din pauses, not even knowing what to say. “It’s to babysit Grogu. Need a sitter next time I go out to hunt a bounty.” Din lied, and Karga laughed knowing he was.

“Sure, Mando.” He chuckled, and Din’s face was hot under his helmet. Luckily, Karga didn’t press any further and gave him your name and where you lived. Din thanked the man and headed out for your house later on that evening.

You were hanging your freshly washed clothes up with clothespins, humming an unfamiliar tune. Din approached you carefully not wanting to startle you, but he did anyhow.

You jumped as you turned and saw him, putting a hand over your heart.

“Stars, Mando. You scared me.” You huffed, clutching your tunic against your chest.

“Sorry. I didn’t mean to.”

“It’s alright. What brings you on this side of town?” You hang up the tunic in your hand, turning to face him.

“Just… strolling through.” He shrugs, but he knew he couldn’t lie to you.

“Uh huh.” You grin, crossing your arms over your chest.

“I actually, uh, asked Greef where you lived.” He admitted, visor tilted down toward the dirt crunching underneath his boot as he scuffed his foot.

“Do I have an unknown bounty on my head?” You half joke, and Mando tilts his helmet.

“You do anything that could make you a bounty?” He retorts, and you laugh. Oh, how he liked that sound.

“I may be wanted for making the best pog soup in town,” You joke. “Wanna join me for some? It’s almost finished.”

“I can’t.” He shakes his head, and you give him a small, sad smile. You wish he would, but you respect him and his wishes.

“Sure. Would you like some to-go?” You ask, picking up the woven basket that previously contained your freshly washed clothes. You popped your hip out and held the basket to it, tilting your head at him questioningly.

“I don’t want to impose.”

“You’re not, Mando, I’m offering.” You softly chuckle in disbelief.

He wondered, for a second, how his real name would sound rolling off of your tongue. He bet it would sound like honey. Something sweet, something pure.

“Sure.” Was all he said, and you coaxed him to follow you into your home.

It was cozy and comfortable, walls decorated with artwork made my locals that they sold at the marketplace. The place was perfect for a small family, but since it was just you, you had more room than you knew what to do with.

You pulled out a container and ladled the soup into it, cautious not to burn the pads of your fingers. You packed the container nicely in a bag, handing it to Mando.

“Here you are.” You push the bag into his hands, and he looks down at it before presumably looking at you.

“Thank you, cyar’ika.” His voice is soft behind the modulator, his heart filling with that unfamiliar warmth once more.

“You have to let me know how it tastes. You know, once you try it.”

A small laugh is heard behind the modulator, and your heart swells at the sound.

“I will. I promise.”

Din went home that night, warming up the soup again after he put Grogu down for bed so he could eat in silence. He was used to it; it was comforting. But it also made his heart strings tug with the wish that he’d have someone to share a meal with. He was scared to join you for dinner, so he quickly said no. He was scared you’d turn around to try and look at his face; he was scared of you not liking what he had to say; he was scared you were going to find him mundane.

Even with all of the stories he had, he was afraid you wouldn’t find any of them interesting. He was terrified you wouldn’t be into him. So, he pushed and pushed and pushed himself away until he was so certain all of his feelings were detached from you.

But, when he took his first sip of your pog soup, he knew he was doomed. Maker, that was the best soup he’s ever had in his life. Usually, he’d scarf down his meals. It was a habit he was trying to unlearn. But with your soup, he savored the taste on his tongue and enjoyed each and every flavor it had to offer.

It easily became his favorite meal in the whole universe.

Weeks went by and you’d make him the soup, even when it was the peak of summer and sweat would glisten on your forehead. You did it for him, because he intrigued you, and you wanted to get to know him.

That opportunity finally came one night when he knocked on your door in the late hour. You were surprised to see him standing at your door with his son fast asleep in his arms.

“Hi.” You said softly, motioning for him to come in. He stepped inside, only allowing himself a few inches into your home.

“Sorry to come by so late,” He starts, “The water went out at my house, and, uh, I was wondering if I could borrow your shower.” He explained.

This was the first time you heard a more shy tone behind the modulator. It was sweet, and you could tell it must’ve taken him a lot of courage to even come here and ask you such a favor.

“Of course. Let me, um, get you a towel.” You walk over to the hall cabinet and take out a towel for him, going into the bathroom and hanging it neatly on the towel rack.

“Thank you.” You felt his visor linger on you for a little longer than you were used to. You looked down at your attire and finally noticed that you were wearing a sleep tunic that barely covered the top of your thighs. Your cheeks heated in embarrassment, and to shift the awkward ambience, you held out your hands.

“I can watch him while you shower.” You gesture to Grogu, and Din hands him to you carefully. The little creature coos, nuzzling into you as a tiny hand clings onto your tunic. You smile down at him as you settle down on the couch in your living room, rocking him softly.

“Thank you.” The Mandalorian says, turning swiftly to the bathroom.

He didn’t take long, and you tried to not let your mind wander to what he looked like underneath his helmet. You tried to guess his features deliberately, weighing the options of dark or light eyes, hair, skin, everything. You bet he was gorgeous underneath the beskar. It was a shame no one got to see him, but you respected him and his privacy.

You wonder how many people have seen him with his helmet off. If anyone’s ever gotten to touch his face. Oh, that man was probably so touch deprived. The thought made your heart sink a bit.

Your thoughts dissipated into thin air when the bathroom door opened, steam coming out of the room as he stepped out in his flight suit. The only piece of armor he had on was his helmet. You frowned softly in the darkness, thinking that must be insanely uncomfortable for his wet hair to be sticking to his helmet like that.

“Here,” You stood up, careful not to wake the baby. You gestured down to a basket that was empty, and motioned the Mandalorian to put his armor in there. You took a piece of armor for him and gently set it in the basket, and he followed suit with the rest of it. “I can wear a blindfold, Mando.” You told him. He looks at you, tilting his visor.

“I know other people can’t see you. I presume Grogu here already has, but, I can wear a blindfold so your hair can dry properly. That helmet must be awfully heavy.” You explain, and he thinks about it for a moment.

“Okay.” Was all he said, and you smile as you head into your bedroom and set Grogu down on your bed before rummaging through your clothes for a blindfold. You found one tucked away in a corner of a drawer, and you held it out to him.

“I’d feel more comfortable if you put it on. You know, so you don’t think I’m trying to get a peak at you or anything.” You smile softly at him, and Din’s heart clenches. You respected him and his creed, and he was so thankful of that. You drop the satin material in his bare hands, which you noticed were tan. That was just one piece of the puzzle that is this man before you.

You turn on your heel so you’re facing away from him, and he takes the material and wraps it gently around your head to cover your eyes. His fingers accidentally brushed your neck as he pulled back after tying the blindfold onto you.

Goosebumps raised onto your skin, and he noticed. Even in the dark and with the tint of his visor, he noticed. He felt it, too.

He wasn’t a man of many words. That was something you both knew. But in that moment, he wanted to tell you you were the most beautiful person he’d ever seen in the galaxy. He wanted to tell you everything there was to know and take you to every single planet that he think you’d like.

But, as always, he was at a loss for words. Too many thoughts and emotions trying to claw their way out of him, and he wouldn’t let it surface. He wouldn’t let himself fall for someone as beautiful and smart and kind as you. He just couldn’t.

You felt yourself being spun around as Din waved his hand over your face. “Can you see how many fingers I’m holding up?” He held up four, right in front of your face.

You shook your head. Everything was pitch black.

