#project-code-hub

[gyuuberryy]

fatal trouble

pairing: vampire!sunghoon x reader

synopsis: your roommate is hot. really really hot. and odd too. really really odd. after a strange experience with him, you slowly start distancing yourself from him. but, it becomes exceptionally hard with your feelings coming in the way. how are you supposed to protect yourself if you can’t resist him? the answer is you don’t need to. your fates are intertwined and there's no letting go.

genre: roommates to lovers, vampire au, soulmate au

warnings: suggestive content, mentions of nightmares and blood, jealous!sunghoon, 

note: dropping this before i go on hiatus for a month due to school work. i haven't proofread it that well i hope there are no mistakes. also im obsessed with vampire aus, enhablr needs more of them fr!! i hope you enjoy reading this!

word count: 6k

if you liked it please reblog or comment to give me your feedback! <3

the soft glow of your laptop screen illuminated your face, casting long shadows across sunghoon's pristine white sheets. you were sprawled out on his bed, legs crossed beneath you, surrounded by a chaotic scatter of textbooks and papers. the quiet hum of the air conditioner filled the room, broken only by the intermittent clicks of your keyboard.

sunghoon sat at his desk, a silhouette against the darkened room, save for the focused beam of his desk lamp. his fingers danced across the keyboard with an almost rhythmic precision, the soft glow of the screen reflecting in his dark eyes. you’d grown accustomed to the sight of him engrossed in his work, a solitary figure lost in the world of ones and zeros.

you’d known each other for a few months now, the kind of acquaintance born out of shared living space and the occasional group project. as roommates sharing the same major, your apartment had become a de facto study hub. computer science had thrown you together more often than not, and tonight was no exception. 

“hey, did you get the part about the algorithm?” your voice, a whisper in the quiet, cut through the comfortable silence.

sunghoon glanced up, his eyes a deep, almost unnatural shade of red in the dim light. for a moment, you were struck by how different he looked compared to the daylight. “yeah, i think so. isn’t it something about minimising the time complexity?”

you nodded, your eyes scanning the code on your screen. “exactly. i’m just having trouble with the implementation.”

a comfortable silence settled over the room as you both focused on your respective screens. the only sound was the rhythmic tapping of keys and the occasional sigh of frustration. you glanced up at sunghoon, his profile illuminated by the soft glow of his monitor. his long, slender fingers moved with an almost hypnotic grace across the keyboard.

there was something undeniably attractive about his focused intensity. his features, normally sharp and aloof, softened slightly when he was engrossed in his work. it was a side of him you rarely saw, and it was oddly captivating.

you shook your head, mentally scolding yourself for such thoughts. he was your roommate, nothing more. and besides, there was no way he could be interested in someone like you.

“hey,” sunghoon’s voice cut through your reverie, “i think i figured it out.”

you blinked, startled. “oh, really? want to explain it?”

he nodded, sliding his chair back and standing up. he walked over to your side of the bed, his tall frame looming over you. as he leaned in to point at your screen, his scent washed over you – a subtle blend of wood and something else, almost sweet, that you couldn’t quite place.

you felt a strange warmth creeping up your neck as he hovered over you. his proximity was unnerving, yet strangely intoxicating. you swallowed hard, trying to focus on the code in front of you.

sunghoon's breath was warm against your ear as he leaned in closer, his voice a low rumble, "try this." his finger hovered over your keyboard, about to demonstrate.

you felt a shiver run down your spine, not from the cool night air but from the inexplicable sensation of being so close to him. his scent, a mix of something woodsy and faintly sweet, was intoxicating. you tried to focus on the code, to ignore the way your heart was pounding in your chest.

he typed a few lines, his fingers brushing against yours. the contact sent a jolt of electricity through you. you forced yourself to concentrate on the screen, trying to understand the changes he made.

"see?" he said, straightening up. "it's simpler this way."

you nodded, still reeling from the physical contact. "thanks," you managed to say, your voice barely a whisper.

sunghoon stepped back, a small smile playing on his lips. "no problem," he said, turning back to his own computer.

you took a deep breath, trying to calm your racing heart. it was just sunghoon, your roommate. nothing more. but the way he had acted, the way he had touched you, it was making it hard to think of him that way.

the room was quiet again, the only sounds the soft clacking of keyboards and the occasional rustle of paper. you were deep in thought, trying to wrap your head around a particularly complex problem when a question popped into your head. on impulse, you asked, “so, sunghoon, what do you do in your free time, when you’re not, you know, studying?”

sunghoon paused, his fingers hovering over the keyboard. a flicker of something, perhaps surprise or amusement, passed across his face before he responded smoothly, “free time is a luxury for a computer science student, don’t you think? but when i do find a spare moment, i usually spend it reading or exploring new coding languages.”

his answer was polite, but it felt rehearsed, as if he'd prepared a response for just such a question. a sense of curiosity sparked within you. you’d always thought sunghoon was a bit of an enigma, but this was a new level of intrigue.

curiosity, a persistent itch, prodded you to ask something more than just about schoolwork.

“hey, i was curious about this” you started, your voice barely audible over the hum of the air conditioner, “where are you from?” it was a simple question, one you would normally ask any new acquaintance, but there was something about sunghoon that made you curious about his past.

he paused, his fingers hovering over the keyboard. for a moment, there was a stillness in the room that was almost palpable. then, with a casual shrug, he replied, "oh, just a small town. nothing interesting." the response was swift, deflecting your question with ease.

confused, you returned to your code, but your mind was racing. there was something off about sunghoon, something that had intrigued you from the moment you met him. you couldn’t quite put your finger on it, but there were strange little details that had started to accumulate.

there were those odd instances – like the time you'd woken up in the middle of the night to find the kitchen light on and sunghoon standing at the counter, completely motionless, his eyes glowing an eerie red. or the way he seemed to have an uncanny ability to appear and disappear without a sound. and then there was the peculiar lack of a reflection in any mirror in his room.

these memories surfaced, sharp and clear, as if your brain was piecing together a puzzle it didn't know existed. you shook your head, dismissing the thoughts as overactive imagination. after all, sunghoon was just your roommate, a fellow computer science student. nothing more, nothing less.

a yawn escaped your lips as you stretched, the late hour finally catching up with you. “i think i’m going to call it a night,” you announced, rubbing your eyes. the weight of the unanswered questions about sunghoon was beginning to feel heavy.

sunghoon nodded, his gaze fixed on the computer screen. “alright, good night then. i’ll probably stay up a bit longer.”

you nodded in response, swinging your legs over the side of the bed. as you stood up, you glanced down at the floor. something was off. the soft glow from sunghoon’s computer cast long shadows on the floor, including a distinct one from his chair. but there was no shadow of sunghoon himself. the spot where his shadow should have been was empty, an inky void against the illuminated floor.

a chill ran down your spine. your heart pounded in your ears. your mind raced, trying to come up with a logical explanation, but nothing made sense. you snatched up your bag, your movements jerky and panicked. without a second thought, you fled back to your room, the door slamming shut behind you. you fumbled with the lock, your hands trembling. only when you heard the satisfying click of the lock did you allow yourself to breathe.

your heart pounded in your ears as you leaned against the cool metal of your door. the realisation of what you had seen was slowly sinking in. no human lacked a shadow. it was impossible. a chill ran down your spine.

you tried to rationalise it away. maybe there was a draft, or a trick of the light. but deep down, you knew better. something was profoundly wrong, and it was connected to sunghoon. the friendly, quiet roommate you thought you knew was now shrouded in an unsettling mystery.

you glanced at the clock. it was late, and exhaustion was starting to creep in. you needed to sleep, to clear your head. but how could you sleep with this looming over you? you decided to distract yourself by pulling out a book from your shelf, hoping the words would drown out the unsettling thoughts.

as you turned the pages, your mind kept drifting back to sunghoon. his unusual behaviour, the absence of his shadow, it all fit together into a terrifying puzzle. you tried to shake off the feeling, but it was like a persistent itch you couldn't scratch.

sleep finally claimed you, but it was restless. your dreams were filled with shadows, long and menacing, closing in on you. you woke up with a start, your heart racing. the first light of dawn was filtering through your curtains. you got out of bed and went to the window. the world outside looked ordinary, peaceful. but you knew the truth was far from it.

something was wrong with sunghoon, and you were determined to find out what.

the days following your unsettling discovery were a blur of forced normalcy. you tried to interact with sunghoon as if nothing was amiss, but the weight of your knowledge cast a long shadow over your interactions. you found yourself avoiding his gaze, your voice trembling when you spoke to him.

sunghoon seemed oblivious to your discomfort at first. he’d always been a quiet person, so his reserved nature didn’t raise any immediate suspicion. however, as the days turned into weeks, his patience began to wear thin.

"hey, are you free to study together tomorrow?" he asked one evening as you were both making dinner. his tone was casual, but you could detect a hint of underlying disappointment.

your heart skipped a beat. you’d been avoiding his study invitations, coming up with increasingly elaborate excuses. the truth hung heavy in the air, a tangible thing between you. you hesitated, your mind racing.

"i... i’m really busy tomorrow," you stammered, your voice barely audible. "maybe next week?"

disappointment flashed across sunghoon’s face before he masked it with a forced smile. "sure, no problem," he replied, his voice flat.

as he turned away, you couldn't shake the feeling of guilt. you'd hurt him, and you knew it.

the night was a descent into terror. you dreamt of shadows, long and menacing, closing in on you. sunghoon was there, but not as you knew him. his eyes burned with an unnatural light, and his form was distorted, monstrous. you were running, but your legs were leaden, and the shadows were gaining on you. a scream built in your throat, but no sound escaped.

you woke with a start, drenched in sweat. your heart pounded like a drumbeat in your chest. panic washed over you as you gasped for air. you were disoriented, unsure of where you were. a noise from the living room startled you, and you jumped out of bed.

the light was on, and there, standing in the doorway, was sunghoon, his face etched with concern. before you could react, you found yourself lunging at him, your hands grasping at his neck. he didn't fight back, instead, he held you tightly, his arms wrapping around you protectively.

your sobs racked your body as you clung to him, finding solace in his warmth. he shushed you softly, his voice a soothing balm to your frayed nerves. gradually, your breathing began to slow, and your body relaxed.

when you finally calmed down, sunghoon gently guided you back to bed. he sat on the edge, running a comforting hand through your hair. you clung to him, your fear slowly dissipating.

in the quiet that followed, you felt a strange urge to confide in him. your voice was barely a whisper when you began, "i dreamt of you... as something... different."

sunghoon stiffened, but his grip on you didn't loosen. something flashed behind his eyes, but he listened intently as you recounted the terrifying details of your nightmare. when you finished, he was silent for a long moment. finally, he whispered, "go back to sleep," and you felt him lean down to kiss your forehead.

with that, he quietly left the room, leaving you alone with your racing thoughts.

the days that followed were a careful ballet of avoidance. you moved through your days with a practised detachment, constructing an invisible wall between yourself and sunghoon. the weight of your decision pressed down on you like a physical burden. despite the burgeoning crush that had blossomed in the quiet corners of your heart, you'd created a formidable wall between yourself and sunghoon. his enigmatic nature, coupled with the unsettling discoveries you'd made, had convinced you to keep him at arm's length. it was a lonely existence, a self-imposed exile that offered a semblance of safety.

your days were a monotonous cycle of lectures, assignments, and solitary meals. you'd found solace in the company of your classmate, lee heeseung, his cheerful demeanour a stark contrast to the storm raging within you. yet, even as you laughed and shared stories with him, a part of you longed for the quiet intensity of sunghoon's presence.

in the vast, impersonal lecture hall, you’d sought refuge in the anonymity of the crowd. but even here, you couldn't escape the weight of your decision. a persistent sense of being watched gnawed at you, a constant reminder of the eyes that followed your every move. and you knew very well who it was. it was during one such lecture that the tension reached a breaking point.

you were engrossed in your notes when a subtle shift in the atmosphere caught your attention. a cold prickle ran down your spine as you slowly turned your head. there, in the row behind you, sat sunghoon, his gaze fixed intently on you. his expression was a complex interplay of emotions - longing, pain, and a flicker of something darker.

your heart pounded in your chest as a wave of guilt washed over you. you'd hurt him, pushed him away without a second thought. in that moment, as his eyes held yours, you realised the depth of your own cowardice.

not to mention, with each passing night your nightmares had intensified. each night a descent into a darker, more terrifying realm. sleep, once a refuge, had transformed into a battlefield, leaving you exhausted and on edge. the physical toll was evident - dark circles shadowed your eyes, and your skin had started to take on a sickly pallor.

despite your deteriorating condition, you continued to maintain your distance from sunghoon. guilt gnawed at you, but fear held you captive. yet, in the aftermath of each nightmare, you found yourself seeking solace in his presence. he’d sit by your bed his silent vigil a comforting anchor in the storm of your nightmares. his touch, gentle and reassuring, had become a lifeline, pulling you back from the brink of despair.

one particularly harrowing night, you woke up screaming, your body drenched in sweat. sunghoon was by your side almost instantly, his arms wrapping around you in a comforting embrace. as your fear subsided, you began to recount the nightmare, your voice trembling.

