#80s body kit

[radracer]

Ferrari 512 BB Koenig

@alexpenfold

#Ferrari 512 BB Koenig #exotics #supercar #supercars #fitment #static #modified #stance #tuning #retro rides #tuner #slammed #street #imports #lowered #80s sports car #80s body kit #widebody

[duckymcdoorknob]

Would Kurama go into a relationship a human or a yokai or someone from Reikai? If so, what would those relationships look like? (Would he be protective, consider them equal, manipulate them..anything that comes to your mind)

Thanks.

@giggly-squiggily *cough to summon fellow simp*

Anon you’re so beautiful for this ask 🧎‍♀️

I think that Kurama wouldn’t care who or what his partner was. He just wants them to love him as unconditionally as he does them.

I think he’s a very domestic partner. He doesn’t care about classic “gender roles”—quite frankly, he thinks they’re absolute bullshit.— so they can expect him to tackle most of the chores in the home.

He’s a fantastic cook, and cleaning soothes his soul. They will come home to an absolutely spotless living space, and a warm dinner on the table every single night. If they beg him to take a night off, he’d simply smile and ask: “why would I do such a thing?” He’s 100% an acts of service partner.

He’s also a quality time partner. He LOOOOVES to just spend time with his partner for the littlest things. His partner is in the shower? If they’re up to conversation, he’ll sit on the toilet with the lid shut (or outside the door to respect their privacy.) if they’d rather be alone, he’s waiting on the bed for them to be ready for conversation.

Partner who does their makeup? He’s sitting on the counter and kicking his legs as he talks to them (please don’t let him do their eyeliner, he accidentally pokes their eye every time and he gets SO upset)

Partner who works from home? He’ll sit on the other end of the table/couch/bed and hold their hand whenever they let him.

He’ll watch tv, play board games, do crafts, goof around at any time, etc.

Dad!Kurama Hcs because yes:

He always gets up in the night time when his child cries for his parents. He lets his partner rest and sleep every time without fail. When asked why, he’ll lie and say something like “I’m a youkai, darling. I don’t need the sleep.” Knowing fully well he’s still in a human body-

He likes to carry their child everywhere. The little baby strappy thing? Good luck trying to get it from him. His partner will have to pry their child out of his arms (he just loves his little kit Y’know?)

He loves doing family activities, and he has family portraits hung up ALL OVER their home. He likes to take the super cheesy pictures with like the weird 80s poses (like everyone laying on top of each other)

Their little one commonly finds themself sleeping in papa and (parent title)’s bed. Why? They had a scary dream, they missed their parents, they were cold, they saw a spider, there’s a monster in their closet, they needed water, their bed was too small, their blanket was too warm and too cold at the same time, Uncle Hiei told them to. (which with his telepathy, it may be a truthful statement)

Kurama was over the moon to become a father, and when his little one called him “daddy” for the first time, he knew that all of the bad decisions he’d ever made weren’t worth a thing anymore…

#written in the stars #anon #Kurama #kurama yu yu hakusho #yu yu hakusho kurama #youko kurama #yoko kurama #Kurama x reader #Kurama imagines #yuyu hakusho #yu yu hakusho #yyh #yyh live action #yu yu hakusho live action #yuyu hakusho live action

[nochd]

This came across my dash via the #lgbt tag yesterday. I don't want to engage with the OP because that would get me into fights on radfem tumblr and I don't have the energy for that. But the post itself I think is worth answering, just because it's so neatly and exactly wrong.

(Not that my answer is going to spread very far, because I have 37 non-bot followers, of whom I think roughly 35.5 are just here for the nude photos. But anyway.)

Even if I agree just for argument's sake that the existence of intersex people proves that some people can have "nonbinary" sexes, or "third" sexes, and that "sex is a spectrum," how does that have any relevance to people who are not intersex? Like okay, let's "agree" for the moment that intersex people are something other than male or female. How does that make YOU, as a person who is not intersex, something other than male or female? Saying that intersex people's existence somehow makes sex "complicated" for you specifically is like saying that the issue of whether or not you can hear is "complicated" because some other people who are not you suffer from hearing loss or deafness. Like sorry but for 99% of the human population it is not "more complicated" than born with perfectly normal male genitalia = male and born with perfectly normal female genitalia = female, and chances are you fall into that 99%. Sex is not a social construct or a nebulous enigma of a concept. It is not debatable and made up in the manner that gender is. You cannot philosophize about whether there are two sexes any more than you can philosophize about whether humans have two kidneys. Someone having a missing or malformed kidney or accessory kidneys does not change the fact that humans as a species have two kidneys. Humans are gonochoric just like nearly all other animal species on Earth.

Let's start with the arithmetic. If 99% people are of binary sex, that leaves 1% of people who aren't. There are approximately 8 billion humans on Earth. 1% of 8 billion is 80 million -- about sixteen times the population of my entire country. Even just the number of intersex Americans is something like two-thirds the population of my country. This is not a negligible number of people.

There's a deeper error here, one that goes to the root not just of this misunderstanding but of many. Biology is always complicated, at every scale and at every level of explanation. It's messy, it's fuzzy, and it's always bottom-up, never top-down. Everything biological is the way it is because it grew that way. Biology never does the same thing twice.

Why does it seem like it does? Because, of all the ways you can arrange the parts of a living body, only an astonishingly tiny fraction of them actually make a living body. Any genetic mutation that nudges an organism outside of that fraction dies out and doesn't get passed on. Embryonic development is a gruelling tight-rope walk over a vast pit of non-existence.

Now for most of the body's systems, evolution has only had to produce one arrangement that works and survives. There's not an alternative plumbing plan where the oesophagus goes to the lungs and the trachea to the stomach. But for the reproductive system, evolution has to allow for two arrangements that work and survive, and it has to grow them both from the same starter kit.

What it does, therefore, is grow a body plan that works with a continuum of possible arrangements that includes both of those two. Various other points on the continuum may or may not be capable of producing viable gametes, but they're all survivable.

What biology doesn't do -- what biology never ever does -- is run new products on a conveyor belt stamping them into shape with cookie-cutters. The only things made that way are artificial constructs.

#science #biology #sex determination #evolution #embryology #lgbt #intersex #transgender #nonbinary #essentialism #biological essentialism #essentialism is not biological #biology is not friendly to transphobes

[cagesofgold]

connie springer headcanons <3

🎵 ivy-frank ocean 🎧

- Connie once a month takes his little sister, Sunny, out on pretend dates to ensure that she knows she should be treated to a good meal and flowers at the door. Connie won’t be letting any little punk date his bundle of joy.

- is actually a decent cook, surprising i know, but he spent a lot of his childhood watching his mother’s careful hands as she crafted various meals, and managed to pick up a lot of things.

- he loves to drive, blasting music, a hand on your thigh and his fav sunnies on, what is there not to like?

- let’s you dye his hair all types of fun colors or some design you saw off of Pinterest. He has good style but he doesn’t take himself serious and doesn’t mind if he has to walk around for two months with smiley faces all over his head. In fact, he loves it. He even let Sunny and Martin draw all over his head like a canvas with hair dye pens, he had unicorns and ninjas embedded in his hair for weeeeeeks.

- his number one priority within dating you, apart from you of course, was to ensure your family liked him. He is extremely family orientated and is most happy when he is surrounded by loved ones. Your family absolutely adored his hilarious self and from there forth he was best friends with your parents.

- wants kids when he’s older, and would be the best girl dad.

- loves movies. He isn’t a guy who would sit and explain the plot of the godfather to you for hours on end but he does insist on decorating your shared apartment with various movie posters. His favorite is “Stand by me”

- would be absolutely heartbroken if you ever watched an episode of a show you were watching together without him. Like genuinely wouldn’t speak to you for a good hour.

-this mf is clingyyyyy, he needs you at all times and has never had the urge to utter the words “i need a little space”, you’re an extension of his personal space, let him stuff his face into your neck in peace.

-loves showering with you, not even in an inherently sexual way, he just adores how intimate it is and the feeling of you gracing his scalp with your nails.

-definitely has tats. In high school he and Jean purchased a tattoo gun and would tattoo people behind the bleachers, but for practice they’d use Connie’s body. Like i said, this mf does NOT take himself seriously and doesn’t care if he has a cartoon dick n balls on his thigh when he’s 80 and sagging.

-is slightly frightened of balloons but pretends he isn’t.

-has two piercings on his ears, his lobes and cartilage.

