#From the VAs performance to the editing

[maramirror11]

Neon Wings

These are just my thoughts on this AMAZING series and I don't have someone to dump this so here we go.

Spoiler warning for both The Neon Barbarian and Neon Wings.

I've never done this and English grammar isn't my strong point.

I wasn't expecting a sequel for TNB. But the world was too interesting to not make more. So, I was surprised that NW went in a different direction. It's Raven's story and it SHOWS.

I love how the audience is able to witness Raven's past and compare it with the present.

I enjoy making the backstories of Listeners based on the little information we have. However, it feels different to just hear about their past from BE THERE to understand what they went through.

Because for me the two series are one big story. Of course, you can see one and not the other. Still, it hits different when you see both.

I like the idea of Crow not going back. It'll defeat the purpose of the story. (Don't get me wrong I LOVE CROW, I MISS HIM). Yet, if he comes back, it'll be awkward since Raven is different. Time has moved on and he will be stuck in the past again.

For me, Raven changes from being someone open to knowing new people to becoming this person with emotional walls. In both she's still kind and a badass, but it's different.

It took her TWO days to give Ivan the pie unlike with Crow that it took a few hours to invite him to her house.

One of my favorite parts of this series were the moments Raven had a panic attack. Sure, almost every video has loud banging or shooting noises.

But with these ones, you can FEEL how UNCOMFORTABLE she is. How there is nowhere to run, no way to get the sound quiet down. How the sirens and shooting noises never left her head as she just stayed there, incapable to do something.

The way music is used is another favorite part. Out of Touch means so much for her, both good and bad. I forgot the music was playing WHILE Crow was being shot.

That's why in her nightmare, after Ivan gets shot, it sounds a distorted version. It's the story repenting itself all over again.

Just for her to claim the song while they fight against Luke. Love the detail. The final song Chicago was *chef kiss*. It's a new song for a new life and it fits PERFECTLY.

ALSO, THE FIGHTING AND SOLO SCENES OMGGG. You KNOW what Raven does and what they do to her, from hand to hand combat to guns.

Also, there are many scenes where she doesn't interact with anyone and still understand what happened. Like when she goes back home from the incident and just drops to her couch/bed.

Lemme talk about Ivan. I was surprised with Ivan's attitude. He is always calm and never actually cursed. I thought that his reaction to Raven's old job was something he was OK with but couldn't participate.

He's so kind with everyone and his struggle NOT TO drop facts about the things he likes is relatable. HE'S SO AFFECTIONATE WITH RAVEN AND PALOMA, I LOVE HIM.

At the end, he curses and gives effective strategies to kill the other mercenaries. On top of that, he ended up shooting someone, so I think I didn’t give Ivan enough credit.

The fact that he has a kind heart, doesn't mean he's not brave enough to protect the ones he cares about. They became The Power Couple. Relationship Goals indeed.

It was a hard task to give Raven another love interest since Crow is so loved by the fans. And I admit it was handled very well. For both Crow and Michelle.

I appreciate how Michelle is not a competition. For me, she had the right to be upset at the beginning. It was a dangerous and new situation. She just wanted to protect her family.

Probably Ivan talked to her and explained the situation better, since Michelle doesn't blame Raven again at the end.

My question right now is, WHY Raven took Ivan with her??? He can't run and doesn't have that much experience in combat.

Maybe they felt safe with each other. I mean, Raven IS a mercenary and fought 3 armed guys alone. Also, why was she so open to listen to Luke? He knows most about Para M and would benefit from her death. I still need to give it more thought.

There are still some things that kept me thinking about the other stuff that weren't shown. One is that Danny is never brought up again. I understand that she was not as important as Crow in the story but STILL.

She died saving her identity from Louis and now Raven takes care of her cat. I just wonder if Danny was for Raven, another victim of the circumstances or they were friends.

Also, the disaster that created the super genits (i'm sorry if I wrote it wrong) is never brought up again. But I think it's because it takes place far away from the original incident. Something that is never stated as well, are Danny and Crow buried somewhere?.

Lastly, I always keep this writing advice in mind. Characters of a story can't be the same at the beginning and at the end. The scene that brought me that thought was when Raven got shot. I'm pretty sure she couldn't hear Crow's words before this moment.

Seeing him one last time and being in the situation she wanted for so long, it shows how much she grew. Raven from the beginning would've accepted to die.

But she couldn't, there was something worth living for. Raven had her closure with her past and now it's ready for the future. IT MADE ME EMOTIONAL 😭.

Now Raven can live her life again the way she wants. She leaves her old name and life behind. Not seeing the next sunrise but to enjoy it as well.

It's like those stories even if you get spoilers, it's not the same as experience it.

That's all.

[beenanabiz]

will I ever get used to Pikachu being a caffeine addicted grown ass man? no. but do I support it? absolutely. you go you little crime solving game freak

Here's what was teased yesterday for Detective Pikachu, it's really just an animated short, not some DLC announcement or anything. (It was going to be one of the two.)

[thesiltverses]

How do you do podcasts, beyond the writing stage? The Silt Verses inspired me to try writing audio drama, and I have ideas, but I am only one person and all I can do yet is write. How do you get published, so to speak? How many people do you have to involve at a minimum (beyond VAs)? How do you find those people?

Let me try and tackle this in increments!

#1: With the right story format, you actually don't have to involve anyone else, so don't feel like you're missing some vital component. You don't need anything but yourself to get started.

An intimidating number of the most successful audiodramas ever made are either single-performer or begin that way before expanding to accommodate guests, and that includes both narration format and action-driven shows (WTNV, Old Gods, Knifepoint Horror, Malevolent...). With a lot of these shows, the writer is taking on performing duties despite a lack of formal voice acting experience or training, and acting as the sole producer into the bargain. Sometimes the ambient soundtrack for these shows is very basic and homespun - as it was for us with I Am In Eskew - or sometimes a sound designer has been paid for a higher-quality track that can play out during an episode, but there's no ongoing sound design work required.

Beyond that, the number of roles will entirely depend on your ambitions and your workload (and again, you can take on as many of these roles as you want to and have time for). If you're working with actors, someone needs to direct them and effectively manage the recording schedule, and someone needs to review and edit their takes. If you want action, someone needs to design that action. Plan to your needs, not anybody else's team size. You can always scale upwards as you go.

#2: How do you find collaborators beyond VAs? This can definitely be hard. But you could start at the Audio Drama Hub on Facebook, or advertise on the Fiction Podcast Weekly newsletter, or I just saw the Audio Drama Creators Discord mentioned on the audiodrama reddit (which is also a very helpful resource). If you have local networks - whether it's a university/college drama society or a citywide actors' page - that can be worth seeking out as well. I'm sure there'll be tons more so gonna drop in the audiodrama tag in the hope that we can get you more ideas.

My word of caution would be - I recommend putting a considerable amount of work into both the writing and the initial production plans before you start seeking other people out, particularly if you're operating on low or zero budget. Writing is a more popular pursuit than production, generally speaking, and I feel like over the years I've seen a lot of "looking for a director/producer/sound designer to help me create a show!" requests from someone who's got a largely unwritten idea and a lot of initial excitement fuelling them - when of course internet strangers largely aren't going to want to commit their time and energy to a project until they have some real tangibles and specifics.

#3: There's absolutely no bar to getting published, per se (other than paying for a hosting platform). If you're thinking of an arrangement where you submit your scripts to an already-formed production team, unfortunately that's something that doesn't reliably exist as far as I'm aware! Much better to do it yourself, generally speaking.

Hope that helps and best of luck!

[feral-ferrule]

Saturday’s Child Chapter 4

Main pairing: Echo/f!OC, Althea

Word count: 6150-ish

Fic overview: Bad Batch modern AU. Echo/OC this is part of the Hunter and the Librarian universe by @clonethirstingisreal in which the Batch brothers live together, raising Omega.

OC Althea is a university student with a medical delivery job. Echo is a combat veteran who volunteers at the VA hospital where they meet.

Tulip is @substantial-exposure ‘s OC

Warnings: things are heating up, this chapter has swearing, physical violence, angst, tooth rotting fluff, suggestive language including mention of poly relationships, strategic performative gender roll play, kissing and sexual arousal.

This is neither well-edited nor beta read🙌

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“Go go go go! Awwww!” Wrecker’s disappointment lingered on a groan as a shrill whistle blew and the sportscasters chatted over a replay on the screen.

Echo didn’t really see the play. Althea’s lips had pursed plushly around the edge of her drink. Her head tilted back a little as her throat worked a swallow down and her hair shifted around her face. The kitchen timer beeped. Echo refocused his attention from his peripheral vision to the floor as he braced his hand on the arm of the couch to do the maneuver to lean forward and stand as smoothly as possible.

“I’ll go check the potatoes,” Althea said, as she hopped up and glided out of the room. Her long cardigan waving behind her and exposing more of her figure that was hugged by her dress and leggings. A round of groans erupted from the other side of the seating area as a player fumbled the ball in the game.

“She was looking at you,” Jesse leaned over to say to Echo. Echo looked from Althea to him and then at Kix who was also not paying attention to the game. “So which of you’s going back there with her?”

“I’ll go see if she needs help,” said Kix.

“Leave her alone, Kix,” Echo grumbled around Jesse, “looks like the girls are going back with her anyway.”

Tulip was standing, “Wren let’s go help Althea,” she said with a wink and nodded her head toward the kitchen. Wren nodded back and they left.

“You calling dibs, Echo?” Kix asked, leaning over the back of Jesse’s shoulders.

“Why do you two keep saying that?”

“Cause you asked her out first,” said Jesse.

“We’re just trying to be fair,” Kix added, watching as Tech headed back to the kitchen.

“What makes you think she even wants any of us? That’s not why she’s here,” Echo gritted, also looking towards the kitchen.

“Well, she was talking to me and being real sweet,” Kix said, leaning back, one arm draped across the back of the couch, “and even made a pass at me when I saw her at the hospital.”

“She’s nice to everyone, Kix. What you think was a pass was just her being polite,” Echo huffed, rolling his eyes. Jesse chuckled.

