#Is a right wing asshole among other stuff | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

anhedonyan · 1 year

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It's funny how on Tumblr a lot of people (foreign too) think Catalonian independence movement is left-wing when it is strongly right-wing nationalism. They have what we could say, a good marketing though.

First I'll leave this here as a reference (note: Spain is divided in comunidades and ciudades autónomas). This is all the money Spain gives to each community annualy in 2023:

Wow, isn't Catalonia in first place?????????? Btw is the biggest Community (Comunidad Autónoma, idk how to translate it) here? Nope! But they get more money than any other, in fact the biggest is Castilla y León in sixth place (one of the biggest communities with this problem of "España vaciada"). We could say... Catalonia ens roba? ;)

This link is in Spanish so I'll just quickly explain it: it's about poblation, it's vaciada ("emptied Spain") because... nobody wants to live in a city with <1000 people living there (lack of schools, universities, jobs, etc) so they are forced to emigrate, obviously. Where do they go? To bigger cities. What's one of these cities? Barcelona (in Catalonia). But they're anti-migration too, so...

Basically, it's Madrid 2.0, where Spain has put more money and more "care" in the past. and still does nowadays. in their main urban centers but supposedly, this isn't true according to them. Except it is? Almost any other community is neglected in comparison but supposedly by them, they're the ones BEING OPPRESSED BY THEM??? Pardon? What do you think "España vaciada" means (go up)? Why do you think a lot of people in small towns in the countryside have to study and find a job in big cities like Madrid and Barcelona (Catalonia)? Maybe because they're the ones truly neglected in comparison? Don't you think??? What do you think about Catalonians being strongly against people from others parts of the country having to study in big cities like Barcelona (among other cities elsewhere) because anyone who isn't Catalonian is dirty for them? What do you think about them complaining because according to them "50% of the people who study medicine here isn't from Catalonia"? What do you think about them even appropiating people and culture from other places of the country and outside of it? What do you think about some independence supporters saying Cervantes, Shakespeare and DaVinci were from Catalonia when it is totally false (and there are millions of more cases where they say the same thing)? Mainly they like to do it with Joanot Martorell though, I add only his wikipedia page because they do it CONSTANTLY, so many times I could add any links of them doing it. Isn't it funny how, just to add more, they also want to annex other places from Spain too (hola, Baleares, hola Comunidad Valenciana) because we belong to them, according to them? Sorry, I'm okay with those joke maps where Alicante is with Albacete and Murcia, but I refuse to be with such nationalistic assholes. Btw, they also want to be a tax heaven like Andorra. :) They even compare themselves with Scottish people (which it's totally different...). They compare one of their protests with the conflict of Palestine and Israel, and also with Ukraine (I wished I had saved these tweets in the past...). Yeah, they compare wars with protests. I have more and more to say, but I will stop here. A lot of them think Andalusian people are dirty and lazy, btw.

Sadly, a lot of left-wing people eat up this argument and won't/can't see this is purely right-wing nationalism.

I could add more and more but probably nobody will read this, left-wing people will keep eating up made up stuff (I'm left-wing but c'mon...) anyway, I have to eat and I'm pretty much venting more than anything.

No, I won't ever talk about other independence movements in Spain because I don't want to talk about things I don't know, but this one, this one I know it.

Note: when I say Catalonians I don't mean every Catalonian, only those in the movement.

#mine #as always rich ppl against poorer ppl #and thats supposed to be left-wing?#no it isnt

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fivedollarradio · 9 months

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This is going to be a little disjointed, as I haven't been posting here a lot lately, or writing much at all for that matter, but I spent part of yesterday afternoon following a story that's no niche that I'm sure no one will care. The abbreviated version: a small brand announced a collaboration with an influencer with a history of liking and promoting anti-vax rhetoric, among other things. I've purchased from this company before and in fact had an order that had yet to be fulfilled, which I promptly canceled, but it still leaves a really bad taste in my mouth.

Another thing that bothers me about these kinds of situations is that I don't have an entirely flaw-free social media presence. I mean, I don't have much of presence at all, but it someone where to search through my IG or Twitter or whatever, you'd probably find something to easily label me "trash." I had a sort of "crisis of ideology" where I thought I should at least expand my circle and follow people on "all sides." Most of those "all-siders" ended up right-wing assholes even if they didn't start that way. This is why words like "just asking questions," or "I'm a critical thinker" throw up so many red flags for me. Been there. Done that. Still have the tee-shirt. And I hold myself accountable for having given these people the time of day, but how long does something like following Russell Brand on YouTube get to define me, even though I don't any more and know he's trash? I'm pretty transparent about a lot of this, though I've also deleted stuff that doesn't represent me any more. Does that make me a hypocrite? Some of he accusations against the aforementioned influencer were from two or three years ago, and were scrubbed from her IG. But screenshots are immortal so it's hugely hypocritical on the part of both company and collaborator.

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zevranunderstander · 1 year

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the thing about terfs is. i get how a person can get radicalized like that and its not that i have sympathy for them but i have people in my family who were radicalized into being right-wing and there is the thing that you can never really convince them that they are wrong because the places they get their information from (other radicalized people) will only ever show them the bad stuff to a point where they dont really connect their hatred with reality anymore?

like. right wing people love to instill fear of immigrants and foreign people by recording and sharing moments in which some of these people got violent and acted up to scare the "normal" citizens into being paranoid that their country is being invaded by people who are violent and "ungrateful" and when observing a group of that size there will always be someone to complain about. there will be mentally ill people, traumatized people, people who just happen to be violent assholes, people whose actions are taken entirely out of context, etc. and this is spun into a story that ALL foreigners are like that. ALL immigrants are like that. and instead of these being the exception to the rule, the one or two immigrants that these people might personally know (and who are coincidentally really nice people) suddenly are the exception to that rule. but these people usually live in a way where they just. don't have any real contact with this group they hate outside of their echo chamber so they think everything else told about them, especially by less radicalizing media is a lie and propaganda to make you think they are actually "good and normal people" and that's fucked up, but ultimately also shows how many of these people lack a basic level of empathy for other human beings

and terfs are also like that. if you go on their blogs and read their posts youll realize very soon that the problem isn't only that they hate trans people. i think their hate for trans people is a symptom stemming from the fact that they truly truly truly hate men, to a point of ALWAYS dehumanizing them when they speak about them, calling them weird terms to further dehumanize them ('moids' and 'males' mostly). i recently reblogged a post by an ex-terf where she said something like 'terfs truly do not think men are human beings, you can only hate a group so long before you can't see them as human anymore' and if you check these people's blogs, they have the same echo chambers as the alt-right: videos of sexist men, videos of men acting violent, videos of men being horrible people, and for terfs this is the true 'male nature' - ALL men are secretly like this. ALL men hate women and want to kill and rape them.

that's why they hate trans women. because to them this isn't a gender binary, it's a group of innocent, oppressed victims and a group of violent non-human monsters. and the thought that one of these monsters would want to hide among them (im so sorry for the gross comparison) as a wolf in sheeps clothing, only pretending to be on their side to hurt them when they are letting down their guard around other women.

and that is why they don't have the same disdain for trans men, per se. they have created this echo chamber that makes them believe men are all violent and sexist and opportunistic. and like with the example of immigrants earlier it's hard to convince them otherwise. even more than in the example because toxic masculinity and the patriarchy has created tons and tons of men who are either violent, or horribly sexist. there have been centuries of female opression side and if you know where to look, it's pretty easy to find a video of andrew tate or some tradcath male youtuber for them to share in their echo chamber.

yes, toxic masculinity, sexism, etc. those are all actual issues that we have in our society, but convincing ourselves that every man is like that is so delusional and unhelpful and shows such a lack of human empathy? it's hard to argue with them because to them, men don't need any empathy ever because they hold more power in society. terfs even inflate how much more power men hold because they don't really wanna fight for equal rights, they want to be the victims. they looove saying that women are weaker, women are biologically less capable of x and biologically less intelligent than men or whatever shit, just so they can victimize themselves even further. they love arguing over posts that say something sexist and i swear i dont know how often i saw that on a terf's blog, they LOVE to pick fights with the trads on this site. they don't WANT to block the negativity, they want to wail over how oppressed they are and how cruel and hateful all men are.

and i think on this site we all have this view of terfs being exclusively against trans women, but the thing that is at the core of their beliefs is their hate for men. i think for some terfs it might be the reverse of 'they were already transphobic and then fell into a rethoric that backed their beliefs by introducing them to gender essentialism'. for other women it could also be having a particularly bad expierience with a man - living with an abusive father, being sexually assaulted and I sympathize with women who hold a grudge against the patriarchy for allowing men to take advantage of them like that, but projecting this image onto every man you ever meet is so insane and delusional. it's normal to have trust issues after having a bad expierience with ANY group of people, but it's not normal to ignore working on that and trying to get better and instead blame men for all moral failings of society and your personal life.

terfs love to hold up a woman's "innate empathy and intuition", but they do not, in fact, have actual empathy and have conditioned themselves to think all men are violent zombies who only crave power, success and to hurt and kill women.

#myposts #tw: transphobia #tw: racism #terfs set feminism back by 20 years its amazing

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clone-wars-imagine-2 · 3 years

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Bad Batch Preference: How you meet and grow closer together

A/N: I hope people enjoy this and I guess I am back on here. Hello people who still follow me!

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Sergeant Hunter: You were surprisingly a Jedi and not just any Jedi, you were Anakin Skywalker's twin sister. Being the sister of that knucklehead wasn’t easy but if you managed him you could manage everything. Hunter and you met through Cody as the Bad Batch often reports to him and on one of their mission debriefings you walked into the room in full Jedi attire, beaten up from the battle you just came back with a grin on your face. Hunter felt like his heart stopped as your two gazes met and he knew right then and there he wanted to be with you.

For you it wasn’t any different. When you looked into his eyes you immediately felt a connection to him you couldn’t describe even if you tried. Something drew you to him and it made your heart skip a beat. At first you didn’t know if it was the force playing tricks on you or not. And to be honest the face tattoo he had was something that intrigues you and added something to the attraction you felt towards him and you were sure to ask him why he got it.

You two got to know each other when you requested their help on a mission on gathering some intel about something the sepratist were planning. The mission went exceptionally well and you not only grew closer with Hunter but the rest of the Bad Batch as well. You liked them a lot and you felt like they felt the same. It didn’t take long for you to decide that joining them wouldn’t be so bad and you worked better with them than any other troop so it was decided.

Being with them brought something new and exciting to your life and every day you learned more about them and how to maneuver the galaxy than you ever did with the Order. Of course you made sure to learn as much about the sergeant as possible.

Crosshair: The last mission of the Bad Batch went, nicely said, horrible leaving all of them with injuries so it was decided that they would get a medic assigned to them. Neither Crosshair nor the others wanted a reg among them and protested until the supervisor caved in and decided to assign one of the voluntary medics to them. Then in came you, a sunshine in person smiling brightly at all of them introducing yourself as their new medic.