“Good.” Was all he said, before you heard a hissing sound of pressure being released.

“You can stay in here awhile and, I don’t know, talk if you’d like. If not I set out a blanket and pillow for you on the couch out there.” You pointed in the wrong direction of the living room, and Din’s lips curled up in the slightest.

“What would we talk about?” Din’s unmodulated voice rang through your ears, and you gasped. His voice was beautiful. Almost shy sounding, but deep and smooth.

You shrug your shoulders. “Whatever you want to talk about. I don’t get company, ever, so… it’s up to you. Or we can just go to bed and we don’t have to talk at all.”

“I can… tell you about some stories of my adventures across the galaxy.” He offers, and you grin toward the sound of his voice.

“I’d love that.”

And so he does. For the next couple of hours, you sit on your bed with your arms enveloping your knees to your chest as you listen to him talk about these intense days hunting a bounty, battling Moff Gideon, running into Jedi, the fact that he gave Grogu to Luke Skywalker, how he won the darksaber and gave it rightfully and respectfully to Lady Kryze, and how the Mandalorians retook their home planet.

He even went as far as telling you that he wasn’t originally born a Mandalorian, that they saved him after a droid killed his biological parents, which is why he absolutely despises the bots. Well, besides IG-11 and R5-D4.

You soaked in every single detail he chose to give you, finding himself loosening up over time while he talked to you. He found you very easy to talk to, and he could tell you were attentive as you followed along with his stories.

“I’ve never talked this much to anyone, ever.” Din chuckles, sighing softly.

“Really? I could listen to you go on for days. You’re an amazing story teller, Mando.” You smile softly, and his heart skips a beat.

He contemplated on telling you his real name, too. After all, you two’ve been acquainted long enough. He knew your first name so it was only fair that he told you his.

“It’s Din.” He says in a near whisper. He saw your brows thread together in confusion, so he elaborated.

“My name is Din.” He says, and he saw your body go rigid.

Your heart melted at the fact that he was willing to give up a part of his identity to you. That he trusted you enough to even tell you everything he’s said thus far, including his actual name.

“Din.” You repeat, and him hearing you say his name felt so right. Like it was a secret of yours to keep.

“Just… do me a favor, please. Don’t repeat my name to anybody, and only use it when it’s just us two together.” He gnawed on his bottom lip as anxiousness overtook his body. He was never vulnerable with people like this, and not having any of his armor on in a place that wasn’t his home furthered his anxiety.

You reached out in front of you, successfully finding his warm hand as you gave it a soft squeeze before pulling away. “Of course, Din. You have my word.”

After that night, you two seemed to get closer. People noticed and talked, but you didn’t really pay any mind. Neither did Din. There were many more nights of him coming over to your place to talk and eat delicious meals with you, which he finally allowed himself to do. You ate with your backs to each other as you talked about your days, another brief mission Din went on, and how Grogu is finally getting along with the kids of Nevarro City.

It wasn’t until the fall time that you realized you were starting to fall for the man in shining armor. It’s ironic, really. The one person you’d told yourself was off limits, you found thinking of nearly every minute of the day. The one that you were sure of just being strictly friends with.

You were falling in love, and you were falling hard.

There were some days you felt you couldn’t even face Din, because you genuinely feared total and complete rejection. It wasn’t fair. You didn’t have something to cover your face to hide your feelings or the soft sparkle in your eye every time you looked at him.

Whatever affections or strange feelings Din had for Omera a few years ago, he had for you much stronger. He found himself wanting to be the source of your beautiful smile and laugh. He wanted to be near you as much as he could, and the times that he couldn’t, he found himself spending every second thinking of you.

Some might say it was an unhealthy obsession at that point, but truthfully, you both were just lovestruck fools. You didn’t need to see Din’s face to know that he was a loyal, trustworthy, honorable man. He had a heart of gold that he only reserved for you and his son.

He never thought that with his old lifestyle he’d be able to settle down somewhere. Now that he’s here in Nevarro with his son, he wanted a family. Not that Grogu wasn’t his family, of course, but he wanted to settle down. Start some family roots here. Find a wife, have a (human) child, grow old with his family here.

He saw that life with you.

The times he thought about it in depth, he truly thought he might’ve actually been going crazy, but he didn’t care. He was so content with just him and Grogu in his cozy little home, but ever since he finally allowed himself to grow close to you, he feels as if the house isn’t a home without you in it.

Come winter time, those feelings from you both never dissipated. If anything, they grew stronger.

It was a busy day at the market one particular chilly day. Vendors were selling caf and pastries, which you gladly indulged in. You were looking at a new painting to buy for your house when you heard your name being called. You whirled around to come face-to- well, helmet, with Din.

You smiled up at him.

“Mando, you’re back!” You cheer, going to give him a hug, but you stopped short. You suddenly remembered you were in a very public place, where wandering eyes could clearly see you both.

Din felt your hesitation and wrapped his arms around you, pulling you into his chest plate. The metal was cold, sending a shiver down your spine. You relaxed in the familiar embrace (you two may’ve cuddled from time-to-time when he came over to talk with you), looking up at his visor.

“Wanted to surprise you at your house, but you weren’t there. Figured you’d be here instead.” He explained, and you grinned up at him.

“Was a short trip, hm?” You asked, walking with him through the market. He kept his hand loosely wrapped around your hip as you walked.

“I needed to go back to Mandalore for something.”

“What was it?” Curiosity overtook you, and he looked down at you.

“Not here, cyar’ika. Let’s go back to your house.”

You both made your way back to the warmth of your home, shucking off your three top layers so you were left in just a long sleeve and pants. You kicked off your boots before you made your way to the couch, sitting down as you waited for Din. He sat down next to you after checking to see Grogu was fast asleep in his pod.

“I went to Mandalore to ask the Armorer for something. Something I want you to have, something very significant and dear to me. But I want you to know this first,” He begins, leather-bound hands grabbing your own. “Cyar’ika, you’ve been nothing but a light in my life. I spend every day thinking of you and how much you mean to me and Grogu. You’re brilliant, kind, brave, beautiful, and so many more things that I couldn’t even begin to cover. You’ve made me fall in love with you the past near year that I’ve gotten the privilege to know you. You’ve got me, cyar’ika, and nothing would make me happier if you’d become my riduur, my wife, my partner for life.”

Tears are flowing out of your eyes now, and a happy sob escapes your throat. He untangles one of his hands from yours to take something out of a pocket he has, and he presents you a shiny necklace with Din and Grogu’s signet as the pendant. A Mudhorn.

Your free hand flies over your mouth as you cry, looking down at the beautiful necklace and back up to Din’s visor.

“Din.” You choke out a whisper, moving toward him to embrace him in a hug. He hugs you back tightly, resting his helmet against your forehead. You take both sides of his helmet and lean back, sniffling as you smile in pure adoration.

“I would love to join your clan, Din. Become your riduur. Be your wife. Partner for eternity. I love you.”

“Cyar’ika.” Din’s modulator barely caught onto his whisper. You two held each other like that for awhile, your sniffles finally dying down.

“You know, Mandalorians have an oath we follow our whole lives after we’ve been sworn into the creed,” Din starts, breaking the comfortable silence. He pulls back from you and brushes your hair out of your face. “Honor is life, for with no honor one may as well be dead. Loyalty is life, for without one's clan one has no purpose. Death is life, one should die as they have lived.”

“That’s beautiful, Din.” You whisper, hands moving back down to your lap. He takes off his gloves and grabs your hands into his once more.

