#OSHA cannot stop me

[hellsite-trickster]

Posting nsfw because I can

[indistinctchatt3r]

Sol and Osha

-The Acolyte | 1x01 Lost/Found, 1x02 Revenge/Justice

-Unknown

[rhythmic-idealist]

The attitude among my coworkers of “I’m gonna get cancer anyway” is insane. I know how many of you have wives. Do none of you ever for even a second think about asbestos moving from your hair into the bedsheets

[darklinaforever]

To those who say that The Acolyte cannot be the victim of racism-related hatred because of the main actors of Andor, Mandalorian and Ahsoka make me slowly laugh.

Diego Luna may be Mexican, but he's sort of white-skinned. Pedro Pascal is under a fucking mask the majority of the time, and Ahsoka may be an Afro Latina actress is a character who was basically one in the animation, being part of an alien race. Natasha Liu Bordizzo also plays a person who was originally in animation with a fanbase that already existed.

You may think that all this does not play a role in public perception, particularly racist in terms of their tolerance, but you are wrong (especially in the reception of an animated character compared to live action like with Sabine). On the contrary, it plays a huge role in their criticism. And precisely, thanks to that they can hide behind the excuse of not being racist.

Amandla is a black woman who play a completely new character. She pulls the triple hat for the worst of the worst in Star Wars fandom. Namely the sexist criticisms and the misogynistic criticisms, and criticizes of the untouchable Lore / what they think Star Wars is supposed to be, which all combine together.

Without forgetting that the one who makes the show is also a woman, a lesbian on top of that, who inevitably infuses her vision into Star Wars.

Stop acting like it doesn't matter.

And hiding behind the fact that many love Qimir and want the continuation of his story to make people believe that there is no racism linked to Amandla forgets some details on this subject.

Literally, these people completely remove the female character, Osha, from Qimir, while you can't tell his story by removing the girl. The characters work together and not separately. They don't understand that the essence of Qimir's character is linked to Osha. And obviously they don't understand that he's more complex than a Sith either.

These people who only focus on Many don't understand the character at all. Most also have misogynistic remarks towards Osha / Amandla.

So, frankly, taking those who specifically focus on Qimir as a standard to prove that there is no racism, only shows their incompetence in analysis and understanding of media, without forgetting the other horrible side that this show has had to face ; misogyny.

Be realistic, the show suffered a huge hate campaign well before its release and therefore the slightest trace of the storyline !

And yes, the storyline of The Acolyte is not perfect, but that is far from the main reason why the show is criticized ! A little realism and objectivity, please !

It's to the point that there is a counter-petition to prove that people don't want The Acolyte to be renewed, and sorry for the haters, but the numbers painfully prove you otherwise.

[meowmeowmeowmeow4x]

Supersons +1 propmt fill Part3 Tr3s

The sprinklers activated in an instant and covered the centre in a deluge of water. Whatever scientists remained scrambled to recover what remained of their creations before the water could irrevocably damage them. In a hidden corner, one Bruce Wayne and Clark Kent made knowing glances to each other, a mutual agreement reached in seconds after decades of friendship. With the help of a crowbar, the men quickly pry open one of the exit doors, making way for panicked civilians to exit the premises, 'Brucie' giving comfort to those distressed by the recent events. It wasn't long before they had to make themselves scarce. They had their sons to rescue, there was no time!

As Bruce and Clark snuck out into the empty hallway, having been quickly evacuated by a Gothamite's natural self-preservation instinct and discipline from years of attacks. They nodded, and went their seperate ways. Clark to go change into his Superman outfit, and Bruce to calm the inevitable deluge of reporters before changing into his own costume.

Cameras flashed over the front entrance to the event, blinding the last few stragglers to leave, and Bruce, standing tall against the crashing sea.

"Mr Wayne! What can you tell us about the new villain that Joker has teamed up with?"

"Mr Wayne, how does Wayne Industries intent to secure future events from attacks on this scale?"

"Where is Damian Wayne? Sir how can Wayne Industries secure the future of Gotham if you cannot protect your own children?"

"Mr Wayne is it true that you allowed Jack Fenton to attend the event despite knowing he was a quack?"

And on and on and on. Bruce never intended to give these people what they wanted. He had children to save, and investigations to conduct. Before he could excuse himself, however, a roaring boom echoed down the street like summer thunder. Reporters screamed as they trampled over each other to escape the path of a silver behemoth charging down the road. Thick metal plates lined its exterior. A large satellite dish adorned its top, and jutting out from the sides were massive guns. The van sported too many OSHA violations to be anything less than a tank on four wheels than any civilian vehicle. Batman will have to crack down on whatever corrupt whitecollar criminals allowed this monstrosity on the roads.

The van charged right up to where Bruce was standing on the pavement, before coming to a terrifyingly rapid halt, so sudden that the entire vehicle jerked forward from its momentum. It would have been cartoonish if it hadn't stopped cleanly right in front of him. The front door slammed open, and a pair of black-gloved hands grabbed Bruce by the shoulder. In public surrounded by cameras, Bruce was helpless but to comply.

"BRUCIE WAYNE! I'VE BEEN LOOKING ALL OVER FOR YOU!"

Bruce scanned the interior of the van in an instant, clocking in the undignified Clark Kent clinging to his seat like a child to their parents leg, tie messed up and suit creased. His classes were crooked on his face. "He just scooped me up like I was paper mache, Bruce!" The man's voice was shaking.

"Strap in Brucie, because the Fenton Family Ghost Assault Vehicle cares for no trivial matters like traffic laws, or even physics laws!"

What kind of branding was this? "The Fenton Family wha-" Jack slammed the gas. The GAV rocketed into max gear in an instant. The force threw the poor man off his feet. Bruce went hurtling into the backside of the GAV and crashed with a bang. The G-forces kept him glued to the wall like a black-suited starfish, at least until Clark extended an arm to peel him off.

