#( giordano speaks .x )

[maretinelli]

I CAN'T LOSE YOU

Lewis Hamilton X fem!engineer!reader

Summary: They have known each other for years, they work at Mercedes and are best friends. But only time will tell how they feel about each other.

Words: 13K+ (all three chapters together)

Warnings: It's a lot, I may not remember them all. But it's angst, mentions of team changes, bottled up feelings, best friends to lovers, happy endings and lots of cuteness.

Author: English is not my first language, so I apologize for any mistakes you may have. And second, I LOVE THIS. This is my first time writing for he, and I got this idea while listening to music (yeah, I don't know??). And another thing, I'm starting to follow F1 now, please help me get into this world, if you like it, get in touch with me, we can be friends on Instagram. I'm Brazilian girl❤️🇧🇷 I had to separate this into 3 parts because my app crashed with so much stuff!!

Part 2

MASTERLIST

Lewis Hamilton and Y/n Giordano were much more than just Mercedes employees and teammates. They were the famous saying that where one is, the other is also right there. Best friends.

Giordano was the chief engineer of Mercedes cars. However, she was especially the engineer of the car that Hamilton used. Which brought the two closer in those years.

All fans-well, most. They always said that the two had something more than friendship, they talked about the kind of look that Lewis gave her, and about always going out, and being together in places outside the Formula 1 environment.

They said that nothing was happening, even though they loved to flirt provocatively with each other. But they had nothing more than friendship.

It was obvious that they had. As the years went by, the feeling grew within them for something more, however, they didn't admit it so soon.

At the time, it was the GP in Monaco. They were practically at home.

There were a few hours left before the race started, which had social media asking for Lewis. make a video for Mercedes to post on Tik Tok, to relax her fans. And that was done, Lewis would basically have to approach the people who worked in the Mercedes garage and who had headphones, just to ask what he was listening to and his favorite song at the time.

After a few people, Lewis turns to the camera: "What bets do you have that Y/n will arrive with headphones too?" He jokes, speaking to the camera.

Just then, the Mercedes engineer comes out of a hallway with a backpack on her right shoulder and white headphones in her ears. She walks so fast that she almost doesn't see Lewis at the end of the hallway with the social media.

"HEY BABY!!" He yells for his engineer to listen and she smiles at the scare she got. "That's the only way to listen to me!" Hamilton says smiling at the camera.

Y/n pauses the music on her phone and takes her headphones out. "Hi, honey!" She says sweetly and looks at the camera, waving goodbye. "What are you up to with social media before the race?"

Lewis holds the small microphone closer to his mouth before speaking: "We're approaching some people with headphones to ask what they're listening to at the moment and what their favorite song is." He says and Y/n nods. "You're our latest victim. Speak up!"

Y/n looks at her best friend and frowns, until she realizes what she was supposed to say: "Oh yeah, the songs" she says and Hamilton smiles. She takes her phone out of her pants pocket again and turns to the camera. "Cheri Cheri Lady”

Lewis grins. Of course Y/n would be listening to 80s music. The entire Mercedes garage knew about the woman's love for oldies.

"Classic Y/n" Lewis says and Y/n smiles putting her phone in her pocket. "Now, what's your favorite. The best one of all?"

Y/n thinks for a moment, but Lewis already knows the answer.

"Cheri Cheri Lady" She says and Lewis laughs.

"So predictable!" He says, pulling his best friend into a side hug. Making her lose her balance a little. "Every time I go over to her house, that song is playing over and over on the speakers."

Y/n pulls out of the hug laughing: "She's really good" she smiles and turns to Lewis, with the social media still recording. "You saying you're going straight to my house, they'll think we're having an affair" she flirts playfully, while poking Hamilton's chest,

He smiles sideways.

"And don't we?" He teases, keeping his gaze on her, a little longer than he should. Leaving her disconcerted, even though he always gave her provocative flirtations.

She rolls her eyes laughing. "Shut up, Hamilton!! We're going to get in the public's mouth like this" She says, holding back her laughter. "Go to work you bastard, I have to hear your complaints about my car before the race starts yet!" She says, giving an air kiss to the camera and getting out of the way.

Lewis laughs.

"Your car?" He asks still laughing.

"YEAH, I DESIGNED MOST OF IT!" Y/n shouts casually from further away, making the pilot's smile grow even bigger.

A few mechanics chuckled as they watched Lewis and Y/n's relaxed interaction, but no one dared interrupt. It was as if this bantering exchange was an essential part of the routine before any race.

Lewis finished with social media and a few minutes later, he invited Y/n to take a walk around the track. He invited her as his best friend, but the conversation was between pilot and engineer.

"But if we keep it the way it is. It will make the steering wheel not lock up as much," Y/n says, as Lewis asks for advice about his car. "If you modify it, in the curves the steering wheel can lock up even more. And you know that if you lock up in the curves others could overtake you." She says, with her hands in her pants pocket, as Lewis looks intently at her.

There wasn't a day that went by that Lewis didn't think about the beauty and love he felt for his best friend, who also happened to be his engineer at Mercedes.

The engineer looks at the pilot and smiles. "What's that face?" She leans back to get a better look at Lewis. He laughs.

"Nothing, just thinking I have the best with me"

Y/n laughs. "You know, I'm doing my job. And also because I'm your best friend."

Best friend...

Y/n knew that Lewis had an undeniable talent, but what really made him so special was the way he trusted her, as if she was the only one capable of understanding what he needed, on and off the track.

Hamilton smiles, but doesn't help but crack a joke before entering the Mercedes garage again. "I bet you'd modify the car if it was Verstappen's"

Y/n lets out a laugh. She worked with the pilot for a while, and let's just say he wasn't the nicest to her.

"I would modify it, because I knew you would be able to overtake him on the curves." Y/n punches the brunette on the shoulder.

Lewis chuckles. "I think you should love me less." He teases her, taking the cap off her head and letting her hair flow in the wind as he pulls her to his side.

"You're the one who loves me too much!" She says, trying to grab the cap as they enter the Mercedes garage.

This moment resulted in several photos, feeding those Hamilton fans who dreamed of seeing them as a couple.

The Mercedes video was posted well before the race started, which made it go viral within minutes, with fans talking about Y/n and Lewis' interaction.

Fans knew that besides working together, they were best friends, but they wanted to see something more. Something more romantic from the two.

Hours passed, and Hamilton's car was ready for the race, with yesterday's training, he would start in P5. It wasn't bad, it was very good.

There were a few minutes left before the race started, and Yin was helping Russel's engineer fix the driver's car. "Look, if you need anything, call me," she said, and George's new engineer nodded.

Y/n turns to walk to Hamilton's side of the garage, and sees him standing next to the car, with his helmet and balaclava under his arm and a mischievous smile on his face.

"Helping the competitor?" He teases.

Y/n smiles and shakes her head.

"Never! Just trying to save your partner from an accident." She laughs and looks at her best friend. "Poor thing, Russel's rookie engineer was struggling with the instructions he had been given, I just went to lend a hand." She leans against Lewis's side, making him look her up and down.

He's seen her in every outfit in her wardrobe, skirts, dresses, jeans. But nothing beats her in the Mercedes uniform.

A little more and he would say everything that was going through his head, seeing her in the dark blue uniform.

"Okay, I thought your heart had found another man besides me!"

She laughs, and takes the helmet from his hand.

"Relax Hamilton, you're one of a kind" she laughs and pats him on the shoulder, as a way of saying it was time for him to get in the car.

She hands him the helmet and takes the steering wheel out of the car so he can get in. As soon as she puts it on, Lewis grabs her arm before getting out. And his voice is muffled by the helmet.

"If I don't win today, I promise I won't let you blame yourself for the car," Lewis said, looking directly at Y/n. She laughed, but she knew he was serious. "You trust me, don't you?"

"More than you know." She smiles and he lets go of her arm. As a pre-race ritual for over 6 years, she kisses the top of his helmet and strokes his arm before he leaves the garage.

Meanwhile, Toto and George watch from afar.

"How many months do you think it will be until they get together?" Russel asks Toto, as he puts on his helmet.

Toto shrugged, as much as he loved their dynamic, he thought maybe nothing would happen. They had been acting like this for years and it hadn't changed into something romantic.

"I honestly don't know. They've been like this for years and nothing happens," he says, a little sadly.

"I bet it still happens by the end of this season" Last thing Russel says before getting in the car and leaving the garage.

The race started, and Y/n talked to Lewis from time to time through the Mercedes headphones and looked closely at the garage screen to see how the driver was performing.

During the second half of the race, Y/n noticed that Lewis was slipping on a straight, luckily, he didn't crash or leave the track, this left a warning in his engineer's mind.

"Hey, Lewis! What's up?" She asks over the radio, adjusting the microphone.

"The car is sliding too much on the straights. The curves are fine, but now the steering wheel is starting to get too light on the straights," he says, already making Y/n worried.

She immediately analyzes the information on the screen, while the other engineers on the team gather around. Giordano feels the weight of responsibility.

"What can we do? He needs to finish the race," the Mercedes boss asks, a little harshly even.

Y/n runs her hands through her hair, but doesn't respond. I was trying to find some idea to help Lewis finish the race without any disasters on the track.

"Y/n, do something!"

"I'M THINKING!!" She yells angrily, not realizing she was yelling at Toto.

Lewis, who was running, laughs a little at his engineer's outburst.

"Hamilton!!" She says over the radio.

"Yes?"

"We're going to have to make that modification... I know I said it would be tough on the curves, but this is the option to finish the race." She says, snapping her fingers in concern. "Are you up for it?"

Lewis's answer comes immediately, without hesitation.

"If you think you're the best, I trust you."

"Okay, we have less than 1 minute until you get to the garage. I promise the whole modification won't take more than 3 seconds!"

"I trust you," Lewis says again.

With that, Y/n asks the other mechanics for help to bring the necessary equipment and assist in what they would do once Lewis arrived at the Pit stop.

"The problem is in the aerodynamic balance," she says, adjusting the parameters in the system. "If we don't fix it now, it could lose more traction in the next few laps."

When Hamilton arrives at the garage, Y/n changes the steering wheel and makes the necessary adjustments in a matter of 2 seconds, with the help of the other engineers.

During the exchange, Hamilton doesn't miss the opportunity to tease his best friend: "If I'm wrong, I'll throw champagne all over your wardrobe," he jokes. And she can just imagine the mischievous smile he has under his helmet.

"I never miss. Now speed up." She hits the car and Lewis gets out.

The race ended with Hamilton in second. He was happy, he was really happy to be on the podium. But deep down, Y/n felt a pang of guilt, because if it weren't for the problem with the car, he could have come in 1st.

With Lewis next to be interviewed, Mercedes' Tik Tok video was still going strong, prompting the journalist to ask Hamilton a few questions about it.

The interview room is buzzing after the podium, cameras flashing every smile and gesture from the drivers who were on the podium earlier. Lewis, still in his Mercedes overalls, adjusts his headphones as he answers the opening questions. The journalist pauses briefly and smiles before changing the subject.

"And congratulations on second place"

Lewis smiles at the journalist and whispers a thank you.

"Now changing the subject. I saw the video that Mercedes posted on Tik Tok a few hours before the race. I can tell that Y/n is quite intense, isn't she?" He asks and Lewis laughs at the question, remembering the previous scene.

"She's really intense on the radio during the race" He jokes and the journalist laughs.

"We can catch a glimpse of her screaming in the garage"

Lewis laughs. "Lucky for me the yelling wasn't at me."

The journalist smiles: "Back to Tik Tok... That dynamic with Y/n was, at the very least, fun. Do you think that reflects how you are in your day-to-day life in the garage?" The journalist asks, with a curious smile.

"Absolutely. Y/n is... amazing, you know? The relationship we have is built on years of work and mutual respect. But there's also a lot of fun in between. She teases me, I tease back, and the dynamic ends up flowing naturally." He says without even thinking.

If he had Y/n, he had everything.

"And from what I've seen, she doesn't take any nonsense. That part where she said she designed most of the car was epic."

Lewis chuckles, shaking his head. "Oh, that's just like her. And the worst part is, she's right. Her work is impeccable. Y/n lives and breathes every detail of that car, and that makes all the difference to us. She takes it very seriously, but she always finds a way to lighten things up."

"What about the flirting? I think the internet has already started creating conspiracy theories about you two." The journalist teases, drawing a smile from the corner of the pilot's face.

Lewis lowers his head, trying to hide the possible blush that would be on his cheeks.

"Oh, the flirting? That's just part of the fun. Y/n has been my engineer at Mercedes for years, and that's brought us closer, leaving room for best friend banter and teasing." She smiles, that smile he gives every time he thinks of her. "But honestly, if I needed someone to have by my side during a race, it would be her. Always."

The journalist arches an eyebrow. "So it's just friendship?"

