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The Arachne System (SPIDERLIV 3)

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The Laurent said:
That suggests to me that we should do it, because a lot of the themes of that are pretty toxic and against the themes of the story we're in.
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Oh yeah, I wasn't quite using that as an argument.

That said, the list above forgets about someone, namely Athena. May offered to sneak her in, but how much interaction between Athena and May is desired? Do we ask her to keep quiet, or do we offer to set up a communication pathway?
 
[X] You try to act like things are normal, like a normal outing with the two of you. Try to give her a sense of stability and normalcy. You're still the Liv she remembers.
[X] Maybe it'll help her become more comfortable with it?
 
Ah, I'm not sure what to pick.

In one hand, showing her that Liv is the same Liv that May knows is good, but on the other hand, we shouldn't pretend as if everything is exactly the same, something did change and we have to acknowledged that.
 
fuuuuuck. remind me never to be nostalgic about being a kid who didn't know how to communicate.

I can kinda see all three of the first options as plausible, but I also see them as being something that Liv would be painfully aware of them not being good choices.

If write-ins are allowed on this one,
[X] If you're starting over this weekend, maybe you can do things differently. You tried rigorous honesty yesterday, and that seemed to work out okay. You're still a little scared, but you showed her everything yesterday and May didn't turn away. You refuse to mess this up because you're scared. May's not that scary. So, ask May what she needs from you today--if she needs to feel normal, needs reassurance, needs a banner weekend, whatever. You just want to talk, because you don't want to make assumptions or take anything for granted.

[X] No, not unless May brings it up first or asks. It's part of what you're doing by talking to her; if she needs to feel normal, you're not going to lean into being above-normal just to look or feel cool or chivalrous.

I don't want this to come off as "gaaah I like none of these, I'm punting and making it the QM's problem" or trying to game the system -- I want to present a different path than "I will make an uninformed decision about how to treat my partner and hope that it goes well" (which, I acknowledge, is how most people do). This kind of relationship would require a degree of emotional maturity, self-awareness and honesty that the average teenager doesn't possess or even get, but neither of these two are average teenagers; I wouldn't put it out there if I didn't think it was something they can do. Speaking from personal experience, I know it's one thing to snark at the screen about the trope of "none of this stuff would be a problem if you two talked to each other for one damn minute" and a much more scary thing to actually live it. But on the other hand, my partner and I have spent half our lives together, and I'm reasonably sure it's not 'cause I'm gorgeous or charming.

@open_sketch -- if these write-ins aren't eligible, I understand completely.
 
[x]Rapidly vaccilitate between all 3 option based upon the slightest feedback

[X] Maybe it'll help her become more comfortable with it?
 
[X] If you're starting over this weekend, maybe you can do things differently. You tried rigorous honesty yesterday, and that seemed to work out okay. You're still a little scared, but you showed her everything yesterday and May didn't turn away. You refuse to mess this up because you're scared. May's not that scary. So, ask May what she needs from you today--if she needs to feel normal, needs reassurance, needs a banner weekend, whatever. You just want to talk, because you don't want to make assumptions or take anything for granted.

[X] No, not unless May brings it up first or asks. It's part of what you're doing by talking to her; if she needs to feel normal, you're not going to lean into being above-normal just to look or feel cool or chivalrous.
-[X] Well, okay, minor good deeds like helping the artist struggling with the credit card reader on her phone ought to be fine?

[x] Whatever she needs from you today. If she wants you to roll out the red carpet for her, pull out all the stops. If she just wants a normal weekend, keep it under wraps. Communication is key.
 
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[X] You try to act like things are normal, like a normal outing with the two of you. Try to give her a sense of stability and normalcy. You're still the Liv she remembers.
-[X] Liv asks May if she can hold her hand early in the day - perhaps while waiting in line or such.
[X] If you're starting over this weekend, maybe you can do things differently. You tried rigorous honesty yesterday, and that seemed to work out okay. You're still a little scared, but you showed her everything yesterday and May didn't turn away. You refuse to mess this up because you're scared. May's not that scary. So, ask May what she needs from you today--if she needs to feel normal, needs reassurance, needs a banner weekend, whatever. You just want to talk, because you don't want to make assumptions or take anything for granted.

