#then they should start from scratch and make the first season(s) based of the four books

[monarcksewrrat]

If miraculous got cancelled or ended seasons ago, I hope that Zagtoons will bring their cancelled projects back to life, ESPECIALLY ARTHUR AND THE BOOK OF LIFE

[digitaldreams0801]

How the Production Problems of Digimon Adventure Tri Directly Parallel the Issues of Ace Attorney Dual Destinies

i lied. put your clothes back on. we're talking about why digimon adventure tri is the worst thing to happen to the digimon franchise (and how its problems directly parallel ace attorney dual destinies and spirit of justice)

this is a very long rant i typed in a discord server first but it’s something i’ve been thinking for years and i finally put it into words. everybody clap and cheer. (contains very negative opinions toward tri and lukewarm takes on adventure 2020 and ghost game, proceed at your own peril)

let’s talk about digimon tri and ace attorney dual destinies

so first and foremost, what exactly *is* digimon adventure tri?? digimon tri is the seventh-ish season of the digimon anime that released from 2015-2018. despite running for over three years, this show has twenty-six episodes that were split up into six movies and then divided into twenty-six episodes again. that alone should tell you how much of a struggle the production was, but when i tell you this anime might have had the most troubled development of any anime i have ever seen, i fucking MEAN IT. digimon tri is a disaster. 

so to start, it's time for a history lesson. digimon adventure aired for around a year in 1999-2000. it was going to be a standalone anime, but it was extended into a second season known as digimon adventure zero two (the zero two standing for 2002, the year the series takes place in). the second season follows the youngest of the first season cast forming a new team of six for adventures in the digital world. the original digimon adventure was universally beloved as one of the best anime of the 90's and early 2000's, but zero two was received a bit less well. it was a bit of a divisive season with some people really loving it and others not so much. personally i adore zero two and think people's adventure nostalgia keeps them from acknowledging how good zero two is. but that's beside the point. after zero two, the team behind digimon decided to start from scratch and make an entirely new cast of characters going forward, so the series began to follow that pattern going forward, and no season after this save for adventure follow-ups have characters shared with another season

digimon tamers was the next season and it started airing in 2001. the first thing people noticed about tamers is that it is a MASSIVE departure in tone from adventure and zero two. the first two seasons were already surprisingly dark for kids' shows, but tamers in my eyes just. flat out is not for children. this is a horror anime they put under the digimon name. it's very beloved by the fan base now and is known as one of the best seasons of digimon but at the time it was known for scaring kids and generally being terrifying. so the series is starting its decline going into 2002

so to fix this, the next season is the black sheep of the franchise: digimon frontier. i could write an entire paper about the problems in digimon frontier but to put it simply this is the digimon season i have rewritten in excruciating detail. digimon frontier tried something radically different at the time and tried to capture the child audience once again by being a lot more episodic than the last three seasons. in the end frontier struggled a lot with maintaining a consistent quality and fluctuates massively from being amazing to being really bad. frontier being so radically different by taking away partner digimon and instead having the main cast turn into digimon was a massive turn off for a lot of people, and after frontier ended, the digimon anime ended, and the so-called "golden era" of digimon came to a close with the last episode of frontier airing in 2003

after a few years' hiatus, the next digimon season, savers, aired in 2006, and it was very clearly targeting a teen audience. it was also radically different from most other seasons and was most in line with tamers, though even that isn't really a perfect comparison. it has a radically different art style, departs from series tradition by making the characters mid to late teens instead of in the 10-13 range, and is very intense in very strange ways. like the main character just punches digimon. savers was a very strange anime and definitely a second wind but not quite the one the franchise needed to keep going, so the anime went back on hiatus after savers ended in 2007

after another few years, we got digimon xros wars, the longest season of digimon. i say season?? it's one season of 79 episodes split up into three parts. xros wars was a return to form with tween main characters and an overarching story that was nowhere near as intense as tamers or savers. xros wars was radically different because it involved fusing digimon instead of straight evolution, and out of all the digimon seasons, it feels the most like the one made to sell toys. this season was picked up by nickelodeon internationally if that's any indication of how much of a success they thought it was going to be. in practice though?? the third and final part of xros wars went out on a whimper and was so bad it didn't even air internationally. digimon was just falling out of favor with people, and an anime that had once been so good that it was competing with and even *beating* pokemon in ratings and views was now having a hard time getting a season off the ground in japan, much less internationally

and that is where digimon tri comes in. digimon tri was an attempt to recapture the golden era of digimon with its most popular and universally beloved season: the original digimon adventure from 1999. tri was announced as a fifteenth anniversary project, and it would bring back the adventure cast for the first time in fifteen years. this was the first red flag though: it was bringing back the *adventure* cast, not the zero two cast. there are four new characters who join the party in zero two, and they are all very significant. there are two characters who carry over from adventure to zero two, and to be quite honest with you, they are closer with the zero two cast than the adventure cast. like takeru has a much stronger connection with the zero two cast than he did with the adventure cast. but all four characters from zero two were suspiciously absent from all promotional material, and even as fans asked where they were, their questions were never answered. they were just *gone,* and nobody knew why. this is especially bizarre since zero two is very much an extension of adventure. like you can watch adventure alone but it is much stronger with zero two and zero two is the definitive ending of the story. so why the fuck were they ignoring the ending they had set to to their own story??

sighs loudly. the director. i hate this man. i have beef with him. his name is keitaro motonaga, and in cloud's words, he should sleep with one eye open because i am coming for him. so motonaga did this super cool thing called "directing tri without ever watching the source material." ...what? yes, you read that right: the director of tri had *never seen* the original adventure nor zero two. he was going off what i can only describe as a spark notes description of everything that happened. the original adventure was very heavily focused on the subversion of common anime tropes. the ditzy popular girl is the most emotionally genuine. the oldest is the most irresponsible, and the youngest is the most put together. even the two "rivals" aren't *really* rivals when it comes down to it. digimon adventure takes a lot of anime tropes and stereotypes and flips them on their head to make very deep and compelling characters. so when you're operating on a spark notes understanding of the story, you're going to fall back on those tropes, and that is *exactly* what the director did. rather than watch the source material and become acquainted with these characters and their relationships, he operated off stereotypes the characters were made to subvert and completely butchered them in the process. taichi and yamato were always at each other's throats when they were genuinely friends in adventure. mimi became overly mean and insensitive. jyou stepped *back* from a character beat in adventure in a major way that ruined him. in trying to play to nostalgia, digimon tri completely forgot what made all of these characters so great in the first place and then spat on it

i know you're wondering: why the *fuck* did the director not watch the source material? he thought it would "dampen" and "ruin" his creative vision. he shouldn't have even been adapting a media he knew nothing about, but there he was, and it was bad. since he only got the spark notes for adventure, he ignored zero two entirely and cut the characters out of the plot. in fact, various things meant to invoke zero two nostalgia were done solely for the sake of "rule of cool" and nostalgia instead of actually meaning anything. none of it made any fucking sense. there were others on the project who had other ideas of what the story could have been--ideas that actually made sense in line with the spirit of adventure and zero two--but they were shot down in the name of the creative vision of a man who had never seen nor engaged with the source material. keitaro motonaga went on to get a massive reputation in the anime scene after tri ended for doing this with multiple adaptation projects of his: ignoring the source material for the sake of a creative vision that made no sense. it was overall fucking atrocious 

and you can tell it was bad because in japan, they generally don't let the audience know when production is going bad on the back end of something. however with tri, it was bad enough to be addressed multiple times in many ways, and i'm sure that what we know is only the tip of the iceberg. it was a disaster from start to finish. i know a lot of people joke about production disasters but sincerely this was fucking atrocious and i hate it from the bottom of my heart

while tri was airing, it was being released internationally. it actually got international support unlike the traditional season airing at the same time: appmon. out of the two, appmon is *much* better, and it's a return to form for the franchise. i would argue that appmon is much more deserving of the golden era than frontier. appmon is amazing, but because it always had to compete with tri for attention, it never truly got off the ground in japan, much less internationally where it didn't even get official subs until YEARS after the fact. appmon was much more deserving of the spotlight and was actually written well but didn't get jack shit because tri was the adventure thing and therefore drew in people for nostalgia. hindsight is 20/20 though because if they had marketed appmon, maybe toei wouldn't have to bitch all the time about digimon not going well. this is your own damn fault you dipshits

tri has been panned by both japanese and western fans for a lot of reasons. it's heartless slop meant to prey on a person's nostalgia for adventure, and it has none of the heart of its predecessors. it's clumsily written and overall a poor exploration of what an older cast for adventure would get up to. the plot doesn't make sense, and it's a train wreck from beginning to end. the director wanted it to be "mature," so the season is unnecessarily dark and edgy much to its detriment. the creative vision of "maturity" and darkness completely ignored the fact that the original adventure and zero two *were* mature anime with very deep character development. they're classics for a damn reason, but they were pushed aside for the sake of being more "mature." fans panned tri for feeling insulting to their intelligence, like toei thought they would eat up anything as long as it had the digimon name attached to it

and it backfired like all hell. because nobody wanted *anything* to do with tri after it ended. when it ended, it was without any ceremony to speak of. it was 26 episodes split into six movies and then back into 26 episodes again, and it took over three years to release. it had more than double the release time window of appmon, and it had *half* the episodes of appmon. it's not like the tri was an animated spectacle or anything either. in movie four, the budget goes off a fucking cliff and never recovers. appmon may have had shaky animation at times, but it hit it out of the park where it count. tri has a color grading problem in its last two movies, and it's impossible to make out anything that happens in the finale because of it. things happen without reason, the characters have been obliterated completely, and the story makes no fucking sense. everyone was RELIEVED when tri ended, but it was such a massive failure that the digimon anime went on hiatus for ages after it ended, and for a while, everyone thought it would never come back

and when it did?? toei was trying to recoup the losses from tri the best it could. tri was purged from almost all digimon media, relegated to background cameos in future digimon media at most. nobody wanted to talk about tri to the point that when a sequel movie set after tri (last evolution kizuna) was released in 2020, tri was completely ignored. kizuna focuses on the zero two cast to overcompensate for the fact that they were completely absent from tri. the zero two cast even got a new movie last year (the beginning) all their own to try and make it up to fans that they were gone. the adventure timeline has continued, but tri has been entirely excluded from it aside from a few brief snapshots in the background of kizuna and the beginning. nobody wants to remember this anime existed despite it being a part of the main anime's timeline between zero two and kizuna. it hasn't been outright retconned but it might as well have been

after tri, toei decided to play it safe again. they went for an adventure reboot as the next season, and thus, digimon adventure psi (or adventure: or adventure 2020, it has a million names) was born. adventure 2020 is just,,, mediocre. it's a lot more focused on the spectacle of big fight scenes now that the digimon anime has a budget to speak of, and the character growth took a backseat. adventure 2020 took a long time to get dubbed though. like over two years. and it's still very inaccessible to this day because it's not available on any streaming service but instead (reads smudged writing on hand) available on the play station store where you can buy every individual episode out of 67. adventure 2020 is the second longest season of the anime after xros wars but it's still kind of a nothing burger because it fails to capture the emotional heart of adventure 1999. it's a fine enough season but a lot of people lost interest when it turned into just a fight compilation instead of developing any of its characters in a meaningful way

adventure 2020 also saw the continuation of a big problem with tri which was favoritism. since both adventrue 2020 and tri were meant to be franchise revivals in their own ways, they play it very safe and focus on taichi and yamato almost exclusively to the point of ignoring many of the other characters. the problem is at its worst in adventure 2020 in my eyes even though it is present in every season to some extent or another save for tamers and appmon. since adventure 2020 focused on two characters and their fighting capabilities while kind of shelving the other six, it fell into the pitfalls of past seasons (especially frontier and xros wars) and kind of ended without anyone really caring about it

after adventure 2020, the final season of the digimon anime was ghost game. this one is the most episodic digimon season of the bunch to try and appeal to a casual audience, and i think it does that very well! unfortunately it doesn't really develop its overarching plot at a good pace and crams everything together into the last five episodes after having a run time of over fifty episodes before that. ghost game is fine, but it's not a character driven season because of its heavy reliance on the monster of the week structure. the characters were always the draw of digimon, and each season has its own method of going about developing its characters. ghost game,,, doesn't do that! so it's just kind of there, and it once again ended without a grand finale and no one really cared much that it was over

so in conclusion, digimon tri was meant to be the revival of the digimon anime. in practice though, it had a very troubled production and didn't give a damn at all about the suorce material it was meant to follow, and it fell flatter than any other digimon season in the process. tri soured a lot of people's opinions on digimon, which is ironic since tri was supposed to bring back the audience that was lost all the way back when zero two aired in 2000. the digimon anime has not recovered since then, and i think outright ignoring tri in favor of new projects is the best way to go

now for how this ties in with ace attorney dual destinies and spirit of justice! i feel like you can figure out where the parallels are just by reading through everything i've already said, but i'm going into it anyway. ace attorney's popularity started to fall off after the original trilogy ended, and after a few experimental entries (aa4 and the aai games), it was decided that they needed something to bring the old audience back. that wound up being bringing phoenix back into the courtroom for dual destinies. however, dual destinies tries to act as an entry point, so while it's not the same as deliberately ignoring everything that came before it, it has the same effect. dual destinies does not let itself reference anything that happened before it released, and that means it's relying on nostalgia without actually digging into what implications the story will have on the greater narrative. the no-spoiler rule ends up very similar to the tri director's refusal to watch the original digimon adventure and zero two. on top of that, dual destinies tries to tackle darker, more mature themes, completely forgetting the maturity of the storytelling that came before it. frustratingly enough, both dual destinies and tri have nuggets of gold in them, but they're squandered by bad plot points and also reusal of old plots. tri's entire premise is actually just the basis of the first movie for zero two. it's just hurricane landing again but stretched out for closer to ten hours instead of just one. similarly, dual destinies' finale follows a very similar premise to the end of the first game, but it reenacts it without understanding what made the original great. it *could* have been great though, and that is ultimately what frustrates me so much about both of them. they're so close to being amazing, but they just fall short

the difference between ace attorney and digimon though is that digimon did not double down. after tri didn't work, they yanked the wheel in the opposite direction and made kizuna, a movie that *is* narratively cohesive with adventure and zero two. i'm not a huge fan of kizuna but i do acknowledge that it is very well written. ace attorney, on the other hand, doubled the fuck down and made spirit of justice in the same vein as dual destinies. in doing so, they wrote themselves into a corner they now can't get out of. pandering to nostalgia fell short in the end, and it wasn't enough to truly bring ace attorney to a wider audience as they had hoped. apollo is out of the plot, and he was character assassinated before he was pushed out. athena has been sidelined because of nostalgia around phoenix specifically. spirit of justice is the epitome of the bad decisions made in dual destinies, and they're blowing up in capcom's faces now. there's no easy way to write a seventh ace attorney game now without retconning something, but since they doubled down in spirit of justice--a game that is much worse than dual destinies both in terms of bloat (which is also a tri problem lol) and writing--they can't just quietly escape it the way digimon did with kizuna and the beginning. ace attorney hasn't come out with a new mainline game in eight years. if you ask me, it needs to cut its losses and either a) go the appmon route of making something entirely different since dgs did that and was an amazing game just like appmon was an amazing anime or b) figure out what to retcon and what to keep because going down the same path of spirit of justice very clearly is not working. they realized it too late though, and now, they're in trouble for it

[walker-extended-universe]

2023 Walkerverse Fanfic Awards

I'm so happy to do this. There are so many great fics out there (besides the ones I write ;)) and I hardly ever have the chance to do reclists. So here are my submissions for @theladywyn's fanfic awards!

Putting my answers under the cut because this is a long one.

+Favorite Author(s)

@theladywyn (<3)

+Favorite Character Centric Fic

and my love is yours but your love is not mine by @theladywyn

Summary: He's dreamed of this day- of Sadie in a white dress, walking down the aisle, surrounded by all their famiy and friends.

She's always walking to him in those dreams.

Reality's a little crueler.

I should sue you for the emotional damage this fic dealt out but I love the ending and I'm hoping for an epilogue of their actual wedding day &lt;3

+Favorite Angst Fic

your whole heart's a village, everyone you love has built it by @theladywyn

Summary: "how do you know my name?" That is probably not top priority, but a strange woman helping her and Walker out of the car and then knowing her name has to be pretty high on the priority list. Au for paranormal/supernatural elements.

GHOST EMILY!!!!!!

+Favorite AU (completely new setting) fic

Mighty Fine Shootin by @theladywyn

Summary: He doesn't get a chance to finish his question, because the girl uncrosses her arms and fires her tiny silver pistol at him. He dives out of the way and the bullet barely misses him. He pulls his gun out, although he does;t have any intention of actually shooting her. She's a child.