Lewis laughs and shrugs, leaving fans more curious. He leaves the interview to let the next driver in and walks to the garage to see Y/n.

The team was celebrating. Even with second place, everyone seemed satisfied with Lewis' performance. But amidst the celebration, Y/n was quiet, her eyes fixed on the data on the computer in front of her. Images of the race were still playing on the screen, showing the moment the car slipped on the straight and the quick pit stop that had saved the day.

She sighs deeply, feeling a slight pressure in her chest.

Lewis enters the garage, taking off his helmet and wearing an easy smile on his face. He looks around, greeting the other mechanics before finally spotting Y/n, who still seems lost in thought. He approaches slowly, unannounced, until he stops next to her.

"You're really quiet for someone who just put me on the podium, you know that?" Lewis pulls up a chair to sit next to his best friend. "I told you not to blame yourself if something went wrong. We'll take second place, that's good." Lewis places the helmet on his lap, while looking at Y/n.

She looks away from the computer screen and rests her head on her hand on the table.

"But if I had thought of it before, I would have modified it as you requested..."

"Hey, you didn't make the modification, and I stayed in the first three positions the whole race. You did your best!! And we had no way of deducing that this would happen. A race is a race, surprises appear," he says in a sweet voice, looking intently at his best friend.

She still had her headphones hanging around her neck and was now wearing her Mercedes coat.

If Hamilton let his gaze rest on her a little longer, he might very well pull her in for a kiss.

"But you could have come first..."

"Hey!!" He pokes her side, making her tickle and giggle. He smiles at the sound. "You saved my life and our race. If you didn't make the modification, what could come??"

It was never mine when it came to the car or the racing. It was always ours. Every chance he got, he would talk about how brilliant she was at her job.

Y/n looks at him and smiles, her gaze falling on her hands on the table: "Okay, I'll stop thinking about it." She gives in, raising her arms and Hamilton laughs. "I just don't want to let you down." She says, turning her chair to face her best friend.

Perhaps, your passion of years.

"You never let me down. I trust you more than anyone here. When I was on the track and you suggested the change, I never for a second doubted it. And you delivered. That's what matters."

Y/n smiles. She could simply explode with love, if it weren't for the secret crush she has on him.

"I promise not to mess up again," she says, as Lewis gets up from his chair.

He extends his arms to help her. Y/n holds on and gets up from the chair she was in.

"Hey, you don't make mistakes, like you said yourself 'I never make mistakes'" he says remembering what she said before he got back on the track.

Y/n laughed.

"Now, you can stop torturing yourself and come celebrate with us. Second place or not, you deserve it. And this victory is for you," he says, holding her shoulders aside and walking over to where the rest of the team was.

"If you say so, thanks for the ride," she says, making him smile.

"Now tell me. That video I made earlier had a big impact. They're saying we'd make a beautiful couple, what do you think of that idea?" He jokes.

"Any idea you give that isn't about the car, I'll be discarding." She returns the same provocation and he laughs.

"Confess that you love me now!"

"Okay, you're irresistible when you're in overalls around your waist and with your braids back," she smiles, letting the blush take over her cheeks.

Lewis smiles and doesn't bring up the subject anymore. He can tell the comment has hit them both in a deeper way.

Part 2

[bedfordxcx]

Her Last Confession

Prologue: A Declaration Of Secrecy

Pairing: Spencer Reid x Angelica Rossi (Partial Elle Greenaway x Angelica Rossi too)

Summary: Angelica Rossi has a past, it's hidden and she'd go to every length to keep it that way. For the past 10 years, only 3 people living in the USA have known her past, with only Angelica herself knowing the real truth to the FBI's only cold case in Italy. As she follows in her father’s footsteps, pursuing a career in the Behavioral Analysis Unit he co-founded, she discovers that her past continues to shape her life in ways she can't escape. Despite her efforts to separate herself from Angelina Giordano, the shadows of her history slowly engulf her very being. With each case she tackles, she edges closer to the truth she’s buried, risking everything she’s built to keep her secret safe.

Warnings: This chapter contains descriptions of physical abuse, drug use, and violent crime that may be distressing for some readers.

“In all secrets there is a kind of guilt, however beautiful or joyful they may be, or for what good end they may be set to serve. Secrecy means evasion, and evasion means a problem to the moral mind.” -Gilbert Parker 

“If I’m correct, this particular file hasn’t been transferred to our online database yet? Has it not?” 

“No Ma’am, it hasn’t...and that copy is the only one in existence, the other copy that was meant to be held in Imperia seemingly vanished along with the victim back in 94’” 

Section Chief Erin Strauss offered a curt nod before closing the file in front of her, leaning back in her chair slightly and letting her eyes scan the room before speaking up once again. 

“Who knows about this case?”  

Angelica inhaled sharply before responding:  

“Jason Gideon and David Rossi flew to Italy and worked the original case, some of the police force over in Imperia have limited knowledge of it, and then of course, me and you.” 

The two of them sat in an ice toned silence for a few seconds. Angelica pinching the skin of her own fingers as if she was trying to escape this dream like state, sat just a few metres away from the infamous BAU bullpen she’d spent so much time imagining herself in, they’d moved from the dingy basement room her father had spoken about in years prior, the team had grown since then, and had seemingly earnt far more respect in comparison to when the unit was founded explaining the move in locations. 

“Angelica, if you are to be a part of the BAU, we should very much like to keep that list the same... not only for your safety, but to ensure that you have completely separated yourself from these... events.” she said whilst gesturing to the file in front of her. This time, it was Angelica’s turn to offer a curt nod in return.  

Erin arose from her chair, Angelica following in pursuit, in all honesty she wasn’t moving on her own accord, it was pure nervous compulsion, she’d dedicated the last nine years of her life to getting here, her first year in America was spent adjusting to life but as soon as she’d truly learnt what her father did for work her heart had pushed her into the deep ends of her ambitions, the BAU had been calling her, taunting her and whilst she was only twenty-one ( and only three months shy of twenty-two) she’d proven herself to everyone around her. This job would be her gateway to becoming a profiler like her father, she didn’t exactly know what a ‘mental analyst’ was until her father had explained that it was basically a glorified therapist for survivors (she never liked to call them victims because she’d be admitting that she too was a victim), FBI agents who had escaped death, and could even be asked to observe interviews with criminals to try and pry more information out of them. So, she’d jumped at the offer because whilst she wanted to be a profiler more than anything, Angelica knew more than anyone that getting what you want is a waiting game.  

The two women had reached out and shook hands.  

“Welcome to the FBI, Angelica” but Angelica was too focused on the badge that was slid in front of her to process Erin’s words. 

A/N: So excited to share this one with you guys, its been on my mind for a while so sitting down to write it was really nerve wracking. P.S, Moodboard, Masterlist and the first look at Angelicas file is coming soooooon!!!

[cvptaingiordano]

closed starter for @honeymoonavcnues based on this

     the music’s loud in the background as he stood there in the hallway  , hoping to god whoever was in there got out of there and f a s t. he doesn’t know that out of all the people she’s the one to be in there , hiding away from the crowded place he’d turned her home into. he thought he was doing her a favour , making it an almost unforgettable night not only for her but for everyone , little did he know he was completely wrong. mason knocks a few times now , fist hitting the wooden door rapidly a couple of times as quickly paced words leaved his lips. ❝ mate - i swear to god get out of there quick - i don’t want to piss myself. ❞ he’s in a rush , hell he doesn’t have time for this as he knew trevor had arrived with weed , just like he’d asked him to. getting high was part of the plan , he didn’t want that to be ruined by any of this , though soon enough any thoughts regarding what he had in mind vanished. he hears something , someone rather , and that’s what pushes him to step closer. voice is much softer now as he knocks on the door in hopes for them to listen this time. ❝ hey , who’s there ?? ❞ whoever it was , he could certainly hear them crying , though he doesn’t back away. mason might be slightly tipsy but he wasn’t an idiot. ❝ c’mon let me in - open up ❞

[bo0zey]

Pick your favorite questions from the list.

i will do them all for u 0.o

1. Name cianna [see-ah-nah]

2. Nationality mexican irish german romanian hungarian french

3. Age 20

4. Birthday december 17, 1999

5. Zodiac sign (or your primal zodiac sign) sun: sagittarius; ascendant: leo; moon: aries

6. Gender female

7. Sexuality uhhhhhhhhhhhh idk but i will willingly kiss either gender

8. Your looks (add a picture or describe yourself) /tagged/my-face or u could just google pictures of fat rats

9. What do you/did you study? I’m currently a sophomore nursing major!

10. What's your current job like?/What job would you like to have? I’m currently a microbiology TA and I love it :) My dream job would be something with animals, like a vet tech or veterinarian

11. Your birth order i’m the oldest!

12. How many siblings do you have? 2 younger brothers

13. Do you have good relations with your family? my mom was my best friend, my dad and i get along better now that i’m in college, my brothers and i get along pretty well & we’re staring to get closer now that they’re getting older n growing up n developing their own personalities lol

14. How many friends do you have? errrr idk this is a hard question. i have a lot of acquaintances but i’d say i have maybe like less than 10 real friends??

15. Your relationship status single :D

16. What do you look for in a SO? funny!!!!!!!!!must be humorous!!!!and sarcastic and a little weird w darker sense of humor so we can laugh n be dumb together!!!!!!! also i would like them to be kind to me and those around them bc mean ppl suck. also they have to like animals. also i would like them to be loyal and trustworthy and 110% in love w me. and for physical stuff idk kinda attractive but NOT CONVENTIONALLY ATTRACTIVE like i personally don't really like the typically ‘attractive’ person??? 

17. Do you have a crush? currently in love w the cute chinese boy who lives across from my dorm room even tho i have never even spoken to him n he is totally unaware of my existence!!!!!!!! hahah oops :D

18. When did you have your first kiss? i mean technically 3rd grade i think but that doesn't really count so like maybe 16????

19. Do you prefer serious and meaningful relationships or casual dating/one night stands? i mean in the long term i would definitely like to have a serious relationship but at the moment i’m only into casual stuff bc my heart isn't ready to be broken again sknfkjdbnkjd

20. What are your deal breakers? errrr i’m not sure....cheating is a no no, ppl that are interested in fucking every single person they see is a turn off, DUMB PEOPLE like ppl you can't even have a proper conversation with bc they're so DUMB, and ppl who r mean/judgmental/arrogant

21. How was your day? ok! accidentally slept thru my math class but caught a glimpse of my crush across campus when he was abt to smoke a cig and i got chipotle n i online shopped a ton from shein

22. Favourite food & drink deep dish spinach pizza from giordano’s & orange vitamin water

23. What position do you sleep in? i fall asleep on my left side hugging a body pillow

24. What was your last dream about? ate a braid of hair and inside the braid was bacon

25. Your fears not going to make it thru nursing school, not being financially stable as an adult, not having a family of my own, probably more but those r currently top 3

26. Your dreams i don't have any idk....maybe having like a house of my own and having as many animals as i want?? and i would like a loving partner with a daughter of our own

27. Your goals survive nursing school and lose 40 pounds and don't die before my cat

28. Any pets? i have a dog named cherry Cola, a cat named Leto, and a betta fish named Perc

29. What are your hobbies? writing stories about people in love, listening to music

30. Any cool places in your area? in my college town??? NO it sucks. in my hometown??? Not really it’s a small lil village with only restaurants and parks. but at home i’m near downtown chicago so that’s cool i guess

31. What was your last awkward situation? the first thing that comes to mind is my FIRST and so far ONLY encounter with my crush. we live in the same dorm building and i was wearing my nursing scrubs and had no make up on and about to go upstairs to my dorm, and then i heard footsteps and i was like ‘hahaha what if its my crush’ AND THEN HE FUCKIGJNG appeared from down the hallway to go back to HIS DORM [which is RIGHT ACROSS FROM MINE] and i literally STARED at him, then threw open the door and RAN UP THE STAIRS LIKE I LITERALLY DIDNT EVEN HOLD THE DOOR OPEN FOR ME AND HE WAS LIKE SO CLOSE BEHIND ME I WAS JUST SO NERVOUS MY FLIGHT OR FIGHT RESPONSE TOOK OVER AND I FUCKING FLED I LITERALLY RAN AWAY FROM HIM I AHTE MYSELF SO MUCH IM SUCH AN IDIOT!!!!!!!!!

