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CHAPTER 2: Bluebells WORD COUNT: 5.3k TAGS: Slow Romance, Business Partners to Lovers, Awkward Flirting, Romantic Tension, Sexual Tension, this is going to be so sappy and delicious prepare yourselves, Original Character(s), Reader Has A Name, Politics, Eventual Smut.

The amount of letters William Vangeance has to sift through on the days within his office is one too many. Most of them had come from Julius, who was the biggest perpetrator of them all.

He goes picking through which he will need to answer quickly versus the ones that really carry no substance or worth wasting ink over.

‘William, please ensure that you will attend this month’s meeting,’ of course. It’s already well documented in his schedule.

‘William, remember to come out and enjoy a nice dinner at the palace with the king to arrange for meetings with eligible noblemen to discuss your future heir.’ Absolutely not.

William exhales, trying not to appear distressed over such small matters. His father's council already pushing themselves too far into his life. He stands up, wanting to get away from his desk for a breather and to oversee the window of the Golden Dawn’s headquarters.

It's a strong, beautiful palace that was contributed by the nobleman, who have been supporting their knights for as long as he’s been captain. Since creating the Golden Dawn, he's upheld it to be the most vigilant and high ranking of all the Magic Knight groups. They have become renowned all over Clover Kingdom, bursting at the seams with accolades by all in each realm. Those usually come at a price. Some perceiving them to be a certain way.

Being among the high-class society for so long, William seemed to have forgotten how things looked on the outside. It’s been business meeting after meeting, all according to the King himself and Julius’ reputations. He searches for the tulip, and sees the red flower next to the shrubbery of roses.

A tulip amongst roses. He had been a lot like that. His father, a nobleman, had an affair with some random mistress who had conceived him. His father took a liking to him, but the noblewoman of a step-mother did not care for him in the slightest.

‘He’s hideous. A cursed child.’ She had said. She recoiled at the sight of him, not sparing him any glances or wishing to treat him like her own. It had been a life of hell. One he never wishes to go back to. William had struggled his way to the top. He had earned his seat at the table, but still even among his own captains, he feels like the odd one out. Only his members of the Golden Dawn really respect him for who he is, or so he hopes.

He thinks of Aveline, her bright smiling face, the quirk of her eyebrows and her flower shop. She had a great passion for it. It was a sight to behold when he stepped in. He’s been thinking of the lady for sometime now.

Something seemed to pull him back to the common realm. A part of him didn’t want to think too deeply about Aveline. His thoughts of her causing him to get lost on certain matters. He dreads the upcoming meeting with the council. William knows fully well what they will demand from him. It's something he cannot put off any longer though. He's already avoided their invitations for the last five months.

Alecdora steps into the threshold, knocking on the door to alert William out of his introspection. “Sir Vangeance, we need to depart soon to the– sir?” He pauses, noticing that William looks rather far away.

“Alecdora, you may take Letoile and Langris with you. I am going to take my leave and see Julius.”

Alecdora’s raises a curious brow. He feels perturbed by his Captain's orders. “You rarely change the course of action so quickly, sir?”

William smiles. “No need to think about it. I’ll send a transmission at some point if there’s anything new, understood?”

His knight glances away and back at him again. “If you’re so sure, then we will meet back after.”

“Very well,” William says, nodding. Once Alecdora leaves, he takes his cloak, glancing back down to the Golden Dawn gardens where the single tulip lies. Perhaps he can gather another from Flora’s sooner than he thinks.

“To the common realm? On active duty?” Julius ponders over the suggestion. At the moment, it's up in the air.

William had arrived and given him an entire spiel on the common realm matters. Perhaps to do more work with the merchants and on trade. “We could strengthen the community that way,” William finishes. Julius blinks, clearly surprised by this notion.

“I never thought of you to go out there now, William? Aren’t you needed with the nobles? They’re discussing specific matters?”

William doesn’t budge on that. “I can push it aside for now. I’m not going anywhere as far as they know.”

Julius frowns. “It’s all the nobility can focus on.”

“True, but I can convince them otherwise to keep the matters of marriage and sex out of their minds.”

“But what’s got you so interested in the common realm?” A flash of dark hair and flowers comes to mind, but William pushes it away.

“Business,” he responds simply.

Julius after his small interrogation finally agrees upon William to leave within the next day for his stay in the common realm of Kalva. His old captain and mentor trusted him fully for the job.

“There're no stars involved in this. I call it a personal day or week. Take as much as you need. Bring back anything interesting you may see!” Julius had requested, and that was it.

He’s glad he hadn’t asked anymore questions on the matter. For all William could think about was Aveline. She would suddenly appear in his mind’s eye. Her curious expression, her smile and even the harsh look she had given him when Langris and Alecdora had treated her a certain way. It had been bugging him ever since. He wanted to make it up to her, he doesn't know how exactly. Every time his mind would flicker towards Aveline it filled him with a specific sort of joy. An indistinguishable feeling. One he has never felt before.

William felt glad to get away from the headquarters for a time. It had been too long since the last visit to the other realms. Usually, he never gets to do something like this.

He could finally set out on seeing Flora’s again, but first he’d have to head to his old castle to sort out some dealings with the noblemen there. They hadn’t been so unkind to him, but they had definitely demanded more from him than he could give them.

William just needed to talk to them to be sure that he will rule as heir for some time, and not to worry about any future marriages. Marriage was off his radar at the moment. They needed to understand that.

His title as captain of one of Clover’s highest ranking knights took up much of his schedule, anyway.

He knew for sure Alecdora would message him a spell sometime soon on where he went off to. Hopefully, this mission will be enough to distract them.

Aveline has been in a fuss.

The shop had bouts of a slow day and it threw her for a loop. She worked tirelessly all evening on her displays, much to her father’s displeasure.

“You mustn’t let your work consume you,” he had warned previously. She didn’t listen, she never does, without work what could she possibly do? Aveline continued on as if she had heard nothing he told her.

Now, it seems she should’ve heeded his warning.

Aveline fumbles over one of her arrangements when a sudden ring comes from the front of the door. She freezes, looking up to see an older gentleman with a rather nasty cut on the upper part of his lip.

She brushes her hands on her apron and steps towards him.

“Hello, good sir! What would you be looking for today?”

He saunters over, his finger gently tracing over a dahlia.

“Nothing of substance,” he responds. A simpering expression on his face. “I do wish to congratulate you on such a beautiful shop.”

Aveline blinks, a little taken aback. “I see. Thank you for the appraisal, sir.”

He would be a good-looking man had he not had such a harsh aura surrounding him. Something about him is unsettling.

The man leers at her, giving her a once over, slowly making his way back up to meet her own eyes. He looks almost as if he wants to sample her. She grips her apron a little too tightly. This isn't the first time, but something about him is just off-putting.

Aveline bites back a retort and a snarky comment. She can’t let him see he has the upper hand. He'd know.

“Well, I’ll be going off again, Miss. I hope to see you here on many days after. It's my pleasure.” He tips his hat and leaves with a final flourish.

Once she sees him leave, she releases a sigh of relief. His presence seems to still linger well after the mysterious man leaves. A dangerous feeling surrounding her shop.

Aveline focuses more on sketching loose depictions of her displays for the next few days. Even if there’s a damper to doing what she does and there’s no resolution to her hard work, she must continue as if nothing is holding her back. She must.