"i... i dreamt of a place," you managed to say, your words halting. "a dark place, with... with strange symbols."

sunghoon's grip tightened around you. "and you were alone," he finished for you, his voice low and soothing.

your eyes widened in shock. how could he know what you had dreamt about? you hadn’t even managed to complete your story. yet, sunghoon had described it perfectly, as if he had been there with you.

a chill ran down your spine. you pulled away from him, your eyes filled with fear and confusion. sunghoon simply looked at you, his expression unreadable, before turning and leaving the room.

what did this mean? how could sunghoon know about your nightmares? the answers were as elusive as ever, but one thing was certain: the line between the ordinary and the extraordinary was blurring, and you were caught in the crossfire.

the nightmares ceased as abruptly as they had begun. you woke each morning feeling refreshed, the spectre of terror finally lifted from your shoulders. a sense of relief washed over you, but it was tinged with a strange melancholy. the nightly visits from sunghoon, a comforting ritual amidst the chaos, were now absent.

initially, you welcomed the return to normalcy. the constant fear and exhaustion had taken a toll on you, and the ability to sleep soundly was a precious gift. but as days turned into weeks, a nagging sense of unease crept in. sunghoon's absence, once a welcome respite, now felt like a void.

you started noticing subtle changes in him. his eyes, once bright and alert, were now shadowed by dark circles. his once sharp features seemed softened by fatigue. it was as if a weight was pressing down on him, a burden he carried alone.

a pang of guilt struck you. perhaps your avoidance had contributed to his deteriorating condition. you wanted to reach out, to offer support, but fear held you back. what if your presence only made things worse? what if you discovered something terrifying?

you longed to reach out to him, to offer solace and support, but the words remained trapped in your throat. the fear of rejection, of further pushing him away, paralyzed you. it was a cruel irony that the person you yearned to comfort was the one causing you the most pain. 

the afternoon sun beat down on the bustling campus as you made your way towards the nearest convenience store. the promise of a refreshing popsicle was the only thing that could lure you away from the confines of your dorm room. with a popsicle clutched in your hand, you emerged from the store, ready to face the world, one frozen treat at a time.

just as you were about to savour the first bite, heeseung materialised beside you, his infectious grin lighting up his face. "arcade?" he suggested, his eyes sparkling with enthusiasm. you nodded, the prospect of a distraction proving too tempting to resist.

you split the popsicle down the middle, the sweet, icy treat a welcome respite from the oppressive heat. as you handed one half to heeseung, a strange sensation washed over you. it was as if a cold draft had swept across your skin, a shiver that had nothing to do with the melting popsicle in your hand.

instinctively, you turned around, your heart pounding in your chest. there, on the other side of the road, stood sunghoon, his figure cast in the harsh sunlight. his eyes, usually guarded, were fixed on you with an intensity that bordered on hostility. a scowl marred his usually indifferent features, and his jaw was clenched tightly.

you offered a timid smile, a feeble attempt to bridge the chasm between you. but his gaze remained unwavering, cold and unforgiving. with a final, contemptuous glance, he turned and walked away, disappearing into the crowd.

a wave of guilt and confusion washed over you. you'd hurt him, you knew that. but the intensity of his reaction was unexpected, almost frightening. as you turned back to heeseung, you forced a smile, determined to push the unsettling encounter to the back of your mind.

the encounter with sunghoon left a bitter taste in your mouth. his hostile glare had shattered the fragile peace you'd been cultivating. as you and heeseung made your way to the arcade, your mind raced, trying to decipher the meaning behind sunghoon's outburst. had your avoidance pushed him to the brink? or was there something more sinister at play?

the arcade, with its flashing lights and the cacophony of sound, offered a temporary escape from the turmoil within. you lost yourself in the rhythm of the games, the competitive spirit temporarily drowning out the unsettling incident. yet, even as you laughed and cheered with heeseung, your mind kept drifting back to sunghoon, his angry gaze burning into your memory.

as the afternoon wore on, a sense of unease settled over you. the carefree atmosphere of the arcade couldn't mask the growing storm within. the incident with sunghoon had opened a wound, a raw and painful reminder of the complex dynamics between you.

you glanced at heeseung, his laughter infectious, and felt a pang of guilt. he was doing everything to lift your spirits, to distract you from your troubles. but your mind was elsewhere, trapped in a labyrinth of doubt and fear.

the walk back to your dorm was a solitary affair. the campus, usually bustling with activity, seemed deserted. with each step, the weight of your worries grew heavier. the encounter with sunghoon had forced you to confront the reality of the situation. you couldn't continue to bury your head in the sand, hoping that the problem would resolve itself.

the weight of the day pressed down on you as you unlocked the apartment door. exhaustion tugged at your limbs, but the lingering unease from your encounter with sunghoon kept your mind racing. 

as you stepped into the living room, a jolt of surprise ran through you. sunghoon was standing in the kitchen, his silhouette outlined by the soft glow of the refrigerator.

there was an unnatural stillness to him, a predatory calm that sent a shiver down your spine. his eyes, when they met yours, held a strange intensity, a glint of something dangerous lurking beneath the surface. "fancy seeing you here," he said, his voice low and measured.

you forced a smile, your heart pounding in your chest. "just got back," you replied, your voice barely a whisper.

he approached you slowly, his steps deliberate. "we have that new assignment," he began, his voice low and seductive. "maybe we could work on it together tomorrow?"

your mind raced, trying to come up with an excuse. "i'm... i'm pretty busy," you stammered, avoiding his gaze.

sunghoon's expression darkened. with a swift movement, he closed the distance between you, cornering you against the kitchen counter, his hands grabbing your hips. his proximity was unnerving, his scent, a mix of wood and something faintly sweet, filling your senses. you could feel his breath on your skin, hot and heavy. 

"don't lie to me," he hissed, his voice low and menacing. "i know what's going on."

his grip tightened around you, and you winced. 

"it's nothing," you insisted, your voice trembling. "just... busy."

"busy with heeseung?" he spat out, his jealousy evident in his tone. his eyes narrowed, and you could see the anger simmering beneath the surface.

your face flushed with embarrassment. he was taking this the wrong way. “it’s not like that,” you stammered, your voice barely a whisper.

sunghoon's grip tightened, pinning you against the cool surface of the counter. his breath was warm against your skin, and a strange sensation, a mix of fear and excitement, coursed through your veins.

“don’t lie to me,” he repeated, his voice low and dangerous. “you're avoiding me.”

you didn't know why, but the power dynamic between you and sunghoon was intoxicating. he had never behaved this way before let alone showcase jealousy so blatantly. it was hot. you felt a blush creeping up your cheeks, a mixture of embarrassment and arousal. 

before you could respond, you found yourself leaning in, your lips brushing against his. it was an impulsive act, a desperate attempt to silence him, to end the confrontation. but,��to your surprise, he responded, his lips moving against yours with a gentle intensity.

the world seemed to slow down as the kiss deepened. but as quickly as it had begun, it ended. you pulled away, your heart pounding in your chest.

overwhelmed by a rush of emotions, you turned and fled to your room, slamming the door behind you. you leaned against the door, panting, your mind racing. 

the realisation of what you had done hit you like a tidal wave. you had kissed your roommate, a person you were actively avoiding due to a growing sense of fear and unease. the implications of your actions were terrifying. you'd crossed a line, a boundary you had carefully constructed to protect yourself.

a series of frantic knocks on the door jolted you out of your stupor. it was sunghoon, his voice muffled through the wood. "open up, please," he pleaded. your heart pounded in your chest. you couldn't face him now. you needed time to process what had happened, to regain control of the situation.

the knocking continued for a few minutes before finally ceasing. silence enveloped the room, heavy and oppressive. you slid down the door, your body trembling. what had you done?

morning arrived with a sense of foreboding. the thought of facing sunghoon filled you with dread, but the need to uncover the truth was stronger. you waited until the sound of his footsteps faded down the hallway, a sign that he had left for his morning jog.

with a deep breath, you crept into sunghoon's room, a sense of trepidation gnawing at you. the room was immaculate, a stark contrast to the chaos that often reigned in your own space. everything had its place, every surface spotless. there were no hidden compartments, no secret drawers, no clues to the enigmatic man who inhabited this space.

disappointment washed over you. you'd hoped to find something, anything that would explain the strange occurrences, the unsettling behaviour. but the room held no secrets, only a sense of emptiness.

your eyes scanned the room, searching for any hidden compartments or secret passages. everything seemed ordinary, almost mundane. disappointment was beginning to creep in when your gaze fell on a small cabinet tucked beneath sunghoon's desk. it was always locked, a tantalising enigma that had piqued your curiosity countless times.

today, however, there was a change. a key was lodged in the lock, an open invitation to delve into the forbidden. a wave of hesitation washed over you. you were invading his privacy, crossing a line you had sworn never to cross. but the allure of the unknown was too strong. curiosity, like a relentless tide, pulled you forward.

with trembling hands, you grasped the key and turned it. the lock clicked open with a satisfyingly smooth sound. you slid open the cabinet door, your heart pounding in your chest. a mini-fridge, small and unassuming, greeted you. a wave of relief washed over you. so this was the secret? a hidden stash of snacks?

you reached out to open the fridge door, a smirk playing on your lips. but as the cool air enveloped you, your blood ran cold.

inside, lined up neatly on the shelves, were rows of blood bags. the crimson liquid glinted in the dim light, a chilling contrast to the sterile white plastic. the sight was so surreal, so utterly horrifying, that for a moment, you thought you were hallucinating.

your mind went blank. a wave of nausea washed over you as you stared at the horrifying contents of the fridge. this couldn't be real. this was a nightmare, a twisted hallucination. but the cold, hard truth stared back at you, undeniable and terrifying.

the world tilted as your legs gave way, sending you crashing to the knees. blood bags. sunghoon kept blood bags. your roommate, the seemingly normal guy you knew, was a… vampire? the very concept seemed absurd, ripped from the pages of a fantasy novel. yet, the evidence sat before you, a stark reality that defied logic.

panic clawed at your throat, but a desperate hope flickered within you. maybe it was a medical condition. maybe he had a strange blood fetish. anything but a vampire!

"vampires don't exist, do they?", you mutter to yourself still in shock.

"yes, they do," a low voice confirmed, sending a tremor through your entire body. you spun around, scream caught in your throat. sunghoon stood in the doorway, his face unreadable, his eyes a bottomless well of emotions.

shame washed over you in a tidal wave. you felt exposed, not just for snooping, but for the fear and disgust that clouded your mind.

jumping out the window, a ridiculous notion moments ago, now seemed like the only way out. here, trapped in this surreal nightmare, your only escape seemed to be a dramatic leap from the fourth floor. it wouldn't kill you, right? you’d only break a few bones at best, which you were absolutely okay with. 

with a burst of adrenaline, you scrambled to your feet and bolted towards the window, desperation fueling your actions. but before you could reach the latch, a hand clamped around your waist, pulling you back with an iron grip. "don't even think about it," sunghoon's voice was a low growl, the air crackling with unspoken emotions.

you were pinned against his chest, his warmth a stark contrast to the chilling terror that gripped you. his eyes, no longer cold and distant, burned with a mix of anger and concern.

his words hung in the air, a stark contrast to the wildness of your actions. you struggled against his hold, your fear fueling your resistance. but there was an undeniable strength in him, a power that held you captive.

"please, let me go," you gasped, your voice trembling.

sunghoon's grip loosened slightly, and he took a step back. his eyes held a mixture of concern and something else, something you couldn't quite decipher. "i won't hurt you," he said, his voice soft. "i need to explain."

your eyes met his, a mixture of fear and confusion swirling in their depths. sunghoon seemed to read your mind, his expression softening as he took a step closer. he sighed, a heavy exhale that seemed to carry the weight of centuries.

"i know this is a lot to take in," he began, his voice low and steady. "but i need you to trust me."

you nodded, your mind racing. there was something about his tone, a vulnerability beneath the hardened exterior, that compelled you to listen.

"i'm a vampire," he said, the words hanging heavy in the air. "it's not how i wanted things to be, but it's the reality i've been forced to live with."

he paused, his eyes searching your face for any signs of revulsion. but to your surprise, a strange sense of calm washed over you. this was the answer, the missing piece to the puzzle.

he went on to explain his existence, the centuries of solitude, and the desperate hope that had brought him to you. he talked about the blood bags, a necessary evil to sustain his life.

he continued, his voice laced with a hint of vulnerability. "i’ve been alone for so long. i've tried to live a normal life, to blend in. and then i met you."

his gaze softened, a tender look replacing the earlier intensity. "you're my anchor, my reason to keep going. your nightmares, the ones you've been having, are a connection between us. we share them, a soulmate bond, if you will. it's the only way for me to experience human emotions, to feel truly alive."

the revelation was mind-boggling. a vampire? your soulmate? it was a story straight out of a gothic novel. yet, as he spoke, a sense of peace washed over you. there was a truth in his eyes, a vulnerability that resonated with your own.

without thinking, you reached out and hugged him. your arms wrapped around him, offering comfort and acceptance. he froze, surprised by your sudden embrace.

"i don't care," you whispered, your voice muffled against his chest. "i'll figure it out. we'll figure it out together."

he returned the hug, his arms tightening around you. his face was buried in your neck, his breath warm against your skin. you could feel his heart pounding against your chest, a rhythm that mirrored your own. in that moment, surrounded by the warmth of his embrace, fear and confusion faded, replaced by a sense of hope and possibility.

"i'm so sorry about the nightmares," he murmured, his voice filled with regret. "i stopped sleeping for a while, trying to find a way to stop them. i hated seeing you scared, all because of me."

your heart ached for him. he had sacrificed his own well-being to protect you. anger and concern warred within you. how could he be so selfless, so reckless? you pushed against his chest, needing to see his face, to read the emotions swirling in his eyes.