32. What is your last regret? errrrr idk i regret a lot of dumb things.......

33. Language/s you can speak English n a LITTLE bit of Spanish

34. Do you believe in astrological stuff? (Zodiac, tarot, etc.) i’m really into zodiac stuff and i have got to say they are pretty spot on in accuracy idk

35. Have any quirks? ummmm ofc!!i am the quirkiest person i know hajnjfxbkjx like if u asked my roommates/friends they’d probably be better at answering this than me bc i don't see anything abt me as quirky but they always tell me i am quirky and do weird things but idk man I'm just existing 

36. Your pet peeves err idk currently its ppl that constantly brag about dumb shit

37. Ideal vacation somewhere warm with me + the ocean + the loml + unlimited alcohol

38. Any scars? yeah :D both emotional AND physical!!!!

39. What does your last text message say? ‘ok thats a more than fair statement’

40. Last 5 things from your search history how many carbs should i eat, chipotle bowl calories, is the grim reaper the angel of death, ceftriaxone adverse effects, red man syndrome

41. What's your [device] background? lockscreen is a peach-theme background i made and home screen is my weight loss goals

42. What do you daydream about? the characters in my stories.................and being skinny 

43. Describe your dream home pretty brick house??? flowers outside??? 3 floors--main floor, basement and upstairs??? 3 bedrooms n 3 bathrooms maybe??? master bedroom has its own bathroom!!! and open concept main floor. big kitchen and very homey n warm all around. as for like an apartment i want something cozy and aesthetically pleasing and warm 

44. What's your religion/Your thought about religion i don't have a religion but if ppl do have a religion then thats not my business

45. Your personality type entj but only bc i got 3% extraverted; i am very closely related to intj tho n i think i fit that one better

46. The most dangerous thing you've done uhhhhhh probably operating a vehicle while high out of my mind. definitely the dumbest thing i ever did 0/10 would recommend anyone ever doing that

47. Are you happy with your current life? its ok but it could probably be better. i want to be done w college and skip to the part where i have a successful career and my own home and i can lay up w the loml every night

48. Some things you've tried in your life alcohol???weed??gummy edibles....

49. What does your wardrobe consist of? sweaters/sweatshirts/leggings

50. Favourite colour to wear? black, maroon, peach, purple, gray, idk

51. How would you describe your style? oh jeez idk i wear whatever i want so like e-girl when i really try and basic white girl when i don't care

52. Are you happy with your current looks? no i hate everything about myself lol

53. If you could change/add something to your appearance - impossible or not - what would it be? more freckles on my face....also be thinner n have longer hair

54. Any tattoos or piercings? my nose and septum are pierced!

55. Do you get complimented often? kinda by my friends but i always yell at them to stop so they don't compliment like as much bc they know i hate it but they still do it sometimes idk

56. Favourite aesthetic? i wanna be an e-girl yo!!!!!!!!! 

57. A popular trend that you dislike nobody has a crush on me and i hate it

58. Songs you're currently obsessed with? pied piper by BTS

59. Song you normally wouldn't admit you like. anything by BTS lol i used to like be embarrassed for how much i like k pop but now i don't really care lol #stanBTS2020

60. Favourite genre? rap/r n b/alternative

61. Favourite artist/band/genre? i listen to every genre except country sooooooo yeah i really like billie eilish, BTS, the weeknd, juicewrld, lil nas x, trippie red, post malone,

62. Hated popular songs/artists? i don't rlly like selena gomez or justin bieber or taylor swift

63. Put your music on shuffle and list first 5 only - RY X i.f.l.y. - Bazzi novacane - frank ocean jungle - drake bang! - trippie redd

64. Can you sing or play any instruments? no and no

65. Do you like karaoke? no but i like to sing along to songs when I'm alone

66. Own any albums? haha noooo i got apple music son

67. Do you listen to radio? What stations? errr RARELY i used to listen to r n b stations tho

68. Favourite movie/series? idk donnie darko?? i also just finished tharntype n that was really good. also i liked tokyo ghoul. AND GIVEN IS REALLY GOOD

69. Favourite genre of movies/books/etc i like horror/scary/paranormal/funny movies and i like love stories in books

70. Your fictional crush/es danny phantom, ken kaneki

71. Which fictional character is you? uhhhh idk...

72. Are you a shipper? List your otps, if so frerard, ryden, taekook, mewgulf

73. Favourite greek god? idk they all kinda suck but maybe hades

74. A legend from where you live that you like i don't really know any:(

75. Do you like art? What's your favourite work or artist? i like to look at art! i think van gogh is cool

76. Can you share your other social media? ig: ciannnna venmo: ciannnna

77. Favourite youtubers? i don't really watch youtubers but maybe shane dawson and emma chamberlain

78. Favourite platform? twitter

79. How much time do you spend on the internet? too much time

80. What video games have you played? Which one's your favourite? i once played GTA5 that was fun!

81. Your favourite books (manga also counts) idk i don't really read anymore:/ i was into the hunger games and the twilight series when i was young. now i kinda read online manga and i really liked BJ Alex and killing stalking. and like for online books the unholyverse series, a splitting of the mind, the anatomy of a fall

82. Do you play board/card games? no but i like to play checkers and uno and cards against humanity

83. Have you ever been to a night marathon in cinema? nopee

84. Favourite holiday halloween is cool also christmas is alright bc gifts

85. Are you into dramas? i’ve been getting into thai boys love dramas lol sue me

86. Would you use death note, if you had one? um YES.

87. What changes would you make in the world, no matter how impossible, if you had the power to? everyone needs to be a little kinder and have a crush on me

88. Could you survive a zombie apocalypse? absolutely not I'm not physically fit and don't have useful skills

89. If you had to be turned into a paranormal being, what would it be? vampire duh [or maybe ghost]

90. What would you want to happen to you after your death? i want to see my mom

91. If you had to change your name, what would be your pick? idk something cool ... i love the name Daisy

92. Who would you switch your life with for a week? idk probably kylie jenner

93. Pick an emoji to be your tattoo idk the alien? 94. Write 3 things about yourself - only one of them must be true -im very productive with my time management skills -my favorite color is purple -i don't get nervous when I'm alone in public

95. Cold or hot? cold

96. Be a hero or be a villain? anti-hero

97. Sing everything you want to say or rhyme? sing if i’m good at it but if I'm not good then rhyme

98. Shapeshifting or controlling time? shapeshifting

99. Be immortal or be immune to everything aside from natural death?immortal

100. ..... or .....? ......?

[startwreck]

WizardWorld Chicago 2018

“I’ll never fly to a con.”

That was my self-imposed rule. See, I live in the Northeast US, so there are lots of major cities within driving/busing distance, and thus lots of cons, and other fandom-adjacent events, happen within a reasonable distance of me. (I realize this is a privilege, and one I’m quite grateful for.) Anyway, when I got into the X-Files fandom a couple of years ago, I was interested in meeting Phile Phriends / Tumblr Pals in real life, and in participating in fandom or fandom-adjacent events, which I have done (and have spent money on), but I told myself that there was no need to ever fly anywhere just for a con: the cost of airfare is too much of an investment, the talent’s schedules can change, and besides, there are a disproportionate amount of options that I don’t have to make the investment to fly to. So I thought.

When DD & GA were announced for WizardWorld Chicago, I had already committed to plans for the con weekend. I was a little bummed, but thought that it was probably for the best that I already had plans, because otherwise, I would have been very tempted to fly to it. Then, just a few weeks prior to the con, after hanging up the phone call in which my last weekend in August plans were postponed, I saw a note from Kristin @kateyes224 alluding to her intention to go to the con. She informed me that @sunflowerseedsandscience, who I had been hoping to meet earlier in the summer, would also be flying in for the occasion. I took this influx of information as a sign that I should get myself to Chicago for that weekend. I justified the cost by using airline and hotel points to subside the expense. I was going to fly to a con. The next few weeks were a whirlwind of madness at work, so I was very grateful to have the aforementioned pals, plus Carrie @carrie11 who would be joining us for her first con, in my pocket to countdown to the weekend with.

I flew to Chicago on the morning Friday, August 24, laughing internally at the absurdity of the situation all the way. I made my way to Rosemont, my eyes going wide when I caught my first glimpse of the convention center, and settled myself into the hotel room before heading downtown on the train to meet Carrie. There was a food truck festival right by the L station that I emerged from, and I realized that all I had consumed only an iced coffee so far in the day, so I remedied that. Carrie was nice enough to indulge in my desire to be a tourist, since I hadn’t been to Chicago proper in years. I had never made it to the Willis Sears Tower, so we did that, and she took some fun pics of Puppet Mulder. I think this is my fav:

We then did a bit of walking -- Grant Park, Lake Shore Drive path, Millenium Park, and the Chicago River, before the rest of the crew arrived and it was finally pizza time! Soon after Carrie and I secured a table at Giordano’s, Kristin, @sunflowerseedsandscience, and Amanda @all-these-ghosts arrived. I greeted them on the patio and had an epic reunion hug with Kristin in which we made a total scene and squeezed each other so tight while squealing that I choked on some of her hair. The five us then had a wonderful dinner that I don’t remember much about except that the pizza was amazing, the company was even better, and I’m pretty sure I was just still in awe that this was all happening. After dinner, we went to grab drinks down the street. There was Shiner Bock on the menu, so Puppet Mulder joined us and confused many of the staff. Amanda especially was tickled by Puppet Mulder, while I was fangirling over her (she wrote Then The Bomb, people!!!) Truly, the con could have been cancelled and the trip still would have been worth it for just hanging out with this crew:

Saturday morning, Kristin procured Starbucks and we all readied ourselves to be presentable for photo ops in the late morning. We met Carrie, Clarice @contrivedcoincidences6, and @albanyparkavenue in the lobby and headed to the convention center. The security line coming from the hotels was long but moved fast. At this point, I had only pre-purchased a dual photo op (and Saturday ticket) but while we were in line I accidentally-but-it-was-bound-to-happen-anyway purchased GA & DD autographs on the ticketing app on my phone. Oops! Once we got in and procured our wristbands, it was already time for those of us with dual photo ops to get in line, so we did. In the midst of a lot of line waiting, Kristin perfected Puppet Mulder’s hair (we decided on Season 4 / Paper Hearts classic floops aka Backstreet Bangs). Puppet Mulder also made friends with a tiny Supergirl, which Carrie captured in a couple pics, and my day was made. Soon, it was go time. I was to go first so that Kristin could do last looks on Puppet Mulder’s hair immediately before the photo. As we approached the final holding area, I situated Puppet Mulder on my right arm and was prepared to pose him in an arms-spread position using the armrods in my left hand (we had been practicing in line.) When it was my turn, I approached, and I was told by those in line behind me that Gillian gave an exasperated “Ohhhhhhhhh boy” while I announced “Puppet Mulder is here!” in an attempt to preemptively stave off any questions about who he was and prevent myself from having to make any awkward hand gestures like I did in Montreal. As we were getting in position I asked, “Can he get in between you? I don’t know that I want to be in it” since I didn’t really care about my face being in it, but also didn’t want to crouch down without warning and confuse everyone. But David insisted, “Ah, no, you gotta be in it!” to which I conceded “I do? Ok.” and stayed put. With that, the photo was taken, I said thanks, and moved out of the way. As the rest of the crew emerged from the Tunnel of Love Anxiety, we went around the corner to retrieve our photos, and I think everyone in the group was pleased with the results! I was pleasantly surprised by mine (even if Gillian is doing her nervous hands.)

I even bought a photo protector sheet after being called out by DD in Montreal for not treating our photo with the utmost respect and bending it a bit. After this ordeal, we realized that we needed drinks and to regroup, so we acquired alcohol (beer is a reasonable lunch, right?) and found a path of floor outside the main hall to make our own. We were joined by some more pals including @dahlia-ships, @observeroftheuniverse, and @perplexistan.

After this recovery period, it was time for Gillian’s autograph session. I had the pleasure of being behind Natalie for this and got to listen to Natalie give the most eloquent, heartfelt litany of thanks to one of her favs. Also, somehow margaritas came up and Natalie and I were like “Yesss we just drank before this!” so clearly my 20 seconds were much less profound, but here’s the rough transcript after that:

Me: Thanks for putting up with us. GA: This was one of my favorite photos of the day. Me: Aww, really?! GA: Yeah, it’s between this one and maybe one other. Me: Oh, what was that? GA: Someone had an alien. Me: Oh yeah, the big blow up thing? [Had spotted this in front of us in the photo op line.] GA: Yeah. Me: *nods* Thanks!

When I emerged from her booth and realized she inscribed “My favorite photo of the day” on the photo, I was both heart-eyed and in awe. See, I am a terrible multi-tasker and thus continually in awe of Gillian’s ability to have a conversation while simultaneously making a non-robotic inscription. Like, yeah, she’s pretty good at acting and contributes to humanitarian causes, but I’d like to give her an award for speaking and writing at the same time. Was this talent born from some crazy avant-garde theatre warm-up? Is this some kind of Mom superpower? Really what I’m asking is: Is there hope for me yet to learn this skill?

