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#but regardless i will always treat it as seriously as it would warrant
fazar234 · 1 year
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Crisis - A Sasha and the Frogs Fanfic - Amphibia
Summary: Just Mrs. Boonchuy having a crisis after hearing about her daughter’s horrible deeds, nothing to see here. :)
I LIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIVE!
No but seriously, I'm alive guys. I know it's been way too long since my last fic (or post, for that matter), but it's mainly because I've been busy with school, as well as dealing with a lack of motivation, which is kind of a butt-kicker.
Regardless, reading the newest chapter of @scrabbleknight's fanfic Sasha and the Frogs gave me an idea. So here I am, posting a brand new work based on the SATF AU!
Keep in mind this takes place during Season 3, which Scrabble hasn't gotten to yet, and that this is just my take on what should happen in it. Regardless, I hope you all enjoy!
(I highly recommend reading through Sasha and the Frogs first to understand the context of this fic. Here's the link: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2987463)
Taglist/Inspirations: @writingamongther0ses, @eclipsewarrior101, @d-blue02, @dawnsy, @hughjidiot, @eeveearoace, @eeveearoace-creative, @sonofrose, @space-lynn, @astro-arts-inthestars, @astro-inthestars, @cynthiacoven, @casswithmywholeheart, @starsfic, @luna--dragon, @mira-blue, @honneibun, @dodelidoo, @issabolical, @lightgriffinsect, @writegriffinsect
Oum Boonchuy has always believed herself to be a good parent.
Well, not always good, but better than the Waybrights or Wus, if that counts.
From the moment Anne was born, Oum and her husband Bee would dedicate their entire lives to treating her right, caring for and loving her, and keeping her on the straight and narrow.
Sure she’s had some bumps down the road.
Sure, she’s had her fair share of arguments with her girl over being responsible.
Sure, she’s never been into Anne hanging out with her friends for too long because of the type of influence they were.
Sure, she’s had to ground her daughter several times just because she wasn’t home on time and was off messing around with her friends.
But all off that was because she was worried for her. Worried for her future, worried for what kind of person she’d be.
She loved her daughter and considered herself a good parent.
At least, until she went missing.
For five whole months, she put up missing posters, kept in touch with the police, and prayed for her daughter’s safety.
But one thought never stopped lingering in the back of her mind.
Was she really a good parent?
She had to spend five whole months struggling with herself, wondering if it’d been her fault, wondering if she’d done something wrong to warrant her daughter choosing her friends over her.
And then, five months later, Sasha comes back.
And she doesn’t know what to feel, especially with her living in her house, with three talking frogs from a world called Amphibia, one of which seems rather hostile to her.
As she spends time with her, she begins to realize that her daughter’s friend has changed. That what was once a manipulative jerk who’d do anything to have control, was now someone trying to keep her frog family, her only family, safe.
And then, she learns of her daughter’s deeds.
And it all comes crashing down.
Her daughter, a lieutenant for an army of toads.
Her daughter, responsible for killing her own friend, who was lucky enough to return to the land of the living.
Her daughter, responsible for betraying her friends a second time, just to overthrow a king who had turned out to be evil.
Oum couldn’t understand.
How was it that Sasha, a girl who lacked love and adoration, was somehow able to become better, while her daughter, who was raised and cared for her whole life, became worse?
As she processed all of this, the answer finally hit her.
She was not a good parent.
No parent would have let their child disappear into another world for five months.
No parent would have let their daughter go astray and become a hardened soldier.
And, most importantly, no parent would have let their daughter commit so many crimes, let alone murder.
Oum Boonchuy was not a good parent.
She was a failure.
A worthless, cowardly failure.
And she didn’t deserve to be a parent.
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I know it's fairly short, and nit exactly the best fic to return with, but it's all I had.
Regardless, please leave your thoughts in a comment or reblog (constructive criticism is welcome) and I'll see you all soon!
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splendi-city · 1 year
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of hospitals
i am not the healthiest person. i guess on first glance i seem physically, completely capable. i have all my limbs, no obvious disabilities, and i am able to portray living a full life. however, behind the scenes, i go through problem after problem. now i say problem as an umbrella term because fuck knows my body is broken in a million more ways than i will ever be aware of. different vague health issues every damn time. but whatever, this is not meant to be a self-pity post. point is i’m sick a lot. consequentially, i spend a decent amount of time in hospitals. 
a little bit of self-pity is to be warranted in this paragraph. having to go to the hospital so much, it doesn’t seem like its a big deal anymore. those around me simply let out a sigh, “again?.” and i guess its fair. after a certain point there is no longer a sense of urgency? so u don’t rly care as much knowing at the end of it, no matter how sick i am in the moment, i am really just fine lol. regardless, it doesn’t feel great. no matter how many times it happens, my pain is still my pain. i would like to be taken care of, treated, manja-ed. but no one really does that for me. i am expected to be able to handle it with grace, simply because i have done it before. and i wish that were the case but truth be told, i am weak every time i have to go through this. and having to go through this more often than most just means that i am drained more and more every time. at this point, i am a shell of myself just dreaming of a day where i don’t feel some sort of random excruciating pain at any part of my body.
then came him.
i would like to believe i made my peace with the fact that i am responsible of taking care of myself, in general but also more specifically in the context of hospital and emergency room runs. but somehow this boy waltzes into my life, actually takes charge of making sure i am okay and physically comfortable at all times. he makes an active effort to be there for me, to care for me, to make me feel better. i was going through a whirlwind of pain today, one of the most excruciating ones i have ever felt in my life. all i had to do was tell him. without skipping a beat he was working out the logistics of how he could be the one to bring me to the hospital. how he wanted to be the one there to hold my hand through the entire process. the past few times where he actually had to bring me to the hospital, he was the most attentive person i have ever gotten the privilege to witness. from driving me (when he doesnt even drive), to pushing me on the wheelchair around the whole hospital, to letting me sleep on his lap in the waiting room, to just making sure i’m well-fed and comfortable. i’ve never been pushed on a wheelchair unless i was unconscious. he keeps saying “smol ting ony.” when it means the absolute world to me that i have one person that actually takes my pain seriously. who would actually go out of their way for my comfort. who would reassure me my pain is valid, no matter how much i try to gaslight myself that it isn’t. 
i’ve never had this from people who weren’t family. and even so, my family is truly over it and too tired to put in the effort anymore lol. i have never felt safe in hospitals. i’ve always felt like i had to fight and fend for myself. but now i have him. he makes me feel so loved and cared for. he makes me feel like i’m not alone. he is already an amazing boyfriend, through a million other facets of his presence. but seeing how he treats me when i’m sick, is a really good bonus. i would have never expected this treatment from anyone, and i am so so grateful that he came into my life to show me that it is possible to have someone with you going through tough times. this is the kind of love i believed i didn’t deserve. one i didn’t think i would ever get the privilege of experiencing. and for that i thank him. thank you sayang, for all that you do for me. for making hospitals bearable, nay, fun. if i had to go through this lifetime of pain and sickness, i’m eternally grateful to have you by my side. (preferably i would just like to stop getting sick, but ykno). i am forever indebted to your kindness, tolerance, and patience. you are truly my light at the end of this tunnel, and i love you endlessly for it.
thank you for your gentle hands, and for pushing me on wheelchairs. 
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writer-ish · 3 years
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To the anon who sent me a very serious message:
(TW suicide mention/suicidal ideation)
I can be here for you as much as any stranger on the internet can be, but please consider speaking to a friend or loved one or even someone who can help in a professional capacity if you’re serious about your thoughts and feelings.
Know that you have the support and goodwill of many people on here, but that there is only so much we can do over a computer screen.
Sending you lots of love and light, as well as some possibly helpful links here.
(I tried to find a post with as many options as possible, since I don’t know where you’re located.)
If anyone else wants to help out with good thoughts, information, advice, or help, please feel free.
Just know you’re not alone. ❤️
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After reading your opinion on Molly Weasley, i want to know: What are you're opinions on the Weasley family? Besides Ron & Molly that is.
Five characters? In one post? Well, alright, here we go.
The Weasleys as a Whole
I’ve mentioned this before but JKR writes the Weasleys to clearly be a believable but ideal family. They’re all fiercely loyal, progressive per wizarding world standards, love each other and Harry deeply, and have this wonderful off-kilter joyous house where there’s always some rambunctious thing going on. 
Harry comes to associate the Weasleys with family and, personally, I believe a large part of him marrying Ginny boils down to it will make him a Weasley for real. 
That said, they’ve got some major issues. They’re very righteous people who, as a whole, will ice you out the moment they even suspect you do something that disagrees with them. You don’t even have to do it, what you did or didn’t do doesn’t even have to be something terrible or something bad, but god help you if the family decides they’re done with you. 
They’re very resentful of people like the Malfoys. This isn’t just because Lucius is a smarmy, pompous, ass (he is) or that he indirectly almost murdered Ginny but seems to mostly be because Lucius has so much money. All of their interactions seem to boil down to the money. More than this though, the Weasleys seem fully supportive of laws that... well, used against themselves would be a travesty but used against the likes of the Malfoys it’s about damn time.
They’re unquestioningly loyal to Dumbledore. Granted, most people we see in canon are, Dumbledore’s very very very good at convincing people he’s a saint. However, these guys are practically his cult member to the point where they do things like refuse to have Harry over the summer, even before Voldemort returned, because Dumbledore told them not to. 
They also never really adopt Harry into the family. Oh they give him a nice sweater, he comes over every once in a while to the house, he’s very good friends with Ron but he’s mostly treated just like that, a good friend. Now, there’s nothing wrong with this, except the way JKR sets it up we’re supposed to believe this is the family Harry found. It’s just that the family Harry’s found let’s him stay in a house with bars on his window where twelve-year-old Ron tells them, “Harry’s muggle family is really really awful” in a way that should have been raising red flags. Hermione practically lives at the Weasleys, Harry never does.
Now, are the Weasleys evil? No, far from it, they’re ordinary people who act in ways I’d expect ordinary people too. Technically they didn’t have to do anything more for Harry than they did, they didn’t have to hate Lucius Malfoy for better reasons, and they don’t have to be even slightly less worshipful of Dumbledore. They’re people, and they’re fine characters, but the overwhelming worship and love of the Weasleys we see across fandom does get on my nerves.
But you asked for individuals, so here we go.
 Arthur Weasley
Arthur is the epitome of “Pretty Fly for a White Guy” in the worst of ways and is, frankly, a giant awful joke to me. He’s the white kid you see going around with dread locks, a beanie the color of the Jamaican flag, smoking weed, and attempting to speak like Bob Marley 
Only, because he does it with muggle things, we’re supposed to find him funny and progressive.
Arthur is absolutely, albeit unwittingly, condescending in his love of muggle knickknacks. He has no idea how any of it actually works, not limited to how muggles could possible survive without the gold standard, but ardently believes he does because he can enchant the car to fly. Seriously, that he believes he’s an expert on muggle culture, as a pureblood wizard who heads an office in the ministry on it, is the worst part. His love of toasters comes across as, “Wow, look how cool it is that these poor little muggles made all this neat stuff. We should absolutely love the muggles because of it!” And that he heads an office in the ministry called “The Misuse of Muggle Artifacts” which is all about catching down Jackass style pranksters who think it would be hilarious of they enchanted toasters to bludgeon muggles to death...
Goddammit Arthur, why do you exist?
Right, otherwise, he’s got some pride issues going on. Part of the reason Percy is excommunicated is not so much that Percy doesn’t believe Harry, but because Percy dared to do better than Arthur in his own career. Arthur is stuck in his position as head of a joke of a department, he is an underling at its finest, and frankly likely only has that position because he’s a pureblood and the idea of putting a halfblood or even muggleborn at the head of a department dealing with muggles just made the higher ups shudder. (Don’t tell Arthur that though, he likes to think he’s not benefitting from nepotism). 
Arthur goes so far to accuse Percy as Fudge’s secretary as spying on him. Arthur, the guy who heads “Misuse of Muggle Artifacts”. Yeah, Arthur, I’m sure Fudge is really wasting his time using his straight laced secretary to find out all your dirty secrets. 
He also tends to see the world as very black and white. When Skeeter in book 4 writes an article after the Quidditch World Cup disaster complaining about the ministry’s lax security in enabling domestic terrorists to enter (something completely valid and true by the way) Arthur is so personally offended that both he and Percy go straight to the ministry to complain about Rita Skeeter and her daring to assume freedom of speech! HOW DARE SHE CALL THE MINISTRY’S NON-EXISTENT SECURITY AT THE WORLD CUP LAX! (To be fair, she also cited Arthur as having been in attendance at the event, a ministry employee, and having done nothing but, well, this is also true Arthur. You’re in a guerilla, underground, resistance movement. If I didn’t already think the Order was a joke this would kind of highlight it for me).
He’s also very resentful of Lucius Malfoy, and it seems to mostly be about the money. Arthur and Molly have a severe spending problem and actively resent that Lucius is swimming in money. That Arthur is ardently pleased about a law being passed in which the ministry without warrant can ransack Lucius Malfoy’s home... 
Well, Arthur, imagine the slippery slope if the government decides that it would like to search the Weasley home without warrant? In fact, he doesn’t even have to imagine it, as the beloved government in a few short years turns against him and then it’s all about how corrupt the ministry is. 
Arthur’s delightfully narrowminded, basically, and reminds us at nearly every opportunity.
Percy Weasley
Mostly, I just feel bad for Percy. Percy’s the son/brother that nobody likes and he’s painfully aware of that fact. He doesn’t fit in with the others, he has far too much ambition for the Gryffindor family and they resent him for it, and then he dares to say things like “I don’t know guys, Voldemort resurrecting from the dead after decades doesn’t sound plausible, we know Harry’s a little off kilter, and Dumbledore’s one shady dude”. Percy happens to be wrong about Voldemort resurrecting (and admits as much when the evidence is plainly visible), but he’s pretty on the money with the rest of it.
Regardless, growing up we see Ron constantly hating on Percy along with the rest of the siblings. I’m sure Percy is obnoxious, and certainly full of himself after making prefect and head boy, but he’s very clearly even before Order of the Phoenix the Least Favorite Brother (TM).
Then the Weasley family completely ices him out for a) getting a very high ranking position very quickly as Fudge’s secretary and b) not being gung ho about Dumbledore saying crazy things in the paper. Remember that to Percy Harry is Ron’s weird friend who seems to get into highly illegal activities every other week. From Percy’s point of view, it’s probably a matter of time before Harry becomes a crack head in Knockturn Alley (or given how behind the times wizards tend to be, an opium den). 
He’s constantly getting Ron into not only trouble but life threatening situations, is erratic and apparently a parseltongue of all things, and now Harry’s flipped his lid and saying that Voldemort has been resurrected after having gone through a very traumatic experience of watching a classmate somehow die. 
While we see Percy kind of (sort of)  make up with the family it’s clear that for Percy to have any relation with these people he’s the one who will always, ALWAYS, have to come crawling back on his knees and begging for forgiveness. It’s the Weasley way or the highway and I imagine, at some point probably a little after/during that epilogue, Percy will just slowly drift away because it’s just not worth it anymore.
Percy’s very much the black sheep of the family.
Fred and George Weasley
You all are going to kill me, but I actually don’t care in the slightest about Fred and George Weasley. This is because they basically have no personality aside from “funny”. 
They just have their weird, tandem, twin act and are either playing jokes on the school or else serving as Deus ex Machina in giving Harry magical items such as the Marauder’s Map for no apparent reason. The plot told them it was time, I guess. 
Their jokes, while not as bad as Sirius and James’ “Let’s sexually harrass Severus Snape by pantsing and beating him at the edge of Hogwarts lake” or Sirius’ “Let’s get Snape eaten by a werewolf!” are still often needlessly cruel and... kind of pointless. They harass Slytherin house constantly just because they happen to be Slytherins, they’re acceptable victims (which of course makes house tension that much worse). Harry gets sent a toilet seat in the hospital because... that’s funny? Har de har? 