“Mandalorians also don’t do wedding ceremonies. We just say a short vow together, and that’s it. Once we’re married, you get to see my face.” Your breath hitches in your throat, and your heart pounds rapidly.

You completely forgot about ever wanting to see him, let alone being allowed to see him. The thought of him showing his face to you made you both nervous. He was worried what you’d think, and you were happy you could finally put a face to the man you’re deeply in love with.

“So, we can just say the vows right now, and that’s it? We’re married?” He gives you a short nod, and you mirror his actions. “Okay.”

“Okay?”

“Okay. Let’s get married.” You smile at him, giving his hands a squeeze. He chuckles softly, wanting nothing more than to kiss you right in this very moment.

“Okay. We need to say them at the same time, so I’ll say them to you and then we’ll say them together,” He instructs, and you nod to signal you were ready.

“Mhi solus tome, mhi solus dar'tome, mhi me'dinui an, mhi ba'juri verde. Got it?” He asks gently, rubbing his thumbs over the top of your hands.

You nod with glossy eyes and a drumming heart.

“Mhi solus tome, mhi solus dar'tome, mhi me'dinui an, mhi ba'juri verde.” You both say synchronously, and a tear falls from your cheek once more.

“We are one when together, we are one when parted, we will share all, we will raise warriors,” Din says, unclasping the necklace so he can put it around your neck. “My riduur. I’ll love you forever.”

“I love you, Din.”

“Are you ready to see me now?” His voice wavers a bit, and you can tell he’s nervous.

You’re his wife and you’re part of his clan now and he wants to spend the rest of his life loving you so tenderly and sweetly as you deserve, and yet, the nerves coursing through his body at the thought of revealing himself to you are in full force.

“Whenever you’re ready, riduur.” Your voice is sweet and patient. Even if he wasn’t ready to show his face to you now, you’d be completely okay with it. You fell in love with him for his loyalty, honesty, kind heart, and protective nature.

Even so, he removed both of his hands from yours before moving them up to his helmet, taking a deep breath before slowly lifting the heap of beskar up and over his head. He set his helmet down on the ground, eyes moving back to your face.

You were in complete awe with what you saw before you. He was simply the most beautiful man you’ve ever seen in your life. Tan skin, brown eyes you could easily get lost in, strong nose, pink lips, and some scruffy facial hair along his jaw with a mustache to match. His brown curls sat messily atop his head, and you just couldn’t stop staring.

Before he could speak out of nervousness, you moved both of your hands and held the sides of his face gently. He closed his eyes in pure bliss, never being touched by another like that in his life. His eyes slowly blinked back open to look at you, brow creasing as he waited for you to say something.

“Meshla,” You whispered, and he inhaled sharply. He had no idea where or how you learned a word of Mando’a, but hearing you speak the language of his people made his heart swell with absolute pride. “You’re so beautiful, Din.” You lightly trace the tips of your index finger over the curves of his face, resting your hand on his cheek once more.

You swept your thumb over his cheekbone, moving closer to him to press a kiss onto his forehead and his nose. You leaned your forehead against his and closed your eyes, rubbing your nose against his gently.

“I love you, my riduur.” He whispered, and you smiled as you leaned in a little more.

“I love you too, Din.” And finally, your lips connected. The kiss was soft and sweet, but passionate and full of promise and want and need.

Falling for and marrying the beautiful woman from the market in less than a year was not on Din’s agenda, for his fear of getting too intimate to someone overtook his whole being. But, stars, he was so glad he took that leap of faith.

And, maker above, was he ever so eternally grateful that the person he chose was you.

Someone who made him unafraid.

Someone who allowed him to get close.

tag list: @cool-iguana ; @party-hearses ; @amanitacowboy ; @angel-in-beskar ; @pamasaur

[dr-futbol-blog]

Inferno, Pt. 4

McKay rejoins Norina and the other local scientists with a male scientist -- or at least one of the folks who call themselves scientists -- in tow, who had possibly either been showing McKay something or gone with him to observe something that McKay had been doing. This tells us that McKay had not been compelled to spend all of his time in Norina's company macking on her, which is what Sheppard had been afraid of, and had actually been focusing on the work. For all we know, he had spent most of his time away from her. For what happens then, we have to recognize the fact that Sheppard has just returned to the planet and is on his way to McKay as the scene unfolds, and is most definitely thinking about McKay with Norina while he is making his way back to them. This is relevant, because we suddenly see a marked change in McKay's demeanour that is completely different from the way he behaves throughout the rest of the episode.

McKay: A shield like this would normally require a Zero Point Module to power it but this one seems to operate on geothermal energy alone. Norina: Yes, there's an enormous amount of heat beneath the surface. McKay: Hm, [you're] telling me.

To start off with, McKay is in lecture mode. He is teaching these people, Norina the chief among them, how this stuff works. These people had requested their assistance in fixing the Ancient technology at their perusal that they seem to barely understand and Sheppard had tasked McKay with fixing up their malfunctioning shield generator. But instead of just fixing it, McKay is trying to show them how they can actually work the technology, how in the future they might be able to understand it for themselves and fix their own problems. McKay is being an educator, sounding perfectly neutral as he lectures on. And then Norina says something that causes a sudden change in his disposition.

First of all, her line about there being "an enormous amount of heat beneath the surface" is the writers lampshading what is going on between Sheppard and McKay. There is an enormous amount of heat beneath the surface, it has been steadily building up since the very beginning of the show and particularly for the past few weeks that they had been forced to spend apart from each other because of Project Michael that had caused this heat to have no outlet which had made it build up pressure. Weir had just suggested that Norina is "hot," and she now mentions this heat beneath the surface, but it is not in her that we find this heat. She is very attractive, as pointed out by Sheppard, but it is not her that scorches him, whose flames are lapping him up from the inside. McKay's line "You're telling me!" is purposefully ambiguous, suggesting that he is already well aware of or in complete agreement with what she says -- or that he embodies her statement. You are telling him that there is an enormous amount of heat beneath the surface. The heat is in him.

But let us also acknowledge the fact that McKay does seem to interpret what she says here as some kind of innuendo, even though she probably had not intended it as such. While we have seen several examples of Sheppard interpreting something that McKay says as innuendo when he probably had meant nothing and had made perfectly innocuous comments about Sheppard being slammed against a wall in The Gift (S01E18) or going down first in The Brotherhood (S01E16) or telling him that "size doesn't matter" way back in Hide and Seek (S01E03) (or later on in Lifeline (S04E02) mentioning "penetration" that seems to short circuit Sheppard's brain entirely), McKay himself has seemed much less inclined to interpret things as double entendre because we have seen that he has a tendency to interpret things fairly literally, and has only come to appreciate sarcasm after having gotten to know Sheppard who speaks sarcasm as his second language. It is only after having met Sheppard that McKay has learned to interpret things that people say in a non-literal fashion.

And so McKay seems to make the mental association here between Norina mentioning the heat beneath the surface in reference to the geothermal energy under the planet's crust and her being very sexy, finding her hot. We can tell by the way that he stops to look at her as he says "Telling me" (again swallowing up half the sentence, which ends up emphasizing me [McKay] instead of you [Norina]), smiling suggestively. And you might be well within reason to interpret this as interest on McKay's part, that he finds her attractive, that his intention might be to try to make his interest known to her through this, to get his own space mack on. It is possible that he finds her charming, lovely to work with. A beautiful, brilliant, clearly intelligent woman who is in no way threatening his ego like the likes of Samantha Carter do, what's not to like?

