Science and progress

Tell me your secrets and ask me your questions

Oh, let's go back to the start

Running in circles, coming up tails

Heads on a science apart

Nobody said it was easy

It's such a shame for us to part

Nobody said it was easy

No one ever said it would be this hard

Oh, take me back to the start

I was just guessing at numbers and figures

Pulling the puzzles apart

Questions of science, science and progress

Do not speak as loud as my heart

~

Celebrating this (Cyber)Monday [a very Viktor-appropriate day] with one of the glorious Arcane/ LOL pieces I bought last week from @rocklovejewelry and @riotgamesmerch.

I have been running around this armillary since last year, and I finally convinced myself that it was too good to be paired with the Hexcore for leaving it there.

Never was I more right.

This is probably my favorite of the three necklaces I bought (including Ekko's watch).

All the orbits are spinning, and the crystal in the center is actually (unexpectedly?) clear and shiny.

My overall favorite piece I own from @rocklovejewelry is still their Sith Wayfinder (the craftmanship of that one is unparalleled, IMHO), but this is a close second.

[And, yes, I might be uber-biased in my hyperfixated geek collector's view, but mostly, I am as happy as a clam wearing all these]

Have fun with the (geeky) shopping, you all!

And, if you did not already, now that "Andor" was wrapped and we do not have new SW content for like a whole 10 minutes (unprecedented), give a chance to this beautiful Netflix show.

[Yes, yes. I am talking about "Arcane," obviously]

Again, giving thanks

“Thank you for your assistance, Senior Captain Ziara,” Thrawn’s voice came as the two ships finally cut back on their thrusters and disengaged their tractors. “Without you, the liner would indeed have been lost.”

“Thank you in turn for your quick thinking,” Ziara said, eyeing the liner. The ship’s beautiful external wings, gone, with their fancy suites and, no doubt, the inhabitants’ fancy possessions gone with them. “A word of warning, though. If I were you, I wouldn’t expect a lot of thanks from anyone else.”

~

No.

He will not.

But you all will have mine.

Thank you for reading my rants another year.

Thank you for the sweet words, and the gifts, and the lovely private messages.

Thank you for being a community that, day after day, I look forward to reading the adventures of.

Thank you for sharing.

Your beautiful pictures, your books review, your cosplays, your collections, your words, your art, your talent.

This is indeed a magnificent little bubble of joy.

And I feel comfy, and cuddled, and loved.

Thank you all.

[Photo: I wanted to recall last year's Funko pop Thanksgiving photo, but with my new customs. The stunning Nightswan is a piece made by @kb_graves, while the Senior Captain Thrawn is a @cardinal.creates beautiful work. Thank you, Kara and Cass, for all the astonishing customs you did for me. And thanks to all the artists of whose commissions, charms, pins, custom creations, and clothes give me the purest happiness]

A Chimaera tale

"The double ring is a prized heirloom of the Marocsaa subclan," the spokesman said quietly. []

For the first time since Thalias had met him, Thrawn seemed genuinely surprised. He looked at Uingali, then at the rings, then at Uingali again. Then, he held out his hand, palm upward. "Thank you," he said. "I will guard it in a place of honor."

~

"This next item, though, I think you should consider taking with you." []

For another moment Thrawn stood motionless, a series of emotions playing across his face. Then, with the same reverence he'd shown the Stybla medal, he took the ring. "I shouldn't accept this," he said, his voice oddly hesitant. [] He took a deep breath and carefully slipped the ring onto the two middle fingers of his right hand. "But in the spirit that it was given, I must with humble gratitude accept it."

~

While the decision to include a symbol under the Chimaera was a creative choice of the "Rebels" artists, Mr. Zahn gifted us with this deeply touching background story.

And I adored it.

However, for two years now, I wondered how a person so modest as Thrawn could go like, "Hey, could you paint the family crest of my alien best friend under the ship you assigned me?"

So, since MY canon IS whatever Mr. Zahn thinks or says, I asked HIM.

