#(the third image) i’m pretty sure that’s illegal in boxing

[800db-cloud]

uhhh.. ermm…

[onewaywardwitch]

Just A Typo (2/?)

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x Hacker!Reader

Summary: It was a simple challenge between a very competitive group of friends. A challenge that ended very differently than anticipated.

Warnings: Just a bit of language

Word Count: 2140

A/N: Ahhh the feedback on part 1 was amazing! Thank you all so much! Here’s part 2!

There are moments in your life when you know you’ve screwed up. Like when you decide to try the new Starbucks coffee, only to realise it’s as horrible as you predicted, and you’ve wasted €5. Or when you spend all night binge-watching some show on Netflix when you know you’ve got to get up early for work the next morning. Or when you agree to hack into one of the world’s best security systems to fuel your own ego and diminish your friend’s one. And while I've found myself in the first two situations many times, the third was a new one for me.

“I promise to visit you at least once a month when you get sent to Alcatraz,” Becca sang as she all but skipped into Angie’s apartment to join the rest of us. I laughed sarcastically.

“Sent to Alcatraz for hacking? Crime expectations must be low lately if they’re sending hackers there.”

“I’m sure Tony Stark has some pull in the government to get you put away there. You know, when you get caught,” she gloated. It was obvious she thought I was heading down the same route as Sophie. Her confidence only made me want to prove her wrong even more.

Angie ignored our seemingly never-ending banter and carried on setting up my laptop and other work necessities.

“I still don’t understand why you have to have a pack of Haribo with you every time you do something illegal,” she sighed, glaring at me as I stood with Becca.

“Well it’s just common sense, Angie. I can’t have chocolate, it’ll get all over my hands. Biscuits leave crumbs everywhere and hot chocolate is a recipe for disaster,” I replied, keeping my face as straight as I could.

“No, I don’t get why you need sweets at all!”

“That’s a stupid question. You always need sweets. We can’t all live off boiled vegetables and whole-grain everything.”

Angie just looked at Becca in defeat, who shrugged her shoulders.

“Hey, if I get the job done, who cares what I eat?” I strutted over to the table that had my laptop on it. Unfortunately, my confident walk did nothing to ease my nerves as my friends watched on eagerly.

 ~~~~~

“Becca, I swear to Thor if you breathe on my neck again, I’ll break yours,” I snapped. Becca and Angie shared a nervous glance while I typed furiously, the lines and lines of code beginning to make me dizzy.

“Y/N, you’ve proven your point. Your brilliant. A mastermind. A true gift to the hacking community. You can quit now, it’s alright.” Becca was beginning to regret ever provoking me when she saw how much more advanced Stark’s system was compared to the systems we would normally attack for a laugh.

I could sense Angie about to open her mouth when the screen suddenly went blank and the three of us froze where we were; Becca leaning over my shoulder, Angie holding her third cup of herbal tea, and me with jelly rings on each of my extremely tired fingers.

The screen flashed once, before several different boxes popped up. It took each of us about seven seconds to realise we were looking at the feed from the security cameras placed around Avengers Tower.

“Holy shit,” whispered Angie.

“I am the greatest and I’m completely unappreciated in my time,” I grinned, my eyes flickering from each small screen.

“IS THAT BLACK WIDOW?”

“Agh! Becs, inside voice please.” Becca refused to acknowledge my complaint. Her gaze was fixated on the image of the Natasha Romanoff eating what I guessed was-

“A poptart! I have those all the time, we’re practically soulmates!” Becca exclaimed.

As Angie tried to explain to Becca that her comment was only a bit unrealistic, I gazed at each of screens on my laptop. Who would have thought that the Falcon would be spending his day holding something shiny while running away from a very angry, one-armed Winter Soldier? Or that Hawkeye drinks milk straight from the carton and puts it back in the fridge when no one’s looking?

Just as Becca started to talk about the Black Widow’s hair (“I could never pull off the red like she does!”), the laptop flashed black, before more lines of code began popping up again.

“Oh shit, we’re busted. Angie, gummy bear, now,“ I demanded, quickly returning to my state of concentration (which was difficult after seeing Captain America lifting weights). Angie grabbed the bag and put one of the bears in my mouth, only for me to spit it out in disgust.

“Not a yellow one, a red! I'm not a monster,” I yelped before turning back to the task at hand. Nervously chewing on the nicest flavoured gummy bear, I attempted to keep up with Stark’s excellent security.

“Make sure you can’t be traced. Keep the IP address hidden and get out,” I heard Angie mutter behind me. After a couple of minutes, I felt myself relax, watching the screen change to my regular background of the Supernatural cast.

“We are out and I’m going to go down in history as the greatest hacker that ever existed.” I spun in my chair, grinning at the girls as my confidence rose again. “I just hacked into Avengers Tower, admired Captain America’s incredibly toned body for a bit, before successfully leaving without giving away my location or any way for them to trace me. How was that for you Becca?”

She looked at me, a small smile growing on her face. “I'm impressed, Y/N. Shame Sophie’s not here so you could gloat to her too, but that was pretty awesome.”

“I can’t believe you pulled that off,” Angie said admirably, her herbal tea long forgotten on the nearby countertop. I winked at her and held out the nearly empty bag of Haribos.

“Yellow gummy bear anyone?”