They’re so indistinguishable from one another I routinely see people mistake which one got his ear chopped off and which one died. Because the point is, that we can’t tell the difference! It doesn’t matter who lived and who died because all we know is that Freorge is dead! 
Similarly, you see tons of fics around where character of the day ends up in this weird twincestuous relationship with Fred and George and it’s not only for a) that delightful twincest but b) because they’re such a singular unit that any attempt to pair one with somebody else feels weird. So you just get these porn fics about Fred and George being weird rapey teenagers who seem like they’d be more interested dating each other. 
Charlie Weasley
I really have no thoughts on Charlie. He raises dragons in Romania, the family loves him. Now, dragon raising feels like one of the most dangerous jobs in the Harry Potter universe, like Charlie had just gone and signed up to be a lumberjack but he seems to like it?
We really don’t see much of Charlie, he’s just the obligatory older Weasley son so that the Weasleys can be this ridiculously large family.
Bill Weasley
We see slightly more of Bill, but again, not enough to really leave an impression. We know that his marrying Fleur sent Molly into a complete state, and that they’re going to have awkward Christmas dinners forever because of it where Fleur just sits there and pretends not to loathe every second of Molly’s presence while Molly notes how bad it is that Victoire got stuck with that ugly pink hair instead of the Weasley red. 
Bill doesn’t seem to really do anything about this. He still marries Fleur, but we don’t really see a major confrontation where he tells the family “Look, I’m marrying her, so grow up.” So, I imagine he just tries to smile pleasantly and tells Fleur to just endure it for another few hours. He loves his family, his family’s great, but they only have to see Fleur once a year at Christmas.
Ginny Weasley
Ginny is weird. She’s this weird, frankly, almost personality-less void whose sole obsession in life seems to be marrying Harry. She and Harry end up in the world’s weirdest relationship and I honestly have no idea how people ship it other than canon told them to.
Ginny’s... well, first off, she’s very much in love with an idea. She had always worshipped Harry Potter but then he personally saves her life in what was a horrifically traumatic year and so that feeling just grows even more. Despite being Ron’s sister, she barely seems to know Harry, and everything she seems to like about it are just things she made up.
I imagine her and Harry’s marriage will be littered with affairs on her end. Not divorce though, because Harry would never admit his wife is having affairs on him all the time even if someone directly confronted him. Harry also won’t admit he’s gay. 
More than though we get hints of a personality. Ginny’s a fiery red-head tomboy with a temper. But... Well, it’s only ever hints. She never felt like a real person to me. She has I think one throwaway line about the Chamber of Secrets incident and how it personally affected her. We’re told she’s great at the bat boogey hex so we know she’s a fiery independent woman.
She feels more like a character sheet than an actual person. 
Whenever she’s around I always had this nagging question in my head where I ask why Ginny’s here. She has a lot of potential but nothing’s ever done with her. And when something is, it’s to get her into this bizarre relationship with Harry where he imagines there’s a green rage monster in his chest that loves her skin.
Okay Harry, if you say so. 
TL;DR: The Weasleys aren’t evil or anything, I’m not on Team Bash Them All, but they are shortsighted, ordinary, people who don’t deserve to be worshipped as all that is good in this world.
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setsuna-maru · 3 years
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Rin in Every Episode of Inuyasha: A Retrospective
I decided to start this series because I feel like Rin’s been getting a bad rap lately, particularly since the premier of Yashahime and even more so now that she’s been revealed to be the mother of Towa and Setsuna.
For that reason, I’ve decided to do a retrospective of every episode in Inuyasha in which Rin appears, in order to explore her wonderful character.
I originally intended to do her introductory episode in one post but it got pretty unwieldy so I divided it into two parts. This is Part 1.
Episode 35 begins with Sesshoumaru at pretty much his lowest point in the series. Inuyasha has already cut off his arm and taken his father’s heirloom sword, the Tetsaiga, and now, his younger brother has come out on top, again. Sesshoumaru is 0-3 at this point. The battle against Inuyasha that takes up the first third of this episode sees Sesshoumaru barely escaping with his life and badly wounded. This episode is titled The True Owner of the Great Sword! and the Tenseiga initially displays it’s loyalty to it’s reluctant master by engulfing him in light, saving him from Inuyasha’s attack.
(It’s also been suggested that the sentient Tenseiga purposely transported Sesshoumaru to the location he convalesces in, knowing he would meet Rin there and allow him to develop the compassion needed to wield it, although that’s a theory for another day.)
Enter Rin
Rin’s first appearance in the Inuyasha anime occurs at 10:29 of Episode 35:  The True Owner of the Great Sword! The first indication of her presence is a couple of seconds earlier in the form of some rustling bushes.
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A moment later, we get our first glimpse of a young human girl peeking out from behind a tree.
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Sesshoumaru attempts to scare her off and it cuts to her reaction. Up close, we can see that Rin is not a well taken care of child. Her face is filthy and her kimono is dull and worn.
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Though Rin is startled at first, she quickly regains her composure; her expression morphing from fright into steely resolve.
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Rin doesn’t speak in her first appearance and her muteness actually adds to the strength of her characters introduction. Writers are always told “show, don’t tell” and by letting Rin’s actions speak for themselves, the audience see’s Rin personality revealed through her behavior and is left to guess at her motivations.
Back to the scene; Rin cautiously approaches Sesshoumaru, despite his threatening action. Maybe she’s aware that he’s too seriously injured to be a real danger to her but she probably doesn’t know enough about demons to know that for sure. Regardless, here she is showing her bravery, compassion and curiosity overcoming her own sense of self-preservation.
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This entire scene is less than 15 seconds long but it already teaches us so much about Rin’s character. It leaves a bold impression: A tiny, defenseless human girl willingly approaching one of the most fearsome yokai in the Sengoku.
The next scene in which Rin appears seems to take place later that night and in it, Rin’s intentions become clear. Having left water for the injured Sesshoumaru, she returns with food. Again, we’re getting a good picture of who Rin is as a person through her actions alone. She’s the type of kid who will find a wounded but dangerous demon in the woods and decide to take it upon herself to take care of him. 
(It’s also worth pointing out that Rin is a poor orphan with little access to food and still chooses to share whatever sustenance she can find with a complete stranger.)
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As Rin turns to leave, Sesshoumaru speaks to her–it’s implied–for the first time. He tells her that he doesn’t eat human food and she should mind her own business.
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Rin and Sesshoumaru’s first meeting is reminiscent of the ‘stranded together’ or ‘locked in a room’ tropes where, as a result of being trapped in the same place, two characters are forced to interact who might otherwise had never had an opportunity or willingness to bond with one another.
While Rin isn’t trapped there, Sesshoumaru certainly is and had he been fully mobile, never would’ve found himself have been in a position where he’d be conversing with a random human girl.
Rin leaves and we next her catching fish in ravine. She’s discovered by the village men and beaten for stealing. She passively accepts the beating, not struggling or putting up any resistance and there’s a definite implication that this is something that’s happened before and that she’s used to.
This is also the first scene where we're told about Rin’s backstory and what happened that cause her to be in the state she’s in. Unlike the mostly “show, don’t tell” nature of the rest of Rin’s story in this episode, it’s one of those clunky exposition dumps where the characters tell each other information they should already know for the sake of the audience. We hear from the villagers that Rin is an orphan as a result of her family being killed by bandits. They also reveal that this incident occurred in front of her and is the reason for Rin’s muteness.
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We see Rin limp away and in the next scene, she again approaches Sesshoumaru with an offer of food. He again declines, despite Rin’s wordless insistence. When we see Rin’s face again, her eye is swollen shut and she has bruises–the result of her beating by the villagers.
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Rin is disappointed by his refusal to accept her help but a moment later Sesshoumaru does something that would’ve previously seemed unbelievable for character; earnestly inquiring about someone else’s welfare.
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Rin’s face really say’s it all.
This the breakthrough moment. Sesshoumaru let’s his guard down, if only slightly, and attempts to make a connection. A connection to a human girl who won’t stop trying to help him no matter how uninterested he tries to make himself seem. This moment is Rin’s patience and persistence paying off.
Sesshoumaru tells her that it’s okay if she doesn’t want to talk. Again, Sesshoumaru being gentle and reassuring to another person is not something we’d gotten even a hint of from him before this. Rin stares at him in disbelief for several moments before her face breaks into a huge, toothy smile—the first one we see from her since she was introduced.
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This confuses Sesshoumaru, who doesn’t understand why something as simple as asking her how she got the bruises on her face would warrant such a reaction.
It’s probably not a stretch to imagine that Rin’s reaction isn’t just because it’s Sesshoumaru specifically whose asking her this. Considering how she’s been shown to be treated by the other villagers, this might be the first time in quite a while (since her family was killed at least) that anyone has expressed an interest in her well-being.
But yeah, while Rin may not be aware of it, it is pretty special that Sesshoumaru, Sesshoumaru, hater of humans, will murder you for looking at him the wrong way, biggest asshole of the Sengoku not named Naraku, is the one who ends up showing this poor, neglected orphan the slightest bit of humanity.
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Anyway, that’s a wrap for now. I’ll continue my run-down of Rin’s first episode in Part 2.
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nobodyfamousposts · 5 years
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You know I was watching a video by overly sarcastic productions and I’m pretty sure that from that definition Adrien is a Mary Sue. The episode was Trope Talks: Mary Sues.
Pretty much Adrien is this to a T.
I hear people throwing the term around a lot and complaining about the term being thrown around a lot but I think what ends up being missed is what actually constitutes a Mary Sue in the first place.
A Mary Sue is not a character who is overpowered or “too strong” like the complaints about Captain Marvel. If that was true, then literally every anime protagonist or super hero that exists is a Mary Sue by default. Every one. Ever.
Nor is it someone with a tragic backstory like Batman or any other long line of superheroes or anime protagonists. Whether it’s dead parents, a past trauma, abuse, bullying, or just a conga line of horrible circumstances, plenty of characters have had bad things happen to them. That’s kind of part of life and what makes them relatable and sympathetic.
It’s not even someone who is loved by many people. Or is a good judge of character. Or whom manages to talk someone into a heel-face turn. Regardless of what claims may come, these are not what make a character a Mary Sue.
What makes a Mary Sue—the central core aspect of what makes a character problematic all boils down to how the narrative itself treats the character.
The narrative is generally indicative of the author’s own preferences or leanings. We see it all the time with stories that create straw characters to symbolize people the author doesn’t like or things the author doesn’t agree with in order to belittle it. The opposite can just as easily occur where a character or position is hyped up to look better or promote what the author wants promoted.
Those previously mentioned tropes are a sign of that. For a Mary Sue, everything from powers to past traumas to relationships are all just “things“ for the character to have. Whether to emphasize their importance or to highlight their greatness. While they’re not necessarily what automatically makes a character a Mary Sue, they are often utilized as tools by the narrative for the sake of propping the character that is a Sue. That’s why they’re easy to pick out and attribute to a Mary Sue as well as used to claim characters are Sues. Because they are tools used to try to make people support a character instead of actually making a character people can like and WANT to support.
A Mary Sue is given powers for the sake of making the character awesome without the character actually doing anything to be awesome. A Mary Sue is is given a tragic backstory for the sake of making the character sympathetic without the character actually doing anything to warrant sympathy. A Mary Sue is given relationships for the sake of being the center of attention and adoration by other characters to shell how awesome they are without having to do anything to show how or why anyone would or should actually like them. Any relationships a Mary Sue has are NOT legitimate connections between two or more people, they’re just labels to slap on the Mary Sue to make the character seem more relevant and important.
Ultimately, a Mary Sue supplants the story for the sake of having this character BE the story, and it’s a major reason why they are despised in most fandoms. A reason that, sad to say, was actually deserved in the early days of fan works.
That said…
Adrien IS a prime example of a Mary Sue because of the way the narrative is going out of its way to portray him. Even the creator has come out and said he is “perfect” and that any flaw he could have isn’t actually on him so much as an indication of something being wrong with the world around him. Anything bad that happens, even as a direct result of that character’s own actions, is portrayed as being the fault of anyone and everyone else but that character, in this case Adrien. That, RIGHT THERE is pretty much the epitome of what a Mary Sue IS.
Some call it an ego trip. Some call it a power fantasy. Many consider it as a sort of reality warper. It’s ultimately the case when the story is being turned in on itself to make this character look good without the character actually DOING anything to BE good and even when the character is specifically doing things that AREN’T good.
This is why Bella Swan from Twilight is a certifiable Mary Sue.
This is why it can be argued that Rey from Star Wars is a Mary Sue.
This is why Anita Blake is definitely a Mary Sue.
And this is what separates Adrien from Marinette. And Adrien from pretty much everyone else in the series.
It’s not that he has superpowers—if anything, I think he got cheated in the powers department, all things considered. No, it’s the way he doesn’t seem to take those powers or the responsibilities that come with them seriously. Given that he has had THREE instances already in which he threw a major fit in the middle of an akuma battle because he wasn’t happy about something only for him to be shown as being RIGHT to do so even to the detriment of his partner, his Miraculous, and ultimately all of Paris.
It’s not that he has a missing mom and a neglectful dad, it’s how the narrative keeps emphasizing how sad Adrien is without actually DOING anything with it so they can milk the “Sadrien” angle. Because let’s face it, seeing Adrien looking sad sells.
It’s not that he has multiple girls who like him. I mean, he’s a model, and is rich and famous. I’d be surprised if he didn’t have multiple girls who were into him.
No, it’s in the over the top emphasis of his supposed greatness. It’s in this consistent impression the narrative is giving that the female lead we are supposed to be rooting for—whom we all KNOW has gone well out of her way to do things for him, try to make him happy even to her own detriment, and has struggled more than any rational person should be willing to just to try confessing to the guy is somehow the one side of the love square that “isn’t trying hard enough”.
It’s in the way he is always portrayed as being the “moral voice” and the one in the right in any situation regardless of how little he’s involved or even understands what’s going on. Whether it was lecturing people on how to deal with a bully or for being happy when their bully was leaving (when he was never actually a target of that bully). Or lecturing people on how to deal with a liar (when again, he wasn’t the one being played or threatened). Or threatening to quit when Paris was flooded by an akuma all because he wasn’t being told secrets that he wasn’t showing he was ready to know and that his tantrum CERTAINLY didn’t show he was ready or mature enough for.
It’s in the back and forth on whether he is supposed to be the epitome of “perfection” and the wise person everyone should listen to only to suddenly be made out as the innocent victim of everyone else when his less than noble or heroic behaviors are pointed out in order to excuse or justify his behaviors. (I call it the Standard Adrien Defense and it follows this trend each time.)
It’s in the clear and blatant double standard between what Adrien/Chat is allowed to do and get away with vs what is allowed from anyone else. It’s in the way that Adrien can do things that anyone can agree is wrong without getting so much as a lecture but anyone else in his place will—and have been raked over the coals by the same narrative that gives him the equivalent of a pat on the head and a cookie.
It’s in the way he’s just…there. He has the plot connections. He has the relevance. He has the position of being at the center of quite literally everything from the villain’s plans and motivations to the adoration of the female lead…and he does NOTHING with any of it.
And it’s in the way that no matter what he does or what side he takes, the narrative always ALWAYS frames him as being the one in the right when there’s a conflict, the one to sympathize with when he and another character are hurt, and the one we as the audience are supposed to agree with and support more in any situation.
And the truly sad thing is that Adrien as a character has potential. From a humorous character to a serious one, from the wise and introspective person to the wide-eyed innocent being thrown into the hero job, there was SO MUCH that could have been done with his character. Instead, Adrien is reactionary. Anything involving him is less a matter of what he personally is doing and more about what is being done to or for him. He has no dreams or aspirations other than being with the main female character, has no interests to speak of, and his other relationships actually seem pretty lacking—again, based less on what HE’S doing and more on what other people are doing to and/or for HIM. He somehow has a wide-ranging impact without actually taking action.
