#status quo book

[status-quo-book]

Status Quo (Sneak Peak)

Chapter 1- More Questions Than Answers

[bonnibellexox]

Describe how your characters would react upon receiving a warm hug by surprise!

I’ll do you one better....

Status Quo

Chapter 10- Horrors of Humanity -Scene 2

~As Phylum and Canopy take a day to learn each other’s unique alphabets, it becomes clear that Canopy is leaving him in the dust. So Phylum, having spent his life in a society divided by intellectual skill, begins to spiral back to a childhood of stress and unimaginable pressure...~

“Hey, you alright?”

Blinking back into the moment, I felt Canopy’s hand on my shoulder, rested on tense muscle. I needed to get a grip.

“Yeah, sorry… This is a bit of a sore spot.” I smiled dimly, hoping to put her worries to rest, but she tipped her head with concerned curiosity, urging me to continue.

“It just that… When I was a kid, learning to read and write was hard for me. I would stutter and get lost and forget which letters meant what. It was really embarrassing and I took years to catch up.”

Taking my book from her, I opened back to her alphabet, seeing nothing but indecipherable code. And as my anxiety grew, I habitually chewed my bottom lip, being met with a split in my flesh, heeled over, but still permanently indented in my skin.

“What happened? I've been meaning to ask.” The sweet girl next to me wondered softly, elbow brushing mine.

“Oh, it’s old. I was studying for the PhD entrance exams and I fell asleep.”

Waiting expectantly, Canopy slouched when I didn’t elaborate.

“So, what? Did you bang your face on the desk or something?” She asked optimistically. Caught off guard, I paused, shifting in place.

“No… My parents caught me. They were furious.”

Silent, her face twitched with confusion as she gazed at me, before her eyes fell back on the scar, and horror spread over her face. Suppressing a gasp, her hands flew over her mouth.

“They… hit you?” She whispered with glossed eyes.

All I could do is shrug and turn away, shrinking under her heartbroken expression. I should have known she’d be like this, so why didn’t I lie?

“I don’t think she meant to do it that hard. They were just upset, it wasn’t really that bad.” I muttered defensively. But she didn’t waver, if anything, I made it worse.

“…How old were you?”

Don’t answer that.

“Twelve. I should have known better by then so-”

Without warning, her hand reached across and cupped my cheek, drawing me back to look at her. I tensed at first, breathing hitching, but when I saw the way she was looking at me, pure, pained empathy, I melted into her palm. Her hands were always so soft and warm, so gentle.

“Tell me you know it wasn’t ok.” Her voice cracked slightly, the words barely audible.

“Maybe… Maybe it was a little overboard. But hey, I was always top of the class after that, so no harm done.” I laughed dryly, her uncharacteristically serious expression making my skin crawl.

Words of wisdom weren’t getting through to me, not after years of rewriting and rationalisation. So, rising up onto her knees, Canopy slid her hand over my shoulder and drew me in, her arms binding around me. And for a moment I’ll never forget, the world went quiet.

“You didn’t deserve it, okay?”

It wasn’t a request, it wasn’t something I could smile through, force a brave face and convince her that everything was fine. She knew. She could see the tears that should have stained my cheeks and the bloodshot eyes that were a near-nightly occurrence before every test. She could see how I became the boy in her embrace. And I decided to trust her.

“Are you sure?…” I breathed into her pulse, my hands creeping up her spine.

“One hundred percent.”

She sounded lighter, sensing my denial collapsing under its own weight. And as I let every tightly drawn thread in my body go slack, a shaky sigh spilled over her shoulder. Satisfied, she went to pull away, but my grip flinched in a desperate attempt to make her stay. And so she did, her nails ghosting over my shirt in sweet circles until I was ready.

“Okay… If you say so.”

It was so hard to let her go, but when I did, I couldn’t stand the way she looked at me, like she’d just finished reading a tragedy. Was that I became? Something miserable to think about. Still holding her waist as her wrists rested on either side of my neck, I agonised over her expression until finally, she graced me with a soft smile. Her eyes on my lips, mine on hers, we drifted sombrely towards each other, the forest around us still absolutely silent.

We were only a world apart when a chilled breeze swept through our embrace, whisking us back to reality. A soft, trembling giggle stumbled out of her.

“Wow, it’s late... Wanna start walking back?”

Stuck in place, I shook off my goosebumps and eventually wobbled onto my feet, pulling her up with me. We barely said a thing for the long journey home, and when we reached our least favourite spot in the world just outside my camp, she smiled at me for longer than usual.

