#code july day 16

[typewritingyip]

The Arcturus Missions

Part Thirty Six - Reprieve

Part Thirty Five

———

Arcturus mission log, update eight, time frame between seven and fourteen months post launch.

Limited contact with the crew, mission trajectory nominal. 

…

Classified document, code required.

Access granted.

Arcturus crew one has been labeled as MIA, since July 24th with no contact. Connection number increasing, now estimated at 17 years, 4 months, 16 days, 7 hours, and 10 minutes. Counting up.

Life support across suits was last labeled as stable, updated two months ago.

Relay satellite has launched, estimated contact, unknown.

Pilots projected to be living, food supplies expected to run out within the initial six months, adjustment required. 

Contact with pilots, not anticipated, mission labeled inconclusive failure.

…

Disconnecting from the server.

—

To be perfectly honest, he knew he’d drank far too much last night. Hound had at least been smart about it, taking a small amount and hardly finishing it. No, he had wanted to try the twins' liquor and now was facing the consequences.

His head was killing him, even in the dark comfort of the bedroom, a set of snorers nearby just caused enough sound to be painful.

It had to be after sunrise sometime, though days in Iacon seemed both longer and shorter than they did on Earth. At least now that they’d seen half of the seasons the strange planet had to offer.

Sliding off the cott, Breakdown held his face in one of his hands, stumbling towards the door. A cool shower would do him some good and he knew it, maybing a cooling pack too, yeah that could feel nice.

Notably, the normal cybertronian presence was not in the room which wasn’t entirely abnormal. Prowl was a busy mech, one that would come and go without fanfare to the point it was hard to tell if he were there or not. Though if Jazz was sleeping, he tried to be nearby. 

When the door slid open, the light was painful and he winced. Holding a hand in front of his eyes, Breakdown shuffled into the living room.

Not really noticing the two mecha sat there, both watching his pained movement in shock. 

Prowl was staring at him and was at a loss for words, from what Jazz said none of them were really meant to be alive in the morning. It had been a figure of speech but none of the humans were meant to be up before mid-day at least.

Dragging a hand down his face, Breakdown groans and glances around, frowning a bit, “De miy kostyum?” He looks up and freezes like a deer caught in headlights, Prowl’s optics cycle twice, trying to process what he said while Soundwave continued to just stare. 

It was bad enough that Sunstreaker had been caught out of his suit on a mission in front of Bluestreak, but Bluestreak was a drop in the bucket something that was bound to happen. Being out of the suit in front of Soundwave was probably the worst case scenario. 

His suit was nowhere in view, his assistance suit with it, along with his translator. Even as the pair started to speak he couldn’t even remotely tell what they were saying. Shuffling out of the room was not going to be possible, the way Soundwave seemed to be watching every move even behind his visor. 

Taking in a slow breath, he turned to go back towards the bathroom, his head still aching especially as his heart raced.

He was only stopped by Soundwave’s foot falling into his path, he stared up slowly, taking another slow breath, “I need through.” His voice was still rough, but at least Prowl understood, who was now standing behind him, talking with Soundwave.

This conversation was starting to feel very one sided. 

The yelp he let out through was not a sound he’d typically make, Prowl’s hands were strangely rough as they hoisted him up into the air and to eye level with them both, “Breakdown, I apologize for the miscommunication. Jazz stated that you all would, well, be sleeping like the dead for quite some time.” His world was spinning unpleasantly. 

“Normally, I would be, but they are snoring.” Prowl nods a bit and looks to Soundwave, saying something else incomprehensible before raising his voice to the mech, it was like a bat striking the base of his skull. Unpleasantly loud and far too close, “Please, my head. I am simply trying to get my suit.” With a light jossel he was set back down behind Soundwave, the bathroom door open.

Stepping inside, the door was closed behind him. It was painfully bright in the bathroom but at least his suit was in here, though it wouldn’t help with the explanation it would at least help with some of the understanding. He shuffled over painfully.

—

To be fair, Prowl honestly did think that the humans were going to be asleep for a while, so to watch Breakdown walk out of the room, clearly in pain, was not in his plan. Especially since Soundwave had insisted on them talking this morning in person. 

He had no idea what the poor dying man said, but Soundwave was entirely too focused, “Soundwave.” Prowl tried, standing and following him as he attempted to block Breakdown from reaching the refresher. 

Grabbing up Breakdown was instinct, the sound Soundwave had made was far too familiar. Either the sound of deep interest or the noise when he laid eyes on his cassettes, neither was a good thing. 

Ignoring Breakdown in his grasp, Prowl leveled his gaze at Soundwave, “Soundwave, this is not something to be looked over or asked about, let him into the refresher, then we will talk.” Shaking his head slowly, Soundwave shifted his stance some, “No. Soundwave: want to know why Prowl is harboring an organic.” Prowl tried very hard not to roll his optics.

With a glance back to Breakdown, he vented, talking quietly to the man in English. The poor man looked sick, clearly feeling unwell. Listening to him for a moment before nodding and looking back to Soundwave.

”Soundwave, you need to let him through. Once he is able to obtain his suit we will be able to speak more clearly.” Soundwave shook his helm slightly, “Soundwave: concerned, why there is an organic here. Iacon is not safe for organic beings.” Gritting his denta lightly, Prowl sucked in a vent.

He couldn’t help it, these were Jazz’s friends, those who served as his brothers in arms, shaking his helm, “I will explain, but he is in pain and needs his suit!” His other servo reached out and activated the door lock as Breakdown spoke again. His voice was pained.

Prowl, shoving around Soundwave, set Breakdown behind him in the refresher before closing the door again, turning back to a glowering Soundwave. He straightened and glared right back, “These organics are under my protection.” Soundwave’s visor cycled slowly, “Organics? Prowl: remarked in the plural?” Cycling his own optics, Prowl swore.

—

New Kaon was really something else, if Sunstreaker thought that Iacon was an interesting place then the culture shock of New Kaon was staggering. 

When they first came to the planet, it had just been for the fight, a there and gone sort of day. Like his first trip to New York, that had been a chaotic few days but this had been such a fast turn around it wasn’t even funny. 

Now though, they were able to walk through the city together. Bluestreak was just as excited, not having seen New Kaon this close before either. Walking side by side and hand in hand, it was almost like they were getting some time off.

Truthfully, they were meant to be monitoring the system but it was off shift for the pair of them and it was nice to be able to walk through the city together. 

Bluestreak was smiling, looking through the street stalls with wide eyes, and Sunny was smiling stupidly. 

He wasn’t entirely sure of when everything happened or how they were going to make it work, but this was part of life he’d shoved to the side when he became a pilot. It had been a rough relationship after another, and no one liked dating a pilot. This was different though, this had come so easily.

Looking at Blue, Sunny was still wearing his stupid smile, “So, they built this place during the war for the wounded and such, a place to at least call home when they had to leave Cybertron.” Nodding slightly, he squeezed Blue’s hand lightly, Blue turned and smiled at him, “Even in our darkest hours, it seems we try to find the light.” Blue took his breath away.

”Wow.” He really couldn’t manage much more than that, Bluestreak’s face burning but still wearing a smile, “You know a lot for a place you’ve never been.” His voice was almost quiet, but the soft tone left no question of how stupid his face probably looked. Bluestreak’s eyes almost lit up, “It’s all interesting, you know?” Nodding a bit, Sunstreaker fell back into a comfortable silence, listening to Bluestreak intently.

They could walk through the city all day, just them together and Sunny didn’t think it would even make him tired. He hardly would even notice his draining implants or the ache of the connection from overuse, it all just felt secondary.

Maybe it was stupid or ridiculous, they should be resting or eating but he was learning so much and getting to spend more time with Blue. More time than just over a camera while they both pretended to sleep, while his 

He was getting to learn about his world for once, not the other way around.

Blue smiles at him and shakes his head, “You’re lost in thought Sunny, come on.” He looks up, “Hmm?” Chuckling, Bluestreak shakes his head, “Come on Sunny, there’s supposed to be a really nice cafe over this way and I’m starving.” Chuckling lightly, he followed, keeping hold of Blue’s hand. The war felt a million miles away even just for that moment. 

They might have been sent to their deaths, but life seemed to be funny in that way. It gave him more to live for here than he’d had on Earth. 

Tucking himself against Bluestreak’s side, he put the thoughts of Earth aside, the ones of overuse on the back burning and smiled, content to be here in New Kaon with him. Not worrying about a thing.

—

He thought he would have gotten used to the bitter cold of North Iacon with how often they went there but no, he sat at the heater with Jazz, trying not to freeze to death. North Iacon was miserable and he’d never understand why anyone would choose to live up here, though it wasn’t like many did.

It apparently was a mining sector, not unlike where headquarters was on Earth. Half the hangers were built off of old mining tunnels that had been re-braced to hold the suits so they wouldn’t be able to be scanned from above.

Sideswipe was shivering and miserable, even with the layer of thermals, his assistance suit, the mech suit, and the heater. Sometimes it was just hard to get warm. Jazz on the other hand, seemed nearly perfectly fine. Then again, he was from farther north back home, somewhere near the Great Lakes he was pretty sure. 

Elita and Chromia were standing at a different heater, speaking quietly with Prowl since their temporary relocation had landed them so far north, “Bet it’s warmer in Paraxus right now.” Sideswipe glanced towards Jazz, hoping for something.

The way the man spoke about Paraxus, it reminded Sideswipe of how he spoke of Miami or how any of the others spoke of home. Pinging Jazz, he smiled at the camera as Jazz’s own smile filled one of his screens. He certainly didn’t look as cold as Sideswipe felt. 

“It was snowing the last time I was in Paraxus, so not much different. Sorry Sides.” Groaning, he rested his head on his knees, “Sunny gets to be off on warm New Kaon, but we’re stuck here in the cold. This fucking sucks.” Jazz laughed.

Shrugging a bit, Jazz sighs after he stops laughing, “It’s just our turn, plus Elita is trying to figure you out. She’s volunteering for these positions to make you grow closer with everyone. It’s what she does, you should have seen what it was like when Nickel became her medic.” Shaking his head a bit, Sideswipe sighs a bit.

He wasn’t sure if that was the worst case scenario or not, glancing up and over at Elita, then towards where the others were patrolling, he couldn’t help but smile a bit. Jazz tried to hide his grin, “This is why we were placed the way we were, somehow he can tell.” Glancing up, Sideswipe shakes his head a bit, “Sorry?” Jazz smiled, “Joan, Optimus, he can just… tell who we’d fit well with. Even though we obviously fit well together, Hound could see we were on the verge of getting each other killed, hell we could all feel it.” Looking back down, Sideswipe sighed.

He knew that they were right, every time it was mentioned, he knew. In the last few months he had felt as close to peaceful as he could when away from the crew. Other than for the overuse, which sucked. His implants ozzed everyday and the smallest inconvenience almost sent him into a blind rage. But Hound had been right to split them up.

The standing peaceful feeling outweighs the constant anxiety and the burning rage he felt whenever the skin around his implants became inflamed or he caught a glance of Bluestreak.

Being split up made it easier to ignore the overuse, when it wasn’t dislocating his joints or causing his skin to peel and bleed. Even then, he wasn’t worrying over his brother every moment of the day, “Yeah, I saw the change too.” Jazz’s voice was quiet, smiling softly. 

“I didn’t realize it, you know, I was too focused on being mad.” Jazz hums and nods, but looks to Elita and Chromia, “But?” Sighing, Sideswipe nods a bit, “But, we’re all doing better after those first few weeks.” Shoving his shoulder, they laugh. 

