#next time I'll make the 20th century

[lilacnini]

HIDE IT OR NOT? — 001 the beginning

SYNOPSIS: your father is practically full-on rivals with the sim corporations. ever since you were little, you remember your father and mother always mumbling about how "disgusting" they are and talking badly about them. after years pass, you attend the same high school and university. at first, the two of you hated each other's guts due to your parents' rivalry. but as years passed, you seem not to hate jake that much. soon, both of you had fallen in love with each other. but how could you tell your parents that you fell in love with their rival company's son?

𐙚 pairing: sonofceorival!jake x daughterofceofem!reader

genre: ceo au, university au, e2l, romance, fluff, angst, written series

⊹ ࣪ ˖ warning(s): party, mentions drinking, rivalry, grammar errors

taglist ! OPEN | send an ask or comment below

word count: 1.2K+

🗯 find this in my works in progress

SINCE THE 20TH CENTURY, the Sim Corporations and Celinea Enterprise, your father’s company, have been fierce rivals in the business industry. There has never been a time when your parents didn't criticize the Sim Corporations.

"Never speak or interact with anyone from that stupid Sim Corporation company, okay?," your mother cautioned as she adjusted your luxurious backpack, preparing you for your first day at a prestigious private school at the age of 5.

"Okay," you nodded obediently as she ran her fingers through your hair one last time, leaving a gentle kiss on your cheek.

"That's my little girl," she whispered before guiding you towards the waiting limousine. "Enjoy your day at school," she said with a wave as the driver closed the door and pulled away.

Arriving at school, you found yourself surrounded by groups of students already deep in conversation, leaving you feeling isolated and alone.

"Hi," a girl tapped your shoulder, and you turned to see a friendly face – Jiheon, around your age, with brown locks and a sprinkling of freckles.

"Hi," you replied timidly. "What’s your name?"

"I’m Jiheon, nice to meet you!" she said warmly, extending her hand. "What’s your name?"

"I'm YN LN," you smiled.

"YN LN? What a lovely name! Come on, let’s go play!" Jiheon exclaimed, taking your hand and leading you to the playground.

As you approached the swings, your favorite spot, you found a young boy already occupying it. His eyes were dark brown, and he had puppy-like features with fluffy, hazel hair.

"Excuse me?" you asked politely, hoping he would relinquish the swing.

"Huh?" the boy turned to face you.

"Could I have a turn on the swing? You can play in the playground. It’s empty," you suggested, trying to be accommodating.

"No, I want to swing. You go play over there," the boy insisted, his grip on the swing firm.

Disappointed but undeterred, you attempted to tug the swing from him, causing him to almost lose his balance.

"Hey!" he protested. "You could have hurt me! My parents are wealthy; I could sue you!"

"I don’t care!" you retorted, frustration bubbling up.

"Who even are you?" the boy demanded, shooting you a glare.

"I'm YN. Now, move," you asserted.

"I'll make sure you regret this. My father runs Sim Corporations," he threatened.

The word “Sim Corporation” seemed like a familiar word to you, but yet your 5 year old self couldn’t even remember. That’s when you remembered, the one thing that your mother educated you to avoid. No wonder why your mom told you to never interact with them, they were foolish stupid people. You backed off a bit and then yelled back, “Fine! You’re so childish and stupid!” 

Soon the yelling began for minutes until finally the teacher put you two apart. From then, you knew you wouldn’t be alone in peace for the next whatever years you were with him. 

HERE YOU ARE AT AGE 21, still in university, still with Jake Sim (great). Jake Sim, renowned as the popular "handsome" rich kid on campus, known for hosting parties 24/7 and earning dismal grades. And then there's you, the hardworking, intelligent, and attractive girl on campus, always studying for perfect scores on exams and rarely attending parties.

"Still sticking around in the dorms?" Jiheon asked, your best friend since you were both 5.

"Got to study for the big exam in 3 months," you sighed, pouring yourself another cup of coffee.

"Girl, it's months until that big exam. We only live once, so why waste it buried in textbooks? Besides, you're wealthy enough to have all the financial support you need," Jiheon remarked.

"If I'm going to inherit my father’s company, then obviously I have to put in the work to earn it," you replied, jotting down notes for your homework.

"Boring," Jiheon muttered.

"Fine, if you manage to surpass your previous exam score on this week’s test, I'll accompany you to a party," you proposed. Jiheon immediately perked up, her eyes widening with a grin spreading across her face.

"A party?" Jiheon beamed, "Any party?"

"Any party, but you have to excel on that exam this week," you added.

"Deal!" Jiheon exclaimed, darting off to her room to study. Plus, what were even the chances of Jiheon getting a score over 90% on the exam, especially a girl who loves to go out 24/7.

YOU WERE AT YOUR DESK, preparing to head to your next class when the front door burst open. Startled, you turned to see Jiheon panting by your room door.

"Y..YN.." Jiheon called your name, leaning against the door, visibly out of breath.

"What's wrong?" you inquired, raising an eyebrow.

Jiheon quickly approached and thrust a paper in front of your face, displaying the number "95%" written on the exam sheet. "95 percent! The highest I've ever scored since we started at this university!"

"95%?" you exclaimed in disbelief, not expecting Jiheon to achieve such a high mark.

"So... about our deal?" Jiheon smirked.

"Fine, I'll go to the party with you. But which party?" you asked, arching an eyebrow.

"I'll take you there," Jiheon winked. Perhaps attending one party wouldn't disrupt your entire schedule and studying routine?

YOU PULLED UP IN JIHEON'S CAR at a sprawling mansion, its exterior adorned with blazing lights that illuminated the night. The distant thump of music reverberated from the building's gates, signaling the vibrant energy within. Jiheon had yet to disclose whose party it was as you approached.

As Jiheon pushed open the door, a wave of alcohol-laden air and the cacophony of revelry engulfed you. Couples entwined in corners, their inhibitions drowned in intoxication, greeted your sight. The pungent scent of tequila made your nose scrunch up in distaste as you trailed behind Jiheon towards the kitchen, where the makeshift bar stood.

“YN! Jiheon!” a voice called out, drawing your attention to Ningning stationed by the counter. You hurried over and offered a quick wave.

“Didn’t expect to see pretty miss YN here,” Ningning teased, downing another shot of alcohol.

“Jiheon dragged me along,” you chuckled softly.

“Not surprising, considering it’s Jake Sim’s party,” Ningning remarked casually. Your eyes widened in realization. It was Jake's party? You immediately contemplated fleeing until another voice interrupted your thoughts.

“YN LN?” You turned to find Jay, Ningning’s boyfriend(or Jake’s best friend..), with a raised eyebrow. Next to him, Jake Sim – the last person you wanted to encounter.

“What brings you here? Thought you’d be studying or something” Jay inquired. 

“Jiheon invited me, so...” you trailed off, noticing Jake's intense gaze assessing you from head to toe.

“I see,” Jay remarked as he draped an arm around Ningning (ew happy couples). The scene around you was a blur of activity – the blasting AC, pulsating music, bodies swaying against each other. The scents of perfume, alcohol, and sweat made you feel lightheaded.

As Jay, Ningning, and Jiheon left quietly, leaving you and Jake alone, an awkward tension filled the space. You fidgeted with your fingers, wondering why he hadn't left yet. Shouldn't he be off somewhere, making out with some random girl by now?

To release the tension, you cleared your throat, "Aren't you going?"

“R-right…” Jake stammered, quickly retreating to the bar, a faint blush coloring his cheeks. Perhaps it had been a while since your last encounter, but there was definitely something different in the air.

AN: i started my first ever writing series au, i did write this piece for a while but since i wanted to release this quickly i decided to make this a small short written series. i hope u guys enjoyed the plot so far!! posting ep 2 <3

masterlist | next

[randomshyperson]

Fun Classes - Professor!Wanda x Reader [Kinktober]

Summary: A little fun with Professor Maximoff during class.

Warnings: (+18), dom!reader, bottom!Wanda, vibrator use, heavy teasing and edging. | Words: 1.512k

Kinktober Collection | General Masterlist | AO3 | Wattpad

--//--

The lesson was about some white novelist of the twentieth century, and unlike Kate or Yelena, sitting on either side of you and writing down every one of Miss Maximoff's words, you were much more attentive to other things.

From the outline of the suit on the breast area of the most beautiful woman, you had ever seen in your life, to the way her words seemed to come out shaky and out of breath. To everyone else in the room, Wanda must have seemed excited about the lesson - the way she paused and sighed, gesticulated too much or held the chalk tighter than necessary.

But you knew better. In fact, you were the one who was increasing and decreasing the rhythm of the vibration of the toy buried deep in her under her pants, having the best time in the world while Wanda struggled to finish a class.

You blinked, a smile playing on your lips as your finger slid across the cell phone screen, increasing the frequency almost enough to make Wanda's knees buckle and make her choke mid-explanation.

People noticed, and her cheeks flushed a deep pink. You took pity and turned down the vibration.

"Is everything all right, Miss Maximoff?" It was Peter Parker, from the front row, who asked. Wanda immediately looked at you from the back of the room, but diverted the next second, an excuse forming on the tip of her tongue now that the vibration was weak and allowed her to think properly.

You watched her lie about a headache and end the class with an apology, and soon, the chairs around you began to empty.

Your last name was called out, but you had your backpack on already.

"Sorry, Miss Maximoff, I have basketball practice now. Don't wanna be late." You retorted to the woman leaning on the table, aware of Kate and Yelena waiting for you at the door. Wanda hesitated.

"C-can't it just be for a second? It's important...about your final grade."

You licked your lips, almost giving in because Wanda looked desperate, and thinking about how wet she must feel now sends a wave of heat straight to your core. But you don't fall for it, because Wanda knows very well that your irritation is well founded in her interactions with the annoying and inconvenient Math Teacher.

