#chatlog.

[radioconstructed]

Internet Grandparents vs Apartment Decorating (9/9/2023)

(alternatively, "Al creates her new cuffing season lair, Ruddy also lives there" or "Arson in reverse; Bug/Net home decor")

Ruddy's (@ruddygore) apartment (that he got after exploding the last one) is ready for decorating! Al (@radioconstructed) her interior decorating hobby to use & helps him out! The Internet Grandparents get creative & make a fun, wholesome time out of it. They're very cute & sweet. (Not a formal chatlog, more of a rundown. It's a good insight into their off-screen interactions.)

ruddygore

Oh YEAH that actually reminds me, now that Ruddy’s rib is better, Al can help him with interior decorating like they talked about!

radioconstructed

She would be so happy to! She spent a lot of time in the early 2010's remodeling/redecorating (she still has some spots in progress, it's the ADHD) so it's not her first rodeo and she's so happy to join in!

ruddygore

Hell yeah! Since his apartment got Exploded (by him) (on purpose) (to kill a rude person) he needs to redo it from wallpaper to flooring to everything else. Turns out fire really wipes out upholstery.

radioconstructed

Haha for sure! What's his style? Does he have any reference images? Are there certain stores he likes to go to for furniture? That's probably a good starting point!

Al's home is pretty Hollywood Regency. It has a lot of that 1920's art deco look, mixed in with some of the ornate look of fancy homes (maybe Victorian?) and some MCM to complement the fancy shapes. But in a southern swamp chic way. Very maximalist.

ruddygore

He's an old victorian man and it reflects in his style (wood and busy wallpaper) but he's trying NOT to make his apartment look like a tiny dark hole. So they'll probably still stick with the general aesthetic, just in brighter colors.

This is probably a good idea of what they'd be going for, together.

bright colors, nice rugs, but still clearly victorian-esque

or as he'd put it "peepaw peacock"

previously it was like. dark green walls, wood paneling, heavy velvet curtains over the windows, dark wood furniture.

radioconstructed

That's very pretty! Nice! Dark green & wood paneling sounds SO pretty, but admittedly pretty dark. Heck yeah, let's brighten things up!

Al is a big fan of antique/vintage stores & treasure hunting at thrift shops, because that's where all the solid wood good quality stuff is! None of that Hellkea particle board (though she enjoys some of Hellkea's other offerings!). There's probably first-hand furniture stores that do it right, too. It's up to whatever Ruddy's preference is!

She's thinking, if he wants lighter colors, he can complement jewel-tone peacock colors with muted versions of them like sage green. Sage green makes for some gorgeous furniture colors.

ruddygore

He'd be down for thrifting around for some stuff! Especially for guest rooms or seats for normal sized people. Some he'll have to make himself for his own weight.

So she can help him design some custom stuff and he'll carve it out and finish it with whatever stain they decide is best.

It can be a fun exercise in designing something to tie all the thrifted stuff together

radioconstructed

That sounds like fun! The treasure hunt is part of the enrichment in the enclosure! Discovering what's in stock and thinking up what to do with it! Get those creative juices flowing!

She's sure she can find some nice inspo pics and they can brainstorm something custom! She'd love to see him build stuff.

(The last thing she redecorated was the hotel lmao and anything was better than the starting point.)

ruddygore

VERY true. That hotel was a MESS.

Like girlies, get a working fridge before you open?

radioconstructed

"Al is going to sabotage the hotel" and is the thing that can be sabotaged in the room with us? Sabotage WHAT?

ruddygore

Al did them a favor and now she's doing RUDDY a favor, and he is happy to pay her back however she'd like when it comes up.

radioconstructed

Aww! The enrichment and the privilege of having a hand in designing her friend's apartment is all she needs.

Al does have experience painting stuff, she repainted some of her furniture. DIY level. Can use voogle, stripper, a carbide scraper, and an orbital sander as well as the next hoe. She's a fan of self-leveling paint. She loves that stuff. Otherwise she'll spend all day fighting the brush strokes in the paint.

(She spent a year in near-isolation, that's a story for another day, but aside from making a bunch of music, she did a bunch of DIY fixing up her house. Things she didn't feel she needed to contract out. Weird time. She learned a lot.)

ruddygore

She's the ideal partner for a reno/DIY project!