-absolutely LOVED the barbie movie and was kitted out in full pink. Took you and Sunny to the cinema the night it came out and also paid for dinner after.

- he also took Sunny to a store to pick out a barbie doll.

-english smart, failed every math test he ever took. He still can’t add a fraction…(neither can i)

-loves to press kisses to the side of your face, arms wrapped around your waist and his chest at your shoulder blades.

-will eat cereal at any point, whether it’s morning or not. Would eat it for all three meals.

-despite the fact he can cook and seems to be well adjusted he is unable to survive on his own from the sheer lack of common sense…

-cartwheels when he’s drunk. (and when he’s sober to be honest)

-LOVESSSSS THE CLUB

-doesn’t really get jealous over you, he trusts you and thinks you’re absolutely beautiful, why wouldn’t someone hit on you?

he will however get pouty if he’s literally RIGHT there and the person still hits on you.

-would kill every plant you brought in the house, listen, it’s not his fault he’s got 80 million different thoughts bouncing around his head at all times.

-is more of a dog guy but he wouldn’t argue if you were to get a cat, he loves them too.

-sings everywhere he goes, under his breath waiting in line, in the car, as he cleans, cooks, showers, he never stops, it’s like a continuous string of songs escaping his lips at all times.

-but overall, he’s the best boy friend you could ever have, and he’s already decided he’s spending the rest of his life with you. <3

#connie springer #aot connie #aot x reader #attack on titan fanfiction #connie x reader #aot imagines #attack on titan #connie aot #aot fanfics #aot fanfiction #connie x you #connie springer x y/n

[bleedingichorhearts]

May I request reader with Hydra and the knight at the aquarium looking at sea turtles? I need a pick me up. And nothing fixes the sad like space marines and turtles.

𝔐𝔞𝔯𝔦𝔫𝔢 𝔐𝔲𝔰𝔢𝔲𝔪

𝕬𝖚𝖙𝖍𝖔𝖗: You definitely may, little admirer! I hope your day brightens up with some Sea Turtles, and a silly Hydra. (Apologies, if this one is quick. It was hard to imagine them going to an Aquarium, but I did it!)

𝕿𝖆𝖌𝖌𝖊𝖉: @kit-williams, @egrets-not-regrets.

𝕾𝖚𝖒𝖒𝖆𝖗𝖞: Taking Hydra, and Solor to an aquarium.

TW // None?

Walking through the shark tunnel. There were all types of different fish I didn’t recognize all around, including some sharks. Their forms just slowly passing by.

It was calming just to watch them pass by the glass. Not bothered by the fact of their containment, or the people beyond the glass.

A sudden big shadow passed overhead as Hydra cooed in wonder. His helmet looking up at the creature.

It was a Whale Shark with a school of fish following it. It’s mesmerizing, dotted skin reflecting in the light of the aquarium.

Hydra cooed at me again, pointing at a much smaller Shark in the aquarium. His gauntlet lightly tapping against the glass.

“Woah there Hydra, the fish can feel that.” I informed the Alpha legion. Coming over to him, sliding my much smaller hand into his. Stopping his tapping on the glass, a questioning rumble coming from him. “The sound pressure in the water is four times higher than it is in the air.”

I only remember that, by reading the obvious warning signs all over the place that said “DO NOT TOUCH THE GLASS.”

“The Shark you also were looking at was called a Leopard Shark. A species of Houndshark.” I said, reading another sign.

Looking back I watched the little spotted shark, its colors reminding me of that of a snow leopard. Its little body calmly roaming at the bottom of the water.

Looking around for any other interesting fish, I found a sign that said “Sea turtles” and immediately dragged both the Astartes over to them. Passing by people who got out of the way immediately.

Spotting the sea turtles in the new room, I let go of Hydras gauntlet and went for them.

“There are seven species of Sea turtles, and six of them are threatened with extinction.” I heard a worker here say. Her hand gestured to the shallow water in front of her. A little area of sea turtles swimming in it. “Here we have the Loggerhead Sea turtles!”

Looking into the water, there were Sea Turtles swimming peacefully in the water, their shells nearly rippling up against the surface of the water.

“These guys can live up to 70 to 80 years! Pretty long huh?” The worker continued, getting a bunch of ‘wows’ from her gathered crowd before she asked. “Would you guy’s like to know some fun facts about these little sea creatures?” Another uproar answering her as I watched a sea turtle breach the surface of the water, sneezing before it went back under.

“Sea turtles don’t have teeth! They use their beak-like mouths to eat, and it’s made of keratin! The same stuff as your fingernails.” The worker started her facts while I leaned over the railing to watch the roaming Sea turtles. Some of them swimming in a slow pattern.

“M-Ma’am?” A young male voice called at me, looking over. It was a nervous young man, dressed in the aquarium's uniform with blue eyes looking behind me so often.

“Yes?” I questioned him as he fidgeted with his fingers. A splash sounding out.

“I- Yes, s-sorry. I uhh… is that your Astartes over there?” The young man questioned, pointing to the side of him where there stood a Hydra in a pool of water.

“Oh my- yes, that one is mine” I sighed. Should have known something like this would happen with Hydra.

“Can you… possibly. Get him out of there? I don’t want to call anybody for him.” He requested nicely.

“Yes, I will try to do that. No need for calling anybody.” I said, passing him to go to the pool where Hydra was in.

“Hydra, no! Get out of the water!” I yelled at him. His helmet looking at me, cooing as he picked up a Sea turtle. Lifting the poor creature up to his helmet. “No! Put the Sea Turtle down!”

Hydra gave a low whine, moving the turtle around so he can look face to helmet to the turtle.

“No! We can’t keep them! They are an endangered species! Let them be!” I explained a little, hoping that will stop him from messing with the turtles.

Though, of course it didn’t. He just picked up another turtle with his other gauntlet.

“Damn it! Solor, he's all yours.” I sighed, rubbing my forehead as Solor rumbled happily in acceptance. Hydras helmet snapping up at the order I’ve given to the Gray Knight.

I watched for a second as Hydra slowly put the Sea turtles back down into the water. Their own languages coming from their helmets before Hydra suddenly took off with Solor following.

“I’m sorry about this.” I apologized to the young man who came up to me again.

“It’s uh- no problem, really?” The worker questioned himself, watching as the two Astartes dodged each other, being mindful of the area around them.

“I hope it wasn’t.” I responded, giving the two an amused look as Solor got a grip on Hydras armor, tugging him back toward him. The two clashing together.

Well, I don’t think we’ll be aloud to another aquarium anytime soon.

𝕭𝖔𝖓𝖚𝖘:

“Wha? Where did you get all the Sea turtle’s?!” I asked Hydra, my hands on my hips. Observing the many turtles that surrounded him in the front yard.

Hydra rumbled, picking up one and extended a Sea Turtle out at me. Tilting his head.

“Hydra, no.”

#warhammer 40k #space marine husbandry sentience #x reader #fanfic #fanfiction #reader insert #oc: solor #oc: hydra #alpha legion #gray knight #anon ask #I don’t recommend taking Hydra anywhere #yandere #yandere space marine #oneshot #adeptus astartes #astartes x reader #space marine #space marine x reader #ask

[racooninatrashcan]

A steddie roommate au where Eddie’s friends don’t really know king Steve they just know about Eddie’s weird roommate. In the beginning they assume the guy is just high half the time but he’s just never surprised by anything that they would consider crisis scenario.

Once Eddie ran into apartment in a complete panic screaming “GARTH GOT PUNCHED IN THE FACE AND NOW HES BLEEDING A LOT LIKE ALL OVER THE PLACE” and Steve just sighed deeply and said “I’ll get the first aid kit sit down and stop screaming my head hurts”. While he’s stitching him up he starts talking about the time he got his first concussion and how it wasn’t as bad as the the time he got mauled by “a bear” (which was the government cover up for his scars) and asks Eddie why he would “prefer getting blood all over my new tiles than go to the hospital like a normal person” They come to learn that Steve is just a tired 80 year old man stuck in a 25 year old body who could not give less of a shit about anything that isn’t a world ending event.

#steve harrington #stranger things #steddie #Steve Harringtons tired dad energy #corroded coffin #Steddie roommate au

[crimson-amarone]

Fancasting for a Trigun live-action tv series/movie!! I know we got just Trigun Stampede, but we can’t let Cowboy Bebop get a live action and not Trigun right??