William arrives at the small town of Kalva. Kalva resides here on the north side of the common realm. He hadn’t gotten a good look when he was originally passing through with his knights, but now he can really appreciate the stone houses. The bustling streets are full of merchants and children running around.

He quickly makes his way down to the place he’ll be staying at for a while.

Then, a minor disruption frees him of his thoughts. The captain suddenly has quite the audience when people seem to stop in their tracks and gaze upon him. They look at him in awe and wonder, their whispers swirling into his ears.

“It’s the Captain of the Golden Dawn!”

“I have never seen a Knight this close before, and not even a Knight this popular!”

The exclamations were coming from all sides and William could only do his best to nod kindly and smile politely. Usually he’s used to having this kind of attention even in the Noble parts. Typically, the attention would be directed towards Yuno or his other fellow knights, who also take up more of the excitement.

When it's just him, he understands exactly why he ends up not accompanying his members for this reason. This sort of attention was not something he enjoys. Langris seems to relish in it, but William, a lot like Yuno finds it to be more than a little unwelcoming.

He gets closer to the stone inn called the King’s Echo. He steps into its archway, already seeing a clear window to where the registrar is.

The old woman at the front of the desk greets him politely. “Hello, sir. One bedroom stay?”

William gives her a placating smile. “I’ll be here for longer than just one stay, Miss.”

The woman looks a bit surprised, but schools her features into a content expression. “Always nice to have a knight stay here. It shows nobility not to fear the more common areas in the kingdom.”

His expression drops at that when she sets him up for his stay. Is nobility so bad that they don't even stay within the area? He tries to think of his knights doing such a thing, but they never do stay for long in the lower realms. He feels a bad taste in his mouth at the thought.

When William gets his room key attached to a piece of leather, he heads up the creaky stairs as the old woman lets him know of all the complementary resources for his stay.

“At King’s Echo, we provide the most efficient stay. In here you will have a warm bath drawn, a nice cot and a few drawers to keep any clothes or materials. Breakfast is from dawn to midmorning and dinner is during sunset.”

William tries to pay attention to all she says, but fears he may have lost some of it along the way. Once he’s in the safety of his room, he relaxes. He begins a plan of action. Why did he come here? He mulls over every detail that’s gotten him to this situation.

He had fully been in his right mind when he asked to come here. An opening for business negotiations would be the best for the Knights especially to forge some kind of peaceful example for nobles and commoners. One that they can confirm together.

Is it really that simple, though? Is this way of showing nobility and commoners to get along really the issue? He thinks of Aveline. She returns to his thoughts like a reckoning. It seems no matter where he is, the shopkeeper at Flora’s always comes to mind.

William feels a certain way about her. It’s odd. Perhaps it is a deep friendship. A desire to get to know her. He wishes to understand exactly what she meant when they had interacted before. He had struggled himself, but not in the way she had.

He tries not to think too much about it.

The next thing he must form is a tactic of some kind. That will be his greatest source of action in how to unite commoners and nobility. Business negotiations is the best bet.

Aveline is alone once more in the shop when the odd man returns. The ringing of the door came as a surprise, since she had left a note at the front announcing that the store would be closed for the time being.

The man from before steps in. His gaunt look and a perfidious grin appearing across his face.

“Hello, Miss. I’ve returned.” Of course you would, she thinks blithely.

He slithers over, bowing his head towards her. Aveline frowns, a sudden pit forming itself in her gut. “Hello, sir. I’m sorry, but we’re not allowing anyone into the shop at the moment.”

The odd man smiles, his teeth looking rather jagged. “I saw the message, girl. I’m here to take up some of your time. Would you accompany me for dinner?”

Aveline makes a face, but it vanishes quickly. She’s in a rather odd predicament at the moment. This man before her looks at her expectantly, and a part of her is fearful of saying no.

“I’m unsure about it,” she trails off. She worries her lip, trying to look away from him. Hopefully, Father or Mr. Humphries’ comes bustling through. A moment passes between them, him appearing more irritable by the second.

She prays in her heart that anyone will come and interrupt this.

“Well, if you’re going to say no. How about persuading you?” He offers, his smile tight. Aveline tries not to falter, if she shows it, he'll know. She stands her ground, despite the well in her gut. He doesn’t seem to take a hint.

She moves around to the counter, trying to cut her piece of ribbon for the foliage. “Persuade in what way, good sir?” If she can attempt to be amicable enough, bring up a neutral territory, perhaps he will leave.

She is too hopeful, indeed. This seems to tip him off. He figured out what she's playing at.

“I’ve come here at my busiest time to get well acquainted with you.”

Aveline crosses her arms. “I did not tell you to do such a thing, sir.” Hold your tongue, she warns herself. It’s too late now because the man stalks over.

A quiet fury materializing on his gaunt face. “You’re a commoner, unmarried, and defiant. They won’t want someone like you, girl.”

She didn’t know how else to react other than to feel that swell of rage inside her. Aveline has always swallowed her biting words, but this man has tested her patience. He has pushed too far, demanding her something she did not ask for.

“If you feel the need to insult a lady, commoner or not, then you should leave. Immediately.”

The man leans close to her, his musky breath fanning across her face. His lips curled upwards. “You speak to a nobleman like me in such a way. It could cause you great distress, my dear.” The way the false name rolls from him in a sardonic manner. He’s threatening her reputation.

Her fists shake at her side. “You do not respect anyone of value. You need to leave, sir.” She emphasizes. Aveline stands her ground. She will not take this random man's need to demean her.

“Girl, your rebuttal only makes you more desirable.”

The bell shop chimes once more then. They both look to the entrance to see William Vangeance, Golden Dawn captain, appearing from the doorway. Aveline gapes. Why is he here?

“Ah–Pardon, is this a bad time?”

The man stands up then to move away from her, sniffing haughtily and fixing his countenance. “I see, so you keep the company of many others. I shall be off.”

William steps in front of him. “If you insult the lady like that in her presence. It is within her right to banish you from her shop.” William’s smile appears then, deviously coy. “Don’t come back here again.”

The man glares at William one final time and exits. The golden dawn captain watches his retreating form. Aveline turns away from him, feeling her heartbeat rattle in her ribs. Her breath is shaky. She had every right to be terrified. At that moment, if he hadn’t come in? What would have happened? She’s thankful, but also a little mortified. What sort of commoner women do noblemen think they are? Do they think of them as easy? Aveline feels an anxious pit forming inside her. A new anxiety making its way inside her. This isn't the time to think of dreadful things.

William approaches, the sound of his boots clicking against the marble. “Are you alright?”

Aveline dips her head, her voice coming out mutely. “Yes, I’ll be fine.”

The captain reaches out, but stops himself from doing so. It is not within his right to put his hands on her. Even if it for comfort. He sighs. “My apologies for not coming sooner.”

Aveline looks at him then, stunned. “How could you have known? It’s not anyone’s fault except for that man’s. He came in here looking for trouble.” She swallows, braving her emotions. “Men come here looking for an object for their desires. I do not give them the satisfaction of such a thing.”

William analyzes her. The way her eyes are downcast and they shift away. She’s upset, and rightly so. Noblewomen get decisions made for them regarding their dowry or status. Commoner women face different beasts, but all of them are decided by the higher presence. Typically, being the patriarch.

He frowns, not enjoying the thought. He’s never realized it before, how much her and so many struggle. William had the naivety, the luxury to not worry over such a thing. Aveline has to because it is part of her survival.

