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redpenship · 4 months ago

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i had to write a 6k word research paper last semester in which i had to do hypothesis testing relating to any subject about WMDs. my idea was to test why states step away from the brink of developing nuclear weapons or get rid of them, with a focus on two explanations: domestic normative changes (so, attitudes regarding nuclear weapons) and security-based explanations (do nuclear weapons provide meaningful defence to the state in question?). this was done in tandem with my plotting for buzzsaw 2, which made me curious about the strategic utility of projecting "safety" or "neutrality" to potential aggressors. the core dilemma in the story is about whether or not aliens can be trusted, or more specifically if kindness is present throughout the universe. it's really all about perception--so, how an individual perceives aliens. to link this with my paper topic, i was specifically seeking to prove that perceptions of nuclear weapons had a greater influence on the lack of horizontal proliferation than security issues. my findings were kind of interesting.

basically, i was proven incorrect. i used congruence analysis (comparing various states and why they did or did not acquire nuclear weapons) to do my hypothesis testing. i feel like rambling a little bit, so here are some of my favourite cases:

Canada (Nuclear weapons capacity: HIGH -- large domestic sources of uranium, multiple research reactors that could be converted to uranium-enrichment facilities for weapons production, encouragement from US to create arsenal, and sufficient high-tech weaponry knowledge to develop an arsenal). Normative explanation: Canadians on average do not perceive military strength as being a source of national pride. It isn't very important in the national consciousness. Security Explanations: Proximity to US means that any nuclear strikes on Canadian territory will provoke US retaliation against the aggressor. Moreover, Canada's nuclear weapons policy at the time emphasized the avoidance of negative security externalities--leaders believed that acquiring nuclear weapons would provoke enemy states into doing the same, and so chose not to obtain them.

Sweden (Nuclear weapons capacity: MEDIUM -- domestic plutonium sources, advanced weapons systems) Normative Explanations: Public support for acquiring a nuclear arsenal reached a high of 57% in 1959. A successful anti-nuclear weapons campaign by the Social Democrat Party sought to make Swedish identity and the possession of nuclear weapons "incompatible" lowered public support to 31% by 1967. The nuclear weapons program lost public support entirely within a decade. Security Explanations: Sweden was most concerned about a Soviet invasion of Western Europe. Despite being a neutral state, their leaders came to the conclusion that the United States would defend any western European state from Soviet expansion to prevent its sphere of influence from growing further. As well, Sweden was worried about provoking the USSR and chose not to develop an arsenal for this reason as well.

Brazil (Nuclear weapons capacity: MEDIUM -- similar reasons to Sweden) Normative Explanations: Brazil's nuclear weapons program occurred under its military dictatorship. After its collapse, the civilian government ended all plans to develop an arsenal. I'm not taking into consideration how Brazilians felt about it because it was a secret program. Security Explanations: The military regime was primarily concerned by Argentina's head-start on enrichment methods and ballistic missile technology. President Geisel established a military nuclear energy research program that ran parallel to the civilian nuclear energy body, CNEN. By 1990, they were believed to be around two years away from testing a Hiroshima-type bomb (admittedly, a piece of shit by 90s standards). The program was terminated in 1990 by civilian President Mollo. Notably, Argentina had transitioned to democracy a few years prior, which contributed greatly to the end of its paranoia towards its neighbour. (Military regimes are prone to mirror paradoxes, in which they assume their rivals are as equally unstable and militaristic. This was definitely true of Argentina's military dictatorship in general though).

My primary case study was South Africa, whose apartheid government built six nuclear bombs beginning in the 1970s until the late 1980s. I chose it because it's the only state to have ever built and then dismantled its nuclear arsenal. At the time, the government was very concerned about the survival of its white state, since the rest of Africa was decolonizing and they were becoming a pariah on the global scene for their apartheid policies. Also, Soviet and Cuban troops were running around getting into conflicts in the continent and they were worried about getting invaded for being anti-communist and super racist. This made them desperate enough to build nuclear weapons.

They actually tried really, really hard to get security assurances from the United States, which led to them going as far as to sanction Rhodesia for being white supremacist (a hypocrisy equivalent only to Norway convincing itself that it meets climate targets). They failed to convince the US to help them (because South Africa was strategically worthless, so it was totally within the United States' comfort zone to ignore them and later condemn them) and were pretty much only friends with Israel, who helped them quite a bit with the nuclear weapons program. In one of the texts I read for the paper (page 287 of Will South Africa Survive? by R.W. Johnson), there's a translation of a section of South African Prime Minister Vorster's interview with Israeli newspaper Ma'ariv in 1976 in which he states that Israel and apartheid South Africa kind of have the same thing going on, with specific reference to their policies of occupation and racial/economic exclusion. So, if you ever need some additional evidence that Israel is an apartheid state for whatever reason, feel free to cite a literal leader of apartheid South Africa admitting that Israel does the same thing.

ANYWAYS, apartheid South Africa got rid of its nuclear weapons during two events/processes: the end of apartheid, and the fall of the Soviet Union. The cause of their disarmament doesn't require much thought since PM de Klerk admitted to parliament that they got rid of their nuclear weapons because their primary security threat (the USSR) no longer existed. Their weapons weren't even very good (could only be delivered by bombers) and their entire strategy for them was to just imply to the US that they possessed them, which would force the US to step up and protect them so South Africa wouldn't reveal they had them to the world and potentially trigger proliferation across Africa.

What I got out of all of this isn't that normative/perceptive explanations for disarmament are worthless, but rather that security concerns must be dealt with as a prerequisite to disarmament. Sweden and Canada fell under US extended deterrence and felt no need to develop weapons, while Brazil and South Africa's regional security concerns collapsed and they no longer had a reason to have nuclear weapons. Countries who are not threatened by nuclear powers or are protected by nuclear powers do not need nuclear weapons to guarantee their survival.

Taking into this account, I've altered the story of buzzsaw 2 to reflect my findings somewhat. A lot of it is the same, I've just put a bit more attention into addressing the security dilemma faced by Earth lol. More specifically, how a planet can minimize security externalities to avoid provoking aliens and how the necessity of doing so can challenge the status of imperial powers on said planet...

#sorry i felt like rambling about nuclear weapons policy #it will happen again probably #fic: the cosmic beholder #redposts

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rocketinthesky · 3 months ago

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hey! in case if no one asked for norapinto in the ask game yet, here i am!! i know it's like a budding ship, but i really enjoyed your takes on the other ships as well, and i'm curious if you have some lingering thoughts about them? aaand if i could be greedy, i'd ask for gax as well, since i don't really know much about that pairing (yet) but you seem to enjoy them, so i might came to the right place? :D

ALSO! also thank you so much for sharing my silly little fic? it means a whole lot to me! 😭 ♥

Hello! Ty for mentioning two of my otps lmaoskjdjf (thank YOU for writing norapinto dude we need more content of them ugh thanks for contributing! <3)

As for the ask game i realise i highkey forgot to label the last two asks with the compel factor thing so i’ll do that this time hehe i’ll try to keep my ramblings short

Norapinto: makes sense and compels me very much

I mean yea franco JUST entered the grid and has been in like three races but we already have a LOT to work with for these two.

The reveal that Lando was the first one to text him at when the news broke that Franco was joining the grid?? CMON. Like. Lando?! Wtf?! That’s so fucking sweet. We overlook how much of a sweet guy Lando is and the fact that he was being thoughtful for this rookie who was joining in less than ideal circumstances, immediately doing everything to make Franco more comfortable and relaxed on the grid? CMON.

And ofc before we even had this bit of lore THE DRIVERS PARADE! Franco Yapinto and Lando heart eyes Norris? That pic is going down in fucking history LANDO U CANNOT HIDE FROM ME.

And ofc the post race moment where they were down to duet the interview and the way Lando’s gaze just lingered on Franco, the way they smile at eo, the general EASE in their interactions from what little we’ve seen.

Obv we haven’t seen much yet but like the little we have i just think they’re a fun, fluffy and sweet pairing. Like i just picture Franco the professional yapper yapping away while Lando fondly smiles at him while hanging on to every word. There’s the angle of Lando being a sort of support system for Franco, being a comforting presence to quell his anxieties, to make him feel wanted and less alone with the complicated situation surrounding him getting his seat. Lando who doesn’t wanna see a rookie get consumed by all the not-so spectacular sides of F1, and in the process finds himself falling head over heels for this dude who can’t stfu and is flirty with everyone and sounds hot when he speaks spanish. Then there’s Franco who came into the whole thing with the mentality of maybe staying strong, putting up walls, telling himself he can take all the pressure, but then when he finds Lando so readily offering him so much comfort despite being virtual strangers atp, he feels more relaxed and open.

Anyway they’re fluffy and sweet and total switches ty.

Gax: MAKES SENSE AND COMPELS ME SO MUCH I’M DYING ON THIS HILL

OK SO there’s a surprisingly amount of LORE to gax and i will sum it up without too much rambling: they’ve been racing more or less all their lives tgt in the same categories and stuff since their karting days. They were even teammates at one point in a junior category. The incident that most people know Gax by (and admittedly what got me into F1 to begin with) happened last year in Baku where they had a bit of an inchident with Max confronting him childishly and George just bein his goofy gremlin self.

ANYWAY. A lot of people like to see them as enemies to lovers which i mean hey its a delicious dynamic and i love that but Gax is more complex than that. They’ve have their quarrel but they’re actually really friendly? It’s a friendliness that comes with just knowing eo practically all their lives. They have a mutual respect for eo and always speak good things about one another, but it’s also clear from their racing and few incidents where they clash that neither of them are the types of back down. Max is definitely more explosive in his rage and arrogance but George is a more simmering fire. He will say things as it is with a smile, and i could see how their egos would clash hard cuz they’re both passionate about racing and winning. But they’re also not the types to hold a grudge, they’re able to separate racing from off-track relationships, which is evident in how quickly they made up from the 2023 inchident and went back to their friendly interactions.

I see Gax’s dynamic as something akin to comfort. They’re both sarcastic chaos gremlins who know how to banter and tease, but Max can be a bit explosive and sensitive about racing which might carry out off-track, but George is the type to calmly be both upfront about his stance while not being outright combative. They’d balance each other out in a way, though they’d still have their disagreements and arguments given how prideful they are as drivers.

Gax is a dynamic where there’s an understanding there from the years of being in each other’s orbit. They’ve never been the best of friends but there’s an attraction there, with sparks flying on track, the adrenaline persisting even off track and condensing into a carnal need. It’s confusing at first—they have people they’re much closer with you’d expect them to fall for but then they find each other? It’s unexpected for them too but they fall into the dynamic easily, their sense of humor clicking. They wouldn’t be overly sweet but they’d be pretty domestic imo, like have an easygoing, chill dynamic in their relationship.

The horniness needs to be studied tho esp Max’s obsession with George being shirtless like bro i am NOT kidding about the carnal magnetism between them. As for their bedroom dynamics i’m a 100% bottom max truther and George is such a service top so there’s that :D

Hope any of that made sense lol ty for sending in the ask!

#f1 #gax #norapinto #taiga wips #george russell #max verstappen #franco colapinto #lando norris #frando #norpinto #russtappen #ask game #f1 rpf #incoherent rambling

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leviathan-supersystem · 7 months ago

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@traveling-spartan @priveetru

gonna be responding to this in a separate post because i've already left two comments on the post this was in reply to and i suspect that the OP already would consider that two too many.

at any rate:

Government regulation causes monopolies more often than it combats them.

[...]

It's why big corps like Disney lobby for said regulation in the first place, it crushes all their smaller competitors for them.

for what it's worth the data doesn't seem to be backing this up. if both these claims were true, you'd expect to see a multitude of pieces of regulation that disney supported, and few if any pieces of regulation that disney opposed, but this quick overview of some of disney world's political spending on florida trend [x] doesn't show that. now admittedly this is just the partial info for the disney world division in florida specifically, and not a general overview of all their political spending, so if anyone has more complete data i'd be interested to hear it. that said, i think it's a decent slice of data to start with.

in fairness, here we can find one notable example of disney lobbying for regulation- namely when they funded efforts to support Amendment 3, which would have prevented any more large casino chains from opening in florida, so that disney world could avoid competing with major casino chains like Genting and Las Vegas Sands. and, to be fair, as noted in the article this was a pretty major driver of campaign spending.

however, A: this was primarily aimed at combating rival megacorps, not combating small businesses, (and naturally the casino megacorps disney was fighting were spending their lobbying money to combat said regulation) and B: this was the only time in the article we see disney fighting for regulation rather than against. examples in the article of disney lobbying against regulation include:

By virtue of its size and economic importance, Disney has always been an influential voice in state politics. But the company had found itself on the losing end in a series of lobbying battles — among them, a fight with the National Rifle Association about whether employees could bring guns to work.

this is an important example of how regulation of private enterprise is sometimes necessary to preserve our fundamental rights- if disney can say employees can't bring guns to work even if they keep them in their parked car, what's to stop landlords from saying tenets can't bring guns in their apartment? if you value the right to bear arms, you should understand why sometimes the power of private enterprise over employees and customers must sometimes be curbed.

Disney also battled with personal-injury attorneys about whether parents could sign away the liability rights of their children and with counties and hotel chains about how online travel companies should be taxed.

[...]

Disney’s 2018 spending included $1 million on Amendment 2, which keeps a tax cap in place that limits increases in the taxable value of commercial and other non-homestead property from rising more than 10% per year. Records show Disney was by far the largest donor to a Florida Chamber of Commerce-backed political committee used to promote the amendment. The cap saved Disney more than $6 million last year alone through reduced property tax payments to Orange County and the South Florida Water Management District.

[...]

As prominent as Disney has made itself on the campaign trail, lawmakers who have worked with the company say it still tries hard to maintain a low profile while lobbying — to avoid having its brand linked with potentially controversial public policies. Disney, for example, has exerted “significant influence” on the Legislature to not pass a law requiring employers to use the e-Verify system to ensure they aren’t employing undocumented workers, says former Senate President Don Gaetz, a Republican from Okaloosa County.

[...]

Cloaked or not, the company enjoyed a number of successes in the 2019 legislative session. Late in the session, as lawmakers finalized a broad tax package, Disney — working through the Florida Retail Federation — persuaded lawmakers to add an extra sales-tax break that will help big retailers who order too much inventory and wind up not selling it all. Retailers generally don’t have to pay sales tax when they order inventory because they are planning to resell it to consumers. The sale to consumers is the transaction that’s supposed to be taxed. But retailers must pay the tax on whatever they don’t sell, since they have become the end user of the product. Disney has for years donated its leftover inventory to charities. So the company persuaded the Legislature to create a sales tax exemption for the leftover inventory that goes to charity. Economists expect the new tax break will save retailers about $5 million a year. Disney won’t say how much it expects to save itself. Disney also worked quietly to reshape a bill, which it objected to in 2018, that would have exposed hotel operators to civil lawsuits if they failed to do enough to prevent human trafficking.

i'll leave it for the reader to consider why disney would want to combat regulation which might cause them to be held accountable for facilitating human trafficking.

