#christmas address tracker

[lilly-mcfarlane]

My Christmas Card and Address tracker in Victorian style is out today! 🎇🎉💃

CHECK IT OUT HERE!

[nickgerlich]

Safety Dance

September is a month that has been memorialized in song by many. From Green Day to Earth, Wind, & Fire, Neil Diamond, Daughtry, Barry White, and even Frank Sinatra, our ninth month of the year has been crooned about rhapsodically in many genres of music. From somber to upbeat, they run the gamut.

But September is also a month for new product announcements from a company that has one of the biggest followings the world over. Once the dust has settled on Labor Day, all eyes turn on Apple as we wait with bated breath for the latest iteration of iPhone and other must-haves. If ever a company has orchestrated media events, it is Apple with its annual frenzy.

And, as usual, they did not disappoint with news of iPhone 14, a new Apple Watch for extreme sports, and new and improved Air Pods. Get your credit cards ready, or start your Christmas List right now, because you know you want them.

It is at this time that you have to begin to wonder just how much better Apple or anyone else can make a smartphone. The incremental gains between the early phones were significant, but lately, improvements tend to focus on the camera (one of the most common uses of the device), 5G capability, storage size, and processor. But how much is overkill versus actually improving the user experience?

This year, though, Apple took a different approach. Yes, they did improve all of the above, but rather than try to market on those attributes, they relied on an ages-old marketing strategy: Fear.

Marketers have long used fear to sell products. From a mouthwash addressing halitosis (Listerine) to tires that have a lot riding on them (Michelin), we marketers have done our very best to scare the daylights out of you.

And now Apple is betting you will want an iPhone 14 if only because it has satellite connectivity in the event you find yourself injured in backcountry and without a cell tower for miles.  You can place an emergency SOS, the same thing that my Spot Tracker device allows me to do in case I suffer a fall on my next 14er.

But wait, there’s more! The new Apple Watch can detect changes in heart rate and temperature, handy little tools in this post-pandemic era. Both devices can also detect moments of impact, such as a vehicle crash, basing it on the barometer, GPS, and microphone on the device.

Basically, just like my Spot Tracker, these are things you hope you never need to use. They are an insurance policy.

While better cameras and so forth are always enticing, Apple has caught my eye with these potentially life-saving features. Count me in for the phone. And since I am staring down the reality of always being eligible for the senior discount, I might even be swayed to purchase a wearable, something I have shunned for more than a decade.

Sure, Apple is using one of the oldest tricks in the book, but these product features are far better than a mediciny mouthwash. And while we definitely do not want to risk the safety of our children by riding on cheap tires, there are plenty of other solid alternatives to Michelin.

It won’t be long before I’m at my local AT&T store saying, “Take my money, please!” I’ll be weighing the trade-in options and payment plans, After all, it seems like I have been renting an iPhone for more than 14 years now. I cannot remember a time in which I wasn’t making a monthly installment—interest-free, I might add, so it really is a good deal.

Good job, Apple. The iPhone has hit middle age and is taking on the appearance of the mature product it is. We probably don’t need much better cameras, but we can sure use a lot more safety features. And that’s a song I can get into.

Dr “We Can Dance If We Want To“ Gerlich

Audio Blog

[reinhartmuses]

“It’s you guys I want to come home to.”

Those were the last words Sean had spoken to the Simpson-Nelson clan. As he stood in front of the house that had become his home, he took in the familiar sight. The dark green paint, the window that housed what once was Emma’s room and was now Jack’s, the fence that led around to where the basement passage was. He had probably spent more time here than ever had at Tracker’s shack, in either of his apartments and a strong wave of nostalgia swept over him. This was the place he had dreamed about in Afghanistan. He wanted to soak in the 70′s decorations Spike hadn’t had the heart to take down and cuddle up on the couch with the afghan Emma’s dad had knitted for her. Maybe Snake would whip up some lasagna for him (and he’d scoop out the vegetables when nobody was looking) and Jack-

It hit Sean with a jolt. Jack would be eighteen now - he’d be graduating or have already graduated Degrassi! Holy shit, time flew. Sean massaged his temple and when he saw the porch light switch off, realized it was time to make his presence known. He had a feeling Emma didn’t still live with her parents but since her old phone number was disconnected and she had stopped replying to his emails, this was the only way he was going to get some answers. He bounded up the steps and raised his fist to knock on the door. Snake’s car was in the driveway so at least his old teacher would be home. He waited patiently until the door opened and grinned as he caught sight of Emma’s mother. Her hair was purple because of course it was, she was Spike and she had always marched to the beat of her own drum. Her face lit up as soon as she saw it was him and she collected Sean in a bone crushing hug. “Sean!”

He hoped everyone else was this enthused to see him. He hugged her back tightly and when he let go, motioned to her. “Christine! You look incredible.” She had, she always had, and Sean wasn’t surprised when all of Emma’s male friends confessed to Spike being the ultimate MILF even when Emma threatened to castrate them for that confession. “I just thought I’d stop by and say hello. Where is everyone?” He peeked around but only Spike seemed to be home. The TV was playing the news and he could smell something cooking in the kitchen but no Snake appeared with a goofy apron. “Snake’s at the school with Jack, they’ve got an awards night and Emma...” She trailed off, smiling at the blush that suddenly appeared on Sean’s cheeks. “Emma lives near by. I’m sure she wouldn’t mind me giving you her address if you’d like it?”

Sean tried not to look too eager as he enthusiastically nodded.

Once he had collected Emma’s address and promised Spike he’d stop by the next afternoon to see Snake, Sean was on his way. Emma didn’t live too far from her parents which wasn’t a surprise but she did live outside of the suburbs. He pulled up and parked his car and checked his reflection in the mirror. The army had kept his hair at a buzzcut but now that he was retired, he was rebelliously trying to let it grow out again. He tucked his shades into the neck of his white tee shirt and got out, his stomach a tumbling ball of nerves. The last time Emma and him spoke, she had wished him a Merry Christmas and informed him she was dating Damian, the tool who had tried to fight Sean for defending Emma against one of Damian’s snarky comebacks against her. It made no sense to Sean and it made no sense to Manny but the brunette had told him to just give it time. Emma would find her way back.

She hadn’t and Sean had missed her every day since. Would she be happy to see him? Would she slam the door in his face? Would Damian open it and tell him he made love, not war, and tempt Sean to slide back into his punch first, ask questions later phase? Time would tell. After ringing the doorbell and shoving his hands into his jeans, Sean watched as Emma opened and tried not to visibly swallow. Even after all this time, her beauty took his breath away. “Hey Em.” @ghstspdrs​

[thesleepiesthufflepuff]

My Favorite Fics 2020

Alrighty. I read a decent amount of fanfiction this year (mostly thanks to Wizards Hearts/Game of Drarry), and I’m here to list out some of my very favorites. Thank you to all of the creators out there who put so much time, effort, and energy into creating beautiful stories, and here’s to lots of reading in the new year 💜 also, this is in no particular order and all rec notes are from my personal fic tracker spreadsheet (if anyone wants details on how I set up my spreadsheet, etc. please feel free to send an ask!) 💕

1) Change on the Horizon by Static_abyss / @static-abyss [Explicit, 118.6k,]

When things settle down after the war, Harry has trouble figuring out who he’s supposed to be and what’s expected of him. At the same time, Draco finds himself having to decide between what his parents want and what he wants for himself. Together, Harry and Draco embark on a journey to figure out who they are as individuals and what that means for their future together.

A canon AU drarry fic based on the relationship between Mickey and Ian from Shameless.

Hands down one of the best fics I've ever read. Ana did the most amazing job at translating Micky and Ian's relationship to Harry and Draco, although it’s definitely not necessary to know Shameless in order to enjoy the story. The writing is stunning, and I loved every single bit of this

2) I’ll Play Your Game by JayseHasNoGrace [Mature, 52.2k]

After quitting the Auror department at the ripe old age of twenty two, Harry Potter finds a nice, uneventful job in an apothecary. At least, it's uneventful until his old rival Draco Malfoy comes into the shop.

They strike up an unlikely friendship, which evolves into an increasingly convoluted scheme, which then snowballs spectacularly out of control into a tangle of lies and blurred lines.

They'd agreed to a fake relationship — in Harry's case, to get the wizarding world to take him off his 'perfect saviour' pedestal, and in Draco's case, just to be given a chance in wizarding society at all — but neither of them expected just how difficult that might really turn out to be. Especially when the stakes grow ever higher, and they both start falling for each other. Just a little bit.

FAKE DATING!!! Ugh, this was so good. I love the media aspect of it, and the way that everything comes together is just brilliant. A must-read for anyone who loves fake dating!!

3) I Can be Your Lighthouse by orpheous87 / @orpheous87 [Teen, 4k]

When Harry gets called to investigate reports of Dark magic, the last thing he expects to find is an almost unconscious Draco Malfoy. After multiple instances, he resolves to find out what's going on.

inspired by the song The Lighthouse by The Used.

So, so sweet. I love Harry's determination to figure out what's going on. This is such a lovely fic, and I enjoyed every minute of it

4) Freedom to be by Quicksilvermaid / @quicksilvermaid [Explicit, 169.5k]

Harry Potter is the Boy Who Lived.

12 years after the war, he's become the Boy Who Lived For Everyone Else. He has the perfect wife. The perfect house. The perfect job. The perfect friends.

Only nothing feels perfect.

Until one day he stumbles across a club called Release and begins a journey of self-discovery that takes him to a very different place.

This left such an impact on me, and it’s a fic I think about often. I can't even begin to explain how incredible everything about this is.

5) Dear Diary by AWickedMemory (TeddyLaCroix) [Teen, 20.4k]

// This can’t possibly go worse than the last time I kept a diary. //

After the war, Harry picks up a journal to write in… and it writes back. Luckily, it’s not a Horcrux on the other end this time.

Absolutely amazing. The relationship that develops between Harry and Draco as they write to each other was so soft and wonderful, and I would easily read 100k of this!

6) Grounds for Divorce by Tepre [Explicit, 122.2k]

Malfoy finds a coin. Harry finds a letter.

A story about histories, a story about families. A story about a lemon tree somewhere in Upper Egypt.

I loved this. It was so angsty at times, but well worth it. An absolute classic that I’m so pleased to be able to say I’ve read.

7) Nero Su Bianco by Zuzallove [Explicit, 40.5k]

September 1997. Hogwarts is under the regime of Voldemort and the Carrows. Finding himself alienated by both his friends and his supposed enemies, Draco puts quill to parchment, and writes letters. He addresses them to the only person he can think of, as Hogwarts rapidly falls into chaos and ruin: Harry Potter. He goes to great lengths to ensure the letters are never discovered, and he’s pretty certain he’s done a great job.

Until the day of his trial.

The letters were so much fun to read, even though they were heartbreaking at times. I loved Draco’s characterization in this, as well as how his relationship develops with Harry.

