#hazel tag

[gravehags]

(with deep affection and loving tears in my eyes) she looks so stupid

[brawngp2009]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TAN!!!!!!!!!!!! 🥳🥳🥳🍰🎉🌟 my dogs are very disciplined so im arriving on time (i hope)

WHAT IF I KILLED MYSELFFFFFFFFF LOOK AT THEMMM!!!!! AWOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

oh my god hazel thank you... i literally fell to my knees oh my god it;s good that i didnt open this when i as out with my girl friends because i would have a lot of explaining to do!!!!! raaaaaahhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! thank you my friend thank youuu

[argentinagp]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LOURDES!!!! hope youre having an awesome day!!

HAZEL THIS IS SO CUTE OH MY GOD THANK YOU SO MUCH 🥹🥹🥹🥹🥹

[doyeons]

are u KIDDING me

[swinging-stars-from-satellites]

8, 13, and 20 for Eternity, if you feel like it!

8. What platonic relationships are important in this au?

ALL OF THEM!!!! there is NO romance at all in this thing! actually there's a VERY funny scene where that gets lampshaded and Grace, at a loss for how to explain "found family" to Rocky via their limited language database, just gives up and describes Ilyukhina as his sister

13. Write a lil snippet set in this verse.

you get a LONG snippet because the way I've been thinking about this basically since I conceptualized the au... it's going to end up being edited for clarity/reworked but this is one of the scenes I can picture most vividly

Grace is asleep. Notably, he's asleep and Rocky is on the other side of the room. Still watching, she presumes, but not as closely as he usually would. It's pointed, probably a little bit petty if she knows any of the three of them, but right now, Olesya is glad for it.

"I could have said that better, earlier," she says quietly, lowering herself to sit, cross-legged, near where Rocky is sitting very still in a corner of his xenonite maze. "I sort of just threw it at you, that wasn't very nice of me. To either of you," she admits, glancing at Grace. He can sleep anywhere, at this point, she's pretty sure.

Rocky makes a brief, high-pitched droning sound that the computer doesn't translate. "Olesya and Grace dying also not nice," he says. "Why humans on Earth not bring you home?"

Olesya isn't sure how to explain it. "Hold on," she mutters. "I'm thinking, not ignoring you."

Using her thumb, she cracks all the knuckles on one hand. Then the other side. Finally, she sighs. "They didn't know we would meet you," she says. "With the fuel that Earth was able to make, there's no way to get us home. You being able to share yours wasn't something we thought of."

"Understand," Rocky says after a moment's pause. "Why you and Grace not tell me before?"

"I don't know." That, she can answer right away. "Maybe we should have. Maybe we wanted to forget. I think Grace did forget, a while."

She's been ignoring it, too. The knowledge that she's going to die, and so is Grace. So much has happened, and there's so much more hope on the ship now than there was when they woke up. She didn't want to remember. She wants to live while she has the chance.

"Rocky, does your planet have pets?" She asks, before thinking. This, too, is something she's been pushing out of her mind, since before the Hail Mary ever launched.

Rocky turns his body in a way she thinks is a question. "What is word?"

"Pets," Olesya repeats. "It's... another type of animal, living thing, not a person. They can't talk or think the way we do. On Earth, we have... a few kinds of animals like this that live with humans as companions."

Rocky shifts his weight. "Eridians have. Rare though. Only one kind. We call this-" he makes a trilling sort of chord sound. The laptop is sitting nearby, and since Grace is asleep and won't tell her to leave it, she adds the word to the system. "Why Olesya ask?" Rocky asks when she sits back down.

Since she was chosen for the mission, she's been choosing not to think of it. She shouldn't have said anything, to start with. This is her problem: she runs her mouth. She talks without thinking, even about things she would rather not think of. But she's Roscosmos. It's written in her history.

"Years ago," she says slowly, "When humans were just starting to learn how to get to space, we did a lot of experiments. Lots of them on the ground before ever launching anything. But, um, at some point, some people, the people that I come from," she isn't sure if Grace has explained the concept of countries and nationality to Rocky. Maybe he has, because Rocky seems to keep up with her accent and idioms well enough. "Humans didn't want to risk killing one of us by sending someone to space with bad technology," she continues. "But technology had to be tested. Understand, question?" She stops for a moment, to make sure Rocky is following.

"Rocky understand, statement," he replies. "Test equipment before humans use it."

Olesya nods. "Right. But the way they tested it, early on, was..." She sighs. It's complicated to explain and she is tired, physically and emotionally. "The way they tested it was using pets."

Rocky makes a jolting movement that Olesya has come to think of as like a surprised blink. But he doesn't say anything, just waits for her. "The first one they sent into space was named Laika," she says, quietly. "It means... essentially, her name meant 'Noisy'. They were testing an early spacecraft, and sent her with it. They knew..." Olesya pauses and hesitates. "They knew she wouldn't survive."

Rocky somehow looks distressed, even without facial expressions. "Humans knew this pet would die and did this anyway?"

