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[roycellc]

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[aandhautorepair]

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[puleosauto]

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[philsservice]

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[autocarrepairblogs]

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[auspicioustidings]

The Ghost

Blue Blood Part 6

Summary: The conclusion to Blue Blood, you are finally hunted by the Ghost.

Words: 1.8k

CW: Most of this chapter is smut!

“It’s too much, it’s too much!” 

You thought you might die. The marble altar you were on was cool beneath your skin but you were on fire. An hour of fragrant ritual oil being massaged into every inch of you had already gotten you unbearably wound up, but now Johnny had three fingers massaging inside you and Kyle was right by your ear giving you delicious little praises that made you squeeze involuntarily at the fingers and John was standing just looking with such an intensity in his eyes that it was difficult to look away.

“You can take it Duchess” the Duke said firmly.

“I can’t! Please I-” you begged, a moan cutting your words off when you tried to move your hand to touch yourself where you needed only for the Prince to grab your wrists to stop you. Johnny pressed his thumb hard to your clit, not moving, just pressing almost painfully.

This must be some form of torture, not letting you cum. You felt so dazed, like you were starting to float outside of your own body. You tried to move your hips so that Johnny’s thumb would change from an uncomfortable pressure to getting you to the high you wanted, but he pressed a hand to your stomach and held you in place. You think you may have been babbling incoherent curses at them, threatening them with anything you could think of to just touch you properly. There wasn’t even a burn from the stretch anymore, the drooling from between your legs was encouraging the fingers pumping in and out if anything. You think you screamed when they left you.

Desperation was not something you understood before now. You needed more, there was nothing outside of that need anymore. Emptiness and want was all that there was, the need to be full and touched. Without their hands on you, you felt untethered, not even aware of what you were saying or doing.

“Fuuuck ye beg so pretty don’t ye?”

You were vaguely aware then that you were reaching out to Johnny, begging him to come back to you. Begging him to use you how he wanted, satisfy himself with your body if that meant he would let you cum. The Duke grabbed onto his hair and yanked him back sharply, stopping him from getting his hands back on you. Stopping him from putting more than his fingers inside you. You all but squirmed off of the altar, finding your knees weak and legs shaking at trying to even hold up your weight. Johnny looked near feral, the Duke now having to put in some effort to hold him back.

“Kyle!”

At Price’s shout the Prince moved to back Johnny against the wall. The Duke came to stand in front of you then, blocking your view of Kyle going to his knees. What a sight you made, the oil on your skin making it shine in the moonlight pouring in through the skylight of the little ritual chamber, your eyes wet and shining from unshed tears of frustration. You looked up at him so wide-eyed and trusting that if Duke John Price were a weaker man he would have taken you right there and then.

“You’ve already done so well little bird, just a little more. It’s time for you to run” he said, hand coming to caress your cheek. “It’s going to be scary but you need to trust he would never do anything that would permanently hurt you. You’ll not be able to see me, but I promise I will be right there if you need me.”

With a hard squeeze to your hip you were all at once outside.

–

You are running. The earth beneath your bare feet is soft and damp. The moon is high and bright, light filtering down through the trees and turning the woods into some otherworldly realm. Time isn’t linear here, you think you may have been running for hours, yet only seconds ago you had been married. You are scared of being caught and yet your body craves it. Every glimpse of the figure stalking you heightens your nerves until you lose the ability to hear anything but the blood rushing through your veins and throbbing needily between your legs. 

You are caught.

–

The Ghost panted above you, his cock throbbing even through the layer of fabric at your ass. You wanted to turn and see him, but you were pinned down into the dirt, face barely able to turn so you could breathe. He was growling lowly, shifting so that you could feel his hot breaths right on the shell of your ear.

“Thought you could run from me? Stupid thing, there is nowhere you could go that I would not hunt you down.”

There was the tear of gossamer as he ripped at your gown. If either of you had any sense then it would just have been rucked up, the thing was designed for easy access, but you were both so far gone that it didn’t register. You writhed under him, scrambling to get away or get closer with no sense of certainty on which. He wrenched one of your arms to pin it painfully to your back and you howled out in protest as your other hand clawed at the dirt to try and drag you forward and away from him.

“Quit fucking squirming. Think I can’t see how needy that cunt is little girl? Fucking gagging for it.”

He was mean and your hips pressed back against him in response. You had turned into something mean too. 

“Throwing stones at glass houses, you feel plenty needy.”

He barked a laugh and used his free hand to pull his cock out of his clothes, stroking it only once before running the head through your soaked folds. When you felt the heat of it against your clit you fought as hard as you could against his hold to try and rub against him. 

“Want it pretty girl? Want my cock inside you?”

You whined and kept trying to move back against him in answer which only caused him another mean laugh and a sharp smack against the flesh of your ass which you screeched at.

“You were so happy to talk back, what happened? Use your fucking words. Beg for me.”

It didn’t matter that his cock had already caught on your hole, that he was already starting to push into you. You were getting what you wanted but you were so gone, so desperate to get everything he could give, that you choked out an answer anyway.

“Please please, need you inside me! Take me, I’m yours. Ah! I’m yours! Please I- ah!” you screamed as you felt the heat of him sink into you inch by inch. “Full, m’too full.”

“You can take it Duchess.”

Him repeating the words that Price had said had you choking on your own saliva with the possibility that the Duke had given him advice on how best to handle you. When you thought there could not possibly be more inside of you he let go of your arm to put his hands on your hips and pull them up, your chest still pressed into the dirt with your ass now high. He sunk impossibly more into you and you whined long and low. It felt like he was in your fucking stomach. 

“Fuck you’re tight,” Ghost groaned as he gave a few slow thrusts, making it deeper each time until he bottomed out.

When one of his hands came to press low on your stomach, when you both realised at the same time that he could feel himself there, you felt your walls flutter and pulse around him and came very close to cumming from his moan alone. His hand on your hip tightened until it was bruisingly tight. He was fighting himself.

“I can take it.”

That snapped any self control Ghost had and he started fucking you with a fury. The air was punched out of your lungs with every hard and deep thrust of him inside you and you were light headed from the lack of oxygen. It was intense, it was too intense. The hand on your stomach moved back so he could ram you back onto his cock again and again, using your body for his own pleasure. It was intense and pain and pleasure and if you did not cum you would die. You couldn’t verbalise it, the only noises you could make were sobs and moans as he ruined you. 

“Perfect cunt, all wet and squeezing at me. Want you to cum on my cock, try fucking strangle it.”

His fingers only had to touch you for moments before you were screaming your throat raw, the orgasm making you see white. Your pussy choked on his dick the way your throat had on Price’s, body overwhelmed and trying to force him out. 

“Fuck, take it!”

He fucked you hard through your orgasm and gave one last push, spilling himself deep inside of you. You went completely boneless, head totally empty and body exhausted. It meant you didn’t notice how despite him being in the same situation, he still made sure to catch himself on his forearms as he collapsed on top of you to protect you from his weight. 

You were barely conscious by the time he pulled out and rolled off of you, dragging you with him so he could hold you close there on the earth and Simon Riley could mutter soft praises into your hair, telling you how sorry he was for hurting you and how proud he was of how well you had done. He told you he loved you. 

As the darkness of sleep took you, you couldn’t help but think that despite how little you knew the man holding you, you loved him too.

–

“I like rainbow butterflies so much!”

“Aye? Is that right wee yin?”

“I pick red, your turn!”

You hide your laugh in Ghost’s shoulder, but he does very little to hide how funny he finds the sight of the scary Blood Druid once again hanging on every word of nonsense your toddling daughter says. The War Duke is happily sat right next to the two of them, following orders and picking out a gemstone which earns a delighted laugh and an exclamation of “blue!”. 

The Wild King is holding your sleeping newborn, gazing down at the baby with soft adoration. It had caused quite the scandal when your second child had been so clearly not your husband’s, but behind closed doors the only tension had been Kyle endlessly teasing the others that they would simply need to try harder next time if they didn’t want every other child you had to have the same soft brown skin as him. 

“Are you happy, my gentle little Duchess?” your husband asks.

“Blissfully.”

[tangibletechnomancy]

How To Use AI To Fake A Scandal For Fun, Profit, and Clout

Or, I Just Saw People I Know To Be Reasonable Fall For A Fake "Ripoff" And Now I'm Going To Gently Demonstrate What Really Happened

So, we all know what people say about AI. It's just an automatic collage machine, it's stealing your data (as if the rest of the mainstream internet isn't - seriously, we should be using that knee-jerk disgust response to demand better internet privacy laws rather than try to beef up copyright so that compliance has to come at the beginning rather than the end of the process and you can be sued on suspicion of referencing, but I digress...), it can't create anything novel, some people go so far as to claim it's not even synthesizing anything, but just acting as a search engine and returning something run through a filter and "proving" it by "searching" for their own art and "finding" it.

And those are blatant lies.