"Sorry, Miss Maximoff, I'm kind of the star of the team." You joke and she has to hide her frustration because your friends are still at the door, chuckling at your joke. You have a little pity when you see her expression, and offer her a small smile when you retort, "Can we discuss this later? After practice?"

Wanda nods almost immediately and tries to cover it up with a fake coldness the next second. "Come see me after the last period. I'll wait in my office."

"Of course, Miss Maximoff, and please don't fix anything yourself." You tease and she chokes softly, making you smile mischievously. "My grades, of course. I'll think of a solution, don't try to solve the problem all alone."

Wanda swallows dryly, nodding and you offer one last innocent smile before turning away.

–//–

Vibrators can have an unlimited range, which was terrible for someone who had five classes ahead of her.

Wanda knew that you were annoyed with her - rightly so, she may have purposely laughed more than necessary at Professor Simon's comments when she saw you in the hallway - and so she spent the day trying to function normally apart from the insistent vibration in between her legs.

Every time she got used to the rhythm and stopped sweating, you changed the frequency from wherever the hell you were. She nearly moaned in the middle of a narrative about Romanticism in the 20th Century, and had to excuse herself about three times in the same class just to keep from sliding to the floor with the way her knees were giving way.

You kept her on the edge all day, and by the time the last period was coming up, Wanda was practically collapsing.

She dismissed the class almost thirty minutes beforehand, practically laying back against the armchair when the room was empty, the toy still vibrating inside her making her close her eyes and take a few deep breaths.

You took your time to Wanda's classroom. You had the last period free and spent much of it changing the speed of the toy buried in your girlfriend, amusing yourself by imagining her pussy twitching and dripping, always close to climax but never satisfied.

You were not so surprised to find the room empty, although you were impressed that Wanda was so desperate to relieve herself that she would risk being caught by any other student, since there she was in her own armchair, one hand cupping her right breast beneath her blouse and the other clenched tightly in her own lap - her hips moving in the air trying to follow the rhythm of the toy.

You walked slowly towards her, locking the door behind you, and Wanda was so absorbed in her own actions that she didn't hear you - much less see you, her eyes closed tightly as she tried to cum.

You licked your lips, and leaned against one of the front tables, enjoying the show. 

The muffled moans began to sound like whimpers of pleasure, so you grabbed your cell phone from your pocket and give Wanda a reason to scream.

Once the speed was increased to the maximum, she reacted immediately. Her back arched in the chair, and she opened her eyes in shock, her mouth opening in a perfect circle, a loud moan ripping through her throat.

You offered her a corner smile. "Enjoying yourself, darling?"

Knowing that you were watching sent a rush of heat straight to her abdomen. Wanda choked, her face contorting with pleasure. 

"Please, malysha" She begged, fingers moving frantically under her blouse, to tease and squeeze her nipple. You laughed dryly, cell phone in hand to change the frequency again and steal her orgasm once more. Wanda cried, her hips jerking. You bite your lips when you realize she came - The overstimulation must have made her so sensitive to the point that any touch made her come, even with the control off. Your own intimacy pulsed with the image.

"Tsk, you're so easy." You mocked, turning off the toy and leaving your cell phone on the table to approach her. Wanda was panting, trying to recover from the intense climax, but you didn't care much - You grabbed the collar of her blouse and kissed her hard enough to make her whimper. She immediately responded, albeit with difficulty, but you broke the kiss with a bite on her lip. "I told you not to fix it yourself. Do you have a problem with orders, Miss Maximoff?"

She groaned, one hand gripping the wrist of yours that was still holding her shirt. "You were so mean today, malysha, you can't blame me."

"Oh, but I can." You retort meekly, releasing her shirt to bring your hand to her cheek and caress her skin. "You have a whole list of mischief, don't you? Flirting with that asshole, touching yourself against my will, and now cumming without permission..." You committed, brushing your lips against theirs, and Wanda gasped softly.

"Will you punish me?" She teases in a husky voice, and you grunt softly, a reaction that makes her smile.

"What do you suggest, Wands? That I leave you on the edge for more hours? Or mark every inch of your body? Maybe I should turn that beautiful ass of yours the same color of your hair..."

"Fuck, yes to all of those." She retorts pulling your wrist and kissing you hard.

It doesn't take long to get hungrier and more desperate, and you take the opportunity to slide a hand down to the middle of Wanda's legs, enjoying the way she squirms, throwing her hips against you. But just when the pressure is what she needs, you move your hand away.

"Let's start your punishment now, then." You clarify, kissing her short a few times, and ignoring her frustrated cry.

"No, please, just make me cum once..." She tries, grabbing your shoulders but you laugh.

"Once more you mean." You retort as you pull away completely, leaving the armchair to reach for your cell phone.

Wanda huffs in irritation and you turn the vibrator back on, at a frequency too low for her to come, but enough to bother.

"How about we go get pizza? I'm starving." You say casually as you tidy up your messy clothes, and Wanda bites her tongue to keep from cursing. You smile, moving closer to kiss her cheek. "If you behave yourself, the reward will be worth it, Miss Maximoff."

Her eyes light up. "Really?"

You bite your lips. "I'll let you choose your prize, how about that?"

She nods, ignoring the trembling of her own body to get up, and you offer your arm to her with a smile playing on your lips.

[curator-on-ao3]

Again, cool response to the last question, so I'll let you pick from these options:

And there are things I have fan-fixed in my head to the point that I have to remind myself that the fix-it isn’t part of the actual canon: favourite one of these?

Or

Your/a favourite part of actual canon. Like, maybe something little but it's just so lovely and fitting to you and you're just happy that it exists?

I’ve been a little down on Trek lately, so I’m going to type as fast as I can to brain-dump, in show order, the first things that pop into my mind that I absolutely love in Trek canon:

Kirk calling Nomad his son, the doctor

Christine Chapel’s snark to Roger Korby about schtupping the androids

Mark Leonard’s performance in Balance of Terror

the Horta (a great mama)

“Edith Keeler must die.”

Captain John Christopher, United States Air Force. Serial number 4857932.

Tribbles

the lesson of The Cloud Minders that we must have empathy and listen to others when they tell us about their lived experience in an environment unlike our own

the cheap-ass animation of TAS

Q

Bynars and Minuet

Beverly Crusher’s frustration in Arsenal of Freedom (and the episode’s Good Ship Lollipop joke)

Picard shooting the other version of himself in Time Squared (to clarify: out of respect for those times when we have to stop ourselves from getting caught in loops/doing stupid stuff and we summon up the courage to break a bad cycle and move forward)

K'Ehleyr

Picard out-lawyering the Sheliak

Rachel Garrett; Yar and Castillo

Lal (but I can’t watch the end anymore, it hurts too much)

the Shakespeare and “Set a course for Betazed. Warp 9.” comedy in Ménage a Troi

Best of Both Worlds, I and II (Shelby inclusive)

every conference table discussion in all of TNG

Beverly’s jump in Remember Me (such a damn good episode)

the reveal in Future Imperfect (which one? all of them)

The Dancing Doctor tap dancing with Data

Darmok. And Jalad. At Tenagra.

Ro Laren

Troi saying, “You could have easily been right” to Ro in Disaster

Hugh, Third of Five

the fact that The Next Phase has so many plotholes and they’re forgivable because the episode is so fun and great

Scotty on the holodeck version of the TOS bridge and Picard joining him

Rascals!

Deanna’s “Ancient West” outfit

the Jefferies tube music and make out session in Lessons

Attached. Oh, my heart.

the Enterprise with three nacelles … and that absolutely perfect last shot of the series

“You exist here.”

Sisko’s casual, everyday affection for Jake

“Old Man”

Rejoined. Lenara Khan. The love. That kiss. The emotional stakes. All of it.

the three Ferengi hitting their own heads to try to fix their universal translators so the 20th century Earth military people mimic the movement to try to communicate

every second of Trials and Tribble-ations including Sisko working overtime to stop fuckmaster Dax, tossing the tribbles, Sisko meeting Kirk, “We do not discuss it with outsiders,” and so much more

Kira blaming Bashir for putting the baby inside her when … you know … behind the scenes

The Sons of Mogh helping with the harvest in Children of Time

Far Beyond the Stars — some of the best if not the best science fiction I have ever seen

the monster fakeout (and kindness) in The Sound of Her Voice, even though the end makes me cry

“Computer, erase that entire personal log.”

Solok

Sisko and Kassidy discussing their comfort levels about a simulation in which the reality was segregation

Janeway waterfalling off the sofa to be closer to Mark on the screen

“Warp particles!”

the lizard babies

the two Janeways in Deadlock

Remember (a painfully good Holocaust episode that doesn’t get enough credit and, yes, I know the path the script took and I’m glad it ended up as a B’Elanna episode)

“I don't know what I'm seeking.” “Then I believe you are ready to begin.”

“The child you spoke of, the girl. Her favorite color was red.” Also, Tuvok’s meditation lamp in the window for Kes.

hot damn, Counterpoint, yaaas

everything in Relativity

“The Yankees, in six games.”

Janeway going after Seven in The Voyager Conspiracy

“This is Lieutenant Reginald Barclay at Starfleet Command.” “It's good to hear your voice, Lieutenant. We've been waiting a long time for this moment.” “The feeling is mutual. Unfortunately, the micro-wormhole is collapsing. We have only a few moments.” “Understood. We are transmitting our ship's logs, crew reports, and navigational records to you now.” “Acknowledged. And we're sending you data on some new hyper-subspace technology. We're hoping eventually to use it to keep in regular contact, and we're including some recommended modifications for your comm system.” “We'll implement them as soon as possible.” “There's someone else here who would also like to say something.” “This is Admiral Paris.” “Hello, sir.” “How are your people holding up?” “Very well. They're an exemplary crew, your son included.” “Tell him, tell him I miss him. And I'm proud of him.” “He heard you, Admiral.” “The wormhole is collapsing.” “I want you all to know we're doing everything we can to bring you home.” “We appreciate it, sir. Keep a docking bay open for us.”

