Ok, I am now imagining the first time Obi-Wan and the 212th suddenly get called into battle before they’ve had a chance to wash off and the Seppies are like “Wait. We thought they were joking about the dead Jedi General and his Ghost Battalion!” right up until the shots start to hit…
Also, Ahsoka would really like to know who the Master is that keeps showing up and playing along with the joke – he’s always in blue before just about anyone else but he never really says anything, just grins at their antics, and seems to disappear every time she decides to go talk to him. There can’t be that many older human males taller than Skyguy in the Order right?
!!! YES TO BOTH THINGS. Force-Ghosting Oneself becomes a v frequently used Ghost Company battle tactic. Waxer takes to it with gleeful enthusiasm.
and whenever Obi Wan is being Ridiculous during a mission and risking himself unnecessarily, all Cody has to do is pull out some force ghost dust and be like “you know what’s going to happen if you go through with that idea? THIS” and throw a handful of blue dust at Obi’s face
omg all these fake force ghosts with Qui Gon’s very real one, and none of the clones or ahsoka realize :’) the question here is whether Obi Wan knows yet or not. the potential for shenanigans!
My theory is that all the “fake” exorcisms had just enough in them to help make certain places more… permeable to the Force. The process is exacerbated whenever the Force juggernaut that is Anakin Skywalker is around, so Qui-Gon has quite a few options for manifestation these days. He prefers the Temple grounds, but has been known to show up on the Negotiator from time to time, and he very much approves of Commander Cody and his men.
As far as being recognised, the issue is that it’s not totally there yet, and no one is actively looking for him, so most of the time any Jedi who does notice him assumes the same thing as Ahsoka. The exceptions are people who knew him in life, but given all the other nonsense going on Mace just thinks he’s hallucinating it…
It all comes to a head when in an unrelated conversation turns to whether or not Master Kenobi can be considered short for a Jedi, and his rebuttal that “Yes Anakin but you are an anomaly” leads to Ahsoka finally asking about the strange Jedi and…
Out come the incense and candles, and this time, with the Jedi involved actually focusing on trying to make it work for real, a pale blue figure begins to emerge.
No one says a word. No one living.
“It is good to see you again Obi-Wan. Please don’t be so hasty to join me.”
Qui-Gon Jinn smiles, and for the first time in decades, it is reciprocated.
i am so!!! there are lots of tears and Heartfelt Conversations and maybe Qui Gon’s presence actually manages to make Obi Wan (a tiny bit) more careful. also I love that literally the second sentence Qui Gon says to Obi Wan is to call him out on his Unnecessary Risks.
plus, now Ghost Company’s force ghost trick gains a lot more credibility when a actual ghost is sometimes breezing through things alongside them
“You don’t want to die, little one. It’s all medics up here and they’re waiting just for you,” is enough for Obi-Wan’s self-preservation instinct to kick in.
😀 Why do I think that Ghost company makes a make-shift ancestor altar just to commute with Qui-Gon and snitch on Obi-Wan?:D
Makeshift? Hell no. By the time they’re done with it the shrine is an integral part of wherever they’re stationed, able to be quickly packed for transportation and capable of surviving a direct hit from a tank. They may not always be able to see him unless one of the generals of the commander is around, but “General Jinn” is always watching out for them, and it’s polite to thank him and keep him in the loop about General Kenobi’s wellbeing…
The 501st don’t take long to requisition a version of their own. It quite literally doubles their chances of being able to find someone to talk General Skywalker out of whatever ridiculous plan he’s come up with this time.
(Also, Jinn tells the best jokes – the stories about his time as a Padawan are particularly great, if only to see Dooku turn ghastly pale when they interrupt one of his monologues to sing a certain Huttese folk song. )
And it’s nice to see the way their Jedi all seem… Happier. As far as the Clones are concerned, those altars are critical military equipment!
….is it standard procedure for the clones to cover themselves in force ghost blue before these Talks? i feel like it is. Qui Gon lowkey thinks of Ghost Company (and the 501st) as family, so of course he’s always going to be there to listen and do what Must Be Done! plus it amuses him endlessly to watch Obi Wan telling Anakin off for the same things Obi used to do
Covering yourself with pale blue talk is an integral part of the Afternoon Tea With Qui-Gon Rite. They have to buy it in galons.