Crosshair absolutely hated you in the beginning, yes you were better than a reg, but he despised your upbeat and innocent attitude from day one. You knew that he disliked you, he made it very clear by telling you to your face, but that didn’t stop you from being nice to him and getting feelings for the sharpshooter.

It took over six months and a reveal about your past during one intense mission that he started to see what was behind your facade and understand you. You all were on a mission to free a Jedi General that was captured a few weeks prior and the planet it brought you to was your old home planet. You begged Hunter to let you stay on the ship for this one and he was ready to leave you there until Crosshair interfered with one of his snarky comments that made your walls come crashing down.

“Excuse me that I do not want to run the risk of seeing my kriffin abusive family again, Crosshair! I spent years trying to get away and I am not about to lose all that kriffin progress because of you asshole!”

None of them has seen you in any shape, way or form angry and you screaming at Crosshair, seething with anger even made him shut up. In the end you stayed on the ship until they came back with the General. It wasn’t until that night that Crosshair came to you and apologized, actually apologized for once, and you two talked it out, paving the way for a future where you two would get along in more ways than you’d expect.

Tech: You two first met through a forum where things about technics and new inventions got discussed. One of your comments caught his eyes because you explained the flaws a new X-Wing model had and how it could be easily fixed. Tech was impressed with your statement and sent you a private message in the forum, starting a discussion between the two of you that lasted for three days. You immediately became friends and chatted every day.

The first time you two met in person was because threats were made against your father, Senator Bail Organa, and because you always tagged along with him he wanted to request protection from the Jedis. You knew that that was your only change and so you told him about how the Bad Batch were the best around and with a bit of prodding, begging and some luck they were assigned to your and your fathers protection.

They protected you for the next three weeks and it was the best three weeks of your life. You spent every single second you could with Tech, getting to know him and ranting about everything that came to your minds. It was a bliss and even though Tech was a bit insecure at first about you being a princess it didn’t hinder the both of you to start a relationship.

Wrecker: Being one of the best inventors and mechanics in the galaxy had its perks but also its downsides, one of them being that when the war came the Republic wanted you in their ranks. They were persistent and the only reason you said yes was so they left you alone, it worked in some ways at least.

You met Wrecker after he and the others came back from a mission where they barely escaped which left the Havoc Marauder half destroyed. You went by them without paying them much mind besides the half giant that was Wrecker which caught your eyes for a moment. Your heart ached seeing the modified omicron-class attack shuttles so ruined and you immediately went to work on it.

It took Wrecker a long time, and some nudges from his brothers, to muster up the courage to talk to you because of your cold and distant behaviour towards them when they first met you, but when he finally did he was pleasantly surprised. You were kind and soft to him and answered every question he asked you. Something about how Wrecker talked to you and how nervous he was in the beginning made your heart immediately melt for him.

Throughout the whole repair process Wrecker would be glued to your side, talking to you about some of the missions they had and crazy stuff that happened. He would also listen to your rambles about your newest inventions and whatnot. When the ship was finally repaired and they left again Wrecker promised to comm you every day which he kept, even if they were in the middle of a battle. It was one of the cutest things ever and it was one thing you loved about him.

#star wars the bad batch #bad batch #bad batch x reader #sergeant hunter #sergeant hunter x reader #crosshair #crosshair x reader #tech x reader #wrecker x reader #hunter x reader #star wars the clone wars #star wars the clone wars x reader

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tomikashii · 3 years

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Nohebi Boyfriend Headcanons

literally made this because i don't see alot of nohebi boyfriend headcanons lol

warning ; nsfw , mentions of sex and kinks (like exhibitionism , choking , blindfold , toys , scratch marks )

honestly , if you are gonna have a problem with my headcanons , please leave 🚪👈🏻

i love nohebi and let me talk about them , give them the boyfriend headcanon that they deserve because literally one of them is in a canon relationship 🙄 (but mika is non-existent in this headcanon , im sorry)

🐍 Daisho Suguru 🐍

as we can see from the way he treats mika , probably a very good guy to you but an asshole to the others

well , other than the nohebi members lmao

anyways , i picture him that he is the type who would hold your hand wherever you guys go

locking pinkies with one another when you both are standing next to each other

when you are on your period , he is scared of you (learned it the hard way from his older sister i suppose) but he knows how to handle it because his sister taught him (in a way)

helps you out with your homework because he is in a higher class than you and YOU JUST KNOW HE MAKES FUN OF YOU XISBSIWHWIWHW LIKE OKAY ALBERT EINSTEIN 🙄✋🏻

sexy times with daisho includes having sex in the fucking gym closet because you both have no shame (mostly him)

or probably catching hiroo and his girlfriend at the corner 👁👅👁

FOURSOME ?? (woah sya no pls)

anyways , please go to his games to support him :( you will see the most biggest smile across his face but immediately hides it when you catch him smiling.

and yes , you scold him for teasing or taunting nekoma because you need your boyfriend to B E H A V E

🐍 Hiroo Koji 🐍

emo boyfriend ™️

im just kidding but he really looks that emo boyfriend with his edgy kuroo haircut

anyways , he is probably the clingiest boyfriend among the nohebi team because he doesn't like anyone except you

like deadass , his confession was like :

" i like you because i can tolerate you "

LIKE OKAY BITCH ? I CAN TOLERATE YOU TOO ? 😭✋🏻

would prefer to cuddle you than going out of the house with you . but if you ask him nicely , he would probably bring you to like the nearest convenience store from your house and buy snacks to cuddle you longer in your house .

his parents doesn't really mind you around and his younger siblings loves you more than him (expect alot of hiroo and them fighting for your attention)

sexy times with hiroo : GIRL HE FUCKS YOUR EYEBROWS OFF (LIKE SAYONARA EYEBROWS)

probably would fuck you in the gym closet when he is locking up the gym . (once was caught by daisho and his girlfriend *hint hint* and they both ZOOMED) he doesn't really mind though 👁👄👁

you didn't walk for a week after that so you know that its super beneficial for him because he likes staying home with you and not going anywhere other than school and volleyball practices

honestly , he gives very warm hugs and you would stay cuddled up on him for many hours .

🐍 Sakishima Isumi 🐍

someone add him into the pretty setter squad please or im going to R I O T

anyways , he is a very shy tsundere kind of boyfriend but actually worships you like a goddess

really loves you but shows it by flicking your forehead or constant teasing with either your grades or height

first time holding hands , made him so cocky like he was FLEXING to the entire team that he held your hand to school today (and akama was like : good job 👍🏻)

when you both walk pass each other during passing period , he would playfully nudge your shoulder or of course , flick your forehead

this bitch is the type who would insult your forehead

" damn , your forehead could fit the entire world map in there . " LIKE BITCH

the type who will put your head on his shoulder in the bus when you are fast asleep , after telling you to not sleep on his shoulder 🌚

really shy when you both slept together for the first time (not even sex lmao)

but when you guys had sex , he was so dense , it was so cute but he is trying his best . but after like 20 minutes , he loosen up abit .

OH MY GOD HIS SETTER FINGERS LIKE GOD DAMN AWOOGA AWOOGA it will reach spots your little fingers can't reach .

his aftercare is not the best but he is trying and learning slowly .

super insecure of his freckles but you are madly in love with them , would kiss them when he is 'fast asleep' next to you (but little did you know that he wasn't asleep next to you)

🐍 Takachiho Yoshiya 🐍

STOP SLEEPING ON TAKACHIHO HE IS MY SON AND I LOVE HIM SO MUCH STOP SLEEPING ON HIM

as we can see from haikyuu bu! , he is like the father/mother figure of the team so expect him to care for you alot in the relationship

would give you good piggy back rides because he is so nice to you

calls you one million nicknames (i know right) but he does have his favourites like 'pretty girl' or 'angel' .

has a pet dog and the dog loves you more than him (he isn't upset about it but more of touched that his dog loves his love of his life 🥺)

he has this boyfriend sense that even if you didn't text him that you are sick , he is already at your doorstep , with medicine , snacks and like eight different hoodies for you to choose from .

like literally half of your closet is his hoodies and he doesn't mind because he wants you to have them 🥺

very into PDA and would want you to get along with his team because he loves the team but never tells them that except you .

but please don't be fooled , this man is a fucking crackhead at like 4am . he would send you a random meme , making you laugh hysterically for the next 2 hours before school starts .

sexy times with takachiho is the most heartwarming but the most eye rolling pleasurable experience .

LIKE THIS MAN CAN HIT THE SPOTS LIKE AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH and plus , he has like that deep ass morning voice .

wouldn't mind if you leave scratches on his back . the other teammates will pester him about it and he would just say , " i went too hard . "

🐍 Numai Kazuma 🐍

OWNS THE BOYFRIEND ™️ HANDS DOWN

honestly , he will give you like the best damn hugs in the whole wide world like you will feel so protected in his bara bara arms .

and the thing is, he is taller than you so like he will lift you up as he hugs you , signaling you to wrap around his torso as he holds you close to his chest .

GOD IM JUST ASKING FOR A BOYFRIEND LIKE NUMAI KAZUMA PLEASE 🥺🤲🏻

he literally worships you like a goddess , always be in awe on whatever you do (even when you just woke up with the most ugliest hair and ugliest facial expressions *he thinks its cute*)

yes , he has a picture of you sleeping on his chest as his wallpaper because he can't get enough of your face

PDA PDA PDA PDA this man live off PDA like hugging you when you pass him in the hallways to kissing your forehead randomly when you are just standing in the train next to him .

gives you a ton of his hoodies and would only want you to wear them because you are his precious PRECIOUS girlfriend .

soft dom numai ;) like he is so soft with you in and out of bed , his aftercare is OUT OF THIS WORLD (like takachiho and numai can have a aftercare battle tbh)

WILL NEVER DEGRADE YOU EVEN IF YOU ASK (maybe a little of degradation + praise) BUT PURE DEGRADATION IS A NO NO

he rather punish you by tying you up against the headboard and sliding in vibrators while you beg him to fuck you .

EYE CONTACT WITH HIM PLS- YOU CAN ACTUALLY DIE FROM HIS SOFT EYES STARING INTO YOURS !!!!!!

