#oh ship name ummmm

[enhanced-operatives-division]

i would love to hear about the ollie and handler crack ship here’s a silly doodle as well

LOVE THE DOODLE YOU SEE THE VISION!!!

Also this got my ass to design Ollie so:

(Love him - Also redesigned Reggie for this too so thanks!!)

And idk if it's moreso a crackship or a rarepair that only works in an AU (HACKS up Starstruck), but Reggie's line of "...and I hope Ollie made it out too. I hope a lot of things." It's totally me reading into it but like,,,,I want them to talk because Ollie is not dead to me in my heart of hearts.

Maybe the only change is like Reggie taps into the communication on the radio in Hot Water instead of using the earpiece, so Ollie ends up hearing him also? And they end up getting along really well (with Reggie having to jump through a couple hoops to be like "haha what agency..."). There's an Agency base in the South-East coast of Australia and maybe the Agency ends up adopting him after he washes up on the shore with the escape pod (after HEAVY questioning).

Alas take a doodle of my own:

Transcript (it's just canon lines):

Ollie: "She's being controlled, it's not her fault."

Reggie: "Agent, I have 0 experience dealing with giant security squids."

[razorblade180]

Profits!!!

Paimon:We got a fresh batch of potions ready!

Aether:*writing* Put them front and center!

Jean: *walks up* Ummmm

Aether:Hmm? Oh hi! I was wondering if I’d see you.

Jean:Hello. Hard at work I see. *looks around* By a lot…. I just got a report back from Lisa. I knew things were in good hands but can you explain how this gateway into common alchemy is profiting five times its worth? Every time you come to town our budget increases.

Aether:Yeah I think I finally got a formula for success here! It’s all about where we send them. *shows paper* Sales to Mondstadt get the standard cost that breaks even considering how close clients are and the frequency.

Jean:We are selling them .25% under their actual value in Inazuma?

Aether:Inazuma’s are hesitant about trying things out of traditional practices plus the long trip there may reduce potency. However, we don’t really take a loss because I have them delivered by a reliable courier who gives us discount, as well as have them get shipped by a friend named Itto. He’s actually pretty used to the back and forth.

Jean:If that’s the logic, how are we getting away with selling the potions 1.5 times their price in Liyue? They also care about traditions.

Aether:Because Ningguang agreed to endorse us, and Beidou deliverers the shipments. Those are the only seals of approval we need.

Jean:*looks at Lisa*

Lisa:I didn’t tell him to expand. Our cutie has such an eye for business that even Master Diluc went in on a joint business venture.

Jean:*skims paper* We mark up the Sumeru prices by 2.5 times their actual value!?

Aether:I know that might look evil buuuuut *flips page* 80% of the stock that goes there by a merchant named Dori who’s incredibly rich. I’m positive she’s buying them to sell for at least triple their original worth. In the grand scheme we’re getting a bigger net gain than she is on paper but she’s also winning by knowing who and where to sell to. Also desert shipments are handled by a very trustworthy Mercenary.

Jean:And as for Fontaine being double the market price?

Aether:Mondstadt’s potions are approved by Furina de Fontaine. Not only does that attract the high society over there to buy, but it covers the for transport via Gaming as well as the transfer support from the Spina. Don’t worry, I made sure everything is perfectly legal.

Jean:(This is the market project all over again.) Aether, you didn’t have to start an empire, like…at all.

Aerther:I didn’t mean to do it. I just know people.

Paimon: *holds mora bags* Powerful people!

Jean:Well, I leave it all to you then. To think I’m able to redo our budget so freely is like a fever dream. Perhaps the extra funds can go into better training equipment and armor overhaul?

Kaeya:Or we can buy more horses. Just a thought.

Lisa:Do you miss your work that much?

Kaeya:I miss the title speaking for itself.

[pourcap]

thoughts: kr chapter 15 (pt. 1)

'If they come this way—’ said Nikandros in a low voice. ‘Hey!’ Laurent called out. (...) i bet this will make nikandors love laurent even more :)

(...) Brief visions of strangling Laurent weren’t helpful. (...) damen is the best protagonist ever

(...) Damen judged the distance between himself and the nearest of the approaching soldiers, his chances of killing them, of killing enough of them to even the odds for the others. (...) also does damen's mind ever not immediately go this route? imagine constantly being so on edge because you feel like you have to fight and protect because that's all you've ever known, and because you're the best at it so everyone's survival depends on how quickly you eliminate threat. so exhausting.

(...) ‘You are Charls the renowned Veretian cloth merchant?’ said the officer sceptically, as if this was a name well known to him. ‘No,’ said Laurent, as if this was the most foolish thing in the world. ‘I am Charls the renowned Veretian cloth merchant. This is my assistant. Lamen.' ummmm. okay. 'as if it was the most foolish thing in the world' made me laugh. laurent's brashness lol. also i absolutely love how laurent just went for the ship name, which is of course veeery far off from damen's actual name so they totally won't risk being found out at all

'I don’t suppose your men could aid us in our repairs?’ said Laurent. Damen stared at him. They were encircled by fifty mounted Akielon soldiers. Jokaste was inside that wagon. no way that's why laurent stopped them. is he insane???? i can 100% picture the way damen's staring at him.

just remembered "it's the game i like" so i'm guessing this turn of event makes sense

The officer said, ‘We’re patrolling for Damianos of Akielos.’ ‘Who’s Damianos of Akielos?’ said Laurent. His face was utterly open, his blue eyes unblinking, upturned to the officer on his horse. ahhhhh!!! oh god. also i looove when laurent puts on this faux-innocent look he used so much in book one. it's just so amusing to me bc he's such an asshole and i mean this very lovingly

(...) Nikandros had the slightly stupefied look that Damen remembered from several of his own adventures with Laurent. (...) can you believe i'm getting emotional over this? because damen knows laurent now. because laurent is known. for probably the first time in his life except for by auguste he has someone who really actually genuinely knows him and appreciates him for the way his mind works. i just love laurent and damen so much <3

Damen followed him in, acutely aware that he was being separated from his men. Laurent simply walked into the inn. such an interesting nod to how damen feels more comfortable in the presence of his men (whether that's because he feels the need to protect them or because there's safety in numbers in general) whereas laurent had to rely on only himself for the past years

(...) Perhaps he could overwhelm Stavos. He could negotiate some kind of exchange, Stavos’s life for their freedom. his brain just won't stop omg. imagine constantly thinking about how to get out of situation that could end in your death (also imagine how intimidating damen must look to an outsider since he's basically just always coming up with battle plans in his head lol)

'I can assure you. Charls the renowned merchant is already here.' noooooooo

'That is impossible. Call him out here.' ohh the audacity. laurent can be such a prince

Charls took one look at the unmistakable blue eyes and blond hair of his Prince, who he had last seen in Damen’s lap dressed as a pet in a tavern at Nesson. His eyes widened. Then, with a truly heroic effort: ‘Charls!’ said Charls. hahhaaha no way. bless the real charls <3

they're all charls :')

'Thank you, Charls, this man believes I am the King of Akielos,’ said Laurent. god he's soooo annoying i love him so much

'An agent of the King when he has raised taxes and threatens to bankrupt the entire cloth industry?’ said Laurent. Damen put his eyes somewhere where they wouldn’t meet Laurent’s, (...) i repeat: he's so annoying and i love him so much. also a fed up damen is so funny to me

'You speak very good Akielon,’ he said, loudly and slowly. ‘Thank you,’ said Damen. ohh that reminds me of that scene in book one when laurent had damen drugged and this guy told damen that laurent had an eye for detail or something lol

'(...) Nikandros is completely useless as the Kyros,’ Laurent said, loudly enough for Nikandros to hear him. ‘He doesn’t know the first thing about cloth.' oh my god laurent stop antagonizing your boyfriend's best friend!!!

Damen looked over at Laurent, who was deep in conversation, letting his eyes pass slowly over every familiar feature, the cool expression tipped with gold in the firelight. He said, ‘Did he?’ ‘Charls said, think of the most expensive pet you’ve ever seen, then double it.’ ‘Really?’ said Damen. damen stop getting horny pt. 34972387

'Of course, Charls knew who he was right away, because he couldn’t hide his princely style, and nobility of spirit.’ ‘Of course,’ said Damen. hahahhahaha awww i love charls and i'm happy that in the future he'll have some new tales to tell about this moment right now

'Maybe you could encourage Akielons to wear sleeves. You’d sell more cloth,’ said Laurent. Everyone laughed politely at the joke, and then speculative looks crossed one or two faces, as if this young cousin of Charls’s might have stumbled by accident onto a good idea. you can always count on laurent to find a new way to be a nuisance to akielos <3

ahhhh did laurent push their mattress together to sleep next to damen????? i'm crying. sobbing, actually <3

they're kissing !!! i love them soooo much i can't even put it into words anymore, my heart just goes "!!!" every time they're close to each other

Laurent didn’t seem to care, even seemed to like it. Damen pressed him into the wall, and took his mouth. Laurent smelled of soap and fresh cotton. Damen’s thumbs pushed into his waist. laurent being turned on by damen's sweat... honestly if we got laurent's pov, he'd probably be just as intense about damen as damen is about him. they're truly a match made in heaven.