Tech returned from the kitchen with plate of chips.

“Aw come on!” Wrecker boomed at the tv.

Ha!” Jesse pointed at the screen with his hand with the beer, “that’s right cause your team’s a bunch of cheaters.”

“What’s going on in there, Tech?” Kix asked.

Tech paused his bite of a chip. “They are talking but didn’t seem to want to include me- Tulip in particular.” He said with some bitterness. Crosshair smirked.

“Don’t cross her path, Tech!” Wrecker laughed.

Did Althea want you gone, too?” Jesse asked.

“No, she’s too nice- she even smil-“

“See?? She’s nice to everyone.” Echo said, “even when she doesn’t want to talk to them,”he added, looking right at Kix.

“Hey, what are you saying?” Kix asked with feigned innocence.

“He means she doesn’t actually like you,” Crosshair hissed.

“Don’t get cheeky Crosshair,” Jesse said.

“You two are going end up running her off and Echo won’t even get a chance.” Crosshair’s temper was rising.

“Yeah don’t ruin it for him,” Wrecker chimed in, still watching the game.

“That’s real funny coming from you,” Jesse said with a sneer.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Wrecker asked, fully facing him.

“You remember,” said Kix.

“Boys that was a long time ago-“ Hunter began to say.

“Ohhhh… Well I was all she needed wasn’t I?” Wrecker sassed, “and Echo’s all Althea needs.”

“Oh good grief here we go,” Echo sighed.

Kix set his beer on the side table and stood “What does that have to do with Althea?”

Hunter shifted a bit taller, sensing the increased hostility, “Little ears, fellas,” he said, glancing at Omega who had been pretending to watch the game.

Wrecker stood up, totally ignoring Hunter and facing Kix.

Jesse rose next to Kix, “Who are you to say what she needs?” He asked pointing a finger at Wrecker.

“She’s a nice person. I think Echo should have her.”

Echo shook his head and stood up to go stand between Wrecker and the other two. “Wrecker settle down, no one’s having anyone.”

“Speak for yourself, Ec,” Jesse said slyly. Echo rolled his eyes.

“Don’t you think Althea can decide for herself.” Tech said, setting his plate of chips down and pulling out his phone.

“These two think they’re calling the shots as usual,” Crosshair glared at Kix and Jesse.

“You’re just like you’ve always been, think you're better than us,” Kix said stepping toward Crosshair.

Hunter tapped Omega and motioned towards the kitchen. He stood between Wrecker and the others as Omega slipped away. “Guys settle down, before they come back in. This,” he emphasized, driving his finger toward the floor, “is a family event with Omega and the girls, don’t act like you're all back in basic.”

“I was going to say middle school,” Tech shot from where he was standing behind the couch he’d been sitting on and tapping on his phone.

“I think you two should keep going so she can hear you for herself,” Crosshair seethed at Kix.

“Hear what? You being a bitch, Cross?”

“Watch your mouth.”

“You’re out of line.”

“Take that back.”

“Make me!”

Crosshair squared up as Echo stepped next to Hunter between the other four. “Stand down!” Echo shouted, “we’re all family here and no one is better than anyone else.”

“Move aside, Echo.”

“Guys there’s a kid here.”

“You’ve changed.”

“Yeah, ya think?”

“Always with the chip on your shoulder.”

“You’ve always been a cunt,”

“Fuck you,”

“Yeah you wish,”

Someone’s fist flies past Echo’s peripheral and lands squarely on Wrecker’s jaw. “That’s it!”

“Settle down both of you!!” Hunter thundered.

“Boys this is not the time or place,” Echo growled as Wrecker shouldered around Hunter to grab Jesse by his shirt and lift him off the ground pushing into Kix who bumped into Crosshair and the two of them careened towards the tv, fists flying and collapsing on the floor, Kix pulled into a headlock. Echo stepped back and caught the tv from rocking off the stand as the lamp behind Jesse crashed to the floor.

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“What? What did they say??” Althea asked Omega, her eyes wide.

“Well I didn’t hear everything over the tv from where I was sitting, but when you came back to the kitchen, Jesse asked Echo and Kix who was going to follow you in.”

“That’s when I got up I brought Wren back with me,” Tulip added.

“So now Jesse and Wrecker are arguing which brother deserves her more and Crosshair is joining in.”

Tulip rolled her eyes.

“Oh no,” Althea worried, looking at Wren, “I do not have the social battery for this situation.”

Wren laughed out loud before she could stop herself. “Me either, and I’m not even involved,” she said.

“What are you going to do?” asked Omega.

“What was Echo doing?” Althea wondered.

“He got up between Wrecker and Jesse.”

“They’re up? Like on their feet?” asked Tulip.

“Yeah.”

Althea felt sick with a panicky combination of guilt and fear. If Echo got hurt…

Tulip narrowed her eyes at the back door. “We gotta nip this in the bud,” she said looking sidelong at Althea.

Althea sighed, looking at the hotdogs and noticing they needed to come off the grill onto a plate. She had an idea. “You’re right. lt’s because of me, I’ve got to fix this.” Taking the tongs from Tulip, she gathered the hotdogs onto the plate and turned off the grill. She looked over at Wren and noticed her color looked a little drained and she was hugging herself a bit. Althea looked at Omega and back at Wren. Tulip held the door for them as Althea carried the plate and tongs, and Omega held Wren’s hand. They all filed inside noticing how much louder it seemed with blaring commercials and several loud male voices all raised over eachother.

“You- chip- FUCK YOU- shoulder- cunt- always- did-THAT’S IT!”

“SETTLE DOWN!” Hunter’s voice rang out over it all as some loud thumps and bumps carried in with the voices.

“Maybe stay in here with Omega,” Althea said to Wren as Omega helped her to the table. Wren looked like Althea felt which made her feel even worse. She set the hotdogs down by the chili.

*Crash*

Althea and Tulip looked at each other. Althea took heart at the fire in Tulip’s eyes and set in her jaw. She knew these guys and didn’t seem afraid of any of them. Tulip led the way into the living room and surveyed the scene. Arms crossed, weight on one leg and the other foot tapping.

They all froze in turn and looked at Tulip. Wrecker holding Jesse by his shirt, Cross and Kix on the floor,

Echo holding the tv, Hunter pulling on Wrecker’s arm, and Tech by the front door, recording everything on his phone.

Althea appeared then from behind Tulip. While Tulip looked angry, lips pursed, running her tongue along her teeth, Althea looked distressed and shocked.

Wrecker dropped Jesse and Crosshair let go of Kix. Tech lowered his phone and Hunter turned to see who they were all looking at. Echo lowered his eyes, unable to bear the look on Althea’s face. Her eyes shimmered with threatening tears and she turned around and went back to the kitchen. Tulip watched her go for a second before she rounded back on them with a fury. “Nice job assholes,” she hissed at the room before stomping out.

They all looked over and up at Echo. “You all happy with yourselves now?” He gritted out. Kix and Crosshair glanced at each other. Kix shook him off and stood up.

“Now if you are all done I suggest you go in there and apologize to the girls,” Hunter said in a dangerous tone as Crosshair stood up next to Kix, making a point of not looking at him. Jesse rubbed his neck and Wrecker rubbed his hand that had been twisted in Jesse’s shirt. They looked at eachother from where they hung their heads.

“You got a smoke?” Echo asked Crosshair, only to make a face as he was offered a clove. “Never mind.”

“You quit anyway.”

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Should I just leave? No. No I have to do something first, Althea reasoned with herself as she ducked into the kitchen. Wren looked at her sympathetically from where she sat with Omega. “Are you ok?” Althea asked.

“I’ll be alright, I just need to sit a minute,” Wren said, taking a deep breath. “But how are you doing? What’s going on out there?”

Althea glanced at Omega, “They were definitely having disagreements- but it looked like Hunter and Echo were trying to stop the others and Tech had moved out of the way to video it. I’m… so sorry about this, I’ll try to fix it before I go.”

“Are you doing alright?” Tulip asked as she appeared and hovered over Wren, soothing her back.

“Yeah I’ll be fine,” Wren smiled, “Thanks for handling things in there.”

Althea picked up a plate from the counter. “Omega, I have an idea, but I need your help, what does Echo like?” Omega caught on to the idea with a big smile and helped Althea plate up what Echo liked from all the food they had laid out.

Tulip looked over at Althea and Omega curiously. Althea noticed and said, “This might be old fashioned but I think it’s the best way to handle things at this point.”

“Are you only making a plate for Echo?” Omega asked in a whisper.

“Yep,” Althea said, emphasizing the ‘p’. “Now, can you please go tell the guys food’s ready?” She moved to stand out of everyone’s way.

Omega skipped out of the kitchen feeling very conspiratorial, “Guys! food’s ready!” she hollered then skipped back in and gave the thumbs up sign at Althea. Wrecker, Jesse, Kix, all looking sheepish and patting each other’s backs, filed in. Tech, Hunter and Crosshair followed. Hunter went straight over to Wren as the others clamored around the food.

“Boys.” Echo’s deep warning sounded out through the room. He folded his arms and looked at them all, his eyes stern under the brim of his knit hat. Everything came to a halt and they turned to face Althea, Wren, Tulip and Omega.

“I- we are sorry, for being idiots,” Wrecker said, rubbing the back of his neck.

“and upsetting you,” said Kix, looking at Althea and then at his feet.

“Yeah, sorry, ladies.” Jesse said.

They all looked at Crosshair. He glowered till he caught Tulip’s eye and mumbled a sorry, flicking his eyes up at Althea briefly. Tulip went over to him and he wrapped his arms around her and murmured something in her ear. She gave him a playful swat and whispered something back to him.

“Thank you, everyone,” Althea said softly, letting her eyes linger on Echo. His scowl softened as he noticed her admiring his commanding posture and energy.

“Let’s dig in! Looks like Althea got started already!” Wrecker said.

Omega showed everyone the plates and forks as Althea intercepted Echo at the back of the queue. “I made you a plate, Echo,” she said, “Omega helped me with what you like.”