The thing is, the reason AI is such a breakthrough - and the reason we memed with it so hard when DALL-E Mini and DALL-E 2 first dropped - is because it CAN create novel output. Because it CAN visualize the absurd ideas that no one has ever posted to the internet before. In fact, it would be a bigger breakthrough in computer science if we DID come up with an automatic collage machine - something that knows where to cut out a part of one image and paste it onto another, then smooth out the lighting and colors to make them fairly consistent, to make it look like what we would recognize as an image we're asking for? That would make the denoising algorithm on steroids that a diffusion model is look like child's play.

But, unlike the posts that claim that they're just acting as a collage maker at best and a search engine at worst, I'm not going to ask you to take my word for it (and stick a pin in this point, we'll come back to it later). I'm going to ask you to go to Simple Stable (or Craiyon, or the Karlo demo, if Google Colab feels too complicated for you - or if you like, do all of the above) and throw in a shitpost prompt or two. Ask for a velociraptor carousel pony ridden by a bunny. Ask for Godzilla fighting a wacky waving inflatable arm flailing tube man. Ask for an oil painting of a capybara wearing an ornate princess gown. Shitpost with it like we did before these myths took hold.

Now take your favorite result(s) and reverse image search them. Did you get anything remotely similar to your generated image? Probably not!

So then, how did someone end up getting a near perfect recreation of their work? Was that just some kind of wacky, one-in-a-million coincidence?

Well - oh no, look at that, I asked it for a simplistic character drawing and it happened to me too, it just returned a drawing of mine that I never even uploaded, and it's the worst drawing I've done since the fifth grade even just to embarrass me! Oh no, what happened, did they change things right under my nose, has digital surveillance gotten even WORSE?? Look, see, here's the original on the left, compare it to the output on the right - scary!! They're training on the contents of your computer in real time now, aaaagh!!

Except, of course, for the fact that the entire paragraph above was a lie and I did this on purpose in a way no one could possibly recreate from a text prompt, even with a perfect description.

How?

See, some models have this nifty little function called img2img. It can be used for anything from guiding the composition of your final image with a roughly drawn layout, to turning a building into a dragon...to post-processing of a hand-drawn image, to blatantly fucking lying about how AI works.

I took 5 minutes out of my day to crudely draw a character. I uploaded the image to this post. I saved the post as a draft. I stuck the image URL in the init_image field in Simple Stable, cranked the init strength up to 0.8, cleared all text prompts, and ran it. It did exactly what I told it to and tried to lightly refine the image I gave it.

If you see someone claiming that an AI stole their image with this kind of "proof", and the image they're comparing is not ITSELF a parody of an extremely well-known piece such as the Mona Lisa, or just so extremely generic that the level of similarity could be a coincidence (you/your favorite artist do/es not own the rule of thirds or basic fantasy creatures, just to name one family of example I've seen), this is what happened.

So from here you must realize that it is deeply insidious that posts that make these claims usually imply or even outright state that you should NOT try to recreate this but instead just take their word for it, stressing ~DON'T FEED THE MACHINE~. It's always some claim about "ohhh, the more you use them, the more they learn, I made a SACRIFICE so you don't have to" - but txt2img functions can't use your interaction to learn jack shit. There's no new information in a text prompt for them TO learn. Most img2img models can't learn from your input either, for that matter! I still recommend being careful about corporate img2img toys - we know that Facebook, for instance, is happy to try and beef up facial recognition for the WORST possible reasons - but if you're worried about your privacy and data harvesting, any given txt2img model is one of the least worrying things on the internet today.

So do be careful with your privacy online, and PLEASE use your very understandable knee-jerk horror response to how much extremely personal content can be found in training databases as a call to DEMAND better privacy laws ("do not track" should not be just for show ffs) and compliance with security protocols in fields that deal with very private information (COMMON CRAWL DOESN'T GO FAR OUT OF ITS WAY, IT SHOULD NEVER HAVE BEEN ABLE TO GET ANY MEDICAL IMAGES THE PATIENTS DIDN'T SHARE THEMSELVES HOLY SHIT, SOME HOSPITAL WORKERS AND/OR MEDICAL COMMUNICATIONS DEVELOPERS BETTER BE GETTING FIRED AND/OR SUED) - but don't just believe a convenient and easy-to-disprove lie because it aligns with that feeling.

[dontspillthefrijoles43]

Lost hero XV -Leo & Breisa

A sense of impeding doom

Warnings: Cursing, monsters, near death experiences, fire, canon typical violence (not graphic), teenagers being teenagers, first heroic experiences

Word count: 4k words

Summary: Cyclops…Why did it have to be cyclops?

<<Prev

—

Leo stopped at the door and tried to control breathing. 

The voice of the earth woman rang in his ears, reminding him of that night. The last thing he wanted was to plunge into another dark warehouse. 

Like he was eight years old all over again—alone, small, and helpless as people he cared about were trapped inside and in trouble. 

“Oye, nada de eso.” Breisa said. “Don’t let her get to you. Alright? We got this.” She was shaking, but she held her own ground.

 That didn’t make him any less scared. But it gave him enough courage– he breathed and creaked the door open. 

Together they peered inside. 

Nothing looked different.

Gray morning light filtered through the hole in the roof. A few light bulbs buzzed, but most of the factory floor was still covered in shadows.

But he was able to make out the catwalk above with shapes of heavy machinery along the assembly line, but no movement. No sign of his friends. 

Leo almost called out, but something stopped him—a sense he couldn’t identify. Then he realized it was a smell. 

Something smelled wrong—like burning motor oil and sour breath. Something not human was inside the factory.

Leo was certain. His body shifted into high gear, all his nerves tingling.

 Somewhere on the factory floor, Piper’s voice cried out: “Leo, Breisa! help!” 

Breisa held a finger to her lips. Her voice rang in his mind, ‘She couldn’t have gone off the catwalk. Not with a broken ankle.’

They slipped inside and ducked behind a cargo container. 

Slowly, with weapons in hand, they inching toward the center of the room, hiding behind boxes and hollow truck chassis.

Finally, they reached the assembly line, crouched behind the nearest piece of machinery—a crane with a robotic arm.

 Piper’s voice called out again: “Leo? Breisa?” Less certain this time, but very close. 

They peeked around the crane. 

Hanging directly above the other side of the assembly line was a massive truck engine—just dangling thirty feet up, as if it had been left there when the factory was abandoned. 

Below it on the conveyor belt sat a truck chassis, and clustered around it were three dark shapes the size of forklifts. 

Beside the forklifts dangling from chains, on another crane, were two smaller shapes—maybe more engines. One of them was wriggling around as if it were alive. 

Breisa held a hand to her mouth to stifle a gasp.

Then one of the forklift shapes rose, and Leo realized it was a humanoid of massive size.

 “Told you it was nothing,” the thing rumbled. Its voice was too deep and feral to be human. 

The other forklift-sized lump shifted. It called out in Piper’s voice: “Leo, help me! Help—” Then the voice changed, becoming a masculine snarl. “Bah, there’s nobody out there. No demigods could be that quiet, eh?”

The first monster chuckled. “Probably ran away, if they know what’s good for them. Or the girl was lying about the demigods. Let’s get cooking.” 

Snap. 

A bright orange light sizzled to life—an emergency flare—and Leo was temporarily blinded. He ducked behind the crane until the spots cleared from his eyes. 

‘Santa madre de los dioses.’ Breisa’s thoughts flood rushed him. She was still looking over the crane.

Then he took another peep and saw a nightmare scene.

The two smaller things dangling from the crane arm weren’t engines. They were Jason and Piper. Both hung upside down, tied by their ankles and cocooned with chains up to their necks. 

Piper was wriggling around, trying to free herself. Her mouth was gagged, but at least she was alive.  

Jason didn’t look so good. He hung limply, his eyes rolled up. A red welt the size of an apple had swollen over his left eyebrow. 

On the conveyor belt, the bed of the unfinished pickup truck was being used as a fire pit. Which, from the smell of it, had been doused in kerosene.

A big metal pole was suspended over the flames—a spit, Leo realized.

‘They're gonna cook them alive!’ Breisa’s eyes stayed on the creatures as she gripped her weapon. 

He looked at the creatures and almost choked. 

They were most terrifying.

Monocle Motors: that single red eye logo. 

Why hadn’t Leo realized? 

Three massive humanoids gathered around the fire. Two were standing, stoking the flames. The largest one crouched with his backside facing Breisa and Leo. They were each ten feet tall, with hairy muscular bodies and skin that glowed red in the firelight. One of the monsters wore a chainmail loincloth that looked really uncomfortable. 

The other wore a ragged fuzzy toga made of fiberglass insulation, which also would not have made Leo’s top ten wardrobe ideas.

The two monsters could’ve been twins. Each had a brutish face with a single eye in the center of his forehead. 

The cooks were Cyclopes. 

Leo felt his legs shaking. He’d seen some weird things so far—storm spirits, magic girls, winged gods, and a metal dragon that liked Tabasco sauce. 

But this was different.

These were actual, flesh-and-blood, ten-foot-tall living monsters who wanted to eat his friends for dinner.

He was so terrified he could hardly think.

If only they had Festus. They could use a fire-breathing sixty-foot-long tank about now. 

But all he had was a tool belt and a backpack. His three-pound club hammer looked awfully small compared to those Cyclopes. No better than Breisa’s ax— a mere kitchen knife.