8) Thunder by Keyflight790 [Explicit, 21.5k]

The storm will disappear; the rain will subside; but what's left in its wake will last forever. A story of love and loss, redemption and thunder

I really loved how well Draco's addiction was written. I'm not a huge fan of past relationships, but this was done in such a beautiful way. Plus, talking to dragons!!!

9) dirtynumbangelboy by magpie_fngrl [Explicit, 39.4k]

After Harry’s unfortunate encounter with his ex, Draco Malfoy makes him a proposition. Draco wants his parents to stop matchmaking him and Harry wants to make his ex jealous. All they need to do is simply pretend they’re in love. Problem is… Draco already is.

Amazing. This has absolutely sucked me into the world of fake dating. I could ramble about this forever, to be honest. Simply incredible, and I love how snarky their relationship was. It was the epitome of a good Drarry fic.

10) just tell me when it’s alright by M0stlyVoid / @bonesliketambourines [Explicit, 23k]

Harry’s been fighting tooth and nail for any bit of normalcy he can get his hands on. He’s sick of feeling like something’s wrong with him, tired of feeling different. He thinks he’s finally gotten to the root of it, and has settled into a routine that makes him happy. Naturally, that’s when Draco Malfoy walks back into his life and upends it once again. Has Harry bitten off more than he can chew with his former rival?

YES!! I genuinely loved Harry’s clinginess. This fic was absolutely amazing, and the secret dating was lovely. Plus, bi awakening!!

11) When Hippogriffs and Pygmy Puffs Collide by oldenuf2nb [Mature, 32.7k]

Harry Potter bakes cakes, brilliantly. Draco Malfoy inks tattoos, brilliantly. Owls deliver post, including messages from clients, with an occasional lack of brilliance.

I was really surprised at how much I loved this, especially since I’ve not really read many fics with odd jobs. I absolutely adored the fact that Harry was a baker and Draco was a tattoo artist, and the characterizations were absolute perfection

12) You Send Me (Honest You Do) by firethesound [Explicit, 37k]

As far as potion accidents go in general, and deaging incidents go in particular, Draco knew this could have been so much worse. Harry only lost about ten years, and all his memories are still intact. But the sight of him looking as if he’s stepped straight out of Draco’s Hogwarts memories has dredged up a whole mess of complicated feelings Draco thought he’d buried years ago, and Draco really doesn’t know what to do with any of it.

I absolutely adored this, and I thought the de-aging aspect was done is such a tasteful way. Such a good read.

13) Highly (in)Compatible by daisymondays [Teen, 36.8k]

Draco’s been shagging The Prat Who Lived on and off for a few months when his soul mark starts to change. Draco’s had to accept a lot of adjustments to his life, but accepting that Harry Potter could be his soulmate is one step too far. It can’t be true? Can it?

I LOVED THIS! Oh man, that ending!  Brilliant, brilliant, brilliant

14) Kiss the Joy (Until the Sun Rise) by ICMezzo [Mature, 37.8k]

The Room of Requirement was severely damaged in the war, but not so much that it could not provide for one lost student and another young hero—especially when they needed each other most of all.

An amazing, beautiful, tender fic! The ROR has given them the gift of each other, and I honestly love that it's just the two of them and no other characters. An incredible and soft read

15) December Never Felt So Wrong by MaesterChill / @maesterchill [Explicit, 50k]

'Twas the month before Christmas and sixteen year old Draco Malfoy had never felt worse. His attempts to kill Dumbledore were failing and, as usual, Harry Fucking Potter was a constant thorn in his side.

All that suddenly changed when Draco woke up 15 years in the future and discovered that not only was he allegedly shagging Harry Fucking Potter, he also had thinning hair and a five year old son, and no fucking clue how he got there.

Truly brilliant, and I was laughing from the start. The combination of the aging up, Harry’s off-tune singing to Muggle songs, and soft parenthood were all things I immediately fell in love with. Will be reading again and again

16) Catch Me If I Fall by keeli_marie [Explicit, 38.2k]

When Draco Malfoy collides with Harry Potter one morning while dropping the kids off at school, things don’t go quite the way either of them would have expected.

Another absolute gem, and I'm still reeling from how amazing it was. I'm always a bit hesitant with kid fics, but this is one of the best depictions of love between Harry and Draco that I've read. I love how supportive Astoria is. Such a lovely fic  

16) Love Found by Peachpety / @peachpety [Explicit, 7.5k]

During Harry’s sixth year, Draco Malfoy joins the Order as a double-agent and continues with his task to get the Death Eaters into the castle as assigned by Voldemort. Draco succeeds with his mission the evening Harry returns from the caves with Dumbledore. The boys reunite on the Astronomy Tower and, with the Death Eater’s arrival, are forced to engage in a fight, driving Harry to come to terms with his feelings about true friendship and romantic love.

SUCH a good rewrite of the astronomy tower scene. I can’t describe how much I love the pre-existing relationship, which is a trope I typically steer clear from. And the snark!!! Such a good fucking fic

17) Taro Milk Tea with a side of Depression by Veelawings / @veelawings [Mature, 1k]

Draco sat through twenty grievous minutes of Ministry-mandated group therapy for Newly Registered Magical Beings & Creatures — then promptly stormed out.

Okay, I loved this. The play format was so cool and fit the narration so well. Absolute perfection and SO. GOOD.

18) The Dragon At The Bottom Of The Garden by Zopno [Explicit, 52.3k]

At 25 Harry Potter's life was simple; he flew, sculpted, and had the vault in the back of his mind to keep all unpleasant business. It was stable, but when Draco Malfoy literally hit him with a giant rock; all that changed.

I loved the storyline, especially Animagus bird Harry!! This was such a unique take on an Animagus and post-war fic, and I loved reading it so much   

19) Exposure by GallaPlacidia [Mature, 26.9k]

When Seamus uncovers Draco Malfoy's camboy profile, he, Harry and Ron decide to anonymously book a private show so as to humiliate him later. Fascinated by Draco's confidence, Harry keeps booking private shows under the disguise...

Self prompt: Draco is a camboy. Harry betrays him.

I can't give this enough praise. The hurt of it all was so brilliant. A new favorite for sure

20) you've got the antidote for me by Kandakicksass [Mature, 20.7k]

When Harry Potter unintentionally severs their soulbond before it can fully form, Draco Malfoy resigns himself to a slow death and decides not to burden Harry with a soulmate he's made it very clear he doesn't want.

He's never been selfless before, but for Harry, he can try.

Fuck. Like...fuck. This was so sad and angsty and perfect in all the right ways. Watching everything unfold was so painful but so worth it. Another new favorite

21) A Room Up There (And You In It) by thestarryknight [Teen, 59.2k]

When Preservationist Draco Malfoy was assigned to work on Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place, he was excited to delve into the gorgeous Black family antiques. His excitement quickly ended when something in the House decided it did not like his presence one bit. Featuring a grumpy antiques lover who most certainly did not sign up for this, encounters with a vengeful apparition, and a healthy application of Christmas spirit.

Absolutely fucking fantastic. This fic reads intimacy all over, despite there being no sex. I love preservationist Draco and the way in which information about Harry unfolds. I can’t say enough how much I loved this advent fic, and Starry did such a great job

And now for three fics that I have yet to read/need to emotionally prepare myself for:

1) Modern Love by Tackytiger / @tackytigerfic [Explicit, 61.2k]

Harry Potter, of all people, knows that life isn’t always fair. And no one gets to be happy all of the time. But surely there’s something more—something better—than a rubbish Ministry job, and a lonely old house, and that feeling that everyone out there is doing a better job of living than Harry is.

And it really doesn’t seem fair that Draco Malfoy is back in Harry’s life, all of a sudden, and even though he’s wandless, and living with Muggles, and making his mother cry with his lifestyle choices, he’s happy. So what's he doing right, that Harry isn’t?

Because things don’t really change, do they? And if Harry can’t be happy, he’ll settle for a good night’s sleep, some posh antiques, and the opportunity to find out what Malfoy has been up to for all these years.

And that’s what starts it all.

2) Dragons Don't Know Paradise by  tainara_black / @teacup-tai [Explicit, 50.9k]

In 2004, when Remus spends two scary weeks in the ITU due to complications of pneumonia and his HIV condition, Sirius walks around the house like a ghost and Harry finds comfort and strength in Draco through a chat in an online LGBT forum. Harry falls for him, but Draco has a lot of secrets and, before long, will need to come clean—even if he believes that no one is able to understand a dragon.

This is a story about falling in love online and about facing the reality of death, but above all, this is a story about hope, finding love and acceptance. (Non-magical / bookshop AU, written for the 25 days of Drarry 2020)

3) Aeternus Solem by onbeinganangel / @onbeinganangel [Explicit, 36.9k]

On December 1st, Harry Potter gets sent halfway across the world to attempt to break a possibly fatal curse on an unnamed British Unspeakable — except said Unspeakable is not unnamed at all and Harry has been in love with him for over four years.

{If anyone spots any mistakes in this list, PLEASE let me know! I hope you all have a lovely New Year’s, and may 2021 be less of a dumpster on fire than its predecessor 💜}

[thedimensionzone]

Candy Cane Conundrum

Hi there! I wrote a fic for the Dimension 20 Christmas Gift exchange! I agreed to write something and then completely forgot how to write and then got sick for a week. But I finished! Here’s a cute story loosely based off of the Candy Grams from Mean Girls and then a Pep Rally that actually happened at my Middle School.

Title: Candy Cane Conundrum

POV: Jawbone

TW: Pranks, mild distress

Rated: E for everyone

Cast: The Bad kids with some Seven Cameos.

@mayodad here is your gift! Sorry it’s like a month late and I hope you like it!

Jawbone sat heavily in his desk chair, feeling something in his lower back ache as he settled in. One too many one night stands on the ground of a truck stop bathroom and suddenly your back hurts way more than it should. He probably should have actually been at the school an hour ago but it was like pulling teeth to get all of the kids up and out of the house this morning. Fig had tried to say that she was an emancipated minor due to her fame. He just reminded her that she would have had to actually send in the papers for that to have any effect. 

Adaine stated that she had a bad feeling about school today and as the elven oracle she had decided to trust her gut. It had nothing to do with the fact that there was an End of the semester Pep Rally. Adaine was usually able to sneak out and head to the library, stating that the noise gave her a headache, but for this event the head librarian had a role in one of the teacher skits and locked up twenty minutes early. 

Fabian was one of the few Bad Kids that Jawbone wasn’t directly responsible for but that didn’t mean he loved the kid any less. But the Blood Rush team was giving a speech for the rally. According to the game calendar that Jawbone kept pinned by his desk there was a championship game coming up in a month. Jawbone didn’t actually think they had qualified for that but that didn’t mean Fabian was going to give up that time to address the school. Last year they had also not qualified but Fabian had regaled the entire student body about the injustice of a bad line call. He had seen Arthur wipe away a single tear. 