 ~~~~~

Tony Stark was busy doing nothing in his lab with Dr Banner when F.R.I.D.A.Y. announced that someone was hacking into their system.

“Well what are you waiting for F.R.I.D.A.Y.? Flush ‘em out. And get their location.”

“Sir, they’ve already broke down our firewalls and accessed our cameras.”

That caught Tony’s attention. He looked at Bruce confusedly before again telling F.R.I.D.A.Y. to get whoever it was out of their system using whatever means necessary. As the A.I. was occupied with that, he called all the Avengers to the briefing room.

 ~~~~~

“Barnes, if you could stop murdering Wilson with your eyes for just five minutes so we can start?”

Bucky turned and aimed his glare at Tony instead, still scowling that Sam had somehow managed to steal his arm for nearly half an hour. That man knew all the best hiding places in this tower.

Tony rolled his eyes and clapped his hands together, deciding to get straight to the point. “Nothing to worry about, but someone hacked into the tower and accessed all of the cameras. We don’t know who or why, but F.R.I.D.A.Y.'s nearly got a location, I think.”

The uproar was immediate.

“I thought your security was the best there is!”

“How long have they been watching us?”

“What else have they hacked into?”

Tony grimaced as all the voices overlapped and became louder. His embarrassment that some computer nerd cracked his online defences was obvious from the lack of his usual playful tone and he wasn’t in the mood for messing about now. He opened his mouth but before he could speak, F.R.I.D.A.Y.'s voice rang through the room, effectively shutting everyone up.

“Sir, I believe I have the location of the hacker. It appears they made a slight typing error when concealing their IP address.”

“A typo? Rookie mistake,” Sam mumbled.

“That ‘rookie’ managed to hack into all our cameras pretty quickly,” Bruce stated, looking at Sam pointedly.

“Okay, Cap, take your brooding boyfriend in the corner and bring in whoever it is. It's nowhere near any known HYDRA bases, so my guess? A group of boys hiding out in one of their mom’s basements. Shouldn’t be too difficult.” Steve nodded at Tony and made his way over to Bucky while everyone else left the room, still discussing the infiltrator who was able to beat the great Tony Stark.

 ~~~~~

Steve looked around the apartment in surprise. This was definitely not what they were expecting. The place was clean and lacked any personal touches. That is, if he weren’t including the many Funko Pop figures that were scattered seemingly at random throughout the apartment. He moved towards the laptop that was laying carelessly on the kitchen table.

“Just talked to the landlady,” Bucky said, gesturing towards the front door where a woman in her mid-fifties stood excitedly, trying to catch a glimpse of the great Captain America. Bucky waved his flesh hand at her, hoping she’d get the message to leave them alone. Fortunately for him, one of the neighbours came out and started complaining to her about the thin walls. That made her run off quickly.

“Apartment is owned by a woman in her late twenties, early thirties. She asked to be kept off the books, and your admirer back there had no problem with that because she always paid her rent on time and by cash.”

“Does she have any idea where she could be now?” Steve asked, closing over the front door again so they wouldn’t raise any suspicions.

“She said she left around three hours ago, hopefully to get some food. Her fridge is empty. Except for a tub of ice-cream,” Bucky snorted.

They both stopped talking when they heard the rustling of keys just outside the door. Bucky went to stand beside Steve, who was back beside the laptop. He placed a hand over the gun he always carried in his trousers as the door opened. But he felt himself relax a bit when he heard a familiar tune.

“Is that… Queen?” Steve whispered as the woman began humming to herself. Natasha had taken it upon herself to educate the two veterans on all the music they had missed out on in the past seventy years, including Queen, Michael Jackson, and Adele. This was one of the few songs they actually recognised.

