#commanding authority

[theluckygirlblog]

Calm, Collected, and In Control: A Woman’s Guide to Male Aggression

Male aggression—whether in the workplace, social settings, or even within family dynamics—can be intimidating, frustrating, and, at times, emotionally draining. Women are often conditioned to either shrink in response or appease the situation, but these are not the only options. Understanding how to navigate male aggression with poise, intelligence, and strategic thinking can not only help you…

[bet-on-me-13]

City Spirits awaken.

So! City Spirts are basically God's sustained by the people in their Cities. Some are Gods born from the belief and people of a City, others are God's who Bind themselves to Cities to sustain themselves in periods of low worship.

Almost all Major Population Centers have some kind of City Spirit bound to them.

The Personification of Los Angeles who slept with Constantine was born from her City, but she was young and weak compared to other City Spirits.

Lady Gotham is an Ancient Spirit who holds immense Power, but purposefully bound herself to the new and growing city of Gotham so she could sleep for a few millenia without worrying about sustaining Worship. She has been asleep for Centuries.

Actually, most City Spirits are Asleep.

Millenia Ago, the most powerful Gods and Spirits of the Infinite Realms fled the Rule of Pariah Dark. They didn't agree with his ambitions to conquer the Living Realm, and didn't want to let him use their Power against the Living Realm either.

So they Bound themselves to newly forming Cities and put themselves into Deep Sleep to avoid his Control. They have been asleep for Millenia now, waiting for the day Pariah would be overthrown so they could return to the Infinite Realms safely.

Then they day came. A New King was Crowned.

And the Cities began to wake up.

[meshla-cyarika]

Can I be honest for a second and say that one of my biggest fanfiction pet peeves is when someone will write their character or the reader insert as someone who should in theory be really badass (for example a Jedi or a Mandalorian, or an Avenger, or a soldier/fighter in general) and then make them really weak and basically not be able to handle themselves at all? Like come on realistically these mfs should be able to kill someone. Maybe this is just me being a girl who isn't girly, but I just want a character like this who can actually defend themselves and doesn't cry and need to be picked up by their s/o all the time.

[hiddenincommand]

“Bound, caged, and stripped of all autonomy—this is where you belong. My will is the air you breathe, my command the only purpose you serve. You exist for my amusement, to crawl, to kneel, to be broken under the weight of my absolute dominance. Submission isn’t a choice; it’s your reality, and I am your god, your tormentor, your master—merciless, unrelenting, and supreme.”

[tiredandoptimistic]

Radar really is in such an interesting position relative to the 4077. The rest of them are doctors. Hawkeye frequently bemoans his role as "weapons repair" and is clearly uncomfortable with fixing people up so they can go back and get shot, but he's still fundamentally only engaging with the war as a healer. When he's off duty (and even while he's working), Hawkeye is able to focus his energy on "the war against the war" by throwing parties and pulling pranks. He takes every opportunity to show his disrespect for the whole military machine, and only plays by their rules when it goes along with his moral imperative to heal the dying.

Radar, on the other hand, is the motor that keeps MASH running. He helps Hawkeye and the others with their schemes, but he also has to be the one to deal with the fallout. When Hawkeye gets his shift as "Commander Pierce," Radar is the one frantically trying to get him to actually fill out the required paperwork, because Hawkeye's "this is dumb and I won't engage with it" attitude to the army doesn't work for someone in an organizational position. The rest of them turn up their noses at army bureaucracy, but Radar is the one to understand how it all works and get them what they want despite the layers of red tape. He has to be the guy delivering bad news and sneaking around to steal people's stoves, and he isn't choosing to do it but it still has to get done. He's the one who announces incoming choppers, meaning that he basically always has to be the person to spoil everyone else's day. Fun's over, Radar's here. His name is literally a direct symbol of his role as a harbinger. He isn't the one responsible though. If he wasn't there to sound the alarm, there'd be just as many wounded and even less time to prepare.

He's got a bit of separation between himself and the casualties (unlike the doctors who are literally digging around in blood and guts for twelve hours at a time), but his position as company clerk means that he's also unable to truly clock out. Radar literally sleeps in his office, because it's his entire life. He's always going to be the guy with a foot in reality who tempers the officers' wackiness. Even when he got offered a ticket home, his first instinct was to turn it down because he didn't think that the 4077th could function without him.

This is significant to me because of how it reflects on the characters role in the war overall. Hawkeye is able to act like he's separate from the military, but he's sometimes forced to reckon with the fact that he's a cog in the machine like everyone else. Radar is often forced to serve as the hand of the army in the 4077th, but his job of keeping things running smoothly does just as much to save lives as any of the doctors. They're all soldiers who have to play by the army's rules to some extent if they want to keep anybody safe.

[blondebrainpowered]

"The party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command." -George Orwell, 1984

[bonefall]

Big question cause I’m so mad about how they were used: any ideas on changing Berryheart and Curlfeather from this book?

I have ONE controversial opinion and you must allow me this;

Curlfeather not apologizing to Frostdawn kinda rocks as an idea.

