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bethanythebogwitch · 11 months

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There's been a distinct lack of invertebrates on my Wet Beast Wednesday posts so let's fix that by adding sea spiders. These arthropods are notable for being probably the creepiest things i've features on this series. Like I'm not afraid of actual spiders at all, but these things give me the heebie-jeebies. And I'm exactly the kind of person who loves to spread the things that creep me out, so let's combine thalassophobia with arachnophobia for the worst of both worlds! The first thing to know about sea spiders is that the name is a lie. They aren't spiders but instead members of their own class: Pycnogonida, meaning that a more accurate name is to call them pycogonids. Another alternate clade name is Pantopoda, which means "all legs", a pretty accurate description. They are traditionally classified as chelicerates, putting them in the same subphylum of life as proper spiders. However, this may change as a few genetic studies (Regier, et al., 2010 and Sharma et al., 2014) instead place them as a sister group to all other extant arthropods. Sea spiders occupy every part of the ocean with around 1,300 documented species.

(Image: a collage of many sea spider species, courtesy of ye olde Wikipedia)

The first thing you'll likely notice about sea spiders is that their legs are much larger than their bodies. In fact, the body is so reduced that many of the internal organs have to extend into the legs because they otherwise wouldn't fit. Sea spiders have a wide range of sizes, with the smallest having a legspan of 1 millimeter and the largest having a legspan of 70 cm (2.3 ft). That is larger than my sister's dog. Most species are pretty small, with the very large specimens being the result of polar or deep-sea gigantism. Most species have 4 pairs of walking legs, but some have 5 or 6 instead. The body consists of 2 segments: a cephalothorax subdivided into a cephalon (head) and trunk, and a very tiny abdomen. The cephalon contains the first pair of legs as well as a smaller pair of legs called ovigers that are used to handle their eggs, for grooming, and courtship. Every sea spider has a proboscis on the cephalon that is their feeding appendage. Depending on species, they may also have a pair of palps and/or chelifores, smaller appendages used to manipulate food. Some species lack both the palp and chelifore and their proboscis is instead flexible and muscular. Many species have a structure on the cephalon called the ocular tubercle which contains the eyes, but some deep-sea species have lost their eyes entirely. The trunk contains the remaining legs. Finally, the abdomen is extremely reduced and almost completely vestigial.

(Image: a diagram of sea spider anatomy)

Sea spiders are carnivores, using their proboscises to pierce soft-bodied invertebrates such as cnidarians, sponges, and some worms. They have no respiratory organs. Instead, dissolved oxygen diffuses into the body through the legs. A small and long heart beats at 90 to 180 beats per minute, circulating hemolymph (bug blood) through the central body and giving them a high blood pressure. Oxygen in the legs is transported through repetitive motion called peristalsis in the parts of the digestive tract that extends into the legs. Sea spiders can move both by walking and swimming, which they achieve by beating their legs in a motion similar to opening and closing an umbrella.

(image: a sea spider riding a jellyfish)

Birds do it, bees do it, and weird underwater spider-beasts do it. With the exception of one known hermaphroditic species, all spiders are dioecious, which is a fancy way of saying they have distinct males and females. During mating, the male will climb on the female and they arrange themselves until their reproductive gonopores (which are eon the legs of course) line up. The female them releases her eggs, which the male fertilizes and catches with his ovigers. The male carries the eggs until the larvae are born, with the female providing no further care. Larvae are very simple, consisting of a head with the only appendages being the ovigers, palps, and chelicerae. The trunk, abdomen, and legs develop as the larva grows. Instead of growing the legs all at once, they will grow in during sequential molts. Some have suggested that the development of the larvae parallels the evolution of the ancestor of arthropods, starting out very simple and gradually evolving more complex structures. Scientists have observed 4 types of larvae: the typical protonymph, atypical protonymph, encysting, and attaching. Typical protonymph larvae are the most common and become free-swimming after hatching. Atypical protonymphs are similar, but will eventually find another animal to live on or in. Encysting larvae will find a polyp colony and burrow in. It then encases itself in a cyst and will not leave until developing into a juvenile. Attaching larvae remain attached to their father's oviger until developing into juveniles.

(Image: a male carrying his eggs)

(Image: a larva)

#wet beast wednesday #marine biology #biology #zoology #ecology #animals #invertebrate #arthropod #sea spider #animal facts

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sixleggedboar · 11 months

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for the sketch requests: what about maul with silly sunglasses? or, the classic, sexy palps. or elvis cause i miss him

I miss Elvis too. A bit too much which is why this ended up as more than just a sketch.

He is a very important character to me and it was incredibly valuable to reflect on him again for a bit.

#OC: Elvis #sidestep #fhr #fallen hero #fhr sidestep #rat king #fhr rat king #if

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stealingpotatoes · 9 months

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hi!! so i got a lot of skywalkers apart au asks last night and rather than obliterate everyones dashes with like 5 posts, just doin it all in one!!!! and i made a banner so this post looks cuter

YEAH he rlly does!!

its a little awkward when they reunite -- don't get me wrong, SUPER loving and everyone's trying so hard to make it work and like it-- mostly does work? but there's a lot of growing pains lol especially given Luke's only been raised by his very civilised mum, so suddenly having a dad that's 6'2 of bug-eating chaos is a bit of whiplash loll. but they all love each other very much and the twins are old enough to mostly understand their parents' decision

luke's rlly going thru it tho loll he's got that family going on while he's also dealing with going from senator's son to recently-liberated-force-sensitive-rebel-fugitive

LMAO i mean i assume they don't BLAST (in a lot of cases you don't want to let the enemy know you've got an ace up your sleeve lol) but you can bet there's been a couple times where they've found their least secure comm to say it over lolll. then again if you see a blue lightsaber absolutely whipping everyone's shit on the battlefield you can just guess, who needs an announcement <3

BUT LMAO I LOVE THAT Anakin gets back and Leia's like I CANT BELIEVE THAT ACTUALLY WORKED??? meanwhile Obi Wan and Ahsoka are like ohhh that tactic. classic. and Leia's even more shocked that he's made this work MORE THAN ONCE??

@mayordomogoliat loll i mean. he was a jedi fugitive!! he can't predict when the empire'll spot him!! sometimes that's during grocery shopping when he's got his baby daughter (who's weirdly gleeful in the fight??) strapped to him!

oooo SICK LINE

LMAOOO YEAH "if i could avoid falling, so could you. do better" hes not angry hes just disappointed

YES ABSOLUTELY i mean obvs i've drawn Kanan fangirling but so many other younger jedi would be so happy to see him omg also COOLEST PERSON TO BE SAVED BY!! tbh anakin not falling definitely leads to more jedi survivors (as in ppl not the game) partly bc palps doesn't have that immediate killing machine

loll anakin's absolutely spending any downtime he doesn't spend with leia working on ships etc. probably gets annoying sometimes bc "Hey mr jedi can u do this mission" "no look i worked out a way to make this ship respond .3 seconds quicker i NEED to finish this first" local jedi forgets he's a useful jedi and thinks he's just a mechanic

yes absolutely. like canon threepio's absolutely ???? all the time bc nobody tells him what's going on and

@british-sarcasm YEAH!!!! palps is so pissed off he didn't turn anakin bc that means he's alive and rebelling and MY GOD is he annoying for everyone involved.

and omg YES good for them. if they ever ran into each other/ did a mission together they'd make everyone there regret ever signing up for the empire

#skywalkers apart au #thanks for the ask!