But this does not mean that he is sexually attracted to her. This does not mean that he wants her. She is the one who keeps following him around like a lost puppy for most of the episode (even here, she follows him to where he is going), and as far as McKay's native assistants go, she seems to fall somewhere between Baldric and Jace for him. He is not interested in her, and he finds her existence easy to forget as soon as he focuses on something else. She is not the love of his life, she is not the hottest person he has ever met, she is not someone that he is fascinated by. It is only in this one instance that he displays any kind of interest or attraction toward her, and it may be curiosity or fascination more than anything else. But it is interesting that earlier Sheppard seemed to be channeling McKay when describing the scientists to Weir, and now McKay is behaving the way Sheppard frequently behaves -- toward him. Let us recall that Sheppard is currently making his way back to them and is definitely thinking about McKay.

There is this hot woman that Sheppard seems to find attractive (and McKay seems to require another man to be attracted to a woman to confirm to him that he is meant to find her attractive -- he simply cannot tell a woman is attractive unless another man also wants her), who for some reason seems to enjoy his company, and this seems to boost his ego more than anything else. And it seems to occur to him to test his charm here, to see if he could get her. It is the competition with another man that is important to him, not actually winning the prize -- as we had already seen with Perna in Poisoning the Well (S01E07). His interest for her has very little to do with her and more than a little to do with Sheppard. He wants to understand why Sheppard was behaving the way he was, and so he tries to put himself into Sheppard's mindset, into his shoes for just a moment. And because of this weird mental tether between them, he might literally have some intrusive thoughts from Sheppard enter his mind because he was just about to burst in the door as this was happening.

Norina: When I noticed the fluctuations in shield strength, I managed to override the alarms and make some adjustments, but then other lights began blinking and I was unable to understand what they meant. Shortly after that is when the tremors started. Sheppard: How goes it, Rodney?

Although Norina genuinely seems to like McKay and certainly appreciates his expertise, she brushes right past his comment into an explanation of their trouble with the machine, as though she was trying to keep things professional between them. While as a beautiful woman she is likely used to men behaving all kinds of way toward and around her, it is not entirely clear whether she actually even caught on to the flirtatiousness underlying McKay's comment.

We see a bunch of things happening on McKay's face in response to her seemingly brushing him off. First, his smile freezes up and slowly vanishes as he comes to the conclusion that maybe Norina had not been making advances toward him, he must have misread her. He opens his mouth to comment, and we see him do his nervous thumb thing, possibly feeling abashed, maybe even feeling the need to apologize for his forward and inappropriate comment. Then he actually seems to start paying attention to what she is saying, frowning lightly as he tries to puzzle it together, having to take a few steps back mentally to get the meaning of her words. And it is notable that McKay falls into a lean only after he had actually started paying attention to what she was saying here, after his mind had returned back on task.

So, McKay smiles to himself, leans one hand on the console (the hand on the other side from her), having switched his tablet to his other hand. He actually rests the tablet against his thigh between them so it is effectively creating a barrier between them, between her and his dick, which is something that an attracted man would not want to purposefully put up. He is also just about to launch into what is clearly some kind of an explanation because her mention of the "blinking lights" and her inability to understands seems to have roused his inner college professor, and while there may be a touch of "mansplaining" here because it seems like he wants to educate her because she is a woman in a way that he never had with his young male apprentices, this is not him preparing to mack on her.

We see a clear switch in McKay's demeanour when his mind returns back to business, and then his mirth in getting to show his expertise, having a captive audience for a monologue about Ancient technology. He finds her ignorance endearing and wants to stroke his ego by proving to her his "firm grasp" of ancient technology, especially because Sheppard had belittled his expertise in front of her earlier. He is not a man leaning on a bar trying to pick up a woman here, he is a teacher leaning on a desk. And this is the last of anything that could even remotely be interpreted as interest toward her from McKay's side. He is interrupted by Sheppard, seeming to feel abashed having been caught by him almost launching into "explaining scientific principles to the little alien lady." And it seems as though he does not want to do that in front of Sheppard because Sheppard is the person whose opinion of him actually matters to him.

What Sheppard does however is interesting. He seems to have come directly to where he would find the two of them and he immediately addresses McKay, asking how he is doing. He says it when he is still rounding the corner, barely having seen him. And he only addresses McKay, not their host. And while he is very much intending for Norina to hear what he says to McKay, he is making a real performance out of this, it takes him a long time to actually say anything to her. Because this is not about her to him. He is not interested in her. He had told Weir he was coming here to make sure that McKay was not distracted but in actuality, he does nothing but distract McKay, on purpose, all the livelong day. Sheppard had told the guard in the Ancient warship Aurora in Aurora (S02E09) that he really does not like being ignored, and he especially hates being ignored by McKay. He wants McKay's attention, and seems willing to go to any lengths to attain it. And he is not asking McKay for a status report here. He actually wants to know how he is doing. He wants to know where McKay is mentally in this moment.

McKay: I was just, still running diagnostics. Sheppard: Still? Thought you would have had that fixed. If you want, I can call Doctor Zelenka. I'm sure he could... McKay: I can handle it, thank you! What are you doing back so soon?

McKay is not actually answering Sheppard's question and he is not telling him what he had been about to do -- which was not to try to pick up an attractive woman but to stroke his ego -- which he now seems to realize was a foolish thing to want to do anyway. McKay seems to be still be running diagnostics so he is not lying, in the same way as Sheppard was not lying to Weir earlier, just omitting the pertinent information.

So, first of all let us note that Sheppard is bringing McKay his laptop in a laptop case which means that he had both packed up and picked up McKay's laptop before leaving Atlantis -- it is possible that McKay had tasked him to bring it for him -- and this means that he had picked it up either from his lab or from his quarters, just as someone having brought Sheppard a handheld device had suggested McKay had access to his quarter in The Long Goodbye (S02E16). And since these are the kinds of laptops we usually see people use in their own quarters (Michael had one in the previous episode), it suggests that Sheppard has access to McKay's quarters. It is a small but important detail. But note how Sheppard purposefully lays the laptop down away from McKay with the express purpose of getting him to step away from Norina. He is not giving the case to McKay but uses it to put space between them, and he further steps into the space McKay had been previously occupying to make sure that he cannot return to his former post.

What is more, he suggests that he might call in Zelenka to do this instead of McKay, and his intention is not to undermine McKay's expertise even though McKay very obviously takes offence at this, thinks that Sheppard is continuing his earlier "even McKay doesn't completely understand this" schtick, for some unfathomable reason needing to belittle his expertise to these people that he thinks are barely out of the Bronze Age. McKay is nettled at the suggestion that Sheppard thinks Zelenka is better or smarter than him -- which he does not and never has thought -- where Sheppard's main motivation is breaking up the McKay and Norina party. He would be more than happy if Zelenka came here to do the job with Norina and he would gladly leave the two of them at it if he was able to remove McKay from this scenario. Because it is not about her. Zelenka could keep her for all he cares.

We get further confirmation of the hurry Sheppard had in returning here in how McKay expresses surprise that Sheppard is back so soon. Note that although his "I can handle it, thank you" is said in a tone that is clearly annoyed, his question is not said in the same vein but McKay sounds genuinely curious as to how Sheppard had managed to make it back so soon. He is not displeased that he is back, and he certainly is not upset that he had come to spoil his chances with the pretty lady, that Sheppard had purposefully come to cockblock him -- which, to be fair, he very much had. And Sheppard does not waste time getting right to work on that.