🐍 Kuguri Naoyasu 🐍

soft boy and very shy boy + he is very aloof so please don't think that he doesn't love you (he does , he just doesn't know how to show it)

not into PDA but will hold hands with you in private or lay on your shoulder (because he doesn't want his older teammates to make you uncomfortable)

probably the first person he would introduce you to is Numai because he trust Numai than the rest .

sleeps on your shoulder in the bus (unintentionally) , but sometimes you feel he does it on purpose . (because he said that he doesn't like PDA)

he is a very shy boy , so please be patient with him !! he is trying his best :>

says 'i love you' so rarely , everytime you hear him say it , your tears wouldn't stop falling from your eyes .

actually really happy that you go to his games and would blush the moment he sees you in the bleachers .

believe or not , he wants to kiss you more often but people keep getting in the way so that lead him to not do it often .

you first kiss was really magical , like those shojo manga scenes ; on top of the mountain , under the cherry blossom tree .

sexy time with kuguri : the first time you both had sex was in the later part of your relationship . i mean , you guys do make out and stuff , but like- never went the next level .

he is really gentle , always asking if you are okay because your face will scrunch up in pain , taking him in (because he is big)

after having sex with him , he begins to be more confident and actually tries to grab your ass from time to time

hint hint : remember that he is a wing spiker , yeah , let your imagination run wild on that 🌚

i know i didn't add the second years but i really don't know how to write for them :(

and definitely not because i love third years + because kuguri is always on my mind (bcuz of numai 🤗)

leave me a message , reblog or whatsoever if you like this headcanon ! please do let me know if you would like to use it too , NOHEBI STANS RISE !!!! 💕

#nohebi academy #nohebi #haikyuu #haikyuu bu #daishou suguru #numai kazuma #sakishima isumi #takachiho yoshiya #hiroo kouji #hiroo koji #nohebi headcanons #nohebi boyfriend #i love nohebi #kuguri x reader

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syn0vial · 3 years

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important question number 3 what do you have on boba and sintas vel 👀 - lekkui

i have... some things! honestly, i wish sintas’s portrayal had been a little more solid in the EU. it varied wildly between writers and in certain comics, she had little more characterization than “beautiful, tough bounty hunter chick.” i hope if they revisit her in new canon, they give her a more nuanced, more consistent depiction. also i’ll be ignoring said comics for the purposes of this post bc it’s my blog and i’m too sleepy for salt right now

but yes, onto the bullet points!

for those unaware, sintas vel was a female kiffar bounty hunter who boba tried to start a new life with when they were teenagers. they both got out of the bounty hunting game and settled down on concord dawn, where they got married and had a daughter, ailyn. boba was 16 and sintas was 18 at the time.

one of the things i find most interesting about the two of them, especially when they were teenagers: ailyn was consistently the more logical and level-headed of the two of them, while boba was always more emotional and impulsive. tragically, it’s this impulsivity that leads boba to fuck up so badly and, ironically, to transform into the emotionally detached asshole we know later on.

but yeah, this dichotomy is seen pretty early on in a flashback-by-proxy, in which we learn that the whole romantic run-away-together-and-get-married-and-start-a-new-life-somewhere-far-away plan? 100% BOBA’S IDEA.

in particular, we get the briefest snippet of an exchange where boba is trying his hardest to convince sintas that this would be a good idea. and, no exaggeration, it goes like:

sintas: “i mean, it’s kind of very obvious that you don’t know what you’re doing--” boba: “THINGS I KNOW: YOU’RE GOOD AT SHOOTING THINGS. YOU’RE PRETTY??? I TRUST YOU A LOT. see this is a good idea :)”

TEENAGE BOBA FETT: PURE OF HEART, DUMB OF ASS

anyway, boba fett and noted-morosexual sintas vel make their way to concord dawn. here’s some things we know about their relationship before everything went to shit:

nicknames! they referred to each other with the first syllable of each others’ names: bo and sin. very cute :)

they got married using a traditional mandalorian wedding vow. neither of them had any idea what the mando’a meant, bless their hearts.

as a marriage token, boba gave sintas a small red heart-of-fire gemstone tied on a simple leather cord. it was the best he could afford which, at the time, wasn’t much. however, it had significance to sintas as a kiffar; kiffars are near-humans whose members possess an unusually high occurrence rate of telemetry, or the ability to read memories from objects. heart-of-fire gemstones were said to be among the best for storing such memories.

SHIPPY FIC WRITERS TAKE NOTE. three words to describe boba in a committed relationship: PROTECTIVE. AS. HELL. absolutely unwilling to tolerate so much as a dirty look towards sintas. maybe even a little paranoid. kind of understandable given how much grief he’d already endured in his short life.

it didn’t save them

ok, fair warning, here’s the point where shit gets traumatic, so if you want to know nothing but the relatively happy stuff, STOP READING HERE. also, CWs for manipulation, sexual assault, murder, and imprisonment, bc nobody in this canon is allowed to be happy :(

last chance to turn back!

ok. onto the traumatic shit.

so! boba and sintas are doing fine. operation stop-being-teenaged-bounty-hunters-and-try-to-pass-for-normal is going pretty well! not only do they have their own functional little family unit, but boba has a job as a journeyman protector. basically think of them as like. mando frontier lawmen. and on top of that, boba has been taken under the wing of his superior officer and son of a local magistrate, lenovar.

we don’t know much about lenovar (like, is that his first or his last name, for example...) but we know that boba and sintas trusted him and that boba in particular looked up to him as both a friend and mentor.

however, lenovar was not what he seemed. once he had the young couple’s trust, he managed to get sintas alone and raped her.

in the aftermath, sintas performed some brutally pragmatic mental calculus: lenovar was a high-ranking journeyman protector and son of a magistrate. she and boba were two struggling teenagers with a baby, escaping checkered pasts. retaliating against lenovar would likely destroy them. which meant not only that she couldn’t retaliate against lenovar; she had to make sure boba wouldn’t, either.

so. how do you keep your extremely protective, impulsive former-bounty-hunter husband from flying off the handle and murdering your rapist?

you don’t tell him about it. you don’t tell anyone about it :(

argh just reading this i’m feeling salty that we get so little of sintas’s perspective on any of this. it’s all just “how did this make boba feel? how did it affect boba’s life?” and it’s like GOOD GOD. this woman is now maybe 20 years old, making the absolutely-gutting decision to keep her sexual assault a secret from her closest friend bc it’s the only way to protect her and him and their daughter from being steamrolled by the system. and like, nobody thought to expand on that?

nope, we just get a comic where she’s needlessly sexualized and drawn to look young enough to be boba’s daughter despite the fact that she’s older than him and ugh

OKAY. enough salt. moving on.

sintas’s plan works for all of a year, at which point boba somehow finds out the truth. and everything goes straight to hell.

boba, finding out that sintas kept her sexual assault by lenovar a secret for a whole year (and remember, boba was probably continuing to work under and look up to lenovar during this time), is utterly furious. of course, he wants nothing more than to murder the shit out of lenovar and is only further enraged when sintas tries to logically talk him out of it. in his anger, he proceeds to verbally torch ALL the bridges in their relationship, at one point even cruelly questioning if ailyn is even his daughter. he then storms off and makes good on his threats to kill lenovar

in the aftermath, boba was branded not just a murderer, but the murderer of his superior officer—an even more serious crime. yet, despite repeated interrogations, he refused to say why he had done it, fearing that doing so would drag sintas down with him. he only insisted that he felt no remorse for killing lenovar and that lenovar deserved to die.

in the end, his efforts didn’t save sintas—the courts seized all of what meager assets they had, leaving them all penniless. boba was then exiled from concord dawn and wouldn’t see his wife and daughter again for fifty years.

after everything that happened, boba was a changed person. it’s as if that spark of optimism and dare-i-say goodness that had survived his father’s death was snuffed out, leaving only a cynical, angry shell, laser-focused on violence because it was the one part of his father’s legacy he hadn’t yet failed.

sintas and ailyn, meanwhile, struggled to pull themselves out of poverty, with sintas reluctantly returning to bounty hunting to support them. ailyn never forgave her father for abandoning them, which led to its own equally-disastrous tragedy some decades down the line.

moral of the story is to listen to your wife and don’t make her sexual assault all about your stupid need for revenge. like, i get that the rapist needs to die but maybe like... work with your wife and make it look like an accident? don’t be an impulsive fucking inconsiderate idiot? maybe realize that your wife probably just endured the most hellish year of her life to protect YOUR dumb ass?

honestly, as frustrating as teenage!boba is, you can’t even be that angry at him bc like... he and sintas were both victims reacting imperfectly to absolutely shit circumstances. lenovar is the real villain here.

never going to be over how tragic it is that these two kids tried so fucking hard to derail their villainous origin stories, only to be forced onto even more brutal tracks bc the one adult they should’ve been able to trust in their situation ended up being a predator :(

#snowberry-pie #sintas vel #boba fett #lenovar #the fact that sintas was never spotlighted as a perspective character in the EU....... criminal

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whump-a-la-mode · 3 years

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Villian-Sicle | Part 3

I didn’t expect to continue this beyond part 2, but I’ve come to love these characters. I hope you guys enjoy! Heed the warnings, this one contains a lot of medical stuff.

CW//Superhero whump, villain whumpee, hypothermia, hospital setting, cardiac arrest, blood, dialysis, talk of death, talk of “pulling the plug”

Taglist:

@whatwhumpcomments

@sola-whumping

@professional-idiocy

The machine was too loud.

Talking over it made Leader feel that they were tearing apart their vocal chords. Then again, the stress of the situation wasn’t exactly aiding in that respect-- they could practically feel their tense muscles tightening around their windpipe.

“They’re going to be okay, then?” Their tone was rushed and pressing.

“I don’t want to guarantee anything.” The Head Doctor bit their lip. “Really, I can’t guarantee anything. By all accounts, the patient should already be dead. Human body temperatures shouldn’t be able to get that low...”

“Humans shouldn’t be able to fly, either.” Medic shook their head, gesturing at Leader, who tucked in their wings, not even realizing that they had unfolded. “But here we are.”

“There’s nothing particularly unusual about their physical anatomy, though?” Head Doctor raised an eyebrow.

“Enhanced people have different anatomy by default. Higher heart rate, for one thing.” Medic provided, glancing towards the heart monitor sitting next to the hospital bed. The spikes were shallow, and abnormally close together, but none the less steady.

“Yes.” Head Doctor dipped their head. “Well, then, that would explain how our patient is still breathing.”

“They should remain that way, then, right?” Leader fretted.

“I have high hopes. We’re doing everything we can. It’s up to them, now. If their body temperature can raise before it’s too late.”

The conversation ended on the same worried note as it had began, and the groups’ gazes seemed to unanimously drift downwards, as if they had simply forgot that they were standing over a body halfway between humanity and corpsehood.

Villain’s skin was horribly pale, translucent, even, as if it were on the verge of melting away. The restraints on their wrists and ankles-- Leader had insisted as to their presence-- seemed far too loose around their captive’s thin structure, but they simply couldn’t be tightened any further.

The only patch of Villain’s body that did not lack color was their chest, in which a catheter of at least an inch in diameter had been inserted. The skin around was red with irritation, resisting feebly against the roaring machine drinking blood from the line, only to return it at the same access point.

The whole spectacle was horribly grisly, with tubes filled with scarlet draped over Villain’s chest in a gruesome web. The machine itself, sat off to the side, seemed to whine and groan with every feeble heartbeat its victim managed to make.

Hemodialysis, the doctor had called the process. Manually warming the blood in an attempt to warm the body. Despite its vampiric appearance, somehow, the process was keeping Villain alive.

A chill ran through Leader’s body at the very thought. Villain was a stubborn asshole, one they’d been pursuing doggedly for months. Somehow, regardless of what trap they placed or what situation they were thrown into, Villain made it out.

Now...

The machine was plugged into the wall with a single cord. Just a wire, just some electrons passing through metal. Something that could so easily be severed. A single tug, a clumsily placed foot. The fight would be over. Would it be so wrong? Villain had done such wrong... and they wouldn’t feel a thing. They’d part in an unconscious pool of their own delusion.

Leader bit their tongue.