He'll treat her to dinner at The Velvet Glove then, she can experience the surreal luxury of an eldritch all seeing building.

No charge, no menu, you just tell it what you want and it tastes like the best version of whatever you ever had.

radioconstructed

And she's very happy to learn from Ruddy!

Most of her experience with a toolkit is from fixing stuff up when it broke around the house, especially since hiring a professional was out of the question during the Great Depression. It's fun to learn from a professional engineer/inventor, especially for fun, and not like, distress.

That restaurant sounds AMAZING, she's THRILLED! Oh she's gonna dress up and have a great time, Ruddy is the Best

ruddygore

Let them dress up NICE and have a GREAT TIME getting all the food they want.

And of course Ruddy is happy to teach her everything she could ever want to know.

radioconstructed

YEAH! That sounds like SO much fun!

She's gonna be so enriched by whatever tools he has. She's seen people on the Inter Net using a "gravity fed pneumatic sprayer" and it looks cool as anything. Fancy tools for the Win!

She has Opinions on stuff too. Like "Minwax is a subpar product. General Finishes is good stuff" for wood stain. "Latex paint is terrible. I wouldn't thrift anything with latex paint I have to remove."

(But ultimately his furniture, his decisions, and she's happy to help regardless!)

ruddygore

He values her input, and frankly after so long doing things a specific way, she's going to know more about anything modern like latex paint. He's always just hand made his stuff or ordered it custom. Never a single particle board in his home

radioconstructed

She made the mistake of thrifting a 1920s waterfall dresser and went "oh I can clean this up" and discovered what latex paint was.

SHE HAS AN IDEA!

Has he ever seen a resin pour table? Like one with pressed flowers? He could do something like that with anything, with any memorabilia that he has.

ruddygore

He's seen them in OTHER people's houses but he's never made one. He'd be happy to try it with her though!

radiconstructed

Like this! 

With whatever he wants to put in there! And they can make the base color something light instead of black. Maybe get a wood table that has tiles inside and gut out the tiles, and use the recessed space for the resin pour. Instead of using whatever the lady in the video has (it looks modern and not wood)

ruddygore

That's SO pretty, he'd love to try his hand at it. There's tons of options. He's got coins, fancy cigar labels (which are mostly brightly colored foil), dried flowers, the shiny little curls of scrap metal from his workshop..

Hell even potpourri would look pretty if you encased it in resin

radioconstructed

Those all sound like they'd be SO pretty encased in resin! And seconded on the potpourri! Whatever he wants! A custom Ruddy themed table. She doesn't have a lot of experience with epoxy resin but she's seen videos. She can follow instructions.

ruddygore

HMMM. He'd probably put copper scraps and potpourri in together. Make it look like little sparks of fire in the middle of what is essentially spicy wood.

radioconstructed

That's so cool and creative! That would look REALLY cool.

ruddygore

He and Al are gonna turn into that YouTube crafty couple, Evan and Katelyn

Just doing wacky ass DIY for fun

radioconstructed

Oh yeah I've seen their stuff! They're so fun! Al & Ruddy doing wacky DIY! I'm here for it

ruddygore

Resin sword, why not!

radioconstructed

Hell yeah!

I'm in a few furniture groups and someone turned an unsalvageable cabinet radio into a terrarium. It's gorgeous. Al would mald until she understood that it was truly unsalvageable. Then like, ok, that's a cool upcycle.

OMG CAT FURNITURE FOR MICHI!

ruddygore

CAT FURNITURE!!!!

radioconstructed

You know how Al likes to obnoxiously plaster deer-themed stuff everywhere on her interior decorating? Including the hotel? Well, she thinks Michi deserves to have cat themed stuff plastered on her furniture. If Ruddy agrees. For example, a cat bed shaped like a cat.

ruddygore

He would be more than willing, he'd love it

He'll happily make her a little deer themed item as well if she wants something to match for her own place

radioconstructed

OH THAT'S SO SWEET 🥺 She's so happy, she's having so much fun with helping him redecorate. She feels so alive!

ruddygore

SHE'S BEING VERY SWEET AND HELPFUL AND HELPING HIM TRY NEW THINGS!

radioconstructed

It is an enriching joy and PRIVILEGE!

ruddygore

He's thriving and feels much more confident and comfortable with her around to do this with

radioconstructed

OH AWWWWWW??? 🥺 That's so cute and that warms her heart!

