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pedroscurls · 3 months ago

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stranded (one-shot)

summary: your car breaks down on the side of the road and a stranger decides to help you out... and you have no choice but to accept his help.

pairing: no outbreak/dark!joel miller x fem!reader content warnings: EXPLICIT CONTENT (18+ ONLY MDNI), DUBCON - please read at own risk / heed warnings!, stockholm syndrome, unprotected p in v, rough sex, manhandling, oral sex (m receiving), orgasm denial, begging, creampie, joel ties you up, spanking, light choking, fingering, age gap (reader is in 30s, joel is in 50s), no use of y/n. word count: 5.1k a/n: and here's yet another story where i'm stepping out of my comfort zone. i've always wanted to write dark!joel, but felt like i couldn't do it justice... but then ali's (@pedgito) hosting a writing challenge (spring fever) and i figured... why not? i chose backwoods horror #1 STRANDED/SIDE OF THE ROAD. please heed the warnings, y'all. this is gonna be very dark and filthy, so if you're not into that sort of thing, that's ok!

You had no idea what you were thinking—taking a solo cross country road trip after quitting your job. Maybe you thought that you��d find yourself, find some kind of purpose that was lacking in your life, but instead, you’re stranded on the side of the road. Gas empty, no cell service, and phone already on its last battery.

This is where you’re going to die—you’re sure of it. It’s how all horror movies start and despite the sun still high in the sky, you’re increasingly getting worried about what could happen when night falls. You scream at the top of your lungs, the sound echoing through the vast empty void.

God, no one would hear you scream for help if you were in real danger and that thought simply frightens you. Your friends had all but praised you for this trip—this journey to self-discovery and reflection. Your parents, on the other hand, had already been concerned when you said you would be alone on this trip. A woman, traveling the world by herself? Well, that’s just asking for trouble, they said.

And now you understand their concern. You understand their fear about you traveling all alone because of where you are now—in the middle of fucking nowhere. You should have refilled your gas when you had the chance, should have charged your phone while you were driving. Should have, should have, should have.

10%—your phone reads. You try to send a text to your parents, to send them your location, but every attempted text just comes back with the message in red text and an exclamation point next to it: NOT DELIVERED! You raise your phone in the sky, hoping that maybe you’ll get one bar of service, but no luck.

The trip had been successful, up until this point. You were in Texas, that you were sure of. But where in Texas? You had no fucking clue.

You lean against the side of your car—the sun glaring down at you and you can feel a thin sheet of sweat on the side of your neck. Why did you think this was even a good idea? Traveling cross country without a plan—how fucking naive.

Your battery drains fast and your phone finally shuts off. You let out a quiet sigh of frustration and open the passenger door of your car to toss your useless phone inside. Just as you’re about to climb in, you hear a faint noise of a car engine. Suddenly, you feel hopeful—maybe you won’t die here after all.

The sudden excitement that you feel overpowers the possibility that what you’re doing is absolutely dangerous. You’re waving your arms in the air, trying to track down the person in the car who’s making their way in your direction. It’s possible that this person whose truck is slowing down as it nears you could very well be a serial killer, but what choice did you have?

The truck pulls up behind your car and quickly, you run over to your savior. Your hero.

“Hi. My car’s dead, my phone’s dead, and I just need a lift to the next gas station... Or any place where I can use a phone to give someone a call,” you blurt out, breathing heavily.

He turns his head slightly in your direction—eyes gazing at your face, then down to your shoulders and the rest of your body that he can see from the driver’s side. You’re leaning against the opened window of the passenger side of the truck. You don’t belong here, he knows that for sure.

“Next gas station is in the next town over,” he finally answers.

“Could you give me a lift there? I can pay you. Let me just grab my things and—”

“No need,” he interrupts, voice low. “I’m headin’ in that direction anyway. Get in.”

You grin and Joel’s jaw ticks briefly. God, you’re beautiful and it’s truly been a long time since he’s been with—

“Promise you won’t kill me?” you laugh, climbing into his truck and interrupting his thoughts.

Joel finally takes in the rest of your frame and can immediately feel his length stirring beneath his dark jeans. His hands grip the steering wheel to ease some pressure, but you’re still talking and you’re laughing and it shoots straight to the center of his pants. It must be his lucky day.

“If I were to kill you, I don’t think I’d be confessing that, darlin’,” he answers—the corners of his lips lift slightly. Oh, you had no idea what you just got into by climbing into his truck.

“Right,” you reply. “That’s a good point.” You look at him—taking note of his damp hair that’s slicked away from his face, his broad frame, salt and pepper patchy beard. You realize that he must be in his fifties, but you can’t help but notice how handsome he is. That’s a good sign, you think. He won’t hurt you. He’s going to drop you off in the next town and hopefully, you’ll be able to head back home in the morning.

“I’m guessing you live around here?” you ask, feeling the truck move back onto the main street. You glance out the window, watching your car become smaller and smaller as Joel drives further away from it.

“Yeah,” he answers. “Guessin’ you ain’t from around here.”

“That obvious?”

He just nods. Joel needs to focus on the road ahead of him. He has to make it seem like he’s not a threat, like he’s not just about to take you directly to his home. His secluded home.

You introduce yourself formally, telling him your name and turning your body to face him. “What’s your name?”

“Joel.”

“You’re a man of few words, aren’t you?” you smile in his direction and Joel glances at you from the corner of his eyes.

“Not much to say.”

“Well, how long is the drive to the next town? If you don’t have music, I’m gonna end up talking. I don’t usually like it when it’s too quiet on a drive and—”

“It’s about fifteen minutes,” he interrupts. “Radio is busted.”

“So talking it is then.”

“No use in talkin’ if we ain’t gonna be seein’ each other after this.”

“I guess you’re right,” you answer with a sigh. You try to remain quiet, fidgeting with your hands as you stare out the window. Every few seconds or so, you glance over at him and you can’t fully read his expression. He’s so stoic that there’s a part of you that feels like an inconvenience to him. Maybe he should have just kept on driving.

“How long were you stranded for?” Joel asks.

“About a couple of hours. Couldn’t get reception to call someone.”

“Yeah, phones don’t work out here.” Joel shrugs. “You eat anythin’ yet?”

You shake your head. “Skipped breakfast this morning to get on the road.”

“My place is just a couple of minutes away,” Joel says. “I need to grab a few things. Got some food and water for you,” he offers.

You smile and reach out to rest a hand on his forearm. It’s an innocent gesture, but it makes Joel shift in the driver’s seat. Your touch is so soft, so gentle and he flexes his arm underneath your fingertips. “You’re sweet, Joel. That sounds great. I am starving.”

Joel bites back a smirk. He’s got you right where he wants you.

Your hand drops from his arm and there’s a subtle frown that settles on his lips before he pulls off the main road. Within minutes, Joel pulls up to his secluded home. When he shuts off the car, he looks over at you and you’re still smiling.

“This is a cute place, Joel,” you tell him, climbing out of the truck.

He follows you and rounds the truck until he’s standing behind you. His fingers itch to reach out to touch you—especially when you raise your arms over your head to stretch, the ends of your shirt lifting just above the waistband of your denim shorts. He wants to touch every inch of you and he lets out a quiet grunt when you accidentally fall back against him.

“Sorry,” you say, looking over at him from over your shoulder.

“S’fine,” Joel mumbles and then walks past you to walk towards his front door. He unlocks it and opens it for you, watching you step across the threshold as you look around with curiosity.

“It’s very dark in here,” you point out, walking further into his home. You see a light switch on the wall and flip it on, illuminating his entire home. Surprisingly, Joel’s large hand encompasses your wrist in a tight grip. You let out a quiet gasp and turn around to look up at him—eyes wide, lips slightly parted.

“You always like to make yourself comfortable in a stranger’s home?” he asks with a threatening tone.

“S–sorry,” you whisper, trying to pull your wrist away from his grip but he doesn’t budge. His grip just tightens. “Joel, you’re hurting me.”

“Pretty little thing,” he mumbles, stepping closer to you. “It’s like you were waitin’ f’me out there,” Joel says quietly.

“Joel—”

“Shh.” Joel brings a finger up to your lips and his eyes drift down, moving his thumb to brush against you. “Shh, baby.”

“I think I want to leave now,” you answer. “I think I just want to head into town and—”

“Oh darlin’,” he grins. “Ain’t no town for at least another fifty or some miles.”

“B–But you said—”

“Guilty,” Joel interrupts, turning you so that your back presses against the wall. He cages you in, hand still gripping your wrist as the other comes up to rest gently over your throat. “M’sorry I lied to ya.”

Your eyes widen in horror, the realization finally hitting you like a freight train. You had spent most of the drive admiring him—his broad frame, his quiet and mysterious nature, his large hands that gripped the steering wheel, his husky southern accent—that you ignored the feeling in the pit of your stomach.

This was a bad idea.

Getting into his truck was a bad fucking idea.

“I just want to go home,” you whisper. “Please just let me go home and—”

“Shh,” he repeats. Joel steps closer to you, his nose brushing against your own. “Gonna keep you here all to myself. Been a while since I had a little plaything like yourself.”

You shake your head. “Please, I’ll give you all the money I have back in my car.”

“Don’t want your money. Want you.”

“Joel—”

“Love the way my name comes out of your mouth, darlin’. Say it again.”

You shake your head, closing your mouth shut. You know you’re in danger, but you’re not sure why you feel a familiar wetness pool between your legs. Your body is responding to him—to this stranger… this handsome fucking stranger who can easily strangle you if he wanted to.

“Say. It. Again,” he repeats.

“Joel,” you whisper.

“Good girl,” Joel grins proudly. He drops his hand from your throat and releases his grip around your wrist. He stares into your eyes, searching for any hesitation or any inclination that you’re going to run and leave. He sees your eyes flicker to the front door and he narrows his eyes—his large hand once more coming up to splay against your throat. Joel applies just a bit of pressure and he watches your eyes go wide again. “Wouldn’t think about it, if I were you.”

You beg with your eyes—apologetic and pleading for him to just let you go. “I’ll be good,” you mumble against his grip. “I promise. I–I’ll be good.”

“We’re gonna have a lot of fun,” Joel nods, releasing his grip around your throat. “And I bet if I were to reach between your legs, I’d feel just how fuckin’ wet you are f’me, won’t I?”

You shake your head in defiance. “N–No…”

Joel lets out a chuckle. “Mmm, that so?” He tugs on the waistband of your denim shorts and pulls you to him. He’s so rough and there’s an excitement that courses through your veins. He tugs down your shorts and panties down your legs, looking down at your white lacy thong with a grin. He can see a blotch of wetness and brings it to his nose, inhaling deeply as he lets out a contented sigh. “I bet you taste fuckin’ good too,” he whispers.

You suddenly feel self-conscious and your hands immediately move to try and tug down the end of your shirt to cover your lower half. Joel just shakes his head and grabs your wrists to pin them above your head against the wall. You squirm against his grip and he kicks your legs apart, stepping in front of you to keep them spread open. His free hand comes down and immediately runs the pads of his fingers across the length of your sex—your body betrays you because you let out a quiet whimper as you arch your back against his touch.

“Wet,” he points out. “You like this, don’t you?”

You shake your head.

“Liar,” he chuckles. Joel wastes no time in sliding two of his thick fingers past your folds—your warm, tight, and so fucking wet that a large grin spreads across his lips.

You squirm against him at the sudden and rough intrusion, eyes gazing up at him. His eyes are dark, filled with lust and more than likely sinister thoughts, but you can’t help but notice his grin and the cute fucking dimple that appears on his cheek. You shouldn’t like this, but your body is yearning for more. Yearning for him.

Joel’s thick fingers plunge into you repeatedly—his other hand gripping your wrists so tight above your head that you’re sure there’s going to be bruises. You shut your eyes tightly, keeping your lips in a thin line and forcing yourself to stay quiet because you know that if you make a sound, it’s only going to fuel him further.

His eyes stare deeply at you and you’re so wet that Joel’s fingers pump into you with ease. He can see you struggling against his grip and he leans closer, lips near your ear as he whispers huskily. “Lemme hear you, baby.”

You shake your head in defiance, pulling your lower lip between your teeth. You suck in a breath when his thumb brushes against your clit and a quiet—almost inaudible—moan escapes your lips.

“Ah, darlin’,” Joel grins, gently nipping at your earlobe. His grip around your wrists loosen just slightly and he’s distracted, yearning to pull more sounds out of you and it gives you just the right moment to push him away. You miss his fingers immediately, a loud squelch echoing the walls when his fingers slip out of you.

With as much strength as you can muster, you shove him so hard that he stumbles backwards with a grunt. You look around haphazardly, eyes wide, heart beating out of your chest. You’re very well aware that your lower half is bare, but you think maybe you can make a run for it—you just need to grab his keys, run out the door into his truck and drive away.

You glance over your shoulder and Joel chuckles. He fucking laughs at your poor attempt at running away because he takes three strides in your direction and takes a fistful of your hair. You let out a loud yelp and he’s already quick to bend you over the back of his couch—the edge of it digging into your lower abdomen.