Sideswipe could be bleeding out from his implants at this moment, if he wasn’t freezing, but he didn’t care. Standing, he pats Jazz’s shoulder before jogging over towards the others. Cold be damned. 

—

Central Iacon wasn’t as cold as the North, at least according to Sideswipe, Hound had yet to experience it himself.

He honestly should be eating or sleeping or doing literally anything other than being in his suit, with them shipping back out in a few hours, but there was to much to do in Iacon. Specifically, with Mirage. 

If Mirage hadn’t asked, he’d probably be asleep right now but they were out in the market near the spires. He’d never been that close to the spires before and if they looked big from the apartment, they were huge from just under them. Casting a shadow across the streets that everyone around seemed far to adapted to.

Sighing a bit, Hound kept looking around at everything in the stalls, rolling his shoulders a bit while his implants drained. To be fair, the overuse had lessened by a lot since unlocking his old class coding and going through the crash, but it didn’t get rid of everything. At least he wasn’t scratching the skin off in chunks anymore, he’d gone to papery thin for a while there. 

It was a terrible way of putting it, but he was starting to feel human again. Other than when he was connected, then he felt larger than human. 

The coding between hunter and striker was so different, it was staggering. One felt like just controlling the suit, moving through and using it like the giant weapon it was. The other felt like it was an extension of yourself and he’d honestly forgotten the feeling after the coding had been, effectively, shut off. 

Being able to wander through Iacon, just about like everyone else, made it far more desirable to do than it had been before. Before, all he wanted to do was stay in the apartment with the others, now he truly got to see Cybertron from almost a cybertronian perspective.

”Hound, do they have polish on Earth?” Humming in question, he glances up at Mirage, who was holding several tins, frowning down at them. Tilting his head slightly, he chuckles a bit, “Uh, yeah, I guess.” Both car polishes and fancy lotions rushed through his mind. 

For the briefest moment he could smell the engine grease that had always been on his fathers hands and the soft scent of lotions his mother had worn before she passed, trying to hide the smell of hospital from him. 

Okay, so maybe not all of his overuse symptoms were easing. The hallucinations and flashbacks were starting to grate at his nerves.

”Well, you either have polish or you don’t, so do you?” Sighing a bit, he shrugs and nods, deciding it was the easier answer, “Yeah, basically, but uh there seems to be a lot more selection here.” Mirage glanced up, still holding several tins, “Well, which one smells nicest to you?” He gestures at the table and Hound stares for a long moment.

In his head, he was swearing, glancing over each polish trying to figure out which label, “Uh, Well, I’ve noticed your kinds olfactory sensors are significantly more acute than ours. We can only smell when something is toxic or specifically damaging to our systems. Uh, fight or flight. I guess.” It was a stupid answer, it was a very stupid answer but the only one he had.

Without even looking, he knew the stare he was getting from Mirage was just another one of horror. 

Sighing, Hound looked over and Mirage did have that face, “Would it make you feel better to hear that we weren’t exactly able to smell before becoming a pilot?” Frowning a bit, Mirage looks down at the polishes, “Do any of these smell dangerous to you?” And Hound stalled.

A smile started to take over his face, moving over and taking them one at a time, scanning the materials in them.

”This one, the others are fine.” Nodding a bit, Mirage grabbed up the two that had been fine before going to the checkout, Hound’s heart was pounding and racing. 

Mirage smiled at him, carrying the polishes in a small bag, offering his free hand. Hound’s mouth was dry but he took Mirage’s hand, heading back out into the marketplace. How could something so small make his throat tighten, make his heart race. Looking at Mirage, he couldn’t help but smile just a bit more, “Thank you, for asking.” 

Nodding a bit, Mirage smiled some, “Well, I don’t exactly want to smell toxic or dangerous to you, or put any of that on you the next time we get caught up in a sandstorm.” Unable to hold back the laughter, Hound nodded, grinning. 

—

It was rare for them all to be in the same place anymore. Of course it happened, but certainly not like it did those first six months, today though was something more of a requested R&R. 

They didn’t know when exactly it was, but it felt like a while, it had to have been a year since they left Earth and that deserved some time away from the front. With each other, Jazz of course included, it reaching nearly his sixth year away from home. 

Time seemed to move so much faster than before, back on Earth. Maybe it was just them losing track of the traditional twenty-four seven scheduling, or the trips to other planets as if traveling to different times zones, no one could be completely certain about how long they’d been there. 

The Odyessy’s systems had shut down months ago, the poor ship sitting amongst the war ships of Cybertron, waiting to be able to reach the stars again, but they didn’t have much use for it now. So much of it gutted and brought to the apartment or stored in their own cockpits, it had been the vessel they needed to get here but that was all. 

Unfortunate tax dollars are going to waste, but thirty lightyears away from Earth was it really?

When they had all met up in the apartment, Hound knew exactly where he wanted to take everyone, desperately not wanting to stay there and watch the world go by a second longer. 

It shocked him when Sideswipe knew where they were going when he turned down an alleyway, clearly thrilled about it too, “Oh please, as if I wouldn’t find the one place in Iacon that played music from Earth.” Jazz’s head whipped around, “What?” Smiling, he nodded, walking his suit backwards, “Oh yeah, I found it by accident. It only plays 80’s crap but still, its music in English.” Coming up behind him, Jazz rests his hands on Hound’s shoulders.

”And why are wwe all just finding this out now?” Cue of, why hadn’t he been told first, sighing but smiling, Hound shrugs, “We’ve all been busy. This place is a bar, not like we can go in a buy anything.” Jazz grumbled while Sunstreaker and Breakdown spoke quietly. 

The bar was familiar, oddly so even to those who hadn’t been before. It reminded Hound of some of the dives that were common around headquarters. 

With a light wave from the bartender, they move to sit on some deep looking couches, surrounding a low metal and glass table in a semicircle. Jazz was staring around in awe, breathing slowly.

Lionel Richie’s voice filled the air around them.

Smiling, Hound sits back, “Mirage, Prowl, and Bluestreak will be here after their meeting.” The reaction was mixed, but nothing could darken his mood for the moment.

Jazz was humming along with his eyes closed, Breakdown was leaned back with a grin on his face, Sideswipe had an arm around Sunstreaker, talking about god only knows what.

For him, Hound was able to sit back and listen, just enjoying the feeling of familiarity. Keeping his eyes closed, he reaches out and picks up his water pouch, clearing his throat.

He had to wait to hear everyone turn, “It’s been around a year since Arcturus one took off from Earth and we have completed half of our mission.” Sideswipe whistles and Sunstreaker cheers.

Chuckling, he shakes his head a bit, “Jazz, finding you made the mission worth it even before we met the Cybertronian’s. Meeting them has been the most,” Hound pauses before the others start to speak up.

“Interesting?” Sunny shifts a bit, shrugging slightly.

“Chaotic.” With a high five from Jazz, Sideswipe adds, grinning.

“Insane, more likely.” Breakdown adds, chuckling while receiving pats on the back.

Shaking his head, Hound chuckles, “Mission critical event. We’ve made friends here, with aliens, none of us thought that possible and you made it possible. So, to Arcturus One and Jazz, we’re here to kick Quintesson ass and save Earth. For the first time in decades, we’re succeeding.” Clutching his water pouch, he raises it, “To Earth.” And a chorus of voices joined him.

Def Leppard’s tones followed, bringing a grin to Hound’s face.

Opening his eyes, the grin turned into a light smile as Mirage came through the door, b-lining for the bar. Prowl and Bluestreak followed, though splitting off.

Jazz was up and over to Prowl in nearly an instant, “It’s playing music from home. Come listen.” It wasn’t hard to see how Prowl tried to hide a smile, Sideswipe watching, his visor darkening as if narrowing his eyes. 

For the moment, it was easy to get lost in the music.

———

A/N

So this takes place from around a month and a half or so after the attack on New Kaon till around five months after. I just wanted to add a few bits before getting back to the story proper.

I promise there will be more with Soundwave finding out about the humans, I think it’s going to be a “Arcturus Negative One” story more so, try to tell it from Prowl’s perspective but we’ll see how that goes.

To make that long story short, he promises to keep the secret so don’t freak out.

Anyways, this chapter kicked my ass. I wanted to put so much into it, it’s nuts. Part of it was I was getting over from being sick, had a busy week, etc but I hope you all enjoy it!

TAGS

I want to thank @keferon for the amazing AU, and for letting me write the longest mecha pilot jazz story currently posted on Ao3 (It’s only up to part 26 on Ao3, which is just shy of 80k words)

@lunarlei68 @whirlywhirlygig @loop-hole-319 @pixillandjester @alek-the-witch @not-a-moose-in-disguise @goddessofwind8water @neurologicalglitch @dersereblogger @pixel-transformers @mrcrayonofdoom @wireplaces @twilightfreefaller @original-blog-name-2 @devilangel657 @robbin-u @miniartistme @starwold @tea-enthusiasm @valeexpris606 @celticdoggo @bird599 @agentsquirrelsgotrobots @aquaioart @thatwandercat @artdagz @seisha974 @halenhusky309 @leethepiper @cat-cassette @blue-wrens @sirassban @cosmique-oddity @garbageenthusiast @xervias @azulabutterfly @fryseem @spring-mc @echo-circuit @aghostsnail @wooblewooble @ask-glory-haddock-and-others @nonsscrapheap @magichats @iminahole247 @omgflyingderpywhale @thetrexartist @naaaafam @elegantmantaray @emichusai @waterlilykitty @diabolichare @ham4ponyo @osqindaxend @sunnyvibesanddoodles @ratatatata248 @ijustneedausernaneplease4444444 @sprook-children @fooolisher 

[jdebbiel]

New Print Drop

Hi everyone! I hope you all are having a lovely late spring/early summer. I’ve been in Korea for a minute, and then am about to go to Toronto almost immediately for TCAF.

Anyway, it’s about that time where I’m dropping **FOUR NEW** mystery prints (crops below), two poster APs, and a couple regulars from June 9-16. If you ordered in the last drop, you might have received a 20% off code. Patrons get 25% off though! You can sign up at patreon.com/jdebbiel. Even a dollar will work. 

Before I share more info, some intel:

I won’t be using Etsy anymore! I’m sorry for the back and forth! We’re going back to debleeart.com/shop. The advantage of Etsy is the search feature, but since I’m not even gonna have my store open year-round, idt it makes much sense. Also their fee is wack

There are *two* AP posters that will be dropping! There’s the Howl APs with ~spot gloss~ and Hereditary! Because there are only two APs of the latter, I’ll open it up to patrons first the day prior it the whole shop opens to the public, on June 8 12pm EST. All products will still be available for patrons too, along with Hereditary. 

I started collecting tax within NYC, so that will be applied at checkout.

International Shipping is flat at $40 for everything. If it ends up being more than $5 cheaper (especially if you purchase like. One tiny print) I will refund you the difference; this is just a precaution on our end.

On the topic of shipping, we’re in Convention Crunch Season! Which means I (and probably my partner haha) will be scrambling to prepare hundreds of prints alongside fulfilling orders. We hope to have everything sent out before the end of July. Thank you so much for your patience!

Okay that’s it for now! Thank you again for supporting me and my work, especially in ~this~ economy.

More soon,

Joey

[reality-detective]

9 Little Known Facts about US History 👇

1. The Revolutionary War was a fraud. The "United States" did not actually declare Independence from Great Britain or the King.

