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pascalispretty · 1 month ago

Text

the feeling is mutual

Sonny Carisi x F!Reader

Rating: Explicit

Word Count: 4.9k

Tags: pining, idiots in love, cowgirl sex, Sonny's praise kink, only one bed trope

Summary: You've had a crush on your colleague for years. You go to a work conference with him, and fate fucks with you by making sure you get a room with just the one bed.

A/N: Soooooooo I started working on this back in October 2022, at the request of the lovely @misscharlielulu. Life intervened, and I kinda got the writing yips, but when I saw that @storiesofsvu's bingo had an 'Only One Bed' square I was determined to finish it. Unbeta'd like whoa, so please be gentle! (ao3).

You should have been suspicious of Benson’s offer to send you to the conference from the beginning. It had been presented to you nicely enough - a long weekend in Boston, paid for by the department so you could attend the Conference on Crimes Against Women. It hadn’t taken much persuading to get you to agree to go, especially when you found out Carisi was also going.

That was before the drive from hell. The two of you had left as soon as you finished work for the day, only to almost immediately hit nasty traffic. What should have been a four-hour journey had taken almost seven thanks to an accident just past the Connecticut state line. After swapping driver duties with Sonny somewhere outside of Hartford, you’d found your eyelids starting to get heavy, but had resolved to stay awake. It wasn’t fair to Carisi for you to sleep while he drove.

You have no idea how long you’ve been dozing when a gentle nudge to your arm wakes you.

“Hey, I think we’re finally here,” Sonny says as you rub your eyes. So much for not sleeping. You’re relieved to see that he’s pulling into the parking garage below the hotel, but it's short-lived.

“God, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to fall asleep.” You roll your neck, wincing at the crick that’s developed from resting your head on the window.

“It’s fine, I figured you could use it. The Spellman case has us all working late.” He’s right; the case was drawing plenty of media attention, and you’d all been racking up plenty of OT trying to solve it. The two of you had spent part of the drive debating it, and whether there was a way to get the stupid, invasive podcast taken down.

You both grab your bags and make your way to the elevator. Pressing the button for the lobby, you try and fail to suppress a yawn.

“Sorry,” you apologise again. “It’s been a while since I’ve had a good night’s sleep.”

“The feeling is mutual, don’t worry. I can’t even remember the last time I woke up and actually felt rested,” Carisi says lightly, giving you a soft, understanding smile. You try not to think too deeply about the way it makes your stomach twist - or, for that matter, how good he looks in his new camel coat.

“Tell me about it,” you groan. The elevator spills the two of you out into a deserted lobby, and you do a double-take when you look out of the enormous windows at the front of the building.

“Oh, yeah. It started snowing about an hour ago,” Sonny says, cutting himself off with a yawn. Outside, the snow is coming down thick and fast, already sticking to the ground. You can just about see the glow of a few headlights, but beyond that, the world has turned to a soft dove grey.

There’s a harried-looking woman behind the concierge desk; the Conference attracts cops from all over the country, you wouldn’t be surprised if the hotel was booked out by the various agencies and precincts.

“Hi, we have two rooms booked for us. Should be under the name Benson?” Sonny asks the concierge, searching on his phone for the confirmation email Liv had forwarded to you both. The concierge types something on the computer sitting on her desk and frowns.

“I got one room under that name. Any other name you might have used?”

“No, Liv definitely said she booked them under her name,” you tell her, glancing at Sonny as he turns his phone to show the woman behind the desk.

“Our Lieutenant definitely booked us two rooms, look,” Sonny tries, and the two of you exchange a frown. The concierge scans the email, then her own screen again.

“I don’t know what to tell you. The system only has one booking under Benson. It’s the only room left in the hotel; we’re booked solid because of this conference.” You and Sonny exchange another look.

“I mean - I don’t mind sharing if you don’t?” You tug your lower lip between your teeth, trying to think of another solution that doesn’t involve sharing a bedroom with the colleague you have a very inappropriate crush on. Sonny taps his fingers on the desk and looks again at the concierge as though he’s hoping she’ll be able to conjure another room out of nowhere.

“I wouldn’t wanna make you uncomfortable.” He sounds so earnest, and you want to pinch his cheeks and tell him he could never, but instead you shrug.

“It’s fine, you won’t. Unless you snore, or sleepwalk or something,” you tease, and he grins.

“I’ve never had any complaints,” he says, turning back to the concierge. Is it your imagination, or is he blushing slightly? “Can we get the keys, please?” The woman looks relieved that the two of you have resolved the situation between yourselves, and seemingly can’t press the keycards into your hands fast enough.

“You’re in 2342; take the elevator to the fourth floor and turn right.” The two of you thank her and pick your bags up again.

“Should we say something to the Lieutenant?” You offer as the two of you make your way upstairs. “She might be getting charged for both rooms or something.”

“Yeah, probably. Maybe the hotel thought she meant two beds, not two rooms?” Sonny runs a hand through his hair; the product’s grip on his greying locks has relaxed, leaving it looking soft and touchable.

“Maybe,” you say distractedly, stopping in front of door 2342. “I think this is us.” You try the keycard and are relieved when the light on the lock turns green.

“I don’t know about you, but I can’t wait to get some sleep.” Carisi takes your bag as you push open the door, and you smile quickly at him over your shoulder.

“Oh no, the feeling is definitely mutual. I feel like I could sleep for a week-” You abruptly cut yourself off when you turn the light on and get a glimpse of the room. It’s a perfectly nice room–if anything slightly nicer than what you had been expecting on the department’s dime. It’s decently sized, with large windows and a flatscreen on the wall. There’s even a comfy-looking overstuffed armchair by one of the windows.

The only problem is that there’s only one bed.

Your cheeks burn as you realise your mistake. You had assumed that the hotel had accidentally put you in one room with two beds, instead of two rooms with one bed each.

“Oh shit, Carisi, I’m sorry-” You start, walking deeper into the room so he has space to enter behind you and see what the problem is. The door clicks closed behind him, and you swallow thickly.

“Oh. Uh-” he rakes his hand through his hair again. “You take the room. I’ll find somewhere else.” He offers, but you’re already shaking your head.

“Where? The concierge said they were full, and there’s no way you can get a decent room on this short notice.” You worry your bottom lip between your teeth again, trying to walk the fine line between sounding considerate and desperate. As much as the thought of sharing a bed with Carisi makes you panic, you don’t want to kick him out into the cold.

“No, it’s fine. I can sleep in the car if I can’t find anywhere; I don’t wanna make you uncomfortable or anything.” It’s so characteristically sweet that you roll your eyes. Crossing over to the window, you pull the drapes aside just enough to see the snow still falling thick and fast outside.

“You are not sleeping in your car in a blizzard, Carisi. It’s fine, I’ll sleep on the armchair.” You grab a pillow from the bed before he can argue and throw it towards the chair. “Crank the thermostat up and lend me a blanket from the bed, and I’ll be fine.”

“I’m not letting you sleep in a chair,” he says, though he does move over to the thermostat to change it. “I’ll take the chair.”

“You’re like seven feet tall, there’s no way you’re sleeping in the chair.”

“I’m six foot even, and a night sleeping there won’t kill me. In the morning, I’ll look for a room in a different hotel or something.” You open your mouth to argue with him again, but he cuts you off. “You’re not changing my mind. I have three sisters, I know how to be stubborn.”

“Fine. Better than you trying to drive around in this storm, as tired as you are.” You throw your hands up in exaggerated defeat, before starting to tug one of the sheets off the bed. Carisi moves to the other side of the bed to help you, stripping the top sheet off and tossing it onto the armchair.

“You wanna use the bathroom first?” Your bags are still sitting by the door, and you pick up your overnight bag and set it on the bed. For a brief moment you panic as you start to unzip it; what pyjamas did you pack in your hurry this morning? You can’t remember if they’re relatively normal looking, or the grotty but oh-so-cosy ones you usually reserve for being ill or on your period.

“Nah, you go ahead.” Out of the corner of your eye, you can see him shaking the sheet out to drape it over the armchair. Your hands finally close on your pyjamas, and you take them and your toiletry bag into the bathroom. The bathroom is, just like the room, nicer than you had expected it to be. The little soaps and shampoos are brands you actually recognise, and you’re delighted to see that your room has a shower and a tub. Maybe tomorrow you can have a nice, long soak and pretend this mortifying night never happened.

It doesn’t take you long to throw your hair up in a messy bun and wash the remains of your makeup off your face. You strip quickly out of your work clothes, hesitating a moment before deciding to keep your bra on. Slipping on the grey tank top you’d brought as a pyjama top, you’re a little relieved that the pyjamas you’d grabbed at random from the drawer were plain and not embarrassingly old or cutesy.

Your relief is short-lived. When you go to shake out the folded-up black leggings, you realise with dawning horror that they’re not your leggings at all. In your hurry to pack this morning, you’d grabbed a pair of pyjama shorts, black jersey with a little lacy trim. Your face burns flaming hot again as you stare at them. You have no other choice - your only other bottoms are work clothes, and a pair of jeans - but they show off more of your leg than you’re really comfortable with your colleague seeing.

Cursing yourself for leaving packing until this morning you reluctantly slide the shorts on, trying to tug them down to cover a little more of your thighs. Clutching your clothes to your chest, you take a deep breath before stepping out of the bathroom.

Carisi has been busy while you’ve been gone. He’s made a makeshift bed for himself on the armchair, and moved the bags away from the door. Your purse is sitting beside your weekend bag, and his own bag is open on the desk. He’s currently searching through it, and you can't help staring a little. His coat, jacket and tie are gone and he’s rolled his shirt sleeves up, exposing his forearms. You swallow thickly and drag your eyes away with difficulty. You need to grow up.

The bathroom door closes behind you, catching Sonny’s attention. He looks up from whatever he’s searching for in his bag and does a double-take when he sees you.

“Why are you wearing shorts during a blizzard?” He teases, unable to help the laugh that escapes him. “Did you leave packing til the last minute again?” Your cheeks are probably hot enough to counter whatever cold you might feel from the weather, and you glare at him.

“Shut up. They were folded, I thought they were leggings.” You dump the clothes in your arms into your open bag and dig around for your phone charger. Sonny chuckles again and shakes his head.

“You sure you’re gonna be warm enough? You can borrow my hoodie if you want.” You’re sorely tempted to take him up on the offer. The burgundy hoodie he’s holding out to you looks cosy, and it undoubtedly smells amazing, but you can’t. You need to get over this, whatever this is.

“I’ll be okay.” With your phone charger in hand, you move your bags onto the floor by the bed and set about plugging your phone in to charge overnight. Sonny quietly excuses himself to the bathroom, and you take advantage of having the room to yourself to clamber into bed without showing any more of your legs. You almost groan once you settle down under the blankets; this bed is comfortable. It’s almost enough to make you glad that Sonny insisted on sleeping on the armchair instead of you. Almost. Once you’re suitably snuggled in, you unlock your phone and type out a quick message to Benson explaining the room situation.

It doesn’t take Carisi long to return from the bathroom, and you let out an inelegant snort when you see him.

“Why are you wearing shorts during a blizzard?” You parrot teasingly, raising an eyebrow at him. Sonny’s wearing a Fordham tee and a pair of cotton boxer shorts. He has the good grace to flush, and he shrugs.

“It’s what I usually sleep in. I run warm.”

“You can turn the thermostat down if it’s gonna be too warm?” You offer. “I feel like a dick taking the bed and making you too hot.” He flashes you that soft smile again.

“You’re still just in shorts. Sure you don’t want my hoodie?” Carisi sets his folded clothes on the desk by his bag and waits for your answer.

“No, I’ll be fine. Turn the thermostat down a few degrees.” The room isn’t even that cold at the moment, and you’re sure you won’t feel it if the temperature drops a little while you sleep. Sonny obliges, fiddling with the thermostat again before settling down onto his armchair bed.

“Is it okay with you if I set an alarm for half nine?” The conference kicks off at eleven; an hour and a half should be plenty of time to shower and find some breakfast before you have to go downstairs.

“Yeah sure,” Carisi says, his reply trailing off into a yawn. “G’night.” You flip the switch by the bed, plunging the room into darkness.

“Night, Carisi.”

You really try to fall asleep. The bed is so comfortable, and you’re so tired. You had fallen asleep in the car, sitting up with the radio blaring. You’re not sure why it evades you now. The minutes tick by, and you can hear Sonny moving around in the chair, trying to find a comfortable position. Perhaps it's guilt keeping you awake, you reason.

You’re not sure how much time has passed when you break the silence.

“Carisi?” You half-whisper, not wanting to wake him if he’s asleep.

“Yeah?” He sounds tired, and the guilt overrides any embarrassment you might feel.

