#but in a very satellite / outsider kind of way

[not-poignant]

You have a very broad readership; do you still, like most ao3 writers, use writing as a way to make friends? If so, how do you manage both to make connections and keep from uncomfortable parasocial engagements?

(admitting: I like your work a lot, I have a similar interest in writing trauma and recovery, I would like to befriend you, but I don't want to bother you bc lots of people want to be friend with writers they like and there's no way you'd have energy for all of them!)

Hi hi anon,

So...this response might be disappointing, but I didn't use fanfiction writing as a way of making friends. That's not why I started, and it's never been the reason for me to be in fandom.

(Thoughts about friendship and stuff under the read more, it's pretty personal so no obligation to read. The TL;DR is I am bad at friendship and I also am not like 'most AO3 writers' (is that really why most AO3 writers write?) in the sense that I never wrote fanfiction as a way to make friends and it's very weird to me sometimes that people actually do this as a motive).

When I turned up in fandom, it was a very private experience for me. I didn't know anyone else locally who shared the same fandom/s I do. When I shared fanfiction on Livejournal, I did so to complete strangers who I never got to know better, or to people who were already friends through other interests.

I've never gone to fandom conventions (there's few here, and I have severe social anxiety. By the time I thought about going I was in my late 30s, and just felt like I'd be too much of an outsider even among fellow outsiders - again, I shared almost no fandoms or ships with anyone I knew locally, and no one I'm friends with / know in person reads my fanfiction). Fandom was always an incredibly isolated experience for me.

When I joined AO3, it wasn't with a view to making friends. I was extremely burnt out, I'd quit my previous job as a professional artist because I couldn't see a way of making the income work out, and I just wanted to write a very angst-filled story that would help me deal with my loneliness which I didn't see as something that would ever change. Writing about a character who's experienced centuries of loneliness was like 'cool, yeah, I'm gonna write about him.'

I did end up making friends, but it was kind of by accident! And not all of those experiences were positive. One person in particular became quite toxic and cruel towards me, and I experienced my first kind of encounter with...I guess what I would call the uglier side of fandom life and also just friendship and relationships. It took me a long time to recover from that experience (and to learn what emotional abuse is), and after that I shut down and stopped kind of making friends on the internet.

I have made friends through the writing since (they're usually the mutuals I also have on Instagram, or here, or people I've DMed in Discord etc.), but I haven't really sought it out actively and I think anyone who knows me well enough that we've private messaged a few times, also knows that I'm quite aloof and reserved, and that I will engage quite deeply sometimes but then disappear for a few months (or years) re: communication, which is a remnant of a period of time where I used to get sometimes 200 Whatsapp messages in 5 minutes from someone who expected me to be accountable to her every second of every day when she was awake and wanted me to be.

On top of like, severe social anxiety + PTSD, and being very reserved in general, I would also say I'm very time poor. I don't have much time for the friends I already have and care about. I often view myself as quite a poor friend, who is not good at starting and even worse at maintaining connections. I'm also very private. As in, I will happily tell the world I have PTSD. But I won't tell my friends in a private conversation when I'm having a bad night, and I don't give friends many opportunities to connect. Even with really close friends, this is an ongoing issue that I'm working on.

So as for befriending, that's extremely sweet of you anon, but who I am in my personal life is sometimes very different to like... the way I can respond in comments or to anons, because it's actually easier for me to talk to strangers sometimes than it is for me to talk to friends, lol. I honestly think some of the people I consider my friends don't even know that I do, because I don't really behave like one. I chat online regularly to one person only, and one other person intermittently (and they're a romantic partner) and that's it. Everyone else I chat to pretty rarely in DM. But I do turn up in the Fae Tales Discord every day.

I don't actually think lots of people want to be my friend, tbh? Not in a 'woe is me' way, but simply because I think some people do grok that kind of... polite distance or that sort of warm 'I care for a lot of people but I am also quite personally walled off' kind of way. The good news is a lot of the folks in the Fae Tales Discord also share a lot of interest in writing trauma and recovery, or have those experiences, and I know a lot of good friends have been made within the like...faedom itself. A lot of neurodivergent, trauma-focused folks have met each other through this writing, and it's really cool seeing the different friendships that have sparked up between people. There's a lot of extremely like... skilled, talented, interesting people that I've met through this job, who I admire, respect and want the best for, and am very happy to talk to.

But yeah I'm a bit difficult to befriend, anon, and that's been an ongoing thing all my life, tbh. But it did specifically get worse in fandom because of some early fandom experiences when I started out in Rise of the Guardians fanfiction.

[pickingupmymercedes]

An impossible dream - Lewis Hamilton

request: "hey!you are so good in writing angst and I feel there's a lack of angst with lh and sometimes i just want a heavy heart 🫣 but i was listening to beyonce and her song best thing i never had made me wish to read something like that with lewis"

pairing: Lewis Hamilton x Reader!

warnings: angsty, Lewis being kind of a jerk (but not really)

wordcount: +1K

a/n: Sorry it took this long anon, but I hope it gives you all the feels, because it did for me.

As always, I'm open for feedback, come say hi!

______________________________________________________________

The opulence of the Monaco in a Grand Prix weekend shimmered around as the warm glow of the setting sun bathed the city in its usual golden hue. Y/n and her husband cruised through the narrow, winding streets in his collection worthy of a car. The engine purred smoothly, a low, contrasting hum to the noise of her own mind as they made their way to a party very few could ever get close to.

Her husband reached over and took her hand, his touch gentle and reassuring. "You've been quiet" he said, glancing at her with concern. "Are you okay?"

She turned to him, managing a small smile. "Just nervous to be back in Monaco," she replied, barely above a whisper before she continued "I have a lot of past history in these streets" she admitted, her voice carrying a mixture of nostalgia and pain.

He nodded, understanding deepening in his eyes. "Is it because of your ex?" She hesitated for a moment before nodding and he squeezed her hand, a silent show of affection.

"I've seen how it affects you, still" he replied softly. "I'm happy to wait until you're comfortable to talk about it."

"Thank you for never pushing" she said, her gratitude genuine.

He smiled, bringing her hand to his lips for a tender kiss. "You’re really the best thing that’s ever happened to me" he said, his voice filled with love.

She saw him before he saw her, the man whose name once caused her heart to race faster than his car on the track and she instinctively tightened her grip on her husband's arm.

He noticed the man beside her, and then his gaze dropped to her left hand, where the large diamond ring sparkled under the golden lights. His expression turned unreadable, a myriad of emotions: shock, recognition, questioning, and even a composed understanding.

As the night wore on, and her husband was eventually pulled into conversations with some business magnates, she was left momentarily alone, drifting towards the balcony, seeking solace in the night breeze and the endless horizon of the sea. The memories of past sunrises in this very place, leaving a bittersweet and relentless feeling.

"Y/n." His voice was a soft murmur behind her, as gentle as the evening wind. She closed her eyes for a moment, steeling herself before turning to face him.

"Lewis," she acknowledged, her voice steady despite the turmoil inside.

"Do you even remember those sunrises?" He took a step closer, the faint scent of his cologne bringing back a rush of memories.

She looked away, back towards the dark waters. "Please, don't." she whispered; her voice almost lost in the breeze.

"What's happened, Y/n? Why did you disappear?" His tone was soft, but insistent.

She took a deep breath, trying to calm the storm inside her. "Some people need to grow up and stop chasing impossible dreams" she said, her voice more composed than she felt.

"Is that what you think we were? An impossible dream?" His eyes boring into hers, searching for the truth.

She met his gaze, her eyes betraying the pain she had buried. "I couldn't keep pretending, Lewis. Being a satellite to you, yet always on the outside... It was killing me. I needed stability, something real."

"Is that what you have now?" He nodded towards the crowd inside. "With him?"

"He makes me feel safe" she replied, her voice firm.

He looked at her, his expression a mix of sadness and frustration. "Are you happy, Y/n? Truly happy?"

Her heart ached at his words, but she forced herself to keep her composure "Happiness wasn’t a luxury I could quite afford. Not anymore."

He shook his head, stepping closer until there was little to no space between them, his perfume making her dizzy. "You deserve more than just safety. You deserve to be loved, completely and unconditionally."

"And you think you could have given me that?" A tear threatening to slip down her cheek, the tinge of anger to her voice just as she quickly looked up and closed her eyes.

"I know I could have" he said softly, his voice filled with conviction. "I loved you, Y/n. I still do."

She looked back at him, the weight of his gaze and words pressing down on her made her laugh. "Gosh, I wanted you so bad... But, it's too late now, Lewis."

"Don't you ever wonder what could have been?" He asked, his voice teasingly sweet.

"I used to. I’m through with that, though." she admitted, her voice trembling. "He is my life now."

He reached out, taking her hands in his just as she turned to look at him again. "You don't have to settle for safety, Y/n. Not when you could have so much more. It's never too late, you know?!"

"I'm pregnant." She blurred out; her voice steady but not above a whisper.

Lewis froze, his eyes dropping to her belly. He blinked, processing her words. 

"It's still early days." Her hand instinctively going to her still-flat stomach as she felt the need to explain herself, even after all this time.

He swallowed hard, the weight of her words sinking in. "I just... Make sure your happy, okay?! This kid needs you at your best."

"I know" she whispered, her voice breaking slightly as he turned from her and she understood the cue.

As she rejoined her husband, she felt as if a piece of her heart had been left behind in the shadows of that balcony.

Her husband’s eyes lit up. Relief and affection evident in his expression as his arms encircled her. He kissed her head tenderly from the side, his lips brushing her hair. "Are you both alright?" he asked softly.

She nodded, forcing a smile as she looked up at him. "Yeah, someone's perfume made me nauseous, just needed a little breather."

Her husband smiled warmly, and she leaned into his embrace, seeking comfort in the familiarity and security he offered.

As they stood together, surrounded by the opulence of the setting, she couldn't help but glance back at the balcony, where Lewis remained, a solitary figure against the backdrop of their shared memories, his eyes still locked on her as they would always be, as long as they kept bumping into each other.

______________________________________________________________

TAGLIST - @saturnssunflower @xoscar03 @chocolatediplomatdreamerzonk @happy-golden-hour @vicurious28

@0710khj @thecubanator2 @neilakk @bigratbitchsworld @adriswrld

@fearfam69691 @cmleitora @goldenroutledge @timmychalametsstuff @jpgnsf @priopp123

If you’d like to be added to my taglist you can leave a comment or send me a dm/ask.

[whovianbuffalo]

Dot and Bubble thoughts

This episode was first and foremost an allegory for racism and the entitlement of white elites, and this little touch of “charging rebranded as 'work'”(because it's 'tedious') is interesting here.

Lindy later says "my job's not easy, I get chapping" which shows she clearly hasn't worked out that "work" has become a meaningless phrase in their carefully-controlled society.

Before this, Ricky says people used to do 'manual labor, for money', but Lindy still self-identified as a wealthy person when Ruby asked, and said "Only people who can afford it" are sent to Finetime, yet

So... I can understand why some people feel that this episode is trying to take a shot at Gen-Z and no one else, but I will say it does seem to be a valid critique of performative activism.

Lindy mentions that she is using 'refurb' clothing and therefore isn't using up any of Finetime's resources, which is one of the only indications we are given that this 'utopia' is, of course, falling apart. The other indication comes in the opening of the episode when the newsreader informs them "Not going to lie, we are having trouble with the weather satellite".