She looks up at him then, eyebrows raising. “Why are you here, sir Vangeance? Why did you come out here to the common realm?”

William stifles his response. He had the answer to it, but it's not one he's recognized within himself yet. “I came here on business.”

Aveline appears doubtful. “Business? In the common realm? Don’t nobles typically have their duties tied up in the noble realm or with the Wizard King?”

He doesn’t know how to respond to that. He stares at a set of hydrangeas and lilies. “It’s something about trade that I wanted to do. Hopefully to give more notice to smaller businesses to get recognition. I chose Flora's for that purpose.”

Aveline is astonished by his proposal. She’s stopped feeling unsettled from the earlier interaction and is more curious as to why William seems more like a negotiator. Which is so unlike his former presence. She peers at him, stepping closer. “Do you also come here to do business with my shop?”

William nods, the nerves getting to him. How curious? He's never felt this before. “Yes, I was hoping to discuss it with you.”

She examines him. Aveline doesn’t know what he’s playing at. Could it be a genuine interest in her business or her? She doesn’t think of herself that highly, but she’s been fearful before. All the times business partners have made their way into this shop to take up her time, but it was really for her attention. No one’s taken her seriously.

Let’s hope this Magic Knight captain does not take advantage of that. “Well, if you don’t mind. I’d like to get my father involved with our meeting. When do you want to arrange it?”

William feels an odd thud in his heart. Is this really what he wants to do? Especially with someone like her? His mind is thinking of a million things that do not correlate at all with what he wants. What is it he wants? William doesn't know the word for it quite yet. He speaks anyway. “Of course.”

André Dubois looks to be the man who would have greeted William as an old friend; sitting across from him is one man that seems entirely too tentative. He watches him with a careful gaze. Not unlike anyone before him. William feels as if he garnered this attention. Since he's new and a captain to a noble group of knights. It would be weird for someone like him to wish to do business. Is it really so odd? Has this not been done before? He'll have to send a transmission to Julius to get a second opinion.

“So,” André begins. Aveline sits a cup of tea down between the two men, finally taking her seat beside her father. “What brings you to do business with us, sir?”

William’s words become lost on him, but he corrects himself. “I was hoping to discuss matters of expanding. At least to the noble realm.”

There’s a silence that wafts around them. André looks to be calculating something. Aveline is staring tersely at her tea. “You are investing in us. Is that what you want?”

William gulps. “Yes.” His eyes drift to Aveline’s, something that André catches before it goes away. William is staring at the man before him. It’s like he never did it at all.

The older man hums to himself. “So, do you look for any ulterior motive after all this is done?”

The captain straightens up, an entirely different response to the one he wishes to give. “No, I do not.”

And with that, André uses his cane to rise out of his seat, guiding himself to William. He greets the older gentleman, shaking his hand firmly.

André murmurs close to his ear, dropping to a low whisper, so that Aveline doesn't hear. “Let it only be business, my boy.”

William swallows dryly, nodding. “Yes, of course. Business.”

Aveline watches them, uncertain of what has transpired. She throws a look at her father who only gives her a tight smile, he's hiding something. He only does that when he doesn’t want to tell her. She frowns, eyebrows furrowing.

William stays longer for dinner, discussing work matters. André has taken a liking to the captain. Aveline eats quietly, feeling out of place in conversation between men. If this is still a business arrangement, she would much rather leave. Her father typically lets her leave after everything is well and done. She would stay for the meetings, but never has anyone stayed long enough to do so. They all had left with their wallets empty and hearts broken.

“And what do you think? Aveline?” William asks, awaiting an answer. Aveline had been lost in her thoughts, now she has no idea what they were even talking about.

“Pardon, I’m lost? Father?”

André takes a bite of his meal. “Vangeance wishes to know of your availability these next few months. Would you be willing to do flower arrangements for noblemen gatherings?”

Aveline nearly chokes on her meal. She coughs lightly into her hands. “Um, I’m honored–but won’t that mean–”

“You will come with me to the noble realm.”

She blinks rapidly, her gaze never leaving Williams. He seems to be very interested in the plate before him. “It’ll be too much trouble.” She answers quickly, a little distressed by how fast this seems to be going. “Can I think about it first?”

“Yes, that’s fine. I figured it’d be good for our business to send you out and about,” André says. William hasn’t said anything and Aveline throws him a quick look. “Right. Right, Vangeance, how long will you be staying here?”

He responds lightly. “For some time, I’ve considered exploring more in this area.”

“Oh, I see. So, how long will some time be?” She’s trying to make conversation, but maybe Aveline is acting more pushy than curious. Are you trying to run him out of town? She asks herself blithely.

William gives her a lethargic smile, slow and coy. “Some time could be any time. I’m not exactly sure. The Wizard King may send me a transmission to head back to the realm.”

Hopefully, he does it fast, Aveline thinks. She bites her tongue. She doesn’t know why she feels disarmed by William Vangeance, but his motives and how he’s stumbled upon her have made her question many things about him. What are his intentions, exactly? He doesn’t seem the type to be a person who would backstab her or use her for his own gain. Maybe he came here from the good of his heart to make good trade agreements. It’d be plenty good for the area she’s in. The merchants who are in her area would do well with some more business. Maybe people from the noble realm would stay here for longer. Not feeling so put out with where they are.

She’s still uncertain about what the future holds, but she feels she cannot entirely doubt William. He doesn’t seem to be the bastard type to betray anyone, really, judging how he apologized for his men. Shouldn’t a good man force them to apologize on their own behalf, though?

She shouldn’t be so critical, she’s really no better. Aveline escapes her thoughts, listening to more chatter between her father and William. They seem to get along well. Which is nice. Typically, her father only chats with Mr. Humphries or all the other merchants in Kalva. It’s only because he rarely goes out and about, not being able to walk such long distances to the market.

She loses her thoughts once she catches what her father says next. “You could stay here, if you wish.”

She looks up, meeting William's eyes. Aveline speaks up quickly. “Father, don’t trouble him with that. I’m sure he’s already found somewhere to be.”

“Nonsense! Come stay here at our house. Why waste money at King’s Echo?”

Of course it’s that place. André and the owner of King's Echo, Basquiat, had a falling out years ago after a failed venue set up; words had been said, ones that couldn't be taken back. Her father holds notorious grudges. And it had happened a decade ago. Aveline cannot express enough how quickly the setting has changed. “Father, please–”

William agrees. “If the lady of the house wishes it. I won’t stay here, Mr. Dubois.”

André huffs under his breath, breaking a piece of bread to stuff into his mouth. “Now, listen here. You are more than welcome to. Aveline, don’t be difficult.”

She wants to slam her hand against the table, but all sense is gone. William gives the final say. “No, I won’t. Miss Dubois is not comfortable.”

“Bah! My daughter just finds those of the opposite sex incorrigible.”

“Father!”

“I’ve said too much, I–” he sighs to himself, the flush on his cheeks apparent to how much he has drank this evening. “I apologize– Aveline, don’t leave.”

She gets up, gathering her plates to head back into the kitchen. Unbelievable. Absolutely. She grumbles to herself, feeling her neck warm in shame. It’s not that she despises them, it’s just–she’s distrustful of them. They’ve always viewed her as an object to be won and not someone of equal standing. They never see her as a business partner, but someone to declare their undying love too. It’s something personal she’s been trying to work through since she turned of age. Others would say it's a blessing to have suitors lined up for their daughter, but in reality, it’s horrifying. It’s like being in a stock show. Only for them to marvel at her rather than just let her be. It’s attention she did not want upon herself.

