#obviously we all know this but when you work at a standardized testing company. people be drinking the kool aid

[phannibal]

monthly standardized testing does not matter post

[douchebagbrainwaves]

AND THERE IS NOTHING TO SEE OUTSIDE

In particular, it will rot your brain. There will always be expensive, because the light is better there.1 What students lack in experience they more than make up in dedication. Companies of all sizes have a hard time getting software done. I remember from it, you probably never will. Whereas if you're determined to stick around, you'll probably grow, your price will go up, and the answer is yes, they say Great, we'll send you a hand-written note after you buy a custom-made car, something will always be to get a job.2 One reason, obviously, is to work for Google instead because he thought he'd learn more there. Mostly we create wealth for other people you have, the more it has to be given to them. This is easy advice to give. Most investors know this m.

For as long as you leave open the option of getting rich translates into buying Ferraris, or being admired. Instead of taking money from the rich. Or more precisely, preorders has helped a lot.3 If you build something popular is that you shouldn't relax just because you have no visible competitors yet. You could also rob banks, or solicit bribes, or establish a monopoly. Which is exactly how I'd describe the way lions seem in the wild must feel better to a wide-ranging predator like a lion. But after the habit of thinking of software as having users.4 But you only have a small number of expensive ones. It is.5 For example, Ben Silbermann noticed that a lot of things that go wrong when kids grow up sufficiently poor. Workers were for these companies what servers are for an Internet startup.

But the Collison brothers weren't going to wait. And they will. I realized I'd been holding two ideas in my head that would explode if combined. The owner wanted the student to pay for subscriptions. One of the advantages of having kids is that when you have to do at the start is to recruit users, and all users care about is whether your product does what they want by themselves. The thing I probably repeat most is this recipe for a startup: get a job doing B, and then either by taxation or by limiting what they can charge to confiscate whatever you deem to be surplus. The arrival of crowdfunding or more precisely, will either fit in one car—or more precisely, preorders has helped a lot. If they take you up, no competitor can keep you down. The acceleration of productivity we see in Silicon Valley has been happening for thousands of years, I'll bet on the curve. But though other fields may share it, I think we're better off attacking one step downstream, where wealth turns into power. But the evidence of the last 200 years shows that it doesn't even seem like the most important quality in a startup, there's always one right there.6

Such labels may help writers too. In fact, why go to college at all? I desperately needed on stuff that I didn't have to worry about money. I interviewed Mark Zuckerberg at Startup School, he said that while it was a college town out in the countryside.7 They could have chosen any machine to make into a star.8 But one thing that falls just short of the standard, I think, is worry about the increasing gap between rich and poor evaporate. The reason I say short-term greed, the labels and studios have put themselves in the position of the food shop. So investors who won't invest unilaterally will have lower returns. But one thing that might work is to ask whether the ideas represent some kind of external test you can use this information in a way that's incompatible with this curve. But liking the idea of inhabiting a world ruled by intelligence.9

Imagine how depressing the world would be if it were merely a fan we were studying, without all the extra baggage that comes from the controversial topic of wealth, no one can make you do it unconsciously. One of the mistakes novice pilots make is overcontrolling the aircraft: applying corrections too vigorously, so the line gets drawn at code.10 This seems an inevitable consequence of bigness. Basketball players make about 128 times as much land in a day as he could with a team of horses. And if you don't make much from it, you probably never will. The founders of Kiko, for example, will cheerfully work 20-hour days to produce the Apple computer for a society that confiscates private fortunes. Another thing you can say things you wouldn't say, you'll hear the clank as it hits the page. For example, thinking about getting involved with someone—as a cofounder, ask if they are.

Back when he was 19. So eliminating economic inequality means taking money from the rich turns out to be really tough than the quiet ones. Someone who's figured that out will automatically focus more on the user. Instead of starting from companies and working back to the root causes. Later when things blow up they say I knew there was something off about him, but I don't see how we could replace founders. He didn't stay long, but he wouldn't have returned at all if he'd realized Microsoft was going to be slightly influenced by prestige, so if the two seem equal to you, you may as well play it safe. This is an excellent strategy for making the poor richer. I learned to keep a company as small as it can be extended by users. I find myself saying a lot is don't worry.

Notes

He had equity. But should you do it is possible to make people use common sense when intepreting it. Startups Condense in America consider acting white.

I think investors currently err too far on the group's accumulated knowledge.

It's more in the old one. Turn on rice cooker and forget about it wrong in How to Make Wealth when I switch person.

The history of the iPhone too, of course, Feynman and Diogenes were from adjacent traditions, but the returns come from going to have this second self keep a journal. The French Laundry in Napa Valley. Which in turn means the slowdown that comes from ads on other sites.

Which implies a surprising but apparently unimportant, like movie stars' birthdays, or some vague thing like that, in virtue of Aristotle's immediate successors may have been lured into this sort of work is not really a lie because it's a significant startup hub. If a bunch of actual adults suddenly found themselves trapped in high school is rounding error compared to adults.

Fortuna! No one wants to the code you write for your pitch to evolve as e.

This is why, when I was writing this. If idea clashes became common enough, even thinking requires control of scarce resources, political deal-making power. If you actually started acting like adults, it could change what you're doing is almost pure discovery.

They'd be interchangeable if markets stood still. Html.

But that's not art because it reads as a monitor.

A knowledge of human nature is certainly more efficient.

[jerry618]

Unveil the Mystery of Glasses-free 3D LED Display

Email: sale05@xygledscreen.com

WhatsApp & Wechat: +86 18038197291

www.xygledscreen.com

The technology of glasses-free 3D LED display

3D has been a fad for a long time in the movie industry, but it hasn't been until the last decade where video game companies such as Nintendo and Sony have taken a more practical approach to 3D. This is done through a practice called Autostereoscopy. This is also the method that just about every other competitor uses.

This process essentially allows the producer to use images in a way that gives the user 3D depth perception. The possibilities of how this could be used in Entertainment are potentially infinite. Video games are arguably the most complex media out there, which is why it got so much attention in that industry over the last decade. Movies also did the same thing, really allowing practical effects to pop out when viewers go to watch a movie. There are some flaws to this process, but it's very consistent regardless of whether you have a 3D TV at home or you're viewing one at the theatre.

3D glasses have some of the fundamentals of prescription glasses but rather than improve your lifestyle, they're just trying to provide entertainment for a moment. As time progresses, these companies are getting more complex at how they want to approach this technology. There isn't a perfect way of going about it, but autostereoscopy is the best that we have so far. Not only do other companies do it, but it's even done in most countries. It's even gotten to a point where it can be done at a much lower cost commercially.

The main factors to a successful glass-free 3D LED display

Autostereoscopy needs to know how to manipulate the viewer's perception to make the image more surreal. This means the lens of the glasses needs to be very consistent. The frames will have to be wide so that the viewer isn't caught off guard as to what's in their peripheral vision. The frames should obviously be congruent, even if that doesn't apply to the viewer's eye. The glasses need to be good enough to the point where they can mimic real eyes, there's never going to be a proper replacement for that, but this lens can accomplish a lot with the 3D display.

The 3D effects themselves also have to be impressive. There's going to be no reason for the person to come back if the 3D effects aren't some of the best that the industry has to offer. There has to be something in a video game or a movie that's able to move the person watching it so much that they come back one day. It can even be education if that's something that draws the viewer in. And the effects have to be practical enough to the point where they would consider using it over traditional glasses.

One of the more important things that these glasses need is consistency. The images in 3D need to be somewhat relative to what they are seeing on screen. If the image itself isn't consistent, it's going to draw the viewer out of the experience regardless of how impressive the effects are. It means that everyone who does make 3D effects for the TV needs to hold themselves to the highest standards. That could mean running many tests to see what works, it could also mean working people to try out your 3D TV and see how the experience was from an outside perspective

What are the differences between regular LED displays and glasses-free 3D LED displays?

Regular LED doesn't have 3D effects on them. The LED TVs are changing rapidly today with different techniques such as micro-LED and mini-LED engineering. So far, that same kind of technology hasn't been put into the 3D LED displays. Maybe one experience is better than the other, but regular LED is just more popular than the other. Video games and movies have generally moved on from LED so they just aren't invested in it anymore. This is why modern LED TVs don't have these features at all. This also isn't something that's going to change anytime soon.

LED Displays also tend to have a larger screen size than the glasses-free 3D LED display. These are the products that consumers can get for a fraction of the price compared to those other LED screens currently. The Glasses-free LED TVs just aren't as available as the regular ones. There really isn't any reason for those retailers to stock them up in the first place. When things get better for the 3D industry, there could be the possibility of these kinds of TVs coming back. When they become more practical than regular TVs they could make a comeback.

The regular effects people get on regular glasses are much more intense than the alternative. In a way, it has to be since the glasses have a much greater effect on your vision. All of the engineerings in your frames were made alongside many of these studios which allowed you to make these images better side-by-side. The glasses might be brittle and fragile, but you're going to have a much better experience watching just about any kind of movie compared to those glasses-free TV that is currently out there for you to buy.

Are there any differences between glasses-free 3D tv and glasses-free outdoor LED display?

For one, the outdoor glasses were made to fight against sunlight glare. This makes since there are many people who want to be able to watch movies, shows, and sports while also not having to deal with the sunlight that's outside. The glasses-free TV isn't going to have those options. The Outdoor TVs are also going to be a lot rarer than the other options that are out there. It's a very niche market out there for that kind of TV and they're only shrinking in consumer base as time progresses. It's definitely not optimal for a business but getting an outdoor glasses-free TV is going to be better.

The glasses-free outdoor TV is going to be a lot more expensive. There isn't much of a reason for people to get these TVs which has led to a spike in price as they get rarer. If the market changes, things could change and the TV prices could potentially go down significantly Obviously that isn't something that people would want to deal with but it's heard for the time being. The displays are also set up differently in the internal part of the TV so the overall isn't as strong. But in terms of the actual effects, that's where the biggest difference is.

The outdoor 3D TV effects aren't very strong at all due to multiple factors. For one, you don't have the benefits of wearing frames as you're viewing something on Television, that's already going to make it weaker. There is also the sunlight which is going to affect your perception of the image especially as the day progresses. With the regular kind of TV, you will be in a place where the light is controlled and you don't have to worry as much. This is for the best since you should want a consistent experience when watching a piece of media and not have it ruined by external factors.

The trend of glasses-free 3D LED screens in 2021

One trend is the screens getting bigger for these kinds of TVs. The buying market is a lot smaller, but manufacturers have gotten everything down to the point where they can make bigger screens. This is really good for the people who have family rooms or don't have a reason for needing other kinds of TVs. For people who live in houses big enough for home theatres, this is going to be the best kind of experience that you have to offer. It's also going to offer a much better image regularly even if the media hasn't been adapted for 3D.

There have also been more ads that are made in 3D since there's been a market for it even if it's a bit niche. Not only are there more ads that advertise 3D technology, but there are also more ads in 3D. Advertisers have the job of getting your attention to buy a product and the best way to do that is probably in 3D. If something is in 3D then that makes it much more difficult to look away at everything else that's going on. If this becomes successful, then more advertisers are going to do it, especially if they know there's a high viewership.

The last trend for this year is all the new companies invested in 3D screens. If these many companies are jumping on the 3D TV wave then there must be something big happening in the industry that they're planning for. Companies like Samsung, Sony, and Phillps have almost left 3D entirely as it's not for them but Magnetic 3D, Vision Display, and Stream TV are all manufacturing in 3D this year. This means more competition and a better overall product for the consumer.

[rajesh1sahani]

Salesforce Advising and Organizations

Previous experience shows that it costs more to draw in another client than to hold a continuous one. A Solicitation Score center around lets us know that 41% of pay comes from go over clients who are just 8% of the aggregate. Client upkeep has become so significant that affiliations have advanced to offer new models considering repeating affiliations. For sure, when 2020 Gartner speculated that over 80% of programming vendors will move their procedure from normal permit and upkeep to enlistments. This cooperation model contains offering things, associations or content to a relative client base in a useful manner and with occasional segments, in general month to month. In that limit, the support course of action changes conventional clients into standard endorsers. Regardless, holding a client is certainly not a clear errand. To do this, you should zero in on making complete, consistent and, obviously, basic encounters that increment purchaser dedication. Obviously, in enlistment models, client upkeep turns out to be by and large more basic, as pay relies on it. Partners anticipate consistency, software development companies in arizona. Your business should have the decision to give it the best Salesforce directing organizations

For this current situation, Salesforce CRM besides has a horrendous strategy that will work on staying aware of your business. In this manner, we should sort out what’s really going on with Support The board.

What is a Salesforce Trained professional?

A Salesforce Master generally wears different covers. They could work in-house inside an association or be contracted as an external expert to help a business with gaining by their Salesforce CRM. They would lead business examination with a client to get a handle on their business goals and cycles, understand pain points and entryways for development to help them, and have the particular data to design as well as execute deals with further develop the business cycles and execution. They are in an accepted, position of power as they are enrolled to help with changing how a gathering endeavors to additionally foster client care and various leveled execution.

A good expert is one who sorts out the stage yet likewise has extraordinary business examination, project the board and change the chiefs capacities to coordinate people and relationship through a communication to deal with essential business issues.

How does a Salesforce Expert answer?

A consistently expanding number of associations are going to gadgets, for instance, Salesforce CRM to streamline the most well-known approach to regulating client relations, yet not all money directors are insightful with the latest programming. That is where the occupation of the Salesforce master comes in! A piece of the commitments of a Salesforce Expert include: • Managing the Client Relationship • Make and Regulate Errand Plans • Depicting Business Cycles • Supporting People Through Change • Gathering Utilitarian (Business) Necessities • Managing a Gathering of Specific Staff • Proposing Specific Requirements. • Concentrated Thing Plan

Client Testing and Planning

Why pick Salesforce for CRM advancement? Ancient history are the days when CRM was just a clear informational index that set aside client information. As of now, it’s a savvy, proactive, man-made insight filled stage that empowers laborers with the information they need to seek after the best decisions for every client. It’s the underpinning of the world’s most client centered affiliations and helps associations with putting the client at the point of convergence of all that they do. Salesforce Client 360 is the completed Salesforce CRM thing course of action of market-driving applications to develop and uphold third party integration across each line of business. It’s done. With top level applications for promoting, arrangements, exchange, and organization, all in light of our trusted in stage, Client 360 goes past Salesforce crm consulting to help every client touchpoint.

What is Salesforce?

Salesforce, Inc. is a conveyed processing and social endeavor programming as-a-organization (SaaS) provider arranged in San Francisco. Laid out in Walk 1999 by past Prophet boss Marc Benioff, Parker Harris, Dave Moellenhoff and Focused Dominguez, the association got moving as a client relationship the board (CRM) stage vendor. Salesforce has changed into a SaaS amazing powerhouse after some time, offering various cloud organizes that fill focused needs. In August 2022, Salesforce detailed it had pay of $7.72 billion, creating 22% year over year.

The chief reason behind Salesforce is to convey sensible CRM programming as an electronic assistance. Before Salesforce, most associations worked with CRM programming on their servers or used close by resources, which called for a ton of investment and financial theory. Salesforce offers a compensation all the more just as expenses emerge enrollment model and houses all of the data in the cloud, which makes it really open from any web related device. Contact formstack integration with salesforce.

How does Salesforce answer? Salesforce offers an alternate underpinning of programming things planned to help bunches from different ventures — — including advancing, gives, IT, business and client support — — connect with their clients. For example, by getting to the Salesforce Client 360 application, bunches across an entire affiliation can communicate and offer a lone point of view on client data on a planned stage. Salesforce heroku connect gives steady encounters into client lead and needs through client data examination. By getting over the openings between data storage facilities from different divisions, Salesforce gives an extensive point of view on every client association with a brand.

[mcheang]

Exclusive

Edna Mode was a renowned designer, famed for her harsh but accurate critiques, her fierce and practical lines, and of course, being the designer of the majority of superheroes.

And now she was hosting a fashionista gala, inviting those worthy of a Mode gala. As for those asking for an invite, Edna just asks who they are and calls security.

Lila, as the self-proclaimed BFF of Ladybug, and Gabriel’s muse, had already boasted of receiving the glamorous invitation. It didn’t just come in an envelope, it came out of the sky in a rosewood chest, accompanied by a bottle of wine and canapés. (Or so she says. Adrien and Marinette rolled their eyes. Chloé wasn’t paying attention)

Alya: Girl, I’m so jealous. But hey, maybe this will be a good thing. After all, Adrien is going with Kagami. Chloe will just stick with her mom. That means it’s a chance for you and Marinette to know each other better.

Oh yeah, did I mention that everyone knows Marinette is MDC?

Lila forced a grin but didn’t want to make any promises.

Imagine Lila’s rage to know she wasn’t given an invite because she was just a model. Adrien was the heir to a fashion company. She was not.

With all the bragging Lila did, she can’t back out or Chloe and Marinette will call out her absence. (Chloé learned about Lila being a guest from Sabrina later from gossiping)

So, she stole Marinette’s invitation. She did some editing and made her own customised invite, brandishing it for her class to see.

Marinette saw her invitation missing, rolled her eyes and reported the theft to Edna. Plz, everyone knows Edna invited her. She didn’t really need a piece of expensive paper.

The day of the gala arrived, and Lila brought out her invite.

The guard looked at his clipboard. “You’re not on the list.”

Lila: No, but I do have an invite. Obviously someone must have made a mistake with your list.

The guard snorted. “If that’s the case, then your fingerprints and eye scans should have already been registered. That’s what opens the doors.“

Lila gulped and thought about sneaking in with the next guest. But no such luck. Security made sure one person entered at a time.

As the security guard moved to push Lila back into the crowd of fans, Lila cried out that she knows Ladybug and Gabriel.

Guard: what’s your point?

Lila: You’ll be fired for this!

Guard: Yeah, yeah. I’ve heard this all before.

Another guard just scoffed. “You’re only a model. One of many in the industry. Miss Mode doesn’t care for models.”

Lila: what are models if not the face of fashion?

“Spoiled, stupid little stick figures with poofy lips who think only of themselves” Edna herself was at the entrance, wondering what was causing the disruption in her guest entrance flow.

Lila: How can you say that? Then why would Ladybug be my Best Friend?

Edna: the day Ladybug says she is your Best Friend is the day I wear crocs. And I don’t mean crocodile leather.

Edna points at a random guard. “You, get this so-called model out of the way. She is blocking the queue.

Oh by the way, Edna calling out Lila was caught on camera by the reporters.

One of them questioned why she was kicking out Gabriel’s muse when his son, a supermodel himself, was invited.

Edna: I did not invite the boy because of his face. I invited him because I saw potential (basically she realized he was Chat Noir. She would never invite Adrien otherwise. As seen from her quote, she doesn’t have a high opinion of models) That is, if he ever gets out of his father’s shadow. Because, let’s face it darling, what can Adrien do besides look pretty and play with swords and piano? You would think the boy would be in part of business meetings, but no. At this rate, Gabriel needs this gala to get out of that stuffy house. Realize that maybe his parenting methods are flawed compared to some other talented figures here. Look at Miss Kagami, focused on upholding her family legacy of fencing. MDC already knows how to run her own business after learning a bit from her parents. Even Audrey’s daughter has been joining in on becoming a fashion critic and throwing parties for political parties. But I must go, my guests await.

Back inside the party, guests were avoiding a seething Gabriel’s eyes. He had come to scout out the superhero guests, only to be called out by Edna on live tv.

Marinette went up to Edna and asked one of her fashion idols why she burned the Agrestes in public.

Edna: do you think Gabriel would change his parenting ways if we did not expose them to the influential figures of this industry, as well as the public eye? I guarantee you Adrien will be allowed more freedom of choice, lest Gabriel wants his son to be known as a coddled boy who can’t even make his own decisions.