And I received the most detailed story of all.

Unfortunately, I am not a writer, and definitely, I am not Mr. Zahn.

So, sorry if I report the mere fabula without pathos or art.

When Thrawn was assigned to the Chimaera, there was no logo.

And it wasn't there until the end of "Thrawn," when he was made Grand Admiral.

According to Mr. Zahn, there are just 12 Grand Admirals, and their ISDs are the only ones that are allowed to have a special mark for distinguishing their ships.

So that enemies and even allies could feel the thrill of facing a Grand Admiral, as pirate flags were bearers of the terrifying notoriety of their famous captains.

And, when asked which symbol he cared to have emblazoned on the underside of the Chimaera, Thrawn was certain: the nest of small stylized snakes with two larger ones curving up from among them.

And, immediately it clicked in me.

Honor, loyalty, sad memories.

So perfectly Thrawn.

Genuinely insane amounts of pure math

“This is a genuinely insane amount of pure math you’re proposing,” Jayce says, because it seems terribly important to say something. []

“ ‘Genuinely insane amounts of pure math’ was my childhood nickname. [] This is a very good drawing. You’re quite an artist. Diffraction peaks when you apply fivefold symmetry to the model.”

Jayce blinks. “Impossible.”

Viktor extends the notebook, thumb slotted between Jayce’s own sketches and lattice diagrams, and a block of celestially elegant equations and illegible shorthand, capped off with a scrawl which is either Viktor’s signature, or a prescription for medical amphetamines.

“It’s aperiodic,” Viktor murmurs, “You wouldn’t have seen it without decomposing the function into a frequency domain. But your, ah, Hex crystal…isn’t? Quasicrystalline, perhaps…”

Viktor has chalk in his hair, and ink on his face, and the foundational precepts of Jayce’s life’s work casually gutted at his feet, which, on reflection, is a terrible way to treat a man who nearly threw himself off a building, whose soul longs for high places, who may well still be at risk, the minute the vertigo roiling in his stomach tips from nauseous to nostalgia, who is grappling with all of that, and the existential horror of not actually being the smartest person in the room, and Jayce isn’t manic, just breathing a little too hard. Just watching the numbers swim, schooling and breaking apart into strange fractals, which is a thing that numbers do, sometimes.

[from "High Hawk Season" by JeanLuciferGohard on AO3]

~

It is weird how I could keep writing about Thrawn for two years, while it is sort of difficult for me to truthfully put into words my feelings for Viktor.

Fortunately, I can rely on better writers and real talent.

Funnily, though, this post took me anyway an indecent amount of time to write.

Or, better, for that quote to be chosen to accompany this custom Funko pop that I am so deeply proud of.

[In other news, @rocklovejewelry just dropped this incredible collection of brand-new Arcane jewelry. And the actual amount of money I spent on a single purchase is a secret that will die with me]

Contemplation

Eli read the entry a second time. Then, with a sigh, he shut down his datapad.

He still didn’t know why Thrawn had left him his journal. Perhaps he’d seen it simply as history. [] Or perhaps the reason was encompassed somehow in that final entry.

Distantly, Eli wondered if there had been any more to the journal. And, if so, if he would ever find the other entries.

He doubted it. But it didn’t really matter.

The galaxy had Thrawn’s legacy and his accomplishments. Those who could learn from that legacy had presumably already done so. Those who couldn’t never would.

~

After two years exposed to such beauty, I should stop to be surprised by how this community keeps producing masterpieces.

And yet.

This @jenniemariestudio votive candle touches my heart.

Jennie did not know Eli when I commissioned her.

So, to deeply capture their bond, she read the imperial trilogy.

Just for this work. For me.

And there is no price I could pay for something like that.

The feeling of ease that Thrawn has when he is around Eli.

Relaxed. Safe to be himself.

Silent, and still, sharing it all.

Because Eli knows.

Because he is able to listen to the unspoken.