(Because yay approval voting, and both all of these seem like decent options. Edited to add LuckyLadyLily's sub-vote about hand-holding - see post below.)

[X] No, not unless May brings it up first or asks. It's part of what you're doing by talking to her; if she needs to feel normal, you're not going to lean into being above-normal just to look or feel cool or chivalrous.
-[X] Well, okay, minor good deeds like helping the artist struggling with the credit card reader on her phone ought to be fine?
 
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[X] You try to act like things are normal, like a normal outing with the two of you. Try to give her a sense of stability and normalcy. You're still the Liv she remembers.
-[X] Liv asks May if she can hold her hand early in the day - perhaps while waiting in line or such.

She doesn't know what 'start over' means to May, but she did say they were 'staying together'. The first most timid step in a physical relationship is hand holding, and Liv just got a lecture on consent from her mom so asking explicit permission is fresh on her mind. Also it would be adorable.

[X] Maybe it'll help her become more comfortable with it?

May wants to get to know Liv again with the Arachne stuff in context. So show her the context. Probably not a great idea to put on too much of a show, but I feel like it is consistent with Liv's personality to over do this a bit.
 
[X] You try to act like things are normal, like a normal outing with the two of you. Try to give her a sense of stability and normalcy. You're still the Liv she remembers.
-[X] Liv asks May if she can hold her hand early in the day - perhaps while waiting in line or such.
[X] No, best not to even bring it up.
 
open_sketch said:
Write ins allowed. handholding cute.
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Guys using my incredible hax0r powers I have stolen the first draft of the update from open sketch's computer.

You glared at the buttons. Sure technically you could press them, but you had one hand full of a bag of con merchandise, and the other....
You glared harder. May hadn't let go so clearly your priorities weren't totally wrong.
You glared harder. The door dinged open.
"Liv, did you just hack the elevator so we didn't have to stop holding hands?"
Its pretty short but I assume thats cause the vote is still open.
 
[X] You try to act like things are normal, like a normal outing with the two of you. Try to give her a sense of stability and normalcy. You're still the Liv she remembers.
-[X] Liv asks May if she can hold her hand early in the day - perhaps while waiting in line or such.
[X] Maybe it'll help her become more comfortable with it?

Yes. This write-in is YES!
 
[X] You try to act like things are normal, like a normal outing with the two of you. Try to give her a sense of stability and normalcy. You're still the Liv she remembers.
[X] Maybe it'll help her become more comfortable with it?
 
[X] You try to act like things are normal, like a normal outing with the two of you. Try to give her a sense of stability and normalcy. You're still the Liv she remembers.
-[X] Liv asks May if she can hold her hand early in the day - perhaps while waiting in line or such.
[X] Maybe it'll help her become more comfortable with it?
 
[X] You try to act like things are normal, like a normal outing with the two of you. Try to give her a sense of stability and normalcy. You're still the Liv she remembers.
[X] Maybe it'll help her become more comfortable with it?

EDIT to avoid double-posting: not related to the vote, but I just had a thought. We just told May that we're Arachne, but we haven't told our mom yet? And we've known our mom for a lot longer.
I think while we weren't telling anybody we had an 'excuse' not to tell her, since there were no exceptions. But as soon as we shared the secret with May, I feel like we now kinda have to share the secret with mom.
 
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[X] If you're starting over this weekend, maybe you can do things differently. You tried rigorous honesty yesterday, and that seemed to work out okay. You're still a little scared, but you showed her everything yesterday and May didn't turn away. You refuse to mess this up because you're scared. May's not that scary. So, ask May what she needs from you today--if she needs to feel normal, needs reassurance, needs a banner weekend, whatever. You just want to talk, because you don't want to make assumptions or take anything for granted.

[X] No, not unless May brings it up first or asks. It's part of what you're doing by talking to her; if she needs to feel normal, you're not going to lean into being above-normal just to look or feel cool or chivalrous.
 
[X] You try to act like things are normal, like a normal outing with the two of you. Try to give her a sense of stability and normalcy. You're still the Liv she remembers.
[X] No, best not to even bring it up.
 
