#you know. that thing the justice system is never supposed to do. bc if you WERENT presuming guilt

[timeisacephalopod]

The perils of loving true crime content but hating when it veers into either Tough On Crime right wing reactionary content or Weird Gratuitous Descriptions of Crimes territory. I find the first far more than the second and it drives me nuts that anyone could think prison will solve violence when prison in itself is a wildly violent place that obviously doesn't work. If it did the US would be Squeaky Clean Crimeless and that ain't true.

Seriously though I love true crime content but these days have such a hard time finding stuff that gives the facts of the story plainly without deciding to advocate for ridiculous prison sentences and a bunch of other copaganda adjacent shit is surprisingly difficult and frankly says a lot about the way we discuss, conceptualize, and react to crime. Especially when a lot of crime is literally just criminalizing addiction, a mental health problem, so fully defending and uncritically advocating for the prison and policing system especially when true crime stories are more often than not stories of police incompetence is just baffling. And no just because true crime tends to mean violent crime that does not mean prison will solve the problem any more than it would solve an addicts addiction and frankly I don't even want an ideological slant I just want the damn facts without right wing shit being evangelized to me. Wonder how many people even notice this shit, because its so ingrained in true crime content that it feels like the only ones who notice are insufferable blue hair pronoun using leftists like myself.

#winters ramblings #i fuckin hate right wing bullshit in true crime just tell me how shit played out and dont assume cops are always right #and that prison will solve the fucking worlds ills it wont if it did i think america wouldnt have a prison population like that #and the worst part is that this mentality DOESNT stop with child offenders!!! like are you KIDDING ME?? #any time someone advocates for charging a child as an adult i want to point out theyre presuming guilt over innocence #you know. that thing the justice system is never supposed to do. bc if you WERENT presuming guilt #youd have no reason to charge a minor as an adult for the sevarity of their crime. you CANNOT do that without assuming guilt #ill never forget reading yourube comments that said two TEN year olds should have gotten the death sentence #now they committed a VERY disturbing murder and it was very clear they were disturbed kids but EXECUTING CHILDREN?? #youd think you wouldnt have to tell grown adults how fucked up that is but apparently not #and none of them seemed to think thier advocating for the death of two ten year olds is about as disturbing as the crime #those kids committed. #i dont actually have blue hair for the record but still #also youd be ahocked at the amount of people who peoclaim themselves to be left wing amd IMMEDIATELY turn to right wing #reactionary nonsense basically instantly when discussing violent crime. like congrats you did not do the assignment

[sku11s1asher]

hi! i loved what you wrote for my request 😭 it was so cute, i didn't really specify it bc i forgot but yeah u did it amazing <33

and yeah u can totally make a part 2! actually i was thinking about it bc i can imagine a meeting between furina and the natlan archon while neuvi and reader are just giving glances to eachother 😭 reader looking like a total meanace but in his mind like "damn he's handsome" almost burning his cheeks and the seat lmao

neuvillette x m! reader (part 1)

note: ngl i feel like i do good at posting then smth with school pops up and i don’t post for like a month.. sorry y’all. also please tell me im not the only one who’s been on and off sick for the past month, rn i have a runny nose and a sore throat AGAIN. i just got over that like, barely 2 weeks ago.

tw: y/n is a bit of a weirdo with his thoughts since he doesn’t understand anything w/ love, internal homophobia (not really but kinda?), y/n is all over the place

After centuries of fighting, killing, and not showing emotions to anyone, all that can end because of a guy with beautiful long hair. The more y/n thinks about it, the more embarrassed he gets. He’s known for being a fearless and intimidating warrior, just for that whole facade to disappear just over a man out of all things.

This whole scenario came into place because his nation archon just had to have a meeting with Fontaine's archon, Furina, at least y/n thinks that’s her name. The meeting consisted of figuring out how to make the justice system within Natlan better and a way to make transportation easier between the two nations. y/n didn’t pay attention to the little details, he was only there to ‘protect’ his archon and make sure things went smoothly.

However, he didn’t realize that the other archon would be bringing a guest with her until a day before the meeting. It did tick y/n off a little bit that he would get notified so late but does it really matter? All y/n is doing is protecting and making sure everything doesn’t go south.

Well, it did go a bit south, as soon as Furina's guest arrived, y/n's mouth went dry. That man did things to him that he didn’t even know could happen. Maybe it was the long hair on the other man that made y/n feel warm inside, it definitely couldn’t have been the slight scent he had. No, definitely not.

Okay, y/n takes that back, he feels like he’s getting intoxicated by the proximity of the other male. It wasn’t hard to figure out that the guest, was a dragon, all it took was a quick look and a secret deep breath to figure it out. He had it figured out, his body wasn’t used to being by another dragon, and he hadn’t seen one in what, centuries? This feeling would go away in maybe 20 minutes, hopefully.

20 minutes later and y/n feels like he’s going to light the whole place on fire. His whole body feels like it’s melting, and to no one’s surprise, it’s all due to the long-haired man in front of him. The stranger might genuinely be the hottest person y/n has ever seen in his entire life. That long hair makes y/n want to run his fingers through it, maybe brush it, but that might be a bit too much to think about.

Once y/n saw the man look at him, he quickly looked away, how embarrassing.. he got caught staring hardcore. He took a deep breath before listening back into the conversation, “Ah, yes, I suppose it would do both nations good to do something like that. Maybe combining a bit of power.” the lovey talk of archons, always talking about power; like it’s the only thing that matters to them.

Power is important though, y/n is in the position he’s in right now because of how powerful he is. In complete honesty, he’s probably too powerful for his own good, only knowing how to use it to protect his nation from people deemed as enemies; even if they aren’t in the public eye. Power rules everything at the end of the day, nothing can function without power.

The more he listens into the conversation, the more he realizes he was glad he was never born as an archon; he’s been around one most of his life and it’s always been boring. Listening in did provide small details though, like the mysterious man’s name.

While y/n was somewhat able to keep his focus off of the other dragon in the room, he managed to not burn anything. But, he had a feeling his archon caught on as they gave him a questionable look; it was a very subtle one that only he could catch onto but it was obvious they knew something. Nothing is going on though, right? The man can’t help it if he gets a bit flustered whenever he remembers Neuvillette is near him.

Gosh, y/n probably looks like a blushed teenager who just confessed to his crush. Well, he at least thought he did. To everyone else though, he looked like he was on guard and was going to fight anyone who even took a step too close to his and the Natlan archon's bubble. y/ns hand accidentally gazed at the chair near him, which caused the leather to burn where his touch was. Good thing no one was looking, right?

y/n couldn’t wait any longer for this meeting to be over, his brain was thinking too many things while he was focusing on every single move everyone else did. It would be overwhelming for anyone who wasn’t trained and as skilled as he was, but that tiny overwhelming feeling didn’t compare to how fast his heart was beating. y/n hoped the other male couldn’t pick up how he was feeling, thankfully Fontaine's archon seemed to be happy with the deal she and the other archon came up with.

In Neuvillette's mind, he could tell that the fire dragon was on edge. He could also tell how much the dragon was staring at him, it was a little nerve-racking. Once Neuvillette caught a glance at the chair that was touched, it made him a bit surprised but he didn’t show it. Maybe he would talk to the other male after the meeting, for work-related things of course!

#genshin impact x male reader #neuvillette x male reader #gay #male reader #mlm #oneshot #genshin impact x reader #neuvillette x reader #reader is in love #request #fluff #first meeting #midshot #x male reader #genshin x male reader #neuvillette

[ladyloveandjustice]

Seeing people claim Ace Attorney isn’t a criticism of the justice system bc Shu Takumi didn’t know anything about the law before he started writing the game. But...you don’t have to know the law intricately to know your country has a high conviction rate, or that forced confessions are common? I don’t know much about the law but I know there’s corruption in US courts, it’s not rocket science.

And the only evidence there are no satirical elements of the game is that Takumi says he just came up with the game because he thought court battles would be a fun element to add to a detective game, but like. Nobody ever doubted that. I never thought Takumi sat down and thought ‘man I just really want to parody the japanese justice system. That’s my main reason for making this game!”

Nobody was ever saying he and the rest of the team weren’t thinking ‘let’s make a fun game’ before anything else. But that doesn’t mean critical elements didn’t make it into the game.

 Th other way people are getting the idea that he doesn’t want this is this fan translated thing, where he says Ace Attorney as a simple game and the only point is ‘see through lies’

A major prerequisite for Gyakuten Saiban is it’s so simple “even my mother could play it”.  So there is only one point at the core of the game: “Seeing through lies”.

Naruhodō: He didn’t want to add all kinds of elements for the player to think about, like alibis, tricks or about the culprit. It’d just confuse them. Mayoi: Really.

Mayoi: But, but, why the trials then? Naruhodō: “A story about a detective seeing through lies” wouldn’t be any different from the other games out there. So that’s why he decided to have someone whose job is seeing through lies as the protagonist.

Naruhodō: Occasionally  TakuShū sees magazines introducing the game as “a work that dared to take on the theme of trials”, and that actually hurts him. Mayoi: He never meant to be something as big as that….

This is an incredibly vague statement, and doesn’t say much of anything- it’s just like ‘golly gee shucks we’re just a humble game kids could play! so simple! There is nothing else here!” And there are blatant lies! Like claiming Ace Attorney doesn’t include ‘alibis and tricks about the culprit’ is such a blatant lie it’s hilarious.

And it’s also provably untrue that the only thing in Ace Attorney is the game play and it has no other themes or we wouldn’t be talking about it.. It is a story. You’re clearly supposed to care about the characters. Grief and trauma is a huge part of the storyline, for example. It has more elements than ‘let’s see through lies’. We know this. So it’s silly to say ‘oh this proves Ace Attorney is completely disconnected from the real world. ‘gosh our game is so easy to play, not intimidating, not heavy’ I mean come on, it’s literally marketing.

Also, unlike detectives, the popular conception of a defense attorney is not ‘someone who sees through lies’. It’s someone who tells lies to get their client off no matter what. So like even the claim ‘a defense attorney’s job is to see through lies!” is kind of telling.

I’m not expecting Takumi or anyone else on the team to come out and be like “oh yes I’m criticizing the justice system, an extremely unpopular thing to do, especially 20 years ago (when that post was written)”. People want to sell games.

The fact is Japanese courts have a high conviction rate and Ace Attorney plays this by portraying prosecutors are wealthy and overconfident and includes prosecutors that actively use infamous real tactics like forced confession that are availble to Japanese law enforcement due to how little they’re restricted, literally has a character want revenge on prosecutors after being wrongfully convicted after a forced confession and having his life ruined. Lot of weird coincidences! Huh! And then there’s like. The entirety of Rise from the Ashes.

 Even if somehow Takumi and the team were doing this accidentally and subconsciously, it’s clear their understanding of what’s going on around them played into how the game’s set up, and that it says something that the  main character fights against those things, and is looked down on for being a defense attorney.

