#DR DOLAN | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

acotars · 2 years

Text

books read in 2023

january

sweep in peace by ilona andrews

one fell sweep by ilona andrews

a court of mist and fury by sarah j. maas

sweep of the blade by ilona andrews

sweep with me by ilona andrews

my best friend’s exorcism by grady hendrix

kiss her once for me by alison cochrun

the seven husbands of evelyn hugo by taylor jenkins reid

i’m glad my mom died by jennette mccurdy

love and other words by christina lauren

sweep of the heart by ilona andrews

the only living girl on earth by charles yu

witches get stuff done by molly harper

you had me at hola by alexis daria

her vigilante by lillian lark

inconvenient daughter by lauren j. sharkey

anon pls. by deuxmoi

you are eating an orange. you are naked. by sheung-king

legends & lattes by travis baldree

bad vibes only (and other things i bring to the table) by nora mcinerny

signs of cupidity by raven kennedy

bonds of cupidity by raven kennedy

crimes of cupidity by raven kennedy

february

exciting times by naoise dolan

sweethand by n.g. peltier

you made a fool of death with your beauty by akwaeke emezi

something wilder by christina lauren

highly suspicious and unfairly cute by talia hibbert

you deserve each other by sarah hogle

this is how you lose the time war by amal el-mohtar and max goldstone

would you rather by allison ashley

march

meet me in the margins by melissa ferguson

king of battle and blood by scarlett st. clair

the exotic by hampton sides

river of shadows by karina halle

alone with you in the ether by olivie blake

lovelight farms by b.k. borison

the soulmate equation by christina lauren

before i let go by kennedy ryan

haunting adeline by h.d. carlson

the lies i tell by julie clark

one jump at a time by nathan chen

our wives under the sea by julia armfield

all systems red (the murderbot diaries #1) by martha wells

before the coffee gets cold by toshikazu kawaguchi

april

funny you should ask by elissa sussman

make a scene by mimi grace

sweeter than chocolate by lizzie shane

the kiss quotient by helen hoang

my favorite half-night stand by christina lauren

romantic comedy by curtis sittenfeld

icebreaker by a.l. graziadei

the wedding proposal by john swansiger

circling back to you by julie tieu

by the book by amanda sellet

a lady’s guide to mischief and mayhem by manda collins

love in the time of serial killers by alicia thompson

if the shoe fits by julie murphy

whispers of you by catherine cowles

the kiss curse by erin sterling

by the book by jasmine guillory

honey & spice by bolu babalola

one night on the island by josie silver

the bodyguard by katherine center

the reunion by kayla olson

the neighbor favor by kristina forest

crooked kingdom by leigh bardugo

do i know you? by emily wibberley & austin siegemund-broka

just my type by falon ballard

delilah green doesn’t care by ashley herring blake

happy place by emily henry

dating dr. dil by nisha sharma

icebreaker by hannah grace

count your lucky stars by alexandria bellefleur

stone cold fox by rachel koller croft

fake it till you bake it by jamie wesley

may

the dead romantics

motherthing by ainslie hogarth

the woman in the library by sulari gentill

artificial condition (the murderbot diaries #2) by martha wells

the last word by taylor adams

you shouldn’t have come here by jeneva rose

june

fourth wing (the empyrean #1) by rebecca yarros

the very secret society of irregular witches by sangu mandanna

love, theoretically by ali hazelwood

july

the traitor queen (the bridge kingdom #2) by danielle l. jensen

the beast by katee robert

baldur's gate: descent into avernus by by james introcaso et. al

forget me not by julie soto

the wishing game by meg shaffer

august

the true love experiment by christina lauren

pachinko by min jin lee

almond by sohn won-pyung, translated by joosun lee

hook, line, and sinker by tessa bailey

september

hey, u up? (for a serious relationship): how to turn your booty call into your emergency contact by emily axford & brian murphy

everyone knows your mother is a witch by rivka galchen

fangs by sarah andersen

a room with a view by e.m. forster

juniper bean resorts to murder by gracie ruth mitchell

one's company by ashley hutson

the mysterious affair at styles by agatha christie

solita: a gothic romance by vivien rainn

you, again by kate goldbeck

the undertaking of hart and mercy by megan bannen

my roommate is a vampire by jenna levine

the picture of dorian gray by oscar wilde

the vampires of el norte by isabel cañas

her body and other parties by carmen maria machado

evil eye by etaf rum

the seven year slip by ashley poston

october

keeper of enchanted rooms by charlie n. holmberg

the serpent and the wings of night by carissa broadbent

shy by max porter

down comes the night by allison saft

the unfortunate side effects of heartbreak and magic by breanne randall

the hurricane wars by thea guanzon

november

a witch's guide to fake dating a demon by sarah hawley

the wake-up call by beth o'leary

when in rome by sarah adams

the view was exhausting by mikaella clements and onjuli datta

hello stranger by katherine center

practice makes perfect by sarah adams

do your worst by rosie danan

december

bookshops & bonedust by travis baldree

the fake mate by lana ferguson

final count: 127/100

#kate’s reading log #read in 2023*#a little late but i wanted to get this up here !!#i’ll update as i go so if you don’t want to see this just blacklist kate’s reading log :)#we hit character limit so i had to reformat lol

109 notes · View notes

kwebtv · 22 days

Text

James William Ercolani (June 8, 1936 – September 2, 2024), known by his stage name James Darren. Television and film actor, television director, and singer. During the late 1950s and early 1960s, he had notable starring and supporting roles in films. As a teen pop singer, he achieved hit singles including "Goodbye Cruel World" in 1961. He later became more active in television, starring as Dr. Anthony Newman in the science fiction series The Time Tunnel (1966–1967). He appeared in the regular role of Officer James Corrigan in the police drama T. J. Hooker (1983–1986) and in the recurring role of Vic Fontaine in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1998–1999).

Twice, in 1959 and 1961, Darren played teen idols on episodes of The Donna Reed Show.[10][11] He did an episode of The Lineup (1959).

Darren guest-starred on an episode of Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea as an Android Omar, that was produced by Irwin Allen. Allen then cast Darren in the lead of a series, as impulsive scientist and adventurer Tony Newman on the science fiction series The Time Tunnel (1966–1967) with Robert Colbert and Lee Meriwether. When the series ended, Allen shot a pilot for a new series starring Darren, The Man from the 25th Century, but it was not picked up.

In the 1970s, Darren performed regularly in night clubs. He focused on guest starring on TV series, such as Love, American Style; S.W.A.T.; Police Woman; Black Sheep Squadron; The Feather and Father Gang; Charlie's Angels; Police Story; Hawaii Five-O; Vegas; The Love Boat; and Fantasy Island.

He had a role in the TV movie The Lives of Jenny Dolan (1975) and the film The Boss' Son (1978).

In the early 1980s Darren appeared on Scruples (1981), and One Day at a Time.

