#He's all geared and ready for DT!

[ffxivaltaholic]

Junelezen2024 - Day 2: Dawn (Trail)

[bolontiku]

"Never Noticed"

Avengers AU - Quick Fic

Characters: Steve, reader, Tony, Bucky, Sam

Posted: Dec 11th

A/N: hooo this took a minute.... Follow up to One of the Guys idk, might make this a series since these two are being... Dumbasses. Slow updates sorry!!!

WARNINGS: pining? Mutual pining? Two idiots...

Like, Comments, & Reblogs are always appreciated and loved.

**Please Do Not Repost My Work**

You stared at the dress. No doubt tailored to your exact size. Tony spared no detail and if there was anything that man was good at it was dressing. 

You snickered, a little giddy, you were never good at these things. Why he wanted you there when it wasn't a necessity was beyond you. 

He had even sent you heels. 

Still, your tummy was upset, nerves making you procrastinate and when the doorbell rang you were tugging the dress on and hurrying to answer, still surprised Tony was there on time. 

He grinned, eyeing you quickly. "Who'da thought you cleaned up so nicely Y/N?"

You scoffed and rolled your eyes closing the door behind you before placing the heels on the floor to slip into them. "I am ready!"

Tony offered his arm, "then let's go make everyone jealous."

***

Steve really didn't like going to galas. More of Tony's thing really, he had of course gone to his fair share. 

It was held in a ritzy hotel and even though there was no shortage of people, he wasn't being smothered. Then again, there were more important and prominent people in attendance than Captain America.

Steve really couldn't see you in a place like this. He wondered if you even had a dress? 

"They haven't arrived."

Steve jolted, Bucky chuckled, Sam coughing to swallow a belly aching laugh. "What are you two doing here?"

Sam shrugged his wide shoulders. "We are on a date."

Steve stared at the two and rolled his eyes. "Did you two think it'd be funny to come down and watch?"

"Watch what particularly?" Bucky asked, scratching his chin nonchalantly. The three men stood off to the side, watching as the celebration continued. 

"What exactly is this for?" Sam asked, looking around. 

"This particular gala is to raise funds and awareness for inner city students who are struggling and don't have a steady meal. All proceeds will be going to the new rec center that will be open twenty four hours a day and will have housing and a place for hot showers so that kids can find a safe place when home isn't one."

Sam and the other two turned to find Tony standing behind them. "Thanks?"

Steve was a little distracted as you looked around. He had never seen you outside your SHIELD uniform. Tac gear didn't make for the most flattering clothing and when he was busy blocking or fending you off he wasn't looking at you in that way. Your job was to help hone their hand to hand combat, oftentimes that meant attacking out of the DT rooms if need be. 

The dress you wore was a deep navy blue, a few sparkles here and there but it accentuates your curves. Curves he had never noticed before. How had he not noticed? His mouth ran dry as he looked, letting his gaze follow down your waist, to your shapely legs and back up where the dress hugged your chest. You wore your hair down, pinned on one side with a blue forget me not adorning it, just behind your ear. 

"Captain."

Steve realized he was staring and you looked anywhere but at him, Bucky greeting you quickly pushing Steve to the side to press a kiss to your cheek, Sam right behind him. You relaxed, laughing as Sam flirted and threatened Tony that he would steal you away the first chance he got. Bucky grumbled about being his date and you cheered assuring him you could not steal a man from someone else. 

Steve could not stop staring. 

He knew he was staring a little too hard. But he had never seen you out of uniform. He should stop staring. Even when you joined for drinks you often wore the relaxed uniform tank top and the damned pants that apparently hid everything.

Everything.

All of that.

He thought of the way your legs wrapped around him when you literally jumped from the ceiling to attack him. 

He had had those legs wrapped around his waist… 

"And there she goes. And not a word from our fearless leader."

"Except for the gawking."

"I was not gawking!" Steve growled, taking in a breath, eyes following you as Tony led you through the crowd. People stopped and spoke to him and he watched as Tony deferred to you and you easily picked up the conversation, people turning to listen. Steve watched as Tony placed his hand on the small of your back, the way he leaned in to whisper in your ear, the man turning to smirk at him and send him a wink.

"Oh uh!" Bucky reached out a little too late as the music started and Steve started towards you and Tony. 

Sam grabbed his arm and tugged on him. "Let him figure it out, I thought we were on a date?"

*

You smiled at Tony, listening as he went on about the social and media aspects of the project. You really were just a small part of the overall project, there had been so many that came on board after you had mentioned to Tony what a rec center would mean for the kids. 

Then came all the long months of various meetings and planning, board meetings, this was the second party Tony had thrown together to get some funding under it all. Not that he couldn't outright pay for it, but he knew that you liked to work hard for your goal. Even with the community getting behind the project doing car washes and neighborhood garage sales Tony had still donated a considerable chunk to it. 

Of course, you had told him you couldn't schmooze with the people he belonged with. He had given you a look, telling you HE didn't like the people he belonged to. Which meant that if he couldn't do another gala then he would finish footing the bill and you had agreed.

Yesterday he had caught you escaping the gym after running into Steve, chuckling and teasing you about your major obvious crush on the blond. Not that the Captain ever noticed you. Reminding you that the gala was tonight and since you had forgotten he had taken it upon himself to order you a dress which was sent to your home.

Tony. 

You shook your head as he wrapped his arm around your waist, "you look absolutely devastating in that dress. Really compliments you and I know there is a certain idiot that can't take his eyes off you."

"Shut it Stark!" You growled feeling your cheeks heat up. "I have told you time and time again the Cap-"

"Excuse me Y/N?"

Tony stifled a laugh as you jumped at Steve's voice. "Hey capsicle!" Steve watched as Tony tucked you closer to him. "I was just telling Y/N here that we should get to dancing, night is young and all that-"

"I can dance."

You nearly gave yourself whiplash looking from Tony to Steve so suddenly. But the damned genius beside you clutched you close. 

"Mmm, you mean you want to steal my date? I haven't even kissed her yet-"

You tugged out of Tony's grip with a small elbow to his gut. Tony grunted softly and smiled, "you were just speaking to the mayor and I would love to dance!"

Steve watched as Tony tugged you back, placing a kiss to the corner of your lips. "Very well sweetheart-"

You rolled your eyes and shook yourself free, looking up to find Steve glaring at Tony before smiling at you. You didn't need to overthink it. Nope. Instead you let him lead you out onto the floor and followed his lead into the music. 

"You really are a good dancer," you hummed, eyes on the broad chest in front of you. The fact that your heart was thundering against your rib cage was nothing new. Every time you were around him your tummy fluttered, not to mention it was literally your job to throw yourself at him. 

"Good way to get a pretty girl in your arms." Steve smiled as you finally looked up at him.

"Thank you for coming, I don't know that many people here and…" you looked around, "I'm still relatively new and thanks to you and the others I am feeling a little more at home here."

"I understand that feeling."

"You do?"

He looked down to see you staring up at him, all doe eyed, he cleared his throat and looked away easily leading you across the dance floor. "Yeah," he shrugged, "you know, one day I'm hitting cold ice the next… I'm in New York and they're telling me that they need me to fight. So, I get it."

You felt your face burn, "ah, excuse me?" 

Steve stopped as you pulled out of his arms and hurried towards the bathroom. He grunted as Bucky slammed his shoulder into his.

"What ya say to her punk?" He growled.

Steve shook his head as Sam herded him off the floor. "She was fleeing. What were you two talking bout?" Steve told him and Sam dropped his face into his palm. 

**

The doorbell made you jump and you hurried to answer, this apartment had been home for the past two months and most of your belongings were still in boxes. None of the other SHIELD field agents knew where you lived though Tristan was the only one that knew you were in the middle of moving, had he figured out where? Swinging the door open you smiled broadly, only to gawk at the Captain that stood in your doorway. 

Steve watched you stutter for a moment.

"I'm sorry" the both of you breathed out at the same time.

You motioned for him to come in and he did, turning to face you as the door shut. "I didn't mean to make you feel…" he motioned around with his hands, "I was trying to..find familiar footing and I failed."

You wrung your hands, offering him a relieved smile, "I was worried you hated me."

"GOD no! Who could hate you?!" Steve exclaimed, he noted you were now in sweats and a large tee. Bucky had come back growling at him that you had said your goodbyes to Tony who was confused as to why you were leaving but the guy knew that you had been anxious about the whole event and he was not going to force you to stay. "I'm sorry, I didn't want to go the night without explaining myself."

You shook your head. You had thought that you had been an ass comparing your uncomfort to his lost years. And here he had come to make sure you had understood him. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to have you leave the party."

He shifted from foot to foot, hands shoved in his pockets. "Are you kidding? Great way to bust me out of it, you uh… watching a movie?"

You looked over your shoulder, "yeah Die Hard, a classic. Bruce Willis is bae!" Steve smirked as you cringed. "I have snacks?" You offered quickly, attempting to move past the awkwardness of the situation. You liked him, liked his friendliness and wanted more of it.

He grinned, "if you don't mind?"

You shook your head, "go on and take the jacket off, I will restart. It just started really."

Steve shook the suit jacket off quickly following you and kicking the expensive shoes off as well. This was good. Really good. He could work with this. God he couldn't get over how cute you were. 

He settled in next to you, soon, he would tell you soon. Right now he was enjoying the way you smiled readily at him, handed him snacks and a drink. He could still smell your perfume, perhaps it was the lotion you used? 

How had he never noticed it before? No, he had noticed it. Like the way you always tucked your hair back behind your ear, something he wanted to do.

You froze as he reached over, large hand nearly cupping your face but his fingers brushing your skin to tuck your wayward hair back. You let out a quick laugh. "Thanks!" Steve nodded, sitting back, as you quietly imploded next to him unbeknownst to him. Did he not realize how close he had been to a moment? No, of course not. He was your friend. That was it. Mm. 

You focused on the explosion and gunfire on screen willing your heart to stop thundering.

Steve swallowed a swig of beer, struggling to keep his eyes focused on the screen as his heart hammered against his ribs, he focused on keeping a straight face. 

Friends. 

You two were friends. 

[female-buckets]

The Shey Peddy Saga

(thread)

After graduating from Temple, Peddy was selected 23rd in the 2012 draft by the Sky. But Sloot, Epiphanny Prince, and the GOAT Penicheiro were the point guards on the roster, so she was cut early in training camp. 

Peddy went overseas to play in Israel, where she made $4,000 a month. Checks were months late, she had to tape her own ankles, provide her own practice gear, drive to away games. She was incredibly homesick, but kept going. 

Thibault invited her to Mystics training camp in 2013. She was cut in preseason again, and thought her WNBA dreams were dead. That fall, playing in Austria, and was so depressed she didn’t leave her room except for basketball. She told her family and agent she wanted to quit. 

But she gave it one last shot, focusing on Europe, not the WNBA. She played Germany, then in 2017 with TTTRiga in Latvia. She stopped eating junk food and partying, told herself, “Maybe I’m not sacrificing enough, maybe I need to sacrifice more.” The hard work paid off. 

In 2019, TTTRiga played in Euroleague Women, and Peddy was nominated for league MVP and point guard of the year. After 6 years without a bite from the WNBA, Thibault invited her back to Mystics training camp. 

Peddy excelled in camp. She made friends, learned the system, felt she belonged. But on the last day of camp, she was cut. Kim Mestdagh made the final roster instead. Third time wasn't the charm. 

Still, she had her career in Europe. Latvia wanted Peddy to compete for them in 2019 Eurobasket, and thought they could get her a passport. So she flew to Latvia, was ready for practice. Then she got a call from Thibault. 

Meesseman and Mestdagh had left for a few weeks to play in Eurobasket, and Thibault wanted to sign Peddy as a replacement player. She was thrilled. But she was in Latvia, about to play Eurobasket herself! What to do?

The next day, her request for a passport was denied. 

Peddy raced back over the pond and finally signed a WNBA contract. At 30 years old, she made her WNBA debut. She was a garbage-time player. Her roster spot was temporary. It was a dream come true.

This is when I wrote about her:

Peddy played with the Mystics for 3 weeks before Emma and Kim returned, and she was cut again. BUT she was such an asset to the team, Thibault hired her as a coaching + video intern for the remainder of the season. 

So in 2019, Peddy became a WNBA champion as a member of the Mystics coaching staff. Her Instagram post about the whole journey is worth a read.

Then 2020 happened. No teams signed her, even to a camp contract, in the offseason. On her way the Mystics’ ring ceremony, Thibault called. She thought he wanted her to join the coaching staff again.

He had something else in mind: A roster spot for the wubble season. 

The Mystics and Peddy herself struggled with injuries in the wubble. For salary cap finagling reasons, Thibualt waived Peddy midseason. He planned to re-sign her when she cleared waivers.

Only she didn’t clear waivers. The Phoenix Mercury picked her up. 

With Phoenix, Peddy averaged 18 minutes per game in the final 8 games of the season. The Merc made the postseason.

In the playoffs, the Mercury faced the Mystics in a sudden-death game, and Peddy hit the game-winning 3 as time expired. It was mayhem.

She’s played in every game for the Mercury in 2021. She's started 6 games when DT has been injured, including the first playoff game.

She's a key contributor for a team one game from the finals, averaging 20.5 minutes per playoff game. Today she had 10 points, 7 rebounds, 2 steals. 

The WNBA is nearly impossible to break into, and there are so many stories of players overcoming the odds and finding their place. But I don't think any player has a success story with as many improbable twists and turns as Peddy's. It's one to celebrate.

–––

In 2022, Shey Peddy played in all but 2 games. And she started in 24 of those games. She averaged 10 points, 4 rebounds, 3.5 assists.

Diana Taurasi and Skylar Diggins-Smith couldn't play the last four games of the Mercury's impossibly challenging season. Most people believed the Mercury would never make the playoffs without their superstars.

But Shey Peddy stepped up her game. She averaged 17 points, 7.5 rebounds, 4.5 assists in those last four games. She set career highs in every stat category. And she put together the first double-double game of her WNBA career. Her elevated play got the Mercury into the playoffs.

She led the team with her joy, her grit, and her characteristic craftiness.

Last night, in game 1 of the playoffs, she suffered a major injury. It looked like an Achilles tear. But I know this isn't the last chapter of Shey Peddy's professional basketball saga. There are still more chapters to come.

