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The Arachne System (SPIDERLIV 3)

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TortugaGreen said:
Being secure enough in your relationship to enthusiastically discuss how hot an unrelated person is is relationship goals. I mean, having a relationship in the first place is also relationship goals for me, but this seems like the sort of cozy trust you want in a relationship.
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Having been with my wife for five years and married for two and a half, I think we only started both observing certain folks hotness a year ago at most.

Your mileage may vary, but I can confirm that the sense of comfort about "yes that person is very pretty but I picked you" is considerably nicer than it might first seem.
 
Barondoctor said:
Having been with my wife for five years and married for two and a half, I think we only started both observing certain folks hotness a year ago at most.

Your mileage may vary, but I can confirm that the sense of comfort about "yes that person is very pretty but I picked you" is considerably nicer than it might first seem.
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Sounds like its going to implicitly require the partner to not have any insecurities about the "I picked you" which both May and Liv might be having trouble with atm.
 
open_sketch said:
"Alternate idea: what if I took over for a bit?" Athena asked, "Seriously. Liv could go decompress in techspace, and I'm looking forward to the panel."
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I think without this, I'd vote to crash without hesitation. Liv needs to decompress, and I think May's had her allotted weird for the day.

But Athena's looking forward to the panel.

Something I'm worried about is that we'll focus to much on Olivia and May, and Athena's wants will fall to the wayside.

If we do vote to crash, I think we need to find a way to apologize to Athena later. I need to reread in case I missed something, but I think this is the first time Athena's mentioned something she wants to do that requires Liv's involvement, and isn't something she does for Liv. She has other interests, like twitter and her girlfriend, and she helps Liv out with spider-manning but none of them really required her to ask Liv for anything. Feelsbad saying no.

I still think just crashing is the better call - Liv's relationship with May is on somewhat shaky ground - but I'm not as sure as I'd like to be, so I'll hold off on voting for now.
 
[X] Athena had a good idea. Switch so she can go to the panel and you can relax in techspace a bit.
[X] If there is time before the panel, talk to May and Athena about fronting ettiquite and try help May process her discomfort.

Athena needs nice things to happen, but I think I can see where May's discomfort might be coming from. If you are dating a part of a system you want to be certain who you are spending time with so you dont accidentally breach another person's boundaries by accident, right? Can we institute a visual cue so May can tell at a glance who is in control at the moment?
 
open_sketch said:
You and May looked over to the new person who had... it would be wrong to say they'd sat down. It was more like they'd materialized at the table. They were just as completely, devistatingly beautiful as last time you'd seen them, though this time instead of a modern suit they were wearing what you could only describe as old-timey European noble get-up, all epulettes and buttons and tails, her hair flowing loose, unnaturally wavy and shiny. A convention badge hung around her neck.
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open_sketch said:
"... I'm here for the convention, dear." she said, putting on her best offended airs. "I'm a huge fan, have been for decades. Ever seen Rose of Versailles? I simply adore it, and the Takarazuka adaptations of course."

"What are you talking about?" you asked, completely confused.

"You should look it up, you might like it. Well, you'd hate all the parts where they're high nobility types, but you'd love the part where it's gay." she said, continuing as if she hadn't heard you, and only then stopping to register your objections. "... seriously, I am a fan. This is the biggest anime convention on the east coast, and I've been clearing out the dealers room."
Spoilered pics:
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Also:
The Takarazuka Revue is a Japanese all-female musical theater troupe based in Takarazuka, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan. Women play all roles in lavish, Broadway-style productions of Western-style musicals and stories adapted from films, novels, shōjo manga, and Japanese folktales.
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Yeah, I can see the appeal.

[X] Stick to the plan. Go with May to her panel, try to get the day back on track.
 
open_sketch said:
being mostly, uh, shipping related.
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Hey, where's that music coming from?

On a more serious note, I don't think being uncomfortable with all shipping is bad, for instance there is no way to make SnapeXHarry not creepy AF unless one goes so far AU a simple find-and-replace of the names would make a completely original story.
That's what conventions are for. For people who are lonely in their regular lives to come and meet up with people like themselves, you know?
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Ouch. Critical hit detected.

The only way this day can get weirder is if we bump into Steve, Natasha, or Clint. :V

[X] Athena had a good idea. Switch so she can go to the panel and you can relax in techspace a bit.
 
[X] Athena had a good idea. Switch so she can go to the panel and you can relax in techspace a bit.
 