"I'm starting to think you might be right about him being a supervillain." Clark whispered.

Bruce grimly nodded.

"Alright so now that we're all together, here's the plan folks!" Jack said, tone all too cheerful for the chaos he was creating on the road. Innocent cars swerved out of the way of the advancing war machine. Pedestrians clung to lampposts and fences as gale force winds blasted them from its wake. "Let's start with the bad news: Our kids have been spirited away by suffering spooks! The good news: The Fenton Radar works!" Jack tapped on a screen on the van's console, showing two beeping dots on a radar map.

"BUILDING!" Clark yelled. They were rocketing right into a townhouse.

Jack yanked the wheel to the left. The GAV turned 90 degrees in about half a second, turning both passengers into ragdolls thrown across the side. On the outside, a subtle Superman-shaped dent was visible. "Thanks for that, Clarkie! Now I'm sure you guys aren't as experienced as me and my lovely wife Maddie are in hunting ghosts, but don't worry! I can give you a crash course."

"Please don't say crash course." Clark quivered.

"Could you maybe slow down?!" Bruce yelled over the roaring engines.

"No can do, Brucie! Any slower and the GHOSTS will leave the Fenton Radar's range, and then we'll never get our kids back!"

"I think I'm going to be sick." So Kryptonians can get nausea from high-speed vehicles, interesting. He'll have to update his file.

"The Joker and his associates entered your portal and set it to blow, how can we even get the kids back if they're on the other side!"

Jack turned around with a smile. "That's what the Fenton PortaPortal version 2 is for! Never leave home without a spare, my grandpa Fenton always said!"

"Dr Fenton, that bridge was destroyed in a gang fight!" Bruce shouted. Construction workers were already scattering, but a thick concrete barrier stood in their way.

"No need to worry, Fenton engineering can handle a little hole here or there!"

"The entire bridge was destroyed, we're going to fall off!"

"I love your sense of humour Brucie, but even if we did it wouldn't matter!"

"I really think it does, Dr Fenton!" Clark gripped the bottom of the nearby seat hard enuogh to dent.

"Nonsense, watch this!" Jack pushed the gas even further, as if that was even possible. The GAV reduced the concrete barrior to smithereens. "Go go Fenton Famliy Ghost Assault Vehicle: Aerial Mode!" The mad scientist's shouted in glee. He pulled another lever, activating a pair of wings from the sides.