A friend of Lindy's compliments her outfit- a woman who says "Kindness all the time" (an ultimately hollow phrase) is preferable in this society to The Doctor and Ruby, who are seen as impolite for daring to interrupt their bubbles, but, ultimately, The Doctor is shut out due to racism and colorism. Ruby is an outsider too, but because she is white and blonde and blue eyed they never question if she is a "contagion".

The Doctor was no 'ruder' than Ruby, but Lindy focuses on him anyway.

I appreciate that we see an early indication of Lindy's selfishness in her first meeting with Ricky here.

Interesting that instead of "heaven's sake" Gothic says "For land's sake". This makes sense for a culture so clearly obsessed with Manifest Destiny, and of course reaffirms their belief that Finetime is "heaven", of sorts.

It's clear that they still have some Religious/Phantasmagorical connection to a mythical heaven, as Lindy says "You mean she's in The Sky? Isn't she lucky!" rather than think about the realities of death or an afterlife. And just in case we were wondering if this culture was religious, they invoke the deity (and Manifest Destiny) directly:

The specific way in which Dot and Bubble forces the viewer to sit with Lindy throughout the episode- static scenes shot of her very boring life and her extremely vapid, empty social life (which I appreciate The Doctor calls out as being enough to drive the AI to homicide) makes us feel trapped and complicit in her behavior, and Ricky's, too.

We're watching the narrative unfold from within the bubble and the screen is literally obscured, peeling back the layers until we finally meet the doctor in person- but Lindy's reaction is off.

And then... We don't follow them. The camera shrinks back, and the impossibly wide world which they wanted to conquer shrinks back into a tiny dot as their boat fades out into the horizon. We're left with Ruby and The Doctor and a TARDIS which is bigger on the inside, but we don't see inside her.

Great work from the director of photography here and amazing work from the cast and crew all round to make a script which must have looked extreme repetitive on paper- the constant use of the word "Forwards. Forwards. Forwards" must have been a hard slog in the read-through— work so well onscreen. How prodigious that it would appear have been too expensive to film during the 11th doctor's era and was shelved for more than a decade until we could get Ncuti Gatwa to fully embody this experience.

This episode was an excellent satire (of multiple things!) and I'm not sure it would have landed the same way in a previous era... But it feels incredibly timely now if you are willing to listen to it.

[therandomartmaker]

[Image ID: An artwork featuring Danny Phantom, full green excluding his hair and white accents, transparent, sitting on a pile of rubble head tilted slightly upwards with his eyes closed. His hair is wispy, he’s got pointed ears and he’s much more identifiable as a ghost. The rubble includes the F of the Fenton Works sign, a satellite dish of some kind, pipes and concrete. The rubble, and Danny, is surrounded by yellow-black striped caution tape. Above Danny’s head is a conversation, in white, “It’s been ten years,” has been written, and in green, “It’s only been 10 years,” is written. /End ID]

Day 31: “It had been a decade since anyone last lived at Fenton Works. Or so people thought.”

tbh this took like. Less than half an hour to make haha. I may have forgotten to do this yesterday lmaooo. To make up for it, here’s a continuation of this prompt by @cryinginthevoid that i filled, wherein Danny has been stuck haunting the rubble of a ruined Fenton Works after his permanent death, only to later be approached by a very much alive Damian, who is the first person to See Danny in over 10 years. So yep, bonus challenge post 2 under the read more :D

Damian had visited. He’d promised and he’d followed through on it, Danny sitting still and watching as Damian approached, day after day, even after Danny had no more words to say, no more information to give. To quote, he was “a tolerable friend despite your intolerance for proper respect.” Danny had no idea if that was a good or bad thing, if he were to be honest.

But still! It’d been 10 years since he’d to spoken to someone, something other than the air. Damian said his brothers wouldn’t follow him, despite saying he’d bring them to meet Danny during one their tentative hangouts, and Danny supposed that was a good thing. He didn’t want Damian to sound crazy or look crazy for talking to thin air, especially not by his family.

Though, what was interesting was the weird amount of black-haired blue-eyed outsiders hanging around town. The FentonWorks rubble had a pretty good view of most of town, despite it’s slow erosion into dust, so Danny was able to see the several strangers in town whenever he went looking.

Damian said his family was looking into ectoplasm due to it’s relation with the dead, and trying to find if anyone around town knew how to access their information databases. They needed to know if there was a way to relieve “Jason’s” burden of the “Lazarus Rage,” and prepare in the case someone else in the family acquires it. And that ‘Lazarus Pits’ are classified information, but who did Danny have to share it to, no one could talk to him except Damian, anyway.

And truthfully, those Lazarus Pits Damian mentioned sounded like pools of ectoplasm that Maddie and Jack would’ve killed for. Danny could only suggest looking into ‘ecto-acne’ treatments, as from one of the stories of Vlad Masters Danny’d heard, it sounded like the short-term effects of ectoplasm exposure.

—

Damian didn’t know why he was sharing so much confidential with Daniel, but he didn’t seem to mind, and didn’t seem to talk to anyone else. He figured it’d be fine. Daniel needed to know as much context as possible in order to help Damian.

Daniel was strange, he spoke in large amounts, but quieted as though he doesn’t expect someone would respond to him. He rarely moved, and there was something unnatural about him. Perhaps the lack of a rise and fall of his chest, or the way his eyes shined.

Damian couldn’t help but make comparisons to the dead he’d seen. Lightless glossy eyes, pale skin, sallow flesh. Daniel was built like a dying or dead person.

Damian… worried. He’d grown close to the other boy, Daniel’s snark to Damian’s sharp tongue and his acceptance of Damian’s veganism, multiple other factors about Damian never drove Daniel away from him. It was nice, being accepted by someone outside of his family. Daniel’s health was concerning, malnutritioned and Daniel’s reaction time was slow. Multiple things were off-kilter about him, and Damian wanted to know why. So he could help.

Because Danny was his friend.

—

Dick observed Damian. He’d taken to pacing the length of the hotel room, and he seemed worried about his new friend (!!! Dami has a friend!!!! And he’s worried about him!!!), muttering about bringing food to the next time he visited. Dick kinda felt bad about what he was about to tell Dami.

“Richard, why are you looking at me?” Dami asked, stopping his pacing to look up at Dick, a soft half-hearted glare on his face.

“Uh well, Tim…” (fuck! He wasn’t supposed to mention Tim!)

“What did Drake do?”

“Tim told me to tell you that we’d gotten enough information and that we were leaving in two days, just in case something new crops up!” Dick rushed, knowing that Dami would loathe the information, but despise Dick more for not telling him.

Dami needed to say goodbye to his new friend, after all, but from what Dick could tell, they couldn’t even have long-distance communication, because “Daniel Who Liked Being Called Danny” didn’t even have a phone!

Dami’s click of his tongue was expected, and his expression had worsened too. Dick had messed up, but he didn’t think there was anyway to break it gently that Damian would have to leave his newfound friend.

The boy stormed off, leaving the room with a door slam. Dick felt bad, man. Well… Dick did have a spare phone he was free to gibe to someone… Perhaps Danny would like it?

[bloodyshadow1]

stuff I loved about the percy Jackson show already

the cast is perfect, they're the right ages and they're the right amount of snarky asshole for the main characters.

I kind of like that there's friction between Percy and Grover. it gets glossed over in the books, but yeah, Grover befriends Percy because it's his job to find half-bloods, it doesn't mean he doesn't view Percy as a friend, but I could get Percy being hurt that he thinks that's all their friendship was, that his first friend was only there as a job. It will give their relationship tension and room to grow. I also like how it establishes that Grover does care about Percy, even if Percy doesn't get it, and that at the end of the day he will choose Percy over Olympus even if he has too.

Speaking of Grover, I like that we see scenes with him outside of Percy. Obviously the books are told from Percy's POV, I love that, it gives the books a stylized personal feel getting things filtered from him. But It also has weaknesses like there can't be a scene without him and everything this filtered from his pov. It can work as a book, but it's different when it's a show. Yes, Percy is still the main character, but Grover and Annabeth are important too as main characters as well

I really liked how Luke was the person to show Percy around camp, while I'm not thrilled about Annabeth's screen time being trimmed, she will play a bigger role later in the season. until the end the camp scenes are the only ones with Luke so it makes sense. It makes Luke feel more like a character for the early stuff, he was Percy's first mentor in the books too, but here he feels more like a big brother figure and genuinely kind. Especially since Percy hasn't met Annabeth yet much less been her friend and he's currently angry at Grover, it gives him someone to be close to, someone who he views as a friend. It helps establish Luke's character and also helps make the inevitable knife to the back hurt even more

In addition to Luke playing a bigger role, I like that Chris was included in this first episode, I assume he was Chris at least I missed if he was introduced, since he seems to be Luke's best friend in the show. He is mentioned in Book to, named dropped by Annabeth I believe, and he shows up in book 4 to stay in book 5, but he's a very satellite character. Only really existing to show that half-bloods are joining Luke, then the dangers of the Labyrinth, and then as Clarisse's boyfriend. introducing him as a secondary brother figure/one of the few friends that Percy has makes him joining Luke in the second book/season more the tragic that he's more than just a name on a page. It will also be that much better when he comes back to their side again

Honestly, the whole world just feels lived in despite being an urban fantasy series.

I'm so happy they kept how the minotaur scene ended. I don't care for the design that much, but I was worried when Percy pulled out Riptide that it would be different from the books. But they kept him breaking the horn and killing the minotaur that way and I'm happy.

[coimbrabertone]

A Postmortem on the Competitive Era of MotoGP

Okay, that is a very dramatic title, and hopefully, a year from now I'll be able to look at this and say I was wrong, but...I think MotoGP's competitive era is over.

First let me explain what I mean by competitive era.

Grand Prix motorcycle racing, more so than other forms of motorsport, I think, is prone to eras of complete dominance. Agostini in the 60s and 70s, Doohan in the 90s, Rossi in the 2000s, and Marc Marquez in the 2010s. Marc Marquez's run of dominance, however, came to an abrupt end at the 2020 Spanish Grand Prix.

Here, Marquez crashed riding maniacally to make his way to the lead. Marc broke his right arm and started a multi-year struggle with injury that would impact his 2020, 2021, 2022, and 2023 seasons. This would also ultimately end Marc's relationship with Honda, as at the end of 2023, he decided to move to a Gresini Ducati.

In the meantime, MotoGP was wide open.

Joan Mir on a Suzuki won the 2020 championship on consistency over the Petronas Yamaha of Franco Morbidelli, with teammate Alex Rins in third.

Fabio Quartararo on a factory Yamaha won 2021 over the raw speed of Ducati's Pecco Bagnaia and Suzuki's Joan Mir.

Pecco Bagnaia got the upper hand over Fabio Quartararo in 2022, with additional challenges from the Gresini Ducati of Enea Bastianini and the Aprilia of Aleix Espargaro.

Bagnaia won again in 2023, but it was a new cast of characters around him. Instead of being pressured from outside, he was being pressured from within as the Pramac Ducati of Jorge Martin and the VR46 Ducati of Marco Bezzecchi challenged him for the championship.

2024, however, is when things started getting stale. Jorge Martin won the championship over Pecco Bagnaia - the same top two from last year, just in a different order - whilst Marc Marquez on the Gresini Ducati was third, and Enea Bastianini on the factory Ducati was in fourth.

Five years with four different champions.

Suzuki riders, Yamaha riders, factory Ducati riders, and satellite Ducati riders.

It was variety, it was amazing.