Aveline feels more betrayed that her father would act so inappropriately in front of a guest. A nobleman at that. She wants to think the best of people, but she can’t help keeping them at a distance. After that kind of fiasco, how could she interact with the captain?

She attempts to distract herself by organizing the pantry, already having thrown out her food. Her father comes in, the click of his cane alerting her.

He coughs lightly. She pauses her work, clutching onto a rag. “You have behaved in a horrible way, Father.”

“I know.” He agrees. André does his best for her. He gives his daughter her paths that she has chosen for herself. Sometimes it feels maybe he has lost her along the way, adding to her pressures with the shop. He feels the need to explain himself, but also ensures not to pardon himself after what he’s said. “I deeply apologize for my behavior, Aveline. It’s just hard watching you keep people away. Vangeance seems like a good man, willing to do proper business. It can at least ease some of your duties.”

“I like my duties, Father,” Aveline objects. “I like to be kept busy and doing what I do.”

André nods. “My dear, I don’t want you to weather yourself down to my state. You do not have to push yourself.”

Aveline swallows. “I understand.” She takes this as it is. André approaches his stubborn daughter, placing a hand on her head.

“Be good, be kind. That’s what matters.” She feels sentimental, some tears welling up. “Do not blame yourself, Aveline. I always want what’s best for you.”

“I know,” she murmurs. “I know you do.”

Aveline escorts William out. The Dubois’ home releases a gentle luminescence of light that brightens up their path. The two walk down the cobblestones at a slow pace. William stops, hands firmly behind his back as he turns to her. “I apologize if I made any of this uncomfortable for you and Mr. Dubois. I overstayed my welcome.”

She shakes her head. “No, not at all,” she glances up at him. Her eyes peered into his. “I just feel I still need to think about your earlier offer, to go with you to the noble realm.”

“There’s no rush, Miss Dubois. Take your time, just let me know if you become interested. Your work is too beautiful not to be noticed.”

She gives him a tender look, her eyes softening. “I appreciate you being so kind, sir. Please, if you come back, have another drink with my father. He gets bored here.”

William’s lips upturn. “Thank you for the invitation. Also, before I leave, the tulip you gave me. It’s flourishing beautifully in the gardens.”

She beams. “Oh? That’s incredible. I’m so happy. Please stop by tomorrow at Flora’s. I’ll hand you some more mixed seeds and bulbs.”

“Sounds like a deal,” he tells her amiably.

#william vangeance x reader #black clover fluff #black clover x reader #black clover fanfiction

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mejomonster · 3 months

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I am going to go and finish Huai Dao by priest at some point. But like... i think i get whats not clicking so much.

Priest has the case story format down, or at least down enough i can see why several other priest novels are In Part organized by mystery cases. Some nuance brought up in the cases is Shallower Level in Huai Dao, and i am happy to say that improves in later novels.

Like for example... huai dao so far is uncritical of police and views them as overall Heroic, Mo Du in contrast is much more self aware of frequent widespread corruption in cops and with the powerful in society generally and how frequently perpetrators of crimes were or are victims - in Modu theres a lot of comparison with how people Luo Wenzhou saves or Fei Du takes into his own organization that were hurt by their circumstance are very similar to the others marginalized in society/left unprotected/harmed by stronger powers that end up being the perpetrators, and how even most of those perpetrators wouldnt be as malicious if they didnt have powerful people/groups manipulating and using them too, and in modu theres Widespread police corruption from initially just one team to discovering its roots are all the way at the TOP and the police as an organization cannot reliably be good and in fact can be a force perpetuating the damage to vulnerable people in society. Now modu is ultimately somewhat pro cop since 2 of the leads are cops and 1 is a rich elite, making all of the leads "good parallels" to the biggest villains of the story. But there is at least the nuance that police motives and actions should be questioned, can be destructive, and one should not assume by default they are acting in the interest of ordinary people.

That is a nuance that Huai Dao (from what ive read so far) has yet. I imagine that while i havent read Guardian or lie huo jiao chou or Can Ci Pin yet, that nuance to a lesser degree but still present continues to exist in newer works. Like... from what ive read of Guardians opening, Zhao Yunlan is self aware hes a nepo baby with privilege and how that influences his life and safety compared to other people, the same way Luo Wenzhou is self aware his position as a nepo baby (dad a prominent police figure) he has more power and safety to confront the corruption than his old mentor, than Tao Ran, and certainly more than civilians. Can Ci Pins military commander lead leaves the army in the opening, and that in itself hints of a self awareness in the character that the military... can do wrong, can be a power one may wish to not contribute to. Huai Dao seems... aware to a degree that perpetrators of harm could have had life circumstances leading their options to those crimes, but the understanding is tempered and not yet fully realized - still smoothed over with a sentiment of "ultimately they need to be stopped, were evil and we the cops are heroes for fighting them." While yeah in a cop case story i do expect (kind of the genre expectation tbh) the biggest villains to fit that profile of written as Genuinely Cruel Intentioned, modu plays with similar ideas but with more self awareness of "some of these ppl commited crimes because blackmailed/dealt drugs because it was the only viable financial option/were convinced it was right to help X higher up/were a child who grew up with role models and grooming to believe what she did was the only logical action (herself a parallel to fei du and how he was raised with an encouragement to abuse and harm if he sought to remain safe and alive)". Modu dives a bit deeper into yes some people Are dicks, are just cruel, but not everyone who commits crimes has ill intentions or had any other better choices. I can see Huai Dao has sparks of... considering the motives of the perpetrators in a more nuanced way, but the writing just Is Not There yet. Hasnt contemplated that idea fully or committed to it yet.

Anyway (after rambling) to finally get to my point: the main couple of Huai Dao is whats not quite working for me. So theres a side guy character, flirted with by a famous actor and crushing on his coworker Junzi. THAT side romance situation is compelling. In part, i think its because it feels like the writing of it is lead by that side guys Actual Personality and specific situation and actions he'd personally take. In other words, its lead by the guys characterization and the natural chemistry he has with certain others. I think that direction may have ultimately lead to Modu: and modu's quite unique feeling romance, as the main 3 characters FEEL very uniquely themselves and their development is led by what they'd specifically do and how They'd specifically change each other by interacting. (I actually... sort of wonder if tao ran was a viable romantic option in the early plan, and then the natural development of the characters turned him into who he is in the final story - a man who inevitably pushes connections away, tries to take on everything alone, feels responsible).

Huai Daos main couple... feels led by a Typical Romance Structure. At least so far (im 1/3 through). Their development doesnt feel like its organically building from their particular characters interacting. It feels like the lead character is being written to Be More Protective, to Care More Over Time, and theres no particular catalyst. Not that there necessarily needs to be - but i expect more specific character driven development usually when i read a priest novel (the newer priest novels ive read).

Like: the psychologist. Hes got hinted at trauma or secrets. That mismatch between his secrets and what he presents to the lead cop could be driving a tentative distrust and then honor at being given secret past information, driving them closer. And their BEST moment chemistry wise is similar: the psychologist says "ill back off, i know you dont trust me" and the cop feels offended hes being accused of not trusting and then tries to prove he Can Try To Trust the psychologist. Its a GREAT moment of their natural motives, personalities, and pasts driving them to act that way to each other and end up shifting their relationship to each other in a significant way. I want more moments like that one. That was a genuine meeting of their characterizations colliding and causing growth on both sides, and their relationship changing. They need MORE of it. And hopefully theyll have more later in the novel. But for now? Since that scene the bonding has been mostly the cop caring more, getting more protective. But its not really much of their actual personalities having to become vulnerable with each other and confront and grow. I sure hope they get more of those kinds of scenes, so the romance has a place to grow Because of their interactions and who they are individually interacting with each other.

