I assume

“Your next question is probably why this is all such a big secret.”

“Not at all,” Thrawn assured her. [] He looked her squarely in the eye. “*My* question is why you’ve told me all this. Surely I’m not senior enough for that kind of classified information. Especially not after today.”

“I told you because you thrive on information,” Ziara said. [] “The more you know about a situation, the better you are at coming up with the strategy and tactics necessary to handle it. Anyway, you’ll be called in for the top-level briefing soon enough.” She felt her lips pucker. “When that happens, try to act surprised.”

“I will,” he promised. “Speaking of surprises, does your family know you’re bringing a guest?”

Ziara shook her head. “No, but it won’t be a problem.”

Thrawn raised his eyebrows slightly. “You assume.”

“Yes,” Ziara conceded. “I assume.”

~

Ziara.

And her way of always not giving an absolute damn about what other people might think or argue, always pursuing righteousness, concreteness, results.

Deeply understanding Thrawn's logic and neurodiversity, his intuition, and intelligence, but also his necessities, limits, recursive gotos, and inadequacies.

And Thrawn.

Who always feels so comfortable when Ziara is around, who treasures her vision and approval, her acumen, perseverance, and boldness.

Perfect everlasting friendship.

[Photo: beautiful custom Chiss Thrawn pop made by @cardinal.creates, with a Ziara cadet pop by me. Cass is celebrating today the first anniversary of her account, so be sure to stop there and congratulate! 💙]

The alone leader

"When people look up to you, you don’t get to be selfish.

You say run, they run.

You say swim, they dive in.

You say light a fire, they show up with oil.

But whatever happens, it’s on you."

Vander - "Arcane: Welcome to the Playground"

~

"A leader is responsible for those under his authority.

That is the first rule of command.

He is responsible for their safety, their provisions, their knowledge, and, ultimately, their lives.

Those whom he commands are in turn responsible for their behavior and their dedication to duty. Any who violates his trust must be disciplined for the good of the others. But such discipline is not always easy or straightforward. There are many factors, some of them beyond the commander’s control. Sometimes those complications involve personal relationships. Other times it is the circumstances themselves that are difficult. There can also be politics and outside intervention.

Failure to act always brings consequences."

Thrawn - "Star Wars: Thrawn"

~

"The soldier in the field and the crew member aboard a warship inevitably see a war from a limited perspective. Their goal is to carry out their mission or their appointed task, and trust that their commanders are aware of the larger situation and the vast matrix of facts, positions, options, and dangers. Leadership is a role and a task that should never be aspired to lightly. Neither should loyalty be given without reason. Even if the primary reason is nothing more than the soldier’s oath and duty, a true leader will work to prove worthy of a deeper trust.

But leadership and loyalty are both two-bladed weapons. Each can be twisted from its intended purpose. The consequences are never pleasant."

Thrawn - "Star Wars: Thrawn"

~

Some people are simply born to lead.

They cannot escape it. Even if they try.

The ones under their authority see the resultion, the charisma, the glory.

Sometimes they blame the coldness or ruthlessness.

But, ultimately, they envy their power.

But true leadership is a curse.

Responsibility, consequences, pain.

Forced selflessness, no matter personal desires or happiness.

And a complete and everlasting loneliness.

[Weird caption for this shot. I know]

Inner joke (and it worked)

“Ensign Vanto,” Thrawn said. “Has Coruscant responded to my report?”

“Yes, sir,” Vanto said, his voice dark with contempt. “I’m afraid they’re not happy with you.”

“No doubt their unhappiness will expand when Chief Joko delivers his own reaction.”

“Fine,” Vanto said with a resigned sigh. “They’re not just not happy. They’re furious.”

“As expected.”

“Which is insane,” Vanto said, his anger appearing through his decorum. “You ended the conflict, you exposed a criminal conspiracy, and you kept a deep vein’s worth of spice off the market. What more do they want?”

“They want a commander who follows procedures,” Thrawn said. []

“I see.” Vanto was silent a moment. “Senior Lieutenant Hammerly was able to stall them for a bit by telling them you were consulting with the local chief. But they expect you to call back.”

“Of course,” Thrawn said. “I will do so immediately.”

“What will you tell them?”

“The truth.”

The truth.

Eli scowled the words to himself [].

The truth. When did that ever gain anyone anything?

