☆ -- THAT'S WHAT BEIN' FRIENDS IS ABOUT!

Abbot and Abbey don’t have any plants in their house, there’s not a poinsettia in sight in Tazmily when villagers were known to have some of Abbot and Abbey’s poinsettias in their homes (Pusher’s house pre-timeskip comes to mind), Paul and Linda don’t have anything pink, the Yado is a sanitized hotel instead of a community gathering place (PLUS Jackie still works at the mine so he clearly can’t make enough money with it!), and everyone is less connected than ever before because they’re too busy working these dead-end jobs and constantly dreaming of something better out there.

@twothpaste​ honestly ya :[ i feel bad for em, and honestly it explains so much why everyone wants to fucking. leave Tazmily. it’s growing more than it can afford, everything has changed, and not necessarily always in the best way, but this is supposed to be better... everyone started feeling a little claustrophobic and alone, i think. the things that were supposed to make them happy didn’t (thinking of Abbot’s line about hating his job, which i’m sure was gassed up when the mine first opened and wow what a great way to earn DP quick!! but it’s soul-sucking instead)

which is interesting when you think that it was kind of an isolated way of feeling before- Donna and Isaac were the only people who expressed any unhappiness with life before.

it’s really sad and makes me uneasy, but it explains everyone being so excited to leave.  like Paul and Lin FINALLY have time to be together again-- they’re never seen together after chapter 3 till chapter 8 when Lin tells Paul they should check out the amusement park. like, Paul literally leaves Tazmily without her at first, going ahead after the mine closed but before Lin could leave her own job. i’m sure it’s refreshing for both of them to be together, and have it be like the old times in a way (kinda thinking of the sweet little “you’re always a kid at heart” thing, which I’m sure Paul didn’t see as much of when they were both working)

it’s interesting, because Nan points out that a lot of people are just in New Pork to party and have 0 plans on what to actually do.  i always wonder who she means when she says that, but she could easily sort of mean... pretty much everyone, since you don’t see anyone with places to stay at all.  they’d rather just move to New Pork on a whim than keep up with those shit jobs and watch everyone else leave for greener grass.

i know they still spend time together before New Pork ofc, Paul has his cut line about picking up dolphin ossicles with Linda, so they still have time for each other, but man, it’s not the same, i’m sure. i mean, even then, half the line is Paul worrying if Pigmasks are killing themselves so i don’t think it’s all that great of a time anyways KRHF

with apologies to @beinfriends (especially Lucas)

once upon a time i made an overly polite post explaining visual disabilities and how inaccessible this community was being, to the point of witnessing ableist responses to valid criticisms of aesthetic trends. for the past several years it seemed like a lot of this behavior died down. however, i am starting to see it crop back up and this time i’m not going to hold your hand if you’re inconsiderate or ableist. i used to let people make me feel like the bad guy for asking roleplayers to do the bare minimum for disabled writers. and i’m not doing that again.

accessibility is more important than how it makes you feel to learn you’re not being accessible.  accessibility is more important than aesthetics. and yes, you should care more about accessibility than if your posts looks pretty.   disabled muns are entitled to accessibility. you are not entitled to being inaccessible. if you are putting aesthetics that are difficult to read and look at above real people who it can literally hurt to try and look at those things, yes that makes you ableist. 

examples of what i’m talking about: over formatting posts with too many spaces and i don’t mean double or triple i am talking about the words being so far apart you could stick your thumb between them.  tiny ass font, font generators that put words upside down. and on that note, people who rely on voice reader apps to read your posts won’t be able to read them if you are pasting a font. they are read as images, not text, and can even make the computer voice glitch. i know this one will make people upset but when you start making icons smaller than 60x60 you are making it very difficult on those with visual impairments especially if your PSD changes the coloring so much we can’t make out what is even in the image. 

Anything he wanted? Not having to work for it? Everyone loving him... That is what he wanted. But getting what he truly wanted was a foreign concept, everytime it was in his reach it disappeared.

As enchanted with this fantasy as he was, it sounded too good to be true; Porky must be messing with him.

Two could play at that game. No one messed with Pokey Minch and got away with it, not even himself.

"But what did it cost? Getting locked in a stupid capsule? I thought we were smarter than that... Must be pretty lonely in there." Pokey said, standing up.

He slowly stood up and leaned against the capsule again, taking in a deep breath.

And then he kicked it as hard as he could, the metal ball toppling over to a position where the window was facing the ground, totally obscuring Pokey's vision.

"Guess you're stuck now, alone forever. Boohoo. I can't wait to not do whatever you did. I still think you're a total loser. Heh."