"don't be stupid," you scolded, your voice stern. "you can't just stop sleeping."

you gently pushed against his chest, trying to create some distance between you. you needed to see his face, to gauge his sincerity.

"stop," he whined, his voice laced with playful annoyance. "just stay like this for a little longer."

his words were a stark contrast to the seriousness of the situation, but they had the desired effect. you froze, your body responding to the unexpected shift in tone. sunghoon's grip tightened around you, his face buried in the crook of your neck. his lips brushed against your neck, sending shivers down your spine. the warmth of his breath mingled with the scent of his skin, creating an intoxicating blend that clouded your senses.

you were caught in a whirlwind of emotions, fear and confusion replaced by a growing sense of intimacy. the line between platonic comfort and something more was blurring, and you were dangerously close to crossing it.

his voice dropped to a low octave, a husky rumble that sent shivers down your spine. "i can't stop thinking about how your lips felt against mine last night," he confessed, his breath warm against your skin. he pulled back, his eyes holding yours, a mischievous glint in their depths. 

"can we do that again?" he asked, his voice laced with playful arrogance.

before you could respond, his lips were on yours, claiming your mouth with a fierce urgency. the kiss was a whirlwind, a tempest of emotions and sensations. his tongue explored your mouth, demanding entrance, while your hands tangled in his hair, pulling him closer. the kiss was different from the one you had shared the night before, filled with a newfound urgency and intensity. his tongue explored your mouth, a dance of desire and longing. you could feel the heat radiating from his body, a warmth that was both intoxicating and terrifying.

his hands found their way to your waist, pulling you closer. with a swift movement, he lifted you onto the bed, his lips trailing a path of fire down your neck. he nuzzled your skin, his breath creating a tingling sensation. "you smell so good," he murmured, his voice a low growl. "i had to stop myself from pouncing on you the first time i saw you." 

"from now on, you're sleeping in my bed," he declared, his voice firm. "i need to make sure those nightmares don't come back. and besides, i like having you close."

as he pulled you closer, his arms wrapping around you, you felt a sense of peace wash over you. in this moment, with sunghoon holding you close, everything else seemed to fade away. the line between reality and fantasy blurred, replaced by a single, undeniable truth: you were in the arms of a vampire, and you were dangerously close to falling in love.

his lips trailed down your neck, with such heat that it left you breathless. he nibbled at your skin, his teeth gently scraping against your sensitive flesh. the sensation was both painful and exhilarating, a heady mix of fear and desire. you gasped, your body arching involuntarily. 

"i'm not going to bite you," he promised, his voice laced with a hint of mischief. 

"not yet, at least."

𝗰𝗼𝗽𝘆𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 ©𝗴𝘆𝘂𝘂𝗯𝗲𝗿𝗿𝘆𝘆 on Tumblr

˚ · .𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘀 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗲𝗱

[basprotec]

Top software training institute in kochi is protec hub. This training centre is located near south janatha road. Is famous in and around palarivattom.

[tricksterlamb]

hey there, i'm currently working on a feminist website and i'm looking for the help of other women to give their feedback, their opinions, and advice/expertise. the site is not published yet but it is in the development stage, and i would really like as much help as i can get as i have big plans for it and what it sets out to accomplish.

this is a website that aims to promote activism, raise class consciousness, support women of all backgrounds, organize events, share resources, and build community. there is a serious lack of infrastructure in feminist spaces and having us all shouting into the void on social media is antithetical to true feminist action. this website aims to act as a hub for ALL the wonderful resources the women on here post on their blogs, for ease-of-access and the sake of decentralization. this website also seeks to mitigate the amount of discourse and in-fighting within the community in favor of encouraging direct action, change, and connection.

please interact with this post or send me a message if you:

are tired of social media interfaces and would be interested in meeting with other feminists, online and in-person

create feminist art, zines, music, media, graphics, etc.

would be interested in participating in or conducting a workshop for feminist consciousness raising or skill building

know back-end coding

would be interested in contributing whatever you can to a project like this

do not hesitate to ask questions about the project, and reblogs for visibility are very much appreciated.

thanks for reading!

[pininghermit]

Vampire/Dhampir/Crusnik as Househusbands

carnal need to write the house husband au 😩

Alucard

WIFE 👏 HIM 👏 UP. Seriously. All that cooking, cleaning, gardening without a ring? No way. Being a fulfilled relationship might allow this king to finally tackle the Belmont library project because that place is not fitting the aesthetic. Tell me why I see him thriving as those DIY renovation youtube channel stuff? Randomly buys a chateau to fill the void in his heart. But instead of it being melancholic, it becomes his passion project. Every tile, every piece of molding, becomes a love letter to the life he’s finally building. Just love him please.

Abel

boy is disaster coded. A menace in kitchen. But that being said, the church never paid enough for buddy to stay after finding the one. Vow of poverty? Forgotten. He's getting all the seasonal decor spring, fall, holidays. He goes all-in, from the table runners to the garlands to themed mugs. Will randomly adopt pets (or humans because he's a caring boi)? You’ll be out shopping and return home to a goat he’s rescued from a “really sad situation.” You’ll come home to find him casually sipping tea (that could kill a lesser mortal) while the new addition sits nervously, unsure how to process this angelic man’s kindness. And he’s so sweet about it that refusing feels impossible. You’ll just sigh, pat the goat’s head, and wonder how you ended up married to the patron saint of strays.

D

now this is hard to imagine but after years (ages of traveling), D would be a surprising home body. Despite being insanely tall, he is incredibly fond of nooks and crannies to snuggle into. Not big into cooking but will definitely look over your shoulder as you cook. Bonus- does not do well with spicey food, which you found out after you find him hunched up after sneaking a taste of a soup you warned him about. Really good with repairs and gradually learns to accept that he finally has a place of his own. Does not like leaving home a lot (very cat coded). One day you might this dhampir writing an account of his travels like Bilbo but that day is far in future because he's humble king.

Lestat (lol idk why i'm writing him)

Lestat? Oh, he’s the neighbor everyone talks about. High-maintenance? Yes. A party animal? Absolutely. But he’s also the life of every gathering, hosting Gatsby-esque soirées that turn your house into a hub of opulence. He lives for the drama of entertaining. Think crystal chandeliers, flowing champagne, and live jazz bands. Every party is an event. Lestat basks in the compliments, occasionally throwing in casual remarks about how you make the house a home, just to fluster you in front of the guests. Occasionally, things might get wild. Like, "Yennefer-of-Vengerberg-what-are-you-doing" wild. The kind of parties that neighbors gossip about for years. But Lestat pulls it off with such flair that no one ever stays mad for long. Outside of the glitz and glamour, though, he’s hopelessly devoted. Sure, he’s eccentric, but at the end of the night, when the guests leave and the music fades, it’s just you and him. And this vampire is in awe of finding love that accepts him with his freak.

[severedfromthesource]

Without

Cohl has been down a long time before Yui can get to him, but he refuses to give up. No matter what logic dictates. Features M resus, M rescuer, mechanical CPR, intubation, prolonged resus, hypothermia, drowning.

He couldn't even remember why they were diving in the middle of this godforsaken planet. Drowned treasure? Some ancient alien wreckage? All Yui knew as he piloted the little drone sub down the black depths was that Cohl hadn't responded on comms in a very long time. They'd exceeded the point he'd told Yui to find him if he didn't respond, and gone well past it in the twenty minutes it took him to even find the spot the Captain had dove to. The GPS and radar systems didn't play well with the planet's near constant electrical storms. When he did at last find the ship, he drove the submersible until the lights finally caught a flash of something reflective in the dark. His heart seized. Cohl was lying on his side on a platform outside the sub he'd taken down, unmoving. In an instant he snatched him up into the drone sub's hull and drove the thing as fast as he could back up to the waiting Hawk. Her bay opened up to recieve the little craft and he tore open the door as water sloshed out.

Yui heaved his Captain's sopping wet body onto a stretcher. His usually deep bronze skin was ashen, and he looked so utterly dead that it took everything inside the second in command to not burst into tears. The stretcher rose on its thrusters and he shoved it towards the Medbay. All the while he chattered to the ship's intelligence system, "How's he looking? How long has he been without oxygen?" "Body temperature is extremely low. Patient is in full cardiac and respiratory arrest, no BP or oxygen saturation. His suit marked the start of the cardiac event." Yui's stomach lurched. He asked quietly, "How long has He been down?" "37 minutes," replied the Hawk's comms. His legs went weak at the knees and he nearly fell. Adrenaline pushed him forward, careening into the medical unit. No wonder he looked like a corpse. He'd been one the entire time Yui was looking for him. He'd hoped, somehow, the oxygen reserves would last a bit longer than the projection. Cohl was lucky like that. Luck only got you so far with faulty equipment.

He slammed the levitating gurney into the dock and the medical system hummed to life. Another intelligence system with a masculine voice to contrast the Hawk's system piped up from the hub, "Warning, Code Blue. Warning, Code Blue." "I know, goddamnit," Yui sobbed, the strength going out of him for a brief moment. He almost crumpled over the side of the gurney as a sob bubbled up. He had to grip the railing and control his voice enough to say, "Start resuscitative protocol." "Patient's system has high levels of-" "Get him back!" he spat, jamming the controls until he got to the screen for the revival procedures. He blindly jabbed at any prompt, initiating CPR, defib on standby, airway, IV push with both epinephrine and adrenaline queued once the line was established.

He started cutting away the wetsuit clinging tightly to his Captain's clammy skin, so frozen and stiff he nearly lost it again to touch him. Every inch of exposed skin was cold and gray where it should have been warm and brown. The only color to his skin was the blue and purple edged around his lips. His stomach distended slightly from water inhalation. Yui continued to run the shears through the side seam of the fabric, under his armpit and down to where it ended at his ankle. He pulled away the shorn fabric from underneath his still body and discarded it, leaving him bare under the harsh lights of the Medbay, making him look all the paler as it caught on the rivulets of water collecting here and there in the dips and hollows. Yui planted his hands over the too firm and too round stomach and shoved down, expelling a gush of foaming white seawater from his slack lips and nose. He did this a few times, shuddering as Cohl gurgled and grunted with dead lungs. The Medbay's small mechanical arms and pincers moved about the body as it started an IV and raised the bed beneath his shoulders blades so his chest sat in a slight arch, forcing his head to tilt limply back. When Yui returned to the head of the gurney to clear away the foam from his face, he shivered to see his eyes had slid slightly open. "It's okay," he whispered as he dried off his lips and nose, though he wasn't sure if he was saying it to himself or his Captain.

"Beginning cardiopulmonary resuscitation," the system announced, sliding a thin band around Cohl's chest. In the middle of this sat a small rubber plunger, and in an instant the band was tightening in a vice and shoving the plunger against his sternum. His body rocked, the little device having a surprising amount of strength. It forced his shoulders to shrug inward, his arms rocking at his sides as his stomach, flattened by Yui's efforts, again bulged with displaced force. An additional arm lowered to pull his jaw open, easily sliding in a narrow breathing tube that split into two. A clip at the halfway point extended over his cheeks and mouth to hold it in place, and nearby a ventilator began breathing for him. The other tube in his throat suctioned out the remaining water and fluid in his throat, and for a moment the room was full of wet gurgling and squelching as the compression band beat against waterlogged lungs. Even when his airway was suctioned clear, Cohl still rasped out any air the ventilator fed him, the plastic tubing making each soft grunt whistle slightly.

Yui stood to the side of the mechanical assault. After punching in a few hypothermia procedures to be done alongside resuscitation, there wasn't much else he could do. He tried to help, tried to find something to do to not feel so useless, but the Medbay was an advanced system from a newer model of space cruiser than the Hawk, and most of a doctor's work was automated. It did a lot more than a failed med student could do. So he watched, his knuckles white around the bed railing, as Cohl was shifted and pounded into the back support like a ragdoll. The compression band made his head rock and he shifted to the side to slide a pillow underneath to hold him somewhat still. He couldn't stand watching the way his body bonelessly jerked and spasmed under the chest compressions. He glanced up at the monitors. A flatline, broken by the artificial pulse, raced across the nearest holo. His gaze slid to the cardiogram beside it. Cohl's heart was being squeezed, coiling and releasing in tandem with the machine, but the muscle didn't so much as twitch on its own. Yui pushed back dark hair from Cohl's lidded eyes for want of something to do with his hands.

One of the Medbay's arms implanted a small device over one of Cohl's kidneys, a port which connected to a suspended bag of saline. Heating coils hummed in the dispenser the IV liquid appeared from, and Yui could feel the table radiate a low warmth against Cohl's skin. He wanted to just crank the damn thing up, but knew he could easily kill him that way. As if he could get any deader. Cold, bloodless, without a pulse or respiration. He scrubbed his hand over his face to chase away the morbid thoughts. He dropped out of med school, but one thing had always stuck dealing with the cold: you're not dead until you're warm and dead. Medbay put his Captain's core temp at 75 degrees and climbing by minute percentiles. Not warm, and not dead. Not yet.

Machines pumped his heart, circulated his blood, filled his lungs, and some piece of hardware was in charge of his every vital organ. Yui told himself there was no way Cohl wasn't coming back. But the minutes crawled by. His body temp got to the upper 80s as the warm saline piped through his kidneys to heat up his bloodstream from the inside. His skin wasn't so wooden anymore, and although still noticeably cooler than usual, Yui could finally touch him without wincing. The band zipped in against his chest and pulsed through his upper body, his belly rising just a touch whenever the ventilator hissed oxygen into his lungs. There was no longer the wet sucking sound, which marked an improvement as well as his core body temp. At least his lungs were finally clear of water.

