#but that was ky's and it's very different ok

[jewishcissiekj]

right so in terms of color schemes the shades of gray+black is something you can really go wrong with but it is a little empty if there's nothing else particularly striking about the design HOWEVER cw 2003 is peak and makes the shades of gray work plus there's importance to her colorless contrast to the environment she in and the lightsabers and also the red circle on her belt brings it all together so that's that. NOW you can not have the red+dark gray/black without variety. it does not work and it looks hideous paired with THAT outfit (nightsisters going-to-murder-dooku-fit). THEN there's purple which imo is always a bad choice (unless it's that one concept art and it's paired with yellow). TCW has tainted it for me and it just does not fit her vibes, the dark red and yellow on her sash balance it out but also take away from it so it's really a not. plus the color scheme in tcw movie+season1 is awful and works only in like. Teth lighting. it's interesting when the purple looks blue (or maybe it's actually just blue idk) but then it looks weird with the red and yellow and just clashes with it (unless the yellow is more orange-y then it's fine). YELLOW mostly doesn't work with tcw style stuff because once again it clashes and gives it a weird feel but when it's used with the grey shades it's peak. not getting into bounty hunter area that's much more complicated and i don't like talking about that but there's actually a very nice concept with yellow and purple in that outfit that i like a lot and it somehow works. one more thing is that it's either excessive amounts of red or very little red (preferably in the lightsabers) or else it doesn't work.

I know nothing about color theory this is just about what works for me

[starlooove]

Do ppl genuinely think jinx blew up the council for the liberation of zaun

[splinkoplinko]

I'm gonna share some Guilty Gear LGBTQ+ "headcanons" that are most likely canon. Most of these go off of the idea that Elphelt's Magnum Wedding Instakill (MW) doesn't override sexuality.

Despite my claims of these being most likely canon, most things here are not directly confirmed by Daisuke Ishiwatari, ArcSystem Works, or any other individuals involved with the making of these characters or the Guilty Gear franchise and the following should still be taken as headcanon as these are my readings of certain things I've found in the games. You have been advised.

May - Bisexual, possibly confused lesbian - She does, in fact, fall in love with Elphelt here, but has a thing for Johnny, possibly. The thing with Johnny is that she might not actually have a crush on him. From my own experiences, it's possible that May could be overly obsessed with Johnny, and may be misunderstanding her obsession and hyper fixation on him as a romantic interest in him. This idea also makes the whole Johnny and May thing less creepy as Johnny is her dad, and, I believe is supported by one of MW lines being "C-Could this be romance?! Oh my gosh!" implying that how she feels for Elphelt during Magnum Wedding is different from how she feels for Johnny, possibly even completely redefining romance for her, which is pretty huge for someone who's been seemingly romantically attracted to someone for years.

Millia - Bisexual, possible preference for women - She 100% had romantic and sexual feelings for Zato, which he manipulated prior to his death. Because of the sexual manipulation from Zato, it seems that she is not keen on being involved with a man again in any way. However, in MW, she falls in love with Elphelt, even going as far as to say "Have I chosen the yuri route..?" This doesn't really explain the "preference to women" part of this idea, but another quote of Millia's is "This is a whole new world...!" which, at least to me, shows that she experiences romance with a woman in a much more positive way than with a man.

Elphelt - Pansexual - When MW is used against herself, Elphelt says "I-I'll just take anyone...?" So like, yeah. Also she fell in love with herself, that's pretty gay.

Baiken - Bisexual - I'm pretty sure that she and Anji are confirmed to be a thing? I could 100% be wrong on that. However, when Baiken gets hit with MW, she falls in love with Elphelt. Despite that, she seems very reluctant, which could be shown as rejection (which I'll get to because it DOES happen), but I interpret this instead as denial of her feelings. This is further emphasized by her character, being a cold, lone wolf type of person. This can be seen in her platonic relationships as well, in which, only really accepting the company of Anji (possibly not platonic) and Delilah with Delilah being her latest friendship. The idea of her being in denial is in the line, "Won't work. Try to fall for someone el...?!" which, in my interpretation, means that she doesn't believe she's good enough, but is cut off by the sheer amount of love she's feeling from MW.

Jam - Bisexual - She wants to hire "cute boys" (boys she's attracted to) like Ky Kiske to work at her diner. In both Jam's Story ending 1 and Bridget's story ending 1 of Accent Core Plus, Jam actually hires Bridget to work at the diner. While Bridget identified as male then, she now identifies as female, though, that might not mean much. What means much more is her MW line, "Cute girl maybe ok, too." which implies that "cute girls" (GIRLS she's attracted to) would be hired as well.

Jack-O' - Bisexual - Is Aria, wife of Sol Badguy. They're also together in the ending of Strive. Reason that she's bisexual is because she refers to her and Elphelt as a couple in her MW line "Birth of a new-age couple?!" so that's pretty cut and dry.

Kum - Lesbian - When hit with MW, she falls in love with Elphelt as shown by the line, "Romance filter severely damaged!" meaning that, well, romance. Duh. I say lesbian specifically because, to my knowledge, she doesn't show attraction to any men, really just Elphelt, if anything were to come out where she shows attraction to a man or if I missed something that does the same, then I'd say she's bisexual. But for now, she's lesbian.

Venom - Gay - Now for the part that proves that MW doesn't override sexuality and that all of the above characters are attracted to women. Venom is canonically gay, this isn't a headcanon, this is just outright confirmed. However, it's important to note that Venom resists the romantic nature of MW as shown by his lines, "My loyalty cannot be broken!" "You cannot tempt me!" and last, but not least, "Lord ZATOOOO!" The fact that Venom, who in canon is exclusively attracted to men, does not fall in love with Elphelt in MW, means that the above characters DO fall in love with Elphelt and ARE attracted to women.

Bedman - Aroace - Completely rejects the concept of being in love ("Damn witch! You cannot take my heart from me!" "Are you trying to corrupt me?) when hit with MW, and, in one line, exclaims, "You cannot replace Delilah!" which is just comparing the effects of MW to his only other relationship, which is platonic, which is with his sister, which makes me feel like it's not at all romantic or sexual to him in any way.

Ramlethal - Aroace - At first, I thought she could be lesbian, but one of my friends who knows a lot more about GG lore and Ramlethal in specific than me argued that she's Aroace, citing one of her taunts in Strive that implies she has no concept of romance and that it's kinda gross to her. He also said that her saying "Is this my true self?" is about her experiencing human emotions, which she doesn't believe she can do (at least during Xrd's story mode). He, however, did say that as her concept and expression of human emotions develops, things could change, and she may end up developing romantic feelings, but that is not definite. As of right now, Ramlethal is aroace, at least in my books.

Testament - Nonbinary with attraction to men - I don't know if Testament has any attraction to women, but I read their intro lines in Strive with Johnny as them being a thing, as Johnny offers to go out to eat after their fight in one line. Testament is confirmed to be nonbinary though.

Johnny - Bi or Pansexual, though could still be straight? - This one veers much more into headcanon territory, but it's possible that Johnny could be bisexual or pansexual as he may in a situationship with Testament, as I mentioned just above. Testament does, however, present more femme than masc, and does use feminine pronouns alongside gender neutral and masculine pronouns, so it's possible that Johnny simply counts Testament as a woman and is still straight.

Bridget - Sapphic transgender woman - Bridget is a trans woman in canon, however, it's not confirmed if she is attracted to men, women, neither, or both. However, Daisuke once made some very interesting art where May is gripping Bridget's butt pretty strong (which is really just more evidence for May being sapphic), but Bridget doesn't seem troubled by it or anything soooo. Also, of the 2 characters that have special lines when defeated by Bridget in Strive, May gets 2 lines while Bridget herself only gets 1, no one else has a special line at this time.

I-no - Pansexual - Pretty sure she'll top anyone, even people who claim to be tops. This is basically just a headcanon, but apparently she teases both men and women when defeating them, soooo.

BONUS!!

These characters are, in my opinion, heterosexual despite this being contested in some smaller aspects of the community.

Sin - When hit with MW, one of Sin's lines is, "Farewell... virginity..." so yeah, he's straight. Idk, could be bi, but I see no evidence for that. Most people say he's aroace because he's so young, childish, and dumb, but Dizzy fell for Ky around the same age soooo...

Dizzy - When hit with MW, it feels like she's rejecting Elphelt, much like Venom and Bedman, saying "I'm married!" "I'm sorry, I can't!" "I-I have a son..." much less like a denial of feelings similar to that of Baiken. I don't think her sexuality is contested as much as Sin's is, but I still feel like this is worth mentioning.

yeah i think that's it really

END

If you have any other pieces of evidence for OR AGAINST my ideas and evidence, then please share!!! I am open to CONSTRUCTIVE criticism :3!!!

Reminder that MOST of these aren't technically confirmed to be canon, so take these as head canons if anything, not cold, hard facts!! And please, do not be rude about these either.

Also, do not deny ACTUAL canon (Venom being gay, Bridget being a transwoman, and Testament being nonbinary) as that is not cool and disrespectful to the ideas of Daisuke himself!!!

Thank you for reading, and I hope you all have a great day ^^!!!!!

[valeheartsdior]

ᴅᴇ ɴᴏᴄʜᴇ

PAIRING: Richarlison x Reader x Neymar

SYNOPSIS: You were used to Rich and Ney being around you at all times 24/7 you didn’t mind swaying your hips or dancing skin to skin at clubs at 4 am. “meu amor you’re playing with fire” he aggressively grabbed your neck for you to look at him, while your back was being pecked by small love bites. Two men one girl what could go wrong ?

CW: SMUT, Obsession, Finger sucking, Sex without condom, oral, biting, pet names, jealousy etc

“Y/N! LETS GO!”

“Rich you know our kitten always wants to look good beside us” Neymar chuckled

I was just adding the finishing touch to my perfectly done makeup which was my red lipstick, which I rarely wear but tonight seemed like it would be different so might as well spice it up. I was wearing a skin tight black long dress that hugged my body just right, my boobs looked big and it had a long slit on my right thigh. “I know these two are going to drool when they see me.” I smirked looking at myself one last time in the mirror as I grabbed my phone and headed towards the door, “here goes nothing.”

“Você parece uma deusa!” Richarlison howled

He took my hand and spinned me, making me feel even more powerful than i already did. Ney stood there admiring the beauty he had as a best friend.

“Richy stop” i giggled

“Let’s go the night is just starting!” Ney and Rich grabbed each side of my hand and we headed towards the limo, that Ney insisted on getting.

Neymar, Richarlison and I had been inseparable since 2015. Rich started his soccer career at América Futebol Clube MG, Ney saw how much potential he had and eventually became friends with him, now they are best of friends. As for me i had met Rich through a mutual friend then i met Ney through him. We had always been very close there was no awkward stages or privacy towards our friendship. Though they never brought girls around me i knew they had their affairs.

On our way to the club we took shots and not going to lie by the time we got to the club I was already tipsy. I knew tonight was going to be my night. Richy was being flirty as usual i felt his hand on my exposed thigh rubbing it as i sang along to a song. I felt goosebumps all over my body as he dangerously moved it higher and higher. Ney was sitting on my left singing along with me, as i felt his breath on my neck. If I haven’t done anything with these two yet i swear to my life tonight might just be the night. My mind was already racing with lust as these two did these things to me.

I quickly got out the limo, taking a deep breath before i ripped my best friends clothes off.

“Ok Y/N go in there and have fun let tonight be whatever it has to be.” I whispered

Neymar and Richarlison walked behind me as we entered the club. We went to the VIP section and there was Kylian and Son arguing about who spilled the drink all over the floor.

“Dude be more careful next time you’re already drunk!” Kylian laughed

Son and Ky both turned their attention to me as i smiled at them ready to hug them.

“There are my two favorite boys!” I hugged

Kylian making sure he grabbed me tightly “hey y/n” he smirked he made sure to embrace me as if he hasn’t seen me in years. I felt his breath on my neck oh god i think i have a kink for these men breathing on me. I slowly moved back avoiding eye contact. I knew if i gave him the attention ky would just want more from me. I could not get together with him knowing he was one of the biggest players in PSG, and i know Ney would kill me.

