#khan is trying his best

[dronebiscuitbat]

Oil is Thicker Then Blood (Part 16)

They had done a decent job hiding this all from Khan until this point. The man had been busy fixing a malfunctioning main door and she had gotten quite good at hiding things from him. However that had to end when she was going to be forced to spend at least a couple of days staying in N's apartment, looking after his new daughter.

Khan decidedly did not need to know that her name was also on those adoption papers, and the longer she could keep that hidden the better, as much as N was someone she could let her guard down around, the same couldn't be said about the rest of the bunker, there were already rampant rumors flying around the bunker about her and N, not helped by them walking together with a baby to his apartment she was sure. She didn't need to give them any more fuel.

So now she was near the front of the bunker, looking for her dad to break the news that yes, N did end up adopting the baby they'd literally just told him he wasn't like… a few days ago.

She was sure that conversation was going to go well.

“Dad?” She called out, her voice echoing out in the much larger hall, absent of other people. At this hour, most sane people would be asleep, but not her, and it would likely be a little bit before her old man would want to stop working, that was one of the few things they shared; when a task needed to be done, neither of them stopped until their bodies demanded it.

“Here dronelette!” His voice came from above, and so her head turned towards it, only to find Khan awkwardly wrapped around a pipe, tightening a gasket on Door 2, honestly it almost looked like one of the weird ass positions she would take while writing something that caught her attention.

“How did you even get up there?” She asked, looking around for any evidence of a ladder or a stool and found neither.

“I scaled the pipes! What? Didn't think your old man could climb?” He chuckled lightly without loosing focus, tongue sticking out of his mouth as his eyelights scrunched up

“Uh no, actually.” Was all she said, watching as he worked for another minute before he wiped the nonexistent sweat of his brow and looked down.

Then with a semi-impressive level of balance and grace, jumped down from the rather high ceiling, using the other pipes as monkey bars before landing safely at her side.

Only to wince as his joints made a rather concerning noise.

“Agh, so it's been awhile…” He chuckled again, although this time a little sadly before turning to his daughter with a smile that seemed genuine.

“What did you need?” He asked, and Uzi shook off the strange feeling of awe watching her dad do something that was actually sort of risky like it was normal for him.

Only for it to be replaced by the nervousness of the reason she'd actually sought him out. Great…

“Uh yeah. I was just letting you know I need to stay over at N's tonight…”

Khan looked confused, but a smile still graced his face.

“Is that all? You normally wouldn't come find me for something small like that.”

“And… for possibly the next few days?” She finished, at which then Khan’s face fell, becoming more confused and a little concerned.

“Why's that? N's not sick is he? Can murder drones even get sick…?”

“No! He's fine, well mostly. It's just he needs my help with… uh something.” She was trying to avoid the inevitable. She knew playing the pronoun game with her dad was a habit, but one she'd only truly win if she had a door to slam in his face.

“Which is?” She winced, sweat appearing on her visor as she grinned warily, shifting her fingers together nervously.

“N ended up… adopting Tera. And he needs my help in taking care of her until he gets everything ready for her.”

Khan’s jaw was on the floor, put of all thing he'd expected out of his daughters mouth that was… not at the top of the list; along with “Bite me” or “Mind your freaking business.”

“He told me he wasn't going to.”

“He wasn't, but… Tera has an overheating issue and no one else seemed to want to deal with it.” She tried to explain without concerning him further.

Khan didn't say anything, so she felt the urge to continue impulsively.

“We talked about it, and we agreed that Mrs Rayn is a little too old to raise a baby. And We have a lot of experience with overheating… with him getting his new apartment, we thought…” She stopped suddenly. Realizing she had gone from talking about N to talking about them. As a unit.

“We?”

“I-uh yeah, he talked to me about it first and I talked him through it all to make sure he was serious about it. I-I'm not on the papers or anything!”

She probably could have omitted that last part, but the way Khan was looking at her was making the usually rather quiet part of her brain requiring his approval speak up slightly louder.

She wasn't sure Khan entirely believed her, squinting at her with extreme suspicion, she glanced to the side, eyeing the way she came as if she regreted the entire trek up here.

“If you're just doing it to help them settle in. Wouldn't that only take a few hours? Or a day?” He began again slowly, still processing the sudden information.

“Normally, and that was the plan. But uh, he lacks the hardware to take care of her properly.”

“Rayn should have given him the cable and the bottles, what do you-”

“He doesn't have a side panel.” She interrupted him blunty, pausing whatever he was about to say next

Khan was quiet.

“What?”

“No, you didnt mishear me. He doesn't have a side panel.”

“Everyone has one.”

“He doesn't.”

Khan blinked before he sighed heavily, thinking deeply on everything that was just discussed. He felt one of his hands start shaking, but he gripped it to make it stop.

“I had about the same reaction, but it makes sense, why would a disassembly drone ever need that kind of hardware?”

He nodded at that, before a different thought entered his head entirely.

“How do they raise their kids then?”

At that Uzi paused, she knew N's background, how he used to be a worker drone and had never been a pillbaby. So that thought had simply never entered her mind, but it did get her thinking…

Could N even pass down his code at all? Did it work the same way as with worker drones?

And if it did, what would his kids even look like? White eyelights? Yellow? Would they carry the same traits as a disassembly drone or would they just remain a worker drone?

“I don't think they do…” She answered, she didn't want to expose too much of N's past, that wasn't her story to tell, but her dad had been being… more tolerable as of late. “N was a worker drone before he became… what he is now. So I think all that hardware was removed.”

“He was? What did he used to do?” He asked, head tilted to the side.

“He…” She paused for a moment, deciding if N would mind if she said anything, he was pretty sensitive about his time at the manor; she decided giving him the very basics was enough. “He was a butler, he had white eyelights.”

“White. Huh.”

At that the conversation stagnated, and Uzi sighed, beginning to walk away.

“Now that you know, can I uh… go?” She gestured in the direction she was currently going, clearly not waiting for his answer as Khan seemed to be frozen, processing all of this information.

But he nodded, dumbly. And she took that as her que to book it, not stopping until she was certain that even if her dad wanted to catch up, she'd be long gone. Perfect for making an undetected journey back.

She didn't take the normal way back to N's apartment either, trying to avoid more stares from more judgemental faces, it was somehow worse now than it ever was, at least before they'd done it quietly, too scared to be noticed by her and be met with violence, but they seemed to sniff out her now softened edges, because now some drones didn't bother to hide it.

“Looks like the freak found a boy toy.”

“Of course she'd be freinds with a murder drone, she's all kinds of gross.”

“You think she let's him bite her? She's probably into it…”

One of those came from Lizzy, which was honestly so typical she barely even registered it. (Although she hadn't said anything in awhile, V probably had something to do with that.) But the other two, the one about N being a boy toy and her letting him bite her, were new, and came from a brand new mouth.

She wasn't sure if this particular girl had a thing for N, because both of those were rather strange places for someone's mind to default to, but whatever the case she'd made comments like that rather often, her name was… Chloe? That sounded right.

She was quiet before, Uzi thought, because she was a brand new face and voice for her, orange eyelights and rich black hair that went down to her shoulders. But that was literally the only thing Uzi could remember about her.

And the only reason she hadn't bitten back when she'd heard it was because N had been next to her, oblivious to it all, walking back to her place after the craziness that was prom. She'd also been tired, injured, and freaked out, but those things didn't stop her nearly as much as N's presence.

