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vistisenmelendez75 · 1 year

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Rush Pinball

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rosebloodcat · 2 years

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Poor I had an idea while thinking of the time trav l hopscotch for an alternative way the hopscotchera met younger Ingo. Basically Elsa is introducing them to the single most important form of transportation they need to be aware of when it comes to a big city like Nimabasa, the subway! Naturally she explains that she has a couple of really dorky conductor friends so they are expecting to see someone when they walked down the stairs and into the main entrance of the Subway, they jsut expect those someone’s to be a pair of twins in a very familiar uniform.

They’re waiting for them in the crowd next to a brass band that playing, Emmet is dancing to the music while Ingo is nodding along and tapping his foot. Bother Electross and Chandelure are out and swaying alongside Emmet when Elesa comes jogging up to them with the hopscotchers. Irida and Akari let out gasps the moment they see him, one of his rare smiles on his face as he watches his brother dancing.

“Ingo! Emmet!! Hiya, guys, you seem to being Electabuzzing today, is that an actual smile Ingo!?” Elesa grins as the boys turn to her, Emmet quickly patting down his coat to regain some measure of professionalism when he notices her guests.

“Hi Elesa! I am verrry excited, it’s really lovely today with a new band and…” Emmet begins a sIngo is busy recalling their Pokémon before suddenly freezing, “…was that a pun?”

Elesa just grins while Ingo lets out a snort, having caught onto the pun himself. Pokémon now recalled, he steps up the introduce himself,

“I’m Ingo and this is Emmet, we’re the Subway Masters. Welcome to Gear Station, Elesa has told us a lot about you.”

The group share a small glance with each other before awkwardly reintroducing themselves to their friend. Theo whole white Emmet is groaning as Elesa continually throws out more and more bad puns until…

“Come now, Emmet. We’re here to help conduct these folk to the correct route so they may arrive at their destination safely, no need to be Gloomy about it.”

Emmet nods along and was about to open his mouth to agree when his brothers words registered,

“UGH! BETRAYED BY MY OWN FLESH AND BLOOD!! Elesa you have contaminated my brother with your horrible sense of humor!!”

Both Elesa and Ingo bust out laughing while Irida hides a smile behind her hand while Akari giggles and Adaman and Laventon are failing to hide their snickering. It seems the Ingo of this era is a bit more outgoing than they expected, but still quite a pleasant fellow who apparently likes to tease his younger twin. And apparently had a terrible sense of humor and a love of puns to go with it!

Love me some good, bad puns. And it seems the same can be said for Ingo and Elesa.

#time travel hopscotch #ingo #elesa #emmet #akari #irida #adaman #laventon #rosie answers

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joontier · 3 years

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Subliminal in Scrubs | V1; report ix

pairings: dr. jeon jungkook x female reader

chapter rating: NC-17 | genre: doctors! au; humor, romance

warnings: swearing

word count: 1.8k

g/n: ((unedited skfslkdf)) also,,, i will be releasing Parallel Palpitations very soon [which features this Jimin hehehehe stay tuned for that] PLUS, im very excited to release the report x AHHHHHH send me your thoughts pleaseee

[taglist]: @nottodayjjk @ditttiii @zeharilisharaban @btsbunny07 @turquoiseandplaidinautumn @aamxxrii @codeinebelle @btsmakesmehappy

Subliminal in Scrubs (the records) | navi. | m.list

You open your new group chat first thing in the morning, wanting to check on Soomin and Jimin. Just yesterday, the two had informed you of their concerns separately, both worried over the same thing. Soomin’s mother wanted to hold a small congratulatory celebration for her daughter’s KMLE results, and her subsequent acceptance at Woocheon, so there was going to be a party exclusively for all tenants of the building at the restaurant just next to the cafe.

The two hadn’t worked out their budding acquaintance, as you had practically forced them to greet each other the last time you were at the cafe, so you thought this might be a great way to have them start over their tricky relationship.

As you’ve expected, both of them had even tried to convince you to come, in the hopes that a mutual friend could help diminish the awkward air around them. You’ve declined each of them politely, not wanting to intrude on their little get-together. Besides, (just like you hadn’t forgotten to mention to them), this was the perfect opportunity to get rid of this wall hindering their friendship (to which, both of them had also quite strongly disagreed upon).

A mere three hours after their outpour of sentiments, as you’re rewatching episodes of Dr. Romantic with Chohee, the pair drunkenly call you, requesting a video chat. You’re pretty sure not one of them is aware of what’s happening, especially with Jimin refilling his shot glass every thirty seconds; Soomin speaking gibberish, and Chohee literally teasing them through the screen of your laptop and yet none of them seem to mind a damn thing about it.

So, with hopes that each of them arrived home safely last night, you type in your text message.

‘What is this place, really?’ you mutter to yourself, slightly regretting your decision to take the subway instead of a cab. You only ride taxis for places you’re not familiar with (such is the case with today) but you didn’t want to spend twice as much solely for transportation so you took the train to the building.

Now you feel lost. You’ve just gone to the main entrance of the building, but there was scaffolding barring the entrance, and now you’re struggling to look for Entrance B with the singular tarpaulin saying “Please use Entrance B” and a faded arrow below pointing to the left. After a grueling ten minutes of asking people for directions and walking all over the place, you finally find Entrance B and hurry on your way inside.

There’s already a small crowd forming where the directions for the processing of your license is posted, and you can’t seemingly read the directions all the way down with people clearly taller than you blocking the way.

“What’s the matter? Can’t see the directions, smally?”

Your instant recognition of his voice makes you hang your head low. You figure there’s no way you can get rid of this guy anytime soon.

“Hello, Jungkook.”

Why is it that he’s always there wherever you are? He couldn’t be stalking me, could he?

Jungkook almost spits his water on the girl in front of him. Oh, so he heard your thoughts then. “Yeah, you wish, woman. I wouldn’t do that even if you had one million strapped to your neck.” You roll your eyes at him.

“Wasn’t asking for any conditions for you to do that, but thanks for letting me know your thoughts.”

“Awh, you mad, babe?” Shaking your head at him, you try to continue peering over everyone’s shoulder to check the post. “If it makes you feel any better, I would for two million though.”

You were just about to retaliate with a smart comment, but you see a girl walking towards Jungkook while twirling her hair with her newly manicured fingers. “Jungkook-oppa, you’re here!” she says, hooking her arm on his elbow.

Ah yes, it’s the same brat that kept defending Jungkook’s ass during the KMLE exam. “Why don’t you come with us? My mom works here,” her voice gets down to a whisper, but loud enough for you to hear. “If you come with us, you wouldn’t have to fall in line, then maybe we could have lunch together.

Jungkook removes her hand from his, “No thank you, I’ll just wait here.”

“With her?”

The audacity of this bitch.

“Yes, with her.” Jungkook says, not skipping a beat. “She’s...better company.” Oof, that’s gotta hurt.

You try not to show much of your currently soaring pride on your face, but you can’t help but clear your throat as a terrible disguise for a snort. The girl becomes silent after that, with most of her friends trying to control their facial expressions after Jungkook’s reply.

“Fine then, your loss,” she says with a flip of her hair, then makes her exit.

You're unsure what to do now as the girl has already left, and you’re also not sure if you’re entirely happy about being left with Jungkook now. “Why didn’t you go with her? Could’ve saved you a lot of time considering the people here.”

Jungkook clenches his jaw, as if in thought. “I don’t like cheating. I believe that there’s a different value in the reward that comes with something you worked hard for.”

You’re surprised. You really hadn’t expected this kind of quote, coming out of Jungkook out of all people, but you find yourself nodding as he speaks, quite impressed that you share the same principles.

As the crowd starts to disperse, you and Jungkook finally get your turns to take a look at the poster. “Is it often?”

“What is?”

You point a thumb backwards towards where the girl had gone to, “Having girls throw themselves at you all the time?”

“Oh that,” Jungkook chuckles, then gives you a lopsided smirk, “Yeah, that. Hadn’t realized being this hot was so tiring.” Squinting your eyes at him, it then again dawns on you that you shouldn’t even have asked him that sort of question at all.

“You know,” he says, nudging your shoulder with his, “I’m quite jealous of you really,” your brows crease together. This can’t be good. “At least you don’t experience all of that, cause you know…” he says, gesticulating his hands over his face.

He did not just insinuate that you were not...attractive at all. Huh. This bastard can wait for his license alone then.

“Goodbye, Jungkook.”

“Hang on! ________, wait! I was just messing with you,” Jungkook laughs, running after you.

The cashier is already scanning the last items on your grocery list by the time Jimin and Soomin had texted you that they were done with their licenses, and you three had agreed on meeting up by the mall’s concierge. It doesn’t take long before you all decide on having Italian for dinner, after seeing the restaurant nearest to where the concierge was.

“Wait, it took you guys only half an hour?” you exclaim, recalling how you had to endure at least more than an hour with Jungkook as you waited for your licenses to finish. Thankfully though, the latter had other errands to run so you two parted ways as soon as you got your IDs.

Jimin, always the gentleman, offers to get your group the utensils as well as a few condiments and spices you might need with your meals. “Soomin-ssi, do you know anybody else who’s going to Woocheon too?” he says, setting the silverware atop the napkins.

Soomin thanks Jimin for the thoughtful gesture, sending a small smile his way. You squeal inwardly, wanting to know what happened last night for them to interact like this. “Um, also, I’m not so sure about the others who will be attending Woocheon too...I only got a glimpse of the list, sorry.”

“Ah, no worries about that. So, how was the dinner party last night?”

The two glance at each other, seemingly communicating with their eyes. Oookay, what’s going on between these two? What exactly happened last night? If they wanted to be alone, they could’ve just said so…

“It was fun,” Jimin initiates, plastering what seems to be a painfully wide grin on his face. Soomin nods along with him as she adds more, “Honestly, I don’t remember much about last night, but I do recall Jimin calling me ‘sajangnim’ the whole night. And I told him to not call me that, but Jimin here is a stubborn man.”

“Yeah, you complained about that too last night,” you laugh, cutting your garlic bread into pieces. “Wait, what?” Jimin squints his eyes at you, “Were you there last night? How did you....”

“I’m guessing you both don’t remember calling me last night too, didn’t you?”

“We did?!” they say in unison, making your eyes go wide. “Did I do something stupid?” “Please tell me I didn’t say something I shouldn’t have?”

“Hmm, well, it was quite the conversation last night,” you tease them, wanting to see how far this can go, “plus Chohee was there too so I have another key witness.”

“What?” Jimin squeaks, lips pressing into a thin line, “what’s the key witness for?”

“That, my friend, is up to you to remember and figure out.” You give each of them a wink, before turning your attention back to your pasta.

Transferring all your groceries to one hand, you fish your keys from your purse, shaking it lightly to hear its jingle as you blindly course your fingers through your bag. As the elevator doors open, you see your neighbor down the end of the hall, trailing after a man.

Ayoung hears the elevator bell ding and turns to your direction. She excitedly points her thumb to her back, mouthing ‘new tenant’ to you. She keys in her code and lets the guy in first. The moment he’s inside, she leans by the doorframe and whispers how hot the guy actually was and how much of a lucky neighbor you were going to be.

You shake your head at her, leaving Ayoung to entertain her guest. Of course, not forgetting to pray that she manages to score you a hot man next door.

#jungkook x reader #btswritingcafe #bangtanarmynet #btsghostie #jeon jungkook #bts aus #bts fic #jeon jungkook x reader #jungkook fluff

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dollarstoreartsupplies · 2 years

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YOU ASKED FOR GAL THOUGHT SO HERE THEY ARE !!!! you were talking ab new yorker eddie a bit ago and so here's something based on that. concept: post-derry, richie goes to stay w eddie in ny for a while and they go see the rockette christmas spectacular together

HEY @kurtchies I REALLY DIDN'T THINK I WAS GOING TO SQUEEZE THIS IN BEFORE CHRISTMAS WAS OVER SO IS SURE HOPE YOU AREN'T IN A TIME ZONE AHEAD OF ME

Ao3 Link

(also for a person who live in the city the last time I saw the Rockettes I was six and for a MT major I'm awful at describing dancing, so my deepest apologies for ending the one shot prior to Rockettes, please know it is better this way and they really enjoyed the show)

(also also this was written in two hours please be nice to me,,,, as a Christmas present)

New York City and Eddie Kaspbrak are such direct and polar opposites it’s absurdly funny.

Like funnier than anything Richie has ever performed in her entire life even when she was writing her own sets in college funny. (Not that that’s much competition, in her opinion dog shit on the sidewalk is funnier than most of the things she’s ever performed, but that's neither here nor there.)

She wishes she could have seen little eighteen year old Eddie, all fired up on NYU dining hall food and absolutely no recollection of Derry, Maine, realizing just how abhorrent disgusting subway poles were.

As a kid she’d had her heart pretty set on California, the land of stars and movies and soul sucking heat and poverty and drugs- but she would have given that dream up to sleep on Eddie’s dorm room floor and watch the origins of Anti New York New Yorker Eddie form in real time. But that hadn’t fucking happened, becuase of course it hadn’t, because that would have been far too normal for their very fucked existence.

But maybe it's okay, she thinks, because now she gets to experience it while sleeping on the other side of Eddie’s king sized tempurpedic mattress in her brand new studio apartment, waiting for her to get back from her run along Central Park East to drag herself out of bed, because this is nice too.

And, well, it’s still really fucking funny. Because now she gets grumpy old person Eddie, who refuses to take public transport unless it's absolutely necessary but bitches every second she’s forced to drive in the city, and hates when people dodge in front of her car when the walk light isn’t on and then does it herself when she’s walking because she very distinctly refuses to look like a tourist.

Which is only partially why Richie is so desperate to look as much of a tourist as humanly possible.

Only partially, because most of it has to do with how stupid being a toruist actually is; when she drags Eddie across the city to get to the ferry that will take them to Liberty Island it’s not because she’s particularly desperate to meet Lady Liberty, it’s because when Eddie is teasing her over her dumb famous person anti paprazzi sunglasses and baseball cap or informing her of how the Hudson River is literally radioactive or pretending not to laugh at Richie’s jokes about sneaking an up close and personal peek under the Statue of Liberty’s skirt she’s distracted enough that she’s not thinking about her shitstorm of a divorce or job or recent PTSD from a space clown.

Richie’s always been told several times by friends with benefits or partners she didn’t realize she was the mistress of that she was an excellent distraction. Somehow it feels much less depressing to be an excellent distraction for Eddie Kaspbrak.

And, well, she likes spending time with Eddie. Sue her, but all day long walking tours mean she’s trapped with her all day.

(Trapped probably isn’t the right word, considering Eddie’s never once genuinely complained past their legally required banter about hanging out with her.

And was also the one who invited Richie to live in her apartment across the country and asked her out, but it’s not like Richie ever said she didn’t have her own shit to work through.)

She’s got a lot of free time after dropping her entire production team and disappearing off the face of the planet to plan tourist trap outings, and she’s gotten good at it too. If she never regains the urge to give comedy another shot she’s thinking of taking it up professionally. She’s mastered finding city trips that check all the best boxes, dragging grumpy ‘I hate New York’ Eddie all the way to Brooklyn, finding tours or specifically selected restaurants or stores she knows Eddie with like, forcing her to go a million places where both of them know without talking about it that they’ll have a solid guarantee that Myran would be on the opposite end of the city.

The only problem with Richie’s new career path is just that, well, New York City, specially with Eddie ‘Fuck The Subway’ Kaspbrak and a to-do list of every tourist trap ever listed on a ‘top ten things to do in NYC’ list, is a lot of walking.