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“You okay?”

Hero watched the small flame of force flicker between their fingertips, their eyes nearly crossed with focus. They had hardly realized that somehow had spoken to them, and it took several awkwardly long seconds for them to look up.

“Hm?”

“Are you okay? You looked distracted.” Counselor furrowed their brow.

“I think I’m... always distracted.”

“I know. Just... that was a lot, back there. And you looked stressed.”

“Just worried, I guess.”

“About Villain?”

“There’s not much else to be worried about.”

“I’m worrying about you, right now.”

“I think... Villain is the one that we need to worry about, right now.” Hero chewed their cheek. “You were in there, right?”

“For a minute, yeah.”

“Are they okay?”

“Alive. They were alive. But with Medic there-- well, I don’t think there’s a better authority on Enhanced biology on the seven continents. I think it’ll turn out okay.”

Hero chuckled humorlessly.

“That’s another thing I’m worried about.”

“What? Medic?”

“Yeah. Medic kind of. More Leader. Medic is... I mean, I love ‘em, and they’re the biggest hardass out there, but they’re a doctor more than anything else. Hippocratic oath and all that. But Leader...”

“You’re worried because Leader... isn’t a doctor?”

“No, no, it’s not that. Leader just seems so much more worried about the fight, and the mission, and the good of humanity, than, well, than anything that’s right in front of them. I’m just worried that...”

“That Leader’s going to make a bad choice?”

“Something like that.”

“I agree that they can be... a hardass. But they’re not a bad person. I don’t think they’d execute someone. Not like this. Not after everything.”

Hero’s gaze turned to Counselor. They hadn’t expected their friend to come to the base of their concerns with such speed.

Counselor gave a small smile in return.

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Head Doctor left the room.

They had made their leave hurriedly, ensuring that they would be back in just a few minutes, to press the Code Blue button if anything happened. Leader had nodded along, hardly processing any of it.

They were focused on the person before them.

Over the last few minutes, by some miracle or curse, Villain’s heart rate had begun to stabilize. Though the beats came just as quickly, they were stronger than they had been. Not quite normal, but on their way.

Medic seemed fixed on the monitor, eyes narrowed as though they watched prey. The screen had more than just a heartrate reading. Alongside that, it showed a series of other graphs-- breathing rate, oxygen levels, among some that Leader was clueless as to the meaning of.

They glanced to the door. It was firmly closed. Certainly, the rest of the hospital would be too busy with the recent break-in to intrude.

“Medic?”

The doctor raised an eyebrow, but continued their fixation on the readings.

“Yes?”

“What would you say is the... the percentage we’re working with here.”

“The percentage?”

“Of survival.”

“Well... I suppose I can’t make an exact predication, but it’s climbing every minute. 80 percent? 85? They’re not completely out of the woods, yet, but their temperature is raising steadily. The dialysis is working.

“80 percent.” Leader hummed. “So... 20 percent chance that they don’t make it?”

“That is how math works, yes.”

“That’s not an insignificant percentage.”

“We’re doing everything we can. As I said, it’s rising, and quickly. If we can get their temperature back up into the 90s, I would say that continued survival is almost guaranteed.”

“Is that so?”

“What’s got you acting so weird, all of a sudden?” Medic finally turned from the screen, glancing to Leader.

Leader gulped.

“Do you remember when we were in Denver?”

“At the telecommunications hub? Yeah.”

“And in Vancouver?”

“Yes?”

“And at the bank, in Phoenix?”

“Leader, I assure you, my memory is fine.”

“No, no, I mean, Villain did all those things, right?”

“They had help.”

“But they led the charge?”

“I suppose so, yes.”

“They’ve hurt a lot of people. Destroyed a lot of places... brought them to the ground. Leveled a city block, once.”

“Seriously, what is this about?”

Leader’s gaze glanced down to the Villain, pale, restrained, with a tube skewering their flesh, then back at Medic.

“No.”

“What?”

“No. No, no, no. I let you restrain them like some kind of beast, which, for your information, is completely against medical protocol. I’m not letting you kill Villain.”

“And why not?”

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Outside the hospital room, in a pair of plastic chairs, Hero and Counselor sat with far more relaxation between them. They watched passively as Head Doctor left the room, hurrying off to another room.

Hero took a fidget rope from a coat pocket and began twisting it between their hands.

“What do you think they’re going to do with Villain, then?” Counselor’s voice was considerably quieter, as if they were telling a secret. They stared off, down the hallway, instead of meeting Hero’s eyes.

“I just hope they let us have some input in this whole thing.”

“Me too. But... what would you prefer? If you had the choice?”

“I mean...” Hero sighed. “They haven’t been the best person, I think we can all agree on that. They’re dangerous. But I also think that... they’re scared. They’re scared, Counselor, really scared.

If it was up to me, I think we should help them. While in our custody, but, I think they need help. And maybe then, they can help us? I mean, they must know something about Supervillain. It’d be nice to have an informant.

Really, I just want to see them okay again. Even if it does mean that they go back to being an asshole.”

“That’d be nice.”

Hero nodded.

“I think Medic mentioned that, once Villain’s stable, we’re gonna move them back to base. Where we have the special medical equipment, the Enhanced care stuff.”

“Yeah. I think Leader is definently going to want to keep them in custody.”

“If they try to hurt them, though... I’m not gonna let that happen. If we have to keep them prisoner, we can at least be humane about it.”

“Yeah. Yeah, of course.”

“I just hope Leader agrees.”

“Me too.”

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“It’d be a waste.”

The answer was too analytical. Leader had expected to be yelled at, to get an earful about morality and ethics and other crap. Not something so simple, so factual.

“What do you mean?” Leader’s tone wasn’t accusing, at least they didn’t intend for it to be. It was far more dumbfounded in nature.

“Everything in this world runs on technology. Those lights, that door, this machine, everything. Everyone has a phone. Every building has a network, of both electricity and information. Villain can patch into all of that. You said it yourself, they leveled a whole city block. What else can they do?”

“What are you... what are you implying?”

“We keep them, and we use them.”

A garbled voice resounded throughout the room. Leader whirled around, half expecting Supervillain to be right behind them, before turning back.

“Was that y-” They began to ask, but didn’t quite get the chance.

“Code Blue! Code Blue!” Medic snapped. “Don’t be useless, press the damn button!”

It took Leader’s confused mind a moment to note the emergency that Medic was responding to-- that of a horrible, electric screech. The heart monitor was no longer showing a steady pulse.

At the sight, Leader’s own heart rate sped up. They nearly tripped over their own feet as they rushed to the blue button on the wall, jabbing it with their finger multiple times in a frenzied panic. Once they were satisfied that they spiraling terror had been registered properly, they returned to Medic’s side.

The doctor had their hands positioned on Villain’s chest, one over the other, slamming downwards repeatedly. In between, Leader could see a sharp rise in the chest-- they were still breathing. But for how much longer?

Dammit, dammit, don’t think like that, it’s someone’s life!

A resounding crash burst through the room as the door was slammed open. They rushed to the bedside, seemingly ready to continue CPR, before Medic raised an arm, preventing them.

“No, no, they’re okay.” Medic panted breathlessly. Leader raised their eyes to the heart monitor-- sure enough, a slow, steady rhythm was returning.

They’d made it.

“Mmm..”

Leader panted for breath, trying in vain to calm their racing heartrate.

“Mmm... whaaa...”

Leader’s shaking gaze shifted to the source of the noises--only to find their eyes locked with the wide ones of Villain.

#whump #whump prompt #whump community #villain whump #oc whump #villain whumpee #blood tw

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revchainsaw · 3 years

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The Crow (1994)

Alright Cult of Cult. Do I really need to introduce this one? Let's get all 90s and gothy and maybe brace ourselves for a bit of cringe, but like in a fun way. It's the Holy Grail of Hot Topic, 1994's the Crow Starring Brandon Lee.

Sermon

Apparently before the auto industry totally crashed Detroit was already a total fucked to death pile of burning shit, or at least that's what the crow would have you believe. Sorry Bruce Campbell, and other people from Detroit, but mostly Bruce Campbell. According to the Crow the city of Detroit is the kind of place where gangs of warlock anarchist arsonists will bomb buildings, and murder and rape whoever they feel like and then walk around bragging about it the next day with absolutely zero consequences. Funny then that if Detroit was so bad they had to go to film this movie in Wilmington North Carolina which is definitely a fucked to death pile of burning shit. I can say that, I'm from there and I got the fuck out. My brother is going to kill me if he ever reads this. (It's okay, these are all jokes people). Did you know they also filmed the Super Mario Bros movie there ... also cuz they needed a really shitty looking distopia. Moving on ...

The ludicrous criminality of the Crow's Detroit is particularly on display on Halloween. In Detroit (apparently) Halloween is known as Devils Night and it's legitimately just a night of pure lawlessness and chaos and kids aren't even safe to get candy, except later when we do see trick or treaters. Eric Draven, hunky goth rocker who sort of looks like he could be Bruce Lee's Kid and his fiance are murdered by a gang of vicious criminals. One year hence, Eric is resurrected by a mystical crow (that is actually a Raven), to exact his revenge on the gang that murdered him.

He paints his face like sad Alice Cooper and refuses to listen to Joy Division, just covers. He murders Tin Tin (a knife guy) just for his long gothy duster, he murders Fun Boy and forcibly ejects heroine from her arms and tells her "Go be a good mom now" which actually works. (have I told you about our Lord and Savior Sting? He gave me the strength to get off drugs), he blows T Bird up dick first, and then comes for Skab? Scraap? Scooby? in a meeting of all of Detroits villains and just about kills them all.

He is supported by the most 90s little girl to have ever graced the screen, and I am here for it, and Officer Albrecht, who's played by Ernie Hudson but I like to call him Zeddemore: The Most Underrated Ghostbuster. The leader of the bad guys, who I cannot beleive wasn't played by Brad Dourif or Tom Waits, is pretty interested in the occult. He keeps his witchy girlfriend around and she makes him fun dishes like smoked eyeballs, and her main use is that she knows that the Crow is the Crows weakness. They set Tony Fucking Todd on the bird, and I guess you just have to hurt the bird and not kill it, and Eric loses his healing factor and other macabre undead powers.

The Crow, Jimmy the Raven, pecks out Dr. Girlfriends eyeballs, I honestly forget how Tony Todd gets offed, and Top Dollar gets Gargoyled (that is impaled on a gargoyle). Funnily enough that is more Gargoyle related impaling on screen then in the actual movie Gargoyle: Wings of Darkness where a Gargoyle is supposed to have impaled a guy.

The Benediction

Best Feature: Injustice League

In the Crow we have not only a set of super memorable villains but they are played by the bad guy all stars. John Polito as the most lowly of the bad guys as a kind of sleazy pawn shop owner who buys ill gotten gains. Tony Todd, who's size is really on display here, the freaking Candy Man is in this movie. T Bird is the head of Top Dollars goons and is played by David Patrick Kelly, you might know as the "Warriors Come Out and Play!!" bottle guy from the Warriors, or as Jimmy Horne from Twin Peaks, and of course Top Dollar himself is played by Michael Wincott. Wincott is not a particularly celebrated actor but has played villains effectively in Robin Hood, the Three Musketeers, and Dead Man.