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munson-blurbs · 1 year

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Ghostin' (Steve Harrington x Fem!Reader Series)

Summary: Before dying in the Upside Down, Eddie asks Steve to take care of you. The grief coupled with your burgeoning feelings for one another may be too much for you to handle, especially when you get some shocking news.

Warnings: mentions of smut (18+ only just to be safe), Eddie's death is canon, medical issues, language, so much angst

WC: 3.9k

A/N: This is chapter one in a series I'm writing. It's heavy on the angst, but I promise it lightens up in future chapters 💚 it's based on the song "Ghostin'" by Ariana Grande and was requested by an anon, but I don't want to publish the ask because it would give away a major plot point.

Dividers by @firefly-graphics

“No…no! Please NO!”

Steve is snapped out of his daze, too light to be considered a slumber, by the sounds of your cries. They are nightly occurrences at this point, and he’s well-versed in handling them after seeing you struggle for the last month.

He nudges you gently, careful not to startle you further. “Y/N, wake up,” he whispers, wiping the sleep from his brown eyes. “You’re here; you’re safe.”

Your lashes flutter as you claw your way out of the nightmare, a scene set by threatening maroon clouds, deadly vines, and squawking bats with faces that open. Tears dampen your cheeks and stain your pillowcase. “Ed–Eddie?” you murmur, face falling when you realize that he’s not the warm body next to you.

Steve shakes his head, used to this routine. “No, it’s me. It’s Steve.” He’d been crashing at your apartment ever since you’d returned from the Upside Down. You didn’t want to be alone, and his parents didn’t keep tabs on where he slept, so it was the perfect arrangement. He’d been apprehensive about sharing your bed, but you’d insisted, and he couldn’t deny that it was comfier than the couch or a sleeping bag.

You’re momentarily confused; why is Steve “The Hair” Harrington sleeping next to you, and not your metalhead boyfriend? But then it all comes flooding back: Eddie pedaling frantically, makeshift shield flung across his back, you begging him to stop. The way your heart sank when he desperately tried to fend off the swarm of demobats, only to be pinned to the ground and torn apart by their barbed wire tails. His soft voice, reassuring you that he loved you, that you were the love of his life, even managing a blood-tinged smile when he said your name. And then…nothing. Only silence, disrupted by the sound of you and Dustin sobbing over his lifeless body.

“M sorry,” you mutter now; the embarrassment of being so vulnerable in front of someone you’d barely known a month ago is all-too present. “I don’t know why this keeps happening…doesn’t seem to get any better.”

Steve brushes a strand of hair from your face, hands faltering at the warmth of your skin. “You don’t need to apologize,” he tells you, just as he does every night. “What you went through…no one should ever have to deal with that.” The premise of the alternate dimension was horrific enough, let alone watching the person you love die from its creatures and then having to leave them there. Steve couldn’t imagine it.

After meeting Eddie, Steve quickly learned about his new friend’s love for you. Eddie wasn’t shy about it–wasn’t shy about most things, to be fair–but their walk in the Upside Down’s woods really cemented it. Always boisterous, Eddie’s demeanor suddenly shifted, and he struggled to meet Steve’s eyes.

“Hey, Harrington,” he’d started, picking at his fingernails anxiously. “I don’t know what’s gonna happen to us here, but, uh, if I don’t…make it, can you promise me something?”

“Don’t talk like that,” Steve said quickly. The thought of losing anyone in the party was enough to make his stomach curdle.

Eddie stopped in his tracks and grabbed Steve’s forearm. “Just listen to me.” His tone was harsher, more serious this time. “I need you to make sure Y/N is taken care of. She’s everything to me; I need to know she’ll be okay.”

Steve nodded and cleared his throat. “Yeah, I’ll do that for you.” The fear was palpable, and he tried to ease it with a joke. “Still don’t know how you managed to pull someone like her, though.” He hadn’t really noticed you before, even though you’d graduated together. He was always too wrapped up in himself, and he regretted it now that he was getting to know you.

Eddie’s laughter breaks through Steve’s thoughts. “That, my friend,” he clapped a ringed hand on Steve’s back, “will remain one of life’s greatest mysteries.”

Steve’s eyes flicker over to the alarm clock by your bedside. “It’s only 4 AM,” he says. “You can still go back to sleep.”

“I hate sleeping,” you admit quietly. “Every time I do, I’m brought back to that day. My mind just replays it over and over…I can never get a break.”

Steve’s problem is the opposite–he can’t sleep. His brain and body are constantly on edge, and any time he’s about to drift off, a surge of adrenaline kicks in and wakes him. Even keeping the nail bat by the bed doesn’t help; the dark circles and bags under his eyes prove it.

“We can just talk, if you want. About anything,” he says, scooting closer to you while maintaining a respectful distance. “Like, did I tell you how Robin kept track of all the times I struck out with girls when we worked at Scoops?”

You offer a semblance of a smile as you turn over to face him. “No, but I’d love to hear about this.”

The two of you trade stories until the sun rises hours later. Steve drags himself from the comfort of your bed, grimacing as the cool air hits his toes. He pulls on the puke-green Family Video vest and attaches his nametag, padding out to the kitchen to make some coffee. Caffeine is the only thing keeping him from passing out behind the wheel.

You follow behind him, grabbing two mugs from the cabinet. Instinctively, you reach for the Odie one before pushing it back on the shelf. Tears prick at your eyes when you think of Eddie’s matching Garfield mug, probably destroyed during Vecna’s rampage. You’d bought them at the mall together last year, too cute and cheesy to pass up.

“Actually, I think I’m gonna take mine to-go,” Steve tells you, plucking a travel mug from the pile. “Are you gonna be okay?”

You nod as you add a spoon of sugar to your drink. “Yeah, I’ll be fine.” You squeeze his hand, leaving shivers shooting down his spine. “Gotta get ready for work, too.” Your boss had given you a week of bereavement leave, but you’d been back for a bit. Being a receptionist at Hawkins Dental wasn’t too stressful, save for a few obnoxious patients, but it was still hard going through the motions of your daily routine like nothing happened. Like your heart hadn’t been ripped out of your chest and discarded in the Upside Down.

Steve stumbled into Family Video, giving Robin a bleary-eyed smile as he took his place behind the counter. She sighs, exasperated, at the sight of her exhausted friend.

“Keith won’t be in for another two hours if you wanna get some rest,” she says softly, nodding towards the break room. “I can cover for you.”