This is what the sleeping earth lady had been talking about. She wanted Leo to walk away and leave his friends to die. 

That decided it. No way was Leo going to let that earth lady make him feel powerless—never again. Leo slipped off his backpack and quietly started to unzip it. 

The Cyclops in the loincloth walked over to Piper, who squirmed and tried to head-butt him in the eye.

She was fierce, even in the worst possible situation— Breisa respected that.

 “Can I take her gag off now? I like it when they scream.” 

The question was directed at the third Cyclops, apparently the leader. The crouching figure grunted, and Loincloth ripped the gag off Piper’s mouth. 

She didn’t scream. She took a shaky breath like she was trying to keep herself calm. 

Meanwhile, Leo found what he wanted in the pack: a stack of tiny remote control units that he founded in bunker 9.

‘'¡¿Qué estás haciendo?!’ Breisa telepathically asked.

‘Improvising’ He remarked–feeling around the robotic crane and propped open a maintenance panel. 

He slipped a screwdriver from his tool belt and went to work, but he had to go slowly.

The leader Cyclops was only twenty feet in front of him. The monsters obviously had excellent senses.

Pulling off his plan without making noise seemed impossible, but he didn’t have much choice. 

‘Keep an eye out or something.’ 

‘This is crazy.’ She grumbled but kept her ax ready.

The Cyclops in the toga poked at the fire, that billowed noxious black smoke into the ceiling.

His buddy Loincloth glowered at Piper, waiting for her to do something entertaining. “Scream, girl! I like funny screaming!”

When Piper finally spoke; her tone was calm and reasonable, like she was scolding a naughty puppy. “Oh, Mr. Cyclops, you don’t want to kill us. It would be much better if you let us go.” 

Loincloth scratched his ugly head. He turned to his friend in the fiberglass toga. 

“She’s kind of pretty, Torque. Maybe I should let her go.” 

Torque, the dude in the toga, growled. “I saw her first, Sump. I’ll let her go!” 

Sump and Torque started to argue. But then the third Cyclops rose and shouted, “Fools!” 

Leo almost dropped his screwdriver. Breisa's ax slipped. 

The third Cyclops was a female.

 She was several feet taller than Torque or Sump, and even beefier. She wore a chain mail-like sack dress that Leo’s crazy mean Tía Rosa used have—a muumuu.

Her greasy black hair was matted in pigtails, woven with copper wires and metal washers. Her nose and mouth were thick— and mashed together, like she spent her free time ramming her face into walls; but her single red eye glittered with evil intelligence.

The woman Cyclops stalked over to Sump and pushed him aside, knocking him over the conveyor belt. Torque backed up quickly. 

“The girl is Venus spawn,” the lady Cyclops snarled. “She’s using charmspeak on you.” 

Piper started to say, “Please, ma’am—” 

The lady Cyclops grabbed Piper around the waist. “Don’t try your pretty talk on me, girl! I’m Ma Gasket! I’ve eaten heroes tougher than you for lunch!” 

‘Probably more than heroes.’ Breisa thought.

Leo grumbled ‘Shut up. Genius at work here.”

With furious concentration, he was able to twist wires and turn switches: hardly thinking about what he was doing. He finished attaching the remote. Then he crept over to the next robotic arm, Breisa following beside him, as the Cyclopes were talking. 

“—eat her last, Ma?” Sump was saying. 

“Idiot!” Ma Gasket yelled, and Leo realized Sump and Torque must be her sons. If so, ugly definitely ran in the family. “I should’ve thrown you out on the streets when you were babies, like proper Cyclops children. You might have learned some useful skills. Curse my soft heart that I kept you!” 

“Soft heart?” Torque muttered. 

“What was that, you ingrate?” 

“Nothing, Ma. I said you got a soft heart. We get to work for you, feed you, file your toenails—” 

Ugh Breisa gagged mentally

“And you should be grateful!” Ma Gasket bellowed. “Now, stoke the fire, Torque! And Sump, you idiot, my case of salsa is in the other warehouse. Don’t tell me you expect me to eat these demigods without salsa!” 

“Yes, Ma,” Sump said. “I mean no, Ma. I mean—”

“Go get it!” Ma Gasket picked up a nearby truck chassis and slammed it over Sump’s head. Sump crumpled to his knees. 

Both Leo and Breisa winced at the sound, but Sump apparently got hit by trucks a lot. He managed to push the chassis off his head. Then he staggered to his feet and ran off to fetch the salsa. 

‘Now’s the time’, Leo thought. ‘While they’re separated.’

‘On it.’ Breisa sheathed her ax on her belt loops.

‘What are you—?’ He huffed as finished wiring the second machine.

‘Improvising.’ She looked at any opening between robotic cranes or Cyclopes— and she spotted it! ‘I got Piper and Jason.’

Breisa crept behind the robotic arms onto the stacks of crates. She climbed and jumped quietly onto each stack, from a distance it looked like stairs.

Leo realized she was aiming for the catwalk.

He then dashed between robotic arms, the Cyclopes didn’t see him, but Piper did. Her expression turned from terror to disbelief, and she gasped.

Ma Gasket turned to her. “What’s the matter, girl? So fragile I broke you?”

Thankfully, Piper was a quick thinker. She looked away and said, “I think it’s my ribs, ma’am. If I’m busted up inside, I’ll taste terrible.”

Ma Gasket bellowed with laughter. “Good one. The last hero we ate— remember him, Torque? Son of Mercury, wasn’t he?”

“Yes, Ma,” Torque said. “Tasty. Little bit stringy.”

“He tried a trick like that. Said he was on medication. But he tasted fine!”

“Tasted like mutton,” Torque recalled. “Purple shirt. Talked in Latin. Yes, a bit stringy, but good.”

Leo’s fingers froze on the panel. Breisa halted on the bars, hanging low from the catwalk. 

Apparently, Piper was having the same thought, because she asked, “Purple shirt? Latin?”

“Good eating,” Ma Gasket said fondly. “Point is, girl, we’re not as dumb as people think! We’re not falling for those stupid tricks and riddles, not us northern Cyclopes.”

Leo forced his focus back on the panel, but his mind was racing. A kid who spoke Latin had been caught here—in a purple shirt like Jason’s? That could everything or nothing at all, but he had to leave the interrogation to Piper. 

If he was going to have any chance of defeating these monsters, he had to move fast before Sump came back.

He looked up seeing Breisa doing a pull-up onto the walk, laying flat for balance.

She crawled on belly—trying not to be seen— to the cocoon chains.

 Leo noticed a few inches away from the catwalk an engine was hanging right above the Cyclopes’ campsite. He wished he could use that—it would make a great weapon. 

But the crane holding it was on the opposite side of the conveyor belt. 

There was no way Leo could get over there without being seen, and besides, he was running short on time. He hoped Breisa could reach Jason and Piper before him.

From above he heard a creeek then the metal piece fell right beside him with a clang! 

Leo was out of the way, luckily— the metal rod would have impaled him from the back. 

What the fuck is she doing?! 

He glanced again— the catwalk swaying sideways. Breisa gripping onto the railing for dear life, holding herself with shaky strength.

The Cyclopes started to look up to the sound of rattling chains. 

“This place is falling apart! Luckily you northern cyclopes are keeping it in good working condition!” Piper kept talking, laying on the praise. “Oh, I’ve heard about the northern Cyclopes!” Which Leo figured was bull, but she sounded convincing. “I never knew you were so big and clever!”

That was enough for Breisa to lean herself from the walk onto rusted crane. She skidded across like she was on monkey bars. Hanging right where the metal cocoons were linked.

��Flattery won’t work either,” Ma Gasket said, though she sounded pleased. “It’s true, you’ll be breakfast for the best Cyclopes around.”

“But aren’t Cyclopes good?” Piper asked. “I thought you made weapons for the gods.”

“Bah! I’m very good. Good at eating people. Good at smashing. And good at building things, yes, but not for the gods. Our cousins, the elder Cyclopes, they do this….”

Leo tuned out mothermae-eye, as he could faintly hear Breisa spewing out a prayer.  

‘Please Hecate don't let them see me. For the love of god. Or whatever weirdos in the sky. Or the universe, if anyone is listening to me— let me stay hidden to them.’

As the trickiest part of the plan was nearly done, Leo summoned some wires, a radio adapter, and a smaller screwdriver from his and started to build a universal remote. 

For the first time, he said a silent thank-you to his dad—Hephaestus—for the magic tool belt. 

Get me out of here, he prayed, and maybe you’re not such a jerk.

“—Titans lost. No good! No more need for Cyclops weapons.”

“Oh, no,” Piper sympathized. “I’m sure you made some amazing weapons.”

Torque grinned. “Squeaky war hammer!” He picked up a large pole with an accordion-looking metal box on the end.

He slammed it against the floor and the cement cracked, but there was also a sound like the world’s largest rubber ducky getting stomped.

“Terrifying,” Piper said.

Torque looked pleased. “Not as good as the exploding ax, but this one can be used more than once.”

“Can I see it?” Piper asked. “If you could just free my hands—”

Torque stepped forward eagerly, but Ma Gasket said, “Stupid! She’s tricking you again. Enough talk! Slay the boy first before he dies on his own. I like my meat fresh.”

