#life in acapulco mexico

[pamhr]

[niararn]

[donggatto]

Music: Corona - Calexico

[crissgeithner]

[hard--headed--woman]

"I had to fight to be myself and to be respected. I'm proud to say I'm a lesbian. I don't talk about it too much, but I don't deny it. I've had to confront society and the Church, which says that homosexuals are condemned. It's absurd! How can they judge someone who was born that way? I didn't learn to be a lesbian, nobody taught me to be the way I am. I was born this way. I've never slept with a man. I've never slept with a man. Yes, I'm a virgin and I'm not ashamed. My Gods made me this way"

- Chavela Vargas

Chavela Vargas (María Isabel Anita Carmen de Jesús Vargas Lizano) was a Mexican singer of Costa Rican origin, born in 1919 in Costa Rica and died in 2012 in Mexico.

She is considered a leading figure in ranchera music, which she sang with strength and emotion. Her voice, rough and warm at the same time, served her theatrical, passionate and human interpretations of standards from the traditional Mexican repertoire.

"And since I have to say it almost everywhere, I'll say it: my parents didn't want me. I suffered for it".

She has an extremely difficult and conflicted relationship with her family, who do not accept her in any way. As a teenager, she left her country and her family for Mexico. The young woman rejected and criticised the ultra-conservative society in which she lives. Once in Mexico, she began singing in the streets.

In the 1940s, she became friends with the painters Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo, staying with them for a while and becoming Frida Kahlo's lover.

At the age of 30, she was noticed on Mexico City's Avenida Insurgentes by the composer and famous rancheras singer José Alfredo Jiménez, who became the author of her main hits. With his help, she performed in the cabarets of Mexico City in the mid-1950s before embarking on the road to success in Acapulco, an international tourist destination, where she sang at one of Elizabeth Taylor's weddings.

Chavela Vargas rose to fame in the 1960s and 1970s, touring the world. She became a well-known figure in ranchera song, to which she gave a new lease of life.

Dressed like a man, smoking and drinking like a man, carrying a pistol, "the lady with the red poncho, silver hair and brown flesh" as the Spanish singer Joaquín Sabina described her, is characterised by her red sarape.

In a television interview in 2000, she came out as a homosexual woman. This is where the text at the beginning of the post is from!

Chavela's career reached its peak from the recording of her first album (Noche de Bohemia) in 1961 until the end of the 1970s. This was followed by a long period of fifteen years, during which the singer, suffering from a heavy addiction to alcohol, interrupted her musical career, which she did not resume until 1991.

Encouraged by her friend, the director Pedro Almodóvar, who compared her to Édith Piaf, Chavela embarked on a world tour, performing at the Olympia in Paris and Carnegie Hall in New York. Among her most outstanding performances was Tú me acostumbraste by Frank Domínguez in Pedro Almodóvar's film Babel. Being a close friend of Pedro, she has appeared in several of his films, including The Flower of My Secret.

Following a final concert in Madrid on 10 July 2012 to present her album (La Luna Grande), she was hospitalised in the Spanish capital with serious respiratory problems. She died on 5 August 2012, aged 93.

I am sure you know at least one of her song, La Llorona !

In any case, Chavela was an immense artist who had a profound impact on music, and I'm delighted to have discovered her, or rather re-discovered her. I listened to some of her songs and they're amazing if you like that kind of music ! And please look her up yourself, she was such an interesting person, I couldn't talk about everything in this post or it would have been too long !

[bekolxeram]

7x03 analysis part 2 — Too many Cats

Tommy flew a helicopter into a Category 5 hurricane, at least the show told us so. Is it even possible for an aircraft to fly in those conditions? Today, we are going to figure out just how strong the storm actually is canonically, and how realistic our beloved weewoo show is.

TW: Hurricane, extreme weather, natural disaster

What is the difference between a tropical storm and a hurricane? What even is a hurricane?

Both tropical storm and hurricane are tropical cyclones, just of different strength. A tropical cyclone is a rotating storm system with a low pressure center. The center, or the eye of the storm, sucks in warm moist air from an oceanic environment and it feeds into the generation of storm clouds that organize themselves into a spiral pattern due to the Earth's rotation, aka Coriolis effect.

A tropical cyclone is classified by its maximum sustained wind.

So if it's below 62 km/h, it's a tropical Depression. if it's between 63-118 km/h, it's a Tropical Storm. A Category 5 hurricane though has a maximum sustained wind speed of over 252 km/h.

A strong enough tropical cyclone is called a hurricane in North America, a typhoon in East Asian, and a cyclone in the Indian Ocean (including Australia).

How strong is the storm in 7x03 actually?

We first see the storm at the end of 7x01, when First Mate Kenneth tells Captain Ochoa there is a strengthening tropical storm in the ship's path. Captain Ochoa decides to reverse course back to LA and instructs Kenneth to alert the Coast Guard, but they get interrupted by the cartel.

Fast forward to 7x02, the next mention of the storm comes from Karen. When Hen is sent home by Chief Simpson, she tries to call Athena, but it goes straight to voicemail. Karen tells her cell service is probably spotty out at sea because of the hurricane, which has just got upgraded.

It's recently upgraded to a Category 2 hurricane, as we can see from Karen's tablet.

Then Hen goes to Maddie to ask the Coast Guard to look for Bathena's cruise ship. When Hen shows Maddie the ship tracking app on her phone, the time is 10:28. (I'm guessing PM because it's already dark outside during the Kyle Ortiz call.)

By the time Chief Simpson comes by to reinstate Hen, she's already talking about a Cat 5 hurricane. That can't be more than an hour or two later.

So which one is it? Is it a Cat 2 or a Cat 5? Who should I trust?

Tommy. Whenever he flies, his safety depends on his understanding of the local wind condition and weather. You should listen to him:

So it's a Cat 5, at least by the time the 118 set off on their journey to save Bathena.

Can a tropical storm intensify into a Cat 5 hurricane in hours?

No, not in real life. The record for most rapid intensification of a tropical cyclone is Hurricane Patricia in 2015, but it still took 24 hours. This doesn't mean the storm in 7x03 is completely made up. I believe I might have found the real life inspiration behind it.

Hurricane Otis (2023)

An area of low pressure formed on October 15, 2023 over the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Mexico. While it was during a significant El Niño period and the ocean temperature was record-breaking-ly high, strong vertical wind shear condition near the storm was predicted to hinder its development. It was originally forecasted to make landfall as a mere tropical storm. People in Acapulco went to bed on October 23 expecting moderate wind and light rainfall, many stopped seeking out updates of the storm.

In the early hours of October 24, meteorologists at the NHC recognized from satellite images that tropical storm Otis was rapidly intensifying into a hurricane. The NHC officially upgraded the storm to a Cat 1 hurricane at 13:00 CDT and sent out a hurricane hunter aircraft to accurately measure the actual wind speed of the cyclone.

Satellite images provide a pretty good model to estimate the strength of a tropical cyclone, but the most reliable way to measure wind speed is still to fly an aircraft into it and physically measure it. When the hurricane hunter managed to fly into the eyewall of Otis, everyone realized they made a huge mistake: Otis had already become a Cat 3 hurricane, and it was expected to strengthen even more. It takes time to process data received from the hurricane hunter, so operationally the NHC still classified Otis as a Cat 1 hurricane until the next advisory was scheduled to come out, which was at 16:00 CDT, but by that time, Otis was already near Cat 4 strength. It was then officially upgraded to a Cat 5 hurricane at 22:00 CDT.

While Otis did take around 24 hours to intensify from a tropical storm to a catastrophic hurricane, if you just look at the NHC advisories, it pretty much jumped from a Cat 1 into a Cat 5 in 9 hours. It caused extensive damage to Acapulco when it made landfall because the city was severely underprepared. I suspect the cruise ship disaster arc was inspired by hurricane Otis because it happened just a month after the writer strike ended. Also, in 7x02 Maddie, a 911 dispatcher, was not aware that the tropical storm had already strengthened into a hurricane, which mirrors the unexpected development of hurricane Otis.

