#does tumblr still suppress posts with links in it i don't remember

[hashtag-art]

Hey, local NJ/NY folks!! I’ll be tabling at the Jersey Art Book Fair this weekend, 1/28-29, at table 52! If you’re in the area, drop by Jersey City and check it out. I’m super hype to finally do a hometown show!

For tickets and more deets, check out the website at jerseyartbookfair (dot) org!

[sulettaofficial]

Thinking back on the Cradle Planet mini web novel, specifically the scene where Aerial is begging Suletta to bail TF outta going to school, and then Suletta utters The Phrase™, and Aerial is suddenly on board with the idea. I can't help but think, just how deep does the brainwashing go?

Hey, first of all, you're my first ask anon! Congrats! <3

Second of all, this turned into a much longer post than I expected and I'm so sorry

TL;DR I think she's conditioned in a way where "you move forward, you gain two." makes her susceptible to doing what someone says after hearing it.

Link to the novel for anyone who hasn't read it yet. Here.

Honestly the novel is kind of wild in a sense. If I'm doing my math right (since I'm on Firefox - thanks Tumblr - it doesn't say "x out of y" when you ctrl + f) there's like four instances of "gain two", which is a lot more than any episode, I think. (It's usually like only one usage of it in an episode, right?? Maybe two at most???)

It just kinda feels like the author is really trying to signify the importance of The Phrase™. Also, the use of words like "spell" and "mom's words are powerful" are...significant, imo. I'm being conspiratorial, I know.

RE that scene, Aerial responds with

>I'm surprised. >Suletta says she isn't going to run.

Aerial has been Suletta's safe space this whole time on Mercury. You'd think that Aerial would know what Suletta's reaction to school would be, and given Suletta's behavior in the anime and the web novel, it sounds more accurate for her to bail. Suletta even acknowledges this to some extent!!

S: "I'm scared. Mercury is all I know, and Mom said she won't be able to go with me." A: You don't have to be Mom's tool. You don't have to take on someone else's curse. S: "Should I decline? If I go, I mustn't fail. Enrollment costs money, and I don't want to embarrass her. What should I do?"

AND THEN SHE SAYS THE PHRASE. And Aerial's response? Literally just

>!

But what makes it even better is that apparently Suletta just. Didn't hear Aerial??

>A: She can't have heard my voice, but Suletta speaks as if responding to me. >S: "If you run, gain one…"

Why would Suletta not hear Aerial? She always does! Except when she says this phrase.

And Prospera has been using this phrase since she was five, just to get her to get an "injection" (I'm assuming a vaccine, since we haven't really had any foreshadowing with Elan about Enhanced People needing anything like an immune-suppressant or anything). So clearly she's been conditioned since a very young age.

Considering the Elan's behaviors (if I remember correctly, Elan 4 was the first Elan that she encountered?), it doesn't sound like they have any Sleeper Phrase. It's more so that they're coerced with promises than psychological conditioning.

And to go back to the anime, when she's talking with her mom her reactions - before the phrase - are this

She's fidgety and horrified.

Prospera says The Phrase

I don't have it as a gif, but then her eyes move back and forth

And then while shaking, she says this

Back to the novel, with the school scene.

Aerial tries to reassure her, Suletta is unsure, then she says the phrase to herself and we get this line

>"You know what, Aerial? If we move forward, we'll gain lots of things--not just two. I'll study, of course, make friends, find mentors, and maybe go on dates!"

It sounds like every time The Phrase is used, someone - her mom, herself - needs to sort of talk her into it still. It seems like The Phrase instills some sense of confidence in her, sure. But it also makes her more susceptible to what someone says.

And hey, am I remembering this correctly? Isn't there a scene in one of the episodes where someone - I feel like it was Miorine? - says "You move forward, you gain two, right?" and then Suletta Does A Thing??

I think she's conditioned to be more confident in herself with whatever someone says after saying "If you run you gain one, if you move forward you gain two." She's not quite like a Cyber Newtype where you have Four out there going "THE ZETA GUNDAM IS MY ENEMY!" It's more subtle than that. She needs someone (apparently even herself) to talk her into doing something. And I'm guessing that she can talk herself into things because of all the times her mom says "You move forward, you gain two." and then goes on to be like "Suletta, you'll be really cool and people will like you and this is important and I love you and you're really really great and stuff." that it's just become a normal response to her to just do the thing. So she says "you move forward, you gain two." and then just naturally falls into "Okay, now here's the part where I tell myself to do the thing."

[jeremichal-archive]

I don't know where to go for Jeremichael anymore help. It's been dead for 10000000000 years :( But lately it's seemed more potent in videos and I hope so much people will be inspired. It's just such a great ship but this apparent rarepair hell is trying to be the end. The tumblr tag and ao3 category have been empty and the actual people have been making me want more of the ship so much more. One day this pair will exist in this fandom again again!

Oh nonnie, I know exactly how you feel. Jeremichael has become even more of a rare pair than it originally was and it’s Hell™️. I wish I could link you to some recent fics, but the latest posted are from January and I have a feeling you’ve already read them too.The best thing I can tell you is that jeremichael lives on in my heart and I still have like 10 WIPs that i’m currently writing, so to hold you over until I finish one, here’s a little teaser.—Michael comes in with the storm, wild and chaotic, and if he were a superstitious man—like a good pirate should be—Jeremy would remember that Poseidon’s sense of humour is wry at best.But of course, he doesn’t.There’s a blade between the boy’s teeth, long and sharp, as deft fingers make quick work of the ladder. He takes the rungs by two at a time until he reaches the top, collapsing onto the deck with waterlogged breaths. There’s no part of him that isn’t trembling, and Jeremy’s not sure if it’s because of the rain—an unforgiving downpour that has Jeremy frozen from the inside out—or if it’s the adrenaline that’s surely coursing through his veins.He doesn’t move for the longest time, lying there under the open sky, just catching his breath, and it takes Jeremy a moment to jump into action. A stowaway, even one who looks like he’s won his fair share of fights, would be tossed overboard without a second's hesitation on their ship. Jeremy doesn’t know what wills him forward, but the idea of leaving the boy for his captain to find later turns his stomach, and so he’s up and crossing the deck within seconds.The sound of the rain suppresses his footsteps, the storm giving Jeremy the chance to get close enough to the stowaway without getting sliced up. He skids to a stop beside the lad, wet hands grasping at bare biceps and then suddenly there’s a dagger at his throat.“Don’t you dare touch me,” he growls, teeth bared and nostrils flared. When Jeremy doesn’t let go, he presses the blade harder against his throat, “I won’t tell ya twice.”“Ye ain’t be in the position to be making demands. If ye wish to keep yer head, lying out here ain’t too smart,” Jeremy hisses, tossing a glance behind him and towards the ladder. The crew will be back soon, alcohol in their bloodstream and a mean streak a mile wide. If they catch wind of the stowaway, and that Jeremy helped him, they’ll both be dead before morning.He looks back at the boy. “Ye be picking the wrong ship to climb aboard, lad. So get below deck, or fuck off,” he sneers, pushing them both to their feet. From down the dock, a loud guffaw of laugher rings out and Jeremy instinctively drops his gaze to his feet. There’s no time left for the lad to back out now, not when Jeremy’s grabbing him by the torn collar of his shirt and dragging him along behind him.He does his best not to slip, and ignoring the boy’s protests, he drags him down below deck, past the crew quarters and into the hold, just as thudding footsteps sound from above them.“Where ye be, boy” comes the call, and Jeremy tosses the boy one last look before bounding up towards the upper deck, fear thrumming through his veins.