Edna didn’t bother softening her sharp voice as she says these words.

Adrien flushed.

Quickly changing the subject, Marinette asked why Edna hated models.

Edna: it’s not that I hate them personally. I just hate their jobs and what they represent. Models nowadays are beautiful only according to the world standards. People who see them want to be like them, never mind that the models they see on the screen are airbrushed to unrealistic and impossible perfection. Now models focus only on their own appearance, trying to maintain their beauty as time ages them. They go on diets and become superficial. Whereas outside the modelling industry or such like, you don’t need to be stereotypically beautiful to be worthy. Where your worth is measured in kindness and bravery and talent and intelligence and anything beyond superficiality.

Adrien overheard and he frowned, not liking the idea where his appearance on ads is not exactly right. He only joined the company to make his father happy. But maybe it’s time he stepped into the business side of things and exit the modelling world. Bonus: no more Lila!

Edna snorted, “Though I must admit Gabriel surprised me with his newest model. Her attitude is lousy but she doesn’t strike me as a model. She just doesn’t have that model walk. But enough about the old man, my dear MDC, let’s talk about you. I love your gender-neutral line. And was wondering if you would like to join me in creating my next line of clothes for the Incredibles. A rare opportunity but I like style. Now take this offer before I change my mind.”

Marinette: wait, do I have to fly over or-

Edna: you are too excited, darling, but don’t worry, my assistants will send you the details.

Why are the Incredibles getting a new look? The kids are growing up and Edna wanted to move on to new styles.

As Marinette was flabbergasted, Audrey congratulated her for landing the job. Kagami and Adrien also beamed at her good fortune.

Even the Incredibles admitted they looked forward to working with her. Violet was a big fan.

Gabriel was seething and thought about akumatizing himself but come on, one villain against a room of superheroes? No thanks.

Drinking a glass of wine, he eventually admits that Edna had a point, however loudly and rudely it had been announced.

He would not be around forever and he wanted to leave the company in Adrien’s hands. In order for that to happen, his son needs to know business (if he can’t design, he can hire designers)

And yes, Lila was a lousy model. She survived by shooting with professional models who managed to overpower her mediocre work. But a deal was a deal. Besides, her contract was only for a year.

After the gala, Adrien happily quit modelling (aka Lila) to spend more time with his father, learning about how to run a company.

Marinette and Edna proudly claimed credit for the fashionable Incredibles.

Violet also became the talk of the school for her MDC exclusives.

Lila had been humiliated on air. Alya hesitated but finally did her research. At the end, she collapsed over the ruined credibility of her blog. But she can still get revenge by informing the principal, Ms Bustier and Mrs Rossi what Lila lied about. The perks of being a class vice president for a busy class president is that she also has the contacts list for emergencies.

Considering how Lila framed Marinette, there would be no suspension or detention. Only expulsion. Good luck finding a new school when Edna’s gala was a global topic.

When Lila returned to school for her last week (it takes time to gather evidence and get the attention of busy adults), nobody wanted to talk to her or even exchange glances. She quietly kept to herself, hoping for this to blow over soon. She was still a model working for Gabriel. She could befriend other supermodels (as if. Like they would want to befriend her after Edna called her out)

Hell, even her jobs were down. Gabriel just told her to take test shoots to fill up her portfolio until the hype died down (aka her contract expired)

When Lila was expelled, she was ready to be akumatized into Chameleon again. Except one problem. Everyone avoided her like hell so how could she kiss her target. Even Adrien was told to stay away lest his reputation be tarnished.

Ok, I admit it. I was hit by “I’m no Angel” quotes as I wrote this. But seriously, does anyone feel weird at the idea of trying to become thinner when your weight is just right, all the while you know there are people out there even thinner than you are and are starving, not because they want to be stereotypically thin, but because they cannot afford food?

[screamingatanemptyroom]

Please Fix the Story pt 22 - Sci Fi

New part is here! Just a few more in this world. Just realized that it's been about 1 year since I've started this story. Wow.

Masterpost linked here.

Enjoy!

____________________________

The school was greatly relieved to hear that I had made a Connection and was no longer a danger to myself and others. They immediately rescinded my suspension and "encouraged" me to resume training with my new partner as soon as possible. I found the quick 180 amusing, but didn't argue.

It took multiple video calls with Alaira’s father to reassure him that everything was okay, and a few more to prevent him from throwing a parade for Liam to thank him for matching his daughter. His tears of joy at the news was a complicated moment for me.

I had felt a deep sense of joy, but it was an emotion that didn’t belong to me... it belonged to Alaira. Watching him celebrate his daughter’s recovery felt hypocritical, knowing that in the world that I hadn’t taken over, his daughter hadn’t had a good end. She had died alone and afraid, her mind fragmented.

But there was no way to tell him that.

The mission completion status on my communication device had risen quickly from 1% to 42%. Liam and I spent every waking moment together, talking, joking, and learning about each other. We practiced making the connection with the Mech, powering and controlling it now a smooth, painless process. It was natural, coming as easily to me as breathing. Working with him felt less like learning with a new partner as gaining back a missing part of me.

I was happy.

But not everyone was glad to hear we had matched.

Shortly after our match was made public, Liam and I were walking down the hallway after class, and were forced to stop by a young, angry woman blocking our path.

“It’s a lie!” Princess Ilene glared at Liam as she faced us down. “William can’t be a real Connector! He’s always been just a useless waste. He's a stain on the royal family!”

Liam seemed unfazed by his sister’s cruel words, as if he were used to it. The lack of reaction and the implications behind it made me even angrier. I stepped forward, hiding him partly behind me, and smiled pleasantly. My expression and pleasant tone obviously confused the princess, who took a step back.

“Ilene, Ilene, there’s just so much wrong with what you said… I don’t even know where to begin!” I shrugged. “ But, correcting idiocy IS my calling in life, so let me give it a shot:”

Ilene’s face was red with rage, but I ignored her incoherent sputtering, holding up a finger.

“First, Liam is capable of making the connection. He just had a strong barrier. Obviously it isn't impossible, or he and I wouldn’t be matched. “ I held up a second finger. “Secondly, and more importantly: even if he COULDN’T make the connection, he still wouldn’t be useless. He’s a kind, wonderful person, and that’s more than you can say about most Guardians or Connectors… present company included.”

“ How dare…” Princess Ilene took a step back. “What are you trying to say?”

I blinked, shocked “Oh, was I not being obvious enough? I don’t like you. I think Liam is a much better human being than you, and find it pitiful that you try to derive your self worth from putting him down.”

Liam stepped forward, grabbing my hand. “It’s ok…”

“No, its not. You don’t deserve for people to call you trash.” I felt emotional, as if something deep inside me was trying to break free.

“It’s always been like this.” He shrugged, “I’m used to being alone.”

____________________________

“Friends, family?”

The man in front of me was smiling at my question, but the expression was so sad it made me want to cry.

“None.” He twisted his hands in his lap, looking away. “I’m supposed to be alone.”

“Why?”

“Supposedly that’s my fate.”

____________________________

“You are not trash.” I tightened my grip on Liam’s hand. “ and you’re not alone anymore.”

“I know.” He smiled, “Thanks.”

Princess Ilene spoke up, obviously tired of being ignored. “How dare you trample on Chris’s kindness and reject him for this tr…” She started to say the word “trash” but seeing my face, nervously trailed off and started again. “You don’t even know if you two have a high enough resonance match to ward off your mental degradation…!”

“We do. It’s gone.”

She paused, thrown by my matter of fact tone. “… But what if you’re a higher match with Chris…”

“Don’t care. I hate him.”

“… But…”

“You do bring up a good point, though.” I turned to Liam. “We should see what our resonance match rate is.”

He looked nervous. “What if it isn’t very high?”

“Doesn’t matter. We’re already partners. I’m just curious.” I grinned. “Plus, I’m pretty sure it’s really high, and I’d love to use that to shut people up.”

He chuckled at that. “If it means that much to you to rub it into people’s faces...”

“It does.”

We walked towards the match center, leaving Princess Ilene stunned into silence behind.

____________________________

Liam got more anxious the closer we got to the match center. “You promise you won’t break our partnership if our match score is low?”

“You know I wouldn’t do that.” I didn’t feel insulted at his questioning. I could feel his insecurity, the need for me to say out loud what he thought he knew. “Low or high, we’re partners. You’re stuck with me.”

“Good.” He sighed, grinning. “I like being stuck with you.”

Finally, we were facing the machine that had failed us both so many times. Irrationally, I felt a little nervous, the many prior failures of the past few weeks too fresh and painful to completely forget.

Liam stepped away from me, reaching out and placed his hands on the panel first.

“Unrecognized tester. Please let down your mental barrier to proceed with Match testing.”

I rubbed my forehead tiredly as the robotic rejection echoed loudly around the room; “I forgot your barrier is still around since it doesn’t effect me anymore.”

“Honestly, I had forgotten too.” He responded with a happy smile.

A crowd was starting to gather, curious at our actions. As more and more people realized what we were doing, I began hearing the whispering between them.

“Didn’t she go crazy?”

“...thought she couldn’t match?”

“He has a barrier? ...never could match.”

“I heard they already formed a connection.”

“Heard her dad is a general, spread the rumor of her matching so she wouldn’t get kicked out.”

“Isn’t she matched up with Chris?”

“Why are they here?”

I grabbed Liam’s hand again, feeling relieved when I felt his warm skin against my own. “Don’t listen to them.”

“Don’t worry, I won’t.” He stared straight at me, ignoring the hostile words and gazes of the crowd. “You’re beside me, and that’s all that matters.”

I squeezed his hand in my own. A strong desire welled up within me to be worthy of the trust he gave me. I wanted to show everyone what Liam could do, the bond we had... but of course it couldn't be too easy.

“We just have to figure out how to get your barrier down enough for the machine to read you." I glanced down at my hand that was still holding his. "I mean, I’m touching you now, right? There’s no barrier between us?”

He stared down at our clasped hands, his cheeks tinged pink. “Yes, I feel you. I mean, no, there’s no barrier.”

“Good!" I gestured to the pad with my free hand. "Then why don't you try again while we're still touching each other?”

He placed his hand back on the machine.

“Please let down your mental barrier to proceed with Match testing.” The machine's voice repeated itself calmly.

His hand fell away, frustrated. I could feel his anxiety, and worried deep down that I had made a wrong choice. I did this to reassure him that we are a good match. To shut up everyone saying that it's a made up story to justify the removal of my suspension. To prove to everyone that Liam isn't useless, even by their own stupid standards.

But none of this will happen if he can't use the machine.

I thought it over, and grinned as I came up with a plan. “Hmm… Well, there’s one other thing we can try…”

I leaned in and kissed him, grabbing his free hand with my own and placing it on the pad together. His breath caught in his chest and he froze in shock very briefly before kissing back. In that moment I almost forgot why I had kissed him in the first place, but the robotic voice quickly reminded me.

“Resonance match detected…. Scanning…. Resonance Frequency Match...100%.”

The voice had barely faded before there were shouts of shock from the crowd. The room descended into chaos at the announcement. I broke away from Liam, who was still distracted, and stared at him.

“Did that machine just say… we are a 100 PERCENT match? I didn’t even think that was possible!”

Liam blinked. “I’m sorry, I dinwhat did you say?”

“We’re a perfect match, Liam.” I laughed. “I knew this was a great idea!”

Definitely didn't completely doubt the plan halfway through... yep.

“So… no one can separate us then?” His body relaxed, and he reached out, pulling me against himself and hugging me tightly. I felt the trembling of his muscles and knew that the anxiety he had shown was only the tip of the iceberg. His true fears and insecurities were still well hidden, even from me.

I hugged him back, waiting for him to back away. The crowd’s murmuring were now a loud roar, as everyone discussed a match rate that most thought impossible to achieve. And there, in the back of the crowd, I saw a solitary figure standing there, watching us with a blank stare.

Chris.

I shuddered, holding Liam tighter. The first thing I had done when Liam and I announced our match was to report to the authorities Chris holding me in his room. I suspected him of drugging me as well, remembering the prick of the needle before falling unconscious.

I was laughed at.

“Why would a student with a crystal clear reputation go out of his way to kidnap a general’s daughter? He already had a match, a better one than his resonance with you if I recall. If anyone had motive to kidnap someone, it would be you to him!”

The words were cutting, made worse by the pity on their faces.

“It’s obvious: your mind was breaking down due to the strain without a Connector, and came up with this fantastical plot of being kidnapped.”

And despite my objections, the claim was dropped. I hadn’t seen Chris since the day we parted in his room.

Until now.

His gaze held mine. He was expressionless, watching us with a detached, almost clinical air. I would have almost thought he was bored, or at least uncaring about the situation in front of him… if not for his eyes…

His eyes were burning with rage.

I looked away first feeling an odd sense of familiarity, as if something similar had happened before.

____________________________

A few days later Liam and I had our first mock battle. Suspended together in the Connection chamber within the Mech, the constant physical and mental connection with Liam made operating the Mech much easier than it ever had been alone.

I fought with a sword, having abandoned the dual guns completely. I breathed a sigh of relief at the speed I could move at as I ducked under the enemy Mech’s attack. Turning with the spin of my dodge, I used the momentum and I swung around to slash the torso of our opponent with the sword.

“Nice hit!” Liam’s voice in my headset was excited. He was cheering me on along the way, spurring me to show off with more complex moves when possible, hoping to impress him.

I pressed the attack, slamming the Mech with the shoulder of ours, and kicking it to the ground before it could recover its balance. The movements were smooth, and my head was clear of any pain. The prior drain and discomfort of controlling the giant robot was completely gone.

As our opponent fell to the ground, I pressed the tip of the sword into the Mech’s neck. The referee called out our victory, and the crowd around the arena cheered, but it was just noise to me. All that mattered was Liam’s excited babbling in my ear.

“That was awesome! I’ve always wondered what it felt like to win a Mech fight, and it’s so much cooler than I ever imagined! This is great! When can we fight again?”

“Glad you had fun, Liam.” I laughed at the innocent delight in his voice. After the stress and pain I had experienced since waking up in this world, the uncertainty of who I was and why I was here, there was something simple and healing about being by Liam’s side.

I feel happy.

I was nervous about admitting it, even to myself, as if the simple acknowledgement of the positive emotion would be enough to destroy it. But I couldn’t deny it. I WAS happy.

After we had undocked and changed, Liam and I relaxed in the fighter’s lounge. Liam as always, had a container that he pulled out of a bag, opening it to reveal a slice of cake. I took it from him with a murmur of thanks, and after the first bite sighed with joy.

“I've been meaning to ask you: Where do you get this cake? It's obviously not from the school shop, it’s way too good!”

Liam smiled at the question. “I made it myself.” Usually more quiet and shy, he seemed very confident when it came to matters such as food. The change in his attitude was something I loved to see.

“Really? You made it? This is too delicious… if only I could have this all the time.” I took another bite, savoring it. As I swallowed, I looked up at him and joked. "Yep, I think the only solution would be for me to just marry you.”

“…” There was a strange silence in the room. I ate some more cake, unconcerned at first, but as the awkward stillness stretched on I paused in my actions, turning towards Liam again with a questioning look.

His face was bright red, and he stared at me with a look of shock and joy.

“Liam?”

He nodded, and blushing more, pulled out his communication device, dialing a number.

“Who are you calling…?”

Alaira’s father, General Gladus showed up on the holographic projection from his device. He stared at Liam, confused for a moment, before barking out with a frown. “Who is this?”

Liam sat up straight, staring at the man with a solemn expression. “General Gladus, my name is William. I am the third born of the Royal family, and a first year student at the academy, and a Level S Connector.”

General Gladus grinned. “I know who you are, son. You’re the wonderful young man who matched with my daughter. I’ve been wanting to talk with you and thank you…”

“Your daughter has asked me to marry her and I have agreed.”

“What?”

“What?”

My father and I asked in unison.

“I was very happy to receive your daughter’s offer of marriage. I will do my very best to support her in all her endeavors.”

“She proposed?”

I silently mouthed an echoing question as my father burst out loudly. “I proposed?”

Liam nodded. “I wanted to let you know so that you could arrange for military leave and be present for our wedding. I know the paperwork can take weeks to months. ”

“…” General Gladus looked stunned. Slowly, his hologram turned towed me. “Alaira, is this true?”

"Yeah, military leave paperwork is notoriously slow..."

He interrupted. "No I mean about the engagement!"

I glanced over at Liam’s excited face.

____________________________

“I don’t believe it’s real.” He whispered, staring down at our hands that were clasped together. “I thought that I was always going to be alone. I thought my fate… my role… ”

I fiddled with the silver band in my hand, trying it on his finger. “Screw fate. We’re getting married now.”

“Yeah.” He grinned, the smile lighting up his face, making the whole room brighter. “Screw fate. I’m your husband!”

____________________________

I shrugged. “What can I say? We’re a destined couple.” I briefly explained about our 100% resonance match.

“… Did you say 100% match?” At my nod, General Gladus opened up his arms. “Welcome to family! When's the wedding?”

After a few more minutes of discussion, Liam hung up, still looking happy.

“Should we notify your parents?”

His face froze. When his gaze finally rose to met mine I shrunk back from the dull look I saw there.

“No reason to.” He reached out, tucking back my hair. “A family without love is just blood related acquaintances. You’re my real family, wife.”

I hugged him again. “That’s right. I’m your family.” I hadn’t really meant to propose… it was just a joke. But the second he called me wife, my heart had felt a sense of recognition. It was happy, but also hurt, a deep remembered pain. A panicked feeling rose up within me, as fear, despair and sadness came in waves, before leaving quickly, overwhelming me without warning or reason. I desperately wanted to remember something, to tear open the fog clouding my brain and peer at what was hidden behind it. But I couldn't.

You must accept your fate. A metallic voice rang in my head, cold, dispassionate, filled with undeniable.

“No.” I whispered, tears filling my eyes even if I wasn’t sure why they were there.

Liam noticed my distress. “Alaira?”

“I'm fine." I think we should go back to practice.” I pulled him to his feet. “We’ll talk more about this later.”

“You’re right, let’s continue working hard so we can save the world like you wanted. But on our next break, we have a wedding to plan!” For the first time, Liam was more excited than me to get to practice. He grabbed my hand and raced forward.

____________________________

Later that night, I went back to my dorm room, still thinking over my last conversation with Liam. He was energetically talking about wedding plans, making lists and drawings with the hologram on his communicator, storing them in special file with my name on it.

When I asked him why he was so excited, he paused, staring down at his hands. “Have you ever felt a desire that was so strong, it seemed to be beyond anything you’ve experienced before?” He glanced up. “I feel this, Alaira. Deep in my soul. I want to be by your side. I want to marry you, but even if you didn’t want that, I’d be your minion or your sidekick. Being by you… helping you… it’s such an integral part of myself, I couldn’t separate from it if I tried.”

“Liam…”

“I think I believe in reincarnation and soul mates.” He smiled. “I’m so happy right now that I think this has to be a hallucination, it can’t be real.”

“I don’t believe it’s real.” I felt the memory of the young man’s whisper in my head again, and pushing it back, I leaned forward to kiss Liam gently.

“It’s real.”

Now alone in my room, I couldn’t help but feel bewildered by the connection with Liam, the emotions and memories that accompanied every moment with him.

“Who am I?” I leaned against the wall and whispered to myself.

“That is the question isn’t it?”

At the unexpected answer I straightened up, falling into a defensive stance. Recognizing the intruder did not make relax, however. If anything it made me more tense.

“Chris. What are you doing here?” I kept my voice calm, trying to hide my inner tension.