America has always been a British Colony. The “UNITED STATES” is a corporation, not a land-mass, that existed before the Revolutionary War. [Articles of Association, October 20th, 1774].

2. British Triops did not completely leave the 13 American colonies until 1796 [Respublica v. Sweers 1 Dallas 43, Treaty of Commerce 8 Stat 116, The Society for Propagating the Gospel, &c. V. New Haven 8 Wheat 464, Treaty of Peace 8 Stat 80, IRS Publication 6209]

3. The King of England financed both sides of the Revolutionary War [Treaty at Versailles. July 16, 1782, Treaty of Peace 8 Stat 80.]

4. The gold fringe, symbolic of Royalty, which is attached to the border of every U.S. flag hanging in every courtroom across America symbolizes America being ruled, to this day, by Great Britain under International Maritime Admiralty Law.

5. There are no judicial courts in America and there has not been since 1789. Judges do not enforce Statutes and Codes. Executive Administrators enforce Statutes and Codes. There have not been any judges in America since 1789. [FRC V. GE 281 US 464, Keller v. PE 261 US 428, 1 Stat. 138-178].



6. The most powerful court in America is not the United States Supreme Court, but the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania. (42 Pa.C.S.A. 502)



7. If you are of legal age and retain legal counsel in your defense, you are automatically assumed by the court to be a mentally incompetent ward, and can therefore be remanded indefinitely to any mental institution of the court's choosing.

8. You can not use the U.S. Constitution to defend yourself in admiralty court, because you are not a “Party” to it. (Padelford Fay & Co. v. The Mayor and Alderman of The City of Savannah, 14 Georgia 438, 520.)

9. The legal definition of “The People" under the Constitution does not include you and me. (Barron v. Mayor & City Council of Baltimore, 32 U.S. 243)

Interesting... Don't You Think? Or don't you think? 🤔

[iridescentttears]

idk about u guys but this feels like a riddle… sommonday, 8 days, guarded secret, december 1964, whistleblower, hyperbole.

okay so if summonday is the 8th day of the week, and the countdown began on release day july 23rd, and then 7 days later on july 30th the countdown ended and another countdown in negative time began. if “time is dead and meaning has no meaning” then everything could be malarkey and there’s not gonna be any way to predict what’s gonna happen. but also, maybe time got reset when it “died” and july 30th became day 1/ the first day of the week. we’re currently at day -5 and 19 hrs.

perhaps (based on nothing but the number 8 maybe-clue) on the -8th day of the countdown which falls on august 7th, they’re will be some form of a release/ another clue that hints closer to the answer.

that would make the time from release day to lost files release day 16 days (two weeks if we are counting summonday as the 8th day of the week)

all i’m saying is this feels very much like the brewings of a modern day cipher hunt like maybe it’ll be less about traveling to physical places like the original but instead some sort of wild goose chase treasure hunt online through hopping websites and soundtracks and books from 1925 and just like mixing the media formats. i think the mixed medias in tbob are so incredible and are really what set this book apart as its completely original entity and not just a sequel to journal 3. and with that shift feels very reflective of the era of time we live in now and in no way tries to recreate any previous era. ALSO all the metaphorical foils and parallels that alex hirsch has been begging us to see through the great gatsby are important. the literary connections between bill and gatsby’s characters AND the real life lesson of: we can’t repeat the past, we can’t get back things we lost, if we choose to live in the past it will lead to our demise but if we look to the future and accept what’s happened, we have a chance of building something amazing. (sooo no season 3 ppl like that’s not what any of this is about)

and and side note if the majority of the public believed the government release of the truth about “summonday” to be hyperbole, what about the minority that took it seriously? who are they? did they decide it together? are they in some sort of group/cult together?

the themes of cults, cult leaders, sociopaths, narcissists, and control come to my mind immediately regarding tbob, great gatsby, and now these weird cryptic messages from jason ritter…

sooooo long winded answer later,

i would love it if the countdown would end in 3 days @ -8 days and for it to lead to another link or to a code or to some sort of next step for us all to work together on tumblr and twitter and reddit and discord and all the platforms. thus ushering in the beginning of a new cipher hunt— but not like a cipher hunt 2. this is alex hirsch we’re talking about. i think the stakes will be different and i think it will be much less about physically finding things in the real world and more focused to online clues. and if it does end up being some sort of wild goose chase treasure hunt online i will be sooooo overjoyed.

cause i think that working together to solve mysteries as a collective is where this fandom shines. we make allies, we learn from each other, y’all are all so fucking funny and smart and passionate and genuine and i love hanging out in this community in the space between space and time.

i would love to go on that adventure with y’all cool internet sleuths!!

[thislovintime]

"Now I am two years old and still in Detroit. My hair was pure white. In fact all the Thorkelsons had white hair during the early years of their lives." - Peter Tork, 16 Magazine, May 1967

“Even as a baby, Peter was the most friendly of children. Whomever he met, he dragged home (sometimes literally!) He wanted to introduce his friends to the family. Shortly before one Christmas (Peter was about three), we were all in the Post Office, where Ginny was buying stamps. All of a sudden, Peter stood up, pointed at me and shouted at the top of his voice, ‘There is my ‘Grams’! Her name is Cait!’ Whereupon a great silence fell over the entire Post Office and all eyes focused on me — much to my embarrassment. Peter took it all in stride — and squealed his delight at the top of his voice.Often, the family would visit me in New York and Peter was completely wild about the double-decker buses that ran along Fifth Avenue in those days. To Peter, every visit to New York meant a ride in the front seat of the upper deck of the Fifth Avenue bus. He was utterly charming and waved at all the passers by — most of whom smiled and waved back at him. His favorite people were the policemen who directed traffic. If we slowed down alongside one of these gentlemen, Peter would shout out the window, ‘My name is Peter! What’s yours?’ Believe it or not, he usually got a very friendly response.” - Catherine McGuire Straus, 16 Magazine, July 1967 Q: “How would you describe Peter as a little boy?” Virginia Thorkelson: “Frenetic, charming, inquisitive, destructive, friendly. He took apart a Capehart phonograph at age 2 ½. He always said ‘Hi’ to everyone on the street or bus.” […] Q: “Do you remember any of Peter’s childhood friends? Is so, what were they like?”Virginia Thorkelson: “He had a ‘Wild Goose Club’ in Madison, Wisconsin and all his good friends were in that. It was continued in Connecticut. His friends were wild geese, I guess. Nice kids, all of them.”- Tiger Beat, May 1967 “Peter ran away from home twice. This happened when he was three years old and lived in Detroit. The first time, he ran away from home to get out of going to nursery school; the second time, he ran away to go to New York. He didn’t make it that trip, but he finally did many years later. […] Peter’s very first ambition was to dismantle our phonograph, and unhappily he did with great speed and great thoroughness. Peter’s first job was as a paper boy. None of us, including Peter, remember how much he made. He was always liberal when it came to money — and he still is. Peter loved to start clubs when he was growing up. He founded the Wild Goose Club in Madison and the Tiger Club in Mansfield Center. In the Tiger Club, all the members had code names Peter’s was ‘Phantom Tiger’ (P. T. — get it?).” - Nick Thorkelson, The Monkees: Here We Are (1967)

[whumpsday]

Whumpmas in July Day 16: Create a whump meme!

whump tag meme! to participate: tag (or comment or reply) with one letter or number from each row. at the end, you should have a 12-character code representing your tastes in whump!

my code is ADILOQUWZ147. what's yours?

(descriptions under the cut in case some images are unclear)

ABC: Whumpee / Whumper / Caretaker

DEF: Chains / Rope / Drugging

GHI: Spiked bat / Shock collar / Knife

JKL: Scientist, Detective, Royal (Real humans) / Hero, Villain, Mage (Superhumans) / Vampire, Mer, Fairy (Nonhumans)

MNO: Soup / Water / Blood

PQR: Nice clothes / Bad clothes / Nothing

STU: Cold / Heat / Box

VWX: No food / No air / No sleep

YZ0: Collar / Brand / Tattoo

123: Cage / Small bed / Large bed

456: Scared & Crying / Angry & Defiant / Stockholmed & Conditioned

789: Happy end / Bad end / No end (series that go on indefinitely)

@whumpmasinjuly

[ui-alcoholic]

One of the most defining 16bit computers was introduced in June 1985.

ATARI ST 520

DESIGN HISTORY & STRATEGY

The Atari ST series was born in a turbulent time: Atari had just been acquired by Jack Tramiel, founder of Commodore, after leaving that company. Tramiel pushed for a quick-to-market product to compete with the Apple Macintosh and Commodore Amiga.

Development time: Less than one year — an aggressive schedule for a 16-bit GUI-based machine.

Initial models: The Atari 520ST was the first to ship, showcased at CES in 1985.

Innovative design: All-in-one casing (mainboard + keyboard), like the Amiga 500, but with better modularity (external floppy drive, monitor, etc.).

Former C=64 developer Shiraz Shivji led the design team. He tells a story about the Atari ST/Commodore Amiga history (source) "It is very interesting that the Warner Atari difficulties were due to Tramiel’s Commodore. The Commodore 64 was much more successful (I would say wildly successful) compared to the Atari Computers such as the 800 and the 400. We were also taking away sales from the video games division, the Atari 2600. Jay Miner was at Atari in the old days and was involved in the design of their products. He left Atari to design the Amiga. Atari had funded some of this effort and had an option to buy the Amiga. When we took over Atari in July 1984, the first order of business was to decide what to do with this option. The problem was that the Amiga was not quite ready and would need a lot of money to acquire. We decided to pass on Amiga, but this put enormous pressure on our own development team. Commodore, on the other hand, did not have an internally developed 32-bit graphics-oriented machine and did not have the confidence to develop the machine internally. They ended up buying Amiga for between $25-$30 million and spent a further $20 million or so and yet came out with a product a little after Atari. The roles were reversed, the Atari ST has a Commodore pedigree, while the Amiga has an Atari pedigree!"

MIDI AND MUSIC PRODUCTION

The 520ST included built-in MIDI ports — a revolutionary move. At the time, most other computers needed expensive third-party MIDI interfaces.

Key Software:

Steinberg Cubase – became the industry standard for MIDI sequencing.

Notator – early version of what later evolved into Logic Pro.

Pro 24, Dr. T's, and Hollis Trackman – widely used for composing, sequencing, and syncing synthesizers.

Used by Artists:

Fatboy Slim composed with the ST well into the 2000s.

Jean-Michel Jarre, Vangelis, The Chemical Brothers, and Underworld used it in studio setups.

Many studios kept an Atari ST just for MIDI due to its tight timing and reliability.

SOFTWARE ECOSYSTEM

TOS/GEM: A fast and responsive GUI OS that was very usable on 512KB of RAM.

Productivity apps:

Calamus DTP – high-quality desktop publishing

NeoDesk – an improved desktop GUI

GFA Basic – a powerful programming environment

Graphics tools:

Degas Elite, NeoChrome – pixel art, animation

Spectrum 512 – used clever tricks to display 512 colors

While the Amiga had better graphics and sound, many games were first developed for the ST, then ported to Amiga. Key games:

Dungeon Master – first-person RPG with real-time mechanics

Carrier Command, Starglider, Blood Money, Rick Dangerous

Flight simulators, strategy, and adventure games flourished

CULTURAL IMPACT

In Europe (especially the UK, Germany, France, and Hungary):

The ST became a cornerstone of bedroom coding, Demoscene, and music production.

Local software houses and users created a vibrant community around the machine.

