Re: my last ask. Just re read 'I want to change it all' and realized/remembered that dayja DOES know about eli. Which would explain his attitude towards thrawn (Also if he thinks Alex is dead at this point, moreso).
Still. I have to wonder if Dayja is more or less pissed off at Kallus in the verse where he does/does not take him of the Chimera.
And if Kallus would fully learn about himself in a verse that he isn't away from dayja when he first defects or if he doesn't defect at all (its not that I want them apart. At all. It's that I'm not sure he would be pushed enough to NEED to without it.)
Yes, Dayja does know about Eli. Probably wishes he doesn't, but oh well. When do I ever give him what he wants.
Is Dayja more or less pissed off at Kallus in a verse where he does or does not yoink him out of the Empire is a very, very interesting question! Dayja may be equally pissed, but for different reasons. Another question to duct-tape to that one would be: whom would he be the MOST pissed off at in those situations? Kallus? Himself? Thrawn? The Alderaanian Royal Family? People who overcook steak?
And yeah. Kallus needs a lot of external pushing. Leaving the Empire was just one of them.
There's a tumbr book of dayja snippet you posted where dayja wakes up post attallon and is pretty distraught that he 'couldnt get through' to Kallus and wants yularen to know he tried and then he hears/sees Thrawn and it is On Sight. At the time, Dayja isn't thinking about anger/distrust toward Kallus (he also isn't during the WIP where he tells Thrawn to go fuck himself)
(I know that Tumblr wip isn't absolutely promises Canon atm, but I am operating under the assumption that you wrote it for a reason and the spirit of it is true at least)
But, in Cover Me With Pearls, he is outwardly pretty ticked at Kallus for either doing some treason (he thinks for Eli) and/or doing some treason and not having the decency to follow through. (Notably, he is fairly pissy with Thrawn but that seems to be his default state)
Now, I know that two short WIP dayja snippets don't mean he's not angry with Kallus (he seemed less than pleased when he confronted him on the Chimera). He can be mad/upset/heartbroken/scared/secretly a little happy with Kallus all at once and also want to deck Thrawn. (I mean whomst amongst us hasn't felt that way?)
But. I also noticed that you didn't make 'cover me in pearls' start at the battle of attalon. Granted, kallus has had a lot more time for introspection (and rebellion) between the sphinx explosion and attalon that might make him less likely to back out from jumping ship (lol) but I am wondering about Dayja between the sphinx explosion and attallon.
And if Dayja might have learned/discovered something between the sphinx explosion and attalon that changed his perspective about Kallus going rogue/how pissed he is at Kallus/how he perceives Thrawn. And if it has anything to do with whatever Dayja tells the alliance that is 'very disturbing' in 'I want to change it all'.
(Also. It has not escaped my notice that the mysteries around Kallus and Dayja have not, as of yet, been solved in the AUs. While i recognize that, on a practical level, you would not be able to keep up the suspense if you told us Everything in the AUs. But. I also am starting to suspect that we'll learn that there is a Reason we/kallus don't Solve Their Pasts in the AUs. Or, at least in 'i want to change it all' since 'cover me in pearls' is still WIP. Kallus does, however, seem aware of his visions for what they are in 'i want to change it all', though - like when Yularen dies. (but, real talk, dayja seems to be all about continuing to obfuscate Kallus' force sensitivity in 'cover me in pearls' at least thus far). Basically, is it off the mark to think that, in order for Kallus to learn Everything, he had to defect around the time of attallon. and without Dayja?)
(Operating under the assumption that the promises AUs are more or less permutations of the Canon promises timeline)
Semi related: We also see that Dayja looks scared and cries when Kallus chokes him out. Scared for whom? About what?
Or am I reading too much into it and it's just that it makes more sense for Kallus to back out after the first time he really realizes that his actions will cause the deaths of the people he fought beside?
Sorry this is a bit thought vomit-y
!!! You don’t need to apologize for being thought vomit-y, because this reply is also going to be spewing forth in bilious fashion.
First of all, I don’t know whennnnn you sent this because life has sucked me down a very deep, very dark marine trench. I won’t get into what’s down there, but a lot of it never felt the need to evolve eyes. But know that when I DID see this in my inbox, I made a vocal OOH! of happy excitement, so thank you!!! (I came back to polish the next Promises chapter, if anybody was keeping track lol)
Okay. Vomit. I do not control the trajectory. So, you’re right: pragmatically, I’m not going to give the whole plot to Promises-proper in the AU’s and side-fics. But you’re also right in that the side-fics/AU’s are (basically) Promises-canon. How they are Promises canon is tied to the main fic.
I LOVE your observation that for Kallus to “learn Everything” he had to defect, because I think there really is something to that. Maybe there are other paths, but there is something to defecting that is key for him, and we may (lol we will) see how some of those paths play out differently—across multiple fics.
In Pearls, Dayja does (at least as of now) obfuscate Kallus’s force sensitivity. And as long as he does that, there is always going to be a wall between them. Maybe defecting in dramatic fashion wasn’t the most efficient way for Kallus to break that wall down, but it was effective. Trouble is, just as he’s breaking down the wall between him and Dayja, he’s also just left him behind. Fucking tragical—or IS it?? Yeah, no, it’s sad.
As for Dayja between the Sphinx and Attalon, yes: he is learning more. But he’s also experiencing more. Other shit is happening in the galaxy (some of which Thrawn alluded to when he captured Fulcrum and hit him until his hair looked sexy). But also, as calculating as Dayja can be, when it comes to people he loves, he can get a little less calculating and a little more cutty.
And yes. The starting point of Pearls has a lot to do with how believable it felt to me for Kallus to be turning back and why then. In Promises, Kallus helps Kanan and Ezra escape from the factory without knowing that the sabotaged equipment resulted in the deaths of some of his comrades and the near-death of Yularen. So the A of that AU is Thrawn chooses to tell Kallus so (while also pulling him out of the factory to do it—so no rescue). There’s also the more pragmatic reason, which is that when I started writing that AU, that’s where we were in the main fic. But it also made sense to me. (At the time, I didn't realize it was going to take me over a year before I actually started posting the fucker)
Dayja does look scared when Kallus chokes him out, and part of that has to do with the events of Interlude I when Dayja was recruited by Gideon and the aftermath of that (they’re touched upon throughout, and will be touched upon again this upcoming chapter). He also expects Kallus to understand what he's doing and the impact it has, and that's a big part of what really gets to him.
There’s a lot to their pasts that is going to be solved in Interlude II, but not all of it.
I did start writing the sequel last year (two years ago? I forget) so… gotta save some stuff for that. Most of Kallus’s Whole Deal will get addressed in Interlude II, but a lot of Dayja’s will have to wait.
Thanks for vomiting at me. Makes me feel like my own word-vomit is going to people who read it, and not just the great void bucket.
This particular set of theories have been building over a long period of time. While most sources were quick to point out the hazards and negative aspects of Spice, the way-back machine seemed to recall that for some individuals, Spice had enhancing properties…
I plan, my brain laughs. That is the way it goes. It was my intention to finish my comments up to the most current chapter of Promises, and then ask away. However, I became distracted by a single comment reply, “Why not Anya?” (regarding, why has Alex not connected by Force with Anya?) For days - maybe even weeks - I have been derailed from my 90% finished chapter 82 comments, by this simple question.
