#if they don’t support X ideology

[queen-esther]

It’s upsetting to me how younger people—namely kids—are pressured to be, like, aggressively involved in politics and talk extensively about every single social issue. I’m not saying it’s bad for kids to learn to be aware as they get older, but my younger brother is 14, and he says kids at his lunch table talk about abortion and trans stuff, like, every single day, and they rarely talk about anything else. Social media catered to teens and preteens pushes political topics at them on the regular, and if politics isn’t front and center, then they’re pressured to talk about whether or not a new show or movie is “progressive” enough for modern sensibilities.

When I was 14, my friends and I were talking about the latest Twilight and Hunger Games movies. When we logged on to Facebook, we spent time putting together Flair boards filled with our interests and typing up stupid updates about our school day and playing Facebook games. “Trending topics” were more organic back then, so our feeds had actual age-appropriate topics to browse through instead of the millionth article about X politician being a piece of shit or Y political topic being The Most Important Issue Of Our Lifetimes. No one at school really talked much about politics, either; we were too busy worrying about Homecoming or the next band competition to care.

I know it’s been obvious for a long time to anyone with a working brain that social media has been programming kids to be soldiers for the leftist movement, but it’s just frustrating watching it play out in real time. I really do feel like we’re going to start seeing a bigger push from Democrats to lower the voting age the more teenagers are “educated” on various topics, because they know kids are more inclined to fall in line with what their friends, favorite celebrities, and social media are telling them is the “right” opinion to have on these issues and are thus an easier age group to manipulate when it comes time for elections. Kids aren’t allowed to just enjoy being kids and shamelessly watch fun movies or listen to their favorite music or have their biggest worry be what to wear to prom anymore; their whole lives have to revolve around supporting The Cause now.

[artcinemas]

*a post rightfully criticising m*di’s pro israel stance and saffron politics that only benefit the fucking uc savarnas*

“exhibit xxx” appearing to defend bibi’s bestie:

[mariacallous]

A woman without biologicalchildren is running for high political office, and so naturally that quality will at some point be used against her. Kamala Harris has, in the short period since she emerged as the Democratic candidate for US president, been scrutinised over her lack of children. The conservative lawyer Will Chamberlain posted on X that Harris “shouldn’t be president” – apparently, she doesn’t have “skin in the game”. The Republican vice-presidential candidate, JD Vance, called Harris and other Democrats “a bunch of childless cat ladies miserable at their own lives”.

It’s a particularly virulent tendency in the US, with a rightwing movement that is fixated on women’s reproduction. But who can forget (and if you have, I am happy to remind you of a low point that still sticks in my craw) Andrea Leadsom, during the 2016 Conservative party leadership election, saying that Theresa May might have nieces and nephews, but “I have children who are going to have children … who will be a part of what happens next”. “Genuinely,” she added, as if the message were not clear enough, “I feel that being a mum means you have a real stake in the future of our country, a tangible stake.”

It’s an argument about political capability that dresses up a visceral revulsion at the idea that a woman who does not have a child should be vested with any sort of credibility or status. In other comments, Vance said that “so many of the leaders of the left, and I hate to be so personal about this, but they’re people without kids trying to brainwash the minds of our children, that really disorients me and disturbs me”. He appears so fixated on this that it is almost comical: a man whose obsession with childless women verges on a complex.

But his “disorientation and disturbance” is a political tendency that persists and endures. It constantly asks the question of women who don’t have children, in subtle and explicit ways, especially the higher they rise in the professional sphere: “What’s up with that? What’s the deal?” The public sphere becomes a space for answering that question. Women perform a sort of group plea to be left the hell alone, in their painstaking examinations of how they arrived at the decision not to have kids, or why they in fact celebrate not having kids, or deliberations on ambivalence about having kids.

Behind all this lies some classic old-school inability to conceive of women outside mothering. But one reason this traditionalism persists in ostensibly modern and progressive places is that women withdrawing from mothering in capitalist societies – with their poorly resourced public amenities and parental support – forces questions about our inequitable, unacknowledged economic arrangements. A woman who does not bear children is a woman who will never stay home and provide unremunerated care. She is less likely to be held in the domestic zone and extend her caregiving to elderly relatives or the children of others. She cannot be a resource that undergirds a male partner’s career, frailties, time limitations and social demands.

A mother is an option, a floating worker, the joker in the pack. Not mothering creates a hole for that “free” service, which societies increasingly arranged around nuclear families and poorly subsidised rights depend on. The lack of parental leave, childcare and elderly care would become profoundly visible – “disorienting and disturbing” – if that service were removed.

“Motherhood,” writes the author Helen Charman in her new book Mother State, “is a political state. Nurture, care, the creation of human life – all immediate associations with mothering – have more to do with power, status and the distribution of resources … than we like to admit. For raising children is the foundational work of society, and, from gestation onward, it is unequally shared.”

Motherhood, in other words, becomes an economic input, a public good, something that is talked about as if the women themselves were not in the room. Data on declining birthrates draws comment from Elon Musk (“extremely concerning!!”) . Not having children is reduced to entirely personal motivations – selfishness, beguilement with the false promise of freedom, lack of values and foresight, irresponsibility – rather than external conditions: of the need for affordable childcare, support networks, flexible working arrangements and the risk of financial oblivion that motherhood frequently brings, therefore creating bondage to partners. To put it mildly, these are material considerations to be taken into account upon entering a state from which there is no return. Assuming motherhood happens without such context, Charman tells me, is a “useful fantasy”.

It is a binary public discourse, obscuring the often thin veil between biological and social actualisation. Women who don’t have children do not exist in a state of blissful detachment from their bodies and their relationship with maternity: a number have had pregnancies, miscarriages, abortions and periods. A number have entered liminal stages of motherhood that don’t conform to the single definition from which they are excluded. A number extend mothering to various children in their lives. Some, like Harris herself, have stepchildren (who don’t count, just as May’s nieces and nephews didn’t). A number have become mothers, just not in a way that initiates them into a blissful club. They experience regret, depression and navigate unsettlement that does not conform to the image of uncomplicated validation of your purpose in life.

But the privilege of those truths cannot be bestowed on creatures whose rejection of the maternal bond has become a rejection of a wider unspoken, colossally unfair contract. Women with children are handed social acceptance for their vital investment in “the future”, in exchange for unrewarded, unsupported labour that props up and stabilises the economic and social status quo. All while still suffering sneeriness about the value of their work in comparison with the serious graft of the men who win the bread.

On top of that, women have to navigate all that motherhood – or not – entails, all the deeply personal, bewildering, isolating and unacknowledged realities of both, while being subject to relentless suffocating, infantilising and violating public theories and notions that trespass on their private spaces. With that comes a sense of self-doubt and shame in making the wrong decision, or not being as content with those decisions as they are expected to be. It is a constant, prodding vivisection. That, more than anything clinical observers feel, is the truly disorienting and disturbing experience.

[inlovewithpandora]

- Instructions -

Pairing: Hobie x fem!pregnant!reader

Request: [ @spidersthetic ] building a new piece of furniture from a flat pack together w Hobie || Ok, so what I was thinking for this was reader is pregnant and they're setting up the nursery and Hobie claims to know how to build the crib without the instructions and she doubts he can but enjoys the show as he struggles so like 10 minutes later, he gives up and asks her to give him the instructions and she tries not to laugh and comforts him a little.

Synopsis: Hobie tries to put together your child’s crib but it doesn’t goes the way he planned in his head.

Content: fluff, established relationship, Hobie trying to avoid instructions at all costs, reader supporting him no matter what, small Miguel diss, Reader being a cutie, cute and fluffy pregnancy fic

Author’s Note: I had fun writing this! This is my first time writing for astv or anything outside of avatar so I hope you all enjoy this!

- Shoutout to @spidersthetic for all her encouraging words and helping me while I’ve been making my transition to writing for astv! If it wasn’t for her sending me prompts/requests I wouldn’t have known what to write!

Word Count: 710

Extra: Requests are closed! || Likes, comments, and reblogs are highly appreciated❤️!

Links: Navigation || Astv Masterlist || Main Masterlist || Taglist

“Hobie, baby, can you please just read the instructions? I’ve been sitting in here with you for half an hour and nothing is done.”

“I told you I don’t need instructions. I got this. Don’t you have faith in your man?” His overconfident smile rises as he walks over and plants a kiss on your forehead to reassure you that he could handle this since in his eyes, it’s a minuscule task.

You shake your head, a chuckle emerging from your lips, knowing that this was going to go the opposite of what Hobie has in mind. “You’re right baby. I’m sorry, you got this!” You give him a wide smile along with two thumbs up to emphasize your support, and settle back to watching him once again attempt to put together your unborn child’s crib.

It’s been ten minutes since his last attempt, and just like you assumed it isn’t going well. However you wouldn’t deny that it was currently your source of entertainment. Hobie has multiple pieces scattered around the nursery; screws, and bolts attached to parts they shouldn’t be. And he looks by all means confused about how to assemble the crib.

As Hobie continues trying to figure out which part goes where, he starts growing frustrated. Each time he puts two pieces together, they don’t fit or the screw doesn’t align properly, which makes him groan as the feeling of aggravation arises a tad more with each passing failure.

You know he’s struggling and that he needs the instructions, but due to his stubbornness being mixed with a sense of determination, he doesn’t give up, at least for about another fifteen minutes.

“Can you pass me the bloody instructions?” He grumbles, hating the fact he has to admit defeat and cave to using someone else’s ideology of how to build a piece of furniture.

Looking at the scowl formed on his lips makes you want to burst with laughter, but you implement all your self-restraint and bury it deep down, knowing that it would only make him feel worse about not being able to complete the task solely on his own.“Here,” you hand him the pamphlet of instructions, “Honey, it’s okay to use the instructions, you know. I heard that Miguel had to use instructions to work the majority of technology in Spider-HQ even though he acts like he knows everything like the back of his hand.” You say in a playful tone, knowing how much Hobie dislikes Miguel and enjoys hearing stories about his screw ups.

“Really? Well, that does make sense. He is almost ancient at this point. I don’t see why he doesn’t retire and live a regular life instead of chasing Miles around Earth-928B like a madman.” He can’t help letting the laugh rise, thinking about how Miles blasted and defeated Miguel in front of everyone.

“Yes! So my point is that it’s okay to use instructions. They're here for a reason, which is to help.” You rub his back gently, hoping this will help lessen his complaints.

“You’re right, I’ll use the instructions.” He opens the pamphlet and begins to correctly assemble the crib, which makes you happy since you’ve been wanting this to finally be completed with the baby just a few months away from arriving.

“See, baby, your daddy is finally getting it done. He just needed a little kick in the pants from mommy.” You giggle softly to yourself as you rub your baby bump and watch Hobie make the final adjustments on the crib.

“How does it look?” He asks, inspecting the fully assembled crib in the corner of the nursery.

“Perfect, Hobie. I knew you could get it done!”

I hope you enjoyed❤️!

Next Fic

Editor - @justmemyselfandthemoon

Taglist: @inspace1 @number1gal @phoenixx69 @savagemickey03 @soilmayo @gamerxpfighter

©️inlovewithpandora ━━━ 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟑 | All rights reserved. Do not repost, reupload, translate, modify, or claim my work as your own.

[yanderederee]

Alright, let’s talk about Ken Wakui’s newest work

Negai no Astro

Or Astro Royal, whatever you prefer.

I will be giving no blatant spoilers in this post, only speculations:)

Manga PV here; ITS SO GOOD!!!!

⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯✦

Let’s get the obvious out of the way, Ken Wakui has a very distinct art style. And I love it! A lot of people are making fun of it (mostly on Twitter/X), and it’s really sad. I love his style, and character development.