Ney quickly pulled you back making sure Ky saw that you were not in any way getting close to her tonight almost marking his territory. Son and Rich were chatting, I decided to go to the bar make sure I swayed my hips as i walked away. While waiting for my drink there was various men who turned their attention to me, I knew they were watching me like a hawk, i knew if one of these men trespassed there would be problems.

“Let’s dance bebe” Ney purred in your ear.

I was already feeling myself and Ney pulling me closer to him wasn’t helping. It felt electrocuting his touch the way he would move to the music. I swayed my hips slowly as he grabbed my waist moving me along with him. I swear i could feel his erection growing on me. I look up and Rich was looking at me and Ney with lust he looked like a lion, he looked hungry. He looked hungry for me.

“Ney I’m going to the bathroom” i let go of his grasp

I put myself together, god I can’t do this right now. Give me the strength to not bring them back into this bathroom and suck them both off. Why must i be friends with the most gorgeous guys. I grabbed a wet paper towel and patted my makeup. I was already feeling horny and lusted. I have to touch myself I can’t be out there with them any longer, tonight was definitely DRAGGING.

I went to the bar once again and grabbed myself yet another drink.

“There you are my ma belle” Ky said

“Hey Ky lets dance!” Y/N yelled over the music

The music was more upbeat this time Ky was touching me all over dragging his big hands over my waist and hips. I loved it i wish i was lying but how do you stop yourself from feeling? My back was towards Ky I was grinding on him letting some friction leave my body. He wasted no time to grab my hips and move me. I moaned a little from the little pleasure i was receiving, i know ky felt it too. Thank god the music was loud or else this would have turned into a whole different scenario.

“YO MBAPPÉ THATS ENOUGH!” I looked up to a very angry Richarlison heading towards me as well as Ney

“Bebe stop I’m okay we are just dancing” I put my hand on his big chest. “Relax both of you.” I warned them

“Common lets dance” I proudly smiled as I pulled both of them away from Ky.

I was dancing with both of my best friends i loved doing this. I was living a dream and I knew it would escalate quickly if I didn’t stop but I can’t we all had building sexual tension that was bound to explode one day and why not it be this day? I grabbed Neymar’s hand and placed it on my exposed thigh, the slit had gone slightly higher and you could almost see my undies, but the dark room saved you. Ney smirked showing his perfectly fine smile. My breathing was hitching his hand was squeezing my thigh. Rich was behind me pecking my neck with small kisses. The amount of lust I’m feeling right now is unbearable.

“Meu amor you’re playing with fire” he aggressively grabbed your neck for you to look at him.

You mirrored his actions and aggressively kissed him biting his lip and waiting for an entrance. The kiss was aggressive tongues were fighting with each other I tasted the alcohol in those plump lips. Rich was leaving sloppy kisses now on my back. He was now the one grabbing my thigh. He found a way to reach my panties. “Oh Richy” i moaned into Neymar’s lips. Teasing me he rubbed his hand on the hem of my panties. Rich wanted me to beg him he wanted to hear my moans in his ears. Ney’s hands were on my waist gripping them.

“Please please lets go” i mewled wanting to release some tension

“Go where my kitten?” Rich smirked along with Ney loving how you were melting underneath their touch

“Richy please stop teasing me” i cried as they kept me in a sandwhich

They both let go feeling a little disappointed but they quickly grabbed my hand interlocking with theirs.

Here goes nothing …

AUTHORS NOTE ~ this is my first fanfic and i hope you guys like it. I did leave it on a cliff hanger, i will complete second part soon. I really love these guys it kind of felt wrong doing this but our men need more fics lol. I love reading the fanfics that are on here i really hope you guys like it! <3

PART TWO IS UP <3

Please Request anything else you guys want to read !

[solradguy]

I saw your post about the Internet Archive and Archiving GG stuff for future Generations and i wanted to ask some stuff regarding the Archiving, i hope thats ok

Probably the dumber question but do you know if Daisuke has ever been involved in the Archiving of his series? I know the series started as a Passion project for him but Idk how active he would be with helping archive or fill in missing pieces, especially in the english world.

Just as a General question, are current online archiving groups mostly relying on being connected to one another in some way to reestablish fallen sources? Since very little of the internet if any is as stable as we like to believe and any service storing data may shut down somehow any day like Drive, when one host site does go down do the archivists rally together and find a new spot or do you kinda have to hope people can find the new host?

Also are there any larger scale Archivist groups someone with less ability to physically help could donate to to help preserve our online histories?

thank you and apologies if you dont like questions

Hello! Questions are fine ^^ Sometimes it takes me a million years to reply, but I don't mind them.

My answer to this got kinda long. Excuse the readmore.

We don't have any strong evidence either way what the condition of the official Arc System Works library of Guilty Gear media is like, but there have been a few times where the images they've used for things have been worse than the images us rogue archivists have. This ML illustration is definitely one they either no longer have the physical/original piece for, or they might not have a way to rescan it, because the file they use when they reproduce it is pathetically tiny. Example from the Steam release of Strive's bonus Digital Artbook:

Compared to other illustrations in the same book (two pages here):

This Ky from the website for the 20th Anniversary Pack release of Missing Link for the Switch was taken from the Guilty Gear Bible:

We know this because... He's on page 12 in the Bible and...

...they didn't erase the page number off his shoe.

So, at the very least, some Missing Link era works are likely gone/lost/destroyed/etc. It's possible some GGX thru GGXX artworks are lost too, but we don't have a concrete catalog of XX works because they never released a complete artbook for XX. It's also rumored that Keep The Flag Flying's original master file is lost but I've never been able to find a source for that. Daisuke has never reached out to any of us about our image archives and we've never offered.

Archiving is very much a western concept and it's a common thought in Japan that saving copies of another person's works is extremely bad; I've been chewed out and blocked by Japanese fans for it. It's just a cultural difference, I don't take it personally. If ASW contacts us about it though we'll definitely give them our files or take down anything they request of us. We don't want to poke the bear and risk the entire archive if we can. They seem to be turning a blind eye to our archives though, as long as it's not an upload of something extremely recent (I got DMCA'd for the Strive Artworks Archive scans).

The core of the Guilty Gear archive group works on the new GG wiki and/or are admins of the new wiki, so we're in pretty close contact with each other. Most of the archive is in my hands and, unfortunately, my hands alone. With the announcement of the Internet Archive v Hachette ruling, we've been planning on making copies of my GG archive hard drive and sending it out to the other archivists in our circle. I don't have a PO box, I can't do this for people outside the group because I don't want my physical home address to be that accessible.

That said, there are redundant digital copies of a lot of files and I have a backup hard drive of the main GG archive drive; the main drive is a relatively new 2tb Western Digital My Passport external drive and the backup is a 1tb WD My Passport that's a little older. A lot of people have downloaded copies of the files currently online (via my masterpost) and can reupload something if it goes down even if I'm not around to do it. We rely on Archive.org a lot but aren't against using Dropbox, Google Drive, mega.nz, Neocities, file.garden, or, if we absolutely must, Discord. I do not like relying on Discord and Discord files are generally extremely temporary.

The files that aren't in the archive include software or game asset rips, image files, music, and random bits and bobs. I'm working on getting the images up on the wiki but everything else is kind of in a weird zone where I don't really know what to do with it.

As for donating to support broader archivism: We use Archive.org (and their Wayback Machine) the most, so donating to them would benefit both the GG archive as well as hundreds of thousands of music, literature, research, and art groups too. Their donate page can be found here: https://archive.org/donate?origin=iawww-TopNavDonateButton

Supporting your local libraries, museums, and conservatories also supports archivism. Most of these places accept public donations of any amount and could probably direct you to other local archiving groups/associations.

Donating to Wikipedia also supports broader archivism to a lesser extent. They write about events as they happen, with sources/citations, and older versions of this information is permanently available on every article and file without having to rely on things like Wayback Machine. Their donation page is here: https://donate.wikimedia.org

I also have a donation page via Ko-fi and any money donated with a note about it being for Guilty Gear will go back into Guilty Gear (via book/magazine purchases for scanning, usually). Donating to one of the above groups would be better for archiving as a whole though. My page can be found here: https://ko-fi.com/somnivagrious

Hope this answers your questions!!

[charlotte3eee]

Something fluffy but weird with Kylian where you love him painting your toes and tickling your feet, he always loves painting your toes white because he thinks it’s sexy, anytime you rest your feet on his lap while sitting on the couch he always runs his fingers up and down your soles and wriggles your tootsies because he knows you love it even though it your ticklish💗

pairing : kylian mbappe x female reader

White toenails

summary : kylian loves to paint his gf y/n toe nails.

warnings : none not proof read? lol

a/n : let me know if you guys want a pt . 2 !! (inbox is open!)

I woke up to the sound of birds chirping and early morning traffic. As I turn around from my bedside table which was on the right, I see my darling boyfriend sleeping peacefully.

Kylian always looked so relaxed when sleeping, not having a care in the world. His lips always looked so plump, and his messy hair and eyebrows, overall it was a damn well beautiful sight.

I run my thumb on his cheek and kiss his temple. “I love you so much my love,” I say in a whisper tone. I turn back around, not trying to make too much noise to wake my Kylian.

I grab my phone off my bedside table and check the weather app. I check for the whole day hoping it would be nice and sunny out to do something fun.

Today was one of those days where me and Kylian had the day off. It was hard having not always just me and Kylian time, not including our daily dinner dates. Luckily summer is here, meaning my job is very flexible/ not have to work too much. And he does not have training with PSG because he is off-season and EDF.

Now we have all the time in the world to stay in bed with each other as long as we want. I go back to the weather app, realizing it was going to be cloudy and cold all day. Though we have other days to do fun stuff, a frown appeared on my face.

I sighed and went to go put my phone back on the bedside table when it slipped off falling to the floor, which also took my water bottle with it. Making both of them make, the loudest noise possible.

I turn to Kylian who now has his elbows resting on the bed, with his eyebrows furrowed together.

I smile and let out a small giggle at his expression.

By his face, I could tell he wanted an explanation and wanted to make sure I was ok, but too tired today so. I love this about Kylian and me, we can always tell each other what we want, without having to say it.

I soon place a kiss on his cheek and explain that I’m alright, and it was just my phone and water bottle that fell. I move the covers off my legs to get out of bed. But all of sudden I feel a gentle grab on my bicep.

“Where do you think you're going amour?” he spoke. I replied saying “I'm going to start on breakfast I’m pretty hungry, you?” “I’m hungry for you,” Kylian said with a smirk. Rolling my eyes, I quickly got up and ran to the door so he couldn’t catch me.

“Come on Ky, we have all day, I promise we can eat quickly and go watch a movie on the couch or go back to bed.” Slowly kylian got out of bed, walking over to the door where I was.

My eyes widen when I saw he was extra big this morning. Kylina had always been big, but when he would just sleep in his boxers or wear them around the house, it was different. 

I started to walk out the door when slide his arms around my waist, picked me up from behind, and carried me to the kitchen. Kylians placed me down spun me around and gave a peck to my lips. His lips always tasted so good in the morning.

I tapped his shoulder and told him to sit down on the couch when I got started on breakfast. Kylian and I decided on pancakes, he told me mine were the best and only mine. I do make so pretty good pancakes.

I made flap jacks and put them down on the island, I also made some eggs and bacon for some protein. Kylian is a big boy, gotta keep him full icky.

I ran around behind the couch and kissed his neck and whisper to Kylian the food was ready. “Ugh I can smell it from here, so good baby,” he said with a kiss on my cheek. “Thank you, my love,” I replied.

Kylian and I sat down on the barstools on the island and began to eat. He went down and ate every last bit of food there was on his plate. Kylian and I talked about all the things we want to do this summer, the places we wanted to travel to, and all the activities he had in mind, etc.

After our delicious breakfast, I stuck to my promise to go watch a movie on the couch. Kylian went and grabbed the big blanket from our room and went to sit down on “his side of the couch”.

He claimed the longer side of the sectional, ever since I moved in that’s always been his spot because he loved it when I rested my feet on his lap. When I did this he would take advantage and tickle my feet, knowing I’m the most ticklish person ever.

When we both got comfortable, Kylina looked down at my toes and a small smirk appeared on his face. I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion. “Is everything ok?” I asked while giggling. “I have an idea,” Is all he said before he pulled me off the couch.

With his hand wrapped around mine, Kylian started running toward our master bedroom. I ran as fast as I could with him. Boy, this man is so fucking fast.