I will start with some general observations and spiral inward to the more specific. IIR, one of Alex’s earliest Force experiences was a premonition about Mira Yularen. When Alex’s hand brushes Mira’s, he has a premonition - in my opinion; I don’t recall if this has been confirmed - regarding her violent death. That death, if I also recall, may have involved Inquisitors. Since she spent an awful lot of time studying Dayja, I often wondered if she discovered something about him that the Inquisitors were very interested in (genre speaking, most folks would believe that it was Alex who was in danger)
Back to Mira.
Mira was from Alderaan. A planet uniquely steeped in the Force, a place perhaps so bound with the Force that it would be difficult to hunt individuals with Force sensitivity (something we touched on in the past). I am wondering if Alex’s abilities are enhanced, attracted, influenced by those who are from Alderaan?
In pondering why Dayja? (of whom Alex does connect with) I sweat it out trying to remember the exact point at which the Force Dreams begin. Was it post Spice addiction? (Dayja). Let’s run with this - until you summarily shoot it down 🤣- and see where it goes. I found a great article that delved heavily into the different side-effects of the different variants of Spice ( for those interested, here is the link to the article of note is this quote:
“A potent mind-altering substance, glitterstim spice awakens or enhances a person's telepathic abilities, as Han Solo discovered in the Legends novel Jedi Search by Kevin J. Anderson.”
Very interesting. It is indeed asking a bit much of my mental faculties to recall exactly what kind of spice Dayja was forcibly addicted to. I can only hope for my theory’s sake that it is Glitterstim 🤞🏽. It leads me to ponder once again if the nightmares that Dayja has are actually periods of time in which the spice is most influential to Dayja, thus, places him in a state of elevated telepathic ability…
So this is my long-winded explanation as to “Why not Anya?”. A few wrong suppositions on my part can flush the whole set of theories down the tube, but I hope that you will take the long, circuitous path to do so 🤩
Hmm... interesting... *strokes space beard*
I will point out that for the most common variety of spice, Kallus has done some research and found this:
At some point, he’d just begun mindlessly reading anything and everything, including a medical journal special issue on impaired tissue regeneration and sterilization in spice-injected gizka. Just as he was reading the first paragraph for the fourth time in a futile attempt to make sense of the jargon, his morning alarm went off.
(Promises, Chapter 54)
And I will also point out, that the first shared dream occurred BEFORE Dayja's mission.
So, the original question:
"Why not Anya?"
Welp, logically speaking, there are three possibilities that I can see.
It's something to do with Kallus
It's something to do with Anya
It's something to do with an outside force (ha).
If I'm reading this right, you're posing #3 with #1 sprinkles: Dayja's exposure to spice gave him some sort of connection to the Force, potentially enhanced by his bond with Kallus. Possibly with extra #3 sprinkles if these events/the bond itself are the workings of The Force...?
Something I don't see considered in this wonderfully thoughtful Ask (but may be fun to consider) is #2.
Well, @beebee-76 —hope you wanted a 10-page essay on Promises meta, because for Halloween I got you a 10-page essay on Promises meta.
Among other things, the argus symbolizes the tension between surveillance, intimacy, and protection—particularly that Kallus (and ISB more generally) represents to Dayja, and less so Dayja to Kallus.
As Dayja describes the argus in Interlude I, Chapter 46:
“Repto-bird,” Dayja explained. “It’s got four eyes, a big tail covered in an eye pattern, and a really epic mating display. But the actual animal is named after a mythic beast, and that’s where the constellation comes from.”
Adding…
“The story went there was this giant bird-type thing, that was like this manifestation of the—doesn’t matter—and it could see all the children in the world, and would hunt down people who endangered children and claw out their eyes, and add them to its tail so they’d have to spend the rest of eternity looking out for children’s safety as some ironic punishment or something, because ancient people loved violence and irony and constellations, I guess.”
Kallus’s role as protector is briefly hinted at in Chapter 64:
Carefully, Kallus walked back to the bedroom, grabbed a black nerf wool blanket, and brought it back. Dayja shifted slightly as the blanket was draped over him, but neither sibling woke. It was only when he adjusted the blanket over Dayja's shoulders that he spotted the small pattern embroidered in gold on the corner—the nine stars of the Argus constellation.
But in their shared dream in Chapter 67, Dayja alludes to the ambivalence of Kallus’s role:
“So,” Kallus asked, hugging Dayja’s waist tighter, “am I a repto-bird with too many eyes? A myth? Or am I a placebo?”
Dayja laughed, and Kallus kissed the crinkle at the corner of his eye. “You keep the nightmares away,” he said, his tone almost shy. “I don’t know how or why, but for whatever fucking reason, I haven’t had a single nightmare since we’ve been here. Just… dreams about you. Even when they start as nightmares—really fucking familiar ones—you show up. And…” he trailed off, finishing the thought with the swirls he drew on Kallus’s hip.
Kallus took the opportunity to tilt Dayja’s face toward his and kissed him—slowly. He pulled away just far enough to ask, “And make it better?”
Dayja’s face flickered. “I’m not sure,” he admitted.
The darker side of the argus is reinforced as we move forward. In Chapter 68, Ada’s hens are killed by a wild argus:
“I guess I should’ve known better than to try and raise anything but salad so close to the mountains,” Ada said, her tone level and blank. “With all these arguses everywhere.”
That same chapter, Dayja identifies a mushroom called the “Argus Eye” that is deadly toxic; it melts trees it grows on from the inside-out. All the way back in chapter 46, Dayja and Kallus “stargaze” in their barracks room and connect the Argus and Cygno constellations. But then later on Alderaan, there are a few mentions of swans being in danger from arguses; an argus kills the swan at the farm they visit.
In chapter 64 and 71, Kallus dreams of a massive argus (but doesn’t realize it):
Kallus pressed himself against the tree and whispered, “Dad?” in the voice of a child.
That voice was in his ear, now: “Close your eyes… breathe…”
He closed his eyes. There was a sound like a song, as old as the mountains, and deep as the darkness surrounding him. It pierced him, broke him apart, and held him together. Cold caressed his face and he opened his mouth to it, feeling the world sink with him. He opened his eyes.The forest was submerged in dark water.Kallus took a deep breath because he knew he could. Through the blackness, he could just make out the long fronds of blue-black seagrass emerging from behind a tree, waving gently in the current. As he watched, the ends of the fronds blinked open with a hundred golden, glowing eyes.
Not fronds—feathers.
"...breathe..."
Kallus reached out a hand that glow in the blackness and the song was back, erupting in the bubbles around him. It sounded like a lament—a warning. A fissure opened up at his feet, releasing a fury of bubbles and green light. Then all at once, the mountain-turned-sea began to shift and evaporate around him and he couldn't see anything but the roar of the salty steam and that burning, green light but that song collapsed into a cry of pain—a scream—
This ambivalence between the argus as a positive or negative force comes to a head in Chapters 76 and 77, when “Argus the swan” gets used as a code-phrase to signal they both remember their shared dreams.