I have high hopes for this manga, and want to paint a picture of what to expect for those who also want to get into it♡

Let’s start Character Designs

—our main-trio—

We’re only one chapter in so far, so we’ve only met the main two boys, Terasu and Hibaru (left to right).

Terasu Yotsurugi - 12th Son

Loving Terasu’s take-no-shit personality so far. Simultaneously, he seems very kind and loyal to Hibaru’s ideals.

Terasu is giving Ryusei/Chifuyu lovechild.

Hibaru Yotsurugi - only Biological Son

I love Hibaru’s chivalrous/“old-fashion” ideology. He may seem ‘generic shonen protagonist’ right now, but i don’t care. I will appreciate him.

Hibaru is giving Mikey/Takemitchi lovechild.

As for our blue eyes beauty over here, we have yet to see her yet. She seems very cute though.

She’s also giving lovechild vibes; Senju/Hina specifically…

—The Yotsurugi family—

There are 13 Siblings of the Yotsurugi family, whom has a history of being Yakuza.

12/13 Siblings are adopted.

So far, we only have designs for 11 siblings.

We do not know a lot of names thus far, WHICH I NEED BTW, so let’s go over what we do have, and my first impressions of them.

—Names going Left to Right per image

Shio Yotsurugi - Eldest Son

He’s giving Timeskip!Taiju vibes. Anyone who says he looks like Ran…. I can’t see it. He’s too beefy- sorry.

I just know I’m not going to like this guy.

Has a lot of the people’s support, but not mine.

Probably thinks he’s going to make the family better when he’s really ruining it:(

Unnamed Glasses Guy - maybe 2nd Son?

Mmmmm no thoughts.

Token megane character—

Probably corrupt.

I hope he proves me wrong.

Kou Yotsurugi - 11th Son

Middle child vibes

He will be deranged and misguided.

Probably “hates” Hibaru because he’s so much like their father, who I assume he respects, but doesn’t agree with.

He probably secretly admires them both though.

Unnamed Hottie - maybe 9th Son?

MINE. 👹👹👹 RAPID. FERAL. BARKBARKBARK—

Based on vibes alone, I lay claim. Awoogaawooga♡

I NEED NAMES, NOW WAKUI. NOW.

Who is he. Where was he. I must know.

also lowkey giving Angry’s blue-ogre vibes…

Didn’t appear in chapter 1 though so:( </3

Unnamed ScarGuy - maybe 10th Son?

Eyes always closed, speaks with ♡ at the end of his sentences…

Seems charming. I mean, look at those eyelashes…♡

Wanna give him a kith.

I have a feeling he and Unnamed Hottie are biological brothers… not sure.

Wakui please, sir, just one chance—-

Unnamed BraidGuy - maybe 8th Son?

Mr. I’ll just stay in my lane. Respect.

Realistically, I think he’ll be my first/second favorite eye candy, depending on how these characters personalities/canons end up being explored.

I’m sorry I have a thing for men with long hair!

Cool earrings too lol

Seems neutral to who’s in charge.

Wakui, seriously, I CAN TAKE HIM—!!!

BENKEI???? - maybe 5th Son?

Has lion-like eyes and sharp canines….big nose

My size kink is acting up—no, please nO—!

Okay but seriously. I’m not sure what to expect from him yet.

He seems honest, but I can see him getting power hungry:(

Handsome Lady - Maybe 3rd Daughter?

Cooler older sister vibes.

Awoogawooga

Please be a lesbian or at least bisexual—

Seems logical and cool. Probably doesn’t coddle innocence.

Mr.BigNose - Maybe 4th son?

Uh-uh. No thanks. Not bc of his appearance, but bc his character is depicted as insufferable so far.

Probably sexist.

Probably too coward to admit it, but if things with the family bond start turning south, he’s the first one OUT.

Hehe I may have left this screenshot wide to show off the One Panel that shows Mr. Unnamed Hottie *twirls hair*

I mean seriously look at him I’m going to scream without the s

Story Direction and Expectations

I trust Wakui. The way he explores his stories is through character bonds and personal ideals.

This is one of the reasons why I grew so fond of Tokyo Revengers.

Plus… it’s Found-Family Gang activity. It’s my soft spot ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ I would say Yakuza but I want to be respectful in how I throw that word around, so I’ll avoid it for now if I can.

The supernatural powers that get involved will surely lead to a type of succession war between the siblings.

“What it means to be strong” will probably be the fundamental lesson of the story.

I am so excited to see how Negai no Astro will progress!

Please support Ken Wakui however you can by reading Chapter 1 onwards!♡

[alittlebitofloveliness]

5, 14, 15, 17

More outsiders asks? Heck yeah!

5. What are your favourite ships?

a) Curly Shepard x Ponyboy Curtis- idk why other than the fact that fanon Curly seems to balance out Ponyboy perfectly, and that I read a Curly fit on ffn when I was like fifteen that fundamentally changed my brain chemistry

b) Steve Randle x Sodapop Curtis- I don’t like any other within gang ship but Soda and Steve make sense to me and ngl my closeted ass clocked them as gay when I was reading the book because of the ‘pillow fight’ scene. I genuinely answered a comprehension question in class like ‘Ponyboy’s naïveté is shown through the fact he believes soda never drinks and that Soda and Steve were having a pillow fight when they slept together’ and my teacher had to be like oh sweetie no….

c) Marcia x Two-bit Matthews- Not a HUGE fan but they had such chemistry and I wish that could’ve been explored. I’m actually working on a fit about them rn, just because I wanna explore Marcia’s psyche. She was fun :)

14. Five headcanons I basically see as canon

a) Steve is secretly SUPER protective of Ponyboy, partially because he knows Sodapop would never be ok if something ever happened to Pony and he couldn’t stand it if Soda’s spark ever went out, but also because he wants Ponyboy to have the happy childhood he never had.

b) Darry absolutely dotes on Ponyboy, even though he’s strict, he’s lenient about letting Pony go places and works overtime to make sure he can afford to get Ponyboy everything he needs (and some stuff he simply wants), especially after Windrixville.

c) Johnny Cade is scary looking. Full stop. The gang just doesn’t see him that way so it doesn’t show in Ponyboy’s narration

d) Dallas Winston had a good mom and a happy childhood and her death was the catalyst that made him into the hoodlum he was.

e) Sodapop Curtis absolutely drinks, Ponyboy just doesn’t believe he does and Soda is not anxious to correct him because he doesn’t want Ponyboy to see him differently

15. Five headcanons that are entirely self-indulgent

a) Angela Shepard and Curly Shepard have to share a room because Tim refuses to share with anyone. Neither of them actually hates it half as much as they pretend they do.

b) Part of why Curly and Ponyboy became close was because Ponyboy was struggling with getting over his concussion, and the side effects were really stressful for him (dizzy spells, blurry vision, absentmindedness) and Curly kinda helped him with it because Curly spent 90% of his childhood concussed so he knew what Pony was going through

c) Tim Shepard and Sylvia are best friends and would kill for each other but not die for each other. However, they would avenge each other’s deaths.

d) Steve Randle wishes more than anything in the world that Darry Curtis was actually his irl older brother 

e) Two-bit’s little sister HATES Ponyboy Curtis because her older brother spends more time playing older brother to him than he spends actually being an older brother to her.

17. Are there any criticisms or salt you have with the book?

My criticisms with the book lie with the author. SE Hinton has proven to be homophobic and racist, and its written into the book, which is my biggest issue. I love the story of The Outsiders but do not want to support Hinton or her harmful, bigoted ideology under any circumstances. (For anyone out there who wants a copy of the book but doesn’t want to support Hinton, you can find a free pdf online, all you gotta do is google it)

On a slightly lighter note, I would have loved to have seen more of the female characters in the book. Marcia in particular had so much potential, and I wish we’d seen one actual scene with Sandy or Sylvia.

Thanks for the ask!!!!!

[proshipconfessions]

what does proship and darkship and comship and profic mean? im not well versed in ship discourse... i am but a humble fan of the internet

Proship: Supporting shipping. Understanding that people can ship things and enjoy dynamics without endorsing them irl, including in fiction, and including when characters in the story do endorse them. Also, they don’t harass others over fiction. Proship is a word to describe someone’s ideology, not an actual ship. (You wouldn’t say ‘This ship is a proship,’ despite what some antis say. You can say ‘This person is proship,’ or ‘This person is a proshipper.’)

Profic: Short for profiction. Really just another word for proship. Some people use it to explicitly remind others that they’re in support of these things in fiction. (Which is the case for proship, too, but I believe this term came around when weirdos were claiming that actual proshippers were horrible and hypocritical to support something in fiction and not irl.) Antis sometimes claim that it’s supposed to be a secret word for proship so that antis don’t know that they’re actually proshippers. That is not true. (You can say ‘This person is profic,’ or ‘This person is profiction.’)

Comship: Short for complicated ship or complicated shipper. This word is used to refer to a lot of different shipping dynamics by a lot of different people. Some people use it to refer to noncon/age gap/incest. Some people use it as widely as to refer to immortal x mortal or bully x victim. A comshipper is someone who ships these ships. (You can say ‘This is a comship!’ or ‘This person is a comshipper.’)

Darkship: A dark ship. A ship that would cause harm to at least one of the people in it. This is usually used for ships that include incest, noncon, underage, or other forms of abuse. While comship is a more vague term, darkship explicitly refers to ships with dark aspects to them. (You can say ‘This is a darkship,’ or ‘This person is a darkshipper.’)

Many people who are proship are also comshippers or darkshippers, but not all of them.

I hope that this helps you understand these terms a little better! Feel free to send another ask if you need anything clarified.

[p3ach-gyals]

omg CAN WE PLEASE STOP SHIPPING CHARACTERS THAT HATE EACH OTHER?! it’s actually fucking disgusting.

Relationships should not be built on hate, that’s toxic asf and anyone who supports that ideology is a certified weirdo. For example, Lucifer and Alastor. First of all, Alastor is aroace, and he doesn’t like Lucifer, and Lucifer doesn’t like him, they started arguing the moment they met each other. And Lucifer is still pretty much stuck on Lilith so absolutely not, no.

I used to be a huge fan of My hero Academia, not anymore but I was. I quit when Bakudeku had become a thing, absolutely disgusting.

BAKUGO LITERALLY TOLD DEKU TO KILL HIMSELF IN SEASON 1, THE FIRST EPISODE. STOP. ITS NOT CUTE AT ALL, ITS WEIRD AS HELL.

Or, Jujutsu Kaisen. With fucking Megumi and Sukuna. First of all, I think you guys are forgetting that when you say 'Megumi x Sukuna' you’re talking about the actual embodiment of Sukuna, not Yuji Itadori. That’s pedophilia, and two it’s literally Megumi’s job to kill curses. He doesn’t like Sukuna, and sukuna almost killed him, so let’s not.

Naruto and Sasuke / 'Narusasu' is also weird considering how many times Sasuke has tried to kill Naruto, and even in the end they’ve both said they strictly see each other as brothers.

Sanegiyuu, weird asf ship. SANEMI HATES GIYUU PRACTICALLY ALL THE HASHIRA HATE GIYUU, WAKE UP.

more examples of this includes 'chuuya x dazai' (CHUUYA HATES DAZAI FOR LEAVING THE PM), 'geto x gojo' (they don’t even hate each other but they are strictly friends.), Joker x batman. (THEY HATE EACH OTHER BATMANS JOB IS TO LOCK UP JOKER AND JOKER WANTS TO KILL BATMAN)

Like honestly we can just keep talking about this all day but the point is like I said before, love is not meant to be built on dislike and hatred. Honestly its strange to even think that way, please stop normalizing ts, like honestly. And its literally the women that are obsessed with shipping men together, like why are you so obsessed with that. Idc how many people hate me for this, its weird asf. Stop doing it, please.