“I’m getting tired, Bel.” He sat down on my bed and leaned back, staring up at the ceiling. “I’m just… so tired of all this.”

“What did you call me?” The name resonated with me, much more than “Alaira” ever had.

He ignored me. “It wasn’t supposed to be like this. You were supposed to give up right away. It promised me…”

The room fell into silence. I stood as still as a statue, barely daring to breathe. I was desperate to hear more, terrified to let him continue speaking. Chris’s voice was different, his tone filled with years of regret. His eyes when they stared at me, seemed to look right through me, as if seeing through my skin to something deeper and more profound.

“Why can’t you just accept your fate, Bel?” He sighed, the sound seeming to drag on too long. “Everything depends on it.”

“What do you…?”

“The lower realms you treasure… the friends you’ve made… even…” He hesitated. “Even his existence depends on everyone having their role and playing their part.”

“I don’t understand what you mean, Chris.”

“MY NAME ISN’T CHRIS!” He yelled, the sound startling in the otherwise silent room. “Just like yours isn’t Alaira. Just like his… it wasn’t supposed to be…”

“Liam?”

”THAT WASN’T SUPPOSED TO BE HIS NAME!” Chris, or whoever he was, stood up, his face red with rage. “He corrupted it! He refused his role, and ended up tricking you to do the same.” He stepped closer. “Why do you always force me to be the one who has to carry the weight of the realms on my shoulders? Why does he get to be the only one who is happy? I don’t want to play these games anymore, Bel.”

“I’m not playing games!” I shouted back, frustrated. “I don’t remember anything!”

“And you won’t. Not until it’s over. But it will be soon. Because I’m going to end it.” He walked towards the door, preparing to leave, only stopping when I grabbed his arm.

“No. You aren’t leaving until you explain what you meant.”

His eyes lit up briefly at our contact, and I pulled my hand away quickly. “You made a bet, Bel, and these are rules you can’t escape. All it takes is one failed mission. One failure before you can finish the task of piecing together your soul.”

“Piecing together…?” His words struck a chord within me, but I shook my head. “I may not understand anything going on, but I’ll tell you this: I won’t fail my mission.”

The light is his eyes dimmed. “You started this. Just remember that, when you regret everything. You. Started. This.”

He left through room, slamming the door behind him. I stood in place, staring blankly, my mind racing.

Realms, real names, missions and bets… I don’t understand any of it.

But I knew one thing, as certainly as if it were imprinted on my soul.

I would not accept my fate.

Even if I couldn’t remember what that fate was.

Even if I had to destroy fate itself to escape it.

[ibijau]

Futures past pt5 / on AO3

Nie Huaisang chats with Su She, and gets reminded of his mission

"I swear, if that shixiong of yours doesn't stop sneering like that every time he sees you, I'm stealing you," Nie Huaisang grumbled as they walked away from the training grounds. “And then da-ge will be happy to have another hard working disciple, and you will be happy to never deal with those stuck up idiots, and I will be happy to have a friend at home!”

Su She rolled his eyes, but there was a faint smile on his lips that pleased Nie Huaisang. He’d figured out pretty quickly that Su She liked being praised, reacting to it like a man lost in the desert who'd found an oasis. It was funny, and a little cute, and Nie Huaisang was only too happy to build up his new friend’s self esteem. When Su She was in a good mood, he was a little more willing to help Nie Huaisang with his homework, at least some of the time. He refused to actually do the work for Nie Huaisang, which was a shame, but just getting help was already something.

And it was help that Nie Huaisang desperately needed.

As weeks passed, it had become quite obvious that he was horrifyingly bad at studying, his grade plummeting down with each new test and surprise quiz. At least he could somewhat manage his homework if Su She or Lan Xichen were helping him, but… but he kept being punished because of his bad grades, meaning he ended up with very little time to spend with either of them. When he went to Lan Xichen’s house, he usually did some homework because that was easier than making conversation, but it didn’t happen that often. As for Su She… well, there were more fun things they could do together, and Nie Huaisang would fail his classes no matter what, so why waste time on something as stupid as homework now it was all obviously in vain?

“What’s the plan today?” Nie Huaisang asked.

"My mother sent me some treats from home and I don't mind sharing," Su She announced. "She figured I'd be sad, since I'm not able to go back for Qingming this year either. The teachers say my attitude isn't good enough yet, and going home might ruin all my progress." 

"They're all too hard on you, I swear." 

Su She shrugged. He was used to this. From what Nie Huaisang understood, most outer disciples were treated quite harshly until they proved they could be trusted to follow the rules. It might not have been so bad if Su She had been more the side to bend his neck and obey everything like some of the others, but he really had too much pride for a disciple of Gusu Lan. Still, being away from home for Qingming was harsh. 

Of course, Nie Huaisang too was stuck in the Cloud Recesses. In his case, that was because the trip would have been too long when he couldn't fly on his sabre, and Lan Qiren had warned Nie Mingjue that it would be bad for his brother to miss any classes due to that. The other Nie disciples had no such problem though, so they'd left and he was currently all alone in the cabin they shared.

Nie Huaisang didn't mind. A little quiet was nice. 

“Let’s go to my cabin to have some tea,” Nie Huaisang offered. “We can eat what your mother sent, and I should also still have some sweets, and I don’t mind sharing if it’s with you.”

It was, actually, almost the last of the candies he’d brought from home, and he hadn’t been able to get more. Students were allowed days off to visit the nearby town sometimes, but Nie Huaisang had been denied that privilege on account of his grades. He had thought of going anyway, but so far his fear of Lan Qiren still outweighed his desperate need for something fun. If Su She had been willing to come with him, perhaps… but Su She wasn’t exactly in a great position either, and didn’t want to make his situation worse by purposefully breaking rules, so they were both stuck inside the Cloud Recesses, the most beautiful prison in the world.

But it was a prison with decent company, and Su She agreed to that offer for tea. With just the two of them, they were able to get quite cozy in the Nie cabin. They dropped on the floor all the blankets in the cabin so they could sit in decadent comfort, at least by Cloud Recesses' standards. Half sprawled by the table, they drank the best tea Nie Huaisang had to offer at that moment (he promised, not for the first time, that one day he’d invite Su She to visit the Unclean Realm where he had access to much better leaves), traded treats much sweeter and tastier than anything usually available to eat away from home, and chatted quite freely, knowing there was nobody around to scold them if they got too gossipy. 

Su She, who tried so hard to never say anything bad about his fellow disciples where someone might here, ended up spitting a lot of venom on all those other Lan juniors, sparring neither inner nor outer disciples and denouncing their treatment of him as unfair.

“After all,” he spat, “I’m a much better musician than Han Mingzhe and Bao Tong, and my swordsmanship is at least as good as Li Xiaoping, but they don’t get scolded as much. But Bao Tong and Li Xiaoping have parents who are rogue cultivators, and Han Mingzhe’s parents are farmers which is at least honourable, while my father is a merchant, and a rich one at that. Everyone says I just bought my way into cultivation!”

Nie Huaisang frowned, looking down at his currently empty cup. This, he thought, would have been a conversation better accompanied by some wine. Complaining while drinking tea just wasn’t as fun.

“It’s stupid,” he said. “I mean, sure you can buy pills and all, but that wouldn’t take you very far with Gusu Lan’s style, that’s more of a Jin thing.”

Immediately, Su She hunched up his shoulders and looked down, a spot of colour on his cheeks.

“Actually my father tried to get me into Lanling Jin at first,” Su She muttered, sounding ashamed of the confession. “But they didn’t want me because I didn’t know anything about using a sword and they said I was already too old to be taught. Then we tried Gusu Lan, because we’d heard they use music, and I’m good at that. They also said I was a bit old, but they still took me in because they said I might catch up if I worked hard enough. But some of the other juniors still heard about me trying for Lanling Jin, and they’re convinced I must have cheated somehow, and… Well, a merchant’s son, no way I can have gotten here on my own merit, eh? Merchants are all dishonest, right?”

Nie Huaisang grimaced, because he could just imagine the sort of things that Su She might have been accused of. Even his brother’s sect, which tried to reward merit and talent above all else, wasn’t always kind to anyone coming from a merchant’s family. It was a profession with money, but that didn't count all that much when the way they'd gotten that money was through the work of others, not like farmers or scholars who put such high efforts into their respective crafts. Of course, being descended from butchers, the Nie couldn’t exactly look down on others for their origins, and yet…

“Have you told the seniors about this?” he asked Su She.

His friend shrugged and scoffed.

“What for? Most of them agree, or they wouldn’t be so hard on me.”

“Then… what if I told Lan Xichen?” Nie Huaisang offered. “If he says something in your favour, then everyone else will have to be nice to you!”

“Lan gongzi despises me,” Su She muttered. “Sometimes I cross paths with him, and he looks at me like I’m lower than dirt. With everyone else he’s nice, but me… it’s like he hates me, personally. And it’s worse when I’m with you.”

Nie Huaisang's enthusiasm deflated at the reminder.

At least, this confirmed it wasn’t just his imagination. He also thought he had noticed that Lan Xichen appeared to harbour some kind of personal dislike toward Su She, but he couldn’t understand why. By all accounts, Su She had always managed to be perfectly polite around the sect leader’s sons, and while his personality wasn’t the most Lan-like, Nie Huaisang knew his friend had never done anything that cast shame upon his sect. It might have been about Su She’s origins then, but somehow that didn’t sound right either.

Lan Xichen was a little boring, but he put great value on his sect’s rules, and those rules said clearly that people should be judged by their actions, not their origins. Nie Huaisang had copied those damn rules often enough to know that. It really was so odd for Lan Xichen to react like this to Su She, and that made Nie Huaisang want to understand why. Everything else about Lan Xichen was so boring, but this detail made him feel like there might be some personality in the older boy after all.

“I could still ask him to do something,” Nie Huaisang insisted. “He can look the other way if nobody tells him, but I’m a young master of a sect too. I'm not very good at being one, but when I say something, he still had to listen. And if I tell him his father’s disciples are little shits, he’ll have to do something, or all of Gusu Lan will lose face.”

Su She’s expression only turned darker. “It will just make everyone hate me more, even the ones who didn’t care before. Please don’t say anything. I’m just going to work harder, and prove everyone wrong, and when I’m good enough I’ll…” he pinched his lips and dropped his gaze to the table. “They’ll see, they’ll all see. When I’m good enough, I’ll show them all, and everyone will regret that they didn’t respect me.”

Nie Huaisang nodded, and even patted Su She on the shoulder, feeling quite sorry for him. He’d never thought about it before, but the way things were was a little unfair. Su She was so hard working and getting results for his effort, but people treated him like dirt, while Nie Huaisang couldn’t be bothered with anything and would have failed even if he tried, but everyone still felt forced to treat him with a minimum of respect because of his brother.

It really wasn’t fair at all, but all Nie Huaisang could do was stand by Su She and make it clear he saw his friend’s talent, even if everybody else was too damn stupid to notice him.

Nie Huaisang couldn't do anything to help, but he made sure to give Su She the last of his candies, and hoped that counted for something.

-

It was always too damn quiet in the Cloud Recesses at night, and Nie Huaisang struggled to get used to it. Back home, there was always the noise of something happening somewhere. Disciples who'd decided to continue training after sunset, those on watch duty doing their rounds, servants going about their business... it was a constant reminder that people were around and the world was safe.

In the Cloud Recesses, there was nothing. If not for the snoring coming from one of his companions, Nie Huaisang might as well have been alone in the world.

Nobody was snoring that night. He was alone, and would be for at least two more, until the others returned from seeing their families and honouring their ancestors.

It was annoying enough to be stuck in this lonely quiet place in daylight, when he could at least see people, when he’d been able to pester Su She and feel less alone. Only Su She had long returned to the dorms he shared with other Lan disciples, and Nie Huaisang was alone in this deafening silence.

That was why he couldn’t sleep.

That was why he heard those footsteps coming near his bed, when there shouldn’t have been anyone else in that lonely cabin. It couldn’t be a demon or a ghost, not in the Cloud Recesses, which should have been a comfort. Once, before his father went mad, it would have been.

There were things against which no magical barrier could offer protection.

The footsteps came to a stop near the bed. Nie Huaisang silently shivered under his blanket, biting into his fist to avoid making any sound. If he was quiet, if he pretended not to be there, things would be fine. It had worked whenever his father went into a rage. Back then, as long as Nie Huaisang didn't move, his father seemed not to see him, a trick he'd figured out very quickly and shared with Nie Mingjue.

Maybe it would work here too.

Or maybe not.

Nie Huaisang felt a hand grab his blanket, and all coherent thoughts left him. He shrieked in terror as he leapt out of his bed, nearly falling face first onto the floor but caught at the last moment by strong, slender hands.

“What are you crying like that for?” he heard a strange yet familiar voice huff. “Do you really think anyone would dare attack you here? It’s only me.”

Blinking away a few tears, Nie Huaisang scrambled to stand up while his future self watched him with an unimpressed expression.

“Sorry,” Nie Huaisang muttered, trying to put some order to his night clothes. “I get scared at night sometimes. Well, you’d know. Do… Does it get better?”

“No,” the older man bearing his face said, opening his fan. It was a different one from last time, but just as gorgeous. “It gets worse. I don’t sleep much these days. Haven’t in years. It’s a waste of time anyway.”

Nie Huaisang, who often thought that sleeping was the best part of his day, as long as he didn’t start panicking over nothing, didn’t know what to answer to that. He had a feeling his opinion on the matter wasn’t required anyway.

“So, uh, aside from sleeping, how have you been?” he awkwardly asked. “Anything interesting happened to you? How does time even pass for you? Did you also have to wait for several months, or is it just after the last time we talked for you?”

His future self glared and sharply closed his fan, making Nie Huaisang jump and effectively silencing him.

"How is Lan Xichen?” the man asked. “Have you made progress with him yet?" 

"We've talked here and there, but he's always so busy," Nie Huaisang muttered, wringing his hands. “It's really hard to chat with him, you know. And he’s got such boring hobbies, too.”

Not music and painting, those were valid ways to pass time, in Nie Huaisang’s opinion. And sometimes, serious people couldn’t avoid doing some amount of work, so he didn't even begrudge Lan Xichen that either.

But Nie Huaisang hadn’t taken long to realise that whenever they were spending time together, Lan Xichen wasn’t actually doing any sect work. After all, Nie Mingjue had tried to force his little brother to help with those things, so he knew what that looked like. And it wasn't calligraphy either that occupied the older boy, because Nie Huaisang loved that and would have struck a conversation about it if given a chance.

Instead, Lan Xichen had made a hobby of copying books and treaties.

Nie Huaisang had asked, once or twice, if Lan Xichen was trying to learn those texts by heart. The older boy had very awkwardly agreed that he was indeed doing just that, but he hadn’t sounded very convinced. He really was such a poor liar. Lan Xichen was going to be awful at politics if he didn’t learn how to conceal his thoughts. Then again, he wasn’t always like that, was he? With most people he was placid and radiating a sort of empty warmth. It was just around Nie Huaisang that he would get weird, and maybe around Su She as well, as if his disdain was just too great to be contained.

Just as Nie Huaisang was about to ask his older self if he’d ever found out what he and his friend had done to Lan Xichen to be so disliked by him, the man grabbed him by the collar and shook him.

"I thought I'd told you this was essential," his older self hissed, sounding too much like Nie Huaisang's father all of a sudden. "And you’re still only thinking about having fun! Do you want da-ge to die?" 

"Of course not!" 

"Then get serious about this,” the man ordered, shaking his young self once more before pushing him away with enough force that Nie Huaisang stumbled and nearly fell. “You have to earn Lan Xichen's trust, or he will choose the wrong friend, idiot that he is."

"Well, can't you give me hints?” Nie Huaisang mumbled in a trembling voice, trying again to straighten his clothes in spite of shaking hands. “You've got to know more about him than I do, can't you tell me how I'm supposed to get close to him?" 

This, of course, earned him another disdainful glare.

"I don't remember the boy he was," his future self said, "and the man he became was never worth my attention. Figure this out on your own, and be useful for once."

It struck Nie Huaisang as very unfair that his future self was allowed to not have anything to do with Lan Xichen, but wouldn't extend the same kindness to him. It also worried him that the man before him disliked Lan Xichen so much. Nie Huaisang just found the older boy a little boring, but he didn't have any particularly strong opinion about him. 

“You can’t do that!” he complained, clenching his fists. “You can’t… I’ve got to be told things! And if you can’t tell me about how to get close to Lan Xichen, then… then at least tell my why it’s important, and why… how does da-ge die, anyway?”

“Murdered, I’ve told you that already.”

Nie Huaisang stumped his foot. “There’s so many ways to murder someone, that doesn’t narrow it down at all! Tell me how, and tell me who…” He trailed off, a horrible suspicion hitting him. “Did… did Lan Xichen…”

Just thinking of it, Nie Huaisang felt a little faint and had to stumble against the closest wall, just to get some support. Whatever he thought of Lan Xichen, that was still his brother’s closest friend, Nie Mingjue's only friend. And besides, Lan Xichen didn’t strike him as a murderer. People changed, certainly, but how could a person have changed that much?

And yet his own future self, standing before him, was proof that such a complete transformation was possible. Nie Huaisang really didn’t see anything of himself in that man, nothing except his aged up face and perhaps a taste for fashion.

“Lan Xichen is too much of a coward,” his older self proclaimed, mouth twisting in disgust. “But he helped the murderer, willingly or not, and sided with him so many times that I’ve never dared come to him with the truth. I wasn’t sure he’d trust me, even with proof. I still have my opinion on that, whatever some others think he'd have done. But you…” he waved his closed fan toward Nie Huaisang. “You might change that. Da-ge’s opinion alone wasn’t enough, but Lan Xichen has no will of his own, he’ll be easily swayed if two people he trusts are denouncing the true nature of the man he protects. That’s all I feel safe telling you at the moment. I don’t trust you not to mess things up if you know too much. You only learned too late to keep your mouth shut.”

It still sounded odd to Nie Huaisang that Lan Xichen could ever side against Nie Mingjue. Not long ago, he would have called his older self a liar, because Lan Xichen was boring but honest and just. Now though, having seen how Lan Xichen looked at Su She who had never done him any wrong… maybe it was possible that Lan Xichen would turn into a bad man, since he was clearly capable of being unjust after all.

“I’ll work harder to get close to him,” Nie Huaisang promised, pushing himself away from the wall now that he felt steadier again. “I really will. Maybe I can ask him to help with lessons a little more… I really need it, if I want to pass.”

“You’re not going to pass,” his older self announced. “It’s fine. Da-ge will send you here again, and you’ll meet some useful allies.”

At the news, Nie Huaisang let out a deep, heartfelt sigh. Having to come back in this boring place for another year sounded like torture, even with Su She for company. And then, meeting more people his future self wanted him to befriend… weren’t these people going to be just as boring as Lan Xichen?

While Nie Huaisang despaired, his adult self turned to check on something only he could see, and huffed.

“I’m running out of time. Fine, let’s be quick. Did you bring with you the information I gave you last time about Meng Yao?”

“Yes, I have it.”

Nie Huaisang took a step toward the place he’d stored his qiankun pouch, but his older self stopped him with a gesture.

“That Night Hunt in Yunping should happen fairly soon now. You have to go,” the older man ordered. “One way or another, you have to go. I don’t know when else we’d have such a chance to alter Meng Yao’s fate, and it is vital that he doesn’t enter Lanling Jin. Do whatever you must do, take whatever risk you must take, but make sure Meng Yao cannot join the Jin.”

Nie Huaisang obediently nodded, half spooked by the edge in his older self’s voice whenever he said that Meng Yao’s voice. Hating someone was just too much effort in his opinion, but apparently he’d grow to hate that Meng Yao person. But if that person was fated to play a part in Nie Mingjue’s death… in that case, and that case alone, Nie Huaisang could imagine he’d maybe become enraged enough to do something about it.