Echo looked astonished and reached for the plate, brushing fingertips with Althea. The guys all turned to look and exchanged glances. Hunter nodded at Echo and said something to Wren. “You didn’t have to do this,” Echo said, with a hint of a smile.

“Yeah, I did.” She slid her hands over his, both his prosthetic and flesh, and smiled sweetly, caressing the angles of his face with her eyes.

Breaking contact, she placed a fork on his plate for him and turned around to cut the brownies into squares and set them out on the table. She noticed Omega watching everyone’s reactions and gave her a wink. Jesse and Kix shrugged and sighed and went about piling their plates full of chili dogs. Echo set his plate on the table and sat down in one of the armed chairs. Jesse and Kix patted Echo on the shoulder as they passed him to go to the living room with Wrecker who turned and winked at Echo with a thumbs up.

“See, I knew Allie would pick-“

“Drop it Tech,” Hunter warned. Tech gave him a weak salute and joined the others leaving for the living room.

Tulip rummaged in the freezer and pulled out a bag of frozen peas. She and Crosshair sat at the table and she pressed the bag to his blooming black eye. Althea faced the table, “I’m really sorry you guys, I don't want to cause problems with your family.”

“You didn’t cause this, these guys have beef going way back,” Echo grumbled, “this crew can be hot headed.”

“It’s not your fault,” Hunter implored, “I’m sorry your first impression of us is this way.” He added glaring at Crosshair.

“They had it coming,” Crosshair seethed. Hunter sighed and shook his head.

Althea smiled weakly, but was reflecting on problems in her previous relationship. She wanted to stay but felt that she ought to leave. Echo and the others watched her grow quiet and withdrawn.

It started to rain hard. A gust of wind slammed the screen door closed outside, snapping Althea out of her reverie. “Oh I’ll go cover the grill,” she said.

She ducked outside, found and struggled with the grill cover in the pelting rain, soaked and chilled and crying. She should have left as soon as she felt the tension. Now the brothers or cousins whatever they were- their family- were having problems. She was trouble. It was a refrain her mind spun and spun.

“Althea,” a deep, warm voice and presence was behind her. She felt the rain stop hitting her and heard it patter on an umbrella. She turned around. Echo was so close. She felt his warmth as he handed her the umbrella and took the grill cover. He quickly fit it over the grill as she held the umbrella over him. He turned back to her and reached for the umbrella again. As the porch light illuminated her face he noticed she had been crying. She saw him notice and cast her eyes down, chin trembling. He drew her into his arms. “You did nothing wrong, I’m so sorry, Althea.”

She nuzzled into his shoulder and took a big shuddering breath. She wrapped her free arm around him under his. Clinging to him she felt his strong, broad back and shoulders through his hoodie jacket. He smelled like soap and fabric softener, and man.

“I should go.”

“Please stay,” he said into her hair, breathing in the scent of her shampoo, desperately hoping she wouldn't run off already. He tried to hold her gently and not squeeze her fast like he wanted to.

The feeling of his warm breath on the shell of her ear gave her butterflies. She looked up at him, a breath away. His golden hazel eyes were intense like a cat’s but warm and soft and caring. And they burned with want. Althea looked between them and to his lips then back up to his eyes.

He was doing the same, her mouth was so close.

She closed her eyes and nuzzled his nose, her lips barely a whisper away from his, letting him take the next step.

His mouth was on hers, pressing a soft yet firm kiss to her lips and pressing the umbrella handle between their bodies. She felt warmth bloom inside her and let go of the umbrella to wrap that arm around him. She melted into him as the umbrella shifted and settled on their heads. He cradled her head, his fingers in her hair. She pressed her body flush against his, pulling him to her. He wrapped his prosthetic arm around her lower back and squeezed her to him. She squeaked, surprised at his strength with that arm and parted her lips to take a breath and ran her tongue along his lower lip, inviting him to deepen the kissing. He met her tongue with his and she opened her mouth more, angling her head for him. He dove inside her mouth caressing her tongue with his, tilting his head to the other side and holding her face and jaw and threading his fingers back through her hair. Her heart felt like it wanted to fly away and she tried catching it with her breath. She made little sighs into his mouth which drove him wild with desire and he hummed lowly as he kissed her more ravenously.

“Echo?”

They both froze against each other’s mouths. The door cracked open. “Jesse and Kix are leaving. Oh.” Hunter stopped short as he noticed how closely they were standing, their heads covered by the umbrella but their arms clearly around each other.

“Bye Echo!” Jesse said from further in the house.

“Heeeeyyyy. Althea, if it doesn’t work out with Echo you know how to find us.” Kix said from the doorway.

Echo kept their lips together as he reached back and closed the door on the three of them. Althea smiled against his lips and nuzzled his nose.

“Find -us?” Althea asked between kisses.

He sighed and considered his words, “They like.. to share their women.”

Althea's eyes widened with surprise and then realization that they’d been dropping hints to that the whole time. He seemed a little uncomfortable with the subject so she didn’t ask about what that meant exactly. She kissed him back along his jaw which was prickly with stubble. “You mean I passed up a two for one deal?” She teased kissing just under his ear, making him shiver.

“And picked my shrinkflated dented can ass.” He said as he nuzzled her ear back.

“Oh I think I got the better buy,” she said, pulling back to look him in the eyes.

He smirked, “you don’t strike me as that cheap.” A flicker of sadness dimmed his eyes briefly as he caressed her cheek.

“Oh you’re right,” she said, looking at him through her eyelashes, “I have very good taste- for kindness,” she gave him little kisses to punctuate each word, “intelligence, respectability, integrity, bravery, sexiness,” she smiled into the last kiss. “You’re the package deal.”

Not believing his wildest dream luck, he kissed her face back to her ear heading for her neck.

“What about you? Is sharing a family tradition?” she teased, figuring she already knew his answer.

He practically growled, squeezing her firmly with his arm, flexing his fingers in her hair, sucking and raking his teeth under her ear, making her keen. “I’m selfish.”

She shiverd, as much from arousal as from the cold. “You're, oh!,” her breath hitched as he moved lower down her neck, “you’re warm.”

It started to rain harder and he felt her shivering more. As he grasped the umbrella and guided her to the door they heard car doors and an engine start. He left the umbrella at the door and brought her to sit at the table then went out to the living room. “Wrecker throw me that blanket,” Echo pointed at the throw blanket draped over the back of the chair he was sitting in. Wrecker pulled it out from behind him and threw it to Echo.

Althea felt a warm, fluffy soft blanket wrap around her.

Echo squeezed her arm and pulled away. She heard him rummaging, boiling water, pouring, stirring.

He brought her a very aromatic steaming mug just as she sneezed. “It’s a gingery chai tea. I hope that’s ok.” He handed her a tissue.

“Oh thank you, I love spicy teas.”

“It makes me feel warmer when I’m cold.” He sat down, straddling her, his arm around her shoulder.

“Thank you Echo,” she said, resting her head on his shoulder. “Echo?”

“Yeah?”

She shivered and he pulled the blanket up on her more as she cuddled into him closer. “I just like saying your name.”

He nuzzled her hair, “I like hearing you say it. Thea, can I call you that? You don’t seem like an Allie to me.”

She smiled, “Yeah I like that.”

“Thea, I’m sorry about tonight, my family is a lot and it wasn’t fair to you to be piled on and Tech shouldn’t have”-

“No don’t spin it that way, this was probably the only way that the forces that be could have gotten us together.”

“Are we together, I mean do you really want that?”

“Mm hmm,” she hummed, looking at his eyes that were so hopeful it made her heart ache, “I want that- want you.”

He let out a breath he had been holding, his heart soared.

She pulled out her phone. “I was going to send you this later,” she said as she pulled up their text conversation and tapped on the unsent photo. “I put the card you gave me on my dresser with all of my special things. I never thought I’d be able to get to this point with anyone again and the more I ran into you at work the more- I’ve wanted to kiss you all weekend.”

“I’ve wanted to kiss you a lot longer than that.”

“Oh?” She looked up at him.

“I noticed you the first day you started.”

“Really? I was so lost,” she giggled.

“You seemed like you knew what you were doing.”

“Thanks I guess I played that off pretty good.” She sat up quickly and ducked away from him to sneeze.

She sipped her tea as he kissed her temple. He got up and brought her the box of tissues.

“Thanks, Echo, can I use your bathroom?”

“Of course, it’s right through there,” he said pointing to a little hallway next to the stairs.She grabbed her bag and slipped into the bathroom.

He sat there using the moment to process the events of the last hour or so. “Hey, how’s everything?” Hunter asked as he went over to the fridge and grabbed a soda.

“I think ok- Better than ok, really.”

“That’s great, brother,” Hunter said, “make any plans yet?”

“No, I’ve got to come up with something.”

Hunter pats his shoulder, “Let us know if we can help.”

“Thanks, man,” Echo said, feeling deeply grateful for the offer. He hadn’t dated since getting blown up in the war and was starting to spin up thoughts of not being able to be who he thought Althea deserved.

Hunter noticed him get a little sullen, “Hey come watch halftime, you and Althea can sit together.” Echo nodded and they went out to the living room.

“You’re welcome,” Crosshair deadpanned.

“For what?” Echo asked, annoyed.

“I told those two idiots to leave.”

“Oh I was wondering why they left.”

“Kix had a shift coming up and Jesse had to drop him off before they had anything more to drink,” Tech clarified.

“Well I did tell them to leave, anyway,” Crosshair grumped.

“Where’s Althea?” asked Wren

“In the bathroom,” Hunter said as he sat next to her, taking her hand. Wren rested her head on his shoulder. “Do you need to lie down?” Hunter asked.

“I thought about doing that earlier, but I’m ok now,” she said.

Echo kept glancing toward the kitchen and bathroom and started fidgeting. He couldn’t help but wonder if Althea was alright. Wren noticed him and could tell he was agitated. As the minutes ticked by and several commercials played Wren found herself trying harder to pay attention to the tv. She got up and walked over to the bathroom door. Tulip followed.