For all my selections I would say about 75-80% are actors I have seen in one or more of their most well known roles. For anyone else I narrowed down to 2-4 options and I did extra research into their filmography, interviews to hear their voices and general vibe, etc. And I also looked at what kind of roles they trended towards—sci-fi/fantasy and superhero media giving them bonus points.

See below for info about the actors and my runner up choices for each character. I included tidbits like their age, height, and notable roles.

For Vash and Knives I wanted to first look for real life identical twins. After some research, I believe I found a fitting pair. Cole and Dylan Sprouse, best know for their childhood roles in the Suite Life of Zack and Cody. Although I don’t think I knew their adult roles as well as their Zack and Cody days, that real twin dynamic just adds that extra layer.

Of the two, I found Cole having a softer look, and lately it appears he’s been going with black hair which seemed fitting if we think about black-haired Vash at the end of TriMax. Dylan’s look has just that different sharpness and edginess that I slotted him to Knives.

Ruby Cruz (Kit Tanthalos, Disney+’s Willow) is a very talented young woman and recently made a feature length movie debut as Hazel Callahan in Bottoms (2023) and will be starring in an upcoming rom-com The Threesome. (See notes about edit below.)

Milly was a tricky one for me. I have a couple of runners up below. My current pick is Mina Sundwall, especially for her role as Penny Robinson in Netflix’s space family drama Lost in Space.

Although I’m on board with the HC that Wolfwood is Latinx, I had to go with famous werewolf Jacob Black from Twilight, Taylor Lautner. I got a couple other choices below too.

Liam Hemsworth (or Chris idkkkk). Nuff said?

Rem was a bit hard to choose. I had to go with Candice Patton as a personal big fan of her role as Iris West in The Flash as a DC fan. She has just the right oh-crap-I-have-kids-I-am-not-prepared-at-all motherly acting vibe down pat that is essential for Rem.

Despite the fact that Christopher Daniel Barnes is always smiling in photos, his breath of filmography makes him such a good fit for wise Drunkle Roberto.

Being so effing hyped about Nicholas playing Lex Luthor in Superman Legacies (2025) he has the perfect mix of heroic and villain roles for Legato’s psychotic righteousness. And he’s already had blue hair (and fur all over his whole body) as Hank “Beast” McCoy, c’mon too easy.

Zazie Beetz… that couldn’t have been a coincidence? Like Studio Orange must have know about this actress when they worked on the Beast’s revamped design. For a second option I’d probably pick a child/adolescent actor but Zazie can pretty much take whatever form they want, so why not both? Edit: I’m going with Scarlett (Trixie from Lucifer). Very very talent young woman. She’s funny, smart, sassy.

Role: Vash the Stampede

Actor: Cole Sprouse

Age: 31

Height: 6’0”

Best known role: Cody Martin ( The Suite Life of Zack & Cody)

Runner-up Actor: Mason Dye (Jason Carver, Stranger Things)

———

Role: Millions Knives

Actor: Dylan Sprouse

Age: 31

Height: 6’0”

Best known role: Zack Martin ( The Suite Life of Zack & Cody)

Runner-up Actor: Christopher Lowell (Sebastian “Bash” Howard, GLOW and Jess, How I Met Your Father)

———

Role: Meryl Stryfe

Actor: Ruby Cruz

Age: 23

Height: 5’3”

Best known role: (Kit Tanthalos, Disney+’s Willow)

Edit: I swapped Ruby Cruz in for Bex as I learned how far along Bex was in their gender journey. As much as I respect Bex’s journey and the gender representation is important, I still want to pick someone I feel leans more feminine for Meryl.

Runner-up Actor: tbd, maybe Christine Lee or Ana Yi Puig

———

Role: Nicholas D. Wolfwood

Actor: Taylor Lautner

Age: 32

Height: 5’8”

Best known role: Jacob Black (Twilight movies)

Runner-up Actor: David Castro (Raphael Santiago, Freeform’s Shadowhunters)

———

Role: Roberto De Niro

Actor: Christopher Daniel Barnes

Age: 51

Height: 5’11”

Best known role: Spiderman (Spider-Man 90s), Prince Eric (The Little Mermaid 89)

Runner-up Actor: Edgar Ramirez (Bourne Ultimatum 2007, Carlos the Jackal, HBO’s The Undoing)

———

Role: Milly Thompson

Actor: Mina Sundwall

Age: 22

Height: 5’6”

Best known role: Penny Robinson (Lost in Space, 2018)

Runner-up Actors: Liana Liberato, Kennedy McGann, Ellie Gall, Luna Wedler

———

Role: Rem Saverem

Actor: Candice Patton

Age: 35

Height: 5’4”

Best known role: Iris West (CW’s The Flash)

Runner-up Actor: Lyrica Okano (Nico Minoru, Hulu’s Runaways)

———

Role: Legato Bluesummers

Actor: Nicholas Hoult

Age: 34

Height: 6’3”

Best known role: Nux (Mad Max Fury Road), Hank “Beast” McKoy (X-Men movies), Lex Luthor (Superman Legacies, 2025)

Runner-up Actors:

2. Samuel Larson (Joe Hart, Glee) 3. Charlie Heaton (Jonathan Byers, Stranger Things) or 4. Brenton Twaites (Dick Grayson aka Nightwing, DC’s Titans)

#trigun stampede #trigun #tristamp #trigun maximum #trimax #vash the stampede #millions knives #meryl stryfe #nicholas d. wolfwood #milly thompson #roberto de niro #legato bluesummers #zazie the beast #rem saverem #fancast #live action #anime live action #manga live action #actors

[radracer]

Porsche 935 DP Motorsport

#Porsche 935 dp Motorsport #slantnose #modified #stance #tuning #retro rides #tuner #slammed #street #imports #lowered #80s body kit #widebody #sports car #fitment #static

[eyebags-for-years]

Office Hours

miguel o'hara x reader

content warning: nudity, showering together, no smut, injury

word count - 751

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

With each tick of the clock, it feels like another nail is being drilled into your head. Closing your eyes, embracing the pain, and feeling the bright screen burn through your eyelids.

Desperation for sleep pulls at your mind, being the 'brains' behind the operation, keeping all of the missions and universes in order. You also keep track and assign missions, watching spikes of anomalies and setting each mission with an appropriate spider person.

Opening your eyes again, you look around your cluttered desk, your bin overflowing. binders stacked in the corner staring at you, towers of paperwork 'sorted' into its proper piles and several mugs strewn around your desk and a mirror sitting just next to your monitor.

Glancing at the mirror, seeing your reflection looking back at you, glowing from the unnatural light of the computer.

With a jump and a tired shout, you whip your head around to see Miguel's large frame taking up most of the doorway he's standing in.

He looked just as tired as you were, the sound of glitching raised your concern and you truly look at your boss. The hologram suit stretching around his chest glitches in and out, a scratch peeping through.

"What happened?" You stared at his face that showed no indifference, he looks around the dark room. Ignoring your question.

You stood up making your way over to your husband, looking up at him rubbing up and down his biceps. He leans down, still silent wraps his arms around your waist as your lips meet.

"What happened?" You whispered after your passionate lips broke apart, "nothing." He sighed digging his face into your neck, his breath hot as he exhales deeply.

Running your nails up and down his back, the crackling of the hologram glitching around your fingers comforts the both of you in the silence.

"You done?" Softly nodding towards the forgotten work illuminating the two of you.

"Uh huh," you say mindlessly, grabbing his hand and making your way down the hall and into the clear elevator.

You lean into Miguel, resting your head against his shoulder. The grimace on his face and the way he lightly flinches makes you immediately retract, realising it's the shoulder he shoves that stupid massive needle in.

A soft sorry is muttered on your part, Miguel just squeezes your hand as forgiveness as you both step out of the now unmoving glass box.

Finally walking out of that goddamn stuffy building, feeling the soft breeze on your skin felt like heaven.

With your back aching, hand and heart warm you walk forward trusting the love of your life as a portal opens up. Nausea overwhelmed you as you walked out the other side into the entrance area, slipping off your shoes and chucking your bracelet in the bowl.

Glancing over to the teen sitting on your yellow couch, the soft shifting light of a tv reflects around the room.

You leave $80 on top of her purse, turning the tv off and taking the used bowl and leaving it in the sink.

Miguel walks straight to the room at the end of the hall, the door creaking open as he peeks his head in. He does this every time he gets home from work, checking on your sleeping 9 year old.

You look at Miguel's face while heading into the bathroom, his facial features lit up by your daughter's night light tucked into the corner.

