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capricornsims · 4 years

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Strangetown Mystery 12: Covert scientists

With Jenny locked away with her family in the barracks, the Curious brothers worked behind closed doors in the bunker’s hidden laboratory. Albeit skeptical of the general’s intentions, the brothers accepted the opportunity to work in higher paying positions with the added bonus of being close to their sister. Overall, their task was simple, find a cure for the syndrome and ultimately connect the cause to extraterrestrial threats. The brothers considered that working for the enemy would cover their tracks regarding the breach in the [Redacted] lab, not that they would openly admit their crimes. In order to keep their behinds safe from the General’s wrath, they simply smiled and nodded to whatever orders he gave them along with instructions given by the Dudes in Black to keep their operations in secrecy. While his brothers worked diligently in the lab, keeping their heads down and doing what they were told, Pascal wasted no time investigating their new inside job.

Pascal: Lazlo, we need to be very quiet, but I think something weird is going on here, this whole lab is suspicious.

Lazlo: Other than the fact that our sister is imprisoned in the other room? What is it Pascal?

Pascal: My theory about the aliens and the government is real. Just look at them, the Dudes in Black, they’re blue, they are clearly aliens and what makes it worse is that Buzz is working with them.

Lazlo: I don’t know man, those suits and hats seem pretty convincing to me. But I wouldn’t doubt that Buzz is up to something sketchy.

Pascal: Wake up Lazlo! The Dudes in Black are are plotting something big and they’re using PT9 as a distraction for Buzz so they can do whatever they want. We need to find out what’s really going on in the [ Redacted ] lab or we’re all doomed!

Lazlo: Are you seriously going back there? That place is dangerous, Pascal.

Pascal: WE are going back there and we’re meeting up with Erwin later to investigate the lab and collect some spore samples. You also said that you would help me, we’re the Curious brothers not Curious brother!

Lazlo: I know, but I don’t want you to get infected or get caught by the military.

Pascal: Don’t worry, Lazlo, with your help we can stop whatever is causing the syndrome.

Lazlo: I’ll do my best, but this investigation is escalating quickly. Let’s just hope that Vidcund is on board with our plans.

Later that night, the brothers entered the foreboding gates of the [ Redacted ] lab, avoiding detection from the watch towers and sneaking passed security cameras. Pascal almost dragged Vidcund by his ear through the broken fence, annoyed by his reluctance to join them. Beyond barrier they encountered a familiar face waving back at them, it was Erwin with his flashy collider tin hat pacing back and forth clearly paranoid about something. To the conspiracy theorist, the three lab coated clad men looked like they were out to get him, brandished with government issued badges and everything. Despite Erwin’s suspicions, Pascal assured his friend that they were merely working for the government so they could get more information about the bizarre plants . He even presented his friend with a spore scanner that they needed for their research to further prove his loyalty. Shaking his head, Erwin hesitantly trusted Pascal’s motives but he was still weary about the other two brothers, especially Vidcund.

Vidcund: Hey Erwin, long time no see! Damn it feels like ages since we broke into this lab and released a deadly infection.

Erwin: Hello...Vidcund..if that is your real name.

Lazlo: Dude, shush, we didn’t release it ,Pascal did.

Erwin: Anyways, Where did you even get the spore scanner? The feds didn’t give it to you right?

-Flashback to that morning -

Pascal: Give me the infection scanner or ELSE I’LL KICK YOUR BUTT INTO NEXT TUESDAY!

Military guy: *sniffle* Okay man, just..just...take it, you didn’t have to beat me up that bad *sniffle*

Lazlo: Nah, he beat up a soldier in broad daylight when he wouldn’t negotiate with him. He scared the feds so bad that they just left us alone.

Vidcund: Yeah our older brother is kind of crazy.

Erwin: Wow he’s more dedicated than I thought he was, heh. Anyways let’s get inside before we get spotted by the watch towers.

They returned to the sub level of the lab, going passed the toxic cloud of spores that shrouded the other corridor. The distinct sounds of machinery and loud air vents added to the eerie atmosphere of the abandoned laboratory, but Pascal went ahead of his party unfazed by fear. Meanwhile his brothers speculated the relationship between Erwin and Pascal, wondering if it was even good for him to hang out with the conspiracy theorist. “ He’s going too far, we’re going to get in trouble if we keep coming here. This whole investigation isn’t worth our time” Vidcund whispered to Lazlo as they paced themselves behind Erwin. Instead of responding to his older brother, Lazlo just nodded his head avoiding the prospect of choosing sides. He believed that Pascal knew what he was doing despite the dangers that it held, remembering how his brother got himself abducted for science. “ I trust him, Vid. All we can do is be supportive.” He frowned and continued their trek deeper into the corridor.

The end of the darkened hallway revealed a laboratory with everything still intact as if scientists dropped what they were doing and fled their work. Pascal took in the rest of the room, noting the sterilized air and the numerous plants in containment pods similar to the mutated bizarre plants around town. In the center of the room he spotted what looked to be lab equipment equal to the ones in the bunker’s laboratory. This was it, this was the place where they would finally understand what the spores did and how they they were going to stop it. In addition to his own mission, he was informed to research the spores properties in order to build a filter for the hazmat suit he was building.

Pascal: Don’t touch anything, we have to run these spores through the analyzer and figure these things out.

Lazlo: Wow, these plants look so much cooler when they’re not trying to kill you.

