#Recovering documents from a hard drive

[gallusrostromegalus]

I am constantly procrastinating working on my original fic by writing fanfic. Any advice for how to refocus and finish my novel?

Well. The novel probably needs a nap.

Procrastinating is a symptom that something is preventing you from doing the thing you "should" be doing. Most of the time it's an unrelated, but actually higher priority task like resting after an illness (society is fucking lying about anything else being more important) or filing your taxes (actually this one is pretty important).

...but if you're procrastinating on one creative project with another creative project, you're not procrastinating: something about the novel is off right now, the fanfic is more appealing to you.

Consider the following:

You may be writing fic because it brings you more joy than the novel. If you really want to get back to the novel, figure out what would make working on it more enjoyable. Engagement from a beta-editor? Skipping this really boring scene and coming back to it later? Adding more smut?

You may also be writing fic because it's got a lower spoon coat than the novel and you need to conserve your spoons right now. Any extra stress in your life? Moving? Toothache? Recovering from Covid? Annoying roommate? Sick family member? It's an election year? ANY of those could soak up extra spoons and make your novel too expensive for your spoons budget. Let it take a nap, and come back when you're feeling better.

You may be sharpening your artistic skills on a lower-stakes project before going back to the novel. This is pretty normal- even Michaelangelo took breaks to work on other pieces while sculpting The David, both for a change of pace and so he could try something out without fucking up the big block.

Fortunately, you're writing, so you can always try writing the challenging scene a dozen times in different docs or save the parts that were good but don't not in a spare parts bucket doc.

Or keep working on that fic, it's helping you learn on a subconscious level.

You don't love the novel right now. This is alright. This is usually temporary, and the solution is the same- put it aside and work on something else.

Maybe you are just bored of the novel. That's fine and normal, you just save all the documents to your hard drive and come back later. When the fic inevitably gets boring too, you'll come back to the novel and either go "oh hey this kicks ass!" And return to it with renewed enthusiasm.

...Or you'll come back to it and go "oh. This is actually a piece of shit" And that's okay too, because there's nothing more useless than polishing a turd, but that turd is still valuable as compost. You learned things writing it, and you can still rifle through the novel for good lines or scenes or turns of phrase and put those in your spare parts doc to ferment into The Good Shit in the back of your mind.

HOWEVER:

If you are experiencing a different phenomenon wherein you are actively distressed while writing the fic- either out of misplaced guilt, or the fic isn't actually fun you just feel compelled to do something, or absolutely every creative endeavor is stressing you out, you may be experiencing a serious mental or physical health issue and you should see your GP or a specialist ASAP. Pain is an indicator that something is wrong. Do not ignore your body's warning light.

That sounds really dramatic and hyperbolic but realizing I was not enjoying ANY creative work was the symptom that finally got me to sit down and go "huh. All these random pains, irregular sleep cycle, frequent migraines and weird bouts of vertigo aren't normal either, I should get this looked at." And it turned out I had dangerously low blood oxygen at night from undiagnosed sleep apnea. I have a CPAP machine now and it's AMAZING.

I really hope this is regular artistic shuffle and not a serious health concern, but if you're experiencing creative stress AND a bunch of other shit, it may be serious.

[botanyshitposts]

ok INCREDIBLY old content originally meant for this blog but in 2018 when i was just a wee lad with a little spinner propeller hat and big rainbow lollipop i went to a carnivorous plant convention in california and met a bunch of people who breed/collect/study these guys. one person was this collector who was slowly working on leaving the hobby or at least no longer growing plants, and he had a bunch of carnivorous plant related files he was charging like 50 cents for or something, and so i came into possession of these, which are examples of the kind of paperwork you have to have done to legally ship/trade endangered species of both plants and animals. functionally very boring paperwork, but something i found like, incredibly fascinating. i blacked out the personal id of the person and then immediately forgot to ever upload them, lmao.

these plants were bred and raised in a greenhouse and sold abroad, not taken from the wild, but because the species are endangered and often protected in their native countries (most of these are nepenthes, asian pitcher plants, a huge family spread throughout oceania and southeast asia), there's a lot more documentation that needs to be done regardless of their origin, both on the end of the seller and on the end of the buyer.

the rabbit hole on carnivorous plant trade is deep and kind of wild. there's plenty of common, non-threatened, greenhouse-grown pitcher plants on the market that people buy all the time, even non-collectors, but there's a whole debate to be had on if it's morally okay to be collecting the more endangered/rare of these plants in the first place. the big argument for breeding is that breeding them in captivity means there's more supply that's not poached from the wild, meaning poachers have less of an incentive to take the risk of taking adult plants from their habitats; from what i've heard, sometimes countries will issue permits for breeders to collect some wild seeds just to create a non-wild breeding pool to drive down the price. predictably, however, you also get people who are very much willing to pay a lot of money to get as rare of a plant as possible.

anyone familiar with the allure valuable plants have had over people throughout history can imagine the rest, but here's an article about a guy who started buying poached plants to enrich his private nepenthes collection, who then got busted by a fish and wildlife service agent embedded in his carvirorous plant circle. the plants this guy was buying were being sold to him without any CITES paperwork or declarations like the ones above; it was literally just a guy in indonesia taking rare plants from the woods around where he lived, selling them over facebook marketplace and ebay, and mailing them overseas as an undeclared 'gift' to get around customs. frighteningly small steps to take on all sides, to be honest.

(also, fun fact: another example of carnivorous plants that get poached are wild venus fly traps, which are only native to north and south carolina in the US. from what i understand it's a mix of people who genuinely did not know it's a native species and people who really are just going out into the woods and digging up plants to sell online. sometimes poaching is closer to home than you'd think!)

anyway. wild and interesting times in the land of plants recovered from a hard drive lmao

[yenhan]

Sheriff!Price, Cop!Price... what about Patrol Officer!Reader?

Retired!John Price x Patrol Officer!Reader

Masterlist

It had been a while since John Price found himself on the receiving end of the law. He hadn't expected today, of all days, to be the day it happened.

The rain tapped gently against the windshield of his Defender. The road between Hereford and the edge of the Brecon Beacons had been empty save for his stubborn four-by-four. The thermos of Yorkshire tea sat cold by his side. Really, Simon should've bought a better one, but he still drank it to not disappoint his lieutenant.

God knew how hard the lad was having it after... everything.

John was, by all accounts, retired. He'd done his time. Bled for Queen and country. Buried friends. Now he was fifty-three, marginally grayer, a nice pudge in the middle, and, for the first time in decades, entirely alone with his own damn thoughts. He spent mornings reading thrillers with predictable endings, evenings smoking cigars by the hearth, and long nights remembering the worst parts of himself with alarming clarity.

Which was probably why he'd started speeding during his midnight drives. Just enough to feel the adrenaline kiss his ribs, to tempt the law into reminding him he was still here. Still someone. Still capable of being stopped.

He noticed the patrol car a full thirty seconds before the lights came on, nestled beneath the hedgerow, unassuming. The moment he rolled past it at 52 in a 40, he exhaled smoke from his open window and muttered, "Here we bloody go."

And then… came her.

Dark uniform crisp in the drizzle, posture a little too proper. She couldn’t have been older than Kyle when the former Sergeant began his service under him. The kind of woman who still bought fresh notebooks just to start a new week off right. Hair tucked neatly back, expression earnest—and John didn’t see many of those these days.

“Good evening, sir,” she said, voice as professional as she could muster, though it trembled like a leaf just before falling. “Do you know how fast you were going?”

Christ. She really was a newbie.

Price smiled, a loopsided thing he’d once used in interrogation rooms and dark corners of forgotten cities. “Faster than I should’ve been, clearly.”

She blinked, thrown for only a second before recovering. “Fifty-two in a forty zone. Can I see your license and registration, please?”

“Aye,” he said, reaching for the glovebox. “Give us a moment. Things tend to shift around my age.”

She didn’t laugh. But her mouth twitched, and he clocked it. Good. That was something. He handed over his documents. She glanced at the name, then back at him, eyebrows ever so slightly raised.

“Johnathan Price?”

“Guilty, ma'am.”

“I’ll be back in a moment,” she said, turning sharply on her heel. And as she walked away, he allowed himself the utterly inappropriate indulgence of watching her go.

Sinner. Absolute bloody sinner.

Ten minutes passed. Price could’ve lit another cigar, but he didn’t. He tapped his fingers on the wheel instead, glancing at the rearview to watch her work. She was taking her time. Probably running his name through every system they had.

Poor girl. She wouldn't find anything.

And she didn't. “You come up clean.”

“Disappointed?”

She didn’t answer. Just handed him the warning notice. “I don’t like giving these out. Feels like a lecture to grown adults.”

“Doesn't feel like one.” He took the paper, folded it without looking.

“Still,” she said, glancing back toward her cruiser. “Try not to make a habit of it. These roads are tighter than they look.”

“You memorise that from the handbook, love?” When the word slipped, he thought better of it, but her humor didn't waver.

“You can’t charm your way out of every citation, Mr. Price.”

“Wasn’t tryin’. But I’m glad you think I could.”

...

“You live around here?” The police officer asked, almost too casually. Oh, how terrible she was at being nonchalant. He liked it. People who wore their hearts on their sleeves. Johnny used to be like that.