Later Darren had a regular role as Officer James Corrigan on the television police drama T. J. Hooker from 1983 to 1986. He directed some episodes and launched a career as a director, notably of action-based series, including Hunter, The A-Team, Silk Stalkings, Renegade, and Nowhere Man, as well as dramas such as Beverly Hills, 90210 and Melrose Place. (Wikipedia)

IMDb Listing

#James Darren #TV #Obit #Obituary #O2024 #The Time Tunnell #T. J. Hooker #Star Trek: Deep Space Nine

6 notes · View notes

glowing-disciple · 9 months

Text

Reading List - 2024

Currently Reading:

The Book of Dragons by Edith Nesbit

Peter and Wendy by J. M. Barrie

Sweet Sweet Revenge LTD by Jonas Jonasson

Books Read:

101 Famous Poems by Various Authors

A History of Chess by Jerzy Gizycki

The Abraham Lincoln Joke Book by Beatrice Schenk De Regniers

An Introduction to Linguistics by Loreto Todd

The Art of Computer Designing by Osamu Sato

The Broken Dice, and Other Mathematical Tales of Chance by Ivar Ekeland

The Cairngorms by Patrick Baker

The Codebreaker's Handbook by Herbie Brennan

The Color Kittens by Margaret Wise Brown

The Complete Book of Kitchen Collecting by Barbera E. Mauzy

Dinosaurs, Beware! A Safety Guide by Marc Brown

Dracula by Bram Stoker

Dreaming the Biosphere by Rebecca Reider

Farmer Boy by Laura Ingalls Wilder

Frog and Toad are Friends by Arnold Lobel

Funny Number Tricks by Rose Wyler

Gender Queer: A Memoir by Maia Kobabe

Giant Sea Creatures, Real and Fantastic by John Frederick Waters

Hammer of the Gods by Stephen Davis

Hiram's Red Shirt by Mabel Watts

I don't care by JoAnn Nelson

Jaws by Peter Benchley

Jungian Archetypes: Jung, Gödel, and the History of Archetypes by Robin Robertson

Keeper of the Bees by Gene Stratton-Porter

The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood of Great Renown in Nottinghamshire by Howard Pyle

Out of the Silent Planet by C. S. Lewis

Precious Remedies Against Satan’s Devices by Thomas Brooks

Reflections on Evolution by Fredrick Sproull

Roadie: My Life on the Road with Coldplay by Matt McGinn

Strange Creatures of the Ice and Snow by Edward F. Dolan

Time for Bed, Sleepyheads by Normand Chartier

Weird Islands by Jean de Boschère

Future Reading:

A Girl of the Limberlost by Gene Stratton-Porter

Adventures in Cryptozoology Vol. 1 by Richard Freeman

All the King's Men by Robert Penn Warren

Always Running by Luis J. Rodriguez

Ancient Mysteries, Modern Visions by Philip S. Callahan

The Anti-Mary Exposed by Carrie Gress

The Arm of the Starfish by Madeleine L'Engle

The Art Nouveau Style by Stephan Tschudi Madsen

As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner

Black Beauty by Anna Sewell

Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer

Brave New World by Aldous Huxley

The Call of the Wild by Jack London

The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger

Champions of the Rosary by Donald H. Calloway

The Color Purple by Alice Walker

The Complete Works of H. P. Lovecraft

Cubism by Guillaume Apollinaire

Dear Mr. Henshaw by Beverly Cleary

Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card

Equal Rites by Terry Pratchett

Evolution by Nowell Stebbing

Expressionism by Ashley Bassie

Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

Fearsome Creatures of the Lumberwoods by Hal Johnson

Found in a Bookshop by Stephanie Butland

Frankenstein by Mary Shelly

Freaks on the Fells by R. M. Ballantyne

Freckles by Gene Stratton-Porter

Fundamentals of Character Design by Various Authors

Graceling by Kristin Cashore

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

The History of Don Quixote de la Mancha by Miquel de Cervantes Saavedra

Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones

Humorous Ghost Stories by Various Authors

I, Robot by Isaac Asimov

Illuminated Manuscripts by Tamara Woronowa

The Island of Doctor Moreau by H. G. Wells

Joan Miro by Joan Miro

The Jungle by Upton Sinclair

Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton

Light of the Western Stars by Zane Grey

Living by the Sword by Eric Demski

The Longest Cocktail Party by Richard DiLello

Mere Christianity by C. S. Lewis

North and South by Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell

Otis Spofford by Beverly Clearly

The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster

The Shining by Stephen King

The Silmarillion by J R R Tolkien

The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson

Strange Love by Ann Aguirre

The River by Gary Paulsen

Things My Son Needs to Know About the World by Fredrik Backman

The Third Man Factor by John Geiger

The Time Machine by H. G. Wells

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson

The War of the Worlds by H. G. Wells

We Are Where the Nightmares Go and Other Stories by C. Robert Cargill

The Weiser Field Guide to Cryptozoology by Deena West Budd

The White Mountains by John Christopher

#reading list #to update as I go

9 notes · View notes

themattress · 1 year

Text

Pokeani Villainy Ranking

1. Gen I (The Beginning)

The Kanto series featured Team Rocket at their freshest, which included the Boss himself, Giovanni, as the Big Bad who took an active villainous role in the Mewtwo arc. While it took until Gen II and Johto for the arc to properly conclude, the OVA special itself is a sequel to the Kanto-based movie and is predominantly filled with Kanto Pokemon so I am including it here. We also had a number of memorable human side villains such as Damian, Nastina, Dario, Jessebelle, Keith, and of course Sabrina. Even some Pokemon aside from Meowth and Mewtwo got in on the villainy like the bizarre talking Gastly of Maiden’s Peak and the ancient demonic Gengar. And even the Orange Islands gave us some highlights beyond the TRio’s continuing antics, namely Butch and Cassidy with an even nastier scheme than before, the despicable Mayor of Trovitopolis, and the amoral yet charismatic collector Lawrence III.

2. Gen V (Black and White)

Giovanni gets to be the Big Bad and take direct action yet again, and even when he isn’t present Dr. Zager and a uniquely serious and competent incarnation of the TRio are pursuing his agenda to conquer Unova. Team Plasma, especially Dr. Colress, is a formidable threat when they show up as well. There’s also Dirk from the OVA, the Genesect Army from the third movie, and side antagonists such as Leon the Dream Thief, Dr. Ferrara / Cryoganl Man and Team Vanilite, Seamus the sociopathic trainer, and the evil Chandelure and Litwick.

3. Gen VI (XY)

This series gets as high as it is primarily due to Team Flare. Lysandre, Alain, Xerosic, Aliana, Bryony, Celosia and Mable, along with all the Team Flare grunts and Lysandre Lab scientists are such wonderful villains in the anime. The TRio are pretty hit-or-miss, sometimes credible and other times not, but this is alleviated due to the presence of other enjoyable evildoers across the series such as the evil Malamar, Dolan the smuggler, the haughy Princess Allie of Parfum Palace, Ninja Riot and Merilyn Flame, father/daughter crime duo Argus and Millis Steel, and the young Prince Raleigh of Azoth Kingdom who is manipulated by the cruel Prime Minister Alva. Gens V and VI, back to back, was really a good time for villains in the anime.

4. Gen VIII (Journeys)

The TRio may have had the least screentime in this series and ran out of fresh material by the end, but for the most part they were solid as efficient but comical criminals. We also got Matori Matrix, as well as an alternate reality version of the TRio who were still under their serious Gen V characterizations. Team Galactic was far more efficient and interesting under Saturn than it was under Cyrus, the Macro Cosmos corporation headed by Chairman Rose made a solid arc villain, Ash’s Gengar had a delightfully villainous start, and Dr. Zed from the movie released in this series’ timeframe is one of the most horrifying and loathsome villains in any Pokemon media. Points off for that weaksauce, no-name Pokemon Hunter guy, though.

5. Gen VII (Sun and Moon)

While the TRio ended up being far more like good guys than bad guys by the final year of this series, they had a great villainous run beforehand, with the creepy and hate-filled Mimikyu being a standout Pokemon for them. And Matori Matrix, under direct orders from Giovanni, were great human antagonists to close out the Poipole arc. The rest or more hit-and-miss, with Team Skull being great but not appearing nearly as often as they should have, Viren appearing too much and not really amounting to anything beyond broad comedy, Faba becoming more well known as a mainstay hero than as the arc villain he started out as, and Nihilego, Guzzlord and Necrozma being frightening, monstrous adversaries but not truly evil.