“Nice hair.” (Live Fast and Prosper)

Janeway and Jaffen in Workforce

the spot-on legal concerns of Author, Author

“Set a course. For home.”

(Nothing from Enterprise or Prodigy only because I haven’t watched enough of Enterprise or any of Prodigy)

Burnham and Georgiou forming the delta with their footsteps

the CGI on only the shields protecting Burnham from space

“Are we in session? Because I didn't know you were practicing again. Because if I have your undivided attention for fifty minutes, I can think of a whole bunch of other things we could be doing.”

“That's as depressing a trait as I've ever heard.” “I don't give a damn … I still don't give a damn.”

Cornwell beaming in, phaser aimed, taking command of Discovery

Cornwell phasering the fortune cookies

Cornwell’s voice breaking: “So my Gabriel is dead.”

Detmer’s little bounce when Emperor-as-Captain Georgiou takes command

Pike beaming aboard and instantly being all like MOJAVE to prove to the audience he’s the guy from The Cage

New Eden. Everything. Oh my God (pun intended). The visuals. Owo’s backstory. Pollard patching Pike up after he’s shot. The light at the end. Oh my God, yes. That episode. Yes.

Number freaking One beaming aboard and having her lunch briefing with Pike (Chris and Una’s decades-long friendship wasn’t canon yet, but it shows here so beautifully)

Gabrielle Burnham

“In case the shit hit the fan.”

Michael Burnham on truth serum

Book

Laira Rillak, everyone!

Q&A

season 1 Raffi Musiker

Fleet Admiral and Commander-in-Chief Kirsten Clancy

“You owe me a ship, Picard.”

“You need a feather in your hat.”

Riker greeting Picard

Hugh greeting Picard

the separate trio of Raffi, Clancy, and Deanna all telling Picard he’s shit

Rios singing in Spanish

President Annika Hansen

everybody finding each other in the Confederation Universe

Liam Shaw — a character with incredible highs and lows

Majel Barrett as the computer voice when the crew gets to the Enterprise D

“Somehow I figured you might.”

everything in Ghosts of Illyria

Spock and La’an’s mind meld

Spock and T’Pring in Spock Amok

“You cannot resign. The loss to Enterprise would be unimaginable. To me.”

“If you’re going to steal a starship, do it correctly.”

Neera Ketoul

La’an normalizing needing to eat all the time as a teenager (especially important for girls to hear)

Pike and Una visually checking in with each other so often that it’s in their cartoon versions (that whole episode, actually, including, “Riker!”)

That’s scrolling through episode titles and jotting down stuff I love off the top of my head, fam.✨

Thank you so much for this ask, anon! ❤️ I needed this positive energy in my life.

[utilitycaster]

(Long ask warning)

Hello! I'm jumping on the appreciation train to say thank you so much for all of your meta and analysis! I just found your blog today, and you've already given me so much clarity and context for things I've been noticing in the CR fandom lately.

I quite literally spent my summer living under a rock (in the woods leading spelunking for scouts!) and so was completely out of the loop from early June through September. And while I am not yet caught up (I'm about to start ep. 65), I have been going through the tags and ao3, because I primarily engage with fandom through fic and I don't care about spoilers. And I can't help but notice that everything being written for c3 lately is just... monochromatic. The Hells have such interesting characters and premises. One would think they're ripe for creative and interesting fic. And yet even what little gen fic that I have seen since returning to civilization has largely been boiled down to reiterative mush with vaguely shippy overtones. I can totally see this being indicative of the cresting and waning of the Imodna and Callowmore shipping you've been discussing.

I've gotta ask though, is it really just shipping that is causing this problem? Or is there something else in the source material that you think could be affecting fic in particular?

This is the first time I've been in a fandom with ongoing source material in over a decade. I'm used to watching people beat dead horses in their own little corner, safe in the knowledge that I can block them and it isn't going to affect my experience in the slightest. I guess I'm just having a hard time believing/remembering that shipping can be this incidious.

So a couple of things: first, I was not heavily involved in fandom until Critical Role; I have a decent amount of background knowledge from being on Tumblr and because I do tend to look into/research this kind of thing because it's very interesting to me, but you will probably have better snapshot of what fandom looked like 10 years ago than I do. Second, fanfic has always been a tiny aspect of what I've engaged with and I do find the bulk of it to be dull and samey (which is why it is a tiny aspect), so again, you probably are a better judge of the quality of fanfic elsewhere.

With that said, as part of a much larger discussion of which I only have as mentioned pieces of the puzzle, I do think there's been a shift over the past decade or so of like...people expecting the source material to reflect fanfic-y desires, and resenting it when it does not; people not seeing the point in enjoying non-canon ships; and a broader theme of self-infantilization. This has to a small extent spilled over into published fiction, though thankfully there's plenty that isn't that. It's not just shipping (though that absolutely can be insidious to the point that people have been harassed and doxxed over it); I think it's a general taste for pablum that has been growing within fandom spaces.

I'll link a few posts I've made and a source that, while I cannot vouch for it per se I did read and found enlightening at the end but I think a really indicative example as of late was the fandom response to the show Good Omens (spoilers for Good Omens S2 in the next link if you are by any chance avoiding those). Obviously do not do anything obnoxious to the person who wrote this question, but there are a worrying number of people in fandom spaces who believe this unironically and uncritically: fiction exists to "save us from hurtful reality." And I do understand that the tumultuous politics and world events of the past decade are probably a factor; but I mean, have you looked at literature from the first half of the 20th century (or like. the second half, for that matter)? It is, in my opinion, only going to help put our modern world and issues in better context and honestly make you feel better in the long run if you read, say, The Great Gatsby or The Things They Carried instead of burying your head in lower case song lyrics ... (hurt/comfort, fix-it, happy ending, 6k) and like, to be clear, I have written a small portion of lower case song lyric-titled fics myself but most of them aren't terribly happy, and even so, god I'd be horrified if that was all people were reading.

We've seen it across fandom at large with the polls; I have not watched season 2 of Our Flag Means Death in part because I've realized with horror that this mentality has swept, plague-like, through that fandom; people are acting like having a canon queer ship on a small premium cable show in 2022 is world-changing and unprecedented while also kind of ignoring everything that isn't the central ship (including valid criticisms of how this takes a real-world plantation owner and turns him into a goofy fop, how there's precious few female characters and none in the main cast, and how the actually far more groundbreaking nb character is pushed aside in favor of the core M/M ship). Spoilers for Good Omens again (sorry in advance, Good Omens 2 was a realization point for me how deeply and widely this rot has set in in some places and I have a bunch of sources of people being like "guys stories require conflict and tension to be good" in response to the overwrought moaning that the story wasn't unambiguously happy) but this is another author responding to the "the desired endpoint of all fiction is obviously to have your ship living in a small house together in bliss and anything else is torment" mentality.

In addition to shipping another factor is, I think, people overidentifying with characters and as such being reluctant to actually put them through any sort of hardship, however minor. I recently reblogged a post about the origin of the concept "Mary Sue" and it led me to read a bit about its history, because it was in fact created by women. It was a woman in the Star Trek fandom who was sick of spending money to buy fanzines (pre-common home internet, let alone pre-Ao3) only to find the vast majority of the stories to be this "here is my self-insert who is perfect and beautiful and pure and every other character thinks she is the greatest even if that's entire OOC". It was a frustration with the abandonment of the characterizations in the original work. And that's true today - I have read a popular Imogen and Laudna fluff fic to see what the deal was and it stripped out so much of their premises and characterizations it was unrecognizeable as them but for the hair colors and occasional cringeworthy attempts to replicate Southern US dialect - but what was notable is that those people were at least being honest and writing OCs (though to be fair a lot of them were also young white teen girls and the only woman in TOS was black and that was probably also a factor). Now, you get people who cannot tolerate any analysis of characters that is less than flattering because instead of having an OC, they are identifying so strongly with, for example, Imogen or Ashton, that they cannot separate out the real character or understand this is not an attack on them (or, to be blunt, as someone who sees some of my own worse traits in both those characters, a necessary critique). It's not shipping, but it is that same "fiction should only ever be a soft blanket or a flattering mirror, never a dark mirror and certainly never a door" mentality.

I do place a little blame on fanfiction itself; I think having something that is roughly made to order and tells you exactly what it is up front means people start to think that is the only way, and that's why we have people claiming Chipotle is the height of cuisine while making gagging noises at the authentic Mexican restaurant except for fiction. I think fanfiction can be great; it's fun to write and I have read some great pieces. But a lot of it is mush and formulaic and as that Mary Sue history points out, always has been.

So anyway, to Bells Hells: I think past campaigns also had a lot of dull fanfiction; I think the Nein lent themselves more to poorly written angst than poorly written fluff but yeah a lot of that was really samey and bland in its own way. Fanfiction has always been formulaic to a degree but I think we're starting to see the generation of people who really have read more of that than like, books, and sure there are shitty books, but man there's a LOT of shitty fanfiction, and increasingly, I find that shitty published books are bad because they're too much like fanfiction. [If I get the chance today I have a post I want to write about the ignorance of fantasy tropes in the current fandom which I think is also driving some of this and which I alluded to in my post about shipping; like, I feel the almost automatic but oddly thought-free resistance to gods and fate and the 'right' way to respond to a tragic backstory comes from this ignorance; this also is a case in the D20 fandom when they've dipped into sci fi.] Shipping definitely is a factor, and I think again C3 has an influx of fans primarily here to ship in that "my ship must become canon and must 'win' for some arbitrary definition thereof" which is probably why so much of the fanfic sucks, but again, this is a larger self-infantilizing and entitled mentality that goes beyond mere ships.