[thelordofdarkreunion]

Magnificent Scoundrels- Battle on the Citadel

Shenanigans.  Hopefully some cool battle scenes.  I will try to have the second part of this story out as soon as possible.  Enjoy.   “He was just a rookie trooper and he surely shook with fright, 

He checked off his equipment and made sure his pack was tight; 

He had to sit and listen to those awful engines roar, 

You ain’t gonna jump no more.”  -Blood Upon the Risers, paratroopers song

The air swirled as the shuttles touched down.  The acrid scent of coolant wafted through the air at the Turian and C-Sec lines in front of the Citadel.  Now designated with the unimaginative title “Command Post Alpha,” this was the main spot where shuttles would touch down to disgorge their contents of soldiers ready to take back the Citadel.  Engines whined, and hydraulics hissed as various shuttles, bearing their precious cargoes of soldiers and supplies, touched down.  Sharp and angular Turian ones, the Omen’s large and boxy troop-carriers, the Normandy’s sleek, yet rectangular ones, the Apocalypse’s heavy gunship carriers, and the distinctive three-winged transports of the Galactic Empire.  All these touched down, soldiers disembarking rapidly, and took off immediately to allow the next in line to land.  

Shepard, Vir, Quill, Cooper and Drake stood around a portable hologram projector as the various troopers milled around in organized chaos behind them.  Captain Viter of the Turian Hierarchy stood off to the side, urgently conversing with someone over his encrypted communications gear.  

“So we have the beginnings of a pretty sizable army here.  What do we do first?”  The question was addressed to Shepard, seeing as he had the most experience with the geography of the Citadel.  

“We should probably just do a general push throughout the Citadel to take the entire thing back.  Make sure there aren’t any hidden pockets of resistance.  We also don’t know who precisely is attacking or why, so we want to make sure there aren’t any hidden plans we’re missing.”  Everyone nodded their acceptance to this.  Cooper turned and looked back at the groups of milling soldiers. 

“First we have to get this mess in order,” he said.  

“Oh boy,” muttered Quill sarcastically.  

“Okay.  How do we do this?” asked Sheaprd, looking at the mixed group.  

“Get whoever’s in charge of each group and send them here for a tactical briefing,” suggested Vir.  

“Sounds good to me,” replied Drake.  “Saul!  Garang!  Rilgaldis!  Over here.”  He waved over the commanders of his armsmen.  The three marched over, the large lizard-like Rilgaldis wearing a set of ornamented armor, Garang wearing a massive suit of heavy beige and grey power armor, increasing her height by at least four inches, and Saul wearing a suit of black combat armor with strange metal bracing throughout.  They nodded at the Scoundrels and rechecked their weapons as the group commanders were called over. 

Maverick of the Omen’s marines and Captain Detoi of the Valhallan 597th followed, Maverick wearing a typical urban camouflage patterned suit of combat armor and Detoi wearing an Aquilia emblazoned set of grey-blue flak armor.  

 A raven-haired woman, wearing an extremely tight, form-fitting black and white suit walked over to converse with Shepard; Vir recognized her voice as that of Miranda Lawson, Shepherd’s Executive Officer.  She was followed by Garrus Valkarion, lugging Drake’s gift of an Exitus Rifle.  Captain Viter gave him a weird look, then followed him over to the projector.  

Gamora appeared behind Quill, startling him.  Last to arrive were two figures wearing the white and black armor of the Imperial Stormtroopers and Death Troopers, respectively.  

“First off: who are you two?” asked Vir, gesturing to the two latest arrivals.  

“You can call me Commander Blaine,” responded the white armored Stormtrooper.  

“DT-997731.”  Emotionless.  Cold, dark, and blank.  As a Death Trooper should be.  Not making him any friends, though.  

“You can all introduce each other when you get in your groups.  For now, let’s just get this started,” cut in Drake.  

“Fine,” replied Shepard.  “Here’s the Citadel,” he said bluntly.  “Here’s where we are.”  A glowing dot appeared next to the Citadel Tower, located in the center of the massive station.  “We need to clear the entire station.”  He turned to the rest of the individuals huddled over the projector.  “Cooper, you’re fast moving recon.  You’ll be by yourself.”  Cooper nodded his consent.  

“That’s how I operate best.”  

“Good.  Now…” Shepard paused and looked around, calculating precisely what he would need.  “Vir and I will be taking a large strike force up the center area to the Promenade.  My ground team, Vir’s Marines, the Drev clan, and both sets of Imperials; Galactic Empire and Imperium of Man will be coming with us.  We get there, take out what is likely to be one of the largest groups of resistance, then split up as necessary.  Quill and Drake will be taking their own selected teams the other way.  Understood?”  A chorus of affirmations greeted his words.  “Good.”

“I’m picking my team,” interjected Drake.  “Second and Third squads of my armsmen are going with Shepard and Vir.  First squad with me.  Oliver, Mark, and Muelka with me.  Kraiker with them.”  Cooper and Vir glanced at each other as Drake got a sudden malicious gleam in his eyes.  He broke off from the group around the projector and went through the various huddled soldiers, and started to select specific individuals.  

“You and your team.”  Captain Federer, the 597th demolitions officer and his squad of engineers dutifully followed.  

“You.”  A short woman, covered in tattoos and wearing nothing except pants and two carefully placed straps over her chest stepped out from Shepherd's ground team.  Shepard gave an apprehensive glance to Drake, who was grinning maniacally at this point.

“You.”  An older man with battle-scarred armor from Shepard’s team.

“You and you.”  Ramirez and Maverick from Vir’s marines.  Vir had a very good idea what Drake was doing.

“Aaaannd… you.”  Rocket Raccoon from Quill’s team.  Drake turned back to the other Scoundrels at the projector.  “Okay!  I’m good to go.”

“I recommend staying outside a general kilometer radius from that particular team,” muttered Vir.  

“I thought you said you didn’t want to blow up the Citadel,” Shepard deadpanned.  Drake shrugged.  

“Times change.”  He wheeled around and gestured for his team to follow.  “Come my glorious minions!  Explosions, violence, and general tomfoolery are to be had by all!”  Quill shook his head as Drake’s team filed out.  

“He’s taking my guys so I’ll take his.  His Second squad and Captain Viter’s Turians are with me.  C’mon.  I have no plan, so we’re just winging it.  As per frickin’ usual.”  Viter shot Shepard and Vir a quick apprehensive look before being dragged away by Quill.  

Cooper gave a nod to the two remaining Scoundrels, before pulling on his helmet and jogging towards the area of attack.  

Shepard and Vir looked at each other again, somewhat lost.  

“Okay then,” muttered Vir.  “Blaine!  Detoi!  Get over here!  Let’s go!”  

Approximately Five Minutes Later

Shepard ducked and dodged as fire spilt upon his kinetic barriers.  He rolled, then tucked forward as a grenade went off behind him.  Two Valhallans were tossed in the air, screaming.  A combat medic slid up to them and started to tend their pulverised legs as bullets whizzed through the air.  

Kinetic barriers.  Very useful devices.  They had kept him alive through many a firefight, blocking shrapnel and shell alike.  He grimaced as a Death Trooper let loose with a fully-automatic barrage of blaster fire.  A Cerberus trooper across the massive open gardens area screamed as he died, his torso filled with burning holes.  Too bad kinetic barriers wouldn’t stop energy weapons.  

Not that he particularly minded in this instance, he thought as he unslung Drake’s gift of a plasma gun.  He let loose a stream of molten plasma bolts, melting away a group of traitor C-Sec agents along with their cover.  

He sprinted forward, then slid into a crater next to Vir and Detoi.  The wreck of an ATLAS mech stood nearby, the very thing that had caused the massive dent in the Citadel before being brought down by armored piercing missiles.  Shepard had originally thought the mechs to be exceptionally large and terrifying; one of the few two legged things that actually frightened him.  That was before he’d seen Cooper’s much bigger and heavily-armed Titan in combat.  Still, they were nevertheless powerful, and one of the reasons the assault on this massive hotel had bogged down in the gardens in front.  

Vir poked his head over the edge of the creator and fired his rifle indiscriminately at the machine gun positions located on the hotel’s second floor.  Detoi was busy chattering on a bulky radio set with an unknown party.  

  “Last time I was in a war this intense it was just a bunch of bugs,” grumbled Vir.  “They didn’t put up machine gun positions like this.”  The three occupants of the crater flinched as an ATLAS mech heavy cannon tore up the ground only meters from their position.  “Damn.  They didn’t have those, either.”  Detoi hung up his radio receiver.  

“We aren’t going to be able to push through this without armor or air support.  I talked to Cain and Cooper.  We’re getting Titan and Scion support.  They also talked to one of the diplomats, apparently, and-” the ground shook as the heavy mech took a rocket directly to the engine compartment and blew up with a six meter high fireball.  “-shit.  Anyway.  There are drop troopers coming in behind the hotel to cut off their retreat.  So we just huddle down here, and wait for the right moment.”  

Above the Citadel

The incessant drone of gunship engines whined in the background as the elite soldiers of the Tempestus Scions checked each others’ weapons and grav-chutes one last time.  They stood against the grey metal interior of the back of the craft, ready and waiting for the ramp to deploy.  Deep, midnight blue armor covered their bodies and faces.  Red helmet lenses glowed menacingly in dim interior lighting.  

“One minute!” came the pilot’s voice over the intercom.  One of the Scions, armor much more ornate than his fellows, stepped to the side.  

“This is a hot drop onto a centrifugal-force gravitational space station,” he shouted over the engines’ racket.  “Nothing’s going to go wrong, though, because you’re the best.  All hostiles are to be purged.  No non-hostile xenos are to be harmed.  Inquisitors’ orders.  Elimination protocols sanctioned.  The Emperor protects.”  He gave a nod to his squad.  

“The Emperor protects!” replied a gravelly chorus.  

“Fifteen seconds!” came the pilot’s voice once more.  The Scions shuffled forward in the dim lighting, looking at a single glowing red light on the near the end of the space.  The ramp at the end of the gunship lowered, allowing the group inside to see outside, onto the arms and artificial sky of the Citadel.  At the very edges of the view were the other Valkyrie gunships of the squadron, deploying the full contingent of the Watch Eternal’s Scions onto the Citadel.  

“Three!  Two!  One!”  The red light turned green.  The two closest to the ramp took two steps and launched themselves into space, followed by the rest of the squad, then their commander.  

It should be noted that grav-dropping into a hot LZ is against the laws of common sense and warfare.  It should also be noted that Tempestus Scions don’t care what filthy xenos or heretics think.  

Aboard the UNSC Fifth Winter

Clean black surfaces glimmered with the blue and white lighting common aboard UNSC starships.  Groups of soldiers, wearing green combat armor, chose, checked, and looked over weapons from a huge, hallway-spanning armory.  Some made jokes to each other, others complained over the fact that they were deploying in what was supposed to be a comfortable diplomat protection detail.  

Quiet footsteps sounded as the groups of Orbital Drop Shock Troopers were called to their pods.  They strode over the black grated metal walkways to banks of sleek drop pods.  Clambering in, they pulled down metal restraints and strapped themselves in.  

Small screens on the sides of the pods lit up with the images of two blank helmeted ODST’s.  

“We are dropping in behind the hotel shown in the briefing.  We are to stop any hostile forces from escaping.  Make sure you don’t fire on any friendlies,” came the curt voice of the ODST commander.  

Heavy claws roasted the pods into position.  Through the front windows, the troopers inside could see down to the Citadel.  The black void of space mixed with the blue of the massive station’s artificial sky.  No problem.  This is what they all trained for.  It was in the name.  

“Ready for drop.  Three.  Two.  One.  Drop.”  The pods were fired from the carrier, and the ODST’s began their descent to the surface of the station.  

On the Citadel

“These guys are fucking insane!” exclaimed Shepard.  Throughout the battlefield, the firing did not abate, but Vir was sure people on both sides would be looking to the sky.  Shepard pointed at the Imperial gunships, spilling troopers out of them.  “They’re doing a sub-orbital drop onto a space station with centrifugally-generated gravity!” he continued.  Some part of Vir had to agree.  

However, the vast majority of the esteemed Admiral Adam Vir was almost squealing with delight.  He was leading Imperial Stormtroopers, for God’s sake.  From Star Wars.  A childhood dream come true.  Then there were the reinforcements.  He looked up again.  The meteor-like streaks of ODST drop pods and the contrails of Valkyrie gunships shone clearly against the sky.  He knew about the Halo video games.  Hell, there were copies of a lot of old Earth games in the Omen’s recreation room, Halo included.  So, while he was inclined to agree that this was fucking insane, it was also fucking awesome.    

“And those guys,” this was accompanied by a finger pointing to the drop pod streaks, “Are doing a full orbital drop.”  

“They know what they’re doing,” said Detoi, though he looked apprehensive.  

“They’re insane,” repeated Shepard.  “Too bad I’m not up there with them.”  Shepard grinned over to Vir.  “Oh, man!  Can you imagine that?  N7 Special Forces doing an orbital insertion like that?  You pilot, we drop?”  Vir grinned back.

“Sounds like we have something to do after this mess is over.”  He was cut from his thoughts by Detoi.

“I’m no expert, but they’re… cutting it kind of close, aren’t they?”  Sure enough, the Scions were still in arms-outstretched free fall much lower than they should be.

“Yeah, they are,” muttered Vir.  He couldn’t do anything about that other than just watch and hope the Scions truly did know what they were doing.  

The falling troopers started to approach the height of the tallest buildings on the Citadel, and, just as Vir was certain they had judged it too late, the Scions flipped from belly forward, arms-outstretched postures to feet first.  Blue jets appeared on their packs, and their descent abruptly slowed.  The ODST’s drop pods started to jink and thrust, avoiding ground fire and coming into a perfect trajectory to crash behind the back of the hotel.  

Ignoring the heavy weapons chattering over their heads, the Scions hit the ground hard.  They rolled forward, and immediately started a pattern of fire-and-advance.  Reddish orange lasers flew through the air, impacting against the architecture of the hotel.  Vir moved up in the crater, but Detoi held out a hand to stop him.  

“Wait one.  We have heavy armor support incoming.  Then we’ll crack this place open like an egg.”

Question: What is a grav-chute?  A grav-chute is basically like a jetpack, except instead of boosting someone up against gravity, it merely slows someone’s descent into safe levels. 

And, that’s that.  If you have any comments, criticisms, questions, requests, or concerns, feel free to contact me.  Enjoy your day.  