Your eyes squint as your turn the bathroom light on, opening your electronic hamper and chucking both you and Miguel's towels in. Turning the heat setting on you turn on the shower and begin to undress.

It's the routine, the door shuts just as you hop in the shower letting your muscles relax in the steaming water.

His calloused hands make their way from your sore shoulders to your waist, his hands just exploring. not sexual just exploring, hugging and loving you.

Turning the water off you wrap a newly warm towel around your wet body, bending over and grabbing the first aid kit. Or as Miguel likes to call it 'Is that really necessary?'

Grabbing some hydrogen peroxide and soaking a cotton ball in it dabbing it up the shallow cut running from the middle of his chest to his collarbone. You put dressings across the wound forcing your husband to hold it there as you firmly wrap bandages and clipping it in place.

"Love you," it's soft and hard to hear but it's so Miguel.

#miguel o'hara #across the spiderverse #miguel #not fluff but not not fluff #miguel ohara x reader #no use of y/n #miguel x reader

[richardazer]

Blame the mlp smile virus | my little worms | rainbow radiation for this

Kara (stressed)

Status: non infected, immune.

Health: 90%

Sanity: 98%

Thirst: 9%

Hunger: 0%

Inventory: axe; maps.

Gumi (paranoid, scared)

Status: non infected.

Health: 100%

Sanity: 94%

Thirst: 0%

Hunger: 0%

Inventory: med kit; personal documents of the group; multi-tool.

Pete (anxious, tired)

Status: non infected

Health: 98%

Sanity: 92%

Thirst: 10%

Hunger: 0%

Inventory: guitar case with weapons; ammo; rope; climbing equipment.

Sparklez (hungry)

Status: second stage infected, sanity intact with minor changes

Health: 80%

Sanity: 60%

Thirst: 20%

Hunger: 65%

Inventory: sleeping bag; portable stove; gas can; water; cans of food; blanket.

=====================

Got bitten when they were escaping the gun store. Immediate medical attention to the wound stopped the rot of soft tissue, bearable weakness.

Infection reached stage 2, most people would have gave into the hunger, Cap remained sane and in control of his body though urages have affected personality. Physical activity keeps him sane, assigned to do all heavy lifting.

#my art brr #me brr #Zombie AU #sketch #A lot of words #Inspired by all of the horror mlp stuff that's been going around on tiktok #I love mlp horror #kara corvus #vgumiho #petezahhutt #captainsparklez #captainsparklez fanart #kara corvus fanart #petezahhutt fanart #gumi fanart #au #don't take this too seriously #I just wanted to play around with zombie stuff + the composition of the first art was so cute in my head I couldn't stop myself

[things-about-cars-in-posts]

So, there's many of you now. I know we're in the How Sweet It Is Not To Know Follower Counts website and I do cherish that, but still, more people than ever in my life clicked a button that in some capacity says "I care what this dork has to tell me" and I want to acknowledge and celebrate that - especially now that this growth seems to have settled into its rhythm.

Spot when @identifying-cars-in-posts reblogged my pinned, lol.

So, for my 100th post, I felt like celebrating our love for reaching round numbers. And little in the automotive world represents it more iconically than what reigned supreme above all cars in the 1980s.

Porsche started out as an engineering firm, whose most notable contract was what would become known as the Volkswagen Beetle (and boy what a story that is). The first car of its own was the 356 seen below - a sporty body laid over Beetle underpinnings and thus still mostly made by Volkswagen. But by God, they were going to run with that recipe and perfect it 'til the sun burst.

Meanwhile, in England, a chap called Colin Chapman decides the next of his company's track cars will actually be drivable on the street, to need no trailer to go race. Thus the Lotus Seven is born and sold in kit, which avoids high taxes on the exporting of cars to the US (but those taxes would have remained had they been sold with assembly manuals… so they were sold with disassembly manuals for you to read backwards. No, seriously.).

The Porsche 356 kept getting less and less Volkswagen and more and more Porsche until in 1964, the year of the Beatles, the year of the Stones, the stone-age Beetle was left behind for good with the Porsche 911 (seen below), a blank-canvas take on the same recipe of an air-cooled rear boxer engine powering the rear wheels of a squished-Beetle-shaped sportscar. 'Twas good.

In 1973, Lotus was doing pretty well for itself. The Seven's whole 2500 sales had carried it through producing a number of other models, and a few were even in production concurrently - a lineup! Exciting stuff! Well, that and an F1 team so successful its Wikipedia page features the section "Domination in the 60s and '70s". The exciting opportunity to move upmarket, with bigger models with AC and automatics and all that bougie shit, pushed them to move away from the image of scruffy old kit car makers, ceding the Seven's production to the last two dealers that sold it, main one being Caterham Cars.

The 911 headed into the 80s old enough to drive, and Porsche's plans considered it at the end of the line, with staff already mourning it. But then the yankee at his third week as CEO saw those plans (which to Germans are basically scripture), said "to hell with that" and extended that line off the chart. Literally. He went to the lead engineer's office and physically took a marker at a development chart. They all secretly liked that.

Still, it was clear the game was changing - intercoolers, all wheel drive, active suspension... how hard could the 911 layout go if it didn't stick to its simple air-cooled roots? Well, Porsche resolved to find out by filling it with the cusp of automotive advancements and then some. And I do mean filling - a chassis that didn't even need space for a radiator was suddenly tasked with storing it, two turbos, two intercoolers, and a good half dozen oil pumps.

Yeah good luck with that, buddy. Oh, and materials? The body was kevlar, the frame was aluminium, the floor was Nomex (ever even heard of Nomex???), the wheels were magnesium and the spokes were hollow!!!! You could blow into the spokes!!! And don't get me started on the technology! Variable height, an all-wheel-drive system that distributed torque at will, electronics galore... As you may be able to guess, development was… complex.

At one point a test driver was doing 180km/h (112mph) to go get the car un-on-fire-d, and that's just one of the plenty horror stories. Hell, work started in 1983 to create a car for Group B and took so long that when said rally series died in 1986, production was just starting. Not that development would stop at the start of production, either - the first cars just got updated when the owners took them in for their service. (Can't blame them, I fix wording in weeks-old posts...) But however long it took, the resulting Porsche 959 answered the originating question "How hard can this chassis go?" with a resounding "Hard and then some".

It was comfortable and refined enough to be driven every day, but so capable it extended the limits of the concept of production car. Put it this way: it reached car people's favorite round number, 100km/h (to yankee doodles, 60mph) in 3.6 seconds. The second fastest production car did so in 4.6. That's one second of margin in a race that ends in five. Oh, and if you want to put it another way: the 959 was the first production car to ever surpass 300km/h, let alone come 1 shy of the mythical 200mph (322km/h).

Meanwhile, the handful of chaps at Caterham was still producing the Caterham Seven. It's the Lotus Seven (specifically the third revision, from 1968), but I guess in '83 the engine changed. We were saying?

They couldn't sell the 959 stateside for lack of crash test data, and America's ban on importing foreign cars under 25 years of age had no exception. That is, until Bill Gates wanted a 959 so bad he spent 13 years getting an exception passed. That's how hot this car is.

And yet, this record-breaking, boundary-pushing, master-of-all-trades hypercar sits atop the 80s automotive landscape engulfed in shadow. But how? Why? Because it failed to contend with the greatest automotive headache: humans. It was planted, practical, reliable, predictable - docile, domesticated, amicable. Perfect. But these are not meant to be cars, they're meant to be posters. And you don't get posters of what is perfect, but of what excites you. And what excites us is the visceral, the raw, the uncompromising - the wild, the feral, the dangerous. And, of course, reaching round numbers. What excites us is a lot more like the first production car to break 200mph, the Ferrari F40.

Remember how the 959 was being developed for Group B racing and then the series died? Well, Ferrari got screwed over too, with the 288 GTO Evoluzione they were developing (seen here to the right of the base 288 GTO) suddenly having no reason to be.

The lead engineer then asked Enzo Ferrari to let him turn that weekend project (literally, they couldn't spend work week time on it) into a road car to celebrate their 40 years. Enzo, nearing the end of his days, thought "Ah, what the hell, let's leave with a bang", so they set off to build what would become the anti-959. Not anti as in response, but as in antithesis. Where the 959 was an attempt to modernize the noisy, unrefined, old-school 911 -to make a supercar "tested for everyday usability to the most strenuous standards", by Porsche's words- the F40 was a reaction to, per Ferrari's words, "customers saying Ferraris were becoming too plush and comfortable": "nothing but sheer performance. Not a laboratory for the future, as the 959 is. Not Star Wars."

