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aurora-the-kunoichi · 3 years

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The Forgotten - Chapter Five Punishment

Here is the fifth Installment

Full story here

Warning: Blood, gore, mild torture, mild smut

Aurora utilized those precious few moments she still had with Leo, running her hands over his face, arms and torso drinking in as much of him as possible, before they came for him. He looked so peaceful lying there, eyes closed, taking even unhurried breaths. Like so many times before when she’d wake before them memorizing every scar and scrute as they dreamed peacefully, another life time, so far away.

Leaning forward she took her final taste of his lips as the door opened to her room.

Aurora ordered Leonardo’s unconscious body returned to the location they had apprehended him. He couldn’t stay in the base, no matter how bad she wanted to keep him close. Though if and when Donnie returned, the genius would want access to his brothers. But she needed him out of there before he escaped and gave away their location to Bishop’s troops. Her first priority was to the people here, if their safe haven was compromised everything would be lost.

As they hoisted Leonardo onto the cart, Casey stepped in front of Aurora insisting the kunoichi didn’t accompany them. Her first reaction was to object but after a few moments she reluctantly agreed. At this moment she was too emotional, she could change her mind and go get him. So, she added not to be informed of the drop site.

She watched them prep him for transport; sound canceling headphones were put over his ears set to an annoying brand of music and his eyes covered with dark fabric. Before the hood was pulled over his green crown Aurora bent down cupping his cheeks to gather his warmth in her palms.

“You have an hour to get him there and get clear before the pressure points wear off. It usually takes a few hours on a human, but the mutagen helps him recover faster, his muscles don’t hold the pressure as long. Don’t stop; don’t engage any hostiles, especially his brothers if you encounter them. Get in and get out.”

They left with the leader a few minutes later and with a huff Aurora sat down on the edge of her bed. Her hands ran back into the messy sheets finding them still a little damp from their tryst. She suddenly had an insatiable need to smell him again. Crawling onto the mattress her face ran over the sheets taking in his scent that still lingered there. She had touched them all except for Michelangelo today. But she knew when Leo returned home and the youngest found he was the last to leave his scent on her Mikey would rectify that rather quickly.

Wrapping the blankets still thick with Leonardo’s scent around her, Aurora closed her eyes and found slumber quick to take its hold. Leo’s face flush with pleasure was the last thing she thought of before she fell asleep.

She slept for several uninterrupted hours cocooned in their memories and smell. It wasn’t until a soft tapping at her door that finally woke her from sleep. Her voice groggy and sleep laden allowed entrance into her room.

The heavy door opened slowly and April came into focus as her eyes adjusted to the hallway light from the doorway. In her hand was a plate and the wondrous smell of bacon filled the large space.

“Rise and shine sugar tits. Casey scored some bacon on his way home last night; I thought you’d enjoy some.”

“That big beautiful idiot, it’s about time he made himself useful.” Sitting up in her bed Aurora’s hands rose above her head to stretch out the sore muscles in her body. “God I think it’s been a year since I’ve had some.” Accepting the plate Aurora bit down on a still hot slab of pork. The salty goodness burst with flavor coating her tongue delightfully and Aurora’s eyes rolled into the back of her head. “Fuck, that’s delicious and you made it crispy just the way I like it. You do care….”

“Most days……”

“Bitch…” Aurora laughed slipping the rest of the piece in her mouth. “How long have I been out?”

“Ten hours, but you needed it. If it wasn’t for this pipin hot pig and a lead to follow I’d order you to stay in bed a few more. But alas duty calls, I need that fine ass up, showered and in the war room in 30 minutes.” April leaned down to Aurora and pressed a quick kiss to her forehead.

“Ok mother.”

“Don’t sass me little lady. You’re lucky I don’t ground you after last night’s debacle.”

“You would have done the same.”

“Touché, I’m just glad no one was killed. He could have easily cleaned house last night. I think if you weren’t here last night it would have been a completely different outcome.”

“I agree, sadly.”

April stopped at the door and turned back around to face her friend; her face held the seriousness of the situation but as their eyes met April’s lips curled just a little with mischief. “For…..reasons…..how was it?”

“Heartbreakingly good.”

“I’m glad but I’m sorry at the same time.”

“Thanks.”