Kristen and Tracker had stated that they needed to get to school early for one of their projects. Kristen had been bent over a notebook all week so Jawbone imagined it was another one of her intricately detailed Pamphlets about the new goddess. She had started referring to herself in the third person as Saint Kristen for about a week before everyone in the house started ignoring her. Kristen agreed that maybe it should just be for her official Church documents, like the tie dyed posters she would hang from every flat surface at the front of the school. 

Jawbone checked his watch one more time. He liked to walk up and down the hallways giving out high fives before school started just to get people off on the right foot. Since it was the end of the week they also got to play the trivia game. First person to answer got a Basrar’s coupon printed just for him. Basrar appreciated all of the free advertising and Jawbone liked to give the kids a treat once in a while for working so hard. 

Jawbone slouched into the cardigan he only wore during school and adjusted his ID badge before grabbing his coffee and heading out the door. The kids had around ten minutes to get settled before classes started and the noise levels were starting to pick up. Jawbone paid special attention for any noises that sounded more upset than just the regular sounds of a highschool. 

Someone approached him right away and he looked down. It was one of the Dwarf underclassmen who were always on their Skateboards in the hall. “Oi Jawbone!” The extremely loud shout echoed down the hallway. “Special delivery. Someone thinks yer Fresh.” 

Immediately a candy cane with a cute tag was shoved at him before the girl skated off, a large satchel over her shoulder full of the candies. Their latest fundraiser for Prom was selling candy Canes to send holiday Messages to other students. Apparently staff was included in that as well. Jawbone sniffed it curiously but all he could identify was peppermint. It reminded him of a certain brand of schnapps that he had once chugged a whole bottle of. It would taste great in his coffee. The tag itself was red and white paper in the shape of a stocking cap that said “Sending you a sweet treat!” The sender had added a heart and then an elaborate signature he decided was Penny Luckstone. This made sense for her. 

Peeling off the plastic Jawbone used the candy cane to stir his coffee, telling a few kids to slow down before they caused a pile up. They slowed for just a moment before rushing off again. Apparently some of the teachers were having holiday parties instead of having class. One was even watching the puppet version of the Solstice Story. 

Jawbone was humming alone to an old heavy metal song as he stepped out the front doors of the Academy. It had snowed earlier in the week but all the ice had melted on the side walks by this point. There were a few of the wizard classes that liked to come out and melt the snow with fireball spells. They mostly did a good job although the music director’s car had exploded once. They promised it was an accident and honestly Jawbone believed them. They had no way of knowing that he had a full tank of gas and that the wind would gust at that exact moment. 

He felt a tug on his scarf and when he looked down someone had looped a candy cane around his staff ID badge. Jawbone hadn’t noticed anything but he could just barely smell that Riz had walked by recently. “Riz you rascal! You got me!” He called out, and the goblin boy popped out from behind him, grinning. 

“Fabian bet me a few gold pieces that I couldn’t sneak all these candy canes onto the recipients without them knowing. And even though I think he’s just trying to get out of delivering them himself I do want to test my theories on the best ways to sneak up on everyone in the school.” Riz had pulled out a pocket notebook and was scribbling a description of the event. “So would you say that you had no idea I had placed the candy cane upon you?” When Jawbone nodded, Riz kept going. “And at the end how did you know it was me? Oh I’m the only one who wears Old Herb body spray? Ok yes that makes sense.” Riz grabbed the small bag of candy canes that he still had to deliver and gave a small wave to Jawbone. ‘I’ll see you later tonight!” Before he quite literally disappeared. 

Jawbone never got tired of Riz disappearing from one moment to the next. Though then again a lot of the other Rogue students had been working on sneaking notes onto his bulletin board in his office all semester, so he had gotten really good at pretending he couldn’t smell them. 

Jawbone kept on his way, saluting several other students with his new candy cane. There was at least one Junior year student who already had eight candy canes, mostly likely sent by the eight people standing around them frowning at each other. After doling out several high fives and at least four ‘“It’s good to see you!”’s and an ice cream coupon, Jawbone started looking for any stragglers who hadn’t headed off to class. 

A loud sound made his ear twitch and he turned just in time to see the Hang Van enter into the parking lot a few miles below the speed limit. Jawbone loved how much Gorgug tried to follow traffic laws. When he was Gorgug’s age he had already had his license suspended twice. He should probably get that reinstated at some point. But it’s not like Sklonda was going to arrest him now that she had quit the force. 

Gorgug half fell out of the van before grabbing his bag and going to open up the backdoor. Out popped most of Zelda’s best friends. Jawbone thought it was just great that those girls had been able to support each other after that whole crystal ordeal. He had seen a few of them in his office and tried to make sure they knew they could talk to him anytime. Penny had a weekly standing appointment for a few months before he discussed her finding a licensed therapist who had more training than him. 

“Good morning everyone! Better hurry before you’re late for homeroom! Glad you made it!” Jawbone rumbled, feeling more like a sheep dog than a werewolf as he herded everyone inside the school. Most of the Seven had gone right back to their conversation that had started in the van after shouting out a chorus of ‘Good Morning!’s at him. Ostentatia was loudly declaring something was ridiculous and Jawbone already felt too tired to keep up. 

Jawbone’s scarf tugged again and he saw another candy cane had been looped onto it and a blur as one of the track kids sped off. They were wearing a Santa Hat and he could hear that they had bedecked themselves in some sort of jingle bell contraption. Jawbone carefully untangled it from his scarf and adjusted his readers so that he could see the tag. This one just had a moon drawn on it and Tracker’s signature. 

“Jawbone, how do you already have three candy canes? They barely started handing them out?” Sam’s voice stood out from the conversation the rest of her team was having but as she spoke they all turned to look at him. Gorgug was still somehow tangled in his messenger bag strap.

“OH! Well I guess a lot of students wanted to send me a shout out. I know Riz was running around making deliveries and several dwarves on skateboards. Don’t worry though Sam I imagine plenty of your admirers will have sent candy canes for you. I bet by the end of the homeroom you’ll have way more than me.” Jawbone gave her a wink and took a bite off of the end of one of the candy canes, sticking the rest of it into his coffee. 

The bell started to ring and the group of girls scattered, giving him a wave before they had to run off. Jawbone helped Gorgug untangle himself before walking him to the Barbarian homeroom to make sure that he didn’t get a tardy slip. “Gorgug here was helping me with a task and that’s why he’s a few minutes late. Have a great day everyone!”

Finally he was able to make his way back to his office only to discover at least three more candy canes had been slid under the door. Stepping over them Jawbone walked to his desk. He was going to do his best to get some of this outstanding paperwork done before the pep rally and a sudden influx of candy canes was not going to help with that. Jawbone liked to leave all his loose ends tied up before holiday breaks otherwise he would worry about things when he was supposed to be enjoying himself. 

After finishing two reports, sending at least five emails, and helping one student circumnavigate an anxiety attack about finals Jawbone was ready for the day to be over. Or at least ready for another cup of coffee. He knew that only one of those things was likely to happen and took a detour through the staff lounge before heading on his way to the auditorium. He could already hear the raised voices of some of his favorite students. 

“No! Listen carefully! The garland has to be hung just right or my speech later in front of the entire school will be ruined!” Fabian was trying to direct several bloodrush team members as they set up the stage area for the pep rally. Fabian himself was standing in the middle and doing lots of pointing while Ragh was up at the top of the ladder. 

“Dude, don't worry! Everything is going to look so sick for your speech! Plus I brought some of those red flowers to put on the ends to kick it up a notch. Your speech is going to kill!” Ragh gestured wildly as he talked, nearly falling off the ladder as it tipped back. “We’ll get all that energy from the pep rally and win the playoff game next year for sure.”

Fabien’s energy only seemed to rise when reminded of the fact that they had not reached the championship league for bloodrush. He knew that even if they weren’t able to win a trophy that playing together was one of the more important things. “Yes! Exactly! They’re gonna love it” Fabien’s grand gesture knocked into the ladder but he caught it just before Ragh fell off. “Come now Ragh. No injuries today! Not on Pep rally day!”

Jawbone chuckled to himself as he walked through the auditorium, inspecting their work. Fabien had spoken to the teachers about choreographing a dance to one of the holiday songs before bringing him out. Most of the teachers had agreed reluctantly. Mostly because the alternative was Arthur Aquefort trying to plan something. After the disastrous pyramid of staff members last year that ended in two broken arms they were all willing to try something different. 

Jawbone paused his inspection as he heard Fabien calling out for him. “Sorry, what was that? Got lost in my own head for a moment!” Fabien took his arm and pulled him closer to the door and away from all the other bloodrush players who were there volunteering. 

“Jawbone I have something extremely important to talk to you about.” Fabien was trying to whisper to him, turning away from everyone else.

Jawbone put a reassuring hand on Fabien’s shoulder, giving him a solid pat. “Fabien, I think your speech is going to go great. You have nothing to worry about.” 

Fabien looked confused for a moment before continuing, “Of course my speech is going to go great. No this is about the candy canes. Jawbone something is wrong I haven’t gotten a single candy cane yet today. I have been on campus for hours and nothing. Everyone else on the team even got one delivered in front of me. What is going on???” He practically shouted the last statement, his fist clenched in front of him. 

Jawbone gave another soothing pat, finally understanding the real problem. “Oh Fabien I’m sure there’s just been a simple mix up. You just have to be patient. We’re only two hours into the day.” 

Fabian just made a frustrated noise and turned back towards the rest of the team to continue directing the decorating. Jawbone could understand his frustration to a certain degree but also he didn’t think Fabian was necessarily as loved by the student body like he thought he was. Most of the school just knew the Bad Kids by reputation since they had been in prison for so long and then had been gone for their Spring Break trip. 

Jawbone took a sip of his coffee and started humming to himself as he walked back towards his office. He went the long way around to avoid walking past Arthur Aquefort’s office. Jawbone found that he really only had the energy to deal with Arthur after lunch, And Gilear would always try to chat but usually had to run off and deal with some student emergency. 

Jawbone settled back into his office and checked his schedule. He had some meetings with some seniors regarding their career goals and if they needed help. Most of the meetings were about five minutes long. Ostentatia Wallace had just said something about it being in her god’s hands, which Jawbone had decided not to ask too many questions about. He had a paws off policy when it comes to deities.

Jawbone’s favorite time of day was the hour before lunch where he led a meditation hour to help with school stress. Usually there were only about one or two students who showed up. Often he was the only one there. Only a select few knew that he really just napped the entire time. Something about the meditation music had him falling asleep immediately. A few of the druids would float through every other week or so and just thank him for having a place they could just come chill out.

Lunch was a bit more rambunctious than usual. Jawbone walked a loop through the room to check in with a few of his favorite students. Fabian had his head down on the lunch table surrounded by the rest of the team, staring off to the side. Adaine, Fig, and Kristin were all sitting at the other end of a long table with a small buffer zone between them and the team. Gorgug was there next to Fabian trying to eat a sandwich and comfort his friend at the same time. 