Wild West AU. Sadie shoots at Cordell. What more can I say?

+Favorite AU (divergence from canon event) fic

Made to be Broken by sakuranomi88

Summary: An AU stemming from the first few episodes of Season 3. Liam was sexually assaulted while in captivity, and when he finally tells his brother what happened, Cordell decides to take matters into his own hands. Together, he and Liam find closure through vengeance against the man who left Liam broken and traumatized.

I do have to give a warning for Walkercest but even beyond that, I love how Cordell takes justice into his own hands here for the sake of his brother. He wants to help Liam and this is the only way he really knows how. Even if Walkercest isn't your thing, I would recommend this fic based purely on the brotherly love.

+Favorite Completed Multi-Chapter/Multi-Part Fic

there's a white flag waiting just to find out what we're made of by @theladywyn

Summary: Things go very wrong at the medal ceremony for Cassie and August. 3x14 AU.

This whole two-parter event lives in my mind rent free and it's one of those that makes me wish Walker would take things down a darker path. This fic scratches that itch so hard.

+Favorite Episode Tag/Missing Scene Fic

Lessons in Failure by @theladywyn

Summary: Liam hesitates on the porch of his brother's house. This might be a bad idea. Interfering in his brother's parenting- specifically as it related to Stella's and Cordi's relationship, which has obviously just taken a turn for the worse- is the sort of thing that gets him punched. Tag to 3x06

I have so many feelings about this episode and this plotline in particular and I love Liam's perspective on all this.

+Favorite Sick!Fic

Got Your Back Partner by @peachparakeet

Summary: Her decision was made—not only was he staying home, he was going to have company too. “Alright. You sit tight. I’m gonna call James and tell him to mark us down for vacation for today.” As his mind finally caught up with him, Cordell realized what Cassie said about taking a vacation day. “Wait, us?”

Just a short and sweet story about Cassie taking care of her sick partner. Perfection &lt;3

+Favorite Hurt/Comfort Fic

when your floorboards start to rot, pray there are not bodies underneath by @theladywyn

Summary: His fist connects with real solid flesh and there's a familiar surprised cry. Cassie.

I wish the show got more into the realities of Cordell's trauma and how it might manifest. This fic is perfect for that.

+Favorite Whump Fic

The Voice in my Head by @peachparakeet

Summary: Sometimes silence can be deafening, especially when it's your own thoughts making the noise.

You know those fics that you find and you start reading and you can't make yourself stop reading even though it's 3am? Yeah, this is that fic. Supremely whumpy, delightfully angsty, and the whole Walker gang is here! There's nothing not to love about it. Please read and give it love &lt;3

+Favorite Angst Fic

For Every Light by sakuranomi88

Summary: Cordell's life unexpectedly and drastically changes when he's given full custody of his newborn baby girl. Liam loves his niece like she's his own daughter and is happy to help care for her when Cordell is busy working. But when lines are blurred and crossed, Cordell asks his brother to back off, which sets off an unforgettable sequence of events that leaves the entire Walker family reeling.

I honestly just love how this fic addresses the co-parenting dynamic between Cordell and Liam that's prevalent in the show. It's deliciously angsty without having an antagonist per se and I love that.

+Favorite Ship Fic

Day One by @theladywyn

Summary: Day one, Trey thinks. Fifty-five to go.

I'm not the biggest Cassie/Trey fan but I love fics like this. Trey dealing with his own insecurities and emotions around Cassie leaving and Cassie dealing with her own crap.... It's lovely.

+Favorite Friendship/Platonic Dynamic Fic

The One Where (Part Nine) by AGJ1990

Summary: Another few Liam/Lulu snippets. Minor spoilers for the Walker season three finale.

This one is a little bit of a cheat as it's not the individual fic I love so much as the whole multi-part series. Giving Liam a father role is something I've played with myself but never committed to writing and I love the take this author has on the concept. I just love Lulu a lot too.

+Fic You Can't Stop Thinking About

Outsourced by hellhoundsprey

Summary: After Dan’s partnership with Serano comes to light, Denise’s and Dan’s marriage finds itself on the brink of ruin. With barely one leg to stand on, Dan has not much choice but to accept his wife’s terms on what she reckons might help relieve some of the tension. (Set between 2x10 and 2x11.)

This fic scratched an itch I didn't even know I had and I come back to reread it often just because it's so good. The dynamics here are so interesting and not something I would've thought I'd like but I love every second of it.

+Favorite Crossover Fic

Indeliable by 36and40

Summary: There's something that intrigues Walker about the man who works in the sandwich shop with the mohawk, piercings, tattoos, and the intense green eyes outlined in black. They couldn't be more different. It could never work between someone as irreverent as Priestly and a Lone Star born and bred Texas Ranger. Could it?

A story about overcoming fear, living authentically, coming out and coming home. And sex. Lots and lots of sex.

This fic is a crossover between Walker and Ten Inch Hero and it's one of my favorite crossover fics written in general and probably one of my favorite Walker fics.

This fic is a major AU that's largely removed from the show aside from the main character and a few others (Cordell even has a different brother) but I love every bit of it.

+Funniest Fic

The One with the Wedding Dresses by @theladywyn

Summary: "Well, I feel out of place." Cordell shuffles his boots on the fluffy pink rug at his feet and worries the brim of his hat in his hands.

"You feel out of place?" hisses Cassie under her breath. "You get the easy part."

What more can I say except that this is a hilarious concept and I loved every word of it?

[ghostoftonantzin]

Books I have read this year, 2023, roughly in order

I enjoyed doing this last year, so I thought I would do another little write-up of the books I read this year and what I thought.

I've read 52 books this year, hitting a goal I hadn't thought to set. That includes a few graphic novels, but not the audiobooks, which I listened to 15 of this year (I spent a lot of time driving). Same as last year, I've annotated the audiobooks with an asterisk.

I also started listening to Backlisted this year, which significantly influenced my reading choices.

Under a cut, because it got long

Swedish Cults, Anders Fager (1/2) - I saw this was originally published in 2009, and I feel like the first story in this collection somehow really echoes that time. Which is probably a strange thing to say about a horror story.

When Washington was in Vogue, Edward Christopher Williams (1/13) - very sweet, very interesting look at a time and a place I didn't know much about.

The Cement Garden, Ian McEwan (1/19) - I expected to enjoy this a lot more than I did, based on how it's often described as a great "fucked up" book. I think the teenage boy POV just didn't do much for me.

Cold Comfort Farm, Stella Gibbons (1/20) - a reread, for the first time since probably 2014 or so. I enjoyed it (and understood it) a lot better this time around. I got to the back half and couldn't put it down, which is a strange thing to say about a parody of the rural novels of the 1930s.

Nona the Ninth, Tamsyn Muir (2/12) - finally got this from the library. I didn't enjoy it as much as the first two books in the series

Fun Home, Alison Bechdel (2/24) - a reread. The final page always destroys me.

Cassandra at the Wedding, Dorothy Baker (2/25) - Very literary. I think I enjoyed it, though I can't muster up the energy to form a stronger opinion. The scene where Cassandra pulls out the bridesmaid dress she bought was memorable, though.

Are You My Mother?, Alison Bechdel (2/28) - a reread. Scratches the same itch as Fun Home, but doesn't tie the family narrative into the theoretical themes as cohesively.

Surviving the Applewhites, Stephanie S. Tolan (3/12) - another reread, to see if it was as good as I remembered from fourth grade. It held up for the most part.

The Secret to Superhuman Strength, Alison Bechdel (3/13) - finally, not a reread. Fun, erudite, perhaps not as tight as Fun Home, but another excellent Bechdel.

Ravishment, Amanda Quick (3/24) - sometimes you have to read an entire romance novel in an evening. This was fun, though its plot and that of "Mistress" (see below) blur into one another.

Season of Migration to the North, Tayib Saleh (4/7) - I think I would have enjoyed this book more if I had read it in a class where I could discuss it and learn more about the historical context behind it.

The Bloater, Rosemary Tonks (4/9) - of Backlisted fame. I should reread again, more slowly, to get a better taste for Tonk's use of language.

Mistress, Amanda Quick (4/15) - also a fun quick read, though I can't remember much of the plot.

Excellent Women*, Barbara Pym (4/25) - yet another attempt to get into audiobooks, and it semi-worked this time. Mildred sets a high bar for other Pym protagonists to follow, and I thought Pym created an excellent portrait of post-war life for unmarried women and the minor indignities and intimacies that accompany it. Also ridiculously funny, at least to me.

Clouds of Witness*, Dorothy L. Sayers (5/12) - I wanted to read Gaudy Night, but I figured I should read at least a few Peter Wimsey mysteries that came before it. I think my favorite character was Lord Wimsey's mother.

Star, Yukio Mishima (5/16) - an interesting portrait of a disaffected youth and of fame in Japan at the time it was written.

Strong Poison*, Dorothy L. Sayers (5/16) - the first Wimsey mystery to feature Harriet Vane, and my first encounter with Lord Peter's office of overlooked older secretaries, who provides the enjoyable detour of Miss Murchison making an important breakthrough in the case. Not bad, though not super memorable.

Have His Carcase, Dorothy L. Sayers (5/17) - the only Wimsey mystery I read instead of listened to, because neither library app had the audiobook. This one was too reliant on keeping timetables straight for my taste, but I still read it in a day.

Beyond Black, Hilary Mantel (5/22) - possibly the best book I read this year. Bleak, bleak, bleak, and wonderful for it. Yet one of the most cathartic happy endings I've ever read.

Thus was Adonis Murdered, Sarah Caudwell (5/28) - caught my sense of humor by the second or third page. Hilariously dry mystery, and understandable even if you don't know legal jargon.

The Feast, Margaret Kennedy (5/31) - this book is not even remotely a thriller, is in fact sort of an elaborate morality play, and yet I couldn't put it down. The conceit- that a cliff collapses onto a hotel and everyone inside dies, but not all the hotel guests were inside- keeps you guessing at whose sins are bad enough to merit a karmic death.

Starlight, Stella Gibbons (6/4) - a lot grimmer than I expected, and almost ahead of its time in terms of the (I'm going to say) pointlessness of its ending, in a "people come into the main character's lives, stuff happens, but the main two old ladies aren't actually affected" way. Not a book you would expect to find demonic possession in, but it's there and it's played straight!

The Shortest Way to Hades, Sarah Caudwell (6/6) - I find it interesting that all of these mysteries center around details of things like inheritance law and yet all feature murder as the main crime, and also that (spoilers) the villain is disposed of in a manner that does not require the main cast to get involved with the police.

The Sirens Sang of Murder, Sarah Caudwell (6/9) - by the second volume in this series I kept trying to guess who the murderer, and I was never ever able to do it. Not that I've ever been good at that part of mystery novels, but I do appreciate Caudwell keeping me on my toes.

Gaudy Night*, Dorothy L. Sayers (6/11) - finally, the book I read three prior mysteries for. I found this one fascinatingly slow for a mystery and much more focused on the life of women in academia in that era than I had expected. I particularly enjoyed the character of Miss de Vine, who at first seems like the classic absent-minded professor, only to reveal herself to be much wiser in ways of the heart than she appears.

The Black Maybe, Attila Veres (6/19) - short horror story collection, translated from Hungarian. Not bad, but none of the stories were super memorable.

Lessons in Chemistry, Bonnie Garmus (6/22) - I did not enjoy this and probably would not have finished it if my mom hadn't highly recommended it. The characters felt flat and the plot struggled to build enough tension for the emotional beats to hit. I also feel like the four-year-old character did not act anything like a four-year-old, though I'll admit I don't know a lot of four-year-olds.

Hackenfeller’s Ape, Brigid Brophy (6/26) - I would say this book wasn't that exciting, very dry and academic for its bizarre plot, but one detail near the end (which I won't spoil) knocked me sideways and tbh probably made the book for me.

Less Than Angels*, Barbara Pym (6/27) - I had to go back and add this while writing these reviews because I'd completely forgotten to list it at the time. Not as good as Excellent Women, though I also had to adjust to the multiple perspectives as opposed to just one.

Comemadre, Roque Larraquy (7/2) - a reread. Still one of the strangest books I've ever read. Highly recommend.

The Sky is Blue, With a Single Cloud, Kuniko Tsurita (7/3) - I'd had this collection of manga one-shots for about a year, and decided to finally read it when hanging out at the library when the water was out at my apartment. It's very interesting to see her style develop and to learn more about the alternative manga industry.

Mrs. Caliban, Rachel Ingalls (7/4) - I had been vaguely meaning to read this for a while, then found it on Hoopla. Looking back on it, it rivals In a Lonely Place (the Dorothy Hughes one) with regards to drawing California in the mind's eye, though the mood of their particular Californias are very different.

Black Wings Has My Angel, Elliott Chaze (7/8) - the tension at the end of this book is like pulling teeth, it's incredible.

Scruples, Judith Krantz (7/24) - absolutely frothy and frequently ridiculous, but also fun. Their are main characters named Spider and Valentine, and it's taken completely seriously. It's actually a really interesting look at the values and beliefs of the 1980's as reflected through pop culture.

Days in the Caucasus, Banine (7/28) - I was more interested in the sequel to this memoir, Parisian Days, but figured I should read this volume, about the author's childhood in Azerbaijan in the years leading up to its incorporation into the Soviet Union. It provided a really interesting perspective of the Soviet Union from a resident of one of its subject states.

Frederica, Georgette Heyer (8/6) - my first Heyer. I'm impressed by her ability to write annoying younger siblings and walk the line between "overly cute" and "overly aggravating".

In the Miso Soup, Ryu Murakami (8/17) - good, though not my favorite of the year by far. The violence depicted did manage to turn my stomach a bit.

My Man Jeeves*, P.G. Wodehouse (8/20) - I've realized that I need to listen to audiobooks that are fun if I'm going to survive long drives, so I turned to the Jeeves series (I only listened to the Jeeves stories in this one). An interesting introduction to the character, especially since it starts in America instead of the England of the more well-known tales.

Love in the New Millennium, Can Xue (8/29) - I'm not sure if this book is meant to be very surreal, if I'm missing cultural context, or both, but I will say it does serve me well to be a little befuddled by books sometimes. This book has a strange, flowing sense of perspective, where it moves between perspectives and the stories of its characters, only slowly unveiling where it's emotional weight lies. Very interesting.

The Inimitable Jeeves*, P.G. Wodehouse (9/1) - second collection of Jeeves & Wooster stories. Good, though Bingo isn't my favorite side character.

Flesh, Brigid Brophy (9/1) - the beginning chapters are incredibly sensual in a way I can't describe, but after that it inspired an incredible feeling of dread that something would go terribly wrong. Despite the fact that this is a satire of young adults in 1960s London, I could feel emotional catastrophe creeping around every corner. I don't think this was Brophy's intention.

Ice*, Anna Kavan (9/8) - somehow not anything like I had osmosed it being. The narrative flows between reality and fantasy so fluidly that it's incredibly easy to wonder if you spaced out and missed something important while listening to it. The plot is also fascinatingly simple and surprisingly free of actual conflict: despite impediments, the hero ("hero") rarely actually encounters any opposition that seems like it could truly keep him from his goal. This adds to the feeling that everything occurring in the book is barely-veiled symbolism.

The Glass Pearls, Emeric Pressburger (9/13) - the tension in this might have honestly been too much for me. Good, but I don't know if I can read it again.

The English Understand Wool, Helen DeWitt (9/16) - sometimes you read a book and recognize that it's very good, while also being annoyed that what it is is different from what you want it to be. I understood it worked as a morality tale, but I found it limiting and frustrating. I will also indulge in a bit of cattiness here and say that for a book about luxury and high-quality goods, the book design chosen by New Directions for this series feels like a cheap set of children's books. (I read this on an online checkout from the library, so I only saw the book itself in a bookstore.)

Right Ho, Jeeves*, P.G. Wodehouse (9/18) - The fact that Jeeves and Bertie were on the outs for this one did stress me out, I will admit.

In a Lonely Place, Karl Edward Wagner (9/22) - the stories pick up in quality in the back half, in my opinion, though none of them are true duds. The last story and standout in the collection, yet another twist on a vampire tale, really draws its strength from the grimy-yet-glamorous depiction of an art student's life in London.

Kissing the Witch, Emma Donoghue (9/27) - I enjoyed how each story folded into one another and found this book hard to put down. Also very gay, loved it.

The Drama of Celebrity, Sharon Marcus (9/27) - I was reading this for background for my fic, and it was somewhat helpful. It's really mostly an analysis of Sarah Bernhardt's career, with some light theory of celebrity to contextualize it instead of the other way around like I expected.

Malpertuis, Jean Ray (10/15) - I probably shouldn't have read the summary for this book before the book itself, but I'm not sure I would have fully understood the plot if I hadn't. Not a knock on the book itself.