And when they finally did do a that game about a prosecutor...like, you can’t play Investigations 2 without seeing that it has political undertones- Miles literally says that prosecutors are corrupt, and considers quitting, but then says he can’t ignore the corruption and wants to change it. He makes a blatant speech about how the prosecutors and police corruption CREATED the antagonist of the game, and he wants to make a world where that doesn’t happen. It’s not subtle. Aaaand  Investigations 2 wasn’t written by Takumi. Lots of other people helped create Ace Attorney, it’s a group effort.

#ace attorney #phoenix wright #why did i write this whole post #i think i just felt like writing a post #also i saw this going around and looked up the evidence and it's like...that's it?

[4lph4kidz]

7, 17, 27 and 28 for the writing asks? :3

thank you for asking!

7. What is your deepest joy about writing?

i like the excitement of ideating and making connections between those ideas, seeing the project start to take shape. i like the later stages where i'm polishing what i've got, making sure that the language conveys what i want it to and that the whole thing flows well. enjoying the middle part... is more difficult.

17. Talk to me about the minutiae of your current WIP. Tell me about the lore, the history, the detail, the things that won’t make it in the text.

Mmmmh. So, Bound in Ink and Iron was initially supposed to be a pretty light affair where i played with fairy tale tropes, but i ended up going into more typical dark fantasy territory because i love that genre so much and i wanted to embrace that. i made a lot of notes and planning about the setting because i wanted to feel like i understood the world, as it was really important for me to accurately capture the outlook of an analytic and self-assured character like dirk. i have way too much to share everything here, but i have extensive notes on the magic system of that world bc i can draw on canon's power system and themes pretty easily. Excerpt of those notes here:

Magic is a force in the world that many people can tap into, but powerful magic is something a select few are born with or are able to wield in a meaningful capacity - Homestuck is a chosen one story in a sense and its world is not fair. Power is something that comes to you with a price. Everyone taps into or channels magic in a different way - the idea of classpects, mechanics and role and character tied together, people can have different affinities in a figurative sense. Characters may prefer certain techniques or materials - magic as an almost artistic medium, but more than that, an expression of self. It is very difficult to try and learn magic 'someone else's way', though its possible to imitate. As POV character Dirk is someone with a relatively scientific, technical approach to magic - he prefers to inscribe patterns, craft objects and follow rituals - and while he has an intuitive ability to sense magic presence, he struggles to wrap his head around or understand forms that are created with methods and approaches unlike his own.

When it comes to fic, i like AUs because i like worldbuilding and trying to imitate and play with different genres and i like having room for original spins on stuff. i do like minutiae, even if much of it never makes it into the story or is disregarded as the plot demands. i'm a major perfectionist and if i'm too precious about it it can be counterproductive in the long run, you know? if it was an original work i would be more thorough, i think, but this is fanfiction and i want to get to the finish line more than i need to make my most perfect magnum opus.

27. Who is the most stressful character you’ve ever written? Why?

jake is stressful because i feel like it's very easy to mischaracterise him in fanwork, but i worry about writing jane the most. i have feelings about her handling in canon and post canon, and would find a different outcome vastly preferable, but i also don't want to reject canon or erase her complexities from her completely!

i also generally stress about characters that are secondary or tertiary in my fics because i feel like i've not given them the same consideration i would the characters at the center of the work? sometimes the main focus necessitates putting the incidental characters in a less than optimal position in the work, and i don't really like feeling like i'm not doing them justice.

28. Who is the most delightful character you’ve ever written? Why?

i have a lot of fun with jake, despite aforementioned concerns! i like the character a lot and i'm told it shows. he is delightful, to me.

#i actually think the most delightful characters i've written are just some ocs i'm very fond of but this is my hs blog so #ask meme #sorry if this is rambly

[moriihana]

we can't fix each other but we sure as hell can enable each other instead || six: why does everyone monologue so much

pairing: dabi x disabled!gn!reader

overview: you meet dabi pre-canon because your cat, nugget, literally won’t leave the guy alone. friendship, fluff and (eventual) angst ensue.

chapter summary: shigaraki makes a mistake (kidnaps a Child™), a grandpa knocks out dabi and upsets you, then shit goes sideways and you're kinda homeless again but not really

content: aaaaangst?

word count: 1788

a/n: couldn't find a good enough gif for dabi so we've got the asshole thumb thumb lookin fucker instead

*previously known as “we can’t fix each other (but we can heal our wounds together)”; i changed the title bc these assholes aint healin shit they’re just being overall menaces

AO3 link

← previous ; next →

“I’ll ask you one more time, aspiring hero, Bakugo Katsuki… will you join me?”

You had to withhold a laugh at Shigaraki’s question. He really thinks kidnapping this kid and chaining him up will win his favour? 

“If you’re gonna talk in your sleep, you should just go to sleep and die,” Bakugo snarled. You did laugh at that. 

“I think you just got owned by a kid, boss.” You grinned, disregarding Shigaraki’s withering glare. Dabi elbowed you and mouthed ‘not the time’. 

Shigaraki turned his attention to the T.V., where Eraserhead was giving a statement on the Villain’s attack and Bakugo’s kidnapping. After a few minutes, he looked back at Bakugo. 

“It’s so strange…” he said. “Why are the heroes being criticised? The way they were dealing with things was just a little off the mark. Is it because it’s their job to protect? Everyone makes a mistake or two. Are they supposed to be perfect? Modern-day heroes are so uptight. Don’t you think, Bakugo?”

“Once heroes receive compensation to protect people, they aren’t heroes anymore,” Spinner added. “That is Stain’s teaching.”

“Many of your so-called ‘heroes’ only protect those who fit their beliefs,” you said softly, “and disregard the suffering of those they deem lesser or unworthy. Are they really heroes then?”

Shigaraki began again, “The strange system of transforming people’s lives into money or glory. The society that sticks tight to those rules. The citizens who blame the losers rather than encourage them. Our fight is to question: what is a hero? What is justice? Is this society truly just? We’ll have everybody thinking about it. We’re planning on winning.” He trained his eye on Bakugo, and asked with a tilt of his head, “you like winning, too, right?”

Bakugo’s glare sharped. You stepped back slightly, not trusting the look on the kid’s face.

“Dabi, release his restraints.” Shigaraki pointed at the boy. Dabi turned to their leader.

“Huh? This guy’s gonna fight, you know.” 

Shigaraki shrugged. “It’s fine. We need to treat him like an equal, since we’re scouting him. Besides, you can tell if you’ll win or not if you fight in this situation, right, U.A. student?”

Dabi huffed, then glanced at Twice. “Twice, you do it.” You snickered. He glared at you, as if daring you to comment. You chose not to.

“What, me? No way!” Twice jumped.

“Do it.”

“Man…” He walked over and began to fiddle with the restraints. As he did that, Compress spoke up.

“I do apologise for using such forceful methods. But please understand that we are not just a mob trying to commit crimes. We didn’t kidnap you by accident.”

Shigaraki got up and approached Bakugo, who was massaging his wrists. “Even though our situations differ, everyone here has been restricted and suffered because of people… rules… and heroes. I’m sure you also—” He stopped speaking when Bakugo kicked Twice away and lunged towards him, setting off an explosion and knocking Father off of his face.

“Shigaraki!”

“I listened quietly to your endless talking… idiots can’t get to the point, so they’re always talking for a long time. Basically, you mean ‘we wanna harass people, so please join us,’ right? Don’t bother.” Bakugo stood straight and grinned. “I want to win like All Might. No matter what anyone says, that will never change!”

Dabi moved slightly to shield you as everyone took up defensive positions in case the kid decided to fight. It was then that you noticed Shigaraki’s unnerved expression as he eyed the hand now on the floor. “Father…”

Bakugo took up a fighting stance, his grin even wider. “That’s how it is, you damn scum of a league! Just so you know, I’m still allowed to fight!”

“You know exactly what your position is, huh? What a smart boy!” Magne almost sounded impressed. 

Dabi, on the other hand, was the opposite. He looked bored and slightly annoyed. “No, he’s an idiot.”

Toga clapped her hands together. “I’ll stick you!”

“Even if he wasn’t going to join us, he should have pretended we were winning him over… he’s done it now,” Compress mused. You agreed—that would’ve been the smart thing to do.

“I won’t do something I don’t want to even if I’m only faking it. And I don’t wanna be in an annoying place like this for very long.”

“We aren’t annoying,” you snapped at him. “If anything, you are, ya damn brat. Talk at a normal volume, will you?” Dabi elbowed you again to get you to quiet down.

Shigaraki’s hand twitched. “Father…”

“Don’t, Shigaraki Tomura! Calm down!” Kurogiri said frantically, readying to stop him from attacking Bakugo.

Instead of fighting, he held his arm out. “Don’t touch him, any of you.” Shigaraki picked up Father from the floor. “This guy…” he began as he placed the hand back onto his face, “...is a valuable piece. I wish you would’ve listened to me a little. I thought we could come to an understanding.”

“Come to an understanding? No way!”

“Then I have no choice. The heroes said they’re continuing their investigation of us. We don’t have time to talk leisurely.” Shigaraki turned towards the T.V.. “Sensei—lend me your power.”

“Sensei? You’re not the boss around here? That’s not funny!” Bakugo hissed.

“Kurogiri, Compress, make him go to sleep again.”

Compress sighed as he moved towards the boy, “I can’t believe he’s such a bad listener. I’m almost impressed.”

“If you want me to listen to you, then get on your knees and die!”

Before Compress could activate his Quirk, there was a knock at the door. “Hello, this is Pizza-la, Camino store.” A beat passed, before the wall Spinner was leaning against burst and heroes swarmed.

“Smash!”

“Kurogiri, gate!” Shigaraki shouted. 

“Pre-emptive binding—” Wooden vines wrapped around the League members, preventing Kurogiri from activating his Quirk, “—Lacquered Chain Prison!”

You yelped in pain as the vines restricted around you, aggravating your arthritis. Dabi snarled at that, flames lighting up on him. “Watch what you’re doing, hero!” Before he could do anything, another hero kicked him in the head, knocking him out.

“Dabi!” You panicked, thrashing around. “Shit, Dabi—”

“—don’t be impatient. It’d be in your best interests to stay put.”

All Might glared at the League, ignoring their protests and discomfort. “You can’t run anymore, League of Villains! Why? Because we are here!” He then stood and turned to Bakugo. “I’m sure you were scared… you did good bearing it. I’m sorry. It’s fine now, young man!”

You zoned out after that, your focus solely on Dabi’s wellbeing. It wasn’t until Shigaraki began to get up that you snapped back to reality.

“—justice, peace… I’ll destroy this garbage heap that you put a lid on with such vague ideas! It was for that purpose that I set All Might apart and started gathering people to my cause! Don’t be ridiculous. This is the beginning… Kurogiri—!” He began, but stopped his order as something pierced through Kurogiri, causing the warp-gate user to slump over.