Once we both got into the bathroom, Kylian started digging into the cabinet under the sick. I stood at the door with my arms crossed, still in confusion.

“Will you grab me a towel, please bébé?” Kylian said staring right up at me. I walked over to the rack to grab a towel, once I turned back around, Kylian sat in front of me with a set up to paint my nails.

He loved painting my toenails especially white, he found it very sexy. He also was the only one who could do it as he said. He was pretty good at doing it too, his niece made him do it once. And ever since he’s gotten better and better. So he likes to practice on me.

“Come sit down chérie,” he said. I walked over and gave him the towel, I couldn’t get over him sitting so patiently still in his boxers. I sat down in front of him with my legs out. He began one by one filling, clipping, and buffing my nails. All of the prep.

Kylian pulled out the base coat painting it on. A small laugh came out of my mouth, Kylian wasn't even trying to tickle me it was this bad. “Are you ok mon amour?” Kylian said with a smile on his face.

“Oh yes, I’m ok!” I said trying to keep a straight face. Before I knew it, Kylian was all done putting on the top coat. I sat there on the towel waiting for my toes to dry to the pretty milky white color. Kylian cleaned everything and put all the supplies away.

Kylian and I stayed seated on the cold tile of the bathroom floor waiting for the polish to dry.

After what felt like ages of waiting for them to dry, they were finally finished. He grabbed my hand picked me up and carried me bridal-style back to the living room. Small giggles from both of us leaving the hallway.

Once back to the couch, I grabbed the remote and pressed play on the movie. We went back to the same position before. Now with just a happy Kylian this time.

As the movie went on I keep glancing over at Kylian, the whole time he wasn't watching the movie but just staring at my feet. I just let it slide not thinking anything about it.

All of a sudden I felt soft strong hands at the soles of my feet. Oh fuck I’m not surviving this. Slowly he went up and down. “Kylian stop doing that I’m not fucking around!” Y/n quietly raised her voice.

“Doing this?” Kylian began to full on tickle my feet. Now I was bursting out laughing. “Kylian quit-“ I couldn’t even get out a full sentence it was so bad.

I soon felt relief when I didn’t feel his hands anymore. But now he was on top of me?

[apr1lr4in]

EDDSWORLD FALLOUT AU

Ok I'm putting this here because I have had this as an idea for so long and I don't rlly expect eddsworld fans to rlly be into fallout BUT I AM, OK? I got a lot of points I wanna talk abt and MAYBE I'll draw it MAYBE SETTING- Every fallout game is in America and EW is not, but I think I can keep the setting in England. As ur gonna see later, I thought Tord being a synth would be fitting. BUT UNFORTUNATLEY synths are only present in Fallout 4 and that is largely due to the institute not being a huge presence anywhere but Massachusetts. Compromise? There is no institute, but something similar (Will talk more in the Tord section) EDD- Honestly I LOVE cowboy Edd, but the only game with a huge cowboy setting would be New Vegas. But think about it, a survivor in the wasteland who is obsessed with prewar relics and clothing. Places like the midwest or even the Mojave are very different from England, but Edd seems like the kind of guy to be into the whole Prewar cowboy nerd. Ofc he's the protagonist, I'm not sure what kind of name he would have though. You know, lone survivor, the courier, i forgot what the protag is called in fallout 3 i havent played it. The "Goulden one" would be kind of funny though. I want him to have the same energy as the Courier, got shot and survived and is now a menace in the wasteland. But he's more heroic obv, going on silly adventures with the gang and make the wasteland a better place

TOM- I can see him being a vault dweller, but choosing to leave the life of one. It wasn't working for him and he probably didn't live in one of the good vaults. He travels with Edd and matt because he probably would get killed if he went by himself (Alcohol and chem addict) and is possibly out for revenge. Revenge for what? You'll se :3 ofc this is just brainstorming, maybe he wouldn't end up as a vault dweller and perhaps Edd was the vault dweller and Tom is the jagged wastelander. MATT- I have to say it, Matt is a ghoul. But does that affect his self esteem? No! I don't think there's a single ghoul in fallout who doesn't have a captivating personality, Matt is no exception. He is definitely the type to pick up random junk from the wasteland and is over encumbered. And he loves those fuckass monkey symbol things that make noise if you've played fallout 4, you know what I'm talking about,,,shudder) But people don't take him seriously BECAUSE he is a ghoul and full of radiation. But Edd has a good reputation and is able to vet for him. I also just thought what if he was a celebrity before the war? That would explain his lingering ego, but failing to realize nobody really cares anymore. RED ARMY- Notice how I didn't put Tord here? That's because he is unfortunately the enemy. Moreso his Red Army, but he isn't aggressive towards Edd or anyone else. He thinks positively of the 3 (maybe except Tom), but the issue is his reign against the wasteland. Think of him like Mr. House or the Brotherhood of Steel (Not the vegas BoS, they can go kys) he is the only military force around, but it's not a good one. The Red Army are known for their brutal enforcement of rules and are in fact transhumanists. They want to slowly take control of everyone and "improve" the human form. Why? Tord is essentially a partial synth. Not fully robot, but not a natural human. Yes his robot arm is coming back and YES power armor is being involved. I would like to mention that as much as I want to include characters like Paul and Patryck in this post, they are not as "essential" as the main 4. They are still Tord's righthand men, but it would be unfair of me to include them in this post and not other lesser known character. I DO have plans though, but I'll have to iron all of this out first. Larry will be thought of dw bing and larry fans, all 10 of u <3 These are all ideas! Basic thoughts i've had for a while now and maybe some ppl won't understand it. But if anyone does like fallout and EW...GIVE ME UR IDEAS!!! Perhaps even draw up some designs? I know I def will revisit this but I have a haircut today

[1moreoffkeyanthem]

Another OJV friendship that is my fav is Kenny and Kyle, I was wondering if you wanted to talk about them because I live for your Headcannons and tumblr extras 🤓

I ALSO live for the headcanons and tumblr extras and OK ORANGEJUICEVERSE KENNY AND KYLE LETS GOOOOOO!!!

So like, Kenny is EASILY styles closest friend other than each other. And OJV Ken is pretty much everyone’s go-to, like Stan running to him when he feels like he fucked up, Marj and Cartman knowing Kenny’s down with a scheme, but it’s a little different with Kyle.

Kyle is 100% the mom friend of the group. And the WHOLE REASON he’s like that with everybody is because growing up, he was the one to jump in as the voice of reason (especially when the Disaster Duo gets goin) and always took care of his people. And who needs taken care of the most? Kenny.

Kyle is CONSTANTLY scolding him for not taking care of himself, doing crazy shit, yes he’s amused by a lot of the antics, but when the logic takes the forefront, he’s all Sheila mode “DR PEPPER DOESNT COUNT AS WATER ESPECIALLY IF YOURE GOING TO A BLOOD DRIVE” “aw it’s fine Ky I got it covered” “no,” *throws a water bottle at him* “I’ve got YOU covered”

Kyle’s super supportive of Kenny’s career, too. That’s not only his bestie but also his metaphorical son. He is SO hyping up every new painting and sculpture, the first person Ken shows new work to bc not only is it gonna be a confidence boost, but Kyle will also have suggestions when he’s stuck.

Kenny, our darling chaotic comic relief friend who hides his own issues behind a grin and a joke and a guardian angel complex, is VERY protective of Kyle. Nearly as much as Stan is. OJV Kenny is a LITTLE GUY, even shorter than Kyle is, but he’s POWERFUL and has every creative solution to get the gang out of a bind, and he’s really friendly with everyone he meets, and people automatically open up to him. On top of that, he is REALLY good at reading people. Kenny’s super perceptive. He sees when someone in his found family has something going on, even before they say something. Ken was the first to be suspicious of what was going on with Ky in high school, brought it up to Stan, who said “I know dude. He’s stressed as shit but I don’t want to piss him off by telling him to relax”, like Kenny does people EXPERTLY; at 14 he knew it wasn’t his place to stage an ed intervention and knew he had to wait for Kyle to hit the point where he either hit rock bottom or came forward on his own.

On the note of Kenny’s emotional intelligence, I mean, come on. Artists in particular see creative solutions to problems, read the energy around us. And Kenny… oh my GOD that boy is a force to be reckoned with in strategy. Which is WHY he and Kyle are BANNED from teaming up in any game. They’re too powerful together. Poker? Fuckin forget about it those two are DESTROYING EVERYONE they are way too smart and between Kyle’s own abundant perceptiveness and Kenny’s people skills they’re not fucking around lmfao. I also find it extremely iconic that while both Ken and Stan are super smart, you put them together and they are sharing a singular brain cell, doing the dumbest shit, and Kyle is RIGHT THERE telling them off for it.

Kenny is so so incredibly thoughtful though too. He is absolutely the person you want to go to if you need a shoulder to cry on, and Kyle, who is the other person in the gang who gets relied on emotionally a lot, does go to him.

Thank u for the ask man live laugh love orange juice

[why-are-all-the-users-taken]

Post-toa headcanons

ok so I recently finished the toa series, and lEMME TELL YA I HAVE NEVER CRIED SM WHILE READING A SERIES OK? LIKE I ONLY TEARED UP A LIL IN THE FIRST BOOK, BUT I WAS FULL ON SOBBING IN SOME PARTS BY THE LAST BOOK. anyways here are some head canons to ease my misery

Apollo visits all his friends at least once a month

Artemis and Apollo become closer after toa

apollo helped make demigod safe phones

The gods only actually started looking at how Apollo was doing after he almost died from that poisoned cut he go in the tyrants tomb so they didn't rlly know what happened during his trials

So they were actually rlly concerned when they learned of all that happened

Hera became slightly nicer to Apollo and zeus' children after seeing that Zeus deadass does not care abt them

Apollo hating himself

Meg sometimed turns to tell Apollo smth and then remembers he's not there

Shit these are kinda depressing

Apollo getting terrified when Zeus gets angry even if it's not directed at him

Apollo HAD ASTHMA WHEN HE WAS LESTER AND ONLY FIGURED IT OUT ONCE HE TALKED TO ATHENA ABT IT ABT A YEAR LATER.

Apollo being rlly rlly sad when one of his demigod friends dies.

Him walking into the throne room one day bc of Olympus meeting looking like he just bawled his eyes out (bc he did) when Meg dies.

And the other Olympians not knowing what's wrong

(I THOUGHT THIS WAS SUPPOSED TO BE HAPPY WHAT HAPPENED)

Apollo visited Jason in Elysium after he became a god again

WHEN MEG TURNED SIXTEEN APOLLO LET HER DRIVE THE SUN CHARIOT AND IT WAS EVEN WORSE THAN WHEN THALIA DROVE IT.

Apollo fussing over his children

Apollo zoning out in Olympus meeting bc he would rather be anywhere else and only coming back into focus when someone says his name and he realizes he has no clue what's going on

Mr. D calling Apollo Mr. A whenever he comes to chb (canon)

Apollo literally not knowing wtf is going on in Olympus half the time bc he literally does not give a shit abt drama anymore

Everyone slowly realizing how different Apollo is after his trials

Zeus making everyone read the toa books in an act to embarrass Apollo but it ends with all the gods being very confused and concerned for Apollo

"U WERE ABT TO KYS????"

"WHY DID ZEUS DO THAT?? "

"ARE U OK??? "

"APOLLO U IDIOT WHY WOULD U DO THAT?? "

and lots of hugs

so it basically just blew up in zeus's face

Apollo hardly getting romantically involved with anyone anymore

He also stops flirting with the hunters.

When ever he is near the hunters it's normally so that he can talk to Artemis

Also Apollo taking a long time to get used to godlyhood again

The Styx finally being proud of him bc he's learning to keep his promises and not make promises he can't keep

Apollo visits Meg the most and gives her a hug at least once a week

[a-solitary-sea-rover-backup]

Interview with Dawn Riley, 1 April 2024

KaiYves (KY): Hey, everyone, my name is KaiYves from A Solitary Sea Rover, and I’m here with Dawn Riley at Oakcliff Sailing Center, an incredibly famous veteran of offshore sailing. You were in the Whitbread twice, I think? 

Dawn Riley (DR): Uh-huh.