N didn't deserve that ridicule, not in the least. He was the sweetest guy on the entirety of Copper-9. And yet those comments were derogatory to him too, essentially calling him easy, for Uzi to be able to “get him.”

First. Ew, Not that Uzi wasn't attracted to him, she was. (Not like she was ever going to say anything.) But talking about anyone like that was gross, and this was N, Her best freind.

Second. How dare she drag his name in the dirt with her! She could drag Uzi's name around all she wanted, it would just be treading old ground. But N? He'd done nothing to Chloe, except maybe make her feel things? She didn't know, those comments were so weird and uncomfortable.

She pushed out the thoughts from her mind when she reached N's door, partly thankful for her switch to being a night owl, she rarely saw any of her classmates anymore, except Thad. And when she did it was incredibly brief, when she was turning in her work.

Because yes, she was still going to school. She just did all of her work at home. What else was she supposed to do after murdering half her class? V had taken the blame, but that didn't mean everyone else didn't know the real culprit.

The door swished open, revealing N still on the couch, watching Tera as she rolled around playing with her jingling roll toy, he smiled when he looked up at her, worry leaving his visor somewhat.

“What'd he say?” He asked, motioning her to sit across from him, which she did, her eyes going back to Tera, who rolled over to her, jingling all the way.

“I mean, he asked a bunch of questions. But he didn't stop me sooo…” She flashed him a smirk and he felt his eyes roll, even still his smile didn't leave, instead he tried to relax, keeping an eye on the pillbaby as Uzi picked her up, looking down at her with a small smile.

“She's getting sleepy… do you know where that charger went?” N looked over and noticed that Tera's eyes were substantially dimmer, as well as her normal rolling had slowed down.

He plucked the charger put of the bag and handed it to her, and Uzi began the process of lifting her hoodie and undershirt enough to plug it into herself, thankfully, this didn't time it didn't seem to be painful.

She plugged the normally excitable rolling machine into her side and her eyes immediately brightened, and Uzi's visor immediately filled with a warning, telling her a foreign entity was drawing her power.

She closed it instantly, old JCJenson warnings that no longer applied. The pop-ups were still annoying regardless.

“There you go, happy now?” She asked the infant as if she could respond, and she did, by rolling into Uzi's chest and yawning, before quickly falling into sleep mode.

N just watched, smile never once fading from his face. He'd known that he rather liked seeing Uzi interact with Tera, as she was normally at her softest. But with that added context that this was now his daughter she was interacting with left him with his core full of fuzzy cotton.

“You're really good at that.” He pointed out as Uzi tried to get get comfortable with a baby attached to her, though it was rather difficult, as the cord was quite short and didn't leave much room to menuver.

But she still looked up at him, a small blush on her face that he caught a glimpse of before she turned away.

“Just practice is all.” She waved off, finally giving up on being comfortable and just sitting awkwardly stuffed into the couch with Tera laying on her stomach.

“You're still amazing at this. I would be totally freaking put right now without you being here.” He admitted, trying to make her take the compliment without waving it off, it was probably never going to happen though.

“Your instincts would have kicked in, and you'd get all fatherly on her without my help.” She laughed, and put a hand over Tera to steady her, as the action disturbed her slightly.

“Seriously, you're way better at this then you think you are.” She hummed, presumably to get him to shush about it.

At that moment Tera became unplugged, starting her into a fall off Uzi, rolling off and beginning to plumet to the hardwood floor, N immediately rocketed forward, catching the little pill before she ever touched the ground, even if it left him in the rather awkward position of his legs still on the couch as the rest of him was on the floor.

Tera giggled sleepily before going back into sleep mode, satisfied with her mischief.

“See? You already have the reflexes.” Uzi pointed out and caused N to look back at the pillbaby with a smile.

Maybe he could be alright at this after all.

Next ->

[hummingbird-of-light]

Against All Odds

Part 345

McCoy

McCoy dove into the water of the pool to start his warm-up laps. He knew Scotty’s eyes were on him and it made him smile under the water. Others were swimming their own warm-ups in the lanes on either side of him. The water was cool and he could feel his mind relaxing in the familiar strokes.

At least they’d had a moment to talk. McCoy took a breath on his other side and found Scotty on the benches. It was only a brief look before he turned his face back into the water. One more lap and then he could have another, more proper look. Their time at lunch had been short and McCoy still had some classwork to finish after dinner.

Scotty was sitting with Spock McCoy saw when he finished warming up and had hauled himself up on the pool’s edge. They were talking, but McCoy couldn’t tell what about. He wondered if Spock would tell Scotty if everything was back to normal with him and Jim.

“Mr. Kirk!” Archer called out a moment later as a splash of water hit McCoy in the chest. He looked over and saw Jim grinning at him, before he looked at Archer with his eyes down.

“Sorry sir.”

Archer nodded and began giving instructions. Jim looked at McCoy and grinned again. McCoy was halfway tempted to kick his foot and splash Jim back, but he refrained. The tournament would be in a month and Archer wanted them to get back in shape. Not everyone on the team had a pool at home to practice in.

McCoy was one of the last to leave the change room.

“Hey Jim!” he called before the other boy could leave.

“Yeah?” Jim asked as he walked over.

“Everything back to normal?” McCoy asked softly.

Jim stared at him for a second then nodded. “Yeah. Yeah it mostly is.”

“Umm,” McCoy looked down at his feet. “I’ve- I’ve got work to finish in the library after dinner, uhh, if you guys wanted—” McCoy looked up and saw the hint of color on Jim’s face. He knew his own face must look the same.

Jim cleared his throat. “Might take you up on that.” He turned to leave the change room. “Thanks.”

Dinner felt halfway normal as Jim and Spock sat next to each other again. Somehow it was Robbie who caught McCoy’s attention. The younger boy had an excited look in his eye and when McCoy thought about it, he had had the same look at breakfast and lunch.

“You look over the moon,” McCoy finally said to him. Robbie blushed as he looked at McCoy.

“Yeah,” Jim added. “What’s got you turning colors?” He smirked.

Robbie shook his head and shoved a bite of food in his mouth to avoid answering.

“Oh! You’re hiding something!” Jim exclaimed. “What is it?” he whispered loudly.

Robbie shook his head again and looked at his brother for help.

“Oh, let’s just say maybe he got a lovely bit of news,” Scotty said cryptically to Jim, as he bumped his knee against McCoy’s and emphasized the ‘love’ part of the word.

McCoy’s eyebrow lifted as he looked again at Robbie. The younger Scott nodded almost imperceptibly at McCoy. So Leah and Robbie had admitted their feelings. He hoped everything would work out.

“What’s that mean?” Jim said. “What news?”

Scotty shook his head this time. “That’s his business Jim.”

“So what happened with Robbie?” McCoy asked Scotty in the library after dinner. His mathematics book was spread open on the table in front of them.

“He told Leah he loves her,” Scotty whispered.

“She loves him too,” McCoy whispered back.

Scotty nodded. “She told him on a call last night after he said it. They’re probably already talking again,” he chuckled. “Guess it’s your room if you finish this work.” Scotty raised an eyebrow at him.

“I told Jim my room would be free for him and Spock,” McCoy said, frowning. “But I’ll tell Spock I’m claiming it from after class tomorrow until dinner and after that too.” McCoy found his grin again.