“Will you just come and sleep here?” The question hangs in the air, and there’s a long pause while you wait for Sonny’s answer. “I don’t have cooties, Carisi, you can sleep next to me.”

“No, I know, but-” He pauses, and you hear him shift again. “Are you sure you don’t mind?”

“Positive.” It’s so stupid of you. You’ve had a crush on Carisi since you first laid eyes on him; inviting him to sleep beside you is an unnecessary form of self-torture. But you know you’ll feel even worse tomorrow having to look at the deep shadows under his eyes from a sleepless and uncomfortable night in the chair.

You hear him sigh softly. A moment later, the mattress dips as he settles into the bed. Sonny’s keeping his distance, but you’re still painfully aware of his body in bed beside you. It’s unbearably intimate, and if it wouldn’t make you look like a lunatic after telling him how fine you were with him getting in, you’d take a pillow and go and sleep in the tub.

Annoyed with yourself, you roll over onto your side, facing away from him. As idiotic as you might be, at least you won’t have to deal with the guilt of depriving him of a good night’s sleep. Beside you, his breathing is evening out. Maybe at least one of you will sleep well.

******

You wake up feeling confused. You have no idea how you managed to fall asleep, or how long you’ve slept for. You’re also very preoccupied with the fact that you and Carisi appear to be spooning.

Sonny’s arm is slung over your waist and his body is curled around yours from behind, holding you close. His nose is pressed against the hinge of your jaw, his breath warm on your neck. Your bare legs are tangled together, and you’re so overwhelmed by the feel of so much of his skin against yours that it takes you a moment to realise what woke you.

Carisi is hard.

The line of his erection is pressing against the curve of your ass, and you nearly choke on your own tongue at the feeling. You take a deep breath and try to make sense of what’s happening. The two of you must have rolled together at some point in the night, and Sonny’s reaction must just be morning wood.

Not that being in Sonny’s arms is unpleasant. He’s warm and solid against you, and he smells good; something clean and masculine and him. Closing your eyes again, you try to figure out what to do. Before you can settle on an idea, Sonny’s arm briefly tightens around your waist, only to suddenly slide off.

“Oh fuck-” Carisi practically throws himself backwards, away from you. Sitting up in bed, you turn to look at him as he tries to extricate himself from the sheets and scramble out of bed. “Oh fuck, I’m so sorry.” You follow him, managing to grab his hand before he can move away from the side of the bed.

“Carisi, it’s okay. It’s okay, you were asleep-” You start, kneeling on the bed in front of him and holding his hand tightly within your own. He’s shaking his head before you even get the first few words out, those beautiful blue eyes of his wide and distraught.

“It’s not okay,” he says, refusing to look down at you. “I was practically molesting you in your sleep-”

“Stop, you weren’t molesting me,” you try to argue, but Carisi ignores you.

“I’ll call the Lieutenant on my way back to Manhattan, let her know. God, this isn’t how I wanted you to find out. But you never have to see me again, I promise,” he rambles, trying to free his hand from your grasp. You don’t let go, giving it a squeeze instead.

“Calm down, take a breath. How you wanted me to find out what?” You adjust your position on your knees, barely able to breathe yourself. Sonny’s palm is hot and damp against yours, and you can see his Adam’s apple bob as he swallows thickly.

“Find out that I liked you.” Carisi manages eventually, still steadfastly refusing to look down at you. Your heart is hammering against your ribcage, and your blood roars so loudly in your ears that you’re not sure you heard him right. You know he likes you, you’ve been friends for years. But he’s saying it in a way that conveys so much more than that, and you suck in a breath.

“You like me?”

“I- yeah. And now I’ve ruined it, and made you uncomfortable-” he starts again, and you roll your eyes. You bring your free hand up to his cheek, and the gentle touch is what finally makes him meet your eyes.

“Dominick. You haven’t made me uncomfortable. Really, you haven’t.” That finally silences him, your use of his real name catching his attention, though it doesn’t stop his eyes from searching for any hint to the contrary in your face. You take a deep breath, choosing your next words carefully. “And…and you haven’t ruined anything either.”

Before you can talk yourself out of it, you lean up to kiss him.

It’s not much more than a peck, a soft brush of your lips against his own ones. You pull back just a little, your noses almost brushing.

“I’m okay,” you whisper. “You have no idea how much I enjoyed waking up in your arms.” There’s a silence so deep that you’d swear you should be able to hear the snow falling outside. Those lovely eyes of his bore into yours, sending your heart hammering even harder. After a long pause, his free hand comes up to cup your jaw with deliberate slowness, giving you time to move away.

Sonny’s thumb sweeps gently over your cheek as he lowers his head and kisses you. His lips are soft and full against yours, testing at first and deepening the kiss when you slide your free arm around him to pull him closer. A quiet sound of contentment escapes your throat as Sonny dips his tongue into your mouth, finally letting go of your hand so he can grasp your waist.

You can’t seem to get close enough to him, even with your chests pressed flush against one another. The kiss turns from careful to desperate as years of pent-up attraction are finally given an outlet.

It’s impossible to tell who moves first to lie down on the bed, whether you pull him down or he pushes, but you end up lying parallel to the headboard with Sonny on top of you. Your mind can barely reconcile that your longtime crush reciprocates your feelings, much less the warm weight of his body pressed against you.

Wanting to feel more of him, you slip one of your hands beneath the hem of his t-shirt and run your fingertips over his back. He shivers at the delicate touch, a sensitivity you mentally file away for later. Your legs fall open, and you choke back a whine when you feel the hard line of his cock press against you once more.

It’s so much. You want to feel him everywhere, to keep exploring him with your hands and mouth.

“Can I?” You ask, grabbing the hem of his t-shirt and pulling gently. He follows your lead, letting you pull the shirt over his head and discard it onto the floor. He was telling the truth earlier; he does run warm, his bare skin hot to the touch as your hands roam his back and sides.

One of Sonny’s hands drops down to hitch your leg over his hip, his large hand squeezing your thigh.

“I love your legs,” he murmurs. The kisses have left you breathless, but you still whine when he stops. Your hands sink into his soft hair as he shifts to press kisses down the column of your throat. You don’t mean to pull his hair when he kisses a particularly sensitive spot, but when he groans against the delicate skin you take it as your cue to do it again.

“Want you, Dominick,” you sigh against his forehead, rocking your hips to grind against him. You feel his breath catch in his throat, his own hips stutter against yours. There are too many layers of clothes between the two of you, and you do your best to wriggle out of your t-shirt without displacing Carisi.

Like the gentleman that he is, he helps you out. His hands cover yours to take over, pulling the soft cotton over your head. Your hands sink back into his hair almost immediately.

“Why’d you wear a bra to sleep in?” He asks, a soft smile playing on his lips. It’s so infuriatingly handsome that you want to drag him back down for more kisses, but you know that won’t get you out of your clothes any faster.

“Didn’t want to risk you seeing my nipples through my shirt,” you explain breathily as he ducks down to kiss over the tops of your breasts while his hands work at the clasp.

“Think I’m about to see a lot more than that, doll,” he mumbles against your skin. It makes you giggle, in spite of yourself. The two of you shed your clothes as quickly as you can while still staying as close as possible, too focused on removing the remaining barriers between you to care too much about the undignified scramble to strip.

“I wanna ride you,” you manage between kisses, and Sonny nearly falls off the bed in his eagerness to oblige you. He settles with his back against the headboard, watching you with hazy eyes as you grab a condom out of your purse.

“C’mere,” he says softly, holding his hands out to help you get comfortable in his lap. He hisses when you roll the condom down over his cock, the hand he’s resting on your hip squeezing reflexively.

“You’re so gorgeous,” you tell him, slowly pumping your hand down, then back up. He does look gorgeous out of his clothes, all lean and long-limbed. “You have no idea how long I’ve thought about this.”

Sonny’s other arm loops around your waist, pulling you just a little closer.

“I’ve been thinking about this since we met,” he admits, his voice breathless with arousal. You rest your free hand on his shoulder as you line him up with your entrance and slowly start to sink down. It pulls a loud moan out of both of you, the sound echoing around the room, so much louder than the whispers and gasps that had come before.

“Oh God, so have I, Sonny-” you manage, screwing your eyes closed. It’s been a while, and the lack of foreplay probably wasn’t wise given the fact that Carisi was bigger than you’d imagined. Not that you’d made a habit of imagining this, in trying to deal with your crush. Instead of sliding down smoothly the rest of the way onto him, you roll your hips, taking a little more of his length on each pass.

Sonny’s a mess under you. His hands clutch tight at your hips, and when you manage to open your eyes again, you see he has his head flung back against the headboard.

“You feel so good, Doll. Christ, you’re so fucking wet and we haven’t even done anything-” he cuts himself off with a shuddering groan as he finally bottoms out inside you. The tip of him is pressing up against that spot inside you that makes your toes curl, and it sends a swell of bliss coursing through you.

“You have such a perfect dick,” you tell him, enjoying the flush that intensifies on his face as he registers what you said. You lift yourself up just a little, an inch at best, and sink slowly back down, your eyes rolling back in pleasure.

You’re not sure if it’s the best adjective, but you need to tell him just how good he feels.

In fact, the two of you can’t seem to shut up. Even when you start riding him in earnest, the headboard bumping against the wall with every stroke, neither of you can stop talking. It’s like every time you’ve wanted to tell him how hot he is over the last three years is spilling out, along with endless praise for how good he feels. He gives it right back, telling you how perfect and sexy and hot you are in between telling you how much he wants to eat you out.

“I’d be so good at it, please doll, I just wanna show you how bad I want it,” he babbles, his hair damp with sweat at the temples.

You’re panting with every breath. Sonny leans forward to nuzzle into your neck, kissing and licking and sucking at the delicate skin there. Your nails dig into his shoulders when he drags his teeth over a particularly sensitive spot, and the groan he makes vibrates through your skin and straight down to your core.

“God, Dominick, yes,” you nearly sob. “So good with your mouth already, want you to kiss me everywhere…” You can’t finish the thought, but it wrenches another groan out of Sonny. You haven’t thought about a next time, whether this is a one-off or if cooler heads will prevail back in New York.

Later, the two of you can talk for real. You’ll wake up feeling better rested than you have in years, naked in Sonny’s arms, and talk about what happened, you promise yourself.

Right now, there’s just the two of you discovering how much you enjoy each other, how badly you’ve both wanted each other. The two of you just fit together, like it’s the easiest, most natural thing in the world. And all the pleasure you feel is magnified a thousandfold by the fact that your crush wasn’t unrequited at all, that Sonny wants you just as much as you want him.

You sink your hand back into his soft hair and ride him faster, utterly drunk on the noises he’s making. Dominick’s mouth wanders, kissing lines up your neck and licking messily at your nipples and nipping gently at your earlobe. In between, he murmurs about how

A real conversation can wait; right now, you want to see what it’ll take for you to leave him speechless.

Taglist:

@avengersfan25 @misscharlielulu @apenny4thots @irishavengersassemble

#sonny carisi x reader #law and order: svu #law and order svu fanfiction #dominick carisi x reader #kattsholidaybingo2024

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thankyouforthememoriesworld · 4 months ago

Note

Updated Version 2.

They were both overlapped in Minnesota for the North Tartan Summer Jam-June 2016. They had a lot of basketball overlap in June/July 2016 but again, separate age groups, with Azzi playing in a higher age group than Paige.

USA U16 Trials in May 2017 when they met.

Won Gold together with U16 on June 11, 2017.

Flew to Minnesota together where Azzi probably spent the summer doing her camping and State Fair in August 2017. Before this though: they participated in the North Tartan Summer Jam-June 2017 but different groups. I think that first birthday post from Azzi is probably from this tournament. Also, they may have also had an EYBL tournament in Indianapolis in July 2017. This is also when those crush snapchats were most likely sent because the song itself was released July 7, 2017.

Generally, they always have a lot of overlap in the summer because of AAU

Their visit to Maryland, Notre Dame and UConn in Fall 2017. Offered scholarships by UConn at that time.

Azzi and Paige were together at the beginning of Feb, training. Azzi's high school is WCAC Champs at the end of Feb 2018 and Azzi was also player of the year as a Freshman.

Late March 2018, both participated in the 2018 USA Basketball 3x3 U18 National Championship. Paige’s team got first, and Azzi’s got second. Paige’s team went on to rep in the youth Olympics.

April 2, 2018 Paige and her Hopkins teammates watched the UConn Notre Dame 2018 Championship game. Paige apparently watched this match up twice by April 2019 and Azzi watched the 12/3/17 game against ND in Hartford. Maybe overlap?