And Richie’s body was fucked up before a clown dropped her several stories into solid concrete.

She’d been doing so much better, especially after moving in with Eddie who actually made her go to physical therapy and helped her with her stretches and was more than happy to hook her chin over her shoulder and rub warm hands coated in pain relief salve over her hip bones, but, admittedly, Eddie could only do so much for Richie’s own healthy disregard for her own boundaries.

She’d noticed her knee acting up, knew her brace was only doing so much for it when she was dragging Eddie up and down avenues, felt her back starting to seize up, but Richie just didn’t really care.

And then, because she didn’t care when it wasn’t a big deal, she could barely get out of bed for a week.

Eddie’s tried to make it better, her self-inflicted and Eddie-inforced bedrest, and she’s done her very best for sure, but Richie Tozier just isn’t a person who was made to be stationary.

Card games and FaceTimes with the Losers and movies only did so much when she knew that if she wasn’t all broken she may have finally convinced Eddie that ice skating at Rockefeller Center was required for a New York City Christmas not to be garbage or that they were supposed to take the Ferry to Staten Island because Richie had found a Christmas Themed cat cafe. And when Eddie wasn’t in there wasn’t anything keeping her from going on Twitter where and when she could get a play by play of how shit her career was going to be when she finally stopped avoiding it.

The trips hadn’t just been good for distracting Eddie.

It’s been five days and she thinks if her back doesn’t kill her she’ll go stir crazy first, this morning the pain shooting down her back had dulled out, and so her knee had decided had decided to pick up the slack and been wake her up early enough that Eddie hadn’t even been back from her run yet.

Her knee had calmed down considerably in the hour she spent staring at the blurry ceiling light, trying to find the energy to grab her glasses off her bedside table, which is something, at least.

Eddie hadn’t noticed she was awake when she came in, and Richie had honestly been too tired and achy to say much of anything, so she watched her, still blurry, tiptoe through their room for fresh clothes, and then, forty minutes later, she watches her tiptoe back in, hair damp and curly. Her hair has grown a little too long recently, and seeing her scraggly post-shower bangs hanging in her eyes is a better incentive to put on her glasses than she’s had all morning.

Instead she squeezes her eyes shut and pretends she’s still asleep.

The bed dips next to her (all according to plan), Eddie’s palm soft against her forehead as she brushes her hair back.

“G’morning.” She whispers, snapping her eyes open right before Eddie can kiss her forehead to wake her up.

“Dude.” Eddie gasps, like the wind has been sucker punched out of her.

“Sorry.” She snorts, unapologetically, starting to scoot up the headboard before Eddie stops her.

“Wait, let me help-”

“Stop being all worried.” Richie swats away her hands, sliding back down entirely and shoving her arms grumpily over her face.

“I’m not-”

“You so are-” She yanks her arms down, squinting into Eddie’s big, distinctly worried eyes.

“I was going to say I’m not stopping, fuck off.”

She leans over her, scooping her glasses off her bedside table and poking them up her nose, going clear as she presses her shower-warmed-hand to the back of her neck and rubbing gently up and down her neck, from the base of her skull to the top of her spine.

“How ya feeling today?” She asks, suddenly soft, and Richie wants to hate it, the concept of being coddled, but she can’t find it in herself to really care.

“Better. I don’t know. I walked to the bathroom by myself at two in the morning to take a piss like a fucking pro.” Eddie snorts and gives her a cursory round of applause against her thigh so she doesn’t need to move her hand off Richie’s neck.

“How’s your back?”

“God, I feel ancient every time you ask that.” She grumbles, and Eddie digs her fingers in a little, not enough to really hurt, just enough to squeeze.

“Can’t help that one, Grandma.”

“You’re older than me.” She whines, tilting her head in an absent attempt to bite at her wrist.

“By like five months, asshole.”

“Pot kettle!”

“Fuck off, stop avoiding the question.”

“It’s okay,” Eddie squints at her, skeptical, “No, really, it is. Achey as shit but my leg’s the only thing that really hurts today.”

“Well, that's something.” Eddie grumbles, thumb rubbing nervous circles into the crook of her neck, “Feel like you’re gonna get up anytime soon.”

“I am right now. Can’t you see me? Getting up?”

“Oh yeah, you’re doing fantastic, sweetheart.” Richie blows a raspberry at her, keeping her tongue through her teeth as she scoots herself into a far more cohesive sitting position, “Hey, come on, no rush if you’re actually not feeling well, I’m just joking-”

“Can’t let my bones atrophy like my brain, can I, Eds?” She teases, refusing to look down as she slaps around the bed spread in an attempt to grab her hand.

“That’s not what I meant when I said that and you know it, jackass, you’re still healing and there’s a big difference between making sure you don’t make it worse by keeping stationary and overworking yourself.”

“Yeah, I know. I’m still the comedian here, jackass, I’m joking,” She squeezes around her hand, tugging her a little closer, “And this, my love, counts as being all worried.”

“Which is why I said I wasn’t going to stop.” She drags Richie’s hand up to her lips, gentler than she’s pretending to be, and presses a kiss to her knuckles, “So, you’re really feeling better?”

“Sure. Never felt more like a person after the most exhilarating week of my life.”

“Come on, don’t be a baby,” Eddie snorts, pressing another kiss to her hand before dropping it, “If you feel up to a trip to the kitchen I can make breakfast.”

“Well, I was, but maybe I don’t want to now-” Eddie glares down at her and she grins right back up, biting her tongue through the side of her teeth.

“I am going to pour cereal in a bowl and make coffee out of a Keurig. Literally no one could fuck that up.”

“I’m not putting it past Miss Broke Our Toaster with an Eggo Waffle that came with instructions.” Eddie rolls her eyes so hard Richie can only make out the whites and crosses her arms, pushing herself off the bed and heading for the door.

“I guess someone wants unsweetened almond milk in their Cheerios.”

“You wouldn’t.” Richie throws a hand across her forehead as dramatically as possible.

“I would.” Eddie shoots back, just as dramatic.

“Nooo, come on, Eds, light of my life, Spaghetti my love, I was just kidding, please, take pity.”

She gets another all-whites eye roll but when she makes grabby hands toward her Eddie drags her up all the same.

“Are you really feeling better? Like, get out and do something better?” Eddie asks for the ninth time over the course of breakfast, nervously dragging her spoon back and forth through her milk slushed leftover cereal.

“Yes.” Richie leans across the table so quickly she almost upends her half-empty coffee cup in her excitement. Something in her back twinges and she has to swallow back the hiss before Eddie’s eyebrows can get any higher up on her forehead.

“That was so fucking fast I feel like you’re lying.”

“No, come on, I’m not.”

“I’m kidding.” She cracks half a smile and digs into the pocket of her sweatpants, sliding her phone face up across the table with enough force she shuffle-boards the salt shaker partway across the tabletop before toppling it over. Richie snorts, dragging her finger through the spilled salt pile before grabbing Eddie’s phone and unlocking it.

(The password is Richie’s birthday. Something Richie pretends she thinks is very fucking funny to cover up the fact that it makes her embarrassingly homosexual.)

“Holy shit, Eds, really?”

There's a confirmation email, sat starred in the middle of Eddie’s well organized ‘Non-Work, Non-Spam’ email waiting for her. Two absurdly red and green, snowflake themed online tickets to the Radio City Christmas Spectacular.

“Tonight at 8.” Eddie grins into the lip of her water glass like Richie can’t read it, and then, with a level of relatively desperate emphasis, “If you’re feeling up for it.”

“I absolutely fucking am.”

“I just thought, because you’re so bored, stuck sitting in the house, you could spend a couple hours sitting in the theatre? I got a row that has leg room just in case and-”

“It’s perfect.” She tilts her head onto her hand, pouting her lips forward, “Aw, Eds, are you willing to be a tourist for me.”

“Shut the fuck up, you’re ruining the moment, asshole.”

“You love me.” She sing-songs, tilting her head back and forth even though it makes something click at the base of her neck everytime she does it.

“Don’t give yourself that much credit, you- you’re just like…fucking phlegm.”

“I’m like phlegm?” She lets it fell her all the way back in her chair, arms crossed and eyebrows as high as they could get.

“I said what I said.” Eddie crosses her own arms and raises her own eyebrows. A battle of wills, then.

“What the actual fuck does that mean.” She attempts to keep a straight face, but she can’t, the laugh bursts through her almost violently.

“It means you’re annoying and get stuck in my throat no matter what I try to do and get rid of you.”

“Oh, I can get stuck in your throat, baby.” She rocks up from her seat, eyebrows wiggling the best she can.

“You know what,” Eddie reaches across the table to grab her phone, focusing anywhere but Richie which is a sure fire sign she’s about to lose to either her laughter or her fondness any second now, “I bet I could scalp the tickets-”

“Oh come on, admit it, you love me-” She locks her elbows to lean closer over the table, at the same time, like they were connected, her knee starts to burn, and then, buckles entirely, ”Fuck.”

“Are you okay?” Eddie rockets up, any semblance of the bit entirely demolished as she makes her way across the kitchen so fast the rug under Richie’s shins slide crooked.

“I’m fine, Eds.” She groans, planting her hands on the table and forcing herself up, she doesn’t get very far before Eddie jams her hands under her armpits, dragging her the rest of the way back into her chair.

“We really don’t need to go, I can try and shift our tickets-” Eddie’s hands worry over her shoulders, like she doesn’t know what to do or how to help now that she’s seated other than the certainty that she should be doing something. Richie leans against the back of her chair, pinning Eddie’s shaking hands against her own chest with her shoulder blades.

“Fuck you, dude, we’re going.”

“Richie.” Eddie admonishes, but it’s soft and filled with the type of fond amusement she’d been avoiding earlier for the sake of the bit, she’s not trying now.

“Eddie.” She tilts her head all the way back to look at Eddie’s pursed up little face from under her chin, “Come on,” she pries one of Eddie’s hands out and holds it against her chest, batting her eyes so hard she starts tearing up, “For your beloved phlegm?”

Eddie snorts and pokes her in the center of her forehead.

“Fine.”

They’re late, to Eddie’s absolute disgust and horror, despite being the one, in Richie’s opinion, who made them late.

Eddie denies it, of course, because she’s in denial, but Richie’s convinced her only real allergy is to public transportation. It’s either that or she’s in love with a maniac because driving by choice into the heart of Midtown a week before Christmas and then, even worse, having to find parking in a place, apparently, that Eddie ‘trusts’ in the heart of Midtown a week before Christmas is just straight up evil.

She makes Eddie buy her a little Rockette doll with a light up, spinny skirt to make up for her ordeal, and then Venmo's her the cost of it to be an asshole, so she’s off the hook for now. (Not that she really minded in the first place, there is a large part of her heart dedicated to absolutely feral road rage Edith Kaspbrak.)

She feels a little less like a shithead for sending Eddie the money for the toy after they find their seats, she hadn’t been lying about leg room. Richie’s performed Radio City, she barely had leg room on stage, she doesn’t even want to know how much their tickets cost.

“You know, I trained to be a Rockette for like two weeks.” She leans over to prop her chin onto Eddie’s shoulder as soon as they sit down, whispering under the overture they’d interrupted.

“Fuck off, no you didn’t.”

“I did so! When I was in college, I was just too tall.”

“So you super did not do that.”

“Damn,” She flops her head dramatically to her shoulder farthest from Eddie and false-sobs, “Just because I can’t make it up the stairs now she doesn’t believe in my past career as a Rockette. Abelist bitch.”

“I think you were designed by God specifically to kill me.” Eddie sighs, like an I love you. Richie snorts, squeezing her hand hard. The curtain isn’t even fully up before she’s bouncing in her seat like a little kid. For a second, when she glances away from the stage just long enough to shush her even though she hasn’t said anything, Richie feels like she’s eleven again, about to see some movie they aren’t really old enough for at the Aladdin. She almost expects Stan to come scooting down the aisle with popcorn she’ll refuse to share.

But then she blinks and she’s forty-almost-forty-one again, with Eddie’s hand warm in her own, and, in her personal and professional opinion, that’s so much better.

(And, well, Eddie will deny it until she dies, even when the Loser’s blow up her phone, teasing her relentlessly over the selfie Richie sends to their groupchat holding up her program, but sometimes being a tourist with Richie is a million times more fun than being a New Yorker.

So, in her personal and professional opinion, this is better too.)

#fem reddie #reddie #it one shot #fem richie tozier #fem Eddie Kaspbrak #chronic pain #tw Richie makes vaguely derogatory jokes about having chronic pain #Eddie simply loves richie so much

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she-who-fights-and-writes · 4 years

Note

May you give some tips on how to write about mid-nineteenth century and early twentieth century ?? Sorry for the inconvenience and thanks if there is an answer or not xd 😅 greetings and take good care :) :D

Okay, so I only really know about AMERICAN mid-nineteenth and early 20th century history, so I hope that’s what you mean!!

How to Write About The Mid-Nineteenth/ Early Twentieth Century America

This post will encompass 1850-1920 in America only. A lot of things happened during this period, so I’m going to try to outline it as best I can! This post is gonna be a long one, so I put all of the specifics under the cut:

Overview:

The Industrial Revolution hits. We begin this era with horse-drawn carriages and end with planes, tanks, and cars.

Expansion west, “Manifest Destiny”

The Civil War ends slavery in the United States

The Gilded Age marks an era of unbridled capitalism and robber barons, while the Progressive Era following it marks an age of activism and human rights.

13th Amendment in 1865 abolishes slavery, 14th and 15th Amendments in 1868 and 1870 gives Black people the right to vote, 19th Amendment in 1920 gives women the right to vote.

World War I marks a major advancement in technology and global affairs, sets the stage for the second world war that will come later.

The Roaring 20s provides a façade of success to precede the gigantic stock market crash of 1929.

I’ve copied and pasted a lot of this information directly from America’s Best History and added tidbits of my own as well!

1. The 1850s

Presidents:

Zachary Taylor (1849-1850)

Millard Fillmore (1850-1853)

Franklin Pierce (1853-1857)

James Buchanan (1857-1861)

Important Events:

- Peak point of tension between North and the South, primarily over which states will be admitted as free states or slave states.

- The Compromise of 1850 admits California as the 31st state, without slavery, and adds Utah and New Mexico as territories with no decision on the topic. The Fugitive Slave Law is strengthened under the Compromise, which also ended the slave trade in the District of Columbia.

-1854 - The Republican Party is founded, in opposition to the Kansas-Nebraska Act. (Note: This form of “Republican” is essentially modern-day Democrats. The parties switched platforms later.)

-The Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854 allows the issue of slavery to be decided by a vote of settlers. This established the territories of Kansas and Nebraska and would breed much of the rancor that culminated in the actions of the next years of "Bleeding Kansas."

2. The 1860s

Presidents:

James Buchanan (1857-1861)

Abraham Lincoln (1861-1865)

Andrew Johnson (1865-1869)

Ulysses S. Grant (1869-1877)

Important Events:

-1860- The Pony Express begins. Overland mail between Sacramento, California and St. Joseph's, Missouri is carried over the Oregon Trail for eighteen months by this series of riders on horseback, then rendered obsolete when the transcontinental telegraph is completed.

- 1860 - South Carolina is the first southern state to secede from the Union in response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President.

-The Homestead Act of 1862 is approved, granting family farms of 160 acres to settlers, many of which were carved from Indian territories. This promotes expansion West, and eventually led to the establishment of the state university systems.

- The Civil War 1861 – 1865

Overview: Union won due to their advanced railroad system and industrialization that provided them with clothing and other supplies. South is ransacked by General Sherman, brings about era of Reconstruction. Slavery is abolished, but former slaves are not immediately emancipated.

