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frostycatblr-fandom-files · 8 months

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Hey there, if you are up for it could I make a request for angst/comfort/fluff with Batcher’s x fem!reader or (wrecker x fem!reader).

The situation: she’s been with the team for a while and is used to their teasing and can dish it out, but unknowingly, they tease her about something from her child hood that she would get teased about (something silly, not too serious). She hasn’t told them about it bc she still gets bothered by it and they notice her withdraw and one finds her upset. She knows she shouldn’t be mad at them and of course feels bad that they feel bad. They talk it out and she clears the air, things go back to normal, etc (maybe a kiss from Wrecker).

🫣I hope this makes sense. Feel free to interpret how you feel fit. (If not, just scratch it)

Thanks for being an amazing writer! 🎉

Warnings and Information: No real age rating. 2nd person POV; undescribed fem!Reader with the use of she/her pronouns. Wrecker has a crush on Reader. Light, playful teasing all around from our Batchers and Reader. Mentions of a generic, embarrassing situation that happened in the reader's childhood (part of your clothing getting stained/dirty and not remembering how it happened). Minor language. Sprinkling of Mando'a. I wasn't quite sure where this was going for a while honestly, but I think I got it all smoothed out! Thanks for making a request! <3

Word-count: 5,046

Hyperspace was a strange and mystifying concept. You could spend hours, days, even whole weeks traveling at breakneck speeds among the eternal, ethereal canvas of space. Time felt different in hyperspace. Too short, too long, and everything in between. Were it not for a day/night system within the attack shuttle, you'd lose sense of time, and much like the primary navigator of Clone Force 99, your sleep schedule would be kriffed.

You could stare out the viewport of the Havoc Marauder at the swirling, shimmering and shifting blues for hours at a time. If only you had a moment of peace, though. You can hear someone calling your name, the voice growing closer as they search for you.

It's a small ship, he'll find you eventually. You keep your eyes fixed on the hypnotic scene just outside the viewport.

"Hey, daydreamer. Thought I'd find you here. Chow time." Hunter steps into the cockpit, the hinged box of foodstuffs tucked in the crook of his right arm. With his left hand, Hunter scrounges up your share of the rations and passes them over to you. "Here. Best-tasting bits in the box."

You roll your eyes playfully. "Oh I'm sure." Everything about ration bars and sticks are incredibly bland. They're not meant to be flavorful. They're just supposed to keep up with the minimal nutritional needs of the lifeforms they were formulated for. Your options were "chewy" and "crumbly" if you were lucky. "Thanks, Hunter." You bite down into one, and as expected, it's just barely palatable, but chewy today.

His head bobs politely. "You're welcome. We make planet-fall to meet up with Commander Cody in 12 standard hours." Hunter closes the box and tucks it away in an overhead compartment within the cockpit. You must have been the last of the squad to get your last meal of the day before the Marauder automatically cycles itself into nocturnal lighting.

Twelve hours… just two more meals at least before you'd reach your destination. Just twelve more hours of hyperspace to lose yourself in before you had a job to do. You weren't going to let Commander Cody regret his decision to allow a non-Clone researcher into the ranks of the GAR.

Hunter catches the way your shoulders droop just half an inch at the news. "Hey. Something on your mind?"

"Hm?" You perk up at the shift in tone of his voice, wondering what tipped him off. "Nothing's the matter, Hunter. I'm fine. Only thinking."

"About…?"

You shake your head softly, smiling gently at the Clone Sergeant who had spent considerable effort to make sure you felt like part of this team. "I promise, I'm fine. Just mentally preparing myself for what Commander Cody asked of us." You could be honest with Hunter. When he learned that the seventh researcher considered for his squad could tolerate a bit of rude humor and teasing, he had admittedly thought about testing his commander's claims alongside his brothers, save for Echo.

"She spent some time with the 501st. If she can handle them, she can handle you. She spent six months with them before Commander Cody considered reassigning her. They're not an easy group." Echo cautioned Hunter after reading the introductory files.

"Neither are we. Sounds like she's in for a challenge." Crosshair scoffed, waving away the files he had no interest in reading. Hunter would have been completely on board with the idea of seeing how soon they could send researcher number seven running, were it not for the way Wrecker took Tech's datapad and frowned in deep concentration as he read. He kept scrolling back to the top of the file every few minutes to glance at the portrait attached.

Researchers one through six had been men.

Men who'd had their pride hurt when Tech corrected them, men who'd promptly disembarked the attack shuttle the next time they reported to Commander Cody because they couldn't stand the unprofessionalism, and men who realized too late that they were not cut out for traveling the galaxy like they once thought and had been more of a liability than an asset to CF99.

"She's pretty." Wrecker murmured to himself, scrolling back up to the portrait for the fifth time. "And she's… uh, what's that word mean, Tech? … Oh wow. That's a lotta certifications. So she's real smart? When's she supposed to join us?"

"Twelve standard hours." Tech replied nonchalantly, taking the datapad back before Wrecker would change his mind and steal another look at the professional headshot embedded in the file. "Which means we would have ample time to come up with an excuse to-" Hunter shook his head sharply, silencing Tech. "Let me see the file."

He thumbed his way down the file and made his selection. Crosshair tucked his arms around his chest, toothpick swaying in the air like a conductor's wand as he spoke, hearing the cheery tone that denoted Hunter had selected ACCEPT rather than dismissing the application. "You're approving her to join our squad? Just like that?"

"Just like that."

Twelve standard hours later, Hunter knew he was not going to regret this spur of the moment decision to include this woman on his squad. Crosshair made a blunt remark about needing to move things to shelves you could better reach, and you wasted no time in retorting that there was no need.

"I'll just be sure not to wear my shoes when I use you as a footstool or a ladder, string bean."

The toothpick fell from his lip, expression incredulous. "Stri-?"

"HAHAHAH! I like her already!" Wrecker declared before pushing through his brothers to be the first to introduce himself, "Hi! I'm Wrecker!"

Things only got easier from there. They liked that you weren't afraid of a little teasing. You could definitely dish it, too! When Commander Cody asked to see the squad three months later when there wasn't so much as an inkling as to whether you were still with them or not, he had been surprised that his brothers were prepared to go and beg to keep this seventh researcher.

Tech appreciated that you didn't take great offense to his gentle, or not-so-gentle, corrections. A new conversational partner with an inquisitive mind was sorely needed, too.

"It's 'clusters of three, leave it be' when it comes to select plants found on planets like Naboo, yes. But not where we're going."

"Is it? … Oh, yes, you're right. Interesting. 'Leaves of three, safe for me. Leaves of four, internal war.' That's… ominous. I'll be sure to study up on this; thank you Tech."

Crosshair didn't tolerate anyone other than you (or his brothers) comparing him to a kriffing vegetable. Matter of fact, he took it badly if you didn't playfully mock him every couple of rotations.

"What's got you so sour this morning? Didn't chew enough logs for your beaver den last night?" you had teased, alluding to his habit of gnawing on a toothpick whenever he had the chance.

"... caf pot is just taking its sweet kriffing time."

Echo had enjoyed that there was someone who could share in the stories about the shenanigans of the 501st in the wee hours of twilight. Someone to reminisce with. Someone to tell him what he'd missed.

"Captain Rex had to separate a couple of batchmates, I think, because they wouldn't stop making faces at each other when they thought he couldn't see!" you giggled, drying the tears from your eyes and clutching the aching ribs from laughing so much during one of your happier recountings.

"Are you sure they weren't Shinies?" Echo asked. You shrugged honestly, admitting you couldn't tell, and did your best to describe the patterns painted in blue on their armor. Echo only sighed and laughed. "Of course it'd be them."

Hunter found greater relief for his episodic headaches since bringing you on board their team. You weren't brought there to be their medic, but you had a knack for knowing just what sort of headache plagued him before he could puzzle it out with everyone making so much noise around him.

"Here. Give this a try, see if that does anything to relieve your migraine, sarge."

"How could you tell it was a-?"

"Shhh. I'll explain later. Go lay down in your bunk. I'll ask the others to be quiet."

And Wrecker…

… oh you had him wrapped around your little finger so tightly. He just loved you. The rest of the squad often found the two of you sharing snacks, or found you curled up in his bunk (with Lula snug in your arms) if Wrecker discovered you passed out in one of the crash seats, and entertained him with stories about your childhood. It would've broken his brother's heart if Hunter had been asked to transfer out their seventh researcher. It took less than a full week for Wrecker to realize that he didn't just find you pretty; but he was starting to develop a crush on you the longer you'd been with them.

You weren't stupid to the crush, either. You definitely noticed. But in the interest of professionalism, you and Wrecker both were very careful to keep things platonic and friendly. No one was quite sure if romantic partnerships could be pursued between the Clone soldiers of the GAR and nat-born personnel with the relative newness of this program.

For now.

You were supposed to meet up with Commander Cody every three months. It's been six months (and a handful of days in hyperspace) since you had joined the ranks of the Bad Batch, hoping to get approved to remain with them longer by the Marshal Commander. And it'd take just less than twelve standard hours to find out just how much or how little the two of you cared about keeping it professional.

You could hear Echo groaning in the bunkroom from the confines of the cockpit. "What's with Echo?" you asked Hunter, wondering what was troubling the cybernetically enhanced soldier this… well, you guessed you could call it evening. "He okay?"

"Dunno." Hunter shrugged, letting you exit the cockpit first so the two of you could go see what was wrong.

Echo is sitting in Tech's rack, the two of them trying to scrub a mysterious stain out of the material of Echo's modified sleepwear. Nothing they have tried seems to be working. "It's getting worse." Echo insists, the edge of his voice suggesting he's getting very frustrated.

"We will find something to remove the stain, Echo," Tech insists, trying to be reassuring and supportive, "don't worry."

"We've been trying to get it out for the last ten minutes, it's not working!" You ask to give the sleep-shirt a look, offering to help so no one loses their temper with one another despite best efforts. "I'm no stranger to stains as a researcher. I get my clothes dirty all the time." you say, trying to lighten the mood. It looks like the stain is oil-based when you lift it up to your face to make a closer visual inspection. "Oh, this shouldn't be too hard to remove. Just need a little hot water and some cleaner. I've got something that should do the trick."

You nab the container of laundry detergent powder that you have tucked among your things that's never failed you in removing even the toughest of stains, and there's some nervous snickers over the size of the box. "Are you really gonna need that much to get a little stain out?" Wrecker asks curiously, eyes flitting from container to the stain on the shirt that's roughly the size of a fingerprint.

You laugh gently, taking the top with you to the sink in the tiny on-board 'fresher. "Oh, no-no! I just like to be prepared and have a lot of this on hand."

You're not quite sure who makes the first remark (or what it is exactly) over the gush of the faucet, but someone makes a jab that sounds like it's about the size of the detergent box and your comment regarding preparedness. You're honestly not sure. You're more focused on removing the grease from the sleepwear to completely pay attention. When you're finished, you carefully wring out the water from the material of the sleepwear and give it to Echo. "Here, give that a look. See if I got it out."

He exhales softly with relief, thanking you. "Like it was never there. Thank you. This was one of my last sets of clean sleepers before we see Commander Cody."

"Hey, like I said," you remind him with a smile, "plenty of experience with stained clothing as I've gotten older."

Rationally, you understand that the remark one of them makes is made innocently, but it strikes a sore nerve all the same. "Hah. Betting there's some clothing that you ruined as a kid that you'd know how to get out now and save yourself some embarrassment or something, huh?"

You swallow uncomfortably. There is at least one occasion you can think of, yes. But it happened so long ago you don't recall the specifics. Maybe it'd been a party with your family or some friends, or maybe it was a sleepover, and you can't recall if the stain had gotten on the tops or bottoms of one of your favorite outfits as a child. But it was so bright and obvious that it was impossible not to miss. Trying to clean it up with a napkin or paper towel only smeared it into the clothing. And trying to use water just made it even worse, even larger and more noticeable than before because now part of you was wet. And some people had laughed. People with good intentions tried to help you clean the stain, but it just ruined your clothing, and you had to wear it for the rest of the day.