Porky's jaw clenched at that word; lonely. Porky wasn't lonely. He was exactly where he wanted to be. That's what he always told himself, and what he would continue to tell himself long into the future. He didn't need people. He just needed the satisfaction of knowing that he'd done what was right for him, what was fun, what was the most beneficial to him. His mind was slipping now from the game. It wasn't a game at this point. Pokey had refused to play.

"Lonely? Hardly, I--"

But Porky was cut off when Pokey knocked his capsule right over. Now, he could see nothing. He squealed in shock and surprise, and hacked up a lung right after, his lungs burning. Porky was lucky that no matter what side the capsule was on that he was still upright, but now it was dark and miserable. No, that window was his only view of the outside world. He couldn't do this to Porky. Desperately trying to catch his breath, Porky called out to Pokey one last time.

"You can't change the future, just as much as you won't change the past!" he shouted. "You would never go back to change what you did to Giygas, or Ness, or anyone! What makes you think you'll ever decide to be better? You think you can change it now?" Despite his panic, Porky managed to laugh. "The gods themselves hate you! You'll spend thousands of years wasting your time, smugly thinking you'll be better than me, and then you'll become me! And who will be laughing then?" Porky paused, panting hard, desperately trying to bring as much air into his body as he could.

Claus can’t help but roll his eye. Jeff wasn’t necessarily wrong for worrying about what Porky was capable of, especially with someone like Dr. A around, but somehow, it just felt performative to him. He came far too late to have done anything. Would Dr. Andonuts ever tell Jeff all of what he had done for Porky? Jeff had already seen chimeras around, but had not yet put two and two together. He wondered what Jeff would think of the whole thing. There’d probably be a lot of anger; it was clear he did not get along with his father already, and he would never be able to stomach what was done.

Oh, to be a fly on the wall to be able to see that argument whenever it happens… Dr. Andonuts frequently did not share his past or current experiments with people because he felt that people would “never understand” why he did it. He was probably right about that, but he might suspect that Jeff would understand it best, being his son and all. But who knew. Claus just had this feeling that Dr. Andonuts would let it slip eventually, though he knew that the old doctor would likely never mention Claus’s name or what had happened to him to anybody. Perhaps he recognized that there was no justification for that, at least.

He could almost see Jeff’s point about not being able to rest until Porky was stopped. If Claus even had the remotest inkling that Porky could escape from his capsule and try something else, he’d never be able to sleep at night until he was certain that Porky was fully dealt with. Would he ever admit that? Probably not, though. One thing they could both agree on was hoping that Porky was suffering. Whether the old king could admit it or not, Claus was certain that Porky was miserable by this point. He was stuck, isolated and immobile forever. Anyone would be driven to madness if stuck in that position for a day, let alone four years.

“Wherever Porky is, I hope he’s suffering,” Jeff said.

“Yeah. Me too,” Claus mumbled.

The subject changed then. Jeff was shocked to be able to relate to people of the future…? What, like people really change over time? But before Claus could comment on that, Jeff was asking about the Mr. Saturns. As much as Claus was stubborn about admitting it, he liked those silly little things too. He’d love to try and turn this around on Jeff somehow, but he really had nothing bad to say about the Mr. Saturns at all.

Stubbornly, Claus crossed his arms. “Yep. Same little freaks as always. Honestly, I’m kinda shocked the fuckers exist off'a Nowhere. They seem like the kinda thing that only Nowhere would have. But I guess we’re lucky ta have ‘em. Otherwise, yer stupid ass might be stuck here and I’d have ta deal with a headache fer the rest a’ my gotdamn life. Only thing that’d be worse is if Porky got outta his fuckin’ hamster ball somehow.” He paused. “Did Dr. A tell ya about that? The… capsule we’re keepin’ that freak in?”

It doesn’t surprise Jeff that the Mr. Saturns are still around and still the same. No matter how many years separate Jeff’s time and the time of Nowhere, he’s sure the species hasn’t evolved, and the thought makes him smile. Another question to ask, if it were someone he were on better terms with, would be how exactly the Mr. Saturn age… is it even remotely possible that they could be the same exact creatures who lived in Saturn Valley or that he and his friends had rescued from Master Belch’s factory?

Most likely, the answer was no, but having someone else he knew around would have been nice.

The subject of Porky catches his attention much more quickly, mostly because Claus provides Jeff with new information about what’s going on, something that people around here haven’t been want to do. Porky was stuck, that much he knew, but when he heard about him being trapped in a sort of capsule, he can’t help the surprised laugh that bubbles out of him.