As the storm in universe was going back at sea and not making landfall, the authority was probably in even less of a hurry to find out what the actual strength of the cyclone was. So it could take them even longer to send in weather reconnaissance aircrafts. I can imagine the 911-verse version of the storm jumping from a Cat 2 to a Cat 5 officially in mere hours.

Can a helicopter fly in a Cat 5 hurricane?

Technically yes, but the chopper won't be doing the flying. The aforementioned NOAA Hurricane Hunter is a Lockheed P-3 Orion specifically modified and fortified for weather information collection. If this four-engined workhorse has to fight tooth and nail against crosswind and turbulence in order to fly into the eye of the storm, a small single engine helicopter definitely would not fair any better. It would end up getting tossed around, a particular strong downdraft might slam it into the ocean, or a prolong bout of severe turbulence might rip it apart. Luckily in 7x03, Tommy is not actually flying into a hurricane, he's trailing behind it.

NOAA Lockheed WP-3D Orion Hurricane Hunter

In a blink-and-you-miss-it exchange between Buck and Tommy, after Tommy says "a Cat 5 hurricane passed through here", Buck asks why he means by "passed through" and what they are flying in at the moment.

"iNTermITteNt sHOweRs"

When looking at the cross section of a tropical cyclone, you can see rows of rainbands around the eyewall, increasing in size the closer it is to the center of the storm. If you have ever experienced a tropical cyclone making landfall, you would know it starts with sporadic bouts of rainfall (aka intermittent showers), which then gradually increase in frequency and severity as the storm approaches. Once you are within 100-200 km of the eye, wind speed would become violent while the rainbands become so wide and close together it basically keeps raining until you are right under the eye.

These are radar images of hurricane Irma (2017) making landfall in Florida. Bands of moderate to heavy rainfall spread across the inner core region of the cyclone, with still pretty consistent light to moderate precipitation between the gaps. But in the area further away from the eye in the southwest and southeast quadrants, you can see more squall line like patterns. Precipitation would abruptly begin and stop as you fly in and out of those outer lumps of clouds.

Wind speed in that area is no where near hurricane level even for a Cat 5 cyclone, it is typically under 100 km/h. That does not mean it is a safe condition to fly in. Because the outer rainbands of a cyclone are less affected by the storm's vortex dynamics, they behave more like regular thunderstorms. As you know, thunderstorms are big no-no's for aviation safety. In fact, the outer rainbands of a typhoon once contributed to a plane crash in Taiwan.

Conclusion

The hurricane in 7x03 is likely based on reality, albeit with a bit of exaggeration and a shortened timeline for dramatic effect. It is possible to fly and control a helicopter in this specific condition, but the danger is still quite high. Flying into a thunderstorm has a whole different set of risks associated with it, which I will tell you all about next time. Yes, part 3 of this series is "how to crash a helicopter with weather", so stay tuned.

[gatabella]

Rita Hayworth, Cesar Romero and Dolores Del Rio, Beverly Hills, 1977

"Del Río's relationship with Welles ended after four years largely due to his infidelities. Welles, involved in filming the carnival in Rio de Janeiro, behaved promiscuously and the news came soon to the US. Offended and outraged, del Río decided to end her relationship with Welles through a telegram that he never answered. He later married Rita Hayworth, "The New Dolores del Río of Hollywood".

But Welles never got over her completely, and off and on he went to Mexico in usually fruitless attempts to see her, or sent his children, whom she did receive. Rebecca Welles, the daughter of Welles and Hayworth, expressed her desire to travel to Mexico to meet Dolores on her 18th birthday. In 1962, Dolores received her at her home in Acapulco. After their meeting, Rebecca said: "My father considered Dolores the great love of his life. She is a living legend in the history of my family." According to Rebecca, until the end of his life, Welles felt for del Río a kind of obsession. For the rest of her life del Río kept a card with two beautiful slanted eyes (easily identifiable as Dolores's own) and a dove drawing along a banner inscribed with the word "always" and signed "Orson".

[theroseceleste]

Pilot Miguel - Part 1 - Pilot

You're a member of cabin crew for AracnAir, a commercial airliner and today is Miguel's first day as Captain. Will it be a soaring success? Or will it crash and burn - his first day - not the plane...

Word count - 3675

I don't think there is any potential triggering content in this chapter.

This fic will have smut, but not in this chapter. Minors DNI

Enjoy! xx

Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Part 10 Part 11 Part 12 Part 13 Part 14

If you enjoy this fic, please consider liking, commenting or re-blogging. Many thanks xx

You sit in your car looking into your flip down mirror as you check your makeup. It’s immaculate - it has to be. No single strand of hair out of place, pulled into a tight, neat bun. You look perfect, just how a member of an airliner’s cabin crew should; clean, presentable and stunning. You practise a bright white smile before slamming the sun-shade back up against the ceiling of your car. Then you open your door and slide out.

As you lock your car, you spot a group of other cabin crew across the car park. They too, are wearing the same uniform. A regal purple smart jacket, with the same colour pencil skirt or trousers. They could well be on the same flight as you.

Your purple heels click across the carpark as you drag your small travel case behind you. You’ll be flying for about eight hours today to Acapulco, Mexico and you’ll be staying over for two days before flying back. This is one of the many perks of being part of a cabin crew; seeing the world and being paid for it. This job does come with its challenges however…

After signing up to join AracnAir, you underwent intense and serious training; learning every emergency procedure and then performing them under extremely realistic scenarios. You have had to put out a real fire in a training fuselage, and activate the large exit chutes that become life rafts if the plane has to ditch into water and stage an evacuation suspended over a giant swimming pool.

You don’t just fly in one type of plane either, so your training included learning the ins and outs of every model that is in the airliner’s fleet. Learning the differences isn’t enough, you’re tested, yearly. Making sure you’re up to scratch and on the ball. If you fail the test, back to training you go.

Nueva York airport is a clean but bustling, expansive building. Long queues are forming before the check-in desks, snaking their way back towards the entrance. Bright white lights shine down and reflect off of the polished tiled floor.

The group of purple jackets are still ahead of you, as you follow them to your designated check-in area. In the small queue, you hear a couple of girls in front of you gossiping excitedly. A new pilot is to be flying with AracnAir today. New to the company, but a highly experienced flyer.

“He’s due to be piloting a flight this morning, I hear he’s handsome. I hope he’s on my flight.”

You silently scoff behind them, rolling your eyes in the process. It’s funny how excited they are considering that if he was on their flight they’ll hardly see him.

The queue inches further forward at a reasonable pace. You have your passport at the ready. With no large suitcases to check-in, you go through towards security rather quickly.

This is all fairly routine stuff. You put your hand luggage into a little crate on the rollers, along with your handbag, cellphone and shoes. No alarm goes off as you step through the metal detector and you’re able to pick up your cleared luggage on the other side.

After security, you walk through the duty free section. You’re greeted with a path winding all the way around the different stalls crammed with expensive perfume and colognes, oversized chocolate bars, trinkets and souvenirs, sunglasses, hats, you name it, it’s probably there.

Before getting onto the flight, you have to meet with your assigned crew and answer a couple of questions about the plane you’ll be working on. Once arriving at the staff lounge, you discover those girls who were in front of you in the queue are not on your flight. You wonder if they have got what they wished for and have the new pilot be their captain.

Your supervisor for the flight begins her usual pre-flight spiel. Today you’re flying on a Boeing-747. Presented with a technical question, you answer it correctly proving your readiness to fly.

“Oh and the Captain and co-pilot for today’s flight are Captain O’Hara and First Officer Parker,” your supervisor mentions as two suited men enter the staff lounge.

Before seeing them, you smile as you’re fond of Peter, the First Officer. He’s been on several of your flights and is a very cheeky, spirited human being. But the name O’Hara, that’s a new one. No… is he the new Captain?

Your eyes glance up immediately at the thought, just to see if this guy really is as good looking as they say. Oh my… He’s tall - very tall, dark and certainly, incredibly handsome.