“No, stop! I couldn’t see anything! What, did you kill him?!” Magne shrieked, shaking her head around. 

The “something” that pierced Kurogiri moved in front of her. “I played around with his insides and made him unconscious. He is not dead.”

“Fucker, you could’ve hurt him!” You shouted. “You don’t just play around inside of people, you freak!” The hero ignored you, only proving to further your anger.

The old man that knocked Dabi out spoke, “Didn’t I tell you earlier that it’d be in your best interests to stay put? Hikiishi Kenji, Sako Atushiro, Iguchi Shuichi, Toga Himiko, Bubaigawara Jin, L/N Y/N. With little information and time, the police officers worked through the night to determine your true identities. Do you understand? There’s nowhere left for you to run.

“Hey Shigaraki, can I ask you where your boss is?” The old man finished. 

You rolled your eyes. Always running their mouths, always grandstanding… I hate heroes. 

When All Might questioned Shigaraki, he began to spiral. You itched to reach out and comfort him before he went too far. Nausea built up in your throat.

Black pools popped up all around the bar, and Nomus began to spill out—sending the heroes into a panic. When one of the pools erupted from Bakugo’s mouth, All Might rushed to grab him, but wasn’t fast enough and shouted in frustration when he disappeared.

You realised the nausea wasn’t from your anxiety as soon as you, and the rest of the League, started to gag up the strange substance as well. It swirled around each of the members, and you all disappeared as well. 

You had teleported to a destroyed section of a building, with Boo and Nugget appearing as well. You tucked Nugget into your shirt and Boo under your arm, then scrambled to Dabi’s side. “Dabi, Dabi, wake up, please!” Your voice was strained from panic and the pain caused from the hero’s binding having been too tight. You registered that All Might had arrived, and that Shigaraki’s Sensei was preparing to fight him, but ignored everything around you—until red vines shot out from his fingers and into Kurogiri, waking him back up. 

“Kurogiri, get everyone away from here.”

Magne rushed forward. “Hey, wait! He was defeated and is now unconscious! I’m not sure what’s going on, but if you can use Warp, then you should get us away!”

“I just got mine, Magne. On top of only being able to transport short distances, unlike his coordinate transport, I can only bring people to or away from me. I can only send them away to someone I am very familiar with. So I’ll have Kurogiri do it. Forced Quirk Activation!” The mist covering Kurogiri exploded into a warp gate. “Now go!”

“What about you…?” Shigaraki protested.

“Think constantly, Tomura,” All For One said as he rose into the air. “You still have much more room to grow.”

“Sensei!” 

“Shigaraki, we need to leave,” you begged, biting back a groan of pain as you stood. You held on tighter to Boo to make sure she wouldn’t wiggle away.

Compress agreed as he used his Quirk to shrink Dabi. “While All Might is being held back, get your piece! Y/N, you need to go—you can’t fight, and that guy’s vines hurt you. Take Dabi and get through the gate. Do you need help moving?” He pressed the blue marble into your free hand.

You shook your head. “No, I can manage. Thank you, Compress.” You smiled, though it was more of a grimace. “Make sure everyone gets out safely, please.” 

With Boo, Nugget and Dabi safely on you, you stumbled through the warp gate, leaving the sound of fighting behind.

#dabi x reader #dabi x you #todoroki touya x reader #todoroki touya x you #touya todoroki x reader #touya todoroki x you #todoroki toya x reader #todoroki toya x you #toya todoroki x reader #toya todoroki x you #my writing #bnha fanfiction #navi: we cant fix each other #writing.txt

[johannwolfgangvongoethe]

reading yaoi for the plot

recently i seemingly entirely stopped my life for a week to read the visual novel Slow Damage.

i dont really play vn’s (reading in front of my pc is HARD) nor do i read that much boys love (i am a bit of a gayboy by nature, so im not opposed to it) so what drove me to absolutely devour this one.....i honestly dont know. i would never have bought it for myself but my bestie gave it to me. so here we are.

slow damage is a game that you Could play. maybe should and maybe shouldnt. its sad and since it deals with self harm, suicidal thoughts, violence, sexual violence and rape, child abuse and just about every other bad thing you can imagine.......... man that shit can be depressing as hell. and since its a eroge, they are out there sexualizing shit they really SHOULDNT.

AND I HATE IT!!!!!!!!!!! all those “fiction doesnt affect reality” talk some people do is bs in my opinion. yes, you probably wouldnt hurt people irl bc youre reading this rape scene. but YES, bad porn will still condition your brain negatively in the long run.

anyhow. slow damage is pretty damn self-aware. dont get me wrong man, i love the game so much. and yet, and yet.

its so deeply important to me how the game really pictures.... unconditional love between friends and multiple different endgames that finish the story Well for the protag. he can attain salvation and peace. whether it means never touching the wounds of his past or confronting it headfirst. either way he can go through the worst of the worst and end up better. or worse. its all so fickle but thats the good part right. mental health is very sensitive and as a chronically sick person, he is so so vulnerable. (not madarame. fuck everything to do with him. i think theres a storytelling and character study merit to his ends as well but this paragraph wasnt about them)

ive been thinking about talking about it but theres probably people who have. better more informed takes than i do. here are my 2 cents anyway

id love to talk about the ludonarrative dissonance that is a yaoi game with rape scenes taking a stance against rape

im also really intrigued by the setting; a very desensitized city with desensitized people, which we are supposed to see as sad, yet a lot of scenes are there for shock value

CAN WE TALK ABOUT GENDER. WHY IS SLOW DAMAGE SO FILLED WITH GENDER. ITS EVEN GOOD WITH GENDER. I LOVE THE AMOUNT OF GENDER IDENTITY TALK!!!!! WE LOVE TO SEE CIS PEOPLE TALK ABOUT GENDER. WE LOVE NORMALIZED DYSPHORIA TALK. BUT ALSO I LOVE HOW SENSITIVE THE TRANSLATION WAS ABOUT ITS TRANSFEM/GNC CHARACTERS

the fact that the game has an Entire big arc about gaslighting and an abusive relationship, that makes the protag really really internalize selfhate and doubt and makes that mindset smth that he wears like a protective “its just us two against the world” shield. its so sad yet so close to life

the protag, though horribly abused and traumatized, has the advantage of having a very functional very very loving support system in the form of his two best friends, one of which happens to be a doctor. can you imagine how much worse this could be. im constantly aware of it

thinking a lot about how much class plays a role in the last route and towa and fujieda only start to get along once their perceived differences are lifted, in fact them being “the same” is of fundamental importance - but also undermines how unbridgable their differences would have been otherwise

deeply in love with the fact fujieda, as someone who studied law and has been dealing with courts professionally, is this huge vigilante. bc he doesnt trust justice to happen unless he does it himself. and towa is important to him, but ultimately his own goals are just a bit more important than towas comfort. i love when characters have spines <3

on a related note, i also love when characters dont have spines. taku is literally my fav. the fact hes a human sanctuary contrasts so beautifully with him withholding vital info, constantly telling white lies, being conflicted about Everything, but eventually going to jail bc he thinks he Deserves it

how and why is eiji a metal gear solid character stuck in a pokemon characters body

#slodaposting

[msookyspooky]

Part 24 of TT is my new fav of this book....it was so heartbreakingly bittersweet that it rivals Randy's almost death for me. The beginning had my heart literally ACHING, it felt like my heart dropped to my stomach once I realized Y/n was gonna have to watch Mark die. My eyes were BURNING, I could feel this heat behind them, and I had the urge to cry for them 😭 Y/n watching the pics burn and being like 'you watched not only the pictures burn, but what could've been burn with them' had me DONE 💔 she feels like she lost everything bc Mark was supposed to put Billy and Stu in prison. Randy saw that they could've been something and that's SO SAD 😭 Billy and Stu gotta be jumping for joy knowing he's dead 🙄

I thought it was touching how Y/n tried to see some humanity in Neil. She really held his hand and told him that if she could go back in time she would. I predicted Angelina coming back, but I was NOT expecting Y/n to lose it and I LOVED it. Hope Billy and Stu took that as a threat 😌 Not sure if it was intentional, but I love that Y/n didn't let herself cry until Billy and Stu ran out. I thought that symbolized how she refuses to cry in front of them, how she only lets Dewey and Randy see her at her lowest. Not surprised Stu was like you need me after Y/n told them she never wanted to see them again.... like no bro, I'm not joking, the only thing I NEED is you OUTTA MY LIFE. But ofc, these snakes slither themselves back into my life a week later 🔪

HOW DID THEY GET PAST MY SECURITY SYSTEM-We should've just MOVED 😭

OMG THANK YOU!! I sat on that chapter for too long bc it was so plot heavy with angst and I was lowkey scared I wouldn't do it justice + hated killing Mark ☹️

Ik for me irl if I was in YN shoes I'd be done too. Mark really was her first taste of a good guy that she actually relates to/ that has baggage of his own unlike Derek. The fact he was so willing to help her and beileved her and trusted her on Billy and Stu something Idk if even Dewey or Randy would do w/o anger....Just to have him ripped away? HURTS. Her freedom from those two, her name cleared, peacefully able to relax in life w/o threats is all gone forever.

Having a man slightly older, not by much (Mark's like 26-30 and we're 23 since I upped it to 5 years since Woodsboro instead of 4), but he's older than our group just enough to be 100 x more mature than Billy and Stu ever could be with his own career dealing with things very connected to our lives. Him trying to be the good guy in horrible situations just like YN did multiple times before and being so protective and brave and gentle with her and trying to help her sm....I WOULD JUST SWEAR OFF OF ANYONE ROMANTICALLY AND BE DONE WITH LIFE FR. It's no wonder Billy and Stu were so threatened by Mark bc he really was their only competition that could have not only took us from them permanently BUT sent them to prison to boot. Not that her and Randy couldn't have been great or that Derek wasn't sweet but Mark will probably always be the big 'What if?' for the rest of her life. 💔 He really was a soulmate / kindred soul she had the bittersweetness of meeting.

And oh yeah....They're fucking elated the pieces of shit 🙄🥱

And the security system is from the early 2000s it runs by a landline so no electricity = no system.

#terrible trilogy spoilers

[hashtagloveloses]

Hi! I figured this was more practical to ask on Tumblr in case you wanted to go off, but on your twitter you mentioned that you disagreed with the way the Death Note musical changed the politics of the original, and I'll admit I didn't really notice it since I was busy being enthralled by the performance of Rem's actress, but since you often have really good takes, I was wondering if you'd be okay with elaborating on this? I hope it's okay to ask, please and thank you!

ok so take this with a grain of salt bc it has been a VERY long time since i watched death note but the TLDR is that light is very much libertarian incel pilled. he's like oh yes i am doing good! yes i am!! but he's like when someone thinks they are so far to the left that they're actually just on the right. but worse. would become a dictator if he could. bc he's an antihero. he's not supposed to be seen as sympathetic he's a warning of if that kind of person gained that kind of power and thought they could play god and play at justice you know?

but the american musical version makes him distinctly anticapitalist, even leftist leaning, which i guess mainstream american media sees as "bad" and "radical". they are two very different light yagamis!!! and i guess bc his main "antagonists" are the police, an american adaptation would put him against the police state, but light is never concerned with that in the way that say, like the punisher would be. the punisher hates the system that created him. he fucking hates cops and the military and shit. light yagami thinks he's GOD and is the smartest little shit on the planet. one could argue his character is kind of like an anakin skywalker, an analysis of what happens when young men are radicalized to do terrible things out of a genuine but twisted desire to do good, and how they are both victims and perpetrators. but the american musical doesnt have any of this nuance and is like "see!! he's against corporations!!"