6. Gen II (Gold and Silver)

The longer this series went on, the goofier and more harmless the TRio became, which was the start of their already dubious villain cred becoming a long-running joke. The worst part about this is that we get a lot of cool new Team Rocket members, plus Butch and Cassidy again, but seldom anything impactful is done with them, and they feel severely undercooked as a result. This is especially true in the case of Professor Sebastian and the silver-uniformed Team Rocket agents under his command. It feels like a story arc was begging to be told with these guys, yet it never is. Honestly, discounting the aforementioned Mewtwo arc sequel OVA that got packaged as three episodes of this series, the villainy in Johto peaked early with the triad of Molly Hale, Entei, and the Unown, none of whom are strictly even “villains” at all!

7. Gen IV (Diamond and Pearl)

Team Rocket sucks in this series, and what’s worse is most of the other villains suck as well, including Team Galactic whose membership and motivations are so flat and uninteresting compared to their game counterpart and whose arc ends on a huge anti-climax. The best villains here are the loathsome Pokemon Hunter J and Grings Kodai (although some ironic enjoyment can be had with Zero and the evil Togepi), but Hunter J gets wasted by only appearing five times in a four-year series and dying in a situation unrelated to the main heroes, and Kodai ends up taking his monstrosity way too far to the point of discomfort.

8. Gen III (Ruby and Sapphire)

Similar to Gen IV, Team Rocket sucks and so does everyone else. Teams Aqua and Magma are the most boring villainous team the anime has ever had; with the series’ movies being book-ended by associates of theirs who are honestly slightly better than them. And then who else, um....Rico the poacher? Colonel Hansen? That “Crimson Lightning” brat? Ugh, I guess that the Mirage Master or Mr. Mirage or whatever is the best villain we had this whole series.

#Pokemon #Pokeani #Villains #Evil #Opinion #Analysis #Comparison

28 notes · View notes

formulinos · 2 years

Text

I would like to preface this by saying that this has no basis in facts, as in I haven't personally talked to anyone that could confirm the stuff I'm about to say. I'd like to name this a conspiracy hypothesis instead of a theory, since I have no proof. I'll sprinkle some links here and there as I go about, but they are just basically temporal marks so you know I didn't pull this whole thing out of my ass. I am very much aware, however, that most of the time I'll sound like this:

I also am aware that I might seem biased in this, but give me a chance to explain who the real villain of the story is. Also feel free to just ignore it, again, this is not factually true as far as we know and I did have a schizophrenic episode in 2013 that led me to 6 months of antipsychotic treatment. It could be happening again!

Anyway, here we go. I believe that the 2022 Formula 1 Championship declared its winners before it even began, that is, Max Verstappen and Red Bull Racing. NO WAIT COME BACK HEAR ME OUT.

Consider the situation before and after the 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. I think a recent quote from Stefano Domenicali actually resumes it well:

“The World Championship being decided on the last lap of the last race, last year in Abu Dhabi,” Domenicali told the Corriere della Sera when asked what his most satisfying moment was, “leaving aside the controversy.”

By the end of 2021, Formula 1 had become a culmination of what Liberty Media wanted for it: a full spectacle where racing was just the necessary background for something that gives much more money, that is, storytelling. The Lewis Hamilton v. Max Verstappen created a rivalry, which is EXCELLENT for marketing, as this article by Dr. Cody T. Havard and Dr. Vassilis Dalakas highlights:

The rivalry phenomenon in sport also infuences the way fans consume the sport. In particular, playing a rival team positively infuences fan likelihood to attend a live game (Havard, Shapiro et al., 2013) and the amount they are willing to pay for tickets (Sanford & Scott, 2016). Rivalry can infuence the way fans evaluate team branded merchandise (Kwak, Kwon, & Lim, 2015), team sponsors (Angell et al., 2016; Bee & Dalakas, 2013; Dalakas & Levin, 2005; Grohs, Reisinger, & Woisetschläger, 2015), league-wide cause-related marketing (Nichols, Cobbs, & Raska, 2016), fan behavior (Wann & Dolan, 1994; Wann & Greive, 2005; Wenger & Brown, 2014), and player performance (Wann et al., 2006).

Rivalries means money, and at the peak of Hamilton v. Verstappen, F1 was making BANK. However, the fact that Domenecali had to say "leaving aside the controversy" means that the decisions taken on those fateful laps were impactful enough to create a significant divide on the consumers. This happened because from the moment the checkered flag was shown, it stopped being just Red Bull and Mercedes' business and it became the sports' business as a whole. Therefore, two things happened:

1) The spectacle that Liberty Media had created was crumbling down in front of them. 2) The legitimacy of FIA's actions were being put to question directly, since this was down to the actions of their highest representative in the racing aspect.

How can you move past this? In fact, many fans still haven't and might never will. But still, there are things you can do to try and mend things. The first was the Report. A half-assed mea culpa from the FIA that included a long evaluation of the events that transpired that day and the implementation of measures to keep it from happening again. Michael Masi was (rightfully, even though he was the scapegoat) shown the door and although it took them a long time to show a verdict, the release date right before the start of the 2022 season means this was the last of it for them and they were turning the page.

Still, an issue remains that still highlighted points 1 and 2, the question of Max's championship being retained. Surely, the FIA couldn't not admit any fault in the report or else the lack of self-criticism would doom them in the eyes of fans, but admitting too much fault meant that their decision to stick to Max's championship would be forever contested and so their actions from then on. For Liberty Media and the storytelling issue, it means that their conclusion of the Young Hotshot that defeated The Sport Giant never happened and instead The Sport Giant would just become Bigger. This can't do.

So far, I've discussed this from the FIA's and Liberty Media's POVS, but consider this from Red Bull's perspective. Christian Horner was on the record straight after Abu Dhabi defending Max's championship and saying that the championship as a whole was enough proof of his skills and the teamwork. But even more, he states that the Drivers' Championship is the most important out of the two given at the end of the season:

"The constructors' is where the money is," he said. "That is where the revenues that come into the sport are distributed, based on your performance in the championship. I think every employee within our team, and probably in most of the teams, is rewarded on where they are in the constructors' championship, as opposed to the drivers'. But the drivers' obviously has the popularity and it has the prestige. I don't think there's a single employee within our business that would have traded the first place in the constructors' for this drivers' championship."

If the drivers' championship has all the popularity and the prestige, then it also has the power to take those things away if its integrity is put into question. So, all that's left to do is convince people that this result would naturally take place. If many of Max's supporters said that "he would have won it anyway," then you best make sure that he does win it again, because once can happen by chance, but twice means that the level of talent and professionalism involved is too high and the results of 2021 were bound to happen. While there would still be skeptics, for a large majority of the doubtful fans, a bi-championship would be enough proof and the sport is considered legitimate again.

This is the motivation, so, what's the plan? Well, you need Max to win the championship, but there can be no doubt about it. Leaving it for the last race means that it could get out of control and this wouldn't be enough to quench people's thirst. Max has to win by a landslide to be considered a dominant force that's inescapable, which also means that Red Bull should be considered at the top of their game. Therefore, if last year they could afford to lose the WCC, this year they have to take it as a way of reclaiming their power and their role in enabling Max to be the best he can be.