You’re already trying to squirm away, but his grip in your hair tightens and pain rushes through you. You’re about to beg him to stop, to beg him to let you go, but you feel his free hand connect with your backside. The slap reverberates through your entire being and the sound of his hand coming in contact with your ass echoes through his quiet home.

“You just got here, baby,” he growls—he doesn’t let up, your skin already reddening with each spank. “You can’t leave me yet.”

“I–I–” you mumble and your body reacts automatically, pushing back into him. “Please!”

“M’gonna have to tie you up, I think,” Joel grins. “Just to make sure you don’t pull that shit again.”

Your ass is beginning to sting and you try to scramble away, but Joel pulls you upright against him. His large hands move to your hips, fingertips digging into you as he uses your body to rub his bulge against you.

“I think you’re gonna feel real good around me,” he whispers into your hair, hand sliding over your abdomen and down between your legs. “You’re actin’ like you ain’t enjoyin’ this, but you’re so fuckin’ wet f’me.”

He begins to circle your clit with the pads of his fingers and it causes your back to arch against him, hands darting out to rest on the edge of the couch. A loud moan finally escapes your lips and Joel lets out a low growl at the sound—he wants to hear more of it, craves more of it.

“From the way you’re squirmin’,” he continues, “Makes me wonder if you’ve been neglected.”

You shake your head—lying.

“Oh? Got a boyfriend back home, hm?”

You shake your head again.

“Poor little thing,” Joel mumbles, head dipping down to the side of your neck as he presses his soft lips against you. It causes a shiver to run through you—his soft lips and his rough beard. “Don’t worry, baby. I’m here now. I’ll take care of ya.”

You’re an absolute mess by the time Joel’s done with you. You’re lying on his mattress, hands bound by rope and attached to the headboard. You’re completely bare for him and he’s brought you to the edge of orgasm too many times to count that you’re practically begging for some release.

His hands are surprisingly gentle when he settles himself back between your legs and it causes you to flinch. His fingertips brush against your hardened nipples, dark bruises already forming around it from his love bites—he liked to call it.

“You’re soakin’ my sheets, honey,” he grins.

“Then let me fucking come!” you retaliate with a huff. Your eyes go wide the minute it leaves your mouth and you’re already trying to scramble away from him, despite being all tied up.

Joel laughs again. “You’re cute when you’re angry, baby… but let’s not forget who’s in charge here.”

He finally pulls the ends of his shirt over his head and you lift your own head off the pillow to get a good look at him. There’s no way this fucking man is in his fifties—you shake your head of the thoughts that begin to fill your mind. He has you here held captive and you’re sure that he’s going to kill you once he’s gotten what he needed.

But you can’t help it.

Joel’s fucking gorgeous.

Is this what Stockholm syndrome is? Attracted to your captor? Whatever the fuck it is, you’re squirming impatiently. There’s a dull throb between your legs, an ache, a need for him to give you what you need.

And he smiles. The same fucking dimple that appeared earlier that day is now in full display because Joel knows he’s got you right where he wants you.

“Gonna be a good girl f’me? No more fightin’ back?” Joel begins, reaching down to tug his boxers down his strong legs. Once the fabric is gone from his body, your eyes widen once more at the sheer size of him. Girthy. Leaking at the tip. You’re not sure if it’d fit inside of you and Joel notices a flicker of uncertainty flash across your features. “We’ll make it fit, baby. Don’t you worry.”

You whimper quietly in response, feeling him brush his rounded tip against your opening. You try to wiggle your hips down, yearning for more, but he just pulls back and shakes his head.

“Please,” you plead. You bat your eyes at him, gazing at him under the rim of your eyelashes. It’s a poor attempt at begging, at looking innocent because you look anything but that.

Joel just lets a small smile line his lips before he pulls away and mounts your upper half. You clear your throat—the size of him this close almost threatening.

“Don’t be gettin’ shy on me now,” he growls lowly. “Been pleasuring you for a while now, so it’s only fair that you return the favor.”

“I–I haven’t come yet. Please just let me come and I’ll do anything—”

Joel clicks his tongue and runs the tip of his manhood across your mouth, smirking at the sight of his precome now on your lips. “You ain’t the one in charge here.” He pushes his tip past your lips and lets out a low groan. One hand moves to grip the headboard ahead of him as his other hand keeps a steady grip around the base of his length. “Open wider f’me,” he whispers.

You have no choice but to obey—parting your lips wider and feeling more of his manhood slide into your mouth. You can feel the corners of your mouth stretch due to his girth. It isn’t long before he pushes further into your mouth, feeling him hit the back of your throat and you gag almost instantly. Tears sting your eyes and he only gives you a few seconds to breathe before he pushes back into you.

You squeeze your legs together, trying to alleviate some pressure that has been building and building between your legs and the pit of your stomach. You glance up in his direction only to see Joel with his head tilted back, chest and neck exposed, and his eyes completely shut. A quiet groan escapes his lips as he begins to move his hips forward and backward—you swirl your tongue around him, hollow your cheeks and it causes him to moan loudly.

And fuck, it’s a beautiful sound to come out of him.

He’s moaning. He’s deep in his own pleasure.

And it’s all because of you.

By the time he pulls out of your mouth, Joel’s eyes snap open to look down at you. Lips swollen, tears streaking down the corner of your eyes. You’re so distracted by your desire to come that you don’t realize what could possibly happen once he’s done with you.

You’re going to die.

Joel is going to fucking kill you.

And this cross country road trip you had originally planned was a stupid fucking idea.

Joel sees a look of fear flash across your features and it only makes him smile, makes his cock jerk at the sight of you. He moves down your body and settles himself between your legs again.

“Gonna fill you up now,” Joel nods. “And you’re gonna lie there and take it like a good girl.”

You nod.

His hand comes up to grip your chin roughly, staring into your eyes. “Say it.”

“I–I’ll be good. I’ll take it like a good girl and—”

Without warning, Joel pushes fully into you in one stroke. You feel your body jerk upwards at the sudden intrusion and you’re lucky that you’re so wet because while he slides in so easily, you can’t help but feel the painful stretch to give way to his size. Your hands try to wiggle out of the bondage, but the rope just digs further into your skin—it’s like he expertly tied you in a way that the more you struggle, the tighter it gets.

Joel’s hand moves from your chin to cup your breast, thumb brushing against your nipple as he remains still for a moment. “Feel so good,” he whispers, head dipping lower to brush his nose against yours. He can hear you panting heavily, lips parted slightly. “Like you were made f’me.”

Then, Joel pulls out to his tip only to slam himself back into you. He repeats this movement multiple times and your moans—the ones that you’ve tried so desperately to hold back—finally escape your lips and mix in with the sounds of his skin slapping against yours.

The bed rocks against the wall—his thrusts are so rough and you’re sure that your entire body is going to ache for the next few days.

That is if you’re still alive by then.

One hand moves to your hip as the other moves to wrap around your neck. He applies a bit of pressure to cut off your oxygen and you gasp, eyes wide as you stare up at him.

Begging.

Pleading.

Not for him to stop…

…but for more.

Joel grins at that and continues his thrusts, the sensation of your walls sliding along his length only urging him closer and closer to release. He can feel the tightness in the pit of his stomach begin to unravel and he pulls out, not yet wanting to be done with you.

When Joel does pull out of you, he releases his grip around your throat and hears you take one deep breath. You’re breathing heavily and he looks between your legs—so fucking wet, so swollen and he taps your clit gently with the tip of his manhood only to see you squirm.

You’re sensitive, he thinks to himself with a grin.

“Joel,” you whisper. At this rate, you don’t care if you die. Having him bring you on the edge of an orgasm only to stop is worse, you’re sure of it.

“Gonna keep you here forever,” Joel says with a dark gaze. “You’re mine now. You understand?”

You clear your throat and nod slowly—anything to get him to make you come. “Y–Yes, yours.”

“Doesn’t sound too convincing.”

“Fuck, Joel! Please,” you beg. “I don’t care what you do to me, please just let me come…”

Joel chuckles—dark, sinister. He leans down and lightly pecks your lips before he climbs off the bed to look at you from top to bottom. “Like I said, you ain’t the one in charge here.”

Your eyes stare at him and you notice the way his manhood stands fully erect, glistening with your arousal. He follows your gaze and smirks, reaching down to tug on it. “This what you want?”

You nod. “Please.”

“So if I untie you, you gonna be a good girl and obey?” Joel contemplates, still stroking the base of his length. His hand doesn’t feel as good as being inside of you and he almost loses his resolve.

But he doesn’t.

Joel’s patient.

“Y–Yes, please,” you plead once more.

“Love hearin’ you beg, darlin’,” he grins. Joel slowly reaches over and begins to untie the rope around your wrists but he makes sure that his attention is focused on you. He needs to make sure that you’re not going to run again.

Once the rope is finally undone, you roll your wrists and touch the bruises around it. You flinch and then look up at him—eyes still pleading.

“One wrong move and I’m tyin’ you up again. You hear me?” Joel growls, seeing you move to sit up. You nod in agreement and he tugs on your ankle, pulling you to the edge of the bed with such force that you let you a quiet yelp.

Joel flips you onto your abdomen and grabs your hips, lifting you up so that you’re now on all fours on his mattress. He comes up behind you and slides into you with warning—again.

A loud moan escapes your lips and you fall forwards—cheek resting against his mattress, eyes fully shut tight, and your hands gripping the sheets so tightly that your knuckles turn white.

“Feel even tighter this way,” Joel points out with a grunt.

Your toes curl at his rough assault against you. It’s like he’s possessed, so territorial and so animalistic that his thrusts drive you further into the mattress. You wanted this, but you can’t help the pain that shoots through you at his size. Joel’s by far the biggest you’ve ever had and it wasn’t like you had a healthy sex life before this.

“Fuck!” You scream, now trying to scramble away from him because it’s too much. He’s edged you for too long that you’re sure you can’t even get there—your body is humming and you can feel the familiar sensation in the pit of your stomach. You’re close and Joel knows.

He laughs and grips your hips, pulling back onto him with such force that you arch your back. Joel grabs your arms and pins them at your lower back as he pulls your body forward and backward against him. He glances down and sees just how wet you are—the hair at his base completely damp from your arousal.

“You wanted to come… then fuckin’ come,” Joel groans, pulling you up against his chest. He grunts into your ear as he keeps your arms pinned at your lower back. His other hand reaches around and dips lower to begin circling your clit against the pads of his fingertips.

You moan so loud that it echoes throughout his home. Your head tilts back against his shoulder and he drags his teeth across the side of your neck—both your bodies now covered in a thin sheet of sweat.

“J–Joel, I–,” a loud sob escapes your lips when you finally reach your orgasm. Your body shakes against his own and his thrusts don’t let up—still hammering into you from behind and using your slickness and tightened walls to bring himself closer to his own release.

“Fuck,” he groans against you, releasing your arms and pinning you back onto the mattress. His hips sling against your own—Joel is literally fucking you into the mattress and you’re already so fucking sensitive that you try to move away.

Fuck him. If he wanted to deny you of your orgasm, you can do the same to him.

But it’s no use. Joel’s so much stronger and his large hands grip your hips so tightly that you feel pain from it.

“S’cute,” he says in between thrusts. “Thinkin’ you can run away.” Joel grunts lowly, chasing his own orgasm. “Can promise you one thing, baby…” He slams into you once more and releases his warm seed into you—paints your tight and wet walls with his come. He leans forward, pushing further into you as his tip kisses your cervix. “You ain’t ever leavin’ me.”

He presses soft kisses along your shoulder before he pulls out, watching with a smirk to see his come trickle out of you and down your legs.

“You’re stranded, darlin’. Ain’t no one comin’ to save you,” Joel grins. “And I ain’t even done with you yet.”

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afeelgoodblog · 1 year ago

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The Best News of Last Year - 2023 Edition

Welcome to our special edition newsletter recapping the best news from the past year. I've picked one highlight from each month to give you a snapshot of 2023. No frills, just straightforward news that mattered. Let's relive the good stuff that made our year shine.

January - London: Girl with incurable cancer recovers after pioneering treatment

A girl’s incurable cancer has been cleared from her body after what scientists have described as the most sophisticated cell engineering to date.

2. February - Utah legislature unanimously passes ban on LGBTQ conversion therapy

The Utah State Legislature has unanimously approved a bill that enshrines into law a ban on LGBTQ conversion therapy.

3. March - First vaccine for honeybees could save billions

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has approved the world’s first-ever vaccine intended to address the global decline of honeybees. It will help protect honeybees from American foulbrood, a contagious bacterial disease which can destroy entire colonies.

4. April - Fungi discovered that can eat plastic in just 140 days

Australian scientists have successfully used backyard mould to break down one of the world's most stubborn plastics — a discovery they hope could ease the burden of the global recycling crisis within years. 

5. May - Ocean Cleanup removes 200,000th kilogram of plastic from the Pacific Ocean

The Dutch offshore restoration project, Ocean Cleanup, says it has reached a milestone. The organization's plastic catching efforts have now fished more than 200,000 kilograms of plastic out of the Pacific Ocean, Ocean Cleanup said on Twitter.

