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dykedvonte · 1 month

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The Khans - My Introspective

I don't like the Military and I don't support a lot of the actions the NCR does to the Mojave in New Vegas but in terms of the Khans I feel like the fandom infantilizes or diminishes the fact that they are or at least one of the most violent raider groups in the Mojave.

What happened at Bitter Springs was a tragedy, innocent lives were lost and the fact that the NCR swept it under the rug and continued to hunt down Khans that are truly trying to back down and resettle is horrendous, but there is a history to the NCR's aggression towards them.

The Khans first appear in Fallout 1, the main faction of raiders in the game besides the mentioned Vipers (who don't actually appear if I remember correctly). They came from Vault 15 along with the members that would form rival groups; The Vipers, The Jackals, and Shady Sands. They are a very large and foreboding raiding party, known for burning towns and encampments they attack and taking survivors as their slaves or slaves to sell. They are a big reason why the Jackals and Vipers are actually so small in New Vegas, they wiped them out.

Their main targets where Shady Sands and Junker town, the former of the two would be what became The New California Republic. This explains a big part of their animosity towards the Khans, only furthered by the fact the Khans kidnapped Tandi as a young girl, the girl that would go to offically found the NCR out of Shady Sands. When the dweller saved her and killed much of the Khans, this allowed the NCR to develop into what it currently is as they no longer needed to focus on fighting off constant raids.

When the Khans became the New Khans in Fallout 2, they barely resembled the Khans as they were led by Darion, Garl Death-Hand's son (former leader of the Khans). They were smaller and refortified vault 15, still planning to take down the NCR (at this time nowhere near as imperialist as they are in FNV) as mostly a revenge/power ploy. They manipulate The Squat, a group of y'know squatters, that lived in the upper levels, promising and lying about repairing the vault and offering them ransacked caravan resources if they kept the NCR away. Being their only life line The Squat had no choice. Still the chosen one got rid of them and they left New California for the untapped Mojave.

The Great Khans, the most current iteration, continued in the path as the original Khans, regrouping and gaining information from the Followers who hoped they'd use their new medical knowledge to heal themselves. They gained more members and a substantial part of Vegas territory before they were run out by the three families. They were pushed to Bitter Springs where they first and foremost continued to pick off and attack NCR settlements, most of which consisted of caravans, towns, and camps as they saw them as easy like in their old days. It was the killing of four influential Republic members (non-military) that brought on Bitter Springs.

Bitter Springs was the result of years of hatred and animosity and likely the goal to send a final message to the Khans. It does not excuse the fact that innocent men, women, and children were slaughtered with few survivors. It does not excuse the fact that the NCR has yet to make amends for this and continues to try and persecute the Khans even in moments of surrender.

This post is not to defend what happened but to give a quick rundown of the Khan's history and their history with the NCR. It's to remind people that the NCR is not just their military power but an actual group/settlement of people that were also attacked indiscriminately by the Khans. It's to point out that the Khans were not a band of indigenous people (no matter the comparisons) driven from their homes but raiders who fed into the brutal cultures of the west coast wasteland and were in turn treated to the same things.

My frustration comes from the fact that FNV has so many comparisons to indigenous struggles but the groups it chooses are not comparable at all. Their oppression hinges on not being familiar with their past, which explains why they have the reputation they do in canon. The "tribes" are often not even groups of minorities or have goals/desires out of acquisitions of power and I feel like it is important to both acknowledge that this is bad indigenous rep because it is not supposed to be. It is supposed to be a comparison of the in-game groups and how they all do the same things and justify it in their own fucked up ways, some better at it than others.

FNV of all the Fallout games (in light of it being heavily Western based) distastefully uses indigenous imagery and theming for groups that are sad mimicries of American indigenous cultures at best and outright offensive at worst.