You had been so kriffing embarrassed that you didn't even remember when you got your clothes stained, or what stained them to begin with. You just remember the teasing that came later. It probably wasn't even all that much teasing, in reality… but to a little girl, it sure felt like a lot.

Someone timidly calls your name, noticing how silent you've become. An uneasy silence that you rarely fell into. "You okay, cyar'ika?"

You don't say anything for a long moment, debating if it's worth explaining the embarrassing memory such a simple, honest question unearthed. No, you decide. It's silly. They've witnessed far worse as soldiers than a kriffing stain on their favorite clothes. Complaining about it to them would be… childish. You're being childish, you tell yourself. You're still bothered by things that happened so long ago that don't even matter, and those people who teased you likely don't remember now. How pathetic of you, you scold.

"I'm fine… I think I'm just tired. What, uh… what time is it?" you glance around the ship, genuinely forgetting where you might find something with a display of the time at the present moment.

Tech, faithful datapad ever in hand, has the time. "It will be twenty minutes before the Marauder's internal lighting changes over to try to simulate nocturnal conditions."

"Oh, no wonder…" you murmur, feigning a soft yawn. "I swear, it's always just shortly before we make planet-fall that my circadian rhythm finally takes the hint and wants to cooperate." Echo and Wrecker both nod sympathetically, Echo more so because he shares a similar struggle. Poor man is often turning like a nuna on a spit over an open fire in his bed, and it doesn't surprise Hunter, Crosshair or Wrecker anymore to now find three people chatting in the cockpit of the attack shuttle sometimes since the addition of the female researcher. (It certainly surprised Commander Cody on that three-month-mark check in that you were all getting along so well.)

Echo follows suit with a yawn of his own. "Yeah, I know whatcha mean, ad'ika… Think I'll turn in early too, if I'm not needed for watch duty."

Crosshair shakes his head, silently communicating with Hunter through a simple look, listing off your name along with Echo and Wrecker. "You three get some sleep. And Tech, do whatever the kriff you feel like so long as you do it quietly." If Cross and Hunter were taking watch together, they had something to discuss for a while before Crosshair would come along and collect Tech from wherever he inevitably passed out and tuck him into his bunk.

You bid everyone good night and climbed up into your rack, laying on your side to face the inner wall of the alcove for some semblance of privacy. Being sleepy was a façade, of course. Even when the lights dimmed, you didn't find yourself any sleepier. You just kept thinking back to that comment someone had said.

You hadn't thought about that instance of your childhood in ages until tonight. But you're starting to think it affected you a lot more than you initially believed.

Is that why I learned how to get stains out of practically every kind of clothing? Is that why I have such a big container of laundry detergent "just in case"? Am I worried that they'll make fun of me if I ever got such an obvious stain on my clothing while I'm doing my job as a researcher? Am I worried that… Wrecker will make fun of me?

Wrecker whispers your name from his rack after a few minutes of silence. "Are you okay?" Unbeknownst to you, he's been thinking about the way you reacted after the question too, and he wants to see if you're okay. But you don't want to bother him while you're feeling so blue about childhood embarrassments, so you pretend to be asleep by not answering him. "Think she's asleep, Wrecker…" Echo mumbles somewhere below you. "You should try to do the same."

You can imagine the dejected frown as Wrecker turns into his bunk and with a sigh says, "... 'kay. I'll ask her in the morning, then. G'night."

You'll have at least six standard hours to hope that Wrecker forgets to ask. Or, with a healthy helping of mercy from the galaxy, that you'd forget too.

You wake up to a timid hand reaching up into your rack and poking you gently between your shoulder blades. You know without having to roll over or even open your eyes that it's Wrecker. Each one of them has a different method of waking you, and Wrecker is always cautious.

"Mm. Mornin'." you mumble, carefully sitting up and easing yourself to the edge of your bunk. "Sleep well, Wrecker?" The team's always been real sweet and considerate in the "mornings" through hyperspace travel, but there's something with Wrecker in particular you're drawn to in the morning… you've never quite gotten it figured out. "No bad dreams at least, right?"

"Eh… think so, at least!" Wrecker chuckles with an exaggerated shrug, stifling a yawn with the palm of his hand. "None that I can remember, anyway. What about you?"

Cautiously lowering yourself from the bunk, you think back to last night's dreams and vaguely describe what you remember of the disjointed sequence of events. And of course, there had been something related to your recollections last night, but you didn't tell Wrecker about that. For the time being, you're just going to keep mum about it.

You have things to do around the Havoc Marauder to prepare for meeting up with Commander Cody; a little bit of paperwork, mostly. After Hunter divvies up the morning rations for everyone, you say that you're going to retreat back to bunks where it'll be quietest to get this all sorted out, indicating your paperwork.

The neater you make this, the faster a busy man like the Commander will be able to approve you for another three months.

Wrecker follows you back to the sleeping racks, followed after by Tech, who rouses you from the files just as you find your groove.

"Is there something bothering you?"

Your head snaps up in confusion and surprise. "Huh?"

Tech states your name and repeats his question, believing that you hadn't been paying attention at all rather than just listening half-heartedly. "I asked if there was something bothering you. You're not one to shy away from doing your paperwork around the squad. In fact, doing your paperwork around us has never been a problem before until-"

Wrecker cuts to the chase when he senses his brother's explanation is getting too long-winded. "Tech's asking if something upset you last night."

"If one of us upset you last night."

Cross, Hunter and Echo have now come to make themselves part of this budding conversation, joining everyone else presently in the bunkroom. "We noticed that you got really quiet, and that's not exactly like you." one of them remarks.

"If there's a problem, we want to sort this out before we see Commander Cody. If he thinks there's a chance things aren't working out-"

"-he'll probably reassign you. And we don't want that. I-I don't want tha'..." Wrecker admits bashfully.

Someone nudges Cross in the ribs to say something. "Did something one of us said last night embarrass you?"

You shake your head firmly. If the five of them are worried enough that a playful taunt was taken too far last night, and they were scared to risk you becoming reassigned that they were getting the jump on things before they had the chance to kick off, then they must really think they did something to screw up, or that you're mad at them, and that's why you're not talking to them as you do your paperwork like usual.

"Oh boys…" you start, setting aside the datapad to give them your undivided company. "No. You don't have to worry. And I'm truly sorry that I made you all worry, but… nothing's wrong, really." You explain in some detail that you're really and truly okay. Maybe feeling a little blue about the memories that resurfaced after you confide in all of them that it turns out that incident from your childhood still upsets you more than you initially believed. "I know rationally none of you knew that. Or that it would upset me. I didn't even know it'd upset me to think about the time I got some clothes dirty as a little girl. So I don't blame anyone. And once again, I'm really sorry if I made any of you think I was mad, or offended, or anything like that just before we see the Marshal Commander. You don't have to worry about me asking to reassign just because my feelings got a little bruised. C'mon. We've all teased each other plenty. Ain't that right, Mr. Toothprick?"

In his relief, Cross can only chuckle silently. "Think you've used that one before. Don't tell me you're running out of ideas."

"She has not. I've been keeping a list of her- Nevermind. That's not important." Tech interrupts himself, adjusting the strap of his goggles. "What is important is we've cleared the air. And everything seems to be in order once more, as we hoped."

You smile. “Heh. Never change, Tech.” Before most leave you to your paperwork, Tech assures you he doesn’t particularly plan on it. Among those that stay are Hunter and Wrecker. Hunter will need to add his signature to the paperwork once you’ve gotten it completed, and Wrecker just wants to keep you company. And give, or get, a little reassurance. “You know we’d never make fun of you for getting a stain in your clothing and mean it, right?”

“Yes Wrecker,” you promise, pawning the datapad to the sergeant of the rogue Clone squad once you’ve scribbled out your own signature. Getting up from the borrowed bunk you had been sitting in, you give Wrecker a friendly kiss on the cheek just to see him smile again before you make your way to the snug ‘fresher aboard the attack shuttle to freshen up. In less than six standard hours, you’ll be making planet-fall, and there’s still lots to do. “I trust you guys. You don’t have to worry, big guy.”

Neither do you, turns out.

Very shortly after touching down on the landing pad, you trot down the gangplank of the Marauder, datapad with all your necessary files prepped and ready once Cody comes to greet you in your hand. As civilian personnel, you’re not exactly sure how far you can stray from the ship while you wait for the Clone Commander. Or if there’s even protocol for that kind of thing to begin with. Strangely, there’s more than just the members of the 212th here; you’re seeing hints of blue armor of the 501st roaming the landing pad too.

Someone calls your name. It’s a younger trooper you made friends with in the sixth months that you were with them, surprised to see you. “Ad’ika? Hey, long time no see! Hope the Bad Batch hasn’t been giving you too much trouble!”

“Not at all; they’ve been great! Oh, it’s so good to see you.” you reply, excitedly throwing your arms around your friend before he gets the chance to warn you.

Poor fellow begins to sputter nervously. “Y-yeah, it’s good to see you too, but uh…” He utters something that sounds like the words oh no under his breath.

“What’s wrong?” you ask, pulling away from him. That’s when you notice why he’s panicking. You’ve just given your friend a hug not long after he must have touched up the paint on his armor. There’s a bright splotch of blue all over the front of your field uniform now. “Oh kriff, I’m so sorry…!” you apologize to one another simultaneously. The paint is very fresh, and there’s no hiding it either. Oh stars, that’ll be a nightmare to get out… and you have to speak to Commander Cody soon, there’s probably not enough time to change into another field uniform!

“Oh no… um, Hunter? C-could you take my datapad please? I need to-” You’re about ready to ask Hunter if he can possibly stall for a little time if the Commander comes to review the report, but when you turn around, you find that Cody’s already here and talking to Hunter. Wrecker takes one look at you, your clothing covered in blue paint, and decides that he’s not going to let you be the only one covered in paint before the Commander notices. Thankfully, he’s too distracted with the supply manifest Tech’s presented to him to have heard you asking Hunter to help. One look at the situation, and he’s made up his mind on what to do; your warning can’t sway him.

“Wr-Wrecker! What’re you-!”

Bounding up to you with a laugh, Wrecker hoists you into his arms against his chest, transferring some of the paint from your clothing all over his plastoid in the process after safely tossing the datapad to Hunter from your hands. “Hey, if you’re offering hugs, I want one too!”

Wrecker carries you closer to the group and the others take some of the paint off your clothing and add it to their armor without complaint. You and Wrecker bare the most paint of the six of you standing near the Commander as he glances down the paperwork to make sure everything appears to be in order. “Ah, well I see you boys have been getting along very well with your seventh researcher.” Cody remarks casually, looking up from the datapad now everyone had a little bit of blue on them. “Guess I don’t need to ask whether this means you’re all sick of one another, yet.” Hunter’s jaw drops open to comment, but he’s silenced when the indicator tied to the APPROVED button chimes. So instead, he simply thanks the Marshal Commander and offers a polite salute as Cody dismisses himself.

Hunter swears softly when he takes a look at the datapad. “He’s… approved you for another six months.” he says incredulously, showing you the screen when Wrecker refuses to put you down still.

APPROVED FOR: SIXTH MONTHS

REASON: CAMARADERIE

Wrecker in particular whoops loudest of all, everyone delighted that you weren't going anywhere any time soon. Caught up in the euphoria of the moment, just as someone suggests that you all go get some real karking food to celebrate while you have a brief reprieve before your next assignment as a squad, you take advantage of your proximity to Wrecker and kiss him before you completely consider what you're doing. Laughing when the two of you pull apart, Wrecker gives you a slightly befuddled look and asks, "Heh, what was that for, mesh'la?"