[mitchintille]

2020 Mock Draft (Pre-combine)

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Alas, it is finally here. Draft season has officially kicked into full gear, and that means it’s time for yet another installment of a mock draft that will undoubtedly be ridiculously wrong come April. With that being said, I sincerely hope you enjoy!

1. Cincinnati Bengals - Joe Burrow, QB, LSU

The Bengals are widely regarded as one of the most incompetent front offices in all of sports, and nothing that they can do with this pick would shock me. With that being said, it is with almost 100% certainty that Joe Burrow will be a Bengal. Sharpie it in.

2. Washington Redskins - Chase Young, EDGE, Ohio State

Another pick that is almost entirely locked in. Young is one of the best defensive prospects to come out in recent memory. His blend of athleticism, raw power, and moxie is a match made in heaven for new head coach Ron Rivera. Young is a transcendent type talent with true superstar potential, and should be snatched up within seconds assuming they don’t trade down.

  *TRADE*

3. Miami Dolphins - Tua Tagovailoa, QB, Alabama

This should come as a surprise to no one. A team with a trajectory pointing directly upwards and a bevy of picks at their disposal, the Dolphins trade up to assure they land their franchise QB. Tua is a polarizing prospect, coming off an historically great career which saw him cement his legacy as early as his Freshman year. He is deadly accurate with a knack for creating plays outside the structure. His riddling injury concerns are valid, but should the medicals come back clear, there is not a better player in the class in my eyes. 

4. New York Giants - Jedrick Wills, OT, Alabama 

Back to back Bama players here, as new coach Joe Judge establishes a trend from his first pick as the new coach. Build. The. Trenches. Wills is a highly athletic tackle with the ability to play in space; not to mention he is far and away the most pro ready run blocker at his position group as well. The Giants have a tendency to be unpredictable come draft time, but I can’t see them ignoring the glaring holes on their offensive line for another off-season. 

*TRADE*

5. Detroit Lions - Jeffrey Okudah, CB, Ohio State 

Win-win for the Lions here as they collect additional picks and the best corner prospect to come out since Jalen Ramsey.

6. Los Angeles Chargers - Justin Herbert, QB, Oregon

The writing is on the wall here. Philip Rivers and the Chargers have decided to mutually part ways after a disappointing season for both parties. Insert Justin Herbert. The live armed QB is the NFL prototype of what one should look like. Tall, athletic, big arm, smart. Herbert is not going to be for everyone, but with the Chargers’ throw heavy offense, he should develop nicely for them and give them (somewhat) a sense of continuity.

7. Carolina Panthers - Derrick Brown, DT, Auburn 

Admittedly, this is a bit of a mystery pick for me. The Panthers have been non-committal to whether or not they view Cam Newton as their QB of the future, meaning a possible huge void will be created if they indeed let him walk. Assuming the draft shakes out with the top three QB’s going in the first six picks, the Panthers are left in a BPA position. Brown is the type of mauler up front the Panthers desperately lacked last year, fielding one of the league’s worst run defenses. He is a plug and play type player who should see the field and contribute immediately.

8. Arizona Cardinals - Ceedee Lamb, WR, Oklahoma

Do the Cardinals have more pressing needs than a wide receiver? Yes, absolutely. But in the case of Lamb, he has all the ability and potential to be a true WR1 in the league. His familiarity with the Cardinals’ scheme and QB Kyler Murray is simply too irresistible to pass on for Kingsbury and Keim.

9. Jacksonville Jaguars - Isaiah Simmons, LB, Clemson

A once strong and dependent LB corps quickly saw a rapid decline after the sudden retirement of Telvin Smith last off-season. The Jags recently retained both Doug Marrone and DC Todd Wash, and with their recent track record of picking the best available defensive player, it’s hard to assume they’d pass on a player of Simmons’ caliber. A true chess piece, seeing snaps at seemingly every position on the field last season, Simmons’ versatility should be coveted given the direction the NFL is heading towards. 

10. Cleveland Browns - Tristan Wirfs, OT, Iowa

New head coach Kevin Stefanski should be foaming at the mouth if Wirfs is still on the board. The recently hired Stefanski is well known for his wide zone run scheme featuring heavy dosages of play action. Insert Wirfs. A freakish athlete for his size who is only scratching the surface of what he can become. Wirfs’ natural agility and raw strength is exactly what the Browns need to upgrade their dire situation at offensive tackle. 

11. New York Jets - Andrew Thomas, OT, Georgia

It’s simple, the Jets need to draft offensive line to protect their young QB. The Jets are in need of a serious makeover on the offensive line, and while Rome wasn’t built in a day, Thomas, a 3 year starter at Georgia, is the perfect benchmark towards repairing a withered offensive line.

12. Las Vegas Raiders - Jerry Jeudy, WR, Alabama

This screams Raiders to me. The Raiders have plenty needs, but a true WR1 is something this offense has been lacking since...well...Amari Cooper. But nonetheless, Mayock has shown a tendency to draft players from big time schools. Jeudy fits the billing, as he is the most gifted route running prospect we’ve seen in a long time, and a guy Gruden will undoubtedly be pounding the table for. 

13 - Indianapolis Colts - Jordan Love, QB, Utah State

The term “polarizing prospect” is thrown around loosely each and every draft season, but there is truly no other way to describe Jordan Love. The Utah State product saw his stock rise after a very a productive 2018 season, only to be minimized by a drastically underwhelming 2019 campaign. Love’s supporting cast is, in my mind, one of the worst in recent memory in regards to QB prospects. No other prospect’s career trajectory is more team dependent than Love, and the Colts are the perfect fit. Love can sit a year behind Jacoby Brissett in Frank Reich’s QB friendly offense. His skill sets as a QB are exactly the type that the new NFL is targeting, and with the opportunity to sit for a year and learn might be exactly what is needed to tap into Love’s full potential.

14. Tampa Bay Buccaneers - Javon Kinlaw, DT, South Carolina

Sigh. Given the impending loss of Ndamukong Suh, Kinlaw could plug and play into the league’s reigning top run defense. Personally, I am not as high on Kinlaw as most. A nagging knee injury and questionable production are legit concerns of mine, but how he wins is a perfect complement to Vita Vea. If Kinlaw’s repertoire expands, there is some serious Chris Jones-esque potential there. Nonetheless, this is more of a continuity pick than anything else. 

15. Denver Broncos - Mekhi Becton, OT, Louisville

The idea of pairing Henry Ruggs was very tempting to me, but given the depth in this year’s receiver class, Becton is the safe choice here. It is imperative that they invest in protecting Drew Lock, and the 6′7 behemoth should give them an immediate upgrade over Garrett Bolles.

16. Atlatna Falcons - AJ Epenesa, EDGE, Iowa

With the recent release of Vic Beasley, it is no secret that the Falcons should be looking to add EDGE depth. Epenesa is not the twitchiest player, but his high pass rush ceiling and savvy run defense are a dream fit for Dan Quinn.

17- Dallas Cowboys - Grant Delpit, Safety, LSU

This is another one of those picks that feels somewhat mysterious to me. Yet given the need at safety and the fact that they tried making a push at the trade deadline to acquire Jamal Adams last season, it would not shock me to see them go this direction. Delpit, the 2019 Jim Thrope award winner, is a fast twitch, instinctive eraser in the back end. His tackling concerns are valid, but I fully expect him to clean that issue up early on in his career.

18. Miami Dolphins - Josh Jones, OT, Houston 

With a roster lacking talent at seemingly every position, it is best to build from the ground up. After selecting their franchise QB in Tua, they double down and select the athletic Jones to begin solidifying their offensive front. 

19. Las Vegas Raiders - Kristian Fulton, CB, LSU

The Raiders have no talent in their secondary. Seriously. Fulton isn’t exactly the flashiest player, but his body of work has proven time and time again that he can hang with the best of them. His Football IQ and moxie provide the Raiders a nice building block towards reshaping that secondary. 

20. Jacksonville Jaguars - CJ Henderson, CB, Florida

After going defense with their first pick, the Jags double down and keep building towards that elite 2017 defense they once had. Henderson has faced several ups and downs throughout his career, but his athleticism and potential are higher than anyone else in the class not named Jeffrey Okudah. With the Jags defensive front seeing a hopeful improvement, Henderson should plug in nicely alongside AJ Bouye.

21. Philadelphia Eagles - Henry Ruggs, WR, Alabama

A true burner. Ruggs gives me some Tyreek Hill/Hollywood Brown type vibes. The Bama product offers world class speed, and is a more well rounded receiver than given credit for. Desean Jackson and Alshon Jeffrey are only getting older, and Ruggs provides a much needed deep threat that Carson Wentz has been so desperately lacking the past few seasons.

22. Buffalo Bills - Tee Higgins. WR, Clemson

A 6′5 target with the best hands in the draft is the exact type of receiver the Bills have been lacking for years. Josh Allen gets a new best buddy in Higgins, who has the wingspan and strength to win contested catches and collect errant throws from the gunslingin’ Allen. Higgins has true WR1 potential, and pairing him with John Brown could be what the Bills need to unlock Allen’s full potential. 

23. New England Patriots - Xavier Mckinney, Safety, Alabama

The impending free agency of Devin McCourty leaves the Pats in a bit of a pickle. Whether the Pats decide to resign him or not, it can’t hurt to gain some youth at the Safety position. Patrick Chung is aging and beginning to show signs of decline. Enter Mckinney. Nick Saban bestowed the same responsibilities on him that he once did with Minkah Fitzpatrick. Mckinney is a versatile, high IQ player whose instincts should quickly prove to be useful for Belichick.

24. New Orleans Saints - Jalen Reagor, WR, TCU

I can’t envision a scenario where the Saints look a different direction if Reagor is still on the board. An absolute freak of nature, Reagor is expected to dominate the combine. He once posted a ridiculous sub 4.3 40 and an absurd 26 foot (!!!) long jump. Did I mention the fact that all of this was while he was still in high school? Reagor is a true vertical threat, but also serves plenty of value as a return specialist and gadget type player. He is the exact type of player that Sean Payton covets, and while he has all of the makings to become a WR1 in this league, being the Robin to Michael Thomas’ Batman is simply a pairing that cannot be resisted. 

25. Minnesota Vikings - Jeff Gladney, CB, TCU

This one feels obvious to me. After investing into the offensive line the last two drafts, the depth in the draft allows the Vikings an opportunity to go out and grab a toolsy corner. Xavier Rhodes looked like a shell of what he was once last season, and that pricey contract still looms large. Both Trae Waynes and Mackenzie Alexander are heading towards free agency, and given Mike Zimmer’s penchant for drafting very athletic corners with good ball skills, this fit seems plausible. 

26- Miami Dolphins - Zack Baun, LB, Wisconsin

The ideal chess piece for Brian Flores. Baun’s unique skill set is reminiscent of Kyle Van Noy, as his versatility offers loads of endless opportunities for Flores’ defense. He has all of the traits to play off the ball and offers plus blitz skills, and would give the Dolphins a much needed infusion of talent on the defensive side.

27- Seattle Seahawks - Julian Okwara, EDGE, Notre Dame

The Seahawks last two first round picks have been bizarre to say the least, so don’t be surprised if the twitchy Okwara ends up as the pick. After investing into LJ Collier last season- who is now 25 years old and has recorded one (!) pressure in his young career- it is obvious that the Seahawks are still searching for an answer on the edge outside of Jadeveon Clowney. Okwara is a bit rough around the edges, but offers an intriguing athletic profile and runs with a very high motor. He’s going to need to add play strength early in his career, but his burst and bend might be too tempting to pass on.

28. Baltimore Ravens - Kenneth Murray, LB, Oklahoma

As competitive of a player as there is in this draft. Murray is the type of natural, vocal leader that the Ravens organization seems to covet. His blend of power and speed is something that should mesh immediately in that locker room, and given the Ravens recent track record of drafting Oklahoma players (Mark Andrews, Hollywood Brown, Orlando Brown), Murray seems like an ideal fit. 

29. Tennesee Titans - K’lavon Chaisson, EDGE, LSU

Chaisson fits the mold of a Titans defender. Highly athletic, versatile, and bendy off the edge, adding Chaisson to an already talented defense could be the missing piece they need towards taking that next step to being elite. Chaisson offers plenty of risk, but a guy like Mike Vrabel should be able to milk all of the potential out of him that he can get.

30. Green Bay Packers - Brandon Aiyuk, WR, Arizona State

The former JUCO product burst onto the scene this year with a whopping 65-1192-8 stat line. His pure speed and natural after the catch ability is something that offense has long been lacking. Pairing this dynamic playmaker next to Davante Adams would solve what was a very lackluster group last season.

31. San Francisco 49ers - Cesar Ruiz, OC, Michigan

Starting center Weston Richburg is coming off a torn patellar tendon, and the interior depth is showing signs of aging. Ruiz, a late riser, has all of the tools and youth to slide nicely into that unit. An intelligent and experienced player, Ruiz movement skills for his size would be an ideal fit in Shanahan’s offense. 

32. Kansas City Chiefs - Ross Blacklock, DT, TCU

Behind Chris Jones and Derrick Nnadi, the depth at defensive tackle leaves plenty to be desired. Blacklock is an athletic specimen who offers plenty of juice to be a high end player. Coming off a 2018 season in which he missed due to a torn Achilles, Blacklock displayed the same explosiveness he had in 2017. While his processing needs some work, he is the type of high ceiling player that defensive coordinator Steve Spagnulo could get the most out of. 

[dust-tone]

Dust-Tone Interview: Sweatson Klank (fka TAKE)

art by dusq.

Sweatson Klank (formerly known as Take) is nothing short of a musical pioneer. Having been at the center of the ever-growing beats community for almost two decades now, Tom Wilson has helped engineer the creative environment that is known and loved today. You can find his discography scattered amongst nearly a dozen revered labels (including Project: Mooncircle, All City, Friends of Friends, Poo-Bah, Alpha Pup and more). He has also produced an extensive collection of official DJ mixes for beloved radio stations and collectives (BBC, dublab, BTS, Low End Theory, Brainfeeder and many more). Most important to note however is his paramount Sketchbook night which laid the foundation for the famed Low End Theory and the fertile Los Angeles beat community as a whole in the early-mid 2000′s.

While Sweatson Klank is both busy with musical projects and running the label Tone and Manor, we were fortunate enough to sit down and get his perspective on the current musical climate.