However...it was already getting stale this year.

Ducati has been the strongest for a few years now, I admit that even as someone who initially was in favor of Ducati dominance - my logic being that Honda and Yamaha have dominated MotoGP for so long that it was nice to see a European bike take a turn on top - and they've really mastered it this year.

KTM didn't win anything this year.

Aprilia only won two sprints and a single race.

The entire winning constructor column on Wikipedia is a sea of Italian flags without interruption.

And I fear it's only going to get worse for 2025, because Marc Marquez will be on a factory Ducati. After four years of being broken and one year of being on year old machinery, I fear that we may be seeing the Marquez revenge tour for the next few years.

Now, I'm sure for Marquez fans, they'll have a lot of fun.

But...I'm not a Marquez fan.

I'm a Ducati fan, I suppose, but even then, I'm more of a competition fan. The last few years I've found myself turning away from Ducati and becoming an Aprilia fan. The problem with Aprilia, however, is that Aleix Espargaro and Maverick Vinales are good riders, sure, but they're not the kind of riders Aprilia needs to take the fight to the Bolognese.

So Aprilia has made a change for 2025.

Jorge Martin and Marco Bezzecchi.

I think this is a good change. I don't like Martin, his personality rubs me the wrong way and I've spent the last two years rooting against him, but hey, it's Aprilia nabbing the reigning champion, so I understand why they'd want that.

Marco Bezzecchi I'm more excited about. I like him more as a rider, and while I expect Martin to be faster, I hope Marco gets some success too, because then I could at least enjoy some of Aprilia's successes.

Assuming, of course, that Marquez doesn't go and win everything next year.

Will KTM be able to provide any resistance? Maybe. Pedro Acosta is impressive, and Brad Binder has put on some performances at the end of this year to finish ahead of Acosta in the standings, but neither of them have finished any higher than second, so...what they can do depends on where the 2025 KTM is.

The same goes for the new Tech3 KTM lineup of Maverick Vinales and Enea Bastianini, two riders I like - I was glad to see Vinales succeed at the USGP, while Enea has been the rider I've rooted for in MotoGP ever since I became an active fan - they're both moody riders. On their day, they're invincible, problem is that their day doesn't come around nearly often enough to mark a consistent challenge.

And to add insult to injury, Pierer Mobility Group is suffering poor sales globally.

This is why Tech3 is going to be a KTM team instead of a GasGas team, because Pierer is refocusing their marketing on their core brand to try and regain stock value.

So...maybe they can challenge, but I'm not particularly optimistic.

Yamaha? They're gonna need a hell of a lot more speed if they want to challenge.

Honda? Look, yesterday at the Solidarity GP, Joan Mir crashed on the Honda and Neil Hodgson went "oh it's Mir time" so...the less said about Honda right now, the better.

Especially with Repsol gone.

How about the rest of Ducati?

Well, Bagnaia still won eleven races this year, so he's certainly still a force, but is he capable of beating Marc Marquez on equal machinery? I hope so, but given that Bagnaia just got beat by Jorge Martin on equal machinery, I'm not sure if I'm optimistic.

There is also only going to be one more factory-spec Ducati in 2024. Pramac has gone over to Yamaha, while Ducati has given a single GP25 to VR46, putting it in the hands of Fabio Di Giannantonio.

I think Digia will be good on the GP25 this year, and maybe he'll win a couple of races, but I expect him to finish somewhere between third and fifth. Third if no one else can challenge Ducati, fourth or fifth if the likes of Aprilia or KTM can start to pressure the Ducatis.

So overall, I think most races next year will finish with Marquez and Bagnaia in the top two slots, and everyone else fighting for third. The bright side for everyone else, I suppose, is that both Marc and Pecco can be crash prone, so maybe that's where all the other wins will come from.

Will that be good?

We'll see.

Was this competitive era good?

Yes.

Hearing about 2020 and 2021 and paying attention to the very end of the 2022 season is what made me want to become a MotoGP fan. I watched the entire 2023 season on janky streams, I was relieved as hell to see the 2024 season come onto Max so that I could watch MotoGP legally and safely - and share it with my racing friends - so for me, this competitive era has been great.

The entire reason I'm writing this blogpost is because I'm scared that MotoGP is turning for the worse just as I've become a fan.

So what era do I think is most comparable to this competitive era?

The early 2000s. Let's say 1999-2003 for instance.

1999, Mick Doohan gets injured and suddenly the best 500cc GP rider is out of the picture. Alex Crivillé on a Repsol Honda and Kenny Roberts Jr. on a Suzuki battled for the title, with occasional appearances by the other two Repsol Hondas of Tadayuki Odaka and Sete Gibernau, as well as Max Biaggi who was dragging that Marlboro Yamaha forward.

2000 continued the trends, with Kenny Roberts Jr. winning on the Suzuki, Valentino Rossi pressuring him on a Nastro Azzurro Honda run by Mick Doohan's former crew. Max Biaggi on the Marlboro Yamaha was third, with a huge variety of satellite riders involving themselves as well. The Emerson Hondas of Alex Barros and Loris Capirossi, the Red Bull and Antena3 Yamahas of Garry McCoy and Norifumi Abe, Carlos Checa on the other Marlboro Yamaha, and Alex Crivillé struggling on the overpowered - no literally, it had too much power - Repsol Honda, only taking one win in his title defense.

2001 was a turn towards dominance with Valentino Rossi on that Nastro Azzurro Honda, but we still saw wins from Max Biaggi on the Yamaha. We saw the Pons team - now West Honda - continue to pressure the front with Capirossi and Barros, and Sete Gibernau won a single race on the Suzuki. Interesting how that happened twice in a row. In 1999, Crivillé on the Repsol Honda won the title just to win a single race in 2000, while in 2000, Roberts on the Suzuki won just for Suzuki to only take a single win in 2001 with Sete Gibernau at Valencia.

2002 I think lines up with 2022. Valentino Rossi, now brought into Repsol Honda, wins the first 990cc title over Max Biaggi on the Marlboro Yamaha. Tohru Ukawa on the Repsol Honda and Alex Barros on that West Honda also challenge for wins on the same bike as the champion, playing that Enea Bastianini role.

2003 then, is the Honda show much like 2024 was the Ducati show. Valentino Rossi on the Repsol Honda, Sete Gibernau on the Telefonica Gresini Honda, and Max Biaggi, now on the Camel Honda - Pons with a new title sponsor - with Loris Capirossi at Catalunya playing that Maverick Vinales at COTA role as the sole win for a different manufacturer.

2004, however, marked the end of that era. Valentino Rossi went to Yamaha and still won the title in dominant fashion. Five Hondas in the top six but it was Rossi on top with nine wins on a bike that hadn't won since 2002. That shattered the idea that Valentino Rossi was simply the best of the Hondas, instead, he was the best in the world, perhaps the best ever.

And maybe on an optimistic note, in 2025, his protege, Pecco Bagnaia, will prove that he is more than just the Ducati champion. Perhaps Bagnaia will weather the storm of Marc Marquez as his teammate and win the championship anyway.

MotoGP seems to be in a bad way, with Ducati dominant, Bagnaia having been beat by Martin, and Marc Marquez coming into Ducati and threatening to dominate.

But in 2003, everyone swore up and down that the 990cc five-cylinder Honda was the best bike in the world, only for Rossi to go onto the Yamaha and win anyway.

Honda seemed invincible in 2003, but Yamaha beat them in 2004.

Marquez seems inevitable in 2024, but maybe someone can stop him in 2025.

Maybe Pecco, maybe Martin on the Aprilia, or maybe the Japanese will shock everyone and somehow bounce back.

It's unlikely, but...maybe there's still hope.

[writingquestionsanswered]

I’ve been reading some craft books and online posts about the world building because my story is an urban fantasy set in present day US, in a fictional town, and theres not a secondary world where the fantasy happens, it’s all in the real world, except the magic is a secret that only certain people know about, but all of the resources I find about world building only talk about fantastical worlds that exist by themselves and not the kind of more subtle world building that I’d have to do. Do you have any tips?

Guide: Creating a Fictional Town in the Real World

Step 1 - Choose Your Location - There are two ways to go about choosing a location for your fictional town. One is to go the "Springfield U.S.A." route, ala The Simpsons, and be vague about the specific location (borough, parish, district, county, region, state, or province) and instead give a broader geographic region... "the East Coast," "the Pacific Northwest," "Central Canada," Northern Scotland," etc. The other option is to go ahead and put your fictional town in a specific location. Just figure out where (for example, somewhere outside of Des Moines, Iowa) and go to Google Maps, click on satellite view, then start zooming in on big empty areas. Choose a place big enough to fit a town. Yes, in reality it's probably farm fields, pasture, or someone's property, but that doesn't matter. You don't have to actually show it on a map. It's just a plausible spot to build your town. Now you can measure how far it is to other places, you know what highways to take to get to it. You can even do street view to get the lay of the land, see what the landscape looks like and try to envision the buildings there. You can also use what's there to create parks, popular recreational areas, and anything else your town needs.

Step 2 - Choose Your Inspiration - Even when you're creating a fictional town, it's still a good idea to use a real town (or two, or three) from that general area as inspiration for your town. For a fictional town in Des Moines, I would zoom in on the map to find a nearby town of similar size... like Elkhart, then I can take a look around to see what it's like. Just looking at the map, I can see they have a couple of churches, a couple baseball fields, a very small main street/downtown area with a couple shops and restaurants, a post office, a few different neighborhoods, and a cemetery. This would be a great model for a small fictional town outside of Des Moines. And, as I said, you could look at a couple other sand combine them. Once you have your inspiration town/s, you can walk around on Google Maps street view, go to the town's web site, watch a tour on YouTube (if one exists), or look up pictures in Google Image search.

Step 3 - Start Planning - This is the really fun part! First, you might want to draw a basic map of your fictional town using your inspiration town/s as a guide. This doesn't have to be a pretty map... just a basic line drawing to help you envision where everything is. Think about some of the basic things this town might have, like the ones I listed in step two, and any other things you might want your town to have, like maybe a library, a hospital, a city hall, school, and maybe a movie theater. It might even be helpful and fun to put together a collage of pictures to represent your town so you've got something in mind as you write about it. You can even choose representatives for specific locations in your story, like your MC's house, school, and their favorite hangout.

Step 4 - Naming Your Town - Start by looking at the kinds of town names that surround your town. Look for common naming conventions... suffixes like -ton, -ville, -dale, -burg, -wood, -field, etc. Words in a particular language, like a lot of French-inspired town names, or towns with geographical terms (lake, hill, valley, river, canyon, gap, etc.) My guide to Naming Locations has additional tips.

Step 5 - Populate Your Town and Give it a History - Last but not least, make up a little history for your town, again, using surrounding towns as inspiration. Who founded it? When was it founded? What's the town's main industry? What are the people like in this town? What jobs do they have? What do they do for fun?

Here are some other posts that might help:

Five Things to Help You Describe Fictional Locations Setting Your Story in an Unfamiliar Place WQA’s Guide to Internet Research Happy writing!

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

I’ve been writing seriously for over 30 years and love to share what I’ve learned. Have a writing question? My inbox is always open!

♦ Questions that violate my ask policies will be deleted! ♦ Please see my master list of top posts before asking ♦ Learn more about WQA here

[anghraine]

The BFF wanted to celebrate Independence Day by watching Independence Day, the formative film of his childhood (we're the same age but it wasn't so much Young Anghraine's thing), so he, Ash (our housemate, his other closest friend, who had never seen it), and I just finished watching the whole thing.