The hot spray of the shower was usually a relief to Aurora, the warmth seeping into her tired muscles and washing away her daily tasks. But the thought of washing away the evidence of Leonardo’s visit was excruciating. What had transpired was dangerous, he had nearly killed her the last time they met, but she could see it in his eyes. He was a desperate man and she gambled with her life, it was stupid but she needed it as much as Leo did….maybe more. That piece he shared was just a taste of what she had been missing all these years. People would think it selfish and maybe it was but what miserable existence they had. All that they had given up, no promise of life with each mission, a little happiness was due every once in a while, no matter how short lived it was. For all she knew she would never see them again.

Finished with her shower Aurora pulled on fresh clothes and headed out to the war room anxious to hear about the new lead that was found.

The warmth of her was gone, but as he came to the scent remained strong and evident on his flesh. Taking a deep breath Leo tried to sooth the swimming headache throbbing in his skull. She really did know how to adjust the pressure points on their bodies taking in account of the shells on their backs. Curiouser and curiouser, each time they had an encounter with that woman……Aurora, things seemed to become more confusing yet more clear. If that was possible, someone was lying that he was certain but was his master or the woman who was driving him and his brothers insane? But right now he had bigger problems.

He had woken up where he had laid his trap. A carefully planned scheme he had worked on for months down the drain because of that woman. That infuriatingly beautiful woman, she really did have some sort of hold on him. Maybe there was truth her to lies, she said something was in him? What did she mean by that?

Stumbling to his feet Leo began his trek back to main headquarters and Leonardo was not looking forward to reporting his failure to Bishop. The man did not take failure well; his tolerance was paper thin but Leonardo rarely came back with bad news so there was hope…..perhaps. The rebel base was supposed to be overrun with his brothers and Bishop’s men by now. If he hadn’t been weak and sought out the blonde, his mission would have been successful. Her name even if not spoken out loud had a profound effect on the leader. Leo’s heart tightened and his insides spun with an unknown feeling. A feeling that took control of him as he searched for the vexing woman’s room in their base and claimed her in her ridiculously large bed. It could easy fit him and his brothers along with her……like it was meant for them all.

A sudden vision of Raphael, Mike, and him with another turtle wrapped around Aurora sent his head spinning and his chest constricting in unimaginable pain. It intensified as he focused on the fourth mutant turtle he had never seen before but somehow looked familiar. Purple was wrapped around his skull and he was taller than them all, for some reason he knew he was a genius. Brother? Another heart stopping shot of pain surged through his chest and Leo toppled onto his knees clutching at his harness as he struggled to breath.

What was that, a memory? Why did it hurt so much? Holding his labored breathing Leo closed his eyes and cleared his mind until the pain passed allowing him to stand and resume his return to base.

The moment he entered into their home base both Raphael and Michelangelo were on him.

“Where the fuck have you been? You were supposed to call us hours ago!”

Leonardo ignored his hothead brothers’ questions pushing past him to make his way towards their shared quarters. He was not in the mood, but Leo should have known Raphael was not one to be ignored. His brother’s large mitt encircled his arm and yanked him to a halt.

“Fuck you if you think you’re gonna pull the silent leader bullshit today. Despite your failure to inform us of the rebels base Mike and I were fuckin worried.” Raphael whipped his older brother around to look into his eyes. He wanted a fuckin explanation. “You were supposed to get ‘caught’ and taken to their base to escape then tell us where ya were so we could overtake them………” Raphael’s nostrils flared, and his line of questions halted abruptly. The grip on his brother’s arm intensified as his eyes dilated with realization.

Leo winced at the increasing pressure and tensed further feeling his youngest brother get closer scenting the air as well.

“Ya bro, what kept you?”

Raphael leaned in close almost pressing his beak to his brother’s plastron and took in a long pull of air. Then something unexpected happened, his hothead brother pulled away with is mouth open wide in a toothy grin and started to cackle. It was a deep sound that started in the depths of his chest. “You botched the mission for a piece of blondie?!” The barreling laughter began to rise. “This is fuckin rich! Mr. Self-control couldn’t keep it in his pants to finish the mission.”

Mikey hit Raph in the shoulder trying to pull him away from Leo, “Shut up Raph. If Bishop hears that he’ll….”

Refusing to give Raph the satisfaction of acknowledging his weakness for the woman Leo ripping his arm free and pushed past him but stopped in his tracks nearly running into his master.