And, as we already know from before the Interlude in Chapter 26, Dayja has an argus tattoo to cover up the whip-mark scars on his back:
As Kallus raked his fingers over the long, shallow scars on Dayja’s back he couldn’t see but only feel beneath the sprawling argus tattoo, he was struck by the sudden heart-wrenching thought that he should’ve loved this man, how right it would’ve been to fall for his handsome, witty, obnoxious, generous, brilliant, talented, flexible, kind-hearted best friend and he hated himself for being too fucking stupid or broken to love someone who loved him back because he knew—he knew he didn’t deserve it—that he could never be good enough to deserve it.
Last (first?) thing so far, Thrawn grants Kallus command of the ISD Argus—a name Thrawn chose. It’s from the bridge of the Argus that Kallus watches the ISD Sphinx explode, taking thousands of lives with it, and reconsiders his decision to defect. Crucially, the Sphinx exploded because Kallus deployed knowledge Dayja had shared with him about droids to protect him in order to aid the rebellion.
And, the argus is a legit birb! Check out this great argus pheasant. Feathers go FWOOM! But apart from being a legit birb, I wanted to draw on the Greek myth (as does birb):
Argus Panoptes
In Greek mythology, Argus is a giant who was covered in a hundred eyes, tasked with guarding Hera's sacred cows. He is a tool of protection and surveillance, depending on your point of view (and just what you plan on doing with those cows).
Portion of Bernardino Pinturicchio, Mercury, Argus, and Io, (1492-95) a fresco derping around the Vatican
Panopticon
In presenting ISB, I always keep this idea of surveillance in mind. I won’t get into the philosophical nitty-gritty because I don’t wanna. But there’s prison designed by Bentham in which a single guard tower stands watch over an entire prison. The tower can see into every cell, but no cell can see into the tower--so the prisoners must assume they are always being watched, (even if they are not) and will act accordingly. Essentially, they are surveilling themselves.
Kallus doesn't make the connection at the time, but there are repeated references to Dayja being surveilled at all times. Including, but not limited to:
Repeated check-ins with Yularen on Dayja's status
Tweet droids /Climate Control System
Kallus's own presence...
He'd never actually seen Dayja leave the academy grounds. Kallus hadn't really left either, but not because he couldn't. It hadn't really occurred to him that Dayja wasn't sticking around by choice, too: rather stupid of him, really.Still, so far as he could tell, there weren't any trackers or anything of the sort on his roommate; if Dayja did leave the grounds for a quick stroll in the park, how would anyone know? It wasn't as if they'd assigned him a guard-detail.
Kallus spent nearly twenty-five hours a day with the guy: he would have noticed one.
(Promises, chapter 42)
Beyond the massive surveillance apparatus of ISB, Kallus begins to apply this surveillance to himself: i.e. refusing to think about certain things as if his thoughts are being watched. We haven’t quite seen this in the Interlude (yet), but we do see it develop in the first section. Even in the privacy of his apartment, Kallus is terrified his conversations with Eli on Imperial policy will somehow put his loyalty into question:
Kallus let out a sharp breath, taking both of Eli’s hands in his as he said slowly, “Eli: I need you to listen to me very carefully. You need to stop talking about this. You are in a uniquely precarious situation that could make your resistance to this Edict very, very suspicious.”
“Precarious?” Eli narrowed his eyes, “I’m in your apartment, not wearin’ pants and drinkin’ caf.”
“Have you forgotten that I’m an ISB Agent?” Kallus said, his own rising dread making his voice slightly sharp. “I know what could happen. And it is nothing I want to happen: to you or Thrawn. So please, please—if not for your sake, or even for my sake, then for Thrawn’s sake—let it go.”
(Chapter 18)
This is in parallel with Kallus’s refusal to really see himself on a deeper level, and his aversion to being seen… as evoked by his relationship with mirrors.
Mirrors/Being Seen
Kallus is not comfortable being seen, literally or metaphorically. For example, after Lasan, he grows out as much facial hair as he can while staying within uniform regulation so he doesn’t need to look at himself. Because he can’t stomach looking at his reflection long enough to shave himself, he sees a barber droid instead.
More frequently, Kallus resents how perceptive Dayja is. From the beginning of the Interlude, he thinks scornfully on his roommate’s freaky perception/sensory sensitivities. As they become friends, he does begin to see this as more of an intimacy that he affords Dayja, but that begins to change as Kallus has more to hide/be ashamed of. Like:
[Dayja] had an insight into Kallus that he still found startling on a good day and damned inconvenient on most.
And...
Kallus leaned forward in his seat, running his hands over his face in the hopes the physical sensation would override the shame burning on his skin from just how true Dayja’s words were.
Climatically (ha), when they finally hook up, Kallus begins to reflect more on this:
He wondered if Dayja was afraid to look at him—afraid of what would happen if he let himself sink fully into the reality of who it was he had writhing beneath him: this man who would never love him back, who belonged so completely to someone else. Afraid to let himself realize that there were parts of Kallus—fragile, precious parts that weren’t being offered even as his legs spread open, and the tightest parts of him stretched wide. Kallus had seen the struggle to resist the temptation to close one’s eyes to that reality by sinking into the warm illusion of love given freely and completely on Dayja’s face when he’d glanced over his shoulder because it was a temptation Kallus knew well.
On Bahryn, after his ice-moon vacation with Zeb, Kallus begins to reflect far more critically about his aversion to being seen, especially by Dayja:
Willing to lie to himself and Eli to convince them both that Kallus was everything Eli needed, wanted. Anything to keep that beautiful dream going. His brief time spent in Dayja’s bed couldn’t have been more different. He’d felt seen then. Rubbed raw. Exposed. Kallus had always had the sort of uncanny sense that Dayja could see through every layer of banthashit that he wore over himself like armor and just… played along. But sometimes, Kallus would say or do something and Dayja would narrow his eyes ever-so-slightly, give him one of those cool, searching looks that said, ‘I see you, Al,’ and not say a word. He didn’t have to. Because that’s just the sort of bond they’d always had. Or rather, the sort of bond they had had before Kallus had fucked it up. Like he’d offered it up as payment to some sort of deity in the hope that he could keep Eli closer if he gave the younger man everything and anything he was—his time, his energy, his devotion, his thoughts. With Eli, he hadn’t had to think. He hadn’t had to be seen.With Dayja, that’s all there ever was, really. The other man would’ve found him boring, otherwise.
As the thought struck him, Kallus wondered if that wasn’t the real reason he’d avoided their friendship to spend every free moment spent on Coruscant with or missing Eli Vanto… or protecting him. Likewise… He hadn’t told Dayja about Onderon. He hadn’t told him about Lasan. He hadn’t told him about any of those things he didn’t want picked apart and dissected and laid out before him, completely exposed because that’s what Dayja did. And that was just what Kallus didn’t want.
At the end of chapter 40, when Kallus is leaving in the escape pod after leaving Dayja behind, unconconscious, and his life doing that flash before his eyes thing while he is mysteriously being choked after choking out Dayja for some weird reason…
He was stepping off the shuttle from Onderon, hoping he wouldn’t see Dayja because he knew Dayja would see the scars and know he’d been right to warn him away from field command. He was hiding in his apartment after Lasan, not answering Dayja’s comm-calls because he knew Dayja would see the monster he’d become. He was lying on his couch in silence when Dayja showed up anyway to make him food he wouldn't eat because he didn't deserve it.
He was losing himself—hiding in a dream-like affair with a man who would never look deeper because he was hiding, too.
