Mae-the-4th - I Have A Bad Feeling About This...

That is very true....

Buddy Prendergast

Out of curiosity, I was just wondering if it was established about how Buddy lost his leg?

I have an idea ... but I'm saving it for the final Whumptober 2020 prompt ... hopefully managing to incorporate a few prompts in the one story.

Helmet - A Mandalorian Story

Author: mae-the-4th

Fandom: The Mandalorian/Star Wars

Timing: A few weeks after Season 1 of The Mandalorian

Warnings: none, just a bunch of fluff and a bit of angst

Author's Note: It's about time I wrote a new story! Felt like doing a Mandalorian one. I hope I do these characters justice. Please feel free to correct anything I may have gotten wrong. Enjoy!

xXxXxXx

The Razor Crest was quiet, the humming of the engines the only noise. The kid was asleep in his box, and Din could finally have a moment to himself.

His helmet stood proudly next to the bowl of soup on the table, silently judging the walls and ceiling of the ship. It's owner sat behind it, bare-headed, sipping soup and thinking over what the Armourer had said just those few weeks back.

She had told him that the Child was a foundling - specifically, his foundling. He would protect it, care for it, perhaps train it someday.

In other words, Din Djarin, fierce Mandalorian warrior, fearing throughout the galaxy, was a father.

Din was certainly familiar with the Mandalorian foundling program - he had been one himself, many years ago. Any child alone and without a family, the Mandalorians would take them in as one of their own, no questions asked.

This is the Way.

Din rubbed his temples and sighed. He had always been aware that he might be in charge of his own foundling one day - but not so suddenly or under such circumstances. Yet he couldn't find any regret or reluctance in him faced with looking after the kid. The womp rat was useful in a tough spot - the fact that Din was sitting in his ship, alive, was proof of that fact. And, yes, the kid was cute. Din could admit he had a soft spot for the green creature, anyone could see that. In a recent hologram transmission with Cara, she had pointed out that exact fact herself.

The almost daily transmissions with Nevarro was a distraction both occupants of the Razor Crest looked forward to. Greef Karga would update Din on the latest events - constantly praising Cara on her job as his enforcer, even though she protested that she was just doing her job. Her modesty was definitely something Din liked about her. Usually, Din and Cara would take up the most time during the transmission, chatting long into the night about recent events, the kid, and past battles. Occasionally, when topics were particularly hard, they would both break out a bottle of spotchka. On one of those nights, Cara had admitted to Din that it was nice to talk about past battles with him. That it brought some sort of closure for her, in a way. After almost no hesitation, Din agreed. He told her that he trusted her, both with his life, and with his past. He told her things that he'd never told anyone before.

He told her about his family. He told her about his life before he put on his helmet.

And Cara, recognising his trust in her, replied with stories of her life on Alderaan. Of her dream to be a healer before she became a killer.

Any time these stories came out into the open, Din slept easy that night, knowing her could trust his comrade, his best friend.

Din sighed again, rubbing the stubble on his chin. It was late, or at least the clock that showed Nevarro time told him it was. Din quickly finished his soup, reaching for his helmet-

And froze. And stared.

The kid stared back.

Din's eyes flickered down to his helmet, the visor accusing. His eye jerked back to the kid, breath hitching. Wide brown eyes flitted over Din's features and his wrinkled forehead furrowed.

An eternity later, Din finally found a way to work his mouth.

"Kid," he croaked. "Um-"

His voice seemed to have jostled the kid from his scrutiny, because the child took a step forward, a big grin on his face and holding out hands to be picked up. Not knowing what to do, Din just stared at him - until he thunked his helmet down onto the table and flopped onto his chair, his head in his hands. Fingers gripped dark hair and Din realised his hands were shaking. The kid toddled over and grabbed his leg.

"Da?"

Din barely heard him. All he could think about was how he had broken his oath - how he betrayed the last few remaining members of his Creed. He had let a living creature see his bare face.

"Da?"

His whole life was now a lie. Every ounce of respect he had worked for was now gone. He could never place his helmet back onto his head. He could never call himself a Mandalorian again.

"Da!"

Din peered through his fingers down at the kid. Tiny arms clung to his leg and he stared up at the man. The grin that was there before had vanished, confusion and worry replacing it. Din slowly reached down and picked the kid up.

"Don't worry about me kid. You shouldn't have to worry. That's my job as a father."

Father.

He was the kid's father.

Din choked back a sudden laugh, a disbelieving smile adorning his face. The kid cocked his head.

"I'm your dad! We're literally family! No rules about helmets there." The kid gurgled. "That means I can put it back on, kid. That means I can still be me." Din looked over at his discarded helmet. Unconsciously he tightened his grip on his kid, hugging him to his chest. The little womp rat smooshed his face into his shoulder in reply, a giggle escaping him. Leaning back and reaching up, Din's kid ran a three-fingered hand over his father's face, feeling the stubble on his chin. His hand moved upwards to the mustache - and pulled.