Disney even won some changes in state rules for how tourist venues manage all the stuff — from hats to strollers to phones — that visitors lose or leave behind. Generally, businesses are supposed to alert law enforcement and must hold on to lost property for 90 days before they can dispose of it. But that has become cumbersome for Disney — and for Universal Orlando, Central Florida’s other big theme-park resort — which must devote lots of warehouse space simply to holding lost-and-found items. Disney helped write a bill establishing new rules for theme parks, hotels and some other commercial venues that requires them to hold the property for just 30 days and then donate it directly to charity.

looking outside the article to other examples of disney's political lobbying, we find them lobbying against minimum wage laws [x]

Five years ago, on Nov. 6, 2018, the city’s voters approved Measure L, which mandated that “area resort workers” — Disneyland employees, basically — must be paid a living wage if the parent company receives city subsidies. The Walt Disney Company, which at the time was paying some of its workers the state-mandated $11 an hour minimum, fought the measure bitterly, and the ordinance spent most of the next five years kicking around the state court system as a class-action lawsuit sought to force the company to comply. Only in late October, when the California Supreme Court declined to hear Disney’s final appeal, did Measure L become settled city law.

we can also find disney lobbying against heat safety regulations (and against raises to the minimum wage at the same time, a twofer) [x]

House Bill 433 prohibits local governments from passing legislation that protects workers from extreme heat and laws requiring companies to raise the minimum wage beyond the state’s current $12 an hour. But now, we’re learning more about how this bill was passed and the role that Disney World played in helping to remove basic protections from outdoor workers, including cast members. According to Jason Garcia of Seeking Rents, the Florida Chamber of Commerce and Associated Industries of Florida donated more than $2 million to mostly Republican legislatures and another $1 million to the Florida Republican Party. The two lobbying groups expected House Bill 433 to become law for those donations.

[...]

Local government officials in South Florida were considering passing heat protections after the death of migrant farm workers of heat stroke. These laws would have prohibited work in extreme Florida heat and mandatory water breaks for workers. The possibility of these laws stopping work became dangerous to businesses in Florida, which would have had to shut down in extreme heat. Thus, donations to politicians were made to get this bill passed.

[...]

The law was wildly unpopular, with hundreds of civic groups opposing it. That outrage nearly killed the bill. However, according to Garcia, with just one day left in the legislative session, lobbyists sent texts to lawmakers to ensure the bill’s passage.

so what can we see from all this? first, that there are more pieces of regulation that large businesses lobby against than regulations that they lobby for, so the claim that businesses are the primary force behind pushing regulation is patently false and B: when businesses do support regulation in order to pursue their financial interests, this is mainly in order to combat rival large corporations, not small businesses. because fundamentally large businesses don't have to worry that much about competition from small businesses, because fundamentally small businesses can't compete. a small business would have had to expand to the point of being a large corporation long before it would be something disney would have to worry about "competing" with instead of just buying out or ignoring entirely. you think that a megacorp like disney is worried about competition from a little mom and pop shop? get real.

Fines for breaking the rules, for example, always disproportionately affect small businesses where large corporations either have enough money to pay those fines and be unaffected by them, or have the legal teams to get around them.

a few responses to this. the first is, so what? laws against murder, rape, assault, etc are all easier for the rich to dodge, and yet we don't decide murder should be legal. the solution to that imbalance is to be more serious about holding rich people accountable for these crimes, or for fine-related punishment to scale the fine to income, not to get rid of the laws altogether. if a regulation outlaws genuinely abusive or harmful behavior from a company, the way that small companies can avoid that fine is by simply not engaging in abusive or harmful behavior.

secondly, plenty of regulations nonetheless have specific exemptions for small businesses anyway. for example

In general, if your business is under $50 million in annual sales and your fuel or additive has traditional chemistry, then you are exempt from the health effects testing requirements. If you have non-traditional chemistry and are under $10 million in annual sales, you are exempt from some of the testing. EPA staff can discuss testing requirements.

[x]

or for another example:

The Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act requires packaged foods and dietary supplements to bear nutrition labeling unless they qualify for an exemption (A complete description of the requirements). One exemption, for low-volume products, applies if the person claiming the exemption employs fewer than an average of 100 full-time equivalent employees and fewer than 100,000 units of that product are sold in the United States in a 12-month period. To qualify for this exemption the person must file a notice annually with FDA. Note that low volume products that bear nutrition claims do not qualify for an exemption of this type. Another type of exemption applies to retailers with annual gross sales of not more than $500,000, or with annual gross sales of foods or dietary supplements to consumers of not more than $50,000. For these exemptions, a notice does not need to be filed with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). On May 7, 2007, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) launched a new web-based submission process for small businesses to file an annual notice of exemption from the nutrition labeling requirements. The new process will make it easier for businesses to update their information. In addition, firms eligible for the exemption will receive an electronic reminder when it is time to resubmit their nutrition labeling small business exemption notice.

[x]

or yet another:

Manufacturers of consumer products covered by the Department of Energy (DOE) standards with annual gross revenues not exceeding $8 million from all its operations, including the manufacture and sale of covered products, for the 12-month period preceding the date of application, may apply for a temporary exemption from all or part of an energy or water conservation standard. (42 U.S.C. 6295 (t))

[x]

so, no, regulations are not a sinister trick of large corporations to crush small business, because if they were they wouldn't specifically exempt small businesses.

does this mean that @priveetru was right? are regulations an important part of maintaining ideal market conditions and thus creating Real Capitalism, which is Good?

also no.

first, it's all "real capitalism". more regulated, less regulated, it's still Real Capitalism. and as demonstrated by the things going on around us, right now, real capitalism is Bad.

as @traveling-spartan pointed out, large corporations can simply afford to pay or dodge any fees for breaking regulation (though overall they would prefer not to have to, hence why they usually fight against regulation) and small businesses are often exempt from regulations in the first place. so who do regulations actually prevent from economic malfeasance?

nobody. not a soul. they're a completely ineffective bandaid on a bazooka wound which accomplishes nothing.

regulated or unregulated, all market economies tend towards consolidation. on a long enough timeline, all small businesses either are successful enough to become large businesses, are unsuccessful enough to go out of business, or are average enough to get bought out. it's an inevitable part of capitalism as it actually exists, and no matter what fantasy you chase after of a hypothetical, imaginary, impossible "real" capitalism, whether this fantasy is laissez-faire or tightly regulated, you will never escape that reality.

if you want to solve the problem, you can't keep chasing after an imaginary "real capitalism". instead you need to move past capitalism altogether. if you want to address the fact that bill gates and other billionaires are monopolizing farmland and therefore gaining control over our very subsistence, the solution to that isn't to sit around praying to the invisible hand of the free market to save us, and it's also not begging and pleading the existing bourgeoisie state to Le Heckin Tax The Billionaires. the real solution is for regular working class people like us to rise up and take back what is rightfully ours, and create a new state that actually serves the needs of the working people and not just the owning class.

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writingpencil · 10 months ago

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Kamryn

I was always a child that was sickly pale. My parents always told me so. I was always malnourished, and I rarely ate, despite every attempt my parents had to feed me. They were always scared I would die, I guess the fear was what caused them to die instead of me. Months, I counted myself, marking the days off on the calendar with my pencils, they wasted away in bed. They, themselves, were sickly pale. They would throw up everything I made for them to eat, which, admittedly, wasn’t much. Eight year old me only knew how to make sandwiches, and open boxes. At least I was competent enough to grab mom’s credit card and go shopping, though I was always put off by the looks people gave me. The first time was fine, they were even amused, but the more I came, the more worried they got.

I went shopping every two weeks, like mom. I got the stuff for sandwiches, snacks, my favorite juice, and dad’s favorite ice cream. Eight year old me never forgot the ice cream. Even when my parents stopped breathing, I never forgot. My thirtieth shopping trip put an end to it. The cashier kept asking me questions, I remember most of them being about school and stuff like my favorite color, and her co-worker called the police. I thought riding in the police car home was cool. The officer even helped me put away groceries. I remember offering him a sandwich, and he denied and asked me where my parents were. I told him my parents don’t like strangers in their rooms, so the officer lied to me and said he was a family friend.

The look on his face when he saw my deceased parents is something I can’t forget. All color drained from his face, his pupils dilated so much I thought they would disappear forever, his mouth hung open as realization struck him where he stood. I brought him water when he wretched his guts out, apologizing for the mess. Summer was mostly a blur after that. I remember being put between foster home after foster home until my next relatives were found. It didn’t last a summer. My parents were always private people, always hiding things somewhere. I understood. At least their funeral was nice, though it was only me and my foster family. They didn’t have to stay, I told them such, but they wanted to be supportive. It was nice.

Two years were spent in foster homes, and I moved around the state often. Once, I went out of state with a family to live in their lake house for a few weeks during summer. I learned how to fish, and to swim. The ladies were very nice, they tried to adopt me, but the system refused them. I had family somewhere anyways. They should give their love to someone without such luxury.

It was the last day of school when I heard the news. I came home to my foster family, the Dividsons, sitting with the officer, Mr. Apricot. He found my godparents. Apparently, my parents assigned an aunt and uncle the title of godparents. I never met any of my family before, so when the officer told me they were coming to pick me up, I was nervous. I was almost ten years old, my birthday was in August, and that was a long time of not knowing somebody. I was worried they wouldn’t like me.

Sometimes I wish that was all I was worried about these days.

Least to say, I wasn’t anything like my godparents. Gwendolyn and Percival Aslett were rich, far richer than my parents ever were. My parents were upper-middle class at best, the Asletts probably had celebrities and politicians on speed dial. They were older than my parents though, early thirties was my general guess. The Asletts never really told me, and I never really asked, but Mrs. Aslett said my mom was her baby sister, and that’s all the information I needed. When Ms. Aslett told me that, I said mom never really mentioned she had a sister before.

Ms. Aslett told me Mom had five, counting Ms. Aslett herself, on top of a pair of brothers. Dad was the only child among my parents, I found out. I guess it shouldn’t have surprised me, Dad never was good in high pressure situations, or around other people. Mom was better at that than him.

I didn’t look like Mrs. and Mr. Aslett either. Mrs. Aslett was plump, with sun-kissed skin, blue eyes, and dark blonde, voluminous, curly hair that could probably work as a floaty. Mr. Aslett had dark brown skin, dark brown eyes, short black hair, and a perfect smile with a small gap between his two front teeth. They both were really beautiful, and dressed like they knew it too. Mrs. Aslett wore a short yellow dress`with a pair of wedges, which made her taller than Mr. Aslett, though I don’t think he minded. Mr. Aslett wore a suit with a pair of butterfly flaps. I originally thought the suit was black, but it was actually a very dark blue. Compared to them, I looked like a homeless person. I was my usually sickly pale, with Dad’s light brown hair, and Mom’s blue eyes. I still was skin and bones thin, but I had gotten better when the Dividsons continuously brought me snacks. I’d never been able to deny the snacks, I was a guest in their home after all.

Despite the differences, Mrs. and Mr. Aslett welcomed me with open arms. Mrs. Aslett hugged me tightly, telling me it was going to be okay now. Mr. Aslett said, in his proud voice, that we were going to be a family. The Dividsons and Mr. Apricot were happy for me, and Mr. Apricot even escorted us to Mrs. and Mr. Aslett’s estate. I remember being too nervous to ride in their car with them, so I rode with Mr. Apricot. They didn’t take it personally.

Their home was massive to me, a pearly white and gold mansion like something out of a movie. A prestigious garden, that they prided themselves on, a massive fence to protect them alongside bodyguards, a long list of staff members, ranging from maids and butlers, to lawyers and accountants. I remember being terrified to go inside at first. I was actually terrified of the two bodyguards that stood outside the door. I was a mouse compared to them, I’m only glad I realized they would protect me, not hurt me.

I felt dizzy in their home. Everything was big, loud, and proud. Luxurious, prestigious, expensive. I actually hid behind Mr. Apricot, clutching onto his uniform trying to keep myself upright. It was something I had to do the entire tour. The foyer, the hallways, the living room, the ballroom, the music room - where I fell in love with their piano - and the kitchen. Mr. Aslett asked for a glass of water for me, I think he knew I was overwhelmed, and one of the chefs gave the water to me. Called me the most polite little child she ever knew. Yanaye King was her name. I told her: “I’d agree with you, but then we’d both be wrong.”

There was always someone more polite. Everyone laughed, and Miss. King said I was a charmer. I thanked her for the compliment, and we moved on to the dining room. There were many chairs along the table, forty-two, twenty on each side and one on each end. I remember asking why there were so many chairs, and Mrs. Aslett said that our family always gathered for dinner here on weekdays. When I asked why, she said it was because everybody was close. Weekends, however, were for individual families.

We went to the second floor, where bedrooms and offices were. Mrs. Aslett said that her and Mr. Aslett’s bedroom was called the master bedroom, and was the third, and last, door on the left of the right hallway. Mrs. Aslett’s office was connected to the bedroom, along with their bathroom, but Mr. Aslett’s office was the second door on the right side of the right hallway. The other two doors are for a small library and a pool table, for when Mr. Aslett has friends over. The left hallway was for employees and their families. Some had terrible living situations, so the Asletts housed them instead. I guess it was nice, but I was only nine, almost ten, I didn’t really care then.

The third floor had a few more bedrooms, alongside a second living room, a home movie theatre, and a staircase to the attic no one had touched in years. There were just old boxes and dusty furniture. At that point in the tour, the Asletts decided they could show me outside tomorrow. When they asked me to pick a room, I asked for the attic. I guess it caught them off guard, cause they tried to make absolutely sure I wanted the attic. I did. It’s been my bedroom since.

I only vaguely remember the tour of the pool, the pool house, the garden hedge statues, or even the small orchard of apple trees. I do remember the tour of the garden maze. Only because that was the first time I saw my parents since the funeral. Every corner Mr. Aslett guided me through, because he knew the maze like the back of his hand, I would see them just in the corner of my eyes. When I went to get a better look, I saw them only for a millisecond, then they were gone. At the center of the maze, they were there, as if to congratulate me, though their smiles were nowhere to be found. It frightened me. I never knew my parents without their smiles. Their blank expressions, with their eyes entirely fixated on me, were entirely foreign to me.

I like to think I was a rational child. My parents were dead, died because they were sick, their bodies were in a shared casket in the ground. I knew that. Mr. Aslett couldn’t see them, he was busy describing the fountain. So, while he was distracted, I went over to my parents. They were sitting on a bench together, holding hands, and Mom reached her free hand out to me.

My hand went right through hers, and the touch was so cold, I swear I could’ve gotten frostbite. I wasn’t careful then. Mom blinked, finally, and pressed her hand to my cheek. I heard her whisper my name, but her mouth didn’t move. I wanted to cry, but I was barely a crier. The tears slid down my cheeks like burning hot wax, my eyes stung something malicious.

Mr. Aslett put his hands on my shoulders, and I remember jumping. It didn’t help that my parents disappeared once again. Mr. Aslett said something about the bench, how it was hand carved by his father-in-law and my mom, how they both carved their names into it. I stared at Mom’s name, carved right into the seat like he said.

I always scold my younger self for not realizing what was happening sooner, realize that it was just the beginning, but I’ve always been harsh on myself. Even every therapist I ever had agreed with me. I was nine. An impressionable child. However, with the knowledge I have now, if my therapists knew the extent of what I did, I doubt they would be kind with their words.

All throughout the summer, I was slowly introduced to normality and the rest of the Asletts. Truly. I am thankful Gwendolyn and Percieval Aslett were assigned my godparents, I would lose myself in the madness of the rest of the family otherwise. How nine-year-old me handled the first dinner is a mystery, even to me. Something I would read in the novels in the library. The insanity was accompanied by my parents, who always stood behind me, but disappeared when I went to look at them. I considered that, perhaps, they were protecting me, in some manner of speaking, from the other Asletts.

Forty chairs for five sisters, two brothers, and their own families.