The minutes stretched on. He kept imagining Cohl in the dark, swallowed up by pitch black water, waiting for him. Drifting off. Laying dead on that platform for over half an hour. He checked the time marked on a nearby holo and flinched to see he'd been in cardiac arrest for an hour. His organs had been pumped and blood suffused for the latter half of that hour, and there hadn't been a sign of ventricular fibrillation, no improvement. Yui touched the cheek that finally had back some of its color. "Any change?" he asked as his voice cracked. "No change," announced the Medbay, "Patient is exhibiting a low level of brain activity, but no electrical activity in the heart. Temperature has risen another three points since last reading, and circulation to femoral and carotid seem to be unimpeded." Yui pressed down hard against Cohl's thigh and lower belly, squinting as he felt the pulse from the machine. "Yeah... Yeah blood is circulating. Push..." His chest felt too tight to speak and he pressed a bit harder into Cohl's femoral for the comfort of his pulse, even if it was one being forced on him. "Push another round of epi." It wasn't bound to be much help while his temp was still so low, but if he didn't do something, even just order something, he might break down completely. There had to be something he could do besides stand around like a jackass while machines jostled and pumped his body. Yui slid his hand under his Captain's neck, the other resting just above the thumper jamming down into his cracked sternum. He tried not to focus on the way his entire body seemed to pulse with each compression, or the way his throat flexed with each breath shoved into his lungs, unwilling to take up their own task.

"Surat," he whispered, invoking the name the illustrious Captain Cohl only ever trusted Yui with, "If you leave me alone in the middle of nowhere, I will never forgive you. If you-" His voice caught and he sagged over the rippling body, pressing his forehead to Cohl's cheek. He rubbed his hand gently over his clavicle as the thumper jabbed again and again at his heart. "Don't leave me," he pleaded in a quiet rasp, "Please... please, just come back." The warm saline had softened him again, raising his body temp enough he just seemed slightly cool to touch. Yui continued running his hand back and forth over the space just above the compression band as if in apology. It was, in a way. He hated doing all this to him. Every bit of it felt invasive and violent in a way he would never wish on the Captain he loved as dearly as anyone in his life. More than anyone, if he were honest with himself. Seeing his ribcage pulverized, his organs forced to function, the tubing and wires snaking from his body. One in his throat to make him breathe. One cycling saline through his kidneys. A catheter, also helping pump warm fluid through his system. He felt like he would break if he had to watch much longer, but knew he would never recover if he stopped the resuscitation efforts. He checked the temp gauge one more time. 90.9 glowed in red. A few more degrees and he would be in the normal range. Warm and dead. Yui shook his head, trying to clear it of that thought.

The code went on. The second in command had nothing to do, so he simply held Cohl's hand, trying to find comfort in the artificial pulse he could feel in his wrist. "Doctor Yui," the Medbay said after some time, though it was hard to tell just how long- he couldn't bring himself to look at the clock ticking down the seconds Cohl had been without a heartbeat. "Not a doctor," he sighed. "Noted. Commander Yui," the voice corrected. Suddenly the body went still. The automatic CPR stopped, and the heart monitor went from the rhythmic pip pip pip pip in time to the compressions to a long, flat whine. He sat bolt upright, jabbing at the controls. "What the hell are you doing?" he demanded. The controls had locked. He slapped at the RESUME button, but it wouldn't obey. "Patient has suffered a total lack of cardiac activity for two hours." Yui's blood went cold to hear that. The Medbay went on, "Protocol dictates the attending physician calls time of death and ceases all resuscitation efforts." "Don't you dare fucking stop," he snapped, trying to shift the compression band out of the way. It held firm. Yui cursed under his breath and awkwardly stuck his hands between Cohl's chest and the machine, shoving as well as he could. The plunger got in the way of actually pumping his heart, but he got as close as he could with the intrusion. He looked up pleading at the health display. "Please don't stop, just- he's got a chance, he was in subzero for long enough to preserve-" "Patient has had a temperature of 98 degrees for the past twenty minutes with no electrical activity." Bile rose in his throat. Indeed the display which marked his temperature was in the green, and still he had laid unmoving on the gurney, without even fibrillation to suggest his heart might remember how to beat. "Just a little while longer," Yui gasped out, shoving against Cohl's heart. "He's gonna come back, alright? He has to." He clutched the sides of his face and shook him slightly. "Surat, just fucking breathe, please! One breath, come on!" The ventilator stuck out from between his teeth, but this too had been stopped. Yui pulled his mouth open enough he could get somewhat around it, pressing their lips together as he pushed a breath into his throat. "Protocol dictates-" "Override then!" he shouted, returning to the display, "Override security code, fuck... s-security code 226784, Yui H-" "Insufficient clearance."

The stupid thing was designed for this exact situation. A doctor who didn't want to admit defeat. Who would keep a patient's heart beating and their lungs inflating until the ship lost power, because he was too stubborn and stupid to know when enough was enough. A higher ranking crew member would be the one to have to make the call on whether it could continue. But on the Hawk, it was just the two of them. It was always just the two of them. And the only person who could tell the Medbay to keep it up was the one laying pulseless on the table. Yui shoved a hand through his hair, his breath quickening. "Goddamnit, override security code-" Cohl only ever used two or three passwords repeated through computer systems on the ship. It had always been a huge security risk, but he was glad of it now. He tried, "Code 011289!" Cohl's birthday. "Invalid." He tried his mother's birthday. "Invalid." He tried the anniversary date of the day Cohl had adopted his dog back on Earth. "Invalid." A sob stole Yui's voice for a moment as he collapsed against the bed. His mind raced, heart thudding as he tried to think of what else his Captain might use, his blood rushing almost too loud to think. He again cupped his face, searching his slack features like he might have some answer to give him. Then, as a last resort, he quietly murmured, "Override security code... code 122492." "Override accepted. Would you like me to continue resuscitation?" He shuddered. The big idiot had used his birthday for the Medbay's systems. "Yes," Yui sobbed, pressing their foreheads together. "How long should efforts continue if there's no change?" "As long as it takes. Keep going."

Again his body spasmed under the compression band, again air hissed into the ventilation tube. Yui's gaze flickered over the body in front of him. Naked in a nest of wires and tubes. Bruised black and blue where the mechanical thumper pistoned into his chest. He pulled a sheet over his lower half to preserve some kind of dignity, but there was no dignity in assaulting a corpse like this. But he couldn't give up. Even if, by now, it felt less like giving up on him and more like letting him rest after a long, drawn out fight for his life. Tears ran warm down his cheeks and he shuddered in a breath. There was nothing he could do but wait for the inevitable warning on the ship's power supply, when he'd be forced to stop or risk shutting down the whole place. Until then...

Yui crawled onto the gurney beside his Captain as the compression band mechanically seesawed his body, making his stomach bulge when it hit. He laid down at his side, laying his head against his shoulder, which jerked underneath him with each thrust. Cohl's arm hung limp at his side, and he took his wrist and folded the limb over himself like a blanket. Like the embrace he'd only ever stolen during those nights of drinking and revelry, when Cohl would pull him into his body and he'd feel his warmth and smell the dust of some adventure on him. He smelled like salt water now, and antiseptic. Still, he curled in against him, the ripples and pulses of the machines serving to lull him into a trance like state. Yui slid an arm around his stomach as the thumper forced it to bob up and down, closing his eyes in the warmth of the embrace, and pretending, at least for a little while, that everything was fine.

He stayed like that for an eternity, waiting for the system alarm that warned him the code was taking up too much energy. Just listening to the steady blip of the monitor and feeling the Medbay's work jostle his limp body around. Then, nearing the third and final hour of Cohl's cardiac arrest, the Medbay said, "Commander Yui, please do not touch the patient." He jumped slightly and sat up, still holding Cohl's arm around his shoulders. "W-What is it?" "I've detected ventricular fibrillation. Stand clear while I charge the defibrillation unit." He felt weak with relief, almost too weak to climb down off the bed. Part of him didn't want to either, he wanted to lay there with him forever, suspended in a moment where there might still be some glimmer of hope. But this was better, this was real hope, and he reluctantly laid Cohl's arm back against the bed, drawing away. Two sets of thin robotic limbs placed pads against his upper chest and flush against his ribs on the opposite side. "Charging to 200," announced the Medbay as the machine whined with electricity, "Stand clear." Cohl jerked up against the plunger pinning him down, his limbs contracting inward. Yui glanced at the monitor showing an inside view of his chest, able to watch as the muscle, fluttering and thrown into chaos, seized up with the shock. When the contraction passed, it again vibrated without rhythm or meaning. "Shock advised. Charging to 260. Stand clear." Cohl bucked again, fingers jerking into a fist for a moment before his body slid back into stillness. No change. The Medbay shocked him again, then again, and again, but his heart wouldn't obey. The display showed it jerk, tense up, then continue quivering. Or it would push out a few quick beats and return to its useless shaking. On the fifth shock, when Yui was nearly broken from his catatonic mania and about to tell the Medbay to at last stop, Cohl's body jumped particularly hard. Then his heart started beating.

The sudden stillness felt so wrong after hours of rhythmic spasming and jerking that for a moment, Yui thought something else had gone wrong. But something had gone right instead. Cohl was alive. The compression band slid back into the ports it had come from, leaving his battered chest at last. His sternum was sunken slightly where it had been beating at his heart for at least two and a half hours, and his dark skin was mottled with an ugly bruise that stretched over most of his chest, but Yui could see his pulse leaping at the apex and pounding in his throat. As if not trusting the most advanced med system on board, he fumbled for an old fashioned analog stethoscope amidst the supplies, pressing the bell to a few points on his chest. He heard the ventilator hiss, the air filling his lungs in a whoosh, and beneath that, at last, was his heartbeat. It sounded like a lame animal, still shaky on its feet as it occasionally stammered in half-beats. Lub-dub, lub-lublub- lub-dub, lub-d-dub. But it was there. He was there.

It would be a long time before he woke up, miraculously with minimal brain damage. It still took months for him to fully recover. Yui still carried the shame of the event with him for awhile after Cohl was well enough to captain the ship again. Any other patient subjected to everything he'd put him through might have been angry he didn't just call time. But the shame warred with the joy he felt to see him alive, and most of the time that won out. He confessed one night the full extent- told Cohl of curling up next to his body in his grief and the guilt he felt for what he'd done. But Cohl had just wrapped him up in his arms and kissed the top of his head. "I'm glad you didn't give up," he murmured against his hair. Yui closed his eyes, pressing his face against his chest hard to take comfort in the beat of his heart, and whispered, "Me too."

[identifying-cars-in-posts]

I GOT A NEW CAR

Everybody meet the new baby that i will never shut up about forever!

This is Clifford the Third, my new 1996 Nissan Pickup!! I probably paid too much for her but given that I live in Massachusetts and she has virtually no rust I’m okay with that lol.

So a brief history of the Nissan Pickup! These trucks were released in the US in 1985 and were sold through 1997, when they were replaced with the Frontier. They were the successor to the beloved Datsun 720, which had been in production since 1979. They are in fact just called the Pickup! They’re colloquially known as the D21 - their chassis code, and the Hardbody, because of the double walled durable construction of the trucks’ bed.

The D21 was available with a couple different engines and drivetrain layouts. Mine is a 4x4 with the KA24 motor (which it shared with the 240SX/Silvia). She’s also a King Cab, meaning she has a slightly elongated wheelbase to allow for two small inwards facing jump seats in the back of the cab. Still a two door though.

AND SHE’S A STICK! She has a 5-speed manual transmission, and it’s the best transmission i’ve ever personally had in a car. She’s my third manual, the other two being a 1999 Toyota Corolla and a 2004 Subaru WRX, both of which were great but the Corolla had a really sloppy gearbox that felt incredibly vague at times, whereas the WRX had a sportier transmission that was pretty unforgiving and stiff. This one is definitive about where each gear is, but also won’t get too jerky or loud if you shift a little early or late.

Nissan Hardbody trucks are known and loved for their durability, versatility, and simplicity. They’re super bare bones but what they do have is built remarkably well and meant to withstand lots of abuse. If they don’t rust and have basic maintenance kept up it’s not uncommon for them to go 300k+ miles with minimal issues. Mine has around 184k miles, high but manageable. She also has a few modifications from the previous owner, namely a straight piped exhaust (no muffler, just one big long aluminum tube), aftermarket bumpers and lights, locking hubs, and a small lift. The guy i bought it from had plans to make it an off-roader but had too many projects and needed to offload one to make space in his driveway.

While many people either take these off-roading or turn them into drift trucks, my plan is to bring her back to mostly stock. I’m in the process of tracking down OEM bumpers and a more typical cat-back (from the catalytic converter back) exhaust system so she’s a little less obnoxiously loud. Since i mostly just need reliable transport more than a toy and she is now my sole car, I want to just make her relatively normal. But I love her a lot and am happy to be able to share!

[thedoomedpie]

Accidentally made a zombie Micheal Jackson lol.

This is the testing area, so none of the area will be in the final product, but here's a little snippet of the gameplay! or, just. moving around and me laughing at the zombie. It's not even aligned with the ground yet lol.