The Great God Pan and Other Stories*, Arthur Machen (10/16) - I don't read a ton of nineteenth-century literature, so I was surprised by how compelling the title story was, especially when listened to. I also found some of the imagery in "The Novel of the White Powder" horrifying and would not be out of place in a modern horror story. The final story was a bit of a slog, though.

Heartburn*, Nora Ephron (10/20) - a relisten to the version narrated by Meryl Streep. I downloaded it based on a recommendation describing the audiobook as turning it into the one-woman monologue the book was meant to be, and I can't think of any higher recommendation to offer than that.

Casting the Runes and Other Stories*, M.R. James and others (10/30) - I knew about M.R. James from popular culture, but I honestly had not expected "Whistle and I'll Come to You, My Lad" to center so much around golf.

Invitation the the Waltz, Rosamond Lehmann (11/1) - I read most of this in one sitting, playing old music through my headphones, which felt really ideal. Setting most of it during one formal dance allows for a sense of insular-ness while allowing the details of the world to be woven in. If that makes any sense.

Crazy Salad and Scribble Scrabble*, Nora Ephron (11/3) - it's really interesting to listen to these essays written during the second wave feminist movement and realize that we've been having the same arguments for 50 years. It's also interesting to read about the minutiae of Watergate from the perspective of those watching it unfold in real time. So many weird, unmemorable cultural-political things that have gone down the hole of public memory! (I need to note here that the last essay in Crazy Salad is, based on my memory of the first time I read it (I skipped it this time around) very transphobic, so I can only recommend this collection with that heavy caveat.)

BBC Radiophonic Workshop: A Retrospective, William L. Weir (11/7) - I first learned about the BBC radiophonic workshop through the Backlisted episode about Rosemary Tonks, and this was a fascinating look into that period of British history and the origins of electronic music. It's also helped me pinpoint how to find that sort of music I think of as "alien abduction music", which is a bonus.

Joy in the Morning*, P.G. Wodehouse (11/10) - I didn't realize this wasn't in the 3-book arc that starts with Right Ho, Jeeves until I was partway through. Still, quality Wodehouse.

Good Morning, Midnight, Jean Rhys (11/17) - despite listening to the Backlisted episode before reading this, I didn't quite grasp what "modernist novel" meant, which meant I was surprised by the stream-of-consciousness flow of this novel. It's such gorgeous writing, though. Depressing as hell.

Winter Love*, Han Suyin (11/18) - beautiful and sad. The main character, Red, is frustrating, even though everything she does is perfectly understandable within the context she lives in.

The Girls, John Bowen (11/21) - the blurbs for this book ("Barbara Pym meets Stephen King") made it seem like this would be both lighter and more horrifying than it actually was. I found it to actually be very melancholy in parts, and surprisingly focused on the emotional aftereffects of murder. The ending, the final paragraph, is gorgeous.

Black Orchids, Rex Stout (11/30) - I'm now trying to find Nero Wolfe books in secondhand bookstores, though I'm limited by the lack of secondhand bookstores in my area (that may be a good thing). I enjoy how Nero Wolfe and Archie play off each other.

The Hearing Trumpet*, Leonara Carrington (12/1) - so, so good, and I'm glad I listened to it as an audiobook, because the narrator, Sian Phillips, is an elderly woman herself and therefore able to conjure up a whole range of different voices for the old women who populate this book.

Mistletoe Malice, Kathleen Farrell (12/6) - I was actually disappointed by this, which might have been a matter of mismatched expectations. However, the Christmas tree never caught fire, and I swore a review I read said it would, so I spent the whole book waiting in vain.

Venetia, Georgette Heyer (12/16) - A delight. Aubrey is a great character, and I enjoy how Heyer has the different characters play on each other.

Great Granny Webster, Caroline Blackwood (12/18) - did not expect this book to have a large section on "decaying old Anglo-Irish homes and their horrors", but I guess that's a richer vein in literary fiction than I realized (see: Good Behaviour by Molly Keane).

Sylvester, Georgette Heyer (12/21) - not quite as enjoyable as Frederica or Venetia, in my opinion, though that may be partly because I waited for almost 2/3 of the book for Phoebe's book to actually be published.

Providence, Anita Brookner (12/28) - beautiful prose, of the sort that makes me realize my own inadequacies in both my writing and my critical capabilities, because I can neither replicate it or describe what makes it so compelling. This book is also so tightly crafted for a story where almost nothing happens. It ends up exactly where it's been leading all along.

[rightnouveau]

Joe Biden vs. the Zamana Rainforest: Climate-drama hints at Post-presidential Shamanaic Lifepath?

Nov 20, 2024

In a world where the news cycle spins faster than a neocon's moral compass, we find ourselves once again captivated by the latest spectacle from the global political circus.

This time, our attention is drawn to the lush, verdant stage of the Amazon rainforest, where none other than President Joe Biden himself has decided to make a grand exit – quite literally.

In a story that combines climate action, political theater, and unintentional comedy, President Joe Biden recently made history as the first sitting U.S. president to visit the Amazon rainforest. Or, as Biden himself hilariously dubbed it, the "Zamana Rainforest." This gaffe, while meme-worthy, is just the appetizer for a larger banquet of media spectacle, policy announcements, and some head-scratching moments.

The Zamana Rainforest Incident

Let's start with the elephant in the room, or should I say, the sloth in the jungle. In a moment that would make even the most seasoned comedians jealous, President Biden graced us with a linguistic gem by referring to the Amazon as the "Zamana Rainforest"[1]. One can't help but wonder if this was a Freudian slip revealing a secret eco-resort for world leaders or simply a testament to the challenges of global geography, and pronouncing hard words.

Biden’s trip was steeped in eco-friendly messaging, with helicopter rides over the deforested terrain and solemn discussions with Indigenous leaders. The President pledged an additional $50 million to Brazil's Zamana Fund (Amazon Fund), showcasing the U.S.’s commitment to combating deforestation. However, critics noted this sum barely scratches the surface of the $500 million Biden promised last year, making the effort feel more symbolic than substantial. I'm not complaining—just saying.

The rainforest, often called the "lungs of the Earth," has lost vast areas due to deforestation, droughts, and fires. Biden’s visit included stops at wildlife refuges and a biodiversity museum, lending an air of earnestness to his climate legacy. Yet, one can’t help but ask: is this about saving the planet, or just staging a dramatic farewell tour?

The G20 Shuffle

While Biden was busy playing hide-and-seek with the press in Peru and Brazil, the G20 summit in Rio de Janeiro was unfolding like a soap opera. World leaders, realizing they might be seeing the last of Biden on the international stage, engaged in a flurry of backslapping and hugging that would put a high school reunion to shame.

Sandwiched between the Asia-Pacific Economic Forum in Peru and the G20 summit in Brazil, the trip was as much about geopolitics as it was about greenery, or even accidental shamanism (more about US Presidential accidental shamanism later). Biden's speeches emphasized the Amazon’s role in global climate stability, but his administration’s track record is a tranny hot mess. While the racket funding clean energy has surged, the U.S. remains lagging behind Europe in climate committment—the math isn't mathing. Moreover, with Donald Trump’s climate-skeptical policies set to restore US economic dominance, some observers wonder if these Biden gestures are simply preemptive feather fluffing—maybe even damage control against criticism from Biden's own base asking, "where's the spending?!."

What’s more, the timing is suspicious. Biden’s trip conveniently coincides with rising domestic issues and global unrest. Could this rainforest escapade be a lushly green smokescreen for something bigger? From inflation worries to international tensions, what are we not supposed to notice right now?

The Bigger Picture

Now, as we chuckle at these antics, let's put on our skeptic's hat for a moment. What if this entire Amazonian adventure is nothing more than an elaborate distraction? While we're busy debating whether Biden has been adopted by a tribe of eco-warriors or is simply lost in the woods, what global machinations are unfolding behind the scenes?

Ukraine and ATACMS

Curiously, amidst all this Zamanian rainforest drama, the U.S. quietly allowed Ukraine to fire long-range ATACMS missiles into Russian territory[1]. One might argue that's a slightly more pressing matter than watching a president play Tarzan, but hey, who are we to judge?

The Nuclear Doctrine Shift

Meanwhile, as if in response to a game of geopolitical chess that we're not privy to, Russia casually announced a revision to its nuclear doctrine, lowering the threshold for nuclear weapon use[1]. But sure, let's keep our eyes on the prize – Biden's nature walk.

The Media Circus

It's almost comical how the media latches onto these moments, isn't it? While the world teeters on the brink of various crises, we're treated to endless replays of a president disappearing into the greenery. It's as if the fourth estate has collectively decided that investigative journalism is less important than capturing the perfect meme-worthy moment.

The Vanishing Act

And now for the pièce de résistance: after wrapping up his visit, Biden was reportedly spotted wandering deeper into the rainforest than planned. The internet is already having a field day imagining him as the accidental shaman of an undiscovered tribe. Did he find himself a new career path?

Picture this: Biden, having just pontificated on the perils of deforestation, turns his back on the cameras and ambles off into the dense foliage. One can almost hear David Attenborough narrating, "Here we see the rare American President, venturing into uncharted territory, perhaps in search of that elusive bipartisan agreement." Or is he just Biden taking his “build back better” mantra a little too literally by personally rebuilding the rainforest?

Conclusion: The Lost President

As we wrap up this whirlwind tour of Biden's excellent adventure, one can't help but wonder: Is he still out there? Has he found a new calling as a shaman for a remote Amazonian tribe? Is he engaged in deep philosophical discussions with a particularly wise toucan?

Whatever the case, one thing is clear – in the grand theater of global politics, sometimes the most memorable acts are the ones that go off-script. So here's to you, Mr. President, may your wanderings be fruitful, and may you always find your way back to your handler, Dr. Jill – eventually.

While Biden’s climate efforts have heart, the execution leaves room for critique—and parody. As the media churns out glowing headlines about his “historic” visit, we’re left to wonder whether this trip was a genuine effort to tackle climate issues or just another expertly crafted distraction.

Either way, if Biden emerges from the Zamana (oops, Amazon) wearing a headdress and clutching a staff, you heard it here first.

Citations: [1] https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/story-behind-joe-bidens-viral-fade-out-into-amazon-rainforest-7062059

References:

https://www.bbc.com/news/videos/ckg7x15jg28o

https://apnews.com/article/biden-amazon-peru-g20-3cc827382d1e3c32865a14616ddfe467

https://www.cnn.com/2024/11/17/politics/biden-amazon-rainforest-visit-brazil/index.html

https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/story-behind-joe-bidens-viral-fade-out-into-amazon-rainforest-7062059

https://youtu.be/-xpH2-QoNhQ?si=hRwgqpjHztvPYK2t

[americanscreeningcorporation]

Mastering the Art of Launching and Growing Your Online Business: A Comprehensive Guide

In the dynamic realm of online entrepreneurship, success isn't just about having a great idea; it's about executing that idea strategically and persevering through the challenges of building and scaling a business. Whether you're a seasoned entrepreneur venturing into the online space or a newcomer passionate about a particular niche, this comprehensive guide will equip you with the knowledge and tools to start and grow a successful online business from scratch.

Understanding the Landscape of Online Business

Before delving into the nitty-gritty of launching your online venture, it's crucial to understand the unique dynamics of the digital marketplace. The online business landscape is characterized by fierce competition, rapidly evolving technologies, and shifting consumer behaviors. Conduct thorough market research to identify trends, gaps, and opportunities within your chosen niche. Analyze your competitors to understand their strengths, weaknesses, and strategies. With this knowledge, you can position your business for success by offering value that sets you apart.

Defining Your Value Proposition

At the core of every successful online business lies a compelling value proposition that resonates with its target audience. What problem are you solving for your customers? What makes your product or service unique and indispensable? Take the time to articulate your value proposition clearly and concisely. Your ability to effectively communicate the benefits of your offering will be instrumental in attracting and retaining customers in a crowded online marketplace.

Building a Solid Foundation: Crafting Your Business Plan

A well-crafted business plan is the blueprint for your online venture, guiding your decisions and actions from conception to execution. Your business plan should outline your goals, target market, competitive analysis, marketing strategy, financial projections, and operational plan. Conduct thorough research and analysis to inform your assumptions and forecasts. While your business plan may evolve, having a solid foundation will provide clarity and direction as you navigate the complexities of launching and growing your online business.

Choosing the Right Business Model

The online business world offers many business models to choose from, each with its advantages and challenges. Whether you opt for e-commerce, subscription-based services, digital products, affiliate marketing, or a combination thereof, selecting a business model that aligns with your strengths, resources, and long-term goals is essential. Consider scalability, revenue streams, and market demand when evaluating business models. Flexibility and adaptability are crucial as you may need to iterate and refine your business model based on market feedback and changing trends.

Creating Your Online Presence: Building Your Website

Your website serves as the virtual storefront for your online business, making a solid first impression and serving as a hub for customer engagement and transactions. Choose a domain name that reflects your brand identity and is easy to remember and spell. Select a reliable web hosting provider and platform with the features and flexibility you need to customize and scale your website. Invest in professional web design and user experience to create a visually appealing and intuitive interface that enhances the customer journey.

Content is King: Developing Compelling Content Strategies

In the digital age, content has emerged as a powerful tool for attracting, engaging, and converting customers. Develop a content strategy that aligns with your brand voice, values, and objectives. Create high-quality, relevant content that addresses your target audience's needs, interests, and pain points. Whether blog posts, videos, infographics, podcasts, or social media posts, focus on providing value and building trust with your audience. Consistency is vital, so establish a content calendar and publishing schedule to maintain a steady flow of fresh, engaging content.

Driving Traffic and Generating Leads: Mastering Digital Marketing

Effective digital marketing drives traffic to your website generates leads and converts prospects into customers. Leverage a mix of digital marketing channels and tactics, including search engine optimization (SEO), social media marketing, email marketing, content marketing, and paid advertising. Tailor your marketing efforts to reach your target audience where they are most active and receptive. Monitor and analyze key metrics to measure the performance and ROI of your marketing campaigns and adjust your strategies accordingly to optimize results.

Optimizing Conversion and Sales: Enhancing the Customer Experience

Converting website visitors into paying customers requires a seamless and frictionless user experience. Optimize your website for conversion by streamlining the checkout process, offering multiple payment options, providing clear and compelling product descriptions, and incorporating persuasive calls to action. Implement user-friendly navigation, responsive design, and fast loading times to ensure your customers a positive and enjoyable browsing experience. Continuously test and refine your website and sales funnel to identify and address any barriers to conversion.

Building Customer Relationships and Loyalty: Providing Exceptional Service

In the competitive online business landscape, fostering strong customer relationships is paramount to long-term success. Prioritize exceptional customer service and support at every touchpoint of the customer journey. Be responsive, transparent, and empathetic in your communications with customers, addressing their inquiries, concerns, and feedback promptly and courteously. Personalize the customer experience by segmenting your audience and tailoring your messaging and offerings to their preferences and behaviors. Encourage customer feedback and reviews and use them as opportunities to learn and improve.

Scaling Your Business for Growth: Planning for the Future

As your online business grows and evolves, scalability becomes a critical consideration. Anticipate and plan for scalability from the outset by investing in scalable technology solutions, infrastructure, and processes. Automate repetitive tasks, delegate responsibilities, and optimize workflows to increase efficiency and productivity. Monitor and analyze key performance indicators (KPIs) to track your business's growth and performance. Explore opportunities for expansion into new markets, product lines, or distribution channels to fuel further growth and diversify revenue streams.

Staying Agile and Adaptable: Embracing Change

The online business landscape constantly evolves, driven by technological advancements, changing consumer behaviors, and market dynamics. To thrive in this environment, staying agile, adaptable, and open to change is essential. Embrace innovation and experimentation, and be willing to pivot your strategies and tactics based on emerging trends and insights. Cultivate a continuous learning and improvement culture within your organization, encouraging creativity, collaboration, and resilience among your team members. By remaining agile and responsive to change, you can position your online business for sustained success in the long run.

Charting Your Path to Online Business Success

Launching and growing a successful online business from scratch is a challenging yet rewarding journey. You can overcome obstacles and achieve your entrepreneurial goals by following the steps outlined in this comprehensive guide and leveraging the right strategies, tools, and resources. Remember, success doesn't happen overnight; it requires patience, persistence, and a relentless commitment to excellence. Stay focused on delivering value to your customers, staying ahead of the curve, and adapting to the ever-changing online business landscape. With dedication, perseverance, and a strategic approach, you can turn your vision into reality and build a thriving online business that stands the test of time.

[littlepadika]

Calling Home (1) | Frankie Morales x Reader

Summary: You are a receptionist at the VA. Frankie Morales keeps calling. Yearning ensues...