#this is also to say the NCR is barely different but they imply New California is a city and safe and that once the NCR military leaves #they will properly try to settle and revitalize the area unlike the goals of almost every other group #the issues arise from the tensions of the hoover dam battles the legion and the corrupt leaders chosen in what is a terse time #but the khans are interesting to me and I like the named khans we have in FNV but they are treated to be almost innocent at points due to #all the Ls they keep taking despite admitting to their raider roots and being PROUD #they partnered with the Legion and before i hear they didnt know they were slavers at a point too and likely didnt care if they believed it #would not affec their own. the Mojave is an unforgivnig place and sometimes you make unforgivable alliances since they alienated all their #other options through their continued and consistent behaviors #like i could go on how bad the native rep is but I would not use any of the tribes cause they barely count the only difference from the NCR #is they organize themself differtently like id use the tribes in Honest Hearts cause holy shit is it bad and racist like at least the Mojav #tribes are just white dickheads brutalizing each other and not the characatures of native people the Sorrows Dead Horse and White legs are #like yikes I hated playing white savior the dlc #this is also semi personal because i dont see a lot of POC people in the fandom talking about the Khans and so I dont know if the proper #perspectives can be added because just because something can represent a culture or group doesn't mean it does or that it was the primary #thing they were trying to get across #like feel free to ask and talk to me more about it cause grrr #fallout #fallout new vegas #the great khans #the khans #new california republic #the ncr #fallout 1 #fallout 2 #papa khan

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tigirl-and-co · 4 months

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The Heart Lies Behind the Ribs

Hiiiiii everybody it is Yamgeta week, as decided by @dballzposting! I had considered this ship maybe once back in like 2014 and then never thought about it again. But god knows I'm such a sucker for this type of stuff, so I wrote a fic! Yippie!

This is assuming a pre-established relationship! I don't know how to write build-up, so you get a fic set in the stages of a relationship after they've already moved in together and have been together for quite some time.

Proofread, but still technically a first draft. Apologies for the clunkiness, but I wrote it in a fever pitch after being beset by the idea literally before I got out of bed.

Please enjoy!

The Heart Lies Behind the Ribs

"Get up."

Yamcha had been relaxing on his couch, watching Dirty Jobs and scratching Puar around the base of his neck while he napped on the man's lap. He craned his neck to look behind him at Vegeta, the man who issued the command.

Gently moving Puar off his lap, Yamcha stood up and stretched. At least four vertebrae popped. As he looked over at Vegeta, he realized the shorter man had his armor on. Historically? Not a great sign...

"What's up, man?" Yamcha had learned that it was better not to try to lead Vegeta in a conversation; he'd say what he wanted to say with or without his prompting. And to be honest, he didn't want to bring up the armor, just in case. Being able to play at naïvety hadn't worked yet, but it was bound to someday!

Vegeta fixed him in an icy glare, which stopped affecting Yamcha after he realized that's just how the man's face looked normally. "Go put your gi on and meet me outside."

"Wh-Huh?" Yamcha wasn't stupid. Yamcha knew that all this meant Vegeta wanted to spar. Yamcha didn't want to have his entire ass caved in by his superpowered boyfriend.

Or, at least, not on the battlefield.

He rubbed the back of his head in the way he knew Vegeta found cute. Maybe if he was cute enough he could avoid his fate. "Vegeta, I really don't think you'll get much out of training with me! You're like wayyyyy above me, y'know?"

Vegeta narrowed his eyes and wrinkled his nose in a face that once terrified Yamcha, but that he now found pretty cute. It meant Vegeta was trying really hard not to show what he was feeling.

"Tch. Idiot. Flattery will get you nowhere." He crossed his arms. "Besides, this is for your benefit. I'm sick and tired of you being unable to defend yourself!"

Instinctively, Yamcha put his arms out in a defensive/placating gesture. "I mean, I'm still stronger than most of what hangs around on earth... Unless more aliens show up I'm safe, and if more do show up, it's not like I'll be useful."

Vegeta immediately scowled, hard, looking almost as fearsome as the first day they met and startling Yamcha. "That's exactly the kind of attitude that got you killed by a damn saibaman! I refuse to suffer a mate so weak any longer! Go get your gi on, and meet me outside."

Vegeta stormed out the front door, and Yamcha could sense him standing a ways away from the house.

Suddenly, a small voice piped up from behind Yamcha. "I'm glad he's not evil anymore, but Vegeta can still be really scary when he's mad!" Puar had apparently woken up from all the racket and stuck his head just above the back of the couch. Cute.

Yamcha let out a breath he hadn't realized he had been holding. "Yeah... But it's kind of nice, I guess. To have somebody actually worried about me like that." He let out a little signature 'Heh.'