Paige and Azzi played in the Nike Boo Williams Invitational for their separate AAU teams in Virginia on April 20-22, 2018. Azzi's team (Fairfax Stars 17s EYBL) won platinum undefeated in their division where she stood out as one of the best players at 15 years old. Paige's team (North Tartan 15s EYBL) won platinum undefeated in her division. Geno was apparently at this tournament from what I read.

Paige was in DC to play in the Capitol Classic on April 28, 2018. You can watch the entire game if you want.

Reunited in Colorado May 2018 for USA trials.

The 11th annual North Tartan Summer Jam in Hopkins Minnesota was held June 15-17, 2018, where both Paige and Azzi's AAU teams played against each other. Paige’s team beat Azzi’s team 79-63 but both ended with a 3-1 record with Paige's team getting second place. Azzi watched Paige's final game.

Basically, together all of July because training was July 4-20, with a pre-tournament invitational in Latvia. Afterwards, won Gold with U17 on July 29, 2018.

Azzi attends her first Curry Camp in August 6-7 2018. She blows up after the three point contest. At this point I also assume Minnesota cabin trip and state fair was spent together. Azzi was recognized while on a cruise with Bueckers family after the contest (Date unknown but assuming summer). Azzi also helped with Paige's charity clinic at the end of August in Montana.

Azzi and her family were also in Minnesota for a family wedding in September 2018.

11/2/18 Visit to UConn together. Azzi’s sweet 16 on 11/11/18. We know Paige was there.

March 2019 Azzi is presented Gatorade National Player of the Year for Basketball. Azzi's team is 2nd in the nation.

Paige wins state championship on March 16, 2019. Azzi is there supporting (she's in that day after vlog episode of Paige's teammate wearing her St. Patty's day necklace and referred to as National POY which she just got beforehand).

Both of them flew to Montana and I'm guessing that's when the Yellowstone trip happened. Probably Spring Break.

Buckets with Bueckers camp in Montana - March 25, 2019. Azzi was there.

April 1, 2019, Paige commits to UConn (signs letter of intent in November 2019). I think this is also the day Azzi got her puppy Stewie.

April 4-6, 2019 Azzi’s high school team makes the Geico Nationals final but loses. Not sure if Paige was there.

April 13, 2019 Azzi tears hear ACL/MCL at USA 3x3 championship. Surgery on May 29, 2019 in Indianapolis. Paige was with her before surgery (video proof from Azzi herself).

April 26-28, 2019 AAU together (Azzi not playing).

June 2019 – Paige participates in Summer Jam 2019 with Metro Stars.

July/August 2019 – After Azzi attends the ESPYS and SC30 Select Camp for both of them, Minnesota tradition (they have tiktoks from that time at the cabin and started their joint account that summer). I also think this is when that one Overtime video was filmed with the competition.

10/10-16/19 – Paige is in Doha Qatar for USA Basketball 3x3 tournament. Then she went to First Night at UConn and I think visited Azzi before she went to LA for ESPNW. Azzi visited UConn the week before First Night supposedly.

Dec 16, 2019: First HUDL recruiting video. End of December 2019, Azzi was presumably training with Mamba family in NYC.

Reunited in January 2020 in DMV. Azzi’s first games back from ACL were around this time and Paige was there (they filmed tiktoks together and there are videos of her in the stands). During her visit, Paige's second HUDL recruiting video for Azzi was published.

Azzi’s high school team wins state championships in early March 2020. Azzi travels to Minnesota in mid-March 2020 for Paige’s final but Covid shutdown occurs.

Paige stays with the Fudds from the end of April until June 2020 where she goes back for her graduation in early June and I think possibly packing up her stuff because I know her family was relocating to DMV at this time. She rejoins the Fudds in late June and stays with them and travels with them for Azzi’s GTS team up until end of July. Paige also gets her Gatorade award presented to her at the Fudd’s house on July 24, 2020.

Azzi is in Minnesota with her GTS in August of 2020 and Paige starts UConn.

Azzi visits Paige on her birthday and I believe tells her she’s committing to UConn in October 2020.

Azzi's Togethxr video of her day in the life with the facetime call was filmed November 5, 2020 (pop quiz had a date).

Azzi commits to UConn in November 11, 2020 and turns 18.

Paige's UConn season starts with her first games being cancelled because everyone is in a 14 day quarantine when one person tests positive. This was the reality of that time - they had to contact tracing and couldn't risk getting Covid during the season. They didn't have anymore cancelled games after the end of January but it certainly was an issue early on. UConn had nearly 75% of their courses online or hybrid for entire Fall 2020. Out of state students enrolled in online courses didn't live on campus. This was the reality of Paige's first year. Most likely not as social as people think and really just FTing Azzi at 1 AM apparently.

Azzi attends UConn-Tennessee game on January 21, 2021 to cheer on Paige.

Azzi attends UConn Final Four on April 2, 2021 and also attends the final (while being on FT with Paige).

Paige has ankle surgery afterwards and hanging out a lot with the Fudds as she rehabs during April and May 2021.

Azzi has USA U19 Trials in May 2021. Then graduation and prom for high school at the end of May (Paige was present during this time). Then summer session at UConn. Paige has her ESPY award speech in July 2021.

Azzi wins gold with team USA before landing back in Mn in mid August 2021 and reunited with Paige and heading to UConn.

My God, you did it 👑. Here's Pazzi's updated timeline for the people.

#this is why I need you for Willannès too 😈#pazzi #timeline #did you have fun at the game #azzi fudd #paige bueckers

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awriterinthenight · 1 month ago

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"See You Tomorrow Night"-Jess Mariano

words: 1296

warnings: swearing, mentions of weed, Lane being obsessed with reader for a hot moment

a/n I know I haven't been doing requests in a while, I've just really been into the other series I'm writing, and I just had this idea cause rockstar!read x Jess Mariano just scratches a part of my brain, anyway I'll start writing requests again soon, enjoy this for now, also the two pictures are how I imagine reader, and the drummer Vera

summary: You and your band take a pit stop in Stars Hollow to explore, get food, and meet people. In Luke's diner you meet the infamous Jess Mariano and offer him free tickets to your show.

Stars Hollow wasn't a boring place and the people certainly weren't boring, especially with the wide variety of characters the town offered. But Stars Hollow never really had anyone famous from the town, or any famous celebrities that stopped by. The most was maybe the local girl who went to some dance college, but no one really counted that. Miss Patty had her dance back in the day, but that wasn't anything now, and she certainly wasn't famous from it. At most Rory, working with major newspapers and going to Yale, or Lane and her semi-successful band, were the closest thing to fame that the town had.

Or, at least that's the way it was till you showed up. Even though you were only 17 your band had managed to blow up and become a huge success in the couple years you started putting your music out, and signing with a record label not long after.

Currently you were on tour with your band, making your way to Hartford for one of your concerts, when you stumbled upon small town Star Hollow, and decided to take a look around since your show wasn't until tomorrow.

"Shit, I've never been in a place like this, you think they film like Hallmark movies here or something?" your bassist Mark asked. Mark wasn't the brightest and smoked a lot of weed which explained his entire personality.

Your drummer shrugged her shoulders and said, "Probably, and we have about 6 hours to figure that out before we have to get back on the road, so let's explore, and eat something, I'm starving."

"Definitely, someone should also stock up on snacks since last time Mark was high he ate everything," you said, since you really were out of snacks which was why everyone was starving.

"We'll take snack duty, then we can meet in...that diner," Riley, your lead guitarist, said, volunteering him and Mark to get snacks, then pointing at what looked like a place called Luke's.

You nodded, "Cool, make sure to get cosmic brownies and the good popcorn," you yelled, walking towards the diner with Vera, your drummer. Mark just sent you a thumbs up as he walked towards Doose's Market.

To be fair you and Vera did not look like your typical Stars Hollow residents. Both of you were clad in what you liked to call 'rockstar off duty' type look. Vera had on a long sleeve shirt with some pattern made out of gems, low waist jeans, plus a belt, and many chunky jewelry. You were definitely standing out amongst the people of Stars Hollow in your black tank top, black ripped jeans, black leather jacket, Dr. Martens, and all your jewelry just like Vera. Not to mention both of your darker makeup, the matching red in your and Vera's hair.

When you walked into the diner Vera grabbed a seat for you guys as you went to go order. You definitely got some stares when you walked in. It was a small town new people meant new gossip.

"How can I help you?" the dark haired boy at the counter asked, barely looking up from his notepad to take your order.

You tapped your fingers on the counter, and asked, "Do you guys have coffee?"

He then looked up at you, you saw his expression turn to shock for a moment as he took in your appearance, before regaining his composure, "We're a diner, why wouldn't we?" he sassed.

"You'd be surprised how many diners I went to that didn't have coffee," you said, it was only really two or three, but still too many in your opinion, "Anyway I'll take two coffees for now, then just two burgers with fries."

He nodded, putting in the ticket before coming back to the counter to talk to you, "So, where you from?" he questioned, since he knew you weren't from Stars Hollow.

You shrugged, leaning against the counter, "I'm from New York actually," you answered.

"Really, what part?" he asked, starting to wipe down the slightly sticky counter.

"The Village, in lower Manhattan," you said, before you started to add, "I mean Greenw-" but he cut you off.

"Yeah, I know what you mean," he spoke, looking up at you.

You gave him a small smile, "You from New York too?"

"Lower East Side actually," he told you, which you found crazy since it was rare you found someone from New York, especially near where you grew up.

"Shit really? Small world I guess," you said, as he turned back to grab the food from the window.

He placed the food down in front of you, "Small world indeed," he repeated, giving you a small smirk.

You were going to respond when a girl walked in, "Hey Jess, have you seen Ror-" she was going to ask before cutting herself off when you turned to look at her, "Oh my god, you're Y/N L/N." Oh, a fan. You never really found any in small towns like this, but it was always great when you did.

"You're, you're music is amazing, you're amazing. The Nymphs changed my life. I wanted to become a drummer because of Vera, she's so cool. I bet she's so cool to be with on tour. I'm going to go see your concert tomorrow. I can't believe I ran into you, are the others here too?" she rambled, talking a mile a minute.

You smiled, letting out a small giggle, "Yeah, they're somewhere around her. You want to be a drummer that's pretty cool," you said, turning around to grab Vera's plate, "If you want, Vera is over there, you can go talk to her, she loves talking to fans. Plus you can bring her her burger," you offered, leaning on your elbows against the counter, holding out the plate of food.

The girl looked as if it was Christmas day and she'd just been given a puppy, "Y-yes, I would love to," she said, taking the plate, "I can't believe I just met Y/N from The Nymphs," she whispered to herself walking away.

You smiled to yourself, happy to see a fan so happy to meet you, plain old you. When you turned back around to face the guy, you could see him smirking at you.

"So you're famous too?" he teased playfully, seeming to be impressed by it.

You shrugged, "Well, yeah, I guess so, not A-list or anything, but famous enough I guess," you said, trying to not seem like a bragger about your very successful career.

He nodded, "Okay," he muttered, "You're playing in Hartford tomorrow?" he said, phrasing it as more of a question.

"Yeah, we're completely sold out actually, its pretty cool," you muttered, taking a bite out of one of your fries.

"Sold out, really? If you weren't I might've gone," he remarked, turning around to clean up something on the counter behind him.

"You didn't even know my band existed till three minutes ago, why would you want to go?" you questioned, since he had never heard your music.

He shrugged, "Can't go just to see you, or is that a crime?" he joked, leaning on the counter in front of you.

You couldn't help but smirk at his comment, "It's not a crime, and you would really want to go?" you asked, a bit skeptical.

"If Lane's that excited to meet you, then your music has to be amazing," he said.

"Fine, what's your name," you asked him, since you hadn't known his name yet.

"Jess," he replied, "Jess Mariano."

"Alright Mariano, I'll see you tomorrow night then," you told him.

He smirked at what you said, "See you tomorrow night," he repeated back to you as a sort of confirmation.

Taglist for all fics (ask to be added

@almost-gabrielle @scarlett-8 @sarahskywalker-amidala @atashiboba @that1deerpersondownstairs @herondale-lightworm @purplerose291 @mitskiswift99

#x reader #jess mariano x y/n #jess mariano x reader #jess mariano #gilmore girls #gilm

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lonelywretchjervistetch · 4 months ago

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The State Birds Initiative: Connecticut (#5)

Hoo boy, it's been a minute! But hey, here we are again, after taking some extra time to figure stuff out. Welcome to the fifth official poll of the State Birds Initiative! Before the poll, though, one thing real quick. My suggestion is that you read the post below before voting in the poll below. That's especially important if you're lacking any context about the birds being presented as the new (or old) State Bird of the Nutmeg State, Connecticut. This is to be fully informed as to why these are being presented, and to make your choices appropriately. Lastly, some of these birds, you will notice, may go against some of the rules listed in the introduction post. All is explained after the jump where the explanations are, I promise you that. And apologies in advance, the spiel before the actual bird selection is...long. But with that...OK! Here's the poll!

