#does that hurt?

[pacific-watercress]

Does that hurt?

[phoenixkaptain]

I think it’s interesting the scenes that they chose to mirror from the original trilogy.

I think it’s interesting how many of those scenes go from being Luke and Darth Vader to Padme and Anakin.

The idea of it is clear. Padme was the reason Anakin ultimately joined the Dark Side, but she was also the only thing keeping him from falling completely. Luke plays a similar role, in that he is the thing that draws Vader out of the Dark Side. The role Padme played, albeit differently.

An example of this is Vader asking Luke to kill Palpatine with him and rule the galaxy by his side. Anakin does the same with Padme, on Mustafar, where he tells her that they can kill Palpatine and rule the galaxy together.

Luke and Padme actually react to this offer rather similarly, if you think about it. Luke just found out the Darth Vader is his father and he’s scared and he doesn’t know what’s going on. Padme just found out that her husband is Darth Vader and she’s scared and she doesn’t know what’s going on. They both refuse, of course, but the mirroring is still there, and I like it a lot.

Of course there’s the mirroring in which Padme believes that Anakin is good even on her deathbed, and Luke believes that Darth Vader is still good even while Darth Vader is being very convincingly not good. Padme’s faith in him kept Anakin grounded until Obi-Wan snuck onto her ship and showed up at the least good time ever. Luke’s faith in Anakin is what ultimately led to Anakin fulfilling his destiny and destroying the Sith. It’s nice.

But, there’s also a mirror of the scene where Palpatine is using Force Lightning on Luke. He uses it on Mace Windu, and Palpatine is in Luke’s role of being hurt, but it differs a lot. Palpatine complains a lot and keeps mentioning how old and frail he is. Luke just kind of asks for help. And there’s Vader and Anakin, watching this happen and torn in both scenarios until he snaps.

It’s interesting that they mirrored this scene in this way. It’s a good way of showing that Anakin views Mace Windu and the Jedi as the villains, the same way he later views Palpatine in the same position. And both scenes end in Anakin betraying someone. Betraying the Jedi, then betraying the Sith. It’s fascinating, the visual storytelling here. In my opinion.

Of course, Luke mostly mirrors Anakin, but I appreciate that he mirrors Padme as well. Leia is the same way. Neither of them copies one parent entirely, they act as a mix of both, which is more realistic and more interesting. It’s fun to see how Luke and Leia are similar to their parents.

Apart of the mirroring that’s interesting to me is the loneliness. Anakin is surrounded by Jedi, but feels entirely alone. Luke is entirely alone and is, when you think about it, the entirety of the Jedi and therefore surrounded by it (go with it). The way their loneliness mirrors each other is interesting, because Luke seems to get stronger from it. Anakin gets nervous and fearful and doesn’t trust anyone, but Luke just seems to be calm.

And that’s really the difference between Luke and Anakin, isn’t it? Anakin reacts by lashing out, while Luke mostly reacts by remaining calm.

When Anakin finds out his mom died, he killed an entire camp. When Luke found out Owen and Beru died, he just went quiet. Luke reacts to sadness more like Padme, where he gets quiet instead of angry, and I like that a lot.

Anyway, long story short, I love narrative mirroring and I love parents and children being similar and I love Luke Skywalker. Not in that order.

[inevitablemoment]

“does that hurt?”

Word Count: 871

Warnings: Politics, politically motivated violence, stranger attack, black eye, injury, dislocated shoulder

Fandom: Spin City

Pairings: Mike Flaherty x Nikki Faber

I’m finally writing a Spin City fic! I love this show so much, and I am just shocked that there is no content. Like literally, on AO3, there’s no fics under the Spin City (TV) tag. But, that may change, as writing this piece has given me a spark of inspiration for to expand on it in a multi-chapter fic.

Takes place in late Season 3.

Enjoy!

————————

As Nikki had taken to spending more and more nights at Mike’s apartment, they often made their commute to City Hall together. It was not an uncommon sight to see them hand-in-hand as they made their way up the steps into the building, and she could not see them stopping anytime soon-- no matter how much Stuart teased them.

Besides, she had valuable ammo against him, should he annoy her enough.