(...) They had not before had the luxury of extended lovemaking, deliberate and unhurried as a First Night. His thoughts ribboned with all the things they had yet to do. damen is such a softie!!! he's seriously just thinking about all the things he still wants to experience with laurent. he's so cute :')

(...) It was charming, because it was clear that Laurent was unsure exactly what to do, yet, typically, had acted to take control of everything. again: he knows laurent so well by now! i'm so emotional.

'First time to entertain a lover?’ Just saying the word made him flush, and he saw Laurent flush too. god. goooood. godddddd.

(...) He watched Laurent react to his body. Virgins and the inexperienced tended to get nervous, which he enjoyed as a challenge to be overcome, hesitancy turned into eagerness and pleasure. It pleased some deep part of him to see in Laurent the flickering of a similar reaction. (...) hmmmmm. :)))))))) i mean, he's wrong obviously, but i am super happy that laurent gets to experience sex with a good man who he finds attractive and who he likes and who is, on top of all that, great at sex <3

And dropped to his knees on the floor of the inn. i'm getting teary-eyed over a blowjob. seriously. i'm just so proud of laurent and of him taking initiative because he wants to do this with and for damen !!!!

that description of the contrast between laurent's internal struggle and practiced skill makes me sick

[strange-birb]

listen, I love your AU and I am itching to know, are there any ships in it? you know- aside from the timkon pre-breakup- are there any other ones? I'm a stephcass fan and your band au just reminds me of the joke where the bassist and drummist ALWAYS has something going on, LMAOO. THE STAGE NAMES THOUGH, like, Steph calling Cass "Doll" on stage whenever she introduces the band members and Cass calling Steph a "Brat" whenever she annoys her, GRRGHRGH, the stage names are so perfect for them. (╥﹏╥).

ANYWAY, just really wanted to ask that. love your art and your AU !! if I have the motivation, I'll try writing a fanfic about it. ৻( •̀ ᗜ •́ ৻).

Ummmm truthfully I only wanted to do one ship within the band, mainly just cause I feel like too much gets too messy if there are multiple ships. Tbh tho I’m in between jayroy or Stephcass. personally I’d love to make some cass and Steph side art tho…… maybe I’ll make them the official ship idk yet lol. Oh! Or maybe I’ll do secret married jayroy and found love Steph cass ? Idk lemme know ur thoughts

[kanerallels]

🧃🥐🍄 for the writing ask game please!

🧃: Share some personal lore you never posted about before. Ummmm let's see. I miiiiight have posted about this one before, but I once corrected my pastor on a biblical matter to his face. And I was in the right. (I'm a little too proud of this, honestly) My family left that church like a year later on, believe it or not, a completely unrelated matter!

🥐: Name one internet reference that will always make you laugh. I'm not gonna lie to you, Goncharov is ALWAYS gonna delight me. And the PS5 cracks me up, too. There are a couple vines that make me laugh-- OH WAIT AND THIS VIDEO

🍄: Share a headcanon for one of your favorite ships or pairings. HMMMM I'm gonna go with Kanera, to no one's surprise. Honestly I am just a huge sucker for the headcanon that Kanan's the cook, while Hera makes the best caf among the crew. It makes me so happy. That's the main one I can think of off the top of my head!

Truth or dare writing ask game!!

[baylardo]

me type some of my Voyager episode ideas for Threshold AU chronologically,,, FOR FUN :)

BIG POST!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

i made it up to season 3 lmao 😂 ill try and do more sometime but i piddled out

s2e1 The '37s - amelia name drop idea, but no ones really thinking about it yet.

s2e4 Elogium - somewhere in here, kathryn confides in either Chakotay or Neelix about the name "Philippa" that Mark wanted to name a daughter if they ever had one. :) her and chakotay have that intimate little scene in her readyroom/quarters i think, and neelix is just on the fence about having children (until he isnt) and i think kathryn would maybe have a lil conversation with him about her and mark's plans for their future or something idk.

s2e7 Partriution - tom and neelix bonding, something something laying foundation for kid naming ideas that comes up later.

s2e15 Threshold - obviously where stuff goes down. some less obvious side notes i have on it are that the re-evolution happens between Threshold and Meld. kathryn and tom are aware of their children existing on the ship by Meld. also need to mention somewhere that i think Kes would be the one to suggest they use "Edward" for the boy's name, she tends to suggest the names of her relatives to the doctor, i think she'd just kinda one track mind it haha. and maybe neelix or tom would stink "Owen" 'cause Tom hasnt worked through his daddy issues yet. the more i've sat on the naming process ideas the less i like chakotay, tom, AND kathryn being involved in it lol. i dont think amelia would be an obvious choice to chakotay. MAYBE he's the one to suggest philippa if kathryn did tell him about the name's significance to her (or neelix). its not super important but its something i ruminate on. babies end up getting situated in chakotay's quarters. neelix and kes (mostly neelix) do a lot of the babysitting while the babies' parents are on the bridge. oh i guess also like, its REALLY conveniently in a scene showing that the spy on voyager is in contact with the kazon -> seska. so they're like, vaguely aware at this point of how the warp 10 experiment went,, probably are aware of the triplets being kathryn and tom’s. kathryn and tom are avoidant of their children. tom for his mentioned daddy issues, afraid he'll mess them up, doesnt know how to parent, doesnt want to, etc. kathryn has this huge complex about being unfaithful to mark and that being so visibly apparent to her with these children, ummmm i think shed also beat herself up about being the first to have children on voyager, what her crew must think of her, etc. (before naomi is even born!!! IDIOT) aside from her struggles with her appearance too like yikes girl, visible failure moment. ALSO i think deep down shed know (and even said in the ep) that she was the one initiating things down on the planet and that she wanted children and everything so shes gotta grapple with this act she somewhat knowingly performed and got a clutch of eggs out of haha. oh my gosh ALSO!!!! idk where to mention this but i REALLY dont think belanna would be that involved with the triplets like, all that much if ever especially in earlier seasons. doesnt really seem all that interested, you like, never see her interact with naomi (yes itd be cute but weird that it doesnt happen all too often if at all i cant think of any times rn). like her daddy issues are mad buried and tom's not interested, theyre not even dating yet!!! YES in later seasons i think shed dabble in it just as tom is, and maybe she even pushes him to because of how uninvolved her parents are! but as of right now shes like nty about it haha.

s2e16 Meld - conveniently you dont see kathryn on the bridge in this episode, only her senior officers are seen visiting her in like her readyroom and sickbay and stuff. she's avoiding the bridge for a bit post-Threshold because shes feeling a little insecure about things and hates the looks her crew gives her. but mean!tuvok in this ep does not pull punches and i think hed berate her on like, her avoidance of the bridge or w/e. maybe say the warp 10 experiment was a bad call and she signed off on it idk, she feels really vulnerable afterwords but its an ugly truth thing for her that gets her to overcome her trepidations.

s2e17 Dreadnought - its still early post-Threshold and kathryn's 100% okay with blowing up the ship to save lives and doesnt really consider her children at all.

s2e18 Death Wish - the first time Q tries to tempt kathryn with turning her human again. :) establishing Q being into kathryn while in her hyperevolved state.

s2e20 Investigations - tom has his arc of being sassy with chakotay and overall a bad crew member. add onto it with the au that he and kathryn are both avoiding the children like a plague and leaving chakotay to take care of them. really funny that i think tom walks in late to his shift and bragging/lying about delivering Sam's baby like YEOWCH salt in the wound for chakotay he sure wasnt that ecstatic about his own kids. MAYBE theyre sleeping with each other to relieve lizard tension. chakotay's not vibing this situation at all. so understandably the two boys are a BIT on edge with each other for a surplus of reasons both fake and real. seska gets to see hyperevolved TOM for the first time in this ep but not kathryn!!!!! like to think him and seska would have a little quip about being lizards lol.

s2e21 Deadlock - just another early post-Threshold scenario where Kathryn's not really lingering on her children being part of the equation still. naomi is born in this ep, thats something haha. this might be an ep where she starts to linger on it though, feels somewhat guilty for neglecting them. maybe her and her other self would talk about it before one of them dies.

s2e25 Resolutions - forced exposure therapy for kathryn!!!!! learns while on New Earth that she likes bugs. Unfortunate <3 she also discovers she has an instinctive fondness for heat; she keeps slinking into chakotay's bed to snuggle up against him for warmth, wakes up next to him its real awkward, both choose not to read into it in the beginning but hahaha im trash for bed scenes like that where chakotay stirs to leave and kathryn would squeeze him tighter or something so hell stay with her. ummmmm i think her and chakotay would argue a lot about the kids for a while, then after the storm she kinda changes her tune and FINALLY gets more involved with them. had a side plot idea that Ed gets sick and kathryn gets REALLY frantic about it, like as its happening and his fever's getting worse shes begging whatever deities will listen that shell change and do better for these children if they let him live IDK HAHA.

