#Beats and bytes

[cybertron-smash-or-pass]

Cyberverse Sky Byte

[yaeggravate]

found something very interesting:

the weapon description for mitternachts waltz (fischl's weapon) and moonpiercer (aranara craftable spear) are connected.

combining the two stories tells us that two of the moon sisters were torn to shreds by a weapon, rendering them to nothing but dust. the surviving moon sister never left her palace again out of grief. eventually, the remains of the moons, moondust, fell unto the earth, and were inhaled by children, forming a pearl-like moon in their hearts.

the moondust has also turned into grains of sand that have entered the eyes of children. this is what causes them to weep when they gaze at the moon.

princess fischl has these grains of sand in her eyes, as they wished to remain within her "shining eternal gaze".

Mitternachts Waltz Indeed. A Prinzessin does not shed tears. That was merely a natural secretion from her royal eyes, affronted as they were by the untimely intrusion of those impudent grains of sand.

Moonpiercer Children fascinated by the moon will weep when they gaze upon it, for the moon has turned into fine sand and entered their eyes.

the first line of mitternachts waltz is also repeated in the last line of moonpiercer.

「小姐，在您的巡礼中，没有一滴泪水会是白流的。」 "Mein Fräulein, not one tear of yours was shed in vain during your pilgrimage."

在许许多多的故事里，没有一滴眼泪会是白流的。 In countless tales, not a single tear will be in vain.

...could this be what visions are? moondust? remains from the moon sisters?? the fucking fates!?

[...] and [this is] why the [surviving] moon always favors these children. Because the three sisters, who mirror each other, long to be reunited.

To receive a Vision to sell oneself to the "fate" of this world — to Heimarmene, and to evermore lose the chance to walk the correct path.

fucked up if true

[thefloatingwriter]

sotr spoilers (kind of)

these names get worse and worse every book because what kind of fuck ass name is urchin.

[fleur-alise]

the spot was such a fun lil guy at the beginning; I was like wait I fucking love this lil chaos dude. annnndddd then he turned into an Eldritch horror monster :')

They're all friends, wdym. Print preorder? available??

[jcmarchi]

The 10 Best Dedicated Hosting Providers in 2024

New Post has been published on https://thedigitalinsider.com/the-10-best-dedicated-hosting-providers-in-2024/

The 10 Best Dedicated Hosting Providers in 2024

Dedicated hosting is the highest tier of web hosting – you get a whole server to yourself and don’t need to share the server’s resources with any other website owner. The perks? Exceptional website performance, unlimited bandwidth, exclusive IP address, infinite flexibility, and unmatched security. 

However, just one quick Google search will show you just how many hosting providers are on the market claiming to offer the best dedicated hosting plans. Do a little digging and you’ll find some with shady policies, some with VPS plans dressed up as dedicated hosting, and some with plans that are just too pricey. So how do you choose?

We have done the work for you so you don’t have to. In the rest of this piece, we’ll discuss how dedicated hosting works, who dedicated hosting is for, and then give you a roundup of the 10 very best dedicating hosting providers – plus a quick buying guide that shows you how we chose them.

10 Best Dedicated Hosting Providers At A Glance

BlueHost

A2Hosting

UltaHost

StableHost

HostGator

NameCheap

DreamHost

IONOS

Interserver

InMotion Hosting

What Is Dedicated Hosting and How Does It Work?

As we described, in a dedicated hosting environment, the provider gives you a whole web server all to yourself. The entirety of the server’s resources – storage, memory, CPUs, bandwidth, etc. – are yours and yours alone.

The amount of storage you get with a dedicated hosting plan is usually in the order of terabytes (TBs). Plus, unlike other hosting types that put a cap on the bandwidth or data transfer made to your website, a dedicated hosting plan gives you as much bandwidth as the server can handle. 

These translate into a website that’s exceptionally fast, can handle tons of traffic, and secure from server-wide attacks. What’s more? You don’t run the risk of having the same server IP address with another site that’s been flagged by search engines, inheriting the bad rep, and losing your rankings like in a shared environment.

Dedicated hosting plans are usually offered as managed and unmanaged packages. 

With a managed dedicated hosting plan, the hosting provider handles most of the technical aspects of your server – choosing the operating system, setting up your server, scheduling backups of your website, security configurations, etc. You then manage your server via a control panel.

An unmanaged hosting plan gives you far more control over the server – while the provider sets up the physical server, you are in charge of configuring the software (operating system and other software) and have full-root access to the command line interface. With an unmanaged hosting plan, you also manage your server’s security and backups.

Who Is Dedicated Hosting For?

So who should go for a dedicated hosting plan?

Dedicated hosting or single-tenancy hosting makes the most sense for websites that either handle insane amounts of traffic, require extreme levels of security, and if SEO is your brand’s core source of customers.

With a dedicated hosting plan, you can store content for a very large website and have unlimited bandwidth (or the capacity to handle unlimited traffic) to match. Only the entirety of the server’s resources are your limit.

A reserved environment also means the best security – you are shielded from attacks on other websites e.g: a DDoS attack or malware that may affect you in a shared hosting environment. This makes dedicated hosting particularly great for websites that handle extremely sensitive data – e.g. banks, large eCommerce sites, government databases, etc.

The amount of control you get with a dedicated hosting plan is unmatched. Large corporations with in-house IT teams usually opt for unmanaged dedicated hosting plans where they can configure the server’s software and make fine tweaks for the best performance.

The 10 Best Dedicated Providers In 2024 Reviewed

Without further ado, let’s dive into a comprehensive list of the best dedicated hosting providers in 2024 and see what makes each provider stand out:

1. BlueHost (Most reputable)

Founded in 2003, BlueHost is one of the well-known hosts on the market and offers excellent dedicated hosting plans. BlueHost offers three dedicated plans STANDARD, ENHANCED and PREMIUM with the standard plan starting at $91.98/month.

On each plan you get a server with 4-8 cores, an Intel Xeon-D CPU, 1-2 terabytes of HDD storage, unmetered bandwidth, a Linux OS, and the traditional cPanel granting you root access. 

For clients buying their dedicated plans for the first time, you can chat with a BlueHost agent for recommendations on the best plan. And what’s more? You also get dedicated support for whichever dedicated plan you pick. 

Some other perks include the ability to upgrade the amount of storage you need, exceptionally quick server setup by BlueHost’s agents, and their RAID 1 storage that improves your website’s security. I also like that you can also buy hosting plans from other packages – e.g: shared and VPS, and manage them alongside your dedicated plans from the same account.

In my BlueHost review, I tested BlueHost’s performance to see how quickly they responded. The host’s servers had a time-to-first-byte of 400 ms which is decent. And for the uptime, the BlueHost-hosted website I tested was up 100% of the time over the past month, confirming their 99.9% uptime guarantee.

Here’s why you should choose BlueHost:

BlueHost is recommended directly by WordPress

They provide hosting plans for every website need

Their plans are pretty affordable

Website essentials are provided for free

They have vast complementary services 

BlueHost is incredibly easy to use for beginners

Excellent uptime

Overall, BlueHost is an excellent choice if you are looking for straightforward dedicated hosting plans. And more so, if you want to host WordPress websites.

Read Review →

Visit BlueHost →

2. A2Hosting (Best high-performance dedicated host)

A2Hosting is another dedicated hosting provider that stands apart from the horde. They offer one of the most comprehensive hosting portfolios on the market with just about any type of hosting and hosting for particular businesses. 

A2Hosting provides managed and unmanaged dedicated hosting plans that give you complete server control and excellent security. One unique feature of A2Hosting is they own their own servers, unlike many other hosts who are just resellers.

With their managed plans, you get the CloudLinux OS pre-installed, cPanel, and backups and security managed for you – these plans start at $79.99/month. A2Hosting’s unmanaged dedicated plans allow you to choose from different Linux OSs, gives you full root access, and also allows you configure your security, backup schedules, and choose your own control panel.

On every A2Hosting plan, including their dedicated servers, you can opt for their Turbo plans that feature their AMD Rome servers meshed with NVMe storage, the host claims to offer 20X the operating speed of their regular Intel Xeon CPUs and SSD storage. And on each dedicated plan, you also get a free 1 TB backup drive.

With A2Hosting’s dedicated plans you get between 16-64 GB of RAM, 6-10 TB data transfer, free SSL certificates and the Imunify360 Security Suite installed, and free migration.

In my A2Hosting review, their servers responded in an impressive 100ms and also had 100% uptime, so you know you’re in good hands.

Here’s why you should choose A2Hosting:

Super impressive server times

A vast array of hosting types and complementary services

A2Hosting has a thriving support hub

They provide a custom control panel for WordPress

Their Turbo plans promise unrivaled speed

A2Hosting gives you a plethora of features free

You can choose your data center locations

Overall, A2Hosting is a great choice if you want a dedicated host that offers plans specifically for different types of businesses.

Read Review →

Visit A2Hosting →

Founded in 2018, Ultahost is barely 6 years old but they’ve made a name quickly for themselves, especially in the dedicated hosting market. Ultahost’s dedicated hosting plans are tailored to both small and big businesses, and give you the option to customize your resources.

