#I'm still calm myself

[valeriascoat]

You look at this young woman not far from you. Her hands are bloody and wounded, dirty bandages lying around. The bruises on her face begin to darken and her broken lip begins to swell. She looks incredibly tired, breathing slowly and looking ahead. Almost as a reflex, she still weakly clenches her fists, apparently still not moving away from the last fight.

You stare at her, as if enchanted. She doesn’t notice this, you don’t bother her with this, as long as she is somewhere very deep inside herself.

You assume she has a hard life. Something was breaking her so much that now the only thing she is holding on to is... You don’t know. You can't know what you haven't been told. It becomes interesting what happened to her. How is it that she has to fight every day - and it’s not about the ring, but about something inside. It can be seen. You see.

At some point you get up and leave, to get something and think about it at the same time. Would she mind? If she does, she will refuse and leave, or hit. She shouldn't be afraid of that. Yes, that sounds logical. But you still didn’t want to cause additional inconvenience.

Returning with the medical items, you slowly, but with an attempt at confidence, approach this young woman. Now you notice that her hair is dyed. The pink color is visible. Why did she hide such a pretty color of her natural hair?

– Hey... how are you?

Sitting in front of you, she slightly moved her shoulders and did not look up.

– Fine.

Idiot question. Fuck. You scratch your neck awkwardly.

– Sorry, it was stupid. Uh... Will you mind my company?

She doesn't answer at first. You are patiently silent, wait, don't rush her. A few minutes pass she finally sighs, nodding.

– Well, I don't mind.

You can feel her doubt in your skin. She didn't really want it, but she agreed. This made me happy, causing a slight smile. You sit down next to her, at some distance, so as not to be unpleasant.

– Thank you.

She doesn't say anything. You hesitate, but remain calm and unhurried.

– So... What's your name?

She seems to be joining the conversation a little. She draws her legs to her chest, crossing her arms and resting her head on them.

– Vi.

– Glad to meet you, Vi.

You speak in a kind, friendly tone. Vi sighs slightly. For some reason, it seems to you that she doesn’t feel any particular danger from you, but only because she’s not going to let you get close. Her cocoon does not change.

It's kind of awkward. You want to continue the conversation, but you can’t even think of the next question at the moment.

She asks it, turning her face slightly towards you.

– What is yours?

If it were possible to describe the state with signs, it would be “!!!!!!“

Her answering question pleased me more than it should have. You say your name, smiling at her. Vi seems a little... confused by your reaction. Such emotionality over such a trifle looks strange.

– ...nice to meet you too, i think.

Her answer is not rude, although her voice sounds with some very incredulous notes. But that's not to say she's tense. You're still not in the zone to harm her.

– Did you draw the eye shadow yourself? All this makeup? Is it your um.. image?

You ask simply, without any subtext. Curiosity is evident in your eyes.

Vi feels a strange pang inside. This is not an image. This is her life now. Not the image, but who the hell she is. But does anyone think otherwise?

– No. This is not an image. And... Yes, I did it myself.

You stop short. It was awkward that you misunderstood her, but hey, she calmly explained!

– Here's how... Looks great I think? You know, black contrasts so much with your eyes, and.. looks cool!

You stutter, suddenly unsure of how to say it better. But Vi chuckles a little. She doesn't quite understand why you're so nervous, but she doesn't judge. You don't know her, so there's no need for her to get angry to your words.

– Relax. Don't be nervous.

Her words cut you off, feeling ashamed that you even considered meeting her. The lips themselves stretch into a smile.

– Okay-okay, hehe. Sorry.

She relaxes her posture, lowering her leg and extending her hand to your shoulder.

– Why are you apologizing? You haven't done anything to me that you need to apologize for.

You try not to look at her hand on your shoulder. The fact that she even made this gesture. I relaxed a little. She herself calms you down from the burning stupid cheeks of awkwardness.

– Yeah, you right…

Vi is amused. In her chest, in her very essence, everything is still too heavy. Memories, thoughts, feelings that compress the ribs - they don’t go away anywhere. But for a moment, on top of it all, she allows a slight moment of relaxation to wash over her. A little.

She wanted to lightly hit you on the shoulder with her fist, when she suddenly winced, causing you to gasp along with her. She presses her palm against the knuckles of her other hand. Bleeding wounds reminded of themselves, the scabs on them painfully cracked.

You look at this and suddenly take her wrists in a careful grip, not even squeezing. You gently stroke the uninjured parts of her arms with your thumbs. Your own hands were cool, soothing her hot skin. Vi looks at you tensely, but doesn't do anything. The feeling is good. It forces her not to pull her hands away. And the fact that overall you seemed good to her too.

– I... uh... I have something and I can try to treat your wounds. Do you mind?

Helping someone will always be difficult, because you don’t know what will be right for this particular person. She doesn't answer. You start to get a little worried, but as soon as you look up at her face, you notice that she herself looks unsure.