(Perhaps modu picked a trio of leads with a years long history, in part because it means Important Long Standing Confrontations are already baked into the story as things the characters can confront each other emotionally about and grow/bond through addressing. With 2 totally newly introduced characters like huai daos cop and psychologist, theres no premade reasons for discussing things that important and the plot has to do more heavy lifting to push the characters to interact in vulnerable ways. But just me musing lol)

Tldr i do like Huai Dao. I desperately want to read the novel before it, that the police Dad and his previously-gangster husband are from. Because ive got a feeling their romance is more likely personalities naturally confronting and growing and connecting - just based on how they already interact in a much more Unique To Them way. I think with Huai Dao maybe theres just some growing pains with making a romance spark between newly meeting characters, maybe more experimentation in what works to build a connection versus just feels surface level.

#huai dao #modu #lb

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rotworld · 1 year

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Your writing is nothing short of amazing, but I think the world you’ve created for the meanwolves is just *exquisite*. Absolutely breathtaking. When you described how Blake was able to dissect every minute, little sensory fragment on a simple winter day it stilled my heart.

If I were to ask anything, poor Reader is in quite the predicament but do you think that there is something about pack society that intrigues or fascinates them?

aw jeez thank you! ;v; i’ll list a few so you can decide what your particular reader character likes best lol wild wolf packs have a lot of interesting qualities.

->the commune: some humans have a harder time adapting to this than others, but many come to find it soothing. for the most part, pack members live, eat and sleep near each other. at its start, the shelter mountain pack all lived under one roof, although they’ve expanded enough to necessitate building another residential cabin or two since then. still, most choose to congregate in the original cabin for their leisure time, since it’s the biggest one and it smells the most like home.

->job flexibility: there’s a lot of work involved in maintaining a commune so every pack member has to contribute. common tasks involve obtaining and preparing food, building and repairing commune structures, and patrolling the territory. some wolves rotate responsibilities on a schedule, and some prefer to stick with one particular task that they enjoy or are good at. additionally, they need to produce goods to trade and sell to humans so they can get things they can’t make themselves, which is why wolves have a presence at craft fairs and similar events. anyone who knows a trade can take apprentices. these tasks and opportunities are all available to pack humans. lance probably starts pushing the reader towards taking on a few tasks after they’ve been there for a couple weeks, although he’s not antsy to put them to work so much as he just wants them fully embedded in pack life.

->non-verbal communication: scent and body language are far more important to pack members than words, giving them the ability to quickly interpret what someone else is thinking or feeling. hunting humans for centuries has also given them insight into their prey, which can be frustrating for a pack human who’s still getting used to things. how come the whole pack seems to know when you catch a cold, or when something scares you, or when, most embarrassingly, you’re turned on? it’s possible for pack humans to gain some fluency in this style of communication with time and experience, although not having the same sense of smell or hearing will put them at a slight disadvantage.

#rotpeach answers #meanwolves

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galactic-pirates · 6 months

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1, 14 and 21 for the ask game, please!

1) what are 3 things you’d say shaped you into who you are?

I am unfortunately an honest person so this might be a bit of an over share I don’t know. I’m not very good at judging so I apologise in advance. I’m going to put it under a cut as it’s quite personal.

- being undiagnosed autistic for 26 years. This is probably by far the biggest slice of the ‘what shaped me’ pie. I was me - I am me - and I have never known different and so I thought life was just like this. That I couldn’t cope, that I was weird and always unwanted, all my failures I assumed that they were mine - that I was just wrong and bad and I learned to deeply hate myself. I broke. I have had 3 mental breakdowns and got worse each time. I now have a reason for why I struggle but I have these learned patterns of behaviour that I can’t shake. The self-loathing is in my bones, the depression and anxiety are intense. It’s not like that for all autistics but because I didn’t know. Yeah :/ it’s a real problem and I don’t know how to fix it. I don’t know how to let go, as I have never let go of anything in my life. I am stuck just getting worse and worse :(

- mum was my grandparents carer. I debated whether to put this in black and white. Mum doesn’t know my tumblr but I would hate for her to think I blamed her for anything. Absolutely not. Mum did the best she could, she always did the right thing, I support her totally. But it would be incorrect to say there were no consequences. I was a child and though mum insists it wasn’t true, I felt that my grandparents came first. On times I felt resentful like about Christmas plans or something, I then felt immediate shame and guilt about how I had thought it wasn’t fair, as it wasn’t about me. I do feel it has taught me to always put everyone else’s wishes above my own and to feel a lot of guilt about being any kind of burden, or even just existing in a space because surely I must be trouble.

- being on disability. A lot of self-loathing does come from this, that I am not contributing to society. But there’s also a hefty dose of fear. I am not in control of my situation. At any time the rules could change on me. I’m afraid of everything constantly. I mean fear is the singular constant in my life. But disability is definite constant low level anxiety, forever in the back of my mind. It never leaves me. I hate it. If I could get a job and leave it behind I would.

14) what’s something you’ve always wanted to do but maybe been to scared to do?

Go places. I’m virtually agoraphobic. I have panic attacks in the local supermarket. That’s the first thing that comes to mind. There’s a couple of science museums in London which look so cool, or there’s the Lego House.

But I think my real answer is to write professionally. True I mostly talk about novels and I did an attempt at indie publishing, but that was short-lived and I suppose I want to feel good enough. I didn’t give it a fair enough shake back then to tell if the market would eventually approve of me or not. However I have shied away from even trying since. I don’t expect they would have paid much but I have seen openings for staff writers a handful of times on sites I read everyday like WoWHead or BrickFanatics. I have contemplated sending in an application but haven’t dared. Honestly I’m not sure if I am more scared of rejection or success. I know rejection is a hell of a lot more likely obviously but I was just too afraid of the possibility of any kind of response.

21) are you a spiritual person?

Not really no. Death is something that terrifies me. Not for me but for losing mum. Sometimes I wish I did have some kind of faith. The closest thing to comfort I have in that sphere is the second law of thermodynamics, that energy can neither be created or destroyed. Yes I am quoting from an Agents of Shield episode but the sentiment really stuck with me. That everything that is, used to be something else, and will be something else again.

Thanks for the ask ❤️ sorry that I got a bit heavy there but hey you asked the questions.

#i answer things

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quirkwizard · 2 years

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Hello! I was always wondering and wanted to see what your opinion is, but do you think the hero ranking in itself is/was a good idea? Because essentially if it were to be removed wouldn’t that weed out the heroes that aren’t “good” people? Because it seems a lot like a public popularity contest to me in my opinion. I would love your take on it as well!

For the sake of this, I’m focusing on the hero side. I think that rankings play some part in the civilian side, but that’s more of a different discussion.