Qui-Gon, of course, visits Dooku. Some call it infiltration. Other call it sabotage. The less trustfull folk accuse Qui-Gon of betrayal.
Dooku calls it “1001 reasons why retirement via lightsaber is a great option” because nothing gets on his nerves as this semicorporeal library of every possible emarrassing moment of Dooku’s life that happily reminds Dooku, Obi-Wan, Anakin and literally everyone willing to listen.
RETIREMENT VIA LIGHTSABER. Dooku pausing midfight to tell Obi Wan to PLEASE JUST TAKE YOUR MASTER BACK, I HAVENT HAD A MOMENT OF PEACE,,
Well maybe if you stopped the whole war thing and the sith thing and the chopping off grandpadawans’ arms thing, Obi Wan tells him, in no hurry to call his master back
@norcumi *dazed* Wow, didn’t realize I was going to kick off a thing like this…
Innit WILD when folks latch on to a thing? Go you, and yay everyone contributing!
My favourite part of that Buzzfeed shit was about ‘nigga’. Like ‘Ugh, other Black people are so stupid and horrible for wanting to use that word.’
Well, lemme tell yall, I’m a sociolinguist specialising in AAVE and writing my Master’s Thesis on why nigga happened and its social implication.
AAVE is known for semantic bleaching of obscene words so that they can be reappropriated for different purposes. This is why, for example, we add -ass to the end of things, including adjectives and gerunds, to make them more emphatic (e.g. Her long hair havin-ass took 20 minutes to get ready). This is also why we have certain social contexts where it’s okay to use ‘bitch’ and ‘ho’ and some where it isn’t (à la @katblaque, I thought about this from your video). This has its roots in West Africa, where obscenity is more context based and less lexically linked (a word isn’t always intrinsically a cuss word, but who, how and when someone says it may make it offensive).
It wasn’t until the post-Civil War era when assimilationist Black people decided that using words the white man found offensive was not going to help the cause. Sadly, this ideology persists today.
Nigga has also undergone semantic bleaching, but in a much different way. Black people calling each other nigga is not new, and in fact may even date to slavery. However, in the Africanist way, rarely have Black people as a group taken offence to intragroup usage of the word. There have been individuals who have (and sometimes, these individuals are the most outspoken), but generally it has had a very neutral tone in the AAVE and Black world. However, as recently as the late 80’s and early 90’s the usage of nigga has been politicised, especially through the use of early hip hop, where it was again given new meaning. While nigga had always had nuances of negative, neutral and positive lexical meanings, this was when it was explicity stated on a mainstream stage that Black people can say nigga, white people cannot, and it is because of the usurpation of power. Black power does not entail antiwhiteness, but it does include usurping power from the institution of whiteness. This happens at the linguistic level as much as anywhere else. And in the same way that the LGBTQIA community decided to reclaim ‘Queer’, so did the Black community choose to reclaim ‘nigga’. Neither. Of course, was a unanimous decision, but they were both generally accepted decisions. What’s more, Black people added an African twist to their reclamation: just as in Africa words are vulgarised by context, so was nigga. In this case, nigga is vulgarised when spoken by a non-Black person.
The social implication then is an anti-assimilationist and Africanist approach to intragroup semantics. It demonstrated unity, power and linguistic pride in the African American speech tradition.
So, @buzzfeed, if you don’t want to participate, that’s fine. Every Black person is allowed to be individual and have their own opinions. But I and many other Black linguists have been pro- (or at least neutral-)nigga for some time. Just wanted to clear it all up for yall.
I wanted to write something small today, after that 5000 word prompt fill yesterday. So, here we are.
This comes close to NSFW territory. All clothes stay on, but there’s mentions of people getting aroused somewhere here. Just FYI.
No warnings. Established Garashir.
Grace
Doctor Bashir was looking out at the stars. Garak didn’t have to see his face to know that there was a smile pressed against it, those upturned lips a sign of the dear man’s Federation birthed optimism. Garak shivered, crossed his arms, and glared at the back of the man’s head.