Now, this is a sport. They can't rely just on Red Bull doing their best to make sure this goes smoothly, they also need the cooperation of others. Honestly, if they asked every single team to help them out, most of them would imo. Again, the events in Abu Dhabi didn't just impact RBR and Merc, they affected the sport as a whole and it is on everybody's interest to get past this slump. If the controversy only gets worse and fans' viewership and engagement goes down, it's over - it's not gonna happen from one day to another, surely, but it's not forgotten either. BUT, realistically, they don't need to talk to Haas or Williams or Alfa Romeo. They just need to ensure that the teams that could directly face RBR come out behind, and there are basically two that could truly do it: Mercedes and Ferrari.

With Mercedes, the approach taken was... do nothing. They didn't have to, since the "nerf the dominating team" initiative that FIA regularly does was already being implemented since 2019. The small technical regulations tweaks that were left for 2021 were already good enough to close the gap between Merc and Red Bull and allow for more competition, and the overall 2022 regulation haul did just as any reg change intends to: remove domination out of the equation. I'm not mad about this since well, it is their job to make sure there is a competition and you just need to reset things from time to time. Ferrari has been through this, McLaren has been through this, Red Bull has been through this, etc. For once, it's really just business. Sure, Mercedes shot themselves in the foot with their initial design, but they were set up for failure anyway.

Now, Ferrari.

Ferrari had a few things going on for them. First, a solid duo of drivers, one of them being a usually very solid, reliable and stealth grid climber and the other literally nicknamed by the fans "Il Predestinato". Then, they managed to unfuck things up from 2020 to 2021 and get back to the top 3, orbiting just outside the two main forces of F1 at the moment. In this aspect, they also could afford to relax a bit on the 2021 championship and focus on the 2022 car in June, way before Mercedes and Red Bull due to their relative safe place in the championship - back in June, P3 seemed most likely, but even if it was a P4, the money prize made no difference to FERRARI and the extra wind tunnel time would even be a plus.

This is all to say that they would inevitably come out with a banger car, there was no other way this could go. In the hybrid era, only two cars were major flops: the F14 T that managed to get one fucking podium in an entire season, but still landed 4th, so a good birth in relation to the field nevertheless and the SF1000 that was the consequence of its own actions. Other than that, Ferrari was regularly in the vice-leadership or Top 3, and you can bet they were coming to snatch wigs again.

Well, pre-season testing comes and Ferrari takes Barcelona in relation to Red Bull. Red Bull posts the fastest lap but they present reliability issues, while Ferrari does fine and dandy in experimentation. This is rectified by Bahrain, that shows in theory a better Red Bull car, with its hiccups fixed. However, it's noted that Ferrari are still behind, and less farther than one would think.

So, we get three initial rounds with Ferrari working flawlessly and striking two double podiums and two wins. Charles emerges as the championship leader while Red Bull show they have the pace, but their reliability issues can't be ignored. But by round 4 RBR are back on their feet and Ferrari suffer from home race luck, making weird strategy calls. It's okay, you can understand it once.

One thing to note is the difference in tone adopted in regards to this year's early rivalry, During the first semester, a few headlines we've seen were:

"There’s not been a lot of politics and bullsh*t" - Red Bull and Ferrari moving ahead in 2022 F1 season with 'genuine respect,' says Christian Horner

Max Verstappen says he 'prefers' F1 rivalry with Charles Leclerc to battle with Lewis Hamilton

Marko: Ferrari rivalry ‘won’t escalate like Mercedes’

All of the time, it's highlighted that there is a rivalry in place, which is good for the sport, but that it won't get as toxic and bad as last year with Mercedes. The idea is to be less aggressive, in order to show that such behaviour is in the past and that F1 can be entertaining on and off track without needing to resort to fighting.

But, as I said before, we do need Max to win, and by a landslide. Yet, by Miami, Charles was still very much in the run recovering from his 6th in Imola with a second place and Carlos getting back on the podium after two retirements. The tides started shifting harshly in Spain, when Charles retired and Carlos struggled to 4th. In the same race, Charles loses the championship lead to Max. From then on, as Sky Sports point out, from Spain to Hungary Charles loses on 108 points due to team-related issues in comparison to 32 points from individual errors. In Belgium, more scenes as strategy demands Charles to try to go for the fastest lap and pit. He fails to get the lap and gets a penalty that pushes him one place down (6th). From the Dutch Grand Prix to Singapore, Charles has managed to recover his form and feature in the podium all three races, but it's now Max's championship to lose. To sum up, Ferrari who seemed majorly solid until the fifth round started flopping left and right out of the blue, seemingly making a point of losing the championship by sheer incompetence.

When faced with criticism, Mattia Binotto has repeatedly stated that there was no need for changes at his Ferrari staff. In fact, some of his most outlandish claims include that the Hungary Grand Prix win wasn't possible for them anyway, regardless of Charles' display that day. Curiously, his tone only changed after the Italian Grand Prix (RIP Ana Formulinos' dream of going to Monza, 2000-2022) when he finally admitted something needed to be done. A bit too late, considering that from the next race onwards, the title was Max's to win on a mathematical basis.

So, here comes a question: what's in it for Ferrari, exactly? Honestly... I've no fucking clue. They were punished over an engine that fell in the "not legal but not illegal" limbo in 2020 by the same FIA which, in this scenario I'm hypothesising, would have cut some sort of deal with advantages for them in the upcoming seasons. This is for us to see in the future, as nothing is bound to happen for us in 2022. However, I think a factor that is important is that while Ferrari is the crown jewel of F1's teams, the records and titles mean nothing if the sport is dead and/or perceived as illegitimate. Therefore, the same way it is the other teams' interest to keep the show going, Ferrari might be the one to need it the most. They need each other. So, I could see Ferrari, Liberty Media and the FIA all in the same side for once anyway.

Now, an important addendum. In all of this, am I saying that everyone in Red Bull and in Ferrari are involved in this? Is Max Verstappen devilishly laughing as he wins and wins and is Charles binning it on purpose? Are the mechanics at Ferrari armed with hammers to destroy the chassis while no one's watching? NO OF COURSE NOT. You can tell that these drivers are real people that get frustrated with their losses and happy with their wins. You could tell how Max was starting to feel relieved after the reliability issues were gone, and how the light in Charles' eyes dimmed race after race. Same thing with the mechanics whenever there was a failure. In fact, I don't think that for this hypothesis to work everybody needs to be in on it, just the right people. One single strategist is enough for Ferrari to lose a whole race, while Red Bull just needs to make sure the car is running since Max is more than apt to win a race, no denying that.

Cool. Now, here is an interesting point: the budget cap controversy. While things were peaceful between Ferrari and Red Bull until then, things quickly went astray after the first reports of Red Bull possibly breaching the cost cap, with Binotto and Toto meeting up to gossip about it during the Singapore GP. The stance taken by Ferrari is that they mad. They really mad. I suppose that, in this scenario I'd be too, if I had been made to look like a fool bottling every race, even having to take it on the chin after a technical directive so these fools could win and still they're able to splurge on cash to save their season? That would have been bad enough, but the fact that if these extra expenses went undetected, this means they'd be free to do as they please for the 2023 championship... I have a feeling that this is not part of the deal.

Christian Horner went extra defensive, claiming indirectly that there was a snitch in the FIA responsible for the leak and, most importantly:

“One can only assume it’s not coincidental this is at a point where Max has his first strike at a World Championship,” he said.

Speaking later to Sky F1, Horner added: “Do you think that’s a coincidence? Or do you think there might be a little bit of a campaign to discredit what the team has done?

“It’s a little bit suspicious.”

Concerns about a discredited championship, AGAIN. As this report says, it's highly unlikely that the FIA consider harsh penalties as they will probably decree it as a minor breach. Can't go unpunished as again the FIA's decision skills will be put into questioning, but can't be declared a major breach since a harsher penalty might put Ferrari back in the running and we need that landslide, lads.