To exemplify: left is the 959 - note the leather and electric seats, right is the F40, note the string you open the door with.

The F40 was noisy, crashy, torrid, and the turbo lag painstakingly smoothed out in the 959 here kicked you in the back like a locked door. It would rip your head off the moment it sensed you didn't know what you were doing. But it was more exciting - to look at, to hear, to drive. And that's what won people over - including the buyers, which were near four times as many as Porsche's despite the price tag being double.

Had the 959 lost then? Well, not quite. Enter the 959 S. Doing away with much of the 959's luxuries, like adjustable suspension, electric windows, AC, central locking, and even backsea- wait, the 959 had BACKSEATS???? Holy FUCK why does no one talk about that??? Take the family on a trip to 300kphville! I was saying. They schlapped some bigger turbos on too and power went from 444hp right past the F40's 470hp to a healthy 508, that propelled it over what any roadgoing F40 ever managed at 211mph, or 339km/h. Presumably for bragging rights.

And I want to stress, these were titans clashing here. This was leagues beyond what other production cars could even comprehend. Again, the 959 hit 100km/h in 3.6 seconds. The F40 held a record by taking less than 16 seconds to go from 0 to 160km/h(100mph) and back to 0. This was witnessing superhumans fighting through the clouds.

And then in 1992, the two chaps that 'developed' Caterhams (i.e. banged new ones together in the shed) told the chap they worked for "Hey, let's make one that's really barebones and fast", rang up their ol' mate (and ex-F1 racer) Jonathan Palmer to ask to lend a hand, and bought some of the 250hp engine that powered the Vauxhall (British for Opel) Cavalier GSi in the British Touring Car Championship.

Thus, the Caterham Seven Jonathan Palmer Evolution - a raw, uncomfortable, uncompromising beast that went fast as all fuck. Now, if you don't know Sevens you may think "Ah, so just like the F40, what with its handcrank windows and the string to open the doorlatch and all". And to illustrate how far off that is: in the Seven the windows were sown on and you latched the door yourself with a button.

And that's the standard version which had windows and doors. The JPE didn't.

The JPE had a carbon tub you were meant to call a seat, the controls, a rev counter and a tach that didn't even bother with speed under 30mph, and fuck you. And this one is not even as barebones as it gets: this one is painted.

So while the F40 went from 1,250kg (2760lb) to 1370kg (3020lb) when adjusted to comply with US regulations and the 959 went from 1450kg (3200lb) to the lightweight S version's 1350kg (2975lb), the Seven JPE weighed 1170. As in 1170lb. 530kg. Read that again if you need to, but it had about half the power of those two and considerably less than half the car to move. And so, in January 1993, this thing -this '50s coffin with a Vauxhall engine banged together by one guy in a shed- took the Guinness World Record for fastest car to 100km/h with a time of 3.46 seconds - and the 0-160km/h-0 record with 13.1 seconds. Close your eyes and picture that.

Yet the Seven JPE is hardly known to anyone but the most hardcore of enthusiasts, and owned by barely four dozens of 'em. So did it, perhaps, ultimately lose? Not at all. In fact, none of these cars did.

Every 959 cost Porsche twice what they sold it for, but the project proved the 911's layout could stand the test of time, and its development gave Porsche technologies it gradually infused into the 911 keeping it relevant, competitive, and most importantly alive to this day.

And I think we can safely say that when Enzo Ferrari died in 1988, a year after the F40's launch, his wish to leave with a bang was perfectly fulfilled - so much so that the F40 is commonly regarded as the peak of his legacy.

And the JPE was simply the greatest Seven ever - the most raw, thrilling, pure automotive experience the streets had ever witnessed. If driving a fast car was like biking down a hill, the Seven JPE was skydiving. Hell, it was the cover car of éX-Driver, an anime about a team using old-school sportscars to rescue haywire autonomous vehicles!

Not that culturally relevant but MAN was it cool as a kid. I need to hang those damn posters one of these days. I was saying.

These are three success stories in three radically different ways. Because, as much as I've made this post all about the numbers, sometimes it's not about that. Sometimes it's about making a show, leaving a mark, being spectacular. Sometimes it's about pushing yourself to achievements you can take pride and inspiration from. Sometimes it's simply about having fun seeing just how far you can really go. Sometimes it's about deciding what you want to be and make a new favorite version of yourself, that is the best it can be at what you care the most about. And for some that may result in less popularity or success or impact or legacy than others, but those are just some of the things you can work towards. It can be okay to just work towards having a blast. Hell, those madmen at Caterham used to stay after work to build themselves track cars, race them the next day and put ‘em back in the workshop after racing them, and the company survived to this day. Because, yes, they're still around - and their new lineup topper gets to 100 in 2.8. Windshield still optional. Well, at least there's headrests now. And a wider version, for the concrete possibility that you physically don't fit.

Never change, Caterham, because you certainly never have.

Links in blue are posts of mine explaining the words in question - if you liked this post, you might like those!

#this was meant to also celebrate 300 followers #i am just that slow at writing stuff #porsche 356 #porsche 911 #porsche 959 s #ferrari 288 evoluzione #ferrari f40 #lotus seven #caterham seven jpe #vauxhall cavalier gsi #round numbers

[flabby-flattie-fatties]

Muse list

Hi everyone, it's me, Kit. You might remember me from my blog Gasping-Tubby-Cuties.

I sadly deleted that blog when I got hit by an awful depression attack, but I'm better now, and willing to give this another shot if you would welcome me (Though I understand if you don't).

Thanks for reading, now, onto the gals

Just a head's up, all the muses are bottom heavy. However, if asked for, their shapes can be changed nwn

OVERWATCH

Sombra: 5'3, 910 pounds

Mercy: 5'4, 890 pounds

Widowmaker: 5'5, 600 pounds

Tracer: 5'3, 600 pounds. In denial

Moira: 6'3, 120 pounds. Feeder.

Moira is the new leader of the NeoOverwatch organization. This is only a fancy name of her business though, in reality, the facility serves to keep her fatties in check and well fed. She makes sure they keep getting fatter and recording them most of the time to sell their videos in her website. All that food, clothes, and research have to be paid somehow.

LEAGUE

Battle Bunny Miss Fortune: 5'2, 500 pounds. Fatty in denial being fattened up in secret.

Battle Bunny Zeri: 5'2, 400 pounds. She wanted to help Miss Fortune lose weight, so now she got caught up in a fattening trap.

Battle Cat Jinx: 5'4, 200 pounds. One of MF's feeders, she does sometimes snack though.

Battle Bat Vayne: 5'6, 250 pounds. The brains of the operation, it was her idea to fatten Sarah and then Zeri. However, she has a hard time not eating part of the products

Vex: 4'0, 800 pounds.

Tristana: 4'3, 800 pounds.

Poppy: 4'7, 800 pounds.

Lulu: 4'0, 80 pounds. Lulu is a crazy feeder. Her lust of fatties went to the point that she fattened up every woman in Bandle City up to immobility. Now, she lives with her 3 wives friends, making sure they are all as lazy and obese as possible, while also giving them loads of love. She is not above fattening up any girl that catches her eye.

Caitlyn: 5'1, 800 pounds. A pure ball of lard with pathetic stamina, even worse willpower, and in deep denial. Barely mobile.

VI: 6'5, 200 pounds (pure muscle). VI used to be a fatty, however, Caitlyn took it on herself to help her lose weight by eating her food. Now, Vi is a pure beefcake who lives to pamper, spoil, and keep her beloved princess fat and in denial.

PERSONA

Ann & Rise: 5'4 and 5'2, 300 pounds and 280 pounds respectively. Ann developed a fat fetish when she went to the US. Ever since, she has been trying to fatten herself up. Rise is her modeling partner in roommate, and sadly for her, being around someone who eats so much junk is affecting her own body.

Naoto: 5'3, 320 pounds. A detective trying her best to make a living in the world. However, her love for sweets and junk food lead her to quite a few embarrassing scenarios in front of her fellow officers. Things that only seem to get worse as she gets fatter.

#muse list

[alltimefail-sims]

Hi friends, happy Friday!

The Sims team recently collaborated with Ebonix and dropped the "Urban Homage" CAS kit on April 18th, so you guys already know I had to snatch it up and give my thoughts. I'm a week late, but I'll give you the TLDR up front: I like every item that came in this kit. Yes, I'm just as shocked as you are!