During the chapters surrounding Onderon and Lasan, the time line is sparse and jumpy because Kallus is only allowing himself to focus in-depth on Eli, and is determined to forget everything else. After Lasan, when Kallus is unable to look himself in the mirror and begins avoiding them entirely, he also avoids Dayja, whose gaze is repeatedly described as penetrating, keen, or "seeing straight through him." We hardly see anything of Dayja in these beginning chapters.
He stared determinedly at the refresher sink, not looking up at the mirror above. Each time he saw his face he saw it splattered with blood, reflected in the terrified yellow eyes of all the people they’d killed. You were following orders, he told himself. It didn’t have to be a massacre—the Lasat gave them no choice. Each time he said it the truer it sounded, and the hollower he felt. (Chapter 8)
This refusal to look in mirrors parallels his refusal to examine his own thoughts and actions, and doesn't begin to change until he is suspended after Onasi's assassination, and far more so once he becomes Fulcrum. Becoming Fulcrum also marks when he begins to lament pushing Dayja out of his life most keenly.
Rebels, "Through Imperial Eyes"
And, of course,
The Eyes/I's/Internal Investigations and Interrogation
Internal Investigations and Interrogations, led by Major Gideon, was not the most informative name for what the I’s—or Eyes as some had taken to calling them—did. They were essentially black ops: going undercover in the most dangerous places, rooting out insurgents, and either disposing of them or rounding them up for interrogation—the sort of interrogation people didn’t survive. (Chapter 23)
Dayja is forcibly recruited as a cadet, and again as an agent. The first time he is recruited, he is extracted thanks to Kallus's interference. The second time, he is forced into it as a consequence of the actions he took out of loyalty to Kallus.
And, as always, we’ve got our weird little dream refrain:
Cygno was bleeding.
Argus was on fire.
Bonus:
Mira Yularen's name: look. Contrast that with Kallus’s mother, Veil. And, eventually, Hera Syndulla will get tapped because of her name and my twisted symbolic needs.
Phew! Wow, okay. I feel like anybody still reading this should get a gold star.
I thought I swore off being a regular pain in the ass, regarding all things Promises, but you did it again…piqued my ever loving curiosity.
Since I am on the road, I cannot consult my trusty whiteboard, so I need to reach out into spoiler territory for some help.
Full disclosure: I have not read the latest chapter of Promises due to this endless cycle of living out of a ruck. If there is something directly related to the new chapter, send me packing.
I HAVE read the latest of Pearls, however, and there are some red hot flags that while I was trying to comment on the chapter, demanded attention, now.
Let’s have a look:
It was not uncommon in this part of the galaxy for tattoos to commemorate a story, person, or event, Thrawn had learned. He had his suspicions as to what (and whom) the argus was for. He wondered if Kallus knew it as well, or if the significance of his new ISD’s name would be lost on him. It would not be lost on Dayja, however. Nor would the ISD Thrawn was planning on bequeathing to him: Cygno.
That swan was a mainstay of Alderaanian myth. Surely, Dayja was familiar with the Twi’lek version as well: the myth of the lover grieving eternally for her lost beloved, turned into a swan to sing her laments and cast into the stars by the gods to honor her devotion as lover and friend.
I distinctly recall a line from a chapter that dealt with a solo flashback/dream from *Promises*. It went something like Cygno is burning. Part of me wanted to say that it represented Alderaan, the other part -depending when the tatoo was created - said that it was to commemorate Mira.
On my Whiteboard at home, I have this line (IIR) highlighted, because it was a significant entity that needed to be translated/identified, as I deem it an important part of the whole Promises puzzle.
My second observation is the swan that is cast to the stars Thrawn refers to as part of the Twi’lek myth. I am connecting this to to the constellation tattoo that Dayja has on his thigh?
If there are any further explanations, chapter reviews, etc., that can jog my memory, point me! I seem to recall that part of this is discussed - the swan - in the chapter in which Dayja/Kallus make love in the speeder.
Eee gads! I’m back to my old rambling self. Sorry-not-sorry 😎
Thank you for hearing me out ❤️
Well my inbox is generally full of cobwebs so I hope your electing to not ask Promises questions was entirely for your own benefit. Also, apologies for the spiders in here. *shoo, shoo!*
Fair warning.... I’m really into metaphors and symbolism. This could get, um, hairy. I also spend all my time analyzing everything, including when I’m writing, so... buckle up.
The line you’re remembering is:
Cygno was bleeding. Argus was burning.
I think of these metaphors as more constellational (😉) than a straight 1:1 allegory. So, both the argus and the swan are meant to illuminate and connect a number of different things, not just one. It’s part of why I used constellations (also, I love constellations)
We haven't seen as much of what the swan is meant to be illuminating as we have the argus. One big Swan thing won't be revealed until the Second Interlude (I know, I know...but it's better than waiting til the sequel, right? 😅).
But you're absolutely right that one of these...stars in the constellation (??? What is this. A meta-metaphor? 🤣) is Mira Yularen. And Dayja has an Alderaanian nightswan tattooed on his left arm. He has yet to receive it in the Interlude.
Anyway. Here's some of what we've seen of the swan so far...
Chapter 35
Kallus followed at a distance behind Colonel Yularen and Commander Thrawn as their odd party made their way through the Imperial Art Museum, stopping on occasion to discuss a particular piece (or, more likely, use the occasion as a cover to discuss something else). A great deal of time was spent before a large oil-painting of a black swan falling from the sky after being pierced by an arrow in the chest, which necessarily resulted in Kallus loitering in front of a portrait of a patron's most beloved "servant," who'd been painted in the motif of the ancient Nabooian god of beauty (or so the plaque said). Thrawn seemed particularly invested in the swan, while Kallus (upon catching up to it) found it a bit melodramatic for his tastes.
Chapter 41
Kallus tilted his head as he heard muffled music drifting through the ship, creeping through ducts and reverberating through durasteel. It was a Twi'lek Hyper-Core band that was verging on vintage when he was a teenager—Fek Sygni. Or, Swan Fang in Basic translation. ... Because, of course, that would be the music someone would choose to play right now.
Chapter 46
They spent the next hour staring up at the sky. Occasionally, Dayja would point out different Alderaanian constellations, and tell the stories behind them. ...There was Cygno, the swan honoring the devoted fisherman grieving his lost beloved in the stars for eternity. ....They’d spent a good fifteen minutes trying to replicate the formation in Alderaan’s night sky and managed to connect Cygno and Argus in the process.
Chapter 47
As the rhythm steadily became more involved, Kallus narrowed his eyes at the hand on his knee and asked, “Is that something in particular?”
“Zahn’s Nightswan Sonata,” Dayja said. “Mira started playing it on holo when you left to make everyone feel less awkward or whatever—cover up the sounds of whatever the kriff she thought you were doing in here.”
Chapter 57
He twisted his mouth as he searched his memory, then reached out to make the first arpeggio of Zahn’s Nightswan Sonata. A chill ran up his spine and he tried to turn but was stopped by firm hands on his shoulders.
“Don’t stop,” a man said. “You play so beautifully.” The man took one of his hands in his and remarked, “You have the fingers for it.” The hand tightened and he winced. “I said, ‘Don’t stop.’”