Welcome to the Nutmeg State! A small state, mostly known for being between Boston and New York City, this is one of the foundational states of southern New England, while also having a somewhat...divided identity, we'll say. So, I grew up in CT, for part of my childhood, in both the classic upscale suburbs, and in the middle of the goddamn woods, right on the Connecticut River. For the record, the name "Nutmeg State" is based off of salesmen from the state known for peddling nutmegs. However, there's some speculation that the nutmegs sold were actually made of wood, but that's also probably from people who didn't know that nutmegs were supposed to be grated, and instead assumed they had to be cracked like walnuts. They tried, that failed, and they accused Connecticut Yankees for selling fake nutmeg as a result. So, yeah, a confusing legend at the root of the state's nickname.

You'll notice my use of the word "Yankee" there. Well, despite New York's domination of the term, it should arguably be most associated with Connecticut. "Yankee Doodle" is literally the state song; people from CT were previously and historically referred to as Yankees (which was also an epithet applied to northerners in general, to be fair); and it's actually possible the word was first used by the Dutch in reference to Connecticut settlers, according to multiple theories and historical references. But maybe most prominently, Yankee was used as a demonym for people from CT by one of its most favorite residents: Samuel Clemens, AKA Mark Twain.

Twain is, of course, Connecticut's most famous author, having written some of his most famous works while living with his family in Connecticut in his West Hartford house (which every central Connecticut middle school kid has been to at least once, I guaran-goddamn-tee it). Fun fact, though! Did you know...uh...ah, fuck it. Why keep stalling at this point? Look, as much as I love talking about Mark Twain, he was nothing to do with this post. Fact of the matter is...this was a hard one.

Look, I love Connecticut. It was the first state I remember living in, having moved there when I was a kid from the United States Virgin Islands, which I had been really looking forward to for a bunch of reasons. Admittedly (and unsurprisingly), a lot of that was because I was looking forward to seeing the birds! As a kid, I was also obsessed with birds, and I had never seen the birds in the US mainland before. It was an exciting time for me, and I honestly enjoyed growing up in CT, for the most part. I'd be there for almost 6 years of my life, and I have a lot of fond memories of the state. But, uh...ironically enough...finding State Bird nominees for Connecticut has been HARD AS HELL.

We will, of course, talk in GREAT detail about the American Robin (Turdus migratorius), as it's an important bird for more states than just Connecticut, but I'll give you a spoiler now: this is a boring choice for a State Bird. For any state. Don't get me wrong, I love robins! They're an extremely charismatic and iconic bird, and everybody has seen them at least once in their life if they live in the USA. They're also most likely an early bird (pun slightly intended) for people to encounter on a personal standpoint. Again, we'll get to them, but they're a notable entry in this list. And if one of the states kept the American Robin, I would understand. But, uh...is that state Connecticut?

OK, let's look at the state in the same vein as we have others. I'm sure this won't be the last difficult state to examine in the future of this project, so why not do the same here? Starting with habitat, Connecticut is another state placed within the Northeastern Coastal Zone, with a ton of deciduous forests dominated by oak, chestnut, hemlock, and white pine. There was a lot of clearance during early settlement and beyond, but succession has taken over in recent years to grow the forests back. The state's cut in half by the Connecticut Valley, with large floodplains dominated by maple and cottonwood, with the large Connecticut River right in the center of the valley. Finally, the Berkshires in the northwest corner of the state give us some classic New England flair with sugar maple (Acer saccharum), ash, beech, birch, oak, and hemlock trees on higher-altitude slopes, creating a hilly area that turns beautiful colors in fall. Man, I love Connecticut autumns. And the rest of the year, for that matter.

OK, what are Nutmeggers most known for, culturally and historically? It's a diverse state with a lot of mixed culture, partially as a result of its proximity to New York City. A lot of people tend to joke that Connecticut is just New York City, especially people from elsewhere in New England. And having been to NYC a lot when I was a kid, with a mom who worked there part of the week, and an aunt who lived there all of the week...yeah, fair. But Connecticut has a much more detailed culture than that. It's the home of the cotton giiiAAAAAAH, bad place to start that list. Uh, let's see, it's the home of whaliiiiiiing. Jesus. Uh...home of Mark Twain and Harriet Beecher Stowe? OK, that's better. It's a major seat of the Industrial Revolution in the United States, leading to it being a production hub for textiles, clocks, typewriters, machining, sewing machines, steam engines, aircraft, and honestly, women's rights to a certain degree. After all, it's the home of the Radium...Girls. Huh. OK, CT's history has some bumps in it, but what state's history doesn't?

As for modern Nutmeggers, they're industrious, generally well-educated, and honestly quite a bit eccentric. I've gone back to the state a few times in the last couple of years, and I forgot how honestly weird people are there. In a good way, not in the fucked-up MAGA sense of the word. It's a state whose people are unafraid to express themselves, from my experience. Probably a result of the diversity in the state, and the diverse perspectives that result. Its political atmosphere is a bit complicated, but overall pretty liberal. Which...doesn't translate super-well into birds at first blush, but hey, we'll see what we get!

OK, with that, let's jump into the selection of the birds for this list. Real talk, if anybody has a suggestion that I hadn't brought up here, send it my way! I will absolutely add another poll if there are entries I think could bear fruit. But, in the meantime, read on if you're interested in the possible choices for the State Bird of Connecticut!

American Robin (Turdus migratorius)

I think you'd be hard-pressed to find an citizen of the United States of America who hasn't seen a robin. This is, by far, one of our most iconic songbirds, and is certainly one of the most common and widespread. For some of us, they're a sign of spring. For others, they used to be a sign of spring, until global warming prompted some individuals to stick around through the winter, shifting their diet to frugivory a bit more and brightening the snow as well. They're prolific breeders with bright blue-green eggs (which are iconic in their own right), and can have up to three broods in a given season! Extremely successful and very common. And that...is a problem, for our purposes.

See, Connecticut, Michigan, and Wisconsin have the American Robin (Turdus migratorius) for their state bird, and none of them actually have a good reason for that choice. In Wisconsin, it was chosen by schoolkids because it was recognizable. That was also the reason for the Michigan Audubon Society to choose it as state bird. And Connecticut? Absolutely no goddamn idea. It's almost certainly for the same reason, but there is no real recorded reason for the choice of the American Robin as a state bird, as far as I can tell. For literally all of those states, it's a pretty bad choice by virtue of not being a good choice, at the very least. But that said...I mean, it's not the worst possible choice for a State Bird. For one state, anyway.

Robins, for the record, were named after a different robin entirely: the European Robin (Erithacus rubecula). Another red-breasted and beloved songbird, the European Robin was an immediate thought when American settlers saw the American Robin, hence why I keep saying "American". The two are so often confused in pop-culture, even Mary Poppins was guilty of it! That GIF above comes from the film, and in case you haven't realized it yet, that's an American Robin in England. Yeah. Wrong bird to use as a model for your animatronic, Disney. That has bothered me since I was a little kid, I swear to GOD. Erroneous film biogeography is one of my biggest pet peeves...but that's a separate conversation.

Back to the American Robin. Personally, I love robins of all species, and even recently did some genomics work with them (DNA extraction is fun). They're a commonly seen species, and a great entry-level bird for kids to get into birdwatching and nature. As an American icon, I genuinely think these guys should get some recognition...but I'm hard-pressed to say Connecticut needs them as a State Bird. We'll see what people think, but there's not a great case for them to get the title. To keep it...like I said, we'll see. Maybe the others won't be deemed as good a fit for the state. For now, let's move on from a popular backyard bird to a MUCH less popular one.

Blue-winged Warbler (Vermivora cyanoptera)

Here's the eBird pick for Connecticut, and for good reason! The vast majority of the Blue-winged Warbler's (Vermivora cyanoptera) breeding population is in...Wisconsin. Wait, what? Hold on...yeah, actually, Wisconsin, New York, Missouri, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia all have higher shares of the population that Connecticut, with 5% overall. That's still a lot better than the American Robin's share in CT (0.2%), but still...seems like that eBird article is SEVERELY outdated, or I'm using the database wrong somehow. Either way...huh. Well, let's make an argument for the Blue-winged Warbler, anyway.

Blue-winged Warblers are a species of some conservation concern, making them automatically of interest. They're also extremely interesting to geneticists and ornithologists because of their relationship to other members of Vermivora, especially the Golden-wined Warbler (Vermivora chrysoptera) and extinct Bachman's Warbler (Vermivora bachmanii), with having documented hybrid offspring with the former that's of interest for various reasons. But outside of that, they of course breed in Connecticut, and represent an interesting bird to look for and find, with a recognizable song and appearance. It's also prized by birdwatchers, and would be a good bird for any aspiring or experienced birdwatchers. It also inhabits shrubland, which is of some conservation interest to CT government and environmental officials. But other than that...not too much else.

Connecticut Warbler (Oporornis agilis)

No. Look, I'm just gonna say this now: no. The Connecticut Warbler (Oporornis agilis) not only doesn't breed in the state (and possibly has never bred in the state), but it's pretty much not found there. Like, at all. This is not an easy warbler to get anywhere in its range in the US, but Connecticut isn't included in that distribution. "But lonelywretch," you scream at your computer screen, "why is it called the Connecticut goddamn Warbler if it isn't even from the state?" First of all, not to police your emotions, but stop screaming; way overboard for this situation. Second of all, it's called the Connecticut Warbler because its describer, ornithologist Alexander Wilson, first saw it in a fly-by during migration while in Connecticut. And...yeah, that's it. They do fly through the state very occasionally during migration, but it's definitely not a reliable bird to count on for local birders there. Honestly...bad bird for the state.

Side note here: there's a lot of talk about renaming birds that are named after people, and I agree with that in almost every case. But here's a hot take to elaborate on in another series: location-based names need to be re-examined. Not all of them are bad by any means, but the Connecticut Warbler is a great example of a bird whose name makes NO FUCKING SENSE. Rename this bird, I BEG of you. If anybody has suggestions for a renaming of this bird, throw them in notes for something! Keep in mind, Gray-headed Warbler is taken (by Myiothlypis griseiceps), so come up with somethin' else. Warranted inclusion in the list for its name, but we're gonna move on.

Osprey (Pandion halieetus)

It's at this point in the list where we get into some interesting candidates...and where I had the most trouble. But I'm fairly satisfied with what I've come up with, so let's move forward! This entry's a somewhat controversial pick for a few reasons, but an interesting one for a bunch of reasons. Now, I don't know about you, but I love Osprey (Pandion halieetus) a whole bunch. An iconic raptor, as well as a very unique one, they're a pescivorous bird found throughout the entire continent. And in Europe. And Asia. And Africa, Australia, and South America. Yeah, they're a cosmopolitan species, found in every continent except for Antarctica. That automatically should make them a bit dodgy of a choice for a State Bird, since they can be found in every state (yes, even occasionally Hawaii). So, why Connecticut?

First off, Connecticut has an intimate connection with the shore and rivers, especially the Connecticut River. Seemingly a loose reason, but the Osprey, AKA the river hawk or sea hawk (we'll get to that later) is an iconic riparian raptor, and a common sight in Connecticut. Having grown up on a river in the state, we used to see Osprey all the time, and it was awesome every time. But their commonness in the state is an important story in and of itself. And, if you know anything about Osprey at all, you know where this is headed. And Connecticut is a great example of this story.

The Osprey is one of the most iconic victims of the DDT crisis that hit the country, as well as a symbol of the environmental success story that resulted from its banning. I won't go into the full story if you haven't heard it, but the short of it is that the pesticide DDT was inadvertently ingested by fish-eating raptors, especially the Bald Eagle (Halieetus leucocephalus) and the Osprey, causing the eggs they laid to have weakened, soft shells. This caused a massive decrease in these and other species, nearly driving both into extinction. However, once environmental movements prompted by Rachel Carson and her book Silent Spring advocated for its eventual banning, the populations recovered. And in Connecticut, they've recovered A LOT.

In 1940, somewhere near 1,000 nests were recorded for Osprey between New York City and Boston. By 1970, the number in Connecticut was down...to 8. Jesus Christ, that's a hell of a crash! One of the worst in the country, in fact. However, today in Connecticut, there are 688 active nests in the state. Which, yeah, doesn't seem like the ultimate success compared to previous, but what's interesting is the rate of increase. Because in 2014, according to the Connecticut State Audubon, there were only 210. In ten years, the number of breeding ospreys known was more than tripled. That's incredible. This has quickly made the Osprey a symbol of conservation in the state, because of a massive amount of monitoring increase. There are states with more of a population, but Connecticut has a pretty good argument for having the Osprey. But that said...other states could also claim this species. Florida and Maryland definitely have claims on it for population size alone, not to mention, well...the most iconic state of all when it comes to having ospreys as a symbol. But we'll get to that one WAY later. just keep that in mind before you vote for Connecticut to have the Osprey.

