#resa answers

[deanstead]

Do you still write for Kelly or not?

Perhaps, you didn't mean to, but this ask came across a lot more aggressive than many of the asks sitting in my inbox.

I think as you can tell, I'm taking a long hiatus from writing in general.

Honestly, I know the fandom has gotten a lot quieter but a large part of that is the pressure of churning out fics and getting asks like this asking us why we aren't writing a certain character or the barrage of asks/requests which honestly is overwhelming for someone with anxiety (aka me).

If you followed me from before, I think you'll be able to tell that the best fics I've written are probably the ones that I took my time to write, to feel and to grow.

In short, I am and always will be a Kelly girl but I'm not actively writing at the moment.

[soulgathered-archived]

character added : theresa ( trigun oc ) .

name : theresa or "resa" aliases: abbess, comet age: mid to late twenties, physically however closer to mid thirties affiliation: eye of michael ( formerly ) . bounty hunter / mercenary ( currently )

background : born in july, resa's parents were plant researchers who got recruited by the eye of michael - they became fanatics & offered resa up for experiments. she is basically the blue print for the current generation of EoM members. deemed a success in terms of surviving the experiments, she is otherwise seen as not a full reach of the EoM wishes so she was never handed over a punisher ( physically she could carry one of the crosses tho ). she was basically in charge of the base training for new 'recruits' hence her nickname 'abbess' she also never quite let go of her grudge towards her parents or the EoM, if asked she couldn't pinpoint what made her snap but she did reach her limits & escaped the building she was held in, taking most of her young charges with her. resa put most of the kids with families across the planet, making sure to stay clear of orphanages because she knew those were favorable targets for the EoM. currently she is traveling around, specifically targeting the EoM recruiter.

extra info:

actually doesn't like kids all that much but seeing them suffer sucks.

has a weird relationship with plants because part of her never outgrew her thoughts from her childhood of 'what's so special about you that my parents couldn't love me'

some of the experiments involved plant dna - resa has plant markings on her body that she has covered with a tattoo. she isn't heavily 'modified' like others, the only changes to her that she technically has a longer lifespan ( not by much ) & her body heals a bit faster than usual & isn't as susceptible to the less favorable effects of using the potion too much.

comet is her self-proclaimed nickname after someone said she tends to appear on the outskirts of town like a comet in the sky & she thought that sounded 'kind of awesome'

[kim-ruzek]

Just here to tell you i love seeing you on my dash! <3

Awww thank you Resa!!! 💖💖💖 Love the new url btw!!

[grangertrash]

God Tier Death Eater!Hermione Fanfiction Masterlist

Devil Doesn't Bargain by starbucksofancientgreece Hermione Granger x Draco Malfoy Words: 141,713 Chapters: 46 "Rule number one: never assume you are safe." During the hunt for horcruxes, a group of snatchers discovers the Golden Trio. In the squabble, the three friends are separated, and while Harry and Ron apparate away to safety, Hermione is taken to face the consequences at Malfoy Manor. This is a dark AU where Hermione finds herself in a tough situation--swear fealty to the Dark Lord, or die. As much as she'd like to claim otherwise, Hermione is nothing if not self-preserving. When she makes the choice, it is an easy one.

Last Year by Canimal Hermione Granger x Draco Malfoy, Hermione Granger x Antonin Dolohov, Hermione Granger x Augustus Rookwood Words: 714,320 Chapters: 367 There's nowhere to hide when a victorious Voldemort sends his best tracker to find Hermione. Draco won't give up until he finds her again. A story of the unraveling of the lies we tell ourselves.

False-Hearted by its_banannaz & Literalily Hermione Granger x Draco Malfoy Words: 76,459 Chapters: 42 Hermione Granger has the potential to be more, MUCH more. And now, she's ready to climb her way to the top, no matter what it takes. Sick of her insincere "friends" and their lack of recognition, Hermione makes a decision that alters the outcome of the war. If no one will put Hermione Granger first, she'll simply have to do it herself. There is no good or bad, not anymore. It's about what gets her where she deserves to be. After reaching a boiling point, she does something that no one ever expected - she becomes a Death Eater. But not just any Death Eater - Voldemort's apprentice. Playing both sides, Hermione Granger now holds more power than anyone realizes. Is it so wrong to be false-hearted when you're finally putting yourself first?

When a Lioness Fights by kayly silverstorm Hermione Granger x Severus Snape Words: 416k+ Chapters: 80 Hermione Granger, master spy, and Severus Snape, spymaster to the Order. An unlikely partnership, forged to defeat the Dark Lord on his own ground. But to do so, they must confront their own darkness within. Spying, torture, angst and love. AU after fifth

The Last Marauder by Resa Aureus Hermione Granger x Remus Lupin Words: 238k+ Chapters: 78 In the wake of the war, Dumbledore's portrait gives Hermione a task that could change the course of history if she succeeds, but unravel time itself if she fails.