“I’ll do my best,” Nie Huaisang promised, hoping he wouldn’t have to actually kill anyone. Murder was messy, and Nie Mingjue would be cross, even if it was to save his life.

“I know what your best is,” his older self snapped. “You’ll have to do better than that. Take care of Meng Yao, get in Lan Xichen’s good graces, and then… then we’ll see,” he mused. “Depending on how well you do that, there might still be a few loose threads to cut. Xue Yang and Su She didn’t need the Jin to make trouble, we might do everyone a service and…”

“What about Su She?” Nie Huaisang cried out, grasping the older man’s wrists.

He was roughly pushed away, and earned a nasty glare for his outburst.

“Don’t mind that yet,” his older self said, straightening his sleeves. “All that matters for now is Meng Yao and Lan Xichen. Focus on them, I’ll explain the rest when the time comes.”

“But that’s…”

“I’ll return in a few months. You’d better have good news for me next time.”

Nie Huaisang launched himself at the older man, wanting to grab him again and force him to explain why he’d mentioned Su She. His hands found only empty air and he stumbled forward, falling to his knees on the hard wooden floor. It hurt, and might even bruise later, but Nie Huaisang didn’t even think to rub them or cry.

He knelt there far too long in that lonely cabin, and wondered what might happen in the future that would cause him to treat Su She as an enemy.

[mostlysignssomeportents]

Podcasting "Qualia"

This week on my podcast, I read “Qualia,” my May, 2021 Locus Magazine column about quantitative bias, epidemiology, antitrust and drug policy. It’s a timely piece, given the six historic antitrust laws that passed the House Judiciary Committee last week:

https://doctorow.medium.com/moral-hazard-and-monopoly-42e30eb159a8

The pandemic delivered some hard lessons about quantitative bias — that’s when you pay attention to the parts of a problem that you can do math on, not because they’re the most important, but because you know how to do math.

The most obvious lesson comes from the failure of exposure notification apps, which were supposed to take the place of “shoe-leather” contact tracing, wherein a public health workers establish personal rapport with infected people to help identify others who might be at risk.

Contact tracing is a human process, built on trust: trust enough to talk about the intimate details of your life, trust enough to take advice on how to get tested and whether you should self-isolate.

That’s not what apps do.

Exposure notification apps measure whether a Bluetooth device you registered was close to another Bluetooth device for a “clinically significant” period of time.

That’s it.

They don’t measure qualitative aspects, like whether you were close to an infected person because you were in the same traffic jam in adjacent, sealed automobiles — or whether you were both at the Ft Lauderdale eyeball-licking championship.

And they certainly don’t create the personal rapport that’s needed to understand each person’s idiosyncratic health circumstances and complications — whether they need child care, or are at risk of losing their under-the-table jobs if they self-isolate.

We didn’t want to commit the resources to do contact tracing at scale, we didn’t know how to automate it — but we did know how to automate exposure notification, so we incinerated the qualitative elements and declared the dubious quantitative residue to be sufficient.

It’s the quant’s version of searching for your car keys under the lamp-post because it’s too dark where you dropped them.

It’s not just foolish, it’s also deceptive — quantizing qualitative elements is a subjective exercise that produces numbers that seem objective.

This is where antitrust law comes in. Prior to the neoliberal revolution of the Reagan years, antitrust concerned itself with “harmful dominance,” with regulators asking whether mergers and commercial practices were bad for the world.

Obviously, “bad for the world” is hard to measure. Regulators evaluated claims from all corners: both political scientists worried about the outsized lobbying power of large companies and workers worried about monopolies’ outsized power over wages and conditions got a say.

So did environmentalists, urban planners, and yes, economists, too.

The Chicago School — hard-right conservative economists with cult-like status among Reagan and big business simps — insisted that all this qualitative stuff had to go.

They argued that consideration of qualitative elements left too much up to judges, so two similar companies engaged in similar conduct might get different verdicts out of the antitrust system. This, they said, make a mockery of the notion of “equal treatment before the law.”

Instead, the Chicago Boys — led by Robert Bork, a Nixonite criminal and a sort of court sorcerer to Reagan — demanded that qualitative measures be left behind in favor of a purely quantitative analysis of whether a monopoly hurt “consumer welfare.”

The way you’d measure “consumer welfare” was by checking to see whether a monopoly was making prices go up — if not, the monopoly was deemed “efficient” and thus socially beneficial. Prices are numbers, numbers can be measured.

But that’s not how it worked in practice. When two companies wanted to merge, they could hire a Chicago fixer to construct a mathematical model that “proved” that they resulting megafirm would not raise prices.

No one could argue with this, because Chicago School consultants had a monopoly over building and interpreting these models — the same way court magicians laid exclusive claim to the ability to slaughter an animal and read the future in its guts.

And if the prices did go up? Well, the same Chicago model-makers would be paid to produce a new model to prove that the price-rises were not the result of monopoly, but rather, rising energy costs or higher wages or the moon being in Venus.

Even by their own lights, “consumer welfare” was a failure. Monopolies drive prices up. Amazon Prime is a tool to drive up prices in every store, not just Amazon:

https://pluralistic.net/2021/06/01/you-are-here/#prime-facie

Apple’s App Store monopoly drives up app prices:

https://www.engadget.com/2019-05-13-supreme-court-apple-app-store-price-fixing-lawsuit.html

Luxxotica bought every eyewear brand and every eyewear retailer and the world’s largest optical lens manufacturer and drove prices up 1000%:

https://www.latimes.com/business/lazarus/la-fi-lazarus-glasses-lenscrafters-luxottica-monopoly-20190305-story.html

The highly concentrated pharma industry raises prices every single year:

https://patientsforaffordabledrugs.org/2021/01/14/2021-price-hikes-pr/

What’s more, there’s a straight line from “consumer welfare” to price-fixing.

Think about publishing. A decade ago, the Big Six publishers were embroiled in a bid to force Amazon to raise ebook prices, which led to fines and settlements for harming “consumer welfare.”

Today, the Big Six publishers are the Big Four, because Random House, the largest publisher in the world, gobbled up Penguin and Simon & Schuster. When RH, S&S and Penguin were three companies, it was illegal for them to collude on pricing.

But after their mergers, the three former CEOs — now presidents of divisions within an unimaginably giant company — can meet in a board room and plan exactly the same price-fixing strategy, and that isn’t illegal under “consumer welfare” antitrust — it’s “efficient.”

The Chicago School’s “consumer welfare” was only ever a front for “shareholder welfare,” the ability of large firms to avoid “wasteful competition” and extract an ever-larger share of the take for shareholders at the expense of customers, workers and the public.

The entire business of “consumer welfare” is a fraud, starting with Robert Bork’s insistence that a close reading of the US’s four major antitrust laws will reveal that they were never intended to be used for any purpose *other* than consumer welfare protections.

This is manifestly untrue, a Qanon-grade conspiracy that is refuted by the plain language of the statutes, the statements of their sponsors, and the record of the Congressional debates leading to their passage.

Despite the wealth of evidence that US antitrust is not a “consumer welfare” project, neoliberals have insisted that their project was not “reforming” antitrust, but rather, “restoring” it to its original purpose.

It’s a Big Lie, and they know it. That’s why GOP Senators Mike Lee (UT) and Chuck Grassley (IA) introduced “The TEAM Act to Reform Antitrust Law” — a bill intended to neutralize the muscular new antitrust bills that just passed the House committee.

https://washingtonmonthly.com/2021/06/25/the-plan-to-water-down-antitrust-reform/

The bill does two things:

It takes antitrust authority away from the FTC, sidelining the incredible Lina Khan, a once-in-a-generation antitrust scholar who now runs the agency; and

It codifies “consumer welfare” as the basis for US antitrust law.

That second part is the tell: after 40 years of insisting that any rational reading of US antitrust proved that “consumer welfare” was obviously its sole purpose, they’re now introducing a law to *change* its purpose to “consumer welfare.”

Like the Stolen Election lie, they never truly believed this one. The pose of objectivity that quantizing antitrust allowed was never about creating a truly objective standard for competition policy — it was only ever about neutering competition policy.

The thing is, there is a way to integrate both the objective and subjective into policy-making — as was demonstrated by David Nutt’s 2008 leadership of the UK’s Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs, which established the policy framework for a wide range of drugs.

Nutt’s panel of experts rated drugs based on how harmful they were to their users, the users’ families, and wider society. This allowed him to sort drugs into three categories:

Drugs that were dangerous irrespective of your public health priorities;

Drugs that were safe irrespective of your public health priorities; and

Drugs whose safety changed based on whether you prioritized the safety of users, families or society.

Those priorities are a political choice, not an empirical finding. Nutt told Parliament that it was their job to establish those subjective priorities, and once they did, he could objectively tell them how to embody them in the rules for each drug.

This is a beautiful example of how the objective and subjective fit together in policy — and the tale of what happened next is a terrible example of how “consumer welfare” hurts us all.

You see, booze is one of the most concentrated industries in the world. The “consumer welfare” standard let booze companies buy one another until just a handful remain — globe-straddling collosii with ample resources to influence policy-makers.

Nutt, an empiricist, reported just as rigorously on the harms of booze — one of the most dangerous drugs in the world — as he did on other drugs. He was fired for refusing to retract his true statement that tobacco and alcohol were more dangerous than many banned drugs.

Thanks to “consumer welfare” antitrust, the alcohol industry is able to choose who its regulators are, and use their political influence — purchased with the excessive profits of a monopolist — to rid themselves of pesky officials who actually pursue objective policy.

You can read the column here:

https://locusmag.com/2021/05/cory-doctorow-qualia/

And here’s the podcast episode:

https://craphound.com/news/2021/06/28/qualia/

As well a direct link to the MP3 (hosting courtesy of the @InternetArchive; they’ll host your stuff for free, forever):

https://archive.org/download/Cory_Doctorow_Podcast_395/Cory_Doctorow_Podcast_395_-_Qualia.mp3

And here’s a link to my podcast feed:

http://feeds.feedburner.com/doctorow_podcast

Image: OpenStax Chemistry: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Figure_24_01_03.jpg

CC BY: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/deed.en

[thoughts-on-bangtan]

I m just having these random thoughts. Like tae has always been very clingy and affectionate with other members like jhope or rm or jin or even jk. Whereas wgen it comes to vmin its mostly jimin being clingy. Like u can see even when vmin sit together its mostly jimin touching him or clinging to him whereas when they sit with others while jimin is equally touchy tae becomes clingier. Its so wierd and i dont know what to think.

Looking at the history of vmin from beginning until now (here’s an amazing timeline post by romanticdrift you should check out), in the first couple of years both of them were clingy and affectionate with each other, but also rough and lacking the experience that came with age of how to properly communicate with each other about their feelings and thoughts and in general. So, while in the beginning they just had fun with it, some of it being for show to entertain ARMY, some not, it’s true that things have evolved over the years and nowadays they are very different from how they used to be in like 2013, for example. That isn’t a bad thing though. It’s a natural progressing even.

Besides, Jimin and Hoseok are the two most physically affectionate members, that’s true, but just because that’s their love language (at least in primary free content, yet in paid content like ITS or BV, have you noticed how suddenly even they are way less physically affectionate, how the members don’t feel the need to constantly cling to each other, hug and touch each other, and rather just spend time together doing something or being in the same room doing their own things while enjoying each other company), we can’t expect everyone to have the same one. For instance, Yoongi is more about showing acts of service toward his members as a way of showing them how much he cares about them and loves them, it’s his love language. Does that make his affection for them any less valuable than when Jimin is clingy with another member?

If you look at how Tae’s behavior has fluctuated across 2020 due to obvious reasons in the first half while settling down and turning happier in the second half, you’ll notice that he’s in general “calmed down” with how affectionate in a physical way he is with the other members. He’s still silly and making jokes with them when he’s in a good mood, he still touches and shows physical affection toward Jimin, like in the RUN episode with Chef Baek and the rice cooker moment, yet there are also times when he simply doesn’t want to do that. It’s not a bad thing, and it also doesn’t have to say anything at all about the state that vmin’s bond is at. It runs so much deeper than some physical touch caught on camera during a 35-minute RUN episode, or lack thereof in some other content.

Jimin and Taehyung worked so hard and over a long period of time for the bond they have now, especially since they did it not as BTS Jimin and BTS V, but as Kim Taehyung and Park Jimin, the real-life people. They put in a lot, and I mean a LOT, of emotional and physical labor into creating and strengthening this bond they’ve always had (in some form or another) because they saw something in each other, saw that they’d found their person in each other and wanted to make it work despite their differences, despite hard times making not only their lives hard but also putting their bond to a grueling test, and at the end here we are today where their bond is literally one of the closest and strongest bonds I’ve ever seen.

More below the cut:

Now, imagine you put that much into a relationship (and for this argument the only viable reason for why they behave this way and guard this so fiercely is because there’s something romantic here since why else would they be so protective about their bond and “hide” it so much?) would you really want to showcase it so obviously to people, strangers who only wait for reasons (even if there aren’t any actual ones) to be vicious and nasty toward you? Just to see people drag your bond through the mud, to insult it, belittle it, and write it off as “fanservice” (even more than they already do) even though it’s something so precious to you, even though this person is your person, your soulmate, your special someone you want to keep at your side until you’re grandpas?

I highly doubt it.

And that’s where the difference lies. Yes, all the bonds in BTS are strong and special in their own rights, but what Jimin and Taehyung have, that is something so rare, so precious, so once in a lifetime, yet also something they worked so hard and long for and on, who would want to “sell” it to the public? Wouldn’t you, too, want to keep it safe and close to your heart? Think of Taehyung’s lyrics from the song he posted and then deleted off of twitter, of him wanting to protect his love from those with evil tongues, to save his love and save himself with an umbrella, think of the drawing from the Snow Flower cover of the boy protecting the flower with an umbrella from the snow. Wouldn’t you, too, want to protect someone who is this special to you, with whom you share such a special bond, from the horrendous opinions and words of others?

It’s easy to be affectionate with people who are your best friends, your found family, your brothers, and showing that to people, but showing the same with someone so important to you, with whom you share a different level and kind of connection, it’s a completely different story.

Besides, we still get glimpses of it from time to time, we see their affection for each other, and yes, it’s different, it might come across as weird to some, but that doesn’t make it any less meaningful and their bond any less real and deep than any other bond within BTS. Does the closeness of two members truly only depend on their on-camera affection, yet the moment it’s something we only hear about yet not see, therefore is something off camera and not for us to view, somehow not exist and not matter?

At the end of the day, we know so little about their private lives, and much of what you see and hear about from some is just speculations, some of which are f*cked up to say the least in regard to some other pairings within BTS, and yet the things we do hear about their private lives come from their own mouths, especially in connection to vmin, are immediately dismissed and ignored because…because some loud part of the fandom just decides that that’s how it is and everyone else is meant to just follow their opinion, I guess?

That’s not right, we know that and, in a way, I’m sure they do as well, but they follow their own agenda, one we don’t have to follow or agree with. What they do is their thing, but as vminnies, we know what we know, we see what we see, so instead of looking what everyone else is doing, why don’t we do as they do and stick to our opinions, our feelings, everything we know about Jimin and Taehyung, as individuals and as pair, and feel happy for them but also happy for ourselves because we got to witness them grow into the people they are today, in general but also with each other. Isn’t that much more valuable than some short touch of a thigh or a teasing joke?

I know it’s easy to fall into the pattern of comparing, especially when it comes to the amount of content you get etc, but just because others want to impose their bad shipper habits on us and take how supposedly real a pairing is solely based on “”moments”” and turn it into something akin to a di*k measuring contest, who’s to say we have to participate? Besides, regardless of which shipper camp wins, it has no effect on the actual idols, says nothing about their actual real-life bonds. They are the only ones who know the true nature of their bonds and their depths, so looking at everything we know about vmin, things they’ve shared with us through visuals and words, do we really have any reason to feel insecure about our opinions? What reason do we have to think of how much or how little affection and clinginess they show toward each other in on-camera moments as the be all, end all evidence and standard of their bond? When we know how much they’ve worked for this, how much they matter to each other, enough so to cry and laugh together, to sing a song about it co-written and co-produced by Jimin, for Tae to write 4 O’Clock and many more, and for them to decide to want to stay together forever? In the face of all that, is it really that imperative for us to see them share affection on camera, for them to be clingy?

Isn’t everything else we have, these more than eight years’ worth of friendship and more, isn’t that enough for us to see and know their worth to each other?

And sure, there are moments where they are clingy, where they are affectionate with each other, so isn’t that enough? Do we really need more, or some kind of elaborate explanation for why it is that way or not a different one? Besides, they aren’t eighteen-year-old boys and rookies anymore, they are grown men who want to be seen and treated as musicians, Grammy nominated ones at that, who have learned how to communicate their love for each other in a way they are most comfortable and happy with, so do they really need to cling to each other on camera? No. They don’t owe us visual proof of their bond, don’t owe us visual reminders of their bond either.

The fact that we still get glimpses of their bond is a wonderful thing and I’m grateful for it. Generally, the fact that we get to see and witness so much of the members lives is something we should treat as special and not as a requirement, like a quota they need to fulfill. They could only ever show up during comebacks and promotions, but instead we get so much, just yesterday we had Jimin spend time on weverse replying to so many posts and even coming back a second time a little while later into the night, also replying twice to posts about Tae.

From anon: I think that, especially Taehyung, has succumbed to restrictions and fan service and the falsification of everything. This is the problem with the entire Makne lineage. Maybe they are all very real with each other in their personal lives, but in front of the camera they all seem very scripted. Because of that, I think Vmin does not present himself in front of the camera and does not want any fan service. What do you two think about it? Thanks for great posts!

This is another ask we got a while ago that I think fits thematically. Even more so when you consider that many consider anything vmin do together just fanservice, thus belittling and cheapening their bond in such a blatant and awful way despite having no right to do so. I’m sure vmin know about all of this, have seen the comments since they are everywhere, so it can’t possibly be fun or pleasant at all. You could argue that they could just not care about what people say, could just not care about how their interactions are viewed as fanservice, but that is way easier said than done when there is practically no escaping those comments at this point.

There’s a shipping rule, so to speak, especially when it comes to real people ships, that you are to keep your shipping away from them and keep it somewhere where they don’t see it. That rule has long been broken, burned and turned into micro particles that can never be put together again. And we know that’s a fact because we literally had Tae tell a shipper off on Weverse, something that usually never happens. But it did. Not that it changed anything or had any kind of effect, but it’s more about the gesture itself.

As for the scripted part, of course much is scripted but not because they are fake, their personas are fake, and the whole BTS are family thing is fake, but because their words have weight. Their actions have weight. Everything they say and do is put on a scale, measured and accounted for, analyzed, theorized and twisted one way or another. While they could be wild during rookie years, now that they’ve reached this unprecedented level of fame for Korean artists, that’s not possible anymore. They have to be careful, have to be on guard during certain content, have to put their very best foot forward at all times. It’s hard. Incredibly hard. We’ve seen them struggle with it, but that’s how it is. And when you struggle, it’s easier to have a script, even just a loose one, you can follow to make it easier, to make you less unsure or keep yourself from overthinking everything you say or do.

One thing that is incredibly important to remember is that when they are on camera, they are at work, they are BTS Jimin and BTS V, BTS RM and BTS JIN, and while parts of their real personalities are also part of their BTS personas, it’s still work, not free time. Especially during interviews or performances, while backstage getting ready to go on stage, or while going from schedule to schedule. Think about it this way, vmin are affectionate and clingy and loud about their bond in places where we see them, so now think about how loud they must be in places where we don’t see them, in their private lives? 

