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reminiscingtonight · 6 months

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Australia

Steph Catley x Reader

Word Count: 1.2k

A/N: I've been on a G Flip kick lately

[WOSO Masterlist]

Caitlin’s going to give you so much shit.

You haven’t even signed the contract yet but you just know Caitlin’s going to give you so much shit.

Moving to Arsenal has always been in your plans.

Like the rest of your Australian friends, you descended upon the American scene like a moth to a flame. The league was only up and running for a year or two when you signed your contract with Portland.

Something big and shiny you just wanted to learn a new style of football, challenge yourself with the American environment.

Falling in love was never on your list of things to do.

Steph wasn’t someone you ever expected. Of course you knew of her. She was on the national team with the likes of Sam Kerr, Caitlin Foord, top players you could only ever dream of becoming.

So to befriend her was unexpected, the Australian quick to bond with you for your nationalities on the first day of practice. But to fall in love with Steph? Well that was even more unexpected.

Yet you did.

Somewhere along the lines of reminiscing about your homeland and cafe hopping through the streets of Portland, the two of you fell and fell hard. Your relationship flourished despite your seemingly stagnating career and her increasingly decorated one.

You never managed to break out onto the national team and that was fine for you. You’ve long made your peace with that. Some people were just built different, and you just weren’t made to represent your country.

So you put aside your dreams and put all your effort into propping up Steph’s. You were proud of your girlfriend, happy of everything she was achieving.

Never have you once been jealous of your girlfriend. But that didn’t mean you weren’t unaware of all the looks. Of all the whispers.

Why was Steph with someone so below her league?

But your girlfriend never made you feel small. She never made you feel bad for never reaching the same height as her.

After all, you both fell in love with the same sport. And it was your love of the sport that brought the two of you together.

It was enough, getting to call Steph yours. You didn’t need the fame or the glory to be happy with your life.

But then Steph bid farewell to the NWSL. And with that came your relationship.

Despite most of your relationship spent long distance, your girlfriend either out on loan somewhere or playing at a different NWSL team, you guys made it work. Off seasons were spent together, if Steph was out on loan in Australia during that time you’d fly out to be by her side.

Distance was never an issue.

Until it was.

“You deserve someone better who isn’t on the other side of the world for most of the year.”

Steph wouldn’t hear your arguments, your pleas. Distance didn’t matter to you as long as she was yours.

But the distance mattered to her and then she wasn’t yours.

It’s the silence that’s left behind that hurts the most. The two of you went from talking everyday to not even hearing about each other unless your Australian friends accidentally let something slip.

One of the best things to ever come out of your relationship with Steph are the friendships you have with people you once idolized. Years spent hanging with Steph around the national team meant her friends becoming yours, especially those you eventually became club teammates with.

Caitlin becomes your confidant, the one person you let see how the end of your relationship kills you.

You’re angry, heartbroken, too emotional to think straight. It’s Caitlin who talks you down from hanging up your boots, from losing the love you have of your favorite sport.

She helps you see why Steph did what she did. She helps you push past the hurt, to find the love even when it’s the last thing you want to see.

Caitlin fixes you and then leaves just as the gap in your soul starts to get used to the absence of Steph’s love.

She didn’t want to leave at first. Caitlin is traded to the other side of the country, similar to the way Steph was sent away during the first year of your relationship. But this time you’ve grown. You know about the offers Caitlin’s been getting overseas and convince your best friend to leave. To chase the dream you know you’ll never get.

You get used to being alone again. Your nights are spent thinking about a crooked smile, gentle hands cupping your cheeks right before the softest kiss touches your lips. You get lost in bittersweet daydreams of how things would be different if you went with Steph to Australia instead of letting her push you away.

Three years later and you’re still fighting the urge to call the number you have memorized, hear the voice you only ever piece together in your dreams.

Three years later and you’re still playing in the same city you’ve fallen in love for the last time in.

It’s three years later and while you still see Steph everywhere you go you’ve started to move on. Steph becomes another dream to put away on the shelf, someone you know you’ll never reach again.

And then…

Another dream comes knocking.

Arsenal asks you to sign for then and suddenly you’re teetering between excitement and dread.

Because while playing for Arsenal was something you always dreamed of, moving to Arsenal and having to confront your ex was never in the realm of anything you ever wanted to do.

You had become okay letting go of your dream to play for the national team. You had become okay with letting go of your dream to marry the love of your life.

You had become okay with letting go of your dreams, never being able to hold on to them long enough to make them true.

Until suddenly your dream becomes a possibility and you find yourself on a plane, leaving everything you’ve come to know behind for the second time.

The locker room is bigger than you imagined, fingers tracing your new name tag with reverence. You’ve just finished your tour, met some of the girls. Leah made a comment about Arsenal being overrun by Australians, but it’s said with a lighthearted wink that told you she doesn’t actually hate it.

All that’s left are the pictures of you in your new jersey when the door opens behind you.

“Hey stranger.”

The smile on your face is genuine as you hear the familiar Australian drawl over your shoulder. She looks a little older, a little wiser, but you can still see the same old Steph that made you fall for her in the streets of Portland. There’s no hiding the pang in your heart at the sight of the band on her left hand, but you could never blame Steph for finding someone greater than you.

When Steph pulls you in for a hug, it feels like you’re finally home again.

Even if she’s not yours to have.

#steph catley x reader #steph catley imagine #woso x reader #woso imagine #Ace writes

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phoenixyfriend · 9 months

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Ko-Fi prompt from Anonymous Supporter:

For the Econ Topic, an analysis on a society that has magic and fantasy races would be nice. Or maybe how a guild of Thieves or Assassins would work in either real life, fantasy or sci-fi setting.

The former is far too varied and complicated a topic to fit into 500 words, but I can definitely make the latter work... by explaining what the fuck a guild is.

These days, the words guild and union are used more or less interchangeably, and they do admittedly have some overlap in modern capitalist society. In the historic Europe that many of these settings are inspired by, the word guild had a more specific meaning.

Let's unpack some of what the economic structure is in these settings.

Large, overarching companies engaging in multinational work are rare in those historic settings. You have some trading/merchant organizations (e.g. the Dutch East India Company) that fit that bill, work that couldn't be performed without a large, existing structure to back it (e.g. mining), and domestic agricultural lordship (you know, feudalism).

For the rest of the economy, though, you have small businesses. Technology isn't at such a point that something bigger can be done. Factories aren't a thing until the industrial revolution, but we do have division of labor, so there are people who specialize in baking, or weaving, or shoemaking, or pottery.

Many of these professions require years of training, from apprenticeship to journeyperson to mastery. Trade secrets are a big deal, you marry off your daughter to your apprentice to secure the line and prevent competition, and you try not to give up those secrets because if you do, what's to keep your lord and other rich folk from taking advantage of you, and paying you less than your worth?

That's where the guild comes in.

No matter how good you are at keeping secrets, the competition does exist. You cannot be the only baker, dressmaker, shoemaker, bricklayer, carpenter in town, unless your town is very small indeed.

Price competition isn't a great idea when profit margins are already low, and you are a small business that doesn't have the diversification or coffers to take the hit for a few weeks. If your lord tries to force you to sell low, you can't just refuse him! He's the one that pays whoever uses the swords!

If only you and all the other trained professionals in your industry could hold together and tell him, "Yeah, that's as low as the price can go. You are paying for the bare minimum of materials and labor with that. So sorry, can't go lower without taking an actual loss, and everyone else will tell you the same thing."

Joining a guild was often the only way to perform that craft or service in a given city. This prevented untrained, untested individuals from trying to peddle something that wasn't up to standard, but also acted as a form of gatekeeping that could prevent the market from becoming oversaturated with competition. The formation of a guild was often related to, or even reliant on, approval from local government or a monarch.

Guilds did absolutely have negative impacts, by the way, often through market manipulation and rent-seeking behaviors. They stifled innovation, gatekept skills, and were capable of price-gouging and price-fixing beyond the basic "this is how we keep from getting screwed over by the rich guys." While the guilds themselves were arguably intended to ensure minimum standards and protect against wealthy clientele, they were just as prone to stagnation and greed as any organization.

The guild differs from the unions in that the guild is for trained professionals that, by and large, own their business to some degree. The unions, meanwhile, are for laborers who work for someone else, and formalized labor unions only began in the mid-18th century, while trade guilds, or something like them, date back over four thousand years.

Remember how I said that factories as we know them, and that whole Big International Company format, didn't really start being a thing until the Industrial Revolution? You know how the Industrial Revolution started in the mid-18th century?

We now see the connection.

So, what does a guild of thieves or assassins mean, at its core?

Well, they have to be doing this professionally. Someone who's just killing for the fun of it isn't a professional assassin, being paid by other people for it, just like how the baker's guild isn't going to care overly much for the farmer's wife making her own bread for dinner. Thievery is a bit less obvious in terms of 'what counts as professional.' Does the person who picks pockets to pay their rent qualify as professional? Or just the ones who steal on behalf of someone else? What about burglars?

So part of what you'd need to untangle is what qualifies as professional for the thieves themselves.

Then, given that these are generally illegal acts in the first place, what purpose does the guild serve? Is the guild supported by the crown as a form of control over theft and assassination in the first place, like privateering? Does the guild institute rules on who can be stolen from, whether or not it's within guild rules to kill individuals of certain ages or genders or classes? What punishments does the guild implement on those who violate those rules?

If the crown allows the assassin's guild so long as members of the royal family are not targeted, is there a rule that any client who requests the assassination of a monarch must be reported, or killed on the spot? What government fees does the guild have to pay in order to exist? If they exist as an underground, unofficial group that is not affiliated with the government, how do they deal with the government? How do they hide? Do they dictate pricing? Do they pay off cops to stay under the radar? How do they advertise their services without getting found out?

For the thieves guild, it's even more wiggly. Who qualifies as a professional? Is it the pickpockets, the cat burglars, the people who climb into dragon's caves to locate ancient treasure and get out unseen? Is there a minimum yearly income threshold? How is that calculated? What about membership fees? Is membership singular, or can it be done as a couple, a team, a family? Are there groups that are off limits? Maybe there are two thieves guilds, one for those who can be Hired By Adventurers, acknowledged by the crown, and a second for those who work in the seedy underground away from official oversight.