[issacballsac]

“Being Charles Xavier’s Sibling„

Being the sibling of the world’s strongest psychic has perks! Gn reader

Non-Mutant

Would be a great brother honestly

Always cheated in hide and seek

“No way you found me that fast!”

“I’m simply a great player.”

“You totally cheated, Charles!”

He’s support you in any of your endeavours

Likes to go on weekly walks with you and just talk about life especially when you guys get older and have your own separated lives

Probably goes without saying but you would be an advocate for mutants

Raven is basically your sister as well

Def favours you more than Charles when it comes to talking about her problems

Honestly i don’t think he’d let you tag along in the events of X-MEN first class

He’s so fucking soft

Mfs walk all over him and it’s embarrassing

You def would have to defend him in verbal scenarios

Idk if it’s true but he prob plays pool

He beats you more than not

Before he got his fancy wheel chair you would roll him everywhere

Like a little kid with a shopping cart only it’s two grown adults💀

No offence but his fashion sense is horrendous.

You dress him just for the sake of aesthetics

Mutant

Still a great brother

You’ll most likely have similar abilities to him or Emma Frost

Can’t/won’t read your mind

That’s a lie he probably did/tried to once to get you to clean his room💀

Just sibling things

Y’all were low-key menaces as children

Absolute devious duo

He’s so nice but y’know how siblings get when they’re together

Yin and yang Fr

You still dress him bc his fashion sense is STILL terrible whether ur a mutant or not💀

“Why the fuck did you even CONSIDER putting that on, Charles?”

“That’s rather rude…”

Would def want you to be an Xman but would respect if you didn’t want to be

Plays chess with you like the old man he is

Going back to your sister kinda, Raven!

You guys def would get along more

If you had similar ideologies she probably trusts you/confides in you more

If you decided to become an x-men your brother would be ecstatic

While he wants to keep you safe simultaneously he is happy that you’ll help with his vision to have mutants and non mutants living together in peace

If you’re a teacher at the school for the gifted he’ll ask for your input in certain things involving school policy/architectural ideas

You’d help him with any unstable students and it’d get exhausting but worth it to help someone

Despite not needing to be pushed around in his wheelchair anymore you still do it for fun

Cracks jokes about his new bald appearance

You’ve def bought him wigs but he would decline using them

You guys are still hella goofy even as adults

And no matter how old you get you guys will always fight for mutant kind

“A girl I met once told me, mutant and proud.”

“That’s corny as hell, Charles.”

[hugmekenobi]

The Bad Batch (10)

Chapter Ten: Common Ground

Gif by @kamino-coruscant

Hunter x femaleJedi!reader

Series Summary: You joined the Batch 8 months ago and everything was going well. But then, Order 66 happened and suddenly the galaxy around you changed. Now, not only do you need to be careful given your new 'social status', but you also need to navigate your feelings towards a certain Sergeant.

Chapter Summary: Your road to recovery begins and a mission has the Batch seeing their ideology challenged.

<Previous Chapter

Genre: Friends (idiots) to Lovers

Chapter Warnings: Canon-typical violence, swearing, mild hurt/comfort, infected wound descriptions, mild illness, Star Wars cleaning supplies being what I require, (most likely inaccurate) Star Wars first aid and it being what I need, the clothes hyper fixation continues (I wish I knew why my brain thought this so crucial)

Word Count: 6.7K

Rating: 18+

Author's notes: Pretty much follow the plot of the show here, not a whole lot extra going on but I'm excited for you guys to read this one cause then we have my favourite chapter next lol. Any new readers, please see Ch8 for explanation of certain warnings that aren't included in every chapter warning because they appear a lot. Enjoy!

“You ready to go?”

You glanced up to see Hunter, armour all back on, looking down as you finished tying the laces to your boots. “Yup.” You grabbed the bag with your ruined clothes and got ready to get up.

“You sure you don’t want my help?”

“Yes, thanks though.” You stood up but put a bit too much weight on your injured leg, much to its protest, and you felt it start to collapse beneath you.

“Easy.” Hunter said as he caught you by the shoulders.

“Okay, so I may need a little bit of assistance.” You admitted begrudgingly as you straightened up, only applying weight on the toes of your left foot.

“Come on.” Hunter tucked his arm around you, making sure to avoid your side injury and acted as a support for you.

Leaning against him (and finding it quite a nice arrangement), the two of you walked down the steps of the ship to join the others as they waited for you. As you all started to walk, you chucked your clothes into the first dumpster you could find before continuing to walk back to Cid’s parlour. You weren’t sure how your debt with Cid was going to be settled but you were sure she would think of something.

--

“How’s the Mantell Mix, kid?” Wrecker asked Omega who was perched on his shoulder.

“Better than ever.” Omega said, dropping a few pieces into his mouth.

“Yeah, it is!” Wrecker said with a laugh as he swallowed it.

“So, when’s our next mission?” Omega asked, with a mouth full of mix.

“With two bounty hunters after you, it’d be wise to keep a low profile.” Tech said, glancing up at her.

“Tech’s right.” Hunter stopped walking just before they reached the entrance to Cid’s and turned you both around, making sure to do it gently, and directed Omega to come down off of Wrecker. “There’s too much heat on us right now.”

“Ha! That never stopped us before.” Wrecker said.

“The kid’s been through enough. She needs a break.” Hunter muttered to him.

Wrecker looked over to where Omega, Tech and Echo were. The latter inspecting the Mantell Mix with suspicion. “She seems fine to me.”

“A break wouldn’t hurt her.” You agreed. “It was pretty rough for her, even if it doesn’t look like it was.”

Hunter nodded at you and made the first move to step down into the parlour, making sure he took his time so you wouldn’t have to strain yourself too hard.

“Time to face my favourite person.” You grumbled as you limped down the stairs.

“Be nice.” Hunter chided playfully.

You snorted just as you all entered the parlour, and you walked over to the bar.

“I got a mission for you boys.” Cid revealed. “What happened to you?” She asked as she saw how you were situated. You were missing a layer and the presence of bandages was evident, plus you were being propped up by the sergeant when you came in and now the bar counter was acting as a means to hold you up.

“I made a friend.” You replied sarcastically.

“Hmph. Well, don’t go dripping blood on my floor.”

“Like it would make it any worse.” You mumbled under your breath.

“What did you say?” Cid narrowed her gaze at you.

Before you could reply, you felt Hunter lightly nudge his hip into you, so you held back your comment.

Hunter coughed. “What’s the mission?”

“A simple extraction on Raxus.” Cid responded.

“Raxus?” You repeated, a hint of disgust in your tone.

“That is the former centre of the Separatist government.” Tech said. “It has since become an Imperial outpost-”

“I’m not interested in a history lesson, Goggles.” Cid said dismissively. “You’re being hired to locate and free Senator Avi Sing from his confinement.” She brought up an image of the senator on her datapad. “My client will meet you at the given coordinates to brief you. Details are on this.” She held up the chip. “Now get going.” She threw it in the direction of Tech, but Hunter intercepted it.

You found the simple action more attractive that you should have but you brought yourself back to the moment at hand which was you were being asked to assist a Separatist. The very concept left a bad taste in your mouth.

“Help a Separatist?” Hunter said, uncertainly as he caught it. “Not gonna happen.” He chucked the info chip back at Cid and left your side to step in front of her.

“Your debt’s still not paid, remember? A job’s a job.” Cid said.

Hunter gestured for them both to move away from the group. “I am not bringing Omega or (Y/N) to a planet swarming with Imperials.”

“So, leave them here with me. I’ll keep an eye on them.” Cid offered.

“I don’t exactly trust you either.”

“Good. You shouldn’t. But if keeping the kid and your girlfriend safe means more money in my pocket, it’s in my best interest to do so, isn’t it?” She said, jabbing him with her clawed finger.

“She’s not my girlfriend.” Hunter objected tiredly.

“Right, and I’m not green.” Cid said, rolling her eyes.

Hunter let out an exasperated sigh. He was not getting involved in this with Cid of all people. “If anything happens to them-”

“Yeah, yeah, Bandana.” Cid said, flippantly as she handed him back the chip. “Just get outta here, would ya?” She walked away from him.

Hunter headed over to let Omega know the plan first. She was already geared up, so he didn’t think this was going to go down too well.

“Ready when you are, Sergeant.” Omega said cheerily.

Hunter kneeled down in front of her. “Not this time, Omega. You’re staying with (Y/N) and Cid.”

“But th-the mission. I’m part of the squad too.” Omega said, a tad irritated.

“Then following orders shouldn’t be a problem.” Hunter said, placing a hand on her shoulder. “Stay close to (Y/N) and Cid and don’t leave this parlour.”

“I heard my name.” You called over.

“I’ll deal with you in a minute.” Hunter replied.

“Gee, am I in trouble?” You called back light-heartedly.

Hunter gave you a small smile before focusing back on Omega. “Got it, soldier?”

Omega groaned. “Yes, sir.”

Hunter nodded at her before getting up to walk over to you. He figured you weren’t going to take this well.

“Am I in trouble?” You asked genuinely as you saw the slightly more serious than normal expression on his face.

“No, no.” Hunter assured you. “You’re just uh staying here with Omega and Cid.”

“You wanna run that by me again?” You said, eyebrows raised.

Hunter sighed. Yeah, he’d expected as much. “You’re going to remain here until we get back.”

“Give me one good reason as to why.” You argued.

“I can give you two.” Hunter countered.

“Enlighten me.”

“One being this place is being controlled by the Empire and is filled with people that would love nothing more than to kill you if they found out what you were.”

“The key word being ‘if’.” You disputed.

“Two, and perhaps the most important one, you almost died. If you say, ‘the key word being almost’ I’ll bench you for more than one mission.” Hunter warned as he saw you go to open your mouth.

You held your hands up in mock surrender and pushed down the fact that the demanding tone his voice took was a lot more attractive to you than you cared to admit. “Carry on, Sergeant.”

“You need time to recover, and to pull this off, we need everyone at their full strength that’s not you right now. You’d hold us back.” It was blunt but he figured it would be the only way you would listen to him right now.

You let out a low whistle. “Harsh.” You said, your tone mildly conveying your frustration. “And if I told you being a Jedi meant I could push through and manage it?”

“I’d tell you that if you could hold yourself up, your full weight on your injured leg, without the support of the bar counter then you could come.”

You glowered at him. “Fine.” You pushed yourself off the countertop and applied full pressure on both your legs. “See?” You breathed out, ignoring the fact that your brain was screaming at you to ease up.

“Great. Now try it without Echo’s hand on your back.” Hunter said, crossing his arms.

In your desperate state, you hadn’t even noticed Echo had lent you a helping hand.

“Sorry.” Echo muttered, stepping out from behind you.

As soon as he left you, you felt your leg start to shake so you sat down before it collapsed from under you.

“Well, I think that concludes that.” Tech said.

The look Hunter gave you just screamed ‘I told you so.’ “Don’t say it.” You grumbled at him.

“Sorry, but you’re staying.” Hunter said, decisively.

“Ugh fine. Get out the lot of you.” You waved them away. “But I’d like the record to reflect that I think it’s ridiculous that you were shot too but apparently you’re good to go.” You said to Hunter.

“At least I can stand on my own.” Hunter joshed back.

You stuck your tongue out at him. “Away with you and good luck you guys. Be careful.” You said sincerely.

They all nodded at you before turning around to leave.