People to know:

Abe Lincoln (President of the Union)

Ulysses S. Grant (Union General, future President)

William Sherman (Union General)

Jefferson Davis (President of the Confederacy)

Robert E. Lee (Confederate General)

Stonewall Jackson (Confederate General)

Important Events/Battles:

Fort Sumter 1861- A fort in Charleston, South Carolina harbor is bombarded by Confederate forces after the U.S. Army commander failed to evacuate, thus triggering a declaration of war.

Battle of Bull Run 1861- First official battle in Manassas, Virginia. Confederates emerge victorious as picnicking (yes, you read that right. People were picnicking and using the battle as entertainment) onlookers watch on in horror; realization that this war won’t be resolved quickly or easily.

Emancipation Proclamation is issued by Abraham Lincoln on September 22, 1862 stated that all slaves in places of rebellion against the Federal Government would be free.

Battle of Shiloh 1862- Victory of Union over Confederacy. Led by Ulysses S. Grant.

Battle of Antietam 1862- Bloodiest day of the war in Sharpsburg, Maryland.

Gettysburg 1863- Considered the turning point of the war. The furthest Southern incursion into the North, where the Union beats back the attacking Confederate troops. A few weeks after the war, Lincoln issues the Gettysburg Address (“Four score and seven years ago…”).

The South Surrenders on April 2nd, 1865

- April 9th, 1865 - Abe Lincoln is assassinated at Ford Theatre by John Wilkes Booth. Andrew Johnson takes his place, and he does not keep up Reconstruction and withdrew all troops from the South so they could be left to their own devices. This is said to be the reason for segregation.

- 1866 -The KKK is formed to prevent Black people from voting. Things such as poll taxes, grandfather clauses, and literacy tests are implemented by states to also discourage Black people from voting as well.

- 1867 -Alaska is purchased from Russia for $7.2 million dollars, approximately two cents per acre, by signing the Treaty of Cession of Russian America to the United States.

- 1869- The final golden spike of the transcontinental railroad is driven into the ground, marking the junction of the Central Pacific and Union Pacific Railroads. This act, as much as any other, would signal the marked increase in the settlement of the west.

3. The 1870s

Presidents:

Ulysses S. Grant (1869-1877)

Rutherford B. Hayes (1877-1881)

Important Events:

-The Gilded Age begins. Characterized by gross materialism and blatant political corruption that gave rise to important novels of social and political criticism.

-1870 - Standard Oil Company is incorporated by John D. Rockefeller.

-1870 - The first African-American to be sworn into office in the United States Congress, Hiram Rhodes Revels, a Republican from Mississippi takes his place in the United States Senate.

- 1870 - The 15th Amendment is ratified. It gave the right to vote to Black Americans. Race would officially no longer be a ban to voting rights, though it continues to be an issue in Southern states.

- 1871 - The great fire of Chicago starts. The fire burned 1.2 million acres of land, destroyed 17,450 buildings, killed 250 people, and left 90,000 homeless.

- 1876 - The Battle of Little Big Horn occurs when Lt. Colonel George Custer and his 7th U.S. Cavalry engage the Oceti Sakowin and Cheyenne Indians on the bluffs above the Little Big Horn River. All 264 members of the 7th Cavalry and Custer perish in the battle, the most complete rout in American military history.

- 1877 - Crazy Horse surrenders to the United States Army in Nebraska. His people had been weakened by cold and hunger.

- 1878 - The first commercial telephone exchange is opened.

- 1878 - Thomas Edison patents the cylinder phonograph and the Edison Electric Company begins operation

4. The 1880s

Presidents:

James A. Garfield (1881-1881)

Chester A. Arthur (1881-1885)

Grover Cleveland (1885-1889)

Benjamin Harrison (1889-1893)

Important Events:

- 1881 - Thomas Edison and Alexander Graham Bell form the Oriental Telephone Company.

-1882 - The Standard Oil Company trust of John D. Rockefeller is formed when Rockefeller places all of his oil holdings inside it.

- 1883 - The Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act is passed by Congress, overhauling federal civil service and establishing the U.S. Civil Service agency.

- 1884 - The Federation of Organized Trades and Labor Unions in the U.S.A. call for an eight-hour workday.

- 1885 - The Statue of Liberty arrives for the first time in New York harbor.

- 1886 - The Haymarket riot and bombing occurs in Chicago three days after the start of a general strike in the United States that pushed for an eight-hour workday.

- 1887 - Congress passes the Interstate Commerce Act to regulate and control the monopolies of the railroad industry.

- 1888 - The prototype for the commercial phonograph is completed by Thomas A. Edison

- 1888 - The Washington Monument officially opens to the general public.

5. The 1890s

Presidents:

Benjamin Harrison (1889-1893)

Grover Cleveland (1893-1897)

William McKinley (1897-1901)

Important Events:

- The rise of Imperialism.

- 1890 - The Battle of Wounded Knee, South Dakota, occurs in the last major battle between United States troops and Native Americans. Hundreds of native men, women, and children are slain.

- 1892 - Ellis Island, in New York Harbor, opens as the main east coast immigration center, and would remain the initial debarkation point for European immigrants into the United States until its closure in 1954. More than 12 million immigrants would be processed on the island during those years.

- 1892- Nativist sentiments rise with the immigration of Southern and Eastern Europeans flooding into the country. Italian, Polish, Russian, and other immigrants face significant discrimination.

- 1895 - The first professional football game is played in Latrobe, Pennsylvania.

- 1896 - Plessy vs Ferguson decision by the Supreme Court states that racial segregation is approved under the "separate but equal" doctrine. This paves the way for Jim Crow laws in the South.

- 1896 - The first modern Olympic Games is held in Athens, Greece.

- 1896 - Gold is discovered near Dawson, Canada, setting up the Klondike Gold Rush

- 1897 - The era of the subway begins when the first underground public transportation in North America opens in Boston, Massachusetts.

-1897- The Progressive Era begins

- 1898 – The Spanish- American War begins. It lasts one year and ends in U.S. victory. It was triggered by United States battleship Maine exploding and sinking under unknown causes in Havana Harbor, Cuba, killing two hundred and sixteen seamen.

- 1898 - The United States annexes the independent republic of Hawaii.

- 1899 - The Open Door Policy with China is declared by Secretary of State John Hay

9. The 1900s

Presidents:

William McKinley (1897-1901)

Theodore Roosevelt (1901-1909)

William Howard Taft (1909-1913)

Important Events:

- 1901 - The American League of Major League Baseball is formed.

- 1902 - The first movie theatre in the United States opens in Los Angeles, California.

- 1902 - Cuba gains independence from the United States.

- 1903 - Inventors Wilbur and Orville Wright succeed in the first sustained and manned plane flight.

- 1906 - The Pure Food and Drug Act and the Meat Inspection Act is passed due to the efforts of “muckrakers” that worked to expose corruption. “The Jungle” by Upton Sinclair, which described the horrible conditions in the meatpacking industry, helped sponsor outrage that would get these laws passed.

- 1908 - The first passenger flight on a plane occurs when Wilbur Wright escorts Charles W. Furnas in the Wright Flyer III at Huffman Prairie Flying Field in Dayton, Ohio.

- 1908- The first production Model T is built at the Ford plant in Detroit, Michigan.

10. The 1910s

Presidents:

William Howard Taft (1909-1913)

Woodrow Wilson (1913-1921)

Important Events:

- 1911 - Standard Oil is declared a monopoly by the United States Supreme Court and ordered dissolved under the powers of the Sherman Antitrust Act.

- 1913 - The first moving assembly line is introduced and adopted for mass production by the Ford Motor Company, allowing automobile construction time to decrease by almost 10 hours per vehicle.

- 1915 – The first telephone conversation is conducted by Alexander Graham Bell and Thomas A. Watson between New York and San Francisco.

- 1915 - The British ship Lusitania is sunk by a German U-boat submarine, causing 128 American passengers to be lost. Germany, although it warned of the pending crises to passengers, issued an apology to the United States and promised payments.

- 1918 - The influenza epidemic Spanish flu spans the globe, killing over twenty million worldwide and five hundred and forty-eight thousand people in the United States.

- World War I 1917-1918

Overview: After three years spent remaining neutral, the United States joins World War I. The U.S. made its major contributions in terms of supplies, raw material, and money, and its joining into the war helped to turn the tides against the Germans and Ottomans.

People to know:

Woodrow Wilson (President)

John J. Pershing (General)

Important Events/Battles

The United States declares war on Germany in 1917 after the Zimmermann Telegram is given to the United States by Britain on February 24, showing the offer by Germany to give Mexico back the southwest United States if they would declare war on the United States.

June 26th, 1917 - The first troops from the United States arrive in Europe to assist European allies in World War I. Troops engaged in World War I would include conscript soldiers authorized by the passage of the Conscription Act, the Selective Services Act, on May 18, 1917. General John Pershing would be placed in command of the American Expeditionary Forces during the campaign.

1918 - The United States military forces has over one million troops in Europe fighting in World War I.

May 28, 1918- United States forces are victorious in the Battle of Cantigny, the first independent American operation.

September 26, 1918- Allied forces begin the attack at Meusse-Argonne, the final offensive of the war.

November 11, 1918 - Hostilities in World War I begin to end with the Austria-Hungary alliance for armistice with the allies on November 3. Armistice Day with Germany occurs when the Allies and the German nation sign an agreement in Compiegne, France. Woodrow Wilson would become the first U.S. President to travel to Europe while in office when he sails to attend the Paris Peace Conference on December 4.

1919 - The Treaty of Versailles is signed, ending World War I.

- 1919- The 18th Amendment is passed, bringing about the era of Prohibition

11. The 1920s

Presidents:

Woodrow Wilson (1913-1921)

Warren G. Harding (1921-1923)

Calvin Coolidge (1923-1929)

Herbert Hoover (1929-1933)

Important events:

-1920 - The League of Nations is established with the ratification of the Treaty of Versailles, ending the hostilities of the first World War. In a final vote, the United States Senate again votes against joining the League.

- 1920 - Women are given the right to vote when the 19th Amendment to the United States constitution grants universal women's suffrage.

- 1920 - The National Football League is formed

- 1921 - A national quota system on the number of incoming immigrants is established by the United States Congress in the Emergency Quota Act, curbing legal immigration.

- 1923 - The first sound on film motion picture Phonofilm is shown in the Rivoli Theatre in New York City by Lee de Forest.

- 1924 - The Indian Citizenship Act granted all Native Americans citizenship that had been born within the territory of the United States.

- 1925 - Nellie Tayloe Ross is inaugurated as the first woman governor of the United States in Wyoming.

- 1925 - Radiovision is born. The precursor to television is demonstrated by Charles Francis Jenkins when he transmits a 10 minute film of synchronized pictures and sound for five miles from Anacostia to Washington, D.C. to representatives of the United States government.

- 1928 - The first appearance of Mickey and Minnie Mouse on film occurs with the release of the animated short film, Plane Crazy.

- 1928 - Amelia Earhart becomes the first woman to fly over the Atlantic Ocean.

- 1929 - Postwar prosperity ends in the 1929 Stock Market crash. The plummeting stock prices led to losses between 1929 and 1931 of an estimated $50 billion and started the worst American depression in the nation's history.

Hope this helped, and happy writing!!!!!

#writing #writing tips #writing advice #writeblr #booklr #writing help #writer #writers #history #historical fiction #fiction #creative writing #tips for writers

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heidiblack · 2 years

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Convention Review: New York Comic Con

( Convention: New York Comic Con

Location: New York City!

Date: October 7-10 (Thurs-Sun)

Table cost: $512 (with fees)

Table size: 6'

Table placement: in the dark half of the hall (L22, I believe)

Items for sale: 11x17" posters (fanart and original), tutorial artbook, coloring book, original comic (sons of fire), zines (fanart and original; sfw and nsfw), pins (original), resin coasters and jewelry

New items/display: Increased commission prices, took posters in backdrop out of plastic sleeves due to glare

Mask policy: Vaccine card required for entry (also the case in many businesses), masks required of all.

Previously attended? Yes, only as an attendee

Transportation: Flew (southwest - hooray for checked bags!), Uber/Lyft, subway, walking (yes, my setup fit in these 2 suitcases... and weighed something like 90 lbs between the two bags)

Pros: One of the two biggest comic shows in the US (the other being SDCC) with a lot of prestige, editors and publishers attend

Cons: Extremely expensive convention in an extremely expensive city, huge artist alley means few people stand out, artist alley was in a hall that had two distinct areas (one of which had a lower ceiling and was more dimly lit, making it seem like an annex area - this is where I was), selective stock due to transportation needs

Most popular item(s): Posters (83), pins (53)

Least popular item(s): commissions (0)

Buckle up, because NYCC is a doozy. Also I ramble, and this is not well organized, thanks ADHD.

New York Comic Con is a show I've applied to for almost a decade, mostly because there is this idea in my head that once I'm good enough to be accepted into NYCC, I've made it as a comic artist (it's a lie). If you've never been, NYCC is a huge show, where big names like Marvel and DC go all out with huge stages and booths, where publishers pay to fly in their top artists and writers, where A-list celebrities announce their new secret projects. It, along with San Diego and C2E2, is one of the biggest shows in the US - and world.

In the past years, NYCC has grown to an audience of 250,000 people (according to wikipedia data: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_Comic_Con), but due to Covid, it was running at a reduced capacity of 150K this year, with a limited number of 3 and 4 day tickets and a concentration on single-day attendance. (For comparison, the 2018 data for SDCC is 130K attendees, according to wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Diego_Comic-Con) This year, the artist alley was in hall 1A and 1B, which can be opened up to form one giant hall, while the main exhibit hall was on the 3rd floor. While we were next to the autograph lines, the artist alley was still a bit of a trek from the exhibit hall.

Before going, I talked to others I know who had exhibited at NYCC before, and was told things like "you can't help but make money at NYCC." I was also nervous about fanart, as the big boys were there, and while most of the fanart I do is from companies that have more or less said they don't care (funimation, mihoyo), I was still a little nervous (I shouldn't have been, there are people who's entire booths were nothing but pinups of copyright characters).

Covid of course made 2021 a unique experience, and unfortunately a lot of it was not great. I will say I most likely got in due to the fact I was crazy enough to apply to a huge show in the middle of a pandemic. However, as far as I know tables were still as expensive as always even though the attendee count was reduced by over 100K people. Additionally, I was in the darker area, which definitely had less traffic than the brighter area.

I noticed on Thursday that there were a number of empty tables (and even found out via social media that some artists "forgot" they had tables - how do you pay $500 and forget?), and by Saturday many artists had asked permission and moved or spread out (the moving I understand as I wound up doing so as well, the spreading out I still find very unfair). The head of the AA was very gracious and communicative, though, which is rare and amazing in the world of conventions.

New York Comic Con was also the only convention this year I didn't do on my own - a wonderful friend from California had never been to New York City and wanted to go, so they flew out and helped me, as well as saw the city some. The amazing writer, Adam Lance Garcia, author of Sons of Fire, was also there as he lives in the New York area. Thanks to my friend from California, Adam and I were also able to meet with a publisher, and Sons of Fire is now officially joining the Virus Comics lineup!

(Not being alone also meant I was able to look around the artist alley through the weekend. I am a horrible, judgmental person, and I did notice there were a number of artists there that only did pinup work, or fanart, or giant posters. In fact, finding people who did their own original comics seemed to be the minority. And while I understand that the fancy fanart posters certainly bring people to one's table, that's never been my final goal as an artist. Honestly, I find the fanart and resin I do to be stress relief between my real work of book illustration, comics, and commission/freelance work.)