"Ow!" Din laughed. "That hurts, kid. But honestly, I don't mind much. It's about time you saw the real me."

xXxXxXx

FIN

I relate to this on so many levels. Like, the myths that we talk of today literally just started off as stories people told one another, whether for fun, or to give meaning to something, or for some other reason. What we know today is probably very different to the original story because it’s been twisted and mistaken so many times. And that just makes you wonder what stories in our day might get the same treatment? Will the classics like Black Beauty or Charlotte’s Web become more than a story perhaps thousands of years in the future? Will some person from another world come to Earth long after humans are gone to find these stories and think that these pieces of literature are exactly what our lives were like? The possibilities are really endless!

Just… obsessed with myths as a concept. Like we humans came up with stories that we loved so much that we kept telling them to each other for through ages. They are like a gift from our long gone ancenstors. And they come from a time so far away, but we keep them alive because somehow, the love and hate, the hope and fear, the triumph and despair in them is still our own.

The fact that so much of our happiness rides on the shoulders of a bunch of kids with orange t-shirts is hilarious to me.

So, for a main serve, I like reading John or Virgil. And Jeff, recently.

A side order of Alan, and definitely throw in some Kayo.

As for ships, I usually go canon, so I love Pen and Ink. Virgil/Kayo is cool too, and any John/Ridley O’Bannon I will usually go for as well. Haven’t really found any Scott/Marion von Arkle or a whole lot of Jeff/Lucille.

Anyone got any suggestions for stories of those ships?

Who is your main serve?

I’m after information. Mainly because my brain is forgetful and often gets the wrong end of the stick.

I often find myself sitting here going, now which boi (or gal) is that person’s Thunderbird fav? The question may be asked for various reasons, sometimes I wanna throw screencaps at that person, or I feel like writing something, or recommend something, or whatever, but because I have a black hole where my memory should be, I often can’t quite work it out which character is their main reading preference.

For example, I know there are quite a few John fans out there, but some who I thought were Virgil fans are actually Scott fans and have been reading some of my stuff because I sometimes throw in a side order of Scotty with my Virg.

So, my question is…

Which Thunderbirds character is your main serve? Which character do you prefer to read?

What are your favourite side orders to go with that main serve?

Do you like ship? Y/N And if you do, what pairing?

Reblog and let me know so I can take note and not send you Virg/Kay or all Scotty by mistake (for example).

If you would prefer to PM me privately, you can do that too ::hugs::

-o-o-o-

My answers:

Main serve is Virgil.

Side dishes are often Scott or Gordon.

Ship is yes, and it is usually Virgil/Kayo.

However, I’m pretty open minded.

Nutty

(who apparently can’t type today since there were more typos in this than correct words)

PS: Just because these are my favourite dishes, it doesn’t mean I dislike the rest of the menu :D

i am almost 19, i live in the united states, and i can not emphasize how much i wish there was a ‘highschool 2′ 

i dont want to go to college just yet but i still want to learn things. and going to college wouldnt fix my yearn to learn, because truly i dont think i’d be learning in the way i’m talking about. 

because, at least all the colleges i’m familiar with and stuff, you go to college to learn how to apply knowledge for a career. you major in a field that can be applied to a job. but i dont want to learn that. 

i want to have a highschool 2 where i can chose the subjects. i can choose history or english or geography and instead of focusing on necessities like math or english, i get to focus on the subjects i like. 

i take a semester long course in history not for a job, but because i want to learn more about a country’s history or the world’s history or history about a certain era. 

i take a semester long course in biology, not because i want to go into a field to study it scientifically or medically, but because i just want to know how things work simply because it’s cool. 

i don’t want to go to school to take tests and exams and finals just to pass with something that would help me in a job. and like, i get that’s what college is for. but i really wish there was something like, as i called it, highschool too. 

where you can sit in classes like you do in highschool and just learn shit, except you get to chose what classes you want to take. 

i would love to learn about astronomy, herbology, human & animal biology, history, geology, literature, etc etc without it having the catch of ‘you will use this information to get a job or to teach other people this information’. 

i just want to know to know, and i try really hard to learn stuff by just researching fun topics because i like doing that! but i learned things so much better when i was being taught by people who were passionate about a subject. 

i would pay to go to a college-esk place where you can just learn to learn without being pressured into taking tests and exams and using what you learn to get a job. 

i plan to go to college eventually, either when i’m more financially stable to do so or when i move to a place where it’s not a lifetime loan level cost to do 4 years of school. i want to do something job wise with art of course but. 

i would still love to just, learn other things, simply because i can, and i love doing it, and i genuinely feel like that is something that just isn’t available or a thing anymore. when you go to school after highschool it’s expected to be used for a job. major in something you want to do for the rest of your life. 

but i want to learn about planets and the earth and history from all over the world and literature from all over the world and i’d like to learn various sciences and i’d like to learn how to do things like sewing or cooking or how to take care of animals or plants or basic medical stuff or just know about the human body because its cool or how evolution in animals and plants work. i just want to know things to know them but simply reading wikipedia articles and looking at various articles isn’t enough. i miss highschool because i miss learning in that setting and i wish it was an option to continue doing without the expectation to get a job. 

Virgil: Hey hey hey! If you two have BEEF, get out of my sight before you MILK the joke for all it’s worth.