Pascal: We have them back at our lab, the scientists must have been analyzing the plants before they were interrupted by the explosion.

Erwin: I can’t believe you guys are working with the military now, doesn’t that put you more at risk? Especially with the Dudes in Black?!

Lazlo+Vidcund: YES

Pascal: Nope, in fact, it keeps us safe from suspicion because we’re doing everything they say, but I’m doing more behind their back. I can tell that the Dudes in Black are using Buzz for their own gain and using us humans as pawns in their game.

Lazlo: Our brother-in-law is also being imprisoned by the General, who knows what the Dudes in Black are really doing.

Erwin: SEE the Aliens and the Government are both trying to kill us! Wake up SHEEPLE we have to expose them!!!

Pascal: We will expose them once I get all the evidence. So far I have a clear analysis of the spores, and other evidence about the plants, but finding the cause is the next step.

Lazlo: If we can’t connect the syndrome to the Dudes, the best case scenario is that we prove that PT9 isn’t the cause of it and we free him.

Erwin: And we find a cure along the way right? That’ll also be good!

Vidcund: I’m happy that you found the properties and stuff, Pascal, but I have to go. This whole investigation is fun and all but I have a life to attend to.

Pascal: Vid, you’re a plant scientist I need you here for this.

Vidcund: I’ll work with you in our house lab, now I really gotta go. I have a date.

Pascal: ...Fine, good luck on your “date”, Vid.

-Later that night at the Beaker Castle-

Circe: I thought you couldn’t make it for our date. I was getting worried that Loki would walk in on us.

Vidcund: I ditched Pascal at the lab so I wouldn’t be late. He was totally butt hurt that I didn’t want to be on his fetch quest.

Circe: Well Loki isn’t going to be here for a few hours so we can hang out for a bit.

Vidcund: Great! I can’t wait to tell you about my new experiment! it involves reanimating guinea pig tissue with microwave radiation...but guinea pigs are very expensive in bulk so I ended up drying up my bank account and all my credit cards are maxed out.

Circe: Oh my goodness, I feel so sorry for you.

Vidcund: Don’t be, at this point I need a miracle if I want to complete this experiment.

Circe: You work for a top secret lab right now, you’re going to get money no matter what. As for your miracle, you could work something out with your employers.

Vidcund: How would that work?

Circe: Just do them a few favors and maybe they’ll give you some extra cash. As a scientist you have to do anything to achieve your goals no matter what it takes.

Vidcund: Yeah, maybe I will do them a favor...

(( Note: It’s been a while since I updated Strangetown Mystery, but this story is very fun to write so it’s only going to get more weird.

#strangetown mystery #strangetown #strangerville #pascal curious #vidcund curious #lazlo curious #sims 2 psp #sims 2 to sims 4 #simblr #sims story #premades #erwin pries #circe beaker #the dudes in black

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aro-throughyourchest · 4 years

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VARIAN’S GOT A CRUSHHHHH

CHAPTER 5

THE END BUT STILL GO READ THE OTHER CHAPTERS

WORD COUNT: 2,437

Yeah, if you wanna skim you can... This is really long, but I’m proud of it.

Varian swung open the door to Rapunzel’s room.

“RAPUNZEL! The experiment works even better than I’d hoped!”

Raps nearly dropped her book and tucked a piece of hair behind her ear.

“Woah! Varian, what happened with the experiment?”

Raps set down her book and looked to Varian.

“I- I don’t know how, but it responds to emotions and changes color!”

He beamed and handed it to her. She took it and examined it. The color did indeed change, and she smiled.

“Varian, that’s so cool!”

He grinned and rubbed the back of his head. “Heh, Eugene said the same thing...”

She smiled and said, “Because it’s true.”

He leaned against the bedpost, and Raps asked, “So, why’d you two steal the boat?”

He cringed and tried to come up with an explanation, but nothing came to mind other than’ it was easier than paying.’

Varian laughed sheepishly, and Rapunzel folded her arms. Varian looked out of the corner of his eye, avoiding Raps’ gaze. Despite how positive she was, she had the glare of a disappointed mother. He kept staring at the ground and so did she (at him.)

Eventually, she won. Took about a few seconds. Varian whipped around anxiously and started babbling an attempt to defend himself, “I mean, we were going to give it back, and you know Simon, he never uses the old thing, so it just gathers dust-“

Raps held her hand up. “Varian! Calm down, now, tell me what happened, slowly...”

Varian took a deep breath and muttered nervously, “We just... took it? I don’t think there’s a good explanation here.”

Raps sighed and laid her hands in her lap, and Ruddiger chittered skittishly.

After about half a minute of silence, trust me, it’s very long, Varian said, “He spent a good 10 minutes yelling at me; I didn’t know Simon could scream like that, and it’s scary.”

Rapunzel laughed slightly. “He just seems so quiet, but he goes berserk when go near his stuff.”

Varian folded his arms and pouted jokingly. “No one else had a boat out-“

She scowled at him, and Varian waved his hands. “Kidding, kidding.”

She sighed and leaned against a pillow while Ruddiger and Pascal played chess (only one of them knowing how.)

“So, the date went fine?”

Varian blushed and cleared his throat. “It wasn’t a date; we were just hanging out, having fun at the Snuggly Duckling...”

He held his hands up. “Well, not having ‘fun,’ just talking, heh... You know.”

Varian, ignoring all the voice cracks in his throat from those sentences (that the author didn’t include) smiled, full of chagrin.