6. June - U.S. judge blocks Florida ban on care for trans minors in narrow ruling, says ‘gender identity is real’

A federal judge temporarily blocked portions of a new Florida law that bans transgender minors from receiving puberty blockers, ruling Tuesday that the state has no rational basis for denying patients treatment.

7. July - World’s largest Phosphate deposit discovered in Norway

A massive underground deposit of high-grade phosphate rock in Norway, pitched as the world’s largest, is big enough to satisfy world demand for fertilisers, solar panels and electric car batteries over the next 50 years, according to the company exploiting the resource.

8. August - Successful room temperature ambient-pressure magnetic levitation of LK-99

If the claim by Sukbae Lee and Ji-Hoon Kim of South Korea’s Quantum Energy Research Centre holds up, the material could usher in all sorts of technological marvels, such as levitating vehicles and perfectly efficient electrical grids.

9. September - World’s 1st drug to regrow teeth enters clinical trials

The ability to regrow your own teeth could be just around the corner. A team of scientists, led by a Japanese pharmaceutical startup, are getting set to start human trials on a new drug that has successfully grown new teeth in animal test subjects.

10. October - Nobel Prize goes to scientists behind mRNA Covid vaccines

The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine has been awarded to a pair of scientists who developed the technology that led to the mRNA Covid vaccines. Professors Katalin Kariko and Drew Weissman will share the prize.

11. November - No cases of cancer caused by HPV in Norwegian 25-year olds, the first cohort to be mass vaccinated for HPV.

Last year there were zero cases of cervical cancer in the group that was vaccinated in 2009 against the HPV virus, which can cause the cancer in women.

12. December - President Biden announces he’s pardoning all convictions of federal marijuana possession

President Joe Biden announced Friday he's issuing a federal pardon to every American who has used marijuana in the past, including those who were never arrested or prosecuted.

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And there you have it – a year's worth of uplifting news! I hope these positive stories brought a bit of joy to your inbox. As I wrap up this special edition, I want to thank all my supporters!

Buy me a coffee ❤️

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

#best news of last week

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foxprints · 1 month ago

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Newest version of my design for Murderbot, this time with all sorts of fun details! I just love drawing it so much!! And I have a similar design sheet for Three, though I'm still working on it.

Details about specific parts of the design are under the cut! Because I've spent too much time contemplating how everything works and why and figuring out which parts are organic and which are inorganic and how it's put together...

The ports on its back from the top down: data port, repair valve, external recharge port for primary power supply, resupply valve, and external recharge port for auxiliary power supply.

The light on its chest is a sort of power indicator

The primary power supply in its chest is what's used on a regular basis. It usually has a kinetic self recharging mechanism (sort of like a car battery in that moving helps it stay charged) that is entirely adequate in most circumstances. When the energy weapons are used, or it hooks itself up to a dead system to act as a power supply, or does a lot of intense movement/fighting/processing, the energy levels may drop enough that it either has to manually engage a recharge cycle or its systems force it into a shutdown to recharge. When this sort of recharge cycle is initiated, the power is taken from the auxiliary power supply. These power cells can last an incredibly long time.

Its eyes are inorganic, but not typically noticeable as such unless it's actively adjusting filters etc. They do have a slight glow to them and will reflect light like a cat's eye in the right circumstances

SecUnits eyes produce a saline solution not unlike tears to help clear out debris and keep the lenses moving smoothly. And SecUnits can cry -- the ability to is usually suppressed by the governor module.

Not actually shown here, but it has inorganic filaments throughout its body that help distribute energy from the power cells. They glow yellow and are visible from under the skin during an external recharge (which should be rare) or if there is an unexpected surge of power sent through it

Its insides are a mix of organic and synthetic, with organs being one or the other depending on how easy they are to replace or how much use they get. For example, the endocrine system is biological, the neural pathways and nervous system are mixed, the heart and lungs are inorganic. There's no need for a digestive system, bladder, or liver. It has synthetic organs similar to kidneys that help make sure the fluids -- both blood and synthetic -- are properly filtered and free of contaminants.

The skeletal framework is made up entirely of a metal alloy of some sort. This makes SecUnits and combat units quite heavy compared to a human. ComfortUnits have a lighter synthetic frame that keeps their weight comparable to that of the average human. The metal used in Combat SecUnits is heavier and more dense than that used in regular sec and combat units.

#i posted this without tags omg why #the murderbot diaries #murderbot #secunit #murderbot diaries #tmbd #tmbd fanart #fanart #murderbot designs

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amelee23 · 1 year ago

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Natural | Lee Minho

Genre: FLUFFFFFF fluff fluff, romance

Pairing: Lee know x gender neutral reader

Word count: 3k

Warnings: going on a forest vacay to escape society, SUPER sappy cheesy stuff, SOFT, walks at 6 am, kisses and hugs and everything nice, a chokehold as a joke, humour, metaphors galore, he's cat dad, reader gets called kitten once, I love lino very much, promises for the future 🤭

Summary: You and Minho go on a vacation to a forest cabin. As he wakes you up at 6 am for a walk, you can't help but get sappy and admire him alongside the landscape. Your love for him makes Minho say something that might change your perspective of the future.

You were gently shaken awake a little too early for comfort. First thing you felt was the heft of your eyelids and a subtle throbbing in your forehead; but the first thing you remembered, though, was the way you have probably fallen asleep having extremely soft conversations with your lover, about how far the both of you have come, the things you've accomplished, how proud you feel of each other and also of your friends who you grew up with.

"The sun's not even awake yet." You grumble to him, and he gives you a silly smile.

"But I am!" You can't help but snort, still pushing your nose further into the pillows. You didn't want to get out of bed, really. "C'mon, get up. Go on a walk with me."

"At this hour? Ugh, you're so random sometimes." You say, grumbling, but you start moving out of the bed.

It probably wasn't random at all. If you were to make a guess, it was probably premeditated and he had some sort of intention for taking a walk in the woods at 6 in the morning.

Well, he hoped it would be 6 in the morning but your drowsiness didn't allow for it. He had to be patient, make you coffee and a light breakfast, or else you'd turn blue like the cookie monster and eat him alive without food and caffeine in your system.

You looked out the window as the two of you were silently enjoying breakfast. It was such a beautiful sight, and if you just allowed it, the cherry chirp of the birds in the morning was enough to block the demons inside your head.

Although he had woken you up at ungodly hours, this was the vacation you both dreamt of. You rented out a cabin in the forest, and it was, for once, just you and him. The last people you've seen were in a different cabin 10 minutes down the road, and the center rental establishment that had groceries and necessities was 20 minutes away. Of course, it could prove to be a pain in the ass if you didn't prepare well, but you made sure you had everything you needed - so that you could truly disconnect from the world and let yourselves be swallowed up by nature.

You should have guessed Minho was always planning to go on this walk, considering how serious he seemed about it. While you were eating and trying to awaken your brain cells, he got dressed in a cozy shirt, loose pants and a backwards cap and he was already arranging a small backpack with water bottles and his Polaroid camera. He went as far as packing an external phone battery, too. Then he sat down next to you and waited.

You've gotten to know his array of expressions so well, you thought. He was looking at you, and to an outsider his expression would tell them close to nothing. But no, his expression looked gentle, kind, patient, impatient, exasperated and excited all at once. You could see how eager he was to move, almost as if his body was half-way already bolting out the door. Still, he was trying to maintain his calm, since there was no point to the outside views that awaited him if you weren't seeing them with him.

Your eyes met as you were admiring him, and almost like a kitten pawing for attention, he gently pulled at the sleeve of your pyjama shirt.

You were so in love with him, it wasn't even funny.

He began your little nature adventure by holding your hand and guiding you to the forest path, but as soon as you could hear the crunch of pebbles and branches under your feet, Minho was gone. He walked far ahead of you, as if he was caught in a trance. It was so weird, because in reality all you could see was his slumped back, his sluggish figure trudging through the forest, but in your mind he was running, he was twirling, he was opening his arms large to welcome the sun into an embrace. If only he would let the freedom that guides his soul be seen, without the fear of being judged or the weight of society pressing down on him.

You weren't mad he left you behind. In fact, you were having a blast just watching him: trip over a rock when he was too occupied looking at the height of the pine trees, taking pictures with his phone of every and any flower he deemed pretty or interesting, whispering "squirrel" and "hello little buddy" whenever he saw a critter.

He would turn around and look at you once in a while to reassure himself you're there and that you're safe. (And weren't stolen by some forest goblin.) Whenever he'd make a pit stop to take pictures you'd catch up with him and he'd ask you if you're okay, if you're bored or if you want him to slow down his pace. You'd tell him no, you'd tell him he's so endearing being in his natural element. And he'd smile, but it wouldn't be the kind of smile that shows a collection of pearly whites or spreads from one ear to the other. Not even his bunny teeth would show; it would be a closed-lipped, subtle smile, that you found was the most meaningful of them all when it came to Minho. It was the smile of "I feel content", it was the smile of "I feel at peace". Put in simple words, it was the smile of "I'm happy." His happiness was quiet, that was what you observed. And this smile, the truest of them all, showed in various situations: when he was taking walks in nature, when he was preparing a meal, when he was playing with his feline babies, and when he was spending time with you. You were part of his silent happiness, and you were perhaps, one of the only ones who knew what it meant.

And understanding one's personality, one's inner workings is not exactly an easy feat. Just how it took millennia for humanity to understand the laws of the universe, Minho thought it would take decades for someone to understand him. That is, if someone ever did.

But when you arrived, it was as if you were an enforcer fighting for the preservation of nature. A flower is most beautiful when it is on the field that it belongs to, rather than being plucked and put into a bouquet, forced to look beautiful for someone else. You preserved the flower where it was. You didn't uproot it. You gave him water, nourishment and talked to him in such a loving manner, that now he blooms so beautifully.

He's become much more beautiful than a human being should ever be.

Minho stopped one more time to take a picture of the path, and the shadows the trees were casting on the ground. A ray of light sneakily made its way through them, casting itself on a ladybug that was climbing up the tree bark. Minho took a picture of the ladybug, then turned towards the stray light and offered his hand to it. He played with the light between his fingers, let it roll along his palm, and then he put his hand down. He looked up, towards the sky, more golden strands of the sun dancing along his face, and he took a deep breath. When he exhaled, his chest looked lighter, and he seemed to begin to shine, a light sparkle dusting the skin of his arms, as if he was really becoming one with the sun.

He was breathtaking.

Having finally caught up with him, your arms circled his waist and you embraced him tightly, cheek smushing into his shoulder blades. It was an urge, an instinct, to do so.

He seemed a little startled, but he didn't complain. He patted your hands gently and then he took a picture of your hands woven so tightly around his torso, without catching his or your face in the picture. You knew that because it became his lockscreen after that day.

As softly as he could muster, as if to not scare you off, Minho held your hand and spun around to face you, his eyes sparkly and curious.

"Everything okay?"

"Mhm." You respond, holding him by the waist as if to show you didn't want him going anywhere. Minho loved the warmth that enveloped him. "You just looked so natural, so genuine." You smile at him, and he instantly knows by your grin you were having a poetic, sappy moment. "You always look like you belong right in nature. Had to touch you to make sure you're real." You emphasize your words by squeezing a little bit at his hips and the skin above his ribs, and he lets out a cat-like yelp that makes you giggle.

You become an entanglement of limbs when Minho decides to cup both sides of your face as you're holding him. Your face slightly mushed together, he angles your eyes to look into his, and none of you would win the competition of who's more enamoured than the other.

"Sometimes I really can't help but wonder... what are those pretty eyes of yours seeing when you look at me?" He asks in the softest way possible, and you're suddenly caught in a trance. His eyes pull you closer, his skin continues to sparkle, and a gentle warm breeze seems to circle the two of you.

"Magic." You answer, promptly, with certainty, still bewitched by the portrait of him among the trees. He lets out a puff of hair as he chuckles, but he doesn't mock you. He caressed your face with his thumb and you too feel warm.

"Magic?"

"It's like the magic of nature is coursing through you..." You begin to rant, but figure out finding the right words is quite a challenge. But Minho was patient. "It's hard to explain. It's like you're out of this world ... and yet the most human I've ever seen someone be... The most natural." Minho has heard this song and dance before. Countless of times you've called him a forest fairy, a fae, a nymph...but to him the most fascinating part of it was how you were able to tell. You could see where he belonged, where he shone the brightest. You allowed him to realize when he was happy and not be scared of that happiness; therefore, there was only one thought forming at the back of his mind. A thought, that was of course, completely random and not something he's thought about hundreds of times before while you were sound asleep.

"Marry me." He blurts out, and you blink at him, awaiting a grin, a laugh, a smirk, a signal of a joke. But there was none. He was solemn and focused as he watched the slight panic in your gaze.

"Do you really mean it?"

"Yes. I mean, not now. Someday." He answers in a split of a second. But then, he backs out as if burnt. Maybe, just maybe, he let his impulses get the better of him. "Why, do you not feel the same? It's okay, you can tell me if I'm being too pushy-" He's panicking, and panic doesn't fit his handsome features. So you grab him by the shoulders and kiss him with passion.

Kissing Minho was addicting.