As it stands, Canon Adrien is about as real as the cardboard cutout or wax statue of him. To the point he might as well be either for all that he actually seems to accomplish. Because nothing annoys fans or creates salt quite like wasted potential, and that’s all canon Adrien is at this point.
That’s why Fandom Adrien is awesome, whether he’s portrayed as being dense as a brick, showing a polite exterior while internally screaming, acting like a massive dork, or just acting passive aggressive in how he deals with his father and people like Chloe or Lila. Because however way he’s being made to deal with the crazy situations the fans put him in, he’s at least doing SOMETHING besides standing there and looking pretty for people to fawn/fight over.
Strangely enough, this may be the first case I’ve seen where fans have taken a Mary Sue and made him a real character rather than the other way around.
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donnieluvsthings · 4 years
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gonna rant about sanders sides plot bc i think about it all the time and need an outlet okay here we go. this got super long so most of it is under the cut.
fyi: i talk a lot about patton and virgil and how theyre doing. i dont think i paint either of them negatively and if i did its not on purpose bc i love them both but just be aware!! also this is just my interpretations/predictions and i wanted to share but its not The Only Acceptable Interpretation and if u disagree then obviously thats fine lol
so i keep thinking about the conflict between virgil and patton. clearly something is weird. i think it probably started when virgil asked patton to stop treating him like “some innocent harmless angel” at the end of LNTAO.
i actually think this was a good interaction—virgil was trying not to hurt patton’s feelings but also was expressing something he was uncomfortable with and he succeeded in my opinion. and patton doesn’t argue, just immediately goes “okay, virgil!” like he says his name, no nickname, no kiddo. he starts trying instantly to check himself and respect virgil’s wishes.
then in embarrassing phases their interactions seem a little more...tense? i’ll list the ones that stick out bc lists are Fun:
patton fakes being scared. virgil: “don’t patronize me” patton: “you mean pantronize” virgil: “whatever!!”
patton corrects himself from saying “bat winged cherub” to “bad....boy” while virgil shoots him a look like we just talked about this
virgil’s talking about how his style is a relic from thomas’ emo phase. patton: “we’re basically style twins!! look out just a couple of cool guys comin thru!” virgil: “okay, patton” patton: “um! sorry...”
virgil seems aggravated, probably bc patton is still treating him like a poor lil anxious baby when the whole point of this episode was virgil showing that they can’t just ignore his role as anxiety. they may be friends now but virgil’s past attitude is still part of him. one could say he doesnt want them to ignore the “dark side” of his presence. wink wink. this could be him maybe building up to revealing that he used to be a dark side, subtly preparing thomas for it.
then SvS. patton and virgil don’t interact directly except at the start and during the trial, but it doesn’t seem as strained. this is probably because theyre both on the same side when it comes to deceit—and i think thats important. in svs, both patton and virgil are anti-deceit, and like patton pointed out in LNTAO, “anxiety and morality are telling you the same thing,” which seems to signal to thomas that he should listen.
also in SvS, janus alludes to the fact that virgil was a dark side and is hiding it:
“so you’ve never been reluctant to share anything with the group?”
“dont.”
“what, i just meant your name!”
“dont.”
“maybe that’s why its so easy for you to see me for what i am! like i said before, it takes a liar to know a liar.”
i’m 90% sure he didn’t just mean virgil’s name. virgil is clearly distraught about where this conversation is headed and that just doesn’t line up with him being hesitant to share his name. his fears over his dark persona and reluctance to share his name have been addressed multiple times, so what does he have to be scared of? unless janus is talking about virgil being a dark side.
moving on! in DWIT, again, theyre both kinda anti-remus. theyre both afraid of him, and as logan points out, theyre both part of why remus is so powerful as intrusive thoughts. they dont argue much; virgil spends most of this ep arguing with logan, actually, which is interesting bc he and logan seem to have one of the closest friendships in the show.
in this episode, there’s a few final pushed that i think lead virgil to confess he was a dark side.
first remus reveals his own name and says “i would never hide anything from you!” and sends virgil a little glance. virgil looks uncomfortable. then, around the 31 minute mark, logan says “you can always talk to someone...subjects who talked about their thoughts often felt better emotionally and physically.” and you can see virgil looking around like he’s realizing something.
and then he reveals himself at the end of this episode. just to thomas, but i’m assuming all the other sides would know as soon as thomas himself does, right? if they didn’t know already. what sticks out to me is that he specifically waits until the others leave. he doesn’t want to say it directly to them. and as for how this connects to the patton-virgil stuff...patton might think virgil doesn’t trust him/doesn’t want to open up to him. and/or virgil actually doesn’t want to open up to patton as much anymore.
then in healthy distractions, we clearly see that something is up between virgil and patton.
patton: “how could he feel b-a-d with his inner d-a-d?” virgil: “i can think of a few ways”
patton: “thomas made his decision and i think we should all just try to settle into it” virgil: “how are you telling me to settle into something right now when you have taken your sweet time to settle into things that you were uncomfortable with in the past”
so honestly i don’t really know what virgil’s talking about?? does he mean the events of moving on and the whole breakup situation?? or maybe he’s calling patton out for taking so long to drop the “angel baby” nicknames/treatment. or its implying that patton didnt know virgil was a dark side and is still coming to terms with it/coming to terms with the fact that virgil didn’t want to tell him & the other sides directly.
or he’s referencing something we don’t know of. either way, their relationship is obviously strained rn and it isn’t entirely clear what the turning point was between DWIT and ATHD.
then we come to the new episode. virgil doesn’t appear in POF at all, not even a cameo. i think thats the first time this has happened since accepting anxiety part 1. the only reference to him is the purple time-clock during the mario sequence and other smaller inclusions in the other video game parts. and then what happens in this episode?
patton realizes selfishness can be good sometimes. he accepts that the world, and thomas’ view of it, are not as black-and-white as he wanted to believe in svs. it wasnt a matter of “callback = bad vs wedding = good” bc thats not how the world works. beyond that, he accepts janus.
and i’m gonna bring up the idea that virgil is super mean and gets away with it. its true that the other sides, especially patton, are hesitant to correct him or reprimand him, which i think is bc theyre afraid of making him think they hate him. this idea could even be in the forefront of their minds if they really are that impacted by virgil not telling them he’s a dark side.
the thing is...virgil IS mean sometimes and he DOES get away with it. often, its just directed at janus or remus, and the other sides don’t WANT to disagree. when its directed at the other sides, i’m not sure its taken entirely to heart, regardless of whether it should be or not.
and we all know how virgil feels about janus. suspicion, anger, and aggression are all things virgil expresses towards janus from the moment he appeared as patton in CLBG.
so this all has been building up to me saying that the virgil-patton conflict has now become a virgil-patton-janus conflict. virgil and janus’ past is going to clash with patton and janus’ new alliance, which will strain the already tense relationship between virgil and patton. even worse, now roman is firmly in the anti-janus field, which will likely feed virgil’s anger, especially if he also blames patton for hurting roman.
and if we DO go to roman’s room next, and janus shows up, and the situation worsens...we might have a full blown “patton & janus vs virgil & roman” level argument on our hands.
i think virgil’s gonna be aggressive towards janus, as he has been, but when thomas and patton don’t dismiss him—when they call him by his NAME, not just “deceit”—we’re gonna get a rehash of “are you seriously siding with deceit?” except this time roman won’t be the one saying “are you seriously so closed minded to think that everything said by someone you dont like is automatically untrue?”
the other sides—or patton and thomas at the very least—are going to see that virgil’s blatant dislike of janus is not entirely warranted. and keep in mind that we still don’t know what happened between virgil and janus to make virgil hate him, so maybe it IS warranted. but its clear now that janus is trying to help (assuming he’s not lying which i rly hope he’s not lol) and i dont think its fair to thomas for virgil to want to disregard everything janus says. thomas and patton will realize this and they’ll have to confront virgil about his treatment of janus. we just haven’t gotten there yet.
its gonna be wild, honestly. i want janus to be fully accepted but it might be a while until we get there, just like patton took a while to understand the whole “grayscale morality” idea, and how its probably gonna take a while for virgil (and janus, tbh) to move on from whatever happened between them in the past.
i also believe this is headed towards a sympathetic everyone ending where theyre all important to thomas, acknowledged by him as important, and all actively working together, no dark sides or light sides, just sides. so yeah
basically, the next few episodes will probably be an explosion of all these char tensions and its probably gonna get worse before it gets better, and thats not even considering logan angst, creativitwins angst, or the orange side. but i think (and hope) it’ll all be fine and im hyped to see where this series goes :p
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caltropspress · 3 years
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Notes on Pink Siifu’s NEGRO
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You and anybody else who wants to get their random vicarious kicks off White Power can stay the fuck away from me. 
—Lester Bangs
Tell a nazi he can suck my dick. —Pink Siifu, from “SMD”
My first contact with white america was marked by her violence, for when a white doctor pulled me from between my mother’s legs and slapped my wet ass, I, as every other negro in america, reacted to this man-inflicted pain with a cry. A cry that america has never allowed to cease; a cry that gets louder and more intense with age….A cry? Or was it a scream? —H. Rap Brown (Jamil Abdullah Al-Amin), from Die Nigger Die!
it is the hour of conflict, antagonism, struggle the world turning autumn in warpaint everything silently prepares to scream —Amiri Baraka, from “Disorder”
1.  
White institutional power operates to negate or suppress. To that end, white institutional power bestows awards on singular figures when it’s convenient. Let’s call one such example Kendrick Lamar. Pulitzer Prizing DAMN. is white institutional power taking cover. This, in no way, defangs DAMN. But it does provide crowd control. Pink Siifu, meanwhile, won’t be awarded a Pulitzer for NEGRO. If he did, I’m confident he’d pull an Adrienne Rich, telling President Clinton to choke on his National Medal for the Arts, seeing as how the U.S. gov’t drives “the demonization of our young Black men.” Siifu would be PE boycotting the Grammys on the grounds of Black invisibility. Or John Lennon relinquishing his membership in the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire because, well, empire (see: Biafra).
2.
NEGRO is what happens when Three 6 Mafia goes full bandolier, full decolonization, full Thomas Sankara. When the emphasis is on the 666 sirening[1] across white cop foreheads, reflecting off Makrolon face shields. Siifu cites and channels Sun Ra, June Tyson, Death, and Bad Brains, but you also hear the mass hysteria of Abbey Lincoln’s vocal cords trembling, of Max Roach’s We Insist! in a street brawl showdown with the LRAD. Basically, it’s Ornette blowing sax in a riot, harmolodics like incendiary devices.
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3.
“FK” is the primal scream reaction of hearing the news another one of your people has been killed, snuffed out. Suffer through our screams, it says to the listener. And “out of body, out of mind” distorts what we see with what we witness. It’s the re-played, re-tweeted, re-shared visuals of Black death.
4.
At moments, NEGRO sounds like Aaron Dilloway organizing a chapter of the White Panther Party.
5.
Siifu’s lyrics are a Stokely speech draft. His artistry is prismatic, shattered pane glass: crust punk, jazz cat, marching band drummer, hood ballerina, noisemaker, bareknuckle emcee. His lyrics should be run off on the mimeo and saddle-stitched into a chapbook for Totem Press to publish.
6.
“SMD” samples from Ivan Dixon's 1973 film The Spook Who Sat by the Door (“Do you hear me, man?...I am BLACK!”). Just like dead prez sampled the dialogue before Siifu on “We Want Freedom.” Siifu and dead prez are bedfellows, for sure, but Siifu's head rests on a pillow of static. It’s the friction that electrifies.
7.
NEGRO is the art of de-arresting in audio form. As the comrades at Mask Magazine have stated, de-arrests “are beautiful,” reminding us “the law and the state are not supernatural forces.”[2]
8.
I’ve always felt uncomfortable using the word freedom. It’s a word that’s been co-opted and gutted to the point of parody. I subscribe only to a different form of freedom, one articulated in noise. Suicidal Tendencies’ “Freedumb” cuts it: “Peace through politics is a fallacy—that doesn’t exist.” Liberation more seriously expresses the extinction agenda. Poor Righteous Teachers taught the curriculum out of Trenton, on “Freedom of Death”: “Consciousness—it’s a must / Just avoid the wicked, wicked ways of this pale Caucasoid.”
Regardless, we see freedom, liberation, knife through even with Siifu’s orthography. Revolutionary thought requires revolutionary language. Ask the Combahee River Collective. Come correct. Fuck autocorrect. Remember womyn. Siifu spellings like: nxggas, eye, tyme, iono, and the evergreen ameriKKKa. The abbreviated words—eliding letters wherever possible—don’t reflect self-censorship so much as the mindmaze of a harried man. Deliberate typos demonstrate no faith in the system. It’s like if Bon Iver (see: “22 (OVER S∞∞N)”) decided to forgo BLM symbolic gestures (Mahalia Jackson) and straight-up encouraged looting. Siifu is CAPS LOCK happy, too. We’re witnessing the joy of militancy.
9.
To begin with, it must be said that former African slaves and their ancestors have been the avant-garde of everything in this country. There’s no culture in America, in this American wasteland, without us. There’s no classical music; there’s jazz, and that was invented by us. And besides that, America has nothing to offer the world and it never has. —Idris Robinson, from “How It Might Should Be Done”
Siifu in the audience of the Congress of Afrikan Peoples, and Baraka imploring him like, “Get up, Pink Siifu.” It’s nation time. But on “Nation Tyme.,” Siifu groans, I’m tired…can’t fall…asleep. Black rage, of course—but what of Black insomnia? The French revolutionaries abolished the calendar. CPT, so, is rightly weaponized. “I feel fettered by Western time,” Gregory Pardlo writes in “Colored People’s Time.” Punch clocks need punching, smashing. I saw Baraka roll up to a conference panel late as fuck once, cane-walking right down the center aisle, shameless, commandingly.
In a somnolent slur, Siifu says, “They treat me like I’m wasting away / I know I’m worth more than they pay.” What of these capitalist definitions of work? What of productivity? What does it mean to monetize every waking moment? He’s been quoted as saying, “I ain’t have to work for no white man.”[3] “Nation Tyme.” picks up there.
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10.  Feel like deadmeat. They say I’m deadmeat.
“DEADMEAT” is a pig siren stuffed into an industrial-grade slaughterhouse grinder. It sounds the way Alan Vega's sculptures look—hazardous masses of electronic junk, like wires raveled inside a homemade bomb, like buzzing viscera. 
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I want to see Siifu perform it at the Meat Locker, a cellar club in the underguts of Montclair, New Jersey (s/o the dramacydal Outlawz). The place is dingy and bedecked with feces—a venue befitting a GG Allin opener. GG Allin, a racist, who also hated cops. Who, on “Shove That Warrant Up Your Ass,” a track that appeared on the posthumous Brutality & Bloodshed For All album, sang, “You say I broke the laws in your state… / Your courts and cops should all be hung.” Allin hoists a headless, legless, armless torso on his hip in the cover photograph—a slab of meat. Like the Beatles with baby doll parts and prime cuts in their laps, bloodless butcher coats on the original Yesterday and Today (1966) artwork. Like the papal kill floor in Francis Bacon’s “Figure with Meat” (1954) with its tapestry of offal. But what you don’t get from Bacon, or the Beatles, or GG Allin is what Siifu needs us to hear. What Siifu tells us is the reality of corporeality is that cops continue to make carcasses of Black people.
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11.