A moment of vulnerability. Vi glanced at you and now she looks different - she this emotion. She snorts quietly, hiding her eyes.

– Do whatever you want.

Her answer is your permission. A little doubtful, but nevertheless she does not remove her hands, although they are slightly tense. Gently squeezing her wrists, you nod before breaking away from her and rummaging through her bag. You take out disinfectant and some dry wipes. After wetting them with it, you carefully clean her damaged knuckles. Vi hisses, and you gently blow on them, soothing the pain.

You treat her face the same way, avoiding her lips. Then you glue the patches on her cheek, and wrap her knuckles in bandages - just like before.

At this time, you only quietly said something about what you were doing. Vi was silent.

– Ready!

You tie a knot and check to make sure it doesn't feel too tight. Her palms are calloused and rough, but at this moment they feel amazingly tender. You wanted to treat them gently. The young woman slowly removed her hands from yours, kneading them. Still feeling your ghostly touch.

– Good.

Her approval makes your happy. The fact that you managed to help a little. Do what you wanted and not be blamed for unnecessary kindness.

– Thank you.

– Thank you.

The simultaneous pronunciation of this phrase makes you both laugh lightly.

It still hurt, either inside or her body. Where you treated it still ached, and her split lip throbbed. But your sudden appearance, as well as an innocent desire to do a little better, allowed her to smile. A little strange, but good.

You were glad that for once you managed to do something good for someone else. Clumsily, but sincerely. Seeing her feel just a little bit better brought warmth to your chest.

It felt like you knew her. Once upon a time. Just met again, at another time, in another life, in another universe.

You don't feel great overnight. Your burdens run deep, just like hers. But it seemed that meeting was... right.

At least in this scenario.

[nephilimbrute]

side order's out. you might not hear from me for like 2 years. anyways i'm gonna avoid social media until i can actually see the whole campaign spoiler-free soooo

[brown-little-robin]

I think I'm in the "conscious incompetence" stage of being a social animal in the real world and it sucks so majorly. bro what do you do after you realize you're bad at socializing and then in-person interaction gets harder because you know you're failing at it now.

[catocappuccino]

1-BOO altered my brain

[jewishcissiekj]

hi let's talk about her

Honestly I have so much to say about her. so much. so here's some of it

-Asajj (NOT VENTRESS THAT'S HER LAST NAME ISTG PEOPLE JUST HATE USING HER ACTUAL NAME AND IDK WHY I GUESS IT'S A COOL NAME BUT ASAJJ IS ALSO A COOL NAME AND)

-Asajj was last seen in canon in the Dark Disciple novel. Where she died. I would never recommend that book to anyone so if you haven't read it yet please don't. In short, after becoming a Bounty Hunter in The Clone Wars she grew out her hair, got a cool yellow Lightsaber and for some reason teamed up with Quinlan Vos to try and kill Dooku. They didn't manage to do it. And Asajj died (was fridged) trying to protect Quinlan. The Bad Batch will not contradict that, as was said by the creators. So this is just a summary for anyone who hasn't read it because I wholeheartedly believe that book is bad

-I have not watched a single Bad Batch episode in my life. As a disclaimer. I started the first one, watched their TCW arc and saw memes screenshots clips and spoilers but I do not know this show. I will watch it now that Asajj's there tho

-She does not have the same outfit anymore! It's a change, and we haven't gotten a clear look at her new design so idk how to judge it yet. Might be to look less recognizable, but it has a very different vibe than any of her prior outfits. There's a leftover shoulder pad and probably some other stuff from her last design but I feel like they kinda clash with the new one and tbb's design language in general. The Bounty Hunter look has a very TCWish feel to it and this one is a sharp turn in another, much more casual direction. I'm not inherently against it but I guess we'll see how it looks in action soon

-In my opinion the hair looks like shit. I don't think she should have hair ever. I don't understand why she can't be bald. Why is she bald when she's evil and has hair when she's a padawan (good) and when she is "redeemed"? guess we'll never know. It's a leftover from the cancelled Dark Disciple TCW arc design (and the Dark Disciple cover and promotional material ofc) and it's bad if you ask me but to each their own and if you like it good for you

-Her Lightsaber!!!!! Same case as the hair in terms of irl development but I like it so much better. The yellow just fits her character and it's pretty. Would love for her to find another one and get back to dual-wielding (I know that won't happen)

-The bag and pouches make me so happy as a design element do you think she carries a (tooka) cat in there

-Now, visually she looks great and the animation style is smoother and nicer than TCW (as is the quality), but what about the direction the character's going in? I didn't like her being dead before, but I felt like it was somewhat better than her being shoved into being a cameo character in new content. If you can't touch her after a certain point, you also can't mess her up. But I do wonder where they're going with her. A few questions:

-Asajj in canon is a directionless character. Also, a partially nonsensical and inconsistent character in her choices and storylines. I've talked about it a lot but in short she just feels messy. What's her purpose in life? Her motive? Her origin story doesn't really make sense, even. She's a Bounty Hunter, sure, but why? If all she wants is revenge on Dooku and maybe money (which was pretty much the case in Dark Disciple), what's she doing after the Empire? And more importantly, why?