Sharp-shinned Hawk (Accipiter striatus)

The Sharp-shinned Hawk (Accipiter striatus OR Astur striatus as of recent taxonomic proposals), on the other hand, is another bird of interest. The smallest hawk in the United States of America, this already seems a fitting choice for one of the smallest states in the country. It's listed as endangered in the state, immediately making it of interesting conservation focus. The reason for this status is likely because of window-strikes, which are common for the species in Connecticut, meaning that there's some public outreach needed to protect it. Protecting the forests they nest in (which are in danger) is one thing, but putting up protective window decals to help the species is another. Definitely a cause for focus.

However, there is one...minor detail that makes this a harder fight for public opinion, as well as a potentially ironic one. This is the first species we've discussed whose diet is basically exclusively birds. If you're in the Northeastern United States, and you've seen a bird get attacked and taken at your birdfeeders, it's almost certainly this guy. Which is cool, and important for the species' survival, but the average person being asked to protect a bird that kills other birds, especially birds like the American Robin, is...a palpable irony. Granted, it genuinely needs protecting, and has monitoring programs in the state, and it is a genuinely interesting raptor! But, this is a slightly harder fight to win because of that noncharismatic factor. But hey, it's a cool bird in genuine trouble in the state, it's a scrappy bird for a small state, and it's an interesting species to highlight!

American Black Duck (Anas rubripes)

This is another difficult bird to fight for, but one that needs attention, for God's sake. The American Black Duck (Anas rubripes) is a rapidly disappearing duck species, and not for the reason you think. Let's get to Connecticut representation first. It was the first bird to be used for the Connecticut Migratory Duck Stamp in 1993, the first one issued for the state. It's one of the few states in which it breeds (although it's not the primary state of focus, detracting from its candidacy). And, it's a controlled bird by Fish and Game, meaning hunting of the Black Duck is extremely limited. There is, surprisingly, a point to that statement, but I won't be elaborating here. We'll see how the vote goes, and I'll address it in the Results post.

So, why is this a potential issue? Well, Maine and New York arguably should get this bird instead, as they have a higher population. And the breeding population of this bird is incredibly important to promote, because it's disappearing. Why is it disappearing? Well, some of you may have looked at that picture and asked yourselves: "Wait...isn't that just a female Mallard?" And the answer is, no! But a lot of people think that. A lot of birds think that. Mallards think that. Which means that hybrids between Mallards and Black Ducks are incredibly high. SO high, in fact, the species is being bred and hybridized out of existence! They're so similar to Mallards on a genetic level at this point, that they'll be subsumed if their individual populations aren't preserved. So, yeah, these guys deserve some focus. Do I think they're a great Connecticut symbol? Well, to be fair, the state is regularly assumed to be either greater New York City or greater Massachusetts by outsiders. And it's not; it has its own identity that deserves to be preserved for what it is. So, yeah, maybe a good fit for Connecticut after all.

Also, it's the state in New England with the highest proportion of Black Americans (yes, even more than Massachusetts), so...I dunno, that's also something? Probably not, but as a black dude that grew up in CT, I felt the need to bring that up.

Snowy Egret (Egretta thula)

OK, sing it with me now!

Yankee Doodle went to town, a-riding on a pony; Stuck a feather in his hat, and called it "macaroni"! Yankee Doodle, give it up! Yankee Doodle Dandy, Mind the music and the step, and with the girls be handy!

Ooh, that last line aged a little rough, but Yankee Doodle! The Connecticut state anthem! Yes, really. Most Americans in the Northeast know this song, but it's got a unique resonance for Nutmeggers, seeing as it was allegedly based on the son of a Connecticut mayor! The state chose it as their song in 1978, and it's been a beloved symbol ever since. But, for the uninitiated (and probably to most school kids like I was), there is one weird word in there that needs a little explanation: macaroni.

Now, this does not, of course, reference the easy cheesy favorite of every child (and college student). No, this is a reference to an old 18th century term for a form of fashion back in the day. It's what the 2000s called "extra", or bourgeious (pronounced "bougie", of course). Basically, it's somebody who dressed WAY over the top in high-designed clothes and accessories to the point of looking...well, extra. Another applicable 2000s term would be "metrosexual", I guess. The macaroni became a satirical character in British culture, and would later become another character known as the "dandy". It's sort of a class-related satire, to be honest. In any case, the macaroni was known for over-the-top fashion, including...wigs.

So, what does literally any of this have to do with the Snowy Egret (Egretta thula)? More than you'd expect, actually. First off, the egret has a pompodour-like crest of feathers that makes it look quite like a stereotypical macaroni, in my opinion. Secondly, it does breed in Connecticut, albeit extremely rarely, sparely, and barely. Its population in the state used to be a lot greater...until people came around and starting hunting it down. Why, you ask?

Let's just go ahead and call that macaroni now, while we're at it. To be clear here, quite a lot of birds were used in millinery back in the day, but the Snowy Egret (and the Great Egret (Ardea alba), for that matter) are special. Those long white feathery plumes were heavily prized as hat decorations, enough so that the species nearly went extinct from hunting them for the hat trade. As a result of that, people began to turn their eye towards conservation of the species, and the protection of birds in general. Two women, Harriet Hemenway and Minna B. Hall, got a group of women together to protect the birds. They rallied the troops, and their organization became fairly popular. Eventually when they sought to name it, they did so after one of the most famous ornithologists in American history at the time: John James Audubon. And from there...well, you can guess.

The Audubon Society is one of the premiere bird conservation organizations in the world, and especially in the United States, and is well-known to the public sector. And it was born right here in...Massachusetts. Oh. Wait, have I jumped the gun on this one? Maybe a little, yeah. But, in my defense, the macaroni is linked to Connecticut through its state anthem, and the Snowy Egret is linked to the macaroni, as mentioned. But, OK, maybe this is a better proposal for Massachusetts, not Connecticut. But, uh...there may be another contender. Kind of.

Tufted Titmouse (Baeolophus bicolor)

OK, here me out on this one. Look at this picture of a classic macaroni character (on the right, for the record). Does that hairdo not kinda look like the crest of the Tufted Titmouse (Baeolophus bicolor)? Like, just a little bit, at least? I dunno, I can definitely see it. But OK, outside of that, is there another reason for the Tufted Titmouse to be the State Bird of Connecticut? Well, they're extremely common, they've got some charisma to them, and they're definitely found breeding in Connecticut. But...I don't know. I think they're plenty charismatic, but I'm not sure that makes them a great contender.

Still...they should be represented somewhere, right? I mean, the species breeds entirely in the USA, even though it can be found in Canada as well. Plus, other than being very recognizable, they're also an easy bird to find and support with backyard birdfeeding. And, if you want a fun fact about them, they're prone to kleptotrichy. That means, they pluck the fur from mammals to use as insulation in their nests! Yeah! They actually pick the winter coat off of dogs, and use it for their nests! Adorable. But yeah, does this really count for a good State Bird of Connecticut? I doubt it, but I'll let you vote! And I swear to God, it better not be just because of the name that it gets votes.

There you have it. Some complex and controversial choices. I miss any that you think are a valid choice for the state? Do let me know, and I may just issue another poll if this one isn't good enough. We shall see. But, for now, I think it's time to move onto the next state. And lemme tell you, I'm real excited about that one, since...well, I live there! And I have some ideas, lemme tell you. And some people will...disagree with me. For sure. Anyway, see you next time in Boston, kid!

See you soon, and happy birding!

Introduction to the State Birds Initiative

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earlycuntsets · 4 months ago

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mcr shows on youtube pt. 3 (2007 - 2011)

-> pt. 1 (2002 - 2005)

-> pt. 2 (2005 - 2007)

-> pt. 4 (2011 - 2023)

07/31/2007 coors amphitheater chula vista ca - the academy is my beautiful romance

08/03/2007 verizon wireless amphitheater selma tx - effvee

08/04/2007 smirnoff music center dallas tx - mrsmoore710

08/05/2007 cynthia woods mitchell pavilion the woodlands tx - allyhr80

08/11/2007 ford amphitheater tampa fl - DAK

08/13/2007 walnut creek amphitheater raleigh nc - ddr2nite

08/18/2007 darien lake performing arts center darian lake ny - megaphone25

08/19/2007 nissan pavilion bristow va - the academy is my beautiful romance

08/21/2007 molson amphitheater toronto ca - Taylor & saofan20

08/22/2007 dte energy music center clarkston mi - the academy is my beautiful romance

08/24/2007 tweeter center for the performing arts bostom ma - ricola7 & the academy is my beautiful romance

08/25/2007 tweeter center camden nj - the academy is my beautiful romance

08/26/2007 new england dodge music center hartford ct - blackmariah224

08/28/2007 mohigan sun grandstand new york state fair syracuse ny - the academy is my beautiful romance

08/29/2007 pnc bank arts center holmdale nj - darkxdisco

09/01/2007 first midwest bank amphitheater tinley park il - jeana k

10/04/2007 coca cola auditorio monterrey mexico - stagglp

10/07/2007 palacio de los deportes mexico city mexico - my chemical romance official youtube

10/24/2007 maxwells hoboken nj - my chemical romance official youtube

10/30/2007 sportová hala pasienky, bratislava, slovakia - kiss955

11/04/2007 x-tray zurich switzerland - waylien87

11/11/2007 metro radio arena newcastle upon tyne england - moshmocyanide

11/12/2007 aberdeen exhibition and conference centre aberdeen scotland - t3hOutlaw

11/15/2007 o2 arena london england - the academy is my beautiful romance

11/17/2007 king's hall belfast northern ireland - xxeternalflamexx

11/28/2007 brisbane entertainment centre brisbane australia - skejemer281

12/03/2007 adelaide entertainment centre adelaide australia - zsazsalahore

12/09/2007 stadium merdeka kuala lumpur malaysia - ffillusionseb

12/11/2007 singapore expo max pavilion singapore - msliveformusic

12/14/2007 neal s.blaisdell arena honolulu - xdegrassilover92x

1/25/2008 eastwood open park manila phillipines - the academy is my beautiful romance

1/27/2008 national taiwan university sports center taipeh taiwan - the academy is my beautiful romance

1/29/2008 asia world expo hall 10 hong kong china - MCRThePatient

01/31/2008 plenary hall jakarta convention center kota administrasi jakarta pusat indonesia - mhit2

02/15/2008 vio rio rio de janiero brazil - the academy is my beautiful romance

02/17/2008 hellooch curitiba brazil - elle10one

02/19/2008 via funchal são paulo brazil - hicao182

03/29/2008 rialto theater tuscon arizona - raven pictures

03/30/2008 the joint at the hard rock hotel las vegas nv - Biancha Hidalgo

03/31/2008 the joint at the hard rock hotel las vegas nv - Donanae Dunwoody & rnm1947ebe & nachocheesechips & justsleeep

04/02/2008 san jose civic center san jose ca - daylinmychemrocks

04/06/2008 bamboozle left verizon wireless amphitheater irvine ca - jackiejackiebootysmackie

04/09/2008 crystal ballroom portland oregon - mcdreamysgirlXOXO

04/12/2008 autodromo hermanos rodriguez coca cola zero festival mexico city mexico - the academy is my beautiful romance

04/18/2008 congress theater chicago il - Ashley Tara

04/19/2008 the fillmore detriot mi - stephanie roose

04/24/2008 house of blues new orleans la - megan williams

04/25/2008 baton rouge river center baton rouge la - sam

04/28/2008 stubb's bar b cue austin tx - sue nellis

05/02/2008 beale street music festival tom lee park memphis tn - the academy is my beautiful romance

05/04/2008 lifestyle communities pavilion columbus oh - christine steele

07/31/2009 the roxy west hollywood ca - the academy is my beautiful romance

08/08/2009 maishima osaka japan - the academy is my beautiful romance

10/26/2010 backstage werk munich germany - song des tages

10/30/2010 melkweg the max amsterdam netherlands - the academy is my beautiful romance

11/22/2010 house of blues west hollywood ca - the academy is my beautiful romance

11/30/2010 p.c. richard & son theater nyc ny - the academy is my beautiful romance

12/1/2010 maida vale studios london england - the academy is my beautiful romance

12/2/2010 fuse tv studio nyc ny - koi no yokan

12/05/2010 1-800-ask-gary amphitheater tampa fl - the academy is my beautiful romance