Anyway, after the crew got their Gillian autographs, some more drinks were procured, and then we decided to go wait in line for the panel (which was actually a solid 9 minute walk from the main hall.) At this point, I started bothering Kristin to come get a DD autograph with me before the panel, because I’m a bad influence like that. She was unprepared with what she would have him sign though, so we started brainstorming, and landed on possibly The X-Files: Earth Children Are Weird picture book that I had brought a copy of so that Kristin could do a dramatic reading. Since that was back in the hotel room, a few of us darted back to grab it (and to grab our leftover deep dish, which my growling stomach was very grateful for.) We brought the remaining pizza to the line-sitters, and at around 4pm, I successfully convinced Kristin to come grab a DD autograph with me. Shayla @thatredhead00 joined us and her tale of a DD interaction earlier in the day made me howl with laughter. We made friends with a couple of local guys in line, and I connected with a woman I recognized from a previous event, which was funny. Anyway, DD made it back from his afternoon break, the signing session began, and soon enough, Kristin went first with the picture book, and I globbed on to her convo. Here’s the rough transcript:

DD: [signing on the title page] What am I signing? K: The X-Files picture book! DD: [Turns to the front cover] Aww, it’s cute! [Genuinely, high-pitched] DD: What happens in it? K: They go camping in the woods. Me: And Scully’s parents are aliens. Me: Whoops, I gave away the twist ending. DD: Yeah, you ruined it for me. Me: Yeah, it was gonna take you so long to read… Me: Thanks so much!

For those keeping score at home, this brings my record of accidentally-but-lovingly making fun of DD to his face at con autograph sessions to an even 2-0. Interestingly enough, I’ve been to two of his book signings and complimented him (well, his writing) at both of those. Not sure what gives.

Anyway, we decided that we needed more drinks before the panel so grabbed those and then made the journey back to where that was. Our pals were already seated, and the question line had already started forming, so Kristin and Shayla hopped in that while I took a seat with the crew. The panel was perfectly fine in person. Per usual, a few cringey questions (thanks Natalie for letting me squeeze your arm through these), but also a few great questions and responses. Kristin got to ask her question (and, as predicted, Gillian couldn’t remember specifics, and the morgue scene in “Ghouli” was David’s answer, but it was still nice to hear it.) Other highlights included a thoughtful question and response from Gillian on how the show might have been different if written from a more feminist perspective. Also, there was a fleeting moment when I thought the tell-all book was going to be spoiled, plus the infamous “Who tops?” question. All in all, not bad at all, though this was the first panel I’ve attended with just the two of them, so I admittedly don’t have any equal comparison points. Soon enough, it was over, and it was time to drink (more!) with Philes. All of the aforementioned crew from the day joined, plus Amanda, @datanullyx, @redscully, @xfilesgeekery, and @anicepieceofash.  We started in the hotel bar but, in the interest of cost savings, eventually procured liquor and ordered (more) pizza and moved to our hotel room. There were lots of hugs and snuggles, lots of loudly wondering “What is my life?”, platonic handholding, one human/puppet makeout session, an impressive demonstration of Kristin’s ability to sleep through anything, and some amazing cheesecake brownies . As the evening got late, Puppet Mulder even changed into his red Speedo (and put on his to-scale legs.) Needless to say, it was a night both wonderful and strange. Here’s some of the crew at the after-after party:

I feel so lucky to have gotten to spend time with everyone I met or re-met this weekend, and if I start calling out the specifics of why you’re all so great, I’ll make myself cry, so I’m going to stop here. If you’ve read all of this rambling (whether you were present or not), I’m very impressed. Thanks to everyone who shared in this weekend with me from both near and far, and thanks to Gillian and David for giving us an excuse to meetup.

I said I’d never fly to a con, but I’m so glad I did.

Author's note: I always hate writing these because a) it means it’s over, and b) I can never fully capture the awesomeness that is meeting up with fandom friends. Also, I have a shit memory, but jotted down notes about stuff right after it happened on Saturday, so hopefully I’m not misconstruing anything too terribly. If you were present, feel free to correct me!

[isadomna]

Isabella de Medici (1542 – 1576)

She was daughter of Cosimo I de Medici, first Grand Duke of Tuscany, and Eleonora di Toledo. Isabella was born in Florence where, with her brothers and sisters, she lived first in the Palazzo Vecchio and later in the Palazzo Pitti, spending much of her time as a child at father's ancestral country home, Villa di Castello. Isabella was raised and educated in a humanist manner with her siblings. Of great beauty, she had a lively, high-spirited and impulsive character that was commented on by courtiers. As a result, she has, in fact, been tagged as the “Star of the Medici House”. She had an inordinate passion for hunting, music and poetry. Isabella could speak many different languages, play instruments, sing, and write verses. 

To secure a relationship with the powerful Roman Orsinis, Isabella’s father arranged her marriage to Paolo Giordano Orsini, Duke of Bracciano, when she was 16. She remained in her father’s household after her marriage, giving her an unusual degree of independence for a woman of her period. Following her mother’s death, she acted as first lady of Florence for a time, displaying the Medici’s aptitude for politics. She suffered several miscarriages and remained childless until her late twenties. Her daughter Francesca Eleonora (known as Nora), was born in 1571 and eventually married her cousin Alessandro Sforza. Her son Virginio was born in 1572 and eventually inherited his father’s dukedom.

Isabella’s free-spirited personality created rumours with regard to the nature of her relationship with Troilo Orsini, Paolo Giordano’s cousin, who was charged with looking after her while her husband tended to military duties. On 16 July 1576 Isabella died unexpectedly at the Medici villa in Cerreto Guidi during a hunting holiday. According to her brother, the Grandduke, this occurred “while she was washing her hair in the morning … She was found by Signor Paolo Giordano on her knees, having immediately fallen dead." However, the official version of events was not generally believed and the Ferrarese ambassador, Ercole Cortile, obtained information that Isabella was “strangled at midday” by her husband in the presence of several named servants. Isabella was the second sudden death in an isolated country villa in the Medici family, her cousin Leonora, having died of a similar “accident” only a few days before. Most historians assume that Paolo Giordano killed Isabella in reprisal for carrying on a love affair with Troilo Orsini, or that he acted on instructions of the Grand Duke Francesco, Isabella’s brother. One scholar, Elisabetta Mori, has argued that Isabella de Medici died of natural causes and that the rumour that Paolo Giordano murdered her was spread by enemies of the Medici.(X)(x)

[incorrectassassinsquotes-blog]

Assassiversary: John Hinckley, Jr. (March 30, 1981)

John Warnock Hinckley Jr. (born May 29, 1955) is an American citizen who, on March 30, 1981, attempted to assassinate U.S. President Ronald Reagan in Washington, D.C.

Hinckley grew up in University Park, Texas,and attended Highland Park High School in Dallas County. During his grade school years, he played football, basketball, hockey, soccer and baseball, learned to play the piano, and was elected class president twice.

After Hinckley graduated from high school in 1973, his family, owners of the Hinckley oil company, moved to Evergreen, Colorado, where the new company headquarters was located. He was an off-and-on student at Texas Tech University from 1974 to 1980, but eventually dropped out.

In 1975 he went to Los Angeles in the hope of becoming a songwriter. His efforts were unsuccessful, and he wrote to his parents with tales of misfortune and pleas for money. He also spoke of a girlfriend, Lynn Collins, who turned out to be a fabrication. In September 1976, he returned to his parents' home in Evergreen.

During the late 1970s and early 1980s, Hinckley began purchasing weapons and practicing with them. He was prescribed anti-depressants and tranquilizers to deal with emotional issues.

Hinckley became obsessed with the 1976 film Taxi Driver, in which disturbed protagonist Travis Bickle (Robert De Niro) plots to assassinate a presidential candidate. The Bickle character was partly based on the diaries of Arthur Bremer, who attempted to assassinate George Wallace. Hinckley developed an infatuation with actress Jodie Foster, who played a child prostitute in the film.

When Foster entered Yale University, Hinckley moved to New Haven, Connecticut, for a short time to stalk her. He enrolled in a Yale writing class,began slipping poems and messages under Foster's door, and repeatedly called her. Failing to develop any meaningful contact with the actress, Hinckley fantasized about conducting an aircraft hijacking or committing suicide in front of her to get her attention. Eventually, he settled on a scheme to impress her by assassinating the president, thinking that by achieving a place in history, he would appeal to her as an equal.

Hinckley trailed President Jimmy Carter from state to state, and was arrested in Nashville, Tennessee, on a firearms charge. Penniless, he returned home. Despite psychiatric treatment for depression, his mental health did not improve. He began to target the newly elected president Ronald Reagan in 1981. To this purpose, he collected material on the assassination of John F. Kennedy.

Hinckley wrote to Foster just before his attempt on Reagan's life:“Over the past seven months I've left you dozens of poems, letters and love messages in the faint hope that you could develop an interest in me. Although we talked on the phone a couple of times I never had the nerve to simply approach you and introduce myself.... The reason I'm going ahead with this attempt now is because I cannot wait any longer to impress you.”

On March 30, 1981, at 2:27 p.m. local time, Hinckley shot a .22 caliber Röhm RG-14 revolver six times at President Reagan as he left the Hilton Hotel in Washington, D.C. Hinckley wounded police officer Thomas Delahanty and Secret Service agent Timothy McCarthy, and critically wounded press secretary James Brady. Hinckley did not hit Reagan directly, but seriously wounded him when a bullet ricocheted off the side of the presidential limousine and hit him in the chest. Hinckley did not try to flee and was arrested at the scene.

In great pain and coughing up blood, Reagan was taken to the George Washington University Hospital. When his wife arrived in the emergency room, he remarked to her, "Honey, I forgot to duck", borrowing boxer Jack Dempsey's line to his wife the night he was beaten by Gene Tunney.

Ultimately, Reagan lost over half of his blood volume in the emergency room and during surgery, which removed the bullet. In the operating room, Reagan removed his oxygen mask to joke, "I hope you are all Republicans." The doctors and nurses laughed, and surgeon Joseph Giordano, a liberal Democrat, replied, "Today, Mr. President, we are all Republicans."

All of the shooting victims survived. Brady was hit in the right side of the head, and endured a long recuperation period, remaining paralyzed on the left side of his body until his death on August 4, 2014. Brady's death was ruled a homicide 33 years after the shooting.

Hinckley was confined at St. Elizabeth’s Hospital in Washington, DC. After he was admitted, tests found that he was an "unpredictably dangerous" man who might harm himself or any third party, and harbored unhealthy and inappropriate thoughts about women. Hospital officials found photographs and letters in Hinckley's room that showed a continued obsession with Foster, as well as evidence that Hinckley had exchanged letters with serial killer Ted Bundy and sought the address of Charles Manson.

Hinckley was given home visiting privileges increasingly over his 30 years in institutional psychiatric care, and was released on September 10, 2016. As part of his release, he is excluded from using alcohol, possessing any firearms, ammunition and other weaponry, from reading any printed or online pornography, listening to violent music, and speaking to the press. He has to work at least three days a week, can drive no more than 30 mi (48 km) from his mother's home unattended, and must see a psychiatrist twice a month. His Internet use is subject to limitations and scrutiny, and he is not allowed to erase his computer's web browser history.

American new wave band Devo's 1982 song “I Desire” controversially includes lyrics from a poem written by Hinckley.

Hinckley is featured as a character of the Stephen Sondheim and John Weidman musical Assassins, in which he and Squeaky Fromme sing "Unworthy Of Your Love," a duet about their respective obsessions with Foster and Charles Manson. [x]

[kevinsworldofcomics-blog]

Art I Love: Crisis on Infinite Earths.

By the time I discovered George Perez, I was old enough to be able to distinguish among different artists. He was the “good one” who drew some amazing JLA covers but unfortunately only a handful of full issues.

Of course, at this time he was most famous for co-creating the New Teen Titans with writer Marv Wolfman. Having this book and the X-Men on the stands at the same time was a pre-adolescent boy’s dream.

But Perez was sneaky. Looking back, you can see it happen -- his art slowly, subtly getting better & better. Then -- BOOM! The “good one” was now great. 

I still don’t think Crisis was necessary as a series, but that can be a topic for another time. Right now I want to bask in the awesomeness of mid-80s George Perez. The early issues of this series were inked by Mike DeCarlo and/or Dick Giordano (or someone from DG’s studio); the later issues by Jerry Ordway. 

Because the series featured pretty much every DC character, Perez got to do splash pages like this:

I can’t count the minutes (perhaps hours) I spent poring over the sheer amount of detail present here.

Zoom in closer from the giant panoramas and see his mastery of facial expression.

The series is full of creative page layouts that show off the difference between “busy” and “cluttered.”

This next page alone is like a lesson for aspiring sequential artists.

The scene starts off as a fairly straightforward Batman-Joker confrontation; the top three horizontal panels have probably been told hundreds of times. Look at the middle section, though -- the alternating closeups of faces & Batman’s hand, the mounting tension before the whole scene takes a turn into science fiction. Then at the end, the zoom in on Flash’s eye. Just... wow.