I knew of its reputation for being jingoistic but the rumors fell so far short of the reality that noticing it started to feel less like shooting fish in a barrel and more like shooting fish in a fishtank. I don't think I've ever seen a more U-S-A! U-S-A! film in my entire life.

I do appreciate that a) nukes turned out to not be the answer; RIP, Houston, b) there was emphasis on the mysterious murderous aliens being basically "just like us" (even their extreme resource extraction is readily comprehensible to the characters, though there's ultimately not really much to talk about with them even through the rachni-style conversation), c) the heroes don't actually prevent quite a bit of the damage to life and infrastructure, and the world is facing apocalyptic disaster no matter what, d) the explosions still look good even if they can be escaped by dogs and small children, and e) Jeff Goldblum was a bit of an obnoxious manchild yet also enjoyable in a vaguely "dude Entrapta with very slightly more social skills and a lot more environmental concern" way. Will Smith is also fun as the most intensely US American human being imaginable. And the use of Earth's own satellite system by the aliens was genuinely interesting as a device. It was kind of morbidly funny that they keep bringing up President Bill Pullman's unsightly youth and unpresidential sense of decency, though.

Mostly I laughed a lot at the sheer silliness of almost everything and the film's profound disinterest in anything happening outside a) the continental USA or b) space. (Me: It's been awhile since they heard anything from London, hope it's okay!) The BFF's childhood dream was growing up into Jeff Goldblum's character (a hot Jewish environmentalist geek hacker with minimal ambition but a lot of competence) and we definitely enjoyed him and his dad the most. (The BFF has decided "Nobody's perfect" will now be his standard response to dealing with Christian nonsense, lmao.)

Anyway I'm surprised a bald eagle didn't spontaneously materialize in our house or my pride flag turn into a star-spangled banner, but it was a good time for what it was.

[soaps-mohawk]

No idea if you’ve answered this before (and answer it whenever you feel like it, I’m just curious, I don’t need an answer asap) but hypothetically would/could Dr. Keller join the pack? Like the alphas have their “main” betas (Price + Gaz, Ghost + Soap), so why wouldn’t ’mega have her own main beta? Plus Price has already said that Keller needs to stay around for ‘mega, and I’m pretty sure pack relationships don’t always have to be romantic/sexual and can be purely platonic

In a way she kind of has?? Or at least they view her as a sort of pack ally. Pack relationships absolutely can be platonic, but of course it has to be a mutual agreement (at least three 141 and Dr. Keller would want it to be). I don't think Dr. Keller would, though, simply based on the fact that the relationship she has with 'mega is a professional one. Sure, they've grown close and have that bond, but at the end of the day, 'mega is Dr. Keller's patient. There is a certain expectation in that bond and relationship between each other.

But they do absolutely have a bond since 'mega relies a lot on Dr. Keller and Dr. Keller cares very much about 'mega. She's very much a sort of platonic bond outside of the pack, which makes her a sort of satellite around the pack, since she's so close to 'mega.

I hope this makes sense and I'm not just half asleep rambling

[biblioflyer]

Rogue v Cap: Outside vs Inside Power

Its rare for any incarnation of the X-Men to not have incredibly smart things to say about bigotry, authority, organizing, and power, but X-Men '97 is killing it.

However, I think people who are too quick to get behind Rogue or are offended on Captain America's behalf are missing out on just how sophisticated '97's understanding of power and authority is.

Lets get this out of the way: I take a "yes, and" stance on power and social organizing.

I think its incredibly difficult to holistically understand movements and declare this "helped" the cause and that "hurt" the cause. It all depends on how you calibrate your rubric for success and how you understand how influential a person, group, or action really was.

What I see in the X-Men in all incarnations are some of the most iconic and thorniest debates about inside or institutional power vs outside, autonomous organizing and power, about assimilation or separatism.

Reasonable people recognize these are highly contingent arguments without clear, unambiguous or ethically pure answers.

Which is a rich meal for an ethics nerd like myself and I am having the most amazing time watching and thinking about X-Men '97 and the issues it raises.

So lets get into this!

Spoilers for X-Men '97 episode 7 "Bright Eyes"

Rogue's encounter with Captain America on the hunt for Bolivar Trask, inventor of the Sentinels, is probably the most commented on and debated scene on my social media feeds (as of this writing.)

Those who take Rogue's side in the exchange of words and that epic Frisbee hurl make very familiar and painful arguments. The system Captain America represents and Captain America himself have consistently let mutants down. Where were the Avengers when Genosha burned?

Which is a damn good question considering there are multiple Avengers and Avengers adjacent characters who are confirmed as existing in Earth 92131 who could conceivably have been able to learn about the attack in near real time and react in real time. Thor is very likely to have been tipped off by the likes of Heimdal or other mystical means and can cross continental distances in moments. Doctor Strange likewise could portal over the moment he found out about it, along with anyone else he could rustle up.

SHIELD and essentially any other entity with orbital surveillance would likely have learned about the attack the moment their satellites overflew Genosha. Given the world's jitters over Genosha, I'm having a hard time believing Genosha wasn't being monitored around the clock. However, knowledge doesn't translate into the ability to respond faster than a Quinjet can reach the island.

Now there's an unsatisfying Watsonian explanation here in the form that this is a common trope: all of the world's heroes are somehow busy or ignorant when really big stuff is going down. The Doylist lens would remind us that this is endemic to superhero stories and kind of required for suspense, except when its time to do the big team up story.

So if we want to be generous to Earth's Mightiest Heroes, "they didn't know or were busy or couldn't reach Genosha in time" is an explanation we can fall back on. Thor and Doctor Strange do have to sleep sometime and its not as if they don't have other responsibilities that take them off world or off this plane of existence. Most of the other superheroes known to exist in Earth-92131 could have an out in that they may not have had the means to become aware of the attack in real time or the means to reach Genosha before it was already over.

However, that's awful nitpicky. Rogue can be being unfair about the lack of an immediate response to Genosha while still having a valid point to make on a broader scale. Homo Sapiens Sapiens civilization more broadly would almost certainly, from Rogue's point of view, been holding the idiot ball or maliciously ignorant to miss out on a new army of Sentinels under construction including a big freaking Sentinel kaiju.

Of course we'd later find out that some handwavey deus ex may have also ensured that the world's electronic eyes were shut without any elaborate conspiracy, but Rogue doesn't know this yet when she's unloading on Cap. For all she knows, this is yet another in a long list of times where the "good" Homo Sapiens Sapiens and their champions have been unwilling or conveniently unable to intervene in personal scale tragedies like lynchings by the Friends of Humanity or population scale atrocities like permitting Genosha's former regime to run forced labor camps.

Baked into the setting assumptions of X-Men is a significant amount of systemic abuse that gets overlooked by non-mutant superheroes or that said superheroes are not powerful enough or imaginative enough to dismantle. This ends up necessitating a never ending set of excuses for how Earth's Mightiest Heroes keep winding up on the wrong side of justice yet can still claim the mantle of hero.

I'm not going to repeat ad nauseam familiar arguments about the suspension of disbelief problems created by widespread anti-mutant bigotry being a part of the same setting as a vast roster of enhanced individuals and literal gods that the general public lionizes without much hesitation. The savvy reader already knows these forwards and backwards, so I'm only going to continue to address them to the extent they're relevant here and refrain from further meta-commentary about this aspect of X-Men '97's world building.

Now to be fair, Captain America actually does give us an answer of sorts as to at least what he's up to and why he's not more ambitious in his pursuit of justice. He does intend to act, but not, from his perspective, impulsively. Captain America needs to obtain clearance to act across international boundaries. Captain America is in many ways governed by a sclerotic and often unjust system.

But wait! Captain America is a supersoldier, you say. Who gets to tell him "No, you don't get to pursue justice according to your conscience?" Cap should just tell his handlers to get stuffed and go settle accounts.

Notice my repetition of Steve's nom de spandex? Captain America is not a friendly neighborhood star spangled vigilante. Its unclear exactly who he is working for in this universe, but its heavily implied to be if not the United States, then perhaps SHIELD, and either way there are geopolitical considerations to Captain America showing up without phoning ahead and asking nicely if he can wander around without a minder, punching and exploding people and things on his own discretion. A whole lot of countries are justifiably sensitive about this sort of thing.

The point is that Steve Rogers is accountable to some sort of regulatory authority that is clearly meant to ensure that Captain America's activities are understood clearly and that he doesn't meet with an unfriendly reception by governmental actors that Steve would rather not be shooting at him and that Steve would prefer not to have to punch his way through on his way to his mission.

This authority likely has an additional role of at least performing for the masses and other governments that Captain America is being held to strict rules of engagement and that the bad guys he is punching are definitely villains plotting acts of violence not ideological enemies of the status quo. Because again, wanton violence for motives that are not clearly explained or are suspected of being fraudulent is a touchy subject.

Now of course, Steve Rogers could always go off the reservation. Its happened plenty of times in other continuities/universes. After all, the US government can't repo the super soldier serum.

What they can take away though is a lot of what allows Steve to be more than just a really strong guy. You know who is also a really strong guy? Bruce Banner. Also Luke Cage.

What do Bruce and Luke not have when they aren't playing on a team with some sort of direct or indirect government approval?

Extensive intelligence networks to direct them to international problems that need punching.

Supersonic jets to get them to places where there are villains who need to get decked.

People with relevant authorities who can work the phones and obtain permissions for a superhuman to engage in activities that may require a large scale disaster response operation and sending out surveyors afterwards to redraw topographical maps.

Why obtain those permissions? Because nations have armies and sometimes their own superhero teams they will send out if they get wind of a rogue superhuman showing up and doing violence without phoning ahead and clarifying their motives.

Special forces and super teams are a real inconvenience when there's wrongs to be righted on the other side of them.

So that's the bargain.

As Captain America, Steve Rogers gets an invisible army of intelligence operatives, pilots, Quinjet mechanics, and diplomats that all work together to ensure that Steve can do the maximum good when his conscience and the interests of his benefactors are aligned.

When he goes off reservation, he's just a really strong guy. Like Bruce Banner or Luke Cage. Not just a really strong guy, but probably a person of interest because authorities tend not to like their monopoly on violence being undermined by tough guys who are only accountable to the vibes of their conscience but can wreck New York's skyline if they're having a particularly bad day.

Which brings us back to Rogue and the X-Men.

The X-Men represent outside power.

Its heavily implied through any number of dialogues between the X-Men and the US President and the UN, the X-Men have some sort of understanding with legal authorities. However, its also implied that while this understanding exists, its begrudging. The X-Men have a wider latitude to act autonomously than the Avengers because they're specialists at what they do: they're intimately acquainted with some of the most dangerous, "Omega" level mutants who can be surly and embittered towards Homo Sapiens Sapiens.

Yet that latitude is both a gift and a curse.

The gift is the X-Men are essentially free to follow their consciences. Because the legal authorities have given the X-Men nothing much more than a blind eye towards their activities, the only thing the authorities can take away from the X-Men is that blind eye. The X-Men are a largely self sufficient operation, so there's no obvious card to play that is analogous to revoking Steve Rogers' legal identity as Captain America. The X-Men supply their own Blackbirds, no matter how many of them they lose, and largely generate their own sources and intelligence.