He nodded. “Cottage near Llanigon. Out where the sheep outnumber the postboxes.”

“That the one with the slanted mailbox and the fence that’s been broken since March?”

“That's the one. You drive by often?”

“I patrol the entire stretch.” Her hands settled on her hips, then dropped again. “Hard not to notice when someone never waves back.”

“Force of habit. Spent a lotta years not drawing attention.”

“Well,” she sighed. “Try waving next time. Makes my job less dull.”

“I’ll consider it,” he replied, already knowing he would.

He watched as she returned to her vehicle, her silhouette shrinking behind the rain-smeared glass.

Next time, he'd make it fifty-five. Hopefully, she'd pull him over again.

[djpepitaqueenforpresident]

𐦍༘⋆ Mnemonics - B.Barnes

‘The air could not be filled with Winters vocals, but his ears worked better than fine, and instead of hearing someone he could not remember the name of beg in his skull, he listened to you.’

Summary: In which Bucky walks the path of regaining his memories, and he has to figure out wether you are real or just an apparition of hope his own mind conjured up to help him push through the hard ways of Winter.

Warnings: Ptsd, blood, violence, guns, swearing, murder, sad Bucky

A/N: guys is this story even understandable. like do we get the switch from flashback and present? does the timeline and storyline even make sense?. i do not know my own brain sometimes.

English is not my first language!:)

III

‘Helen, Helen, come home;

There was a Helen before there was a war,

but who remembers her?’

“Why do you always eat like The Last Supper,” Sam said from across from them, cheeks still stuffed from his pancakes. “Your food ain’t going nowhere, man.”

“Maybe not right now, no,” Bucky sassed back, shoving another piece of bacon in his mouth. “Wasn’t always that lucky, birdbrain. If you can recall.”

“Oh, we’re still milking that?”

“Yeah, we’re still milking that.”

“Well, you’re starting to drool, so slow down, terminator,”

“Shut up, bird-“

“How is it i’m the youngest here, yet, the most mature?” Steve interrupted from Bucky’s left, accompanied by a sigh and an eyeroll.

“Technically, I’m the youngest, and you two are the grandpa’s, but whatever.”

Technically speaking, Sam was right, but Bucky would rather choke on his one egg he still had left than admit that.

Attempting to change the subject, Steve spoke up again, “Did Amadeus recover any of those missing files, yet.”

“He’s still working on it. He only found the same documents on the drive that we already have on paper,” Bucky responded, discarding Sam’s smug look with a last glare. “Said it was like the person didn’t even really try. Just deleted them manually and then fried the whole thing with a billion watts.”

“So, our person isn’t really that technically advanced,” Sam joined in, “Like Stevey here.”

“Or,” Steve give him a mock smile, before replying in an unamused tone. “They’re lazy and careless. Like you.”

The bell above the glass door chimed, two times in a row, followed by a bellowing greeting to the bald owner who had taken a seat on one of the barstools behind the counter. A permanent residence for the man it seemed, for every time Bucky came here - which was a lot, considering it was a part of his daily routine to sit and write in the farthest back boot - his behind was glued to that same chair. Bucky pondered if his chubby hand had molded into an everlasting deformity from constantly having a cup of coffee in his grip.

“Natasha’s going to the second base tonight, somewhere in the Alps,” Sam continued, pulling Bucky his frown away from the owner.

“I want to visit the Alpine mountains, see the snow from in between the earth,”

“She’s taking Barton with him, despite his many protests. Nat’s not too worried, though, and suspects they should be back by the day after tomorrow.”

The waitress stood awkwardly in front of their table, balancing their now empty plates while she patiently waited for Steve to down his last bit of tea, since he didn’t want her to walk twice all for one cup.

“Shit, am I glad we got the one here,” Sam laughed, watching the brunette girl strut away. “Don’t wanna freeze my toes over there. Knowing HYDRA, they build their stupid evil lair in the coldest top of the mountains.”

“At least it’s not in the sun,” Bucky grumbled.

“What?”

“Well, that’s- y’know. Bad things are less rude when they happen in the winter, ‘cause…” he shrugged, not finishing his sentence.

He didn’t know what he wanted to say, anyways.

They weren’t his words.

“Lay off the coffee, man,” Sam chuckled, his tone teasing but a slight star of concern blinked in his dark pupils. “You’re yapping things again. More than usual.”

He shook his head and let out a huff instead, leaning back in his seat but avoiding eye contact.

Bucky didn’t even dare look to his left. His blond best friend had puppy dog eyes that could better be categorized as a death stare, because Bucky felt his heart stop anytime he caught that worried gaze.

“Hey, you okay?”

And there it was. Bleeding though his voice, there was that penetrating, inescapable attention of his childhood best friend.

“Hmm, yeah, I’m fine.” Bucky knew Steven wouldn’t be satisfied with any answer that was less than the truth, but how does one explain shadows at the edges of your vision, without actually knowing if they are your shadows? “Just having some trouble sleeping again.”

If these glimpses, these apparitions were real, they surely weren’t Bucky’s.

There was still a lot to unpack from Winter’s life, and Bucky didn’t even know if he wanted to open that bag. With all the erasing and reprogramming that the terrorist organization did, there were still new details making themselves known about dreams he thought he had already processed.

And, who is to say everything he comes across in his in brain is true?

Who is to say he is true?

Someone is living in his mind, and it isn’t him.

Despite the growing whispers his mind was giving him, he still didn’t know who you actually were. A silhouette, dancing around in his skull. He couldn’t even see your face, was only allowed a tempting blur, just out of his reach.

Either, his mind is actually at its end, or you are just another wiped piece of him, erased to better Winter, keep his focus on only the important stuff.

HYDRA had no use for distracted weapons.

Then again, it appeared the Winter Soldiers weren’t the only weapons HYDRA was putting their money on.

And if you really were one - a mutant - it would have increased the chances of Bucky meeting you. Working with you even, perhaps. He trained the five most dangerous super soldiers to possibly walk the earth, what were a few mutants?

Although, ‘a few’, was maybe the wrong wording, since he only hears you.

If you were real, that is.

Sitting crosslegged in a green field under the sun wasn’t exactly something his former handlers let him do.

A dream, then?

Bucky wasn’t sure Winter could dream.

“So, you still haven’t found anyone that could hold a possibility of being your mystery person?”

“No.”

“But, there are files missing, so there still is a chance they are very real.”

“I guess.”

“Perhaps, you question their realness, not because you doubt your own mind, but because you think you don’t deserve that glimpse of peace in between all the horror that you endured.”

He looked up again and sighed, shifting on the grey couch under her observing eye. Bucky hated being observed.

Of course, Dr. Reynor had a point. A point Bucky wished with all his heart to miss.

“From the things you have told me, James, this isn’t some delusion you are experiencing,” Reynor continued, ignoring his overdramatic eye roll. “Your brain is - no matter how much you don’t believe it - still very much intact.”

“Then why can’t I remember them?”

She looked at him for a few seconds, like she always did when she was reading him. It was childish of him to put up such attitude, he knew. Especially when, - despite all his denials - the conversations with his psychologist have actually helped him. It just so happened Bucky didn’t like talking.

“They’ll come. Give it time.”

Now more then ever did Bucky wish he didn’t have an age repellent serum coursing through his veins. Unfortunately, time is all he is.

“Why don’t you tell me about last night? You said you were dreaming again.”

He shrugged, looking out the window and keeping quiet. Raynor’s office was too high up to gaze down at the road, so all Bucky had were clouds. An occasional bird, maybe, but they didn’t bother staying long enough for him to know them.

She didn’t push, just waited. It made him uncomfortable, and pushed the bug up his lungs that forced him to fill the silence.

“‘T was, uh…” he started, not sure how to explain the curves of the ever growing river that swirled through his sleeping consciousness. “It was a different one. A dream. Not nightmare.”

She crossed her legs, left over right. The bottoms of her black colored heels were faded from long use. He thought he could see a faint outline of a dragon in the worn out sole, but then she shifted a bit, and he lost it.

“I don’t know exactly were it was, but it was outside.” Maybe if he could see better, remember more, he might be able to make out the city, or at least the country. “It was warm. They were talking.”

“Can you make out the date? Was it before or after HYDRA?”

“Not before,” he shook his head. “But not after, either.”

She made a face, waiting for him to give some clarification.

He couldn’t give her any.

His arm was starting to give that ache again. Her eyes followed his movements when he brought his right hand up to rub his shoulder.

“It was just a dream,” he shook his head again, convincing himself of his own words. A memory would be tainted with red.

“How are you sure?”

“Because it was peaceful.”

Amadeus Cho was a genius.

So much so, that he barged into Bucky Barnes’ assigned working room in the tower to throw a unthinkable thick map onto his desk, without regard for privacy. Bucky had already learned from Peter that teenagers just didn’t really have a tendency to knock.

“I got it!” he announced, an impossible gleam of pride in his dark brown eyes. “It was a fucking drag, but I got it!”

Bucky picked up the stack of papers (so heavy that it immediately flopped down on the one side he wasn’t holding), starting to feel a sense of urgency at Cho’s encouraging smile.

“Explain,” was all he muttered at the young genius, leafing very carefully through the map, like it held the secrets of the world.

For Bucky, it did.