It's really nice to be in a position where her presence is wanted and appreciated and enjoyed, and where she can be passionate and creative! (she's radiating heart emojis)

ruddygore

He's an old stubborn autistic man, but with her around, the change isn't bad, it's fun with a friend, trying new enrichment and joking around.

She keeps him from getting into his own head about things. Emotional support deer.

radioconstructed

Oh right, change can be difficult, right? She's very ADHD, so change is fun for her (when trauma doesn't get in the way). Opposite end of the spectrum. She's super happy to help this be a fun experience! Emotional support deer!

Well he's her emotional support Lorge Snake because this sure is grass-touching, and getting to be creative & fun & appreciated & wanted as a Person is so good for her soul!

ruddygore

Her good attitude is infectious and he will tell her many times how much she's helping this feel good and not miserable. Kiss her on the head, mwah mwah. Her presence is a balm on his weary soul and he's grateful for her.

Can't get too stressed about changing things when she's all excited and being so creative and offering all these ideas, and anything he would sit there and get overly perfectionist over is automatically good because they did it together.

radioconstructed

Get her considering abandoning all her jobs and becoming a personal interior designer! Haha! She feels so appreciated and she's full stupid. Excellente. But she insists that the enrichment is hers! She's having so much fun. It's good because they did it together! AWW!!! WEEPS

Honestly that's such a good coping mechanism on his end. Making a stressful thing fun by including a friend who'll have fun! Al of course is happy to Play Tunes to make the ambiance even more fun! But she'll behave. Fun but not music that makes her go feral. The time to bring it bring it back is not when she's pouring resin. Sorry Pitbull Featuring Lil Jon And The Ying Yang Twins, you will have to make an appearance another day.

ruddygore

He's old enough to have learned how to wrangle his stubborn brain, and she's just a pleasure to have around in general so it's a win both ways. Vibe with a friend, listen to tunes together, and try fun new crafts to make him a nice new apartment to entertain in.

They can listen to music that makes them insane later, do a little cocaine and get stupid

radioconstructed

Lovely! Vibe and listen to music and do arts and crafts with her bugkeeper friend who provides her the enrichment and the friendship. Her socialization sim bar is FULL & GREEN and it's GLORIOUS! Cocaine and music that makes them go insane as a reward 🥺 he gets it! He knows how to have a good time!

She would.... 🥺👉👈 she would like the right to keep a mug at his apartment. With a deer on it. Like, Her Mug for when she comes over to hang out. Is that ok

ruddygore

She is welcome to have a special mug just for her in his apartment, hell she can have the spare key.

He LOVES having a good and unhinged time, with her specifically, because he feels safe with her and is willing to let his guard down in her presence. Get off his ass and full Sillay.

He'll stock up on her beverage of choice as well, to go with her mug. Gotta have her favorite sip so his bug feels comfy and wanted in his place.

radioconstructed

Oh wow that's so sweet?? Hello?? That's so touching she's going to cry?? Not externally but internally. She is crying internally but in a good way.

Honestly, there are very few people she feels Safe around and he's one of them. Like, as a person. It's Sillay Time!! She's honored to be a safe person he can be silly with!

She is getting so spoiled. She just likes coffee, as far as mug drinks go! (Alcohol is not for mugs.) She likes dark roast, black.

ruddygore

He will get a nice assortment of different beans she can try, one of those fancy little gourmet sampler packs.

radioconstructed

He understands her! That sounds like enrichment!

Her spare key is in the custody of either Mimzy, Rosie, or Niffty tbh but Ruddy is welcome to have a mug at her place, and whatever his fav coffee (or other drink) is!

[slavhew]

jakey + dirkjake sandwiched between my organic chem notes. a poem in there somewhere

[themalhambird]

Whiteman’s  lounging with a whisky, looking comfortably casual in a pair of chinos and a t-shirt—blazer combination. He might be taken for any young, up-and-coming London professional out for a drink to celebrate the long weekend. Hillinghead, by contrast, looks like he should be at a wedding- the man’s in a three piece suit and the most complexly knotted tie she’s ever seen.  Still, Shahara’s hardly going to judge him for feeling more comfortable completely covered up and the man is (she still can’t really wrap her head around this) a Victorian. He’s got a pint of beer in front of him, though it doesn’t look like he’s touched it. 