Clark would deny screaming like a girl to the end of his days.

~~~~~~~~~

Meanwhile, in the Zone...

Danny shifted nervously in his position, atop the swarm of Lydia's bats, and flanked by the freaking Joker of all people on one side and Freaking Freakshow on the other. What did he do to deserve this?

If It was just the Joker and Freakshow, he would just happily transform and kick the snot out of these clowns, but sadly he's not alone.

Also tied up with rope both human and ghostly were one Damian Wayne and Jon Kent, the former of which looked none too pleased about the current situation. While Damian spat vitriol upon the Joker and his "D-list half-rate assisstant," with man himself largely ignoring his words to fawn over the chaos of the Realms, Danny contemplated his options. Good news: Freakshow hadn't blown his secret yet, which was cold comfort for the moment, seeing as if he had, he'd just be able to punch these suckers and be done with it, but nooo. Maybe he could overshadow the other boys and hypnotise them into forgetting? Was that a thing that can be done? Would've been convenient, and because of that, Danny suspected it's wishful thinking. If it worked, great, if it didn't work, well Clark Kent and Bruce Wayne have ties to the Justice League, who have ties to the government, who hire the GiW, so there's a non-zero percent chance such a stunt would end up with him on a dissection table.

Which means he's left playing the waiting game, spectating the Joker jumping up and down like a fangirl over all the green, and purple, and fighting, and death. First day in Gotham, guys.

"Psst." Jon whispered to him.

Danny said nothing, but leaned a little on Jon's side.

"Don't worry, we're gonna be ok, I'm sure the J-J-Justice League will be here. Just sit t-t-tight, ok?"

Wow, that was really touching that he was trying to comfort Danny, but the ghostly part of him didn't even need to feel Jon's shaking, or hear his stutter to know the kid was absolutely terrified. Now that he thought about it, it really should be him doing the comforting.

"Eh I wouldn't hedge my bets on it." Causing the other boy to squeak in fear. Curse you, snark instinct. Why can't you be heroic and reassuring instead.

"Neither would I, boy." Freakshow said, almost like he was rubbing in just how much danger his secret was in.

"You will unhand us, or you will know the meaning of pain in every sense of the world. This I tell you. I will feed you to my chickens. I will cut up your flesh and grind it into paste and then fertilise my vegetable garden with it. You will regret crossing me."

Jon let out the faintest whisper, something Danny would've never heard if he wasn't a ghost, and a master of quiet sounds. "Really selling the normal kid act here, Damian."

"On the contrary, lovely chlidren, I believe it is you who will soon become ghosts. NEYEHEHEYEHEH" Oh god here comes the gratuitous laughter. "I can't believe such a t~~tttttTANTALISING opportunity has been out there for me this whole time! AHAHAHAHAAH. And for you, my little children, to have come to this wonderful little science expo alongside your dear old daddies only to become part of the exhibit?" The Joker cracked into laughter, slapping his knees and collapsing in fitful giggles.

Each of the free boys gulped, each of them considering how to save the apparent civilian(s) among them without exposing themselves...

@impyssadobsessions

[thefallenangelsgang]

I'm losing my fucking mind

Or: I just saw Lord of the Rings the Musical at the Chicago Shakespeare Theater and my brain chemistry has irreversibly changed

I'm too genuinely scrambled at the moment from travel to make a solid post (I am multiple states away from Illinois and I hate city driving) but I cannot shake the life-changing experience that was.

SPOILERS AHEAD

(Spoiler free tldr: story is changed sometimes severely to make a sub-3hr runtime or to simplify, but the message doesn't get completely lost. Tolkien fan approved)

First issue I can see everyone having is how much the story changes because it does change a lot. Rohan and Gondor being merged is probably the most glaring. I think it works because the show is more focused on the Hobbits (specifically Frodo and Sam). Personally I can look past it. My one issue is the missing Sam monologues (mount doom is a rather swift sequence, I'd have liked to see Sam give his devotion speech and his speech about the shire while waiting to die) those would have made insane songs but alas. The ending still was a gut punch though so it's more a personal preference thing.

First thing that blew me away was the technical aspect. The lighting and set design was GORGEOUS and EVOCATIVE. There were multiple times lighting alone drew me to tears.

The puppetry is immaculate. The nazgul chase is singularly some of the most beautiful choreo I've seen and I'm a slut for puppetry

The cast play all of the instruments live on stage, sometimes while doing choreography (nothing will prepare you to see Legolas holding a fucking trumpet or Boromir strapped into a goddamn accordion)

The costuming is more accurate to the original editions' illustrations which I found endlessly charming. One difference is, for safety (probably OSHA), all the hobbits (and Gollum) wear Sandals. This is never discussed. I love that.

BOROMIR IS KILLED BY HIS OWN SWORD WHICH I CANNOT EXPRESS HOW PERFECT THAT IS NARRATIVELY

GOLLUM PLAYED BY TONY BOZZUTO IS NEARLY INDISTINGUISHABLE FROM ANDY SERKIS

(I am not joking about this. Somehow he has mastered Andy's physicality and voice work. It truly was a sight to behold.)

Saruman/Elrond's actor (dressed as a hobbit) was hanging out in our section during preshow and was having a grand old time.

Bilbo and Frodo were in the main audience bothering people. Frodo was playing a stick and ring game and got absolutely shown up by some 10 year old he invited to play.

The Entmoot took literally 2 minutes (the way I had to stop from HOWLING at that)

I was SOBBING at the end, like actually.

Somehow this production managed to keenly make me feel the ending of Frodo leaving for the Grey Havens more than the movies did. The Irony of Frodo leaving being both a hopeful prayer that there is a place where people bound with trauma and wounds too deep to heal can live in peace without pain and also a grim acceptance that sometimes people cannot recover was STARK

Frodo and Sam really push the narrative of this show up until the end and it hits HARD. God bless this cast with steady work, they all deserve it.

[io-lu-art]

PUUUHHHH ok I neeeeed to rant about this cause I am watching the Acolyte as I am writing this down and I am RAGING rn. (take this with humour, pls, it's nothing bad, I promise you, lol)

requested page cut for spoilers:

So, 4 min into Episode 6 and I am wondering, that's totally Ahch-To, right? Like, that's, that's so obvious. At that point I was just waiting for the Porgs to appear (tho, did they exist 1000 or what not years ago? idk) LOL. WDYM "Unknown Planet"?

But let's put that aside.

Then the scene continues, I will not comment on it too much, HOWEVER I totally see why people say it's reylo coded. And the more I watch the more I go like NO, NO, NO plllllsssssssss don't--

THAT'S LITERALLY WHAT I AM PLANNING FOR MY FANFICTION, GUYS YOU CANNOT DO THIS TO ME, DO I NOW HAVE TO WRITE "I HAD THIS IDEA BEFORE THE ACOLYTE CAME OUT" AFTER EVERYTHING I POST OR WHAT? I cry.

No but really, I have proof:

This was not supposed to see the light of day before I would actually get to the point of illustrating the fanfic, but I guess now I gotta put it out there + plus this is the part of the story that I still have soooooo many other scenes to write for to connect and actually get there, hence why it freaking takes so long to work on it with uni and life happening, but--