Thrawn had been telling the truth pretty much since he’d arrived in Imperial space. Yet he was continually getting hauled back to Coruscant to explain himself before increasingly hostile officers’ boards. It was only through the intervention and good graces of people like Colonel Yularen that he was still even in the navy, let alone commanding his own ship.

The truth. No, truth never gained anyone anything. All it did was anger those who preferred lies and confusion and backspinning in the hope of making themselves look better. As far as Eli had been able to tell, that was pretty much everyone. []

With a sigh, Eli continued on toward his quarters.

Wondering if anyone, anywhere, really cared about truth.

~

My soul bleeds knowing that nobody will care about Thrawn's truth next year either.

Nevertheless, I will be here.

Every Thursday and every day to cherish it.

~

Addendum.

Today is a weird day in an overall very weird week of a very very weird month.

And this photo, wanted as an inner joke, took me *way* more time than I am willing to admit. But, all the same, the meta meaning is for Jackson's eyes only.

Like falling in love

“I know it sounds impossible, but when have we ever let that stop us?”

~

The fact that IG shows my post to less than 500 people now freed me, in a way.

No matter the caption, photo, or quality, in the end, what counts is if I am proud or not of the content I share.

And the responses that I have.

So, there.

Almost 5 pm and from a fandom that is not Star Wars.

Which IS and WILL BE the topic I love to rant about the most.

Buuuuut I have been in a constant hyper fixation for more than six months now.

And I am genuinely surprised that I have resisted sharing this here.

[Arcane, I mean.

Which is, in a word, perfect.

Story, music, characters, acting, production, animation, songs.

PERFECT]

I am unsure if this will be my only post, even if I own enough merch and things to say to go on for months. [And, yes, this is a warning]

But I wanted to write about what science means to me, and some quotes from Arcane were simply too fitting.

So you "won" this post.

~

“We’re no strangers to failure. What makes this the City of Progress is that we keep trying until we get it right.”

I adore doing research.

I adore that the premise is that we look for answers to unsolved problems.

And when we find them, boom, we move on.

I adore that, if you think about it, is the opposite of being an expert in something. In other jobs, you are paid or have prestige because you “know your stuff". But when you are a scientist, you succeed because you admit you know nothing. So that you can ask all the good questions.

You proceed tentatively.

Stubborn, curious.

Like a toddler.

And, like one, you're not afraid, not caring for the dangers or the consequences.

"If dangerous ideas didn’t excite the imagination, we would never wander astray"

“Surely, we, the pioneers of science, can use it for good. We’re the champions of discovery. Why fear it when we can master it?”

I do not know if you ever felt like that.

It is a little like falling in love.

You guess, you try, you are painfully wrong.

A form of insanity that you are unable to escape.

Dangerous.

But, sometimes, rewarding.

[It is utterly hilarious that I am using my Jayce mug here, not something Silco or Viktor, which are my total obsessions]

When you are wrong (really wrong)

Ezra froze in his spot. His whole body trembled. He felt nauseous. A wave of Horror. A wave of Fear. Then, only Death. []

"Bridger?"

"So much death..." Ezra couldn't talk. [] "Not one... so many... I don't understand... it was just so fast, I have never-..." he was shivering trying to keep it together. He could still feel the ripples in the Force. He was shaken. []

"You should rest."

"I just need a moment... I'll be fine-..." Ezra assured him, taking deep breaths to calm himself. At his side, Thrawn became very still and tense.

~

"Vanto. [] Did Stardust become operational?" []

"Yeah... []" there was a hint of bitterness in his voice.

“I was afraid so. About some three months ago, I presume.”

“Actually... yes,” Eli blinked surprised. “How do you know?”

Thrawn looked down pensive at the floor, then briefly at Ezra. []

“Where?”

Eli hesitated again, almost as if he would not dare to say it out loud. “Alderaan”

Thrawn was completely taken back. Ezra had never seen him like that. Stunned. He straightened keeping his composure.

“Was the evacuation-”

“There was no evacuation,” Eli said, a rising anger in his chest.

“...I see,” Thrawn became silent again, his expression hardening.