She takes the first of the two empty seats at their table, her coke sloshing over the side of the glass as she sits, and remarks: “You two found your way around alright then?”

Whiteman sniffs sharply and half shrugs. “Fine. Nice to see the place not bombed to bits and rationing over.”

“It’s so- loud,” Hillinghead murmurs. “And crowded, and it smells-”

“It’s always smelled,” Whiteman interjects. “What, was it all roses in your time? I don’t believe that.”

“No,” Hillinghead stresses. “But it is- more.” he rubs the bridge of his nose.  “Have you heard from-” He freezes, staring at something just over Whiteman’s shoulder. Shahara can read a shift in to flight-or-fight posture easily and from the way he’s suddenly more alert, Whiteman’s clocked that something’s got Hilinghead spooked as well.

“Problem?” he asks quietly, in his clipped, cockney accent; a half-strangled vowel slips from Hillinghead’s throat and Shahara turns to see what he’s looking at. There’s two men enjoying what’s clearly a date, holding hands and locking lips. Shahara sighs internally, bracing herself for a slew of Victorian attitudes- “Yeah,” she says, a little sarcastically- Hillinghead’s knuckles have gone white, he’s clenching his fist so hard. The gold of his wedding band stands stark against it. “That’s allowed, nowadays- we don’t care.” 

“Hm?” Whiteman glances around- there’s a moment where Shahara thinks she’s gonna have to deal with 1940s attitudes as well, but Whiteman turns back, uninterested. “Fair enough.” he starts patting himself down, like he’s looking for something in his pockets. 

“They can-” Hillinghead murmurs. “I could…” He swipes for the beer and downs a quarter of the pint in one. Now Whiteman looks interested, he pauses his search, leans right forward and says, smirking, “Detective Inspector Hillinghead. Do you have a fancy man?”

Hillinghead sputters and brings down the glass. “Are you twelve?” he demands, something of the outraged parent seeping into his tone as– he’s blushing, Shahara realises. He’s actually blushing. 

“Are you-?” She asks, leaning forward, and she knows it’s rude and none of her business, but still. “Are you gay?” The wedding ring. “Bi?”she suggests, as a follow up, and then: “Do you have a boyfriend?”

“I- what? I-” he looks back at the couple, then grabs his beer again. “I have- I have a- I have Henry,” he downs more of the beer. “It-it would be nice, to- to not…” he trails off, his eyes drifting away from both of them.

“See, I’ve always been a bachelor- a bachelor bachelor, not a confirmed bachelor, myself, but I - fuck, I left my cigars and my lighter in the other jacket-”

“Language,” Hilinghead reprimands at the same time as Shahara says: “You can’t smoke in here anyway.”

Whiteman drops his elbow to the table and points at her. “You what?”

“No smoking in public places, it’s banned.”

Whiteman flops back in his seat and grabs for his whisky. “The future is bollocks.” he drains the glass and slams it down. “Good whisky though. So. While we wait for Maplewood to join us….Hillinghead can kiss blokes, and I can’t smoke in a pub. What else should we know about this 2023, then…?”

[soundsofastar]

i played hsr like once but this is them right

[huntedsmark]

DND Ask Meme but it's random questions I've asked other players apropos of nothing within the last 6 months

Does your PC believe it’s possible to save someone?

What does saving a person involve?

How would your PC describe themselves?

How do they perceive themselves?

What is your PC’s idle animation?

What weather does your PC prefer? Why?

So if your PC had a car what kind of car would it be

How decisive is your PC?

If your PC rolled through a McDonald’s what would they order 

How does your PC fidget?

How does your PC show affection?

If your PC had to set up a date, what would they plan for it?

What’s your PCs favorite color

How does your PC feel about white lies?

How does your PC feel about marriage? Weddings?

What scents do you associate with your PC? 

What are your PCs favorite fruits (not including gay people) 

Where would your PCs fall on the futch scale? 

What is your PC’s Pokemon Gym Leader type and Signature Pokemon?

What type of chocolate do they prefer? 

What tarot would your PC be? 

What is your PC’s #1 personality strength?

What is your PC’s #1 personality flaw? 