You start to apologize, saying things like you should have asked and you’ve been wanting to kiss him for a while now, but you just weren’t thinking, much like now as you continue to ramble on apologizing. “I- I’m sorry, I guess I just got carried away.”

“Hey,” Wrecker chuckles, finally setting you on your feet, “S’okay. I’ve wanted to kiss you for a while, too. But uh, I didn’t want to cross any boundaries, so I tried to keep it professional. But… if you-” Crosshair scoffs, softly nudging your elbow as he brushes past the pair of you. You know by the wry smile, he’s teasing both of you, not just his brother. “He’s been secretly practicing his confession for the past twelve standard hours and it’s not gonna get any smoother than this. If you just say “kark the professionalism” you can spare us all from more embarrassment.”

Most everyone can only laugh to themselves. “Aww, don’t you worry Cross,” Wrecker tells him, you and Wrecker sharing a look that says y’know what, he’s right, kark the professionalism already, “she’ll make sure to get all the blue paint off your armor later.”

Cross only rolls his eyes at that. But under his breath, as everyone steps into the din of the mess hall, it sounds like he’s asking Hunter if he has to pay up if it was exactly twelve standard hours from the time he thought you and Wrecker were finally going to move beyond this “little mutual crush” stage.

(Yes. He does, it turns out.)

Frost's Note: Merkitty, I gotta admit, I totally thought of your OC Ohno during that wet-paint-and-hug scene at first. 😅 Once again, I hope you enjoyed my interpretation of your request! 🩷

[Masterlist] [Requests: OPEN]

#frostfics #Twelve Standard Hours #star wars #tbb hunter #tbb crosshair #tbb wrecker #tbb tech #tbb echo #wrecker tbb #tbb wrecker x you #wrecker x you #wrecker x reader #the bad batch #tbb #tbb fanfic #sw tbb fanfic #wrecker fluff #request fic #merkitty49

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tvckerwash · 4 months

Text

thoughts on ct's fighting style and her position in pfl because I can (utc bc it's long lol):

okay so I like to jokingly refer to myself as THE wash meta/analysis guy, but I also absolutely love ct if anyone wasn't aware (she's my 2nd fav character behind wash if you couldn't tell lol), but as much as I love her it's honestly pretty difficult to write any sort of 'objective' meta or analysis posts about her because we don't know shit about her. so while this is meant to be a companion piece of sorts to this wash post, I just wanted to make it clear that a lot of this post is going to be based around my personal interpretation of ct (though I will try and be as objective as possible where I can be).

so much like wash, I think ct is also fairly unique among the freelancers for a few different reasons. one of them is that she's one of the few freelancers to wear a unique set of armor instead of the usual mark iv, and I think that ct's armor can actually tell us quite a bit about her skill set and what kind of role she possibly held. ct wears the eod helmet and chest which is primarily designed for protection from explosives, but when it comes to ct the more important information is that the eod armor was designed with less available grabbing surface than other armor variants. she also wears the scout shoulders, which is a variant that is focused on stealth capabilities.

from this information, we can easily deduce that ct's skill set primarily revolves around be slippery and sneaky, and when paired with what we see in the show it's pretty clear that ct is an intelligence operative. I think that ct is specifically a cyber operations specialist, and that prior to being recruited for freelancer she worked in ONI's section one (the actual intelligence gathering sector of ONI that is used by other UNSC branches).

another unique aspect about ct is that she is the only freelancer to consistently arm herself very lightly, with her primary weapon(s) of choice being two M6G magnums, and her other weapon(s) being two combat knives. this goes inline with what I've said above, and due to how lightly she arms herself I believe that ct generally isn't involved in any heavy combat scenarios. this point is supported by team b's failure to retrieve the briefcase with the access code during the heist in s9 (seriously, who tf thought it was a good idea to put 2 snipers and an intelligence operative all together as one team for a smash and grab retrieval mission??).

now to actually break down the whole 1.5 fights ct has in s10, I think that she probably somewhat shares wash's more grounded and pragmatic approach to combat as a whole, with the exception of her preference for duel wielding (which I personally headcanon is a thing she chooses to do because it makes her feel like an action/spy movie protagonist).

in both of her fight scenes ct seems to rely very heavily on her ability to plan ahead and get the jump on her opponents to take them by surprise (dropping from the ceiling to take out the two marines when she met up with the innie leader in the scrap yard, and using her armor enhancement to conceal her real position which allowed her to pin tex's arm behind her back), and I think it's safe to say that she probably isn't the kind of cqc fighter than can mow people down left and right like carolina can.

as mentioned above, I think ct's main goal is to take her opponents out in the quickest, quietest, and most efficient ways possible, much like a spy or an assassin, and while her loadout is great when she is in ideal circumstances where she's able to sneak around and avoid unnecessary combat, I don't think it's very good when it comes to drawn out encounters. we see this in her fight against tex and carolina, as while she handled herself pretty well it seemed like the longer the fight lasted the sloppier ct ended up getting, and eventually she made enough minor mistakes that carolina was able to knock her off her feet and disarm her in a single move, and tex, who was now aware of ct's armor enhancement, was able to cut her down.

#mine #rvb #red vs blue #agent connecticut #a lot of ppl like to make the women of rvb hyper competent and portray them as if they're on a completely different level than the dudes but #but i think it's important to ct's character to acknowledge her failures and the fact that she makes mistakes #she has cringe fail loser girl energy (affectionate) and the idea of her looking into pfl for petty reasons only to discover something so #much bigger than herself and choosing to /do something/ about it is so important!!! choice is a massive theme of her character and its so #important to her for people to have a choice that she gave her data to tex (a woman who was brought back from the dead and had no choice in #her existence) so that tex could make a choice for herself

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teecupangel · 11 months

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Okay okay so.

Your thoughts on a Time Travel-ish fic where Desmond gets yeeted back to a little bit before Altaïr’s time and Bayek, Kassandra, Alexios, and f!Eivor become basically immortal bc of POE/Isu bullshit?

And then all the main characters after that become immortal bc of POE/Isu bullshit (including Desmond) so they’re just slowly gathering a bunch of immortal Assassin/some Templars and winging it til they hit the modern day era.

If you like to add a vampire spin to it, here’s the vampire idea a while back that does include a lot of main characters (but not all) getting turned into vampires.

Now, for this idea, let’s set up some things first.

Desmond is the primary immortal and nobody knows how it works.

They stop aging once they die and are revived for the first time.

There will always be a minute of death before their revival. (spawn rate)

Since we want to cover all main AC characters (although I love the fact that we didn’t include Basim in that list. Mirage isn’t out yet, Basim doesn’t count yet, I guess XD), I know you asked for Desmond being yeeted a little before Altaïr’s time so I’m hope you’re fine with Desmond being yeeted before or during Kassandra and Alexios’ time period. (I mean how 'little' is open for interpretations I say)

And how about we make this a little bit more interesting?

Desmond gets yeeted into the time of the Isus. To be more specific, he gets thrown into Minerva’s ‘temple’ during the final days before the Solar Flare.

He’s disoriented and maybe just ‘a bit’ traumatized because of the pain he felt when he activated the device so all he could do was try to understand what Minerva was saying.

About how she’s trying to save his life. That he must do what they all fail to do.

Find the true source of this anomaly, this singularity point that ensures a catastrophe hits Earth every few millennia regardless of what they do.

Because, and this is important, Desmond, even if you save the world from the Solar Flare, another catastrophe will happen. It is inevitable.

But you can find the reason why it has to be that way.

Desmond…

No matter what happens.

Never give up.

Keep looking.

I will do all I can to give you as much help as possible.

Good luck.

And Desmond falls asleep when Minerva pushes him into some kind of device that looked like a water bed.

When he wakes up, he finds himself staring at a confused-looking woman clad in armor.

The Layla Trilogy:

Desmond has no clue what this singularity point is meant to be but he assumes that he’s meant to find it now that he’s woken up… 2 millennia before his time, Jesus Christ.

Kassandra was just looking around the supposed ruins of Athena’s first temple. She believes he’s a demigod or a human turned demigod by Athena. She also thought he might even be Erichthonius but that idea was scrapped when Desmond showed her just how little he knows of the Ancient Greek world. He joins her because it’s not like he has any other clue and Kassandra traveling made it clear that he could cover more grounds if he stayed with her.

It’s because of Desmond’s intervention that Alexios (as Deimos) isn’t killed and the siblings’ relationship is rocky but Alexios stays with them in the Adrestria even if it usually comes down to Kassandra and Desmond making sure Alexios’ temper doesn’t get them into trouble. (Whether the other family members survive is your call).

In the end, it’s the whole Atlantis DLC that makes Kassandra and Alexios accidentally (or is it an accident, Minerva?) immortal. Desmond’s inclusion into the ‘vision’ screwed up the Isu tech and whatever is keeping Desmond immortal is copied into Kassandra and Alexios. They don’t realize it until later on when Alexios dies during a very fierce battle. Then a minute passed while Kassandra cradles her baby brother in her arms as she cries, Alexios opens his eyes and gasps loudly. Kassandra and Desmond would realize they’re immortal as well later on. No matter what they ask, Aletheia in the staff (Desmond doesn’t trust her one bit) doesn’t say anything at all. Desmond believes that their immortality might have been caused by one of the many POEs he had with him at the moment (he’s been hoarding every POE they find).

In this setup, Alexios would be Aya’s ancestor and it’d be more of a one-night stand that happened because Alexios was feeling a bit off that day and wanted some company. Whether they learn Aya is Alexios’ descendant is up to you. They meet Bayek during the Curse of the Pharaoh DLC while they were checking out the ‘curse’ and this is another case of Desmond’s immortality getting passed into Bayek while the POE is shrouding all of Thebes. Maybe even during the time they were in the Duat and Desmond is seeing people who haven’t even been born yet and that’s how he believed his desire to destroy the lies being shown to him caused Bayek to be infected by his immortality. They don’t know Bayek is immortal though but Bayek knows they’re immortal (maybe make one of them die in front of Bayek? They’ve become quite prone to risky actions because they know they can’t die) so when he realized he was immortal, he starts looking for them.

Eivor met them on the Isle of the Skye and Desmond’s immortality infects her during that time as well (maybe during the final confrontation with the POE?) but, as usual, they don’t know that yet. What happens is that Eivor returns to Ravensthorpe and the story continued until the end of AC Valhalla, maybe a few days later, Reda (who may or may not be an avatar of Minerva or her sage or something, the point is his immortality is not connected to Desmond’s… maaayybbee) introduces her to an old friend of his who is looking for someone who looks a lot like Randvi, a man going by the name Amun. At that point, Eivor already knows she’s immortal, Basim slicing her throat during their final confrontation was a dead giveaway, and Reda introduced them as ‘two people of similar circumstances’. They both realized that they’re immortals and Bayek (who Eivor knows as Amun) believes that the answer to their questions is with Desmond and the Spartan siblings (they’re not, they don’t even know they’ve been leaving immortals behind) so Eivor leaves Ravensthorpe to find Desmond and the other with Bayek, promising to come back once she has all the answers.

They finally catch up to Desmond and the others around late 1100s and Desmond doesn’t know how but he’s sure he’s the reason why they’re all immortals now. Without any other information, all they can do is be cautious and, later on, they decide that Desmond shouldn’t get too close to other people until they’re sure on how this entire immortality thing gets activated. Of course, that only means Desmond would feel bored (and maybe have bad reminders of his life on the Farm) so he was just walking a busy marketplace to take some time off his own spiraling thoughts, just looking around and that’s when he bumps into Altaïr.