“These are the exact documents they deleted,” Cho started, coming to stand behind Bucky to take a peek over his shoulder. “I checked with the box you guys took from the base, and these aren’t in there, either.”

“They took the papers ones, too? Why only these,” he was muttering to himself, eyes skimming over the words printed out.

Weapon fourteen. Alkali payments. Tests. Missions. Success.

He closed it again and focused his blues on the child wonder.

“Leave.”

At first, Bucky had wondered where Stark had gotten the courage to hire a literal child, wanting to ‘broaden this generation’s perspective on science with the privilege of working alongside a legend aka the Tony Stark’, but like seeks like Bucky guessed.

“Hey, I uncovered these for you,” the boy protested. “I wanna see where I threw away two whole nights for.”

“If you don’t leave, you're going to lose a whole lot more sleep.”

Amadeus didn’t know exactly what the super soldier was threatening with, but he did know it was wise to listen. And so he back paddles with his hands up in surrender. “Alright, fine, I’ll leave. Don’t need to thank me, or anything.”

He shuffled out the door, mumbling things Bucky couldn’t hear, but was certain was about him in a not so kind way.

“Thank you.” But the door was already closed again.

A. Cornelius.

Strucker.

Hot. Bare feet and dirty clothes. Crumbs between your teeth like ticks, sucking you dry, not letting you go, never alone. Hot, always so hot.

Light goes on, light goes off.

Thumping next to you, an elephant pacing. Shutting your eyes but you can still see.

On, off.

Your veins are dancing, blood is singing.

On, off.

From one room to the next, from Autumn to Spring to Summer.

Winter is there all year long.

The shining hurts your eyes but the red star moves. Loud, messy, deathly. He never shuts up.

On, off.

God rings the universe and a plate with food comes. Just for you.

Again you change rooms. There is a metallic sting in the air as you glide past the iron woods. Never in your life had you seen a red mop before, or was it black? Peculiar.

The sun hurts worse in these walls. You see the red star more often now.

They keep sweetening you up. Brave thing, good girl, success. Meine kleine Blitzschlag.

You tell it to keep quiet, but it never listens. It’s never silent, they are always scraping across your skin.

When the light goes off, so does your headache. It only settles as a dull graze. When the red star comes marching back in, is when its at its worst.

You screamed it at him once, but he only looked at you like a crow. Sharp eyes, head cocked. Hollow.

The lights went off with a bang, a meteorite falling for your extinction. There was no more dancing, no more grazing. Finally, silence.

He had screamed back. But it was on the ground, now. Suddenly, the star looked less menacing.

Hunched above it was a shadow, a silhouette of a man. The moaning continued, but the star was quiet now, no more than a piece of the sky, like everything else. It was nothing without the dark that it orbits around.

You had seen it as a good thing, a peaceful act. “But it is silent. All I ever want is for it to be silent.”

You sobbed when their anger struck you, punishing the dog for going after the rat.

Next day? week? and the star was back on its host again. Loud and messy and deathly.

[gerec]

So recently, my hard drive completely borked and I've been waiting for over a week to see what can be recovered. Good news - most of my photos, documentation and work stuff along with my writing is there. Bad news - almost all of my decently large collection of fics I've saved over the years is gone, along with most of the fanart I saved. While the art I can mostly piece together from my blog, some of the fics I had were already ones deleted from ao3, so I am truly SOL :(

(Yeah, no I didn't have my drive backed up my bad I know.)

Going to be posting some requests to the fandom at large, to see if I can't try and find some of my very favourite missing pieces again!

[choccy-milky]

A few months back, I asked if it was okay to write using Clora and Seb. Finished the work - thought I'd lost it on my hard drive and a virus scan located it.

Not sure if it's sad or happy, but the basic premise of it is Clora getting frustrated/upset at Sebastian and Sebastian comforting her, Sebastian getting upset at a predicament Clora's in and Clora comforting him, and them both getting frustrated/upset and having to comfort each other.

If you'd rather I didn't post it, that's fine too, but just wanted to test the waters and double check that you'd be okay with it if I gifted it to you via AO3, or see if you wanted a sneak peak of it before posting it.

OMG im so happy you were able to find it and recover the work you did!!😭🙏 AND YES OF COURSE YOU CAN POST IT AAA I CANT WAIT TO READ IT!! you can DM it to me first if you want, but i also dont mind if you post it straight away on ao3!! IM LOOKING FORWARD TO IT SM AAARGHHHA💖💖💖IT SOUNDS ANGSTY WE LOVE THE HURT/COMFORT I HOPE MY HEART CAN HANDLE IT🥺💖💖TY AGAIN FOR USING CLORA AND SEB AND TAKING THE TIME TO WRITE SOMETHING ABOUT THEM😭

@sunshine-goblin AAA THANK YOU!!! im honoured its your fav fanfic AND ALSO THE LONGEST YOUVE READ BAHAHAA fr, when you say its as long as four books in lotr it rly makes me realize how insane i am😃👍 aw IM GLAD I COULD INSPIRE YOU TO DRAW MORE AND WRITE AS WELL😭 I was curious so i creeped you and everyone go look at their HL blog @sunshines-legacy your MC is so cute and so is your art🥹💖 as for tips on writing a longfic and brainstorming and motivation and stuff, my motivation was my brainrot and unhappiness with the canon story/ending LMAOO, and looking at the story of the game and playing around with what i was unhappy with/what i WISHED could have happened instead, was a lot easier than just coming up with plotlines from scratch. but something i highly recommend is just OUTLINING and making a timeline, one of my fav parts of writing was just putting on some cafe ambience in the background and doing stream of conscious type word documents where id just barf ideas and then worry about making it pretty later....like look at how many versions of the same chapter i have BAHAHA or like different renditions bc i couldnt decide if id wanna keep a scene/what order, so id make a timeline and keep smoothing things out until i was happy with it and whatnot

brainstorming is defs my fav part of the process and the most helpful part to me. just getting a blank document and writing stuff you want to happen without worrying about how it connects to the story, and then a lot of the times as i was doing that id just keep going and it would kinda tie itself together/id come up with a solution as i was writing / once the ideas kept flowing. so basically : TIMELINES AND OUTLINES I VERY MUCH RECOMMEND, but very low pressure and barebones ones. for example, this is what my outlines/brainstorming look like

its honestly just me talking to myself LMAO, and a lot of the time ill interject and be like "OH YEAH AND THEN THIS CAN HAPPEN" as the ideas come while im writing BAHAHA. its a super fun process and honestly nothing feels better than just getting hit with that flash of inspo, and since its all very low effort theres no pressure to actually write well and its just a chill fun time AND GOOD LUCK WITH YOUR OWN PROCESS / WRITING💖💖💖it can be difficult but HOPE U HAVE FUN TOO💖💖

@a-little-lysdexic WAIT REALLY?? LMFAOO OMG THATS CRAZY....SAME BRAIN...🤝🤝...that would trip me up so much if i were you omg BAHHAHA but aside from having similar tastes in names, IM GLAD YOU LIKE MY ART AS WELL, TYY💖💖💖

THANK YOUUU im glad you're liking it!!! and that its taking over your life BAHAHA💖💖 the video you're thinking of was by @silverxstardust for chapter 13 of my fic, and you can watch the video here! (AND TY AGAIN TO SILVERXSTARDUST FOR DOING THIS!)

[dottybot]

Lost housing and almost killed by our landlords

(Twice)

C*sh app: $dottybot

V*nmo: @dottybot

@translesbo's Paypal: huront499@gmail.com

My partner, @translesbo, and I after signing a lease, were put through 2 big gas leaks during times we had planned on and had been close to sleeping in the apartment. The entire time the place made us sick and was hard to breathe in with a strong awful smell and remained unihabitable, causing us to be without a home since July 3rd, 2023 due to it.

We are a brown latine lesbian couple and both trans (her transfem and myself tme cafab) and autistic along with other disabilities, and have 2 esa cats.

The whole time during the lease, the landlord would excuse the lack of cleanliness and poor maintenance of the building with that it was an old building, deny things she once acknowledge, and imply that we were just lying or causing the problems and even giving us trouble with getting out of the lease. But before that it led up to 2 big gas leaks.

To not make the post appear too lengthy, the rest is under a cut.

So the 1st gas leak, we were earlier sure about taking and about to load up the cats with us to all attempt sleeping there for the night, only last minute getting the feeling like we should not bring them and then deciding not to. Once in the apartment, we were there, windows shut the entire time, for 3+ hours. I went from the regular struggle to breath, head pain, and sickly feel to escalating much more and becoming very out of it, struggling to stay awake to beginning to feel so out of control, and I never would have guess we were being poisoned due to the state it had already put me in. Kat only noticed by chance, the smell of gas by the oven, when she was just starting to feel more off, which we otherwise wouldn't have spotted with how strong the place smelled. We were so close to not noticing it at all.

Kat had been barely able to drive but got us to the nearby ER, and doctors confirmed the gas poisoning, and kept us there for 3 or 4 hours through the night until recovered enough, fortunately due to it being short term, we had no lasting damage on our bodies, just both felt very ill the next day, and myself barely able to move I remained sick from it for 3 days.

That morning, Kat had contacted the gas company as the doctors suggested, though they could not do anything as we followed the leases direction and were not notified during the event, so no one but the apartment maintenance would be able to even confirm it happening. However, the fire departmen came with a firetruck, since it was also recommended by the doctor to get the place checked out by them.

