It’s a nightmare, Asami knows. She hears Korra stir, the beginnings of a whimper gathering in her throat, and Asami knows it’s simply another dream. The whimpers become whines as Asami shifts towards the bed from her outpost at Korra’s bedside.
Her stocking snags on the hardwood floor but she keeps moving, ignoring the stiffness of her rumpled work outfit from earlier in the day. The Air Temple is ghostly silent at this hour and Asami must reach Korra, must coax her to safety before the whines become cries become screams.
It’s all Asami can do to urge Korra awake. To hold her and plead with her to remember that she isn’t physically in danger anymore. It’s all she can do because Korra’s nightmare doesn’t end.
Korra wakes up and the whines instead become tears. Korra wakes up and the nightmare follows.
She gasps half of Asami’s name then gnashes it to a pulp between her teeth as the pain crawls after her, climbing out of the dream like the dark spirits of children’s stories.
And here in the physical realm, Korra’s pain takes Asami prisoner as well. As the Avatar quakes in her arms, Asami stifles a sob and holds Korra together.
It’s a nightmare, Asami knows. Asleep or not, the nightmare continues. But now, with Korra’s tears drying on their joined hands, Asami can carry a piece of it for her.
“Wishing is weak,” her father used to say. He would usher a curious Asami away from the children tossing coins and hope into the fountains of Republic City. His voice always dripped with disdain. “We use what we have to shape our own reality, Asami. We don’t wish for the power to change something we cannot.”
Asami’s never wished since. She’s never wished to be a bender. She’s never wished to have her mother back. She never wished that her father had become something other than a monster. Asami Sato has accepted her realities and transformed them into a life she can be proud of.
But she wishes now. Now, with Korra twisted into a tense bundle in her arms, Asami wishes.
In these moments of stillness, when the world is hushed but for Korra’s sobs, Asami wishes for waterbending that she might soothe, if unable to heal.
Asami’s fingers go numb in Korra’s distressed grip and she wishes she’d studied medicine, not engineering.
Korra grasps at her but doesn’t see her, doesn’t hear her, doesn’t register the comfort of Asami’s hand tangled in her hair. Her pain is blinding, her nightmare enduring. No matter what Asami offers, a part of Korra remains caged behind her suffering.
They say that grief is love with no nowhere to go. Asami wishes her love had somewhere to go.
She wants to comfort, wants to fix, wants to tear Korra’s pain apart in bitter fingers. But she can’t. Instead, she wishes.
The hellsite ate the post every time I tried, but she and all babies made it through spay and are adoptable! They’re all so friendly I expect them to go fast.
OBSESSED with the fact that there’s a redditor out there who calls themselves “PISS BOT” but carries themselves with the unflappable politeness of a confused Victorian gentleman.
True info. Now let me add something: The power of documentation. (I was a long time steward in a nurses union.)
Remember: The "'E" in email stands for evidence.
That cuts both ways. Be careful what you put into an email. It never really goes away and can be used against you.
But can also be a powerful tool for workplace fairness.
Case 1: Your supervisor asks you to do something you know is either illegal or against company policy. A verbal request. If things go wrong, you can count on them denying that they ever told you to do that. You go back to your desk, or wherever and you send them an email: "I just want to make sure that I understood correctly that you want me to do xxxxx" Quite often, once they see it in writing, they will change their mind about having you do it. If not, you have documentation.
Case 2: You have a schedule you like, you've had that schedule for a while, it works for you. Your supervisor comes to you and says "We're really short-handed now and I need you to change your schedule just for a month until we can get someone else hired. It's just temporary and you can have your old schedule back after a month." A month goes by and they forget entirely that they made that promise to you. So, once again, when they make the initial request, you send them an email "I'm happy to help out temporarily, but just want to make sure I understand correctly that I will get my old schedule back after a month as you promised." Documentation.
[Image ID: Text reading: In the middle of a busy clinic at our practice, I got pulled in by my manager to speak to HR, who must have made a special trip because she lives several states away, and told I was being 'investigated' for discussing wages with my other employees. She told me it was against company policy to discuss wages.
Me; That's illegal.
Them: (start italics) three slow, long seconds of staring at me blankly (end italics) Uh...
Me: That's an illegal policy to have. The right to discuss wages is a right protected by the National Labor Relations board. I used to be in a union. I know this.
HR: Oh, this is news to me! I have been working HR for 18 years and I never knew that. Haha. Well try not do do it anyway, it makes people upset, haha.
Me: people are entitled to their opinions about what their work is worth. Bye.
I then left, and sent her several texts and emails saying I would like a copy of their company policy to see where this wage discussion policy was kept. She quickly called me back in to her office.
HR: You know what, there is no policy like that in the handbook! I double check. Sorry about the confusion, my apologies.
Me: You still haven't given me the paper saying that we had this discussion. I am going to need some protection against retaliation.
HR: Oh haha yes here you go.
I just received a paper with legal letterhead and an apology saying there was no verbal warning or write up. Don't even take their shit you guys. Keep talking about wages. Know your worth. /End ID]
At one of my old (shit) jobs my boss would continually come have these verbal discussions with me and would never put anything in writing I took to summarizing every discussion we had in email. Like “just to confirm that you asked me to do X by Y date and you understand that means I won’t be able to complete the previous task you gave me until Z date - 2 weeks later than originally scheduled - because you want me to prioritize this new project.
The woman would then storm back into my office screaming at me for putting the discussion in writing and arguing about pushing back the other project or whatever. At which point I would summarize that conversation in email as well. Which would bring her storming back in, rinse and repeat ad nauseum.
Anyway I cannot imagine how badly that job would have gone if I hadn’t put all her wildly unreasonable demands in writing. Bitch still hated me but she could never hang me for “missing deadlines” because I always had in writing that she’d pushed the project back because she wanted something else done first.
Paper your asses babes. Do not let them get away with shit. If they won’t put what they’re asking you to do in writing then write it up yourself and email it to them.
If you don't have this kind of job but someday you'd might: start practicing.
After a casual conversation with friends, write up a brief synopsis of what you discussed & agreed to. (...Do not email this to friends unless you have their agreement that this would be a fun group project.) Get practice with,
"A, B, and C had a brief meeting about food options after the big game. We decided on pizza, with A&B agreeing to contribute X dollars each, and C agreeing to contribute Y dollars and also bring soda. A will call for pizza on the day of the game and schedule it for delivery at 8:30 pm."
"A, B & C discussed movie options. A wanted something lite and fun; B wanted something scifi; C was fine with anything but horror. Nobody wanted superheroes. Decided on Lost Space Wanderers which opened last weekend; C agreed to research theatre options and report tomorrow."
...and so on. Practice describing the results of "meetings" with friends and you'll be ready to sum up "boss told me to set aside Project A to focus on Project B for the next two weeks" - because what's likely is that boss didn't say anything that clear; boss talked about how important Project B is and how the company needs parts X and Y done asap and you have the best skills for that, and when you mentioned how much time Project A was taking, boss said "eh don't worry about that right now; marketing is breathing down my neck so we really need part X by Friday, okay?"
...at no point did you get a direct instruction.
Which is why anyone who is not the screaming-drama boss mentioned above would think it was perfectly reasonable for you to say, "I want to clarify the discussion we had earlier - you told me to focus on Project B to the exclusion of Project A for the next two weeks, even if that means Project A will miss its deadline; is that correct?"