*sighs* I mean I guess it's your average day to day trope but I am still- I... *another sigh*

I don't even read fanfiction on a daily basis. It's a wonder if I do it once every 6 months LOL. I don't even know if it is in fact a trope or not.

here, have an even rougher version from literally almost one year ago when I put together a pdf for a friend to give me feedback on in which I added some story beats that I drew around the "am I your prisoner?" scene:

You know what? It's fine. This is fine. Totally fine. It happens. I'll go on and continue watching the Acolyte ep 6 now. I stopped at min 10:50 to write this post. Let's see how much more reylo coded this actually gets. (I have seen a spoiler on Tumblr with (I believe it's) Osha holding the red blade against guy's neck.)

(I don't even know their names lol. That's how invested I am in this show. Not at all, really. But I thought, ok, let's stay up to date with the star wars fandom. I regret that now, ngl XD)

(It's not even the first time this happens to me. Remember the scene from Ahsoka when someone cuts Ezra's hair with the lightsaber? Yeah, I had that planned for a later interaction between Rey and Kylo. Welp. I refuse to post proof for that rn. It would spoil the story.)

This is so surreal and funny to me, I cannot.

[weregonnabecoolbeans]

I am so happy with how this week’s episode went down.

I’ve been so worried that the point of the show was just going to end up being: Sometimes the Jedi are the Bad Guys and maybe the villains have a point! or The witches were Evil and Deserved to be killed!!

Because those would be such boring stories to tell.

We all know the jedi have flaws and that they make mistakes. We don’t need a show to use that as some dramatic reveal. I wouldn’t enjoy star wars as a franchise if the jedi were perfect.

The idea of their innate goodness being exploited and manipulated and used against them has always been really interesting to me. I’ve always believed the jedi as a whole are good and that the problems come from individuals.

That could mean individual jedi who struggle with what being a jedi requires. (Anakin and Sol with their clear struggles with attachment) Jedi who have experienced certain trauma that inevitably affects their decisions. (Anakin, Barriss, Reva, and so many more) Or those who shouldn’t’ve been jedi in the first place (pong krell🤬)

It also means basically anyone else who believes and/or has gone through similar things. (the martez sisters blaming the jedi for their parent’s death, the people of the republic who believed the jedi were responsible for the war etc.)

And of course there are the actual villains who intentionally cause problems.

These things are all unavoidable and thats what makes star wars so compelling to me. The fall of the jedi was the result of Palpatine amplifying these factors to bring forth something that was always going to happen and that nobody could stop.

On the other side, I am so relieved that the witches weren’t revealed as the true villains or something because that would’ve also been so boring, and also kinda dumb.

Introducing this beautiful group of women with their own unique history, culture, and way of using the force…only to turn around and be like

Ha ha nope! The jedi are the only good guys and everyone else is evil!

Yeah I would’ve hated that.

I feel like this episode did a really good job at showing that what happened was a combination of everyone’s fears, biases, and hubris clashing in the worst way imaginable.

Neither the Jedi as a whole, nor the witches were 100% responsible.

The council told the jedi to leave the witches alone but they didn’t listen. The order cannot be blamed only those who were apart of that mission.

You can blame either side for their choices but both sides had their reasons and both sides were neither right nor wrong.

Sol was wrong to prioritize attachment to osha over following orders. But he was right to want what was best for her.

Torbin was wrong to run back and infiltrate their home. But he was made to believe it would mean completing his mission.

Mae was wrong to lock the place down and start a fire. But she just wanted her sister to stay.

Koril was wrong to go straight to violence. But she wanted to keep her children, and her past has led her not to trust.

I could go on and on but I’m getting too lazy to type more.

Basically what I’m saying is I am happy that the show didn’t chose to be fully anti jedi.

And I am happy that the show didn’t introduce a badass GORGEOUS black lesbian witch as the ruler of this coven only to make her a villain for loving her children

[dapurinthos]

also i had to stop the episode and write a mini-essay on that scene

qimir deliberately being nude when osha confronts him is a fantastic power-play. the power dynamics of clothed person vs nude person. given the ease with which he later knows what she’s thinking while not actually ‘reading’ her mind, you cannot convince me that he didn’t know she was there, following him. western society sees the clothed person as less vulnerable, as protected, because they have something between their skin and the world. we’re taught that a nude body is not a neutral one. it’s something that needs to be hidden, covered up, unless in special circumstances. art. medicine. sex.

(‘everything is about sex, except sex; sex is about power.’ a quote often attributed to oscar wilde, usually with regard to the picture of dorian grey. it’s way too freudian to actually have been said by him. this particular wording of the concept is actually from a communication from robert michels to robert alan glick, recorded in constructing and deconstructing woman’s power, published in 2002. it’s also shows up as ‘[…] is about aggression’ in a couple of other places as a definitely freudian phrase.)

the nude body has a power that the clothed one does not. it’s abjection. it’s a taboo element of the self. it disturbs the ‘proper’ order of the body ('proper' meaning that it must be clothed), and resides in a strange, liminal state reinforced by the concept of sentient persons (human beings, in the regular conversation, but this is star wars so it’s not just humans) as different from animals, which are nude all the time. the abject is a part of us that we exclude, and nudity is excluded from ‘polite’ society while being real—the pre-lingual in kristeva's work on abjection, pre-social in an anthropological sense, shoring up the binary of civilised/uncivilised in lévi-strauss’s structuralism where one of the pair is definitively favoured over the other (which led us to post-structuralism because this inequality is laden with pre- and misconceptions).

‘if you’re not going to join me, i’d like to put my clothes back on.’ there it is, performing nudity as weakness, as a test of osha’s character. good job, leslye headland and jocelyn bioh.

[science-bastard]

the venn diagram of things that make a mad scientist lab sexy and things that OSHA would have a field day with is a circle. however, this cannot and will not stop me because my dedication to erotic and sensual laboratories does not stop.

[cryiling]

sorry but i really hated these last few episodes of the acolyte. tbh i stopped being super invested in the show once jecki died, but i swear i tried to give it a chance after that. i'm just so so angry that they killed jecki and yord AND SOL. and it literally made no sense why osha would kill him. like i knew it was gonna happen bc the show made it sooo obvious, but i cannot understand how her character would have actually done that. i'm so glad the acolyte probably won't get a s2 because there's no way i'd be able to root for osha and mei. i thought their characters were pretty cool but this last episode lowk made me hate both of them 😭