Anyways, wanted to share a little bit of the game. Today I finished the slot checking in the inventory, coded in a new separate mailbox (as you can see in the video) and, obviously, added a zombie :)

The zombie wasn't too bad to make the sprite of. I made them instead of starting to complete the tile sheet lol. It's a daunting task, because I think I need at least fifty different blocks or so to accurately show the hermitcraft environment? I'll get around to it. I'll get around to it. eventually.

Aside from the tile set, I think all I need to do is create the 'scenes' (hermit bases & post office), code in a nether portal (the nether hub will be very dumbed down, just so you can travel between clusters of bases with their mailboxes). I also need to code in all the other hermits' mailboxes, and then I'll start the process of making all the letters, as I only have two working ones in now.

AND NOW that I've sidled into that specific topic, if anyone wants to have a tiny part in this little project of mine, I am in need of little letters that could theoretically be sent between the hermits in this season! I have a post with more info here. If you have letter ideas, especially for the lesser-known hermits (or just the ones I don't see enough- like XB, wels, xisuma, hypno, false, keralis, beef, to name the ones I'm most in need of) or just any of any quality! Please send them through! You will get your name in credit on the finished product, too!

I love absolutely all the submissions so far! And fun fact, there is already TWO neck kisses letters submitted. Godspeed friends you are all amazing.

[posttexasstressdisorder]

California’s oldest and most infamous prison, San Quentin Rehabilitation Center, is undergoing a groundbreaking transformation into a Nordic-inspired rehabilitation hub. Spearheaded by Gov. Gavin Newsom, the $239 million renovation is expected to be finished by January 2026.

Once home to notorious figures like cult leader Charles Manson and serial killer Richard Ramirez, the prison is now at the forefront of California’s evolving approach to incarceration. This new direction was solidified by Assembly Bill 1104, introduced by Democratic Assemblymember Mia Bonta and signed into law by Newsom in October 2023, redefining the purpose of incarceration as “rehabilitation and safe and successful reentry back into the community.”

The project draws inspiration from Scandinavian incarceration models that prioritize dignity, autonomy and reintegration. This approach has been linked to lower recidivism rates, as Norway’s two-year rate is 17.6%, compared with 61.5% in the U.S.

Jesse Vasquez, executive director of Friends of San Quentin News and the Pollen Initiative, told SFGATE he supports a shift in the prison model from punishment toward rehabilitation. “For the first time in California history, the governor decided, ‘OK, we’re gonna change the penal code. We’re gonna change the mission of the Department of Corrections, and we’re gonna solidify it with a monumental structural investment,’” he said. 

Unlike more remote prisons, San Quentin’s location in Marin County — just outside San Rafael — offers close proximity to Bay Area resources and a well-established volunteer network, enabling a wide range of rehabilitation and educational programs. Mount Tamalpais College, which operates within San Quentin, offers an associate degree in liberal arts, with courses taught by volunteer faculty from top Bay Area colleges and universities.

A view of San Quentin seen from a ferry boat on San Francisco Bay.Susanne Friedrich/Getty Images

Central to the transformation are three new buildings replacing former industrial facilities that will house vocational training areas, multimedia education centers and restorative justice programs. The 2024 report from the San Quentin Transformation Advisory Council outlines plans to reimagine the prison environment through additions like a library, grocery store, cafe and communal spaces reflecting life outside prison.

“If you can imagine like a college campus vocational training center inside of the institution,” Vasquez said, emphasizing plans for open-access programming.

Additionally, the renovation includes significant improvements in inmate living conditions, particularly advocating single-cell occupancy — a direct response to inmate requests, Vasquez noted.

“The incarcerated first and foremost wanted single-cell living,” Vasquez said, noting that renovating existing facilities wasn’t viable. With the new model, the prison can better accommodate more humane living conditions aligned with rehabilitation goals. 

Newsom’s San Quentin initiative is part of broader criminal justice reforms, including his 2019 moratorium on California’s death penalty and the dismantling of San Quentin’s death row announced in January 2022. These foundational changes paved the way for the current rehabilitation-focused transformation.

According to a 2023 California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation report, nearly half of California inmates released in 2018 faced reconviction within three years.Vasquez hopes San Quentin’s new approach will serve as a replicable model nationwide to reduce recidivism.  

“We’ve tried incarceration in terms of warehousing with no programming or minimal programming and minimal investment for more than 180 years, and it hasn’t worked,” Vasquez said. “This is the one time that we have a chance to provide investment and create opportunity so that the thing does work.”

Local editor Kasia Pawlowska contributed to this story. 

[lonelydreams-world]

Raf's Notes as originally presented on The Hub's website.

TRANSMITTING FROM INSIDE AUTOBOT HEADQUARTERS

What if you could have secret access to the Autobots' base, getting the inside scoop on their latest missions and battles with the Decepticons? Well, that's Raf! He's got full access to all things Autobots, and he's taking notes.

We've gained access to his laptop, so now you can peek over his shoulder and see what's really happening behind the scenes. (Just don't tell him we gave you the secret password, or he might hack our system.) Check out Raf's Notes every week -- EXCLUSIVELY--here on HubWorld.com!

THE NOTES SO FAR

Gotta keep track of all of this ACTION! This is my stash of all my entries--super-encrypted so that Megatron and his boys (or Agent Fowler) can't get to the goods!

ENTRY # 1

This Is NOT a Diary!

OK, not sure where to start, since a LOT has happened, but I figure I better take notes, cuz ... well, let's just say, life's been pretty different lately. And I want to remember as much as possible, cuz if someone else said all this happened to him, no way would I believe it. I'm saving these notes as a triple-encrypted file in my laptop, so no one will ever see them. I'd do hex-encryption, but who has the time?

AUTOBOTS!!!

Where was I? OK. Autobots. My life hasn't been the same since I met them. They're these huge autonomous robotic life-forms who came to Earth to protect us from these other huge guys called Decepticons. Optimus Prime is the leader of the good guys, and Megatron is the really bad Bad Guy. (Except they used to be friends ... but that was a REALLY long time ago.)

They're all after this stuff called Energon, which is kinda like food and gas and blood and electricity all mixed into one. (Note to self : Eww.) They used to live on a planet called Cybertron, but they destroyed it by fighting for, like, forever. Optimus says he's trying to make sure that doesn't happen to Earth next. They've been here in secret for a while, but since me and these other kids Jack and Miko accidentally saw them and discovered their secret, they're protecting us ... in case the Cons come after us.

Bumblebee's my buddy. Mostly cuz I'm the only kid who understands him. Not sure why ... he makes perfect sense. He just doesn’t use words. Might be the same reason I could understand digital code, even when I was three years old. Anyway, most people talk too much. Best thing? Bee's an awesome muscle car, and he’s my friend.

Arcee is Jack's partner, and Bulkhead watches out for Miko. I guess I should point out that Jack and Miko go to my school, and normally we'd never even talk. But lately, nothing's normal, so the three of us hang out at the secret Autobot base a LOT. It's awesome, cuz they have the sickest computers and other way-cool tech.

My mom asked where I was going after school all the time, so I told her I joined the Computer Club. Which is kinda true.

ENTRY #2

The Bigger They Are....

Woah, what a week! Looks like Megatron, the main Decepticon, went down for good this week, out in space. Lucky for Earth! Most of us felt like cheering, but not Optimus. He never likes it when a spark gets extinguished, no matter whose. A spark is like a Bot's life spirit, more or less.

Game Over?

After that, we were all thinking Game Over. No more Megatron, no more trouble. So we got busy with our science fair projects. I have to say, it was pretty cool getting science help from the Bots. They have so much data to work with, and all that amazing hardware.

But it never stays quiet for long around here. Optimus and Bee went to go check out a blip on the Energon grid. It's how they keep track of all the Bots and Cons everywhere -- like a radar screen for the whole universe. They figured it was probably Cons, but had no idea who or what they were headed for. But soon as they saw Skyquake, it was like -- GO time.

Turns out these other Cons, Starscream and Soundwave, had come to Earth just to find and reanimate this massive guy. Bee said Skyquake made Optimus look small! Even worse, his whole mission was to destroy Optimus, under ancient orders from Megatron. They'd faced off on Cybertron before, but that was forever ago.

Bigger AND Badder!

Thing is, big as Skyquake was, he wasn't as swift as the Bots. Our guys had him down and pretty much out.. until good old Agent Fowler came along in a plane. Skyquake scanned the plane, and then it was ON again. But, then snap -- the GUY BECAME THE PLANE!!! (btw, scanning sounds awesome. Like instant cloning.) Wish I'd seen that!

Anyway, in the end, our guys nailed Skyquake, and his spark went out. Huge relief in some ways, but Optimus was sad again ... he always hopes he can bring the bad guys around to being good.

Meanwhile, Ratchet seriously messed with my volcano project for Science Fair. I will NOT let him help again. I had to stay late at school and try to repair the Energon damage in the auditorium. Which took more than a little explaining.

ENTRY #3

Scraplets Scare!

OMG. What an insane week! We had a Scraplet infestation at the base. Imagine raccoon-sized termites wired on too much coffee! Or zombie dogs on candy! Or ... well, I'll explain.

It all started when Bumblebee and Bulkhead were scouting for Energon in the Arctic. They found this big metal egg/pod thing and brought it back for examination. No one knew what it was. But by the time it thawed, it was too late!

Here's what happened: Once the pod thing was in the lab, Optimus and Arcee went back to the Arctic for more recon while Bee and Bulkhead thawed out. Turns out they get frostbite too, almost like us. Miko and Jack were playing a video game ... and since there's only two controllers, I was like, No, you go ahead. (Mr. Nice Guy. As usual.) So I was just hanging near the lab when I saw the first Scraplet.

It was kinda cute, for a bot. It was like ... well, like a dog, like I said. But a friendly dog. They only eat metal, see, not organic material -- so when it saw me, it was like: "Hmmm. Not tasty."

But then it followed me back to the main area and BAM! It attacked Bee like mad. I had to smash it with a pipe to make it stop. Bulkhead seriously freaked. Never seen him like that before. And then we knew it was an infestation. There were like HUNDREDS of them, all inside the walls, chewing up the pipes and cables! Which explained the Comm-Link and power failures. Optimus and Arcee were out there freezing, but Ratchet couldn’t activate the GroundBridge to bring them in.

Since us kids weren't Scraplet food, we went to fix the hole in the Energon pipeline -- just in time, too. It was scary, but way more scary for the Bots. For once, WE got to protect THEM! It was cool and all, but still ... I'd rather not do it again.

I'm not so much the Protector type. More the Defensive Crouch type. Still ... it's good to know I can work it if I have to.

ENTRY #4

Don't Judge a Bot by Its Cover

I learned something new about Decepticons this week. Something huge happened -- a Bot made contact with us! Wheeljack. He's an old friend of Bulkhead's ... this big soldier Bot guy who just roams the universe solo. Or that's who he was supposed to be.

But I'm getting ahead of myself.

It started when we got a friendly Bot signal from deep space this week. Bulkhead was psyched to see it was Wheeljack, cuz they used to be best buds, back in this elite fighting unit called the Wreckers. (Sounds like a reality show, right?) When he showed up, we kinda had a party. They played this game called "lobbing" which is basically playing catch with the biggest things they can find. Miko jammed on her guitar (I think she may be getting better), and I showed Bee how to do the Robot. It was awesome.

But then Bulkhead started getting suspicious, cuz he said Wheeljack wasn't acting like himself. Turns out it wasn't Wheeljack at all! It was just a Decepticon pretending to be the real Wheeljack, who was imprisoned up on the Nemesis -- that's the Cons' ship.

That's right! We actually had a REAL LIVE CON inside the base!!! Gives me chills just thinking about it. Bet Miko gets worse chills -- when Bulkhead blew the Con's cover, he took her hostage. She was pretty cool under pressure, I gotta say.

Anyway, thanks to some quick thinking and awesome fighting, we got the real Wheeljack back. He actually busted out of the Nemesis himself! Way cool. So then we had another party. For reals. We all kinda thought Wheeljack would stay, and we'd have another Bot here on Earth ... but he took off soon as Ratchet fixed up his ship. Everyone was bummed that he left.

Bots aren't always what they seem. Maybe that's true about people too. That's why I like computers! Cuz you can always just reprogram. Simple. Elegant. No surprises.

ENTRY #5

One Laptop, Over Easy

Whole new thing this week. The Bots had to fight humans AND Cons!

Agent Fowler was taking this radioactive device called a Dingus across the country when Cons attacked him. That's what he thought, anyway. So he asked the Autobots to GroundBridge it out of danger, but it's too risky to transport radioactive devices that way. So Optimus and the other Autobots had to roll out and form a convoy to take it over land.

I stayed at the Base with Ratchet and watched everything on the grid via Comm-Link. The attackers were in fast attack cars and totally harassing the V-mode Bots. That's when we found out they weren't Cons at all -- they were humans working for a crew called MECH. Then, as if being chased by a bunch of heavily armed flesh and blood criminals wasn't enough, six Cons showed up out of the blue.

We had to protect the Dingus, so I got to hack into the rail system and divert a train. Highlight of my week -- GroundBridging Jack and Miko onto a moving train! Ratchet didn't think it was possible, but I got the train's coordinates online and zzzoom -- off they went! But then MECH hacked into the same system -- and they fried my laptop! Not sure how, but major bummer. Good thing my files were backed up.

I guess Miko and Jack were pretty freaked by how serious it got on that train. It almost derailed, and Optimus had to stop it with his bare hands. Kinda wish I'd been there. But mostly? Glad I wasn't. Not that I'd say that out loud.