Bishop though smaller than the three brothers stood with such confidence the mutants stepped back falling into line on instinct. The dark shades that sat upon his nose was adjusted and his suit jacket opened with a flick of his thumb and forefinger. “Is this true Leonardo? Did you fail in your mission over the blonde commander?”

The usually stoic leader’s head fell unable to look Bishop in the eye. “Master, I went to her chambers to subdue her. She is a formidable fighter, but I have a weakness for the woman that I cannot comprehend. I am drawn to her and she welcomes it. I lost myself in her and she took full advantage rendering me unconscious. I will not fail you again Master.”

A heavy sigh came from the man as he took his sunglasses from this nose ridge to clean them. “I am disappointed in you Leonardo. You, out of your brothers are the most disciplined and to let a mere woman take you from your mission makes me question your loyalty to me. Was I wrong to give you the highest command in my army?”

“No Bishop, you were not. I….”

Bishop cut him off moving past the leader to his younger brothers. “You see Leonardo, when you are the leader; you hold the lives of your men in your hands. The responsibility of the mission, of your success rests on those large shoulders of yours.” Bishop moved around Michelangelo to Raphael. “You see, I chose you. Because I knew you could handle the pressure, but I am aware you are still human….so to speak. You are not without your flaws, but you see, there has to be consequences to your actions.”

Leonardo did not like the way Bishop was circling his brothers eyeing them like they were prey, “Yes, I am fully prepared to receive my punishment Master.”

“And receive you shall.” Bishop’s hand reached for the top of Raphael’s shoulder and pulled. “On your knees Raphael. You and your brother are going to help me show your leader what happens when he disappoints me.”

Honeyed eyes met blue, weary of what was happening, but Raphael swallowed the rising lump in his throat obeying his superior sinking slowly to his knees. “Master Bishop, Leo isn’t the only one distracted by her. Mike and I…..” The man’s hand squeezed painfully into the muscle of his shoulder making the brute wince.

“Quiet Raphael, know your place.” His hands moved to his glasses and pulled them free of his face and folded them carefully placing them into his jacket pocket. “Your team is small, so the effects of your decisions affect them more, but you ultimately suffer the most.” Bishop leaned down wrapping his long fingers around the hilt of Raphael’s long blade strapped to his side. Slowly he removed the blade from its sheath and rested the business end against the scales of his red banded brother’s arm.

Leo’s brother instincts kicked in and moved forward to protect his brother. He wanted to reach for his katanas, Bishop was their Master, their commander, their savoir but right now he was threatening the only two people he loved on this miserable planet.

“Unless you wish for their punishment to be far worse, I suggest you stay where you are Leonardo. And if your brothers do not wish for this to happen to you, I hope they do the same. You need to be taught a lesson Leo; no deed goes unpunished.”

Movement halted but his senses were still on high alert. Leo’s hands clenched into tight fists and his eyes locked with Raph as his green scales gave way to the sharp metal of his own blade. The tip sunk into the dense tissue and began its decent down the deltoid drawing a steady river of crimson in its wake. “Please, not my brothers, I’ll take this, it’s for me and my failings not theirs. They weren’t even there!” Leo voice had risen in pitch watching Raphael groan in agony but stayed where he was told.

“That would be too easy, you are self-sacrificing Leonardo so taking this pain, this punishment would not heed the lesson. But if you witnessed your loved ones suffer this, it would be engrained in your memory a constant reminder not to fail me again.”

“I’m fine fearless, I can take it.” Raphael tried his best not to make a sound while the blade began to carve through the thick muscle of his bicep. His nostrils flared trying to regulate his breathing. Something he was taught..by….not Bishop…..but by who? His mind began to scream at him adding to the excruciating pain radiating through his arm. Raph closed his eyes taking in heavy uneven breaths and a hoard of rats swarmed his vision.

Bishop paid no attention to Raphael keeping his sight solely on the panicking leader. “You did this, you did this to him. You three are beasts, unworthy of love. You actually think that woman truly cares for you….FOR ANY OF YOU! She is a kunoichi, a deceitful vile whore trying to wear you down, gain your trust so she can find me to kill me.” The blade pulled from Raphael’s flesh with a sickening sound and Bishop thrust the tip into the exposed side of Raphael’s body between his plastron and shell. Almost instantly he began to drag the blade down opening up a large weeping gash in Raphael’s’ side.