You noticed Omega as she watched them leave and it was clear she wasn’t too happy about being left behind either.

“Hey, Tiny, I got a mission for you.” Cid said to her, wagging a sponge in her direction.

“They’re not even two minutes out the door and you’re already at it with the child labour?” You said to her, shaking your head.

“I got one for you too, if you can even manage.” Cid clapped back, tossing a sponge in your direction before chucking one to Omega. “Now get scrubbing.”

If you weren’t so determined to prove that you were able to do such a simple task, you would’ve fought her on the matter more. You stood up and with Omega, began to scrub down the bar counter.

--

“We’ve never been to Raxus before.” Wrecker said, coming with the others to join Tech in the cockpit as the ship travelled through hyperspace.

“The coordinates from Cid have us landing outside the capital city of Raxulon, the home of their Senate.” Tech informed them.

“I can’t believe we’re helping a Separatist senator.” Echo grumbled.

“So, you have said. Repeatedly.” Tech replied.

“I always thought we’d make it to Raxus someday. But not like this.” Hunter said.

A couple moments of silence passed before Echo broke it. “So…are you and (Y/N) going to talk about what she said?” He broached, carefully.

Hunter pinched the bridge of his nose before he looked over at Echo. “You mean am I going to talk to her about something she said while in a delirious state? Funnily enough, Echo, no I’m not.”

“But she said-”

“I know what you’re talking about Wrecker and in case you forgot, she was talking about all of us. You know, her friends.”

“She did look directly at you.” Tech pointed out.

Hunter huffed out an exasperated sigh. Time to bring out the deflections once again. “We go round and round with this but for the sake of argument, I’ll humour you boys. Say what your saying is true, and it mattered to me, I am not going to take the words she said to heart because she was already half dead and just rambling whatever thoughts came to her head. She can’t even remember what she said, and you all would expect me to run with it and have what would be just a horrendously awkward and, quite frankly, a disappointing conversation? You all are her friends and I’m her friend and that’s it. There’s nothing more there.”

“But Hunter-”

“That’s it, Echo.” Hunter repeated assertively. “We’re coming up on Raxus.” He looked out the ship window as they came out of hyperspace. “Our focus here is the mission, nothing else. Bring us in, Tech. We’ll gear up when we land.”

--

You and Omega were both giving the most half-hearted scrubs that you could possibly do.

“Enough with the moping around. You’re bringing the mood down in here.” Cid said as she walked over to you both.

“Ah yes, business is booming.” You said cynically. The only two people that were currently in were her two regulars. You stopped scrubbing and put your head down on your arms.

“Sorree.” Omega added, leaning a cheek against her palm.

“Alright, I’ll bite. What’s wrong with you? Not you.” She added as she saw you sit you sit up and look at her sceptically.

You gave her a fake smile and went back to leaning your chin on your arms as you studied Omega.

“We haven’t heard back from them yet. Do you think they’re okay?” Omega asked.

“They better be for what this job’s paying.” Cid answered.

“I’m sure they’re just busy. That’s all.” You comforted.

“I should’ve gone with them on the mission.” Omega groused, pushing her sponge away. “It’s not fair.”

“I’ve got news for you, kid. Life ain’t fair.” Cid said, gruffly. “You don’t like it. Stop pouting and do something about it. Maybe it you weren’t so helpless those four laser brains wouldn’t have left you here with me.”

Omega glared at her and stormed off to one of the booths.

You just stared at Cid and shook your head. “Wow. You really got a way with kids.” You stepped down lightly off your seat and limped over to join Omega.

“I’m not helpless.” Omega said.

“I know.” You assured her, grunting as you sat down next to her. “Right?” You looked intently at Cid as she walked over to you both.

“Look, kid, I told dark and broody I’d keep an eye on you and keep you safe. I even cut Wisecrack in on that deal and meant it when I said that I’d look out for you.” Cid said.

You chose to ignore the unflattering nickname and instead gave Cid a small but sincere smile. It was the kindest you’d ever seen or heard her.

“Hmm. For how much?” Omega asked, unimpressed.

You turned to look at her as she angled her body away from you both. Maybe a bit more talking out was necessary here. “Hey, Cid, you got anything that can wash some specks of dried blood out?”

“What do you think I’m running here? A drycleaner?” Cid said indignantly.

You darted your eyes down to Omega.

Cid let out a huffy sigh. “I’ll be right back.”

Until Cid came back, you decided you were going to let Omega stew. You wouldn’t get anywhere with interruptions, so you waited in the silence.

“Here.”

You took the rag from her as well as a container that was filled with a bubbling, warm, blue liquid. “Thank you.” You said.

“Don’t take too long, I still got things that need scrubbing.” Cid said before she walked away.

You rolled your eyes but angled yourself to face Omega, but you were still being greeted with her back. “You going turn around for me, kid?”

“Hmph.” Omega grunted.

“Really? You’re going to have the person who nearly died not twelve hours ago come around in front of you and kneel down in that cramped space by the wall, probably aggravating her injuries?” You said, in an exaggerated manner, rubbing your arms to get rid of the goosebumps that had begun to appear. Would it really kill Cid to get some heating in this place? You thought moodily as a shiver ran down your spine.   

Omega sighed and slowly scooted herself around to face you.

“Okay, now we’re getting somewhere. Next step is for you to uncross your arms.”

Omega rolled her eyes but did as you said.

“Wow, you’re almost there. Top tip from someone who developed this skill over the years, any good eye roll should be accompanied by a sigh. Both those elements really gets the point across.”

Omega didn’t say anything.

“Come on, Omega. What’s going on? I’m all for giving Cid a bit of attitude but I’m a bit surprised to see it come from you.” You said gently as you began to dampen her sleeve with the liquid. To your surprise, it was actually working pretty well. You regretted chucking your stuff cause this would probably work on them too but you weren’t going to resort to dumpster diving, you’d find something else.

When she made no move to respond, you stopped what you were doing. “Look, kid. You can either talk to me about what’s bothering you or I can leave you alone and at the mercy of Cid’s chores. I’m fairly sure I heard her mention that the ‘freshers need cleaning. Now, knowing her, she’ll stick me on that, but I can make it that you gotta help me out. I don’t want to but that’s what we’re dealing with here unless you talk to me.” You said, your tone firmer this time.

“But-” Omega began to object.

“Start talking.” You said, working on her top again.

Omega huffed out a breath. “I just don’t get why I wasn’t allowed to go. I’ve helped out before; I don’t understand what was so different about this.”

“Hunter thought, and I agreed with him, you could use a break after everything that happened.” You said kindly as you moved on to the upper part of her arm.

 “But that was decided for me. Don’t I get to at least say how I’m feeling? I can handle missions.”

“Hmm.” You lingered on your thoughts for a moment. On the one hand, Omega was a child. She was all of your responsibility, so you all had to make choices that protected her from unnecessary harm. On the other, she was wanting to be treated as a proper member of the squad and she had been getting that in the more recent times. You all had the chance to express your views or feelings about missions, whether that be personal or tactical, and it was only after that that Hunter made a call which you all would then obey. Omega hadn’t been given that opportunity, not really, and your own past always brought you on the side of giving her more independence and freedom. “You’re right.” You told her understandingly. You finished dabbing at the final stain. “When Hunter gets back, you should talk to him, come up with some sorta deal. I’ll help if you need it.”

“Really?” Omega said, eyes widening in both surprise and happiness.

“Yeah. It’s only fair you get a voice too. It can’t always be me that gives him a hard time anyway.” You added with a grin.

“Thanks!” Omega threw her arms around your neck.

“No problem, kid.” You said, squeezing her briefly. “You’re all finished here too.”

“Oh, good. You’re all sorted out. Now I got some ‘freshers that need cleaning and they’re not going to scrub themselves.” Cid called over to you both.

“I’ve got it.” You said resignedly, grabbing your sponge. As you stood up though, the whole room spun, and you fell back down on your seat. “Whoa.” You said, quietly as you closed your eyes tight to try and re-centre yourself.

“Are you alright?” Omega asked.

“Yeah, just got a bit dizzy. Probably just stood up too fast.”

“It’s not that. You’re running a fever, that’s why.”

You opened your eyes to see Cid standing in front of you. “No, I’m actually kinda cold. Not used to just being in this top.” You provided by way of explanation.

“Then how do you explain the sweat on your brow?”

You pressed the back of your hand to your forehead and sure enough, when you took it away and examined it, there were beads of sweat decorating it. “Huh.”

“My guess, one of your wounds is infected.”

“Nah, can’t be that. Tech cleaned them…” You trailed off as you realised there was a slightly older one that he hadn’t tended to, and it was one you hadn’t been too careful about dealing with.

You peeled the bacta patch away from the wound Wrecker’s shot had caused and sure enough, it was infected. There was increased redness surrounding it and the sight of your stitches had swelled, plus it did not smell the best, especially with the slight discharge of puss that was coming out of it. “Gross.” You complained. “Another top tip, Omega. Don’t use out-of-date med supplies on an open wound in a decrepit and dirty ship. Apparently, the end-result isn’t the best.” You said dismally as you hid you face in your hands. The infection was the least of your worries, Tech was going to have a field day with this. Stupid, stupid, stupid. “And now I gotta wait for Tech to get back and I’ll never hear the end of it.”

“Enough with the dramatics… I’ll get you fixed up.”

You looked up at Cid, your expression nothing short of perplexed. “What?”

“I got some med supplies in the back. You’ll be fever-free before the others even get back.”

“Why?” You said, unable to hide your suspicion.

“Can’t you just accept a gift when it’s given to you?” Cid said irritably.

“So, this is a gift? You’re not getting an extra cut out of this?”

“What I’m getting out of this is I avoid a lecture from Bandana about how I didn’t look after you and I don’t have to deal with disproving glares of the others.”

“Aw and here’s me thinking you cared about my well-being.”

“Keep talking Wisecrack and I’ll leave you to Goggles and his ‘I told you so’ speech.”

“Sorry.” You said shamefacedly. “I appreciate the offer, thank you.”

“Come with me.” Cid gestured for you to get up.

You heaved out a sigh as you stood. “But what about Omega?”

“Those two can watch her.” Cid tilted her head in the direction of her two regulars.

“Dumb and Dumber? You gotta be joking.”

“Oi!” The Weequay objected.

“I’ll be fine. You should just focus on getting better.” Omega said reassuringly.

“Listen to Tiny. I won’t be gone long, and nothing’ll happen. Do you want the infection gone or not?” Cid added.

“Fine. You two!” You shouted over at the usuals. “Anything happens to her while I’m gone or any funny business goes on, see that sword over there?” You pointed over to where your modified vibroblade was (your smaller dagger was still strapped to your good thigh). “I’ll only need to use it once.” When you were satisfied that they’re expressions showed a sufficient amount of fear, you followed Cid into the back, a task that was easier said than done since your perspective still had the room teetered on its side.

--

“Didn’t know this existed.” You mused as you took in the tiny room. All it consisted of was one small bed, a sink, and a bedside table with a couple of drawers.

“Sit.” She shoved you so you were forced to sit on the bed.

“Gee, talk about TLC.” You mumbled under your breath. You inhaled sharply as Cid poured some of a dark brown liquid on your wound. “Little warning next time?” You grumbled.

“You want Tiny alone out there for much longer?”

“No.” You admitted.

“Then you’ll deal with how this goes.”

“Ow!” You complained as she stuck a needle into your arm.

“Quit whining. That’ll sort the fever.”

“You know, you have a charming beside manner. I think you chose the wrong career.”

“Were all Jedi this sarcastic or is it just you?” Cid snapped back as she tidied away the stuff.