There were some really cool parts to NYCC, like the all-gender bathrooms (though it is a bit awkward to walk into one and find people peeing at urinals just out in the open - but honestly if we put stalls around all the toilets/urinals, then all bathrooms can be all-gender bathrooms) and I got to meet and talk to a ton of amazing artists (though I did run into a lot of them again at other shows), and my friend and I did do touristy things in NYC which I'd always wanted to do (the Empire State Building, 9/11 memorial, and Central Park Zoo), but I have really mixed feelings about NYCC.

(the TL;DR part) Overall, I DID make a slight profit, but only because I did not have to pay for a hotel. 2021 is definitely an unusual year for all conventions, so I can't say definitively that NYCC is a show worth or not worth going to, but if profit is your only motivation I would say there are a lot of other shows to choose from.

In previous years, I've used NYCC as a portfolio review convention, and to network with other artists, writers, and editors, but the only lasting connection I've forged of those has been Adam and our project Sons of Fire. If you ARE going as an artist, having at least one helper and a crew to split hotels and other bills with certainly makes a difference (or knowing someone in town you can stay with). However, when people are seeing 200K+ faces, there's no way you'll really be remembered by an editor or publisher

Gross sales: <$3k

Recommend/will attend again? Unsure - if there's a good reason, or if I'm invited by a publisher I'd figure out how to go, but it is a very expensive show that is hard to justify.

Other 2021 convention reviews: Anime Ohio

Inconjunction Gem City AnimaticCon Westwood Art Show/second saturdays Cincinnati Comic Expo Voltcon Anime Weekend Atlanta Art on Vine Chicago Comic and Entertainment Expo (C2E2) Con+Alt+Delete Anime Zap (2022)

These reviews take a lot of time and effort, but I think they are something the artist alley community needs! If you would like to support me so I can keep doing these, please consider donating or buying from my shops! https://www.paypal.com/donate?hosted_button_id=JBTBC5WRMRTJ2 Storenvy Etsy

#nycc #new york comic con #new york city #convention review #convention #review #artist alley #art life #artist support #heidi black #artist #comic #comics

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romancandlemagazine · 3 years

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An Interview with Alexander Wolfe, the man behind Pedestrian Magazine

Pedestrian is a magazine about the humble art of walking. In this interview, I talked with the man with the plan, Alexander Wolfe, about his love for this much maligned form of transport, his recent expedition from New York to Philadelphia, and the art of conversation.

First off, you recently walked from New York City to Philadelphia over nine days. What made you want to do that?

The initial desire to walk to Philadelphia came out living in New York City during the pandemic. I was bound to my apartment for a few months with little to do but walk around my neighborhood. I've always had a habit of walking around the city, but the pandemic only made these walks longer and longer, which eventually led to a 23 mile journey from my apartment in Brooklyn, to the Bronx, and back.

Around that time I was reading The Roads to Sata by Alan Booth and started contemplating longer, multi-day walks. I needed a change of scenery and found the idea of traveling by foot and living out of a bag very appealing. I felt like I'd developed a process here in the city (go on a walk, take photos, write a newsletter about the walk, repeat) and needed to give myself a challenge. I wanted to lean further into this practice that I've been developing for the last three years.

I'd never considered my walks to be hikes, so it made sense that I'd keep it in an urban setting. Walking to Philadelphia seemed like a no-brainer. What most people don't initially realize is that most of my time was spent walking through New Jersey. I liked the idea of walking in a place that is commonly misrepresented as the "armpit of America" and typically deemed unwalkable. New Jersey is actually a very underrated state. It might be the densest state population-wise, but it's called the Garden State for a reason. Oh yeah, I'd never been to Philadelphia and just really wanted to visit.

How did the walk go? Quite often trips or excursions can be a fair bit different to how you first imagine them… how did the reality of the walk differ from how you thought it was going to be?

I was presented with a new challenge every day. Don't get me wrong, the walk turned out better than I could have ever imagined, but you can never anticipate everything in advance. This was the first time I'd ever walked with a 25 pound bag on my back, let alone the first time I'd walked 9 days in a row. Originally I set out to average 17.75 miles per day, but thanks to my own curiosity, ended up waking 20 miles a day on average. I mapped the entire route a month or two before leaving, but would always deviate from the path in favor of exploring some neighborhood, road, or park that looked appealing. The first day alone ballooned into 27 miles because I got cocky and thought I didn't need to use my map while walking in Manhattan. I learned my lesson and kept my eyes on the map for the rest of the trip.

Another thing I didn't expect was the sensitivity one develops after walking 6-8 hours for days in a row. The smell of exhaust and gasoline becomes more potent. You realize how violently we've shaped the land to build huge highways and abysmal business parks. So much of our infrastructure is built in favor of the car, which makes being a pedestrian incredibly difficult at times. If the built environment didn't present a challenge, it was always the weather, the gnarly blisters on my feet, or my gear malfunctioning. I quickly learned to accept these challenges. It was just another component of the walk.

A lot of times people go for ‘a walk’, they’re seeking out beauty spots or nice scenery—maybe in nature reserves or the countryside, but your walk was cutting through some fairly overlooked places… industrial estates and small towns. Do people miss out by not seeing the whole picture of somewhere? Is just driving through these places to get to the destination sort of cheating?

I wouldn't consider driving to be cheating – it's just another way we alienate ourselves from the world around us. When we drive, we experience the world at a speed that makes it nearly impossible to pay attention to the fine details. Our relationship to place is abstracted, especially thanks to the rise of GPS. We no longer have to have a physical relationship to these towns. We don't even have to remember how to get to them. Driving around in a car reduces these places to nothing more than a label on a map or a convenient place to stop for gas.

It's important to have relationships with the places surrounding you. The walk has given me an intimate experience with the space between New York City and Philadelphia. I know what it looks like, I know how it feels to be there. I can tell you where residents stop hanging New York Yankees flags in favor of Philadelphia Phillies flags. If I'm watching the Soprano's and Tony references Metuchen, NJ then I know exactly what he's talking about. I think to understand a place, such as New York City, it's just as important to understand the places around it. There are generations of people who once called the Big Apple home, but decided to plant their roots in Jersey for one reason or another.

I suppose you could have read about some of these places on Wikipedia, but being there is a completely different thing. Is experiencing stuff first hand important?

It's very important if you actually want to understand a place. It's too easy to create our own narratives without ever visiting a place. I still tried to do my share of research before heading out. I have friends from North Jersey or the Philadelphia Metro and tried to take their opinions with a grain of salt. I spent some time reading about certain towns along the way on Wikipedia or scanned Reddit to get a vibe. I even previewed chunks of the walk on Google Street View to mentally prepare and know if it was actually safe to walk near some of these roads. I could have spent months preparing, but it never would actually replace walking in these small towns and cities. It's so much different when you're on the ground.

I suppose the main reason we’re talking is that you make a magazine based around the idea of walking. How long have you been making Pedestrian? What started it off?

I released the first issue of Pedestrian back in March of 2018. I was living in Ridgewood, Queens at the time and made friends with a guy named Curtis Merkel (I actually met him while out on a walk). He ran a moving business for a few decades and retired. At 84 years old he opened up a tiny little bookshop to keep himself busy. I'd visit him every weekend to check out his books and eventually we'd just get to talking. He'd lived in Ridgewood his entire life and loved to talk about the neighborhood's history. Moving to NYC also introduced me to a thriving community of zine makers. I wanted to share these conversations I'd had with Curtis in print form, so I decided to start a magazine. I invited a few friends to contribute and the rest was history.

Since then, the identity of Pedestrian has become quite fluid. While it started as a magazine, I would now describe Pedestrian as my own practice. It's a platform that allows me to collaborate with others, produce magazines, write newsletters, go on these long multi-day walks, and produce t-shirts. I have found this configuration gives me the most creative freedom.

A lot of your magazine is about meeting people and striking up conversations. Is this a lost art these days?

I don't know if it's a lost art per se, but there's less incentive to reach out and talk with strangers these days. Thanks to the rise of social media it's just getting easier and easier to stay within our own "bubbles." Starting Pedestrian, in a way, was an excuse for me to speak with those I typically wouldn't reach. It's amazing how having a publication kind of takes the fear out of speaking with strangers. You can do anything when you have intention.

Although walking is something most people do, is it overlooked as an activity? It seems it’s mostly seen as an inconvenience, rather than a hobby in itself.

It depends where you live. In New York City, for example, walking is a part of the culture. The city is built in such a way that makes walking a viable means of transportation. And if you can't walk to your destination, you're likely walking to a subway or a bus. Where I'm from in Iowa, walking is very inconvenient. Everything is spaced out, which makes walking anywhere very difficult. It’s not that people don’t want to walk, it’s just the way we’ve built certain communities has made it very hard to enjoy. It makes people think walking is very inconvenient.

I’m here in Iowa until August and it’s been interesting to walk a place that is so reliant on cars. The other day I did a 13.5 walk around the city. There’s nothing here stopping you from walking (unless the heat gets you. Technically we’re in the middle of a drought. It’s been incredibly hot as of late), and there’s plenty of sidewalk. I think it’s mostly just a mindset people have to develop. It doesn’t matter how many miles you walk, it’s just about getting out there. Your mental health will thank you and you might even learn something new about your surroundings along the way.

Walking is maybe the antithesis to the internet, but Pedestrian also has a decent presence on the World Wide Web, and you regularly send newsletters and... er... partake in the digital world. How do you balance the real world with the matrix?

It’s a relationship I’m constantly reevaluating. I’m not a master of balancing the two yet, but I’m slowly building habits that will protect my time. I often daydream of abandoning social media altogether and picking up a flip phone. I obviously haven’t done that yet, so in the meantime, I’m investing a lot of time in my newsletter. Sending out a newsletter is a much more thoughtful, intimate, and slow experience...kind of like the way I approach my walks out in the world. I understand that the web is a tool and I’m not sure the Philly walk would have gotten the same amount of attention had I not had an Instagram account. It’s cliche, but everything in moderation, right? I try not to take it so seriously.

What next for Pedestrian?

The Philly walk was such a great success and I’d like to keep that momentum going. Later in September I have another big, big walk planned, but I have yet to announce the route. Look for an announcement sometime next month. This one will be a bit longer and involve 3 different cities. I can’t wait.

Once winter hits I’m going to buckle down and produce a proper book for the Philly walk that will include all my writing and photos I took along the journey. I’m already excited to share the finished product with the world. Stay tuned.

Final question, what are your walking shoes of choice? And what's your soundtrack? Are earphones advised for long walks, or do you prefer the ambient sounds of the streets?

I’m a big fan of Hoka Clifton’s. I wore them throughout the entire Philly walk and have two pairs in my closet. At this point, Hoka should probably pay me for how much business I send their way. I’m always recommending them.

I prefer not to wear headphones and just listen to the ambient sounds of the street. More often than not, I find wearing headphones to be a bit distracting and it takes me out of the present moment. Although, I’ll admit I have been trying to introduce music into my walking once again, but few tracks make the cut. Lately Andrew Wasylyk’s Last Sunbeams of Childhood has been on repeat. There’s something about that track...

Find out more about Pedestrian here. Pedestrian is available in the UK courtesy of Central Library.

#Interviews

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Brother Dearest Pt 39

Final exams were on you before you knew it and with Teddy across your chest reviewing your textbooks and notes for each class you heard the chatter of heavily pregnant Dawn on a phone call with family back home in Canada where her parents were readying for your return at the end of the week and the birth sure to follow. Norma meanwhile had her own feet up reading a book against Victor’s chest up on their floor where James was adding the framed pictures she had wanted to decorate the nursery that would be mirrored in the larger house when you got to Canada would be the focus of your distracting whims. You wanted to marry James more than anything but the constant final detail calls from the important guests and the film crew had your skin nearly crawling in your urge to run away to some silent island somewhere.

Ottawa was where the residential house for the Monarch of Canada traditionally stayed, however being 40 hours from Alberta you had been told that they would stay in Ottawa and fly to Alberta then drive the hour plus distance to your tiny town that didn’t have an airstrip. Turning the next page of your book you heard Elliot ask, “Are you certain you don’t require my help with studying?”

That had you sigh and close the book you had finished to lay your hands on Teddy’s back at the book joining the others on the ground beside the couch your were lounging on. “I’ve gone through the books three times. Only thing that could throw this is my Cultural Diversity course essays. No telling what he’ll get to typing up.”

His grin eased out, “Well Humphrey has always tried to come up with new questions for his students.”

Shifting your eyes from Teddy in his slumbering grumble to Elliot you asked, “You don’t mind my inviting you to the wedding?”

“I would never refuse your invitation.” He said making your grin creep out a bit more, “I don’t doubt Prince Loki wouldn’t try to sneak in as well. He has been back again recently?”

“On my last visit to the MoMA yes, though it seems since I told him his father his father doesn’t care about the troubles we are facing here he seems to be more on a progress report on our efforts.”

That had Elliot chuckle, “Oh, yes, that should go over well with Queen Frigga when she hears that if it is his plan.”

“Can’t imagine how they could make matters any better.”

Elliot, “Well they most certainly won’t interfere now knowing you are here and our ships are nearly here. We can go at our own leisure and do as we please without their interference.”

Looking his face over you asked, “Would they be a threat if they tried to fight us? Just curious.”

Again he smirked saying, “Jaqi they couldn’t touch us with a twenty foot pole in hand to hand combat and their weapons are futile against our defenses. They know this is a lost territory they no longer have dominion over this planet even with the two of us and Venom here, and possibly your young cousin you have informed me of.”

“I don’t want our people to take rule over this planet throwing the people out of their roles.”

“That has always been your way. We will subtly work our way and influence into their cultures unnoticed. No conquering, all our people merely wish to be among your presence again.”

Dawn sighed on her way to join you both asking, “What is this about presents?”

Smirking at her you said, “Just talking about the incoming aliens.”

Dawn, “Well I hope they don’t want to come to the wedding,” behind her back she gripped the arms of her usual chair she lowered into and eased her feet up onto the footstool you moved over with a shift of your fingers.

Elliot, “Oh no, they are still a good few years away still.”

Dawn, “Right, you mentioned that. Sorry.”

He shook his head, “No apology necessary, travel between galaxies is quite rough to gauge for some. And there is no telling if they come across some digger portals that could cut the travel in half.” At your confused brow tick he clarified, “Digger portals can be used for long term transport runs and also more often by scavenger crews who often move them out of their designated locations for rather amusing bits of helpfulness for those who tend to come across them.”

Dawn, “I can’t imagine what space would be like. Living here is so hard to compare to space.”

Elliot said, “Just imagine space like a forest, every now and then planets would be hidden tunnels under trees and caves with animals as stars, asteroids and meteors. One day you’ll see.” She looked over his face in his comforting smile, “You will.”

“I’ve been wondering,” You said luring his eyes back to you, “You said your wife was waiting to be re-bodied.” He gave you a confirming nod in a silent agreement he would answer anything you asked, “Would my dad be with them, when they get here?”

“Erich would never miss the chance to rejoin your side. He most certainly will be.” Wetting his lips he sat up lifting a finger to say, “In fact, the only thing that would have him deterred from returning to your side would be his affection for your, mother.”

His final word was given haltingly in seeing the flinch of pain in your face, “My mother,”

“No no, merely I meant that it would be because he had through the Fates located her essence in the kingdom of the dead beyond the gates of the realm of Hel. She has been given a high place to claim as her own after aiding in your second form solidifying. Surely upon hearing your ranks have arrived he would travel to join us. He would not choose to dwell there with her when returning to you could bring about your awakening which surely could grant her a second becoming.”