“So… I’ll see you next time?”

Struggling to find a single word, I nodded, smiling too. She took a moment to go, looking back over her shoulder at me one last time, before finally leaping into the trees as the branches waved me goodbye.

And even though I knew the swirling in my chest would pass, just as it had every time we went our separate ways, there was a tiny part of me that hoped it would stay until the next time I could see her.

(I had this bad boy lined up and thought, hell, why not? I hope it answered your question at least a bit. Unfortunately, the main 4 all have moments like this and I ain’t spoiling anything else so drink up kids. Its the best youre gonna get.)

[twistingsands]

just finished the last olympian and i’ve come to the conclusion that percy’s real superpower is Audacity

[muaka-safari]

In reading this line, I assumed Vakama had been a mask maker right from the start, but then I recently came across this line in Time Trap:

and it turns out he started originally as a tool-maker before rising to the rank of mask maker

(Also while I appreciate this line about Vakama never raising his voice while being a mask maker is focused on his relationship with Nuhrii, it does hilariously leave open the option that Vakama was a shouty little tool-maker)

[rookflower]

i know the knowledge is Not Secret and Pretty Damn Obvious but remembering the fact the wc writing team changed between oots and avos makes so much sense. like ohhh that's why mothwing is Like That now despite her previous characterisation being far less bitter and aggressive, along with other personality shifts or new directions for characters. that's why onestar's SE zeroed in on the darktail thing they came up with instead of older key scenes or points about his character that they may not remember as well if at all. that's why each arc is structured more episodically, repetitively, and self-contained now rather than having a lot of wee overarching character arcs and plot threads or messing much with the status quo. sometimes i wonder and then i remember the obvious answer. like. to both improvements and its degradations it explains a lot of writing switch ups between then and now doesnt it

[spotfurfan]

confession time: i am actually ok that frostpaw didnt become leader SORRRYYY. like it would have been cool and i dont like the idea of icestar but considering her entire arc is about expectations and pressure being put on her from such a young age and how much it distresses her, for her to IMMEDIATELY become leader at like 20 years old would leave a bit of a sour taste in my mouth. idk

[bonefall]

Firestar getting treated to a character assassination after The Darkest Hour is my villain origin story tbh

You can see the EXACT moment where the brain worms go terminal when Tigerstar dies in front of him, and he starts going "oooga booga he was strong and noble and had good traits... well need him to fight all these evil foreigners..." Just ceremorphose already, this is #NotMyFirestar

[r3n0-5]

What ppl don’t say about being intelligent or multitalented is that you have to hide your skills so others don’t feel insulted, humiliated, or feel like you’re making fun of them for not having the same abilities as you, human beings like to compete between them, and if they find someone who excels at something, the first thought they’ll have is to find a way to exclude that person, so the talented in question doesn’t “steal” the attention from them, so they can be recognized, they’ll find a way to ridicule the “talented one” so others will believe it’s not that brilliant, humans work by ego, and ego also destroys them, destroys the society, and nowadays society is based in capitalism, the capitalism needs this type of behavior to keep humans away from each other, so they don’t work together to destroy it, so humans will always be slaves ‘cause they’re addicted to recognition and instant gratification and individualism will always be attacked ‘cause it’s a form of freedom, and there’s nothing big companies and their bosses hate more than freedom and a mind clear from poison, so if you’re intelligent, talented, whatever word you want to use for it, don’t make yourself little just because everyone laughs at you, if you have an idea that seems crazy for this world, it’s because this world is rotten, not because you’re wrong, keep being free

[the-beacons-of-minas-tirith]

Somewhere out there is a better timeline where The Hunger Games is getting a full-length book-accurate HBO adaptation instead of the mediocre wizard series

[cardigan-bay]

Chapter 55 of my Hazbin Hotel fic that continues the story after Season 1 with a disturbing focus on Worst Person, Valentino.

Now what could The Radio Demon want with Valentino, in his bed, alone, at night?

[bragganhyl]

oh what I would give for some crumbs about the relationship between Eothas and Magran pre-Saint's War 😔

[status-quo-book]

The story is set in post apocalyptic Georgia so... It’s got a charm to it, no?

[status-quo-book]

Phylum when a mild breeze blows by: 😮‍💨☃️😫❄️😖 🧊

(dont worry, his girlfriend is hot and snuggly)

How would the cast of Status Quo and your RWBY works alike cope with that new-job feeling of being sore in places you didn't know you still could be sore? And that sparking sting in the eyes of forcing yourself into wildly different hours of sleep.