Gwendolyn Aslett was the oldest of the sisters and brothers, with Ashlyn Aslett a close second. Ashlyn Aslett wasn’t married to any person, just her career and image. She was much less sun-kissed, her blonde hair was borderline brown, her blue eyes were so dark, I remember feeling intimidated. It didn’t help that she never smiled. Ashlyn Aslett wore black suits and red ties, kept her hair in a messy bun that was out of the way, and always kept her reading glasses on, even when there wasn’t anything to be read. She was also a bitter older woman, a politician who always had something to complain about. It was either too hot or too cold. It was either too loud or too quiet. The food was too salty, or the wine wasn’t red enough to her liking. She was just like that. A bitter old woman who was rejected too many times, and decided to be the one to reject everything.

Next was Thiago Aslett. To put it simply, he was a conman. Someone small who looked at the big world, and decided to pretend to be bigger. He dressed the part too: a dark blue suit with a black tie, blonde hair gelled back, blue eyes as charming as could be, clean shaven. Pyramid schemes, bogus merchandise, even sent someone to the hospital for acid burns because of some lipstick. If there was a profit to be made, Thiago Aslett was there. I guess it pays to be good-looking. He was always on his phone too. Unlike Ashlyn Aslett, Thiago was married. To his sixth wife. Skye Schroeder was her name, an absolute snake. She was a woman too thin, too high cheekbones, too boney. She was fair-skinned, caked in makeup, with dark brown hair, and these creepy green eyes. She always wore too revealing dresses in colors that just didn’t suit her, mostly eye bleeding pinks, and she always moved like she was slithering. A snake. I guess a conman like Thiago Aslett just like marrying reptiles like Skye Schroeder.

April and June Aslett were identical twins with separate personalities and an insane rivalry. April and June both married to handsome men, Fred Hale and Adam Grant respectively, and each had three kids. They both worked in the house restoring business, both dressed classy and feminine, their husbands stayed home, their kids were homeschooled. Despite the rivalry, they both acted casually to the other, with just a hint of bitterness in their voice. Fred Hale and Adam Grant were sweethearts. Good men with golden hearts. Both were either oblivious to their wives’s fighting, or were too tired from being fathers, teachers, and homemakers. If I did have to choose a side, I’d say Fred Hale had it worse. Heaven, Serenity, and Christian were monsters, leaving destruction in their wake no matter where they went. Aryan, Sylas, and Dawn at least knew when to settle down, that or they pitied their father.

The last sister was Logan “Kit” Aslett, a woman on the extreme side of Thiago Aslett’s crimes. Organized crime, to be exact. Kit was a type of wine mom, in the sense that she drank a lot of wine and was a mom. She kept her hair short, her smile mischievous, and her secrets close. Kit also had a lot of boyfriends, getting them and dumping them when she pleased, but always keeping it at six - whether she does it purposely or subconsciously, I couldn’t tell you. She had a wife too, named Anikina, who took Aslett as her last name. Real friendly woman, an accountant, though she runs a couple laundromats which are definitely money laundering schemes. I learned a bit of Russian and Slavic from Anikina, enough to ask questions and understand the answers anyways. With Kit’s boyfriends, there was only one who stayed since I was nine. His name was River, and he also took the Aslett name, as did his kids. I think the kids are why Kit stays with him, or maybe she genuinely stills loves him, she was not a person easily predictable. River is a doctor, smart too. I mean, he’s kept his mouth shut about what Kit does. At least he knows that doing otherwise would get him and the kids killed. Speaking of those kids, there were six of them, with a seventh on the way. In order, from oldest to youngest, there’s Guinevere, Peregrine, Wolf, Valentine, Casimir, Scout, and the new baby is going to be named Tegan. I think it’s pretty, but maybe I’m biased.

Lastly, but certainly not least, was Cain Aslett. Arguably the most normal of the Asletts on the surface. It was my parents who guided me to the unfortunate truth that Cain Aslett was a black widow. I didn’t know much about rich people’s tastes. Eight years later I still didn’t know. However, I guess I could see how someone would fall for Cain Aslett. A man with curly, blonde hair that he tied back into a ponytail, striking blue eyes, paired with sun-kissed skin and a signature smile? He might’ve made it big in the film or modelling industry if he wasn’t a manipulative spider. I’m only thankful my parents decided to tell me when I was older. A sixteen year old, or at least me at sixteen, understood better than my nine-year-old self ever could.

Cain Aslett also had a child, two years older than me, who went by Glass. They were non-binary, smoked candy cigarettes because they liked the colorful smoke, carried a pocket knife everywhere, and definietly took their mother’s genes. Glass’s hair was a platinum, almost white, color, their eyes were pink, their dark brown skin were dotted in freckles and body art - which, when we were older, they got permanently tattooed. I like thinking Glass was always that cool, even when we were kids, but I knew that they and I were introverts who didn’t catch onto social cues well.

The rest of the chairs were for other family members or special guests. Grandpa and Grandma Aslett did join dinner, it was my very first one after all. They spoiled me rotten, still do. Grandpa Aslett said he was already planning on getting me my very own horse to stay at his and Grandma’s ranch, with riding lessons if I was interested. Grandma Aslett was a little more reasonable, giving me an iron ring with the Aslett crest - which was a dagger covered in primroses. I remember, clearly, my dad putting his freezing hand on my shoulder and squeezing it when I put on the ring. Though his mouth didn’t move, I heard dad telling me to be careful.

The dinner itself was less memorable then the people I was related to. It was one of many dinners, and after eight years worth of them, they start bleeding together. What stuck with me, however, was how many of my parents’ requests took place at dinner. Since the first day, they asked me to do things. Who was I to deny the wishes of the deceased? I was a child, their son, it never occured to me not to listen to my parents until I was older.

Their wishes were simplistic enough in the beginning. Say this to her, ask this of him. They just wanted me to ask questions, and I only started copying down answers when I was thirteen. By then, most questions and answers were willingly let go. I didn’t think they were important when I was younger. Then, after a couple weeks, the requests became a little strange. Catch a brown mouse from the garden, bring it inside, let it run loose in the kitchen. Dinner was cancelled that night. When Grandpa Aslett brought me to the ranch, he showed me my horse, a mare with a black mane and white coat. He explained that every family member had a horse. Even Mom and Dad.

They asked me to name the horse Margot. Which I did. Grandpa Aslett looked disturbed, but quickly covered it up. Grandma Aslett looked like she was going to faint. I couldn’t forget that, thankfully. Truthfully, though, I felt awful. Grandma and Grandpa Aslett are genuinely kind people, perhaps not on the same level as Gwendolyn or Percival, but genuine enough. Mom and Dad aren’t as forgiving, I learnt this more times than I should’ve.

From the mouse and Margo, Dad made a special request before my birthday: Get some chocolate chip cookie dough. His favorite ice cream. I told Mrs. Aslett that it was the kind of ice cream I wanted for my birthday. While she was more than happy to get it, I heard Cain Aslett choke on a cough in the next room. On the day of my birthday, when Kit asked me what I wanted, Mom gave me my answer.

“I want to go to Niagara Falls.”

The bitter silence from the adults in the room was deafening. They all shared glances of uneasiness, save for Gwendolyn and Percival. Mom smiled, but I didn’t feel like smiling. I don’t think I could’ve even if I wanted to. Even with how uncomfortable it made them feel, the Asletts took me to Niagara Falls. The waterfall was cool, I suppose. But all I remember is how Valentine almost toppled over the edge, rescued by River. Valentine was five at the time, yet he was horrified by heights and even water from then on. Casimir chose to laugh at the story whenever it's told. He was two, stuck by Kit and Anikina like a leech, unable to remember Valentine’s terror.

Mom’s smile became even wider when it happened.

I followed request after request, from both Mom and Dad, when they required it from me. I cannot count how many times I woke up in the middle of the night, only to see Mom and Dad standing over me, waiting in the shadowy silence. Even during school, they gave me tasks. I was a puppet, I realized this, but most of what they asked was harmless. I considered them on the same playing field as pranks, or a kid asking harmless questions. It wasn’t until I was thirteen, when I truly started looking for answers, when I realized how dangerous it was to listen to vengeful apparitions.

It was three in the morning, and I woke up with Dad standing over me. I remember jumping, but calming down and mumbling a good morning. Dad whispered to me to follow him. Which I did. I shuffled after Dad, asking where we were going so late, but he never answered.

He guided me to the kitchen, empty of any chefs. The only person there was Mom, holding the largest kitchen knife I’d ever seen. She smiled, so wide and unnatural. I could see the entirety of her gums, and her mouth seemed to stretch beyond her cheeks. I looked up at Dad, and he suddenly had the same smile. Just thinking about those smiles sends shivers down my spine.

They asked me to kill Ashlyn Aslett.

I quickly denied. They started to scold me for not listening to them. Mom raising her voice terrified me, and Dad sounded so disappointed, setting a hand on my shoulder, encouraging me to make him and Mom happy. I remember quickly being overwhelmed, screaming so loudly I lost my voice for two weeks.

Gwendolyn and Percival, as well as some of the staff, found me, alone, in the kitchen screaming, crying, with a knife just a foot away from me. Understandably, they were concerned. Gwendolyn and Percival were so apologetic to me, saying they wished they realized how I was feeling sooner. I didn’t correct them. It wasn’t entirely a lie anyways. Plus, the therapy sessions helped me.

Since that night, Mom and Dad didn’t make themselves known. Not a sight, a hearing, not even the feeling that they were there. It was just me for the past five years. I learned to play piano, ride horses, and take care of myself better - though I still had a sickly complexion. I fell in love with art, took up painting in my spare time. High school was a bit of a bore, but I received my driver's license, dated a few classmates before ultimately staying single in my final year. I was looking forward to prom too.

I spill my secrets with you now, because there’s only a small guarantee that I will survive tonight. If tonight is the last time I’m seen, then let it be known why.

The door to my closet opened, a ghastly chill swept over my room. A pair of boney hands, with fingernails that were sharp like daggers, pushed the doors apart. From the darkness were four pairs of glowing red eyes, accompanied by unnatural wide smiles. I can say, right now, the only reason I’m alive is because they’re waiting for me to wake up. They’re hoping to get lucky and have this be one of the nights I wake up before dawn. They were lucky. All I need is to be luckier and pray they don’t notice.

Or get impatient.

“K a m r y n…” I kept my eyes shut.

Shit.

#writers #writing #creative writing #writeblr #writers on tumblr #writer #horror #horror writing #original fiction #horror story #horror fiction #story writing

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mdhwrites · 10 months ago

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Star Rail 2.1: Rising Like a Phoenix (Spoiler Free)

This is one of those sorts of drops for a franchise that makes the bad content look worse. I dislike 2.0 MORE after 2.1 and for a pretty obvious reason: I like Aventurine now. I know for a lot of people that might be a non controversial statement but I did an almost a scene by scene breakdown for how much I didn't think he worked in 2.0. That anything they were going for was entirely flawed.

But they got back on track and now gave us arguably one of the best main content drops in all of Star Rail... But definitely not the best to me. I still have issues with this patch but compared to where I thought Penacony started, the fact that it's now well surpassed the Loufu already as a story is miraculous.

Admittedly, it's probably rivaling starting to try and rival the Loufu and Belobog separately in cutscene length at this point. There are definitely times during this patch where they could have used the FF 14 "Multiple cutscenes are about to play in a row" warning because BOY does this patch talk a lot. It has a lot to say which is good but...

Well, unfortunately without spoilers, I'm going to sound very negative about this patch. I swear I do like it. It has interesting character work and world building to it, some of which would have been hard not to run into these sorts of problems with, and the topics are good enough to warrant real discussions of them. There's just one major problem with it.

Their engine and the fact that this still needs to go on a phone.

Presentation is the death of this patch. I want to do a whole blog on this but I've once heard a reviewer say that one of the hardest things to make interesting is "Two people talking in a room." I actually disagree with that statement, almost anything done entirely alone (which ironically is one of the parts the game tries harder with when that eventually happened) is harder but... It's not a bad supposition. After all, if all they're doing is talking, not even arguing, you can end up just having it feel like an exposition dump. Even if it's entirely character work, it can still feel like we're being told a lot instead of being shown it.

And this patch has a lot of moment, especially early on with Aventurine, where it would get thrown back with "Show, don't tell." Not just because it's character stuff but ANYTHING to break up what is going on in these scenes. There's way too many, that chain into each other, that are just people standing in environments we've already spent time in (or are just not that visually interesting in general) just standing there, talking. Some are better, even great at this in the patch, but not enough of it is. I actually had to take a break midway through it because it was all coming in as a tiring drone that was giving me a headache from how much it was just getting on my nerves for being boring.

And I kind of have to assume part of that is a concession to the mobile market which admittedly, I'm not a part of. Star Rail is literally the first gacha game I've EVER stuck with for more than a week. I play it on my PC which runs almost anything that hits the market at top graphics even four years after I got it. So I probably feel this weird disconnect of Star Rail both being a AA game and it being a mobile game more than some might.

But it also begs the question of how much could they do in scenes? How much does their engine support that? The majority of cutscenes in the game are pre-rendered after all. There are VERY few gestures built into their dialogue system, at least as far as I can tell, which mostly come down to "Arms crossed, arms dropped, maybe a couple small facial expression changes." It all makes for a very monotonous presentation that can only be saved so much with the writing.

Even in a book, this would be most unacceptable. You'd still expect breaks from the dialogue to get into a character's head, detail their fidgets, their thoughts, show what others are doing and giving character flairs to add personality to scenes. Just SOMETHING to make it feel less boring and monotonous.

Which is the weird Catch 22 of this patch. It is the sharpest Star Rail has ever been with its writing... But it's also potentially its most boring. Again, not all of it and the climax is heck of a thing, but it's still one of the few times where I just wanted the game to shut up and let me do ANYTHING. It's one of the few times I've ever needed a break during main story content besides when the Loufu pissed me off in 1.1. Being angry would still have been more of a reaction than a lot of what this patch was causing out of me.

But the boring elements will also fade and I'll be left with the best moments in my memory so I suspect that unlike 2.0, where I actually keep forgetting about how good the Firefly stuff is because the bad felt more important to me and stuck with me more, I'll forget the bad and keep the good. You know, like the fact that Welt probably gives his best performance in the entire game in this patch, or the fact that I think the game is genuinely good at some of its politicking. Its mystery is still not great by ANY means but its leaning more into the strengths of Penacony at this point which is good.

It is a patch that has resold me on the game, both for why I'm bothering to stick around and more literally in that I'm DEFINITELY pulling for Aventurine when he comes around and getting Topaz to go with him when she comes around. Helps that losing my 50/50 and my 75/25 on Acheron got me both Clara and her Lightcone finally, giving me one of the best follow up attackers in the game.

And I do think I should mention that this patch just continues the fact that Star Rail is still one of the best turn based RPGs out there right now, let alone for the price, and this patch doesn't disappoint on that front. But I'd need to get more into spoilers for that so for today, thank you all, good luck on your pulls and see you next tale.

======+++++======

My UID, because I'm trying to include this on Star Rail posts more often. 601902728

I have a public Discord for any and all who want to join!

I also have an Amazon page for all of my original works in various forms of character focused romances from cute, teenage romance to erotica series of my past. I have an Ao3 for my fanfiction projects as well if that catches your fancy instead. If you want to hang out with me, I stream from time to time and love to chat with chat.

A Twitter you can follow too

And a Kofi if you like what I do and want to help out with the fact that disability doesn’t pay much.