The woman stumbled into the kitchen, struggling to carry all the shopping bags she had tried to carry up in one trip. Her headphones were blaring Bohemian Rhapsody loud enough for the two men to hear clearly. They shared a look of surprise as she still hadn’t noticed them standing a few feet behind her.

 ~~~~~

“But now I’ve gone and thrown it all away,” I sang quietly to myself as I restocked my fridge. I was still on a high from my incredible success with Becca and Angie only a few hours ago. We were going to celebrate with Angie’s cheap champagne, before Becca realised she was about two hours late for work. I left shortly after her to buy more ice-cream, which quickly turned into buying half the grocery store.

“Mama, oooo- OH WHAT THE FUCK!” My dramatic spin while singing didn’t end as well as I had planned. I wasn’t exactly prepared for the two super soldiers who stood by my table, watching me with humour. I tugged my headphones out of my ears and stared at them dumbstruck.

“Captain America… wow such an honour… you’re very… wow. And the Winter Barnes! Oh god, there’s a ‘soldier’ in there somewhere, isn’t there? Very, very… broad.” My voice died off towards the end as the word came out of my mouth too quickly for me to recognise them. The Captain’s eyes sparkled in amusement, while the Winter Soldier was looking at me with interest. He failed to see how this woman caused Stark so much concern.

Captain America opened his mouth to speak, but at that exact moment I coped why two Avengers were standing in my apartment.

“Oh, this is about the whole Avengers Tower thing, isn’t it? The camera, the hacking… I'm not evil! I wasn’t planning on accessing any confidential information and selling it! I don’t do that, I was just messing with friends, I swear!” Apparently, I had lost all control over my own mouth and I confessed to everything without either of the men saying a word. They glanced at each other before Captain Rogers turned back to me.

“You understand we need to bring you in anyway. We have questions you need answer back at the tower.”

I nodded nervously at the pair as they escorted me downstairs to where a car was waiting outside, the Soldier bringing my laptop with him.

“This explains why Nora was in such a good mood when I passed her on the stairs earlier,” I thought to myself. “She never smiles when I pay her my rent, but one visit from America’s golden boy has her skipping to her door!”

[umbrahighpriestofgiratina]

Greenhorn Prometheus Chapter 2

Part two! Since I wasn't initially super-clear about this before, this whole thing is a parody-of-a-parody/retelling of Mel Brooks and Gene Wilder's Young Frankenstein, which should give some context but isn't required viewing for this fic (indeed some of the jokes might land better if you don't). Weirdly AO3 has a Young Frankenstein tag but FFnet doesn't. Anyway...

Chapter 2: Construction

The next morning, Silver, Colress, and Sabrina were having a lovely breakfast like nothing had happened. "Pass the pancakes, Sabrina?" said Silver. Sabrina telepathically lifted over a platter of pancakes, Silver taking bites while looking at How We Did It. "...We're going to need a lot of DNA," said Silver. "How so?" said Colress. "Some of our own, for starters, human DNA was a vital ingredient in the original Mewtwo project... Then we need Alakazam DNA, Lucario DNA, Mismagius DNA, all sorts of others... And last but certainly not least, Mew DNA." ~That's going to be a tall order...~ said Sabrina. ~Are you absolutely sure you can reverse engineer the Mewtwo project for good?~ "Positive. I know what made the first project fail. I know what to avoid." "If I may chime in?" said Colress, "I have... Connections that can provide us with every bit of Pokemon DNA that isn't Mew's, as well as more modern flash cloning equipment. "Really? Colress thank you!" "Give me one moment..." He pulled out a phone and dialed a number. "Yes, hello? Colress here. I have a favor to ask..." --------------- Silver heard a thud on the side of the estate. He ran out to see an airship had parked out in front, with men in strange outfits swarming around. "What in the name of Lugia is this?" Colress approached. "Oh hey! These are my ex-Neo Plasma friends! They offered blood samples from their Pokemon and, ahem, acquired the necessary cloning equipment!" "That's great but can they park the airship further from the estate?" "Certainly! Hey guys, back it up!" The airship started making beeping noises as it indeed started backing up. Silver sighed. ------------ In the laboratory, the DNA samples had been lined up in front of a massive machine. Silver placed three samples with the others - one labeled "Silver", one labeled "Colress," and one labeled "Sabrina." The three sources of the samples looked upon the display. "We just need the Mew DNA, right?" said Colress. "Precisely," said Silver. "But I'm not sure how to get it..." ~I may have a lead.~ said Sabrina. ~Pewter Museum has some samples of Mew DNA in the back. Including that of one Mew of the Tree Of Beginning.~ "That would be perfect!" said Silver! "I'll sneak in and get it!" said Colress. "They'll think I'm just there for normal research!" "Excellent, Colress, thank y-" Silver stopped and stared at Colress, specifically at his swirl. "Wasn't that twisting in the other direction before?" "Huh?" "...Never mind, just go get that Mew DNA." ---------------- It was dark, and stormy and a night. Colress had already made his way into the Pewter Museum and was headed for the back rooms. He reached through a slot in the door to open it from the inside, and after being briefly startled by his own hand, entered. There before him were vials of the DNA of various different Legendaries. Colress grinned as he made his way over to one vial in particular - Rotan Mew. He reached out to take it, but a bolt of lightning hit very close to the museum at that instant, startling him and causing him to drop the sample, splattering it all over the floor. In a panic he looked around, spotting a sample labeled "Abnormal Mew DNA" - well it was still Mew DNA and he didn't see any more, so it'd have to do. He grabbed the sample and spirited it out of the museum. ---------- The samples were ready. The machine was ready. Silver and Sabrina stood before it, at the ready. "Colress! Are the preparations complete?" From atop the machine Colress gave a thumbs up. "Get down from there then! You'll get electrocuted!" "What?" "I said get down from there you'll get-" "I'm down, I'm down," said Colress, suddenly right next to Silver, "no need to shout." Silver merely stared and shook his head. ~Well this is the last situation I thought I'd be in,~ said Sabrina. "Well creating an ultimate lifeform to serve as a force of good is pretty new I say-" said Silver. ~Not that. Getting neck deep in former Rocket shit.