Best Set Piece: Detroit Style Hot Dogs

The Set design of the Crow is perhaps one of it's most fantastic features. It's very moody and ethereal. It's just real enough to not take you out of the film, but fantastic enough to set mood and theme above realism. From Eric Draven's apartment, to the church where the final battle occurs they are all fantastic. I think that's why I really wanted to shine the spot light on a very minor set piece that would get nary a mention but just as effectively represents the qualities I was just talking about and that is the Maxi Doggs Hot Dog Stand, where a lot of the films exposition for audience surrogates takes place.

Worst Effect: Freeze Frame

At a few points in the movie the film makers made a strange decision to do these freeze frame transitions. I only noticed it twice in the movie where it was particularly stupid. I'm sure the film makers at the time thought it was a moody and atmospheric choice that highlighted the suffering that Eric Draven was going through, but it didn't age well. If you don't have the sensibilities of a goth girl from 1994 then it's very very hard not to laugh at just how self involved the movie is about it's super sadness.

Worst Feature: Tragic Accident

Solely based on the film itself, it is that very gothic and dated sensibility that hurts the Crow. The little sarcastic dance he does when he flees the police, quoting Edgar Allen Poe, and bowing to Albrecht. These affected behaviors that I'm sure seemed snarky and right on to the target audience only serve to make Eric Draven seem like an unbearable neck beard edgelord and not the troubled dark soul he's supposed to be. I'm sure at the time it seemed unique and gothy but that shit went out of style for good reason, people could see through it. It's a shame that the Crow himself was some of the cringiest parts of this movie now that I'm seeing it as an adult and not a 13 year old middle class boy with no real problems.

This however is not the low point of the movie. It's not news now and if you're reading some dudes review of The Crow on Tumblr then you probably already know the story. The worst thing about The Crow is that Brandon Lee was horrifically killed on set while filming this movie due to some negligible prop malfunctions. A series of unfortunate events that lead to the actor spending 6 hours in surgery fighting for his life before eventually passing. It was not a quick or painless death and it's really impossible to watch the movie without an appreciation for the fact that this kind of fun dark adventure was going to be a vehicle for Brandon Lee's career wound up taking his life. He was 28. I really wish I could have just bitched about the goofy goth stuff and moved on, but that's not the world we live in.

Best Effect: The Gargoyling

Maybe I should have called this best kill. But I'm not sure which it is. The slaying of Top Dollar at the Climax of the film was just super effective. The pointed wings impaling his chest and that horn coming out of his mouth, it was morbid and excellent and just fit the tone of the movie perfectly. I mean how many other movies can you say Cause of Death: Impaled on a Gargoyle.

Best Bird: The Raven

I tried very hard to look up the name of the bird that primarily performed in this movie and could not find anything. There was a Raven once upon a time called Jimmy the Raven, but that was in the 50s and I don't think birds live that long. There was a team of Ravens performing as the crow, they were chosen over crows for their larger size, and more imposing silhouettes. I just think it's so wonderful to see these often maligned birds get a chance to show off their talents. Corvids of all kinds are incredibly intelligent creatures. Im a sucker for animals, if you haven't already figured that out. I really liked seeing the ravens hit their marks, particularly the one whos job it was to drop the wedding ring into Sarah's hand at the end of the film. You can see that greedy little bastard do his trick and then look of camera at his trainer like "treat please!". It's very cute.

Best Actor: Top Dollar Performance

I'd love to take this opportunity to just put praise upon Brandon Lee, he truly gave everything for this role, but unfortunately with what was put to film we actually have very few character moments with Eric Draven. Stuff happens to him, and he does killings and fights. There's definitely some personality, but I felt like I walked away knowing almost nothing about who Eric Draven was. He was clearly a good dude but that and a few hobbies and a relationship and you don't really have a character yet. He's unfortunately not given a lot of acting to do, instead just relegated to stunts and action sequences. That were notably cool.

The bad guys in the Crow have a lot more character and among this who's who of character actors, Michael Wincott takes the cake. Hell he was standing next to Candyman himself, Tony Todd and still stealing the scenes.

Best Character: A Few Good Apples

Is the best character in The Crow really going to be the cop? The commissioner Gordon stand in? yeah, it is. Not to be political, but I don't like cops, but I guess in a world with magical birds and eyeball smoking I can suspend my disbelief and let Ernie Hudson be #1 cop dad. His character is really the heart of the film, since all Eric can do is brood and fight, we have to care about someone in this movie.

Best Sequence: Halloween Party

The best sequence of the movie is of course the scene where Eric Draven busts in on the Devil's Night party planning commission. I think Top Dollar brought Scrappy Doo there just so he could lure out the crow, knowing the baddest assholes in all of Detroit would be gathered it was likely that somebody was going to kill the beast, or if they couldn't at least Top Dollar could get a feel for his enemy. It's a bullet flying action sequence with a ton of weight. I can't put my finger on this all to common weightless third act problem that big budget super hero and action flicks have nowadays, but whatever that issue is, the Crow does not have that issue. From this point on the Climax feels earned and I am invested. For that reason, The Crow is honestly better in spite of its awkwardness, than many of the super hero movies out today.

Worst Sequence: My Guitar Gently Weeps

Speaking of brooding or fighting. The best sequence was fighting, the worst is brooding. I get that Eric was in a band or something, but didn't he have shit to do. It seemed like it was a cool idea for a shot, but for like a whole seen, watching somebody play an 80s guitar solo, that stood out so brazenly from the choices of music in the rest of the movie was extra corny. It felt like someone's( dad trying to relate to their kid. Oh you like Music. The Dresden Dolls eh? Oh man, then you're going to love Slash's Snake Pit!

Summary

The Crow is dated. It is iconic but I wonder how many of the people that hang that poster on the wall have watched that movie since they were kids. It's interesting how what i've liked and disliked about this film have changed so much sense I was a kid. It's a cheeseball fiesta. If you have matured at all beyond thinking that being sad is the same as being deep then you're going to like it a little less than you did when you were younger, but it is still solid. There's not much to hate on. I'd watch it over and over again. I was really afraid it would not hold up at all, but returning to The Crow was a completely positive experience.

Overall Grade: B

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cleopatraphouse · 3 years

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Back when I was still in retail, there were two guys who would come in every day looking for collectible shit. You think I’m exaggerating, but I’m not, literally every single day starting about October 2019 to when I left at the end of 2020.

One of them was this Henry Rollins looking motherfucker, but like, a right-wing trucker version of Henry Rollins. He’d come in, every day, mess up the stuff I was working on, look at the collectibles, swear loudly, and leave without buying anything.

Another guy was this tall, geek chic, late-thirties asshole who’d pretend to be friendly to try and get extra shit. He'd spend up to an hour going through the funko pops, the action figures, etc. As far as I saw he never bought anything either.

Both of these guys (among other people) would do real physical labor to look at the stupid ninja turtles toys or whatever. Yknow how sometimes in a store, you’ll see a big pile of boxes someone’s working through? And the pile’s taller than they are and each box is so full of stuff that the pile is physically imprinting the pallet underneath into the floor? These guys would push that out of the way, a good ten feet, if it meant they could see an extra few feet of plastic garbage.

And then other collectors would come in and do their weird shit. One time I was working in front of the funko pops and four different people just came in and stared at me, for like, ten minutes. Around me in a big semicircle. None of them asked me to move or anything, they just all... stared. Silently. It was so fucking creepy, I thought I was going to die.

This isn’t even going into the basic level collectors, who “only” harass you to get specific things out of the back (which is against store policy, we can’t do that). One guy would come in at least once a week, and ask every single employee he could find to look in the back for whatever new hotwheels car there was. This was a grown ass man. And they all have these weird rehearsed tricks too, like if you hesitate to break the rules to get them their toy, they’ll ask “Are you okay?” like they’re you’re friend. Or they bring their kids with them and pretend its for them. “Oh, yeah, sorry, he’s just OBSESSED with them, ha ha!”. Meanwhile the kid is literally looking in the other aisle, asking out loud if they can do something else.

None of them respected the six feet rule, either. They’d literally laugh at you if you asked them too, especially the guy who always wore a confederate flag mask.

Collectors are goddamn wastes of sperm and egg.

#collecting #funko pops #funko pop men #retail #like i try to have empathy but that's my limit sorry. cops and collectors. all bastards

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rvchelking · 3 years

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One brain cell squad drabble or, Jestiny Rook is the best wingwoman this world can find. I hope I did your baby justice @adelaidedrubman and I hope you like it ♥

“Have you seen the way he looks at her?”

Ava sighs, keeping her eyes down reading the file sheriff Hudson gave her. It’s a very important task, and junior deputy Ava Reed plans on finishing reading twenty pages by the end of this shift.

Except, she’s constantly distracted by deputy Jestiny Rook, who is sitting right in front of her. Ava considers herself lucky to be sitting this close to Jessie - she sees the redhead not as her friend, but also as a mentor, even though it’s hard to say that deputy Rook is in charge of making sure the junior deputy doesn’t shoot herself accidentally due to the lack of experience in the field.

The job is pretty easy, though. Ava finds it enjoyable to come to the office every morning, only to be met by terrifyingly incredible sheriff Joey Hudson, share a hug with Jestiny and high five to the third deputy, the only male figure among the ladies - Staci Pratt.

“I mean… he looks like that at every woman he meets, and he is kind of an asshole, so it makes sense why nobody wants to date him, but…”

Ava looks up from her file and meets Jessie’s burning eyes. The redhead grins pleased that she managed to distract her friend for a little gossip break.

“I need to…”

“Nah, you’re fine,” Jessie shrugs and leans back on her chair, putting arms behind her head. “Joey won’t make you take the test based on that case. It’s just formalities.”

Ava huffs, not quite believing Jessie. She’s going to finish reading this anyway.

“You seem awfully interested in Staci’s love life,” Ava smirks.

“Yes well,” Jestiny throws her hands in the air, suddenly frustrated. “This idiot gotta make a move before anyone else does! I’m tired of him acting like a dummy around Hudson.”

“She is terrifying.”

“She really isn’t,” Jessie shakes her head. “She’s like the mother hen. One day she showed up at my house bringing homemade lasagna and enchiladas because I mentioned eating ramen every day. Nah, she’s the sweetest person I’ve ever met.”

In fact, Ava agrees. Her first interview with sheriff Hudson went oddly well, considering Reed’s stupor whenever Hudson asked her something, and the young girl just stared at her with wide eyes, a regular deer caught in the headlights. She vaguely remembers the day when she actually passed the test and was introduced to other deputies, including (now retired) sheriff Whitehorse, an awfully arrogant marshall Burke and the other two deputies - Jestiny and Staci - that immediately took Ava under their wings.

Her job was not so bad, after all. It was overwhelming sometimes, but in general, Ava was glad that she was a part of this.

“Anyway,” Jessie yawned and leaned forward. Ava noticed glimmering mischief in her brown eyes. That’s not a good sign. Her thought, however, was interrupted by Staci Pratt himself entering their small office and immediately beaming at the girls.