The Atari ST was used in schools, small studios, and households well into the early '90s.

In education: The ST's affordability and easy-to-use software made it a favorite in European schools and computer labs.

DECLINE & LEGACY

By the early 1990s, the ST line was losing ground to IBM-compatible PCs and faster Amigas.

Later models like the STE, TT030, and Falcon 030 tried to revitalize the line, with limited success.

Atari shifted toward consoles (like the Jaguar) and left the computer market.

Long-term legacy:

The Atari ST's MIDI legacy lives on — it helped standardize digital music production workflows.

Many musicians and retrocomputing fans still collect and use STs today.

A vibrant retro software/demo scene remains active, especially in Europe.

[drv2occideruntau]

REPORT CARDS

This section of your packet includes information about your fellow participants in your Summer School Semester, including small drawings courtesy of our own Ultimate Digital Artist.

———

Amami Rantaro

Gender: Male

Talent: Ultimate Adventurer

Blood Type: B

Height: 5’9”

D.O.B: October 3

Likes: Flowers

Dislikes: Rough seas

———

Arakaki Suzume

Gender: Female

Talent: Ultimate Tarot Reader

Blood Type: A

Height: 5’8”

D.O.B: April 16

Likes: Golden jewelry 

Dislikes: Microfiber cloth

———

Furuta Teruko

Gender: Female

Talent: Ultimate Lucky Student

Blood Type: O

Height: 5’4”

D.O.B: February 13

Likes: Stamps

Dislikes: Revolving doors

———

Kano Chieko

Gender: Female

Talent: Ultimate Forensic Investigator 

Blood Type: AB

Height: 5’3”

D.O.B: May 22

Likes: Rubber gloves 

Dislikes: Bleach smell

———

Kishi Isanari

Gender: Male

Talent: Ultimate Comic Artist

Blood Type: B

Height: 5’1”

D.O.B: December 28

Likes: Apple cider 

Dislikes: Pencil smudges 

———

Koga Yoichi “K2-Y01”

Gender: ??? (Sometimes referred to as Female)

Talent: Ultimate Computer 

Blood Type: ???

Height: 2’4”

D.O.B: September 4

Likes: Clean data

Dislikes: Error codes

———

Mizuno Keiichi

Gender: Male

Talent: Ultimate Pediatrician

Blood Type: O

Height: 5’0”

D.O.B: November 2

Likes: Autumn

Dislikes: Authoritarian parents

———

Murakami Masashi

Gender: Male

Talent: Ultimate ▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇

Blood Type: AB

Height: 5’7”

D.O.B: March 15

Likes: Lego Architecture sets

Dislikes: Writing long emails

(We apologize for the missprint in Mr. Murakami’s text. I’m sure he’d be glad to inform you on his talent himself! -Headmaster)

———

Omura Sango

Gender: Male

Talent: Ultimate Skater

Blood Type: A

Height: 5’2”

D.O.B: June 11

Likes: Tail Devils

Dislikes: Splinters

———

Sakamoto Hachiro

Gender: Male

Talent: Ultimate Librarian

Blood Type: AB

Height: 5’5”

D.O.B: July 12

Likes: JSL

Dislikes: Dog-earing pages

———

Shirogane Tsumugi

Gender: Female

Talent: Ultimate Bartender

Blood Type: A

Height: 5’9”

D.O.B: August 15

Likes: Sewing machines

Dislikes: Underaged drinkers

———

Sugihara Miho

Gender: Female

Talent: Ultimate Harpist

Blood Type: O

Height: 5’2”

D.O.B: January 19

Likes: Cartoon themed bandaids

Dislikes: Brussel sprouts

———

Tachibana Kenta

Gender: Male

Talent: Ultimate Badminton Player

Blood Type: B

Height: 6’1”

D.O.B: November 24

Likes: Saint Bernards 

Dislikes: Long practices

———

Tagaki Minako

Gender: Female

Talent: Ultimate Child Star

Blood Type: A

Height: 5’6”

D.O.B: August 1

Likes: Rainy days

Dislikes: The paparazzi

———

Uesugi Hitoshi

Gender: Male

Talent: Ultimate Pyrotechnician

Blood Type: O

Height: 6’0”

D.O.B: June 25

Likes: Big celebrations

Dislikes: Penguins

———

Yokoyama Mai

Gender: Female

Talent: Ultimate Cheerleader 

Blood Type: AB

Height: 4’11”

D.O.B: May 18

Likes: Action movies

Dislikes: After parties

———

We hope you use this information to get to know each other over the summer!

[diino8081]

my qsmp cloneflippa au from august 2023

7 pages

i'm pretty sure i actually predicted something with this comic. i think it was the tasks or that she's a code? i don't really remember. i started it on july 30th so i think it must've been that flippa would return as code

originally this was posted on twitter but twitter is odd so not many people saw it

i think the full comic took 16 ish days which is fun

[anitalianfrie]

Enea Bastianini for Rimini INmagazine (July 2015)

The bike and the beast

Enea Bastianini, 17 years old, rookie of the year of the Moto3 2014 world championship, riding a bike since forever, precisely since when he was 3 years and 3 months old.

He’s strong, straightforward, brilliant and genuine like his land: Renzo Pasolini and Pier Paolo Bianchi, the terra de’ mutor [ndr: dialect, means “land of the bikes”] where many successful riders, engineers and team managers were born. Enea Bastianini is nicknamed Bestia, a bit for the similarities with his surname but also for his gutsy driving style.

He got on a minibike for the first time at 3 years and 3 months of age: from this comes his racing number, 33. After putting himself on display in the junior categories last year he debuted in the Moto3 World Championship and he immediately amazed everyone. It was incredible how a barely 16 years old teenager, at his debut between the bigs, could fight with such authority in the group of the best riders without making errors. 

He looked an expert already, coming from years of fights in superbike, and certainly not a rookie.

He never let any doubt or awe transpire, on the contrary he showed an extraordinary lucidity and an immense talent. This year he’s between the “bigs” of the championship. He recently got into the Fiamme Oro State Police sports group after winning the contest for the employment of 25 athletes with the best cumulative score.

He’s a champion, a policeman, but fundamentally a boy from our land who’s living his dream and letting thousands of fans dream at the same time. Bike racing, and especially the world championship, is followed closely by medias: from national televisions to newspapers. Bastianini therefore became in a short period of time a public figure and a role model for a lot of young people. Enea means hope for many fans scanning the world championship in search of a start that will shine for years to come, when the celestial body of Valentino Rossi will inevitably be outshined.

After these last results you became famous. How do you live this moment?

“I live this wave of success with great peace and joy at the same time, especially when I get stopped by people who recognise me and want a picture with me.”

Rimini is a city full of life, veracious, with many turistic, mundane, historical and cultural places of interest. What do you love about this city?

“THere isn’t a place or a thing in particular that I like of my city: it’s the place I grew up in and I believe all Rimini’s places and things are part of me and, consequently, I like all of them. I care a lot about keeping my friendships.”

Let’s take a step back. On the famous minibikes track of our neighbourhood many riders grew up: from Pasini to Simoncelli, from De Angelis to Poggiali. Summed up to many other champions of the surroundings, like Rossi, Dovizioso and Melandri. When they were racing on minibikes Bastianini probably wasn’t even born yet, but the start is the same for many. In Romagna we have the passion for racing in our genetic code.

What are your memories tied to minibikes?

“The best memory I have, without a doubt, is the first time I got on the minibike and I asked my father if it actually was a real bike and it had fuel inside. Then the evenings spent at the track of Cattolica where I used to go race almost every day with my friends. The best years were 2007 and 2008, when we raced and trained, me and some other riders now in Moto3 and Moto2, with a knife between our teeth and hard passes, but once the race was over we were all friends laughing and joking together.”

Romagna isn’t only the land of the bikes. What are your favourite dishes?

“Strozzapreti pasticciati, a typical dish of where we live, and then i like pizza.”

The riders from Rimini have almost all gone to school at the Istituto Tecnico Leon Battista Alberti. The principal is a bike lover and, besides being a teacher, he’s always been a fan. On those same desks have studied Mattia Pasini, Roberto Tamburini, Massimo Roccoli and Marco Simoncelli. Among them there’s who got their diploma with the highest grade like Tamburini, who today is in full fight for the world title in a class preparatory for the Superbike, and who left the school before getting to their diploma instead. Enea this year attended the third year at the Leon Battista Alberti.

And school? Did you get promoted?

“School is certainly not my strong point, thanks to my sport too, but I try to do my best. This year I’ve been rimandato, but I’ll do everything to get promoted.” [ndr: in highschool in italy if you don’t reach the passing mark in three or less subjects by the end of the year, you get rimandato, “postponed to september”, and you have to take reparatory exams. Failing to pass them results in being held back for the year]

In the wait for preparatory exams, let's switch to a happier topic. The MotoGP paddock is full of beautiful girls and usually riders have a lot of success.

Do you have a girlfriend?

“Let’s say that having a girlfriend is good but not having one is better, also because at my age it’s nice being able to have fun.”

Does your family always follow you at races?

“My family has always supported me and if I am where I am right now it’s especially thanks to them. My uncle Francesco is at the races and sometimes my dad too.”

Was Bestia a nickname given to you by your friends or your family?

“It was given to me by my mechanic when I was in the Honda trophy in 2012, then in 2014 during the first Moto3 tests another mechanic started calling me Bestia: from then on it has become the nickname that characterizes me and isn’t restricted to racing.”

Besides racing, what are your hobbies, your passions?

“I like fishing, riding mountain bikes with my friends and skiing, this last one a new passion.”

Which riders were you a fan of as a kid?

“When I was young I was a fan of Manuel Poggiali and Valentino Rossi.”

Rossi himself had set his eyes on Bastianini at the end of 2014 when he won the title of rookie of the year. He wanted to put him in his Moto3 team VR46 in 2015, next to Fenati, but Enea preferred to decline and stay with Gresini, who had believed in him when not many people knew him and had therefore helped him reach high levels. Bastianini has therefore shown gratefulness to Gresini and foresight staying in a team offering him big garanties of competitiveness and allows him to fight for success on a regular basis. 

[mariacallous]

In July 2020, a 72-year-old attorney posing as a delivery person rang the doorbell at US district judge Esther Salas’ house in North Brunswick, New Jersey. When the door opened, the attorney fired a gun, wounding the judge’s husband—and killing her only child, 20-year-old Daniel Mark Anderl.

The murderer, Salas said, had found her address online and was outraged because she hadn’t handled a case of his client fast enough. In her despair, Salas publicly pleaded, “We can make it hard for those who target us to track us down … We can't just sit back and wait for another tragedy to strike.”

She wanted judges to be able to keep their home addresses private. New Jersey lawmakers delivered. Months after the murder, they unanimously enacted Daniel’s Law. Today, current and former judges, cops, prosecutors, and others working in criminal justice can have their household’s address and phone numbers withheld from government records in the state. They also can demand that the data be removed from any website, including popular tools for researching people such as Whitepages, Spokeo, Equifax, and RocketReach.

Companies that don’t comply within 10 business days have to pay a penalty of at least $1,000. This makes New Jersey’s law the only privacy statute in the US that guarantees people a court payout when requests to keep information private are ignored.

That provision is being put to a consequential test.

In a pile of lawsuits in New Jersey—drummed up by a 41-year-old serial entrepreneur named Matt Adkisson and five law firms, including two of the nation’s most prominent—about 20,000 workers, retirees, and their relatives are suing 150 companies and counting for allegedly failing to honor requests to have their personal information removed under Daniel’s Law.