If your PC found a book that detailed their whole life, from birth to whatever death they’ll have, would they read it and why? 

What are your PC’s charm point(s)! 

How would your PC answer the trolley problem? 

When your PCs hit rock bottom, what do they do?  

When your PCs want comfort, what do they seek out? 

Please describe your PC’s romantic type 

How does your PC flirt? 

What’s your favorite part of playing your PC? 

How much does your PC think about their actions before they execute them? 

How considerate is your PC? 

Is your PC an effective communicator? What is their communication style? 

If your PC was a dating option in a farming simulator (a la harvest moon or stardew valley), what kind of items would they like? 

Your PC meets a trickster being whose face changes to the most beautiful face a person has ever seen. Whose face is your PC seeing? 

What flower represents your PC? 

How did you choose your PC’s name? 

What would your PC put on their pizza? 

What are your PC’s eating habits? 

Does your PC have a favorite spell, and if so, which? 

Who is your PC’s favorite NPC(s) and why?

When your PCs make decisions, who or what are they making those decisions on behalf of?

[toskarin]

minecraft

-

<rin> the gist of it is that when I was with my ex who just kind of brought things up to start fights, I eventually got numb to it and mentally checked out of arguing. it was always insanely mundane stuff that would get responses (eg asking if a weapon in warframe was meta and taking it personally if I said it wasn't) so I naturally concluded "ah yeah, minecraft won't do that"

<rin> but what I didn't realise is that in response to any attempt to do that in minecraft, I'd go dwarfmode and just build an incomprehensible hyperfixation labyrinth while nodding and going "mhm" every time argument bait was dropped

<rin> this base had literally 300 rooms, connected by tunnels and spires with nothing in them that I constructed in a fugue state and filled with mannequins, but then I realised I had a problem

<rin> that was really really really fucking scary

<rin> what I had ACTUALLY built was a city that could house an entire faction, to scale with some real life towns and fully furnished, in a place where ambient cave noises would play and it wasn't always clear where the next door to the surface (or an airlock into a cavern) was

<rin> and I got so creeped out conceptually by having a massive labyrinth that was made entirely of negative autistic energy, filled with mannequins that I placed seemingly only to scare myself, that I stopped going in most of it and kind of hid in one of the top floors (the one with the terracotta ballroom and the roman style bathing area)

<rin> the end result was that I started building houses inside of the house, smaller basecamps that were less creepy than the massive empty structure, along with numbered signs and routes through it that avoided "the creepy parts"

<rin> the creepy parts were like. exceptionally weird.

<rin> it wasn't even built as a base, but just vaguely attached "expansion" that usually simulated something or otherwise looked like it should have a use

<rin> for example, a series of identical plazas, connected by a central spiral staircase, all with identical underground apartment buildings that flanked all four sides, down to the furniture inside of them, all the way to bedrock

<gf> oh my god babe

<gf> i don't even know what to say. just oh my god

<rin> there were multiple restaurants, and the gimmick of them is that they were identical except for the color of the wool used on the carpet, and there were 20 of them

<friend> rin, are you like, okay

<rin> oh no I'm insane

<rin> genuinely I wish I still had the world file because like, what cool organic horror it was

<gf> yeah that sounds kind of incredible in like a really terrible way

<rin> there were distinctly the small manageable rooms where I was actually comfortable playing the game and then there was the horrifying maze of structures that made up my mental labyrinth further in or something

<rin> total aside, that's why there's the metrolith labyrinths in vesalblood. the "compacted underground urban center built on top of other urban centers" thing struck me as a cool enough concept to keep

[agentredfort]

just remembered the really solid conclusion I drew the last time I reread this series, which is pretty simple: Ruby is all explicitly autistic in these books. quite aside from the obvious child genius bullshit that's got going on: she's touch-averse (see: PYP, where she straight-up says that she rarely hugs people), has a tendency to gravitate towards Very Familiar And Very Specific foods and drinks (banana milk, strawberry bubblegum, the Good Donuts, has a tendency to get really short and upset when those familiar foods are not available), hyperfixates on problems to the point of not sleeping/eating until someone tells her to (basically every book), she's Fucking Bad at picking up on social cues (that one kid trying unsuccessfully to flirt with her for an entire book) and then... man, the list of rules. the rules that she works out and sticks to so hard that when Sam Colt is like 'hey, sometimes you've got to.. not use your pre-planned rules' she has absolutely no idea what to do with that. sometimes she just locks herself in her room because she doesn't want to People today. it's so real of her.

in conclusion i guess you could say she's on the Spectr - [gets shot]

[autumnslance]

There was that bit in ARR where you return from a quest, the scions had prepared a feast for you but then ate it all before you could arrive, right? I cant for the life of me remember WHEN/which quest that happened in and I'd appreciate your help in reminding me.