Desmond’s Ancestors (Part 1):

Desmond didn’t even know Altaïr would be around these parts. Why would he? All he knew during this time was that Altaïr went with Maria to go travel, he didn’t know just how far the two had traveled during that time. Desmond desperately tries to get away because, fuck, there’s no way that he was going to mess up Altaïr’s life even if he desperately wants to because he has no idea what will happen to him if he messes Altaïr’s life so badly that Desmond Miles wouldn’t be born centuries from now. This only makes Altaïr interested in him and it ends with Desmond joining Altaïr and Maria in their travels, sorta forgetting to tell anybody else that he might have been half-kidnapped/half-went along with it?

So the current immortality gang is out looking for him while he’s making a life in Masyaf, becoming like an uncle to Altaïr’s children. Desmond keeps trying to tell Altaïr that Abbas is too dangerous to keep alive but Altaïr won’t listen, thinking that Abbas would not stoop as low as Desmond says, especially when the Apple doesn’t show him anything bad happening with Abbas. By this point, Desmond had told Altaïr everything so Altaïr know Desmond knows of a future but he insists that that future is no longer their future because they have changed things.

Altaïr and Maria still go with Darim to assassinate Genghis Khan but Desmond stays behind to keep an eye on Abbas. Unfortunately, this gets him captured and it’s only because of Desmond’s warning that Malik survived, taking Sef’s wife and children out of Masyaf on Sef’s orders while Sef stays behind to save Desmond. It ends in tragedy as Sef dies in Desmond’s arms instead even though Desmond begs for whatever is keeping him immortal to save Sef, to make him immortal as well. Desmond is taken deeper into Masyaf and tested on to find the reason for his immortality instead.

Altaïr’s return is heralded by a civil war between those who sided with Abbas and the Assassins Malik rallied. In the battle, Maria dies in Altaïr’s arms as well and, if you really want to hammer in the pain, Malik falls as well. When they finally took Masyaf back, Altaïr finds Desmond in the deepest part of Masyaf alive but… well… it’s not a pretty sight. Just as he frees a catatonic Desmond, Abbas stabs him from behind and Desmond snaps out of it, screaming as Altaïr falls into his arms. Remembering how Sef dies in his arms the same way breaks Desmond. Altaïr dies in his arms and revives a minute later, much to Abbas’ surprise. In the end, Altaïr kills Abbas and takes Masyaf back.

After the funerals are done and Masyaf starts healing, Altaïr tells the new mentor (Malik if he’s still alive or Darim if Malik is already dead) that he and Desmond are leaving Masyaf. That this place is simply too painful for Desmond right now and the only way he can heal is to be away from this place. The mentor agrees because they both know how much Desmond blames himself for the death of the people he and Altaïr loved. That not even Altaïr telling him it’s not his fault could reach him.

So they leave and a few days later the immortality gang reaches Masyaf but everyone is tight-lipped about what happened and if they know anyone that looks like Desmond (there were rumors that the people of Masyaf were experimenting on how to achieve eternal life and such). So it took them a long time for the mentor to confide what had happened (that’s fine with them though because they trust Desmond can take care of himself (oh boy) and they’re immortals, they have all the time they need) and the mentor isn’t sure where Desmond and Altaïr could be.

They’re in Monteriggioni. Of course, they’re in Monteriggioni. Desmond talked and showed Monteriggioni to Altaïr and his sons so Altaïr knew how much Desmond loved the town. They stayed there because Altaïr was hoping Desmond could heal there and Altaïr accidentally sorta-maybe bought the place while it was just a little thing and started expanding and stuff. They’re always known as descendants of themselves and they’re rumored to be brothers or cousins or something, anyway, the point is the town’s connection with the Assassins is a very hush-hush affair and the Italian Brotherhood grows with Altaïr’s assistance while Desmond just… does whatever he wants.

Desmond meets Ezio as a child when the Auditore family visits the town to pay their respect and Altaïr sees how happy Desmond is to play with Ezio and his siblings. He suggests that they vacation in Florence once in a while to visit the Auditores and Desmond agrees.

The Auditore execution doesn’t happen because Altaïr’s presence makes the Italian Brotherhood be more incognito. Giovanni is still loyal to Lorenzo (an ongoing headache of Altaïr’s) and he’s the mentor of the Italian Brotherhood while Altaïr has more of an advisory role but his connection to the other Assassins was great enough that he was able to coordinate a rescue mission when Giovanni was arrested. Federico and Claudia (who learned enough to fight in secret thanks to her Tio Desmond) were in the house and they got the others out while Giovanni stayed behind so he was the only one arrested and the Auditore family is given asylum in Monteriggioni.

Of course, the whole rescue plan had been in the making for a while now as a ‘last resort’ since Desmond told Altaïr what would happen and this pushes Ezio, Federico, and Claudia to join the Brotherhood in hopes of avenging what has happened to them.

Same thing happened as canon. The actions of the Italian Brotherhood (really, Ezio and his siblings) catch the attention of the immortality gang who finally catches up but they accidentally thought Ezio was the immortal with Desmond named Altaïr and that’s how Ezio learns about the whole immortality thing.

Ezio finds out he’s immortal after Rodrigo stabs him and he dies but revives. He believes his other siblings aren’t immortal though because he saw Minerva’s message for Desmond and it’s already changed. She’s speaking to Ezio and she tells him to “keep Desmond in check”. To make sure he remembers his mission. Ezio believes it’s not Desmond who gives immortality to random people but Minerva. That this immortality thing is something Minerva prepared to keep Desmond ‘safe’ and ‘focused’.

Desmond would have easily said that Minerva is going by a list of people Desmond cared about but he didn’t even know about Kassandra, Alexios, Bayek and Eivor before his death so that idea gets thrown out before it even fully forms.

Anyway, it ends with the immortality gang going on a newly refitted and upgraded Adrestia to start looking for this singularity point with Altaïr giving Monteriggioni to Petruccio who had been taking care of the finances and the little details for a while now. They stop by Constantinople as well and Ezio falls in love with Sofia, maybe he stays with her for a while and have two children? Idk. Anyway, the Auditore line continues…

Into the Kenway line…

Yeah, see that part one? Yeah, it’s because this got too long and I only answer/reblog on tumblr on a specific time frame to make sure I get things done. Sorry XD

I’ll get back to the others tomorrow (if work wills it) but if anyone wants to take a stab at this, feel free :)

(ngl, I was debating if I should make Malik/Maria/Darim and Sef immortal. I’m still on the fence with Malik being immortal. It would be a good angst fodder “Why you but not them?!!” kind of deal)

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dgsfufu · 1 year

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[Exclusive Coverage] Behind the scenes: Official announcement of Bridget's self identification - What do the creators of Guilty Gear think as they proceeded with the development of the game? (2/2)

Translation done by me, an actual person. Loose to make words flow but, posting this for posterity and to make a point against people who still somehow doubt machine TL despite not being able to read Japanese. Link to article here. Page 1 only bc no time for other 2. (EDIT: fixed a mistranslation)

Coverage by TBS TV, posted on 26th Oct 2022.

Conceptualized from the beginning with an ending in mind: the road to self-identification.

---What are your thoughts regarding the conclusion of the story, beginning from the drafting phase and especially surrounding the clear impact of transgenderism left in the plotline?

Mr. Ishiwatari: It has already been decided from the beginning itself that the story would see Bridget's story unfold in a direction with the theme of realizing her gender the moment she debuted, and this has not changed.

--This was decided the moment Bridget was born, then?

Mr. Ishiwatari: I don't know if the feelings towards Bridget's plotline has ever been as strong before, but while her concept was never meant to be this dramatic, the details have been gradually ironed out slowly over time.

Mr Katano: Thinking back even lightly, the story has really not changed at all. This isn't just a story about Bridget, but rather a message the character represents, and the drama which had already been set to be written from the get-go.

--Right now people are more understanding of transgender issues, and I really think society has finally caught up to what people think of Bridget and her story too.

Mr Ishiwatari: I guess putting it like that does make us sound kinda cool, but, it just so happens that the timing for this topic is perfect since it's landed just as the discussion is hot.

Mr Katano: Ishiwatari thinks of all of the characters' background and plot, and there are so many bits that can't just be published as is. However, this time we believe all of Bridget's storyline has been fully revealed and covered.

--So the timing for her to appear again was just perfect?

Mr Katano: Hm, yeah, it's the perfect timing for her reappearance. I think so.

--Did both of you expect any controversies to follow after Bridget's reappearance?

Mr Katano: Honestly, yes. As we expected, people are split on the topic. To summarize what we do: we draw up how the characters in the story live, what they are worried about, and how they thought as we made them.

But there are people who get caught up in the controversy without buying the game and playing it, people who blindly press the topic, and at the end of the day misinterpret our message and continuously spread a different portrayal contrary to what we intended.

Initially we thought, "we hope people will accept our message despite different interpretations", but we then realized we had to turn this official, and therefore published and announced the official information from our side.

Mr Ishiwatari: We had our internal discussion whether or not this action was necessary. Our primary concern is whether we leave it to the global audience to decide whatever, or if we dictate the narrative with official info. This was the most important point in our discussion.

There were many fans who saw the situation as us pouring fuel into a fire we started, and so there became a growing voice who didn't care what it was so long as we came out and clarified the matter.

--You decided to come out and calm things down as the game trended globally?

Mr Ishiwatari: I don't know if that's an apt way to put it, but we read the situation as us giving fans a semblance of assurance after coming out and clarifying the matter.

"Currently available Bridget merchandises on sale"

--Putting myself in the creator's shoes, coming out to explain in this unsure matter comes off as a little boorish, I would think.

Mr Katano: We are in part just people who simply create games and the world in it. While I could tell people to play and see for themselves, tell them to buy and see, there are many who do not and irresponsibly spread misinterpretation without care.

Therefore I wasn't opposed to us taking an official stance. But as a creator, my biggest concern is posting spoilers. I mulled over whether or not to post this information on the official site -- I worried about this greatly.

Page 1/3

#guilty gear #guilty gear strive #translation #bridget

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hibiscxs · 2 years

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Hmm, I must admit that I was confused/conflicted about how consensual rhaenyra/criston came off as in 1x04 bc their primary relationship is royal/servant (well, hes a knight, but it still stands). And i really wanted to think about it bc i didnt want to dismiss a case of a man being SAed too quickly, but i also didnt want to confuse a female-gaze sex scene with male-targeted SA

There is a clear power imbalance that was a point in the previous episode, with criston talking about how rhaenyra changed his life and how he owed her everything he had. Under those circumstances, you would be suspicious of any sexual relationship between them. If she instigates something, then he may not be in a position to refuse or else he could lose his position or even his life. The scene highlights him having a moment where he regards his cloak (a symbol of his status as her knight, status that she gave him) before they have sex. Criston is remarkably more somber than she is during the entire encounter.

But, I ultimately feel that his position as a knight of the Kingsguard specifically changes the circumstances of this a lot. Because, yes, he is sworn to obey her. But he’s also sworn to celibacy. And in general, everyone is forbidden from having sex with the princess.

Kingsguard are Kingsguard for life. Up to this point in the timeline, knights of the Kingsguard have only been stripped of their cloak and sent to the Wall bc they broke their vows of celibacy. It isn’t until Joffrey’s rule that a knight was dismissed for any other reason. Kingsguard aren’t stripped of their station for disobeying commands, but they are for having sex. So it seems pretty safe to say that if Criston had wanted to say no, he could have and felt secure in his station and his life.

And what of the emphasis on his cloak? In this context, it’s easier to see that Criston is very aware that he’s breaking his vow of celibacy, that he’s besmirching the name of the Kingsguard. The act of taking off his armor and his white cloak specifically is a physical manifestation of him casting off his station and forsaking his vows to have sex with rhaenyra. He chooses to do it because he wants to, but its a serious thing to him, which is why he handles the cloak so carefully as if to not do even more damage to it and to himself, why he’s so serious in comparison to her smiles and giggles.