One great thing about UltaHost’s dedicated plans is they come with different control panel options – Hestia & CyberPanel which are free, Plesk panel, and cPanel, with the first starting at $84/month.

And the levels of customizations are boundless!

You can configure your own dedicated plan choosing the number of cores (4 – 64), threads(8 – 128), amount of RAM(16 GB – 1 TB), and disk size (480 GB – 8 TB). 

On all of Ultahost’s dedicated plans, you get free backups, BitNinja security built-in, a staging tool, free migration, a free SSL, and a dedicated firewall. You can also choose from several operating systems and can enjoy premium NVMe performance. In my UltaHost review, the host was also one of the best performers with the servers pinging in a mere 128 ms!

Here’s why you should choose UltaHost:

Unmatched customizable dedicated plans

Wide variety of OS options

Free domain and SSL

Free website migration

Unlimited bandwidth on all plans

Free daily backups

They have some of the best security features

No other host beats UltaHost in terms of flexibility and their customizable plans cater to every kind of business, giving you even more control.

Read Review →

Visit UltaHost →

Looking for straightforward dedicated hosting plans, StableHost is the one for you. StableHost stands out with its unique clustered hosting where your website is hosted across a network of servers, giving you exceptional performance in case of traffic spikes and reduces downtime.

StableHost offers just three dedicated hosting plans – PROFESSIONAL, PREMIUM, and ULTIMATE giving you between 4 – 16GB of RAM, 2-4 TB of data transfer, and 600 GB hard drives. You can choose between Linux and Unix OSs, and StableHost can also configure a dedicated plan just for you.

Migrating your website to StableHost is also free!

In my StableHost review, the host didn’t have a really impressive server response speed but had an excellent uptime of 100%. StableHost also offers their proprietary website builder BaseKit, where most other hosts only stick to the generic WordPress or Drupal.

Here’s why you should choose StableHost:

Their user interface is perfect for beginners or users with no-code skills 

They offer 45-day money-back guarantee 

They use cluttered hosting for faster performance 

They built a proprietary website builder – BaseKit

StableHost is excellent for their clustered hosting making your website able to handle traffic spikes exceptionally with no downtime.

Read Review →

Visit StableHost →

(Best storage flexibility)

HostGator is another ‘hosting household name’ on the market and one of the best dedicated hosting providers for you. Like StableHost, HostGator offers a 3-tiered dedicated package starting at $91.98/month, offering between 8 – 30 GB RAM, 4 – 8 cores, and 8 – 16 threads. 

For each plan, you can select the control panel you want, have unlimited emails, enjoy advanced DDoS protection, and have full-root access if you’re comfortable with backend. 

HostGator also has an incredible support portal backing their plans and it’s great that you can reach out to their agents via live chat even before you become a customer. 

And finally, one thing I like about HostGator is their awesome user interface that’s easy to use even for newbies. If you decide to use their cPanel, you’ll have access to a control panel that’s been tweaked slightly to make it just a bit easier to use without losing the feel of the oldest running control panel for websites.

With HostGator, you can also choose whether you want HDD (for more affordability) or SSD storage (for better performance).

Here’s why you should choose HostGator:

Excellent DDoS protection

Comes with a drag-n-drop builder

Great support

Intuitive user interface

HDD or SSD storage option balancing performance and affordability.

HostGator is one of the most reputable hosts on the market and if you’re considering their dedicated plans, you can rest assured they are tried and trusted.

Visit HostGator →

(Most varied dedicated plans)

First known as one of the best domain registrars in the world, Namecheap also offers some of the cheapest dedicated hosting plans you’ll ever find starting at $38.9/month.

Structured into 8 dedicated hosting tiers, you can also choose to pay monthly, quarterly, or yearly. Namecheap promises same-day setup and free migration amongst other benefits. I also like how Namecheap sections its dedicated hosting plans for entry level, medium level, and advanced level customers.

You can choose between different control panels and guess what? Namecheap also offers excellent customizability like Ultahost. You can quickly find the best plan for you by exploring their servers and tweaking your budget, number of CPUs, RAM, and storage. 

Namecheap also gives you the freedom to choose the level of control you want over your servers – user-responsible (fully managed by you), basic (hybrid), and complete (managed by the host).

Here’s why you should choose Namecheap:

Incredibly affordable plans

Excellent server customizability

They also offer a great domain name service

Incredible user interface

Flexible payment methods

Choose Namecheap if you want the most affordable dedicated hosting providers on the market plus unmatched customizability.

Visit Namecheap →

Looking for dedicated hosting that’s fully managed by the provider – no question? DreamHost may just be the one for you. The provider offers fully managed dedicated hosting plans that guarantee exceptional performance.

You get between 6 – 12 cores, 16 – 128 GB RAM, 480 GB – 1.9 TB SSD storage, and their plans start at $165/month. DreamHost is one of the few hosts with a custom control panel, giving you a super intuitive interface to manage your plans and websites.

With every plan, you get their 24/7 support guarantee, full root access, Ubuntu Linux built-in, unmetered bandwidth, and a reseller option allowing you to sell customized packages to other clients.

DreamHost also has a dedicated plan customization portal that even though is somewhat limited compared to some of the other hosts we’ve discussed here is still super handy.

Visit DreamHost →

8. IONOS

(Most affordable dedicated hosting)

IONOS promises innovative dedicated plans that combine the power of dedicated servers with the flexibility of cloud solutions. With IONOS, you can choose between Intel and AMD servers and also between HDD, SSD, and NVMe storage.

All of IONOS’s dedicated servers give you unmated API and cloud integration so you can connect virtual machines and build custom infrastructure. You also get all the goodies – unmetered traffic, your servers deployed in just 8 minutes, and a pocket-friendly pay-as-you-go billing structure.

For security, you get a built-in IP firewall, easy website backup, and a wide server footprint. One thing that stood out to me about IONOS is its personalized support. Once you buy a dedicated plan, you have one agent assigned to you for the quickest response and support through phone, chat, and email at no additional cost.

IONOS dedicated servers start at $32/month for HDD and $50/month for SSD.

Why you should choose IONOS:

Exceptional server and storage flexibility

Incredibly affordable

Pay-as-you-go structure

Unmatched personalized support

Choose IONOS if you want to enjoy the perks of dedicated hosting plus a customer agent dedicated to your every need and inquiry.

Visit IONOS →

Interserver is another dedicated hosting provider that provides high-level dedicated hosting plans for businesses of all sizes. Interserver’s dedicated plans are sectioned by servers into Buy It Now servers, Customizable AMD and XEON servers, and their Rapid Deploy servers.

The host’s dedicated plans are incredibly affordable, starting at $40/month and across all their server options, you can enjoy between 8 – 128 GB RAM, 250 GB – 1.7 TB of storage, and 1 Gb per second bandwidth.

Their Buy It plans are ready-made plans if you don’t want to scour several options. Their Customizable servers plans give you more control and choice over the types of CPUs and whether you want HDD, SSD, OR NVMe storage. And their Rapid Deploy servers give you bare metal virtual servers ready in 15 minutes.

You can also choose your control panel – cPanel, Plesk, DirectAdmin. Interserver also offers a dedicated reseller package allowing you to resell your dedicated plans to other clients for more profit. 

Here’s why you should choose Interserver:

Excellent customization options

Multi-tiered server packages

Very affordable plans

Offers a reseller dedicated package

Choose Interserver if you want affordable plans, just a virtual machine, or plan to resell your dedicated hosting.

Visit Interserver →

If you want to be able to choose where your servers are located, InMotion is a splendid choice. Their most basic plan Aspire starts at $35/month and you can enjoy between 16 GB – 512 GB RAM, 1 TB SSD – 6.4 TB NVMe storage, 1 – 10 Gb per second bandwidth, 1 – 30 dedicated IP addresses, 10 GB – 1 TB free backup storage, and so much more.

One awesome feature on InMotion is you can choose the location of your data centers. They also give you a 100% human support guarantee for whenever you have inquiries. What’s more? Whether you are a customer or just considering their services, you can always talk to their agents via phone, live chat, or a support ticket.

Their dedicated hosting plans are fully managed and on each one you get free website transfers, access to Linux experts support agents, a free SSL, Backup Manager installed, and a custom firewall. You can also choose between cPanel and Control Web Panel for your website’s management.

Here’s why you should choose InMotion:

Affordable dedicated plans

Their UltraStack promises incredible performance

Human support

Awesome complementary features built-in

Choice over data centers.

Choose InMotion for affordable dedicated plans and if you’re targeting an audience in a particular region and want to be able to choose your server locations.

Visit InMotion →

How We Chose The Best Dedicated Hosting Providers

Now that you have a much smaller list to work with and are ready to pick, you may be wondering how we chose them. What were some of the qualities we considered? Let’s see some of them so you can zero in on the one for you.

Pricing

Dedicated hosting plans are the most expensive hosting plans on the market, and understandably so. You get a host of perks from being the sole tenant on a web server.

Given that many dedicated plans start from $100 and upwards, when choosing the hosts to recommend to you, we looked for providers offering feature-packed plans that were still very affordable.