~ "...Oh?" ~Rocket was always interested in my powers. Ever since the Black Fog incident. They offered me a job with them but I refused, and have been keeping my eye on them and their since.~ "Black Fog incident?" ~...Never mind. Let's just get this done.~ The group started making more preparations. "Colress, release the safety valve!" said Silver. As Colress turned to do so Silver turned to Sabrina with an almost-like-his-father's grin. "Can you believe it? A second Mewtwo! We'll have achieved this all ourselves!" Sabrina simply raised an eyebrow as Silver turned to the machine. A manic look appeared in his eye. "From that fateful day when stinking viscous slime first crawled from the seas and shouted to the cold stars... I am mon! Our greatest dread is our inferiority to the gods... But tonight! We shall hurl the gauntlet of science straight into the face of Arceus themselves!" The machine activated, started glowing, whirring, churning. "Tonight! We shall ascend into the heavens! We shall mock Groudon! We shall command Zekrom's thunder!" On cue lightning cracked outside. "And we shall penetrate the sacred domain of Xerneas himself!" Something started forming inside the machine. "Pull the first switch!" Sabrina pulled it. The machine glowed brighter. "Second switch!" Colress pulled that one. Brighter. "Third switch!" "Not the third switch..." said Colress. "Did I stutter?!" said Silver. Colress and Sabrina pulled it. The machine gave off an ominous glow. "Give my creation life!" The thing inside the machine grew, sprouted limbs, a torso, a head. Eventually it stopped. The machine whirred to a pause. Silver pressed his face very close to the thing within. "Speak to me... Speak to me..." Nothing. Nothing but the cold, hard glass and the lifeless meat doll inside. "...Nothing..." ~...Silver, I'm sorry-~ "No no, you're alright... If science teaches us anything, it's to accept our successes and failures with... quiet... dignity and... grace..." There was a pause before Silver started angrily pounding on the glass, Sabrina and Colress trying to hold him back. "I'LL GET YOU FOR THIS YOU BASTARD SON OF A BITCH! WHAT DID YOU DO TO ME?!" After a bit he curled up on the floor somberly. "Worthless... you're all worthless..." ~That's a mood,~ said Sabrina. "Quiet dignity and grace, huh?" said Colress. --------------- At Viridian City Town Hall a crowd of people and Pokemon had gathered, two people standing in front. "Now I assure you," said one to the crowd, "this one is different! He's only been back for what, a few days?" Another man came to face the first two. "He's an Altamura! They're all alike!" There were yells of assent from the crowd. "It's in their blood, they can't help it! They say they're working for us... When what they really want is to rule the world!" More yells. "Enough!" said the first man."These are very serious charges you're making, in particular because we still have nightmares about the first three times! We haven't heard from the one man most qualified to judge this fairly." There was a knock at the door. "Oh! Inspector Looker! Come in!" Looker entered the room. Notably, he had bags under his eyes, and was tightly clutching a box of tissues. "Dreadfully sorry, came down with a cold..." "A what now?" "A-" he sneezed - "Cold." "Oh, then go on." "Well, see, a riot is an ugly thing... Once you get one started, there is little chance of stopping it, minus bloodshed. I think before we go around jailing people we had better-" he sneezed, causing the others to recoil "-make damn sure of our evidence. We need to confirm the fact that Altamura is following in his father's footsteps - I've met him and he doesn't seem like the type." There was a chorus of "whats" from the crowd, Looker's clogged nasal passages rendered him so illegible. Looker sighed. "He's probably not following in his father's footsteps." There were several "ohs" from the crowd. "I think what is in order is for me to pay a visit to him, have a nice chat, you know?" There were disgruntled murmurs among the crowd. Looker sighed. This was going to be a long assignment. ---------------- Silver was slouched over the dining room table of the estate, muttering the word "reputation" to himself. Sabrina looked at him and sighed. ~You really shouldn't do this to yourself.~ "I should." ~Could you at least stop thinking about it? My powers keep picking up your angst and it's dragging me down.~ "No." ~At least touch your food.