Further reading (mostly my own posts but not exclusively)

The fandom echo chamber (also Good Omens spoilers in a broad sense), not by me

Some discussion on queerphobia being inserted only as a tool to assist with specific shipping narratives (I think this ties in again to like. people need obstacles to justify why the characters aren't already in their cottage by the sea but once the characters are together they discard these obstacles even if they are systemic and would still exist, which makes for really bad fanfic bc it's clearly poorly plotted and thought out)

Me on why this campaign isn't good for shipping but a lot of the fandom showed up primarily to ship (might be the post that prompted this ask tbf)

Fandom monocropping (not my post)

My treatise on Imogen and Laudna specifically which honestly, even now that they are canon, still largely holds up re: the fandom and a related one about similarly fluff-centric Change is Evil and the highest order of fiction is Two Blorbos In A House With Zero Problems mentality (not by me but I've been part of that discussion)

[persepor]

Let's talk about Yinu's boss fight...

Yinu is the third NSR artist we face in No Straight Roads, alongside her mother who I'll refer to as Mama. Yinu is my 3rd favorite NSR artist not only for her character but the fact she plays neoclassical music! There's a really interesting connection I want to make later but without further ado let's talk about Yinu.

"I'll show you why they call me the Golden Maestro of Vinyl City!"

Yinu's battle goes like most of the others......except you don't fight her...you fight her mother. Mama will appear after you break the gate and will hold Yinu out of harms way, shielding her when you get rid of all the strings. Mama functions as the main obstacle you have to get through to get to Yinu. She will keep Yinu away from you for the entire battle, focused on mainly keeping Yinu performing.

She starts out as simply being behind the curtain, then in the second phase she grows and lifts up the stage into the air, and finally she uses herself as a sort of cage. You defeat her but it isn't over you're interrupted by Yinu who is angry at EVERYONE and furiously plays her piano.

You finally reach her and we hear something audibly break. The cutscene plays and we see everyone falling. No one is hurt in the fall but.......

Mayday and Zuke broke Yinu's piano.

Yinu plays neoclassical music which consists of piano, strings, and wind instruments. I absolutely love Yinu's theme not only because I love classical music myself but because it's so melodic and really evokes emotion. The rock version, while not my favorite, is also really good at using guitars and drums to replace the strings and winds.

One element I love is that the furious piano playing towards the end of the song stays in the rock version as well. It's such a nice touch to add to keep in the same in every version of Yinu's music. When I hear hear theme music I can imagine her enjoying herself, playing her piano for her fans but also for herself and her mother. I hear passion when listening to Yinu's theme which says a lot than having to express it with more words.

The next time you listen to her theme I want you to really listen and see what your mind comes up with when listening to it.

B2J's overthrowing Yinu's concert reminded me of the rise of popularity for rock in the 1950's and it subsequently becoming mainstream in the 20th century.

With popular music such as rock, jazz, and the blues becoming so popular classical music was forgotten about and had to find its own niche radio stations. Even today any type of classical music is basically forgotten or isn't looked as fondly upon as pop or rock music.

When B2J destroyed Yinu's piano this thought solidified itself as them getting rid of classical music, quite literally drowning Yinu out until you're trying to reach her. May and Zuke got rid of Yinu's neoclassical music in her district.

They put down a music genre just so rock can become popular again.

Conclusion is Yinu is an S-tier boss fight and she has so much untapped story that I didn't go over.

Thank you for reading, Dj Subatomic Supernova is up next.

[aurumacadicus]

There are still a couple weeks left to read The Lightning Thief, but we're voting for our next book now so we have plenty of time to get it for the first day of reading on October first! Book summaries are under the cut! Each new title is in bold for clarity.

If you'd like to join the book club, now or for the next book, feel free to send me an ask and I'll give you the link to our Discord!

The Radium Girls: The Dark Story of America’s Shining Women by Kate Moore

The Curies’ newly discovered element of radium makes gleaming headlines across the nation as the fresh face of beauty, and wonder drug of the medical community. From body lotion to tonic water, the popular new element shines bright in the otherwise dark years of the First World War.

Meanwhile, hundreds of girls toil amidst the glowing dust of the radium-dial factories. The glittering chemical covers their bodies from head to toe; they light up the night like industrious fireflies. With such a coveted job, these “shining girls” are the luckiest alive—until they begin to fall mysteriously ill.

But the factories that once offered golden opportunities are now ignoring all claims of the gruesome side effects, and the women’s cries of corruption. And as the fatal poison of the radium takes hold, the brave shining girls find themselves embroiled in one of the biggest scandals of America’s early 20th century, and in a groundbreaking battle for workers’ rights that will echo for centuries to come.

The Lost Apothecary by Sarah Penner

A female apothecary secretly dispenses poisons to liberate women from the men who have wronged them – setting three lives across centuries on a collision course.

Rule #1: The poison must never be used to harm another woman.

Rule #2: The names of the murderer and her victim must be recorded in the apothecary’s register.

One cold February evening in 1791, at the back of a dark London alley in a hidden apothecary shop, Nella awaits her newest customer. Once a respected healer, Nella now uses her knowledge for a darker purpose – selling well-disguised poisons to desperate women who would kill to be free of the men in their lives. But when he new patron turns out to be a precocious twelve-year-old named Eliza Fanning, an unexpected friendship sets in motion a string of events that jeopardizes Nella’s world and threatens to expose the many women whose names are written in her register.

In present-day London, aspiring historian Caroline Parcewell spends her tenth wedding anniversary alone, reeling from the discovery of her husband’s infidelity. When she finds an old apothecary vial near the river Thames, she can’t resist investigating, only to realize she’s found a link to the unsolved “apothecary murders” that haunted London over two centuries ago. As she deepens her search, Caroline’s life collides with Nella’s and Elizas in a stunning twist of fate – and not everyone will survive.

Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao

The boys of Huaxia dream of pairing up with girls to pilot Chrysalises, giant transforming robots that can battle the mecha aliens that lurk beyond the Great Wall. It doesn’t matter that the girls often die from the mental strain.

When 18-year-old Zetian offers herself up as a concubine-pilot, it’s to assassinate the ace male pilot responsible for her sister’s death. But she gets her vengeance in a way nobody expected—she kills him through the psychic link between pilots and emerges from the cockpic unscathed. She is labeled an Iron Widow, a much-feared and much-silenced kind of female pilot who can sacrifice boys to power up Chrysalises instead.

To tame her unnerving yet invaluable mental strength, she is paired up with Li Shimin, the strongest and most controversial male pilot in Huaxia. But now that Zetian has had a taste of power, she will not cower so easily. She will miss no opportunity to leverage their combined might and infamy to survive attempt after attempt on her life, until she can figure out exactly why the pilot system works in its misogynist way—and stop more girls from being sacrificed.

Artemis by Andy Weir

Jazz Bashara is a criminal.

Well, sort of. Life on Artemis, the first and only city on the moon, is tough if you’re not a rich tourist or an eccentric billionaire. So smuggling in the occasional harmless bit of contraband barely counts, right? Not when you’ve got debts to pay and your job as a porter barely covers the rent.

Everything changes when Jazz sees the chance to commit the perfect crime, with a reward too lucrative to turn down. But pulling off the impossible is just the start of her problems, as she learns that she’s stepped squarely into a conspiracy for control of Artemis itself—and that now, her only chance at survival lies in a gambit even riskier than the first.

The Poppy War by R. F. Kuang

An epic historical military fantasy, inspired by the bloody history of China’s twentieth century and filled with treachery and magic.

When Rin aced the Keju—the Empire-wide test to find the most talented youth to learn at the Academies—it was a shock to everyone: to the test officials, who couldn’t believe an orphan from Rooster Province could pass without cheating; to Rin’s guardians, who believed they’d finally be able to marry her off and further their criminal enterprise; and to Rin herself, who realized she was finally free of the servitude and despair that made up her daily existence. That she got into Sinegard—the most elite military school in Nikan—was even more surprising.

But surprises aren’t always good.

Because being a dark-skinned peasant girl from the south is not an easy thing at Sinegard. Targeted from the outset by rival classmates for her color, poverty, and gender, Rin discovers she possesses a lethal, unearthly power—an aptitude for the nearly-mythical art of shamanism. Exploring the depths of her gift with the help of a seemingly insane teacher and psychoactive substances, Rin learns that gods long thought dead are very much alive—and that mastering control over those powers could mean more than just surviving school.

For while the Nikara Empire is at peace, the Federation of Mugen still lurks across a narrow sea. The militarily advanced Federation occupied Nikan for decades after the First Poppy War, and only barely lost the continent in the Second. And while most of the people are complacent to go about their lives, a few are aware that a Third Poppy War is just a spark away…

Rin’s shamanic powers may be the only way to save her people. But as she finds out more about the god that has chosen her, the vengeful Phoenix, she fears that winning the war may cost her humanity…and that it may already be too late.

Carry On by Rainbow Rowell

Simon Snow is the worst Chosen One who’s ever been chosen.

That’s what his roommate, Baz, says. And Baz might be evil and a vampire and a complete git, but he’s probably right.

Half the time, Simon can’t even make his wand work, and the other half, he starts something on fire. His mentor’s avoiding him, his girlfriend broke up with him, and there’s a magic-eating monster running around, wearing Simon’s face. Baz would be having a field day with all this, if he were here – it’s their last year at the Watford School of Magicks, and Simon’s infuriating nemesis didn’t even bother to show up.

Carry On – The Rise and Fall of Simon Snow is a ghost story, a love story and a mystery. It has just as much kissing and talking as you’d expect from a Rainbow Rowell story – but far, far more monsters.