Namecheap, IONOS, Interserver, and InMotion all have dedicated hosting plans that start from $30-40/month and are some of the cheapest you’ll ever find. These plans focus on website owners who are just trying dedicated hosting for the first time and don’t need to suddenly start spending several times their shared or VPS plans. 

Flexibility and customizability

Next, we considered web hosts that offered plans where you could easily scale your resources as your traffic increases. We also looked out for hosting providers that allow you to create a custom plan, giving you even more control over how much you spend.

With a flexible host, you won’t be stuck on a plan that’s limited in resources in case of traffic spikes or one with excess resources that have you paying for specs you may never use. 

All of the web hosts we included in this list are incredibly flexible and hosts like Ultahost, DreamHost, and Namecheap have dedicated customization portals so you can set the amount of storage, number of CPUs, RAM, and number of cores you want.

Server/storage specs

The very essence of a dedicated hosting plan is to give you the most resources. When choosing these hosts, we selected hosts that give you high-end storage and servers. 

With many of these hosts, you can choose whether you want HDD or SSD or NVMe disks. You can also select between Intel and AMD servers. 

Then there are the outliers – Ultahost’s customizable plans allow you to choose as high as 1 terabytes of RAM. A2Hosting gives you a free 1TB drive. 

Customer support/managed plans

We also prioritized web hosts that are serious about customer support and take as much of the server management out of your hands (for managed hosting plans). All the hosts we listed provide you with 24/7 support across several channels – live chat, phone, email, tickets, etc.

And for managed plans, with the hosts we selected, your servers are set up for you, they come with a built-in operating system, and you can choose the control panel you want to use. They’ll also set up your website backup schedule and your security features in place.

IONOS, in particular, stands out with its personalized support where a particular agent is assigned to you.

And that’s it! These ten hosts are the very best dedicated hosting providers in 2024, and are where you should start your search from.

FAQs

What is managed and unmanaged dedicated hosting?

In a managed dedicated hosting plan, the web host handles most of the technical aspects of your servers for you – setting up the servers, scheduling your backups, setting up your security systems, and configuring your control panel. While with an unmanaged dedicated hosting plan, the provider only deploys the servers. You are responsible for all the server management. 

Most website owners choose managed dedicated hosting plans. Unmanaged dedicated hosting makes more sense for large organizations with in-house IT teams that can configure the servers on command-line level.

Do I need dedicated hosting as a beginner?

If you are just launching a new website then you don’t need dedicated hosting unless you already have an established brand and your traffic will come pouring in right away. Most new websites do well with a shared or VPS hosting plan. After you outgrow these plans, you can then migrate to a dedicated hosting package.

What is a dedicated IP address in web hosting?

One of the perks that usually come with dedicated hosting is you have a dedicated IP address assigned to your website. On a smaller tier hosting category like shared hosting, you share the same physical server with other websites and thus the same server IP address with these websites.

You don’t know who your neighbors are and if one of the websites have been flagged by search engines, the IP can also be flagged, putting your own website at risk of losing search ranking. With a dedicated hosting plan, you have an IP address exclusive to you and are not affected by the actions of other website owners.

[potatobugz]

jsab headcanon/au posting again... i think i have finally come up with a name i am happy with for "Blixer"/the boss guy😈 and i will share it with you all in the tags bc i think it is cute and i like it

[idontcaboose]

Haunted car Au part 11

Previous. Masterpost

When Duke woke up, he remembered the fight he had with Bruce last night. All in all, it was actually what Duke wanted to happen in a way. Duke got full access to “fix” the Batmobile, but just the way Bruce made it sound was just… Infuriating. Like, sure, blame the newly 17 year old kid who had only moved the car, not even a hundred feet, for everything wrong with the car. Being benched until he figured out how to get whoever was possessing the car sucked though.

The good news is that the only people who would be awake to bother him or ask unwanted questions would be Alfred and maybe Tim. If Tim got on his case it would be simple to call in Alfred or to threaten him with calling in Alfred. The only other people that use the cave like the front door are Dick and Jason. Both would be up for hiding the issue from Bruce once explained. Dick would be a bleeding heart to a potential meta/alien kid getting stuck because of their powers. Jason would keep the secret just on principle, especially if told Duke got blamed for something he had no hand in. Jason would probably help set the kid up after he gets out of the car too, assuming Bruce doesn't pull a Bruce. It would be nice to not be the only meta in the family though, and the kid would already know about the family, but that would be the kids choice.

After a short breakfast, Duke made his way back down to the cave, only to hear a…Rave?

He made his way through the cave following the muted music to… the car…

“What in every hell are you doing?” Duke could not help to exclaim as he saw the Batmobile, for lack of a better comparison, dancing.

The car was strobing its headlights from the yellow driver's lights, to the brights, to the color changing LEDs Jason and Dick put in for a party prank that Bruce never removed, all to the beat of some techno that had to have been in Tim's Playlist. The car stopped in its perceived dancing to open its door in another mockery of a wave causing the music to become almost deafening as the door opened. Duke had to cover his ears as the kid in the car panicked and set off its alarm before turning everything off. If Duke thought the cacophony before was deafening, the silence after was even more so.

“Seriously, what the hell kid?” Duke said with as much incredulity as he could muster.

The car responded with a slow turning of its front wheels and a quieter sound of ‘Sorry’ by Justin Beiber playing, which could have been from either Dick or Steph’s playlists.

“You know what? I am not going to deal with song names and lyrics to guess from. Give me a second.” Duke went to the Batcomputer and found Tim's folder containing all of the sound bytes and clips that he uses when he gets real malicious with the power points for his team, the JL, or for Bruce when he is being exceptionally pissy, and downloads it onto a large USB stick. It took a little longer than Duke expected, but within an hour the USB was downloading its new playlist into the Batmobile’s radio storage. The sound bytes should be better than songs, right?

“GOOOOOOODDDDDD MOOOOORRRRRRNNNING GOOOOOOOTTTHHHHAAAAAAAAAMMMM!!!!!!!!!!”

“God dammit Tim”

Next

@kizzer55555 @sebas-nights @candeartist422   @trappednyourheart @fandom-life-corrupted-me @tkiesai @2lbballpeenhammer @admiralwidow @rewrittenwrongs @whotfevenknowsanymore @symmetricalastigmatism @thespacedragons @atinygracie @okami-love  @lesbian-spider-drone @1n0sss @forgetmenot-bluepurple

[things-for-your-little-mindset]

things for a robot regressor? :3

Things for your robot regressor ( !💿💾! )

Foods & drinks …

Byte-Sized Sandwiches – Tiny sandwiches made with mini bread slices or crackers

Gear Gummies – Fruit gummies shaped like gears or rings (Lifesavers work well too!).

Robot Wires – Pull-apart licorice (like Twizzlers) to look like colorful robot wires

Metallic Popcorn – Popcorn with a little edible silver or gold glitter powder to look metallic!

Glowing Gelatin – Blue or green Jello cut into squares for a "glowing energy" effect.

Bright ramune sodas – flavors like melon, classic, and peach make for great days!

Blue raspberry lemonade – store bought or homemade, either works!

Neon Milk – Regular milk with a tiny drop of food coloring to make it look "charged up."

outfit ideas !

Gray or futuristic pajamas

soft, comfy robot pjs.

slippers made to look like robot feet! Or in a bright color.

soft, comfortable silver dresses.

oversized gray sweaters with colorful buttons (drawn on, or sewn on!)

dress shirts with colorful buttons

Tie-dye shirts in comfortable, bright colors.

metal-colored shoes with circuit patterns

ACTIVITIES

= Build-A-Bot – Use LEGO, magnetic tiles, or recycled materials (cardboard, foil, bottle caps) to create your own robot!

= Design a Control Panel – Draw buttons, screens, and switches on paper or use stickers to make your own robot dashboard.

= DIY Circuit Board Art – Draw pretend circuit boards with markers or use metallic stickers for a cool, futuristic look.

= Robot Costume Making – Use boxes, foil, and tape to create your own wearable robot armor.

= Code Your Own Dance Moves – Make a "robot dance routine" by writing simple step-by-step commands for yourself to follow!

= Invent a Robot Language – Create fun robotic sounds or a simple "beep-boop" code to talk in!

= Decorate Your Charging Station – Make a cozy "charging pod" with blankets and pillows where you can rest and "recharge."

Games (new addition!)

Roblox games such as cozmo and friends: team battle, robot simulator 2, Natural disaster survival games, or even just roleplay games where you can dress up as a robot or robotic character!

Minecraft with robotic addons or with friends to do robotic roleplays with!

Geometry dash

mimo: learn coding

any coding website

Beat maker pro

Block Blast

Screw it out

songs and playlists

I want to be a machine - the living tombstone

eeeaaaooo - shadowstep

Playlist by me

Playlist by 5-tar

Superstar - toy box

Harder, better, faster, stronger - Daft Punk

Dr. Gaster - shadrow

Playlist by The Hank Tapedeck

[aldryrththerainbowheart]

Chapter 1: Ghost In the Machine

The hum of the fluorescent lights in "Byte Me" IT Solutions was a monotonous drone against the backdrop of Gotham's usual cacophony. Rain lashed against the grimy window, each drop a tiny percussionist drumming out a rhythm of misery. Inside, however, misery was a bit more… organized.