“Nah, I’m good now,” he replies, shaking the empty coffee cup for emphasis. “But thank you.” He places it down and starts checking in the returned movies. “How’ve you been dealing with…everything?”

Robin nods slowly before allowing her facade to falter. “Awful,” she admits. “Sometimes, I feel those vines wrapping around me. I’m still in shock that we made it out, y’know?” Steve puts an arm around her shoulder and pulls her close. “How’re you and Y/N?”

He shrugs, grabbing the VHSes to place them back on their shelves. “I don’t sleep and she has nightmares. This morning she…she thought I was Eddie again. Just for a second, but she was so happy. And then, when she realized it was me…”

“Steve,” Robin places her hand on his back. She recognizes the heartbroken look on his face. “I didn’t want to ask this but…do you have, like, feelings for her?” Steve just cocks an eyebrow, a warning for her to stop, but Robin plows on. “Look, I get it. We all still think of her as Eddie’s girl. But it’s okay if you’re having feelings for her. It doesn’t make you a bad person. Or friend.”

Steve relents, burying his head in his hands. “Then why do I feel like a piece of shit? Like I’m trying to steal her away from him? Not that it matters,” he adds hastily. “I think she’ll always be in love with Eddie.”

“Give her time,” Robin reassures him. “It’s only been about five weeks. Until she’s ready to date again,” she gives him a pointed look, taking some cassettes from his hand and reshelving them, “promise me you’ll take care of yourself, too. Eddie wouldn’t have asked you to look after her if he thought you’d be compromising your own health.”

He nods, making his way to the breakroom. “Maybe I’ll take you up on that nap,” he says. “But, um, Robs?”

“Yeah?”

“Please don’t tell anyone about this. I don’t wanna confuse her or make her feel uncomfortable.”

“Of course.” Robin isn’t usually known for her secret-keeping skills, but she knows how important it is for both you and Steve to heal before confronting more major feelings. “Go rest now.”

“Aye aye, captain.” Steve gives a half-hearted salute. When he sleeps, he dreams about kissing you, cradling your face in his hands, the softness of your lips pulling him in deeper. And when he breaks away, he looks up to see Eddie standing there, hurt and shock written all over his face.

You get home around 5:30 PM, and while your legs feel like sandbags, you drag yourself to the kitchen to cook dinner. You can’t stomach another night of takeout, especially given Hawkins’ limited options. You fill a pot with water and put it to boil, rummaging through your cabinet for a box of pasta. Steve has been coming over for dinner, so you make the whole box. The man is a bottomless pit; it completely juxtaposes your lack of appetite. You bite back nausea as you twist open a jar of marinara sauce. All you want is to throw yourself under the covers and cry yourself to sleep, but Steve will just worry about you if you don’t at least try to eat.

The queasiness doesn’t subside as you walk into the bedroom, even though you no longer smell the pasta or sauce. Overwhelming flashes of heat surge through your body, and you start to strip off your polo shirt that’s already begun clinging to your sweat-soaked torso. That minor exertion of energy drains you immediately as lightheadedness sets in. Spots dance before your eyes and your knees buckle. The last thing you remember is trying to maneuver your hands out in front of you to brace your fall.

“Y/N? Y/N, oh my God!” The sound of Steve’s frantic voice stirs you. You try to push yourself up, but you can’t withstand any kind of pressure on your hand. “Ow,” you hiss, pulling it to your chest. Your wrist is swollen, and you realize that it must be broken. Better that than my head, you suppose.

“Are you okay?” Steve asks, gingerly helping you sit up. “Let me get you some water. Did you eat enough today?”

“M fine,” you mutter, “‘s just my wrist.” His eyes widen when he takes notice of it.

“C’mon, we gotta get you to the hospital. You’ll probably need a cast; we can put some ice on it in the meantime to get that swelling down.”

“All right, Florence Nightingale,” you tease him gently. It feels good to joke; even better to make Steve laugh. “Oh, shit–the food on the stove…” After you give another failed attempt to stand, Steve puts his hand on your shoulder.

“Wait here,” he instructs. “I’ll turn everything off and help you up.” You slump back, clutching your aching wrist to your chest. Once again, Steve Harrington is picking up your broken pieces, and you have nothing to offer in return.

“Does it hurt?” Steve briefly lets his gaze drift from the road to your wrist, which currently has a bag of frozen peas wrapped around it.

“Just a little,” you say through gritted teeth.

“Are you sure?”

“I’m okay, Steve. You don’t have to worry about me.” You let out a sigh, sinking back against the seat. “I feel bad that you worry about me so much. I feel bad that you’re always helping me.”

Steve’s brows furrow in confusion. “I don’t mind. That’s what friends do: drive to the hospital when they get hurt, help them defeat evil creatures in a parallel universe; you know, the usual stuff.”

His goofiness makes you giggle despite the pain emanating from your hand and the seriousness of the situation.

“There’s that smile!” he says proudly. He pulls into the hospital parking lot and shuts off the car. “And before you argue, I’m waiting with you. The only thing worse than the injury is the boredom. They never even play anything good on the TV!”

“When we came to visit Max, they were showing a badminton game. Who the hell watches badminton?” Your grin widens as he laughs with you.

“Sounds like some shit my dad’s country club buddies play,” he rolls his eyes as he opens your door for you and walks you to the ER doors. “D’you need help filling anything out?”

You shake your head. “Lucky for me, I didn’t land on my dominant hand.” You twist your good wrist back and forth. “See? Good to go.”

Steve stifles a chuckle, crossing his right leg over his left thigh. He insists on taking your completed forms back up to the receptionist, despite you telling him you were perfectly capable of doing it yourself.

Two hours pass before a nurse finally calls your name. Both you and Steve stand up, but she shoos him away. “We are only allowing patients in at the moment due to our full capacity.” He nods; though the “earthquake” happened just over a month ago, Hawkins residents are still dealing with injuries and residual effects from smoke inhalation.

“I’ll be waiting here if you need me,” he tells you, and you give him a smile as the nurse leads you to triage. She takes your vitals, avoiding your delicate wrist, before leading you to a curtained-off bed, where another scrubbed-up woman is waiting.

“We’ll just need to do some blood tests; cross our t’s and dot our i’s before the x-ray, okay hon?” She doesn’t look up from her clipboard. Her bedside manner leaves a lot to be desired; everything about her is stiff and stale. You hold out your arm for the phlebotomist, wincing slightly as the needle pinches your skin. She promises to return quickly with the results.

Back in the waiting room, Steve finds himself drifting off to sleep. He tries to fight it in case you need him, but exhaustion overtakes him. It’s a losing battle. His dream doesn’t involve Eddie’s disapproving glare, though he’d prefer that to the nightmare that wracks his brain. He’s staring straight at Vecna, inhaling the sulfuric smell of the Upside Down with each panting breath. He braces himself in a set stance to hurl the molotov cocktail at the heinous creature, but realizes that his hands are empty.