Dust-Tone: When did you first start making music and what got you interested in it? Early influences?

Sweatson Klank: I started making music when i was 13. I had a deep connection to music really early on. I got a guitar and took lessons for a year. From there on I jammed with my friends and eventually started a couple little bands in High School. I also got a bass and started playing bass a little here and there. These bands were just little garage bands where we would play parties and wherever we got invited to play, but it was good fun and I learned a lot from those experiences. When i got to college i quickly started looking for other musicians to form a band with but had trouble finding people I related to musically. Around that time I went to a huge house party off campus and really got my first taste of what a dj was truly capable of. This guy, who later became a good friend was rocking a crown of about 300 people with just turntables, records and a mixer. Mind you, this was well before cdjs or Serato. At the time is was still really special to witness a dj playing records and doing so with a technical prowess I hadn't ever seen before. I had an epiphany, that night. I watched this dj just control a crowd and they were loving it. I had been having trouble forming a new band because I had a really strong opinion of what i wanted it to sound like and others didn't seem to see eye to eye with me. I was always telling people how to play and what to play with their instruments. As you can imagine, no one really liked that hahaha. Little did i know i was a producer in the making. I had all these ideas but I wasn't capable of playing them or truly expressing them yet. So back to this party, I was shocked to see this dj setting the vibe and expressing himself through playing records. I sat there all night bugging him to let me try it. Of course, he kept saying no, get lost. Finally as it got later and he got drunker, he told me " If you want to make a fool of yourself go ahead" and handed me the headphones. I had never touched a turntable or mixer in my life, but i had been watching him do it all night. So i got up there and started flipping through his records, which i knew absolutely nothing about, they were all house records. The only record i knew was a Micheal Jackson record - " Don't Stop Till You Get Enough" so i grabbed it and somehow magically blended a perfect mix on my first try and the crowd went nuts!! Most likely because it was MJ and that song gets any party hype hahah.. So i grabbed another record i didn't know and tried again and completely train wrecked and the dj grabbed the head phones back from me and went back on. That one moment of glory though was enough to set it all off for me. The next week i was at his house begging him to teach me and practice on his turntables. Its just snowballed from there. i was hooked, started buying records, eventually got turntables, a club night, started dj'ing all over. I learned to dj playing house music but i was much more into Hip Hop and Funk and Soul. After about a year, i realized i wanted to actually make tracks and not just be a dj. So i got a drum machine, and then a sampler, and a four track and there you have it, i was on my way to doing what i still love to do today.

DT: What are you currently listening to? Does this affect the evolution of your current sound? Do you find yourself holding onto influences and themes of the past over new music tendencies or is how you make music flowing more with the changing of the times?

SK: That question is pretty difficult because I listen to so much music all the time. I really don't listen to any one style of music constantly. I love to discover old music that I didn't know. Record collecting is still one of my favorite hobbies so Im constantly finding stuff from the past that is incredibly inspiring and influential in the music i make today. I think i am much more inspired by the sounds of the past than i am the sounds of most fo todays music. As an artist, your tastes are constantly evolving, and to me thats a beautiful thing. It shows your own growth, and life is all about growing. When I am not in the studio working, i generally prefer to listen to old records. Jazz, Brazilian, African, weird electronic library records, New Age music and i love 80's Soul/R&B boogie stuff!

DT: You've been a pretty important staple in the "beat scene" for over a decade now. Low End Theory (which has now sadly come to a finale), Dublab, AllCity, Warp, Ghostly, Poobah, Project Mooncircle, even BBC and so many more love you. You are the modern hero to the independent beat maker. Do you feel like growing up on the west coast had any impact on early exposure to this musical way of thought? Able to meet the right people, get pushed in the right directions, etc?

SK: Thanks man, so nice of you. I think just having a forward thinking attitude about music and life really helped me most. Low End was a great place that helped me get noticed and meet tons of incredible people who shared similar perspectives on music. Before Low End though, we had a night called Sketchbook which was essentially an early version of all of that. Our goal was just to push the weirder left field side of hip hop and downtempo electronic music before it was actually cool. It was an uphill battle at first but but we just did it out of love for the music and a passion to play stuff no one else was playing.

DT: How has the "beats" community changed since you first entered it? Some would argue what was once a niche LA sound has spread worldwide and transformed through the different cultures. Does this influence your music?

SK: When we started doing this, it was just our own form of expression, we had no idea it would eventually grow into the "Beat Scene"  and now in turn,  people call it Lo Fi hip hop.. i just laugh. Its all good. I think there are tons of great producers out there making really interesting beats!! So Im happy to maybe have been a part of the birth of whatever the movement wants to call itself now. I think I am more in awe and influenced by the OG's than the new comers. To me everyone has one great record in them.. But to put out great music for years and years, thats a different story. That is what inspires and influences me the most. When i leave this earth, I want to leave behind a vast catalog of musical creations, regardless of if any of it was commercially successful or popular. Just like most of the records I admire most from 30-40 years ago. They were never hugely popular, but they were incredible!

DT: What is your creative process like? Do you start with the tool or from the imagination? Or both? Do you find yourself ever using traditional methods for making music or do you normally stick to the DAW? (which DAW/gear do you use?)

SK: My process really varies. Sometimes I start with a sample, other-times i just lay out a chord progression on the piano or a synth and build from there. I try to find new ways to tap into creativity so that im not bored. There is really no one single approach to making music. I use Ableton as my main DAW but I also use a ton of external instruments like synths, guitars, bass, drum machines, percussion instruments, vinyl samples.

DT: Fine Lines, your latest release from FoF Music is incredible. Did you have a specific aural goal with this album or did you just create and let the sound emerge naturally? Are you currently working on anything for the future or currently focusing more on support for your latest release? Anything exciting planned for 2019?

SK: With the 'Fine Lines' album I really wanted to create a cohesive album that embodied a specific vibe. How that vibe is perceived is up to the listener of course, but i sought out to make something that was indicative of my life during the making of these songs. In its most basic explanation its a story of growth, love, battling darkness both inner and outer and the never ending search for true happiness hahha. Yes I have a bunch of stuff slated for 2019. First off i just launched my label Tone and Manor. We just released our first compilation " All Over the Place" Vol. 1 and have Vol. 2 coming out in November.   The Tone and Manor label is a passion project of mine. I teach music production at Point Blank Music Academy and I mentor a lot of young producers and beginners and the label is a way for me to help some of them get their music out there into the often confusing music sphere. I also have a new album coming out in 2019.. Im really excited about that. For this one I am really going back to my roots. Analog synths, samples, instruments and in general a more organic vibe to the music. Its getting closed to finish and im really hyped to share it when its ready. The first single will likely come out early 2019.

DT: Do you find that switching your name brought any confusion? Do Sweatson Klank and TAKE focus on separate sounds or do they have a similar theme you aim for?

SK: Switching my name from Take to Sweatson Klank was purely for the reason that Take became increasingly impossible to find online, being that its a verb used in every other sentence. It was a bit hard at first to re-brand but im glad i did it. The sound has always been me. Its the evolution of me as an artist. If i was still TAKE the songs I've released as Sweatson Klank would be the same. It was really just a name change, not a style change. The intention hasn't changed.

DT: Please recommend something you're currently listening to, favorite place to get food in LA (are you an LA native), and a film or book if you have had time to indulge.

SK: Currently as i write this i am listening to a track from 1985 called 'Plastic Love' by a Japanese Female Soul artist named Mariya Takeuchi. The list of things i listen to could fill up 3 pages hahaha. Lets just say i listen to everything!!! I stay up on the latest hip hop, house, techno but I find more pleasure in digging through old records and discovery things from different times and countries!! Yes, I would say I am an LA native, I moved here from Paris, France when I was 5. Favorite place to eat really depends on the mood! Sushi Gen in Little Tokyo is definitely a regular in my rotation. Current read; The book of Joy by Douglas AbramsI just want thanks for taking the time to shine a light on me and my work, I hope your readers enjoy.

Sweatson Klank’s music is available direct from the artist through bandcamp: https://sweatsonklank.bandcamp.com

And his label’s discography as well: https://toneandmanor.bandcamp.com

Huge thanks to Tom Wilson for taking the time to talk with us and give a window to his world.

[localocksmithnearme]

Cadillac Fob Keys And Remote Program Hoboken NJ

The sharp lock smiths at Hoboken Key Replacement can control all of your Cadillac key-smith and security requirements . We are proud to feather a mixture of car keys, ignition and lockes services in addition to the setting up of remote start and push 2 start ignition. Our trained locksmiths excel in emergency ignition cylinder repair, lock-out and keys replacement situation and our major focus is to go out of reach to guarantee your protection and safety by offering sharp and in no time service 24-7-365 utilizing modern sidewinder key cutters, diagnostic equipment and key programmers and moreover market's principal adept and proficient lock smith.

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Cadillac replacement keys in Hoboken NJ

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At Hoboken Key Replacement, we are knowledge of the aspect that any main city in the United States of America has minimum dozen lock-smith corteges, but what car owners dont actually know is that each key smith in Hoboken NJ ordinarily well-informed in one individual professional trade. Large scale lock-man firms will stake a mixure of automotive, commercial, residential or safe keysmith services and even car ferrying and other service and frequently hire unschooled employees that could present a risk to your valuable or cost more for a a straight forward task since he is usually on higher salary position project like safecracking or alarm re-flashing.

About Cadillac key lock technology

Cadillac car brand was produced by the American car-maker GM in NYC, New York. The brand was 1st distributed in the U.S.A in 1902 as extravagance cars. Since 1997  Cadillac vehicles use transponder keys that could be replicated in a straight forward and low-cost procedure, while today's vehicles employ encoded transponders that must be programmed to the vehicle employing an appropriate diagnostic appliances and if all keys are misplaced, the car computer system must be recode.

Most advance vehicles beginning from year 2007 mostly provided with the modern hi-tech Adaptive Remote Start & Keyless Access keyless device with components such as push to start, keyless entry and blind spot details systems.

Ignition switch repair

The Cadillac ignition switch has 3 phases that activate specific instrumentation when the driver turn the key. The ignition lock will activate the electronic elements on the 1st position, activate the fuel supply on the 2nd position and fire up the car engine on the 3rd position.

One of the most prevalent thing drivers ask us in our dispatch center is to assist with,  ignition system problems. Even though our agent are usually pleased to try and diagnose your situation, it might be pretty hard to render over the phone. In addition to carrying specific Cadillac lock cracking tools and diagnostic, an essential knowledge of how motor vehicle ignition system run is required, yet before you call an ignnition lock-man please check following:

dash-board console light are off

If you turn the ignition switch on but no lights come on on the instrument panel which in fact means that there is no current coming from the battery. It could be a deplated battery or often a failed alternator or electronic wiring connection could cause this. Light up the front lights, if they wont light on, means the battery is empty which is a task for a  mechanic.

Key will not turn

Nearly all vehicle accommodate a locking steering column that lock itself whenever you take the ignition key out of the switch  when you finish a drive. Occasionally, the steering wheel is in a position that creates physical force to the ignition system, and wont let the key from turning (usually when parking on a hill) or when one of the front wheels is pressed against something (e.g. pavement rock).

Note: Before you begin troubleshooting this issue, assure that your car shifting gear is on park.

Hold the  wheel and try to turn the sized steering wheel  left and right and back and forth during lightly wiggling the ignition  key - this might help in unlatching the steering lock.

The ignition is one of the most significant element of any car and containing quite a few tiny detachments that might be tough to inspect by an unqualified personal, so the most an owner advised to do experiencing ignition lock or key malfunctions is to ensure you’re actually attempting to turn on your own car and ask a car key-smith to come down to your location to repair, reprogram  rekey the key or ignition which will costs $150–$350.

Chipped key originate

Replacing a car transponder key is not as straight forward as cutting a metal blade key! Recent cars incorporate an ECM in the vehicle which must be coded to embrace the new key. This compound procedure has to be done experienced and certified lock smith or by the dealer-ship employing specific key programming machine in order to guarantee that the new key is accurately serviceable and adept to kindle your vehicle.

Hoboken Key Replacement transponder keys workforce are fully competent to compile and cut transponder, flipkey, laser cut and smartkey chip keys for remarkably all year, model and make.  

Cadillac keyless device

Cadillac smartkey let a driver to lock and unlock the car door besides flaring up the motor vehicle yet avoiding utilizing the mechanical key, and since 2007, numerous Cadillac models in the market are equipped with some sort of a keyless entry device instrumentation that incorporate a short-range remote transmitter.

Using a proximity key, opening the door to your Cadillac is customarily achieved by transmitting an audio and infrared waves signal from a remote transmitter to a car engine control unit on an inscribed data stream when the driver just swinging by within a distance of 5 ft of the vehicle with the smartkey on a key ring or in the pocket.

This radio-frequency signal and the Cadillac smart key instrumentation, furthermore fit push-button start ignition (also called Clutch popping or Push starting). In this method a car owner is capable of flaring up a car  by pushing a push buttons on the dash-board console in place of turning a key in a key mouth.

Copy vs lost car keys

The old days of making a car key by obtaining a low cost metal bladed key blank and cut at a home depot or the locksmith store  are ancient history. Most contemporary vehicles come either with immobiliser and transponder keys besides push-button start ignition and smart keys.

The keys consists of an embedded chip which communicates with the car computer in the vehicle. If the car computer module doesn't identify the chip in the key, the vehicle will not start.

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[v3-killing-harmony-imagines]

Ryoma Hoshi x reader comfort one-shot

Aye so this is my first shot at a x reader fic and im super nervous lololol. The mods are thinking about also doing x reader asks when we open the ask box as well? But of course then we would probably be up in our heads with asks so we’re still debating that heh. Anyways, Here’s a Hoshi x reader fic because my fam Levia was feeling the need for one to exist, and all the other popular v3 boys get too much spotlight I find….Anyways please tell me how you like this qwq.

Dt levia <3

Hoshi finds out that he isn’t the only one who feels depressed and anxious.

Mentions Suicide under the cut.