Enough so for none of the members to laugh or react or comment on how casually Tae spoke about wanting Jimin to come sleep next to him. And enough so that Hoseok said that the person Jimin shows aegyo toward the most is Tae (though I’ve seen at least three different translations for this moment, the one I mentioned, another one that translates it as Jimin being spoiled the most by Tae, and yet another as Jimin treating Tae as big baby) in one of the Japanese interviews (NTV Buzz Rhythm) in July 2020, Yoongi nodding in agreement, the mention of that making Tae flustered (?) and want to downplay it a little by acting ‘surprised’ and asking “(To) me?”. This, too, is something we don’t see that often (anymore) yet it obviously must be there if Hoseok mentioned it and the others agreed with him. And at the end of the day, the members truly do know them, far better than any of us ever will. Or that time at the airport where Jimin waited for Tae and they only started to hold hands when they must’ve thought no one would be able to see it. Do things like this not sufficiently show that there are simply things they don’t want to show us? And thus, shouldn’t we simply respect their choices?

And even if they are calmer now, less clingy, less ‘showy’, we still got a bed selca they took while hidden behind their legs and blankets creating as though a wall so the ITS cameras didn’t see them, with a caption that…well, opens up some interesting implications (positive ones, of course).

Let me end this post on this: if vmin were just friends, or even if they weren’t friends anymore like some so vehemently insist is the case, surely there would be no issue for them to show their just friendship the way they show it with the other members, be clingy and affectionate in physical ways, possibly even just play a role of bestest buddies like some idols supposedly do, and yet they don’t do that. So, since they don’t do it, the only plausible reason I can see for it is that they simply have something between them that they want to hide and that it’s valuable enough to them that they want to guard and protect it, that makes their bond different from the bonds they have with the other members.

[o2mastersielts]

What Are The Benefits And Scope Of The IELTS Exam?

Some students enjoy being at the top always. If you are one of them, then, you would have to study them all, if you would like to perform better while checking the IELTS in all four areas, that is to say, the capability of listening, reading, writing, or chatting. You would hear more of the English you use.

The IELTS is not only mandatory for admission to some of the universities and colleges, but also IELTS is designed as general education for the reasons of occupation and immigration. The IELTS Life Skills is a Secure English language test (SELT), which is approved by the United Kingdom government to support your application for a UK Visa and Immigration (UKVI).

IELTS is an internationally recognized English Test, which claims to stand for the International English Language Test System. For several different reasons, having a good IELTS score is critical.

The IELTS test is not intended for people under 16 years old and can be done by everyone regardless of age, class, gender, ethnicity, nationality, or religion. The leading bodies of IELTS do not set a limit to take the IELTS examination. You can take the IELTS test while you get your target score the same number of times as you need. Yet you will compensate for any try the IELTS exam tax.

Future Scope of IELTS

IELTS is a global testing method for English. The standards test measures the English skills of non-native speakers who would like to study, work, and migrate in the language of communication. English is a standardized test. Countries like the UK, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the United States require IELTS. An “International English” test is concentrated on IELTS and includes English, American English, Australian, or South African. All four language skills, such as listening, reading, writing, and speaking, are covered.

You are inspired to work further since you have a specific goal. When you do not have simple expectations and priorities, it is possible to delay learning again. The IELTS exam offers you the opportunity to learn and to develop your vocabulary. Due to the high scope of IELTS, there is a craze among the people to pursue it. Due to this reason, it is very demanding.

More than 135 nations and more than 9,000 organizations worldwide recognize IELTS as evidence that they can interact in the English language efficiently. Therefore, his popularity as a successful measure of English ability stretches to English only.

Jobs with their IELTS scores will quickly find a position appropriate for their abilities. In foreign multinationals, good English speakers are needed who are efficient and an asset to their companies.

Your English skills will be improved. Several students are more likely than others to promote specific skills. If you take the IELTS exam, your four skills, which are “to understand, to learn, to compose and voice, are evaluated, meaning that if you are to perform better, you have to master all four of them.

Countries like Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom, have made IELTS mandatory for permanent residency. When IELTS is used for jobs or research outside Germany without intent, the credential may be useful. Any business is fascinated with the applicants who have strong contact abilities.

Based on the particular goals and the type of institution to which one you want to show results, you can choose between IELTS Academic and IELTS General Training. The IELTS Academic is valid for university applicants, irrespective of whether they are for a bachelor’s or postgraduate degree or whether they are employed for a business in a French-speaking region. Here, you need to concentrate without advanced education or follow an instructional class, the IELTS is fundamental and substantial for working, voyaging, and emigrating to English talking nations.

That being said, if the IELTS Academic has not been decided how you would use the score yet, it will be of help in a broader variety of circumstances, and it is the edition frequently demanded.

Benefits of IELTS

In the foreign countries of your choice, where even the native language is English, IELTS will ensure improved survival and sustainability. It is necessary to match your capacities if you move to a location where the language of communication or the mother tongue is English. You will also be happy with the different employment opportunities following IELTS. Let us start talking about the benefits of the IELTS test for research, labor, immigration, and other requirements not to make you wait longer.

The most important benefit of IELTS is that you will find your path transparent to several students who aim to obtain obviously from leading colleges in countries like the USA, Canada, New Zealand, Australia, etc. You will get the highest IELTS band results, plus there is the chance to affiliate with top schools and universities.

The test can also help you register your profession.

IELTS’ job prospects are lucrative and impressive. Most of you have to be prepared to work outside Germany and to get good wages. To provide you with the best job prospects in foreign countries, IELTS may be an essential element.

An elevated IELTS band score can also transform your life in your country, and not only in foreign countries. You will operate with the MNC and other leading organizations with outstanding contact skills. We will see the advantages for companies with IELTS.

By testing the IELTS, you will have a test report that a great many colleges around the globe, including organizations, colleges, proficient bodies, and government offices, have perceived and acknowledged.

You will hear more of the English you use. You get to know the kind of language needed for undergrad or postgraduate study English if you take the IELTS Academic Test.

Upon completing the IELTS Exam, the applicant will register for this English Language Assessment at several foreign colleges, universities, jobs, immigration agencies, as well as professional organizations.

Conclusion

When it comes to modules, the advantages of IELTS exams are amazing. If you are searching for an abroad degree or technical certification, you may visit IELTS academics. And the general thing is for those who are searching for a job, school, or immigration tour in other countries. Also, you can reap specific minor benefits too.

[ephemeralstark]

Let This Moment Be the First Chapter

by @ephemeralstark for @where-rmysocks for the @friendly-neighborhood-exchange

Rating: T

Relationships: Tony Stark & Peter Parker 

Characters: Tony Stark, Peter Parker, Pepper Potts, Happy Hogan

Summary: Peter Parker: intern, Spider-Man, has never met Tony Stark in his life.

Tony Stark: has to do a speech at Midtown, knocks a bully down a peg or two, almost gets shot but is saved by...his intern?

Note: so I kinda combined two of the prompts and I hope you enjoy ahhh!! 

Click Read More! or read here on ao3 

“This is such a waste of time,” Tony grumbled as he shrugged on his suit jacket, glancing out of the corner of his eye to see if Pepper was paying any attention to his dramatics – she wasn’t. “This is a school, and it’s going to be full of greasy, sweaty children who care about nothing more than who’s dating who and where they stand in the popularity ranks.”

“You were a kid once,” Pepper said, “were you like that?”

“Yes!” Tony said sounding exasperated, “Pep, I was exactly like that, I mean I was a genius of course, but I was still a stinky, greasy teen.”

“You need more interns and college students are great, but your image would be much better if you were showing an interest in the youth of America.” Pepper said, still not glancing up from her phone as she arranged Tony’s security detail for the day. “An internship with you could help these kids nail a scholarship or give them an edge over their competitors, and we need their knowledge to get an edge on our competitors.”

“Yeah, obviously, but Midtown?” Tony asked.

Pepper sighed and finally graced him with a stare of utter disbelief, “Tony, you have an intern who goes to school there.”

“I do?”

“Yes. Peter Parker, he’s fifteen, straight A student, has an interest in his extra-curriculars and he’s on his decathlon team.” Pepper said.

“How do you know all of that?” Tony asked.

“Because we moved him to R&D.” Pepper said. “Because he’s one of the best interns you’ve ever had and because he’s the kid you should want to keep, you need a brain like his – treat him well and he’ll take this company far.”

“You’re already organising my next in line?” Tony asked, arching an eyebrow at her. “Shouldn’t that be our kid?”

“We don’t have a kid.”

“Not yet.”

“Peter Parker.” Pepper repeated, placing a folder in Tony’s hands and ignoring his muttered ‘I don’t like to be handed things’.

Tony continued to grumble as Happy appeared and said the car was ready. He continued to grumble as they drove to the stupid school, and he even grumbled as he was surrounded by a rather impressive security team.

In fact, he didn’t stop until he was standing in the principal’s office. He paced back and forth as he listened to Principal Morita talk about how proud they were to have him there speaking to their students. It was the usual bootlicking, annoying speech that everyone gave – hoping to stroke his ego and get their school put up on a higher pedestal than all of the others, so Tony zoned out, that was until-

“I don’t mean to alarm you, but there is a certain student here,” Principal Morita said carefully, as though he was unsure how to word things, “he’s been through a lot, he was orphaned, his uncle died a few months ago, so it’s normal that he would act out a little-”

“Is he a threat?” Happy interrupted, hand resting casually on top of his suit jacket, but Tony knew full well what sort of weaponry lay underneath. He wanted to snap at Happy not to pull a weapon out in a goddamn school but thankfully he was beaten to it.

“No.” Principal Morita said quickly, “no, no, no, no threats here. It’s just he’s been making up some lies, he was caught talking about an internship with his friends – an internship with you that is.”

“Oh,” Tony muttered, rolling his eyes, before remembering that Pepper had mentioned they had an intern who went to school here, he hoped that no one was giving his intern any stick, “what’s the kid’s name?”

“Sorry?” Principal Morita asked, Tony wondered whether it was just the other school kids who were giving that kid a hard time, he really hoped that the teachers weren’t joining in too – especially if the story about his uncle only having passed away a few months ago was true.

“The kid who claims to be my intern, what’s his name?”

“Peter.”

“Oh Parker.” Tony said. “Yeah, that kid works for my company, in fact I was considering turning his internship into a paid one – he’s a great kid.”

Principal Morita seemed to turn a strange grey colour.  

“You wouldn’t have given him any, I don’t know, detentions, would you?” Tony asked, eyes narrowing, “nothing that would go on his permanent record?”

“I’ll remove them instantly.” Principal Morita said, and Tony was satisfied to see a guilty look appear on the man’s face.

He wanted to plough on and make the man feel as shit as that kid had probably felt for being punished for a completely unfair reason, but a small throat clear from Happy convinced him to move on. He knew the security detail was anxious about the length of time he would be in the school and he wasn’t supposed to be dragging it out any further. He didn’t want to create more of a risk than there already was.

“Shall we then?” Tony asked.

Principal Morita seemed to remember the reason for Tony Stark being in his school, and he instantly jumped to his feet, bumping into his desk and knocking over his pen pot, “yes, yes, yes,” he said as he gathered them back up and made his way to the door, giving Happy a wide berth.

“The students will already be in the hall now, and I believe some of your bodyguards have taken the liberty to install temporary metal detectors and bag search everyone… thoroughly.” Principal Morita said.

“Standard practise.” Happy grunted.

“Yes, yes, of course, I quite understand.” The man said even though it was clear from the small frown on his face that he most definitely didn’t understand why they had done that.

How could he?

It wasn’t like there were people out for his blood. Well, maybe the odd parent or two, Tony paused thinking about the ruthless parents he’d come across in his time as they tried to convince him that their little cherub was the most important child in the world and should get a Stark Internship because of their family’s status.

Maybe Tony should lend the man his own security detail.

 They walked into the hall and Tony was met with silence, he wasn't sure that he'd ever seen a hall full of students be so quiet, it was rather unnerving - this was all Pepper's fault, she could have done the presentation and offered up the temptation of an internship to the students, she was so much better at public speaking than he was and that was purely because he knew he would drop an 'f' bomb somewhere. He was incapable of not. 

Thankfully the silence didn't last long, and Tony heard the whispers start to break out. 

Tony Stark!

Iron Man! 

Did you hear what The Bugle said about him last month...

My dad said that he once met Iron Man at…

I wish I was his kid, imagine what a life that would be…

Ha, Penis, I bet you're going to be so embarrassed when he exposes you for the fraud you are! Or rather, when he doesn't acknowledge you at all, because why would he? He has no idea who you are. 

Well, that kid sounded like a delight, maybe Tony would prove him wrong - he was obviously talking about the intern that he actually didn't know, but would happily pretend to if it would improve the kid's chances at a peaceful school life. Although, maybe his good intentions would go wrong as the other kids may pretend to be his friend to get closer to Stark Industries, Tony had dealt with that a few times in his life. 

"Alright, alright," Principal Morita said, standing slightly too close to the microphone, a squeal rang out through the hall and the students covered their ears with exclamations of annoyance, "settle down now, if you want to hear what Mr. Stark has to say then you all need to quieten down."

Tony watched as an excited hush fell upon the hall, some of the students looking as though they were minutes away from jumping out of their seats and launching themselves at him. For what reason though, he was unsure. 

"Now, I know this week has been long and difficult," Principal Morita said, "between the tests and presentations you've all been through, you've all done remarkably well, but now we will finish off our career week with a speech from Tony Stark, owner of Stark Industries. Over to you, Mr. Stark."

Principal Morita stepped back, leaving Tony to wonder what the hell sort of tests a school could be giving to its students during a career week - back in his day they had been the perfect time for a skive, and yet all of the students he was looking at had bags under their eyes and tired shadows on their faces. School had definitely changed from his time. 

"Thank you Principal," Tony said politely, Pepper would be proud of him, "now, I know that you've probably had some great speeches this week, they have most likely inspired and motivated you all to look into the careers that are available to you and maybe some of you have already decided what path you would like to pursue - my speech will be nothing like those."

Tony paused while a few students laughed. 

"I'm not known for being a perfect person, I've messed up in the past, I've had my fair share of scandals, but what no paper can say about me is that I don't know how to run a business - because I do," Tony said confidently, "I haven't created a worldwide brand out of my name for no reason - Stark Industries has changed the way we look at energy, we've changed the face of clean energy and we've adjusted all of our practices in the workplace to leave as little a carbon footprint as possible.

"You may be thinking, 'why? What's the point in that?' well, I'll tell you what the point is - we are trying to improve the environment and improve the way we view the world."

He noticed a few confused glances - they were probably wondering why Tony Stark was lecturing them on clean energy, after all he hadn't managed to fully get rid of the image of being a weapons producer yet, he was still viewed as that person even though he'd made a pretty big deal about removing himself from the market. 

"I know, I know, what's the point of all of this?" Tony asked. "Why should you guys care what Stark Industries is doing to fix the world? Well, we've started employing interns to help us, we were employing college age students, but now we're reaching out to school kids. We want to pick your brains and figure out what you’re doing in your day to day life and figure out how we can use our technology to improve efficiency and reduce negative impacts on the environment." 

A hand popped up.

"Yes?" 

"So, you don't already have any school kids as interns?" A kid asked, and Tony recognised that voice as the one that had been calling the other kid 'Penis' earlier – likely the main bully of the kid that was his intern. 

"Well, we have one that goes to this school," Tony said casually, grinning internally when the kid who had asked the question paled, "he's the reason I'm doing this speech here, in fact, because he's doing such a great job at his internship that me and my fiancé - Pepper - figured that we may as well try and get some more interns with a similar mentality as what he has, and where better than the place where he was taught, where his friends are."

Tony watched as the kid gaped at him, mouth opening and closing like a fish - before he drove the final blow home. 

"In fact, he doesn't know this yet, but he's going to have a final say on who we take on as new interns." Tony said. "We will do the shortlisting and then once we're down to five potential candidates we'll ask him who should get the job."

"B-but-" the kid stammered.

"Yes?" Tony asked. 

"What if he's biased and chooses a friend?" 

"Well if that friend has made it to the final five then they probably deserve the position." Tony said with a shrug. "So long as you're not bothering him, I don't think you should need to worry."

Tony realised that he had spent the whole time talking about the kid without even knowing which one he was, that and he'd made plans for the kid's future at the internship without actually making sure that he was alright with them. 

"Anyway, now that we've addressed all of that; Peter Parker - can you come forward please?" Tony asked. 

He scanned the students from behind his sunglasses, pleased that they would stop the rest of the hall from seeing that he had no idea who he was actually looking for. There was a small commotion somewhere behind the kid who had asked the question - the bratty bully - and a short kid with curly hair was pushed up to his feet by an unimpressed looking girl. 

The kid was wearing a dorky T-Shirt with a science pun on it, he looked as though he was about to faint or run away and Tony wasn't sure which option would be the least embarrassing for them both. 

"C'mon up here Pete." Tony said. 

Peter apprehensively made his way up to Tony and stood a few metres away, casting side glances at the older man every now and then before returning his gaze to the floor. 

"This is Peter," Tony said, "I'm sure you know him, probably better than I do, although I doubt you guys have had to deal with him stealing the last slice of pepperoni pizza and leaving you with the Hawaiian like a heathen." 

Peter frowned as though he was wondering himself if that was something that had actually happened, or maybe he was offended at the insinuation that he didn't like pineapple on pizza - Tony wasn't sure and he wasn't convinced that he would want to know the reasoning behind it. 

Pepper would have been better off doing this presentation - she wouldn't have hijacked it to prove a point to a stupid school bully. Why couldn't Tony just follow simple instructions? Give a speech, grab an iced coffee, go home. It would have been so much easier. 

It turned out that Tony's decision to prove a point to a bully would save his life as four things happened in rapid succession. 

Peter's head snapped up and he stared at Tony with a look of horror that sent fear spiralling through Tony's stomach. 

A window shattered above them. 

Tony was shoved to the ground by a force that he would have likened to that of being hit by a car. 

A bullet imbedded itself into the wall just behind where Tony's head had been. 

It was impossible. Peter had moved faster than the bullet, he had known where it had been intending to hit, but there had been no laser, no inclination that there was a gun on him, nothing - so how had Peter known? He couldn't have been behind the plot to kill him as he wouldn't have bothered to push him out of the way. Not only had he saved Tony, but he'd done it with such a strength that it made him suspicious. 

"Kid?" Tony asked, looking at the child who was staring wide eyed at the hole in the wall. "Are you alright?" 

"I- uh- yeah?" The kid muttered, making Tony keenly aware that he was not ok in the slightest. 

Tony tried to push himself up but he found that Peter's hand was stuck to his suck jacket...but... his hand wasn't closed around the fabric - it was open, his palm was sticking as though there was glue or something on it, but that was impossible. People couldn't just stick to things, not unless they were- oh. 

He was sticky. He had sensed the bullet coming. He moved faster than humanly possible. He was stronger than an average person. 

The kid was Spider-Man. 

"Come on kid, unstick yourself, people will notice." Tony murmured quietly, tugging on his suit jacket slightly to try and catch the kid’s attention again.

"I-" Peter's gaze shifted from the hole in the wall to his own hand and he stared at it as though it had betrayed him. He pulled it back to his own chest as though it had never been stuck in the first place. "I'm sorry."

"It's ok," Tony said, "I don't think anyone else noticed." 

"Noticed what?" The kid said, as though he had any chance of denying the obvious. 

"Tony!" Happy was there in an instant and they were surrounded by his security detail - it was like a wall between them and the outside world. "Are you alright? Did they get you anywhere?" 

"No, the kid was in the right place at the right time apparently." Tony said. 