“Sir, I’m—”
Kallus barely had time to register that his voice was not his own before the words were choked out of him by strong hands at his throat—
Chapter 65
A Bothan woman was approaching them, giving Socks a chiding look. “How many breaks is that today, Socks?" she asked sternly. "I’m not paying you for customer service, I’m paying you to guard the swans from the arguses. Fine job of that you've been doing, eh?”
and...
“Ah, right...” Dayja said reluctantly. “Yeah, the butcher was telling me about that. It’s, um, it's not standard, but”—he cast Kallus another cautious look—“it was a nightswan. His mate was killed by an argus a few nights ago. She died keeping her mate and brood safe, she said. The surviving swan was gonna starve to death—swans’ll do that. Kindest to kill it quickly and painlessly.”
That cold feeling slid between Kallus’s shoulder blades like stray, melting snow. “Just seems horrible,” he said. “That swan died to protect its mate and babies and the mate just went and died anyway. What was the point?”
Chapter 66
[Discussing censorship of band Fek Sygni/Swan Fang]
“No," Kallus reminded him carefully, "I didn't read the order and I don’t know that was their reason. And if it was, and it was wrong, then there’s an appeals process in place to deal with those sorts of things.”
"Appeals," Dayja echoed flatly. He shook his head to himself and stared down at his folded arms as he muttered, “Lot of reasons and justice in your galaxy, huh?”
“Yes,” Kallus said, narrowing his eyes. “Mistakes happen but for the most part, the people in charge have reasons for doing things the way they do, and things work the way they’re meant to. And if they don’t, there are mechanisms in place to get them working better. Like I said.”
and,
[Discussing Cygno] Dayja said. “I don’t think it needs to mean one thing in particular, though. I just think it needs to mean something.”
“Sacrifice, in this instance? A friend sacrificing themselves in their grief?” Kallus mused. Dayja hummed absently and Kallus said, “Wonder if they knew they’d end up a constellation getting debated on a rooftop.”
Chapter 76 - Skip to the swan gif to avoid spoilers for the most recent chapter
Dayja stared at Kallus, silent. Then, his shoulders sagged and he waved a hand at him. “Fine,” he said through a surrendering sigh. “You come up with something, Code-guy.”
“Okay, well…” Kallus breathed out his frustration, suddenly finding it very, very difficult to think of much of anything beyond the feel of warm fabric against his right side and the chill air on his feet. “Argus the Swan,” he said. “One of us says that, and the other can say, er—fuck, I just can’t think—”
and,
A breeze caught the lantern and carried it further out over the lake. From the opposite shore, a bird cried out a low, lilting sound like a falling note on an old, wooden flute. Dayja answered Kallus’s silent question: “Nightswan.” The nightswan called again, and the lantern continued its steady climb. Kallus shivered as he watched and shoved his hands into his pockets the moment he remembered he was free to do so.
This wasn’t everything. There’s swan-shaped dumplings, etc etc....*cough* I did warn you I’d get carried away. 😅 Point in fact:
A looooong time ago, I wrote up a couple tumblr posts detailing some of the symbolism in Promises but I figured it wouldn't be very interesting to anyone but me and I would've felt weird posting it (I know...Idk why I let sort of thing stop me but 🤷♂️). At the time, it also referenced chapters that had not been posted yet. I am pretty sure we have not reached the point where all quoted passages come from posted chapters. At this point I don't know if I ever will! 😅
But I can dig up the argus stuff if anyone is interested.
This “Ask” is costing me $$$ 🤣 Normally, I wait until I am away from prying eyes (the agency freak does not need to add more fuel to thee reputation) So, in order to get away from the hive, and ask my query in peace…I treated everyone to ☕️ ☕️, and I am taking my sweet ass time in delivery.
I have been tracking/mentally logging the Kallus/Dayja dreams to the best of my ability (had to leave some mental space for work) The trend that I see is as follows
1. Dayja becomes aware of Kallus’s presence in his dreams
2.parallels in dream/actual events develop
3. Exact events are recreated shortly after they are dreamt.
I place #1 around the dream events that took place in the hotel room: Dayja views Kallus as rescuing him from his nightmares. #2 correlates to Dayja lamenting (in dream) that Alex knows important details about Dayja’s life in dream mode than he does in reality. This comes crashing back whilst Alex is regaling Ada with the etymology of Dayja’s name (we see the stunned reaction from Dayja as he crumples with his arm across himself) (IIR correctly). He realizes that the dreams/reality are not as separated as he thought.
And now for #3
In the latest chapter, Alex reveals that his mother was a fashion designer. We learnt of this information previously when Alex recalls/recounted the story - whilst dreaming with Dayja - about discovering his mother’s portfolio. Dayja reacts strongly to this in-person revelation . In fact, if I were to relay my minds eye: I would say that Dayja blanched. Why? He (Dayja) already suspended the parallels forming between dream/reality (working theory), so this parallel should not have affected him so much, unless…
(Working theory) I believe that this latest revelation is suggesting not only parallels between dream/reality, but that the dreams have some sort of precognitive value. This would be gobsmacking info considering the content of the dreams. I would add that the dreams are probably not constrained to future events, but past ones, too (however, I have not worked out, yet)
****
Ring,Ring
Co-worker: where the hell are you? Did you collect & roast the beans yourself???
Me: uh, yah: line was long…be back in a few
****
So, once again, I could be blowing smoke…so as usual, please, guide, correct, nudge, or otherwise as to my theories. No spoilers expected.
Better go get the damn ☕️ ☕️🤣🤣🐝
Gasp! A $$$ Ask! I'll try not to waste it! (It’s okay, I’ll make myself coffee *wistful sigh* 😉)
I’ve been wondering if anyone (well, you 😆😘) was going to ask me about the dreams.
The dreams are complicated, and will only get more complicated as time goes on. 😒Shocker, I know. There is a lot going on in every one of them, and it’s not much of an exaggeration to say they’re one of the main threads binding the story together. So... hm. I guess I’ll break this down into the Kallus and Dayja sides of things, then do an overly long overview of the dreams themselves on the off-chance somebody might appreciate a refresher (not in the Star Wars sense--you’re on your own for that).
But you might want to take a trip bc this is a long one. Like, really.
Kallus
We don't know for certain when they started sharing dreams. Kallus, of course, is our beloved unreliable narrator and says--says--he doesn’t really remember his dreams. He notes a few occasions when he does remember them, and there’s a point on Alderaan when he wonders if the fact that he’s remembering more of his dreams isn’t correlated to his headaches (he remembers remembering his dreams as a child, and having the headaches as a child). But the degree to which he remembers is unclear.
Though, we do know from Pre-Interlude times (chapter 26?), Kallus notes he has had sexy-time dream/s of Dayja, and he definitely remembers them.
The mystery of just how it is Kallus is remembering all these dreams so vividly in Interlude remains.
But we do get a wee clue in chapter 66, when Kallus and Dayja are (awake) and chatting on the roof:
“Alright,” Dayja said with a casual air that was less than convincing. Dayja knew there was more to it than curiosity. Of course, he did.
And he wasn’t wrong. Because Kallus usually didn’t remember his dreams; that much was true. If they existed at all, it was in a whole other world that he lost access to once he woke, built up behind some great wall. In a way, he supposed, that was true for most people (apart from the insane or the mystical or creative, perhaps). But people could usually remember their dreams. He remembered remembering his dreams as a young child—he just couldn’t remember their content. But he knew—he knew he’d remembered them.