I sighed, wrestling with a particularly stubborn strain of ransomware. "CryptoLocker v. 7.3," the diagnostic screen read. A digital venereal disease, if you asked me. Another day, another infected grandma's laptop filled with pictures of her grandkids and a crippling fear that hackers were going to steal her identity.

"Still at it?" My coworker, Mark, sidled over, clutching a lukewarm mug of something vaguely resembling coffee. Mark was a good guy, perpetually optimistic despite working in one of Gotham's less-than-glamorous neighborhoods. Bless his heart.

"You know it," I replied, jabbing at the keyboard. "Think I've finally managed to corner the bastard. Just gotta… there!" The screen flashed a success message. "One less victim of the digital plague."

Mark nodded, then his eyes drifted to the hulking metal beast in the corner, a Frankensteinian creation of salvaged parts and mismatched wiring. "How's the behemoth coming along?"

I followed his gaze. My pet project. My escape. "Slowly but surely. Got the cooling system optimized today. Almost ready to fire it up."

"Planning anything special with it?" Mark asked, his brow furrowed in curiosity. "You've been collecting scraps for months. It's gotta be more than just a souped-up gaming rig."

I shrugged, a deliberately vague gesture. "You could say I'm planning something… big. Something Byte Me isn't equipped to handle."

Mark chuckled. "Well, whatever it is, I'm sure you'll make it sing. You've got a knack for that sort of thing." He wandered off, whistling a jaunty tune that died a slow, agonizing death against the backdrop of the Gotham rain.

He had no idea just how much of a knack.

Mark bid me one final goodbye before pulling out an umbrella and disappearing into the night. No doubt he stops at Nero’s pizzeria before going home to his wife and kids. You watched through the shop window before he disappeared around the corner. Then, you locked the door and reached for the light switch. The fluorescent lights flickered a final, dying gasp before plunging the shop into darkness. I waited a beat, the city's distant sirens a mournful choir. Then, I flipped the hidden switch behind the breaker box, illuminating a small, secluded corner of the shop.

Rain hammered against the grimy windowpanes of my "office," a repurposed storage room tucked away in the forgotten bowels of the shop. The rhythmic drumming was almost hypnotic, a bleak lullaby for a city perpetually on the verge of collapse. I ignored it, fingers flying across the keyboard, the green glow of the monitor painting my face in an unsettling light. Outside, the city's distant sirens formed a mournful choir. Here, the air crackled with a different kind of energy.

"Almost there," I muttered, the words barely audible above the whirring of the ancient server rack humming in the corner. It was a Frankensteinian creation, cobbled together from spare parts and salvaged tech, but it packed enough processing power to crack even the most stubborn encryption algorithms. Laptops with custom OSes, encrypted hard drives, and a tangle of wires snaked across the desk. This was Ghostwire Solutions, my little side hustle. My… outlet.

Tonight's victim, or client – depending on how you looked at it – was a low-level goon. One was a two-bit thug named "Knuckles" Malone; the other, a twitchy character smelling of desperation, Frankie "Fingers" Falcone. Malone's burner phone, or Falcone's data chip containing an encrypted message, was now on the screen in front of me, a jumble of characters that would make most people's eyes glaze over. For me, it was a puzzle. A challenging, if morally questionable, puzzle.

My service, "Ghostwire Solutions," was discreet, to say the least. No flashy neon signs, no online presence, just word-of-mouth referrals whispered in dimly lit back alleys. I was a ghost, a digital shadow flitting through the city's underbelly, connecting people. That's how I liked to justify it anyway. I cracked my knuckles and went to work. My fingers danced across the keyboard, feeding the encrypted text into a series of custom-built algorithms, each designed to exploit a specific vulnerability. Hours melted away, marked only by the rhythmic tapping of keys and the soft hum of the custom-built rig in the corner, its processing power gnawing away at the digital lock.

The encryption finally buckled. A cascade of decrypted data flooded the screen. I scanned through it, a jumbled mess of texts, voicemails, location data, or a simple message detailing a meeting point and time. Mostly dull stuff about late payments and turf wars, the mundane reality of Gotham's criminal element. I extracted the relevant information.

"Alright, Frankie," I muttered to myself, copying the decrypted message onto a clean file. "Just connecting people. That's all I'm doing."

I packaged the data into a neat little file, added a hefty markup to my initial quote, and sent it off via an encrypted channel. Within minutes, the agreed-upon sum, a few hundred cold, hard dollars, landed in my untraceable digital wallet. I saved the file to a new data chip and packaged it up. Another job done. Another night closer to sanity's breaking point.

"Just connecting people," I repeated, the phrase tasting like ash in my mouth. The lie tasted even worse. I knew what I was doing. I was enabling crime. I was greasing the wheels of Gotham's underbelly. But bills had to be paid. It was a convenient lie, a way to sleep at night knowing I was profiting from the chaos. But tonight, it felt particularly hollow. And honestly, did it really matter? Gotham was already drowning in darkness. What was one more drop?

Gotham was a broken city, a machine grinding down its inhabitants. The system was rigged, the rich got richer, and the poor fought over scraps. I wasn't exactly helping to fix things. But I wasn't making it worse, right? I was just a cog in the machine, a necessary evil. I was good at what I did, damn good. I could see patterns where others saw chaos. I could exploit vulnerabilities, both in code and in the systems of power that held Gotham hostage. It was a skill, a talent, and in this city, unique talents were currency. I was efficient and discreet. But every decrypted message, every bypassed firewall, chipped away at something inside me. It hollowed me out, leaving me a ghost in my own life, a wire connecting the darkness.

I leaned back in my creaky chair, the rain still pounding against the window. The air was thick with the scent of ozone and melancholy. Another night, another decryption, another small victory against the futility of existence in Gotham. The flicker of conscience, that annoying little spark that refused to be extinguished, flared again. Was I really making a difference? Or was I just another parasite feeding off the city's decay?

I closed my eyes, trying to silence the questions. Tomorrow, there would be another encryption to crack, another connection to make. And I would be ready, Ghostwire ready to disappear into the digital ether, another ghost in the machine, until the next signal came. As I waited for the morning, for the return of the fluorescent lights and the mundane reality of "Byte Me" IT Solutions, I wondered if one day, the darkness I trafficked in would finally claim me completely. Because in Gotham, survival was a code all its own, and I was fluent in its language. And frankly, some days, that didn't seem like such a bad deal. For now, that was enough.

[lesbiangiratina]

5th 👍

Testament has the 6th largest character page on the wiki i need to do better

[commodorez]

I still believe the craziest form of computer program storage format from the 1980s is the cassette tape. Logical I get it but to store entire programs on little tape (that I only remember using to play music) is just crazy to me. Idk

Agreed, cassette tape for data storage was really clever. The concept had its heyday was the 1970s in a wide variety of encoding schemes for different computer platforms. It did persist into the 80s, mostly in Europe, while the US switched to floppy disks as soon as they were available for systems. The majority of my Ohio Scientific software is on cassette.

Talking with UK vs. US Commodore 64 users in particular will highlight the disparity in which storage mediums that were commonplace. I've got a few pieces of software on tape for mainly the VIC-20, but I rarely bother to use it, because it's slow and annoying. To be fair, Commodore's implementation of data storage on tape is pretty rock solid relative to the competition. It's considered more reliable than other company's but Chuck Peddle's implementation of the cassette routines are considered quite enigmatic to this day. He didn't document it super well, so CBM kept reusing his old code from the PET all the way through the end of the C128's development 7 years later because they didn't want to break any backward compatibility.

The big thing that really made alot of homebrewers and kit computer owners cozy up to the idea was the introduction of the Kansas City Standard from 1976. The idea of getting away from delicate and slow paper tape, and moving towards an inexpensive, portable, and more durable storage medium was quite enticing. Floppy disk drives and interfaces were expensive at the time, so something more accessible like off the shelf audio tapes made sense.

I've linked two places you can read about it from Byte Magazine's February 1976 issue below (check the attribution links).

You might recognize a familiar name present...

There are a few ways to encode binary data on tape designed to handle analog audio, but the KCS approach is to have 1's be 8 cycles of 2400Hz tone, and 0's be 4 cycles of 1200Hz tone. I say cycles, because while 300 baud is the initial specification, there is also a 1200 baud specification available, so the duration of marks vs spaces (another way of saying 1's and 0's), is variable based on that baud rate. Many S-100 computers implemented it, as do a few contemporary proprietary designs.

The big 3 microcomputers of 1977 that revolutionized the industry (Apple II, Commodore PET 2001, and Tandy TRS-80 Model I) each have their own cassette interface implementation. It kept costs down, and it was easy to implement, all things considered. The Apple II and TRS-80 use off-the-shelf cassette deck connections like many other machines, whereas the original variant of the PET had an integrated cassette. Commodore later used external cassette decks with a proprietary connector, whereas many other companies abandoned tape before too long. Hell, even the original IBM PC has a cassette port, not that anybody bothered to use that. Each one used a different encoding format to store their data, rather than KCS.

Here's a sample of what an OSI-formatted tape sounds like.