There really is no one way for this to play out, and will probably vary from town to town or planet to planet in-story, but hopefully I've given you the framework to build up the various guilds you need for your story!

(Prompt me on ko-fi!)

#economics #phoenix posts #ko fi prompts #ko fi #economics prompts #guilds #unions #history #trade guilds #this is the kind of prompt I love to fill out. just. talking about the way that trade will regulate. whether it does so in a good way or no

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kivaember · 11 days

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Not sure if anyone's asked you this yet but PLEASE drop the walt/mich essay!!!

OKAY i went crazy and did an actual essay. im not joking this fucker is long. i'd open the read more in another tab, just to warn you.

ALSO ALSO! This was just me sitting down and rambling about things. It's a summarisation of my thoughts, and I pared it down since it was hitting 5k (it's about 4.4k words long lmao). If this essay has you thinking of specific questions and the like, feel free to ask and I'll try to answer them!

Now without further ado, my ramblings below:

THE WALTER/MICHIGAN SHIP ESSAY!

INTRO

That's right baby, I'm giving this an intro and everything. Alright, this essay is all about exploring and explaining my version of the Walter/Michigan ship using the characterisation I gave them for the APV verse. First I'm going to drill down into the individual characters, what makes them tick, their backstory, etc, before finally going into detail about how they mesh together as a ship and why they're both good yet terrible for each other.

THE WORLD LORE

To understand Michigan and Walter, we need to understand the type of world they were born into. Furlong Dynamics is a major powerhouse on the Jupiter colonies, owning several shipyards and carving a specific niche for themselves as the weapon-dealer for interstellar craft. They may not be as well-known or successful as Arquebus or Balam in the defence industry in terms of MTs or ACs, but if you're arming an interstellar craft, you sure as shit are going to use Furlong Dynamics weaponry.

Problem is in post-Fires age, that corner of the market is stagnating due to a lack of new interstellar craft being built. Prior to the discovery of Coral as an energy source, humanity had to do long-stasis and slow-walking their way across the galaxy, which meant trade and the like was incredibly limited between extrasolar colonies. With Coral, however, they were able to make tremendous technological shortcuts to create what they called the "C-Wave Drive". It functions a lot like the hypothetical Alcubierre Drive, with Coral producing the insane amounts of energy required and running the equally insane amounts of calculations needed to ensure the craft doesn't crush itself into a singularity (also, Coral has a very strange relationship with spacetime, the scientists found...). An added bonus as well was that these "C-Wave Drives" required no refuelling.

The interstellar craft needed crude fuel for sublight travel and other functionalities on the ship, but as for long-distance travel? There was no need to make pitstops or set aside cargo space for fuel, so many ships got used to just carrying a small amount that would allow them to travel as needed locally, as it would be easy to refuel when arriving at their destination as and when was needed.

Post-Fires changed this landscape drastically. Overnight, the interstellar craft market was rocked by the realisation that the previously thought limitless and abundant miracle substance that made FTL travel easy and convenient was now extremely finite had them all scrambling. The UEG openly seized every single galactic store of Coral from the corporations, citing "galactic security", and all orders for new interstellar craft - amongst other Coral technologies - instantly halted.

By Young Jupiter time (ten years post-Fires), Furlong Dynamics is beginning to feel the strain. They built their empire on focusing predominantly on interstellar craft - their designs, their weaponry, their engines - and their frantic R&D into solving the energy problem the Coral had shortcutted wasn't going very well. All that could be done was continue to maintain the existing ships that existed, as theoretically the C-Wave Drives could run indefinitely until some sort of mechanical failure happened due to wear and tear. As for new ships, the only ones being built were those utilising the old "slow-walker" engines, which meant bigger, bulkier, slower ships, with less room for ammunition fabrication and storage, and more for stasis compartment and fuel storage. Corporations that had specialised mostly in stasis technologies enjoyed an unexpected windfall, while those like Furlong Dynamic began to languish.

But as they say, shit rolls downhill. With the Corporations struggling to adjust to the Coral shortage and the UEG viciously hording the few galactic stores that remained, the working class found their workload increasing - heavily.

Factories that had benefited from the automation of Coral technologies found themselves in the position where they needed heavy reliance of human productive power. Yet they didn't want their productivity to lower thanks to human limitations, and neither did they want their profits to dent by either hiring too many workers, or paying the few higher wages to make up for the harder work. The few worker protections that had been steadily built up over the past few decades were immediately torn down and rescinded, and the working class were forced to work to maintain the corporations' and the UEG's productivity in their factories and fabrication facilities on basically starvation wages.

So, we have a world that has suffered from a fatal blow to the comfortable status quo. Furlong Dynamics is desperate to try and stem the bleed from their profits that the Coral shortage had started, and the boot has never been heavier on the working class's neck. It's an atmosphere that creates considerable tension within the various stratas of society, and the Jupiter colonies especially - known as the industrial powerhouse of the solar system - have become a bubbling pot. Any socialist talk or gatherings are viciously cracked down on by the corporate and government forces, and the workers are becoming increasingly frustrated and antagonised.

So it makes sense why Walter and Michigan initially have a bit of a rocky start, coming from these polar opposites of society. Michigan, the son of a Furlong Dynamic's director, and Walter, a Rubiconian refugee clawing his way out of the slums.

But alright, world context has been laid down, it's time for the character context. First up:

MICHIGAN - THE PRINCE WHO WANTS TO BE A PAUPER

So, Michigan. G1. Hell On Four Legs. Where did he come from, and who is he? To answer that, we need to look at his family... and Furlong Dynamics' leadership.

Every corporation is unique in its structure and the way it handles leadership. For example, Balam is well-known for its unusual meritocratic selection process for its CEO, though that hasn't exactly escaped the nepotism that pervades the upper echeleons of corporate society. Those with advantageous beginnings normally win the meritocratic race: they just have to work a little harder than most. Furlong Dynamics, however, are upfront about their leadership roles being hereditary.

Five families sit on the board for Furlong with one presiding as a CEO, a role that rotates every five years in a set pattern between the five families. This is a system that has worked for almost as long as Furlong Dynamics had existed (almost 300 years by this point), and needless to say that those five families were old money. They're the equivalent of an aristocracy in a hypercapitalistic galaxy.

One of these families is Rivera, which Michigan was born into as Gabriel Rivera. It was expected of him to succeed his father and sit on Furlong Dynamics' board as a director, so from a very young age he was prepped for this eventuality. His father dictated everything in his life, from his hobbies to what he wore and right down to what he ate. He was drilled in everything to do with business, politics and the interstellar industry, as his father was keen for Michigan to be ready and prepped for when he succeeded him, especially as Furlong Dynamics was entering a critical slump for the first time in its long history due to the Coral shortage. He didn't want his son to be the weak link.

Michigan despised this. He hated the people his father forced him to interact with, he hated the two-faced communication and backstabbing schemes he was encouraged to learn and inflict on others, he hated how boring yet stressful this kind of life was. Contrary to his personality later in life, Michigan was reclusive and anti-social when he was young - a direct result of his father's overbearing and relentless micromanaging - and when possible would hole himself up in his room and escape by watching classical films.

Classical films being... war films and action movies.

Though plenty of media had been lost when Earth suffered from ecological devastation, many had been salvaged throughout the centuries. It had begun from Michigan pilfering from his father's collection, something to put on display and boast about possessing rather than watching, and found himself hooked.

Brave soldiers heroically saving their comrades, taking charge of their destinies, denying fate, overcoming the odds, starting from the gutter and rising to the top from their own merits, making fire-forged friends that were genuine and not shallow transactional facades... this type of fantasy entranced Michigan, giving him a craving that he couldn't quite itch with his luxurious yet empty life. He desperately wished he had been born as some poor bastard whose only option was to join one of the corporate militaries, and distinguish himself by commiting acts of heroism, have people awed by him because of his own merits, and not because he is a Rivera and surrounded by brown-nosing sychophants.

It was a delusional dream driven by an intense desire to escape and forge a genuine connection with anyone, and after years of burying himself deeper and deeper in the propaganda belched out by these old action films (the message of 'war is hell' from the more solemn ones flying miles above his head), Michigan decided: he was going to disown himself and become an MT pilot.

Which he managed. To cut a long story short, Gabriel Rivera became just Michigan, the Rivera name used sparingly and only for legal reasons. He left behind the comfortable executive life to start at the very bottom of the pilot ranks, working his way up with grit and determination, denying any advantages or opportunities that came his way due to his blood or name. He wanted to emulate those heroes that he had watched in those films, he wanted to start with nothing and become something, all with his own efforts, and leave behind the Rivera name and reputation for good.

He started acting more like those gunslinger heroes, loud voice, boisterous personality, easy-going nature and possessing a masculine charm. He's always seeking that big, heroic event, that euphoric moment of victory and achieving the impossible against the odds... but he never really found it. Even after abandoning Furlong Dynamics entirely to jump ship to Balam, he realised that it was just more of the same, his battles against downtrodden workers protesting against their inhumane treatment, or furthering corporate interests over some useless moon in the middle of nowhere. There was no glory or higher purpose - just the company's bottom line.

Michigan started his piloting career as a rich kid craving adventure, naive to the true gritty nature of the galaxy. After decades of piloting under his belt and with an intimiate insight on both sides of the corporate ladder - both at the bottom and the top - to say Michigan was jaded by the time he landed on Rubicon would be an understatement.

He learned that there's no such thing as big damn heroes in this shitty galaxy. All the titles and medals he earned were just window dressings to whatever shitty advertisement his corporate master touted to bolster its reputation or sales. He hated his "Hero of Jupiter" title, and he took great pleasure in launching his "medals" off a cliff and into the ocean like they were frisbees. He hated that in the end his father had been right, that becoming a pilot wouldn't let him run away from the corporate lifestyle, it'd just throw him down to the very bottom and get him trampled

In short, Michigan's a man who tried to forge his own destiny by following a childish dream. His naivety resulted in him being trapped in a life that only had one escape - crawling back to his father and retaking the name Gabriel Rivera - and he viewed that worse than being a corporate attack dog with no real freedom. He'd rather die in some shitty hole in a random ditch somewhere over some pointless resource that meant nothing to him. Was it pride by that point, or stubbornness? He really didn't know.