Mon Couteau Aiguise (My Sharp Knife) by gillianeliza Hermione Granger x Draco Malfoy Words: 169,542 Chapters: 99 “And you understand, I assume, the implications of wearing a piece of jewelry such as the one you have around your wrist?” Professor Snape asked. Hermione looked down at the bracelet in question, remembering the warm and joyful sensation of it first being clasped around her. The words Draco had spoken – will you have me? Will you accept me? “I do, sir,” she answered in her best impersonation of confidence. “But Miss Granger… I must ask – do you understand the cost?” Her brows pulled together. “The cost, sir?” “The Dark Lord will return, girl... When he returns, Lucius – and I for that matter – must resume our places at his side.” Hermione still said nothing, which she could tell surprised her potions professor greatly, so he continued. “What do you think will happen to Draco when his father once again becomes a follower of the Dark Lord?” The sticky dread clawed its way up her throat, as if choking her. Tears welled in the corners of her eyes as she thought of the implications. “So I ask you again, Miss Granger, do you understand the cost?” This work is a dark, Death Eater Hermione AU that begins during third year. Eventual canon divergence.

The Green Girl by Colubrina Hermione Granger x Draco Malfoy Words: 150k+ Chapters: 22 Hermione is sorted into Slytherin; how will things play out differently when the brains of the Golden Trio has different friends? AU. Darkish

Send me your favorite and I'll add it!

[kitty-is-writing]

writemas day 11

thanks to @agirlandherquill for this game! you can find the prompts for day 11 here

today I picked:

The cacophony of screams bled into everyone's ears. It was the song of pain, the whisper of vengeance, and everyone knew there was more to come. Worse to come, but it was coming.

The restlessness of hatred

She stared helplessly from the woods, watching another home burn. This one, at least, had not been her fault, but that was no comfort. The depths of their hatred were infinite, it seemed, and would never allow them peace.

Luke held her from behind, the only thing keeping her upright, keeping her grounded in reality. The few others who had managed to flee before the flames consumed them stood nearby, clutching at soot-stained belongings they had snatched in the scant moments they had.

Bennett, with a satchel of his most precious books. Paul, carrying his collection of maps. Alec and Rachel, who had only managed to rescue little Astrid and her ragged stuffed toy. Mark and his wife, Hayley, clutching each other like lifelines. William held only a pair of potted plants, singed around the outer leaves. Enyeto, cursing that he could only carry one sack of his gold and jewels. A handful of others Theresa couldn't name.

The rest were trapped, either burning or bleeding in what remained of their ramshackle homes.

From the blazing village, the cacophony of screams bled into everyone's ears. It was the song of pain, the whisper of vengeance, and everyone knew there was more to come. Worse to come, but it was coming. The Temple of the Holy Stars would never stop chasing them.

“We have to move, before they start searching for survivors.” Bennett's voice was low, rough, thick with tears. His sister had been caught as they fled, impaled by one of the Celestial soldiers’ swords.

Slowly, the group turned to leave, the heat of the village at their backs. Theresa felt it long after the light of the fire had disappeared behind the trees, pursuing them as she knew the temple would, eventually. They would not rest until all magic had been wiped from the land, along with any found using it.

“Why do they hate us so much? I know I have done awful things, but some here have done nothing but offer help to those in need. What do the Stars have against them?” she whispered the question to herself, mainly, but Luke heard and answered.

“They don't hate magic. They hate that filthy commoners and unbelievers can use it too.” He stared ahead, at someone's back, practically spitting with rage. “Haven't you wondered about those ‘sacred portals’ they use? The ‘holy shields’ that let their soldiers walk through fire? It's all magic, Resa. Nothing that you or I couldn't do with the right practice and training.”

“Luke is quite right. The cardinals of the temple are quite accomplished mages themselves, but they claim it as holy power and gifts from the heavens.” Paul had overheard them, clearly. “According to their teachings, magic is the province of the gods, who present themselves to us as the stars, and not to be used by any other than their most devout followers.”

Theresa stared in disbelief. “That's stupid! Magic is magic, not some gift from a god. Anyone can use it if they try hard enough to learn.”

Paul nodded. “We know that, and they know that. They don't want the rest of the world to know that. How are they going to stay in power if everyone can perform the same miracles their priests can?”

“It means they get to hold people's lives in their hands. They decide who is worthy of healing, and who deserves to remain sick and dying. They decide what farms have given enough donations, and get blessings on their crops. They decide how people should live, who gets to be comfortable and who struggles for every meal. Keeping magic for themselves gives them control over everything, and they won't give that up until someone forces them to.”

She had never heard Luke's voice so full of dark hate before. It frightened her a little, this side of him, and she squeezed his hand tighter to distract him from those thoughts. Her distraction worked, clearing the glint of rage from his eyes. She smiled, leant in for a kiss. His lips tasted of smoke and ash, but beneath there was that hint of cinnamon and mint she loved.

“We'll get through this, my love. One day at a time.”

He wrapped an arm around her shoulders as they walked. “One day, Resa, you and I will be happy together. We'll live in a little thatched cottage, surrounded by foxgloves and roses, and the only thing we'll have to worry about will be what to name our children.”

“I look forward to that day.” She held him close, hoping against hope that his words would someday be a reality.

writer mutuals tag list!

@rhiannonhgarrard @17panicattacksinatrenchcoat @charlesjosephwrites @aether-wasteland-s @leahnardo-da-veggie

@mysticstarlightduck @oh-no-another-idea @revenantlore @eli-t-spoon @calliecwrites

@ryns-ramblings @kaylinalexanderbooks @bloodmoonloveletter @aquixoticwrites @theeccentricraven

@burntblanc @satohqbanana

[runwayrunway]

No. 28 - A Further Explanation of the Star Alliance Test

This is a main-series post, despite not being a review of a specific airline. I just think it's something that belongs in the series, that should be read. Don't worry. Today's airline is going to come later. This is a necessary preamble to get out of the way first, and it's also me making things right with an airline I've covered already.