The X-Men also own their own mistakes, which is a mixed blessing. When Rogue goes on a grief fueled rampage, she's not liable to start World War 3. While she's technically an American citizen, its understood that she acts as her own agent, with no direct connections to the US government that could be interpreted as Rogue acting out the will of the US government.

Rather than retaliate, any foreign governments alarmed by Rogue's behavior are not likely to blame the US directly and are likely to lodge a complaint through official channels in the hopes that the US government will coax the X-Men into doing something about her or that Uncle Sam will try to take matters into its own hands. In other words, its understood that Rogue is America's problem but not its fault, at least not intentionally. Which is good enough to keep nuclear missiles from waving at one another as they pass one another in Earth orbit.

And that's essentially the contours of what the X-Men's outside power looks like.

The X-Men have incredible resources at their disposal by virtue of Xavier's seed money, the genius of Hank McCoy and others, and the allies they've cultivated like the Shi'ar, but everything they've built up they've had to bootstrap. They're free to follow their consciences but they're also at risk of running off the cliff and getting disavowed if they chase their consciences too far, too fast, too hard for the liking of the world's nations.

The Avengers, especially Steve Rogers, subordinate their consciences to higher authorities to a greater degree, but the trade is that when they do act, they can act with the knowledge that they're not going to have to deal with blue on blue conflict from confused and scared locals and with largely infinite resources. There is almost assuredly a limited supply of Blackbirds. There is a limited supply of Blackbirds right? The number of Quinjets available to the Avengers is only limited by the budget afforded to them by SHIELD or Tony Stark.

Speaking of Tony Stark, depending on which universe and what time period we're talking about, he is not necessarily a backup plan for an Avengers team that finds its consciences misaligned with the interests of SHIELD. Not just because he might not feel like being their sugar daddy, but also because Tony Stark is ultimately a businessman. Ironman may be challenging for the world's authorities to reign in if he's in a bad mood, but Tony Stark has financial assets that can be frozen and capital assets that can be seized.

Let's not forget that when Steve Rogers decided he was done asking for permission to do what he felt was right in the MCU, he was only able to continue superheroing at the same level he had previously because a secretive nation with a friendly monarch was willing to provide him with a jet and supplies so long as they approved of his goals and methods.

Thus the X-Men enjoy greater freedom of conscience but its much more precarious than Captain America's compromised freedom.

This is not a value judgment, just an observation.

And if I made the case for Captain America playing by the rules a little too well, then its probably because Earth 92131 Steve Rogers doesn't seem to have been gaslit into being the hatchetman for corrupt ends.

Yet.

One could also imagine that SHIELD or USGOV have also failed to tip Cap off about mutant related this, that, or the other that Steve might have OPINIONS about and feel strongly that some Homo Sapiens Sapiens supremacists are need of punching in a time and place that is super inconvenient for the authorities.

Because sometimes injustice isn't about what authority does, its about what it doesn't do: malign neglect and so forth.

[felixstudios]

Headcannons for the playground Managers on a rainy day?

Random Corporate Clash Headcanons, Playground Managers on a Rainy Day Edition

Prethinker

🧠He doesn't even know it's raining

🧠Stays in the basement playing video games all day and scrolling Reddit

🧠Bro hasn't gone outside in years probably

Derrick Man

🛢️Scoffs about the weather and clearly hates it

🛢️In a sour mood the whole day

🛢️Spends as much time indoors as possible and wears a very good raincoat and/or uses an umbrella outisde

Rainmaker

⛈️She started the rain {probably}

⛈️Will feel bad about it at first, but after a while she gives up with controlling it and just jumps in the puddles

⛈️Spends most of the day outside

⛈️Clearly likes the rain

Land Acquisition Architect

🚦He likes the rain in the sense that plants are watered {saves water bill on the land he needs to look all nice} and ground becomes soft and easy to break

🚦Takes advantage of the cooler weather to get TONS of work done outside, too

🚦Overall has a super productive day. He doesn't care much for how rain actually feels, but he LOOOOOOVES what it means for his wallet

Witch Hunter

🔱He's PISSED. OFF.

🔱He'll find somewhere indoors or try to find some way to shelter himself from the rain so he can keep using his fire powers

🔱A lot of his stuff probably gets ruined with water damage

Public Relations Representative

🧱Rain? Oh, I re-re-remember rain- I- rain!

🧱Toon-Toons, would you be-be-be kind- would- outside to-to- en-en-enough to let m-me outside to see-see it?

🧱N-no? But it's been-been-been-been-

🧱ERROR

Multislacker

🥪Feels extra lazy

🥪Will probably fall asleep a LOT during the day since the sound of rain is very comforting to him

🥪Makes someone carry an umbrella for him wherever he goes because he's too lazy to hold it himself

Major Player

🎹His performance of the day will probably be a little quieter and softer. I mean, not by much since that's not exactly his style, but he'll try!

🎹Lots of rain protection if he goes outside because he doesn't wanna rust. Gotta stay looking young!

🎹Tries his best to stay indoors all day. He REALLY doesn't wanna rust his 'pretty face' or whatever

Plutocrat

🌑Rain? Nah, that doesn't happen here. It's hail.

🌑He loves the weather. Absolutely thrives in it. Productivity at Mozzarella Styx Pizzeria increases by 10% that day

🌑 Satellite Investors are prone to wandering around on the streets, ESPECIALLY if the weather gets harsher. They also thrive in the weather

Chainsaw Consultant

🪚Finds the sounds of rain relaxing

🪚Productivity increases by 23% today. The Chairman is now looking into creating a rain simulation of some kind around his office

🪚Is especially quiet because he's listening to the rain

Pacesetter

👟He CLAIMS not to care about "a little rain," but it's pretty obvious he hates it

👟SUPPOSEDLY doesn't care about it messing up his hair since he "still looks good no matter what," but when he gets to work he spends an hour fixing it in a mirror

👟ALLEGEDLY he won't care about the equipment he left outside getting a little gross looking since it's waterproof and still works, but the same afternoon he has brand new equipment...

[timebegins-onopeningday]

Time Begins On Opening Day 2024: Round Up Post #1

Happy Friday everyone and welcome to Round-Up Post #1! This post includes links to all works posted in the first half of the season + details about First Half Commentfest which begins today and goes through the weekend.

Soft Deadline #1 offers us 20 (20!!) fanworks for five teams and 104 prompts across several teams as well as some broad and open-ended prompts! For a small fandom and only halfway through the season, that's pretty cool. If you're just finding this prompt meme now, or if you didn't finish something you were working on before the deadline, never fear - this prompt runs the entire length of the 2024 season! There is still plenty of time create.

Enjoy the works, slam that kudos button, leave a comment, and enjoy the second half of the MLB season!

Soft Deadline #2 is September 29, the end of the regular season.

🌞 First Half Commentfest 🌞

First Half Commentfest runs this weekend, from Friday July 19 to Sunday July 21. As we catch up with all these amazing works (fic! art! poetry! y’all are amazing!!) my challenge as a mod for us is to get every single one of these works at least five independent comments from five independent readers by the end of the weekend. (So we’re not including creator responses in that comment count!)

Why? Because it’s very easy to feel isolated as a creator – particularly in a small fandom like baseball rpf. We all know how easy it is to hit the kudos button and move on, but in a challenge designed to inspire creators for a very small, very spread out of fandom, a little encouragement can go a long way.

justleaveacommentfest has a list of resources for helping write comments on fic here and hxphaestion wrote some notes on what kind of comments resonate with artists (scroll for reblog) if you’re not sure where to start.

Let’s get all these works some comments!

🌞 Fanworks from the first half of the season 🌞

That we got as many fics as we did in the first half makes your mod SO happy, because we’re already past what we had last year!! This was a pain in the ass to put together because there were so many links and that delighted me. Shout out to you all, you’re all amazing.

I organized these by fanwork type, then grouped works by team and sorted alphabetically by the creator’s name + title (with the exception of one set of works, which are grouped in order of the series). Enjoy the works, bang that kudos button and COMMENT 🥳🥳

Art

Baltimore Orioles

[collage] heat waves by sapplyandherfriend

a celebration of dingers and slug edit: WOOOOOO TONY IS AN ALL STAR

Toronto Blue Jays

[collage] cheer on your team! by idlt

a toronto blue jays collage made on a 6x4 index card with a bunch of junk from the recycling bin

[collage] love song (show elation) by idlt

a vladdy and bo collage made on half of a page of cardstock with a bunch of junk from the recycling bin and a pile of old magazines that I got from someone in my neighbourhood who was going to throw them out, plus a few star stickers and a picture of vlad and bo pasted on top digitally

Poetry

Toronto Blue Jays

come home (the way they need you to) by idlt

A short poem about Vladdy and home and being seen.

Fic

Baltimore Orioles

one warm summer night (fireworks outside) by Settsplitt

Technically, they’re kind of hidden, standing a few steps down the tunnel, with their teammates all turned towards the fluorescent night sky, eyes fixed on the show. But still, Kyle thinks, as Adley tucks his hand under the hem of his pants, slipping his fingers beneath his belt and digging until he finds bare skin, this can’t be a good idea.

Milwaukee Brewers

In Stadium Light & Shadow by TheGlobeLifeBarn 

A thin satellite in orbit of nothing.

Philadelphia Phillies

Pressure Point by caltrain

Bryce fucked up his hammy and he’s being an enormous baby about it.

you think it’s different but it’s always the same by palimpsestic

Florida’s always so fucking humid, even in February—the air is sticky with unshed rain, hangs heavy with anticipation.

Who’s on First by powerblu (bluspirits)

A lot may have changed since Rhys first got called up to the Phillies: the size of the crowds, their record, the fact that they're playing in the World Series. But one thing is exactly the same: Bryce Harper is still there on the other team, annoying the hell out of him.

put some moves on you, babe (i know you need it) by pronoe

Bryson reminds himself to be careful where he sucks his marks on Alec’s skin, with the way he keeps his jerseys half-unbuttoned.

Seattle Mariners

Broken Foot and Cuddles by Anonymous

turns out that record-breaking pitch had actually been “breaking” in more ways than one. Poor Ty, with the foot fracture.

Toronto Blue Jays

Fiber arts for first inning starts by caltrain

There’s a hot guy no one has ever seen before at the softball clinic. He crushes three balls out of the park off of Kevin and pisses Kevin off so bad that Yusei slings an arm around his neck and kisses his cheek. “Can we get him?” he says happily.

5 Times The Blue Jays were Blue Gays: Number 1 Will Shock You! by idlt

George Springer is writing for the first edition of the new Blue Jays newsletter, organized and edited by Davis Schneider. George's first assignment? Clickbait the fuck out of everyone with the most unbelievable listicle ever (except somehow it is actually that gay)! Here's what he wrote, plus what Davis had to say about it.

he said i have bisexual swag! by idlt

An ode to Jordan Romano's short-lived yet glorious septum piercing (in the format of 2 idiots texting)

the grip of artificial chaos by idlt

Davis and Ernie sneak a moment in the dugout as the fireworks go off.

Out of Left Field by OneWhoSitsWithTurtles

Danny Jansen and Daulton Varsho were rivals playing on opposing baseball teams in high school. Now, ten years later, they are playing on the same team for the Toronto Blue Jays. As they weather the ups and downs of the baseball season, Danny and Daulton find an unexpected companionship in one another. But there is a lot on the line and neither knows if it is safe to indulge these feelings or if they are better left buried in the past.