-Obviously, the question I haven't asked yet because I don't like it: How the fuck is she alive? Nightsisters have a weird relationship with death but seriously, how?

-She's a Force User after the Rise of the Empire now, so what does he do about that? Is she founding The Path? Fucking around and finding out? Making a not-Jedi-not-Sith order with other force users she finds? Is the Empire after her? Do they know she's live?

-What about her girlfriend? Is Latts Razzi safe? Is she alright?

-Why is she in The Bad Batch show? Are we making her into a cameo character or is there a purpose? Why'd they bring her back? For fun? What is she doing after the show? Floating in dead space? Cameo-ing? Will we have a book?

-OK enough for tonight but if we see Quinlan Vos in the show I'll become violent (/neg). We probably will (he might just get mentioned idk).

[autisticzenitsu]

I don't know who needs to hear this, but character development does not equal a complete personality change.

[superm4ks]

Max spent the whole race complaining he wanted a pillow and needed to piss this the person in their 20s representation we need in professional motorsport

[jils-things]

to love someone is to heal someone

[thesmokinpossum]

Didn't felt like mentioning it immediately but shoutout to my sick and twisted brain for getting so triggered by an unexpected Christmas parade that I ended up havin the absolute worst panic attack of my entire life (potentially the only real one? I've had a couple other episodes I thought of as panic attacks but they were not even close to that so who knows) to the point where I spent the very last day of my 30th year on this earth in the ER, good times, good times 😊

[stop-breaking-my-heart-telltale]

if dorian didn't show up, do you think louis would have shot minnie?

I do. I know some people think either he wouldn't have or he would've missed so that's why the writers had him shoot Dorian instead, but mmmmmm no, I don't personally think so. I like to think that if he had taken the shot, his shaky hands would've caused him to shoot her fatally.

Mostly because I'm already so normal about the fact that of the Ericson crew, Marlon and Louis are the only ones with a body count. Well, that we know of, but shown to us in the game, at least. Plus, we know it's Louis' first kill.

Like yeah, Clementine and AJ become part of the crew and they have bigger body counts, and if we're counting indirect kills caused by actions, then Tenn has a count... and I guess everyone has blood on their hands for blowing up the boat... but I'm talking about killed directly with a weapon like....... I lied, I'm not normal about that at all, Louis and Marlon are the ones who have killed someone in Louis' route. I'm also not normal about the fact that Louis kills Dorian and then even as he's clearly in shock, he tries to go with Clementine to get AJ, and then later on when they talk about it, he says it feels like bile but not quite and he's glad he has it in him to do it.... listen, listen, listen... I'm obsessed with that.

Anyway, so if Louis shot Minerva, I think he would've accidentally killed her and can you imagine? He's already enough of a mess after killing the woman who pinned him down and tried to cut his finger off [or succeeded] but he knew Minerva, they were friends before the twins were taken. Even Violet couldn't kill her even though that would've been the smarter thing to do, and we know thanks to meta knowledge that killing her would've saved lives, but Violet couldn't, and I don't think Louis would intentionally either.

Speaking of Violet, if Louis killed Minerva, I hate to think about what that would've done to Vi. I think she might've actually left at that point, like what was planned before it got changed to her being burned. I don't think she would've attacked Louis over it, though, like yeah she attacked Clementine in the cell but Louis? I don't know, but I don't think so just because it's Louis and he'd be a mess about it anyway.

Though if he did kill her, it would be a neat parallel to draw... y'know, because Louis forgave AJ for killing Marlon even though he was pissed and heartbroken, and Violet was annoyed with him the entire time... but could she ever forgive Louis for killing Minerva? Y'know? We already have a similar parallel with AJ shooting Tenn, but still.

If Clementine killed Minerva in that moment, though, then I could see Violet attacking her since in her eyes, Clem proved her right.

So yeah, I get why they added the Dorian kill to his route. It adds another compelling element to Louis as a character, but we also need Minerva alive for episode 4; Louis can't kill her, he can't miss, and he's not going to stay with her because we need Violet to stay on the boat and him to be on shore for all routes.

[lieutenantselnia]

I'm so exhausted but here's a recent doodle of my pookie <3

[wildfairies]

oof. it's been a long time since i felt this depressed this many days in a row.

[fitzselfships]

Saying this now before I forget. I am most likely going to live blog episode 4 on here. Just like with episode 3 the tag to block will be live fitz reaction (also will be tagging it as tadc spoilers)

[sherlock-is-ace]

.

[mistress-light]

Witnessed my first fight already during work. It really is popcorn time every time.

[lesbianwyllravengard]

Jesus fucking christ I hate the US south