He just knew that he was just another guy suckered in by the corporations' glitzy and false promises.

WALTER - THE AVENGER WHO KNOWS HE'S DIGGING A GRAVE FOR MILLIONS

Walter, meanwhile, was born to a privileged family of a different sort.

A good few decades before the Fires, Rubicon had done the unthinkable in human history: it had broken away from the UEG and declared independence, becoming a self-sustaining colony with a distinct identity - and able to negotiate with the fuming UEG on equal footing due to its sole access to Coral and its development of the C-weapons. The UEG couldn't take Rubicon or its resources by force (though it surely contemplated it from time to time), and so begrudgingly dealt with them as a peer, legitimising Rubicon as an independent colony and allowing it to forge its own desinty on the galactic stage.

While UEG and its many colonies functioned as a hypercapitalist ogligarchy, Rubicon became a technocracy, with the Rubicon Research Institute having considerable sway over the Rubiconian central government - to the point where it was understood that despite the elected 'president', it really was the Institute that was in charge. This gave rise to the 'intellectual elite', the scientists and academics who ran the Institute - the class that Walter belonged to before the Fires.

His parents were both scientists that worked on the Xylem and lived on-site. They were passionate about their work with the Coral and highly respected within their community, but while they clearly loved Walter, he was always second priority to their research and ambitions. Walter was the only child growing up in the labs (at least, the only one that wasn't a test subject of some kind), and only ever interacted with adults - all of whom were scientists or the security staff. He had never left the Xylem either, his concept of the 'outside world' being the small, sanitised courtyard with the lone tree, and the street he could see past the bars of the labratory's secure and gated exit. While he had some freedom of movement within the facility, there were areas he was barred from entering due to sensitive experiments, or to minimise his interaction with detained test subjects.

As a result, Walter became scarily self-sufficient from a young age, and came across as taciturn or emotionally stunted. He spoke like an adult but struggled to navigate social situations in general, unable to sugarcoat his words and coming across as rude or abrasive when speaking to others. While he found himself occasionally curious about interacting with people who weren't harried scientists that barely tolerated his prolonged presence, Walter genuinely found himself unbothered about his isolation. He was lonely, yes, but he occupied himself well enough, and filled the long stretches of time in furthering his education - determined to become a scientist like his parents and continuing on their work, as what was expected of him.

Then his father began the augmentations and everything went terribly wrong.

His mother volunteered to be Gen Zero, the prototype used to present to the Institute to have the augmentation project greenlighted. Initially, things went well. His mother suffered no significant drawbacks, and demonstrated an incredible boost in mental acuity and calculation power that current neural implants couldn't even begin to compare to. Once the Gen Ones were well underway, however, with a significant death rate at that, his mother began to rapidly degrade, physically and mentally. Walter's last memory of his mother was her unable to recognise him and talking to people who weren't there, knowing that it was the Coral's fault somehow.

His father was driven to perfect the augmentations to ensure his wife's sacrifice wasn't in vain. In Walter's words, he began a carnival of horrors within his labs, killing and mutiliating hundreds within his labs in his pursuit of the refining the augmentation process, with the Institute pumping unlimited resources, funding and test subjects into the project. The glimpse of the future Gen Zero showed them had them eager to achieve that perfection, no matter how many bodies they had to stack up.

It disgusted Walter. While he had never been emotionally close with his parents, he had still respected them, and to see his mother reduced to a crazed husk of herself before dying and his father turning into a monster, destroyed the pedastal he'd put them on. Walter found himself fostering a near irrational hatred for the Coral, rationalising that none of this would've happened if Coral had never been discovered - if it had never existed. He wished, vehemently, for it to disappear.

He got his wish with the Fires.

While the augmentations had made Walter view the Coral with a negative lens, seeing the damage it could do in the wrong hands, the Fires cinched it as a traumatic avatar of destruction in Walter's mind. The Coral was too dangerous to exist in their galaxy, not with how greedy humans could be, and blind to the dangers in pursuit of power. But his motivations weren't noble: he absolutely despised the legacy it represented, how he couldn't hear the word 'Coral' without thinking of his father, his mother, and how everything was robbed from him. It seeded in him an obsession, a hateful, vengeful obsession, because focusing on that, on gunning for a tangible entity that you've vowed to destroy, is far easier to stomach than processing the fact that your life was utterly ruined by selfish ambitions and a freak accident.

Overnight Walter went from part of the very prestigious intellectual elite on Rubicon, to a penniless refugee on one of Jupiter's colonies: Ganymede. It was a shock to the system to find himself in a world where food wasn't simply there whenever he desired it, that shelter wasn't a given, and that clinical cleanliness was a privilege, not a right. He fortunately had Carla with him, though, and while the first few years were rocky, they managed to find their footing by creating a scrapping service in the Ganymede slums, Carla using her previous experience in R&D at the Institute, and Walter his education, to repurpose old tech and mechs or salvage somewhat valuable tech to sell on.

From there, they began to plot, to focus their shared hatred and distrust of the Coral to really make sure it was gone for good, that it wouldn't come back. In the filthy slums beneath Ganymede, with a promise made between two emotionally exhausted yet furious Rubiconian refugees, Overseer was born.

But that's its own story.

Walter's endless conga line of misfortune did well to harden him and make him adaptable to unpleasant surprises. He always expects shit to go wrong at the most inconvenient times, he doesn't trust a single person to do the right thing even if he's known them for years (Carla, who all but raised him, he only trusts to a certain extent), and he realised how hypocritical most people could be. Though he was born as one of the intellectual elite, witnessing and experiencing first hand the oppression and indignity the working class suffered in UEG territories genuinely sickened him - and cemented in his mind that this galaxy couldn't be trusted with the Coral at all.

He had to destroy it for good. He had to make sure it could never come back and hurt anyone else. He had to erase every drop of legacy his shit-for-brains father had built and let history bury him forever. Walter, for all of his outwardly cold and emotionless masks, feels deeply and intently, and all of it is bitter rage.

Walter just doesn't know how to process his emotions well - he was never taught, and he missed those vital milestones with his lonely childhood, locked away in an ivory tower filled with nothing but scientists and test subjects. He feels so much over his father, the Fires, the Coral, but has no idea how to sort through it all. So he stuffs it away. He keeps his gaze fixed on the horizon where his mission to destroy the Coral hangs. He tells himself that once he destroys it for good, it'll all go away: these incomprehensible, heavy and painful emotions. The source of them all will be gone.

Imagine that: condeming millions to death because of crippling, unaddressed daddy issues.

THE SHIP ITSELF

Right, with all that context given, onto the part people really care about: so, why does the Walter/Michigan ship pair well? Or at least, why does APV Walter/Michigan pair well.

Michigan's POV:

From Michigan's side, he's fascinated with Walter. Everything about him just doesn't make sense. He's a 'sewer rat', a working class drone that managed to claw their way out of the muck and elevate his social standing through stubborn grit and determination - but his demeanour belies that. Walter demonstrates a level of education and sophistication that the working class just don't have. Michigan has grown up on Ganymede, and despite the high-ranking executives living in their gated communities and busying themselves with the day-to-day running of their businesses, they do keep an eye on what the working class are up to.

The corporations have perfected subjugation and propaganda to an artform. They can only achieve this if they know their target audience. Michigan knows, as any self-respecting Rivera knows, how the working class tick, their current worries and desires, the statistical trends of their few purchases and which style of propaganda they're most receptive to. Walter fits none of the established norms for Ganymede working class - he doesn't even have a recognisable Jupiter colony accent - so he already presents himself as an interesting puzzle for Michigan to break down.

There's also some genuine respect there too. Michigan acknowledges that Water had to work hard to get where he was, and he appreciates that Walter doesn't mince his words or beat around the bush. He's blunt, direct and isn't in the business of brown-nosing or fawning to ingratiate himself. You always knew where you stood with Walter, or so Michigan felt, and admittedly, Walter reminded him a lot of a certain character achetype in his precious films: the underdog, the guy you ended up rooting for just because he worked so fucking hard for what he wanted.

So, to Michigan, Walter's interesting, he's mysterious, and he's a representation of what Michigan wanted for himself. He wants to be like Walter: a poor as shit refugee making something of himself, with a whole future to distinguish himself and build his own reputation, to forge himself in fire! Michigan is mildly envious, but thinks as well that if he sticks close to him, he'll be able to live vicariously through him, to get a taste of dream he really wanted to achieve...

And because he's so fascinated with Walter, he starts to learn all of his tics and mannerisms too. He begins to understand the minute shifts of Walter's expressions, what he leaves unsaid and knowing when Walter is feeling but just doesn't know how to express or word himself. Michigan is the more emotionally intelligent of the two, and very perceptive despite how he acts. Combined with his easy-going nature and his respect for Walter's hardworking nature and competency, this helped him break through a few of Walter's walls - despite Walter doing his best to rebuild them as fast as possible.

Not to say they don't butt heads: they butt heads a lot. Arguing is their favourite pasttime. They challenge each other, and Michigan knows that he can say whatever and Walter can dish it out right back. Walter doesn't give a shit about any potential ties Michigan may have to the Rivera family - he just gives a shit about Michigan waking him up at 6am and asking him to go running with him. He snaps at him, argues with him, insults him... he treats him as Michigan, and this is what Michigan cares about the most.

Walter's POV:

Meanwhile, Walter's feelings towards Michigan are very complicated. He's irritated by what he sees as Michigan's nosiness towards his private affairs, and he doesn't appreciate him trying to figure him out. Mostly because he doesn't want him figuring out his true identity. Walter wanted to sever any and all ties between him and his father's legacy, and he and Carla took great pains to have no one realise that he was the famous Dr Kohler's son. And the disowned heir of the Rivera family? Definitely in the best position to connect the dots.