Enjoy~

The room was dark, darkness enveloping darkness that blocked out the sun. You were sitting among the dark , wishing it could swallow you entirely. Eat you up, erase your traces and leave nothing behind. Your life had been a wallowing hole of self pity, anxiety and depression. Every day was a constant cycle of trying to be happy, failing and going to bed feeling sick. You had cried so many times that it has gotten to the point where you were incapable of crying, your mind screaming in agony as your body wouldn’t do what you oh so desired until eventually it would overflow with emotions and you would have a mental breakdown. It was a miracle that you could even get up every day. The only person who seemed to make your suffering better, the one who you were even living for at this point was him, Hoshi Ryoma. He had been like a lifeboat for you. Being a person who knew about the struggles of life made you happy to cling and come to him when things got bad. The only problem being that your low self esteem made you feel horrible things.

You’re a burden.

Leave him alone, god.

Why can’t you even go a day without him?

Pathetic.

Weak.

You don’t deserve him,

Each word you spoke had to be debated; if it had a chance of even sounding weird you would just keep it to yourself.  As you can tell, not talking a lot and keeping your emotions kept in wasn’t good. It all built up and up and up….And now you’re crying.

You wait in the darkness, for death or for salvation.

Ryoma Hoshi comes home to silence, which doesn’t surprise him. He Knows you’re a quiet person. You would usually be doing quiet things, rarely would you be doing something noisy.

He walks through the hallway, announcing his presence while removing his coat. When he gets no answer he is quirked. He calls out again, when he gets no answer he looks through the rooms. Kitchen-nope, living room-nope. It’s dark, the whole house being dim and cold, making him even more worried. The only thing illuminating the walls and floors is the dying rays of light from the sun that’s long set. Eventually he gets to your room. He hears nothing. He knocks lightly, hearing a slight shuffling. He calls your name again.

Silence .

Hoshi opens the door and the dam breaks.

You’re laying on the floor, curled up in the corner and shaking and gasping with each breath. Items are strewn across the floor, the dresser is tipped with chunks of debris lying next to it . He’s by your side in an instant, crouching down by your side and asking what happened. You curl yourself tighter into your ball, whimpering and sobbing harder. Hoshi takes a moment to think, assessing the situation, letting the gears turn in his brain.

Thinking about how he was like this in the past.

He rubs his temple, shaking that thought out before it all comes back to him. He knows what he needs to do.

“Hey , y/n. Can you remove your arms for a second, please?”

Your breathing is frantic, but after a moment or two you comply.

His heart pulls as he sees your face, eyes red and dry from you rubbing them, nose red and dripping with mucus, lips cracked and trembling. Your throat is probably dry and he can tell you have a headache.

“Hey, that was good.” His voice is quiet, like you’re a porcelain doll that’s ready to break. “Here, let’s move somewhere comfier ok?”

You give a meek nod, sniffling and pulling yourself up, he helps you and seats you down on the bed. He can tell by your face that if he doesn’t do something in that second you’ll end up breaking down again.

“Here,” He grabs one of your blankets and wraps it around you. “Do you want pillows?”

Another nod, he shifts his weight, grasping the fabric in his hands and positioning multiple pillows on top of another. The second he finishes you flop down in a gasp, tears starting to spring up again. He gives a reassuring coo as he gently strokes your hair and removing stray strands from your agitated face. He slips beside you in the bed, letting you lean on him. He can feel how stiff you are, even through the blankets. He wraps his hands around the blankets and yourself, tossing the cap of his hat off. It flings across the room and lands in the pile of strewn items. He can clean that up later, right now you’re his concern.

“Talk to me y/n, what’s the matter?”

He can feel you tense giving a muffled. “I’ve been thinking about killing myself.”

Now it’s his turn to stiffen. He knows how you feel about yourself but…. Suicide? You really….hate your life that much?

It’s because of you. A voice in his head says, he pushes it away and focuses on getting you back.

“You…you’re really that sad?” He can feel you curl and shift and his words.

“I-I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m this broken, I’m sorry you have to take care of me, I’m sorry that you don’t have someone happier- ”

You take a choked breath, steadying your tears. He hushes softly in your ear, rubbing your arms up and down, over and over until you calm down.

“I’m really sorry Hoshi. I’m really trying I am. I can’t see that spark, I can’t find it no matter how hard I try and I just. Can’t.” Your voice is strained and cracks at points.

He lays you down, flipping himself and you so that his face is parallel with yours. He stares into your eyes, watching as the dim light reflects and absorbs in your teary eyes. It makes his breath hitch as he stares at the glossy canvas.

Beautiful

Without a second thought, he presses his lips onto yours, savoring the taste and every texture. He knows he’s caught you off guard but it feels so good to him.

When he pulls away, both of you are panting slightly, he can feel the heat from his cheeks rising and he quietly thanks that you and him can barely see anything.

“I’m sorry, I had too.” As he goes to move off, you pull him back on top of you. Bringing your face closer, letting your breath and his mingle and twist together.

“Please.” And then you embrace him. The blanket being thrown off and your arms wrapped around him.

He should tell you that you’ll be ok, he’ll be here for you and give you motivation to go on. And then you two will spend the night cuddling and then when he wakes he’ll make and extra effort to make you happy.

But then he kisses you again and the plan goes out the window.

He and you remain like that, connected as you run your hands everywhere you can. His hands dragging across your face and in your hair, breathing heavily as you both still tenderly kiss. He doesn’t make it rough, he goes slowly as you match his pace, you two have all the time you need.

When you separate, he embraces you tightly.

“I am utterly in love with you, you know that. Nothing you can say or do can change that, no one can, no god can change that.” He pulls you away and cups your face, running a thumb over your cheekbone as his other hand is still wrapped around you. “I hurts you. I know. I’ve gone through the same…. No one said it would be easy y/n. But I love you…god I love you…It hurts me to see you like this. I swear I’ll do whatever I can to make you the happiest person. Everything and everything. You want the moon? I’ll get the sun while I’m at it.”

He places a hand on your forehead, swiping away stray strands of hair.

“You are so beautiful,” He gasps, as if he can’t get over that he’s in reality. “I’m going to tell you that forever, every day, every minute, and every second. You are stunning to me. The world doesn’t deserve you. It treats you as a punching bag and leaves you out in the rain to freeze.”

His pulls his face closer, letting you see the tears in his eyes as his voice finally cracks and he lets his emotions free:

“But if that’s the case then I’ll be your umbrella.”

And then you cry.

And he cries.

You two embrace, and kiss and hug and pull at each others clothing. Whisking the world away and letting the heat grow in the darkness and the tears flow and heads become light. He never lets go of you, he whispers compliments and comfort words as his fingers drag over your body. You two stay like that. For how long, neither of you are sure… But by the time things stop you can barely breath and you feel like your entire head is made of cotton. He must feel the same, because he grabs you both water, sipping it and sitting in silence.

You’re exhausted. He’s exhausted. No words are exchanged as you both crawl under the covers and relax.

And you feel so warm, whether it was from Hoshi or if it was from the non-stop crying you don’t care. He hums in your ear, wrapping a protective arm around you. You feel a bubbling feeling inside of you as you curl into him, wishing him goodnight.

You remember him planting one last kiss on your cheek, and then your mind drifts into one of the most peaceful slumbers

[acehotel]

INTERVIEW: LYNN BREEDLOVE

Note: The following interview contains sensitive material that could be triggering for some readers.

Lynn Breedlove speaks calmly, honestly and resolutely. Nothing obscured, nothing censored. Through decades of work as a musician — Lynn was the founder and frontperson of the first American out dyke punk band Tribe8 — a writer, comedian, activist, CEO and radio personality, he has become a vanguard and visionary, working fiercely and fearlessly on behalf of trans, queer, POC and working class communities. Lynn Breedlove is revolutionary in his thinking, even if just for the radical potential he sees in unexpected things — the simple act of conversation, the nuances of a joke, a rubber dick, a ride home. In an era of immense uncertainty, Lynn is a light through. 

Lynn was a keynote speaker at last week’s New York Live Arts' Mx'd Messages Festival, a series curated by Justin Vivian Bond that examinines the idea of a world without binaries — across gender, politics, theology, sensory perception and race. We were lucky enough to catch up with Lynn to chat about the beauty of vulnerability, the 90s queer punk scene and what daily resistance looks like. 

You’re so prolific. You’ve written novels, you’ve toured in bands, you’ve had your own comedy show and radio program and you’re the CEO of a ride-sharing company. Do all of these satisfy different artistic parts of yourself? Or do you feel closer to one, and feel the need to constantly experiment with others?

LB: I have two talents, writing and performing, which I have spent some decades honing in to some semblance of skill. There are a million different options to express myself using those two talents. Stand-up comedy, music, books, radio. The easiest thing for me to do is get up and write, but then there’s the way of organizing the writing. That’s where I have to involve other people to help me, and it becomes a collaboration.

What is the collaborative element to performance?

LB: There’s an energy loop that happens between me, whoever I’m on stage with and the audience. All these different loops inform what happens next. It’s ongoing.

I was struck by your email signature, “Courage is fear with breath.” Writing can be a very private and personal endeavor, whereas performance opens things up in a very public way. How have you found the courage to translate the private to the public?

LB: I feel like self-disclosure is just a totally innate, natural impulse for me. I'm just like, "Blah, blah, I'm sad, my cat died." It's over-sharing. I've had to consider whether or not I wanted to put any boundaries on that. Sometimes I just blurt it all out, run around with my dick out, do all kinds of shit and later, years later, I'm like, "Oh my God. What were you thinking, dude? Really?"

Apparently people were entertained and it made whatever impression it was supposed to make. I don't even know if it made the impression that I wanted it to make. I let my gut tell me where to go and then if I have to make amends later with my brain, then I do.

With One Freak Show, my door was always open. I always loved to get off stage and talk to the audience members.

I was dealing with some pretty edgy stuff — a lot of discussions about what it meant to be trans. The whole LGBTIQ community — which is not a community, but a group of communities and individuals who have a whole bunch of different opinions about what to do and say — was having some issues communicating and accepting each other, so I was really interested in talking to people after the show and getting feedback.

And people would be like, "Well, you know, this part was weird, this other part was weird, too. And I would say, "Well, what do you think would be better?" Or "Do you think this part was too over the top?" And I'd be like, "Dude, can I tell people that I got your permission to say that so that they don't think that I'm making fun of stuff?"So, it was just really great to have that [dialogue]. There was one really memorable conversation with this guy. It was a daytime Tribe8 show where I had chopped off the rubber dick and threw it in the crowd and it bounced off of somebody's head and everybody felt better. Well, this guy didn't feel better. So, he went to talk to me after and said, "My God, this really hurt". And I was like,"Was that upsetting for you?" He was like "Yeah, yeah. It's abusive and I'm triggered." And I said, "Okay, well check this out. Imagine, you walk down the street everyday and you're in constant fear and constantly having to worry, just a nagging basic undercurrent that you're going to get raped. Everyday because everybody everyday is afraid. And every second that you're not looking out, you get attacked and jumped. And everybody you know has been raped. How do you feel about them? If that was the case, do you feel like you might want to sing a song that is symbolic of your suffering? Hm?" And he was like "Hm, maybe". And I was like, "Yeah, well that's how we feel. We walk around, feeling that way and we've gotta have a cathartic ritual. And we've gotta work out the anger somehow." And he’s all, "Oh okay."

So, I could have a friendly conversation with a guy afterwards and turn it around. And hopefully, he could go out into the world for the rest of his life and talk to all the guys that he was gonna talk to about this and spread different news.

Do you think that humor can be a medium to discuss change?

LB: Absolutely. It's the only way for me. Your heart opens when you laugh. Comics can tell funny story after funny story after funny story and then they come in at the end with the zinger and make you cry. Love that shit.

You lower your guard when you're laughing. You've got everybody laughing at themselves and each other and everybody's forgiving. And then you're okay. And that's how we learn.

But if you're constantly wagging your finger at people and saying, "You should do it this way because you're wrong," nobody will listen to that. They shut down. Nothing gets in.

So, yeah, humor is crucial, but comedy rots. Richard Pryor, for years, would say the N word and later, he was like “I'm actually not gonna say the N word anymore”. With One Freak Show, I use the T word a lot and I’ve been discussing whether or not it's okay to use the T word if you identify as trans, even if you use that word to describe yourself and you have for years, and suddenly along come some other people who are like, "Well, I don't like that word." What does all that mean? What does language mean? What does coping mean? So with humor, it's now. And then next week it's gonna be something different. And you have to constantly stay on top of where your culture is, where your society is, where current events are and what is okay to say and what is not okay to say, how to describe your experience and how to not describe it.

Lenny Bruce talked about racism. I thought it was very effective in 1965, but now, the words that he used and the concepts, the points he was trying to make, even if they were trying to take away power from people who had it, couldn’t be made now the way he made them then.

Does it retroactively make it less effective?

LB: If you look at Mark Twain’s Huck Finn, he used the N word quite a bit. But his intention behind using the N word was to say, "This is what southern society and southern culture is now. It's racist." It's built into their language. Language is culture and LOOK AT IT. And the only person that's transcending this culture is a child that's pushed out on the periphery by poverty. That kid is free to choose a different way. Even he is constantly questioning, "Is this right?"

And then they have people saying, "Let’s ban this book." I think we need to use a scalpel instead of a sledgehammer to figure out how we want to discuss ideas.

What do you think daily resistance looks like?

LB: Well, the first thing I have to do everyday is not go to my phone and look at the latest nonsense that DT, Dick Tater, is doing. (That's the drag name I made up for him.) That's not gonna drive me.

What drives me: I wake up and I do spiritual practice, first thing. Prayer, meditation, yoga, shooting hoops with the pals — whatever it is that helps ground me in my reality. And then, I feel solid enough to go connect with my people. And then, after I write my morning pages, and I know what I feel and what I think, and after I’ve written my dreams down and I see that I'm having stress dreams about the apocalypse, I can asses where I am. Then, I can go and look at the news if I want.

Maybe I'm just gonna get to work. I'm gonna hire people that I like, that I feel need work and that I want to work with. People that are POC, trans, queer — these are the kind of people I want to work with, that I want to make art with.

I want to create a world that includes people that I like and that I respect and that I relate to. And people that are all on the same road of resisting together by the things that we do everyday. Whether we're in a band together or we work together. That's how I want to create my world.

And then, if I have to chain myself to a fence, well that's great. Because I'm gonna be ready for that. Because I will have spent the previous month gearing up and being strong. If you keep revving at 100 rpm all day long and go to every protest and sing your guts out, you're going to burn out.

How do you think punk has changed from the time of its inception? How do you think it functions now in terms of art, music and politics?