Leaning down, Jawbone whispered to the group of girls, “Hey what’s up with our Team Captain? He’s looking like he lost all his school spirit.” Jawbone glanced at the lunch Fabian had in front of him and took a small sniff trying to figure out if there was a specific reason he wasn’t eating any of it. “It looks like Cathilda even packed his favorite sandwich? Did something happen?”

Adaine glanced over to look at Fabian before giving the rest of the team a look. “I think it’s because no one has delivered any you-know-what's to him today.” She gestured to a small stack of candy canes that were hidden off to the side away from where Fabian might be able to see them. “He’s not taking it well.” She added, sending Boggy over to comfort her friend. Boggy was more than happy to assist in helping Fabian feel better. He did a small hop and landed on top of Fabian’s head before letting out a soothing croak. 

Riz would occasionally pop over to eat a few bites of his lunch before going to deliver more pieces of candy out of the messenger bag the committee had given him. At some point during lunch he handed almost everyone at their table several candy canes. Every so often Riz would glance over at Fabian and grin. Almost gleeful at how Fabian was handling this. 

Jawbone clapped a paw down on Riz’s shoulder, holding on a bit to make sure he wouldn’t dart away, though it’s not like he could really stop him. “Hey there Riz, I have a quick question for you about the pep rally.” Jawbone said, gently steering the goblin boy in the direction of his office. “Now. My understanding is that you and Fabian are best friends. Is that a correct statement at this moment?” Jawbone didn’t think anything had changed but sometimes the social hierarchies of teens changed by the second and there was almost no way of keeping up with it unless you were in the middle. 

Riz’s eyebrows shot up and his hands started fidgeting with a pen that he must have been carrying in his pocket. “Yes, I would say that Fabian is one of my best friends. Am I in trouble?” Riz’s eyes were darting around the room and Jawbone knew that he was categorizing every exit and possible item that would help him in a grand escape. With Riz it sometimes felt like he was three chess moves ahead at all times. 

Jawbone waved a paw through the air to push that suggestion aside. “No, of course you’re not in trouble. I’m just wondering why exactly you seemed so excited to see Fabian miserable at lunch. It’s not really that funny that no one sent him candy canes. He does seem to be genuinely suffering. I think it’s an artist thing I don’t know,” he said thoughtfully before turning his attention back to Riz.

 Jawbone wasn’t sure if it was an artist thing or if it was because of Fabian’s family but he did seem very concerned with being well liked and respected. It wasn’t enough that his friends told him that they respected him. Sometimes he needed the physical manifestations of that as well. Jawbone was fairly certain Fabian was going to grow out of this but it was going to take more than just spending two years in an adventuring group. Jawbone wasn’t super concerned but he did do his best to give Fabian as much healthy support as he could in both his role as school guidance counselor and friend’s weird step dad. 

Riz did start to look a bit sheepish, the green of his cheeks growing darker for a moment. “It’s not that I enjoy seeing Fabian in pain. But hypothetically if someone were well placed in the candy cane delivery organization that hypothetical someone could prevent all the candy canes meant for a certain individual from being delivered,” Riz said hesitantly, trying not to get himself in actual trouble for a prank. “Until the right time of course!” He added.

This of course made more sense. Jawbone would bet an entire ice cream sundae that Riz was not the only mastermind behind this plan but he also knew there was no way Riz would fold under questioning. “Ok so here’s what is going to happen.” Jawbone started to say, maintaining eye contact, “before the end of the day you are going to put Fabian out of his misery by getting him the candy canes. You’re also going to be the one in charge of making sure that Fabian is able to deliver his speech at the pep rally. I think it will cheer him up. Go see if the promise of a grand entrance will get him back on his feet.”

Riz nodded once before he darted off, dodging around a group of freshmen before heading back towards the cafeteria. Jawbone checked his watch before pulling out his crystal. He had called in a favor to make sure that this pep rally was one of the most exciting in recent memory. Or at least that’s how Arthur had referred to it during one of the planning sessions. 

—-------------------------------------------

Jawbone stood with some of the other faculty members off to the side of the gym/auditorium, the roar of all the students in the bleachers chattering amongst themselves as they waited for the pep rally to begin. Slowly the lights dimmed and the sound of the students changed. They grew quieter but the sense of confusion grew. As the student body slowly grew almost silent as the lights fully went out a dull roar could be heard from the parking lot. 

One of the double doors that lead to the outside of the building was thrown open and the light in the frame was so bright it was nearly impossible to actually see out. The roar grew louder just as a wild guitar riff burst out of the speakers. To many surprised cheers from the students, a group of motorcycles streamed into the gym driving around in circles as heavy rock music filled the space. 

The motorcycles circled the space for a few laps before they lined up, the passengers all slowly climbing off of the bikes. With Fig somewhere off to the side playing ‘Bad to the Bone’ the group of teachers marched into the beat, spreading out in lines. Jawbone loved any excuse to wear his leathers, though he was fairly certain no one in the school had actually seen him in any of his biker gear. Mostly because he technically wasn’t supposed to be driving a motorcycle with his lack of official drivers license. 

Gorgug started a heavy drum solo as the teachers began a very simple line dance that Jawbone would deny was based off of the macarena. Jawbone tried not to wince as he saw Sam and Ostentatia in the front row with their crystals out. From the way that they both were screaming Jawbone had a feeling they were being live streamed. 

Jawbone completed the final spin, the teachers more or less in sync as they struck a pose as the music faded. Another rumbling started in the parking lot, this time just from one bike though it managed to almost sound more sinister. Arthur Aquefort stepped to the front of the gym as the backdrop was pulled about by some of the theater bards. A small hint of magic appeared as his voice was magnified through the speakers, “And now we have our first speaker this evening! Here to regale us with his tales of courage, our very own captain of the Bloodrush team, Fabian Seacaster!”

As his name boomed through the speakers Fabian screeched into the gym on his own motorcycle, the glowing eyes of the skull on the front almost pulsed with the beat of the music. Driving around the gym as well, his fist raised to the sky, Fabian gave one of his bright smiles as the crowd cheered for his arrival. The bike passengers in the back who had continued to wear their helmets suddenly stepped forward, shedding their gear to reveal members of the bloodrush team in their jerseys. 

Fabian gave several highfives as he greeted the rest of his team before he walked up and stood at the podium they had constructed earlier. He waited for the cheers to die down, giving his trademark grin until finally it was quiet enough for him to speak. “Hello fellow students of Aquefort! Adventuring! Academy!” he shouted, pausing again for the students to cheer. 

Most of the students were still confused but excited enough to follow his lead and give a large round of cheering. “I appreciate each and every one of you for being here today to support the team. Now I know that we we’re not in the running for the championship trophy this year…but we have something even more important than a giant trophy. We! Have! That! Spark!” and here Fabian raised his hands in emphasis and cued some pyrotechnics. Jawbone thought it really emphasized his point though the sparks were slightly in danger of setting his platform on fire. 

The students settled down once more as they saw Fabian’s smile slowly disappear. “Now I do have one more thing I need to address. We didn’t have the opportunity to go to the championships because half of the starting line got sent on some quests at the worst possible time.’ Fabian shot a glare over at the principal, who as the only one able to send students on quests had known he was decimating the team with those assignments. 

“We have a great team. But I have noticed sometimes the student section of the stands feels a little bare. If you want your team to carry you to victory I’m gonna need more of you to show up to games. For instance everyone look at Ragh here!” The other boy looked a bit surprised to be called out in the middle of the speech. Jawbone had a feeling they had deviated fairly dramatically from the intended message. “Ragh carried this team and did the most rushing of the entire division.” Fabian started to point at a few of the players, calling out specific plays or stats that were exemplary this season. 

“That’s what we can do with the energy you’ve given us so far. But from what I’m feeling today I know that we can DOUBLE that for our first game!” Fabian had started shouting again, pacing a bit up and down the line. “And there’s one more thing I feel I need to address!” Fabian said somberly, his eyes moving across the room and making eye contact with random individuals. 

“I didn’t get ANY candy canes! What is wrong with this day when a humble blood rush team captain and best dancer on the field can’t even get a candy cane delivered to him on the last day before winter break! What is up with that?” He asked, his voice sounding incredulous as he seemingly confronted the entire school. 

Jawbone moves forward to take the mic and have Fabian walk it off when a cluster of some of the Bad Kids stepped out from where they were hiding. Fig and Gorgus were holding a cooler between them as Adaine, Kristin, and Riz followed up behind them. Gorgug looked extremely worried that he was going to drop the cooler even though it didn’t look like it was filled with a liquid. Jawbone narrowed his eyes to try to get a better look and he grinned when he realized what was happening. 

Fabian was cut off mid rant by a cascade of Candy Canes crashing down on his head as Gorgug tipped the cooler over him. Fabian managed to slip and fall as over a hundred of the pieces of candy fell on him, leaving him half buried. The crowd of students felt frozen as they watched Fabian process what was happening in real time. 

Just as Jawbone was starting to get worried again Fabian let out a “Ha HAH. Now this is what I am talking about! This is support!!” Fabian grabbed a handful of the candy canes and tossed them up in the air to fall back down on him. At one point Jawbone saw him start to do a Candy Angel. 

“Alright. I want to give a shout out to everyone who was there for us on DAY ONE!” Fabian started to say before being hauled off of the ground by his fellow Owlbears. “Day one of next season is two months from when we come back from Winter Break! Be there!” 

The students gave them a cheer one more time before the rest of the rally was taken up by faculty announcements and Arthur saying something about ‘being the best you can be in the TIME allotted to you. Unless of course you’re using Chronomancy!” 

Jawbone had been blocking out most of the staff meetings where Arthur tried to convince everyone that Chronomancy was the future of magic and ignoring his story was one of the quickest ways to get him to slow down when he was talking. Most of the students checked out as well since he refused to teach Chronomancy at a High School level and he was incredibly hard to find once someone met his strange qualifications. A few years ago someone tried to kidnap him and he just said they knew everything they needed to know.

The music started again as the teachers marched out of the gym and the bikers all started their engines again. After some excessive engine revving, especially from the Hangman, the group all did another lap of the gym before carefully leaving through the double doors. The student body were almost yelling to each other about what they had just witnessed, incredulous that they had seen motorcycles in the gym and teachers in all leather. 

Jawbone walked back out to make sure that everyone was getting down off the bleachers ok. There was still a pile of Fabian’s candy canes on the group although Kristin was standing there to make sure no one stole any on their way out. “Hey Kristin! Did Fabian ask you to watch his stash? I’m surprised he was able to let them out of his sight after missing them all day!” He gave a hoarse laugh. 

Kristin laughed with him and pointed at his jacket. “Yours has so many more patches than all the other teachers. I forget sometimes that we met you for the first time at a Biker bar where we had to like fight a bunch of people. It’s so weird that one day you can be having a cool conversation with some guy and then like a year later he’s your dad.” Kristin said this all with a grin, using her staff to push all the candy canes into a pile so she could scoop them all into a bag. 

Jawbone felt himself give a huge laugh, feeling that warm tingly feeling in his chest whenever one of the kids called him Dad or said they loved him. “Kiddo even though I almost died I definitely think that was one of the best days of my life. Thanks for being so cool about taking a chance on the unknown.” He said, gesturing a bit to her staff. 