#hsr aventurine #honkai star rail #hsr #Honkai spoilers #star rail spoilers

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ifearifearifear · 7 months ago

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The FNAF Multiverse (4/10)

Part four, we're getting in it, now.

Chapter 4: Universes

In our last two chapters, we defined the different two main genres of universes in this multiverse. Canon and fanmade. But I never really took the time to explain what a universe is. So here, we’ll be doing exactly that.

Universes, in the context of the multiverse, are independent ‘worlds’ that exist between Z0 and Z-1. They may be part of larger systems, but they function normally without the support of external bodies.

For example, the GAMES universe does not need the TRILOGY universe to function, and vice versa. A piece of fan content like AVS or BTC - while they couldn’t be created independently, due to influences from the canons - can exist independently without issue, as are both fully formed worlds. And the same with other fanmedias, like Spring-trapped, DSaF, the House Party comics, or Tony Crynight’s FNAF series. (I know some of those are real throwbacks. My apologies.) They can exist independently because they aren’t built as elaborations upon canon, but instead as reinterpretations, what-ifs, and stories built to stand on their own.

On a smaller scale, things can be defined a bit differently.

Locally, universes are exactly what they sound like. They’re universes. They can be different in any number of ways, have different events, different characters, different themes, different settings. In this multiverse, the universes typically have some amount in common overall, though what exactly that is varies widely. Some universes merely have their character designs linking them to canon, being functionally distinct, but still recognizable. Most, though, have more shared ideas than just designs.

Typically, universes have a main story, sometimes with alternative timelines that aren’t the creator’s main focus - though some take the form of elaborate webs of timelines, in the form of games with multiple paths, and choose-your-own-adventure stories. These auxiliary timelines functionally exist in the same universe as the main timeline, running in parallel. Note that the term timeline is typically used only to an alternative series of events documented by the creator of the universe, and not fanworks that document a hypothetical series of events. And yet other universes have no particular story, at all.

The most interesting part of universes, however (on the multiversal scale), is how they interact with other universes, and, on occasion, reality. Because they can, and frequently do, interact. Admittedly, canon is quite restricted - but fanmade universes are much freer in terms of interactions. I’ll go further in-depth at a later point, but for now, I’d like to touch on the ways that universes - on a multiversal scale - change with time.

There have always been ‘trends’ within the fan-creator community. As people’s understandings of characters have evolved, many shifts have occurred over the years.

For example, looking further back - or in spatial terms, towards the edges of the multiverse - there’s a particular interpretation of a character, which doesn’t really exist anymore. That being: Purple Guy. Today, that moniker is mostly used in jest - but at one time, it was the only name we had for the man responsible for most of the story. And it was reflective of our rather limited knowledge of him. Which, in turn, allowed for more freedom of interpretation, for better and for worse.

Today, many universes that used that name have been deserted, for any number of reasons. Loss of interest, inaccuracies, toxicity, simply being too busy to continue.

And very fact that raises a question. What happens to universes that are abandoned? What becomes of stories that are discontinued? That’s what we’ll be covering in our next chapter.

- Chapter Navigation -

- 1 * 2 * 3 * 4 * 5 * 6 * 7 * 8 * 9 * 10 -

#ififif-FNAFM #Five Nights At Freddy's #Five Nights At Freddys #FNAF #FNAF AU

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mezzo-mezzo-man · 1 year ago

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College is a bitch, but I can't say that I'm any less of one. I tried to draft a post in the week leading up to my departure from home about missing the familiar splotches of green mixed in with gray geometry of cost effective city planning. How I would long for the same parallax as streets and alleys rolled by, and the ever present hum of the interstate two hundred yards from my house in the small hours of the morning.

What I've found myself missing the most is Ruby. We had been together for just under two years, and just under two weeks out from the severance of our official romantic relationship I realize that the geographical cocoon that spawned me will remain ever-present and my relationship to her will not.

I spent a regretful amount of time in our intersected lives feeling lukewarm to the idea of loving her back. I hate how long it took me to really mean it. I hate how narcissistic I was. I hate how long I felt so little for her. I of course, had issues—still do—and though I don't want them to be an excuse, I saw aging out of childhood in capitalist America as like being on vacation with a gun to your head, and it made me crazy. I am an odd flavor of legitimately caring (albeit in reserve) and skilled enough at manipulation to convince people that I care more than I do, and though I think that anyone in my situation would be just as megalomaniacal with their small bit of influence, she deserved so so much better. And if there is one thing in life I'm sorry for, it's not being better to someone who clearly loved me so much.

Ruby is everything you would want someone who loves you to be. She is funny, and though she lives a lot of her life in flux between her humor being muted and summoning the social wherewithal to vocalize it, she has always been absurdly funny; even on the nearly silent days. She is brave—and not in that she does any more dangerous things than idiots such as myself, but in that she lives her life farther outside of her comfort zone for longer periods of time in the name of fun and growth and beauty than any other person I've ever met. She lives in a better more well-kept house than me, and she knows how to be happy. She distinguishes and decides, and admittedly needs encouragement to act but she is wonderfully skilled at recognizing her feelings towards everything. She is a feminist; she exhibits feminine fashion and indulges in the culture and vernacular while exuding strength and fortitude. She is not toxic, she uses her support system and doesn't put up with my bullshit when I throw it her way. Ruby is gorgeous. Some people say she is not conventionally gorgeous. I don't. She has a beauty separate from her virtue, she is Venus.

I will admit that I had a mixed experience before her. I have had toxic exes and I have been the toxic ex. I did not want to repeat shitty patterns of unhealthy young love. Save for the major deception of the true depth of my feelings—which I thought would develop more quickly—I think that my experience and resulting paranoia regarding codependency led me to handle the administration of our relationship on the day to day fairly well. I encouraged her not to isolate herself from her friends—as tends to happen when you are newly enamored with someone—and made time for our own support networks and hobbies and established friendly relationships with each others' parents, and addressed issues and generally did everything I could to make our relationship a healthy one.

There is however a but.

I, in my jaded 'realist' wisdom, made the observation that relationships kind of just... don't last. Fucking brilliant epiphany I know, but I'll elaborate. Half of marriages end in divorce, and most long distance relationships result in emotional dissatisfaction or someone cheating (or both), and the not insignificant sample size of young relationships I have witnessed have mostly eroded—save for a few statistical anomalies—most commonly because one of the parties involved wanted to experience relationships with other people. I had seen teens get bored of the routine of their partners, or housewives wishing they had lived their twenties before marrying some dude named Cody and resorting to lifelong monogamy. I felt that I, alongside most others, would eventually get bored enough in one relationship to either cheat or mentally check-out.

I looked at the prospect of my graduating a year ahead of Ruby as an opportunity for us to get some space. Not because we needed it, but because the space would be there regardless and relationships ware thin. I didn't want that for us. Shitty making an executive decision like that I know, but neither of us were looking forward to long distance. Neither of us quite enjoy our predicament now.

It was a sad sequence of events, but she rode into the sunset with tears in her eye from my abrupt anchorage in this college town, and her obligation to go back home. I wouldn't say that it was the wrong choice, but I regret not loving her longer. We still talk on the phone about maybe getting back together if our lives synch up again, but those are far off days and that's no good to us now. I wake up in a sober daze, traipse into my theory classes and wave to nameless new characters. I'm sure she sits in front of her vanity mirror and does her makeup after dressing in clothes laid out the night before. We live our lives separately now. There is no resolution.

9/21/23

#exes #journaling #love letters #love #writing

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tanadrin · 2 years ago

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It’s worth noting there are other kinds of labor besides just food production that are vital to survival. The labor necessary to keep people clothed alone in ancient and medieval Europe was tremendous. Cf. Bret Devereaux:

A complete set of Roman clothing (I’m using the Romans because I’m more familiar with their dress), excluding formal wear (read: the toga, though I am also not counting the woman’s palla either) for this family of six might require something like 220,000cm2 (26.3 square yards) of fabric at a minimum pear year – a single complete change of clothing. Comfort might look two or three times this much. How much labor is that?

We can look at a few different estimates (skip one paragraph ahead if you hate lots of numbers). Aldrete et al., (Reconstructing Ancient Linen Body Armor (2013) do a complete labor study of the time it took to make a linothorax, a Greek style of linen armor, including fiber preparation, spinning, weaving and sewing. For the roughly 65,000cm2 amount of (admittedly quite rough) linen required (which in turn required 12,600m of thread), they figure it took 25 hours to break, scutch and hackle the flax, 575 hours to spin it into thread, 75 hours to weave the thread into fabric (including loom setup time), and 8 hours to measure and cut the fabric (alas, the linothorax is laminated, not sewn, so they have no data for the sewing portion). Eve Fischer has done a similar calculation (but with back-of-the-envelope estimates rather than a detailed study) estimating that 41,804cm2 (5×1 yards) of fabric would require c. 8,230m of thread which would in turn demand something like 7 hours of sewing, 72 for weaving, 500 or so for spinning. J.S. Lee (op. cit., 51) figures a 14th century weaver (with those fancier looms and spinning wheels) could weave around 2 yards of fabric per day from roughly 6lbs of spun yarn while a given spinner might spin about 1lbs of yarn per day; assuming a 12-hour work-day that comes out to about 6 hours per yard weaving (a little more than twice as fast as Fischer of Aldrete’s vertical loom weavers) and 36 hours per yard spinning (three times faster than the hand-spinners).

...

Put into working terms, the basic clothing of our six person farming family requires 7.35 labor hours per day, every day of the year. Our ‘comfort’ level requires 22.05 hours (obviously not done by one person). These figures come way down once we get the spinning wheel and horizontal loom, but what seems fairly readily apparently is that women did not necessarily work less so much as produce more, selling the excess via the ‘putting out’ system we mentioned last time and using that to support their families.

...

A lone woman could, if she spun in almost every spare minute of her day, on her own keep a small family clothed in minimum comfort (and we know they did that). Adding a second spinner – even if they were less efficient (like a young girl just learning the craft or an older woman who has lost some dexterity in her hands) could push the household further into the ‘comfort’ margin, and we have to imagine that most of that added textile production would be consumed by the family (because people like having nice clothes!).

So until the spinning wheel was invented and spread to Europe in ca. the 13th century, near the end of the Middle Ages, clothing alone (not food, not shelter, not harvesting fuel for a fire) consumed a massive amount of labor, and the nature of this labor substantially shaped gender relations. Because, as Devereaux points out elsewhere, spinning thread is one of the few kinds of labor you can do while also caring for and nursing children--thus, the needs of keeping a family clothed and children cared for also contributed to keeping women at home and isolated from public life. They had to be spinning thread constantly, and when not spinning thread, weaving, sewing, mending, and doing other kinds of labor. This would keep their families in one or two sets of clothing each.

By comparison, being able to walk into a store, fork over a small amount of cash, and leave with a complete outfit--or even multiple outfits--is a phenomenal degree of luxury that makes it extremely difficult to appreciate just how much damn work used to have to go into making clothes. The transition between the two was gradual--the spinning wheel spreading to Europe helped a lot, but it’s not a coincidence that the Industrial Revolution kicked off with the mechanization of textile production in Britain. Premodern textile production took a huge quantity of human labor! Women specifically being freed from that labor was a huge contributor to subsequent developments like women’s suffrage and the growth of feminism.

suppressing unbecoming fantasies of making everyone who blithely talks like this spend a couple seasons spinning/weaving all their family's clothing and chopping their own firewood

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jfleamont · 2 years ago

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Here's a very very silly Jily ficlet set on Sirius' 18th birthday in the common room :)

Read here or on AO3

The Cake

There were two reasons why Lily couldn't stop staring at his lips.

The first one was obvious, and it was a little embarrassing because right when he had moved on, she had gone and fallen for him like an idiot.

The second, though, well... James had chocolate frosting on his bottom lip. He was sitting on the couch facing her, moving his arms animatedly and talking about Quidditch, most likely - the alcohol in his system had only heightened his enthusiasm - which, admittedly, was of little interest to her, but she was so endeared that she couldn't find it in herself to stop him.

And then there was the frosting on his lip - so distracting - for which Sirius' birthday cake was responsible. So really, Lily couldn't very well be expected to keep her cool around him.

“... And I swear that was the moment I fell in love with flying! Dad grounded me for two whole months, which in hindsight was more than fair seeing as his seven year old son had stolen his old broomstick and almost died. Oh, did you know Sirius was afraid of flying in first year? You wouldn't think he—”

Lily put a placating hand on his arm, as he had almost sent his plate on the ground in excitement. He froze momentarily, but quickly recovered and chuckled bashfully as he rubbed his neck.

“Sorry. I become a bit of a fanatic when I'm plastered.”

Lily sipped her own drink - a cocktail that Peter had invented apparently - and raised an eyebrow at him. “Then you must be drunk all the time.”

“Ha, ha, you're hilarious.”

She was about to respond, but her gaze returned once again to his mouth. She must not have been as subtle as she thought, because James cleared his throat, and when she looked up at him she saw something like curiosity in his eyes.

“There's cake on your lips, James,” she blurted, grateful that her quick reflexes hadn't been completely affected by all the booze. And it was true, so what was she worried about?

He smiled smugly, which Lily found stupidly hot, but she was preoccupied with more urgent matters. “Cake, you say? Because it sounds a lot like an excuse to snog me.”

It was a predictable answer, and so very James. It still didn't stop her from picturing it in her mind and making her heart race. “I don't need lines to flirt. But perhaps this is your strategy?”

“I—”

She interrupted him, her mouth working faster than her brain. “And the cake is still here.”

She leaned forward, resting one hand on his thigh for support as the other reached for his mouth. “You've looked like an idiot the whole time,” her thumb dragged across his plump bottom lip.

“There, all good,” she said, her voice surprisingly even. She felt like her whole body was on fire and a part of her was screaming to stop, but Lily pointedly ignored it. She leaned back and removed her hand from his thigh, but not before licking the frosting that had transferred to her thumb.

She got up from the sofa, turned in his general direction - looking him in the eyes was out of the question - and added, “I need a refill. I'll see around, James.”

She walked away without looking back: if she had, she would have noticed that James was frozen, looking like a deer caught in the headlights, his fingers lightly touching his lips the only sign that he hadn't been hit by a Petrificus Totalus.

James hadn't registered much after her touch: if he had, he would have seen that her glass was still half full, and noticed how a blush had spread from her collarbones to her cheeks.

#oh Padfoot I'm sorry that these two stole your thunder #not my fault #but I'm sure Sirius would take credit for getting them together because he'd be like 'it all started at my birthday party you see'#anyway this is really stupid but I'm trying to exercise my writing muscles and I've been feeling productive and inspired lately #jfleamont rambles #jily #james potter #lily evans #marauders #harry potter #my fic

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f1united · 4 years ago

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Test - DR3 Imagine

Part 3 to Zoo!

Part 1 Part 2

Daniel Ricciardo Imagine

Summary: You and Daniel take a pregnancy test :)

This contains mentions of pregnancy and fertility so please do not read if this is something you may find triggering!

Let me know if you have any f1 requests!

The days you had kept this to yourself had allowed you to think a million times over how Daniel would react. The discussion you had was brief but not forgotten and you had expected to have to wait many months before anything came of it. Daniel was older and capable of doing pretty much whatever he wanted in life and you knew that without his support through this you would have to work twice as hard as you already were to even provide your child with a glimpse of the life that he could. You were smart with your money, invested and saved where you wanted to and tried not to rely on Daniel for much however there was no chance you could afford even a years rent on the apartment he had in Monaco, let alone have multi-million mansions over the world. He could have anything he wanted, and you didn’t want to be the thing that unwillingly tied him down.