But Michigan's also the first person to ever just... treat him normally and roll with his verbal punches. People are usually scared away by Walter's cold attitude and sharp words, but Michigan gave as good as he got, and always shrugged off Walter's meaner comments. It left Walter at a bit of a loss, and after a while he slowly desensitised to Michigan's presence. He rationalised that it's just pointless wasting energy trying to chase off Michigan, but the fact was he... ended up liking his company. He had no idea socialising could be so enjoyable, once you learned to tolerate their more aggravating parts.

There's also a colder and more pragmatic side too: Michigan is useful to him, as a son of an executive, disgraced or not. Walter is aware enough to acknowledge that a small chunk of his tolerance is proportional to Michigan's use for him, but in his mind he sees it as an expected part of their relationship. It's transactional, what they share (or so he tells himself). He offers entertainment to Michigan, who in turns offers the same - and lets Walter take advantage of the few perks being "friends" with an executive's son offers.

He tells himself he can't get attached - he has his mission after all - but by this point Walter's good at ignoring his feelings and burying himself under six feet of concrete denial. He clings to the rationalisation that they're just "friends with benefits" for years, that from the beginning they were only making use of each other - there wasn't really anything there. Even to him that sounded hollow when he finally cut ties and left, to pursue his hopeless and doomed mission. He never really stopped thinking about Michigan, the what-ifs.

He hated it.

...

Also they both share a hatred of their respective fathers, so they Get That. They're part of the Dads Suck club.

CONCLUSION

So basically........ they're gay, your honour.

#armored core #armored core 6 #handler walter #g1 michigan #ship essay #i finally wrote it...#i don't write essays often but this was kinda fun to do #even if just to put my thoughts down or something #welp i hope people enjoy uwu

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south-sea · 1 year

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i talk about the softer side of second chance au a lot so it’s time to talk about how absolutely feral the boys still are. just because they’re living in kinder circumstances now doesn’t mean they’ve been declawed.

metal, even with his hostility coding removed, is still a vicious little beast. normally he doesn’t want to fight if he doesn’t have to (maybe it's more accurate to say he lets it be someone else's problem until it has to be his), but it takes very little to provoke him. is he brooding, and you’ve just forced him to move two inches to the left? he's turning you into a bowling pin. did you just playfully hit him in the back of the head with a paint gun? you’re getting ragdolled over his shoulder. did you hurt who was precious to him? … hope you got life insurance, dude.

removing the hostility coding has not made him kind; it’s only distilled that hostility and allowed him to focus it on those who deserve it (or don’t. metal is not exactly a good judge of character).

he doesn't necessarily like causing pain, but some part of him delights in seeing the aftermath of his fights. after all is said and done, and he looks back to see he's carved trenches into the ground or set fires or knocked over trees, then all the better. maybe he doesn't go out of his way to cause destruction, but he certainly takes any excuse to, and when it's given to him for good reason, he leans into total overkill territory.

he is tired of being someone else's weapon, but he will still chose to be a weapon, especially if it means defending those he cares about.

even on the lighter side of things, one of the first things he learned is he does not know how (and does not like to) play with other children. games like tag or keep-away aren’t challenging, and he doesn’t understand the point of letting younger kids win to keep them from being discouraged. he cannot empathize with them, and if he can’t make use of even a fraction of his everyday abilities, then what’s the point? how is it fun, if he’s not allowed to hover to keep himself from being made “it”, or speeding away to avoid being tagged? how is it fun, if he has to handicap himself? (what even IS “fun”?)

for the most part, shadow’s content to live an easier life of exploration. he does not fight unless in self-defense, and isn’t that reactive or easy to provoke. but there are some days he misses the thrill of just, existing at a faster pace. he doesn’t have much reason to run or hone his abilities—even if he doesn’t have a reason to fight, it’s still an aspect of himself that needs nurturing and entertaining. he has a lot of energy built up, and doing nothing but wandering around and learning isn’t going to help him expend it. there’ll be days he takes off running at full speed from nothing and just Goes.

i’d like to think there’s a day where one or both of them are frustrated about the lack of excitement or feel they’ve stagnated, and just end up racing each other. metal can have races again that don’t end in a shower of sparks and broken parts, and with nothing to prove to “himself” (maybe this is “fun”?). shadow has a way to expend excess energy—he makes it a best two out of three. they run until sundown and don’t even notice until metal catches the fact that shadow’s winded.

maybe they even start to spar with each other, but that one might take some time. metal, as brutal and merciless as he is against anyone else, is fiercely in the “shadow is my responsibility” camp and would have a hard time allowing himself to do anything but block. i’d like to think shadow eventually proves he can handle it, and then it’s a no-holds-barred scrap that ends with a few broken quills and some chipped paint, but instead of sharp words and petty verbal jabs, it’s a calm trade of pointers to help cover each other’s weak spots while they're sat together in the grass afterward.

#when i say metal is brutally merciless #just take my word for it #he does not know how to 'go easy' on someone/thing #and his idea of a joke typically trends more meanspirited than funny #he regularly picks on someone (who is wholly unbothered by it and finds it funny so it's more of a mutual thing)#with subtle jabs at the guy's intelligence and ragdolling him at the slightest annoyance #it's like the only person metal can be this rough with without actually hurting them so you Bet he takes advantage of it #as for shadow #maybe burning off some of that excess energy will keep him out of trouble #'curiosity skewered the cat' is a good corrupted saying for him #if he had a nickel for every time he was turned into a pincushion #he'd have two nickels #which isn't a lot but sooner or later it's going to turn into a whole dollar at the rate he's going #reckless idiot (fond)#shadow the hedgehog #metal sonic #second chance au #sea talks #an unkind anon put me off talking about these guys for a bit but i've decided if someone can't understand i'm talking about an au #then it is not my problem

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foxesandtarot · 1 day

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. ｡ , ˚ •.✧ Card of the day: Ten of Earth ✧.• ˚ ˛ ｡ .

What is money? Primarily, it's a trading unit that can be exchanged for things you want, in most societies that transact with it. In order to acquire your needs and wants, you have to have "money". And when something is expensive, you have to put it aside until you accumulate enough to exchange it for the item you want.

This behaviour is typical, but when it gets out of hand, it turns into hoarding. Having savings is great, but it is also important to remember that "money" is also a form of energy. And energy has to be moved around. Like how algae and moss can choke a creek's flow, the stagnation of money can take away opportunities and potential growth. This isn't to say that savings aren't necessary, but that money can't just stay in one place. Want to experience new things? Use some of it to get to new places to see new sights. Want to expand your knowledge? Use some of it to attend courses or acquire the necessary tools. Try to see money as a tool that can be used to enrich your life, or something that can be used to spring you further to where or who you want to be.

#tarot #tarot card of the day #tarotblr #tarot reading #tarotcommunity #monsoon tarot deck #foxesandtarot

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kylesvariouslistsandstuff · 9 months

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"I miss the artier, experimental older days of Pixar!"

You mean when... They were just a small bunch of computer nerds - including an ex-Disney guy who left during the studio's stagnating years - in the Bay Area making weird and experimental little CG short films? *That* Pixar?

All joking aside, I love the apparent simplicity of the first four shorts made during this era of Pixar. Right after being spun off from Lucasfilm (formerly, they were known as the Graphics Group), right after Steve Jobs bought them for $5 million in early 1986... An era where they were not only playing with the technology, trying to see what computer-generated imagery could achieve in the realm of classic-style character animation and anthropomorphization, but also an era where they were making films that you weren't seeing in mainstream animation at the time.

It's often written that the 1970s and the majority of the 1980s were such a dire time for American animation, and while it was far from perfect, these kinds of quick reductive statements brush over a WHOLE ERA of experimental and underground work that was happening in the background. Where few were noticing it. A body of work that was bubbling under the surface, and it finally came to a boil when it broke into the mainstream, helping make the 2nd Golden Age of Animation the monolith era that it was... A field that early Pixar arguably was once part of, when their work was playing at places like SIGGRAPH and not in front of millions of eyeballs.

Whether it's the use of freeform jazz music in LUXO JR., or the surrealism and melancholy of RED'S DREAM, the kaiju-like juxtaposition of a toy and a baby in TIN TOY, or Bobby McFerrin's accappella in KNICK KNACK, there's something quite offbeat about these early John Lasseter-directed shorts... They're silent, yes, but there's a lyrical quality to them as well, that channel more early Disney than the talky screenplay-driven storytelling of the majority of their feature films.

Heck, one can mount a whole argument that Pixar stomped that all out after signing a feature film deal with The Walt Disney Company in 1991... And that they traded this kind of pseudo-avant garde experimentation for 80-minute Disney movies... Like TOY STORY, like A BUG'S LIFE, etc. etc. They went too mainstream, mannnn.

Of course, I don't think that at all. At least, not in such simplistic terms... But I do feel that there is some kind of truth to that sentiment, though some of the beloved Pixar feature films do - I feel - preserve some that early short film weirdness. At least one short made after the release of TOY STORY, such as 1997's GERI'S GAME, still did this kind of thing. A lot of the post-TOY STORY shorts are more just cute and fun than anything else, sometimes conventionally emotional and personal but in a small bite. SparkShorts kinda kept those weird-era quirks alive, I'd say. But barely.

In other words, whenever very-online people grouse about how Pixar has lost its touch or whatever... Whether it was during the early 2010s (CARS 2-to-MONSTERS U era) or now, I think back to these early shorts... This whole myth that Pixar was some arthouse studio above the rest, when I don't think that was ever true. At least, not with the features. TOY STORY was a blockbuster from the get-go, and the studio hadn't seen a financial failure until 20 years later (THE GOOD DINOSAUR). Some of the films made by their more esteemed directors, the ones that were allowed by leader John Lasseter to do what they wanted, did wear some experimental ideas and themes, yes? That halcyon magical stretch of movies; RATATOUILLE, WALL-E, UP, ya know? But even those movies are still quite conventional at the end of the day. WALL-E, for example, would've truly been an "arthouse"-style movie if it had stayed silent the whole time or if the space stuff was less "save the world". Like, it's very conventional and quite audience-friendly I'd argue. It ain't FANTASIA or BAMBI, that's for sure. I still really love that movie, but you catch my drift, right?