That cellar club can be scream therapy, can be cell therapy. Siifu brings us there—to the darkest, dampest corner of the Dungeon Family’s dungeon. Big Gipp, speaking self-defensively: “Try to separate me from the blood / Is disrespect like you coming in my home and not wiping your feet on the rug.” It’s echoed in Siifu addressing the question of his audience: “This [album] is for black people, but I know white people are going to fuck with it. I’m mad cool with that. I just want everyone to know, before they come through the door, that this is a black house and you have to respect my people.”[4] The theme of respect as it relates to a sense of home, to cultural tourism, is paramount in both. Everyone’s got to know their place. No listener should approach ignorant of the auction block. Siifu’s noise refuses the separation of kinsfolk and his stubbornness makes the dungeon shake—he is rightfully “tough, dark, vulnerable, moody,” and, on NEGRO, he has a “definite tendency to sound truculent.”[5]
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12.  
“ON FIRE, PRAY!” eventually grinds the brakes to a cavernous slowjam pace. “Blood on my body / Blood on my face.”
13.
The racist dog policemen must withdraw immediately from our communities, cease their wanton murder and brutality and torture of black people, or face the wrath of the armed people. —caption on Huey Newton photograph
NEGRO’s album cover, painted by Junkyard, is a call-and-response. Pink Siifu is a portrait of exhaustion, slouched, shirtless like Huey was when he was released from the Alameda County courthouse in 1970. It’s a tableau like Huey in that rattan peacock chair was. Eldridge Cleaver orchestrated it, right down to the zebra rug.
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If you squint, the glimmer of Siifu’s gold fronts looks like his jaw is wired shut. Of course, violent threats are routinely directed at Black people—that's how the system operates. Media is often behind the scope. Relentless orders to “shut up,” to silence yourself, police yourself. We know this from David Wojnarowicz, photographed with his lips sewn shut, blood dripping like shadows, in “(Silence = Death)” from 1989. The violent threats on queer life are kin to those on Black life. But Siifu, like Wojnarowicz, refuses the censorship. After all, those aren't wires—they're the glint of his grill. Siifu is dribbling blood, too, and those black splatters across the flag are like pen bursts—ink poisoning for all. If you squint, the mind’s eye might see the Pan-African flag.
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The flag above his head recalls Jasper Johns’ flags: elliptical, non-patriotic, made slop-bucket sloppy from newspaper shreddings and other detritus, i.e. amerikkka is a trash heap. At least the stars are black in the “Flag (Moratorium)” rendition. Bullet hole dead center, too.
If all goes well, the riots going on—bless them—will go on interminably. Sly Stone’s customized flag with black in place of blue[6] and sharp solar-flared suns in place of Betsy Ross geometric stars is yet another parallel to Siifu’s flag. Like Sly, Siifu isn’t opposed to police ambushes. They both know you’ve got to grin at the gun of the devil. (“Don’t you mind people grinnin’ in your face,” Son House sings eternally.) Citizen takes on cop on “Thank You For Talkin’ To Me, Africa”: Bullets start chasin’, / I begin to stop. / We begin to tussle. / I was on the top. Just the same as Siifu on “SMD”: “Iono why eye ain’t shot ya.” Or on “run pig run.”: “Kill a cop / Left a pig dead.”
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14.
We can't disparage any aggressive protest on the reductive grounds it's aggro or violent. I think of Pam Echols in Milwaukee in 1968. Siifu’s assertion of you are my enemy on “steal from the ENEMY” corresponds with Paris’s sophomore and shadowy album, Sleeping with the Enemy. Like on the corrode-ode “Coffee, Donuts, and Death”:
You get poached when you fuck with black folk. Said it ’til my voice was hoarse. I ain’t down with excessive force, But of course I wasn’t heard so I’m silent now. Black folk can’t be non-violent now. […] The only motherfucking pig that I eat is police.
Which is to say, try no pork, ameriKKKa.
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15.  RE: punk
Think of Bad Brains playing CBGB’s in 1982. Lester Bangs writes of a woman in the scene who referred to Black people as “all these boons.” He tells us a Black friend of his believes the clubgoers “[strive] to be offensive however they can.” Anti-Blackness plagued CBGB’s and nascent punk like vermin, a pestilence. A white woman in the music business claims she “liked [Black people] so much better when they were just Negroes.” These anecdotes are culled from Bangs’ 1979 Village Voice piece entitled “The White Noise Supremacists.” He notes Ron Asheton’s predilection for “swastikas, Iron Crosses, and jackboots.” He cites Ivan Julian, guitarist for Richard Hell and the Voidoids—one of the few Black individuals to grace those inchoate punk stages—as saying “whenever he hears the word ‘n-----’…he wants to kill.” He calls Nico a “dumb kraut cunt” for her brazen, Third Reich-ish brand of racism, which was no industry secret. Bangs even implicates himself, quoting an earlier article: “…it’s the n-----s who control and direct everything just as it always has been and properly should be.” He meant this, somehow, as a compliment.
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16.
On “we need mo color. Abundance,” there’s no innocence left in asking “tell me your favorite color.” Siifu answers rhetorically, parenthetically, melanin. Don't settle for forty acres of color—demand abundance. Take, loot in abundance. And don't be contained by the gendered parameters of “pink or blue.” “You can have any color you like” suggests the limitless possibilities if you move your mind beyond the imposed parameters.
The “favorite color” invoked on “we need mo color. Abundance” becomes abundantly clear on the following track, “BLACK!”
17.
“ameriKKKa, try no pork” starts in a slurry of radio static, news reports of Black death. Black, Black, Black, Black. Sped up. Slowed down. Drag the progress bar. “Progress,” ha.
18.
“run pig run.” See the pig / Run away / Run, pig, run. Like a Dick and Jane basal reader. Like picking your favorite color. Like a Three Little Pigs fable. Like huffing and puffing. These are childhood exploits for childhoods that aren’t allowed to be. As long as the Kenneth and Mamie Clark doll experiments keep providing the proof, there can be no childhood innocence. So it's a carnival game in the meantime: See a pig / Shoot a pig. Huffing and puffing: Run, pig, run.
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19.
"myheartHURT" is the safehouse after the shooting. It's the cooldown, the chillout. The hypnagogic nightmare. It's vaporwave minus whiteness. We all know Biz had the vapors before Daniel Lopatin. As if DJ Screw was just an apparition, a codeine cloud. The fact remains, Screw's phantasmagoria hovers above all our heads.
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20.
The wail of distorted police sirens introduces “Chris Dorner.,” a track gleefully indebted to Ice-T and Body Count’s “Cop Killer.” Repetition was a popular device and it still is: die, pig, die. Chris Dorner has achieved folk-hero status in anarchist circles and beyond since he waged asymmetrical warfare on the LAPD. His manifesto has been published as a zine.[7] “No one grows up and wants to be a cop killer,” he wrote. Begs the question.
21.
“faceless wings,BLACK!” nods to Frank Castle[8], a figure who may or may not be recoverable from militias and thin blue liners, despite Gerry Conway’s best efforts.
22.
White institutional power operates to negate or suppress. Pink Siifu, through NEGRO, refuses suppression and negation. Siifu delivers a hole in the head, and it’s sublime.
Footnotes:
1  “The Law comes sirening across the town.” Gwendolyn Brooks, “THE THIRD SERMON OF THE WARPLAND” from RIOT
2  “De-Arrests are Beautiful.” Mask Magazine.
3  “The Necessity of Pink Siifu’s Rage.” Marcus J. Moore. The Fader.
4  “Pink Siifu’s ‘NEGRO’ is a Riotous Mix of Jazz, Rap and Punk.” Max Bell. Bandcamp Daily.
5  Baldwin, the god.
6  “What did I do to be so black and blue?” (see: Armstrong); light a reefer and listen to the phonograph (see: Ellison)
7  Research and Destroy New York City. https://researchdestroy.com/
8  https://archive.org/details/PunisherPigs
Images:
Emory Douglas work (detail), courtesy of Sean Stewart archives | Makrolon face shield, Google Image Search result | Amiri Baraka performing at the Congress of Afrikan Peoples (screenshot) | Alan Vega light sculpture (photograph) | GG Allin Brutality & Bloodshed for All album cover | The Beatles Yesterday & Today album cover | Francis Bacon, “Figure with Meat” (detail) | Goodie Mob “Cell Therapy” (screenshot) | Splitting up a family at auction, Public Domain | Huey Newton Black Panthers Minister of Defense, photographed by Blair Stapp, 1968 | Andreas Sterzing, David Wojnarowicz (Silence = Death), 1989 | Sly and the Family Stone There’s A Riot Goin’ On album cover | Jasper Johns, “Flag (Moratorium)” | Pam Echols punching cop, 1968 (photographer unknown) | Sid Vicious, nazi (photographer unknown) | Emory Douglas work (detail), courtesy of Sean Stewart archives | Biz Markie Goin’ Off album cover | Oneohtrix Point Never Memory Vague album cover 
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whitehotharlots · 5 years
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So we’re just gonna straight up embrace conservatism?
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A few months ago I came across the story of a group of young trans activists who wrecked up the opening of a feminist library in British Columbia. To avoid accusations of taking sides or whatever, here’s what the feminists had to say about it, and here’s what the trans activist kids had to say about it. (Direct link: https://www.facebook.com/notes/gag-gays-against-gentrification/response-to-vancouver-womens-library/379623995740078 )
Both sides agreed that the activists physically disrupted the opening of what was purported to be a feminist space, caused several hundred dollars worth of property damage, threatened physical violence against the library’s proprietors, and demanded that a dozen or so books be removed from the shelves.
I decided not to write about this. Firstly, because engaging with trans discourse in any way other than nodding politely guarantees you will be accused of Literal Murder, and I just don’t want to mess with that. More importantly, I felt I couldn’t say anything that wouldn’t amount to a simple, maybe even pedantic observation: namely, it’s kinda weird how we’ve begun to fear subjectively perceived, metaphorical “violence” so intensely that we’re willing to accept literal, physical violence as a response to it. It’s easy to make fun of people who say that using gendered pronouns is a direct cause of murder or whatever, but these people aren’t just obscure cranks anymore--they control the discourse; we’re living in the world they’ve built. 
Here’s a sample of what I tried to write:
Here, in the interest of objectivity, it’s traditional for a writer to point out the tremendous amount of danger faced by those trans people who committed violent acts against the cis feminists and have demanded that the cis feminists radically alter their own space. A writer should re-cite the oft-cited statistic that over twenty trans people were murdered in 2015--and that, no doubt, at least half of them were beaten to death with a copy of Andrea Dworkin’s Pornography. And I don’t mean to be facetious: should a trans activist suggest that these books were being wielded as literal, physical weapons, there might at least be a smidgen of logic behind their demands. But such a connection, however tenuous, is never proffered. We are left instead with a vague implication by association: the trans activists understandably don’t like trans people being murdered and they also don’t like books they assume question the essentialist foundation of their self-understanding, therefore a responsible author will make sure to establish a sense that the former is indeed caused by the latter. Or, if it’s not a case of actual causation--since obviously it’s not and no one would ever be so daft as to suggest that it is--at the very least we should respect the trans activists’ sensitivities toward literature they find upsetting, seeing as they’re acting out of a sense of extreme fear that they at least believe to be justified. Criticizing them at lashing out would be like getting mad a cornered raccoon for showing its teeth.
Just… can you believe this? Honestly? Here, very real violence and property damage is excused simply by putting in the context of the emotional state of those who committed it. Can you imagine any parallel situation taking place in contemporary America? A black man would have a much more solid case in going down to his local police station and wrecking up the place. Police violence against black people is an actual, direct, and literal thing--no flimsy metaphors are required to explain it. If such a thing were to happen, however, the black guy would be killed or imprisoned and his actions would be condemned in all but the most radical of spaces (try to find a mainstream publication that supported Chris Dorner. You can’t). Or more on point: let’s say a group of radical zionists entered a store the specializes in classical music, so at to disrupt a talk about Wagner. They post threats on social media. They wreck merchandise. They tear down posters, shove some elderly classical enthusiasts, cause several hundred dollars worth of damage, and leave a manifesto demanding that certain naughty works be banned. Again: they’d most likely be arrested. They would find no defense within the mainstream press. Their sense of victimhood would certainly not be used as justification for their actions, and no serious person would yield to their demands that certain works of music be banned from stores.
So… yeah. I was having trouble not sounding dismissive. But since then other shit has gone down, and it’s dawned on me that this tendency to prize the metaphorical over the literal isn’t new. It’s very old. It is, simply put, the general grounding of the American conservative worldview. It just happens to be coming from woke people now. 
For an example, take a look at a piece about trans activists vandalizing a rape crisis center with death threats. The vandalism was, of course, denounced on all sides. But check out the phrasing here: 
Trans people face employment and housing barriers, Jenkins said, and the graffiti could be a product of a trans person’s pent up frustration. Vancouver Rape Relief, she said, is a visible organization at which to point a finger.
“A lot of the actions of Vancouver Rape Relief through exclusion of trans women I think are symbolic of society’s disdain for trans people generally,” she said.
“So I can understand that for someone who is having a really hard time generally, this is a symbol of everything that is wrong with the world that is treating me terribly — which is no excuse, but I can see how someone could get to that point.”
Just… fucking seriously? Again, can you imagine this kind of even handedness being afforded to any other marginalized group? The only time you see violence regarded in such an apologetic or celebratory manner is when cops and soldiers do it. 
But, oh, it gets even weirder and stupider:
More graffiti adorns the sidewalks of Commercial Dr., further east from the Vancouver Rape Relief location. In support of trans people, the message “Trans women are women” appeared on sidewalks near Grandview Park earlier this summer.
Another message reads “Lesbians unite,” coupled with a double Venus symbol. Claire Ens, president of the Vancouver Dyke March and Festival Society, said the two Venus symbols are a coded threat to trans people.
“The two Venus symbols, that may seem innocent and to some even a call for lesbian rights and women-power, but in fact it is the opposite,” she said.
Two Venus symbols, side-by-side, is a larger symbol for “biological essentialism,” she said, a belief that peoples’ identities are determined by their genitals or chromosomes, which is inherently discriminatory to trans people who may have genitals that don’t match outdated ideas of what it means to be a man or a woman.
“The Venus symbols are meant as a warning sign to trans women, to state that trans women are not included nor welcomed, and is a perfect example of ... ‘dog whistling’ (because it is) innocent to those who aren’t in the know about it (but) harmful and hateful specifically to trans women,” she said.
Oh... oh dear. 
I’m reminded of the time when I was in 8th grade and my best friend did some weird art project where he put an arrow through a George Jetson doll he won at the carnival and painted the wound with a red marker. His mom found the doll. She spoke with her evangelical busybody cunt friends at work, who informed her that the “ritualistic sacrifice” of stuffed animals was a surefire sign that the boy had been brainwashed by Satanists. She then had him involuntarily committed. A state official determined him to to be depressed but not under any demonic influence, and so he was released under the condition that he start going to cut-rate therapy, where yet another evangelical busybody cunt informed him that the doll was, in fact, a sign that at least one satan lived within him (possibly several) and advised his mother to throw out all of his cds and videogames and keep him under constant watch. Oddly, this did not help with my friends’ depression. Made it a lot worse, in fact. Kicked off about a decade of severe substance abuse. But that’s neither here nor there--the point is, he did something objectively harmless that a bunch of hateful conservatives found offensive, and demonizing and bullying him was a small price to pay to get him to stop doing said harmless-but-offensive things. He might not have meant the plush art project to be a sign of aggression. A dispassionate observer would most likely not regard it as such. But the subjective, spiritual harm suffered by his mother engendered a violent reaction, and the cruelly conservative social structures of our community prized her perceived victimhood over any actual harms, and so they therefore encouraged her to damage the boy so as to make herself feel more safe. Nobody wins. Everyone was worse off. But the woman got some momentary catharsis, and that’s what was important.
