Fandom's Come Knocking

[branchifer]

Okay, did you guys know people in this world make stuff of some of us? Apparently the yetis make toys of us on their own if none exist but also imitate ones that do exist if kids want them.

[Branch is hopping along a table of merch that is meant to mimic exactly the merch of him in stores. A lot of it is actually bigger than he is. He shows off the dolls with his tiny little wrist comm. They look even weirder at that perspective.]

Now that I know they're not ritual effigies, the toy thing is kind of funny. Weird, but funny.

Look at this. Look.

[He holds up his comm so the camera picks up some absolutely hideous toys.]

Like, who is this guy? I wouldn't even know who this was if it wasn't labeled with my name. Like, some random guy from the village maybe. I've never dressed like that in my life.

[He points the camera at another.]

This one is the closest to actually looking like me and it still has the random skull symbol hair thing. What's up with that? [A pause as his face comes back in view. It screws up in thought.] ...Okay, actually I don't hate it.

[Because even though he's a much happier person than he once was, he's still slightly an edgelord. Just slightly.]

[He looks upward and similar skull designs suddenly appear in his own hair, thanks to his ability to change its color. Maybe that explains why some of the dolls have black hair and some have blue (if manufacturing inconsistencies aren't to blame).]

[(It's actually not but he's not about to explain the subtleties of troll coloration when it comes to emotional state.)]

Seriously, you should check it out, and see if the yetis made stuff based on you. It's hilarious.

[ooc: If none exists IRL, people can make up imaginary merch, though all merch at the Pole would be for kids or teens. The stuff made purely by the yetis would largely be decent-looking and accurate, uglier stuff would be based on designs existing in the game world because well, that's what the kid pointed at in the store. Googling themselves would produce other merch for other demographics, as well as let people find out about any internet fandom. People can feel free to thread hop a lot because the point of this is probably going to be a lot of pointing and laughing.]

Comments

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[branchifer]

[Pure. Horror.]

Someone put you in a jail?

[orivodika]

[Panic! He has to quickly think of a good lie!]

no.

[branchifer]

You just said jail is boring and the food sucks. You wouldn't know that unless you were in one.

[He thinks about why Boba might be denying it. Branch is a cranky person but definitely not incapable of empathizing and putting himself in someone else's shoes, thinking about their fears.]

If you're worried that finding out makes me think you should be put back in one, it doesn't. I don't think you should've been put in one in the first place.

[orivodika]

that's just what i've heard from other people

i know a lot of criminals

[Which is true! But might not help his case as much as he thinks it does.]

text, private until further notice

[branchifer]

Why do you know a lot of criminals?

[orivodika]

[Because he was in prison.]

the planet i was on is controlled by gangs. most people are criminals

[Also technically true! He was staying on Tatooine (run by the Hutts) and then Florrum (run by pirates) and then Coruscant (run by every crook imaginable, including the Galactic Senate).]

[branchifer]

That's still an answer that's slightly alarming to hear.

[He doesn't know if he should ask this. He wouldn't have wanted to answer at the same age. But it also would've been important for an adult that was trying to care for him to know about.]

Were you on your own there?

[If he was just gallivanting around chilling with criminals.]

[orivodika]

[Boba doesn't know how to answer that. No, he wasn't alone, but he was because Aurra didn't actually care what happened to him. He was mostly alone before her, too. In the RJC he was never alone.]

Sometimes.

[branchifer]

[Okay, how do you get a traumatized kid to open up so you know what's going on with them? So you know how to best help them?]

[Things he knows you don't do: push too hard in a direct way. His foster parents sometimes wanted to have a nice little feelings jam to try to help him and the too-direct questions clearly intended to solve the entire problem of...him, well they had always just made him moodier. Asking questions will sometimes get non-answers or half-truths or, in Branch's case when he was younger, it had gotten lots of sarcasm.]

[But his foster parents had failed at the thing he needed most: someone else acknowledging that yes it had hurt. Yes, it had been bad. It would have meant so much to hear from them "yes, we're still struggling too."]

[Branch isn't struggling but he has struggled and he knows that offering information, while not the most pleasant, might provide more of an inroads to the kid talking about things - whether now or later when he feels more comfortable.]

[If it was for anyone else other than a kid he was starting to feel responsible for...]

I was just curious if you were anything like me. I was an orphan.

[orivodika]

[He doesn't answer the implied question. He can't.]

i'm sorry.

["I'm sorry" is a weak response. It doesn't fix anything. It doesn't change anything. He hates it when people tell him that they're sorry for what happened to his dad.

He just doesn't know what else to say.]

[branchifer]

[It's okay if he doesn't immediately open up. This took time and sometimes laying down some groundwork. Again, something people struggled to do with Branch. That's what happens when you're avoidant when it comes to sadness.]

It's okay. It happened a long time ago.

[It's mostly okay. He's done a lot of healing but he'd be lying if he said most of it wasn't within the last year or so.]

I just know I needed certain things from the adults around me because of the things I went through and I didn't really get them. Sorry if I'm being nosy, I just don't want to see that happen to someone else.

You don't have to feel like you need to say anything about where you came from, though. But I'll listen if you ever want to tell someone, especially if it means you need something specific to feel safe.

[orivodika]

i got what i needed back where i'm from

[Boba usually had food, shelter, and credits on hand after his dad was gone. When he didn't, he was usually able to find a way to get more, whether that was theft or turning in bounties. In prison he was sheltered and mostly fed. He got his needs met.]

criminals aren't all bad people

[Bossk was as nice as he could be and Cad Bane could be tolerable, sometimes. His dad was always good.]

[mostdangerousbird]

Here?

[orivodika]

i don't know

are any of you criminals?

[mostdangerousbird]

I think it's best you define criminal before I answer.

[orivodika]

pretty sure it means you do crime

[mostdangerousbird]

Crime is interpretative. If you break into someone's house to look for clues to their disappearance, are you a criminal?

[orivodika]

i don't know. depends what planet you're on

and if you get caught

[mostdangerousbird]

Earth. Usually.

I don't get caught.

[orivodika]

that's stupid name for a planet. you might as well call it dirt or rock

if you don't get caught you don't have to worry about being a criminal

[mostdangerousbird]

I didn’t name it.

Being caught is a poor judge of being a criminal. It’s not like they’re only guilty when they’re caught.

[orivodika]

it's a good judgement for whether someone's a good criminal or not

[Boba trusted Aurra and that made him a bad criminal, so he got caught. Perfect logic.]

it sounds like you are a criminal

[mostdangerousbird]

If I told you I wasn’t, you’d say that’s what a criminal would say.

[orivodika]

you just said you don't get caught

people who aren't criminals don't have to worry about that

[mostdangerousbird]

Circular reasoning. You're the one who said you're a criminal if you get caught breaking in. You can't use my not getting caught as conclusive proof that I'm a criminal. People don't get caught if they don't break in at all.