But Scotty frowned. “I’ve got Khan’s therapy session after class love.”

“Oh.” McCoy’s smile faded. “Right. I forgot about that.”

“We’ll get time mo ghràdh,” Scotty said, wrapping his fingers over McCoy’s hand and squeezing.

McCoy smiled again at Scotty, but it wasn’t as bright. Thursday would be swim practice again and it wouldn’t be until Friday after class they could spend a whole afternoon and evening together. He let out a sigh.

Scotty had promised Khan he would go to a session with him way back in the summer, but McCoy could still wish it hadn’t been scheduled for their first week back.

“I know we will,” McCoy finally said. “I just miss when we had all the time and no worries.”

“I know love,” Scotty leaned into him. “Me too.”

“Alright, let’s get this math done, then at least we can have a few minutes.”

“Every answer you get right, I’ll give ye a kiss,” Scotty whispered in his ear.

McCoy chuckled. “That’s one way to motivate someone.”

Part 346

Scotty

“Would you like a glass of water or a cup of tea?”

Scotty looked up at Dr. Marianne Hudson, the school’s psychologist, who had offered him to take a seat on the small couch in her office.

“Uhm, aye, water please.”

The psychologist walked over to a small cupboard and got out two glasses and a bottle of water while Scotty took in his surroundings. The office was not nearly as big as Pike’s, but it was very comfortable and inviting. The Scotsman liked the wooden furniture and the warmth the room illuminated.

Khan wasn’t there yet. Scotty had been a wee bit early for the appointment. If he had known he still had time, he could have met up with Leonard. But that chance was gone now. However, Scotty was looking forward to seeing his boyfriend after dinner.

Dr. Hudson sat down in an armchair across from Scotty and placed the glass of water in front of him. The other glass was set down next to it. Probably for Khan.

“Thanks.”

There was a friendly smile on Dr. Hudson’s face as she nodded.

“So you are Montgomery - may I call you by that name?”

Scotty nodded. He even preferred it.

Before Dr. Hudson got the chance to ask anything else, there was a knock on the door and when the psychologist asked the person to come in, the opening door revealed a panting Khan.

“I’m sorry I’m late. I got held up by Mr. Archer.”

Dr. Hudson looked at the clock and shook her head.

“It’s fine Khan. You’re just a few minutes late.”

Khan nodded and moved over to where Scotty and Dr. Hudson were sitting.

“May I?” He indicated to the seat next to Scotty and the boy nodded his head and moved a bit. He didn’t want to sit too close to Khan.

The augment sat down and looked at Scotty.

“Thank you. Thank you for coming.”

The Scotsman shrugged.

“No problem. I… I want to help.”

Dr. Hudson looked at both of the boys.

“That is very honorable of you, Montgomery. Khan told me a lot of things that happened between you two and I see that it must be hard to forgive.”

Scotty glanced at the psychologist and nodded slowly.

“Aye, but… my parents always told me to give people a second chance. And I follow that code.”

Dr. Hudson nodded.

“Is that what you think too? Or are you just doing it because your parents expect it of you?”

The question caught Scotty off guard. He had never thought about it that way.

“N…no. It’s what I believe. Of course I grew up with it but it was my decision to follow it.”

The psychologist looked pleased by that answer.

“Montgomery, do you know why I wanted Khan to ask you to join us for a session?”

Scotty looked from Khan back to Dr. Hudson.

“Because… I was most inflicted by Khan’s behavior?”

The woman nodded.

“Khan told me that he feels most guilty towards you. He knows that he has treated others badly too, especially Jim Kirk, but… he still sees you as the biggest victim of his actions.”

Dr. Hudson’s eyes moved over to Khan.

“But… you still haven’t been able to tell me why.”

Scotty blinked in surprise. That was the reason? He was here because Khan hadn’t been able to tell something and Dr. Hudson was hoping that he could when Scotty was with them?

Khan nodded slowly.

“It… is the worst thing I have done,” he said quietly, almost whispering.

“Montgomery, if you look back on all the things that happened between the two of you, can you imagine what this thing could be?”

Scotty didn’t have to think too long about it. To him one incident had been the worst thing.

His hand moved up to softly touch the skin on his throat. He was back inside that darkened room where Khan had threatened him all these months ago.

“I…”

Could he really tell Dr. Hudson about it? Scotty glanced at Khan who nodded slowly.

“Back then, I found out about… the drugs. I was the one who told Mr. Pike about it. But… Khan tried to stop me before that.”

Scotty noticed Khan tense next to him.

“How?” Dr. Hudson asked. She was taking notes on a PADD.

“He… dragged me into a room and… and grabbed my throat…”

A big lump formed in named throat and Scotty had to swallow.

“First Khan threatened to… to hurt my boyfriend. And then…”

Scotty closed his eyes as tears started swelling. The memory was still horrible to him.

“I said that… I’d kill his brother.”

Scotty opened his eyes in surprise when he heard Khan’s voice next to him. He… had really admitted the truth.

Dr. Hudson looked at her patient, but didn’t say anything.

“I… I was just so focused on myself. I didn’t see what my behavior was doing to Scotty.”

Tears streamed down Khan’s face and he didn’t even try to hold them back.

“I am so sorry. I don’t understand why I did it. I… I was so wrong.”

Scotty swallowed. Never before had he seen Khan so… weak and broken.

“If you were in the same situation today… how would you react?”

Khan looked at Dr. Hudson before his eyes moved over to Scotty.

“I… would talk to you. I would never dare to touch you or… or threaten someone close to you. I… was created to help humanity and not to hurt them.”

Scotty didn’t know what to say. He opened his mouth but no words came out.

All the emotions he had felt some months ago came back upon him.

The fear, the worry, the anger.

Tears slowly streamed down his face.

“I’m sorry, Scotty. I’m so sorry for what I did to you,” Khan breathed and stretched out his hand.

Scotty eyed it for a long time and eventually took it.

“I’ll never do it again. I swear I’m never going to hurt you again.”

Scotty couldn’t do anything but nod. He had no words.

“Thank you, Montgomery. Thank you for joining us. Now that I know what happened, I think that we can move on far better in therapy.”

Scotty glanced at Dr. Hudson who had put her PADD aside and was now looking at the boys.

Probably the therapy had stagnated for some time since Khan hadn’t been able to talk about that incident.

“Thank you,” Khan also said and Scotty nodded.

“I… I’m glad I could help,” he said through his tears before he wiped them away.

“Well… I think I should let you boys go now. This has all been a lot.”

But Khan shook his head.

“I… I want to end the session. I want to make progress.”

So he did. And Scotty stayed with them. He wanted to see just what was going on in Khan’s mind. Maybe that way he could help him.

[soupinaboot]

Batman's life must feel like a goddamn soap opera at times.

[babygirl-but-a-boy]

I fully believe that Ghostmaker (Minhkhoa "Khoa" Khan) knows that Bruce has kids, but doesn't know many details beyond that. Bruce was going to correct him but-

Khoa: Bruce, you have like 20 kids! How am I supposed to know everything about them! Only 2 of them are yours biologically!

Bruce: You've been hanging around Gotham for months now you should- wait, you said two of them are mine biologically?

Khoa: Yes... why is it three?

Bruce: Uh... it's not three. Wich two do you think it is?

[magnus-rhymes-with-swagness]

URGENT: Save Hamood's life!