Raps gave him a sympathetic smile as he finished, “B-but, yeah, it wasn’t a date.”

He picked up, Ruddiger, who just lost the chess game.

“Well, I’ll see you later, Raps! Love you!” He yelled, already at the door. He shut the door behind and ran back to the lab.

<•>

Varian did get sleep that night, but he spent most of it working on trying to replicate the formula he made. By the time he went back to sleep, he had three vials of the formula including the original.

He would’ve made more, but he fell asleep before he could. Sunlight beams shining right in his eye awoke him, and he sat up. (Yes, the poor boy fell asleep at his desk again.)

Looking around lazily, he tried to wake his brain up and rubbed his eyes. He squinted at the clock and tried to read it.

‘9... No, that’s a 8...’

8:40.

Hm.

He stretched and heard a knock at the door. A second passed and no one burst in, meaning it wasn’t Rapunzel. Not processing his appearance, he wiped his mouth of sleep-drool and headed over. He opened it to see Vex. He blinked and immediately straightened his spine (the best he could in his tired state.)

Vex cleared her throat and attempted to appear nonchalant. “Hey, Varian, you wanna hang out on the other side of town... At, I don’t know, 1:00? 2:00?”

She examined her nails (not really) while Varian tried to process what she said. Keep in mind, this boy had just woke up; his brain hadn’t kept up with the morning. Vex noticed. She sighed and grabbed the door handle.

“Yeah, I should’ve come at a later time; I’ll come back when you’ve actually woken up.”

She shut the door, and Varian yawned.

Well, if she was going to come back; he could get some more sleep....

He woke up the next hour, this time on the bed, and yawned. That was a crazy dream. He blinked and gears turned in his head. That was a dream, right? (SIDE NOTE: It wasn’t.)

He shrugged it off and went to get ready.

<•>

About 2 hours later, someone, (*cough* Vex,) knocked at the door. Now fully awake and not drowsy, Varian opened up. “Hey Vex!”

He leaned against the doorframe and Vex greeted, “Hey Varian.”

She muttered something and repeated what she asked earlier not bringing up that this was her second time saying this.

Varian blinked and rubbed the back of his neck. “Sure! 1:00 works!”

“Oh, good! See ya!”

She tipped an imaginary hat, smiled weakly and left.

A thought manifested in Varian’s head, and he grinned. He grabbed a vial of the experiment delicately and shoved it in his bag not so delicately.

What? They were unbreakable and-

Another knock came, and Raps let herself in.

“Daily check-in!” She declared extravagantly. Varian rolled his eyes and placed his bag on the bed.

She sat down next to Varian, who told her, “So far, I’ve recreated the experiment times, including this morning, and it’s going well!”

Rapunzel chimed in, “That’s great! You know what it’s made of?”

He nodded eagerly and told her the ingredients. (I’m not telling you because I know nothing about science and the elements. While I do know the ingredients of a regular glow stick, I don’t know how Tangled-ify them.)

Rap inquired, “Isn’t [redacted] a little hard to come by?”

He nodded but said, “I still have enough to make a few more, like 5 or 6...”

He shrugged and stated, “If I remove that element, guess I’ll just have a regular glow stick.”

His eyes widened before he shook his head. “That’s a silly name.”

They talked for the rest of hour, without bringing up Vex, and Rapunzel’s time was up. She got up and stretched. “Back to being a princess...”

She told Varian farewell and headed out to do her royal duties. The boy exhaled and went to work. He would get ready in a minute, but he could work on a formula or two before one o’ clock.

After making about three, Varian glanced at the clock, then did a double take.

5 minutes to get to the other side of town...

He slammed down the formulas and quickly grabbed his bag. Ruddiger followed after him as he ran out the door.

He arrived ten minutes later to see Vex already there. Vex turned and winked.

“Hey, Royal Nerd, took you long enough.”

He smiled and leaned against a post. “Well, I’m sorry-“

He tried to think up something to call her.

“...Well, I’m sorry, Deputy; I tried my best.”

Ruddiger rolled his eyes, and Vex looked down at the raccoon.

“Well, who’s this?” She asked, humor in her eyes.

Varian looked down.

“Oh!” He exclaimed and picked up his pet.

“This is Ruddiger!”

“Pleasure to meet you.”

She shook his paw playfully, and Ruddiger shook back before crawling onto Varian’s shoulder.

He smiled, and his eyes widened. He immediately reached into his bag and pulled out the vial.

“I made this!”

He realized how brash and out of nowhere that was and pulled back embarrassedly, but Vex seemed intrigued.

“It’s a... light?”

“Oh no- Well yes, but it’s a light that when you break it; it activates! But that’s not the coolest part!”

He did the same thing he did to test it before, and bang his arm on a wall, and it flashed red.

“OW! Heh, see? Changes color based on your mood!”

Varian cringed in pain again, and Vex reached out concerned.

She grabbed his arm gently and joshed with a weak grin, “That’s amazing, but of all the ways to show me how it works...”

He chuckled, still in pain, and looked down her hand as did she, and the two quickly retracted from each other’s grasp awkwardly.

Ruddiger again rolled his eyes at the painful-to-watch teenagers and glanced around. He noticed Monty’s Sweet Shop and squeaked to grab Varian’s attention.

“Hm?”

The raccoon pointed towards it, and Varian asked, “Oh, the sweet shop?”