Optimus was bummed, cuz the Bots blew their cover in front of MECH when they transformed to fight the Decepticons. And we're all pretty sure MECH will be back. But at least the Dingus didn't blow up or get stolen.

After all that, Ratchet sort of helped me fix my laptop ... even though he kept saying how lame it was. Well, now I've gotta figure out a better firewall. Still can't believe I got counter-hacked! Very embarrassing, actually. Hoping everyone forgets really soon.

:)

ENTRY #6

Breaking and Energon

This week, we got to break into a museum! But it was for a good reason.

It all started when the Autobots saw an Energon blip on the grid over in Greece. Bulkhead was trying to help Miko see how homework can be cool, so he took her with him to Greece. So there they were at these excavations, when they found a mosaic showing an ancient Cybertronian Energon Harvester. Pretty unexpected!

Miko took a snap and showed it to Optimus, who said the mosaic was a signpost for the real thing. So I did a quick image search online and found this ancient Greek statue on display in a regular museum. We knew the Decepticons were after it, so we had to snag it first ... which meant breaking into the museum. Like Optimus said: We were only breaking a law to save lives.

Here's why lives were at stake: Not only can a Harvester suck Energon out of the ground -- it can pull it right out of a living Autobot! That'd be like a vampire sucking all the blood out of you just by pointing at you. No way did Optimus want the Cons getting that thing.

So we planned this total heist, like in the movies -- only with a forklift and us kids. It would've worked, too, but then these Cons Breakdown and Knock Out showed up, and there was a massive Bot brawl in the parking lot.

During the fight, Jack and I came face-to-face with Soundwave in the museum! That is one scary guy. But he was so focused on the Harvester, he left us alone. Lucky!

The Autobots were bummed he'd snagged it, but they eventually got it back over in Greece. Took more fighting, and Bulkhead lost some Energon, but it worked out.

Oh, and Miko got caught by a museum guard, but for once Agent Fowler was pretty cool. He came in, flashed his badge, and then just sent her on her way. Like, Yo, there's Bulkhead. Go.

I guess we have friends in high places now.

ENTRY #7

Playing the Race Car

Wild week. Jack pretty much got everyone in trouble, but gotta say ... we were all kinda responsible. Mostly cuz we didn't really step up and help him resist temptation. Optimus wasn't happy with any of us.

According to Jack, it all started when this girl at school asked if she could have a ride on Arcee. Of course, Arcee was like no way, that's against the rules, and it's not happening. But then this dumb bully from school who drives a street racer talked some smack about Arcee -- I think he called her a moped?! -- and she was like, OK, that's it. (She takes that kind of thing personally.) So she and Jack smoked him right there. The bully guy wanted a rematch, but Arcee said nope -- we're not breaking the rules again.

So here's where I came in. Jack didn't want to look like a chicken in front of that girl (he likes her!), so he asked if Bee would help him win the race. That didn't seem like a good idea to me, but I'm all for taking down a bully. And besides, Bee was really into the racing part. So he and Jack showed up at the race. But then ... so did a Decepticon! It was one of the car Cons we saw at the museum ... Knock Out? Anyway, as soon as he saw Bee, the Con got violent. Bee said it was scary. And Jack couldn't understand what Bee was saying, so it was like total chaos.

It's weird: We all basically broke the rules and then, boom -- the worst-case scenario happened. What were we thinking? Optimus totally went out and tracked everyone down and saved the day ... but he wasn't happy about it. Then he gave us all a serious talking to. Sounds corny, but I think we all learned our lessons.

In the end, Arcee did let Jack give that cute girl a ride ... and now he won?t stop talking about the girl. Or about Arcee.

ENTRY #8

Bugging Out

Jack and Arcee had a wicked time out in the forest this week. They were looking for an Energon signature, but turns out the blip was this super-creepy Decepticon called Airachnid. (Like "arachnid," which means spider.) She has eight limbs, spits webbing, and likes to hunt. Creepy! I wasn't there, so all I have to go on is what Jack said, but sounds like it got super hairy out there.

He says he's never seen Arcee that afraid before, and it's cuz she has history with Airachnid from back on Cybertron. She wouldn't give him deets, but it must've been bad for a Bot that fierce to get that scared. And her Comm-Link wouldn't work, so she couldn't call the Base for backup.

Jack ended up running, since Airachnid was actually hunting him! She travels the universe looking for different species to add to her "collection." Kinda like a big game hunter. I think hunting's gross enough already, without humans being the prey. Too bad she didn't land her ship in the middle of one of those controlled hunts, where people "hunt" captive lions and tigers. Yeah, that's a fair fight.

Anyway, Jack was pretty swift. He tried setting traps, which didn't work, but then he actually went into her spaceship and started a fire in her ship?s leaking engine thrusters. That messed her up just enough to let Arcee get up on her. Then Airachnid just fled. Took off. Adios.

Arcee's been quiet since they got back. Big and tough as they are, I forget how vulnerable Autobots can be. Bumblebee says she's not talking to him either. Not sure what she's going through -- and I'm not asking -- but she and Optimus took a couple long drives this week.

OTOH, Jack's all puffed up now, cuz Arcee finally started calling him her "partner." Miko keeps reminding him he's just a kid, but seeing what he just went through, I'm OK with letting him feel whatever he wants. Not that he wants to know what I think.

Anyway, I feel like we're all partners here.

ENTRY #9

Inside Megatron's Mind

I don't know what was a bigger deal this week -- Optimus Prime nearly losing his spark, which was huge, or Bumblebee going INSIDE Megatron's mind. Yes, INSIDE it! And we thought that guy's spark WAS out.

Here's how it started... Out on a recon mission with Ratchet, Optimus Prime caught Cybonic Plague, a deadly virus Megatron invented on Cybertron. It looked like he was a goner. But Jack figured that if Megatron invented it, he must have invented an antidote too. Luckily, the Nemesis's cloaking tech was down, so Ratchet was able to bridge Arcee and Bumblebee up to the enemy ship to search out the cure.

But they couldn't find it, so Ratchet said they'd have to enter Megatron's mind through a Cortical-Psychic patch -- using Decepticon medical tech. Arcee was like "Are you out of your fragging mind?!" but then 'Bee volunteered to enter Megatron's mind. I was proud... and terrified.

Us kids stayed at the Base, of course, but we got to see literally inside Megatron's twisted mind through a comm-link. That guy is wacked out. I translated for Jack and Miko while Bumbleee scouted -- and then Bee met Megatron in the guy's own unconscious -- and totally stood up to him -- IN HIS OWN BRAIN! He even outsmarted him by saying that if the plague virus destroyed Optimus, Megatron would never get to do it himself. Which Megatron -- whose fantasies are all about obliterating Optimus -- totally bought.

So Ratchet grabbed the antidote formula via comm-link, and our Autobot pals bridged back. Optimus is fine now, but Bee is acting a little strange. Spending time inside such a sick mind must leave some weird aftereffects. Hope he feels better soon!

ENTRY #10

Out of My Comfort Zone

Up on the Nemesis, Megatron snuck into Bee's brain using the same Cortical-Psychic patch that Bee used to get into his. Then he hijacked Bumblebee. What a nightmare. To think we actually had Megatron inside the Base! Good thing he was more into getting revenge against Starscream than infiltrating our systems and defenses. He did nearly nail Bulkhead with a metal basketball, but that didn’t seem so weird at the time somehow.

But I should have known what was up when Bee forgot to pick me up for school.

Funny. The base's defenses are all physical, and Megatron exploited the groundbridge using kind of a mindbridge. Well, never judge a 'Bot by its cover.

The scariest part of all was watching Bumblebee's mind struggling to control his own body. I knew he wouldn’t let Megatron hurt me. At least, that's what I hoped. So in a way, by forcing Bumblebee to stay focused on me, I was our best defense against Megatron. And it worked.

Wow. I stood up to Megatron. I’d do anything to save Bumblebee ... and that's pretty much what I did. Went waaaay out of my comfort zone to help my buddy. But hey. We're family. We were tight before, but we're even tighter now.

ENTRY #11

Zoned Out

This week, Miko got us kids into big trouble. As in, Terrorcon-sized.

It all started when the Autobots rolled out, and Miko made a break for the Groundbridge! Me and Jack tried to stop her, but we got pulled in too.

The Bots thought they'd found Megatron trying to raise more dead Decepticons (Miko calls 'em "zombie Cons"). But it was actually Starscream. He fired a missile and almost hit us. Yikes! Then Optimus shot off Starscream's arm.

Something went wonky when the Autobots 'bridged us back. We stayed put, but they couldn't see us. It's like we were ghosts. Creepy. Ratchet said we'd gotten sent to the wrong place, but I realized we really went into a different dimension. A shadow zone. Never figured I could think quicker than an Autobot. I was pretty proud of myself! And pretty terrified.

Worst part? Miko got her zombie Con: This massive Terrorcon called Skyquake was with us in the Shadowzone. Wow, I can run a LOT when I have to!

Starscream's arm was in the Shadowzone too. I figured out how to launch its missile. (More pride. More terror.) We actually knocked off Skyquake's arm ... but the ARM CHASED US TOO! It was like, game over. Thankfully, the Autobots 'bridged us out.

Miko actually told Optimus it was her fault! Jack was like, can you repeat that about a million times? But I was remembering how we three had to work together to escape. What if she HAD gone in by herself?

Scary thought. Weird to say I'm glad I was there, but ... I guess sometimes being in the worst place is the best place you can be.

ENTRY #12

Nervous Breakdown

You'd never expect Bulkhead to say no to a rescue mission. But this week, he told Optimus he wasn't gonna do it, no way no how. Not even for the "greater good."

I get it. The Autobots were rolling out to save a Decepticon. How weird is that? And the Con in question was Breakdown -- Bulkhead's archenemy.

I wasn't there, but I got the deets from Bumblebee and Miko. Bulkhead and Breakdown were having a smackdown, and Bulk got pretty messed up. (Note to self: Never ask Miko if Bulkhead was LOSING, 'specially when I'm in arm-punching range. Ouch.) Then those spooky techie guys from MECH showed up and captured Breakdown. Optimus knew it could be bad for humankind if MECH learned the secrets of Cybertronian biology.

Amazingly, Optimus was OK with Bulkhead flat-out refusing the mission. But not Miko! She acted super-angry about it, but I knew she must've really been massively disappointed. Either way, she talked him into going. How? She said, "No rescue, no REMATCH!" Yeah, they totally speak the same language.

I almost wish I'd seen Bulkhead and Breakdown team up. Except, 'Bee said Starscream and his troopers showed up, so I'm glad I didn't. Starscream creeps me out.

Anyway, pretty soon Bulkhead and Breakdown were back to fighting. But Optimus was proud that Bulkhead rescued his rival. Strange but true: Sometimes you can be totally selfish and still end up serving the "greater good."

Pretty sure Miko was just glad Bulkhead got his rematch -- and won it!

ENTRY #13

Mom Meets MECH

OMG HUGE NEWS! This week, Jack's mom found out about the Autobots! She even came to HQ with him and Arcee.

Me and Miko couldn't even believe it when we saw them riding into base. But by then Jack's mom had been through so much, meeting Autobots was practically no big deal.

I mean, no big deal compared to being KIDNAPPED by MECH and webbed-up high on a ledge by Airachnid, who I guess was working with those techie soldier guys. Silas, MECH's leader, didn't even care about hurting Jack or his mom. He just wanted to get ahold of Arcee. The Autobots would never harm anyone for their own gain. Does that make them more "human" than Silas?

Anyway, Jack's voice got kinda shaky when he told us how Airachnid and Silas made him race against time to save his mom -- alone, while MECH was trying to take Arcee apart. Scariest! Can't even think about it.

Good thing Jack's smart (don't tell him I said that) -- and tricky. He tipped off Agent Fowler, but Airachnid and MECH got away. I can only imagine how upset Arcee must be ... no way am I actually gonna ASK her.

Jack said Airachnid scanned Agent Fowler's helicopter and used it for her new vehicle mode. Now she can travel under the ground OR in the sky. Great. Just what we needed.

It's been tough to keep the Autobots a secret. But Jack really didn't have a choice. Family's more important than secrets, and his mom is all the family he's got. Well, except for me, Miko, and the Autobots.

ENTRY #14

Stuck With It

Sticky situations this week! The Autobots had a close encounter with a weird magnetic weapon -- and we all got stuck with Jack's mom.

Remember last week, when she found out about the Autobots? I kinda thought she'd just tour the base and leave. But she started hanging around, like, every day. Jack's pretty used to his mom worrying about him, but Miko's totally bugged about how things have changed.

It IS weird. Ms. Darby makes us feel kind of embarrassed or something, like we have to explain what we're up to. Everything's awkward, instead of fun. But I still felt bad when Miko said that Arcee's as bad as Jack's mom -- just cuz Arcee sent Miko back to base to keep her safe.

I mean, it WAS dangerous when Arcee and Bulkhead took on Airachnid and Breakdown over this "Polarity Gauntlet" thing. It makes metal stuff stick together -- metal stuff like, well, Arcee and Bulkhead. They got unstuck, but Airachnid and Breakdown got away with the gauntlet. Ratchet seems to think it could be a game-changer -- and not for our side. That makes me pretty nervous.

But what's that thing people say? Change is constant, right? I guess it doesn't have to be bad. But this thing with Jack's mom is still gonna take some getting used to.

ENTRY #15

A Hard Place

Seems like Jack and Miko always get to be in the middle of the action! But this week, I really didn't mind. I mean, would YOU want to be stuck in a massive cave-in with Starscream AND Megatron? Yeah, no way.