And, for whatever reason, they’d been lingering in his memory just a little longer this past year or so. He didn’t know if the return of his headaches was a coincidence, but something told him it wasn’t. That the pain was the price of dreams.
And it was a price he had no interest in paying.
“It’s just,” Kallus began, “in stories and things, you sometimes hear people recounting these elaborate dreams that play out like a vid. I was wondering if that was true, I suppose. If I’m the only Human in the galaxy who doesn’t remember their dreams.”
And, to add further weirdness, we know that within the dreams, Kallus definitely remembers his dreams. He references past dream events within them (like, pointing out that Dayja is turned on by his shorts and etymology facts).
So to your question, I'll add another question: How true is it that Kallus can't remember his dreams? Is he lying to Dayja? To himself? If so, why? A lot of the Dream Question hinges on what he remembers and why, and what he doesn't remember and why *recedes vaguely into vague shadow*
Dayja
Even in a world where the Force is a thing, if you hear someone repeat something they said in a dream you had of them once, you're not necessarily going to immediately go to: yup, shared dreams. You'd think, "Maybe he mentioned it and I forgot," or “maybe I’m misremembering my dream,” or “maybe I’m a secret genius.” Shared Force-Dreams is gonna be pretty far down on your list. And when it does occur to you--you being Dayja 😆--you'd likely talk yourself out of it pretty quickly because how nuts would that be? Considering what's happening in those dreams is something Dayja doesn't think Kallus would ever want?
Even with Dayja’s suspicions of Kallus’s latent abilities, shared Force dreams is still very, very far down his list--and for good, specific reasons. The crumbs for one of those reasons was laid as early as chapter 33 (that chapter pulls a lot of weight, poor thing). The other is sort of subtly worming its way through this entire Interlude. Both reasons will become clear by the end of things...in a chapter far, far away... (Sorry)
Point is: Given all those yet-to-be specified things combined, it would take a lot of coincidences for Dayja to begin to seriously believe it might be a shared dream situation. The full scope of why Dayja reacted the way he did will become a bit clearer within the next couple chapters--
Huh! How often do I say that and not “eventually” or "by the end" or "in the sequel" 😂
That moment in the pub was a big ol’ breaking tipping point in their relationship. Not the only or the last, but a big ‘n. Like the first (or third) domino in a Rube Goldberg machine.
The Dreams
A (hopefully but probably not) quick overview of all Kallus’s dreams that make us go “Huh," and waking dream discussion.
Chapter 28: Dream-Bonking Eli on Bahryn
Kallus has a sexy-time dream with Eli in which he hears the content of the message Eli leaves for him for the first time (the “is this Whale’s artistic license or nah😑” chapter XD) Kallus dreams he’s in his somehow-snowing apartment on Coruscant, but really he’s with Zeb on Bahryn.
Chapter 33: Kanan Cantina Chat
“Hm." Kanan stroked his beard. "Do you know when people are lying to you?”
Kallus narrowed his eyes. “Well, yes: I’ve been trained to.”
“Do you find your dreams tend to be a bit more immersive than other people’s? Do you find yourself learning things in dreams you couldn’t possibly know from waking experience alone?”
Kallus stiffened, reflexively rubbing at his right thigh with the heel of his hand. “How the hell could I possibly have a metric to judge my own dreams against other people’s if I never dream other people’s dreams?” he asked tartly.
Kanan seemed to find that funny for some reason. “I honestly have no clue. Do you find you have to cut yourself off from other people: that their emotions can be too much? Do you need to find ways of coping, compartmentalizing, just to be able to handle getting out of bed in the morning?"
Kallus scoffed and leveled Kanan with an unimpressed glare. “Okay, now you’re just describing everyone over thirty. Where the hell is this going?”
Chapter 47: Flower Shop 1
“What’s it taste like?” Kallus asked, not moving his thumb from the corner of Dayja’s mouth. He felt his own lips tingle as he watched Dayja’s be tickled by the flower’s stamens.
“Alex,” Dayja whispered.
Kallus leaned forward and just as his nose brushed Dayja’s, a quiet voice tickling his lips stopped him from going any further:
“I don’t want to get blood on you.”
Kallus looked down to see red spilling out of Dayja’s shirt and—
Kallus was jerked awake by the sound of his comm buzzing against the table. He blinked the sleep from his vision just in time to see Dayja opening his own eyes, staring at Kallus with an almost confused expression for just a few moments before shifting into a scowl.
In the chap 67(?) sexy times dream, Dayja mentions that Kallus bought him his favorite flower and apologized in his dreams, as you said.
Chapter 48: Kallus is in bed with Dobbs and dreams about fucking Dayja instead
Kallus only opened his eyes when he felt Dayja speak, his voice barely a whisper against his own lips.
“Why does this feel so real?” Dayja asked, sounding almost sad.
“Because it is,” Kallus said.
Dayja turned his head to the side, facing determinedly away from Kallus.
And
There was a strange scent in the air: subtle, like ozone after a lightning strike. But instead of the clean smell of burning atmosphere, it was more acrid.
Burning... hair?
Kallus felt a tingle on the back of his neck and turned rapidly in place, catching a flash of red and green light that lasted just long enough to leave an after image pulsing against the night once it faded.
When the feeling of being watched became so intense he found himself unable to focus on anything else but the burning on the back of his neck, he gave up. He returned to the room to find the projected stars filling the space in the bed that Dayja had left.
Drip.
Kallus winced as something warm and wet splashed against his cheek, wiping it away with his fingers. When he pulled his hand away, he saw red. He looked up at the constellations still dancing across the ceiling.
Cygno was bleeding.
Argus was on fire.
When he wakes up, he learns that Mira has been killed.
Chapter 51: Vague dream mention
If Dayja slept these days, Kallus never saw it.
Kallus's own nights were spent searching empty halls. After his mind grew tired of creating new places for him to futilely search, he would return to their quarters only to find them empty of everything but bleeding constellations. He'd awaken to see the faint outline of the very person he'd been searching for in his dreams sitting up in his bunk on the other side of the room, hugging his knees to his chest and staring out the window at the ever starless horizon.
That same chapter:
Kallus found himself passing through walls and locked doors like they were nothing but holo-projections in his haste to find Dayja, but he wasn't there.
By now, he knew that the recurring dream would end once he returned to their quarters. Only, he knew what he'd find waiting for him there and it was never Dayja. He pressed his forehead against the door—the only barrier that hadn't faded away at his touch—and waited, watching the light cast from the stars in the room beyond peeking out from the sliver of space beneath the door, dancing across his feet in green, red, and blue.
Chapter 52: Flower Shop Dream 2 with appearances by Mira and Anya
(Dayja missing at this point in waking world)
His eyes widened in horror when he saw Mira Yularen, her hands placed over her eyes—like a child playing a game.
Kallus clung to his comm and struggled to speak, only managing to mouth, “Where is Dayja?”
Mira shook her head and held up her hands to present him with her closed eyes and bloody palms. She opened her own mouth and said nothing, but the smell of burning flesh erupted from her mouth like perfume from a newly opened flower.