The landlord later called, after us updating her of current apartment issues promptly as per lease requirements, and this call she went too far. She kept up with her same tactics but worse. She tried implying either we made up that there was a leak or we intentionally gave ourselves gas poisoning (like we were still very sick from the previous night) and was then many times claiming everything is fine with the maintenance man the landlord insists "he knows what he's doing" and "no one has ever had a problem with him", because we had included our concerns with him-- this guy had tried making kat sound like she overreacted and didn't know anything, kept claiming that "Gas does Not spread" so we should have been fine, not having any effects of poisoning, along with other contrary claims.

Anyways, the landlord lady was very clearly implying she thinks we are liars about there even being a gas leak, implying we didnt contact the gas and fire department which she claimed to "work closely with so they wouldn't lie, because she contacted the places and no one had documentation since maintenance was the only one to witness, it was her word against ours. This is when we realize due to the lease instructions to forgo contact to a third party professional to fix gas leaks, we would not be able to have paper documentation against her to prove it. She even "randomly" asked the name of our previous apartment place, and mentioned threatening like "didnt you have a gas leak there too?" As even more reason to accuse us, and saying she may have to contact our previous apartment place and saying how odd she thinks it was to have another leak, though this one worse,

On the 3rd day, after the 1st leak I was still feeling ill only starting to recover, the 2nd leak happened. this time we had to bring our cats with us, since we had no where else to stay with our previous lease over, and the apartment still uninhabitable and made us both more sickly, and still feared being there.

Earlier in that day, we were reassured multiple times that it was fixed and that "the stove SHOULD be putting out a gas smell for the next hour or 2", and that it means it's "Fixed, working" the maintenance man kept insisting, even the landlord lady was there strongly confirming multiple times it was true because "he Knows what he is doing" again, even confirming therepair was checked later in the day to make sure there was no leak and that it was safe.

We were afraid to go back after the 1st leak after how badly to us at least it seemed to be pouring out earlier in the day and their claim that it was supposed to be that way, but it was the only option we had.

We were unsure if we were just overreacting for a while and imagining the smell, it was several hours laters with all windows having been left open, though eventually calling our gas company this time to get proper documentation and a professional, since the smell had not diminished.

Kat was told by the gas man that gas was shooting out, and he's seen fires breakout from similar.. so we had to get Out.

Which led to us being homeless and having to sleep in the car and soon after, we were fortunately able to stay at Kat's parents house though they do not have space for us, keeping us and our cats in her nephew's small cramped room, with Kat sleeping on a broken bed that is messing with her scoliosis, and me havung to sleep on the floor for over a month now really taking a toll on me. And our cats have been under constant stress, making them require more care and expense.

This whole thing has made me lose my job, has been traumatic for us both, and lose easily over $2,500 into cost of the apartment and our repairs alone, and $250 on an attourney that did not try to help much but was able to get us out of the lease. On top of kat recently being wrongfully stopped by a cop for a made up reason, giving her a $135 ticket, along with having to take a 5 week un paid leave of absence to be able to help deal with our situation. And we can no longer put off car repairs, we have put off this whole year since it sputters most of the time instead of starting now along with other concerning issues.

We have currently been trying to find better jobs and a place to live, though due to the unstable living situation and and loss of income it has been more difficult to find a place.

So, any mutua*aid if you have the means and any reblogs would really help and be appreciated a ton

[yoomiwrites]

Aromatic Rush⁷

Summary: Reader has an easy life in the navy. Until Aokiji comes to them with a mission that calls more into question than they thought.

Note: And the new chapter for this one as well!

For days, I had been living like a ghost, slipping through the shadows of the HQ, doing everything in my power to avoid Kuzan. If I saw him coming down the hall, I’d take the nearest turn. If he came to the office, I’d disappear under the guise of needing to run errands. Even in the canteen, I’d grab my meal and leave before he could spot me. It was exhausting.

I knew it couldn’t go on like this, but what was I supposed to do? Ever since I found those documents, everything had changed. Every time I thought about facing him, my stomach churned with anxiety. How could I look him in the eye knowing what I knew? Knowing that he might be a traitor to the Marines? The man who flirted with me, teased me relentlessly, might be hiding secrets that could bring down the entire Navy.

I couldn’t confront him. I couldn’t bring it up. And the idea of keeping it to myself was driving me mad.

So I avoided him. It was the only way I could keep things from spiraling out of control. But Kuzan wasn’t the type to let things slide easily, and I knew it was only a matter of time before he caught on.

And then, of course, he did.

It happened when I least expected it. I was heading back to my quarters after a long day of pretending everything was normal, trying to keep up appearances. I was tired, my nerves frayed, and my thoughts scattered.

I didn’t even notice him until it was too late.

“Yo.”

His voice—lazy and casual—stopped me dead in my tracks. My heart leapt into my throat as I turned slowly, only to find Kuzan standing at the end of the corridor, leaning casually against the wall with that same half-asleep look he always wore.

I froze. Oh no.

He straightened up, taking a slow step toward me, his hands stuffed in his pockets. “You’ve been avoiding me.”

It wasn’t a question. It was a fact, delivered in his usual laid-back tone, but I could hear the edge of confusion underneath it. He was watching me closely, and for the first time, I felt trapped. There was no escape this time. He’d cornered me, and I couldn’t make up another excuse. My mind raced, trying to figure out what to say, but I was already too far gone.

“N-No, I haven’t,” I stammered, backing up slightly as he approached.

He raised an eyebrow, clearly unimpressed with my weak attempt at a lie. “You’ve been gone every time I come by. You leave early, skip meals. Come on, what’s going on?”

I swallowed hard, feeling the panic rise in my chest. What do I say? I can’t tell him I think he’s a traitor.

I opened my mouth, but no words came out. My heart was pounding so loudly I thought he might hear it. I needed to say something, anything, to get out of this situation, but nothing made sense. My thoughts were a tangled mess of fear and guilt, and the silence between us grew heavier with every passing second.

Kuzan tilted his head slightly, his brow furrowing in genuine confusion. “Hey… you okay?”

And that was when it happened. In my desperation, in my utter panic, the words spilled out before I could stop them.

“I-I’m in love with you!”

The moment the words left my mouth, I felt the world tilt beneath me. My heart stopped. Time seemed to freeze. What… what did I just say?!

Kuzan blinked, his eyes widening just a fraction. “...What?”

I couldn’t take it back. The damage was done. My mind raced, trying to figure out how to recover from the monumental mistake I had just made, but nothing came. I had just confessed something that wasn’t even true—something I had pulled out of thin air in a desperate attempt to cover up the real reason I had been avoiding him.

“I-I mean… I…” My face burned, my words tumbling over each other in a frantic mess. “It’s just… I’ve been feeling… weird, and I thought maybe…”

Kuzan stood there, staring at me like I had just grown a second head. His confusion was palpable, and I wished more than anything that the ground would open up and swallow me whole. This wasn’t how I had planned things. This wasn’t how anything was supposed to go.

“Wait, hold on,” Kuzan finally said, his voice slower than usual, as if he were trying to process what I had just told him. “You’re… in love with me?”

I nodded, still too stunned by my own outburst to think clearly. Just go with it, my brain screamed. You’ve already gone too far.

“I-I mean, yes, I—” I stammered, still backing up, trying to put some distance between us as the embarrassment washed over me in waves. “But it’s… it’s complicated, okay? So, maybe we shouldn’t talk about it right now.”

Kuzan didn’t move. He just kept staring at me, his confusion slowly melting into something else—something I couldn’t quite read. He opened his mouth to say something, but whatever it was, I didn’t give him the chance.

Before he could respond, I panicked again. I reached out, grabbed his arm, and shoved him backward—toward the door of the room. “I-I need some time to think!” I blurted out, pushing him out the door before he could react. “So… just go!”

Kuzan didn’t resist. He let me push him out, and as the door clicked shut, I heard him mutter, “...Okay?”

And then silence.

I stood there, my back pressed against the door, my heart racing, my face burning hotter than ever. I couldn’t believe what had just happened. I had panicked, and instead of coming up with a reasonable excuse, I had just blurted out the first thing that came to mind. The worst possible thing.

I sank to the floor, burying my face in my hands, wishing I could rewind time.

Of all the lies I could have told, of all the ways I could have handled the situation, I had picked this? How was I supposed to face him now? What would he even think?

I groaned, sinking deeper into my hands, wishing I could just disappear.

This wasn’t how things were supposed to go. Not at all.

And now, I had no idea how I was going to get out of it.

The next morning, after a restless night of tossing and turning, I still couldn't shake the lingering embarrassment from what had happened with Kuzan. The way he had stood there, confused, after I blurted out that ridiculous lie... I wanted to crawl into a hole and never come out.

But something even more unsettling had taken hold of me. Kuzan wasn't suspicious anymore—not in the way I had feared, at least. No, I was sure he wasn't thinking about treason or the Revolutionary Army. He was probably thinking about me being a weirdo who had "fallen in love" with him.

I sighed heavily, stirring my tea without much appetite. This was bad. Really bad.

I couldn’t let him think that. But how could I take it back without raising suspicion? No matter what I did now, it would only make me look crazier.