“Robin? Nancy?” he calls out, voice barely above a whisper, but his friends are nowhere to be found. He’s all alone, defenseless and at Vecna’s mercy. “Dustin? Eddie? Y/N?” The chances of the three of you being in the Creel house are minimal, and the resounding silence confirms his worst fears. Vecna advances towards him, and Steve cowers behind a pillar, awaiting his fate.

He’s startled awake by the person sitting next to him, just as Dream Steve is about to die.

“Dude, shut up,” the guy growls. “Go wait in your car if you’re gonna make noise while you sleep, Jesus.”

“S-sorry, man,” Steve stutters. He sits up and rubs his eyes, exhaling slowly. Guess that’s the last of me sleeping in public, he thinks with a grimace. Life was so much simpler before he got involved with all of this.

But then you wouldn’t have met Y/N, he reasons. And though he’d started looking after you because Eddie had asked him to, he continues to do so because he genuinely wants to. Bringing you comfort and making you smile means the world to him. And your laugh? It’s like music to his ears. Damn, Robin was right–he was down bad.

Maybe one day, I’ll tell her. Once she stops wishing I was Eddie when she wakes up. Then I’ll tell her.

You’re waiting for the nurse to come back to bring you for your x-ray, sitting on the examination table and swinging your legs. Your nausea has mostly subsided; now, your stomach is loudly grumbling. Pasta still sounds unappealing, but maybe you can manage soup and a few Saltine crackers. If only this grumpy nurse would put a move on it, and you’d be home snuggling under your blankets. Steve would probably watch a movie with you; you’ll let him pick since he’s been doing so much for you.

After what seems like ages, the nurse shuffles over to you. “Your bloodwork results are in,” she announces. “Everything looks good; no anemia or anything of the like. Unfortunately, we will not be able to perform the x-ray, for the safety of your baby.”

You let out an incredulous laugh. “My…baby? I don’t have a baby,” you tell her. “I’m only nineteen!”

She flips through your chart. “The pregnancy test we ran came back positive,” she says, frowning. “When was your last menstrual period?”

“It was…” you think back, and your mouth goes dry when you realize it was mid-March. “A few weeks before the earthquake,” you choke out.

“I see,” she continues. “That would put you at around ten weeks pregnant.” She makes a note on your chart before pressing on. “And have you had any other pregnancy symptoms? Nausea, fatigue, mood swings, food aversions?”

All of them, you think miserably. You had chalked everything up to stress and grief, but the truth was so blatantly obvious that now you felt foolish. You nod dumbly as she writes it down. You and Eddie had been so careful, always using protection. The only exception was that one night, between visits to the Upside Down. Eddie pulled you into an empty bedroom in the Wheeler house, tears pricking at his eyes.

“I need you,” he’d said. He was trembling when he spoke to you. “I’m s’fucking scared. Just need to be as close to you as I can.”

You’d kissed him, gently but passionately. His hands slid under your shirt as he brought your body even closer to his. His tongue parted your lips as you both fell onto the bed, clothes tossed onto the floor haphazardly. Eddie’s nose nudged your own, a mixture of your tears and his staining your cheeks.

“I love you,” he’d managed between sobs, pushing into you with a soft hiss. “I love you, I love you, I love you. Whatever happens tonight, I want you to know that.”

A small moan escaped your lips as he filled you entirely. “Nothing’s gonna happen,” you reassured him, though your confidence had lowered considerably since actually seeing the monsters that awaited your return. “We’ll be fine. You’re gonna graduate, move into my apartment, and we can finally begin our lives together.”

But it was like Eddie didn’t hear you, like he already knew none of that would happen. “Jus’ hold me, please,” he whispered, fingers digging into the small of your back.

You’d wrapped your arms around him, murmuring, “My beautiful, beautiful boy. It’s only ever been you, only ever will be you.” You brush his curly hair out of his eyes as the two of you work in tandem, focusing only on each other. There was no time to worry about birth control with the potential end of the world just hours away.

“You still have options, but you don’t have much time to make a choice.” The nurse's voice breaks your trance. She hands you a list of providers, giving you the closest expression to a comforting smile she’s shown all evening. “Whichever decision you make, just know it will be the right one.”

Your good hand instinctively flies to your stomach. The fact that there’s a little Eddie in there leaves you breathless. There’s no evidence of a bump yet, but at ten weeks along, you know it’s not far off. You’re carrying Eddie’s baby, and he’s not even alive to be there for you. Had to be a goddamn hero for a town that hated him, neglecting to notice that he’d be leaving behind the love of his life.

The nurse wraps your arm in a sling, and you make your way back out to the waiting room. Steve jumps up as soon as he sees you enter.

“Verdict?” he asks, grimacing at the bandage. “You gonna need an amputation?”

Normally, you’d laugh at his silly joke, but you can’t manage it. “‘S all good,” you say, unable to meet his eye. There was no way he could know about your pregnancy. Not because he’d run away screaming; just the opposite, actually. He’d want to continue doting on you and your unborn child, and you couldn’t take any more. You were so tired of being his pathetic little pity case. No, you and Eddie had gotten yourselves into this, and since Eddie wasn’t here, you had to deal with it by yourself.

The drive back to your apartment is silent, which Steve chalks up to you having a long day. He pulls into his usual parking spot–management might as well reserve it for him at this point–and pauses before turning off the ignition.

“Don’t worry about dinner; I can run out and grab fast food or something,” he tells you.

“Actually, I think you should go home,” you blurt out. “I want to be alone tonight.”

To your surprise, he looks crestfallen; you’d thought he’d be relieved to get a break from your night terrors. “Okay…I’ll see you tomorrow, then?”

You shake your head. “We’ve been spending a lot of time together, and maybe we should try to get through this without each other.” The words hurt as they leave your lips, but the thought of him, not Eddie, getting you through your pregnancy is too harsh to bear.

“Did I do something to upset you?” he muses. “If I did, I’m really sorry…” You can practically see the cogs turning as he tries to figure out what he did wrong.

“No, Steve, it’s…” What could you possibly say to him? It’s not you, it’s me? Or, more accurately: it’s not you, it’s the unborn child I have with my dead boyfriend? “It’s just a lot right now, and…and I need a little space.” Still cliche, but you can’t muster up a better excuse.

Steve drops his gaze to the gearshift. “Yeah, sure,” he mumbles. “Um, I guess, let me know if you need me.”

I won’t. “I will,” you lie easily, dashing through the doors before you start to cry in front of him.

Steve watches as you leave his car, confusion written all over his face. He had one job—to take care of you for Eddie—and he’d failed without even knowing. He slams his hands against the steering wheel. “Fuck!” he cries out. He throws the car in reverse and speeds away, fury and tears blurring the road in front of him.

In the comfort of your apartment, you finally sit down on your bed, relishing in the silence and familiarity. “It’s just you and me, little bean,” you whisper down to your still-flat belly. “We’re gonna get through this together.”