Cover Your Bases by OneWhoSitsWithTurtles

Ten years after being high school rivals, Danny Jansen and Daulton Varsho started playing baseball on the same team for the Toronto Blue Jays. Their months together brought them closer as teammates, friends, and then something more. Now they need to decide what risks they’re willing to take if they want to make their relationship official.

Swing for the Fences by OneWhoSitsWithTurtles

Danny Jansen and Daulton Varsho are officially dating. Unfortunately, being public figures in a major league sport makes that anything but simple. They’ve agreed to keep things private until the end of the baseball season but that means Danny and Daulton must balance their blooming relationship and their work while navigating the ever-present media attention.

The Longest Road by OneWhoSitsWithTurtles

After their nightly game of Settlers of Catan, Davis has a heart-to-heart with Spencer about his growing feelings for their mutual friend Ernie. Spencer offers some valuable advice and reassurance, which gives Davis the courage to accept when Ernie asks him to forgo the living room couch and share a bed for the night.

Therapy with Daulto Varsho by OneWhoSitsWithTurtles

Daulton has always been a listener rather than a talker. Whether it’s good news or bad news, he’s there to hear out his teammates. Sometimes, this leads to unexpected revelations.

[ottpopfic]

Waystation: CDS/GF Notes

Ricky doesn't know how to do sentient buildings the Way Station is mine now

Waystation takes two to three Caretakers. Caretakers tend to be siblings or partners of a kind. One takes the ‘heavy lifting’ of the psychic load and thus has trouble leaving the Waystation after it's established. This is the person who gets informed that brick 1439 was chipped in last night's storm and now the chip is on the sidewalk three feet away N by NW. This person now also has a much harder time leaving the Waystation, and being far away or away all for long periods of time can make them very mentally unwell, they are the most psychically connected. This is the person who is also having full two-way conversations with the way station, 

The other caretaker has less of a psychic connection and is able to leave the waystation. This person can get one-word responses and strong feelings

Lit, Leo, and Georgie are all the caretakers after the moms pass. While Lit doesn't have a classic caretaker connection, the Waystation has done this on purpose. Lit’s job as a caretaker is close to a satellite, his job is so he can leave and do things outside of the building as well as not being susceptible to psychic attacks. After Jo and Emmi it likes to keep a third person to make a caretaker triad, but it doesn’t always happen

The caretaker line tends to follow family order, but the family order has so far not followed bloodline but by relation (goes: romantic couple (Jo and Emmi) to adopted kids (Leo, Lit, and Georgie) to god kid and romantic partner (Katie and Lettie) to god kids and a queerplatonic pair (Eli, Callum and his QP)) blood relation plays no part in the familial passage, and the way station prefers adopted families and extended guardians. 

All People can develop a connection to the Waystation but not as intensely. This mostly happens to full-time residents. The connection is light, they can pick up the Waystation feelings. To become a caretaker you must go through this first

It can be possessive, it thinks of who resides there as ‘its’, feels a duty to protect those inside of it. It doesn’t think like a person, it thinks like a building, so the possessive can come out in odd ways 

Really likes kids, especially young kids. Has lots of secret and special rooms and passages that are only accessible if you are a child (often due to size and also like magic)

Has a patch of liminal space where it holds all of the rooms it makes. 

Liminal space

Its liminal space is where it can create rooms, these rooms are all along the big hall that connects to the main entrance. Because these rooms are in a nonsense space their size, location, and physicality are all changeable. The room itself once its made is made, but where it relates in the building can change to the Waystations preference. This means doors can appear from anywhere even if the next room shouldn't fit, and the windows can look out of anywhere though they tend to be stationary when you are inside the room

The ‘pantry’ is part of this liminal space and includes multiple fridges, cold storage, a deep freezer, and lots of space to hold preserves. The Waystation is about 60% self-sufficient when it comes to food

The wall in the Main Room that is opposite the hall/liminal space is where the roof access is generated. The Waystation can not make rooms on that wall, so it is used to hold the building's main enchantments. This includes the stairs to the roof, sound dampening and dust collection for the WorkShop, safety and mist spells for the building as a whole, climate control spells, and exhaust ports for both the kitchen and WorkShop. If something magical needs to be fixed it will be on that wall

The Waystation has control of all parts of itself. This includes lights, cabinets, doors, counters, bricks, etc. It can move and adjust these parts as desired both to communicate and aid the residents and also because it wants to

The Waystation can move objects within itself, but not when someone is looking. This is used to lay out clothes for guests and the like. It will also use this to fuck with people and hide things when it’s mad

The Waystation has an active internal database on anyone and everyone that comes through that it can communicate outwards through a few chalkboards in specific rooms (kitchen and infirmity mainly). This is less about analytics and data collection and more about what each person needs. It prioritizes things like allergies, dietary needs, different powers and how they need to be accommodated, overall accommodations, and familial lines both biological and social. These are not universally accessible and are often only communicated if someone is about to give someone anaphylactic shock 

Other rooms (not bedrooms)

Children's rooms

These are less ‘rooms’ and more of a series of passages and hidey holes throughout the building. Picture the building-wide climbing tunnels and play spaces that are popular in children's museums

Kiln room

A room that houses all of the WorkShops kilns, glory hole (for glass blowing), and forge set up. These are in their own room for safety measures both fire hazards and fumes 

Infirmary 

Medical facilities, four cots total. Also has one large machine that it can change between an MRI, CT scanner, and an X-ray (can't be both at the same time)

Jason’s office

Jason’s workspace for his pope shit, has a little ‘den’ under the filling cabinets and is set up for people who fly

Calypso’s weaving room

Houses her loom and weaving equipment where she works to help make specialty fabrics for demigods that need clothing accommodations (like Leo burning off all his clothes (he was the inspo)) as well as a large closet she maintains the Waystations collection of community clothing 

Laundry

The laundry facility, the Waystation does all of the laundry itself. Laundry is put in laundry shoots in the bathrooms that lead to the washroom, but you have to go get your clean clothes and put them away yourself 

Weight room

Only the weight room in name (though it does have weights) it’s mostly a big workout room. There are weights and machines along two walls, but the rest is a huge mat for combat training plus a whole mirrored wall to help with that. There are hookups on the ceiling for punching bags and the like

Armory

A room full of weapons

Stables

Where they keep the griffins (I reject that they are just in the same room as the kitchen I’m drawing the line they get their own room Jfc) you have to climb a ladder in the main room to get to them

Greenhouse

Needs to be accessed via the roof, tropical weather plants are kept there with a giant mango tree in the middle

Who Lives at the Waystation (as of In Round)

Leo (head caretaker, takes on apprentices, foster dad)

Jason (foster dad, helps run the demigod foster system, popeimus maximus)

Georgina (art historian at Indiana State Museum, secondary caretaker)

Calypso (manages the clothing stock and makes specialty fabrics for demigods and monsters whose powers require it (like Leo needing fireproof clothes))

Deacon (owns a cheese and butcher shop with Stan downtown, married to Mark )

Stan (owns a cheese and butcher shop with Deacon downtown )

Mark (from Ares, works part-time at the butcher shop and helps with the foster care network (he does the driving and delivery for both) married to Deacon)

Lit (high school PE teacher who coaches wrestling, tertiary caretaker)

Sssssarah (monster ambassador, does a lot of work with the griffins)

Cirro (a cloud nymph, a baker and does most of the garden processing. They sell her baked goods at the butcher shop on the weekends)

Katie (training to be a caretaker, takes on apprentices, runs missions for Hades on a case-by-case basis, tends to lead the infirmary as she has the most training)

Lettie (runs the roof garden, diplomat between demigods and dryads (she travels for that), low key also getting groomed to be a caretaker)

Livia (the elephant, she lives mostly at Camp Jupiter but she still has a room at the Waystation and will visit when foster kids are being brought there from New Rome)

Main Room and Valgrace room layout

Jason’s office

“And the Way Station made him a wonderful room. It's not ginormous, but it has a high ceiling and a bookshelf that runs the full length and height of one wall. There's a large arched window overlooking the Pan Am Tower with a wide wooden desk pushed against it, and multiple smaller tables against the other wall for his dioramas and preparations and projects. The back wall by the door has a large papasan couch and bean bags, less for guests and more for Jason to curl up into a little nest when he wants to. It's perfect for his needs, cozy yet airy, with space to both relax and focus.”

The Room With The View

[destiny-aesthetics]

^ Communications to the Vanguard; Letter from the Stranger [Elisabeth "Elsie" Bray]

-----------------------------------------------------

Destiny 2 [Bungie] | Beyond Light [Collector's Edition]

ACCESS: RESTRICTED/REDACTED DECRYPTION KEY: ekeriPC6N$ spoof REP #: 121-EUROPA-BAN AGENT(S): CHA-319 SUBJ: Review of interdict on Europa landings. ASSOCIATIONS: Active interdict; Awoken, military commitments of; Bray, Clovis; Bray Tech; cryohazard; Deep Stone Crypt; Enceladus; Golden Age; Io; Jovians; Nine; Titan, moon of Saturn; Vex

1. Prior to the Taken War, the Reef maintained an interdict upon the poorly navigable Jovian moons. That interdict has failed, allowing Guardians to begin (politely put) "reclaiming" these satellites. The sixth moon, however, still falls under Vanguard interdict. To borrow an old adage: "All these worlds are yours, except Europa. Attempt no bounties there." 2. I have been asked to review this interdict's continued necessity. My first impression is that its Europan files are so heavily redacted as to encourage the very expeditions they are presumably meant to deter. Have you ever tried to tell a Hunter that they can't go somewhere AND can't know why? 3. Europa's surface is hazardous. Intense radiation mangles both flesh and machinery. Peak temperature at the poles never climbs more than 50 degrees above absolute zero; the equator reaches a balmy 110 above. This moon was never T-formed and has no proper atmosphere. Tidal stress tortures and crackles the surface, leading to frequent cryovolcanism. There are many ways to die on Europa, but we are speaking of Guardians here. Risk of death alone cannot justify a no-landings edict.

4. The subcrustal ocean is two to three times the volume of Earth's. Life exists down there, but we have forgotten how to reach it. Rumors of some vague abyssal connection to Titan and Enceladus are unsubstantiated, and in this agent's opinion, probably nonsense. So long as Guardians do not take up sport hunting, protection of native life is not grounds for an edict. 5. A heavily armed platform of Golden Age origin keeps station over the moon. It maneuvers using either Hall-effect electrical thrust or some kind of anchor in the Jovian magnetosphere. Ordinarily this would be worth investigating, but the files suggest that the platform is a rare example of an active and unpredictably hostile Golden Age defense asset. Approach at your own risk. (Interesting note-some suggest that jumpships of the Eon series are not as rapidly engaged - this matches what we know of their designer. Jumpships are rare and valuable, so best to keep a safe distance.) 6. Recent close flybys have imaged a Golden Age compound bearing the Bray Tech insignia built in the Europan ice. The same imagery captures thousands, if not tens of thousands, of hibernating or destroyed Vex. Unlike all other Vex presences on Venus, Mars, Mercury, Io, or Nessus, there is no sign of major construction. This suggests a Vex strike force, rather than a permanent presence. What did they want? We have fought Vex before, and early aggression against their designs has always proven critical. Their simple presence cannot justify an interdict.