This time Raphael gasped in pain letting out a breathless growl, “F..uh….uck.”

“You are nothing without me, I am all you have. If it wasn’t for me you would have been put down in the labs I found you in! I spared your lives, ME! I gave you purpose! The rebels only want information from you nothing more. You are freaks; monsters and they will kill you the first chance they get.”

Gritting his teeth watching his brother in pain Leo kept the fact the rebels had done no such thing. The only thing they threatened was to take him to R&D and remove what was ‘inside of him’. None of them had looked scared or even disgusted by his appearance.

Blood was now pooling at the brute’s feet slipping down his green flesh like a waterfall.

“That’s enough!” Leo couldn’t take it anymore. The look on Raph’s face was cutting into his soul squeezing his heart to the point of him unable to pull in a full breath.

Bishop’s eyes darkened at the challenge put after a few never ending moments he pulled the knife free turning to Michelangelo to continue his ‘lesson’.

Not to be outdone by Raph, Mikey held his ground ready to take his part in all of this. Planting his feet the youngest stood tall but soon found the solid walls of his brothers in front of him an impenetrable force keeping Bishop and his punishment far from their little brother.

Leo growled at Bishop holding the bloody knife that was just inside his brother’s side a few moments ago. “I said that is enough. You’re point was well taken.”

It took their master a few agonizing moments to come up with a decision whether to punish them further or concede. He took a fresh cloth from his breast pocket and wiped the crimson from the knife and held it back out to its owner for retrieval. “Very well, but next time Michelangelo will get it much worse than Raphael did…..much worse. I tire of these games the resistance plays. I want this over with. I want that base found and those three commanders caught and executed. They have caused us too much trouble. They need to be made an example.” Bishop watched Leo’s eyes darken with defiance further but remained where he was. “Do we have a problem with those orders Leonardo?”

Raphael and Michelangelo watched their brothers hands tense at his sides and his back straighten. “No.” Leo ground out darkly. “I will personally make sure those orders are carried out.”

“Good, I will not tolerate failure again.” And with that Bishop left leaving the three brothers alone.

After the hallway was clear Raphael finally stumbled into Leonardo’s arms. Mikey quickly came up to the other side of his brother helping Leo brace his immense weight. “Fuck Leo, I hope it was worth it.”

Leo adjusted his brothers’ weight and pressed his palm into the weeping gash doing his best to slow the flow. “It was…enlightening, and don’t throw stones Raphael. You know full well if you were given the chance you would have took part in her body without hesitation. Now let’s get out of the hallway and to our quarters. We need to tend to your wounds.”

Without any word of protest all three made their way to their shared room. When they had been brought to this facility after Bishop and his men had freed them from a secret lab doing tests on animals, they were each offered up their own rooms. Something deep inside them found the thought unpleasant and asked to be housed together. They had even moved their beds together finding comfort in each other’s warmth. Like they had been sleeping close years prior.

Carefully they set Raphael down on a chair in their living quarters and Mikey began to address his wounds. Leo brought over their med kit and pulled out the tools Mike would need and left to fetch something to flush the gash with to clean and disinfect it.

Returning to his brother’s Leo handed Mikey the supplies and assisted with keeping Raph’s steady for treatment.

Raphael finally broke the silence eyeing Leo suspiciously. “You really gonna kill her?”

The war room was empty except for Casey who was sitting on the edge of large table in the middle of the room. His booted feet swung slightly as the dark haired man cleaned out from beneath his nails still unaware of her presence.

“April would be fuckin pissed if she saw you doing that in here.”

Casey yelped dropping the small knife from his fingers to grab his shuttering chest. “Jesus Christ, you’re gonna give me a heart attack! I need to get a bell on you!”

Aurora giggled hearing him whisper ‘fuckin ninja’s’ under his breath as he slipped from his perch to grab his lost blade. She moved into the room and took his spot crossing one leg over the other. “Then I wouldn’t be effective now would I?”Her fingers reached down to her knee high boots and straightened the seam to lean back to watch her friend. “She said you had something for me, and by the lack of backup I can assume it’s not for everyone’s ears.”

Flipping his knife closed Casey shoved it back into his pocket. He turned away from Aurora, took a few steps to the white board and stopped. She watched his shoulders lift with a few deep breaths and he turned around with a very sheepish grin plastered on his face.