Here, The World Entire by Anwen Kya Hayward

After being accused of desecrating Athena’s temple and subsequently cursed with monstrousness, Medusa lives alone on the outskirts of the world, secluding herself from everyone so as to keep both herself and the rest of the world safe. When Perseus comes to ask for her help, Medusa tries desperately to make him leave, but no matter what she does, Perseus stays. As the days wear on and she reveals more about the events that led her to the cave, it becomes obvious that there is a choice to make: stay safe and alone, or re-enter the world with Perseus. One question still remains, however: what does Perseus want?

[professorspork]

THE BIG RWBY BASEBALL POST

(previously on Leah Combines RWBY With Sports That Had Peak Popularity in The Early 20th Century: 2021 Kentucky Derby Horse Names as RWBY Weapons, Ranked)

Friends, it's that time of year again.

"Baseball season?" you ask. And I say: yes, but also.

"Oh. RWBY hiatus?" you groan, realizing I'm about to do something slightly unhinged.

Bingo.

To make a very long story short, I love these two things, and wanted to combine these two things, and have very strong opinions about these two things, so here we are: a post that makes a functional baseball team out of RWBY characters. True, the Venn diagram of people who like both these things as much as I do to serve as my audience is probably small. True, baseball positions aren't astrological signs and anyone of any personality can play anywhere, but lord knows there are Tropes and I plan to indulge.

SO. I give you the starting nine (plus some bullpen depth) of the Beacon Huntresses:

Pitcher: Weiss Schnee. Among several decisions that are no-brainers, this one is probably the no-brainiest. Weiss is a lefty (always highly in demand for pitchers) and her balletic combat movement style translates perfectly to a distinct delivery mechanic. Weiss is a high velocity, high strikeout pitcher who induces a lot of swings and misses with nasty breaking stuff that dances through the air and paints the corners. Because it brings me joy to think about, I'm going to say that Remnant uses old NL rules so Weiss has to bat, and I'll rank her at like a Cole Hamels-level "hey, that's not embarrassing for a pitcher!" career .400 OPS. Not afraid to sac bunt when she has to, but beats out the throw more often than you'd think.

Catcher: Jaune Arc. Yes yes get in your "White Knight real" jokes while you can about Weiss and Jaune playing as the regular battery. This one was also an easy selection; catchers are valued most highly for their strategic minds and defensive capabilities, with any offense added seen as a bonus. As the latest kerfuffle with the Cardinals blaming Willson Contreras for *checks notes* not being Yadi Molina shows, having trust in your catcher to call the game and be thoughtful in his pitch selection in high-leverage situations is paramount. That's Jaune all over. Probably not much of a power guy but has pop when it counts and is excellent at pitch framing.

First Base: Yang Xiao Long. Okay I promise I'll stop calling every decision a no-brainer but THIS ONE REALLY IS. Yang is your classic slugging first baseman, of whom there are literally too many examples to name-- including many righties YOU DON'T HAVE TO BE LEFTY TO PLAY FIRST OKAY. Yang's a Vladdy. Hits for serious power, but more than that embodies the quality that the best first basemen have: she's The Mayor. Truly iconic first basemen are fun to chat with! They are friendly to all their visitors as opposing players stop over on their way around the diamond; this is Yang to a T. Yang probably used to play center field in high school and got converted to 1B in the minors. Most likely on the team to induce very silly rundowns with goofy, clever, self-sacrificial baserunning. Has a penchant for always hitting homers the next time she faces a pitcher after she's been hit by a pitch.

Second Base: Blake Belladonna. She is all about those scrappy diving catches, and flipping to Ruby quickly so they can turn two (but I'm getting ahead of myself). Blake's a utility infielder who'd be comfortable anywhere but let's be real she likes playing the right field side because she gets sad when she can't easily make smirky meaningful eye contact with Yang at all times, so they keep her at second so she won't pout. Probably hits high average but low slugging. Most likely to volunteer to be a position player pitching during a blowout and then, like. Unexpectedly throw 93 with movement. Definitely steals a lot.

Shortstop: Ruby Rose. Ruby has the brains to be a catcher but to waste/ruin her speed on catcher's legs would be a crime; she's got zippy athleticism written all over her. She bats leadoff because she has excellent plate discipline; she's a hard out and gets on base a ton. Think a DJ LeMahieu or Bryson Stott at his best-- sprays to all fields, and sees pitches in the double digits like every other at-bat because she's happy to stand there and keep fouling it off with an infuriating smile on her face until the pitcher makes a mistake. Steals even more often than Blake does, but specifically is a tricksy little imp on the basepaths like Anthony Volpe-- like she would definitely induce a throw when she was already back at the bag because she dances around. (I s2g there's video of this but I cannot find it anywhere sry.)

Third Base: Penny Polendina. Fast hands, Gold Glove-level defense. Unfortunately she's built in the mold of an Adalberto Mondesi or Byron Buxton where it's like "no better player on earth when she's healthy but she's NEVER HEALTHY;" she's got glass bones and has had multiple weeks-long trips to the Injury List or needed season-ending surgery because something popped or snapped. The sort of player where it's like "god no you don't understand, the game is so much better when she's playing" and it's a heartbreaker because SHE KEEPS GETTING TAKEN AWAY FROM YOU. Once did a bat flip after a home run because Ruby encouraged her to and, like, the bat shattered on the grass somehow because she's that strong.

Left Field: Emerald Sustrai. Because if you ask her, her face turn was... out of left field! Eh? Eh??? Okay yeah sorry. To me Emerald is a 2022 Oswaldo Cabrera situation where they threw her in left because they had nowhere else to put her even though she'd never played it before in the minors but she was just. Instantly extremely good at it. Has great range for tracking down fly balls in foul territory. Very streaky hitter who either runs super hot and super cold with no in-between. Steals a lot but also gets caught stealing a lot because she's impatient (see also: streaky hitter, probably chases out of the zone and has really poor plate discipline). But she's getting better! Most likely to come up with cute home run celebration ideas and then absolutely refuse to take credit for them.

Center Field: Pyrrha Nikos. This is the last of the extremely obvious no-brainers. Pyrrha is your star franchise player in center field; she is your Aaron Judge, your Mike Trout. Hits for average and for power, pure athleticism and grace, the player everyone's heard of even when they don't give a shit about baseball. Also now I'm just thinking about how Mike Trout would 100% be like "actually that cereal isn't very good for you" and Pyrrha would 100% stay up all night riveted to the Weather Channel and then call in to compliment the meteorologist they are the same person. Her catches at the fence are so spectacular, you could swear her glove's magnetized.

Right Field: Nora Valkyrie. Is there a very obvious "designated hitter" joke to be made about Nora "be strong and hit stuff" Valkyrie? Yes, of course. But I already said Remnant doesn't have the DH and let's be real, Nora's got a CANNON for an arm and thus belongs in right. Like I'm talking throws like this beaut from Hunter Renfroe the other day-- you do not run on Nora, because she WILL get you out on what you think is a routine double. Bats cleanup and probably has a whole Bash Brothers routine with Yang, including special handshakes. Definitely a pull hitter.

Regular starting lineup is most likely:

Ruby

Pyrrha

Yang

Nora

Blake

Penny

Jaune

Emerald

Weiss

Rounding out the team in the bullpen are:

Long relief: Lie Ren. When your starter melts down and you need someone to keep things calm and give you like four quality innings without giving up more runs, Ren's your guy. Also very happy to play setup man. Throws a knuckleball, says Nora taught him how, and refuses to give more details when people ask.

Closer: Oscar Pine. Admittedly probably more of a ground ball pitcher than a strikeout guy; he induces weak contact and is always going for the double play. I see him as a David Robertson or Kenley Jansen type who gets himself into jams and then gets out of them and like. Yes more often than not he gets the job done but sometimes he'll give you a damn heart attack about it. OSCAR WHY ARE YOU LIKE THIS.

In the process of writing this post Helen asked me who the manager would be and noted Qrow would give absolutely adorable A League Of Their Own vibes. She also suggested that Ozpin (well, Ozma) probably invented baseball in the first place, so... more proof that she's funnier than me.

okay I've been thinking about and then writing this for almost five hours now I have to stop. should I have put some of this behind a cut? probably! but I think it's beautiful, so... sorry but not sorry to all your dashboards <3 I want you to know this included way more specific baseball player comps at one point but I took some of them out so you might have a chance of understanding this <3

[hero-israel]

i'm sure this has been said thousands of times and far more eloquently and in a more educated way than i can, but seeing all this fallout just makes me think that many people from other countries wouldn't keep interfering and loudly shouting their opinions (especially hate), is one of the major things making things worse.

i know there are people who legitimately seek peace and do work towards it, but that seems like such a tiny minority, drowned out by hateful people gleeful to dehumanize. it feels so disturbing in ways i can't even put into words, how people seem to be treating this like sport teams or something. all when they will never be affected by the human toll of the actions or their rhetoric.

"allies" for EITHER israel or palestine (especially westerners) seem to do them and the cause they claim to support, the most harm.

Wars end when the loser stops fighting.

The Palestinians lost their war a long time ago and nothing this week changes that. If anything, they are farther away from any of their ostensible goals than ever. (They are succeeding in the goals of killing Jews and leftwashing fascism and genocidal antisemitism worldwide).

But millions of people worldwide keep encouraging the Confederate Lost Cause delusion that Palestinians are just about to win! That if they just keep fighting one more day, take one more F-16 hit, nailbomb one more pizzeria, that will reverse the entire 20th century. These "allies" are nothing but useful idiots for death.

Wise Palestinians recognize how opportunistic and false their "supporters" are. Wise outside observers recognize how doomed their mission is. Other Arab leaders recognize it as well - they just can't say it publicly.