“There were a couple.” You said, thinking fondly back to one Jedi in particular. You then started to feel your eyes grow heavy and you found yourself letting out a yawn.

“Yeah, the fever stuff makes you pretty drowsy. You’re better off sleeping until it passes.”

“No, I… gotta… watch… over… Omega.” You said through another yawn as you moved to stand.

“Trust me, you’ll feel better after this, and I’ll make sure she’s safe.” Cid said, pushing you back down.

“But-”

“Stay put.”

“Okay.” You conceded, laying down and lacking the energy to stand back up and fight her. Cid hadn’t killed you and she seemed to care about Omega to a degree so you would give her your trust. “Just find her something to do beside scrubbing, yeah? She’s not just here to be your cleaner.”

“Just you focus on getting through this before Bandana and Goggles show up. For both our sakes.” Cid said, before she walked out the door.

You closed your eyes and found yourself drifting off with no difficulty at all. Your last conscious thought was of Hunter and the rest of the squad. You hoped their mission was going smoothly.

--

Hunter paused with Tech before he rounded the corner. So far, they’d managed to infiltrate the capital building without much difficulty thanks to Tech hacking into their security system and he supposed the droid, who was acting on behalf of their client, had helped to some extent, but he wasn’t ready to ease up on his distrust of the droid just yet which was why he made sure she stayed with him. He’d sent Wrecker and Echo to clear the upper levels. He peered around and saw two troopers guarding the door. “There’s two at the door.” He said to Tech.

“I’m clocking four in the adjacent corridor.” Tech added.

“(Y/N) and I will handle them. You and Omega loop back around.”

“That would be impossible seeing as they aren’t on this mission.” Tech pointed out.

“Ah…right.” Hunter acknowledged. Evidently, he wasn’t used to that idea.  

“Not to worry, I’m getting the hang of this.” The droid said, rounding the corner.

“No, wait.” Hunter hissed but it was too late, the droid was already in the line of sight. He nodded to Tech who then rolled a stun grenade in the direction of the troopers. Once he heard the sound of bodies fall, he stood up, indicating that Tech should follow. As they stepped over the bodies, another trooper opened the door. Hunter acted quickly, grabbing the trooper’s blaster, and using it to hit him in the gut. He then shoved him into a vase, shattering it before slamming his head into another pillar. He watched as the vase on top of it began to teeter and fall, but the droid caught it before it smashed on the ground.

“Do be careful.” The droid tisked, clutching the ornament. “This antique vase was gifted to Senator Singh for his years of service. It is priceless.”

Hunter turned his helmet towards Tech before looking back at her. “Droids.” He said disparagingly. They all then ran through the door to make their way to the Senator. He at least hoped you having a less irritating time back with Omega and Cid.

--

Omega was still cleaning the bar counter, an even more trivial task when you weren’t around but she knew you needed to shake the infection. Then, she heard a laugh behind her. She turned around to see Cid playing Dejarik with the Weequay.

“You got her cornered.” The Ithorian jeered over his friend’s shoulder.

“Oh, yeah, I’m real scared.” Cid said sarcastically as she studied the board.

“Delay all you want; you’re not getting out of this one.” The Weequay taunted.

Cid went to lock in her move when Omega’s voice stopped her.

“I wouldn’t do that.” Omega advised.

“Here that? We got an expert here.” Cid said with a roll of her eyes before she inputted her original move. The move itself resulted in her piece getting wiped off the holoboard.

“She’s done for!” The Ithorian said with a laugh.

“I told you.” Omega said.

“Well, expert, what should I do next?” Cid asked.

Omega walked down from her stool and briefly looked at the board before she locked in the move and watched as Cid’s final piece removed the other opposing pieces of the board.

“You blew it!” The Ithorian complained to his friend.

“Yeah, but you’re the one who said to bet it all!” The Weequay shot back.

“You wanna take this outside?” The Ithorian threatened, leering down.

“Gladly!” The Weequay responded and the two of them left the parlour.

Cid stared at the board. “How’d you know to do that?” She asked.

“It’s a strategy game. I’m good at strategy.” Omega replied simply.

“Hmm.” Cid rubbed a hand along her chin. You had said to find another job for the kid to do. “How good? Enough to, uh, win a few matches for some money?”

“Depends.” Omega said hesitantly. “What’s my cut?”

“Hmm. Thirty percent.” Cid offered.

“Sixty.” Omega countered.

Cid pondered it for a couple seconds. “Deal.”

--

“Senator! I followed your instructions to the letter.”

“I knew you’d come through, GS-8.” Senator Avi said with relief as he rubbed his wrists which the clone with the lighter coloured armour had now freed from the binders.

“And behold. I have saved your most prized vase.” GS-8 said, holding it up to him.

“Great. Now can we get out of here?” Hunter interrupted, looking at the Senator.

“With pleasure.” Senator Avi said as he stood out of his chair.

Tech tapped his datapad and studied the surveillance footage. “An alert has been triggered. Our position has been compromised.”

“Follow us.” Hunter directed to the Senator as he and Tech ran out the door.

When they came out onto a balcony, Hunter could see that the Imperial forces and their tanks were being mobilised. He waited until Echo and Wrecker came out to join them before peering over the left-hand side. “There.” He pointed down. “We’ll seize that tank and blow our way outta here.”

“How do you intend to gain control of the armoured vehicle from up here?” GS-8 enquired.

“Coming through.” Wrecker said gruffly, making his way to the front of the group where he attached a cable to the side of the walker.

Tech and Echo slid down first and quickly commandeered the tank from the Imperial soldiers that were in it. As it powered down, Tech spoke into his comm. “All clear.”

“Impressive.” GS-8 said with mild admiration.

“You can’t possibly expect me to do that.” Senator Singh said sceptically.

Wrecker checked the security of the cable before letting out a groan. “Just don’t look down.” With that, he grabbed the Senator and glided down the cable with him to the inside of the tank.

Hunter grabbed the droid and followed suit.

“Nicely done.” GS-8 complimented.

Hunter hastily made his way to the steering. “Get this thing moving, Tech.”

Tech nodded and put the walker into motion.

Wrecker chucked the unconscious troopers out. “They’ll feel that in the morning!”

--

The walker shook violently and stopped with the impact of the shot.

“The rear axle stabiliser is off-line.” Tech said, shielding his eyes from the sparks that flew off the control panel. “We will need to recalibrate manually.” He told Hunter.

“Get this bucket up and running.” He ordered Tech and Echo. “Wrecker and I will hold them off.” As he said that, he found himself missing you. You would’ve been really helpful right now.

--

Sliding under the advancing Imperial walker, Hunter fired multiple stun blasts in the direction of the soldiers who were shooting at him before he went up to join Wrecker and assist him in disabling that tank. Together, the two of them were able to decommission it but a quick exist was needed since another tank sent a shot in their direction. Tucking and rolling to cushion his landing, Hunter stood back up alongside Wrecker and continued to send stun shots in the direction of the Imperial soldiers, but they had to take cover behind the fallen walker since the Imperial troopers had numbers on their side and Hunter knew they couldn’t hold them back for long. “Tech, how we doing?” Hunter spoke into his comm.

Glancing up at the new walker that was moving steadily towards them all, Tech replied. “I need more time.”

“Freeze.”

Tech and Echo turned with their hands raised as a small squad of troopers walked towards them, their blasters raised.

“Drop your weapons.” One trooper ordered.

Reacting swiftly to the Senator throwing his vase at the head of one of the clones, Tech managed to stun the remaining two soldiers. He looked down at his datapad. “Repairs complete.” He informed Hunter.

“We’re on our way.” Hunter confirmed, firing a couple more shots in the direction of the troopers before he and Wrecker ran back into their captured walker.

As the clone got the walker moving, Senator Singh joined the two clones in the front. “Turn down that alleyway.”

“We’ll be trapped in a choke point.” Tech said warily.

“You’re going to have to trust me.”

Tech glanced over at Hunter, double checking that this is something they were going to do. Only after Hunter gave a nod did Tech do as the Senator instructed.

“Move into position next to that wall. It leads to a subterranean passage.” Senator Singh revealed.

Tech angled the walker into position.

Senator Singh opened the door to the wall. “If you don’t mind, please blast a whole in the wall right here.” He patted the area he was referring to.

“That I can do.” Wrecker said, stepping forward. He placed a charge on the wall and closed the door. The explosion rattled the walker slightly, but it did the trick. As the door opened, they were greeted by a passage.

“Hurry. This way.” Senator Singh directed.

The rest of the squad followed him, Wrecker being the last of them to do so since he placed another charge to seal the passageway shut behind them.

--

Senator Singh paused before joining the others on their ship. “What am I doing?” He whispered to himself. He turned back in the direction of the capital. “I cannot abandon my people.”

“You will, Senator, but not if you are in Imperial custody.” GS-8 said.

“She’s right. Live to fight another day.” Echo advised as he approached the Senator’s side.

Senator Sing nodded, looking back one final time at his home before he stepped on the ship with the others.

--

Loud cheering and whistling were what woke you up. Those sounds were not ones you associated with this place. You rubbed your eyes, stretched, and swung your legs out of bed, finding that you could already put a lot more pressure on your injured leg.

You lightly limped out the room to the main part of the parlour and you were quite taken aback, not to mention a little bit horrified by what you saw. You were taken aback by just how busy Cid’s actually was, you’d never seen it like this, but you were not thrilled by the sight of Omega sitting with a large crowd surrounding her at a Dejarik table as she played against a total stranger. You pulled Cid off from where she had positioned herself next to Omega.

“Glad to see you’re doing better but ease up on the death grip there.” Cid objected.

You kept your hand where it was. “What the hell is this?” You hissed angrily. “One, I’m sure whatever it is, is illegal in some way since she’s a child and two, she’s supposed to be laying low and this looks like anything but. What if one of these goons turned out to be a hunter?”

“I don’t know what you’re complaining about.” Cid said roughly as she removed your hand from the upper part of her arm. “You told me to find another job for her, so I did, and nothing’s gone wrong.”

“But-”

“Plus, she’s already earned enough credits to pay back the debt you folks owe me. If anything, you should be thanking me. I put this partnership together and the kid’s doing just fine.”

You looked past her to see Omega defeat her opponent. She didn’t look to be in any danger and the only out of place thing you could sense right now was the fact that Cid’s was so popular. “Fine, but it stops before Hunter…” You trailed off as you sensed Hunter approach and sure enough, two seconds later, Hunter and the rest of the squad came down the stairs to the parlour, along with two others who you assumed were the Senator they were sent to rescue and his droid. “Shows up.” You finished dismally.

Cid turned to see that Omega had left the table and the clones had made their appearance. “Alright, show’s over. No more bets.” She shooed the onlookers out of the parlour.

You walked over to join your squad, smiling as you saw Wrecker pick Omega up.

“Kid, where’d you learn to do that?” Wrecker said proudly.

“She’s a natural. I’ve never seen anything like it.” Cid said admirably.

“I told you to keep a low profile. This is the opposite.” Hunter said sternly.

Noticing the way Omega’s face dropped, you gently grabbed Hunter’s shoulder to get him to face you. “I wasn’t thrilled either, Hunter, but she made enough money to pay off the debt we owe Cid. We should be thanking her to be honest.”

“Yeah, try showing a little gratitude my friend.” Cid said, walking past him. “You did good.” She told Omega before addressing the Senator. “Senator, glad you made it. Let’s talk payment.” She said, guiding him and his droid towards the back.

Hunter watched them go before turning to talk to you again. “You were okay with all of that?”

“Well… no, but I was uh otherwise engaged when Cid decided to employ her services that way.” You said, shifting your feet awkwardly.