Stick around and I promise it'll make sense. I had to rewrite this entire post from scratch, so if I could have changed this fact I would have, but fundamentally before I talk about today's true subject I need to talk about the Star Alliance Test (SAT for the remainder of this post). 

So let's begin with a question. You don't have to get this right. Just take a brief look at these pictures, don't try to examine them closely or anything, just a look-over, and tell me which one of these planes - we'll call them 1, 2, and 3, left from right - flies for an airline we’ve touched on briefly before, Avianca.

Got your answer locked in? Hit the readmore and let me tell you why I asked you this!

That's right! The answer was No. 1. You can tell because it says Avianca on it, if you look closer. But...why? Why would we want to be put in a situation where 'which of these three airlines with completely different liveries, identities, and brands does this plane fly for' is a question that could feasibly come up? 

I don't know. I didn't make that choice and I was probably on some other wall during that meeting. Oh, and to the best of my knowledge I also hadn't been born yet. But it's a thing airline alliances do. And Star Alliance is the subject of the Star Alliance Test - one of my metrics for determining if an airline deserves a grade of F. 

The Star Alliance test has been used precisely once - in my SAS post, regarding the 1998-2019 livery (henceforth referred to as red engine SAS or RESAS).

This monstrosity, for those blessed enough to not remember.

Here are the rules of the test. 

The Star Alliance Test has exactly one question. Would I prefer that all this airline’s planes were forcibly repainted into Star Alliance liveries instead of allowed to remain in their current state?

If the answer is 'yes', the airline automatically gets a grade of F. 

Why Star Alliance? After all, it could be better but I don't think it's that bad. Well, I choose it because the Star Alliance test isn't really about being aesthetically pleasing - at least, not exclusively. Let me explain. 

Star Alliance is the largest airline alliance in the world. Flightradar24 estimates there are 106 planes flying in a Star Alliance livery. It has 26 member airlines, shown above. Note the variance in color scheme, in logo, in origin. 26 is so many airlines. These carriers span every continent except Antarctica and basically only share three features: being international, being full-service, and being members of Star Alliance. I think it's safe to say that in any other context, nobody would ever associate THAI and Avianca, or Shenzhen Airlines and TAP Air Portugal, or Aegean Airlines and EVA Air. 

Each of these airlines has a livery of their own, except for Copa. I've covered Lufthansa and SAS already. Croatia Airlines and Air New Zealand are on my request list. Another several are on my own private 'short' list. (It is 50 airlines long. You don't want to know how long my longlist is.) 26 airlines comes out to at minimum 26 reviews, but actually more because you saw me squeeze four out of SAS. I will say up front, Star Alliance runs the gamut of liveries. There are a couple I like, a couple I think are very bad, and most I think are middling. But each of them, except Copa, is its own. Some of their designs are minimal, disappointing, ugly, but they are all designs made in an attempt to reflect the airline's identity and distinguish it from the rest of the tarmac, even if they create something ugly or boring or cowardly or all three.

A livery can be very, very bad indeed. But in my own mind an F, an outright failure, is the inverse of an A+ in a sort of cosmically symmetric ontology, and these are not the inverse of an A+ livery. They do not embody a transcendent bad to balance the scales against transcendent good. To reach this point you must be not only ugly but a gnawing void eating away at your own self. A livery worthy of the grade F do not fail to execute a good concept, or even fail to execute a bad concept. They have no concept and they fail to justify their existence.

One of the worst liveries I've covered vs one of the best.

The SAT is a litmus test for this astronomical, pernicious state of utter failure. It takes more to fail the SAT than to just be uglier than the default Star Alliance livery. Plenty of liveries are uglier than Star Alliance's and they pass by light-years. To fail the SAT requires more than bad design, blandness, or anything else of that nature. It is monumentally difficult to fail the SAT. It’s like stalling an Airbus. You can do it. We know this. People have managed to do it, when the perfect storm arises and the world enters that uncanny state where luck and circumstance conspire to make the absurd a reality. But it’s really not something you can do, broadly speaking. Just pulling the nose up too far or forgetting to keep track of your airspeed isn’t going to do the trick. Icing on the wings won’t either. Even forgetting to extend your flaps on takeoff probably won’t be enough. It’s rare enough that it straddles the border of being an urban legend. It seems so easy to do thoughtlessly but it’s only happened a couple of times. Even doing it intentionally is harder than just designing a good livery. I'm not even sure it's possible to do it intentionally.  

To fail the SAT, you must fail so comprehensively that you should no longer be allowed to design your own livery. You should, in a paternalistic manner, have your entire fleet forcibly repainted into the Star Alliance colors. 

A livery is meant to distinguish and represent an airline. Even a bad design is still a design. The reason that RESAS fails the SAT, in my mind, is that it doesn't feel like a design. It's not coherent. It's not intentional. It doesn't feel like improperly integrated parts, or even multiple liveries stapled together. It feels like it was designed by random number generator. It utterly fails to represent the airline, utterly fails to look good, and utterly fails to even seem like thought was put into it.