“Sasha, I need you to listen to me very closely.”
Kallus took a step back as Mira stepped forward, her movements as stiff and unnatural as a marionette’s. He watched her eyelids flutter and he knew they were about to open—knew he didn’t want to see what was there—and clenched his own eyes shut.
He could feel her hands reaching for him long before he felt wet, cold palms pressing against his own.
Static buzzed against his hand from his comm and he tried to force himself to listen to his aunt’s words instead of the wet, rattling groan echoing in front of him, but her voice was so, so distant.
Then, there was a warm, soothing hand against his forehead—as warm as Mira's were cold—and a clear voice in his ear, “You need to wake up now, Sasha.”
Chapter 53: Falling Asleep at Yularen’s
He closed his eyes again, the soft, distant sound of piano music ghosting over his consciousness as the apartment faded.
“Sir, I’m—”
“Dayja!”
Kallus awoke with a sharp gasp, clutching at his own throat. He levered up from the bed, panicking as he realized he had no idea where he—
Chapter 54: Post-Dayja’s Return in Waking World
For the first time in what felt like forever, Kallus didn’t dream. Or, if he did, he’d forgotten what he’d dreamt of the moment Dayja poked him awake.
Chapter 57: That Damned Nightswan Sonata!
Kallus looked up at the sprawling vaulted ceilings of the empty ballroom; it glinted with the same mirror-finish as the black marble floor. He looked out one of the many grand windows to see the spires of Coruscant outside—simple silhouettes against the orange and pink glow of the setting sun.
He sighed and turned from the window, tilting his head when he spotted the shining, black grand piano. If not for the white keys, he didn’t think he would’ve noticed it. He walked over to it and sat at the bench, lightly dragging his fingers along the keys. He twisted his mouth as he searched his memory, then reached out to make the first arpeggio of Zahn’s Nightswan Sonata.
A chill ran up his spine and he tried to turn but was stopped by firm hands on his shoulders.
“Don’t stop,” a man said. “You play so beautifully.” The man took one of his hands in his and remarked, “You have the fingers for it.” The hand tightened and he winced. “I said, ‘Don’t stop.’”
“Sir, I’m—”
Kallus barely had time to register that his voice was not his own before the words were choked out of him by strong hands at his throat—
Kallus gasped himself awake, levering from the bed just in time to see Dayja slipping from his own bunk, rubbing at his throat as he made his way into the refresher.
Later that same chapter:
“Where do you go?” Kallus asked, too tired to bother with the list of things he wasn’t supposed to do or say. “When you leave at night?”
The hand on his hair stilled. Dayja didn't respond for several heartbeats before saying quietly, “Nowhere important, sweetheart.” He gave Kallus’s hair one last stroke, then retreated.
When Kallus finally did manage to fall asleep again, not long after he heard Dayja’s own breathing even out, he dreamt of an autumn night, and a shaggy black dog chasing him through a field of tall white flowers and glowing insects. He was laughing. The sister he’d never had but somehow still loved laughing beside him was how he knew he was safe.
Chapter 62: Sexy Time Dreams with Shorts
Dayja was leaning over the sink, his shirt soaked with water. He was bracing his hands on the edge with a white-knuckled grip, eyes clenched shut. The moment Kallus put a hand to his friend’s shoulder, Dayja recoiled. “Don’t touch me,” he whispered, voice cracking from strain or emotion or both.
“Tell me what’s wrong,” Kallus said, gripping Dayja’s wrist in his. “Whatever it is, we’ll handle it, alright? But you need to talk to me.” He exhaled sharply and added, “Don’t make me sit on you again.”
Dayja let out a shaky breath and opened his eyes, though they seemed to focus on anything but Kallus’s own, drifting along the floor instead. “You can’t tell?” he asked, voice uncharacteristically timid.
“Tell what?”
Dayja's throat worked. “I took it. I don’t know how or why or where it came from even, but I took it. I know I took it; I must have taken it. I can feel it, worming around in there—I can hear it crackling in my ears like—”
“Took what—”
“Spice,” Dayja bit out, turning away from Kallus. “I didn’t mean to, I swear I didn’t, but it's there and—”
5%...15%...40%...
“No, you didn’t,” Kallus said, willing the words true. And when he grabbed Dayja firmly by the shoulder to turn him back to face him, Kallus wondered if he hadn’t managed to do just that.
Chapter 65: Chasing a child through the forest/weird underwater ocean beast
Another ripple of motion caught his eye, and Kallus just caught the swishing of a very long, very red tail before it disappeared into the shadows. A twig snapped. Kallus turned to see a flash of deep red-and-black-striped muscle flex in the darkness before sinking back into the shadows. A low growl rumbled—it was close. A primordial fear swept up Kallus’s spine, as if every one of his ancestors was screaming at him to stay still, to run, to fight, to—
A man’s voice drifted through the trees, everywhere and nowhere: “Ja-ja, can you stay very still? I need you to listen to me. You don’t need to be scared…”
Kallus pressed himself against the tree and whispered, “Dad?” in the voice of a child.
That voice was in his ear, now: “Close your eyes… breathe…”
Chapter 66: Awake dream-meta chatting and Kallus asking awfully specific questions about certain sorts of dreams for some weird reason:
“That’s so odd…” Kallus said distantly.
“Doesn’t seem odd at the time, though, is the point,” Dayja said. “I mean, they might feel meaningful and profound on occasion but dreams are just dreams and dreams are weird. You do things you'd never do, kill people you'd never kill, fuck people you'd never fuck.”
Kallus said, "Oh. So..." he trailed off, tracing shapes absently in the snow by his leg before asking, "because it's a bad idea or—"
"No," Dayja said.
Chapter 67: Speeder Smut
“So,” Kallus asked, hugging Dayja’s waist tighter, “am I a repto-bird with too many eyes? A myth? Or am I a placebo?”
Dayja laughed, and Kallus kissed the crinkle at the corner of his eye. “You keep the nightmares away,” he said, his tone almost shy. “I don’t know how or why, but for whatever fucking reason, I haven’t had a single nightmare since we’ve been here. Just… dreams about you. Even when they start as nightmares—really fucking familiar ones—you show up. And…” he trailed off, finishing the thought with the swirls he drew on Kallus’s hip.
Kallus took the opportunity to tilt Dayja’s face toward his and kissed him—slowly. He pulled away just far enough to ask, “And make it better?”
Dayja’s face flickered. “I’m not sure,” he admitted.
Chapter 68: Honey, come quick! That damned sonata is back!
That night, Kallus dreamt of a large room with vaulted ceilings the same reflective black marble as the floor. The piano music that followed his expectation to hear that very music made him wonder if he hadn’t summoned it. But only the opening bars of Zahn’s Nightswan Sonata could play before a scream beyond sound tore at the very heart of him:
WAKE UP, WAKE UP, WAKE UP—
Phew! Damn.
All of these Interlude dreams have a couple important elements in common. I’m not going to say what those elements are. But even the chapter 28 dream has two important elements in common with all the others, and isn’t so different as it initially seems.