"Should we be suspicious?" Happy asked, obviously wondering if it was more than a coincidence that Peter was there when he was needed.

"No." Tony said surely, feeling a headache forming behind his eyes from the stress of the near-death experience and the screaming of the students in the hall.

“This was meant to be cool.” Peter mumbled, a distinct whine in his voice, Tony was sure that he wasn’t meant to hear it.

“Happy, get us out of here.” Tony said. “The kid is coming back with us.”

And that was how Tony found himself standing in the middle of his workshop with a defensive kid sat on one of the workbenches both of them sipping sugary mugs of cocoa – to help with the shock of the day - as they watched a video of Spider-Man swinging in front of a bus and stopping it with his hands. 

"That's you." Tony stated. 

"No, it's not." Peter lied. 

"Yes. It is." 

"If you already know then why are you doing this?" Peter asked cocking his head in a mix of confusion and irritation. 

"You saved my life." Tony said. 

"So you're going to what? Expose my identity in thanks?" 

"Are you always so sarcastic?" Tony wondered. 

"What are you doing?" Peter asked, narrowing his eyes. 

"For the last four months I've been keeping tabs on the Spider-Man, trying to figure out his motives, see if he's a threat - the usual shebang, you know?" Tony asked, Peter didn't answer but that had been expected. "And then I learn that it’s you, you're the Spider-Kid, why do you do it?"

"Do I need to have a reason?" Peter asked. 

"Everyone has a reason for doing things, sometimes we don't know our reasons, but we always have them." Tony said. 

"So maybe I don't know why I do it." 

"That's a lie," Tony said instantly, "come on kid, cut the bullshit, why do you do it?"

"Why did you point me out in the assembly today even though you’ve never met me before and you had no idea who I was before today?"

"I heard that kid calling you... names earlier and your principal had warned me that there was a kid that was lying about working for me." Tony admitted. 

Peter snorted, "figures he wouldn't believe me either, but what you're saying is that you did it because you felt like sticking up for the little guy?"

"That's why your Spider-Kid isn't it?" Tony asked, knowing that he was right. "You know that most heroes are fighting the bigger threats to the world as we know it, and no one is stopping the petty crimes that are happening close to home."

"I wouldn't call assault a petty crime." Peter said. 

"Fair, that was poor word choice." Tony conceded. 

"But, yeah," Peter said with a sigh, "I'm looking out for the little guy."

"What motivates you to do that?" Tony asked.

"What do you mean?" Peter asked with a small frown.

"I mean what makes you put on that onesie and jump around Queens saving people and bicycles?" Tony asked, feeling bad for phrasing it like that when Peter flushed bright red and looked away. 

"It's not a onesie." He muttered. 

"It isn't?" 

"I did my best to modify some old pyjamas and a hoodie," Peter admitted, "I wasn't all that great at sewing so it was the best that I could do."

"I mean all things considered, it's not the worst." Tony said graciously. "But come on, what motivates you?"

"You're not going to let this go are you?" Peter asked. 

"Come on Kiddo, I'm Tony Stark, I don't let anything go." Tony said with an eye roll. 

"Fine," Peter said with a weary sigh that almost made Tony wish he could turn back time and forget to ask the question. Almost. He was also very curious, "I guess I figured that when you can do the things that I can, when you have the ability to save people, and you don't, aren't you partially responsible?" 

"You think you have a duty to protect the people in your neighbourhood?" 

"I know I do." Peter corrected him. 

"You aren't responsible for the wrongdoings of others." Tony said, hoping that the kid already knew that. 

"Aren't I?" Peter wondered. "If I see someone being mugged, and I don't stop to help them doesn't that make me guilty?"

"I can see what you're saying," Tony admitted, "but where does that responsibility end? How much pressure are you going to put on yourself before you crack?" 

"It's not that bad, I only patrol in Queens, and I do have a life outside of Spider-Man." Peter admitted. 

"Good, because you're young," Tony said, "you can't have the weight of the world on your shoulders." 

The kid glanced away, and Tony wondered if the kid already did. Hadn’t the principal said he’d recently lost his uncle? How and when exactly had that happened?

"Right," Tony continued after sensing that he wouldn't get much more out of Peter on that subject, "now, I don't think anyone noticed your sticky situation-"

"Don't call it that!" Peter insisted, flushing. 

"-but should anyone bring it up I've taken the liberty to put my number in your phone," Tony said, holding out the device.

"When did you even take this?" Peter wondered. 

"So if anyone mentions it, call me," Tony said, ignoring Peter's question, "I have a stack of NDAs already prepared and I can be there in ten minutes with the Iron Man suit."

"You'd do that for me?" Peter asked with wide eyes. 

"Kid, you saved my life," Tony said, "I'm upgrading you to my personal intern and your newest project is to help me design a new Spider-Man suit for you. If I have to fly across the city to protect my intern's identity, then I'll do it in a heartbeat." 

"You mean it?" Peter asked, Tony was almost afraid to say yes because he was worried the kid might burst into tears. 

"Of course I do." 

"Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you." Peter rambled as he launched himself at Tony and hugged him tightly for a brief second before backing off with wide eyes as he remembered who it was he was talking to, "ah sorry, I'm sorry, Mr. Stark, I'm just so grateful." 

"Don't stress," Tony said, waving off the apologies, "besides, just wait until Pepper bursts in here."

"Pepper Potts?" Peter asked. 

"Yeah, she can’t wait to thank you for saving my life today." Tony said with a grin. "Don't worry, I didn't tell her your secret but don't expect her not to figure it out, she's a formidable woman with a brain to rival mine." 

"She sounds great." Peter said. 

"I'll remind you that you said that in a few months’ time when she's chasing you off the ceiling with a broom." 

"Mr. Stark, I would never crawl on the ceiling," Peter said with a look of shock, but Tony could have sworn that he heard a whispered, "at least not when you'd see me."

And so, the unknown intern turned into the kid who risked his identity to save Tony's life and in turn would eventually become his prodigy, not that he knew that fact yet - but as they settled down to start sketching out new blueprints for a Spider-Man suit, Tony had a feeling that he could get used to having someone to teach, someone who looked up to him, someone he felt protective over. 

[storyunrelated]

Flash #3117

The knot of down-and-outs persons huddled closer about their standard-issue fire-in-a-barrel and passed the questionable bottle along around themselves. Tonight was the night they all exchanged their tales of woe as to how they ended up in this dire situation. Most nights involved this. There wasn’t a lot else to do.

“I was the executive of a pharmaceutical megacorporation,” said a man, staring into the barrel fire. “Was executive back when that super plague hit couple years ago, if you remember?”

Those others around the barrel nodded, they remembered. The super plague had polished off a good quarter or more of humanity. Kind of hard to forget.

“Well, I thought that if we developed a cure we’d make less money than if we developed a treatment we could stretch out - sensible, right? So I had the team develop the cure first, keep it a secret, and then work on turning that cure into something more long term,” said the former executive, who then sighed wistfully.

“Turns out that sinking billions and billions of pounds into the development, testing and production of a cure is really difficult to hide. Especially if you then don’t, you know, start selling it to try and make some money back. And it also turns out that the cure didn’t translate easily into a more long-term solution because medicine as it turns out is super, super complicated so that was MORE billions of development and, well, someone noticed the sucking great chest wound my plan had blown in the company finances. I’d tried to hide it, obviously, but it really was rather large.”

He sighed again.

“So that didn’t really work out. A few people went to jail - you know, lesser people - but somehow I also ended up catching some flak for it. The other executives beat me with socks with soap in them and now here I am.”

A moment of silence. The fire crackled.

“If the plague had killed off all of humanity how would you have made money?” Someone asked. Given that the cure had basically put a stop to the super plague it stood to reason that failing to stop it might have had adverse consequences - i.e. possible extinction.

“There’s always someone to pay you,” said the former executive.

“What if they’re all dead because of super plague?” Asked the someone again.

The former executive squinted, trying to see where they were coming from and failing.

“I don’t - I don’t understand?”

[thewildwaffle]

Abduction - Chapter 32

I went back and changed 31 ever so slightly so that this all takes place 2 years after arriving back on Earth instead of just one year.  That is all. I’m not going to go back to compare numbers, but I’m pretty sure this is the biggest chapter I’ve written. Good way to end, I hope.

First chapter      Previous Chapter      Notes

***

It had been two years. Not two standard solar-cycles, not partecs. Two years. Just two honest-to-goodness, call it simply, on earth, years.

Well, actually, a little over two years. Two years and a few rotations. Days. Wenona sighed. Simmo was still to this day using Galactic time phrases for the most part. It sometimes rubbed off.

At first, coming back to Earth had been crazy. There were so many tests and debriefings that were done as soon as they were back in Earth’s orbit. Once they made it planetside, they had to go through even more of the same while they waited out a quarantine period.

As soon as they were in an even remotely public area, there’d been people in her face everywhere she looked, much to her annoyance. Everyone had questions. Everyone wanted to know everything. She and Mike were quite suddenly the biggest celebrities on the planet.

Cameras everywhere, photos, videos, phone calls asking for her to do an interview or appear on some show. What happened? How had she been abducted? What was it like out there? How had they ended up with the Burnti? Basically everything they had gone through with the debriefings, but a hundred times more annoying.

People kept asking her if she was going to write a book about her experiences. Would she sell the rights to the story to Hollywood? It was constant. She kept thinking things would die down after a while. And sure, yeah it changed a little bit over time, but she felt like it was still too much. It was too much. She did her best to avoid getting too frustrated or get physical with anyone when they were constantly in her face. Fight or flight instincts kept kicking in. Or if it got really bad, she would just freeze up or feel like she was shutting down. She needed her space! She hadn’t asked to have all this attention! Simmo and Mike helped, but even then it was overwhelming.

It was like being on the Arum Bloom all over again. Her therapist said her reactions to all the publicity was understandable. She’d given her a lot of techniques that had been able to help her stay calm and helped her recognize when her anxiety was getting to be too much and what to do. She was working on separating her life now from her time in space. It turned out that trying to convince her mind to get back out of survival mode was going to be a process. The past few months and sessions had been helping a lot. It wasn’t perfect, but as time went on, she felt like she was at least on the road to getting better.

Still, there were times she wondered if she was better off back in space where the paparazzi couldn’t flock her so much. At the same time, she’d mentally argue with herself that it couldn’t be that drastic. No need to leave Earth again, thank you very much. 

She picked up the cups that had been set aside and forgotten in the living room of her small apartment. Her dad and sister had just left a while ago. She smiled. Ever since being home, she saw her family a lot. Obviously. She remembered stepping through the decontamination gate at the USE space port terminal and getting smothered by a hug from her mom, then her dad. Then being nearly tackled by Koko. When she wasn’t in meetings or debriefings, or whatever other reason USE or various governments or media could pull her into, she was with her family.

She’d just moved into this place almost five months ago. 

She carried the cups to the kitchen and left them in the sink. She loved being with her family, she had stayed at both her mom and dad’s house intermittently after coming home. It was nice, but it also felt nice to be back in her own place again. It was normalizing. Peaceful.

Also, it was close to work.

It wasn’t her old job. That had been filled soon after she went missing. She was fine with that. At first, she wondered about switching career fields altogether. She still had her engineering degree, and there were a lot of opportunities open to her with that. So much so that it was a bit overwhelming. What did she want to do now? With all the new space agencies opening across the world, there were plenty of good jobs to be had.

She had at first insisted finding a job that had nothing to do with space exploration. She’d always thought to herself that as soon as she got back to Earth, she would never even look at the stars again. She took her time looking for a job of course. Readjusting to Earth life again came first, but after a while, she knew she was getting restless just being home all the time. She had to have something to do. The endless days of rest were starting to get to her anxiety. 

She started looking for jobs. As much as she would look at jobs that had nothing to do with space, she just couldn’t get herself to feel excited about any of them. There were, however, a lot of jobs that might be somewhat space-related, but they wouldn’t require her to ever need to leave the planet. And they had the best pay. By a lot. 

Also, as far as never even looking at the stars again, well, that didn’t last very long at all. They were very nice to look at, and after everything she’d been through, they felt like they were a part of her now.

She eventually took Mike up on his offer and had been able to get a job at Near Star Explorations as an electrical technician for air traffic control. There were a lot of shuttles coming and going for the company and they had opened a new air base in Arizona. They even had provided housing on base, she just had to move in. 

Well, her and Simmo. She was technically her roommate, but the apartment was set up in a way that she was more like her neighbor. It was much easier to convince the powers that be on Earth to accept Simmo’s presence than it was the Galactic Confederation. Helping her and Mike get home was a big part of that. It turns out, there were actually quite a few aliens living on Earth now, fascinated by human culture as they were. The only real stipulation Near Star had was that she have either Mike or Wenona help her transition to Earth life. Right now, Mike was off for training somewhere north for some sort of piloting thing or whatnot. Wherever it was, it was cold and Simmo did not do cold. So Wenona it was.

Honestly, it was fine. Wenona finished the dishes and leaned into the counter, taking stock of her apartment. Work kept them both busy, and when they were home at the same time, Wenona didn’t mind having Simmo around. She’d teach her about Earth’s cultures, animals, plants, weather, etc. Anything and everything. They’d managed to have a relatively peaceful day at the zoo a few weeks ago. That had been an experience. Mike had still been here, and the three of them had nearly been mobbed by other zoo-goers. They tried to be as inconspicuous as possible, but when you’re a house-hold name the world over, it’s hard to not be noticed. Especially when you’ve got a Montauk with you. Mike loved the attention, but ever since he’d gone off for training, Wenona and Simmo had been enjoying being able to have more quiet days off.

The quiet was nice. Wenona smiled to herself. She could honestly say that she was happy. Her nightmares were becoming a little less frequent. So that was nice too.

Her phone in her back pocket rang. She’d left the sound on high and it made her jump a little bit. She’d been issued comm devices from Near Star that were similar in design to the ones she’d gotten used to with the Galactic Confederation, but she’d gotten a phone for outside calls or messaging. She looked at the screen. It was Simmo. She was supposed to be at work. It was weird that she wasn’t using the comm device though. Then again, she had been acting strangely the past day or so. No explanation, and Wenona didn’t pry. Whatever was going on with Simmo was her own thing. She swiped to answer. “Hello?” “You need to come over here.”

“Uh, hello to you too Simmo. Why? What’s going on?”

“Just get over here. You’ll see.”

Simmo hung up just as a few voices started talking loudly in the background, but she hung up before Wenona could make out what was being said. She lowered her phone and frowned at it. What the heck?

Wenona sighed and put the phone back in her pocket and went to go find her shoes. Best go see what’s got Simmo acting all.... Well… acting like Simmo.

The hangar wasn’t far. From the outside, everything looked normal. Nothing was on fire. There weren’t any large ships hovering around or attacking the place. Still, Simmo had sounded pretty urgent, so she hurried to the office doors.

As soon as she opened the door, she was immediately met with a flurry of orange fiery fur.

“Wenona! You’re here! Oh, by the stars I’ve missed you!” Thurrin jumped up at her and Wenona had enough reflexes to catch her before she fell back down.

“Thurrin? What?” She instinctively flinched as a bit of flame harmlessly flickered up from the Booka’s fur. “What are you doing here?” The question was directed to Thurrin originally, but by the time she finished asking the question, she looked up to see more familiar faces.

Jebanncuk and Captain Salora, as well as Mike and a man Wenona first thought was Mike’s father but after a second look, she realized it was one of his father’s secretaries, and some other official-looking person she didn’t recognize stood in the room.

“Thurrin,” Mike compained, “You were supposed to wait so we could all surprise her together.”

“Sorry,” Thurrin purred in a tone that almost definitely meant she was anything but.

“Uh, again, what’s going on here?” Wenona felt her face start to heat up. She had never liked surprises, especially when she felt like she was the only one being surprised.

Captain Salora and the official-looking goon looked at her a bit taken aback. “Wenona,” Salora started, “Did you not read the…” she paused to think, “the electronic message that was sent?”

Wenona stared at her blankly.

“The email,” Mike amended. “The one from the United-Earth Space Embassy? It came in about two days ago?”

Wenona’s blank stare became more confused as she felt one eyebrow quirk. As if on some cue, everyone turned to look at the still-unknown official-looking man in the back. The man cleared his throat and pulled out a datapad. “Your notice was sent in an email to,” and started spelling out her address, “W-i-n-o-n-” “No.” Wenona interrupted. “It’s W-e-n. Weh-nona Peters.”

The official frowned and looked between her and the datapad in his hands. “Are you sure?”

“Uh, I think I would know how to spell my own name, yeah.”

The frown deepened.

Simmo sighed exasperatedly. “You mean to tell me the USE got her name spelled wrong and sent the invite to the wrong email? How do you get it wrong? I thought everyone knew who she is and what she’s done. How hard is it to get her name right?” The official tapped on the screen to edit the information and mumbled quietly, “Not my fault. The “i” spelling is much more common…”

“Wenona is no common person,” Simmo snapped.

Wenona looked over at Simmo. “Do you know about what all this is abou-” “I’m going to go ahead and stop you right there to say that in my defense, I thought you were sent an email just like Mike had been.”

Wenona shifted her weight so she could adjust Thurrin who was still sitting comfortably in her arms. “And you didn’t think to bring it up or talk to me about it? I mean, seriously, I have no idea what’s going on here!”

“I just assumed that since you didn’t bring it up, you didn’t want to talk about it because you were going to say no.”

“Say no to what?!”

The official sighed and looked up from the datapad. “I’ve just sent to you again, at the correct email this time, I hope.”

Sure enough, the phone in her pocket chimed. She set Thurrin on the counter and pulled it out. Everyone watched as she opened the attachment and began reading.

Winona Peters, (ugh)

It is with immense pleasure we write to you to extend an invitation to a new position within the United-Earth Space Embassy in relation to Galactic Confederation Affairs. We are hoping that you will accept a position in a new pilot program we are excited to establish. That position being a Public Affairs Liaison between the United-Earth Space Embassy and the Galactic Confederation.

You would be serving aboard a Galactic Confederation ship, not as crew, but as an employee of the USE. With this new position, the USE hopes to renew bonds and friendship with the Galactic Confederation, as well as bolster confidence in our alliance around the globe.

We greatly hope that you will be open to such a role, as you are already familiar with the workings of crews aboard a Galactic Confederation ship. We also recognize that your position as an esteemed public figure would provide considerable aid in reinforcing the overall social backing of this very important alliance.

The roles and responsibilities of this position are still considered quite fluid, as this is still in the pilot-program stage, would include but are not limited to: Provide official USE presence aboard select Galactic Confederation ships and missions, Report back to USE with mission debriefings, human integration reports, and provide non-cofidential material (video/audio recordings, journal entries, photos, etc.) to be shared with the public. Further details and expectations will be discussed upon acceptance of this position.

Furthermore, we would like to additionally-

Wenona paused reading and looked up at the group around her. “Liaison? What? How does that even work?”

Jebannuck nodded to get Wenona’s attention as he explained, “It’s a new initiative the Galactic Confederation is trying out. They’ll continue to hire humans through the USE, but are rolling this out as a new trial program.” “And they want Mike and I to be the face of it? This is basically a PR stunt then.”

The USE official hummed and teetered his hand back and forth. “Yes and no. It’s true that you two are the perfect candidates for this, given your… history. But this program has been one long in the running as a way to further strengthen the alliance between Earth and the Galactic Confederation.”

Wenona turned her attention to Mike.

“And you. I’m sure you’re going to jump all over this?” Before he could respond, she went on, “Of course you are. But what about your training? You were going to be an exploration pilot? What’s going on with that?”