This series was where many of us first met the Charlton characters. When your intro is Perez, any artist who comes afterwards might feel like a letdown.

This series is also where I learned the word “nonce” (I actually, for real, put down the issue and went to a dictionary).

Perez really handled the quiet moments beautifully.

And sometimes let the loud moments become quiet ones.

My beloved Flash wasn’t long for the world, but seeing his final adventure rendered like this (the best he’d looked since Infantino in the Silver Age) took some of the sting off.

Rather than simply drawing one as older & with a different chest emblem, look at how Perez renders the Earth-1/Earth-2 Supermen as totally different men.

I love the dynamism of the poses here. Reminds me of the great Gil Kane.

Here you can see the heavy hand of Jerry Ordway’s inking. Sometimes this can overpower the pencils; in this case the two artists go together like chocolate & peanut butter. 

Speaking of going together well... Alex Ross painted over Perez’s pencils for this 30th (really?!?) anniversary oversized poster. I’ve resisted buying it, not only because it would take up most of a wall, but because I’m afraid I wouldn’t get anything done other than sitting and staring. 

[readingbooksinisrael]

A to Z Book Rec Tag

Thank you to @heretherebebooks for tagging me and sorry this is so late

Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll

Blue Castle, The by L. M. Montgomery

Charmed Life by Diana Wynne Jones

Dying to Meet You by Kate Klise and Sarah M. Klise

Enchanted Castle, The by Edith Nesbit

Fear No Evil by Natan Sharansky

Goose Girl, The by Shannon Hale

His Majesty’s Dragon by Naomi Novik

I Love You Like a Tomato by Marie Giordano

Junie B. Jones and the Stupid Smelly Bus by Barbara Park

K, why aren’t you reading Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson?

Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder

Magyk by Angie Sage

Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman

Outsiders, The by S.E. Hinton

Princess in the Pigpen, The by Jane Resh Thomas

Questioning why you haven’t read Arrows of the Queen by Mercedes Lackey

Rest of Us Just Live Here, The by Patrick Ness

Star and the Sword, The by Pamela Melnikoff

Tuesdays at the Castle by Jessica Day George

Understood Betsy by Dorothy Canfield Fisher

Vets Might Fly by James Herriot

We Are the Ants by Shaun David Hutchinson

X actly what do you think you’re doing not reading Dealing With Dragons by Patricia Wrede?

Y don’t you check out Rot and Ruin by Jonathan Maberry?

Zeroes by Scott Westerfeld

I think this has been done by practically everyone, but if you haven’t done it please feel yourself tagged!

[lostharvest]

BRUNO IN VENICE WEST By Lawrence Lipton

For Giordano Bruno burned by the Inquisition in the year 1600

http://www.freevenice.org/Sites/iblog-2008/B1986113144/C596342830/E20080502185457/index.html

Velvet and warm sweat under the torches the Procession entered the city, tall bronze men on the bronze great horses and the boys carrying banners, the fat prelates wheezing under the icons, and the musicians Up Main street, pausing to erect the great crucifix in the Circle before the U.S. Post Office, turning into Windward avenue to St. Marks Hotel, their flags and vestments, clowns In motley, peddlers hawking live birds and Turkish sweetmeats, drunks and tarts lurching along under the colonnades like any Saturday night, the P.A. horns blasting rock ‘n’ roll, sob ballads At the tavern doors, the winos wandering in and out of the alleys, blinking in the neon lights, and you Giordano Bruno between the halberdiers and the smoking torches wandering In the wind off the Pacific, here in this our Venice by the western sea as when, hooded, under the marble colonnades of old Venice once you walked, curing the Doges; burning Sapphire and crimson under his golden umbrella the merchant prince, over the pigeon droppings among the trash cans, Kinney’s dream of gondolas and gondoliers, his picture postcard Venice, chicken wire And Pittsburgh Pipe and Iron, the columns plaster, peeling now, the Grand Canal fouled up with oil, the derricks taller than windmills, we too, O merchant prince live on to see the dreges and ravelings– Tall steel and glass, high windows, greed piled high on pride, the blessed percentages; in vaticans of wealth the popes and antipopes give audience to the press, the old putridities, And men go gibbering to themselves aloud, hearing nothing, bereft of all the simple certainties. “When the first button’s wrong, all are wrong,” you said. Bruno, Bruno, When the iron key turned in the lock and the door clanged shut and the iron hand moved in the darkness, Bruno, was there sword play in the streets, the torches of the Night Watch lighting up Cut purse and slit gullet, perfumes, pomades, the stinking armour, rapes, vomits, silk brocades? Here the century that began in plush and diamond stick-pin elegance Explodes grotesquely beyond fire and ice orbiting in vacuums of space mathematics of disaster, madmen trapped in spidery black geometries. Do you remember Tintoretto’s Mounting circles within circles? Sanctus, Sanctus, Sanctus, Dominus. The bible shouter on the corner speaks in tongues (I hear bullroarers drums of Africa!) The neo-Platonist Newly dead, dumbfounded by his immortality, Newborn in worlds he never dreamed where life steams out of methane gas– Bruno, Bruno, pinned to the center of the burning wheel, Adam Cadmon In his mystic circle–”All is good and tends toward good,” you said. I walk beside you, unseen by the halberdiers, up Ocean Front, wind whipped, slat-beaten, leaden-eyed Past Dinty’s hot dog stand, a lush holds out a spastic hand, a junky hustling for a fix; the moon is coming up a size too large, smog orange over the mountainous east. Is it true the end is fire and ashes and no phoenix cries? Bruno, in the cold wet sea wind mountainous words tell out the last dark secrets, what is there to hide? I know Four hundred years have not sufficed to cool those fires; the gentlemen of Florence, Genoa her ships at anchor, blood and incense rancid in the Roman Sun, the poisonous wines of Florence, serpent Women walk with hooded eyes–what was old Venice but a tourist trap, city of traders, merchants, speculators, middlemen, promoters, bankers– jeweled slippers in the pigeon shit. This, Bruno, is the Grand Canal, swamp scum, litter-. that’s old Michael toting a six-pack to his rented room, the window shades arc drawn on Teena and her lesbian lover, tears will flow– 0 Sappho of the golden eyes–this door conceals a love of three; those eyes in the window, broken mirrors in an empty room, rags and ashes, old newspapers, doors rot on their hinges, and the old go mad Numbly contemplating death. hand reaches out to hand, a child dreams in a fever; old Cap in his tiny shack reads by a ship’s lantern– upturned faces under water, eyes Like a stunned carp’s. This bridge has no approach no destination, hung between two hells. Was there thunder in your heart the night you pulled the crystal vault of heaven down! And Tintoretto’s angel hosts lost endlessly in endless space with Thor and Adonai–they burned you for it Bruno. This Venice of the West was born a bastard

Misshapen in tile womb out of some old world whore of Commerce by P. T. Barnum bred–when business and the arts are mated, money takes the Muse to bed

Bonds debentures title deeds wrapped up in flags and sermons, stamped with the Great Seal of the State; the Laws and Statutes are his alphabet his capital all upper case, cock o’ the walk Three gilded balls his ensign out of Calvin Luther by the dark satanic mills now white supreme, on every dotted line his X has sealed your doom–and mine– He’ll kill you for it again, Bruno, the Xian Gentleman, his AM FM TV movie image multiplied is stinking up a continent– the commercial more and more becomes the show. The wind has changed, the dry Santana hot breath of the desert: it’s the Hyperion sewer you smell: your Venice was no rose bed open sewers and tanners vats the fish wives haggling, sweat and fear, the smell that money makes The windows darken, only the street lights and the torches now, our Venice sleeps; Your eyes burn, Bruno, scanning the heavens, vacant now; no angels hymn the heavenly court, we are rational men; Those are landing lights, a Constellation blinking to a touchdown, that was not thunder but a sonic boom, our safety lies in speed, they tell us, death on wings the enemy is crafty, never sleeps And godless, cobalt is his brain and poison gas, his heart burns liquid hydrogen, his breath is solar flame his fingers are a million secret spies we are his image–sanctified. The latest satellite arcs across the sky, a star whose manger is a launching pad, the child a robot cradled in steel arms, his halo liquid fire his brain an electronic brain, Our wise men bring no frankincense and myrrh, no visions wrung from love or pain but only slide rules plots top secret plans, we do not stone our prophets, Bruno, we give them target dates. Agnosco, ergo sum; we’ve come full cycle. Cohesion, color, sounds waves and radiations: res extensa. Giordano Bruno chemically changed by thermal action, Jesus On the cross: a rearrangement of the particles. Our men of science will define the event: a thermodynamically stable configuration known as death. Why has the music stopped? Look back, the Procession fades away, a slow dissolve, you stand alone; your lidless eyes are indrawn lost in contemplation like a foetal sleep Where are the drums and trumpets? I had thought to hear the papal legate read out your doom in bastard latin hear a shout go up to heaven with your flames. I should have known; A dead God needs no crucified to sanctify his name; no faith, ergo, no auto da fe; we have a choice of trivial martyrdoms: if we must die for truth we die self-slain. Your image fades and there is nothing now only the blind window panes of broken houses telephone poles that lean against the moon cracked pavements sinking into foul canals I turn, retrace my steps to Windward and the Ocean Front, the pigeons of St. Marks Hotel are roosting in tile plaster niches, one lonely jukebox whimpers from an open tavern door “I love you baby, why do you treat me so mean? “ A single wino staggers down the empty street, I cross the beach and look out to sea. “Sophocles long ago heard it on the Aegean”–here too Many a truth-tormented Oedipus has reached land’s end, walked in for reasons Sophocles never dreamed and made his last incestuous marriage with the sea, as Bruno made his with the flame. Homeward bound I stop for coffee at the Greek’s, scan the morning papers– This night’s business may have meaning for our time-a poem or a play? I have work to do. I think (to paraphrase) I shall not drown myself today.

[cvptaingiordano]

@defiantiisms​

      hand finds its way to her neck as he steps closer , digits slowly caressing her skin as he gazes at her. how complicated and messed up all of this was - he never thought he’d fall for someone who’s taken , more so fall for them and somehow gain their affection. index finger finds its way to her chin , tilting it up for his gaze to meet hers and he can’t help the way his lips twitch , a small grin adorning his features as he hopes for her to know. she means the world to him , the stars , the universe - she’s everything to him. he hoped that in her eyes she didn’t see him as ‘ the guy she hooked up with whenever her boyfriend wasn’t around ‘ but rather something else. something more.

       ❝ i missed you. ❞ he whispers , the bad of his thumb running down her jaw , before he leans down , closing the gap between the to as lips pressed upon her own in a soft k i s s , eyes closing as he let himself get l o s t in the way she made him feel. funny how q u i c k all of this happened ; how unexpected it was for them to share this attraction while she still was with someone else - someone he’d grown to despise. jealousy was something he had to hide whenever they were in the same place together , he had to shut up about how much seeing him kiss her bothered him ; he’s never able to do anything about it - until they’re alone ; like right now. lips pull back from her own as his hands make their way to their hips , digits ever so softly giving her the most gentle of squeezes. ❝ are you free tonight ?? ❞ it’s the most innocent of questions , one he wishes to know the answer to so they can stay together , spend the night at his place ordering food and just enjoying each other’s company. ❝ or .  .  . do you have plans with him again ?? ❞ voice is soft , the jealousy barely audible as he delicately lets the words roll off his tongue. it’s obvious , he wants to stay with her ; to in fact be with her. he wants to be able to kiss her and hold her hand , but he can’t do any of those things.

[amypca]

PHOT201: Sandro Giordano IN EXTREMIS (bodies with no regret).

My Thoughts:

These amazing photographs produced by Sandro Giordano leaped out and caught my eye as his use of body luggage had created a series of photographs that not only boggle my mind but mesmerised me as an artist. After looking into his work, I loved the way he has inculpated humanity into a staged set with models pretending to hit the floor. It has high artistic value to me and I detected it must go into my research. As Giordano once said “My photos tell the stories of people who live life at an exhausting pace, experiencing sudden blackouts. When the demands of the modern world become too much to cope with, our body rebels against our brain wreaking havoc in our day-to-day life.”