There is, however, the conversation to be had about how rhaenyra shouldnt have put him in that position in the first place. As the person with more power and less to lose if theyre found out, it was irresponsible of her. And thats very in line with her character up to this point. This episode especially highlights how rhaenyra is wild and makes bad choices. Some of it stems from just her being her, a dragon stifled by expectation and rules and society. But some of it also stems from how she wasnt raised as the heir because viserys ignored her in favor of some unborn son and how viserys still isnt treating her like the heir because he continues to waver and be manipulated.

Anyway, back to her and criston

In the end, im comfortable with interpreting this as a fully consensual encounter because of the specifics of their situation. Ive seen a few posts about how because it was framed in a way that focused on her and how when she’s on top it almost looks like she’s fucking him, its meant to show us that he’s not feeling pleasure, especially when intercut with viserys and alicent.

But I do think that’s unfair. The entire scene was directed by a woman and definitely used the female gaze. It’s wish fulfillment for straight women. Theres the insinuation that because it wasnt directed in a way that focused on criston’s pleasure that the encounter was inherently imbalanced, that when she was on top he couldnt be enjoying himself because he was the one getting fucked. And I’m uncomfortable with that

#hotd #asoiaf #hotd 1x04 #rhaenyra x criston #rhaenyra targaryen #criston cole #cw: sa

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compassionatereminders · 1 year

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I'm just very confused right now and. i don't know why I'm even writing this down. i guess i want reassurance through this existential/identity crisis of mine. i want someone to listen. idk anymore.

I recently found out that i've been lying a lot but only by accident, like. I'm going to have to explain my mental process with colors and I'm hoping it makes sense.

My memories kind of have "sets" and with those sets comes the slight "personality shifts". Those shifts are kind of like, color gradients??? Like it doesn't happen all of a sudden, not like one moment I'm red then I'm blue, it's more like. i wake up red, then throughout the day red just ever so slowly fades into orange then yellow then i sleep and wake up I'm between green and blue. And it just goes on and on and on and on.

So I have different colors. Each main color (primaries and secondaries) has their own set of memories. But it is kinda a fixed cycle, i just don't know all the colors in there, so they have a semipermanent fixed position in the gradient but also there's multiple gradients and I'm basically colorblind in this analogy. Each color can access the sets of the ones beside them, ergo orange can access red and yellows sets etc. But the details are kinda muddled. The specifics aren't really there, a lot of the details aren't clear etc.

But since they have different sets of memories that means I'm always functioning with minimum knowledge about my self and my life. And sometimes those memories are outdated.

Like i told my classmates i do the bare minimum of conversations with my family since that's always been the case since I was a child, it's not going to change is it? it fucking did. We talk now, that's a thing that actually happens. Like it's meaningless pointless small talk but it's talk.

I'm not really averse to lying but holy shit how many times have I done it without knowing. How many people have figured I'm lying right to their faces when i didn't ever know I'm lying. what the fuck.

like, I'm not a fucking monster for this am i??? i feel like I'm just making excuses. idk. im just 16 why is my life so needlessly complicated :/

(also ps I've sent an ask about wanting to drop out of high school bc of mental health issues but my mother wouldn't let me and i just remembered it after typing that last bit. gradient shift in action lmao i feel so hyper mentally)

I hope your days get better <3 (also hope this isn't a bother lol this feels more like talking at you than to you)

It is not a lie if you are not aware it isn't true while you're saying it. It might be misinformation - even harmful misinformation - but it's not lying. And it's not morally wrong in the way deliberately lying to people is in most cases. You are not a monster in any sense. You may have serious issues with your memories and your interpretation of them, but that's not a moral failure, it's a mental health issue or a cognitive problem at worst

#chat with kat

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extravalgant · 2 years

Text

hey yall remember that secondary school post i made 😏💯 ok well here are my own interpretations of it... through flowery language and other stuff

IIIII hope u enjoy it anways +_+ my own personal canon is that primary/secondary schools arent common, but only people who have the drive (and often teacher recommendations and whatnot) can really try and learn two schools at the same time...

it also really tells us smth about the character... something i think would be akin to zodiacs or mbti’s and enneagram’s but most people think it doesnt hold up well bc those with secondary schools take a modified version of the book of secrets test to find out if a secondary is good for them....

i think its telling for those who just have a primary or a single school (ex. my calamity is a primary storm)... obviously you can think up of whatever u want for canon but i think it would say a lot for why ur oc would have a primary as opposed to learning two schools....

AS ANOTHER NOTE. i think having a secondary school would also affect the way your primary school/magic looks, which is why i relied a lot on imagery

alright alright . enjoy 🙏

✦ storm/death they beckon the dead from their earthen slumber, static in their veins. much like the pop culture counterpart victor frankenstein, they too bring their summons to life through electricity. as shards of lightning strike through their spells, so too do they come alive.

✦ fire/ice smoke billows out of their mouth like a sauna, letting the steam burn their victims down to the bone. often it is said that a frog will hop out of a boiling pot if you dump it in immediately, but allow the pot to simmer and slowly reach heat and the frog will stay until it is boiled alive; the same can be said of pyromancers with ice secondaries.

✦ myth/balance designs swirl underneath the darkness of their eyelids, a visual snow that coaxes out hallucinations of older legends. dizziness and vertigo is a constant force in their life, but their choices come clear as day, as if there is a secret path laid out before them; a trail of gold they leave in their wake, each step like quicksand - so quick to pull you under if you linger for too long.

✦ death/fire warm - warm warm warm does pyromancy trickle gently down their throat, akin to the smooth taste of alcohol, like hot tea against a sore throat. if necromancy was something to be feared, to shy away from, to regret, then pyromancy was the warm hearth of a fire; the idea of coming home from a grueling day that life has thrown at you to the warm, familiar arms of your home. death is familiar, but fire is the true heart of the soul.

✦ life/ice it feels like the first breath of life – cold and wet. much like the infant who cannot help but cry, for that is all it knows, so too can you cry, for spring brings new beginnings. the dew of early morning clings fresh and humid against the tips of your cold fingertips. you are the first breath of spring, and the cold breath of winter.

#wizard101 #w101 #well. heres the content i said i would have EL OH EL #i have a lot of characters with secondary schools actually....#cal doesnt have a secondary and neither does lily...#but diana and iridian do... +_+ which ties into their overall character #hm... lmk if u guys want smth tagged #im not sure about the frog boiling pot analogy but reply to this post if its smth that bothers u #ive had these for so long i just wanted to make more before posting but ah what the hell . they can get posted #okok. if i have anything else to add ill do so #also req some skewls in the replies bc i have asks off SORRY.... SORRY

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nulltune · 1 year

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random question: do you think there could ever be an instance of moon girl being 'corrupted'? in a small, tiny dimension far away, could evil hakunon ever exist?

good question nonnie! an evil hakunon... what a concept 👀✨️ it's interesting because i think hakuno definitely fits the definition of a "good person". she has a very clear sense of right and wrong, strong morals, she greatly values the lives and wishes of others (no matter how "small" or "insignificant") and treasures the very important things like bonds and connections. i'd say it's almost like the natural course of her character development! in extra and ccc and even extella 🤢 even when starting out from zero as a nobody with nothing, we see that hakuno always finds these core values and humanity even in the worst circumstances.

that saiddd, did you know that hakuno herself admits to having pretty "twisted ideals" in the confrontation with extra's endgame antagonist? and she's always been the one to outright call herself evil too! for a good reason too actually 😳

here's a quick disclaimer though! i personally think hakuno's a very complex character that can be interpreted in many ways though i do know a big reason for that is also bc there are cowards who intend for that to be for self insert purposes rather than anything more nuanced 🗿, so this here's just my personal interpretation of her <3 this also got pretty long so i'll be putting the rest under the cut!

[side note, but i think it's Really Interesting to me how the fate/extra antagonists really parallel hakuno..... there was a scrapped extra ending of hakuno basically taking over as the second twice (though i will say i'm glad that idea was scrapped; cuz hakuno's already too far into her development for that to be a possibility but it's interesting to think about). as for bb-- oh man i can scream about the Potential these two have sm THEY'RE JUST SO GOOD UGH 😭😭 summing it up real quick, they're both just someone willing to give their all and become a hero/villain if that meant protecting the one they love. the former for hakuno and the latter for bb ! even kiara has similarities to hakuno, i don't know how much (due to lack of ccc translations </3) but i do know that they were simply living to their truest selves which had varying results]

i think these lines sum up her stance of things pretty nicely (they also reside in my head rent free 24/7 🛐) and really give you a good Insight(TM) on hakuno kishinami:

"If I could protect that which I hold most dear, then that should dictate the path I choose to walk."

"Hakuno Kishinami was someone who treasured herself, and the things she loved. The things I insist I want to protect are only those I see before me. …that’s the sort of shallow, greedy person Hakuno Kishinami was."

"I was just empty in the beginning, so if you say you're bad— then I will just dye myself in your colors."

it's safe to say that at her core, the most unbendable thing is that hakuno cares most about the people she loves, that's the key takeaway here thougg we also have other important hakuno traits like her lack of identity and her extreme devotion. i talked about this character trait of hers a widdle bit in this post, but yeah- for all her heroic qualities, traditionally heroic things like saving the world doesn't take priority for her.

hakuno's very direct when she says it in canon too. the state of the world has nothing to do with her (which is the cold rational truth considering her unique existence, to be fair), but she still wants to protect it because it's the world where the people she cares about live in; and that's the primary motivation for her. though i do think we have to take things with a grain of salt, because as harsh as her blunt words can sound, we can see from her reactions and inner monologue that just the thought of people dying is painful to her. so i think it's important to know that even if hakuno's first priority is the people close to her, she does think about others as well, i'd say that hakuno cares for just about anyone and everyone in some capacity. it's just that much stronger with someone she's emotionally bonded with.

now, hakuno genuinely is someone so kindhearted with only good intentions... which is a very important point 2 me!! she's not the type to damn the world for no reason and naturally dislikes the idea of anyone suffering. however, she can be scary determined to do what she must to accomplish her goal. it's only when push comes to shove and she's forced to make a choice where we'd really see this come into play methinks! we're entertaining what-ifs here and personally, i can really see hakuno take on a more,, morally questionable role ngl. hakuno's always acted in the way you'd expect a model person to be, but i think it's important to note that that comes out of her own personal values rather than a sense of justice or any chivalrous reasoning.

hakuno does want and try to operate within the scope of what is "good", but she wouldn't limit herself to it, if that makes sense. i'm not sure how to describe her morals, exactly, but hohhh boy it's super interesting to me! she's good at heart, but is willing to do something she views as evil if it meant the best for -insert name here- so when hakuno calls herself evil, it's because she has very clear and strong morals and a strong sense of good or evil, but at the end of the day, she's willing to discard anything and devote her everything to the things she loves.

that willingness to cross any line and discard her own morals, by definition, is immoral though. hakuno never does things without full awareness of her actions and the consequences that come with it, so she'd definitely be more than aware of that too. i think foxtail, which has that third line there "[...] so if you say you're bad— then I will just dye myself in your colors.", illustrates it so well..... it literally has hakuno staining herself with blood as she says that which- what more can i say!! it's just that undying devotion above all else <3 i have no doubt that she would be having a lot of complex feelings about it :uglycry:

i mentioned before that hakuno calls herself evil already, but it's best not to take her words at face value. she's a lot more complex than that!! she's a lot more complex than what even she gives herself credit for honestly!!!!! you gotta remember that even if hakuno seems cold/distant and claims to be a terrible person, she's repeatedly shown that she still cares about others no matter what and wants them to be happy. it's just that, again, she's willing to do a lot of things for that which is most important to her 💃🏻 tis just a matter of circumstance and priorities.... but yeah ! no matter the tiny universe, at her core she's still the same hakuno doing what she sincerely believes in and for what's most important to her.

it's very in line with hakuno actually! provided the proper circumstances, i can really see it happening 😳 we've seen hakuno in canon call herself "a failure as a master" because she cares more for her servant than the holy grail, so i can see her similarly condemn herself for prioritizing the well-being of an individual over,, literally everything else. i imagine it playing out like her choice to do what was necessary to survive in the holy grail war. she's absolutely firm in chasing after her goal, it's a decision she won't back out on, but she has a lot of difficult feelings about it too. it's not at all easy for her, and it would just add onto her already horrendous view of herself and her self-loathing :,)

I FEEL LIKE I DIDN'T REALLY ANSWER YOUR QUESTION .... 😳 but i think there's no easy answer to it tbh! hakuno has a tendency of simplifying things (for better or worse) but i think things are much more complex than that. so whether she's evil or good, that really depends on what we choose to think,,, if that makes sense,,, 🫠

as for a "corrupted" hakuno-- i'm not really sure what you mean by that?? if you're still out there nonnie 🥺 pls feel free to clarify! <3 i'm a fake fate writer lol so if it's corruption from the holy grail or something, then i have no idea how to answer because nasu lore eludes me 🗿 but i don't think that would be the case! hakuno's character is definitely influenced by others around her, but she's always the one actively trying to find and better understand herself and a reason to fight for. part of what makes her compelling is her immense resolve to do what she fully believes in — which is why all i've rambled about above there. knowing the full weight of her actions and her feelings about it is what makes hakuno so compelling imo!!