Unlike Peter, he’s wearing a stern expression on his face. Could it be first day nerves? Nah… He looks more… annoyed than nervous. Immediately you sense that both Captain O’Hara and First Officer Parker are totally on the opposite ends of the spectrum. Grumpy and serious versus light-hearted and fun.

His pilot’s hat hides most of his dark hair, but you see his stunningly tanned skin. You try not to, but it’s hard to resist dropping your jaw at the sight of his facial features. Cheekbones that could cut diamond, dark brown eyes that’ll melt anyone’s heart, and those plump lips… your mind begins to run wild at the thought of what they could do. Looking around, you see several of your crewmates doing the same. Lucky for all of you, the Captain doesn’t seem to notice.

It’s time to enter the plane and get things set up. You’re usually stationed in first class, and today is no different. After stowing your little hand luggage case and handbag away in a locker, you get to business pouring glasses of champagne and begin preparing bags of snacks and goodies for the first class passengers.

The main theme for AracnAir is purple, hence the colour of your uniform. Within the plane, there are purple curtains that separate the different classes from one another and purple cushions and blankets are laid out neatly on each seat.

You’re in the zone, you have a nice routine that you stick to at the beginning of each flight. Opening various cupboards, you check the stock of different items in the galley. Everything looks to be in order. You stand up after crouching down, looking into one of the lower cupboards. Your back bumps into something big and the sound of a grunt follows.

“Oh!” you give out a little surprised yelp before turning round to see who you just inadvertently backed into.

Dark brown eyes glare down at you, they squint slightly as if he’s trying to control his temper. A low growl rumbles from deep within the Captain’s chest. Seeing him before getting onboard you knew he was tall, but up close, it’s a wonder how he can still stand up straight in the plane. His giant-like frame looms over you.

“I- I’m s- sorry Captain…” you stutter as your face instantly heats up.

You’re not really known to stutter but his intensity in that moment made your brain short circuit, and not in a good way.

A pale hand grasps around what looks like an incredibly large bicep underneath the Captain’s jacket.

“Come on big guy,” Peter encourages Captain O’Hara to move forward.

“Don’t worry (Y/N), he’s too big for his own good,” he whispers, but still loud enough for him to hear.

An unimpressed grumble comes from the larger pilot as Peter pushes him forward. “Come on, this way to the cockpit, I’m sure you know where that is…”

You giggle at First Officer Parker’s joke as he turns his head back to you and gives you a cheeky wink.

“Not funny, Parker.”

“What? (Y/N) found it funny…”

You don’t hear the rest of the conversation, as they turn left into the narrow alley before entering the cockpit.

People are starting to come on board. You grab the first tray of champagne glasses and get ready to greet first class. It’s showtime, and you break out your trusty smile and say hello to the first passenger you see. But in the back of your mind, those dark brown eyes remain burned into your memory…

Once in the cockpit, the Captain takes his hat and jacket off and hangs them up. Then, he awkwardly situates himself in his chair on the left-hand side of the cockpit. His chair clicks into place after he pushes it as far back as he can to make room for his long, muscular legs.

Peter flumps into his seat on the right and sighs as he also re-arranges his seating position.

“Man, I gotta stop eating those burgers in the terminal,” he pauses as he pats his tummy.

“Starting to rock the ‘dad-bod’ look. Although, I hear that’s now a thing that the ladies like…”

The Captain doesn’t respond as he searches for the plane’s flight log, to check previous flights, any reported issues and its history of maintenance.

“Have you given your controls the ‘once over’ yet, Parker?” he asks in hope that’ll keep his First Officer occupied and quiet.

Peter sits up straighter in his chair and obediently does his checks. He may be a bit of a clown, but he understands that safety is important.

Leafing through the pages of the log book, the Captain seems satisfied with the plane’s history. All seems to be in good working order - it is a relatively new aircraft afterall. He puts the book down in the slot next to his chair and begins his own checks on his controls.

The silence between the two pilots makes Peter feel uncomfortable. He’s more of a chatty person and likes to joke around while he works. To fill the awkward silence, he begins talking again.

“There’s a spot on a beach with my name on it in Acap-”

“Do we have a weather report?” Captain O’Hara interrupts, his sweet moment of silence ended far too soon.

“Oh, yeah - here.”

Peter leans forward and passes a print out of today’s weather report for the flight.

Silence fills the cockpit once again as the Captain inspects the report. The forecast looks decent for smooth flying for the next seven to eight hours. He puts the A4 printout next to the log book.

“Begin pre-flight checks,” he instructs his co-pilot sternly as he places his headset on and grabs his checklist.

Peter also dons his headset and waits for Miguel to begin.

“Parking Brake…”

“Set.”

“Throttle…”

“Idle.”

“Fuel Flow…”

“Cutoff.”

The back and forth continues as the Captain ticks off the pre-flight checks until he is satisfied with the plane’s readiness.

Every first class passenger has been offered a free glass of champagne and are happily sitting comfortably in their pricey seats.

After stowing away the used glasses in the galley, you hear an announcement from the cockpit.

“All cabin crew prepare for take-off.”

That’s the Captain’s voice, it’s certainly not Peter’s. You find yourself liking the sound of him even if he is direct and to the point.

Your pre-flight preparations begin with making sure your passengers in first class are seated and have their seat belts fastened. You patrol the small section of the fuselage as your head turns left and right, eyes low, checking for buckled seat belts and that the chairs are in an upright position.

Once your passenger checks are done, you gather the flight safety demonstration equipment and stand at the front of one aisle. A screen unfolds from the ceiling and begins to play a video. Cheesy but cheerful music plays as a woman’s voice starts talking about how there should be no smoking on board and the evacuation procedure should the plane need to make an emergency landing.

Now it’s your turn. You point out the emergency exits for first class, place the life-jacket over your head and around your neck, tie it around your waist and fasten the buckle. As the demonstration takes place, the plane rumbles its way along the tarmac as it taxies to the runway. You’re so well practised at this that the soft bumps don’t bother you anymore as the aircraft navigates its way through the maze of tarmac.

The demonstration ends and you swiftly put away your safety instruction equipment before finding your jumpseat and strapping yourself in. Facing the passengers in front of you, you watch them all carefully as the plane begins its final turn before reaching the long stretch of tarmac lit up with lights.

All four engines whirr healthily away as the aircraft is about to make its final turn onto the runway.

“Set flaps to twenty,” the Captain instructs.

After Peter turns a dial, a mechanical noise vibrates through the fuselage as the flaps on the wings begin to move to their set position.

Captain O’Hara switches landing and strobe lights on and enables the autothrottle, while Peter locks in the final settings before takeoff.

Air traffic control gives the all clear to take off, and the pilots begin to push the throttles forward slowly. The aircraft starts its roll forward along the tarmac, gradually building up speed as the engines roar, increasing thrust.

The aircraft rattles and rumbles loudly as it screams down the runway. The Captain watches the equipment on his console and keeps the plane steady.

At the right time, Captain O’Hara pulls the yoke back, causing the nose of the plane to rise, its large wings catching the rushing air.

Eventually the back landing gear lifts from the ground too, making the plane totally airborne. Everyone feels the dipping sensation in their stomachs as the plane’s thrust pulls them down into their seats.

Once at a certain altitude, the Captain presses a button to bring in the landing gear, stowing the wheels into the plane’s underbelly.

“Nice one Captain,” Peter congratulates his new colleague, but he’s met with no response.

“Climb to forty thousand feet and maintain altitude in a southwesterly direction until you are advised to change,” a woman from the air traffic control tower at the airport they had just departed from speaks over the radio.

“Understood. Climbing to forty thousand feet and maintaining altitude in the southwest direction,” Captain O’Hara responds in a confident but stern tone.

The plane remains nose up for quite a while as it gradually climbs in altitude. Passing the first layer of large fluffy white clouds.

At last the aircraft has levelled out flying at roughly six hundred miles an hour. The flight path takes them over the southern parts of the USA and across Mexico to the popular holiday destination.