“I did somethin’ stupid..”

“This isn’t something new Case, I love ya kid but you’re as unpredictable and careless as Raph. That’s why you two were best fuckin pals. Why don’t you tell me what you did and we’ll go from there?”

Casey moved quick until he was just in front her and his palms were on her knees squeezing with enthusiasm. His eyes were now ablaze with excitement and he licked his lips. “I followed him….well to a certain extent.”

There was only one person he could have followed, but the moron wouldn’t have been that stupid? Right? April would have skinned him alive. “Who did you follow?” her voice was a whisper hoping she was wrong but her intuition knew better.

“Leo, I followed him for about a half an hour, hoping I could at least get a general direction of Bishop’s base.”

“Casey!”

His hands came up resting on her shoulders, “Wait, wait, …hear me out. He was still groggy when he woke up, stumbling, holding his head. So I figured I’d watch him as he went. I know him; known him for half my life so I know when he’s out of sorts and when he’s not. I followed him until he wasn’t walking funny and he quit holding his left shoulder. When I noticed he was more aware of his surroundings I backed off. At least I had a direction, we needed something Aurora, I took the opportunity. We need to find that base.”

Aurora pushed him away and jumped from the table. She began to pace, “You idiot….I….I know what you did was for the cause and I appreciate it. But Casey he’s the best, you were so fucking lucky he didn’t know you were following him. He could have captured you, tortured you.”

“Hey, I ain’t weak, I’d never give up the base…..ever.”

“I know Case, but the end result would still be your death.” Aurora turned back to face Casey and he looked a little hurt. “I’m sorry, I know you were doing what was needed. I just……I just don’t know what I’d do if I lost you….April…..” she could feel the tears brim and settle into the corner of her eyes. “You two are the… last….my family.”

“I know I know, April was pissed too but I had too. This was too good of an opportunity to let it pass by. It’s been nearly 10 years of this god damn war and we’re losing and I know you know this. Each day we lose more and more people to Bishop’s hold. So any edge, anything at all was worth the risk.”

Wiping a stray tear free Aurora let out a long sigh and gathered Casey into an embrace.

Then a new voice broke them from their moment, “He’s an idiot but…he did good.”

Both Aurora and Casey looked up to see April standing in the door way.

“He spent all night trying to narrow it down. He thinks he might know where they are. But we need to make sure before we go in. Casey is good but inconspicuous he is not. We need someone to go in and confirm the location. Someone quiet, someone who can slip in and slip out without being noticed. Avoid detection, which means recon only, you hear me?”

Aurora slapped her hands over Casey’s cheeks and pressed them together, “Where should this ninja go for said mission?” she pressed closer giving Casey fish lips which he worked playfully.

“Rockefeller State Park Reserve.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The evening air had cooled enough to ease the uncomfortable thickness in the air; if it wasn’t for the task at hand it might have been a good night to watch the stars. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky leaving the stars glittering like diamonds.

Aurora had ditched her bike a mile before she had entered the reserve and continued on foot. Keeping mostly to the trees she moved soundlessly searching the acreage for any sign that Bishop’s base was close.

They had never thought to search state parks, thinking the madman would find it too difficult to build his compound in the middle of nowhere. But he was a stubborn man and if anyone could make it work Bishop would find away if it kept him hidden from prying eyes of his enemies.

It took hours to search, but what a peaceful evening it was. The frogs and bugs were creating a wonderful symphony that echoed throughout the forest floor. Even a few lightening bugs were out flashing across the long grass trying to find a mate.

As she moved through the forest it began to get thicker, the foliage getting denser and then something caught her eye. The moonlight caught the refection of something and Aurora moved back into the shadows pulling out her binoculars.

Zooming in she saw something that didn’t belong in a park reserve, a motion sensor.

“Now we’re onto something….” Climbing higher she disappeared into the foliage concealing her presence further and moved forward her senses now on high alert. As she got closer more sensors popped up with the addition of cameras. Soon men with guns began to come into play and that’s when Aurora knew she was on the right track.

“Good boy Casey, good boy.”

Then she saw it, a large compound hidden in the park surrounded by a large fence littered with armed men swarming the grounds. “Oh goodie.” She mused watching a guard cross below her unawares of the danger looming above them. “Fresh meat.”