Love you xxx I’m going to turn this into a general run down of their response to pain if thats ok

Status Quo:

Phylum: A huge baby about any kind of discomfort. Isnt used to extreme temperatures because his bunker had A/C and almost immediately gets sunburnt on the surface

Canopy: Is basically indestrustable and barely flinches at concerning amounts of pain. Plays it up once she realises Phylum will baby her if she has a booboo

Fera: Hides any weaknesses as hard as possible. Get flustered when Pipette checks on her. Has tattoos and insists its nothing but a tickling sensation

Pipette: genuinely tough as nail but doesnt know it because Fera shield her from every possible threat without her noticing.

RWBY:

Ruby:

Privacy: Total freak, call her a good girl and she’ll take a bullet

Time Together: Been through it but still gets set off by tiny things like cutting her finger on broken glass. However, she will bare anything for her kids and Jaune

Caught Red-Handed: Total freak but only in a safe situation. The pain is more severe if she feels like shes in any kind of danger. But, she is a denial queen so often convinces herself its what she wanted

Jaune:

Privacy: Baby, pouts if he gets hurt during a scene, total hypocrite as most doms are

Time Together: Hardened by his experiences, romanisises taking the hit for others, other peoples pain bothers him a lot more

Caught Red-Handed: Too tolerant, struggles with processing his own suffering, freezes up

Bonuses:

Weiss (Privacy): Prides herself on making it through, prefers to inflict it, baits her partners into torturing her

Dandelion (Time Together): Reckless, unfortunately doesnt learn her lesson because she barely notices most injuries, doesnt understand why people freak out so much, lets her parents fret and kiss her better so they can sleep at night

[toaarcan]

You ever think about how extremely traumatic the first two arcs of the Archie reboot would've been for all the characters?

They're just living their normal lives, when one day Sonic starts babbling about a completely different history where most of them were in extremely dire straits, and starts using Nicole to overwrite their extant memories with those of the previous universe.

Like, imagine being Sally in that situation. You come home from a dangerous but routine mission to find all your friends acting like you've just come back from the dead. They hand you your computer and suddenly your mind is filled with memories of a much different world to this one, a much darker and more painful one, filled with death and constant betrayal. Your last memories are now filled with weeks of watching your mechanised, vivisected body mindlessly serve your nemesis, and try to kill your friends and family. You were (probably) awake when Eggman carved you up with a blowtorch, while monologuing creepily about how smart you are, right before he crammed a cannon in where your brain should be. You almost died because Eggman designed your new form so badly that you ran out of power on your first mission as his pawn, only to be 'saved' by someone who loved you, and now doesn't exist.

But it's not just that. That would be bad enough. You also remember that this other version of you had a living mother. A mother who loved her and supported her and tried to be there for her. Yours has been dead since you were a child. You're still a child, but you've never felt less like one than you do right now. You had a brother too. He had a wife and a daughter, you had a niece and and a sister-in-law. They're gone. In fact, they're not just gone. They never existed. You have memories of people that never existed. All your friends apparently do. These other versions of them all had families. Here, they're all orphans, except for Rotor, who now remembers a world where his father wasn't an abusive bastard that serves Eggman out of some warped sense of social darwinism, something he can never have in this one.

On the other hand, your father, whom you know as a kind, generous, and reasonable man, was in this other world a controlling, emotionally abusive asshole, a major factor in a massive mental breakdown you endured and struggled with for months on end.

And then shortly afterwards, these memories begin to fade. Maybe you're okay with forgetting Mecha Sally. Maybe you're okay with forgetting that Nigel was ever Maximilian. But now you're also forgetting Alicia and Elias and Megan and Alexis, people who only existed in your memory. You won't remember how many people Eggman killed with the Super Genesis Wave. There will never be justice for them, and in a few short days, you won't even remember their names.

[eclipseclan]

“tigerstar was born evil”: sleep

“tigerstar’s murderous hatred towards halfclan kits and outsiders was the natural conclusion of the clan’s intense xenophobia and he is not a flaw in the system, but a feature, and upon his defeat, he should’ve been seen as a wake up call to the clans to change their ways towards one another and outsiders”: REAL???

[windspeaking]

they're obviously incredibly different in other respects but it is really fascinating to me to hold up the temeraire and wings of fire series to each other as worlds where humans and dragons coexist as fully intelligent beings but at least in some places are willfully ignorant of this fact and one species treats the other like property or companions at best