12/06/2010 rockefeller plaza nyc ny - heather the human

12/08/2010 the midland by amc kansas city mo - the academy is my beautiful romance

12/09/2010 the daily habit los angeles ca - koi no yokan

12/11/2010 spike tv video game awards la convention center la - hidden gems & the academy is my beautiful romance

12/11/2010 kroq almost acoustic christmas gibson amphitheater universal city ca - kroq

12/15/2010 q101 twisted christmas house of blues chicago il - the academy is my beautiful romance

1/17/2011 conan burbank ca - JuanPI

1/21/2011 lopez tonight burbank ca - the academy is my beautiful romance

01/21/2011 the hollywood tower hollywood ca - the academy is my beautiful romance

02/10/2011 xfm radio studios london uk - the academy is my beautiful romance

02/22/2011 metro radio arena newcastle on tyne england - ZoneMum

02/23/2011 o2 academy brixton uk - emzlouise90

02/24/2011 o2 academy islington uk - emziixmcr

03/09/2011 kesselhaus munich germany - the academy is my beautiful romance

03.12.2011 ciutat de les artes i les ciencies valencia spain - CarlosCapBlanc3

03/20/2011 hartwall areena helsinki finland - the academy is my beautiful romance

04/23/2011 terminal 5 new york city ny - the academy is my beautiful romance

05/15/2011 carlisle lake district airport carlisle england - the academy is my beautiful romance

06/24/2011 universidad complutense de madrid madrid spain - pamyale24

06/26/2011 autodromo internazionale enzo e dino ferrara imoli italy - denis rossi

07/02/2011 coke sound up stuttgart germany - the academy is my beautiful romance

07/03/2011 dyrskuepladsen roskilde denmark - søren thomsen

07/07/2011 passeio marítimo de algés oeiras portugal - the academy is my beautiful romance

07/09/2011 roundhouse london england - slavka941

-> pt. 1 (2002 - 2005)

-> pt. 2 (2005 - 2007)

-> pt. 4 (2011 - 2023)

#my chemical romance

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thisapplepielife · 1 year ago

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Written for the @steddieholidaydrabbles December challenge.

Best Part of the Day

Prompt Day 17: Platonic Stobin | Word Count: 1000 | Rating: T | CW: None | Tags: S4, Platonic Stobin, Ride to School, Pre-Steddie

Steve honks the horn, and sips from his mug of coffee. It won't fit in his cup holder, so he has to rest it on his thigh. He honks again, and a minute later Robin rushes out of the front door of her house, towards his waiting car.

Arms flailing, she screams, "Hold on, I'm coming!"

It makes Steve chuckle. She's the one about to be late to school, not him. He's graduated. Family Video doesn't open for another two plus hours. He's got plenty of time to kill this morning, but he knows she doesn't want the tardy. He knows her like the back of his hand. The front of his hand?

His whole hand. For sure.

Robin fumbles with the trunk, and he watches as she unlocks it. It was just easier to give her the damn spare key instead of him having to get out every morning and unlock it.

She finally piles into the front seat, with a huff, "What are we waiting for? You're gonna make me late, dingus!"

He rolls his eyes.

"Good morning to you, too," he says, handing her his mug of coffee. He might as well. She's gonna take it from him, sooner or later. She always does. He opens the console, and hands her the bagel that he's wrapped in a paper towel, before leaning to look back over his shoulder, reversing them back onto the street.

He glances at her out of the corner of his eye, and she's alternating between drinking coffee, and eating the bagel. Getting sesame seeds all over the floor mat. He'll have to stop by the car wash and vacuum it after he drops her off.

"There's an away game tonight," she says, done with the bagel, and now holding his coffee in one hand, putting her mascara on with the other. He watches, not sure how she's doing it one-handed.

"Yeah, the kids have told me a thousand times, like I've somehow suddenly forgotten how a basketball schedule works since graduating," Steve says, annoyed.

"I have to ride the activity bus to the game, but if you can forge me a note again, I'll ride home with you. Dibs on the front seat," she says.

Steve laughs. He's been roped into taking Dustin, Mike and Max, and Dustin's gonna hate that she's called dibs, but fair is fair. Dustin can have the front seat on the way to Hartford City.

They head down the highway, and Robin tells him about her morning. He nods, listens, and analyzes more about Vickie than he ever imagined possible. It's a ritual at this point. She pines. He gives advice she won't take.

They argue. They banter.

Rinse, repeat.

Day after day, morning after morning.

But it's often the best part of his day.

He's trying to explain exactly why she should just go for it, when Steve catches movement out of the corner of his eye, and realizes they're about to be broadsided by a van, that as far as Steve can tell, has no driver.

Steve slams on the brakes, stopping short as the van whips onto the highway from a side road, cutting him off. The driver's head just barely popping into view, mere seconds before he needed to make the turn.

"Watch it, asshole!" Steve screams, slamming his hand on the steering wheel.

"Uh, Steve?" Robin says, and he turns to look at her, and she's wearing the coffee. Brown splotches staining her white blouse, running all over his leather seats.

"Are you hurt? Did you get burned?" he asks, patting her arm down, like that'll help.

"Well, it doesn't feel great! But I think I'll live," she says. "But I don't have time to go back home and change, I'm going to be so late. Detention for me, yay," she says sarcastically.

"Take off your shirt," Steve says, and she cuts him a look, "Not like that, Jesus, Robin. I don't want to see your boobies."

He snaps his fingers, and gives her the hurry up motion.

So, she does, and he takes off his shirt, too, and stretches his hand out to offer it to her. She takes it, and slips it over her head. It's too big, but she says she doesn't care, because that's the style, apparently.

"Thanks, dingus," she says, and he slides his arms back through the holes of his vest. No shirt underneath. He looks ridiculous.

At the school, they both get out, and Robin digs out her notepad, and turns around. Steve lays the notebook on her back, and writes the note, forging Mrs. Buckley's signature to get Robin off the activity bus on the way home.

"There, done," he says, swatting her on the back with the notebook, and she takes it and rushes towards the building, turning back towards him.

"Thanks, Steve! See you tonight!" she yells and then she turns and runs away from the parking lot faster.

"Yeah, yeah," he mutters, but he smiles as she goes.

"Nice fashion statement, Harrington," Eddie Munson interrupts, as he climbs out of the same goddamn van that caused this whole problem in the first place. He should have known Eddie "The Freak" Munson was involved.

Steve looks down at his bare chest.

"Well, I had a shirt until you cut us off and Robin spilled coffee all over herself," Steve snaps.

"I don't know what you're talking about, that doesn't sound like me at all. I'm a great driver," Eddie says, digging around and coming up with a black, metal lunchbox.

His drugs. Steve knows all about Eddie, and his dealing business.

"Yeah, sure you are," Steve snips, turning to get into the driver's seat. He has no interest in engaging with Eddie Munson at ten 'til eight in the morning. No goddamn way.

"Nice to see you, King Steve," Eddie snarks, walking awfully slowly towards the school for someone that nearly ran them off the road to get here today.

What a dickhead.

Notes: Eddie definitely saw Steve in that no-shirt/vest combo and when presented with the opportunity to see it again in the Upside Down, and in his own vest no less, he took it, lol.

If you want to write your own, or see more entries for this challenge, pop on over to @steddieholidaydrabbles and follow along with the fun!

If you want to see more of my entries into this month-long challenge, you can check them out in my Steddie Holiday Drabbles tag, right here!

#steddieholidaydrabbles #platonic stobin #stobin ficlet #steve and robin #pre steddie #steddie #steddie ficlet #steve x eddie #steve harrington #robin buckley #eddie munson #thisapplepielife: short fic #thisapplepielife: steddieholidaydrabbles

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rpmarmy · 2 years ago

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Super Modified 4x4 Truck Pulling Hartford Fair OSTPA

Super Modified 4×4 Truck Pulling Hartford Fair OSTPA

OSTPA Super Modified 4×4 class truck pulling during the Hartford Fair. Become the meme and prevent stuck bolts: https://amzn.to/3fbRqLb RPM Army is an Amazon Affiliate and earns from qualifying purchases. The OSTPA truck and tractor pulling event at the Hartford fair hosts several classes including Pro Stock Tractors, Super Stock Tractors, Super Modified 2×4 and 4×4, as well as Pro Stock Semi…

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unitedbydevils · 1 month ago

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Match Review: Arsenal 2-0 Manchester United

Ruben Amorim suffered his first defeat to Mikel Pulis' Arsenal. Loool.

Manchester United fell to a two-goal defeat away in the rain at the Emirates Stadium last night, in a weird 8:15pm kickoff clearly influenced by the Amazon Prime Video broadcasting. Nice.

A very dull first half saw United ride out a little pressure from Arsenal but otherwise look relatively unfazed by a title-contender. Are we that good or were they that bad? (they were that bad)

Arsenal's threat all season has been corners, and two goals from corners last night proved that - Timber in the 54th minute and Saliba's hip in the 73rd to seal the win. Props to Bukayo Saka for the laser-guided deliveries. It was like watching Beckham all over again, legitimately. It has been a while since I saw someone's corners be THAT good. Fair play.

Hilariously, you can see Harry Maguire - the aerial deterrent - go full weirdo and then let Arsenal score their opener here. Nice.

Ruben Amorim did joke that United needed more work on set pieces and defending corners, but he also pointed out United's weak link in attack. The passing and movement patterns are very evident in defence and midfield, and we certainly would have benefited from both Kobbie Mainoo and Lissandro Martinez (good possession players) versus the Gunners, but even with them... our attack was wasteful and toothless.

For a drab game there were some positives. Malacia's fitness is growing, and while he only managed the first half he did keep Saka quiet. Good lad.

Ugarte continues to impress, as did De Ligt, but it was an uncharacteristically quiet game from Mazraoui - perhaps suffering from the backlash over the Rainbow Laces campaign. Just to qualify things there - he's allowed to differ in opinion, especially with religion, even if I disagree with that. I just don't see why that then stops the rest of the team supporting the campaign and the Rainbow Devils. Come on. Bruno's done loads with them, as have others.

Leny Yoro also impressed on his debut, looking very comfortable even without full match fitness, in cold wet weather, against a team at their ground, with a lead... stacked odds but he did well. I'm excited to see the Licha-De Ligt-Yoro back 3, with Mazraoui RWB and Amad further forward with Bruno.

There were issues evident, as we say. Chaos Mode is still a thing for some players. Panic and react, rather than think and execute. It'll be fixed, or people will be shipped out.

Garnacho was the brightest forward but not that effective. Hojlund, Mount, Rashford and Antony might as well not have featured.

The other thing was how giddy Arsenal fans got. Yes, it's a win vs the old enemy, and yes, they were two very good corners, but you're a team at home who are challenging for the title and for most of the game you struggled vs a rotated United side under a new manager. Come on.

Next up for United is a Saturday match against Nottingham Forest, fresh off the back of losing 3-0 to City. It's a 5:30pm kickoff, so you've got chance to enjoy your day first.

I'll be commentating Stretford Paddock FC vs Hartford over on Twitch, if anyone fancies tuning in, at around 2:30pm UK time.

youtube

#manchester united #man u #man united #man utd #manchester reds #ruben amorim #bukayo saka #william saliba #jurrien timber #the emirates stadium #premier league #epl #football #leny yoro #matthijs de ligt #manuel ugarte #Youtube

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xtruss · 7 months ago

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Twenty-Five Years Before The Wright Brothers Took To The Skies, This Flying Machine Captivated America

First Exhibited in 1878, Charles F. Ritchel’s Dirigible Was About As Wacky, Dangerous and Impractical as Any Airship Ever Launched

— June 11, 2024 | Erik Ofgang

“When I Was Making It, People Laughed at Me a Good Deal,” Charles F. Ritchel Later Said. “But Do They Did at Noah When He Built the Ark.” Illustration by Meilan Solly/Images via Wikimedia Commons under public domain, Newspapers.com

Charles F. Ritchel’s Flying Machine Made a Sound Like a Buzzsaw as its pilot turned a hand crank to spin its propeller. It was June 12, 1878, and a huge crowd, by some accounts measuring in the thousands, had gathered at a baseball field in Hartford, Connecticut. The spectators had each paid 15 cents for a chance to witness history.

The flying machine—if one could really call it that—was an unsightly jumble of mechanical parts. It consisted of a 25-foot-long, 12-foot-wide canvas cylinder filled with hydrogen and bound to a rod. From this contraption hung a framework of steel and brass rods that the Philadelphia Times likened to “the skeleton of a boat.” The aeronaut would sit on this framework as though it were a bicycle, controlling the craft with foot pedals and a hand crank that turned a four-bladed propeller.