Ruddiger nodded eagerly, and Vex interjected, “Guess we listen to Ruddiger; the sweet shop doesn’t look so bad.”

Varian added, “But no stealing.”

“Yeah, we both got in hard enough trouble for that.”

“Heh, yeah... Now shall we?”

Vex nodded her head, Varian linked arms with her, and she blinked in surprise. She proceeded to blush and simper.

‘Heh... Dork.’

<•>

They spent the next two weeks meeting up, talking, occasionally flirting, went home, and went back the next day. This time would be different.

Today was Rapunzel’s birthday, meaning the lanterns would light up the night, and he planned on asking Vex as an official date.

Yes, of course he would be there for Raps in her birthday, but she always watched the lanterns with her parents and Eugene anyway so...

He brushed his hair, dabbed on some makeup, and looked at his attire. Maybe today would be a good idea to wear something different.

He thought and decided, why not, ‘I’ma go shopping.’

He ran down to the store, bought a nice outfit, and that was that.

He headed down to Vex’s hotel and knocked.

Vex opened the door, and she waved. “Hey, Varian.”

He waved back and tucked his hands behind him.

“Hey Vex, you want to go see the lanterns tonight? As a date?”

At the word ‘date,’ Vex’s eyes widened, and she blushed. She cleared her throat and muttered, tugging at her hair, “Yeah, sure, that’s a good- That’s not so bad.”

Varian beamed and told her, “Oh! Great! See ya then!”

He waved goodbye, and Vex shut the door. She grinned happily and tried not to show too much excitement. Wow, she never really thought this would happen especially to her... She quickly realized she needed to get ready.

She skipped out on makeup, did her hair, put on a dress, and waited.

<•>

They met at the dock, and Varian waved her over, a lantern in his hand.

Vex walked up with her own lantern. She noticed the new outfit because of how ironed it was (totally not because Varian forgot to take off the price tag.)

He took her hand in his and led her up one of the ships on the dock. (This time paying to get on.)

They sat next to each other and waited for Rap’s to let the first lantern go.

“So... I actually decided a name for this.”

He pulled out the vial and held it up.

“I’ve decided to call it, Vexium!”

Vex stared at him in shock before bursting out into giggles. Varian’s heart sank, and Vex immediately began to explain, “Hey, I don’t mean anything bad by it; I’m flattered! But name it something cooler than just my name, like how about we just call it a glow stick, dork.”

She punched him in the arm, and he smiled weakly. A light passed through his peripheral, signaling everyone to follow suit and let their lanterns go.

Varian and Vex lit their and let them float into the sky. While this was a sight familiar to Varian, this was a sight completely new to Vex, and her eyes said it. He blushed and smiled before thinking, ‘Oh my gosh, Eugene did this exact same thing with Rapunzel.’

Not gonna tell Eugene about this. Well, he wasn’t going to anyway-

Vex slipped her hand in his, and Varian’s ears heated. He focused his attention on the lights; they really were amazing to behold. He wondered what it was like for Rapunzel, seeing these on her birthday but never knowing they were meant to bring her back home.

“Vex... I like you.”

The words slipped out of my mouth, and he turned red. Vex’s eyes widened, and they darted to look at him.

“Like, more than a friend?” She asked.

“Yeah, more than a friend...”

He glanced at her, and she tucked her hair behind her ear.

“I like you too. More than a friend...”

He smiled warmly and leaned his head on her shoulder. She blushed and continued look at the lights.

After the show, Vex and Varian stopped at the door. “Well, I’ll be leaving tomorrow evening,” she grimaced.

Varian held her hands. “We can write to each other.”

She smiled and said, “Well, if you get a letter from Vardaros...”

His eyes widened, and he reached into the bag, bringing out a formula. “Before I forget, here. You get to keep one-“

She kissed him before he could fully finish the sentence, and the formula turned a bright shade of pink.

(As did Varian *cough*.)

She pulled away and grinned. “See you tomorrow, Royal Nerd.”

He waved goodbye, still in shock, as she walked away. (She did grab her gift.)

He slowly entered the castle and shut the door behind him. Varian grinned widely and jumped for joy. He leaned against the door and brushed his hair out of his face.

“Oh my God...”

He ran up the stairs and almost tripped over Raps. “Woah, Varian, slow down, I-“

She noticed how red Varian’s face was and laid a hand to it. “Are you OK? You don’t have a fever?”

He brushed her hand away gently, still giddy. “No, no, Raps, I’m fine! Better than ever!”

He rubbed the back of his neck and cleared his throat. “I’ll tell you what happened later...”

He went back to speeding down the hall.

He slammed the door of the alchemical study behind him, blood still rushing through him.

He spun around a bunch and landed on his bed, Ruddiger behind him.

The raccoon started making kissy faces and teasing Varian, and Varian sarcastically responded, “Ha ha.”

He stared at the ceiling with a grin. Maybe life wasn’t happily ever after, but life was okay.