He greets Ava with a package of freshly baked donuts and she stares at this with wide eyes; then deputy Pratt places a large cup of coffee and croissants on Jestiny’s table and eyes them with a smug expression on his face.

“Okay, what do you want?” Jessie is straightforward, as always and Ava looks at her. Then back to Staci.

“Nothing?” He scoffs, leaning on her table. “Can’t I be nice to my friends who happen to be the best colleagues in the world?”

“Haha, I don’t believe you, but thanks I guess,” Jestiny clicks her tongue but still goes for the coffee, taking a generous sip.

Ava reaches for the donuts and stuffs her mouth with a piece of strawberry flavoured shell, watching her colleagues having a rather interesting argument.

“Pratt, I’ve known you for years. There is no way in hell you brought us food for nothing.”

“You’re paranoid, Rook.”

“Well duh, I am a cop. So spill it, before I take you to the interrogation room and you tell me everything.”

The threat seems to work, and Staci groans, covering his face with his hands. He then sighs and starts pacing.

“I need you to cover for me on Friday. I just… I have some shit I need to finish and I really don’t have anyone else to ask.”

“So you decided to bribe us with food?” Ava giggles, reaching for her third donut.

“No?” Pratt chuckles but then, “I mean… I guess. But it’s like, just this Friday. I promise. No more bribes. So, you agree?”

“Uh, no,” Jessie stares at her computer screen with a smirk, then looks up at Staci. “Sorry buddy, I promised my mother to take her to IKEA. She’s never been there. You know how it is, Stace.”

Staci rolls his eyes and turns to Ava. The junior deputy almost chokes on her food and she clears her throat when she’s done.

“Well, I don’t think I have- ouch!”

Ava reaches for her leg, right to the place where Jestiny kicked her, meeting the redhead’s burning stare. She clears her throat again and continues.

“I was saying, I don’t think I have free time on Friday. My friend asked me to take them to the doctor, and the checkup would probably take a whole day, so… sorry, Staci.”

Pratt nibbles his lower lip, squinting his eyes at the girls but eventually gives up, exhaling sharply. She swears under his breath and steals a star-shaped donut from Ava’s box, shamelessly taking a sip from Jestiny’s coffee cup.

“Whatever,” he says shortly, waving the girls goodbye.

Just when Ava wants to complain about Jestiny’s attitude, the redhead smiles apologetically.

“Sorry, hon. But our casanova needs to get it together and stop running away from his inevitable faith.”

“What are you talking about?”

“I’m talking about Hudson having a night shift on Friday, and Staci Pratt - our beloved - tried to bribe us so he wouldn’t hang out around Joey.”

“Jestiny!” the junior deputy laughs. “You’re a little minx!”

“He will thank me later for this, you’ll see.”

#oc: deputy ava reed #oc: deputy jestiny #my fics #haha i hate myself #i just literally have no motivation to write but i hope this one is okay #x: one brain cell squad

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nanoland · 3 years

Text

new chapter (supernatural fic)

(earlier parts are here; whole thing is here)

Clean Hands, part 3

Crowley/Castiel/Dean Winchester, warning for violence and spn demons being spn demons

Another day, another assassination attempt.

“Congratulations, sir,” said Paula, bustling in with his coffee and daily planner. “That brings it to eight, yes? I recall your making some remark about throwing a small office party if we hit ten before the end of the month.”

Lifting the corpse off the row of retractable spikes he’d installed in his desk, Crowley grunted, “It was a joke. On the other hand, maybe it would be good for morale. Make the blighters less determined to snuff me.”

“I’ll add it to the calendar. Sir, your ten ‘o clock is waiting in the lobby. Should I send him in?”

Technically, ‘ten ‘o clock’ didn’t exist in Hell. Time didn’t exist in Hell.

But by God, it did for Paula.

Infamous among Crowley’s minions, she ruled his appointment diary with an iron fist (well – iron talons, more accurately) and kept a horseman’s pick tucked neatly under her workstation for anyone who was more than five minutes late.

She’d been the most competent corporate PA in the business when Crowley had purchased her soul in exchange for a medical breakthrough that had beaten down her cancer and allowed her those ten precious years. It would, in fact, have allowed her a normal human lifespan, if not for Crowley’s hounds.

(Her wish was among his favourites and her contract had pride of place in his trophy cabinet. She could have just said ‘cure me’; she’d dreamed bigger. Ambition! Now that was what Crowley liked to see. Very few people who sold their souls managed to leave the world a better place than they’d found it.

Truthfully, arranging the breakthrough had taken an amount of power on his part that, ordinarily, he’d have objected to. Ever since the Zuckerberg Incident of 2004, Crowley had maintained a policy against granting wishes that fundamentally altered the pace and trajectory of human scientific development. But he’d wanted her. Reliable PAs were like gold dust and they almost always went to bloody Heaven. “And for what, I ask you?” he’d said to Dean once. “How much admin is really involved in keeping people locked in a lotus-eater machine?”)

“The ten… oh, piss. It’s Alan, isn’t it? Yes, yes. Let’s get this over with. Send him in.”

Another day, another fucking workplace harassment mess to sort out. How many more sodding seminars was he going to have to host before they all got it through their heads that biting off a co-worker’s arm was not a viable long-term conflict resolution strategy?

Sigh.

It was only after four meetings and sixteen calls that Crowley remembered he’d not yet disposed of the assassin.

“I suppose I should make an example of you,” he huffed, already imagining it.

The hassle.

The bother.

Getting an apron on.

Finding the hammer.

Lugging the stupid bastard up a ladder and nailing him to the office noticeboard by his scrote.

He could always ask Paula to do it. But, bless her heart, she’d only been a demon for six years and arranging a corpse for maximum intimidation was just as much a matter of practice as talent.

As Crowley was fetching the ladder, Gwen from Legal arrived whey-faced and dogged by two dozen assistants and interns.

“Sir, it’s a catastrophe,” she wailed.

Five minutes later, Crowley was back at his desk, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Avoidable. Utterly, pathetically avoidable. All you had to do was amend the contract to state that the phrase ‘ten years’ refers solely and specifically to Earth’s orbital period, not the orbital period of the contractee.”

Gwen hung her head. “I don’t know what to tell you, sir. Finding qualified staff to manage this sort of deal is tricky. When people with, you know, science degrees and stuff die and are damned, the assholes over at the Experimental Punishments Department always snatch ‘em up first. It’s a real problem.”

“I’ll have a word with them. Ugh – alright, alright, let’s try and sort this out. How long is a Martian year?”

“The internet says six hundred and eighty-seven days.”

“Damn. Almost twice as long,” Crowley grumbled, pouring himself a drink. “What did he even want from us? He’s a billionaire. The list of things they can’t get without our help grows shorter by the day.”

“He wanted to guarantee that he’d be the first man on Mars, sir; that none of his competitors would get there before he did.”

“Wait. Hold on. The thing he wished for and the mechanism by which he’s attempting to fuck us over are one and the same? Oh, no, no, no. I’m not going to take that cheeky bollocks lying down. Get the head of Research and Development in here, now. We’re going to find out how to crash a spaceship.”

Gwen’s gaze flickered to the assassin’s corpse. “Um.”

“Fuck,” Crowley muttered.

At which point Paula tapped on the door to ask if he wanted to reschedule his next five meetings, because unless he could deal with them all in a grand total of twelve minutes, he’d be late for his call with the NRA’s chairman.

When Castiel arrived – without an appointment, as per usual, but Paula had standing instructions to let him through – he found Crowley resting his head on his desk, fantasising about being a paperweight.

“I’ve come for more sex,” he explained.

Dragging himself from despair’s depths, Crowley slurred, “T’riffic.”

He instructed his meat suit to sit up and turn on the winning smile. Unlike more reliable vehicles, possessed bodies didn’t have dashboard lights to indicate an exhausted battery; instead, it announced its displeasure by growing three new tumours.

Castiel stepped back, confused. Displeased. “You’re usually more enthusiastic than this. Why is your desk covered in diagrams of rockets? Is this a ‘new hobby’?”

Exaggerated finger quotes. Damn him to the pit, he was precious.

“Kitten, rest assured I have only two hobbies and they both dress badly.”

He expected retaliation for that. Castiel hated being reminded that Crowley regularly dallied with his favourite human. It came as a surprise, then, when the angel simply reached out and firmly gripped his shoulder, declaring, “You need to rest.”

Wings flapped. Suddenly, Crowley was standing in front of a wide, glassy lake, surrounded by dense forest, and in the distance…

“Is that Mount Fuji?”

“Indeed,” said Castiel, smiling briefly. “She’s a childhood friend. I first visited when she was little more than an unusually picturesque bump in the ground.”

There was no one around. There was nothing around. No boats on the lake, no fishermen, no families on holiday, not even the distant roar of traffic. Just them, the view, the water, and a – huh – a bright orange tent pitched nearby.

“This is where I come to relax,” Castiel informed him, opening up the zipper.

“Whose is it?”

“Mine.”

“Huh. I wasn’t aware that you…”

“That I what?”

“Owned things. Or even grasped the concept of owning things. Don’t give me that look; you’re the one who’s worn the same socks ever since you slipped into that God-bothering flesh puppet.”

Castiel sniffed. “Materialism is a disease. But I’m not a child, Crowley. For your information, in my time on Earth I have owned many things.”

Always fun to ruffle the pretty bird’s feathers. “Yeah? How many of them were hand-me-downs from the Hardy Boys?”

“Most of them,” he said, levelly. “With the exception of this tent and your ass, demon.”

A pin drop pause.

Castiel maintained unblinking eye contact for exactly twelve seconds, then turned and crawled into his neon den.

Practically vibrating with adoration, Crowley followed.

It was evident that Castiel, despite his laudable efforts to create a space for himself in a world that had no space for him, didn’t entirely grok camping.

There were no sleeping bags. Instead, the tent’s bottom was covered in duvets, dozens of them, soft and fresh as if they’d come directly from the shop – or, more accurately, Crowley suspected, someone’s washing line.

“I cured her dog’s foot infection,” Castiel said, somewhat defensively, settling into his cotton and fleece nest.

“Ah. And she was so grateful she said you could make off with all her laundry, hm?”

“She… did not say those words, precisely. But it was heavily implied.”

Thank sin this was only a meat suit. Thank sin, thank everything that Castiel couldn’t see the expression of hopeless, pitiable fondness that would have adorned Crowley’s true face at that moment.

It was a relief when Castiel, without further ado, started undressing. Crowley, copying him, took the opportunity to talk sense into himself.

Come on. Grow up. Get it together. You know what you are. More importantly, you know what he is. Ageless. Unfathomable. Demons, at the end of the day, are just distilled human nastiness, but him? He existed before humans. Before microbes. He’s nice to babies and bees and pot plants and Dean and that makes it easy to forget that… that…

Oh, yes. Remember when he came to Hell? The first time he saw Dean; the start of their epic, eternal, infuriating romance? And where were you? That’s right. You were with the others, standing there slack-jawed and helpless, like dinosaurs watching the comet hit. Like children gazing up at a mushroom cloud.

