diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 4753cd387..9a64c66dc 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -43,7 +43,7 @@ For real world projects see [ADOPTERS](https://kube.rs/adopters/).
 
 ## Api
 
-The [`Api`](https://docs.rs/kube/*/kube/struct.Api.html) is what interacts with Kubernetes resources, and is generic over [`Resource`](https://docs.rs/kube/*/kube/trait.Resource.html):
+The [`Api`](https://docs.rs/kube/latest/kube/struct.Api.html) is what interacts with Kubernetes resources, and is generic over [`Resource`](https://docs.rs/kube/latest/kube/trait.Resource.html):
 
 ```rust
 use k8s_openapi::api::core::v1::Pod;
@@ -102,7 +102,7 @@ A streaming interface (similar to informers) that presents [`watcher::Event`](ht
 
 ```rust
 let api = Api::<Pod>::default_namespaced(client);
-let stream = watcher(api, Config::default()).applied_objects();
+let stream = watcher(api, Config::default()).default_backoff().applied_objects();
 ```
 
 This now gives a continual stream of events and you do not need to care about the watch having to restart, or connections dropping.
@@ -113,6 +113,7 @@ while let Some(event) = stream.try_next().await? {
 }
 ```
 
+
 Note the base items from a `watcher` stream are an abstraction above the native `WatchEvent` to allow for store buffering. If you are following along to "see what changed", you can use utilities from [`WatchStreamExt`](https://docs.rs/kube/latest/kube/runtime/trait.WatchStreamExt.html), such as `applied_objects` to get a more conventional stream.
 
 ## Reflectors
diff --git a/deny.toml b/deny.toml
index 5a67b9755..0e5655f50 100644
--- a/deny.toml
+++ b/deny.toml
@@ -64,6 +64,10 @@ multiple-versions = "deny"
 [[bans.skip]]
 name = "rustls-native-certs"
 
+[[bans.skip]]
+# blocked on us swapping out serde_yaml
+name = "hashbrown"
+
 [[bans.skip]]
 # base64 did some annoying breaking changes
 name = "base64"
diff --git a/kube-runtime/src/utils/event_flatten.rs b/kube-runtime/src/utils/event_decode.rs
similarity index 90%
rename from kube-runtime/src/utils/event_flatten.rs
rename to kube-runtime/src/utils/event_decode.rs
index 489b2103b..2a0085120 100644
--- a/kube-runtime/src/utils/event_flatten.rs
+++ b/kube-runtime/src/utils/event_decode.rs
@@ -9,17 +9,17 @@ use pin_project::pin_project;
 #[pin_project]
 /// Stream returned by the [`applied_objects`](super::WatchStreamExt::applied_objects) and [`touched_objects`](super::WatchStreamExt::touched_objects) method.
 #[must_use = "streams do nothing unless polled"]
-pub struct EventFlatten<St> {
+pub struct EventDecode<St> {
     #[pin]
     stream: St,
     emit_deleted: bool,
 }
-impl<St: TryStream<Ok = Event<K>>, K> EventFlatten<St> {
+impl<St: TryStream<Ok = Event<K>>, K> EventDecode<St> {
     pub(super) fn new(stream: St, emit_deleted: bool) -> Self {
         Self { stream, emit_deleted }
     }
 }
-impl<St, K> Stream for EventFlatten<St>
+impl<St, K> Stream for EventDecode<St>
 where
     St: Stream<Item = Result<Event<K>, Error>>,
 {
@@ -50,11 +50,11 @@ where
 pub(crate) mod tests {
     use std::{pin::pin, task::Poll};
 
-    use super::{Error, Event, EventFlatten};
+    use super::{Error, Event, EventDecode};
     use futures::{poll, stream, StreamExt};
 
     #[tokio::test]
-    async fn watches_applies_uses_correct_eventflattened_stream() {
+    async fn watches_applies_uses_correct_stream() {
         let data = stream::iter([
             Ok(Event::Apply(0)),
             Ok(Event::Apply(1)),
@@ -65,7 +65,7 @@ pub(crate) mod tests {
             Err(Error::NoResourceVersion),
             Ok(Event::Apply(2)),
         ]);
-        let mut rx = pin!(EventFlatten::new(data, false));
+        let mut rx = pin!(EventDecode::new(data, false));
         assert!(matches!(poll!(rx.next()), Poll::Ready(Some(Ok(0)))));
         assert!(matches!(poll!(rx.next()), Poll::Ready(Some(Ok(1)))));
         // NB: no Deleted events here
diff --git a/kube-runtime/src/utils/mod.rs b/kube-runtime/src/utils/mod.rs
index 2ae546bc8..b8fd342b7 100644
--- a/kube-runtime/src/utils/mod.rs
+++ b/kube-runtime/src/utils/mod.rs
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 
 mod backoff_reset_timer;
 pub(crate) mod delayed_init;
-mod event_flatten;
+mod event_decode;
 mod event_modify;
 #[cfg(feature = "unstable-runtime-predicates")] mod predicate;
 mod reflect;
@@ -10,13 +10,19 @@ mod stream_backoff;
 mod watch_ext;
 
 pub use backoff_reset_timer::ResetTimerBackoff;
-pub use event_flatten::EventFlatten;
+pub use event_decode::EventDecode;
 pub use event_modify::EventModify;
 #[cfg(feature = "unstable-runtime-predicates")]
 pub use predicate::{predicates, Predicate, PredicateFilter};
 pub use reflect::Reflect;
 pub use stream_backoff::StreamBackoff;
 pub use watch_ext::WatchStreamExt;
+/// Deprecated type alias for `EventDecode`
+#[deprecated(
+    since = "0.96.0",
+    note = "renamed to by `EventDecode`. This alias will be removed in 0.100.0."
+)]
+pub use EventDecode as EventFlatten;
 
