No I Didn’t Know, And No I Didn’t Really Care

Maybe if someone Anakin actually cared about had been hurt as a result of Tup’s chip malfunction? If Ahsoka had been the one Tup shot in the head? If Obi-Wan had been the one who discovered the chips’ true purpose and gone on the run? If Padmé was the one dragged before Palpatine as a conspiracy theorist? Maybe Anakin would have done something differently…maybe. But that’s not how it happened. Ultimately, Anakin just did not care enough about Tup, Fives, or even Rex, to investigate the matter further. Anakin was closest to the matter, and he was the Jedi most willing to disobey orders, but he willfully washed his hands of the matter.

Even after he discovers that Palpatine is a Sith he still remains silent about the possible chips.

I've said it once and I'll say it again - Anakin Skywalker ALWAYS had a choice, and he chose wrong at every turn.

Was he manipulated by Palpatine? Yes. But he still made all of these decisions.

I’d read the articles that young people have no privacy and have become so accustomed to it that they enact on themselves. Abstractly I knew this and had accepted it, but it’s only now that I’m seeing it become a major issues.

Obviously part of the problem is I need to become a trusted member of my new fandom. But fandom in general is becoming far more hostile to privacy than even just 5 years ago.

I’ve had to leave 3 servers that want to do age verification. And this is new. Not even 5 years ago when I started zines ppl just turning 18-20 were far more receptive to the ideas espoused by us older folks about not being surveilled. But now it almost feels like they *want* to be surveilled.

They’ve become so used to it from tiktok and their government that they crave it. I’d write a dystopia about it but unfortunately what even is there to say that hasn’t already been said?

If you’re 18-22 now and you’re reading this and willing to listen without immediately calling me suspicious: this is not normal. Age verification will not keep you safe and will not keep minors safe either. It will only lead to the normalization of further surveillance and erosion of your privacy.

I know it can be an unwieldy text especially if you’re not used to reading academic sources, but go read The Panopticon. Watch V for Vendetta or read the comic, read 1984. Watch The Lives of Others and understand the ways this modern era is not so different from the Stasi in the film.

Please.

Evening date.

Here have some half cooked sambucky sketches

Thulaz + Exhausted Parent Kiss || Prompt List

Slowly, Ulaz made his way through the base. Exhaustion was beginning to seep into his bones. He had just gotten off a fifteen hour long shift in the medical bay, working overtime due to an influx of injured Blades that had come through the base in the last dya. While he hadn’t had much choice in the matter when he was called in, Ulaz had still felt terrible about leaving Thace alone with Keith so soon after the cub’s arrival on base. Nevertheless, Thace had insisted that he could handle Keith’s incessant fussiness that had started just after they had returned.

He didn’t even realize he had arrived back at their room until he was stepping through the threshold, the door closing behind him with a barely audible hiss.

“Thace? I’m home,” Ulaz said—perhaps louder than he should have. A faint hiss came from the far side of the room, where the bed was. As his ears perked up in surprise, Ulaz’s gaze snapped in the direction the hiss had come from, and though the room was nearly pitch black, he was able to pick out the outline of Thace’s form where he lay.

“You’re going to wake him,” Thace muttered under his breath. His eyes flashed in the darkness, little more than narrowed slits as he peered at Ulaz. His irritation appeared to be more borne out of exasperation than anger, though, and he turned his attention back to the cub asleep on his chest. In spite of the noise, Keith hadn’t stirred. A soft, stuttering purr was coming from the cub’s throat as Thace began grooming his headfur with short, firm licks.

“How is he doing?” Ulaz asked, quieter this time as he approached the bedside. Despite only having Keith in their lives for a couple of days, Thace had already developed a snippy protectiveness of him that was very reminiscent of a new birthparent.

“Finally asleep,” Thace whispered. “He’s been fussy all day… and all night…” He trailed off, and Ulaz caught the flash of his fangs in the dim light as he yawned. When Thace spoke again, his voice was little more than half-awake mumble. “I haven’t gotten any sleep since you went on shift…”

Thace’s yawn seemed to be contagious—Ulaz had to fight to hold back his own yawn, and if he hadn’t remembered he was still dressed in uniform, Ulaz might have crawled into bed right then and there. Instead, he leaned over, lightly nudging his nose against Thace’s temple and earning a soft, sleeping chirp in return. In spite of his tiredness, Thace’s ears perked up as their lips brushed—if only for a brief moment—and a muted purr rumbled in Thace’s chest.

“I’ll be right back,” Ulaz softly as they parted, noses still brushing.

“Can’t guarantee I’ll be awake then,” Thace mumbled as he sunk into the blankets, drawing Keith closer as the cub gave a soft, squeaky yawn.

How many Supernatural fans are STILL on Tumblr??

then they started fighting Covid precautions.

i remember adults telling me, as a kid, that the ozone was disappearing and the earth was dying and we needed to recycle and save the planet.

now my parents think climate change is a myth.

i remember adults telling me, as a kid, that racism was a plague, that we had to love and accept everyone, that we should never judge before walking a mile in their shoes.

then they told me that protesting for my Black siblings was wrong.

i remember adults telling me, as a kid, that we needed to give to the poor. working at soup kitchens. making quilts. collecting food and money and supplies. building houses. because it was the christian and just plain right thing to do.

now they look at me, on food stamps with their grandchildren, and lament the "welfare state".

i remember adults telling me, as a kid, that it was easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than a rich man to enter the Kingdom of Heaven and that any rich man, especially an immoral one, should never run our country.

you can guess who they voted for.

i remember adults telling me, as a kid, so very much.