Uhh… shit. I was gonna try to connect this to something else, but I think maybe I made my point. If you don’t agree with me yet, you’re never going to. But just remember, pedantic as this argument may be, there’s a reason censorship has historically resided in the conservative purview. There’s also a reason why it used to be considered virtuous, in liberal spaces, to not regard your own tastes and pet peeves as moral issues that warranted vicious remediation. Conservatives are conservatives, regardless of their color of their skin, the people they like to fuck, or whether or not they regard themselves to embody the gender they were asigned at birth. Cruelty is likewise always cruel. A cunt is a cunt. And there’s nothing to be gained by denying these basic truths.
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Venus & Leilani
Venus: Hey girl! 😘😘👋 Leilani: hiya Venus: Awh 🥺😔 how you holding up? Leilani: as expected maybe Leilani: thanks Venus: Of course, so sad! 😥😥😥 Venus: I'm totally here for you, btw Leilani: that's really nice of you Venus: Gurl, of course Venus: I'm a pretty nice person Venus: only to people who deserve it, obviously 💁 Leilani: I'm honoured 😅 Venus: You totally are 🤭 Leilani: 1st exclusive club I've been a part of, for sure Venus: That's honestly even more tragic Venus: oops 🙊 you know what I mean Leilani: 😅 Leilani: yikes Leilani: the tragedies are piling up Venus: What school did you go to before? Leilani: [the name of a school, obvs not a catholic one just standard, are we saying the ruster kids go to a fancy one cos rich and now so does she or are we keeping them #humble?] Venus: [I think you in particular need to go to a standard one to humble yourself, also you aren't smart enough to get in on your own merit so] Venus: I dated a guy who went there Leilani: oh maybe I know him Venus: He was super hot but like, so uncultured Venus: he'd never left Ireland like 🥱🥱 Leilani: I wonder if it's a coincidence that all the uncultured kids go there becos me either yet Venus: WHAT 😱😱😱 Venus: aren't you like, properly African Leilani: I've never been, I was born here Venus: oh my God that's WILD Venus: bless you Leilani: bless my parents for wanting me to have a different life, I suppose Venus: I'm in Paris as often as I can because of my daddy but we go somewhere sunny practically monthly, when the school isn't being extra 🙄 Venus: it's the only reason I stick around, honestly 😂 Leilani: he's french or he just lives there? Venus: He's American, he teaches at this AMAZING college there Venus: he's lived loads of UHMAZING places but Paris is his base now and definitely the best Leilani: what kind of accent does he have? Venus: he was from some middle of nowhere town like this, but in the US Venus: so he had to get out to live his best life Leilani: sounds like he is Venus: Totally 😘😘 Venus: he's the smartest person in his field, like EVERYONE has to go to him to know what to do Venus: hence I can't live with him because he's ALWAYS working 😩 Venus: I told him I was cool with it but he's SUPER protective of me so I have to stay here 🤷 Leilani: I know what that's like, my mum was the same Leilani: protective workaholic Venus: Poor you getting thrown into this mess Venus: ugh Leilani: Grace isn't that bad 😅 Leilani: more of a workaholic maybe but less OTT protective Venus: I guess not Venus: did you know she got stood up at the altar though Venus: would you not just lay down and DIE Leilani: me & my mum were there Leilani: so yeah Venus: 🙈 cringe Venus: we were all there honey, I can't Leilani: your bridesmaids dress was gorgeous though Venus: she can enjoy those photos 💁 Leilani: I think it'll be a long time before she's looking back at the album Leilani: longer than it's been atm Venus: DUH 😂 Venus: they'll be in the 🔥 if she's got any sense Leilani: she did re-sell her dress so maybe Venus: LOL I hope she advertised it as cursed or that woman gonna be 😤 Leilani: I'm sure she worked out why it was listed once she picked it up & saw that Grace's weight hadn't dramatically gone up or down Venus: getting dumped at the altar is next-level bad juju though it's not like she just got too excited Venus: I'd be so pissed Venus: have to sage that SO HARD Leilani: I'd be happy I got a bargain Venus: yeah, nothing says happiest day of your life like that Leilani: getting into debt for it would personally ruin the mood but you know Venus: Don't have a wedding you can't afford, obvs Leilani: yeah ideally Venus: like you can't live above your station that's just basic rules of life Venus: in all areas, tbh, not just funds Venus: like look what happened Leilani: you think he was out of her league? Venus: I can't even remember what he looked like tbh Venus: but clearly the baggage was too much regardless of how fine or not fine he was Leilani: clearly he has his own issues to do something like that Venus: Doubt it Venus: he could've bounced sooner but he still did the right thing 😂 Leilani: he should've said or done what he needed to do before it got to the altar Leilani: he had time, she was planning the wedding for like a year Leilani: maybe longer Venus: whatever, he clearly felt SO trapped by the psychoness Venus: we all know what was up Leilani: what was up was that he didn't have enough balls for the convo Venus: the defence squad is so real, chill out babes Venus: it happened, she took that L, end of story Leilani: It's unfair to blame her for him wanting out & doing it in the most cowardly way is all Leilani: she didn't deserve to be treated like that Venus: that's life, babe Venus: it's not fair Venus: if she couldn't see that coming that's on her Venus: what kind of unobservant head ass person you gotta be Venus: like I'd KNOW if my man was not feeling me 🥴🥴 Leilani: I didn't know him, I can't judge it Leilani: but I didn't foresee my dad walking out & neither did my mum Venus: big YIKES 😬 Leilani: & your dad didn't think your mum would end up keeping you Leilani: some things you can't see coming or don't want to Venus: You mean her breaking a contract? Venus: yeah, it should be illegal Venus: and you don't know what my dad knew or didn't know actually Venus: she literally took advantage of the fact he wasn't legally protected and desperately wanted me Venus: like, your point? 🤷 Leilani: my point is, dragging Grace is pretty rude Venus: She's had worse happen, as you've mentioned 🥺💔 Venus: I think she'll get over it Venus: that's if you even bothered to tell her which would be so petty, honestly Leilani: you don't know what he told her or didn't or how it affected her Leilani: maybe she won't get over it Venus: 🥱 Venus: your mom literally just died, like Venus: people have real problems, you should be the one preaching that Leilani: thanks for bringing it back up, it had slipped my mind Venus: do you like, not want to talk about her ??? Leilani: atm I don't want you to talk about Grace how you are Leilani: she's the person who's in my corner, looking after me Leilani: so yeah, I've got her back & I don't care if you think it's extra Venus: I'll talk about her however I want Venus: you're grieving and I'm trying to be nice and let you talk about it, but like, catch me letting you police me and my opinion Venus: not today, not ever, honey Leilani: say whatever you like once you've gotten away from me Leilani: I'm not trying to hear it & if I do I'm not letting it pass through unchecked Venus: As if I want to be having this conversation with you right now Venus: 😬 bigger yikes Venus: catch me trying to make you welcome at school, seriously Leilani: I can settle myself in without your help Venus: yeah, your personality is like, A++ Venus: 👏 good luck with the amount of invites you'll HAVE to turn down, damn, sis Leilani: maybe it's the grief, maybe I just don't like your personality Leilani: make up your own mind Venus: I truly do not have the time to worry about you or what you're doing Venus: you continue to think up all those what-ifs though, that's cool Venus: can be your thing Leilani: next time that it slips my mind that my mother is dead, I'm sure your opinion of me will be right there at the front Venus: okay, word of advice, milking the whole sympathy thing is not going to get you far in the long run Venus: it'll get old faster than he was running the opposite way down that altar Leilani: I don't need advice from someone who's never been here Venus: 🙄 sure babes Venus: that's some USP Leilani: it's really not Leilani: there's a really big group of us Venus: So like, get over it Venus: the levels you can't get away with being a rude ass hoe just because something bad happened to you Venus: toxicity off the charts Leilani: when I do it won't be to make you feel more comfortable Leilani: the levels it's not your place to tell me how to be when we've just met Venus: I'm not the one telling you what to say though, sis, soooooo 💁 Venus: clearly not the one who's uncomfortable am I Leilani: I said I'm not going to listen to you badmouth Grace, you can take it anywhere else & I can't stop you Venus: why are you so pressed 😂 Venus: is she checking your messages to make sure you're #grateful enough Venus: damn, ok, Angelina Jolie Leilani: I like her Leilani: that's enough reason to not want to hear it Venus: Awh Venus: big love Leilani: sure thing Leilani: I'm a big joke to you, okay then Venus: if you feel you've acted a fool, that's on you Venus: I'm unphased by this mess Leilani: no, you're trying to treat me like one, it's a very different thing Leilani: I'm not entertained or entertaining it Venus: Hoe, where??? Venus: Honestly, I'm SO curious 🤔 Venus: I offered you support and a space to talk about your mom and you've just been nothing but combative, honestly Leilani: telling me to get over it isn't supportive Venus: I'm not gonna not keep it 💯 Venus: and don't twist my words or the situation Venus: I said that was how other people would feel if you came at it all with this attitude Leilani: you have no idea where my attitude is coming from becos we don't know each other like that Venus: Why would I put my time and energy on you when you treat me like that? Venus: using your past as an excuse for bad behaviours now, no ma'am Venus: not in this house Leilani: you said I'm milking the sympathy thing when you're the one assuming everything I said here is a grief reaction Leilani: maybe I'm serving you attitude becos it's deserved Venus: so you're just like this Venus: weird flex then, babe 🤷 Venus: the luck I put out there is even more warranted Venus: cuss me out for giving you the benefit of the doubt about your foolishness, chile... Leilani: the disrespect towards your own family & entitlement you have towards being that way is what's getting you cussed out Venus: and I'm the one making assumptions Venus: 😂 Venus: Grace told you some tea and you think you're in the know now Venus: 👌👌👌 keep on that hype, waste your energy Leilani: it's all been expressed in your own words, barely sentences into this convo Leilani: your assumption was that I'd be eager to join in Venus: No, honey Venus: your assumption is that I consider them to be my family Venus: and your tone policing is literally not welcome anywhere near me Leilani: they consider you to be theirs, it should be enough of a reason not to treat them how you are Leilani: hell, human decency is that Venus: Like I said, hilarious you think you are educated on it Venus: let alone enough to lecture ME Venus: I literally got kidnapped by my father's surrogate and his partner, her brother was too cowardly to do anything about it? Venus: miss me with this nonsense, you're the one stressing on this family Venus: they love a stray, they'll accept you sis, it's all blessed Leilani: I know Grace loves you & she would never use any of your misfortunes as a way to amuse herself or anyone else, so that's what I'm speaking on Leilani: the rest is your business Venus: that's her choice? Venus: the levels I don't concern myself with what people say on me Venus: you sound mad paranoid, that's no way to live, girl Leilani: again, your advice on how I should live is unwelcome Venus: THE HYPOCRISY Venus: are you being satirical now, oh my GOD Venus: I am creased 😷😷😷😷💀 Venus: I will say whatever I want about any sad case in that family, and I can laugh at their tragic life choices, and there's 0 to be said or done about it by anyone, least of all you Venus: if they were living better lives, they'd be unphased, if they ain't, who's fault is that really, look inside not @ me Leilani: don't bring it to my door & think it won't get closed in your face, that's what has been said already Venus: 💔💔 dying to be BFFs, obviously Venus: as has been said, my kindness has been thrown in my face, that's your karma Venus: I'm good Leilani: if you think that's kindness you have your own coming Venus: SIS, focus 👏 on 👏 your 👏 own Venus: your life is super sad Venus: it won't get any better wishing ill on me Venus: 🙏 on your own karma and demons, I don't have everything but I am GRATEFUL for what I do have Venus: I'm still out here trying to help you, even though you've literally cussed me out and put lies on my name ??? Venus: point fingers at your own evils Leilani: thanks for pointing out all the necessary work I need to do Leilani: but you have your own Venus: 😂😂😂 and you get to tell me because? Venus: I've evidenced all the work I DO do Venus: you're still sat here being petty Venus: couldn't be me, God bless though Leilani: I'm grateful for what I have too & part of that is gratitude I'm not you or needing to be around you if this is how it is Venus: 😬 that's so dark-sided I feel really terrible for you Venus: you can be grateful for your good without pointing out other people's bad Venus: lowkey that's kinda the point Venus: go do some charity work ASAP, work out those thoughts and all the negative they attract in your life Leilani: I'm already the charity case as you see it but okay Venus: oof Venus: the self-pity Venus: you really think you're so, so down-trodden you can't do ANYTHING to help your fellow man? Leilani: you think I am, I can't voice what I think unless I speak directly over you atm Venus: I don't allow words to be put into my mouth Venus: not by you, not by the devil Venus: offering friendship does not imply anything about you, but a lot about my character Venus: it's actually very sad you can't see that and have to take it so negatively Venus: no wonder your life is where it is Leilani: the only thing I took negatively is what you said about Grace, how quickly you withdrew your offer of friendship becos I disagreed with you about her is what says things about you Venus: Okay, so my offer is withdrawn because SEVERAL times in this short conversation, you've attempted to tell me what I THINK, what I SAY and what I DO Venus: and no, I can't have that kind of negativity around me, my protection of myself is more important than making myself a conduit for whatever ill you're trying to spread by tone policing so violently Venus: charity has to have limits or it can get twisted by people who seek to abuse it Venus: I have to go on my instincts with this one, I am not one to ignore red flags Leilani: I'm not a charity case & you're not better than me, there's my limit Leilani: I don't want your pity dressed up as friendship & I definitely don't have room for your smugness & condescension Venus: You have to ask yourself, where this inferiority complex really comes from Venus: I've not said or implied I'm better than you, so why do you feel that so strongly you have to attack my personality to convince yourself of the fact I'm actually, much, much worse than you Venus: I'm really sad for you 😥 I wish there was something I could do but that's inner work 🙏 Leilani: you literally called me a stray, so maybe that's where I got it Leilani: not to mention how ready you are to bring up every perceived flaw in my character but also call them evils as if that's a word to be casually thrown around Venus: It's truly not about you Venus: self-obsession is a sign that you're not putting in the work Venus: a happy person does not think about themselves constantly, or think EVERYONE else is too 🙄 Venus: your behaviour towards me has been flawed and it DOES signal troubling thought patterns Venus: I'm well within my right to comment on them Venus: if you think I'm wrong, you'll have no issue continuing as you are Leilani: I'm not a happy person & I am having troubling thought patterns but that's not about you Leilani: you came into this convo knowing that & what it was about Venus: I really don't think it's cool to blame your problems on your mom's passing Leilani: I'm not feeling very cool about anything atm sorry Venus: I hope you get there 🙏🙏😘 Leilani: thanks Venus: I'll see you at school then 💓 Leilani: yeah
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rwdestuffs · 4 years
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Done dirty: Clover
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Pyrrha 2: Electric Boogaloo.
Let’s see:
Character revolves around another character almost entirely.
Character blindly followed a headmaster without question.
Character gets in a conflict with character that they revolve around.
Keeps other characters from helping them in fight against Salem agent.
Dies in battle against aforementioned agent of Salem.
Breaks hearts of shippers everywhere.
Did I miss anything?
Look: Maybe it’s because I have a massive dislike of Qrow or something, but I can’t feel bad for him. I can feel bad about Clover being killed off just as he was getting actual character development, however.
Now, maybe it’s because I’d rather ship Clover with a character that doesn’t have self-loathing issues like Taiyang or Oobleck, but I couldn’t feel bad about the Clover x Qrow ship being sunk.
*Waits for (rightfully) angry shippers to calm down*
Again: This is due to my dislike of Qrow. After all the things he’s gotten away with like telling Jaune, Ren, and Nora about Raven after knowing them for a few months when he kept that same information from Yang for years; to attacking Atlas drones unprovoked, to hitting Oscar, Qrow is simply not likable to me, and didn’t deserve the happiness that Clover brought.