*** please take a lot of this with a grain of salt bc it's been a very long time since i've listened to the death note musical in full and also watched the show (and i never read the manga only read about it), so correct me if i am wrong

#ask

[echoesofdusk]

major AI: The Somnium Files spoilers under cut

I have to ask people who claim AITSF is copaganda... where? how did you walk out thinking it's copaganda? is it bc nobody outwardly states that Date shouldn't have killed people? is it bc he didn't get punished?

do pieces of work really need to outwardly state that things are bad and aren't allowed to be subtle? do they need to spoonfeed people the message bc people are just unable to read between the lines? or walk out knowing that a piece of work has shades of gray?

I never walked out of AITSF thinking it's copaganda. I didn't get this message anywhere in the game. the police are shown multiple times to be incompetent at their job. hell Date is a goddamn PERVERTED COP who acts like a manchild at times. corruption is lampshaded multiple times. Boss knows she's abusing her power as a high ranking police but does it anyway, mainly out of love (all of the straight up illegal shit she does to protect Date when he popped up after the body swap). Falco knew he was severely dirtying his hands by being a vigilante cop. he wanted to go clean. he's an assassin, or should I rather say serial killer as "assassin" makes it sound clean, yes, but he has conscience, though his sense of justice is questionable. it's bc of the circumstances around how he grew up

and then there's Saito. I don't exactly disagree with people who think his depiction and role are ableist, I also feel like I'm nit really the person to comment on it, but I still have some things to say about him, although I do feel that some of the language used in game to describe him is a bit ableist

with that said, Saito is a tragic character. what could've been if he had gotten help and a support system like Date did and not have everything he did swept under the rug. what if So had actually gotten him medical help (which he probably didn't bc he's neglectful + probably thought the word of his son getting help would've stained his career)

although if Saito had gotten help, AITSF would've never happened to begin with. which is the point. Date and Saito are opposites of each other

(also ngl I wish Saito was more apathetic and jaded than cartoonishly evil, I think he'd been even more terrifying but also more believable that way)

also people don't realize that the characters in AITSF are supposed to be flawed people with shades of gray. I know it's probably easy to forget with the cartoonish porn magazine powerups, 12 year old girl beating up trained guys with assault rifles, an AI girl whose form in the physical world resembles a fluroscent hamster which is morbidly cute and all of the dirty and perverted jokes and whatnot, but it's true! So is probably the best example of this. I don't like So, and that's the point. you're not supposed to like him. he's a corrupt politician who banged a high school girl when he was twice her age as well as a neglectful father. and yet I personally find him compelling. the realization of what his somnium actually depicted stuck with not just me but many others. this man is sleazy and disgusting but holy shit the shock that hits you when you realize he's actually haunted by Manaka's death. and what he says at the end of resolution route when Date pays him a visit.

I completely forgot to mention Date getting mad with Ota bc he knew his rights to remain silent and not being obligated to obey the police but that's probably the point. that exchange was supposed to communicate that Date is kinda ACAB and you're not exactly supposed to sympathise with him and that he's 100% the good guy.

and police being able to peek into people's minds using the psync machine when the stuff seen inside of it can't serve as evidence? I'm p sure it's also supposed to lampshade how corrupt the police are.

anyways point is

nobody in this game is completely good and it's more complicated than just the good guys vs the bad guys (although Saito is cartoonishly evil which leaves a bit of a bad taste in my mouth personally as I think he could've been an amazing villain had he also had shades of gray like everyone else). the characters in this game are all flawed people who break or bend the rules in one way or another to either cover their asses or bc it's how far they're willing to go to help out a loved one

#hazy rambles #making this unrebloggable bc i dont want ppl spread this and then have someone harass me for having a different interpretation #but i also needed to get this out of my system #which is also why im not putting this into the aitsf tag

[redjaybathood]

What's your opinion on the fanfic Option C where Jason sues the Joker/Gotha, to kill Joker?

I do hope that the writer never sees this bc everything that i wanted to say to them directly is already said in comments. And mostly, it had been, despite everything else what I am going to say here, is "thank you for writing this".

So. The first time I discovered that fic and started reading this, I was like. Omg! What an idea? I went to my favourite discord server at the time being all like: guys, guys! Are you reading this? You should be reading this! I can't wait to read more! Because come on. Jason Todd vs Joker legal drama. It's not just a funny premise, it's filling a lacuna. There's a Jason Todd versus People, a very dark take on Jason in juvie, and that's basically it. I do have something going on with "hey judas" that's about "what if Jason went down for Felipe Garzonas's death?" but it's not really on the same level, the focus is slightly off.

(if anyone knows other courtroom-related drama in DC fandom, please share)

So yeah. Jason suing the Joker? I would read at least a dozen more fics like this.

And then Batman is like: no, this is bad, this is wrong. And I was like - oh wow Bruce is an asshole here. Which I'm all for! Bruce could be an asshole. And it's so unreasonable here. Okay, you don't want to personally kill anyone, that's valid, but death penalty is something that is legal, and it being as something of last resort, and it's being against Joker... I understand that death penalty irl is bad. I do not agree with Bruce in this fic being all like "It's a slippery slope for every other Arkham-bound criminal". More than that. There had been death penalty in Gotham, in canon. Anyone remember Cassandra Cain trying to save a murderer? And despite her "Nobody dies tonight" and "I don't kill... but I don't lose either" (which is from different issue, but) somebody still dies, and she does lose. But it doesn't mean that the justice system failed, that the victim's family lost.

So yeah, Bruce is an asshole here, and I rooted against him!

But the farther I read, the more I had a feeling that the author, for all they play with showing all sides, with Dick refusing to help Bruce eventually, they're more like... Pro-Bruce. Anti-letting Joker die legally.

It becomes basically obvious, imo, when Jason is revealed to be in league with Talia and Lex Luthor (even if he's using him, it doesn't matter much), and manipulating citizens of Gotham for a full-blown riot. And I won't lie, the imagery of all of Gotham, basically, united in their collective "enough is enough"! Power move. And yet, again, it's treated as "foolish crowd". Which is, okay. Crowds are easy to manipulate. Doesn't mean they are wrong, though.

So the issue I am having with "evil masterminds using the citizen's (un)righteous anger to society's detriment" might be traced back to the events of 2013-2014 in my country, or even in 2011-2012 in a bordering country, or what happened last year in yet another bordering country, or what happened basically a month or so in a country that doesn't border with mine but still close enough for us to be watching in horror as people were killed, or beaten, arrested, tortured, and it was supposed to be a good thing, because they were a crowd of uneducated gullible masses that were manipulated into rioting (which is not a narrative pushed by my local media, but theirs and the bordering countries, just to be clear). And if you recognize your country from this description, I'm honestly sorry. I know your issues are more complicated than what I can put into an imperfect metaphor in a post that is dedicated to another topic entirely.

But yeah. Basically. I have an issue and a bone to pick, here.

And then it devolves in Bruce anticipating the riot and hiding Joker, and Jason reacts to that by taking Bruce hostage and threatening to kill him and strong-arming Superman, eventually, into a mockery of the democratic process. Citizens of Gotham vote if Joker should die. They do. Joker dies. It's a happy end.

And all the tags for this fic indicate that author is Jason's fan. "This is me trying to get Jason some justice" and "Bruce fucked up" and all that. But. Jason honestly is a villain here. Bruce is an asshole, but, Jason is the villain. He gets his. It might not even have the disastrous consequences that Bruce predicts - though I honestly think the author hints that there will be. And all I can think is...

No.

See, this fic is good. It's good writing, it keeps the tension, racks up the stakes, it's decent in making characters fully-fleshed, not one-dimensional. There's a real conflict and there's something that keeps you at the edge of the seat.

But boy do I hate what becomes of Jason. And I'm confused. Am I supposed to?

#fic recs #kinda #asks

[vodkassassin]

Hey hun! Reminding you about that Moshang list like you asked!

Sorry this took so long, I ran out of energy and didn’t get any more until like, yesterday. Okay, so! Moshang fic recs!!

AN IDIOT’S GUIDE TO A HAPPY MARRIAGE by tagteamme. Chapters: 8/8, words:  156,680

Summary:  In order to pay off a debt that's not his, Shang Qinghua agrees to marry a man that's as cold and unyielding as he is stupidly rich.

Vod Notes: I’m not normally one for modern AU’s, but there’s just something about aspiring CEO MBJ and flat out broke SQH somehow wiggling his way into his heart that gets to me. The characterizations in this story are flawless, and the customary Moshang miscommunication/misunderstanding had me tearing out my hair at several points, yelling at these two dumbasses; and that’s how you know it’s a good one. 9/10 because I experienced lots of stress while reading this, which actually is a sign of a fantastic story, I’m just really weak and pathetic and immerse myself in reading way too much, so actually 11/10! Depends on how you look at it I suppose lol

a rose by any other name by sarahyyy. Chapters 1/1, words: 6,795

Summary: The one where Shang Qinghua suddenly becomes Prime Demon Marriage Material™ (bc of the LBH/SQQ marriage).

Vod Notes: somft. MBJ just loves SQH so very much, and SQH is pining ad dense as fuck. The perfect Moshang fic recipe. They are warm, soft, clueless idiots in this while still somehow being entirely competent, and we love to see that. SQH is a man made of contingency plans <3 I love it when authors do my son justice. 10/10

How to Panic Your Demon King by StarlightLion. Chapters: 1/1, words: 7,816

Summary: Mu Qingfang is starting to wonder if this is a requirement to be a demon lord. At least this one isn't kidnapping him.

Vod Notes: A delicious one shot about MBj worrying about the love of his life, who is a strong, dedicated, talented man who has an unfortunate training mishaps and then tries to cover it up bc he’s also dumb and doesn’t want to worry anyone. Stupid man. SQH we love you pls take care of yourself. You’re giving your husband grey hairs. A special treat toward the end with a MQF POV! My sexy doctor man is exasperated and done with everything. 10/10

it must follow, as the night the day by Tossawary. Chapters: 7/7, words: 26,342

Summary: Airplane Bro transmigrates into his own web-novel only to find out that the System messed up his world! Shang Qinghua is a demon in this world! All the characters supposed to be humans are demons in this world! And all the characters supposed to be demons are...?