OUGHHH BUT (me, coming back after googling up the exact definition of corruption: 🤯) if we look at this in the scope of canon, this is a form of corruption actually ?? !!! remember: love was never intended and is actually mistaken for artificial intelligence made by the moon cell like bb and hakuno (: to go against their intended purpose of serving humanity as a whole in favor of an individual they've come to love is peak "corruption" for them, but we've seen how they both rather go against anything and everything rather than lose that precious feeling. I WISH THEY FOCUSED ON THAT CONCEPT IN CANON TBH 😭😭 JUST IMAGINE!!!! i wish they focused more on hakuno in general tbh </3

#THIS IS RLLY LATE NONNIE BUT TYSM FOR THE ASK 🥺💖 !!!#as u can see; i can never shut up abt this girl SHE IS SO INTERESTING 2 MEEEEE *BITES A CHAIR*#Insane how she's such a perfect 'hero' but can be such an interesting 'villain' too....... egad #she's just a very complex character methinks!!! there is A Lot to unpack especially bc u gotta know that #&&. hcs #shoves this here bc 🫡 this do be how i write my very dear moon lady !#I HOPE I EXPLAINED THIS PROPERLY THO SBFKSGFJSHD anon's always on if any clarification is needed !!#it is very important 2 me that i portray h.akuno nicely ... 🧎‍♂️ sfsdvxjfl #anonymous

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carniferous · 7 months

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I’m so so so in love with the blue diner fic, it encapsulates the bittersweetness of being stuck in a larger picture of something tragic and how the little happy things can make a huge difference. I wanted to ask if there was anything that inspired or motivated this fic, or what your thought process was when writing it. looking forward to your new fic!

thank you so much for this ask and for enjoying blue diner <333 it means a lot to me!!

so the title comes from the mitski song "old friend" and that song was the primary inspiration for that fic. i was listening to it one day and i just could not stop thinking about how much it made me think of jegulus. i hesitated on starting it at first bc i didn't know if i wanted to focus on anything other than ibhfts, but eventually i always end up doing what i want to do LMAO.

i had a really clear picture of the ending in mind while i was writing it, so my thought process while writing focused mostly on "building up" to the ending. i'm obsessed with jegulus in a canon setting and the different paths their lives could have taken. in ibhfts, i try to explore how being rich purebloods prior to the war influences regulus and james' outlook on life. in blue diner, i wanted to explore the idea of "second chances" and regulus (+ james) realizing that they haven't missed their chance, that it's never too late to be happy (in james's case) or do the right thing (in regulus's). the story is told from regulus's pov but i tried really hard to make james's internal conflict meaningful and show how he's been changed by the war as well (i hope that came across lmao)

and the open ending is very important to me!!! overall i'm happy how well it's been received even though i understand people asking for a sequel. i hate saying never but most likely i won't ever write one because i think providing any answer on what happens kind of... spoils the story? in a way? like i really do think that however you interpret the aftermath of the ending IS how it happened, and i don't want to spoil that by giving my take on what happened

my new fic is out! if you read it i hope you enjoy it as much as you enjoyed blue diner <3

#i loved answering this thank you mwah mwah <3 #ask

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usafphantom2 · 1 year

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SEPTEMBER 29, 2022

I flew the SR-71 Blackbird in the Cold War, here’s why it was so important

SR-71 In the Cold War

By BC Thomas

The SR-71 has the deserved reputation of being the most unique air-breathing aircraft ever built. No other could fly as fast, as high, or carry thousands of pounds of equipment above 80,000 feet. It was the primary strategic reconnaissance asset for the Free World during the latter 25 years of the Cold War. The SR-71 could sustain continuous Mach 3+ flight for over an hour while obtaining the highest quality reconnaissance information from multiple sensors, and with aerial refueling, the aircraft could have circumnavigated the Earth in one flight. The aircraft was one of the first to employ stealth technology, thereby ensuring that the airplane was almost invisible to radar. Its speed and altitude also cloaked its presence. During this time of sparse reconnaissance satellite coverage over potential enemy targets, the SR-71 could sneak up, gather vital information, and leave the area without warning, and often without notice.

The SR-71 was never successfully intercepted by surface-to-air missile or aircraft. It had a state-of-the-art electronic defensive system which would defeat an incoming missile’s homing and steering. Detectors on board would alert the crew of a missile launch instantly and, since the SR-71 did not normally fly at its maximum speed or altitude, the aircraft’s defense was simultaneously to jam the missile’s guidance while accelerating, climbing, and turning with 45º of bank. No surface-to-air missile could out-turn, thus hit, an SR-71, a fact demonstrated many times, especially during the Vietnam War. Attempts to shoot down an SR-71 continued until August 25, 1981, which was the last time an enemy (North Korea) fired a surface-to-air missile at an SR-71; that mission was flown by Maury Rosenberg, pilot, and Ed McKim, Reconnaissance Systems Officer (RSO).

It missed.

We carried an array of sophisticated sensors and recorders which could glean reconnaissance data with cameras capable of high-quality photographs horizon-to-horizon. We also had radar imagery capable of one-foot resolution. This was the Advanced Synthetic Aperture Radar System (ASARS), which could deliver readable radar pictures night or day, bad weather or clear. I’m no photo interpreter, but even I could tell what was pictured. The SR-71 also carried electronic intelligence (ELINT) systems which are still classified. We advertised that the SR-71, within 24 hours notification, could be over any target on earth and be capable of surveying 100,000 square miles of terrain each hour. It was no idle boast.

The SR-71’s potential versatility is not widely known. Clarence ‘Kelly’ Johnson, the genius designer of all ‘Blackbirds’, was diligent in assuring that the Mach 3+ Blackbird aircraft could fulfil several roles, if needed for national contingencies. The first version was the A-12 aircraft, built for the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). This was a single-person airplane and carried as principal sensor, one very high-resolution optical camera.

youtube

A differently capable aircraft was the YF-12, the Mach 3+ fighter/intercepter version of the Blackbird’s basic design. It was developed as part of Kelly Johnson’s “Universal Aircraft” concept of adapting the fore-body section to accept reconnaissance equipment, air-to-air missiles, or four nuclear weapons. Thus, the Mach 3+ Blackbird type could have been straight reconnaissance, a nuclear bomber, an interceptor, or recon/strike. There is at least one video, available to the public, which shows an actual missile launch from a YF-12 at Mach 3. I’ll add parenthetically that it was also outfitted to be a Mach 3 drone-launch vehicle, but the first test deployment of the D-21 drone failed and resulted in the loss of the Blackbird M-21 launch aircraft.

So it was versatile. But did it deliver?

By the late 1950s, we knew the Soviet Union had better, more capable rocket launch systems than any North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) country. This was dramatically evidenced by two sudden leaps in Soviet advanced technology: 1957, Sputnik, the first artificial satellite; 1961, first man in space to orbit the Earth. These notable achievements shocked the people of the United States and indeed, the Western World.

Knowledge of the military and industrial strength of Communist states was extremely important, and reconnaissance missions against the Soviet Union started as early as 1947. Several American aircraft conducted these flights: the RB-29, RB-47, RB-50, C-130, PB4Y-2, U-2, and the Ryan 147 remotely piloted vehicle (RPV). Reconnaissance flights penetrated Soviet airspace, overflew the land mass, and many were shot down. The Los Angeles Times, 11/12/1992, reported that 40 such reconnaissance aircraft were lost and 200 American airmen died conducting these flights. That number of lost personnel was confirmed by Paul Glenshaw in his article: “Secret Causalities of the Cold War,” Smithsonian Air & Space Magazine, December 2017.

So aerial reconnaissance flights against potential enemies (the Soviet Union, China, North Korea, Cuba, the Middle East) were a top priority. These flights had to be conducted routinely and had to be survivable.

The SR-71 was developed to fill that need. From 1966 to 1990, the SR-71 flew over 3,500 operational reconnaissance missions while logging 11,000 hours in a flight environment which was most hostile: aircraft skin temperature averaged 620º F, outside air pressure was 0.4 pounds-per-square-inch (psi), altitude was 15-16 miles straight up, aerodynamic damping was low, and true airspeed was typically 2,000 to 2,100 miles-per-hour, making pitch controllability critical.

For operational survivability, the SR-71 was one of the safest military aircraft, as no Air Force crew member was killed while flying one, a testament to outstanding aircraft maintenance and crew training. A remarkable record given its extreme flight envelope and potential attack risk.

I’ll summarize the importance of the SR-71 missions by quoting Paul Crickmore, noted aviation historian and Blackbird author, in a letter to me.

“In theatre, the SR-71 proved the concept of high-Mach, high-altitude flight, to obtain vital aerial reconnaissance. The SR-71 regularly conducted reconnaissance missions in the skies over North Vietnam – particularly around Hanoi in 1968-70 which at the time, was the most highly defended area on the planet.”

“The Blackbirds provided superior flexibility compared to satellites, time after time, specific examples—Yom Kippur War 1973, Yemen 1979, Cuba 1977—1990, Lebanon October 1983 (following the truck-bomb attack killing over 240 US Marines), Libya 1986, The Persian Gulf 1987, but perhaps most importantly, the on-going monitoring of Soviet nuclear submarine fleets for the US Navy—particularly the Northern Fleet with their submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs), capable of hitting large areas of the United States, as well as all Allied Countries.”

“The simultaneous, synoptic coverage of information gathered by the SR-71’s sensors, provided the intelligence community and national leadership—with photographic imagery (PHOTINT), radar imagery (RADINT) and electronic intelligence (ELNT), that unquestionably helped to keep the Western World free.”

Richard H Graham, Colonel, USAF (ret) was an SR-71 Instructor Pilot, Squadron Commander, 9th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing Commander, and assigned to the Headquarters USAF (Pentagon) to supervise Programs and Resources as a Strategic Force Programmer. His evaluation of the SR-71’s worth as a reconnaissance asset is quoted from his book: “SR-71 The Complete Illustrated History of the Blackbird, The World’s Highest, Fastest Plane.”

“…the synoptic coverage (displaying conditions as they exist simultaneously over a broad area) provided by the SR-71 was far superior to satellite reconnaissance. Broad-area coverage from different approach angles, in a relatively short time span, produced considerably better intelligence than a predictable, single satellite pass, every ninety minutes. In 1990, the SR-71 was the only airborne reconnaissance platform that could penetrate hostile territory, accomplish wide-area synoptic coverage, and still survive. It could also be tasked reasonably quickly and had the element of surprise.”