Sidenote: Don't worry, even though they aren't pictured above we will be looking at the male assets as well - they're in their own separate section under the cut!

With all that being said, let's jump into it! ↓

First, let me show you those masculine frame outfits I promised:

Okay, now I'm just going to get my minimal qualms out of the way:

I wish the female frame bodysuit labeled as a top could have also been in the full-body category. I love that it can be layered with other skirts and such, but it's soooo cute by itself and we don't have anything like it, especially for everyday or workout purposes.

Next, the joggers should have been enabled for both frames and same goes for the overalls. You can untick the "female" or "male" clothing preference in CAS and they both look fine on the opposite frame, but obviously there is some minor distortion in the chest area on fem frames when they wear the overalls.

I also wish the basketball shorts came in some simpler, sleeker swatches alongside the bolder prints and colors.

That's literally it: miniscule complaints really, and trust me when I say these complaints are nitpicky for a reason - I struggled to find critiques for this particular kit.

As for literally everything else not mentioned above: I love these clothes, and I think there are a few items that I will use over and over again.

All the bottoms are superb

The loose jersey is an item that we desperately needed in game

The dashiki swatches are stunning

The fit of every item across the board is immaculate on a wide range of body types.

The few simple items snuck into this kit - the cropped denim jacket, the tie crop shirt, the open button down, etc. are so versatile and beautifully executed.

The trendy butterfly top, the skinny pants with cutouts in the side, and the platform ankle boots (specifically the flame swatches!!) have all been tackled by cc-makers; these versions that come in this kit are right on par with the cc counterparts out there, a HUGE win for console players who cannot use cc.

Basically, these clothes look like clothes I could actually see real people wearing...unlike some items that have come in packs in the past that feel far too niche or look like leftover items that didn't fit in a different EP or GP. (I'm looking at you CAS items from Crystal Creations... I know those assets were 80% Realm of Magic rejects lmao. Not that I'm mad, I like a lot of the items, but they really aren't super versatile.)

Perhaps the most surprising treasures in this pack, however, actually lie within the accessory categories. Wild realization for me because when it comes to accessories in the sims I'm usually indifferent at best and confused if the devs have ever seen a real human out in the wild at worst (because let's be honest...that shit is usually so oversized and weird looking it's basically unusable). But I have to give these accessories their moment in the sun because WOW. I can't believe I'm uttering the words "I love" next to "kit accessories..." but Hell hath frozen over I guess. Here are some screenshots:

Every accessory (with the exception of the GORGEOUS headwrap) is enabled for masculine frame; this includes the rings (left & right), necklaces, earrings, facial piercing, and even the nails. The facial piercing shocked me the most as I've never used the piercings we've been given in other packs - they're always thick, bulky, and chunky in the worst way. But, much to my amazement, this nose piercing is sooooooo good and even come in a number of decent swatches outside of gold, silver, black! In fact, I liked it so much that I'm ditching the cc nose ring on my OC Ta'Nia and swapping it for the nose piercing that came with this kit. Even on a sim with a downturned nose tip and wider set nostrils (like the male sim I used in the screenshots) I felt like the piercing still looked great!

I only have one complaint about the accessories, and it's that I wish we were given more than one set of nails, or at least more color swatches for the nails. Black, red, and blue bases with chrome tips are just too limited to me, especially with all the vibrant colors we see in this pack! I would have liked a set of nails with intricate airbrushing/hand-drawn designs or ones that utilized gems and charms along with some variation in length and a shape outside of the trendy coffin or oval nails at medium length. I know this is picky, but cc nails are killing the game right now whereas the sims team continually plays it safe and, imo, it's boring; console players deserve to have glamorous works of art on their sim's fingers as well!

OKAY... time for my wrap-up thoughts!

Look at me saying this wouldn't be a long review... yet here we are, a whole ass Ted Talk later lol. Overall, I personally encountered zero major issues in this kit. (Please note that when I say "major" I am talking about hoodies that make eyes 3x their original size or jewelry that corrupts the body of a sim lol.) I will say that I saw some people saying they noticed some discoloration on the facial piercings that came with this pack (textures/colors bleeding from some other CAS items onto the piercings) but I didn't personally have that issue. If there are any other issues outside of the discolored piercings, I didn't encounter them and I haven't seen others talking about them.

TLDR: For me, this and the grunge kit are the standard of what a good CAS kit should look like. I think I'll be using several of these items often, and the content is easily worth $5.00 (unlike the party kit that dropped alongside this one... but that's a topic for another day). If you're going to give EA $5.00 for a kit, I confidently recommend this one.

Remember to use the creator code "EBONIX" at checkout so Ebonix can receive 5% of the proceeds when you purchase this kit!

I hope you all enjoyed my ramble. What are your favorite items from the kit? What do you think could have been better? Let me know in the replies or send me an ask; I always love hearing your guys' thoughts.

Talk to you all later! Hugs x

#ts4 #simblr #the sims 4 #ts4 urban homage #urban homage kit #sims 4 #kit overview #ts4 kits #the sims community #ts4 lookbook #atfs

[diabolus1exmachina]

Rochdale GT

Rochdale Motor Panels & Engineering Ltd started in 1948 as panel beaters before turning to the manufacture of aluminium bodies for competition cars and then glassfibre bodyshells for the specials-building industry. By 1954 Rochdale was offering its MkIV glassfibre body, intended for the pre-war Austin Seven chassis. With the latter's availability declining, Rochdale offered the more extensive 'ST' kit for the Ford Ten/Popular chassis. The 'ST' was an open design lacking torsional stiffness, and after a few had been made it was superseded by the beautifully proportioned Rochdale 'GT', which according to its maker was 'not a shell to adapt to your Ford but a complete body designed specifically to fit'. Intended for the Ford 8/10hp chassis, the 'GT' became available from 1960 with Rochdale's own frame. One of the most elegant small sports cars of its day, the 'GT' would go on to be Rochdale's best-selling model, with an estimated 1,350-or-so made, of which it is believed fewer than 80 survive. Rochdale abandoned the kit-car side of its business in the early 1970s.

Featuring a lightened semi-spaceframe chassis, built in period using Ford Popular side members, the car is powered by a full-race specification 1½-litre Coventry-Climax FWB engine producing 140bhp. Other specification highlights include an integral roll cage; straight-cut close-ratio gearbox; double-wishbone front suspension; Lotus 11 front discs and magnesium callipers; Austin Metropolitan rear axle with limited-slip differential and five-link location; competition brake linings at the rear; 15" wire wheels shod with Dunlop racing tyres; long-range 'Le Mans' fuel tank; Speedwell gauges; Halda Speedpilot; and Heuer Monte Carlo stopwatch.

#Rochdale GT #Ford #Lotus #Austin

[scotianostra]

January 24th, 76AD, is the probable date of birth of Publius Aelius Hadrianus, who built Hadrian’s Wall.

Right let’s start with the myth, a lot of people believe it marks the border between Scotland and England, and never has. In fact, the wall predates both kingdoms, while substantial sections of modern-day Northumberland and Cumbria – both of which are located south of the border – are bisected by it.

This post is a lot longer than I would normally do, Hadrian himself ruled for over 30 years , and the Roman Empire were in Britain for over 350 years. I've taken this post from the Smithsonian web site as I'm tied up trying to do other things this morning

Stretching 80 miles from the Irish Sea in the west to the North Sea in the east, Hadrian’s Wall in northern England is one of the United Kingdom’s most famous structures. But the fortification was designed to protect the Roman province of Britannia from a threat few people remember today—the Picts, Britannia’s “barbarian” neighbours from Caledonia, now known as Scotland.

By the end of the first century, the Romans had successfully brought most of modern England into the imperial fold. The Empire still faced challenges in the north, though, and one provincial governor, Agricola, had already made some military headway in that area. According to his son-in-law and primary chronicler, Tacitus, the highlight of his northern campaign was a victory in 83 or 84 A.D. at the Battle of Mons Graupius, which probably took place in southern Scotland. Agricola established several northern forts, where he posted garrisons to secure the lands he’d conquered. But this attempt to subdue the northerners eventually failed, and Emperor Domitian recalled him a few years later.

It wasn’t until the 120s that northern England got another taste of Rome’s iron-fisted rule. Emperor Hadrian “devoted his attention to maintaining peace throughout the world,” according to the Life of Hadrian in the Historia Augusta. Hadrian reformed his armies and earned their respect by living like an ordinary soldier and walking 20 miles a day in full military kit. Backed by the military he had reformed, he quelled armed resistance from rebellious tribes all over Europe.