Rating: M -> E in later chapters

Warnings: fem!reader, age gap (legal), praise kink, voice kink, discussion of addiction/PTSD/trauma, no use of y/n, no beta reader, reader is bad at Spanish, Frankie has a sexy voice 😩

Masterlist here

AN: My first fic. Pedro writers have inspired me to finally start writing again 🥺. Concept inspired by the movie RED. I hope you like it ❤️Set after triple frontier.

Chapter One

~~~~~~~~~~~

The first time he called was an ordinary Thursday.

“Veterans Affairs, how can I help you?”

You had been working at the VA office for about two weeks. Fresh out of college you felt lucky to have a job in the first place. You went to school to be a writer but your big idea for 'The Next Great American Novel' had yet to present itself. At least here you had access to the most inspiring stories and interesting people. Men and women who had seen more and done more than you probably would in your entire life. You loved talking to clients on the phone. It was weird but something about only being able to hear people’s voices excited you. You would sometimes write little stories in your head about the people you'd talk to, filling in the details that were unknown.

Your desk accessories reflected your love of books and writing. You had your growing collection of books sitting on your desk sandwiched between baby pink bookends. Next to them was a matching desk organizer filled with your favorite sparkly pens and sticky notes. You had decorated the plain cubicle walls with posters of quotes from your favorite books. You also brought your favorite candle from home. Even though you couldn’t light it you still liked to lift it to your nose once and a while and smell it between chapters. When you weren’t on the phone or scanning documents you would read. You finished To Kill A Mockingbird in your first week on the job and were now halfway through Murder on the Orient Express.

You were starting a new chapter when Frankie Morales called the first time.

You picked up the phone on the second ring already mustering your chipper 'customer service' voice. “Veterans affairs.” You stated your name. “How may I help you?”

“H-Hi. My name is Frankie- uh-Francisco Morales." A deep voice answered you. "I’m calling because I have gotten my benefits check yet. It’s been a month. I was hoping you could tell me if it got sent?”

“Okay Mr. Morales." You flipped on the computer. "Let me check. Can you spell your last name for me?”

“M-o-r-a-l-e-s”

“Okay... let's see.” You clicked on his account. You were momentarily distracted by his picture likely taken when he graduated basic if you had to guess based off the uniform. He looked sweet. Sharp nose and strong jaw balanced by kind eyes and a shy smile. You could imagine how age would continue to soften his expression making him even more handsome. The image was a strange juxtaposition to the voice you were hearing on the phone which was much deeper and rougher. His profile said he was special forces. A pilot. The rest of the information was blacked out. Something you were used to seeing on many people's accounts but even his years of service were redacted. He must have been involved in some dangerous stuff, you thought to yourself. The dates that were not redacted were mostly in Latin America. You clicked over to processing requests. “Looks like the check got sent one week ago.” You informed him.

"I'll look again but I haven't seen anything-" It sounded like he was apologizing when clearly it was not his fault.

"No no. It's probably a mistake on our end." You interrupted. With how shitty and outdated the payroll interface was you wouldn't be surprised if there was a mix up. "I’ll go ahead and let payroll know to send another."

"Great. Thanks." He replied sounding relieved. The roughness in his voice gave way to a smooth baritone.

“No problem. I'm sorry for any inconvenience it may have caused. We'll get it sent right away." You hoped he was not relying on this benefit check for anything important. While you could promise you'd fix the problem, the administration was notoriously slow. When he didn't respond you asked, "Is there anything else I can help you with today, Mr. Morales?”

“Uh-no" The roughness back in place. "Thank you." He paused before adding your name onto his thank you which made you smile. People usually never remembered your name.

“Alright. Have a nice day and thank you for your service.” You chirped before hanging up. The smile he put on your face lingered for a few minutes as you returned to your book.

The next time he called was exactly twelve days later.

“Veterans affairs” you answered, your routine greeting cut short as your eyes were still on your book.

“Hi- I’m calling because uh I still haven’t gotten my benefits check. This is Frankie Morales.”

“Oh Mr. Morales.” You recognized his voice even before he even said his name. You quickly shut your book, pushing your hair out of your face. Had you been thinking about him? No! Okay maybe you stared at his picture for a few minutes longer after he hung up. Yes, it was probably very unprofessional but you couldn't fight the curiosity. You were trying to rationalize the contrasting sharpness and softness of his features with his voice. How it all worked together. How one person's voice could change textures and colors so easily. You wondered what kind of things this man might have seen on the job. Most of the veterans you would help day to day did not have so many redacted missions and deployments. You were in the middle of Narcos season one so you immediately thought of drugs or something equally dangerous. After much pondering, you had come to the conclusion that Frankie Morales was both insanely attractive and insanely courageous. “Still no check, huh?”

“Nope.” He sighed the sound making the phone's shitty speaker crackle as you held it to your ear.

“Let me just check that it was approved...“ you found his profile again and scrolled to the status page. “Hmm... it says it was sent out last Friday after we spoke. That’s so weird...”

“Yeah. Really weird.” He echoed your frustration on the other end.

Typical payroll, you thought to yourself as you rolled your eyes. “I'll get another one sent to you right away. I'll see to it myself.” You tucked the phone under your chin and typed out a short email to Mary in payroll letting her know you'd be stopping by her office to explain the situation. You realized he hadn't hung up yet.

“Sorry for the back and forth.” You said, trying to fill the silence.

“It’s not your fault." The earlier irritation gone. "You’ve been really helpful.” His voice sounded warm and reassuring. Less gruff than it was last you spoke. Instead it was that rich baritone that you caught of glimpse of last time.

You feel your face warm at his compliment. It was this annoying reflex you had. Praise always made you blush no matter what context but it was worse when it came from a (you assume) gorgeous stranger.

“And just to verify that your address is correct- you’re on Maple Lane in Miami, Florida?”

“That’s right.” He confirmed.

“Okay. Sent!” You clicked send on the email, which caused the window to close and reveal Frankie’s profile page again. “I was curious-" You spoke before you really made the decision to speak. You didn’t want to overstep but once again your curiosity got the better of you. Honestly, you were just searching for a way to keep him on the phone. The day had been so boring.

“Your profile says you were stationed in Costa Rica.”

“For a bit.” He replied after a moment. He didn’t sound too defensive but there was definitely some tightness in his answer that made you feel bad for asking. Like you were scratching a wound.

“Did you like it? The country I mean.”

“Are you planning a trip?” He sounds a little amused.

“Yeah- well- kind of. It's more a trip in my head right now. I’d like to go there one day. It looks so beautiful.” You sighed closing your eyes trying to imagine the heat on your skin.

“It is." He agrees. "Really humid though.”

“Mm that sounds nice.” You would kill for some warm weather after such a long winter in DC.

“It was too muggy for me at times." He grumbled. "If you do go, stick to the costal areas where it’s more breezy or else you’ll just be sweating the whole time.”

“I don’t mind a little sweat” you shrugged, still thinking of the awful east coast winter you were currently suffering through. The sexual connotation of what you said hit you hard as soon as you heard the statement in its entirety. You felt your face flush again, though the man on the other end would never know.

“I’m learning Spanish!" You announced loudly trying to move the conversation past your awkwardness.

“Wow. Muy impressivo.”

“Si” you replied but after a moment you admit “I don’t really know what you said.”

Frankie laughed loudly on the other end and you couldn’t help but join in, drawing dirty looks from the elderly lady, Donna, working in the cubicle across from you. You ducked your head behind a stack of papers to avoid her glare.

“Fake it till you make it.” He chuckled.

“Maybe you should help me out.” You took on an indigent but still playful tone. “You sound better than duolingo” Your smile widened when he laughed again. His laugh was what you hoped it would be, by all your assumptions from his picture. It was an unencumbered, unburdened, rich sound with only a hit of roughness from the air behind it.

“Tell me you’re not using that dumb app to learn.” he scoffed, saying your name in an almost scolding tone.

“I’m got my thirty day streak today.” You boasted.

“You’ll be a total tourist if you go by duolingo.”

“But the owl is so cute every time I get something right!” You argued your voice taking on a more childish cadence.

“That’s how they trap you, silly girl.” He teased right back. Usually such a condescending nickname would piss you off but something about the affection behind him using it made you feel very differently. You felt warm like you were proud to be silly as long as it made him laugh.

“Then you saved me just in time, Mr. Morales.” You bit your lip. His scoffing and laughter died down on the other end.

“Frankie” He corrects you.

“Frankie…” You repeated it, smiling at how well the nick name suited the voice over the phone. Honest, sincere, and not pretentious at all. Way better than the pompous guys you know with equally stuffy names like “Edward” and “Christopher.”

“So what do you want to know?” Frankie interrupted your thoughts. “Dime”

You started asking him questions in Spanish to the best of your ability. Granted they weren't particularly probing questions. What is your name? What is your favorite color? What is your favorite animal? What's your favorite book? I am reading Gone Girl. He answered them all with patience and amusement, occasionally interrupting you to correct your pronunciation or explain what a word meant. Every time you’d repeat the word back correctly he would say something like “good” or “there you go” or “you got it”. You hated to admit that his kind words and his praise was doing something to you. You didn't even realize you were clenching your legs together unconsciously, almost in anticipation of his next correction or next answer. His low voice so sweet and encouraging against your ear, more tangible when he was speaking Spanish. You just wanted to hear more of it. Would it be this sweet in other situations? Would it get huskier or rougher? If you closed your eyes it was like he was sitting right next to you. It would be all too easy to slip into that daydream and escape the dull office.

Suddenly out of the corner of your drooping eyes you saw a flashing red light on the phone console meaning another caller was waiting.

“Shoot- i’m sorry, Frankie- I have to take this call.” You shot forward in your chair, legs uncrossing.

“Of-Of course. I should let you get back to work.” He sounded a little sad or so you hoped. You felt bad for interrupting him after you both were having so much fun. You wanted to say he could wait on hold but he killed that idea when he said, "I have work too. Technically I'm five minutes past my lunch break."

Your pout turned to a smile. He was spending his precious lunch break with you? Get a grip! you snapped at yourself.

“You’re welcome to call again if you want.” You threw out the offer in a small voice, scared you would be rejected. You peered over the cubicle wall to see if you were still being glared at. Thankfully Donna was away from her desk. Probably out for a smoke. “It’s really boring here and usually no one calls.”

“Maybe I will.” He replied and you could hear the smile behind those words. You felt your heart clench weirdly in your chest like it didn't know how to process the sudden spike in emotions.

“Bye, Frankie.” You beamed.

“Bye”

This time the smile on your face lasted for hours. Frankie’s laugh echoed around in your head, taunting you, sending your mind to the gutter. His voice went from grit to molasses on a dime. You wanted to be the one to bring out those sounds. You wanted to hear his voice bend and stretch and strain as you fucked him. What the hell is wrong with me? you screamed internally. You had never been so depraved and with a stranger no less! You clearly needed to get laid fast because this much yearning would not end well.

Frankie got the second VA check a few days later and this time he didn’t even feel bad about ripping it in half. He was already reaching for the phone to call you.

~~~~~~~~~~~

Tags: Message to be added 💕 no minors please!

[manndo]

i see you [din djarin x reader]

gif credit

pairing[s]: din djarin (the mandalorian) x gn!reader (no descriptors, no y/n)

warning[s]: slight angst, fluff, kissing, mentions of arousal (barley there & nothing really descriptive) and ridiculously canon divergent (see notes).

word count: 4.0k

prompt[s]: from this list, based off the prompt ‘overhearing they have feelings for you’

summary: you just wanted to tell the child a bedtime story, and apparently, you had something you needed to get off your chest. but you weren’t aware you had an audience besides the child.

author’s notes: alright, for the last day of 2020 (i’m still in 2020 over here, unfortunately), i’ve decided to take a leap of faith and post my first mandalorian fic! i started writing this before episode 13 of season 2, before we learned the child’s name and way before the separation (i am still recovering from the emotional strain of this ending). and obviously, i didn’t finish it until now -- almost two weeks after the last episode. so, as i mentioned in my warnings, this is canon divergent -- basically anything from episode 13 to 16 did not happen in this fic. so, this means that grogu is referred to as the child/the little one/the kid in this fic. in the future, i am hoping to write more canon friendly fics, but who knows?? the season finale was bittersweet and honestly?? i just want my dad/son duo back together. 😢but anyway! any and all mistakes are my own. please feel free to comment/like/reblog, whatever you see fit. enjoy! ❤️and goodbye 2020, hello 2021! 🍻

You were tinkering with a malfunctioning blaster down in the hull when you heard him. At first, the cry was soft, barely there — perhaps Mando had said or done something to irritated him while they sat in the cockpit together. However, after another few moments, the cries grew louder and longer. Carefully, you set the blaster aside, and wiped your hands on the cloth next to you before pushing yourself off from your seated position on Mando’s bunk. Within seconds, you were climbing the ladder and entering the cockpit to find Mando standing from his seat, holding the child away from him as the child wailed. Immediately, Mando lifted his head toward you.

“Aren’t you supposed to be watching him?” he asked, a hint of irritation in his modulated voice. You couldn’t see his eyes, but you could imagine the glare he was giving you.

You sighed heavily, shaking your head, and took two steps forward to grab the child from Mando’s outstretched arms. Unfortunately, the child did not stop his crying. You tucked him against you. “Technically, yes. That’s what you hired me for, but you know this little one has his ways of sneaking around,” you muttered, reaching out to grab the little one’s tiny hand. Even through his wailing, the little one’s finger immediately wrapped around your thumb. You hummed soothingly and began to gently bounce him, keeping your eyes trained on him. “And, it wasn’t like you were complaining ten minutes ago when he was being a perfect little angel,” you mumbled, rubbing your thumb gently over the little one’s finger and looked up to Mando. Mando snorted, but said nothing as he sat himself back down in the pilot’s chair, and turned himself away from you. You knew he didn’t need to be there — the Crest was in hyperdrive and most likely on autopilot — but, you found he preferred it to other parts of the ship. Then again, when you’re always on guard like him, well, it made sense to be in the cockpit.

“He’s probably just tired, Mando,” you said, glancing away from him and back to the child, who was, thank the Maker, not wailing anymore. However, he was still crying, still taking in big breaths and looking at you with wide, glassy eyes. “Just needs a little nap. Ain’t that right, little one?” The child gave you a sniffle, and hung his head. “Come on,” you said quietly, giving the child’s finger a little squeeze, “let’s get you tucked in.”

You turned on your heel, and carefully made your way down to the hull once more, all the while whispering comforting words to the child in hopes to quell his cries. It seemed to work — for the most part. He still seemed upset, even if he wasn’t really crying anymore. More like, sniffles and whines. But, he was still restless against you. Even if he was overtired, it was clear he wasn’t too keen on actually being put down because the moment you had set him into the makeshift, hanging bed that Mando had crafted for him, he tried to pull himself out. “Ah, ah, little one, don’t you even think about it,” you reprimanded him softly, pushing him gently back down into the swinging bed. He let a small whine in disagreement, but didn’t try moving again.

“Maybe I should tell you a story,” you said, your voice low, calm. He blinked at you, his eyes still looking a little watery, and gave you another small whine. You began to rock the bed. “You know, I don’t think I’ve really told you any stories since I came on this ship,” you said, reaching up and running a finger over his ear, from base to tip. He made a small coo of happiness, and you smiled. “Granted, it hasn’t been that long since your dad hired me, has it?” You’d only been traveling with them for six months, give or take. You still sometimes had to, metaphorically, pinch yourself that this was your life now — galavanting around the galaxy with a Mandalorian and his charge.

You felt a small push against your finger, which had been resting on the tip of the child’s ear, followed by a small whine. You let out a short chuckle, and moved your finger, running it over his ear again. He leaned into the touch. “You know, the first time I saw you and your dad, I didn’t know what to think. I’d never met a Mandalorian before, but I knew of them, knew the stories of them. Who hadn’t?” You moved your hand from running to over his ear, to the top of his head. He cooed softy, eyes fluttering closed. “But, what surprised me the most was you, little one. Not because I had never seen creature like you. No, that wasn’t it. It was because you were with him. A Mandalorian and a child,” you whispered, noticing that the little one’s eyes were only half open now. You gave the top of his head a small scratch, and his eyes closed completely. “Even if you are older than both of us,” you added, a small chuckle escaping your lips as his eyes opened again, a bit slower than last time.

“It’s funny,” you mumbled, keeping your eyes trained on him. You watched as he snuggled himself a little deeper into his bed. “I never would have thought that one minute, I’d be fixing a blaster your dad needed repaired, then the next being on his ship, taking care of you.” A brief pause. “You know, he saved me, little one?” You felt a lump form in your throat, and you swallowed it. “Life hadn’t been easy when you two came around. Sure, I had a roof over my head and enough credits to keep me fed. But, it had been a lonely life.”