To fail the SAT is to get to the point where I genuinely think it is so shameful to paint this on your planes, so inept on every level, that it would be better to just not have a livery. It would be an act of mercy to become indistinguishable from other airlines instead of staying as it is, a thing you could only ever pity and never truly love. Never respect. The most wretched sort of creature. If your shirt is stained too badly, you just can't keep going on like that. People will point and laugh at you, and that's never fun. They'll say 'that guy's shirt is covered in mysterious substances', and you have to just put on a jacket and cover it up until you get home and fumigate it with kerosene. From 1998 to 2019, SAS would have been better off just not having a livery than they were flying that...thing.

It doesn't have to be Star Alliance in particular. Just something which renders the airplane mostly generic. They can keep a little logo on there but they don't get their own design. It could just as easily be, say, forcible repainting into the default manufacturer liveries Airbus and Boeing use for prototype aircraft.

Not the end of the world, right? These are surely not unbearable liveries. I don't think it's any worse giving up your identity to say you're part of Star Alliance than it is to subdue it in favor of the model of plane. If you're SAS pre-2019, this may be a decent option for you. If you're literally anyone else, the mere concept should be philosophically repugnant.

I am actually being kind, though. If I were to be even harsher, I could have easily made this the SmartLynx Test.

I asked you all about SmartLynx. To begin with, not a single person believed they could recall seeing one of their planes, or that they had flown with them. I didn't think they'd be able to. That's not a question I can really answer about myself either, at least not with any confidence. But what is SmartLynx?

The vast majority of responses just expressed bewilderment. I got 50 total replies to the questionnaire itself. Keep in mind that some people declined to answer, and I didn't include them, and even still the number of people who actively expressed that they did not know is nearly half of all responses. Few of the answers were especially confident, either. I'm fairly sure the ones about transporting animals were all jokes, and nearly everyone expressed that their answer was a guess. Someone just said 'bad', which I thought was pretty funny. I liked that answer.

I got two people who said that SmartLynx are airplane lessors. Actually, one said 'private airplane sharing company', but I've interpreted that as meaning lessor. Anyway, they're right. The people who said charter also aren't wrong.

SmartLynx are a Latvian airline which specializes in wet leases. For those unaware, a wet lease (very bad term) in aviation is a lease of an airplane that comes with a crew to operate it. Generally everything else, like fuel and various operating fees, is on the airline leasing the plane, and they're also the ones who market and sell the tickets. Basically, you could get on a flight, your ticket says, for example, Oceanic Airlines Flight 1, you bought it from the Oceanic Airlines website using your Oceanic Airlines miles, and be none the wiser that SmartLynx owns the airplane and pays the pilots flying it. These vary a little, but generally a wet lease provides ACMI (aircraft, crew, maintenance, and insurance), and if you ever see the term 'damp' or 'moist' lease that means the cabin crew is provided by the lessee rather than the lessor, but apparently neither sees much use. Which is a shame, because I think this is one of the few situations where more categories actually might make this easier to parse.

If all of that is sort of confusing and a lot of information upfront, you are not alone in feeling like this! I'm still pretty shaky in my own understanding of it. I'm a history person, not a business person. You can think of it as codesharing but never mentioning that's what you're doing, if that's any easier. It's also similar to regional brands of larger carriers, like Delta Connection flights being flown by Endeavor Air or SkyWest, though these carriers aren't going as far as to lease and are still on the hook for their own operating costs.

Every time I explain this to someone for the first time they think it's pretty deranged, and I don't completely disagree, but it's very normal. There are plenty of reasons airlines might wet lease, generally involving them not having the capacity to fulfill demand. All sorts of airlines provide wet leases, and all sorts of airlines hire them. It can create weird legal loopholes regarding who is allowed to fly in whose airspace, but typically it's just one airline not having enough planes for the holiday peak. They usually last for a few weeks or months, rather than the many years of a 'dry' lease which includes a plane only.

SmartLynx fly basically everything you can think of - passenger, cargo, holiday charter. Some airlines they've leased for are EasyJet, DHL, Finnair, and victim of the blog condor. Because they never operate flights under their own name, there is absolutely no reason for them to have their own livery. Indeed, it makes more sense not to, since it would be easier to leave their planes blank in case they want to repaint them into another airline's livery for a longer-term lease.

If you fail the Star Alliance Test, I think you would be better off painting your entire plane white.

SmartLynx has no identity because their entire point is to assume that of others. They basically do the airline equivalent of paying somebody to take an exam for you. This is a SmartLynx plane with Saudia logos on airasia color-blocking. It's a bit weird-looking, sure, but it betrays nothing about SmartLynx because their entire job is to not have a brand. Nobody has ever seen a SmartLynx plane because they exist literally but not philosophically - the job of a SmartLynx plane is to fly for a different airline. They are the stagehands of aviation, scurrying around in all black to stand out as little as possible.

But SAS isn't SmartLynx. SAS is a big airline, a flag carrier, and to say that they fail the SAT means that I would prefer their planes all be wiped from existence in an apocalyptic flood of liquid paper. I do not think the 1998-2019 SAS livery deserves to exist. I keep repeating myself because I need to stress how profoundly difficult it is to get me to this point. I would rather a livery be clumsy, bare-bones, poorly executed, cowardly, genuinely ugly, absolutely dismal, than it be non-existent. It takes something absolutely tremendous to bring me to the point RESAS has, where there is nothing, no vision, no meaning, no direction, no design, that justifies its existence.