But though Hadrian had the love of his own troops, he had political enemies—and was afraid of being assassinated in Rome. Driven from home by his fear, he visited nearly every province in his empire in person. The hands-on emperor settled disputes, spread Roman goodwill, and put a face to the imperial name. His destinations included northern Britain, where he decided to build a wall and a permanent militarized zone between “enemy” and Roman territory.

Primary sources on Hadrian’s Wall are widespread. They include everything from preserved letters to Roman historians to inscriptions on the wall itself. Historians have also used archaeological evidence like discarded pots and clothing to date the construction of different portions of the wall and reconstruct what daily life must have been like. But the documents that survive focus more on the Romans than the foes the wall was designed to conquer.

Before this period, the Romans had already fought enemies in northern England and southern Scotland for several decades, Rob Collins, author of Hadrian's Wall and the End of Empire, says via email. One problem? They didn’t have enough men to maintain permanent control over the area. Hadrian’s Wall served as a line of defense, helping a small number of Roman soldiers shore up their forces against foes with much larger numbers.

Hadrian viewed the inhabitants of southern Scotland—the “Picti,” or Picts—as a menace. Meaning “the painted ones” in Latin, the moniker referred to the group’s culturally significant body tattoos. The Romans used the name to refer collectively to a confederation of diverse tribes, says Hudson.

To Hadrian and his men, the Picts were legitimate threats. They frequently raided Roman territories, engaging in what Collins calls “guerilla warfare” that included stealing cattle and capturing slaves. Starting in the fourth century, constant raids began to take their toll on one of Rome’s westernmost provinces.

Hadrian’s Wall wasn’t just built to keep the Picts out. It likely served another important function—generating revenue for the empire. Historians think it established a customs barrier where Romans could tax anyone who entered. Similar barriers were discovered at other Roman frontier walls, like that at Porolissum in Dacia.

The wall may also have helped control the flow of people between north and south, making it easier for a few Romans to fight off a lot of Picts. “A handful of men could hold off a much larger force by using Hadrian’s Wall as a shield,” Benjamin Hudson, a professor of history at Pennsylvania State University and author of The Picts, says via email. “Delaying an attack for even a day or two would enable other troops to come to that area.” Because the Wall had limited checkpoints and gates, Collins notes, it would be difficult for mounted raiders to get too close. And because would-be invaders couldn’t take their horses over the Wall with them, a successful getaway would be that much harder.

The Romans had already controlled the area around their new wall for a generation, so its construction didn’t precipitate much cultural change. However, they would have had to confiscate massive tracts of land.

Most building materials, like stone and turf, were probably obtained locally. Special materials, like lead, were likely privately purchased, but paid for by the provincial governor. And no one had to worry about hiring extra men—either they would be Roman soldiers, who received regular wages, or conscripted, unpaid local men.

“Building the Wall would not have been ‘cheap,’ but the Romans probably did it as inexpensively as could be expected,” says Hudson. “Most of the funds would have come from tax revenues in Britain, although the indirect costs (such as the salaries for the garrisons) would have been part of operating expenses,” he adds.

There is no archaeological or written record of any local resistance to the wall’s construction. Since written Roman records focus on large-scale conflicts, rather than localized kerfuffles, they may have overlooked local hostility toward the wall. “Over the decades and centuries, hostility may still have been present, but it was probably not quite as local to the Wall itself,” says Collins. And future generations couldn’t even remember a time before its existence.

But for centuries, the Picts continued to raid. Shortly after the wall was built, they successfully raided the area around it, and as the rebellion wore on, Hadrian’s successors headed west to fight. In the 180s, the Picts even overtook the wall briefly. Throughout the centuries, Britain and other provinces rebelled against the Romans several times and occasionally seceded, the troops choosing different emperors before being brought back under the imperial thumb again.

Locals gained materially, thanks to military intervention and increased trade, but native Britons would have lost land and men. But it’s hard to tell just how hard they were hit by these skirmishes due to scattered, untranslatable Pict records.

The Picts persisted. In the late third century, they invaded Roman lands beyond York, but Emperor Constantine Chlorus eventually quelled the rebellion. In 367-8, the Scotti—the Picts’ Irish allies—formed an alliance with the Picts, the Saxons, the Franks, and the Attacotti. In “The Barbarian Conspiracy,” they pillaged Roman outposts and murdered two high-ranking Roman military officials. Tensions continued to simmer and occasionally erupt over the next several decades.

Only in the fifth century did Roman influence in Britain gradually dwindle. Rome’s already tenuous control on northern England slipped due to turmoil within the politically fragmented empire and threats from other foes like the Visigoths and Vandals. Between 409 and 411 A.D., Britain officially left the empire.

The Romans may be long gone, but Hadrian’s Wall remains. Like modern walls, its most important effect might not have been tangible. As Costica Bradatan wrote in a 2011 New York Times op-ed about the proposed border wall between the U.S. and Mexico, walls “are built not for security, but for a sense of security.”

Hadrian’s Wall was ostensibly built to defend Romans. But its true purpose was to assuage the fears of those it supposedly guarded, England’s Roman conquerors and the Britons they subdued. Even if the Picts had never invaded, the wall would have been a symbol of Roman might—and the fact that they did only feeds into the legend of a barrier that’s long since become obsolete.

#scotland #scottish #romans #england #hadrian's wall #history

[jpitha]

The Dreams of Hyacinth 11

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Nick relays the story so far to Queenie. He talks about boosting the coffin box, finding out it's empty, meeting with Jameson, working with Sunny, the whole story. When he's finished, she's silent a long time.

"Nick, I can see why your ladies like you. You have empathy, and are kind and are generous. Honestly when we first met I was just a twinge sad that Evie wasn't interested." She chuckled. "But Nick, you're kind of dim, you get that, right?"

Eastern nods. "Finally, someone else sees it. Right Sel?"

Selkirk agrees. "Dim as a spent LED."

"I knew there was a reason I liked your girlfriends Nick. They're the smart ones. So, let's get down to it. Both you and Eastern have a full AI suite of cybernetics installed by Jameson's dark doctors, and he didn't even give you a tutorial? That sounds like Jameson. I swear, the AIs are all the same. It's easy for them, so they assume it's easy for everyone. Selkirk, this is going to take a bit, and I think you'll be bored. Why don't you head up front with Evie and see if you two can figure out dinner. We'll be ready to take a break by then."

Selkirk stands. "Sure thing Queenie, thanks for taking care of these two idiots. We'll figure out how to pay you."

Queenie chuckles. "Don't worry, it'll be very affordable."

Selkirk makes her way to the front and finds Evie back behind the counter, watching something on her Pad. "Queenie kicked you out eh?" She doesn't look up from her show.

"Yeah, said I should find dinner. Everyone is going to be hungry when they're done."

Evie nods. "Probably. Even now, when Queenie gets it in her head to do some work, everyone else comes out tired."

Selkirk looks up at Evie. If she squints, she can see the resemblance. They have a similar bone structure in their cheeks. "Evie, I thought most humans died around one hundred or less. She's so..." she struggled to find the words. "Coherent?"

Evie laughed. "She has good days and bad days. You're just lucky today was a good day. But yeah, she thinks the implants are keeping her alive almost as much as her body at this point."

"Where did she get them?"

"Just like she explained. An AI thought they were 'helping' and gave them to her. As you probably guessed by our experience with Nick, running the shop wasn't always out main source of income and Queenie's line of work wasn't exactly... legal all the time."

Selkirk says nothing.

"To hear her say it, it was fashionable to have black market cybernetic mods installed back 70, 80 years ago. I don't know, it seems an awfully foolish thing to do for fashion, but she swears it was 'this close' to going mainstream."

Selkirk glances back down the hall. "I don't know. I've been around humans a long time, and I completely believe that they'd do something stupid like get cybernetic implants for fashion."

Evie laughed. "You're right of course. How long have you been on Hyacinth, Selkirk?"

"You can call me Sel if you want. I've been here, Ancestors, twenty five years now? I moved here from K'lax when I was just a kid. Familial group got together and sent me off to school on Hyacinth." She smiled bitterly. "Go and make something of yourself. Do your family proud!" She shook her head. "I was mostly sent here to get out of the way. The paterfamilias wanted his offspring to take over the leadership of the familial group. An older kit from a deceased line was a... complication."

Evie looked down at Selkirk. "Do you still talk to them?"