s2e26/s3e1 Basics - seska gets to see threshold!kathryn here for the first time and she can BULLY HER about it. >:) i wanna dabble with these eps like, THOROUGHLY and i really havent yet, but i think seska would get a little booty injured about chakotay choosing kathryn's weird lizard offspring over his own son. SPEAKING OF SON i love the kolopak stuff about fatherhood it compliments the AU SOOOOO MUCH bc kolopak's like talking about the illegitimate children of a tribe being taken in despite their heritage JUST LIKE HIM!!!!!!! like chakotay could easily be talking to kolopak about his struggles with caring for these three infants that arent even his or something. maybe its vague haha. but inbetween Resolutions and Basics, kathryn's DEFINITELY pulled back on all that growth she did, like its a little different, but chakotay's frustrated about what to do. ALSO minor thing, but kathryn gets to eat weird eggs and bugs in this ep for survival and gets to make her crew do it too and i think that's awesome. :) also tiny note that the planet they get stranded on is hot and dry and i think kathryn and tom and babies would struggle with that so i think she'd be grouchy.

s3e8/s3e9 Future's End - just have to start that this ep has its opening with janeway as her like practicing tennis in her room and saying she's out of practice and 5000% AU associate her rusty skills with having a tail. :) canon compliance kinda necessitates these episodes have kathryn and tom look like, normal human. :/ the AU has to compliment proposed/used/failed solutions down the line in episodes as they organically occur like Ashes to Ashes where that's their FIRST time testing something to try and make Lyndsay Ballard look human, which to me means they wouldnt have attempted it prior to that episode and its waaaay in season 6. theres potential like, temporary disguise/genetic alteration ideas too like what they do with neelix and chakotay in some episodes, but i dont think theyd be able to do anything about hiding their tails! and these are the eps where the holographic emitter is ESTABLISHED so they dont even have that haha. the solution that seemed the EASIEST to me is like, some technobabble explanation accompanied by the weird time travel shenanigans voyager experiences in these episodes causing their genes to revert BACKWARDS just like they do in time. :) so theyre like, legit back to normal for a bit. but the triplets remain unaffected because they were born that way. i think building up to these eps, kathryn's like DABBLING in parenting but kinda noncommittal. this is also around the time that the triplets would start i think likeee talking or walking? put a pin in it i guess lol. kathryn and tom are hyped to look like themselves again, maybe act a little overindulgent on earth, being able to not stand out and get weird looks and all that. was thinking maybe the babies dont recognize her when she looks normal and a part of her feels sad about it. eventually they turn back when they return to their own time.

s3e11 The Q and the Grey - Q being infatuated with the only hyperevolved lady in existence real? i dont have some of the important details and ideas figured out in this ep, only that i can have fun with kathryn getting turned human and chakotay getting hyperevolved for a time. :) was thinking that when Q takes janeway to the continuum, that's when she gets forcefully turned human, i think she'd decline if he tried bribing her again. subsequently ms. Q feels a little threatened by janeway and she agrees to work with chakotay to help win Q back. i think the idea i'd had was that she'd hyperevolve chakotay to try and get janeway interested in him and not Q but idk if i like that idea. or she just does it for giggles. ANYWAY janeway at this point is kinda over it in regards to getting turned human again, it doesnt work. i think she'd assure chakotay that he doesnt need to change for her. :)

s3e12 Macrocosm - liked the idea of kathryn being alone but finding philippa uninfected and crying somewhere in a jeffries tube or something so she has to carry the baby around while she saves the ship.

[starry-sky-orchestra]

Let's make smiles bloom, anytime, everywhere! (WONDERHOY~!★)

welcome to my blog! (or welcome back if you knew me before i went by this user)

name: christy or papu either is fine

pronouns: she/her

sexuality: pansexual omniromantic

i am certified the prettiest princess in the entire world. bow down to me or else you get the guillotine grrr

-pls use tone tags when ur talking to me it makes a big big difference!!!!!

-possibly neurodivergent

-uh i apologize a lot and im really sensitive so. uh. jus like reassure me a lot ig

-if you call me a dry texter i will literally block you. /j but srsly not every1 is the best at talking..

-i have an agere blog which is basically my alt so follow that one if u want too. or not.

DNI: proshippers, anti antis(?? idk what this means but i see this in a lot of profiles), freakstarries, whatever weird pjsk fans call themselves, basic dni criteria ykyk, if u think age regression is a kink. it isn't. go fuck yoursel- if you support Sara_mjrb/lord_sara_gaming or mizumi-kagaho

social time whoohoo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

discord: ask in dms

youtube: pan_pan_papu

tumblr: ur here already.

wattpad: coming soon?? maybe????????

fandoms!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

project sekai

danganronpa (well. barely.)

anime in general but most of the subreddits on reddit fucking suck. theyre all either weirdos or homophobic (as in, i like yuri but yaoi is EWWWWW guys cant like guys!! i wld fuck alstolfo tho)

bubble guppies

rugrats

mewkledreamy

sanrio in general

im joining a lot of fandoms every day. too many to remember

parappa the rapper

cardcaptor sakura

mario

nintendo

animal crossing

shima shima tora no shimajiro

ojamajo doremi

little witch academia

idolmaster

ummmm im hypersexual so like im more. weirder. than other people

fanfic writer. kind of. i have 200 million fankids and i will write about them ALL

i am probably the only shima shima tora no shimajiro fan ever. like im being serious its not that well known out of japan

i like karaoke!!!!!! kind of! its fun <3

also. i am being serious about potty training being my special intrest. pls dont think im weird.

if u ever wonder why all my fankids are so young/why i usually draw pjsk characters younger than they acc are then. ur reason is here.

-my art is fucking ass. like seriously its so terrible its the worst thing you have ever see

-i love emukasa (pjsk ship) like so much. LIKE SO MUCH. THEY ARE THE BEST M/F PJSK SHIP RIGHT NEXT TO RUINENE AND TOUKOHA

-speaking of, if u dont like wxs m/f or vbs m/f dni. like imagine being pressed over two teenagers kissing. that is so silly. anyways most of my ships are m/f i dont know why i have a lot of m/m and f/f ships tho. there is no way you can convince me haruka kiritani is straight she is a girl kisser. same w airi.

-mahou shoujo has my heart and soul <33

-i love ken shiraishi. whoever made an's dad design i love you so much he is such a dilf bro

-professional shitposter

-this is rlly cringe to admit. but. im one of those fictional other people ig? my f/o is arisa mochida from the hit game idolmaster cinderella girls starlight stage

anyways my tags are

fanfics - fanfics. obvi.

ok thats it idk what else to write

oh damn i made this too long. anyways. heres my carrd. it looks better on phone.

ok goodbye

[jgvfhl]

The Number Lads Get A Night Out

Let them have nice things :) The lads deserve some relaxation time and some delicious noodles courtesy of the Noodle Grannies themselves. Please enjoy the shenanigans! Also I'm like. So close to 1000 followers??? Thank you??? 💖✨️

Words: ~6K

Warnings: None! Just happiness

Link to Number Lads Master List.

This list includes the link to the story on Ao3, but I will say that version is about... one chapter behind, but it's catching up.

The Chaos Batch's screen names are as follows:

mayhem_man = Nero

Grim Reaper = Sixes

RedBastard = Thire

beefcara = Bacara

mayhem_man: hello sixes

Grim Reaper: Nero

mayhem_man: I have been informed by one of my ARCs that you are… how did he say it

mayhem_man: “gaslight girlboss gatekeeping” the location of the noodle bar

RedBastard: LSKJDFLKAJDSFLKJSDLKFS WHAT

beefcara: What does that mean??

Grim Reaper: Tell Zero snitches get stitches.

RedBastard: ummmm okay but why are you gaslight girlboss gatekeeping??

beefcara: I would like to repeat my question from earlier. What the kriff does that mean??

mayhem_man: it means sixes has been keeping the noodle bar’s location a secret from all but two of his little number pals, including my ARC Zero.

RedBastard: why?

Grim Reaper: Because I could.

beefcara: girlboss??????????

mayhem_man: which of course is not a good enough reason to deny someone noodles

mayhem_man: I will give you until our next leave to rectify this or I’m bringing Firebolt with me next time we go for noodles

RedBastard: oh gods please not them

Grim Reaper: Why are you so dramatic about this, Nero?

mayhem_man: because i can

Grim Reaper: Understandable, have a horrible day

beefcara: I’m still confused

RedBastard: I’ll explain it when I see you next

-scene break-

The commander had always been cryptic, from the moment Nines had known the man. But this was a new level of enigma. He stared at his comm, reading and re-reading the message in the Numbers group comm from Commander Sixes that had arrived minutes ago when the 212th flagship had come out of hyperspace.

What did it mean?

No one had replied to it yet, probably because Sevenset was busy and no one else knew what to make of it. The entire message read as follows:

DEATH: I know some of you lot are due for leave soon. Go have fun.

DEATH: And Zero: snitch to your commander again, and I’m having words with you.

These messages were followed by an unmistakable series of numbers and punctuation comprising coordinates to somewhere… presumably on Coruscant? Why else would he have mentioned leave, after all.

As it happened, the 212th was on a short leave soon, mostly for resupplying and refitting after their previous missions. Nines would admit, he was curious. He hadn’t looked up the coordinates yet because he’d been busy making sure Ghost Co. was set for arrival out of hyperspace, and he would be busy for some time afterwards as they prepared for transport down to the surface. Then again, maybe he wouldn’t have to, considering the Numbers were some of the nosiest troopers he’d ever met, and he lived with Waxer.

So, he reasoned he could just wait long enough and he would find out exactly what the commander had just sent them.

He didn’t have to wait long.

As his and another squad loaded into a transport ship, his comm pinged, so he switched hands holding the handle above him and opened it.