Jack actually came face-to-face with Megatron! Even trapped under tons of rocks, that guy is ultra-terrifying. Can't believe Megatron dared Jack to finish him off. Jack said he was really tempted to take a shot, but he knew Optimus wouldn't want him to destroy a helpless opponent. Not even the baddest Decepticon ever. Optimus was proud of Jack for that. Me too.

But wow, poor Miko. She and Bulkhead were in a bad sitch when Jack found them -- with Starscream. Miko was totally dealing, as usual ... until Bulk made Jack get her out of there. Jack said she got so worried about Bulkhead, she was CRYING. Still trying to picture that. Kind of sweet that she cares about the big guy so much. Not that I'd actually TELL her that. Hmm, hope she never sees this!

Anyway, at least they all got out OK -- except Starscream and Megatron. Even Optimus drew the line at actually digging them out. Maybe they'll stay buried ... at least for a while.

ENTRY #16

Split Decision

A Decepticon, changing sides? No way, right? Especially not Starscream. That doesn't even make sense, but this week it almost happened. Sort of.

Us kids stayed behind when the Autobots rolled out to track a Decepticon signal. Good thing too, since Airachnid totally ambushed them with this weapon that freezes Bots in their tracks. Cool part was, Bumblebee got to be the hero. Airachnid stopped Optimus AND Bulkhead, but my buddy faked her out and saved the day. Sweet!

Anyway, about Starscream. The Autobots found him in one of Airachnid's webs, and he completely shocked them by asking to JOIN them! Sounds like a trick, right? And I guess it was. But you know Optimus. He wants to believe that anyone can change, even Starscream.

Pretty sure Arcee didn't give a scrap about redemption when she figured out Starscream's the one who snuffed Cliffjumper, her old partner. She nearly extinguished his spark! But Bumblebee stopped her. I couldn't see why getting rid of Starscream would be so bad, till 'Bee explained that acting out of revenge only makes us weaker. Cuz it's not right.

But I get why Arcee lost it. If anything ever happened to Bumblebee, I'd feel just as awful ... and just as mad. It reminds me again that Autobots are more like us than we think. Even they have to learn stuff the hard way sometimes.

@mk-wizard @escapistsatellite @vitamaeternum @mimitus @kitgirl91 @mokabeanzz @iggyfing @its-elioo Tada! Straight up from TF Wiki! @inexorableone @batstickblog @jazzimena @betaplatina-135

[rudyking]

My pookie:

Whether JJ's son, Riker, likes it or not, he'll always be his father's pookie bear.

The aroma of sizzling bacon battled for dominance with the sweet scent of blueberry pancakes in the cozy North Carolina kitchen. Sunlight streamed through the window, illuminating dust motes dancing above the checkered tablecloth where six-year-old Riker sat, meticulously constructing a fortress out of breakfast toast. His brow was furrowed in concentration, a miniature architect tackling a crumbly, golden challenge.

His father, JJ, a whirlwind of shaggy blonde hair and boundless energy even before his first cup of coffee, bounced into the kitchen, whistling a tune that sounded vaguely like a rock anthem played on a kazoo. Deep dimples punctuated his wide grin as he surveyed the scene. “Morning, sunshine! And look at my little builder!”

Riker, ever focused on structural integrity, merely grunted in response. He was aiming for a drawbridge, and the structural mechanics of toast were proving more complex than he initially anticipated.

Yn, the calm anchor in their vibrant family, glided in next, a serene smile gracing her lips. She placed a steaming mug of coffee in front of JJ and then gently ruffled Riker’s hair, her touch light and affectionate. “Good morning, sweet boy. Sleep well?”

“Mhm,” Riker mumbled, still wholly absorbed in his toasty project.

JJ, oblivious to Riker’s intense construction focus, leaned over and scooped his son into a side hug, nearly toppling the precarious toast castle. “Morning, Pookie Bear!” he boomed, planting a loud, wet kiss on Riker’s cheek.

Riker stiffened momentarily, a subtle flinch that went unnoticed by the effusive JJ. He loved his dad, he really did. JJ was fun, and strong, and always ready for an adventure. But lately, something in the term 'Pookie Bear' had started to chafe.

“Dad,” Riker started, his voice a little strained as he wiggled out of JJ’s embrace to salvage his architectural masterpiece. “Can you not call me that?”

JJ blinked, the playful light in his blue eyes momentarily dimming with confusion. “Not call you… Pookie Bear? But you’re my Pookie Bear!” He punctuated this statement with another, albeit gentler, cheek pinch.

Yn, ever observant, noticed the slight tightening around Riker’s mouth and the way he subtly backed away from JJ’s affectionate onslaught. She poured herself a cup of tea, her gaze thoughtful.

“It’s just… at school,” Riker tried to explain, his small hands carefully rebuilding his toast drawbridge, “the other kids… they don’t get it.”

JJ chuckled, a rumbling, hearty sound. “Get what, buddy? That you’re the cutest, cuddliest, most awesome six-year-old on the planet? They’re just jealous, Pookie Bear.” He ruffled Riker’s hair again, a gesture of pure, unadulterated affection.

Riker sighed, a surprisingly mature sound for a six-year-old. He knew arguing with JJ in full ‘affectionate dad’ mode was like trying to stop a runaway train with a feather. He decided to change tactics. “Can you call me Riker, just for school stuff?”

JJ considered this, stroking his chin thoughtfully. “Hmmm, Riker for school stuff… and Pookie Bear for home stuff?” He beamed, as if he’d cracked a complex code. “Sounds like a plan! Smart kid, my Pookie Bear is.” He winked, completely missing the point.

Yn, sipping her tea, hid a small smile behind her mug. This was going to be interesting.

The school bus stop was a bustling hub of youthful energy. Riker, feeling slightly self-conscious, stood a little apart from the other kids, fiddling with the zipper of his backpack. He was wearing his favorite superhero t-shirt, a valiant attempt to project an aura of cool, independent kid-ness.

Suddenly, a voice piped up, loud and teasing. “Hey, look, it’s Riker!” It was Ethan, a slightly taller boy with a mischievous glint in his eyes.

Riker braced himself. He knew Ethan could be… well, Ethan.

“Hey, Riker!” Ethan repeated, grinning wider now. “Is your daddy going to call you Pookie Bear when he drops you off?”

A few titters rippled through the small group of kids. Riker’s cheeks flushed a dull red. He mumbled, “No, he’s not.”

“Pookie Bear!” Ethan called out again, even louder this time, drawing more attention. “Pookie Bear! Pookie Bear!”

The chant started softly, a low hum of amusement. Riker wanted the ground to swallow him whole. He glared at Ethan, his blue eyes flashing with a hint of JJ’s famous temper. “Shut up, Ethan!”

Ethan, fueled by the attention and Riker’s obvious discomfort, only escalated. “Pookie Bear! Pookie Bear! Daddy’s little Pookie Bear!”

Riker balled his fists, his heart pounding. He was six years old, almost seven! He was a superhero protector of the innocent, defender of justice! Not… Pookie Bear.

Just as he was about to launch himself at Ethan in a blaze of righteous indignation, the school bus rumbled into view, its yellow bulk a welcome distraction. The chanting died down, replaced by the usual chaotic scramble to board.

Riker slumped onto a bus seat, the taunts echoing in his ears. He hated ‘Pookie Bear’. He hated Ethan. He hated everything.

That evening, dinner was a slightly subdued affair. Riker picked at his macaroni and cheese, his usual boisterous chatter replaced by quiet contemplation. JJ, blissfully unaware of the schoolyard drama, was regaling Yn with a hilarious, if slightly exaggerated, tale from his day at work, mimicking voices and gesticulating wildly.

“And then, get this,” JJ was saying, his voice rising in dramatic crescendo, recalling something Rafe said, “he actually said, ‘But Maybank, are you sure this is… prudent?’ Prudent! Like I’m some kind of… imprudent… Pookie Bear or something!” He chuckled at his own joke, reaching over to ruffle Riker’s hair.

Riker recoiled as if burned. He pushed his plate away, his eyes welling up. “Don’t call me that!” he burst out, his voice cracking with pent-up emotion.

JJ stopped mid-sentence, his playful expression instantly replaced by concern. “Hey, hey, what’s wrong, Pookie… Riker?” He corrected himself quickly, sensing something was amiss.

Yn, who had been quietly observing, put down her fork and gently touched Riker’s hand. “What happened at school today, honey?” she asked, her voice soft and soothing.

Tears streamed down Riker’s face as he recounted the bus stop incident. He described Ethan’s taunts, the laughter, the humiliation. His voice trembled as he confessed, “They all called me Pookie Bear, Momma. Everyone.”

JJ’s face darkened. His playful demeanor vanished, replaced by a fierce protectiveness. His jaw tightened, and his blue eyes, usually twinkling with mischief, now blazed with a controlled fire. “Who are these kids?” he growled, his voice low and dangerous. “Tell me their names, Riker. Daddy’s going to have a little chat with them.”

Yn placed a calming hand on JJ’s arm. “Hold on, JJ. Let’s hear Riker out first.”

Riker sniffled, wiping his eyes with the back of his hand. “It’s just… it’s embarrassing, Daddy. It’s a baby name. I’m not a baby.”

JJ’s expression softened. He looked at Riker, really looked at him, perhaps for the first time acknowledging the small shift from baby to boy. He saw the vulnerability in Riker’s tear-filled eyes, the longing to be seen as big and capable.

He knelt down beside Riker’s chair, his gaze level and earnest. “Riker,” he said, his voice gentle but firm. “Pookie Bear… it’s my special name for you. It’s because you’re… you’re my little bear cub. My cuddly, strong, brave little bear.” He paused, searching for the right words. “It’s… it’s my way of telling you I love you, even when I don’t say it out loud.”

Riker looked up at his dad, his tears slowing. He saw the sincerity in JJ’s deep blue eyes, the unwavering love shining there. He knew JJ loved him. He’d always known it. It was just… the name.

Yn intervened, her voice warm and understanding. “Honey, your dad loves you so much. And ‘Pookie Bear’ is a name that shows how special you are to him. But I also understand that it’s… maybe not the best name for school. How about we make a deal?”

Riker looked at her, hope flickering in his eyes.

“At home, you’ll always be our Pookie Bear,” Yn continued, smiling at JJ, who nodded in agreement, his protective fury subsiding into something softer. “But when you’re at school, you’re Riker. Just Riker. A super cool, superhero Riker.”

Riker considered this. Home Pookie Bear and School Riker. It had a certain… logic to it.

JJ, ever the showman, clapped his hands together. “I like it! It’s like you have a secret identity! Like Batman! He’s Bruce Wayne during the day, but at night, he’s Batman! You’re Riker at school, but at home, you’re… Super Pookie Bear!” He winked, unable to resist a little playful embellishment.

Riker giggled, a genuine, bubbly sound that chased away the last vestiges of his tears. “Super Pookie Bear?”

“Yeah!” JJ grinned, his dimples reappearing. “You can have a cape… made of blankets! And your superpower can be… super cuddles!”

Yn laughed, shaking her head at JJ’s antics. “Let’s maybe work on the superpower. But the secret identity thing… that’s actually pretty cool.”

Over the next few days, the ‘Home Pookie Bear, School Riker’ agreement seemed to work. At school, Riker puffed out his chest a little straighter, introducing himself simply as Riker. He even managed to ignore Ethan’s occasional ‘Pookie Bear’ taunts with a newfound confidence.

At home, though, he was still JJ’s Pookie Bear, happily accepting the hugs, the kisses, and even the occasional… blanket cape. JJ, while still prone to calling him ‘Pookie Bear’ at random moments, made a conscious effort to use ‘Riker’ more frequently outside of their home bubble.

One evening, while they were building a magnificent fort in the living room, draped with blankets and fairy lights, JJ leaned close to Riker, his voice soft. “You know, Pookie Bear,” he whispered, “you’re growing up so fast. Soon, you’ll be too cool for your old man.” He feigned a dramatic sigh.

Riker snuggled closer to JJ, his small hand finding his father’s. “Never,” he mumbled, his voice thick with affection. “Never too cool for you, Daddy.”

JJ’s heart swelled. He wrapped his arm around Riker, pulling him close. “That’s my boy. My Pookie Bear. My Riker. Whatever name you go by, you’ll always be my amazing kid.”

And in the warm, blanket-fort glow, surrounded by the love of his parents, Riker knew, deep down, that even if ‘Pookie Bear’ might be a little embarrassing sometimes, it was also a symbol of something truly special – the boundless, sometimes goofy, but always fiercely loving heart of his dad. And maybe, just maybe, being Super Pookie Bear at home wasn’t so bad after all. Especially when it came with super cuddles.

[captdedeyes]

Friendly reminder that Wix.com is an Israeli-based company (& some website builders to look into instead)

I know the BDS movement is not targeting Wix.com specifically (see here for the companies they're currently boycotting) but since Wix originated in Israel as early as 2006, it would be best to drop them as soon as you can.

And while you're at it, you should leave DeviantArt too, since that company is owned by Wix. I deleted my DA account about a year ago not just because of their generative AI debacle but also because of their affiliation with their parent company. And just last month, DA has since shown their SUPPORT for Israel in the middle of Israel actively genociding the Palestinian people 😬

Anyway, I used to use Wix and I stopped using it around the same time that I left DA, but I never closed my Wix account until now. What WAS nice about Wix was how easy it was to build a site with nothing but a drag-and-drop system without any need to code.