Puar gave him a look that managed to mix both fondness and exasperation. "Hey, what about me? I care about you, Yamcha!" He smiled wider. "Anyway, you should probably go do what he says, he seemed really serious this time!"

Yamcha smiled back. "Yeah, you're right. Besides, I could use the exercise! A little training never hurt anyone."

"With Vegeta?"

"Hm. Yeah, true."

And with that, Yamcha shrugged and headed to his room to change. His gi was folded neatly into a drawer, at Vegeta's insistence. He hated mess, Yamcha had found out. He felt it was important to know where everything is, in case of emergency.

~~~

Yamcha stepped outside, tightening his belt. Vegeta was waiting back near the tree line, arms folded and as neutral an expression as the man ever gave.

"Hmph. Good of you to finally try training for once, Animal." It was a nickname Yamcha didn't care for at first, but over time he realized Vegeta meant it in a half demeaning, half complimentary sort of way. The same way he gave every compliment.

Sure it originally started as just another way to call him a lower lifeform and mock him for the wolf theming, but over time it morphed into a somewhat endearing term. Yamcha had heard Goten call people who were doing really well 'beasts' on occasion, and he figured it was probably the same sort of concept. Wild and cool. Untameable.

"I thought you might just crawl back into your den and wait out the storm," he egged on further.

Yamcha smiled back at his partner. "And lose out on one-on-one time with His Royal Highness? Wouldn't miss it for the world."

This drew a snort and a smug grin from the alien. The promise of training always brightened his mood, and his outburst from earlier was already fading away. "Always with the flattery..." Vegeta moved his feet into proper fighting position, striking a pose that showed him for the ambush predator he was. "It's not going to make me go any easier on you, you know!"

Yamcha braced himself, both physically for Vegeta's first attack and mentally for the hours of this ass beating he was going to have to endure. "Ha! Bring it on, you pampered prince!"

Oh, the things he does for love.

Surprisingly, the first two hours went pretty well! Vegeta allowed Yamcha to get a few good hits in, never dishing out more than Yamcha could handle. There was plenty of stopping so that Vegeta could demonstrate something, and then Yamcha could try it out.

Then it happened.

A kick delivered at just the wrong angle and at just the wrong place and with just the wrong amount of force snapped Yamcha's lower left rib.

He went down.

Vegeta knew what happened, he could pick up on the horrible sound of cracking bone as easily and perfectly as a pianist could pick out middle G.

It was what he was raised into.

The panic set in almost immediately. Vegeta had no idea what humans could survive. Saiyans could recover from almost anything that didn't directly stop their heart or lungs, but he knew humans weren't so resilient.

After he recovered from the shock he was at Yamcha's side almost instantaneously. Vegeta knelt down next to Yamcha, who was curled up in a twitching ball in the dirt.

He gently placed one hand on Yamcha's shoulder, and tried to get his other into the spasming ball of flesh, just below the ribcage.

"Yamcha, listen to me." Vegeta kept his voice calm, but there was no disguising his worry. "You need to uncurl. If your muscles spasm around the broken bone, it's harder to repair."

He heard that bit while he was in a healing tank when he was eight.

Slowly, ever so goddamn slowly, Yamcha allowed himself to be straightened out and laid flat on his back. Vegeta wasn't sure where to go from here.

Vegeta, still kneeling, desperately wracked his brain for anything he could remember about treatments on earth. Every now and again someone would come out to treat a player during one of Yamcha's matches, but it was the off-season. No one would be at the stadium.

Bit by bit, Yamcha calmed down as the pain subsided. He saw Vegeta at his side, face frozen in panic. It was a face he didn't wear often, and Yamcha was glad for that. He reached out his hand and gently grabbed Vegeta's wrist.

"Hey."

Vegeta snapped back to reality and looked down to see Yamcha smiling softly. "It's okay. I'm not gonna die." He released his grip and then patted Vegeta's hand. "It wasn't even one of the important ribs anyway."

Vegeta stared humourlessly and allowed himself to sit.

"How do I fix this?" he asked, both of them knowing he meant not only 'How do I help you?' but also 'I'm sorry.'

Yamcha wanted to let out a small chuckle of reassurance, but figured a broken rib would make that a bad call.

"You wouldn't happen to have a senzu bean on you, would ya?" He knew, of course that neither of them did. He also knew that Vegeta probably didn't know where the hospital was.

Immediately Vegeta stood up straight. "I can't believe I almost forgot about the damned beans!" He looked down at the man still lying in the dirt, eyebrows now knitted together. "I'll be right back."