McKay: I mean, I told you this might take some time. Sheppard: Elizabeth wanted to talk to the Chancellor, see if we can establish relations with these good people. Norina: That would be wonderful. Sheppard: In fact, you've been working awfully hard, maybe I could...

So, let us just acknowledge the fact that Sheppard, unlike McKay, really is trying to seduce her. He is trying to charm the socks off of her, using every trick in the book, being so obvious and shameless about it that he almost comes across as sleazy. I have noted before that Sheppard very rarely seems to actively pursue women, and he had confessed himself to Mara in The Tower (S02E15) that when women come on to him, he never sees it coming. Sheppard may find women attractive but he is not interested in them enough to pursue, and the few times that we see him try, it is obvious that he is not very good at it. He does not understand women and his seduction is much better suited for picking up other men, which we also see here.

Sheppard goes up to Norina, looks her up and down making sure that she sees him take in her body and then maintains eye contact with her. This would most definitely get him laid at a gay bar but seems to perplex and amuse her more than anything, like maybe she figures he is going for a staring contest. He is a good looking, charming man giving her attention so she is likely flattered by his blatant interest, but he is hardly the first man to try to seduce her. She is too beautiful and too smart to be easy but Sheppard is, perhaps unwittingly (because men are easy) trying to pick her up like she was easy, doing it fast and dirty. Despite his rakish good looks, Sheppard is not very good at picking up women. Watching this is almost enough to give the viewer secondhand embarrassment.

McKay has his back to the two of them so he does not actually see what Sheppard is doing, and Sheppard does not even seem to want McKay to see him do it because this is not about hurting McKay, he just wants to divert Norina's attention away from him and call it a day. Note that although Norina responds to Sheppard as though he had been talking to her -- which is a natural assumption to make based on how intensely Sheppard is looking at her -- Sheppard is actually having this whole conversation with McKay. Although he gives the appearance of giving his full attention to this woman, Sheppard and McKay are actually again thrown into that world of their own. And make note of this: Sheppard's offer to do something -- he never gets to say what -- is directed at McKay, not at Norina. He says to McKay "You've been working awfully hard," offering to do something to help him unwind, and let us note that offering to take Norina away, to remove her, would not make McKay's work any less hard. It would not help him in any way for Sheppard to take Norina out to lunch or what ever people think he was going to say here.

No, Sheppard was offering to do something for McKay, to get him to take a break. We can tell by the way he actually turns to look at McKay and even gestures at him with his hand. It is only because he maintains this eye contact with Norina that people are invited to come to the false conclusion that he was offering to do something for her. He is not talking to her at all here. He is having this conversation with McKay, and because McKay has his back turned, he is also under the impression that Sheppard is talking to him. The only kind of relations that Sheppard is ready to establish here with her are ones that take her away from McKay. Note that although Sheppard takes basically the same position as what McKay had previously, resting his hand on the console, he is not actually leaning his weight on it but keeps his body turned more toward McKay, keeps turning toward him, draws his shoulder back and encompasses McKay into his space by gesturing with his hand. McKay is the centre of his world even when he is pretending that this woman has his whole entire focus.

McKay: Oh, no-no-no. I was just about to, show Norina the generator log which shows that... you've been running the shield continuously for over a year now. Norina: Yes. When the device was activated... you told me what it was called... McKay: The long range scanners, that's just what we call them. Sheppard: It's from an old TV show... McKay: Yes, yes. What about them? Norina: When they indicated a sudden rise in wraith activity last year, Chancellor Lycus ordered me to increase the strength of the shield. McKay: Well, that's unfortunate. Norina: Why?

Now immersed entirely in the problem and solving it, we see that McKay is not sparing one single thought to either Norina or what ever game Sheppard is playing here, his brain capacity taken up by puzzling out what has been happening to their technology. Sheppard on the other hand is looking at Norina so keenly it looks almost as though he is trying to hyponotize her, like he is a snake charmer trying to get the snake to follow his movements by maintaining eye contact.

It would almost be adorable if he actually was so smitten with her that he was feeling dopey, that his intense focus was actually the result of his attraction for her, but it very much does not seem to be the case, as we see momentarily. Sheppard is staring into her eyes to keep her from looking at McKay, to keep her gaze on himself instead of going out to him. He is trying to occupy her attention so that she has less of it to give McKay. He is not even blinking. And yet he has to glance at McKay when he comes near him, has to turn his face briefly toward McKay as he comments and although this, Sheppard's mention of the "old TV show" is the first thing he actually says to Norina during this scene, his comment is about Star Trek. It is not a reference she would ever understand, it is meaningless to her. She does not even know what TV is. He may have made the comment to her but his comment was only meaningful to McKay.

So, the long range scanners have been named in homage to the long range sensors from Star Trek. Sheppard makes two comments connected to the show in this episode completely unprompted, and his foreknowledge that McKay was going to offer up the Enterprise as the name of the ship later suggests that the two of them have been watching Star Trek together, the geeks that they are. Maybe they have. But one of the first episodes to feature the long range sensor scan on the show was in the episode The Enterprise Incident, as mentioned before, and it might be this episode in particular that they are referencing in this episode for reasons I will discuss later. But these references to the show also serve to remind us of Sheppard's "problematic Captain Kirk routine," as pointed out by McKay in Sanctuary (S01E14) because, on the face of it, it seems like that is precisely what Sheppard is doing here. He is romancing the alien damsel of the week and he gets to captain his own ship ("What are you, Captain Kirk?").

Only, we had noted before that that is not actually a fair description of Kirk on the actual show and owes more to how Kirk has been received in popular culture, how he is interpreted as an incessant womanizer when he had mostly been seduced against his will or had to entice women in service of the greater good when his one true love was the ship itself, the Enterprise and its crew. The references to the show serve to remind us of both of these things because Sheppard is behaving like Kirk but at the same time he is nothing like Kirk, because Kirk would never have done what Sheppard is doing here for such utterly and completely selfish reasons.

McKay: Because the Ancients didn't design these things to run continuously at maximum capacity. Look, shields are for emergencies only, Norina. When you shut down the alarms, you overrode the failsafes and that means that we're... Oh, no. Norina: What it is? McKay: The reason the Ancients chose to power this facility on geothermal energy is because we're sitting right smack in the caldera of a dormant supervolcano... or should I say formerly dormant...

McKay seems distraught as it begins dawning on him what has actually happened on this planet due to the ignorance of the natives for the technology they had been playing with, and he sounds both serious and sober as he starts lecturing her, their lead scientist, on how reckless they have been while playing science. Again McKay walks away from the both of them and turns his back on them without a thought because he is subsumed in the science, he is not thinking about any single aspect of human relationships right now. Sheppard, on the other hand, is still fully in seduction mode and as McKay walks off and launches into his lecture, we see Sheppard lift his brows and open his eyes wide in this "What are you gonna do?" expression. McKay gonna McKay.

He is trying to broadcast to her that this is what the man is like on the regular. You would not like him. In fact, you should just stop thinking about him altogether. McKay is such a difficult person that he is better left for the people that can actually deal with him, like Sheppard. It is his cross to bear but someone's got to do it and it just happens to be him. Sheppard's expression is meant to show Sheppard sharing a moment with Norina at McKay's expense that he never intends for McKay to see but actually this is a moment that shows us how well Sheppard knows McKay. Sheppard knows what McKay is like so that he is able to let strangers know when McKay is being very much like himself and when he is acting strangely. Sheppard knows McKay like the backs of his hands, and in making this expression he is sending Norina the message that he knows McKay, that McKay is his to know. They are not sharing a stolen moment behind McKay's back, Sheppard is actually making a claim on McKay here.