As if things weren’t complicated enough, there was still the matter of the spying issue. I had to focus on that and bury the awkwardness somehow. Maybe if I threw myself into the work, everything would smooth over.

But Kuzan wasn’t about to let things go so easily.

Later that day, he showed up at my workstation as if nothing had happened. He leaned against the doorframe, his presence so large it filled the whole room.

"Yo," he said in that lazy drawl, his gaze lingering on me for a moment longer than I was comfortable with. "So, about that spy stuff... any progress?"

I stiffened, gripping the edge of my desk. My mind raced as I tried to focus on his question instead of the sinking feeling in my stomach.

“Uh, yes, actually,” I stammered. "I-I think I’ve found the source of the signal. It's coming from a nearby island." I grabbed a map I had been using and pointed at a small island a short distance from the HQ.

Kuzan peered over my shoulder, his proximity making my skin prickle with nervous energy. I swallowed hard, hoping that he would take this information and handle it himself—without me involved. He was an admiral, after all. It was his job to take care of stuff like this.

To my horror, he didn’t seem satisfied with just the information.

“You’re coming with me.”

My breath caught in my throat. "W-What?" I turned to look at him, wide-eyed. "Me? But... I’m not—"

Kuzan straightened up, towering over me, his expression unreadable but his tone firm. "You’ve been working on this. You’re the one who found the location. I need you there."

I blinked, my mind struggling to catch up. Was he serious? I wasn't a field agent, and I certainly wasn't trained for missions like this. The idea of going out into the field with him was terrifying. I’d always been in the background, taking care of communication snails and seagulls, not trekking off to hunt down spies.

"B-But, Admiral, I—"

He held up a hand, cutting me off with an almost amused look in his eyes. "Relax. It's just an island. You're not going alone. I'll be there. Just think of it as... part of the job." He leaned in closer, his voice dropping to a softer tone. "Besides, I thought you'd want to help, considering how... motivated you seem lately."

My heart did a somersault. Motivated? Was he talking about the lie I told him? Was this some twisted way of testing me? Seeing if I’d back down or prove myself?

"I—" I swallowed, forcing myself to stand up straighter. "I... I can help."

Kuzan smirked, his gaze lingering on me for a moment, making me feel exposed. "Good. We leave tomorrow morning."

With that, he turned on his heel and started to leave, his long strides carrying him effortlessly toward the door.

“W-Wait!” I called after him, my voice cracking with panic. “Tomorrow?!”

He paused, glancing over his shoulder. “Yeah. Be ready.”

And then he was gone, leaving me standing there, my heart pounding in my chest, wondering how in the world I was going to survive this mission.

What had I gotten myself into?

[iww-gnv]

Saprina James was hopeful when she received a letter in 2019 about her wage theft claim against her former employer. The letter said the New York State Department of Labor had substantiated her claim and ordered Mugisha F. Sahini and his company, Riverside Line, to pay her more than $70,000 in back wages. “I was feeling good that the government was on my side, and that I would soon get paid,” she said. James first started driving a van for Sahini in January 2016, taking people to medical appointments in Buffalo, New York. She often worked six days a week, usually helping dialysis patients who relied on walkers, and drove clients from 4:30 a.m. until 10 p.m. She didn’t mind the long hours — she assumed that her pay would ultimately reflect her hard work. But James had to lease a Toyota minivan for $700 a week as part of the job. On most weeks, after paying her leasing fee, she was left with less than minimum wage.

[Read the rest]

[spacetimewithstuartgary]

Mars’ missing atmosphere could be hiding in plain sight

Mars wasn’t always the cold desert we see today. There’s increasing evidence that water once flowed on the Red Planet’s surface, billions of years ago. And if there was water, there must also have been a thick atmosphere to keep that water from freezing. But sometime around 3.5 billion years ago, the water dried up, and the air, once heavy with carbon dioxide, dramatically thinned, leaving only the wisp of an atmosphere that clings to the planet today. 

Where exactly did Mars’ atmosphere go? This question has been a central mystery of Mars’ 4.6-billion-year history. 

For two MIT geologists, the answer may lie in the planet’s clay. In a paper appearing in Science Advances, they propose that much of Mars’ missing atmosphere could be locked up in the planet’s clay-covered crust. 

The team makes the case that, while water was present on Mars, the liquid could have trickled through certain rock types and set off a slow chain of reactions that progressively drew carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere and converted it into methane — a form of carbon that could be stored for eons in the planet’s clay surface. 

Similar processes occur in some regions on Earth. The researchers used their knowledge of interactions between rocks and gases on Earth and applied that to how similar processes could play out on Mars. They found that, given how much clay is estimated to cover Mars’ surface, the planet’s clay could hold up to 1.7 bar of carbon dioxide, which would be equivalent to around 80 percent of the planet’s initial, early atmosphere. 

It’s possible that this sequestered Martian carbon could one day be recovered and converted into propellant to fuel future missions between Mars and Earth, the researchers propose. 

“Based on our findings on Earth, we show that similar processes likely operated on Mars, and that copious amounts of atmospheric CO2 could have transformed to methane and been sequestered in clays,” says study author Oliver Jagoutz, professor of geology in MIT’s Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences (EAPS). “This methane could still be present and maybe even used as an energy source on Mars in the future.”

The study’s lead author is recent EAPS graduate Joshua Murray PhD ’24.

In the folds

Jagoutz’ group at MIT seeks to identify the geologic processes and interactions that drive the evolution of Earth’s lithosphere — the hard and brittle outer layer that includes the crust and upper mantle, where tectonic plates lie. 

In 2023, he and Murray focused on a type of surface clay mineral called smectite, which is known to be a highly effective trap for carbon. Within a single grain of smectite are a multitude of folds, within which carbon can sit undisturbed for billions of years. They showed that smectite on Earth was likely a product of tectonic activity, and that, once exposed at the surface, the clay minerals acted to draw down and store enough carbon dioxide from the atmosphere to cool the planet over millions of years. 

Soon after the team reported their results, Jagoutz happened to look at a map of the surface of Mars and realized that much of that planet’s surface was covered in the same smectite clays. Could the clays have had a similar carbon-trapping effect on Mars, and if so, how much carbon could the clays hold? 

“We know this process happens, and it is well-documented on Earth. And these rocks and clays exist on Mars,” Jagoutz says. “So, we wanted to try and connect the dots.”

“Every nook and cranny”

Unlike on Earth, where smectite is a consequence of continental plates shifting and uplifting to bring rocks from the mantle to the surface, there is no such tectonic activity on Mars. The team looked for ways in which the clays could have formed on Mars, based on what scientists know of the planet’s history and composition. 

For instance, some remote measurements of Mars’ surface suggest that at least part of the planet’s crust contains ultramafic igneous rocks, similar to those that produce smectites through weathering on Earth. Other observations reveal geologic patterns similar to terrestrial rivers and tributaries, where water could have flowed and reacted with the underlying rock. 

Jagoutz and Murray wondered whether water could have reacted with Mars’ deep ultramafic rocks in a way that would produce the clays that cover the surface today. They developed a simple model of rock chemistry, based on what is known of how igneous rocks interact with their environment on Earth. 

They applied this model to Mars, where scientists believe the crust is mostly made up of igneous rock that is rich in the mineral olivine. The team used the model to estimate the changes that olivine-rich rock might undergo, assuming that water existed on the surface for at least a billion years, and the atmosphere was thick with carbon dioxide. 

“At this time in Mars’ history, we think CO2 is everywhere, in every nook and cranny, and water percolating through the rocks is full of CO2 too,” Murray says.  

Over about a billion years, water trickling through the crust would have slowly reacted with olivine — a mineral that is rich in a reduced form of iron. Oxygen molecules in water would have bound to the iron, releasing hydrogen as a result and forming the red oxidized iron which gives the planet its iconic color. This free hydrogen would then have combined with carbon dioxide in the water, to form methane. As this reaction progressed over time, olivine would have slowly transformed into another type of iron-rich rock known as serpentine, which then continued to react with water to form smectite. 

“These smectite clays have so much capacity to store carbon,” Murray says. “So then we used existing knowledge of how these minerals are stored in clays on Earth, and extrapolate to say, if the Martian surface has this much clay in it, how much methane can you store in those clays?”

He and Jagoutz found that if Mars is covered in a layer of smectite that is 1,100 meters deep, this amount of clay could store a huge amount of methane, equivalent to most of the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere that is thought to have disappeared since the planet dried up. 

“We find that estimates of global clay volumes on Mars are consistent with a significant fraction of Mars’ initial CO2being sequestered as organic compounds within the clay-rich crust,” Murray says. “In some ways, Mars’ missing atmosphere could be hiding in plain sight.”

IMAGE: This schematic illustrates the progressive alteration of iron-rich rocks on Mars as the rocks interact with water containing CO2 from the atmosphere. Over several billion years, this process could have stored enough CO2 in the clay surface, in the form of methane, to explain most of the CO2 that went missing from the planet’s early atmosphere.  Credit Courtesy of Joshua Murray, Oliver Jagoutz, et al

[queenarahbo]

Memories

A mission gone wrong leaves Amethio and Conia injured. Amethio is forced to rely on his team in order to recover.