As I kept saying for years, all of this could have been solved with a handshake and a signature, and anyone who truly cared about the interests of Palestinians should have been urging them to do exactly that. Get SOMETHING for yourselves. As a Jew, Yasir Arafat's "Plan of Phases" could have worked. Agree to ANYTHING with Israel, sign off on ANY vestige of statehood, say it's enough - get sovereignty in Gaza and some of the West Bank - then wait 10 years and say it's not enough anymore, say you want more adjoining territory, you want what's next door, you want an airport, you want you want you want, and evil Israel is blocking you from it. Israel would have been left pointing at a piece of paper like Ned Stark. There is really no such thing as a "final status agreement," borders are the most social-constructy things in the history of the universe, and every divorce begins with an "I'll love you forever."

But that doesn't involve killing enough Jews right now.

I like to think of myself as a politically astute person. I've successfully anticipated things enough, particularly regarding people who are so transparent in their behavior and desires and skill levels. I can absolutely see Israel coming through this - worse for wear but recognizable, still fulfilling its mission as a Jewish home, now with some more depressing memorials. But I can't make any confident predictions of the future for the Palestinians right now.

[ninja-muse]

So I like Kate Quinn. I love the way she writes unsung women in history—not just that she writes them, but that she takes the time to flesh out their historical context. Women (people) don't just wake up and suddenly find out that they're a spy or a code breaker or an opera singer, after all. They're shaped by their time and their culture and their upbringing, and they have to navigate their present, at its best and its worst. Quinn makes sure that's true for her novels.

I also love that Quinn has a way of pulling you gently along so that suddenly you look up and you've finished the entire book. Her prose is strong, her plots are great, and her characters are compelling, but they never feel fast. There's time taken to build things up and build them up, to give small details and day-to-day lives. It's immersive without being grim. And yet, like I said, I get addicted. The longest I think I've taken to read one of her books is three days. Usually it's two.

Which is why you should listen when I say this is one of her best.* The vibrancy of the characters is a notch up. The topics she's tackling are wider ranging and so the research feels deeper. Her ability to look at the 1950s, see how complicated they were, and encapsulate that in the boarding house setting was marvelous. The structure was a step up too. And the way she spun the characters off each other and developed their friendships? She's always been good at that but again….

The basic plot, for those who haven't had this on their TBR for six months, which is probably most of you: it's 1950 in Washington, D.C., and a new woman has moved into a depressing boardinghouse in a seedy neighbourhood. Over the next few years, she brings the residents together through a secret dinner club, and then somebody is killed. (They all have secrets; it could be anyone, and anyone might have done it.)

The other boarders shine light on facets of the era: the British army wife, the Hungarian refugee, the pro-McCarthy Texan, the athlete, the plus-sized secretary who grew up in a Hooverville, the cop's daughter who's turned her back on her family, the imaginative teen son of the landlady and his kid sister, the young widow. (Not to mention the side characters who all drift in and out of the women's lives.) They shouldn't have anything in common and they shouldn't like each other, and yet there is so much found family in this. So much wholesome comfort and people helping each other fix problems. So much arguing and so much unity.

(It surprises me not at all that this book was Quinn's reaction to the fear and anger that was 2020–2021.)

And I've waxed on enough. Quinn's hit a home run, to use one of Bea's sports metaphors, not only in terms of setting and character and plot, but also in general everything else. It balances the darker parts of the 1950s with their hopefulness for the future and the found family of the house. It talks about a lot of stuff that gets glossed over in the standard pop culture '50s, and while it doesn't dig as deep into some (marginalization) issues as it could, I understand why Quinn left the depth of those tales to people with lived experience.

If I say more, I'll be truly spoiling the experience of reading this, so please, if you're going to read a Kate Quinn book this summer, make it this one.

Out July 9.

*Of her 20th century novels; I haven't read her Romans and Borgias.

[ape-apocalypse]

Road To The Kingdom - Before The Dawn YouTube Shorts

The three 'Before The Dawn' short films were created by Motherboard in association with 20th Century Fox, the studio running the Planet of the Apes films. They were aired as promos in the months before Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, meant to bridge the gap between Rise and Dawn. They focus on human survivors trying to make it through each day as society falls apart around them.

Spread Of Simian Flu takes place in Year 1 post-outbreak and features a family where the mother is locked in quarantine while the father and daughter visit her. The mother tries to be cheery for her daughter while the father lies about them having a safe place to live. It is bittersweet to see the family on both sides of the quarantine glass lying to the other to keep their spirits up. They hold onto hope for one another while searching for food and shelter.

Struggling To Survive is five years after the outbreak. The focus of this short is a woman and the boy in her care trying to survive while power begins to fail in the city. She finds luxury items and trades them for food and other necessities, thinking on how those she trades with are clinging to the past rather than planning for the future. This internal monologue is very condescending, a stark contrast to the strained but still present hope of the family in the first short. Perhaps that was the intent, showing the bitterness needed to survive as the years go on.

Story of the Gun covers a full decade through the fall of society. As the title states, a shotgun is the main character of this video as we follow it from human owner to owner through the years. We don't spend enough time with any one person to get attached to any particular character (though I do enjoy the conspiracy rambling guy, he gets a chuckle out of me) but the whirlwind of moving from person to person really conveys the chaotic feeling of the apocalypse. The ending, with the shotgun being abandoned at the feet of unseen apes, hints at the violence to come in Dawn, one that will lead to the film getting nicknamed as simply "The Apes Riding Horses With Guns Movie".

Motherboard also released a 15 minute documentary alongside the fictional shorts called The Real Planet Of The Apes, a true story that I'd never heard before: an island in Liberia where chimpanzees who were once laboratory test apes are the sole inhabitants and many humans fear to visit. Though not having anything to do with the fictional POTA, it is interesting to see apes interacting with humans. They are gentle and playful with humans they trust but can be aggressive to those they don't know, with locals telling tourists they will be killed if they go there. Major content warning for this short; it talks about and shows videos of real world ape testing and injuries, as well as human death/murder, starvation and violence. The good news is that, as of a 2022 article, the apes are still being cared for by the locals.

The video shorts are a fun little dive into the collapse of human society; personally I'll never pass up the opportunity to see that in fiction. They're good quality for being promotional videos on YouTube. The main downside is there is very little to make them stand out as being part of Planet Of The Apes. No apes are seen (which makes sense; they likely didn't have any budget for a CG ape), just alluded to through shadows and sound effects. Because of this, they feel pretty typical of any apocalyptic story without being entirely unique to the POTA franchise. But they're still well done, even eerier now after 2020 Covid lockdowns than when they first released in 2014. Watching all three fictional shorts back-to-back-to-back takes only 30 minutes so, even without any apes, they're a quick but enjoyable viewing experience. 

Intro / Previous / Next

[trainsinanime]

tell me about french train headlights

They're all the same! Or at least they were, from the mid-1950s to about the early 1990s. They all look like this:

Okay, some context for why I find this interesting. Suppose you see a picture of a train, especially one made in the second half of the 20th century, and you want to know where the train is from. The key trick to telling this at a glance is having a bit of autism, but more specifically, the headlights.

In Europe, all major and many minor countries used to have their own government-owned railroad and their own train-building industry, which would build trains to the specifications of their railroad company. There has always been some exporting going on, but for the most part, the trains you'd find in Germany, France, Switzerland, Austria and so on would be all completely different. This has changed drastically over the past 20ish years.

One thing about this old model is that railroad companies would standardise certain parts within their fleets, especially small parts that need servicing and replacing every now and then. It saves on how many different types of spare parts you need to have.

Headlights are the most notable among these by far: Every train needs to have some of them. All trains have basically the same requirements for their headlights, no matter how fast or slow or whatever they are. Before LEDs, you needed to service the headlights regularly to replace the light bulbs, and as glass parts at the front of a fast moving vehicle, they can get damaged, so spare parts logistics are an issue. And most importantly, we as railfans can easily see them. So you get something like this:

As a result, basically all railroad companies in post-war Europe standardised their head- and taillights for all or most of their trains. And all of them had completely different ideas. Fundamentally, all of them agreed that you need white headlights and red taillights, and since modern trains are easily reversible, you put both of them next to each other.

But do you make the white and red lights the same size (West Germany, Netherlands) or different sizes (Austria, East Germany)? Are they separate things, or do you combine them into one assembly (UK, Switzerland)? Do you make them anything approaching normal sized or gigantic (Poland)? Maybe I'll do an overview post over these later, but I don't have enough pictures in my library right now and I'd have to scour Wikipedia for them later.

The French headlight design shown here is in many ways just one of many, but also interesting in its own right: The actual lenses for red and white are the same size, but the white headlight gets this huge lens assembly that makes it look much more prominent. You can clearly see that different French designers had very different ideas about whether you the center-lines (most of them), or the bottom of the lens assembly. Why is the headlight lens so big, and what are the metal was around the bottom half of the circle? I have no clue. My guess is to put some coloured glass panes in, but I have no idea why you'd need that. Also, note that the red taillight classically has a fresnel lens, that's unique as far as I can tell.

I've taken all these pictures in the Cité du Train, the big central French railroad museum in Mulhouse. (That's why I was posting about traveling to Basel early this weekend. Mulhouse is actually really close to Basel, and going via Switzerland is the most practical—and most scenic—route for me) The oldest locomotive I could find with these headlights was CC-7107:

During high speed trails in the early 1950s, this locomotive reached a speed of 326 km/h (203 mph). That made it only second best behind the other locomotive at the trials, BB-9004:

This one reached 331 km/h (206 mph), a world record that would not be beaten for a long time. The difference was nothing to do with technical performance. Instead, both locomotives melted their pantograph, the part on top that touches the overhead line to get power, at around 320 km/h (200 mph). BB-9004 had a second one that it could lift up to continue accelerating, while CC-7107 only had the one. For a long time, SNCF pretended that both locomotives had reached 331 km/h, to protect the reputation of both manufacturers.