These companies, which Adkisson estimates generate $150 billion annually in sales, may now be on the hook for $8 billion in penalties. But what’s more important to him is the hope that this narrow New Jersey law could act as a wedge to force data brokers to stop publishing sensitive data about people of all professions nationwide. He’s hoping that this multibillion-dollar pursuit, with its army of union cop households, may be a catalyst for better personal privacy for us all.

If he doesn’t win, the oft-derided data broker industry would have proved that it has a right under the First Amendment to publish people’s contact information. Websites could avoid further regulation, and no one in the US may ever be guaranteed by law to become less googleable. “I never thought we would have such a hard time, that it would turn into such a battle,” Adkisson says. “Just home address, phone number, remove it. One state. Twenty-thousand people.”

This is the first definitive account of how the fate of one of the country’s most intriguing privacy laws came to rest on the shoulders of Adkisson’s latest tech startup, Atlas.

Matt Adkisson is almost your prototypical lifelong entrepreneur. He quit high school at 16 to code video games and small-business websites. His parents insisted, though, that he audit classes across the street from their home, at the US Naval War College in Rhode Island. So he began learning about national security. One lesson he picked up: When judges live in fear and can’t rule impartially, democracies can wither.

But saving democracy wasn't his passion. Making money was. He headed off to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology with designs on becoming a consultant or investment banker, but dropped out before senior year. Like so many other young people in the midst of the Web 2.0 frenzy, he had an entrepreneurial itch. Without telling them, Adkisson cashed out his parents’ tuition payment, and in 2006, he and a friend slept under office desks for a month before founding a company called FreeCause with Adkisson’s brother to develop marketing tools for Facebook games. Adkisson later bought shares of the nascent social media startup. Both bets paid millions. In 2009, FreeCause sold for about $30 million.

Adkisson upgraded to nights on a friend’s couch in San Francisco, where he used his wealth to invest in or start dozens of other software companies. As they sold, he became a comfortable multimillionaire. It was his last big deal, in 2018, that set him down the path of privacy crusader. He had sold Safer, which developed a Google Chrome competitor called Secure Browser, to antivirus maker Avast for about $10 million.

Adkisson and a cofounder recall that during a meeting over lakeside beers near offices in Friedrichshafen, Germany, after the deal closed, an Avast executive demanded they feed search activity from Secure Browser’s millions of users to Jumpshot, a sibling unit that was selling antivirus users’ browsing history to companies wanting to study consumer trends.

Adkisson stood to make millions of dollars in bonuses from the proposed integration. He refused. It was too intrusive to share that intimate data, he says, and a violation of trust. (Avast declined to comment on the episode. It shuttered Jumpshot, and this year agreed to pay $16.5 million to settle US government charges over the service’s allegedly deceptive data usage.)

Adkisson left Avast in December 2020 thinking he would keep adding to his portfolio of over 300 startup investments or pursue something in AI, like automating brushstrokes to create on-demand oil paintings. But he couldn’t shake the Friedrichshafen incident. For his web browsing, he started to use VPNs and the privacy-focused search engine DuckDuckGo. He tried to get websites to remove his new East Coast home address. Those efforts mostly failed; companies had no obligation to comply.

These websites that sell addresses or phone numbers typically get that data by buying voter or property records from governments, and user account details from companies willing to deal. The easy access to data enabled by the aggregators can be vital to services like identity verification or targeted advertising. But the customers also can include people who are looking for an old friend. Or investigating a crime. Or someone with a grudge against, say, a judge.

As Adkisson dug into the data broker industry in 2021, he read about how a law that went into effect the year before had given Californians a right to demand companies delete their personal information. So Adkisson and two cofounders launched a service they called RoundRobin, to help Californians do just that for a fee. Services like DeleteMe and Optery were already selling deletion assistance, but Adkisson felt they were more marketing spin than serious tech.

RoundRobin joined the well-known startup accelerator Y Combinator in April 2021 and began developing software to simplify making requests. But the startup had no way to enforce the takedowns it wanted to charge customers for; only California’s attorney general could sue for violations of the nascent law. Data websites ignored RoundRobin.

Given Adkisson’s pedigree, investors held out hope. California privacy activist Tom Kemp, Lightspeed Venture Partners, and others invested about $2 million in RoundRobin that August. But the struggle continued. The cofounders renamed the company to the more serious-sounding Atlas Data Privacy in January 2022. It didn’t help. But then, a break. Just as Adkisson was considering giving up and his initial cofounders were pulling out, a relative of his in California who had worked in law enforcement mentioned Daniel Anderl’s murder—and the law it inspired in New Jersey. “Fate delivered the Garden State,” Adkisson says.

He soon reached out to law enforcement experts, including a former Boston police commissioner and a retired Navy rear admiral. The two told Adkisson stories about cops who were attacked in their homes. They urged him to press on.

The first organization to return Adkisson’s cold calls was the New Jersey State Policemen's Benevolent Association, the state’s largest police union. They said a few of the organization’s 31,000 members needed help containing some inadvertently leaked contact information. Adkisson and a cofounder, J.P. Carlucci, took a stab. Despite limited success, union members were excited by Adkisson’s moxy. In July 2022, a union leadership group voted unanimously to offer Atlas’ service as a benefit to members with the intention of using Daniel’s Law to demand websites remove phone numbers and addresses. The cost, spread across all members paying for the union’s legal protection plan, was hundreds of thousands of dollars annually, Adkisson says.

In August 2022, with the deal signed and thousands of members soon enrolled, Atlas established headquarters in Jersey City, New Jersey, and set out to prove it could deliver better results than back in California. For that, it needed litigation power.

The first six law firms Adkisson called refused to take up the New Jersey cases. They worried about their financial return and the likelihood of success. Judges had discretion over the $1,000 payouts, plaintiffs had to prove physical harm, and to even bring a case, attorneys had to mobilize each plaintiff individually. It wasn’t a good equation.

Over seafood in San Francisco on the waterfront, one attorney sketched out for Adkisson revisions to Daniel’s Law that could make Atlas’ job easier. Adkisson took those suggestions back to the police union, which in turn used its weight in Trenton to push lawmakers to enact the changes. By December 2022, legislators introduced amendments requiring judges to impose financial penalties on websites that failed to honor removal requests, allowing those covered by the law to sue more liberally, and enabling attorneys to more easily bring big cases. In July 2023, just after the third anniversary of Daniel’s murder, the governor signed these amendments into law.

Atlas stayed focused on recruiting more users, from the police union and beyond. Newly hired staff—the company grew to a total of eight people—learned the lingo, like don’t refer to state troopers as “officers.” Adkisson let clients call him directly 24/7 for technical support. He drove his Jeep Cherokee more than 50,000 miles to every corner of the state. The Atlas team spent 18 hours on back-to-back days at a correctional facility to catch every shift, plying union guards with Crumbl Cookies and Shake Shack. “Word started to spread, like, ‘Who the hell are these people?’” Adkisson says. “That brought us credibility.”

Days before last Christmas, Atlas finished the software for users to select the companies to which they wanted to send emailed data removal requests. The tired team gathered over Zoom watching a tally rise as the emails landed in data brokers’ inboxes. Altogether, Atlas would deliver 40 million emails to 1,000 websites on behalf of roughly 20,000 people over the next five months.

Helping users with only the easy targets—the ad-supported websites that tend to pop up when googling someone’s name—“would have been a band-aid on a wound that needed much deeper treatment,” Adkisson says. To provide what it viewed as comprehensive support and more than what competitors offer, Atlas also was facilitating takedown requests to mainstream services such as Zillow and Twilio. They tend to supply data through fee-supported advanced tools that don't pop up on a standard Google query.

Twilio denies that it provides data subject to Daniel’s Law. Zillow didn’t respond to WIRED’s requests for comment. Atlas, Adkisson says, spent about $1.3 million in labor and fees to verify websites it targeted were actually providing home addresses and phone numbers.

The startup got its first response on December 26. Red Violet, whose Forewarn data dossiers help real estate agents vet potential clients, was demanding Atlas cease and desist, erroneously claiming that Daniel’s Law applied only to government agencies and not private companies. Adkisson had expected the legal teeth of the updated Daniel's Law to inspire widespread compliance. This was a rough start. “Demoralizing,” Adkisson says.

Other companies responded with demands to see ID cards of Atlas clients, apparently suspicious that the startup was making up its customers or people demanding takedowns were pretending to work in law enforcement just to be covered by the law. Adkisson told one company they could call requestors to authenticate demands. After all, it had their numbers. Another company suggested that if Atlas clients wanted anonymity, they should have used an LLC to buy property instead of their own names.

Akisson says the most retaliatory response came from LexisNexis, which lets police and businesses search for people's contact information and life history, typically for investigations and background checks. He alleges that instead of removing Atlas clients’ phone numbers and addresses from view, LexisNexis needlessly froze their entire files in its system, impeding credit checks some were undergoing for loan applications.

LexisNexis spokesperson Paul Eckloff disputes that freezing was an overreach. The company deemed that step as necessary to honor the requests submitted by Atlas users to not disclose their data. “This company couldn’t be more dedicated to supporting law enforcement,” he says. “We would support common sense protections.” But he described Daniel’s Law as overly punitive.

To Adkisson, the people being punished were the cops, judges, and other government workers he had met on his Jeep excursions through New Jersey. Among them were police officers Justyna Maloney, 38, and her husband, Sergeant Scott Maloney, 46, who work in Rahway, a tiny city along the border with New York City.

In April 2023, Justyna was filmed by a YouTuber who runs the channel Long Island Audit, which has over 842,000 subscribers. He often films himself trying to goad police into misbehavior, and Justyna asking him to leave a government office became his newest viral hit. Followers inundated the Rahway Police’s Facebook page with about 6,500 comments, including death threats, slurs, and links to the Maloneys’ address and phone numbers on SearchPeopleFREE.com and Whitepages. Scott says Facebook wouldn’t remove the comments linking to the contact information. Neither would the police department, citing First Amendment concerns. Tensions boiled.

In August 2023, Scott received texts demanding $3,000 or “your family will be responsible for paying me in blood.” The texts listed his sister’s name and address. An hour later, the same number sent a video of two ski-masked individuals bearing guns inside an unknown location. Atlas wasn’t up and running yet, so Scott, determined to delete all his family’s contact data online, sat on his lagoonside deck every evening for weeks, crushing Michelob Ultras to stay calm as he navigated takedown forms. He put in so many requests to Whitepages for his family that it barred him from making more.

The Facebook comments linking to the Maloneys’ address only came down after they sued their bosses last November for violating Daniel’s Law. This past January, a state judge ruled that the risk to the couple “far outweighs” potential harm to the police department from censorship complaints.

As Adkisson looked to sue noncompliant data websites, he had no trouble signing up the Maloneys as plaintiffs. And because Daniel’s law now made it possible, thanks to Atlas and the police union’s lobbying, to collect guaranteed penalties from data websites, Adkisson had been able to secure five law firms, including prominent national firms Boies Schiller Flexner and Morgan & Morgan, and some attorneys who personally knew the Daniel of “Daniel’s Law.”

On February 6, Atlas and the legal team began filing lawsuits, naming the Maloneys and about 20,000 other clients as plaintiffs. In state court, 110 cases remain unresolved across five different counties. Thirty-six lawsuits are being contested in federal court before Judge Harvey Bartle III, who is based in Philadelphia but commutes across the Delaware River to Camden, New Jersey, because judges based in the state were conflicted out by virtue of being eligible for Daniel’s Law protections.