THE END

#tangled the series #tangled #varian #vex tangled #rapunzel #eugene fitzherbert #ruddiger #pascal the chameleon #quaid tangled #fic #fluff #varian has a crushhhhh

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scribeofthenewworld · 4 years

Text

Uncensored

FULL VERSION AVAILABLE AT:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/e/2PACX-1vRYpEjcCGkTjS4j0rbcqDJahivzjRcGEO2DHxWMJ1-W1Y_xg4zjPzWf3FQCXkCg8sfSyRES9BfrENBj/pub

The Controlled Peace Bill, Section C, Paragraph 3

“(3) It can be deduced with reasonable certainty that certain words, phrases, mantras, practices, ideas, and ideologies are not conducive to peace, and are therefore harmful to society as a whole. These words, phrases, mantras, practices, ideas, and ideologies must therefore be redacted or restricted for the good of both the individual and society as a whole. All records of these words, phrases, mantras, practices, ideas, and ideologies shall be restricted or destroyed, including records in both print and digital form. Unlawful attempts to access these records will result in disciplinary action, including but not limited to a fine of up to thirty thousand NUCA Dollars ($30,000) or no more than five (5) years imprisonment. The nature of those words, phrases, mantras, practices, ideas, and ideologies harmful in nature to society shall be left to the discretion of the government of the National United Coalition of America and the National Board of Peacekeepers, and enforcement of the redaction of such content shall be left to the discretion of local Peace Keeping Police forces and to the State Censorship Committee. Those found to be speaking about, plotting, or engaging in activities involving the redacted materials and acts spoken of in this bill shall be dealt with in accordance with the severity of the offense.”

“Can’t believe they’re adding another old punk band to the censored list,” Nick complained, tossing a stress ball into the air to catch it again. “These censorship laws are getting outta hand, let me tell you. Or, I’m sorry, these redaction laws.”

His bass player, Sanskrit, nodded. “Wack, man.”

“I mean, what’s next? They can censor anything they want; soon it won’t even be legal to express your opinion. Hell, you already can’t — you can get thrown in jail for saying the wrong thing. How much longer are people gonna put up with this shit?”

“Dunno,” Sanskrit answered. “Until they decide enough’s enough, I guess. Can’t be much longer, though. A lot of people are already angry, and not to mention the cyborgs. They’ve about had it with being treated like shit.”

“No kidding,” Nick said. “It’s been getting worse, too: the number of riots has skyrocketed in the last year.”

“Are you surprised? It’s ‘cause of the Man fucking up and not taking responsibility.”

“What do you mean?”

“You know, how the government created cyborgs to replace autonomous robots as legal slaves, then realised they’re human enough that they would never stand for it and wrote them off to the public as a failed genetic experiment?”

“Oh, yeah. That.” Nick missed the stress ball, and it hit the floor with a quiet whup. “I dunno if you’ve talked to Pascal about this at all, but it says the unrest in the cyborg community is growing. Like, to the point where if nothing changes, the government is gonna have another full-blown uprising on their hands.”

“I’m not surprised,” Sanskrit muttered, taking a hit of his MedPen. “Pascal hangs with ringers, though.”

“Not exclusively. It’s not just the radicalists — it’s all of them.” Nick picked up the stress ball and tossed it to Sanskrit, who was unprepared and batted it away rather than catching it. “You think the PKP would turn whole cyborg communities before granting them rights?” He tossed the stress ball to Sanskrit again, with the same result.

“Quit. Of course they would — is that even a question?” Sanskrit brushed his shoulder-length hair behind his ear. “We got practice tomorrow, right?”

“Yeah,” Nick said, having resumed his stress ball tossing. “I told you like, twenty times, dude. You smoke too much — your memory is shit.”

Sanskrit scowled. “Look who’s talking. And it’s for medical reasons, for your information. Anyways, are we practicing again before that house show? We probably should — we sounded like shit last week.”

Now it was Nick’s turn to scowl. “I know for a fact you think you can play our whole set perfectly, so I’m taking that as an attack on the rest of us.”

The bass player idly picked at one cuticle. “I dunno what you’re talking about. We could always use more practice.”

“You know what I think? I think you’re bored since you quit orchestra again.”

“Oh, yeah? Well, nobody asked you,” Sanskrit replied sourly.

The Peace Keeping Police of Upper New Hispana had to choose their battles. Teeming with punks, artists, hackers, and cyborgs, the place was a breeding ground for unrest, drugs, and crime. Someone broke a censorship law about every other day, so it was hardly a surprise when Magi, the force captain, walked in and set a file on Dianna’s desk without preamble. “Cyborg riots are getting worse,” was all she said as she continued on to her own desk. Max cursed — he hated cyborgs.

“You want us to take care of another riot?” Dianna asked, flipping through the file. It held police reports, records of calls that had come in from frightened civilians, and photos of a street reduced to carnage.

“Happened yesterday. Need someone to be keeping a better eye out around here.” Magi shook her head.

“To be fair, ma’am, a lot goes on around here — we sort of have our hands full,” Oso pointed out.

Magi only gestured to the file. “Just go interview the witnesses. Make arrests if you have to — we need to start showing these bots we mean business.”

Dianna nodded. “Sure thing, boss.”

Max stood and grabbed his jacket, smiling. “You don’t have to tell me twice.”

“Hey, don’t be trying to start anything. We’re here to put away criminals, not beat up bots,” Oso cautioned.

Max snorted. “Is there a difference? You got one angry 'borg, you got a hundred of them. You all know how the hive mind sets in with bots. You all remember.”

They did remember. The robot wars had been brief as far as wars went, but they had been brutal. The body count had been high. No one wanted a repeat of that, hence the harsh regulations governing robots and cyborgs, though cyborgs had not existed during the war. That notwithstanding, the regulations really were quite strict, though nearly all the robots responsible for the war had been deactivated; those with the autonomy that had made an uprising possible in the first place had been recalled and had their harddrives wiped. It didn’t matter, though — most of the population, especially those over thirty, who really remembered the wars, hated robots and cyborgs alike, or at the very least considered them inferior beings. After all, cyborgs were more robot than human, especially where it mattered.