“What happened? THRAWN?” Ezra demanded. []

“The Death Star. A weapon capable of destroying a planet [],” Thrawn said bluntly. [] "The project was in the last stages of completion when I finally discovered it,” Thrawn explained calmly, knowing he needed to diffuse the situation. “I argued it was unnecessary and countered it by offering an alternative project of my own. The Death Star had been the pet project of the Emperor but the TIE Defender was promising and I managed to divert resources to it instead, but then..." Thrawn trailed off, locking eyes with Ezra. [] "Then we heard of what happened in the factory and the Emperor gave me one last chance to keep his attention from the Death Star. He wanted you. [] What I did in Lothal... [] I acted under the impression it would prevent the Death Star from becoming operational,” Thrawn said calmly, but with a hint of sadness in his voice. “I was wrong.”

["Last Known Trajectory" by @soulnova_alizrak]

Smelling sweet

“The Force has taken a shine to you,” Ylena said with a smile.

That kind of sentiment made Vi feel squirmy, like a little kid caught in a lie.

“I’m not Force-sensitive. I’m a nobody from Chaaktil. I’ve been near General Organa, and you can definitely feel the power radiating from her. But I’m not like that.”

Ylena stopped, both of the crystals cupped in one hand. She placed the other hand on Vi’s shoulder and beamed at her. “The Force is all around us,” she said. “You don’t have to be sensitive to it to attract it, to be part of it. We’re all part of it. Some people are just…well, think of it like a butterfly landing on you. That doesn’t mean you’re a flower. It just means that you smell sweet. It’s a good thing.”

~

I love this.

Smelling sweet.

Although Star Wars is indubitably about fate and inevitability, about a Destiny "royal family' gifted with superhuman powers, I always loved all those inspiring marvelous characters that aren't mystically gifted, the common folks, the underdogs that, yet, move mountains and conquer galaxies.

In a way, even if not the "Chosen One", even just as "a nobody from Chaaktil", we can do great things, we can be a means of change, a ray of compassion, strong in our commitment.

So, even if I might have dreamed to be a Jedi growing up, a Luke, a Rey, or a Qui-Gon, now I am aspiring to be a Vi, a Kuiil, a Leox, ultimately genuinely content to be an Ewok: 50 cm of furry messy energy able to inexorably take down one AT-ST at a time, with hard work, determination and a bunch of rocks.

Tuesday spirit.

[Photo: stunning t-shirts by @bound2bepic]

Wrecking ball

“Can we at least kick him out of our systems?” Ar’alani pressed. “Sending a laser barrage across his bow doesn’t count as attacking.”

“You’ve been spending too much time with Senior Captain Thrawn,” Ja’fosk said sourly. [] “And Ar’alani?”

“Yes?”

“Try not to irritate anyone else today.”

“I’ll do my best, sir,” Ar’alani said. “But I won’t make any promises.”

~

“This is wrong, sir,” she said. “Completely and totally wrong. Senior Captain Thrawn deserves a promotion, a new honor chain, and the gratitude of every single one of the Nine and the Forty.” []

“There was no other way,” Ba’kif said, his voice quiet. “The Syndicure was looking for a scapegoat, someone to blame for what happened at Sunrise.”

“What happened at Sunrise was the salvation of the Ascendancy,” Ar’alani said bluntly. “You know that as well as I do. [] If they wanted a scapegoat, they could have picked any one of us.”

“They did,” Thrawn said quietly.

Ar’alani frowned at him. “What?”

“He means they did pick,” Ba’kif said. “Only they picked all of you.” []

“Think of it as a game of Tactica,” Thrawn suggested. “Supreme General Ba’kif has sacrificed his nightdragon in order to protect his groundlion and whisperbirds—”

“Wait a minute.” Ar’alani fixed Ba’kif with a hard stare as one more part of this insanity suddenly became clear. “This was *your* idea?”

“It was,” Ba’kif said, holding her glare calmly. “The Grysk threat isn’t over, Admiral. You know that. We need you and the others—the people who’ve seen Thrawn in action and learned from him—to continue in your positions of authority if the Ascendancy is to be protected.”

“And so you sacrifice him to the Aristocra?” Ar’alani demanded. “You send the Ascendancy’s best protector to uselessly waste the rest of his life on some lost planet?” []

~

“I hope it works,” Ar’alani said. “Regardless, I appreciate you both letting me know what’s really going on.”

“You’re welcome,” Ba’kif said. “But don’t fool yourself into thinking it was entirely altruistic. [] We couldn’t have you running around making noise and demanding that Thrawn be brought back from exile.”

Ar’alani gave him an innocent look. “Would *I* do something like that?”

~

Stars, I do love this woman.

[Photo: art by @fieryzard]