He gave Kristen a quick hug because he couldn’t resist giving them some love when they said how cool he was. “Do you want me to grab these? I know your next class is starting soon.” He said, pulling up the sleeve on his leather jacket to check his wrist watch. “Last couple classes of the semester and then Winter Break can finally begin!”

Kristen hugged him back, laughing a bit as she said “Oh no we were thinking of skipping our afternoon classes and getting Basrar’s before heading home. I’m supposed to go meet everyone in the parking lot after this actually.” 

“Kristen. Kiddo. Next time you gotta actually have an alibi so I have plausible deniability. You can’t tell the guidance counselor that you’re skipping class even if he is your Dad and heard the entire plan on the car ride to school. Now I’ll grab these and you run off to class, right?” he said, winking at her. 

It’s not that Jawbone endorsed skipping classes and cutting school. It’s just that he knew the last few hours before break were probably going to be movies anyway. Plus Kristen and the rest of the kids needed to get better at actually breaking some of the rules without immediately admitting to what they had done. “I’ll see you at home after I’m done at work. If you still need a ride just shoot me a text and I can come pick everyone up!”

“Riiiight. I mean yeah I’ll definitely be going to class. Thanks for the Guidance Jawbone” She said, grinning at him as she walked backwards towards the door to the parking lot. 

Jawbone gave her a small wave and crouched down to put all the candy canes back into the cooler that had been abandoned nearby. Even though they were exhausting, Jawbone loved pep rally days the most.

[lifeinahole27]

Whoops. (And Card Announcement!)

Hi Friends,

I know, it’s been a while again since I wrote an actual post. I’m not even gonna bother on a life update because honestly, it’s a lot, and probably all deserves to be in an appointment with my therapist. 

In non-life news, I’m still here! I know, it doesn’t seem like it. Mostly I jump on and jump back off to avoid spoilers on Mandalorian and The Right Stuff as I’m watching those with mom and can’t always see them on the day they premier. 

I also know it’s been forever since I posted any writing. I’m hoping to get back to that, and soon! I signed up for the CS Secret Santa for like the fifth year in a row? I think? That sounds about right.

And if Secret Santa is here, guess what else it’s time for!

It’s time for Holiday Cards! I have decided to once again offer to send cards to friends and strangers, alike! 

Here’s how it works:

-Send me an ask with your name and mailing address, as long as you’re comfortable doing so. 

-If you’re a fandom friend, feel free to request a fic snippet. These are usually a page long, bullet-point-fic. They can be something new (around a trope or prompt of your choosing) or they can be headcanons/sidestories from my fics. Is there a scene you always wanted in a fic of mine that I didn’t write? Now is the chance to ask for it! The more specific you ask for, the better. It helps with the writing process if I’m not baking everything from scratch. 

-It’s entirely up to you to tell me what fic prompt you want. I will not be chasing these down as I have in years past. If you don’t tell me you want a fic bit in your card, you’re just getting a card. 

-If you have requested a card in the past, please resubmit an address. If I still have it, it’s either a) lost in an old notebook or b) lost in my asks/messages. I do not keep a steady address book. I really should, but I don’t. There are about five addresses I know I can easily find and maybe I can locate my tracker notebook from last year, but that’s not guaranteed. So if you send an ask that you want one, please send the address again, as well. 

-If you have a special holiday you celebrate (i.e., you do not want a Christmas card - @lt-sarai​ gets a birthday card from me every year) then please let me know. I have generic winter cards, a surplus of Christmas, and I have no qualms going out to get specialty cards - but I’m aiming to only make one trip to get cards this year so I need to know asap if you want something special. 

As always, I hope to send out cards no later than December 20, but I always try to get the international ones out first and fast so they arrive before New Year. But honestly, if you send me an ask up to NYE, I’ll still happily send a card. Oh yeah, and that’s the other thing: I don’t care where you live! I will send cards ANYWHERE in the world. 

Feel free to share if you’d like. This is something I do for joy and happiness, for the smile it brings to people, and for the smile it brings to me. You do not have to be a mutual to get one. Hell, you don’t even have to be following me! I love when random people find this post and request cards, because I love being able to do this. 

Added security: I will not be licking the envelopes. I know how to seal envelopes with a sponge and some water, and add tape if necessary. These will be appropriately cautious cards. 

And with that, here’s to happy card requesting! Thanks for sticking around my quiet, humble corner and I hope to have more stuff in the coming year once my writing comes back full-force. <3

[iphoenixrising]

Merry Christmas, Timmy

hi babes. For those of you that don’t celebrate, I still hope you are wonderful wherever you are. Kiddo was with her dad last night, so I was all by myself, got a little sad, and thought of this little thing for the holidays. I’ve done angsty ones before (like this one), but I won’t break your heart with it <3

**

And the softly falling snow flutters around Gotham, painting the city in a semblance of joy. Christmas lights on buildings and store fronts, a decorated tree in Robinson Square, all signals the city is feeling the good cheer.

Christmas Eve and all is calm. 

Except for the vigilante standing at the top of the Wallstone Apartments, grapple in one hand, planning his next jump while the snow piles on his shoulders, and the glinting lights sparkle off his harness in the night.

The muted comm in his ear is silent, no witty banter back-and-forth or calm, cool orders, no sounds of flying over the skyline or fights breaking out against the criminals. It’s as quiet as the city itself. 

He hadn’t expected any different, knowing the patrol roster would be empty. The Bats would be at the Manor for hours already, eating and celebrating the holiday, taking a well-deserved night off unless something awful happened, and major crime took them away from the warmth and laughter.

And even if he isn’t part of it all anymore, not since he’d brought back the OG Batman from time, even if he didn’t wear the R in front of his heart like a brand, even if he’d been gone long enough to get the point, that maybe he’d only been the stand-in all along, Red Robin is still determined to keep moving and make damn sure there would be no reason to disturb their family gathering tonight.

The pain in his chest at being the last one left standing had waned in the last year, enough that he could be in the city without it being such fucking agony. It’s easier to stand at his old haunt with nostalgia dogging his steps, looking out for the same hidden niches and fire escapes sturdy enough to hold his weight. It’s easier to stay out of the way when he’s back, to run Wayne Enterprises without getting in Bruce’s sight, to patrol the outskirts and gaps away from the family, to keep his comm on mute, to keep his penthouse Perch his main haven instead of coming back to the Cave or the Manor or the Bunker and pushing himself into their lives where he probably never should have been in the first place. 

It’s easier...for everyone.

It’s easier not to make waves but to just bow out gracefully and work on the backend instead. So, yesterday, he’d bid his teammates at Titan’s Tower good-bye as they all left to go to their families for Christmas, and he boarded a plane back to Gotham with every intention of keeping the city safe while the protectors got their time to celebrate.

And the crisp, cold air is hard on his lungs after thwarting the first of three escape attempts from Arkham, bruised to the bone from some pretty good fights along the way. A few hours before dawn and he could go back to his Perch, check his injuries from the last tussle with his team to make sure he isn’t approaching an infection, and pass out for the first time in over sixty hours.

Renee Montoya, as it happens, is also on patrol, and flags him down with a full cup of coffee, grinning at his whiteouts, pulling the collar of her jacket up while they talk about the few B&Es he’d already hit. 

A swing to the soup kitchen and further to the homeless shelter. Skimming along the roof of the crooked pawn shop in the Narrows and down to the usual hangout for a few of the lesser gangs, flaring the cape out to be obvious, sending the message someone is out tonight, and a beating might not be the best present for the morning. 

An alarm raised at Blackgate, and he’s riding the Ducati at breakneck speed, jaw tight against the bitter cold, ignoring the numbing in his legs and fingers. 

It’s no shock someone as smart as Falcone would have his minions try to bust him out when the guard duty is light for the holidays. 

He shoves one out of the way of a hail of bullets, his armor taking most of the damage, and his thigh taking another in a bout of stupidly bad luck. He brings them down fast enough to keep the fighting to a minimum and as many guards safe as possible. 

He stays long enough to zip tie the cranky ones, waits for the red and blue lights, the scream of sirens signalling back-up is on the way.

The ride back to town is hazy because he didn’t get the tourniquet on fast enough and blood paints a nasty wreath-like shape in the snow.

The Ducati coasts to a shadowy alleyway a few block from his Perch, and he falls off, drags himself behind a dumpster for a breather. Midnight chimes across the city, a Merry Christmas to go with his blood loss.

And when he’s finally caught his breath enough to stand with the whitehot pain in the meat of his thigh starting to be a problem, his ear cracks to life, hazy in his brainpan.

“Can’t trace him. He doesn’t have trackers in his suit.” “What the fuck ya talkin’ ‘bout, O?” “We will absolutely address that later, Hood. For now, we have priorities.”

He laughs off his insane imagination and manages to get to his feet. He hobbles to the Ducati, pushes it behind the dumpster, out of sight, and makes a note to get it in the morning.

The grapple is slippery in his hand, and he fumbles a little on the way up, not realizing it’s because his glove is bloody and not conducive to any kind of a good grip. No running this time, just hobbling his way two rooftops over and he’s home free.

Wavery, he doesn’t fall when Nightwing and the Red Hood land it on either side of him, but damn if it isn’t a close thing.

“Finally!” “Fer fuck’s sake, Red. Ya couldn’ta bother callin’ er some shit?”

Which throws him for an important second because what the hell are they even doing out?

The step away is automatic, stepping back from the vigilantes that, in their own ways, tried to kill him. Jason, at least, didn’t try to hide the intent.

Slowly, N raises a hand, “easy, Red. It’s okay now, we’re–” “Go home,” is all he can think to say. “Go back to your family. I’ve already taken care of the city tonight.” And turns his back on them both with copper in his mouth and the pain in his chest more acute than the one throbbing in his leg.

But the tall, imposing shadow right behind him manages to stop his thought processes because of all things, he sure as hell didn’t expect this.

“The guard at Blackgate reported you could have been hit,” Robin takes a step away from Batman’s side, a hand flying out to sweep the cape back, the reinforced tights stained even in the dim. “It seems he was correct.”

Penned in on all sides, B and Robin, N and Hood, all of them closing in on him.

“Is the bullet still in?” Hand on his shoulder and fuck is it familiar. “Why the hell didn’t cha call fer back-up?!” “We need to get him home. Now.” “Do not strain it, Drake. It may have hit an artery.”

Pulling out of Batman’s hold is not something he can remember doing before tonight, and it’s easier said than done. The hand tightens down for a second before Red makes another try, lunging back to keep them all in his sight.

The vigilantes around him go quiet, all those whiteouts fixed.

“Go home. I came out tonight so the Bats could enjoy Christmas. Arkham’s been secured and so has Blackgate.” He grips his thigh, tightens his hand so the pain helps clear his head a little.

Hood holds up both hand, palms out in the I come in peace that really has no place between them. 