#ghostin #steve harrington #steve harrington x you #steve harrington x y/n smut #steve harrington x reader #steve stranger things #steve harrington fanfic #steve harrington x female reader #stranger things fanfic #fanfic #eddie munson fanfic #eddie munson #eddie stranger things #eddie munson x you #eddie munson x reader #eddie munson x y/n #eddie munson stranger things

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vaguely-concerned · 5 months

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I’m on a Star Wars books roll so here we go with my — unhinged thanks for asking! — thoughts on Dooku: Jedi Lost, specifically the audio play. Short version: I fucking loved this one! For maximum emotional devastation, pair with Master and Apprentice and Padawan the way my stupid ass did and then be sad about it forever I guess that's what I’m going to have to do.

Long (LONG oopsie) version:

- So. First of all, let’s get the most important thing out of the way on this here old man yaoi website. We all agree dooku and sifo dyas explored each other’s bodies right. Or at least definitely would have if not for the laws of this order etc., potentially. That’s not just me. Good. Thank you. We can now move on

- Secondly. Well. Guess I’m just going to be inconsolable about Sifo-Dyas forever now. I miss the days in which he was just a throwaway line in AotC spawned by a random misspelling to me, rather than an eternal raw aching wound in my heart

- poor poor ventress just reading through all the proof that dooku absolutely does have it in him to be a good dad I mean master and just — idk got tired of that and went the force lightning route with her. I love the move of having her dead master hang out with her all that time as well (having her slip up and refer to ‘us’ did something to me, god this is so sad. Is he actually there in spirit or is it just her grief dreaming him up because dooku is awful and cold as a cliff wall and she needs some kind of attachment figure even if she’ll have to reinvent him herself, rebuild him word for word, gesture by gesture. Pain. sorry about your terrible track record with father figures asajj)

- Lene: (About Averross): He hasn’t changed.

Dooku: (In the warmest fondest voice you ever heard) And I hope he never does

WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO DO WITH MYSELF? MUST I SET MYSELF ON FIRE TO ESCAPE THE PAIN???

Another strong showing for Rael in general, btw. He’s so warm and charming as a presence even though he’s also a little chaos gremlin. (He’s quite similar to how Sifo-Dyas was when he was young in some ways, I can definitely start to see what Dooku responds warmly to in terms of character traits.)

- the fact that good ol’ sheev showed an interest in rael, dooku and anakin… interesting huh! He’s just got a soft spot for the disaster lineage I suppose, maybe there’s an element there of luring yoda’s most direct lineage into the dirt with him without yoda even noticing for the longest time. Also cackling at the idea that he looked at qui-gon ‘too fucking stubborn and insufferable to fall to the dark side out of sheer spite’ jinn and went ‘...not that one tho’ fhdskjfa. And obi-wan is more like ‘that one blorbo all my little guys seem wild about but I just don’t get it guys’

IF rael’s refusal to join dooku at the end of ‘master and apprentice’ is the last word (which I am not convinced of ;___; be safe cowboy jedi we never see in mainline canon so far), then he’s the only one who has dodged palpatine’s attentions. Wonderful if true love that for him

ALSO rael is one of the few people we know to be on (or at least to consider himself on despite what palps might think lol) first name basis with palpatine. Hilarious. I concur with dooku never change rael

- Sifo-Dyas: That’s insane.

Dooku, deadpan: Yes.

Sifo-Dyas: The worst plan I’ve ever heard.

Dooku, somehow even more deadpan: Most probably.

Sifo-Dyas: I’m in.

Crying… weeping and dying………… what if someone could have helped sifo with his unfortunate prophecy propensity and they hadn’t drifted apart. Clone Wars averted methinks if dooku still ended up leaving the order he would have been too busy having tender gay sex with the love of his life (and only person who can call him out on his shit and have him actually listen) to be a war criminal (I am being extremely facetious of course this is very much a ‘time traveler killing baby hitler’ situation where the underlying forces causing this point in history are way too powerful to avert the catastrophe in one move. but at least palps would probably have had to pick someone else to wreck the galaxy through and sifo-dyas would be kissed & held instead of going slowly mad. A net plus some (I, me) would say)

- I just wanted to applaud both the writing and the voice acting for the characterization of Dooku in this, from his young self trying so hard to be haughty and self-possessed but also being like, y’know, twelve and a dweeb and easy for Sifo-Dyas to pull into trouble, to the dry wit and warmth he shows with Rael and Qui-Gon or his sister later. It took me a little while to get into the voice acting specifically (the actor makes no attempt at going the full Christopher Lee, which in hindsight was probably wise), but now I love it. It gets a bit goofy in places but you know what, I am a long time lover of audio plays, that’s part of the charm

- “Master, have I done something wrong?”

My heart is clenching… do you think… that master yoda’s deal with leaving his student to try fucking everything to have some kind of relationship with him until he just breaks down in tears of despair… is the kind of thing that maybe started a little bit of a generational trauma cartwheel through the ages. The point that bb!dooku is arrogant isn’t without merit and he strikes out incredibly ungracefully about it (in fact I would be a lot more worried than yoda seems to be that he decides to try to kill a tree about it, ‘I felt like destroying something beautiful’-style) but I just don’t think a… fourteen year old? A teen anyway, Is going to learn what you think he learns from this. I simply don’t believe that silent treatmenting kids will teach them emotional intelligence I guess especially if they already struggle with that naturally lol

(It is exactly the same mistake (in my opinion) that Qui-Gon makes with Obi-Wan, too, just leaving the kid completely alone and forcing them to come to you every which way for comfort or guidance instead of meeting them or reaching out to them. Especially once you see that really Dooku’s prime emotion/big core wound right from the beginning is loneliness. And that doesn’t only come from a feeling of superiority (which to be sure is also a big factor), because he has no idea where he comes from until he meets his sister. I don’t think the jedi as a whole were unsalvageable by any stretch of the imagination, but Yoda specifically… you are on such very thin ice with me at this point you little green fuck. You’re very funny and moving in yoda dark rendezvous and that’s all that’s keeping you in my somewhat good graces.)