You didn’t break eye contact when you told him. Although he was such a confident, outgoing person you had learnt over the years that his eyes said a lot. You had to know him to notice the depth of emotions that they showed, and you’d slowly figured it out. You weren’t sure if he knew that’s how you could read him like a book and you never dared to tell him in fear that he might try masking it in the future.

The daunting outcomes you’d replayed in you head had vanished the second his eyes met yours. You were expecting shock, a frown at least, neither of which came. Instead his signature smile gave you all the reassurance you needed and his eyes lit up as he placed his hands on your hips, grasping them tightly.

“Are you serious!” you nodded your head at his words, the worry fading away at the joy in his voice. Your tears were still somewhat there but now falling due to happiness and excitement.

“I was waiting until you got home to do a test” Admittedly you had wanted to do a test the minute you’d left the shop but refrained until Daniel would be with you. If you were honest it was more for your own emotional support than anything else.

“Well let’s go do one!” you wiped the tears from your face as you lifted yourself off Daniel and headed towards the bathroom following his instructions. One of your hands was rummaging around in the cabinet while the other was tightly gripped by your boyfriend who showed no signs of letting it go as you sat on the toilet. A giggle past your lips as you looked up at him.

“What” he smiled down at you.

“I don’t know if I can wee with you this close to me, I’m getting stage fright”

“Are you kidding?!” he asked, “You’ve done it plenty of times before!”

“I know just let me try and concentrate” You looked down at the floor in front of you and took a deep breath before the room fell silent, the bathroom fan the only noise echoing throughout the apartment. It only lasted about 5 seconds until you both burst out into laughter.

“I can’t wee” you pouted your bottom lip out at him which he brushed off with a light kiss to your lips.

“I’ll go and grab you some water” he planted a kiss on your forehead before letting go of your hand. It was only then that you realised you were both still naked.

“Nice arse” you commented as he walked back into the bedroom and threw on his boxers you’d stripped him of earlier. He threw a smirk over his shoulder as he left the bedroom and headed to the kitchen. With him gone you were able to wee in peace and placed the test on the side of the sink, covering the display with the leaflet it came with so you wouldn’t take a sneaky look. Daniel returned as you were putting your underwear back on.

“I’ve set the timer for two minutes” you informed his as you threw your phone back onto the bed before sitting on the edge and pulling on some joggers.

“Oh, so you can pee when I leave?” he laughed as he placed the water on the side.

“I told you” you got up and wrapped your arms around his neck. “Stage fright”

“After that little show you just gave me I wouldn’t have thought stage fright was even in your vocabulary” his forehead resting against yours meant he saw your eyes roll back before he’d even finished his sentence.

“Well Mr Ricciardo, only the best for you” your lips gently brushed his as you teased him. You were so grateful to have him home, you missed everything about him when he was gone. His smile, his smell, his hair. Your fingertips were slowly tracing the muscles on his back when he caught your lips in his, having enough of the teasing and wanting no space between you.

It wasn’t long before he hooked his hands around the back of your thighs and you were jumping up to wrap your legs around his waist for the second time that night. He turned you both around so he could sit on the edge of the bed giving you all the power of being on top, something he didn’t willingly do this easily. The two of you were abruptly broken apart by the sound of the timer ending. Daniel reached out to grab your phone as he felt your body stiffen above him.

“You ready?” he asked as you slowly climbed off him.

“I guess so” you smiled as you headed for the bathroom.

“Should I record it for our parents to see?” he asked as he grabbed his phone off the nightstand. You’d been so focused in telling Daniel that you’d completely forgotten about the rest of the world.

“Yeah, it will be nice to look back on” he placed his phone on the counter before standing behind you and placing his head on your shoulder. His arms snaked around your waist as you picked the test up, bringing it to eye level. You both narrowed your eyes at the results and you gasped slightly.

“Oh my god” Daniel whispered as you brought one hand up to cover your mouth. “Is that a second line?”. The line was faint, very faint, but there.

“I can’t tell if I’m imagining it” you spoke so quietly as if you were afraid of it disappearing from the sound of your voice.

“I don’t think we are” he spoke just as quietly as you looked up at him. You placed your free hand on the side of his face as you brought him in for a kiss.

“Should we get a digital one?” you suggested, “That way we can definitely tell”

Daniel didn’t have a clue about the types of tests you could get but nodded nonetheless, knowing that if you suggested it then it was probably so you could put your own mind at rest. He took the test from your hands and showed it to the camera before ending the video with a smile. You threw on Daniels hoodie that you’d been wearing since he’d been away. You noticed it sat onto of the wash bin and probably should’ve added it to the rest of your laundry but couldn’t quite bring yourself to wash away his smell until he was back.

“I can quickly run down there on my own” you offered as you slipped on some shoes and slipped your phone into your pocket.

“Don’t be silly I’m coming with you” he replied as he threw back on the clothes he was wearing earlier.

“I don’t think we’ve ever got dressed so fast” you commented as you both headed for the door.

“I’d say we’ve been faster in my drivers’ room” he grabbed his keys off the side as you followed him out the door.

“Yeah that’s a good point actually” you chuckled at his comment, “They should really invest in better locking systems for those things and not ones that can open from the outside too”

#daniel ricciardo imagine #daniel ricciardo one shot #daniel ricciardo #f1 imagine #f1 masterlist #lando norris #charles leclerc #george russell #max verstappen #lewis hamilton #valteri bottas

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true-blue-megamind · 4 years ago

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FAN THEORY SUPPOSITION SUNDAY: The Warden

SPOILER WARNING! It’s still a thing, and, if you haven’t yet, you still need to watch Megamind. (If you have seen it already, however, you need to see it again. Because it’s awesome.)

Yes, yes, the post is three days late this time. Real life has to take priority and such. So sue me. (Don’t really do that. LOL!)

For that same reason—or more accurately because this week has exhausted me—I will attempt to make this post shorter than usual. We’ll see how that goes. My money is on “not well.” LOL.

Anyway, today we’re going to look at a subject that often divides the Megamind fandom: the Warden and his relationship with Megamind. There are several fan theories—I mean, suppositions—surrounding this, but I’m going to be focusing on a few of the main ones.

The first of these is that the Warden was actually a father figure to Megamind when he was young, allowing him to be raised in jail not out of cruelty or disinterest, but because it was the only way to keep him safe from shadowy government agencies that otherwise would have performed all sorts of experiments on the blue alien. This both accounts for why a child would be allowed to grow up in what is clearly a high-security prison for dangerous adult criminals—something that, admittedly, needs some sort of explanation—and fits with widely accepted sci-fi and comic book tropes. (From Area 51 to mysterious “Men in Black” type organizations, fiction is full of government agencies created to study extraterrestrial life and technology.) Some even go so far as to suggest that the Warden may have tried to adopt Megamind officially, but was blocked from doing so by these same entities. On top of this, such an idea also offers room to re-imagine the Warden as a much more interesting, complex, and sympathetic character. Indeed, there has been some excellent fan fiction written about this pseudo-parental relationship.

Art: Fathers And Sons Day by tabbydragon

There is some evidence to support this. The first is that, although the Warden behaves harshly toward Megamind in the “jail-break” scene near the beginning of the film, Megamind himself seems to be trying to engage in a playful exchange: pranking the older man, wishing him a good morning, and even teasing him. While some say that this is simply Megamind’s personality as well as his determination to always appear indominable, others suggest that, perhaps, the blue man is trying to recapture a lost amiability between himself and the prison Warden. It is possible that, when he was younger and less villainous, Megamind might have exchanged friendly jokes and greetings with the man in charge of the jail he called home. It has even been suggested that the Warden is so hard on the blue man at the beginning of the film not because he hates Megamind, but because Megamind’s life choices have hurt and alienated his father figure. This idea finds some support in the facts that, when Megamind leaves jail to confront Titan, the Warden wished him good luck, and at the end of the movie, that same man seems genuinely happy as he watches the television broadcast of his one-time prisoner being named Defender of Metro City. Finally, there is some evidence from the comics which, although not truly considered canon, as I’ve mentioned before, do offer some material for fan theories. In the “episode” entitled Bad Minion! Bad! Megamind runs into the Warden in a bar, and the latter offers the former advice. There is certainly a somewhat fatherly feel to the scene.

The second theory is exactly the opposite: that the Warden either did not care for or outright disliked the former supervillain. Unfortunately, as fun as the Warden/Father Figure concept is, this second, darker idea has far stronger evidence to support it in the film itself. (Try not to hate me, everyone.) These clues range from the obvious to the subtle, but there are quite a few of them to be found.

During the first scene in which we see Warden interact with Megamind, he doesn’t behave like an angry, disappointed father—at least not a good one. He isn’t merely surly toward Megamind; he is absolutely nasty. The Warden verbally condemns the alien, telling him that he’ll “always be a villain,” and essentially steals what he believes is a gift for the blue man, even taunting him by saying: “I think I’ll keep it!” This hardly seems like the actions of someone who once felt any sort of affection for the extraterrestrial. That same portion of the movie holds another clue as well: the screens monitoring Megamind’s brain activity. Indeed, in original concept art for the film, the system appears both more invasive and more nightmarish. It seems that, far from protecting Megamind, the Warden may have actually allowed him to be experimented upon.

Next, there is the newspaper article at the beginning of the title sequence, which bears the headline “Hometown Boy Makes Bad.” It’s hard to see what the paper says, of course, even if you bother to really notice it, but luckily for us Liz (Demishock) wrote a wonderfully thorough blog post which, among other things, provides a transcript of the “news story.” In it, the Warden is quoted as referring to young Megamind as a born villain as well as abnormal.

You don't know this kid. I've watched the little criminal since he was in diapers. This kid is just a bad seed. I've got experienced, hardened criminals in here who are afraid of him - I mean, have you seen the size of his head?… It's not like he's a normal kid… I mean, have you gotten a good look at his gigantic blue head? I don't know where you come from, but where I come it's just not right.

Granted, there seems to be some truth to what the Warden is saying, as the article also mentions that Megamind, who can hardly have been more than seven years old at the time, has basically been put into solitary confinement for the safety of other prisoners following an unnamed incident, adding that the other inmates “refused to point fingers for fear of retaliation.” (This fits with the fan theory that young Megamind would have had to both fight and develop a fearsome reputation in order to protect himself. You can read more about that in the post How Strong is Megamind?) However, the Warden seems to dwell a lot on the fact that Megamind looks alien, and he displays an obvious dislike for the young boy.

Finally, there is evidence hidden in the school scene, although it’s easy to miss. In an amazing two-part video series, Megamind: A City of Deception. YouTuber The Theorizer illustrates several hidden clues about Megamind’s early life and how it it led him to embrace villainy. (I will very likely write another post going into more detail about that at a later date.) One thing that The Theorizer discovered is a seemingly innocuous detail in the background during the popcorn scene. Take a moment to examine the images below. Look closely at the blackboard and you’ll see a paper cut out of a school bus. Look even more closely at that and you’ll find something odd: the bus is full of crayon-drawn children except for one figure: an adult male, riding in the back of the bus, who looks suspiciously like the Warden as he appears at the beginning of the film.

In a movie where so much attention is given to small things—I mean, seriously, the animation team actually went through the trouble to write a news story for a paper that was on the screen less than ten seconds—this cannot possibly be a coincidence. (You can learn more about the artists’ amazing dedication to detail in my post What’s Hidden in the Animation?) Although it is vaguely possible that Megamind, painfully aware of how much his appearance was despised, chose to draw the Warden’s face instead of his own, most fans believe there is a darker reason for this oddity.

Think about it: the Li’l Gifted School for Li’l Gifted Kids is built close by a jail with a strangely similar name: Metro City Prison for the Criminally Gifted. It’s clearly a small academy, yet the only two known aliens in the city—who, by the way, have extremely different social backgrounds—both just happen to attend there. And now the prison warden appears to be somehow involved with the elementary school? It’s bizarre. Add to this the fact that the young alien adopted by a privileged family—a boy who possessed super-strength and laser vision—seemed inclined to be a bully, (as is made obvious by the kickball scene,) and a disturbing fan theory emerges. Adults realized that Wayne Smith, the child who would eventually become Metro Man, might prove dangerous if left unchecked, and came up with a plan to turn him into a hero instead. Wayne was showered with praise, conditioning him to seek public approval, but a superhero needs a nemesis. The strange-looking, unwanted blue boy who’d already been labeled a criminal would have seemed like the obvious choice. If this is true, then Megamind was purposefully, albeit covertly, groomed to become a supervillain from a young age, and the Warden played a major role in doing that.

So there you have it. Two competing fan theories concerning the Warden’s connection with Megamind. Both have some evidence supporting them, and there are fans who are firmly dedicated to one or the other. Which is true? Did the Warden care for Megamind like a son but distance himself when the boy turned to villainy? Or did he judge and despise Megamind but come around to liking him when he finally realized what sort of person the blue man was deep down? The fact is that those questions can be argued for hours on end. No matter which of these suppositions you prefer, however, the mere fact that even a minor supporting character is complex enough to offer room for this debate speaks to the impressive amount of work and devotion that went into creating this amazing animated film.

#Megamind #Megamind movie #Megamind fan theory #fan theory #fan theories #fanon #Warden #the Warden #connection #relationship #relationships

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sepublic · 4 years ago

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To further elaborate, another reason why the idea of Marcy having to like, cut ties or separate from Anne and Sasha near the end, and why that makes me a little queasy, is…

I guess it reminds me too much of some ableist rhetoric –which takes on a whole new tone with ND Marcy- that’s telling people that they need to be ‘independent’ to be mature? In the sense that they shouldn’t have a support system, that this is a ‘crutch’, and for this clearly ND kid, who struggles with loneliness and whose parents are probably neglectful… I dunno, man.

It’s Marcy’s coping mechanism, her friends are how she survives, and when you’re by yourself like that, when you struggle with social cues, if your parents are unresponsive; You NEED friends to survive! And Anne and Sasha were her only ones. It reminds me of the rhetoric that sudden separation and trauma can be ‘good’ for you, like how some parents force their kids to ‘grow up’ by taking away their toys and interests without permission.

Or how ND kids are ridiculed for needing certain accommodations, how they might find comfort in things like technology, so ‘for their own good’ they need to learn to live without it or whatever, which means rudely depriving them of that which gives them joy; Obviously Anne and Sasha are people and not objects, but you get the idea. It’s already nightmarish enough being a teenager, but one who has issues making friends, who’s about to be forcibly separated from them, due to a lack of agency?

Which, I guess the show can still retain this message of needing friends, while having Marcy split off from the others, by having her make real friends with the other people in Amphibia, like the Plantars, or Yunnan and Olivia. I can actually see a scenario where Marcy ends up living in Amphibia with the Plantars, because her own parents are too negligent and emotionally distant; Or she moves in with the Boonchuys, maybe even the Waybrights.

If Marcy got the emotional support network she needs, regardless if it’s with Anne or Sasha; If her justifiable resistance to being isolated by her parents is ultimately validated and rewarded with people who WILL be there for her, always… Then I guess I could live with that separation, especially if it’s only for the foreseeable future- If the possibility for them to be friends again is there, I’d love that!

But at the same time, I can see it working where; Anne and Sasha are no longer friends (but that isn’t set in stone either), but both are still friends with Marcy! I like the idea of Marcy as the sort of mutual, connecting and uniting point between the two; Which makes sense, she was always neutral in the Anne-Sasha conflict. It was Marcy who wanted to keep them both, and vice-versa, Anne and Sasha had no issues with HER…

Again, there’s the whole music box thing, but I think that’s arguably forgivable compared to, say, Sasha being a toxic friend to Anne for years, and then repeatedly betraying her trust even after she recognizes the harm she’s done. When Marcy realizes the harm she’s done, she immediately does the right thing; And she’s clearly more than suffered for it.