So if you're using Wix for your portfolio, your school projects, or for anything else, then where can you go?

Here are some recommendations that you can look into for website builders that you can start for FREE and are NOT tied to a big, corporate entity (below the cut) 👇👇

Carrd.co

This is what I used to build my link hub and my portfolio, so I have the most experience with this platform.

It's highly customizable with a drag-and-drop arrangement system, but it's not as open-ended as Wix. Still though, it's easy to grasp & set up without requiring any coding knowledge. The most "coding" you may ever have to deal with is markdown formatting (carrd provides an on-screen cheatsheet whenever you're editing text!) and section breaks (which is used to define headers, footers, individual pages, sections of a page, etc.) which are EXTREMELY useful.

There's limits to using this site builder for free (max of 2 websites & a max of 100 elements per site), but even then you can get a lot of mileage out of carrd.

mmm.page

This is a VERY funny & charming website builder. The drag-and-drop system is just as open-ended as Wix, but it encourages you to get messy. Hell, you can make it just as messy as the early internet days, except the way you can arrange elements & images allows for more room for creativity.

Straw.page

This is an extremely simple website builder that you can start from scratch, except it's made to be accessible from your phone. As such, the controls are limited and intentionally simple, but I can see this being a decent website builder to start with if all you have is your phone. The other options above are also accessible from your phone, but this one is by far one of the the simplest website builders available.

Hotglue.me

This is also a very simple & rudimentary website builder that allows you to make a webpage from scratch, except it's not as easy to use on a mobile phone.

At a glance, its features are not as robust or easy to pick up like the previous options, but you can still create objects with a simple double click and drag them around, add text, and insert images or embeds.

Mind you, this launched in the 2010s and has likely stayed that way ever since, which means that it may not have support for mobile phone displays, so whether or not you wanna try your hand at building something on there is completely up to you!

Sadgrl's Layout Editor

sadgrl.online is where I gathered most of these no-code site builders! I highly recommend looking through the webmaster links for more website-building info.

This simple site builder is for use on Neocities, which is a website hosting service that you can start using for free. This is the closest thing to building a site that resembles the early internet days, but the sites you can make are also responsive to mobile devices! This can be a good place to start if this kind of thing is your jam and you have little to no coding experience.

Although I will say, even if it sounds daunting at first, learning how to code in HTML and CSS is one of the most liberating experiences that anyone can have, even if you don't come from a website scripting background. It's like cooking a meal for yourself. So if you want to take that route, then I encourage to you at least try it!

Most of these website builders I reviewed were largely done at a glance, so I'm certainly missing out on how deep they can go.

Oh, and of course as always, Free Palestine ����🇸

[just-a-local-dreamer]

Notion is the answer!!

It's like making a webpage for your wips but you don't have to code anything (!) And it's free (!)

It combines note-taking, databases, calendars, and to-do lists. You can build exactly what you need—a writing hub, a plotting database, a journal, or a complex project tracker. You can add text and images and playlists and videos, embed pages within pages, and make custom databases for all sorts of things. It's rather great, really (i am biased)

The only shortcoming with Notion is that you start with a blank canvas, and have to build everything yourself. The learning curve can be steep, so I suggest you find some templates to start with.

Talking of which, may i interest you in:

A dark academia project template

The same but in a different font, and a bit neater

A master page, a writing hub where you can develop multiple books at once

(Did you notice I made a gradient?)

[lily-river]

In the last few weeks I have been introduced to a community of websites that have decided to take the web back for the individual and reject the modern web and its super connected nature. It’s a unique system and allows for organic connections by finding others’ pages, and the one that I would recommend is Neocities, a spiritual successor to Geocities!

wankoten.neocities.org

I’ve even made a site myself for a lot of my creative musings and as a hub for all my socials and creative works. Kinda like a caard page or a general directory for all things me. I have loved this project so much and I’ve also learned a significant amount of HTML and CSS coding @-@ There’s a lot to learn.

[the-worms-in-your-bones]

New Who lore notes: The Timeless Children

I do not agree with the idea that the master could destroy gallifrey all by himself, especially a post war gallifrey that is much more willing to use violence and weapons

‘Remember when we used to run through those streets as children? The alleys where we’d hid from borusa as we skipped classes?’ → master says this while pointing at the citadel, implying that the academy was within the citadel (yay, learning where the fuck things are on gallifrey)

‘The citadel at the heart of gallifrey’ → well this doesn’t say much about where on gallifrey the citadel is, but does confirm it as sort of the hub of time lord society

Decor seems a lot more orange than we’ve seen it previously

Panopticon mention

There’s a statue of some time lord just in whatever room they’re in (which seems to be just off the panopticon), unclear who they are

Panopticon where academy graduation is held apparently

There are those weird ball shaped lamps that we see in the arc of infinity

Parts of floor and wall are decorated with circular gallifreyan, seal of rassilon is also in places

They show the two suns in the shots of the citadel

‘Next to the panopticon, the chamber of the matrix’ (not doing it here, because i don’t really care, but in good time lord fashion, half of those words are capitalized)

‘The repository of all time lord knowledge, a databank of every time lord consciousness, living and dead. Every experience and every memory. The lived history of our race’ → honestly a very good description of the matrix

There’s a circle door

The paralysis field seems to exist as a part of the matrix chamber (idk unless the master put it there), and the use of it causes the doctor pain, i’m sure the time lords weren’t using that for anything nefarious

The whole timeless child thing is buried pretty deep (and there doesn’t really seem to be any actual indication that something was hidden in the matrix since the master just happened to stumble upon it while hacking into it, there wasn’t any specific big block of restricted info from what it seems)

‘This is going to hurt’ → is it just that going that deep into the matrix hurts, or that being forced into the matrix like that hurts

Inside of matrix is basically a void, the master is able to talk to the doctor from the outside, and also project himself inside the matrix

Gallifrey before the time lords not very well known, also sparsely populated

Tecteun was an explorer, early gallifreyans not isolationist (though we already knew that, but still, it’s lore so it gets written), though she was the first to develop space travel apparently

Shobogans indigenous species of gallifrey

Also that shot of gallifrey from space makes it look like it’s on fire, i know it’s always been presented as pretty orange and all that, but this may be a bit much in my opinion

Interesting that all this stuff about tecteun is in the matrix given that it was from the time before the time lords

The child's regeneration was the first regeneration on gallifrey

The great cyber war → mildly unclear if gallifrey was involved or the master was

‘I burned this citadel’ → so what if he just destroyed the citadel, because i can buy that way more than him destroying all of gallifrey

Master can have his consciousness in his body and in the matrix at the same time → now he is a pretty good telepath, but i figure this is also something that any time lord could learn to so

A time lord experimenting on a child for her own gain, yeah that tracks

‘They became a self appointed ruling elite

White and gold robes → this guy has to be president right

‘The timeless child became the base genetic code for all gallifreyans within the citadel. The civilization which renamed themselves, with characteristic pomposity, time lords’

Early collars also seem to have the seal of rassilon on them

Number of regenerations limited to twelve

The doctor is the timeless child

‘Brains’ → hey master can you talk a bit more about time lord brain structure

The doctor is moving around in the matrix while her actual body is standing unconscious in the matrix chamber, similarly the masters real body is out there running around while he’s also in the matrix talking to the doctor → i was gonna make a point about the matrix and it being a pseudo physical space, but then i forgot what i was going to say

‘Our founding parents wanted a noble creation myth for the time lords, born to rule’ → this seems to imply that only the founders actually knew about the timeless child and just made up a myth about how they came to be to tell everyone else (also there’s something to be said here about the use of ‘founding parents’, like i know founding fathers is a pretty common phrase, but still, given the time lords this could absolutely be something they get real weird about)

‘Why would they lie? Why would they do that’ → look you’ve understood the time lords pretty well throughout this whole episode, but i refuse to believe the doctor would be surprised by them lying (i’m gonna say this is because she doesn’t quite know how to process this information and is just saying things based on emotion alone)

The matrix around them is no longer a grey void, but a landscape with all the color taken out of it

‘The policy of the time lords is clear, strict non intervention in other worlds and times. However, policy and reality sometimes diverge’ → yeah man they sure do, kind of funny to actually hear them say this though

‘There are times where it is necessary to intervene. That is the purpose of the division’ → hey, what about my guys at the cia

‘The division does not exist. The division does not have operatives’ → look, look, this could be a weird branch of the cia, hear me out (though it would be interesting to have an organization meant to deal specifically with the secret of the timeless child, something the founders want to keep from the rest of the time lords so badly they won’t even let their top secret spy organisation know about it)

Also liking the costumes here, they seem robe like (though we really only see them sitting down, and mostly get shots of shoulders up, so it’s not the best perspective) and layered with high collars

‘Everything from here is redacted, blocked out, all but erased’ → information deleted from the matrix so people wouldn’t find it out

A filter was put over the memories of the timeless child so that people who happened to find it would just pass it over, thinking it was nothing special

The master kept the bodies of the timelords he killed → i guess he did something to make sure they didn’t regenerate, but yet the cyber converted time lords still have the ability to regenerate it seems

‘Are you the matrix playing more games with me’ → matrix has the ability to do things on its own

‘The matrix is sapping all of the energy out of me’

Doctor able to overwhelm the matrix with her memories

I really wonder who those time lord statues in the matrix chamber are supposed to be of

Also this happened a bit ago, but there were three time lord founders → tecteun is the other, thank you for coming to my ted talk

‘She’s clever. I'm clever. We’re all clever. All of us.’ → time lord plurality moment

‘No humans on gallifrey’ → doctor, i fear that the ancient laws of gallifrey (that have long been broken (and taken down) at this point) are the least of our problems here (though it does really show that even despide the everything of the past twenty minutes that we’ve learned, the doctor is still fundamentally a time lord)

Doctor able to find the master just by sensing his mind → wonder how well any time lord can do this with any other time lord, or is her ability to do this connected to the fact that they are very familiar with each other and each other's minds

They don’t say contact before talking to each other in their minds → not necessary, but probably a formality given you are literally entering another person's mind (not that the doctor and master actually care about that for each other at this point, but that tracks)

They’re in a tardis now → were they near the tardis bays then, or was there just one lying around

And the doctor is planning to destroy gallifrey for a third time, they have to stop making them do this

I want to be disappointed that the door didn’t make the fun dor sound, but also i think that’s just a big finish sound effect, still that sci-fi door sound was less fun

‘All those bodies still in the vaults’ → i do wonder if they’re more in some kind of stasis between regenerations than truly dead

And bye bye gallifrey, again

[prince-liest]

you know what I just realized I really like about Flight Rising?

it feels like it's from the internet of 10 years ago, in a really good way. like there's just the normal single sidebar ad, all the forums/coding are still bb code, and the experience of playing it has not fundamentally changed since 2013, just gotten expanded with new genes/colors/items/games

when I’m on the site I’m just playing with dragons, not getting constantly bombarded with pop-ups that want to sell me things and the atmosphere is very peaceful in the sense that it’s just all of us messing around with our neat dragon projects and dominance pushes and art/lore. I just got a cute rat badge someone made for donating a dragon to the plague dom push.

web 2.0 is truly collapsing in a way that is becoming increasingly visible as a direct result of capitalism and the ~free market~, but a lot of the changes have been slow enough that it’s hard to notice just how much the quality of just about everything on the internet (including literally just fucking google) has gone down until you look at something that almost feels like a relic of better times (except it’s still ongoing and awesome)

I think the only thing I really miss that seems to have gone away are breeding hubs / subspecies projects. there’s still a couple floating around, but they’re not very popular anymore.

[radiofreesanjak]

connection.find(omni_net)

connection established

user.id.password(Y/N)

(Y)

{password entered}

user verified - terminal-velocity-max

"Good time of day Mistral. Now that I'm out of the hospital and settled in I'd like to meet and talk. I believe I could be of help. Especially so with the Sand raiders.

Hope to use my skills for a worthy cause for once."

-Max

Omni traffic is thin right now, so feel free to come by the station. I'll leave the door unlocked for you.

-Mistral

$ setline busy >//[OMNIHOOK.LOCAL: The local administrative communications line has been set to busy. All traffic will be put on hold except for designated emergency codes.] @terminal-velocity-max

With a sigh, Mistral sets the line to busy on the comms panel and turns to the rest of the station. It's not quite a mess but a jumble in there, what was once a temporary building now turned into a combination communications hub and salvage station. Mistral— a short, dark-skinned person with cropped graying hair turned white at the temples— sits smoking at a desk held up in part by cinderblocks, wires from the comms station in a jumble across the ground leading to a door.

The rest of the room is a mess of parts: one wall piled high with old mech salvage, a wall of shelves with unlabeled polymer bins, one of which has "NO" written on the side and emits faint buzzing, some unfinished project left on a bench near the doorway. At the center of the room is the only organized spot in the sea of chaos: a pair of anachronistically fine armchairs set around a small table upon which a kettle and tea set collect dust.

There was a time Mistral wanted to organize this place enough to make it a respectable meeting spot, but that fight has been waged and lost. Besides, they know there's some book around here that talks about the necessity of shedding respectability in favor of the movement. They just wish, sometimes, that they could get a decent game of kapkat in without that subaltern stabbing a pool-noodle clad arm onto the table.

No use fixing it now. Mistral stabs the remaining stub of their cigarette into an overflowing ash tray left next to the omnihook and stands. They take the kettle in one hand and unlock the station door on the way past.