TalonofAnathrax said:
I know she's the God of lies and all that, but I still feel sad for her.
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Has she been specified as God of Lies here? I'm not as up on my 616 as I should be, but I feel like Loki is usually delineated as God of Mischief. Which. Man, it sucks that Liv is so uncomfortable with her, because OOC I superbad wanna be friends with Loki.
Dark as Silver said:
Sounds like its going to implicitly require the partner to not have any insecurities about the "I picked you" which both May and Liv might be having trouble with atm.
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I think the fact that Loki scares both of them makes any other insecurities kind of a nonstarter.
samdamandias said:
The only way this day can get weirder is if we bump into Steve, Natasha, or Clint. :V
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...lesbireal, weeb!Avengers is not the craziest thing to happen in this universe.
Greckle said:
[X] Athena had a good idea. Switch so she can go to the panel and you can relax in techspace a bit.
[X] If there is time before the panel, talk to May and Athena about fronting ettiquite and try help May process her discomfort.

Athena needs nice things to happen, but I think I can see where May's discomfort might be coming from. If you are dating a part of a system you want to be certain who you are spending time with so you dont accidentally breach another person's boundaries by accident, right? Can we institute a visual cue so May can tell at a glance who is in control at the moment?
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If May is okay with it/willing to work with it, it would be nice for Athena, and it would be nice for them to get to know each other outside of the context of Liv. For the moment, I'm going with this, but I may change my mind if on a reread or two May seems extra un-cozy with the idea.

[X] Athena had a good idea. Switch so she can go to the panel and you can relax in techspace a bit.
[X] If there is time before the panel, talk to May and Athena about fronting ettiquite and try help May process her discomfort.

Edit: also throwing in the other write-in for approval voting purposes.

[X] Does May need to decompress now? That was A Lot.
-[X] If not, Athena's looking forward to this next panel, so you'd kind of like to let her front for a bit anyway? Otherwise, you should double-check that she has a camera on-site before you doze off.
 
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open_sketch said:
"It's okay. It's a lot." you said, doing your best to try to take both her hands, your clumsy artificial fingers failing until she gripped them herself. "I made some dumb mistakes early on, but I'm always trying to do better. It's not just me at risk."

She nodded, that cute little nod she did, and then pushed herself up on her tiptoes to kiss you, rather unexpectedly.

"Well, okay. But, uh... just..." she stammered, turning bright red, "You look, uh, really hot like that. With the suit but the mask off. Dashing."

"I do?" you said, the words seeming like a complete non-sequitur.

"Yeah, it just sorta hit me. I've never seen you look so..." she said, glancing away bashfully. "You really do look like a hero."

Okay.

You wished sometimes your life was a movie, because that was the place where the scene ought to cut. Instead you just sort of stuttered out a half-hearted deflection, wilted, and headed back to the bathroom to get back in civilian clothes. But the words stuck in your head, and it felt...

The Arachne suit making you look good was always... deception.
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Grumble sigh impostor syndrome grumble.

Poor everybody.

You and May looked over to the new person who had... it would be wrong to say they'd sat down. It was more like they'd materialized at the table. They were just as completely, devistatingly beautiful as last time you'd seen them, though this time instead of a modern suit they were wearing what you could only describe as old-timey European noble get-up, all epulettes and buttons and tails, her hair flowing loose, unnaturally wavy and shiny. A convention badge hung around her neck.
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OK, correction, poor everyone except Loki, who clearly in a cosmic sense deserves whatever they get. :p

Like, it is Loki's fundamental nature across all iterations of the deity's character. They export confusion and suffering because they just can not stop messing with people, and eventually it comes back on them. Even if their intentions are good, but also especially if their intentions are bad.

"... that was the part I believed the least." she said, nodding. "G-gee whiz Liv. Wow."

"Gee whiz? But she won't get my entirely recent cartoon references?" Loki said, the sly smile still on her face. "I guess I just don't get the youth of today."
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That's a fair point.

[deadpans] "1930s or 2030s, take your pick. There is no middle ground with her."

"Come on. With Betty gone you're the only mortals I even know at all on this plane, I just... I ran into somebody I knew and decided to say hi." she said. "That's what conventions are for. For people who are lonely in their regular lives to come and meet up with people like themselves, you know? Shared interests and all."
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Hm. Betty? [blinks] Not sure who's being referred to.

"Mostly, I sit at home, tracking the progress of the universe, studying old tomes, binge-watching television, and hoping for something interesting to happen." she said bitterly. "And trust me, it's less glamorous than it sounds. If it weren't for little jaunts down to Midgard and such like this one... well, it's all I can do to not go crazy."

"D-don't say that. It's ableist." May corrected reflexively, and Loki winced.
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I observe that it is desirable to have a compact expression for "my mental health would start to fray and that would be bad for me," without prejudice to those who are already experiencing frayed mental health.

Like, I can say "I don't want to do this because I'd catch the flu" without implying that people who have the flu are lesser-than in some ethical or metaphysical sense... I just don't, y'know, want that for myself.

"Right, sorry." she said. "It's just... I'm sort of on the outs with my family after I... may have played a hilarious prank on my family that left my brother Balder slightly dead, but they never really liked me." You and May stared for a moment. "Oh, he got better, by the way. We're a tough lot. Took a few centuries, though, they still aren't over it."
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Ah, this is after that.