[Source]

I've talked about Hamood Asfour before, but I would like to bring him to your attention again. He is a 14-year-old Palestinian teenager, and he is starving to death.

He and his family are in extremely urgent need of help. They need money for food and medical care, but donations have been trickling in very slowly. They have received only 6 donations in the past day, and at $9,265, they are not even at a fifth of their goal yet!

So I have a challenge for you all: let's get Hamood and his family to $10,000 by the end of the week. Do your best to match the donation I made yesterday!

[Video description:

An instagram video in which Hamood's brother speaks to the camera. He says:

"As a pro-Palestinian, the least you can do for me is to hear this video till the end. Hello everyone. I'm here to talk about my family in Gaza, where the situation is dire and they are struggling. It's been 4 days since I heard from them, since the last displacement from Khan Younis."

Footage of displaced people standing outside of a bombed-out building is shown.

"My family is facing severe shortages of food, clean water, and medical supplies. The ongoing conflict has destroyed their home, so they have nowhere safe to go."

Footage of another bombed-out building is shown.

"In addition, my brother Hamood, who is only 14 years old, has Down syndrome and is starving to death, as well he has been traumatized by constant bombings, and now suffers from severe anxiety."

2 photos of Hamood are shown, followed by various videos of bombing, people standing in line to receive food, and a truck filled with items.

"They desperately need financial support to buy some food and some special stuff for Hamood and find safe place to stay in, as you know all the areas over there are overcrowded and it's not easy at all to find free space to stay and so please, if you can give this it will make a huge difference."

Another photo of Hamood is shown - he looks exhausted, has visibly lost weight, and is holding a sign that says "I need help to get out."

"I can see a lot of comments from pro-Palestinians through social media trying to provide help, so here's the chance; the least you can do is to press the 4 buttons on the screen and make long comments, not only heart chains or emojis, to make this video go viral.

And remember: the big mountains are made of small stones so please don't underestimate your contribution. Thank you so much for listening their story, your help and support means the world to them.

Remember, every little bit helps - thank you."

/End video description]

Tags for reach (thank you, lmk if you want to be removed):

@jupiterisonline @perfectlyperiwinkle @pinetreesdoodles @aces-and-angels @dendrosys

@kyra45-helping-others @memori3esofgreen @appsa @dykesbat @turian

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@timetravellingkitty @briarhips @three-croissants @neptunerings @schoolhater

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@just-browsing1222 @forgetlove @foolishtobias @spideyladman @shartreuse1312

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@floof-ghostie @acepumpkinpatrick @soep-sofa-may-blog @al-val-meadow @boy-defined

[doyoulikethissong-poll]

The Ronettes - Be My Baby 1963

"Be My Baby" is a song by American girl group the Ronettes that was released as a single in August 1963. Written by Jeff Barry, Ellie Greenwich, and Phil Spector, the song was the Ronettes' biggest hit, reaching number 2 in the US and number 4 in the UK. It is often ranked as among the best songs of the 1960s, and has been regarded by various publications as one of the greatest songs of all time. Ronnie Spector (then known as Veronica Bennett) is the only Ronette that appears on the track. In 1964, it appeared on the album Presenting the Fabulous Ronettes; the only studio album by the Ronettes (credited to "the Ronettes featuring Veronica"). Produced by Phil Spector and released in November 1964 through his label, Philles Records, the album collects the group's singles from 1963–1964. In 2004, it was ranked number 422 on Rolling Stone's list of "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time".

"Be My Baby" has influenced many artists, most notably the Beach Boys' Brian Wilson, who wrote the 1964 hit "Don't Worry Baby" as a response to "Be My Baby". Many others have replicated or recreated the drum phrase—one of the most recognizable in pop music. As for the opening drum beat, drummer Hal Blaine stated, "That famous drum intro was an accident. I was supposed to play the snare on the second beat as well as the fourth, but I dropped a stick. Being the faker I was in those days, I left the mistake in and it became: 'Bum-ba-bum-BOOM!' And soon everyone wanted that beat." Sonny Bono and Cher were among the backing vocalists. Cher stated in a television interview, "I was just hanging out with Son [Bono], and one night Darlene [Love] didn't show up, and Philip looked at me and he was getting really cranky, y'know. Philip was not one to be kept waiting. And he said, 'Sonny said you can sing?' And so, as I was trying to qualify what I felt my … 'expertise' was, he said, 'Look I just need noise – get out there!' I started as noise, and that was 'Be My Baby'."

The song appears in the opening sequence of Martin Scorsese's film Mean Streets (1973), and the 1987 film Dirty Dancing. The song appears in a fantasy sequence involving Kamala Khan in the Marvel series Ms. Marvel, in the second episode "Crushed". In 1999, it was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. In 2006, the Library of Congress inducted the Ronettes' recording into the United States National Recording Registry. In 2004, it was ranked number 22 on Rolling Stone's list of the "500 Greatest Songs of All Time", where it was described as a "Rosetta stone for studio pioneers such as the Beatles and Brian Wilson." In 2017, the song topped Billboard's list of the "100 Greatest Girl Group Songs of All Time".

"Be My Baby" received a total of 86,9% yes votes!

[aces-and-angels]

verified by 90-ghost follow asmaa @asmaayyad & on instagram (asmaa_ayyad98)

moots/lovely lurkers- lend me your ears (or eyes- y'all get it) and allow asmaa to introduce herself in her own words:

"hello I hope my message reaches you well i am asmaa ayyad from gaza, specifically khan yunis, i am 25 years old, i am trying to save me and my family from the war of extermination that is happening now (a/n: asmaa graduated from the university of palestine in 2021 and went on to study/train to become a practicing lawyer) we lost our home, our friends and some of our relatives, I have also been living far away from my fiancé for two years, I cannot reach him because of the increase in the coordination price and the closure of the crossings and borders (a/n: asmaa lists feras_lbrahim in her insta bio as her fiancé) please i want you to help me by publishing for me and standing by my side, as i am now struggling alone to save an entire family i wanted to contact @/90-ghost but he does not respond to me (a/n: since asmaa sent me this message, 90-ghost has been able to get in touch/share her posts) i would be very grateful to you if you helped me"

asmaa's family consists of 8 members- all of whom led beautiful lives prior to the war. asmaa's older brother, dia, was looking forward to his own wedding. instead of experiencing such a joyous day, his life was shattered after his home was destroyed by the israeli army.

to lose a home- all your valuable possessions- your memories- in an instant is something that cannot be fully understood unless you've gone through it yourself. in asmaa's own words (read & share full post here):

"in addition to the pain, oppression and suffering that displacement causes us, there is a material aspect that no one talks about or mentions or mentions in the media. every place we move from to a new place requires transportation from 1,500 to 2,000 shekels... and despite this amount, you cannot transport all your belongings. this is in addition to the costs of setting up the tent again and trying to return what you lost of your things and belongings. displacement kills us more than death, it drains our health, our money and everything we own... displacement is another war that is harsher than this war of starvation and extermination... displacement is a hidden killer. how many people have been martyred because they do not have the price of displacement? the price that saves them from death! how many people have lost their dignity because of it?! oh god, have mercy on us and our situation 🙏💔"

asmaa's family has already lost so much- friends, loved ones, their cat, timur. they are living in a nightmare they cannot wake up from. the decision to evacuate is not an easy one to make nor is it one for the rest of us to scrutinize. it's what asmaa + her family have decided is the best path forward

please support my friend however you can-- the smallest actions can make the biggest impact

if all you can do is share- then share. follow asmaa to get the most up to date news regarding her family. tell someone you know about asmaa's story. allow others who may be able to contribute more find asmaa so her family may get to safety

and if you can give little more, please visit the link below 🖤

cw: photos of destroyed buildings + deceased cat (timur) included in the campaign

[yandereunsolved]

Hello yan, bae its me who gave the isekai reader.