~ Silver leered at the plate of macaroni and cheese in front of him and started aggressively poking it. "There. Now I've touched it. Happy?" Sabrina just scowled. "You know, this reminds me of my mother," said Colress. "When these things would happen to her, she'd always know what to say..." "Like what?" said Silver, a brief glimmer of hope returning to his eyes. "'Oi, what the hell are you doing in the bathroom day and night?! Why don't ya get out of there and give someone else a chance?!'" Silver and Sabrina stared. "What? My mother was Galaran." "No, about the bathroom-" Silver started to say. "That was the only place I could set up my chemistry set!" Silver breathed a deep sigh of relief before he started slouching again. ~Don't do that again, unless you want me to beam my mental image straight to everyone else's brains,~ said Sabrina. "Maybe it's better this way," said Silver, pointedly ignoring them. "The damn thing. Maybe it's better off dead." ---------------- In the deep dark of the basement the being's hand twitched. There was an unearthly moan. ------------ The moan was heard up above. "Glad you guys like the mac and cheese at least," said Silver. ~Uh, no,~ said Sabrina, ~That was-~ "That sound. You made a sound like it was good. It should be obvious." "Neither of us made a yummy sound." said Colress. "But you did," said Silver, "I just heard it." "Wasn't me!" "Well if it wasn't either of you what was-" There was another moan. ~...It's coming from the laboratory,~ said Sabrina. There was a long pause before everyone jumped from the table and ran. --------------- The three ran up to the machine, where the new Mewtwo, eyes wide open, was shifting around inside. "Alive! It's alive!" said Silver. ~She's alive.~ said Sabrina. "...You can tell?" ~Once you pinpoint the brain patterns behind gender it's pretty easy. And more accurate than... you know.~ "Aha! Stand back then..." said Silver. He once again got uncomfortably close to the Mewtwo, who stared into his eyes oddly. "Hello there girl. I'm going to set you free now..." ~Mmmmmmm,~ said the Mewtwo, her moans now more distinctly feminine. "Is the sedative ready?" said Silver. Colress held up a rather large syringe and gave a thumbs up. Silver pressed a button on the machine. The fluid drained, the glass lowered, the tubes connected to the Mewtwo detached, and she wobbly floated out of the device that birthed her. "Stand... On your feet," said Silver. The Mewtwo touched down and looked around, then stumbled. "Now... Walk... You can do it..." The Mewtwo attempted to alternate between using her feet and hovering. Silver took her arms and attempted to help her along. "Yes... Good.... Good..." Suddenly, a spark came off the machinery, and a loose piece of paper caught fire. The Mewtwo's eyes widened and she let out a frenzied psychic moan, attempting to psychically throttle Silver. "Ack! Quick, give her the-" The throttling cut him off, resorting to him attempting to pantomime as the Mewtwo tugged him around like a marionette. "Okay, charades!" said Colress. Silver started pointing rapidly at the Mewtwo's side. "Uh, tickling? No, that can't be it... Spinal cord?" The jabbing continued. "Oh! The sedative!" Colress fortunately managed to plunge the syringe into the Mewtwo's backside, knocking her out cold within seconds. Silver gasped and panted upon being freed from the psychic grip, and Sabrina put out the fire. ~Are you okay?~ said Sabrina. "Yes, yes, absolutely fine, but... Colress? May I speak to you for a moment?" Colress scooched over to Silver. "Now that Mew DNA you gave me... Was it that of the Mew Of The Tree Of Beginning?" Colress shifted nervously. "No." "Ah, good. And you mind telling me what DNA I did put in?" "You won't be angry?" "I will not be angry." "...Abby-someone." "Abby someone? Abby who?" "Abby Normal. A bit of an esoteric Mew specimen apparently." "Abby Normal." "I'm almost sure that was the name," Colress said, sweating. Silver gave a joyless smile and chuckle. "Are you saying that I put abnormal Mew DNA into a six foot seven, two hundred and sixty nine pound... Demigod?!" At that last word he stood up and started throttling Colress. "Is that what you're telling me?!" Colress started holding up fingers and mimiming two hands moving apart as he was throttled ~Okay, charades,~ said Sabrina. ~V? No, a valley, toss him off a cliff? Oh, wait, separate you two.~ Sabrina was about to separate the two when a loud knocking echoed through the estate. Silver paused and let go of Colress. "...Who could that be at this hour?" ------------------- Looker was continuously pounding at the door with what little energy he had. He really wished he wasn't here right now. --------------- Silver shook his head. "Sabrina, go see who it is. Colress, make sure the Mewtwo is contained!" "Alright what are you doing?" "I'm going to wash up," said Silver, a manic look in his eyes. "I've got to look normal. All of us, have to behave normally!" He stormed off. Colress just nodded slowly. ---------- Silver and Looker were sitting together, playing New Super Mario Bros. co-op. "So," said Looker, stomping on a Shroomish in-game, "how's it been since I last saw you?" Silver paused. Not paused the game, just paused. "Remind me?" "When you were a child. I was on the trail of your father, and I sought out you." "Oh, yes, now I remember," said Silver. "It's... been good. I turned my life around, became a Pokemon professor, I have a stable life and income and all that, my Pokemon are faring well..." He sighed. "That's good to hear!" said Looker. "I've been all over the world, chasing new assignments, coming up with different disguises..." He frowned. "Though, it's not all sunshine and rainbows; I lost my dear Croagunk partner." "...Oh. Oh." said Silver. "I'm... sorry to hear that." "I appreciate your sympathy," said Looker. He thought a bit. "The people of Viridian are concerned about... you being here." Silver kicked a Torkoal in-game. "Why?" "They're concerned about the usual. Organized crime and genetic monstrosities," Silver scoffed. "Genetic monstrosities are passé, like ghost stories." "Well see to them it's real," said Looker, sniffing and wiping his nose. "Especially with an Altamura in this house." "So?" "I'm not worried, but they're worried about... Things like genes and chromosomes and behavioral similarities. All probably bullshit of course but to them it's-" Silver twitched. His character fell into a pit and floated back out as a bubble. "They have nothing to worry about." "Something upsetting you?" "No, no, this whole thing is deeply... amusing." "Very well! I'll go reassure them that you have no interest in the family business! If that's alright with you." A telepathic voice echoed from the basement. ~Mmmmmm.