You took a deep breath. “My parents had been gone for a few years, and I had no siblings to seek comfort in. I worked for a nasty man, who liked to belittle me every chance he got, even if I was a better technician than he was. I had a few acquaintances, a few people I’d chat with every once in a while, maybe grab a drink with them at a cantina, but I didn’t have any real friends,” you paused. “Well, I did. At one point. But, things happen.” A heavy, dejected sigh escaped your lips. “People change. Life changes.” Absentmindedly, you ran your finger down the child’s cheek. His eyes were now half-open, the child hell bent on staying awake. Stubborn, like his father for sure. “But, now I’m here. And, I wouldn’t trade it for anything.” You pursed your lips in thought. “Well, it would be nice to have a larger, more comfortable bed. But, then I wouldn’t have you, and I wouldn’t have your dad.” The little one cooed quietly, and you chuckled pulling your finger from his cheek.

You became silent then, let yourself just watch the little one. He was settling nicely into his bed, looking more relaxed, his eyes staying closed. It should have only been a few more moments, and he’d be asleep. Just a few more moments and he’d be resting peacefully, and you could go back to working on that blaster. Just a few more minutes.

“I love him, you know,” you said, your voice barely a whisper. It was only when you heard the little one coo that you realized that you’d said that out loud. Your eyes widened as you took in the little one, his own eyes now open once more. He was looking at you, head titled slightly, big brown eyes focused on you. He blinked once, twice as if he was waiting for you to elaborate.

Fuck, you hadn’t planned to say that out loud. But you had — to the little one, no less. Sure, he couldn’t tell Mando what you’d said, so that was an advantage. But, Maker, what were you thinking?

You had only just admitted to yourself you were in love with the Mandalorian. You had spent weeks denying your feelings. After all, you hadn’t known each other long, there was no way you were actually in love with him. It had to be, you figured, because of your living situation — you two were in constant contact with each other, barely any room for privacy or time alone. He was the only person you could hold a full conversation with (not that you didn’t have conversations with the child, but it was very one-sided). So, maybe, it was just the situation. It had to be. But, as the days passed by, you realized that wasn’t the case. You had fallen for the Mandalorian. You were in love with him. You were in love with Mando.

A heavy sigh escaped your lips as you closed your eyes, and let your head fall into your hands. “You weren’t supposed to hear that, little one,” you said, the words slightly mumbled against your palms. “Nobody was supposed to hear that. And, especially not your dad — not that I don’t want him to know, I do. But, we haven’t been together long — in the sense of me being on the ship, you know — and I fear it will make him distant again. He was so distant when I first came aboard, but now.” You let out another heavy sigh, and move your hands away from your face to glance up at the little one. He has pulled himself up to look over the edge of his makeshift bed, his tired eyes looking down at you. There is a sad look up on his face, his large eyes searching yours. “I don’t know exactly how he feels, little one. But, I’ve seen his heart. You’ve seen his heart.” You paused and took a breath. “It’s in the little things. The way he sits with you when he flies. How he tries to teach you things — even if they backfire in his face,” you said, and a smile crossed your lips. The child gave a small tired little giggle. “Making this bed for you,” you said softly, reaching up and running your fingers over the material. “Making your little pouch. All those things, and more, show me his heart, show us his heart.” You leaned forward and pressed your forehead gently against the child’s. “He would do anything to keep you safe, little one. Anything. And that, makes him a good man.” The child let out a soft sound, and you pulled away from him, a soft smile on your lips.

There was a brief silence that settled between you. You let it hang in the air for a brief moment before speaking again. “Alright, come on, you need to go to sleep now. Apparently, trying to tell you a bedtime story is not the way I should go,” you said with a small chuckle. The child gave a small whine. “Don’t try and fight with me. We both know you’re tired. So come on, close those big, beautiful eyes,” you said, your voice dropping in volume. His eyes fluttered closed, and you reached out your fingers, letting it brush against his tiny hand. “There you go,” you muttered, continuing to brush his little hand with your finger in a soothing gesture. His eyes stayed closed, and his body seemed to relax into his bed. Another few moments, and his breathing had evened out, and you knew he was finally asleep. You let out a small sigh of relief. “Sleep well, little one,” you whispered, and with on final brush to his hand, you stood up from the bunk. You pressed the switch, shutting the bunks door with a small clink. You had barely turned away from the door when you heard a loud thunk, and found yourself coming face to face with Mando.

“Maker!” you yelped, practically jumping out of your skin, hand slapping against your chest. You could feel your heart pounding against your ribcage as you looked at Mando with wide eyes. “Mando,” you said, voice slightly out breath as you pressed your hand a little harder to your chest, physically and mentally willing your heart to slow down. “You can’t — fuck, you scared me. You’re lucky I closed the damn door before you did that. What if he’d woken up? I had a devil of a time getting him to sleep, you know,” you muttered, hand falling from your chest and back to your side.

“Did you now?” he asked, a hint of sarcasm in his tinny voice. You furrowed your brow, as he took another step closer to you, his beskar helmet only a few inches away from your face. He titled his helmet, and you could swear, if he didn’t have it on, there would be a smirk on his face. You felt a twinge of panic fill your face — had he, had he heard you? You mentally shook your head of that thought. You were being paranoid.

“I did,” you huffed as you turned away from him, taking a step toward where you had left the malfunctioning blaster.

“Maybe if you hadn’t talked so much,” he muttered, and you felt your entire body freeze, “he might have fallen asleep faster.”

It felt like you couldn’t breathe. Blood was rushing in your ears. Maker, he heard you. He heard you blabbing your feelings, you feelings for him, to the little one. The quick landing, the sarcasm you had heard— it all made sense. He had been there, above the two of you, listening, hearing every word you said. Your confession. You felt yourself begin to get warm with embarrassment, and you willed your body to move. You wanted to run, but where could you run? You were on a ship, in the middle of space — there was no where to go. Nowhere to hide.

You closed your eyes, and took a deep breathe before you slowly turned back to face Mando. You didn’t have to see his eyes to know he was staring at you, but Maker, did you wish you could see them. Wish you could see his face. Maybe then you could tell what he was thinking. Did he feel something too? Or, was he disgusted at the thought of you having feelings? Was he about to dismiss your feelings, maybe even drop you off at the next inhabited planet, leaving you there. Leaving you alone, again. No Mando, no kid. You swallowed that fear, those thoughts. “Listen, Mando, I—”

“Close your eyes.”

You blinked in confusion. “W—what?

“Do you trust me?”

You didn’t hesitate. “Yes.”

“Then, close your eyes. And, promise me, you won’t open them.” You blinked, too stunned at his request to answer immediately. His gloved hand wrapped around your wrist, a barely there touched. “Promise me.” It should have been a demand, but it came out more as a desperate plea.

You looked down at the hand gently holding your wrist, then back at the beskar helmet in front of you. “Yea,” you breathed out, your voice barely above a whisper, “I promise. I promise,” you repeated. There was a moment of stillness where neither of you moved before you took a slow, deep breath and let your eyes fall closed.

You felt Mando let go of your wrist before you heard a clicking sound, followed by a soft hiss. It was followed by a loud clink of metal against the floor of the ship, near your feet, you thought. Then, there was a gloved hand on your cheek, the fabric rough against your skin. You felt the brush of his thumb over your cheek, and your breath hitched in your throat. “Mando, what are—”

The end of your question was gently swallowed by his lips.

Maker, you had not expected this. Immediately, you had wanted to open your eyes, because you weren’t sure this was real. Was he — was Mando really kissing you? But, he was kissing you. His soft lips were pressed against yours, not bruising, but not gentle either, and it didn’t take long before you felt his tongue swipe across the seam of your lips, seeking permission. You parted your lips with ease.  

At the first slide of his tongue against yours, a small whimper escaped your lips, your hand darting out as you blindly grabbed at his shoulder. You fisted as much of the material of his undershirt in your hand while the other part pressed against the cool beskar, and tugged, pulling him flush against you. You felt, more than heard, him groan when your bodies met, his hand tightening ever so slightly on your jaw while his other arm wrapped around your middle, holding you against him. You could feel warmth spreading in your limbs, and an excitement you hadn’t felt in a long time filling your veins and culminating between your legs.

You would have kept kissing him, would have let yourself suffocate in his kisses, but a few seconds later, you felt him begin to pull away. Before his lips could leave yours completely, you pulled his bottom lip between your teeth, giving it a quick nip. And, fuck, the sound that came out of his mouth. You felt another spike of arousal course through you, and you almost, almost opened your eyes. But, you promised you wouldn’t, and you knew what it meant if you did. So, you forced yourself to keep them closed as you tried to regain control of yourself, your hand still clutching his shoulder.

There’s a moment where the two of you stand there, your breath mingling with one another as you both tried to calm your racing hearts. But, it is brief, and before you know it, the hand that was resting on your cheek falls, and the arm around your waist loosens and you feel him step away. Immediately, you want to pull him back to you, bring his lips back to yours. But, you don’t. You’re frozen once more — in fear, in shock, in elation, you’re not quite sure.

You took a shuddering breath. “Mando—”

“Din,” you hear him say, and it sounds pure, smooth. It’s then you realize the helmet is still off. You can’t help the butterflies that form in your stomach at the sound of his unmodulated voice. His voice. It sounds like liquid gold to your ears. But then ,you hear the sounds you heard before he kissed you, the click and hiss, of the helmet falling back into place.

You wait a beat before you let your eyes flutter open, and you come face to face with the beskar helmet once more.

“Din Djarin,” he repeated, and reached out, brushing one of his gloved fingers down your cheek, over your jaw, and stopping at the nape of your neck. “My name is Din Djarin.”

His finger began to draw an absentminded pattern across your shoulder. You could tell by the tilt of his head that his eyes were focused on that finger. That finger that kept moving as the moments ticked by, never stopping, never making any sense against your skin. For the first time since you’d met him, you could tell he was nervous.

You knew he didn’t tell his name to anyone. You had asked when you’d met him what his name was. He had told you to call him Mando. You had thought it odd, but did not think it was your place to push him (you had only just met him, after all). So, you called him Mando, as did everyone else you had come in contact with. But, four months later, you decided to finally push the subject. He told you that he had not used his birth name since he was a child, since he was sworn into the Creed. There were only a few who knew name, and only due to an extenuating circumstance, he had said, making it clear he did not tell anyone. Nobody should have known his name — and from what you could tell, he had no plans of telling any one in the future.

But, here he was, standing in front of you, telling you his name. Willingly giving you this piece of information about himself. You knew he couldn’t show you his face — not yet, not now — but he could give you this. He could give you this part of himself. If the kiss wasn’t enough for you to know that he felt something for you, this sealed the deal. It wasn’t an outright “I love you”, but to you, it was something more, something deeper than that. This was him trusting you, him giving you a part of himself. It filled your heart with joy.

“Din,” you whispered, letting the name roll of your tongue, and filling the space around you. His finger had stopped its’ random movements, and his head tilted up, and you were face to face with the all too familiar beskar helmet. You smiled softly and wondered if he was smiling behind it too. You reached out, and let your fingertips dance over the cool metal. “Din Djarin,” you said, letting yourself try out his full name. 

It was beautiful. It was him.

“It suits you,” you said, resting your palm against the side of his helmet. “I love it.”

Din let out a small, breathy, modulated chuckle. “You do?”

You nodded. “I do, cause it’s you.” You leaned forward, pressing your forehead against the cool metal of his helmet, your eyes fall closed. “And, I love you, Din Djarin,” you whispered softly, a small smile tugging at your lips. You wished you could have seen his face, but instead, you heard an intake of breath before you felt a strong arm wrap around your waist, hand splayed over your hip. His gloved fingers pressed into your hip bone.

“You mean that?” he asked, his voice barely above a whisper.

You hummed and nodded, letting your free hand fall onto his chest, right over his heart. You couldn’t feel his heart under the beskar chest plate, but you imagined it was beating rapidly, just like yours. “I do.” Perhaps, it was too early to say such things, to declare that you loved him. Most people might think you were crazy, and maybe you were, but that didn’t matter. You loved him — you loved Din.

“Even without,” he paused, and you heard him take a breath. You let your eyes fuller open, and you pulled back a hair, just enough to be able to take him in. He didn’t have to finish his sentence for you to know what he was talking about — even without seeing his face.

“Hey,” you said softly, making sure his he was paying attention to you. “I don’t need to see your face.”

You heard a small, disbelieving chuckle. “Don’t need to see my face, eh?”

“Nope,” you said, popping the ‘p’. You tilted your head in thought. “Well, I mean, do I want to see your face? Absolutely.” You moved your fingers across the cheek of his helmet, to the visor, letting it trace the T-shape. “I want to see the color of your eyes, your nose, your mouth. The wrinkles and lines on your face. All of it.” You let your finger come to rest at the bottom of his helmet, just on the rim. You ran your finger over the smooth metal. “But, I know what that means for you, and I’m willing to wait for that. Your face is your face, and I’m sure it is a handsome face.” Another small chuckle escaped Din’s lips. “But, I don’t need to see it to know what I feel in my heart, Din.”

“You don’t?” He sounded surprised,

You shook your head. “I don’t. Because, I’ve seen you, Din Djarin,” you said, your voice filled with conviction as you looked at him straight on, right where his eyes would be behind that beskar helmet. “I’ve seen you.”

[remakethestars]

CABIN 10 — APHRODITE

Headcanons.

❝I want to apologize to all the women I have called pretty before I’ve called them intelligent or brave. I am sorry I made it sound as though something as simple as what you’re born with is the most you have to be proud of when your spirit has crushed mountains. From now on, I will say things like, ‘You are resilient,’ or, ‘You are extraordinary.’ Not because I don’t think you’re pretty. But because you are so much more than that.❞ 

— Rupi Kaur

Headcanon masterlist.

They’re the camp hairdressers. You need a trim? You want it cut? You want it died? You want to shave it all off? Hit ‘em up.

The type of people that will straight-up chop their hair if it doesn't match their outfit. Somehow, it always works out? I'm looking at Micarah Tewers.

They also run a secret ear piercing — or anything else you need to pierce — parlor.

Okay, but consider: children of Aphrodite that grow up to be models.

They can charm speak the photographers into letting them pick their own poses & not make them do seductive ones if they’re not comfortable with them.

Some create clothing lines that represent sustainable fashion & have big names but small carbon footprints.

Some are spies.

Think about it! They know how to switch subtle bits of their personality to fit in with everyone they come across, when & when not to use their charm.

The hide outfits under other outfits & can slip one off in public to reveal the other & lose a tail.

And they'd probably be great at disguise makeup. Add a prosthetic chin, contour their nose differently, pull off their wig, & they're a completely different person.

Plus, their combat training at C.H.B. makes them the perfect agent.

The floor next to their bunk is scattered with fabric cuttings, pins, needles, their sewing machine, serger, & measuring tape.

The number of times someone's gotten a needle or pin in their foot's a tad concerning.

Will absolutely not wear a top with an overstitched collar. Fast fashion is so tacky! Understitch is the way to go, the staple of a quality garment.

Vintage is better. Not because it's in style (that's a plus, though), but because the seams are big enough for you to let out, & it's made to last.

Experts at thrifting. Not just 'cause it's trendy or whatever, but because they're excellent at upcycling & far too many perfectly good clothes go into the land fill each year.

Make stunning dresses out of Good Will table cloths & curtains.

Or stitch two items together into one better whole.

They iron their clothes; they're not animals.

Really good at getting stains out?

Totally in on the corset bustier top trend, but they're using spiral steel boning in place of zip-ties. Because, again, they want things to last & they're not tacky.

Pass each other tips. Like to tuck your top into your tights to avoid the bulge under your skirt.

Some found big-name, organic makeup companies that don't test on animals. They use packaging that can be recycled or that's biodegradable.

Borrow their clothes, sure, whatever, but double-dip in their makeup & die. The bacteria will give them acne. (Or is it the oils? Either way, you'll perish.)

Happy to drop their skincare routine, though.

You need to cover up that tattoo you got from C7? They got you.

Flawless makeup on a budget. Expensive doesn't always mean better.

They're taking you to the pool for a first date? Take a seat, C10 knows just the stuff. They use what Disney Princesses use.

Can guess the right shade of foundation/lipstick for you on the first couple tries.

A lot of them invest in magnetic lashes because glue's a b¡tch.

Reusable makeup wipes.

Rick says C10 kids just sit around the lake & check their reflection, but consider: working out gets them their dream bod. So, yes, they do, in fact, train.

They just do it with intricate braids/hair gel & stylish sportwear.

And if a potential partner finds it unattractive that they’re “too muscly,” they’re no longer a potential partner.