No! Leo’s fingers flew, connecting the wires for the remote. Just a few more minutes!

“Hey, wait,” Piper said, trying to get the Cyclopes’ attention. “Hey, can I just ask—”

The wires sparked in Leo’s hand. 

Breisa was half-way down the chains, on Jason's side since he was farther away. She halted mid-climb.

The Cyclopes froze and turned in his direction. Then Torque picked up a truck and threw it at him.

Leo rolled as the truck steamrolled over the machinery. If he’d been a half-second slower, he would’ve been smashed.

Breisa breathed a sigh of relief as he got to his feet, she thought he had gotten crushed. Hell he would’ve exploded into chunks, on a count of how small he was.

 Ma Gasket spotted him. She yelled, “Torque, you pathetic excuse for a Cyclops, get him!”

Torque barreled toward him. Leo frantically gunned the toggle on his makeshift remote.

Torque was fifty feet away. Twenty feet.

Then the first robotic arm whirred to life. A three-ton yellow metal claw slammed the Cyclops in the back so hard, he landed flat on his face. Before Torque could recover, the robotic hand grabbed him by one leg and hurled him straight up.

“AHHHHH!” Torque rocketed into the gloom. The ceiling was too dark and too high up to see exactly what happened, but judging from the harsh metal clang, Leo guessed the Cyclops had hit one of the support girders.

Torque never came down. Instead, yellow dust rained to the floor. Torque had disintegrated.

Ma Gasket stared at Leo in shock. “My son ... You ... You ...”

As if on cue, Sump lumbered into the firelight with a case of salsa. “Ma, I got the extra-spicy—”

He never finished his sentence.

Breisa came down screeching out swears, using Jason as a tire swing. Not exactly strategic with her attack but managed a couple of sharp slashes with her Ax—throwing a kick into Sump. 

The salsa case crashed into his chest and Sump flew backward, right into the base of Leo’s third machine. Sump may have been immune to getting hit with truck chassis, but he wasn’t immune to robotic arms that could deliver ten thousand pounds of force. 

Leo spun the remote’s toggle, and the second robotic arm whacked Sump again.

The third crane arm slammed him against the floor so hard, he exploded into dust like a broken flour sack.

Two Cyclopes down. 

Leo was beginning to feel like Commander Tool Belt—- when Ma Gasket glanced around, not even noticing Breisa, and locked her eye on him. 

She grabbed the nearest crane arm and ripped it off its pedestal with a savage roar. “You busted my boys! Only I get to bust my boys!”

Leo punched a button, and the two remaining arms swung into action.

Ma Gasket caught the first one and tore it in half. The second arm smacked her in the head, but that only seemed to make her mad. She grabbed it by the clamps, ripped it free, and swung it like a baseball bat.

 It missed Piper and Jason by a hair— luckily Breisa used all the force she could swing the three of them out of the way.

 Then Ma Gasket let it go—spinning it toward Leo. He yelped and rolled to one side as it demolished the machine next to him.

Leo started to realize that an angry Cyclops mother was not something you wanted to fight with a universal remote and a screwdriver. 

The future for Commander Tool Belt was not looking so hot.

She stood about twenty feet from him now, next to the cooking fire. Her fists were clenched, her teeth bared. She looked ridiculous in her chainmail muumuu and her greasy pigtails—but given the murderous glare in her huge red eye and the fact that she was twelve feet tall, Leo wasn’t laughing

“Any more tricks, demigod?” Ma Gasket demand with sneering.

Leo glanced up. 

The engine block suspended on the chain—if only he’d had time to rig it. If only he could get Ma Gasket to take one step forward. 

The chain itself ...that one link...Leo shouldn’t have been able to see it, especially from so far down, but his senses told him barely hanging on.

“Heck, yeah, I got tricks!” Leo raised his remote control. “Take one more step, and I’ll destroy you with fire!”

Ma Gasket laughed. “Would you? Cyclopes are immune to fire, you idiot. But if you wish to play with flames, let me help!”

She scooped red-hot coals into her bare hands and flung them at Leo. They landed all around his feet.

“You missed,” he said incredulously. 

Then Ma Gasket grinned and picked up a barrel next to the truck. 

Leo just had time to read the stenciled word on the side—kerosene—before Ma Gasket threw it. 

The barrel split on the floor in front of him, spilling lighter fluid everywhere.

Coals sparked. Leo closed his eyes. 

Piper and Breisa screamed.

 “No!” 

“Look out!”

A firestorm erupted around him. When Leo opened his eyes he was bathed in flames swirling twenty feet into the air.

Ma Gasket shrieked with delight, but Leo didn’t offer the fire any good fuel. The kerosene burned off, dying down to small fiery patches on the floor.

Piper gasped. Breisa’s jaw dropped. “Leo?”

Ma Gasket looked astonished. “You live?” Then she took that extra step forward, which put her right where Leo wanted. “What are you?”

“The son of Hephaestus,” Leo said. “And I warned you, I’d destroy you with fire.”

He pointed one finger in the air and summoned all his will. He’d never tried to do anything so focused and intense—but he shot a bolt of white-hot flames at the chain suspending the engine block above the Cyclops’s head— aiming for the link that looked weaker than rest.

The flames died. Nothing happened. Ma Gasket laughed. “An impressive try, son of Hephaestus. It’s been many centuries since I saw a fire user. You’ll make a spicy appetizer!”

The chain snapped—that single link heated beyond its tolerance point— and the engine block fell, deadly and silent.

“I don’t think so,” Leo said.

Ma Gasket didn’t even have time to look up.

Smash! No more Cyclops; just a pile of dust under a five-ton engine block.

“Not immune to engines, huh?” Leo said. “Boo-yah!”

Then he fell to his knees, his head buzzing. 

—

After a few minutes he felt someone grab his shoulders, pull him up, and shake him furiously. 

“Gonna hurl.” He blurbed, his stomach feeling queasy.

“Don’t do something stupid like that again!” Breisa shouted. “You scared me!” She had stopped shaking him. Checking him for burns or mark— just something serious.

Only his clothes had small singed marks. Some irritated callous on his hands. He need to change the bandage from the canyon incident.

“You worried about lil ole me?” Leo grinned with a sideways smile. 

“You’re an idiot.” She huffed, and let him go.

“Leo! Are you alright? Can you move?” Piper called from behind her. She was freed from her chains. Breisa’s doing definitely.

He stumbled to his feet. He’d never tried to summon such an intense fire before, and it had left him completely drained.

Then together they lowered Jason, who was still unconscious. Piper managed to trickle a little nectar into his mouth, and he groaned. The welt on his head started to shrink. His color came back a little.

“Yeah, he’s got a nice thick skull,” Leo said. “I think he’s gonna be fine.”

“He can’t lose anymore of his memory.” Breisa pulled back his eyelid, trying to see his pupils. They reacted well to the morning light. “He should be alright.”

“Thank god,” Piper sighed. Then she looked at Leo with something like fear. “How did you—the fire—have you always ... ?”

Leo looked down. Breisa waited for an excuse or a denial or some kind of lie.  

 “Always,” he said instead. “I’m a freaking menace. Sorry, I should’ve told you guys sooner but—”

“Sorry?” Piper punched his arm. When he looked up, she was grinning. “That was amazing, Valdez! You saved our lives. What are you sorry about?” 

Leo blinked. Then looked at Breisa in disbelief. 

“She’s right, you know. You saved us.” She shrugged with a smile, “It was kind of awesome.” 

“You saved us too.” Piper bumped her elbow. “Like mission impossible. Freaking amazing.”

Breisa blushed, above them a light bulb exploded. “Ah! Oh my bad! I didn’t know I could do that.”

Leo started to smile; but his sense of relief was ruined when he noticed something next to Piper’s foot.

Yellow dust—the powdered remains of one of the Cyclopes, maybe Torque—was shifting across the floor like an invisible wind was pushing it back together.

“They’re forming again,” Leo said. “Look.”

Piper stepped away from the dust. “That’s not possible. Annabeth told me monsters dissipate when they’re killed. They go back to Tartarus and can’t return for a long time.”

“Well, nobody told the dust that.” Breisa watched as it collected into a pile, then very slowly spread out, forming a shape with arms and legs.

“Oh, god.” Piper turned pale. “Boreas said something about this—the earth yielding up horrors. ‘When monsters no longer stay in Tartarus, and souls are no longer confined to Hades.’ How long do you think we have?”

Leo thought about the face that had formed in the ground outside—the sleeping woman who was definitely a horror from the earth.

“I don’t know,” he said. “But we need to get out of here.”

__

(A/N: I said I would finish this April, but school burning me out. Almost a graduate! One more month! In the mean time I will try to post as much chapters as possible. Story is finally picking up as I wanted it :)) Hope you all like this one!)

[mostfacinorous]

Whumptober No. 8 EVERYTHING HURTS AND I’M DYING Geralt and Jaskier

Stomach Pain | Head Trauma | Back from the Dead

He didn’t recognize the place but he recognized the smell. Herbs and ozone; Triss. And the palest remnants of fancy oils that were failing to hide misery and fear– Jaskier, but not as Geralt was accustomed to smelling him. 