The seat belt signs switch off with an audible ‘bing’ and the cabin crew rise from their seats to begin their regular flight duties.

Soon, they will have to prepare lunch to be served to the passengers. But first, Duty-Free booklets and headphones are handed out for everyone to peruse or enjoy the inflight entertainment system.

In the galley, you begin organising food for first class when your supervisor pokes her head into the tiny kitchen-like area.

“Sweety, can you ask the boys what they want for lunch, then come and let me know?” she asks, jerking her head towards the cockpit when she mentioned ‘the boys’.

“Yeah, sure,” you reply.

You knock on the cockpit door and enter a security code to unlock and open it.

“Ah! (Y/N) is it lunchtime already?” First Officer Parker asks hopefully turning in his seat to see you.

You give him a sweet smile.

“Of course. What would you both like? Beef or vegetarian?”

Captain O’Hara never turns to look at who came into the room but feels two sets of eyes looking at him.

“Beef,” he manages to grunt out eventually.

Flight Officer Parker grimaces - he wants beef; but pilots can’t eat the same meals, in case there is something in it that makes them both sick.

“I guess I’m having vegetarian then,” replies Peter.

You give Peter a sympathetic smile and turn to leave the cockpit.

“So, uh, you’re a man of few words,” the First Officer comments as he keeps his gaze forward, watching the bubbly clouds pass below them.

No response, the awkwardness between the two deepens. The First Officer bites his lip and starts to ask another question.

“First day nerves?”

“Parker, I have over five thousand flight hours with this type of plane. I am not nervous. I just don’t like meaningless chit chat.”

Silence descends upon the both of them again - apart from the constant roar of engines. The lack of conversation is perfect for the Captain but absolute hell for the First Officer.

With the 747 on autopilot, the two pilots can relax a little more. They’re not due to check in with the next air traffic control tower for another thirty minutes.

The Captain occasionally casts a keen eye over the apparatus, looking at the artificial horizon, checking wind speed and altitude, everything perfectly normal.

His mind goes back to how you bumped into him earlier before takeoff. Even though he said nothing to you, he feels like perhaps he was an asshole for just glaring at you. It was an accident after all. He remembers the smell of your sweet and floral perfume filling his nostrils in the galley. He likes that smell-

A sudden shake of his head snaps him out of that mindset. He can’t be thinking like that…

The relative silence is interrupted again as you return, knocking on the door and entering.

“Here you go boys. Vegetarian for you.” You hand Peter his meal first as you watch him lick his lips - beef or no beef, he’s hungry.

“And beef for you, Captain.”

There’s that enchanting smell again. He wasn’t exactly listening to you speak when you entered, but your perfume alerts him to your presence.

Slowly he turns his head, peeling his unblinking gaze from the horizon and looking at you. Then his eyes land on the meal you are holding out for him.

“Thanks.”

His hand takes the tray gently from you but then he turns away quickly after without uttering another word.

“Mmm, this is so good…” Peter mumbles with a mouthful, taking your attention from the pensive Captain.

“Peter, I’m certain you’re the only person in the world who likes plane food,” you comment with a playful grin.

“Hey - it’s food! Course I’m gonna like it. Oh, by the way, if there’s any spare packs of biscuits, I wouldn’t mind one - or two.”

Raising an eyebrow and smirking up a storm, you produce two packets of biscuits from your jacket pocket, as if by magic.

“Ahh, you’re an angel!” he gasps in surprise.

“I knew you’d ask for one.”

Peter reaches out, his fingers try to grip both packets.

“Nah, ah… one for you.”

You hand Peter one packet.

“And one for you.”

You lean over the Captain and place the pack on his food tray. Your scent fills his nostrils more. He flinches slightly at your sudden unexpected space invasion but he soon relaxes when he sees what you’re doing.

“A peace offering for earlier.”

The stern look in his eyes wavers slightly, but unseen by you. In reality, you didn’t need to do that. It should really be him apologising, but right now he doesn’t really want to talk.

“Gracias,” (thank you) he mutters quietly.

Peter looks at you like you have betrayed him.

“But I usually get two packets!”

Honestly, it’s like dealing with a child when you’re with Peter, you roll your eyes and chuckle.

“You’ll get another one later, how’s that?” you ask.

The Flight Officer is easily swayed, especially where food is concerned. He gives a happy shrug and continues to eat his meal.

With a smile spread across your face, you leave the cockpit. The Captain’s word of thanks lingers in your mind. ‘Gracias’...

The rest of the flight is fairly uneventful; little to no turbulence, passengers are happy and not too demanding. You occasionally visit the cockpit to check on the pilots to see if they need refreshments. Whilst they both drink plenty of water, the Captain also seems to be a huge coffee fan.

Peter looks as though he’s dying of boredom. He usually enjoys talking while flying but his colleague is essentially a brick wall. Your visits to the cockpit brightens him up even if it is for a brief amount of time.

Landing is perfect and purely textbook. No hard bump as the landing gear connects with the tarmac and no ‘kangarooing’; bouncing the plane down the runway.

Now at a complete stop, parked next to the terminal, cabin crew say goodbye to disembarking passengers, wishing them a pleasant time in Acapulco, while Captain O’Hara and Flight Officer Parker finish the final checklist.

You and the rest of the cabin crew step off of the plane, greeted by the exotic mid afternoon heat as you walk through the tunnel leading into the main building. It immediately feels stuffy under your thick, shoulder-padded jacket. You can’t wait to check into your hotel and relax by the pool or on the beach.

Some of the other cabin crew members make plans for partying hard that evening as they line up in front of you at customs. You’re not really into that kind of thing, although you might enjoy the bar, just a little bit tonight. Peter will be there, he’s always good company. Then you think about the Captain. Your heart thuds slightly at the thought. You wonder what he’ll be doing…

Joining at the end of the queue at customs, Peter and Captain O’Hara arrive, dragging their own small cases behind them. They stand behind you, in silence. That is until Peter knows it’s you in front and steps forward to talk to you instead.

The sound of talking is drowned out as the Captain checks his phone. A frown grows across his face as he sees several emails come into his inbox. It seems impossible but his already crappy mood plummets even further.

I hope you enjoy the Pilot chapter of Pilot Miguel - see what I did there? Tee hee.

Next Chapter >

I have had so much fun writing this. As and when my other chapters come out from early access on Patreon, I'll upload them here. Stay tuned!

I you're interested in commissioning me, please click on the link below to find out more!

[aylinvail]

How do you come home to a place that no longer exists?

I got lost in the sauce of Heinrix nostalgia and ended up worldbuilding a whole planet.

The moment Heinrix stepped on Dargonus, he had been struck by a sense of nostalgia so powerful it would have brought a lesser man to tears. 

Okay, apparently someone does wonder what's going through my head with this fic. For me and for them, here we go.

From Talavera, With Love is momma's most self-indulgent fic yet. And I have Heinrix's Starseeker longfic nostalgia to thank for it. What does it mean to want to go home to a place that you can never go back to? Not just physically, but the idea that that home may have changed and is no longer your home because that home exists in the past. A.k.a the diaspora whiplash of reverse culture shock and Nick Joaquin's lamentations in the Woman with Two Navels.

Sometime between June - August, I got completely overtaken by Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo brainworms while obsessively playing and taking screenshots of WH 40k Rogue Trader. In Noli Me Tangere, a young man returns from Europe only to discover that his father is dead after his political enemies conspire to imprison him for challenging the abuses of Dominican friars (Hello Rogue Trader surprise ascension, hello Kunrad oust plot, hello Ecclesiarchy drama with Incendia Chorda) and he spends the entirety of the novel trying to do an Iconoclast playthrough in a game that demands he play Dogmatic. In the end, he is labeled a heretic and has to escape. Fast forward to El Filibusterismo, the opening chapter is on a fucking ship that is used to show the division between the Upper Decks (Upper class society) and the Lower Decks (Voidborn, hello!).

Which is how ya girl ended up here.

The Love Letters to the Philippines

The Maw and the Embocadero: The Maw is equated with the Strait of San Bernardino, one of the most treacherous passages of the Manila-Acapulco galleon route.