What if instead of isekai reader who is in a panicky state just matched The Cannibal's vibe, matching energy since riders and dragons at the least had some semblance.

Intimidating menace dragon with an equally intimidating, despite being short,menace rider.

Reader: Khan, fetch *pointing at the knight who pissed them off*

Cannibal who responds to the nickname: *roars before chasing the poor guy*

-

Aegon: you have a dragon that belongs to the house targayen give them back to us

Reader: boy make me

Aegon: I am no boy! I'm the king! And you shall bow before me

Reader: you're a bitch I was trying to be nice

Aegon:...

Thank you for the idea. I definitely love it. The Cannibal and reader being feral together is so much fun.

Here's my addition—

All of the Targaryens would immediately see reader as a threat. They would also be interested.

'Who is this man!?' kinda vibe.

Some would become obsessed with them because of the power they hold. Others would see them as a beacon of safety and hope.

🐉

The Cannibal loves Helaena because you like her. She's so sweet to you. She shows you all of her bugs and info dumps to you. The Cannibal is just sitting around the both of you. The fierce beast is ready to burn anyone who dares interrupt your time with her.

He also loves Dreamfyre. She's one of few dragons he can stand.

You giving her basic human decency causes her to obsess over you.

Helaena: "What do you want from me?"

Reader "Wot :?"

Helaena: "You're so cold with everyone else. Everyone fears your anger. You're so nice to me."

Reader: "That's because I enjoy spending time with you! I just want to hear your thoughts and have a friend."

Helaena: nose bleeds. "R-Really?" passes out.

🐉

Aegon II is jealous. Only because he's attracted to you, but you aren't attracted to him. He's needed a new plaything and you'd be perfect for it! You're so dom. It makes him salivate like a starved dragon.

Aegon II: "Darling—"

Reader: "No."

Every attempt by you is rebuffed. Even Cannibal has distaste for him.

He does what he does best. He threatens you and uses his power to make you bend the knee.

You have one dragon.

He rules seven kingdom and has many more.

🐉

Nyra is attracted to your fierceness. She recognizes it in herself. You feel like an escape for her. So naturally she becomes infatuated. She is a queen.

She tries her best to acquaint herself with you. She knows making friends with Cannibal is the biggest test.

Does Cannibal like her? Does he not?

[stil-lindigo]

You'r eunder no obligation to reply but I'd like to ask, how do you keep your head up these days considering the genocide? It's been nearly five months now, my entire family is giving up the stirke and falling into propoganda, and every time i think "surely this is the end, no way the us will keep supporting this, israel is on limited time" i keep seeing no end in my twitter feed to the countless losses, i keep seeing gore and childrens butchered on my tiktok. i dont wanna lose hope or faith but ive started feeling so depressed these days that i dont even wanna open my social media because i know what ill see. it might sound selfish but i hope i can open up my tiktok and see silly little people doing trends again instead of seeing one between 6 posts asking to use filters so that they can donate and detailing the necessities that israel banned from palestine and it just feels so soul crushing and hopeless. it makes me feel worse because if im tired of it then how do palestanians cope being in it? if you have any tips or good news id be grateful

hi anon. A lot of what Palestinians report first-hand is graphic, and horrifying, and would contribute to that soul-crushing feeling. But they are so tenacious, they have so much love for their people, their country. Often, Bisan or Motaz or Plestia when she was still in Gaza will share little slices of joy from displaced Palestinians. It reinvigorates me, and I'll often return to watch them when things seem dire.

A baby in Gaza, blessedly unaware of the horrors. Look at that smile!

A Palestinian mother makes donuts for her children, and offers Bisan one as she prepares for an interview. She (the mother) talks about how she makes treats like this to try to cheer up her children, how she keeps herself busy like this so she can't feel the grief of the situation. It is expensive to buy firewood these days, and flour. At her side, her children chip away at a block of wood to help her.

if you'd like to support people like this family, donate to CareforGaza, which directly distributes supplies and money to families in need. They have stopped donations to their Gofundme campaign due to overwhelming support, but you can still donate via the paypal link in their bio.

Young Palestinians parkour in the ruins of Gaza, to show that Israeli bombing will not kill their spirits.

Mo, a Palestinian man, buys cat food after searching for two days straight, and feeds the stray cats in Gaza.

Palestinian children at a refugee camp filming a cute video.

Although they've lost their home, a Palestinian family gather to celebrate their youngest child's birthday, complete with a small cake and a birthday hat.

Bisan makes bread in Khan Younis.

Palestinians celebrate the birthday of an injured girl in hospital, with a small cake. One of them has dressed up as a clown.

After losing 22 members of his family and being injured in a bombardment, a Palestinian man named Mohammed Al Ghandour marries his fiance in a tent.

A Palestinian journalist plays with a baby who survived an airstrike.

@/nisreendiary on TikTok documents the process of making fresh bread in a tent in a calming video.

I got most of these off twitter, from this thread. Twitter is a hellscape at the best of times, but the easy communication it provides is a blessing. I'll try to share more of the good news here, as they pop up. In the future, I recommend you follow Eye on Palestine, or Al Jazeera if you'd like to stay informed on the situation in Gaza with minimal scrolling.

[foone]

BTW as a trekkie the funniest thing you can do is find someone who isn't and try to explain Spock's Brain to them.

"so trek got canceled after two seasons, but fans launched a massive letter-writing campaign and got it renewed. First time that'd happened in the history of TV, I believe. They came back with an episode called Spock's Brain."

"interesting. So what's the plot?"

"aliens steal Spock's Brain"

"what. And what else?"

"no that's pretty much it. His brain gets stoled. They have to go find it."

"huh. Why do the aliens steal it?"

"they need a computer to run their society."

"and they decide to use Spock's Brain?"

"yep! So the Enterprise crew rigs up a remote control device for Spock's body so they can drive it around like a toy car, and go looking for his brain."

"wait. They don't leave it behind in, like, medical stasis?"

"nah they're worried they won't be able to get the brain back to his body in time. So they bring it along. As a remote controlled body. They've got a little remote with like 5 buttons. Walk forward, turn left, turn right, Kung-fu attack, and so on"

"attack?"

"yeah they have to fight off the aliens at one point. With Spock's body."

"huh."

"the best part? The ultimate moral of the episode seems to be against gender segregation"

"WHAT"

"yeah see the aliens who stole Spock's Brain are a bunch of cavemen living on the nuclear-winter surface and a bunch of women living below ground, with PAIN RAYS. the women steal Spock's Brain to run their society, because they're not smart enough to run their machines."

"that seems... Sexist?"

"yeah a bit. So at the end when they get Spock's Brain back, they solve the society's problems by convincing them to reintegrate the sexes and work together on solving their problems. Also Kirk says something like 'in time you'll learn that women can provide not only pain, but pleasure!' to the cave men"

"... Do the women have pleasure rays too?"