“You know you’re going to have to do better than that.” Hunter said, crossing his arms.

“I may have fallen asleep.” You winced out. “See, the wound I got on my left shoulder on Bracca became infected and I ended up running a fever. It wasn’t too bad and I’m fine now.” You added quickly, seeing the flash of concern in Hunter’s eyes.

“I told you using those medical supplies in that environment was a bad idea.” Tech chimed in.

“Thank you, Tech.” You grumbled as he passed you. “But Cid offered to treat it and I accepted, hoping to avoid the ‘I told you so’ from Tech but obviously that didn’t work out. The thing she gave me made me pretty drowsy. Cid assured me she would watch Omega, but I didn’t know that was what she had in mind. If I had, I would’ve just stuck it out until you all got back, especially cause I ended up with Tech finding out anyway.”

Hunter just shook his head with mild amusement. He could easily believe that the only reason you accepted help was to avoid a telling off from Tech rather than for your own health.

You then noticed Omega start to slowly walk past you guys. “She was helpful, Hunter. She can handle herself. You should reconsider the mission ban.” You added with a whisper before you walked away, tapping Omega on the shoulder to get her to stop before you sat down at the counter, watching their conversation hopefully.

Hunter let out a small sigh and half turned back to speak to Omega. “You really paid off our debt?”

“I wanted to be useful, even if I couldn’t go on the mission.” Omega replied, keeping her back to him.

“Hmm.” Hunter turned around fully. “How about we put those strategy skills to the test?” He walked over the holochess board. “One match. If you win, then no more sitting out on missions.” He sat down at the table and activated the board. He looked back at her, tilting his head in the direction of the other seat.

Omega eagerly ran over and sat down.

“You ready for this?” Hunter asked her.

“Are you?” Omega countered with a smile before she programmed in her first move.   

Your smile was concealed by the cup you were drinking from, but you found that the interaction was one that was making your insides feel all warm and fuzzy. This was the first time you’d really seen them interact on a more normal level, without a threat looming over them and it was something you could get used to seeing.

Next Chapter>

Tagging: @noeasyisnoisy, @tpwkcalli, @fuckoffthanos, @arctrooper69, @graciexmarvel, @flyingkangaroo, @nightmonkeysstuff, @brujaporfavor, @a-streakofblue, @ladytano420

[sapphos-darlings]

this is a bit of an out there question so don’t feel pressured to respond!

for super short context i was with friends, was talking about sex, briefly mentioned how i don’t like penis / “penis-havers” and was guilted to hell and back for it (“wdym you don’t like dick?? that’s so weird” and the like).

basically - how do you get over the guilt?? i feel guilty for not liking a body part and when i say it it feels silly but i’ve spent so much time in trans spaces and i’ve been made to feel guilty before for this so it’s knocked my confidence a LOT.

You have to remember that your activism and support are two totally different things from your personal boundaries and sexual preferences. You're not furthering women's rights or trans rights or anybody's rights by having sex or being otherwise intimate with people because of the category they represent. This is not a venue of activism. This is your personal life, your intimate partnerships, your boundaries, your right to choose who you share your body with. And if that "unfairly" excludes people based on whatever arbitrary trait that they have, that's just how it is; nobody is open to dating the whole world. Nobody.

Think of political lesbians, for example. So many women have been burned by women they fell in love with who felt nothing for them but thought they were making a statement by sleeping with them or trying to date them for ideological reasons. You can't reason your way in or out of attraction, it either exists or it doesn't. When you want somebody, it's innate. You can't force yourself to want somebody - no matter how ideologically, morally advantageous that would be to your own or anybody else's eyes.

Your sexuality is your own. Your activism is for the community, for the whole. Your activism does not involve other people's access to your body, you are not a public venue or a service that everyone should have equal access to. You are a person, a human being, a private individual.

You're allowed to draw your boundaries. You're allowed to want people who appeal to you, and exclude those who don't. It doesn't matter why you're excluding them - people, everywhere, all of the time, turn others down for whatever reason ranging from physical to political and that's fine, because that is just how dating and sex work.

What matters for activism and allyship is not who you sleep with, but who you speak for, who you advocate for, whose voices you amplify. And drawing a boundary between supporting and sleeping with a group of people is healthy, actually. For example - I'll always advocate for men's right to fair treatment and bodily integrity, and I'm even bisexual for Pete's sake, but that doesn't mean that men's right to fair treatment and bodily integrity includes access to my body. Like yourself, I am not a public venue. And if it's my choice to never sleep with a man, that's my choice, and wholly unrelated to whether or not I think men are people or deserve fair treatment. I am not a society, I am not a book of law, I am not a service; I am a person.

So - if you're an ally to the trans community, that's great! That's a present and important avenue of activism, and your support is surely appreciated. But your advocacy never includes or implies access to your body or your sexuality, or even your private life to begin with, to the group you're advocating for. You're not obliged to prove your allyship by letting people sleep with you or be sexually or personally involved with you to any degree. That's a horrible concept to push for. Nobody else's rights go over your own. You're just as human as they are.

But of course, it doesn't make everybody happy; just like any sort of rejection, any sort of hearing "I don't like this kind of person, I don't like this body type, I don't think x is attractive" is always going to hit hard and many trans people particularly struggle with feeling like they're just not good enough or that their bodies aren't good enough or that they'll never find love because of who and what they are, so rejection can hurt some extra through these already present vulnerabilities and hurts. But rejection always hurts, and there is no way to avoid rejection when one person in the equation is not consenting or interested. It'll only end in one of two ways: either they get hurt when you can't deliver what you promised them (romantic love, attraction, sexual compatibility), or you get hurt when you grant them access that you didn't consent to, or everybody gets hurt. This only leads to pain and trauma.

It isn't activism to grant anybody access to you specifically. You are not a resource, you are a human being, a private person, you have a right to boundaries, you have the ultimate right to be picky about who you want to be involved with, and your orientation, your bodily integrity, your identity and your boundaries are just as important as anybody else's equivalents.

You are a person. You are not a resource.

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Luke Hallam at The UnPopulist:

For the past seven days, the U.K. has witnessed its worst riots in over a decade. What started off last week as a wave of protests over the horrific murder of three young girls, fueled by false claims about the identity of the attacker on social media, has metastasized into something far more profound: a deep fracturing of relations between communities that threatens to do lasting damage to Britain’s social fabric.

Origin of a Race Riot

Last Monday, a knife-wielding teenager entered through an open fire door at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in the seaside town of Southport and killed three participants, all girls under the age of 10. He also injured eight more young children and two adults. It was an evil crime, the horror made all the more acute by the youth of the victims and by the fact that someone would target for such an atrocity, of all things, a joyful summer dance party. What came next should be considered a textbook example of how harmful lies can spread on social media. There are generally good reasons to be wary of finger-pointing when it comes to “fake news” and social media’s role in spreading it. But in this instance, it’s hard to overstate the extent of the hysteria that was unleashed. Mere hours after the attack, the killer was seemingly identified as Ali al-Shakati, a Muslim asylum seeker who had arrived in the United Kingdom by boat, and was known to the British security services as a potential threat. Within minutes of the first social media post identifying al-Shakati, the story was picked up by a dubious news organization calling itself “Channel 3 Now.” The al-Shakati story was then parroted by Russia Today, and began appearing in a raft of viral posts on social media, including X, LinkedIn, and Facebook. Right-wing influencers with huge followings, like Andrew Tate, amplified the story, and various posts amassed thousands, often millions, of impressions.

Unrest broke out initially in Southport, Hartlepool, and London. Rioters released smoke flares and set fire to a riot van; they threw trash cans and bottles at police officers. As the unrest spread, it was the far right—an ad hoc coalition of former members of the English Defense League, supporters of notorious far-right agitator Tommy Robinson, and ordinary people swept along on social media—fueling the violence. It was common to see English flags and chants of “English till I die.” Mosques and Islamic centers were targeted in a horrific wave of xenophobic thuggery. It was, in large part, a genuine race riot—not a phrase to use lightly. In the first three days, it was well known that the suspect was only 17 years old, which means that by law they couldn’t be identified in the media. Still, in an attempt to head off the violence, the police released some limited information confirming that the alleged perpetrator of the atrocity was in fact born in the U.K. Nigel Farage, the leader of the populist-right Reform UK party and a newly-minted member of parliament, echoed a widespread fear that the establishment was conspiring with the police forces to protect an illegal migrant for fear of fueling an anti-immigrant narrative, irresponsibly declaring: “I just wonder whether the truth is being withheld from us.”

Finally, on Thursday afternoon, a judge took the unusual step of allowing the media to release the full identity of the alleged perpetrator despite his being a minor, noting that the suspect was only a few days away from turning 18. It turns out that Ali al-Shakati doesn’t exist. The real suspect, Axel Rudakubana, a 17-year-old born in Wales to Rwandan parents, was not a refugee. We don’t know that he’s not Muslim, nor that his motives were unrelated to some sort of Islamist ideology—though, given that only 2% of Rwanda’s population is Muslim, it seems unlikely. Of course, it hardly matters. There’s no earthly justification for violently attacking mosques, harassing the public, and setting fire to police vans.

[...]

Far-Right Xenophobia Capitalizes On Britain’s Integration Issues

There are two things to say in response to all of this: two things that may at first glance appear to be mutually exclusive, but are nevertheless both true. The first is that the right-wing polemicists have long been packaging these problems together into one overarching, catastrophist narrative of British decline. The problem is, there is no evidence that the knife crime wave has been directly fueled by asylum seekers. As bad as knife crime and other problems may be, it is also simply incorrect to assert that the country has in recent years become, in the words of one representative commentator, “a lawless country where there is no justice at all.” What’s more, right-wing catastrophism is hypocritical insofar as it has often been fueled by the very same politicians who were in government until last month, and spectacularly failed to tackle most of these problems. Indeed, it was the Conservative government that slashed the number of police officers and presided over the arrival of a record number of refugees, while failing to find a humane, durable solution for processing them. (In addition, it’s notable that even as one part of the country, Scotland, managed to successfully bring its knife crime problem under control by adopting a community-led agenda, Conservative politicians in Westminster made vacuous pronouncements about law and order that amounted to nothing for most of the country.)

The second thing to say is that there are real problems with Britain’s model of dealing with ethnic and religious diversity. Whenever there is social unrest or communal strife in France, for example, Brits and Americans like to put the blame squarely on the French model of laïcité—an imperfect approach to the separation of church and state that is often caricatured as consisting in naked animus against religious minorities. But Britain’s own highly communitarian approach—which often gives a free pass to the most radical elements within a religious community—does not seem to be faring much better, with the result that elements within some immigrant communities in Britain’s major cities have failed to properly integrate, and, as the present riots show, longstanding resentments have been left to fester.

Over the past week in the United Kingdom, far-right race riots over the UK’s immigration policies and the Southport stabbing have sprung up all over the Home Nations, especially in England.

These riots are fueled by paranoid Islamophobia, anti-immigrant xenophobia, and fake news.

[coochiequeens]

The tide is turning and the TQ+ only have themselves to blame

Brits are turning against gender ideology

Ordinary people are swiftly waking up to the threat posed by 'trans rights'.

JO BARTOSCH. 30th September 2023

In news that has left members of the dinner-party set spluttering over their decolonised soya lattes, it turns out the great British public isn’t as bigoted as they fantasised. Published last week, the latest British Attitudes Survey (BAS) has shown that Brits are increasingly tolerant of same-sex relationships and ever-more accepting of sex before marriage or abortion.