Thunderbird two was sat parked in a field waiting for Scott to finish up with the local authorities before. Gordon was sat on the module ramp swinging his legs over the side looking very deep in thought.

“Hey Virgil?”

Virgil knew the silence had been too good to last, “uh-huh” whilst continuing to stow the last pieces of equipment that weren't quite stacked to his personal standards. If he had been paying more attention he would have seen the warning signs, noticed the glint in his brothers eye, his only excuse was that it had been a long day…..

“What happens when a cow gets exhausted?”

Virgil frowned, “why?” and he moved to stand behind his brother and try and see if he could spot the tired cow that prompted this question. All the while not really knowing what the signs of exhaustion looked like in a cow.

“It COW-lapses!” Gordon grinned. Virgil continued to scan the surrounding scenery for a few seconds more looking for the bovine in question before the awful joke filtered into his consciousness and he groaned. He rubbed at his tired face with one hand, cursing himself for walking straight into that lame attempt at humour. He grit his teeth as he realised there was not other way out of this situation. He let his hand drop, and mustering all the serious professionalism he could, stared very intently at his jokester companion.

“Well, Gordon, that would certainly make it hard to MOO-ve them” He managed to keep his expression completely neutral, only due to extreme self control.

Gordon spluttered and toppled onto his back from his seated perch, his legs still swinging over the edge, “You win, this round goes to you!” he wheezed from his sprawled position. He allowed himself to be helped up to his feet by a convenient strong hand. “Although I’m sure I’m still winning”

“You’re not actually keeping score?”

“No, don’t be ridiculous, that's what Johns for.” and he deftly tapped his comms

John's hologramme aimed a mid range glare, “15 to 9 in your favour Gordon, now please go away the bureaucracy is still going strong, unlike Scotts patience.” and his image blinked out with no further fanfare.

The glint was back in Gordons eye but Virgil was ready for it this time, “Well that ought to keep him aMOO-used for a while then!”

“16 to 9” John's disembodied voice cut in without even missing a beat.

“Honestly Gordon, your jokes are so bad they're almost legen-DAIRY”

“16 to 9.5, that was weak Virg.” John's flat critique was cutting. Virgil huffed and stomped back into the module, leaving Gordon halfheartedly trying to suppress his laughter.

“i have no time to read” honey, no. you’re just wasting too much time scrolling through fanart and adding more books to your tbr.

I knew there was a reason we all liked him so much 😂

To Those Who Need To Hear This...

PLEASE READ

Yes, this is about Star Wars, but this rant is also about feminism and the blatant disregard for women that I saw today.

Many of you don't know this, but I am a huge (female) Star Wars fan and have been for years. Ask me any question about Star Wars, and 9 times out of 10 I'll be able to answer it. I've seen each movie and episode multiple times each and can quote many lines, as well as being the proud owner of merch.

I was watching Star Wars TikTok compilations on YouTube, and I came across one that I immediately hated. It was a “How Girls Watch Star Wars” and “How Boys Watch Star Wars” TikTok. At the start, three boys pretended to be girls ‘watching’ Star Wars. All three boys had felt the need to put pillows up their shirts to be ‘breasts’. One boy was touching his set and they all had put on voices that sounded dumb. These voices supposedly imitated a girls. In the second part, the boys were supposedly ‘being themselves’ and ‘doing what all boys do when they watch Star Wars’: quoting and acting out that famous scene of Obi-Wan vs Anakin/Darth Vader.

I could easily see a few problems here.

1.       Girls SHOULD NOT EVER be seen as just a pair of breasts or something similar. They should NEVER be seen as something other than an equal person. Pretending to be a girl and touching ‘breasts’ and portraying us as dumb is not okay. It never has been, never will be.

2.       I know many girls who can do, and easily will do (myself included), the same things these boys did in their video, in the “How Boys Watch Star Wars” section. I know many girls who will quote and re-enact scenes from Star Wars. I also know many girls who will also quote and re-enact scenes from Marvel, Star Trek, Doctor Who, Lord of the Rings, DC, the Hobbit, Game of Thrones, Thunderbirds, Pirates of the Caribbean, and many, many others. There are thousands, if not millions of girls who can and will do this.

3.       Girls also don’t just see a movie for the cute or hot guys in it. We want to see the swordfights, we want to see the shoot-outs, we want to see the movie for what it is. Again, I know so many girls who are like this, including myself.

4.       SOME BOYS DON’T LIKE STAR WARS. Shocker, right TikTok boys? A friend of mine who is a guy hasn’t even seen Star Wars, while another one hates it. And look! Some girls don’t like or haven’t seen Star Wars either! But, unlike what the boys in this TikTok said, THEY ARE EQUAL AND THEY HAVE A RIGHT TO THEIR DISLIKE.

This tiny, insignificant video may not have made a difference to a viewer’s life, but I hate seeing something like that video up there with no one saying anything about the blatant inequality and sexualisation against women. Unfortunately, I keep seeing this same classification of women a lot in social media, with almost every instance being made by a boy. I’m sick of it, and I’m sure many other women are too.

Give us the respect we deserve, guys.