#10mm socket

[sofiadragon]

Gen sabotaging things in the American base is so much fun to write.

Our boy's having a bad time, crashing out in a way only a man as perfectly in control of his reactions and good at acting as this mentalist is can: channeling his rage into disruptive pranks to sabotage the submarine mission. I really thought I'd bang this out in three days as a one-shot, but it's been fighting me for a week and a half and is looking like 8 chapters. I've also got enough deleted material to write a second one-shot

Maya was down by the thing, camped out and very obviously not even trying to stay awake. Gen wasn’t certain what to expect, but he’d gotten enough hints to expect a submarine. It certainly looked like his guess was right. He weighed his options carefully. He could risk getting caught or he could accept that Maya was too dangerous to try and sneak past. He’d been marked with that strong scent, and if that woke her he’d be done for. After gaining so much of their trust, Stanley and Xeno wouldn’t hesitate to put a bullet in his brain.

There were some supplies around, and the air vents ran in a horseshoe shape around what might have been a natural cavern. Perhaps Gen didn’t need to sneak in front of Maya at all. He had some vials that were absolutely vile inside, prepared in case he needed to try and break out. One whiff and it was instant vomit for most people. If he could hide it in the supplies and some careless motion broke it, the sub would have to surface and vent the stink. That shit-liquid was oily and hard to clean up, Gen really didn’t like thinking about how he knew that so well, so the sub would be unusable for at least a couple hours. The problem with that plan was that he only had two vials, couldn’t risk opening either with Maya right there, and he wasn’t sure what was going on the sub and what wasn’t. There was also the chance that it would get broken before they left. The closer to when they were in sight of the Perseus but before they were ready to attack the better, which meant getting down the river a ways. Gen took two deep breaths, just like he’d done before walking on set back in 2019.

Gen dropped out of the air vent as far from Maya as he could get, using everything he knew about dance and stage tricks to ensure a soft and noiseless landing. These shoes were priceless, he’d have to do something nice for Xeno after the scientist was locked up for gross megalomania and conspiracy to commit murder. Maybe a mural outside his cell wall.

He jumped up the sub’s ladder just as quietly and slipped down inside the vehicle. Now he was really surrounded by doohickeys he didn’t understand, but he guessed where the engine might be and got it in one. He looked for a place that would make an unstable shelf to hide the stink-vial. There would be more vibrations in this part of the sub, so he needed a place that was not quite secure. Then he noticed a little spot that would be not-quite eye level for most of the people that would likely be on this thing. Why rely on the calculated uncertainty of vibrations like he was Senku when he could rely on the certainty of human curiosity? Oh what’s this? Just a bit of instant regret!

For the other one, he thought of the periscope. They would use it more once they got close, he thought, so that wasn’t the worst idea. He examined it for a long time before giving up fitting the vial on or in it anywhere. He turned to look at the console behind him, hoping for inspiration. Everything was neatly labeled. He grabbed a screwdriver out of a box of tools that was still inside ready for whatever last minute things that needed doing to get into what looked like the engine speed controls. He set the vial among the mess of metal levers and thingys, keeping it in place with a little sliver he cut off the rope. Gen hoped that “ramming speed” painted in red meant what he thought it meant and that the vial would be crushed the moment they decided to punch the throttle up to maximum.

Now for the hard part, getting out of the basement. Luckily Xeno’s people seemed to have personal grievances with safety requirements, so he was able to throw his rope up to a catwalk. Gen took some cylindric thing from a toolbox labeled 10mm for weight and put it in one of the pouches he’d taken from his lavender coat, the tied a thick knot around it so that it probably couldn’t clack or clang against anything. The first attempt failed and he’d crouched in a terrified ball hoping Maya hadn’t noticed the soft sound of the supple rope hitting the floor until his heartbeat went back to normal. At least he’d caught the weighted knot, three cheers for knowing how to juggle.