Eight defendants quickly filed motions to dismiss in state court, but they were all denied. At the federal level, most companies are arguing together that the New Jersey statute violates their First Amendment right to freedom of speech. It’s an argument that’s allowed personal information to stay online before. Federal courts have given leeway to publication of lawmakers’ contact information and actors’ birthdates, leaving doubts over whether cops and judges and their homes and phones would fare any better.

Defendants have told Bartle to consider a US Supreme Court decision in 2011 that found a law in Vermont that protected doctors’ privacy unreasonably singled out data use by drugmakers. Atlas’ foes view Daniel’s Law as similarly arbitrary because it holds New Jersey agencies to different standards than their companies when it comes to keeping data private. They also say it’s unfair that they must remove numbers that cops still list on personal websites.

Some companies fighting the lawsuits note that the $1,000 penalty that the law guarantees may lead to companies acting out of fear and removing more data than needed, or honoring requests that are actually invalid. What’s more, these defendants say that Atlas’ true motivation is money. They claim that instead of trying to quickly protect those already signed up when last year’s amendments passed, Atlas sought out more users to run up the potential monetary judgment and duped them into paying for protections they could exercise for free themselves.

Adkisson disputes the accusations. He says Atlas needed time to finish its platform and ensure it was able to properly log usage, so that judges wouldn’t dismiss cases based on technicalities like takedown requests ending up in spam folders. The startup also won’t be profiting from the lawsuit, he says. Two-thirds of any proceeds will go to the users represented; anything he and Atlas are left with after covering the costs of bringing the lawsuits would be donated to law enforcement charities and privacy advocacy groups through Atlas’ nonprofit arm, Coalition for Data Privacy and Security. Privacy is “a very real, tactical, and visceral need,” Adkisson says.

He was reminded of that this past May when he took WIRED in his Jeep to meet with Peter Andreyev, a cop in Point Pleasant Beach, New Jersey, and president of the statewide Policemen's Benevolent Association. Around dusk that day, Adkisson handed Andreyev a search result for his name on DataTree.com, a website that sells property records. Andreyev slipped on his black-rimmed glasses and brought his linebacker figure toward a conference table to review the page. It took him just two seconds to tense up. “Oh shit,” he said.

He stared at a street-view image of his home, and a birds-eye shot with his address overlaid. The square footage was in there too, for good measure. His head visibly rattling and legs restless, Andreyev pounded the table. “I—I’m pretty infuriated by this.”

Like many law enforcement officers, the 51-year-old rarely goes a day without nightmares about some known thug or detractor attacking him and his family. The DataTree printout reinforced for him that it would take just a few clicks for anyone to target him in the vulnerability of his own home. WIRED pulled up Andreyev’s report from DataTree with just a free trial.

As Andreyev continued to study the page, Adkisson pointed out something he viewed as particularly galling. In February, Atlas had sued First American, the $6 billion title insurance company that operates DataTree, for allegedly not complying with removal requests. Andreyev had been listed as one of the lead plaintiffs, alongside the Maloneys. In the following weeks, DataTree removed Andreyev’s address from one section of the search result for his name but left it up on the map that Andreyev was now staring at. “That’s no way compliant,” Andreyev said. “Fuck, it pisses me off.” First American declined to comment. As the legal battle plays out, Andreyev says he's left to continue looking over his shoulder—even at home.

The antidote of making officers more difficult to find could require greater creativity from those investigating or advertising to them, says Neil Richards, a Washington University School of Law professor and author of Why Privacy Matters. But it doesn’t make the work impossible. Richards, who isn’t involved in the Atlas litigation, says courts need to recognize that “privacy protections are a fundamental First Amendment concern, and one that's even more important than a company's ability to make money trafficking in phone numbers and home addresses.”

In the coming months, Judge Bartle will decide whether cops and judges living in fear imperils public safety. If so, he’ll have to settle whether Daniel’s Law is the least onerous solution. A loss for Atlas and its clients would effectively be treating “anything done with information” as free expression, Richards says, and stymie further attempts to regulate the digital world.

On the other hand, a victory for Atlas could be a boon for its business. Adkisson says tens of thousands of people across the country have joined the company’s waiting list: prison nurses, paramedics, teachers. All of them, he adds, anticipating someday gaining the same removal power as New Jerseyans. Since the beginning of 2023, at least seven states have passed similar measures to Daniel’s Law. None of those, however, include the monetary penalty that gets lawyers interested in pursuing enforcement. “Step one is, win here,” Adkisson says, referring to New Jersey.

After the dispiriting start, he thinks momentum is swinging in Atlas’ favor. In August, the startup raised its first funding since 2021, about $8.5 million in litigation financing and equity investment.

Adkisson says compliance with more recent removal requests is increasing, and a few defendants are settling. In September, a state judge approved the first deal, in which NJParcels.com owner Areaplot admitted to 28,230 violations of Daniel’s Law and accepted five years of oversight. PogoData, a revenue-less website that had made property owners’ names searchable, settled this month. Bill Wetzel, its 79-year-old hobbyist owner, would owe $20 million for breaching the deal but he says he supports removing names of officers in harm’s way.

Then again, against the better-funded defendants with more at stake and unpredictable courts, Adkisson recognizes that a broader victory for privacy and Atlas is uncertain. In telling his story, he wants to ensure there’s opportunity for people to learn from any missteps if Atlas fails. But his advisers, including former boss Steve Avalone, don’t expect Adkisson to give up easy. They describe him as the ultimate gadfly—unorthodox, tenacious, and wealthy. “There’s few people with that horsepower and that charisma,” Avalone says.

For his part, Adkisson says he’s driven by a sad truth. The tragedies, fueled in part by contact information online, that judge Salas wanted to bring an end to after her son’s murder haven’t stopped. Last October, a man allegedly shot to death Andrew Wilkinson, a Maryland state judge, who hours earlier had denied the man custody of his child. The National Center for State Courts said it was the third targeted shooting of a state judge in as many years.

Maryland investigators say they believe the now-deceased assailant found Wilkinson’s address online, though they never recovered definitive evidence beyond a search query for the judge’s name. When he heard about the murder the day it happened, Adkisson immediately googled Wilkinson. His address was right there.

[fullscoreshenanigans]

Yes, hello, I love your blog, you're my only window into what the fandom is doing and I could always completely skip the manga and just stick to reading here. So, about your poll of popular theories, I saw something about the demon world being underwater, would you mind elaborating, please? It's for research. For a fanfic 👀

[The poll in question]

I'm always going to advocate for reading the manga, not just because of what happened with S2, but also to see all the gorgeous detailing Demizu puts into her work that's lost in the transition to TV animation, along with her playing with perspectives/proportions in relationship to power dynamics.

(Chapter 1 | S1 Episode 1)

But thank you! <3

My understanding was the theory of the demon world being underwater was introduced by @couldnt-think-of-a-better-name, who was mainly active during the series' heyday (February 2019-July 2019, between the releases of chapters 123-142 during the King of Paradise and Seven Walls arcs and when S1 premiered in Japanese and English).

• Main post about the theory • Secondary post about Lambda-7214 being a coordinate • Neat edit of chapter 7's, chapter 16's, and chapter 2's cover art • Volume 13 Special Edition mini-artbook art hinting at the trajectory of the series

I think it's interesting in how the Seven Walls search party traverses what we're presented with as the entire demon world to find clues about Cuvitidala and the Seven Walls, yet the largest body of water we see anyone interact with is a pond. Nothing close to an ocean that would present them with difficulties such as building a boat or buying one from demons.

(Chapter 60 | Volume 8 Title Page | Chapter 99 | Chapter 100 | Chapter 102)

Shirai also confirmed the elevator at Goldy Pond takes one to "a certain forest in Australia" (out of 458 forest communities).

(Mystic Code Book Chapter 3 Q&A)

While the stairs under Grace Field headquarters seem to land one somewhere on the east coast of the former United States of America.

(Chapter 178 | Chapter 179)

There's the imagery of the Statue of Liberty, leading me to believe the North American headquarters for the Ratri clan are located in (former?) New York City, but I don't know if I would necessarily say they wash up on the city's shores since Mike takes a jet out to meet them and the children aren't freezing in the November weather there. There's also the impracticality of after coming back from the demon world to transport goods or just traverse between the worlds you conspicuously land out in the open on the beach, so I believe it was the demon god's meddling that sent them to this beach, and the proper exit in one specific, singular location like the Goldy Pond one is somewhere else in the area. Two specific locations located in opposite hemispheres in our world, yet in the demon world you could potentially travel between the two passageways on foot in approximately a week based on the time it took the kids to reach the shelter at B06-32 (one day of initially wandering through the forest, five days traveling with Sonju and Mujika, and one day walking through the wasteland) and how long it took Yuugo, Emma, and Ray to reach Goldy Pond (four days) if it was a straight shot.

(Chapter 49 | Chapter 60)

It all leaves me very curious about how large the demon world is compared to the human world and how the demon god decided to split the two worlds up.

It's also interesting how despite all the water imagery in the series, we don't see any rain in the manga outside of the chapter 28 cover art (mentioned in the fourth post of that list):

But the anime chose to have a very light rain overlay during the second episode while not animating the ground or characters getting wet:

It rains in the light novels.

(TPN Light Novel 1: A Letter from Norman [June 2018] - "The Day Emma Cried")

(TPN Light Novel 4: Films of Memories [December 2020] - "Operation Stormy Night," originally published in Minerva Confidential Report Report Volume 1 that was packaged with the first volume of the Japanese S1 blu-ray in March 2019)

And we see the children playing in the snow in the past.

(Chapter 10 Bonus Scene)

[reality-detective]

Your thoughts on this folks?

Americans have been watching a massive, controlled Military Operation who strategically and critically planned and successfully trapped the Washington Establishment… Made them all confess their crimes and play a role in this operation piece by piece… as Americans have had to visually see and witness a ‘Continuation of Government’ in the form of a “Presidential Administration” where these corrupt and evil people will, have, and will continue to destroy their system from within, spend all of their dirty money doing so, until it’s time for the Military to visually step in.