Plus, the ship felt kinda hollow too. They basically cancel each others’ semblances out?- Not exactly the best basis for a relationship.
In fact, I personally think that if Qrow had died instead, it would have been enough of a shock to Clover that maybe just maybe blindly following Ironwood’s orders without question would lead to his destruction?- Maybe be part of a redemption arc where he realizes that Ironwood is now acting like a dictator and should really be reigned in a bit?
Look: I can’t like Qrow. He’s made horrible impressions on me in his first introduction, and the most we get out of it is that he chooses not to drink anymore and now all of a sudden, we’re just supposed to forget all the questionable stuff he’s pulled?
After all the volumes where his alcoholism was treated as a joke, the writers decided to take it seriously for once and then we’re supposed to forgive him for everything?
Qrow is never going to get happiness. And Clover deserved it.
Interestingly,  I said similar things about how if Jaune had died instead of Pyrrha, that would have been a really great start for her own character arc. Same could have been said about Clover.
Like, an arc where he tries to earn the trust of team RWBYJNOR because while I can’t like Qrow, it’s clear that the characters did. And they could have him pick up his sword as a means to try and carry on his memory or something.
IDK, again: I don’t like Qrow, so him being offed to give another character development wouldn’t get a whole lot of complaints from me.
Also also: Why in the flying fuck did he prioritize Qrow over Tyrian? The serial killer should always be a higher priority than the emo that your power-mad boss decided to put a warrant out on!
That was a forced method of offing the character, and to be honest, Clover was a goddamned idiot for doing that.
How many times did he keep Qrow from fighting Tyrian again?- Like… Three? Five maybe?
All because he wanted to keep licking Ironwood’s boots.
-
Regardless of what I have to say, I do want to say this: Clover x Qrow shippers have every right to be upset about this, even though I personally didn’t see it, nor did I want to.
Again: might have something to do with my dislike of Qrow, but I personally wasn’t a fan of Clover x Qrow.
Now, Clover x Oobleck, that’s a ship worth talking about. Clover’s calm attitude contrasting with Oobleck’s hyperactive personality! The stories write themselves!
(This is mostly a joke. Though, I do personally think that this would be a better ship, I can understand why people ship Clover x Qrow).
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teamoliv-archive · 4 years
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I don’t have much for unpopular opinions, but I’ll try this instead: what’s your take on the whole situation regarding RWBY and their recent decisions in the latest season? (Frcstbxte)
send me controversial or unpopular opinions and I’ll tell you if I agree or disagree 🐸 ☕️
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Hoo boy. People are going to unfollow me for this one guaranteed due to how may super strong opinions people have about this. This one’s getting a cut to avoid drama.
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I do want to stress that I don’t want to devalue or invalidate anyone’s complaints regarding the show. Enjoyment is a highly personal thing and if you’re frustrated, upset, disappointed, or otherwise had negative feelings don’t let this convince you that you’re not allowed to feel the way you do about the volume.. My gripes are more on the mechanical and storytelling aspects of things and with the arguments used to criticize the volume. I only hope I can make my case on why the commonly complained about parts of the show don’t warrant the vitriol in my opinion. I likely won’t convince too many people, but I’d like to make my case here anyway.
I honestly believe a lot of the complaints about the latest season from a writing standpoint are short-sighted, lack scope, and/or just miss the point of what we’re looking at. From an overall storytelling perspective this was definitely the most well put together season the show has had so far and a lot of the complaints only address individual concerns that some fans had regarding things not happening the way they wanted to without a regard for the overall plot. This is why I think a lot of the complaints don’t measure up and where my actual gripes with the part lie.
1. Theme
You cannot consider yourself to have analyzed a work without first looking at its overall theme. RWBY’s structure doubles up on this as not only does the show as a whole have its overarching themes and plot, but each individual volume has their own to deal with as well. Here the theme is trust, as directly stated in the opening lyrics and it’s a common source of problems and solutions throughout the the show. 
From an overarching standpoint, we have Salem doing her darnedest to break apart any alliances that could be formed against her. I do not believe this is because she fears humanity in terms of tactical numbers. This simply isn’t that kind of show. The writers have said in interviews that they take most of their story and theme cues from the magical girl genre. You know, the same “love and friendship conquers all” magical girl genre that all those shows not named Madoka Magicka use as the basis for their protagonists. The silver eye power seems fueled by that exact sentiment and I think that’s going to be a huge factor close to the end. This is not a setting where pragmatism and strategic thinking will carry the day- keep that in mind.
2. RWBY vs. Ironwood
This is the part everyone’s been talking about and I think a lot of the hard-line side-taking in either direction is missing the point entirely. This conflict was always going to happen and both sides have fault to bear.
The two sides can be seen as having their own character arcs on a macro scale. Individual character motivations weren’t nearly as important as they were in previous volumes and it helps to see them mostly through the lens of Ruby and Ironwood. The basic core of the problem throughout the series is this, Team RWBY has decided to go along with Ironwood’s plan for lack of one themselves, but don’t trust him with the whole truth until they know how he’ll react to it. This is a man with an army and a paranoid streak after all. This, of course, is a decision that winds up instrumental in triggering Ironwood’s paranoid shitstorm later in the volume.
That said, I don’t believe the problem is Ruby’s decision making- It’s the narrative. The whole reason this comes across as weird and contrived is that we are never told the reason Ruby and co. don’t trust Ironwood with the information from the lamp. By all accounts up until this point there was no visible reason for them to do so and we’re simply never told WHY. Answering this simple question would have made the entire rest of the narrative make a lot more sense were she just given a believable reason to hold the info back, let alone any reason at all.
Now let’s bounce back to Ironwood. I’m going to just go out and say I grew tired of the “Ironwood did no wrong.” discourse pretty quickly because, again, people are missing the point. For this one, we have to look back into the theme- trust. When Ironwood has his breakdown, he not only turns his back on Ruby and her team for lying to him, but he goes right into his martial law plan also betraying the trust of the council, Robyn, and the people of Mantle who are now going to be sacrificed for the sake of salvaging his original plan. Despite Ruby and co’s actions making the situation worse, we aren’t meant to see Ironwood’s new solution as a better alternative purely on the moral cost of what he’s doing. This is what is called in screenwriting the “Moral Line” defined as a vision of right and wrong as told through the protagonists. We’re meant to sympathize with Ruby owning up to lying to Ironwood and trying to move forward despite the setbacks, not cheer for Ironwood calling them out and forcing out a more pragmatic path.
To me, I think this stems from a common sentiment shared in a lot of popular media and deconstruction of tropes that idealism is a naive and childish flaw and that proper strategic logic is what solves problems. Again, I predict that due to the genre inspirations of this story, this won’t be the case at all. Ironwood is going to fail because he turned his back on moral idealism, trust, and friendship in favor of planning and decisive action no matter the cost, not despite it. Harriet summarized the entire philosophy well during her fight with Ruby:
“It’s not excessive if it’s necessary!”
This line feels, to me, like a reflection of everything that Team RWBY is now fighting against and we should be able to understand as an audience from a moral standpoint why this is the way it is.
As a small aside, let’s cap this off with the RWBY vs. ACE-Ops fight. A lot of people called foul because the ACE-Ops lost and I just don’t understand why. The moment the fight started, I knew what the outcome was going to be purely because the story as it was set up simply couldn’t progress otherwise. Much like Mercury and Emerald in volume 5, RWBY matching and defeating the ACE-Ops shows the progression of the main characters. Them choosing to fight also shows RWBY the final stakes moving forward and symbolically shows them that the might of the entire Atlas army is now their enemy moving forward. 
With this in mind, I want to go back to Ironwood’s martial law plan and defend some aspects of his character that should be. Up until the point of Ironwood’s breakdown it was seriously and soberly treated as a last resort option with a clear understanding by Ironwood, Winter, and the ACE-Ops that they knew exactly what was it was going to imply. This does not make them evil and it’s important to understand that. However the Tin Man needs a heart and this brings us to Ironwood’s fatal flaw. The real bad decision was that the martial law plan was enacted despite already having the unity of the people of Mantle behind them. He lost far more than the stands to gain with his decision, thinking only from a tactical and strategic standpoint regardless of what he has to sacrifice to get there. Those sacrifices have already all but left him facing Salem alone. If he survives next volume, I’ll be surprised.
3. Qrow and Clover
For a few moments, I do want to discuss Clover and Qrow’s dynamic because it’s very important to Qrow’s story throughout the part. Regardless of how you choose to interpret their exchanges, the important takeaway here is that for the first time in possibly decades Qrow had a friend he can talk to as an equal and not have Ozpin’s plans or a generational gap in the way. 
Ever since we were introduced to Qrow, he’s shown himself to be a dysfunctional loner who is only just recently trying to seriously pick himself back up off his feet. I believe the fact that he was finally shown that he can actually have friends is a huge factor in this. His life has always been dominated by his feelings and doomsaying. He spends every interaction waiting for the other shoe to drop and uses his own semblance as an excuse to perpetuate that worldview.
And this is why I think Qrow’s fight with Clover makes total sense to have happened. He’s one of Oz’s main team and also has a fatal flaw.
The cowardly lion needed courage and he died for his cowardice.
The tin man needs a heart and lost all his allies in the pursuit of his goals.
The scarecrow needs a brain and his emotional decision-making cost him his friend’s life.
This is a genuine tragedy, literary-speaking in fact. Qrow’s awful situation was one of his own making and he knows it, but I can’t imagine him doing anything else. One thing that I’ve seen throughout the show about Qrow is that he’s never given up trying to stop Salem- he’s an idealist like Ruby and in my opinion has been subverting the mentor archetype beautifully. However, every time he’s made a major decision in the series, he’s done it on an emotional or practical level. No real thinking ever goes into what he does. When Clover calmly announces to Qrow what was just ordered and Robyn summarily attacks him, his first instinct is to try and stop the fight.
I’m going to break here to discuss Robyn’s actions at this moment- another common complaint. Would we really expect someone like her to have done anything different with the news that the city she’s worked so hard to work with all those years was just cast aside? This would have been seen to anyone in her position as nothing less than a double-cross given how just a few hours ago everything for the evacuation was moving apace. From a characters standpoint, I don’t get why anyone would fault Robyn for being furious at this aside from “It’s not the smart thing to do right now.” No, it’s not, but I’m also very tired of seeing people complain about characters making non-optimal decisions. Not everyone things with perfect logic, strategy, or sense at every given moment. This is a perfectly human response to finding out your loved ones were just given a death sentence. She lashed out at Clover over lack of Ironwood face to punch.
With this in mind, Qrow’s decision to fight Clover is a bit more personal. He’s treating it more or less the same way that he treated Raven joining with Cinder a few parts ago. Qrow is clearly very much against the idea of leaving what’s left of Mantle to die and now has a lot of aggression to take out seeing how calmly and without complaint Clover takes the order. The only friend Qrow’s had in a long time chose his duty over him and he doesn’t know how to take that- so they fight. It’s safe to assume that Qrow is likely in a highly emotional state and, as we’ve established before, not thinking about what he’s doing. Robyn is passed out in the wreckage, Tyrian is left unattended, and they’re miles away from any real contact from anyone. Bluntly, he screwed up, he screwed up big time, but his character leads me to believe he wouldn’t really have done anything else.
Then we see Qrow in engage in a little something we in the literary community call “seriously fucking up.” In the heat of the moment, he decides to trust Tyrian at his word and it ends about as well as to be expected. Qrow made a mistake, one of the biggest mistakes in the entire series and one that looks plainly obvious and avoidable to the audience, but only when you consider it through the lens of someone who’s making calm and rational decisions. Yes, Qrow fucked up, I’m not defending his decision making; I’m defending the scene and why that faulty decision making was the only thing that could really happen. 
4. Winter and Penny
The biggest complaint regarding these two is Penny leaving Winter behind at the end of the part. Frankly, for this one I’ve got nothing so I’m not going to pretend I have an answer to the complaints. Much like Ruby early on, the show just outright refuses to give us the reason she left. Winter getting the maiden powers might have been part of the plan, but I don’t think Ironwood would be so inflexible as to not settle for Penny getting it instead. The only thing I can imagine that could be going through her head is that she still wants to try and save Mantle and live up to her title, trusting Winter can handle herself. However, again like with Ruby, I don’t believe that the character is to blame here, but the narrative just refusing to give us an explanation and leaving us to sit there in frustrated confusion. We might get it next part, but I don’t like that...
5. Can I Talk About Watts Now?
With that out of the way, I do have one really bizarre complaint regarding the part that no one else seems to talk talk about.
I am very disappointed with Watts. This is mostly just be griping about lost potential so bear with a small rant.
There was a lot of setup regarding Watts as a threat and when he got the codes. We’re told that given time he could control literally all of Atlas (because apparently two-factor authentication and dead man’s switches don’t exist but that’s a logical gripe for another day). My question is why this wasn’t capitalized on. I wanted a repeat of the mechanical soldiers turning on the Vale citizens. We could have had automated vehicles wreaking havoc, fights between people and robots, and all sorts of fun stuff. You can argue that Watts was distracted by Ironwood’s trap and didn’t have the time to really cut loose and I’ll accept that, but I just wish we could have seen more. Any Watts RPers out there who want some ideas, you’re free to steal this one.
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theonceoverthinker · 5 years
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JTV 5X14 - The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly
So people REALLY liked this format last week, so I’m gonna keep it up!
The Good
85% of Jane/Raf. I know, right? After how bad they’ve been this season, I NEVER expected to put them on a good list, but seriously, this has been their best episode in a LONG time. I feel like the disagreements they had in this episode (Whether or not Jane should donate her eggs and whether or not they wanted more kids) were not only well structured by the story (Us seeing how busy Raf is was good foreshadowing for them not wanting more kids), but showed how well the two know each other (Raf correctly pointing out a legitimate issue with Jane donating eggs).
Jane and Lina’s subplot. Having Lina back was a great treat for the final season. I like that Jane has one or two people outside of her extended family to talk to when things get too crazy and can actually have a separate conflict with. Lina’s character here is so fleshed out. We see how while there are still things she has to lean (And really, who doesn’t), her approach to life has grown so much more mature, making her a nuanced and talented woman. And the exploration the subplot gives about Jane’s difficulties letting go was interesting. We see Jane’s hangups as well as just how much she loves Lina.
Xo and Ro’s subplot. Given what an extra character Ro is, the idea of a storyline where he needs to learn to de-stress is a good thing. The...thing he had with his heart was a good way of establishing that he had gone too far and I like that while he made the choice to no longer stream 24 hours a day, the issue isn’t completely gone. If it did, it wouldn’t be true to Ro’s character. And good on Xo for all of her prep for nursing school! Xo just has the best character development! I feel like by the end of the series, she’s gonna be as OP as OP can get in this series and I am 100% for this! ...I want Xo to be the one who defeats Rose now XD
Raf and Petra’s subplot. I like how Raf and Petra have this plot about them coming back together as a hotel-running team and Raf having to learn his place in their new dynamic. That was a good lesson for a character like Raf to learn and Petra’s speech about why she’s the one in charge was nothing short of badass.
Alba becoming the officiant. That was just really nice! I don’t have a lot to say, but that decision just felt right.
The Bad
WHY ARE THEY HURTING MY PETRA? 
(Paraphrasing here) “After everything R*f gave up and went through.” Jane, honey, you gave up a lot too! You went through a lot too! Your husband came back from the freakin’ dead and you were put in a terrible position, and R*f was not particularly nice about it! Not saying he didn’t go through stuff, but I don’t think it warranted the snap at the minister. It didn’t feel earned.
I seemed like there was gonna be a subplot about how the family was too busy to plan a wedding, but it went nowhere. Is it going to go somewhere? Who knows? I think it should -- everyone’s got exciting things going on in their lives -- but I’m not sure if they’re gonna make that a long term thing.