Folk Catholicism and variances on the Imperial Cult: Calligos Winterscale's lucky charm, the Talaveran (Guisorn III) cult to Sta. Rosalina de la Soledad who is associated with sea-faring because of Nuestra Señora de la Soledad de Porta Vaga, the Lady of the Manila-Acapulco galleon trade who is the patroness of Cavite, a region that used to be a Spanish military base and the shipyard that produced most of the galleons for this route.

The cult of St. Drusus v. Sta. Rosalina: The age old rivalry between the Dominicans and Jesuits in Manila. The conflict between local "Filipino" priests (at a time when Filipino really meant insulare, a Spaniard born in the colonies. Rana and Heinrix, if we want a real 1:1, would count as insulare) and peninsular priests after the opening of the Suez Canal. More below.

Geography: The high sierras of Talavera are a nod to the Alhambra (This city is a bride whose husband is the hill), The Sierra Madre of Mexico, and the Sierra Madre of Luzon, the island home to the Tagalogs. A lot of the place names in FTWL's Dargonus are chosen based on whether they exist in Spain, Mexico, and the Philippines.

The Temerian phoenix: Initially a silly reference to Ibong Adarna's mystical bird of Piedras Platas. By chapter 8, equated with Calligos Winterscale. A wild beautiful bird that is forced to become a feral beast for bloodsports. Also, just the irony in cockfighting being one of the surviving pieces of native cultures in a lot of colonized places even though it's a sport that kills.

A Mixed Bag

What does it mean to be one of ours?: Tagalogs keep it simple. If you are born there and raised there, you're one of theirs. If you assimilate fully, you can belong too. Rana genuinely thinks Kunrad should be Rogue Trader, despite him stepping away because of the Life Changing Commorragh and Epitaph fieldtrip, because he is Dargonus native born and raised and she writes Abelard off for the same reason. None of the conflicts in FTWL are linked to race (that's for the Drukhari and Aeldari), but to cultural assimilation. Nick Joaquin's Question of Heroes is a window to a point in time when being part of a people moved from "we look like each other" to "we share the same culture". A lot of Filipino ethnic groups apply this logic quite consistently. When in Rome, do as the Romans do and if you do not do as the Romans do, do not call yourself a Roman. Gaining your local "punto"/accent is a "Wow, you finally assimilated!" between the many Tagalog regions, just to name an example. Tagalogs can also be... quite xenophobic for the same reasons. The whole "Sandara Park is more Filipino than Vanessa Hudgens" national agreement after the latter was made a tourism ambassador.

The Hate Comments for the Philippines

Language: Talavera as a rediscovered Imperial world develops its own language. Heinrix's derogatory attitude to Dargonian creole (brought over by the first Lady von Valancius) is a nod to Filipino native hispanophone attitudes towards the Ermitense, Caviteno, and Zamboangueno creoles.

Calligos' sideye at Dargonian culture: Calligos is a native of the Koronus Expanse and so is Incendia... but so are the natives of the von Valancius protectorate. That said, they have a varyingly hostile relationship with Dargonus, a nod to how "indigenous" in the Philippines doesn't mean "native", it means you come from a culture that has never been Catholicized or hispanized.

Rana's side eye at Incendia's insistence on adopting a more familiar and widespread cult and culture: "When Manila sneezes, the Philippines catches cold." or so Joaquin writes. Rana's resistance to Incendia is a combination of personal trauma and a mash-up of the rest of the Philippines' resentment of "Imperial Manila" (The Tagalog, catholic, hispanized culturally and politically centered ethnic group), the complicated relationship between Folk Catholicism and the Vatican.

The Dinner Party: Incendia argues that Sta. Rosalina's cult and Dargonian culture are too foreign and not well-known to subjects outside of Dargonus. Rana argues that St. Drusus and Calixian culture (Incendia's camp) are just as foreign to the Koronus Expanse as she is. A nod to the demonization of hispanic creole cultures in the Philippines in the wake of 70s... after the Philippines wholeheartedly embraced Americanization. This isn't even about colonization, this is about loss of identity. There are a ton of unused "Filipino" words that came out of the nationalist movements of the late 1900s that were meant to replace loan words that were naturally adopted into local languages. The removal of Spanish from the curriculum while English is retained. The portrayals of colonization in history books as "bad colonizer and good colonizer" (as if there is such a thing LMAO) by comparing Spain to America, with the argument that the former was far far worse and could never be "ours". Never mind, of course, that after 300 years of colonization and the Filipino panuelo birthing the Manton de Manila (a Chinese creation based on the former and spread world-wide through the galleon routes coming out of Manila), the creolized cultures of the Philippines are a conversation between native culture and Spanish/Mexican culture, or that a lot of the Virgins of the Philippines absorbed ancient worship practices for older gods, or that the friars --- so often the villains of this story --- are responsible for the preservation of the Baybayin script and local languages (Why does the Philippines not speak Spanish? Aside from resistance to Old World disease, the friars who were wary of Muslim influence creeping up from the south in Mindanao just LEARNED the local languages and went crazy because that's what happens when you're fresh out of the Reconquista and your new colony, which is litered with sultanates, is discovered in the mid 1500s).

So, how do you come home to a place that no longer exists? FTWL Heinrix refuses to embrace change much like the "nationalists" who insist on creating an exoticized orientalism lite pastiche of Filipino cultures (much to the annoyance of actual IPs), clinging to a vision of distant Talavera (Guisorn III) that only exists for him. He mourns it while Rana celebrates a rebirth of it on Dargonus where Talaveran culture has creolized with the local Koronus Expanse culture. For Calligos, who has never had a real home or family, coming home is adopting a home and he embraces the cultures of the Rykad system in their entirety.

[hwspirilovebot]

I believe this has to be asked at some point, what is Antonio and Piri's relationship like?

Our internalized racism (thanking Spain for uniting the ethnolinguistic groups to form the PH, Islamophobia and prejudice against Indigenous people, desiring Western validation too much, viewing ourselves as not Southeast Asian enough due to Catholicism overpowering Hindu-Buddhism, etc.) toxic machismo (patriarchy and all its consequences and misogyny and the huge support for authoritarian politicians), hypocrisy (of the Church and everything else), and a lot more can trace its roots from the Spanish colonization of the Philippines

But for Spain, era solo otro día.

The Philippines was not Spain's most profitable colony, and there are even instances of people saying it's a waste of money. Credit goes to @sweaty-clouds for these excerpts:

With the constant typhoons that damage crops and the lack of spices which Indonesia is blessed with (to be fair, Mindanao had cinnamon but Spain failed to conquer most of it.), the Philippines was better off as a trading hub for Chinese goods bound for Acapulco and Europe. Ultimately, it was the missionaries that insisted on keeping the country (that's another can of worms), and in terms of foreign policy, and the Spanish empire needs to have a hold in Asia.

I can imagine Antonio comparing Piri constantly with his peers and being disappointed but still keeping him for Christianity's sake. He rarely visits him and leaves all the work to Mexico (Nueva España, then) until Mexico became independent and Suez Canal was opened which made travelling from Sp to Ph became faster.

Piri would ask how come his neighbors are productive and Antonio would blame him for being lazy rather than Spain's late industrialization and dependence on the mining of silver and gold in exchange for Chinese goods.

Jose Rizal criticized this Spanish style mercantilism: While we see all the walls of London covered with advertisements of the products of its colonies, while the English make heroic efforts to substitute Ceylon tea for Chinese tea, they themselves begin with the sacrifice of their taste and their stomach; in Spain, with the exception of tobacco, nothing from the Philippines is known: neither its sugar nor coffee, hemp nor fine cloths, nor its Ilocano blankets . . . . The most commercial and most industrious countries have been the freest countries: France, England and the United States prove this. Hongkong, which is not [equal to] the most insignificant [island] of the Philippines, has more commercial movement than all the islands together, because it is free and is well-governed.