Obviously it reads as insulting because of how they gave Berryheart a Tom the Wifebeater ass Redemption Death in this book, and the general way that they've not approached her with the nuance she deserves is frustrating. I agree.

But hold my hand and walk with me. Imagine Curlfeather, mauled and bloody before the daughter she died saving. Frostpaw's gone through so much fixing the damage she caused, furious at the state her mother's in, the mess she made of RiverClan, all the suffering everyone's gone through... and Curlfeather says,

"I don't regret anything."

"Really? REALLY? I go through all of that, I come ALL this way, and you won't even give me a rotten little sorry?"

She doesn't give her mother a chance to respond, lashing her tail towards the grimmace that hangs off the side of her shredded cheek, "You're not sorry for how you lead to yourself looking like THAT?"

Frostpaw shoves her scarred throat foward, "You're not sorry for THIS?"

She claws dig into the sodden black earth of the Dark Forest, "You're not sorry you're HERE?"

Curlfeather is quiet, her remaining eye stoic like a stone. Frostpaw begs furiously, "NOTHING?"

"I will vow on our blood that I will not lie to you anymore," the demon's tone is soft and honest, "and I hope that means more than the insincere apology I could offer you otherwise."

Just when it feels like Frostpaw has so much anger that her body can't handle it, pain stuffs itself inside her in equal measure. Her stomach is sick with love, throat choked with affection. It takes her a minute to form the word,

"Why?"

"When my father, Reedwhisker, was taken by the Kin, I saw how they broke him. His uncle, Stonefur, did not buckle under Tigerstar. My grandmother Mistyfoot quietly rescued the Clan from his accomplice, Leopardstar, while Mistystar willingly worked alongside a vicious impostor."

Now that Frostpaw is the one who's waiting quietly, Curlfeather's voice flutters hopefully, "I was willing to do anything to restore my Clan to greatness," the specter pads foward, touching her nose to her daughter's trembling forehead, "except sacrifice you."

She didn't expect to feel the harsh sting of her daughter's paw smacking her across the nose. She reels back.

"You don't get it! It's not about YOU! It's about everyone you hurt! Dont try to pretend it was all worth it, you didn't make anything great, you just broke it!"

"I had to break it so it could be set back stronger. I gave you the chance for the power, and now you are making it better than it was."

"That was in spite of you! You told me to trust no cat and I had to unlearn that!"

"I saved you when I could have escaped with my life."

"From a situation you caused in the first place!"

"It was a warrior's death!"

There is a silence that settles over them. Curlfeather is snarling in offense. Frostpaw looks, again, at her mother's fatal wounds, the defensive stance. She's reminded of how the cats of other cultures don't always see scars as rewards for a fight survived-- just reminders of pain you've gone through.

"...it was a warrior's death," she agrees, gently, watching tattered hackles smoothen out, "...and now you're dead, while I'm still alive."

The emotion in Curlfeather's face is solemn, but otherwise incomprehensible to her daughter. The expression on Frostpaw's is equally unreadable to her mother. This is the only thing they will ever understand about each other-- that there is an irreconcilable difference between them, steeper than the divide between sky and earth.

The last words the demon speaks to her daughter are, "I love you."

It's only years later that Frostdawn can say, "I love you too."

[anghraine]

It's wild to me that I had heard of the prime Kirk/Spock content in various TOS episodes long before I saw them, but had never heard of what IMO is the shippiest moment of all thus far, in an interestingly O_o goddamn I do not want whatever you two have but you do you?? holy shit though what a moment way.

I'm of course referring to the otherwise rather mid episode "Requiem for Methuselah," in which Kirk has an underwritten love affair with a clueless woman whose various secrets have to be discovered before her inevitable death.

At one point in this relationship, her.......uh, guardian??? sort of???????? had Spock play the piano while she and Kirk waltzed, which (in-story) Spock did perfectly while somehow managing to silently exude even more intensity than usual. After the plot (and her life) were over, we end not with the usual cheerful bit of snark on the bridge that ends most episodes, but with a weary Kirk falling asleep with his head on his arms and Spock hovering not for away. McCoy exposits the last bit of detail and then goes on an unprompted and honestly pretty viciously racist speech about how Spock, unlike Kirk, will never suffer from the joys and travails of love because of his inherent lack of feeling as a Vulcan. The speech is longer than usual and just really mean-spirited as McCoy waxes rhapsodic about all the aspects of passionate true love that Spock will not and cannot experience as a Vulcan before he just leaves.

Spock then turns to look at Kirk, and now just bleeding intensity, takes a few slow, deliberate steps towards the sleeping Kirk, lays his hand against Kirk's cheek and neck, and then very obviously mind melds with the sleeping Kirk while murmuring, "Forget."

Is this healthy respectful behavior that honors Kirk's autonomy? No, obviously. Is it god-tier repressed homoerotic passion between two people who should probably just work their issues out and stop inflicting themselves on anyone else? Yes.

[archivewriter1ont]

Thoughts on The Bad Batch's "Superiority Complex"

(Bear with me -- I wrote this on my phone)

Someone brought up that the Bad Batch were the aggressors in their first fight with Kix and Jesse, and I've seen that take elsewhere too. These are just my thoughts on that...