Weapons disguised as jewelry or chapstick/lipstick.

Thalia had a mace canister that turned into a spear, & I gotta say, I.D.K. how she planned to get that through security. Imagine, alternatively, a tube that appears to be full of bright red lipstick when the T.S.A. agent opens it, but actually turns into a spear when opened by a half-blood.

(I have a headcanon that Riptide would just be a pen in the hands of a mortal. Bounced around for years as random objects until Poseidon nabbed it & took it to Chiron — recall that pen you lost?)

A pink, velvet choker that turns into a kopis with a dove embossed in the handle.

Many choose to train in heels. Might as well wear in training what they’ll be wearing when attacked in the street.

They’ve got no time for internalized misogyny. 

“C10′s weak ‘cause they like being pretty!” Good way to lose a kneecap, Annabeth. You’ve grown up in this camp, you knew Selina, & you should know better.

They confront Piper’s misogyny pretty early on after The Lost Hero, but Piper still takes some time to get over her bias toward pink.

Are we not gonna talk about Rick’s fashion choices for Piper throughout the series? “She looks so fashionable.” To whom, Rick? To whom?

You couldn’t’ve done a little internet surfing just to see what was in style? I never leave the house in anything but jeans, Converse, & a graphic t-shirt from Walmart, & even I know she’s dressed like a middle-schooler! Probably because that’s how I dressed in middle-school… That’s not the point.

The point is just because a character likes makeup or fashion or the color pink, doesn’t mean they can’t/won’t fight for their lives & the lives of their friends if/when the time comes. And it doesn’t mean that they’re stupid or judgmental.

I don’t know a lot about makeup. Hades, I don’t even wear makeup — you can’t rub your eyes or scratch your face; it would drive me crazy. I don’t know a lot about fashion either. I don’t understand it, but I can respect it.

❝‘Jesus,’ Sara says as Branley walks past us. ‘Too cold to show off cleavage, so instead she goes for jeans so tight I can see her thong.’ ‘She looks nice,’ I say, and she does. Branley always looks put together in a way that tells me she spends hours in front of a mirror before going outside. And while I don’t understand that, I can respect it.❞

— Alex Craft, Mindy McGinnis’s The Female of the Species

According to The Lost Hero, all children of Aphrodite intuitively speak French. Cool, cool, cool — but consider, all of them also intuitively speak the language of flowers. 

They see a red rose, and they just know it symbolizes love & passion. They see an orange lily, to contrast, & they know it symbolizes hatred. 

There’s a copy of The Language of Flowers in their cabin, and it’s full of annotations, like, So-and-so gave these to so-and-so for Valentines Day! And, So-and-so gave these to so-and-so after their kiss on the Fourth of July; they obviously didn’t do their research! 

They work together with C4 (Demeter) to provide flowers for funerals & the like.

C10 bookshelves also contain a lot of romance novels. 

Beaten up copies of Pride & Prejudice & The Fault in Our Stars with faded highlighter over the beautiful lines & annotations in the margins.

The outside walls are a dusty pink, & the wood’s stained a dark brown that goes surprisingly well with the pink.

Inside, the walls are covered in faded wallpaper.

The southwest wall has a bay window with extra storage in the seat. (There’s not a body in there; they swear.)

(That’s an Arsenic & Old Lace reference, for you youngsters.)

The curtains have one chiffon layer closer to the window & a thicker floral fabric for inside. The thick curtains are replaced based on the season & whether or not someone’s decided to make a romper out of them.

They have a real bell jar with a real rose in front of the window. Legend has it it’s from Aphrodite herself.

Said window is a stained glass image of a dove.

The chaise lounge was probably beautiful when it was brought it, but it’s got fingernail polish & makeup stains on it now. Honestly, someone should really have that thing cleaned.

As you might have noticed, I placed a gif of swans at the top instead of a fancast for Aphrodite. This is because I think, as I believe most Percy Jackson fans do, multiple people should play her. I'd cast Arden Cho, Camila Mendes, Candice Patton, Diane Kruger, & Gal Gadot to start with.

Visit my Aphrodite cabin Pinterest board or my headcanon masterlist.

DISCLAIMER ━━━ I know I got a tad political with this one, but I didn’t & don’t intend to offend anyone. ━━━ These headcanons are what I consider to be canon in my fanfictions. They may be others’s headcanons I’ve subconsciously filed away in my noggin. If one’s yours and you want it removed or credited, please send me your post and let me know.

[discotreque]

LwD 2.05: An Embarrassment of Dooplers

So I was a little nervous about this one! I hadn’t heard any spoiler-spoilers, but screeners have been out for weeks now, and I’d heard a bunch of individual, vague, non-spoilery hints about (1) big character moments, on the scale of a mid-season finale even though the show’s not taking a mid-season break; and (2) an ending that would make me cry.

I guess I imagined something relatively serious and dramatic, like “No Small Parts”? This show makes me cackle with laughter and giggle with nerdy glee and “d’awww!” at heartwarming friendships every week, but it’s only ever made me cry once—and then I was impressed that they were going to get there from the wacky hijinks we saw in the brief teaser.

The lack of a cold open made me apprehensive too—in my experience, that’s typically a sign that there’s so much plot in the rest of the episode that they need that extra scene—but after ~21.5 minutes of aforementioned hijinks, I was having so much fun that I’d completely forgotten about the alleged tear-jerker at the end…

…and they were not the tears I was expecting.

I didn’t think I’d be smiling and crying!!!! That was wholesome as SHIT!!!!!

I almost can’t believe they earned that—but they totally did.

After a Mariner–Tendi episode and a Boimler–Rutherford episode, we’re back to the “usual” Season 1 pairings… except the relationships between these characters have changed since Season 1. Mariner still feels thwacked in the abandonment issues by Boimler bailing for the Titan, and Rutherford’s having a tiny little existential crisis about losing an entire year of his life.

Both of which are extremely understandable and very heavy situations—and both of those situations get resolved because everyone in them is vulnerable with each other and honest about their feelings—AND that honesty and vulnerability brings both pairs of friends closer together. Are you kidding me?? I would watch SEVENTY seasons of that shit. Put it in my veins.

Onto the notes:

So basically Dooplers are Tribbles, but for cringe comedy instead of slapstick? Ohhhhh boy.

Look at Ransom the diplomat, tossing his own fork on the floor! I like that he’s actually a pretty competent Starfleet officer, despite also being a completely ridiculous person.

Wait a second, is that—OH HOLY SHIT, THE DOOPLERS ARE VOICED BY RICHARD KIND.

It makes sense that B. Boimler would find William annoying—who likes seeing their own flaws reflected back at them? And who could be a better reflection of one’s flaws than one’s literal duplicate?—but most interesting to me is that it implies on some level, Bradward knows the stick up his butt is a flaw. (Does William?)

Why does the Cerritos model have working phasers?!?!

I’m loving hot pink as the currently en-vogue colour for “dangerous sci-fi energy” in animation (cf. almost every previous episode of this show; Into the Spider-Verse; other stuff I can’t remember right now). As a former child of the 80’s, I’m living for it… but as a former teenager of the 90’s, I can’t help but wonder if it’s going to age as poorly as the harsh neon green of The Matrix, every Borg appearance on Voyager, and like 80% of the websites I made in high school…

SKANTS! SKANTS! SKANTS!

That fake-out joke with the fly-by over the Cerritos model was in the season trailer weeks ago, and I was so enthralled by that handsome lady that the sticker coming into frame still got me good 😂😂😂

BECKY Mariner????? omg yes

Some top-quality Boimler screams in this one. Poor Jack Quaid must drink gallons of throat-coat tea when he records.

One of the great things about Star Trek to me is that you never know what you’re going to get from any random episode. A murder mystery? A road trip? A spooky thriller? A cheesy romance? Broad comedy? Body horror? Didactic political screeds shrouded in tissue-thin science-fiction metaphors? Brain and brain, what is brain??? And after this many years of watching, you’d think I’d be hard to surprise. But if I ever told you I thought I’d see a Blues Brothers–style car chase through a frickin’ shopping mall on an episode of Star Trek, I would have been straight-up lying to you. I loved it, it worked for me, my jaw was on the floor and I was clapping with joy—but I’m definitely comfortable calling this one “unexpected.”

It’s CAPTAIN SHELBY!!! And an ancient babydyke crush rose from the depths of my childhood subconscious… (Also I think her Number One is based on the original makeup—eventually deemed too complicated—for Saru? Now that’s a deep cut.)

In 20th-century Trek, you almost never got to see what was going on inside a starship from the outside. Even after they switched from physical models (where it was next to impossible on a single episode’s budget) to CGI (which was still in its infancy, still not exactly cheap, and still broadcast in SD anyway), it was a rare thrill to see any meaningful interior details in an exterior shot. Disco’s modern VFX have given us some tasty, tasty treats in that department, but nothing quite as sublime as all the pink Doopler light glittering through the Cerritos’s windows.

Mariner says she’ll take her contact Malvus down with her, and threatens that they’ll end up “in the same cell.” Malvus is a Mizarian, a species introduced in TNG’s “Allegiance,” in which Captain Picard is held in a mysterious prison with one. I think I see what you did there, McMahan?

Bartender… so hot… lesbian circuits… overloading…

The Tendi and Rutherford C-story was, well, a C-story within a 22-minute episode, so there wasn’t much to it, but the one scene that mattered actually mattered a lot. I’m ambivalent on whether they should end up romantically involved—I’d prefer they don’t, but they’ll be one of the cutest couples in Trek history if they do—and as long as they keep that pure, sweet friendship between them at the heart of whatever else happens, I’m on board.

Carol Freeman was already one of my favourite captains before this season, and she’s been steadily moving up the list. The quiet throughline about her ambition to be on a better ship has been fascinating so far, and it’s starting to actually make me feel a little conflicted: I’m of course rooting for Captain Freeman to recognize her worth, make Starfleet recognize her worth, and become the ass-kicking captain of a hero ship that she’s clearly ready to be—but that almost surely means she’d be kicking ass off-screen, because LwD isn’t about those kind of adventures, and I’d be devastated not to have Dawnn Lewis on the show every week. So I’m kind of on the edge of my seat about this one!

I had so many favourite jokes this week I put them in a separate list:

“Even the replicated water on the Titan tasted better” is a low-key brilliant dunk on people who can’t shut the fuck up about the cooler places they used to live.

“Ooooh, they have a Quark’s now! That used to just be an empty lot where teens would make mistakes!” ← That’s literally me every time I go back to where I grew up. I felt so Seen™ I almost hid under a blanket.

“I would never go down the stairs!” (evil grin) (goes up the stairs)

The “well, shit” expressions from Mariner and Boimler as their crashed car sank right into the water… which started to bubble innocuously… and then the bottles of Data bubble-bath popped up, paying off a joke I thought had already been paid off—that was the one that woke up my poor cat this week. Just exquisite timing.

“YOUR PAGH IS WEAK, AND IT DISGUSTS ME!” “I don’t even know what that is, but I don’t like your tone!”

“Okona’s in there? He’s not even Starfleet! This is outrageous!” made me shout “NO!” at the screen like I was scolding my cat for scratching furniture. (She did not wake up that time.)

Best background joke: the neon sign at the dive bar advertising FREE SHOTS & BEERS. (Get it? Because they’re on a Federation starbase? Where nobody uses money?)

And of course Quark merchandised DS9.

This wasn’t just a standout episode of Lower Decks, this was a brilliant episode of Star Trek, period. The Dooplers, though extremely silly, are nevertheless also a clever sci-fi metaphor for real and relatable personal/interpersonal issues, and an effective plot catalyst for meaningful character growth from all four of our ensigns and the captain.

The jokes were hilarious, the action was kinetic, the A-, B-, and C-plots linked up thematically, the visuals were consistently and thoroughly gorgeous, the character beats—between Mariner and Boimler, Tendi and Rutherford, Mariner and Capt. Freeman—were all genuine, heartfelt and wholesome, and the references to other Trek canon were both deep and deeply affectionate.

Only 15 episodes in, and this series knows exactly what it is, exactly what it wants to do, and knows that it can knock our socks off doing it. Mike McMahan has said in recent interviews that the back half of S2 (and the apparently almost-fully-written S3) is a straight line uphill in quality from here—which surprised me at first, because McMahan seems like a pretty chill dude who doesn’t normally brag about his own work like that.

But then the Prophets sent me a vision of my space dad Ben Sisko, who reminded me of the words of 1930’s baseball player Dizzy Dean:

“If you can do it, it ain’t bragging.”

[Thanks to cygnus-x1.net for the screenshots this week—I was too lazy to do my own.]

[ladykatakuri]

Layers

Pairing: Wrecker x Reader

Word Count: 2221

Warnings: Just fluffy and a kiss! Wrecker is not just the hug-a-bear we all love, he is more !

Song Lyrics: Faith of the Heart performed by : Russel Watson

Summary: People always judge you by your so-called defects, but Wreck…” Carefully you place a finger under his chin and lift it. “You are a man with so many layers to discover. Beside your sweet and gentle nature, your love of explosions and bets with Cross on who can destroy the most clankers and your deep affection for your family, there is so much more.

So a Wrecker one shot i made. I think there is far more to the man then has been shown until now and i hope that we will get to see more in depth about all of our sweet Batch in season 2 ( and yes I mean all of them when i say Batch! Crosshair included! )

The Havoc Marauder always seemed as a small home to you all. There was enough space to sit and relax, sleep after a mission or work while underway to whatever planet it was the lot of you would go to, to earn some credits. It was a home away from home, even though you also had a new home base on Ord Mantel. The Marauder was that bit more special because it was the last part of home that the guys had left after defecting from the Empire. Today it seemed to be a refuge for one of the guys and you were glad it was parked on Ord Mantel. Now at the very least, you could spend some time with him, without having to worry that one of the others would walk in on the two of you, without having to worry that he would shut you out again.

“Wrecker….” You walk up to the man currently sitting with his back against the wall of the Marauder. It took you a minute to realise he had taken refuge in the hull and you would not let him get away with withdrawing himself from you again.

“Wrecker, you know you can talk to me right? If not me, then you should find someone to talk to. Please Wreck, don't shut me out.” You slide down next to him on the floor and put a hand on his arm.

When he turns his head to you, you see his watery smile. As much as he is always the cheery and positive man around his family, he now seems to have withdrawn from it all to suffer alone. “I… I don't know where to even start Mini.”

Mini, the name he has given you when you first met and it never left. It became his sweet nickname for you, knowing that you never felt secure about yourself. You had always been well aware you were more weighty then most of the women crowding around the troopers at 79s and all the women flocking towards the men of the Bad Batch whenever they showed up in a bar. The clones who were the majority of the visitors to 79s never looked at you as someone different because of looks though and Wrecker and his brothers were very quick to point out how sweet they found you and how special you had become to them when you joined their little family. To Wrecker you were the most beautiful person in the galaxy as well. He named you Mini, because compared to him, almost everyone was small and you were no different in that. Softly patting his arm you tell him to start where he wants to start.

It's been a long road

Getting from there to here

It's been a long time

But my time is finally near

“I guess, I just wonder where it all will end, or when it all will end. Omega is still just a kid ya know? She is growing up fast, but she is supposed to be a kid. She should be playing with other kids and having fun, bringing home stray animals as pets and kiss a special someone…. Well not kiss, that would not be alright with me and the guys, but when she is older…. But she is learning how to fight and kill now and she is a fugitive with us. It ain't right.” He almost shouts out the words, as if it was blocking his every thought and had to be thrown out there. “I know it wouldn't be much of a life on Kamino for her and all, but still… Is this the right thing to do for her? To keep her with us where she is always in danger?”

You know it is a sentiment that all of the men have had at one point, but Wrecker who bonded strongly with the young girl, as the older brother, felt strongly protective of his little sibling and feared greatly for her safety. With what you hoped to be a reassuring smile you look at him. “Wreck, I know you worry. But this is also Omega`s choice. You all wanted to give her a chance at a more normal life with Cut and Suu. She chose to be with you and live her life with you. You are her family and family is all that matters to her and to you.”

For the first time he grins. “Yeah, she is stubborn ey? Guess she has that in common with us.” Reaching to his side, he grabs a bag of his favorite snack, most times shared with the young girl after a mission. “Want some Mantel Mix too? “ He offers you the bag and you grab a handful of the mix. Popping some in his mouth he chews while staring at the wall opposing you. “Remember how we first got to talk? It was in the hull of the Marauder as well.”

And I can feel the change in the wind right now

Nothings in my way

And they're not gonna hold me down no more

No they're not gonna hold me down

No they're not gonna hold me down

You had been travelling with the guys for a while now, getting used to the day to day business and to being somewhat of a sister figure to Omega. You were no warrior, no clone and no mechanic or medic. You were just the person who was easy in making connections with people when you decided to give it a real try and you knew how to prepare meals from whatever was lying around that was edible. And even more important, you befriended the Bad Batch and covered for them when it was first announced they had defected from the Empire. Knowing how close you had grown to the men, you were under investigation and the guys quickly decided to get you away from the Empire's clutches as fast as they could.