He should have practiced throwing knives at distance more, and before coming here. Really, there was no excuse for him ignoring the possibility that he’d need to fight for his life after that whole thing with Ibara. Captain Stanley was right that Gen hadn’t been pushing himself enough, and that it felt good to improve his physical fitness. He’d even keep to what he’d told the Captain. After this conflict was over and settled, Gen would get some serious combat training. He might even ask Senku for a gun. Nothing too powerful, just some little spy-sized one for emergencies. Or a crossbow? A crossbow would be quieter, if it could be made small or to look like some innocent thing the way the earrings had been. Quiet really appealed to him just now.

Gen stood up slowly. Maya hadn’t moved. He wondered if that subtle bit of lavender and herbs he’d released into the vent had tipped her over the line into real sleep, or if it was just that late into the night. He still wasn’t walking in front of her for love or money. Gen threw the rope again and this time it sailed up perfectly, wrapping around the catwalk support. After a tug to test the hold Gen shimmied up. He didn’t bother worrying about the misplaced tool, he just pocketed it and flew up the ventilation like a bat out of hell.

Getting back up to his room was stressful. The hallways had been built with battle tactics in mind. It was much easier to sneak out than in because of the shape of the place. Intruders weren’t supposed to know where the blind corners and wedge-shaped alcoves were, but Gen had been here for long enough. He kept expecting to get caught, but before too long he was a floor above his room using the rope again to shimmy down to his window. A quick look around, confirmation the flow petals were still on the door hinges, and Gen stuffed all the contraband back into his bed frame. Then he stripped down, hung up his clothes, and cleaned up in the sink as fast as possible to sleep naked. If someone came in demanding answers to questions, he would appear vulnerable and could stall a moment while he assessed them.

The only way he could possibly get any sleep after all that was the old standby cure for insomnia caused by adrenaline overload. Close his eyes, think of a faceless naked body, and let his hormones mistake all that excitement for something else until his brain released the necessary neuro-chemicals to counter the stress. He did need sleep, he had to be fresh for tomorrow. He sank into the soft bed as the tension drained away, not bothering to clean up.

[doctorslippery]

Baby's first engine block. But to make it realistic, you need to hide the 10mm socket.

Y'all 💔 😳👶

[snowingclouds]

Remember me talking about my motorcycle? Yeah I was working on it some more and the circ clips of the piston fell INTO THE FUCKING CAMSHAFT. It's by whatever divine power, the brightest flashlight I have, a magnetic pick, and luck alone that I was able to grab it out without tearing open the bottom end.

[bizarrobrain]

[wetbutchbot]

purposefully never learning how to drive stickshift so every hot car lesbian i meet can offer to teach me

[stealingyourbones]

I need Danny to have an absolutely absurd sense of taste after he becomes a half ghost. Not only does it let him consume inedible objects and foods far denser than any human could consume, but it also causes him to gain new favorite flavors that are horrifying without context.

Batman watching Danny in the watchtower helping a mechanic figure out an issue in the ghost shielding tech and silently notes down that Phantom can consume inedible objects as the teen eats the mechanics 10mm wrench and socket like they’re a candy bar.

Jaime Reyes watches in mild horror as Phantom sprays WD-40 into his morning coffee, swirls it around a bit, and then drinks it, seemingly satisfied with his addition to his coffee concoction.

Kyle Rayner checking his ring to see if Oa’s databases know if ghosts should be eating molten plastic. Like is it enrichment for them?

[benihana-circumcision]

Setting-Dependent Sudden-Onset Object Impermanence Syndrome (SDSOOIS) is a recently-discovered, yet (now that it's been named) widely diagnosed disorder commonly present in those employed in skilled shop trades (e.g. automotive repair, machining, assembly, woodworking,) in which sufferers enter their workplace and completely lose any and all sense of object permanence for any number of crucial items.

In certain cases, especially important pieces of equipment (A machinist's calipers, a mechanic's ratchet, a mason's trowel, etc) remain mentally accessible, however most other specialized tooling and materiel completely vanish to the mind's eye when no longer in sight. This has caused, over the years since the advent of the industrial era, roughly $2.3Q in losses globally due to duplicate tooling purchases, botch jobs due to forgetting that the requisite adapter is on that shelf over there and thus slapping a hoseclamp on there and gitt'n'er'dun, incorrect structural brackets resulting in structural collapse, lost 10mm sockets, etc. The Dartmouth grad student who drew the connection between SDSOOIS and the infamous 10mm socket problem has been awarded a philly cheesesteak, a blunt, some head, and a $1.5b grant to develop a machine-learning tool to locate the hidden cache of likely-near-infinite 10mm sockets in each auto-shop in the hopes of bolstering American domestic steel reserves.