But perhaps most tellingly, as attitudes toward sexual morality have become more liberal, attitudes toward transgenderism have become far less sympathetic. The survey shows that the proportion of people who think someone should be able to change the sex on their birth certificate if they want has fallen from 53 per cent in 2019 to 30 per cent today. The proportion of people who ‘describe themselves as not prejudiced at all against people who are transgender’ has also declined from 82 per cent in 2019 to 64 per cent today.

That particular statistic has been taken to mean that there is a rising tide of ‘transphobic’ bigotry. But I see no trace of that in the gender debate or in broader society. More likely, these stats capture the public’s growing concern about policies and ideas associated with transgender ideology, from the erosion of women’s rights to children’s safety.

Predictably, this change in attitudes has been condemned by those who have built their careers on the grievance politics of trans activism. Former Stonewall CEO Nancy Kelley opined on X (formerly Twitter) that ‘years of relentless toxic coverage and political manipulation is making us less tolerant and less supportive of a marginalised community’.

Kelley is just wrong. This attitudinal shift is not prompted by ‘toxic’ reporting or ‘political manipulation’. It’s actually prompted by a greater understanding of ‘transgender issues’. And here Kelley is correct – news coverage has made a difference. It has made us aware of what the cause of trans rights actually entails.

So, as stories like that of double rapist Adam Graham (aka Isla Bryson), a man who was put in a women’s prison, have received column inches in the British press, public opinion has begun to shift. Furthermore, in the face of obvious injustices, such as men triumphing in women’s sporting competitions and winning female-only awards, accusations of ‘transphobia’ have lost their power to silence would-be dissenters. The public is gradually waking up to the reality of transgender ideology and they don’t like it.

Gillian Prior, deputy chief executive at the National Centre for Social Research, which produces the BAS, disagrees. She seems to think the public’s turn against trans rights is evidence of our growing illiberalism. ‘In the case of transgender people’, she said, ‘the recent public debate about the law on gender recognition has appeared to have resulted in attitudes becoming less liberal than they were just a few years ago’. But this completely misunderstands the issues. There is nothing illiberal about not wanting women to give up hard-earned rights and spaces to accommodate the feelings of men who identify as trans.

In fact, the survey shows just how liberal Britain is now. The change in attitudes toward homosexuality has been remarkable and encouraging for those who believe in equality. Over the past 40 years, the proportion of those who think that same-sex relations were ‘always wrong’ has fallen from 50 per cent to just nine per cent.

The cause of LGB rights is very different to that of ‘trans rights’. Gay liberation was a fight to achieve legal parity with heterosexuals. The fight for trans rights is not about fairness or legal parity. It’s about allowing children to be put on experimental, puberty-blocking drugs, advocating for taxpayer-funded cosmetic surgery and, above all, demanding that the rights of other groups, especially women, are infringed upon.

These illiberal and dangerous demands have been pushed by trans activists, not those advocating for LGB rights. As Kate Barker, chief executive officer of LGB Alliance, the only charity advocating exclusively for same-sex attracted people, explains, the battle for equality for gay and lesbian people has largely been won. If there is a growing threat to gay and lesbian rights today, it comes precisely from trans activists.

‘Today, gay men and lesbians are being branded as discriminatory bigots for being attracted exclusively to one sex, their own’, says Barker. ‘This is the result of gender-identity ideology, which promotes the belief that it is valid for some men to “identify” as women and vice versa. Believers in this ideology say it’s “transphobic” for lesbians to rule out all males who “identify as lesbians” as potential sexual partners. It is a bizarre reversal of the prejudice we faced in the Seventies and Eighties.’

So, despite the howls of protestation from trans activists, Britons are not becoming more intolerant. Rather, they are waking up and saying no to an ideology that threatens us all.

Jo Bartosch is a journalist campaigning for the rights of women and girls.

[mariacallous]

When US senator JD Vance, an Ohio Republican, was rolled out as former president Donald Trump’s running mate last month, the move had several seeming aims. It was a nod to rich supporters like Vance’s patron, Peter Thiel; a way to present the electorate with a more youthful face than Trump’s; and a play for the working-class voters around whom Vance grew up, as he wrote about in his bestselling book Hillbilly Elegy.

All of this was almost immediately undermined when comments Vance made in a 2021 Fox News interview, claiming the country is being run by “childless cat ladies who are miserable at their own lives and the choices that they’ve made,” came to light. There was, it quickly became clear, more where that came from.

Among other things, Vance has suggested that people in “violent” marriages shouldn’t get divorced. In a 2021 interview, Vance criticized abortion exceptions for rape and incest, saying that the unborn fetuses in pregnancies resulting from these situation were seen as “inconvenient.” Vance has said that US representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez had a “sociopathic attitude towards family,” claiming that the New York Democrat said it is “immoral to have children because of climate change concerns.” (She did not say this.) Vance also suggested in a 2021 speech that adults who have children should get extra votes.

“We have to go to war against the anti-child ideology that exists in our country,” Vance told the Federalist in an interview in 2021.

Vance and the Trump campaign have dismissed these remarks as taken out of context, but like many other comments related to women that Vance, Trump, and their allies have made, they do not exist in a vacuum. In fact, they almost perfectly echo the rhetoric of accused rapist and human trafficker Andrew Tate and members of the online misogynist community. (Tate, the most prominent and influential of a group of professional misogynist influencers, has denied the allegations against him.) And the Trump campaign is not just passively repeating the misogynistic talking points of the so-called manosphere, but actively engaging with it to court the votes of isolated young men—a group to which both Trump and Vance have a history of attempting to appeal.

Examples abound. Tate has, for instance, called women who don’t want kids “miserable stupid bitches” while telling the misogynistic Fresh and Fit podcast, in an episode now deleted from its YouTube channel, that “life without children [...] is inane and it’s pointless.” He went on: “If you sit here and genuinely think you’re going to work your ass off through your fertile years and by the age of 54, you’re not going to be suicidal, alone with a cat, then you are dumb.”

Trump, for his part, is reported to have repeatedly called Harris a “bitch” in private and has called women “dumb” as well as “crazy” and “low IQ” on multiple occasions. (In the past month alone, Trump has called Harris “low IQ” and “dumb as a rock” at rallies and in social media posts.) Trump once referred to former White House aide Omarosa Manigault Newman as a “crazed, crying lowlife.” He also called her a “dog.”

Tate has repeatedly compared women to dogs, telling Barstool Sports’s Dave Portnoy in an interview in 2022, “You can’t be responsible for something that doesn’t listen to you. You can’t be responsible for a dog if it doesn’t obey you, or a child if it doesn’t obey you, or a woman that doesn’t obey you.” (Portnoy, who is known for his own misogynistic views, responded to Vance’s suggestion that childless adults should pay more in taxes on X: “This is fucking idiotic.”)

“President Trump has empowered women throughout his career as a businessman and in politics, promoting women to senior roles in both his company and campaign,” Karoline Leavitt, national press secretary for the Trump campaign told WIRED, labeling the premise of this article “outrageous.”

“It's shocking to see rhetoric typically reserved for the annals of internet forums repeated by some of the most powerful politicians in America,” Nina Jankowicz, the former Biden administration disinformation czar, who is now CEO of the American Sunlight Project, tells WIRED. “Well beyond the presidential race, these sorts of attacks aim to denigrate women and their value as human beings, and aim to encourage women to stay out of politics and public life. They have no place in our politics.”

Of course, it should also be remembered that both Trump and Tate have been accused by multiple women of sexual misconduct. Trump has been found in court to have sexually abused E. Jean Carroll, and just last week Romanian authorities opened another investigation into Tate in relation to accusations of trafficking women as young as 15.

Trump and Tate appear to be aligned on another subject: porn.

Tate, who is facing allegations of sexually exploiting women by forcing them to make pornographic videos for financial gain, has long railed against what he sees as the evils of pornography.

“As masculinity has plummeted, a whole bunch of men are simply not having sex anymore, and then they become addicted to porn, which is cucking, effectively,” Tate told Tucker Carlson in an interview last year. “Two people are having sex and you’re just watching it.”

Should Trump succeed in retaking the White House in November’s election, he could seek to criminalize porn, according to the 922-page Project 2025 document that outlines plans for a second Trump term. (While Trump has disavowed the document, it is the product of his allies and of former Trump administration officials. One of the report’s authors, Russell Vought, told undercover journalists from the Centre for Climate Reporting in a meeting earlier this month that Trump’s efforts to distance himself from Project 2025 were just “graduate-level politics.” Vance also wrote a foreword to a since-postponed book written by Project 2025’s architect, Kevin Roberts.)

“Their product is as addictive as any illicit drug and as psychologically destructive as any crime,” Roberts, the president of the right-wing Heritage Foundation, writes of pornographers in the document. “Pornography should be outlawed. The people who produce and distribute it should be imprisoned. Educators and public librarians who purvey it should be classed as registered sex offenders. And telecommunications and technology firms that facilitate its spread should be shuttered.”

The links between Trump, Vance, and figures like Tate and the virulently toxic incel community appear to be, at least in part, strategic.

As Trump’s own campaign managers have outlined his strategy, “secluded, MAGA-sympathetic voters who have proved difficult to engage,” as The Atlantic put it, are one of the campaign’s primary messaging targets.

To that end, a pro-Trump PAC has launched a $20 million campaign to reach young voters that was kicked off with Vance’s appearance on the Full Send Podcast hosted by the Nelk Boys, a group of four men who have a huge following among young conservative males.

The Nelk Boys have in the past hosted Tate as well as Nico Kenn De Balinthazy, another far-right influencer better known as Sneako. De Balinthazy has fantasized about being allowed to hit women as men were 50 years ago. In one video uploaded to TikTok, he was caught on camera hitting a woman and responding that she had “been acting up all night.”

On their podcast, the Nelk Boys have repeatedly defended the misogynistic rhetoric espoused by both Tate and De Balinthazy.

Trump has been interviewed several times by the Nelk Boys, labeling their work “important,” and was recently pictured alongside Sneako at an MMA event.

Trump also was recently interviewed by streamer Adin Ross, an ally of Tate’s who infamously inadvertently tipped off authorities about Tate’s plans to flee Romania. He was also kicked off Twitch for showing "unmoderated hateful conduct" in a chat and hosting the white nationalist Nick Fuentes. During the interview, Ross gifted Trump with a gaudily-wrapped Tesla Cybertruck and a Rolex, which some experts say may have violated campaign finance rules.

Trump’s misogynistic worldview has bled into other areas of conservative politics, too.

Even before Kamala Harris officially replaced President Joe Biden as the Democratic Party’s presidential nominee, the right was demonizing her as a “DEI hire” —a phrase Tate has used to criticize women in the past.

Prominent right-wing media figures have similarly made numerous misogynistic comments in recent months. In April, Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk blamed birth control for creating “very angry and bitter young ladies” and falsely claimed that the medication “screws up the female brain.” Alec Lace, a regular Fox Business contributor, appeared on the station last month and felt it was OK to call Harris the “original Hawk Tuah girl, that’s the way she got where she is” before adding that she is a “DEI vice president.” And just last month, Fox News prime time host Jesse Watters claimed: “When a man votes for a woman, he actually transitions into a woman.”

At the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee last month, the speaker list featured Dana White, who was caught on camera slapping his wife, and Hulk Hogan, who has been accused of physically abusing his wife. (Hogan filed a defamation suit over the claims but asked the court to dismiss it five months later.) It also included a number of conservative figures who have sought to blame the victims of sexual assault, such as David Sacks and Mark Robinson. The speakers also included Representative Matt Gaetz, the Florida lawmaker who has been investigated but not charged by the Department of Justice for allegations of being part of a scheme to traffic a 17-year-old woman.