And here's a Commodore formatted tape, specifically one with VIC-20 programs on it.

I won't subject you to the whole program, or we'd be here all day. The initial single tone that starts the segment is called the "leader", I've truncated it for the sake of your ears, as well as recorded them kinda quietly. I don't have any other tape formats on hand to demonstrate, but I think you get the idea.

You can do alot better than storing programs on tape, but you can also do alot worse -- it beats having to type in a program every time from scratch.

[galfromearth-22191]

So margo and her duplication power, can we talk about it?! The possibilities yall

Distractions

Imagine Margo beating up baddies. One minute she’s there, next she’s over there. She could be anywhere. She could even use her duplicates to deliver a group attack

For laughs

Imagine someone tries to speak to her and they’re just chatting away…come to find out it wasn’t her that whole time

Convenience

Piggybacking off the last point, she cant be in the society, on missions, etc as Spider-byte? No worries, she just uses a decoy to do her tasks

[lowrezbonuslevel]

Susie's Super Star Repair Service! (coming eventually...?) ft. new side blog, just dropped

"When strangely-familiar stars spark to life across the universe, Susie sees a chance to rescue her father from the byte-sized boundaries of his digital purgatory (and turn a profit, while she's at it). However, her developing plans evince an undesirable yet ultimately inescapable side effect—in piecing together Max Haltmann's soul, Susie will simultaneously restore functionality to the Deus ex Machina, Star Dream: the destructive, numb-hearted computer that has held him and his memories ransom for years.

"Still, no good businesswoman is afraid to take strategic and potentially-catastrophic-on-a-universal-scale risks when majority shares of her dreams are at stake. The biggest glitch in this technological operation, as a matter of fact, has nothing to do with her father, nor the not-even-half-baked Clockwork Star that became his tomb. No…

"The greatest risk is prolonged exposure to the trademark antics of a beguiling wizard extraordinaire (which roughly translates from Magolorese to 'least agreeable person in existence'). Susie knows he can't be trusted—but his understanding of ancient technology can't be beat and his long-suffering Starcutter can't be outpaced. If only she and her insufferable 'captain' can follow their begrudging agreement to the letter… maybe they'll both come out of this with only minor injuries and moderate insanity.

"The bottom line: it'll take patience, prowess, and persuasion for Executive President Susie Haltmann, the universe's greatest powerhouse of pink-haired persistence, to finally make her dreams reality—and with everything between a shrouded suitor, a cosmic jester, secret keepsakes, long-forgotten promises, clandestine coronal plots, and Star Dream itself threatening to send her off course… it might take just a little bit of magic, too."

some cover thumbnails. still not sure which one i'm going with, if any. but i did like the top middle so i gave it some values. (i wanted to incorporate magolor since he's unfortunately an important character, and the lor and star dream/haltmann of course... and, yup, that's it. nobody else along for the ride. no murderous stowaways or anything.)

this might be the last post about my fic on this blog (unless i make some particularly banger art based on it or something), so if this interests you, check out my other blog, dedicated to this and any future fanfic endeavors, fresh off the Gryll (btw that was a Kirby joke, based on the Kirby video game series, very few will get this!!!). and feel free to send in asks i suppose? i will try not to spoil TOO much

[thescarletnargacuga]

Art: @iamespecter

CHAPTER FIVE

Racing AU!

Caine's been shot by cupid's digital arrow! He's falling harder than a stone, losing control even. Is he losing control or just experiencing digital hallucinations? Jax knows something Pomni needs to know, can she beat it out of him on the track?

WARNING: cartoon racing violence

Caine floated with his arms and legs crossed. He hadn't taken his eyes off the red door for nearly twelve hours. The silence of his workshop was only broken by his fingers tapping anxiously against his arm. He glared at the door, daring it to move.

"Hey, boss-"

"GAAAAH! BUBBLE! CAN'T YOU SEE I'M BUSY!?" His voice garbled some distortion as he righted himself from nearly doing a backflip.

"Really? I thought you were having a staring contest with the door. Did you win?"

Caine dragged his hand down the front of his teeth. "No, Bubble...I was just... checking something. What do you want?"

"It's almost race time, boss."

He checked his wacky watch. "Byte biscuits, I don't have one ready. Guess we'll do a repeat today, but an old one. Makes it uh...what's the word?"

"[%$!#]?" Bubble smiled.

Caine gave Bubble a deadpanned look of disappointment. "No. Nostalgic! That's the one. And it'll be new to our newer racers anyway." He looked at the door again, half expecting it to be gone. It remained. "Bubble, I have a task for you. Stay here. If that door disappears, tell me right away. Got it?"

"On it, boss!" Bubble took Caine's place of hovering in front of the red door.

Caine snapped his fingers and the assets he needed for today's race disappeared from the workshop. He mentally assembled the map as he made sure he was ready to host. Coat? Check. Cane? Check. Hat? Check. A quick look in the mirror to see if he had something stuck in his teeth, he never did, but he always checked anyway. He had to look his best, especially now that he knew that Pomni paid attention. She said he did good! He wondered if she'd say it again sometime. It was so nice to hear.

"Alright, Bubble! I'm off! Remember, if that door so much as twitches out of place, tell me." He vanished with a snap.

~

Pomni was having her first digital breakfast. At least, that's what everyone else called it. Unless someone requested a specific dish, the assortment of food on the table was completely random. She didn't feel hungry, but her mind was certain she needed to eat. When was the last time she had food? What was her last meal in the real world? She took a bite of palagonal chicken before she started trauma spiraling again.

Gummigoo sat next to her enjoying some caramel filled chocolate eggs. He too was using food as a distraction from the thoughts that plagued his confused mind. This was life now. His last life being entirely made up, he had to try and make a new one. A real one. ...how? He monched another egg to silence the questions.

"You two are awfully quiet." Ragatha said from across the table.

Pomni and Gummigoo gave each other with knowing glaces. "Just hungry." "Yeah."

"They're still adjusting." Kinger said poignantly. "Give them time." He put an indeterminate fruit to his face and a bite disappeared from it. "Ooh, kiwi."

Zooble offered a piece of toast to Gangle, who took a small bite. "Kinger's right. Don't you remember how long it took you to adjust? Took you a month to stop screaming every time Caine showed up."

"He wore earmuffs every time he visited." Gangle giggled.

"What can I say? He was scary to look at. All teeth and eyes and eugh." Ragatha shivered.

Jax was at the end of the table. Chair tipped back, feet up. "So, you're saying Caine made you scream? How scandalous." He smirked when he got the exact reaction he thought he'd get out of her. He flattened his ears as he dodged the bowl of potatoes she threw at him.

Gummigoo didn't really get the joke but smiled all the same. Watching them all interact like this, joshing each other and having fun despite the circumstances. He could get used to this. "So uh... the races. When do they usually happen?" He rubbed his head. He hadn't quite processed the massive garble of information Caine dumped into his code.

"Roughly mid-day. Not that any of us have a real perception of time here, just going by the day/night cycle outside." Ragatha answered. "And the races last until everyone has crossed the finish line three times. However long it takes."

"So if you fall behind, everyone has to wait on your slow sorry [%$!#] to finish." Jax added.

"Well, you won't have to worry about me. Slow isn't in my lexicon." Gummigoo winked.

Jax rolled his eyes. "The flying chatter box will be here soon and I got some adjustments I need to make." He stood.

"This isn't an airport. You don't have to announce your departure." Zooble jabbed. Gangle put her ribbons over her mouth to cover her smile.

Jax held up his hand and his gesture was censored as he walked away. Zooble returned the gesture.

Pomni excused herself under her breath and followed Jax. He preoccupied himself with his kart. He didn't look at her but acknowledged her presence. "What do you want, short stack?"

She ingnored the name and looked back to make sure everyone else was still at the table before answering. "I wanted to ask you something. A-about the void."

He froze in place for a second before continuing messing with the buttons. "What about it?"

"You've been there, right? You mentioned it my first day."

"I might have. What's it to ya?"

"Well, I-..." She got quiet. "I may have accidentally ended up there. Yesterday. Through a door. And an office. Uh- it was weird, anyway, do you know anything about the void?"

"I may or may not. What's in it for me if I tell ya?"

"Uh...I don't know. I just-"

"Thought I'd tell you what I know for free? Tsk, tsk. That's no fun. Tell you what..." He submitted his selections and the kart lowered back to the ground. He looked down at her with the biggest grin. "Beat me in today's race, and I'll tell ya what I know."

"What? You don't care about winning! You said so yourself!"

"I don't, but now, it seems there may be something worth competing for after all. The satisfaction of knowing something that you don't." His grin widened with a evil glint in his eye.

"Fine. Give me your word that you'll tell all when I beat you."

"If, short stack, if." He held out his hand for a shake. He gripped her hand hard and leaned down close. His voice a dark whisper. "You've never seen me race when I gave a [%$!#]. You think I'm a problem now? You ain't seen nothing yet."

Pomni stood her ground despite the nauseating anxiety that bubbled in her gut. "Game on, then."

Jax looked ready to burst with joy. "Game on."