Dawn asked, “That means she could, come back?”

Elliot, “In a sense. It would be her essence, however her past would be absolved from her memory. Not you of course, however the memories of her first husband namely among her other sufferings.”

“She would forget Steve?”

Elliot replied, “Unfortunately.”

“I suppose that seems a bit fair. Give her a happy second beginning with my dad, he wouldn’t be my dad anymore would he?”

Elliot, “He was honored to have been chosen for that role and will uphold it again should you wish to extend that bond.”

“I won’t ever get a simple life will I?”

Softly he chuckled, “Oh it will be truly simple, in that, you will be loved by our people and eventually by these mortals.” Glancing at Dawn feeling her eyes landing on him, “Never including you of course, you have been adopted as kin. The Fates will not claim you from your children or Eddie. Symbiote mates are never targeted or taken after the lone time one dared to try and a civilization was torn in half.”

She asked him, “Can you grow like Venom when you fight?”

Elliot, “I can if I wish to.”

“So what do you know about black holes?”

You asked spreading his smile to share some more of the supposed barriers that could be mistaken as ways to keep us from your people that serves a greater purpose for your people that he spilled every detail. Even through James coming down to sit with you, settling underneath your legs he laid across his lap welcoming the chance to rub your legs and feet.

15 exams or projects to get your full credits and one at a time each was crossed off the list of credits you were acquiring. Even your slot on the yearbook was credited to you with the actual yearbook as proof, several of which purchased by the students of the graduating class they’d sent your way for signatures to join others through the signature sections. Proudly among the crowds you shuffled through the sheets of grade reports to each class and club as well as the final sheet of credit requirements that you had marked off a good chunk of the final bachelor’s degree working towards the eventual Masters degrees.

While school was your main focus at this event again your smile split wider seeing James strolling hunched over with Teddy at his side. The now walking 11 month old boy with bouncing strawberry blonde curls and silvery blue eyes contrasting Dawn’s brunette locks and Eddie’s sandy brown locks that grow softer in shade to match Teddy’s shade when grown out. All day he’d been giggling and waving to the women fawning over him, each stealing yearning glances of the loving man focused solely on the child who showed his true father side only egging the press on for dreams of what your babies might turn out to look like. Loud and shrill the boy giggled and bounced on his feet once turned again in your entrance to the garden. On his hips James’ hands fixed, “Let’s go fly to Bunny, hmm?”

Up he was lifted and giggled the way across the pathway in the steps to add your papers to your purse, also housing the book of photographs you had taken in the photography club, now in the crook of your arm to free your hands to accept hold of him. “Look at you, flying!”

Hands out he smiled melting into your arms for the hug you gave him, sighing out, “My Bunny.” Closing his eyes a moment at the kiss you pressed to his temple.

James asked with adoring smile still locked in place, “Everything handled?”

“Yup, I know it took a while,”

Shaking his head he replied, “Oh we’ve been having fun.”

Teddy said, “I did fly, My Bunny.” Easing his head back to catch your eye widening your smile.

“Yes you did. Maybe one day you can teach me to fly so well, I keep falling when I try.” Again he giggled and looked around at the school and crowds on your way to the subway to get home. All the way talking to the boy who was getting more comfortable at talking and gesturing in each of his surroundings to those around him. On the surface he might seem out of place between the two of you except for the curls you shared with hair color hinting that James might have had a blue eyed lighter haired parent for those assuming he belonged to you. Those knowing your mother Sarah however knew exactly where any blonde children of yours might come from poking that bruised past for them and you, wondering and deep down hoping that if you did have boys that none of them would look like Steve. For how badly he scarred you to have a child that would mirror him was a terrifying notion to have to reach that moment to completely sever that blame and pain for the blows he dealt on your life up to his death.

Norma clearly bleached her hair by her frequent trips to the salon only luring up wonder for what the two incoming babies could look like. Dawn was on the verge of popping and in the morning you were set to arrive in Canada after having spent the week readying everything to travel back home for the summer break. The end of April would give you time to ready the houses and oversee the details the town was readying for your big day. Hopefully for you Dawn wouldn’t go into labor mid trip or at least could have some time to relax at home before it would be set off for a somewhat relaxing birth. You didn’t know just what you were more anxious for but in her later months you enjoyed taking charge of Teddy whenever possible between classes to let her get more rest to lessen her worries concerning her first birth.

The Brocks were ready and everyone had plans for the upcoming trip to come and celebrate with you after their chance to meet the new baby. While it would have been nice for them to be there the day of for what was coming they granted Dawn the freedom to entirely have this birth with her family at her side where they could share in the christening Father Thomas would hold upon his arrival. Bags by the door were passed to get to the lunch to finish off the rest of your food in the fridge so they rest could be taken from the pantry to fill the one in your summer home.

Halfway through finishing off your meal you felt eyes on your silent gaze at the plate, lost to the realization how your childhood apartment building was all yours now, and you actually had a summer home and a business all your own that was hugely successful. That Kodak contest and revealed image in the photography magazines had you on a second Spring ad that had come out for a new camera they sent you a free one with a year supply of film to add to the film for Steve’s old camera packed along with the bags to be taken up with you. There was even an interview on what camera you had been photographed using at your trip to the White House and in your photography club along with a shot of a display of some of your pictures from the club. Clearly you had talent and now there was a hint for a new possible future job in the art field that could be so accommodating to a stay at home mother they guessed you might grow to be.

Inhaling sharply mid reach for the rest of your juice post sip and return of your glass you said to Eddie, who was looking at you, “I got a letter yesterday from a book publisher in Canada who wanted to publish a copy of my photos from school.”

Victor said, “That’s what that letter was then.”

Norma smiled saying, “Oh that’s fantastic news.”

James, “We can drop off the book to the place on the way up if you like.”

“We have an appointment next week. They need me to bring in the negatives and some titles at least for each, and a title.”

Norma, “You should just go for Bunny as the title.”

Dawn asked, “Doesn’t that cost money to make books?”

“They called saying they see how papers on the pictures have sold saying they would front the costs as long as I guarantee for my second book I use them to publish.”

Eddie, “Ah, well that makes sense, and at least they have hopes you’ll have a second book to follow the first obviously successful book.”

James moved his free hand to your lower arm on the table, “Me and Vic would be glad to take you there.”

“Well you’d have to, they can’t exactly legally have the contract with just my name on it.” Sharply James inhaled and you said, “Besides, should be fun, first comics now art books. Really rule the paper universe.” That had the corner of his mouth twitch upwards, “Plus you can imagine what they’ll say about my floating object and fantasy shots. Who knows, for the second book I could sneak in a picture of Venom and really terrify them.”

Eddie chuckled saying, “Oh we could have some fun with that. Have a whole book on him around the house, vacuuming with a couch over my head all the way to playing with the kids.”

“That reminds me. How’d you get through the bank robbery scene?” You asked Victor.

He smiled saying, “Thought up they shove you in a bag not knowing who you are, and that venom is latched onto you and they call and demand more money for ransom and Eddie picks up and says good luck. They turn around finding tiny Venom Bunny eating a third member of the robbers. The last one gets to live after writing a note on the money that is returned to the bank with his shaking self tied up and terrified while you and Venom sharing some chili fries on the beachside city where you tied off the boat back from the island they took you to.” Your smile spread through your excited giggles.

James said, “Meanwhile baby Teddy is wreaking havoc back home for us and poor helpless Eddie. Guys love the idea and are mocking up a copy for us.”

“Should be our best yet. I do have the sketches nearly done on the ideas I had for the wedding edition.” To James you said, “We’re kidnapping some people.”

Eddie rumbled around his mouthful, “Oh we better kidnap some people.” Causing your smile to split wider.

Just by the light of the headlights on the moonless night the wood boarding off the house was removed easily by you enabling you to walk inside with Olive and Pepper who were glad to be out of the truck from the long drive as James with Whiskers on his shoulders and Teddy’s carrier basket in hand followed you listening for any possible geese or stowaway animals inside. In the dark you found the fireplace and lit up the living room and the lantern beside it that through the now open window Victor accepted hold of from you to find the switch to flip on the electric box. The buzz from the flip could clearly be heard and Norma grinned flipping the light switch to light up the house in each room you went through while unpacking. At the table however she joined Dawn waiting on the tea kettle you filled and put on the stove for them to let them relax.

Neighbors along the way had caught the rumble of the engines and flashes of lights through parted curtains surely announcing the return to part of the town that would know by morning of your return. Dawn’s family surely would be the first to show up, and far from inconvenient as with a groan she woke up in the night to her first contraction. Hours after she was lulled back to sleep Eddie sat up with Victor coming in hourly to check on how her pain was progressing. Closer to breakfast backrubs kept her content as possible while she, by the position of the baby, was far off still. Fully able to grumble her way to breakfast and back to bed again to lay over the rubber sheet prepped bed from the kit you had found and set up to ready for the Doctor who’d be arriving shortly.

Steadily however labor grew heavier. During her family excitedly helping her to calm through the growing contractions in turns of minding Teddy she progressed farther to where it was you and her mother and sister there when she was close to crowning. “Just one push from the head Dawn,” the Doc said in her break leaning back against your chest in her place now on her knees on a stool bench to help with the position of the baby over a second rubber sheet.

Her breath deepening to your hands smoothing down her back feeling her next contraction rolling over her mingling with the gas the mask her mom was holding for pain relieving gas that was helping to ease this process. The mask was pulled away and on her next deep breath she bore down feeling her sister’s hands on her shoulders to keep her in your hold from falling forward onto the Doctor’s back. The first cry of the little girl the Doctor cut the cord and settled into a blanket her grandmother took hold of to gently bathe let the men downstairs let out a calming breath shared by the relatives around them. It didn’t take long for the bed to be readied and Dawn to be cleaned off and cleared for her bed rest break to cuddle and bond with her little girl before the others came in to meet her.

“Marigold Dove Pear.” The name was added to the birth certificate and while held by her beaming father the hazel eyed infant’s name was echoed through the house. Even Teddy stole his own chance to leave a photographed picture of a kiss on his sister’s cheek to be taken off by you to allow Dawn to take a nap.

In the yard you played with Teddy catching glances of James holding Marigold through Eddie and Dawn’s family hushedly trying to decide which clothes to put her in from the vast supply compiled for her. James’ eyes wandered to Victor on his stroll to join you after he’d ensured Norma was comfortable in her lounger on the porch with a snack and drink to wear off his lingering nerves knowing he’d have possibly the same troubles in sleeping as he did on Teddy’s first night. Dawn at least would have a nice rest and through the next few days was up and around quite easily relaxed on her way to being on her way to fitting into that dress to make your day special for you.

Everything you had done compiled in her times alone resting brought up her same thoughts on how she wanted to be a great big sister for you. You’d been nothing but supportive and loved Teddy beyond belief easing her final months taking up so much of his care for a debt she couldn’t repay and helped her through the birth of her second child to their family. All on top of everything else you were handling you had earned a day all about you and your fellow bashful spouse to silence the world and let you enjoy your summer and finalized marriage. This had been a long year from your press tours to the explosive Congressman ordeal rehashed when his son was publicized to have died and himself not so long afterwards overshadowed by the news of Norma being pregnant adding a second surprise wedding to be placed in front of yours along with three babies. She didn’t regret how she had gotten here but against how much she knew you wanted to have a special non-eloping wedding she had hoped you would have jumped the gun and gotten hitched like they had to not have to wait so long.

Negatives in hand through the doors of Freckled Moose publishing office in the well lit lobby the smiling group including the head of the building along with the man who would be your Editor beside the head of the rest of the printing process. “Welcome, Miss Pear, Mr Howlett, Mr Creed. We’re all so glad you could make it today.”

“Yes, it was interesting to get your letter, actually being asked to have someone want to see my pictures in an actual book.”

Head of the Company smiled saying, “There’s no shortage of people who since you have been written on a Photography club to see just what you have been capturing.”

“And you want to publish all of it, no matter what?”

The three of them replied, “Every image.”

The Editor asked, “You did bring the descriptions for each and the title for the book?”

“Yes. Thought it’d just be Bunny, if that’d be good?”

He nodded and said, “That sounds marvelous actually, and just how many pictures are we discussing?”

From your purse you pulled out the book you had been given from the club parting their lips at the size of it, “58 images, we had to do two a week and the rest are from the final project, it’s big from the grades and notes on the back of each.”

The Head of the Company said, “Why don’t we head to my office and we can look that over and talk about order and how the book is going to be set up along with contract terms?”

You nodded and they turned to guide you to the office, where on the couch across from their chairs you showed them the pictures that they agreed to only adjust the order of a few images within the month they had been captured keeping the genres of photographs together. Beside the notepad now housing the current order of images and new order with copied descriptions you had written them a copy. The contracts came next with the new terms the guys had talked them down to over the past week for you to simply sign agreeing that for each book they get 20% of the proceeds to go with the five agreed signing appearances when the books did get released into books across Canada. $8 was decided upon already stunning you a bit for being nearly half the price of an ironing board and nowhere near as useful for people who might be buying these glorified paperweights most buyers might not look at more than upon purchasing them.

The photography assembly line came next, or rather a brightly lit office with different stations where you would choose the paper style, font, color for the covers and title across the front. Bit by bit each image size was assigned, easily the same to mostly take up the same space on each of the pages housing the pictures with the description on the bottom of each page.

The final step was the first hand over of the negatives that were rearranged to the new order to be taken over to the printing department to get started on the process that according to them the designated amount of prints would be met within a few days and the negatives would be returned to you for the binding process would be started to finalize the process. Along with the copy of a picture of you in your favorite armchair, Mr Whiskers in your lap beside you holding your camera taking a picture of Pepper and Olive seated on either side of you. The picture that made you smirk reminiscent of portraits and pictures of men in power James and Victor had helped to work your four pawed accomplices into the perfect positions for the image that most would have chosen an image with you or Teddy to make you seem more matronly.

This would grab attention, and the men smirked taking the image as a joke for a moment until the brothers gave subtle hints in their faces and posture in each confirming glance over your head that was the only image to be handed over. That image would be the first page along with the intro for the book that you had written. Other than that you had pretty much completed the mock up of the solid dark grey book with purple letters for the title Bunny. For whatever little notoriety you had at least this could be a little bit of money to add to your nest egg or could easily be hidden away on a shelf in a book store or storage room somewhere if it fails miserably. Just 58 images could be a drop in the bucket for everything in the future that could be recorded in all the years to come.

The trio were the ones to show you out confirming that each step of the way they would keep you posted on the progress of the process until the big release. In their dip back inside you ignored the muffled comment on how soon to get the first few pages ready to be printed in the closing of the doors behind you on the walk to the car. Victor broke the silence saying, “Told you they’d love it.”

Looking up at him you smirked saying, “Oh yes, didn’t stop them from doubting my picture you took of me though.”

James, “They didn’t doubt the picture.”

You lifted a brow to look at him and Victor said, “Nope, they just imagined we’d be piggybacking into the image since we were so hard on the contracts for you.”

“How did you get them up to 80% profits, thought they would be wanting something more like half.”

Victor hummed back, “You took the images, all they are doing is printing them into a book and adding some words on the cover above your chosen snippets.”

James, “Editor didn’t do much, you provided everything, all they are doing is printing and distribution, taking the costs for the business side of this they are getting a killing on this deal just by utilizing your popularity and name. Even just day to day in school your name comes up, people are curious on what you are doing, how we are all getting along through life. Even just with photographs and not being a famous photographer still people are still going to want to buy your book, and second book. There were press at Barnard asking to browse yearbooks for pictures you took for them.”