"You're the first person I've ever liked kissing this much." You confess to him after you break apart. Then, you wrap your arms around him yet again and rest your head on his chest, your ear prying in to listen to the alarmed pace of his heart. You squeeze him tight, so very tight, almost like he was a teddy bear. "The first person I've liked holding so much." His heart continued to drum, for he was confused about what you were saying. Was he getting an answer to his question or was this your subtle way of switching the subject, saying that you weren't ready yet? Minho tries to calm down in order to focus on what you were saying. "The only one for which romance made sense." You begin to explain, your cheek still tightly pressed into his chest. You're calm and you speak in what is almost a whisper. "Feelings aren't supposed to be logical, I know, but... being with you is. It's logical... it just makes sense, being in love with you. I can never blame myself for it, never hold myself accountable. Because falling in love with you ...came to me as naturally as breathing; like it was always part of my DNA."

There is a nature in all of us. Cells, stardust, but mostimportantly, love. To love is human nature, fact discovered ever since medieval times. Whether you loved God like Dante, or loved humans like Boccaccio, it is destined for all of us to love.

"Because I'm nature...?"

He was human, he was nature, and towards him you felt only that which is most natural.

"Because you're nature. And I love nature." You pull back to look at him and are startled to see the ocean of his eyes, the reflection of stars in the sea. He was trying not to cry, and looking at you with the fondness of a thousand families.

"Nature loves you too, kitten." Once more he holds your face close, but this time around he leans down to kiss you on the forehead. It is a long kiss. It is a warm kiss. It is a meaningful kiss. "The whole world does. And I do even more." Words like these touched chords inside your heart you didn't even know could be touched. Minho always told you so, that you weren't just worthy of his love, but the love of every single person on this planet.

"Yeah, I bet the world loves me if they gave me you." You say, and Minho thinks you are joking. You weren't, but there was perhaps a limit of how sappy a moment can be until it gets truly too much.

"Ew." He jokes back, scrunching his nose to fake disgust. A grin appears on his face, which you mimic.

And that's all you do for a while. Like a movie panorama, you stay there to look at each other. The clouds, the trees, something must have moved with the wind since the sun starts to line both of your faces. One of your eyes starts to squint because of the light, and suddenly it hits you.

"So, are we married now? Where's my ring?"

Minho didn't expect that, and there were a number of reasons why you were sure of it; one, because he starts to blabber and two, because his ears turned red.

"Well, I uh, I uh, don't- I said someday... Not this exact moment! Uhm...Hold on." It's a good thing Minho was a boy scout when he was young, although he would have never thought his skills would come in handy in a situation like this.

You're confused about what he was planning, but you let him do his thing. He squats down next to a group of small, white flowers and plucks them out from the ground in such a manner that their stems remain very long. Then, he picks a strand of grass and takes your hand in his to measure your finger with it. After he has your measurements, he begins to wrap the flower stems around the grass strand with such craftsmanship, almost as if it hasn't been 15 years since he last made a ring out of flowers.

When he is done, he gingerly slides it up your ring finger and he's proud like a child. The ring is cute, tiny and light, and it tickles your finger softly. It's not gold or diamonds, but it is a promise, and it is so much more natural than forged metals and stolen minerals. So much more Minho.

"There you go." He beams proudly. Truth be told, he is flabbergasted he managed to make the ring actually hold without falling apart. "Now we share all of our assets and you are legally obligated to feed my cats when I'm not at home and clean out their litters." He speaks matter of factly, and you slap him on the chest.

"You only want me so I can do your chores! Tsk, I think our marriage is already falling apart." You joke, pretending to turn around and pout. Minho finds you hilarious, especially as he envelops you from the back and holds you in a pretend chokehold.

"The only thing falling apart is gonna be my wallet when I buy you that ring." You don't know if it's the light of the sun or you're blushing, but your face grows hot. Getting married was, of course, the natural order of progressing things in a relationship. But a part of you has always wondered if you are someone to deem worthy of marriage; if that's something that would ever happen to you. Now that such reality was approaching, it did really feel like magic.

Minho released you from the tight hold and decided to walk with your hand in his instead. He was looking at your finger, at the hand-made flower ring, and his quiet, peaceful smile came back to his face.

"I promise I'll get you a real ring soon. You'll have it on your finger by the time we come here again." He speaks softly, in a murmur, but you hear him. You stay quiet, but he sees you nod. You acknowledge his promise, and a completely harmless anxiety mixes in with the excitement that comes with thinking of that day.

"Does that mean we're not gonna have a vacation here for the next 5 years?" Minho rolls his eyes at your question, and the sappiness finally seems to come to an end; you're back to your lighthearted vacation.

-------------------------------

"Or perhaps I'll make you live in the wild with me for the next five years. If we never leave we can't come back." He wiggles his eyebrows at you, gives you his trademark serial killer look, and there was never a moment when you've loved him more. Never a moment when you've loved him more naturally.

©amelee23 do not copy, repost or translate.

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darylsfavoritegirl · 10 months ago

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do we think if yall were to find a camera in the middle of the apocalpyse, would you a make a sex tape with daryl🫣🫣🫣

i think everything would happen very quickly, you'd be looting a store and then find a camera that works with a battery on!

you'd grab it, the thought of making a sex tape wouldn't even necessarily cross your mind because why would it?

you'd go back to your camp, maybe the prison.

things with the governor wasn't looking up for you all, things were intenser more than they ever were, so it's only obvious that you and daryl don't get much of a private time.

you were in one of the prison cells where nobody resided, sorting some things out with michonne when daryl showed up then she left.

you looked at the pile laying on the table infront of you.

"that was a good run." you sighed then lifted your head to meet with the archer's gaze.

he had that thick gaze on his eyes, fixated on you.

his hands were resting on the stained tablecloth, muscles flexing.

you knew this look.

he came around the table and his lips immediately met with yours, you gasped for air as he shoved you on one of the cell gates.

your other hand opened up the cell gate as it invited you into it. you sat on the bed shakily, trying not to break this passionate kiss.

it wasn't much before he sat you on his lap, hands gripping your ass stubbornly enough to bruise next day.

there you were like horny teenagers, making out on the bed while you sat on his lap.

his fingers started to unbotton your denim shorts, a heat wave through your entire body to your cunt made you dizzy. it was a long time ago that you felt his virile touch.

his hands were shaky, too. your hair fell infront of your eyes and so did his bangs as his twitching bulge poked against the back of your thigh.

"fuck" he breathed out.

"wai- lemme get this.." you said as you unbottoned your shorts. then a bright idea appeared before your eyes.

"wait a second!" you hopped from his lap to the floor.

you ran out of the cell, grabbed the camera that was lying there.

"wanna make a sex tape, Dixon?" you were breathless.

"come 'ere" he smirked as he pulled you to himself by your waist and embraced your body with his brawny arms. you hopped from his lap once again, this time to the other side of the bed. you set up the camera.

"it can't see our faces." you weren't sure if he'd be okay with it, his blank pale blue eyes said otherwise. he had a hunger for you.

with the camera recording, you let him wrap his hands around your waist as you held onto the back of his shoulders.

your bodies were almost glued to eachother, having craved it for weeks only sent hot flashes to both of your bodies.

his growing cock and its tip kissed your cervix. the bed being shaked tensely, the camera eventually fell and you flinched and looked at it.

"keep 'em eyes on me." he demanded, and before letting you say a word he tossed you onto the bed, your cum oozing out of your entrance to the bedsheets. funny enough, your legs were still shaking as you saw him coming towards you with the camera on his hands.

"yer a mess." he'd lightly chuckle, filming your downer body. his eyes were locked on the little camera he was holding as he got on the bed, the mattress sinking under his weight.

he took a second or so to film your face as you looked up to him. your body looked shiny due to all the sweat.

he held the camera to your cunt as he jerked his cock and filmed himself doing it. he rubbed your juices to your entrance, smudging it everywhere than needed.

" 's gon' be hard, huh? "

he held the camera to your face once again, tucking a strand of your hair behind your ear.

he thrusted into you, with each thrust his cock grew even bigger inside you, stretching you endlessly. his hand was grabbing your waist, he was looking at you behind the camera forcing you to make eye contact with him as he filmed your flustered face taking him all in now and then.

you were a subject to his desire, you made out a strangled noise, almost like a grunt. it was like your brain had stopped functioning as you felt his cock nearing your guts.

you rolled your eyes back, a thin layer of sweat slicking your entire body.

your head was tilted back, lips parted slightly trying not to make any noise.

but it was impossible.

"f-fuck"

you breathed out

"daryl"

"stay quiet, yeah?" he joked as you held onto the arm that was holding you down and digged your nails.

you were cumming so much that your juices found a way to leak down the sheets, you felt the sticky texture on your bare skin.

you couldn't keep your whinings inside as he was touching the most sensitive, the most sweet spots in you. with every thrust, you felt your climax building up, the bed underneath you creaking, your cries being recorded and echoing in the cell. you gasped for air continuosly.

he took notice and clicked his tongue as he was, also, short of breath.

"not yet."

"yeah.. such a sweet girl fer me." he murmured.

he eventually put an end to your messines, your hair drenching on the sides of your face, your breathless self.

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3liza · 1 year ago

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I'm at the Fremont library because today when I left the house to get a routine blood draw I didn't notice until too late that I grabbed a purse with no shoulder strap, I forgot my jacket, I'm having somw sort of problem with my shoes, Im gay, my shits all fucked up, im gay, and my 50% charged phone immediately crashed and dumped its entire battery at once, which happens to every cell phone I have ever owned if they get under 50F because I generate some sort of disruptive EMP field in a 2d6 radius. I found that Everything Is Terrible hat in an alley on Cap Hill. this outfit is getting a LOT of attention from lesbians btw

#blog #visual record #goth

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nchlsdmn · 1 year ago

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Full Plot of the Cancelled Boba Fett/Cad Bane arc from Star Wars The Clone Wars: Season 6

Episode 1

Boba now lives with the Bounty Hunters who sort of act as his parents. The Bounty Hunters are stationed on Tatooine in a complex that resembles Obi-Wan's hut from Episode IV – but much bigger and with various dorm rooms and chambers that are each closed off and separated by doors. It also has prison cells below.

From there, they take jobs. It doesn’t necessarily mean that they all live there permanently, but they are stationed on Tatooine because they take most of their jobs there. Boba has dreams of the death of his father. Even Ventress's chambers are shown but they are empty.

Cad Bane receives a job where he has to rescue a kid from Tusken Raiders. He decides to bring Boba along. Boba wonders why he picked him since there are so many Bounty Hunters that are way more experienced than him, but Bane insists that he has picked Boba because it’s about time Boba started learning how to take care of himself, since he was sticking around with the Bounty Hunters crew, and it’s dangerous without skills.

They ask for information on where the kid was last seen, and then take a ship and go to the remote parts of Tatooine where the sand people live. Cad Bane takes Embo, Highsinger and Bossk along with him, but Embo and Bossk will stay with the ship while Highsinger acts as a scout from faraway, whereas Cad Bane and Boba proceed on Dewbacks. Cad Bane tells HighSinger to leave them, and the other Bounty Hunters abandon Cad Bane because Boba and Bane haven’t returned, and they start to think that either Bane has double-crossed them, or they have been captured, so they see no profit in staying exposed.

Cad Bane and Boba proceed on foot because Bane wants to appear defenseless in order to lure the Tusken Raiders to them. Bane knows those lands, so he knows which tribe of Tuskens took the kid, since they’re the only tribe that lives in those lands. He only takes Todo-360 along with him and Boba follows. They follow the tracks of the Tusken and it gets dark. They set up a camp illuminated by a battery and Bane drinks booze. (Cue 1st unfinished scene clip) Bane senses that they’re about to be ambushed and asks Boba to let himself be captured so that Bane can then put a tracking device on him and find out where the Tusken Raider’s camp is located. A struggle ensues.

He plants a tracking device on Boba and manages to find their camp. The Tuskens won’t reveal where the target is so Bane starts slaughtering the village until they tell him where the kid is. He doesn’t destroy their huts, but shoots all of those who get out of their tents armed and intending to attack him, so there are quite a bit of causalities until the Tuskens realize what he’s there for. He then holds the Tusken kids at gunpoint bargaining with the Tusken leaders, who grant him an audience. Boba is immediately alarmed and steps in front of Bane trying to prevent him from shooting the kids. Bane says that he never intended to kill them, but that in order to be persuasive you need to be able to bargain with everything. Somehow this doesn’t convince Boba who starts questioning Bane’s morality. The target is then revealed to be in another camp not too far from that one, so Bane and Boba proceed on foot. Bane has lost his hat during this struggle. The target is then revealed playing with the Tusken kids, displaying how the Tusken Raiders were only holding the child hostage for ransom, but weren’t mistreating her.

The child is very lively and talkative, and tells Bane and Boba where she lives in order to take her back. Turns out she lives on the far side of Mos Eisley, so on their way back the Tuskens, who had only given up the target out of fear – come back to try to take back their prize. Bane burns them with his flamethrower, and throws explosives at them, scaring them off. The Tuskens had kidnapped the farmer’s kid because the farmer had established his farm on their land and wouldn’t pay the Tusken Raiders the ransom they asked for. The kid is returned safely to the father, who was also Bane’s employer. The farmer pays up and Bane says he doesn’t work for free, urging the wealthy farmer to pay up. Boba is satisfied and relieved at the thought of having done an act of good, but Bane only treats it like another job – and tells Boba that in order to be an effective Bounty Hunter, he has to be able to see profit in everything and not allow himself to be personally invested in the jobs that he takes. Boba disagrees since he thinks that while also making profit, you can help people as well.