It's yet to be seen if Max takes it at Japan, which would be kinda curious since the 2021 Japanese Grand Prix was supposed to be about Honda's swan song from F1 and now a celebration of its strengthened ties to Red Bull. Either way, it won't be long now, and the championship will be long done by the last round.

As an interesting afterthought, I think it's curious how little reporting there has been on the rift between the FIA and FOM/Liberty Media. The creative differences between the two has been significant as Liberty Media presents more changes in the racing format and increases the calendar, something that our current president isn't a fan of. Latest developments have been about the FIA publishing the calendar before FOM, something that's unheard of. In fact, the rift has been said to have gotten worse after... Abu Dhabi, since the FIA perceived it as an indirect result of Liberty Media's push for spectacles :) How lovely is the state of things in F1 right now.

In conclusion, the result of nearly a year of observation of this championship led me to hypothesise that the result is being constructed to re-legitimise the sport and its organising bodies after the 2021 Abu Dhabi scandal. In this aspect, it's not Max Verstappen, Red Bull and even Scuderia Ferrari per se the direct villains of the story, but the FIA and Liberty Media who in their push to save themselves only get deeper and deeper in the chaos. While I can't prove for sure this is real (and false tbh), there are still further developments in 2022 and 2023 that can change things, so don't take it to heart. Cheers everybody, I'll go back to my cave!

#long post

93 notes · View notes

blogparanormalexpresso2stuff · 2 years

Link

The remote village of Hessdalen, Norway may well be the scene of the longest continuously recorded UFO activity in the world. For more than forty years, people have observed -- and scientists have recorded -- highly unusual and so far inexplicable phenomena there.

Especially high activity of Hessdalen lights took place from December 1981 until the summer of 1984 when lights were observed 15–20 times per week. Since then, the activity has decreased and now the lights are observed some 10–20 times per year.

35 notes · View notes

lavellun · 1 year

Text

statistical "which character" personality quiz!

tagged by: @shinsabine and @tommishelby! thank you lovelies 🤍 this was so fun to do!

rules: take this test and present who you got as the characters most similar to you!

Pam Beesly (The Office): 90% Beth March (Little Women): 89% Penny (Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog): 89% Anastasia Steele (Fifty Shades of Grey): 89% Kate Pearson (This Is Us): 88% Valentine Wiggin (Ender's Game): 88% Belle French (Once Upon a Time): 88% Nina Locke (Locke & Key): 88% Dana Polk (The Cabin in the Woods): 87% Andrea Sachs (The Devil Wears Prada): 87% Mary Margaret Blanchard (Once Upon a Time): 87% Marianne (Portrait of a Lady on Fire): 87% Elisa Esposito (The Shape of Water): 87% Mia Dolan (La La Land): 87% Rita Bennett (Dexter): 86% Rosalind Walker (Chilling Adventures of Sabrina): 86% Eliza Hamilton (Hamilton): 86% Jane Villanueva (Jane the Virgin): 86% Mamá Coco (Coco): 86% Aimee Finecky (The Spectacular Now): 86%

tagging: @targaryeirene @userabby @somethingtofightfor @yashanydoren @alwynn @alpacinosgf @abigail @cruelfeast @butchshore @sixofroses (if you want ofc!)

#some of these (i picked the first 20 of the list) i have no idea who they are lmao #but others are some of my faves!#thanks again for tagging me <3 #personal

9 notes · View notes

phantombandit-films · 2 years

Text

Christian Slater Movie/Tv checklist.

When I find a actor/actress I like I will go through their IMDB and make a list of the films I think look interesting and watch them. Most of the time that means watching every single movie/ tv show they have been in. Titles with a ✔ at the end are the ones I've seen.

☆ Tales from the Darkside. ☆ The Legend of Billie Jean. ✔ ☆ The Name of the Rose. ✔ ☆ Twisted. ✔ ☆ The Equalizer (Season 2, Ep 4) ☆ Crime Story. ☆ L.A. Law (Season 2, Ep 16) ☆ Tucker: The Man and His Dream. ☆ Heathers. ✔ ☆ Gleaming the Cube. ✔ ☆ Desperate for Love. ☆ Beyond the Stars. ☆ The Wizard. ✔ ☆ The Edge (Season 1, Ep 3) ☆ Tales from the Darkside: The Movie. ☆ Young Guns II: Blaze of Glory. ✔ ☆ Pump up the Volume. ✔ ☆ Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves. ✔ ☆ Mobsters. ☆ Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country. ☆ Kuffs. ✔ ☆ Where the Day Takes You. ☆ Untamed Heart. ✔ ☆ True Romance. ✔ ☆ Jimmy Hollywood. ☆ Interview with the Vampire. ✔ ☆ Murder in the First. ✔ ☆ Bed of Roses. ✔ ☆ Broken Arrow. ✔ ☆ Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery. ☆ Julian Po. ☆ Merry Christmas, George Bailey. ☆ Hard Rain. ✔ ☆ Basil. ☆ Very Bad Things. ☆ The Contender. ☆ 3000 Miles to Graceland. ☆ Who Is Cletis Tout? ☆ Zoolander. ✔ ☆ Hard Ca$h. ☆ Wind Talkers. ☆ The West Wing (Season 4, Ep 7,8,10) ☆ Masked and Anonymous. ☆ Alias (Season 2, Ep 15, 19) ☆ Mindhunters. ✔ ☆ The Confessor. ☆ Pursued. ☆ Alone in the Dark. ✔ ☆ The Deal. ☆ Hollow Man 2. ☆ Bobby. ☆ My Name is Earl (Season 2, Ep 8) ✔ ☆ He Was a Quiet Man. ☆ Slipstream. ☆ Love Lies Bleeding. ☆ Igor. ☆ My Own Worst Enemy (Season 1, Ep 1-9) ☆ Dolan's Cadillac. ☆ Lies & Illusions. ☆ The Forgotten (Season 1, Ep1-17) ☆ Sacrifice. ☆ Without Men. ☆ The River Murders. ☆ The Final Rites. ☆ Playback. ✔ ☆ Sofia. ☆ Freaky Deaky. ☆ El Gringo. ☆ Dawn Rider. ☆ Hatfields and McCoys: Bad Blood. ☆ Soldiers of Fortune. ☆ Breaking In (Season 1, Ep 1-7 - Season 2, Ep 1-13) ☆ Guns, Girls and Gambling. ☆ Bullet to the Head. ☆ Bound. ☆ Assassins Run. ☆ Stranded. ☆ Nymphomaniac: Vol. I ☆ Nymphomaniac: Vol. II ☆ Ask Me Anything. ✔ ☆ Way of the Wicked. ☆ Mind Games (Season 1, Ep 1-13) ☆ Mune: Guardian of the Moon. ☆ Hot Tub Time Machine 2. ✔ ☆ True Deception. ☆ King Cobra. ☆ The Summit. ☆ The Wife. ☆ The Public. ☆ Mr. Robot. ☆Dirty John (Season 2, Ep 1-8) ☆ We Can Be Heroes. ✔ ☆ Dr. Death (Season 1, Ep 1-8) ☆ Vindicators 2 (Season 1, ep 1,3,4,6,7,10) ☆ Archer (Season 5, Ep 9,12,13 - Season 6, 2,6,8,9,12,13 - Season 7, Ep 8 - Season 13, Ep 7,8) ☆ Inside Job (Season 1, Ep 1-10- Season 2, Ep 1-8) ☆ Willow (Season 1, Ep 6) ✔

#christian slater #film checklist

21 notes · View notes

bicokun · 2 years

Text

Sydelle has been keeping a close eye on Ovid, feeling responsible for his plight. Has the time finally come for her to confront that man?