As soon as they can hear in McKay's tone that something is really wrong, both of them abandon their staring contest and walk right up to McKay. Norina seems to forget all about Sheppard, her attention entirely on McKay. And note that Sheppard also forgets all about her and walks to the other side of McKay, walks up to where he is able to see McKay's face -- like he always does. If he was attracted to Norina, he would have walked on her other side and not his, wanting to be near her. But he is not drawn to her, he is not compelled to seek physical contact with her, and when the chips are coming down, he does not want anything whatsoever coming between himself and McKay.

McKay: ...because drawing all of this energy from the magma chamber has made it extremely active. Sheppard: So... things are gonna get worse. McKay: I think we can safely say that things are gonna get... worse. Yes.

Both Norina and Sheppard are angled toward McKay as they flank him on either side but we may note that what ever Sheppard had been doing before, he has now entirely dropped the act. As he stands by McKay's side, he is not sparing one look at Norina, he is looking only at McKay. Able to anticipate what McKay was going to say, he also shows us that he had been listening to McKay this whole time, he had been paying attention to what he had been saying, and what ever he was doing with Norina was just play. He can also see that McKay is distraught and we see him worry his lip here, trying to assess not how much trouble this planet is in but how much danger what ever this is poses for McKay. Do not let Sheppard fool you. He cares about this man so much that it seems to be driving him nuts.

Continued in Pt. 5

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Things that happened in the Official Transformers RPG's lore 2: Crossover Boogaloo

Since I've got both the crossover and BW books, and even finished them, and also the last post blew up for no reason, it's time for a sequel with some revisions.

Beast Wars book is more-or-less straightforward add-on for beast modes, Dinobots, and the crossover book is also a straightforward module focused on gameplay with the notable exception of the fact that Pretenders are here for some reason. Well, to the points!

Things that are kinda-sorta canon: Earthspark (Nightshade is an extant person), RID15 (Alchemor crash is an event, Simacore is a person), Animated (Sari also exists), ROTF (same with Alice) and Go-Bots (Zod is a Titan).

RPG lore treats Dark Energon and Angolmois as interchangeable, and therefore refers to all Angolmois items from Japanese Beast Wars as Dark Energon. This is odd, as the book later directly references the manga which established quite firmly that Angolmois is a separate thing.

Mindwipe is invited to scientific conferences.

Sky-Byte is a Maximal, or at least formally listed among them.

Thunderhowl is once again Captain America, hates swarming enemies, and he is either speaks to Onyx Prime in his diary, or Leo Prime (Lio Convoy), mentioned in the rulebook before, is a proper formal Prime who leads the Maximals.

No mention is made of Rattrap's Decepticon allegiance from the past books, but he is apparently a spy by speciality.

Botanica is a triffid.

Paddles, the dinobot, uses they/them pronouns. It's unclear if it's deliberate or not.

The notable odd Threat Level: Optimus Primal the average starship captain by himself is 22, which is more than Starscream's 21. Dinobot is 7, basic BW Megatron is 10, Botanica is 12. Abominus is 15, less then the previously the most weak combiner Ruination's 16, making Abominus a very lame combiner. But the crown is taken by basic Quickstrike, with 1. Yes, 1.

Everyone still have languages listed, and Cybertronix exist as apparently another Cybertronian language, but the only people who know it are the Vehicon generals, Silverbolt and Botanica. But this is not the most notable language-related thing, as Waspinator and Terrorsaur both know English for some reason.

Cube, apparently, is one of Cybertron's greatest exports, and there are alien adaptations of the sport around (presumably, for people who cannot become a car at command).

Decepticons are a legitimate monarchy, and the title of Emperor Of Destruction is a genuine title, because Duke Of Destruction is a Genuine Noble Title

It's more of an observable gameplay oddity, but "EMT Crash Course" perk is universal for humans and Cybertronians. It affects specifically organic medicine, Cybertronians are healed by mechanical aptitude, so you can trust (some) giant robots with your first aid kit!

The BW rulebook has a passing preoccupation with alternate realities - and Uprising even gets it's owl blurb - and therefore has a character sheet for a Intelligent Scientist Grimlock, among others.

Maximals tend to choose for their altmode mammals, birds and fish.

And now, the answers to a couple of questions, because I saw the tags, and some corrections.

@nanzyn & @shadowboxmind : Yeah, the threat level sometimes seem completely random (Stunticons look really lowballed). I think I'll write down all the tables together later for this bizarre power scale.

@theropodtheroblogs : No, Jazz is still also the head of Spec Ops. Prowl is a military strategist, and just a guy now, I guess.

@libermachinae : The original wording for the local Prowlastator seem to imply Prowl kind of happened upon Devastator? The exact words are "when needed" and "been able", so jury's out. He is apparently not a part of Devastator anymore at the time Termagax's lecture, which happens at Autobot City after the local analogue of Headmasters saga and may or may not bear relation to the local counterpart of Combiner Wars.

Now, the corrections: points 4 and 9 from the main post aren't exactly true. The who-is-who list features Alpha Trion, and while some people like Bulkhead are specifically are the Ark crewmember, there's also a mention of "Arcee's Resistance", but not what is it or where it's located, so do what you want. And Tracks while isn't strictly speaking a triple-changer, he is randomly mentioned in such a manner it could be inferred so (and this is his only mention in-text). Technically, the same is the case with Botanica's triffidness here - she has apparently interchangeable stats with Flytrap, whose most notable trait is that he's a triffid. I apologize for any confusion caused.

[jpitha]

Here to Help

I was thinking about my Oxygen Breather's story and how much I liked the universe, so I took an old Flash Fiction Friday story and edited, fleshed it out and stuck it into the same universe.

I was sure this was the end.

We were on a cargo ship, doing a run to a station run by a local cartel - the captain knew it was a risky job, but we needed the money - when pirates had Flashed in, right next to us! They were incredibly reckless with their use of their FlashWarp drive. Their weapons shredded our defenses. We new we should surrender and the pirates might only take our cargo, but the captain - knowing who owned the cargo - made a run for it anyway. They fired a grapple and caught us before we could even think that we had gotten away.

When they boarded, there was a minor firefight. We were a cargo ship, but the captain kept up weapons training in between Flashes. Partly as something to do and partly to help repel boarders. It was futile though, we were completely outgunned. They killed the captain and the command deck officers immediately. They stole all our cargo and captured us. "For ransom" their translator modules said with a mechanical laugh.

We were all lead aboard the pirate ship in chains.

Not everyone was resigned to their fate. While in transit, two people conspired to try and overpower the guard who brought our food and steal their weapon. When they tried though, they were the ones overpowered. They were executed in front of us and from then on we received no food.

We had docked at a large station and I overheard one of the guards saying that we were going to be sold. I knew the life expectancy of slaves out here and decided that - one way or another - that was not going to be me. A demi cycle after we docked, they started feeding us again so we wouldn't look so scrawny for sale. At the second meal they had opened the door to give us our barely edible "food" and I saw the hall beyond. I ducked under out captor and ran as fast as I could.

Hearing their shouts, I didn't waste energy with a glance back.I just ran.