Whumptober prompts filled: Team as family Multiple whumpees

Amethio pushed his hand harder into his stomach in a desperate attempt to relieve some of the pain. Was it really pain though? He couldn’t be sure. All he knew was that he needed to get back to the meeting point so that Zir and Conia wouldn’t worry. He was already late. He brushed his hand across his cheek to remove a bead of sweat trickling down and gagged at the bitter smell of iron, the sticky sensation of his blood seeping through his gloves. Rationally, he knew he couldn’t stop the bleeding with his hands, but he wasn’t thinking rationally anymore. The blood loss had already begun to take its toll on his weakened body. He tightened his grip on the tiny USB drive. He should have listened to Conia when she suggested they stay together. He had been so focused on getting the documents and not failing this mission that it had seemed better for him to go alone. He had not been prepared for the guard to return early. He was even less prepared to get away from someone with a gun. He was almost there. Not much further. He gritted his teeth and took a steadying breath. His leg was barely supporting his weight anymore and he knew that he would be in trouble if he didn’t hurry. He could do this. He had been through worse in training. One foot in front of the other. Come on. It’s just through those trees. Man up, Amethio. He kept repeating that to himself. He rubbed at his eyes as his vision blurred and darkened around the edges. He was vaguely aware of the blood on his face left by his glove. He pushed through the bushes, hissing as a particularly sharp branch poked the wound on his leg, and stumbled into the clearing. He felt a twinge of relief when he caught a glimpse of his team waiting for him.

“Amethio, sir, we were getting wor-”

Amethio heard Conia’s tone turn from relief to horror as she took in his condition. He didn’t need to look up to know that tone. He blinked hard once in another attempt to clear his vision. He knew that he looked terrible. He was covered in blood and barely conscious.

“What happened in there?” Zir demanded.

“They were waiting…” Amethio choked out. He felt cold, but at least the pain was fading. He lifted his head and met their concerned stares as he dropped to the ground panting heavily. Zir was applying pressure to Conia's arm. His eyes widened as the realization hit him "You're hurt…" he choked out weakly, pushing himself shakily to his knees.

"It's not that bad. I will live." Conia reassured tensly.

"They knew we were coming. How is that possible?" Zir questioned.

That was the question, wasn't it? How did the guards know that they were coming? Amethio stumbled over to where they were sitting and pushed Zir's hands away. He knew Conia was downplaying it because he was injured as well. For now, he needed to focus on getting them to safety. He could figure out how the mission went so wrong later. His eyes narrowed as he inspected the jagged edges around the torn flesh and he had to swallow back the nausea that stirred in the pit of his stomach. The wound was deeper than he cared to admit. She was going to lose too much blood before they could get back to the submarine. "This isn't good. I need to treat this now."

"Sir, you are hurt too. We should try to get back to the submarine first." Zir caught Amethio's hand as he reached over to retrieve the bag from the ground.

"I think Zir is right. Your injuries look pretty bad."

Amethio couldn't deny that the only thing keeping him conscious at that moment was his focus on Conia. He turned his attention from Zir to his hand "Let me stop the bleeding then we will move. She will need her arm to fly." He hoped that his logic made sense to them as well. He knew that if he didn't treat the wound now he would not be able to later. He set his determined eyes on his subordinates fully ready to make it an order if they argued. He hid the relief that he felt when Zir released his arm and nodded. He pushed his own pain to the back of his mind the best he could as he rifled around in the bag until he found the emergency first aid kit that Conia kept. He normally scolded her for carrying extra things, but now he was grateful that she did so. With trembling hands, he cleared the blood from her arm the best he could before threading the small needle. He took a steadying breath and turned to Conia "You will have to bear with me. We don't have anything to numb your arm."

"I know. Just get this over with." Conia replied tightly "I trust you."

Well at least someone did. Amethio was the only one of them with any first aid knowledge past bandaging a wound. As he pushed the needle through her skin he felt a sudden wave of dizziness. He blinked hard. He needed to focus.

"Are you sure you are okay?" Zir asked as he reached out to steady the teen.

He had to be for their sake. He nodded once and started sewing the wound. He was aware of every flinch and deep breath that Conia was taking. He could tell she was in far more pain than she was showing. He finished stitching her arm and took the thread in his teeth, carefully tearing it. He wasn't sure how long it had been since one of them had been injured to the point of him needing to treat it in the field, but he reminded himself that it was bound to happen at some point. he took a shuttering breath as a shiver raced down his spine and he suddenly became more aware of his own injuries again. He let himself fall back to the ground with a thud. He must have startled the others because Zir was next to him in an instant asking if he was okay.

He was most definitely not okay. He hummed a reply. That was the most he could do. All of his energy was gone now that Conia was treated. He leaned his head back and let his eyes flutter shut. He knew that they needed to move. It wasn't safe for them to stay there. He knew that and yet his body refused to move. The world around him felt heavy. It was as if a black fog was lingering around him and suppressing all feeling throughout his body. He reached blindly until he felt the USB drive he had dropped on the ground and clenched it in his fist. He felt Zir prying his fingers open as he took the drive from Amethio and called out Skarmory.

The following events were a bit of a blur, but he didn’t fight when Zir reached into his pocket and pulled out Corviknight’s pokeball to release her. He felt the ground leave him and a soft feathered body was under him. He hated that Zir could lift him so easily. He was shivering now. Why was it so cold? He lifted his trembling hand and stared at the blood-stained fabric, the sight of his own blood somehow forcing the reality of his situation to sink in and he felt nothing but raw fear. He gripped his partner tighter with his left arm as she took to the sky and wrapped his right arm around his stomach protectively. He wasn’t sure how long they were flying or how long he had been conscious, but eventually everything around him went silent and black.

When he came to, Amethio was back in the submarine, specifically, in his bed. He shivered before pulling the blankets tighter, the spasming in his body causing a new wave of pain to shoot through his stomach. He forced himself to sit and pull back the soft blankets. He was wearing only his boxers and a nightshirt. When had he changed into this? He lifted his shirt revealing the bandages covering his abdomen. There were bandages wrapped around his thigh as well. Right, he had been shot. Wait had Conia made it back as well? He felt lightheaded and the room began to spin nauseatingly around him as he stood from his bed. He tugged on his silky pajama pants before padding out of his room. He was usually silent as he moved around the submarine and despite the heavier, uneven footfalls, that seemed to stay the same. He had to lean against the wall for support to keep from falling. The dizziness only seemed to get worse the more he moved. He clenched his jaw against the pain throbbing through his leg. Eventually, he made it to the control room where Zir was conversing with Conia. He cleared his throat, something he instantly regretted as pain seared his throat, to get their attention.

“Amethio!” Zir was on his feet immediately with Conia hot on his heels.

“You shouldn’t be up yet.” Conia scolded lightly “You are hurt pretty badly.”

Amethio stared absently at them for a moment while their overly loud words sunk in. Why had he gone looking for them anyway? He felt like he was forgetting something important. His lip parted slightly as he thought about what it was he wanted to say, but Zir cut him off.

“I already sent in a report along with the documents. Hamber is pleased with you. I didn’t tell him you were hurt.”

Amethio didn’t respond. His world tilted and suddenly the floor felt unsteady beneath his feet. He felt queasy. He felt his knees shaking and then he was falling forward. He closed his eyes and braced himself for the hard floor, but it never came. He cracked his eyes open against the warm fabric of Zir’s uniform. The older man had caught him and was currently supporting all of his weight.

“Let’s get you back to bed,” Conia said gently.

Amethio allowed himself to be lifted easily by Zir. He didn’t have the strength to walk. He finally found his voice again as Zir carefully lowered him into his bed “How long was I unconscious?” He murmured, his voice hoarse.

“Two days,” Zir responded as Conia sat on the edge of the bed.

“And…this…?” Amethio weakly gestured to his stomach.

“I did my best. I did have some help from someone. You were going to die if we didn’t do something.” Conia answered, providing the details that she knew Amethio would ask for as she checked his leg. “We didn’t like doing it, but the doctor with the Rising Volt Tacklers helped. She walked me through it. Good, you didn’t tear your stitches.”

Amethio sighed, wincing as the action hurt his stomach “I see…” His eyes felt heavy and a yawn escaped his lips before he could stop it.

“Get some sleep. One of us will check on you in a little while.” Conia pulled the blanket around Amethio’s shoulders before running her fingers through his hair once and tucking the stuffed Persian under his arm.

"Wait," He reached out as quickly as his body would let him and grabbed Conia's wrist "Are you okay?"

"Thanks to you, yes. The pain is manageable." Conia replied with a small smile.

Amethio wanted to protest the childlike treatment, but deep down he knew that the only ones who truly cared about him were standing in front of him. He allowed himself to be vulnerable when they were close. He didn't have to pretend around them. He took comfort in the fact that Conia was safe. Rather than arguing he whispered a hushed thank you and closed his eyes.