Well punk seems to be a whole bunch of different iterations now. It started in the late 60s with Iggy Pop and Lou Reed and all those guys, and then later with Patti Smith and Bad Brains and everyone else.

And then you have the “four white guys” for ten years in the 80s. And Black Flag was one of those four white guys bands. But, now there's a lot of trans, queer, non-binary, non-gender conforming, and lots of different cultures coming through with the punk ethic, carried through all different styles of music. It's not as restricted by verse-chorus-verse-chorus 3 chords, monosyllabic grunting. There's drag and guerilla drag that I feel lbelongs in the punk category because of its ethos. Because it's accurate in what it represents, because it’s fucking it up, because it’s folk music, basically.

Like Woody Guthrie, but it doesn't have to be a guy with an acoustic guitar. Anybody that's bucking the system with music falls into the punk category.

Yeah, it's protest music. Tribe8 was insanely influential in that scene. You were deemed leaders of the queer punk revolution. Can you tell me a little bit about the impetus for Tribe8 and how it all came together?

Me and Silas had just gotten sober and we had a lot of energy and we had to put it somewhere. And I was just around, spouting and spewing all kinds of rhymes about being a dyke and all my hilarious mental illnesses like, "I just want to manipulate my girlfriend. I just want to play games with her head. I want her to do some mental push ups. I want her to apologize and beg.”

I thought it was hilarious and so did my friends and they were like, "Why didn't you put that to music and get a bunch of people together and make a band and play at my birthday party?" And we did. So then boom: we were all of a sudden a band and people were throwing panties at us.

But to be fair we did pass out the panties.

You passed out the panties?

LB: We passed out the panties to our friends to make them throw panties at us.

Still, that must have been a really good feeling even if you knew it was going to happen.

LB: It was hilarious. Everything we did was spoofing boy glam rock and stupid stadium rock shit that dudes had been doing for 20 years. That influenced us greatly. And we loved that. Silas grew up in Vermont, listening to Bon Jovi. "Livin' on a Prayer" and Motley Crüe.

We loved it — but it wasn't about us. And it wasn't for us and it wasn't by us. We had to reclaim it and then put a new spin on it. It was [a reflection] of what I was learning as an alcoholic in church basements. Which was that you've gotta look at your shit and then you've got to laugh at your shit. And you've got to tell people, "This is my shit, it's so ridiculous. But here it is."

That's where I was, and I feel like we all got to do that for a minute. We were like, "Oh my God, I fucking love Bon Jovi. That is so dumb but I do. So how are we going to work this in so we love it?"

They have so much fun. People with power and privilege have a bunch of fun. And for the people who don't have power and privilege that’s just sit on the sidelines and go, "Wah, they get to have all the fun..." That’s not necessary.

You see people singing gospel at church and you feel like you can't be a part of it because of your big queer mouth. But fuck you. I just did it. I'm Aretha Franklin and I just sang a gospel song about fucking, how about that?

What was the queer punk scene like in San Francisco in the 90s? Do you have a favorite memory?

LB: What happened is that all of a sudden it looked like the dyke scene was going down because all the dyke bars closed at the same time. I don't know what happened, all the dykes got sober at the same time and they couldn't fucking keep the bars open because they would come in there, order a Calistoga, pick out another babe and come back five years later and do the same thing. They couldn't stay open.

Calistoga, classic.

LB: We had to do something, so everybody started to go to straight bars and asked them if we could have a queer monthly or weekly night. And so we'd start having these queer punk dance parties, like Rebel Girl, Junk, etc. Then all these bands started cropping up all over the place, like DeathCard 13 and Her Majesty the Baby and so much other stuff. All these dykes and fags started to make bands happen and that was amazing because before that queers had to go to the disco if they wanted to hang out with other queers, and they had to order a fucking martini or a beer and they had to listen to Sylvester. Which was great, don’t get me wrong. I love Sylvester to death, and I loved Doing the Hustle in the 70s. But when I went home with my friends, we would listen to Queen and we would listen to Rock and Roll.

But you couldn't hear Queen at The End Up. You had to listen to Sylvester, which was great. Again, Sylvester was amazing. I love Sylvester. Sylvester created an amazing moment in the 70s where we were like, "Oh, my God. This guy is our guy and he is on the fucking radio." (At the time, we called Sylvester “he”).

But what the 90s queer-mo punk scene in San Francisco was about was the culture. It was kind of the epicenter of the queer punk scene and when we went to Europe and stuff we would bring that culture with us. New York had its own whole other thing, which was pretty rad. I would say the dyke punk scene was happening primarily in San Francisco. Then we would carry it like a little flame around the world and say, "Look at what we're doing! We've got the Butch/Femme thing and the Punk thing and we have mohawks and a face full of metal and ink and rubber dicks," and they'd be like, "Whoa."

How did other places respond?

LB: Well, most people were like, "Yeah, that's cool. For you. But we're not going to do that." New York did not actually get the Butch/Femme thing until maybe like the late 90s. I think a bunch of femmes moved there from San Francisco and they had to have a Butch makeover party at Meow Mix because they were like, “There are no Butches in New York. All the Butches are wearing lipstick and barrettes. We can't do this. No. So, they threw Butch makeover parties and, of course, all the dykes in New York wanted to go have babes fawn over them and put them in wife-pleasers and cut their hair and put them in boxers and fucking ties or whatever, but when they were done they're like, "Okay, now can we go on a date?" They're like, "Yep. All right." So, that happened.

But also, when we went to East Germany in the early 90s, well, what HAD been East Germany — the wall had just gone down a couple years earlier, but nothing had changed culturally — people were hella mad at us. They did not get the humor at all. They did not have humor in the DDR. That was wrung out of them and beaten out of them and if you wanted a sense of humor I guess you want to jail in the Yellow Misery, I think that was the name of the women's prison. The dudes were like, "Fuck you. How dare you. Really? You cocky bastards. How dare you walk around acting like you're something. You think you're something? You're not something."

They didn't get all the twists and turns of irony that we were pulling on them. They didn’t have the pool of reference, they didn’t get any of it. Everyone was wearing stonewash and the girls had big hair. They all looked like they were straight out of the 70s. It was scary. They were like, "You are a bunch of privileged Americans walking in like you think you're something, with your dick out."

They hated us, but in San Francisco when dudes would come to our show, they totally got it. They loved it. They fucking deferred. They got into the back, they got out of the mosh pit, they let the dykes take over. Bike messengers and strippers were always dating and stuff and they'd have a gnarly badass sex-positive feminist thing going on. So if you were a dude trying to date some badass chick in combat boots and cleavage in the 90s, you better fucking figure out what the hell she's trying to put down if you wanted to get laid. If you don't do what they say, you ain’t getting none of this. The dudes were pretty rad and feminist and standing up for their babes. And they still are.

We just did the Women's March a couple of months ago in San Francisco. First of all, there was what seemed like a half a million babes walking down the streets for hours, hours, hours down Market sStreet. Some of them had their boyfriends, their men with them, that had the coolest signs that were like “Her body, Her rights.” “Quit telling my woman what to do” kind of attitude. Just perfectly-worded signs that you're like, "Oh, my God. These guys get it."

Usually guys will just be like, "Oh, that's your thing. I'll just get out of the way." In the 60s, when feminists first started doing that, dudes were like, "Yeah, the pill will be good because I'll get laid more." So, I mean, yeah. We're getting somewhere.

I hope so.

LB: But the more things they change, the more they stay the same. Shockingly, there's also been this undercurrent rising — which for some folks has not been such an undercurrent. It's been really obvious and in your face. If you're a person of color or if your trans or a daily target of bigotry, you're going, "Yeah, no, this isn't really a shock."

I kind of thought that we were doing better. I thought people actually were changing. I actually did things that the assholes were in a way smaller minority and I was like, "Yeah, it's too bad you don't like having a black president. Isn't that hard? Shut it." I didn't feel like there would be such a major backlash of a retaliation, "You made us be led by a black man for eight years. Now we're going to fucking fuck you up." Really? Whoa.

Hopefully it’s the last, desperate gasps of that ideology, grasping at it as if for air. At least now it’s becoming visible for everyone that there’s so much darkness among us. We’ve always known it existed, but it’s actually showing itself in large, monolithic, terrifying ways.

LB: That’s really important. Awareness begets action. If any of us have been in denial about what level of bullshit exists, what element of bullshit exists in this country, we now know. Now we can deal with it. It's not going to be dealt with totally painlessly. I'm going to Europe and I feel like I have to sew a fucking maple leaf on my backpack.

What has been keeping you inspired?

LB: I'd say there's a lot of stuff being put out by trans women of color and people of color in general which is very inspiring. There was a video I saw the other day about parents of color teaching their children what to do when they see the police. It was heart breaking. It was fucking heart breaking. That that's what a person has to do to keep their child safe. Telling them, when you see a police officer, that is not your friend but you have to show them respect anyway and you have to put your hands up and say, "I have nothing to harm you," and this child is five years old. You know what I mean? But okay. That is what MLK would say, when you're going to sit at the lunch counter, you're going to have to maintain dignity and not fight back and you'll have to put your hands up. Gandhi said it, too. All the non-violent resistance actually worked and yeah, people understand and they're organizing and teaching them how to do that in the world. I think it is amazing.

What else. Coming together and organizing and saying to each other, "Okay, now who can get arrested? Let's not let the trans people get arrested. Let's not let the people of color get arrested. If they get arrested, they’re going to have shit to deal with, but if you're a white person who's never been arrested before and you're cisgender and you're not too queer looking, great, let's get you arrested. You'll be fine.“

I love the way we're all coming together and willing to resist. We feel because we have lived in a country with certain ostensible ideals, we do feel like we have some power to speak up and the difference between us and Franco’s Spain or Mussolini's Italy or Hitler's Germany is that we have that.

We're all “hell no.” I love how people are rising up. The city of San Francisco is planning a Trans Cultural District at the old Compton’s Cafeteria, named after one of the first riots against the police where trans people rose up and were like, "No, we're not going to tell you what kind of underwear we're wearing." This was before Stonewall. They’re getting a whole block of real estate, and it’ll have transitional housing for trans women coming out of prison. There will viable employment situations. I mean, I love that we just keep delving more into that kind of thing.

The more bullshit you want to raise about what bathroom I need to go in or whether or not I can get an M or an F on my passport and whether or not you're going to let me cross a border or let my friends cross a border, the more I'm just going to make my shit fucking be cool right here, in my house, in my neighborhood. I'm going to really work on my local politics, my local culture.

I love the way cities are saying, "Oh, we are going to be a sanctuary city. No, we're actually not going to do what you say.” The New York Police Department standing up and being like, "No, we’re actually not going to harass immigrants. Fuck you." That's what needs to happen.

The police, the military, the people who have the guns and the sticks and the badges, they need to not fall into the trap. My mom was raised in Nazi Germany so I grew up asking, "Hey, mom, why did the [Holocaust happen]?" She was like, "Well, we were scared." People were always saying, "Well, I was just following orders." It's like no, that can't be your excuse. If your order is wrong, you can't follow it. You do have to take that to your grave, knowing that you're responsible for following an immoral order. So I was really impressed by the New York Police Department.

What advice do you have for queer and trans youth?

LB: One of the first things that happens when a dictatorship comes into power is that people start to anticipate a new law and start voluntarily following that law before it’s even a law. They start doing things that they think the government is going to want them to do as a defensive move. Censoring themselves, hiding who they are...It’s important that we become even more visibly queer. Even more visibly trans.

But again, everybody has their own way to resist and for a lot of people, visibility isn't the thing. That feels unsafe.

Everybody needs to follow their own gut about how to do that, but I feel like maintaining integrity and staying really connected with your community and not isolating oneself is crucial. Because I think it seems really alluring to go lock yourself in your house and sit in front of the little glowing screen and just drink and smoke a lot of weed and take a lot of pills and just pretend it's not there. No. I mean, it's easy for me to say because I’m clean and sober 27 years so I can't expect everybody else that's already been drinking and smoking weed and popping pills all day to suddenly decide, "Now's a good time to stop."

But I do think what's needed right now is clarity. I feel like the higher you are, the easier you're going to be to manipulate and taken down and thrown in jail and have other things done to you. You have to get your brain cells together and connect with other people with their brain cells and we need to be strong physically, mentally and spiritually and fuck shit up. They want us to be scared and to be high and be ineffectual.

Right.

LB: There was a trans person performing the other night who was totally amazing and she was like, "I'm so freaked out, so I am really high right now. I have to be really high all the time because that's how I'm dealing with this.” There were several trans women murdered in New Orleans recently, and that was really, really scary for trans women of color. That is a terror. I definitely would not judge somebody who feels that drugs or alcohol is their only out, but there are a lot of people in the world that will help you out of that. If you feel like that's your only option and you don't want that to be your option, there's a lot of people that will guide you to other options.

Tell us about Homobiles.

LB: Well, there's Homobiles  [the rideshare service] and then there's The Homobiles, the band.

Homobiles the ride service was started before Uber. Uber existed as like a limo service, a black car service, and it was kind of high priced and Lyft did not exist. We started zipping around doing this text thing, loosely inspired by my all girl bike messenger and truck messenger delivery company called Lickety Split. Homobiles were really time-oriented and all about queer people and those who are, because of their gender or sexuality, a little more vulnerable at night in the city.

We were handling people coming out of gay bars that cabs were whizzing by and ignoring and then Uber was like, "Wait a minute. This looks like something good. Let’s do what they're doing business model wise, only it’s for profit," and then Lyft came in and they were like, "Yes, we're going to do this." They became billion dollar global industries in that space, but we became a non-profit. Basically, the way it works is if you have money, good. Donate it. It goes into this kind of transportation fund and if you don't have money, then great. You'll still get a ride. There's no price on safety.

We really like to help people get home from their sexual alignment surgery. Maybe they don't want to get in a car with some random person that's not going to treat them with the dignity that they deserve. They want to get into the car with people who have some sensitivity training. The public utilities commission actually pointed out Homobiles when trying to regulate other rideshare services. They said, “See Homobiles is doing it right. You guys should do it like them. Don't discriminate against people because of their race, their gender, any of that. Treat them with respect. Don't gouge them.” I feel like even though Homobiles isn’t the only option, any time you get into a [rideshare] vehicle these days, 99% of the time you're going to be treated fairly and with respect because of the standards that Homobiles put into place. I’m pretty happy about that. It would be nice if we made a million dollars, but the primary goal is everybody's getting home safe.