I can no longer find part of it either; it seems Garland Tools has cleared out a lot of incidental/side dialogue, nor did the FFXIV Game Script seem to capture it.

I know there was a "WoL's mindset in ARR patches" post recently mentioning it in a reblog comment, and I do think the analysis has merit with the lore backing mentioned, but to call it a "prepared feast the Scions ate without WoL" or that "everyone else was more important" (as the reblog addition puts it) is honestly, I feel, a gross overstatement of what happens in optional dialogue between quests.

In very old screenshots, as WoL returns to the Rising Stones, I found a line where F'lhaminn apologizes to WoL as she thought she made enough food for everyone, but everyone else coming in from their own adventures and assignments were also really hungry.

There's the dialogue with Nanamo praying just before this in the screenshot log, so I want to say it's right after "Let Us Cling Together" when Eline Roaille escaped and then had to be recaptured in a solo instance, while the other Scions are investigating the ways to make white auracite work to defeat the Ascians. WoL hasn't even been in Mor Dhona for a bit (a day or several, depending how one decides to run one's timelines and teleporting travel), but in Thanalan dealing with Roaille's escape.

So it's really just a case of the folks in the kitchen not having enough meals readily on hand, and F'lhaminn kinda feels bad about it as 1) it's her entire self-determined job and 2) IIRC, she did mention something about having a meal ready for WoL when they got home, but by the time the quest is over, it's clear she underestimated.

Also, after the quest shifts to the next one ("Good Intentions"), talking to Tataru has her say this:

So it's not that the Scions are being intentional jerks to the WoL--it was entirely an aside in optional click dialogue, and mostly an honest mistake (and perhaps meant to be a bit comedic, but falls somewhat flat) of kitchen staff underestimating their adventurer colleagues' appetites and not preparing enough.

[faelingdraws]

a PSA about the chatlog iterators and how you can use them in fanon content

[galaxywarp]

Flawless exchange between me and my mother.

[astralis-ortus]

i didn't think i could but i just fell in love harder with him

SKZ Code Ep. 63 in Australia

[radioconstructed]

Gal Pal'ing (9/1/2023)

Al sees that Valera (@autokrates) isn't feeling The Best and reaches out. The gal pals chat about parenting over food. It's very sweet. (More of a rundown than a formal chatlog. It's a cute insight into them interacting face-to-face.)

radioconstructed

Aww Al is happy to come over and chill with Valera and see how she's doing 💕

autokrates

Val is glad to have a friend like Al, good to have a girl friend to vibe with.

radioconstructed

Al doesn't want to pry, but if Val wants to talk or vent about what's up, Al is happy to listen!

Al is also like "as your friend I have to do this. Vital stat check reminders: drink / eat / sleep / shower / socialize. Do you need to do any and do you need help doing any?"

(Whenever Al feels Not Good she has to remember to do a sim bar check. Or someone has to remind her to do a sim bar check.)

autokrates

It's good to get stat checked, it's easy to forget. But yeah Val's gotten some food and is socializing (now), so she's fixing her wonky headspace responsibly.

But! Only real thing on Val's mind that's been any kind of downer is worrying about the kiddos. The usual woes of mixed parentage, vis a vis culture/language/etc.

radioconstructed

Nodnod! If Val has any specific concerns she wants to bounce off Al, Al is happy to be a sounding board, and offer whatever perspective she can as someone who's biracial -- though her mileage may vary here, the sociopolitical circumstances around her heritage are super different.

autokrates

A few BROAD questions are probably still applicable, and she can at least offer a human perspective that Val couldn't have independently as a Fish.

Some would have to be reworded. Like Val couldn't really ask if Al felt like trips to Earth are important to feel connected to her heritage, but asking if she visited famous historic sites For The History Of It would be close enough.

radioconstructed

To that, Al would say that visiting famous historic sites with an understanding of their significance & place in the larger context is meaningful, sure.