About the series  IN EXTREMIS (bodies with no regret):

“My photographs are “short stories” about a world that is falling-down. Each shot tells about worn-out characters who, in a sudden black-out of mind and body, crash with no attempt to save themselves. They are unable to, because of the fatigue of the everyday representation of living, oppressed by appearance instead of simply existing. We live in a distorted world of plastic surgery, which perpetuates stereotyped images that feed a preset marketing model. I believe that perfection is in imperfection. It is in strong contrasts, in frailty, and in the humanity that makes each individual different from the rest. I hide the face of my characters in order for their BODY to speak for them. This fall is the point of no return. There’s a saying “you must hit rock bottom to start over”. The FALL of my characters is their HITTING ROCK BOTTOM, as they’ve reached their LIMIT beyond which their FALSE SELF cannot go. Each of them saves an object, they hold it in their hand and it symbolizes this falsification. This pretence is represented not only by the objects but also the clothes, the hairstyles and the location! Everything that is visible in the picture represents their pretence while the smashed BODY expresses the TRUTH, which has to, in fact, crash to be told! I never use dummies in my shots; I use professional actors who are able to interpret what isn’t visible with their bodies, because I want the invisible to be visible.”

About:

Born in Rome on October 6th 1972. Sandro studied set design at the “Istituto per la Cinematografia e la Televisione Roberto Rossellini” in Rome. Immediately after graduating he began working as a light and sound engineer in Roman theatres. In 1993, he studied acting in one of Rome’s best private schools and the following year he began his professional career as an actor with directors such as Luciano Melchionna and Giancarlo Cobelli on stage and Dario Argento, Davide Marengo, Carlo Verdone and again Melchionna on film. Since October 2013, Sandro has been entirely devoted to the photographic project IN EXTREMIS (bodies with no regret).

LINKS:

https://www.ignant.com/2014/06/24/in-extremis-by-sandro-giordano/

http://www.sandrogiordanoinextremis.it/

https://www.google.com/search?q=sandro+giordano+photography&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjp-_XGjPTlAhW3URUIHXHoCicQ_AUoAXoECAkQAw&biw=1366&bih=657

[thrashermaxey]

Ramblings: Trouba, Parise, Sergachev, Klingberg, Domi & TBay Chasing History (April 3)

  The season is quickly winding down. Several playoff series are already locked into place, division titles have been decided, and teams are dressing lineups with that in mind. Look no further than Calgary to see the results of a team shutting it down.

  This was heading into Monday night’s game.

At optional morning skate at Staples Center. As Brad Treliving told the boys this morning, no Backlund, Tkachuk, Giordano, Brodie, Hamonic, or Hanifin tonight vs. LA.

Bennett, Quine, Fantenberg, Kylington, Stone, and Valimaki will all come in. #Flames

— Pat Steinberg (@Fan960Steinberg) April 1, 2019

  If your league still plays meaningful games in the final week of the regular season, this should be enough evidence to convince them otherwise.

  **

Tuesday night still offered some matchups with repercussions though. The Wild took on the Jets in a true must-win game. A loss by Minnesota or an Avalanche victory would result in their elimination from the second season. That was all the motivation they needed. Minny jumped out to a 4-0 lead and never looked back, defeating their Central division rivals 5-1.

  Zach Parise scored two goals and Devan Dubnyk made 29 stops.

  It’s been a terrific late-career jump by Parise. The total now sits at 28 goals and 61 points for the 34-year-old. This is also as healthy as he’s been in the last six campaigns. Don’t expect this to be replicated in 2019-20.

  Jacob Trouba continued to skate on the top power-play unit despite Dustin Byfuglien getting his legs under him after missing a couple of months. Trouba scored the lone goal for the Jets – a shorthanded tally.

  There it is!

: @JacobTrouba : @BiggieFunke

4-1 MIN | #GoJetsGo | #WPGvsMIN pic.twitter.com/ahcGvgNJLS

— x – Winnipeg Jets (@NHLJets) April 3, 2019

  The soon-to-be RFA will once again be a topic of discussion this offseason. The Jets will need to make some changes as their cap structure shifts with Patrik Laine (RFA), Kyle Connor (RFA), and Tyler Myers (UFA) also in need of new deals this summer. It will be interesting to see if the Jets can manage to lock him down to a long-term deal after consecutive bridge-deals, or if the trade-market finally opens up for the 25-year-old.

  Blake Wheeler recorded his 70th assist of the season on Trouba’s goal. That set a new franchise record, passing Marc Savard’s 69 apples from the 2005-06 season with the Atlanta Thrashers.

  **

So how did the Avs do? Well, they allowed two first-period tallies by the Oilers in a cruel attempt to give the Wild hope before rattling off six straight to win 6-2.

  Alex Kerfoot potted two goals, Tyson Barrie had a goal and an assist, and Semyon Varlamov stopped 27 for the victory. It was just the second start in over two weeks for Varlamov as the Avs look more and more comfortable rolling Philipp Grubauer.

  I know which goalie I’ll want next season.

  Speaking of netminders, Mikko Koskinen started on back-to-back nights despite the Oilers being eliminated on Monday. This was his 24th start in the last 25 games – the one he missed was due to illness. He has a 0.904 save percentage over that period. Not exactly world-beating.

  It will be difficult to see a path to the post-season for the Oilers next season if they return with the same defence corps and masked men.

  **

The Stars defeated the Flyers in a similar 6-2 fashion to punch their ticket to the post-season. They’re one of the few teams who doesn’t know their opponent yet, as the Blues, Preds and Jets could all still pluck the Central Division title.

  Alex Radulov scored two goals and two assists to extend his point streak to six games and 10 points. The 32-year-old is just two behind his career-high 72 from a season ago, but he’s done so in 14 fewer games. This is one vet that I’m okay buying in on next season. Dallas rides the big horses and that won’t be changing next year. Another 70-point season seems very doable.

  John Klingberg recorded two assists to bring his total to 44 in 62 contests. The 26-year-old has been something of a forgotten man in the elite defender conversation this year due to those missed games. But his 58-point pace is nothing to sneeze at.

  He should still be considered a top-10 D heading into drafts next fall.

  **

Nashville defeated Buffalo 3-2 to help drive the tank further for the Sabres. Since the deadline, Buffalo is a league-worst 2-15-2. That includes zero regulation wins, five games without a goal, and being outscored 78-37.

  These dudes know how to improve their lottery odds.

  **

Do you know who doesn’t know how to improve their lottery odds? The Canucks. Despite long being out of it, Vancouver finished up their home schedule with a 4-2 victory over the Sharks. It was their third win in a row.

  Tanner Pearson potted two goals for the home team. However, no one cares about that. You all just want the Quinn Hughes highlights, and I’ve got you.

  https://dobberhockey.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/04/Hughes-to-BB.mp4

  Hughes will be on the top unit next season and his presence will go a long way in vaulting Elias Pettersson, Brock Boeser and the Canucks offence to another level in 2019-20 and beyond.

  Get him early in your keeper drafts next year.

  Oh yeah, Martin Jones was poor in this one once again. The Sharks have the worst save percentage in the league (0.888). Will anyone really be surprised if San Jose is quickly dispatched by the Golden Knights in the first round?

  I sure won’t be.

  **

The Lightning took on the Habs with a chance to make some history. They came into the night with an eye on their 61st win of the season. That would move them into sole possession of the second-most in NHL history. Nikita Kucherov was aiming to make some history of his own too. His 86 assists are just one shy of Jaromir Jagr’s all-time record by a winger. That blows my mind.

  Unfortunately, for fans in South Florida, neither managed to happen on Tuesday evening.

  The Habs desperately needed to keep pace with the recently surging Blue Jackets and found a way against the NHL’s best, outshooting the Lightning 45-24 and winning 4-2. Artturi Lehkonen produced the game-winning goal, an assist and five shots on net.

  Meanwhile, Max Domi scored his 28th goal and his 71st point of the campaign. Domi hasn’t ever really been considered a goal-scorer. However, the seven percent conversion rate he played at for the 140 games before being dealt to Montreal seemed mighty low.

  Unfortunately, its a buyer beware situation as his 14.5 percent clip this year seems a touch high. His shot volume has improved from a career-average of <2 shots per contest to the 2.5 he’s put on net this season. If he can maintain a similar volume next season, but with the expected regression in conversion rate, we can pencil Domi in for 20-22 goals next season and around 60-points.

  I won’t be drafting him for too much more than that next fall.

  **

No Victor Hedman in this one as the Norris contender is out with an upper-body injury. We don’t yet know the extent of the ailment and whether it will limit his availability in the post-season next week.

  With him on the shelf, Mikhail Sergachev was seeing top-four minutes at even-strength and practiced on the team’s top power-play unit. Unfortunately, the Bolts didn’t draw a penalty in this one. Sergachev skated 22:14 with a shot, three blocks and five hits. He could be a nice sleeper pull in playoff pools if Hedman misses real time.

  **

Montreal’s victory brought them into a tie with Columbus who took on Boston on Tuesday. Joonas Korpisalo got the nod but quickly got the hook as he allowed two goals on the first five shots. That was all the head starts the Bs needed as they cruised to a 6-2 victory.

  Jake DeBrusk scored two and added an assist to bring his totals to 27 goals and 41 points in 66 games. He’s producing legitimate top-six metrics in his second season and you’d have to expect there is more to come.

  He sees top power-play deployment on a high-end team. He has developed nice chemistry to David Krejci on line two, and despite a conversion rate that will likely slip next season, he’s displaying an ability to find the back of the net on a consistent basis. The breakout may not be next season, but I see a 65-point season in his future.

  **

Arizona laid a big old egg against the Kings losing 3-1 and basically ended their hope of a post-season appearance. They’ll need to win their final two games against Vegas and Winnipeg in regulation, and see Colorado lose their final two games against Winnipeg and San Jose in regulation.

  Unlikely.

  It’s been a nice run for the Coyotes; something to build on for next season. But good intentions don’t bring in playoff gates, and this organization needs those in a bad way.

  **

Follow me on Twitter @Hockey_Robinson

from All About Sports https://dobberhockey.com/hockey-rambling/ramblings-trouba-parise-sergachev-klingberg-domi-tbay-chasing-history-april-3/

[mitchkiper]

The Friendzone Fenoms: And How Mitch Kiper Learned to Admit a Mistake

The following article was written weeks ago, in a semi-delirious state. Mitch Kiper has since recovered, and after a long journey of self-reflection, decided to edit this to the best of his ability and publish “as is.”:

Greetings from Midway airport in Chicago, where Mitch Kiper has been upset at an astronomical level by the removal of Potbelly’s, which has been replaced by a shop called “Home Run Pizza,” a White Sox themed bar that doesn’t even serve Giordano’s or Gino’s or anything not resembling cardboard covered in candle wax. For those who are interested, Mitch Kiper had a sad hot dog. Chicago Midway is officially the worst airport in the Greater Chicago Area.

Speaking of things that were at one point officially the worst, welcome to the preseason analysis for everyone’s favorite Friendzone Fenoms!

2017 – High Scoring, but Keeping Things Friendly

The Fenoms had one of the more interesting seasons last year, scoring 4th overall in total points, but placing 9th overall in the standings. For those who are paying attention (mainly Thatcher, Will and Ben, because Mitch Kiper doesn’t trust that anyone else actually reads this), the Fenoms scored enough where on points alone they should be in the winners bracket, but ended up in the toilet bowl instead. Even though the Fenoms scored enough to be a title contender, they kept things friendly and decided “Nah, let other people have the glory. We’ll just chill and discuss our dreams on the beach.” 

How did this happen? Or, as Will once said in a shitty student film, “What’s the dealio, Emilio?” Well let’s take a look.

Our First Clue: Expected Scores vs. Actual

What you’re looking at above is a comparison of Actual Standings to the Expected Points for a team in that slot. (This was calculated by finding the difference between the highest and lowest weekly averages in the league, and dividing into 12 equally distributed “Expected Weekly Scores”)

Right away, you can see that the biggest overall disparities belonged to the Yeshivas, who seemingly overperformed their weekly average. A 2nd place team, according to Mitch Kiper’s Expected Weekly Score™, should score in the range of 110.48 per week. YESH scored 99.01 per week.

We see the opposite picture when we look at the Fenoms. A 9th place team should be around the 90 point mark, if life were fair and Chicago Midway still had Potbelly’s. But they don’t, and the Fenoms had to fight their way out of a toilet while the likes of Gakusei Kai managed to play in the Midwest Living Bowl.

Yet as we all know, Total Points aren’t the whole story. And as we all remember from the most important of tests—the eye test—the Fenoms were not as strong a team as their total points indicated, mainly due to their reliance on the…

Apologies, Mitch Kiper’s resident artist thought I said to make a logo on Adobe Pumpkinshop. Who the hell hears it as Pumpkinshop?

When the Cheefs went off, so did the Fenoms. When they didn’t, the Fenoms tanked. The questions for us are: 1). can we demonstrate this through stats, and 2). Do our Mitch Kiper Roster Ratings™® have any metrics that could better predict the standings, even more than total points or points projections? Answers: Yes, and Maybe! (See what I did there? It’s called dangling a hook to keep you reading.)

Weekly Deviation: Demonstrating Jordan’s Wild Swings

Not to be confused with his wild swinging; that crazy guy.