...so what about condor?

condor was the first airline to get a grade of F. The second was the aforementioned red engined SAS livery, now mercifully retired and thus reduced to a footnote in a post about how far SAS has come. The reason I brought up the SAT in SAS's post and didn't in condor's is that condor emphatically passes the SAT. 

I began with the assumption that the SAT was a good measure of if a livery deserves an F, and maybe it still is, but it's definitely not all there is to it. condor is different from Copa and RESAS, it just is. And I think the best evidence of this is that, of all the reviews I've posted, condor is the only one where a significant portion of people who reblogged it disagreed with me. I do understand that at the end of the day everything I say is subjective, and I don't mind when people have opposing views on something, but combined with my own thoughts on the livery, and the process of researching and writing my BWIA post, it pushed me to an epiphany about what makes a truly great and truly terrible livery. And, partly out of curiosity and partly to follow this new path of personal evolution, I asked survey-takers what they think of the condor livery. Maybe I should have left it as a free-response question, but I wanted figures, numbers. So here's what I got. (Free responses have been merged into whichever category they match closest for the sake of simplicity.)

These results are fascinating. First, you may notice that this is missing two options. Not a single person said that this livery was boring, or that they felt neutrally towards it. Even people who are still making up their minds are a dramatic minority.

Second, people who had a clear-cut opinion of the livery, positive or negative, made up just over a fifth of respondents. Most people were at least to some extent conflicted, although which specific variant of conflict varied. There are people who appreciate the idea but do not like the appearance of the livery, and then there are people who find some charm in it. Around 2/3 of these people cannot force themselves to fully insult what they see as a sort of goofy creature, while the other third cannot allow their emotions to sway their rating. If my post on the matter didn't fully convey it, this is probably the closest to my own opinion.

If I was condor, and I saw these results from a focus group (replicated on a scale far larger than my survey, of course) I would probably say to go ahead with this livery. All press is good press, as they say. You're going to end up with a livery that sticks with people, and they're going to respect that even if they think it's hideous. At the very least, they're going to notice you.

Condor's livery is ugly. I will not change my stance; it does not look good. It is unpleasing to my eyes. But it is not the opposite of an A+ livery. In fact, it has a lot in common with them. The reason I love PSA, BWIA, and Amakusa Airlines so much isn't just that they make good use of the plane's shape, have pleasing colors, and generally look nice, but because they are built on the bedrock of a concept which goes beyond designing an airplane. In BWIA's review in particular I discussed the fact that it takes the approach of building a livery around an idea rather than an idea around the concept of what a livery should be; this is what distinguishes an A+ from an A, and the gulf is far larger than the gulf between any two other grades. The difference between 'it's on the better side of okay' and 'I somewhat tepidly like it' can be rather small compared to the difference between 'it's very good' and 'it's genius'. 

In the 2022 film "Nope", protagonist OJ asks if there is such a thing as a 'bad miracle'. To me, condor is something similar: bad genius. condor takes a once-in-a-decade great concept and executes it incomprehensibly poorly, and now they're the infamous ugly stripe planes. It has failed spectacularly but it has failed in perfect harmony with itself. It is unlikely that someone attempting to make an ugly livery as a joke or a parody could come up with something quite this sad. I've struggled for a little bit to think of a way to convey what it means to me, and I think I might have finally found it.

The town of Borja, Spain has a population of under 5,000. Although it was largely unremarkable as far as this sort of work goes, they were quite fond of a fresco painted on their church wall around 1930 by the artist Elías García Martínez. All art begins to deteriorate over time, and frescoes are notoriously difficult to conserve. In 2012, an octogenarian with no relevant training had a vision of a gorgeous restored painting. She definitely should have thought before acting. Just because you see something in your mind's eye doesn't mean you can make it real. And if you rush into it you might make...well, you see the picture on the right.

This picture is hideous. And it has brought in crowds of tourists hundreds of times the size of the town's actual population. Their money has funded pensions and built infrastructure. It has become a cultural icon. Nearly everyone with an internet connection has seen it. It's by far the most memorable thing about this tiny town. It is a work of bad genius.

Say what you will about condor's planes - and I myself have said many mean things about them. They are ugly and they are iconic. They are condor's grand statement, and no matter how ugly I think they are the world would be losing something if they were assimilated into identical Star Alliance liveries.

This striped livery is terrible, and it is great. It is worse than many liveries are good. And it does not fail as a livery. It is fundamentally condor's, and there is nothing like it. Distinctive, coherent, unique...and also ugly.

I've realized that condor belongs as a fundamental landmark in my understanding of liveries, just like Lufthansa or BWIA or PSA. Now that I've said all of what I've said in this post, I think giving condor an F just doesn't work. It doesn't belong in the same category as liveries which fail the Star Alliance Test. It doesn't deserve a better grade though. Something so bombastically, almost elegantly hideous requires a rethinking of the scale I've been using.

condor gets Runway Runway's first ever Z rating.

It does a tremendously poor job at being good, but a fantastic job of being a livery. In order for the Star Alliance Test to retain its meaning and the F tier to retain its coherence, condor needs to be reclassified. It is awful, hideous, sloppy, a waste of potential, but it is potential, and 'awful' originally referred to something which inspired awe.