aside from that, i'm honestly rlly uncomfortable by the way qimir and osha's relationship has been playing out. physically they're at least 10 years apart, but qimir had phrased his backstory as if he's SIGNIFICANTLY older than osha, which is....... i mean ship what y'all want but don't go around saying that this is the better version of reylo 💀

the only positive thing i have to say abt the show is that the fight choreography has been consistently top tier, easily the best of all the live action shows. the outfits were pretty cool too honestly. and ofc i lovedd the lesbian witches 😝 and jecki and that awkward guy that kept following vernestra. i did not care for the rest of the show tho

[mk-wizard]

The Acolyte was NOT a failure. It was failed. Hear me out.

Hello, friends. I want to talk seriously for a moment as a creator myself and a Star Wars fan who did not like the Acolyte. Specifically, I am here to stand up for the Acolyte despite it not being good in my opinion especially after seeing Mr. Pablo Gunner's rage review video where he shared many words of wisdom that Yoda would be proud of. I suggest watching it first.

The Acolyte itself was not a failure. It was failed by mistakes, taking risks that did not pay off and amateur writing. And to be honest, that's not the worst way a show can fail because in spite of its flaws, it doesn't change the fact that the series itself had many great ideas: a murder mystery, the villain's POV, calling out that not all Jedi are good, showing that there are other force users that fall into the gray area and so on. Plus, those fight scenes were worthy of being in the cinema and the characters you did connect with were great. In the end, I was rooting for Osha. In fact, I still am despite what she did in the end.

More importantly, just because the show was not good in my opinion doesn't mean it cannot be good in anyone's opinion. And beyond that, just because you don't like it doesn't mean you have the right to be mean about it. In fact, that shames the lore of Star Wars more than all the bad works altogether even the ones that had obvious resentment behind the writing (but that's another discussion). The quality of how you react to art is just as important as the quality of the art itself. Yes, I admit that Hollywood's obsession with DEI, representation and inclusion has gone too far and in fact hurts the very groups they're trying to uplift, but you don't solve one problem by creating another.

Also, the amount of badmouthing and hatemongering isn't just embarrassing anymore. It's mean. An artist doesn't deserve to be hung, crucified, sued, grounded or humiliated just because they made a work of art you didn't like. Heck, I believe that the cartoon Daria even addressed this. Kathleen Kennedy, Amandla Stenberg and all these other folks behind Star Wars are people with feelings and lives. Even if they act silly themselves or make bad decisions, they're people. And for many of these people, the Acolyte was their first ever project. Sadly, not everyone's first big project is a hit, but that's ok. What is not ok is beating people down. Now, I myself have given negative criticism on art pieces, BUT I criticize the art not the people and I try to be fair while removing anger from the equation. And I try not to be spiteful because as an artist myself, I've been there and know how it feels. Putting your art out in public is scary and I can tell you from experience that it doesn't get easier. However, it takes courage to do it in general and that within itself is admirable.

In closing, I want to add that I take absolutely no joy in how the Acolyte was not good. I wanted it to be good. I wanted Amandla Stenberg to do good. I even believed that its good points alone made it deserve a second chance with a season 2. I'm sad that this project didn't work out and I'm more sad for Amandla which is why I want her to still have a second chance in general. She has good ideas.

Please, be kind when media fails because kindness and support when people do wrong can inspire other people to be better. I mean, that was the whole point of Luke's struggle with Darth Vader. When everyone gave up on Vader, Luke still believed in him and fought to pull him out of the darkness with his heart, and he did it. Hence his famous line "I am a Jedi like my father before me." Luke was not talking about what his father used to be. It's what he believed he still was which was not only worth fighting for, but living up to as well hence why he showed mercy and support to Vader.

With that all said, let's all strive to be "Jedis" like your fathers, mothers, siblings and friends before us. Stop the hate and show support even when people fall to the dark side.

[banamine-bananime]

reds and blues as employees on a dairy because it brings me joy

red team all work in the dairy and blue team work in the calf ranch and heifer barn. they hate each other because the reds will blame absolutely any problems on blue team fucking up their replacement heifers and blue team will blame any and all calf illness on the maternity pen. 42 day old calf breaking with diarrhea that is abos-fucking-lutely obviously coccidia? nah that's obviously because of poor colostrum hygiene, and even if it isn't, it's because reds're somehow fucking up the colostrum protocols - yes sarge we know the serum total proteins on new calves SEEM to show good passive transfer but we just KNOW there's something going on in that pen because you idiots cannot be trusted not to, like, start dipping navels with strawberry-flavoured vodka or something

carolina is 50/50 owner with church after inheriting it from their father. it was a couple hundred cow tie-stall barn used for research - both dr. church's own research and renting to other researchers. when he retired they decided they wanted to start nearly fresh, hopping markets from research to commercial production, expanding and converting to a much larger free-stall (they're around 900 head now) and robot milkers, and greatly expanding and upgrading the youngstock facilities to keep up with the replacement heifer need of the larger herd. it was a rough first few years, especially with *ahem* the quality of labour they were able to hire, but they figured it out and things are going shockingly well now

reds:

carolina: counts as red for these purposes because she's the manager of the dairy. she has a very love/hate relationship with management because god does she like getting to do things Her Way and research and analyze and work to make them perfect and tell people exactly what to do, but unfortunately, people. People are absolute pests and will not just do what you tell them because you said so, and learning this has been IMMENSELY frustrating for her, but she's gradually learning people skills and that respecting your employees, hearing them out and actually explaining Why you want things a certain way, will get you sooooo much farther. She also hates how much time she has to spend behind a desk and will take absolutely any excuse to strap on some coveralls and help with breeding or drying off or covering silage or really anything physical. thank god, because she is an absolute machine and will sprint in her steel-toe rubber boots and coveralls with the giant fucking heavy-ass tarp up the pile all on her own. she would not be on her own if she slowed down to a normal human speed, but there is absolutely no way she's gonna do that.