Yes, I do think that ranking heroes against each other is a good idea, though I want to try and address some of the concerns you are presenting. For starters, it doesn't seem like much of a popularity contest. Popularity is a factor, but it doesn't seem to be the biggest contributor. If it was, you think we would see less effective heroes near the top. But no, a lot of the heroes are extremely competent. And if it was based mostly on popularity, you think that someone as unpopular as Endeavor wouldn't have made it as high as he did. It seems that it's based more on strength, cases solved, and general contribution to society. Even then, publicity and civilian engagement are still a major part of hero work, so being popular is technically the sign of an effective hero.

I also don't understand how removing the ranking system would weed out "bad" people. Because by removing the rankings, that doesn't suddenly remove a lot of the attractive aspects of hero work, like earning money and popularity. The only difference would be that heroes and the population at large don't have any metric with which to judge them. You don't get rid of them unless there is some kind of cataclysm, like what happened with Gigantomachia, or you completely remove those aspects of hero work, which would be far worse for hero work than any kind of cataclysm. So who would that really remove? The only one I can think of is Endeavor, but that's a specific vendetta against All Might for being the strongest rather than a desire for the number one spot as stated in Chapter 165.

The hero rankings do a lot to help. The biggest draw of the ranking system is how it rewards good hero work and pits heroes against one another in a non-confrontational manner. One of the most important parts of development is competition. Whether they know it or not, each hero is in a competition against each other. If you want to make it, you need to get good. While the high paycheck gives incentive, the ranking system gives a metric by which the heroes can ascribe to themselves and other people. By constantly comparing heroes, it gives the heroes something tangible to work towards. You go higher in the rankings, which gives you more publicity and more payout from things like sponsorships, higher wages, or however else heroes may earn money.

In doing so, it's fostering growth. You want to go up in the rankings and get all the benefits that implies? You need to train harder, you need to save more people, and you need to learn how to market yourself as a hero. This gives the heroes some tangible comparison and incentive to do better at their job. Without this measurable metric, a lot of heroes are bound to stagnate. It's a lot like sports stars in the real world and how they try to practice and train relentlessly to make themselves better players to improve their statistics and public image. Only now, creating this competition ends up making more effective heroes and saving more lives, which is ultimately the point of all this. With this system, it pushes heroes to do better. Better heroes mean fewer villains and more lives saved.

#My Hero Academia #Not Quirks #Toshinori Yagi #All Might #Enji Todoroki #Endeavor #Keigo Takami #Hawks #MHA Meta #MHA Theory

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maaruin · 1 year

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How should we deal with Hogwarts Legacy and its antisemitism?

Calls to boycott Hogwarts Legacy have been there since the game was announced. Mostly because of Rowlings transphobia, but people have also pointed out another (and IMO bigger*) problem with the game: the story is using many antisemitic tropes in it’s depiction of the villains of the story, rebelling Goblins. Some of those are from the books (Goblins, as a secluded society, controlling wizard banking), some of those are added in the game (Goblins kidnapping wizard children and intending to “destroy wizardkind”).

But I want to question if boycott is the best approach. I think it is worthwhile to take a closer look at what the impact of such a game could be. Boycott is a strategy and should be employed to achieve something. It has to be tailored to what it is trying to achieve. So let’s look at what different groups of people stand to gain or loose from the game.

1. the developers (if intentional): one former lead designer who has left the development team some time ago was an outspoken right-winger on YouTube, so it is possible that the game’s antisemitic tropes are intentional. If the game is successful this could serve as an example for others with similar intention to see how much a big budget game could get away with.

2. the developers (if unintentional): maybe most of the development team just didn’t think much and put in antisemitic tropes without realizing. A boycott could in that case incentivise future developers to be more careful.

3. Gamers who are aware of antisemitic tropes (and are opposed to antisemitism): The game won’t turn them antisemitic. They will recognize the tropes. Might lesson the enjoyment of the game.

4. Gamers who are themselves openly antisemitic: The will like the game. It could support a view of “I’m just saying out loud what everyone is thinking.”

5. Gamers who are unaware of the antisemitic tropes the game uses: No effect comes directly from playing the game. But if they ever encounter antisemitic conspiracy theories, they may be more sympathetic to them because it brings up emotions from playing the game.

6. Gamers who are Jewish: Playing a game that depicts a stand in for you in a hostile way is bad enough, but knowing that these tropes have contributed to pogroms and genocide. And if the game is successful, that means one of the safety barriers against such things isn’t there.

In my estimate the biggest problem are 2 and 5: When antisemitic tropes fly around in popular culture but aren’t recognized as such, and then people who encountered them then encounter actual antisemitic conspiracies, these theories will feel familiar and more easy to accept. We interpret the things we hear according to the things we know, be they fiction or reality. (For comparison, imagine telling “if he wins the next election, Donald Trump will declare himself emperor” to two people. One of them a Star Wars fan, the other has no idea about anything Star Wars. The emotional reaction of the first one will likely be stronger, and stronger in a negative way.)

However, based on what I just described, I think a boycott is not the most important thing. And I think trying to avoid talking about Hogwarts Legacy is even counterproductive. My impression is that while many people have learned that antisemitism is wrong, far fewer have learned why it is (both morally and factually) wrong*. And that is what makes them susceptibale to antisemitic conspiracy theories.

Let’s say there are two Let’s Players: One refuses to play Hogwarts Legacy. The other plays it on their channel and while playing points out both things they like about the game and things they don’t like. And the antisemitic tropes are one of the things they point out in the negative list and while doing that explains the origins of these tropes and how they have been used. I think the second person is more effective in working against antisemitism. Antisemites are out there and trying to recruit, and the second one will have put people in a better position to reject their arguments.

Boycott would a show of solidarity (to Jews in this case) and a way to not reward the developers with money, but I think at the point society is at trying to reach people who are largely ignorant about antisemitism is more important. I read something by a historian some years ago that for a long time historians tried to not at all engage with Holocaust denial to avoid the impression that it is a legitimate academic position. But it turned out that this didn’t stop the ideas from spreading and now they think that they probably need to engage with and refute Holocaust denial in a more active way.

(I’m not 100% confident in that position. If you think complete boycott is the better way, feel free to explain.)

------------------------------------------------------

*This isn’t to say that antisemitism is worse than transphobia. Just that something that is at the core of the game (the tropes used for the villain) has a lager impact than the fact that it is part of a franchise that was started by a publicly transphobic author.

*The core fallacies of modern antisemitism are:

“all people of a group must be working together” (that’s how antisemites end up with absurd ideas of a grand Jewish conspiracy including CEOs and socialists politicians)

“all my political opponents must be working together” (goes hand in hand with the previous idea)

“my political opponents must be driven by malice towards me/my group” (the idea that Jews primary goal is to destroy the West/the “white race” comes from this idea)

“if people of my group disagree with me, they must be under external influence. either they were seduced by the enemy or they are secretly the enemy and just pretend to be from my group.” (antisemites have the habit of declaring all kinds of people secret Jews or under Jewish influence)

“the behavior of people is determined by their ethnic origin” (bog-standard racism, but it gets particularly insidious with points 1-3 and point 6)

“problems in a society can best be solved by removing the people who cause the problems from society” (a very common fallacy across many political movements, also an idea that has frequently lead to genocide)

#i don't plan on playing hogwarts legacy #but i plan on talking about it occassionally #hogwarts legacy #hogwarts legacy critical #antisemitism #(i'm currently to tired to proofread the post so please excuse mistakes)

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mollykeaneyviscom · 1 year

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Major Project - Contemporary Research

Something I've been struggling with is keeping this project fun and lighthearted. Initially, when I came up with the starting point of growing up too quickly, I knew it wasn't likely to be funny, but I felt like it would be sweet and relatable. The idea of making letters grow up too fast and playing with what that could look like tugged at my heartstrings. However, the more I've researched, I've found a lot of serious issues related to a phrase that is often used as a jokey euphemism.