That one mistake was obviously terrible, but it’s not really reflective of, say, a consistent flaw and toxicity of Marcy’s that has constantly plagued her relationship with Anne and Sasha beforehand, and afterwards… And, I’d argue that along with Anne, Marcy has arguably done the least damage to their relationship. Obviously it’s her fault for stranding them in Amphibia, but I doubt it was something she genuinely thought would work, nor is it, again, reflective of a repeating issue between the girls. It’s not like Marcy has regularly isolated Anne and Sasha to keep them to herself, this was a one-time incident she couldn’t have truly accounted for, in direct response to a VERY extreme situation; I think it’s the situation that needs the most fixing here, not Marcy.

And if Marcy has done the least damage, then… I can see Anne and Sasha maintaining that friendship with her, even if Anne and Sasha, as a duo, is over for now. I think that could say a lot about how people can no longer be friends, but still be friends with the same people.

It means Marcy gets to be with the people she wants and needed to be with; Because unlike Sasha, I don’t see her betraying that sort of trust twice. She wasn’t someone who regularly exposed Anne to toxicity. It was a one-time, horrible mistake, but one Marcy clearly learned from, and it only came from a horrible, one-of-a-kind, desperate situation.

It’s clear that isn’t how Marcy normally is, how she normally operates. In a healthy environment, I think she’s good for Anne, based on what we’ve seen; So it’s the environment that needs fixing. It’s kind of like how some people may be compelled to do terrible things to survive… But the real issue comes from them being placed in that danger to begin with; I’m sure a lot of people would do horrid things if their life was directly on the line, but that’s such a hypothetical, specific situation, that doesn’t really describe who they normally are; So nobody really has any issues with one another over it.

So yeah; I think Marcy’s ‘flaw’ is more a one-time incident born from pure desperation and external forces, something one wouldn’t really expect their friendship to go through, nor would a reasonable person expect the friendship to endure that kind of trauma for the sake of ‘proving’ how strong it was or whatever.

And her second mistake with listening to Andrias and his deal… Again, Andrias spelled out for everyone in the room that he emotionally manipulated and took advantage of Marcy. I don’t think Marcy truly had agency in that, and again, she saved Sprig’s life, when Anne had a total breakdown thinking he’d died. That was, at the time, the WORST moment of her life, and Marcy saved her from that, and saved Sprig as well.

I think Marcy being friends with Anne and Sasha, but Anne and Sasha not being friends with one another, would work to accommodate everyone’s needs and wants; And also open the door to Anne and Sasha making amends in the future, when they’ve had the time to develop and heal. Marcy can be the glue that holds them together, as she wanted to be, because I think Marcy was afraid she had nothing to offer to the dynamic, with Anne and Sasha doing all of the work in taking care of others.

There are still consequences, but with the girl that genuinely caused consistent harm and initially refused to learn from it, taking the others for granted; While I don’t think Marcy ever took anyone for granted, hence her desperation. Not to hate on Sasha or anything, but she is admittedly problematic.

#amphibia #amphibia spoilers #amphibia marcy #marcy wu #amphibia anne #anne boonchuy #amphibia sasha #sasha waybright #speculation #meta

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liquid-luck-00 · 4 years ago

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Maribat Secret Santa 2020

@maribat-secret-santa-2020

Happy Holidays everyone🎁

In my defense there was a minimum of 2000 words and there was no max so this ended up being 6112 words sorry, I think. There is some Adrien, class and Lila salt, Adrien gets some sugar later.