sarge: head herdsman and cannot be convinced not to spend an ungodly amount of time at work. worked on then owned a teeny family dairy his whole life until it was not economically feasible and had to sell a few years ago, coincidentally right when church and carolina were doing their overhaul and looking for someone experienced they could trust to deal with all the inexperienced chucklefucks they were able to hire. It seemed like the perfect serendipitous coincidence, until they realized they hated each other and sarge has... some Interesting beliefs and methods that he absolutely cannot be persuaded out of. getting him to stop putting red kote on EVERYTHING was carolina's greatest Sarge Achievement. he's also the hoof-trimmer alongside lopez and getting sarge to, for the love of god, stop putting wraps on every therapeutic trim SERIOUSLY NO ONE CAN SEE THEM AS SOON AS THEY GET DIRTY AND THEY'RE JUST STAYING ON WAY TOO LONG AND MAKING THINGS WORSE SARGE PLEASE GOD is her white whale. he does most of the repairs on vehicles and equipment and she has to beat him off with a stick from making very-not-OSHA-approved "improvements". nevertheless, over the years they've grown an incredibly weird friendship that absolutely terrifies and deeply confuses church

grif: does the ration mixing and drives the ration truck and feed pushup and alley scraper, and, most importantly, the skid steer. other people can (and do, on days he's not working) step in for the other things, but the skid steer? carolina has OUTLAWED anyone but grif from driving it after donut had an oopsy daisy and completely fucked up a water line (she was sooooooo mad they had one HELL of a frosty meeting. she is very careful to Not Yell because she knows that is a Bad Manager thing to do but carolina has no ability whatsoever to disguise how mad she is, like in her face and body language, and and does not realize it or how terrified people are of her LMAO). he would actually be a really shitty feeder without simmons neurotically messaging him where he's supposed to be every 15 minutes in the morning because feeding would NOT be on schedule and he might even forget a pen tbh (this is very bad. think of a lactating dairy cow as an elite ultrarunner who is in a constant fight between her limited capacity to take in food and her absurd energy expenditure. any disruption restricting feed intake is the root of pretty much all evil for lactating cows). between the two of them they make one functional person. because why not establish deep co-dependency with your co-worker for no reason <3

simmons: kinda jack-of-all-trades herdsman. huge snitch to carolina or sarge whenever people are slacking or fuck up, which she appreciates because usually it's really hard to have eyes on the ground to see whether the protocols you put so much effort into perfecting are actually being followed, and what you need to do that make them easier to follow/people want to follow. it's much easier when you have an obsessive suck-up, thankfully. when she saw him looking over her 1000 spreadsheets and reports and making his own, reorganized-for-maximum-efficiency versions for fun she realized, holy shit, this is my out from some of the most tedious, mindless, repetitive administrative management work, THANK YOU GOD. she only trusts him with stuff that does not involve making decisions and she still briefly checks over his work, of course, but oh my god, he is SO thrilled and smug to have Responsibility and to be Entrusted with anything even remotely management-y. also does a lot of routine preventative maintenance on equipment because sarge isn't as interested in maintaining things as making new, better (/more terrifying) ones, and no one else is so anal about maintenance schedules.

donut: main breeder and maternity pen herdsman. good lord, the fisting jokes. no one knows if they're on purpose. boy howdy is that boy good with an ai gun, though! so they all just have to endure some of the most awkward turns of phrase they've ever heard. he cries dramatically every time there's a stillbirth or a weak neonate that dies, and then immediately is like okay i'm normal now! (he is never normal.) has an EXCELLENT appreciation for the importance of LUBE, MORE LUBE ("NO I MEAN IT MISTER THAT POOR GIRL DESERVES BETTER FROM YOU!! I WANT YOUR ARM DRIPPING") whenever checking labour progress and especially in dystocias, and does not tolerate anyone helping not treating his gals with the utmost tenderness and respect. also deeply fucking weird and LOVES finding bovimanes or abortuses because eeeeeewwwwww so weird so cool doc look!! look at it hehehe YUCK!!!!

lopez: professional hoof-trimmer who comes in biweekly. hates working with sarge SO much. blasts regional mexican music as loud as he can by the chute so he doesn't have to hear him.

doc: obviously the hospital herdsman. god bless him, he tries, but he is so susceptible to "oh i heard from bob down the road that oregano oil and yeast will prevent subclinical ketosis and you HAVE to give today [this is a popular cefapirin intramammary tube for treating mastitis, but only works on susceptible bugs, and god people are. very bad at choosing which cases to use it for and what duration to use. especially because it takes 5 days for inflammation to go down and milk to return to normal even if the infection is cured sooner] for 5 days for it to work". dr. grey is their herd vet, comes by weekly for herd check, and god, she both HATES and LOVES doc. hates because good god man, please stop all this nonsense and just!! listen to her advice!!!!! she put effort into these treatment protocols JUST LISTEN TO THEM. loves because wow, fascinating how this man's mind works, and what a CHALLENGE trying to mentally wrestle him into compliance.

blues:

church: manager of the youngstock barns. constantly bitching to carolina about a) how terrible the reds are and how they're obviously fucking up all the calves at maternity, SERIOUSLY carolina how are they supposed to work with this!! and b) how terrible and annoying the blues are, really, carolina, he means it this isn't a joke stop laughing, not a day goes by that he doesn't fantasize about firing everyone, selling, and retiring to a cabin in the middle of nowhere where he'll never have to fucking speak to anyone again. at least while alpha is fronting. epsilon doesn't need to do the performative "i hate everyone and i'm killing myself the next time caboose leaves a gate open and we have to spend an hour collecting naughty heifers" bitching quite as constantly, he's more comfortable expressing actually liking his coworkers. but he does occasionally fly off the handle and get way more actually mean than alpha, which is obviously Suboptimal for workplace toxicity, because he feels like the one in the system that has to take on everything the others can't or won't and so he internalizes all the real work-related stresses until he blows up about them. theta really really loves the calves and fronts semi-frequently when things at work are calm and they're handling the calves. they all try not to let omega front at work because JESUS CHRIST, but tbh there's a couple times in stupid petty arguments with tucker and caboose he does and it's literally just like the stupidest cheesiest gimmick villain WITH MY CALF ARMY I WILL TAKE OVER THE WORLD AND SUBJUGATE THE PUNY BIPEDS!!! tucker's like lol sure man. caboose is supportive because fuck human babies fr calves are so superior.