I think that an important piece of this "the Batchers and the regs" puzzle (other than Crosshair, the snark, just naturally being more caustic than the others) is how being defective is addressed earlier in the Clone Wars and in the series as a whole. 

Krell basically uses "Are you defective?" as a threat at Umbara. Bric (trainer for Domino Squad) is openly ridiculing and abusive, going so far as to punch a cadet he thought wasn't good enough and saying things like "Even this bad batcher would be better than you" as a very demeaning thing. Even 99 realized how demeaning it was because he protested that the Dominoes were better than that. We also see with the Fives-chip arc, etc, that the Kaminoans are not the nicest beings to their “creations.” The trainers weren't either (see Dred Priest and again, Bric and Company).

Their "special project" status makes it very likely that the Kaminoans did experiment on or test the batchers in different ways than they would have done with the regs. The Batch very probably was confronted with their differences, what were seen as faults and flaws even as they were made into a commando squad, every moment of their lives. That not only has the potential to hurt the four of them and make them more likely to have a chip on their shoulders, but it also may have gotten around as rumors on Kamino. Also, Rex and the other 501st members we see with the Batchers haven't been on Kamino for a while, so the treatment from regs might have gotten worse as the Batchers had to interact with other units in training.

All that to say, the Bad Batch very likely experienced far worse than what we hear or see on screen, from trainers and their creators as well as other clones. They have (in all likelihood) existed on the edge of decommissioning for their entire lives, always having to prove that they were good enough to excuse their genetic faults. All four of them display a sort of hard confidence that indicates they know they’re the best because they had to be. While others passed the tests, they had to break records. They were pushed to excel the average just to prove their worth, to confirm that they deserved to live. 

This is another reason I prefer reading the Star Wars books and comics to watching the animated shows, in all honesty. The two versions of Quinlan Vos – animated and written – is a great example of the disconnect between (obviously, the best that could be expected from) an animated “kids” show and what I think is a better representation of what the war was actually like.

P.S. This is also why I HC that 99 was deeply involved with the Batch, because I honestly feel they would have a worse complex if they hadn’t had him to guide them how he could.

[pratchettquotes]

Colon didn't reply. I wish Captain Vimes were here, he thought. He wouldn't have known what to do either, but he's got a much better vocabulary to be baffled in.

Terry Pratchett, Guards! Guards!

[1-800-crscnt]

hc i have is that some clones don’t experience some feelings (body-wise, not emotionally) they should, but it’s a bit easy to have this go unnoticed (or underestimated in severity) all throughout their childhood since they’re raised super rigidly & in groups that learn to rely on each other to survive. this could be the side effects of mass producing a bunch of clones at once from a single guy. for example, fox doesn’t feel hunger, but was always fed at certain times and then followed his brothers to get food as he got older, and would also get food alone at those times bc it’s routine, so this was never picked up on, and that’s why he struggles so much with it on Coruscant. Monnk can’t tell when he’s in pain unless he looks at the injury/reason, but constant routine of checking over himself (plus a natural response to feeling something touch you lol), basic first-aid training, the fact that his blood would have floated nearby in water if he was bleeding, and being surrounded by brothers who care and will tell him to seek medical attention let him coast on by to adulthood. stuff like that made it easy to just not notice it when a clone wasn’t exactly what Kaminoans wanted lol.

[commander-fox-enthusiasts]

Fox, anytime it’s thundering immediately accusing Anakin of farting. Doesn’t matter where he is or when it is. He will accuse Anakin of farting that loud.

Padme and Anakin snuck off? Someone’s knocking at the door of the not make-out sesh! Why it’s Fox! With a formal request to ‘lay off the blue milk, your farts are disrupting senators’

[hiddenincommand]

“Command is not worn; it is embodied. Every button, every stitch, every fold of leather is a testament to the power that radiates from within. To wear such a uniform is to assert dominance, authority, and control—effortlessly. The leather binds not just the body but the will of those who kneel before me.”

[thetimetraveler24]

Cody cleared his throat. “Now what? Are we…” he hesitated before continuing, “killing the Chancellor?”

“Yes!” Omega said determinedly.

“No,” Echo said, quickly squashing that idea.

To Save A Reg (and Maybe the Galaxy) ch 6

[starmocha]

He kisses us here— he's saying these words and emphasizing with a kiss— CALEB!!!!! 😭😭😭😭😭

[the-pixel-lover-extravagant]

Just imagine Captain Fordo, after the battle of Coriscant is assigned to the guard as stated in 2003 canon and the chancellor even bragged to him what an honor it is to have this position only; to figure out the guard and it’s commanders are basically mall cops with authority, encountering his first genuine tweaker. At first he’s taken aback by the belligerent nonsense, then he gets swung at so he tazed the fucker. This just irritates them because their on space bath salts and that only tickled them so he and Grizzor are running for their lives from this phyco smashing windows with their head and the only way they got away was by jumping on a dumpster droid until Fox showed up and coaxed them into the back of an laat by answering their riddle. Mentally Fordo is filling out transfer papers back to the front lines.