With no sound made Aurora dropped down on her prey finding luck was on her side catching a female guard and rendered her neutralized. She stripped the woman of her clothes and ID badge and quickly hoisted the woman into the tree to conceal her work. Pulling on her clothes assuming her identity Aurora pulled the brimmed cap down and made her way to her next task.

The shadows concealed her perfectly as she scaled the fence with ease. She waited for the flood lights to move past before she dropped down into the inner grounds of the base. A passing truck served as a shield bringing to a side door and with her stolen ID badge she was allowed entrance.

Keeping her head down she disappeared into the crowd following them into what looked like a mess hall. There were many tables filled to the brim with brain washed New Yorkers. All oblivious to their predicament following orders of a man they once fought against. She needed to keep moving, she needed to make sure this was the place, she needed a visual, she needed to see Bishop, or one of them. They would be in the same facility as Bishop; he would want to keep them close.

Moving away from the loud space Aurora made her way down another hall searching for her target, keeping an eye out for those god damn sun glasses and that well tailored suit, pompous asshole. Soldiers, doctors, and what looked like civilian men and woman littered the halls. Waves and waves of people came, this was a busy place, very important no doubt.

She needed to be quick though, the longer she was there the more chances there was to be seen, exposed, and even captured. Then green, large striking green and orange came from the distance. The youngest came striding down the hall, an unpleasant frown plastered over his face, jackpot, she had found it.

As the crowd parted for the determined terrapin like the red sea Aurora’ saw his massive mitts covered in blood. Whose blood was that? He looked very upset and stressed. Her happy ray of sunshine looked so angry and she fucking hated it. Wanted to run up to him and kiss him, make him smile she even had to refrain from calling out to him. It hurt to hold it in, hold in his name. It turned bitter on her tongue and it swirled around the remaining saliva on her palette to wash the anger from her mouth.

Then she watched his stride hesitate. He slowed and his nostrils flared as he neared her position. His dull blue eyes widened, brightened, his current mood momentarily forgotten he began to search the crowd frantically.

Jesus fucking Christ those god damn mutant noses, he had smelt her! A flawless entry and she was compromised by their over achieving mutant senses.

“God damnit.”

She had to think quickly, she needed to disappear before he followed that god damn nose like a fucking blood hound.

As luck would have it a man wearing an ungodly amount of cologne walked up next to her. She reacted quickly and shimmied up to him batting her violet eyes and smiled.

“Helloo.” Her hand reached for his chest adjusting his name tag so she could read it. “Mattson…I’m new here and you look like a man who knows where things are.” Her hands ran over his chest to his shoulders keeping her proximity close to keep him interested. “Would you be willing to show me where the mess hall is. I’m starving.” Her hands ran down his arms trying to get as much of the reeking scent of his over compensation all over her hands. Anything to mask her natural scent, to throw Mikey off her trail.

The man looked Aurora over and his smiled widened enjoying the intimate contact. “Sure thing sweetie, I can show you whatever you want.” His arm snaked around her low back and he pulled her closer.

As she pulled him away from Mikey’s last know location, down a different corridor both of them were grabbed.

“I heard this one needed a tour, I’d be more than happy to show you around blondie. I can get you into far more places than he can.” Mikey was leaning down practically lapping at her ear. Fuck, fuck, fuck…..

“Oh I’m sure he can show me around, it’s ok I don’t wanna bother you, you look important.”

“Oh no, no bother at all and I insist. I’ll take it from here Mattson.”

The man looked terrified as he pried himself away from the two and high tailed it down the hall leaving Aurora in Mikey’s clutches.

“Not smart.” Mikey growled nuzzling into the back of her hair while pushing her towards a door.

She didn’t struggle; Michelangelo wasn’t drawing attention to her to out her presence so she didn’t either. His beak was pressed into her hair taking in deep breaths, his grip was secure but not too tight, she would easily be able to break free but something told her to follow his lead.

Allowing him to usher then into what looked like an unused office, she turned when Mike pushed her into the room and quickly locked the door behind them.

There he stood, full height; the shortest of his three brothers but Mikey still had an impressive stature. Just as bulky as Raphael but not as tall. The dullness in his eyes was gone, vibrant baby blue hues swirled in his irises as he took her in, up and down. He gawked hungrily, mouth open in a wicked smile.