But I am in no way an Anglo-Saxon apologist. They are fcked up too. This has to be pointed out because there were instances in PH history where some Filipinos would rather be a British colony in the belief that the success of Hongkong and Singapore can be imitated!

The PH economy did become less restrictive when Spain lost its colonies in the Americas (deserve!). Many were afforded the right to study in Europe, hence, the ilustrados and enlightened thinkers like Jose Rizal, Marcelo del Pilar, etc. With enlightenment, comes the desire to be independent.

So, Antonio tries to be . . . more amiable with Piri. Piri appreciates it since he wants his respect but he wants equal status (as he should), equal rights, and often criticizes the church. Little Piri wanted to be the favourite and would often pray the rosary and the novena, hoping it would make him the apple of Antonio's eyes, but teenage Piri ain't taking any shit anymore because if God exists, they would favor David and not Goliath.

Then there's the Spanish-American war.

Now I heard Spain was more sentimental about losing Cuba (whether it's real life or Hetalia canon). There's the Generation '98, but it was never about Piri alone. It was about the fallen empire. Their relationship remains strained throughout the 20th century, especially when some upperclass Mestizo families in the Philippines supported Franco and were leaning towards the Axis powers, but the Philippines was trying to take in more Jewish refugees. Learning the Spanish language was also no longer required, and more attention was given to learning English since there's more job opportunities (and also, Hollywood).

Perhaps in the recent decade, Piri and Antonio are more cordial and diplomatic for the sake of trade relations and business. The Arroyo administration was active in that regard. Filipinos, nowadays, would joke about fighting Spaniards and while we do acknowledge the lingering colonial mentality and how fcked up colonialism is, we're not hostile to Spaniards. There's also this anecdote from a former teacher and her interaction with a Spaniard who said something along the lines of, "I learned about what Spain did to the Philippines, and I'm sorry. But it was the Castillans who did it! Not me, I'm from Catalonia."

But since Piri (and Filipinos) is canonically sassy, he would have visited Antonio in the midst of his financial crisis and asked, "Can I get a discount in Zara as colonial reparations?"

[cinnamonsikwate]

Talokanil Clothing, Part Two

thank you to everyone who engaged with this post!

seeing more bts footage plus reading interviews and doing my own research has had me reevaluating some of my earlier assumptions, so here's a part two!

i've been sitting on the idea that the talokan plant is like a coconut (aka the tree of life in the tropics) equivalent to the talokanil for a while, but i wasn't sure if there was enough canon or real historical equivalent evidence to support this.

this post suggests that early talokanil clothing was made of the talokan plant's fibers. initially i was unsure about this bc i thought it was some kind of succulent, but then i came across this post suggesting it's a type of agave & suddenly everything made sense!

this gets long, but hear me out: agave is endemic to the americas and its variants hold historical and cultural importance in central america (pre-hispanic up to present). it takes a long time to mature, the exact length varying from species to species (hence the moniker century plant), and flowers and seeds only once before dying (radding 2012, 84-115). parts of the agave are edible, but its two most prominent uses are for fibers and alcohol production. two agave cultigens, A. fourcroydes (henequen) and A. sisalana (sisal) are known fiber producers, and are both native to the yucatán (trejo-torres, gann, and christenhusz 2018, 366-379).

another variant, A. americana aka maguey (although it seems the term maguey is can be used to refer to other agave species), also produces fibers that can be used for woven and non-woven textiles and even paper (hulle, kadole, and katkar 2015, 64-75), and is a species of agave that can be used to produce the alcoholic drink mezcal. A. tequilana is the sole agave species used to produce tequila (which i believe can be technically called a type of mezcal). both mezcal & tequila are distilled from the fermented, roasted "hearts" of the agave. the method to distill mezcal (and later, tequila) was introduced during the colonial era, likely by indigenous filipinos who arrived via the manila-acapulco galleon trade (walton 1977, 113-132).

pulque is the pre-colonial equivalent of mezcal/tequila, made from the fermented agave sap (many species can be used). its consumption was highly regulated & associated with religious rituals (escalante et al. 2016). described as a white, slightly viscous liquid, pulque does somewhat call to mind the liquid the shaman made from the talokan plant, although the latter was, of course, blue. this is a side note, but a mural in cholula, puebla, mexico, depicts a gathering of people purportedly drinking pulque. the production team may have taken some inspiration from this as well for the flashback scenes.

the goddess mayahuel is associated with maguey & pulque, as well as femininity & fertility (guzmán 2016). (i'm a bit confused bc wiki says she's aztec, but escalante et al. & guzmán don't give a specific indication. her name though is nahuatl-derived.)

so anyway! we have a wonder plant with cultural and religious significance that can provide both food and clothing, and may even be used in construction (including in composites)! it makes so much sense that the talokan plant is a type of agave, albeit of course one with properties that no irl species has.

i've read several hannah beachler interviews but i haven't come across one where she talks about whether or not there was more of the talokan plant. the rest of this post hinges on the assumption that the talokanil are actively cultivating the plant, or something similar (which i'll be referring to as talokanil agave from now on), so if later canon lore proves me wrong — well, i'll cross that bridge when i get there lol.

for additional context, since i'm only here to speculate on the materials used in-universe, this twitter thread here provides a breakdown as to the accuracy of the clothing styles of the talokanil vis-à-vis pre-colonial maya.

now that's done, let's get to the actual speculation:

i'm inclined to retract my previous assertion that coconut coir was used in the warriors' uniforms; instead, what i took to be coconut coir is probably talokanil agave. (although they could probably still use coconut if they really wanted to!)

when i wrote the first post, i didn't realize how many outfit changes k'uk'ulkan goes through during the talokan scenes, but from what i can tell of the textures, they could all very well be made of talokanil agave or even just regular maguey. while cotton was more associated with elites over maguey in irl pre-colonial mesoamerica (tremain 2020, 1-11), i haven't seen anything yet that would indicate that nobility wouldn't wear maguey.

i'd thought namora's ceremonial dress would be heavy but we see it in action in mabel's ig post and it's actually very light! iris van herpen, the designer, has said in an ig post that the cape feathers are made of silver-lined silk organza. underwater, the effect is something like seagrass or kelp moving with the currents, which is very pretty. when i look up silk in mesoamerica, many of the sites are, strangely, associated with the church of the latter-day saints, but one textile-focused website at least indicates that widespread silk production began and flourished during the colonial era, so i think we can rule out actual silk as the in-universe material for the dress. maybe very high quality cotton or talokanil agave (especially for the silver lining. unless it's vibranium!).

we also see one of namora's surface outfits used underwater in a bts clip from mabel, one which i thought would be too heavy to wear in the water. i mean, i guess, technically, you can wear anything you want underwater, but comfort is a different matter. in my previous post, i'd said i'd thought this particular dress and the others she and the handmaidens wore were made out of some kind of barkcloth, but, surprise, again, it's probably talokanil agave or regular maguey (agave sisal is resistant to seawater).

the twitter thread i mentioned above has some insights into attuma's ceremonial outfit, including that he's wearing a jaguar pelt. the talokanil could very well have some kind of coming-of-age ceremony where they go to the surface for the first time to hunt. or attuma could just be an adrenaline junkie lol. hammerhead sharks, jaguars — it's all the same to him. as for the rest of the outfit, i'm gonna say different grades of talokanil agave bc why not!

at different points in the film, namora and shuri both wear body jewelry primarily made of jade. iris van herpen has said that shuri's also has pearls and Spondylus shell beads (the orangey-pink ones). namora's doesn't appear to contain Spondylus but perhaps other precious stones (maybe obsidian?). that might indicate some kind of difference in status, or some kind of oblique reference to namora being a warrior, since obsidian was often used for weapons (saunders 2001, 220-236).

shuri's second talokan outfit has feathers on the back, reminiscent of the tail plumes of the resplendent quetzal (yes, as in the bird associated with quetzalcoatl, the aztec equivalent of kukulcan. this man is never beating the egocentric allegations 💀). however, the color is wrong. resplendent quetzals have primarily green plumage & only the males sport the iconic tail feathers. moreover, resplendent quetzals live in the highland rainforests, not the coastal areas. so i'm not sure if this means that the feathers are from a different bird species altogether, or, like namora's headdress, they are not actually feathers but fish fins. i haven't found a high-res enough photo of the outfit so i still can't be sure.