Washing her hands, Althea looked in the mirror and got a makeup wipe out of her bag and cleaned the little bit of bleary eye makeup off her lower eyelids. She applied fresh mascara and some bb cream to camouflage the splotchy mess from crying. She then added some more tinted lipgloss that tasted like vanilla and honey. She ran a mini brush through her damp hair and decided that was good enough. Her reflection still reminded her of a pathetic wet cat.

There was a knock at the door. “Hey, sorry to bother, but are you alright?” Wren’s voice sounded muffled through the door.

Althea opened the door to see both Tulip and Wren. “Yeah I’m better now, sorry to hog the bathroom. Sorry for all the drama.”

“Oh it’s alright we just wanted to check on you, not use the bathroom, there’s another upstairs, anyway,” Wren assured her.

“Totally not your fault, those jerks really did have that coming.” Tulip softened her frown and reached out and gave Althea’s hand a squeeze.

“You’ll be ok,” said Wren, “all the guys here totally support you and Echo. He will take good care of your heart. come out and sit with us. Did you get any food?”

“I really didn’t intend to stay this long and need to get home,” Althea worried.

“At least watch halftime with us, I’m sure it will be as awful as every other Super Bowl,” said Tulip.

Althea laughed, “Ok, just halftime should be ok.” They walked out toward the kitchen where Wrecker, Omega and Tech were hovering over the brownies.

“You brought the brownies?” Wrecker said to Althea, “Aw they’re so good, thanks!”

“Yes, they are rather good,” said Tech.

“Fankooo,” Omega said through a mouthful. They each grabbed another.

“You are welcome,” Althea cheered, “and thank you for having me over.”

Are you leaving?” asked Wrecker, noticing she was holding her purse.

“Not yet,” she said, hanging her bag on the back of a chair. I’ll stay through halftime, but I have so much homework to finish.”

“Oh I’m glad I don’t have homework anymore, don't miss that at all!” Wrecker declared.

“Would you like something to eat?” Wren asked.

“Thank you, but I'll just finish my drink, I think, I’m too all over the place to think about eating.”

“I totally get that,” Wren said.

Echo was sitting on one end of the larger main couch and Hunter on the other. Wren sat next to Hunter and Omega sat next to her in the middle. Althea came around and smiled at Echo who leaned forward and stood, offering her his seat at the end. Omega started to pout. “Thank you, Echo, I’ll sit right here so I’m next to you and Omega, I think.”

Omega beamed as Althea sat by her and Echo lowered himself back down. It was a cozy fit and Echo’s broad shoulder bumped against Althea’s. She wanted to really snuggle up to him, but didn’t want to get too intimate with Omega right there and everyone else around. She found his hand and rested hers on it.

“Well, well, well, look at that. The matchmaker in all her glory between her handiwork.” Crosshair said as Tulip squeezed next to him on the oversized chair he was in. Omega got a big grin on her face. Hunter reached behind Wren to pat and ruffle Omega’s hair.

“Oh?” Althea looked over at Wren.

Wren blushed, “Well, she really worked hard on us,” she said, squeezing Hunter’s hand.

Tech cleared his throat where he was stretched out on the garage couch, “Ahem.”

“Oh sorry Tech,” said Omega, “I guess you did help,” she teased.

Tech scoffed in mock offense.

Althea patted Omega's hand and they giggled together. Then, looking over at Echo, and loosing herself in his eyes, she threaded their fingers together. “Thank you, Tech,” she said without looking away.

“Get a room,” Crosshair scoffed. Tulip elbowed him in the ribs and he grinned devilishly, tickling her back and making her squeal.

Althea raised an eyebrow at that suggestion and parted her lips in a tiny smile, still looking at Echo, feeling her heartbeat a little faster. She noticed his eyes dilate a little before a look of fear flashed on his face and he looked down at his legs. Althea squeezed his hand and tilted her head till he looked back up at her. She leaned over to whisper in his ear, “As much as I like your family, I’d really like to be alone with you.” She punctuated that with a tiny kiss on his jaw.

“What is this music?”

“Who is this?”

“I like their outfits.”

“Of course you do, Wrecker.”

“You know you do, too.”

“Do you know who this is?”

“Yeah, they’re pretty cool.”

Echo and Althea tore their eyes from each other to see what everyone was talking about. Althea was familiar with the singer, Echo seemed to find it interesting, but neither of them found it better than just being next to each other. Althea was feeling increasingly tired, and felt a tickle in her throat. She felt a sneeze coming on and lept up and managed to step away and pull out a tissue that she had stowed in her dress pocket before sneezing.

“I may have caught a cold outside. I’d better get going.”

“Awww,” Omega protested, “Can’t you stay for the whole game?”

“I’m sorry sweetie, I promise I’ll be back another time.”

Echo stood and put his hand on the small of her back. “Are you ok to drive, one of us can take you home if you need and another can drive your car.”

“I’m fine to drive but want to get home before I feel any worse,” she replied.

“Please eat something at least,” he said.

“I’ll take some with me I think,” she said as he steered her to the kitchen with concern on his face.

He pulled a plastic food container out of a cabinet. “Your’re going to have to help me with what you like this time,” he said. “Oh I like everything except that liquid nacho cheese stuff- I’ll eat it but not when there’s everything else.”

“Do you want a hotdog, baked potato or both?”

“I think half a baked potato, they’re so big.”

He filled the container and snapped its lid on as she grabbed her bag. He handed her the container and she nestled it in her bag so it wouldn’t tip over. They walked to the front and Echo pulled her coat and umbrella out of the front closet where Tech stowed it. He helped her put it on and she turned around to say goodbye to everyone just as Omega threw her arms around her. “Thank you for coming over, I’m so glad you picked Echo.”

“Omega-“ Hunter began.

Althea held up her hand, “It’s ok Hunter,” she said with a small laugh and knelt down to give Omega a proper hug. “I am so happy that I get you in my life along with Echo. I feel very lucky.” Omega squeezed her harder and let go, stepping back and wiping her eye with her sleeve. Althea stood back up, “ Good bye, everyone, see you soon hopefully. Thank you, ladies,” she added, looking at Wren and Tulip.

Everyone said their goodbyes and Althea shuffled out the front door with Echo close behind. The door closed and Althea turned to Echo, “I wish I could stay longer. I really like spending time with you and I always seem to have to run.”

“Do you have any free time this week?” He cozied up to her and held her around her waist.

“I should on Tuesday after class.”

“We can meet for that coffee..”

She smiled, “It’s a date.” She slid her arms around him. He squeezed her, his hand caressing her back, resting his forehead to hers.

“Text me when you’re home safe?” he said.

“Ok.” She closed her eyes and nuzzled him with her smaller nose.

They hesitated, both not wanting to tear apart from the other and knowing kissing now would make it so much harder. He kissed her, anyway. She leaned into it and playfully bit his lower lip. “Ayee!” she squeaked out as he hummed almost a growl, spun her around and pressed her against the side of the house, crashing his mouth against hers, knocking teeth. His hand threaded through her hair. He felt possessive but restrained. For a split second she felt his arousal press into her hip before he backed off of her, his kiss ending with a trail of nibbles and pecks along her jaw.

She panted, not having expected him to maneuver her around like that, and wanting to feel all of him again, “I have to go for real.”

“Ok so go,” he said against the spot he’d found under her ear that made her quiver.

“You aren’t making this any easier,” she said with a gasp as he grazed that spot with teeth and tongue.

“I know.” He pulled back with a smirk and pressed a chaste kiss to her lips still holding her around her waist.

“Echo?” said a voice from out on the sidewalk. They both turned to see who it was and saw a man in a wheelchair by the driveway.

“Hey, Trace.”

“I don't mean to interrupt- who-“ he squinted in the evening gloom.

“You remember Althea?”

“Ohhh Althea, hi! You came?”

“Maybe soon,” she whispered in Echo’s ear, catching his eye with a minxy little smile. She could feel his hand grip into her waist as he turned a shade pinker. “Hi, Trace, I was just leaving.”

“Go ahead to the back, Trace, I’ll meet you inside,” Echo called over to him, “help yourself to any food.”

“Ok thanks, man. Bye, Althea.” He wheeled up the driveway and out of sight.

“Bye Trace,” Althea called and looked back at Echo.

“Definitely soon,” she blinked at him, enjoying how flustered he seemed. His prominent adams apple bobbed as he swallowed. He gripped her harder and was about to say something, but she ducked her head into her coat to sneeze and fished another tissue from her pocket. “Oh I’m so sorry, I don't want to get you sick, too,” she sniffled.

“Then we’d just have to recover together,” he smiled, tucking the hair in her face behind her ear.

“I’d better actually go,” she said sadly.

“Drive safe, Thea.”

She huffed a sigh and walked away from him. Then skittered back to him, held his face and kissed him quickly, turned and trotted through the puddles to her car before she let herself get caught up any longer. He did have a new guest inside and she imagined Trace was wanting to hear all about everything.

🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺

Trace munched on chips at the table and listened to Omega account all the details of her observations of Althea’s visit. He and Echo exchanged looks when she got to parts she didn’t really have the whole story on. Echo’s phone buzzed in his pocket. He fished it out and saw the text notification from Althea. He opened the message which included a picture of some papers and a laptop with something like chemistry and math calculations:

Wish I was with you

Me too, don’t stay up too late

*He sent a picture of the empty brownie pan

Glad I got one

😮 wow they really liked them

The chili is delicious, pass my compliments on to Hunter

👍will do

Ok gotta focus

Good night

Good night 💋

🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺

Notes: if you are confused about the extended batch family it’s ok, so is Althea. The modern AU here is inspired by the ideas of Modern Batch AU and Modern Fives AU stories by kaydear (Illyria_Lives) on AO3 by way of the Hunter and the Librarian. (Can’t get the links to work) They are really good, highly recommend. So Jango is their dad and he was a sperm donor so there’s alot of siblings out there, and, well, it gets complex. I’m putting a slightly different spin on the background.

Tag list (let me know if you’d like to be added😊):

@adamime @substantial-exposure @clonethirstingisreal @crosshairs-dumb-pimp-gf @transactivecybermemory @griffedeloup @returnofthepineapple

[the1younevernoticed]

Federal workforce email series (VA social worker):

I am editing some things down. I will be sharing non-political facts and personal concerns as they relate to me on a personal level through my job. My opinions and beliefs do not represent the VA, the government, or any political party. These posts are to encourage transparency for all.