I feel the majority of Pixar's pre-2010s movies came out at a time when critics didn't find much to chew on with other animated movies, "other" animated movies that kids took with them into the future and have turned into cult classics. The likes of TITAN A.E. and ATLANTIS: THE LOST EMPIRE and THE ROAD TO EL DORADO and such. So, to them and several online movie "experts", the Pixar movies looked like the gold standard. Or even the only game in town. Which made the reveal that they were a studio just like any other movie production company... Very shocking!

But really, this idea that they were a mesh of arthouse-meets-commercial in the late 2000s, with RATATOUILLE, WALL-E, UP, etc.... And that they threw that all away and started sucking? I think it's bunk. You want "arthouse" Pixar? The early shorts are that.

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beardedmrbean · 1 month

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So Yasuke discourse back, and I just realize why

Black Americans are taught to HATE the core of the USA because the treatment of us. I mean my feelings towards my country is complex…but where this idea we were never taught this?

I’m sorry were you asleep in history class after the 5th grade?

I mean have you seen Emmett Till Corpse? My community was terrified for generations for black boys like me.

But anyways black supremacists latch onto other cultures like Japan and such for validation. Rather than our own people who survived and found success even in hard times America

Also this post https://www.tumblr.com/someoneintheshadow456/728775975508344832/i-think-one-of-the-biggest-differences-between

It two fictional historical stories, but remind when I saw a actress on the view being shocked she have slave owners ancestors

Despite being half Puerto Rican

And in her 30’s-40’s

I’m sorry does that chick think real life a Disney film?

Also about the samurai thing, yes people glamorize them like FX Shogun

But the Japanese (especially in counterculture as most mangakas are the descendants of the people the samurai oppressed. Oops, someone didn’t get the memo) acknowledged their samurai ancestors caused them significant issues especially with the isolation and stagnation the Tokugawa caused

Also I suspected but check wiki, the imperial Japanese army was heavily based off samurai culture 😬

And given the horrors they committed…

But anyways like I hinted at, the Japanese acknowledged their ancestors were complex people. But also acknowledged the flaws, because we can see it. Like people complain about how the late dbz creator draw black people

The thing is I heard some Japanese people don’t even a black person irl until their 30’s fuck I’m going too long

But at least get Japanese don’t have socialists in positions of influence and power that treat a book made by a antisemitic freeloader that rape his maid and let that offspring died poor less like the Bible.

Also another thing I notice in my abuse healing. If you don’t make some form of piece with what your abuser did to you.

Your shit out of luck at understanding history. Random but stuff I been noticing with Japanese culture and handling of others maybe another anon because an important figure in the pokemon community said something that shocked him while visiting nyc in the 2000’s.

Black Americans are taught to HATE the core of the USA because the treatment of us. I mean my feelings towards my country is complex…but where this idea we were never taught this? I’m sorry were you asleep in history class after the 5th grade?

The scripted 'how come they never taught us this in school' followed by 'you know' is one of the most infuriating things to show up and signal the beginning of discourse.

Texas isn't going to teach about slavery, Florida is going to teach that it wasn't so bad, are both statements I've seen allegedly educated people say, Texas most certainly will teach about it and the comment from Florida is that some slaves learned trades that helped them when they were free, like blacksmithing and coopering still not a statement in praise of anything, just a statement of fact.

They absolutely taught that stuff in school,

True you likely didn't learn about Bass Reeves which would be why people are so willing to believe The Lone Ranger was based off of him now, that would be also because they don't know about The Lone Ranger either, (there is some crossover and they likely pulled some from Bass)

There's only so much instruction time, you want to learn more there's a library or the internet.

But anyways black supremacists latch onto other cultures like Japan and such for validation. Rather than our own people who survived and found success even in hard times America

I have found that weird, then again they latch on to any successful black person as well and act like they own them, right up till the Williams Sisters marry white dudes, which for some reason was worse than Tiger marrying a white woman if memory serves.

The thing is I heard some Japanese people don’t even a black person irl until their 30’s fuck I’m going too long

I love Psych.

In person they may go their whole lives without seeing anyone but other Japanese people, common in not western nations. For all the talk about ethnostates people sure get them wrong a lot.

That would be why no socialism in Japan, they killed the commies. My commitment to free speech says that was the wrong thing to do, but it also says people that want to cheer can.

The GOT/Downtown Abbey thing those were set in two totally different periods of time and one not even on earth so making comparisons to anything is difficult.

Edwardian Vs when Henry VIII was king totally different and not good to compare to each other to, not from a judgmental standpoint at least.

Also another thing I notice in my abuse healing. If you don’t make some form of piece with what your abuser did to you. Your shit out of luck at understanding history. Random but stuff I been noticing with Japanese culture and handling of others maybe another anon because an important figure in the pokemon community said something that shocked him while visiting nyc in the 2000’s.

Makes healing a bit more difficult too.

Forgive and forget is bunk, you don't have to forget, don't have to forgive either but I think that it's important to do that. Doesn't mean you need to speak a single word to the person or spare them a passing glance ever again though. Don't need to give them a chance to do it again, but forgiveness is as much for you as it is for the forgivee.

#zoomer huey anon

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shaftal · 2 years

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Prompt 42 (Seasonal): NYRs/Yuletide

Tomorrow is the beginning of the fandom nomination period for Yuletide 2022!*

Some things you could do for this prompt:

1: Are you planning to nominate Elemental Logic for Yuletide? Reply to this post with the characters you commit to nominating, so that we can get all the characters that interest us onto the list and don’t overlap unnecessarily. (Doing this WILL be counted towards your A Year In Shaftal contribution 😉)

2: The New Year’s Resolution collection remains open until October 14 (the start of Yuletide signups)--why not warm up for Yuletide by writing something for someone who requested Elemental Logic in a previous year of the exchange? I have included the requests I could find under the cut.

*Yuletide is a well-established multi-fandom fanfiction gift exchange for small fandoms, and is the source of a significant portion of the Elemental Logic works on ao3

2021:

amyezekiel I love the 'found family' themes throughout these books and would welcome more of that! Any characters

Eccentric_Hat I started reading these books because of Medric: a mostly unrelated fandom got me interested in clairvoyants, and now they're something I actively seek out. I thought he didn't show up until book 2 and was absurdly jazzed when, in the middle of book 1, Zanja found herself crashed on the bedroom floor of (I think this is the description) "a bespectacled book-hauling boy with a blue ribbon in his hair." Since then, the moments when these two characters interact have been among my favorites in the series. I love the way they trade questions back and forth when talking in fire logic to each other, the offhanded way she (like most of their family) cares for Medric and reminds him to put his glasses on, and the way he kind of wanders through their family life making himself at home while saying things people don't understand--and all of that is the surface level of a relationship built on enormous trust, intimacy, sorrow, and responsibility. Nobody but Zanja understands what she has lost, but I think Medric might come the closest to understanding her conviction of her own guilt--even while he prefers to play his own sorrows close to the chest a lot of the time. (There's mention, I think at the start of book 2, that he doesn't drink alcohol, coffee, or tea or consume sugar because those things would interfere with his visions, and much later there's an offhand comment that the Sainnites remember him as a drunk. Oof.) I would love to see more interaction between these two, whether it's an adventure, a card reading, or something as simple as a shared meal. I adore the whole family of which they're part--it makes me especially happy how, at the series midpoint, they start referring to their lovers as husband or wife, without apparently having done anything to formalize that status--and any and all members of that family and their friends are welcome to make an appearance. DNWs: sexual violence, and in general, violence exceeding canon levels--I know these characters have been through the war, I just don't need close descriptions of specific injuries. Medric (Elemental Logic), Zanja na'Tarwein

Lleu I love so many things about these books. the way gay love is so central and important. the movement from stasis and stagnation into change and possibility. I'm also obsessed with the elemental logics themselves — I would love something that explores the experience of fire logic in more detail (either Emil's insight or Medric's visions) from the inside. I also love fictional literature, and I would LOVE something that explores Shaftali literature, storytelling, glyph-writing, and similar. Letter with more details Emil Paladin, Medric (Elemental Logic)

@grimdr

spiritinthespacebar I nominated this series because it is criminally underrated, while being among the best queer fiction in print. I can’t say enough about the delicacy and originality of the magic system. I love the complexity of our heroines, and the practical, steadfast way they work for a long-awaited peace. I finished Air Logic the week before signups and I cannot stop thinking about Shaftal. Suggested prompts: I’d like a story about Zanja and Karis helping each other with a difficult problem, which could be set any time after the end of Fire Logic. I didn’t request any other characters, but I also nominated Clement and Seth--if you have read Earth Logic and like them as much as I do, you are welcome to give them large supporting roles. I’m also happy to see Zanja and Karis’s whole family in small supporting roles. Maybe Zanja must represent the interests of some Border People to Shaftal, but their needs are very different from the Ashawala’i? Maybe Karis must resolve the situation with the Basdown cow dogs? Maybe a natural disaster strikes somewhere? Global preferences: Letter with more details Zanja na'Tarwein, Karis G'deon

@spiritintheinkwell, i.e. the mod

2018:

Assimbya Zanja na'Tarwein I love Zanja very, very, very much. I love her magic and her religious faith; her tendency towards self-sacrifice and her storytelling; I love her romance with Karis and her friendship with Emil; I love her as a survivor of torture and genocide, who has lost everything she once had but keeps her faith and her sense of purpose, even when she is hallucinating or despairing. I would be delighted with a story that explored almost any part of her life (caveat because I'm not that interested in further extrapolations of the period of Water Logic), and especially one which involved some degree of Zanja/Karis, whose romance I adore. Maybe something about Zanja's recovery early on in Fire Logic, or taking place in the gap between Fire Logic and Earth Logic? Or something focusing on her religious faith? I would love to see Zanja and Karis working out the rough spaces and their relationship and learning how to be meaningfully supportive partners to one another, or something about Zanja on her own, fighting injustice or making meaning inside her own head. Letter: http://chthonic-cassandra.tumblr.com/post/179261839065/yuletide-letter-2018