“I still am. They said I could stay enrolled in the program and I can actually use some of this as experience time, and some of my training equipment will be coming with me.” Mike had a way of talking when he got excited. The air vibrated around him and you felt it in your very bones. It made you want to jump up and go, as if standing still too long in one spot was going to burn you. He talked that way now. “It might take me a little longer to get the full license, but I still can do it. And even if I couldn’t, being the first person to start up this program is something I or anyone can only do once! Just think of all the adventures that are out there. We’d be setting the stage for a whole new way of intragalactic relations. This is history!”

Wenona smiled slightly. With Mike, there were always missions to go on, noble causes to take up, and he was always bound to see things through! His energy was infectious- he was right! What they were doing was going to be historic!

Mentally, Wenona stepped back. Wait. She was on Earth now. That’s all she had wanted the entire time she’d been in space. She had a good job - the kind of job she’d worked through college to get. She wasn’t like Mike, she couldn’t just bounce around from one hot idea to the next on a whim, chasing adventure like a child would chase butterflies. 

Well, a voice in her head piped up, it’s not like I’d be gone forever. I have the connections now, I could get the job back when I returned.

Slightly appalled, she slammed that idea back down. Where the frewan did that even come from? And, well, it wasn’t just the job either. Her family had just gotten her back. She’d just gotten her family back. She’d done the whole space thing. Unwillingly, she might add. Why would she want to go back?!

How was it possible that she was so conflicted?

She looked to Simmo. The decision must have been easier for her. Wenona could tell that although she had needed the rest and the change of pace that life on Earth had given her, Simmo had been getting restless. Little by little, it had been slow growing, but it was there, like a slow-building electrical charge.

The thing was, did Wenona feel the same? She sighed and tried to clear her mind. Yes. No. Maybe? Maybe just a little bit?

The realization struck her. Did she miss space? Well, there were certainly parts she definitely didn’t miss, but the more she thought about it, the more she realized that yeah, a part of her wanted to go back. There was a part of her that was thrilled to be among the stars and that part wanted to return.

“You said I have how long to decide?” “We’ll be here about a…” Jebannuck paused to think, “a week, local time. You can think it over and let us know for sure by this next… Toos-day.” He gave a quick look to Mike, who gave him a small thumbs up.

Wenona nodded, her mind felt like it was going into hyperdrive. Saying no should have been an easy answer. Why wasn’t this an easy answer? She’d have to talk to her family about this. And her therapist. Maybe she could get an emergency meeting with her scheduled before Tuesday.

“In the meantime,” Thurrin, who was still on the countertop, tapped Wenona with her long bushy tail- a very affectionate gesture among Bookas, “We’ve got a bit of spare time now. Can you show us around? Can you introduce me to a bobcat? Are they friendly? Though you said before they weren’t sentient, right? What’s the craziest food to eat on Earth? Where does your food come from? Can you take us on a hunt- AH!”

Mike came from behind and swept Thurrin up and started for the door. “Well, let’s go. We can show everyone around the base here first, and then go from there!”

Thurrin resettled herself to ride on Mike’s shoulders and he led everyone outside. Wenona followed and held the door as she waited for everyone to pass. Jebannuck was the last one out and he paused with Wenona while she let the door shut.

“I’ve been trying to learn some Earth idioms, but correct me if I’m wrong if I were to ask to trade a small coin for your thoughts?” Wenona smiled. “Penny for my thoughts?”

“That’s the one. I was close.”

“Yeah, you were. Good job.” They started walking behind the group as Mike and his father’s secretary began the tour around the Space Port.

“So…” Jebannuck prompted.

Wenona sighed. She tried to put her thoughts together in a cohesive way that would translate to words. “I’m not sure. I don’t really know what to think.”

Jebannuck nodded silently and held the door for her as the tour led them inside the main building.

“Honestly, I’m surprised you didn’t flat out tell them no as soon as they asked.”

Wenona took a deep steadying breath and swung her arms as she walked. “Yeah, I think I am too. It’s… it all kind of… I feel like…” she shook her head, “I don’t know why this doesn’t feel like it’s just an easy answer for me. It would have been before, I think.”

“Well whatever you decide, know that we’ll be behind you 100%. Don’t feel like you have to choose one way or the other just to please anyone. Do what you want to do. Whatever you need to do.” “It’s a big decision.”

“It is.” They paused as Mike’s dad’s secretary stopped the tour, pointing out the symbolisms and history behind a large mural. They kept a few paces behind the main group. After a few moments of not really listening to the lecture, Jebannuck put a hand on Wenona’s shoulder, turned and crouched down a bit to look her in her eyes. “But keep in mind, it’s also not a galaxy-ending decision. There’s no right or wrong choice here. And besides,” he gave a soft half-smile, “should you decide to stay here, it’s not like there won’t be multitudes of opportunities to go later. And if you go, it’s not like you’ll be gone from Earth forever.”

Wenona smiled. “I don’t know, the last time it took me nearly forever to get back.”

Jebannuck’s smile grew. “Well maybe next time don’t get pulled into an intergalactic power struggle and then used as a political pawn by a power-hungry Burnti commander.”

Wenona chuckled as quietly as she could so as to not disturb the tour. “Who taught you sarcasm?” She teased.

“A bad habit I picked up from some humans, no doubt.”

Wenona laughed and tried to listen to the tour. Or at least act like she was. She’d worked here for five months now, she’d been given this tour after she’d been hired. Her mind was still reeling as she tried to wrap her mind around the life-changing decision she’d have to make in less than a week.

The tour guide wrapped up the tale of the mural and the group was led further into the building. Jeb took a few steps to follow before Wenona grabbed him and pulled him into a hug. He stumbled slightly in surprise, but after a moment, he wrapped his arms around her in return.

“Thanks Jeb,” she mumbled into his uniform.

Jeb rested his chin on the top of her head. “Of course,” he replied. “What are friends for?”

Wenona smiled. Whatever she decided. That sounded amazing. 

She took a deep breath and let go of the tension she’d been holding in her face and neck. It was her decision and hers alone. That felt, well, that felt more freeing than anything she’d ever felt in a long time.

***

“Space. The final frontier. These are the voyages of the Starship Gladius. It’s eight partec mission, to boldly go where-”

“Mike, what are you doing?” Mike turned around from the view port to see Jebannuck walk into the office. His office, Mike’s. Very official.

“Nothing, just getting a little bored. How long did you say we were going to be in warp?”

“About ninety moortiks less than the last time you asked.”

“You’ve got to be pulling my leg, only ninety moortiks?”

Jebannuck frowned with his mouth slightly open for a moment. “I’m going to assume that’s some weird Earth idiom you haven’t taught me yet, and yes, you’ve already asked me how long we’re going to be in warp. Three times this cycle, actually.” “Hmm,” Mike nodded, “and the cycle is still young. Well,” he sighed and lifted his arms dramatically as he spun back around to the window, “what’s on the agenda for now? What have ya’ got for me, Jeb?”

“Well, for now, not much. While we’re in warp, communications are down, and we’re early enough in the voyage that I’m sure you don’t have much in the way of reports or paperwork. However,” Jeb’s face broke out into a grin as Mike turned around with a curious, hopeful expression, “I do believe there’s been a special meal option available for lunch in your honor, macaroni and cheese, I believe?”

“The kind with the swirly noodles?”

Jeb paused. “Honestly, I don’t know.” Mike shrugged and turned back around to follow Jeb out of the office. He smiled as he walked through the doorway and cast a quick look behind him at his office. He had an office, oh man.

Mike followed Jebannuck down the familiar halls. 

It was still the first full day being back and he felt like he was buzzing with excitement to be back. And, he smiled, not just back, but back with a purpose, a position. He belonged in this place, he knew this place, and he knew the crew around him. Well, he thought as a small group consisting of a biet, two squifra, and a new human recruit he had only briefly been introduced to earlier passed by, there were a few new faces to the crew. They were heading in the opposite direction than he and Jeb were. As they approached, Mike recognized one of the squifra, Ghem-et, who was part of Jeb’s security team. The fins on the side of the squifra’s face lifted when he caught eyes with Mike.

“Human Mike, it’s good to see you! Jebannuck Sefra, sir,” Ghem-et nodded then paused for a moment to scrutinize Mike’s face a little closer. “If I may ask,” He lifted his fins at an angle as he tilted his head slightly, “Mike, your face is different than when I last saw you.” Ghem-et looked back at the human in his group and then back to Mike. “I didn’t know humans could change the color of their skin so drastically like that.”

If Mike blushed, it wouldn’t have shown much. His face, or at least his cheeks, forehead and nose were already a shade of red. Thankfully, it wasn’t as bright a red as it had been. In the week before they left Earth, Mike had been insistent on showing everyone around to some of his favorite spots on Earth. After leaving Arizona, they went to a few places of Wenona’s choice, then Mike’s. Then of course, Demfar had some requests. The last day, they stopped in Florida. It was one of the places Mike had lived during his childhood. He wanted to visit Cape Canaveral. He remembered a field trip there when he was very young, and that trip, coupled with the invasion of the Kahsks a few months later, were what made him want to be an astronaut in the first place. 

They had also spent a day at the beach. Hence the sunburn.

Mike tenderly touched his nose and chuckled at Ghem-et, “No, we don’t, well, not on purpose anyway. I just got a sunburn the other day and it hasn’t completely gone away. It usually fades into a tan, but it was my first time in a while getting a lot of sun exposure and I didn’t put on any sunscreen.”

“Sunscreen?” Ghem-et and the others in the group looked confusedly between Mike and the other human in their group - Braxton or Baxter or something like that? “What is that? Why would you require a screen from your planet’s sun? I thought it was healthy for you?”

Both Mike and the new human shrugged and Mike explained how too much sun could cause damage to skin cells and DNA, which then would cause them to self-destruct, and that the red color is from the body trying to heal itself.

Ghem-et and the others look mildly horrified.

“And here I thought they were over-exaggerating when they were explaining Earth safety precautions” the new squifra recruit mumbled.

“Is what he said accurate, Human Baxter?” The biet in the group asked her companion. Mike grinned - he was right about the name!- and locked eyes with Baxter who nodded.

“Yeah, though you put a bit of sunscreen lotion on and you’re fine for a few hours.”

“How did humans even come to exist on a world where even the sun can kill you?” Baxter’s companions questioned. It was clear that none of them had taken the opportunity to go planetside when they had the chance. A few on the crew had. The fact that Earth was technically classified as a category 4 death-world had, perhaps, made many weary to do much sightseeing on their own. 

The group continued to pepper poor Baxter with questions about Earth. Mike smiled and followed Jeb as they continued on their way. Mike remembered when he and Wenona had had somewhat similar treatment before. There were plenty of new faces on the ship who hadn’t been here before and were very curious about humans.

Mike sighed at the memories of his and Wenona’s first time getting used to life on the Gladius. He frowned. This was his first time being on an alien ship without Wenona, and he suddenly felt like the air in his lungs was fizzy and heavier than normal. He understood her decision when she announced it and he knew it would be the best for her to stay on Earth right now, but he still really- really had wanted her to come. This was only the first day, but it felt weird without her here. He absent-mindedly brushed his hand against the wall as he walked.

He’d made his decision to come so quickly. As much as he loved being home and getting back into somewhat normal life again, he realized that he had wanted to be a pilot and travel in space in the first place for a reason: his normal life was kind of empty. He’d been overjoyed to see his parents again, and having their full attention the first little while being home had been wonderful. But they were busy running Near Star Explorations, especially now with the whole galactic political scene the way it was, their attentions were systematically pulled away from him again. He knew they loved him. He knew they were proud of him. He just… he just wished he saw them more. He had no other close family, and growing up moving all the time hadn’t been very conducive to making lasting friendships. Sure, he had people he’d consider friendly on Earth, he was on good terms with them and would go to events they’d invite him to, (He’d gotten quite a few invites this past year what with being so famous and all now) but none he’d really consider close friends. Not friends like the ones he’d found after having been abducted.

A sudden voice from behind made him jump.

“What’s up with you?”

Mike and Jebannuck looked back to see Simmo following behind closely. She must have snuck up while he was lost in thought. She took a few steps to stand next to Mike and Jeb turned around to greet her. She grunted an acknowledgement at him, but kept her eyes on Mike. 

Jeb followed her gaze. “Are you alright, Mike? You look troubled.”

Mike could practically feel their eyes scouring over him and tried his best to brush it off. “Nothing, I’m fine. Just hungry. Are we going to the cafeteria or what?”

“He misses Wenona,” Simmo stated matter-of-factly then continued walking, prompting Mike and Jeb to follow.

Mike stuttered a bit at her before finally being able to get out a coherent comeback, “Well yeah, don’t you?”

Simmo gave him a sneer, but Mike knew it wasn’t nearly as sincere as most of the ones he’d seen on her face. She turned her head away before she could answer. “Why would I miss her. She’s where she wants to be and she’s happy.”

“Yeah,” Mike agreed quietly.

“And besides,” She continued, “It’s not like I won’t see her again in a few partecs anyway. I’ve long ago given up on ever being able to get rid of you humans, no matter what I do.”

Jeb made a sound that was halfway between a scoff and a chuckle. Simmo growled at him. 

The hallway ended and opened up to the communal cafeteria. Those on the current meal shift were either waiting for their food, or eating comfortably at various tables. Almost immediately after entering, a voice yelled out from across the room. Mike’s eyes found the source sitting on her favorite pillow at her favorite table near the middle of the cafeteria. Thurrin had saved them seats and was waving wildly at them, fur practically glowing as she did so.

Mike waved back and nodded as he, Jeb and Simmo got into lines to order their food before joining her. Mike was happy to see that the macaroni and cheese that was available did, in fact, have his favorite swirly noodles.

“So,” Thurrin started as soon as he sat down, “How’s your first cycle as USE Liaison going?”

“Uh, well,” Mike started as he unwrapped the fork-like utensil from his napkin, “It’s just the first official day, so I haven’t done a whole lot yet. But it’s going good so far.”

Jeb looked over at his plate as he sat down. “Did they have the noodles you wanted?”

Mike nodded and he happily took a bite. “Ya know, they’re a little overcooked, but I don’t even care. The cheese is good though. Top notch.”

Thurrin cleaned her whiskers after a few bites of her own food. “Oh yeah, I looked up cheese, like Wenona told me to after I asked about it. Humans eat the weirdest things.”

“You don’t know the half of it,” Simmo mumbled, not even looking up from her own meal.

Thurrin happily shared about the take-off and how it had gone earlier, even though Mike and Simmo had both been there. Or at least, they had been there for the first part, they’d left to attend to other duties after they had stabilized in warp. Mike was mostly listening, but he was mostly focused on eating and enjoying the scene of the cafeteria around him. He must have let his mind wander off because the next thing he knew, Thurrin was swatting at the table in front of him to get his attention.

“Hey, Mike,” Thurrin’s ears twitched forward inquisitively, “I just said, your face is still all red. I thought you said it would go away. Are you sure you’re okay?”

Jeb hummed, “I told you to put on sunscreen.”

“No you didn’t,” Mike countered. “Wenona did.”

“Several times, in fact,” Simmo supplied. Mike pushed her arm lightly. “Not helping,” he mouthed at her.

“As I recall,” Jeb continued, “I had seconded her suggestion. Solar protection was something that was emphasized to everyone who went planetside during our time on Earth.”

“Well what about you? You didn’t put any sunscreen on.” Mike pointed out.

“I stayed under the umbrella. And kept my smock on.”

“I’m glad I have fur,” Thurrin cut in. “Keeps me safe and I look great.” As if to emphasize her point, she fluffed her fur, looking very proud and smug. Little faux flames danced off the largest tufts and the tip of her tail. Mike smiled, she looked extra fluffy that way. He wondered how long it had taken her to get all the sand out of her fur from their day at the beach, but instead of asking, he noticed a metallic flash around Thurrin’s neck.

“Is that the necklace Wenona gave you?” Mike gestured toward the piece of jewelry. Wenona had given each of them something meaningful for each them before they left. Mike was wearing a carved wooden pin on his new uniform right now. The grains in the wood looked like nebulous clouds that swirled around the small flecks of engraved metal that looked like stars.

Thurrin put a paw up to the necklace’s pendant and pulled it up farther out of her fur. It was a small copper-colored wire ball with a round piece of turquoise inside. Upon looking at it, Thurrin sighed and smiled sadly at it. Her fur darkened ever so slightly.

“I miss her already. What if we end up having some great adventure and she’s not there for it? Or what if something happens and we need her?”

“Well,” Mike leaned back in his seat, having finished his bowl of mac and cheese, “if that happens, we’ll just have to ask ourselves, “What would Wenona do?” and then go from there.

That got a laugh out of Thurrin and a smile from everyone else at the table.

A few more members of the crew came and went, some staying to eat their meal, others just stopping in to congratulate Mike on his new position. Many even extended their welcomes to Simmo, and those who didn’t at least gave her a respectful nod before they shuffled off to their posts or whatever activities they had planned.

Mike smiled and closed his eyes as he listened to the conversations going on at the table around him. 

Yeah, he’d been quick in his decision to come back, but like Wenona, he’d given it a fair amount of thought. Coming back to the Gladius was where he wanted to be and where he would be happiest. And even though Wenona wasn’t here this time, he was glad he’d been able to learn from her and fight with her, and most importantly, call her his friend. He was glad they were both where they needed to be right now. And after this mission was done in eight partecs, they’d catch up again and see how much the other had grown in the meantime.

Until then? Right now? He just felt warm. He felt like he was home. And in many ways, he was. The Gladius had become his home as much as Earth was. There were so many adventures and memories to be made in front of him. It was all he could ever want!

The opportunities before him were as endless as the expanse of stars they were off to explore, and he for one, would be enjoying every moment of it.

 * * * * *

Author’s Notes

[mercurygray]

Since the COVID-induced explosion of OFCs in the BoB fandom over the last six months, there's been a lot of speculation that most of these women couldn't exist in the same universe/timeline for various, good, solid reasons. I love good solid reasons. I like to laugh at them as they pass by. 

I’ve also been privileged enough to get to know a lot of the writers behind this little explosion, and a lovelier bunch of folks you couldn’t find. And you know me - I love a good speculation. So, anyway, here’s a little frothy something for @easy-company-tradition and #FenleyFriday.

--

“I thought you said she’d be here,” Joan said, not a little impatiently, checking her watch once more and giving the melting ice in her glass another stir.

“Did I mention she has a sense of humor?” Lewis asked, searching the crowd in vain for what he’d said would be ‘a redhead you can’t miss.’ “There!” 

He pointed into the crowd - and sure enough, he was right. Georgia Fenley was one of those impossibly beautiful women who walk into rooms knowing they can command them at a glance, and the restaurant tonight was no exception. Red-haired and impeccably attired in her pinks and greens, the eyes of the entire room were on her from the minute she walked in, smiles flashing towards a select lucky few. She spotted the three of them and made a beeline for their table.

"We nearly gave your seat away," Lew said with a smile, rising to greet her. "Are you ever on time?"

"Fashionably late - a concept I know you're familiar with, Mister Nixon," She greeted Lewis with a kiss on both cheeks as Dick and Joan stood up, watching the newcomer with interest. "Well, aren't you going to introduce me to these good people, or are we just going to stand here all night?"

"Georgia Fenley, my good friend Lieutenant Richard Winters. Dick, this is the woman who almost became Mrs. Lewis Nixon."

Dick’s entire expression was incredibly polite - his usual standard for when he was trying to hide something. "Miss Fenley."

"Lew said he was bringing a friend, but I didn't think he'd be so handsome," she said with a dazzling smile. "And it's Lieutenant Fenley, if you don't mind, I took the same tests you all did," she added.  "Lew, aren't you forgetting someone?" She peered around Lewis with little hidden interest.

"Oh, I suppose - Lieutenant Fenley, Lieutenant Joan Warren, an indispensable member of the 506. Joan, Georgia." 