"no. He's not talking about that. Anyway this is all skipping over the fact that when they meet up with the alien woman they saw steal Spock's Brain, she doesn't know how to put it back in. Or take it out. She doesn't know what a brain is."

"what"

"yeah she was sent on this mission by the old computer that was failing, and it used a Teacher Machine to temporarily give her SUPER SURGERY skills to get the brain out."

"so she went from not knowing what a brain is to being able to do neurosurgery?"

"yeah. And here's the thing: McCoy can't put the brain back in either. It's too compilated for him."

"so they went searching for Spock's Brain, knowing that they had no way to put it back in?!"

"exactly! So McCoy gets taught how to do Super Brain Surgery by the Teacher Machine, and he starts putting Spock's Brain back in his body, but the skills wear off before he can finish"

"they wear off?"

"yeah you only get them for a few hours. So he has the brilliant idea of hooking up Spock's vocal cords so that Spock can walk him through hooking up the rest of his brain."

"there are so many reasons why that doesn't make sense"

"YEP! THAT'S SPOCK'S BRAIN!"

"so this was a guest writer who never worked before or again, right?"

"no, it was Gene Coon. He wrote like 15 episodes, most of them pretty good, and went on to do some other scifi films. He's the guy who created Khan."

"why do you like Star Trek again?"

[ktempestbradford]

A Story for Star Trek Day

I've told this story on Twitter before. I tell it every Star Trek Day and whenever a Deep Space 9 anniversary rolls around. It's about me and Avery Brooks (aka Best ST Captain Benjamin Sisko).

The college my mother went to specifically started recruiting top Black students in the 60s. Due to this, the Black kids all mostly knew each other as they were in that same program. Avery Brooks went to the same college and they were good friends.

(She once told me he had a huge crush on her and I was like MOM. MOTHER. WHAT. HOW COULD YOU HE COULD HAVE BEEN MY DAD.)

Anyway, many of the students in this program remained friends long after college. So over the years as Avery was getting TV gigs & such we would all watch cuz he was my mom's friend & I thought that was the coolest. There was one particularly fun night when my best friend's uncle, Frankie Faison, guest starred on A Man Called Hawk. TWO people we know on TV!

When I was in middle school Avery was touring his production of "Paul Robeson" and it came through our town, so I got to see him perform in person (awesooooome) and meet him for the first time since I was a baby (which I did not remember, of course).

Now, backing up a little bit: I am a Star Trek fan because of my mom. She loved the original series and I remember being a wee Tempest in front of the TV watching The Wrath of Khan and us excitedly going to see Star Trek IV together.

I watched TNG from the instant it appeared on TV because of her. I watched all of The Animated Series even though everyone looked "wrong". (Man... it took me 4 months to realize that dude in the red shirt was Scotty cuz I'd only ever seen movie Scotty.)

Then... they announced Deep Space 9.

We heard Avery Brooks would be the commander and there was MUCH rejoicing around our house. DS9 turned out to be the best Trek ever and, of course, Avery was awesome. This was around the time my mom dropped that "he had a crush on me but I wasn't interested" bombshell.

I'm still bitter.

I mean, I love my dad he's great. But SISKO COULD HAVE BEEN MY DAD.

I lost my mom in 1999. She was--and I'm not exaggerating--an extraordinary woman and beloved by many. I received so many beautiful messages of condolence from her friends all the way back to those college years, including Avery. So many people remembered her fondly. <3

I kept watching Star Trek and often talked to her as if she was there during episodes. She would have LOVED Discovery. Especially since she took me to RENT the year I started college. I'm sure she would have shared my opinion of Enterprise as well. But she loved her some Scott Bakula, so she would have watched, anyway.

I got the chance to interview Avery Brooks at DragonCon back in 2013 (jeez, it's been almost 10 years omg). Before the interview, I went up to him on the Walk of Fame and I said:

Hi, I'm (name K stands for) Bradford, I don't know if you remember me...

And he looked up and said: Of course I remember you.

We talked for a bit and I asked if I could come back and interview him later and he said yes (he wasn't supposed to; his handler had A LOOK). I didn't want to hold up his line, so I said I'd see him later.

Before I could go, he reached out for my hand and squeezed it before saying: I loved your mama, you know.

And we just stayed like that for a few seconds, missing her together.

...I might have been trying very hard not to burst into tears.

That DragonCon was the last time I saw Avery. Barring an extraordinary circumstance, that's probably the last time I'll see him in person. I'm glad we got to have that moment together. And we had a great conversation!

His contribution to Trek has meant so much to me. SISKO4EVA

And I'm glad that it's another tie between me, my mom, and Trek. I can't watch DS9 without hearing her voice giving color commentary. Even the episodes she didn't live to see.

I think Star Trek is part of what gave her hope for the future. She passed that on to me. ❤️🖖🏾❤️

Happy Star Trek Day to all who celebrate.

[kkolg]

High school AU

A murder drones au I made for the sole purpose of giving myself tons of fluff.

so summary: essentially after ‘Heartbeat’, N and Uzi don’t split up in the end and after recovering from the shock N suggests to Uzi to take him to school with her- so she begrudgingly agrees. V is also here too, although heavily monitored, and usually chills in Uzi’s place instead of going with them quote ‘It’s stupid’. Basically a lot of shenanigans ensue. We still got the casual school bullies, homework, tests, etc…although Uzi now has a big murder machine with her😈. We also got the golden retriever boy and goth emo girl in love (but they don’t know that), tons of fluff cause fuck you I do what I want. N and V sleep in there own respective small rooms next to the main house cause I love making stuff up for plot convenience. Khan is here too, although still not a great dad- YET, he’s trying his best ok. There’s definitely tension between the two considering what he did to Uzi and N is also pretty awkward with him because well- he literally tried to kill both him and his daughter erm BUT HE SAVED HER TOO SO IT CANCELS OUT. There’s some character growth mostly between N and Khan due to Uzi still being very closed off from him, for good reason-

anyways yeah that’s it, if you wanna ask questions about it feel free to, probably won’t post about it myself much but yeah this is literally just for personal joy. Might expand on it a little more later on but yeah

[zepskies]

The Boys S4: Is it just me or...

Okay, anyone who knows me knows I love this show. And I don't mean to be overly critical, but...there's something missing for me in season 4. 🤔

Episode 4 brought me back in a bit more this week, but I have thoughts and just wanted to get them out. Which of course you don't have to agree with, if you so choose to dive below the cut. 😂

So here we go! Highlights and lowlights (and **spoilers**): ⤵️

Sorry in advance for my slightly stream of conscious-style thought process.

Lowlights (so far):

Kimiko x Frenchie: Violently pushing down something you built up for 2.75 seasons? Because "being more than that/family" can also be romantic? Why do you hate the fans, Kripke? 😂

The political "satire" is getting a bit old for me. A lot of the same jokes over and over. However, the problem of taking out Victoria Neuman is a very intriguing conundrum (and Bob Singer sweating over it while trying to keep supes out of the military/law enforcement is keeping me hooked).

THAT Rob scene: lmfao come on now. This was for gross shock value and nothing else. Even the exploding dick and Love Sausage in S3 served a narrative purpose. (But I enjoyed the footnote commentary while watching it on Prime: Rob B. apparently wants to remind everyone that he's a Shakespearean-trained actor. 🤣) I’m actually more disappointed that he didn’t have a more meaningful role in the show, because he really is a fantastic actor and I was looking forward to seeing what his character would bring. (Not that lmao.)