"Hello, my tasty toasters!" Caine appeared out of thin air over the table. Startling only Gummigoo. "Are you ready to race? We're doing a classic today! An oldie but a goodie! Join me outside and see!" He zipped over to Pomni and held out his hand. "I'm especially excited to show you this track, Pomni. It's very thematic to your attire."

"Uh...okay." She hesitated but took his hand and flew with him right through the wall like a couple of ghosts.

Gummigoo walked out with the others. "Is he always this... eccentric?"

"Nah, this is actually pretty tame for him. His latest project must be giving him problems." Ragatha shrugged.

The outside had been transformed into the inside of a massive yellow and red tent. The track ramped up from the start; spiraling and winding through hoops of fire, impossible long jumps and loop-the-loops. Toy-like, but life sized, animals played with balls and balloons and popcorn. Faceless figurines danced on tightropes and trapeze.

"Welcome, to the Circus!" Caine announced, followed by the standard fanfare of the NPC audience. Fireworks went off overhead and he looked to Pomni for approval. Time was doing something weird as he watched her expressions. It was going so slow. The sparkle and flare of the fireworks reflected in her wide, colorful eyes. He felt fuzzy, like his core was made of static. He still held her hand, the way it fit in his suddenly felt significant. When she looked at him with an amused smile, he nearly fell out of the air. He slowly let her back down, but forgot to let go.

"Uh, Caine?" Pomni asked as she tried to pull her hand away. Gangle covered her mouth in a silent gasp and shook Zooble with excitement. Zooble just let it happen, Gangle often got excited over little things and they weren't going to deny her expression.

"Oop- right, apologies." Caine cleared his throat. "As I was saying, welcome to the Circus! To our return racers, welcome back! The Circus is a twisting good time where you'll perform jaw dropping stunts from heart stopping heights at mind bending speed! The more tricks you show off, the more points you achieve!"

"Wait, heights?" Pomni asked nervously.

"Oh yeah, BIG heights." Jax came up behind her and pointed out the largest drop on the track. A sign made of flashing colorful lights saying "The High Dive" hung precariously over the edge of a hundreds foot high ledge that sloped like a ski jump, a speed boost flashing red and orange all the way down.

Pomni gulped.

"Don't worry, Pomni." Ragatha shoved Jax away. "Remember you have a glider, and the tricks can be whatever you want. Just go with what feels right. Caine's pretty easily impressed." She escorted Pomni to her kart, keeping an eye on Jax.

Gummigoo whistled. "Crikey, this is what we do here?"

"Pretty much." Said Zooble. "Just roll with it."

"Works for me." He saw everyone go to their respective kart, so he mounted his bike at the end of the line.

"Racers! Start! Your! Engines!!" Caine shouted into the mic. The revving of the engines nearly drowned out the cheering crowd. Without Bubble around, two smaller bubble assistants held the starting light.

First light.

Jax looked back at Pomni with a smarmy grin.

Second light.

Pomni narrowed her eyes at him, determined not be intimidated. At least, not outwardly.

Third light.

"Wait, which button was for the glider?" She thought outloud.

GREEN!

No time to think, Pomni floored it to take off with the pack. Gummigoo zoomed past her, his bike accelerating much faster than any kart. She watched him weave in between Zooble and Kinger and disappear. She took a breath and focused on the first jump; the smallest with a short boost on the ramp. She jumped it without doing a trick, opting to watch the others first.

Jax and a few of the others spun 360°, earning them a few points on the leaderboard. "Okay...that doesn't seem too hard. I can do this."

~

"And they're off! Jax is leading by five lengths with Kinger right behind him! Gummigoo in third with a strong start! Ragatha and Gangle are tying for fourth! Pomni is keeping up in sixth and Zooble brings up the rear! Get it in gear, Zooble! You don't want to be the last in line for the fun!" Caine laughed.

~

Pomni got her first item, a bubble. "What!? What do I do with this!?" She held it out away from her, it's beady eyes looked at her vacantly over its sharp toothed grin. She wasn't paying attention and ran right into a bar of soap. But she didn't spin out.

"Nom nom nom, mmmmm! Tasty!" Then the bubble popped.

"Wha-...I guess it does that." She turned a corner and came to the first loop. She hit the boost that circled the length of the loop and felt her face pull back from the force of the acceleration. She'd scream if she could breathe. She kart pulled ahead of Ragatha's at the bottom and flew off a big jump. She panicked and starting hitting ALL the buttons. "Come on, come on, where's the-"

FWOOF!

Her glider deployed unexpectedly as it jerked her out of freefall. The sudden motion made her let go of the steering wheel and she glided off course.

~

"Whoops! Looks like someone needs a little course correction!" Caine snapped his fingers and a cloud of bubbles pushed Pomni back on course in time for her to land. "Don't forget! Tricks are the name of the game! Even someone in last place can win with enough trick points! Wow the crowd!"

~

Pomni could throw up, she really could. She fought the feeling as she got her next item, hoping for something useful. Jax was far ahead, in position and points, and she needed to catch up or never hear what he knew about the void. She got a golden cupcake and ate it immediately. Her kart went faster and she gained her ground back from flubbing the jump. She passed Ragatha and made ground on Gummigoo. Shells flew as Jax released three white ones. Pomni and Kinger swerved around them, one got Gummigoo and he fell behind.

"How did he have THREE!?" She screamed.

"Multi-shell. Very useful." Kinger's calm tone barely carried to Pomni. "You having fun?"

Pomni didn't get a chance to answer. The track curved sharp right and Kinger didn't turn with it. He hit the wall and was left behind. Pomni barely made the turn while Jax effortlessly drifted through it.

Jax looked back, pleased that Pomni didn't crash with Kinger. This would be awfully boring if she couldn't keep up.

~

"Oh! That had to hurt! Kinger moves down three places! Gummigoo shook off the shell like a champ and is gunning for lap leaders Jax and Pomni! Ragatha is fighting for her life dodging a shell from Gangle! The girls are on fire today!" Caine spun and flipped in the air as he made his announcements. "Up next is the elephant pyramid! The third largest jump on the whole track! Let's see those moves, racers!"

~

Jax made the jump and did an aileron roll, earning him lots of points.

Pomni took the jump and tried twisting her kart for a trick. Instead of spinning horizontally, she tipped forward into a front flip and almost didn't rotate back upright before landing. This time, she did puke, black bile slicking the track behind her. "Ugh, what the [%$!#] is this course!"

Gummigoo saw the mess in time and avoided it. Gangle, who finally made it past Ragatha, wasn't so lucky and slid into the wall. Gummigoo caught up with Pomni. "Hey! You alright!?"

"Yeah, just jump jitters!" She tried to laugh it off.

~

"Clean up on aisle Pomni! Good to get it out before taking on the flaming spiral! That'll really throw you for a loop! Haha- Oh no! Watch out for the cube of face painted dogs, Zooble! Ooooo that's going to leave a mark!"

~

Pomni had a death grip on her steering wheel as she fought the g-forces through the spiral. She lost all sense of up or down. The fire was thankfully only for visual effect. She and Gummigoo were still neck and neck behind Jax. Signs for the High Dive flew by as they approached the main attraction.

Jax had an orange shell at the ready for whoever got close first. Then his ear twitched. A high pitched whistling sound in the distance was getting closer. He slammed his brakes, forcing Pomni and Gummigoo to swerve away. He managed to get outside the blast radius just in time for the purple shell to target the new 1st place holder.

Gummigoo backflipped and was left stunned on the track. "That sugar huffing banker!" Gummigoo snorted angrily and kicked his bike back into gear. Other racers flew by, putting him down several slots.

Pomni put the petal to the floor and went past Jax as he laughed at Gummigoo. Her glare met his shock.

"Huh!?"

"Missed me, [%$!#]!" Pomni threw the popper she'd been holding.

~

"AND POMNI TAKES THE LEAD! She's in her element! She'll be the first over the High Dive!" Caine left his booth to witness it himself. The High Dive was a super long jump that had racers glide all the way to the finish line.

~

Pomni went over the edge and hit the boost that stretched the length of the slope. Faster. Faster! Hitting the bottom of the jump at top speed she flew into the air. Her heart was racing. Everything felt in slow motion. Tricks. Was the one word sent to the front of her mind. Just with thought, her kart twisted and flipped, performing an aeriel twist. She deployed her glider afterwards, afraid to free fall any farther.

~

Cane's bottom jaw fell and hit an NPC on the head. "We've never seen that move before! A tremendous display!"

~

Pomni hit the ground running and crossed the finish line to complete lap one. "Holy [%$!#]! Holy [%$!#]! Holy [%$!#]! How did I do that!?" She was shaking with fear and excitement. The rush she felt her first day was coming back. It felt so good.

BAM! The back of her kart was rammed. She looked back to see a scorched purple rabbitoid in an orange tracksuit glaring daggers at her. "You think that was funny!? I'll show you funny!!" He rammed her again.

She tried to speed away but the windy first portion of the track was slowing her down as she struggled with the drifting mechanic. The first jump separated them. She spun and hit the ground with better speed and got to the surprise boxes first. Her new item was a cane. She immediately threw it at Jax.