Photographs of two SA-2 surface-to-air missiles which were launched against SR-71 #976, July 26, 1968 in the vicinity of Hanoi, Vietnam. Tony Bevacqua (Pilot), Jerry Crew (RSO).

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jamesbi-canonbarnes · 3 years

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Anyway James “Bucky” Barnes is literally into men in mcu canon.

“Tiger photos” is queer text. It’s not even subtext, that’s literally text where the primary reading is that Bucky sought out men’s dating profiles. Mind the goal posts 😘

#bi!bucky #gay!bucky #queer!bucky #bucky barnes #tfatws #just doin my part to spread the bi bucky gospel #literally like learn the difference between subtext and context #this is text that is queer in context it is not subtext #it is not up to interpretation bc the primary interpretation is clear #like I mean it’s vague and subtle yes but it is text #IMO it’s canon and if they want him to be straight they will have to disprove the primary queer meaning IN TEXT #a man does not have to say ‘I want to sleep with men’ to be mlm that’s ridiculous #does a man have to say anything specific to be into women on tv? no #so stop saying it has to be different for queer men #diss course meal #not that subtext isn’t also part of the canon but it’s a whole thing where queer subtext often isn’t queer denoting #but text that is queer with the relevant context is unmistakably queer denoting #so this is queer denoting text and that means #bucky barnes is queer

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assortedpuzzlepieces · 3 years

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Ok, I’m about to go off on a GIANT rant about a specific issue I have with John Winchester & how the show intentionally & canonically portrays him as an ableist, homophobic asshole through his portrayal by JDM, so buckle up.

For the record, this is something I’ve always believed, but after listening to podcast episodes from @otrsupernatural & Carrying Wayward, one super clear example of why has just snapped into place & I feel compelled to share it.

So I want to start by noting a couple things that stand out. First & foremost, I think JDM is an incredible actor & I think he brings his A game with his portrayal of John. John Winchester is undeniably an asshole, & yet JDM balances that so well against the idea of loving parent, to not only make the character more realistic, but also to give real authenticity & depth to the trauma his children experienced at his hands & answer why they act the way they do in regards to him as their parent.

John is someone who, on the surface, appears to be a loving and concerned father, who makes mistakes, but does so because he’s in shitty circumstances & doesn’t have a lot of options or has his own trauma to battle that limits the choices he believes he has.

However, the show also gives us other content that proves there is more to John than that caring but broken man from as early as S1 & into the beginning of S2, & this content screams the truth of his ableism & homophobia, & gives some really strong evidence as to why these are two of the primary struggles of his children through the end of the series.

To explain, we 1st have to look at characters from earlier in S1. In 1x10, Asylum, we are introduced to Dr. Ellicott. He is shown to be someone who is canonically ableist to people with MHI. He sees them as less human, he does unethical experiments on them, he tortures them, just, lots of gross stuff there. On top of that, we see him as a ghost using what appears to be electrical shocks to Sam & Dean to possess & harm them, which resembles electroshock. There are also strong echoes of conversion therapy in this episode.

After this, we have 1x12, Faith, where Sue Ann is using dark magic to attack & murder people she hates, which specifically includes a woman who was pro choice & a gay man. This not only shows that she was homophobic, but that she condemned sexual freedom & bodily autonomy for women as well, which is in relation to homophobia, as well as deeply rooted in misogyny.

So essentially, we are shown a doctor who tries to force people to be less mentally ill or queer by “curing” them, & then a woman who took it a step further & murdered them to “cleanse” the town. We are given two different, but very interwoven ways with which society has tried to get rid of queers & disabled people, & it’s not subtext, it’s literally stated.

Now, in the show, both Dr. Ellicott & Sue Ann are the villains, & while the show demonstrates their ableism & homophobia, it also clearly condemns them for those actions. They are both dead/gone by the end of the episode & their actions are shown as evil. This is SO important, especially for a show that has failed in other episodes to truly state what exactly is the problematic action in the episode (looking at you, Bugs & Route 666).

That said, if Dr. Ellicott & Sue Ann are villains, then we must also extrapolate that ableism & homophobia are intentionally being written as evil in the show, so other characters who demonstrate these actions are also bad. (Yes, I know I’m being super redundant right now, but I just want to be really damn clear on this to demonstrate why I believe John’s characterization is intentional).

Now, in 1x21, John finally “learns” about Sam’s psychic abilities, & I say that in quotes bc there’s reason to believe he knew about it already from Missouri & was just in denial until confronted with the evidence, at which point he has a very strong reaction. As Ali pointed out, it’s interesting that he has such a strong negative reaction, as he clearly doesn’t have an issue with Missouri as a psychic, & yet he’s upset about Sam being one. He demonstrates the mindset of “othering” people outside of his family, which is a common treatment of both people w/ MHI & queer people - the mentality that “those people” are fine in general, but “not my son/daughter/family/me”.

So here in that episode, we are already getting an attitude from him that clearly parallels ableism & homophobia, & that is on top of other comments he made that are clearly rooted in misogyny, like his “that’s my man” to Dean in the flashback in Something Wicked This Way Comes (1x18).

THEN - the final nail in the coffin is the “secret” he tells Dean before he dies in 2x1; that Dean needs to either save Sam or stop him. By now it’s crystal clear he views Sam as something “other”, something not fully human, & his response? It’s literally “cure or cleanse”. Either make him “normal” or get rid of him.

To repeat, John LITERALLY uses ableist & homophobic language & tactics towards him son because he is different, & also tries to force Dean to do the same, passing on that legacy, by trying to erase anything about Sam thats not his personal definition of “normal”, all out of FEAR of who his son is & what he might do.

And the show CONDEMNS this behavior from the very beginning, even before we ever see him act this way!! They make it clear that ableism & homophobia are BAD, show John act that way, & then condemn him AGAIN when Dean tells Sam & it is made clear to the audience that what John asked of him was wrong.

Like… holy fuck. There is literally no way I can watch this & not believe that his characterization was not 100% intentional with him being set up as a bad person & his actions as condemnable. It’s just not narratively possible. John Winchester was intentionally written to be an asshole & we are supposed to see him as one, & any love we see from him is only meant to validate the complicated feelings Sam & Dean have towards him, not undermine the knowledge that he is a bad person. It’s literally in the text.

*Edit - Im adding a point here, since it’s been brought to my attention. John’s concern about Sam being infected with demon blood & possibly corrupted does not detract from the parallel being made between his actions & those of IRL people who are homophobic or ableist. In fact, this is another argument for that in interpretation, & here is why -

For literal thousands of years, mental illness has been viewed as demonic. People w/ MHI were thought to be possessed, evil incarnations, or even just sinfully corrupt & given to wickedness. People w/ physical disabilities were believed to be punished for moral failings, not faithful enough, etc, etc. Queer people were believed to be sexually deviant, witches, destroyers of families, etc.

These beliefs carry across many religions, but especially Christianity, & are present even today in some more extreme sects. And the people that believed these things? Well many of them were parents who “loved” their child & were trying to protect them from evil by purifying them. They too believed they had valid fears & good reasons to torture, maim, & even kill their children.

So to anyone who would argue “well it’s not the same because John had a good reason to be afraid of Sam” - shut the fuck up, because no, he didn’t.

Sam hadn’t hurt anyone. He wasn’t doing anything worth killing him over. He was a good kid who was hurt by someone outside his control & yet he only started doing anything that was truly wrong when he was pushed to it by circumstances that were again, beyond his control, & only then bc he was trying to do what was right!!

Anyone would do that, not just a kid w/ some demon blood powers. So let’s not act like he was inherently dangerous just BC he was different, bc guess what? That’s part of that mindset too. Sam was a good fucking person & John seeing him as less was John’s failing, not Sam’s.

#supernatural #dean winchester #sam winchester #john winchester #i hate john winchester #ableism #homophobia #misogyny #othering #asshole John Winchester

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baltears · 2 years

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westworld meta thoughts dump

- three of the main characters have clear thematic relationships to the idea of the divided or bifurcated self (dolores, william, and bernard) while one (maeve) does not. maeve has a possible connection in the form of akane but i feel like this is kind of a stretch because 1) it’s clearly established that akane is her own person and not bound to maeve by anything much stronger than kinship or affinity, 2) akane’s principal difference from maeve is her refusal of power/freedom in exchange for love – arguably an exchange maeve also made in s1 by refusing to leave the park, so not a big enough difference to paint akane as maeve’s “shadow self” in the same way the other three have.

- three of the main characters have clear thematic relationships to the park’s two founders (bernard, dolores, and maeve) while one (william) does not. bernard is a copy of arnold created by ford, and dolores and maeve are the metaphorical ‘children’ of arnold and ford respectively and align on a basic level with their personalities and ideologies. william is personally interested in arnold and is acquainted with and presented as a kind of foil to ford (who dislikes him), but has no deep tie to either one. (worth noting that ford also resents dolores for killing arnold.)

- maeve and bernard kierkegaard’s knights of faith, dolores and william knights of infinite resignation. maeve and bernard (bernard to a lesser extent) still appear to be holding on to the idea that they somehow, impossibly (which is the point), can attain a future where they can happily be with their absent loved ones again whereas dolores and william have resigned themselves to the impossibility of this but cannot/will not move on. (dolores’ ‘loved one’ in this respect probably being her feelings about the world in general as opposed to william himself bc that’s the thing she’s spent more time openly struggling with but it’s tough to definitively say since she has a similar hangup/fixation wrt william that he has with her. what we do know is at the end of s3 she kind of accepted her fate and gave up on the prospect of surviving to enjoy the world through her new-old lens of faith and love. not saying that on a literal level she really had another option but thematically i feel like it’s a possible read given how they portrayed her reaction to what was happening, we’ll have to see where they take her character in s4)

- experiential vs factual knowledge as a primary conflict, w factual knowledge being tied to agency and self actualization while experiential knowledge is more related to love and meaning. worth noting that all three of the hosts have to process factual knowledge (the fact that they are robots, everything about who they are is a product of programming, and they are trapped in westworld) and come out the other side with a renewed appreciation for their experiential knowledge (understanding that their loved ones and feelings of love and meaning still have value and are real despite being pre-determined in some cases), but when william goes through the same situation he fails this test and loses his experiential knowledge (ie that dolores is a person who loves him) and begins to struggle as a result because his life appears to have no meaning.

- death and ego death as impermanences and basic fixtures of the continual evolution of the self (this is why we feel like it doesn’t really matter that dolores and william are both ostensibly dead at the end of s3, bc the show has depicted death as a locus of change but not a definitive end – see dolores “remembering” arnold/bernard.) all i expect this means is that the characters will continue evolving over time

- I keep coming back to that line ford said in vanishing point where he was talking about “one final game.” the obvious interpretation is that he meant the gambit leading up to his death and the hosts being freed but the context kind of points to something else going on there. like. why did he direct it at william. why did he say it right after handing him the profile. why did that event very directly lead up to such a significant turning point in williams life but rely on him making a number of minor decisions that it would be weird for ford to have been able to predict. just a tad fishy if you ask me.

#nothing to see here just a bunch of unfiltered disorganized impressions :)#there are more thoughts floating around in here it's just tough to choose what's worth talking about #a lot's happened in the story but it still feels very unfinished #hard to see exactly where they're going with certain things #westworld

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dai-bendu-conlang · 3 years

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this is probably not what the anon intended but as a nonbinary person, the thought of "no gender only jedi" or more likely "no gender only the force" is pretty interesting

Alright, I (loosingletters) was gonna reply to this in a way shorter way, but this answer got longer and longer bc I have A Lot Of Opinions On Pronouns as a trans person, so here we go:

The primary purpose of pronouns is to refer to an object/person, present or not, in a way that makes it clear for all people involved in a conversation who they are talking about. Secondly, pronouns further define a person and so, willingly or not, create more or less restraint categories. They separate a society into boxes and define which box you fit in. This is why gender and the pronouns Earth languages use to express them can be both a really powerful tool for figuring yourself out, and also a really painful hindrance if you don’t see yourself reflected in them.