The first episode ends with Bane telling Boba that he knew his father and that he respected Jango as his equal; and that there was always a competition between them for who was the best Bounty Hunter, but that he could never find out because the Jedi killed him. He then says that in order to be like his father Boba needs to put his emotions aside and be ready for everything.

Episode 2:

A small time skip is implied between episode 1 and episode 2 but nothing too major. Boba who still had his Season 4 design in the first episode (apart from the fact that in Season 4 he was bald whereas in the first episode of the Bounty Hunters arc Boba would instead have had a flat top like most clones when they cut their hair short) – he would now be sporting longer hair instead. Bane gives Boba some credits and tells him that they will travel to Kessel because Bane has some ex-employers there for whom he did a favor some time ago, and he’s going to Kessel to demand the last bit of the payment that they owed him. Cad Bane then meets with a Toong who gives him his new ship, the Justifier. The Toong comes along with them because the repairs weren’t ready yet, and Bane was impatient.

Boba and Bane thus travel to Kessel. The ones who owed Bane money are miners who worked on Kessel, and Cad Bane had helped them get rid of their previous manager who was abusing them, but they couldn’t pay Bane the entire sum immediately; so Bane would make periodic trips to Kessel so that the miners could keep giving him a piece of the payment that they owed him every time he visited them. Bane had grown impatient and asked for the rest of the payment this very moment. Cad Bane would have been shown to be cold-blooded, while the miners were shown as ignorant, unintentionally funny (they had big mustaches and hairs covering their faces) but at the same time – they were also overworked and fatigued, but Bane didn’t seem to care. A miner tries to pull a gun on Bane but Bane shoots him through the chest without even looking at him, then with a smile he says that they needed some motivation, and orders Todo 360 and Boba to capture the leader of the miners.

The Toong, named Lancek Trevoras, falls behind hiding behind some canisters, and stays with the ship. Bane takes the leader of the miners into his ship and holds him hostage until they reached an agreement that the miners would dig diamonds for him – and give him a percentage of what they were digging for the company. Todo handles the torturing. Bane thinks that the leader will either take some of the miners away as insurance, so that the company is forced to pay him in order to get the miners back, or the miners will stop lying to him and give Bane the money they owe him.

Boba feels bad and asks if this is really necessary, and Bane tells him “step aside boy, you’re too soft and won’t make it far into the world if you give up at the first sight of tears”. The trip ends with Bane taking all the money that the miners had and him releasing their leader back into the mining facility – with them subsequently cursing him as he flies away with his ship. Boba is the one who uncuffs him and seems sad. Boba gets angry during the voyage back and Bane and Boba have their first argument. Boba says that the miners didn’t have the money and that the violence against them was unnecessary, and Bane tells him that if he prefers, he can go back to that stinky hut they had on Tatooine and live the rest of his life in misery if he wanted to.

Boba then locks himself up in the other part of the ship, and Bane tells Todo to leave him alone to blow off some smoke. Bane then threatens the Toong as well telling him that if the repairs weren’t ready soon, he would have a few things to “explain” to him too. During the voyage home, Boba exits his chambers and go back to the ship’s cockpit, telling Bane that he’d made up his mind and that he wants to be like his father; so he will start taking Cad Bane’s advice from that point on.

Boba tells him that he needs to get his father’s ship back and his father’s armor, otherwise he’ll never be able to be like his father. Boba has a momentary change of heart where in order to show Bane that he’s tough – he thinks that by obtaining his father’s armor and ship he will be extra motivated into becoming a bounty hunter and act like Cad Bane does. Bane tells him that Florrum isn’t exactly on the way, but that if they do a pit stop on Tatooine first to refuel, they might be able to make it to Florrum. End of Episode 2.

Episode 3:

Cad Bane tells Boba that they first needed to get some extra security because Bane wasn’t exactly fond of the pirates, and doesn't trust Hondo. Bane asks for a repurposed droid which he was to buy from a very specific droid’s shop at Tatooin. That specific droid shop was only a charade, and was actually a base from which most of the crime on Tatooine operated (basically criminals went there to load up), and the owner of the shop already knew of the job beforehand and had the droid ready.

The droid was named Ruckle, and Bane verbally mistreated the shop’s owner who charged Bane for more than what he expected. Cad Bane leaves the shop with Ruckle without paying the extra required by the store’s owner, and Boba apologizes, and goes back to the owner, giving him some extra credits for the trouble. Bane takes Latts Razzi, Dengar, Sugi and Embo along with him. Sugi and Dengar had already had business with the pirates in the past; while Embo and Latts were just insurance.

The crew then flies to Florrum. Bane trades the droid for the Slave I, because the droid had a double purpose (apart from just being an assassin spider droid) -- which was being able to reveal the locations of the most precious cargo routes of the crime syndicates in the galaxy. The pirates were ecstatic about putting their hands on it, since they were barbarians who attacked cargo ships and stole all the time. Bane tells Hondo to give up the goods because he was really losing a lot by giving up some viable information for a ship. Hondo also delivers payment in credits. When Hondo asks Bane why he would be willing to trade such viable information, Bane replies jokingly: “anything for the kid,” referring to Boba.

When Hondo takes them to Slave I, it's revealed that Hondo repaired the wreckage from when Aurra Sing crashed it in Season 2, and Slave I was in flying condition again. It's also been revealed that Boba’s armor was not Jango’s armor from Episode II (which had been lost in the battle), but that Jango had an original armor from a long time ago, and Boba would find that one in the ship itself.

Aurra Sing was on Florrum as well. When Aurra and Boba Fett are reunited, Boba hugs her and Aurra tells him that she never intended to abandon him, and only did so because she knew the Jedi wouldn’t kill him, and that she would have eventually come to rescue him (even if this wasn’t true because Boba had to escape on his own). But this is Aurra’s way of rehabilitating her image in the eyes of Boba since at the end of the day – she cared for the boy.

Hondo then tells Boba and the crew that a very precious cargo transported by the Hutts was on a planet called “Serolonis”. Bane says to Boba that if he wants to make a name for himself – this was the job to do it since it was a big deal. The shipment was diamonds from the most precious mining planets like Oba Diah, Kessel, and Serolonis (which was known for its moister vaporators in order to keep the air clean). The planet "Serolonis" was a reference to "Sergio Leone", which was a homage to western movies and cinema as a whole.

The other secondary cargo of the Hutt’s carrier was also spice for the drug cartels. The ship was very big and the Bounty Hunters infiltrate it from different points, while Aurra Sing and Highsinger chase the ship aboard the Slave I. Cad Bane had traded ships on Florrum because his Justifier wasn’t equipped adequately for the job, whereas Slave I was basically a flying piece of artillery, although Bane’s ship had missiles and they didn’t want to blow up the cargo. The little Bounty hunter from Season 2, named Seripas, would also have been taken along for the job.

Boba is killing enemies left and right with Jango’s pistols, and also doing some cool acrobatics. At this point, he doesn't have a jet-pack yet. Cad Bane disregards the civilians around him – whereas the other Bounty Hunters like Latts Razzi and Sugi were more concerned with their surroundings. Sugi prevents Bane from executing some bystanders in order to cause a crash and stop the ship. Bane is angry and kicks her back, but the plan of Bane fails.

After the cargo is captured, thanks to Slave I, and the Hutt killed – the bounty hunters get into an argument on how to split the bounty. Cad Bane, of course, wants the largest cut because he orchestrated the hit job, and the other bounty hunters pull guns on each other in much of a Western manner, to then end it off with a laugh off between them – similar to the scene in Pirates of the Caribbean where Barbossa, Jack, Will and Elisabeth all point guns at each other.

Sugi leaves angered, telling Bane that their approach had almost gotten them and all the civilians killed, and Bane threatens her telling her that she will not have a long life if she crosses him again. Sugi takes the payment and leaves. Latts Razzi follows, and Dengar and Embo just dissipate. The ones who remain with Bane are Highsinger, Bossk, Aurra Sing and Boba. Bane also threatens Seripas, telling him that he was slow and useless because of his size.

Boba would then start contemplating an insurrection against Bane because he sees that a lot of the Bounty Hunters think like him and not everyone agrees with Bane. Some Bounty Hunters like Seripas and Latts Razzi are afraid of Bane. Aurra Sing asks Boba if he’s coming to join them at a cantina and Boba tells her no, to which Aurra scoffs him and tells him “fine, whatever you want”. Boba goes back to talk to Sugi, who reveals that she’d only gotten into the bounty hunting business out of necessity, and that she’d lost a family member due to an accident, so she knows what it means to lose innocent lives. Latts Razzi also revealed to have some sort of morality, because despite being more disregarding of rules, she’s against killing innocents during her bounties. Boba would tell the both of them that it’s time someone started standing up to Bane. Episode ends.

Episode 4:

Boba starts doing jobs for Cad Bane. Bane tells him to go around asking for money from civilians whom Bane had been doing favors for – and Boba had basically turned into his tax collector. A minor time skip is implied again; but nothing too major. Cad Bane has established himself on Serolonis as a pasha living in richness, and keeping the local population subjected by asking them for tributes in exchange for protection. As Bane had basically set up his own syndicate on Serolonis, other Bounty Hunters would have been shown to have joined and would have made an appearance; such as Twazzi from the Season 4 episode "The Box" and Robonino as background characters. Boba would go around using his cut of the money to cover debts in case some civilians couldn’t pay Bane, but the ones that Bane discovered get imprisoned, and ask for ransom to release them, if not – they would remain his hostages.

Bane has Boba followed by Todo and a returning Bounty Hunter who was Cato Parasitti (in the third episode Cato Parasitti was also briefly shown to have been the one who procured the clearance codes for the Hutt’s carrier ship). Bane had ordered them to spy on Boba because there was "something off about that boy". He starts suspecting that Boba’s doing stuff behind his back so he asks Cato to investigate. In the meantime Boba gets in contact with Sugi, Latts Razzi and Seripas and would promise them a cut of Bane’s bounty if they managed to capture Bane alive and hold him hostage. They would have him exiled to Jabba’s palace and Nal Hutta, where he would be trialed for having sabotaged a Hutt’s carrier ship and killed a relative of the Hutts himself, so he would have been found guilty for crimes against the entire Hutt family. This was Boba’s plan to get rid of Bane in a peaceful manner without having to kill him.

Latts Razzi joins in and Sugi does too, whereas Seripas is a little bit of a coward so it takes more time for him to be convinced. Aurra Sing then spots Boba hiding in a street corner and becomes suspicious of him. She then sees the other two bounty hunters (Sugi and Latts) exiting the same alley and goes to inform Bane. Bane tells her that the boy needed to be taught a lesson but that for now they’d just be observing his moves to see where this goes. Boba then takes a ship with the excuse of going on an assignment from Bane, and Boba travels to Kessel trying to rally the miners to his cause. The miners are scared and don’t trust him at first, and they don’t want anything to do with it. Boba then manages to at least get a promise out of them that in case it would ever come to a direct confrontation, he could have their support – but for now he would just leave them be. The leader of the miners then takes Boba alone and tells him that he can count on him even if the others are too scared by their experience with Bane and don’t want anything to do with it. Boba would then sneakily travel to Florrum on one of his voyages and Todo would hide in the ship’s cockpit spying on Boba.

Boba would ask Hondo for support, and Hondo would tell him that this is their business and he wants nothing to do with it. He would then walk with Boba and have a conversation about how he knew Boba’s father and that he had great respect for him – and that Cad Bane’s methods are not honorable and are not the way Jango would have wanted things to go down (or at least that Jango understood that later in his life). He then gives Boba a jetpack and gives his allies heavy weapons and lets him leave, so this is in a way – Hondo’s way of supporting Boba without getting involved. When Boba leaves the pirates ask Hondo what they should do with the boy and Hondo tells them that if the boy dies then there’s nothing to them; but should he succeed – they will be ready to do a "cleanup" and scramble up all the richness that Bane had with him.

At this point, Boba completes the paint job on his armor making it green because he wants to be similar to his father but different – and show a different way to do bounty hunting. Boba is still a little shaken by the fact that Jango could have possibly worked with Cad Bane in the past, so he understands that his father wasn’t perfect and that regardless of what Hondo tells him – he’ll never learn the full truth because everyone around him seems to be telling him a distorted version of the past to try to manipulate him to one side or the other. So he decides to make up his own path.