 use futures::{
     stream::{self, Peekable},
diff --git a/kube-runtime/src/utils/watch_ext.rs b/kube-runtime/src/utils/watch_ext.rs
index 0b74c05c1..94e4cbe16 100644
--- a/kube-runtime/src/utils/watch_ext.rs
+++ b/kube-runtime/src/utils/watch_ext.rs
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 #[cfg(feature = "unstable-runtime-predicates")]
 use crate::utils::predicate::{Predicate, PredicateFilter};
 use crate::{
-    utils::{event_flatten::EventFlatten, event_modify::EventModify, stream_backoff::StreamBackoff},
+    utils::{event_decode::EventDecode, event_modify::EventModify, stream_backoff::StreamBackoff},
     watcher,
 };
 use kube_client::Resource;
@@ -33,24 +33,24 @@ pub trait WatchStreamExt: Stream {
         StreamBackoff::new(self, b)
     }
 
-    /// Flatten a [`watcher()`] stream into a stream of applied objects
+    /// Decode a [`watcher()`] stream into a stream of applied objects
     ///
     /// All Added/Modified events are passed through, and critical errors bubble up.
-    fn applied_objects<K>(self) -> EventFlatten<Self>
+    fn applied_objects<K>(self) -> EventDecode<Self>
     where
         Self: Stream<Item = Result<watcher::Event<K>, watcher::Error>> + Sized,
     {
-        EventFlatten::new(self, false)
+        EventDecode::new(self, false)
     }
 
-    /// Flatten a [`watcher()`] stream into a stream of touched objects
+    /// Decode a [`watcher()`] stream into a stream of touched objects
     ///
     /// All Added/Modified/Deleted events are passed through, and critical errors bubble up.
-    fn touched_objects<K>(self) -> EventFlatten<Self>
+    fn touched_objects<K>(self) -> EventDecode<Self>
     where
         Self: Stream<Item = Result<watcher::Event<K>, watcher::Error>> + Sized,
     {
-        EventFlatten::new(self, true)
+        EventDecode::new(self, true)
     }
 
     /// Modify elements of a [`watcher()`] stream.
@@ -88,7 +88,7 @@ pub trait WatchStreamExt: Stream {
         EventModify::new(self, f)
     }
 
-    /// Filter out a flattened stream on [`predicates`](crate::predicates).
+    /// Filter a stream based on on [`predicates`](crate::predicates).
     ///
     /// This will filter out repeat calls where the predicate returns the same result.
     /// Common use case for this is to avoid repeat events for status updates
diff --git a/kube-runtime/src/watcher.rs b/kube-runtime/src/watcher.rs
index 33157cbde..b7ef1b569 100644
--- a/kube-runtime/src/watcher.rs
+++ b/kube-runtime/src/watcher.rs
@@ -71,7 +71,10 @@ impl<K> Event<K> {
     ///
     /// `Deleted` objects are ignored, all objects mentioned by `Restarted` events are
     /// emitted individually.
-    #[deprecated(since = "0.92.0", note = "unnecessary to flatten a single object")]
+    #[deprecated(
+        since = "0.92.0",
+        note = "unnecessary to flatten a single object. This fn will be removed in 0.96.0."
+    )]
     pub fn into_iter_applied(self) -> impl Iterator<Item = K> {
         match self {
             Self::Apply(obj) | Self::InitApply(obj) => Some(obj),
@@ -85,7 +88,10 @@ impl<K> Event<K> {
     /// Note that `Deleted` events may be missed when restarting the stream. Use finalizers
     /// or owner references instead if you care about cleaning up external resources after
     /// deleted objects.
-    #[deprecated(since = "0.92.0", note = "unnecessary to flatten a single object")]
+    #[deprecated(
+        since = "0.92.0",
+        note = "unnecessary to flatten a single object. This fn will be removed in 0.96.0."
+    )]
     pub fn into_iter_touched(self) -> impl Iterator<Item = K> {
         match self {
             Self::Apply(obj) | Self::Delete(obj) | Self::InitApply(obj) => Some(obj),
@@ -710,8 +716,8 @@ where
 /// [`try_for_each`](futures::TryStreamExt::try_for_each) and [`try_concat`](futures::TryStreamExt::try_concat))
 /// will terminate eagerly as soon as they receive an [`Err`].
 ///
-/// This is intended to provide a safe and atomic input interface for a state store like a [`reflector`].
-/// Direct users may want to flatten composite events via [`WatchStreamExt`]:
+/// The events are intended to provide a safe input interface for a state store like a [`reflector`].
+/// Direct users may want to use [`WatchStreamExt`] for higher-level constructs.
 ///
 /// ```no_run
 /// use kube::{
@@ -773,8 +779,8 @@ pub fn watcher<K: Resource + Clone + DeserializeOwned + Debug + Send + 'static>(
 /// [`try_for_each`](futures::TryStreamExt::try_for_each) and [`try_concat`](futures::TryStreamExt::try_concat))
 /// will terminate eagerly as soon as they receive an [`Err`].
 ///
-/// This is intended to provide a safe and atomic input interface for a state store like a [`reflector`].
-/// Direct users may want to flatten composite events via [`WatchStreamExt`]:
+/// The events are intended to provide a safe input interface for a state store like a [`reflector`].
+/// Direct users may want to use [`WatchStreamExt`] for higher-level constructs.
 ///
 /// ```no_run
 /// use kube::{