Jax avoided the cane and threw his orange shell. The shell found its mark, but in his haste, he threw it in a corner and it ricocheted around back to him. They both spun out and didn't pay mind the other racers as they struggled to get ahead of only each other.

~

"Some one get some ice because the competition is one FIRE! I haven't seen two racers target each other more since last season's finale! They're playing for keeps!" Caine was absolutely giddy. He considered the fierce competition excellent feedback. He'd have to mark this track as a favorite.

~

Pomni pushed Jax away from a surprise box, using a move from his playbook, and stole the item. It was just a bar of soap but she used it anyway in the slight hope it would trip him up.

Jax avoided it by keeping his distance for the next jump, using the opportunity to rack points. Afterwards, he got a golden cupcake and boosted past Pomni, regaining his lead. Jax watched her fall behind in his rearview and took a breath. "Little squirt is made of tougher stuff than I thought."

After going over the elephant jump, Pomni got an item in the form of a toy train. Unsure of how to use it, she dropped it. Letting go activated it, turning her kart into a high speed steam train engine. In her surprise, she barely had any control and hit Gangle and Gummigoo, knocking them both into a spin. "Sorryyyyy!" She cried from the cab of the roaring steam engine. It only lasted a few seconds before he kart went back to normal.

~

"CHOO CHOO! Look out! Locomotive Pomni is on the track and she is taking no prisoners! Who's first!? Who's last!? I DON'T KNOW! WHO CARES!" Caine was having the time of his life.

~

With a shell, Jax was delayed enough for Pomni to get ahead, but just barely. "I won't let you have this!" Jax angrily pulled up and pit maneuvered her before the apex of the High Dive. They hit the boost with Pomni sliding sideways in front of Jax's kart. He rammed her side to pin her kart in place and started cackling at Pomni's look of fear as they continuously accelerated to the bottom. "Ready to fly!?"

Pomni's kart rolled over and over and over in the air. She could barely get her hand to the glider, she felt so discombobulated. The glider uprighted her, but Jax had a hefty lead gliding to the finished line and completing the second lap. She came down hard, having deployed her glider at the last second.

"Pomni! Are you okay!? You got tossed pretty hard!" Ragatha kept herself even with Pomni, having witnessed her barrel roll thanks to Jax.

"I'm fine! Not even dizzy!" This was a lie. She could barely see straight.

"Maybe you should back off of Jax! I'm all for kicking his tail but he can be intense! Don't start anything!"

"I didn't start this, but I'm going to finish it!" Pomni used a cupcake and hit a booster lane, rocketing away to catch up with Jax. The forces of the acceleration didn't even effect her this time. She confidently went into the turns, still unable to drift properly, but managed to keep enough of her speed to close the gap between her and Jax.

Jax looked back just in time for Pomni to sideswipe him into the curved wall. Sparks flew, slowing them down but not stopping. "You little-!" His arm was long enough to reach Pomni's steering wheel and tried to force her to steer away from him. She fought back with all her might.

"I'll make you eat that wall! You'll tell me what you know through broken teeth!"

"Not on your life!" He activated a chili pepper and held Pomni's wheel as he blew fire in her face point blank.

~

"Holy Raviolis!" Caine gripped his cane hard with both hands. "Things just keep heating up! This is getting intense! Let's hope Pomni gets out of this one! Oh and uh, Ragatha took a bite out of Gummigoo's tail for hitting her with a popper, or...something. COME ON, POMNI!!"

~

Pomni threw a shell in Jax's face. He threw a cane. She threw soap. He drifted into her. She accelerated into him. They threw simultaneous shells mid glide.

"Give it up, Pomni! You're not winning this!" He hoped she didn't notice the waver in his bravado. Pomni was proving to be an aggressive adversary, even Ragatha would have given up by now. She rolled with the punches and served them right back. He'd never admit it, but he was starting to feel a smidge of respect.

Pomni got another train and railroaded him with a whistling war cry. He spun out, giving her a new lead. Pomni started laughing. "Come on! Is that all You've got, Jax!?"

Jax held a purple shell in his hand. "No."

Pomni's eyes widened with fear. All the cockiness left her body in an instant. She shut her eyes and braced for impact. Nothing happened. She opened her eyes to see the shell fly off into the distance.

"God [%$!#] [%$!#]!" Jax hit his dash, enraged. He'd completely lost track of where they were in the line up. Apparently, they were not at the front.

"Ha!" Cockiness restored, she blew a raspberry at Jax. She hit the last surprise box, but couldn't use it because Jax immediately slammed into her kart.

~

"Today is just not Gummigoo's day! That's the second purple shell he's taken to the face this race! Hey, that rhymed. AND KINGER TAKES THE GOLD! Followed by Ragatha, Gangle, Gummigoo, and Zooble! Only two racers left! Who are REALLY taking their time! Hurry up, you two!" He checked his wacky watch. No notifications.

~

Jax and Pomni ground the paint off their karts ramming together, trying to slow the other down before the High Dive. "Hey! Because I know you won't win this, I'll tell you one thing! The void isn't as empty as we've been told!"

"WHAT!?"

The distraction worked. Jax cranked his wheels towards her until they both spun. He pulled out of the spin in time to hit the drop the right way. Pomni went backwards. Hitting the booster, she accelerated uncontrollably towards the bottom. On a wing and a prayer, she activated her last item. A top hat appeared. It looked like Caine's.

She put on the hat and it floated over her head. A sparkly silver red light engulfed her and the kart. She felt different. Powerful. She cranked the kart around and zoomed down the ramp faster than the booster would go. The world warped around her as she flew off the end, trailing light like a comet. She made a B-line for the finish line, the light around her carrying her through the air without a glider.

Jax was at the finish line when he was slammed by a tremendous force. Something landed right on top of him and he slid across the line. He slumped over his steering wheel, head throbbing.

The hat's light went out the moment Pomni crossed the finished line. Her kart came to a rest close to Jax and she felt a gurgle in her stomach. She barely got her head over the side before more black bile poured out of her. She coughed and spat, but overall, felt pretty good.

Kinger was once again in the winner's circle, being congratulated by Caine. He smelled the flowers on the winner's wreath and smiled in his own way when little bees came to have a smell too. "Hello, little ones, there's plenty to go around." He sat down and let the little bees smell his flowers.

Ragatha and the others ran over to Pomni and helped her out of her kart. "You look awful! I think you overdid it with this race."

"Naaaah, I'm fiiiine. What's the score, Magathy?"

Ragatha almost laughed, but her motherly concern overrode the urge.

"You and Jax tied for last place, but you got more trick points so you scored 6th." Zooble said.

"I did? I beat Jax? YES! YOU HEAR THAT!? I WON!!" Pomni yelled at the top of her lungs followed by a manic laugh.

"Let's...get you inside." Gangle opened the door for them.

"Wait! Wait! Where's Gum-goo? How'd he do?" Pomni looked around, seeing three of everything.

He poked his head out from around Ragatha. "Fourth. Would've been first if not for the shell. What even is a seashell? Why do they explode?"

"Roll with it." Zooble reminded.

"Right."

Pomni flopped face first on one of the couches. She needed a minute or ten to recover.

~

Jax jerked up from his steering wheel when something kept poking the back of his head. He was about to shout a string of obscenities when he saw it was Kinger. "Ugh. Go away. My head's killing me." He got out of his kart and stretched.

"I found insects!" Kinger showed off the bees buzzing around his flower wreath.

"Good for you, Kinger." he started walking to the garage.

~

Bubble had stayed in front of the red door, sometimes licking it out of boredom. The door didn't do anything. However, some distance away, a small candy butterfly asset glitched to life with a subtle blue hue and fluttered over to Bubble. "OoOoOoOo candy!" Bubble chomped at the butterfly but missed. They chased after it, abandoning their post.

The door flickered and then disappeared.

~

Caine appeared inside the garage. "Well done today, everyone! Very well done! Especially you, Pomni! You showed real courage throwing yourself off those jumps!"

Pomni weakly held a thumbs up.

Jax and Kinger walked in and Jax threw himself into a bean chair across from the exhausted Pomni. Kinger led his little bee friends to his room.

"The race was especially exciting thanks to these two wild warmongerers!" Caine pointed out the worn out jester and rabbit. "I think I'll keep that track close at hand! All the high flying action was a sight to behold! Now rest up! As always, we have a big race tomorrow!" He patted Pomni gently on the head before disappearing.

Ragatha sat down at the end of the couch by Pomni's feet, Gummigoo claimed a recliner, Gangle and Zooble on the other couch. "What happened out there?" Ragatha asked.

"Honestly, you two were out for blood." Gummigoo added.

Jax sighed loudly to convey his annoyance. "We made a bet."

"What was worth trying to kill each other over?" Asked Zooble.

Neither Jax nor Pomni answered. Both avoided any eye contact.

"Was it a kiss?" Asked Gangle.

Pomni shot upright. "NO!!"

Jax bust out laughing.

"Okay, good, I don't know if Caine is the jealous type but he's too powerful to easily test that theory."

"What are you talking about?" Pomni asked, more confused than ever.

"Wait, you haven't noticed?"

"Notice what?"