What about Homobiles the band?

LB: There's a band called The Homobiles. We sing songs about cars and babes but also crimes and change. Ed Varga, who was the creator of Homo A Go Go, is the drummer and his wife, Corrie is the violinist and Stephany Joy Ashley's the executive director of St James Infirmary, which is a clinic for sex workers in the Tenderloin. She’s the singer and I'm the singer and Fureigh from the Shondes plays guitar and Mya Byrne is the bass player and we're about to go to New York to play this fabulous of refuting binaries called Mx'd Messages. And yeah, that's that. We’re having a good time.

Thanks for reading. If you’re an artist, too, feel free to use code ARTSCHOOL for a discount on any room at Ace Hotel New York.

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Mayfield debuts, Luck returns as NFL preseason gets in gear

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Mayfield debuts, Luck returns as NFL preseason gets in gear

Welcome to the NFL, Baker Mayfield. And welcome back to the league, Andrew Luck.

While the opening preseason game for most teams carries little intrigue as players from the back end of the roster try to strut their stuff, several story lines will be worth following Thursday night. Start in the New Jersey Meadowlands and in Seattle.

Top overall draft pick Mayfield will see some action against the Giants, who have their own prized rookie in second overall selection Saquon Barkley. The Browns might not be counting on too much from Mayfield early on as veteran Tyrod Taylor is Cleveland’s starter, but New York expects a huge boost for its offense from the Penn State running back.

On the other coast, the Colts plan for their recently luckless quarterback to take some snaps against the Seahawks. Luck hurt the right shoulder in September 2015 against Tennessee, missed two games, then returned to make four more starts before sustaining a season-ending lacerated kidney. He played through shoulder pain in 2016, then had surgery that sidelined him for all of last season.

It’s been roughly 600 days between starts for the Colts star.

Elsewhere on the first full night of preseason games, it’s Carolina at Buffalo, Chicago at Cincinnati, New Orleans at Jacksonville, Tampa Bay at Miami, Pittsburgh at Philadelphia, the Los Angeles Rams at Baltimore, Washington at New England, Tennessee at Green Bay, Houston at Kansas City, and Dallas at San Francisco.

What to look for Thursday night around the league: BAKER AND BARKLEY

Brimming with optimism coming off a 0-16 season, Cleveland’s plan is to have Mayfield sit and learn as a rookie behind Taylor, who will start at MetLife Stadium and play one or two series before giving way to Mayfield, who is expected to play two quarters.

“When you get the energy level up, you’ve got to be able to execute, so that’s why I’m excited about Thursday as well,” Mayfield said. “You get people hyped up, you actually get some contact in and you can focus in and do your job when there are distractions around.” New Giants coach Pat Shurmur, who led the Browns in 2011-12, hasn’t indicated how much Barkley will play.

“I am hoping I am good to go for that game,” Barkley said. “I am more than capable to playing now. I am just happy inside to play in my first NFL game. Hopefully I can maximize every rep.”

LUCKY COLTS

Luck is expected to play most of the first quarter, likely one or two series playing in a revamped offense with an overhauled offensive line.

“I’ll be excited and a little nervous,” Luck said. “There were one or two moments where I wondered if, ‘Am I ever going to be able to do this again?'”

Seattle is also revamped. The names Sherman, Avril, Bennett and Chancellor that used to don the backs of jerseys are no longer around. It’ll be the first look at an overhauled defense where the big questions center on the secondary — star safety Earl Thomas is holding out — and what kind of pass rush can be generated.

VRABEL’S DEBUT

Mike Vrabel says he really hasn’t spent much time thinking of any pregame speech in his debut as Titans coach.

“Never really got a great motivational speech as a professional athlete,” Vrabel said. “Just had a job to do, was prepared, knew the game plan and went out and played.”

Another man with Patriots ties, cornerback Malcolm Butler, plays his first game for Tennessee. He most memorably was benched on defense for the Super Bowl in February even as New England’s secondary was torn apart by Philadelphia.

A season-ending knee injury to Packers inside linebacker Jake Ryan left a hole in the run defense. Third-round pick Oren Burks will get the first chance at replacing Ryan in the base defense.

FLORIDA MATCHUP

Miami’s eyes will be on Ryan Tannehill, who like Luck sat out last season when injured. He’ll make a brief appearance against Tampa Bay, which won’t have top draftee DT Vita Vea (calf injury).

PENNSYLVANIA MATCHUP

Two teams with Super Bowl possibilities, though the regulars barely will get on the field.

Pittsburgh, of course, is without outstanding running back Le’Veon Bell, who is holding out. All-Pro receiver Antonio Brown and QB Ben Roethlisberger will sit.

With Carson Wentz still not cleared for contact and Nick Foles, the Super Bowl MVP, sidelined by muscle spasms in his shoulder and neck, third-year pro QB Nate Sudfeld starts.

CALIFORNIA MATCHUP

No, the Cowboys don’t call California home. They do spend a few weeks there in the summer, and now they’ll visit the 49ers. Dallas is searching for leadership with tight end Jason Witten gone to ESPN and WR Dez Bryant cut.

San Francisco’s Jimmy Garoppolo, 7-0 as a starter in his four-year career, will be taking his first snaps in a game since signing a five-year, $137.5 million contract. He’s looked good during training camp.

POUNDING THE ROCK

New Orleans and Jacksonville expect to get a brief look at their revamped ground games.

Saints running back Terrance West is trying to prove he’s the guy to fill in for Pro Bowl starter Mark Ingram, who will serve a four-game suspension to start the regular season.

Jaguars RB Leonard Fournette dropped more than 15 pounds since the start of last season and will have a retooled line with All-Pro left guard Andrew Norwell.

“I feel healthier,” said Fournette, down to 223 pounds thanks partly to 50 push-ups a night. “I want to be great. That is my weight I felt best in college.”

SECOND OUTING

Chicago already has played, using backups and losing the Hall of Fame game to Baltimore. This visit to Cincinnati, though, is the first chance to see Mitchell Trubisky operate the new offense of coach Matt Nagy in game conditions. The Trubisky to Allen Robinson connection started to show up more in practice this week.

Cincinnati overhauled its porous line, bringing in veteran tackles Cordy Glenn and Bobby Hart and drafting center Billy Price in the first round.

WATCH WHAT YOU SAY

Bills starting receiver Kelvin Benjamin will face his former team for the first time since asking the Panthers to trade him in October.

Benjamin was reprimanded by coach Sean McDermott on Sunday for questioning why Carolina drafted him and criticizing Panthers quarterback Cam Newton’s accuracy.

Newton will play about 10 snaps in his first action under new offensive coordinator Norv Turner.

MAHOMES’ TURN When Kansas City traded starting QB Alex Smith to Washington, the job was handed to 2017 first-rounder Patrick Mahomes. He’ll get his first turn as the Chiefs’ No. 1 quarterback against Houston.

“We are going to try to win. That is the first thing coach (Andy) Reid said when we were game planning for this week is he doesn’t like losing,” Mahomes said. “We’re going to do whatever it takes.”

PRACTICE, THEN PLAY

Joe Flacco makes his preseason debut for Baltimore after watching three other quarterbacks run the offense against Chicago. Flacco will likely be paired with a new flock of receivers that includes John Brown, Willie Snead, Michael Crabtree and first-round draft pick Hayden Hurst. The Rams will be playing their first preseason game following a pair of joint practices with the Ravens earlier this week.

WHO GETS THE BALL?

The Redskins’ running back competition will be front and center at the Patriots. Second-round pick Derrius Guice will get an opportunity to show he can be No. 1, with third-down back Chris Thompson and Rob Kelley seeing action. The likes of Samaje Perine, Byron Marshall and Kapri Bibbs figure to compete for a roster spot.

New England WR Julian Edelman made several rounds of apologies when his four-game suspension was handed down by the NFL for violating the league’s policy on performance enhancers. He plans to use what’s left of training camp to make sure his surgically repaired knee will be ready when he returns. Edelman missed the entire 2017 season with a torn right anterior cruciate ligament.

By Associated Press ___

[onenationprinc-blog]

Dropbox IPO finally goes live after a decade of ‘starting up’

Dropping into the market If you’ve ever “dropboxed” a file to someone, then you’ve likely used the popular file transfer and storage service that just had its long-awaited IPO on Wall Street. The Xerox of file sharing companies isn’t exactly a startup: Dropbox first popped up way back in 2007, when founder Drew Houston forget his USB thumb drive at home and created a simplistic file transfer scheme. The rest, as they say, is history. Shares of Dropbox actually started trading Thursday and were hovering at about $21 a share, giving the company a market cap of about $8.2 billion. The value rose considerably today. Analysts think Dropbox could be a solid investment, mostly because its nearly profitable already, has a huge installed base and it’s already very well known. A Hatch full of fun As you might have guessed, we love us some flashy cars here at Digital Trends, but occasionally, something a little more… ordinary gets our attention – and exceeds our expectations. That’s certainly the case with the 2019 Toyota Corolla Hatch, a spunky four-seater that should prove to be a perfect urban machine, with its small footprint but large interior space that puts into competition with the Chevy Cruze, VW Golf and the ubiquitous Honda Civic. The Hatch sports a 2-liter 4-banger mated to a unique transmission: It combines the efficiency of a CVT system with an actual “first gear” that it shifts into and out of, giving the car a more familiar shifting feel. You can also “shift” the CVT with some steering wheel paddles. For true control freaks, there is a six-speed manual available as well. The car also boasts a lot of in-cabin tech as well, as well as Toyota’s new Safety Sense 2.0 suite of driver aides. Check out our first look. We’re ready Hey it’s Friday and we know a lot of people are going to be in line tonight for Ready Player One, the adaptation of Ernest Cline’s pop-culture-meets-VR page turner that topped a lot of best seller lists. The Man himself, Steven Spielberg, directs, and the movie does not disappoint. DT film critic Rick Marshal got an early peek at the sci-fi thriller, which follows Wade Watts as he journeys through the OASIS, a sprawling virtual world built by a genius tech titan, who has hidden three keys to the city (as it were) that will give whoever finds them ownership of the vast world, one that’s infused with endless ‘80s pop culture bits. As you can expect, nefarious forces are also after the big prize. . Marshall says that Spielberg has basically done it again, crafting a fun ride of a movie with the expected eye-popping environments one might expect from a virtual world where anything is possible. But there are also solid characters, a lot of humor and even some lessons to learn within all the action sequences. We’ve got more news on our Facebook page and YouTube channel, and be sure to tune in to this week’s DT podcasts: Trends with Benefits (general tech shenanigans)  on Thursdays, and Between the Streams (movie and TV topics) every Friday. https://www.digitaltrends.com/dt-daily/dropox/ https://goo.gl/H8Aoao

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The Navy's version of the F-35 is getting closer to combat readiness

The Navy's stealthy carrier-launched F-35C is now moving much closer to combat readiness after conducting "carrier qualification" exercises from the USS Carl Vinson off the coast of Southern Calif., service officials said.

The qualifications are designed to prepare pilots for the rigors of carrier air wing combat missions and further prepare the aircraft and its weapons systems for operational service.

Carl Vinson air operations officer Cmdr. Joshua Hammond said carrier qualifications are important because they allow Carl Vinson to practice launching and recovering aircraft while helping qualify new pilots, according to a Navy statement from aboard the Carl Vinson.

"Being at sea for FRS (fleet replacement squadron) CQ gives us practice at what we do on deployment: launching and recovering aircraft," Hammond. "We can't always be underway with Carrier Air Wing, so these operations help us stay sharp and hone our craft while helping new pilots gain proficiency." (Full Navy statement HERE)

Alongside the carrier qualifications on board the Carl Vinson, the Navy was also conducting testing of a special take-off mechanism known as the "hold back bar." This is a technology which helps determine key elements of a carrier catapult launch such as the needed amount of thrust, speed and steadiness determined for a particular air frame.

"The reduced setting of repeatable release hold back bar performed well both test and fleet are pleased with the progress made in reducing the force of the oscillation seen during catapult shots. The fleet will continue the assessment of the bar," Joe DellaVedova, spokesman for the Joint Program Office, JSF, told Scout Warrior.

Weapons preparation also continues to progress as part of the Navy's push to bring the F-35C into combat. The F-35C has now been armed with a large, 5,000-pound load of weapons as part of a strategy to prepare the emerging aircraft for air-to-air engagements and air-to-ground attacks against enemy air defenses.

During developmental testing on the USS George Washington in the Atlantic Ocean last year, the F-35C took off with one GBU-31, two AIM-120s and four GBU-12s along with its 25mm gun mounted in a pod beneath the aircraft, Navy officials told Scout Warrior.

Being engineered for a carrier, the F-35C's 51-foot wingspan is larger than the Air Force's F-35A and Marine Corps' F-35B short take-off-and-landing variants. The fighter is configured to carry 19,000 pounds of fuel and 18,000 pounds of weapons.

Reuters

An empty F-35C weighs approximately 3,500 pounds. It can fire two AIM-120 air-to-air missiles and two 2,000-pound Joint Direct Attack Munitions. The F-35C can reach speeds up to Mach 1.6 and travel more than 1,200 nautical miles.

The F-35C is also able to fire the AIM-9X along with other weapons; in the future it will have an ability to drop a Small Diameter Bomb II - a high-tech weapon now in development able to track and destroy moving targets from great distances using a tri-mode seeker. The SDB II uses millimeter wave, laser and infrared guidance technology.

Previous testing of the aircraft involved catapulting the stealth fighter off the aircraft carrier runway deck with a much lighter load of weapons; the full complement of armaments for the F-35C is designed to maximize its potential mission envelope and allow it to drop laser and GPS-guided precision Joint Direct Attack Munitions, use air-to-air weapons in the event that the aircraft needs to dogfight or destroy enemy drones and fire a 25mm gun for, among other things, the prospect of close-air support or surface attacks against enemy ships.

Previous DT-III testing also evaluated new high-tech adjustments to the aircraft’s Helmet Mounted Display, or HMD. The sensors in the pilot’s Generation 3 HMD have been improved with new firmware to better enable pilots to target enemies and perform missions at night, Navy developers added.

Assessments of the F-35C, designed to bring the aircraft into operational service by 2018, have also included efforts to refine a precision-landing technology called Joint Precision Approach & Landing Systems, or JPALs.