She feels more connected to her heritage through everyday stuff, though. Like, when she was alive & had both parents in the house, she just existed among both her maternal and paternal cultures. She didn't really have to seek it out. It was in her home. Now she just keeps a lot of that going because it's like, what she was brought up with.

autokrates

Which is good. Penny and Leal are both active participants in parenting, so it's not like Val is having to try and parrot humanity at the kids. But they DO live like. NOT on earth, so maybe a yearly trip would suffice.

radioconstructed

Yeah that's fair, Al doesn't have the experience of having a parent who's an expat/emigrant. Trips sound fun! Al would suggest having the kids interact with the local culture like locals. Doing what the normie local humans do in their own context. Y'know? Seeing important landmarks and going to like, specific events like Mardi Gras is great but so is just vibing like a local.

That's just her personal thoughts and she recognizes there's no single objectively correct way to do things!

autokrates

There's no objective correct way, but Val still appreciates the input from someone who at least Kind of had insight into how the kids are likely to feel as they get older

Like the local thing is good, it's not something Val would really consider since obviously, autocrat, everything they do is a big event.

radioconstructed

Aww! Well Al is happy to help, and leave it to Valera to decide what's applicable/helpful and what's not.

autokrates

Her input is valuable! And it's always good to just get checked by someone else anyway to make sure she's not catastrophizing about them feeling overly disconnected from anything.

Fretting as every young parent does

radioconstructed

Aww well of course! She's happy to help. She thinks it's good that Val is considering these things, and she thinks her kids are in a favorable position because their dads are actively in their lives. Like, they won't have a part of their heritage that they've lost connection to.

It's a bit tough bc they don't live on Earth and they have to be deliberate about getting that exposure, but yeah the idea of visiting Earth is lovely! And the dads can show the kids around and be like "this is the place where [x story]." Like, connect it to their human father's life. And maybe make some memories there, too.

autokrates

That's a good idea! Val might suggest to Penny that they do a repeat of their little traincation. Last time they took it she was pregnant with Eelizzy, but he would probably love taking the kids around Europe on a train so he can show them his old haunts.

And. I mean. Obviously Sebastien has to go to New Orleans

That's his dad's HOME CITY

radioconstructed

Oh, that sounds so sweet on all fronts!

Al has faith that the dads can come up with some fun ideas too!

See, Valera, you got this! And you're not on your own, the dads are involved here

autokrates

They are, but they're also dead men who never had to parent before EITHER. They are ALL new at this

But she can at least tell Al some funny more light-hearted goofy news

radioconstructed

Counterpoint, most parents have not had to parent before! There is a first time for everything. It's ok to be nervous but Al has faith in Valera.

Haha Al would be happy to hear the news!

autokrates

Al is SUCH a supportive friend, and talks with sense to give Val a good perspective. And she gets to hear about how Sebastien punched Spent in the boob because he Thought Spent was being rude (he was being unconscious, actually).

Woke that man right up with his tiny toddler right hook

radioconstructed

She's glad to be! Valera is a sweetie to Al, it's the least Al can do.

PFFT!!!!!

The rude behavior of being passed tf out!!!! lmao Al is so curious about what Sebastien's thought process was here

autokrates

Spent's tail was on Sebastien's toy. He asked him to move. No response. Tapped him and asked a few more times. Then decided violence was the answer.

radioconstructed

HAHAHAHA! Kids are SO FUNNY

Al approves. Violence IS the answer sometimes. Well did it work? Did Spent move his tail?

autokrates

He did! Sebastien learned nothing!

radioconstructed

He learned that violence is the answer! Al approves.

[scaryfaggot]

[winonaparadise]

I've been obsessively reading Chili and the Chocolate Factory :) it's really good and I want to draw Tide Honey soon

[tenspontaneite]

You will both eat well I think

[3v60]

Even if he wasn't in control, he stopped whatever he was doing. Just to glance at his hand. The faint feelings of someone in annoyance using his name in vain.

"Guess... Seawatt's... not... happy..."

His words were quiet as he forced them out. Head still fuzzy as he muttered them. It's been a bit since he was missing, that was for sure.. but he was happier where he was. He didn't need to worry about anything.