A translator of the soul.

Artists. Aren't they astonishing?

A few strokes and they are there.

Thrawn, breathing in the rising moon.

Eli, peeking at that small curl on his friend's lips, a smile that an untrained eye would miss.

Warriors. After a very hard life.

And yet, serene.

Perfectly them.

Inner story

Celebrating my comfort year

"You’ve got a good heart.

Don’t ever lose it.

No matter how the world tries to break you."

~

Mr. Linke, this post is for you.

For the stubbornness, for the commitment, for believing, for never giving up.

The stories that you gave us, the characters that mirrored our souls.

A project that was your dream, which nobody believed in.

[No, Riot, especially not you]

And, after your triumph, for sharing with us your breakdowns, and your humanity.

This post is also for Mr. Charrue and Mr. Delord.

Simply put, because your genius is out of this world.

Because you deserve to win all the director awards in the realms of the director awards. And I am not even talking animation here.

Because you're [fucking] French, but I love you anyway.

And I know I should be thanking, truly, everyone.

All the animators at Fortiche, of whom production videos are my guilty pleasure when I am sad and alone, Mr. Temple and Mako, because my Amazon Music repeats ad libitum the same fifty songs over and over, guessing I will never change the AI-created soundtrack (and I won't), Mrs. Overton because she is brilliant and mindblowing. And one of us.

And for all the actors that I know I should list here, I *have* to mention in this post, specifically Mr. Lloyd.

The two moles did most of the trick, I must admit, but without your curled accent, your "eh," your "incredible," and your "absolutely not," my life in the last year wouldn't be the same.

[And I know that I sound dramatic in this —very Jayce—, but it is the actual truth]

Finally, I would fail miserably in my intent to carve my gratitude for my last year's mental health if I wouldn't also mention @yakichou1 and the talent that they always share on social and Patreon (best investment ever), @nocrownsforkings for the art on my living room wall, @primavera_1903 and all the JayVik artists on Twitter, and the tag Jayce/Viktor writers on AO3.

Thank you.

Thank you, all.

[Photo: the super cute charm is by @ariespsyche_. Crystal by BadAstronautMakes, notepad by TransparentCity, on Etsy. In the background, the end sheets of my precious "Jayvikine," jayvik_zine on Twitter]

The Warrior's regret

“Your report, Colonel, said his death was confirmed?”

“Yes, sir,” Yularen said. “His body was found and identified in one of the outer areas, where the damage was less severe. He was probably checking on the perimeter.” He hesitated. “Possibly preparing to stand alongside the defenders there.”

“Yes,” Thrawn said.

And so it was over. The path had ended. The pattern was broken.

The song of the Nightswan was silenced.

The galaxy would be the worse for its loss.

~

No, not my last post about Nightswan by any means.

After all, all my series are open, no one truly concluded.

But on this gloomy November morning, I feel I want to stress again how regretful Thrawn is when life, any life, is lost without a purpose.

How his sense of duty and leadership prevents him from dismissing a failure as the sole responsibility of someone else selfish actions.

And I am deeply so moved by his scarred soul.

"All people have regrets. Warriors are no exceptions.

One would hope it was possible to distinguish between events caused by one’s carelessness or lack of ability and those caused by circumstances or forces beyond one’s control. But in practice, there is no difference. All forms of regret sear equally deeply into the mind and soul. All forms leave scars of equal bitterness.

And always, beneath the scar, lurks the thought and fear that there was something else that could have been done. Some action, or inaction, that would have changed things for the better. Such questions can sometimes be learned from. All too often, they merely add to the scar tissue.

A warrior must learn to set those regrets aside as best he can. Knowing full well that they will never be very far away."

~

[This Thrawn's journal entry is a Zahn's masterpiece]

[Photo: for lifting the mood of this pretty heavy post, I am sharing an adorable Thrawn chibi pin by @ritarussiandoll_pins. Art by the always talented @junchan_nyan_art]