(Really, what’s a slit throat and bat-a-rang in the chest between enemies?)

And Nightwing still has a hand out toward him, takes a careful, easy step. But the Batman? He gives absolute no fucks about what his middle son is spewing, just strides up, moves fast and furious enough to have Red Robin up in his arms, tight against the yellow insignia on his chest, turns in a flare of cape, and dives off the roof.

“What the fuck–?!”

The Batmobile slides open silently, and B falls right in the driver’s seat without a ruffle, slams the button to start the massive engine, an arm around Red’s to keep the younger vigilante against his chest, in his lap, held securely. Robin lifts the legs off his seat and joins them.

The Dynamic Duo ignore the pointed, “wait!” as the hatch slides back in place and the car takes off down the silent, snowy street.

Robin reaches to adjust the tourniquet, a quiet, “hold your breath, this shall not be...pleasant.”

B’s hand moves to grip his shoulder while the other pilots the big car, pulling Red Robin deeper into his body, trying to shield him in some crazy way that seems too much, too fucking much, to be real.

The adjustment takes him by surprise, the abruptness of it, of them, of this, taking him completely–

out.

Which is how the Batman leaps out of the Batmobile, with Tim limp and loose in his arms, Damian following on his heels with quicker steps.

“My word,” Alfred turns away from setting up coffee, a hopeful gesture for Master Tim’s sake. 

“That’s not what I hoped for,” Stephanie is out of the computer chair in a heartbeat, her ugly Christmas sweater still lighting up since Dick and Jay said there wouldn’t be a need for anyone else to suit up tonight. She and Cass elected to stay behind and keep Alfred company while they boys went to collect their wayward Robin. 

Cass moves silently past, already throwing the screen back to the medical bay, her eyes narrowed on the swaying arm and tights darkened with blood.

The echo of Ducatis hits as Alfred scrubs his hands, gloves up, and Steph helps Bruce maneuver around the traps in Tim’s suit. 

It’s all hands on deck with Cass and Dami helping to ready supplies, stripping off pieces of the suit when they can. 

Dick tosses his gloves and gauntlets the minute they throw themselves off the bikes, Jay dropping the helmet at his workstation on the way. 

By the computer, Barbara keeps searching, her likewise ugly Christmas sweater a tacky Riddler dancing with the tastefully done rhyme: Jingle Bells, Batman smells! Robin laid an egg. The Batmobile lost it’s wheel is absolutely perfect for the night.  

Until she digs around to see what Red Robin has been in to since his plane hit Gotham, then goes a little further to see what’s been on the Titan’s roster the last few weeks.

The report is grim, and she gives it with a hard tone as Duke comes into the medical bay with a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt, frowning over bullet fragments pinging in a metal tray.

“By his damn self?” Because Jay feels it bares repeating. “By himself,” Barbara confirms, wheeling cautiously around to reach through the bodies and squeeze the unmoving hand. 

The bruises and contusions make the point, drive home some very hard to believe things as the Bats take him in to the skin. The new scars aren’t in his medical report, and B shoves back the cowl, eyes moving to memorize each one, already planning how he’s going to ease Tim in to talking about them all.

Dick runs a bare hand through Tim’s hair while Jay puts in an IV, Damian grips a bare ankle, his expression grim. Cass winds an arm around Steph’s waist to ground her, watches her best friend blink back tears and hold a hand to her mouth in disbelief. Duke stands with arms folded over his chest, looks for any indication he can jump in and help.

In a few hours, everyone is in pajamas, in various stages of passed out around the couch when Tim comes to slowly, strangely warm for being out in the middle of Gotham on Christmas Eve.

(What the fuck?)

He catches his breath when the ceiling above is one he recognizes all too painfully. He doesn’t even get the chance to move to sit up, to try maneuvering around all the bodies splayed in his favorite sitting room in Wayne Manor because Bruce is someone with an instinct that flares when one of his Robins is obviously in need. 

He’s awake, completely alert before Tim’s hand moves the blanket off enough to try getting free over the back of the couch and out.

“Thank God,” and Bruce’s expression is so awfully, terribly relieved, Tim has to look away or be reduced to that teenage kid, shoving himself in their lives trying to save this man from himself. 

And since, well Batman, Bruce is up on the couch just that fast, holding Tim in his lap, against his chest, rocking him gently back and forth, arms tight. 

“I’ve been so worried about you,” breathed against his too long hair, “when you wouldn’t come home, wouldn’t come back. I thought...it doesn’t matter what I thought, but you’re home and we’re going to take care of you.”

“N-no, I can’t...I shouldn’t be here. I– you should have let me go, I don’t...I’m not–” but his voice wavers when those arms lock down, keep him from wiggling away.

“Yes, yes, you should be here. Right here with us where you belong. No more running, Tim. I’m not letting you go back to Titan’s Tower until you tell me everything. We’re going to solve cases and update your files and talk about what a pain in your ass the team is. We’re going to go to WE together next time and text each other in board meetings to keep from falling asleep. You’re going to patrol with me and Dick and Damian until you remember this is your home too.”

And Bruce only lets up enough to pull the blanket up to Tim’s shoulders, rocks them both gently while his other children sleep on.

“Bruce,” is watery and lost, is so many things that make his heart ache painfully. 

“I know, well, at least some of it,” he huffs against the top of his son’s messy bedhead, “but this? You coming back? This is my Christmas Miracle, Tim.” 

A big hand loosens enough to rub soothing circles on his back, feeling the tremble that go through Tim’s body that has nothing to do with the hole in his leg. But it’s fine because he’ll sit here all day and into the night, just like this if he needs to, will keep his middle son in place if it keeps Tim from running back to the Titans, to give him the evidence he needs to see. 

(How much they need him.)

He holds on and soothes while the tree in front of him blinks brightly and the presents below wait for the excitement of his sleeping kids to wake up and rip them open. And strewn around the base, packages and packages marked Tim and Timmy and Drake and Pain in the ass and Boy Wonder and Master Tim all from the last two years without their third Robin are waiting to be piled up in his lap and spill out on the couch beside him. Are waiting for him as patiently as all the sleeping bodies have been. Waiting for him to come home, waiting for him to finally, finally come back.

By the time Alfred comes in with a tray of coffee, hoping to see their missing member awake without trying to leave, Tim is laying exhausted against Bruce’s chest, the two talking softly.

“I just...I–” “I know, kiddo, I’m sorry you ever thought that.” “B...” “It’s okay. We’ll work it out, we’ll work together to make it better for you. Don’t give up on me, Tim.” “Like that’s ever going to happen? The rest of the world thought you were dead, you know.”

Seeing the look on Master Tim’s face when he takes the first sip of coffee is intensely gratifying, watching him devour the omelette (tomatoes and spinach, still his favorite of course) before Alfred’s other charges are awake sets a bit of starch in his spine because the young man is woefully under weight. Another omelette is certainly in order.

Dick barely blinks his eyes open before he’s latching on to his little brother with his own octopus hold engaged, and refuses to relinquish the bird while the others start waking up to gather around him. 

Tears are shed and the hugs are so tight, laughter following on the edges. Gifts are piled and the attention is set on him as he slowly opens them, blinking back so his eyes don’t spill over.

And he gets to have this warmth in the niche of Dick’s lap with hands desperately holding on, grounding him here in the Manor instead of in the silent Tower or his empty Perch. 

He gets Dami gingerly handing him a wrapped package that’s a book of sketches, him in his red and black, him with a grin and domino, him with an arm around Kon and Bart, him and Dick on patrol, him and B walking to the open Batmobile, ready to take on the night. He gets a serious lecture on the statistics of sepsis and a finger wagging in his face that Dami will not tolerate his family being in such danger, Drake, and yes, that includes you.

He gets Steph holding his hand too tight, her eyes watery and lower lip trembling with whatever she’d seen while he was riding the unconscious train, and Cass rubbing his scalp with her free hand and smiling that same gentle smile from that time she came for him in the fight against Ra’s crazy ass sister.

He gets Jason Todd putting a fresh cup of coffee in his hand and a soft half-smile that seems to tell a story he’d never thought he’d live long enough to hear, and Babs treating him the same as always, going on about the new Ransomware she’d planted in Lonnie’s systems just for a hoot.

He gets to low-five Duke when the guy helps get some of the intense attention away, steering most of them back to the tree to help hand out gifts and get spots cleared so Alfred can bring in food with Jay helping so the butler can catch a seat and accept brightly wrapped packages. 

And the day moves into afternoon, terrible Hallmark Christmas movies turn into awful 80′s action movies with Christmas themes (Jason making fun of Lethal Weapon is literally the best thing he’s ever seen), and it’s strange to see someone waiting for him in the hall anytime he’s had to use the bathroom, or hobbles upstairs to change clothes.

(He never suspected he’d still have a room, a place, a workstation, a set of clothes that fit. Never suspected any of this to be waiting, thought these days were long gone and acceptance was the road better taken.)

A chorus of hell no’s! and Dick literally wrapping him up in a stifling hold keeps him in for the night when he follows in the back of the group down to the Cave and picks up his suit, assesses the damage briefly but starts to wrap his wrists anyhow.

Jason is the one to take the tape out of his hand around Dick’s crushing denial, and another finger wagging in his face with some nu-uh Timmers. That shit ain’t gonna happen, feel me? on the side.

Alfred caps it all off, mildly remarking how Master Tim would absolutely be able to work comms in their absence since someone of the household would need to clean-up the mess upstairs since he apparently isn’t getting any younger.

So he finds himself plunked down in the chair by the big computer, O grinning next to him on her laptop, warming up her system to plug into the criminal side of Gotham and get their night started right.

And this chain of events might not be what he imaged a few hours, a few days, a few weeks ago when memories of the Manor hit him in his roughest moments, gave him a bit of strength to keep moving, but it may just be the evidence he needs to also believe in Christmas miracles.

[nothingiswrongwithyourarmrests]

2, 12, 29 for the 3 things ask! :)

3 films I watched on repeat

Same about lotr! I got the special extended dvd edition for Christmas when all the films were out and watched them up and down, and most of all the two towers because of Eowyn. I'm pretty sure I know them by heart still.

A knight's tale is one of my favourite films, and not only did I watch the dvd over and over but also I put it on every time it's on TV. It's just fun and Paul Bettany kinda steals the film but also not because all the actors are awesome.

Third: the young Victoria. I love everything about this film. The locations, the costumes. The political intrigue. Paul Bettany with that hair. Victoria and Albert being manipulated and controlled and ordered to marry BUT THEN IT'S TRUE LOVE!!!!!!!!!!!! And Albert's words at the end of the movie are the Height of Romance.

3 apps I use all the time

Okay I'm not gonna limit myself to three because I have Opinions:

Duckduckgo privacy browser- because fuck trackers

Antennapod to listen to podcasts

Newpipe to watch YouTube without ads and with the option to download. A lifesaver if your connection is slow or spotty

Zapp to watch all the German public TV stations in one app, I don't know how I lived before.

The BBC iPlayer radio app because sounds wants my email address and that's not on.