“Doctor, shouldn’t you be using that enhanced intellect of yours to help us escape from this room?”
“I can’t do anything until the Defiant’s power comes back on,” Julian answered. “I’m sure the others are figuring it out.”
“Assuming they’re still alive.”
“I’m sure they are.”
“Your confidence is hardly reassuring.”
There was a lull in conversation. Julian tilted his head back some, though his eyes stayed on the black expanse speckled with distant stars and planets they both had likely seen before.
“You could try and enjoy this, Garak.”
“There’s nothing to enjoy.”
“But it’s so peaceful.”
Garak scoffed. “It’s dark and cold and you wish to speak of peace, Doctor?” Garak watched Julian turn to face him, a small frown on the man’s not-so-young face. “There is nothing peaceful about this situation.”
“That’s because you’re not allowing peace in. You could be graceful if you tried.”
“And now in this twilight you wish to speak of grace? Really, Doctor, I believe our time away from the station has caused you more harm than good.”
Julian smiled softly. It faded too quickly, though. He turned back to the stars. Garak watched him for a moment; watched the young man’s shoulders sag, hands twitch, head dip forward. Ah, the peace of the moment was lost to the doctor. Garak should have felt relieved. It could mean that the dear doctor would take their sudden imprisonment in the make-shift infirmary more seriously. But Garak realized that he didn’t need that. He needed the optimism, the innocence, the Federation calmness Julian toted around like a badge of honor. His dear doctor was right, there was no way for them to escape until the power returned. There was only the two of them in a dark room where the temperature was slowly dipping. He shivered again.
“Doctor.”
“Hm?”
“If we aren’t going to attempt to leave this room, perhaps you would be willing to venture closer,” Garak said. Julian turned and looked at him. Then he walked over. Garak sat in one of the larger chairs in the space and Julian joined him, his body falling to his lap with a grace the stars could never mirror. Their arms wrapped around reach other and Garak pulled him as close as possible.
“How long do you suppose the repairs will take?” Garak asked.
“It’s hard to say. Hopefully no more than an hour. There are blankets in here, but I’m not sure they’d stave off the cold that long.”
Silence. Garak fiddled with the hem of Julian uniform jacket. The fabric was thick and no doubt retained heat as well as his customized outfit. He could feel the heat through the fabric that danced along Julian’s skin naturally. He would have loved to dance his fingers over the tanned flesh, nails dragging, just to see the man squirm and huff irritably through his impatience. But the dipping cold demanded clothes. Garak would have never pulled any off to see the dear man’s natural charms.
“Garak, have we ever sat like this before?” Julian asked. He no doubt already knew the answer, but Garak decided to play along, if only to pull his mind away from his steadily erotic thoughts.
“No, I don’t believe so.”
There was a pause. “We should do this again. When the power isn’t out on the ship, I mean. It’s nice. You’re nice.”
“There is nothing nice about me, my dear.”
“That’s not true.”
“Really? Perhaps I should show you how mean I can be, then.”
Garak leaned forward and started pressing kisses against the man’s exposed neck.
“Garak, we can’t take our clothes off in here. It’s too cold.”
“Oh, I’m quite aware,” Garak answered before he took a nibble at Julian’s jaw, “But you mistook me for someone who wouldn’t take advantage of this precarious position of yours. Whatever will you do if I were to get you aroused in such a bitterly cold environment.”
“You monster.” A teasing lilt graced Julian’s voice. Garak smiled against his neck.
Fuck your entire couch. These Wookieepedia entries have changed since I last saw them, and not for the better.
I mean.
Master of the Order was a title held by the elected leader of the Jedi Order. He or she was appointed by a unanimous vote of all the Jedi High Council members. Yoda and Mace Windu held that office during the waning years of the Galactic Republic. The office of Master of the Order was distinct from that of Grand Master, the holder of which chaired the Council.[
Ok, fine. I thought that used to be head of the Order, which is a lot less creepy and far less confusing, but ok. Fine. Whatevs. Well, aside from the whole “unanimous vote“ bit which is unlikely at best and unreasonable at worst because ye gods, I can’t even get twelve people to agree on what to have for dinner.
But this. This monstrosity.