"God, Liv, that was so scary." she said. "What is she anyway?"

"Fairly sure she's essentially a member of a very powerful extradimensional alien species." Athena explained. "She's got power over fundamental reality that very much falls under Clarke's Third Law, to the point where it came in a spooky leather-bound tome. We... think she might be mostly benevolent."

"Okay. Wow." May said, leaning back in her chair and staring off into space. "... why is she so hot?"

"God, right?" Athena said.
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"Because Loki's either a shapeshifter or good enough at glamours that they might as well be, has had at least subjective centuries to optimize their appearance to make you think that, and can read minds well enough to have a pretty good idea what any given person will like?"
 
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[X] Athena had a good idea. Switch so she can go to the panel and you can relax in techspace a bit.

This could go terribly, but it could also be an opportunity for Athena and May to make friends!

I'd suggest Athena make a visual distinction between herself and Liv, though. Wear some excessively fabulous glasses or something.
 
[X] Athena had a good idea. Switch so she can go to the panel and you can relax in techspace a bit.
[X] You need some room to process all that. Take May up on her offer, go crash in the chillout room.

By the power of indecision, I vote for both of these!
 
open_sketch said:
How long had it been, since Arachne's suit stopped hiding Otto's body, and Liv's clothes had started hiding hers?
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Huh... Is this a problem? Like, I get that it's a sign of a big change in her body and self-perception. I guess it may also be a warning sign of her identifying with Arachne too much (instead of just being Liv). But is this another kind of problem in addition to the above? I want to know how much I should panic.

open_sketch said:
I'm sort of on the outs with my family after I... may have played a hilarious prank on my family that left my brother Balder slightly dead
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Oh, this quest is sticking relatively close to the Norse myths.

open_sketch said:
Oh, he got better, by the way.
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Emphasis on the "relatively".

open_sketch said:
"... I'm about thirty percent done reading it." she said. It had been six months.
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Dang. That's one hell of a book (or we have been taking up way too much of her RAM).


I really want May to do all the fun stuff she was looking forward too, but I'm worried that having Athena pilot Liv's body might be a little too surreal for an already very strange weekend. I guess Liv is gonna have to crash for a bit.
[X] You need some room to process all that. Take May up on her offer, go crash in the chillout room.
 
[X] Athena had a good idea. Switch so she can go to the panel and you can relax in techspace a bit.
 
ancusohm said:
Huh... Is this a problem? Like, I get that it's a sign of a big change in her body and self-perception. I guess it may also be a warning sign of her identifying with Arachne too much (instead of just being Liv). But is this another kind of problem in addition to the above? I want to know how much I should panic.
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No, it's just Liv realizing that maybe she should stop wearing the Trans Girl Depression Hoodie(tm).
 
[X] Athena had a good idea. Switch so she can go to the panel and you can relax in techspace a bit.
[X] If there is time before the panel, talk to May and Athena about fronting ettiquite and try help May process her discomfort.
 
ancusohm said:
Huh... Is this a problem? Like, I get that it's a sign of a big change in her body and self-perception. I guess it may also be a warning sign of her identifying with Arachne too much (instead of just being Liv). But is this another kind of problem in addition to the above? I want to know how much I should panic.
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It sounds more like "Liv dresses in baggy clothes as a holdover from the days when she was trying to hide her body on account of it was, ah, not passing very gracefully."

In Liv's early days as Arachne, she was trying to design the suit to project a femininity that her body couldn't readily project on its own without intentional costuming (padding and so on). As her body has become more able to project that independently, her costume has abandoned some of the intentional accentuating... but her civilian wardrobe hasn't evolved to keep pace. So she's still wearing baggy floppy body-concealing clothes, still dressing as if she's trying to conceal an unfeminine body rather than trying to fit a feminine body.

Meanwhile, she's noticing that her Arachne costume has undergone such a transition, since she's had to make sure it actually fits her and is comfortable, whereas she hasn't put nearly as much effort into the fit and comfort of her civilian wardrobe.

And she's noticing that May's noticing that her costume, basically the only clothes Liv has that are seriously, intentionally designed to fit her own body at this point, make her look good. Which is adding to the pile of stuff Liv is going "!!!" about.

Dang. That's one hell of a book (or we have been taking up way too much of her RAM).
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I strongly suspect it's one of those magic books that conjures up more pages out of nothingness as you turn pages and so contains far more content than its nominal volume, page thickness, and font size would normally permit. It's probably also a textbook with exercises you're supposed to work through. I further suspect that it's normally designed for nigh-immortals like Asgardians, and so having it take a decade to work your way through the magic primer is not considered to be, strictly speaking, a bad thing.
 
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