He frowned and furrowed his brow, not yet opening his eyes. 

Jaskier was the stronger smell, which made no sense. They were obviously in Triss’s space, and she had obviously been healing him. Even without moving he could tell how much he now smelled like her. 

And yet Jaskier was overwhelming that. 

Odd that that was the first thing Geralt noticed, he realized, as the rest of his senses caught up with him, and he felt in cascading waves– the pain of his injury, the exhaustion of his limbs, the soreness of his back and his calves, the pounding in his head, and the nausea and rawness of his throat that spoke of a violent sickness he didn’t remember.

He felt next a cool hand on his brow, and only then did he realize that Jaskier was so close. He flinched, but forced himself to settle, as the cool touch helped to ease the pounding in his temples. 

Geralt sighed and willed himself to melt back down into the bed, allowing himself the comfort and the chance to rest further. 

“There you go.” He heard Jaskier murmur. “I’ll get you a wet cloth. You’re still very warm. But you’ll be alright. You have to.” 

He sounded wrecked, and as he stood and walked away, Geralt could hear the unsteadiness in his gait. 

He sounded exhausted… or maybe hurt. Had something happened to him, while Geralt had been unconscious? 

He felt a wave of guilt induced nausea, and his headache sharpened into something more– something that felt like a spike being driven into his skull from a spot behind his eye. 

There was no world in which he would admit that the sound which emerged from him was a whimper, and yet it was fairly undeniable. 

Jaskier returned near instantly, the cloth still dripping. He squeezed it out right on the floor, like some sort of animal, but then Geralt stopped being offended for Triss’s sake, because the cool cloth made contact with his forehead. It didn’t stop the pain, didn’t solve it, but it felt wonderful, and the bit that went over his eyes blocked out even the dim light that filtered in through his eyelids. 

He tried to remember as much as he could, letting himself drift in and out of awareness for a bit, until the cloth began to grow warm, and then he reached up to flip it over. 

“Geralt?” 

He almost flinched at the hope in Jaskier’s face, and realized too late that he couldn’t pretend to be asleep anymore. 

“My head is killing me.” 

He was reminded that his mouth tasted horribly and everything from lips to stomach was dry. But he also wasn’t sure he would be able to keep water down if he drank it. 

“I’m sorry. I’ll go get Triss, see if she has anything for it.” 

Blindly, Geralt reached out and grabbed Jaskier by the arm. 

“What time is it?” He asked. 

“Doesn’t matter. She said to wake her if anything changed.” 

“Let her sleep.” Geralt decided, and removed the cloth to look blearily up at Jaskier. 

He looked as bad as he sounded, if not worse, and Geralt immediately spotted the crude wrap around his neck and the bit of blood that had soaked through it. 

“You’re bleeding.” He observed, dry and unimpressed at the effort put into him, while both Jaskier and Triss had ignored the much more vulnerable human. 

“It’s nothing. You saved me before he could do anything– it’s just a scratch.” Jaskier had reached up and was fiddling with the wrap, and Geralt shook his head, then winced as his vision swam and his stomach lurched in time. 

“D’I hit my head on something?” Geralt could have slapped himself at the look the question caused on Jaskier’s face. 

“You uh, getting off of Roach, I couldn’t get a good grip on you through all the sweat, and you started flailing, and…. Long story short, yeah, you fell on your head.” 

Jaskier took Geralt’s hand and led it up to a space just above his left ear, where he could feel a sizeable goose egg had formed. 

“Did I… die, at any point in all this?” He asked, morbidly curious. 

He wondered if he would be able to feel it, if Triss had had to bring him back. “Not that I know of, and I’ve been trying to make sure that stayed a solid no. You came close, though. Triss said the poison had stayed into your system too long, and you had too little blood. It was… it was bad. And if you need to keep sleeping, if you can, you should.”

Geralt grumbled, but didn’t try to sit up any further. 

“Everything hurts too much to sleep.” Geralt muttered, and Jaskier frowned, his obvious care and sympathy warring with the urge to coddle Geralt. 

“Well, you can either try, or I can get Triss. Your choice.” The coddling won.

Geralt hesitated, but he decided he felt poorly enough, and he was safe enough, he could ask for a little comfort. 

“Will you sing for me? Softly?” 

Jaskier looked stunned, and didn’t speak for a long several seconds, his eyes darting back and forth across Geralt’s face. 

“Are you sure you don’t have some sort of brain injury? You hate my singing.” 

“Anything’s better than hearing my own heart right now.” Geralt lied. 

That seemed, oddly, to mollify Jaskier, and he sat back down on the stool beside Geralt’s bed and began to hum, then murmur a lullaby. 

One song after another, he sang until Geralt couldn’t keep his eyes open, and drifted back into the darkness that was waiting for him.

[crimsonblackrose]

.

I wonder if the gave the guy who kinda bullies Kreese the same type of banana boat car that Mr. Miyagi drove and then gave Daniel on purpose.

I think it's supposed to be yellow but with the filter they put over it I'm not sure. No, I pulled up a shot I took of the banana boat and it's the same interior and everything.

Kreese's mom killed herself.

Kreese I was bullied and the worlc was cruel so I became a bully and cruel myself.

Everyone is back to white belt. And there's a bunch of kids now.

There's also a new girl.

Which is wild to me. What parent would be like, oh man there's so much violence right now with karate, a kid got put in a coma, let me enroll my kid in karate. ????

Lol and this is from your pale friend demetri. 🤣 Carmen, I adore you. She also listened to everything Demetri said, like don't leave it near the window because the plastic isn't uv resistant. Such a Demetri little caveat. Looks like an issue of Dungeon Lord, which Demetri loves but no clue if Miguel likes it.

That's from the LaRusso's.

Where's sensei? Well he was there, he bashed his head into a corner of a metal paper towel dispenser because he had no other way to see you, talked to you before he was caught and kicked out again. Now he's trying to find his son.

How far away is this place that Shannon's at that Johnny fell asleep? Though who knows, dude might just be exhausted from punishing himself.

Daniel keeps advil in the glove compartment. Daniel, you live in LA why would you keep medication in the glove compartment. Medication is affected by temperature. With the LA heat, that stuff probably doesn't work as much any more or it's changed.

Yoga, painting, trays of breakfast. Nice rehab: Malibu Canyon Recovery.

Lol I mapped it, it's only 16 minutes away from Reseda. Johnny's just exhausted.

She totally thought Daniel was dropping of his partner for rehab.

Shannon's journaling, Amanda sent her lavender essential oil helped with her insomnia. She's also going to kudos and concerns and has a life coach. She wanted to look for Robby but was advised against it.

man this must suck for Johnny. Daniel at his core is someone who wants to help people and he's helping pretty much everyone around him, but spent so much time fighting Johnny when Johnny wanted to just run his business. Like Daniel was Daniel at his core in episode 1. With the car. But between that and this point, except for the occasional run into each other because we have to via Amanda, the don't get along.

Johnny don't knock it, it's working for her, let it work. Plus 99% sure it's not her money but Daniel's.

Johnny's vacation idea was a monster truck show and he loved Truckasaurus.

They're bickering, they always bicker. I'm glad Shannon stood up for her rehab though.

Kreese you are too giddy about this trick. Bert named him Clarence. Rip Clarence.

This is messed up Kreese. Bert should've taken that hamster and run. But he uses it to weed out the kids from his dojo with soft hearts, which is pretty much all the new kid kids I spotted.

It is a pretty snake. But still, messed up Kreese.

Poor Bert. He's been kicked of teh team.

Hawk is the new Miguel. But like Kreese's Miguel at least for the moment.

Kreese decorated with war photos, military photos and a grenade????

The interior of Tory's apartment looks an awful lot like Johnny's and Carmen's apartment interiors. She's in apartment 2.

Tory's mom is on dialysis

Apparently the reason why Tory isn't in more trouble is because she's taking care of her little brother and mom. And she's already working doubles. She also has a probation officer and this guy is such a creep. He essentially is saying pay rent or sleep with him which she's still a minor. She's got community service hours, probation and studying for her GED.

Robby's 'friends' are in juvie and I think they're there because of their fight with Daniel. RSP is the name of the place. They're now scared of Mr. LaRusso and I guess not so much of Johnny because he showed up already beaten up.

They'd scam people at Tech Town in Panarama City.

I hate that the doctor had this conversation with Miguel's mom on the other side of his window and not somewhere private like his office.

Johnny being annoying with the corn nuts. 😂

A lead, what are you Tango and Cash, movie recommendation I guess from Amanda.

I love that Johnny knows the reference but thinks he has to lean over and talk to Daniel's lap to say hi to Amanda.

Johnny: I'm not lying to your wife for you.

And we've lost 1 corn nut in Daniel's car.

Kreese is going to let Tory attend classes for free. How very...Miyagi/Daniel of him.

Betsy's abusive ex's name was David. I really want to know which college he's supposed to be attending, but I can't tell with the letterman.

Lol David punches his friend.

young kreese to betsy: Need a lift, then back to modern day with Johnny getting gas with a sign that says lift. I see what you did there.