Double Trouble: wait what is that

Double Trouble: holy shit

high fives: where is that?

#1 Boy: oh I know where that is!

Loopy: fascinating

Double Trouble: IT’S THE NOODLES IT’S THAT NOODLE PLACE ELEVNS WAS THERE

d0nut man: FINALLY

DEATH: Zero.

d0nut man: i mean thank you sir

high fives: oh awesome!! Echo wanna go get noodles??

That caught Nines’ attention. Did the 501st have a break too? Maker help the Guard. He shook his head, putting his comm away for the remainder of the flight. At least Do-si-do would finally get his noodle fix and stop complaining about it in the group comm. And, now he considered it, he might join him in that endeavor. Rations were boring, and if he found the place was actually clone-friendly and reasonably priced, he might have to visit.

Turns out, he didn’t have to make that decision, because within a few hours of Commander Sixes gracing the group with the location of this restaurant, the Numbers had figured out who was going to be dirtside, who had a free evening, and Do-si-do had told everyone in those categories to “be there or be square.”

Well. Nines had been wanting to try these noodles. So he made his way over to Little Sriluur on the chosen night, bringing along Wooley, because it was a rare thing for a trooper to wander through nattie neighborhoods by himself. They arrived at the coordinates an hour or so past sunset, and the street was still brightly lit from neon signs and glowing shopfronts.

Nines was still reading his HUD, watching their coordinates as they approached those specified, when Wooley tapped his arm.

“What?”

“Dude, use your eyes, not your scanner,” he said, pointing up.

A lit sign hanging vertically down the side of a building near the end of the walkway read Noodle Bar with a martini glass at the bottom.

“Oh.”

As they got closer, the entrance appeared, an arched doorway with an awning, and a smaller sign above it that read Sun’s Noodle Bar with a picture of a bowl of noodles underneath the words. A steady number of weequay, togruta, and other races filtered in and out of the door.

“Moment of truth?” Nines asked, eyeing the crowds.

“Sure is.”

When they got to the doors, they got a few odd looks from passersby, but nothing short of brief surprise or curiosity. That was understandable. The nearest barracks were whole kliks away. But when they entered, both of them hesitating briefly before finally removing their helmets (it usually made natties feel better), the server at the welcome kiosk just smiled like they were any other customers.

“Are you here with the other troopers?” he asked, perfectly civil.

“Uh… I think so?” Nines answered.

“They’re all upstairs.” He pointed to their left where a staircase began against the wall, disappearing up into a second floor.

Nines and Wooley exchanged glances. “Thank you,” Nines said, trying his best to mask his uncertainty.

As they walked towards the stairs, he glanced around the restaurant’s first floor. The floor plan was basically square, with a round bar at the center with what must be some kind of lift down to the kitchens and up to the second floor. He saw a shadow rise through the column as they walked, supporting the theory. The atmosphere was nice, the walls painted a warm yellow-orange, with dark wooden tables and chairs, deep maroon booth cushions, and intricate geometric designs inlaid into the wooden furnishings. Strings of small lights hung from the ceiling around the walls, over windows, reaching into the center like spokes on a wheel, and rows of them hung over the stairs, illuminating their journey upward.

The second floor was almost like the first, but smaller by about a third. What was a central bar and service station downstairs now stood against one wall to their far right, and a sliding metal door marked “Authorized Personnel Only” stood beside it. Interesting that it would be on the second floor. The walls here were a shade of lavender, if he had to call it anything, but it was warm and welcoming. The furnishings were largely the same as downstairs, as were the strings of lights, but the wall tapestries were different.

Before he had much of a chance to study them, he heard his name called. Looking around, he found Do-si-do waving at him from one of a pair of tables that stood next to each other at one end of the room. He recognized a few others there, as well as a few clones outside of their little group.

“Okay then,” Nines said to Wooley. “Clone-friendly indeed.”

When they got to the table, Do-si-do got up to greet them, which made Nines realize he’d never actually met him in person before.

“Hey, I’m so glad you could make it,” he beamed, offering a hand, then grasping Nines’ forearm enthusiastically when it was given. “Who’d you bring?”

“This is Wooley,” Nines said, turning slightly. “Wooley–”

“I’m Do-si-do,” the pilot cut him off, greeting Wooley in much the same manner Nines had received. “C’mon, have a seat. This place is wizard!”

They took the empty seats at Do-si-do’s table, mainly because he knew the most people there. Fives and Echo smiled and waved at him and Wooley as they sat down across from each other, and Captain Rex nodded from beside Echo. Fours was seated at the other end of the table across from Do-si-do, surprising Nines with his presence at all. This didn’t seem like Fours’ preferred kind of night out. But, it was probably better than a normal bar.

The other table next to theirs was mostly green. He recognized Zero and Commander Nero from the holocall with the other commanders, which had honestly made Cody smile more than he had in weeks at that point, so Nines could excuse the constructed chaos. The other two 118th troopers took a minute. After wracking his brain, he finally realized one of them had a black handprint tattooed over his mouth. Echo’s “Handprint Buddies” then. What were their names? He’d need a reminder. Commander Sixes and Commander Bacara were there as well. Commander Thire must not have been able to take the evening off with his batchmates.

He brought his attention back to his own table when Captain Rex tapped the table with the side of a menu in front of him. “First drink is on the house,” he said.

“Really?” Nines took the menu, glancing around at the others. Echo had something like a Cosmopolitan, the captain had a clear drink steaming in a red ceramic mug, and Fives had a Sunset with some variation on the typical fruit blend.

“Wow.” Wooley’s eyebrows had gone up as he read the menu. “That’s… a lot of margaritas.”

“They are one of our specialties.” A new voice from somewhere behind Nines’ side of the table caught everyone a little off-guard, and Captain Rex had to work not to choke on his own drink. “Those and the sake, which the captain should drink and not inhale.”

Nines twisted around to follow a weequay woman as she rounded their table to stand at its end, dressed in a soft pink layered dress with blue and red accents. She was old, her brown skin wrinkled beyond that of younger weequays, but her grey eyes were warm and bright, and her long braids were decorated with colored ribbons and metal charms.

“Hello, my dears,” she said, putting down a stack of larger menus in the center of the table. “My name is Mira. I am one of the lucky owners of this fine establishment.”

“Hi,” Nines said. “Are you who we have to thank for keeping Elevensies and Ahsoka Tano alive a while back?” He glanced at Fives, who rolled his eyes. He was still a little annoyed about how that whole episode had played out.

“Not me directly, no,” Mira answered. “My wife Saleha took care of that. She’s more… experienced with those things.” Leaving them to wonder what that meant, she looked to him and Wooley. “Can I get you boys some drinks? First one is on the house. Guests of our commanders are always well taken care of. May I know your names?”

Nines glanced up at the other table briefly. Our commanders, was it? Alright then.

Wooley answered first. “I’m Wooley. A jogan margarita sounds amazing,” he said, setting the drink menu down near the edge of the table. “Salt rim, please,” he added before she could ask.

Mira nodded, then turned to Nines. He glanced back over the menu briefly, but he he didn’t really feel like branching out tonight. “Nines. Corellian iced tea for me, thanks.”

She collected their menus. “Those will be right out to you,” she said, and gave a tiny bow before moving on, drifting to the next table over to stand between Commander Nero and Commander Sixes and hand out menus over there.

Do-si-do pounced on the menus, eagerly opening one and starting to scan the pages.

“Someone’s excited,” Wooley remarked, waiting for Fives to pass him one instead.

Echo snorted. “Yeah, well, someone’s been begging Commander Sixes for the name of this place for weeks,” he said, bumping Do-si-do with an elbow.

“And?” the pilot said, his bleached curls bouncing as he looked up sharply. “Have you seen some of these noodle bowls? The dumplings?”

Nines shook his head, his eye once again falling on the empty seat between Fives and Wooley. Fives’ helmet sat on it, and he’d put a protective hand on it when they’d arrived, like he was saving it. “Are we still expecting someone else?” he asked, taking his own menu as it was handed down.

Captain Rex answered. “Ahsoka said she might be able to join us. So… we’ll see.”

He nodded. “That’s nice. I hope she makes it.” No one had heard anything from or about the former Padawan, and he could imagine her brothers were eager to know she was safe.

He opened his menu.

Holy shit.

He kept flipping, and the menu kept going and going. The appetizers seemed endless, and when he'd finally gotten to the end of those, the soup dishes started and went on for a page and a half. Then there was a section for… raw seafood? He'd heard it was a delicacy in many places, but he'd never seen it himself. After that came a section of stir fry and rice dishes, and he honestly had no idea there was so much you could do with rice and vegetables. He glanced up at Wooley as he turned the next page, seeing his own confusion mirrored in his friend's face. After the stir fry came the famous noodle dishes, and he had to admit, they looked magnificent. But he was after dumplings, where were the dumplings?

“Am I allowed to marry food?” Do-si-do asked. “Because I think I want to.”

“Dude, we’re clones, we can’t even marry a person,” Fives replied with a frown.

“No, he has a point,” Echo said, pointing to the menu. “I’d marry this spiced nuna ramen.”

“You haven’t even tried it yet,” his brother said.

Their captain smirked behind his own menu. “And you don’t know if you’re its type, Echo.”