Grand Master was a title given to the oldest and wisest member of the Jedi Order. The Grand Master led the Order’s High Council. During the final years of the Clone Wars, Yoda fulfilled that function.
….The Grand Master oversaw the High Council,[1] a body of twelve Jedi Masters that oversaw and governed the activities of the Jedi Order.[3]The function was fulfilled by the oldest and wisest living Jedi Master.
WHAT THE ENTIRE BLEEDING FUCK?
No. JUST FUCKING NO! First off, you’re landing an instant bias towards the longer lived species, which is fuckin’ grand for an organization that needs to keep the peace between planets/peoples currently at odds – yes, I am big on organizational memory, but you’ve already got literally fuckin’ thousands of years of precedent, you cannot be that mired in history without it BITING YOU ON THE ASS.
SECONDLY, “wisest?” HOOOOOW? GIVEN THE WATSON FIASCO KNOWN AS THE JEDI APPRENTICE SERIES, PADAWANS ARE ROUTINELY PICKED BASED ON PROWESS WITH A LIGHTSABER. WHAT FARCE OF AN EXCUSE ARE YOU GOING TO USE TO DETERMINE THIS? HIGHEST SPACE-SCRABBLE SCORES? OH OH OH, IS THERE SOME KIND OF GENERAL ELECTION AMONGST THE ORDER AS A WHOLE? BECAUSE IT’S BAD ENOUGH THAT THERE’S NO HINT OF WHO GETS A COUNCIL SEAT AND WHY, AND I CRINGE EVERY TIME I TRY TO FIGURE OUT HOW TWELVE IDIOTS ARE SUPPOSED TO REPRESENT THE BEST INTERESTS OF 10,000 JEDI SCATTERED ACROSS THE GALAXY, BUT NOW THERE’S THE MYSTERY OF HOW DO THEY DETERMINE THE WISEST???
And honestly. Congratulations, [Oldest and Wisest], you have survived longer than any other poor sod, congrats you now have an honorary seat on the council of twelve, regardless of inclination, interest, past understanding of Order matters, or current ability to stay awake during absurd meetings where your poor supplicants don’t even get fuckin’ chairs.
Selected as wisest and most representative from the Council? Sure, I can go for that.
Grand Master was a title used in both the Old and New Jedi Orders to describe the recognized head of the Order. While separate from the title Master of the Order, which was used to describe the elected leader of the Jedi High Council, the positions were often filled by the same person.
OH HAI THERE, LOGICAL AND SENSIBLE DEFINITIONS! WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING HERE IN CANON?
Star Wars canon is just a whole lotta people coming along trying to patch Lucas’s toothpicks-and-chewing-gum structure with wet sand and calling it cement.
Yeah, a large part of this is sheer unmitigated frustration at how they had something that was understandable, made sense, and was simple – and now it’s this mess.
none of your faves are unproblematic. none of your friends or family are unproblematic. you are not unproblematic. there is literally no point during the process of learning about social justice type stuff and unlearning internalized bullshit and dismantling power systems at which you magically become enlightened and unproblematic. it does not exist. there is no tangible finish line, there is only endless, arduous work and it’s hard but it needs to be done.
Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: The Avengers (2012), Avengers (Marvel) – All Media Types Rating: Explicit Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con Relationships: Clint Barton/Phil Coulson, Maria Hill/Natasha Romanov, Pepper Potts/Tony Stark, Clint/OMC Characters: Clint Barton, Phil Coulson, Nick Fury, Maria Hill, Natasha Romanov, Pepper Potts, Tony Stark, OMCs, OFCs Additional Tags: Slavery, Abuse, Torture, Stockholm Syndrome, Ableism, Amputation, Medical Procedures, Medical Inaccuracies, Hurt/Comfort, Body Image, Rape/Non-con References Summary:
In a world where people are put on the market as commodities for all sorts of reasons, and SHIELD buys those who might be useful to them, Coulson makes what seems, at the time, to be an ill-advised purchase.
My Notes:
While I do enjoy this story, it’s not one I reread very often because I need to make sure I’m not in a headspace that the subject material of the story is going to make worse. Please mind the tags and the warnings, and keep them in mind when thinking about clicking the link.