And Scrambled exif, because the internet shouldn't have metadata of my photos.

How do I get all those on my phone: with f-droid, the open app store, and

Aurora store, the google play store you can use without a Google account.

I run my phone without a Google account so they have a harder time collecting and consolidating my information.

And through aurora store I get this blue hellsite, and the game I'm playing now is called crazy defense heroes, a very cute tower defense game.

3 characteristics of the person I aspire to be

Fairness

Knowledgeability

Punctuality

[pansexual-pied-piper]

W,,, what's the penumbra podcast about tell me about it

IT'S THE ABSOLUTE BEST, BUCKLE UP:

Ok so all in all there's 2 main storylines (Juno Steel (aka the Junoverse)& Second Citadel), a two-shot story (The Coyote of the Painted Plains / Merry Christmas, Mary Anne) and 2 one-shot horror stories (Shaken & Home)

It's also queer as fuck

The Juno Steel stories are sci-fi noir detective stories about... well, about a private investigator called Juno Steel. He's a depressed disaster bi with an actual fucking noir detective trenchcoat who's trying a little too hard to fit the noir detective stereotype and he's adorably awkward & gruff. Also he calls himself a lady bc fuck gender anyway. Oh and he lives on Mars.

Recurring characters include his childhood best friends Dark Matters Agent Sasha Wire and actual human disaster Mick Mercury, Juno's techsavvy secretary Rita (adorable wlw cinnamon roll), badass survivalist PI colleague Alessandra "Cockroach" Strong, a police captain who's working on his relationship with his wife bc he loves her a lot and a mysterious homme fatal Juno meets during the first episode (don't wanna spoil stuff about him bc !!!!!!! also there's more I just don't wanna give too much away there's so many cool characters)

Clothes aren't gendered, anyone can wear high heels, Juno owns a wedding gown, everybody's pronouns get respected and nobody bats an eye at the mayor's address being Mx.

Welcome to Hyperion City. Beware the sewer rabbits.

The Second Citadel stories, on the other hand, are set in a medieval fantasy world with knights and monsters and stuff. The viewpoint characters in this one shift, unlike in the Juno Steel ones (btw Juno loves himself some dramatic monologues).

Featuring an awkward tracker being a good boi and his brother, a paraplegic almost-knight who has conversations with his horse fighting both monsters and the citadel's ableism; the Only Female Knight trying to succeed at knighthood despite the citadel's misogyny; a Very Strong, Very Literal and Very Loyal knight who's got his heart in the right place and is kind of a lovable dumbass; an anxious knight who loves poetry, his fianceé and [Spoiler] and who Must Speak His Heart; a brilliant herbalist who has Questions and who is the Actual Best Character (I love her); a Lizard who doesn't know how to deal with his own emotions bc he refuses to acknowledge that he has them; a Long Suffering Queen (can her knights please behave); and a witch who just wants to have some fun

Oh and there's a canon poly relationship, an aroace character coming out to somebody and an open relationship between two women. So that's fun.

[heyyyyadora]

phew I finally got @glimadora-week day 7 (AU) done!!! i really enjoyed it overall and tysm to the organisers for sharing all this great stuff!!!

my last one ended up a bit rushed but the idea was cute enough so. just gonna throw it out there, i was just way too busy over christmas to do it properly and figured it was better finished than trying to sweat over it longer than i needed to uvu

It’s 3am.

Glimmer is drunk.

Glimmer is sad.

Glimmer is so, so hungry.

It’s a recipe for disaster of the best kind.

She’s not sure exactly how it happened. The phone seemed to work by itself. She’s sure she never consented to calling up the new pizza place, there’s food in the kitchen and not enough money in her wallet, her hands betrayed her, but before she knows it she’s staring at the online tracker watching the little blip move from street to street, gradually getting closer and closer…

YOUR RIDER IS: ADORA

Adora. A-dor-a. Adore-ya. A door, ah! She giggles on the couch and promptly drops the phone on her face. What a cute name. Adora. My heaven-sent pizza saviour. My cheese-topped goddess. Adoraaaaaaaa.

When the doorbell rings she’s on the floor. She jumps up immediately and hits her head on the edge of the table. She yells something unprintable. She stubs her toe running to the hallway. Take a breath, Glimmer, you have to look somewhat presentable for the lady. Also, cash, cash, cash, where are you cash…

She stumbles the last few paces to the front door, props herself up on the frame. One last breath. She opens the door.

“Hiiiii-”

Her soul leaves her body.

“Damn, that’s a tough trip, you think you can handle it?”

“You wanna put a bet on it?”

“Hell no. Definitely.”

“Five bucks says I make it in ten.”

“Screw you. I’m in.”

Adora grinned, and did finger pistols on her way out the door before pulling her helmet on and in seconds was in the saddle, pedalling like her life depended on it though it was mostly her honour at stake.

She wasn’t rider of the month for nothing, though Catra was most of her motivation – she couldn’t resist the girl’s dares and wagers and sometimes just plain old taunts. But also she was just a damn good rider. She dodged and weaved between traffic effortlessly, not pausing even to offer a flipped bird in response to honked horns and flashed lights. She was at a full-on sprint for most of the way, even when she hit the hill.

Brightmoon hill. Bane of delivery riders everywhere.

Her colleagues cursed its name, but she thrived on the challenge. Her teeth were gritted in determination as she hit it in third gear, her heart thumping in her ears with each turn of the wheel. She pictured Catra back in the restaurant, staring at her watch with that smirk she just hatedwiping off her face.

She was there in eight minutes thirty-three seconds and her shirt was sticking to her back, her face glistened with a fresh layer of sweat. The pizza box was still piping hot.

Gleefully she rang the bell with the most genuine of cheery grins plastered over her face. She heard… something unrepeatable from within. That was a reaction. Seconds passed. There were signs of movement but it was a full minute before the door finally opened, revealing a dishevelled-looking, pink-haired girl doing her utmost to stay upright while offering a wonky grin.

“Hiiiiii!”

She seemed to get lost after that. Adora tried her best not to laugh. This was not her first “It’s 3am and I’m wasted” delivery and it sure wouldn’t be her last.

“Hi!” She waited for a response but none was coming fast. Smoothly she prompted, “Pizza!”

“Pizza!” was the reply, with a nod. Yes, pizza. Pizza good!

“Twelve dollars!” Small sentences. Small sentences worked best at 3am.

“Twelve… dollars!”

Ah, communication was wonderful.

A handful of paper bills were held out her way and Adora exchanged them for the pizza box before counting them out. She paused at the end, smiling.

“This is twenty!”

She got a blank stare. Adora waved the cash in the girl’s face slowly. “Twenty… dollars!”

“Oh! Keep it!”

“Tip? Thank you!”

“Thank you, angel!”

“…Sorry?”

The door slammed shut in her face.

Oh my god I called her an angel.

“Oh my god, she called me an angel.”

Catra’s laughter rang out heartily from the phone speaker.

“Hey Adora, you’re up.”

“No worries, boss- huh. This address is familiar.”

“Bow, that’s a terrible idea!”

“No, it’s a great idea!”

“…It’s an okay idea.”

Glimmer put her hands on her face. “Mermista you are supposed to be on my side with this.”

“What. I’m hungry, okay.”

“Then how about we order literally anything other than pizza from any other place in town.”

“I want pizza.”

Mermista shrugged nonchalantly but the corner of her mouth betrayed the slightest of smirks.

“No no nonononono if it’s her again I will literally die- BOW PUT THE PHONE DOWN.”

“Hiiiii, yeah we’d like three large pizzas, one plain, one seafood specia-AAAA MERMISTA HELP”

Mermista coolly reached over to take the handset as Bow wrestled with an enraged Glimmer now grappling on his front, her height immediately making her all but impervious to a similar attack. Without missing a beat she went on, “Yeah one seafood special and one spicy vegetarian to 120 Brightmoon Hill. Yeah. Uh-huh. Thanks.”

“MERMISTA NO-”

“Sorry Glimmer, this is for lesbian Jesus.” Mermista tossed the handset back to her and reclaimed her seat, legs kicking over the side.

Ten minutes later and Adora was once again glowing, caked in sweat and pulling up to the front of the house. She double checked the address. Double checked the house front. Yep, this was the one alright. She sniggered to herself as she picked up the precious payload, the three boxes stacked on one hand as she rang the doorbell.

She was answered, to her surprise, not by a pink-haired little cutie but by a taller, blue-haired, still definitely pretty girl but more a sort of “Chaotic hot” than a “Chaotic cute”.

The girl said, “Oh.” That was new. Her eyes bulged out and she seemed to trip over her words which immediately broke that cool hot ice-queen aesthetic she had going. Quickly she called back, “Uhh, Glimmer! Pizza’s here.”

Adora waited. The pizza steamed in her hand. She simply put a hand on her hip and smirked.

A minute or so later a familiar face returned, much more sober-looking than before. ‘Glimmer’, huh? Glimmer again stammered, her face flushed up. “Ah- hello! You’re… pizza! Right?”

“Right! You got friends over, huh?”

“Y-yeah, well, it was their idea to get pizza… I mean, not that I didn’t not want pizza! From you, that is, you did… good pizza! Last time.” Adora’s grin widened and the girl balked. “Aaaahhh forget last time! I was, uh, really, you know,”

“Drunk?”

“Yeah! I mean, uh, not that I wasn’t- just because I was drunk, you know, doesn’t…”

Adora waved a hand at her with a grin. God, this was precious. Instead she just tugged out the receipt smoothly and scribbled on it.

“Here you go… three pizzas for twenty bucks! Plus something extra…”

Glimmer returned to the room a minute later, breathing heavily. She dropped the pizzas on the table. She walked over to the couch and crawled onto it. She buried her face into a cushion and screamed.

Mermista spoke up first. “Uh, so, Glimmer? Yeah, you’re like… totally understood, alright? She was, uh… something.”

Bow’s sparkle-eyes had activated and he bounced on his seat. “Awwww, now you both got a crush on her! Huh? What’s that, Glimmer?”

Glimmer was waving the receipt in his face. She screamed again, before slowly looking up at the two of them.

“…She gave me her number.”

[wicoppi]

While I’m on the subject of 05x01 The Prisoner and 05x02 Blood Duel, I want to talk about Pidge. @marayamusic​ messaged me with some really great points about Pidge that I didn’t address in my earlier posts  (here and here) because in those I was focusing more on Shiro, Lotor, and the team as a whole. But marayamusic pointed out that Pidge was being extremely single minded in this episode, focused only on getting her dad back, and how that was meant to emphasize that Pidge is still a kid. 

And I’m so glad they brought this up. Where Pidge is concerned, the point of this episode was to continue her arc and highlight her shortcomings. Pidge is a main character whose focus has been on getting her brother and father back from the Empire, no matter the costs. Clearly. She was willing to trade another’s life for her father’s. And that’s… concerning to say the least. 