[aramis-dagaz]

Writober Day 6: Oracular, Curse

((Jacky is from Faded Scars and used with permission))

“Do…do you think they’ll be okay?”

Jacky looked at Resa.  The bear didn’t give a lot away, but Jacky could see in her eyes that she was scared.  That makes two of us…

She didn’t want to tell her a comforting lie.  Didn’t seem right, especially since she still felt responsible for putting her in this situation.  But she didn’t want to add to her worries, either.  She was just glad the children were asleep; probably the reason Resa felt comfortable asking.

Jacky instead decided to voice her own reason for confidence.  “He’s with a good crew.  Level heads, no strangers to trouble.  And while Rails doesn’t look it, he’s very good in a fight.  I trust him with my life, and you should trust your husband’s with him, too.”

Resa closed her worried eyes and took a deep breath.  “Then I will.  Thank you.”  She clearly was still scared, but it at least gave her something to cling to.  Jacky wished she could give her more.

“Though, uh…”  Resa glanced over her shoulder at Sister Claire, who was seated with the children, a dozing guardian angel, though Jacky had no doubts she would be awake the instant something threatened them to do something about it.  Satisfied they wouldn’t be heard, Resa leaned in closer, looking somewhat ashamed.  “Manuel isn’t, well, he isn’t my husband.”

Jacky blinked.  “Oh, so fiance, then?”  A quick head shake.  “Okay, so your beau.  Nothing wrong with that, though knowing that I’m actually more impressed he dropped everything to make sure you and the kids were safe.  He didn’t need to do that.”

Resa chuckled.  “Manuel would definitely say you’re wrong there.  He loves the children as though they were his own flesh and blood.  He’s definitely a father to them.”

“I stand corrected, if I were actually standing,” Jacky replied, earning another chuckle.  “If you don’t mind me asking, why not marry him?  You two clearly love each other.”

The sigh told Jacky that she just wandered into a well-worn question and immediately regretted asking.  “Actually, you don’t have to answer that.  I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have pried like that, it’s none of my business.”

“No, it’s fine,” Resa said, gazing down at her hands in her lap.  “It’s the circumstances I have chosen, so I shouldn’t be so secretive about it.”

“Everyone has secrets, and not all are meant to be shared.”

Resa shook her head.  “Maybe, but the Saints teach us that hiding our sins and shame away only prevents us from communing fully with the Divine.”  She stopped, glancing back up at her with a sheepish look.  “Er, that is, I don’t mind talking about it, but I won’t force something so personal on you, especially with everything going on.”

Jacky glanced back out at the dark desert.  She shifted her position so both of them had their backs to Sister Claire and the children, with only the night and the critters in it to hear them.

“If you don’t mind talking about it, then I don’t mind hearing it.”

Resa closed her eyes and took a deep breath.  “The truth is, I left my husband three years ago.  I won’t go into details, but, well, he was not the man I thought he was, especially when he was drunk, and he was drunk a lot.  I could put up with a lot, but when he started hurting the children…”  She covered her eyes with one of her massive, powerful hands, her breath catching.  Jacky waited patiently.

“I…I simply couldn’t let that continue.  Thank the Saints that I was able to find a sympathetic and very persuasive lawyer, and thus I was able to leave with the children.  It was just us for a long time.”

“Then Manuel?”

She couldn’t hide her smile.  “Yes, then Manuel.  He came in with the railroad, occasionally coming into town for provisions and to get their laundry cleaned.”  She laughed quietly.  “And I thought the ranchers produced dirty clothes.  I think running laundry was something they foisted upon whomever drew the short straw, but I kept seeing him more and more.  Just his bad luck, I guess.”

“Some folk make their own luck, as some would say,” Jacky said with a grin.

“Oh, believe me, I think he volunteered for the really dirty jobs just for an excuse,” Resa replied.  “Well, I’m no stranger to men taking a shine to me, but most find reasons to be elsewhere when they find out that I have children.  Not Manuel, though.  He fell in love with them the moment he saw them, and he would bring them gifts, play with them, accompany us to church.  And when the railroad finished the new route, when most of the workers left looking for work elsewhere, he came back and found work in town.  It’s been that way for over a year now.”

“He sounds like a very good man.”

“Few better, I daresay.”

They sat in silence, listening to the crackling of the fire behind them and the stirring silence in the desert before them, letting the warmth of the tale warm their hearts against the cruel coldness of the world.

“But, of course, that leads back to the original question…” Jacky said after a long while.

Resa exhaled slowly as the moment passed.  “Yes, it does.”  She turned to look at Jacky.  “What do you know of the Saints’ teachings?”

“Not much, admittedly.  I’ve heard some of their stories, mainly the ones everyone knows about.”

“The Saints, well, they have much to say about marriage.  Some feel that…”  Resa shook her head.  “No, I won’t bore you with theological details.  Suffice to say, regardless of their exact views they all agree that there is one true model that the Divine calls upon us to follow, and that is marriage is eternal and enduring, beyond the ability for mere mortals like us to sunder.”

“But you did divorce your husband, right?”

“Only by mortal law, and that was just to protect the children,” she replied, some iron in her tone.  “I feel no shame for that, I did what I had to do.”  She sighed, the strength evaporating from her.  “But by the Saints’ law, the Divine’s law, we’re still married, and nothing we can do will change that.”