“M-mike.” She whined suddenly finding it difficult to breath. That fucking look was devouring her whole. “Say something…do something.”

He moved quicker then she had remembered him able and found herself pressed up against the wall with a brutal shove. The back of her head clacked with the dry wall pushing a huff from between her lips which was quickly silenced by his mouth. Mikey slanted his lips over hers plunging his board tongue into the warm cavern of her mouth still hung open from shock.

The thought was to fight back, to push him away but that god damn mouth of his, that tongue swept away any and all resistance that remained in her head. God he was good and tasted even better, pure bliss.

He must have felt her melt into him because the deep rumble that emanated from his chest vibrated into her chest as his reached down to grab hand fulls of her ass. Her hands moved around his thick shoulders grasping wildly at his bald dome, more, More, MORE!

Mikey’s mouth separated from hers with a wet pop and descended down her throat nipping and sucking at the flesh growling and groaning like a wild beast.

“Mikey….” Her words breathless as his hands cupped her backside squeezed at the plump flesh in his palms spreading her cheeks.

“Again.” He mewled against her throat cooling the saliva spread across her flesh.

She obliged willingly giving him his full name, “Michelangelo.”

“Unngghh fuck yesssss…..” He lunged forward and his teeth sunk into her neck as he began to grind his titanium hard cock along her clothed core.

“God Mike I miss you.”

“Do you?” his breathing was labored as he tried to keep his cool but was failing miserably. He rocked his hips again mesmerized by the friction.

“Every day, since he took you and your brothers from me.”

One hand relinquished its hold from her ass and his finger drug along her hip lining the top of her pants before slipping below. He smiled against her throat finding no underwear beneath. It gave him better access as his thick digit parted the swollen folds sinking into the accommodating heat it sought.

“Did you enjoy Leo last night?” he husked sinking his finger deep hooking it to gain a gasp from his prey.

Aurora arched into his hand clawing at his shoulders as he hit the section of nerves at the top of her snapping cunt. “Mikey!”

Mikey pressed the spot again leaning into her ear as his voice dropped an octave. “Did you?”

“Yesss, I did. It had been so long, it hurt a little. I miss taking you too Mike, Raph too. I miss your tongue, your laugh, your cooking….arghhh…ahh…..fuck!” true to form Michelangelo was the best with his hands. The talented little shit always knew how to bring her to a shuttering climax the quickest compared to his brothers and just with his fingers. And today was no exception; she could feel it rushing through her blood, lighting up her central nervous system setting her ablaze with need.

He worked that finger inside her swirling the pad of his finger over and over making sweet grunting moans in her ear. His sounds always got her going, bringing her closer to her peak quicker.

“Can you cum for me?”

Just then his thumb gathered the moister from her core and circled with the right amount pressure against the soft pearl at the hood of her sex and Aurora gave way. If it wasn’t for his hold on her Aurora would have collapsed as she toppled over into her climax. Her body clenched around his finger gaining a groan from the youngest.

“That’s it, cum for me. Good girl.”

She began to shake as he helped prolong her climax repeating the stimulating motion rocking his finger in and out of her. Then he pulled her ear lobe into his mouth and sucked gently as he slowed his motions allowing her to finally come down.

As the last of her climax subsided Michelangelo pulled his drenched fingers from her body and brought them to his mouth. Keeping eye contact the terrapin slipped them into his mouth and sucked them clean. His eyes closed as he savored the taste swirling his tongue to get the last trace of her essence. “Even better than I had imagined.” Slowly he moved forward brushing his lips against the shell of her ear and whispered. “I have a birthmark.”

A test, but she knew what he was talking about, so intuitive, smart. She tried to calm her breathing, Mikey was intense when he wanted. “Your left ass cheek, I always told you it looked like a slice of watermelon. I always enjoyed chewing on it when you laid on your stomach after a shower. That ass makes the perfect set of bongo drums. ”

He stopped moving and pulled back, his eyes were wide with surprise and Mikey let out a long breath. “I want to remember, I really do. But you need to get going though; he can’t know you’ve been here. Please hurry, he’s ordered Leo to kill you.” @imthegreenfairy88 @tmntspidergirl @ravn-87 @alonia143 @blossom-skies

#tmnt #tmnt leonardo #tmnt raphael #tmnt donatello #tmnt michaelangelo #tmnt fanfiction #tmnt fandom #tmnt fic #TMNT TMNT fanfiction #the forgotten #chapter five #punishment

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chevalier-tialys · 4 years

Text

Look to the Stars

Rating: Gen

Summary: Lee is offered help by a few witches, and finds himself in an even bigger problem than he was in before.