#horror u #comic #webcomic #issue 5 #page 3 #heads will roll #ovid sentō #sydelle von rothgar #dr. enosh franken #dolan dewitt #vampire #dhampir

0 notes

ariadnewhitlock · 5 months

Text

Teacher's Pet || Clare & Ariadne

TIMING: About a week before The Trial. LOCATION: Siobhan's office at UMWR PARTIES: Clare (NPB) and Ariadne @ariadnewhitlock SUMMARY: Clare comes to try to take care of a problem! (Ariadne is the problem). CONTENT WARNINGS: maybe somehow none?

So Siobhan was trying to educate the youth of america. Pitiful. Clare wanted to say she expected more from the disgraced banshee, but she’d be lying if she had. As the blonde banshee strolled through the “professor's” office, stilettos click-clacking against the hardwood floors, she brushed across the papers and notes littered on the desk. Nothing too interesting. Insipid notes that Siobhan had undoubtedly left herself about cake and her “husband,” whoever that was, and depressing doodles of wings (truly tragic). Notes about students being insufferable and stupid which Clare could hardly argue with.

No, the wingless wonder was as pathetic as ever, trying to give her life meaning outside of Saol Eile, something she would never find. To be fair, that was perfectly ideal for Clare. Siobhan didn’t deserve the blessing of fulfilling her duty to the fullest extent just like she had never deserved the family she came from. Sadhbh Dolan was one of the finest banshees in all of Ireland as far as she was concerned, second only to Clare’s own late mother, the one who died due to a certain disgraced banshee’s ineptitude.

She was about to leave and call the investigation a wash when she noticed something strange on the desk. There was a beautiful squirrel’s skull and a few pieces of snake vertebrae that she was tempted to pluck right into her purse, but that’s not what caught her eye. No, it was the lovingly handcrafted embroidered piece sitting next to them. This was a gift of some sort. Even without the note that was left nearby, Clare could tell that much. “How sweet,” she cooed to herself, condescension dripping from every syllable as she spoke to herself. She took the note between her fingers and flipped it open to see who was leaving the world’s worst banshee trite little gifts.

Ariadne, apparently. At least, according to the note. Clare tossed the card aside and rummaged through the records in front of her some more. The name popped up a few more times along with mention of grades and lectures. She must be a student. Had the wingless wonder found a little teacher’s pet? Someone that didn’t think she was a wretched excuse of a fae? Good for her.

A smirk spread across Clare’s face as she pulled open drawers and dug for any more information of where to find this child. She needn’t have bothered. Fate, it seemed, came knocking. The banshee looked up to see a blonde girl at the door. “Hello,” she said, wiping the contempt from her face and replacing it with an apologetic mask. “I’m sorry, I’m probably not who you were expecting. “I’m a friend of Sio–” Clare caught herself and swallowed down the bile burning at her throat at the mere thought of what she was going to say next. “Sorry, Dr. Dolan’s. Silly me, I forget how accomplished she is now.” A flippant laugh fell from her lips that was almost as pathetic as the woman she was referring to. “Anyway, can I help you, Miss…?”

—

She didn’t know if she was supposed to just go by Siobhan’s office whenever she wanted. But she hadn’t thought that it was such a big deal, and also, Siobhan hadn’t responded to her in a little bit, which was fine. Totally fine. It didn’t worry Ariadne at all, except that it totally did, and she wasn’t sure what to do about that except to go and try to track her down. She couldn’t believe how much she was hoping Siobhan – Dr. Dolan – would be there to mock and laugh at her. That didn’t make any sense, since adults she admired making fun of her was enough to make her feel sick, but it would mean that Siobhan – Dr. Dolan – didn’t hate her, and that she was okay.

Plus, she’d made another embroidery for her, another one with bones, which Ariadne still found a bit creepy, but it was what her professor loved, and she liked making things that people loved. So it was neatly wrapped up in tissue paper and tucked in a bag with gummy skulls (she hoped that wasn’t offensive to bring). She’d memorized the way to the office, but once she got nearly there she found herself freezing, half turning around, before she steadied herself again and marched right up to the door.

Which was open!

Except when she looked inside, a head of blonde hair similar to her own was inside, which was distinctly not the woman that she was looking for. Unless she’d made some changes. Which Ariadne would’ve been in support of, but this wasn’t her.

“Oh! Yes, she’s very very very smart.” Ariadne couldn’t help but smile. “That’s cool that you’re friends with her. I, uh – oh. I’m Ariadne. Whitlock. But you don’t have to call me ‘miss’ anything, seriously. I – uh, do you know where she is?”

—

Clare’s brow shot up as soon as she heard the child’s name. She really was a teacher’s pet, wasn’t she? Well this certainly made her job much easier. Even so, she couldn’t see what it was that the other banshee saw in this child. She was nothing but an ordinary–

The smirk fell from Clare’s face as the sensation of death crawled down her spine, but it was wrong, off somehow. What normally felt like a cool breeze on a hot day was twisted up, like it was a blast of heat instead. That could only mean one thing: this child had cheated her way out of her fate, perversing death into a mockery of itself.

It was hard not to scoff but Clare managed to hold her composure – outwardly, at least. Gods, she knew that the wingless wonder was a disgrace, but this? This was something else. It was one thing to adopt a human child, that was shameful enough, but no, Siobhan had managed to do so much worse. Befriending the undead? What a disgusting choice.

No matter, Clare would take care of this. She was here to clean up Sioban’s mess, after all. It would be her pleasure to restore Fate’s balance at the same time. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Ariadne,” she said, artificial sweetness sweeping over her face and coating her words once more. “You should come in, there’s no need to stand there in the doorframe.” The banshee invited the perversion of Fate inside the office with a welcoming gesture. “We should probably talk, Miss Whitlock,” she added as she closed the door behind them both. Clare mustered up all the false sympathy she could muster. “I heard that you and Dr. Dolan were quite close, correct?” At least it wasn’t hard to fake the look of pity that she gave the child. “I think you should sit down before I tell you what happened.”

It would certainly give Clare more time to come up with a plan on how to fulfill her duty where Siobhan had failed so miserably. If the child was undead, this was going to be a bit more difficult than she anticipated. She wasn’t sure if they could be knocked out as easily as mortals but she had a feeling they could all be tied down just the same. And a controlled scream should rupture flesh even if it was disgustingly undead. It wasn’t the cleanest method and it wasn’t her favorite for that reason but she supposed beggars couldn’t be choosers.

—

She didn’t know why she’d never met this lady before. Maybe Siobhan didn’t trust her not to make a fool of herself around her cool, sophisticated, whatever-the-word-for-from-a-city-was friends. But maybe Ariadne was making too big of a deal about it all. Maybe, maybe not. She wasn’t sure much at all, but maybe possibly sort of she could fake something. Maybe.

There were too many maybes but Ariadne wasn’t the most certain of people in the best of times, much less when Wynne wasn’t around and when she’d wandered into Dr. Dolan’s office and gotten surprised.

“It’s – uh, yeah. A pleasure to meet you too, I mean.” Ariadne scrunched up her nose. “Sorry.” She didn’t even know why she was saying sorry, but there was something about the woman that just made her feel like she had to.

Now the woman was calling her Miss Whitlock and Ariadne opened her mouth to say that nobody really called her that (and, as a matter of fact, it made her feel sort of weird and funny to be called that), but she couldn’t get the words out. They were stuck in her throat like too-sticky taffy, trapped behind her lips in a way that she couldn’t even begin to force them out.