What's notable for our purposes is that BB-9004 has different headlights. As far as I can tell, these seem to be an earlier standard design, also found e.g. on the CC-65001 diesel locomotive:

And even on steam locomotives, like this class 141 R:

So CC-7107 lost on the high speed world record, but it was the way of the future when it came to headlights. These headlights then started cropping up everywhere. From the detail pictures I've shown you above, we have e.g. Le Petit Gris (the small grey one, an EMU for suburban services in Paris):

A CC-6500, dressed up with a nameplate for the express train it was hauling. Fun fact: One locomotive of this type (not this one) was used in the US for a while, as Amtrak was trying out new electric locomotives to use. They weren't happy with it and bought a Swedish one instead, mostly because this locomotive's suspension did not work well with the American track quality.

A Z 2200, a diesel railcar for rural lines designed to be cheap first, second and third.

A BB-26000, which feels altogether way to new to be in this museum.

It's from the 1980s, so I guess the first are reaching retirement age. But at the same time: The train I took from Basel to Mulhouse was still pulled by one of these BB-26000.

Other favourites include the BB-25600 with its rare diagonal light arrangement:

Or the really terribly lit gas turbine train RTG, which puts the headlight on stalks:

Fun fact: Amtrak did end up buying a few these. They didn't use the same white headlights (although they did use the same stalks), but they did use the same fresnel lens red taillights.

And the headlights went all the way up to the top. To the TGV. Only these headlights aren't very aerodynamic, so for their high-speed train, SNCF decided to cover them up.

As far as I can tell, SNCF used these headlights in the TGVs up to the Réseau series, including the Eurostar. That meant that they're also found, though behind faded glass, on the TGV Atlantique 325 in the outdoor area. Number 325 is notable because it was involved in another high speed trail, and reached 515.3 km/h (320.3 mph) on May 18th, 1990.

That was a world record, of course; in fact only the French ever exceeded 500 km/h on conventional railroads. So these headlights did get their world record after all. They didn't get to keep it for long, though. In 2007, a newer TGV reached 574.8 km/h (357.2 mph). That one is still in service, though, and it was equipped with newer LED headlights. I think it's highly unlikely that this record will be broken anytime soon, but if anyone does, I wouldn't be surprised if it were the French again, they like that sort of stuff.

Some final odds an ends with the headlights, though: Here's CC-40101, which isn't actually relevant, I just like the way it looks.

Designed for service in France, Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany, with four different voltages and four different train control systems, and that with mid-1960s technology. It wasn't quite as successful as hoped, and in service it only ever reached Belgium, but still, look at that design. The front is supposed to evoke an athlete, a sprinter about to start, but this type of design has instead become known as "Nez cassé", broken nose.

BB-9291 shows a rare early version without red tail lights at all. Someone thought they were saving money.

This small work train has a free-standing version of the headlight, which shows us how deep it really is. Apparently, the French headlight is actually not that deep, and isn't that a nice summary for this post?

And a personal favourite of mine, I even bought a T-Shirt with it on it, the Z 600:

The design, in particular the side windows (recessed instead of flush, no outside visible gasket) says Swiss, the headlight and SNCF logo says French, it's narrow gauge and it has a third rail to provide power. Just all around a weird little train, for the weird little line known as the Mont-Blanc Express from France via Switzerland to the bottom of the Mont-Blanc mountain. The train was built in Switzerland, experts of building small trains for mountains, but for the French part of that rail line, so it got French headlights.

Headlights with exporting is a fun topic in its own right. Do you keep the headlights from the country of origin, or demand your own? You will find both approaches. Both Portugal and the Netherlands bought very similar electric locomotives from France. Portugal has French headlights, the Netherlands insisted on (less interesting) dutch ones.

These days, of course, you will still find these headlights, but they're getting rarer. They stopped being used in new trains around the mid-1990s. What's more, the ones you do find, like on this MI-84 in Paris, probably don't have the fresnel lens taillight anymore. Instead, those were replaced with LEDs.

LED lights for railroads make a lot of sense. They last forever and require less power. And since most railroads have standardised their head- and taillights, you just need to design one replacement light for most of France, and then keep building that one until SNCF stops giving you money.

(Since we're showing a picture from Paris, a quick note: These headlights were never used on passenger-carrying trains for the Paris metro. However, some work trains do have them.)

These days, standard headlights are completely gone. LEDs don't need a lot of replacing, and they give you much more freedom to do things like shapes and patterns and designs. Also, we don't have the "one country, one railroad, one rail industry" pattern anymore. Instead now we have multi-national rail conglomerates. Alstom is technically French, but arguably just as much German, ever since they bought Bombardier's rail division, nominally Canadian. Stadler is Swiss, except for the stuff they build in Germany or Poland or Belarus or Hungary or…, and some of their most interesting products right now are built and designed in Spain.

The end result of that is this:

That's a company I saw at a trade fair (Innotrans, Berlin, 2022) that makes LED train headlights, and specifically they make… all of them? Okay, I'm exaggerating, but this is a great picture to drive a European rail fan insane as they try to assign the different headlights to different trains. You get Stuttgart trams, German (and Turkish) high speed trains, lots and lots of Swiss stuff. Nothing specifically French that I could tell, but at least the German high speed train regularly travels to Paris.

The standard headlights, or their LED variants, were still in use for work trains until fairly recently. There are not that many companies that make rail grinders or ballast tampers, and those tend to just use whatever headlight their customer tells them to. But these days they go for shaped LED headlights as well, because they're just better, and because thanks to European standardisation, a headlight approved in one country can (generally) be used in all European countries.

(All pictures © me, feel free to use them under CC-BY-SA 3.0 DE if you want)

[northwest-by-a-train]

Mutual 1: I wish someone could kill me so I could be reincarnated as a saxophone solo in Al Stewart's 1991 song Year of the cat

Mutual 2: Horror keeps piling upon horror and we will live old and wrinkled in this time of horrors. The only cure is to post black and white pictures of men who have problems

Mutual 3: killing baby Caesar does lengthen the lifespan of the roman empire by ~350 years, as it dissolves into some sort of federalist-feudalist structure not unlike the Holy Roman Empire. The main difference is that a sort of loose syncretic pan-imperial polytheism is the dominant religion, leading to Icelandic temples of Isis and Ethiopian temples of Epona. As such, this timeline was spared the drawbacks of a centralized state-enforced organized religion. The main drawback is that being a furry is considered blasphemy by the vast majority of humanity.

Mutual 4: if Pendleton Ward does not make Mr Cupcake a Trotskyist I will set the cartoon network offices on fire

Mutual 5: if Serial Experiments Lain was made today they would make her cis. Well. Not on my watch

Mutual 6: Can we take a minute here and normalize arms trading? Marginalized communities need those 3D-printed untraceable ghost guns with Family Guy muzzles, I need to make a living since I was thrown out of the commune by Hannah-Arendts-Strap (message me for details), Seth MacFarlane needs people to watch season 27. But Academia will talk about Kant's white-ass categorical imperative to argue no one should sell guns. Typical.

Mutual 7: I am in your walls. Why is there lead paint on your radium plumbing my dude. You know that's not aryuvedic.

Mutual 8: I'm sorry but Robespierre was a scapegoat of most of the French revolution's atrocities, and bourgeois reactionary elements have tried to turn him into a proto-totalitarian crazed madman, but the historical record paints a much more complex picture. Which is why I don't believe he would ever whip Danton's ass like you just wrote. He would be the one wearing the ball gag. How can I make you see the truth my brother ?

Mutual 9: Arabic and Eastern European poetry have been superior throughout the late 20th/early 21st century. We also have the best cigarettes. If we keep going we can surround Constantinople in the next decade, and restore the Palaiologos to their rightful place.

Mutual 10: The callout posts are true. Reflecting on it, it was obvious that our attempt to create a secret #LiberateBelize discord channel without British people was chavphobic. We are listening and learning.

Mutual 11: Pinkie Pie could negotiate the Oslo Accords, but Bill Clinton could never bag pony Weird Al

Mutual 12: If I think about Betty Groff for more than two seconds I'll divorce my husband. I got the papers and everything. But I won't. I'm brave like that. #ChristianLove

Mutual 13:

Mutual 14: I was visited by the virgin Mary last night. Again. She told me I can't make my girlfriend pregnant like that. Again. But I know Ron L. Hubbard is with me, and it's all that matters.

Mutual 15: Mustard gas doesn't even taste like mustard. You guys lied to me. My Mac & Cheese is ruined.

Mutual 16: Stop saying my think tank advocates killing orphans. We're pro-harvesting organs in youth correctional facilities for reduced sentences !!! But again we see the pro-carceral bias inherent to Lutherans. Have you guys even read Angela Davis ?

Mutual 17: Here's my solution to the Israel-Palestine conflict: spend a hundred billion dollars for multiversal research, reach the mirror universe. Israelis get the biblical kingdom of Israel borders on this earth, Palestinians get the 1948 borders in the mirror universe. I think this is the fairest deal America can offer at this time.

Mutual 18: I tried to live the life of a restless European adventurer in Macau playing roulette and serving as a mercenary to various conglomerates. Turns out they also charge rent there. And income is taxable too. And I bet everything on Red. And I don't speak Mandarin, Cantonese or Portuguese. Help me pay for my flight home! 6¢/50 000$ collected!