I want to put this up top: part of this is an exercise to show objectively the limits of grading a team by Total Points. Obviously, points are important—they are how you win. But the strength of a team should and cannot be measured by Total Points alone. If they could, Neil would be winning a lot more (Sorry Neil.)

To hammer the point home with a simple example, look at the following two hypothetical teams after a hypothetical Week 3.

Team A: Averages 89 points per week.

Team B: Averages 100 points per week

Right away, you’d assume Team B was better. But then we look closer…

Team A: Scored 66, 100, 100 in the first three weeks. (+/- 34 max score v. min)

Team B: Scored 150, 75, 75 in the first three weeks.  (+/-75 max score v. min)

Total points, and the weekly averages that we derive from them, are not the whole picture. They are a piece of the puzzle. Another important piece is weekly deviation (hat tip to the one and only FLEAFLICKER for calculating this over the years in my other league, and inspiring me to try it out in Dynosteve).

So how do the Fenoms Fare when it comes to deviation? Here’s how they stack up against the rest of Dynosteve 2017:

 Well shit. As we can see from the chart above, a low standard deviation is in fact NOT a pre-cursor to success, nor for failure. The results are pretty widespread. There’s really no correlation at all between raw standard deviation and the success of a team. Some successful teams have wild swings, and vice versa. All this really teaches us is that while we thought the Fenoms were a boom-or-bust team, they had one of the lowest deviation rates in the league. Go figure.

So what’s the story here?

Based on weeks 10 and 11, it looks like a simple diagnosis of “They got fucked,” something Fenoms owner Dr. Rees is used to saying, although usually it involves an inanimate object of some kind, usually in tandem with an anus and an X-ray. He’s got a weird job.

2018 Outlook: Are the Fenoms for Real, or was Last Year a Fenomenal Fluke?

Considering I couldn’t even explain why the Fenoms did so poorly last year other than blind bad luck, there’s very little I can do to predict the Fenom’s 2018 performance.  Yet even though my deviation theory was debunked (something that happens to Mitch Kiper from time to time), I’m Mitch Kiper, so I’m going to plow ahead with a prediction anyway, with all the unearned confidence of my namesake.

This is my prediction for the league standings, based on a complicated predictive score that mixes Projected PPW with 3 Year Average PPW, and the %ile ranks of each team’s starters and bench. Don’t ask how or why I think this will work. I’m not sure it will, but I’m going to blindly stick to my guns, and use it to figure out where I think the Fenoms will land.

What’s actually interesting is that the Fenoms potentially have the best starters in the entire league (highest %ile rank of Dynosteve), yet a middling bench (7th). Yet even with the highest percentile rank of starters, his composite points prediction is low. This would imply that his top-tier players are in low scoring positions.

On a related note, the Juneboshers have a weirdly low %ile for their starters, yet a very high composite PPW prediction. So how is it that the Fenoms have the highest average starter %ile, yet a low PPW prediction, and the Juneboshers have a lower starter %ile than half the league, but are predicted to score more points than all but Goose?

… Because Mitch Kiper has a flaw in his system©.

No, it’s not lactose—well, not at the moment. It’s that he’s ranking all positions equally when it comes to %ile rank, i.e., top tier %ile TEs are given equal weight to top tier %ile RBs and WRs. To be fair, this is part of his thesis: a 2 point differential in a TE battle is just as important as a 2 point differential. What is not being accounted for at the moment, however, is the massive disparity that can pop up in the RB and WR categories. The difference between a 95th percentile RB and an 80th percentile RB is much more pronounced than the difference between a 95th and 80th percentile TE. Case in point:

This is a flaw Mitch Kiper will have to adjust, so he can better assess team strength and his future predictions. For now, though, we’ll work with the numbers we’ve got. And those numbers say… *sigh, I hate typing these words*… the Fenoms aren’t half bad, and will likely land in the middle of the pack.

… With one caveat!

The Fenom’s lack of bench strength seems to imply that a single injury will derail them. Aka, if Tyreek Hill or Kareem Hunt goes down, so do the phenoms.  ZIMBAB or YESH do not have this problem, because they back up their great starters with phenomenal benches. Also worth noting: Neil. Poor guy really never gets a break.

So that’s it for this long awaited section of Mitch Kiper. Tune in next week. Hopefully he’ll get his act together and write a new article quickly. The Longships await.

[pumasfm]

Spartan III Alex X-996, call-sign Puma 3, is Puma Team's designated marksman and pilot. Alex fosters a close relationship with Puma 1 and 4, with the former presumably due to him being the first addition of the group when he joined the Joseph and Giordano headhunter pair to upgrade to spartan team. His joy of extravagant actions shines through an otherwise goal oriented mindset as the voice of unconventional tactics during mission preparation. While to an outsider it may seem that most Spartan operations are unconventional, even compared to the flamboyant leadership of Puma 1, X-996 takes things a step further. Many vehicles had their service life severely shortened because of Puma 3’s suggestions...

In combat, Puma 3 tables an unmodified SRS99D-S2 AM sniper rifle, a rare SOCOM M6C pistol, and a definitely not-so-legal type-1 energy gauntlet that he acquired from a long deceased Covenant foe. Spartans are notorious for constantly tweaking and modifying their weaponry, which is why it is surprising that Puma 3’s SRS is in factory condition. Instead, he seems to have chosen to invest more time in his sidearms, even if the SOCOM M6 is already modified by nature. Of course, the energy gauntlet is a tribute to X-996’s ostentatious nature and sees action surprisingly regularly. It is smaller than the classic type-1 energy sword and is similar in deployment to the wrist-mounted Kig-Yar point defense gauntlet. I’m not sure how he was able to attach it to his armor exactly, but I’m sure Section 3 will want to look at it anyways.

Psychologically speaking, Puma 3 is surprisingly sound. While the aforementioned swanky nature might indicated suppressed fears or uncertainties, Alex does not have indications of this. X-996 explains that, “I like my gauntlet and knife because they are fun. It gives me a reason to get close to [the enemies] instead of shooting them from where they can’t see me.” If he wasn’t wearing a helmet, his smile could light up a room. Similar to his marksman roots, Alex remains emotionally at distance to keep a healthy psyche. In the end, any enemy versing Puma 3 faces an ice cold, calculated Spartan III with the only goal being their“beautiful” demise.

Lucky for the Puma team, X-996 stands on their side with excellent marksmanship and taxi driver skills that mesh right into the team dynamic.His “point sharp end towards enemy” mindset gives the team cohesion and physical fire support, and on the occasions where his improvisations are not traditional, it sharpens the team’s combat capabilities with the element of unpredictability and the psychological landscape with motivating audacity. This is something that I think the rest of the UNSCDF could take a slice of. Apart from a time-warranted standard field debrief and tactical review, recommend no action.

--ONI S1/C4 AGENT 87

[yoursatanboyfriend]

The Ninth Paradigm: chap 3.

Title: The Ninth Paradigm (X) Rating: M Warnings: Heavy themes such as: Non-con/dub-con, PTSD, Manipulation, Child Abuse, Gang Violence, references to depression and self-harm. Summary: ‘Those to whom evil is done do evil in return’ is a specious statement under certain circumstances- specifically ones involving Bill Cipher.

                       “So, what’re you wearing, Ford?”

“I’m always watching you.”

- Gaspard Giodarno.

Sixteen. The number of times Ford began punching the police department’s number only to end up chickening out at the very end, every single time. A comprehensible story was hard to formulate; for starters, what would he even tell them? Talking about Bill would inevitably bring to light the circumstances under which he’d been hired; the police would go digging and if they’d found out about Ford’s previous dealings with Gaspard Giordano, it would be over for him. Plenty of the police were under Gaspard’s thumb and if the impression he’d ratted the man out was given, he would be killed. He knew how this sort of thing played out. One of the few times fiction accurately portrayed reality.

And now it was already Thursday night, and as promised, Stanford’s phone finally rang. On the other end could only be Bill Cipher for Stanford rarely received phone calls anymore on account of the reclusive lifestyle he’d adopted since his split from Fiddleford. Not that he’d been particular social before that; he’d always been a bit of loner, with his youth primarily spent in the company of his pet dog, Stanley. Those were content days for him but that was such a long time ago.

Who cared about the past, anyway?

Apparently Stanford Pines did.

On the third ring and after rushed attempts at mental preparation, Ford took the call. Even with preventive measures, his hand still shook as it grasped the receiver.

“Hiya Fordster. Did you miss me? Of course you did!” Bill’s voice is clear on the other end and ripe with enthusiasm. Discomfort immediately set in and Ford’s thoughts could only go back to their last encounter, which still left the sticky residue of anxiety all over him.

“Hello Bill. Let’s just get straight to business.” Ford said, very eager to be done with this and found himself surprised at how confident his voice came out.

“Whoa, not even a bit of foreplay? Suit yourself, pal. So gonna assume you want me to give you the dirty details on what I was paid to do?”

“You said you had to tell me something. I can only assume that is what you meant.”

“Alright alright. It’s after-hours, my tie’s off, I can get a little wild with it. Ask questions, and I’ll deliver answers to your heart’s content.”

“Why did Fiddleford hire you?”

“Ah, right to the main course. Okay then. Your little country boytoy is sick with fear about your safety and what have you. Wants to know you’re safe but can’t meet up with you and no talkie walkies. He’s gotta avoid sharing any kind of personal information with you.”

“Why?” Ford had an idea behind his past assistant’s actions but the more he had considered it, the more farfetched it seemed. All this appeared too elaborate.

“You know why.”

“If I knew why I wouldn’t be asking! If this is—I don’t know what he told you about why we separated but, but it’s been enough time. I doubt anything’s going to happen. Especially now of all times.”

“Riiight, by ‘now of all times’, you’ve confirmed my suspicions that for a smart guy, you aren’t very smart. I’m revoking that nickname—and it’s gone, the nickname is gone.”

Getting impatient, Ford sought to realign the conversation at hand. “Elaborate, enough cryptic ciphers.”

“HA! Good one! No really, I really liked that one. A little word play on my name there. So, you know about that little deal you and Fiddleford got offered by the big kahuna?”

“So, you know about that.”

“Yeah, of course! He had to tell me so I’d know what I was getting myself into. Anyway, looks like you don’t know but he’s dead.”

“…What?!” Ford is not sure whether he’s relieved and happy, or even more scared than before. Monsters killing monsters meant monsters remained, regardless of the outcome.

“Oh, so you really didn’t know? Yikes. Entire family—or, most of his family—dead. Some weird freak house fire accident. Don’t really know the details—wait, don’t think it was a house fire. It was a fire something. A few folks who’d been affiliated with him ended up going missing too. All on the hush hush you see, gang crime top news never really…makes the news. Money makes people shut up.”

“…so he thinks whoever was responsible is going to come after us? But we aren’t affiliated with him at all!”

“Yeah well, it’s not like they care. They just know you dealt with the guy and had something he wanted. Also, going into hiding entails years, Stanford. Not 3 months. You need years to fall off the radar and disappear. Years. It’s only a matter of time before they do find you. In fact, I bet they have and are probably waiting to grab Fiddleford first.”

“If we are truly in danger, why does Fiddleford not want to meet up? We’d be safer and stronger together—he should, he should contact me, he should’ve been the one to tell me this. He should’ve—”

“Not so fast there, wise guy. You two staying separate is crucial to your safety. If the big bad guy catches you and tortures Fiddledork’s information out of you, then what? And vice versa. Besides, you two being both potential targets, being together is a bad idea, take it from me.”

“So, what now? I’m meant to just sit here?! I’m a sitting duck at this rate.” Ford frowned, his mind sorting and filing through both the information he’d been given and what he already knew. If they knew where he was, what could he really do? What was the point of Bill being here? What was one man to an organization of immoral men?

“Keep a low profile, just like you do now, and let me do my job, and all’s well, that ends well.” After Bill finished talking, a loud crunching sound broke Ford’s concentration; his nose scrunched up in response to the unexpected sound. “Are you eating chips?”

“Yeah.”

“I won’t tell you what to do but that’s rather rude.”

“It’s after-hours and I am under no obligation to be nice to you and you bet your ass I will take advantage of that. Anyway, something’s been on my mind and I wanna hear your side of the story. Why’d you say no? To the deal.”

Ford had already previously contemplated whether it was a good idea to tell Bill or not and concluded that if Fiddleford had entrusted this obscure man with the truth then Ford would, too. Even if the man was utterly despicable, the least he could do was show some respect for Fiddleford’s decisions. “We—I– wanted to say yes. And Fiddleford was against it. Eventually, we mutually decided to deny it. Science should not be at the exploitation and suffering of others.”

Bill laughed. “Everything is built of the ‘suffering and exploitation of others’, Ford, come on. How dense are you? Science the only thing you know anything about? Besides, scientists test on live subjects all the time. Helpless, defenceless animals, like come on, that moral bullshit you’re spewing is so lame. Not to mention tediously cliché. Why’d you really say no?”