The device did not inspire confidence.

“When I was making it, people laughed at me a good deal,” Ritchel later said. “But so they did at Noah when he built the ark.”

A self-described “professor,” Ritchel was the inventor of such wacky, weird and wild creations that a recounting of his career reads as though it were torn from the pages of a Jules Verne novel. Supposedly friends with both P.T. Barnum and Thomas Edison, Ritchel for a time made a living working for a mechanical toy company in Bridgeport, Connecticut, where he designed talking dolls, model trains and other playthings. But he was more than just a toymaker.

Left: Charles F. Ritchel filed more than 150 patents over his lifetime. Right: Ritchel's 1878 patent for his flying machine — Photographs: Public Domain Via Wikimedia Commons

Some years after the flying machine demonstration, the inventor proposed an ambitious attraction for the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition (also known as the Chicago World’s Fair): a “telescope tower” that would rival France’s Eiffel Tower. The design consisted of a 500-foot-wide base topped by multiple nested structures that rose up over the course of several hours, eventually reaching a height of about 1,000 feet. After this proposal was rejected, Ritchel launched a campaign to raise funds to build a life-size automaton of Christopher Columbus, which the Chicago Tribune reported would speak more than 1,000 phrases in a human-like voice, rather than the “far-away, metallic sounds produced by a phonograph.”

By the mid-1880s, Ritchel claimed to have filed more than 150 patents. Not all of them were fun. He invented more efficient ways to kill mosquitos and cockroaches, a James Bond-esque belt that assassins could use to inject poison into their targets, and a gas bomb for use in land or naval warfare.

Yet never in his career was his quirk-forward blend of genius and foolishness more apparent than on that June day in Hartford. Because the balance of weight and equipment was so delicate, Ritchel was too heavy to fly the craft. Instead, he employed pilot Mark W. Quinlan, who tipped the scale at just 96 pounds. Quinlan was a 27-year-old machinist and native of Philadelphia, but little else is known about him. The record, however, is crystal clear on one count: Quinlan was very, very brave.

When preparations for the craft were complete, the crowd watched in eager anticipation as Quinlan boarded the so-called pilot’s seat. The airship rose 50 feet, then 100 feet, then 200 feet. Such a sight was uncommon but not unheard of at the time. The real question was: Once the craft was in the air, could it be controlled?

The first heavier-than-air flight (in which airflow over a surface like a plane wing creates aerodynamic lift) only took place in 1903, when the Wright Brothers conducted their famous flight in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. But by the late 19th century, flying via lighter-than-air gases was already close to 100 years old. (This method involves heating the air inside of a balloon to make it less dense, leading it to rise, or filling the balloon with a low-density gas such as helium or hydrogen.) On November 21, 1783, Jean-François Pilâtre de Rozier and François Laurent d’Arlandes completed the first crewed, untethered hot-air balloon flight, passing over Paris on a craft built by the Montgolfier brothers. Later, balloons were used for reconnaissance during the French Revolutionary Wars and the American Civil War.

A drawing of the Montgolfier brothers' hot-air balloon Public Domain Via Wikimedia Commons

But free-floating balloons were, and still are, at the mercy of the winds. While balloon aeronauts can achieve limited control by changing altitude and attempting to catch different currents, they can’t easily return to the spot where they took off from, which is why even today, they have teams following them on the ground. Mid-1800s aviation enthusiasts dreamed of fixing this problem, which led to the development of dirigibles—powered, steerable airships that were inflated with lighter-than-air gases. (The word dirigible comes from the French word diriger, “to steer”; contrary to popular belief, the term, which is synonymous with airship, is not derived from the word “rigid.”) While some early aeronauts successfully steered dirigibles, none of these rudimentary airships could truly go against the wind or provide a controlled-enough flight to take off and land at the same point consistently.

In 1878, Ritchel was unaware of anyone who had successfully taken off in a dirigible and landed at the same spot. He hoped to change that with his baseball field demonstration. A month earlier, Ritchel had exhibited the airship’s capabilities during indoor flights at the Philadelphia Main Exhibition Hall, a massive structure built for that city’s 1876 Centennial Exposition. But there is no wind indoors, and the true test of his device would have to be performed outdoors.

After rising into the air, Quinlan managed to steer the craft out over the Connecticut River. To onlookers, it was clear that the aeronaut was in control. But as he flew, the wind picked up, and it began to look like a storm was gathering. To avoid getting caught in the poor weather and facing an almost-certain disaster, Quinlan steered the craft back toward the field, cutting through the “teeth of the wind until directly over the ball ground whence it had ascended, and then alighted within a few feet of the point from which it had started,” as the New York Sun reported.

Ritchel's dirigible, as seen on the July 13, 1878, cover of Harper's Weekly Public Domain Via Wikimedia Commons

The act was hailed far and wide as a milestone. An illustration of the impressive-looking flying machine was featured on the cover of Harper’s Weekly.

“The great problem which inventors of flying machines have always before them is the arrangement by which they shall be able to propel their frail vessels in the face of an adverse current,” the magazine noted. “Until this end shall have been achieved, there will be little practical value to any invention of the kind. In Professor Ritchel’s machine, however, the difficulty has been in a great measure overcome.”

Across the country, observers hailed Ritchel’s odd but impressive milestone in flight. In the years and decades that followed, this achievement was forgotten by almost all except a select group of aviation historians.

Wikipedia incorrectly lists the flight of the French army dirigible La France as the first roundtrip dirigible flight. But this event took place six years after Ritchel’s Hartford demonstration, in August 1884. Why has a flight so seemingly monumental in its time been relegated to the dustbin of history?

Given his eccentric nature and creativity, it’s easy to root for Ritchel and think of him as a Nikola Tesla-like genius robbed of his rightful place in history. The reality of why his feat was forgotten is more complicated. As Tom Crouch, an emeritus curator at the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum, says, it’s possible Ritchel’s craft was the first to complete a round-trip dirigible flight. But other aircraft in existence at the time probably could have accomplished the same feat in favorable conditions. “La France made the first serious round-trip,” Crouch says.

Additionally, while Ritchel’s machine worked to a point, it wasn’t a pathway to more advanced dirigibles. Richard DeLuca, author of Paved Roads & Public Money: Connecticut Transportation in the Age of Internal Combustion, points out that the hand-cranked nature of Ritchel’s craft made it nearly impossible to operate with any kind of wind. “On the first day, he got away with it and directed the ship out and over the river and back to where he started, and that was quite an accomplishment,” DeLuca says. “But the conditions were just right for him to do that.”

Dan Grossman, an aviation historian at the University of Washington, has never come across evidence that any later pioneers of more advanced dirigible flights were influenced by Ritchel. “There are a lot of firsts in history that got forgotten because they never led to a second,” Grossman says.

An artist's depiction of the La France airship Public Domain Via Wikimedia Commons

The day after their first successful public outdoor flight in Hartford, Quinlan and Ritchel tried again at that same ballfield. This time, the weather was less cooperative, and the wind came in sharp gusts. Still, the pair persisted in their attempt. “Little Quinlan, even if he does only weigh 96 pounds, has confidence and nerve enough to go up in a gale,” the Sun reported. Up he went about 200 feet, but this time, the wind carried him away with more force. Quinlan was “seen throwing his vertical fan into gear, and by its aid, the aerial ship turned around, pointing its head in whatever direction he chose to give it.” Although he could move the ship about, “he could not make any headway against the strong wind.”

Quinlan descended about 100 feet, trying to catch a different current, but the wind still pushed him away from the ballfield. He raised the craft, this time going higher than 200 feet, but still couldn’t overcome the wind and was soon swept off toward New Haven, vanishing from sight like some real-world Wizard of Oz.

Eventually, Quinlan safely brought the airship down in Newington, about five miles away from Hartford. The inventor and his pilot were unfazed by this setback. They held more public exhibitions that year with a mix of success and failure—including an incident that nearly cost Quinlan his life. During a July 4 exhibition in Boston, the machine malfunctioned and continued to rise, soaring to what the Boston Globe estimated to be 2,000 feet. Quinlan couldn’t get the propeller to work, and the craft continued to rise, reaching as high as 3,000 feet.

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Terrified but quick-thinking, Quinlan tied his wrist and ankle to the craft and swung out of his seat to fix the propeller, using a jack-knife he happened to have on him as a makeshift tool. The daring midair repairs worked, and the craft gradually descended. Quinlan landed in Massachusetts, 44 miles from his starting destination, after a 1-hour, 20-minute flight.

Per Grossman, the human-powered method Ritchel attempted to utilize was doomed from the start. “In the absence of an internal combustion engine, there really was no control of lighter-than-air flight,” he says.

Ritchel stubbornly refused to consider powering dirigibles with engines and did not foresee how powerful a better-designed aircraft truly could be.

“I have overcome the fatal objection of which has always been made to the practicability of aerial navigation—that is, I have made a machine that can be steered,” Ritchel told a reporter in July 1878. “I claim no more. I have never pretended that a balloon can be made to go against the wind, and I am sure it never could. It is as ridiculous as a perpetual motion machine, and the latter will be invented just as soon as the former.”

Left: A page from Ritchel's ballooning scrapbook National Air and Space Museum Archives. Right: The scrapbook covers the years 1878 to 1901. Photographs: National Air and Space Museum Archives

Even so, Ritchel was influential in his own way. “He was one of the first to really come up with the notion of a little one-man, bicycle-powered airship, and those things were around into the early 20th century,” says Crouch. After Ritchel, other daring inventors launched similar pedal-powered airships. Carl Myers, for example, held demonstrations of a device he called the “Sky-Cycle” in the 1890s.

Ritchel stands as one of the fascinating early aeronauts whose work blurred the line between science and the sideshow. “I refer to them as aerial showmen, these guys who came up with the notion of making money [by] thrilling people [with] their exploits in the air,” Crouch says.

According to Crouch’s 1983 book, The Eagle Aloft: Two Centuries of the Balloon in America, Ritchel and Quinlan took the airship on tour with a traveling circus in the late 1870s. Ritchel also operated his machine at Brighton Beach near Coney Island. He sold a few replicas of his device and later attempted to develop a larger, long-distance version of the craft powered by an 11-person hand-cranking crew. Perhaps unsurprisingly, this idea failed to gain momentum, and Ritchel faded from the headlines. Soon, the exploits of new aeronauts would upstage him, among them Alberto Santos-Dumont’s circumnavigation of the Eiffel Tower in 1901.

Left: Alberto Santos-Dumont's first balloon, 1898. Right: Santos-Dumont circles the Eiffel Tower in an airship on July 13, 1901. Photographs: Public Domain Via Wikimedia Commons

Despite many earlier dirigible flights, Crouch and Grossman agree that the technology only became practical when German Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin built and flew the first rigid dirigible in the early 1900s. Over the first decade of the new century, Zeppelin perfected his namesake design, which featured a fabric-covered metal frame that enclosed numerous gasbags. “By 1913, just before [World War I] begins, Zeppelin is actually running sightseeing tours over German cities,” Crouch says, “so the Zeppelin at that point can safely carry passengers and take off and land from the same point.”

For a brief period, airships ruled the sky. (The spire of New York City’s Empire State Building, built in the 1930s, was famously intended as a docking station for passenger airships.) But the vehicles, which use gas to create buoyancy, were quickly eclipsed by airplanes, which achieve flight through propulsion that generates airflow over the craft’s wings.

While the 1937 Hindenburg disaster is often viewed as the end of the dirigible era, Grossman says that’s a misconception: The real death knell for passenger airships arrived when Pan American Airways’ China Clipper, a new breed of amphibious aircraft, flew from San Francisco to Manila in November 1935. “Partly because they flew faster, they could transport more weight, whether it’s people or cargo, mail, whatever, in the same amount of time,” Grossman explains. “They were less expensive to operate, they required much, much smaller crews, [and] they were less expensive to build.”

Airplanes were also safer. “Zeppelins have to fly low and slow,” Crouch says. “They operate in the weather; airplanes don’t. An airplane at 30,000 feet is flying above the weather. Weather, time after time, is what brought dirigibles down.”

Today, niche applications for passenger airships endure, including the Zeppelin company’s European tours, as well as ultra-luxury air yachts and air cruises. But “it’s always going to be a tiny, tiny slice of the transportation pie,” Grossman says.

Crouch agrees. “People still talk about bringing back big, rigid airships. That hasn’t happened yet, and I don’t think it will,” he says.

The USS Los Angeles, a United States Navy airship, in 1931. Photograph Public Domain Via Wikimedia Commons

In some ways, Ritchel’s flying machine was a microcosm of the larger history of dirigibles: fascinating, fun and the perfect fodder for fiction, but ultimately eclipsed by more efficient technology.