KY: Which is now The Ocean Race, in 1989 and then 1993, and then the America’s Cup in 1992, 1995, 2000, 2003, 2007…

DR: 2003, I did the easy part, I was media. (laughs)

KY: And you were in management for–

DR: For 2007, yup.

KY: And today you’re the head of Oakcliff Sailing Center, since 2010, I think?

DR: Yup, absolutely.

KY: And you’re also, as of last year, in the America’s Cup Hall of Fame.

DR: Yes, I’m a triple-famer. America’s Cup Hall of Fame, National Sailing Hall of Fame, and then the Michigan Sports Hall of Fame. So three different organizations, all honoring sailing.

KY: And it only took 30 years.

DR: (laughs) Yeah.

KY: And now there’s four women in the America’s Cup Hall of Fame!

DR: Yup.

KY: …and forty men, right? (laughs)

DR: I have not done the math, but yeah, there’s more men than women across the board. [It's actually more like 100 men and 4 women.]

KY: It’s reflective of the event. So we met at the 12-Metre World Championships last summer in August, that was an incredible weekend, you know, just the level of access there was, being able to walk in and see everyone, being able to see the boats, and photograph them. I was able to help out a little bit.

DR: Yup. 

KY: Because you guys needed a phone charger. You let me come on the chase boat, that was incredible, I got to see [the racing] up close… I got kind of seasick, but I still had a wonderful time. 

DR: (laughs) Good to know.

KY: And then I helped hose down a little bit afterwards. So I was joking with my friends that I can tell everyone that I was a 12-Metre crewmember for five minutes.

DR: There you go. (laughs) And Courageous is a pretty special yacht.

KY: I said to my friend, “You know, this summer I was a crew member on Ted Turner’s yacht. There’s a lot of clarifiers to that, but…”

DR: (laughs)

At the 12-Metre Worlds.

KY: In a very loose sense I was, yes. You agreed to do this interview with me and let me come visit and I’m super excited for that. I got my Master’s at NYU and a few weeks ago, I was in Greenwich Village. So I went into the Strand Bookstore, the famous bookstore there, for old time’s sake. I was looking around, I was in the basement stacks, looking at the travel, exploration, transportation sections, and while I was there, this is what I found– (pulls out a book wrapped in cloth from her backpack and unwraps it to show it’s Riley’s book Taking the Helm)

DR: Ah. Taking the Helm. (takes book to examine it) Is this one signed? 

KY: Oh, yeah, it is.

DR: I think I signed almost all of them.

KY: So I don’t have to bother you for that. 

DR: There you go. (laughs)

This is the softcover cover, mine looked slightly different.

KY: I thought, “This is great”, because I’d already made the arrangement to talk to you, “This is a good omen, I think”. It also has this flier from back in the day. (unfolds a paper flier tucked into the dust jacket and hands it to Riley)

DR: Oh my goodness, this is funny. Yup, this was the promo that I sent out. I put together this flier myself and it was to try and do speaking. That’s crazy, I haven’t seen that in for-ever.

KY: Do you want to keep it?

DR: Um, sure. I don’t think 1-800-511-DAWN works anymore, but I’ll check. 

KY: You find some really great things at Strand, you know. I found, um, Bertrand Piccard, who went around the world in the balloon, I actually found a signed copy of his book about that at Strand.

DR: Mmm-hmm, OK.

KY: I found a book about the ‘77 America’s Cup that had a newsletter from the ‘83 one inside of it and I said, you know, “I think the flier might be worth more than the book, but…”

DR: (laughs)

KY: So used bookstores are amazing.

DR: Hmm-hmm.

KY: But I was really excited [to read your book] because it was actually the third book I had read about that era of the Round-The-World Race in the past year. I’m working on a fictional story that’s about a fictional team in the 80s in the Whitbread, so I’d read a few different books. I’d read Peter Blake’s book about Ceramco in 1981, I’d read Skip Novak’s about Drum in ‘85– I think you have most of those out there [on the bookshelf in the main room]. And so, I wanted to see and contrast the different people’s voices and so forth. I know I contrasted those [two] as I was reading. I thought, you know, Blake had this very fun, optimistic sort of voice where it’s all this very jolly adventure. 

DR: Peter Blake was a good friend of mine. He was an amazing seaman. He and his wife were adventurers. And unfortunately, tragically, he was killed on an adventure in the Amazon. But he was probably one of the most solid and most revered New Zealanders out there.

KY: It was a great book, you know, just this good humor throughout. Whereas Skip Novak’s, it’s a lot more gritty and cynical. He’s talking about people fighting each other, talking about people doing unsanitary things and stuff like that. And I actually thought, just, the way the book opens, where they come into Cape Town really early in the morning and nobody’s there to greet them because they’re sixth, it’s just the officials. And they spray them with champagne and he’s like, you know that’s always the cheap champagne and it makes you sticky and it’s nasty. And he’s like, and now we’re in Cape Town, it’s 1985, and there’s all of these signs that say, ‘No Black People [Allowed] Here’. And so, he’s just very much showing the grittier side of his experience.

DR: Or, more, just the pessimistic side. Knowing Skip, that’s his personality.

KY: Yes.

DR: So both of those people’s personalities come through.

KY: But he also in the end enjoyed this adventure and he still thought it was worth it. So I liked having those two different perspectives. And so I was curious to see, when I read your book, how your perspective compared. And I think you have more of an optimistic voice.

DR: I am eternally optimistic. If I wasn’t, I would not have made anything of my life, because everyone told me I couldn’t. I said, “Oh yeah? Screw you, watch me.” So I’ve been forced to be, but luckily eternally optimistic. Which doesn’t mean I am a Pollyanna. So I’m realistic and prepared as well.  

KY: I mean there were some, you know, gritty details, but I thought that it was, overall, more of a “Blake” sort of voice. But what I thought that was in your book that was not really in the other ones was a lot more about emotions and familial connections. And just talking about the people back home and everything. Which is something that made it kind of different. And some really beautiful language. 

DR: So I have to have joint credit for that with Cyndy. I kept a running [log], I wrote it during the race and then she cleaned it up. And went back and forth and back and forth on the editing. So it was absolutely a joint editing process. And sometimes my language was way too flowery and she’d bring it back down, and sometimes hers was a little too professional and I’d be like, “That doesn’t sound like me!”, so I’d bring it back.  

KY: I love when you’re talking about how you left South America and you were under a sky full of diamonds, going out into a sky full of diamonds.

DR: Yeah, there’s… It was just a couple of years ago, now, so it’s 2024… before COVID, so say 2018, I was down in Florida on a beach… (a phone in the office rings and Riley stops to press a button to silence it) I walked down to the beach at a party and there was nobody else around. I looked up at the sky, I was like, “This is what I miss. I miss being out there.”

KY: I mean, it must be, it’s some of the darkest skies on Earth when you’re in the middle of the ocean. 

DR: Yes, of course, you’re out– there’s some points, and I think this was described in the book, some points where you can’t really tell where the sky ends and the water starts. ‘Cause it’s just a circle.  

KY: And I loved that. Because I feel like a lot of the time, when you read books from people who did something really interesting, their skills are not in writing so they describe it very simply. 

DR: Uh-huh.

KY: And I’m like, okay, so you flew around the world or you climbed Mount Everest, but I don’t really get a sense of what it was like for you. But with you, I did. 

DR: Okay, good.

KY: And what I also liked about that book was that I was able to see connections because I’ve read a lot of other books from the same time period. Because I go to used bookstores and people give away their books about twenty-five years afterwards. So, I was like “Oh!” At the same time [you were racing the Whitbread], there was the ENZA trimaran going for the Jules Verne Trophy, which I had read— actually, just the year before— read Cam Lewis’s book about Commodore Explorer.

DR: Uh-huh.

The Jules Verne Trophy, not quite like the book. [x]

KY: And then, at the same time you were planning for the America’s Cup 1995. And during lockdown, I actually read Anna Huntington’s book Making Waves. 

DR: Yup.

KY: That’s always, to me, a very particular experience reading that book, because I got it from Breakwater Yacht Club, I borrowed it just before lockdown and then I had it. There was nothing else to do so I just was biking around in the spring. And I went to this little beach in North Sea and I just sat down on the beach and I was just reading this book and trying to think about something– just something else because it seemed like the world was going crazy. And there was an osprey family up in a nest. And it was just me, and the osprey, and this book about the America’s Cup.  

DR: Uh-huh.

KY: So you’ve made a home here [on Long Island] in our area, but you’re from Detroit, originally.

DR: Yup.

KY: And you learned to sail there?

DR: I learned to sail with my family. No formal training, no junior sailing type of training, but my dad was a sailor and a racer and he would basically, I think… My mom would say, “Take one of the kids, get out of the house!” So I got to go, because I was the oldest, which was pretty cool. So I think the first sailboat race that I did, for sure, the first one that I can remember, I was about four years old. And they did a crash gybe, and I got rope burn under my arm, and I thought it was amazing. My mom wasn’t so happy. But they also did not put limits on it. So I started racing on bigger boats in the– in the 70s, Jesus.  

KY: So did you have, at that point, heroes as a kid that you looked up to in the world of sailing?

DR: When you’re that young, the only peers you have, the only people you know about, are your family. When we came back from sailing for a year, on the year’s cruise, I obviously had my eyes opened by seeing all the different places and all the different jobs in the industry. From, you know, powerboat captains to workers, to engine repair, to riggers in the Caribbean. You know, all of that just exposure, Antigua Race Week… hippie yacht captains, Jimmy Buffett, Ted Turner, who we met on the dock, a sailboat racer with TV cameras following him… so that was a whole exposure. And then when I got back, and started racing, the people in the industry, the professionals in the industry, were my role models. Sailmakers and boat workers, boat captains.

KY: And this was the year that your family went to the Caribbean, you said? 

DR: Yup, we did that when I was 13, so I started working and being paid to work on boats when I was 15, and put myself through college doing that. 

KY: That must have been incredible, just being with your family in the Caribbean like that and going from place to place.

DR: Uh-huh. Yup, it was very organized and scheduled. Lots of sailing events. We went as far as you could, I think as far as you possibly could on a 56-foot wooden boat in one year and seven days. Because we had an extra week. My dad had two leaves of absence, but he worked for a week in Puerto Rico to make it up. So one year and seven days from the time we departed to the time we got back. We were on a schedule, we rarely stayed in the same place more than one night at a time. So it was pretty cool.

KY: When you were growing up, as a teenager and so forth, what was your awareness of the America’s Cup and then the offshore sailing?

DR: My awareness of the America’s Cup was discovered during that year’s cruise. When we were in Newport, in ‘77, the trials were going on. And then, I didn’t really know about the Round-The-World-Race because there had been no stopover in America until the race we did. But when I came back, at North Star Sailing Club, on Lake St. Claire, there was a film on the Whitbread, and I’m like, “Oh! I want to do that!” 

KY: You were a teenager when you decided you were going to do that. 

DR: 15, yeah. Maybe 16. Probably in winter. 15 or 16, it doesn’t matter.  

KY: But that was your moment. And you followed on that course to become a professional from that point on?

DR: Well, professional back then wasn’t really a word. You were a boat captain. The professional/amateur only came into it in the 2000s when there was a marketing push from the Farr office that was building boats and started saying, you’re professional, you’re amateur. And I kind of got a little bit screwed over in that. Thank God I had enough time before people discriminated against professionals. Because we were poor and we needed to work to be able to sail. And I was able to get my skillset up. But basically, as I wanted to go sailing, I needed to eat and I needed to pay for college. So I had a job working on boats and sail lofts and cleaning boat bottoms and making sandwiches and anything I could do to keep those two things. I wanted to sail, I needed to eat, oh yeah, and I needed to pay for college. 

KY: And you had the aspiration to go as far as you could? 

DR: No, I wanted to do the America’s Cup and I wanted to do the Round-The-World, but I also thought maybe I wanted to go to the Olympics. And I also thought I wanted to be an advertising executive on Madison Avenue. So I kept a lot of different goals and I didn’t really know that it was a possibility to continue in the sailing until I didn’t get a job in advertising. And then I was ready. So what I tell people here at Oakcliff is that you absolutely have to have a plan. And whether it’s going to be school, family, real job, business, boatbuilder starting a business– but you always have to have your seabag packed and ready to go when an opportunity presents itself. And that’s kind of what I did. 