- Okay, coming back a bit later I think I’ve found the right words to say this. more precisely dooku has two big issues which you can later see haunting all the way down his lineage — loneliness and control. (and not incidentally the intersecting elements of the two haha.) We see from his relationship to sifo-dyas that he’s not incapable of having close mutual relationships with an equal, but that kind of crashed and burned for reasons neither of them could really help and after that it seems quite telling that he has the easiest time with deeper connection in a teacher-student sort of form. I think his affection is unconditional and real, but you can’t get away from the fact that he also has the most control in that relationship structure by default, he gets to dictate what form it takes to a big extent. He doesn’t trust other people — the underlying idea ‘Only I can do this’ that eventually leads him down the Separatist path is there the whole way. It speaks both to a sense of superiority and an utter lack of faith that other people can or will help him. And then that echoes down through the master-padawan line:

Qui-Gon with his self-righteousness and utter refusal to compromise leaving him isolated among the jedi (only he is right. Yeah the Force told him so. Don’t worry I’ve got a permit *insert parks and rec I can do whatever I want meme here*), Obi-Wan with his anxiety and perfectionism and incredible sense of shame and responsibility that he should be able to carry the whole world on his shoulders alone and beating himself up for failing, all feeding into not knowing what to do with Anakin and his complete lack of control of himself and his desperation to gain and maintain connection and love (which earns him the title of ‘Dooku’s least favorite family member’ fhdsa his immediate disdain for him is so funny and so in character. Repress and go slowly mad like a normal person anakin the way you’re carrying on is just undignified and that is much worse than being evil)…

- Rael gently telling Dooku to take on another padawan soon… so sweet, so sad, local cowboy jedi looking out for his dad. Also highlights something about Dooku I think is true: that he does much better and seems to have an easier time holding to the light when he’s responsible for someone else. Again, I do feel like Dooku’s core problem is loneliness, but it seems like raising kids is the one point where that relaxes somewhat. Maybe if Sifo-Dyas had stayed in a better mental place and they kept in touch it could have been different.

- Lene Kostana is SUCH a character! Charismatic and deeply fucked up, when it’s revealed how her and Sifo-Dyas’ relationship remains long after his padawan stage is done I felt a little bit sick, to my surprise. Because that could just be kindness on her part, of course, it’s good that he has someone he trusts to look after him when he can’t himself, but also there’s something… queasy about the way it keeps him continually young, in a way. (Notably he still calls her ‘master’ even as an adult, when they’re working together. Not uncommon in Star Wars, of course, but together with everything else going on vibes-wise… hm.) The inherent unreliable narration of this story really worked for me in this regard especially — do we know that young Dooku was entirely wrong when he sensed the dark side in her? She certainly is willing to go to lengths that are… worrying! in her fascination with sith shit, she tempted children into a dangerous place they didn’t understand and couldn’t know the consequences of and she continually puts sifo-dyas in situations that are implied to be a risk to worsening his condition. Run of the mill incredibly irresponsible at best, sincerely sinister at worst. Did she choose Sifo over Dooku because he’s more vulnerable and shapeable? There is an undercurrent of something icky and emotionally incest-y going on with how she relates to Dooku and Sifo-Dyas in general (right down to the ‘NO, no one can know about this’ intensity after the… evil moss cave. I can’t believe I’m this emotional about a book with an evil moss cave). I don’t think she’s a proper sith in any way and I also believe there is real affection there on all sides, but idk something about the whole thing makes me deeply uneasy. Yoda where the fuck are you your son is out there with his irresponsible mom again they’re looking for dirty needles in haystacks and they’re not even wearing any gloves

- dooku telling sifo-dyas he can come back to haunt him if he likes as a joke… well well well I’m sure that doesn’t ring with some dramatic irony at some point down the line lmao

- honestly looking back at master and apprentice after reading jedi lost makes qui-gon's apparent lack of reaction to dooku leaving seem — let's call it highly suspect haha. rael asks him if he's spoken to dooku after and qui-gon is like 'no. why would I. it's literally fine. anyway this topic is done now'. (and rael seems to just go ‘*older brotherly knowing* uh-huh’) meanwhile he's thinking about dooku *all the time* trying to figure out his role as master to obi-wan, thinking about being a padawan himself, the parts of his life he shared with both dooku and rael. The jedi doth protest too much methinks

ALSO how much of qui-gon thinking the council was too lenient with rael after he had to kill his padawan is about that actual situation, and how much is a ‘our family still likes my older brother more than me even though he Fucked Up so bad and breaks just as many rules as I do’ sort of deal mixed with his own neuroses about how he’s failing obi-wan (to which rael’s situation symbolizes the worst possible outcome, i.e. the kid dies and it’s basically your fault). Many thoughts.

- moment of silence for jenza of house serenno. Girl your only sin was being surrounded by asshole male family members and I’m so sorry I think you did all you could with what you had to work with here.

Not… entirely sure how dooku’s claim to the title supersedes hers — is he a year older than her? (she’s eleven when they first meet, he might be twelve or older at that point I don’t remember haha) Does she just give up her place in the inheritance order? Are primogeniture and male heir preference factors in Serenno inheritance law? Not the most important thing honestly it works anyway thematically but could have been clarified quickly!

- interesting to see that the council’s restrictive policy against engaging with prophecies had a surprisingly big impact on how things went down. Kostana has a lot of responsibility in Sifo’s fate for insisting he keep it secret, but there is genuine fear for what might become of him if the rest of the order finds out he’s got 24/7 futurevision hovering over him threateningly… listen it’s not like the poor guy can help getting the future constantly pumped into his brain at nightmare resolutions, I think maybe if there had been more willingness to at least engage curiously with the concept of prophecy and how it works, even if you don’t put your faith in the particulars of what the prophecies say, this wouldn’t have had to be such a shitty isolated secretive life for him. hearing him slowly fall apart over the years considering how bright and lovely he started out... oof is all I can say

- when dooku was a good jedi he was such a good jedi!!! The scene where they’re saving the kids from the collapsing hospital, every time he teaches his students anything…the impulse of someone has to do something about this! that made him so good at saving lives turning dark with the tarnish of frustration and rage over the years… nooooooooo problematic grandpa why did it have to be like this :(

- …do you think infant jedi can sense what’s going on around them in the Force. Because it makes a very sad kind of sense if dooku on some level remembers bodily or in the Force that he was not only abandoned but rejected in disgust as one of the first things he discovered in the world. Oh boy. With all the ways attachment relationships can go wonky in the first few years in real life I don’t even want to consider how much more wrong it can go when the baby is fucking psychic lol

- vaguely related: the way dooku seems to find the very idea of being truly reliant on anyone, emotionally or otherwise, personally offensive, terrifying and humiliating lol. Yoda saves him from being crushed by rubble and he is outraged because that means he can’t save himself (and his newfound sister) without anyone’s help like he thought for one glorious moment he could. The fantasy of perfect emotional self-sufficiency, doing away with all the messiness and risk of interpersonal relationships and cutting off the possibility of really being abandoned again. It’ll get ya every time. This is also a thing you see reflected in his lineage — they’re all quite inward-turning that way until you get to anakin, to different extents and with varying presentations but it is there I think. Qui-Gon turns to the Force, Obi-Wan to perfectionism and shame and rumination, Rael to the bottle and depression and hedonistic apathy, but they all struggle hugely with letting anyone in to help them. Dooku’s line are all much more comfortable being the helpers rather than the helpees, as it were.