Studies are still inconclusive as to whether similar behavior exhibited by manufacturing welders are SDSOOIS or simply symptomatic overlap with garden-variety galvanic brain damage.

[qu1cks1lversb1tch]

𝑴𝒆𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒊𝒄 𝑪𝒂𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒂𝒏 𝑨𝑼 — 𝑯𝑬𝑨𝑹 𝑴𝑬 𝑶𝑼𝑻

✦ Mechanic!Cassian who spends late nights in the garage 'fixing up' a project car that he's been 'working on' for years.

✦ Mechanic!Cassian who has one singular pair of jeans that isn't covered in oil and grease. Those are his 'nice' pants.

✦ Mechanic!Cassian who kisses you on the forehead before he goes to the shop for the day.

✦ Mechanic!Cassian who calls you while he eats the lunch you packed him, praising you, no matter how simple it was.

✦ Mechanic!Cassian who calls you 'sweetheart' all the time, but calls you 'baby' when he wants something — usually more parts for the project car.

✦ Mechanic!Cassian who forgets to empty his pockets before he takes his pants off, so you have to search the pockets. You usually find money and maybe a couple candy wrappers — occasionally a 10mm socket.

✦ Mechanic!Cassian who says he wants a new truck, but refuses to part with the truck that's older than him and has been on its last leg since he was a child.

✦ Mechanic!Cassian who yaps a mile a minute about his work day while you listen, even if you don't understand half of what he's talking about.

✦ Mechanic!Cassian who constantly smells like a mix of sweat, oil, and his cologne.

✦ Mechanic!Cassian who likes it when you come sit with him in the garage while he works.

✦ Mechanic!Cassian who listens to divorced dad rock like there's no tomorrow.

✦ Mechanic!Cassian who goes to the track with his friends when he's not working or spending quality time with you.

✦ Mechanic!Cassian who wipes his hands off on that red shop rag before he pulls you in by the hips for a kiss.

✦ Mechanic!Cassian who is tired and pent up after a long day and just needs release.

✦ Mechanic!Cassian who takes a shower to get grease and oil off of him before making any move on you, even if you don't care.

✦ Mechanic!Cassian who rubs your hips in soothing circles while you cook.

✦ Mechanic!Cassian who would take you right there on the counter if you let him (you do).

✦ Mechanic!Cassian who cares more about your pleasure than his own.

✦ Mechanic!Cassian who is fuckin' amazing with his hands.

✦ Mechanic!Cassian who has a massive breeding kink and a size kink.

✦ Mechanic!Cassian who can't get enough of how you taste, feel, and sound when you're with him.

✦ Mechanic!Cassian who worships your body like it's something undeniably sacred, despite not being a religious man in a traditional sense.

✦ Mechanic!Cassian who showers you with love and affection after every. . . Romantic. . . Encounter.

[otterkitty]

KITTY HELLOOOOOO hai bothering you again but this time about ELF!! she is. very cute and cool and i love her already. I dunno if you have yap about her or anything just know i love her.

thank you jay!!!!!!!!! I'm in love with her as well! I do have some things to yap about >:)

elf is technically not my full on oc! she is the ara that was mentioned in a personal grievance form in the game for stealin- I mean, borrowing a 10mm wrench socket!

I like to think she is a prankster! always bothering the other aras with her shennanigans, which makes her kind of a misfit in her cadre.

she has some thoughts about our dear starling panzer <3 because they are both misfits, I think elf sees something in panzer that she can relate to. yes, someone is crushing on panzer now. so proud of her!

I have SOOOOO many thoughts and ideas for elf, panzer and other sierpinski replikas! I have a cool project for them in mind :)

[redarmyscreaming]

Bless you!

Doin' the lord's work...

[seat-safety-switch]

By now, it has become an agonizing cliche that any amount of work on a modern car will terminate in you losing at least one 10-millimetre socket. "Oh no, my 10mm is missing," you'll groan to your friends, who immediately respond with haw-haw looks and jokes. Being the butt of such a horrible stereotype is far worse than losing your socket, which is itself a pretty bad day at work.