The timelines all add up and prove the Military Operation and Occupancy:

1.     Snake Poem read by candidate Donald Trump – January 2016

2.     2016 Presidential Election – November 2016

3.     President Elect Trump and Putin on Fox News = “ready for ‘reset’… I will work with Trump” – November 9, 2016

4.     Law of War Manual (Military Occupancy and Negotiations etc.) – December 2016

5.     Military Justice Act (Supreme Court clarifying Military Law is separate than Civil Law; heavy emphasis on Military Tribunal terms) – 2016

6.     Military stands behind CIC Trump (Military Intelligence and JAG head bands; Optics) at Inauguration – January 2017

7.     Saudi Arabia crowns Trump King – May 2017

8.     Declares Jerusalem Capitol of Israel – December 2017

9.     Executive Order 13818 – Declares National Emergency to deal with Human Rights Abuse – December 2017

10. CIC Trump walks in front of Queen – July 14, 2018

11. Putin hands CIC Trump soccer ball (“the ball is in your court”; did not participate in 2022 World Cup) – July 16, 2018

12. Executive Order 13848 – September 2018

13. CIC Trump makes history; walks into North Korea – June 2019  

14. National Quantum Initiative – Executive Order 13885 – August 2019

15. Space Force established as Military Branch – December 2019

16. Corona Sars Virus first mentioned to American Public as a Threat from China – February 2020

17. Two more National Emergencies Declared – March 13 and 27, 2020

18. Executive Order 13912 Federalizing 1,000,000 National Guard to Active-Duty Status – March 27, 2020

19. CIC Trump quote on attack worse than Pearl Harbor and 9/11 combined – May 2020

20. National Guard Troops place fence around Capitol Building (47 US Code 606) – January 2021

21. CIC Trump receives full grade Constitutional by Law and Military Grade Inauguration ceremony – January 20, 2021

22. “Joe Biden” breaks 20th Amendment amongst many other violations – January 20, 2021

23. Aircrafts constantly over and through 33 mile no fly zone radius D.C. – January 2021 to present day

24. “Biden” extends Executive Order 13848 (first time) – September 2021

25. Quantum.gov launched – September 2021

26. New York Times reports Military Tribunals coming mid-2023 – December 2021

27. Army and branches transfer all communications to Space Force under ONE command (Biden’s never mentioned the Space Force not once; zero News Articles with his name tied to Space Force) – August 2022

28. Major Optics and Comms in CIC Trump speech – November 15 2022

29. More News Articles establishing Space Force Command Centers with zero mention of Biden – December 2022

Those few timelines and timestamps do nothing but prove a Military Operation and Occupancy along with many more Laws, Codes, Orders, Statutes, Acts, Optics,

The National Guard has been out of their state militia status and operating as Active-Duty Status every day since they were Federalized in March 2020.

There’s MORE than enough documentation and ‘proof’ to show not only the National Guard, but also thousands of World Alliance Aircrafts in and out of the United States and National Guard bases.

There’s United States Coast Guards with United States Navy at their stations. USCG is Department of Homeland Security during Peacetime and transferred to the Department of the Navy during Wartime.

The Brunson vs. Adams case simply states the obvious… Congress violated the Constitution.

- Benjamin Fulford

I will add; everyone thinks they know what's going on but very few have done any research on Trump's executive orders. Everyone has discarded Q because they have seen dates come and go without seeing any results. Fact is they weren't dates but rather chapters and paragraphs from the law of war manual.

We're going by the Book. Why? Because it has to be done by the rule of law, if not, it's just more crimes being committed.

Sun Tzu - The Art of War... Know your enemy, löök weak when you're strong, infiltrate and use disinformation to confuse the enemy. 🤔

[lukolabrainrot]

Part 1:  I have a new theory on where L&N are at.  I’m prefacing this by saying this is all my opinion, just a new interpretation of what was publicly shown. Also, imagine me starting all my sentences below with “I think…”

I will start with Brazil – L&N have a serious chat here, but nothing physically happened; just outlined what he needs to do next, but they are finally on the same page. That’s why they’re so happy there.  L then sent a message to A that they need to talk when he goes home.

A, during Brazil, chopped her hair, posted stories in L’s apartment, got babysat by R, S, Amber and Carla.

New interpretation of A shenanigans: I always thought that the IG stories of her chopped hair plus L’s apartment looked smug to me. Before, I thought it was a message to fans reminding us that Lukola can’t be real because she exists. But what if those were messages to L implying that he can’t drop her that easily because she had access to his house and his friends. It could be possible that she herself arranged the outings with his friends, instead of him arranging babysitting duties.

During the 2-week break before Toronto, what people thought of as Luke’s apology tour with A (i.e. liking back her IG posts from July) was damage control for him and N. L actually breaks up with A during this period but he has to agree to certain conditions from A. Agreement could include helping her SM following, bringing her to events for networking (especially those that were already planned before the break up), her own membership to Soho, etc.

Why? A could easily throw a homewrecker narrative against N. It is easy to conceive that there was an overlap between her and N but even if there was none. A will have no trouble selling that narrative especially since we saw what we saw with those two in the WT, plus there are already homewrecker rumblings against N for L&J relationship. A friend pointed out as well, that if A is truly manipulative, she could use her age and naivete, implying that she was patiently and quietly waiting on the sidelines while L fulfils his PR responsibilities. She doesn’t even have to outright lie, but even a short statement with cheating implications can do damage to N.

Toronto – L&N became a couple officially. We’ve seen their interviews, so I won’t spend too much time here but in Toronto they were hubby-wife coded not even BF-GF. N posted Louvre while in Toronto as well. Lyrics “Our days and nights are perfumed with obsession. Half of my wardrobe is on your bedroom floor.”

https://www.popsongprofessor.com/blog/2017/6/16/what-does-the-louvre-by-lorde-mean

Ireland – again, we saw what we saw, but I will stress that what happened here is what N meant when she said, ‘I can be boss bitch lady at work but when I’m home, I’m baby here’ and L rose to the occasion.

London - differing opinions on London vibes up to premiere. My new take: both are sad that their bubble is ending. N looked like she’s bracing herself and maybe withdrawing because while they can continue privately, she knows L still needs to do some work to fully disengage with A. L is reaching out more, I think to reassure her that he’s 💯 in and they will be okay.

Redemption song – I’ll be honest, this stumped me a bit. I focused on these lyrics: There’s no time for crying, only time for trying now.  But I also think that this is N reassuring L, that even if their plans fall flat this time around, he only needs to try again, and she will fall again.

Pap walk – L brought A in the premiere as part of agreement but he never intended to get papped (maybe just the same level of public showing, very much on the down low, as NY premiere). Neither L nor A arranged that but A took advantage of the situation in the hotel. Thus, the 🦀 walk. She effectively prolonged her stay because it established her presence in the GA not just fandom. I don’t think L knew that they got papped until the DM posts came out.

So L, possibly with advice from PR team this time, has to pretend to still be in a relationship with A until he can “break up” with her with no or minimal damage to him and especially N. So, we mostly get group trips, we get awkward photos that eventually get leaked to the public, A’s attempts to ride on N’s coattails, etc. I think they have agreed on the date when they will “publicly” break up; it is possible that it’s before S4 filming.

So that’s the gist.  I will send a Part 2 with the list of items that I think will be raised.

Ok this will be posted in 4 parts. Anon, I just have to say, I'm LOVING your theories! I don't agree with EVERYTHING, but a lot of this aligns with my thoughts that I have shared on the blog, and it is TOTALLY feeding my delulu rn! 😍

What are everyone else's thoughts??

[echologname]

TSBS Characters' "Birthdays"

Sun & Moon - January 9, 2022

Not when they were created (which would be closer to game canon possibly in 2015/2016) but it's when they were introduced into the TSBS universe in this video: https://youtu.be/yGtUE1iM61s?feature=shared

They're still together in this episode, so it's BEFORE they canonically split on July 15. But the show starts later this year on March 24, 2022, and they're separate which is before July. I think THE July 16th is supposed to technically be '22 even though the continuity doesn't match up. In 2024, they hypothesized Evelyn had been dead for about 2 years because she's witnessed everything happening in the daycare as far back as Eclipse and Lunar taking over Sun and Moon's bodies.

Kill Code - April 15, 2023

He would have the same creation date as Sun and Moon but since it's unknown, we can celebrate when Moon died so KC could live: https://youtu.be/37ZVNKTOP_w?feature=shared

Eclipse - July 16, 2021

First Appearance: April 29, 2022 https://youtu.be/_5kZkNnojYw?feature=shared

It's likely he existed long before this video because he later trapped Sun and Moon in The Back Rooms which first appear before this came out.

I'm under the impression that it took a while after the split for him to gain his own consciousness but originally, it was implied that Eclipse was the true July 16th killer not Blood Moon. So, despite the retcon I'm going to keep his "birthday" as July 16th, just a year before the actual incident in '22.

Solar - July 16, 2018

Solar mentioned that his dimension is 3 years behind the main one.

Lunar - August 11, 2022

Despite the Fandom Wiki saying Lunar's first appearance is in the episode after this one: https://youtu.be/DlsE4JDuWH4?feature=shared right after Eclipse puts Lunar in Moon's head we hear Moon speak in a high pitched voice and call Eclipse "brother" suggesting that it was really Lunar.

Earth - December 4, 2022

The creator reveals in this episode: https://youtu.be/YGtk7BastlU?feature=shared

that Earth's been completed for about 2 months.

Jack-o-Moon - January 26, 2024

Powered on for the first time: https://youtu.be/-yQg27rWiEA?feature=shared

Dazzle - April 15

Woohoo! 8 years old! https://youtu.be/YbB0IXulJrY?feature=shared

December 30, 2024

Gotcha Day! Adopted by Sun: https://youtu.be/xlFYBOm1nqk?feature=shared

Nexus - April 19, 2023

Moon came back online after factory reset: https://youtu.be/Jx9RJfFWFQw?feature=shared

BloodMoon - July 16, 2022

https://youtu.be/NVpa0_XFodY?feature=shared

This video takes place on July 16th and Eclipse says it took him a year to create Blood Moon. Suggesting that Eclipse existed long BEFORE the split?

Solar Flare - February 6, 2023

https://youtu.be/T32I0WP9P68?feature=shared

[corrodedcoffinfest]

Week Three: Masterlist

Week Three is over! We're over halfway finished now. You all did so great, and I appreciate your participation so much! This week, we covered 7 prompts and there were 53 total entries: 52 Fics Written, 0 Pieces of Art & 1 Other Works submitted.

Don't forget there is also an AO3 Collection if you'd like to use it!

Color-Coded Ratings Key: General, Teen, Mature, Explicit.

Day Fourteen: And the Winner Is...

Fic Submissions:

take a break to win by @steddieas-shegoes | Rating: T | WC: 773 | CW: exhaustion | Tags: overworking, famous corroded coffin, friendship

JULY 14: and the winner is... by @the-unforgivenn | Rating: T | WC: 982 | CW: Strong language, a lot of American football talk and subsequent confusion | Tags: Jeff (Richardson is his last name in this particular story), Eddie, Gareth and Grant, and one very badass Violet Richardson, Jeff's eldest daughter

Corroded Coffin Fest - Day 14 - And the Winner Is... by @jo-harrington | Rating: T | WC: 616 | Tags: Angst, brief FOI references, introduction of Phil the Manager, Wayne being the best uncle/dad in the world

Getaway Car by @thisapplepielife | Rating: M | WC: 1000 | CW: Mild Sexual Themes, Language | POV: Eddie | Pairing: Steddie | Tags: Steve is to Corroded Coffin Music Videos as Alicia Silverstone was to Aerosmith Videos in the 90s

My Occupation is Syncopation by @dreamwatch | Rating: T | WC: 1000 | CW: language | POV: Gareth | Pairing: Steddie (background) | Tags: banter, Gareth wears glasses, not as often as he should, 90s Corroded Coffin

Day 14: And the Winner Is… by @munson-blurbs | Rating: T | WC: 518 | CW: mention of poverty and bullying | Pairing: Jason Carver x Tammy Thompson (bear with me here) | Tags: Jason Carver, Tammy Thompson, Eddie Munson, Corroded Coffin, Grammys, 1990s

The New Generation by @corroded-hellfire | Rating: T | WC: 1000 | CW: Language | Pairing: Hellcheer | Tags: It's time for a new generation to take on the talent show at Hawkins Middle School

Day Fifteen: Let's Talk About That Fic Submissions:

homework by @steddieas-shegoes | Rating: T | WC: 990 | CW: none | Tags: therapy, gareth pov, personal growth, self-discovery