Without further ado @eve-v0lution I am your Secret Santa, enjoy.

~~~~~~~~~~

Marinette has never been a normal girl. When she was born the goddess Tikki appeared claiming her as her chosen and the next Ladybug. She was born the granddaughter of Ra's Al Ghul, the head of the League of Assassins, the sister organization to the Order of the Miraculous. Her older brother, and twin, Damian was called to be the next Demon.

When they were five, she was taken to the Temple of the Order of Miraculous. she and her brother kept in contact, but it wasn't much more, than 'yes I am still alive, are you?' which was fine with them. As they were often trained together by both the League and the Order.

A week before they turned 10, she was named the Great Guardian and given the Miracle box. On their 10th birthdays he returned to the League to support her brother as he was officially named the heir of the Demon. However, things never went that smoothly. Slade Wilson led an attack on the League killing their grandfather. Damian rushed on to fight the Mercenary. She followed at his side the only thing she said before entering the fray was "Duusu fans" and combat fans dropped into her hands.

Between the two of them, they pushed Deathstroke back. However, he didn't retreat before throwing a sword at Damian. She called upon Wayzz's "Shell-ter" catching the sword in the shield’s dome. She took the hilt of the blade before dropping the dome. The two of them shared a look before running to find their Mother. Together they used Kaakli's portal to go to the Order.

However, they were met with an equally gruesome sight. Many of the monks laid dead, those that weren't were not in much better of a condition.

A single elder survived, speaking of the simultaneous attack on the Order and League. He told them that he will rebuild the order, but that Mari needed to keep the Miracle box safe. In the end Mother told them that she will be leaving them with their Father.

To say it was a surprise that their Father was Batman would be a stretch. Mother and Grandfather only allowed perfection, so not as surprising as one would think. Batman being Bruce Wayne, sure that wouldn't be her first guess but so what. What actually surprised her were her new brothers.

Damian hated them but she loved their antics. Where Damian became the next Robin, Mari stayed in the cave manning the comms as well as their numerous and often injuries.

However, when she did join everyone on the roof tops, Scarlet joins them. A red cropped hoodie that ended a little below her ribs. A long sleeve Kevlar shirt with a high neck. Black gloves and arm guards were holding the sleeves of the hoodie down. Her pants were the same Kevlar as the shirt and was just as formfitting, there were guards on her thighs that wouldn’t impede on her movement as well as knee pads connected to the shin guard. Short combat boots, a red sash tied to her waist hiding the utility belt and yo-yo, and a mechanical mask that conceals the bottom half of her face. And to top it off Tikki turns her eyes violet and her hair to white.

"Scarlet" Nightwing called to her. They were partnered and patrolling the west side of Gotham.

"Yes"

"Let’s race"

"What do I get when I win?"

He held his hand to his chest in mock hurt "Just so you know one week, anything the winner says is law for one week for the loser"

"Make it one favor redeemable whenever and you've got it" she challenged. He was torn but he agreed.

"Count me in" they heard Red Hood.

"Same" Red Robin also entered "Robin?"

"Tt. No"

"Fine. First back to the cave wins" Nightwing answered. "Go!"

She swung through Gotham and dropped into a pitch-black alley 'voyage' Mari whispered too low for the comms to pick up. Dropping through the portal and into the cave. Her transformation dropped and Tikki went to sit on her shoulder. Alfred was there waiting, Duusu perched on his shoulder as well, with a tray of cookies. She gave him a nod in silent thanks, as she still had a comm in her ear.

Ten minutes later Red Hood pulls in and was about to celebrate when both Red Robin and Nightwing crash into him. Creating a mess of limbs over the motor bike.

"Ha I win now you guys owe" Jason was about to rub in his victory from the bottom of the pile when Mari giggled, pulling the attention of her three brothers.

"Sorry Jay but you lost" she, Alfred, and the kwami were clearly in the middle of tea and cookies.

"She is correct Master Jason. Miss Marinette has been here for the past 10 minutes"

"Tt. Honestly don't race against some one who teleports." Damian grumbled as he walked away from the Bat-mobile.

"Don't worry. I'll wait until you forget you owe me to cash in" she smiled wickedly. "Good night."

And that was when they remembered 'Right Mari has the ability to use the powers of several pocket-sized gods' that was a lesson they wouldn't forget soon. Well Tim and Jason didn't forget; Dick would still bet against her though.

Jason found out she is the perfect prank partner. And no one in or out of the manor was safe. How they managed to swap all of Green Arrow's arrows, each being a different gag, was a mystery even Batman couldn't or wouldn't attempt to solve. The fact that the Justice League saw and heard Batman fall to the floor laughing, scared most of them from finding out. Those who didn't learned what happens when you don't leave well enough alone.

School was well boring; between the curriculum of the League and the Order she had already gotten 2 PHDs and 5 masters. School was nothing more than a pleasantry at this point. Father wouldn't let them out of school, something about needing to be normal kids. That only seemed to draw the twins into the spotlight more, because they were the only two blood children of Bruce Wayne. Damian became known quite fast as Gotham's Ice Prince, but Mari became known as Gotham's Sunshine just as fast.

But don’t let the name fool you, within the first year their classmates learned that yes Damian Wayne is scared of something, and that something was actually a someone who just happened to be his twin sister. Damian apparently was feeling petty about something, and for the life of her she can’t remember what, but he decided to write in big red letters ‘NO!!!’ across every page of her sketchbook. She found that out during lunch, and that was when the entire school learned that the little sunshine child was the only thing that can put the fear of God in the Ice Prince.

---

Freshman year Mari finally got her Dad to agree to letting her into the exchange program for the next four years.

So, she decided on Paris.

Why, why did this exchange have to be four years long. I’m not gonna survive this.

Admittedly it started off okay, okay not really but then things went downhill, fast, faster than you could imagine.

It started when she met her host family. They met her at the airport and that was an experience, I guess.

"Mlle Wayne? Correct" a tall slender woman in glasses asked her.

"Yes Madame" she replied with a polite smile.

"Natalie Sancoeur" the woman replied "And this is" she started but was cut off by a boy around her age, he had blonde hair and green eyes. But what stood out to her was his attributes reminded her of an overexcited and hyper puppy.

"Adrien Agreste" he smiled at her, so she did what was expected of her in polite society.

"Marinette Wayne" and she extended her hand to shake his. However, instead he pulled her into a hug. Once she realized what was happening, she pushed away from him and took a step back. She looked at him and her thought of him being a puppy was only reinforced with the look on his face. So, she looked at Sancoeur, while the woman looked at Agreste with indifference she looked at Mari as if she was in the wrong.

This is going to be great. Was the only thought as she endured the drive to the Agreste household.

Agreste would not shut up the entire way and seemed to be hurt that she didn't answer him. Agreste was also the one who was to give her the tour of the mansion. It wasn’t so bad it gave her the chance to gauge the defense systems, which was lacking, and the layout was simple compared to the Wayne Manor, the League's compound, and the Order's temple.

Unfortunately for her, Agreste ended the tour with her room and then proceeded to sit on the bed and continue to ramble about whatever was on his mind. She did try to get him to leave but that was a complete waste of time and effort. Kwami it was like he couldn't hear me or more likely didn’t even care about my opinion. So, she put in her headphones, hid them behind her hair, pressed play to of music and went to unpack.

As she was finishing setting up the bathroom she noticed, like every other door in this house, there was no lock.

Ugh I need to speak with Monsieur Agreste.

She went back out and saw him. Agreste was at the desk where she had set her laptop and was trying to open it.

"Excuse me but what are you doing?" she asked pointedly, having taken out her headphones and set them in the case.

"I was trying to see what you had on your laptop" he shrugged "can you tell me the password to get in?"

"No" she deadpanned; he had the gall to look shocked. That was when Mme Sancoeur entered the room, without even knocking.

"Lunch is" was all she said before Agreste cut her off.

"Natalie make her open her computer for me" Agreste whined.

She was about to speak but Marinette beat her to it. "Um No. What I have on my personal computer is none of your concern" his face fell while Mme. Sancoeur pursed her lips. "Furthermore, I am assuming since you are at the desk, the bed is askew, and the drawers are open and my clothes are in shambles you were going through my things" she was now glaring at the blonde invading her space. Now he had the decency of looking ashamed. "Am I to assume lunch will be held in the dinning room?" Mme. Sancoeur only nodded, and she left the room.

Lunch, if you can call it that, was also a disaster. Apparently, Americans eat chicken noodle soup, a hamburger, and a load of fries. Because that was what was set in front of her.

Ugh this is going to be a long four years.

"Mlle. Wayne, I hope everything has been to your liking" M. Agreste, Gabriel, as he introduced himself earlier spoke. “You have hardly eaten.”

"Would you prefer my honesty or would you rather me lie to you" Marinette responded swirling the water in her glass.

"Your honesty" he answered slightly unsure.

At this she scoffed "I am going to assume that you and no one else had bothered to read the file of my information that was sent to you" he as well as Mme. Sancoeur remained quiet "Because if you had you would know I am a vegetarian."

Mme. Sancoeur searched some thing on her tablet and there was a soft "oh" from her.

"Your son is also suffocating, to the point that when I asked him to leave the room so I could settle in peacefully, he remained as if I hadn’t asked him to leave" M. Agreste was going to say something but she continued "He also has no sense of privacy as he went through all of my belongings and was attempting to go through my laptop as well." Again, he was going to say something, but Mari continued. "On the topic of privacy neither the bedroom door nor the bathroom have a lock."

“Paris is completely safe, as the house is protected, it should not matter if there is a lock on the door” he replied in a monotone.

“I’m sorry doesn’t matter, in what universe is it alright for two teenagers of the opposite sex be in a house where one of said teenagers doesn’t respect the other enough to leave them alone” she almost started yelling, but kept her head and voice level.

M. Agreste didn’t respond right away, but he gave a small hum before stating that “I will take your request into consideration.”

“Alright, just know that I will guard myself and will not hesitate to use force if necessary” she knew they wouldn’t take her seriously but hey I am warning them, they only gave a nod that they heard. “Also M. Agreste I tend to have a strict morning regimen is it possible for me to continue it using the home gym while here?”

“Of course,” he waved dismissively.

“What does this regimen include?” Mme. Sancoeur asked politely.

Marinette had a wicked smirk as this was going to be the lightest of her routines, she could give but would still most likely shock them. “Oh it is nothing much just a 5 kilometer run as a warm up, then half an hour of boxing, a half an hour of sword forms and training, half an hour of holographic combat training, followed by half an hour of ballet, and half an hour of meditation.” She was smiling watching their reactions and it was priceless. “I usually start around 4 in the morning.”

All of them were shocked, and who would blame them, here I am in my 5’2” high glory with a sunshine disposition stating I can most likely drop kick them into next week. “Actually, if you don’t mind, I was unable to do it this morning on account of being on an airplane, this will be a good way to see the city” so she smiled leaving them gobsmacked.

Finally, she was able to breathe as she ran the streets of Paris listening to her music softly. Back at the mansion she had figured out she had an audience less than ten minutes into boxing, but she continued. As she was about to start the holographic training, that Tim, Barbara, and she had created, but by now the entire Agreste household was watching her. “If you’re only going to watch me leave or else have the decency to spar” she shot at them.

“I’ll do it” little Agreste spoke up “But if I beat you, you’re giving me your computer password.”

“Fine, but when I win, I get locks on both my bedroom door and the bathroom inside” she challenged.

Agreste senior nodded his head and replied bored “Only if you win.”

“First to be knocked down three times loses” she grinned. She went to grab her two training twin swords and handed one to little Agreste.

“These are real swords” he exclaims clearly off balance by the weight of the weapon.

“Oh, don’t be so dramatic, neither have an edge” they got into positions and it was easy to see who would be victorious. I got locks and some privacy oh the small victories are truly sweet.

---

Sunday was uneventful, but so long as she was in the mansion for meals unless she had checked in with Mme. Sancoeur, she was free to her own devices.

Monday she would come to regret that it had to end later, but not for a while at least.

Mari rode to school with little Agreste and that was her first mistake. Everyone in the entire school watched her exit the car added to the fact that she's starting in the middle of the semester and that kicks.

She was wearing a charcoal shirt splattered with metallic red paint, a faux caramel brown leather jacket with a hood, black jeans with burgundy all stars. Her hair was down, and a black messenger bag was over her shoulder.

She got out and simply walked in and towards the main office ignoring everyone, she got her schedule and a map of the school. The principal himself walked her to her homeroom and to her horror little Agreste was in the class.

"Mlle. Bustier" he spoke. "Meet your new student."

"Please introduce yourself" she spoke with a sweet smile.

"Bonjour my name is Marinette, and I will be a part of your class for the next four years."

Marinette moved to take the open seat in the back but of course Little Agreste had to speak. "Mari there is an open seat behind me."

It took all of herself control to not facepalm. "I prefer the back"

"I'll spar you for it"

Now she couldn't hide the smile in her eyes or the one playing on her lips "Okay Agreste, but what makes you think you'll win this time?

"Fencing uses lighter swords" he answered mumbling the end.

"Wait why are you challenging the new girl?" a boy in a red hoodie and two-toned hair asks.

"Probably to redeem his honor from our last bout" she was now smiling. Maybe this won't be all bad.

"Then I get the next challenge" the same boy answered confidently.

"Alright" she agreed "Name your sport, um..."

"Sorry Le Chien Kim" he supplied. "Swimming freestyle"

"You're on" a devilish smirk on her lips. Afterwards everyone introduced themselves and she sat down in the back.

They spoke with M D'Argencourt about it during lunch and he told them to wait until after school for the fencing club to set up. So, they did. Honestly, the class isn't so bad, just a little pushy, apparently a student isn't here today but should be back soon. When they all went back after school, that was when Marinette saw her.

"Gami" Marinette ran to the girl in a red fencing outfit and gave her a brief hug.

"Mari-hime what are you doing in Paris?" she asked.

"Exchange program" Mari waved it off.

"Your brother?"

"Not interested" Mari responded.

"So why at the fencing club?"

"Agreste challenged me."

She looked towards the blonde and gave him a pitying glance. "Then you should both change"

"Right" Mari called as she went to the locker rooms. Her uniform was a red bodice with black sleeves and pants, but the gloves, shoes, and socks were a shade of green so dark it appeared black, the stitches on the entire thing were in golden thread. Both her saber and helmet were a combination of black and gold.

They both got into positions when Marinette heard her.

"This is going to be a slaughter" and Gami was right.

Faster than anyone could blink Mari had scored a touch before little Agreste even moved.

"Huh and here I was hoping for a challenge. Agreste" she turned away from him and faced Kagami "Match?" was all she asked, and the girl stood and faced Mari.

Facing Kagami was like fencing Damian. Both are powerhouses and decisive, but Mari's strength was in speed and agility. They met each other strike for strike, she is probably one of the few civilians that may be a match for her and her brother. By the end of practice, she was offered a spot on the team which she accepted.

To little Agreste's dismay Kagami offered to show her around Paris, to which she had agreed.

---

One-month Mari had to settle into her new class. She made fast friends with Le Chien, after their swimming match where she also met a girl named Ondine, Alix Kubdel was next she is competitive with a need for speed, side note never let her meet Jason. Max Kante and Nathaniel Kertzberg were also added to our little group. She met Luka Couffaine while wandering Paris for inspiration, they became fast friends, and she designed the costumes for Kitty section as well as their Demo Album cover. The final and most shocking, apparently, addition to their group was Chloe Bourgeois. Along with Kagami her small group of friends were unshakeable and for the next four years will be thankful for them.

After that one month, a weasel entered the class. Her name was Lila Rossi and everything that came out of her mouth was a lie. Honestly, Mari wouldn't give her a second thought but then the strikes against her grew.

Lila's first mistake was lying about her best friend, Jon, or in reality about Superboy. Oh, she was in a relationship with him. Sorry but Jon is super bi, but leans towards men more, like a walking romantic mess that was a golden moment when he figured it out. The same can be said when it finally dawned on Damian when he figured out for himself. As the amazing sister that she is of course she would tease those two. But the teasing and cooing only escalated when the two started dating. So ya not buying that he took you out, much less as Superboy.

Lila's second mistake was threatening Mari in the bathroom. Please if your going to threaten someone make sure you aren't being recorded. And second don't threaten a Wayne, especially an Al Ghul turned Wayne. So, Marinette recorded every lie, every threat, and every reaction. If she were going down not even the Devil himself would think to help her.

Unfortunately, it had a rather annoying side effect. Little Agreste kept pulling her aside to try and make peace with the liar.

"Please Marinette, can you stop calling out Lila" he repeated for the up-tenth time . They were on their way to dinner about two months after Lila rejoined the class. "Just take the high road"

They were in the hallway outside of the dining room.

"No" Mari stated as calmly as she could. As they both walked in, Mme. Sancoeur and M. Agreste were already inside.

"Why? Her lies aren't hurting anyone"

"Not hurting anyone" she spoke finally turning towards the blonde "What unicorns and rainbows paradise do you live in?"

"Wait, what?"

"Nino almost didn't enter his script for a contest because Lila said she would get someone in Hollywood to help produce it" she answered "It took Max, Nathanial, and I almost an hour for him to submit it on the thought it couldn't hurt"

"Okay that's one"

"Alya's reputation as a reporter is plummeting. She doesn't fact check and believes Lila solely on the idea that 'Lila wouldn't lie to her'. Where Lila uses her blog to spread her lies."

"Yes but no one believes everything they hear or read.”

"Really" Mari arched her brow, Alfred would be proud "then explain how most of Paris believes you and Lila to be an item"

"Mlle. Wayne came to explain" M. Agreste finally spoke.

"Oh, most of Paris believes that your son is in a romantic relationship with Lila Rossi" Mari spoke calmly as she opened her phone and pulled up the post from Alya's blog to show the screen.

"What?" the confusion was clear on little Agreste's face as he also pulled up the blog. The meal for her was quite quick but M. Agreste held back little Agreste.

Mari was sketching in the quiet of her room latter that evening when she heard a soft knock at the door. She opened the door and there stood little Agreste fidgeting.

"I'm sorry I never liked how Lila hung off of me but that was harassment, then I realized that's what I've been doing to you I am so sorry. You probably hate me for how I acted, and I understand if you can't trust me or forgive me and I'm sorry." He spoke so fast and barely breathed as he turned about to leave, but he stopped when Mari spoke.

"Okay. Redo"

"What?" he asked tilting his head.

"Let’s start over" she smiled.

"So, you forgive me!"

"No, I am not forgiving you" he looked saddened "I will hold you accountable, but I am, willing to start a new chapter."

"Okay” he looked a bit relieved.

"Hello. I am Marinette Wayne." she extended her hand to shake his.

"Adrien Agreste" he smiled shaking hands. "I'Il get out of your hair then." he sent a small wave that she returned and left.

---

Okay so maybe I exaggerated a bit, but Lila did make these past three and a half years a living pain. Mlle. Bustier fought to keep their class for all four years. The only addition was Kagami in the second year of Mari’s exchange.

But here she was sitting in the back with her friends waiting for the last class of the day to start. Then it happened Principle Damocles and Mlle. Bustier walked in.

"Mlle. Wayne" Damocles called.

"Thank the gods" Mari stated packing up her things and she walked down. "I would say it was a pleasure but that would be a lie" Mari just finished speaking when Alya decided to open her mouth.

"Where are you going class hasn't even started." Alya smiled trying to get Mari in trouble, but neither adult did anything.

"If you really want to know because it seems you've forgotten. I am a foreign exchange student from America, where I will be finishing the final term." Her words must have made some sense to their one community brain cell because they nodded, and she left.

Marinette flew back to Gotham and oh was this going to be great.

Of course, when she landed Poison Ivy, Harley Quinn, and Catwoman were making mischief in the airport. She recorded a video of the Bats stopping them, of course they were monitoring it because of her flight but I digress, and Nightwing lecturing them while Batman looked so done. Along with Jay-Jay or really Red Hood taking Mari's phone and taking a selfie with her, her hair was in braid tucked into a black beanie with a pair of red sunglasses. A halter top that had a golden rod yellow X on it. The top quadrant was red, and the rest was back. A black sweater lined and faded to red at the bottom. Comfortable black and red leggings with black flats. She posted the videos and picture captioned 'Back in Gotham. Home Sweet Home! Hood give me back my phone.' on her public account, before even exiting the terminal.

Her class will be here in about two weeks and stay as long, but right now she need a good stretch.

She found Alfred and loaded up her bags into the car and jumped in, told Alfred, transformed, and portaled out. As soon as the portal closed, she was in the middle of a huge hug from all her brothers. Patrol wasn't too bad, there was a run in with the Riddler and a separate incident with Killer Croc but that is a light day in Gotham.

After patrol was mostly filled with junk food, video games, and movies with her brothers.

Going back to Gotham Academy was like she never left. In a way she didn't, as every break she made sure to spend some time with her friends, dragging Damian with her. She would constantly text or video chat with them. To the extent that they knew about Lila and her class, almost as well as her family.