7. Through negotiation and horse-trading with her superiors, Awoken Paladin Kamala Rior provided me with a device capable of sundry high-physics measurements I will not detail. It reveals that Europa is saturated and interpenetrated with dark matter loops. This is a sign of the interest and attention of the Nine. Their power and influence depend on the mass of nearby stellar bodies, and Europa falls within the sphere of Jupiter-as mighty a gravitational gatherer as anything outside the Sun itself. But even in this bastion of the Nine, Europa is a focus of particularly intense observation. We have often speculated that Xûr is a construct made from the repossessed body of a Jovian colonist… but there are no known records of colonies on Europa. So what draws the Nine here? Unclear. Their interests are opaque. In any case, the gaze of the Nine is no reason to prohibit Europa- Guardians have gone much further into their influence before. 8. No known signs of Ahamkara or other ontopathic predators occur on Europa. Perhaps there are wishing-sharks in the abyssal deep, but that is purely my fancy. No grounds for interdict here. 9. Europa is a traditional stopover for Fallen raiders tanking up on reaction mass. Mithrax, VIP #3987, relays vague reports of a taboo no-go area around the Golden Age station. This prohibition apparently goes beyond fear of its weapons and could be related to the Vex. There is allegedly "something that cannot be stolen from." Tantalizing, but not grounds for interdict. 10. Many Exos have fragmented memories concerning ice sheets and Jupiter in the sky. Europa would be a logical origin for those memories, especially given the presence of Bray Tech assets. This seems to militate towards an investigation.

11.The instruments Paladin Rior provided are extremely unreliable in the vicinity of Europa. I cannot determine whether this is a result of poor construction, my own inexpert use, or the presence of something aberrant. 12. This is hardly a well-vetted piece of intelligence, but something about the imagery and lore I've collected gives me an extremely bad feeling. Something is wrong here. 13. In conclusion, I cannot find strong strategic reasons to maintain the interdict on Europa. We lifted the interdict on the Moon not five years ago, resulting in a series of strategic key victories and intelligence findings… but also triggering the arrival of Oryx, an event that gave Ghaul his Light-suppressing technology and ultimately led to the awakening of the lunar intruder. Perhaps Europa will prove as consequential? We cannot shrink from new discoveries simply because they may lead to new challenges. Victory, after all, requires escalation.

I recommend LIFTING THE INTERDICT. MESSAGE ENDS [Recommendation refused on grounds of compartmentalized information. Unable to share; please trust that your analysis has not been ignored or discarded out of hand. Regrets - IKO/0061]

----------------------------------------------------- Guardian- This is an artifact of Darkness, and now I entrust it to you. Do not take this charge lightly. I have seen firsthand what its power an do Guardians who wield it… even to you. Like all new ground, it can prove treacherous to walk. Listen to your Little Light, and remember that you will live with choices forever. it you. My grandfather came to Europa before the Collapse to seek immortality. He thought he was chosen to lead humanity to the future. His experiments to this end were… hideous. Despite my qualms, collaborated with him. I accept my responsibility in full; I would have, know everything. "O nymph, in your orisons, be all my sins remember'd." You, nymph, but the principle holds, yes? We must know what he did with the power you now grasp. I have included a hard copy of the logs I've deciphered so far. Reader beware. My grandfather was worse than you know. Your stranger I remain, E

[dr-futbol-blog]

Aurora, Pt. 3

All space-suited out and ready to go, the team are beamed on board the Ancient warship. The last time McKay was wearing one of these suits, he had been fixing the Ancient satellite without a tether and had been forced to watch Peter Grodin blow up with the platform in The Siege (S01E19). Note that it is McKay's flashlight that we see illuminating Sheppard's face as he turns back to talk to them, letting us know where McKay's attention is focused. He is much more interested in seeing Sheppard's face when he is talking than he is looking around a 10,000 year old Ancient ship.

Sheppard: Should be just outside the Bridge. Dex: You mean what used to be the Bridge.

While the ship looks long abandoned, the team are cautious in their approach, weapons at the ready. But note that unlike in the previous episode, now that Sheppard is once more in charge, McKay does not have a P-90 on him, equipped only with his hand gun. This seems to confirm that Sheppard does not want McKay to have to use one. The hand gun is for his personal protection but Sheppard is trying to spare McKay from actually having to kill anyone by keeping him from the more efficient weapons. McKay seems to be dragging some kind of a trolley behind him instead, probably containing equipment.

Teyla: Colonel Sheppard?

Teyla is the first one to notice the people in the pods, ever interested in people more than technology. They do not know what they are looking for, exactly, having come here just to "check it out," but it seems that they found something. But where Teyla is the first to notice the pods, Sheppard and McKay are both drawn directly to the pod of the ship's Captain and given that these are living Ancients, it is entirely possible that both of them are drawn to him via the Ancient gene. Regardless, they both go around Teyla and once more stand with their bodies angled toward each other, drawn to each other at least as much as they may have been drawn to this man.

McKay: Stasis pods. They're still powered up. Dex: Stasis? Teyla: We found a similar pod in Atlantis. It keeps a person alive for many years in a type of frozen hibernation. Dex: If you call that living.

Note the fact that Sheppard and McKay's movements are once more synchronized. McKay both says the word "up" and looks up, and Sheppard looks up at the same time and it is likely that Sheppard could not even really see the movement of McKay's head inside his helmet. They are just extremely attuned to each other.

Teyla mentions the stasis pod they had discovered at the beginning of Before I Sleep (S01E15) that had contained the time traveling body of Elizabeth Weir. Relevant for this episode is the fact that they had initially thought it to contain one of the Ancients, and McKay made a mention of not wanting to let the chance to talk to "a living, breathing Ancient slip through our fingers," which is a sentiment that he repeats in this episode. Furthermore, he had said these words with a bit of an attitude toward Sheppard, still feeling sore about what had happened with Sheppard and the Ancient woman that had tried to seduce him in the previous episode The Sanctuary (S01E14). And in this episode we can see that McKay is still, to this very day, feeling some kind of way about the whole Chaya thing, which is perfectly normal heterosexual behaviour.

McKay: This one's uniform is different from the others. Maybe the Captain? Sheppard: Or his maitre d'.

McKay also seems to have a real keen eye for fashion. Sheppard's comment is also interesting. Firstly, his reference to the Maître d', often found in fancier restaurants may betray his social class, as they seem have started coming up with his backstory in more detail around this time. Maître d' is the headwaiter, so you might assume that he is making a reference to the Captain's second-in-command, his lieutenant. However, there is a rank called "Captain" in waiting staff hierarchy in which Captain is subservient to the Maître d'. The Maître d' is responsible for the whole establishment where the Captain is in charge of several tables within the Maître d's domain. In this sense, Sheppard might be making a reference to someone above the Captain, like an admiral.

The meaning of "Captain" is different in the Air Force as compared with common parlance, which is complicated by the fact that the Navy also uses the term differently, their Captains corresponding with Colonels of the Air Force. Where Caldwell is an Air Force Colonel, the space fleet, even though it would have been under the USAF at this time (USSF is still technically a part of the Air Force), the Earth Vessels seem to use a mixture of Air Force ("Move, Airman!") and Navy designations ("Helm, alter heading to intercept"). So if the Ancients' fleet was arranged like the Navy, you might expect a Captain to be in charge (or a Commodore, Rear Admiral). If it was arranged like the Air Force, they would be a Colonel but most definitely would not be a Captain, which is a rank below Major. Point is, Sheppard may be poking fun at McKay's use of the title (given his feelings toward McKay using titles with him in the first place), or making fun of the utter clusterfudge that is space fleet hierarchy.

However, it is interesting that he makes a reference to wait staff. Earlier, we saw him eating a power bar because he had skipped lunch and at the end of the previous episode, he was certainly dressed in the way that one might dress to have dinner. We also saw McKay dressed for dinner in Duet (S02E04), so while he would likely not have quite as many layers of clothes for a dinner date with Sheppard, we do know that he has fancier civilian clothes that can be used for such purposes. So Sheppard might be making an "inside" reference here, something just the two of them would get because they have recently had a dinner date (perhaps in one of their quarters, as seems to be the thing to do on Atlantis based on Duet) and one of them had made a reference or a joke about Maître d's during such a date. It certainly does not mean anything at all to Teyla and Ronon, so what ever his intention, Sheppard meant to say this to McKay, expecting McKay to get what ever he was referring to.

McKay: Life sign indicators are active. These capsules must have some kind of a shielding. That's why the Daedalus' sensors were unable to pick them up. Teyla: Look at all of them!

Take a note at what happens here. McKay mentions the life sign indicators, having one of the life signs monitors in his hand. Sheppard bends over toward McKay as though to take a look at the readings but then probably realizes that he can't see them or make heads or tails of them anyway. Instead, he lifts his eyes and looks at McKay's face. Then McKay again lifts his head to look at the pods above them and Sheppard again follows the direction of his gaze, only he does it suddenly, as though he had just caught himself doing something he was not supposed to be doing. He then actually looks down and frowns, seeming confused by his own actions. What is he even doing? That man is in a space suit, why does he seem turned on here?

Sheppard: That's just on this deck. Who knows how many more there are on the rest of the ship? Look, our time in these suits is limited. Can you get life support up and running? McKay: I'm on it.

Now, I'm not saying that Sheppard is feeling hot but he sure does seem to want to get out of that suit as quickly as possible. But what he says here is important for later. Sheppard trusts McKay with his life. And not just with his own life but with all of their lives. He trusts that McKay will be able to get them life-support running by fixing what ever is wrong with the ancient Ancient ship. He not only trusts that McKay will be able to do this, he expects him to be able to do it. And McKay is only too happy to oblige.

Also note the fact that the previous time McKay had been in one of the suits, he had been concerned about air running out and had wanted to know how long he could breathe in one of them anyway. Peter Grodin had to calm him down because he seemed to be close to hyperventilating, nervous and anxious. And here, with Sheppard, it seems like he had not once even thought about their limited air supply or how much time they have. He too trusts Sheppard with his life and he seems to feel like when he is with Sheppard, he does not have to worry. He has nothing to worry about. Sheppard is "the worrier," which seems to make McKay a hell of a lot less anxious than he is with other people. Sheppard has a notable calming influence on him.

Caldwell: They're all alive? The entire crew? Sheppard: Well, they're in a kind of suspended animation. McKay: Not entirely suspended, however. The pod has slowed their aging considerably but the bodies are virtually moribund.*

Sheppard and McKay have stripped out of their space suits and are in radio contact with the Daedalus, explaining the situation to Caldwell. Note that Sheppard and McKay are here by themselves as Sheppard had sent Teyla and Ronon to check out the rest of the ship. Note also that while McKay is clearly the expert, it is Sheppard that has contacted Caldwell and it is Sheppard that is explaining things to him. McKay pipes in to clarify but clearly Sheppard understands what is going on well enough to once more be able to translate McKay to a third party. Still by the body of the Captain or his Maître d', McKay has hooked his device up into their system and sits down to fiddle with it, and of course Sheppard has to step closer to him. By the sounds of it, Sheppard had been on an upper level and had just come down the ladder so of course he had missed McKay while he had been away.

Sheppard: Teyla and Ronon are searching the rest of the ship. My guess is there's hundreds. Caldwell: Is there anything we can do for them? McKay: Well, reviving them is out of the question. Look, the pods are the only thing keeping them alive.

Sheppard seems to feel the need to touch something to keep himself occupied while in contact with Caldwell, fiddling with something we cannot see below the frame, probably one of the pods. Earlier, we saw Sheppard wipe some of the condensation off of the pod of the Captain to better see his face, and none of them seem to quite know what to make of all of this. These are living beings, and they wish they could do something for them but it does not seem like there is much to do. They had both watched the older Weir expire, they know what to expect.