Victor, “How you think and see the world is fascinating, what you choose to capture is poignant, that picture of the house you built for the frog to the shadows of beams in your school is phenomenally expressive of who you are and what you dream of. And most people might just see ‘oh an adorable picture of a frog’ or ‘oh some shadows’, but no one else would have built that house for that frog or twisted like that for those shadows, all of that after coming out of five years of war. Even Truman and King George are going to want to know what you took pictures of.”

“All curiosity then.” You said and James’ arm eased you a bit more into his side pressing a kiss to your temple.

Victor, “So much more than curiosity. No one cared what Van Gogh painted in his lifetime,”

“I am not Van Gogh,”

James, “No, but you certainly weren’t going to go ignored like he was.”

“They are never going to put my pictures up in a museum.”

Victor, “Oh I very much bet otherwise.” He said turning your head upon reaching the car, “There have been whispers of exhibits on women in the war.”

That parted your lips and James said, “You do realize this war will go down in history, people are going to talk about this war against Hitler and all those camps for decades. There are dozens of Civil War exhibits in this country, even just the airplanes built since their invention have been collected even when discontinued for public use. Egypt and Ancient Rome have exhibits all around the world. The first woman Medic Officer in Canadian history is going in an exhibit. People are going to write books about us. People have written books about the battalions Vic and I have been in through each of our wars since our first enlistment.”

“How do you deal with that?” you asked and he simply leaned in to claim a comforting kiss followed by a second on your nose as Victor opened the driver’s side door.

At the pat of his hand on the hood he said, “Let’s go pick up your hats Pipsqueak.” Dropping into the car that James moved to open the passenger side door to.

“You’re both too calm with this.”

James hummed back, “Just wait till someone tries to trash your name and you’ll see us burn the world down to change their minds and make them apologize.”

“You burn the world down and those Asgardians will come drop down on all of us.”

Victor laughed from inside the car, “They come down here they won’t stand a chance if they come to try to fight you. Now if they want to buy a book they are free to get in line, and there will be lines.” He finished with a smile at your slide to the middle spot on the bench seat with legs crossed against James’ in his closing the door on his settling inside.

The drive didn’t take long while they both shared their own assumptions on how the sales would go in your comfortable place against James’ side glad for his arm across your lap to hold your hand out of the way from the stick shift. Before you could even park the excited Hatter’s Wife hastened to the door to open it for the three of you to let you in for the final display and payment hand over for the second half of the hats.

Smiling widely the Hatter greeted you with a warm handshake and pat on the back of your hand clasped in his, “Welcome back, we are so glad to have been chosen as your personal Hatters.” He released your hand and shook the brothers’ hands while you held back your smile from spreading awkwardly across your face at his claim on any future business you now had to come up with some more of somehow to appease his assumption. “Now, we shall start with our Bride.”

He said with a smile until his wife said, “That is, we also can fit you in the private room if you prefer to surprise the Groom on the day of.”

“Here is good,” you said in his pause luring his smile out again in his turn to fetch your hat from the back. “Managed to keep the dress a secret along with the shoes but think I just might want to spread a bit of jealousy at the details on mine.” You said easing onto the stool she motioned you to so he could settle it in place.

The Hatter returned and smiled at your eyeing the white marvel he lifted and settled gingerly onto your head like a crown. More so the action had the guys about in tears for the first glimpse of you as a Bride, and when you stood to walk to the mirrors they were drawn after you admiring the pristine white top hat you almost didn’t want to touch to keep it clean. The shorter styled top hat with a ribbon accented with a shimmering broach and a white feather was circled by a net like ribbon draped around the rise of the hat with a tail that would be lowered as the portion to cover your face. You had Mamma Brock’s veil but like the other women who wore it a second sheer layer would cover your face as hers was woven lace stitched to heavy barely see through silk and would be too difficult to actually make it down the aisle or even across a room.

Around your face his fingers eased the net veil portion down saying, “And this will simply be lovely and quite easy to see through on the big day. Should you wish to add a hair piece if you secured it above a bun then it should fit nicely along with this hat.”

“I do have a silk and hand woven lace veil that I am borrowing for the day, this should help to keep it in place while I walk to the reception after if it’s a bit windy.”

James chuckled humming out, “You’re not walking, I’m carrying you the full way.” The Hatter looked his way and he said, “Tradition, the barn is just a stone’s throw from the church, Bride is carried to her seat.”

Hatter’s Wife, “Oh that sounds lovely for wedding traditions.” She said stealing a glance at the ring on James’ hand adding, “Along with your Groom already wearing his ring.”

Victor said showing off is two rings on his ring finger, “Family tradition we get two rings too so we can brag up to the big day.”

The assistant came out with the other female hat design while the Hatter claimed your hat again he took back to its box that gave you the second hat to admire and shift the shorter accented by a silk flower ending the ribbon, the netting simply was a tuft in the front and right side minus the tail yours had. Just as breathtaking as the first to be followed by both of the brothers admiring their own grey top hats accented with black ribbons and James’ with a purple accenting fold of ribbon on the side where the ends met.

Pt 40

All –

@himoverflowers, @theincaprincess, @aspiringtranslator ,@thegreyberet, @patanghill17, @jesgisborne, @curvestrology, @alishlieb, @jogregor, @armitageadoration, @fizzyxcustard, @lilith15000, @marvels-ghost, @catthefearless, @imjusthereforthereads, @c-s-stars, @otakumultimuse-hiddlewhore, @mariannetora, @shes-a-killer-kween, @ggbbhehe4455, @xxbyimm (Hobbit x oc)

X Marvel-Cast - @himoverflowers, @theincaprincess, @changlingkhat

#Freckled Moose Publishing #Hatter #Marigold Dove Pear #Eddie Brock x OC #Victor Creed x Norma Jeane #James Howlett x Reader OC #Professor Elliot Randolph #Back to Canada

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skydriver1243 · 3 years

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Pollution: Pollution is defined as the harmful material in the environment is also know as pollution. Types: 1)Noise pollution.

2)Water pollution.

3)Air pollution

4)Light pollution.

Pollution for kids:

When some dangerous chemicals and smoke are release in the environment in very large amount then it makes harmful for all the living things.

Invention of pollution:

The Quelccaya core first recorded evidence of pollution in the form of bismuth in Inca metallurgy around 1480, which may have been released into the atmosphere during the manufacture of bismuth bronze, an alloy recovered from the Inca castle of Machu Picchu.

Biggest source of pollution:

The main or biggest source of pollution in all over the world factories,transports,electricity etc….When they all the dangerous chemicals release in the environment they makes pollution.

How pollution cause:

Pollution is caused by solid or liquid particles.They both particles in air are comes from the transports and the fire in the forest.

Water pollution:

It is define as the harmful substances or microorganism contaminated the water of river,lakes,this polluted water is very harmful for all living things.

Air pollution:

It is define as the mixture of both gase or solid in the air.Ozone is the major part of pollution in air in the cities.

Problems of pollution:

It is estimated that 3.7millions premature deaths all over the world.Pollution destroy crops.

Pollution change the climate:

The main cause of climate change in the environment is air pollution.Human activities like deforestation increases of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.This impact sea level around the world.

People die annually:

1)Air pollution kill 7million people every year.

2)Water can cause many disease like typhoid fever and cholera.

3)Contaminated water can cause 485000 deaths every year.

Plastic pollution:

Plastic pollution including many single use plastic like bags and food packaging in the ocean.

In 1907 invention of bakelite revolution in material by introducing synthetic plastic into the world.In the end of 2o century plastic had been found to be polluters of many environmental problems.

Pollution is a problem:

The highest problem that the world facing today is the environmental pollution.Which is causing irreparable damage to the natural world and the society of the humans about fourty percent of death worldwide.

Highest pollutions countries:

1)Bangladesh.

2)Pakistan.

3)India.

4)Mongolia.

5)Afghanistan.

6)Oman.

7)Qatar.

8)Kyrgyzstan.

Respiratory disease:

Inhaling air pollutants can irritate the respiratory tract and cause shortness of breath, coughing, wheezing, asthma attacks, and chest pain. Exposure to air pollution puts you at risk for lung cancer, heart attack, stroke,and in extreme cases, premature death.

Country has no pollution:

SWEDEN, The least polluted country is Sweden, with a total score of 2.8/10. Carbon dioxide emissions are 3.83 tons per capita per year.

Dirtiest country:

Bangladesh is the most dirtiest country in the world.Dhaka is also one of the most densely populated cities in the world, with an estimated population of over 8 million.

Pollution on earth:

Ground-level ozone will reduce the yields of commercial crops and forests, reduce the growth and survival of tree seedlings, and increase the susceptibility of plants to diseases, pests, and other environmental pressures.

Health effects:

When air pollution accumulates in the air in a high enough concentration, it can cause us harm.

Millions of Americans live in areas with urban smog, particulate pollution and toxic substances

Pollutants can cause serious health problems. People exposed to high enough levels

Certain air pollutants may experience:

1) Irritation of eyes, nose and throat.

2) Exacerbation of existing lung and heart.problems, such as asthma.

3) Increased risk of heart attack.

Ozone depletion:

Ozone is a gas that exists on the ground and on the earth.

The upper atmosphere is called the stratosphere.It will endanger human health. However, in the stratosphere, ozone forms a layer of protection

Life on earth comes from the sun’s harmful ultraviolet (UV). But this "good" ozone is

Man-made chemicals called ozone depletion are gradually destroyed

Substances include chlorofluorocarbons, hydrochlorofluorocarbons and halons.

These substances have been used before, sometimes still used as refrigerants,

Foaming agents, fire extinguishing agents, solvents, pesticides and aerosol propellants.

The thinning of the protective ozone layer causes more UV radiation

Reaching the earth, this could lead to more skin cancers, cataracts and worsening cases

immune system.

Acid rain:

These substances can rise to very high atmospheres, where they mix and react with water, oxygen, and other chemicals to form more acidic pollutants called acid rain.Acid rain can damage the trees or makes the water contaminated and the living things in the water is died because this dirty water is not the suitable place for under water living things.

Stop acid rain:

We stop acid rain to not drive the bad engine cars and can not cut the trees.

Ways to reduce pollution:

1)Use public transportation.

2)Turn off lights when not in use.

3)Recycling and reuse.

4)There is no plastic bag.

5)Reduce forest fires and smoking.

6)Use fans instead of air conditioners.

7)Use a filter in the fireplace.

Planting trees:

There is no need to do everything possible to carry out reforestation campaigns and tree planting campaigns. All you need to do is fight laziness and plant trees in your own home, and encourage your friends and family to do the same. Plant trees at a convenient time and place to increase oxygen in the environment and reduce carbon dioxide, ultimately reducing pollution.

Environmental impact:

1)Use energy more efficiently. Producing electricity and natural gas and transporting them to your doorstep can generate greenhouse gas emissions.

2)Install renewable energy.

conserve water.

3)Reduce recycling and reuse.

4)Travel less.

5)Consider shopping nearby.

6)Transport goods more efficiently.

Major environmental problem:

1)Pollution.

2)global warming.

4)Overpopulation.

5)Garbage dump.

6)Ocean acidification.

7)Loss of biodiversity.

8)Deforestation.

9)Deplete the ozone layer.

Use your feet take to street:

Walking, cycling, bus, subway, tram, boat, unicycle... I like to travel, park my car at home.and go out. In addition to reducing the amount of pollution you generate, you can also do some exercise, check out the new deli you plan to visit, and even catch up with friends on the way home.Mostly the vehicles can make pollution so we choose to walk first. For reading more articles visit:Pollution

#seo #smm #smo

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nikolai-lantsv · 3 years

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I just don't know what to say.

I apologize for the recent content on my blog, but I just feel so powerless to be here, just watching all these posts and videos about such horrifying situations that Latinoamericans are living.

I don't know what else to do but to share about it and try to give boost all the things that (mainly Colombian government) does not want the rest of the world to see.

Is so scary seeing all these innocent people getting k*lled when trying to protest for something that is just unfair and puts them in danger, especially now with the pandemic.

About what happened in Mexico City, you have no idea how this affects me emotionally and mentally. The loses of humans lives, working people is truly so fucking sad and to think that all of this irregularities went through SO MANY FUCKING PEOPLE ON THE GOVERNMENT, and still approving it, WELL FUCKING KNOWING that THE SUBWAY LINE WAS FUCKING DANGEROUS AND THIS LIKE THIS COULD POTENTIALLY AND ABSOLUTELY COULD Happen just fucking enrages me.

The subway or metro as we call it is the main form of transport that a huge percentage of people (me and family included) use every single day and that is full all day, makes it even worse. A transport that people from all ages NEED to use.

It has never been the best, or the safest, but truly a scenario like this never went through my head, were I say "I could die in the metro". Sure, I get mugged every now and then, I get fucking harassed, but this is something else.

I'm sure this will not make sense later when I re read it, but I just need to get it out of my chest.

I still have a lot to read about what is going on in different countries down here, but please, if your from a country that is going through hell right now, please tell me how can I help from over here.

My platform is super small, but I'll try to share as much information as I can, of course, always researching to make sure I don't share fake news.

To my followers that do not wish to see this content #SOSLatAm is the tag to blacklist for the moment.

All my love and thoughts to the people who have lost loved ones.

As always, I apologize for any grammar errors, English isn't my first language.

#SOSLatAm #soscolombia #Mexico #Personal #tw: death mention #Colombia #police brutality

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rwby-redux · 4 years

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Deconstruction

Worldbuilding: Geography

Full disclosure: I hated doing this post. Not because the writing was difficult or the topic was boring—far from it. No, the reason I hated doing this was because I got sucked into a wikihole. I started out researching climate zones, and ten hours later I was reading an article about Icelandic hot spring rye bread (which is called hverabrauð by the way and you should absolutely check it out). I only realized what time it was when I looked out my window and saw the sun starting to rise. Try to picture what my sleep schedule has looked like for the last few days, and you can see why I might be just a smidge upset.

Sorry. Where was I?

Ah, yes: geography. The bane of cartographers everywhere. If you’ve ever dabbled in writing stories with a non-Earth setting, you’ll know that one of the most fundamental aspects of worldbuilding is the lay of the land. Even before you’ve started working on the cultures of your fictional people (or hell, even the plot), you need to develop the locations. Any writer worth their salt will correctly tell you that geography dictates who the characters are, what the story’s about, when major actions occur, where the major story beats take place, why things progress the way they do, and how certain steps are achieved.

Want an example of this? Take a look at the geography of Avatar: The Last Airbender and how it influenced the Fire Nation’s culture and resulting imperialistic conquest: [1]

A geographic map of Avatar: The Last Airbender depicting the four major countries: the Fire Nation, Earth Kingdom, Water Tribes, and Air Temples. | Source: Imgur.

The Fire Nation, being located on a volcanic archipelago, was able to jumpstart its industrial revolution decades before anyone else, courtesy of access to natural resources such as coal and metal ore deposits (which were disproportionately scarcer in the other countries). This abundance of minerals was reflected in gold being commonly incorporated into Fire Nation royal attire, and the Fire Nation boasting some of the most proficient blacksmiths and swordfighters in the world (like Piandao).

Being an island nation, their culinary staples included aquatic and marine species such as waterfowl, fish, cephalopods, crustaceans, bivalves, and seaweed.

The mountainous regions of the Fire Nation made the land ill-suited for agriculture, which likely influenced the development of an oceanic trade route. This allowed for the import of otherwise-unavailable resources from the Earth Kingdom.