Dengar, Bossk, and Embo ambush Boba upon his return to Serolonis, and hold him at gun point asking him what he’s been up to. When Boba asks them if they are doing Cad Bane’s bidding, they answer that they do their own bidding and that they were fairly neutral in the whole thing and were basically in favor of whomever wins. Since Cad Bane was now the one with the money and the resources – they follow him. Bossk and Dengar then decide to let Boba pass when Boba tells them what this is all about, and momentarily pretend to have joined him because Bossk says: "it’s always good to have more money" if the insurrection against Bane is successful. All of a sudden, Boba’s crew is ambushed, and Aurra Sing has taken sniping positions whereas Robonino started rigging up charges all the way to Bane’s central quarters, while Boba was busy with Bossk, Embo and Dengar. It would have been revealed that Bane had the natives build him some bipedal droids that were also small tanks packed with fire-arms; basically sentient sentries. They could be ridden but could also be programmed to act as sentient turrets by themselves. Twazzi is shown riding one of those.

Cato Parasitti had thus far shapeshifted into several civilians while Boba was doing his business behind Bane’s back – and she’d reported everything she knew to Bane, and Bane had very well realized what Boba was trying to do. The leader of the miners would have travelled to Serolonis at this point – telling Boba that he’s finally made up his mind and is ready for the battle Boba had promised him, and Boba gets him to do some sabotaging work on Bane’s equipment to try to stop Bane’s syndicate from exploiting the natives. When Bane learns of this, he takes the leader of the miners hostage; then calls for Boba, and has Robonino set up the mines all around his base so that when Boba comes with his new crew, they’ll be blown up (this was the buildup to the scene where Boba and his crew are ambushed).

This ensues in a big struggle as stated – where Sugi is killed off, Twazzi is blown up by a grenade, Latts Razzi engages in a hand to hand duel with Cato Parasitti where Cato is then shot accidentally by one of the turrets because Latts Razzi had used her as shield. Seripas decides to intervene at the last minute saving Boba from a shot on his back – and he would have thus been revealed to also have made up his mind and come back; while Bossk, Dengar and Embo defend themselves when momentarily acting as if they’re on Boba’s side.

As the struggle is done, Boba is furious and rushes to Bane’s quarters, only to find it rigged with explosives and he manages to get away just in the nick of time. He then spots Robonino on top of a rooftop who’s trying to run quickly to Bane to inform him that his attempt at blowing Boba up has failed, but Boba shoots him killing him. (The deaths of Twazzi, Robonino and Cato Parasitti are not emphasized and are only treated like "offscreen" clone deaths not to make the episode too dark. The only deaths that are emphasized are Sugi’s death for just a moment, but then mostly Aurra’s and Cad Bane’s deaths).

Bane then decides to show up seeing as to how Robonino was not responding anymore, and when Bane shows up, Dengar, Bossk, and Embo turn their guns on Boba and tell him that the boss was back and Boba had lost his insurrection; seeing as to how there were many casualties. Bane will reveal that he has taken the leader of the miners, Stim, hostage as well as Boba’s new friend – Seripas while they were distracted; calling him the "coward who’d risked his skin saving you". He then says that if he wanted to see them alive he would come to the square Bane would indicate to him and come quietly. Boba is furious for the death of his Bounty Hunter friends and the ones captured so he acts harshly but is subdued by Bossk and Embo, who hold him by the arms while Bane aims at Boba telling him: "well if you want to get it over with so quickly and don’t really care about your friends; fine by me, you can die like your father".

At that moment Aurra, who had taken a sniping position and was holding both Boba and Latts Razzi at gun point (Latts Razzi being disarmed and with her hands up) has a moment of doubt and immediately starts running down the roofs trying to stop Bane from killing Boba. Aurra steps in front of him telling Bane that harming Boba wasn’t part of their agreement and Bane would have said that the agreement has changed (as a nod to Vader’s Empire Strikes Back line: "I’m altering the deal"). Aurra starts to struggle with Bane, in the meantime, that gives Boba the chance to kick both Bossk and Embo and free himself from their grip, but a shot fired by Cad Bane almost hits Boba and Aurra Sing throws herself towards Boba getting shot in the back instead. Bane then has a thousand yard stare and says: "this is what happens when you try to play hero. More innocent people will die unless you lay down your gun and come quietly". Bane seems a little distraught by the death of Aurra so he leaves the scene taunting Boba telling him: "if you have the guts come find me, Fett!" and tells him he’ll be waiting in a square.

(Cue Standoff Clip) Cad Bane in the meantime is waiting and Boba shows up pissed. Cad Bane tells him not to be so hasty and that there was enough killing for the day – so he’s willing to let the hostages go if he surrenders. Highsinger is revealed to be holding both Seripas (out of the armor) and the miner’s leader, Stim. Bossk and Embo join the scene while Dengar is holding Latts Razzi (away from the scene). Bossk and Embo show some respect for the kid and allow him to take his shot. Boba and Bane have their show off (Boba’s jet pack was damaged during the struggle so he removed it) and Boba was now defenseless, out of grenades, almost out of shots etc. Boba and Cad Bane exchange shots, but Boba got a good shot at Bane’s head and kills him.

Episode ends with Boba bandaged on his head (having been rescued from the scene by Bossk, Embo and Highsinger) while recovering – and telling the bounty hunters that he wants to create his own crew, and bounty hunting syndicate with the money they had taken from Bane (even though a lot of it had been destroyed during the struggle, but there was still a bit left).

Boba Fett thus leads his father's legacy, and becomes the man he always was meant to be.

#boba fett #cad bane #bounty hunter #bounty hunters #star wars #star wars the clone wars #the clone wars #bossk #embo #aurra sing #dengar #hondo

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etanow · 8 months ago

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Since Ragatha is some kind of doll powered by a battery, does that mean she's technically a robot? Or is she a cyborg since there was a document that revealed she does have organic cells.

Of a sort!! Ragatha started as a brain cell organoid to be used in a supercomputer (sort of like DeepSouth, irl, pretty interesting concept albeit horrifying to think about). Brain cells crave input so much that they will sometimes literally grow their own optic cups/eyes. The scientists cultivating the cells that became Ragatha kinda went off the deep end of this "craving input" and made her a body to see if said brain cells could adapt and grow the same neural connections mimicking a human's brain.

TL;DR Ragatha is pretty much a brain piloting a plush/robot suit don't think too hard on it b/c this is just for funsies, and I ain't a scientist

#ask box stuff #lab asks #idc if it doesnt make sense it sounds cool and thats what matters #u go u freaky little plush frankenstein

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semcoinfratechworld · 21 days ago

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Enhancing Battery Quality Through Formation & Grading

Chemical formation and capacity sorting are the two most crucial quality-control steps in the EV battery manufacturing process. They significantly affect battery performance, longevity, and safety.

Chemical Formation: Setting the Foundation

Performed using advanced battery formation equipment, this stage initiates the electrochemical life of the battery by forming a protective SEI layer on the anode. Key parameters include:

Low-current charging to stabilize reactions

Voltage control to prevent lithium plating

Temperature regulation for chemical balance

Pressure application for gas expulsion

Electrolyte refilling to compensate for loss

This step ensures structural consistency and long-term efficiency.

Battery Grading: Ensuring Performance Consistency

After formation, cells are sorted using a battery grading machine based on:

OCV at different stages

Capacity and efficiency during charge-discharge cycles

K-value to detect self-discharge

Resistance and uniformity

This ensures the lithium-ion battery production line only proceeds with top-tier cells for pack assembly.

Precision Is the Standard

Accuracy in current and voltage control is vital. With today’s battery formation equipment and grading systems offering <0.01% accuracy, EV manufacturers can confidently deliver reliable battery packs to the market.

Conclusion

When chemical formation and capacity sorting are optimized, they enable a seamless EV battery manufacturing process, guaranteeing long-term performance, safety, and customer trust.

#Chemical formation lithium battery #Capacity sorting lithium battery #Lithium-ion battery formation process #Battery cell capacity grading #Battery formation and grading #Battery chemical formation process #Lithium battery production steps

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stevebattle · 17 days ago

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Voyager (1998) by Dave Woodfield, UK. Voyager competed in the 1998 UK Micromouse competition held in Manchester (see video), and the 1999 Micromouse National Finals where it came second with a time of 37.72 seconds.

"This is Voyager. … You can see that at least when it's exploring it turns just by turning one wheel backwards one wheel forwards and it runs on a couple of sort of Sliders that stop the front and back from dragging on the ground too much. You keep hearing this 'magic expression algorithm' which is just a nice technical way of saying this is how we work out how to get to the middle of the maze. … Now this mouse I suspect will not be capable of improving its time ... because its total elapsed time penalties will be added to its score." – Alan Dibley, UK Micromouse 1998.

"Voyager is a very smart looking (and running) micromouse mouse from Dave Woodfield. His first mouse since Enterprise in 1984, Voyager is a traditional wheelchair mouse driven by stepper motors. A Dallas DS5001 processor does the work. This is a 8051 derivative with on-board, battery-backed RAM. Easy to work with and offering a relatively low component count, these are popular processors for micromouse builders. Sensing is by means of an array of top-down, reflective IR sensors. There are a lot of these and they are managed by a Xilinx Programmable Logic Array chip. In the photographs, the entire top board that you can see is dedicated to the sensor system. If you want to be able to run diagonally, with a single row of sensors, you will want a fair number of them. As yet, Voyager does not perform diagonal runs. There is still work to be done on this mouse and, while quick, it will not necessarily beat Enterprise. ... The upper board hold the sensor processing circuitry. The lower one carries the processor and the motor drivers. A total of ten NiCd cells provides plenty of voltage for the stepper motor's chopper drive circuits. Essential for high performance from stepper motors. That big chip there is a PLA, not the processor. It looks after the sensors and the motor sequencing." – Pete Harrison.

#cybernetics #robot #micromouse #maze solvers #UK Micromouse 1998 #1998 #1999 Micromouse National Finals

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xetlynn · 2 years ago

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Chapter Nine, Memories

(Alice X Reader X Jasper)

[Eight] [Nine] [Ten]

“He’ll forgive you two.” Edward was at Bella’s side of the window, startling both of us. “Scoot over.” She listens, sliding over and I try to make as much room as possible. He takes over the wheel. “His face… I said the same words my mother used when she left him.” She slumped and slowly took my hand in hers. I stared out the window but still listened to them talk. “It was the only way he’d let you guys go.” Edward then floors it and it makes me wonder if this truck can even handle that. “Your father’s safe now Bella. The tracker is following us.”

It feels as if I can breathe lighter but at the same time, I’m scared of what’s going to happen. Then a dark figure jumps onto the bed of Bella’s truck. Bella screams as I let out a tiny noise, gripping her. I think her scream scared me more than what jumped onto the truck. “It’s alright, it’s just Emmett. Alice is in the car behind us.” He informs us, I look back to see Emmett standing there, he gives me a smile, waving and I do the same. Well, I tried to.

Arriving at their house Edward, Emmett, and Alice rush us to get inside but we all came to a harsh stop when the door opened and it is revealed to be Laurent. “He came to warn us. About James,” Carlisle announces and they back down from their attacking posture. “I’ve grown tired of his games. But he’s got unparalleled senses. Absolutely lethal. I’ve never seen anything like him in three hundred years. And the woman, Victoria will back him. Don’t underestimate her.” Laurent is warning them, trying to tell them this won’t be a normal fight even if he’s cornered or one against all of them.

He then turns to Edward. “I’m truly sorry for what’s been unleashed here.”

He walks off disappearing into the woods. We’re now in a garage with the Volvo, a red BMW, a black Mercedes Sedan, and an SUV. Rosalie was grabbing everything, cell phones, extra batteries, maps, portable GPS units, change of clothes, cans of gasoline and so many other things.

“I’ve had to fight our kind before. We’re hard to kill.” Jasper says while standing beside me. “But not impossible, We’ll tear him up,” Edward says as if to reassure us. “We'll rip him apart with our hands then burn the pieces.” Emmett joins in with blood lust and it almost made me want to laugh but of course, under the circumstance, I’ll look psychotic. “I don’t relish killing another creature. Even a sadistic one like James.” Carlisle deadpans.

“If he doesn’t get to one of us first,” Rosalie says and I glance over to Bella who had a horrified expression. “This is insane. You can’t put yourselves in danger like this for me.” She tells all of them and I sort of sit there for a moment not understanding why she only said it for her like I’m not a part of it as well. “Too late.” Rosalie rolls her eyes. “And it’s not just for you. [Name]’s in this too.” She sticks up for me but I notice Edward shoot her a look. He grabs two sets of keys, throwing one at Carlisle.

“I’ll run Bella and [Name] south, while you lead the tracker away.” He says but his foster dad disagrees. “No, Edward. The tracker thinks you won’t leave Bella. He’ll follow you. His main focus was how you reacted to him sniffing out Bella.” Again this feels off, it really feels like they’re only worry is Bella and if that’s the case why am I a part of this. Then Alice steps up.

“I’ll go with them. Jasper and I will drive them south. I’ll keep her safe Edward.”

Edward looks frustrated, Alice steps one closer. “Can you keep your thoughts to yourself?” Edward studies her, obviously torn. She nods and the two have an unspoken agreement. He surrenders the keys to her and then goes to Bella and Mine’s suitcase.