- “Thank you for everything, Lene. Tell Rael and Qui-Gon — tell them… tell them the Force will be with them, always”

Emotional terrorism against me specifically and personally. You asshole you just excused yourself from the non-attachment rules there’s literally nothing in the world except you to stop you from reaching out and telling your children you love them yOURSELF why are you like this

- the recurring theme of dooku seeing something beautiful (the tree in the temple, the tirra’taka as a child and an adult) and ending up lashing out to destroy it… but the tree was old and mighty and he was young and new and couldn’t truly harm it, so he was saved from his own impulsivity. And then when he sees the tirra’taka as an adult he loves it immediately. And in the end he still mangles and destroys it. He didn’t mean to, but he did. He woke it up and hurt it just by existing as a child and then he had to kill it as a mercy because he was too powerful at that point for anything to buffer his mistakes. The parallel with the bird he loved that he also couldn’t protect. He starts out with an aching loneliness somewhere at the core of him through no real fault of his own but by the end it is entirely his own fault that it’s worse, because he starts wrecking everything he loves in an almost absent-minded but definitely intentional way, like it’s a nightmare he’s listening to through the door as it happens in the next room over. He really IS the ‘I just felt like destroying something beautiful’ central of the jedi.

at the end qui-gon is dead and through dooku’s own influence, however indirectly. Rael has had to turn away from him. Sifo-Dyas is dead on Dooku’s own orders and so is his sister, he might as well have done it with his own hands. (though I think it’s very interesting that in each case he didn’t do it with his own hands, he consistently uses a middleman.) He lives within the coldness of his sterile empty castle and horrifically mistreats the one person he might have found something like connection with the way he did with his students before (Ventress), deliberately trapping her in a similar state of utter desolate isolation and telling her, essentially, ‘We’re like this as people and nothing can be done to change it. We can’t escape, we’re already doomed, stop trying, it’s too late. You are just like me (and if you aren't already I'll make you like me)’. And that’s the closest thing he gets to love anymore. When he accused Ky of using her ‘as a salve for his own loneliness’ and you’re like well well well mr projection man how’s that working out for you. He is completely, shatteringly alone and he is so entirely as a consequence of his own actions and he's too far gone to understand or care. I’m howling you useless fucking FOOL dooku

- dooku 🤝 john gaius

“Hm. I have observed that there are in fact many flaws in our society and the government is deeply corrupt. So if I kill a few billion people here and there in order to fix it, is that not basically okay when you really think about it”

Dooku making salient points about the political and ethical failures of the Republic and then, just when you think he’s onto something, he goes and makes The wildest fucking decisions about what to do about it. Sure. dark magic and genocide are probably the only ways out of this you’re so right bro. If we make enough minuses to add together surely we’ll end up in plus sooner or later

- *head in my hands once more* I can’t believe I am genuinely emotionally invested in someone called Count Dooku with the looks of a knockoff dracula and ultimate moral character to match right now this is terrible. hey. hey dooks. what you have to go and fuck everything up so bad for huh I’m so incredibly sad now

there is something to be said about how getting to see glimpses of what dooku looked like in the light makes it so much more heartwrenching that he never came back. he could have, a thousand times. and every time he chose not to.

#star wars #dooku jedi lost #count dooku #sifo dyas #dooku x sifo dyas #disaster lineage #lene kostana #star wars meta #rael averross #qui gon jinn #I'm being peak on my bullshit in this one. you're welcome and/or I'm sorry as appropriate

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eldritch-spouse · 5 months

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Patches with a blind S/O would be so horrible cause he'd absolutely use their blindness to his advantage and do every single creepy thing ever to them whilst making simple conversation

Poor sweet girl's telling him about her day while he's knelt in front of her and taking pantie shots 😭

I'm not blind, nor have I done research on blind people, but I know they manage to hear and feel things better than some of us who have intact visual senses.

Which is to say, you might feel his voice coming from a strange direction, might feel his general presence if he's too close to you. You're not completely oblivious and you can tell when something's not right... Patches is anything but ignorant to these differences between the blind and the sighted, and he still exercises a lot of caution.

Which isn't to say he's above possibly jerking off in the same room as you, trying to keep his instinctive breathing level and his volume totally in check.

He's very eager to get your hands on his head, letting you feel as much as you want, never telling you that it makes him hot when you reach past his sockets to palp the inside of his head in awe.

The pantie shots are risky, he's less likely to kneel, more so extend his hand and take a gamble.

It definitely helps with stalking you, as the undead can be inside your home at the same time as you without having to worry about many things most others would. He doesn't breathe, so you won't hear a stranger's breath in total silence. He's cold, you won't feel his body heat when he gets a little too close. He's a delighted shadow of a roommate, rummaging through your things and daringly pushing the bathroom door ajar so he can step in and watch you bathe, oblivious to the fact that he's palming himself to the view.

Stitches... Is not as nice.

#Patches oc

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wantonlywindswept · 6 days

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adopted baby Guard Din idea that I am never going to write

because it would involve logistics and quiet moments and idle life which I am very down for reading but cannot for the LIFE of me actually sit down and write

So the war ends, Palps is outed as a Sith and an asshole and dies somehow, and the Senate eventually decides that the clones do count as people and thus are allowed to leave the GAR if they want. Give the bureaucrats another few years and they might even give out backpay and citizenship, so long as you stay in the service--wait what do you mean the entire Guard is resigning. What do you mean they've already left orbit?? WHAT DO YOU MEAN THERE ARE NOW MILLIONS OF FILES ON THE HOLONET ABOUT THE SENATE'S SHADY DEALINGS???

Guard, collectively: lol cya suckers

Fox is of course one of the last ones out, and since this was all planned on the down low, everyone's been split into groups so they can take commercial flights, since they're not about to be accused of stealing ships. (They also leave their weapons and their armor behind, in a giant macabre pile in the middle of Corrie HQ. Even their helmets, their faces, they discard: it's time for a rebirth.)

He and Thorn and a few other Corries have a stopover on some tiny station, waiting a week for a delayed transport to arrive, and in the meantime they're approached by some locals who just fled the planet below. Separatist remnants attacked their homes, forcing them to leave everything and everyone behind; can the big strong clones do anything about it?

The Big Strong Clones: Oh shit we finally get to kick some Seppie ass? Sign us the FUCK up.

The eager group does not include Fox, who could not care less about the Separatists and would very much like to finally catch up on his sleep. Unfortunately that means that the group that goes down to the planet is Unsupervised.

(Thorn does not count as supervision. Thorn, bereft of Senate oversight, has finally allowed his Inner Chaos Gremlin to fully emerge. Thorn needs more supervision than the shinies.)

Thorn, three days later, waking Fox from half-hearted sleep by dropping an entire natborn child on him: Hey boss, look what we found! None of the refugees claimed him, so we called dibs. Can we keep him? Fox, staring at the child: ...

Din, staring back: ...

Fox: ...no..?

Din: *sad but understanding big brown eyes*

Fox: Nevermind this is my child now.

Din has gone from two parents to one parent and hundreds of overprotective brothers.

Eventually his group makes it to their destination, Din in tow. I am uncertain of what the destination is but it is a planet that is as far away from Coruscant that the Corries could find. I am tempted for Tatooine not because I like Tatooine (I share Anakin's loathing of sand and deserts) but because Luke's description of Tatooine in ANH was 'if there's a bright center to the universe, this is the planet the furthest from'.