Twelve thousand. That’s how many demons he burned out of existence, without even trying. Twelve thousand.

Do you think he ever thinks about them? Do you think he even noticed?

Twelve thousand.

Do you think he knows how close you were to being one of them?

Do you think he cares?

He’s nice to babies. Bees. Pot plants. Dean. You, even, sometimes. He’s sweet. He’s got big, soft blue eyes and hair that aches to be tussled. He’s a top-tier, world-class fuck. And at any moment, for any reason, he could end you, easy as blowing away dust, and you can’t say for certain he would even remember your name in a month’s time.

“What? No,” Castiel protested when Crowley kissed him. “We’re here to rest, Crowley.”

Drawing back, Crowley leered. “That’s what you want to do, is it? Rest?”

Perpetually thirsty tart that he was, Castiel bit his lip and looked torn. “I… yes.”

Crowley pouted.

Firmer now, Castiel said, “We will rest for a while first. Then we will have sex. Is that satisfactory?”

No sooner had Crowley resignedly nodded than Castiel seized him and finished undressing him, tossing his undershirt and socks out the tent. When they were both naked, the cold air coming off the lake making Crowley shiver, Castiel burrowed into his pilfered pile and dragged the demon down with him.

“Rest first,” he ordered him. “Sex afterwards. No, no – stop that. Afterwards, I said.”

Crowley groaned and whined and fussed, but obeyed.

And bugger him gently if it wasn’t actually pleasant, very pleasant, to lie there with Castiel’s strong arms locked around his torso, toasty warm under layers of wool while, outside, the lake lapped at its bank and wind rustled through the trees. No assassins. No paperwork. No blood. Everything nice and quiet. Everything calm and clean.

Then Castiel sighed, a hot puff against the back of Crowley’s neck, and said, “You know, the thing that vexes me most about Dean is the way he…”

#supernatural #crowley #castiel #crowstiel #dean winchester #drowley #destiel #drowstiel #fanfic #my fic

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jaxsteamblog · 3 years

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Glowing

Click here to read the entire fic on AO3

The library felt both cavernous and claustrophobic as Katara thought of the hundreds of pounds of sand above them. It had been lucky that Malina introduced them to Professor Zei, who she had met when they were students at Ba Sing Se University. It had been lucky that Toph was able to feel out the library, despite the sand rendering her truly blind for most of their trip. And it was lucky the weird fox showed up when it did.

But as they started over one crumbling walkway, Katara felt her stomach twist.

The stacks were massive and defied reason as they seemed to hover in empty space. Toph was quiet, only pausing to tap her feet everyone in a while and shake her head. Thuy, having found her group, clustered with the others and whispered among them. Out of all of them, only Mister Whiskers seemed unbothered.

Zuko led the way, holding out a flame.

At an intersection, they stopped at the wide platform and looked around. A breeze picked up and a massive shadow slammed down in front of them. A few of the young ones behind Katara yelped.

A large white face turned to them all and Katara almost lost her breakfast.

“Why have you trespassed in my library?” The titan of an owl asked.

“Wan Shi Tong!” Professor Zei exclaimed, rushing forward. “We’ve come seeking knowledge!”

“The last human I allowed in my library sought knowledge for the purpose of destruction. I will not abide such desecration. Speak your intentions and I will decide if you may enter.” Wan Shi Tong said. Katara’s stomach sank and she grabbed onto Zuko’s arm for support.

“I’m only tagging along since I can’t, you know, read.” Toph spoke up.

Wan Shi Tong tilted his head to a disturbing angle and Katara swallowed a lump in her throat.

“You okay?” Zuko whispered.

“Fine.” Katara hissed.

“We have texts in all forms, including the ones read with your,” Wan Shi Tong lifted his wings and flapped them gently. “Fingers.”

“Oh lit.” Toph said and Thuy groaned. “Then what do you have on metallurgy?”

“Why?” Wan Shi Tong questioned. “I have seen how your kind has weaponized even the meanest of elements in this world.”

“I just like being an asshole.” Toph stated with a shrug. “And I want to know how to make equipment more cold resistant.”

“Aw, Sifu.” Thuy said and Toph waved her away.

“Acceptable.” Wan Shi Tong said. “Now, the rest of you.”

“I am only here to seek as much knowledge as I can.” Professor Zei said.

“A lie.” Wan Shi Tong announced.

“Sorry bucko, but the nerd is telling the truth.” Toph interjected.

“And how do you know that, human?” Wan Shi Tong shot back.

“My bending. I can tell when someone is lying. And how many of those weird foxes you have in here.”

“How many?”

“Fifty-seven.”

“Seven? Ling got out again.” Wan Shi Tong muttered. He then ruffled his feathers and straightened. “Fine, but what of the rest of you?”

“The Avatar and I are looking for information about Energybending.” Katara said.

“The Avatar?” Wan Shi Tong flew past them, an eel of blackness, and coiled around Thuy. Forcing the others back, Wan Shi Tong loomed over her.

“Ah, I see. I am sad to hear of Aang’s passing. I was fond of him.” He announced.

“He did not tell me you were this scary.” Thuy rasped out. Wan Shi Tong’s head bobbled and he laughed.

“My apologies, Avatar.” He said.

“I know the rest of us just came along with Thuy,” Tashi said, grabbing Wan Shi Tong’s attention. “But since this is actually real, I would like to find stuff pre-Avatar Wan.”

“Wan.” Wan Shi Tong muttered.

“I do not need to hear anything further. I will leave you to my attendant, but be aware that I will know what you take. If I think you are attempting to abuse my library, I will sink the whole building with all of you in it.” He said and, before the group’s bewilderment could find a voice, launched himself upward.

“I am done with spirits.” Sokka muttered.

“Alright team, let's go.” Thuy said, trying to sound cheerful.

“I’m going with Toph.” Jae-hwan announced.

“Figures.” Toph said, pushing her student.

“I’d like to go too, if that’s okay.” Aktuk said.

“You’re not trailing after Thuy?” Jae-hwan mocked and Aktuk blushed.

“He’s got the leg you idiot.” Toph said, smacking the back of Jae-hwan’s head. “Of course he’s going with me.”

“If this place really has everything, I’m going for the poetry.” Sokka announced.

“Poetry?” Jae-hwan questioned.

“You know, if you put something other than dirt into that blockhead of yours, you might be a better Bender.” Toph said.

“He’s not a Bender!” Jae-hwan protested.

“And yet he will always kick your ass, dust bunny.” Toph said and then ruffled his hair, grinning.

“I’m not feeling well, so I think I’m going to stay here.” Suki said, sliding down the stone railing and pulling off her backpack.

“Mister Whiskers can stay with you.” Thuy stated.

“Thanks, hun.” Suki said and smiled.

“I’ll stay too.” Tashi spun his closed glider and sat near Suki, laying the apparatus across his lap.

The rest of them split up, following foxes that took them down separate walkways from the platform. Katara and her group were led to a large table to set up a sort of camp. Foxes brought lanterns or else escorted Thuy, Suzu, and Zula off to find books.

From their packs, they pulled out snacks and water, setting into the tomes and scrolls that the fox librarians pointed out for them.

Energybending was a theory Avatar Aang had explored. Airbenders were assumed to be more intune with the energy of the world, but Waterbenders had a stronger connection to spirits. Aang wondered if there was a connecting force after seeing how some Waterbender midwives were able to identify if an unborn child would be a Bender.

That, along with the concept of chi blocking, led him to believe that Bending ability could be locked and unlocked, even in people believed to be non-Benders.

Zuko was hoping to find something that would help him deal with his father. The recent coup attempt was backing him into a corner and neither he nor Katara wanted to see the man executed.

For hours they poured over books, while Katara sucked on various candies to help her nausea. They broke to eat and compare notes, but only Katara and Thuy could even begin to make sense of what was written. The Firebenders had a different connection to their bending.

“Wait, let me see if I understand this.” Thuy said, turning in her seat to face Katara. With a book open on the table, Thuy traced down the page with one finger while her other hand waved in front of Katara’s face.

“If the lines go from…” Thuy murmured, looking at the book for a moment before making the gestures in the air. She moved down Katara’s front and startled at her chest.

“Is that your heartbeat or your bending?” She asked.

“Probably heartbeat.” Katara said with a laugh. “The water chakra is lower down. And the Water Tribe thinks the chi is held in the bladder anyway.”

Thuy lowered her hands toward Katara’s lap and concentrated.

“I think I can feel it, but it’s weird.” Thuy said.

Alarmed, Katara looked back at Zuko for a moment.

“Weird?” She repeated, looking at Thuy, who was frowning at her hands.

“Maybe it’s me, but it feels similar to the energy around your heart.” She said. Then, shaking her head, she sat back. “I must not understand.”

Katara leaned over and looked at the book. Straightening in her seat, Katara made the same gestures over her lower abdomen.

It was a weird feeling and she frowned as well.

“What about me?” Thuy asked.

Katara turned and they face each other. Following the diagrams of the book, Katara scanned over Thuy’s body. There was a strong energy in every major point, but a lot of it was centered at her lower abdomen. She was a native Waterbender afterall.

“Try us.” Suzu offered. Thuy stood and went to her friends while Katara turned and faced Zuko.

With the same scan, Katara could feel the energy in his stomach, right where it was supposed to be. With her bloodbending tied to her waterbending, Katara could feel his pulse and knew the difference. What she had felt inside of herself was, foreign.

“You’re worried.” Zuko stated.

“I just don’t know what I was feeling. I get that I wouldn’t have the same thing as Thuy, but even her’s made sense.” Katara said and rubbed her forehead.

“Suzu and Zula feel really similar.” Thuy stated. “And it confused me for a second too.”

“But I’m-” Katara stopped and the blood drained from her face. Her voice lowered to a whisper. “Not two people.”

“What?” Zuko asked, his voice strained.

“I think I’m pregnant.” Katara said and met his eye.

Zuko blinked and then started laughing. He grabbed her, hugging her as they sat and Katara felt tears in her eyes.

“Pregnant?” Thuy shrieked.

“Baby?” Suzu asked as she inhaled a sharp breath.

“So is that why you and Suki have been trying not to puke up your guts all week?” Zula asked.

Suzu whirled on her sister.

“BABIES?” She demanded.

“Katara, this explains so much.” Zuko said, sitting back and pushing her hair back from her face.

“Like what?” She asked.

“Why you’ve been glowing.” He said.

“Hush.” Katara sniffed and wiped her running nose on a napkin. “Look, now that I know it’s not the flu, we really need to focus on this.”

“I can literally not focus on anything else but the fact that you are PREGNANT.” Thuy said.

“Blazes.” Katara groaned, laying her head on the table. With a smile, she placed a hand on her stomach.

Behind her, Thuy and Suzu started hopping around in celebration while Zuko rubbed circles on her back.

“Can you tell if it’s a boy or girl?” Suzu gasped.

“Why would you seriously ask that question of me?” Thuy asked. “Me?”

“Maybe it’s like chi, Thuy, and not parts. Did you ever think of that? Huh?” Suzu retorted.

“You both are giving me a headache.” Zula stated.