“Esme, Rosalie put these on so the tracker will pick up their scent, mainly Bella’s.” I was slumped once again, I felt Jasper tense but not saying anything. “Why should I? What is Bella to me? [Name] I understand she’s been in the family for years but Bella’s just a danger you’ve inflicted on us.” Rosalie was man, not understanding this at all if that wasn’t obvious. “Rosalie, Bella is with Edward she’s a part of this family now. And we protect the family.” Carlisle was strong with his words and the blonde listens, resistently picking up the clothes. He then hits a button and the large metal doors open.

Jasper and Alice lead me to the car, Edward and Bella have their own little moment together before we have to leave. I lean against the car. “You’re confused.” Jasper quietly says and I shrug. “I’m not understanding why I’m here if you guys are only really worried about Bella. The tracker doesn’t seem to want me.” I cross my arms, and they both stared at me. “What?” Alice raises an eyebrow. “James doesn’t want you dead. He wants to torture you.” Jasper informs me and my eyes widen, not expecting that. “He knows of your past lives he wants to hurt you enough to where you remember him.” He tells me and I think back to Esme and Carlisle’s conversation. “A near-death experience.” I think out loud, their eyes shoot up at me. “I uh I overheard Esme and Carlisle talking the night you invited me over to meet them. That’s what I was panicking about.” I sigh, they don’t say anything at first.

“I kind of came to comfort with it but I am scared nonetheless.” I laugh nervously, Alice was hard in thought as Jasper seemed saddened by what I said. “I think what really bothered me was you two wouldn’t warn me.” That was all I told them as I got into the car after I noticed Bella was coming towards the car.

Jasper has been driving as Alice was in the passenger seat. Bella had just stopped crying, her eyes were red and puffy. “Mom, it’s me again. You must have let your phone die. Anyway, [Name] and I are not in Forks anymore but we’re okay. I’ll explain everything when you call.” She hangs up the phone and looks out the window right as we pass the Olympic Peninsula sign.

Now in a hotel room, I sit on Jasper’s lap as the three of us stare at the t.v. screen. They haven’t brought up our conversation from before the drive and honestly, I’m a little grateful. I’m not in much of a mood to talk about any of it. They bought a ton of food too and I don’t think they realize with our lives on the line there isn’t much of an appetite to be had. “I wish he’d call.” Bella suddenly says as she enters the room we’re in. “You two should eat.” Alice ignored her words, her hand has been laid on my knee. I shrug, leaning back onto Jasper. Bella flops down to see. “They could get hurt, it’s not worth it.” She insists and I hum in agreement.

“Yes, it is.” Jasper disagrees and Bella is shocked as he doesn’t really engage with her often due to his thirst troubles. “Edward’s changed since he found you. And none of us want to look into his eyes for the next hundred years if he loses you.” He turns back to the t.v. his hand now rubbing the outside of my thigh. “It’s worth it.”

Then Alice goes blank, Jasper and I stand up immediately and he goes up to her. “What do you see?” He asks her and her face is full of deep worry. “The tracker, he just changed course.” She tells us and I glance over to see a pencil and a pad of paper. I grab it, handing it over to Jasper who gives it to Alice. “Where will it take him, Alice?”

“Mirrors, it’s a room full of mirrors.” She begins to draw at lightning speed, her eyes shut to help her remember perfectly. “How do the visions work? Edward said they weren’t always certain.” Bella questions, standing behind the two of them as I’m kind of off to the side.

“She sees the course people are on, while they’re on it. If they change their minds the visions change.” Jasper explains and Bella looks over at the drawing. “So, the course James is on now will lead him to a ballet studio?”

Alice snaps her head to look over at her. “You’ve been here?”

“No. I don’t know. We used to take ballet lessons as kids. The school had an arch like that.” She points to the room and now that I take a look I remember the room. “Was your school here, in Phoenix?” I nod but don’t speak up. “Yeah, around the corner from our house, but we haven’t been there in ten years.” Bella was confused about why he was going there. “Do you have any reason to go now?” He questions but it was mainly for her as he knows I would have no interest in going to a dance studio.

“No. Hell no. I hated that place.”

Alice and Jasper share a look right when a cell phone rings. Bella jumps but picks it up, I watch relief fall over her once she sees the caller's I.D. “Edward. Are you alright?”

“I’m coming to get you. We lost the tracker. The woman is still in the area. Rosalie and Esme are protecting your father.” We could hear him as he spoke through the phone. “This is my fault. You warned me, I didn’t think. I just-: He cuts her off. “Bella we’re in too deep. We can’t change how we feel.”No, we can’t. When will you get here?” She was antsy to see him again. “In a couple hours. Then you and I will go somewhere. Together. The others will keep hunting. Bella, I swear to you I’ll do whatever it takes to make you safe again.”

They hang up the phone and everything else moves quick as Alice and Jasper left us in the room to go check out. Bella and I gather our things, then her phone rings again and I go over to her to look over her shoulder. It was mom. “Mom, I’m so glad you got my-” “Bella, Where are you and your sister?” She was panicked and I hold onto my sister. “Calm down mom. Everything is fine, okay? I’ll explain every-” Then it sounds like the phone drops as we hear rustling in the background. “Mom? Are you there?”

“Nice house you have here. Not the best on the black but comfortable.” A voice we did not want to hear, my eyes widened and I hear Bella shiver. “I was prepared to wait for you two. But then mom came home after she received a very worried phone call from your dad. It all worked out quite well.” He tells us and I squeeze my eyes shut and lean my head down. “I must say, Forks High School doesn’t protect its students' privacy very well. It was just too easy for Victoria to find your previous address.” James was mocking us.

“Bella? [Name]?”

“Leave our mother out of this,” I say. “You’re protective of her. That’s nice. You can still save her. But you’ll need to get away from the other two lovers. Can you two do that?”

“I don’t think so.” Bella sighs. “If your mother's life depends on it?” And it looked like we didn’t have much of a choice here. “Where should we meet you?”

“The old ballet school around the corner. And I’ll know if yo bring anyone. Poor mommy would pay the price for that mistake.”We then hear him sniff the air. “She smells like you, Bella. Delicious.” He taunts but she hands up the phone, both of us now freaking out.

I watch her look around in the drawers searching for something then closes them, rushing to her purse and dumping everything that was in it out. Grabbing her pepper spray. “You have yours?” She asks and I lift mine up from my pocket, she gets all her stuff back into the purse, grabs it, and then we lock hands and run out of the room. Once we get to the lobby we scan for Jasper and Alice. I point outside where they’re under the Porte Cacher. We slip out the opposite door getting into a taxi, this older lady in the driver's seat. “8th and Palo Verde, please.”

Instead of a near-death experience, it’s just death with my sister.

Not the way I had thought we’d go.

At least we’re together in this life.

My next one will be alone, but I’ll find the love of my existence once again.

Getting to the dance school, we rush out of the taxi. It pulls away and it doesn’t feel like I’m about to be tortured just for living so many lives. It makes me reminisce about the feeling of me being here as a kid with Bella. She absolutely hated it, the kids making fun of her and me hitting a kid is what got us kicked out. I take a deep breath through my nose as Bella reaches for her spray as mine was already in my hand. I think back to Alice and Jasper knowing they probably just realized we are missing and my heart physically hurts having to go behind them. We walk closer and we hear our mom's voice. “Bella? Where are you and your sister?” We get through the doors that were already unlocked, the room full of mirrors that Alice had drawn out earlier.

“Bella? [Name]?” We search for where her voice is coming from and we land upon the door to a closet. Bella throws the door open. It was a t.v. screen and a video is playing of Bella and me at the ages 7 and 6. Little Bella looks up as I was hugging her. It was in this exact closet too. “Don’t you want to dance, baby?” Little Bella shakes her head as little me pushes away gently but I was visibly angry. “Everyone makes fun of me.” Bella cried out. “I’ll fight them all, Mom! I will!” Little me says and Rene laughs, giving the camera to someone else, she kneels down to both of us. “[Name], no violence.” Then she looks right at Bella. “But you’re a wonderful dancer.” She tries to encourage her. “Mom, I suck.” Then laughter emits from behind us, and we spin locating James in the mirrors.

“That’s my favorite part. Stubborn children weren’t you both?” Bella steps closer to him with rage but then has a feeling of relief shower through both of us as we realized he never had our mom captive.”She’s not here.” Bella mutters.

“Sorry, but you two really made it too easy.” He sighs, disappointed then he gets walks to us, pointing with a camera at us. “So to make things more entertaining, I’m going to make a little film of our time together. Borrowed this from your house, hope you guys don’t mind.” He turns it on. “And… Action!” Bella flings her purse at him, gripping my arm to make a run for it. It was no use as he was right behind us. “Excellent! An escape attempt!” He was excited about this and it made me sick. “It’ll break Edwards's little heart.” He smells her hair, touching her hair.

“Edward has nothing to do with this.” She angrily states as I slowly back up he ends up snatching my other wrist that wasn’t taken by Bella. “He will, His rage will ake for more interesting sport than his feeble attempt to protect you. And not only him but Alice and Jasper? They think I just want you to remember me, don’t they?” He laughs, having too much fun to notice Bella take out her pepper spray, spraying him. He only backs away for a brief moment but doesn’t let me go. She makes another run for it, he lifts me up over his shoulder and jumps right in front of her. I struggle against him, kicking my legs. He throws me into one of the main mirrors causing it to shatter over me. He does the same thing to Bella and she smashes into one of the mirrored columns. He captured it all on film too. “Beautiful, a very visual dynamic I chose my stage well.” He advances over to her as I try to sit myself up feeling every bone in my sides and back. “Still stubborn, aren’t you? Is that what makes you special because frankly, I don’t see it.” He inhales as if he’s already tasting her. He walks in my direction as Bella is slightly dazed and I push back further into the wall as if that will do anything.

“See I thought you were unkillable when I first met you. It was maybe your second or third life. Did you know that none of them last over 22 years? Crazy huh?” He rubs his lips together, remembering all the times he’s seen me. “This is probably your sixth life and I’ve got you two times already! Of course, your little lovers didn’t know that until Edward told them!” He laughs like an insane person… which he is. “What.. what are you going to do this time?” I whimper from the pain in my sides.

“Hmm, I could do this.” He raises his foot to stomp on my leg and I flinch, squeezing my eyes shut as I wait for the pain but instead of the pain sensation in my leg it’s on my shoulder. My eyes pop open and I scream in agony. “I want you to change for good. So when I do kill you for the last time, it will be the last time.” He laughs, picking me up and placing me right in the closet from before where the t.v. was.

I can still hear him speak but my shoulder was burning, I start breathing heavily, trying to get up. “Too bad he didn’t have the strength to turn you. Instead, he kept you as this fragile little human. It’s cruel really.” There’s a moment of silence and due to the door shut in front of me, I can’t see what’s going on. “Well done! You’ve succeeded in annoying me.” Seconds later I hear Bella scream and a crunch sound, and if I wasn’t already groaning in pain I would’ve gasped at the sound. “Tell Edward how much it hurts.” He tells her. “Tell him to avenge you.”

“No, Edward. Don’t!” She hisses, I feel the burning sensation start to grow further down my arm and to my chest. I couldn’t even speak if I wanted to. “Cut! The end!” I then hear a loud bang, and moments hit. “You’re alone because you’re faster than the others but not stronger,” James shouts, I hear another thump. I try not to focus on the burning, pulling out the pepper spray. I grunt, kicking at the door repeatedly. I hear a voice say something but nothing was clear enough anymore. Hearing loud movements and a body drop to the ground along with Bella’s voice clearly distressed, he did something to her, worse than the other thing.

I get a hole through the door and I hear multiple other people. “Her femoral artery has been severed. She’s losing too much blood.” It was Carlisle, I hear him. “It’s burning! My hand!” Bella cried out, grunting. I try to kick at the door even more, not being able to move my torso. The adrenaline in my body sort of soothed the excruciating pain in my shoulder. I felt like at any moment the pain could paralyze me as it grew larger and larger. “You have a choice to make either let the change happen-” “No!”

“It’s going to happen anyway. I’ve seen it”

Alice, that’s Alice. I try to shout out her name but it goes out as just a loud scream. But I got someone's attention as the door opens. “It’s [Name]!” Emmett yells, he bends down and I look over his shoulder to see fire. Jasper was keeping it going before he heard my name being called out. I hum out suffering. “He, hah, he got me.” I grip the pepper spray in my hand and now Emmett’s arm. “He got you?” His face was panicked and I grit my teeth. “My shoulder, my shoulder.” I tilt my head to the shoulder he bit me on and he pulls me out of the closet to put me on a flat surface in a bigger space. Jasper and Alice surrounded me, “Help her!” I scream out as the pain shot through my body. “No, we can help you too!” Alice tells me, she rips my shirt where the bite was being covered. I hear Carlisle say something about it killing her and I look over to Edward hovered over Bella.

“It reached her heart, Alice. It’s too late.” I listen to Jasper speak, I am still gripping onto Emmett’s arm but he hasn’t even tried to take it back. “It’s… it’s okay.” it calms down for a second and I stare up at Alice trying to reassure her but she shakes her head. “We have to try!” She exclaims. “No.. no!” I shout as it was in waves, my nails digging into what felt like glass but was still Emmett.

And like waves soon came back my memories that I have never seen before.