Jacky sat quietly, ruminating on what she told her.  “I can’t say I fully understand,” she said, settling on a neutral answer.

“Not many do, admittedly, even among those who claim to follow the Saints’ teachings.  Though…I understand why many Saints advocate for it, even if only as a way to mitigate the damage of our sinful ways.”  She brushed her eyes with an unsteady hand.  “It’s…humbling to be in the position of those you once scorned, however quietly.”

“So that’s it?  You and Manuel are simply never going to marry?” Jacky asked.

“Never.  I hate to do that to him, because he truly deserves far, far better.  But I…he’s so kind and loving with the children, and…and…”  She clamped her hands over her face to silence her quavering voice and hold back the tears.  “Saints preserve me, the temptations I have for that man!”

Jacky reached over and rested her hand on the bear’s massive arm.  “I’m sure there’s a Saint that would defend you regardless.”

Resa’s sob became a truncated laugh.  “Oh, there is, there is.  A minor one in the canon, but understandably very popular.”  She sniffed and rubbed at her eyes.  “But I endeavor to make sure they won’t have to busy themselves too much with me when the day comes.  I can endure some temptation and gossip if it means the children will have a good father.”

“Sounds rough.”

“It can be, more often than I care to admit.  Sometimes I wonder if I’m trying to have things both ways and playing my own game with the Divine.  That’s never a good idea, according to many of the Saints’ stories.”  Resa took a deep breath and sat up straighter.  “I’ve made some bad decisions, but all I can do is just live with them and keep moving on.  It’s all any of us can do.  To let yourself be weighed down by the guilt of your own sins only keeps you from truly embracing the Saints’ teachings and communing fully with the Divine.”

She looked at Jacky and a sheepish look crossed her face.  “Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to preach like that.  You’re already doing a lot for us without me giving you a theological lecture.”

“No,” Jacky said, her thoughts turning back to everything that brought her here, “no, I think you’ve given me something to think about.  Though if you ask me, I think you’re putting far too great a burden upon yourself, even if it is for your kids.  Still, can’t say I don’t find something about your…moral endurance?  There’s something about it that I can’t help but find admirable.”

“Well, if my story helps you in some way, then perhaps it might’ve been worth it.  Somewhat.”

“Let’s not go quite that far.  There’s gotta be far easier ways to put reprobates like me on the straight and narrow.”

Resa chuckled.  “Okay, you’re probably right in that regard.  Anyway, thank you for listening.  It…felt good to get that off my chest.”

“It sounded like you needed to talk about it, so I’m glad I could help a bit.”

[daniela--anna]

CAMPAGNA SPECIALE

CORSO DI STUDIO BIBLICO INTERATTIVO GRATUITO

"E questa buona notizia del Regno sarà predicata in tutta la terra abitata, perché sia resa testimonianza a tutte le nazioni, e allora verrà la fine."

(Matteo 24:14)

Di che "buona notizia" si tratta?

Perché ci riguarda personalmente?

Chi oggi la sta dichiarando?

Il mondo è davvero vicino alla sua fine?

Le risposte a queste domande si trovano nella Bibbia e conoscerle è ora più urgente che mai!

ℹ️📚🔍 PER SAPERNE DI PIÙ CLICCA SUL LINK

📌

https://www.jw.org/it/biblioteca-digitale/libri/puoi-vivere-felice-per-sempre/

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“And this good news of the Kingdom will be preached in all the inhabited earth, to be a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.”

(Matthew 24:14)

What "good news" is this?

Why does it concern us personally?

Who is declaring it today?

Is the world really close to its end?

The answers to these questions are found in the Bible and knowing them is now more urgent than ever!

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[crowlixcx]

34 (What’s your favorite flower?) and 37 (Do you prefer dogs or cats?) ? 💖

Hiya resa 💗 oops I've answered both of these so just picked another one from the 30s

31. What are you looking forward to in the distant future?

My partner and I are currently saving up to take some time off work and do some traveling. Unsure on destinations yet but Vietnam, the Philippines, Mexico and Argentina are some options on the table

[deanstead]

jay halsteads green tee in infection part two 💪🏻

you had me at jay halstead

[neverwavers]

Keith tilted his head, genuinely curious. Was that an accent? British? He didn’t know much about the dueling scene there. “You a duelist? Whattaya run?” (@keithhoward)

The question momentarily brings the Brit to a pause with her aquamarine irises turning to face his that were shielded by his sunglasses. A gentle smile crosses Resa's countenance before a small chuckle is elicited from her throat. She's not insulted by the fact that he didn't know who she is, given how many circuits there are for dueling.

"I sure am a duelist," she responds, her English accent leaking through with every syllable she says. "You probably only focus on the North American regional tournaments and all that, yeah? You can already tell by my accent alone, but I'm one of the top duelists in the European circuit. It's a pleasure to meet you, sir. My name is Resa Varick. To whom do I owe the pleasure of speaking to?" Her tone is amicable and light, easily displaying just how at ease she feels by speaking about this subject at large. Though, since he did ask her a question, it'd simply be rude to not give him an answer to it, right?

"As far as what I personally run, I've many different types of decks that I usually carry. I'm most known for my fairy beatdown, but for the others? That's something you'll have to figure out yourself!"

After all, a lady never reveals all of her secrets out in the open like this.