Selkirk flicked her ears. "Not in years. I sent them a message back when the Empress Melody shit started going down telling them I was all right and going to stay on Hyacinth, but never heard back so... I stopped sending messages. I'm sure they think they're better off that way."

"Oh Selkirk. I bet there are still people in your familial group that love you."

She snorted. "You haven't met them. I'm sure they don't feel any ill will towards me, but I'm also sure they don't feel anything to me. It's ancient history." She leaned back off the counter. "Queenie said to get dinner so I assume that if we don't she'll be upset."

Evie laughed. "Upset is possibly the most mild way that could be phrased." She took out her pad. "I know some local places that she likes, take a look and tell me which ones would work for you and your crew."

Nick and Eastern came out of Queenies room hours later looking exhausted but pleased. Queenie came out shortly after them with the help of her walker, but she also looked brighter and more alive than when she went in. Instead of going to Queenie's bedroom, they made their way to the front of the store, where Selkirk and Evie had set up a table piled high with takeout from a local place.

Eastern looks hungrily at the food. "This is quite a spread Selkirk, nice work!"

Selkirk flicks her tail and her ears. "Evie helped, but we both decided that you were going to come out of your training hungry."

"I feel like I haven't eaten in years." Nick laughs and sits at the table."

Queenie shuffles to the head of the table and sits. "Now, like I told you, those implants are powered by your bodies. Use them a lot and you need the calories to recover." She poked Nick's soft belly. "It's also a decent way to build a calorie deficit if you ever decide to lose that paunch, Nicholas North," but she was smiling as she said it.

They all sat down and started on dinner. After a few minutes, Selkirk looked up at Eastern and Nick. "How did it go?"

Queenie started gesturing with a fork full of food. "Typical AI. Stuff them full of tech and send them on their way without so much as a lesson on how to work it. They're lucky Nick knew me; they could have had their brains braised by the first aggressive attack they endured."

Eastern put down her fork. "We're very grateful Queenie, thanks for all the help." She looked at Selkirk. "Queenie put is through an initial setup, helped us with our encryption and firewalls and gave us some basic lessons on access and intrusion. Also, she looked at Nick's additional tech that Jameson installed. He could pilot a starship!"

Selkirk blinked and looked at Nick, surprised. "You can pilot a starship?"

Nick looked awkward and shrugged. "According to Queenie, I have additional modules and sensors that are related to piloting starships. She thinks its an upgrade to the old Colony Ship co-captain package."

"But... why? You're not going to be piloting a starship."

Nick shrugged. "Who knows with AIs. Maybe Jameson thinks I'll need it. Maybe he thought it would be funny. Maybe he's making a point to another AI faction that we don't even know about." He put his head down and continued to eat.

Eastern nodded. "You feel it too Sel, we're pawns in a much larger thing here. It's entirely possible that Jameson gave Nick the piloting package to show someone that AIs aren't the only game in town when it comes to operating a ship.

Queenie looked up at the three of them. "My advice is to not try and make sense of what AIs do. They go and do their own thing, they always have. It's up to us to stay out of their way and try and not get burned. Remember what they did when Empress Melody came by? They linked in a pile of their own Starjumpers and attacked her right above us. I remember looking up and seeing the flashes of the fight. It was something else." She shook her head sadly. "I never got to meet the Empress, but I heard she was looking out for everyone in Sol." She looked up at the three of them sharply. "Take heed that lesson though. Keep your heads down, do your work, and don't get involved in AI politics. It's worse than our politics."

Nick glanced at Eastern, but she didn't say anything.

After Dinner, Selkirk tried to pay Queenie and Evie but they wouldn't take her money. "You bought dinner, and you owe us a favor, that's enough." Queenie was firm. Evie smiled. Now, don't be a stranger down here, come by and say hello to Queenie every now and then. I haven't seen her this active in weeks." She winked at the three of them. "You're a good influence on her."

Queenie's cackling laugh. "They're anything but Evie, but they're fun to be around. If you ever need a fence, you see old Queenie first, you get me?"

Eastern assured them that they'd be the first place they stopped when they had some goods to fence and said their goodbyes.

When they left the shop it was late. The Metro ran all night long, but was on a reduced schedule to allow for maintenance. They decided to take an omnibus up to Eastern's apartment. As they rumbled along, Eastern and Selkirk fell quickly asleep on Nick as he looked out the window and watched Hyacinth go by. He mused on what Queenie had said about AI politics. He felt that it was a bit too little too late with that warning. They were being played off two if not three different factions now with no real sign as to the why.

Nick woke everyone up when it was their stop. They made their way home and fell into bed.

The next morning, everyone got up, got dressed and some coffee and tried to come up with something to do. They still hadn't heard from Sunny, so it was just a matter of waiting to hear from her. She had said that she would do fifty hours of searching, and by Nick's reckoning that meant they'd hear from her tomorrow afternoon.

Nick declared that they'd head to the lake today. Since Hyacinth is so large, the original designers decided to put a large lake on each arm. It was a long shallow lake, not more than three meters deep, but that was enough for watercraft and swimming and a small marine ecosystem. The beaches on the lake were a popular destination. Against Eastern's protestations, Nick took the girls shopping. They rode down arm to some mid range shopping in Laurel square and soon enough Nick found what he was looking for. He bought Eastern a black bikini and a sari skirt in blue and yellow, and found a K'laxi style bathing suit he thought would suit her. When Eastern saw what he bought her she blushed. "Nicholas North, you horndog."

Selkirk looked up at the both of them, "What?"

Eastern laughed. "This is what I was wearing when Nick and I were connected together during the surgery. Nick took me on a memory of a beach on Parvati."

Selkirk's ears flicked playfully. "Well, he has impeccable taste, you look great in it."

Eastern stared at Selkirk's suit too. "I will admit Nick has good taste. The suit he picked for you is stunning."

Selkirks tail and ears poofed in embarrassment. "It not a style I would have ever picked for myself, but I admit I look good in it." Selkirk and Eastern went to Nick and both gave him a kiss. "Nice work."

This time, they picked out a suit for Nick. Eastern insisted on a black speedo like in their shared dream and after picking up some towels and headed back out.

The most popular beach was off Dahila square. They grabbed some food to eat later and rode up to Dahila. From there it was a short omnibus ride to the beach.

Growing up in Naya Chennai, right on the water, the beach on Hyacinth was a bit of a letdown. He went to the beach once or twice after he first moved here and while it was interesting to have a lake and a beach in space, it really couldn't compare to the ocean. Eastern, a kid who was born and raised in space loved it though. It was the largest body of water she had ever seen. Selkirk had fun too. She hadn't been to a large body of water since she was a child, so she was enjoying herself too. Nick decided to try and leg go of his opinions about it being a 'real' beach and just have fun.

They spend the afternoon at the beach, sitting on the soft sand, splashing in the water and having a fun time. Nick even convinced them all to rent a watercraft and they zipped around the lake, getting a view of everything. Nick found a small secluded beach far away from everyone else and they stopped and relaxed all on their own.

Eastern declared that she wanted to try having sex on the beach like in the novels she read and they gave it a try.

It was very sandy.

After, everyone ran into the water to wash the sand off and Nick grimaced. "Okay, I think I speak for everyone when I say that I got sand in places I didn't think it was possible to get sand into. Let's keep that one to the novels, okay?"

Selkirk was in the water up to her head scrubbing her fur as hard as she could. "I agree Nick."

By now it was evening and they had to return the rental. They made their way back to the main beach, returned the rental and found a restaurant right on the water to get dinner. Hyacinth doesn't have sunsets, not really, but it was gently getting dark as they ate, and they even heard some animals in the water making noise as it got darker. You had to squint a little, but you could pretend you were on a planet. Nick looked over at his girlfriends and smiled. "Thanks."

"Eastern raised her eyebrow. "For what, Nick?"

"For being here. For being with me. Both of you. This is nice. Sure, we are deep into some shit, but we're into it together. I don't know." He looked out at the water. "It just feels a little more solvable with you two here with me, eating a nice dinner, looking out at the water."

Selkirk flicked her ears and smiled. "It is nice. Thanks to you too Nick. I'm glad we're all here, together."

After dinner, they slowly made their way back to Eastern's place, chatting and laughing. They kept their bathing suits on, garnering a few side eyes on the omnibus, but nothing else.

They made it to Eastern's place and fell into bed, tired and happy.

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#humans are deathworlders #humans are space orcs #humans are space oddities #sci fi writing #writing #humans and aliens #jpitha #the k’laxiverse #The Dreams of Hyacinth