"WAIT!"

Yamcha sucked in a sharp breath; yelling like that was not a good idea. "H-Hold on, man! You can't just go zipping up to Korin's Tower and demand some beans!"

Vegeta looked down at him, unimpressed. "And why not?"

Smiling up at his boyfriend and accidental assailant, Yamcha answered "Because you have to climb it first, or Korin won't give you any." He patronizingly flumped his hand onto the other man's shoe before continuing.

"Plus, you have to be polite about it, and I know you're not up for that!"

Vegeta scowled, but it seemed almost good-natured as far as Vegeta scowls went. Maybe it was relief that Yamcha was feeling well enough to tease him, maybe it was just the thought of a challenge making its way to his brain, but either way he seemed much more relaxed.

"I am perfectly capable of being polite."

The snicker that left Yamcha's lips hurt just a bit, and after he winced he cocked an eyebrow. "Even if Yajirobe is there?"

Vegeta sat back down, arms crossed, and refused to answer.

He looked at his mate, and let out a fond sigh. "We're going to have to do something about your rib."

"Yeah, yeah, in a bit. It's a really nice day out, though. Look at how blue the sky is!"

It was a simple ploy, one that wasn't even meant to fool Vegeta, more a sort of way to ask him to lay down. It worked, of course. Always did.

And so, the prince of all two Saiyans lowered himself to the dirt and laid beside his damaged goods. He rested his hand on top of Yamcha's and looked up at the sky.

"Hmph. I suppose it is an intriguing shade..."

#my writing #dbz #dragon ball #dragon babble #yamcha #vegeta #yamgeta #im. SO TIRED.#but yaaaaaay it's done woohoo!#romance can be. tough love #im imagining vegeta either had been thinking about this for weeks or had a nightmare the night before #anyway yamcha is watching Dirty Jobs bc both my grandpa and father (unrelated) are still watching it #so to me it is the ultimate innofensive dad show #like regardless of political leanings u understand #and vegeta keeps things organized both as a royal and as a military kid #okay. goodnight

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daguerreotyping · 1 year

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Carte de visite of a dashing young French military student, circa 1870

#once again the French army is here to slay #perhaps the most tight-laced military organization in history #19th century #1800s #1870s #19th century photography #carte de visite #cdv #19th century fashion #men's fashion #historical fashion #fashion history #uniforms #military fashion #military history #second empire

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redd956 · 6 months

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Worldbuilding questions to get the creative juices flowing 45

Theme: Militaristic Organizations & Similar

How did this group come to own a military? How do they gain new members/recruits? Does every member double as a soldier?

What allows this organization to own a military? Do they have any governments or rivaling organizations? Are they limited in anyway? Are they legal?

Is the military viewed as part of the organization, something they own, something they sometimes do, or something that the leader owns?

How powerful is this organization compared to a national military? Is this well known? Do they have any alliances?

Where do they get their money and resources? Do they participate in any trading?

What does it take for them to get militarily involved? Can they be hired? Are they a bunch of organizations in a trench coat?

How would the world be affected if this organization collapses? How prevalent are they in society? How infamous are they?

Who leads it? (A group of people, a single individual, a political party, a government, a corporation) How did this organization form?

What non-military things does this organization do? How involved are they in the economy? The government?

What types of equipment is this organization supplied with? Do they help supply others? What type of people work in this company? How do they differ from the everyday soldier?

Does this organization hold a good or bad reputation? How has the organization changed overtime? What types of situations do they get in? What type of people are they associated with?

Where is this organization based? Is it global? Do they relocate a lot? Is it associated with one country?

How do they maintain their military? How do they keep themselves safe? Are they hidden under wraps? Is it obvious that they're militaristic? Are they known for their military?

IRL/Historical Examples:

Pepsi

United Nations

Political Brotherhoods

United States' NRA

United Fruit Company

Intelligence Agencies

Anti-Terrorism Groups

Mercenary Groups (Hansa, Samurai, Academi/Blackwater, etc.)

Private Military Companies

Fictional Examples:

Assassin's Creed