[alecsalamander]

“The team took Lacey.” Greg drops his bag with a solid punctuating thud that goes very well with the way his face suddenly falls as well, uncaring and impassive. “What can she do?” he asks, and his voice is cold and hard. There’s not a shred of attachment to the child he normally asks after with a smile, or picks up sweets for when he’s in a new place. And he was expecting it, but it still hurts – the guys love Lacey like she’s family, because she’s Wendy’s and Wendy is, but he knew. He, just like David and Resa, had always known. “Unload the dishwasher without being asked,” he snaps. “A one-handed cartwheel. Bring a smile to her miserable uncles’ faces whenever she draws them a picture.” Ronnie flinches at the pointed reminder of even six hours ago, but Greg is like stone. “Not what I meant, Wes.” He knows that too. The thing is, he’s not avoiding answering out of some misguided belief that he can change their minds – it’s been ten years of building trust around exactly what their minds are made up on. It’s more that he’s not answering because he simply doesn’t know. Whatever the limit of Lacey’s power is, he hasn’t found it yet. “You know what she can’t do?” he counters, because he needs them to shake off the thought of a mission and a target for one second and remember that this is Lacey. “Most of her times tables. Sleep without a nightlight. Ride a bike without training wheels, because she’s nine fucking years old.”

[joyffree]

Gemja: The Message :YA Fantasy by K.M. Messina

Resa Stone is one of the first humans to set foot on a foreign world. But ever since arriving on planet Wandelsta, the introverted teen witch can't sleep. Visions of a mysterious jeweled forest haunt her dreams. Who is the ghostly shrouded girl who emerges from those woods? And what is the meaning of the ominous message she delivers: You are the one?

And when the unearthly messenger appears in her waking life and leads her to a mystical glowing gem, Resa learns of an ancient legend that suggests the stone may be a remnant from a crystalline paradise called Gemja and harbors great power. On a quest to discover the significance of the stone, Resa is transformed by love, betrayal, magic, and hidden secrets. And when danger befalls her, she must summon the courage to journey into her dream realm to confront the ghost for answers…

Only to discover that deciphering the message reveals a painful truth…

One that may cost Resa her life.

Hosted by Author Marketing Experts

[sweetcobaltblue]

❛  here, i noticed you lost this earlier.  ❜ ( from Resa! )

@neverwavers // sorry for the forgetfulness / late answer-

He turns to her a bit surprised but took whatever it had ben he dropped, something important clearly for Resa to hand it back to him. "Eh, Thanks..I would have been upset later if i realized i lost it."

[praeteritus-memories]

[ txt ] This is an automated message sent from Resa Varick's cell phone to the trusted individuals she has listed as an emergency contact as a part of the program she's enrolled in. At [xx:xx], we received an alert that was initiated by her at her office. Emergency services have not been dispatched yet, as per the instructions that were given to us. Select from a list of options what you'd like for us to do: 1) Connect directly to her phone and have us answer it for her in case if she cannot. OR 2) Dispatch emergency services to her location. ( for Ryou! )

Ryou wasn't really the kind to actually know about prank text messages. After all, poor boy thought chain mails were real and never failed to somehow send them to five people online to prevent some made up curse.

That's why his face pales as he reads the text message, horrified and wondering if this text was the cause of not sending enough emails from his last chain mail, maybe this was the curse of that smiling dog!?

That's why he presses one right away, feeling his thumb already shaking.

[Text] : 1

[Text] : Resa, are you alright?

[Text] : Did a dog come get you? A smiling one?

[diagenetic-nostalgic]

Monumento Continuo, Superstudio

1

“Finally,” continued Natalini, “we started designing negative utopias like Il Monumento Continuo,”—the grid scaled up to the dimensions of the globe—“images warning of the horrors architecture had in store with its scientific methods for perpetuating standard models worldwide.” Mixing Modernist techniques of photomontage with good old-fashioned linear perspective (as developed in the 1400s by Brunelleschi in Superstudio’s hometown of Florence), the scarily compelling Continuous Monument images were produced at a time when venerable old cities like Genoa were being scarred by highway viaducts driven bang through their centers in the name of “progress” and the unstoppable circulation of goods and capital. But The Continuous Monument was profoundly ambiguous: looking back to historical archetypes such as the Great Wall of China, the Pont du Gard and ancient-Egyptian mastabas, it was as mute, mysterious and pseudo-mythological as the black monolith in 2001: A Space Odyssey (which had just been released), at once a very practical answer to the ghastly uniform sprawl that was blighting cities across the world—instead of endless suburbia, why not tidy everything away into a continuous linear building that demarcates a clear divide between countryside and nature?—and a distillation and sublimation of the very same bland uniformity it purported to counter.

divisare

Crediamo in un futuro di architettura ritrovata, in un futuro in cui l’architettura riprenda i suoi pieni poteri abbandonando ogni sua ambigua designazione e ponendosi come unica alternativa alla natura. Nel binomio natura naturans e natura naturata scegliamo il secondo termine. Eliminando miraggi e fate morgane di architetture spontanee, architetture della sensibilità, architetture senza architetti, architetture biologiche e fantastiche, ci dirigiamo verso il «monumento continuo»: un’architettura tutta egualmente emergente in un unico ambiente continuo: la terra resa omogenea dalla tecnica, dalla cultura e da tutti gli altri imperialismi. ( 1969 )