Sheppard: What are we gonna do with them, then? McKay: Wait. Sheppard: What? McKay: There's something going on!

Although they are still very much in contact with Caldwell, Sheppard does not ask the question of him. He speaks the question to McKay, which we can tell by the soft tone he uses and the fact that he looks at McKay when he says it, as well as his use of the "we" form. The tone he uses here is much closer to what we heard them use when it was just the two of them at Sheppard's door in Trinity (S02E06).

And what is significant here is that Sheppard is not asking McKay to explain anything to him here, he is not asking for his technical expertise. He is asking McKay's opinion on what they should do, he is asking for McKay's advice on a question that is more ethical than it is technical. He wants to know what McKay thinks the right thing to do is. He is not speaking to McKay as his leader but as his partner, even with Caldwell on the line with them. And also, while he is quick to ask what (is wrong) just as soon as McKay makes a sound indicating that there is something strange going on, his response is more relaxed than it would have been maybe even a week before. He does not switch to a new level of DEFCON immediately, but he does step closer to McKay because he wants to know what's wrong and how he can help make it better.

McKay: This pod is magnetically shielded. I'm reading cortical signals! Sheppard: Which means...? McKay: The pod's equipped with a neural interface. It's indicating definite brain activity, as though they were perfectly conscious.

Sheppard steps even closer to McKay, to be able to look at his screen like the readings there might mean something to him. He seems to have enough trouble following the things McKay is saying so what ever readings McKay has open there are probably not something that he needs to see, and he definitely does not need to be that close to him for this conversation. Also note the fact that McKay turns to look Sheppard in the eye after his explanation, seemingly to communicate his excitement over this discovery. And they again move in perfect sync, both lifting their heads at the same time.

McKay: If all of these pods are interconnected, it's highly possible these people are, in fact, communicating with each other. Caldwell: This has been going on for ten thousand years? McKay: Possibly. It was a way of keeping their minds occupied until they were rescued.

McKay mentions interconnection and communication, he speaks the words "each other," ans suddenly he is looking at Sheppard and Sheppard is looking at him. They are looking at each other, gazing into each other's eyes. The camera cuts away to Caldwell, and then we hear McKay answer Caldwell but we do not get to see McKay and Sheppard, the camera stays away from them for the time that what ever moment they were having passes. Maybe they just had a moment in which some of that wordless communication took place between them. Note also that as McKay has been gesturing with his hand the whole time, his hand stops in mid-air here as he is suspended in the moment. As though he wanted to touch and then had to remind himself to put the hand down.

Sheppard: That is one long conversation. McKay: Yeah, well, more likely the interface was reactivated when the recall beacon from Atlantis was received. Either way, the neural feedback loop is incredibly active.

Sheppard says "That is one long conversation" in the tone that suggests that he would get terribly bored talking for that long but that reaction is entirely feigned. Having a ten thousand year long conversation with someone that will never leave his side is his heart's deepest desire. He can think of nothing better than having an unending conversation with someone without fear that they will leave him. That is why he never says good-bye, even on the phone. That is why he never says hello to McKay. The two of them have been having one long conversation from the moment that they met and where Sheppard has asked McKay not to talk and has even told him to shut up (once, to be able to concentrate, not really meaning it), theirs is a conversation that is only ever on pause and otherwise always picks up where they left off. That is one long conversation, he says. He thinks, can we have one?

Also, Sheppard's eyes were definitely on McKay's posterior for a moment there. There is no one to see him look, not even McKay as he is bending down in front of him, so where is the harm? He actually has to force his eyes up from there.

Sheppard: Any way to figure out what they're saying? McKay: Yes, of course! It says right here: “Why is the smart one having to stop and answer so many questions?”

So, let us start with the fact that McKay called Sheppard clever before they left. McKay does not think that Sheppard is stupid and he never has. Calling himself "the smart one" here does not mean that he does not think that Sheppard is smart. But he does manage to hurt Sheppard's feelings because Sheppard feels inadequate on the intelligence department as compared to McKay already anyway. He fears that McKay thinks he is dumb and so these kinds of swipes at his perceived lack of intelligence get to him. He looks away, sighs, even worries his lip in that self-soothing mannerism of his. So what is up with McKay? Why is he irritable all of a sudden? It very much appeared that his mood had changed unprompted. Based on what he says next, the data he was looking at, the neural feedback loop seemed to remind him of something very specific.

Note that Sheppard's reaction here is also pretty much the same as it was the last time that McKay reminded him of their failure to talk to a living ancient to hear what they think about things. It is Chaya. Sheppard reminded McKay of the Chaya-situation and he is extra testy about it because, as we will later learn, Sheppard seems to have told McKay about the whole kissing Teyla incident. Maybe McKay could forgive him knowing it had happened under very strange circumstances, but he most definitely has issues when it comes to Sheppard and women. And his issues are just spilling out full force here.

Caldwell: It's a fair question, Doctor. McKay: Of course it is! Being able to communicate with a living Ancient is the opportunity of a lifetime, but this system is a highly complex system which I will have... Wait a minute. Sheppard: What? McKay: Answering your question.

So, first things first: McKay has to admit himself that the question was not a stupid question but extremely relevant. Caldwell unwittingly ended up refereeing something that he has no way of understanding, and it is not entirely certain that Sheppard understands what McKay is on about until he speaks the words "living Ancient," which immediately tells him what this is. Talking to a living, breathing Ancient. Got it. But the way McKay says "Of course it is!" is using the same tone that he told Beckett "Of course he is!" when the doctor had begged him to choose Sheppard to help him with the control chair, telling McKay that "Major Sheppard is your man". Of course he is. Of course it is a good question, Sheppard is an astute man, Sheppard is the man that he loves and admires most of anyone. Had it not been for the freshness of the Teyla thing, he may have been able to be the bigger man and let it go.

And note that he arrives at Teyla here suddenly, and it is not a coincidence. McKay has an idiosyncratic way of associating things but there is an internal logic to it. He suddenly realizes that he can contact Teyla to get the information he needs because his whole upset had been triggered by what he had learned about Sheppard kissing Teyla reminding him of what had happened with Chaya, where kissing Chaya had also been something that Sheppard had also very clearly full on confessed to McKay between Sanctuary (S01E14) and Before I Sleep (S01E15). And they will return to this topic later on in the episode again because while Sheppard has come clean and McKay is trying to deal with it, he can be a petty, petty man sometimes. McKay does not know that Sheppard only asked the question in the first place to distract himself from looking at his ass while they are on a call with his superior officer.

McKay: Teyla. Found any more of the pods? Teyla: Yes, many, and there are many more decks we have yet to search. McKay: Are any of the pods empty? Teyla: A few. McKay: Perfect.

We see Sheppard lift his brow here, right at the end, which is something that he seems to do when he is communicating the fact that he is sharing a thought with someone and that thought is impish. Sheppard is a clever man and he seemed to get what McKay was going for immediately. But there seems to be a lot happening on Sheppard's face while he is trying to pretend that everything is fine and dandy. Yes, McKay's comment upset him. Yes, he is feeling guilty where he does not think that McKay blaming him for what happened with Teyla or with Chaya is entirely deserved. It is not as though he had planned or wanted to do either thing. Both of them have way too good memories and abilities for recollection to let bygones be bygones, and it is digging up old hurts like this out of nowhere that just lets us in on how much of a couple they are. If they are not... involved, what possible reason would there be for McKay to dig up things that happened a year ago that had not been any of his business even then? Because it was. It was his business then and it is his businesss now.

Continued in Pt. 4

-*

Moribund is such an eye (or ear) catching word to use that it is very likely used for a reason. There is a paragraph in The Varieties of Religious Experience by the Philosopher William James, a somewhat well-known collection of his lectures, where we find the following:

This seems very relevant for the episode. What is more curious is that the same page mentions Tolstoy and the names of two episodes from the show:

This is certainly where Sheppard seems to be as a result of the previous episode. A new heaven shines upon a new earth. Although McKay certainly seems to have brought some of the dirt of the old earth with him.

[elipheleh]

mary & george feature in tv & satellite magazine. airs in the uk on tuesday (5th) at 9pm on sky atlantic & sky showcase. boxset will be available on sky boxsets/NOW.

text under the cut

Hollywood star Julianne Moore adopts her best English accent this week when she plays Mary Villiers, a mother-of-four determined to secure her family's future, in Sky's seven-part drama Mary & George.

When she learns that King James (Tony Curran) is in a sexual relationship with his adviser, the Earl of Somerset (Laurie Davidson), Mary realises she could gain considerable power and influence if her son George (Nicholas Galitzine) becomes the King's new favourite.

'Mary is from a kind of middling aristocratic family,’ explains Moore, 'She's living in less-than-ideal circumstances, looking for a way to educate her children and keep herself alive. The only way she's really able to do that is through her relationships with powerful men.’

After sending George to France to learn refinement, Mary endeavours to get him noticed - and King James is soon enamoured with the handsome young man.

'At the beginning, the relationship is very transactional for George’, explains Galitzine, 29. 'I don't think he develops feelings for James until a few months, perhaps years, into the relationship. George definitely has something to gain, but the love is very much real between them.'

Although the King is aware of the power games being played around him, he finds it refreshing that George comes from outside the usual circles of the royal court.

‘James is comfortable when hes in the company of his lovers - he wants to forget about being a king,’ says Curran, 54. ‘He wants that distraction of feeling safe with another person, as opposed to lords and politicians constantly grabbing at him, wanting him to make decisions about affairs of state.’

OUTRAGEOUS TRUESTORY

The series is based on the nonfiction book The King's Assassin by Benjamin Woolley, and Moore was drawn to the project by the way Mary seemed ahead of her time.

‘There was something outrageous and direct about her’, says Moore, who won a Best Actress Oscar in 2015 for her role as an early onset Alzheimer's patient in Still Alice. 'She seemed to have her own desire for power and agency in a situation where she might possibly have none. It's interesting what she achieved at a time when women couldn't even own property.’

The cast also includes Trine Dyrholm as Queen Anne of Denmark, Niamh Algar as Mary's confidante, prostitute Sandie, and Nicola Walker as the Queen's lady-in-waiting Lady Hatton.

Mary & George's salty language and revealing sex scenes may surprise some viewers, but the stars believe it reflects the earthy instincts of its characters as they grapple for power.

"The sensuality in the show isn't crass in any way, says Curran. 'It was certainly interesting for me. I'd ask the producers, "What am I wearing today?" and theyd reply, “Your birthday suit, pal!"’

'It's not a typical period drama because of the licence it takes with behaviours and sexuality,’ agrees Moore. 'It's beautiful and opulent and a wildly entertaining romp through history.’

Who’s Who (top right of image)

Mary Villiers

Julianne Moore

The deeply ambitious mother lives on her wits and wants to create a lasting legacy for her family.

George Villiers

Nicholas Galitzine

Mary's second son gains new-found confidence and charm after an educational visit to France.

King James

Tony Curran

The first joint ruler of Scotland and England, the King is seldom seen without an entourage of male companions.

Robert Carr, Earl of Somerset

Laurie Davidson

The King's current favourite is determined to stop George from usurping him.

Queen Anne of Denmark

Trine Dynolm

The Queen would prefer her husband's favourite to be someone she can control.

Sandie

Niamh Algar

Mary's confidante is a prostitute in a high-end brothel, making her privy to the secrets of the rich and powerful.