KY: I’ve actually (laughs) I’ve actually had the worst luck trying to watch the Maiden documentary. There’s been places that I’ve been where it was showing and I kept missing it. And I got the DVD now and I was trying to watch it last night and my computer is new and I hadn’t set up the DVD program, and so I only got to watch, like, the first half-hour.    

DR: Oh, bummer. 

KY: So I’m sorry I can’t ask you too many questions based on that.

DR: It’s okay. I will tell you that the movie is quite realistic. And they were talking about trying to make a Hollywood remake of it, and I don’t know how that would be possible. Because the footage was so good, the story was so well-done, and the only thing you could add to make it more Hollywood, honestly, would be romance. (laughs)

[x]

KY: That was the ‘89 race, and y’know, it really was just, I feel like there has to be some kind of movie about the ‘89 race, not necessarily about Maiden in particular. But just because there were so many different events going on, it almost doesn’t seem real that it was at this point in the world– that the Berlin Wall came down and…

DR: We weren’t even aware that that was happening because we were out at sea. There was satellite navigation really around the middle of the Earth, around Antarctica you were still using celestial. The electronic communications for weather– we would get a weather fax that was on that fax paper, where you get it too hot or wet and you can’t read it. There was a positioning once a day, but our only communication was SSB ham radio, single-sideband. So we weren’t picking up on the news.

KY: I have the “Maxi” book that I saw on the shelf, I got that one at Strand also, and I was looking through that and looking at the computer technology that they had onboard as research for my story. But just this… you came back to port and you would get all of this news that the world was changing so rapidly in this period. Did you have a sense that, y’know, something’s in the atmosphere?

DR: No, no, no, no. We were just isolated. I was literally talking about this last night with a friend’s nephew who just came back from Germany. He hasn’t been in America for three years. And I said, at least you have the Internet, because when I used to come back to do an event or a speech or something, I would at the airport, get People Magazine. Because there was no social media, there was no TV that we were watching. And I came back and there was a social event and people were talking about “Britney”. And I’m like “Who the heck is Britney and what’s her last name?” 

KY: Britney Spears. 

DR: Because if you’re gone and you’re not hearing it, you have no idea and the whole social world has passed you by. So you have to do some homework to catch up. 

KY: In some of the books, they say, you know, the world could end and we wouldn’t know until we got to port. 

DR: Uh-huh.

KY: I think in Skip Novak’s book, he said that they were at sea when the Chernobyl accident happened and they had heard that on the radio, and they were like, “What if we come back to the northern hemisphere and everyone’s dead of radiation poisoning?”

DR: Right, right. You are isolated, out there. Or you were isolated out there. Nowadays it’s much different. Nowadays, I think it’s lost a lot of the romance. There’s more people following– you see Cole Brauer and half a million people following, but is that entertainment or adventure? I’m not sure which.

KY: That was the first time you had been to the Southern Ocean, right? 

DR: Yes.

KY: What was that experience like, being there for the first time?

DR: (deep exhale) Everybody says they want to be helicoptered in just for a day, which would be a disaster. Because the way that you acclimate to the Southern Ocean is that it’s a little windier, it’s a little windier, it’s a little windier, and each step up, you’re like “Oh my god! Oh, oh, oh!” And then on the way back down, as you’re coming out, you’re walking around in 50 knots of wind with a cup of coffee and you’re not spilling it. So it’s an acclimation, it’s not like you’re helicoptered in, “This is the Southern Ocean!” It’s a gradual in and a gradual out. There are moments you absolutely remember, just the amount of energy and extremeness and the adrenaline of sailing is pretty cool.

KY: From what they say, it sounds like it’s almost a world apart. Otherworldly.

DR: It is, I mean, everybody talks now about Point Nemo, we didn’t even really talk about that then, which is when you’re closer to the space shuttle than you are to land. 

KY: Francis Chichester, he said, “I felt like I was planetary distances away from the rest of mankind.”

DR: OK, I wasn’t that eloquent. 

KY: But was it like you were on another planet?

DR: We were racing as fast as we could to get to the next piece of land. And that is the thing people always ask, “Are you bored?” No. Because you’re in a competition, it might be a very long competition, but you’re in a competition. And yes there’s some fun times and there’s some relaxing, there’s laughs. But you’re focused. When you’re steering the boat, you’re trying to steer the boat as best as absolutely possible. When you’re trimming, you’re trying to do it as best as absolutely possible. You’re just doing it for a really long time. 

It sounds pretty intense. [x]

KY: And there were several different nationalities onboard Maiden. It was organized in England and it was majority Brits, so how did you feel as an American being among Brits?

DR: Well, it wasn’t majority British, if you count Welsh, and Irish and Scottish, which they absolutely would. There were three proper English onboard. And then, it was weird being the only American only in that it was the first time I had ever been in an experience where I was the only American. I wasn’t even aware of a lot of the stereotypes until they started teasing me about it. “Seppo? What’s Seppo?” It’s like, septic tank. (laughs) But I didn’t know.

KY: It’s the Australian word for Americans, yeah. You know, when I’ve been doing the research for my writing, I type in “Whitbread Race” [in a search engine] and one of the suggestions is “Did Maiden win the Whitbread Race?” Because it’s become so famous now because of the documentary. So how do you feel knowing that you guys are now the most famous team that was there in 1989?

DR: Well, that’s fine. There was also the photo of my cleavage that was the most published photo of all of 1989. Or actually, 1990, because of the finish in Fort Lauderdale. In 1990, the absolutely top-published photo in sports was of my cleavage. 

KY: …I’m sorry.

DR: (laughs) Back then, I wasn’t embarrassed, I didn’t even really care about it or know about it, but I was not a fan of coming into Fort Lauderdale as sailboat racers, in our bathing suits, because I thought it cheapened what we were doing. And I was quite against it. Ironically, then that photo came out and now I look at the photos and I’m like “Oh, if only I looked like that now!” (laughs)

KY: Did you have that, you know, almost stereotypical expression after you came back, thinking “I won’t do that again!” or did you immediately say, “I want to do that again next time.”

DR: Neither. I figured, I’ve checked the box, now what am I going to do? I was literally trying to decide between the Olympics and the America’s Cup when we finished. I did not intend to do the next race, I only did it because there had been a mutiny and I had to save the reputation of ‘89-90, because if the women had failed, then it would have been a step backwards further than before Maiden. Because Maiden was about “Can they do it?” “Yes, they can? Oh, that was a one-off.” That would have been the story. 

KY: So you did the America’s Cup in 1992, and you were the first woman in a physically-active role [on an America's Cup crew in 140 years]. 

DR: Mmm-hmm. 

KY: How did you end up joining that team?

DR: Open try-outs. There was a handful of women that tried out. I was just the only one that made the team. 

KY: This is also, significantly, this is also the year in which there is the movie made about the America’s Cup, Wind, that’s the fictionalization of the events of 1983.  

DR: That’s right, that’s right.

KY: And that’s kind of an alternate universe sort of story, but it struck me that this film that was set ten years before did have female crew, something that only became a reality that same year.

DR: I didn’t even think about that. I was so busy just training to go racing. 

Left: Fiction, Right: Reality

KY: Were you aware of the movie when it came out? 

DR: Oh, of course. We were aware of the movie. And I think I remember thinking it was okay. Everybody teased, everybody was joking about it. But I think it was pretty successful, pretty well-done. I had actually been asked to be in the film as a stunt-double at one point, and I thought they were joking. It turns out that they were, but it doesn’t matter– I was busy. 

KY: Yeah, it’s one of those love-it-or-hate-it movies, y’know? I love it, I know people who hate it, but I love it.  

DR: I don’t hate it at all. I’ve watched it a few times. There was a movie called Masquerade that I liked better, and it didn’t get nearly as much press.  

KY: I like to joke with my friends that I’m one of the 600 people on Earth who have actually seen Wind. 

DR: Oh no, I think there’s a lot of people that have seen Wind. Every junior sailing kid who has been at a program when there’s no wind out, gets to see Wind. 

KY: You were part of America^3–

DR: America Cubed. 

KY: Yes, America Cubed. Did you have the sense that you were the first?

DR: Oh yes. They maximized it in terms of publicity. We had three of us, there were two black guys on the team. So Art, myself, and Billy Ruh would go. It was the girl, the cute white guy, and the star black guy, we’d call ourselves the Mod Squad. 

KY: Oh, like the show, yes.

DR: Which was a TV show from the 60s. 

The America^3 crew were nicknamed "The Cubens" (pronounced like "Cubans") [x]

KY: So then you were in the Whitbread in 1993 again, like in the book. You joined the team after Leg 1 because there had been the mutiny and so forth… I almost don’t even want to ask anything because you said it all so well in the book!

DR: (laughs) So then just tell everyone to read the book. You can buy it now [online], it’s in paperback because we sold the 50,000 copies in hardback.  

KY: In the book, there’s the contrast between the management side of the team and so forth and dealing with the lawsuits and the money troubles, whereas you said when you’re out at sea, you’re focused on very specific tasks. So did you actually prefer the simplicity of focusing on what was going on aboard ship.

DR: It’s ironic. Because when you’re out there, all you really… it’s actually pure. It’s wonderful. It’s amazing, because you’re just focus, focus, focus. And you’re just trying quickly to get to shore. And with the second attempted mutiny on the boat while we were racing kind of took that purity away, so it wasn’t as good as with Maiden. The second time around the world or the second time you’re in the America’s Cup is never as pure and fun with that sense of discovery as the first time. The ironic part is that you’re racing and all you want to do is get to shore and see people and have a glass of wine and have actual vegetables that aren’t freeze-dried. And then you get there and somebody hands you a beer and then you forget about all of that. The first couple of days onshore are really annoying because there’s so much distraction and then you get into a routine and then before you go back, you are like “Ohhhhhh, I don’t want to go to sea, I want to stay in bed.”

[x]

KY: You captured that so well, talking about being in South America and hearing the winds keeping you up at night. And in the book you wrote a lot about Gloria Borrego, who recently passed.

DR: (quietly) I know.  

KY: She sounded incredible. Could you talk about her? 

DR: She was incredible. She worked in the pits in NASCAR, she was a brilliant engineer, a problem-solver, always laughing. Amazing. Diana Klybert wrote her obituary, which summed up more than any of us knew in terms of one aspect of her, and it was tragic that she got cancer and died within two weeks. One of my other friends, mutual friends, was upset and said that she had so much left to do. But I pointed out, she had done so much. 

KY: Just the good humor that came through in the book, where you were joking among yourselves, she was talking about her dreams, and she talked about how she dreamed she was a superhero. That was incredible, just so fun to read. 

DR: Yup.

KY: And you also talked about how you were getting letters from students and that you were impressed that people were following you.

DR: Yes, because you wouldn’t remember, you weren’t alive. [Actually, I was seven months old when the 1993 Whitbread started, but close enough.] But the Internet was just starting to happen and CompuServe was the e-mail. So we would sent a fax to a supporter in… Annapolis, I think? And then he would e-mail it out, because you couldn’t take a picture then, you couldn’t send attachments, he would re-type it into an e-mail and send it out to people via fax or e-mail. It was basically an early version of a listserv. 

KY: Yeah. I think that really the Whitbread and the America’s Cup were kind of pioneers in using the Internet for education [and outreach] and that way of letting people follow. The Whitbread website from 1997 had almost all of the modern features and everything! I know that in the 1995 America’s Cup, there was the PACT organization that was doing newspaper things for students every week. Really impressive stuff. 

DR: Sailors are early adopters. Because we are so remote. 

America^3 in 1995. [x]

KY: 1995, you were with the other America^3. Where it was specifically a women’s team. So that was, I suppose, the next step, now that there had been female crew, that there had been– 

DR: 1995, yeah. It was basically because Bill Koch and his financial advisors didn’t want him to spend all of this time and money and effort to do it again and underwrite it. 

KY: He had to do something different. 

DR: And so they came up with the idea of, should we do an all-women’s team. They asked me, and I said, “Noooo, let’s just sail mixed, it’s more fun.” And then I sat down and helped write the business plan for that, we called it the Manifesto, but it was a business plan. 

KY: I just thought when I read Huntington’s book and it was talking about the team dynamics and so forth and who’s in charge and interesting like that, talking with the trainers and so on. And here’s now we do certain things. I thought it was very funny, the story about forcing one of the chase boat guys to listen to you [all] talking about menstrual problems because he had been annoying or something.