The next time he woke, it was to a searing pain in his stomach and a rhythmic throbbing in his wound. He cried out in pain as he tried to move. He tried to call out for Conia or Zir, but the words caught in his throat. He was soaked and it was causing his clothes to stick to his skin. He felt hot tears sting his cheeks as he hugged the Persian plush closer. He was in horrible pain and all alone. He cried out again as he managed to crawl out of the bed and stumble to the door before collapsing on the floor. He thought he would be ill for a moment as the room tilted around him. He slowly managed to stagger to his feet before collapsing against the wall. His leg hurt under his weight. He pushed his door open and staggered into the hallway. He looked around before stumbling to the bedroom down the hall. He stood in front of the door for a long moment before cracking it open. Zir and Conia were sleeping peacefully in their bed with Zir’s arm draped lazily over Conia’s hip, the former snoring lightly. Conia seemed to stir as the light cut through the darkness.

“Amethio?” She mumbled groggily as she sat up, the movement waking Zir “Is something wrong?”

Amethio didn’t respond. Instead, he stepped into the mostly dark room and stumbled towards the bed, stopping a few feet away. He wasn’t entirely sure what he was doing, the fog of pain clouding his mind. He silently watched as the other two slowly woke up the rest of the way. The silence was broken by Conia climbing out of bed and kneeling in front of Amethio, taking in his appearance. He probably looked like a mess with his pale face stained with tears that wouldn’t stop falling and his hair was likely disheveled from sleep. He still had one arm protectively around his stomach and the other clutching the Persian. He probably resembled a child rather than an admin of the Explorers at that moment. He flinched instinctively as she reached her hand out towards him.

“It’s just me.” She reassured as she brushed away a stray tear with her thumb, but she froze at the heat coming from Amethio’s cheek. She quickly placed her hand on his forehead and pulled it away with a gasp. “Zir, he’s burning up.”

Amethio watched lifelessly as the other man scrambled out of the bed and picked him up. He wanted to tell them it hurt. He was in the bed the next moment with Zir’s strong arms holding him protectively. He wriggled around until he felt that he was in a comfortable position and pressed his back closer to Zir. He blinked the tears from his eyes with a quiet whimper. He had never felt this kind of pain before. It was horrible. “Zir…hurts…”He managed as he squeezed his eyes shut.

“Hold on, Amethio. We will do something about that.” Zir promised, though not really sure how they would uphold it, as he tried to calm Amethio. He and Conia had discovered a long time ago that their boss had a softer side and worked hard to earn his trust enough that he would feel comfortable around them. Now it seemed that they were the only ones able to bring this side out. It was easy to forget when they were on missions that Amethio was still a teenager. The stoic front Amethio put on was just his way of protecting himself and there were things that they had to be careful doing without permission. Amethio hated being touched, but he allowed it on occasion. They usually let him instigate any physical contact to avoid spooking the teenager. He continued to soothe Amethio until Conia returned with an armful of things. She dropped everything on the bed and sat next to them. She didn’t say anything at first as she handed Zir the thermometer from the first aid kit before vanishing into the small bathroom. He easily slid the device past Amethio’s parted lips and held it under his tongue. Conia returned moments later with a damp hand towel. He could tell that she was anxious and Amethio’s eyes had closed awhile ago. “Don’t worry,” He broke the silence “Amethio is tough. He will be okay.”

“Right.” Conia mumbled as she carefully coaxed Amethio awake “Open your eyes, Amethio.”

Amethio wanted to sleep. He was getting warm next to Zir and it was a pleasant feeling compared to the horrid pain he was enduring. He grumbled something that was probably incoherent to them and turned on his side, burying his face against Zir’s chest. He did his best to pull away from her touch when she persisted, but in the end, he had nowhere to go. He cracked open his eyes and met her concerned gaze. He tried to pull away again when she tenderly lifted him to sit with Zir behind him but he didn’t have the strength to fight both of them. Perhaps he was being irrational, but he didn’t care at that moment at least. He watched as she offered out a few crackers and a mug filled with juice. He grimaced. He didn’t want food. Couldn’t they understand that? He pushed his face to the side in an attempt to hide.

“You can’t take any pain medication on an empty stomach. Please eat this.” She explained patiently. She had to remind herself that Amethio was still just a child. Even if he protested and said he wasn’t. He was a child and he was in pain with a fever. That combination made for an even more stubborn Amethio. But, even now, she knew in the end he would listen to reason.

Amethio stared at her defiantly, or so he hoped, before caving in and taking the crackers from her. If it meant he could have something for the pain then he would make himself eat. She had brought him his favorite crackers. He was certain they didn’t have any before they went on the mission. When had they gotten these? He nibbled on the first cracker hesitantly. He avoided looking at either of his companions and opted to let his eyes stay on the gray blanket that was draped over his lap. He jumped when something cold was pressed against his cheek. Conia was still holding out the juice waiting expectantly for him to take it. He wordlessly took the mug with a nod. His mouth felt dry and the crackers hurt to swallow. He recognized the sweet aroma immediately. Pecha. Another one of his favorites. He wasted no time drinking half of the juice right away after the first tentative sip proved he was thirstier than he thought. He managed two more crackers before he handed the package back to Conia. His stomach still felt unsettled and he wasn’t sure if he could keep any more down. She didn’t seem pleased at that but offered out the medicine nonetheless. He grimaced at the bitterness and quickly chased it away with more juice. His stomach felt heavy and sick as he rested his head against Zir’s chest again.

“Do you want to lie back down now?” Zir asked quietly and watched as Amethio pushed himself from his chest. That was a yes. The kid didn’t even have his eyes open as he moved.

Amethio was sitting in front of Master Gibeon on his knees with his head bowed as low as he could possibly get it without slouching. He wouldn’t slouch in front of Gibeon. He could feel Hamber’s presence in the shadows with his Dusknoir. Spinel’s annoying laughing from outside drifted into the room. The jerk had gotten him into trouble on purpose, but Amethio couldn’t tell Gibeon that. He knew the punishment would be severe. It always was for defying a direct order. It wasn’t fair though. Spinel had lied to him. How was he supposed to know that Gibeon had wanted him to go with Spinel on a training mission? Wait. Where was Charcadet? His partner was gone. He swallowed the panic and kept his expression neutral. This was a test.

“Amethio,” Gibeon’s voice was cold “I’m disappointed in you. Of all the people I have recruited, I had the most hope for you. Have I wasted my time personally training you? Has Hamber wasted his time?”

“No, Master Gibeon,” Amethio replied, his tone equally as cold. He could not show weakness. He could not show fear.

“Then why did you refuse to go on this mission with Spinel?” Amethio clenched his fists in his lap. He had to lie. “I…over…slept…I apologize for my failure.” He could hear Spinel cackling outside the door. He would get even with the freak and his Eevee. The older boy definitely had it coming.

“You are aware that is not an acceptable excuse.”

“I am.” Amethio glanced up as Gibeon’s footsteps retreated and Hamber materialized in front of him. The older man had a matching look of disappointment, though behind his eyes hid a hint of sympathy. He understood that this wasn’t Amethio’s fault. Yet he still held the whip in hand. Amethio felt his stomach drop as Hamber indicated with his hand to turn around. He complied and removed his shirt. He couldn’t see behind him. Each second he waited felt like an eternity. He relaxed after a minute of nothing happening before he felt the sharp sting in his back.

Amethio woke with a start and wriggled out of Zir’s arms. His vision was blurry from sleep as he pushed himself up. The pain was more tolerable now, but he felt incredibly weak. He heard shuffling next to him as Conia put her book to the side. She must have already been awake. He took comfort in her warmth as she let him press against her side.

“Are you okay?”

The question was quiet and clear with its intention. She didn’t want to wake Zir if she didn’t need to. Amethio could understand that. He shook his head against her shoulder. He wasn’t okay at all. He was in pain and felt sick. His skin was sticky with sweat from the fever and he wanted nothing more than to take a warm shower. He opened his mouth to tell her this, but he couldn’t find the strength to put his thoughts into words. His entire body burned with each movement. Instead, he felt warm tears sting his eyes and he pulled away from Conia, hiding his face in his hands. His head felt hot to the touch and he wished the fever would break so he could feel normal again. He could hear Conia waking Zir up and whispering soothing words to him. She wasn’t upset with him the way something in Amethio’s mind said she should be. His body trembled as the tears eventually stopped falling and he was left feeling exhausted once more. He sighed in defeat as one of the others tried to stick the thermometer under his tongue again. He didn’t see a point anymore but complied nonetheless. He still had a fever. He leaned heavily against the bed frame and let his eyes flutter closed. Amethio felt a warm hand on his forehead and Zir’s voice, still rough with sleep, whispered.

“Looks like it broke finally, but he’s freezing.”

“Given how much blood he lost you shouldn’t be surprised…”

Amethio let their voices lull him back into a deep sleep. The nightmares seemed to stay at bay this time and he felt safe next to Zir.

Amethio woke to the gentle snoring from Zir behind him and for a brief moment, he felt panic before realizing where he was. Conia was asleep on his other side with her hand resting against his. He slowly rolled onto his side and nuzzled closer to Zir before drifting back into the warm darkness. They would probably be in trouble for staying stationary for so long and he would be yelled at by Hamber. For now, though, he wanted to stay like they were. He would give the order to continue back to base later.

[cathkaesque]

Year in review, cathkaesque wrapped

Completed Very Big Very Cool Farmworker Report, which I'm still super pleased about. Everything I proposed was completed.