“Stay focused, please, Max,” Magi said. “And don’t arrest anyone unless you’re sure they took part in the riot, alright?”

“Sure thing, boss,” Max said, slightly disgruntled.

“C’mon, let’s go,” Dianna said, grabbing the file and heading for the lockerroom. “We’ve got some interviews to do and some arrests to make.”

#writing #story #science fiction #punk rock cyborgs #censorship laws #it has all this and more #novella #dystopian #original content #original work

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mykingdomforasong · 2 years

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hi there, I've been enjoying your meta on some of the dinluke discourse. I also saw pointed out by a few people that separate ways was where a lot of the original racist/heterosexist tropes started. softieskywalker responded to a number of asks describing how she perceived some of the more racist depictions in the story from her own experiences being latine.

On rereads it seems obvious enough (din was threatening and controlling of luke, and luke mostly just blushed and flustered his way through the story). in a way it reminds me of how people uncritically loved the harry potter series but on closer inspection, there were a lot of very charged political messages about things like slavery (not to mention the fatphobia).

I would love to hear some thoughts about retrospective evaluation of pop fanfics/stories when scrutiny reveals stuff that were missed the first time around.

Off the bat, I have to say that I have only read Separate Ways once and it was in January of 2021, when I was reading just about any DinLuke content on AO3. So I have very few memories of the fic beyond that I enjoyed it.

That is all to say that I do not want to deny or corroborate anyone's experience or critiques of the fic, positive or negative. I don't remember enough of the fic to actually comment on it. I have no plans to reread it.

Below the cut is just some meta ramblings on the difference between writing for small ships v large ships, and why I do hold SW to a slightly different standard just because of when it was written.

I do think it is worth remembering that fic was written under very different circumstances than pretty much every other DinLuke fic since then, because it was written pre-season 2 for what was a small crack ship. All of Din's character development in season 2, his relationship with Grogu, Grogu's backstory, Gorgu's name, The children of the Watch, Bo-Katan, Boba Fett, Ahsoka ... that was all information the author didn't have at their disposal when writing it.

And speaking as someone who writes a lot of crack ships, as well as very popular ships like DinLuke, the process of writing for a small crack ship with a niche audience (many of whom are probably your friends) is a very different writing experience. When you're writing for a small crackship, you do not have the weight of fandom and fandom expectations hanging over you.

That's not to say that crackships can ignore or be inconsiderate of marginalized identities. Rather I mean that one fic is not the issue. The issue is that broad fandom trends recreate these harmful stereotypes uncritically over and over again. The author of Separate Ways couldn't have, post-season one, written with these broader DinLuke trends in mind. They could not have written that fic with the current popularity of DinLuke in mind, nor with fandom prejudice in mind. I can't speak to the pre-S2 audience of Separate Ways, but I am certain it was a lot smaller than it is now.

To speak from my own experience: when I write DinLuke now, and basically since I started More Light than Heat over a year ago, I am writing with an awareness of fandom trends. Sometimes (often times) I write against these trends and characterizations, sometimes I write in line with them, but either way, I'm writing with the fandom in mind.

I do not have to do that when I'm writing a crackship like DinHan, because when I write DinHan, I'm not writing for a fandom, I'm writing for my friends. I don't suddenly forget Pedro Pascal is Latinx or that Harrison Ford is white European American, but I don't have these fandom tropes or conversations in the back of my mind. I can kind of just shamelessly write "yeah Han loves [redacted]," and not worry about how that might get taken up by a larger fandom, or how it might result in one of the men turning into the de facto women of the fandom. Because pretty much the whole fandom is literally just my friends. That's not true of DinLuke.

I guess the TL;DR is: I do hold the fic to a slightly different standard, because they could not have known the popularity of the DinLuke fandom and the fanon it would create. That's not to say that we can't or shouldn't read it critically. I think we should, and I think tracing a genealogy of problematic DinLuke trends from that fic to the broader space is important. But I do also think the fic, as a fic for a small crack ship written pre-S2, is doing different work than even something like More Light than Heat, which was very much written in and around an established fandom.

And there is the very real possibility I am horrendously misremembering the fic, I want to leave room for that as well. Again, I don't remember the details of the fic. I am mostly just speaking from my experience in the difference between writing for a small ship and a large ship, and why I do think that difference matters.

#sorry anon i couldn't sleep so you're getting 4am ramblings #dinluke #i also think that the third most popular dinluke fic is derivative of sw and took some of the potentially questionable things #and dialed them up #and that was gasoline on the fire #but im also just a real bitch about that fic #so i am bias #do not take my tinfoil hat theory too seriously

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newstfionline · 7 years

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Documenting U.S. Role in Democracy’s Fall and Dictator’s Rise in Chile

By Pascale Bonnefoy, NY Times, Oct. 14, 2017

SANTIAGO, Chile--An old rotary phone rings insistently.

Visitors at a new exhibition at the Museum of Memory and Human Rights here in Santiago who pick up the receiver hear two men complain bitterly about the liberal news media “bleating” over the military coup that had toppled Salvador Allende, the Socialist president of Chile, five days earlier.

“Our hand doesn’t show on this one, though,” one says.