Overall, the season just feels...emptier than seasons 1-3? Maybe that has to do with the lack of Soldier Boy's gravitas as a new antagonist, and connecting the entire narrative and various conflicts of the season -- all while shedding light on the grisly past of Payback, Grace Mallory, and Stan Edgar. Stormfront also brought that ante up in season 2 in a similar way, all while shedding light on Vought's sordid history with the creation of Compound V.

We're missing the layers here in season 4. Now, this could just be because we haven't seen the full season yet as well, but that's what I see so far.

I think it also has to do with the odd dynamic the boys side is in right now. With Butcher on the fringe of the group, and the others splintered off on their own side plots, it feels like the supes' side of things are more...for lack of a better term, "unified" in the narrative.

Which I realize is probably to reverse parallel the state of each side in season 3. But it just feels "off" to me somehow, since we're supposed to be just as invested in the boys side lol.

Highlights:

Butcher and Ryan: Butcher's doing his best there now, and it soothes my heart.

Ryan's slowly seeing the consequences of his choice to join Homelander. In fact, I'm wondering where Ryan is in episode 4. Hiding in his room?

The Khan Worm that appears to be inside Butcher is both frightening and intriguing. I wonder if this is the key to saving his life? Or just another lovely side effect of taking V24 long term. 🐛

JDM (Joe) and Butcher: All their scenes were golden. And that subtle John Winchester reference? Being willing to train up his son to be a killer? Being able to grieve at his son's funeral, knowing he "saved the world?" *Chef's kiss* 🤌🏽

(And if Butcher or Joe end up being the one to break Soldier Boy out of his cryo coffin, my fangirl heart will freak TF out. 🤣)

The way that Homelander is noticing his age is fucking hilarious. Bet you wish you had that life longevity from your father/sperm donor, dont'cha? 😂

But also the way Homelander "confronted" his past in E4 had some truly WTF/Holy Shit™️ moments, in a good way. As in, I'm once again afraid of this unhinged psychopath--kind of way. 😅

A-Train continuing to struggle internally with the place he's fought so hard to keep in the Seven, versus recognizing the evil around him, his own complicity, wanting forgiveness from Hughie, and wanting a true connection with others (namely his family).

It's interesting that Hughie's mom is being brought back in at this time. And even MORE interesting that she seems to be the one who gave her ex-husband Compound V. Her story of why she left her family seemed so normal that I actually got a little suspicious of her. But now, even more so. 🤨

M.M. doing his fucking best. (Except for the way he suddenly had a change of heart about Butcher in E4. Not sure about that one.)

Tilda effing Swinton voicing Ambrosius. PLEASE. My Queen. 😭🤣🤣

I actually had more lowlights before I watched episode 4. There were some really interesting moments that literally had me gasping in shock (this time in a good way), more so than in the first 3 episodes. However, I still think seasons 1-3 were stronger from the get-go.

But even with my lingering reservations, now I'm actually more so looking forward to getting into the meat of the season in this second-half coming up. 👏🏽

[hana-no-seiiki]

REPLACED.

YANDERE! ROCKSTAR (FEROZE KHAN) x GN! MANAGER / PA ! READER x YANDERE! POP IDOL (JISOO HAN [EVE] )

FEROZE BELONGS TO MANAGER READER AND @moyazaika !! Just wanted to make a lil gift for my lovely moot 💋

[ Part 2 : REHEARSAL ]

You were absolutely terrified.

Lord knows how you were able to get the Feroze Khan to agree with collaborating, with a “goody two shoes” pop idol who flirted to hell and back with you, no less. But you just knew someone was going to get hurt by the end of this.

Eve used to be your client before you were dumped into the depths of hell. Aside from the flirtations and clinginess, he was a dream to work with as a manager. He never got into scandals, and he worked day and night to be the best in his craft. You never had to worry when it came to his career. You however, took that for granted and left him the moment you got a better deal. Getting to work with a junior idol vs a seasoned rockstar, the choice was obvious was it not?

Nope.

Eve making tons of songs about heartbreak only poured salt into the wound. You saw him as your little brother almost, it was hard seeing him grieve for your presence. You felt heartless. Guilt ate you up from the inside out. You were lucky he didn’t try contacting you after it all.

Until now.

heeeyyy there! beena while. you workin with Feroze at the moment right???

You squinted at the DM you received. As a manager you were used to dealing with all sorts of texts. Thirsty ones, death threats, collaboration requests. But none of them made your heart beat this quickly. Was it out of excitement, nervousness, or terror? You didn’t know.

I am.

short and straight to the point as always!! i’ve always loved that about you

∧,,,∧

(  ̳• · • ̳)

/    づ♡

take my love, wontchu?

You covered your mouth and squealed.

“The fuck?” Feroze looked up from his guitar at the noise you made. He had to admit it was cute but it did ruin a recording of his.

“Sorry, I’ll go outside.”

“No, stay. I need you here.”

You simply nodded, already used to his obsession with you at this point.

annyyyywaysss i just wanted to ask if you could secure a collab with me n mr. khan?

been tryin to get ahold of him but all i got back was radio silence 🥶

but i know if it’s you, the bestest manager ever, i’ll be able to collab with the bestest rockstar in the world!!

i’ll be a good boy i promise!! pretty please with a cherry and me on top?

Somehow you doubted that. But as your own self appointed protocol states, you must report the matter to your client.

“Feroze, you’ve got another collab request.”

“Was it the person that got you squealing?”

Oh no, you did not like his tone. Jealous Feroze was a monster to deal with. “. . . Yes ? “

“Go for it.”

“What? D-don’t you want to hear about their music style and what not before you—“

“I just have one condition. They have to come to me.”

And, you were doomed.

“Right. I’ll schedule a meeting.”

You stand corrected. They got along well. A bit too well for your liking. You didn’t have to stand awkwardly there while Feroze glared (as he usually does) at his collaborator. In fact they were even conversating! And it wasn’t small talk…

“Mr. Khan! You’re even dreamier up close.”

Your employer even seemed to be amused by Eve’s personality. “I could say the same for you, Eve right? Like the biblical Eve? And please, call me Feroze.”

“Yeah! They thought it’d be a nice call back to my more . . . type of music.“

“Type of music you say. . .”

“You thinking what I’m thinking?”

“Oh, you bet I am.”

Why do you have a feeling you were being replaced?

YOU RECEIVED A SPECIAL POSTER!

Check it out?

[ ✅ YES ]

[ PART 2: REHEARSAL ]

tempted to make a bl/mlm spin off of these two fr fr

©️ hana.no.seiiki - yun | moyazaika | 2023

[justdiptych]

The original Fallout had one group of raiders. That was the name the game map gave to them - 'Raiders' - but they were in fact known as the Khans. They were a relatively minor faction, being tied to quests in the first town the player is likely to visit, but we learn a lot about them in their brief appearance.

Many of the Khans are given names and dialogue, and will tell the player about their history - including how they came from the same place as the people of Shady Sands, Vault 15, and feel entitled to share in the town's wealth. Some see their raiding life as a way to claim control of the post-war world - ruling through strength and fear, believing that old ideas of morality died with the rest of the world. Others treat it as just another job - they support their group by trading, maintaining equipment, preparing food, and other everyday tasks.