Daniel's to good for gas station food. I have no clue what Johnny asked for, almost looks like a churro.

Hey look at that, Amanda told Daniel to tell Johnny something and he actually did.

amount of corn nuts lost in Daniel's car: unknown as the whole bag hit Daniel in teh face and they flew behind him as Johnny peeled out of the gas station.

And Johnny broke Daniel's mirror. Bud, even if he's got insurance, Johnny that's still arguably a hit and run because you hit someone else's car, and insurance probably won't cover it because you were driving on the wrong side of the road when it happened. Sure, you're covered arguably by permissive use, but still, that was technically a hit and run.

Another great fight scene! Daniel's got the brain cell because this time Johnny's on papa bear mode, of where is my son.

Johnny pushes Daniel out of the way, but that also means the guy with the chain can fight Daniel.

Another guy goes for Johnny's neck, but this time with a chain. Whose keep score? I lost count. Third time? Fourth?

Hey look a sucessful: Duck. Daniel ducked and Johnny hit a guy with a wrench, which ow.

Oh hey, Daniel's in his first choke hold of the series.

Amazing team work.

Yes, Johnny should've stopped, but at the same time Daniel you didn't stop when you thought Sam was in danger or calm down even when Johnny tried to ask you to.

Johnny is right, you included Johnny on it. Saying you can't believe he taught kids isn't fair. This is his son. You'd do the same for Sam, you literally did before. And Johnny is going through it. Saying look how Robby turned out isn't quite fair to Daniel because again, what happened to Miguel was an accident. But this...

That's a low blow Daniel. Uncalled for. Which Daniel like instantly realizes because Johnny just completely crumples at that and takes the van, now his van because he never returns it, and leaves.

Sometimes Daniel's just...mean.

This is one of those moments where I go: GO GRANDPA KREESE GO!

Also whoever did the transitions, while I saw what you did last time, hate this one. Hate it so much.

I want to know what the arrangement is? Free rent? Or just a buffer for this week.

That is a terrible lunch Miggy. A cheese hot dog, beans, carrots, green beans and something red.

Johnny kept his hospital bracelet from last time so he could sneak in.

Surprisingly 100% the truth. He also got into a fight with two guys in a parking garage, but he also did take on the paper towel dispenser.

lol he's just listing them off. Couple goons at chop shop, paper towel despenser, some dudes in a parking garage. Guys just picking a fight with everything and everyone.

😭😭😭😭 He did what he was taught, showed mercy and now he might never walk again.

MIGGGYYYYYY 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

Robby's eating with Shannon. Looks like he's eating a half eaten sandwich. Poor kid probably hasn't eaten in days.

Awww the way Robby curled in on himself, scared then made himself smaller when he saw Daniel.

Robby, again, accident. Any one of the other fights could've ended up even more terrible. You didn't realize the railing was right there. You were scared and terrified and horrified but what happened.

First thing he wants to know after apologizing and promising to pay Daniel back for the van is to ask if Sam is okay.

I do appreciate that Daniel tells Robby that everyone's worried about him, even his dad. and then apologizes to him and promises to help him. that he talked to a lawyer and tries to explain the reduced sentence, but of course Robby hears the police coming first and feels betrayed. "You just kept me talking so I wouldn't leave."

Daniel promises to visit every day. But that trust is broken.

Johnny had multiple classes of students he trained and cultivated, and Kreese has kicked all but these ones out.

Kreese calls Betsy Doll-face.

He's off to basic training in Monterey (about a half hour away)

Kreese monologuing very quietly while all the kids are shouting. 😂I get that it's supposed to be them listening to it, but with how loud they're shouting, I kinda doubt they'll hear him at his conversation level of speaking rather than speaking louder.

[titoist]

an article i read recently, regarding Reformism as a tendency in Chinese politics & western observers' analyses of it (particularly, the maybe not totally accurate conclusions of those analyses), had a sentence somewhere near the middle that particularly caught my eye;

And these heroic reformers, the good communists, achieve a kind of inevitable success, because marketisation is, regardless of its results, taken automatically as the good thing that needs to happen; in this narrative there is no space for understanding the downsides and consequences of reform except as things to be solved with, naturally, more reform.

-to me, it calls to mind a kind of nascent feeling i've had for awhile now that i've only expressed in vague terms, in close personal contact along disparate lines. i think that, these days, it seems to me that the main emotion pervading the politics of a lot of developed nations - particularly the ones constituting a grey amorphous blob loosely labelled 'the west', america & western europe, nations where every so often a conveyer belt from africa kicks into gear & delivers a brand new batch of delicious little treats to blithefully consume - is not a a drive in any particular direction so much as… a deep, annihilating, world-rending boredom.

i've found that this tends to be why the people i talk to, myself included, hold at least a latent level of interest in 60s-70s-80s politics - it is the last time in human memory that people in power, on any large organized scale, believed in things. held ideals, or opinions. the last time, & though this is not necessarily a good thing of course, in which individual actors wanted to change history in whatever way. today the united states, for example, has built so many defenses against strong emotion, & stocked those defenses with so much of its energy, that a large societal phenomenon is simply people complaining of an inability to feel.

take western europe - germany or the lowlands, for example: there exists an idea that the nation-state has achieved the status of a perfected machine. & we no longer particularly need politicians, really. only mechanics selected on perceived 'competency' with running the machine who will, perhaps every 4 years or maybe more, take their turn to change the oil. this, above all, is not politics. it is patiently waiting for a chance to have your own turn at overseeing the machine's fluctuations & making sure it's parameters are set according to the regulations & turning the knobs & dials with bureaucratic arousal.

but politic-less politicians only really flourish during times of prosperity. in the 2000s, it was seen as valid by a matter of default. the slow death of communism made their vision the only real circus left in town. this type of, dare-i-say 'neoliberal' normality is not really what's going on anywhere, right now. this is why i take issue with when, for example, leftists online use the blanket-term 'neoliberal' as essentially a blank signifier, a synonym of 'The Man'. Neoliberalism has not been the local consensus anywhere in America, for example, since at least October of 2016. which is, notably, 7 years & more than half a decade. Protectionism is making a comeback, & the party of Ronald Reagan himself is increasingly interested in a 'New Mercantilism' - whatever that means.

stick it to The Man; stick it to Neoliberalism. but it's great visions, & it's own monuments to itself, still exist. actually; tangibly. & without it's protective casing, it all seems so fragile. so what is to be done? how do you shove that genie back into the bottle? i personally leave that question to the good, competent mechanics who will handle the upcoming crises. i can only hope that 'Opinions' will be able to filter back into the world, in whatever small form.

[ryuzakemo128]

Four Horsemen

Chapter Seven: A house to call my own.

Pairing: Alfie Solomons x Red (Female Reader) Genre: Modern, sci-fi, mystery Trigger Warnings: Graphic Scenes Mention of violence and criminal activities Cursing, Swearing Rating: MA15+

Masterlist: Link

Previous Chapter / Next Chapter

[Red's Point of View]

The circular bathtub, made of exquisite black and gold marble, took pride of place in the center of the spacious bathroom. It was a drop-in style tub, seamlessly integrated into the smooth floor. Its large size provided ample room for indulgence, allowing one to sink into the depths of relaxation.

The surrounding tiles, a rich obsidian black, adorned the walls, reflecting the gleam of the candlelight that danced throughout the space. Their glossy surface added an air of sophistication to the room, while also creating a sense of depth and mystery. It was as if the tiles held secrets within their dark embrace.

A magnificent window, framed with elegant curtains, overlooked the enchanting woods beyond. Its generous proportions allowed streams of sunlight to filter into the room, casting a warm glow upon the luxurious surroundings. Nature's artwork became an ever-changing backdrop, with dappled light and swaying branches, offering a serene connection to the outside world.

Nestled near the window, on a small table, sat the silver incense burner. It took the delicate shape of a lotus flower, its petals gracefully unfurling, symbolizing purity and enlightenment. Fragrant smoke curled upward, carrying scents of sandalwood, lavender, and other calming essences, infusing the air with tranquility.

Adjacent to the bathtub, a shelf held an assortment of bathroom amenities, neatly organized. Shampoo, conditioner, and various oils awaited their turn to pamper and nourish the body. The bottles glistened in the sunlight, their labels a promise of luxurious self-care. Black towels hung on the towel warmer, I had a large de-humidifier inside the bathroom and another one just outside the bathroom to ensure air remains dry.

On the sink in a medium sized glass jewelry casket for my rings like my diamond and fire opal ring, my brass pair of cufflinks with several myriad amber stones, a gold pendant with several myriad diamonds given to her by several exes in the past.

There was an hourglass with white sand which timed how long I was in the bath for, the light red curtain for the large window and the midnight blue walls of the bathroom. I have several small velvet purses filled with coins in case I needed them, along with a small ceramic dish held my favorite blood red lipstick along with my favourite palette of neutral eyeshadow shades and jet black liquid eyeliner.

My pair of crimson silk slippers are always outside the bathroom to put on after having a bath. I kept a hairbrush with an ivory bone handle to brush my hair before I go to bed, usually keeping it in the end table drawer beside my bed. I lived far away from the hustle and bustle of the city, in a large cottage surrounded by a forest behind it.