“He’s imprisoned in a hamster ball?” It was obvious by his tone that he was beyond amused, even delighted, at this news. “That’s brilliant!”

The thought of just how angry Porky Minch had to be alleviates any of the residual fear he’d had about the other boy.

“After all he’s done to everyone, I can’t imagine a more fitting fate.” Living out the rest of his days, prevented from interacting with anyone and getting out to wreak any more havoc… it would be infuriating to Porky and satisfying to everyone he had hurt.

He lets out another chuckle, thinking absently about how finally he and Claus had something in common - they clearly both hated him, and the adage of ‘the enemy of my enemy is my friend’ comes to mind when he thinks about it.

“Finally, Dr. Andonuts invents something beneficial.”

In spite of himself, Claus grinned lopsidedly, almost smug, eye squinting with amusement. He could not pretend to have any love of Porky, even to spite Jeff. It would be the one thing they could ever possibly agree on, and it was that Porky Minch was nothing more than scum, nothing more than pure evil at its worst. He snickered at Jeff's last comment. All of Dr. Andonuts's inventions were either broken or useless. He'd gotten damn lucky that the Absolutely Safe Capsule worked as it did, though he'd chalk that up to the Mr. Saturns' hand (feet...?) in it more than anything else.

"Yeah, really. Ain't none of his machines ever fuckin' work right! It's a gotdamn miracle this one did."

When he thought about how he'd laughed at Jeff's comment, though, that annoyed him a hair. Claus was always dead-set on being as stubborn with people like Jeff as possible, but he couldn't help it. Maybe he should just take the opportunity to not constantly fight with Jeff and run with it. It was probably better than spending the next hour or two arguing with him while they walked to Saturn Valley. He would accept it-- although barely.

'Never going to find us'...

Pokey thought about that for a second. He honestly wished that Ness would chase after him, maybe even give him a second chance.

And maybe he'd even take it and finally be...

Finally, be...

No.

He was already happy with his choice, he was happy right now. He didn't need Ness. He didn't need anyone.

Pokey scoffed. "You? A king. But you seem like such a rotting loser, how could you possibly be the king of this place?"

He didn't want to believe that this thing was supposed to be him in the future. He wasn't going to end up as some old guy in a ball, that was crazy. Totally crazy...

He'd be fine, this was probably the worst of what was going to happen to him. He could deal with blue skin, a few added appendages, and a little bit of sickness from time to time. He wasn't going to end up like Porky. He wouldn't

He heard the sound of Pokey settling on the ground. Porky wished that he could see the other, but the capsule was not positioned favorably for him to see the ground close by. He would like to see the look on that boy's face. It'd make playing this game a lot easier. Making heads or tails of how Pokey felt was tricky, especially since he seemed to jump between horror, disgust, and annoyance with relative ease. This game was still not very fun, but Porky was trying his best to stay entertained.

"You think I'm a loser because you can't see the full picture," Porky returned. He sighed, heavy. "You didn't see this place back when my empire was thriving. There's always annoying do-gooders like Ness around. They made a whole mess of my city. Look at it now. You would've liked it, I think. It's city made by me, for me. Anything we want, we got. That's what we always wanted, right?" He paused.

"We're destined for greatness, you know. We're smarter than anybody, more ambitious than anybody, and more powerful than anybody. But we don't even have to get our own hands dirty. You'll have a whole army of people to do it all for you." Porky smirked at the memory, though it felt bittersweet now. Of course someone always had to come along and ruin the fun because they didn't want to play. "I was nearly rid of everyone who didn't like me. It was almost perfect. But I got the last laugh anyhow. They can't get to me in here."

Naturally, the genuine kindness and willingness to help catch his attention at first–and in turn, the genuine admiration and respect for heroes that comes with it–but what truly gives him pause is what follows after something so comparatively predictable; an inquiry about the origin of the device in question.  It isn’t a difficult question to answer.  The answer itself is obvious.  Rather… what has him carefully consider the question at all (as opposed to offering an immediate answer) is just how much he can reveal without jeopardizing the ruse he has set into place.  Would it matter if he just answered honestly?  Otherwise lying makes little difference in the greater schematics of things since this entire quest is a lie.  But, something in him–likely of the same origin as the icky sensation from earlier on–has him feel as though he should be honest where he can be.  That it’s the least he can do.  It’s the right thing to do, even if only in a marginal way.  That and maybe, just a bit, there’s something inexplicably bright about someone–especially when the individual can technically be categorized as ‘cool’--displaying interest in something that he supposes he is ‘passionate’ about.  Technically.  No more and no less than that.  Especially when the notation that it could be of assistance to others is dropped in the process of doing so.  An opportunity to do some good.