Went to Morocco for Very Big Very Cool international gathering

Basically completed transition - got all my documents in order, 2 years HRT, laser hair removal in process. I can take or leave srs so I'm basically exactly where I want to be now

Got asthma and celiac diagnoses - my lungs are better, I can finally put on weight, but my reflux issues are unfortunately uncurable (hiatial hernia)

Relatedly, spent most of February scrubbing black mould off my walls

Looking back on it, from mid-Feb/March I had an extremely bad mental breakdown that took up a good chunk of the year to recover from. Combination of all my work being due and none of it being done around March, huge trans panic in the press, trying to get all my documentation in order because the panic in the press scared the hell out of me, serious relationship issues...it was very bad. I had to move back in with my parents for much of the year while I sorted my shit out

Broke up with my bf but we got back together - the time apart sucked so bad and made us both extremely insane and unwell but it forced us to rectify serious ongoing issues in our relationship rather than letting them fester. I feel we've emerged from it stronger and things are going better than they ever have before so that is pretty wonderful. I just wish I could've resolved these things in a less dramatic, less damaging way.

Went on a lovely holiday in South Wales, and also a little weekend break in Kent

Drove 1250 miles in about 2 weeks

Went to my first festival (do not want to do that again, I hate the West)

Relatedly, wrote off my car because I was very tired from driving that much. I don't miss the responsibility of driving or owning a car at all, and I'm saving tonnes of money, but I really miss the ability to go on little trips to obscure places

Went to London a million times for work meetings

Sadly a lot of the international union work I've been involved with over the last few years has collapsed due to infighting in the international organisation. You have a situation where both the workers' union in Spain and one of the employer unions are affiliated to the same international organisation. The employer union is a lot bigger and unsurprisingly this is too unstable a mix to function and they reacted in a way that broke the rural workers' work I have been involved in. I am very pissed off as the result was issues the workers union really needed to be addressed never got looked at and someone who was very, very dedicated to the cause got forced out of their position because of it. Disgusted. I invested so much of myself into that work so I am trying to decouple my political activism from my work life to prevent this from happening again.

At the same time I had similar issues within my own workplace, especially after larger farmers' organisations reacted strongly against my report. I ended up having a big meeting with lots of them where I performed okay despite having a panic attack prior to it. So hopefully that will have been dealt with now.

Managed to have a healthier relationship to weed which is good

I got super into Flames of War and I'm really enjoying that, I love the models and painting my little guys has been so much fun.

But yeah. All in all a super, super hard year, especially the first 8 months of it, but this was due to overdue problems that needed to get solved, and they got solved. I hope things will be easier next year.

[script-a-world]

Submitted via Google Form:

Hello! Just a small question. In my work there is a "base", located underground. The main characters need to destroy the base, but it is protected against fire. I decided they would flood the base by bursting the pipes and flooding the place, but the logistics are a bit confusing for me. I'm not sure how water pressure would work, where pipes would be, if its even realistic. Thank you!♡

Tex: Fire protection is a bit of a relative term - do you mean to say that there is nothing flammable there? Or that there would be nothing that could start a fire, such as electrical wiring? The same sort of process applies to water systems such as pipes, cisterns, etc. Water pipes generally have lots of checks and balances in the form of things pressure valves, water storage units, and drains. A pipe “bursts” when the internal pressure is unable to be vented (i.e. has nowhere to go), and the inability to equalize pressure to its mechanical standards (i.e. material properties of the pipe itself). Engineers like to design infrastructure systems around some general principles: 1) as close to within budget as possible (i.e. materials, manpower, schedule), 2) easy to spot problems during construction, and 3) easy to repair after its installation in case something breaks. To accomplish this, particularly with water and electrical systems, these systems will be designed with as many straight lines as possible in order to reduce the logistical burdens of its installation, maintenance, and repair. It won’t be uncommon to align multiple systems alongside each other along a wall or in a floor, especially if the employees are paid by the hour, but it might or might not be the absolute best way to do it in terms of long-term solutions. Further Reading

Pressure § Liquid pressure - Wikipedia

Hydrostatics § Pressure in fluids at rest - Wikipedia

Fluid dynamics- Wikipedia

Addy: Water pressure is pretty neat stuff, and I like where you're going with this. My thoughts are a little scattered, but this is feasible or not depending on where the base is.

Components to flooding: 1) How much water is there? 2) Where does the water come from? 3) How quickly does it spread? 4) What does it damage?

So you want to "ruin" a base. That could mean 

making it completely inoperable and essentially impossible to recover (totally flooded, it becomes an underground swimming pool/death cave, cannot access without specialized diving equipment).

making it unusable for practical purposes and/or health & safety reasons. Everything of value (papers, records, documents, computers) is made useless and soft surfaces are covered in mold, but a person can still physically enter the space and breathe oxygen. There was water, but then it receded.

In this case, the space is still physically accessible, but the cleanup cost isn't worth it. A dedicated crew may later try to see if there are any documents that got left behind, which could be interesting

Either way, the goal is to remove the enemy's capability to continue operations in this area by damaging their base of operations to an extent that the base is no longer worth the resources to upkeep. Or to damage it to an extent that it is unable to be re-established.

Does it flood quickly or slowly? That affects the speed of the response.

If it happens quickly, the timescale is measured in minutes. Maybe a few hours, if it's a large base. Evacuation is fast, dramatic, and desperate. A few people may try to secure strategic assets (experimental weapon, research notes, hard drive with special data on it, spellbook, classified documents, religious artifacts, medicine, etc. Things that are not easily replaceable), and others may just grab whatever's closest to them and run. Evacuation could be coordinated or it could be disorganized. There may be rescue efforts, people going back to check on their colleagues.

If the flooding is fast-then-slow, then the timescale is hours, maybe a day or two. Initial response is likely going to be panicky, but with people going back inside to grab things once they realize they've got some time.

If the flooding is slow, it's like the above but more like a school fire drill. There's time and not much panic. Not very dramatic. However! If they're leaking a sewer line, then you get people leaving very quickly indeed, as nobody likes to be in contact with raw sewage.

How much water do you need? (If it isn't very much, then people don't panic as much, as they're not at risk of dying)

If you're just looking to fry electronics, that's easy. A few inches of water and there you go, you've ruined your servers and your electrical lines and it's a whole mess. Also it'll get into the floorboards, and that's an expensive fix…. Especially if the water stays electrified. Or if there's sewage or other unpleasant substances in it. Anyways, even a small(ish) pipe can carry a lot of water. A 4" pipe can carry 3400 gallons per minute (gpm) - enough to put a 20,000 sqft facility under a foot of water in 20 minutes. A large 48" pipe, on the other hand, can carry ~35,000 gpm under typical conditions - enough to put that same facility under a foot of water every four and a half minutes. 

For reference, fire hydrants put out about 500-1000 gpm. Major pipes tend to be located under streets and highways (hard for them to get accidentally damaged that way), with smaller distribution pipes going to wherever they may be needed. If the base is in the middle of nowhere, they probably won't be near any of the big pipes, so you'd have fairly slow flooding. If the base is hidden in a city, you've got roadways right there. Bonus points if the soil is sand (makes the pipes easier to get to to break).

https://www.ntmwd.com/broken-pipes-and-water-leaks-can-waste-thousands-of-gallons/

https://www.onicon.com/wp-content/uploads/0868-5-Velocity-to-GPM-Chart-2-sided-04-18.pdf

So if you've got a major pipe running through the area, you can make things happen very, very fast. Even if you don't have the really big pipes, you can still cause a fair amount of damage by just breaking multiple pipes. It really just depends on the area and what kinds of pipes are nearby. In normal real-life conditions, large pipes tend to be hard to get to, and it'd be more practical to break a few 1" or 2" pipes, which could get you a foot or two of water in a couple hours.

You could drain a lake or reservoir, but it'd have to be fairly large in order to actually fill up the volume of the base.

How quickly the water spreads depends on the layout of the building. If there are multiple stories, water will flow down. Closed doors will slow the water down, but won't stop it entirely (unless they're waterproof and designed to resist large sideways forces). Think of it like spilling water on a table, just with a lot more of it.

What gets damaged? Are there any fuel lines, any natural gas attachments? What about liquor? Is there anything flammable that can catch fire and float on top of the water? (Or anything that can break, catch fire, and explode inside the base?) Do you have electronics? Paper? How tough are your floors? Water is heavy, clocking in at 62.4 lb/ft^3 (structural engineers hate rooftop pools). Is there a risk of upper floors collapsing onto lower floors, as the water pours down?

[totalshred]

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[computerrepairservices-post]

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[possibilistfanfiction]

Got it! So it’s like a combo emergency kit and go bag. Thank you so much for sharing. I basically loaded my car with the important documents, changes of clothes and my earthquake kit already plus hard drives, etc.

yah! as long as you feel good abt your kit & have all the important stuff u couldn't recover if your housing did burn, i think it's all a matter of preference after that, although i have seen most lists leave out things like a bathroom kit & basic hygiene stuff, which imo is a really crucial aspect to like... feel like a person lol.

but also like i mentioned, so much of it i have from being in the backcountry pretty often or going on climbing trips, so it's not something i had to go scramble to buy today (& some of it is expensive as fuck so like truly not necessary but v nice if u do have it lol). if i'm evacuating & have space in my car / the gear to make potentially a really stressful & sad situation a little more comfortable, i'd probably bring it

but it sounds like you're good to go!!! i hope you stay safe!!!!