caboose: mostly works with the older heifers because no one gets these hormonal naughty teenage gals like him. keeps picking different favourite heifers and naming them sheila. tex works with the post-weaning girlies too and they're a dreamteam honestly. together they can and will deadlift a yearling if she gets herself stuck in a stupid spot. frequently causes gate-related chaos. tucker is starting to get suspicious he does it on purpose because he likes seeing the heifers get to go exploring.

tex: unrelated to church and carolina, but is the only one that actually worked at the farm when owned by their dad. their dad wanted her to have 1/3 ownership but she turned him down. carolina is still hurt by how much mentorship/approval he gave tex compared to his actual kids. tries not to take it out on tex but tex's general abrasiveness and her messy relationship with church don't help matters. doesn't actually work full-time at the farm anymore, has her own beef operation (texas longhorn ofc) now but still drops by to have fun with caboose and the heifers and to bother church. are they dating? exes? about to kill each other? about to elope? no one knows! she'll bring her ropes or her dartgun just to make people freak out about YOU CAN'T DART THE DAIRY COWS TEXAS (obviously she wouldn't. whether she should be darting her own cows is another question but they are wild gals and she is a wildly good shot so, hey, if it works and she knows the risks and is using them with a veterinary prescription)... but she is serious about roping the naughty heifers when they escape. she believes in the power of a good rope and bowline knot like nothing else.

tucker: works with the pre-weaning calves. in a constant battle over the calf barn radio with church and kai and is NOT above hiding it so they can't change it. always trying to get out of doing any cleaning tasks and slacking off and talks a big game about what little asshole shits the calves are but who's in there babying any pneumonia calves with extra bedding and perfecting ventilation and giving SO many oral electrolytes so gently to scours calves? who's bullying church into buying dummy nipples and making PVC pipe hay slowfeeders (well, blue team all make them together. team craft day!! mostly spent with tucker certain caboose is going to take off tucker's and/or his own fingers with the saw) for enrichment? who's paying unannounced recon visits to the maternity pen to make sure they're treating the neonates right and have all the colostrum equipment and calf pens pristine (he and donut have a weird frenemyship)? he wasn't like this until he had junior and now he can't stop thinking how he would want someone taking care of his baby to treat him... god. now he has to actually try. fucking annoying Feelings and wanting to do the right thing ugh!!

kai: oh man she loves the calves they're her CREW her GIRLS her SQUAD!! so many selfies with them. sometimes she "breaks into" (she has a key) the barn after hours with her besties (randos she met at a party) for fun. church has told her a hundred times that there are fucking CAMERAS and he's going to fire her next offense he swears to god. but he knows she at least won't let anyone fuck with the calves or the barn (and, in fact, has gotten into some spectacular fights with some of those drunk people who have tried vandalism).

[bereft-of-frogs]

I have a new crackpot theory that is sure to get proven wrong

under the cut for spoilers and...length...(got out of hand)

I wonder if Torbin's crime was leaving Mae behind.

This is like, the opposite of the other theory I've already commented on (that the conflict sparks because the Jedi also want to take Mae) but idk. Maybe it's not what we think.

Vernestra in this last episode seems particularly upset that Sol never mentioned the possibility that the other girl lived (it seems like Sol never even mentioned that there WAS a sister), maybe because she was afraid exactly what ended up happening would happen (Mae gets scooped up by the Sith) and also neither Torbin nor Indara seem particularly surprised that Mae's still alive. It is possible that Indara thought it was Osha, but she does see the mark and that's when she's like 'what are YOU doing here' so it seems like she knows it's Mae and isn't like 'omg you're alive what' so it definitely seems like she knew Mae survived. And Torbin specifically says he's been waiting for her.

Sol is the only one insisting that she had to be dead, and no one could have survived the fall. So maybe, with his attention on Osha in that chunk of time we're missing between them escaping and her waking up, he doesn't notice Mae surviving, but the others encounter her on their way out and choose deliberately to leave her alone for some reason. (Maybe they're spooked by her power, she definitely seems like the stronger of the twins and obviously she's got some real dark stuff going on already.) And that might be something the Council would get upset about, judging by Vernestra's reaction. And enough to feel profoundly guilty about, leaving behind an 8 year old because you were scared of her power?

Whether Kelnacca knew she was alive or not remains to be seen (or might remain a mystery idk), but judging by all the marks he's drawn all over his walls, it seems like he was investigating something about the coven's power or history?

Anyway, also I'm currently placing all my money on it being Qimir behind the mask lol. I rewatched that monologue and obviously the voice has been altered but I feel like there are a couple lines that suspiciously resemble Manny Jacinto's cadences. Also that tonal switch when he tells Mae 'he'll kill you' (I saw someone else point out there was also a tonal shift when he tells Osha 'you look just like her' that's kind of suspicious), the fact that he knows so much and keeps prodding her on the riddle...it's SO him. I'm not discounting there being another Sith master though (maybe that he's the apprentice and someone else is pulling the strings)...

...I do just wish people would stop theorizing it's Vernestra haha. As I said before, if Vernestra turns out to be Sith it would take Leslye Headland, Justina Ireland, and Tessa Gratton all coming, in person, to my home to explain themselves for me to accept it. Otherwise, I would have to just believe it's two separate characters that happen to share the same name, species, and relative age. Hey, what a coincidence!

Just with three books left in the series, and judging by where we've just left Vernestra, it would take something MASSIVE to get her to the point of 'yeah I'm going full dark side'. And I feel like it would just be an asshole move to hijack that storyline with such an extreme twist this late in the game. Like...idk maybe they would but...it would be an asshole move to take someone else's character and 15+ books into a series be like 'oh surprise twist that undermines everything'. And you cannot say 'well it's been 100 years maybe something happens in between' because that's just shitty storytelling, it hasn't been 100 years for me, it's been four days since I finished Temptations of the Force, you cannot ask me to reconcile the Vernestra Rwoh who confronts the Eye of the Nihil herself and gets them across the stormwall, with a secret Sith manipulating everything from the shadows based on stuff happening off-page/screen. I cannot see it.