DR: I don’t remember, there was a lot of funny stuff like that. Now, Anna was a rower, she came in kind of late on the team, but her background was journalism, so she wrote a journalistic story, which I fully support. It was slightly sensationalized to be able to sell books, a lot of the other women were very upset because it told too much. My belief is, whatever you do, you should be proud of it. So if everybody knows, it’s on the front page of The New York Times, then tough. You did it, you said it, it’s there, it’s true, share it. 

KY: I thought especially talking about the resistance that she faced, I was very impressed by that, it was very scathing in certain places. Talking about specifically the things that people said when they doubted you. I was joking with my friend, I said “She called this book Making Waves because the publisher probably said ‘You can’t call it Screw You, Dennis Conner!’” (laughs)

DR: Okay, yeah. We don’t like Dennis, but he’s now old, he’s older. He’s, yeah… 

KY: He disappeared. 

DR: Yeah. 

KY: And obviously that’s another incredible year in the history, with so many things going on, you literally saw a boat sink in the racing–

DR: Yeah.

KY: –and the different nationalities involved, of course it’s the year that Team New Zealand are just sweeping through. So, again, did you have this sense of being impressed that so many crazy things are going on and you’re in the midst of it?  

DR: You’re in the midst of it and you’re trying to just get stuff done. It was a different campaign. It was extremely unfortunate that we had no women in the leadership onshore, obviously we were on the boat, but you need to have that crossover and it was just math, to a point. Because if there had been more women that had had experience in the past, then we would have had more women on the coaching staff, more women on the design team, more women in the marketing team. So you would have had more of a cohesive team, as opposed to the guys do this half, all the business, and the women just hurry up and go sailing. Which hurt us a little bit in some of the decision making. 

KY: Yes, I got that sense from the book. And then you did have a mixed team in 2000, with America True. 

DR: And we hired the designer of the boat that sank. (laughs) Because he was definitely not going to build a boat that was going to sink.

KY: (laughs) I’ve actually read the official program for that edition, I got it online, and I have a question I’ve gotta ask…

DR: Hopefully I know the answer.

KY: Why was Godzilla on America True’s hull?!?

Reproduced from Challenge 2000: The Race to Win the America's Cup, by Russell Coutts and Paul Larsen.

DR: That’s because… it’s hilarious. So, in the America’s Cup, there’s extreme security, you’re not allowed to go into another team’s base, you’re not allowed to take photos because of certain parameters and all sorts of stuff. And we did have some espionage, but that was, I’m pretty sure I know who– I’m pretty sure it was a Kiwi– and when we came in in the morning, it was so hilarious. So they’d snuck in and they’d put Godzilla on the Golden Gate Bridge that was on the side of the hull. So it was just a prank. We could have protested them and had “damages” because they were in the base.

KY: They touched the hull.

DR: Some of the people were upset about that, and myself and Chris Coffin just thought it was so f—-ing funny. We were like, “Leave it!” So we left it on forever. 

KY: In the photos in the program, it’s there and I thought that you guys did that.  

DR: Nope. 

KY: But I thought, I’ve gotta ask why. In this case, you were in Auckland and y’know, this is not necessarily the period where it became– because it already was– that it was so integrated into the culture there. Did you have a sense of that, that this is a place where so much of the country is watching this?  

DR: Oh yeah. Because I’d lived in New Zealand off and on since 1992. It was my home. I was actually in London a week ago and staying with Jenni and Spike– Jenni was on both Maiden and Heineken and Spike was on New Zealand Challenge– and I said, I think there’s more friends per square mile of mine in New Zealand than anywhere else in the world. Just because I know so many of them and they’re good friends. And I was lucky to be sailing internationally when it was the decades of the Kiwis, and they’ve all gone home to roost.

KY: And you said in Taking the Helm, when you guys got into Fort Lauderdale, you told the people who were not Americans, you said, this is the United States, there’s not going to be as many people as there were in New Zealand because we don’t turn out as much, so…

DR: Well, no, it’s because they didn’t know that the race was happening as much. 

KY: Did you have a sense that this was so much a part of the culture, that people are going to recognize you on the street?

DR: They do. They still do.

KY: It’s a very different sort of experience, the way it’s integrated into their culture?

DR: Yeah. 

KY: Like you said, Peter Blake was a national hero. 

There are even children's books about him! [x]

DR: Well, there’s a big difference. New Zealand has a huge coastline, somewhere around 90% of people go boating regularly, it’s something insane like 86% own a boat, whether it’s a rowboat, or a launch, which is their word for a powerboat, or a yacht, which is their word for a sailboat. So of course you’re going to have more following. As opposed to, how many people in Kansas, Oklahoma, Idaho, North Dakota, South Dakota, y’know, Texas… there’s coastlines somewhere in there, but there’s so much vast, non-coastline.

KY: So would you say that our cultural disadvantage is our geography, in that way? 

DR: It’s just different. Just different, yeah.

KY: So then, you were in management and media in the next two editions. Flip those around, media and then management…  

DR: I was doing media coverage in 2003 and then I did sail on the boat up until the last 8 months, and I was general manager of the French team for 2007 where we raced in Valencia.  

KY: That was K-Challenge. And this is, talking about, three different countries within a decade, that the America’s Cup was in. And with the people who are part of that, involved with that, they talk about their kids going to school in different countries and so forth. So what’s it like, just that nomadic life? Where you know that now we’re here, but we don’t know where we’re going to be in five years because we don’t know who’s going to win? And just going somewhere else, do I have to learn a language, learn basic phrases and so forth? 

DR: Well, I mean, that’s a privilege, to be able to go and live in all different countries. Until Oakcliff, I had not lived in any place more than three years after I was 11.

KY: That’s amazing. 

DR: It’s cool. And you keep light, you don’t collect a lot of c-—, and you don’t need a lot of stuff. You collect experiences and friends, as opposed to material things.  

KY: And I know that in your book and also in Making Waves, you talked about, or people talked about you, reading home and garden magazines because it was something that was different from your own life. 

DR: Well, yeah, also if you’re moving to a new place you want to– nowadays we call it nesting– but you want to take the time and that’s you’re creative outlet, to make things pretty. To do gardens. I think somewhere it’s probably written that if I garden, I want something out of it. So I specifically garden with vegetables and some fruits. Flowers are there… marigolds to keep the pests away, but it’s not to make it pretty. It’s to make it productive.

KY: Practical gardening. 

DR: Yup.

14 years ago, the beginning of the AC multihull era. [x]

KY: Since that point, y’know, we’ve seen the America’s Cup change so much with technology and so forth. And that was sort of the point you moved out of that, you were working at Oakcliff, but how has it been watching all of these changes in the past fifteen years?

DR: (clicks tongue) Yeah, it has been fifteen years. I’m obviously out of the inside scoop on technology, I think the challenge is that there has been a concerted effort to make it marketable to the masses. And when I did the television in 2003, I learned, believed, and reinforced my belief that the way to make it entertaining and relevant to the masses is to educate the masses. Because sports fans, even if they don’t do the sport, want to be seen as the experts, so they can talk about it at the pub with their friends and have an opinion. You need to give them the information so that they can form an opinion in the end. That may or may not be right, because it’s all judgemental, but at least they have the tools. Just making something go fast and not educating people is not the answer. So the catamarans and the foiling gecko boats right now are a challenge on top of the fact that you don’t see the humans. People associate with humans. So I think there’s a lot of people that are in agreement with that, the question is, whoever wins, will they have the cojones to make that correct change. 

KY: I’ve seen discussions of this, how much jargon do you use and for what audiences? 

DR: Jargon is not a big deal. You say port, left side of the boat, starboard right side of the boat. It’s super frickin’ simple and it doesn’t have to be… it’s not the language that’s the problem. It’s the strategy, the tactics, the humans, why are they doing that? Oh, the wife just had a baby or that person’s mother just ended up visiting in town, the paint is a new coating that they think is faster, is it going to be faster or is more of a psychological advantage? Those kinds of conversations pull people in. And in all of that, I didn’t use a single sailing term.  

KY: Right. The thing I was thinking, when I was reading the book on the beach, and it was 2020, I was in lockdown, and I was waiting for the next edition coming up in 2021. And it was at that point that DutchSail had pulled out. And I was thinking, you know, this is 25 years ago, and there was this cohort of women who were crewing, and now they’re not. I felt that this is the light that failed. How did you feel that there has been a technological revolution in the America’s Cup but not necessarily a social one? 

DR: Well, there has been. Not in the America’s Cup, but SailGP, the Round-The-World, they’ve gone back and forth between incentives and requirements, and it’s making a difference. The America’s Cup is not going to put those rules in because almost all the rules are some sort of mutual consent, so you have to have at least two parties that are wanting to win to the death. So the only way that you’re going to be able to have women in the America’s Cup, I predict, by regulatory, by rules, is by having a sponsor who says we will give you corporate dollars as long as you have x number of women on the boat. Or you have the challenger and the defender who both believe it’s a competitive advantage for them to have their female on the boat. And then if they both believe that, then you’ll end up with women on the boat. But it’s really hard. 

KY: Do you think that if you had been in the match in ‘95, that it would have been different? 

DR: No.

KY: That people would have said, see, clearly women can be at least in the match, so…

DR: No. I don’t think anyone makes that distinction. That has nothing to do with it. And also, frankly, the Kiwis were so much faster, that we would have been seen as the women that lost the America’s Cup. So, no.

KY: And then with the set-up they have now, where they made a separate event.

DR: That’s… silly.

KY: Yes! That’s what I was saying, that I feel like previously it was by rule, open, but de facto all-male, now it seems like it’s de jure all-male, because you’re separating.  

DR: Where it does help, and where it may help the overall event in the future, is because they’re focusing on women and youth, countries like Holland, Australia, I don’t know the other… 

KY: Canada? 

DR: Canada, those countries have an entree for young people with a longer runway, launchpad, to get into whatever the next America’s Cup is. So from a marketing perspective, it’s extremely good. Do I wish that we just had women on the real boats? Absolutely. And in particular, in the US, there’s at least two women that are relegated to the women’s team that absolutely should be on the real team.

KY: I feel like when you say “The Women’s America’s Cup”, that’s different from saying “Women IN the America’s Cup”. 

DR: Correct. 

KY: And with what you were saying, having a women’s team vs a mixed team. That when it’s a women’s team, there’s focus on that, whereas if it’s a co-ed team then it’s just people.

DR: Just people, exactly. We need to sail with people.  

Liv Mackay, Gemma Jones, and Veerle ten Have of the New Zealand Women's America's Cup Team. [x]

KY: Now you work at Oakcliff and you have for 15 years now…

DR: 14.

KY: 14.

DR: It’s only 14. (laughs)

KY: What are some of your duties and responsibilities here? 

DR: I’m the executive director and that means doing everything that needs to get done, from making sure that Matt’s buying the right washing machine ‘cause the kids don’t all take c--– out of their pockets and it ends up in the pumps and breaks them– that’s an eight-hundred-dollar mistake– to getting the art show set up, to the fundraising, to coaching the development person about marketing, to cleaning out the shop, to supervising the composites– although Luke’s doing an amazing job there– to sailing, to coaching. 

KY: What is this art exhibit?

DR: It’s a fundraiser. So, we have an art show April 6th. We have one every spring. Hunt Lawrence is our main benefactor, and his wife is an artist and she has an art school in New York– New York School of the Arts– so we do a joint fundraiser every spring. And then she does a fundraiser in the fall with art shows. So it’s an art exhibit, there’s a champagne brunch, and all the art’s for sale and a portion, minimum 20% up to 100%, goes to Oakcliff. Hunt doesn’t care as much about all of that, he just thinks it’s really cool that we have a deadline to clean up the place from the winter mess to the summer. 

KY: (laughs) Oh my god.

DR: (laughs)

KY: So what is life like for the students here?

