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[a_titanum]

"Leave your message, if you care to."

Comments

[artistinexile]

Understood.

I believe you will like Tendi especially. She is...enthusiastic. Very eager to assist in whatever way she can.

Up until listing them out, one after the other, I did not realize they were nearly all female or female-presenting. I have had friendlier conversations with male-presentings, but these were of a more practical nature of mutual benefit thus far.

Wu Xin is the lone stand-out, though I could not tell you why, nor why most of my list consists of this gender mark-up. Especially when considering that the ship itself harbors two-to-one ratios of men to women.

[a_titanum]

I will make a point to reach out to Fraulein Tendi at my earliest convenience.

There are a few potential reasons for such a definitive tendency. I don't think it would be fair or smart to make any assumptions for the moment, but perhaps consider how your interactions with them differ from those you have with male-presenting individuals moving forward. I have some theories but data is what we need.

[artistinexile]

I agree. I should hope I do not treat one group differently than the other, but perhaps my bias blinds me.

[a_titanum]

If it is any comfort, my suspicion would be a compliment to you as opposed to a bias. But I'd like to gain more data before confirming.

[artistinexile]

It is.

[some comfort, at least. He had been concerned that he'd been so blind about this, to the point where Thrawn was questioning previous encounters]

On that same subject, I can offer you some more data, should you wish it.

[a_titanum]

Always.

[artistinexile]

I have held command of a handful of ships. Two stand out as my longest-serving command, with loyal, hard-working crews.

One was the Chiss heavy freighter Springhawk, the other the Imperial Star Destroyer Chimaera.

The Springhawk held a mostly male-presenting bridge crew, in service to a female Admiral, and a close friend.

The Chimaera held a mostly female-presenting bridge crew. Of the twelve Grand Admirals in the Imperial navy, none were women.

Interesting data, but I cannot say yet what it means.

[a_titanum]

Data which supports my theory, in truth. But a little more time, Thrawn. I assure you that when I feel secure in my hypothesis, I will present it.

[artistinexile]

Thank you.

I myself will look through the list of passengers and attempt to cultivate a friendship with someone new.

[no promises when it ends in disaster]

[a_titanum]

Excellent. Let me know when you've found someone and we can consider how to approach it.

[artistinexile]

I will.

[a_titanum]

Thank you, Thrawn. I look forward to discussing your findings.

[artistinexile]

[Days later, Thrawn returns with his short list]

Good day, Florian.

[just gonna launch straight into it]

I have given your assignment some thought and am prepared to deliver my report.

[a_titanum]

Then you should come by and we'll discuss it.

Is now a good time?

[artistinexile]

Yes.

[even if it weren't, this takes priority]

ETA seven minutes.

[a_titanum]

I'll be here. Do walk right in.

[artistinexile]

[At his warden's permission, Thrawn walks inside Florian's cabin, eyes glancing about briefly to catalog anything new added since his last visit. He holds a datachip in his hand]

[a_titanum]

[ Florian, for his part, has a teapot and a cup out for himself. There's a second cup, but it hasn't been poured or even turned upright. Thrawn can refuse.

He sees the datachip, but he's going to gesture to the opposite chair. ]

[artistinexile]

[At Florian's gesture, Thrawn sits, inclining his head]

[a_titanum]

Where would you like to begin?

[artistinexile]

I have made a friend out of an adversary. Hanna Falk Cross.

[a_titanum]

An... adversary?

[ He's very curious how this became adversarial. And how it unbecame it. ]

Can you run me through the timeline of events?

[artistinexile]

Of course.

My initial impression of Hanna was dim at best. Once he revealed himself to be the instigator of the last, troubling week in his apology posting, I sought him out, asked him questions. He was dismissive, stubborn, and full of excuses. I prepared to write him off, after I wrote up a report detailing his transgressions and what he and his warden could do to stop further issues from occurring.

I went to deliver it to Hanna in person. We spoke for some time about order and chaos, spoken and unspoken rules, and after a time I secured an invitation inside his cabin.

He was no threat to this ship apart from a great deal of unchecked power - ignorance, not malice dictated his actions, which I suspected but was relieved to discover further evidence of, given the state of his cabin. Indeed, his gifts proved to be more a hindrance to him than a boon. Moreover, I had certain biases against him from the start of our encounters. He reminded me very much of the young Jedi responsible for my death, and the deaths of my crew.

We spoke briefly about what I could tell him about my past, as he shared reluctance about his own. It was not until I made a passing mention of 'stormtroopers' that his interests lit up. It appears he is familiar with my universe, and we have people in common.

I shook his hand, revealed to him that I was a Chiss, and in return he gifted me a piece of art I am still working on understanding the significance of. He offered to memorialize my dead crewmembers, but I declined politely and left.

[a_titanum]

[ Oh, there is so much there. Starting with 'a report detailing his transgressions' that makes Florian want to grab him and shake him and allows for a lovely fantasy of such before he has to keep paying attention and then there's the rest of the rollercoaster ride. By the end, he's sipping at his tea and absently wondering how, despite his brilliance, Thrawn had in fact made it to the age of his death. He's assuming quick reflexes and decides that the avenue is unnecessary continue down. It is, after all, simply fanciful idle wondering; he's very fond of his inmate and extremely impressed by his capabilities.]

I'm glad to hear it, though I find myself similarly frustrated with the spellcasters on board who seem far too keen to experiment without peer review.

I'd like to hear more about his 'dismissiveness' and 'stubbornness' as well as what excuses he offered.

[artistinexile]

He began to make jokes. And when I firmly suggested the very reasonable idea of keeping his notes to understand where he went wrong, he claimed he wanted to scrap them instead.

Couple that with 'just' trying to learn new magic and finding usable spells. Essentially throwing what works in a temperamental environment to see what would happen.