"The way he sought out your approval, the way he looked at you before the race, they way he wouldn't let go of your hand? I notice these things." Gangle smiled proudly.

Jax laughed even harder. His sides were splitting as much as his head but that was the funniest thing he ever heard.

"Come on, Gangle, Caine fishes for compliments all the time about his work." Ragatha rationalized. "He's done that to all of us at some point."

"No, no, no, this was different! He looked at her the way Zooble sometimes looks at me!" Gangle hugged Zooble's arm. The edges of Zooble's head tinged purple.

Jax loudly gagged. "One, ew, Zooble. Two, Caine's an A.I., he doesn't know what love is. It's a human thing."

"Oi! I'll have you know that where I came from there where families and couples and friends and brothers! We know what love is. Even if it was just written in and never experienced." Gummigoo crossed his arms indignantly.

"He's got a point." Ragatha shrugged. "And Caine is very advanced. Maybe he does have a crush."

"Awfully quiet over there, Pomni." Jax chuckled.

"I-...uh, I don't know. I didn't see it. I mean...yeah, he didn't want to let go of my hand, but I thought that was normal Caine weirdness."

"Fair, but what will you do if he does have a crush?" Gangle asked, eager to know.

Pomni thought for a moment. "I don't know. Really. I don't know how to feel about it at all. I haven't been here a week and after everything that's happened, now I get to add 'suspected romantic interest from the leading A.I.' to the list?" She put her head in her hands. "It's a lot."

"Could be our ticket out of here." Said Jax. "We've tried everything to escape. Except flirting our way out. Never realized it was an option."

Pomni looked around the room. All of them were looking at her. "You can't be serious."

"As digital purgatory." Jax said.

"It's worth a try." Zooble added.

"Oh, is it!? Then you try!" Pomni flushed, her pale skin turning an ashy grey.

"Nope. I'm already taken." They put an arm around Gangle. "And I don't share."

"Okay, I think that's enough. Pomni's had an exciting day and we shouldn't get carried away with what could be a glimmer of hope for freedom. Let's settle down with some dinner, yeah?" Ragatha gave Pomni an apologetic look and got up to go to the dining table.

"I could eat." Gummigoo stood and put a hand on Pomni's shoulder. "For what it's worth, I'd understand if he did have feelings for you. You're easy to like." He gave her a wink and walked away. Gangle and Zooble joined him.

Pomni dragged her hands down her face, then stood and stared Jax down. "We need to talk."

"Let's take a walk, then." He begrudgingly got up and went outside with her. Outside was sunny, late afternoon. The grassy hills beyond the test track rolled on to the distance with no end in sight in any direction. He took a small box out of his pocket, popped a small white stick in his mouth and offered to Pomni.

Pomni took one out the box and put the end in her mouth. It was a candy stick. Lemon sherbet flavor. "Thanks."

"Sure. So. What do you want to know?" He casually put his hands in his pockets.

"Everything. But let's start with how you ended up in the void."

"Completely accidental. Back when Caine allowed us to accessorize our karts as much as we liked, I used ALL of them until the kart barely functioned without glitching."

"Why?"

"Just to see what would happen. Anyway, I spun out from a shell and the collision physics did not like my kart. Next thing I knew, I was out of bounds."

"That happened to me and Gummigoo."

"You gonna let me finish?"

"Sorry."

"While I was looking for a way out, I found what I thought was an exit. Big red door, couldn't miss it. But I found myself in a really weird liminal space. Empty hallways and offices."

"Did you hear it?"

"The voice? Oh yeah, knew my name and everything. It led me through a door to the void."

"Did it say anything else?"

"Not much. Something along the lines of 'help' and 'find me'. Caine got me out of there pretty quick. Said I was experiencing 'digital hallucinations' or something."

"That's EXACTLY what happened to me. Except, I didn't go through the door out of bounds. It was on the test track."

"What?"

"Yeah, and it wasn't there when Caine brought me back."

"Huh. Weird."

"How would it do that? Why would it do that?"

"I dunno. Maybe Caine is [%$!#] with us. Make us think we're crazy so we give up? If that door is moving around, it ain't an accident. Only Caine can move assets in and out of bounds."

"...yeah." Pomni chewed on her candy stick in thought.

"Look. If Caine has taken a liking to you. Use it to our advantage, will ya? Pry some answers out of him. I guarantee he isn't telling the truth about things. You don't know what it's like yet being under his thumb for years on end." Jax's ears folded back and he looked away.

"I'll...see what I can do." She started to walk back to the garage.

"Hey."

She looked back.

"Good race today. Most fun I've had in years."

She smiled. "I'll see about making a habit of kicking your [%$!#] then."

"Heh, you wish." Jax stayed out a bit longer, looking out to the horizon.

~

Caine brought all the circus assets out of bounds and made a separate area to store it. These were special now. "There we go. Now I just need to try and sort out the- oh hey, Bubble. BUBBLE!?"

Bubble drifted by chasing a butterfly. "Oh, hey, boss. How was the race?"

"What are you doing here!? What about the door!? ...is that butterfly active?" He snapped his fingers and the butterfly fell lifelessly to the ground.

"Thanks, boss!" Bubble ate the butterfly.

"Bubble, no! I need to examine that!" He grabbed Bubble, pried their mouth open and dug around inside. "Ah-ha!" Caine proudly took out the butterfly covered in soapy saliva. "Now, why would an asset be flying around without my permission? That doesn't make sense." He turned it over in his hands, then made it hover, and with a snap of its fingers, it unfolded into strings of code. "Hmm...nothing seems out of the ordinary. Except the unauthorized activation. But that could be a glitch." With a wave of his hand, the butterfly code vanished entirely.

"But that can't be that big of a deal, right? Glitches happen. Heheh..." He did not make himself feel better. It had been a very long time since he'd received any kind of system update or patch. He squeezed and twisted his cane anxiously.

"Nah, not a big deal at all! You're the host, boss. You can probably fix it."

"Yeah...fix it. Wait a second, the door! Stop distracting me!" He popped Bubble and teleported to where he last had the door. The empty space confirmed his fear. An asset had gone rogue. What's worse, an asset that led to the void. "I should have deleted it when I had the chance."

~~~

Ch1 prev next

Please leave a comment! I love reading them!🙏

[acronym-chaos]

Hatsune Miku (VOCALOID) ID Pack

[PT: Hatsune Miku (VOCALOID) ID Pack].

Author's Note: the requester specifically asked to focus on digital/robotic and idol/musical themes.

[ID: A purple thin line divider shaded at the bottom. End ID].

Names

[PT: Names].

Ada, Allegra, Alphey, Andre, Aria, Audio, Beat, Bridget, Byte, Cadence, Callan, Calliope, Carmen, Chord, Clara, Cyrus, Data, Delia, Delilah, Digit, Electo, Encore, Finnian, Forte, Harmony, Haskell, Hertz, Iris, Juliet, Liron, Lyra, Matrix, Matrix, Melody, Modem, Muse, Naomi, Neon, Odele, Owen, Pascal, Perl, Piper, Pixel, Ronan, Techne, Theron, Uno, Victor, Viola, Xenia, Xenon

Pronouns

[PT: Pronouns].

Amp / Amps / Amps, Bea / Beat / Beats, Chor / Chord / Chords, Code / Codes / Codes, Da / Data / Das, Di / Diva / Div, Digi / Digital / Digis, Enco / Encore / Encores, Harmony / Harmoyns / Harmonys, Holo / Hologram / Grams, Ide / Idol / Idols, Mel / Melody / Odys, Mi / Mic / Mics [Microphone], Mu / Music / Musics, Pix / Pixel / Xels, Pro / Program / Pros, Si / Sing / Sings, Sta / Stage / Stages, Sy / Synth / Syn, Vi / Virt / Vir [Virtual], Voi / Voice / Vois

Titles

[PT: Titles].

[Noun] of a Thousand Songs, [Pronoun] Made of Data, [Pronoun] Whose Voice Echoes the Internet, The Algorithm of Art, The Digital Diva, The Global Muse, The Holographic Pop Star, The Pixel Performer, The Singing Synthesizer Sensation, The Sound of the Future, The Turquoise Twintailed Technopop Idol, The User-Generated Superstar, The Virtual Idol, The Voice That Connects Worlds

[ID: A purple thin line divider shaded at the bottom, End ID].

Requested by anon

Also tagging: @id-pack-archive @nptarchive

[yaeggravate]

this mask is representive of the tsaritsa. some fatui members wear a mask with the left eye slashed out. is the tsaritsa missing or covering an eye? her left eye? like a certain prinzessin 🤨?

as i mentioned before, the name of mir, the guy who summoned fischl into weiyang's body, and gave up his eye to appease her, is a reference to mimir from norse mythology. mimir is mime in wagner's ring saga; in this version he is alberich's brother. considering the writers' love for puns could "mime" actually be...

mime = clown = pierro

I MEANNN the guy is also presumably missing an eye, what if he summoned fischl into the tsaritsa's body? tsaritsa is looking for the 7 gnoses that are revealed to be made with the remains of the third descender, and fischl was looking for the 9 ominous swords (MADE from her body), 2 of which she already had, to restore her true form...

this is also how uncle pierro can still win