I DO however totally see where the cracks could form with her relationship with the Senate. I bet you the Senate accepts Marchion Ro's deal to save them from the blight and the Jedi feel betrayed by that and that's why she's like 'fuck the Senate, we do this on our own'. I think that would make sense for her last big unresolved relationship arc, her issues with Elzar, because Elzar has just committed to being the liaison between the Order and the Senate. (I do think they're going to get over though, Elzar mentions twice that he wants to give her Stellan's lightsaber and he doesn't, I don't think they'd do something that significant off-page, I bet that will close out this arc on a good note.) And it would be some juicy conflict between her and her non-Jedi friends, like I'm sure Cair and Jordanna having seen the effects of the blight, would be on board with doing whatever it takes to stop it, but I can also see some of the Jedi characters feeling betrayed by that, like they've been left to deal with the Nameless on their own for so long and now they feel like they're getting sold out by people they thought they could trust to the exact person who's been killing and torturing them.

Also just practically, it seems like by the time of the show Vernestra is an important enough figure in the Order's hierarchy that people would like....notice if she was fucking off all the time to go secretly be a Sith? Idk, I guess Palpatine had time to multitask but I think he was doing most of his Sith-business while still hanging around Coruscant, it seems like the Sith are out on the Outer Rim a lot, you'd think people would start to get suspicious if Vernestra was gone for long stretches of time. I guess she's done that before lol maybe they're just like 'oh Vernestra's off on another one of her unsanctioned walkabouts', and it is kind of sus that she's so upset Sol didn't tell her about both girls if the theory that the Sith wants both twins is true, but...yeah to get me to accept this they'd have to come explain themselves to me personally. XD

Idk. I almost convinced myself there it's a possibility. But we haven't seen the lightwhip scene yet, and that looks like a forest, it feels more likely she's going to go confront Mae's master herself, and that would just be an unreasonable level of subterfuge for the audience to accept (on the level of 'Indara is the Sith master and faked her own death in the first episode' theory)

Anyway, how did this become novel theorizing and also Star Wars fandom stop theorizing my favorite Jedi ladies are secretly Sith, leave my girls alone--

ETA: I definitely also think there's a reason the Sith (maybe Sith, I guess I should stop assuming) wants the four Jedi dead. They definitely witnessed something that night that they shouldn't have and I think got distracted by their own issues with what went down, but it looks like Kelnacca was close to figuring it out. Proof: after Mae tells Qimir she doesn't care about revenge anymore, she's just going after her sister, the master comes to kill Kelnacca himself, also feels like solid evidence of Qimir being the master...

ETA: wait I talked myself out of the most suspicious thing, why would she be so obviously upset at Sol for not telling her about Mae if she was the Sith master and would have known from the start? Unless she's playing him? But idk that break in frustration appeared genuine. I'm back to being reassured that it's not her. That would be SUCH an asshole move with only three books left to go in the series and none of the dangling threads of Vernestra's storyline having really anything to do with dark side struggles. (She struggles more with despair while she's mourning and being like slightly judgy of Elzar, it doesn't seem that serious. They're definitely going to focus on whatever this mysterious path she got from the ghost of Mari San Tekka and her unresolved issues with Elzar. Ok I'm back.)

[darklinaforever]

Me pressing the block button soon as I see someone saying that Ben is always gaslighting and manipulating Rey in their interactions, infiltrating her head / mind to play with her insecurities and mold her into his perfect companion.

Seriously, wtf ?

And I had to come across this in the tag dedicated to Oshamir... (with obviously the mention of the fact that it is easier to ship Oshamir than Reylo, because Oshamir unlike Reylo does not contain these things...)

It's so paradoxical to me that Oshamir shippers don't like Reylo and can say such stupid shit about Ben's character who literally doesn't do any of that ?

Kylo Ben is very bad at manipulation and is an open book in terms of emotion, and even when he succeeds in fooling Snoke, we clearly see in his face the moment when Snoke is sentenced to death after he has caused suffering to Rey.

This is also why he wears a mask, to hide his emotions that he cannot hide.

He also simply has trouble expressing himself properly (not very social, the guy) and is brutally honest with Rey, hence the fact that he says things that she doesn't like but which are no less true and being things that Rey actually needs to hear in order to move forward.

How can we twist the Reylo relationship to this extent ?!

And then, Kylo Ben is not trying to mold Rey into his perfect companion, she already is. They are two who become one.

It's a fact.

If it's because he's trying to get her to join him on the dark side, I guess you also think that Rey is trying to mold Kylo Ben as her ideal companion by bringing him back to the light ?

You have to stop the bullshit after a while.

Especially if that's it, well Qimir is also trying to get Osha to join his side, so wtf is the argument ?

And if it's not based on that, well when would Kylo try to mold Rey into his perfect companion because these kinds of scenes objectively simply don't exist.

[spookyhologramyouth]

I cannot stop thinking about The Acolyte and not in a good way. The only reason Tumblr likes it seems to be that Manny Jacinto and Amandla Steinberg are two very fine people and that is true. From an objective standpoint Jacinto is attractive and Amandla can get it. But most other people are on the negative side. They're mostly right but there was just so much more potential for this show. Murder mystery? Cool. Jedi before their hubris punches them in the dick? Even cooler. The word Acolyte? New favorite word, it's just so clean. The themes are interesting if heavy handed but whatever. Then the story just got cluttered, shit go weird dialogue is suspicious. Osha's name is an acronym but I got over that. The characters just ugh! I think a lot of people found Qimir interesting when he appeared, or whatever the hell you wanna call him. He was awesome, he had a venom look alike mask, he massacred a lot of people and the only one that put up a decent fight was 14. But what I found so interesting about Qimir was his want for an Acolyte. He has Mae but she isn't it. He can probably tell that she just wants revenge and after that she would get cold feet. She literally decided fuck being evil I want my sister. Then he saw Osha lying on the floor and decided she works. And he lays it on thick. He was learning from his mistakes with Mae, he'd show his face. And just in case that isn't enough he'll show his dick too, because the fastest way to get someone to the dark side is to fuck them apparently. (That cemented me not liking the show because I watched every episode with my father) And hey it works! He got an Acolyte, soon to be more, Mae is off being mentally 9, weird guy in cave still in cave, and even if the questionable green people come around you're not alone. Or fuck it maybe he just wants power, but if I was a betting man (which I'm not) Osha would kill his ass in the 2nd season, to just drive home that parallel with him and Sol. The Jedi that wasn't completely good and The Sith that wasn't a complete asshole. Of course I doubt there will be a second season. I thought writing down my feelings would help it did not.