The trade route helped to reinforce a unified state by connecting all seaports, trading outposts, and settlements in the archipelago to the major urban capital. This interconnectivity created economic advantages, and solidified a sense of cultural unity and loyalty to the nation by making communication (via ship and messenger hawk) direct and expedient.

The navy emerged as a natural outgrowth of the oceanic trade route. Martial vessels would have been necessary for protecting merchant ships from pirates, collecting taxes from provincial settlements (because navies have steep operating costs), and enforcing the laws of the central authority. Similarly, as an island country, the only way the Fire Nation could have feasibly been harmed is through a naval attack, which would have given it the incentive to cultivate a naval defense.

At the beginning of the Hundred Year War, the Fire Nation seized control of the northwestern Earth Kingdom because the region was rich in resources that they would need to sustain themselves if they were going to survive without international trade.

Their technologically-advanced navy and control of the major oceanic trade routes allowed the Fire Nation to orchestrate blockades, quickly transport troops and equipment between places, and limit the tactical movements of the other countries.

To say that geography dictates the story is an understatement—without it, the story wouldn’t exist. Good writing and likeable characters can only do so much to save a story that lacks this crucial component of worldbuilding.

So, how does this apply to RWBY?

In order to talk about that, first we have to address the unusual way that Remnant’s map was designed.

Back in 2012, while out at an IHOP with Shane Newville, Monty Oum had the idea of squirting a ketchup bottle into a napkin, crumpling it up, and then unfolding it to reveal the blotchy proto-topography of Remnant. His reason for doing so, as he explains:

“The philosophy behind [making the map that way] is that, I feel like, as a 3D animator […] utilizing all this technology, our process—all these computers, all these numbers and stuff—our process is so artificial, it’s riddled with so much artifice, that not only for that, but for everything else I do, I try to imbue kind of like an anarchy, an anarchic-like chaos, just to give it some sense of, like, randomness. Like, you need to preserve that sense of chaos because the process we do is so robotic. […] But the important thing was, like especially with everything that we just raise in our production value, that you have to preserve that anarchic energy that influences everything you do.” [2]

The original terrain map created by Monty Oum. | Source: RWBY Wiki contributor user:Sgt D Grif.

You’d be hard-pressed to disagree with the artistic merit of this design approach. There’s a simplistic elegance to be found in a creator forfeiting a degree of their control over a project, in order to watch how it might organically evolve.

But here’s the thing: this isn’t like leaving slime molds in a petri dish and letting them network until they resemble Japanese subway lines. While anarchic chaos can work for some disciplines of art, it creates glaring issues when applied to worldbuilding. Nature, although it appears outwardly random, is actually rather ordered. The reason why we don’t leave our houses every day carrying umbrellas is because we don’t have to—we have meteorologists that can anticipate the forecast days or weeks ahead. Plenty of natural phenomena can be predicted: weather systems over vast areas, environmental selection pressures converging on similar traits…

And, of course, plate tectonics.

You see, the problem with Monty’s method is that it didn’t account for the movement of Remnant’s continents. Because the planet’s continents were born from artistic randomness rather than methodical and deliberate forethought, we have no reliable access to certain information, like atmospheric circulation, ocean currents, or plate boundaries. All three of these planetary subsystems—the atmosphere, hydrosphere, and lithosphere—and their dynamics shape the geography of a planet.

Without this information, we can’t answer certain questions.

Was Lake Matsu formed by glacial retreat?

Are Vale’s mountains sitting on a convergent plate boundary? Or are they more like the Appalachians, which are the remains of the Central Pangean Mountains?

If Vale’s mountains were formed by convergent plate boundaries, then why don’t we see evidence of it in the forms of volcanism and earthquakes?

Is Vacuo’s interior desert formed by a rain shadow?

If Solitas’ geography is based on a polar ice cap, then how did early settlers survive long enough to excavate the Dust? How would they have dug through the ice and permafrost?

Has climate change ever resulted in changes in sea level that submerged or exposed the continents? Did early humans and Faunus move between continents by land bridges? Have rises in sea level ever hidden continents (like Earth’s Zealandia)?

Does Mistral’s capital rely on meltwater from the surrounding mountains for irrigating crops?

When the Younger Brother shattered the moon, did the lunar debris alter the landscape when it fell to Remnant? Was it like the Chicxulub asteroid that caused the K-Pg extinction? Did the lunar debris leave craters on the planet’s surface, or cause phenomena like impact winters and ocean acidification?

It bears mentioning that these questions pertain to real-life geographic concepts. This isn’t even touching upon fictional geographic concepts that RWBY introduced, like largescale Dust deposits altering the local environment in such a way that it functionally becomes its own ecosystem (like Lake Matsu’s floating islands). We’re also assuming that RWBY’s continental plates are capable of drift, and weren’t magically glued in place by the gods during the formation of the planet.

Given the scale of these problems, I think it’s safe to say that—while I can appreciate the artistry behind Monty’s design philosophy—the way he designed Remnant ultimately did more harm than good.

While I could spend all afternoon debating the pros and cons of condiment cartography, there are more productive things I could be doing with my time. Instead, I want to discuss Remnant’s geography as it currently is. Specifically, there are three questions I want to test:

How well does the geography hold up?

Does the geography have a realistic influence on society?

How well does the show integrate foreign geographic features into its worldbuilding?

As a quick disclaimer, I’m not an expert on any of the aforementioned subsystems. And because I don’t have any canonical information on Remnant’s atmospheric circulation, ocean currents, or plate boundaries, it becomes impossible to prove or disprove the realism of its geography. For now, we’re going to err on the side of caution and assume that Remnant is a planet with a functionally-analogous lithosphere to Earth’s, and that Remnant’s features are byproducts of such a system.

The current geographic map of Remnant. It boasts five major continents (of which only four have been named) and multiple islands. | Source: World of Remnant, Volume 4, Episode 1: “Vale.”

How Well Does the Geography Hold Up?

To answer this, I used the Köppen-Geiger climate classification to categorize Remnant’s main landmasses (with the exception of the unnamed continent). This model organizes areas into distinct climatic regions based on seasonal precipitation and temperature patterns. The results I cobbled together are based on approximate latitude, ecosystems that we’ve seen in the show, canon maps, and comparisons between the continents and their real-world sources of inspiration (Asia for Anima, North America for eastern Sanus, Australia for Menagerie, etc). Here’s what I came up with:

SANUS: Tropical savanna (Aw/As), cold desert (BWk), cold semi-arid (BSk), hot-summer mediterranean (Csa), warm-summer mediterranean (Csb), humid subtropical (Cfa, Cwa), hot-summer humid continental (Dfa), warm-summer humid continental (Dfb)

ANIMA: Tropical rainforest (Af), area of tropical monsoon (Am), tropical savanna (Aw/As), desert (BWh), hot semi-arid (BSh), humid subtropical (Cfa, Cwa), subtropical highland (Cwb), hot-summer humid continental (Dfa), warm-summer humid continental (Dfb), subarctic (Dfc), Mediterranean-influenced subarctic (Dsc)

SOLITAS: Tundra (ET), subarctic (Dfc), ice cap (EF)

MENAGERIE: Tropical savanna (Aw/As), desert (BWh), hot semi-arid (BSh), humid subtropical (Cfa, Cwa), temperate oceanic (Cfb)

VYTAL: Subpolar oceanic (Cfb)

This isn’t perfect by any means, but I think it satisfies some lingering doubt about the credibility of the geography. Sanus’ interior desert, for example, could easily be a cold desert climate. The exterior band of foliage on the northern and western sides appears to be indicative of a rain shadow effect caused by a mountain belt (the conditions necessary for creating this climate type). We have evidence of there being nearby western mountains courtesy of the earthquakes in Vacuo, [3] as earthquakes often occur near mountain ranges created by subduction boundaries. Similarly, oases (like the one once found in Vacuo) tend to form in cold desert climates as the result of rain shadows (similar to the el-Djerid oases near the Atlas Mountains).

All things considered, I’m inclined to give the climate regions a tentative pass. Like I said, they’re not perfect, but they seem to be holding up so far.

Does the Geography Have a Realistic Influence on Society?

Ehhh. It depends. With Vale it’s hard to say, given how little we’ve seen of the areas outside the capital (like the Emerald Forest and Forever Fall), and the fact that we haven’t visited any other cities in the kingdom. We know that Vale makes use of a massive port for trade and travel due to the nearby body of water. But there doesn’t seem to be anything particularly unique about the capital’s culture that can be directly attributed to its geography. Despite being a coastal city, it doesn’t have any signature delicacies derived from the abundant seafood. The architecture is largely generic urban-Western, and doesn’t incorporate the mountains in any way. Vale’s geography is little more than a convenient buffer against the Grimm.

Mistral, on the other hand, is heavily influenced by the geography. All of its houses and shops are directly integrated into the mountains, with an emphasis on vertical building to accommodate the limited space on the cliffs. Stairs, bridges, and electronic lifts are used for getting around the city. Unlike Vale, Atlas, and Mantle, which use motor vehicles, Mistral doesn’t have the space to accommodate modern roads, and instead relies on railroad transport (like the Argus Limited) to move around the continent. Compared to Vale, Mistral is a vast improvement on how well the writers used geography to influence the culture of a city. However, I still think the show could’ve done more to strengthen this connection. For instance, we see evidence of cave systems in Mistral, which briefly appear on-screen and are never brought up again. [4] Talk about wasted potential. Additionally, the show never addresses how the Council keeps its citizens from falling to death. No joke, the only place in the city that has railings is the safehouse where Qrow and the kids stay. What the hell do people do in the winter when the stairs and paths ice over? How do they not slip and fall and plummet to their deaths? And while I’m thinking about it, why doesn’t the city have a system of ziplines or ski lifts for getting around? Are native-born Mistrali people adapted to the lower oxygen found at higher elevations? And what about Mistral’s agriculture? Do farmers live outside the capital? How do they protect themselves?

Like I said, Mistral is better than Vale in this department, but it could still do with more worldbuilding.

Atlas and Mantle are more akin to Vale when it comes to noticeable geographic influence—or rather, a lack thereof. While the technology accommodates its residents via the heating grid, there doesn’t seem to be any evidence of how the geography shaped the people of this continent. You’d expect a circumpolar indigenous group to have very distinct cultural traits, but there’s none of that. It’s just rampant technological growth. Now, you could argue that any aspect of geographic influence on culture was wiped out around the time of the Great War. But if the show wants me to believe that, it needs to show me proof. Whether it’s a conversation between two characters, or a political movement spearheading cultural revitalization. Something—anything—that might hint at how geography influenced pre-industrial Mantle.

And forgive me if I don’t feel like speculating about Vacuo, given that it’s only appeared in After the Fall and Before the Dawn. When the show decides to unveil it, then I’ll have more to say.

As for Menagerie? Another resounding meh. The inherent intrigue of a settlement that shelters aquatic Faunus is never fully explored. We get to briefly visit the Shallow Sea district of Kuo Kuana, but the scene is too focused on Blake’s and Sun’s conversation to let us fully explore the area. Which is a shame, because a concept like that could easily be taken to some really cool extremes. Like, what about entirely underwater settlements that are built on coral reefs? How cool would that be for Faunus that have gills, webbed appendages, or caudal fins? I’m not expecting Zootopia or anything like that, but it’d be neat if settlers had gone to creative extremes to accommodate the wide variety of Faunus traits.

How Well Does the Show Integrate Foreign Geographic Features into Its Worldbuilding?

In Volume 5 we’re introduced to Lake Matsu, an area rich with naturally-occurring superterranean Gravity Dust. What makes this place so intriguing is the fact that the Dust is in a constant active state, causing the islands to float in the air. Given that Dust is usually inert unless activated by an Aura, the existence of this place is frankly astonishing, and for the life of me I don’t get why the show treated it as little more than set dressing.

This phenomenon—which I’ve taken to calling a Dust vortex—has so much worldbuilding potential. What if Remnant had pseudo-ephemeral lakes created by concentrations of Water Dust? Or how about a cave system with an abundance of Electricity Dust that causes magnetic charges in the surrounding minerals, creating a place similar to Unova’s Chargestone Cave? Maybe Sanus’ southeastern desert has large pockets of Steam Dust that enshroud the area in permanent fog?

Dust vortices wouldn’t just be aesthetically cool, either; they’d have important implications for the lore. Let’s use Lake Matsu as an example.

If the Dust vortex has been there for a long time (upwards of thousands of years), then the organisms in this ecosystem would’ve adapted to it. You would have endemic wildlife—agamid-like gliding lizards, plants with wind-dispersed fruit, lianas and mosses draped from the underside of the islands, diving birds that nest on the outcrops, microbial detritivores found exclusively in the islands’ soil. Maybe Lake Matsu is an important stopover for migrating birds. Maybe the shadows from the overhead islands are important for predatory fish, which hide in the shade to ambush flying insects. Because the wildlife would be endemic to this ecosystem, perhaps the Mistrali government would designate it a protected area and prevent Dust companies from excavating the site. What if there were fishing towns on the shore that depended on tourism to sustain the local economy? Would they ever come into conflict with Dust companies that lobby the government to open up the area to selective mining?

I’m sure I must sound like a broken record at this point, but the worldbuilding possibilities on display here are nothing short of incredible. And the failure of RWBY to explore even a single one feels like getting repeatedly kicked in the stomach by a feral horse.

We’re now 3,000 words in and I didn’t even get to include ideas for tautological place names. It sucks, but sometimes you have to compromise and go with the idea that make sense to include, rather than the idea that exists just to be novel.

Sound familiar?

[1] Hello Future Me. “Avatar: A Study in Worldbuilding — the Fire Nation [ The Last Airbender ]” YouTube video. October 26, 2019. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pa2BD13VzxY&t=3s]

[2] Rooster Teeth. “RT Podcast: Ep. 191.” YouTube video. November 14, 2012. 7:52 - 12:01. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kymVnsIUWLY]

[3] Myers, E. C. RWBY: Before the Dawn (Book 2). Scholastic Inc, 2020. Online preview. “The city of Vacuo had some order to it, with different districts for residences and businesses, and a wide street down the center for the market. But the outer edges of it were periodically wiped out, because of sandstorms or sinkholes or earthquakes.”

[4] Volume 5, Episode 1: “Welcome to Haven.”

#deconstruction #worldbuilding #writing #geography

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impractical-au · 4 years

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Hey, another weird question, but do you have a definitive idea of what New Gainesburg is like? Like what kind of different parts of the city there are, what its internal and nearby geographical features are, what kind of mass transport infrastructures it might have like a port or a train yard or an airport, and stuff like that?

David, you always ask the best questions. xD Since this is based off of the three main/biggest cities I’ve been to (all northern cities since that’s where I live.)

I wrote a lot more than I thought so it’s all under a cut!

New Gainesburg(also spelled Gainesburgh I switch between the two xD) has a population of roughtly 150,000-200,000ish and has a small subway system and a pretty big bus system and bus depot to travel in, around, and out of the city. There is an airport a few miles outside of the city that helps for outside travel. The river isn’t really big enough to have a port.

There is a river that runs on the east side that breaks the main city to the residential suburbs. That is NOT where they currently live. New Gainesburg have 2 colleges and they sort of live near the campus of one so some of their neighbors are college kids. It’s just off of downtown that has a lot of rent able space. They almost rented out in an apartment building!