Vod Notes: You simply cannot go wrong with Tossawary. They have the most scrumptious servings of Moshang in all the land. For this specific one, we’re gifted with a lovely Role Reversal AU! It’s got everything! Demon!SQH who is a absolute mess of a man? Serious cultivator MBJ who is stoic and cold but has the heart of a hero (or just a heart hardwired for SQH specifically)? Espionage? Feed it to me slowly like grapes. 11/10

You Will Never Step Lightly in the Dark by Janusoverlord. Chapters: 11/11, words 57,218

Summary: Shang Qinghua wakes up in the aftermath of Tianlang-Jun's rampage on Cang Qiong Mountain and has to navigate the delicate political situation he now finds himself in. Luo Binghe is building a harem with Shen Qingqiu as his first, and honestly most terrifying, husband. Yet, Luo Binghe seems to be turning his eyes to Shang Qinghua as a possibility as well. Excuse you? What is this? He didn't sign up for this!

Vod Notes: holy fuuuuuuuuuuuuuck this one blew my entire mind! Not only do we have SQH looking out for number one (which is himself, bless you my son) when shit turns strictly bad, but we have a absolutely, one of a kind, PHENOMENAL badass SQQ who is supporting his bro and fucking shit up left and right and everywhere for Airplane’s sake. God. This was like drinking fine wine. Breathtaking, spectacular. My life has been changed. MBJ spends most of this being a big, sulky, upset mess but don’t worry, cucumberplane fixes that up themselves. LBH get’s put in time out by both his husbands (because this is LBH/SQQ/LQG), because he fucks up in this majorly and SQQ isn’t fucking happy and doesn’t let him get away with it just because he gives him the puppy eyes and I AM LIVINGGGGGGGGG!! TLDR: simply superb badass cucumberplane, sad boy MBJ hours, and LQG gets stuck with babysit the naughty demon king duty. VERDICT: umm?! 7000/10

A Queen’s Trials (And How to Speedrun Them) by daddykeehl. Chapters: 1/8(as of 4/17/21), words: 25,000.

Summary: Shang Qinghua is now well on his way to the same happily-ever-after that every protagonist gets, but two things stand in his way. The Queen's Trials, and a council that just won't give up. Too bad for them, they really don't know who they're dealing with.

Vod Notes: Sorry I can’t hear any of your questions over the loud, shrill screams of my absolute LOVE for this story. it’s not finished, no, but it’s set up in arcs per chapter, so I’m fine with waiting for the next one to come along, and so will you if you read this. Because, lemme tell you. Fucking amazing. An SQH who knows everything about the North? He’s God, dammit, why wouldn’t he? Using that to his advantage? Not just to prolong his life, but to legally win the right to marry MBJ. God, this story is just absolutely breathtaking. I was speechless when I got to the end of chapter one. The sheer level of worldbuilding! Catch me with actual hearts in my eyes. The small DETAILS! The magnificently built OCs! The culture, the writing! The character interactions! SQH goes around accidentally winning the lifelong loyalty of every badass, OP demon in the Northern realm. I am still screeching. daddykeehl you’re my number one. fucking 200k/10 heart eyes emoji, heart eyes emoji (also, it’s part of a series! The story before this one, Quick, Easy Steps To Realizing You’re The Queen Consort, is also VERY good.)

#moshing fic recs #vodka answers #ask box love twt #shang Qinghua #mobei jun #svsss #fic rec list #magikarp karpykarp

[kidrat]

im still sad about no bondsmith Rlain to be totally honest. Navani is great but she’s never united anyone unless you count Ravoniel which you shouldn’t bc that wasn’t political allies that was homoerotic rivals who specifically had a thing Despite working against each other for different sides of a war you know? it was sexy but it was the opposite of being united. and actually while we’re here who the fuck has Dalinar united. renarin and adolin in therapy together??? ik the nahel bonds are supposed to be a growth/character development device (neutral statement) Thing but if Kaladin almost lost Syl for naughty activism thoughtcrimes how the hell has stormfather not choked to death on Dalinar alienating his sons and upholding a divisive caste system with a side order of slavery??? That is very much not ‘bringing men together’. That’s like the opposite of that. where is the drive for social justice that should be inherent in a vow to bring peace and build connections. you literally can’t do that shit genuinely without allowing people/groups the chance for equal relationships. it doesn’t WORK within power structures-

ok anyway. Navani could have been like, off the top of my head, a Dustbringer or a Willshaper if she has to be a Radiant but you know Sanderson seems p married to that idea so I’m just offering some adjustments. I think a bond that could have been used to explore her role as an overlooked but socially powerful member of court, and as an engineer, would have made more sense for her and allowed for more interesting character development. And as little as I want Rlain to be the diversity hire again (or for him to have to work closely w Dalinar) he seems a much more obvious choice for the bondsmith role. And it would be better for the *narrative*, if not for Rlain, for Dalinar and Rlain to share that role. what on earth is being ‘united’ by Navani and Dalinar working in the same order. They have the same background, status, and last fucking name for god’s sake. 

I do think it’s interesting that in book Rlain is discussed as a good choice for bondsmith and that Navani bonding the sibling came a little bit down to necessity, I will say that. If something is *done* with that I’m happy. I just don’t know if it will ever be brought up again and am hyperaware of the fact that if it’s not, then bringing up bondsmith Rlain at all was probably just lampshading the weird choice to have Navani make the bond instead. 

in conclusion, how do I beam this post into sanderson’s assistant’s head the next time he invites us to harass him over stream?  

#rhythm of war #stormlight meta #incomprehensible meta but meta nonetheless #mine #rlain #navani #dalinar #kholin critical

[bloodbenderz]

humaniterations (dot) net/2014/10/13/an-anarchist-perspective-on-the-red-lotus/ this article from oct 2014 is very dense — truly, a lot to unpack here, but I feel like you would find this piece interesting. I would love it if you shared your thoughts on the points that stood out to you, whether you agree or disagree. you obv don’t have to respond to it tho, but I’m sending it as an ask jic you feel like penning (and sharing) a magnificent essay, as is your wont 💕

article

i know this took me forever 2 answer SORRY but i just checked off all the things on my to do list for the first time in days today so. Essay incoming ladies!

ok im SO glad u sent me this bc it’s so so good. it’s a genuinely thoughtful criticism of the politics in legend of korra (altho i think its sometimes a little mean to korra unnecessarily like there’s no reason to call her a “petulant brat” or say that she throws tantrums but i do understand their point about her being an immature and reactionary hero, which i’ll get back to) and i think the author has a good balance between acknowledging like Yeah the lok writers were american liberals and wrote their show accordingly and Also writing a thorough analysis of lok’s politics that felt relevant and interesting without throwing their hands up and saying this is all useless liberal bullshit (which i will admit that i tend to do).

this article essentially argues that the red lotus antagonists of s3 were right. And that’s not an uncommon opinion i think but this gives it serious weight. Like, everything that zaheer’s gang did was, in context, fully understandable. of course the red lotus would be invested in making sure that the physically and spiritually and politically most powerful person in the world ISNT raised by world leaders and a secret society of elites that’s completely unaccountable to the people! of course the red lotus wants to bring down tyrannical governments and allow communities to form and self govern organically! and the writers dismiss all of that out of hand by 1. consistently framing the red lotus as insane and murderous (korra never actually gives zaheer’s ideas a chance or truly considers integrating them into her own approach) 2. representing the death of the earth queen as not just something that’s not necessarily popular (what was with mako’s bootlicker grandma, i’d love to know) but as something that causes unbelievable violence and chaos in ba sing se (which, like, a lot of history and research will tell you that people in disasters tend towards prosocial behaviors). so the way the story frames each of these characters and ideologies is fascinating because like. if you wanted to write season 3 of legend of korra with zaheer as the protagonist and korra as the antagonist, you wouldn’t actually have to change the sequence of events at all, really. these writers in particular and liberal writers in general LOVE writing morally-gray-but-ultimately-sympathetic characters (like, almost EVERY SINGLE fire nation character in the first series, who were full on violent colonizers but all to a degree were rehabilitated in the eyes of the viewer) but instead of framing the red lotus as good people who are devoted to justice and freedom and sometimes behave cruelly to get where theyre trying to go, they frame them as psychopaths and murderers who have good intentions don’t really understand how to make the world a better place.

and the interesting thing about all this, about the fact that the red lotus acted in most cases exactly as it should have in context and the only reason its relegated to villain status is bc the show is written by liberals, is that the red lotus actually points out really glaring sociopolitical issues in universe! like, watching the show, u think well why the fuck HASN’T korra done anything about the earth queen oppressing her subjects? why DOESN’T korra do anything about the worse than useless republic president? why the hell are so many people living in poverty while our mains live cushy well fed lives? how come earth kingdom land only seems to belong to various monarchs and settler colonists, instead of the people who are actually indigenous to it? the show does not want to answer these questions, because american liberal capitalism literally survives on the reality of oppressive governments and worse than useless presidents and people living in poverty while the middle/upper class eats and indigenous land being stolen. if the show were to answer these questions honestly, the answer would be that the status quo in real life (and the one on the show that mirrors real life) Has To Change.

So they avoid answering these questions honestly in order for the thesis statement to be that the status quo is good. and the only way for the show to escape answering these questions is for them to individualize all these broad social problems down into Good people and Bad people. so while we have obvious bad ones like the earth queen we also have all these capitalists and monarchs and politicians who are actually very nice and lovely people who would never hurt anyone! which is just such an absurd take and it’s liberal propaganda at its best. holding a position of incredible political/economic power in an unjust society is inherently unethical and maintaining that position of power requires violence against the people you have power over. which is literally social justice 101. but there’s literally no normal, average, not-politically-powerful person on the show. so when leftist anarchism is presented and says that destroying systems that enforce extreme power differentials is the only way to bring peace and freedom to all, the show has already set us up to think, hey, fuck you, top cop lin beifong and ford motor ceo asami sato are good people and good people like them exist! and all we have to do to move forward and progress as a society is to make sure we have enough good individuals in enough powerful positions (like zuko as the fire lord ending the war, or wu as the earth king ending the monarchy)! which is of course complete fiction. liberal reform doesn’t work. but by pretending that it could work by saying that the SYSTEM isnt rotten it’s just that the people running it suck and we just need to replace those people, it automatically delegitimizes any radical movements that actually seek to change things.