The Ugly
Raf being pressured by Jane and the Narrator into having more kids. Raf has pissed me off a lot this season, but this was not one of those times. His reasons for not wanting more kids makes complete sense to me (He has three already and wants to focus on his career and dreams) and for the narrative to basically punt him like a football and say ‘you’re gonna change your mind, deal with it’ was dirty. Like, The Big Bang Theory did that TWICE and it pissed me off and I thought JTV, the show that has shown a character who got an abortion, would do better. Besides, both of their lives are busy enough as is with their jobs and kids and families. 
The continued disrespect of Michael Cordero - WHY do the weddings need to be compared? Just why? There is no reason. I get that they’re going to be compared regardless, but that’s a job for the fandom, not for the show itself in-universe, The whole ‘the sequel is always worse’ theme went nowhere (A fact that I’m honestly grateful for for fear of more disrespect being thrown Michael’s way) beyond a few jokes. But they made it seem like they were going somewhere with it and then stopped. I really hope we don’t get any more comparisons given such gravitas. The occasional line here and there just casually bringing it up is okay, but I think anything more would be too much.
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rowanartist · 4 years
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Fan fiction quotes 2019:
"with great foods, came great emotional baggage"[X]extra funny since I just saw Into the Spiderverse
"Just get together every couple of weeks, without Stark, and you guys can pass Steve around like a bong."[ch2]whaat? And chapter three is a dirty parody - worth a read for the humor of it
"he just hopes Tony has the sense God gave concussed baby sheep "[X]interesting phrase
"“Science,” Jane says, drawing his face to hers, “Does not require pants "[X]fun series of short fics
"Never something so hot; not like a flame is hot, but the strength of something bathed in summer sun. "[X]interesting view on attraction
"(He'd been sketching when he thought that through; now there's a page that has a little cartoon of himself, ducking, with the caption "the spoons are attacking!" although he'd ended up finishing his latte before he actually drew any flying spoons.) "[X]Steve upon learning about spoon theory
"Can you think of anything that symbolizes the eighties better than David Bowie’s crotch in tights? "[X]giggle out loud! "You drink once if someone whines, if Sarah says something isn’t fair, or if we get a shot of Bowie’s crotch. "[Same]comment
"“Like you’re going to vibrate out of your skin?” Natasha finished for him, understanding. Sometimes, after what they’d been through, it was hard just to be in your body. Easier to dissociate, to let whatever was going to happen happen while the part of you that was you floated far away. Natasha had been there before, and she knew James went there sometimes. "[X]ponder?
"They’re each wrapped up in their own blanket burrito, lying side by side in the dark, sharing one pillow. "[X]dual blanket burritos
"For most of his life he learned the safest option was to repress his emotional responses as much as possible, and over time he forgot how to access them when he actually needed to. "[X]relatable to a small degree
"Nothing too special but I’m pretty much Michael Bay’s wet dream "[X]to describe bakugo lol
"Most people," Midoriya continued gently, "don't need to be told they have a crush by the person that they have the crush on."[X]my boyfriend can relate to Midoriya here...
"about how if Midoriya could go this long talking without breathing in any new air, he'd probably be really good at kissing. "[same]lol
"God, fuck off. You look so freshly screwed that it hurts me. "[X]Bakugo ;p
"After all, shodō is one of Shouto’s hobbies. For Midoriya’s birthday last year, he made a beautiful poster of UA’s motto that is now displayed prominently above Midoriya’s bed. "[X]draw? If i can? "Please don’t use your All Might voice when we’re making plans to have sex. "[Same]lol
"He’d known for a while that his boyfriend internalizes, that he still struggles with a lot of insecurities and periodic depression from his years around his dad "[X]comment
"Shouto you’re worth more than anything. And you deserve happiness. I don’t care what micro-dick has said to you in the past or any shit he spews out of the mouth that’s somehow more obnoxious than Present Mic "[same]dam it Endeavor :/ "You’re a dork,” Izuku mutters in a break for breath. “Your dork,” Shouto says quietly "[Same]awww
"But if you ever forget your phone again I will use you as an advertisement balloon for a day, and that’s a promise."[X]lol
"First of all, I challenge you to find a dress that can fit that shoulders to waist ratio.” Shouto replied, matter-of-factly, pointing at Izuku’s entire body. “Secondly, you absolutely lack the manners to be a princess, you brute.” "[X]part of a series
"Another young woman that couldn’t be older than Shouto and Izuku looked up at the call. She had a round face and long, brown hair with little orange streaks every now and then collected in a braid. The red rimmed glasses she wore made her yellow eyes look bigger, behind the lenses. She lit up, when she saw them. "[X]need to try to draw
"You’d die of embarrassment— Either that, or Aizawa-sensei would kill you. And I kind of like you alive, thank you very much.” "[same]LOL
" is standing there in grey sweats and a loose Totoro hoodie he got him on one of their first dates "[X]draw
"It definitely didn’t help that Izuku stretched lazily, something akin to a cat just waking up from a nap, one of his legs stretching against the wall as the opposite arm reached towards Shouto with fingers spread wide-open. "[X]DRAW!
"What? They’re really short, all my boxers showed and it was weird. "[X]...
"Just because he isn’t as obvious about it, doesn’t mean Shouto isn’t beyond anxious too. "[X]comment
"He doesn’t treat Shouto like he is fragile, but he treats him like he is precious, and that is an important distinction"...."Something precious, however, doesn’t necessarily break easy, but it warrants the utmost care. It’s meant to be cherished. "[X]relationship advice
"One of the national dishes has no meat in it, but it’s the hottest thing I’ve ever tasted. I thought we were all going to die and T’Challa was going to succeed in eliminating us. Then I heard him yelling at the chef, saying none of us were used to Wakandan peppers.” "[X]https://archiveofourown.org/works/8688724/chapters/19918951#workskin
"All Tony was supposed to do was fix the alternator. Instead he built me a Jeep that tells me I have to initiate a proper launch sequence before I’m able to turn it on and drive.” "[Same]comment
"I’m sorry,” Midoriya retracts his hand, and Todoroki misses it instantly. “It’s not something I can fix, and that makes me sad. You don’t deserve to hear the things he tells you.” "[X]reread comment. Relatable to a degree personally
"But he has to admit the Docs greener side is awfully useful in a brawl; and his less menacing side has a wicked sense of humor, not to mention awfully good with a med kit. "[X]i like Bruce having a sense of humor
"That's what friends are for anyway, having your back when times are tough, and amusement for when times are peaceful. "[X]amusing
"Bucky didn't think he was being rude, but if Captain America said so, it must be true. "[Same]comment
"Steve’s always been a fan of cuddles, even if he doesn’t like to admit it, admit how much he needs that physical contact. "[X]I'm a fan of this concept
"Which in Steve-speak means that you’re feeling guilty as all hell over things you can’t control – again, mind you – and you can’t rest because you can’t shut your brain up.” "[Same]relate "There’s power in this act, Darcy thinks as she sucks and licks up and down his length. To be able to take someone apart with just her mouth and a few touches of her hands. Reduce them to tears or send them flying upwards into the heavens. And the knowledge that she wants to do this for him – for them – makes the feeling all the more potent. She doesn’t have to do this, but it’s her choice, and she wants to give this to them. "[Same]ponder more
"She may not come from it, but the closeness and the intimacy is far more important than any orgasm. "[X]remember
"He knows better, knows that Bakugou’s punches of greeting and movie nights at Yaoyorozu’s house with Mina, Hagakure, and Tsu, and that baking with Izuku are all love. That’s love, not the villain sat behind the desk. "[X]dark fic, author warns in notes. But this line is sweet
"Natasha Romanoff is a world-class spy, yes. But she’s also a potato chip thief who makes dumb jokes and uses emoticons (she had been very adamant that Steve learn the difference between emoticons and emojis), and Steve adores her for it. "[ch5]she's human
"Bucky flopped onto it rolling around like a dog on the soft surface, Natasha quietly responding by taking out her phone and videoing his nonsense. "[ch2]Mr. Kate style rug cuddle but solo
"“First of all, just because someone is good looking does not mean I should have sex with them. There are attractive serial killers Nat, do you want me to get murdered? Second of all, I don’t know him. Third of all, he’s not looking at me like I’m chicken wings, also Clint, seriously? Chicken wings?” "[same]lol, but I'm with you Bucky
"Even in just plain sweatpants, the American icon without a shirt was an image that would have anyone seeing stars and stripes, regardless of sexual orientation. "[X]:)
"Agent Bishop was hit with a biological weapon today that has a ninety-two per cent chance of ending in fatality within three days unless proper care is administered to disperse the chemical compound through natural methods. Meaning, in the case of humans, sexual release. As in, orgasming."[X]a legalese description of "sex pollen" ...
"Do the horizontal contra dance, yes," Darcy answered. "Well kind of, I mean there's only three of us and a contra dance is four to a group, but tango is just for two and I had to think of something fast. Come on, Stevie, this isn't the first time we've hooked up. "[X]lol
"He wanted something just for him again, even though he felt like a selfish asshole for even thinking it. So he would do whatever he could to chase after that feeling. Even if it was stupid. Even if it was silly. "[ch2]advice, remember "Tony must never read these, Steve thought. Bucky’s arm would never be safe. "[ch3]Steve Discovers FanFiction "Steve stayed focused on the screen, sticking out his tongue a little while he concentrated. It was unfairly adorable. "[ch4]Jarvis knows how to motivate Steve: a Bucky themed typing game "Good things would happen. Funny, clever jokes would be told. Sexy adventures were always available, no matter what was happening in the real world. "[X]relatable "There was even a page of ‘Bucky Approved Sex Words and Phrases’. The name alone never failed to make Steve smile "[ch7]lol "He wasn’t really writing this stuff for the money anyways; mostly he just wanted to see that other people liked and enjoyed what he was doing. "[Same]relatable: my redbubble rowan-artist
"Darcy’s eyes widened. “Oh god, I just imagined you naked, dusted in gold, on a satin-sheeted bed. My mind is a dangerous place.” “Hey, there’s always Halloween.” "[ch6]you being Steve
"Jane was rapidly nearing the angry-bear stage of sleep deprivation (there were seven levels on the Dr. Jane Foster Sleep Deprivation chart; angry bear was number five, between 'genius-level insane productivity' and 'sugar high five-year old'), "[X]also Dean Fury ... "Then you come to me, we'll kill a bottle of Jameson and make Thor carry our drunk asses home while we sing Les Mis horribly off-key," "[same]amusing
"This is why you should always read end-user agreements on friendships. "[X]not the fic but the start notes, lol. Also, Maria's entry is adorable, and Pepper potts!! "(“So what you’re telling me is you spent a week building a glorified roomba,” Rhodey says the first time he sees it, and Tony lets out an undignified huff and makes JUNK-E destroy and clean a grand piano.) "[Same]hahha
"And it’s better to be an asset, which at least sounds like something you value, than a glorified action figure. "[ch3]comment "Steve’s friendship is stronger than even Steve’s shield, and protects them both just as much "[Same ch9]awww
"Bucky actually is, but she knows well enough not to ask. Instead, she has started braiding flowers into Natasha's hair while the other girl of the group is busy making a flower crown for Thor. This is what it must be like to have real friends, Bucky thinks, lounging in his camping chair, trying to eat with one hand while Steve is holding his arm, drawing on the inside of his forearm with a black pen. "[ch2]flower crowns "I heard a lot of things I kind of projected on myself. It's probably stupid, but… it's always crazy to hear things that apply to oneself somehow." "It's the magic of music. Sam once told me about the Mr. Brightside effect–" "[ch4]yes "Bruce is on his own so much that he probably doesn't even notice that he has friends "[ch5]relatable, high school me
"The most beautiful thing however was the wall right next to the bed-- while all the other walls were the same off-white color, this one sported stripes of different colors down. Blue, red, green, purple, black, another shade of lighter blue. In the middle of these stripes, the Avenger signs were painted by a meticulous hand; Cap’s shield, Tony’s arc reactor, Mew Mew, and so on-- Darcy didn’t notice she was crying into Mara started wailing in solidarity "[ch1]draw?
"He knows it, like Steve and Bucky know that Tony needs praises and affection, not commands. "[ch8]...
"She thanked Sif (a habit she had started lately, thanking the Asgardian warrior instead of some non-present God, because really, if there was a god she wanted to follow, it would totally be Sif) "[X]nice Darcy "Even if she wasn’t an Avenger per say, she got to be on the team, both super and nonsuper alike. "[ch2]awww
"Elizabeth is going to make coffee happen, and in Darcy’s eyes that makes her a goddess. "[X]comment "By the end, Steve had been right in the thick of it, using a frypan as a shield and hurling pasta like nobody’s business. "[same]comment "Agent Hill’s bad ass levels are through the roof, but put her in front of a powerpoint and the result is coma-inducing. "[Ch3]lol "JARVIS, my man, I need some fat beats up in here. Help a sister out?” "[ch3]comment
"She knew now that it was almost certainly to do with her personal level of comfort and how hard both Steve and Barnes had worked to make her feel good. "[middle chapter]comment
"A video clip of the Asgardian scientist Tadeas and Neil Degrasse Tyson singing a scientific ballad of their own composition was one of the most viewed Youtube videos of all time "[X]lol "He grabbed [a muffin] and shoved it into his mouth, belatedly peeling the paper off. "[Same]haha! :D "Darcy put a box of Sour Patch Kids on top, “Those are for Heimdall.” "[X]comment "“No. Damnit, Darcy. You’re stubborn. Of course you’re stubborn! Jesus Christ, I can’t even imagine what it must like to be in the same room as the two of you.” "[X]best friend sass "But Clint is a human with a bow on a team of superheroes. "[X]Darcy's favorite avenger and why Ch4 music note "Apparently Thor is back on Earth. He showed up in New York right after we left and basically deafened all of Brooklyn with his displeased shouting about his missing Shield Sister. So now everyone knows I’m gone and my disappearance is trending on Twitter as #MissingAsgardianPrincess. How is this my life?! I can’t even with this shit.” "[X]mild spoiler? HAHAHA "Try having a conversation with one of them [asgardians]-- 4 to 1 odds it turns into some sort of ballad recitation. "[X]...
"The next day, Izuku Midoriya delivered his eleven page elaborate essay on how ordering sex toys inspired him to be more honest with himself and his boyfriend about what he wanted in life and in bed. "[X]lol
"“Fire for stop, ice for slow, and smash for go.” "[X]comment
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doctordaddysir · 5 years
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https://doctordaddysir.tumblr.com/post/177532084498/new-years-eve-rendezvous
I received a response to this story today that really disturbed me a bit. I was going to reply just in the story but it didn't give me enough words to truly express everything. Here's the reply I got:
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I'm going to reply here and I'd love my followers to give their thoughts. Maybe we can educate this person on the many many differences and how comparing "you people" to such horrible things is just not valid or needed.
@terraindigena
I respect your opinion but I'm not sure what you mean by "you people". In my experience when someone uses that phrasing they clearly don't have an understanding of what or who they're about insult with nonsense because "you people" generally means you're using a broad stereotype that fits a small few.
The term Daddy in the D/S world has ZERO to do with any of the vile and abhorrent things you've mentioned. The perverted and twisted people that use that term for the things you speak of would use it regardless of it being used in the D/S sense.
As far as why I don't use other terms I'll run through your list the best I can. Master , to me , is way over used in recent years. Every New wannabe Guy with Dom tendencies wants to be called Master right away, while those of is that have been doing this forever understand that Master denotes a level of responsibility and devotion of a slave that takes amazing dedication, trust and complete control. I haven't been a Master over someone in many years because I don't want to have a slave that I have 100% control over every aspect of her life. That's a lot of trust and if you don't treat it as such you can seriously mess with and injure a sub emotionally and physically.