He wouldn’t exactly consider himself to be an advocate of humanity, but long gone is the irrational and disproportionately negative viewpoint of them, something more neutral settling into the gap consequently left behind.  He doesn’t like humans, but he doesn’t dislike them either.  They’re no better or worse than any other life-form of a similar intelligence and advancement level.  The only thing that makes them stand out to the Psion himself personally (read:  putting aside the Earth’s Power and the exceptional resilience present in its life-forms) would be his own unfortunate history with them and just as importantly, his adoptive mother’s origins in humanity itself.  She was important.  Therefore, so is doing good by humanity, albeit in ways that are thoughtful with minimal risk for it going horrendously wrong.  BUT.  Before anything else, he needs to answer honestly and since the calculated risk level for that (in the context of the ruse) is low, he can only gain from doing so.  ]

—-‘The machine is not of Pigmask origin.  I created the guiding schematics and constructed it myself.  The design and construction of machines with varying functions is a core competency that I have had very little trouble in acquiring several years prior to this moment.’

[ Gregory pauses, hesitation bringing his words to a skidding halt despite the conclusiveness implied by what he had managed to express in monotone.  He ceases playing with the strap of his bag and instead settles upon gripping it.  He doesn’t want to veer off-course too much.  Doesn’t want to dip into something so irreparably personal, no matter how shallow or slight.  But.  He’s also exceedingly curious.  Curious not just about the idea that others could benefit from something of his–odd and disjunct as the idea may feel–but about what Lucas’ thoughts are surrounding the matter specifically.  A moment or two more and the disguised alien stoically pushes on.  ]

"Oh!" Lucas exclaimed. He wished to say more, but the way it was said sounded like Gregory had more to say, so he held his tongue.

A couple of beats passed, with Lucas tilting his head curiously to the side, but eventually, Gregory did speak again. This time, he seemed curious about what Lucas had said before about it being useful to others. Lucas nodded to him. He did think it was useful-- after all, lots of people's livelihoods surrounded plants in some way around here. Even his own family could, perhaps, benefit from it. While they didn't grow crops the way Matt and Jill's family did, they still had a garden filled with both flowers and a few varying vegetable and fruit plants.

Lucas was a natural green thumb, but things were sometimes out of his control. It wouldn't change much, but it would be nice to know when something was awry with their garden. It just seemed natural that such an agricultural town would appreciate that kind of thing.

"Well, sure!" he replied. "Lots of us here rely on gardens fer food, an' some of us plant full-on crops 'n' such, so knowin' what might be wrong with a plant is nice ta know. My fam'ly jus' plants flowers 'n' some carrots 'n' strawberries, that kinda thing, but it still might be good knowin' what's goin' on. But, see, then we have some neighbors in town who are horticulturalists, an' they always got all these plants and trees an' whatnot, an' I think they'd like that kinda machine to make sure their plants are all nice 'n' healthy. Or, we have some neighbors who have crops, like I said, fer the whole town, and that would be nice fer them too."

He had gotten to rambling again, and Lucas tried to stop himself at that point. The point was that lots of people would benefit. Abbot and Abbey would be the most excited about it, he thought, though that could be more chalked up to their continued enthusiasm about technology. But wouldn't that make their day, having a machine that helps them with their work. It would be the best of both worlds in such a case.

Paul is very gentle, so he’d probably start taking care of her without even realizing lol.  Literally just Local Man Adopts Teen, Still Hasn’t Figured Out He Did That

He’s just trying to be nice.  He probably starts by bringing her food while she’s at the post office or teaching her little things like how to cook or whatever.  He has a lot more patience than Bateau for sure, and is a lot more nurturing ngl.  Nana is like an Asshole’s Exception-type dynamic with Bateau where he’s only particularly nice to her.  And, again, it’s more of a brother-sister thing than a parent-child thing.

Paul just has that sort of fatherly behavior.  He never really interacts with the kids of town (though he’s not against it, it just never comes up) and he’s usually very restrained with them because he feels that he doesn’t know how to interact with kids.  But I think he’d be excellent with kids.  He’s shy but sweet, and he shows that in M3 with how friendly he is to Lucas throughout the game.

He’d be an excellent father and Nana is like the test run lol.  If Paul became more aware of the dynamic he established with her, though, he’d become a lot more anxious I think… he’s nervous about doing the wrong thing but he wants to be good to this kid.  Suddenly the relationship has stakes. What if he messes her up!!! He won’t be still!!!