She and Mike were discussing the previous night’s episode of Law & Order when she caught something in the corner of her eye; a man, dressed in a grey hoodie and his face obscured by a baseball cap.

Something in her gut flared at the sight of this man. She had lived in New York City all her life, a city girl through and through, and these instincts had been drilled into her from her earliest memory.

Her hold on Mike’s arm tightened when she realized that the man was approaching the both of them.

“You Mike Flaherty?” the man asked.

As tightly as Nikki tried to squeeze Mike’s arm to warn him not to engage, he still took two steps forward.

“Yeah, what can I do for y--?”

The man’s fist came flying towards Mike, immediately knocking him down. The man began yelling things like “Liberal puppet!” and “Commie bastard!” as Nikki rushed to her boyfriend’s side, trying to help him up as two security guards restrained his assailant.

Nikki helped Mike back to his feet. “Hey, you okay?”

Mike shook his head, even as he held the heel of his palm against his left eye. “Y-- yeah.”

“Mike,” she gave him a warning tone.

“Nikki, don’t worry about me,” he asked. “Did-- did he try to hurt you? I couldn’t see--”

“No,” Nikki said. “Are you sure...?”

“Nikki... please,” Mike lowered his hand, revealing that his eye was beginning to swell shut.

“Mike...”

“Just... let’s just go inside,” he requested, taking her hand again. “Please?”

Nikki sighed. “Fine. But I’m getting ice for that eye when we get inside.”

Throughout the rest of the day, everyone reacted just as Nikki predicted they would; Carter, James, and Janelle showed genuine concern, Stuart asked if it had been a result of their “activities in the boudoir,” Stacey asked if Mike at least got a punch in, and Paul was just as clueless as ever.

“I heard the Secret Service guys talking,” Carter said as he and Stuart followed Nikki to the ice machine. “You think this might be the guy that tried to take a shot at the mayor last month?”

“I don’t know,” Nikki answered, inserting a coin into the machine and holding an open Ziploc bag out.

“Seems a little weird-- can’t take out the mayor, so you try to get the guy below him,” Stuart mused. “Like how I couldn’t score a night with a future Penthouse model in college, so I dated that flat-chested girl for six months. She even roped me into spending Thanksgiving with her family.”

Nikki let out a heavy sigh of frustration and contempt that harmonized with the ice machine as the ice fell into the bag.

No.

She would not let Stuart’s “horny bastard” ways aggravate her today.

She had too much on her plate to worry about.

Nikki sealed the bag and turned back around. “Just see if you can get a security detail for Mike-- and make it discreet. Don’t want to make him feel smothered.”

“And what better way to do that than to gaslight him about the black, windowless cars outside his apartment building?” Stuart said.

Nikki gave herself one split second to glare at Stuart before she turned to Carter. “If I broke his jaw, I’d be doing mankind a service, right?”

“Oh, you’d get the Nobel Peace Prize,” Carter remarked.

Nikki gave Stuart the fakest smile that she could muster up before she left for Mike’s office in a rush.

As she expected, Mike was sitting at his desk, working as if nothing had happened that morning. The only indicator that this was not just a normal day was the beginnings of a violet bruise that framed his left eye, and the pained expression he seemed to have on his face as he filled out some paperwork.

Mike looked up, seeing her standing in the doorway. “Hey.”

“Hey-- I got the ice,” Nikki held up the bag, walking towards his desk and taking a seat across from him.

“Thanks, but--”

Whatever he was going to say, she didn’t listen as she gently pressed the bag of ice against his injured eye.

“Thanks,” he repeated, sincere this time.

He began to reach his hand to take hold of the bag himself, before wincing in pain.

“Wh-- you okay?” Nikki asked.

“It’s-- it’s just my shoulder,” he tried to wave off. “It’s a little sore.”

“That didn’t sound like a ‘little sore’ groan,” Nikki observed, reaching over the desk to try to examine his shoulder. “Does it hurt? Let me--”

As soon as her hand made contact with his shoulder, Mike cried out in pain. Nikki sprung to her feet and practically hurdled the desk to get to him.

“I-- I think we need to take you to the hospital.”