There are many techniques that don't work. I myself often write with a Sharpie on the socket "9.5mm," in the hope that it will confuse the curse enough that they will not be lost. I buy ones in weird colours. I use a giant neodymium magnet on the fender so they can't roll away and into the mouth of a nearby blower motor. Nothing works.

Official Chinese government numbers indicate that nearly 60% of the cars their metal recyclers crush, by weight, are 10-millimetre sockets. Your entire washer and dryer set is probably made out of the stuff that fell out of my pockets last year when I was trying to yank an evap solenoid.

Of course, there's a real solution too, and it just happens to be the same kind of solution that capitalism always presents. Buy a whole shitload of 10mms and walk into the junkyard jingling. You can lose a ton of them and not even care, as long as you have one left. This is an appealing vision, to be certain. Everyone wants to Be Prepared... but what happens when the curse moves on to your 12mm, something that is needed nearly as often?

Our scientists, with the help of a psychic that we found all by herself in a completely abandoned shopping mall, have determined an even better fix. We arm one volunteer with a chain-mail coat made entirely of ten-millimetre sockets, and walk their ass into the junkyard. They don't do any wrenching, which would cause them to lose their bounty. All they do is walk around, and when they see someone in crisis, break a socket off and hand it to the stricken victim.

There is a downside: any volunteer who does this is struck with so much positive karma that they start getting a little loopy, and create their own death cult right in the middle of the yard. To keep this from happening again, we have to regularly rotate out the volunteers, and put duct tape over their mouths so they can't start spouting the Good Word until a team of engine-pulling weirdos begin to kill in their name. I admit that the system is a little bit unorthodox, but I've never gotten parts pulled faster.

[wilderun]

“I said pass the 10mm socket, not the 16 you idiot!”

[astrayu]

Yall help my robot girlfriend just coughed up my 10mm socket is she alright or should i take her to see a real mechanic?

[torchflies]

How do you think the nepoist of nepobabies celebrated his birthday?

Ooooo Nonny I have THOUGHTS!

Bradley seems like a “I don't care” or an “I don't need anything” kind of guy. Which makes sense as he was raised by Admiral Ice “a quiet dinner at home” Kazansky and Captain Maverick “a new 10mm socket wrench” Mitchell. 🤣 (+ Admiral Slider “beers and the game” Kerner in my AUs).

But I think Jake plans a BBQ outside the Hard Deck with all the Flyboys and Daggers. He knows Bradley is happiest with a hotdog, a beer and their family. 🥹❤️

[google-searchhistory-official]

List of lost things

a hotwheels car that launched off a track in someone's front yard, covered in a layer of decade old dirt

a 10mm socket, lying under a toolcase with a brand new socket set in a mechanic's garage

a pencil, sharpened at both ends. Behin the back of a teacher's drawer after having rolled into a cable organizing hole on the desk now covered.

A sense of self, from a kid now adult who found life easier pretending to be a robot and refuses to be seen as another human that needs help

A car piece, from your monopoly board game that is missing other pieces as well and you don't fully know why you've held onto it for so long. But the car was your favorite, and you don't know that it's buried under the treehouse you used to play in after having fallen out of your pocket. You had only wanted to make sure you could use it yourself. But you never played Monopoly or any other board game again since that day, have you?

A Joker card from a storebought deck. A dad threw it away thinking no one would want it and now it lies in a dump waiting to be incinerated.

A pebble that was comsidered lucky and special. Skipping along the highway as cars pass by.

Fishing line. In a lake now absent of fish.

A soccer ball, kicked into a muddy ditch that no one wanted to retrieve it from.

Dreams. Many lost dreams by many who never felt brave enough or free enough to chase them

A kite shaped like a butterfly. Flew off into a tree across the river and now serves as temporary nesting for a robin's egg

You. You still don't know why you're here or who you are.

[lonelyrollingstar]

Not to sound like a Car Dad but I really wish that 10mm sockets didn’t transmute themselves back into the prima materia and vanish into the aether after 1-2 uses