Olesya nods. "It was... a long time ago. Before Grace or I was even born." She takes a deep breath and lets it all out. "Do you understand why I'm telling you this?"

"Humans knew Grace and Olesya would die and did this anyway," Rocks says, then adds, "Statement."

Olesya sniffs, her eyes burning. "Yes, statement," she replies.

20. Share THREE headcanons! But about different characters.

this is a great question because I have three characters!!!!

Olesya cracks her knuckles when she's nervous or thinking something over, and tends to be very percussive/taps on things when fidgeting

Grace, at some point, starts learning Russian because even though the three of them use English as their shared language (thanks to his Macgyvered translation system for Rocky) Olesya does still talk to herself or sometimes use phrases in Russian and Grace wants to learn (in part bc he gets bored at some point. probably while waiting for the taumoeba farms to work)

sometimes the stuff that Rocky says that doesn't translate is actually him basically transliterating English into Eridian. if Grace or Olesya catches it they'll add it to the system but sometimes he'll like, copy some Russian curse word Olesya mutters under her breath and nobody even realizes 😂

[phoebebyers]

🫣👀😭🤐🙈🦄🌝🌟

omg i'm so emotive...and i'm always saying or not saying something....true....

[kayfabeoutcold]

okay i gotta ask. ive been greatly intrigued by september and his court case... if theres more to share about that perhaps!

I am SO glad you asked, because I have MANY ideas about the Trial of September. So, below is . ALL of The Information, in the most clear way I can phrase it. This is SO long so feel free to skip to the bit on the trial since that's all you asked LMAO

DISCLAIMER BEFORE WE START: I am not intimately familiar with the australian legal system (even though i do have a generally broad knowledge of it) nor do I care to be for some oc backstory sorry if this is not accurate for . Any aussie lawyers who happen to follow me. 👍

The Background:

In the lead up to September's sixteenth birthday, his father insisted they embark on a project to repair and refurbish his old yacht. September seemed to take more of a legitimate interest in this - he'd always loved to spend time on the water, and the summer they'd sailed to the gold coast when he was thirteen was one of his fondest memories. It was one of the very few times in his life he felt connected to his father, and the trust between them grew, a real relationship also developing with his uncle for the first time.

September Lawson grew up in a house ruled by his father. Though barely there, he was a constant force molding his children into his own image, especially September, who his father always saw as an extension of himself more than a son. Living in legitimate fear of his father's disapproval (a cold shoulder, being 'forgotten' from family events, barely even being referenced in conversations let alone talked to), September as a teenager would have done anything to stay in his father's good graces. Though he always pretended to enjoy his dad's hobbies, hunting with him, trying to understand the world of golf, showing up at all the Formula 1 races, his dad could always tell his heart wasn't in it. There was one last hope for him, to drag him away from his interests in theatre and music.

September's uncle was much more softly spoken than his father, and far more open minded. They joked and laughed together. He brought along records from his collection to play on the stereo. He promised that he'd come see one of September's plays come the return of the school year. The family took dinners together, with his aunt and his mother becoming closer friends by proxy. The only problem was always that despite his own expertise in sailing, the clash of personalities meant that his uncle would always defer to his father. September would always defer to them both. And on January 6th, 7 months after September's 16th birthday, the inequality of this hierarchy would prove fatal.

*

The Accident:

The events of that night are as follows.

At 6pm, September, his father and his uncle set out on a regular sailing trip on a gorgeous summers day. They should only be out for about three hours, not planning anything crazy. None of them have checked the marine weather reports in the area. The clear skies on land appear to give them the okay to head on out.

The skies darken the further out they get, but it seems just like rain coming in. The adults have a drink, and September declines, though a phone call placed to his mother at 6.23 suggests he was pressured to partake beyond this point. Another text goes to his girlfriend at 6.37, reading "they want me to try drive the boat lol" . This was the last communication between the ship and anyone on land before things took a turn for the worse.

The swell increased significantly in the coming minutes, as rain began to obscure visibility significantly. They drive against the waves for a few minutes, perhaps in an attempt to wait it out, then head to shallower waters for a shelter. This does not seem to work, and the boat begins taking on its first water, which September's uncle tries to bail out. It is only two minutes later, at 7.04 pm, that the boat turns to the side against the swell, in an attempt to return to shore, and it capsizes in shallow waters near to a cliff walk and a private beach.

No distress signal is ever sent out. Witnesses from the property don't notice the stricken vessel until 7.18pm, by which point it is already far too late. September is pulled onto the jetty on their property by emergency responders at 7.23pm, severely injured and neither breathing nor responsive, though he does still have a pulse. He is treated on scene until the ambulance arrives. His father makes his way to the cliff himself, and is rescued by 7.20.

It will take 3 days for his Uncle's body to wash ashore on the public beach just west of the cliff walk. His cause of death is quickly and definitively ruled as drowning. By this point, September hasn't yet woken up. And his dad has already hired a lawyer.