~ "I'll take that as a yes!" said Looker. "Mmmmmm," said Silver. "Very well. Until we meet again," he sneezed, "Silver." "Same to you." Looker got up and left. Silver sat there for a moment before turning off the game and taking his own leave. ------------- In the laboratory, the Mewtwo stirred and moaned in her prison. A figure approached, in awe at the sight of her. "Oh... Mary, Mary we've done it!" The figure stroked the glass. "I'm going to set you free. Would you like that?" ~Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.~ The figure pressed the release button. "They wanted to hurt you... but I'm going to help you!" Suddenly Silver, Sabrina, and Colress entered the room. "Thank Lugia that's over with," Silver said. The three froze in shock upon seeing the figure. "Agatha!" Silver said. More Mudsdale winnies. "Don't come any closer," said Agatha. "What are you even doing?" said Silver "I'm going to set her free!" said Agatha. ~That's a really, really bad idea,~ said Sabrina. "She'll kill you!" said Silver. "Not this one!" said Agatha. "She's as gentle as a Mareep." On cue the Mewtwo emerged from the chamber, an angry glow in her eyes. "Stand back, she has unstable DNA!" said Silver. "It's not unstable!" said Agatha. "It's good DNA!" "It's unstable I tell you!" The Mewtwo turned her head in Silver's direction, eyes glowing further. "Ix-nay on the unstableway," said Colress. "I am not afraid!" said Agatha. "I know what she likes!" She pulled out a suspiciously familiar violin and started playing. The Mewtwo's eyes stopped glowing, and she adopted a happy expression as she started pawing the air in a cat-like fashion. "That music..." said Silver. "Yes!" said Agatha. "It's in your blood! It's in the blood of all Altamuras! It reaches the soul when words are useless! They used to play it to the Mewtwo your father and Fuji were making..." "Then it was you all the time!" said Silver. A chord. "Yes!" "You played that music in the middle of the night!" Another chord. "Yes!" "To get us into the laboratory!" And another. "Yes!" "And it was you who left out my father and Fuji's book for me to find!" "Yes!" "So that I would-" "YES!" "And you and my grandmother were-" "Yes, yes, say it! She was my girlfriend! She's almost as foxy as Oak!" Sparks flew from an old machine. The Mewtwo panicked, and used a blast of psychic force to break out through multiple layers of ceiling into the cold, stormy night, the lightning only panicking her further. "You'll never catch her now!" said Agatha. "She's free I tell you! Free!" "Gone... Gone!" said Silver. "We've got to find her before she kills someone!" He slumped to his knees. "What have I done... Oh Lugia what have I done..." ***

[mcfade]

3 Weeks with a Drone…. 

So I got one – I saw just how small the “mavic air” is on Youtube and thought the time had come! 

Reasons why I got one… 

It really does fit in your hand

Has a 12Megapixel camera which shoots RAW

4K movies

Simple to use for a beginner 

Masses of functionality – things like following a moving object, or “tap fly” means the drone takes great footage without you driving!

Manual camera settings – you set the exposure

Panoramic photos – it can do 360, 180 or around 70-degree panoramics – the 180-degree shots take 21 RAW files which Lightroom happily blends

You can fit a polariser! 

Something “new” to challenge my creativity

This was a 180 Degree pano – cropped in a little 

This is a “Horizontal pano” with 9 photos

Taking Photos

It’s really like having a massive tripod

One you can put anywhere in 3D space! The drone is pretty easy to control once you have a few hours practice – it just stays where it is until you move it.

the controller has 2 joysticks, one moves it up and down, and rotates it on the spot

the other “drives” it forwards, backwards or side to side.

there’s also the “gimbal”, the camera by any other name. You can rotate this 90 degrees to point straight down or straight ahead. There’s a wheel on the controller for this

You use your phone or Tablet to view what’s going on – a powerful app

So that’s the basic controls in a nutshell

Composing photos is just like on land – you use the rules as normal, looking for streams, roads and paths for “lead lines”, using the “rule of thirds” to make things balanced. 

My process (so far!)

find somewhere legal and interesting to shoot – it’s mainly fields and moors at the moment

get near to the thing – so reservoir dam, tree, stream, waterfall… 

send the done up vertically to be higher than trees and overhead cables – 70 feet is usually ample

drive it over to the “thing” and have a look around – just like you’d do on the ground. 

get the drone facing the thing – then use the “high or lower” and “move left/right” controls to help with composition – you can use the gimbal too, but I usually shoot “straight” – see why in step 7

now set the exposure – the phone shows clipping of highlights, so in M metering, just increase the shutter speed till the clipping disappears

I choose “panoramic” from the stills menu – this means you get the choice of a few panoramic views – the horizontal one is very useful, takes 9 shots and looks great. 

Once it’s finished that shot – move! Don’t keep taking the same shot over and over…. 

  A few from the Lake District

I took it to the lakes this weekend – forgot to charge the controller so didn’t get as much as I wanted to, but managed some on Newlands and Crummock Water

  Saddleworth Moor Panoramics

I’ve photographed these reservoirs many times, just not from 200 feet in the air so was keen to go try it

Pontefract Racecourse Panoramics

A park location with lake – I just like water shots… 

  Issues I’ve Faced

Finding interesting stuff that’s legal