Steam rose from the scalding hot water from inside the bathtub, the warmth embraced my body as I stepped into the tub sinking further into the water. Letting it envelope me, a sigh escaped my lips as the tension left my body, the pure bliss I felt. My friend was staying over for the night, she wanted to see the place for herself and she planned on taking me to an art auction in town the next day.

Adeline was visiting for two days and planned on staying over for two nights at the very least. She wasn't too sure about me living on my own for a while, stating she was afraid something could happen to me while I lived in a secluded area. I assured her every precaution was put into place long before I moved in.

She walked into the bathroom fifteen minutes after I started bathing to tell me what she was going to do while she was here, interrupting my moment of tranquility. Adeline was a lively and inquisitive woman, always eager to explore new adventures. Her vibrant red hair and mischievous smile were a stark contrast to my own calm demeanor.

"Red, darling, have you decided what you'd like to do tomorrow?" Adeline asked, her voice echoing in the marble bathroom.

I leaned back against the edge of the tub, allowing the warm water to support my body. "I was thinking we could start the day with a visit to the art auction in town. You know how much I adore discovering new artists and their creations." she continued.

"As much as you enjoy baking that's for sure." I replied thinking about it further, "Anything you wanted to do tomorrow? I assume the auction would be held during the night,"

Adeline replied, "Well, during the day, I thought we could take a stroll through the local market. They have a wide variety of fresh produce and unique crafts. It's always a treat to explore and support local businesses. And perhaps we could grab lunch at that charming little café we passed by last time."

A few hours later, we both went to bed, Adeline stayed in the guest room with her fiancé, James. Unlike them, I have dated around since I was 18 and never found someone who captivated my heart. It came close though, timing was never right and it was often due to them falling out of love first.

[oliviajames1122]

TIPS FOR HIGH MILEAGE CAR MAINTENANCE

Indeed, newer cars are made to last. The majority of today's vehicles have a minimum life span of 150,000 miles. A car is deemed to be high mileage if it has travelled at least 75,000 miles. Age can also be used to assess if a car has high mileage or not in addition to mileage. Older vehicles are therefore regarded as having a high mileage. Older cars require more frequent maintenance than more recent ones do to ensure optimal performance on the road. Search for car repairs near me and book an appointment now to find out more.

What is a high mileage vehicle?

High mileage vehicles are those with at least 75,000 miles on the clock. To keep them operating at their peak and on the road, older vehicles need more frequent maintenance than newer ones do. A car may be deemed to have high mileage based on age as well as mileage, which is something else to bear in mind. Search for car repairs near me and book an appointment now to find out more.

How to Extend the Life of a High Mileage Car

Keep an Eye on Your Vehicle's Oil

Your car's oil is like its heart if the engine is its beating heart. Thus, the most important thing you can do to keep your high mileage vehicles running better for longer is to replace their oil at the recommended intervals and use motor oil that is especially made for high mileage vehicles. Search for car services near me and book an appointment with a qualified mechanic now.

Regularly Check Your Fluids

You should routinely check engine fluids in addition to the engine oil. This entails changing the transmission fluid and oil as well as checking the coolant level in your radiator once a month. This is fairly well-known yet frequently overlooked.

Take Care of Your Tyres

If you take good care of your tyres, they will look after you. The tyres should be rotated as directed, maintained at the recommended air pressure, and replaced as needed. When your tyres are in good condition, your suspension will last longer and the rest of the car will be under less strain. Newer, properly inflated tyres also provide you a significantly better chance of avoiding a collision. Search for car repairs and book an appointment with a professional mechanic to fix any issues at hand.

Examine The Belts And Filters.

Replace or clean dirty or expired air filters to maintain optimum combustion. Additionally, make sure to inspect and replace any belts that might also be displaying wear and tear.

Look after Your Car’s Exterior

In terms of extending the lifespan of a car with a high mileage, cleaning your car may seem minor. However, regular car washing really eliminates impurities and stops rust. Since the underside is not painted and is subject to wintertime exposure to salt from the roads, it is especially crucial to do this. Your outside will look brighter after waxing, and it will also be protected from rust and damage to the paint job.

Improve Your Driving Habits

Several driving habits, such as rapid acceleration or deceleration, harsh starts, and slamming on the brakes, result in significant needless wear and strain on your car and reduce its lifespan. These are commonly referred to as aggressive driving. Driving carefully, moving slowly, and doing things smoothly are all necessary to extend the life of a high mileage vehicle. Search for car mechanics near me and book an appointment now to sort out any issues with your vehicle.

[digitalsonam]

Car Workshop Near Me: Premium Car Workshop in Gurgaon

When it comes to maintaining the performance and longevity of your car, finding a reliable workshop nearby is crucial. If you're living in Gurgaon, you’re in luck. The city is home to some of the best car service centers in the region, including Autocrest, a premium car workshop in Gurgaon that provides top-notch services to car owners. With a focus on excellence, Autocrest ensures that your vehicle gets the care it deserves.

Why Choose a Premium Car Workshop?

Many car owners make the mistake of opting for the nearest local mechanic or an affordable, non-certified service provider. While these might seem like quick fixes, they often lack the expertise, tools, and genuine parts that premium car workshops provide. Here’s why choosing a premium workshop like Autocrest is essential:

Skilled Technicians: Premium workshops hire certified professionals who have years of experience in handling all types of vehicles, from regular sedans to high-end luxury cars.

Advanced Diagnostic Tools: Unlike local garages, premium workshops use state-of-the-art tools and equipment for diagnosing car problems.

Genuine Spare Parts: One of the biggest advantages of going to a premium workshop is access to genuine spare parts, ensuring the longevity and safety of your car.

Comprehensive Services: From regular servicing to complex repairs, premium workshops offer a wide array of services under one roof, saving you the hassle of hopping from one place to another.

Autocrest embodies all these qualities and more, making it a standout choice in Gurgaon for car maintenance and repairs.

Why Autocrest is the Best Premium Car Workshop in Gurgaon

At Autocrest, we understand the importance of providing not just services but solutions that meet the needs of modern car owners. Whether you own a luxury car or a family SUV, our workshop is equipped to handle everything from routine maintenance to complex mechanical repairs. Here’s what makes Autocrest a preferred choice:

State-of-the-Art Facility: Autocrest boasts a modern workshop equipped with the latest technology. Our facility is designed to offer the best environment for car repairs, ensuring that every job is completed with precision and care.

Expert Mechanics: Our team of certified mechanics has years of experience working with all makes and models. Whether it's an oil change or a transmission overhaul, you can trust our team to deliver excellent results.

Genuine Spare Parts: We only use genuine, manufacturer-recommended spare parts to ensure your car performs at its best. This means longer-lasting repairs and fewer issues down the road.

Comprehensive Range of Services: Autocrest is your one-stop-shop for all automotive needs. From general servicing, denting, and painting, to engine repairs, tire changes, and wheel alignment, we offer a full range of services to keep your car in top condition.

Customer-Centric Approach: We believe in providing personalized service. Every car is different, and so are the needs of its owner. Our team takes the time to understand your vehicle’s requirements and offer customized solutions.

Comprehensive Car Services at Autocrest

We offer a full spectrum of car care services, ensuring that no matter what your vehicle needs, we have the expertise to handle it. Here are some of the key services we provide:

Routine Maintenance & Servicing: Regular car servicing is the key to keeping your vehicle running smoothly. We offer oil changes, filter replacements, brake inspections, and other routine maintenance tasks to prevent any major issues.

Mechanical Repairs: Our team is proficient in handling all kinds of mechanical repairs, whether it’s engine trouble, transmission issues, or suspension problems.

Denting and Painting: Accidents happen. At Autocrest, we offer professional denting and painting services to restore your car to its original look. We use high-quality paints and offer paint matching to ensure a seamless finish.

Tire & Wheel Services: Proper tire maintenance is essential for a smooth and safe drive. We provide tire repairs, replacements, and wheel alignment to ensure that your car handles well on the road.

Electrical System Repairs: Modern cars are equipped with complex electrical systems. Our technicians are trained to diagnose and fix any electrical problems, whether it’s a faulty battery, wiring issues, or problems with the car’s computer system.

AC Repairs: Driving in Gurgaon without a functioning AC can be a nightmare. Our team specializes in AC repairs, ensuring that your car stays cool even during the hottest days.

Luxury Car Services: If you own a high-end luxury car, you’ll need specialized care that goes beyond basic repairs. Our team has experience working with brands like BMW, Audi, Mercedes-Benz, and Jaguar, offering services tailored to the unique needs of these vehicles.

Premium Car Care at Affordable Prices

One of the misconceptions about premium car workshops is that they are expensive. At Autocrest, we believe in offering top-notch services at prices that won’t break the bank. We provide competitive pricing on all our services, ensuring that you don’t have to compromise on quality. Plus, with our transparent pricing, you’ll always know what you’re paying for – no hidden fees or surprise charges.