*

The Trial of September Lawson

There are two sides to this trial. There is the trial itself, and there is the media coverage of it. The trial takes place in June, with time to prepare everything in between. It is past September's 17th birthday by the time it begins. Due to his age, his identity is concealed from the public. They are not allowed to sit in on proceedings, and the only media that comes from the trial comes in the form of press releases and court sketches.

The argument of the prosecution hinges on placing blame solely at the feet of September for the death of his uncle. Though they don't go the angle of murder, they do go very hard on proving that this was the careless mistake of a reckless teenager getting an innocent man killed. September's aunt joins his father in the fight against him. Though his father has made his contempt for those defending him clear, September's mother, sister, and best friend Callum remain resolutely on his side, with the former and the latter testifying in his defence. September's girlfriend Maicie is forbidden by her parents from getting involved in any direct manner, though she does offer their phone calls and text history as evidence.

Their exchange from that night is displayed in court, along with the voicemail left to his mother. Other conversations are read out, including ones where he vents to Maicie about his father's controlling nature, and one where he jokes to Callum about how his dad is always in charge, even though his uncle is far more knowledgeable about sailing. The defense talk about how the license for sailing September's dad has isn't even enough to take on the weather conditions he brought them into, and the only one certified to pilot the craft in that weather was September's uncle, who was nowhere near the cabin at the time of the incident. Records from both the coroners office and the hospital reveal both men were heavily intoxicated at the time of the accident. For all intents and purposes, they never should've been out there at all. And there is only one man that can realistically be held responsible for that decision.

It is a shame, then, that this mountain of evidence for the defense comes AFTER the monumental exercise in lawyers creating a case from a whole lot of nothing the prosecution gifts to the world. Hospital records show that September too, was drunk. A police officer testifies that a year prior, September had lied about being drugged by a friend after he was found passed out in a park after a night out. September's father gives a tearful testimony about his sons latent psychopathy, being interrupted in the middle of an anecdote about September letting his sisters hamster out of it's cage on purpose as a child by an objection. His aunt recounts his lack of care for others, and his party kid lifestyle. None of it sticks the landing particularly well, especially not when September's team start talking. But God does it make for a story.

*

The Newspapers:

It's already a real attention grabber. A wealthy teenager with a history of partying hard flips a yacht while he's driving drunk in a storm and kills his own uncle. That's the idea that the first releases from the trial put out . The media are only so happy to run with this angle. It's a cautionary tale. Don't spoil your kids, or they'll turn out like this. Be careful with teenage boys - they're all little psychopaths with a little beer in them. It's a car crash spectacle from the inner lives of the rich and famous. Reality TV shrouded in legal anonymity. It's a lightning rod for mamas blogs to thinkpiece over, and a plethora of conspiracies and guesswork arises online. Every new tidbit released from the prosecution is a brand new lead to chew on for a week. The newspapers themselves are wry, of course, as unbiased as they can be. But they have a clear stance they've took, in their phraseology and their framing. And everyone else who doesn't have a legal standard of proof can say whatever they like. By the time the defense begins, they've all sort of moved on. There is far less media this time around. Some people take it back. Fewer write thinkpieces on just how wrong they were. That does nothing at all to fix the damage that's been done.

September is forbidden from everything. He can't use his computer or his phone. His mother confiscates the papers from his room. He still finds a way. He obsesses over articles on the library computers, and begs to see it under the guise of interest when hanging out with friends. He reads it all. They can't all be wrong about him. The guilt he'd felt for years about things said on the stand gives way to this cold emptiness, and he thinks that must be proof, that must be proof that they're all right, that he is some emotionless evil sociopath who, deep down in his mind, knew he was going to get them all killed and did it anyways. He decides that he has to be better. He was always a truant, a rogue wave in his father's perfect family. He has to be his image now. It's the last hope that his soul has.

The Verdict:

It does not take the jurors long. Not guilty. Not guilty of murder, nor manslaughter, nor of being some insane secret killer. He's a teenager who trusted his father and he almost paid with his life. The judge says in her closing statements that it is a miscarriage of justice that the case even got sent to her court in the first place, and to not let speculation and scandal shroud the truth - that a boy was trialled by his own father, for his father's crimes. Half of September's family embrace and jump with joy. His lawyers offer to help him file a motion against his father. He does nothing of the sort.

In the absence of connection, he writes his father a letter. He begs for his forgiveness, promises he knows its wrong and he'll make it up to him any way he knows how. After over a year of silence and avoidance between them, September's father re-enters his life at his next karting race. Throughout everything, his mother has insisted the show go on, school and sports and games outside. He hasn't resumed his plays. With a brazen lack of regard for any sort of remorse, September's father lays down the plan he has for the rest of his life.

[ghosts-and-blue-sweaters]

Okay so I'm on this self care app called Finch where you have a little bird character/pet and can set goals each day. But! The point of this ask is that your bird can collect micro pets, and you can get a new one each month. And this month's is a sheep. Hence, I thought of you

AWWWWWWWWW 🥺 That’s adorable!! Sheep mirco pet :’D