and that’s the most interesting thing about this article to me is that it posits that the avatar...might actually be a negative presence in the world. the avatar is the exact same thing: it’s a position of immense political and physical power bestowed completely randomly, and depending on the moral character and various actions of who fills that position at any given time, millions of people will or won’t suffer. like kyoshi, who created the fascist dai li, like roku, who refused to remove a genocidal dictator from power, like aang, who facilitated the establishment of a settler colonial state on earth kingdom land. like korra! she’s an incredibly immature avatar and a generally reactionary lead. i’ve talked about this at length before but she never actually gets in touch with the needs of the people. she’s constantly running in elite circles, exposed only to the needs and squabbles of the upper class! how the hell is she supposed to understand the complexities of oppression and privilege when she was raised by a chess club with inordinate amounts of power and associates almost exclusively with politicians and billionaires?? from day 1 we see that she tends to see things in very black and white ways which is FINE if you’re a privileged 17 yr old girl seeing the world for the first time but NOT FINE if you’re the single most powerful person in the world! Yeah, korra thinks the world is probably mostly fine and just needs a little whipping into shape every couple years, because all she has ever known is a mostly fine world! in s1 when mako mentions that he as a homeless impoverished teenager worked for a gang (which is. Not weird. Impoverished people of every background are ALWAYS more likely to resort to socially unacceptable ways of making money) korra is like “you guys are criminals?????!!!!!” she was raised in perfect luxury by a conservative institution and just never developed beyond that. So sure, if the red lotus raised her anarchist, probably a lot would’ve been different/better, but....they didn’t. and korra ended up being a reactionary and conservative avatar who protected monarchs and colonialist politicians. The avatar as a position is completely subject to the whims of whoever is currently the avatar. and not only does that suck for everyone who is not the avatar, not only is it totally unfair to whatever kid who grows up knowing the fate of the world is squarely on their shoulders, but it as a concept is a highly individualist product of the authors’ own western liberal ideas of progress! the idea that one good leader can fix the world (or should even try) based on their own inherent superiority to everyone else is unbelievably flawed and ignores the fact that all real progress is brought about as a result of COMMUNITY work, as a result of normal people working for themselves and their neighbors!

the broader analysis of bending was really interesting to me too, but im honestly not sure i Totally agree with it. the article pretty much accepts the show’s assertion that bending is a privilege (and frankly backs it up much better than the original show did, but whatever), and i don’t think that’s NECESSARILY untrue since it is, like, a physical advantage (the author compares it to, for example, the fact that some people are born athletically gifted and others are born with extreme physical limitations), but i DO think that it discounts the in universe racialization of bending. in any sequel to atla that made sense, bending as a race making fact would have been explored ALONGSIDE the physical advantages it bestows on people. colonialism and its aftermath is generally ignored in this article which is its major weakness i think, especially in conjunction with bending. you can bring up the ideas the author did about individual vs community oriented progress in the avatar universe while safely ignoring the colonialism, but you can’t not bring up race and colonialism when you discuss bending. especially once you get to thinking about how water/earth/airbenders were imprisoned and killed specifically because bending was a physical advantage, and that physical advantage was something that would have given colonized populations a means of resistance and that the fire nation wanted to keep to itself.

i think that’s the best lens thru which to analyze bending tbh! like in the avatar universe bending is a tool that different ethnic groups tend to use in different ways. at its best, bending actually doesn’t represent social power differences (despite representing a physical power difference) because it’s used to represent/maintain community solidarity. like, take the water tribe. katara being the last waterbender, in some way, makes her the last of a part of swt CULTURE. the implication is that when there were a lot of waterbenders in the south, they dedicated their talents to building community and helping their neighbors, because this was something incredibly culturally important and important to the water tribe as a community. the swt as a COLLECTIVE values bending for what it can do for the entire tribe, which counts for basically every other talent a person can have (strength, creativity, etc). the fire nation, by contrast, distorts the community value of bending by racializing it: anyone who bends an element that isn’t fire is inherently NOT fire nation (and therefore inherently inferior) and, because of the physical power that bending confers, anyone who bends an element that isn’t fire is a threat to fire nation hegemony. and in THAT framework of bending, it’s something that intrinsically assigns worth and reifies race in a way that’s conveniently beneficial to the oppressor.

it IS worth talking about how using Element as a way to categorize people reifies nations, borders, and race in a way that is VERY characteristic of white american liberals. i tried to be conscious of that (and the way that elements/bending can act in DIFFERENT ways, depending on cultural context) but i think it’s pretty clear that the writers did intend for element to unequivocally signify nation (and, by extension, race), which is part of why they screwed up mixed families so bad in lok. when they’ve locked themselves into this idea that element=nation=race, they end up with sets of siblings like mako and bolin or kya tenzin and bumi, who all “take” after only one parent based on the element that they bend. which is just completely stupid but very indicative of how the writers actually INTENDED element/bending to be a race making process. and its both fucked up and interesting that the writers display the same framework of race analysis that the canonical antagonists of atla do.

anyway that’s a few thoughts! thank u again for sending the article i really loved it and i had a lot of fun writing this <3

#this is 2.1k words LMFAOO #asks #analysis #do i have an analysis tag? #crit #lok crit

[whyjm]

Why I did not like the Spn finale

This is gonna be a long post..

I cannot get over my thoughts about how it ended and how bad I feel about it. I am so angry, sad and feel so utterly disappointed, I cannot wrap my mind around how this was supposed to be a satisfying tying up emotional archs ending??? Bc it was so far away from satisfying I would laugh if I was not presently crying over it..

There are several things that irked me a lot. Many people have voiced the problems of this show and its ending much more eloquently than I will ever be able to do.. But I gotta get these fucking thoughts and feelings out of my system.

I have been with Spn since the first episode aired. I am a straight woman, I don’t have to fight for representation, I don’t have to worry about coming out and being accepted for who I am, I don’t have the daily struggles of feeling anxious or depressed or suicidal or not being able to be who I am. I am lucky that way!

To me love is love and all love should be equal! And I stand with all who struggle and all who are not free to be who they are. I see you and I love you and I support you fully!!!

To see my friends having to fight, and then on top of that have a show that has meant so much to so many people be butchered and have a negative last message sent out, in its last 36 minutes of its life … It is a hard pill to swallow.

Cas and Dean  

In 15x18 we got to have a beautiful confession from Cas to Dean where Cas tells Dean he loves him and we know this is romantic love bc Cas begins by saying that the one thing I want I know I can’t have and then later I love you. Also Misha confirming it! This scene made me ugly cry so hard bc FINALLY.. (BUT what is missing from it.. the editing is strange.. bc Cas pushes Dean to the right but he falls to the left. Dean has no tears in his eyes while he looks straight at Cas when he talks, but he has tears in his eyes when he looks over his shoulder and see the empty. So what in this scene has been cut away and WHY?) Misha and Jensen did a great job with this and Cas got to find peace in just speaking his truth...  And it was beautiful to watch and after having seen Dean sitting sobbing on the floor the natural and logical continuation of this would have been to in the next episode address this, but in episode 19 no such thing happened. And I wondered where did Dean’s grief go where did his CARE for Cas go?? Dean who has been depressed and suicidal when Cas have died before is all of sudden cold and act like nothing have happened at least nothing that affected him very deeply.. It felt disconnected and strange. And it continued on like that and it felt very strange to NOT address such a HUGH plot point. It’s not enough to have Dean say to Chuck to bring Cas back or to see him wasted out of his mind, or hugging a dog like his emotional wellbeing depends on it.. This is not resolution or addressing it.

All of season 15 has felt like the relationship between Cas and Dean has been in focus and important to the overall arch of the season, and explored and then all of a sudden all traces of it are just ripped away, erased completely.. To have a confession like this go unacknowledged to me is poor writing bc you do not leave this big of a thing hanging in the air without resolution (fine you can argue Cas got resolution but I feel that no Cas did not get resolution either bc his feelings SHOULD have gotten a response no matter what that response was.. Dean did not, we never got to hear or see his version or his thoughts about it.)

I was thinking narratively they HAVE to address this, Deans thoughts and reactions to this gotta be shown. They HAVE to resolve this, acknowledge it. I have been sure a long time they would NEVER have Dean reciprocate Cas love  but keep it in subtext bc they are too fucking chickenshit to do that but at least have Dean talk about Cas….. that I expected him to do.. But it was not done in 19. I got the horrible feeling in my gut that they are not gonna resolve this they are gonna fuck this up, they are gonna go full brothers only and not give a fuck they are gonna push Cas out and show no care. Then we come to the final episode and boy howdy is there a lot to unpack with this episode.

(I had watched the long road home before the finale and when I watched that I KNEW that the end was going to be a letdown I felt it in all of me that I was gonna be disappointed. And I was proven right. And I have so many thoughts all jumbled up around each other that I don’t know in which end to start so sorry if what follows is incoherent and rambly.. )

15x20 - The end  

20 felt like a FILLER episode, right up until Dean’s death scene I was bored and was seriously considering turning my computer of and just not watch. (A finale should be as engaging and emotionally packed like episode 18 was. I refuse to acknowledge 20 as the end.. To me it ended on 19. That wrapped things up. Not completely satisfying but hell of a lot better than the disaster that 20 is.) But then Dean was impaled on that rusty spike thingy and I was watching with attention. I GET why they did Deans death the way they did, even if that is one shitty death for Dean and could have been fixed so he did not die.. I get what they wanted to get out of it: a brothers sad moment that they turned into a irksome thing. I actually cringed about the head thing and the hands and the farming of it all just urgh I got sick to my stomach watching that. What should have been a beautifully sad moment was put together in a romantic coded way and that to me ruined the heartfelt goodbye. Bc you do not touch and hold a dying family member like that. I KNOW I have said goodbye to my fair share of loved ones that I have loved soo deeply, but the thought of touching like that NO no way.. And also they have NEVER done that forehead touch in previous deaths, so to do this now just felt irksome.

They killed Dean a character that has struggled his whole life with being daddy’s blunt little instrument, who has self-worth issues and are suicidal, who has never lived for his own sake but have only ever lived to protect and raise another, he continues to put others before himself though (up until the last couple of seasons where we have seen them both break away from this toxic behavior). Finally he was allowed to LIVE and have a life that was not controlled, not running in a hamster wheel like a fucking puppet on a string. He was Free of all of that. He was free to go after what HE wanted for himself and what Dean wanted was LOVE, in my mind its perfectly clear that Dean loves Cas back bc that is what the story have been telling us.. its right there and the story do not make sense without it. Many others have done a great job at talking about this and describe this way better than me. So I leave further discussion about that topic to them.

Dean was looking for a job.  The angel Dean has loved since purgatory told him that he loved him and then died sacrificing himself to SAVE Dean yet again and then Dean dies a few days later.. How is this doing justice to Dean and what the hell kind of message does this send out to the ones watching?? They are saying it does not matter if you fight, your destiny is written for you and the only relief and comfort you will have will be death. They are saying Meh don’t fight it’s better to die bc it does not matter what you do. This is one of the fucked up messages this godawful ending sent to all those who have identified with Dean and Cas throughout the years.

They also say Cas who has been part of the story for 12 years is not important enough to have there, they IGNORED Cas, a mention in passing does not do justice to a character that has been crucial to the boys lives for 12 years. Dean Screamed in Sam’s face CAS IS FAMILY, Dean was destroyed when Cas died, he was hurt when Cas left bc everyone leaves Dean, Sam missed Cas etc… but still not important enough to show up in heaven in the last episode greeting first Dean and then Sam to heaven.. PFT…

To leave Cas and Misha out of the FINALE of a show that he has been part of for 12 years is so fucking disrespectful to Cas, to Misha and ALL the fans who love and adore both. It also makes no sense since  they all say how beloved Cas and Misha are. and don’t go fucking covid made it impossible bc the last scene with all those people without masks.. No that is just lying liars who lie…Covid my ass! This angers me a lot.