the rest of the outfit appears to be a mix of fabrics, heavier on top and lighter on the bottom. i'm intrigued that the bottom half is pants, because we haven't seen any talokanil wear anything similar. could this be a leftover from the cut scenes where shuri & riri were supposed to work on something for k'uk'ulkan, & this is an outfit she came up with herself? they might have given her the fabric & told her to go to town, which could explain why the design looks very different from what we've seen of talokanil fashion. i think riri also gets a different outfit but i can't find good photos of it.

now her scenes were cut from the final version of the film, but one of the talokanil extras posted some intriguing bts footage. her character was supposed to a scientist (likely from the cut scenes with shuri & riri). she's not blue & isn't wearing face/gill masks, suggesting her parts take place underwater.

her outfit is pretty unconventional compared to namora's or the handmaidens'. she appears to be wearing more plant life (probably some sort of kelp & seagrass, among other species i don't recognize), but the main body of her outfit looks strangely artificial. i'm not sure if this is intentional or if her final appearance was meant to be tweaked with cgi (the mesh underneath is throwing me off). i would like to say her outfit is probably mostly made of talokanil vibranium, but i'm not sure if that would be realistic in-universe (would that mean she is of high status? another relative of k'uk'ulkan perhaps? or does jade still mean more to the talokanil than vibranium, therefore her use of it doesn't necessarily indicate status?). in any case, she's the only talokanil we're aware of who eschews traditional clothing styles.

additional bts footage from jewelianna ramos-ortiz (the scientist) also show other talokanil who are dressed differently from the regular warriors we see. they aren't blue either, but we do see that they have on red body paint (which we have not seen other talokanil use). google scholar is being reticent but as far as i can tell, body paint in pre-colonial mesoamerica, when not in a funerary context, was associated with ceremonies or festivals. the latter likely used organic compounds such as cochineal or achoite (that's achuete/atsuete for us filipinos), while the former employed the toxic cinnabar (source). with the talokanil, it could really go either way; we don't know if they're as immune to toxins as they are to stab wounds. i'm not sure about the seawater resistance of either type of pigment though.

interestingly, they appear to be wearing the leaves of surface plants (none of which i recognize, unfortunately, even after some googling of native yucatán flora). their different manner of dress may indicate the nature of their role in talokanil society, though as to what that role is remains to be seen.

one funny implication though of practically everyone in talokan wearing talokanil agave is that shuri could've just taken anyone's clothes to re-create the heart-shaped herb, including the ones she was given 💀 but the talokanil still could've cultivated the plant in the past centuries such that the variant they use for clothing differs quite a bit from the original so it wouldn't work as well. like maybe they have a "drink this to save your life. for emergencies only" cultigen & a "for everyday life" cultigen lol.

aaaaand that's it! if you're still reading this, thank you! this was a fun research exercise, although i probably still missed a lot. this was practically a whole damn research paper lmao. let me know your thoughts!

[strideofpride]

anything you’ve been watching/reading lately that you’d recommend? i think you have stellar taste in media (aka it often matches mine lol) so am curious! hope you feel better soon 💖

Ummmm yes, love this ask!!! (Also I’m so flattered 🥰 you have great taste as well btw)

Books:

Mo Ryan’s Burn It Down! If you’re at all interested in the entertainment industry and how it all gets made, this is basically required reading

the Succession script books (pricey but personally worth it)

I just finished Jill Gutowitz’s Girls Can Kiss Now and felt very seen, a wee bit too relatable

And I’m currently also reading Ann Patchett’s This is the Story of a Happy Marriage, which is a great book for my fellow writers to read

Substack:

I’m a paid subscriber to Hunter Harris’ Hung Up newsletter and I’ve never once regretted it lol

Gotta shout out Dracula Daily as well as the one podcast I listen to rn, re: Dracula (I listen and read at the same time which is perfect for me lol)

Gilmore Women - a Gilmore Girls recap newsletter that talks about everything wrong with each episode lol. I sped through the first six seasons and now I’m depressed that I’m caught up lol

TV:

Minx s2 - it is on Starz which I know most people don’t have but this season has been EXCELLENT

Only Murders in the Building s3 - it’s like a comfort show for me at this point, despite being about murder it makes me feel so cozy. Nora Ephron vibes

The Bear s2 - everyone’s been talking about it already but I just finished and god it was GOOD

The Sopranos - everyone should be doing # Sopranos Sunday with me!!! It’s so fun!! This show is soooo good, really living up to the hype for me

Acapulco - really cute show, makes me wish I was still on vacation in Mexico

Poker Face - bring back standalone episodes like this!!! Bring back character actors doing incredible guest star roles!!!

The Other Two - just. It was the funniest show on TV. It really was. 30 Rock’s spiritual successor which is pretty much the highest praise I can give it

Movies:

Red Eye - I rewatched it after Oppenheimer and it really holds up. Fun, tight thriller that is only like an hour 20 lol. Also Brian Cox aka Logan Roy is in it (and Jayma Mays my beloved)

Theater Camp - as a Jewish theater kid who went to and/or worked at a summer camp every year of her life from ages 4-20, there was no way I wasn’t gonna like this

Mamma Mia series - obviously everyone on tumblr knows about these already but I made my family watch them with me for the Fourth of July and god if I could live in the world of any movie it’d be this one ❤️

Man Up - very cute & fun British rom com I first discovered in college and rewatched this summer. Everyone has incredible comedic chemistry in this, and Lake Bell & Simon Pegg have great sexual chemistry as well (quite a lot of British faces who were nobodies when this was made who’ve gone on to bigger things - most notably Phoebe Waller-Bridge who’s only in a single scene)

X-Men: First Class - my favorite superhero movie ❤️

Indiana Jones series - I rewatched the whole series and saw the new one in theaters this summer. The first and third are literal masterpieces. Second one is mean spirited and racist. Fourth actually has quite a bit of charm, but then it fell apart in the back half. The new one…woof. Nobody but Steven Spielberg should be allowed to direct Indy movies.

Asteroid City - the longer it’s been since I saw it, the more and more I think it might be Wes’ masterpiece

Past Lives - incredible. But I know you already know that one lol

Are You There God, It’s Me Margaret - perfect, perfect film.

The Other Guys - we need Adam McKay and Will Ferrell to get back together, the fate of studio comedies hangs on this (anyway this movie is hilarious - but also if hell is real Marky Mark is obviously gonna burn for all eternity)

Comedy:

John Mulaney: Baby J - I saw him do this special live when he was touring it and I’m mad he cut the FBI bit but he’s still got it

[ofjoeys]

* — did you see JOHANNA ‘JOEY’ PAREDES at the party last night? the DJ/BARTENDER has been apart of the squad for SEVEN YEARS and i’ve heard they were the MISCREANT of the group. in my experience they’ve always been VEHEMENT, but i’ve heard they can be IRREVERENT. they remind me so much of alcohol-filled adventures, noise cancelling headphones on at all times, a perfectly curated playlist for every moodlet/situation in life, 90′s grunge fashion.

biography    connections   pinterest   playlist

STATS

full name: johanna alejandra paredes colosio

gender and pronouns: genderqueer, they/she

date of birth: june 6th, 1996.

fc: lizeth selene

place of birth: acapulco guerrero, mexico

current location: oceanview, ca.

nicknames: jo, joey, jojo, mojo jojo.

age: twenty-six

sexuality: queer

nationality/ethnicity: mexican-american/latine

languages spoken: english, spanish, portuguese.

occupation: dj/bartender

instruments played: drums, guitar, piano, bass, violin, harp, french horn, sax, marimba, ukelele, harp, accordion, harmonica, guiro.