Each of the Batch had grown rather attached to you and Omega clung to you, especially when it came to doing the girly stuff. You enjoyed it immensely but it was Wrecker who surprised you the most. The man had always been considered a simple person that loved explosions and fighting and having his sweet snacks. He could party like the best of them and that was all there was to him. Boy, did he surprise you when you walked in on him one night.

You had been on the way to some remote planet in the Outer Rim. The possibility of finding an ally or foe was small and you needed supplies. Tech and Echo were in the cockpit as usual while Crosshair and Hunter were sound asleep. Omega shared her private sleeping space with you and after a long talk and reading a fantasy story she finally fell asleep. Lula was tucked snugly in with her after which you softly stepped down a ladder and moved to grab something to drink. You stumbled in on Wrecker, concentrated on something on a pad and not hearing you enter the hull. “What ya doing Wreck?” Carefully moving around a crate, you stand beside him and look down.

“Y/N ! You surprised me!.” He quickly puts the pad beside him and looks up to where you stand. I was, well… I was reading something.” He scratches his neck and a slight blush creeps up on his cheeks as he looks at you.

Tilting your head you slide down beside him. “What are you reading?”

For a moment he seems to be debating whether or not he should let you know. Then, he grabs the pad and hands it over to you. When you look at the text displayed you look up. “Wreck, I didn`t know you were interested in this.”

He shyly smiles at you as he takes the pad back. “I like to read about things… Do you know about this man? Asimov? He is really smart. I thought maybe… There is something we can use from what he writes when we face clankers and all.” The sincerity in his voice surprises you a bit.

“I won't say I understand everything this man writes, but it is very interesting. Honestly, I prefer reading different kinds of stories. Romantic novels, historic stories or thrillers and all that. Biographies can be very interesting too and sometimes it can still teach us still I guess.”

Wrecker nods at your every word and a smile beams at you. “You love reading too! Why didn't you tell me? We could share favorites and talk about them if you want? I mean, if that's something you'd like?”

From that moment on, the two of you would share time together whenever you could to talk about the latest story you discovered, about the things either of you did not understand and the other could explain or just reading the same book. More than once it happened that the others would walk in on the two of you, you with your head against him, him with his head in your lap or the other way around, just enjoying the stories you were reading or discussing the stories. Those moments were also the start of Wrecker opening up even more to you about the past and sometimes about his deepest feelings and fears.

Cause I've got faith of the heart

I'm going where my heart will take me

I've got faith to believe

I can do anything

I've got strength of the soul

And no one's gonna bend or break me

I can reach any star

I've got faith

I've got faith

Faith of the heart

Now right here in the present, you realise that the man you came to love for his love of life and his hidden, deeper layers of personality is severely struggling with everything that has happened up until now. And he needed to work through it, alone and with you. Carefully you lay your head against him. “What else is wrong Wreck? I know it is not only Omega you worry about. You always shut people out when things bother you and you retreat to wherever you can go to vent.”

Wrecker inhales deeply and shifts to wrap his arm around you. “You know Mini, there is so much that happened. Omega is young and a fugitive with us, my chip activated and I almost killed them! Crosshair…. well you know his chip also activated and we lost him for a little while. I`m just happy we got him back again, but he has a lot to work through and he still blames us sometimes. And you….. Mini, you are not safe with us either. They will hurt you if they ever get you. I don't want you to get hurt Mini. I mean, we all have been injured on jobs and stuff, but you and Omega? I would die if something happened to either of you!”

You can hear his heart race as he speaks and feel his body shudder at the thought of you and Omega getting hurt somehow. But, you let him vent every bit of emotion, every bit of anger and fear he has deep inside of himself. He finally decided to open up and let this out. He decided to let you be the one to hear every thought and every struggle he has been fighting with on his own. To so many people he appeared to be a simple man, but you knew better. You knew all too well how many layers there were to this gentle giant.

Pulling away from his body you sit up on your knees in front of him. “Wrecker. You are the most gentle man I have met. You care so deeply for your own and you would sacrifice all that you have and all that you are to ensure their safety. People always judge you by your so-called defects, but Wreck…” Carefully you place a finger under his chin and lift it. “You are a man with so many layers to discover. Beside your sweet and gentle nature, your love of explosions and bets with Cross on who can destroy the most clankers and your deep affection for your family, there is so much more. You are smart, Wrecker. You have an intelligence that defies the understanding of those who always considered you only by your CT number and purpose. And Wreck? You are also the only man I truly, deeply, love.” You place a gentle kiss on his lips as you look him in the eyes.

As you pull back from him, a grin forms around his lips. Without any warning he embraces you and then stands up and slings you over his shoulder. With a high pitched yelp from you, he walks out of the Marauder and into the streets of Ord Mantel. “Time to treat you to some proper dinner, my sweet Mini!”

Before he lowers you back to your feet, he kisses you with a smile.

Out in the back, a man grins and turns around. You only see a glimpse of a red bandana, as Wrecker walks off with his arm wrapped tightly around you. Your Wrecker, a man of deep devotion and many layers to him.

@loth-wolffe@hellothere-generalangsty@chaoticvampirejedi@nahoney22@reluctant-mandalore@kin-rokku@cyroku@m-o-o-n-s-g-o-o-n-s@catbustours@uponrightful

I have tagged people I think might like this, if you want to be tagged in future works or do not want to be tagged anymore, please let me know in a messege <3

[hermits-that-craft]

Full Moon In Alpha

this is based on @target-block‘s stuck au, go check them out!

He’s more than worried, the potion that he always kept on him having disappeared from his inventory with the rest of his things. He needs that potion, though he knows he won't be able to brew it until they get that update, though the full moon is tonight. He hasn’t made any preparations, he needs to get going before night gets too close and he puts Impulse and Grian in danger.

Still, Ren stands calmly outside the small wheat farm that he made, watching as the wheat grows slowly, and the grass-like plant dances in the wind. It’s calming here, not nearly as calming as the small room under the ocean that Doc built for him, all glass and stone and safety, hiding him away from the moon and the other hermits. 

But here is as good as it can be, Ren supposes, a faint smile fluttering across his lips. Grian walks by, wood planks in his hands, humming a tune to himself that Ren recognises but doesn’t remember. It’s surprisingly fast, how many memories that end up smudged, faded over time. Friends faces, song names, words that fall on the tip of your tongue. Ren should remember Doc’s face, Xisuma’s favourite song, the soup False makes for the hippies and the area 77 boys when they get too sick to cause mischief. And he can, in theory. Words he would describe Doc’s face as appear, a few bars of notes that Xisuma taught him, the taste of mushrooms in the soup. It hurts, remembering home, though it hurts more to forget. Forgetting is painful, hard to wrap his head around, so he doesn’t. Instead, he brushes his hair absentmindedly, combing his fingers through the thick, tangled messes. It’s thicker than usual, and Ren knows that he’ll need to leave soon, before the sun sets and it’s too hard to excuse his disappearance to his fellow hippies. Before the moon comes out.

“Hey Ren!” Impulse calls, watching him from the door of their little cabin. “Are you going to come in yet? It looks like it’s going to rain, and the sun’ll set soon!”

“Uh, can I take a walk my dudes?” Ren calls back, trying to keep the panic out of his voice. Grian laughs from inside the cabin, and Ren curses himself. He should have left earlier, before Grian was back.

“Do you want to get torn apart by a zombie?” Grian asks, and Impulse grabs Ren’s shoulder, pulling him towards the building. “You know how hard night is now, you can’t go out!”

“How about tomorrow?” Impulse suggests, shoving Ren through the door. “We can all go out tomorrow morning. Find some flowers, you know?”

“There are only roses and dandelions, Impulse.” 

“I know Grian.”

“Roses hurt, Impulse.”

“I know Grian.” Impulse sighs. “Still, it’ll be nice, you know? Relaxing.”

“Sleep should do that though.” Grian yawns. “Anyone want some steak? The roof is repaired, by the way. I put some torches up there so we should have anymore creepers spawning up there.”

Impulse takes a steak off of Grian, handing it to Ren before he takes one for himself. Ren holds it in his hands, fear turning his stomach into knots. He can feel his mouth water at the smell, and his teeth sharpen painfully in his mouth, cutting into his cheeks and tongue as they grow in a space too small for them. It’s going to be a painful night, Ren knows that much. Ren turns the steak over in his hands, his nails sharpening to claws. He’s turning, earlier than normal, and fur pokes painfully under his skin. 

“Uh, Ren?” Grian’s voice is quiet, and Ren’s head snaps to the small hermit, his pupils blown. “What’s going on?”

Impulse moves in front of Grian, his hand resting on the hilt of his sword. None of them would ever attack the other, but Ren looks like he isn’t there, isn’t in control. Ren snarls at the men before a scream rips from his throat, his bones breaking and elongating in painful contortions. Fur springs out from under his skin and his pupils dilate so far that his eyes are black. Grian and Impulse shout, Grian quickly building a barricade between the now wolf Ren and the two very human hippies.

“Grian.”

“Yeah?”

“Since when was Ren a werewolf?”

“HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO KNOW THAT IMPULSE I ONLY JOINED THIS SEASON?” Grian yells, panic written across his face. “What do we do? How do we help him?”

“What if he doesn’t want our help? He can’t tell us if we’re hurting him or helping him, how are we supposed to let him know that we want to help?” Impulse and Grian both take a deep breath in, trying to calm themselves.

“I’m going out there. Maybe all we have to do is open the door for him, so that he can get out safely?” Grian doesn’t sound sure, as though he doesn’t know if its a good idea.

“And let him get shot? Lets just give him some hugs and then head off to bed.” Impulse suggests, and Grian nods, breaking the wood blocks that are barricading them into the corner.

Ren is curled on the ground, thick, long brown fur hiding the bed underneath him. He’s huge, larger than any dog that Impulse and Grian have ever seen and the two humans coo, surprising Ren, who looks up at them, tilting his head to the side. Grian walks over to Ren, his hands out in front of him, and Ren sniffs them before his tail starts to wag uncontrollably. Impulse coos, walking over and letting Ren sniff his hands as well. Grian and Impulse grin, happy that their friend feels somewhat comfortable.

“Doggo.” Grian mumbles, his hands over his mouth. “Ren’s a doggo.”

Ren boofs loudly, and Impulse and Grian burst into laughter, losing their minds as Ren boofs again, nudging Impulse. Impulse lifts his hand up, cocking his head to the side. Ren presses his head against Impulse’s hand, and Impulse begins to scratch at the spot that his hand landed on. Grian yawns, trying to find the bed under Ren, wondering why Ren decided to sit on his bed instead of Ren’s own bed. Impulse laughs at Grian’s dilemma, and Grian sighs, deciding instead to flop against Ren. Impulse joins Grian soon after, and the three hippies fall asleep like that, dreaming peacefully for what feels like the first time since they arrived in Alpha.

[bikkinibottom]

Can’t Walk Without You

Here’s a little something I wrote to celebrate 100 followers! I got the idea based off of this post here.

This is my first time writing fanfic so I’d love for some feedback! Hope you all enjoy it!

Summary: It’s the 90’s and Percy makes mixtapes for Annabeth. She listens to them when she misses him.

She took it with her everywhere now, constantly listening to whichever song that played through the Walkman. It got to the point where even if she was having a conversation or in a meeting, the headphones rested around her neck playing music just loud enough for her to still hear and whoever happened to be right next to her. Some may call it rude, but people knew to never question Annabeth, especially with everything going on now.

Annabeth remembers the first mixtape Percy had made for her when they were fourteen. It was not too long after the battle on Mount Othrys where Percy and the group had rescued her and the goddess Artemis from Luke’s imprisonment. She smiles fondly too herself as she remembers the encounter with Percy:

Christmas was just around the corner and Annabeth begrudgingly decided to spend the holiday with her family in San Francisco. Percy and she had agreed to meet up to exchange gifts at Half-Blood Hill before she left. She stood near the Big House, which was adorned in colorful holiday lights, waiting for him. Behind her led to where the cabins were, the hearth at the center of the U-shaped formation seemed to glow brighter than ever, warm and inviting just like a fireplace at Christmas-time should be. The sky was clear save for a few clouds, the constellations piercing and bright. Fresh snow lay all over camp, some of the year-rounders just beginning to take advantage of the fresh snowfall. She looked up to see Percy approaching her, his ears looked pink without a hat on from what she could tell in the dim light.

‘Seaweed Brain’ she thought, thinking of the winter hat she knit him for his gift. It was a simple beanie that was baby blue, with one black stripe cutting across.

“Took you long enough. I got a flight to catch tomorrow, Seaweed Brain,” she jokingly said to him.

Clearly something else was occupying his mind because the scowl he attempted to make wasn’t sincere and looked more like fond exasperation. Annabeth tried not to look too into it.

He stopped walking and begun to turn around dramatically.

“Well if you’re gonna have that attitude about it I’ll just be on my-” but Annabeth cut him off with a laugh and shoved his arm.

“Come on, Percy. I’ve been waiting for this,” she told him with a bit of mock irritation in her voice.

“You have?” the boy before her asked timidly. And for the first time that night, Annabeth noticed Percy actually looked anxious for whichever reason she could not figure out yet. His eyes looked more of a golden from the reflection of the Christmas lights shining off the Big House.

Annabeth looked away from his eyes as she casually said, “Duh, we’re exchanging gifts. It’s like the best part of the holiday season,” though she wasn’t too sure of her response seeing the gloomy expression take over his face.

Percy looked away as he let out a simple, “Right.”

Not wishing to dampen the mood on what was supposed to be a pleasant occasion, Annabeth quickly asks, “Do you want to go first?”

“Uh, I- no. You go first,” he responded quickly as well.

Annabeth presented him with his gift bag filled with sea-green tissue paper and he dug around in it until he pulled out the gift card she had gotten him. He flipped it over to see what it was for and he smiled appreciatively.

“That’s the skate store you go to a lot right? The one by your apartment?” she asked just to double-check and make sure.

“Yeah! I- Thanks Annabeth,” he told her genuinely then paused. “Uh, how much is on it?”

“A hundred dollars,” she replied.

His eyes seemed to pop out of his head before he stuttered for the next few seconds. Annabeth just looked at him with a confused but amused smile on her face.

“This- this is more than enough for a whole new skateboard. I- I don’t think I can accept this,” he blurted out in shock.

“Skateboards are expensive. I thought that was a good amount,” she said matter-of-factly. Annabeth had briefly forgotten that Percy and his mom didn’t have a whole lot, meanwhile, her family was more than well off and Annabeth could afford to splurge on her friends.

“There’s another gift in the bag,” she pointed out.

He gave her an incredulous look before digging around in the bag. He pulled out the beanie wrapped in a layer of tissue paper and unwrapped it. He held out the hat in front of him with a neutral expression.

“You hardly ever wear a hat, let alone own a proper winter one so I figured you could use a nice one. I made it myself,” she said, her voice laced with pride. It had taken her a couple of tries to knit a hat before she managed to perfect it. Athena wasn’t the goddess of crafts for nothing. Annabeth was proud of her handiwork.

“You made this?” he asked softly. The tender look in his eyes made Annabeth’s face a little warm but she nodded genuinely.

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” Annabeth said. “It’s your turn.”

“O- oh. Right.” Percy cleared his throat and placed the gift bag on the snowy ground with his presents inside. He reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a card with a smaller rectangular box attached to it. Annabeth didn’t know what the box could be seeing as it was wrapped but she opened the card and read it to herself first.

The card itself didn’t have many words and with the low-lighting, she couldn’t exactly make it out with her dyslexia. But underneath the message of the card, she noticed Percy’s chicken scratch hand-writing where he wrote out in Ancient Greek, ‘Hope you have a good new year. Merry Christmas, Wise Girl. Your friend, Percy’.

She smiled up at him and gave him a sweet thank you.

“Um, the uh, the gift. I made it myself. I don’t know if you’ll like it but um, if you give it back I understand. It’s kind of lame, actually-” Percy stammered out, and she could tell the red on his face wasn’t coming from the Christmas lights. With a roll of her eyes, she tore open the wrapping and was presented with a cassette player. Written on one side in Percy’s hand-writing it said: ‘Songs I Think You’ll Like (vol. 1)’.

“It’s a mixtape,” Percy blurted out, “I was thinking about how we’ve barely ever talked about music so I put a bunch of songs I figured you’d like. You can listen to it whenever you want.”