Why Location Matters: Convenience of a Local Workshop

Finding a “car workshop near me” can be a daunting task, especially if you're unsure about the quality of service provided. Having a premium workshop like Autocrest nearby offers both convenience and peace of mind. Whether you need an emergency repair or routine servicing, having a workshop in your vicinity ensures that your car issues are addressed promptly.

Being based in Gurgaon, Autocrest is centrally located, making it easy for residents in the city to access our services. Whether you live in DLF, Sushant Lok, Sector 56, or Sohna Road, we’re just a short drive away. Our prime location ensures that you don’t have to travel far to get your car serviced or repaired.

The Importance of Regular Maintenance

Regular car maintenance is essential to ensure that your vehicle runs efficiently and safely. Neglecting routine maintenance can lead to a host of problems, from poor fuel efficiency to more severe mechanical failures. At Autocrest, we stress the importance of regular check-ups and offer tailor-made maintenance packages based on your car’s needs.

Some key aspects of regular maintenance include:

Engine Oil and Filter Changes: Keeping your engine oil fresh and filters clean is critical to the health of your car’s engine.

Brake Maintenance: Worn-out brakes can be a serious safety hazard. Regular brake inspections and repairs ensure that you stay safe on the road.

Battery Checks: A dead battery can leave you stranded. Regular battery checks and replacements ensure that your car starts every time.

Fluid Top-Ups: From brake fluid to coolant, keeping your car’s fluids topped up is vital for smooth operation.

Customer Testimonials: What People Say About Autocrest

We take pride in our work and are always thrilled when our customers share their positive experiences. Here are just a few testimonials from satisfied Autocrest clients:

“Autocrest has been my go-to workshop for years. Their service is top-notch, and I love how they pay attention to detail. Highly recommend!” – Rajat, DLF Phase 2.

“I own a BMW and was worried about finding the right workshop in Gurgaon. Autocrest took care of all my concerns. Great team!” – Shalini, Sector 56.

“The team at Autocrest is extremely professional. They always keep me informed about what needs to be done, and their prices are very reasonable for the level of service they provide.” – Arjun, Sohna Road.

Final Thoughts

When searching for a premium car workshop in Gurgaon, Autocrest should be your first choice. Our commitment to excellence, experienced mechanics, and state-of-the-art facility ensures that your car gets the best care possible. So, the next time you’re wondering, "Where can I find a reliable car workshop near me?" remember that Autocrest is just around the corner, ready to help.

[autosurefit01]

Why Regular Car Servicing is Essential and How to Find It Nearby

Regular car servicing is a cornerstone of vehicle maintenance that significantly influences your car’s longevity, performance, and safety. Despite its importance, many car owners overlook or delay servicing, often due to busy schedules or perceived costs. However, staying on top of regular maintenance not only ensures your car runs smoothly but also saves you money and prevents potential accidents. This article explores why regular car servicing is essential and provides tips on how to find a reliable service provider nearby.

The Importance of Regular Car Servicing

Enhancing Vehicle Longevity Regular car servicing is crucial for extending the life of your vehicle. Over time, various components of your car experience wear and tear. Routine maintenance helps in identifying and addressing these issues before they escalate into major problems. For instance, changing the oil and filters regularly ensures that your engine remains lubricated and free from harmful contaminants, thus prolonging its lifespan.

Improving Safety Safety is a paramount concern when it comes to vehicle maintenance. Regular servicing includes checking essential safety components such as brakes, tires, lights, and steering. By ensuring these parts are in optimal condition, you reduce the risk of accidents caused by malfunctioning equipment. A well-maintained car is less likely to experience sudden breakdowns, which can be dangerous while driving.

Boosting Fuel Efficiency A car that is regularly serviced operates more efficiently. Regular checks and adjustments, such as maintaining proper tire pressure and cleaning the fuel system, can lead to better fuel efficiency. This not only saves you money on fuel but also reduces your vehicle's carbon footprint, contributing to environmental sustainability.

Preventing Costly Repairs Regular maintenance helps in catching minor issues before they turn into major, costly repairs. For example, a simple coolant leak can be fixed easily if detected early, but if left unattended, it can lead to severe engine damage. Investing in regular servicing can save you significant amounts of money in the long run by avoiding unexpected repair costs.

Maintaining Resale Value A well-maintained car retains its value better than one that has been neglected. Prospective buyers often look for vehicles with a comprehensive service history. Regular servicing demonstrates that the car has been cared for, which can be a strong selling point and help you get a better price when it’s time to sell or trade in your vehicle.

How to Find Reliable Car Servicing Nearby

Finding reliable car servicing near you is essential to ensure that your vehicle gets the care it needs. Here are some steps to help you locate a trustworthy service provider:

Search Online Start by using search engines to look for servicing my car near me. This will provide a list of nearby auto service centers. Pay attention to customer reviews and ratings to gauge the quality of service offered. Many review platforms provide insights into the experiences of other customers, helping you make an informed decision.

Ask for Recommendations Recommendations from friends, family, or colleagues can be invaluable. They may have had positive experiences with local service providers and can offer suggestions based on their own experiences. Personal recommendations often come with a level of trust that online reviews might lack.

Check Certifications and Qualifications Ensure that the service provider you choose is certified and employs qualified technicians. Certifications from recognized automotive organizations indicate that the technicians have the necessary skills and knowledge to perform various types of car repairs and maintenance. This can be a good indicator of the quality of service you can expect.

Compare Prices While cost should not be the sole factor in your decision, it is important to compare prices among different service providers. Obtain quotes for common services such as oil changes, brake checks, and tire rotations. This will help you understand the average market rates and avoid overpaying for basic services.

Visit the Facility If possible, visit the service center before making a decision. A clean and organized workshop is often a good sign of professionalism and attention to detail. During your visit, observe how staff members interact with customers and ask questions about their service procedures and warranty policies.

Inquire About Services Offered Different service centers may specialize in different types of maintenance and repairs. Ensure that the provider you choose offers the services you need for your vehicle. For instance, if you have a specific issue such as transmission problems, check that the service center has experience in handling such repairs.

Look for Convenience Factors Consider the convenience factors such as location, operating hours, and availability of loaner cars or shuttle services. A service provider that is close to your home or work can make it easier to drop off and pick up your vehicle. Additionally, flexible operating hours and additional services like loaner cars can make the servicing process more convenient for you.

Conclusion

Regular car servicing is not just a routine; it is a critical aspect of vehicle ownership that impacts your car’s performance, safety, and longevity. By investing in regular maintenance, you enhance your driving experience, prevent costly repairs, and maintain your vehicle’s value. Finding a reliable service provider nearby involves a combination of online research, personal recommendations, and evaluating service quality. By following the tips outlined above, you can ensure that your vehicle receives the best possible care, keeping it in optimal condition for years to come.

[mechanicnow]

How to Save Your Money on Repairs at Your Local Auto Repair Garage  

Car expenses can be really an add-on. An auto car mechanic may recommend you change the engine oil as often as every 3,000 to 4,000 miles (about 6437.38 km). Additionally, you need to rotate tires every 4,000 miles or so and replace them every 5 to 6 years. An auto mechanic may also advise you to change the air filters every 15,000 miles.  

To be precise, that's just a short list of common auto body repair and maintenance to keep up with. With so and so tasks on your auto repair checklist, you may be thinking about how to save your money on repairs at your local auto repair.  

Here are some easy and good-to-go ways to save your money on auto body repair at the nearest car garage.

Regular Maintenance at a Nearby Car Garage: If you want to save money on car repair, then focus on regular maintenance at a nearby car garage. However, you can contact Mechanic Now as they provide unmatched services with pick-up and drop-off of your vehicle from your doorstep. It is important for you to follow the instructions given in the manufacturer’s maintenance booklet including filter replacement, proper oil changes, fluid checks, tire checks, etc.  

DIY Repairs with the Help of Nearest Auto Repair Shop: Car owners can get the help of the nearest auto repair shop viz. Mechanic Now, to do some basic car repair tasks by themselves. Car repair and maintenance includes keeping a good set of tools and reading about basic DIY repairs.  

Comparison Between Car Maintenance Service: While taking car maintenance service, you should always compare the prices. It will save you a lot of money if you take your car for maintenance at the nearest auto repair shop like Mechanic Now. They charge less and even provide home delivery of vehicles. Always compare multiple car battery maintenance packages before choosing one.    

Preventive Care by an Auto Mechanic: A seasoned auto mechanic or a mechanic shop near me could help you take preventive care of your car. Mechanic Now has professional mechanics that can make you understand the importance of preventive care to save money on repairs. These include following speed limits, avoiding aggressive driving, driving perfectly on potholes, and regular washing and waxing of your car. 

Final Words  

Car repair and maintenance can be a hectic task. However, with the help of an auto car mechanic, you will be able to save money on your car maintenance services. Here are some quick points to keep in mind:  

Keep your engine clean  

Drive safe and follow speed limits  

DIY basic repairs and maintenance  

Read and follow all the instructions in the vehicle manual  

Invest in quality spare parts  

Take preventive care with the help of a nearby car garage  

Always consult a professional auto mechanic or mechanic shop near me  

Mechanic Now is a car service center for auto body repair and other services. They provide easy pickup and drop-off facilities with affordable car repair and maintenance services.