Family do end in ONLY blood apparently…..  

(And maybe lead to a lot of viewers for walker???  hence this very nice shirltess Sam scene............. ) shirtless Sam is always good though so no complaining here.

We see Sam and the dog give Dean a hunters funeral.. NO OTHERS are there?  How is it possible that none of the found family wouldn’t want to be there and show up?? Jack has restored everyone but still only Sam and the dog are there, no Eileen, no Jody and the girls, Donna, Garth, and the list goes on and on. Bc they wanna hammer in harder that supernatural has ever only ever been about two brothers and no one else matters ever.. It does not matter that this has not been true since the earlier seasons. The show of course is about Sam and Dean’s lives and journey through life, and I have loved to follow along on their journey.  BUT it was a long time ago this was the ONLY thing that mattered (bc if it had only been about the brothers the show would NOT have gone on for this long). Along the way they have picked up FOUND Family, and the message of the show has been Family don’t end in blood, Always Keep Fighting. But this last episode reverted back to season 1 and disregarded ALL character growth and storytelling of the past 12 years and went with fuck it ONLY Sam and Dean are important. So the next fucked up message they sent where: There is no Family don’t end in blood.. The only family that matters is blood. And then they have the balls to say Always Keep Fighting.. Are they fucking kidding????

Character development…….. who????  

Sam lives on after Dean dies and we get a montage of his life where he look miserable and is shown to not being able to get over that Dean died. We get a blurry wife and a kid named Dean. In his house there are photos of ONLY himself, Dean and their parents and maybe one of his son? Don’t remember all the details and refuse to watch that episode ever again. But no friends, no family, no happy moments are shown, it looked like a very lonely life. He dies with only his son there.. WHERE are Sam’s friends??? This montage of Sam’s supposed happy life is NOT happy bc he is not able to get over that Dean is dead, he can’t live a  happy life bc Dean is not there - again something that irked me and felt disrespectful to all the growth Sam and Dean have gone through. It was toxic codependency all the way through and that is not satisfying to watch. Especially since the brothers had actually broken that dependency. Sam had broken free, Sam have through the years wanted to get away from Dean and live his life as he wants and then he was happy…We have a moment way back in season 5 maybe? Where Sam runs away and this is shown as one of his happy moments in dark side of the moon.. No Dean in his happy places, Sam having thanksgiving with his girlfriend and her family, Sam alone with a dog. We have Sam and Amelia when Dean was in purgatory. So Sam IN text have been shown being able to be happy without Dean so why could he not do it this time?? Makes no sense! You can grieve but still have a good life.. But they CHOSE to show it like Sam was miserable bc Dean was dead and life was not worth living happily without Dean there..

The brothers have lately interacted like two individual adults, separated from each other, making their own decisions and trusting each other in making them, they wanted different things in life. And seriously WHERE DID EILEEN GO?? Why was Sam not reunited with Eileen that he some eps previous was shown to love, no instead they had blurry wife which feels like such a cop out. Sam did not get to live a happy fulfilling life and why did Sam not deserve to live a happy life with Eileen??? I know they are blaming corona for a lot of things missing in the finale that they intended.. BUT and this is a BIG BUT remember Jensen did not like the ending it did not sit well with him, he had a hard time digesting it, he objected to the ending! He spoke about that dying in battle would not be a satisfying ending - see the video of him talking about this at SDCC 2019. There is so much more to say about this but other people have voiced it so much better than I ever could so I move on to the next issue.

Dean in heaven  

Dean when he first arrives there happens upon Bobby who tells him John and Mary lives down the road and that Rufus and Arheta lives around there too. I hope Bobby’s wife was indoors, and that Jack with the help of Cas fixed heaven.  To this Dean only smirk/smiles.. and then Dean sees baby and goes for a drive ALONE with the words he will be here soon from Bobby again Sam is the only one that ever matter PFT. Dean who found a home in the bunker alongside Sam, Cas and Jack who told John: I have a family and that he was happy with himself and his life…. Spends his time endlessly driving around alone just waiting for Sam to appear.. ALL of Deans growth is thrown out the window.. he is reduced to salad dressing. Deans only purpose is to live for his brother and cannot possibly have what he WANTS for himself not even in death. He drives around for who knows how many years until Sam dies. HOW is this justice to DEAN? How is this a good and satisfying ending for Dean. Dean who wanted to LIVE, Dean who wanted to experience people in new ways, who had let go of Sam and saw Sam as his own person, now in heaven only drives around waiting for Sam to get there having no life or meaning of his own. It pisses me off to no end that they reverted back to toxic codependent Sam is all that is important to Dean shit.. They have broken away from this shit years ago and this is how they choose to end it right back at the beginning..

Now what is the point of telling  a story of growth and love and life if all that that journey amounts to is ending up at the exact point it started on?? You can watch season 1 and 2 and then this finale and it makes sense.. But having watched season 1-15 this ending does great injustice to the characters and the story. Again many others have written way better posts about this that expresses the great disappointment and hurt that is being screamed everywhere right now.

The Actors

I want to add the performance of all actors through the years, the love and care they have poured into their characters are amazing I have loved every bit of that journey. I love Jared, Jensen and Misha, and all the others for their amazing work and that is maybe why it hurts so much it ended in this way!

#spn 15x20 #Supernatural #Jensen Ackles #Misha Collins #Jared Padalecki #dean winchester #dean #sam winchester #sam #castiel #cas #spn 15x18 #spn 15x19 #rambly thoughts about the end #the end

[highsviolets]

of hyperdrives & hands: engineer!reader x obi-wan

summary: you’re fixing the hyperdrive on the Negotiator when a mysterious being pays you a visit.

word count: I honestly have no idea bc i wrote this whole thing on my notes app in the car lmao. (sorry if the formatting is weird/there are typos!!)

rating: G. but also, this is basically a love letter to Ewan McGregor’s gorgeous hands.

A/N: fulfilling a request for the lovely @aty-cgca7! ily, chasity! I hope it’s everything you were looking for 💖 also I know nothing about engineering or computers or hyperdrives so don’t come for me y’all 😂

of hyperdrives & hands, a fic by corellians-only

Brow furrowed in concentration, you squint in the hazy light. Reaching up to your forehead with your left hand, you slide your fingers across the surface of your skin, batting away renegade wisps of hair that had fallen away from your bun.

Maker, but it was warm down here, in the maw of this behemoth ship. You curse softly to yourself as a bead of sweat hovered perilously close to your eyelash, threatening to obscure your vision as you strain to locate the loose wire that had sent you onto the Negotiator in the first place. Hadn’t your father always warned your that space was cold? When you told him you had joined the Civilian Engineer Corps to help with the war effort, he had even cracked a joke about adding extra layers to your uniform.

You frown. Clearly, accomplished pilot though he was, you father had never been in the hyperdrive control center of a Republic Venator-class Star Destroyer.

Catching your distraction, you shake your head. No. You needed to focus. Now was not the time to question your father’s supposed space travel wisdom. There’s a job to be done. Hyperdrives did not fix themselves.

There she is. Rather than simply becoming disconnected, the wire had split in two, snapping under the pressure from the processing core directly above the unit. This was going to be more complicated than you thought.

For a few hours, the only sounds that filled the room were soft snip of wirecutters and the gentle thrum of the engines. As you start re-routing the stray wire, your mind begins to wander.

You had heard stories about Star Destroyers with entire hangers of processing cores for the shields alone. That their nav computers were the most accurate in the galaxy. That their holo encryption system was unbreakable (it wasn’t. You had written and sliced a viral code into their data key a few standard months back, just to see if you could). This was your first time on such a warship when it was in space, and while it was impressive, at the end of the day, it ran like any other ship.

Tali had been even aboard General Secura’s flagship, the Liberty, for a supply dump once and she swore that their weapons systems were the most flawless thing she had ever seen - barring General Kenobi, of course, she had added with an impish grin tossed your way.

Your not-so-subtle crush on the dashing General was an open secret among your platoon of female engineers. Most of them assumed it was because he was pretty and famous — he was on nearly every holomag cover, after all — but you knew better. You knew he was a good man. His hands told you so.

The first time you had seen General Kenobi, you had been playing in the undercity of Coruscant when a boy a little older than yourself had stopped to ask what you were building with the rubble left behind from an explosion caused by the nascent Black Sun cartel a few days earlier.

“I don’t know,” you had responded belligerently, upset at your endeavors having been interrupted - and by a boy, no less. “Why do you have a braid in your hair?” you continued. “I thought only girls had braids.”

The boy had adjusted his stance to stand up taller. “I’m going to be a Jedi,” he proclaimed. “I’m Obi-Wan,” he offered with a smile. His eyes flashed suddenly, and with a quick thrust, his hand extended into the dusty air. A sheet of durasteel that had been hovering precariously at the tip of the heap was now suspended in midair, mere centimeters from crashing down on your head. Even in the grim half-light of the slums, you could see sapphire eyes earnestly fixed on the hunk of metal. Strong, lithe fingers gestured gracefully. The object fell with a great crash a few meters away.

You could only stare in awe.

The faint sound a male voice calling had caused him to twist his head and listen. “I have to go.” He frowned. “Master Qui-Gon is calling me. I hope I see you again some day.”

He bowed slightly, then turned and trotted back toward his Master.

You had never been quite able to forget the teenager with pretty hands who had saved your life.

Nearly two decades later, you had seen him again. You and Tali had been sipping cups of caf before your shifts in the makeshift mess hall of a personnel loading area when you sensed his presence. Not in a Jedi way - you didn’t have a lick of Force sensitivity, you knew - but in the way you noticed that everyone seemed to speak a little softer and trail their eyes after the passing figure in white armor.

He had strode past the the two of you, hardly sparing a glance at two female civilian engineers and pointedly ignoring the sheer weight of the gazes trained on him. Later, over a pint of lomin ale, Tali has raved about his hair, and how “he had a shoulder to hip ratio that was sharper than a vibroblade, didn’t you notice?”

You had taken a sip of your drink and laughed good-naturedly at Tali’s antics. You had noticed him, to be sure, but you had been transfixed by his hands, not his muscles.

Back in the days before the war, when you were still a little girl, your father Aves had always told you to take note of a being’s hands. In the present moment, you smile as you refit the access panel on the hyper drive’s core reactor as a the memory comes to mind.

Even though he was a good father, Aves had been a man of mystery. Whatever it was he did for a living, it had blessed him with an intimate knowledge of guns, starships, and computers, and he had passed everything he knew on to his “blazing sun,” he used to call you affectionately.