@chthonic-cassandra

ofunaq Any characters I love these books, and the beautifully evocative landscape of love, relationships and chosen family. Anything you could write for these would make me very, very happy. If you'd like a suggestion, maybe Emil and Medric could go away on a camping holiday... I don't have any significant squicks or DNWs. In general, I like stories in which people are kind and thoughtful (although that doesn't necessarily preclude stories on a knife-edge of control, consent and sexual discovery...), and are unashamedly themselves.

schneefink Emil Paladin, Medric (Elemental Logic) My two favorite relationships in this series are Medric/Emil and the whole family together. I would for example love fic about Medric pre- and/or during book 1, and/or the development of his relationship with Emil, or fic about Medric, Emil, and their whole family settling down for the first time and/or having adventures, or Garland taking care of the family. See my letter for more details. DNW: very dark/hopeless stories, explicit rape/abuse, character bashing, PWP Letter: http://schneefink.dreamwidth.org/245397.html

thereinafter Karis G'deon, Zanja na'Tarwein I fell pretty hard for these books, especially Fire Logic, about which I love so many things; I feel like Marks has some kind of direct connection to my personal id. All the circumstances of the way they meet with Karis breaking Zanja out of the prison, all the h/c, all the pining and angst, all their rescuing of each other, Karis’s eventual healing of herself and rediscovery of feeling, give me an absurd amount of feelings. I also love how the books are overall about the struggle to establish and hold a peace more than fighting a war, and the fact that Karis uses her amazonian strength to be a healer and creator/fixer of things while Zanja is the fighter, and all the other opposing elemental/mystical traits that mean they are often baffled by each other.To sum up, I very much love them as a ship and would like a story focused on the two of them (Emil and Medric are fine characters, but I’d rather not focus on the whole group family; that said, if you write something that needs secondary characters, I’m fond of Norina and Clement and Seth and Garland too, and I love the ravens). Prompt suggestions: The two of them keep getting separated and almost dying or symbolically dying and then reuniting/bringing each other back. Which does work for me every time, so if you want to write something plotty that continues that pattern, I would be here for it. We’re told Karis loses her powers over water and thus avoids it, but we don’t ever see much of that; what would it be like if she had to sail somewhere? (I could see this going in a light funny or fraught angsty direction.) I’m intrigued by the implications of Karis sensing what happens to objects she forges, as with Zanja’s knife. A little mission/case they decide to handle together? There must be a lot of problems around Shaftal to fix still. Letter: http://thereinafter.tumblr.com/post/179120480605/im-signing-up-for-the-yuletide-fic-exchange-this

@thereinafter

2017:

ofunaq Medric (Elemental Logic), Karis G'deon, Zanja na'Tarwein The characters in the Elemental Logic books have a warmth and an intensity that I find compelling, and the matter-of-fact and inclusive approach to gender, sexuality and chosen family is so refreshing and validating. But the thing that really hooked me, was the riveting, visceral description of sensations, that made touch and taste and textures come alive. Maybe an adventure story for Zanja from before she meet Karis? Or someone (Medric?) develops a giant crush on Karis, and tries to hide it, with comedic results? Whatever you write would be great: I'd be so happy to read a new story in this world.

schneefink Medric (Elemental Logic), Zanja na'Tarwein, Emil Paladin My two favorite relationships in this series are Medric/Emil and the whole family together (closely followed by Emil&Zanja and Zanja/Karis), and I would love a fic with some of both. I would love fic about Medric pre- and/or during book 1. In canon he only has very vague visions of Emil and his future family, but feel free to expand on that a little and give him more if you want. Or fic about Medric, Emil, and their whole family settling down for the first time. It would take some time for all of them to become comfortable living together, to grow from pairs and friends into a family who all love each other. I also like Garland the cook a lot, especially him taking care of the family and in particular Medric and Emil. Letter: http://schneefink.dreamwidth.org/210265.html

2016:

madamebadger Zanja na'Tarwein, Karis G'deon I would love a Karis/Zanja pairing fic. I'd be happy to see it set any time they're together, although I'd prefer to not see it set sometime that they've been forcibly separated. Perhaps something set in the long period of time between Fire Logic and Earth Logic, when their household is at relative peace (even though Shaftal is anything but 'at peace')? Or during some downtime in Travesty, sometime during Earth Logic and/or Water Logic? Or even after Water Logic. Some things I love about them: the way Zanja's intuition and leaps of logic both conflict with and complement Karis's much more stable (and yet, often, equally mystical and mysterious) Earth Logic. Zanja's persistent trauma over the death of her people, and the way that Karis supports her without being able to 'fix' it, because it's fundamentally not something that can (or, maybe, even should) be fixed. Karis's pain over her instinctual drive to heal all wounds and her inability to do so, and the way Zanja in turn supports her. Or, for something less angsty--I'd be delighted with something fluffy and domestic, too, since so much of the series is about the importance of *building* instead of simply destroying, and many of the scenes that I love the most are small moments in the household--whether it's the household they kept in between Fire Logic and Earth Logic, or something set in Travesty as their household continues to grow. If you're not comfortable writing pairing fic, that's fine too--I'd be happy with anything centered on these two characters. I would prefer not to have them explicitly split up, though, even if their relationship isn't the focus of the story. I love basically all the characters, and if you'd like to bring in anyone else (whether nominated or not) that would be delightful to me, especially members of Karis's household, and Clement and Seth. I have no problem with kidfic, so if you're inclined to bring in the fact that Karis and Zanja are considered to be among Leeba's mothers, that would be perfectly fine with me. I would rather not see canon pairings get split up in general, although simply not mentioning/focusing on them would be fine. Letter: http://madamebadger.tumblr.com/post/151589933484/dear-yuletide-author-elemental-logic-redwall

@madamebadger

ofunaq (Same as 2017)

schneefink Medric (Elemental Logic), Emil Paladin I would love fic about Medric pre- and/or during book 1: growing up a seer in a society that hates elemental bloods, coming to terms with his visions and that he is on the wrong side, visions of his future lover etc. I like his relationship with Emil a lot. Or fic about Medric, Emil, and the others settling down for the first time and becoming a family. I like Zanja and Emil's relationship a lot, and Zanja and Karis, and Norina and J'han, and all of them together. It would take some time for them to learn how to live with each other, and they also had to learn how to raise their daughter. Or fic about Garland taking care of the family, especially Medric and Emil, while they settle into their new roles. Letter: http://schneefink.dreamwidth.org/179994.html

Toft Karis G'deon, Zanja na'Tarwein, Norina Truthken Full disclosure - I've only read the first book and part of the second. I'm planning to have read all three by Christmas, but I would like a story set in the first book or before. I'd really like something about the friendships and relationships between these three women, or between two of them. Norina and Karis have such a complicated relationship; I'd love to see something about them earlier in their friendship, when Karis was still an addict. I really like Norina as a character - she obviously makes misguided choices sometimes but she has such integrity even while she's single-minded, while her 'looking after' Karis was also a kind of imprisonment, it was also built on caring and obviously did keep Karis alive. And Karis' struggle to keep a sense of her own identity through her work is really powerful. So, I'd love to see that expanded. I'd also love something about Zanja and Karis. When did Zanja know she was in love with Karis and vice versa? I was really intrigued by the idea that Zanja can use the sword to communicate with Karis - if you wanted to explore that, when Zanja is working for the resistance, that would be cool. What are the early days like when Karis gets her feeling back? Also I didn't feel like the raven was quite enough of his own character to nominate him, but I LOVE THE RAVEN. If you wanted to write something from the raven's perspective, or about the raven, that'd be awesome.DNWs: I am really squicked by descriptions of pregnancy & danger to pregnant women. I would prefer not to have a story about Norina's pregnancy or where it plays a significant role. Letter: http://toft.dreamwidth.org/782933.html

2015:

unheroics Zanja na'Tarwein, Karis (Elemental Logic) I’m absolutely fascinated by Zanja and her function in the narrative, and by extension I am also absolutely fascinated by Karis. Such an enormous part of the books relies on the foundation of their relationship, which is wonderful and heartbreaking. So in that way, I think I’ve had enough relationship-y stuff in canon, and I’d like to see something that goes deeper into the whole aspect of the Messiah/Prophet archetype they’ve got going. In particular, the recurring theme of agency vs. inevitability of fate: Zanja is a willing prophet of her own making, but can one really consider her choices — well, choices, if she’s more or less submitting to the tidal force of some…vague idea of how things are shaping up to be? She takes her place in the world knowing that it’s part of a grand design, knowing more or less what her compliance and its lack would bring. This is fascinating to me! Dear Yuletide Author Letter: http://csoru.tumblr.com/yuletide

@csoru

Assimbya (Same as 2016)

wintersweet Karis (Elemental Logic), Zanja na'Tarwein I'd love to see Karis and Zanja together. I really don't want to see them hurting each other. Just something pleasant. Sexy is fine, cute is fine, domestic is fine.Thank you! P. S. I love Garland--it'd be extra nifty if he showed up! Dear Yuletide Author Letter http://wintersweet.livejournal.com/1810644.html

sleepfighter Zanja na'Tarwein,Medric (Elemental Logic) I am super in favor of all the fireblooded characters in the book. I want fireblooded insights, and also bonding and family stuff! I think this would be most ideal either between book one and two or book two and three, but you do you.I like Zanja slightly better then Medren, but I love Medren telling stories: do what you will with that. Dear Yuletide Author Letter: http://existence.dreamwidth.org/tag/40+watt+lightbulb+in+the+manger

2013:

nimblermortal I am not going to specify characters, but some things that would make me happy include Gilly and Garland in the same place, and Norina and children. (Air children, yes, but also normal children.) I love kids, but I also think you would be amazing if you could make the air children actually creepy, rather than simply saying they are so as Marks does. Please no romance-centric plots, and please no porn.