“We didn’t do it,” the other responds. “I mean, we helped them.”

The conversation took place on a Sunday morning in September 1973 between former President Richard M. Nixon and his national security adviser, Henry Kissinger. The two men were discussing football--and the violent overthrow of a democratically elected government 5,000 miles away with their assistance.

For the exhibition, two Spanish-speaking actors re-enacted the taped phone call based on a declassified transcript.

The chance to listen in on the call is part of “Secrets of State: The Declassified History of the Chilean Dictatorship,” an exhibition that offers visitors an immersive experience of Washington’s intervention in Chile and its 17-year relationship with the military dictatorship of Gen. Augusto Pinochet.

An enlarged and dramatically lit document sets the tone at the entrance. It is a presidential daily brief dated Sept. 11, 1973, the day of the coup. Its paragraphs are entirely redacted, every word blacked out.

A dimly lit underground gallery guides visitors through a maze of documents--presidential briefings, intelligence reports, cables and memos--that describe secret operations and intelligence gathering carried out in Chile by the United States from the Nixon years through the Reagan presidency.

“There is an arc of history that is very dramatic when you put these documents together,” said Peter Kornbluh, the exhibition’s curator who is a senior analyst at the National Security Archive in Washington and director of its Chile Documentation Project. “They have provided revelations and made headlines, they have been used as evidence in human rights prosecutions, and now they are contributing to the verdict of history.”

On view are documents revealing secret exchanges about how to prevent Chile’s Congress from ratifying the Allende victory in 1970, plans for covert operations to destabilize his government and reports about a Chilean military officer informing the United States government of the coming coup and requesting assistance.

There is a cable from the Central Intelligence Agency to its officers in Santiago after a failed operation in October 1970 to prevent Allende from assuming office, which he did that November. The C.I.A. provided weapons for the plan, which resulted in the killing of the commander in chief of the army, Gen. René Schneider, and the agency later sent money to help some of the plotters flee the country.

“The station has done an excellent job of guiding Chileans to a point today where a military solution is at least an option for them,” the cable says, commending the officers, even though their plot was foiled.

The exhibition includes only a small sample of the 23,000 documents on Chile that the Clinton administration declassified between 1999 and 2000 in response to international requests for evidence on Pinochet’s crimes. The former Chilean dictator was arrested in London in October 1998 and awaited extradition to Spain to face trial on charges of human rights abuses during his rule.

As several other European countries also sought Pinochet’s extradition based on the principle of universal jurisdiction, Mr. Kornbluh, the curator, led a campaign to persuade the White House to release classified records that could serve in an eventual trial against the general.

Documents on Chile from 1968 to 1991 from seven United States government agencies, some of them heavily redacted, were released as part of the State Department’s Chile Declassification Project. Most were declassified months after Pinochet was sent home from London for humanitarian reasons, but just in time to contribute to new judicial investigations in Chile.

The documents have been used as evidence in several human rights inquiries involving American victims, including the 1973 killings in Chile of Frank Teruggi and Charles Horman; the 1976 car bomb assassination of Orlando Letelier, a foreign minister and defense minister in the Allende administration, and his American colleague, Ronni Karpen Moffitt, in Washington; the 1985 disappearance in Chile of Boris Weisfeiler, an American professor; and the killing of Rodrigo Rojas, a Chilean-born United States citizen who was burned alive by soldiers in Chile in 1986.

They have also shed light on Operation Condor, a network of South American intelligence services in the 1970s and ‘80s that shared information, traded prisoners and orchestrated assassinations abroad. The head of DINA, Chile’s clandestine intelligence agency, Gen. Manuel Contreras, was the mastermind behind Condor, and hosted an inaugural meeting in November 1975 in Santiago.

In the exhibition, the seats at a rectangular table bear the names of the intelligence chiefs of Argentina, Bolivia, Paraguay, Uruguay and Chile who attended Operation Condor’s first meeting. A layer of earth covers the table, and brushes are provided for visitors to reveal what is beneath: the names of Condor victims, many of whom vanished without a trace.

Nearby, copies of the front pages of dozens of newspapers from the Pinochet era hang from a panel simulating a kiosk. They were all published by the conservative media empire El Mercurio, which received at least $2 million from the C.I.A.

The records in the exhibition also profile Pinochet, trace intelligence gathering on brutal state-sponsored repression and detail how the Reagan government abandoned Pinochet to his fate in 1988, fearing a further radicalization of the opposition.

“These documents have helped us rewrite Chile’s contemporary history,” said Francisco Estévez, director of the museum. “This exhibit is a victory in the fight against negationism, the efforts to deny and relativize what happened during our dictatorship.”

The Memory and Human Rights Museum opened in 2010 during the first term of President Michelle Bachelet and offers a chronological reconstruction of the 17-year Pinochet government through artifacts, recordings, letters, videos, photographs, artwork and other material. About 150,000 people visit the museum annually, a third of them groups of students, Mr. Estévez said.

The National Security Archive donated a selection of 3,000 declassified documents to the museum several years ago, while the State Department provided the Chilean government with copies of the entire collection. Chileans, however, have rarely seen them.

“To see on a piece of paper, for example, the president of the United States ordering the C.I.A. to preemptively overthrow a democratically elected president in Chile is stunning,” Mr. Kornbluh said. “The importance of having these documents in the museum is for the new generations of Chileans to actually see them.”