Sliding around a corner, I heard the crack of hull spalling as their energy weapon missed me. I dove headfirst out of their airlock and landed in a pile. Scrambling, I got back up on my feet and ran again. I was on a strange starbase, with no idea where I was, let alone even a way to call anyone for help. Not paying attention to where I was going, I ran full into this being.

Quickly apologizing and standing, I looked up at them, and then boggled. They were taller than me, and dense, and wore an armored pressure suit, polished to a glossy blue. I had no idea who they were; I had never seen anyone like them before. I was struck with how... shiny the suit was. It was almost wet. They must spend hours polishing it to get it looking like that. I knew enough that there were some sapients that couldn't breathe our manganese sulfur atmosphere, but I never had seen one in person. My frill shook with the realization that they were trapped in their suit. They were bipedal with an even number of appendages. Even though their suit I could see that they had surprisingly delicate fingers, made for high dexterity work.

They bent down, and as they did, their dark helmet cleared, revealing a bilaterally symmetrical face with two eyes and long red fur on the top of their head, piled behind the helmet. As they bent down their translator module clicked.

please speak so that the appropriate language family can be found and translated.

"Um. Help me? I don't know where I am, and people are after me. My ship was captured and we were all taken prisoner to be sold here as slaves."

After a moment passed - for the translator to work I assumed - the being's close set eyes went wide and they leaned back in surprise. I held up my arms, still shackled to reinforce my predicament.

Their translator was smooth and very natural sounding. They clearly had access to high technology. They could have been a storyteller with that voice! "Of course we'll help you. I hate slavers. Let's go rescue your friends." The translator really was excellent. I could hear the venom in their voice. They were not lying about hating slavers, that much I knew."

What?" The being in the blue suit made a gesture with their delicate fingers. Before I could blink 5 more of the black suited individuals appeared, all carrying massive rifles. They looked like slug throwers to me. I was sure slug throwers were illegal on all Coalition stations, but they either had an exception, or didn't care.

Wondering how much longer I had to live, I lead them back the way I came and they appeared at the umbilical to the pirate's ship.

In their clear, melodious voice the black suited leader called out: "Surrender yourselves slavers, and you will survive. Resist and perish."

At that, the pirates fired a single shot at the figure. It splashed off their helmet, and they didn't even flinch! Once again, the leader bent down and spoke to me.

"Wait here a moment please."

With no thought given to their own safety, not even crouching down, they strided into the slaver vessel. As ordered, I stayed back, listening to the sounds of battle. Immediately I heard the pirates attack. The sharp crack and wine of their rifles was countered with the tremendous noise the rifles that the black suited ones carried. Some were a report loud enough to be an explosion, and a few of them carried ones that chattered and roared almost continuously. After hardly any time at all the shouts and taunts from the pirates became screams and whimpers.

It felt like moments, but I guess a two or three millicycles passed and they came back out with all of my surviving crew behind them.

The blue suited leader came up to me. "There you go. They won't be bothering anyone anymore. Do you have a way to go home?"

I ruffled my frill in the negative.The leader looked back at her crew and made a gesture. Replies in the assent came back from them and they made some gestures on the pad attached to their arm.

"With the crew dead, and the ship captured as a legal Spoil of Battle - it was nice of them to fire first - I declare this ship to legally be yours now."

I stood dumbstruck. My frill waved up and down in surprise. Remembering my manners, I opened my mouth and said "T-thank you."

"You're welcome. We're happy we could help." And as they stood back up, I realized they were leaving. I had to know. "Wait! Who are you?"

They turned and cleared their helmet again. In their clear, musical voice the translator said "My Name is Miriam Elemii and these are-" she gestured "-Miriam's Marauders. We're a Human mercenary group.""Human?""Yup! Glad to meet you. Now, keep in touch, we'd love to hear how you're getting on, and if you ever need some help-" she handed me a card "-Give us a call."

As they walked away, my new crew came over to me, cheering and singing how proud they were of me and how pleased they would be to follow me from now on. I just stared and watched them walk away.

[daisukitoo]

Humans are small ecosystems animated by hive minds, which present themselves as singular "multi-cellular life forms," as if such a thing were possible. When dealing with humans, it is best to humor this self-presentation, as they have been known to become violent if this self-image is challenged or if you attempt to appeal to their components individually.

When communicating with a human, you will be addressing the verbal module of one organ of one cellular subset. This verbal module itself possesses no apparent intelligence or self-awareness, but it draws upon the resources of other processing systems. Again, it is safest not to remind humans of this, nor to take their languages' frequent use of the second-person plural in place of the second-person singular as recognition of their collective agency. When addressing one human ecology, "you" is treated as a singular, despite the grammatical and biological absurdity. Reference the interspecies relations manual for FAQs on this topic.

Human ecosystems exist in multiple layers. The most central "human" organisms are a collection of symbiotic, specialized cells built from a common template. Humans will often recognize this layer as "you" and expect other species to be built similarly. They do not recognize the existence of other layers as themselves.

For example, the entire surface of a human is a "microorganism" battleground, where Earth yeasts and bacteria fight for eminence. If any faction wins, the ecology will be stabilized and the human will both die and become uncommunicative. Do not offer aid or comfort to any involved faction. Humans will take personal offense at discussions of their surface microorganisms.

Humans are not capable of digesting their own sustenance. Rather than absorb any common energy wavelengths, humans must consume other organisms and absorb them into the local ecology. They call the first several steps of their digestion "cooking," by which sustenance is physically and chemically altered before ingestion. Their "gut bacteria" is a collection of captured subspecies that they have incorporated into their corporeal bodies. Again, offering to "cure" gut bacteria is considered offensive and is potentially fatal (although not quickly enough to be valuable as a combat technique; see the relevant subsection of the interspecies relations FAQ).

Humans are strangely aware that all of their "cells" contain other organisms in a symbiotic relationship as a powerhouse. This recognition extends only to these "mitochondria," with the usual offense taken if other subsections of the ecology are recognized or addressed.

Avoid contact with any liquid emitted by a human. Human ecosystems aggressively reproduce themselves through the transfer of components in liquid form. While not all toxic human liquids are active assimilation vehicles, assume that the human is present and potentially attempting to assimilate in any liquid form. This is only a class 3 danger for most life forms, but exposure can be fatal in biologies sufficiently similar to humans. Humans emit liquids at and in each other frequently as a form of communication and fellowship; do not be surprised if humans offer their liquids to you in a variety of forms of direct contact. Humans may take offense at a refusal of liquids or contact, but most humans you are likely to encounter off Earth are sufficiently aware of norms to attempt to hide this offense. Humans may be aggressively eager to assimilate or create hybrid lifeforms, despite the rarity with which this is biologically feasible. Attempts should be avoided, as success is at least as likely to be fatal as the attempt.

It remains unclear whether one aspect of a human drives the collective or if the collective is a true hive mind. Again, the verbal component that communicates with other life forms seems unaware of most ecological factors happening in "itself," and this is so consistent that it is hard to believe it is a humanity-wide deception being played against other lifeforms.

Most humans seem to possess an instinctive revulsion to other hive minds and collective ecological lifeforms. Because the human communication module is unaware of its own collective nature, it is not helpful in providing insight into whether this antipathy is driven by factors such as a competitive drive or a need to avoid self-recognition.

As above, a subset of humans will eagerly attempt assimilation with other collective intelligences via liquid transmission in either direction. There is no apparent biological difference in these humans, and these contacts are usually fatal to at least one party. Verbal recognition of this fact has no apparent connection to a human's eagerness, again speaking to the verbal module's inability to observe what motivates the collective ecology.