@nimblermortal

2012:

egelantier Zanja, Karis, Emil (Elemental Logic Series), Medric All (optional) details in the letter! (Letter has been deleted) Website/Journal/Dear Yuletide Author: http://egelantier.livejournal.com/110371.html

mayhap Zanja, Karis I would love any kind of story about Zanja and Karis, whether that be set sometime after Water Logic or a missing scene from any of the books. You could write straight-up smut (this is pretty much always an option, really, I just wanted to throw it out there), or explore any aspect of the worldbuilding that catches your fancy—I especially love the use of the quotes from invented texts in the books, the glyphs and of course the four elemental magics themselves. I love Emil/Medric and if you volunteered all characters and it makes sense to have them as a background pairing or even a co-pairing in your story, go for it! If anyone is the primary focus, though, I would like it to be Zanja/Karis. Website/Journal/Dear Yuletide Author http://mayhap.dreamwidth.org/229606.html

#a year in shaftal #prompts #elemental logic #fire logic #housekeeping

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libertineangel · 2 years

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Just as predicted, the Tezhnid homeworld tore itself apart. The majority of the populace was successfully evacuated to the two colonies set up beforehand, but the scientific administrators chose to remain until the end, recording data that would never be seen again, even though it certainly meant their lives.

The colonies were unable to build proper infrastructure in advance of the arrival of the entire species and so at first there were vast numbers of homeless and unemployed; while housing was provided for all within a couple of years it was almost half a decade until work was found for everyone, during which time extensive welfare programs were implemented at disastrous cost to the economy, with every possible resource stockpile sold off entirely and unfavourable international trade deals pursued in order to keep the Foundation functioning.

Eventually, however, production was just about levelled, and the administration could finally breathe a little more easily. They were by any measurement the weakest nation in the newly-formed Galactic Community, and it was imperative they find new worlds to settle and develop if they were to do anything more than scrape by in stagnation, but they were safe.

#stellaris #tezhnid foundation

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ilaiyayaya · 2 months

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Don't mind me just compiling a bunch of unfinished vent drafts into a finalized product ready for purchase~

It's crazy how for the first half, even maybe like 2/3rds of 2023 I felt amazing overall, the novelty of being out of horrible, multiple years-long situation and into a, realistically just kinda average situation, felt so great that it completely carried me emotionally for nearly a year. But ever since around August/September I've kinda slowly been receding back into that same depressive state I was before, my life has stagnated once again, I've traded one set of issues for a completely different, less familiar set, and I don't have any real clear solution for any of those problems that are within reach. Don't get me wrong I'm at the very least not trying to drown myself once per week yet, but I don't think that should really be the baseline of an acceptable quality of life.

I have a job I've very quickly come to hate that's also kind of consumed my life up until very recently, where I've had enough time off to realize that I've made virtually no progress in the last year outside of merely having a job. I've lost a sizable number of friends, in part due to my coming out as trans, and partly due to just a longterm buildup of disillusionment with those around me that just finally reached a breaking point, and some of the few still left in my life I don't particularly want to keep in my life much longer either, and after going several years socially isolating myself, I don't remember how to make new friends, even though I have several avenues to very easily do so if I actually put forth the effort. I likely won't be able to make any progress transitioning for quite a long time, despite deciding now would be the best time to come out for some reason, I still live with my father, and while I've spent months searching for a place to move out to, the renting market is abysmal and most of my prior options for roommates are either no longer an option, or I'm not particularly comfortable living with them now, and despite having a job that provides pretty good insurance, I am still undiagnosed for a million different potential mental illnesses that I should really probably be medicated for because I'm both too stupid and too lazy to figure out how to switch off my parents' insurance onto my job's, and I'm too afraid of hospitals after going probably close to 10 years without going to any doctor, outside of 1 visit to the optometrist 2 years ago after my old glasses finally broke. And I don't even really have much of a reason to change insurance plans right now when with each passing week I'm more heavily considering just quitting my current job, even though I realistically don't have any better options in my area.

So yea anyways life blows I miss my old terrorist friends (dear Tumblr mods; they were not real terrorists, they were merely g*y people on the internet, please do not nuke me thank you). In good news tho someone posted a map of informed consent clinics throughout the US so now I know there's one like 2 hours away from me, and while I'm still probably too afraid to actually go inside one, and also doubt I'd be able to literally just walk in and say "1 girl medicine plz :3" with any success at all, still good to know. I am so on the verge of wasting all of my savings on HRT without the assistance of insurance all for the bit >:). Also started doing 3D modelling again so like that's fun, didn't do that for a long time but now I have both the time and motivation and now I'm gonna make 5 million Veemon models and nothing else I hope Blender Guru dies fuck that guy.

Why is it so fucking big???

#big vent #super mario dat hoe super mario dat hoe hit the yoshi on em #gamers i think i still have depression; big surprise getting a job didn't solve it big sadge #going back to mmos is like the clearest sign of a problem imaginable; i'm mere weeks away from playing Digimon Masters Online again #Digimon Masters Online #I'm gonna start putting the DMO tag on all of my vent posts; it's relevant because it's the origin point of all problems in life #ok wtf the most recent update increased mercenary slots by 1 (party size) this is huge I have to check this out #family ride home from the hu tao rap #i can't keep doing this i told myself i wouldn't put 500 unrelated tags on this one but they're so fun to do #le sigh gunvolt rhythm game dlc pack 1 doesn't have a zip to the moon life still sucks

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jerpears · 7 months

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The Shadows Behind the Spotlight: Pepe Polanco's Untold Mystery

By "Scoop" Sammy Fitzgerald

Baseball has its share of tales wrapped in enigma. However, the saga of Pepe Polanco's abrupt exit stands unparalleled, until today. For today, I peel back the layers of whispers, half-truths, and shadows.

Unraveling the Enigma

The story began in the Dominican Republic. Jeanmar Cruz, the major league ace, identified Polanco's talent during a baseball camp. Polanco, though 23, showcased a prodigious talent. The transition to Jeanmar's London Hicks seemed preordained.

But when Polanco was traded to the Huntington Hornets for Nelson Watson, the labyrinth's first dark turn emerged.

The Hornets' Hidden Agenda

The decision to bury Polanco in Low A made little sense on the surface. Why squander such talent? Delving deeper, I uncovered a series of clandestine meetings between the Hornets' management and some offshore betting syndicates. The pattern became clear: Keep Polanco underutilized, skew the odds, and rake in profits.

An insider, demanding anonymity, revealed, "Polanco's talent was both his gift and curse. The syndicate saw an opportunity to capitalize on suppressed potential."

Watson's Reluctant Revelation

In an off-the-record late-night rendezvous, Watson confessed, "I was warned about the Hornets. Told they played games beyond the field. But even I couldn't fathom the depth of their deception."

He alluded to subtle threats, veiled hints about ensuring players 'stayed in line'. The syndicate's claws ran deep.

The Dominoes Fall

Upon connecting these threads, Polanco's stifling in Low A, the stagnation of a talent like Watson, and the shadowy hand of illicit betting, a chilling picture emerged.

Diego Mendoza, Polanco's former Dominican teammate, said, "Pepe once mentioned an 'inescapable web' around him. I didn't understand then."

Carlos Rodriguez, with a wary glance, added, "Late-night calls, strange men at games. The pressure was mounting on Pepe."

The Final Straw

The breakthrough came from a surprising source: A retired umpire, deep in his cups, spilled the beans on an underground network where certain games' outcomes were, let's say, "influenced". The syndicate had tried recruiting him. They wanted to control games subtly, and Polanco, if playing at his peak, was an unpredictable variable they couldn't afford.

With this revelation, Polanco's premature retirement made a haunting sense. He was an obstacle to a sinister plot, a plot that grew bigger with each revelation. The subsequent sale of the Hornets wasn't mere coincidence. The owner, realizing the looming scandal, chose to cut and run.

The Silent Aftermath

Confronted with these findings, league officials remained tight-lipped. Behind the scenes, however, a storm was brewing. Several undisclosed investigations have been initiated. Players like Watson are now speaking out, and the nets are closing in on the shadowy figures manipulating the game's sanctity.

For Polanco, his untimely exit was an act of defiance, a refusal to be a pawn in a game of shadows. The tragedy isn't just the quashing of a promising career, but the insidious rot threatening the sport's very soul.

In the quest for truth amid the shadows, "Scoop" Sammy Fitzgerald

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returntosaturn271995 · 10 months

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Tuesday, June 20th: Growing Pains

When we were in the 7th grade, my friend Kate broke her ankle playing soccer. Everyone was thrilled. Not in a malicious way, it’s just that when you’re a kid, sprains and bruises have a certain cache to them. It was a badge of honor, a war wound for playing your heart out in intramural soccer. Plus you knew it would heal and everybody wanted to sign your cast.

A gaggle of us went over to Kate’s the afternoon and I remember her propped up on her living room couch with Degrassi on (the episode where Jimmy (AKA Drake) can’t get a hard-on). She was holding court but somewhat sour-faced about the whole thing. Her mom called from the kitchen, “Kate’s can’t sit still and hates missing soccer, so this injury is going to be a nightmare until it gets better.”

Sipping my Izze, I remember right then vividly wishing I could trade places with her on the couch. What wasn’t there to envy? I loved attention and Canadian teen drama. I also hated moving around and soccer at any level. Pre-pubescent and already mid-depression, there was an exhaustion to battle even when everyone else seemed to want to rollerblade all of the time.

15 years later I have a strained hamstring and all I want to do is being able to run and do yoga again. My joints haven’t been run down by collegiate sports, my abs are strong but feminine, and I’m making progress. For once I don’t want to have to rely on the fact that I’m naturally thin. It’s the mental health and the self-esteem that comes from wobbling on a mat or getting hit on while I jog that has slowly become something I should do, to something I have to do, to something I get to do and be.

An athletic person. With a really sore butt.

Just like 12-year-old Kate I want to move around. To keep going. I applied to 7 jobs because I still haven’t got an update from Nowadays, I combed through my standup last night and wrote about my mental health as a home, I unloaded the dishwasher while watching Love Island because I don’t just want to fucking sit there in a middle of a day this blue.

