Couples receive “parent points”, which they can use to purchase their children. Most parents wait for a few thousand, but you chose to buy the cheaper, 100 point child.
Shane knows what it’s like to be a 100 point child. He knows how it feels to see potential parents–potential families–come through the facilities doors, faces bright with excitement. He knows how it feels to see them reading the little plaques on the nursery doors, scanning the lists there for the right bits of knowledge and etiquette and grace that they want their baby to have.
He knows how it feels to see their faces pinch outside the window before they hurry to the next room.
Shane grew up in a 100 point nursery. They had torn, ratty, books and no teachers, and when snack time came, the tray was pushed through a slat in the door. They were called “unruly” and “damaged” and “stupid.” A lot of the other kids threw tantrums and broke furniture (and sometimes other kids). A lot of the other kids went quiet after the first few years when they realized they’d never be adopted until they were old enough (or pretty enough) to be useful. A lot of the kids cried and didn’t stop until they got taken away or were aged out.
Shane’s grown up a lot since aging out. He put himself through school, got himself a job, shed his 100 points like the torn clothes he’d left the facility in. He’s powerful now, successful, and he’s grown out of the twisted nose, big ears, and gap-toothed smile that had made him one of the less attractive 100 point babies. Or maybe he’s grown into them. Who’s to say?
It’s taken him a long time to get enough Parent Points to do what he wants. Being a man is, for once, somewhat hindering as most of society equates “parental” with “maternal.” He’s lost count of how many social workers have politely hid expressions of surprise when he told them he wanted to adopt stag, that he’s willing to take the classes, get the grades, make the oaths to get even one Parent Point.
Pete and Jane Carson were poor, so poor, and lived so far out away from town that they had trouble managing to earn many Parent Points. The points were awarded very strictly, and since their truck was…third-hand at least, well, they didn’t always make it everywhere exactly on time.
But they were so in love, and so enthusiastic about it, that as soon as they managed to reach that magical hundredth point, they practically ran to the Ward Building.
The lady took down their information and showed them all the brochures and read them all the disclaimers with a distinct air of disdain. It was obvious she thought no one had any business taking in any child worth less than a thousand points. Still, there was nothing to stop them from doing it–at least, nothing she could legally get away with–so she showed them to the hundred-point children.
It was agony making a choice. There were so many children there, and they were all so obviously in need of help. But one boy, the oldest and he was probably about seven, pointed them to a tiny child who’d been very sick lately and explained that the heat in the room didn’t work very well, and so when the little ones got sick, their tiny bodies sometimes couldn’t work hard enough to keep them warm and get them better. There was a look in his eyes that said sometimes there had been sick children who’d been eventually taken away and hadn’t been brought back.
So they took the sick child, whose name was Jakob, and gave him a home in their big, rickety farmhouse so far away from town, but they agreed. “That’s our next child.”
It was so much harder for single people to gain Parent Points. Lisbeth had sat in the same room as dozens of happy couples; had taken the same tests and had received the same courses, and yet had earned less than half the points that they did. Every time she first introduced herself to an instructor, they asked when her significant other would be coming, and wrinkled their nose at her when she made it clear to them that she was alone. It seemed like every time the topic of Parent Points were brought up, someone was telling her to wait. Wait until she found a husband or wife, wait until she was older and wiser.
sometimes i like to think of how aggressively NOT a nature person steve would be
i mean, he’s a city boy. loves being a city boy. he had to survive in the wilderness during the war, but it was a lot of teeth-gritting, trudging through the mud, sleeping on the cold, rocky ground and longing for warm meals at home
so the first time sam takes him camping he’s just so CONFUSED and CONCERNED
like, sam are we going on the run or something, will they see us if we make a fire?? sam what did you do i will help you i promise
and the first time sam takes steve and bucky, bucky expresses the same level of wtf like, we are walking up and down hills for FUN?? why are we eating cold beans when microwaves have been invented what is this
and steve’s like, humor him okay we love him. remember we love him
(meanwhile natasha’s just too smart for this noise. she saw sam’s camper and NOPE’d out of the driveway so fast she left a rubber mark on the sidewalk. she spent the week at a 5-star hotel w clint eating junk food and watching a scifi originals marathon)
Cat Comes to University Every Day So She Can Rescue Students with Cuddles
For years, the University of Augsburg in Bavaria, southern Germany, has played host to a very special visitor: a little ginger cat whose only mission is to give students soothing snuggles. She started popping on to campus when she was one year old, realised she liked hanging around with students, and has been paying the university a visit every day since then. Her owner lives just nearby and has no issue with the cat spending her days helping out the students, who call the cat Sammy or The Campus Cat. Sammy now knows many of the students, and will always run to them to sit on their lap and cuddle up. During each daily trip to the campus, Sammy enjoys lounging outside in the sun. But her favourite spot in the library, where she can check in on stressed out students revising for exams and offer support.
Ever wonder how big wolves are and why running from them is a really bad idea?
This had me so fucked up the first time I worked at the zoo. Because honestly they just look like big German-Huskies when they’re not wild. They look like big puppies. And then… they get close to you… And it’s suddenly kinda fucking terrifying. Like “oh this is the animal that used to scare people shitless.” “This is the animal that used to run through nightmares and poems so much.” And you suddenly fucking get it. As cool as these animals are far away, as important as the animals are in their natural environment, as much as we need them to survive… they’re still pretty fucking terrifying
can you believe these things became our friends
And then people domesticated them and now sleep with them in their beds.
We’re not a species meant to last
I’d actually argue the opposite!
We took these super efficient killing machines and befriended them and now they love and protect us as much as we (ideally) love and protect them
Cats basically domesticated themselves so that they could share in our food, medical care, and affection
In urban spaces, prey species know that there’s a higher likelihood that humans will help you if you’re stuck or injured than them killing or maiming you
It’s just, over time we see trends of our species overcoming environmental pressures that would and do lead to extinction in other species by sharing and forming close bonds with other sentient organisms and just kinda… aggressively community-bonding our way out of it?
For a long time there’s been this pervading idea that we, as a species, are just innately violent and terrible and “sinful” and it’s been that violence that let us survive (see the hunting hypothesis of human evolution). But that’s not what we see
We are, at our core, a species that looks into the face of something other, and thinks “I wonder if they want to be friends?” so long as the individual isn’t actively trying to kill us. Sure, tons of people do awful things every day, but for every terrible act or thought on this Earth, there are a dozen acts of kindness that people do casually for complete strangers
So yeah. We looked at these massive fluffy monsters with the sharp claws and crushing jaws rooting in our garbage just beyond the campfire and thought, the way no other species before or after us has done to the same extent; “They look friend-shaped!”
And they were. And that is how we got to be the dominant species on this planet
Steel Phoenix Studios 