Anna Ginsburg - Private Parts

Anna Ginsburg is one of my favourite contemporary practitioners and has been one of my biggest inspirations over my time on this course. I love all the work she creates and am hugely envious of her illustration and animation skills. Something she does beautifully is draw on somewhat mundane, unrecognised things, make them beautiful and give them the attention they deserve. Her project Private Parts came from her realising her friends did not share her confidence in self exploration and pleasure, in fact they all cringed when she talked about it so openly and more her feel bad about it. She noticed this pattern that within society talking openly about sexual pleasure, particularly women's masturbation is extremely taboo, and that shame surrounding the subject massively contributed to the pleasure gap between men and women. To combat this issue Anna recorded interviews with her friends talking about sex, masturbation, anatomy etc, and turned them into the beautiful and comical video, Private Parts. She had 11 other animators collaborate with her, each given a section of the audio to create their own visuals for. The variety of voices and visual styles is what makes the video so special, and especially relatable. As this type of project is something I would love to work on I was wondering if there was any way of implementing this into my own work.

As I was thinking of ways to show growing up through type, I was thinking more broadly about the ways in which we grow up. I have always talked about the way we grow up at university. These three years create a sort of bridge between adolescence and adulthood. We are all adults of course but if you ask any of us most of us have no idea what we're doing most of the time/what we want to do after uni. I think this experience is incredibly real and relatable but not widely discussed. Where it is discussed is conversations between friends. Over our time at uni I have watched my friends grow in varied and incredible ways, we are all very different people to who we were three years ago. I would love to record interviews and conversations among friends discussing our experiences of growing up at university. I also think its interesting to see what advice we would give our freshers selves, as this is probably not far off of what our future selves would want to tell us now. We are still not fully grown, this point is hard to define as you never really stop growing up. I think raising this point during the video would also be really lovely, while we feel far more grown up now, we are still so young and have so much left to learn.

youtube

#Youtube

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escape-rock-bottom · 1 year

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Journal 30 (1/2) - My Biggest, Meanest Negative Thought

I think we all have our own unique negative thoughts that just continuously circulate in our heads. These vary drastically between individuals, some are related to your perception of the outside world, your appearance, your relationships, you name it. There’s usually one that seems to dominate and bleed into all aspects of our lives too. I call these “chronic recurring negative thoughts”.

These are the ones that are so habitual they become a part of your personality without you even knowing it and control your choices. They’re rarely in the forefront of your mind, but they are omnipresent in your day to day life. They gnaw at you but you barely pay them any mind. They are the slow, barely seen killers of our self esteem and confidence.

During this whole self-development thing, one of the constant journaling exercises I hear gurus and coaches recommend time and time again is to identify and unravel your negative thoughts. I thought I got every single one of them out on display and ready for extermination but I didn’t realize this one, the one that hides so well but comes up much more often than the others.

The thought revolves around the fact that “I am not enough.” I am not man enough. I am not enough for the people I love. I am not disciplined enough. I am not determined and driven enough. I am not talented enough. I am not fit enough. I am not attractive enough…

And so on. These thoughts pervade nearly every aspect of my life but they’re so constant that my brain just filters them out. I didn’t even realize I was having these so much until I started this journey and began reeeeally digging in and improving my mindfulness.

It all came to the forefront when a specific incident caused an influx of these thoughts. I’m not going to fault myself for having them, but they kinda crushed me and caused me to spiral into these “not enough” thoughts. Then it hit me, a lot of my insecurities and goals are directly connected to this “lack of being enough”. I need to knock that off big time.

My situation is weirdly complicated. I have a literal split in my sense of identity (yay, weird neurology!) that causes me to basically have two varying views of myself. I think I’m a cool and interesting guy. I think I’m talented. I think I have what it takes to get where I want to be. Then, there’s a part of me that’s stewed in this idea that I need to be more than I already am.

It's counterintuitive as hell honestly. I think its a matter of I managed to be truly confident and love myself, but haven't fully disrupted the thoughts. I don't always listen to them nowadays, but I guess they became habitual.

I can’t tell if it’s a result of me wanting external validation, or if I feel I have to meet certain expectations of human-ness that I have not yet achieved, or if it’s a cause of some trauma stuff I long since forgot but held onto. Whatever caused it, they’re there, and they contribute to a slew of problems I have in areas of my life.

Now that I am aware of them, I can work on them. I need to remind myself that improving myself isn’t about becoming more for other people or to prove myself to others, but rather to prove myself to myself and grow into a person I’d like to be.

In reality to society, we will never be enough, but also be more than enough, but also be just right to the people around us. It’s funny how I can be both too energetic but also kinda silent and boring depending on who you ask. It’s contradictory to be very attractive and charismatic to my girlfriend but ugly af to another woman.

If we uphold our sense of self worth to others’ perceptions, we will constantly rely on other people’s validation. We will also put far too much legitimacy into people’s criticisms, jokes, and negative perceptions of you. If we uphold ourselves to societal norms (which only a small handful of us can fit into to a tee) we feel inadequate and worthless if we don’t fit in.

To be confident in yourself, you need to validate, love, and respect yourself. You need to hold the power to uplift yourself and hold your beliefs of your worth over others’ expectations and criticisms. Improve for you, not for what people expect from you. You need to believe that you are enough for yourself because you have nothing to prove to the world around you.