Ford thought once more about it, and really, he’d said no because of Fiddleford. Sure, Ford thought himself a good man, but you had to make sacrifices in the name of science and he wasn’t one to be bound to a code of honour which existed only to stifle his growth and hinder his potential. He had been willing, more than willing, to wet his feet in the filth. Fiddleford, however, had not.

“I—I just, no you’re right. I claimed to have taken the moral high ground but I really…Fiddleford’s my assistant, I value his opinion. I said no out of respect for him.”

“That really worked out for you, huh? Whatever. I’m surprised you had trouble getting funding for your little projects. Aren’t you like a celebrity? With all these Ph.D.’s and the like.”

“Unorthodox projects are less likely able to gain and sustain funding regardless of the one behind them.” It had been a humiliating experience for him, the denial of his request for funding despite his tenacity. But he didn’t want to think about that right now.

“Aww, poor you. Hey, what was he like? The big guy.”

Ford thought for a second, and then assumed Bill was talking about Gaspard Giordano, the man in question who had offered the deal and was now dead.

“He was…polite, well-spoken, terrifying. Meeting him felt like…there was this whole world I knew nothing about. A world…some feared and avoided while others sought to gain entry. I could’ve gone my entire life never knowing anything about him and his organization. Is organization the right word? It was…it was just… something like out of a dream. You see it in movies, read it in books but when it happens to you, it’s just—just so surreal. I was so ignorant, so ignorant.”

So ignorant…

“Huh. Hey, some more Q and A. So, back then at the office, when I did the whole ‘alleged attempted rape’ thing, why didn’t you fight back?”

“You had a gun, Bill.”

“Well yeah, I had a gun but you could’ve pushed me off, made a run for it, called the cops and boom. Safety.”

“I don’t know. I was…afraid.” Ford had spent a lot of time reflecting on that…incident, while being torn between embarrassment and anger.

“So, no fight or flight for you huh? You just freeze up?”

“I had my reasons, Bill.”

“Time for me to hear them then, kid.”

Silence came between them for a few seconds, now only breathing being exchanged through the receivers. Finally, Ford speaks. “It’s such a little insignificant thing but seems to have imbedded itself within my mind. The tattoos—your tattoos. And, a few minor things, it just came together in my mind and I panicked.”

“My tattoos? Why did they freak you out?” Bill nearly sounds offended.

 “Your tattoos…just reminded me a little of his—of Gaspard’s. “

“Oh I see.” A quick-passing silence intercepts the conversation. “What kind did he have?”

“I didn’t get a very clear look but they were intricate and covered his entire hand—even the palms, I think. I recall Fiddleford mentioning they were significant but I couldn’t for the life of me think why. Anyone can get tattoos.”

Shuffling caused by skittish movement could be heard on the other end and when Bill spoke, he sounded more excited than usual. “Time for a little lesson in history, kid. Some cultures, can’t name any off the top of my head, place lots of value on tattoos. They can hold lots of connotations and only certain few may be allowed to receive specific designs. Bringing this on back to the topic at the hand, in the Giordano family, those tattoos are pretty important. They mark one of the Giordano family, serving as an identity card, sort of. Like, you got your credit cards and shit, right? Well a Giordano would just show their tattoos instead. Like maybe a guy will go buy a shirt. He takes the shirt, flashes his hands, and they put it on the Giordano tab.”

“That sort of thing actually happens?” Ford was astonished that something like that actually occurred in reality. The very concept seemed like something you’d pull out of a crime novel.

“Yeah. They have their muddy claws in the roots of this place, Ford. You’ve been living under a rock.”

“But anyone can get tattoos. It’s a lous—”

“No, I told you. Those are special. Anyone caught imitating them gets punished, the 40 lashes kind. I’ve heard some sick stories but I can’t say what’s real. I just know no one’s stupid enough to try and steal a Giordano’s identity. Besides, there are not that many of them at a given time. Like, you’d have 2 sons, or a son and a daughter and whatever so the people will already have an idea of what to expect.”

“And yours, you haven’t gotten—you’ve never gotten in trouble for them? You know, with…with Gaspard?” Ford said.

“Maybe that’s why I wear gloves all the time. They really gotta learn they don’t have a patent on designs. I’ve been in New York for the past 5 years, I get back and people freak out over my cool new trendy finger tattoos.” An edge of annoyance coated Bill’s words, and it’s the first time he’s revealed personal information about himself. New York…

“I’ll show you my tattoos up close sometime. But since you’re sooo scared of me—”

The strange accent Ford heard slip through occasionally was a New York one then? Did Bill have family in New York? A likely possibility, he did say he left town the weekends. Perhaps he returned home? Ford put his thoughts on hold and mentally returned to the conversation at hand.

“I think your company is not, well, it’s not half bad when you’re not attempting to assert your pseudo dominance.”

“I guess I’m better when I’m not threatening you with a gun huh?”

“That’s hardly funny.”

“Wasn’t joking, Fordsy. And what happened to your ‘YOU TRIED TO RAPE ME’ spiel?”

“I’m not excusing your actions and frankly, I’d rather not be alone with you in the future.”

“I was going to stop. You must think highly of yourself if you think you can drive me to some mindless lust. I don’t like men in their sixties. God, you’re pretty old, aren’t you?”

“Did you miss my earlier statement about your poor attempts at asserting your dominance? The dominance part is important, don’t overlook it.”

“Poor huh? They seemed to be working. But get a load of you, in all your little bravado glory. It’s only ‘cause I’m not there in person, right?” Bill’s voice took on a challenging tone, and once again, Ford felt like he was being threatened.

“You know Stanford, if the bad guys do catch you, they’re going to do something similar what I did. Gang life isn’t what most people think it is. It isn’t like what you see in your 80’s Italian mob movies. I mean, sure, maybe in some places you’ll see that, but really, it’s a lot more…gritty, and with more dicks. Lotta dicks.”  Bill spoke with conviction that slowly faded into the ghost of reminiscence.

“I really just wanted to see how you tested under pressure. I’m telling you, Ford…wait, I got a story for you. I knew a guy, let’s call him Ron, okay? So, Ron tells me he’s gotten an invitation to join this gang. I’m not going to give you Ron’s life details but it’s a step up from his current life. So, Ron is chipper, he’s happy, he accepts. So, he goes over to the meeting where they discuss his initiation. And guess what initiation he gets? Gang bang. I’m not fucking kidding you. The guy died 2 weeks later his internal organs so fucked, they couldn’t do anything for him. Looking back on it now, I don’t think they intended to let him join at all. They just wanted to fuck some poor guy to death for the hell of it.”

Whether Bill was attempting to justify and excuse his actions with this story, or whether he’s truly concerned for Ford’s safety didn’t matter. The story, whether it was real or not, was vile. Partially irrelevant, Ford thought. It seemed like a scare tactic. He had no intention of joining a gang, so why the story?

“They fuck you, Ford. When you’re new, when you’re low rank, as punishment, as reward, just for the hell of it. You’re a piece of meat until you get at the top. You’re just a dog who gets ordered around and fucked.”

Ford understood why now, the implication clear—it’s a potential outcome for Fiddleford and himself. Never would he ever have thought he’d one day be faced with threats of sexual violence of this nature. Insane, it seemed so utterly insane.

“You speak as though you have experience.” Ford said quietly. The shift in Bill’s voice did not go unnoticed by him, but dare he strike the bee’s hive?

“Ha. I’ve had enough people close to me fall victim to them. Let’s just say my life hasn’t been all roses, ice-cream and Kumbayah’s around the camp fire.”

Ford rethinks what he knows about Bill Cipher.

Then Bill added, in a tone Ford might’ve considered as frightened. “These people make me sick.” The words appeared to hold such sincerity, that for a second, Bill appeared vulnerable to Ford.

“Maybe we’ll get lucky with the next accident and be finally done with that family.” Bill continued.

“Would it fall apart then? Without Gaspard, surely there should be struggling, and fighting over who gets to be the new leader?”

“Without Gaspard? Gaspard isn’t dead.”

“What? You just said– you’ve just been telling me he died!”

“Oooh boy. You really know nothing, do you? I’m gonna need a drink because I’m about to lay on you life lessons. I’m going to fetch me a drink, don’t go anywhere.”

A series of noises passed through Ford’s receiver and finally Bill returned. “Now, let’s start from the beginning. Okay no, just the important stuff—okay wait. Let’s start with Gaspard Giordano.”

“Are you drinking alcohol?”

“No. Who drinks pure alcohol, Ford?”

“Is there a percentage of alcohol in the beverage you are about to consume.”

“It may have some alcohol content, yes.”

Ford rolled his eyes and removed his glasses, the frames now feeling heavy on his nose bridge. “Just get on with the story.”

“Okay so if you do a background check on Gaspard Giordano, you’ll find it’s a man in his hundreds. Gaspard Giordano has been alive for generations—the name. See, when the boss position is inherited, the inheritee—is that a word? It is now–  takes the name Gaspard Giordano, the identity, everything. Their original identity is then erased—scrapped–  and then business resumes as usual. So, Gaspard Giordano is always the person in charge, but it’s not always the same person. Cousins, brothers, sisters, daughters, wives, a whole damn farm has passed through the name Gaspard Giordano. I really feel for the women who got stuck with that name. Really, they could’ve picked a more unisex name. Moral of the story: everything started with Gaspard Giordano, and it will end with him, too.”

“So, who inherited the position?”

“His son.”

“So…his son is the one who’s after us?”

“Probably.”

“Why didn’t you say this in the beginning? You made it sound as if you had no idea who was behind this.” Ford said, suddenly suspicious of Bill. “You withheld information from me.” Bill was young, conveniently had hand tattoos, knew of Fiddleford and Ford’s deal and history with Gaspard Giordano—more and more, scepticism grew in Ford.

“I had to wait for the right time to reveal that juicy bit of information.”

“You’re treating this as more of a game. One would expect you to be upfront and straight-forward regarding matters that apparently affect your safety.”

“Apparently?” Bill asked, seemingly taken aback.

“I’d appreciate a more serious attitude from you in the future, regarding this.” Ford said, deciding not to voice his new found sudden distrust of Bill Cipher. He barely trusted the man before but now, more and more, the possibility of Bill being Gaspard’s son appeared highly plausible. Tattoos, friends in high places, a tendency towards violence and a sense of entitlement were good enough evidence. Not to mention the man was lying about his age, that was certain, and the fact he’d suddenly appeared after the supposed death of the ‘former’ Gaspard Giordano meant that Bill could be seeking to rectify a mistake his father had left behind.

Gaspard and Bill, however, looked absolutely nothing alike. Genetics weren’t necessarily ones to be trusted though, and Ford chose to let his suspicion rest but not die.

“I’ll give it a shot. So, in conclusion, we’re all in this together. I might get killed for having tattoos and you two might get killed because you once upon a time denied ‘Gaspard Giordano’ and he’s a fickle man who changes his feelings at a moment’s notice, if you catch my drift. We all lay low for a little while until we get a good look at what options we actually have.”

“Do you really think they’re after me?” Ford suddenly asked, wanting Bill’s opinion. The man couldn’t have such a devil-may-care attitude without reasoning—even he wasn’t that reckless and foolish.

“Nah. I think this drama is hilarious. Your buddy is damn paranoid. You’d be dead if they wanted you dead. Personally, I think you have nothing to worry about, but this is my job so I gotta ham this up as much as I can to ensure Fidd’s keeps paying me.” Bill’s honesty nearly elicited a smile from Ford, but he attributed it more to the reassurance of Bill’s words- be they true or not. This entire thing did seem messy, as though Bill could never get his story straight; him deceiving Fiddleford, to an extent, now made sense. Money.

“I’m surprised you answered that truthfully.”

“What makes you think I was being honest? Not every day you get to play a part in some conspiracy mafia cat and mouse. But really, play it safe anyway, Ford. Just like I am.”

Bill’s lack of professionalism stuck out; at 31, he should’ve been slightly more seasoned and less inclined to such immature antics. Another flag that Bill was lying; either about his age or his occupation.

“I’m going to bed now, Bill. Thank you for the call.” Ford hung up quickly before the other man could even manage a word of protest.

He had a lot of information to digest.

 Bill frowned, dropping the receiver carelessly with the dial tone still blaring through it.

Well, that was rude.

Ford's little playing-hard-to-get act was fun though. Not to mention exciting, risque, dangerous–

And wow, when was the last time he showed someone his tattoos only for flat-out rejection to follow? Even if Ford didn't know...

He still liked the thought of having been denied. A little edging was nice on occasion.

It made the climax that much more intense.

Speaking of climax...Bill suddenly wonders what Ford's face would look like when he came. (he feels like he already knows?)