JULY 15: let's talk about that by @the-unforgivenn | Rating: T | WC: 1000 | CW: Dustin Henderson. That’s pretty much it. He’s the content warning. Eddie should know better than to listen to his wildly overconfident ideas. There’s also a mention of fire and injury, but no one is seriously hurt. | Tags: Corroded Coffin, Hellfire boys, Nancy Wheeler

Corroded Coffin Fest - Day 15 - Let's Talk About That by @jo-harrington | Rating: T | WC: 994 | Tags: Older!Eddie, Wayne, Angst, hurt no comfort, death and grief, Eddie-centric, dialogue heavy, Jo pulls a Flanagan for the umpteenth time

Got You Good, Kid by @thisapplepielife | Rating: T | WC: 1000 | CW: CW: Language, Smoking, Mentions of Unplanned Pregnancy, Eddie Being a Bit Lot of a Dick | POV: Gareth | Pairing: Gareth/OFC (Off-Screen), Background Steddie | Tags: Modern Day Setting, Road Manager Steve Harrington, Eddie and Gareth are BFFs, But Gareth's Keeping Secrets, So They're Fighting, Fucking Interviewers, Fucking Paparazzi, Fucking Eddie

Day 15: Let's Talk About That by @munson-blurbs | Rating: T | WC: 877 | CW: mention of vomiting and getting sick (not described), stage fright, takes place in 2024, older Corroded Coffin, loosely based on Joseph Quinn's Tonight Show experience | Tags: Eddie Munson, Jeff, Grant, Gareth, talk show, flashbacks

Stream Punk by @corroded-hellfire | Rating: T | WC: 1000 | CW: Language | Pairing: Eddie x Reader | Tags: Modern AU - Corroded Coffin hosts a live stream and fans notice you walk through the background

Day Sixteen: Struggling Fic Submissions:

always struggling by @steddieas-shegoes | Rating: T | WC: 971 | CW: none | Tags: steddie, post-break up, modern era, open ending but assume they get back together, pre-famous corroded coffin

JULY 16: struggling by @the-unforgivenn | Rating: T | WC: 911 | CW: Strong language, tiny bit of angst, surgery mention but no graphic depictions of, don't worry | Tags: Eddie Munson, Gareth Emerson

Corroded Coffin Fest - Day 16 - Struggling by @jo-harrington | Rating: T | WC: 901 | Tags: Modern!Corroded Coffin, Older!Corrded Coffin, memes, friendship, bickering and banter, pop culture/social media reference (link at the end of the fic)

Headlines by @thisapplepielife | Rating: M | WC: 1000 | CW: Substance Abuse, Addiction, Minor Mention of Pregnancy | POV: Gareth | Pairing: Gareth/Di (OC, Off-Screen), Minor Steddie | Tags: Clawing Your Way Out Of Rock Bottom, Tough Love, But Love

Day 16: Struggling by @munson-blurbs | Rating: M | WC: 877 | CW: drug abuse (cocaine), alcohol abuse, addiction, some comfort | Tags: Eddie Munson, Jeff, Grant, Gareth, Corroded Coffin, Wayne Munson, addiction, drug and alcohol abuse, tour life

Disenchanted Lullaby by @dreamwatch | Rating: T | WC: 1000 | CW: depression, chronic pain, referenced drug use | POV: Eddie | Pairing: None | Tags: Eddie Munson, slice of life, introspection, the comedown after touring, loneliness, ennui

This One's For You by @corroded-hellfire | Rating: T | WC: 658 | CW: Language | Tags: A letter from Eddie to you. Yes, YOU.

Day Seventeen: "This One's For You" Fic Submissions:

love doesn't wait by @steddieas-shegoes | Rating: M | WC: 685 | CW: implied/referenced sex | Tags: famous corroded coffin, side steddie, jeff's love story, love confessions

Serenade by @medusapelagia | Rating: T | WC: 1000 | CW: None | Pairing: Steddie

JULY 17: this one's for you by @the-unforgivenn | Rating: T | WC: 969 | CW: Grief, loss of a friend | Tags: Hurt/no comfort, Eddie Munson, Gareth Emerson, Elliot

Stayin' Alive by @thisapplepielife | Rating: T | WC: 1000 | CW: Language | POV: Eddie | Pairing: Steddie, Mention of Pre-Robin/Vickie | Tags: Post S4, But Eddie Lives, But Is Still Recovering, Getting Together, First Kiss, The Band Has a Surprise For Eddie at The Hideout, Steve Harrington Just Wants To Help, Henderson Too

Know When To Hold 'em by @dreamwatch | Rating: T | WC: 999 | CW: death of a parent, depression, grief, referenced drug abuse | POV: Steve | Pairing: Steddie | Tags: Wayne Munson, Eddie needs a hug, protective Steve, hurt/comfort

Day 17: This One's For You by @munson-blurbs | Rating: T | WC: 541 | CW: I cried writing this, canon-compliant, breaking the fourth wall | Tags: Eddie Munson, love letter, fanfic writers

Corroded Coffin Fest - Day 17 - This One's For You by @jo-harrington | Rating: T | WC: 638 | Tags: Grief, Peace, Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Intentionally Left Vague, Character Death (You can read it as Eddie visiting his mom OR Jeff visiting Eddie.)

Rock 'n Roll All Night (Or Until Bedtime) by @corroded-hellfire | Rating: G | WC: 1000 | CW: None | Pairing: Eddie x Reader | Tags: Snowed in during a blizzard, Eddie’s daughter Eliza proves just how like him she is.

Day Eighteen: Freak Fic Submissions:

Get Lucky by @mrsjellymunson | Rating: T | WC: 1000 | CW: longing, self-deprecation, ogling, allusions to sex | POV: Grant (Unnamed Freak) | Tags: Eddie, Gareth, Jeff, Grant, The Hideout

frankie by @steddieas-shegoes | Rating: M | WC: 930 | CW: temporary character death | Tags: canon-adjacent events, frankie pov, eddie munson lives

JULY 18: grant by @the-unforgivenn | Rating: T | WC: 1000 | CW: chronic illness, celiac disease (which was fucking hard to get a diagnosis in the 90s), a tiny mention of weight loss if you squint, food aversion | Tags: Grant (Unnamed Freak), Eddie Munson, Gareth Emerson, Jeff, gn!Reader

Charles III by @thisapplepielife | Rating: T | WC: 1000 | CW: Language | POV: Goodie (Freak) | Pairing: None | Tags: Band Practice, Goodie & Gareth, The Birth of a Nickname, He's Goodie Goodwin the First

The fourth member of the band by @medusapelagia | Rating: T | WC: 994 | CW: None | Pairing: Freak & Eddie

Day 18: Freak by @munson-blurbs | Rating: G | WC: 643 | CW: canon scene, Grant (Freak) is neurodivergent, anxiety | Tags: Grant, Eddie Munson, Gareth, Jeff, Dustin Henderson, Mike Wheeler, Lucas Sinclair, Hellfire, Corroded Coffin

Corroded Coffin Fest - Day 18 - Freak by @jo-harrington | Rating: T | WC: 961 | Tags: Friendship, new friends, a bit of self deprecation, teenage angst, typical teenage snark, Freak #3 is named Dave, whats the friendship thing where you think someone's a raging bitch/asshole and then that ends up being your best friend? yeah that...

Hello, I've Waited Here For You by @dreamwatch | Rating: T | WC: 1000 | CW: period typical attitudes to women, period typical homophobia, internalised fat shaming, period typical sexism, sexist language | POV: Matt (Freak) | Pairing: Steddie, Matt/OC | Tags: Falling in love, CC is a family, secret relationship

That's Not My Name by @corroded-hellfire | Rating: T | WC: 687 | CW: Language | Pairing: None | Tags: Why is it that no one knows his name?

Other Submissions:

Eugene Faulkner: Fluff Alphabet @hawkinsmafia | Other Type: Character Alphabet | Rating: G | CW: None | Pairing: Eugene Faulkner x Reader (no assumed gender)

Day Nineteen: In the Garage Fic Submissions:

from garage to library by @steddieas-shegoes | Rating: M | WC: 930 | CW: mild language | Tags: they're really just trying to make it, they're all idiots

JULY 19: in the garage by @the-unforgivenn | Rating: T | WC: 1000 | CW: Some douchebag neighbor (typical Hawkins), strong language. No slurs but the dude isn’t real nice. Hashtag SatanicPanic | Tags: Corroded Coffin, Tim Emerson, Douchebag neighbor Marty (def not based on a real life douchebag neighbor Marty from my childhood or anything, nooo)

Corroded Coffin Fest - Day 19 - In the Garage by @jo-harrington | Rating: T | WC: 690 | Tags: Older!Corroded Coffin (it's the late 90s...), the pure boys will be boys energy, car speak thats probably wrong

Sweet Talkin' Lola by @thisapplepielife | Rating: T | WC: 1000 | CW: Language | POV: Jeff | Pairing: None | Tags: S4, "Welcome to Hellfire" Missing Scene, Misheard Lyrics, Band Practice

Day 19: In the Garage by @munson-blurbs | Rating: G | WC: 732 | CW: Principal Higgins is an ass, anxiety about being accepted, divergent from FoI | Tags: Eddie Munson, Gareth, Jeff, Grant, Principal Higgins, Corroded Coffin

Untitled by @br0ck-eddie | Rating: T | WC: 322 | Pairing: None

Check Him Out by @corroded-hellfire | Rating: T | WC: 977 | CW: Language | Pairing: Eddie Munson x Reader | Tags: Eddie gets a nice surprise at work when you come in with a car problem.

Day Twenty: Under the Covers Fic Submissions:

under the covers by @steddieas-shegoes | Rating: E | WC: 962 | CW: angst with an unhappy/open ending | Tags: friends with benefits, gareth/eddie, unrequited feelings, anal sex, mention of steddie

JULY 20: under the covers by @the-unforgivenn | Rating: T | WC: 944 | CW: Protected p in v sex, angsty sex, the accidental slip of someone else’s name | Tags: Gareth Emerson x fem!reader, Gareth x unnamed female groupie

Corroded Coffin Fest - Day 20 - Under the Covers by @jo-harrington | Rating: T | WC: 937 | Pairing: Eddie Munson x OC | Tags: Unofficial official Hymn of Heaven, Friendship, Hurt/Comfort, Eddie is simping hard, Fluff, allusion to monsters and nightmares, DnD references

Louisiana Rain by @thisapplepielife | Rating: E | WC: 1000 | CW: Sex, Brief Mentions of Past Trauma/Loss | POV: Gareth | Pairing: Gareth/Di (OC) | Tags: Future Fic, Established Relationship, Marriage, Post-Corroded Coffin, Gareth & Eddie are BFFs, Traveling Sucks, Delayed Flights, Coming Home, That Middle of the Night Quiet

Untitled by @br0ck-eddie | Rating: T | WC: 308 | Pairing: None

Day 20: Under the Covers by @munson-blurbs | Rating: T | WC: 656 | CW: None | Tags: Eddie Munson, Gareth, Grant, Jeff, Erica Sinclair, Lucas Sinclair, Mike Wheeler, Dustin Henderson, birthday party, cover band

Safe Haven by @corroded-hellfire | Rating: G | WC: 922 | CW: fear of thunderstorms | Pairing: None | Tags: fear of thunderstorms

Rambin' Gamblin' Man by @dreamwatch | Rating: M | WC: 1000 | CW: period typical homophobia (alluded to) | POV: Steve | Pairing: Steddie | Tags: secret relationship, sharp suits, Steve Harrington is stupid for Eddie Munson, Fluff but make it lustful