“Women who know and work for President Trump personally, like myself, know he is encouraging and generous to the women around him,” says Leavitt, the Trump spokesperson. “Most importantly, President Trump’s policies as president uplifted women across the country because they brought down the cost of living and made our communities safer.”

[adancerdiestwice]

Thoughts on ARMY and Consumerism

*Disclaimer: ARMY is used to describe all fans of BTS, despite contention about who should be allowed to use the term. This is critical of ARMY and HYBE. If you are sensitive to that criticism, you are forewarned.*

K-pop itself perpetuates a high level of consumerism with non-stop releases, numerous merch drops, multiple album copies, brand deals, and ambassadorships. Where BTS has been able to break many boundaries traditional K-pop sets, ARMY’s levels of consumerism has gotten unbelievably outrageous.

Just today, Jin was named ambassador of a jewelry company, with photos debuting him wearing the jewelry. One bracelet he wore in one photo got the attention of ARMY and within a few hours it sold out. But, that bracelet was $27,000 USD. This month, teasers of Despicable ME x BTS hinted that there may possibly be a collaboration or maybe a song on the soundtrack – only for it to be a merch popup?? And two mentions of BTS in the whole movie? Yet ARMYs are selling out BTSxMinions collab merch, for what? It was all ugly anyway and the minionifed members looked ridiculous, bordering disrespectful.

There are countless other examples: meaningless FESTA and RPWP merch, fundraising money to buy more albums to boost numbers, changing Twitter layouts for the merch releases.

Like any celebrity, BTS (the logo, the slogans, the BT21, the TinyTan) has turned into a brand, and have been for many years. But, inherently, as fans, we are not a fan of a brand. There may be ideological differences here in the way people are fans, but personally, I am here because I absolutely adore BTS’ music. I find them to be compelling, talented, unique artists creating and conveying beautiful, thoughtful messages through their music.

Of course, how is a group supposed to make money? They sell merchandise, albums, tickets to events and concerts. At some point though, enough is enough. Their messaging, artistry and dedication to their craft gets so muddled when all anyone ever wants to talk about is the new shiny thing HYBE has plastered their logo and faces onto. And more than half of ARMY buys into it.

It has a unique overlap with the spread of unofficial information and photos of the members. Since HYBE has primed ARMY to always be looking forward to the next thing they can get their hands on, especially in a “drought” of a hiatus (its not at this point), ARMY turns to member’s family accounts, Dispatch, media, and military websites just to get their fix of BTS. Their marketable attachments to their brand have turned inward to the members themselves, to the highest degree it has ever been.

If you speak out against the spread of unofficial content, some ARMY will scream at you to say “You don’t know how things work here, educate yourself, grow up, go back to Twitter.” To that I say, maybe the fandom should be reevaluating itself, like many ARMY already have. If we claim to love and support the members, why are we engaging with posts that are an invasion of privacy? Why are we allowing this level of normalization? Why should we be talking about family members that in ARMY’s relationship with BTS, have absolutely no involvement? Seeing the treatment of military pictures, press releases from unofficial sources, and updates is so disheartening, knowing that multiple members wished to go quietly and return to us as soon as possible (which is showing in their actions post-enlistment). Again, whether or not this is normalized does not matter, this is their time to be civilians. They can’t even have their privacy when they are legally out of their jobs as idols.

The manifestation of a perceived love and commitment to BTS as a member of ARMY has lead fans to be disillusioned with the people behind the brand. This is amplified tenfold in solo and (some) shipper spaces. BTS have built a relationship with their fans under the pretense of trust and respect for ten years. Every fan will hold a different ‘relationship’ to BTS, but tying their success to merch sales, streaming numbers, and album sales only pushes ARMY further into the cogs of consumerism. Focusing on every little update you can scour the internet to find, which turns out to be unethically sourced, pushes a fanbase without the moral structures ARMY have prided themselves on for years.

All of this piles on top of each other to reveal a fandom willing to silence ARMY who are using their fan platforms built on the radicalization that BTS has provoked in people to speak up for justice and humanity. When this issue of monetary focus in ARMY is discussed in the name of boycotting HYBE, people cannot even fathom the idea of pausing their spending on their favorite group, possibly for fear of missing out, sacrificing their fan involvement, or simply refusing to see the mission behind a boycott.

This leaves a fandom divided, hurt, and devastated in the wake of destruction from those who cannot see the value in BTS as humans and individuals first and foremost. I hope individuals reconsider what brought them to the fandom, what makes them stay in the fandom, and why they love the members. ARMY is not and should not be characterized by aesthetics and money, despite the current state of this fandom telling us otherwise.

[hauntingcryptids]

Speaking Up For Your Needs

Capaldi!Doctor x Reader

Summary - The Reader is having a bad day where they are feeling incredibly touch starved, but then The Doctor decides to teach The Reader how to fly The TARDIS.

Based On This Request -

Warnings - Themes of depression and loneliness

Word Count - 1510

A/n - Gender Neutral Reader. I had a second idea from this request. So, I just wanted to post it because I thought it was cute!

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Your body hurt and your skin felt like it was burning. You desperately wanted to reach out and hold someone’s hand, hug them, and rest against their shoulder after a tough day, but you could never bring yourself to ask for that kind of comfort. This happened a lot in your life; you remember feeling this way since you were a child. Whenever you had gone months without touch you would become like this. Just a mix of want and anxiety.

Your parents had instilled a toxic ideology in you from a young age: overly touchy people are annoying, and you mustn’t trouble people with physical affection. Even when you grew up and left your parent’s home, you never braved showing physical affection to your friends or partners. You were too scared of scaring them away because of everything your parents had told you. But it seemed that the more reserved you stayed in those relationships, the more they pulled away from you. And after a while, you would end up alone again.

You began travelling with The Doctor almost a year ago. He had asked you to travel with him after months of the two of you accidentally meeting in random places. The Doctor had said at the time that the main reason as to why he asked you to travel with him was because he could sense that you were lonely. You didn’t understand what he meant by that until now. You were in so much denial about how lonely and touch-starved you were. Now, though, you understood. You wanted to reach out to The Doctor about your needs, but you didn’t know how. 

You had seen how The Doctor interacted on adventures after saving people. Some would offer him handshakes and pats on the back and hugs, and he would either skirt away from them or his body would tense uncomfortably. You never wanted to make him feel that way. But he offered you so much emotional, financial, and just general support in so many ways, yet all you needed right now was a hug. Because of all the help he offered you in other ways, would The Doctor actually be willing to show you physical affection?

Today was a quiet day in the TARDIS. That almost made what you were feeling worse. On loud days, you could ignore your needs and just focus on the adventure and helping people that were in trouble.

“Now, given that you have been in the TARDIS for a while…” The Doctor announced as soon as he entered The TARDIS console with a couple of books in his arms. He had asked you to meet him there once you were ready for the day.

“I think that you should learn how to fly her.”

“What?!” You jumped up from your seat in shock.

“I’m not ready for that, Doctor!”

“Of course you are. Aren’t they, old girl?” The Doctor patted the console of the ship after setting the books down. The TARDIS then beeped reassuringly in agreement with The Doctor’s comment.

“I don’t know. I don’t want to hurt her or get the two of us into some sort of trouble.”

“Don’t worry. I will be here to guide you and The TARDIS will put extra protections on everything so we don’t punch a hole in the fabric of reality.”

“Can that happen?” You asked frantically as a new wave of panic rushed through you.

“No! Just joking around with you.” You nodded and breathed a sigh of relief, but then when you looked at The Doctor again, he was grinning like a maniac.

“Are you lying?”

“Of course!”

“Doctor!”

“Just come on, come on, come on! You’re ready and you know it!” The Doctor made a rapid circular hand movement in the air before he pulled you toward The TARDIS console. You ended up slumping beside him as he began to describe the functions of his ship.

The Doctor first explained every button and lever and random alien spinning device before you. He was being incredibly considerate in helping you understand something so incredibly inhuman, which surprised you. The Doctor, especially in this regeneration, didn’t have the most patient attitude.

You did well in remembering all of the parts of the console, but actually flying the time and space machine proved to be very difficult for you. Again, though, The Doctor was very encouraging, but nothing you tried led you to successfully flying The TARDIS.

“I don’t know if I can do this.” You ended up whining after another failed try at piloting the alien ship.

“Yes, you can! You just got to give it some welly!” 

The Doctor, almost out of nowhere, moved behind you and placed his hands on the console on either side of you. You instantly froze. The Doctor was still talking, encouraging you about your abilities and reminding you of some of the buttons and levers. You could barely concentrate, though. You could feel the heat of The Doctor’s body radiating off of him and into your back. He was so close to holding you that you almost couldn’t believe that this was really happening. Eventually, you had to take a deep breath in order to contain yourself from developing into a full daydream.

The Doctor stayed behind you and muttered encouraging statements as you attempted to pilot his ship again. It was difficult, of course, but you felt different this time. For some reason, with The Doctor so close to you and his words in your ear, you finally managed to fly The TARDIS.

“I did it!” You exclaimed excitedly.

“Of course you did! I knew that you could.”

You sighed and tried to release some of the tension that had built up in your body since The Doctor surrounded you with his body. You could hear that The Doctor was continuing to congratulate you, but you didn’t know how to respond to his comments, so you just hid your head and nodded. 

Tentatively, The Doctor placed his hands on your upper arms and sighed heavily in thought before speaking. You froze again upon feeling The Doctor’s boney yet firm hands on your body. You didn’t know what to think of everything that occurred that morning. But eventually, The Doctor spoke and did his best to relieve any anxiety that you might have.

“I know that you're lonely. I told you so when I first invited you to travel with me …” The Doctor paused before continuing.

“I’m lonely, too, sometimes. But I have been a lot less lonely since beginning to travel with you.” The Doctor paused again. You felt your eyes begin to water, but you refused to let yourself cry.

“Our situations are very different, but you don't have to completely close yourself off to me. I want to be here for you, however you need me.” 

You fell back into The Doctor’s chest, and he instantly wrapped his arms around your torso and rested his head against yours. It felt so nice to be held again like everything was right in the Universe. Your skin felt cool, and your body relaxed, the opposite of how your felt earlier. You now had to intensely fight to hold back tears as you felt your body finally fully relax within the strong arms of The Doctor.

“Every person has boundaries. It would be unsafe if you were to not have them. But please don’t think that you are upsetting me by speaking up about your needs. Okay?” You nodded into The Doctor’s shoulder and uttered a content ‘I understand’ which was muffled by The Doctor’s coat. Sometime during your time being held by The Doctor, you had turned in his arms. You didn’t remember doing this until much later, but you were surprised, despite what he stated, that he stayed like this with you. 

The Doctor ended up swaying back and forth for a bit with you in his arms, but as The Doctor usually does, he got bored very quickly. 

“You know … There is a planet where instead of handshakes, it’s mannerly for the people to introduce themselves with long hugs. Also, they have multiple interactive cuddle amusement parks and resorts. If you would like to go there with me?”

“You’re getting bored just standing around, aren’t you?” You joke into The Doctor’s jacket.

“Yes. I’m sorry.”

“Don’t apologise. I’d love to go to that planet with you, Doctor. But will you cuddle me while we read together sometimes?” You asked as you slightly pulled away from the Time Lord. The Doctor still kept his arms around you tightly, not allowing you to move too far away from his chest.

“I’ll do it all the time, Y/n. But let’s go to that cuddle planet!” The Doctor kissed your forehead before taking one of your hands and spinning you around a couple of times. He then jumped around the console in order to pilot the two of you to the cuddle planet, where you spent the rest of the day together.