[midnight-coffee94]

No single line has ever wrecked me as hard as this one from the Good Place and I think about it constantly

[candaru]

no no. you don't get it. the reason I injure my blorbos until they can't walk is because that's the only way they'll ever let someone else carry them. the reason I curse them to be sick and feverish is so that they'll finally open up about their emotions while delirious. the reason I force them to overexert themselves to the point of exhaustion is so that when they pass out they can finally rest.

I'm doing this for their own good.

[inkskinned]

what is with men being mad any time a woman raises her voice where did that even come from. someone posted a video of a small electrical explosion, and the top comment was of course the woman screams. the second comment is women try not to scream challenge, level impossible. i had to go back and watch the video again. there is, somewhat fainty, a little gasp emitted off-camera, more of a yelp than a scream. it is mostly lost in the crack of the explosion. afterwards, you hear her voice, shaken, say, are you okay?

i am helping one of my friends train her voice pitch lower, because she wants to be taken seriously at work. she and i do each other's nails and talk about gender roles; and how - due to our appearance - neither of us have ever been able to be "hysterical" in public. we both appear young and sweet and feminine. she is cisgender, and cannot use her natural voice in her profession because people keep saying she appears to be "vapid". we both try to figure out if our purposeful voice lowering is technically sexist. is it promoting something when you are a victim to it?

a storm almost sends a pole through a car window. in the dashcam, you can hear the woman passenger say her partner's name twice, crying out in alarm. she sounds terrified. in the comments, she is lambasted for her lack of calm. how is that even fucking helping?

in high school, i taught myself to have a lower voice. i had been recorded when i was genuinely (and righteously) upset; and i hated how my voice sounded on the phone speakers when it was played back. i was defending my mom, and my voice cracked with emotion. it meant i was no longer winning the argument: i was just shrieking about it.

girls meet each other after a long summer and let out a little joyful scream. this usually stops around 12-14, because people will not tolerate this display of affection (as it has the effect of being passingly annoying). something about the fact that little girls can't ever even be annoying. we are trained to examine each part of our lives (even joy) for anything that could make us upsetting and disgusting. they act like teenage girls are breaking into houses and shrieking you awake at 3 in the morning. speaking as a public school educator: trust me, it's not that bad, you can just roll your eyes and move on. it does not compare to the ways boys end up being annoying: slurs in graffiti, purposefully mocking your body, following you after you said no. you know, just boy things.

there's another video of a man who is not allowed to yell in the house, so he snaps his fingers when he's excited about soccer. the comments are full of angry men, talking about how their brother is unfairly caged. let him express himself and this is terrible to do to someone. eventually the couple has to address it in a second video: they are married with a newborn baby. he was trying not to wake the infant up. there is no comment on the fact women are not allowed to yell indoors. or the fact that it could have been really alarming or triggering for his wife. sometimes i wonder if straight men even like women, if they even enjoy being in relationships with them.

for the longest time, i hated roller coasters because it always felt inappropriate and uncomfortable for me to scream. one of my friends called me on it, said it was unusual i'm so unwilling. i had to go to my therapist about it. i don't like to scream because i was not raised in a safe situation, and raising my voice would have brought unsafe attention towards me. even when i am supposed to scream, it feels shameful, guilty. i was not treated kindly, so i lack a basic form of self-protection. this is not a natural response. it is not good that in a situation of high adrenaline - i shut up about it.

something very bad is happening, i think. in between all the beauty standards and the stuff i've already discussed - this one feels new and cruel in a way i can't quite express. yes, it's scary and silencing. but there's something about how direct it is - that so many men agree with the sentiment that women should never yell, even in an emergency - it feels different.

is the word shriek gendered automatically? how about shrill or screech? in self defense class, one of the first things they tell you is to yell, as loud and as shrilly as you can. they say it will feel rude. most women will not do this. you need to practice overcoming the social pressure and just scream.

most women do not cry out, even when it's bad. we do not report it. we walk faster. we do not make a scene. what would be the point of doing anything else? no matter what we do, we don't get taken seriously. it is a joke to them. an instagram caption punchline. we have to present ourselves as silent, beautiful, captivating - "valuable."

a woman is outside watching her kids when someone throws a firecracker at them. she screams and runs towards her children. in the comments, grown men flock together in the thousands: god. women are so annoying.