IN THE MIDDLE OF DAY THIS BLUE. I’VE BECOME MY FUCKING FATHER.

I got botox with nurse Brit, enjoyed a lavender latte, gassed up the BMW, laundry, cashed a check, and intend to cook something delicious tonight (TBD). The warm June air blew on my face as MGMT poured out the radio in the car.

My war injuries, of me against stagnation, are oddly still a point of pride.

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nadzhosny2 · 1 year

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Why being perfect is a load of rubbish

Perfect. The most destructive word in the English language. Everyone wants to achieve it, to have it, to BE it and when that doesn’t happen, disappointment, shame and despair start to take over. Eroding at our self-esteem little by little until we become something we don’t even recognise. I loathe perfection with every fibre of my being. Not hate, LOATHE.

Its mere definition pisses me off, “being completely free of fault or defect, having no mistake or flaw.” I had fallen prey to the disease of wanting to be perfect when I was younger. I wanted to be the perfect daughter, the perfect sister, the perfect friend, the perfect girlfriend, the perfect student. I wanted to have the perfect body, the perfect hair, the perfect personality. I thought if I was perfect in everything, I would be happy and everyone would love me. But it’s a very cruel trick.

We have been made to believe that we can never be truly happy unless everything in our life is perfect; the perfect job, perfect house, perfect spouse, perfect car, perfect clothes, perfect faces. It took me several years and several failed attempts at perfection to realise how ridiculous this was. The idea that something or someone with flaws and faults was unworthy. I have only two words for this: FUCK THAT. {If there are any children reading this, kindly quote this article when your mum asks you where you learnt to swear. Thanks. ;)}

Having faults and flaws means being different, unique. A breath of fresh air in a stifling room where there is no change or imagination. Why be perfect and be stuck in stagnation? Always remaining the same, never moving forward or trying to do or be something else. Never trying to be better than we were before, not for others but for ourselves, to see what else we’re capable of and be good at, just for the sake of it. Never trying new things and new experiences. Being perfect means being frozen and I can’t think of anything worse. This is the reason for my loathing.

Trying to be perfect forces us to take on too much, to be impatient, angry, hostile and competitive. News flash people, human beings were never meant to be perfect! If we were, we wouldn’t be able to make mistakes and if we weren’t able to make mistakes, we wouldn’t be able to change and if we can’t change, we are not living.

Do you even want a “perfect” body or face? Honestly, I don’t think that putting in the effort for abs is worth it for me. I would rather play Assassin’s Creed and binge-watch Supernatural.

A perfect face? Every blemish, freckle and spot on your face is a mark that sets you apart from everyone else, something that is so uniquely you and you want to trade it for a face that is plain? For those with acne struggles, that is completely understandable and you are excused. Women used to draw spots on their faces in the 18th century because it was considered the height of beauty. Marilyn Monroe and Cindy Crawford inspired the same.

Family life: Do you care about one another? Make each other laugh, give support whenever needed? Then you checked off the main points. If not, that’s what you should be trying to fix.

Relationship: Relationships can’t be perfect if they are to last longer than 6 months and if you think yours is, then you are lying to yourself and to your partner. Let’s be honest with each other, darling. If Pique can cheat on FREAKING SHAKIRA, there is no such thing as perfect.

Social life: You might be serious about being a great friend/ person in general, but no one is immune from social ups and downs including loneliness, social burnout, FOMO, friendship drama, etc. The mistakes we make are what help guide us to being those great friends and people.

Character: There may be some times when you have displayed tremendous courage, kindness, absolutely non-selfish service and that’s great. Well done you, continue doing so. On the other hand, there will be times when you will stumble; act selfishly, say or do the wrong thing but that doesn’t make you a terrible human being. Life isn’t all sunshine, rainbows and skittles.

Now, if you’re counting, that’s every part of a person’s life and it doesn’t have to be perfect for it to be happy. The only things in my life that I want to be perfect are my bed and internet connection, screw everything else.

#perfection #perfectly imperfect #we all deserve happiness #life advice #self love #mental health #perfection is a lie #you are strong #you are important #you are welcome

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xtruss · 1 year

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Britain Is Much Worse Off Than It Understands

Things weren’t nearly this bad in the 1970s—but the country’s leaders haven't grasped that yet.

— By Simon Tilford, The Director of the Oracle Partnership | Argument | An Expert's Point of View on a Current Event | Foreign Policy | February 03, 2023

Rishi Sunak reacts as he leaves 11 Downing Street, in London, on March 23, 2022. Tolga Akmen/AFP via Getty Images

By Any Criteria, The United Kingdom faces a serious economic and social crisis, one that will deepen without big shifts in policy. Yet there is little sense of this crisis among the country’s elite, not least its politicians.

The power of narratives helps explain this disconnect. The gap between the U.K.’s reality as portrayed by the dominant narrative of its economy’s performance and real life as experienced by its average citizen has widened to the breaking point. The resulting political distortions are now making the underlying problems even worse.

Narratives and the emotional impulses that drive them play an underappreciated role in our understanding of the way economies work and whether they are perceived to be performing well or not. Sometimes, there is real grounding to those narratives; other times, they are largely fictional constructs. This does not necessarily mean that those who believe them and propagate them are dishonest, only that their personal experience may not be representative of the economy as a whole.

The 1970s in the U.K. are widely portrayed as a decade of economic stagnation and political strife, which only came to an end with a paradigm shift in economic policymaking at the end of the decade. According to the dominant narrative, this opened the way for a successful drive to curb the power of special interest groups, such as organized labor, sound macroeconomic policies, and much improved economic performance. The 1970s are seen as a failed decade and the 1980s as one of renaissance—the benefits of which last until today.

Although there is no doubting the scale of the economic challenges faced by the United Kingdom in the 1970s, not least those brought on by the oil crisis and very confrontational labor relations, popular perceptions of the 1970s and 1980s draw more on fictional creations than reality.

Across developed economies, the 1970s was not a worse decade than the 1980s in terms of growth, productivity, and living standards. Even in the U.K., which was forced to borrow money from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in 1976, growth rates stacked up better in the 1970s than the 1980s, averaging 3.38 percent per year against 3.0 percent. The country ran a substantial trade deficit at the height of the so-called Barber Boom—named after the Conservative then-Chancellor Anthony Barber—but then surpluses for much of the rest of the decade. By contrast, the U.K. was running record trade deficits of almost 5 percent of GDP by 1989.

Yet British politicians, and not just Conservative ones, still talk about the risk of a return to the 1970s, as if that decade was the nadir of U.K. economic performance. There is still a tendency to raise the specter of a return to 1970s as a warning. There is little sense that the current crisis is comparable with the 1970s, let alone worse. On the face of it, this is odd.

Although the U.K. was a relative growth laggard during the 1970s, this was nothing in comparison to today’s current collapse in living standards. Average U.K. real wages are now lower than 18 years ago, which is unprecedented in the country’s peacetime economic history.

On most measures, the country has the most limited welfare state of any developed country, including the United States, with the result being that working households are shouldering more risk than their peers and—as the Resolution Foundation recently found—today’s young Britons face paying far more in tax than they will ever receive back in terms of pensions and other benefits. The reverse is true of older cohorts.

There is also an unprecedented housing crisis, with young people increasingly excluded from home ownership if they cannot access family wealth. Public services are under unprecedented pressure, especially health care. Excess deaths have risen while Britain is the only country in Europe suffering from declining life expectancy.

The U.K. is also running a large, structural trade deficit. Were its economy growing rapidly, driven by high rates of capital investment, this would be less of a concern. However, it is not. Britain faces a deepening economic growth crisis, not least because business investment is running at the lowest level in the G-7. The trade deficit matters: The trajectory is unsustainable, implying as it does a rapid increase in liabilities to the rest of the world.

If the U.K.’s economic performance is so poor, why are comparisons with the 1970s considered outlandish? Narratives are often crafted by those who have profited from the changes, especially if those winners are powerful people in politics and media. The policy shifts in the late 1970s and early 1980s benefited particular groups within society—the better off, primarily—leading to a steep rise in inequality. The United Kingdom remains one of the most unequal developed countries to this day, according to the Equality Trust.

In a very unequal society, people with the influence to sustain narratives tend to be insulated from what is happening to most of the population. Many individuals genuinely think the country’s economic situation is better than it is because their personal circumstances are strong. They are among the higher earners and have wealth to cushion themselves against risk. In the U.K., they also tend to have generous private pensions and usually bought their houses before prices rose dramatically relative to earnings.

Second, there is an abiding belief that the U.K. must be performing well because it is run how an economy should be run according to the dominant narrative—that is, with a small state, limited welfare benefits to provide the right incentives, and relatively low taxes on high incomes and wealth to encourage risk-taking and hence economic growth. This encourages denial about the scale of the country’s underperformance or a tendency to scapegoat others for it—be it the poor for being lazy or immigrants for consuming public services and scarce housing.

In reality, there is plenty of evidence—not least from the IMF—that high levels of inequality are bad for economic growth, that a bare bones welfare state makes it hard for people to take risks and hence holds back social mobility and productivity growth, and that the underfunding of public goods—in particular health care, education, and infrastructure—hurts economic growth potential. There is certainly no correlation between the size of a country’s state and its economic performance. However, a narrative can be seductive if it legitimizes a system people personally benefit from.

The third reason is that the U.K.’s political class is loath to admit the scale of the problem because to do so would mean calling into question Brexit, which neither of the main political parties is willing to do—the Conservative Party because many of its politicians and a majority of its voters continue to believe in Brexit and the Labour Party because it fears losing the votes of Brexit supporters in close fought parliamentary seats in England’s midlands and north. This leads the country’s politicians to downplay the scale of the problems and ignore policies—such as rejoining the European Union’s single market—that could alleviate them.

The bigger the gap between the dominant narrative and reality experienced by most people, the greater the political risk. A government needs to be honest about the challenges a country faces and put in place long-term strategies to address them. Voters do not expect miracles, but they need to feel confident that things are moving in the right direction. If not, the way is open for social unrest, a loss of respect for political institutions, and growing ungovernability.

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