DR: You can and should ask them. It depends on the season and the day. I’ve seen more people come through here, we’re at nearly 600 graduates, or over 600 graduates. And some years, it’s kind of the wild west in the beginning, where they’re living offsite and nobody under 18 was allowed. Sometimes we have super-young groups, just because we’re 15 and above. We had one camp where it was 8 boys and girls between 15 and 17, and then 3 women that were in their 60s. And it all worked, but it was awkward in the beginning and it became a great team-building event. At the very end of that particular camp, we had a competition where they divided up into teams and they would do a cooking competition where they could only use stuff that was upstairs, kind of like on Top Chef. They all brought it to my house for lunch and we awarded, I think it was a watermelon soup with a basil-olive oil puree drizzle and a sprinkle of feta that won. 

KY: That sounds great.

DR: It was great. It was a 15-year-old boy that made that.

KY: Are you satisfied with what you’ve achieved at Oakcliff?

DR: We’ve achieved amazing things. Our goal right now is to make it sustainable without me onsite and without our main benefactor. So that’s our next frontier. At the same time, we’re under pressure to expand into Florida and to California, which is totally doable but I need to clone myself a couple times. 

KY: Now that you’ve had so many people come through, what are some of the things you’ve seen your students achieve? 

DR: I go back to Seth Cooley, is one of the top engineers at Future Fibers. Ervin Grove was running the North Sails loft in Charleston. Madeline Baldridge now is married to a coach who was here– and he is a son of our navigator from ‘92, so it’s a small world– she is one of the designers for North Sails. Chris Kennedy works for Melges and he and his wife have a flower farm in Wisconsin. Mark [Towill] and Charlie [Enright] obviously won The Ocean Race. Five of our graduates are working with American Magic. Robyn Lush is working with them a little bit, she’s also become an ultra-marathoner. Koko [Komar] is working in commercial real estate. Mike Nicoletti has a hedge fund. And that’s just off the top of my head.  

X-Men comics and Percy Jackson novels taught me that all good specialized schools for young people with extraordinary talents must be tucked away in small towns just a train ride away from New York City…

KY: Do you feel like you’re almost, I guess, Professor X, finding the young talent and helping them…

DR: Of course. Of course. We’re giving them the opportunity to come in and try things out. It’s not always an easy thing. And it’s a little bit like I suspect parenthood would be. You’re just like, this kid is driving me frickin’ crazy and they hate me right now, and then 5 years later I’ll get an e-mail from them saying, “I was a jerk, and you were mean to me, but I needed it, thank you.” I just wish I didn’t have to do that over and over and over again. But we try to just keep it at a professional level, acknowledge that we’re asking for ultimate effort, and that not everybody’s going to succeed, but you know where the bar is. 

KY: You talked about having the other locations. What are some other things you’re hoping for, for the future of Oakcliff?

DR: Again, the sustainability so that I don’t have to be here. Because it is a model where we have tuition for the Saplings, we have sponsorships, we have art shows. We have income lines, retail, and yet we need to fund-raise for the overhead, essentially. So about 50% of the budget comes from charitable donations. One thing that would make it more sustainable is to be able to get the landlords to agree to sell us the property, because then we would end up net positive on the bottom line. We do a capital campaign so we don’t have to pay rent. We’ve worked on getting the insurance down. So there’s a lot on the business side of it. It’s really boring to people, but we use our dollars. Around 90, I think the lowest we’ve been is 87% of every dollar goes to programming, and we’ve been as high as 96%. So we’re the golden children of utilizing every dollar for programming. 

KY: Would you say that your reputation and star power are important to–

DR: My reputation, I’m not going to say star power, but my reputation and credibility is what built Oakcliff. The good news is that 5 years ago, 8 years ago, everything that happened at Oakcliff would reflect on me. Now Oakcliff’s grown to the point that if I just slowly took a backseat, it’s its own entity, which is a sign of success. Because it can’t be attached. If I get run over by a bus, 8 years ago, everybody would say, well, Oakcliff’s done. Same thing with our main benefactor. Now we’re trying to get it to the point that it’s not surrounding just one person. It’s more of the reputation of quality and a community. 

KY: And I think we can see that it has to be larger than just the person.

DR: Absolutely.

KY: That the leader is not the whole organization, and if the organization is seen as too closely tied to the leader, then anything the leader does reflects on the organization and that can be a weakness.

DR: Exactly.

Oakcliff trainees Sweta Shervegar and Noelle Scheer in the boatyard.

KY: We spoke about the role of the sport of sailing in American culture. There has been, I would say, especially with offshore, sort of a decline in visibility in the past 25 years and so forth. And everyone’s got their own reason for that, y’know–

DR: Well, part of it is that it’s become more accessible. Before, there used to be one race, and only a handful of crazy people dared to do it. Now it’s become safer, more communication, more safety equipment, more rescue opportunities, more people. Again, Cole Brauer, in Class 40, livestreaming dinner parties… I mean, I didn’t take a shower for 5 weeks, and I barely had time to write in my diary and drink Ovaltine. Y’know, so, it’s a different… it’s more accessible, so it seems to be easy, but it’s also become more fractured. 

KY: There’s many different races attracting attention, but also attention in general is more split because of the Internet and more TV channels. But it seems like, also, I feel like now “sports” means “ball sports” more than it used to. 

DR: Say that again?

KY: I feel like now, when I look at ESPN and so forth, “sports” is ball sports more than it necessarily was when you guys were getting your specials on ESPN and so on.

DR: No. When we were back in the day, to have anything on other than football, basketball and baseball in America… even hockey struggled. It’s changed. There’s so much more inventory again, technology allows you to produce high quality broadcast-ready programming, so women’s sports has benefited hugely from that.

KY: Yes. 

DR: Sailing is on TV more than you would think, but there’s also more clutter. 

KY: I remember when the documentary came out, people said, if Mike Plant had lived, then we would have had an American visibly in the Vendée [Globe] and that would have brought more visibility for offshore [racing] in the United States. And now we do have some American offshore figures with 11th Hour Racing and now with Cole Brauer who are getting all of this attention. Do you think that’s a positive development that we have these people who are…

DR: Yeah. Of course it’s positive. The thing is, how do you channel it for a purpose and what is that purpose? Is it more eyeballs for your sponsors? That’s one thing. Is it more people in sailing? That’s a different thing. Is it a more robust industry? That’s another thing. Is it more environmental and ecology awareness? That’s another thing. Just taking this power, which seems to be scattershot, and putting it into a clear mission and achieving that mission. And all missions are achievable, you just have to know what it is that you’re trying to do. I think Cole is a perfect example. She didn’t expect it. So now it’s going to be really interesting, I think she might be going over to MerConcept. She has power right now, I know she has advisors, and her advisors and she have to make a decision. She could do like Ellen MacArthur. Ellen doesn’t sail at all, but she has her Ellen MacArthur Trust and she uses that to do specific charitable work. I think Cole’s probably too energetic, dynamic to stop there. But what does she want to do? 

KY: What do you think that she did well, particularly with the presentation?

DR: The amount of followers she has is crazy. And she has brought in a huge non-sailing audience. And there is a legitimate discussion, like I talked about way back, amongst technical sailors, about the merits and how this happened. And again, she needs to decide what her purpose is and how she’s going to capitalize on something that she’s built that’s amazing. 

[x]

KY: You were talking about also, the 11th Hour people who came through here. What would you say that they have perhaps done well in presentation?

DR: 11th Hour changed the conversation around the environment hugely and now they’re moving on to women with the MerConcept, which is François Gabart. And that’s Wendy Schmidt, that’s from the top, that’s a female decision-maker and leader.

KY: I wanted to say this before, but talking about the management side as well, you said that there has been a social revolution in the past few decades. I actually saw the interview for the 25th anniversary of America^3, where they had Melanie Roberts who’s the race coordinator for America’s Cup and for SailGP. And that she had been, I think, ten years old watching you guys? [Roberts was actually 9 at the time of the 1995 Cup.]

DR: Oh yes. Yes.

KY: The people on the boats get the most attention, but there are people at all levels who are sort of this generation that has been inspired by the people before them. 

DR: Uh-huh. This sport is… it’s complicated. It’s an industry, and a sport, and a lifestyle, and a pastime. It’s all in one. We’re not going to talk about, we don’t need to talk about the Olympics, but that’s part of the national governing body of US Sailing, they also need to figure out what they can do and once they figure that out, they need to do it well. And they’re doing none of it well at this point. Because it’s so complicated. Unlike skiing, perfect example, there’s the Olympic ski team and then there’s the recreational part of it, so all the ski hills have a business association that then spins off some funding for the Olympic team. 

KY: Are there any other people you think who are impressive competing nowadays, who came through Oakcliff or otherwise, who you think I should be following?

DR: I started going through names there, Lena Kurbiel is rowing with Liz Wardley [across the Pacific], so there’s one. Sydney Monahan has finished school, she’s going to do a Women’s Match Racing campaign. Sweta, our high-performance coach, is going to go over to MerConcept, Michaela [Robinson] is going to be over there trying out. If I started looking down the 600 people, I would have 600 names for you to follow.

[therealestidealist]

idk dude I'm NT too and something I've learned is that sometimes you don't have to understand something to respect it. so you don't get why commercial art is ok to repost even though it's been explained to you (and frankly you are making bad faith arguments, imo), but it's still been said over and over so clearly it's something people feel is important. I think you ought to consider why instead of acting like a martyr when no one has told you to kys.

(I don't necessarily think the arguments made abt sharing some types of art were all that eloquent but I don't really think you'll listen so I'm not going to try to clarify)

sorry some people were rude to you but you came out the gate very rude and entitled in the original message when they were being polite. being called buddy is neutral, it's not some sort of hatecrime. maybe you had a shitty day or something and were in a bad mood, and this only made that worse, but the way you lashed out was inappropriate. being NT is not an excuse. we are not stupid. we can learn when we fuck up and how to react appropriately despite how ugly our initial reactions to criticism can be. just cause your brain tells you "everyone hates you cause you fucked up" does not make that true. I've learned this the hard way and you probably will too.

i think at this point you are really just being willfully ignorant and standing your ground bc you don't want to admit wrongdoing. I get it but I think it's time to let it go.

and again, some people were rude and you lashed out, but others were polite and you just call them considering. there's no winning and no opportunity for growth or improvement with that attitude. learn to take criticism instead of trying to guilt anyone who has something negative to say about something you did by telling them you're going to kill yourself and that everyone wants you dead. (people are criticizing something you DID, not YOU as a person. there's a difference.)

you're the one suicide baiting. please do better cause I know from experience that behavior won't do you any good.

I hope you can put this behind you because it really was not a big deal until you lashed out. You'll move on and it'll be okay. Just learn what you can from this.

This is exactly what I'm talking about with being talked down to and gaslighting. I didn't fuck up. What I did wasn't art theft. I did a lot of googling about what is and isn't considered stealing art over the past day. I was talked to as if being sat down in time out, picked apart by the public and ridiculed over something that many people don't find egregious at all. My wife is an artist and encouraged me to share the art in the first place. I myself am a sex worker, I've had my work reposted before, sometimes with credit and sometimes without. This isn't to say this particular artist's wishes shouldn't be respected, I took down the post per the artist's request. It's just to say that the way I was treated like I was being taught a lesson over something for which there is no official guidebook or any clear consensus over was very mob-like. I was defensive in my original DMs because I was accused of theft. I don't think what I did was theft because there were credits. Then I was accused of "not trying hard enough to contact the artist". The artist's Tumblr is not connected to their twitter, and they don't even have the same handle. So even if I knew to contact them, to act like it would have been easy to find their Tumblr is simply disingenuous. The person who informed me about this artist's preferences likely just recognized the artist from here already.

No, I'm not arguing in bad faith. You and others in notes are insistent that I just need to listen to and accept what people are accusing me of without question. Don't I get to state my case? The way I was treated was inhuman. That's why I feel as though everyone hated me. I did not "fuck up" and you won't make me believe I fucked up. I am not an idiot. I am not going to just accept being scolded and belittled over something that frankly isn't even a real problem (posting art with credits). The whole distinction over being paid vs not being paid and the accusation that my credits weren't "proper" remain vague. These are not satisfactory explanations to me. No one has tried to clarify to me why it is considered etiquette to do something that so many artists dont even care about. One artist has a message about not sharing their art that I didn't see before sharing it and now I'm an art thief for crediting them? You can see why I am defensive? You can see why this doesn't register as a "fuck up" to me?