JPALS, slated to be operational by 2019, works with the GPS satellite navigation system to provide accurate, reliable and high-integrity guidance for fixed- and rotary-wing aircraft, Navy statements said.

Also, Navy information described JPALS as a system featuring anti-jam protection to ensure mission continuity in hostile environments.

“JPALS is a differential GPS that will provide an adverse weather precision approach and landing capability,” a Navy statement said.

Prior to carrier-deck take-offs by two F-35Cs aboard the USS George Washington, the Navy extensively tested take-off and landing operations at two land facilities, Lakehurst, N.J. and Patuxent River, Md.

With a broad wingspan, reinforced landing gear, ruggedized structures and durable coatings, the Navy's first of its kind F-35C is engineered for harsh shipboard conditions while avionics equip the pilot with real-time, spherical access to battlespace information and commanders at sea, in the air and on the ground with an instantaneous, high-fidelity single picture view of ongoing operations.

US Navy Photo

The Navy F-35C is the services' first-ever stealthy carrier-launched multi-role attack fighter, engineered to perform a wider range of missions than any carrier aircraft has done before.

The emergence of a first-of-its kind carrier-launched stealth fighter is intended to give the Navy more combat attack flexibility and attack sophisticated enemy air defenses or fortified targets from a sea-based carrier.

Such an ability can allow a maneuvering carrier to hold targets at risk from closer proximity if land-bases are far from the combat vicinity.

The new stealth Joint Strike Fighter will join the carrier air wing and fly alongside the F/A-18 Super Hornet, E2D Hawkeye surveillance planes and other aircraft. Over the next five years, the Navy plans to acquire as many as 60 or more of the new fighters, Navy officials have told Scout Warrior.

As it prepares for F-35C deployment, the Navy anticipates that the new aircraft will deploy to any one of a number of pressing hot-spots.

The F-35C is engineered with a new technology called Delta Flight Path which helps pilot land on a carrier deck more easily.

Test pilots and engineers credited the F-35C's Delta Flight Path technology with significantly reducing pilot workload during the approach to the carrier, increasing safety margins during carrier approaches and reducing touchdown dispersion.

Carrier landing is never easy as pilots must account for the wind-speed, atmospheric conditions and speed of the ship. Pilots follow a yellow light on the flight deck of the ship called the Freshnel Lens to help the trajectory of the approach, called their glide slope, Navy experts have explained to Scout Warrior.

The Fresnel Lens includes a vertical row of yellow lights between two horizontal rows of green lights. Using a series of lights and mirrors, a pilot's approach is reflected by the position of the yellow light in relation to the green lights above and below, displaying whether the aircraft is on the right "center line" or "glide slope," Navy pilots have explained.

Reuters

If a pilot is on glide slope, he will see a centered amber ball in between the horizontal green lights; If he goes high on glide slope, he will see the ball rise above the green lights. If he goes below glide slope, he will see the ball fall below the green lights.

Also, in order to properly align for an approach to the flight deck -- about three-quarters of a mile away, pilots make a sharp, descending 180-degree turn to slow the aircraft and begin descending from about 600 feet, Take-off is also intense; Aircraft are able to reach speeds up to 160 knots in about 2.5 seconds as a result of being thrust forward by the steam catapult.

The steam catapult generates 520 PSI (pounds per square inch) of pressure pushing pistons forward. The pistons push cylinders connected to a shuttle attached to a launch bar, which pulls the aircraft forward, Navy officials explained.

Upon landing, the aircraft catches an arresting cable four to six inches above the deck of the carrier; hydraulic fluid controls the pace of deceleration for the aircraft, Navy pilots explained.

A hook lowers from the back end of the F-35C aircraft, designed to catch the cable and slow down the plane. In order to maintain its stealth configuration, the aircraft’s hook is internal to the airframe.

On all the legacy systems, the tail hook sits up underneath the engine externally. Upon landing, three doors open up and allow the tail hook to fall down, Navy pilots said.

The aircraft also needs to be able to withstand what’s called a “free flight,” a situation where the pilot receives a late wave off to keep flying after the hook on the airplane has already connected with the wire, pilots added.

The aircraft has gone through several rounds of testing to advance what’s called carrier integration and carrier qualification – an effort to seamlessly integrate the new aircraft into the carrier platform and carrier air wing, service officials have explained.

Courtesy of Lockheed Martin

Stealthy F-35C carrier aircraft, having a lower radar signature, are expected to deliver advanced attack and air-to-air and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance platforms, able to perform a wider range of operations without being detected by an enemy.

he aircraft is part of a broader Navy strategy to be well equipped in the event that it needs to engage in massive, major-power war against a near-peer adversary such as Russia and China known to have advanced air-defenses and air-to-air platforms.

The F-35C — the Navy's and Marine Corps' carrier-suitable variant (CV) – is designed to combined unprecedented at-sea stealth with fighter speed and agility, fused targeting, cutting-edge avionics, advanced jamming, network-enabled operations and advanced sustainment.

In a previously released document described as the "Naval Aviation Vision," the F-35C is described as being engineered with reinforced landing gear and durable coatings to allow the F-35C to withstand harsh shipboard conditions while delivering a lethal combination of fighter capabilities to the fleet.

In recent years, the F-35 has been completing stages of Developmental Testing III, or DT-III, as the third of three at-sea test phases for the F-35C. Naval aircraft are slated to go through DT-I, -II and -III test phases in order to ensure the development of aircraft meets specifications and properly identifies mission critical issues sufficiently early in the test phase.

Two F-35C Lightning II carrier variants conducted their first arrested landings aboard USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN 69) off the coast of the eastern United States on Oct. 2, 2015.

By 2025, the Navy's aircraft carrier-based air wings will consist of a mix of F-35C, F/A-18E/F Super Hornets, EA-18G Growlers electronic attack aircraft, E-2D Hawkeye battle management and control aircraft, MH-60R/S helicopters and Carrier Onboard Delivery logistics aircraft such as the emerging Navy Osprey tiltrotor aircraft variant.

Lockheed Martin is the aircraft contractor and Pratt & Whitney is the engine contractor. Several reports, including one from “War is Boring,” cite the F-35C cost per plane as more than $337 million.

NOW WATCH: This is how pilots train to fly the F-35 — America’s most expensive fighter jet

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How does the NFL franchise tag work?

The franchise tag is a relatively simple process, but the ramifications can be big for both teams and players.

When the NFL offseason heats up, one of the biggest storylines to watch every year is which players get the franchise tag. Teams have a two-week window to apply the one-year tender. Players who get the tag have to either sign their tender or negotiate a long-term contract with their teams before the July 15 deadline.

The franchise tag is essentially a one-year contract that guarantees a predetermined salary for players. The salary amount is set by the averaging the top five salaries by position for the previous league year, or if it’s higher, 120 percent of a player’s salary the previous season. So players like quarterbacks and defensive ends will have a much higher tag salary than positions like kicker or punter.

With the salary cap climbing to an estimated $190 million, here are the estimated salaries for each position under the franchise tag in 2019, courtesy of OvertheCap.com:

Quarterbacks: $25.578 million Running backs: $11.98 million Wide receivers: $17.101 million Tight ends: $10.93 million Offensive linemen: $15.283 million Defensive tackles: $15.571 million Defensive ends: $18.653 million Linebackers: $15.777 million Cornerbacks: $15.992 million Safeties: $12.037 million Kickers/Punters: $5.162 million

Teams can only use the tag once per year. There are three different types of tags a team can assign.

Types of NFL franchise tags

Exclusive

Just what the name implies. The player is locked into his team and cannot negotiate with any other team during the free agency period.

Non-exclusive

The player is allowed to negotiate with other teams, but if a competing team makes a free agent offer, the original team has the right to match it. If they don’t match the offer, they get two first-round picks in compensation. In other words, this is basically a convoluted trade scenario.

Transition tag

Similar to the non-exclusive tag, except the player gets paid an average of the top 10 salaries at his position, rather than top five. Transition-tagged players are free to negotiate with other teams, but unlike non-exclusive players, the original team gets no compensation if it fails to match an offer.

Once a player gets tagged, that’s when the real drama begins. Both sides have until mid-July to negotiate a long-term contract. This ramps up the sense of urgency. Teams don’t want to use the tag because it ties up a huge chunk of their salary cap for just one year. The players don’t like it because they don’t have any financial security beyond that one year, and have almost no leverage outside of threatening to hold out. If they fail to agree to a long-term deal before the deadline, the player is set for his one-year contract.

Fortunately for most players, they’re often able to secure a new contract with their team and the franchise tag doesn’t have to come into play — at least until the next offseason.

Who could get the franchise tag in 2019?

The number of players who are franchise-tagged varies by year. Six players received some form of a tag last year, and the year before it was seven. In 2016, there were nine.

Here are some candidates for 2019:

Demarcus Lawrence, DE, Dallas Cowboys

Lawrence was put to the test after being tagged in 2018. He passed with flying colors, recording double-digit sacks for the second straight season and emerging as one of the league’s most powerful pass rushers. The Cowboys are reportedly trying to work out a deal with him before the franchise tag deadline, but if they can’t, that could leave Lawrence staring down another year under the tag. This time, he’d get a 20 percent bump over last year’s salary under NFL rules, which puts him at $20.57 million for 2019.

However, Lawrence has said he won’t sign a second tender.

Nick Foles, QB, Philadelphia Eagles

The Eagles would like to trade Foles rather than allow him to leave in free agency with no compensation. Locking him down with the non-exclusive tag would allow the team to gauge trade requests while keeping the door open for the Super Bowl 52 MVP to return to Philadelphia — albeit at a high price.

Trey Flowers, DE, New England Patriots

Flowers’ versatility has been tremendously valuable in New England, as his ability to take on different roles across the trenches has helped a pair of defensive coordinators level up to head coaching positions the past two years. The former fourth-round pick has led the Patriots in sacks in each of the past three seasons, even if his overall number in that span (21) isn’t especially impressive. Flowers has proven himself a perfect fit up front for Bill Belichick — the question now is whether the Patriots are ready to pay him on a long-term deal.

Donovan Smith, OT, Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Smith has started all 64 games with the Bucs since being drafted in 2015, and the team values his consistency at left tackle. While Tampa is expected to work out a long-term deal with the rising blocker, the franchise tag could keep him under team control while the two sides negotiate a contract.

Jadeveon Clowney, OLB, Houston Texans

Clowney has been very good in his five seasons as a pro, but he has yet to unleash that extra gear that made him terrifying at the University of South Carolina. His baseline is a Pro Bowl edge rusher who can approach double-digit sacks each season, but his ceiling is a Michael Strahan-level disruptor who terrorizes quarterbacks on a series-by-series basis. Tagging him will give the Texans another season to determine whether he’s worth a record-setting contract — and whether he can keep his recent streak of relatively healthy seasons intact.

Dee Ford, OLB, Kansas City Chiefs

Ford is part of a triumvirate of pass rushers in Kansas City, along with Justin Houston and Chris Jones, who made life difficult for quarterbacks across the AFC the past two seasons. Losing Ford would be a major blow for an overtaxed unit, but keeping him will be an expensive proposition for a team that only has $25 million in cap space this spring.

The Chiefs gave up 5.9 yards per play — 24th-best in the NFL — even with Ford’s 13 sacks and league-leading seven forced fumbles. It’s possible the powerful pass rusher may not be in the franchise’s long-term plans as they address the other holes in their defense.

At least in the short term, the Chiefs are expected to give him the one-year tag.

Landon Collins, S, New York Giants

Collins has starred in New York’s disheveled secondary, emerging as a rare bright spot in an otherwise regrettable stretch for the Giants. He could be a building block for the future, but he won’t come cheaply. Pat Shurmur’s team isn’t flush with cash this offseason, and the club’s rolling rebuild could put Collins’ north Jersey residency in question.

Grady Jarrett, DT, Atlanta Falcons

Jarrett is a big, blocker-absorbing presence in the middle of the Atlanta defensive line, and he showed off a little extra pass-rushing punch with six sacks in 14 games last fall. He’ll have his share of suitors this spring. Locking him into the franchise tag could ensure some stability up front for a defense that needs all the help it can get in the NFC South.

Frank Clark, DE, Seattle Seahawks

2018 was supposed to be a rebuilding year in Seattle after the dismantling of the Legion of Boom defense. Clark’s career-high 13 sacks and 27 quarterback hits helped lead the Seahawks into the postseason instead. With plenty of cap space available, tagging Clark could be the franchise’s first step in working out a long term deal with the budding star.

Who got the franchise tag in 2018?

Five players received the franchise tag and one, Bears cornerback Kyle Fuller, was given the transition tag. One, Jarvis Landry, was traded from Miami to Cleveland after being tagged. Another, Le’Veon Bell, opted to sit out the year and shoot for a long term contract in 2019 instead. The other three players to be tagged were Lawrence, Rams safety Lamarcus Joyner, and Lions defensive end Ezekiel Ansah.

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Gearing Up For The Games – Commonwealth Village Apartments Ready, Developer Starts Handing Them To Dda

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The Commonwealth Video games Village luxurious apartments are all set and Emaar MGF, the developer, has started handing them over to DDA.

The household challenge on the banking institutions of river Yamuna will house athletes and officers for the Video games that will be held from Oct three to fourteen, 2010.

"We have started the process of handing over the apartments to DDA," mentioned Shravan Gupta, govt vice-chairman and running director Emaar MGF.

The challenge, with 1,168 apart- ments, was to be built on a pub- lic-personal-partnership product involving DDA and Emaar MGF which gained the appropriate to build the 118-acre household challenge in competitive bidding from DDA at Rs 321 crore versus a reserve rate of Rs three hundred crore.

As for every the arrangement, DDA got possession over onethird of the apartments over and earlier mentioned the Rs 321 crore from the developer. Emaar MGF was to keep possession of the rem- aining 790 apartments which it anticipated to provide in the open mar- ket and increase dollars.

Having said that, previous year's monetary disaster and realty slump meant the company could not uncover get- ers and increase dollars. It asked DDA for a bail out which it got--DDA ordered an additional 333 apartments for Rs 770 crore.

"Market place situations are improving upon. There has been a sturdy need for good quality res- idential projects," mentioned Gupta. He claimed the company has managed to provide a key portion of these apartments.

Just after the game titles are over the developer would refurbish the apartments and physically hand over the apartments to end- buyers by early next 12 months.

Courtesy:- HT  dt:- 09-April-2010

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