Chief, I'm really not sure where to start with that one. I just laugh when I hear it. Not saying it can't be used but "Hey Chief" sounds like I'm being welcomed by a guy in a bar to sit and have a drink and watch hockey.
Now Lover, Real Man, etc I'll just cover by saying those aren't titles, those are just something you are. I'm a lover, I'm a real man, but to ask a sub to call me Real Man, again, laughable to me.
The term Daddy fits me for many reasons and none of them have to do with the horrible things you say and they're actually insulting to me as a human that you'd even mention them on my blog. Im only responding because I think it's warranted. I'm a Daddy because I'm nurturing, caring, fun, and like having a sub that gets that I am strict, I am a sadist, but I also take care of them in many many good ways and if you ask any of them that I've had or even many of my followers that I talk to and chat with regularly, they'll agree that Daddy just fits me. It's who I am.
I'm sorry for whatever may have happened to you in the past that causes you to feel the way you do. Past trauma effects the way we all look at certain things. I look at Master in a negative light because a close friend was truly traumatized by someone she called Master and trusted him to be the ultimate Dom for her completely and he abused that trust and she got hurt physically and emotionally very severely. Our own posts create biases. I truly hope you understand what I'm trying to show you here and I'm hoping my followers will chime in also without attacking you for saying very hurtful words to a general group of people that have nothing to do with what you speak of.
My inbox is always open. Feel free to message me if you would like. I hope this message doesn't come off as attacking, my goal is to help you learn more so you know the difference.
Also if you read the story it's one of the sweetest stories I've written and it happens to be a true story.
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Glitch in the System - Conflict of Interests (pt. 1)
This will probably be a 4-5 part story arc. Maybe more. Who knows!
Enjoy part 1.
By E. A new adventure happens.
They sat together on the couch, Widow sipping a glass of wine as she absorbed yet another dry French novel, while Sombra went through her nightly motions. Ever the digital huntress, she checked her traps, her snares, and the usual trails, making the rounds as she did every night to see if anyone had tripped a wire. Normally it was an uneventful ritual, but tonight?
Well, it looked as though something very curious indeed had taken the bait.
“Widow, get Gabe,” Sombra said, the sharpness of her own words surprising her as she sat up ramrod straight, numbers flashing across the screen before her. It was so subtle she would have missed it but for the nets she’d put up.
“Gabe?” Widow asked as she pulled her gaze up from her book, brows furrowed. “Can you not call him yourself?”
Sombra glared hard at the screen. Dropping a token on the IP snaking through her web, she watched as it circled the globe in rapid purple flashes.
“Sombra?” Widow asked again, her book now closed in her lap, her expression indicating the ghost of concern.
“Sorry,” Sombra replied, shaking her head, keeping one eye on the screen. “Do you remember, a year ago, when we had a run-in with that group of cyborg separatists?”
“The Mechali,” Widow nodded slowly. “What about them?”
“Well, they just resurfaced,” Sombra replied, eyes darting around the screen. “And it looks big.”
Widowmaker raised an eyebrow, following it with the glass of wine to her lips. “What did you find?”
“Chatter, mostly, but the sort of chatter that precludes something serious. Won’t know the details until I hit their remote servers in person.”
“Where?” Widow asked, looking curiously over her glass of wine.
“Greece?” Sombra replied, shrugging, looking back at her screen. “Probably. The IP I’m tracking is pinging through a lot of locations, but there looks to be a spot in Athens that seems stronger than the rest. Decoys feel different than the real deal, you know?”
“No.”
Sombra rolled her eyes. “That was hypothetical,” she replied. “Anyway, we haven’t heard even a whisper from these guys since their failed attack on Numbani two years ago. Frankly I’d thought they had dissolved. Now they’re shouting and I want to know why.” Her screen flashed and her fingers slid to the bottom of the screen, pinching together to zoom in on an image. “Gabe has to let me check this out.”
Widowmaker watched her expression carefully for the span of several heartbeats before she set down her glass and reached for Sombra, taking her gently by the chin to tear her eyes from the screen. “I am going with you,” she insisted, eyes narrowed.
Sombra laughed, her intensity softening slightly. “Well yeah. I wouldn’t want you to be bored without me. Besides,” she shrugged, swiping Widow’s hand from her chin and giving it a kiss, “I’ll need someone to convince me not to join their weird mecha-human cult. I’m the embodiment of their ideals; I’ll bet they’d love to have me join their ranks.”
Widow let out a soft huff of distaste, part laugh, part disapproval. “And then your ego might finally attain sentience. I will get Gabe,” she said, long limbs unfolding until she was standing. She hesitated, then leaned forward to place a soft kiss on Sombra’s forehead. Turning from her, she left Sombra tapping away at her console.
“The Mechali,” Akande said, fingers steepled together in a typical show of removed emotion. “I had thought them history. Inconsequential history at that.”
“Yeah, well, history has a way of repeating itself,” Sombra shrugged. She was sprawled as usual over the tall meeting room chair, legs up, arms dangling in idle boredom. She ignored both Akande’s and Moira’s glare that she take her feet off the table, ignoring the impulse to kick off her shoes, considering that more than enough concession to their wishes.
“Refresh my memory,” Gabriel asked, rubbing his temples and growling as wisps of black smoke drifted from his head. “What, precisely, is their aim?”
Sombra shrugged and covered a yawn. “Oh, you know - bunch of heavily cybridized people who no longer feel fully human but aren’t ‘welcome’ within the omnic community coming together to establish their own separate group. The leader’s a real spitfire - Sasha Kuznetsov, been looking to break apart from the ‘oppression’ of humans and the ‘overreach’ of Omnics to create a real cyborg utopia for herself and her followers. She’s got an impressive history of failed terrorism and assassination attempts, from starting a fire at the Numbani consulate to a laughable attempt at converting Blackwatch’s own cyborg to her cause. Barring her general inability to follow through with her threats, you two would probably get along really well, Akande,” Sombra explained.
“I am not so certain of that,” Akande replied, lips pursed in thought. “A third party simply muddies the waters and leaves room for empathy. But as far as I can tell, they are not large enough to be anything more than a nuisance at this point.” His eyes shifted to Sombra. “Correct?”
“Numbers have swelled since we last clashed with them. They’re big enough to claim corporate tax exemption as a private group.”
Akande frowned. “Have they?”
Sombra shook her head. “No, but they have certainly grown, and they definitely have the drive. Frankly, if they’re employing encryption methods strong enough to tip me off, they’re up to something.” Idly rubbing a thumb along her cybernetics, she caught Akande’s eyes with utter seriousness. “Something big.”
Gabriel and Akande exchanged a glance. Moira crossed her arms, and Sombra thought she looked as though she felt left out.
“We don’t need chaos we can’t control. Not right now,” Gabe said, his voice maintaining its professional gravelly snarl. “I think an investigation of their intentions is warranted.”
“Now we’re on the same page,” Sombra replied, winking. “Let me at that sweet cyborg propaganda.”
“You say you need to go to Greece to properly access their data?” Akande finished, ignoring her glib commentary.
“If we want to know what precisely those intentions are, then yeah.” She smirked. “Also the gyros in Italy are terrible, and I have a need.”
Akande looked between Moira and Gabriel, receiving curt nods of assent from each. “Go. Take Lacroix for backup,” he said. Sombra smirked at Moira’s failed attempt at not looking annoyed at their joint assignment.
“Are we going to lose you to their cause?” Gabriel asked as they all left the room, his tone mostly joking, but Sombra thought she detected a hint of worry in it as well.
She laughed. “Well I guess that depends on how well you pay me.”
“I do not know how you do it,” Widow commented as they entered a busy little taverna in a populated section of Athens. The path there was crowded with twilight tourists sneaking a last peek at the acropolis looming above them on its hill, killing time before the nightlife kicked into gear.
“Do what?” Sombra asked, holding up two fingers as the server nodded and asked how many were in her party.
“Remember everything,” Widow replied, falling into step behind her. Sombra had disembarked their small commercial flight as Selena Santiago, hailed a taxi under the guise of Camila Santos, and checked into their small hotel just outside of Syntagma Square as Rafaela Rodriguez. Sombra hopped from name to name like they were bars in foreign towns, drunk off anonymity and the freedom it afforded her.
“Change your name enough and you don’t have to remember them, cielito,” Sombra grinned as they sat down on the patio outside overlooking the street. Like most European cities she had visited, it was bustling, and traffic was especially thick during the end of the day as businesses closed and people raced to get home to their families and loved ones. It was exciting and vibrant and she watched the cars pass with interest until their server arrived.
“Wine?” he offered the women, proffering a dented copper pitcher at the two.
“Nai, parakelo,” she said with a smile, and he took their orders, leaving the copper pitcher on the table for their pleasure. Sombra grinned - she’d always appreciated the way tavernas treated wine like water, allowing patrons to fill their glasses until they’d had enough. She wasn’t sure whether it was something done traditionally or as a way to hook tourists, but since she was rarely in Greece for very long, she figured she benefited either way.
“I didn’t realize you spoke Greek,” Widow commented after pouring herself a glass, leaning back and taking a sip of her wine. She grimaced, nose wrinkled in disgust. “What is this?” she asked.
“Well it’s not top shelf.” Sombra laughed. “And I don’t speak Greek, I speak select phrases that come in handy when shopping, or eating. You know,” she continued, shrugging, “tourist book stuff.”
“I see,” Widow nodded, eyeing her glass as though it offended her. Regardless, she took another sip, this one seeming to upset her slightly less than the first. “That does seem somewhat anticlimactic for you.”
“Hey, until I can work out an instant cerebral internal translator, I’m going to have to play the language game just like anyone else.” Sombra grinned, offering an exaggerated shrug, sitting up straighter as their waiter returned.
“Epharisto,” she nodded as he set down a plate of dolmades and olives at the center of the table as well as a lamb and tzatziki gyro before each of them. It smelled delicious, but unfamiliar, and nothing like the hearty spice from back home.
“Working?” he asked, nodding at her display.
“Always,” she smiled in response, more innocent than a college student researching a paper for school. Widow watched him coldly, and he made no move to address her before scurrying off to assist his other patrons.
“I can’t decide whether you make it harder or easier for me to do what I do,” Sombra smirked, picking up her gyro and taking a bite. It was perfect.
“How do you mean?” WIdow asked, gingerly picking up her own dolmade.
“You either scare away the mark or make me seem even more pleasant in comparison.” Widow rolled her eyes and Sombra grinned. She chewed slowly as the data file her scraping program had picked up was decrypted. It was a strong encryption, but she’d cracked harder. She watched it run, periodically jumping in for a manual override, taking sips of wine and bites of food in between.
“Am I that frightening?” Widow asked after a bit, seeming less offended and more curious.
“Babe, you’re terrifying,” Sombra laughed. As she did, a sharp ping and flash of light drew her attention. “Got ‘em.”
“You have a location?”
“You bet I do.” Hovering her hand over her screen, she pinched her fingers together and peeled off a bit of hard light, absorbing it into her skin in flecks of purple data. “And you’re never going to believe where we have to go.”
Widowmaker sighed, draining her wine glass, the smallest hint of distaste still flashing across her face, almost as an obligation at this point. “I assume I am going to hate this?” she asked.
“Sorry,” she grinned sheepishly. “Probably.”
“And where are your uncomfortable cyborgs holding out, then?”
Sombra’s grin widened. “Mycenae. Inside the cistern.”
Widow stared at her incredulously. “The cistern under the ruins?”
“Yup.”
Taking a steadying breath, Widowmaker poured herself another drink.
They arrived after dark, the ruins locked down with rope and makeshift gates that didn’t look to have changed much since the beginning of the century.
“Guess not a lot of folks are dying to get in here and cause trouble after dark,” Sombra commented, shrugging as she stepped over the pitiful barricade.
“A far cry from the Acropolis,” Widow murmured, visor in place as she scanned the area for people.
“Yeah I’ve never been yelled at for picking up rocks. Especially while watching a dog pee on the Parthenon steps at the same time.” She shook her head, illuminating the ground before them in a dim purple glow. “Preservation is weird. See anything?”
“No,” Widow replied, pressing the button at the base of her visor to disengage. Her golden eyes flashed in the light from Sombra’s cybernetics.
“Into the pit we go then,” Sombra said cheerfully as she waved Widow over to a small hole in the rock face, big enough for one person to descend at a time. She loved ancient ruins and the stories they told, but the lack of technological grid in place always made her feel a bit blind.
Which was why she was startled nearly to stumbling when she placed her hand against the wall and felt a thin, thready vibration coming from the damp rock, indicating the presence of some sort of network. With extreme caution, she connected to it, and found herself at the precipice not only of a stone staircase leading into the abyss, but a vault of data lingering just beneath her touch.
She shared this with Widow, and despite the darkness of the stairs as they slowly descended, could almost see the concerned wrinkling of her smooth brow.
“A connection,” she said, voice low but echoing regardless in the utter silence of the rock surrounding them, “in 3,500 year old ruins?”
“Hey, I’m baffled too. Best we can do is follow it I figure.” The places her fingers traced against the wall left faint glowing points of purple in their wake, like the remnants of touch witnessed through a heat sensor. It felt less like raw data and more like a guide leading to what Sombra hoped were the Mechali servers. It was the only thing that made any sense, really. If she hadn’t known they were tracking cyborgs, she’d have thought her hardware was malfunctioning.
They continued downward in silence.
The cistern itself was precisely what it said on the tin: a large body of water stretching into the darkness before them. Skirting the pool of subterranean water, she followed the lines of data to a false wall at the far end. Someone had blasted away part of the rock beneath, covering it with the hologram that was indistinguishable from the rock to anyone not approaching it with subterfuge in mind. The hard light was also modeled to feel like rock. The curators probably didn’t even know it was there.
“This is some high tech shit,” Sombra explained, awestruck as her fingers danced over the false stone. It was even damp to the touch like the rest of the cavern.
“Can you get through?” Widow asked, standing pointedly away from the walls, eyeing them with disgust.
Sombra snorted. “I said high tech, not impressive. This is kids’ stuff.” Pressing a palm against the wall, she summoned a small keypad into thin air. Her fingers danced and arcs of electricity shot from her hand into the device. There was no sound; no fanfare at all, really, as the hologram vanished from sight. It was instantaneous - one moment it was there, the next it was gone.
Sombra and Widowmaker peered into the hole in the wall of the cistern to see an unexpected anachronism: a long, sleek, metal wall, riveted together and leading down into the ground, the ceiling and ground carved from the same stone as the rest of the ancient city.
“Let’s go,” Sombra shrugged, stepping through into the hallway. Widowmaker hesitated and followed a moment later.
The metal walls glowed with internal white LEDs, making their passage comparatively easy to their descent into the cistern. As they passed over the threshold, Sombra looked back to see the hologram slip back into place behind them.
“Well done,” she said under her breath.
Widow’s frown was visible now. She activated her visor again, scanning the passage as they approached what was looking more and more like another doorway, this one made not of hard light, but of steel.
“Sombra,” she said, and her voice stopped Sombra in her tracks.
“What?” she asked.
“This place,” she said, pointing ahead of them, “is filled with people.”
Sombra stood where she was for a moment, considering the new intel. “Ah,” she replied, pursing her lips. “That makes sense. I wouldn’t leave my servers unguarded either.”
“This is more than guards, Sombra. This is,” she trailed off, peering at the door again before disengaging her visor. “This is a facility.”
Sombra stroked her chin a moment in thought. “Yeah, I’d thought that might be the case, honestly. Or at least a possibility.” Turning, she bridged the final gap to the door, reaching out to perform the same technical magic on the physical keypad as she had earlier on the hard light one.
“What are you doing?” Widow asked, standing rigidly beside her.
“What am I doing?” Sombra asked, tilting her head at Widow. “I’m going in to say hi.”
*Read from the beginning or check out our intro post! All stories tagged under #glitchfic. Table of contents located here.
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