So you have the suburbs divided by a river with a bridge on the east side, there’s downtown, the business district, there’s a few parks (and dog parks of course!), there’s a whole mess of office buildings and skyscrapers. The center of town has an older style of architecture for some of the buildings. You can sort of almost draw a line where the newer buildings branch out and form. The city is a bit of a messy layout but parts are on a grid pattern (like how you see in NYC for example). It sits geographically in a bit of a rocky area but not too terribly close to mountains. They can be seen waaay off in the distance (maaaybe 200-300 mi, don’t quote me on that) There are some hills but it lays pretty flat in the city. Most hiking trails are a drive away.

That is about all I mentally have for the city as I write it. Feel free to ask more questions or ask me to elaborate. I’ve never lived in the city but I’ve stayed in one for a weekish and I’ve been in and out of them my whole life since I live so close to them. Bus routes and subways and all. xD

#alip lore #new gainesburg #new gainesburgh #davidthetraveler #Celery Asks

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fromgreecetoanarchy · 5 years

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Chile Protests: “They stole so much from us, they even stole our fear” The protests began on Monday October 14th in Chile’s capital, Santiago, as a coordinated fare evasion campaign by high school students which led to spontaneous takeovers of the city’s main train stations and open confrontations with the Chilean Police. While the reason for these protests was a fare hike for public transportation by the government and the transit companies, this was only the tipping point in a much larger and diffuse situation of economic precarity. Chile has experienced an unprecedented uprising in recent days. Starting with the increase in ticket prices for the metro, the uprising spread rapidly and targeted the entire system in a country that has been a laboratory for the toughest neoliberalism since the Pinochet coup in 1973 and where inequalities are among the most massive in the world. Chile is experiencing popular uprisings of an intensity that has not existed for decades. What triggered the uprising? The trigger for the uprising was the fight against the price increase of the Metro in Santiago. A journalist from Agence France Presse, who is still a good researcher, has just discovered that the Santiago de Chile subway is the most extensive in Latin America and that the capital is completely overloaded by traffic jams. It would be more appropriate to say that this movement, initiated by precarious students and high school students, is typical of a situation analyzed by the Italian Autonomia Operaria through the concept of militant investigation. At a time when the entire city has become a factory, and thus the entire urban social space is involved in value creation, it is only logical that the metro price should become a radical theme in the struggles. If we think of the movements in South America in recent years, we can make a comparison with the struggles in São Paulo in 2013 and claim that there are hardly any public buses in this city. Similar to Brazil, the movement began with a militant group that was independent of workers’ parties and trade unions and spread from the capital to other major cities throughout the country. The most surprising thing is the speed of the expansion of movement in the Chilean case. On Friday it began in Santiago. On Saturday it was implemented in all the major cities of the country, from north to south. How did the fight against rising fares become a widespread uprising? These forms of contemporary struggles, in which the metropolis itself becomes a political object, have become increasingly present in Chile in recent years. This is certainly not the first attempt to politicize the “right to the city” in Chile, be it in Santiago or elsewhere. Other previous struggles have already taken place, with similar results. Likewise, insurgency practices are not new here. And we must remember the courage of feminist activists in the face of police repression, be it during the feminist movement in 2018 or during the 8 March of this year. If there is a social explosion of such magnitude this time, one of the reasons, in my opinion, is the new, much more offensive forms of struggle that have been developed in Santiago since day one. What forms of struggle are practised? The movement began with the idea of a “massive fraud” (“evasión masiva”) at several metro stations in Santiago to criticize this price increase. The idea is simple and of course reminds us of the self-reduction practices of the Italian Settanta: if the subway becomes too expensive, we won’t pay for it anymore, and we will invade with several hundred people so that no security guard can prevent us from entering. But in the face of oppression, self-reduction quickly turned into sabotage and rupture. Showcases, distributors and broken displays, information screens were thrown on the rails, then fires were set in subway stations and in several buses.We see the continuity between self-reduction and sabotage: if we exclude the most precarious from using the subway, and if the subway is not for everyone, it is not for anyone and must be destroyed. The rejection of the restriction of one’s own options for action leads directly to sabotage. From that moment on, everything went on. The police actions used against the action in the subway led to unrest. The riots led to attacks and looting of supermarkets. The next day’s demonstrations in the various cities of the country also triggered unrest and looting, to which the state responded by imposing a state of emergency in all these cities and the subsequent military curfew.

What kind of repressive reaction has the state carried out? This is perhaps one of the most surprising things about this event in terms of the speed of its expansion. With the declaration of a state of emergency and then a military curfew, right-wing President Piñera delegates the restoration of (civil) order directly to the army and not just to the police. In a country like Chile, which is forever marked by 15 years of General Pinochet’s dictatorship, this has a very special meaning. It seems to me that this is a dangerous option because the rights in Chile, as in other post-dictatorial countries (e.g. Spain), are the direct child of the former dictatorship. Just as the politicians of the People’s Party in Spain are former Frankists who, at the time of the fall of the regime, suddenly found out that they were now conservative democrats, so the Chilean right-wing party is essentially made up of ex-pinochists. Some of Piñera’s ministers were, among others, the main leaders for the “yes” in the 1988 referendum, i.e. politicians who fought against Pinochet’s dismissal and against his return to a parliamentary democratic regime. Consequently, the deployment of the army in this situation naturally means threatening the population with the same methods as in the 1973 Pinochet coup and making it clear that it was itself part of the coup. This can be dangerous for the right, because, as in Spain, there has been some form of agreement between the ex-Pinochists and the left. The right stopped being fascist and sharing power with the left in the late 1980s, and the left stopped being revolutionary and abandoned all plans to prosecute the crimes of the dictatorship. It also accepted the 1980 Pinochet Constitution, which is still in force. Using the army today means breaking this consensus and thwarting the hypocritical attitudes that have led to the belief in the sincere democratic transformation of the Chilean right. In order to win with this strategy, the ruling right is trying to present itself as being between the rioters and looters on the one hand and the honest citizens on the other, in other words to criminalise this uprising. We are not willing to see how the permanent injustice towards a large part of the population is expressed in the riots, and we make it a simple question of crime. This reminds us of the attitude of Sarkozism at the time of the uprising of the French suburbs in 2005. I think it is a risky decision for the government in such an unequal country, but with media propaganda it can work for a while. Which social segments are most mobilized? Answering this question helps to understand the repressive strategy of the state. Like many contemporary uprisings, the movement is interclassist. For the time being, it ranges from the progressive middle class to workers and precarious workers, students and high school students to the lumpen proletariat. And it is this reality, typical of many Latin American countries, that determines this movement, both in its sudden spread and in military oppression. The revolt began with precarious youth, students and high school students. A left middle class supports them as well as the more traditional militants of the workers movement. In my opinion, the presence or absence of the possibility of action by organized workers will be crucial to counteract the attempt by the right to criminalize and depoliticize the revolt. The victory of this already historical movement probably depends in part on it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JZHcP84MTS4

#chile #protest #protester #arrest #acab #riot #demo #demonstration #police #cops #escape #fail #fails #houdini

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elisaphoenix13 · 5 years

Text

A No Good, Very Bad Day

He wished he never got out of bed that morning. He should have gone right back to bed when he accidently gripped his glass of orange juice too hard and shattered the cup, cutting his hand. Tony cleaned the mess while Stephen tended to the teen's hand, and then Peter left for school without a word.

It only got worse.

He missed the subway, so he had to take the next one which made him late for school, and when he got to his locker he realized he forgot his book report at home. That was at least easy to fix. He could call Stephen and ask the man to portal it to him.

Ned was absent so getting through the day would be harder without his distraction, and he even managed to fall off the rope in gym glass. Very Spiderman like. He still wasn't sure how it happened.

He would have been able to brush all of that aside, but then Flash happened. Peter tried to leave as fast as possible as soon as the final bell rung, but he must have been waiting for him because he tripped Peter as he was walking around the corner to the main doors. Flash laughs when he swan dives to the floor and his next words shatter Peter's heart.

"Hey Penis! I'm surprised Tony Stark is still alive considering your curse." Peter pushes himself to his feet. "It's only a matter of time until you kill him too. Then you'll have no one. You're just a charity case Parker."

Tears spring to his eyes but he blinks them away. He wouldn't give Flash the satisfaction. It would only spur the other teen on and he didn't want to hear any more insults. So he rushes off and through the main doors and blindly climbs into the familiar Audi in silence. Peter ignores the concerned look Happy gives him through the rearview mirror and elects to look out his window to avoid conversation.

You're just a charity case.

That wasn't true was it? Tony and Stephen seemed to genuinely care about him...but maybe it really was for the public. Tony Stark taking in and caring for an orphan from Queens? It would definitely give a positive impression.

Or maybe it was because he was Spiderman. Maybe Tony wanted to keep him close in case he need his powers.

Even if all of that wasn't true, something else bothered Peter.

A curse.

The teen was inclined to agree with Flash in that regard. Peter had two sets of parents already and they all died. He was legitimately terrified of losing Tony and Stephen. They were the only parental figures he had left and if something happened to them...

Peter chokes on a sob as he jumps out of the car when Happy pulls up to the tower, and hangs his head when he steps into the elevator. He needed to push down his emotions and lock them away. It wouldn't do to worry Tony and Stephen anymore.

"Are you alright Peter? You seemed distressed." FRIDAY asks.

"Just tired."

The AI says nothing as the elevator doors open on the family floor and a trembling hand immediately grabs his chin as soon as he steps off. Stephen tilts Peter's chin up and to the side, and frowns.

"Did someone hit you?"

Peter pushed the sorcerer away. "I fell. I'm fine."

"Peter--"

"I said I'm fine!" The teen shouts. "I'm just a charity case anyway!"

Stephen narrows his eyes. "Charity case?! You are anything but! Where did that even come from?"

"So I'm here because of Spiderman?! Is that why Tony took me in?!"

"Spiderling what is going on? Do I need to get your father?" Stephen reaches out but Peter flinches away.

"He's not my dad...and neither are you." The sorcerer recoils and the teen looks away from the elder man's hurt expression. "Just leave me alone."

Peter rushes into his room before Stephen collects himself to react and he slumps against the wall after slamming the door. The hurt he saw in the sorcerer's eyes hurt him too but he decided pushing them away was the best decision. He'd rather they hate him and be alive than be dead because Peter cared about them. He couldn't lose another set of parents.

With another choked sob, he fumbles to take his watch off and he throws it, his phone, and his Spiderman suit into the closet. He was going to leave and didn't want his parents to track him. No. Not his parents anymore. He didn't deserve them. He wasn't going to take anything except the clothes on his back and whatever money he had, and maybe his web shooters. Peter wasn't about to risk another confrontation with Stephen or Tony, so his exit was going to have to be his bedroom window.

He would climb his way down.

_______________________

Tony whistles as he strolls into the living room and he pauses when he finds Stephen sitting on the couch with his head in his hands. Scarred hands were very obviously shaking and that told the billionaire that his boyfriend was anxious, so he rushes to sit next to the sorcerer and rubs his back.

"You alright? Did you have a nightmare or something?"

Stephen laughs half-heartedly. "If only. I'm still waiting to wake up."

Ok. Now Tony was really worried. "Where's Peter?!"

"He's okay. Physically at least. He's in his room."

"What do you mean physically?"

Stephen takes a shuddering breath and lowers his hands into his lap. "Peter came home looking upset. I saw a bruise and asked him about it, and he told me that he just fell and he was fine. I was going to ask him if he wanted an ice pack...and he went off about being a charity case."

"Where the hell did he get that idea?"

"He didn't say. I asked if he wanted me to get you and...he said..." Strange swallows. "That you weren't his father...and neither was I."

Tony curses. "I bet you everything that Flash kid said something. Just give Peter some time to calm down. I'm sure he didn't mean it."

Stephen nods and Tony gets up after pressing a kiss to his temple and makes his way into the kitchen. Peter must have had a terrible day if said something as hurtful as he did, and to Stephen no less. It made him wonder if there was more than what was said because his son was too nice for this world to say something so heartbreaking without a reason. Peter was hurting more than he let on and that also meant the kid was thinking too much. Tony didn't know what about though.

A few hours pass as the engineer plans and makes dinner, and when their meal is finished, Tony asks Stephen to get their son. The sorcerer does with some hesitation, before racing into the kitchen in a panic.

"Tony, Peter's gone."

Tony freezes. "What? Are you sure?"

Stephen holds up the Spiderman suit, cellphone, and watch, causing Tony to blanch. "When did Peter leave FRIDAY?"

"Shortly after his argument with the doctor. He told me he was getting some fresh air. Shall I check neighborhood surveillance?"

The billionaire swipes a hand through his hair. "Its too dark for that. Stephen did you check for hair?"

"He thought of that too."

"Okay...we'll just have to look the good old fashioned way. He won't be getting very far at this hour."

"I'll check bus stations and...alleys."

Tony nods. "I'll call Ned and look around Queens."

_________________

It was nearly two o'clock in the morning when a thought came to Stephen. Tony had called to let him know that Peter wasn't at his friend's and that he was going to check his usual haunts, and Stephen had checked bus stations, subways, and any other place of transportation with no luck. When he recalled his rather one-sided argument with Peter he remembered the teen renouncing he and Tony as his parents.

Wasn't his family buried?

With that in mind, Stephen opens a portal to the graveyard they went to for May's funeral and immediately begins his search for Peter or specific graves. He found his parents graves first. Ben and May were right next to them but Peter was nowhere to be seen. Perhaps this was the last place Peter would want to go. It was, after all, a reminder that he was the last remaining Parker, and he probably thought he was alone if Stephen knew him well enough.

A sneeze from behind Richard's grave startles Stephen from his thoughts, and he steps around the large stone marker to find Peter huddled against it. The sorcerer falls to his knees in front of him and reaches out to brush away brown curls, waking the dozing boy.

"You're freezing." Levi moves from his shoulders and wraps around Peter's shivering form.

"What are you doing here?" Peter whispers.

Stephen grabs the boy's face and forces him to meet his gaze. "I'm here to take you home. You had us worried."

Peter pushes his hands away. "I don't want to be a charity case."

"I already told you, you are anything but. The moment you called us when May..." Stephen sighs at the younger's flinch. "Tony called his lawyers about adopting you. He...we...didn't want you to go anywhere else. You are important to us and even if we aren't your parents, you are our son. That will never change."

A tear falls down Peter's face and the sorcerer gently wipes it away. "I don't want anyone else to die because of me."

Stephen pulls the boy into his chest and gently strokes trembling fingers through his curls. The cold was starting to affect the pain in his hands but he would ignore it for now.

"Peter...no one died because of you. They were all terrible accidents."

Peter sobs. "You and Tony are all I have left. What if something happens?"

"You still have the rest of the Avengers, Happy, and even Pepper. But," Stephen pushes Peter away just enough to look at him. "Tony and I don't plan on dying anytime soon. At least Tony isn't. I've died thousands of times already."

Peter looks at him incredulously. "What?"

Stephen chuckles. "I annoyed an other-worldly being with a time loop." Peter actually laughed at that. "Now please, let me take you home."

Peter nods after a moment and the two move to their feet, but before Stephen can start opening a portal, strong arms wrap around his waist and the teen buries his face into the sorcerer's shoulder.

"I'm sorry Mom."

Strange sighs with relief at the familiar term as he returns the hug, and then adjusts Levi around Peter's shoulders when he finally pulls away. He turns and opens a portal, leading the teen through, and Peter sits at the table while Stephen heats up their dinner. It was halfway through their meal and the sorcerer was drinking his tea mid-sip when he remembered an important detail and spews his tea.

"I forgot about your father!"

#ironstrange #supremefamily #peter parker #tony stark #mama bear stephen strange #stephen strange #ironstrange family #irondad #doctor dad

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