“I love you.” Zuko whispered.

Katara sat up and he kissed her quickly.

“Can we figure out how to deal with your dad now?” She asked.

“We might not need to. I’m pretty sure when he finds out he’s going to be a grandfather, he’ll have a heart attack.” Zuko said.

Katara snorted.

“Still.” She said.

“Fine. I can’t deny you anything now.”

“Like you could before?”

Zuko smiled and kissed her again.

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#zutara #fanfiction #jax writes #modern au #the fic that prompts built #zutara week 2021

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nicad13 · 3 years

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Death Watch, Cults, and Controversy

I’m not sure of the best way to discuss the controversy on the Children of the Watch Cult thing, so I’ll try this and see what happens. I’ll lay out my potential biases as a middle-aged white cis woman who ran away from Catholicism the first chance I got because, among many other reasons, Pope John Paul II was a flat-out misogynist. Christian Fundamentalists in general then proceeded to annoy me right out of theism altogether. Most of my feelings on religious fundamentalism are based in my experience with white redneck bootlickers who think they’re doing the Lord’s Work by threatening (and too often all-out murdering) POC, non-cis folks, progressives, and whoever else they’re cross with at any given moment.

With that in mind, I’ll acknowledge that I’ll probably fuck some of this up, and if I do, please know that I’m deeply sorry and am open to discussion on all of this.

My understanding is that resistance to calling Children of the Watch a cult is that the helmet rules are a parallel to head coverings, so they code as Islamic. Picking on practices and issues that are at least in part a result of white colonization is shitty, so just leave them alone.

That’s a totally fair and valid view, particularly given the problematic treatment of characters of color through the entire Star Wars universe.

Here’s another view.

The Clone Wars got around to Mandalore with “The Mandalore Plot” in January 2010, about 7 years into the Iraq War. Pre Vizsla rolled up with Death Watch spouting off about bringing back warrior ways (the same ways that decimated the planet), calling pacifists the real threat. He sounded just like all the Republican assholes who were more than happy to go to war wherever the hell George W. Bush felt like sending soldiers. Pile on the facts that all the humans of the Death Watch leadership were white (Vizsla, Gar Saxon, and Bo-Katan), helmet rules weren’t a thing at that point, so Death Watch TEN YEARS AGO coded as white-supremacist right-wing Republican warmongers. These days we’re still getting an earful from right-wing nutballs about taking up arms if Trump doesn’t get a second term. When I think of the modern AU equivalent of Death Watch, these are the people who come to mind for me.

As far as I can tell, Sabine Wren was the first Mandalorian of color we see since Boba Fett, and I don’t think her family’s ties to Death Watch were revealed until 2016 or 2017 or so? Even then loyalties were a fractured mess. The lack of POC among the New Mandalorians was shitty, but I’m not sure that lining up POC exclusively with Death Watch entirely works, particularly given the white leadership. (Depending on how far up Ursa Wren was, though one could argue that the Wrens were exploited by Death Watch. Again, it’s a mess.)

Which brings us to Children of the Watch and the signature helmet rule. I could see how it made sense in the aftermath of the Purge and saw it as little more than a device to drive the mystery until the final episodes of Season 1, where things came together for me in the following way: Din was 1) picked up by a group that for ten years coded to me as white-supremacist warmongers, 2) raised in something called a “Fighting Corps” which sounds suspiciously like being raised as a child-soldier, 3) so indoctrinated that he chose to die for the helmet rule instead of receive life-saving treatment. Not sure about anyone else, but a practice that demands one’s death in a situation where death is otherwise easily preventable strikes me as problematic.

If we want to take things a step further and assume that the Armorer looks like Emily Swallow (who is white as far as I can tell?) and Paz Vizsla looks like Jon (or Pre, but with all the adoption stuff, who knows), they continued to have white leadership in the covert. One of whom even tried to helmet-shame the brown guy who tithed every dime he earned, and that’s problematic as well. How much race-based exploitation went on there is hard to say, but I got the impression that Din was being used even from the start.

So, that’s where I’m coming from on this; Death Watch as right-wing zealots possibly exploiting adopted kids as gun fodder, and when it all falls apart post-Purge, we see a covert dependent at least in part on the labors of one of the adopted kids.

Again, I’m totally open to discussion on this. Fire away. Tell me where I fucked it up.

#the mandalorian #death watch #cult #din djarin

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inrainprose · 4 years

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Isn't sad how all those children preferred to live in a dark cave, caged, all being used as test subject for Orochimaru's bizarre experiments, living like animals, than in their natal villages with their "companions"?

F***ING WEBSITE FROM HELL I F***ING DELETED THAT F***ING META BECAUSE I CLICKED BACKSPACE ONE TIME TO MANY F**K THIS okay here we go again because I thought hard about this and I’m not gonna let it go.

SO. I think Orochimaru is a far more interesting character when written as a cult leader for outcasts than with just the children-snatching psychopath view, because we don’t get the impression that he coerces people into following him. There’s no doubt he did some abducting but that’s not the core of his recruitment strategy.

It was a strong theme at the beginning of the story with Zabuza and Haku – how far would you go for the first person to ever show you kindness and give you safety, even if it was for selfish reasons, even if they’re terrible people? I seem to recall Naruto thinking something along the lines of “I was lucky it was Iruka for me, had it been someone else…” and relating to Haku’s loyalty to Zabuza despite knowing he was just a mean to an end. It makes for great AUs too – what if Naruto had latched onto someone less recommendable than nice Iruka? It's too bad that line of thinking was dropped because it also served as a harsh criticism of their world, the fact that it produces so many bitter, abandoned orphans that have no choice but to turn to brutal mercenaries and unhinged scientists. The shinobi world created many of its own enemies, within and outside the villages.

I don’t think the kids “prefer” to live that way, but they would still be starving in the streets or abused by their village without Orochimaru, so it’s normal to do whatever he wants in return, right? Including kill or fight each other to death or subject themselves to whatever he wants to test on them… Of course it’s textbook recipe for abuse, the “you owe me” card. He takes full advantage of this, that they have nowhere else to go, that they will owe him. He also makes it even harder for them to go back, what with the body modifications and making it to every village’s shit list with the killing and stuff he has them do.

(more under the cut cause that got a bit out of hand)

He basically runs a cult – he’s shown to be charismatic, having a great power of attraction and persuasion, and he doesn’t treat them that badly, I mean in a way we often see bad guys do, being belittling and acing them off for fun just to show he’s eeeeevil. He does give them what they want, safety, shelter, power, companionship, purpose. I can imagine him playing the benevolent card for a while before introducing his newest refugee to the downside of getting under his wing. He preys on the vulnerable and they come willingly.

It’s most likely their only option, including once they’re in and realize they’re really not into this after all. It’s not like any of them was ever offered a way out – what would they do if they left, who would help them? The shinobi world doesn’t seem big on rehabilitation, for all Naruto’s “villain-turning-good” powers. Most of them pay their “redemption” and their return to the light by death anyway. Would be too hard to actually question their morality and choices and see what they would become if they went back to the world…

Ironically enough the only one who sort of gets that is Orochimaru lmao but it doesn’t count because there was no redemption nor questioning of any kind they just decided he got to stay and not be held accountable for any of his actions. And I don’t know why any of us is surprised by this actually or why we expected better we should be used to this by now. Ah. Moving on.

As the kids grow up, they would either develop a stronger sense of morality/self-worth and wouldn’t be able to go along with this shit anymore, no matter how grateful they are to him, or they would stay blindly loyal. Or they would just be dead, dying, or imprisoned and unable to escape heh. I guess some would also take a deeper turn because since this world sucks so much and abandoned them why wouldn’t they wreak havoc in it on his orders? He must play on this too because he IS outside and against the system and it would attract those who seek revenge against it, even if he serves his own interests above the "Strike back at the System" cause. It served him well when he was in Konoha after all and isn’t that his biggest grievance in the end? That he played within its constraint and was still cast out, because he crossed a line he didn’t even know was there? We don’t get a feeling that he’s inherently against the whole child-soldiers/kill for hire/waging pointless wars thing, on the contrary it suits him quite well, but the problem was the hypocrisy, that they condone those things but still try to take the moral high ground.

I’m sorry but I can only imagine Orochimaru being like “assassination ok torture for information ok civilian casualties ok sacrifice anything for the village including your health life and those of your friends ok train to death and do whatever it takes to get stronger ok experiment on people… no?” I’m not trying to justify his actions but just, how is anyone surprised by how some of them turned out? I think we saw people like this among his followers, you know who were trained to kill from a young age, but when they got a taste for it and went outside the mission frame, the villages were like "huh huh no no” and they went ???? excuse me how was I supposed to cope with being made into an assassin as seven apart from convincing myself that this was all fine and fun actually? And of course the classic “I lived in a cage/I was driven from my home at 5/I was enslaved, and this guy comes around and offers a way out was I just supposed to say no?”.

(This apply to Sasuke too by the way, because had this boy been given some freaking support as a child he wouldn’t have made it his lifelong goal to kill his brother while disregarding absolutely everything else in his life and Orochimaru played him like a damn flute and someone should just have… seen this coming. Or just NOT have the entire Uchiha clan pointlessly wiped off but that’s another point entirely)

The lines of who is good and who is bad in Naruto are very foggy. Murder is not a criterion, child abuse either, so what? At some point we have to acknowledge that the characters who are "good" in Naruto are simply the ones we're told are on the good guys' side. I mean it’s a valid morality system – being good means serving your village. Whatever you do to that end is okay. It’s exactly Danzo’s mentality and it's easy to see where it comes from, it is how their world is built. It’s also how they manage to say with a straight face that Itachi was a good guy actually, and you can build a story on that, you can put it into question.

But the story doesn’t commit to this. It still tries to tell us that being mean and killing people is bad, when half of those characters are paid assassins for freak’s sake, when the good guys have an entire clan build on arbitrary slavery, when they massacred one of their own clan. Once again it started right with Zabuza, when they make the characters (and us) realize that the only thing opposing them is that they have different employers. Zabuza isn’t bad because he’s a mean guy who kills people, he’s bad because he gets in the way of their mission. Of course he conveniently works for an asshole while they work for the guy trying to lift his community from its shithole, but that’s not why they help him. They help him because he pays them to so.

Anyway, going back to the topic at hand and concluding this long-ass rant, it’s hard to infer whether Orochimaru sees them solely as pawns and expendables bodies or if he has any form of attachment to them or some to them. I found his writing to be very inconsistent and not compelling at all because it never dwells into these topics, and the narration can’t make up its mind about him. But I don't like to cast him as just a one-dimensional evil psychopath because that's… bad, y’know, and I don’t think the number of people willing to follow him should be dismissed. In many ways Orochimaru and his people him are a direct product of their world

That got out of hand really fast but. Well. You’re right. It’s sad.

#ask #askinrain #naruto #naruto meta #orochimaru #why do i spend so much brain juice on this story #when i know the story didn't #but anway #that's this on that #rambling #will i ever answer that kind of ask with some chill #probably not #tw cult #tw abuse #i guess #it's orochimaru after all #Anonymous

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