Echo gasped. “Rex, I am a delight. It is a known fact that I will get a boyfriend before Fives does.”

“A known fact?” Fives demanded, setting his menu down on the table. “Since when?”

Nines shook his head, glancing briefly down at Fours and Do-si-do. The Marine was practically hiding behind his menu, and probably would be until it was taken away. Do-si-do, amazingly, had forgone examining the noodle offerings to lean over for all the gossip he could get from the conversation happening next to him. Typical Do-si-do. When he looked over to Wooley, he saw his friend’s eyebrows were lopsided as he tried to figure out what the hell was going on. At least he’d had some experience with the 501st before. Throwing someone off the deep end with those guys was just mean.

Captain Rex cooly sipped his sake. “Since Echo asked everyone in your squad which of you would get a partner first, and everyone said Echo. You were asleep.”

“What?” Fives said, his utter indignation making everyone except Fours smile at least. “When–why did you–what? And since when are you a delight, Echo? You’re a kriffing menace!”

While the conversation descended into batcher banter, Nines leaned forward and told Wooley, “This is why Commander Sixes and his batch call the five-oh-first ‘Rex’s Freaks,’ by the way.”

His friend nodded. “Yeah, I can understand that.”

Finally, when the conversation had truly started going downhill, Captain Rex set down his menu and put a hand on Echo’s head. “Domino. Domino, we’re in a public setting.”

“Echo started it.”

“You took the bait.”

“Domino. Please.”

Echo smirked and went back to his menu, and his captain finally removed his hand from his head. Nines had a lot of respect for Captain Rex, and most of it went towards his abilities to wrangle his troopers and General Skywalker at the same time. Cody had his respect for much the same reason, only it applied to Generals Kenobi and Skywalker, as well as the rest of the 7th Sky Corps. Also Cody was awesome.

While the two ARCs had been having their discussion, Nines hadn’t noticed Commander Nero moving from his seat at the other table until he was already standing near the end of their table. His presence made them all sit up a little taller. Okay, well everyone except Fours, who sat bolt upright immediately. Some things didn’t change.

Captain Rex looked up. “Commander.”

“I’m always amazed at how effective ARC training is on the field,” Commander Nero said.

“Oh, I am too, sir,” the captain said, looking to Domino.

Echo sniffed. “Why Rex, I’m sure I don’t know what you mean.” Fives stuck his tongue out at him.

Commander Nero smiled briefly. “Anyway,” he said, “I wanted to let you all know it means a lot to Mira and her wife that you guys are here. They love having clones around, so if you’re ever on Trip Zip and need somewhere to eat, they’d be thrilled.”

“I’m just glad Commander Sixes finally gave us the location,” Do-si-do said, eyeing the commander at the other table. He must have noticed, because he brought his right hand to his face and very pointedly scratched his nose with his middle finger.

“Yeah, well, he’s a stubborn bastard,” Commander Nero smiled. “We all are, truthfully, just he and Bacara are a bit more petty about it.”

“Banthashit!” Commander Bacara called over. “You’re worse.”

Captain Rex raised an eyebrow at him. But further conversation was interrupted by a cheerful voice from the bar on the far side of the tables.

“A jogan margarita and a Corellian iced tea?”

Nines couldn’t help the smile from forming on his face, and he watched Fives, Echo and Captain Rex all cycle through expressions of shock and disbelief before breaking into huge smiles.

Ahoska came to stand next to Commander Nero, and he moved a little to the side to let her set down the drinks by Nines and Wooley. She still wore her akul headgear, although her Padawan beads were gone, but she seemed happy enough regardless. Her robes and armor had been replaced by a dark red shirt with the sleeves rolled up, black pants and shoes, and a tan apron tied around her waist where her lightsabers used to hang.

“I had the iced tea,” Nines said, and she set down the glasses in front of each trooper.

Then she darted around Commander Nero to Captain Rex and wrapped her arms around his neck from behind. “Hey, guys!”

“Soka!” Fives grinned.

“So this is where you ended up, eh?” Echo asked, reaching up to pat her shoulder when she hugged him.

Commander Nero shrugged. “Well, Saleha took a liking to her, and they’ve always had a spare bedroom in their apartment upstairs, so.”

Ah, that explained it. These women were serial adopters apparently, given the earlier comment about “our commanders.” Good. They seemed like good people. Ahsoka came around the other side of the table as the 118th’s commander retreated to his own, taking the seat Fives’ helmet had been saving for her. She hugged him like she had his brother and captain before she sat down.

“Hey, Commander,” Echo called over, and of course all three of them looked up. They seemed to figure out who it was for, and then only Commander Sixes was paying attention. “Did you know by depriving us of this location you were also depriving us of our little sister–”

“Shut up, Echo.”

Captain Rex snorted. “I’m glad you’ve found a place, Ahsoka.”

She smiled. “Yeah. I guess I kind of have the uh… Numbers here to thank for it,” she said, looking around the table. “If you guys hadn’t found Elevensies and introduced him to Commander Sixes, that whole thing would have been a lot uglier.”

Do-si-do beamed. “Well, you’re welcome for dragging everyone into it.”

Soon after Ahsoka appeared, Mira returned, and Nines finally tried his drink. He had to admit, it was damn good. He nodded at Wooley, who looked just as pleased with his.

The old weequay stood at the end of their table. “Is everyone ready, or should I give you more time?”

Everyone looked around the table, waiting for objections. Nines shrugged. “Looks like we’re ready,” he said. “Do-si-do?”

The pilot nodded seriously. “I was decanted ready.”

Mira smiled. “Aiya, let’s not keep you waiting.” She produced a small datapad and a stylus for it, then looked up expectantly.

One by one, they gave their orders. Ahsoka gave hers without even glancing at a menu, but she had been living here for a couple months now. Lucky girl, from what Nines had seen coming out of the kitchens around them. Perfect spot for a growing carnivore. He himself ordered a dumpling sampler with a side of Shili kybuck soup, and he was very much looking forward to trying everything.

When Mira had collected their menus and gone to the other table, Echo leaned forward to talk to Ahsoka. “So? How is it on the outside?”

She paused, looking down at her folded arms on the tabletop. “It’s… so different,” she said finally. “I mean, of course, I miss you guys, and I miss Anakin and Obi-Wan all the time. I don’t miss getting shot at, though.”

They laughed. Captain Rex raised his cup. “I will drink to that. You’re a lot safer here than with us, kid.”

“Yeah. I still think… I still think leaving was the best thing for me at the time,” she went on, her gaze once again falling. “I was just so confused and… and angry. And I knew the Jedi could have taken care of me–I could have taken some time off the field and did what Barriss did, take some time to recenter but…” She shook her head. “I dunno. After all that scrutiny from the Senate, and what happened to Barriss with those conspiracy theory goons?”

They nodded. They all knew the mixed emotions that had followed the tribunal and general hubbub around the Temple bombing. Ahsoka had faced the brunt of it.

“You’ve earned some time to yourself,” Captain Rex said. “I’m glad you’re getting some.”

She nodded. “How is everything, though? I can’t get the same information I used to.”

Nines shrugged. “War rages on.”

Fives added, “Rex finally managed to get a promotion to stick to Hardcase.”

His captain rolled his eyes and shook his head as Ahsoka’s eyes lit up with curiosity. “Really? How?”

This wouldn’t have anything to do with this new rumor Nines had heard, would it…?

The captain spread his hands a little, leaning back in his chair. “The five-oh-first finally has its own demo team. And I appointed Hardcase as their leader.”

“That sounds like a nightmare,” Wooley said.

“It’s insane,” Echo agreed.

“But it’s working!” Fives grinned. “He reports to Jesse, and Jesse works though most of the stupidity by the time Echo gets it, and it’s working!”

“Go figure,” Ahsoka said, smiling along. “Are they any good?”

The captain nodded. “They’re effective, yeah.”

“Happily effective,” Echo added.

“Huh,” Nines said, his gaze drifting over to the 118th troopers. Didn’t they have an entire company dedicated to blowing things up? Firestorm? Something like that. He’d have to pick Zero’s brain about it. Hell, maybe Captain Rex should meet up with their commanding officer to get some advice.

Turns out, he wasn’t the only one on that train of thought. Fives leaned back and tapped one of the Handprint troopers–the other ARC. “Hey, Pixel.”

Pixel twisted around. “What?”

“What’s that name of that group you’ve got that blows up everything?”

Pixel’s brows rose. “Firebolt Company, why?”

Fives gestured to Captain Rex. “Firebolt Company! See, I told you, they have an even bigger version.”

The uninformed newcomer to the conversation shot a confused look at Echo, who explained. “Torrent Company just made our first dedicated demo team, we might need some pointers.”

“Ooh, cool!” The other Handprint trooper had turned around too, his smile distorting the black handprint tattooed over his mouth. Ouch… “How big is it?”

By that point, the other members at the far table had started listening along.

“Why are we talking about Firebolt?” Commander Nero asked, shooting a cautious glance at Commander Sixes and receiving a very eloquent raised eyebrow in response.

“Why are we shouting across a table when we could just move them together?” Commander Bacara said, and he did make a good point.

“Okay, okay, no one likes a know-it-all,” Commander Nero replied, getting slightly confused looks from the other commanders. Then he stood up and gestured to the tables. “Well? Were you just saying things to hear your own voice? Let’s go.”