tattoos: pink lotuses on her right shoulder blade, a set of headphones on her right wrist, equalizer bars on her mid-lower back, a set of rainbow dots on her right forearm, the word angel on her abs with two cherubs on each ribcage, a siren on her right arm, butterflies on her right forearm, flowers on her left forearm, ‘power’ on her right hand, ‘thankful blessed’, musical notes on various fingers, an eye on her left wrist, a flower on her left leg, the word angel on her left shoulder.

piercings: nose, septum and helix, used to have both her eyebrow and her tongue pierced but she got them both off and have heal since.

zodiac sign: gemini ☼ scorpio ☾ cancer ↑

label: the miscreant

pos traits: vehement, open-minded, energetic, quick-witted, adaptable

neg traits: irreverent, obstinate, sarcastic, cynical, impulsive, devious

myer’s briggs type: isfp

enneagram type: seven with eight wing: “the enthusiast.”

likes: music, art, partying, road trips, drugs, flirting with girls.

dislikes: being alone, being confined, repetition and routine.

hobbies: music, all the way. johanna lives and breathes music, traveling and meeting new people.

favorite color: purple, red and black.

favorite food: lobster mac & cheese.

allergies: peanuts, oranges.

right or left-handed?: left-handed.

parents: ricardo paredes (deceased), ana claudia paredes (storebroker, economist)

siblings: 6 in total, all residing in new york and jo was minimal contact with most of them.

BULLET POINTS (𝖿𝗎𝗅𝗅 𝖻𝗂𝗈 soon)

tw: substance abuse, abuse, death mention

joey was born in acapulco, mexico when their parents were visiting their mother’s family. it was a complicated birth and the family had to stay in the coast for around six months before moving to ny, where they resided

there is a total of seven paredes siblings, jo is the sixth in line

their family is… well accommodated in the new york social circle. their mom is a socialite daughter of a former mexican president and has made a name for herself in wallstreet (think jordan belfort) and their dad was a professor at columbia

joey was the black sheep of their family for a very young age, they were the polar opposite to the paredes', but had to play the part as one of the clan while living under their roof

they DID live a double life while in new york, whatosever. a pseudio socialite, golden child on one side and a rebel anarchist on the other.

they began abusing substances at a VERY young age, due to the people they had in their circle and their inability to handle stuff and feelings

almost got married, once. they broke off the engagement days before the big day after a big fight with their ex turned sour and yeah, they bounced

their father died when they were 21 which prompted them to finally leave ny and escape their family— which ultimately brought them to oceanview. they got themselves a job as a bartender at some local pub and slowly build themselves a career as a local dj— yet their dream is to one day become a music producer

PERSONALITY

they have a hard time letting people in? they are chill, will joke with you for hours and do their best to make you laugh, but actually connecting with people is hard for her bc trust issues.

lowkey has an alcohol & drugs dependency problem but won’t accept it because it’s the only way they can handle their life, rlly is trying to get it together and be LESS OF A MESS

is really a hot mess™ with a decent heart who just wants to start over and be themselves for the first time in their life and meet people and make people smile and have fun, for the most part means well ( unless she doesn’t like you then lol gl ) but feelings and things just… can’t. do. human. things.

hates the way they are. lowkey tho, lowkey. likes to pretend she is a robot and doesn’t feel anything but lmao who u playin’ she feels everything just doesn’t let people see that because caring is weakness

also ALSO their sexuality is… complicated? i’d describe it as pan? except she is v picky when it comes to men? like, hasn’t been attracted to men in years but with the right guy it could happen????? when it comes to girls tho???? 100% has a crush on 20 girls at the same time ngl and they are FLIRTY.

[rinaxcicero]

[non-binary and she/they] Welcome to Aurora Bay, [SABRINA "RINA" CICIERÓ]! I couldn’t help but notice you look an awful lot like [LIZETH SELENA]. You must be the [TWENTY FIVE] year old [HAIR & MAKE UP ARTIST]. Word is you’re [PASSIONATE] but can also be a bit [JUDGEMENTAL] and your favorite song is [FEEL BETTER BY PENELOPE SCOTT]. I also heard you’ll be staying in [OCEAN CREST APARTMENTS]. I’m sure you’ll love it!

INFORMATION:

fullname. sabrina ciceró

nicknames. rina, sab, riri, bri.

gender. non-binary.

pronouns. she / they.

d.o.b. may 30th, 1998 | ( 25 years old )

astrology. gemini ☀ leo ☾  aries ↑

birth place. aurora bay, california.

hometown. aurora bay, california.

current residence. aurora bay, california. ( @aurorabayaesthetic​ )

occupation. hair & make up artist.

religion. atheist.

tattoos. too many to count (reference pic here).

piercings. ears pierced, septum + nose piercing.

marital status. single.

sexual preference. queer.

family. sienna ciceró ( mother ), david ciceró ( father ), mateo ciceró ( older brother, deceased ).

children. none.

CHARACTER INSPO:

jessica jones ( marvel's jessica jones ), effy stonem ( skins ), monet de haan ( gossip girl reboot ), kiara carrera ( outer banks ), maeve wiley ( sex education ).

PERSONALITY:

+ passionate, courageous, fair. - argumentative, guarded, judgemental.

BIOGRAPHY:

( tw: crime, death, robbery, depression, alcoholism )

Born and raised in the idyllic Aurora Bay to two loving parents, Sabrina Ciceró has not always been as she appears. Underneath the now guarded and untrusting rebel was once an enthusiastic and confident child who dreamed of a life without limitations. First stop, parliament. Next stop, world domination.

When her parents decided to immigrate to America from Mexico before she and her older brother were born, they swore to give their children the best life possible. Despite being quite settled back in Acapulco, Mexico; their new lives in America came at a cost to their luxury and their parents ended up becoming the owners of a local convenience store. At school, Rina had some trouble fitting in, choosing to go against the grain and stand up for herself when bullies chose to pick on them or others, making her an outcast. Getting a reputation for being precocious from a young age.

Most of Rina's life was spent at the store her parents owned. Whether she was helping out her family or just relaxing behind the counter, she and her brother could often be seen together. The store was open 24 hours a day, therefore they all took turns to man the store during night shifts. Rina's brother, Mateo was doing the midnight shift when the store was held up by a gunman. While Mateo didn’t try and be a hero, the gunman thought he was attempting to push the security alarm and alert police. Mateo was shot and killed at only the age of 18.

After the sudden death of her brother, Rina's whole life went downhill. The Ciceró's were left traumatized by losing a son and the memory of the traumatic event meant that they closed the store that had once been like a second home. The police weren't able to find the shooter, so the case inevitably went cold. Not able to cope with the loss, Rina's mother turned to heavy alcohol abuse to which, her father would not abide by. Rina started rebelling too, going against the Roman Catholic lifestyle her father always peddled. She got covered in tattoos, pierced her nose, dabbled with illicit substances while underage. After years of watching his wife deteriorate and his child rebel, he eventually left. It's been six years and he has never returned.

To cope, Rina found that she needed to escape the shittiness of her new living situation. She started hanging out with older kids, getting into trouble. Eventually, she joined a band as a guitarist and it was the only thing she lived for. The sense of community they felt was what they was missing at home and in time, they found who they really were. They came out as non-binary and queer. Her mother didn't care, only thinking of the bottle but Rina had never felt more themselves. At the age of 17 they dropped out of school to start working at a local hairdresser where they learned the ropes. Eventually, she started getting a name for herself with the younger crowd who weren't interested in the usual styles of hair and makeup.

[mercsandmonsters-archived]

I had another Elvis dream.

This time, I was in Blue Hawaii and Fun in Acapulco at the same time. One part was Hawaii, one part was Mexico. I was trying to stop Elvis from dating Maile, so he could date me, but it didn’t work out. I was on a bike for some reason. When I was in Mexico, these girls were trying to help me dress up, so he wouldn’t date Maile.

Then, I woke up. I wanted to finish the dream, but I couldn’t. I told my mom and I said, “story of my life.” She responded that it was just a dream, but I told her about this one dream I had a few years back where Sam Winchester was going out with another girl from my high school. So yeah, story of my life. The man I want wants someone else.