“We – I – uh-huh.” Was all she could manage. “I guess.” Because she didn’t want to presume how close Dr. Dolan had figured they were. That was asking too much, and she didn’t want to get yelled at or have Dr. Dolan be disappointed in her. Not when she seemed to actually be tolerated by her, despite her former inability to always finish work on time.

“What do – what happened?” Ariadne wasn’t sure how much paler she could get, but if such a thing was possible, the idea of Dr. Dolan maybe having had something happen set it off intensely. “I – yeah.” She sat down in one of the chairs, legs pressed together, feeling out of breath despite her physiological lack of need to breathe.

—

It was oh so tempting to just shove the child into the chair herself, if only so that she could stop the stuttering, but Clare managed to resist. She even managed to keep the feigned empathy spread across her face. Truy she should win a Golden Bone award for her performance.

With a sigh, she walked behind Ariadne and carefully laid one hand on each of her shoulders. Her touch was gentle — for now — more feigned comfort, sympathy, any of those sorts of disgusting displays of emotion that she was sure the wingless wonder had succumbed to during her exile. “It’s a shame, really,” Clare started, her voice still full of aspartame. “Dr. Dolan, she had to leave, you see. It’s tragic. Truly. The crimes that she committed were just—” Clare lifted a hand to cover her mouth while she let out a strained gasp that resembled the sound of a dying creature more than any sort of sadness.

“But I’m getting ahead of myself.” Clare allowed herself to smirk for a second before she rounded the chair, now facing Ariadne. Her hand never lifted from the child, simply slid down to her knee. If Clare severed the connection, it would mean ceding some of her power and that was out of the question, even if she wanted to claw the flesh off her own fingers every second it brushed against the perversion of death sitting in front of her. Her mask of empathy pulled over her features again as she crouched down to meet the girl at eye-level. “There’s a lot that Dr. Dolan didn’t tell you. Though she may have mentioned where her home was, yes? In Ireland?” Truthfully, she had no idea how many secrets Siobhan had let slip but the accent at least was hard to hide.

“You see, that’s where I’m from, as well. I’ve known her and her family for a very long time now. Her mother and I are actually quite close.” Sure, it may have been more that Clare was clinging onto Sabdha as a stand-on for her own late mother than a genuine connection, but that wasn’t the point. “And a long time ago, long before you were born.” She paused to press a finger to the tip of the child’s nose, a “cute” gesture if it wasn’t drippingly patronizing. “Our dear dear Siobhan made a choice and tried to bend Fate to her own will.” Clare did what she could to keep the contempt from spilling over as she spoke. “She should have known better than to try such foolish things. Fate yields to no one, not even a ban—“

She smiled as she swallowed her words, though it hardly mattered if she told this Ariadne exactly what they were, it wasn’t like she would survive long enough for it to be a problem much longer. “Anyway, her choice resulted in many deaths. Deaths that were not meant to happen as soon as they did.” Rage wanted to claw its way through her and pressed against her lungs, daring her to end this charade sooner than later, but Clare drowned the impulse. For now. “So she had to pay for what she did. And she was exiled.” She gave her head a sad, sullen, shake. “We thought it was the right choice, that being without family was the worst punishment we could hand her.” Among other things, of course. Watching one of her wings swallowed up by the tar pit was a cherished memory of hers, after all.

“What we didn’t account for was how far she had fallen.” Clare gave another tormented sigh as she reached out to brush back the child’s blonde hair, tucking it behind her ear. “We didn’t anticipate that she would leave little trails behind, crumbs for us to clean up.” Her head tilted and her smile twisted ever slightly, darkening just as the sky was on the other side of the glass now that the sun was setting. “Crumbs like you.”

Clare’s grip on Ariadne’s knees tightened, nails digging in. “Now before you try to leave or protest, I should warn you that would be a terrible idea. You see, I hold your Fate in my hands right now. One little teensy scream from me and you tear apart. Your organs will rupture, your flesh bursts into tiny little pieces. Almost like mist.” Her smile hadn’t faded, not yet. “You know I’m not sure what it will look like, now that I think about it,” she added, tilting her head. “I’ve never had to get my hands this dirty with the undead before. A real shame, too. This is a brand new manicure and I’m going to be picking out pieces of disgusting undead out of my hair for a week, I’m sure.”

She let out a sigh. “Duty calls, though. Such a shame that Siobhan didn’t have the kindness to kill you sooner under better circumstances before she left. Something more pleasant. She must have known what you were. She had to. Unless she truly fell so much farther than even I expected.” And her expectations certainly hadn’t been set high. “She knew what kind of perversion you were. Her stomach must have churned every time you walked into her office or lecture hall. The stink of the undead must have made her sick and it’s pathetic that she wasn’t capable of righting the wrongs done against Fate. No matter. I’ll take care of this. I was never above cleaning up after others.” Yes, that was enough playing with her prey, it was time to get to business. She wanted to be out of here by nightfall and she was cutting it close. So Clare inhaled and readied a scream to shatter through the abomination sitting in front of her.

—

She’d never been a good student, but with Dr. Dolan – with Siobhan, Ariadne had felt proud and competent and like she was maybe good at more things than just dance. Not that it was bad to just be good at dance, but she’d felt seen and heard and maybe even loved, if that wasn’t weird to say about a teacher.

But maybe she hadn’t had any sort of real clue about everything that was happening. Which wouldn’t necessarily be a surprise. It wasn’t like she was even close to any sort of genius. Which sounded self deprecating and probably was, technically, but she was just stating facts. Siobhan liked facts. Not as much as she liked bones and stuff like that, but she did like them, and either way, Ariadne hated lying, and she really didn’t want to lie to someone who knew Siobhan.

She could call her that, right? That wasn’t going against seventeen-hundred-thousand teacher-student rules, right? She called Inge Inge but that felt different. Not because she didn’t respect Inge (she did, immensely, she’d worship either Inge or Siobhan in a heartbeat if either of them ever decided to start a religion) (and maybe that was super gay of her, but so what? They deserved worship).

The blonde lady was talking now and Ariadne realized she hadn’t been paying attention (too many ping pong balls going haywire in her head) and she found the word sorry playing just behind her lips but she swallowed it – at least for now – and focused back on the woman, feeling incredibly small and insignificant all the time. “Crimes?” She began, her voice barely above a squeak. She could do better. She had to do better. Still, it didn’t make sense. Sure, Siobhan was a bit quirky, but crimes seemed a bit-a lot extreme. The lady was facing her now and Ariadne wanted to shrink into herself, but she did her best to hold her breath steady – breath she technically didn’t have to have or use, but still.

“Yes, she’s Irish.” Which was obvious enough, given the accent, but Ariadne didn’t like to assume things. But Siobhan was Irish and Irish people were maybe cool, even though Wynne was off in Ireland without her, and maybe Ireland also sucked, but she certainly wasn’t going to say that to this lady right now (or ever) because that was mean, and she could say stuff like that to Cass or Wynne but that was different. She could say anything to either of them, because they were the most important people in her life. Would be forever, even when they were no longer around.

Which, with a twist in her gut, she realized might happen, even to Cass. In like nine hundred years, but still.

Because she was going to live forever, she was eventually going to lose everyone.

Not everyone, but everyone who wasn’t also going to live forever. The two people who were everything to her.

The finger against her nose was cold. “But – okay.” Nothing was making sense, but maybe it didn’t have to. Maybe she could just listen, or try to listen and try to understand everything that was happening. “Family is important.” She felt her lips drying out – which didn’t even make sense, but maybe it was just her overreacting. Which she did. Ariadne was just the sort to overreact.