Annabeth was at a loss for words. Picturing Percy in his room toiling with the radio on, waiting for hours for the right song to come on to record, or maybe using some of Sally’s old records to record music from... It was a little too much for Annabeth.

Impulsively she jumped towards Percy, wrapping her arms around his neck in a quick hug. Backing away she looked him in the eyes.

“Thank you, I love it,” she told him. At that point, she didn’t need a mirror to know that both their faces were red now.

“Really?” he asked, relief in his voice and body language.

“Yes, I can’t wait to listen to it,” she answered genuinely.

A goofy smile broke out onto his face and Annabeth felt herself smiling as well. After talking for a bit more, they eventually said their goodbyes and parted ways.

As Annabeth boarded the plane the next morning, she had a brand new Walkman stuffed in her pocket that she had bought as soon as she left the campgrounds last night. She couldn’t wait to listen to it on the plane.

Recalling the memory brought a melancholy smile to her face, but it was very dim. Annabeth remembers how nearly every month after that she received a mixtape from Percy in the mail, each with a different purpose but all equally good. When they had started dating, the music became a lot more romantic and he would gift her one at each monthly anniversary. She would’ve received a new mixtape soon for their five-month anniversary, but now he was missing and Annabeth wasn’t sure if she’d ever get to hear it. The thought made her chest ache painfully, and she blinked back tears.

Rolling onto her back in her bunk, Annabeth thought back to the events of the day and let out a frustrated sigh. Just when she finally had some type of lead to where her boyfriend might be, she was met with three demigods at the Grand Canyon with more questions than answers. Not to mention her least favorite goddess seemed to be involved in all of this somehow. Realizing she needed to get actual sleep tonight if she was going to leave early in the morning to search for Percy, the daughter of Athena put on her invisibility cap, grabbed her Walkman, and snuck out of Cabin 6 to head over to Cabin 3.

Inhaling the ocean scent that Poseidon’s cabin had, Annabeth made her way over to Percy’s dresser, where he always kept extra clothes. Grabbing one of his hoodies, she put it on and laid down in Percy’s bunk. It wasn’t the biggest secret amongst her siblings that she would often sneak out to his cabin at night but since he went missing she made it her new unassigned sleeping quarters.

If the bed weren’t cold, Annabeth could almost imagine Percy there with her. Surrounding herself in his ocean breeze scent helped put her to sleep but there was some dull ache lingering inside her tonight. It was as if there was nothing inside her; her heart, her lungs, everything just- gone. Instead, a dark void seemed to eat at her from the inside out, and all of her senses felt numb.

Putting on her headphones and pressing play on the Walkman, her favorite cassette plays out. Once they’d started dating, Percy gave her this one and told her the songs sounded a bit like the one they had danced to on Olympus all those years ago. She recalls Percy telling her that to him the song sounded a bit sad, but a little hopeful too.

Annabeth cries herself to sleep that night.

[onestowatch]

Lollapalooza 2021: 15 Ones to Catch (Who Aren’t Headlining)

Lollapalooza is officially one week away, and wow does that feel good to say. As one of the first music festivals to welcome us back to festival season after a far too long hibernation, the annual festival, hosted at Grant Park in Chicago, Illinois, is set to bring the musical stylings of Tyler, the Creator, Miley Cyrus, Foo Fighters, Megan Thee Stallion, and plenty more. But, unless you’ve been living under a rock, chances are that you’re already more than familiar with the artists set to headline. So why not figure out who to see while you’re waiting to scream along to Call Me If You Get Lost.

From collectives who are moving beyond the need for genres to music that is just as likely to make you cry as it is laugh, these are 15 ones to catch (who aren’t headlining) at Lollapalooza 2021.

Peach Tree Rascals

When & Where: Sunday, 2 p.m. at Bud Light Seltzer Stage

Peach Tree Rascals’ Lollapalooza set has been a very, very long time coming. The Bay Area–bred collective has been steadily making waves with their genre-bending approach to indie-pop that calls to mind a more idyllic, lovesick BROCKHAMPTON (an act you should most definitely catch as well). And despite emerging a growing fan-favorite in the last couple years, the aforementioned rascals have yet to play a show, ever. With a headline tour that was canceled due to COVID, Lollapalooza will officially be making history as the first-ever Peach Tree Rascals set.

Tate McRae

When & Where: Saturday, 5:15 p.m. at Grubhub Stage

Tate McRae’s rise through the pop stratosphere has felt meteoric. First gaining fame at the young age of 13 for being the first Canadian finalist on So You Think You Can Dance, McRae has certainly come a long way to stand as one of the most promising voices in pop. With a vocal range more than powerful enough to deliver haunting dark pop ballads like “you broke me first” one moment and stand side-by-side with Khalid on the summer bop “working” the next, there are no two ways about it. McRae is a pop star in the making and this is your chance to catch her before her inevitable headliner status.  

Marc Rebillet

When & Where: Saturday, 9:00 p.m. at Grubhub Stage

Part-time meme and full-time artist, Marc Rebillet creates music with an unmatched comedic timing. It’s a comedic genius that has led to him getting a 24-hour ban on Twitch—for taking his shirt off in the middle of a stream, an act which I’m guessing Lollapalooza will be more than forgiving of giving his penchant for performing in a bathrobe. The self-described improvisational artist creates all his songs from scratch, resulting in an experience where no two live shows are quite the same. Come for the comedy, stay for the absolute dancefloor bangers.

Dayglow

When & Where: Thursday, 3:45 p.m. at Lake Shore Stage

Dayglow is sure to bring a smile to your face and put a pep in your step. Apologies if I sounded like my grandparents there, but there’s no denying the sonic sunshine that is Dayglow’s rapturous brand of indie-pop. Paying homage to the dance-inducing melancholy of ‘80s pop duets, it’s difficult not to get swept up in the Austin, Texas–bred artist’s hypnotic vision. It’s the sort of euphoric music that feels almost tailor-made for the return of festival season—drenched in sunny rays and brimming with infectious sincerity.

Giveon

When & Where: Friday, 4:45 p.m. at T-Mobile Stage

Before his breakout moment on Justin Bieber’s “Peaches,” Giveon was already charting his path for R&B domination. With an angelic and haunting baritone, each R&B rumination carries with it a palpable weight—an emotional turmoil that is only elevated by the minimalistic soundscapes which allow the proper space for his transfixing voice to fully shine. For a crash course on Giveon, check out a compilation of his two standout EPs, When It’s All Said and Done… Take Time. Or better yet, experience the magic of Giveon live.

Ashe

When & Where: Thursday, 6:30 p.m. at Grubhub Stage

Ashe creates effortlessly timeless music, blurring the line between the nostalgic songwriting of Fleetwood Mac and a modern-day folk-pop star. The sentiment is best expressed in her critically-acclaimed debut album, Ashlyn, which demonstrates the Los Angeles artist’s peerless songwriting acumen, toeing the line between rapturous euphoria one moment and deeply affecting storytelling the next. If you need a good laugh or cry, do not miss out on Ashe.

Sir Chloe

When & Where: Sunday, 12:45 p.m. at T-Mobile Stage

Fronted by Dana Foote and comprised of Teddy O’mara on guitar, Palmer Foote on drums, and Austin Holmes on bass, Sir Chloe’s music exists in the nebulous void of haunting dark pop and heart-rending alternative garage rock. The New York–based indie rock band originally started as a college project, birthed in the music halls of Bennington College, and now they’re set to take Lollapalooza by storm. With an impressive debut album, 2020’s Party Favors, under their belt, this set feels only the beginning for the bewitching indie outfit. 

jxdn

When & Where: Sunday, 3 p.m. at Bud Light Seltzer Stage

jxdn is the latest artist to make good on pop-punk’s continued resurgence. The first signing to Travis Barker’s DTA Records, the breakout singer-songwriter has found a fan in not only the blink-182 star but in Machine Gun Kelly, who jxdn is set to tour with this fall and makes an appearance on his debut album, Tell Me About Tomorrow. With an acclaimed debut album in the books and some of pop-punk’s biggest stars behind him, jxdn is sure to deliver a Lollapalooza debut for the ages. 

AG Club

When & Where: Friday, 7:45 p.m. at Grubhub Stage

AG Club, an abbreviation of avant-garde club, is a genre-less music collective that shares a lot in common with fellow Lollapalooza must-see act, Peach Tree Rascals, including a collaborative single. But don’t get things twisted, this Bay Area collective has their own vision in store for you. With a brash, in-your-face attitude, AG Club is likely to draw comparisons to the Saturation era of BROCKHAMPTON and glory days of ASAP Mob, but with their introspective, omnivorous approach, they deftly manage to emerge as an act all their own. If you want to go where the party is, don’t miss AG Club.

Tai Verdes

When & Where: Friday, 1:45 p.m. at Bud Light Seltzer Stage

Where would we be without TikTok? I, for one, would be without my preferred form of short-form entertainment and the world be without the infectious pop-R&B stylings of one Tai Verdes. Originally working at Verizon before his breakout single, “Stuck in the Middle,” became a viral hit on TikTok, Verdes is now one of the most promising and rapidly rising acts in music today. And with his debut album, TV, the viral star proved himself no one-hit-wonder, delivering a collection of tracks that span a range of emotions and genres that we cannot wait to experience live.

Dominic Fike

When & Where: Thursday, 7:45 p.m. at Grubhub Stage

Dominic Fike is a musical chameleon. First breaking out with his unassuming radio hit “3 Nights,” to only jump into the absolute vibe that is the Kenny Beats–assisted “Phone Numbers,” and culminate it all with the genre-spanning debut album, What Could Possibly Go Wrong, Fike is an artist whose limitations seem limitless. It’s a notion that plays out in his breathtaking live show, reworking his hits with an insatiable appetite until they’re songs that exist only in that singular moment. Fike’s is set you will not want to miss.

Oliver Tree

When & Where: Thursday, 9 p.m. at Grubhub Stage

Alternative auteur Oliver Tree is nothing if not unpredictable. Flaunting his signature JNCO jeans and an impressive professional razor scooter pedigree, the inimitable artist delivers on an infectious blend of alternative, electronic, hip-hop, and pop that defies any simplistic classification. And with his debut album, Ugly Is Beautiful, now out in the wild after a much-hyped cancellation and subsequent surprise release, Tree has more than his fair share of music to pull from. Plus, given his penchant for going in and out of retirement like he’s trying to break a record only known to him, it’s probably best not to miss this set.   

RMR

When & Where: Sunday, 2:45 p.m. at Tito’s Handmade Vodka Stage

RMR originally made headlines with his breakout single, “RASCAL,” a transfixing country trap ballad that saw the rapper donning a black balaclava and Saint Laurent bulletproof vest while rapping over an interpolation of Rascal Flatts’ “Bless The Broken Road.” Since then, the anonymous rapper has been spotted hitting the town with Sharon Stone and embracing his penchant for melodic trap in the Westside Gunn, Future, Lil Baby, and Young Thung–loaded Drug Dealing Is a Lost Art. Existing at the fusion of trap country and melodic rap, RMR’s Lolla set is one you’re not likely to forget anytime soon.

Chiiild

When & Where: Sunday, 12:00 p.m. at Lake Shore Stage

Nostalgic and novel, Chiiild’s self-described brand of “synthetic soul” is nothing short of intoxicating. Setting its own sauntering pace, Chiiild’s unique take on R&B and soul takes on a cosmic energy, as if floating through a wormhole with nothing but a single cassette deck on hand. It’s a testament to the Canadian band’s all-encompassing approach that draws upon not just R&B and soul but psychedelia, jazz, indie, and pop to craft a sound that is all their own. Take a trip on Sunday, and meet us at Chiiild.

All Time Low

When & Where: Thursday, 6 p.m. at Tito’s Handmade Vodka Stage

Because teenage you wasn’t old enough to convince your parents to let you see All Time Low the first time “Dear Maria, Count Me In” was trending.

[myracingcareer]

Formula 1 Future Cars

In new Formula 1 system there will be 3 types of car parts to be purchased or developed - engine, aerodynamic parts  and mechanical parts. This is no change to the current system. What will be changed are the details.

The most important change is that thanks to costs cap we will have better estimations of what teams would be able to build. Currently the teams are building parts with quality around 93-95% and close to potential. So it does not make much sense to continue development to gain some advantage during the season like we have in real life F1.

The target of new cars system would be that when teams spends all the money from the costs cap quality for the parts should be little above 85% and potential still closer to 95% than 90%. So it should be possible to do side projects to improve current car at a cost of next season`s car development.

Since there will be many options it will be necessary to plan long term and take smart decisions. Remember, there will be costs cap implemented.

Engine

The problem with the current engines system is that it is difficult for us to find balance between price/quality of independent engine suppliers. (but also gearboxes which are not used from suppliers at all). New system should fix this issue and independent suppliers will be removed, while feature to sell engine built by teams to other teams might be added.

Besides the controversial suppliers the feedback from managers is that the new engines system is a pretty good and interesting thing. So this system will be the same in the future with some small adjustments.

rules cycle - fixed 8 seasons (no coin flip)

building new engine will be possible for 4 season before they can be used and then 4 seasons to improve when they are already in use before new engines will have to be implemented

energy store and gearbox are mechanical parts but they are optimized for engines therefore the same rules cycle will be used for them as for engines so the 4 years before engines can be used is also time to develop engine, gearbox and energy store.

independent suppliers for all 3 parts will be removed from the game

every part will have information about level of main facility stored (highest value during development) - downgrade of the facility will require fee to be paid to maintain quality of the related part equal to maintenance fees until new engine can be developed - or significant downgrade of the parts.

OPEN TOPIC FOR DISCUSSION It is realistic from real F1 that one team (Mercedes) can supply engines to few more teams (Aston Martin, McLaren, Williams). So we are thinking of reasonable system to allow this.

maximum 3 customer teams per supplier team

customer teams cannot tune engines, receives combination of best parts designed by the supplier team, and this engines will have lowered handling attribute (not natural integration penalty)

supplier team will set budget for full engine development at the beginning and the engine price for the customer teams will be based on this, so it won’t be possible to build super engine and sell it cheaply to friendly team (in general price for 8 season payments would be similar to budget spent on the engines)

supplier will decide whom to sell engines, agreement between teams will be reported and stored in agreement register

supplier cannot cancel the deal during rule cycle (to avoid teams being left without engine)

customer can cancel the deal after any season unless agreement have the minimum seasons clause (so if supplier makes bad job, customer can look for better)

Gearbox and energy store can be supplied too.

Chassis and Aero Parts

Building chassis and aero parts is too straightforward at the moment. Concept of aero parts will be modified to create more influence on management analysis and decisions.

Every chassis is good for 1 season but can be used in the next season after being downgraded. New element to development strategy will be added as sometimes it might be more efficient to evolve old chassis (cheaper option to get quality result) but when the time says so, it will be better to start from scratch. It is also realistic in real F1. Teams can reuse old chassis to have funds for other projects.

chassis will be the same as current system - build chassis and get basic aero parts

concept of aero parts will be modified - every aero part will influence performance of other aero parts - for example in real F1 front wing affects the flow of the air therefore performance of diffuser, vanes or side pods is limited

so the first aero part to be upgraded from base parts will be the main part and potential of the part will stay at maximum. But the second part to be upgraded will only have potential reduced to 90% from the original part, the third part 80%, the fourth part 75% and others to 70%.

that will require some analysis and smart decisions taken.

importance of aero parts will be modified after 7 seasons - so teams will have 7 seasons to decide optimal order to upgrade aero parts

so it will be similar to the real F1 rules change to the new F1 2022 cars

every part will have information about level of main facility stored (highest value during development) - downgrade of the facility will slightly downgrade parts and parts potential will be lowered to the quality level so it is not possible to upgrade anymore.

Development options

start from scratch - chassis will be built from the scratch and new aero parts to be generated 

adjust car from previous season - chassis quality downgraded by 20% and potential unchanged, chassis can be upgraded - that means chassis quality will slowly drop each season. this option should give worse result than start from scratch BUT should save some money. Aero parts for downgraded chassis (or further upgrade) will be generated.

Mechanical Parts

Mechanical parts are too straightforward as of now. Once built no more development is needed. That will be changed.

Cooling System

developed by team

quality decreased by 1% every season as a result of changes in aerodynamics parts

potential stays the same every season

teams can upgrade the downgraded part or

teams can start development from scratch (and 100% potential)

Steering Wheel / Brakes / Suspension

can be developed by team or from suppliers

in case of developed parts - same system as cooling system (dropping quality)

in case of suppliers there will be only cheap but weak options available

Electronic Control Unit

purchased from the independent supplier ONLY

Every part will have information about level of main facility stored (highest value during development) - downgrade of the facility will slightly downgrade parts and parts potential will be lowered to the quality level so it is not possible to upgrade anymore.

[chestersallya]

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