[X] You try to act like things are normal, like a normal outing with the two of you. Try to give her a sense of stability and normalcy. You're still the Liv she remembers.
-[X] Liv asks May if she can hold her hand early in the day - perhaps while waiting in line or such.
[X] No, best not to even bring it up.
 
This looks like a good write-in. Communication is key.

[X] If you're starting over this weekend, maybe you can do things differently. You tried rigorous honesty yesterday, and that seemed to work out okay. You're still a little scared, but you showed her everything yesterday and May didn't turn away. You refuse to mess this up because you're scared. May's not that scary. So, ask May what she needs from you today--if she needs to feel normal, needs reassurance, needs a banner weekend, whatever. You just want to talk, because you don't want to make assumptions or take anything for granted.

But the available write-ins for the power-use look a bit suspicious to me, especially since the entire point of the first write-in was that we don't know what she needs and should just ask her. Given that, I think that rolling the two together is easy and straightforward, and I'm proposing my own write in as such:

[x] Whatever she needs from you today. If she wants you to roll out the red carpet for her, pull out all the stops. If she just wants a normal weekend, keep it under wraps. Communication is key.
 
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[x] Give her a little space. Treat it like an outing with a friend, not a date. Show you can be there for her and be cool even without the implied reciprocity of a relationship. Maybe she'll feel safer.

[x]Rapidly vaccilitate between all 3 option based upon the slightest feedback

[X] No, not unless May brings it up first or asks. It's part of what you're doing by talking to her; if she needs to feel normal, you're not going to lean into being above-normal just to look or feel cool or chivalrous.
 
Astaroh-M said:
Ah, I'm not sure what to pick.

In one hand, showing her that Liv is the same Liv that May knows is good, but on the other hand, we shouldn't pretend as if everything is exactly the same, something did change and we have to acknowledged that.
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I think our priority should be minimizing May's cognitive load; she's got a lot to work through and our job is to ease the burden. These write-ins look good for that.


[X] If you're starting over this weekend, maybe you can do things differently. You tried rigorous honesty yesterday, and that seemed to work out okay. You're still a little scared, but you showed her everything yesterday and May didn't turn away. You refuse to mess this up because you're scared. May's not that scary. So, ask May what she needs from you today--if she needs to feel normal, needs reassurance, needs a banner weekend, whatever. You just want to talk, because you don't want to make assumptions or take anything for granted.
[X] No, not unless May brings it up first or asks. It's part of what you're doing by talking to her; if she needs to feel normal, you're not going to lean into being above-normal just to look or feel cool or chivalrous.
-[X] Well, okay, minor good deeds like helping the artist struggling with the credit card reader on her phone ought to be fine?

Marlowe310811 said:
Speaking from personal experience, I know it's one thing to snark at the screen about the trope of "none of this stuff would be a problem if you two talked to each other for one damn minute" and a much more scary thing to actually live it. But on the other hand, my partner and I have spent half our lives together, and I'm reasonably sure it's not 'cause I'm gorgeous or charming.
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Speak for yourself - 'actually good about communicating' is one of the most charming traits I know of.
 
[x] Give her a little space. Treat it like an outing with a friend, not a date. Show you can be there for her and be cool even without the implied reciprocity of a relationship. Maybe she'll feel safer.
[X] No, best not to even bring it up.
 
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[X] If you're starting over this weekend, maybe you can do things differently. You tried rigorous honesty yesterday, and that seemed to work out okay. You're still a little scared, but you showed her everything yesterday and May didn't turn away. You refuse to mess this up because you're scared. May's not that scary. So, ask May what she needs from you today--if she needs to feel normal, needs reassurance, needs a banner weekend, whatever. You just want to talk, because you don't want to make assumptions or take anything for granted.
[X] No, not unless May brings it up first or asks. It's part of what you're doing by talking to her; if she needs to feel normal, you're not going to lean into being above-normal just to look or feel cool or chivalrous.
-[X] Well, okay, minor good deeds like helping the artist struggling with the credit card reader on her phone ought to be fine?
 
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