It is best to isolate different forms of collective intelligences from each other to avoid either conflict or assimilation attempts.

[skitariiposting]

A rant about roleplaying and taking advice from goblin eratta

Look, look, I get it. D&D is famous for its goblins and whatnot. But trust me when I say, pathfinder goblins are so much better art wise and writing wise than D&D's.

For example:

This is the D&D monster manual illustration for goblins.

Firstly, orange, chunky, this guy's has the aura of "might attempt tactics" about him. He looks more like he'd try and throttle you rather than run in fear at the sight of a large sword. The head is oddly shaped as a goblin's head should be, but it looks more lumpy warrior face than gobliny. The armor is far too organized. The ears are droopy and smooth. This is not goblin, this is a small ork at best.

Yeah they've got a brief section explaining the hobgoblins and bugbear relations, a little bit about goblin language, but not much as far as flavor text.

Now pathfinder goblins...

These are the quintessential goblin.

Green, scrawny, cowardly, chaotic, looks like they scrounge their clothes from local landfills, oblong football head, big ol' perky pointy goblin ears; *chefs kiss* perfection.

Pair that with the tidbits of goblin lore from pathfinder and ough you've got something good going on.

They are afraid of and have a burning hatred for horses. They typically wield 'horse choppers,' basically big cleavers or axes, instead of daggers or shortswords like in D&D.

One of the few occasions they'll organize and come up with plans is if they're pulling pranks or massive attacks under the command of a warlord or leader, of which they will occasionally get on accident.

They don't have to be bound to a leader, though, sometimes goblin bands can manage just with cooperation alone.

Goblins are crafty little buggers, laying traps and building ramshackle contraptions to get the jump on their foes. They prefer going for sneak attacks or surprise attacks over head on combat. They know they can't win a fair fight, so they fight unfair.

If you invade a goblin dwelling, they'll usually retreat on sight, but not always because of cowardice. Sometimes, they do so to lead you into their traps or to get you into a bottleneck. They can come up with strategies, but usually only if it's below the belt and breaks all the rules of engagement.

War crimes and chaos, if they aren't committing one of the two, they must be defective goblins.

There are occasions in the pathfinder modules where it encourages the DM to have the goblins get into antics over attacking the players. One such example is during a fight at a festival, it reccomends having some of the goblins focus on the festival food over the potential threat of the player characters, since they'd find the food much more important.

Some I came up with include swinging from ropes and attempting to grab players' hats, hoods or helmets, having some attempt to crawl into the clothes of the players instead of attacking, or even just crawling and wallowing all over them like opossum babies. My personal favorite and what got a huge laugh out of my players was having one find a big cast-iron stew pot and putting it on its head. It made it blind, but it also gave it more armor, making it sort of run at the characters to attack but not being able to hit them because it couldnt see, and the swords and maces bouncing off the pot due to the additional armor made it difficult to kill him. Pair that with the constant deafening the goblin would endure with the "bong" sounds any impacts would make, causing it to panic and run around more, bumping into walls and people alike.

What I love about these little tidbits of fight modifications is that it exemplifies the "combat doesn't mean roleplaying is over" factor many players and DM's either have never considered or just miss entirely. Many people complained that "man, if only combat in D&D was like the movie," and to that, I say: it can be, if you stopped being boring and made it that way! Describe what your character does! Add flavor to it! An action is 6 seconds. You can do so much in six seconds while still attacking! Describe the actions you take! Take free actions to do little flairs or flourishes! Show off! Fight with elegance, fight with brutality, fight with conniving, fight with confidence! Spend an action doing something in character instead of attacking! Yes, it's not efficient, but it's more interesting and entertaining to take a fall for a storytelling moment instead of spending yet another turn attacking. Flawed moments are far more interesting than constant perfection, that's why you use dice instead of always having a nat20 every turn. Use the failures to your advantage, show how your character reacts to a bad situation or rough luck!

Don't just spend the time in between your turns waiting for yours to roll around. Instead, be planning the sick ass thing you'll do if the dice allow you to, or the reaction to the adversity if they don't! And, sometimes, break away from the "I swing my sword, I cast a spell, I eldritch blast" combat! Push enemies off of elevations with the push action! Flip a table over to get cover from spells and ranged attacks!Grapple them to make it easier for your team mates to hit them or use them as a human shield! Grab a big rock off the ground and chuck it at someone! Cast a spell that doesn't just do damage!

Broke:

"You shoot a fireball at the thief as he attempts to escape."

Woke:

"As the the thief runs, I go to launch the fireball at him, but notice the mirror to the left of me. My narcisim gets the better of me, and I end up taking a second to check my hair. Ah yes, dashing. Oh, wait, I was doing something. I manage to tear myself away from the mirror long enough to barely catch the thief in my fireball as he attempts to flee."

So, I say all that to say this: players and Dms alike, roleplay during combat! It's a roleplaying game, not a roleplaying game+formulaic tabletop war game any time there's combat. And hey, if you ever find yourself needing inspiration on how to make fights more interesting in your tabletop games, grab a couple low level modules off Paizo, and read up on Pathfinder goblin scenes, they pay extreme dividends.

[bengiyo]

Cherry Magic TH Ep 1 Stray Thoughts

I'm excited to see Tay and New work together again, and glad they were selected as the ones to explore what GMMTV BL looks like between adults. I had some issues with the way the Japanese adaptation approached sex AND intimacy, so I'm hoping this one handles that differently.

I kinda like Newwie's hair, and I like the way they're contextualizing Achi's economic state.

Oh, good. We're keeping the bit where Adachi/Achibus bad at elevators.

Sing Harit!!

Tay is still just so beautiful.

Jan!!

Not surprised we're getting Japanese language and characters since this is a collaboration between GMMTV and TV Asahi.

I'm glad this show knows that Tay is a not-so-secret luxurious bitch.

Well, this gentleman from the Japanese office seems kind.

I like how much internal monologue we're getting from Achi before the magic starts.

GMMTV has asked me to believe that Newwie is a virgin twice within a year. This is a tall ask.

His first interaction with the power is being judged by a monk! Lol

Another scene on the Thai metro! What changed recently that we're finally filming there?

Elevator scene, my beloved, I'm glad they kept you.

Newwie has really improved over the years. He was really stiff in the beginning.

Hahah! They referenced the manga! I can draw comparison as much as I want now.

I like that Achi is hearing people think kind things about him as well, especially this senior.

Now why are they making Achi bring cake to Karan on Achi's own birthday? What do they know, and are they meddling?

Ah, Karan ordered it. They are facilitators!

I like Jinta. They ported the essence of Tsuge well with him.

That cat is so stressed. Cats are terrible actors.

Oh right! They cast Mark as the Thai version of Minato.

Okay, I like the way they're modulating the office dynamics for Thailand. The bit waiting for the boss to leave was good.

I kinda like the removal of Adachi's desk mats and having Achi stay late so Rock can meet his partner.

Oh wow we're getting to the overnight condo stay in the first episode.

Very glad Cherry Magic original means they're required to incorporate rain into the narrative. Also seems like they used the Sky train because Adachi had transportation struggles because of the schedule.

I lost it during the fantasy bit where Tay has to lower Newwie's big ass onto a bed.

Newwie looks great when he's wet and tired.

Oh my god they kept the pajamas moment!

Okay, I really loved this so far! This kept all of the things about the characters that I thought were really important while attuning them for the local taste. Really solid first episode. I'm having a lot of fun.