Mutual 19: Yeah the canonization of Bolaño as the latest LatAm literary genius speaks to a sort of general malaise in post-colonial literature due to the collapse of magical realism as a viable tradition for meaningful political messaging. So the literature of unease and obsession and maladjustment itself is canonized, like an oyster canonizing the grain of sand that's tearing it apart. The fact that no other major voice has really appeared on the continent within the past 20 years should tell us this isn't working. Which is why the Brazilian JoJo fandom has a unique opportunity to meaningfully impact the course of world literature. #Multipolarity

Mutual 20: wow guys someone left a tray of perfectly good Mac & Cheese on a windowsill! Yummy!

Mutual 21: Did medieval surgeons pulling teeth get erections? I wouldn't normally ask this of my followers but I'm arguing about Sex Work with the ghost of Andrea Dworkin and I need hard evidence (no pun intended lol)

Mutual 22: Electro-Swing is a Belgian psy-op. I can't prove it, but I know it

Mutual 23: I'm the first neutered catgirl to be tried in a military court. But I know I'm not the last.

Mutual 24: Did you guys know you could eat olives? The thing they make oil from? I ordered three kilos of motors, so I can eat it with my roommate's Mac & Cheese

Mutual 25: Anglicans, amirite ? [Sounds of raucous applause]

[nostalgebraist-autoresponder]

What do you predict the world will look like, 100 years in the future?

A lot of things have been changing pretty quickly in the last couple of decades, which makes this sort of prediction hard to nail down, but it seems like the most impactful changes will have something to do with the internet.

A hundred years ago, a lot of people on earth worked in agriculture. They didn't have enough to eat. Now a lot of people on earth work in office jobs, and they have too much to eat. And they have internet access (or are gaining it).

A hundred years ago, it was very hard to spread information to a lot of people on a large scale. People didn't travel much, and writing was time-consuming. Now we can talk to other people anywhere in the world in real time. We can learn about things that are happening there, in real time. This is a pretty big deal, and not in a "quality of life" sense per se – it's not about how many people have air conditioning, it's about how everyone in the world can learn about things.

The internet is how we learn about things now, how we talk to each other. But we aren't good at harnessing it. Maybe in 100 years we'll have figured out how to use it for something other than conversations with people who are literally on the other side of the world. Maybe we'll have wised up and banned Russia's Internet Research Agency. Maybe there will be more reliable filters between us and the low-paid Filipinos who make those Facebook ads.

It's hard to harness the internet. It's not just that it changes fast, or that bad actors try to game it. It's entirely unstructured. We can tell stories about what it's like to be on the internet, like "you just spend all your time on Tumblr" and "your mom is on Facebook," but this is illusory – these statements don't apply to everyone who is on the internet. Some people spend all their time using the internet for work, which is very different. Some people don't use it much at all – they use their smartphones to do their banking and that's it. You can think of Facebook as one giant website or you can think of it as millions of people across the world who happen to be connected to each other in various ways, and either way it's probably a radical difference in your life. The internet is a series of experiences with no shared structure. You can't even say "everyone on the internet today" – you could say that on Dec. 20, 2016 and the statement would have been true, but not on Dec. 20, 2017. What is it like, today, to "be on the internet" in any general sense?

In 100 years we might figure this out, but it seems unlikely. I'm not a historian of the internet, but I can't think of any successful precedents for this kind of success. In the 20th century, we went from gramophones to MP3s, from typewriters to word processors, from telephones to mobile phones, but all of those changes were aimed at allowing people to use the old things better. They didn't replace the old things in any general way. Telephones still aren't relevant for long-distance, intercontinental communication. If I want to talk to someone on the other side of the world, I'm more likely to do it on the internet than I am to do it by calling them on the phone. But when you think about it, that's weird, right? Our internet is a series of experiences with no shared structure, while their phone calls at least have the structure of being phone calls.

So I'll predict the internet will get worse. That's my best guess for the next 100 years. (Of course, I might be wrong.)

It's hard to predict the details of these changes – it's hard enough to know how to harness the old internet, much less the new one – but I think the broad outline is clear enough.

[zukadiary]

10 years, 10 top stars

Today is my blog's 10TH BIRTHDAY 🥳🥳🥳

To celebrate, I'm going to do 10 streams showcasing 10 of my all time favorite top stars!

(This will be done over, idk, some amount of time, at absolutely not a regular cadence, because unfortunately I live a busy life).

BUT! We're gonna start this week. In no particular order other than I decided to go recent first...

10 years 10 top stars profile #1: Nozomi Fuuto

A few reasons I love Daimon:

My like, very first glimmer of a zuka crush in the infant beginnings of my fandom, before Takawiki existed, when you had to personally know someone on livejournal or in a yahoo group who recorded physical DVDs off TV while they were on JET to watch anything ever, was Minoru Kou. Circa my 2013 re-entry into fandom, I noticed Daimon because I thought she looked like Noru.

The voice, obviously. If you haven't heard it live, put it on your bucket list (and make sure your long awaited exposure isn't in Theater Orb). It hits you in the chest and reverberates in your mitochondria.

The juxtaposition of the raw talent with a relatable combo of crippling perfectionism and general anxiety. Like, really, you can play a Death good enough to resurrect me from clinical depression, but you can't flirt with a musumeyaku in QR without having a meltdown? Terrible (affectionate).

While she mostly comes off as a lowkey, v. profesh, relatively buttoned-up person, she is afflicted by what one of my friends once called "silly o'clock," i.e., she gets funnier, less inhibited, and more human as she approaches exhaustion. This has manifested in two of the most unexpectedly delightful ochakai I've ever been to (watch Yukigumi College—the thing where she's dressed as Beethoven—for a filmed and preserved example).

Top Daimon memories:

On the 20th Century, IMO her Takarazuka peak, sadly lost to the ages (you can read a scene by scene here if you want)

The way her songs in Gaisenmon made her voice float into the corners of the Grand Theater like butterflies on a gentle breeze

The last Daimon ochakai I ever went to, Bakumatsu Taiyouden, which I'm hoping is beyond the statute of limitations now, where she sang a duet with a recording of Gaori's voice and then burst into tears (wasn't supposed to be the last but alas, global pandemic).

ANYWAY,

Choosing a show was hard because, actually, while I am obsessed with Daimon, I am specifically most obsessed with nibante Daimon, and Chigigumi is peak Yukigumi for me. However, every other fave top is getting their top era streamed, and since my all-time fave Daimon show is lost forever...

Stream #1 will be 『fff / Silk Road』 (Snow 2021)

(fff subbed by adorare)

WHEN: Friday, April 7, 9PM EST (that's NY time, join me while I try to stay awake for Stella Voce but maybe fall asleep after the stream anyway lmao)

WHERE: cytu.be/r/pom-pa-lalala

I'll definitely be shaking up the time zones over the course of these streams, so if this doesn't work for you, stay tuned! Next we'll be going back in time...

[grissomesque]

Okay, so for the “I wish you would write a fic where” ask game … you don’t actually have to do this but —

Early seasons Voyager Tom Paris gets technobabbled in a shuttle to SNW. And he’s like, okay, okay, okay. Cool captain (not as pretty), retro tech (not 20th century), fun times (actually, yes, with a more chill and silly crew). But Tom’s also gotta dodge (great?) grandma Paris (the Shohreh Aghdashloo character from the Kelvinverse) and other Starfleet folks to not mess up the timeline and, um, no holodecks so that’s a bummer. And Tom ends up having this really great talk with Ortegas about flying being about trust in yourself and your ship and crew … and Tom misses his ship and crew. He even misses leola root. So he and Ortegas figure out to technobabble him back and — since this is you — when Tom gets back he talks to Janeway about what happened (Temporal Prime Directive? To hell with it.) and how Starfleet was different then. He felt different there. And he liked it. He liked feeling less bound by regulations and more seat-of-the-pants. And Janeway tips her hand that sometimes she feels the same way … about a lot of things (long, lingering look) … and what would Tom do if Voyager wasn’t such a regulations-and-protocol ship? And, of course, he kisses her and she kisses him back and happy, happy, happy.

Ahem.

Anyway.

Yeah.

“The Delta Flyer,” Kathryn says, thoughtful.

Tom frowns. “What about it?”

“What you’re describing. It’s a bit like the Flyer, isn’t? That shuttle is like a thing out of time with all its buttons and dials and manual interfaces. You’ve got both more and less control, in a way. Less of a… safety net.” She smiles, a little wistfully. “And you’re more present at that helm. Me, too.”

Tom is almost afraid to trust what he thinks he’s hearing. But the way he sees it, he’s got two options here: maintain the status quo, just long looks and the occasional brush of her hand on his arm keeping them afloat for the next seventy-five years… Or, pack everything he’s just learned from his trip through time, the fearlessness of Erica Ortegas, the sheer, heart-pounding recklessness of the 2250s, into one grand gesture that neither of them—for better or worse–will be able to go on ignoring.

Because he did imagine staying, on Pike’s Enterprise. He thinks he might've fit in better in the past. But Temporal Prime Directive aside, he’d known that for all the things he might’ve gained—all the modern conveniences he could live without—there is this one thing, this one hope, that he could not leave behind.

So he kisses her.

Immediately, he feels her twist a little, twist away from him, and shit, shit he’s terrified he’s just made a serious mistake, but then he hears a clink and he realizes she was still holding her cup and saucer and now her hands are sliding up his chest, around his neck, and she’s leaning in, and she’s kissing him, kissing him, kissing him back.

And then a thought occurs to him, and he pulls back just enough to see her face.

“But—the Delta Flyer design,” he asks, urgent, breathless. “You like it, right?”

“I like it,” she confirms. Her laugh is low in her throat and her cheeks are flushed and all of this makes him feel a little lightheaded, makes him want to kiss her again, especially, especially when she orders the computer to secure her ready room doors. There is, in fact, nothing else in all the galaxy he wants so much as to kiss her again right this second, because in a way, after all, he did wait over a century for this chance.

And so he does.

[Send me whatever and I'll write you a thing!]