In short, the Khans are a fully-realised community, as much a part of the story as any other. We learn that their brutal leader, Garl Death-Hand, took command after killing his abusive father. The player can kill him, or negotiate with him, or impress him with acts of cruelty, or even challenge his nihilistic views by convincing him that they're his father, back from the dead. Killing Garl and destroying his compound is treated as the best choice for the region as a whole, and is confirmed to have happened in the next game in the series, but it's certainly not the only option.

Fallout 2 has two groups of raiders. One - again marked 'Raiders' on the map - turn out not to be raiders at all, in that they're not attacking towns to steal their wealth. Instead, they're a mercenary company, hired by a disreputable businessman from one town (New Reno) on behalf of another town (Shady Sands again, now the capital of the New California Republic) to harass a third town (Vault City) to convince them that they need outside help in maintaining their defences. It's part of the game's major subplot about the three societies competing for control of northern California and western Nevada.

The other group are the New Khans, founded by Garl's son Darion after the original Khans' defeat. These Khans aren't nearly so fearsome as their predecessors - they mostly operate in secret, hiding behind a group of squatters who have moved into the ruins of Vault 15 and pretending to help them restore it for use. Darion is wracked with resentment over what happened to his father's crew and guilt for having survived, and his gang ultimately present little real threat to the outside world.

What I'm getting at here is that, in the world of Fallout as it existed in those early games, 'raiders' were not a major factor. There was one group who conducted raids as part of their regular economic activity, but only against particular communities - Shady Sands saw them as raiders, but to the Hub, they were just traders. Raiders only existed in a particular context - they had particular interests, beliefs and opportunities that would not always be possible or applicable.

Most of the games' conflict came not from the existence of raiders but from bilateral political and economic competition between groups with overlapping but not identical interests, which was reflected in their respective ideologies. We see this in Killian and Gizmo fighting to control the future of Junktown, and in the Master's attempt to reshape the world with the Unity while the different groups of New California try to retain their independence.

We particularly see it in Fallout 2, with its three-way battle for economic domination between the constitutional democracy of the New California Republic, the mafia-ruled narco-state of New Reno, and the elitist technocratic slave state of Vault City. Which of these groups continue to rule and expand, and which crumble, is what ultimately shapes the region's future - with control of Redding and its gold supply as the linchpin.

While the Enclave are the story's primary antagonists, they're chiefly characterised by their refusal to engage with this new socio-economic order - they believe that all outside authorities are illegitimate, and all outsiders non-human, and their only plan is to release a bioweapon into the atmosphere and kill literally everyone on Earth but themselves. The Enclave's defeat is necessary for New California's survival, but, otherwise, they change very little about how people live their lives. They're like Darion's New Khans on a larger scale - relics of a fallen order, robbed of their purpose, hiding in an old bunker and driven by nothing but resentment of having been left behind.

I might, in future, talk about the contrasting depiction of raiders in Fallouts 3, 4 and 76, and about New Vegas's use of raider and bandit groups like the Khans, the Legion, the Fiends and the White Legs. For now, I think I've made my point - that raiders are not a fact of life but a product of a particular place and time, and much less relevant to the universe of Fallout than other forms of competition and violence.

[youremyheaven]

Momagers, Stage Mom's & Mama's Boys: The Dysfunctional Moon Child

Moon influenced people often come from households where they had a very dysfunctional relationship with their parents. Both parents are usually toxic but the Moon person forms a close, overly sympathetic and anxiously attached bond with one parent who they perceive as the victim or martyr in some way. (Dad's abusive or neglectful and mom's the one trying her best, for example).

WHY does this happen?

Moon is said to be the most Yin of the planets. It's passive, feminine and emotional.

Most of the time, these bonds are toxic because its overly protective, overly nurturing, controlling, overly caring as opposed to say Sun influence which will create bonds that are too independent and unattached (aka female friendships vs male friendships lol). Moon influenced parent-child bonds become toxic because there's TOO MUCH love, care and attachment and neither party can have a separate independent existence.

Moon influence is prominent in the charts of momagers/stage moms AND the kids who are under their control.

Priyanka Chopra, Rohini Moon

Pri and her mom are attached at the hip and they're literally ALWAYS together. She has managed Pri's career since she was a teenager. And since she's not a nepo kid, it's known that she's had affairs with several married men in the industry, especially when she was starting out, to secure work :((

And I think its fucked up to have a parent basically pimp you out to make money. Be it PC getting a nose job or her army doctor mother quitting her job to open a cosmetic surgery clinic or her family running a pub?? PC is the golden goose and her family has just been living off of her money and encouraging her to basically do anything to make it. I think its a bit fcked to be smoking with your mom and its not bc I'm Indian lol

Alia Bhatt, Shravana Rising

Now Alia's dad is a pretty well known asshole who is infamous for being abusive. And Alia had a pretty rough upbringing, so its no wonder that Alia is as attached to her mom as she is. Alia's own marriage is pretty fucked up and toxic.

Alia started her career when she was 17 and to this day, her mom manages her finances. She was recently in the news for being scammed out of 1 crore rupees (119,000 dollars) so like I guess her mom's not exactly brilliant at what she does lol

Katrina Kaif, Hasta Moon

Katrina Kaif who is British, came to India when she was 17 and met and started dating the violent, toxic abusive Salman Khan, who was 20 years older than her. He helped her establish herself as a huge star but she went through a lot including physical abuse.

Kat endured all that because she had 7 siblings to support and her mom was a single mom. She's extremely close to her mom but I still think its fcked up that a literal teenager had to become the breadwinner of a family of 8 and endure all kinds of abuse in a toxic industry and in a country where she knew nobody just to break even.

Bella Hadid, Hasta Moon

Yolanda is a toxic mom in general but she has a particularly toxic bond with Bella for sure

Britney Spears, Shravana Moon

She's probably the most notorious example of being controlled by her toxic , abusive family :(((

Brooke Shields, Rohini Sun/Jupiter/Rahu

Her mom made her pose naked for playboy when she was 10. That should say enough about how fcked up her momager was. She has spoken about how her mom was an alcoholic and she felt like she had to do everything she could do to keep her mom alive :((

Ranbir Kapoor, Shravana Moon

He grew up in a toxic home where his dad cheated on his mom and was an alcoholic. He's KNOWN to be a mama's boy and his mother lowkey influenced all his previous relationships until he finally tied the knot with someone his mom approved of ://

Today his wife dresses and emulates his mom lmao

Leonardo DiCaprio, Hasta Moon

He's another infamous mama's boy

It's interesting to me how in most of these cases, the fathers were either absent or neglectful. These people grew up under the sole care of their mothers and it created an overly possessive, toxic, codependent bond. All of these people have spoken about how hard their mom's lives were and how they're grateful for everything their mothers did for them. This tendency of the Moon to make its natives be entirely sheltered from Yang or male influence or in some ways find Yang influence repulsive is very telling.

Similar to how Sun influenced people find it difficult to relate to or connect with Yin themes (like being clingy, attached, being nurturing in a traditional way, being openly loving etc) Moon influenced people struggle the most with detachment, letting go, independence etc. The extremes of both these can be unhealthy. It's important to learn how to be balanced and not give in to the tendencies that can harm both us and the people in our lives.

That's all for this post<3