DEFENDING WOMEN FROM GENDER IDEOLOGY EXTREMEISM

Sent: Friday, January 31, 2025 9:47 AM

To: VA All Mailboxes

Subject: MESSAGE FROM THE ACTING SECRETARY

MESSAGE FROM THE ACTING SECRETARY

DEFENDING WOMEN FROM GENDER IDEOLOGY EXTREMEISM

Fellow VA Employees,

I am writing regarding President Trump’s Executive Order (EO) entitled Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government.

VA’s leadership team has received guidance from the Office of Personnel Management and is working to execute the EO fully, faithfully, and thoughtfully.

The complete implementation timeline for the EO is 120 days, and during this time we ask all VA employees to take no action until specifically directed through subsequent guidance, which will be issued by the Office of the Secretary.

Thank you.

Todd B. Hunter

Acting

I have to be honest. This one . . . got me.

I have blacked out the VISN (region for my VA) in this to protect myself and other staff members.

As stated, I am a social worker. I follow a code of ethics for my clinical practice. This includes service to those in need, social justice, and dignity and worth of the person.

Gender identity is such a crucial part of people’s ability to feel whole and healthy. We have made leaps and bounds in the mental health field to learn about people, how to help them, and respect them.

We have veterans who identify as trans, non-binary, and cis gendered in our service, and as patient facing professionals it falls to us to treat them holistically.

My team has been concerned, once again, if we will be ordered to not perform our social work practice as our code of ethics expects of us. And how this could affect our patients.

Time will tell what changes are expected from us.

On a personal note, the title of this order seems . . . . . . As a woman, I have never felt a need to be “defended” from any gender discussions or ideas. I feel confident in my ability to review many different ideals and come to my own conclusions. I myself am not trans, and I do not feel any sway from anyone I know as trans for me to “become so”. My sexual identity is just for me to decide, just as my non-sexual identity is.

Disclaimer: this post is for educational purposes and is in no way supporting any particular political party and is not meant to incite any political activity

[thefringespod]

Happy #AudioDramaSunday wanderers! Looking for a show to fill the void now that the Fringes is over? Well, look no further as today we're shouting out some excellent shows to fall in love with now that our show has concluded! Let's get started!

Starting things off with @souloperatorpod which was created by our very own Marigold, @totcoc0a ! Soul Operator is horror and mystery and ttrpg inspire amazingness. Everything Tot has done with this show sings in the best of ways and @strautmaskreplica's editing is divine

@grottopod is liminal horror about grief and caving with original music and cover songs in each episode and it's absolutely fantastic. Our very own @taytayheyhey is one of the main characters and does amazing work! @athansmusic has ripped my heart out and honestly? Worth it.

@woebegonepod starts as a fictional game and becomes time travel, murder, and cowboys. It also has amazing original music its episodes and while most of it has been just Dylan's voice acting, the VAs he has in the later seasons are wonderful. This show defies genre and I love it

@tellnotalespod has ghosts! And grief! And convoluted science about ghosts and grief! It is the kindest show about ghosts you will ever encounter and has made me cry so much. Leon Egan poured his whole heart into this show and it shows in every facet of it

Would this really be a recommendation list from me if I didn't mention @ethicstownpod ? Imagine if moral quandries carried real world weight and then turn that guilt up to 11 and you have Ethics Town. I adore this show and everything that it has become and I cannot WAIT for S3

It also wouldn't be me without mentioning The Technomancy Project which is another genre mashup in the best of ways it's got horror it's got sci fi it's got magic it's made me cry it's great!

@thekilda is part of the reason that the Fringes happened at all. Seeing this dark fantasy cult stuff podcast from the ground up inspired me to finish writing the Fringes and I'm eternally grateful. It also introduced me to Michelle Kelly's work and then she became Alexandria!

@doyoucopypod is another show about grief (why do I love so many shows about grief?) with horror and fantasy elements and it squeezes my heart in my chest. @delaylays has created one of my favorite series of all time with this show and I know s3 will destroy me

@allatseapod is horror-ish microfiction about being stranded- you guessed it- at sea. Noah Bell's voice acting and writing are both phenomenal and i am desperate to find out how Feb got themself into this mess they're in

@audistorium is an anthology which runs all over the genre-sphere and has some of the best writing and sound design I've ever heard. It's got an episode for every kind of listener and Landon Lemon Whisnant does excellent voice work in it!

@thenightpost has cozy horror vibes and also respect the post office which is something we should all do more. The magic in this world is so intriguing and the characters are so engaging and all of the work in it is wonderful I cannot recommend it more

@hinaypod also falls into cozy horror for me but more along the lines of "Motzie Dapul has a very soothing and cozy voice and OPE NOPE THERES THE HORRORS!" Im very early on still but the weaving of magic and folklore and Filipino culture is fantastic (Also they're crowdfunding for season 3 on ko-fi and you wanna back it soooo bad https://ko-fi.com/hinaypod/goal?g=34)

And finally (for this post at least) we have @camlannpod which is the most hopeful post apocalypse show I've ever encountered. It has Arthurian legends, folklore, mythology, beautiful music, brilliant performances, excellent writing, and Paul Warren, what more could you want?

If you're looking for more from me to fill the void, then you're in luck as @forgedbondspod starts on the 18th!! If you wanna get access to that even sooner, it will be going like for crowdfunder backers and patrons over at patreon.com/pinetreepods on the 14th!

Work and working on Forged Bonds has kept me busy so I haven't had as much podcast listening time but I'm hoping to get back in the swing of listening and Audio Drama Sunday posting again soon!!

[thedomesticanthropologist]

The BG3 characters on Tiktok

Wyll: has 2 accounts. One is for fitness, dancercize, calisthenics, and a little bit posing while flexing. The other is an unhinged BookTok account where he cosplays and acts out romance scenes with himself, stitches cosplay character actors with himself. Dramatic poetry, songs, reenacting Broadway play moments. Responds to every comment.

I would also accept a children's entertainment performer type account from him.

Shadowheart: Silent poses while staring down the camera. Almost every video is the same, but they all pop off in popularity saying she looks mysterious and beautiful. She uses the camera to do her eyeliner and outfit checks. No editing, always short videos, never replies in the comments. Manages to get makeup 💄 deals and free outfits sent to her all the time. Puts in mimal effort

Karlach: someone else films her just being herself. She has several viral videos. Sometimes she plans them, like seeing how much cereal she can eat in one sitting or if she can punch down an old shed she found without using any tools. Captions are usually just some version of a meysmash or one word in all capital letters.

Astarion: Influencer that got all his followers by gossiping and sniping at other influencers in their comment sections or making call-out posts but if they're unpopular he turns off comments or deletes them and pretends he didn't do anything. Posts thirst traps that would be extremely cringe but people fall for it because he's pretty. Never does "getting ready" videos without having already gotten ready off camera and faking that his hair is just naturally Like That. Ends up with a niche fan base that is extremely feral for him and he uses them to target other accounts and harass people who annoy him. Or when he's bored.

Laezel: her entire account is just clips the Shadowheart takes of her mispronouncing words or being irritable. She gains a surprising amount of followers. There starts to be an underground plot to figure out if shafowheart and laezel live together, with fans pointing out background items that match. Neither of them address it directly.

Halsin: it... it's a nature channel. Camera is set up on a log or something at a bad angle and he either whittles in silence for 15 minutes and then shows u a duck, or the camera is in his hands shaking and being fumbled regularly with his thumb half over the mic and the view isn't always in focus but you're pretty sure he's telling you about the symbiotic relationship of moss on a tree. Most of his comment section is people asking him to take his shirt off.

Gale: his tiktok would be exactly what is VA's tiktok already is probably honestly ajsdgjdhdhjg. But OK, so he would absolutely wear velvet outfits and spend 30+ minutes describing one book at a time per video feom his giant library. Sometimes does wine reviews, or cheese reviews. Mixed in is short videos of Tara snoring or her paws twitching in her sleep.

[pant--eater]

what do you think fry's family is like!!! i love him sooo much every time you draw him it's like a gift 🥺🥺🥺

WAUGHGHGHJ these Fry questions make me so happy since he's my Blorbo(TM) <3 Gah I'm itching to talk about him, so ask and you shall deserve!! Also thank you SO much I'm so glad you love my art <33

little sketches related to what I'm about to yap about. ANYWAYS here's wonderwall

So on my old account I used to hc he is Indian-British, whose family hails from Travancore (Kerala nowadays). This was based on what I ASSUMED was canon info since back in January, all Chicken Run wiki articles about him mentioned he's Indian-British. But apparently that's not 100% settled info what his ethnicity is?? And the wikis have been edited since. His VA Nick Mohammed is from a mixed Cypriot/Indo-Trinidadian family though and I spent time reading about Indian-British immigrant history to get Fry's characterization accurate, so imma keep with that hc.

Anyway! I headcanon Marcus is the only child of wealthy businessmen that owned a highly successful trade company. His Vaishya grandparents moved to Britain during the late Victorian era; after all one of the only ways a PoC family could make it back then in Britain was by being filthy rich, and very early on the Fry family had been forced to adopt a "British" way of living in order to be taken seriously by the shitass imperial society. Such as switching to a British surname and avoiding to display too much of their original culture in public. A colonial trauma that still prevails, since Fry's parents christened him with a heavily English name.

I REEEALLY wanna give a try to designing Fry's parents sometime!! But I imagine his parents as sort of a healthier parallel to Melisha's parents; his father is a pristine and calm gentleman with a soothing voice and a love for theatre and literature (a trait that Marcus inherited LMAO) while his mother is more stern, headstrong and very, VERY proud of her status. (but she also has a infectuous smile and laughter and has a bombastic overdramatic streak...something that Fry inherited as well)

They're both native Malayam speakers, and while their family in public strives to keep Keralite culture hidden, they made sure to teach Marcus to speak his native language fluently as well, along with Hindi, Bengali, Tegulu and Tamil. Along with that, they frequently go on family trips to Travancore and enjoy things like inji neer, Kathakali performances (which inspired Fry on his love for theatre <3) and Carnatic music.