#Chile #Salvador Allende #Allende overthrow #Museum of Memory and Human Rights

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capricornsims · 4 years

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Strangetown Mystery 6 : Conspiracy Theories

It all started with a single photo. The bizarre plants have taken over Strangetown ever since the [Redacted] lab explosions and the appearance of the missing Bella Goth. Something had to be done about this, and Pascal took it upon himself to investigate the current phenomenon. Nervous was still missing, and Pascal needed to investigate further in order to connect all his theories. There had to be a connection between these plants and Nervous’ disappearance right? He knew he needed help if he wanted to get anywhere, so he sought out the one conspiracy theorist that could help in this investigation...

Pascal: Hey Erwin, I need a favor if you don’t mind helping out a fellow conspiracy theorist.

Erwin: Well Pascal, you cleared out my alien merch, I won’t have more shirts until next week.

Pascal: That’s a bummer, but it’s not that! These plants...they’re growing everywhere and no one is doing anything about it. I want to dig into this before things get worse.

Erwin: Well, you don’t want to start a panic do ya? If you want my help, you gotta prove that you’re a *dedicated* conspiracy theorist!

Pascal: Oh? I am more than just a *dedicated* conspiracy theorist! I got abducted by aliens!

Erwin: Oh really? Prove it.

Pascal: So this is Tycho, this is him when he was born. Oh and this picture is my favorite, he looks so cute in that hat. And I cannot forget to show you this adorable face he made… Oh yeah and this picture of the bizarre plant in my front lawn...

Erwin: Aw he’s so blue? Damn, that’s a level of dedication that I can only aspire to achieve. Never knew aliens could be so cute.

Erwin: That’s It, you are part of the Conspiracy Club! Here take this so The Government can’t access your brain waves! I’ll make a smaller one for your baby too.

Pascal: I’ll wear this with pride, Erwin. I am honored to be part of the Conspiracy Club.

Erwin: Come on Curious, we got a mystery to solve!

The Next Day

The [ Redacted] Lab sat silently in the crater, letting off eerie sounds from the satellite waves. No one dared go into the crater without permission, knowing how secretive The Government was about the experiments occurring within the barbed gates. However, the conspiracy theorists had an alternative way through the broken fence. Without difficulty, Pascal and Erwin slipped through the fence and entered the grounds of the [ Redacted] lab. For a secret government lab guarded by the Simnation military, there was no one around, which added to the bleak atmosphere of the area. He had a bad feeling about all of this, but he couldn’t let his fear prevent him from investigating further.

Erwin: So your friend is missing and you think it’s connected to these plants?

Pascal: Yeah, we met up all the time but a few weeks ago he just disappeared. This whole syndrome has everyone acting weird lately, heck maybe Nervous got the syndrome. I don’t know…

Erwin: Don’t worry, Pascal, I got your back and if we can solve this mystery, we can find your friend too.

Pascal: I guess you’re right. Thanks, Erwin for helping me.

Erwin: Hey, It’s not every day you get to hang out with an alien abductee. Now come on, are we breaking into this secret government facility or what?

Pascal: Heck yeah we are, high five!

Erwin/ Pascal: *high five* Conspiracy Club!!

Pascal searched the floor of the lab, the sterile smell of the lab mixed with the aroma of the bizarre plants outside, was enough to make him sick. The buzzing of the florescent lights did not help with his concentration. Nevertheless, he still took down notes, notably the gigantic locked door that required a key card to gain access. The scattered files laying around the lab showed that the scientists had abandoned the facility in an absolute panic..but from what?

Pascal: Huh, this says that the bizarre plants first sprouted in the crater after a [ Redacted] crashed into it...they got rid of the [ Redacted] and took it to [ Redacted] but the plants just continued to grow. Huh...interesting. Most of this information is blacked out...

Erwin: Find anything, Pascal? I found some seeds I could sell at the shop.

Pascal: These are just blueprints and science journals... So far all I know is that something used to be here before they built the [ Redacted] Lab. I also found information on the spores. It’s no surprise that these plants are dangerous.

Erwin: Yeah, I figured that they were dangerous. They also have this glowing fruit inside of it. I sell them at the Curio shop for $9 if you’re interested.

Pascal: My bets are on a UFO, what else crashes into the desert? Are you thinking what I'm thinking?

Erwin: The Government!

Pascal: Aliens!

Pascal: Okay, I know you’re an Illuminati conspiracy theorist but not everything is hidden by The Government.

Erwin: Hear me out! What if The Government is hiding the fact that the aliens planted the first seed in this crater?

Pascal: You may be onto something here...but we need to keep going. You wouldn’t happen to have a keycard on you?

Erwin: We need a secret dossier before I can order one but it’s going to be pricey, dude.

Pascal: I’m willing to do anything to solve this mystery, I could care less about money right now, you understand?

Erwin: Totally, I’ll be with you through the whole adventure and I can’t wait to meet this Nervous guy you keep talking about.

This was the first part of Pascal’s investigation into the Strangetown syndrome, yet he came out of it with more questions than answers. The more he read through the redacted documents, the more lost he felt amongst the neverending files. Overall, how could he find Nervous with this information? On top of that, discussing the likelihood of aliens being behind the bizarre plants raised his anxieties about his family, especially his son Tycho. The last thing he needed was The Government knocking on his door asking about his alien baby. What could he possibly do?

#strangetown #strangerville #pascal curious #erwin pries #simblr #sims 2 to sims 4 #sims story #strangetown mystery

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