“Blazing sun,” he would instruct you, “you can tell a lot about a being by their hands.” When he was satisfied he had captured your attention, the impression of a smile glowed across his face. He resumed cleaning his carbine rifle as he spoke, his voice low and smooth. “You can tell a lot about a being by their hands,” he intoned again. “Their trade. Their social class. How they hold a weapon. What kind of weapons they use. If they can pilot a ship. If their mind is focused or skittish.” The tall man had shrugged gently, an action that seemed counterintuitive to the grade A contraband blaster now resting comfortably in his expert grip. A new power pack slapped into place with a precise snap. “If you ever want to know someone” — he tucked a stray hair behind your ear tenderly, the other hand still clutching the blaster — “look at their hands.”

You begin tapping out routine codes on the core reactor to test the replacement wire. The various combinations of letters and numbers in basic and binary were muscle memory, and you stared in awe as your own fingers punch in the digits seemingly of their own volition.

Yes, it was General Kenobi’s hands that most enraptured you, you decided. Slender, calloused (you supposed - not that you had ever had the pleasure of testing that theory for yourself), extensions of strong, well muscled arms that indicated a strong degree over his motions. He had held them so softly at his sides that day in the mess hall. They had gestured animatedly as he walked alongside a clone commander, a graceful arc to his movements that made you think he would be a good dancer — or a formidable fighter.

The klaxon of an alarm drives you from your reverie. “Oh, kriff.” The latest code you had entered seemed to have caused the wires to short circuit, tripping an internal safety alarm.

“Kriff, kriff, kriff.” You continue to swear violently as you all but run over to the central computer console and entering a code to kick-start a program to halt the shrieking din. Within the minutes, the alarm bells stop, and you sag against the console in relief.

“Is something the matter?” a rich tenor voice asks from behind you.

Immediately you tense. In a singular, practiced motion, you pivot on your left heel and whip your blaster into your right hand simultaneously, turning to face the voice in a fighting stance.

“Freeze!” you call into the shadows. Your eyes scan the cavernous room methodically before settling on a spot a few meters in from the doorway where the light seems distorted. You take aim with your blaster.

“Justice, freedom, faith,” the disembodied voice replies calmly from the same spot.

Your eyes narrow. Whoever the being was, they had given the correct password. But the upper-class Coruscanti accent didn’t belong to anyone in your platoon, and who else would be prowling around the underbelly of General Kenobi’s flagship? There had been faint rumors of a lightsaber wielding Separatist operative. Maybe they were coming to sabotage the ship? Well, not on your watch.

“Step into the light,” you order, durasteel edging into your voice. “Keep your hands above your head.” The contours of the blaster are cool, comforting in your grip, soothing the blood rushing just beneath the surface.

A tall auburn-haired man steps into the light, arms raised. “Will this suffice?” he asked wryly, amusement playing across his features as you feel shock and embarrassment creep up your neck and onto your cheeks.

Stars above. I almost shot General Kenobi. A thousand thoughts race through your mind faster than light speed - some witty, some pragmatic.

But of course, what slips out is neither of those.

“Fierfek, you startled me,” you manage to spit out instead. It’s only your steel will that prevents you from collapsing from embarrassment on the spot. Feigning nonchalance you decidedly do not feel about almost murdering a war hero and childhood crush, you holster your weapon and turn back to the console.

“I gathered as much,” he returns, amusement still coloring his tone.

The room fell silent for a few moments as you run system diagnostics.

“What is it you’re working on?” This time, he’s so near you can feel the heat of his breath on the back of your neck. Well honed reflexes are faster than your brain, though, and it isn’t until you feel a gentle pressure on your elbow that you realize it’s raised to jab him in the throat.

General Kenobi’s chuckle seems to fill the room. “Are you sure you aren’t trying to kill me?” he murmurs. A shiver runs up your spine despite yourself and you feel your stomach start to coil.

You stare at the data steaming on the console until your eyesight begins to blur. “That depends. Are you trying to kill me, sir?” Maker, but you were mouthy today. What was wrong with you?

Kenobi releases your arm dropping his to his side. Immediately, you feel bereft somehow with the loss of his touch.

Peering over your shoulder, he asks, “hyperdrive problems?”

Kriff, does that man not realize what he is doing to you, muttering in your ear like that? Of course he doesn’t, you dolt, you tell yourself; he’s a Jedi. Not his fault you’ve had a crush on him since you were nearly eight years old.

“A replacement wire short-circuited the system and triggered an emergency code,” you respond as evenly as you can manage. A fresh sweat breaks out across your forehead as another complex code dances across the screen.

“What code is that?” He reaches out as though he could absorb the masses of data contained in the system through osmosis. Maybe he can. You’re not a Jedi.

The movement serves a different purpose for you. Something wet and bright glistens as his hand moves into the blue light of the console.

“You’re bleeding.”

He glances down and grimaces. “It’s nothing. Just a scratch.”

You arch an eyebrow. “Doesn’t look like it to me.” Blood is starting to gather around an incision slashed across his right hand.

He opens his mouth to retort no doubt, but you beat him to it. “Don’t give me that bantha dung about Jedi business.” A grease stained finger jabs in the direction of his chest.

Kenobi’s face remains impassive. When he doesn’t respond, you roll your eyes, and, tugging at his elbow, drag him over to the glow lamp near your workstation.

He continues to scrutinize you, and you look down at yourself, wondering what he’s staring at. Your coverall sleeves are rolled up, there’s sweat gathering at your collarbone, and you feel the grimy mixture of dust and stale perspiration coating your face. You’re a hot mess if there ever was one.

Resolutely, you ignore the flush on your cheeks and the steel of his gaze and rummage for a bandage in the care pack attached to your hip. Several excruciating seconds later you find one and tear it open.

It’s when you’re grasping his hand in one of yours the he finally speaks. “I’ve seen you before.”

His cool composure inspires a sudden flash of irritation. “You seem rather certain sir,” you say as you apply a bacta salve.

“Because I am,” he responds mildly. His hand grips yours tightly when you apply the bandage, and you almost asphyxiate on the spot. You were right — his hands are calloused.

“Well, consider this your repayment from saving a girl from durasteel in the Coruscant under-levels about twenty years ago,” you answer with a quick smile. It’s hard to be angry when Obi-Wan Kenobi is in effect, holding your hand.

Reluctantly you release him from your grasp, letting your hand drift down to your side.

The General inclines his head in thanks, then glances back at the computer. “Is the hyperdrive fixed, then?”

You nod, stuffing supplies back into your pack. “I modified the code and replaced the wire so it should be okay.” You meet his eyes. “I’ll be with the ship until it returns to Coruscant, so if there any problems I’ll be available to assist, sir.”

You turn to leave, but he reaches out and catches your hand. “And who do I have to thank for such diligent caretaking of both my ship and my hand?” he inquires. His touch is like satin against your dirty hands and you grin in spite of it.

You consider for a moment. “A blazing sun,” you tell him.

You smile as you make your back to your quarters. Yes, you could tell a lot about a person by their hands.

#obi-wan x reader #obi wan x you #userkarina #obi wan x reader #prompt request #cristina writes #cg's og's #character: obi wan kenobi #star wars fic #obi-wan fic #aty cacg7 #never am i ever writing in present tense the TYPOS omg

[feralseraph]

Hi there, I was wondering if you could elaborate on your thoughts re: prison abolition. Thank you!

Sure. I’m gonna just compile all my thoughts here so if anyone else is ever curious about it i can link it.

Also, I’m not at all interested in ~debating~ the issue bc I have already done so many times irl and on other social media and my stance hasn’t changed so yeah. It’s just exhausting and annoying.

So anyway, I’d like to preface by saying obviously the current system is complete garbage (also im gonna be talking about the united states bc that’s where I live). Clearly I don’t support people being in prison for stealing lipstick from sephora or selling weed to their friends, etc. 

And yes, I have read a lot of what prison abolitionists have had to say (including Angela Davis!! Thanks!!) so, it’s not like I’m just picking on them for no reason. I’m not for it because I don’t feel like it’s a viable option for the world we live in right now.

I’ll just start where it always starts: violent crime. I really dislike how people are always touting that well rape and murder happen outside of prison and they never get caught. Or that rape and murder happen in prison as well. So, first of all shouldn’t we maybe change that narrative to be like, how can we do more to apprehend violent criminals? Also, there’s got to be better ways to contain violent criminals so that they aren’t in there just doing whatever they want to other people.

Also, personally I am completely uninterested in trying to “rehabilitate” like sex traffickers and rapists. These kinds of crimes aren’t just something to accidentally do because you were poor or something. They’re completely malicious acts and people that commit these kinds of crimes have to be separated from the people they seek to harm. And I don’t see how giving them CBT workbooks is going to make them see the error of their ways and suddenly uwu they’re nice. I’ve been told it’s cruel and unempathetic to assume that there is any group of people “beyond help”, but how exactly do you help serial killers? How do you help child predators? These people know what they’re doing is wrong and they will continue to do so unless they are removed from society.  No amount of therapy is going to “fix” people like that. Further, to say I’m critical of therapy and psychiatry is an understatement, but that’s another topic (check out my tags anti psychiatry and psychiatry for my thoughts on that if you’re interested.)

Another thing someone said to me once was, “well why not just kill violent criminals if you think they can’t be helped.” And my response is that I feel like most people would see that as an act of revenge and therefore it would be inappropriate for the state to enact revenge on criminals, whereas what the responsibility of the state is to punish those criminals and keep them separated from people they would harm.

I also feel like a lot of the times I’ve had these conversations it ignores the reality of violent  crime and the reality is that the vast majority of violent crime is committed by men, often against women (and children). Then, they’ll say that one of the goals is to raise boys so that they grow up to not be so terrible which is another task I’m completely uninterested in. What do we know now that mothers before us didn’t know? Also, if we’re supposed to get a few generations of Good Men and a violence free world then why are people acting like prison abolition is something that can happen any time soon?

I honestly don’t even think that prisons should look the way they do now. If these people are going to be kept somewhere then yeah they can have access to the outdoors and normal food. And it’s not like there will be no more court system where there’s trials and evidence presented and so on. Like if someone’s car slid on ice and they accidentally hit someone it wouldn't be treated the same as someone purposefully running another person over with their car. 

As a feminist I believe women deserve to feel as safe as possible and if they’re ever the victim of violent crime, the least that can be done is for the perpetrator to not have the opportunity to hurt someone again.

I think that about sums it up. Overall, imagining a world where there’s no more violence and therefore no need for prison is an interesting philosophical exercise, but I don’t see how it’s a viable option for the world we actually live in and people saying “we don’t have all the answers” simply does not do it for me. Like I said, uninterested in debating. I’ve been called a cruel heartless harpy often enough <3

Oh, one last thing. wrt ~community justice~ I don’t feel comfortable putting my trust in a community of leftist bros who can’t even hold their friends accountable for being assholes, let alone how to handle violent criminals in their community.

#prison abolition #Anonymous