Both parents pushed Marcus to study hard and gain multiple academic degrees - it was all out of love and concern, because they wanted Marcus to be able to survive in the cruel world out there without only relying on his money. (Once again, a PoC immigrant family experience that I can identify with as well... even if society nowadays is not nearly as racist as it was back then, unfortunately PoC people are often forced to study waaaay harder than white people in order to make it.) Because they had lived through the years of great depression in the 1930s, and while they managed to survive with most of their wealth intact, they knew that one should not rely only on money for support since anything could happen.

Fry, as a child, was a gifted A+ grade student and a very well-behaved, so his parents called him a little ray of sunshine and a future hope. He yearned to be perfect so his parents would never be disappointed in him. Something that later on contributed MASSIVELY to Fry's gifted child burnout, and how he adopted a sinister, sadistic fascination with mind control and manipulation during his Cambridge years.

Once Marcus came out as trans and genderfluid to his parents, his father was very patient and accepting, but his mother spent several years in denial before finally accepting him. Not directly out of transphobia - but because she was afraid that Marcus would be discriminated, attacked and hurt by people, and that he should focus first on building a career for himself instead of bringing a bad name to the Fry family like this, with an outrageous gender identity. But she soon realized that hiding himself would only hurt her child on the long run. Also - the way Fry managed to fully bribe (cough mind control cough) British officials to switch the gender in his personal info and passport was nothing less than impressive to both of his parents LMFAOOOO and they're very proud

However despite all of this, Fry retains a loving relationship to his parents!! He goes to their mansion every Christmas, and they're also VERY accepting and encouraging to his marriage to Melisha. In fact, his mom was relieved to see Fry had married a very orderly, stern and no-nonsense woman, because Marcus had always been a scatterbrained mess and a reckless money-spender. He made a wonderful scientist, but business-running had never been his thing, so Melisha taking care of all that is like a lottery win to the Fry parents. ESPECIALLY since Melisha came from a poor household - a woman like this, who knows what it's like to live at the rock bottom, surely knows to keep Marcus humble and not let him make flimsy business decisions!! (either way Melisha is still a bit intimidated by Fry's mom, which says a lot considering what kind of a girl Melisha herself is LMFAO)

Pluuuus... the Harsh Expectations(TM) is something that Melisha can relate to </3 It's something that catches her entirely off guard, when she learns this detail about Fry's past. After all, the silly goofy doctor is like an endless ray of sunshine, he's rich and successful. (and we all know what Melisha's mother told her about money bringing happiness...) How could he ever have any worries or feelings of inferiority??

It's a detail that makes (in my hcs) Melisha fall even deeper in love with Fry and become tenfold more protective over him :''') <3 Once she realizes what a horrific burden this goofball is carrying on his back, and yet he still finds the energy every day to stay positive, be optimistic and support Melisha during her hard days.

[potluckofmybrain]

Hi tumblr directioners,

So idk if anyone will see this but I want to share my personal experience as a directioner in the wake of losing Liam Payne.

I’ll be honest, I wasn’t a die-hard fan the whole time the band was together, but I was IN IT my freshman and sophomore years of high school.

It was 2011-2013, I was a teenage girl going through some tough stuff at home. And by “some stuff” I meant my dad was dying of brain cancer, and we moved to a new state where I didn’t know anyone. My dad passed away end of summer before my freshman year. I missed the first 2 weeks of school, got unenrolled, had to re-enroll, then got put on the counselor’s list of people to keep an eye on.

Of course I was depressed and antisocial and anxiety ridden starting at a new school. I moved from VA to TX and the culture shock was real I can’t lie. Then I heard some girls in my freshman English class talking about one direction. I had heard of the band but never really gave them any attention.

I remember going home that day and memorizing all the words to the Up All Night album in my living room. I remember making lyric art with the *skinny* crayola markers, and dedicating every tumblr post to 1D so that I could make friends and not feel like such an outsider. I remember having a common interest with other girls that made us feel like a community.

Then twitter got big and the #bring1Dtome challenge happened iykyk. (It was a really big deal okay) we stayed up all night and competed in a series of challenges with other directioners across the country. Long story short #bring1DtoDallas won the contest.

The only way to get into the private album signing before the concert (a prize of the contest and one directions first American performance) was to buy an album from the Barnes and Noble store in the mall. If you were the first 150? (Idk the number) of people in line then you’d be given a free poster and a WRIST BAND to get into the concert at the then named, Dr Pepper Ballpark, along with your collectors edition album.

So, naturally me and my 3 new (and only) friends piled into my 17 yr old older sister’s hand-me-down Yukon XL and slept at the mall the night before. (Duh). We blasted Up All Night songs with other directioners until after midnight and didn’t sleep at all because we were soooo excited.

Then morning came, people started lining up at 3am, news crews were there, mall security was there it was a big thing, this was at the Stonebriar mall in Frisco Tx for any of my older fans who know what I’m talking about.

So the doors aren’t going to open until 7am, mall opens at like 6am (don’t quote me on these times I’m guesstimating). 5:30 rolls around and we take a lap to assess if we can even get a spot in line… for those of you who don’t know— stonebriar is a two floor mall and the Barnes and noble has two entrances one on each floor, it’s one of the first stores near the parking garage entrance.

5:45am-The line is wrapped around the side of the mall at the bottom level. My friends and I start to lose hope of getting these wrist bands.

5:57am- our spot in line is shit my older sister realizes we’re disappointed and she says she “didn’t sleep in the car for no reason. You’re getting those wrist bands, follow me”.

5:59am: My friends and I haul ass to the second floor entrance and my sister says “when they open the door walk in, go down the escalator, sit in line and act like you were there the whole time.” And we did.

We got our wristbands and albums. We were on the news (in the background of someone else’s interview lol) and we started the countdown for the concert.

Let me add some additional context. I was a 14 year old girl who’s dad just died, who lived with a depressed mom, an unmedicated schizophrenic oldest sister who had just had a baby (so my niece, who was born 3 days before my dad died), a bipolar 17yr old older sister who had anger issues, and two younger siblings in elementary school that i’m trying to shelter. The living environment wasn’t great to say the least, cops were called multiple times (by me). No charges were pressed.

My dad was diagnosed with stage 3 brain cancer when I was starting 8th grade, it was aggressive, treatments were expensive, our house in VA was foreclosed, my mom moved us to TX bc she had distant family there and available family grave plots, his cancer progressed and he passed away in August 2011.

We moved to TX in May 2011 at the end of my 8th grade year. Beginning of Summer before freshman year my mom moved my dad into hospice care. We would go to visit every other day and take turns feeding him and telling stories and it was heavy and sad. He passed away 2 days before school started.

One direction was the only thing I had to escape and bring any sense of joy in such a heartbreaking time. They brought me so much comfort, they brought me friends, they brought me a sense of being a normal teenage girl who’s dad didn’t have cancer, who’s sisters weren’t attacking each other, and who’s mom wasn’t threatening to 0ff herself.

So anyways, we got albums signed before the concert. it was very quick not like a meet and greet, they were all sitting in a row at a table, we walked through in a line and spoke to them all I was so excited I forgot to record on my camera, everyone was sweating bc it was 105 degrees outside, best day ever!! they were even cuter in person.

I just want to thank every Directioner who ever made me feel less alone as a struggling 14 year old. And I want to say that if you’re grieving Liam or one direction you’re not alone, I’m there with you. They were my safe space and loving them was…is a personality trait.

Anyways I stored those albums in a closet my junior year, then went through a house fire where everything got smoke damaged. We moved like 6 times that year. It was rough.

idk why I haven’t cleaned the albums but that’s what it is, and it’s a sobering reminder of the fact that I was going through so much but these boys were always there for me. I’ll clean them soon.

I’ll never be a boy-band obsessed teenager again, and I’m thankful to those boys for giving me happy memories during that time of my life.

If you read all that thank you and I love you 💓

[hooked-on-elvis]

"How Great Thou Art" (Live, April 1972)

"Elvis On Tour" unreleased footage + a little something about Elvis' Blue Nail jumpsuit.

April 9 1972. Elvis Presley performing at the Hampton Roads Coliseum, Hampton Roads, VA (8:30pm), wearing the Blue Nail jumpsuit with White Fireworks suit belt.

I LOVE IT! I love it, I love it, I love it!

But I have a one thing going on my mind on why they kept this performance out of the final film. This is a different song but the vibe (even the scene) is very similar to the religious song that was performed by the Stamps Quartet on the same concert, a Gospel song that actually made it to the final cut, "Sweet, Sweet Spirit". The similarity between both performances (in scene and energy) is what makes me believe they had to choose between one of them. Elvis shows his appreciation for Gospel music in both performances - with that characteristic reverential shiny look on his face. We do have a better glimpse of the depth of E's love for God with both songs performed live so I believe the decision for one of the songs was based on little details on Elvis' behavior. For example, with "Sweet, Sweet Spirit" we see him gently shushing a fan that threatened to keep screaming during the Stamps performance... that little detail adds another layer to the scene, unarguably. We can connect better with E's feelings when we watch him just listening to the song instead of performing it himself, IMHO. Besides, the film already had Elvis singing gospels during rehearsal scenes. Those are just my thoughts... I have no info on what went on inside the editing room but knowing Martin Scorsese was there - and the actor he is - I believe he was sensitive enough to guide the movie's editing decisions based on such assertive and thoughtful consideration between those two great performances of religious music.

What are your thoughts?

--

JSYK: ELVIS ON TOUR: THE BLUE NAIL SUIT WORN WITH TWO DIFFERENT BELTS.