#drvn30 #self improvement #confidence #self love #negative thoughts

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keywestlou · 2 years

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BLIZZARD OF 1977

BLIZZARD OF 1977 - https://keywestlou.com/blizzard-of-1977/Buffalo's snowstorm dominates the news. Understandable. Six and a half feet. Buffalo had an even bigger one in 1977. Eight feet plus. Described in inches at the time. One hundred plus. A three day storm. Biggest ever, before or since. The snow began falling on friday January 28. Drifts reached 30 feet in some places. Snow plows were useless. Snow too heavy and deep. Earth moving front end truck loaders were utilized. Brought in from Canada and other U.S. areas. Snow removal a unique exercise. The front loaders filled dump trucks with snow. Toronto provided 2 huge machines which somehow became part of the dump trucks. The machines melted the snow. The water was dumped into street sewers. The water then ran into Lake Erie. The process worked till the federal government said stop! Too many environmental issues would result. By midnight friday, 10,000 cars were stranded in Buffalo. Two thousand on Main Street and eight thousand otherwise on City streets. The stranded vehicles affected snow removal. Buffalo hired 50 tow truck companies to remove them. Saturday afternoon, dump trucks and payloaders were dumping snow directly into the Niagara River. President Carter and Governor Carey issued emergency declarations. The temperature remained a consistent minus 7 degrees Fahrenheit for several days. Winds as high as 51 mph. The winds contributed strongly to the high snow drifts. On sunday and monday, Buffalo and surrounding communities banned unnecessary travel. A serious banning. Arrests made. Fines up to $500 and 90 days in jail. Necessary. Stranded cars prohibited streets from being cleaned. They ended up being buried under the snow. Could not be seen. Still snowing on monday. The sun finally broke through on wednesday February 2. Schools remained closed till February 14. Closed a total of 10 "school days." Besides my research, I have to thank Buffalo's Fran and Tom Dixon. They lived through the blizzard of 1977 and shared their recollections with me. This past weekend's blizzard of no effect as far as the Dixons were concerned. Early reports advised the storm would be 5-6 feet. However, a narrow one in width. The Dixon home was on the periphery. They got all of one inch. So much for snow. Key West has a bubba system. Those born in Key West take care of each other. Some families going back 3-4 generations. Bubbas are a closed society. Do business with each other. New residents to Key West have a difficult, if not impossible, time breaking in. Steve Thompson ran into the bubba system in his early Key West years. Most of Duval was bordered up in early '73. A little business on the 200 block was all I could see. I felt lucky to find a location at 208 Duval for my first store. Key West was just taking off and I couldn't ask for more. I had a ten year lease and I was happy as could be. Then they built a pizza place right in front of me. I have to admit it really did suck. But it forced me to find a second spot a few blocks up. It was probably the worst looking building in Key West. When we were finished, it was one of the best. 501 had been boarded up for years and was in bad shape. The landlord said, "Only a 3 year lease, you'll have to wait." He wanted to see if I would do what I said I would do. Unfortunately, I think he had some other motives too. He wanted to make sure I would fix his building first. In my whole life, that decision was my worst. I put in tile floors, sinks, bathrooms, walk in cooler, all to City Code. I installed windows, doors, gingerbread, signs, and I was ready to fold. The City finally gave me a permit, I was broke and who knows. B.O. opened a fish wagon across the street with only a hose. Luckily, the store took off from day one and did very good. My last year I asked the landlord for that extension. He said he didn't like my manager. He would have to go. I hated to fire him, but I couldn't say no. In December, I met my friend Tony in Miami for our annual ski trip.. He handed me a letter from my landlord, and that was just the tip. It said I had two weeks to vacate, there were too many drunks around. I was surrounded by his bars and I didn't even sell beer. So that was another lesson learned the hard way. When your lease is up, you are going to pay. B.O. was a bubba and they do whatever they want. I always liked Buddy, but I wasn't even a freshwater conch. Enjoy your day!

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sweetsweatergirl · 2 years

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November 14th, 2124

I have lived for 125 years on this earth, with my 126th birthday coming up on December 29th. To think I would live this long is beyond me, but there is only so much I can understand when living her on Earth. It’s also crazy to have seen the differences that have happened in my lifetime. I know that I have been asked by my great grand daughter to write about my experience in the world and how much it has changed, but that is far too much to go into detail about. I guess the bigger events are in the history books, but I guess the most important thing is to talk about the events that truly changed the way that I live day to day.

The biggest change I remember having experienced in my life was the biggest discussion that ever occurred in history. It was the idea about removing currency from the entire world. We have been so far engrained to work for currency, it was mind boggling, but it made sense. If we got ride of currency, the world would be better for it. It would be best to explain in more simpler terms what was covered. With how we run as a society, everyone wanted to earn currency since we needed currency to live in our everyday life. Everything cost something. We were making good progress as a society, but because of currency, there was greed. We couldn’t get past wanting to be greedy, or in the case of wanting to hoard the money so you could live and essentially do whatever you wanted with your wealth.

Now to the business side. You had to pay money for these goods or services that people would make or provide. We could invent something new, but we wanted to be compensated for it. We were progressing very fast, but we were kept from having the best quality of life because these businesses wanted us to come back with our money. They purposefully made faulty equipment that could have lasted for over hundreds of years, but they wouldn’t get any more of our money. They wanted more money year after year.

Because our progress as a society was hindered by currency, they discussed having it removed entirely, but it was a system ingrained in us for eons. We struggled to grasp it. What would we get for our services that we provided then? We had robots to be made to cover every service and position possible for our comfort. Okay, but what about all the robots invented? You were well known for what you were made. Each inventor would have their name on the patent, and they would be known as the core inventor, or inventors, whoever contributed. No currency needed. We did not put value to anything anymore. Everyone had access to everything that was offered. Society was turning around in a way that no one expected.

Now to the more interesting details. Currency was banned. It was considered to no longer have a value. It was an extremely big shock for the whole world to turn around and get ride of currency, but they made sure to cover all the details about removing currency, and suddenly, the world was free. We automated every position in the world as much as possible, but humans always took part in what they love. They kept up the hobbies, such as doctors working with robots to help diagnose patients during screenings to make sure that symptoms that cannot be seen were being included. Mechanics continued to exist and work on cars along side robots for the fun of it and to make sure that everything ran smoothly, even when a robot may miss a diagnosis on a car. Robots are fallible, like human, although working together brought about an easier balance.

Humanity started to bloom. We were not overworked; we were not burned out. We all went to school to learn about whatever we wanted because we were interested in it, and we wanted to provide for humanity, which involved STEM, and continuing the creations for the betterment of society and for ourselves. We also bloomed so much in the arts, creating so many masterpieces in a time that we needed it most. And life seemed so much better. I, myself, got to crochet and read book a lot. I also enjoyed traveling with my love and learning about the world’s history, right in their locations. The yarn I got was made straight from the robot, and all the books came straight from the library, which was fully automated by robots. All I needed to do was request a book in any format I wanted, and I got it as soon as it was available and ready, right to my home. This also worked with movies too. Traveling was great. Robots took care of all the processes of getting the luggage onto the plane, getting the plane prepped, and loading the plane. All hotels were made the same too.

As for housing, we all got uniformed housing for everyone that involved a house plan that worked with family members. It was built to always stack and add on rooms to what everyone calls the “infinite hallway.” When you needed more rooms, the end of the hall would open up and add two more rooms to either side, creating more space for those who needed it. The best part of the process was moving out, all you needed was the location of your home, and it would take your room and connect it there. All amenities were included, which was a robot for cleaning everything in the home, from your space to the dishes and laundry. They also included robots for cooking, as well as robots for prepping the bathroom for your needs, whether it was showering, bathing, both, there was no stopping these robots meeting your needs.

Looking back, there was so much backlash, especially from those who owned most of the currency in the world. They were going to lose the life that they had, but it was to create a better world for tomorrow. One where they didn’t have to worry about their heir’s running the family’s money and lifestyle into the ground. When the process started, they were allowed to keep their home and continue their lifestyle, all they had to do was switch out the staff for robots. It wasn’t anything that they couldn’t handle. Plus, society worked from the bottom up. Everyone worked together to get our universal homes made for the homeless and get them set up with food, clothing, and shelter. It was one of the greatest testaments to humanity during those years, eventually having everyone agree to the change.

Looking back, I think about the years I stressed out, trying to get through life, worrying about living and the cost. I was always so worried about everything in life. And yet, persisting in life, we eventually made a change where we as a society can enjoy traveling and seeing the world and living life with one another, and not dealing with the difficult parts of life that we had created over time. I hope that we can continue to progress as a world and make everyone feel happy and safe and enjoy life. And with all this free time, anyone can create anything. And I hope that I can rest knowing that my planet and life were filled with happiness and the ones I love, rather than trying to fulfill an empty promise that we created so long ago. And now, I can finally rest, having written out what I felt was a fulfilling message to my great granddaughter. May you learn everything your heart desires, and may this paradise make you feel fulfilled eternally.

Love,

Great Grandmama

#short story #future #food for thought #ideas #story idea #i was bored #i had this idea for a while #i just needed to write this down

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