Corries, hearing that: Fuck it sounds perfect.

Anyway they make it to Tatooine, there is probably purchasing of some shitty land/buildings that nobody wants out in the wastes bc crime, scum, villainy, etc, but it's not like they have problems taking care of anything that tries to mess with them.

Where did they get the funds?

Shh don't ask about it.

Stone takes up moisture farming. Thire takes up farming-farming. Thorn shoots gleefully at anything that shows up unannounced within a ten-mile radius. Literally everybody dotes on Din. There are a surprising amount of peaceful days.

Eventually some dumb shiny goes: Hey don't kids need friends? Shouldn't we set up some playdates for him or something?

The shiny is not called dumb for asking the question, but they are called dumb for thinking that the question would only ever be taken rhetorically. Fox disappears for two weeks and then comes back with a black eye and a yowling hissing Boba tucked under one arm, looking stupidly pleased with himself.

(Boba is also pleased to be back with people he knows will keep him safe. Boba will not admit to this under threat of death or dismemberment. Boba is a SERIOUS SCARY ADULT BOUNTY HUNTER.)

Boba also decides he will be Mortal Enemies with Din, which after about ten minutes of meeting him morphs into If Anyone Hurts Din I Will Kill Everyone In This Room And Then Myself because all clones be the same, really.

Din has gained another brother/bestie. (Or potential future boyfriend, whichever floats your boat.)

Somehow they still end up overthrowing the Hutts.

Officially the GAR knew and knows nothing about the Guard leaving Coruscant as soon as the metaphorical paint was dry on their sentient status.

Unofficially Fox's batch harangues him every single day for photos of his new kid(s). They eventually show up unannounced, demanding time with their nephew. (They are shot at by Thorn.)

Din gains five new uncles.

The batch proudly show pics and holos to their battalions. Din gains millions of new uncles.

Fox finally gets a full night's sleep.

#tcw #tcw fanfiction #commander fox #din djarin #coruscant guard #someone else should write that #tho tbh it's mostly written here just in rambling infodump form #btw this is half-inspired bc red is both baby din and fox's color #din is nonverbal for a little while because Trauma #and gets nicknamed 'Kit'#Fox refuses to be pleased about this #Fox is extremely smugly pleased about this

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this-acuteneurosis · 6 months

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So Im all here for the Pretty Ladies who dress nicely doing all the politics, wonderful court intrigue right here, are we gonna talk about in the back ground the majority known Male characters are in War killing dying thing? this story IS about the back room deals and others as main setting, (although we should tease you about dodging the wars in Star Wars sometimes just as a little poke.) curious cause the 4 main Male politco 2 are enemies in Rush and Palps. Kamino had a fem evil Senator! use??

Who wants to talk about ✨🌈Palpatine🌈✨!

There haven't been a lot of opportunities to talk about the structure and the influence of our main villain textually in the story, because Leia is kinda blind to her own bias, and also a lot of stuff that I have as part of his character just...doesn't come up.

So, keep two things in mind as I talk about DLB Chancellor Sheev Palpatine and pull back the curtain just a little.

His character is coming pretty exclusively from the OT and PT movies (with minor exceptions).

I'm taking advantage of a lot of silences and time period circumstances to draw conclusions about his character, so don't be surprised if I say something that isn't said out loud at some point.

Ready? Let's go!!

The OT features an overabundance of male humans in positions of power in Palpatine's government. This may have been balanced out slightly by novels that I haven't read or newer shows that I haven't watched, but the people Palps promoted to his special seats of power (Moffs, military leaders) are overwhelming human men. If we stretch canon to include the two Clone Wars cartoon series, the only women brought into Palpatine's plots are brought in by Dooku or other associates, not Palpatine himself. Of the three apprentices Palpatine has, two are human and one is humanoid.

I don't think I'm breaking anyone's brain to assert that Palpatine is sexist and racist. I know I'm not the first person to suggest or write this sort of character.

What I'm going to assert, beyond those points, is that Palpatine is only really impressed with himself, and assumes that anyone lacking qualities that he has is progressively less useful and important than him. So he's also, for lack of a better word, Force-ist.

(Ugh, nope. I still don't like it, but I don't have anything else.)

Palpatine absolutely has loyalists and panderers that are women. But as far as DLB is concerned, he's not promoting them, searching them out, or impressed by them. So women are going to be antagonists in this story more incidentally. On a small scale. Major antagonists are going to end up frequently being male and human. And I'm not going to try and change that.

Only tangentially related, but a little important because Leia comes into the Senate through Padmé's office, because of the prejudices listed above, I will pretty much die on the hill that Palpatine loathes Padmé. And he really loathes that he loathes her. That he has to have any feelings about her at all.

She's young. She's a girl. She isn't Force sensitive. He plucked her out and carefully curated her early political experience and was probably violently influential in her success in getting elected the first time. He had a tiny, fragile, 14 year old stumbling under the weight of the crown, ready to start his civil war and initiate the end of the Republic. She gets him elected. His plan is flawless.

Until it turns out that she has a spine, and humility. She has the courage to face danger and the grace to bow to another sovereign power. She trusts Jar Jar Binks when he suggests that the gungans have an army. Like this is somehow a viable plan for taking back her people, when Jar Jar isn't even slightly popular or powerful.

And she wins. Palpatine loses Maul, he loses Naboo, and he loses the opportunity to start a war. She sets him back a solid decade, at 14. On a hope and a the thinnest apology.

DLB isn't so much about creating a perfectly equitable Star Wars universe. I'm not equipped for that, and it wasn't the goal. This story is about a bunch of ladies doing politics and kicking Palpatine's plans to the curb because he was always vulnerable to the people he dismissed the most.

Palpatine's plans had the Jedi and the Senate in a steel trap of lose-lose situations. But he loses, over and over, to kindness, compassion, forgiveness, and diplomacy. He's stymied by it. He literally can't plan for it. I've had all sorts of fun having Leia and Padmé do "mother-daughter" politics together, but I love that in RotJ Luke Skywalker looked the Emperor dead in the eyes and said, "No. No you can't make me do this." Like his mother would have. It had to drive Palpatine completely nuts. And it worked.

Anyway, all that to say, there's a lot of story left, and I'm not going to give away all of Palpatine's plans and plots. But part of how Leia got this far without any resistance was that Palpatine saw a short, unconnected woman from the outer rim, had no idea she could use the Force, and went, "Not important."

And he was very, very, very wrong. :D

#Don't Look Back #Sheev Palpatine #Padmé Amidala #Leia Skywalker #Luke Skywalker #politics #bias #I won't say there are no “bad women” in SW #but do a count sometime at how many of them also...stop being “evil”#and get a redemption arc/story #or are just in it for the money #not malice #there are a lot of interesting things to explore on a meta level #about women in the GFFA

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