This whole thing could have been avoided if I had been linked to the artist's post in the opening message instead of being accused of stealing - which I must emphasize - I DID NOT STEAL. I poured over discussions about art reposting over the past day and have come to the conclusion that I was falsely accused and the intent was to smear me from the start. The way you see the original DM as reasonable honestly sickens me. They were only after some Internet clout and they got it. If you talk like this to your friends and family I feel sorry for them.

You need to step down and reflect on your priorities. Stop siding with manipulators. Stop policing small personal blogs who just want to be left alone. Stop lying about norms/etiquette/courtesies that are far from unanimously agreed upon. You will be remembered as a hateful bully if you continue on acting sanctimoniously and talking down to people instead of engaging with them honestly and thoughtfully, with compassion and a willingness to listen.

[troofless]

Chapter 1.1 Notes:

Man this chapter was so long despite like. Almost nothing happening in it lol.

wtf i cant believe we have an entire pov (sub)chapter about flynn insane

man norein (i feel like localisation would put it as norraine or noraine) and finath are such whack names 

i still think its funny if yuri can’t read (he can at least read the letters on the wanted poster, but he does give flynn’s letter to estelle to read that one time, and the coliseum challenge letters) but yeah its canon yuri can read 😔

huh wtf is this sudden attack and we get to see flynn inner thoughts on yuri???

the yuri’s OUR SWORD meme returns. love it

if this is how yuri and flynn co-own a sword i can’t wait to see how they act around repede (this never happens in the ln.) (FLYNN ITS MY TURN TO CUDDLE WITH THE DOG) (NO SHUT UP GO AWAY I THOUGHT YOU HATED HIM) (I NEVER SAID I DID) (YOU DID TOO) (I DID NOT)

yuri besmirching ages old techniques even as he learns them never gets old 😔yuri is that guy who goes to lab in a fighting game and comes out learning sick infinite tech combos that can’t be dropped

the narration: if this continued, it was likely that they would murder each other.

everything changed with a single book: why did they have to put it like that man

oh if only this was a fanfic this would have turned out so differently

So when Yuri says his swordsmanship is self-taught what he really meant is Flynn taught

oh my god. i can see it coming. yuri is going to ask to be taught letters so he can read the goddamn book. bruh.

edit: yeah it happened

also flynn pov! very nice. can see he wants to murder yuri but is holding back just a smidge. 

gotta love how flynn has a whole sad monologue about his dead dad and his mixed feelings about his martyrdom and yuri just KYs his way into existence.

oh i see! so flynn. has learnt to restrain himself from young. because of yuri. the reason he has so much self-control is because he practised it in order not to beat the shit out of yuri at first sight. it all makes sense now. 

ok so fun fact. 秘奥義 is mystic artes. but 奥義 is arcane artes, which is how yuri refers to what is ‘hidden’ in flynn’s book. and his ‘learn even more amazing techniques’ moment he says 技 which is strike arte. but technically since they’re talking about (supposedly) techniques that can be used without blastia, defaulting to the phrase techniques shld be fine. b4 u ask. no katakana reading above the kanji either.

flynn acknowledging that him and yuri are friends and getting embarrassed is so cute. icy cold (raging) baby melting a little inside. 

jiri thinking yuri is thinking up another river escapade (somewhat true knowing his read books -> beat up people/monsters pipeline) interrogating yuri until he cracked is so funny

jiri doing a tails get trolled at yuri wanting to study is so funny

hanks, sensing an opportunity to be had is also funny

man. i really REALLY can’t wait for the moment where yuri is all like. rip to your mother but i would have eaten that medicine. and flynn beats him up (i have no idea whether this actually happens)

ok so holy shit. we learn that flynn’s mother has either a TON of pride or is super depressed from having lost her husband that she would prefer to starve to death. now i really can’t wait for yuri’s rip to your mother moment /j

ok thats cute so yuri is writing his name aka ‘yuri lowell’ on his slate

oh yeah and the norein name stays to make stuff easier to find. i sleep until official gives us something (which is never) but in my mind know that she is noraine (no rain... ok maybe there is a point to be matter in staying with norein)

[petalpathic]

Glad to have you back! I been looking forward for this story!!

Can we get a little more description for each RO’s route? Something like what troupe we can expect, or just who has the slow or fast routes?

And how important is romance going to be in this story? Or is it going to focus more on resolve the mystery of MC’s death and revival? Both would be really fun to read!

Hope I didn’t just give you too much stress by bombarding you with all my questions…feel free to save one for later. I wish the writing goes well!

<3333 you are too sweet! i actually love questions, it makes me more motivated i think knowing someone wants to know more about my work !

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tropes

Vanessa

- Potential for grumpy x sunshine - (her) First everythings (i think her route is the most wholesome idk) - Ice Queen

Kate

- it is "canon" that Kate is physically attracted to the MC when they first meet, if you reciprocate, the feelings will grow, but if not they will disappear with no hard feelings. - There is a possible fwb/casual hookups stage, too, completely optional. - huge flirt who can't handle when you flirt back - potential age gap, since Kate is far on the younger side of the age range.

Austin

-mention wanting something, he's already adding it to his cart -he has been in the industry his whole life, he doesn't know what it's like to be "normal", if you're an MC from humble beginnings, I think it's really special to explore that stuff with him and something I reallyyy want to write! -ORR an MC who also grew up in the spotlight, you can try those "normal" activities for the first time together :)

Ky

- Tired smiles - screw "would kill for you" , he would live for you. - Quiet kid with a plethora of secrets - Mutual Pining he is such a dork i can't (affectionate)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I think all of the routes will be pretty slow since most of our ROs are still in the process of grieving MC, and then being hit with MC actually being alive.

On a scale of slow to "fast":

??? > Vanessa/Ky > Austin > Kate

I don't like to advertise ??? too much because they are not in the main storyline as much as the rest of the crew.

Vanessa and Ky are tied because both of them are really hard to get to know/open up. Vanessa has a hard time expressing vulnerability and Ky is just...very private.

Austin is...well he has a hard time wrapping his head around everything. Very skeptical, he's just being cautious.

Kate is just very open about how she feels, she's real big on communication. She also has a bit of a "You could die again tomorrow, let's do it differently and live with no regrets" mindset. Obviously, she would respect it if MC is not ready after having just died and coming back to life.

To be honest, this could change depending how the story pans out, but just thinking on what I know about them this is what feels right for now.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I want it to be a pretty good balance of relationships and plot.

You can play without romancing someone. There will be a best-friend option in the beginning and someone who has no romance will be on their best friend's platonic route.

I hope that makes sense!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Wow! I hope that was good enough...The tropes might have been the most difficult for me since the routes aren't super developed yet but I think I did ok.

Also, realized how tired I was when I noticed I'd been writing "Katie" instead of "Kate" the whole time.

This was so much fun, though!

[stromuprisahat]

You know, personally I think of the Darkling as a different character than you do (Alina too) but your posts are fun to read still. I just wanted to vent a bit about how much hostility is there in this fandom. How much you get jumped for saying anything except for "the 'morally' correct thing" you get jumped and condescended by a hundred different people (especially on Twitter) and it is just so frustrating like even if i believe your thing that he is evil incarnate (strongly disagree) you still don't have to do all that, he is NOT REAL, calling people abuse apologists, digging up old tweets where a person talks about their abusive past relationship and then using it as a gotcha and comparing it to a fictional story and ugh. I don't know I know it is stupid to care about strangers online but so needlessly cruel and personal attacks and dissecting every little detail of said past abuse and it made me fucking cry like it's stupid i am not a child i shouldn't cry about this stuff but whatever

Kys is just a funny phrase they use, ok but 'you deserved what happened to you', 'and it will happen again' and other shaming and all of that while picking out the most vulnerable details from the abuse story and i wasn't even making a ship post (not implying that this should happen to shippers, this should happen to no one at all, just trying to say how extreme the reaction was when someone had mildly different views) i was merely analysing some of his thought process, not even 'justifying' (which again people can) like come on. sorry for venting here lol, was feeling very alone

[lesbianlenas]

feel weird abt it being 2024. just bc 10 yrs ago was when i really spiraled into depression (i got depression when i was 11 but i got better for a bit when i was 13 and then it came back lol) & i was like oh life is so terrible i should kms. which like first of all was very overdramatic of me when i hadn’t even gone to high school & i was like my life is over there’s no hope for me like girl u r a literal child. second of all it’s like 😭 ok a decade has passed & i still feel the same….the only difference is legit that i love being a lesbian now & i was repressing it back then. otherwise i still have the same depressive thoughts except it’s worse now bc i’m not a child w my whole life ahead of me i’m in my early 20s w my whole life ahead of me. this just made me realize the whole life ahead of me part may be the problem i had both then & now actually 😳 also maybe it was worse in 2014 bc i lacked emotional regulation & my brain was nowhere near fully developed & i have more autonomy now. ok yeah nothing in the world is worse than being 14. anyway moral of the story is that u CAN still want to kys after a decade of depression and trying to make things better for urself. happy new year 😚

[ohklah0ma]

I just noticed the text on you ask box button so: tell me about your ocs. all of them, your favorite, I do not care. I wish to hear all you have to say (also I really like your new blog theme, it's very calming and quiet on my eyes)

THANK U i love dark colors bc im very light sensitive so thats a big thi nf i was going for w my new theme<33

ok oc time!!!!!!!!uh uh i dont really know where or who to start with so ill prolly just go w quickly rambling about my ocs from tbe casino gang!!!!! this story is mostly in collaboration w my sibling kay and they have about half of the characters here but im mostly gonna focus on mine for times sake because theres. like 10 in total which would take a long time bc you know i wont shut up about anything

i have a bunch of ocs who all work at this casino somewhere between multiverses that we still dont have a name for but its ok. lots of people from all sorts of different worlds show up there but its usually dimensional travelers or backrooms wanderers or random characters who have been magically brought there just for funsies :-)

first we have avery!!!!my partial sona whos also their own character its weird avery created the casino sometime after they died and became a god, its one of the things theyre most proud of and they wouldnt work anywhere else for the world. except sometimes they would because their employees are little shits sometimes (which is kind of what you’d expect from half your workforce being either undead immortal children or raging alcoholics (abel.)) theyre basically a wine mom friend tbh but the kind of wine mom who would absolutely tear you apart with an axe if you did sometjing to their kids. theyre very protective of their employees and their sibling/co-owner abel (kay’s oc) <3 but they arent afraid to be a little strict with them

indigo is averys best friend and technically head of security even though they dont even work there! theyve just been given full authority over the security staff because theyre slay like that. one of my fruitiest ocs ever i swear indigo died very soon after avery did! they were friends before they died as well but avery has no idea and indigo would like to keep it that way. they wear a mask concealing the right side of their face and they loooove to scare people with whats behind it. they met avery and helped them get back onto their feet after they died <3 even though they have full security clearance theyre literally just a regular visitor at the casino and nobody really knows Why theyre best friends but its fine. theyre also very protective of avery and abel and of course their friend ephetatis (kay’s oc) and their little sister ruby!

ruby is a little shit. im just gonna say that now i adore her so much but shes the definition of a chaotic neutral mean lesbian sje would tell you to kys unapologetically if she thought it was funny (but she would apologize if it made someone sad) she and indigo are both. weird vampire demon creature dudes. she was assigned to be indigos younger sister by higher-up gods and she was a bit hesitant to trust them at first but indigo is very responsible and the two got along very quickly! they have a really interesting dynamic because ruby lived during a much more modern time period than indigo so she learned about. internet things and stuff like that more easily which makes for some really funny scenarios. ruby will occasionally get dragged to the casino when she cant be trusted to be home alone but now she has to help out there a bunch because she and her best friend kris (kay’s oc) broke a $27,000 chandelier (kris did it on purpose. bitch) and now they have to work off this ridiculous amount of debt. however they do get free snacks so thats cool i guess

parsley and sofi are two little guys who probably live in the walls i have no idea what or who they are but they annoy abel and help avery and cause chaos. they are never not together so its impossible to not draw or write about them together. avery kind of just took them in and now they help ephetatis at the bar (they handle the non-alcoholic drinks and clean things) and sometimes sofi sneaks salt into abels wine because it think its really funny

and those r all the main important characters!!!!the ones i own anyway!!!!!! theyre so silly and i love the whole casino gang to death and i worked on thisfor like 45 minutes so i hope you enjoy this massive infodump thank you for reading