For two concerts filmed for the Elvis On Tour documentary, Elvis wears the Blue Nail jumpsuit but with different belts. Those concerts were on April 9 and 16, 1972. For the April 9 concert Elvis wore the Blue Nail suit with the White Fireworks belt, which originally belongs to the White Fireworks suit - first worn by El in 1971. Picture 1 above is from the April 9, 1972 concert (screenshot from the film) while the picture 2 is a cropped image that shows the Elvis wearing the White Fireworks belt on it's original costume. For April 16, 1972 concert Elvis wears the Blue Nail suit again but this time with its original belt, performing at the Veterans Memorial Coliseum, Jacksonville, Florida (8:30 pm). The footage from April 9, 1972 was the one mainly used on Elvis On Tour, concerning the Blue Nail suit, to show Elvis' performance onstage itself, while the footage from April 16, 1972 was used in specific scenes with no singing involved. The first time the April 16th performance appears onscreen (as far as I noticed) is by the mid section of the film, with Elvis doing karate moves onstage while fans talk about their feelings for him. By the end of the movie, when we see EP wearing the Blue Nail suit again, the performance is, once more, from the April 9th concert. Below there's a screenshot from the film (3) and a picture taken of Elvis on stage (4), both images from the April 16th 1972 concert: The Blue Nail jumpsuit with the original belt.

The final scene of EOT (Elvis leaving the venue) is composed by a combination of images from the concerts on April 9th ​​and 16th. When he runs off the stage and goes backstage it is footage from April 16th (original belt, photo 5 - screenshot from the film); when EP is running down the hallway, rushing to get into the car waiting for him outside, it's footage from April 9th ​​(White Fireworks belt, photos 6-7).

That all leave us wondering... There definitely is more footage of Elvis On Tour, in good-enough quality and great performances, yet to be released... So why is taking so long? *~*

[boinin]

Just home from seeing the EpiNagi dub ⚽🤍 It cracked me up a lot, occasionally unintentionally, but it's a fun film. Some of my personal highlights and thoughts on the film below (spoilers):

Main unintentional humour were the instances of dodgy animation. Nameoka's hands look so jank as he's dissing Reo pre-Hakuho match—I was chuckling. Tbh the bad animation was amusing more than distracting to me, since I knew going in that the movie would have S1-equivalent animation.

Nagi calling Isagi a short normie 💀

Zantetsu's VA and his dialogue were really funny. Unfortunately some of his line delivery was quite muffled, so it could be hard to make out. But his dilemma over eating Nagi's steak and the "shooting out the womb" (??) bit were hilarious.

Bachira saying a really quiet zoom after out dribbling Zantetsu. Also, he had his own friggin insert song for scoring against Team V 🔥 as he deserves 💛

That one OST song that plays over Nagi's death aura scene is so damn cool; I know what album I'm looking up tomorrow.

They bishi-fied Kunigami even more for the movie. Also, any time he cheered IT WAS SO DAMN LOUD. Dude can shout.

Speaking of, why did they make Kuon look so pretty after fouling Nagi. Like?? Noticeably prettier than the other cast, even Chigiri. Only Nagi and Reo got that level of detail otherwise lmao

The movie hammered home how integral Raichi was to beating Team V. His "OR I'LL KILL YOU" moment went way harder than it had any right to.

Anri being a dork — I'm paraphrasing, but she says "It's like going Super Seiy—uh, right?" Then she pouts when Ego shoots her down. 🥹 ily queen you deserve better

The scene of Nagi seeing Isagi's light before the game ends, and Reo's reflection on the the breakup were both really nicely animated. They skimped a loooot in other places, but they knew where to invest time and money.

The post credit scenes 🤍💜 They're movie-original, and do volumes for Reo's characterisation. I can't wait until Episode Nagi's manga reaches that point.

The dub as a whole is decent, though Reo's dialogue is a shade more dudebro-y than it needed to be IMO. It's not as shippy as I'd expected, but that could be down to how they localised the dialogue. The animation is unambiguous though; Nagi's just like 🥺 whenever he looks at Reo.

Zantetsu's dialogue needed more breathing room to land than it received. I still really enjoyed his VA's performance. Other standout performances for me were Ego, and Barou's VAs. Chigiri's VA nailed the few lines they gave him, the standout being "I'll give you a headpat later." 👑

Anyway, I'm considering going to the subbed edition on Saturday, since that's the version I initially wanted to see... I just couldn't make the subbed cinema times this week. 🤷‍♀️ If I do go, I'll make a comparison post.

[thesiltverses]

Faulkner is my favorite trans dude from anything ever. Thanks for the great writing and also to his VA for giving him such depth and charm. I love my terrible son Faulkner ❤️

Also your writing has inspired me so much with my own projects... thank you... I am just a young writer working to one day create something that moves people the way TSV and Eskew have moved me. The growth from Eskew to TSV has been incredible to witness and I'm super excited to listen to or read your future projects. IMO TSV is a gorgeous example of just how good fiction podcasts can be with incredible writing, acting, editing, everything. I always recommend it to friends.

Just some positivity during what seems to be a chaotic/difficult time.

- some trans guy

Thank you so much for the kind words!!

Completely agree about B.'s depth and charm - they're an actor who we are so lucky and so endlessly grateful to get to work with; they make Faulkner incredibly likeable and engaging as a character no matter how low he sinks into the mire, and I think their performance skills have only continued to get better and better, season after season.

Best wishes and good luck with your own writing projects - I really, really appreciate it.

[swearingcactus]

Obscure Far Cry Promos and Content

I'm a big far cry fan, which means I have to make my own food in this economy. But sometimes I just want some ACTUAL canon or canon-ish or even just canon-adjacent content, y'know? It has gotten to the point I go into youtube rabbit holes or watch a remarkably below average hallmark movies for 5 minutes of an actor's screentime to hopefully hear Jason or Ajay or whoever talk. And so in these quests, I've found a couple obscure promos. Gonna compile them here for myself mostly :)

Far Cry 3

Far Cry 3 - The Voices of Insanity: Doctor Earnhardt //a live action video with Alec Earnhardt's VA

Far Cry 3 - The Voices of Insanity: Vaas //same thing but with Michael Mando

Hoyt Audition Far Cry 3 //the last part of "The Voices of Insanity" videos, couldn't find the one from Ubisoft's own account but someone else had posted it on youtube

Far Cry 3 for PS3: TV Spot

Far Cry 3 -- Island Survival Guide: Psychopaths, Drugs & Other Dangers // video narrated by Willis Huntley

Far Cry 3 -- The Savages: Vaas & Buck // this video shows a rare render of vaas with tataus on his arm!

Far Cry 3 | The Tribe: Citra & Dennis //this video has a deleted scene where Jason hallucinates the tatau snaking up his arm

Far Cry 3 -- The Tyrant: Hoyt

Far Cry 3 - Insane Edition // this is a promo done for a special edition for the game, Michael Mando probably couldn't shoot the promo himself and just voice acted, and so they used another actor and made it so the camera never sees Vaas's face.

^ There is also a survival guide titled Face Your Insanity written by post-Rook events Jason Brody as part of the Insane Edition.

Far Cry 3 | E3 2012 Step Into Insanity Trailer [NORTH AMERICA] // this has a few close-ups of Jason and Vaas switching places with each other

Far Cry 3 Interviews (via @lulu2992)

Far Cry 3 Tweets by Jeffrey Yohalem, the lead writer. (also compiled by @/lulu2992! Thanks again!)

Far Cry 4

Divya Kandala's Blog (archived on the Wayback Machine) // Divya Kandala is a fictional journalist who wrote a blog about her travels to Kyrat, her blog's basically world-building promo for FC4. You could also find the house she stayed at in Kyrat!

Far Cry 4 TV Commercial

Far Cry 4 | Kyrat Tuk Tuk Stories //this is the MOST we see ajay in third person in promo content

Far Cry 4 - CGI Trailer // this isn't exactly RARE but it took forever for me to find that clip of ajay's eyes reflecting from the kukri. plus he looks EXTREMELY caucasian which really doesn't help the rumors I've heard that they originally wanted Jason again as FC4's protag

Comedy Central Far Cry 4 Commercial feat Danny Pudi & Donald Glover

Far Cry 4 and Childish Gambino: The Collaboration | PS4, PS3 // a music video for Crawl by Childish Gambino done as a collab

Old Archive.Org link to the Far Cry 4 webpage that had a choose your own adventure campaign

^ and the youtube video to promote it

Far Cry 4 | Behind the Scene Trailer 1/3 [Europe] // developer vlogs when they visited Nepal and interviewed the ghurka that became base for Golden Path, you can see the village that resembles Banapur a lot!

Far Cry 4 Performance Capture Interview // you can see Janina Gavankar, Amita's actress doing some mocap in this

Janina Gavankar Talks Far Cry 4 - ^ and the interview with her after

World Gameplay Premiere - Walkthrough E3 2014 - Far Cry 4 // this was to showcase gameplay but they eventually took out this entire mission where you have to wingsuit to Ratu Gadhi (Yuma's fortress), which is a shame because it looked very nice.

Far Cry 5

i'll be honest, im not a fc5 girlie, so i dont usually do a lot of digging, and im pretty sure these are actually not obscure at all. but these are trailers i found that really blew it out of the park. the marketing team for 5 really went HAM

Far Cry 5: Teaser Trailer | Ubisoft //this has a peggie banging someone's head to a church bell rhythmically with the gorgeous view of Montana mountains as backdrop and i for one, find it hilarious

Far Cry 5 | The Sermon - Live Action Trailer

Far Cry 5 | The Baptism - Live Action Trailer //somebody once mentioned this one has Joseph looking like Trevor GTA and i have never quite known peace ever since. it really also shows the reality of how Joseph is actually just really Unwell, and lore that Joseph killed Pastor Jerome's daughter that never showed up in-game.

Far Cry 5: Anything Can Happen, Everything Will - Live Action TV Spot | Trailer // mixes live action and game CGI renders, pretty cool actually!

The Making of Far Cry 5 | Behind the Scenes of Ubisoft [Documentary]

Far Cry 6 Comics

not gonna put in FC6 stuff because they're actually very easy to find! lots of trailers and mocaps and interviews on youtube :) Far Cry 6 actually has a more obscure lore in their comics

Far Cry: Esperanza's Tears comic // this is a Juan-centric prequel comic that features a completely new country, lore about Far Cry universe's political landscape, and lots of cameos from 3-6's characters! very interesting read especially if you're a sucker for backstories like me

Far Cry: Rite of Passage comic // this is more popular as it features Anton telling Diego the backstories for 3-5's villains.