We, of course, are slowly becoming more liberal with pronouns and more accepting of neo-pronouns as well.

Now, when you look at a galaxy far away, this becomes very complicated. You have a society with different species, and all those species have multiple different cultures. Just think about how diverse the earth is— now replicate that for each alien species of Star Wars, and then some. This, of course, also applies to their concept of pronouns and gender. If you look at the galaxy like this, gendered pronouns are honestly,,, well. Extremely difficult to apply.

What if a society doesn’t divide into male/female, but has 5 biological categories? If they divided by sex (not gender, gender is even more complex), that’s 5 possible pronouns. Now enter somebody who is human — which pronoun are they supposed to use?

Now add gender on top of that, and you see what kind of mess this creates. Even if we divorce gender from sex, our perceptions on gender are still associated with our perceptions of what a certain sex is supposed to behave like. (Take for example people who are cis female and identify as such, but use he/him pronouns because they feel more comfortable with the gender expression of he/him pronouns, or people who are going through a time of Uncomfortable Gender Feelings and use they/them while not fully identifying as NB.)

Do people, therefore, just pick a pronoun in their language and use it everywhere? Or do they pick one from the language they are currently speaking in and adapt it? Endless possibilities.

If you consider that the Dai Bendu language, as we created it, was adapted by multiple different species, you very quickly run into the pronoun problem. You have multiple biologies and cultures to consider so anything related to concepts of sex or gender is just out of question because it will alienate, at minimum, one person.

So where does that leave us?

There are, in fact, various other pronoun categories we could go with. As mentioned before, all a pronoun has to do is refer to an object/person, present or not, in a way that makes it clear for all people involved in a conversation who they are talking about. We could have made pronouns that don’t divide at all, one fits all kind of style, then pronouns that divide by age or rank.

We looked at the Jedi and what their core values are. In the end, we returned to the concept of community. So what we ended up doing is divide the 3rd person pronouns into Jedi (kar) / Non-Jedi (tep) / Non-Sentient (qa).

What does that mean?

Essentially, it means that every “kar” is a reassurance of community. You identify a person as belonging to your people, as being family. “tep,” as such, marks outsiders. This can, obviously, be interpreted negatively. However, if you look at the Jedi’s general attitude towards the world, we think it puts a much kinder perspective on it.

Jedi see themselves as part of the galaxy they swear to protect. Therefore the devide into “kar” and “tep” is not “we” and “outsider”, but “we” and “those sworn to protect”. This also lends very well into the concept of the Jedi valuing every life. Just think of the episode of TCW where Ima-Gun Di dies. He is the last one standing, working to protect all the Twi’lek. He doesn’t say “these people are outsiders, they don’t concern me”. He says “I swore to protect this galaxy and its inhabitants”, so that’s what he does.

The divide into Sentient (kar/tep) and Non-Sentient (qa) is therefore a question of whether somebody is considered Sentient or not. This is, given we all know of the Force, a rather easy task for the Jedi.

To return to your original statement, yeah, Dai Bendu pretty much says “You’re either family, somebody we care for, or an object”. Gender plays absolutely no role.

#dai bendu #star wars #jedi #meta #anon #ask

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mistresseast · 3 years

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can you explain in more detail why you think the PT weren't good friends for akiren? i'm not asking out of hate or to start drama, i just never interpreted things that way and i'm genuinely curious. i don't think them being brainwashed by maruki makes them "bad friends", but i don't know if that's what you meant either. i'd love to read a proper explanation on this that isn't just people arguing in the notes of that post.

Hi! Yeah, I know the ~discourse~ climate is pretty touchy and not a good place to exchange ideas, so I’ll do my best to put my thoughts on this matter into words.

Settle in, bc this one is long.

I’ll start off by saying I don’t dislike the PT, nor do I think they’re bad people, and honestly I think they love Joker a lot! Ryuji calling Akira after his fake death and talking about how his ideas on what makes a hero have changed because of Akira genuinely makes me emotional, along with dozens of other scenes with the thieves! They’re good kids who could be really good friends to Akira but that’s not what’s shown in the game. I don’t think it’s controversial to say Akira’s relationships with all of his friends are transactional. That’s kind of the point, all of his confidants arise out of deals, give and take, and in the metanarrative of the game, that’s how it works. You as the player help these characters solve their problems, and through ranking their confidants up, you get access to more gameplay perks. So it’s pretty even!! But like,,Akira, the character, isn’t the player. There’s no in-story mechanic by which he can cash in friendship points for being-good-at-killing-things prizes. Yes, he uses those abilities to not die in the metaverse, but there is no literal, in-universe way to explain how hanging out with someone translates to [insert gameplay perk here]. So you have to look at what is physically happening in the story. Akira hangs out with the PT, stands there while they have drama with another irrelevant character, and then one way or another their problems get solved and they swear to be Akira’s blood brother or whatever. Akira is a crutch for these characters, and they say multiple times that they wouldn’t have been able to do what they did without him. So all of their shit gets handled and Akira gets?? Like actually gets?? What? Inquiries about his well-being? Offers to help him? Questions about his life, his interests? No,,,not really,, But he gets access to a super powerful persona!! Yay!!! Bc everyone knows he’s just a little shadow-killing machine, right? And even the relationships he does get something tangible (as in separate from the mechanics of the game) out of, like Kawakami’s, are built on the notion that if Akira stops providing for whatever reason, the relationship will end. So essentially, Akira is under the pressure of filling whatever role his friends need him in for however long at any time, and he’s been led to believe that if he stops or fails, he will stop receiving any reciprocal care and acceptance.

(And I know this is all gameplay stuff, I know it has to be like this to codify the complicated process of human relationships, I know all of that, I’m just trying to find a deeper layer bc that’s what I do.)

This whole thing comes into pretty clear focus for me during the third semester when you visit everyone in the false reality. Everyone is happy to see him, of course, but they’re clearly wrapped up in their own happiness. Which is understandable, again, I’m not saying the PT need to be attached to Akira to be good friends, but it all still feels off to me.

If they know Joker, then they’d know it’s weird that he just shows up and starts asking these pointed questions while they’re in the middle of something. All of their other interactions with him have been led by them. Yeah, Joker approaches them bc the player has decided to hang out with them, but the other character always chooses the activity and leads the discussion. Akira showing up out of nowhere and asking them to “remember” and “move on” and whatnot should be raising some major red flags. And it clearly does, since their memories do start to return, but they’re all too scared of losing their happiness that they nope out of the conversation as soon as possible, without stopping to consider why Joker might be trying to reach out to them like that. They’re his friends; they should know he wouldn’t just be trying to hurt them or make them unhappy. After all, their entire relationship with him up til that point has been exclusively about Joker trying to help them. This doesn’t make the PT bad people, running away is a totally natural reaction in that situation. They’re just kids, and their minds have been manipulated to a point, but it’s not like they don’t remember Joker or the way they’ve grown since meeting him. In fact many of them mention how much they’ve matured recently, but they never actually relate that back to Akira, despite him being the primary driving force behind most of their personal arcs, even though they definitely remember him. Translation vagueness or deliberate nod to the idea that the PT don’t actually credit Akira with all the hard work he did after their initial lip service? Hmmm. Anyway, their failure to recognize that Joker is struggling just demonstrates to me what was set up all throughout their confidant links, that their relationships are transactional and that they don’t necessarily consider Joker and his individual needs outside of what he provides for them. And when they no longer need him bc that hole has been filled, he simply doesn’t occupy the same place of importance in their lives.

Makoto’s flashback in particular stood out to me, bc it was from a moment where she was specifically talking about feeling like she finally found a place to belong with the Phantom Thieves (and by extension, with Joker), but then she desperately tries to brush it off. Obviously that sense of belonging wasn’t meaningful enough to her for her to want it back. And I’m not blaming her, of course, any teenager would choose to have their father back over being in a vigilante group lmao, I just thought it was telling that the devs decided to show us a scene that was originally meant to be heartwarming as an example of the harsh reality Makoto wants to forget. All of the flashbacks are from defining moments for the thieves, but that one specifically got me like *thinking emoji*

So his friends are hesitant, despite the fact that they must know something is wrong. It’s understandable, they all stand to lose a lot if someone messes with the status quo. I genuinely don’t think I would react any differently. But there is someone who reacts differently and against his own self-interest. It’s Goro, the one who has arguably the most to lose, who doesn’t turn away from Akira. He seeks Akira out and teams up with him to uncover what’s really going on, even though he has every reason to believe that prodding too deep will literally mean the end of his life. He forces Akira and himself to face the truth because he knows anything else would just be an insult to what they’ve suffered so far. He’s the only one who never flinches, and that, more than any of his friends’ come-to-jesusing (which Akira still has to initiate) is what Akira needs in that situation. For the first time (outside of the brief instances in the tutorial levels), we see a situation where Akira is actually the dependent one, the one who needs help, who needs support. And the only one who has ever provided that, unconditionally, without demanding anything in return, is Goro. I could go into how Goro’s confidant blows all of the others out of the water in terms of building both himself AND Akira as characters, but it’s been said already and by smarter people than me. But basically, despite competition being a core theme of their relationship, Goro is the only character who is portrayed as Akira’s equal. Their contests are all in the name of improving not just Goro, but Akira too. Goro is the only character who expresses an interest in Akira’s inner life and development, and as such he knows Akira better than anyone else. So when Maruki tries to trap them all in a gilded birdcage, Goro won’t stand for it and he knows Akira won’t stand for it either. That’s why he’s so betrayed if you choose to accept the dreamworld. You’re negating the basis of your entire relationship with him and going against your own principles. Out of every character in the game, the one who knows Akira best and refuses to abandon him even when that could mean his own death is Goro Akechi.

I want to reiterate: I do not hate or even dislike the PT!! And tbh I don’t really think they “abandoned” Akira. That post, imo, is supposed to be kind of hyperbolic. Unless it’s referring to how many of them literally sprint away when he comes to talk to them lol. I look at it more like a commentary on how thoughtlessly the PT act as soon as their wishes are granted. I know it’s set up linearly for story purposes, but isn’t it kind of sad how no one checks up on Akira in the week he’s going around talking to people? Especially after he’s been acting so comparatively weird? It’s not unusual that they might be caught up in other stuff, but while you’re going around and visiting everyone, you don’t get a single text or call from ANY of the thieves, for a whole week!! Goro even comments on it directly with his pointed little “I’m sure you’re just as close as you were before” comment. God, he’s such a bitch. Ultimately, the PT do get their acts together, and it’s partially out of the realization that Akira is struggling alone against something and needs their help, which I love and appreciate. I think they are good friends who want to support Akira, but they can’t understand him past the role they’ve placed him in, and until they do, they’ll never be able to be what he needs. Akira loves his friends and knows he can rely on them in most ways, but those relationships will always be dogged by the pervasive fear that he must constantly earn the right to have the relationship at all. What he needs MOST is someone he doesn’t have to perform for, and from what we see in the game, none of the thieves fit that bill. Except Goro.

I know this was long and rambly and probably pretty disjointed but I wanted to be as thorough as possible and all of my thoughts just sort of gushed out. Obviously ymmv about all of this depending on how you interpret the game, but this is what I arrived at thanks to my analysis so this is what I have for you! Thank you for coming to my Ted Talk

#ask tag #anon #this is not an invitation for argument or discourse #i simply wanted to provide my interpretation of things #rude and probing questions will be deleted :)

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