The point I was trying to make in my earlier posts was that the team as a whole had the forethought and moral compass to not trade Lotor to Zarkon and then simply walk away from the situation. It’s easy to feel like they were going to do that because this is (in part) a Pidge-centric episode and Pidge absolutely was ready to give Lotor away no matter the risk if it meant getting her dad back. 

Pidge was being very short sighted in this instance because her primary goal was RIGHT THERE and Lotor, in her eyes, was still an aggressor to be dealt with. This was a win/win solution for her. Get her dad back, get rid of Lotor. And for Pidge, what Zarkon would do with Lotor after the trade would not be her problem / responsibility / fault. Granted, if Zarkon had killed Lotor during / because of this transaction, I think Pidge’s views would have changed if not immediately then over time and she would have grown to see the role she played in his death. And Pidge would have had to carry that weight for the rest of her life. 

This is why team is so important. A good team will shore up behind you, support you, and keep you in check when you’re not seeing clearly; and that’s what Team Voltron did for Pidge in this scenario. 

But the thing I focus on here is they specifically wrote Pidge to be immature in this episode. Pidge has proven to be an intelligent, pivotal player throughout the show- making keen observations on the battlefield (see- Greening the Cube), bringing facts to the team they otherwise wouldn’t have (see- color-coded Galra tracker), and successfully finding her family across the expanse of the entire universe. Those are some pretty impressive feats for anyone regardless of age. 

But in this episode, they brought us back to the fact that Pidge is young- making snap judgements and decisions, acting brash and reckless. When discussing what to do, the camera angle is looking down at Pidge so she appears small. They sharpened her features resulting in a lean (read: young) and manic look. And upon getting her father back, they don’t show a strong empowered person who is finally victorious. They show a soft, young girl safe in the comfort of her father’s arms. 

This is an important commentary for Pidge- she is still young, naive, immature. She still has her failings. She still has room to grow. And they remind us of that at this point because we are only halfway through the show. As one of our heroes, Pidge’s story can’t end now. By illustrating her shortcomings and youth at the point when she is completing her primary/first goal, the writers are setting Pidge up for a continued arc- we’re not done with her. 

And I am so excited to see where they take Pidge next! She’s such an excellent character and one I wish I’d had during my early formative years. Pidge is strong and empowered, ambitious and ready to swing with the big players despite her stature, age, and experience. She breaks so many stereotypes while still maintaining her core values, her passions, that ‘kid on Christmas morning’ twinkle she gets in her eyes when she’s excited. Yes, she still has flaws, but she still has growing to do. And yes, she needs to reconcile what she was willing to sacrifice in the name of family, but that will come with age and perspective. Pidge made some highly-questionable decisions, but that doesn’t lessen her importance to this story or her status as a hero.

[daniloqp]

Russian hackers are trying hundreds of networks with brute force

Russian hackers are trying hundreds of networks with brute force

https://theministerofcapitalism.com/blog/russian-hackers-are-trying-hundreds-of-networks-with-brute-force/

The discovery of Russia is devastating SolarWinds espionage campaign puts the focus on the sophisticated supply chain hijacking techniques of foreign hackers in Moscow. But now it is clear that, throughout this SolarWinds spy and as a result, another group of Kremlin hackers has maintained its usual daily routine, using basic but often effective techniques to open up virtually any vulnerable network they could find in the United States and the global Internet.

On Thursday, the NSA, the FBI, the DHS Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Agency and the UK National Cybersecurity Center issued a joint advice warning of hundreds of attempts by pirates with brute force around the world, all carried out by the 26165 unit of the Russian military intelligence agency GRU, also widely known as Fancy Bear or APT28. The hacking campaign has targeted a wide range of organizations, including government and military agencies, defense contractors, political parties and consultants, logistics companies, energy companies, universities, law firms and media companies. . In other words, virtually all sectors of interest on the Internet.

The hacking campaign has used relatively basic techniques against these targets, massively guessing usernames and passwords to gain initial access. But cybersecurity agencies warn that the Fancy Bear campaign has successfully violated several entities and leaked emails to them, and that it is not over. “This long brute force campaign to collect and exfiltrate data, access credentials and more, is likely to be underway, globally,” said Rob Joyce, director of cybersecurity at the NSA, in a statement accompanying the ‘assessor.

“There is nothing we can do to stop Moscow from spying.”

John Hultquist, Mandiant

GRU Unit 26165, more than the spy for the SVR intelligence agency that conducted the SolarWinds campaign, has a history of piracy. Fancy Bear was behind the piracy operations addressed everyone on the Democratic National Committee and the Clinton Campaign in 2016 to the Committee on International Olympic Organization and the World Anti-Doping Agency. But there is still no reason to believe that the intentions of this latest effort go beyond traditional espionage, says John Hultquist, vice president of security firm Mandiant and longtime GRU tracker.

“These intrusions don’t necessarily portend the messes we think of when we think of the GRU,” Hultquist says. But that doesn’t mean the hacking campaign isn’t significant. He considers the joint advice, which names the IP addresses and malware used by hackers, to be an attempt to add “friction” to a successful intrusion operation. “It’s a good reminder that GRU continues to carry out such activities and seems to be focused on more classic espionage targets such as political leaders, diplomats and the defense industry.”

The inclusion of energy sector targets in this piracy campaign generates an additional red flag, especially given this. another GRU piracy team, Sandworm, are still the only hackers who have caused real blackouts sabotaging Ukrainian electricity services in 2015 and 2016. The Department of Energy warned separately in early 2020 that hackers had targeted a U.S. “energy entity” just before Christmas 2019. This notice included IP addresses that later coincided with the unit GRU 26165, com first reported by WIRED last year. “I always worry when I see GRU in the energy space,” Hultquist says. Still, he still sees simple espionage as a likely motivation. “It is important to remember that Russia is a petro state. They have a strong interest in the energy sector. This will be part of their intelligence gathering requirements.”

GRU brute force piracy may be “opportunistic” rather than targeted, argues Joe Slowik, who runs intelligence firm Gigamon and first glimpsed the connection between the Department’s alert. Energy and the GRU. He claims that the computer can simply access any network it can find before letting that access pass to other Kremlin hackers with more specific missions, such as espionage or disruption. “They have the task of‘ moving forward and gaining access points in organizations of interest, ’” Slowik says. “They then sit there or pass it on to the parties in charge of more involved intrusions based on the access they can get.”

Source link

[aion-rsa]

Line of Duty Series 6 Episode 6 Review: No Comment!

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This Line of Duty review contains spoilers.

Adiós Marcus. So much for Jimmy Nesbitt’s starring role. Those of us looking forward to a Hastings v Thurwell Northern Irish grudge match next week will have to go without. Unless the finale features an interview between AC-12 and a fly-buzzing body bag, that’s Nesbitt’s character done with. The Jed giveth, and the Jed taketh away. 

Who giveth the order to kill Señor and Señora Thurwell? (Some time ago by the looks of those decomposing corpses. Certainly longer ago than the few days between their discovery and ‘Unknown User’ ordering Jo to get rid of Kate.) It would have to have been the real ‘H’ covering his tracks – surely CC Osborne rerouting his IP address via Spain with a VPN? Osborne’s guilt was decided the second he put trackers on AC-12’s cars. What possible reason, other than needing to know when they were coming for him, could he have had to do that? He’d already closed down the unit and forced Ted to retire. The trackers were one precaution too many from that nervous little piggy. 

Credit where it’s due, without Osborne’s trackers, Jo and Kate might have successfully gone to ground, checked into a Travelodge, split a Jalfrezi and had all this out. We’ve him to thank for the exhilaration of watching Kate Bullitt around the streets in Steve’s little Mazda, her finest action sequence since the season three finale. 

Kate survived the shoot-out, as if there were ever any doubt. After all, this is DI Fleming we’re talking about, the auburn-haired, steel-eyed ma’am of calm. After a night in which she was lured to her death, held at gunpoint, killed a man, participated in a city-wide car chase that ended in an armed police barricade plus helicopter, got arrested, and performed a masterful emergency stop that saved Steve’s tyres from a spike strip, Kate let only a single tear fall down her album-cover cheekbones. What a woman. I’ve melted down in grander style about an over-long queue at Morrison’s. Fleming then spent a night in a cell (all three of AC-12’s major players now having had their turn at wearing the sweatshirt of shame) and the next day was back in the roll neck jumper of justice, having assumed command of the rapidly depleting MIT. 

Let’s hope that whatever they dig up from under that White Rock cement floor is incriminating enough to put CC Philip Osborne on the other side of the table in the finale interview scene – a Line of Duty tradition as faithfully observed as mince pies at Christmas. Unless, that is, we’ve already had our extra-long interview in this week’s Jo Davidson marathon. If so, weighing in at 29-plus minutes, nobody could complain about being short-changed.

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That was an acting masterclass from Kelly Macdonald, who executed perfect control over every emotional valve. Information flowed, and was cut off, flowed again, and was stopped dead. The different inflections Macdonald gave to each side of Jo: the bewildered victim, the noble repentant, the ultra-capable cop who breathes out lies like CO2… were all captivating. This was the pivot point when our sympathies moved firmly in Jo’s direction. She exonerated Terry and Farida, and admitted to manipulating Buckells (“It wasn’t hard.” You don’t say. There are lamp posts with more wile.) Also, Jo clearly loves Kate as much as we do, which is only going to endear her to the nation.

The interview scene was also a writing masterclass in precision. The ‘No Comments’ told their own story, one that showed Jo as surprisingly virtuous. She admitted to everything she could personally take the blame for (and more, in the case of Ryan’s death) but expertly dodged anything that would incriminate the OCG or their police counterparts. No fool, Jo knows that her choice is to stay quiet or be killed. There’s nowhere they can’t get to her, as her final scene being menaced by those cartoony HMP Brentiss goons showed. 

On the subject of cartoon evil, Pat ‘the Guvnor’ Carmichael couldn’t have looked more bent if she’d tried – which, on this drama, probably means that she isn’t and that for her, it’s just all about her next promotion. Pat’s only an anti-corruption officer insofar as she’s anti any suggestion that corruption exists, unless it hurts AC-12. She powered down for much of this episode, only activating her malfunctioning theme park robot smile whenever the conversation approached Osborne, whom she treats with the veneration afforded to one of the starrier popes.

It was generous, this penultimate instalment, giving us a lot. With an hour still to go, the case is more or less solved. We know who killed Vella, we know why, and we know how. We know what steps were taken to suppress the investigation and by whom. We know Jo Davidson’s terrible family secret (and now so does she), and that she’d been coerced into a life of corruption. We firmly suspect that CC Osborne has been pulling the strings since day one. What we don’t yet know is whether poor, poor Ted will run out of time before he can be brought down. Things were left with Jo in danger, Steve in trouble, the gaffer in bits, and Kate in charge. With one episode of this ludicrously diverting series remaining, can AC-12 get this job done? For the sake of Jesus, Mary, Joseph and the wee donkey, let’s hope so.

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Line of Duty series 6 concludes on Sunday the 2nd of May at 9pm on BBC One.

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