I see a desert and I’m with Jasper on two separate horses, then it cuts to me searching for Jasper. He’s gone. And I get shot in the middle of a field, left behind by what look like soldiers. Left to bleed out. Now I’m in a hospital wearing a hospital gown. In a different life. I go into a room to see Alice for the first time. I’m giving her something then it cuts to me out of the hospital and with a man… James! He attacked me while I had walked out of my car.

Now at a party, I’m talking to the Cullens, every single one of them as if I have known them my whole life. Partying with Rosalie and dancing beside Alice. But I don’t seem to be in love with Jasper or Alice as there’s another man by my side. A man I don’t recognize. There’s a ring on my finger and it looks like this is my bachelorette party or something. We go into a bathroom and I tell the girls something that makes them cheer for me. I don’t hear anything though. It just cuts to a memory of me in the hospital room and Rosalie is holding my baby. But I’m sleeping? I’m dead? How am I seeing this if I’m dead?

In my next life and I see extremely peppy, I’m wearing a bunch of colors but I’m only a child. I’m around the age of 8 and I’m in the forest with a woman who is holding my hand. Before it even goes far into this life it cuts to James once again attacking me and who I believe is my mother. The second time he’s killed me in one of my lives.

Then my fifth life, the one before this one, and it looks like the late 70s or real early 80s and I’m at a school dance with Alice, people making fun of us as they pass by but I seem happy, she seems happy. I also have a tube that goes onto my nose. I look down to see an oxygen tank. Later that night after the dance I died from an asthma attack.

And now this life. I don’t see any memories flash back to it. And my body shoots up awake, I go to gasp for air but it feels different. “You’re up.” A voice spoke up, I look around and it looks like a hotel. “What?”

“Lovebug, look at me.” Alice comes into my vision as Jasper stood right behind her.

“Did I die?” I glance around, sitting up against a wall. “No, not necessarily.” Alice frowns, “I changed? I’m one of you guys.” I state out loud and all they could do was nod.

4100 words bitches and I am fucking tired but the last chapter for this movie won't be as long I think. I don't know yet I still have to figure out some things for that. If you have any things you'd like to see or want to know for the story just comment and I'll try to reach back. I've been sleeping a lot lately and I do not know why. I'm going to work on the requests I was given tonight but I can tell anyone for sure when they will be out because even with sleeping I've been busy for no reason. I just already have most of the chapters for this story written out lol.

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ahedderick · 20 days ago

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Snek

While the elderly Toyota was out of service, we had it parked on a wide gravel area between the barn and the forest. Then, when Husband changed the flat tire and recharged the battery, he brought it down and parked it near the house. The next day he went out to take it on a short trip to the grocery store. Moments later I get a call. "Come out! Quick! There's a black snake in here! Come get it!"

Yes, I am the designated household snake-remover. However, by the time I got out there, the snake was halfway crawled into a crevice under the dashboard. There was no way to pull him back out without hurting him. We watched as his tail slowly vanished. Hmm. Husband left the door open to facilitate Snek removing himself, and took my car to town.

A day or two later he decided to drive up the cell tower roads down at Home Farm to look at part of the forest and check to make sure the hunters had removed their tree stands from last fall/winter.

While he and K were up there at the top of the ridge, he saw the snake finally exiting the car. They remained very still, letting it get completely out, and then quickly moved the car. Success, of a sort; he's in a reasonable spot for living the rest of his scaly life.

Then, Sunday, Husband was on the phone with Son. "Uh, Hold up," Son said abruptly, "There's a snake falling out of the ceiling."

While he was standing there, another black or black rate snake had tried crawling across some ceiling tiles and fallen partway through. He was able to wrangle the snake out of the ceiling and take it out to one of the barns. It's the barn where the goats and rabbits (and their feed) are kept, so there will probably be some mice around.

It's been a very snaky year.

#farmblr #farm #black snake #snake #appalachia

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dailyadventureprompts · 2 years ago

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Villain: The Cult of the Wyrm Eternal

Any adventurer, alchemist, or awestruck child can tell you that there is power in the body of a dragon, and like all sources of power it's only a mater of time before someone comes along to try to capitalize on it.

Enter the Cult of the Wyrm Eternal, which emerges from long buried vaults to dissect the bodies of dragonkind like flesh eating beetles. The cult originated from a time beyond remembering following the teachings of a profane text known as the Har'Khon Libram, which survives into the modern day as a sort of how-to manual for those seeking forbidden knowledge allowing them to revive the cult's practices and discover its caches of lost power.

It's in this manner that the cult has survived millennia and numerous purges at the hands of heroes, holy orders, and oligarchs: With each iteration caching away knowledge and resources for acolytes they will never meet.

Hooks:

A prominent dragonborn hero and ally of the party disappears, leaving behind few clues and a mystery to solve. Lacking a true dragon to carve up for ingredients the cult abducted the dragonborn and plans on sacrificing them after a gauntlet of strange rituals intended to suffuse their flesh with power. Its a race against the clock for the party to find their friend before there’s nothing left of them but a grisly scattering of magical items bound for the cult’s armoury.

The local warlord has a new pet, a young dragon provided to him by the cult in exchange for his protection and material support. Tales of him riding out to wreak destruction from its back send shivers of terror through the populace. What a surprise then when the party encounter it in the wild, rampaging aimlessly after slipping her bonds. Brainwashed by cult doctrine the parry find themselves negotiating with a creature with the drives of a caged tiger, the volatility of an abused teenager, and the destructive potential of an artillery battery. Talking her down will be as difficult as diffusing a bomb, but they might just come away with important information or even a new ally should they help her evade recapture.

Using knowledge purloined from the mysteries of the mother hydra herself a cell of the Wyrm Eternal has been working on a ritual to create a true dragon, experimenting with drakes, basilisks and other reptilian monsters, filling the wilderness with bounty worthy monsters that will inevitably bring the party crashing into their lair.

Background: The knowledge contained within the Har'Khon Libram is cursed, part of a scheme by the book's original author in an attempt to evade both death and those who hunt unlawful immortality. Reading the book not only imparts the authors knowledge upon the prospective cultist, but also a vestige of their cosiouness, which steers them towards the same course of action that has kept the cult alive for so long: constructing more vaults, hoarding draconic power, and propogating the Libram's knowledge so that the infection can spread through time.

Hidden in the depths of each vault are tablets of further tainted lore, which causes the seed of malign presence within the Wyrm cultist's mind to blossom, opening their mind to the space between life and death and allowing their patron's thoughts to swirl into their own. In this way the party can end up fighting the same villain through many proxies, the unseen master of the Wyrm eternal studying them as they cut down vessel after vessel before formulating a counteroffence.

Dungeon Dressing:

Wyrm Eternal vaults vary by the culture that originally constructed them, but are always in remote, sheltered areas that could endure largescale devastation. Their entrances are hidden and warded against intrusion, protected by magical cyphers that can usually only be broken with aid from the Har'Khon Libram. Vaults can also contain these doors within, locking away the greatest treasures until the acolytes have further tainted their thoughts with the Libram's curse.

Undead are ubiquitous within dungeons claimed by the Wyrm Eternal, ranging from simple servitors to looming guardians to dragonbone infused war machines just waiting to be unleashed on the cult's enemies all with green corpsefire flickering in their heads. Access to these undead armouries and the arsenal of magical items that come with them are one of the primary drivers for individuals to become cultists in the first place.

Each vault will likewise contain preserved pieces of dragongore, ranging from single skulls placed on altars to whole cellars filled with blood magically preserved in clay or glass vessels. If a cult cell reached full operation, it's likely to have atleast one mummified corpse preserved in an onsite tomb, it's vital organs ( and perhaps a few spares) preserved in canopic jars waiting nearby.

Art 1 Art 2

#cultists #villain #villain cult #mid level #rescue mission #undead #dragon #occult #cursed item #curse #dungeon tomb #Necromancer #warfare

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madhatterbri · 7 months ago

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Birthday Surprise | C.C.

Summary: Y/N finds out she drank a little too much last night. 18+.

Author's Note: Happy birthday to everyone's favorite Patriarch. It was between this or Professor Cage AU and honestly this came to me so quickly. ❤️

Happy Collision Saturday, babes. 🫶

Christian Cage Masterlist

AEW Masterlist

Taglist: @theworldofotps @smallestsnarkestgirl @surdelcielo @magicalbuttertarts

The sound of a shower running slowly stirred Y/N from her slumber. She blinked a few times to adjust her vision. The plain white ceiling above slowly comes into view. She rubbed her eyes slowly. Her hand reached out to the nightstand. With cell phone in hand, she frowned at the low battery percentage.

How could it possibly be so low? Wasn't it charging all night?

The wrestler reasoned that her cellphone charger must have fallen out over night. She rolled over to grab the cord, but noticed it was nowhere in sight. Maybe Kris stole it. She had been complaining about it lately.

Now that she thought about it. The layout of the room was different than the room she checked into yesterday. The other room had two queen beds. This one currently seemed to have one king-sized bed. Her bra and underwear were lying on the floor. Y/N always proud herself in being neat and putting all her dirty clothes in the luggage. A sudden realization hit her like a ton of bricks. The blankets around her weren't hitting her clothes. They were hitting her skin.

You aren't naked.

She repeated this in her head like a mantra. Maybe if she repeated it one hundred times, this would be true. When she was mentally ready, she raised the covers that shielded her from the world. In her shock and horror, she was as naked as the day she was born.

Her clothes weren't far from her. They laid just a few feet away. The shower in the bathroom was still running. Maybe she could get dressed quickly and run out of here like the building was on fire.

After gathering enough belief in herself, she kicked off the covers over her body. The white sheets bunched at the foot of her bed. She ran to the first item of clothing she could grab: her bra.

"Come on, come on, Y/N, faster," she told herself. Her arms were the first through the bra, followed by her head. Her fingers fiddled with the bra until it clung to her body just as she wanted. Before she could reach the rest of her clothes, the shower turned off.

The bathroom door opened, and the smell of a man's cologne filled the room. It smelled expensive. Maybe she didn't completely screw this all up. At least he had money.

Y/N cursed under her breath and made her way back to the bed. The presumed man walked out of the bathroom wearing a polo with jeans. A tattoo stuck out underneath one of the sleeves. He was muscular. A mister blonde hair and light eyes hottie. Okay, she definitely didn't screw this up. Until she noticed who was standing in front of her. Christian Cage.

She gasped and placed the blankets higher to cover her bra.

He chuckled at her sudden movement. "Don't be shy. I saw it all last night,"

She glared at him. "You didn't see anything, and we are not talking about this.... How did I get here?"

"I thought we weren't talking about this,"

"Answer the question, Cage,"

He rolled his eyes. "Don't be dramatic, Y/N. We drank too much and had sex,"

Impossible. She wasn't that type of girl. There must be some sort of mistake. Maybe she poured some food on her clothes or something. Y/N looked at the dress she wore last night. There was not a single blemish or stain on it.

They stared at each other momentarily. "Aren't you going to look away? I need to get dressed,"

"I literally saw everything last night," he interjected.

In true gentleman fashion, Christian started to list off of every birthmark and scar on her body. Some definitely couldn't be seen unless her clothes were off.

"Just turn around so I can get dressed," she groaned.

Christian muttered under his breath. He stomped his feet to turn around. Arms crossed over his chest. A loud sigh heaved from him like this was the biggest inconvenience in his perfect life.

Y/N dashed out of the bed. She slipped on her underwear first and then her dress.

"Can I organize my room now?" Christian asked impatiently.

Y/N answered a yes with attitude. She pinched the bridge of her nose. A headache started to form. Years must have been taken off her life by now from him increasing her blood pressure.

"There are literally housekeepers here that'll tidy up your room,"

Christian turned around. He rubbed his face in frustration. Oh, yeah, like she's the problem in this situation.

"Yeah, and I would greatly appreciate it if they didn't see the open condom wrapper on my nightstand,"

To make a point, he grabbed the condom wrapper from the table. The wrapper crinkled loudly in his fingers. Her eyes widened as her mouth dropped. The indisputable evidence in the biggest pain of the ass' fingers.

Oh my God, they did have sex.

Well, at least it was protected, right?

"We aren't saying a word to anyone. You stick with the weird little family you have, and I stick with my totally cool and amazing friends," Y/N told him. She grabbed her shoes by the couch and slipped them on.

Kris was going to bombard her with questions. Questions she didn't exactly feel like answering now or ever.

"Don't worry I won't tell Kip,"

Y/N tensed at her ex-boyfriend's name. They only broke up about a month ago, and it was still so fresh. Well, to her it was. The healing was taking longer than she anticipated. One of the drawbacks of having to work close to her ex.

"I am leaving," she announced to no one in particular. Her feet started to carry her towards the door.

"Hey, wait!" He exclaimed. Christian walked to her. The condom wrapper was still in his hand. "Don't you want a souvenir to remember the best lay of your entire life?"

She glared at him, but continued to walk away.

"Can I at least get a happy birthday?"

She stopped at the door. Her hand reated securely on the door handle. Before she left, she only had three little words for him.

"Go fuck yourself,"

#aew #fanfiction #all elite wrestling #aew fanfiction #aew fanfic #christian cage #christian cage x reader #christian cage x y/n #christian cage x female reader

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