Two blissful weeks of quiet and patrols filled with teasing and bets was amazing. Yes, she will miss patrolling with Nightrunner. Yes, he is part of the extended Bat clan, but it is different with her brothers.

---

Three days granted that was longer than Marinette gave the class to avoid a villain attack. Of course, it had to happen when they were visiting, WE. Dick had volunteered to lead the tour, mainly to get more evidence, but Mari wasn't there. Since she was on break, she decided to take lunch for her brothers. The cafeteria food was good but still, and Tim would probably be holed up in his office.

She was in a blue collared button up tucked into a black skater skirt. A black and indigo letterman Jacket, black glasses frames and blue heels finished the outfit.

"Nettie?" Dick asked when she entered the cafeteria.

"Brought you lunch." Dick's face lit up.

"You are a god send"

She giggled as he took the food. "Not exactly but close."

"You going to force Timmy to eat"

"Yeah. Is he still in his office?"

"Should be"

"See ya at home Dicky Bird" she turned and found herself facing her class. Most of them registered she was there and glared at her seemingly guarding Lila from her sight, her friends noticed her so she sent a wave to Kagami, Chloe, Kim, Alix, Nathanial, and Max.

Getting Tim to eat usually proves a challenge. Mostly because he has one hand glued to a coffee mug and the other on his work. Yet when you make an entire meal into finger foods that are perfectly bite sized it is a breeze. She was going to leave when both Tim's and her phone shot an alarm. It was from Dick 'WE 2 Face' In a flash Mari transformed and waited for Tim, opened a portal, and fell into the lobby.

The two of them took out the goons and restrained them before turning towards Two Face.

"The word on the street is that you and the bird are dating, and you know the Bat." Two Face spoke out to everyone, "Let's hear what other secrets these lips will spill." A gun was held up, presumably to the teen's mouth, but neither Red Robin nor Scarlet could see.

He was clearly holding a teen hostage, and that was when they saw the two hanging sausages, Lila. For the first time since Mari had known her, she was quiet, or at least silently whimpering.

"So, who is she dating?" Scarlet asked yoyo in hand pointing at Lila.

"Robin" she gasps.

"What!?" Both of them yelled before Red Robin started again. "Crap when did I get a girlfriend. Scarlet please tell me this is just a hallucination! I swear if this is, I won’t drink a single drop of coffee for a month!”

Scarlet however was barely standing doubled over with laughter. "She’s a little young for you don't cha think."

"Not helping" Red Robin was in full out panic pacing back and forth trying to comprehend what was being said.

That was when Lila seemed to find her voice again "I'm dating Robin not you."

"Wait, What?" Both vigilantes snapped out of their laughter and panic respectfully. They shared a look and fell to the ground laughing. Two minutes later Batman and Robin showed up. Scarlet and Red Robin were now on their feet but still laughing. No one not even Two Face moved because as everyone knows, Robin is taken and no one will be getting between those two, much less a girl.

"Robin" Batman nodded and to the two laughing teens, Robin nodding in acknowledgement.

"No need B" Red Robin finally stopped laughing.

"Hey Birdie when did you get a girlfriend?" Scarlet asked fully knowing the answer already.

"Tt. Don't be idiotic Scarlet."

"Then why is she saying she is?" Two Face now had the bat fam's attention.

"Who are you?" Robin asked the girl pinned between Two Face’s arm and gun.

"Apparently the girlfriend you never knew existed before three seconds ago." Red Robin supplied, now fully enjoying the shock on his brother’s face.

"Is that why you two were laughing like idiots?"

"Well yes" Scarlet spoke up then whispered 'Voyage, Venom' and Two Face became frozen in place.

Lila was now glaring at Scarlet as she began to yell "What the hell. Why didn't you do that sooner!"

Scarlet snapped her fingers and pointed at Lila "Oh now I remember you" she semi shouted getting the attention of everyone in the lobby. "You’re the girl from Paris who said she was dating Superboy." Lila now seemed to significantly pale.

"Are you saying this girl has claimed to have dated both Superboy and I" At this point both Scarlet and Red Robin had moved and were physically holding back Robin.

"Scarlet" Batman called.

"On it" 'Voyage' "Hey Supes your boyfriend needs you" Superboy then took Robin in a hug from behind resting his chin on top of Robin's head. Her brother now willingly refraining from moving to stay in his boyfriend's arms, while Red Robin left to talk with Commissioner Gordon.

"Miss you are lucky no one was injured, and we were here to take action, your fantasies are just that. Let's go" Batman had lectured the girl who could have been switched with a statue at this point.

All the vigilantes left, and Mari sure as hell made certain Tim finished his food. In fact, he hadn't even changed out of his Red Robin uniform, so Mari guarded the door. She only left when he finished eating, knowing he could now fully react.

Mari was walking out of the elevator and into the lobby and you could practically see the change that occurred. Most of the class were huddled together, her friends were to the side along with Adrien, and Lila was practically glued to the teacher.

She spotted Alfred with Dick not far from her friends, so she decided to go over and speak with her friends.

Unfortunately, that just caused hell's gates to open as she approached, she heard. "You knew she was a liar didn't you" Alya yelled at her friends and Agreste, but Alya was specifically yelling at Agreste. That made her blood boil, so she stepped in.

"Yes, but you didn't believe me when I told you, you didn't believe them either" Mari was now standing between her friends and the blogger. "Agreste didn't want to rock the boat and how you were all treating me it is no wonder."

"Ya but she is a liar, and you are a bully" Alya retorted.

"Was I a bully. Or was that what you were told by the liar" Alya now went quiet. Of the almost four years she was in Paris there was never any proof she bullied Lila. No bruises, no destroyed items, just she said claims. "Yes, I called her out on her lies but that was all. You all were the ones who acted on her words that I bullied her with no proof and bullied me to ‘teach me a lesson'. I have more than enough evidence however, on most of this class and the liar, for cases of assault, slander, defamation of character, and destruction of property."

By now everyone in the lobby was watching this unfold. The class seemed to pale and attempted to shrink in on themselves. Lila and Mlle. Bustier seemed to try to become one with the floor. Her friends were to the side struggling to not laugh along with Dick and Chloe you traitor put down that phone.

"Miss Wayne" an employee came up to Mari seemingly afraid to get her undivided attention.

"Yes" She smiled, becoming Gotham's sunshine that everyone knew, allowing the employee and the other Gothamites to relax.

"The CEO has locked himself in his office and the Board meeting starts in three minutes" the employee fidgeted with the tablet in his hands. That snapped her into professional mode.

"Dick is the tour done?" she held out her hand to take the tablet, opened it and started going trough the documents.

"Ya"

"Go dig Tim from his office. I'll deal with the board."

"On it"

She quickly looked up to her friends "Sorry guys we should catch up later." She walked away the employee on her heels giving her more information.

A whistle was heard next to the group. "Damn I feel bad for the Board members, Mars is on a warpath and not her usual professional warpath" Dick said to Alfred.

"Reminiscent of Master Bruce even" was Alfred's response.

"She really is a Wayne"

"Master Richard"

"Yes Alfred"

"I believe it is in your best interest to retrieve Master Timothy as Miss Marinette is on a 'Warpath' as you say" Alfred barely finished as Dick began to sprint to the elevator. Alfred only sighed as he followed the eldest Wayne child, leaving very bewildered and mortified Parisians in their wake.

#dc x miraculous #dc x mlb #maribat #mlb x dc #miraculous x dc #batfam #marinette wayne #Adrien salt then sugar #ml marinette #damianette twins #damimari twins

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johannstutt413 · 3 years ago

Text

(requested by calligomiles; continuing from this)

“Chirp! Chirp! Chirp!” Ptilopsis’ head peered into Olivia’s room as her alarm sounded. “Chirp! Chirp! Chirp!”

“I’m awake, I’m awake.” Not that she particularly felt it, but she was getting out of bed nonetheless.

Tilly giggled to herself. “Ifrit already left for class. She ate all of her breakfast, including the seconds she requested.”

“Impressive.” The drowsier Liberi had found her glasses and now much less blind began to dress for the lab. “Thank you for taking care of her. If I can find the time to learn to cook, I should.”

“Dr. Silence already works so hard to save the world, though. Ptilopsis has no objection to supporting her in that endeavor however necessary.” Although admittedly, it was an element of her daily calculation.

Silence shrugged on her topcoat before hugging the mid-number-crunching analyst. “I’ll be helping Iffy with her project tonight. Saria said she might come by for a bit as well to pitch in, but I won’t be upset if you go home with her.”

“Understood.” Mostly. “Firewall temporarily disabled. I’ve noticed the two of you talk more with each passing day, but this is the first I’m hearing of you allowing Saria to see Ifrit.”

“Her project is more focused on the skeletal system than anything else, and I think Saria’s substantially more familiar with that field of anatomy than I am...Besides, she’s proven herself with how she treats you.”

Ptilopsis blushed. “Oh.”

“I know it’s taken me some time to admit it,” the doctor continued, following her beloved to their waiting breakfast, “but after all the time she spent working for and with Iffy, it’s not fair for me to keep them separated. She did what she thought was best, and regardless of whether I agreed with or agree now with her decisions, they were made with good intentions. Sorry to start the morning like this.”

“It’s fine. Ptilopsis is glad you continue growing as a person.” She hadn’t declared that she’d re-erected her firewall, but it was clear from context.

They ate breakfast after transitioning to talking about their business for the day - patients with scheduled visits, the other Medics on rotation for their shift, their usual morning briefing - but before they left for the office, Olivia pulled her close for another hug. “Thank you. I couldn’t do this without you.”

“‘This?’” Tilly temporarily halted her work protocols. “In what context?”

“Raising Ifrit, attending to Rhodes Island’s Infected, researching Oripathy, deploying on missions...You make my life possible.” She managed to catch herself before crying properly, but a stray tear rolled down her face and onto the analyst’s jacket.

The other Liberi twittered sweetly in her ear. “The same is true for me.”

“It is?...Thank you.” A brief collapsing of the little space between them, a kiss that lasted either seconds or years, and Rhine Labs’ former Oripathy expert was ready to start the day. Work went as expected through lunch, with patients and care plans and the occasional accolade or scolding of some Operator or another. When the Liberi lovers came back from the cafeteria, however, a familiar Vouivre was waiting for them.

“Good afternoon.” Saria was in business mode. “The Doctor needs me to deploy for a mission; I need a pre-deployment exam.”

Silence nodded. “Ptilopsis can take care of you.”

“...If it’s all the same, can we all talk in the exam room in private?”

“Hmm.” The doctor glanced at Tilly, who was rebooting quickly after a momentary blue screen, before nodding. “If you prefer.”

The trio took the nearest open room, and as the analyst performed the exam, the Vouivre got down to business. “I made notes for Ifrit’s presentation, but since I won’t be there to help, I sent them to both of your inboxes. There’s more than enough information for her to ace her assignment.”

“Thank you. I’m sure she’ll be happy to tell you how she did when you come back.” There was no question that she’d be coming back, after all.

“...Which brings me to my other point.” She sighed, taking a moment to collect herself. “When I come back, I’d like to have a full discussion, all parties involved, about setting a schedule for me to spend time with Iffy.”

Silence lived up to her codename as Ptilopsis carried on dutifully with her task, doing her best to ignore the conversation and focus on procedure. “I...I think that’s a good idea.”

“You do?” Saria’s heart rate, as measured by the device her examiner was using to measure it, betrayed her surprise.

“Yes.” Olivia made sure she didn’t respond with the other phrase that came to mind. “I isolated her from you, and the rest of the world, out of a hyperbolized sense of danger. Not that there weren’t genuine concerns for her well-being, but in keeping her under lock and key like I was, there’s a possibility I did more harm than the good I intended. I’m not the only person in her life who’s made rash decisions out of good intentions, and it’s hypocritical of me to keep pretending that my mistakes are justified when others weren’t.”

The Defender sighed. “So it’s still a mistake, then.”

“I think so...but I’m learning to admit when I might be wrong.”

“I see.” This’d turned out better than she’d thought it would. “Tilly?”

The Liberi took a breath before shifting her attention. “Yes?”

“When I said ‘all parties,’ that includes you.” The Vouivre looked her directly in the eye.

“Understood.” Ptilopsis shut down her defenses for a moment. “Why?”

That was a rare question to hear from her; the analyst was much more a ‘how’ and ‘when’ sort of person. “Because you’re part of her family, too. You deserve a say.”

“But I don’t have any concrete opinion on the matter. I’m happy you’ll be able to spend time with her, but the specifics are up to you and Olivia.” It was a good thing she was essentially done with her examination; this was going to eat up most of her processing power, she could already tell.

“Tilly,” Silence interjected, “it does affect you, though. You’re very careful with how you spend your time, and Saria and Iffy spending more time together will affect your calculations.”

She nodded. “It will.”

“So if we set a schedule that makes it harder for you to make those calculations, that’s not fair to you. We know how hard it is for you-”

“No. You don’t.” The analyst looked each of them in the eye in turn. “But that’s okay.”

The room around Olivia and Saria disappeared from their awareness as Ptilopsis reactivated her defenses and continued her work. It wasn’t until she finished that the Vouivre had any kind of follow-up, which was lifting her off her feet in a tight embrace. “I’m sorry.”

“There’s nothing to apologize for-”

“Oh, cut the bullshit, there definitely is.” The Defender set her down but kept her arms around her. “Every time we get into a fight or try to reconcile, we disrupt your life at a deep emotional level, and even if it’s better for us to try and get along, you get dragged along behind us in the process. We know your condition, but we don’t how it feels - you’re the only one who does. That doesn’t mean you have a right to lash out, but you do have the right to speak up, and we want to hear you.”

Tilly couldn’t keep walls up in the face of that. “Ptil...I know that, love.”

“Then take my apology for springing this on you in the middle of the week.” She held the Liberi’s gaze even as her vision started to blur.

“O-okay.” The analyst sighed before wrapping her arms behind Saria’s neck and pulling down slightly for a kiss. “You’re forgiven.”

The Vouivre let her go. “Thank you.”

“You are too, dear,” Ptilopsis continued, addressing Silence as she walked over to hug her as well.

“Thank you...and I’m sorry.” The doctor squeezed her like she had that morning. “We never explicitly said we would stop making these kinds of changes, but we did imply it a few weeks ago.”

The other Liberi shook her head. “Data changes, people change, and life goes on. Ptilo...I want you both to be your best, your happiest, and if that means chaos, then- Firewall engaging, overriding, halting process- then so be it. I need to be better, too. I’m sorry you had to hear the Other Voice.”

“You’ve held it at bay for years,” Saria noted, walking over to hug her from the opposite side. “That can’t be easy, especially with everything that’s happened.”

Olivia nodded. “Certainly not...I believe the Doctor is expecting you, Saria?”

“Unfortunately. I should probably be on time for the shuttle.” As she let go of Tilly, her hand accidentally touched Silence’s. The doctor said nothing. The Defender said nothing.

Ptilopsis made a note to record that in her diary that evening.

#arknights #arknights fic #ptilopsis (arknights)#silence (arknights)#saria (arknights)#Rhines Lab's divorce case totally isn't canon-adherent #try telling us fanon-writers that of course #but this spin-off 'verse definitely hits me in a specific place #i would say close to home #but 'home' is a complicated idea #has been for years...#that's all i wanted to say

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novantinuum · 3 years ago

Link

Fandom: Steven Universe

Rating: General Audiences

Words: 1.2K~

Summary: Amidst their danger-fraught mission to retrieve Pyrope and Demantoid’s prisms, Pearl and Steven take a much needed break.

Finished playing Unleash the Light again the other day, and had some philosophical musings about it, which lead to this. XD There’s not many fics about this game that I’m aware of, so thought it would be fun to throw one of my own in the ring.

If you read this and enjoy, I’d greatly appreciate your support through reblogs here, or kudos/comments on AO3 as well. Thank you! <3

____

Another key. Another lead on Demantoid’s whereabouts. Another hard battle won.

Pearl expected they’d meet some resistance from the prisms’ light constructs when they first arrived on the glittering, indigo-hued surface of Crystal System Colony 215, but she certainly didn’t imagine having to fight so many. Using her spear as a crutch, she slowly lowers her exhausted body to the ground, eager to take a short rest from their journey. She leans her head back against the rocks and sighs. Stars… there’s so much more diversity in their forms and attack strategy now. In their last two major outings with these sorts of light constructs, they were considerably weakened. Disorganized. But now, with two prisms working side by side once again, she’s beginning to recall why these tools were so feared by her comrades during the war. Running at their prime, they’re savvy. Self-regenerating. Able to clue into combatant’s weaknesses. Capable of multiplying into armies that can effortlessly eclipse a whole battalion of Crystal Gem soldiers. Good Gems were shattered on those battlefields.

In truth, reflecting upon those matters, she sorely wishes Steven wasn’t a part of this mission at all. He’s more than capable of holding his own in a fight, yes, but… in the most ideal of circumstances, that gentle soul should have nothing to do with the messy afterimages of his mother’s rebellion.

Her gaze lifts towards the sky for a moment, dark hazy purple and speckled with stars. How far they’ve traveled, she muses, how fervently they’ve fought… all in defense of this new era. In many ways it’s a miracle what they’ve created in just a year’s time, which is why she was unsurprised to learn of the aristocratic holdovers unwilling to voluntarily give up their seats of power. Still, they haven’t failed in their creed yet. As long as one Crystal Gem stands to brandish the star, the spirit of Era 3 is alive and well.

Just as she’s beginning to hum a peaceful melody to herself, basking in the gentle glow of the surrounding cosmos, she notices Steven making his way into the clearing, alone. Hmm. All the others are probably back at the cave entrance, busy strategizing for the next stretch of their mission. What led him to step away, though? Was he following her, or did he also crave a similar peace and quiet?

The boy’s pace is sluggish, seemingly suffering from a similar (though undoubtedly more human) brand of exhaustion she herself feels, and his hands are shoved stiff in his pockets. He still wears that novelty backpack, but the prism they’ve befriended is nowhere to be seen. Interesting. Normally, George peeks his head out of the main zipper pouch as they journey. Perhaps he elected to stay and discuss strategy with the others instead. Regardless though, and as she feared, Steven appears considerably drained by their recent experiences. She watches as he clambers towards the rock formation across from her and gradually sinks into a seated position.

“Steven?” she asks, slowly pulling herself to her feet to cross over to him. “Are you holding up all right?”

He replies with just a noncommittal shrug at first, his expression void of any immediately recognizable emotion. Then, unzipping the cheese pocket of his backpack, he retrieves his water bottle and takes a long, long drink. He holds a single finger up as he rehydrates, signaling for her to wait.

Finally, after draining almost half the bottle, he caps the top again and opens his mouth to speak.

“I’m okay,” he says, wiping his lips dry with the back of his hand. “What about you? This… probably doesn’t bring back a lot of great memories, huh?”

“No,” she agrees with a wry smile. “Not really. That’s all right, though. We have more than enough strength on our side this time."

First taking a knee, she moves to sit next to him, folding her legs to the side. The boy shoots her a slightly quizzical glance, but doesn’t offer anything more. Pearl frowns.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” she asks after a brief pause, brows creasing. “It looks like something’s bothering you.”

Steven purses his lips tight, blankly staring straight ahead as the gears in his head whir.

“It’s—“ he starts, and hugs his knees to his chest. “It’s probably stupid, I don’t know, I guess I’m just… how are all these light constructs any different from us? We’ve had to fight dozens of them today, and… I know that probably shouldn’t eat at me, but it does. I don’t want to have to fight them. We literally have the same history! Diamonds make Gems,” he counts off on his fingers, “and Gems make prisms, and prisms make light— when do all these cycles stop? When does everyone finally get to stop fighting and be free? George found his freedom, so- so why not them?”

She folds her fingers together, roughly wringing them against one another as she considers the moral quandary he proposes. Admittedly it’s a truth she never committed much thought to back amidst the atrocities of the war— the fact that all of them… Gems, prisms, and constructs alike… are hewn from the very same hard light. They’re all programmed, made with distinct purpose. Thus, how far of a leap would it really be to suggest that they all possess some form of sentience? Some form of free will? Before meeting George, she didn’t think prisms were capable of such individual thinking, but they are. This universe is full of strange wonders.

So what else could she be wrong about?

She offers a thin, apologetic smile. “I’m afraid I don’t have any solid answers for you, but… you strike a valid point. Perhaps all of us aren’t so different.”

“D’ya really think so?” he says, his eyes glimmering with stars, seemingly overjoyed to have convinced her of this.

She gives a short chuckle, reaching out a slender hand to ruffle his hair. “You’ve long since shown me that anything’s possible.”

The boy grins at her affectionate touch, appearing far more relaxed now than when he first sat down. Good. If they’re gonna succeed in retrieving these last two prisms, they’ll need him in high spirits. His encouragement, healing powers, and support has been paramount to this mission so far. In the far distance Amethyst’s laughter rings, reminding her both of the Gems she loves, and the trials they’ve yet to face together. To be honest, she has no way of guessing how many battles they have left to fight. But… regardless of outcome… there is one possibility that’s always worth striving for. Gently, she rests her hand upon Steven’s shoulder.

“Listen…” she says softly, “I don’t know how successful we’d be reasoning with the light constructs directly, but if you ever sense a good moment to try and settle this issue with Demantoid and Pyrope peacefully, I want you to take that chance, all right? For everyone’s sake.”

Steven nods in full seriousness, taking her words to heart.

A faint smile dusts her lips as she pulls the young teen closer, allowing him to nestle his head against her chest like he always used to do when he was but a kid. “And for the record? You’re definitely not the only one who’s tired of fighting.”

#su #pearl #steven universe #su fanfiction #my writing stuff

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