The laws prevent you from getting close to property and people – so you can’t just pop into Leeds and shoot the town hall from above – which is gutting as that’d be awesome! So you have to find open spaces with things in – that probably means a fair drive out from the city you live in before you get something exciting. Add to that you only get 20 minutes per battery (I’ve got 3) you are a little reluctant to drive 1 hour – shoot for an hour – then drive an hour back! I’ve just ordered a car charger though so that may change! 

Worrying about other people

I’m new to this so having dog walkers and ramblers nearby when you’re doing it seems a bit wrong… what if something goes wrong? And will they moan about the noise? The actual truth is most people are “interested” and enjoy looking at your phone if you show them. So I’m gradually getting closer to them, though never within 50m of anyone as that’s illegal

Communications between the controller and drone

This is usually fine if you use the controller you get in the box – though at Crummock Water, it did lose comms mid flight… thankfully the drone just came home and landed itself. That’s a godsend. I then had to use the phone on its own – the drone has wifi and can talk directly to the phone. I attempted this twice, following the instructions to the letter – on both occasions it took over 30 minutes of struggle and worse, it wasted 1/2 the drone battery whilst it sat on the ground. I’m sure this is a learning curve, the main lesson being has a micro USB charger in the car for the controller…. 

Lighting and sky burnout

This is a pain for any landscaper really – you expose for the sky, you get dark land – and vice versa with a white sky… The land-based photographer can use ND Grad filters to darken the sky, leaving the land normal. You can’t do this with the drone and do panos…. It DOES do HDR, and saves the braceted images for you – and the files are RAW so you can do a fair bit with them. if you’re used to a Full frame RAW file though, you’ll be amazed how like a 2006 camera these files are… not great with noise. 

  Should you get one…. 

Like anything, they’re getting smaller and cheaper with time. The Mavic Pro 2 is around £1500 – the Air is £1000 with 3 batteries and DJI have a Spark which is cheaper still. They are surprisingly easy to use and safety is built in – they have sensors to stop them crashing – though you can switch them off and trash if it you like. 

It’s great fun but you do need to find places to do it – so if you’re not adventurous then it’s probably not for you. 

If you’ve fallen out of love with photography, it does give you a new angle on the hobby – literally! 

However – you may need to register and pay for a licence in 2019…. be ready for that. 

  Mavic Air Drones for Photography 3 Weeks with a Drone.... So I got one - I saw just how small the "mavic air" is on Youtube and thought the time had come!

[junker-town]

Predators fans throw catfish. What should fans of other NHL teams throw?

Cultural (and legal) ideas for the 30 other teams.

When a rogue Predators fan threw a disgusting dead catfish onto the Penguins’ ice in Game 1, fans tuning into the Stanley Cup Final might’ve been asking one question.

Why?

Yes, that. Thank you.

But I bet some were also wondering what their own fanbase throws on the ice. Surely all teams do this!

Nope. Only a few teams have caught onto this tradition. Which leaves us with the daunting task of coming up with ideas for all 31 NHL teams.

So far, as you’ll see, the three teams who do this regularly stick with animals. So for this thought exercise we’ll try to adhere to a few rules. We won’t nominate ideas:

If PETA is going to get pissed about it

If it’s illegal

If it’s offensive to a lot that goes on

Notice I didn’t say if it’s not possible. Anything is possible.

Let’s do this.

*Disclaimer: Don’t actually do any of these things. SB Nation does not condone the throwing of any of these items. I’m just idea-making here. Ideas are not endorsements. Wink.

Boston Bruins

If we were just going to stick with mascots here, we’d have to suggest a dead bear. But that doesn’t pass the PETA rule or the cost rule.

Simple googling tells me that wild turkeys are abundant in Massachussetts. You’re telling me a fan can’t smuggle a whole turkey into TD Garden?

Even if they couldn’t, you could totally hide a turkey breast or leg. This has potential.

Buffalo Sabres

One of two. Serious and non-serious.

Serious: buffalo wings. C’mon. Easy.

Non-serious: actual sabres. The players are basically wearing body armor. They’ll totally be fine.

Detroit Red Wings

Already figured out.

Florida Panthers

Also already solved in the Panthers’ third season and their 1996 playoffs run. From ThoughtCo.:

The story began during the franchise's third NHL season at the Miami Arena. Forward Scott Mellanby killed a rat with his hockey stick, which had tried scurrying across the team's locker room before the Panthers' home opener on October 8, 1995.

Mellanby went on to score two goals in the game with the same stick in which he killed the rat with. After the game, Florida's goaltender John Vanbiesbrouck then nicknamed Mellanby's feat the "Rat Trick."

Fans caught onto the story and started throwing rubber rats onto the ice after goals were scored. That led to this glorious scene:

So, yeah. No need for a new suggestion.

Montreal Canadiens

Canadians. Literally throw the Canadian next to you onto the ice.

Ottawa Senators

You can’t throw a senator unless you want to get arrested. Ignore the fact I just suggested you wouldn’t get arrested for throwing a Canadian. Just ignore that. Don’t worry about it.

You can, however, throw a gavel.

Tampa Bay Lightning

Unless you’re Zeus, you’re not going to throw lightning onto the ice.

Googling tells me that redfish are one of the more plentiful sporting fish in the Tampa area. So they could throw those.

But we all know that the Florida ecology is threatened. Why not help out by throwing these little buggers onto the ice?