Except that she wasn’t. Not really. Or maybe she was.

Focus, she reminded herself, eyes flashing back to the woman. Eyes that were nearly red, or would be soon. It was late, wasn’t it?

“I – crumbs?” That much, Ariadne genuinely didn’t follow. “I’m – it’s – I – what?”

She winced when the lady’s nails dug into her knees. It hurt and it wasn’t even from something fun like bumping her head in the swimming pool when she’d go about racing Chance. “Please don’t.” She didn’t want to cry, but she felt tears rolling down her cheeks, big and fat and stinging. Undead. That had to be it. Siobhan had been iffy on it, but Ariadne had figured maybe, at this point, she didn’t mind all too much. Unlike this lady who seemed to mind and wanted to explode her because of it.

She didn’t want to die. Not again. She hadn’t wanted to die the first time and she really wanted to keep from doing it again. “You have a very beautiful manicure, so maybe you like, uh, don’t have to make it dirty?” It was a pathetic attempt at reasoning with her, but it was all that she had right now. “I know those cost a lot of money and so I wouldn’t want you to waste it!!” She chirped, like a hungry bird whose mother hadn’t returned to bring it food.

“She wouldn’t have killed me.” Right? “She liked - likes - me.” She swallowed. “She – we –” She felt herself starting to cry again. “She said so.” Had Siobhan, or was Ariadne making up lies? She didn’t want to be a liar. She didn’t want to be a liar and she didn’t want to die again.

She glanced at a clock in Siobhan’s office – and she couldn’t remember exactly when sunset was, but she had to try her one way out, right? Assuming no part of this building was salted or anything like that, because that would very much put a block in her plans.

“I – I’m gonna go.” And then she squeezed her eyes shut and thought about her home and Wynne’s clothing that she’d borrowed so that she could still breathe in their scent. She thought and she hoped and she focused.

Get out. She thought to herself. At least try.

—

It was almost sweet how confused and naive the child was about the whole thing. Almost. If it wasn’t so sickening. Clare didn’t let her disgust add any potential wrinkles to her face and maintained her faux pity. “That’s so sweet of you to notice. It won’t save you, though.” She dug her nails in deeper to punctuate the words. “Tragic as it would be to lose my manicure, duty does come first. I can always get a new one. Righting the wrongs done to Fate? Now, that’s priceless.”

Clare knew she should simply scream and be done with it but it was far too entertaining watching Ariadne try to reconcile what she knew about Siobhan and the reality of it all. “Of course she wouldn’t have killed you,” she cooed as she reached up to fuss with the ends of the child’s hair again, her air of kindness and compassion unwavering as she spoke. “And that’s the whole problem. Siobhan never could put Fate above all else. She puts the lives of people she cares about before Fate like she can control destiny. As if she can will it to serve her when that’s not how it works. We serve Fate. We are the ones who give to it, who shephard it along and help guide it along its course. We can’t ask for it to serve us, to bend to our desires. But Siobhan never learned that.” It was a lesson the child would never learn either. Not that she needed to, nor did she have the time left in her unlife anyway. Still, something compelled Clare to teach it, to make it known to someone how this was all supposed to work.

“She never learned that trying to bend Fate only breaks it. Like a crack in the glass.” The tip of her nail touched the child’s forehead, plinked off of it as if she were the plane of glass in question. “It starts small but then tiny little hairline fractures scatter all around it and they build and build.” Her fingers drew spindling lines like strands of a web down Ariadne’s face and along her hair, across her chest. “Until it can’t hold up under all the weight and the pressure and then it just…” Her nails sunk deep into her knees once more. “Shatters.”

Clare’s smirk had slid out of hiding, peeling away the mask of compassion along with it. The ruse hardly mattered now, anyway. Not this close to the end. “Don’t worry, darling. You won’t feel a thing.” At least she didn’t think so. Not that she cared one way or another. It was a shame that she wouldn’t feel the rush of a glao cinniúint, not this time. The time for that had come and passed, this abomination already had that chance for a pure, righteous death just as it was intended for her. She had already tried to escape Fate’s embrace and so Clare wouldn’t be able to properly call her to it. Oh well, her own scream would have to do.

The banshee pulled the breath between them into her lungs, felt them expand with power and anticipation. Her eyes clouded over and filled in with pure black as she pushed the air, her power, through her throat, letting loose a scream pinpointed right at Ariadne’s unbeating, useless heart.

The vibrations began to shake the flesh beneath Clare’s fingers and she felt her own skin settle as the clawing feeling of the undead fell away. Then she fell. Her hands now longer gripped anything, there was nothing there, and the chair that would have caught her fall shattered into a million pieces under the power of her scream. Her palms slammed onto the floor, sending splinters into her skin and under her nail beds as she landed. There was no viscera, no mist, no dust, no flesh of any sort, and no sign that the child had been there at all.

She’d disappeared. She’d fucking disappeared.

Clare screamed, this time without control, without care, only pure frustration. The lights flickered as the glass around the lightbulbs shattered and the windows shattered to bits, leaving nothing between her and the crisp dusk air. The sun had fully set and darkness had claimed the sky and Clare had not claimed her quarry.

—

“Uh, no offense but I don’t know if that’s the best sounding ad that I’ve ever heard.” Which was rude and stupid of her to say, but maybe Ariadne was feeling a bit like being rude. Especially because this lady didn’t even really like Siobhan. She’d made the executive decision to refer to her as Siobhan because she loved her, and maybe that was stupid, and maybe that was being overly attached to maternal figures despite having a very very good actual mom. But this wasn’t the time to go down that rabbit hole. Maybe never was the best time to go down there.

“You — fate – uh, okay.” Asking for a whole lot of (or any, really) clarification was not the way to go right now. At least she could figure that much out. Anything else was a total gamble, but this much wasn’t. At least for now. There were too many at leasts right now, but Ariadne figured that was just something she was going to have to deal with. “But she – she’s one of the smartest people I know. That I’ve ever ever met.” Ariadne bit down on her cheek to keep from making any sort of unnecessary noise. Maybe even just calling Siobhan smart was too much around this lady who was supposed to be Siobhan’s friend because Ariadne figured that she was pretty fake.

Which was lying, basically, and made the air around the two of them feel far too stale and stagnant.

Besides, she really needed to focus on the lady’s words and the fact that she was very (very) much implying that she was about to murder her. Which, why? Except that she could vaguely recall something about Siobhan thinking that she wasn’t worthy or something, something, Ariadne was having a very hard time concentrating right now.

The woman’s fingers caressed her face, but it wasn’t a kind way of caressing. It felt cold, even to her, even to someone who was, by default, cold. Dead cold, but that particular branch of thought made her want to curl up and into herself.

Inge had told her to escape if someone was going to hurt her, and if she had a way out. Leila would’ve agreed, probably incredibly enthusiastically with the smile that Ariadne loved, the one that made her feel like she mattered. That maybe sometimes she wasn’t a monster. Even though she was.

So she had to get out, and she pictured her bedroom and she felt herself move, crashing onto the floor (she hadn’t put much effort into the actual act of traveling) and let out a huge sob, grateful that Chance was out with friends. Grateful that she didn’t have to explain this to him.

She picked herself up, crawled into her bed, and curled into herself. Her quilt, handmade, was warm, though she found herself drifting into thoughts of Wynne holding her, and she reached into her bedside table, pulling a Jolly Rancher (blue flavor) out and putting it into her mouth. That would hopefully put at least a damper to her hunger for now.

#wickedswriting #c clare #chatzy #writing #teacher's pet #// ty liz for this i loved it #i love clare #i love you!!

5 notes · View notes