Luckily for everyone around (and there weren’t many patrons nearby), they were military men, and they accomplished the simple task with nothing short of battlefield precision. Commander Nero gave the orders and directed Zero, Pixel, and the other trooper to help Fives and Echo move the chairs from between the tables, and there would undoubtedly be a little rearranging of seats to be done once the other chairs wouldn’t quite fit on either end. But, the other table had had two empty seats, so the end result wasn’t too squished.

Wooley ended up next to him instead of across from him, and once everyone was seated again, Commander Nero prompted Captain Rex to explain himself, which he did. Largely, the conversation was meaningless to Nines. He had no desire to be much of an officer, or be anywhere near a demo team in the field. But, the captain seemed to enjoy picking the other commander’s mind, and he would no doubt need the advice, from what Nines recalled of the stories about Hardcase.

Beside him, he saw Ahsoka lean over to Echo from where she sat between the two ARCs. “Where are you guys headed next?” she asked, a bit quieter than the conversations around her.

Echo took a drink from his conical glass, glancing around at the other patrons he could see. He finished his scan of the area and set down his glass to trace out words on the table top.

Ringo Vinda.

Ahsoka narrowed her eyes. “Mid-rim, right? Space station or planet?”

“Station.”

She nodded again, her expression sharpening minutely. Battles in space were more dangerous by far than those fought dirtside. One wrong explosion, and a whole platoon could be sucked out into the cold crush of space. She knew that. She was what? Seventeen? Eighteen? And she knew that.

He shook his head, taking a drink himself to shake the concerns that brought. There was no use in them. War was war, and the Jedi had joined.

“Just you guys, or is there another battalion going?” Ahsoka asked, yet another astute inquiry.

Echo once again traced on the table. 962.

“That’s… Masters Tiplee and Tiplar, right? The twin sisters.”

Twins? Nines had no recollection of learning about any twin generals on Kamino, but his time on Kamino had been a lifetime of battles ago. He knew what he needed to know, and if he needed to know more, he’d take the time to learn.

Echo nodded. “Commander Doom is their CC.”

“Looking like an easy one, or… no?”

The ARC shrugged. “Can’t tell from here. Shouldn’t be terrible, though.” It was impossible to tell if he said that genuinely, or as a way to assuage her regret at being unable to go help them win. Both was just as likely as one or the other.

He paused his eavesdropping when Wooley nudged his elbow. “Why don’t more clones know about this place?” he wondered, looking around. “I mean no one’s even given us weird looks, and there’s almost a dozen of us. Including Domino.”

“That’s a bit harsh.”

“Fine, they’re being civilized, I know, whatever. You get my point.”

Nines nodded his understanding. “I do, I do. I guess the commanders come here often enough for it to be… normal?”

They both looked over to the three commanders.

Commander Nero was still engrossed in regaling some story to Captain Rex, his eyes shining with utter delight as he used his hands to gesture at what could only be a truly thunderous explosion in the narrative. Commander Sixes sat on his other side, deep in conversation with Commander Bacara next to him. They weren’t even looking at each other, the Marines commander looking down at the table top, his finger tracing and retracing the inlaid pattern in the wood as he talked. But he was clearly just as engaged in the conversation as his brother, who was talking fixedly at a point by the stairs. The conversation seemed to concern some level of violence, because he saw the commanders both gesticulate at least once each like they were ripping something apart with their hands.

Regular, sure. Commonplace, perhaps.

“Normal might be a stretch,” he said aloud.

Wooley snorted. “Well, we’re genetically engineered soldiers. What’s normal got to do with it?”

“Yeah, that’s fair.”

They didn’t have much longer to wait until the doors of the large lift opened behind the bar and a whole half of the bar swung open to accommodate the large serving carts that arrived. There was a pair of them, the first of which Mira pushed, the cart hovering a few inches off the ground like a landspeeder might. But Nines’ attention rested on the old weequay only momentarily, because behind her, now backlit from the lift as the doors closed, was, by comparison, a towering togruta pushing a similar cart.

Judging by her age and the familiarity with which this togruta manoeuvered around Mira and the tables, this had to be the other owner. He hadn’t learned her name yet, but they made quite the pair together. Mira’s wife was about two feet taller than her, with warm red-orange skin, rich fuschia stripes on her montrals and lekku, and glittering metal and jewels adorning her nose, brow, arms, hands, and lekku. Dark red fabric draped over her shoulder and wrapped around her waist over a long black dress, all embroidered with flowers and small birds.

She came to their side of the table while Mira went to the other side. “Hello, gentlemen,” she said. “My name is Saleha. I believe you’re all ready to eat, yes?”

Do-si-do was literally gazing at the steaming plates and bowls. “Yes, ma’am.”

She laughed a little, and set about naming the dishes to get them handed out as soon as possible. When she had finished setting out the bowls and other dishes, including little bottles and bowls for various sauces, she asked, “Does anyone want cutlery instead of chopsticks?”

Nines blinked, looking down around his bowl and plate and realizing there were no forks or knives, just… two sticks and a spoon. He saw Wooley doing the same beside him. Looking up and around, he saw the three commanders with their gloves and vambraces off, skillfully manipulating their noodles around with the chopsticks like they’d been doing it for years.

Lucky bastards probably had been.

“I’d like some,” he said, giving a somewhat sheepish smile.

“Yeah, me as well, ma’am,” Wooley added, and Captain Rex and Echo followed suit.

Saleha put down forks and knives wrapped in red napkins for them, then moved away, pushing the cart back to the lift with her wife. Nines saw Echo’s face pinch into a little frown as he unwrapped his fork.

Ahsoka asked what he was wondering. “I thought you knew how to use chopsticks, Echo.”

“Yeah, I do,” he said, “but ever since getting all those burns up my arm, it’s not very comfortable.”

“Well, you’re still better at it than me,” Nines offered. “I never even learned.”

Echo smiled, twisting a bundle of noodles onto a fork and blowing on them to cool them down. “Fives kept dragging me to these takeout places where they handed ‘em out. We got curious and looked up how to use them on the ‘net.”

He nodded back, sipping tentatively at a spoonful of soup.

Oh wow, that was good.

Everyone must have thought similarly, because the table was almost entirely void of conversation as everyone started eating. He was a little glad the soup had some spice in it, so he couldn’t inhale it in two seconds the way his brain and stomach were wanting him to do.

Wooley, who had also ordered some dumplings, reached to take one of the bottles of sauce Saleha had delivered with their food. “What is this?” he said, turning it to read the label. He looked up across the combined tables. “Commanders?”

The three looked up at the same time, which was kind of amusing.

Wooley held up the sauce. “What are these?”

Commander Nero answered. “Oh, that one’s the homemade hot sauce,” he said, pointing with his chopsticks to the bottle of orange sauce. “That’s better for the soups or noodles if you want extra kick. That one,” he said, pointing to the bottle of brown liquid on the table, “is called soy sauce, and it is amazing, and should go on and inside of your dumplings.”

Nines couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow at the immediate and comprehensive reply. Wooley smiled at it, and said, “Sir yes sir,” so just Nines and Pixel either side of him could hear. They both smiled at it.

While Wooley filled one of the tiny bowls with the dark brown sauce, Nines couldn’t help his curiosity. “Commander Nero, may I ask how exactly you found this place?”

All of the 118th troopers’s heads pivoted to their CO, eager anticipation visible on almost all of their faces. Pixel seemed a more subdued soldier than Zero or the other one.

Commander Nero glanced at them, then looked at Nines. “No, you may not.”

The 118th troopers deflated slightly. Well then.

“He was drunk and committing crimes,” Commander Bacara said.

“I can kill you in your sleep,” his brother replied breezily.

“My room’s booby trapped beyond recognition, you’d never make it two steps inside.”

“I can still firebomb–”

Commander Sixes cut them off. “Maker’s sake, will you two just eat your damn noodles?”

The two commanders eyed each other and went back to eating their damn noodles.

There was a brief pause before he heard Captain Rex say, “I don’t want to hear it, Fives.”

Presumably, Fives was about to point out that the commanders were allowed to have their disagreements, but he and his batchmate had been silenced too soon. After another pause, slightly longer than the last, the trooper whose name still escaped Nines spoke up.

“Commander Bacara, what did you mean when you said you room is booby trapped beyond recognition?”

Before Commander Nero had a chance to cut in, the Marines commander answered, “It means you’d be dead in about three seconds if they’re armed and you walk in like an idiot.”

Nox blinked. He looked at Fours, who nodded seriously. “You’re allowed to do that, sir?”

“Of course he’s not, Nox,” Commander Nero said. “But what doesn’t get reported doesn’t exist.”

Zero nudged Nox. “Yeah, like your secret stash no one’s supposed to know about?”

Nox’s eyes went comically wide. “No! You didn’t!”

“I didn’t!” Zero assured him. “It’s fine. I may have simply helped myself to a finder’s fee–”

“No! Commander!”

“What do you want me to do about it, Nox?” their commander said. “He found it fair and square. Get better at hiding your stuff, you’re in Whisper Co.”

Nox sighed, glaring at Zero as he returned to his bowl of noodles. “Yeah, they’re also in Whisper,” he muttered. “That’s the problem.”