That’s an Asian green mussel, an invasive species that wreaks havoc on intake pipes on ships, marinas and power plants. They also look ugly.

Okay, maybe just save those for when opponents score or something. Throw an alligator instead.

Toronto Maple Leafs

Imagine watching a fan trying to throw a leaf from his seat onto the ice. Hilarious.

But no. I also think that might be insulting to greater Canada. So fans should throw a maple tree onto the ice. Not branches. Entire trees.

theplantingtree.com

Don’t ask me how you’re supposed to sneak that into the arena. I provide the ideas, you provide the execution.

Carolina Hurricanes

If you really wanted to dig deep here you could throw tobacco. Maybe even barbecue.

But Krispy Kreme was started in North Carolina, and it would be absolutely wonderful if fans threw doughnuts onto the ice. Maybe even whole boxes! The fans get a fun sight and the players and refs get an in-game snack. Win-win.

Columbus Blue Jackets

Photo by Kirk Irwin/Getty Images

If you’re going to fire a cannon after every goal then you have to let fans throw cannonballs onto the ice every once and awhile. Them’s the rules.

New Jersey Devils

Devil-based idolatry might offend many people. Understandable. That’s why you throw traffic cones. I hear traffic in New Jersey is awful. A governor once told me that.

New York Islanders

Photo by Stephen Chernin/Getty Images

You have to celebrate Long Island’s seafood. Lots of options here. You could throw Blue Point oysters. You could throw clams.

But you could also get away with throwing Long Island ducks. Duck farming is apparently a big thing on Long Island, so nobody will get mad if you buy a duck and decide to launch it into a hockey game instead of dining on it.

New York Rangers

... blue shirts?

I’ve got nothing.

Philadelphia Flyers

My Philly coworkers tell me the food is good in Philly. Sure. I’ve never been, so I can’t disagree.

I almost put hoagie down for New Jersey because that’s where I thought it was from. Nope. It’s from Philly. So congrats, Flyers arena staff. You get to clean up after launched hoagies splatter all over the ice.

Pittsburgh Penguins

Awww. You can’t throw dead penguins onto the ice. That’s actually pretty disturbing.

But what do you associate most with Pittsburgh? That’s right. Bridges. Fans should throw a bridge onto the ice. Failing that, throw something made of steel. That’s safe enough. Probably safer than a bridge. Probably.

Washington Capitals

I’d say throw a swamp but that’s been drained, right? I was told that was drained.

I think it’d be a nice way to honor one of our greatest presidents by throwing top hats. Save your generic, normal hats for hat tricks. Top hats only come out for playoff runs.

Or throw a politician. Either one.

Vegas Golden Knights

Dice. Duh. Moving on.

Anaheim Ducks

Well. Ducks have already been taken by the Islanders. I know. This is confusing.

But fans can still honor the Mighty Ducks tradition by throwing Mighty Ducks action figures. Way better than real duck corpses.

Arizona Coyotes

Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images

Cacti. Are you kidding? Cacti. This was way too easy. Next team, please.

Calgary Flames

Throw fire.

Just kidding. No, throw lassos or cowboy hats or cowboy boots. Alberta (and Calgary, in particular) has a neat rural, ranching culture. And Calgary also hosts the Stampede, Canada’s largest annual rodeo festival. Embrace that and toss some rodeo items.

Like saddles! For the Saddledome! Perfect. Throw saddles.

Edmonton Oilers

Throw first round picks away. Wait, they’ve already done that a few times.

This is a deep cut, but stick with me.

Throw milkshakes to honor one of the best oil boom movies ever.

Los Angeles Kings

Crowns. Duh.

I guess if you wanted to throw something related to L.A. culture you could throw ... red carpets? Money? Flashing lights? Movies?

Wait. Yes. Movies.

Throw DVDs onto the ice. Boom. Forget the crowns. That was dumb.

San Jose Sharks

Too easy. I bet you could buy a shark at a market, right? A small shark, not a fully-grown one. Though if you can manage to smuggle in a whale shark then more power to you.

Vancouver Canucks

Another coastal town. So let’s go back to fish. And let’s go with a readily available Vancouver staple: salmon.

Or monkey puzzle trees. Because they sound and look funny.

123rf

Chicago Blackhawks

Lots of food-based options here. But I like the idea of smuggling a deep-dish pizza into United Center in your coat for two periods before frisbee-ing it onto the ice.

Colorado Avalanche

I have family members who’ve lived in Colorado and told me stories about being late to work because they had to wait for a herd of moose or elk to cross the road. Antlers can’t be too hard to acquire, right? You could totally toss antlers, as long as they weren’t all sharp and stuff.

Or mountains.

Dallas Stars

As a Dallas native, I feel uniquely prepared to answer this. Dallas fans should honor their city’s traditions by throwing corporate buildings onto the ice.

Kidding. Kind of. Dallas is way less “Texan” than you’d imagine. Cowboy stuff wouldn’t fit too well. But as the only Texas NHL team, they have to represent the whole state.

So, fine. Stars fans should throw cowboy stuff. Maybe hats. Maybe boots. Maybe horseshoes. Let’s go with horseshoes.

Minnesota Wild

Apparently there are a lot of lakes in Minnesota. And gophers. If you don’t mind offending some fellow fans by throwing a dead gopher on the ice, then go for it I guess. But if subtlety is more your game, go to your local Minnesota lake with an empty water bottle and fill it up. Toss it on the ice. Hope somebody gets the joke as you’re escorted out of the arena.

St. Louis Blues

What better way to celebrate the blues tradition than throwing saxophones?

Winnipeg Jets

Again, you could go moose antlers here. Or plane tickets.

But I like the idea of low-tech references to your team name. So make some really cool paper airplanes and toss those.