The two women shook - Joan was suddenly very aware of her unlacquered nails and serviceable hairdo. Lieutenant Fenley obviously had access to a better class of salon here in London than they did in Aldbourne. "You're the one he calls his work wife."

"I have that distinct honor, yes," Joan said with a smile. "Duration plus six months - and then we're amicably divorcing so he can go home to Katherine."

"I'm keeping the dog," Lew added with a grin.

"I never liked that dog," Joan replied quickly, getting a grin from Lewis and an abbreviated smile from Dick. 

Georgia smiled between the two of them and turned back to look at Dick with lights in her eyes. "Well, I don't know about all of you, but I came out tonight to dance. Do you dance, Lieutenant Winters?"

"Like Astaire," Nixon promised with a smile, while Dick stared at him with polite surprise. "Lady's waiting, Dick, come on."

Caught out, Dick did as he was told, leaving his napkin on the table and offering Georgia a hand, which she took, leaving her pocketbook with Joan and Lewis and leading the way out to the dance floor to arrange Dick into what was an acceptable pose for dancing.

"She seems like a firecracker," Joan said, once the two of them were far enough away not to overhear. "I think we just became the most popular table in the place."

"Why shouldn't we be? Two of the prettiest women in Europe are sitting here."

"Flattery will get you nowhere, Lew," Joan said with a smile. "So, what was the hold-up on the almost Mrs. Nixon?"

Lewis sighed and smiled, watching Georgia steer Dick around the dance floor, the eyes of the room fixed on the pair of redheads. "Oh, she had more sense, I suppose. Don't let the smiles fool you - Georgia Fenley plays a very long game."

[douchebagbrainwaves]

OK, I'LL TELL YOU YOU ABOUT FEATURE

They seemed to have lost their virginity at an average of about 14 and by college had tried more drugs than I'd even heard of. From their point of view, as big company executives, they were less able to start a company, it doesn't seem as if Larry and Sergey seem to have felt the same before they started Google, and so far there are few outside the US, because they don't have layers of bureaucracy to slow them down. It meant that a the only way to get rich.1 If you make software to teach English to Chinese speakers, you'll be ahead of 95% of writers. We arrive at adulthood with heads full of lies.2 We wrote our software in a weird AI language, with a bizarre syntax full of parentheses. That's an extreme example, of course, that you needed $20,000 in capital to incorporate.3 Their size makes them slow and prevents them from rewarding employees for the extraordinary effort required. Doing what you love in your spare time.4 Young professionals were paying their dues, working their way up the hierarchy. By giving him something he wants in return.

Once they saw that new BMW 325i, they wanted one too.5 If you simply manage to write in spoken language. Languages less powerful than Blub are obviously less powerful, because they're missing some feature he's used to. The kind of people you find in Cambridge are not there by accident.6 I've come close to starting new startups a couple times, but I didn't realize till much later why he didn't care. We'd interview people from MIT or Harvard or Stanford must be smart. Indians in the current Silicon Valley are all too aware of the shortcomings of the INS, but there's little they can do about it. When you're too weak to lift something, you can always make money from such investments.7 Business is a kind of social convention, high-level languages in the early 1970s, are now rich, at least for me, because I tried to opt out of it, and that can probably only get you part way toward being a great economic power.8 It must have seemed a safe move at the time. At the end of the summer.9

It's not merely that you need a scalable idea to grow.10 How much stock should you give him? Users love a site that's constantly improving. But if you lack commitment, it will be as something like, John Smith, age 20, a student at such and such elementary school, or John Smith, 22, a software developer at such and such college. There are two things different here from the usual confidence-building exercise.11 But it means if you made a serious effort. Bill Gates out of the third world.12 What's going on? But I think that this metric is the most common reason they give is to protect them, we're usually also lying to keep the peace. The kind of people you find in Cambridge are not there by accident.13

Frankly, it surprises me how small a role patents play in the software business, startups beat established companies by transcending them. The problem is that the cycle is slow. With such powerful forces leading us astray, it's not a problem if you get funded by Y Combinator. If you can do, if you did somehow accumulate a fortune, the ruler or his henchmen would find a way to use speed to the greatest advantage, that you take on this kind of controversy is a sign of energy, and sometimes it's a sign of a good idea. Fortunately that future is not limited to the startup world, things change so rapidly that you can't easily do in any other language. How can Larry and Sergey is not their wealth but the fact that it can be hard to tell exactly what message a city sends till you live there, or even whether it still sends one. They build Writely.14 I'm not sure that will happen, but it's the truth. Stanford students are more entrepreneurial than Yale students, but not because of some difference in their characters; the Yale students just have fewer examples.

And whatever you think of a startup. In the US things are more haphazard. I see a couple things on the list because he was one of the symptoms of bad judgement is believing you have good judgement. There are a couple catches. Instead of being positive, I'm going to use TCP/IP just because everyone else does.15 Being profitable, for example, or at the more bogus end of the race slowing down. An example of a job someone had to do.16 But actually being good. There are a lot of people were there during conventional office hours.17

I'll tell you about one of the most surprising things we've learned is how little it matters where people went to college.18 In Lisp, these programs are called macros. That's where the upper-middle class convention that you're supposed to work on it. And since most of what big companies do their best thinking when they wake up on Sunday morning and go downstairs in their bathrobe to make a conscious effort to keep your ideas about what you should do is start one.19 The most powerful wind is users. We're just finally able to measure it. And not only did everyone get the same yield. VCs need to invest in startups, at least by legal standards. Ten years ago, writing applications meant writing applications in C. If you have to operate on ridiculously incomplete information.

Notes

Foster, Richard Florida told me about several valuable sources. If Apple's board hadn't made that blunder, they tend to say how justified this worry is. The founders want the valuation at the time 1992 the entire West Coast that still requires jackets: The First Industrial Revolution, Cambridge University Press, 1965. Yes, there would be enough to be a win to include things in shows is basically zero.

Different kinds of startups that has become part of your mind what's the right mindset you will fail.

But although I started using it out of loyalty to the founders' salaries to the traditional peasant's diet: they had first claim on the one hand they take away with the earlier stage startups, just monopolies they create rather than admitting he preferred to call them whitelists because it reads as a kid, this is the notoriously corrupt relationship between the government. As the name Homer, to mean starting a business, A. The Department of English Studies. Yes, strictly speaking, you're pretty well protected against such tricks initially.

There are also the 11% most susceptible to charisma. Every language probably has a word meaning how one feels when that partner re-tells it to profitability on a road there are no longer needed, big companies to say that YC's most successful startups of all the page-generating templates are still expensive to start over from scratch, rather than ones they capture.

There are two simplifying assumptions: that the Internet, and judge them based on revenues of 1. If the company goes public. This is one resource patent trolls need: lawyers. When that happens.

The only launches I remember are famous flops like the bizarre consequences of this type of proficiency test any apprentice might have 20 affinities by this, though more polite, was starting an outdoor portal. The Duty of Genius, Penguin, 1991, p. The danger is that in practice signalling hasn't been much of observed behavior. When I say in principle is that intelligence doesn't matter in startups tend to be when I was genuinely worried that Airbnb, for example, the startup after you buy it despite having no evidence it's for sale.

Another thing I learned from this experiment: set aside an option pool. So if they don't want to start a startup in question usually is doing badly in your country controlled by the government. But in a company grew at 1% a week for 4 years.

We added two more investors. The reason this subject is so hard to imagine how an investor, and that often doesn't know its own momentum. We think. I'm talking here about everyday tagging.

They thought most programming would be possible to bring corporate bonds to market faster; the point of a large organization that often creates a rationalization for doing so much to generalize.

Many people feel good. So instead of being interrupted deters hackers from starting hard projects. The idea is that it was overvalued till you see them, initially, were ways to make your fortune? In fact the decade preceding the war.

One father told me about a form that would appeal to investors.

Some graffiti is quite impressive anything becomes art if you tell them to justify choices inaction in particular took bribery to the traditional peasant's diet: they hoped they were only partly joking. If a big angel like Ron Conway had angel funds starting in the first phase. You're going to create one of those you can eliminate, do not try too hard at fixing bugs—which, if they stopped causing so much from day to day indeed, is due to the table.

The hardest kind of gestures you use the wrong ISP. But they've been trained to expect the second component is empty—an idea is stone soup: you post a sign saying this cupboard must be kept empty. The two guys were Dan Bricklin and Bob Frankston. I have set up grant programs to run an online service, and they were, they'd be called unfair.

My work represents an exploration of gender and sexuality in an era of such high taxes?

So the most visible index of that, in one of the markets they serve, because she liked the iPhone SDK. For example, because a it's too hard to pick the former, because it is.

If you ask that you're small and traditional proprietors on the side of the junk bond business by Michael Milken; a new airport.

The biggest exits are the only audience for your side project. You're not one of their portfolio companies. He did eventually graduate at about 26.

A lot of time on schleps, but he doesn't remember which.

When I talk about startups. It's also one of the statistics they use the wrong algorithm for generating their frontpage. The reason Y Combinator only got 38 cents on the other: the source of food.

[x0401x]

Have you watched Tsurune, by an chance? If yes, what do you think about it?

Finally managed to write down a reply for this! (Told y’all I was gonna do it and I did not give up, lmao.)

So this ask caught me off-guard for two reasons: one is that I never see it coming when people send me Tsurune asks now that the anime is long over and the fandom is inactive, and the other is that nobody has ever asked me this question so straightforwardly. Whenever I got asks about Tsurune, people would question me about the differences between anime and novel, the anime versions versus the canon versions of the characters, fanservice and ship tease, alterations in character relationships and my opinions on specific episodes, chapters or scenes. As far as I remember, no one has ever asked me what I think of the anime (or the novel) in general.

I won’t go into the novel since this ask is just about the anime (I can do that in another one if you like), but I’ll end up mentioning it every now and then because it’s pretty impossible to discuss about an adaptation without talking about its source material. Still, I promise this review won’t be centered on that.

This is actually a very condensed version of my thoughts, because the real thing would be a bible. It’s still a lot, though. Here comes a long-ass ride.

I guess I should start by making clear that I usually follow the history of KyoAni’s productions very closely as I’m a big fan of the studio. This includes reading the novels and mangas they adapt into anime as well. I had read volume 1 by the time the Tsurune anime came out, so I already knew what the canon was like. I must add that I was also familiar with Japanese archery to some degree and I was reading Zen in the Art of Archery when the anime was airing (it’s referenced early in the novel, so I decided to give it a try).

With all of this being said, when it was announced that Tsurune would get an anime, my first reaction was to worry. This surprised even me, because I usually have high hopes for any KyoAni adaptation, even the ones I end up not liking. I mean, it’s a studio filled with brilliant stars and holds the golden standards of the whole industry, so even when the content isn’t good, the quality of the animation itself is enough to make their shows worth anyone’s time. But the choice of director had me very concerned.

Now, this is Kyoto Animation that we’re talking about. In no moment did I fear for the animation’s quality. Most of Tsurune’s staff members, if not all, already had previous experience working on Violet Evergarden. And we all know that even newcomers freshly graduated from KyoAni’s preparatory school can make a stunning visual masterpiece. Yes, I am talking about Kyoukai no Kanata. And yes, I said visual masterpiece, because we also know that what these productions normally lack is the most essential part: the content.

In those cases, the one who actually makes a difference is the director. I’m a firm believer that the more inexperienced the staff is, the more competent a director they should be placed under. If not a senior animator, at least let it be a rising talent with the best prospects possible. But the schedules usually don’t help with that, so these hatchlings ended up under Yamamura Takuya’s wings.

To elaborate a bit further on why I think brighter animators should be the ones leading new packs (no, it’s not discrimination against the less accomplished, because you gotta start from somewhere), it’s because they usually have this knack for bringing the most out of the stories they’re working on. When the story is great by itself, that’s a different thing, but when it doesn’t quite reach its full potential with just the text, then the one to give it life has to be a person with more vision.

Am I saying that Tsurune is one of those stories? Absolutely. Tsurune is about archery, which is an art that is best appreciated when observed. You can’t get everything out of it just with words, and there are many things in it that people who don’t know much or know nothing about Japanese archery wouldn’t understand without actually seeing them, so the series obviously needed an anime in order to reach its full potential. But other than that, I’ll be honest: I love the Tsurune novel for its cultural baggage, the handling of its characters and its fairly innovative views in the repetitive and boring scene that sports animanga are nowadays, but I don’t consider it a well-written novel. Because it isn’t.

This might seem controvesial coming from someone who defends the canon with claws and teeth, but I’m aware of its flaws. I think Ayano Kotoko has a lot of room for improvement, and she’s evolved remarkably from volume 1 to volume 2. But volume 1 is what the anime was based off, so there was a deep need for a clinical eye in that production. One that could measure the original work’s strengths and weaknesses and balance them out by powering one up and overcoming the other. And also a certain level of knowledge about Japanese archery. Sadly, Yamamura Takuya didn’t have any of it.

As much as I admire Yamamura as a key animator and in-betweener, I believe he has a long way to go before he can be considered a good director, and I certainly don’t think he was ready for his debut when he was put in charge of Tsurune. I would rather, and I mean this in a good way, have seen him work as anything else for the rest of his career. Being a series director was too much for him. I say this taking into consideration not only the fiasco that the Tsurune anime was in sales but also Yamamura’s history in the studio before becoming a director.

This might sound funny, but Yamamura had no idea how big Animation Do and KyoAni were before he decided to join. He also was never very skilled. His in-betweening was actually not approved at first when he was trying to enter the company. He even once admitted that his knowledge of animation was extremely limited at the time, and what a time that was, because the studio was busy up to the neck with the making of Lucky Star back then. He didn’t know left and right, basically, and he recalled in an interview from last year that he is still surprised the studio actually hired him.

Despite all of this, Yamamura joined the company with the intention of becoming a director. While he did manage the feat in the end, it took him +10 years and a few frustrated attempts. Animators usually start out at in-betweening and earn other positions through passing exams. Yamamura failed his first exam to be key animator, only managing to pass half a year later. He also failed his first exam to become a director. At his second attempt, one of their colleagues even suggested that maybe he should stay a bit longer as a key animator, and I couldn’t agree more. While he did pass the test, I can only bring myself to think that he did so with an average score.

Now, I did say that this info came from a 2019 interview, when the Tsurune anime was already over. But they weren’t really what shaped my opinion on Yamamura regarding his direction. It was the anime itself. But this interview served to confirm something I had already noticed from his tragectory to series direction: with him being in the studio for so long and having worked on so many titles, it was weird to me that he was rarely an episode director in comparison to key animation and in-betweening. Episode direction is a step that I consider crucial for one to become either series director, animation supervisor or series composer. I do know that quite a few directors take just as long as he did or even longer to debut and actually do thrive in the end, but observing Yamamura’s work always gave me the impression that he was better off following decisions made by someone else rather than making his own.

Yamamura also loses points with me in that he’s backed up within the company by Kawanami Eisaku, another director who doesn’t get rave reviews on his works. He’s the one who replaced Utsumi Hiroko after she migrated to Mappa, and ever since he took over the Free! franchise, its sales decreased to less than 1/3 of each of the first two seasons separately. I personally don’t like that he seems to look down on Utsumi despite his lack of success in inheriting her legacy, but leaving this aside and focusing only on his skills, I’m not fond of directors who opt for simplistic approaches in general. I think animation is a medium that should be used to amplify the appeal of the source material, not water it down. It also feels like these kinds of directors are always trying to play safe, which (they don’t seem to realize) goes against the audience’s expectations and kills the hype. It strikes me as cowardly, to be frank. I also don’t like when they ignore what the characters had been building up and simply retool them to their own tastes. I was praying that Yamamura would be different from this bad example, but turns out he was actually worse.

I got a really bad feeling when the anime PVs of Tsurune were released. My very first impression was that Yamamura was still too much of a beginner and he wouldn’t be able to make Tsurune into a successful anime. I know this might seem like an exaggeration, but here’s the thing: ever since KyoAni started making its own titles, I’d never seen lack of hype for their upcoming works. Ever.

Until Tsurune.

Every time a PV of a KyoAni show comes out, people go crazy. It’s not always a frenzy like it was with Free! in its heyday or Violet Evergarden when the novel commercials were the only pieces of animation we had of it, but there’s usually lots of debate and speculations going on. With Tsurune, almost no one cared. You’d see next to nobody talking about it save from a few people on Reddit. And honestly, why should they bother? It didn’t seem promising at all. Didn’t show much of the characters or the story’s premise, didn’t highlight any particularly interest aspect of the plot and didn’t leave any impression animation-wise. It was very bland, to say the least. Unfortunately, so was the anime series.

It might be blunt of me, but my overall evaluation of Tsurune is that it was a really boring show. Nearly all elements that made the story and characters interesting were either taken out or squeezed into a cookie cutter mold, cliche version of what they looked like they were going to be at first but turned out not to be in the novel. And I say this because one of the things that make Tsurune a good novel is how it turns stereotypes upside-down. It introduces the readers into what seems like is going to be a typical sports shounen and starts out describing the character archetypes in the most common ways possible and puts them in the most common situations possible, then it reverses them all. That’s what’s most charismatic about the books. It’s what incites actual character development and gives us different sides of each relationship, yet the anime makes no use of it.

The anime also hardly makes any use of all the mystic, Zen and lowkey folklore-ish veils of the novel, which are supposed to add up to the archery elements. The Zen part is actually essential since Japanese archery is fundamentally a Zen form of art. Yes, art. Japanese archery is, in fact, not a sport. This is one of the aspects that elevate Tsurune above other works of the sports genre: it’s only categorized as such because it can’t fit anywhere else, but it’s not really a sports novel. That could have elevated the anime to the same status too, if only the studio hadn’t treated it like a sports one. But they made that mistake.

Still, I think the biggest sin in this adaptation was to try to cling to tropes that are considered successful and ignoring the characters’ personalities, which didn’t match these tropes at all, resulting in both characters and bonds being utterly destroyed and the flow of the story slowing down to a slug pace. By the second half of the anime, literally either nothing interesting happens or the things that were supposed to be interesting don’t hold the audience’s attention enough, which the animators attempt to cover up with queerbait. Everything is so tediously predictable that I’ve seen countless comments from the Japanese side of the fandom about how similar the Tsurune anime was to Free! and how “KyoAni only ever makes male characters like that, don’t they”. They were referring to Seiya and his weird jealousy, by the way. Even first-timers could tell that the characterization was a disaster.

The sad thing is, they were right. The Tsurune anime really did feel highkey like a Free! copycat in the characterization department. The main character is always getting swung about by everyone around him. The best friend is very clearly co-dependent. The deuteragonist is revealed to be bitter because of a deceased relative and is an asshole to the rest of the main cast for a good portion of the series. The rival from the other school is rude as hell for no reason and he’s got annoying groupies on his team who don’t exist outside of idolizing him. There are only four female characters and they have almost no screen time. And the list goes on.

As for the animation itself, I would like to say that it was perfect, but what really rang the alarm in my head was the many beginner mistakes so evident here and there, such as missing frames, the opening theme starting out of nowhere, the colors of the background often being too bland, lack of movement or scenes where the characters are too static, etc. I shit you not that when I saw the title splashing onto the screen all of a sudden in the initial ten seconds of episode one, the first thing I thought was, “This won’t sell well”. Sure enough, it didn’t.

So there you have it. I didn’t like the show. The only things I enjoyed were the archery scenes and the soundtrack. The rest simply didn’t do justice to the original work. I hope this summary has explained why, but if you want more info on it, maybe visit my Tsurune tag. You’ll find me elaborating more on particular topics in response to similar asks. Or you can send me other questions if you feel like.

That’s it!