That being said, there are different kinds of dreams--shared dreams, knowing-things-he-shouldn't dreams, dream dreams--and sometimes we get multiple dreamy flavors in one dream latte--fuck I want coffee so bad 🤣
And, when dreams are more jumbled and, well, dream-like: there is a reason. When dreams are sort of oddly logical--almost like it’s waking life--there’s a reason for that, too. And just because Kallus says a thing--even to himself--doesn’t necessarily make it true. I don’t claim to have an explanation for every little thread somebody could pull on, but the dreams are one of the most deliberate parts of the story, and I’m pretty confident in saying: there’s a reason for everything (more or less 😂) *jazz hands*
I'm just not gonna say what they are yet 😘
To quote Dayja, “Lot of reasons and justice in your galaxy, huh?”
I wanted make this big and flashy, but, I’m hiding out in the bathroom (at the station) using my phone.
So non-flashy it is 🤣
Argus the Swan
Eureka! The last clue that I needed for my theory (your Symbols tome reinforces it so much that I cannot wait to get home to babble)
Theory
Mole Rat->Cygno the Swan->Argus Constellation->Argus the Beast With Many Eyes->Argo(us) protects Hera’s cattle
They are all Dayja, metaphorically.
The tattoos on Dayja represent his evolution. His life.
He begins as the Mole Rat. After Mira dies, Dayja is the grieving swan. As the situation demands, it is Dayja who becomes Argus the Protector. Just as Argo protects Hera’s cows, Dayja’s last efforts are to protect Kallus (metaphorically Hera’s cow 🤣)
There are several other links/metaphors involved here, but I am limited in my abilities to quote.
Let’s have some more fun.
The Symbol of Red-Green-Blue Lights
When the topic of what the red-green-blue lights came up, the Promises Situation Room was convened, and I offered this theory: those colors represented Kyber Crystals like those used in light sabers. This goes back months, when I was filling out the White Board. I feel so fucking validated that it turned out to indeed be Kyber crystals! Below is a picture of that entry on the White Board.
Theory of Anya’s Death
We have thus far been led to believe that Anya was killed by pirates. I believe that she, too, is killed by Inquisitors much like Mira. For Anya conceals the same secret that Mira did: Kallus is force sensitive.
I have some miscellaneous queries that I hope to clear up, too:
1. Dayja sends Kallus away from the hospital because he was becoming a liability right before Gideon’s eyes
2. Not only did Dayja spell out Colonel Shleemo, but he stuck the knife in deeper by having an affair with Mira’s sister (my impression. I could be all washed up on this)
3. Just to be clear, Yularen had an affair during Clone Wars era?
I think I have gone missing from my desk long enough to cause alarm. Thanks so much for the resurrection of my abilities to analyze & hypothesize 🥰
Alright, let's do this! I'm just gonna work my way through like a buffet.
Dayja's Tattoos
You are absolutely right that there is a lot of significance wrapped up in Dayja's tattoos beyond just commemorating a particular event or person. We've only seen (up close... sort of) three of them so far. Other tattoos have been mentioned in passing, but as the Interlude progresses, we'll see some in more detail--one of which we'll even see get tattooed.
Your theory might find more validation as we move forward.
Green/Blue/Red Lights
It's the kyber crystals! Glad to put that one to bed because you're gonna need more space on that board. 😉
Though, I'd also point out that there's green and blue in addition to red. I wouldn't go laying the mystery of who killed Mira (or Anya) and why to bed just yet...but we do hear some last words from somebody in that lab.
Anya's Death
Welp, we know she (so far as Kallus knows) died--ostensibly at the hands of pirates--but we haven't seen it play out in real time yet... we will.
There is a lot of mystery around Anya, and some breadcrumbs dropped along the way about just what her deal is--and what the deal with Kallus's family in general is.
I won't give away too much just yet, but I will remind you of something we know for certain: Kallus has a tendency to end up in other people's dreams, and/or for other people to end up in his.
I'm gonna leave it at that for now, and let the Promises Situation Room do with that what they may.
Misc. 1
Uh... yeah. That's not the whole story, but that's a fair chunk of it. Remember before Dayja even left for the mission, when Kallus found him in their room, Dayja made sure Kallus hid in the bathroom when Gideon showed up. And later, when Kallus tells Dayja he ran into Gideon, his behavior changed.
And, given the timing of certain comms directing Kallus to do certain things, it might not have been only Dayja trying to keep the two from seeing each other.
Misc. 2
Wait. Are you saying Dayja fucked Mira's sister? Or that Yularen did? 😅😆 I'm just gonna assume you're talking about Yularen and Xeri. Instead of forcing you back to the lantern-lighting ceremony, I'll pull a bit for you:
“So, what,” Kallus began in a vain attempt to lighten the conversation, “was it with General Anakin Skypounder or—” Kallus froze at Dayja’s pleading look. “Oh kriff,” he whispered urgently, “was it?”
Devilishly slowly, Dayja’s face split into a grin. Kallus gave him a shove. “I mean,” Dayja defended, laughing as he stumbled to avoid falling, “I don’t know it wasn’t him.” Once he caught his bearings, he stared out over the lake, good humor fading once more. His voice was oddly hollow as he said, “What does a Jedi care about breaking up a family, anyway?”
Misc. 3
Yes, the affair was during the Clone Wars. And during the Clone Wars, Yularen was pretty busy (ha)--too busy to go straying too far from his duties to have an affair. So unless Xeri was serving alongside the Navy/Naval Intelligence, it's unlikely she was involved.
I'll just stick this here; in Chap. 55, Yularen tells Kallus:
"More importantly, so far as anyone else in ISB knows, I decided to come home early after a disagreement with Mira’s family.” He gave a small snort and muttered, “Something that can be corroborated by a number of sources."
For all we know, Xeri may just have been eager to dish on the affair.
Maybe Dayja knows whom the affair was with or maybe he doesn't. But what we do know is, if Dayja does know, Dayja chose not to tell Kallus.
As you already pointed out, he is a protective dude.
Well, this is what happens when one is off rotation for 2 months and left to entertain themself whilst chained to a desk. After my last Ask, which resulted in a deep-dive into Kallus-Dayja dreamscape, I took an even deeper dive & deconstructed the dreams a bit. I apologize, the Tumblr algorithm is not sophisticated enough to reproduce my whiteboard masterpiece 🤣🤣 so bear with me, please.
The dream chapters are listed with the outstanding features of each individual dream. A pattern develops & a loose hypothesis is drawn at the end of the post <spot hypothesis by line> I may or may not be wasting everyone’s time, but at least they thought that I was hot on the trail of…something….at work🧐🧐
Dragging more people into the quagmire: I showed this mess to my twin-separated-by-years @coruscantiscribbler . Her independent observation of the lights is expanded upon + our independent observations about the cold was added.
Please take a look at this mess list and see what you think🤔 is there anything useful here regarding the significance of the dream? or toss it and try, try, again? 🤣🤣🤣 (no big deal; this is all an exercise towards overcoming an injury/passing time) I understand this is a hot mess, so edit, cut, toss aside. It’s all good😎
Chapter #28
Kallus-Eli-Zeb
Apartment/moon
Cold/Snow
Com unit present
Fear/Desire
Chapter #33
Kallus-Dayja
Flower Shop
Comm unit present
Blood
Chapter #48
Kallus/Dobbs/Dayja
Dorm
Comm unit present
Burning
Red-Green light <Alderaan uniform/kyber crystal>
Argus on fire <soldier in uniform analogy/Alderaan>