The whole evening followed a quiet repetition of little discussions working up into small disagreements until it was shut down by someone else–and honestly, in Nines’ experience, that was how a lot of interactions with clones tended to go. They were soldiers, they spent their time trying to make dying feel like a worthwhile proposition, so their methods of letting off steam were usually a little coarser than the average civvy. But it was nice.

It was weird as hell, but it was nice.

The food was absolutely as good as Do-si-do had hoped, if his silence and constant smile were anything to go by. Before he’d started eating, he’d managed to find the self-control to take a picture of his bowl of ramen to send it to the Numbers chat so Sevenset could see it. He had the feeling those two missed being able to see each other in person more than the rest of the bunch, so he was glad Sevenset got to be included somehow. Rancor must be on a mission or asleep, though, because they didn’t get a reply that evening.

Mira and Saleha were coming and going fairly frequently. He figured as the owners, they had plenty of other people managing the place for them, so they flitted around, making sure everything was going smoothly, but that still left them with plenty of time to come talk to the commanders or Ahsoka. They just seemed so nice, it honestly amazed him. The commanders–even Sixes and Bacara, the rougher, gruffer of the three–let them pat their shoulders or put a hand on their heads like they were cadets.

Their kindness and open compassion even worked a little magic on Fours. The quiet Marine actually blushed a little under Mira’s compliments to his hair, and Nines caught him holding a brief conversation with Fives a little later on, although it was far too quiet to hear across the table. Seeing that, Nines knew those women could be trusted.

He just knew.

Warm happy feelings, yes? Yes. @mercurydancer @23-bears @theultimatesandwich @rndmpeep @soclonely as usual, let me know if you want to be added to the tags!

[facetsofthecloset]

9 people you would like to know better

tagged by @vonlipvig, thanks!

1. 3 ships: Glenda/Mr.Nutt from Unseen Academicals, Adora/Moist from Going Postal etc., uhhh shoot do I even have a non-Discworld ship I actively care about ummmm

OH let’s go for the classic Gay Attorneys Phoenix/Edgeworth lol

2. first ever ship: hmmm. Probably Ranma/Akane from the middle school days. Tbh nowadays I feel like Akane is a lesbian actually but it could work out if they grow up and Ranma becomes more comfortable identifying as gender-fluid or gender neutral

3. last song: I’ve been binging podcasts for the past week or so but I’ve also been playing Stardew Valley while listening, so probably whatever track I last heard there lol

Oh wait I had a midnight crisis last night and listened to The Horror and the Wild by The Amazing Devil a lot so there we go

4. last movie: i genuinely don’t remember, but I think I recently rewatched Nausicaa?

5. currently reading: nothing technically bc I just finished the new Murderbot audiobook but that said GO READ (or listen to, even though the narrator of the audiobook is TERRIBLE at pronouncing names) MURDERBOT DIARIES I PROMISE IT’S WORTH IT

I mean if you’re not a fan of the sarcastic first person narrative format maybe you won’t like it but it’s very well done. It’s my kind of sci-fi, in that it focuses less on tech and worldbuilding (although there’s plenty of that) and more on character and how the worldbuilding actually affects the people in it

6. currently watching: my favorite hbomberguy and Folding Ideas video essays on loop. Although it’s usually as background while I play video games soooo watching might not be the right word lol

7. currently consuming: food-wise nothing; I’m at the doctor’s office waiting room for physical therapy. Media-wise, have been listening to a lotttt of Behind the Bastards, started with the Kissinger stuff. Really makes me think emotional intelligence/healthy coping mechanisms should be taught officially or something. Sure, some people will still be awful but I think at least some people would wind up NOT committing atrocities y’know

8. currently craving: Kailua pig. Or like, one really, really good avocado. The ones back home are probably in season now and yet I am trapped in the temperate zone where no one knows when an avocado is ripe and just toss in some hard green cubes

9. tagging @mariegoos (thanks again for the Murderbot rec!) @bittersweet-poppy @petrabasil @darkprincecait if any of you want to!

[darlingpoppet]

✨ Get to know me ✨

I was tagged by @alibonbonn a while back (thank you so much!) sorry for the late response but I suppose this is a good way to reintroduce myself to my tumblr followers (hey y’all!)

Current Wallpaper: I don’t wanna take a screenshot of it since it’s someone else’s fanart but it’s this Hades Patrochilles piece by Zeyan. (are they on tumblr? Idk lemme know and I’ll reblog it!) my home screen is a much older eruri fanart whose artist I can’t even remember anymore :’) hopefully they’re out there thriving!

Three Ships: Patrochilles, Eruri, ummmm FrodoSam (idk I’ve been emotional about them again recently) also I feel like this shouldn’t be allowed to count since I haven’t played the game but I’ve been mega eyes emoji over FFXVI ever since I heard about Dion & Terence because I’m SO WEAK for any and all king & lionheart ships (these are all king & lionheart ships!!!!)

First ship: OH GOD it was probably 1x2, Heero Yuy x Duo Maxwell from Gundam Wing aka the millennial baby’s first bl amirite folks? Wolfstar was also an early formative ship, from a book series whose name I can’t seem to remember now… hmm weird!

Fave color: mint green! I love wearing it and I love home aesthetics using it as an accent color

Last song: Mr. Kitty - After Dark

Last movie in theatres: ATSV babyyy!! I have half of that soundtrack stuck in my head 24/7 so any of those songs would also easily apply to the previous question

Last show: tv? I don’t know her (I’m pretty sure the last series I actually finished was OFMD but that was over a year ago and I still haven’t finished IWTV orz)

Currently reading: The Priory Of The Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon (the real answer is “the Iliad for the 84847384th time”. I also just finished reading Plato’s Symposium)

Current obsession: Everyone who knows me knows this by now but I’ve been deep in a Greek mythology rabbit role for about a year & a half now with no hope of escape. Particularly anything Iliad/Trojan War/Achilles/Patrochilles related. I’m sorry for the person I’m about to become when Dr. Emily Wilson’s Iliad translation is released this September 😔

Unrelated obsession: I love watching ASMR videos, especially ones with massages, hair brushing, or 1st person POV where they do your makeup or give you a spa treatment or whatever lol. Also wood soup asmr! I also recently got into keyboard asmr and bought myself some wireless keyboards for my birthday which make nice thocky/clacky noises 🤤

Currently working on: a lot of fic writing for zines, djs, and ao3, but my main WIP is Where The Dead Forget, a memory loss AU Patrochilles fic set in the Hades game universe, which also has a lot of my own retellings of the Achilles & Patroclus myths woven in. The updates have been slow in the last few months but I’m finally close to publishing a new chapter. We’re still in the early game so come join me! ✨

Tagging: @cosmicvoidance @cottonomz-again @johaerys-writes @lostcauses-noregrets @zorthania @erwinsalive, and anyone else who wants to do it! (sorry if you’ve already been tagged or did this I haven’t been around lol)

[theabyssgazesalsointoyou]

5 8 14 15 from the character ask game for chloe valentine!

5. What's the first song that comes to mind when you think about them?: michelle by sir chloe

8. What's something the fandom does when it comes to this character that you despise?: oh god. i am the no. 1 chloe valentine apologist so obviously it pisses me off to no end when people just. villainize her. did she do some really fucked up things? yes. is there nuance to that? also fucking yes. you can hate her all you want but that doesn't mean i can't like her </3

14. Assign a fashion aesthetic to this character.: ummmm i'm not really sure... something simple but fashionable in an elegant way like. tweed cardigans and boot cut pants. idk if there's a name for the style i have in mind but yeah

15. What's your favorite ship for this character? (Doesn't matter if it's canon or not.): pinkberry & royal pains they are the ships ever

[brown-little-robin]

People you'd like to get to know better

Thanks for tagging me, @strawberryhoneycomb! 🥰

Three ships sibling relationships I enjoy: Shigeo and Ritsu Kageyama (Mob Psycho 100), Bart Allen and Thad Thawne (Impulse), and uhhhh there's a lot of third places. and I'm hungry

First ship: oh dear, um, the first romantic relationship I cared about in fiction might have been... Howl and Sophie, Howl's Moving Castle!

Last song: "1", the 3rd opening song from MP100

Favorite color: Currently, sea-green :)

Currently watching: Hikaru no Go, also Avatar: The Last Airbender (slowly, alas) and Over the Garden Wall (also slowly, alas, I'll watch the last episode one of these days!)

Last Movie: I don't remember—WAIT. HAMILTON!! I did a Hamilton movie night recently! It was my first time watching it and I had a blast, although I think it's the kind of thing I'll only watch once every five+ years 👍🏻

Currently reading: Hikaru no Go (manga version)! Also A Breach of Trust (mp100 fanfiction)!

Sweet/savory/spicy: Today I'm feeling savory! 🤌🏻🤌🏻

Currently consuming: ummmm I'm really hungry and I have a pop-tart here, but I'm thinking of maybe buying a more significant lunch at the library... time will tell which I choose

Currently craving: CHICKEN BACON CLUB WRAP (FROM LIBRARY CAFE)

Relationship status: single and happy with that :3

Last web search: "mobbu Japanese" because I was checking to make absolutely Sure I was remembering Mob's Japanese name spelling correctly lol

Currently working on: my poetry capstone project, fighting tooth and nail with my bedtime (@robins-bedtime-tracker), and making plates in ceramics class!