There is also a book titled The Official Far Cry Survival Guide written by a fictional character called Hunter Nash, who supposedly grew up with Hope County-level of a doomsday prepper dad and winds up as a journalist who travels to the locations of 3-6 and wrote how to survive each location accordingly. It's adorned with official artwork of the games and plenty of survival tips. Not much lore-wise, but cool nonetheless! it also fuels my co-workers au ideas but that's personal.

i have actually found stuff like a really old MTV show called Undressed with Gianpaolo Venuta where he uses his Jason voice for his character, and how Patrick Kwok-Choon, the new voice actor for Ajay does voice acting in Thomas the Train Engine and Paw Patrol, and an indie movie with Greg Bryk where he wears fun sunglasses like Joseph, but that's neither here nor there to the franchise, so eh. // i'll edit this post if i find more, so maybe check back sometimes!

[justjenah]

Hi there! I really enjoyed you in proof is in the podcast and love you as skinner she’s such a 👀 character. I was really surprised your regular speaking voice is so different from skinner’s. Was that something Dylan asked for ?

Hello and thank you so much! I'm so glad you enjoyed The Proof is in the Podcast and that you're a fan of Skinner! They're a blast to play.

As for the voice I do for Skinner, Dylan did not ask me to do that! When he invited me to play Skinner and sent me the first script that they were in I tried performing the lines lots of different ways.

The voice I settled on for them is actually the voice I have been trying to use more in my daily life! I'm non-binary (I think the closest definition I can come up with for my gender would be "Dude" but I'm a little resistant to labeling) and have been socially transitioning for a few years now. And honestly? I settled on Skinner's voice because it gave me to most gender euphoria. 😃

I find that while dressing more to match my gender and asking people to use my correct pronouns (they/them) is fairly easy, I feel extremely self conscious when it comes to my voice. Especially when it comes to people who are familiar with my speaking voice prior to beginning this transition. I find VA-ing has helped me get gradually (extremely gradually if I'm honest) more comfortable transitioning my voice to one that feels more true to me out in the real world.

Dylan is extremely gracious and I am sure wouldn't have even questioned it if I used my "Skinner voice" during the recording for Proof is in the Podcast but I was a weeee bit too nervous as it was for that recording. 😅

Hats off to Michelle Kan who plays Marissa and is doing the sound editing for Proof is in the Podcast and made me sound like someone who knows what they're talking about! They're a fucking wizard and deserve all the praise and accolades.

[the1younevernoticed]

Federal worker email series continued (VA social work):

I am editing some things down. I will be sharing non-political facts and personal concerns as they relate to me on a personal level through my job. My opinions and beliefs do not represent the VA, the government, or any political party. These posts are to encourage transparency for all.

The Fork in the Road email.

I know most everyone has seen the email for federal workers titled The Fork in the Road. I’ll post the full email we received here:

1)

Return to Office: The substantial majority of federal employees who have been working remotely since Covid will be required to return to their physical offices five days a week. Going forward, we also expect our physical offices to undergo meaningful consolidation and divestitures, potentially resulting in physical office relocations for a number of federal workers.

2)

Performance culture: The federal workforce should be comprised of the best America has to offer. We will insist on excellence at every level — our performance standards will be updated to reward and promote those that exceed expectations and address in a fair and open way those who do not meet the high standards which the taxpayers of this country have a right to demand.

3)

More streamlined and flexible workforce: While a few agencies and even branches of the military are likely to see increases in the size of their workforce, the majority of federal agencies are likely to be downsized through restructurings, realignments, and reductions in force. These actions are likely to include the use of furloughs and the reclassification to at-will status for a substantial number of federal employees.

4)

Enhanced standards of conduct: The federal workforce should be comprised of employees who are reliable, loyal, trustworthy, and who strive for excellence in their daily work. Employees will be subject to enhanced standards of suitability and conduct as we move forward. Employees who engage in unlawful behavior or other misconduct will be prioritized for appropriate investigation and discipline, including termination.

Each of the pillars outlined above will be pursued in accordance with applicable law, consistent with your agency's policies, and to the extent permitted under relevant collective-bargaining agreements.

If you choose to remain in your current position, we thank you for your renewed focus on serving the American people to the best of your abilities and look forward to working together as part of an improved federal workforce. At this time, we cannot give you full assurance regarding the certainty of your position or agency but should your position be eliminated you will be treated with dignity and will be afforded the protections in place for such positions.

If you choose not to continue in your current role in the federal workforce, we thank you for your service to your country and you will be provided with a dignified, fair departure from the federal government utilizing a deferred resignation program. This program begins effective January 28 and is available to all federal employees until February 6. If you resign under this program, you will retain all pay and benefits regardless of your daily workload and will be exempted from all applicable in-person work requirements until September 30, 2025 (or earlier if you choose to accelerate your resignation for any reason). The details of this separation plan can be found below.

Whichever path you choose, we thank you for your service to The United States of America.

*********************************************************************

Upon review of the below deferred resignation letter, if you wish to resign:

1)

Select “Reply” to this email. You must reply from your government account. A reply from an account other than your government account will not be accepted.

2)

Type the word “Resign” into the body of this reply email. Hit “Send”.

THE LAST DAY TO ACCEPT THE DEFERRED RESIGNATION PROGRAM IS FEBRUARY 6, 2025.

Deferred resignation is available to all full-time federal employees except for military personnel of the armed forces, employees of the U.S. Postal Service, those in positions related to immigration enforcement and national security, and those in any other positions specifically excluded by your employing agency.

DEFERRED RESIGNATION LETTER

January 28, 2025

Please accept this letter as my formal resignation from employment with my employing agency, effective September 30, 2025. I understand that I have the right to accelerate, but not extend, my resignation date if I wish to take advantage of the deferred resignation program. I also understand that if I am (or become) eligible for early or normal retirement before my resignation date, that I retain the right to elect early or normal retirement (once eligible) at any point prior to my resignation date.

Given my impending resignation, I understand I will be exempt from any “Return to Office” requirements pursuant to recent directives and that I will maintain my current compensation and retain all existing benefits (including but not limited to retirement accruals) until my final resignation date.

I am certain of my decision to resign and my choice to resign is fully voluntary. I understand my employing agency will likely make adjustments in response to my resignation including moving, eliminating, consolidating, reassigning my position and tasks, reducing my official duties, and/or placing me on paid administrative leave until my resignation date.

I am committed to ensuring a smooth transition during my remaining time at my employing agency. Accordingly, I will assist my employing agency with completing reasonable and customary tasks and processes to facilitate my departure.

I understand that my acceptance of this offer will be sent to the Office of Personnel Management (“OPM”) which will then share it with my agency employer. I hereby consent to OPM receiving, reviewing, and forwarding my acceptance.

*********************************************************************

Upon submission of your resignation, you will receive a confirmation email acknowledging receipt of your email. Any replies to this email shall be for the exclusive use of accepting the deferred resignation letter. Any other replies to this email will not be reviewed, forwarded, or retained other than as required by applicable federal records laws.

Once your resignation is validly sent and received, the human resources department of your employing agency will contact you to complete additional documentation, if any.

OPM is authorized to send this email under Executive Order 9830 and 5 U.S.C. §§ 301, 1103, 1104, 2951, 3301, 6504, 8347, and 8461. OPM intends to use your response to assist in federal workforce reorganization efforts in conjunction with employing agencies. See 88 Fed. Reg. 56058; 80 Fed. Reg. 72455 (listing routine uses). Response to this email is voluntary. Although you must respond to take advantage of the deferred resignation offer, there is no penalty for nonresponse.

To see this from an official federal service is so damn jarring. And it gives us hints on how this will likely play out.

This new email was sent in waves directly to federal front line staff. We were informing our supervisors of the email before they ever received it. There were panicked messages in our online chats to see if this was real. Especially with the passage about our jobs not being guaranteed.

I admit, with the mental exhaustion they have put us through, and the promise to be paid through September, I was tempted at first read.

I fantasized about opening up a private practice with the money, and setting myself and my fiancé up to finally try and be debt free. It would be a hell of a boon. One desperately needed.

But I didn’t trust it. It was too vague.

So I did some more searching. And like many others I found the Twitter “Fork in the Road” email from when Elon took over Twitter a few years back.

We know from Elon’s previous “Fork” email plan that he did not keep promises

These employees had promised pay broken and in times such as these, with rising costs, most Americans can’t afford to miss a single paycheck.

There are no guarantees for federal employees to be treated any better.

There have been talks of pay caps, of employees being forced to work through September even if they choose this option, and worst of all, not being paid at all.

With those in the government reminding citizens that congress controls funding, and that there is no budget for this, we are all sitting with what feels like uncertainty manifested as a weight on our collective shoulders.

We have no way to know if we will lose coworkers to this. And it takes an average of 6+ months to onboard someone into federal service (yes literally. I took 6 months from my FJO “final job offer letter” to get into my position). And that doesn’t account for all the hiring freezes. And work never stops. We will just shoulder any works that comes in and try to make sure our patients are still getting helped.

Cheesy as it sounds, as I stated before, this is really weighing on the mental health of the staff around me. As well as myself. I can feel the fear and uncertainty in the air. All we can do is keep working. And it doesn’t feel right

Disclaimer: this post is for educational purposes and is in no way supporting any particular political party and is not meant to incite any political activity

[inkstars1138]

So @vintageandroid and I like good little obsessed Ghost fans were having a discussion about them. VA: *sends me a gif of Copia being wiggly on stage* VA: he is the wiggliest Papa Me: he is! Terzo is kinda wiggly too, but no one is as wiggly as Copia VA: the progression of Papas has just been from unmoving I to the wiggliest IV VA: V is gonna be a fucking blur Me: actual footage of V performing (my edit)

VA: SCREAMING asdfljsdlfj that is everything lmao Me: 8D