That said, it is a really good story if what you’re looking for is a long Coulson/Clint fic with a relative realistic and healthy relationship built over time. And the other pairings aren’t throw aways, though they are more background. (I am particularly fond of the Hill/Natasha pairing, myself. They’re awesome.)
if you dont believe in god thats fine but when extremely horrible things have happened and people are praying for the lost souls of children, it is not the time to speak up. it is not just “stating your opinion” it’s being an asshole
I reblog this as an atheist who really wishes other atheists would shut the fuck up and let people deal with tragedy in their own way that hurts no one.
Aaaaand the opposite is also true. If a horrible tragedy befalls an atheist, don’t try to use it as an opportunity to lead them to Jesus.
BOTH OF THESE ARE SOOOO IMPORTANT JUST LET PEOPLE GRIEVE !!!
!!!!!!
Just a friendly note about the second one: I’m religious, I have friends who are not. When tragedy strikes I have found the best way to broach the subject, if you do believe in the power of prayer, is to ask:
“Would you be comfortable if I prayed for you, given the circumstances?”
And regardless of the answer, that is where you let it drop. Pray if they say yes, refrain if they say no, but don’t bring it up again unless it’s like “I’m sorry this is so ongoing. You’re still in my prayers.”
And yes, I have had atheists say yes and even thank me when I ask this question, because they know it means I’m thinking of them and want things to get better without demanding they kowtow to my beliefs.
Obviously the way someone handles something with their friends is between them, and I suspect an offer of prayer is received as a sort of ‘I’ll be thinking of you’ combined with “I feel helpless and this will make me feel better.”
I’m not Christian or from a Christian culture, but growing up in the US means I’m familiar with it. Most people who make a point of calling themselves Atheists come from a Christian heritage, or at least have grown up in the mainstream culture which is really quite heavily influenced by Christian worldviews. Some of these people feel injured or damaged by some aspects of Christian culture, and of course there are people out there who are actively other-than-Christian.
I would recommend the opposite (except, of course, if it’s someone you know well). Pray for whoever, whatever you want – but unless you have active reason to believe it’ll influence the person you’re talking about well, keep it to yourself. Remember, people who are atheists don’t believe there’s anything to prayer except for the comfort of the person praying. People who are religiously other-than-christian might appreciate your religious impulse, or might feel imposed on or threatened by it. It’s really hard to tell, especially since disagreeing with Christianity/Christian impulses is so strongly disapproved of that admitting it is seriously taboo.
Again, it comes down to the specific situation. Someone who knows you well, who knows the role religion has in your life, will probably be unsurprised by your request and ready to deal with it. Someone from a similar sort of cultural/religious heritage might find comfort in the familiar ritual, even though it doesn’t mean to them what it means to you.
I think that you, in making sure to ask first, are assuming that your private prayers are actions which will definitely affect the other person, so you feel it’s necessary to get permission. But to the other person, your prayers might be understood as private meditations which will help only you to feel better about whatever horrible thing is happening in someone else’s life. When you ask someone whether you can pray for them, it may be that they will feel that you’re making their trauma all about your feelings, pulling them out of their lives to caretake for you when they’re in a situation when they require caretaking themselves.
Which, yanno, different people, different situations. But I’d recommend that, instead of asking whether you can pray for someone, ask if there’s something you can do that will help. Say it just like that – “Can I help in any way?” And then follow through.
Or, if you don’t think you’ll be able to do that, food is always good. “I was thinking of you, so I made an extra batch.” Keep your prayers private, share cookies.
@ceruleanteacup
….okay, I agree with those last two paragraphs. Two thumbs up for practical help and/or food.
However, please do not pray for me without my permission. Chances are that I am not of the same faith that you are (assuming you are of a faith), and asking a deity that I do not follow to meddle in my life is Rude.
I’m with @dogmatix about not praying for me without my permission. And I’ll ask before I pray for someone, because dude, my deities are all death or chaos/conflict related. It’s really rude to invite that sort of thing into someone’s life without their knowledge and permission. And if I’m going to do that, I probably have very strong negative feelings about that person that have been around for years.
There's a Mirror on the Wall 