Tagging: open tag for anyone who wants to do this! say you stole it from me it'll be delightful XD

[clarenecessities]

ummmm what about. uhhh those women from the supergirl show. now that i type that im pretty sure one of them is supergirl

oh, buddy. yes, one of them is supergirl.

disclaimer: i have never and will never watch the cw's supergirl, bc i love myself

What made you ship it?

well it TURNS OUT that there's a lot of overlap in Supercorp shippers and Catradora shippers, for some reason. can't imagine why! [puts a blanket over my venn diagram's cage]

so i went a little insane after she-ra came out (you remember) and read about 6k fics, just scrolling through the tag with some filters on & clicking on anything that looked interesting. it was a very interesting time in our lives. a lot of me going "huh? whah?" in call. birth of the scorpia disclaimer.

but eventually i ran out of she-ra fics. and i like... i couldn't stop, you know? and it turns out that some of the best she-ra authors have written a lot of supergirl fics. so it kept coming up when i was on author-specific binges. and i got curious! i'm a curious guy!

and then it turns out they're really cute >:( they're adorable, damn it.

ik i'm never gonna be able to drag you into this hole with me, since you already have a designated CW trainwreck, but if you're ever feeling bored the first one i ever read was really fucking funny and requires zero knowledge of canon. i didn't know alex's pronouns until halfway through bc i'd never heard of her (literally supergirl's sister). initially i clicked on it bc "superhero pretends to date her civilian identity" sounded hysterical but like... kara is so sweet, and so socially inept. and lena is a human disaster who just wants to help. and they both have crippling abandonment issues and no chill whatsoever

What are your favorite things about the ship?

i like that they appreciate each other. the version of them that i've constructed piecemeal from other people's opinions is such that like... they've both been pretty miserable, right? lena watched her mom die when she was like 4 years old and then got adopted by the luthors, kara watched her planet explode & pawned off by clark (who was like 30 years older than he was supposed to be bc of DC bullshit) on some human family and had to pretend to be normal for a decade or so.

and they both hide that pretty well, kara with kindness and lena with unapproachable businesswoman...ness... but they're both immediately fascinated by each other. and they're both sort of genuine with each other, even when they're in 'nice but bumbling civilian' or 'ruthless luthor' mode. so where it gets interesting for me is those moments they reach a mutual understanding of something, or where they trust each other in spite of Every Other Thing.

in like their first meeting lena says she's just a woman trying to make a name for herself outside of her family & asks if they can understand and kara is like "🥺 yeah..." and like they were just kind of fucked from there. sigh. you don't know how good you have it with riverdale polycule man. fuckin CW.

Is there an unpopular opinion you have on your ship?

i have many but the one that comes up most often isn't an opinion, it's a fact.

“khap zhao rrip” is fucking nonsense. it does not mean 'i love you'. it's SVO instead of VSO and zhao is a noun why are you even including kyrptahniuo if you're just going to find-and-replace random words.

listen. listen to me. zhaoivodh khap rrip. it is literally easier than french. nobody fucking does it right logan it makes me feel insane

[ahkjwillie]

idk who made these questjojs but i answered them in notes a few months ago so here

AHKJ FANS - QUESTIONS i found these lets do them 

1. What do you think about All Hail King Julien ?

Very good

2. What episode/s is/are your favourite and why?

S2 e15 cos funny mort ha ha

S2 e5 funy mort scamrr haha

S3 e10 leanred off loads of mort c just like it idk

S5e10- Mort lore on top

s5e3- wHY DO I NEED AN EXPLANATION ON WHY I LIKE STUFF

3. What is/are your favourite season/s and why?

2 AND 3 SOO GOOFY

4. Who is/are your favourite character/s and why?

i have an order: mort willie clover pam andrew

5. Who is/are your favourite main character/s and why ?

Mort and clover

6. Who is/are your least favourite character/s and why?

BRUCE ONE EYED SIMON ROBMCTODD (NOT PHANTOM) UMM KOTO WHAT A PEDO 

7. Who is/are your favourite enemy/ies and why?

PAM KAREN PIRATES UKJ CRIMSON ON TOP

8. What is/are your favourite ship/s and why?

NONE U UGLY WHO DO U THINK I AM☠️☠️

9. What is/are least favourite ship/s and why ?

ALL OF HTEM! BUT I HAVE A TOP 3: WORT PANDY JOVER

10. What is/are your favourite OST/s ?

WHAT THE HELL IS THAG🔥🔥oh soundtrack u couldve just said song umm me and my crew big stacks i love ur toes

11. What is/are your favourite kingdom/s ?

LEMURS DUHHH IF NOT THEN CROCS XX

12. Which character/s do you want to meet the most and why?

IDK MORT

13. What do you want to change in AHKJ and why?

CLOVER MARRYING SAGE☠️☠️☠️

14. Are you making/doing fanarts, fanmixes or fanfics ?

IDK WHAT A FANMIX IS BUT YA TO THE OTHER ONES (THE STORYS ARE JOKES THO)

15. What do you think about the ending ?

MMMMMMIDDD I HATE IT I HAAAATEEE ITTT

16. Which episode/s is/are the best for you and why?

U ALR ASKED THIS..

17. Which episode/s is/are to worst for you and why?

IDK NONE

18. What is/are your favourite scene/s and why?

UMMMM

 “BUT LOOK THE LITTLE GUYS SMILING”

OH THE UMM STEALING QUESTIONS IN S5 E8

THE KIDNAPPING ASWELL

I LOVE UR TOES OBVIII

WILLIE VS HORST VS PANCHO S3E10( IM GOING FOR WILLIE)

ANY PAM EXILED SCENE

THE LALA AND MORT RUNNING AWAY FROM CLOVER S1E8

EATING WILLIE S4E7 ELOELELOELELOEL

THE DR S  NURSE PHANDTOM AND MAURICE IN S3 E5 

ok thats too many soz 

19. What is/are your least favourite scene/s and why?

Sigh… theres aload but.. 

king juliensFASHION SHOW JESUS CHRIST

….”we dont have time for-“

Sigh when like in s2e3 when maurice thinks clover ermmm.. like literally shut up mayrice common maurice L im gonna pop ur head off no she does not

Any of thise wrestling partsLIEK STOP IT STOP IT RIGHT NOW

Erm any other awkward scene to watch with my family

20. Have you ever cried while watching?

…guilty

21. Which scene/s is/are the funniest for you?

Brah i just named them funnt = fav

22. What do you think about King Julien?

Very good x

ok leave

[iratusmus]

😳🫡

*cue Katy Perry LOL*

😳 Hottest Sonic Take?

ok definitely not my hottest sonic take but some things are best left unsaid. regardless uhhh one of them . at least in the realm of scourge fans specifically is that m*ghtourge as a ship SUCKS it SUCKS its HORRIBLE and i cant even begin to bring myself to apologize for it. like i dont feel sorry at all like you take away scourge's tacky sunglasses and you take away the tacky flame and then you make him into a smol uwu bean housewife for some godforsaken reason (namely because you dont understand the character even a little bit like this is top ten fundamental misunderstandings ever of all time) for your bad yaoi. im not even going to call it m/m its YAOI. then you ship him with .... mighty ? mighty, a guy who has 1) Standards 2) absolutely no relation to scourge even a little bit 3) NO DYNAMIC THERE TO EXPLORE. THERES NOTHING INTERESTING HERE. its literally. ok sonourge is onecest (its not like . problematic i guess its just really weird) and i am notably not a fan but at least theres something to EXPLORE. the amount of character assassination you would have to do to get that to work is truly incredible but with m*ghtourge its literally character assassination but for the worlds most boring cardboard box bland instant gratification fanon crappy yaoi GARBAGE. theres NOTHING interesting here and none of these people even want to write a scourge redemption arc anyways they literally just want to make everything he ever did not his fault because a) moebius lead poisoning or something, which weirdly enough does not apply to any of the other moebians except for scourge b) his daddy issues c) his trauma or d) some combination of the above. so basically "he was never evil to begin with he was just really sad and lonely 😌✨" which is literal trash like i dont even know where to begin on this one. look. im a huge fan of redemption arcs but this is neither a redemption nor an arc this is an EXCUSE HEEL-FACE TURN. ITS TRASH. ITS TRASH. OHHHHH ITS JUST GARBAGE i actually have way more i could say on this but i will spare you the rest . this got a little out of hand. oh well

🫡 Coldest Sonic Take?

i dont like surge and kit all that much im SORRYYYYYYYYYY im sorry but its TRUEEEEEEEE. literally they have been redeemed so much in my eyes by the passion for them of my dear mutuals bunnymajo and cartoonrival so we're back to "decidedly neutral" but like . im sorry its not even their fault theyre just .... okay because the thing with me is that when characters who i feel decidedly neutral on get super popular and nobody will ever shut up about how amazing and perfect and poor uwu bean they are ... this is the quickest path to get me to dislike them.

added on top of the fact that they were literally like the entire idw focus for a year AND people (non-archie fans, specifically,) kept . bafflingly. beyond all reason and comprehension. comparing surge to scourge (which i have already ummmm written about my opinions on) it just. im sorry guys 💔 theyre okay. theyre Fine. they just never really clicked with me and then people were super annoying about them and particularly annoying in the direction of archie sonic, a series which i am aggressively defensive over in the face of idw fans 😭