[mindonmymoneyandmoneyonmymind]

@demolisherspork on tiktok soo talented

[sketchquill]

They’re all just concerned for you neighbour (´ ▽｀)

[zillychu]

hmmm "stuck in the ghost zone" no one knows au thoughts :)

[obsob]

friends forever

✹print shop✹

[vongulli]

Can't get them all outta my head!!!!!!

[wenzie76aster]

Hueso appreciation post because the second he did a death drop out of knowhere he instantly became the best secondary character in the show, I don’t make the rules

And Leo’s little “yeah:)” appreciation was adorable. Gay kid looking up to his queer uncle✨

[areyousanta]

Don't Forget

[lazylittledragon]

i feel like social media has warped people’s perception of conflict in relationships by making you think that any minor fuck up is the end of the world and everyone is secretly a narcissist manipulator with sinister motives, because actually in real life you just say “i’m sorry, that was a bad thing, i shouldn’t have done that” and the other person says “thank you for apologising” and then that’s the end of it

[goatanarchy]

Silver Lining

--- Finally finished a tarot for Duncan. I didn't have any proper cards in mind but probably could be a King of Swords. :D

[inkskinned]

she says he won't let her get a dog, which is fine, because they're in an apartment, and that's the kind of thing people say about their partners. he won't let me get a dog. and you're at a dinner party and you tilt your head a little to the side just like that dog he won't let her get, because is this the thing that's going to upset you? you don't know every corner of their relationship, she could be joking, they could have had so many healthy conversations about the dog, right, and maybe she's not letting herself get the dog because of money and time and whatever. but, like, she did say let

and she wants to move away from his hometown and he wants to stay and then he tells you with a wink and a conspiratorial stage whisper don't worry i'll convince her and she laughs about it - so clearly this is something they laugh about. but you do just stand there and stare at him like what the fuck, man. you can't say what you want to say which is why do you get the final say on everything because they're both obviously aware of the other person's stance on this and have obviously had private conversations about it and what are you going to do about it except make a scene and then he'll be mad at you and call you one of those bitches behind your back and she'll cut you off, which is a loss that doesn't feel worth it just because he makes you a little skeeved out every 3rd comment

and they both agree he just isn't the type to get flowers which is fine because everyone shows love differently, and are you really gonna judge someone based on their sense of individual relationship responsibility? maybe he's constantly cleaning her car and writing her poems and making her furniture or something. maybe she doesn't even like flowers and this is perfect, actually. and no you couldn't date him, obviously, ew; but like, she tells you she's happy. you almost send her a tiktok that says don't be 25 and the cool girl that doesn't need anything, you'll hate not getting flowers at 30, but that's like, starting drama & you shouldn't start drama needlessly.

and you're a little older than her but not so much older you can pull the whole trust me on this one babe thing and besides that wouldn't have worked anyway (when does it ever) and besides you have trauma so you and your therapist both agree that you're always looking for a problem even when there isn't one. and you tell yourself that just because you see them for 15 minutes every month does not mean you can identify every single red flag based on a single shitty half-joking(?) comment

and besides, what are you going to do? she says i actually wanted another stand mixer but thankfully he stops me when i'm about to spend too much money and you're standing there like are you okay? is this normal? is this just something people say? and again - what are you going to do?

to your therapist you try to language it - it's not, like, any of my business. but sometimes, doesn't it feel like - you should do something. there's got to be something, right? you've tried dropping little hints but they sail right through and you've tried having a single serious conversation and she got upset because why does it matter to you, yes it's different but we're happy, it doesn't need to make sense to you and you're like. really unwilling to push a boundary about it anymore; because the truth is that you know logically it shouldn't matter to you, as long as both parties are happy.

and besides, you've been wrong before. it's just... like, every time you see them both, something else happens, some kind of shiver down your spine like do you even hear each other when you talk. it's their strange, bickering orbit. just the way he's on his phone through dinner or watching sports instead of helping in the kitchen or, fuck, another one of these little throwaway comments he makes about we'll see about that, babe. she laughs when he calls her passions stupid shit and meanwhile she gets him tickets to see the knicks and he tells you well at least she's smart about something and still! it's none of your business.

you say get the dog anyway and she laughs. like, this is is you being funny. and not you saying - no really. get the dog. get the dog and get out of here. pack up and start running.