As for Ritchel, he died, penniless, of pneumonia in 1911 at age 66. “Although during his lifetime he had perfected inventions that, in the hands of others, had brought in great wealth, he died a poor man, as he lacked the business ability to turn the children of his brain to the best advantage to himself,” wrote the Bridgeport Post in his obituary.

Even so, the public had not forgotten the brief time three decades earlier when Ritchel and his airship ruled the skies. As the Boston Evening Transcript reported, his flights captured “the attention of the world. In every country and in every language, newspapers and magazines of the day printed long stories of the wonderful feats performed by the Bridgeport aviator and his marvelous machine, of which nothing short of a cruise to the North Pole was expected.”

— Erik Ofgang is the co-author of The Good Vices: From Beer to Sex, The Surprising Truth About What’s Actually Good For You and the author of Buzzed: A Guide to New England's Best Craft Beverages and Gillette Castle: A History. His work has appeared in the Washington Post, the Atlantic, Thrillist and the Associated Press, and he is the senior writer at Tech & Learning magazine.

#Youtube #Air & Space Museum #Air Transportation #Airplanes ✈️ ✈️ ✈️#American 🇺🇸 History #Invention #Newspapers 📰 🗞️#Smithsonian Institution #Toys #Transportation #Wright Brothers #Flying Machine #Charles F. Ritchel #Airship #Professor Charles F. Ritchel #Inventer of the Only Flying Machine on Earth 🌎#Lardner & Co | 1319 Chestnut Street | Philadelphia | Pennsylvania

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goodishgirlx · 15 days ago

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Ainsley is good. Dead Irish writers is a great one. Noel is a top 10. Hartford’s Landing too. 😉

in fairness i've also never actually finished the show lol- ive watched through the first four seasons have a dozen times but i always stall out in the post sorkin seasons the writing gets so bad

#ask

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fishrpg · 29 days ago

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2024-12-10: South Dakota (Hex 10)

Sharp peaks from the badlands erupt out of the endless prairie, their shadows looking like silent giants watching the road. The way to the northwest is prone to delays.

Notable Feature: Facility 19 (Dungeon)

Large dungeon, 31 areas

Facility 19 is not a place that's on gas station maps, and it's only very rarely included in the most secret of military maps. That's because it's one of the U.S. military's classified nuclear bases. It's a giant underground silo that holds a bunch of nuclear warheads and also holds a specialized group of soldiers there to stop bad guys from getting to the warheads.

Unfortunately for the military, the tactical advantage of having a missile silo located on The Routes is offset by the presence of vengeful ghosts. Each spirit that manifests in the facility appears to belong to someone who died fighting in either the Korean or Vietnam wars (on both sides). Regardless of what side the ghosts fought on during their lifetime, all the ghosts appear to be united in their hatred of the facility here. Only a handful of people have managed to survive this long, and they are broadcasting a distress signal on the AM radio waves.

It will be a difficult task, but whoever can get rid of the ghosts will be rewarded. The appearances started shortly after a new general arrived and redecorated the facility's situation room with a bunch of symbolic objects from the Korean and Vietnam wars. These objects (in conjunction with the general weirdness of The Routes) are what attract the ghosts, and destroying them will untether them from the mortal realm. As a reward, the few survivors might even turn "overlook" if some of the equipment came up missing. The missiles aren't an option, but a tank might be available as a reward.

Service Station: Badlands Body and Beauty

You can get fuel and snacks here, sure, but Badlands Body and Beauty is place where juxtaposition runs king. The "body" part of the shop does vehicle repainting and detailing, while the "beauty" part does manicures and makeovers for people. Although the facilities seem completely at odds with each other, they do complement each other because a fair amount of visits to the store are from families or mixed-gender parties who get bored while waiting and check out the other side of the shop and end up spending more money.

The shop is run by a married couple, Joe and Robin Hartford. Joe recently got out of jail for motor vehicle theft, and Robin is a successful small business owner who liked to write to people in prison. The two hit it off and eventually got married while Joe was still incarcerated.

#hexplore24 #fishdavidson #dungeons and dragons #hexcrawl #5e #dungeon #road trip

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inquisitor-of-hearts · 2 months ago

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Escalate (7)

After some consideration Galeb decides to not follow the Beckoning. Hazel is quick to act and entrusts him with a new task for the Camarilla.

Spoilers for all of Vampire the Masquerade: Swansong.

Rating: Teen

Word Count: 1,747

Link to Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6

on Ao3

Heavy is the head that wears the crown Handed on a plate but I love the chase

You don’t wanna dare bite the hand that feeds ya

Galeb scoffed as he recognized the woman, his feral instincts calming.

“You’re not so delirious that your senses aren’t working anymore, good.” Emem mocked, the hint of a grin on her lips.

“What are you doing here? Who sent you?” His tone was professional, although with a sense of hostility in it.

“Sent me?” She tilted her head at him. “I am a lover of the fine arts as you know. And tea ceremony is one among them. I did not take you for a connoisseur though.”

“Why hide then if you’re not here on business?”

“Is it just me or are you more tense than usual tonight?” she questioned in a teasing manner, her voice a pitch higher. “Fine, so followed you. Got curious about your retainer, but didn’t want to make it too obvious. ”

“She is not my retainer.”

“Oh. Good to know.” Emem spoke softly.

He sighed, looking away. He should have known.

“Get out of my sight, Diva.” he commanded.

“Don’t worry, I’m gone already.” she yielded, nothing but thin smoke remaining in her wake.

Galeb pushed the elevator button and waited. Internally he cursed himself. She had not been here by chance, that much was obvious. He knew the Herald, just as well as he knew the Prince. It was nothing but praise and sweet reassurance that he could take as much time as needed, but in reality they had started to doubt him, they had become impatient; so impatient they had sent someone after him to watch his every move. Trust was indeed hard to come by. He could hardly believe that the Prince had started to question his moves. But to send Emem Louis? Stepping inside the cabin, he thought about her words, how she had seen him with his guard down. He snarled in disgust while the elevator descended. She must have been in the same room with them, he realized.

At his arrival in the lobby he walked towards Cyrene who got up from her seat at once. Together with his ghoul they walked to his car. After they had dropped her off, Galeb felt weakened. Once again he felt the hunger pangs, just like after every night he spent with her.

In the wake of their farewell he arrived at a luxurious hotel downtown. He had promised the Prince to drop by at an event that was held as a second attempt of the reunification party, although on a much smaller scale. Iversen had after all secured the blood trade with the Hartford Chantry, although the trust once given had eroded and some ties had been severed. As he knew her, these days she wanted to be rather safe than sorry.

“Looks like Siaka hasn’t come.” Emem casually remarked towards Hazel as they stood at a cocktail table. Her black suit presented a sharp contrast against her fair complexion. It gave the Prince an aura of dominance and fearlessness, especially given the fact that the other women around her were clad in more vibrant colours.

“Yes, he has-- … Galeb” Hazel’s gaze was drawn to the man who had casually approached them, her tone friendly and upbeat suddenly. “I’m very glad you could make it. I was almost worried.”

“As promised, my Prince.”

“I know you would never neglect your duties.” the Prince remarked, then stretched her hand out, pointing around the place in an inviting fashion. “Please, grab a drink. Enjoy yourself.”

“I come just to oversee things, as discussed. There’s no need to accommodate me.” he reassured.

“Oh come on now” Emem, still standing next to the Prince on the other side, rolled her eyes. But she spoke no further word as Hazel’s gaze met hers for a moment. It had the power to silence, after all. The Prince turned towards Galeb again.

“I’ve already given my speech. So far everything is under control. Not all of the members of the Chantry are here.”

“Precautions I would guess.”

“I would guess so too.” Hazel spoke with a certain disappointment in her voice, just short of a sigh. “In any case, enjoy yourself.”

“Thank you, my Prince.” Galeb knew it was no opportunity to talk business, at least not about his. These parties were for show. Influence, power, connections. Sometimes gossip. Who was he trying to convince -- it always involved gossip. Exchanging secrets that later could be used for some political agenda or another. It was not his game. Not tonight at least.

“Bazory. Glad you could make it.” April spoke as she approached the three, her face not showing any hints of a smile despite her almost affectionate tone. She leaned over towards the Prince, whispering something. Hazel nodded, setting her glass down on the tall table.

“I have something to attend to, but I will surely see you around later.” she announced and walked ahead. Both pairs of heels clicked against the glazed white floor that showed faint reflections of the two women walking off, leaving Galeb and Emem behind. He shot her a glance. The corners of her mouth creased slightly, her eyebrows raised expectantly. It was the kind of gaze that told him she was ready to hear him out but would not start a conversation. The man walked off wordlessly. There was no point after all.

He detested these parties. It was always the most decadent of the most decadent, and if not on open display like the vessel that was just close to being sucked dry on a nearby couch in the corner, then it was something even worse behind closed doors. Doors he did not want to open, not even peek into. But there had often been cases when it had been his duty. Out of politeness he had taken a glass when next to the prince, but he could not stand the concoction. On top of that, the decadent display of seemingly endless blood supply. At the next table that he passed, he put the glass down again, deciding to watch the room from a darker and more quiet corner. He was hungry of course. But the display of all the excess, the vessels infused with various drugs, no doubt prepared by Richard Dunham with deliberate precision, made his stomach churn. He was a really picky eater anyway, but had he not been, it would have still sickened him. At this kind of buffet the mere presence of the guests and their taste made him lose appetite.

He should have become used to it long ago. He was used to it. Something had changed. It made him thoughtful. He had tasted innocence, a sense of hope and purity for too long. It had tainted him in a twisted way, a way that could not stand the sight of these carefully prepared vessels anymore.

“Ah, Galeb. We were just talking about you.”

Speak of the devil. Richard Dunham caught him just when he was passing through the room.

“We?”

“Yes, the Prince and I. That reminds me, did you enjoy the vessel I prepared for you?”

Galeb was taken aback momentarily, remembering the night.

“But of course.” he answered automatically. Richard must have known he could not answer in any other way, given that it was a gift by the Prince. He also most have known that he could have not possibly refused. What he could not know and could merely suspect was that Galeb hated this unnatural charade. He preferred a clean hunt, albeit the time he took watching his prey was unusually long and strangely intimate at times.

Richard’s face remained unmoved and Galeb ran a hand through his hair in an impatient manner, unusual for him.

“I enjoyed the subtle traces of caffeine. Not too strong, just barely a kick.”

“Ahh, I knew you would.” Richard spoke triumphantly. “I was thinking if you ever come by the Red Salon, we could look for something more refined for you.”

“Thank you, Richard, that is very kind. But I’m quite busy at the moment.” he declined politely. Of course this was all politics. Richard tried to make himself useful, the new Red Salon had been decided to be a much smaller space. Funds were directed elsewhere after what had happened at the old location. Galeb knew all too well that if Richard found a way for him to approve of the Salon, he could convince the Prince of further funding of his research, which must have been proven increasingly difficult after the loss of Leysha. He could not blame Richard. The man just tried to get by doing what he deemed needed to be done.

“I understand. But all the more, I could offer something that is more refreshing during these trying times. When I heard about Xu Feng-- That must have been a difficult situation.”

Galeb’s features turned sour. He had hoped the topic would not be brought up anymore but it seemed the Doctor had different plans in mind; possibly even to rile him up on purpose.

“And I’m very sorry about Leysha. It must have been painful to lose her.”

“Oh well” Richard sighed now, “It might be for the better in some ways.”

Galeb remained unfazed but the Doctor’s tone carried some empathy, causing him to think that maybe he had misjudged him for a moment.

“Either way, I would be happy to see you at the new location when you can find the time.”

“I really do not think I will be able to make it.” Galeb declined politely. He had enough and decided to cut it short at last. “Regardless, thank you for the invitation and I wish you a pleasant evening.”

“Likewise.” Richard responded. “But Galeb, just one more thing -- if you ever need my help, or anything really, please. Do not ever hesitate to reach out.”

There was a softness around him, almost that of a whelp, that he was not used to seeing. It was becoming clear that he had lost influence in the Court.

“Of course, Richard.”

As he looked up, he saw Prince Iversen leave a secluded room, nodding towards Delsin who was guarding the doors. Discreetly she wiped the corner of her mouth, her lipstick remained slightly smudged. She shot Galeb a glance, a subtle grin on her lips before she disappeared behind a different door.

#spoilers!#read the other chapters first if you want to avoid spoilers #Vampire: The Masquerade - Swansong #Galeb Bazory #Emem Louis #Hazel Iversen #April Bosley #Richard Dunham #character study #camarilla #camarilla politics #business as usual #canon compliant #filling the gaps #ventrue #toreador #vtm fanfic #vtm

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