His Dark Materials Fan Week

Day six: thing you are most looking forward to about season two | Lee attending the witches’ council

[Read on Ao3]

The sky split open, and Lee knew deep in his bones that something had gone wrong.

Unfortunately, his balloon had taken a terrible hit during the storm, so he couldn’t go and scout out exactly what was going on. No doubt Serafina Pekkala was doing as much right now, while Lee got his balloon back to Svalbard with the help of a few bears. He didn’t see Iorek anywhere, but then hadn’t expected to be able to with his new rank as king. King Iorek Byrnison, Lee thought with a wry grin. He’d told Iorek years ago that he had royal blood, exile be damned, but the bear hadn’t really listened.

Lee would do anything to shove that memory into his friend’s face, but right now his priority was to get his balloon fixed somehow and go find Lyra.

A rush of wind at his side alerted him to Serafina’s presence. “Lord Asriel opened a bridge to another world,” she announced without preamble.

“I’m sorry, what?” He had not signed up for this nonsense, and even now he was only helping out for Lyra’s sake, but… other worlds? “How is that even possible?”

She shrugged helplessly. “I think it has to do with Dust, since he was reportedly researching it in incredible detail. I saw an airship docked by his laboratory – I assume his research is now under Magisterium control.”

“The Oblation Board…”

“Perhaps. It doesn’t bode well for us,” she admitted, sounding as close to troubled as Lee had ever heard her.

He sighed. “Did you find Lyra and her friend anywhere? Roger, I mean.”

Serafina’s expression twisted. “I found the boy’s body in the snow,” she said mournfully.

“Not dead?”

“I’m afraid so. And I found this beside him,” she added, handing over a scrap of blue fabric – Bolvangar uniform, Lee supposed. “I believe it’s Lyra’s.”

Lee’s eyes widened. “She was there?”

“Not when I flew there, no. But I assume she was, at some point before. She likely took the bridge into another world,” Serafina mused aloud.

He swore under his breath.

“That’s not the worst,” she added grimly. “I found something else there as well, and the image is… disturbing, at the very least.”

“Worse than Bolvangar?” Lee asked, only halfway sarcastic. When Serafina didn’t respond, his heart sank. “Miss Pekkala…”

“Intercision cages,” she said grimly. “With a manual lever. Mr. Scoresby, I believe Lord Asriel killed Roger Parslow when he – when he cut them, to open the bridge in the Aurora.”

Lee fell silent, horrified by the act. He couldn’t tell if he found it more sickening than the experimentation in Bolvangar, or less so. For one thing, Asriel must have had the guts to commit the act himself, so there was no impersonal automation controlling the guillotine. On the other hand, the kid’s murder had probably been instrumental to Asriel’s success, which meant that it was planned.

“Damn.”

“I did say this was bigger than anything we might have imagined,” Serafina responded, still grave.

“Yeah, but – worlds? None of us could have predicted this, except–”

“A city in the Northern Lights,” Lyra said, peering up at the Aurora. She’d opted to lay beside him on the sled that carried his balloon and stargaze for a change, instead of trekking beside the rest of the gyptians. Lee hadn’t protested, the kid had to be pretty tired from all the walking and thinner air at this altitude. He might have been used to it by now, but her Oxford upbringing wouldn’t be.

“A mirage?” Lee had never really seen a mirage himself, but he’d heard the ranchers back in Texas talk about the heat-illusions on particularly hot days when they’d been on the road for a while. He much preferred lying to travelling across land, so it hadn’t really become relevant.

Lyra shook her head. “An actual city. My father, Lord Asriel, he took a photogram of it to show the Scholars in Jordan College. So I know I ‘ent imagining things.”

“I didn’t say that you imagined it, kid,” he grunted as he sat upright, craning his neck to look at the shifting lights. No matter how much he saw them, the view never got old. “But if others have recorded the sight, I suppose…”

“What?”

“Could be some celestial phenomenon,” Lee mused aloud. “That sort of thing happens sometimes, the Aurora can look like different shapes from certain angles. Once, it even looked like a freshwater trout.”

Lyra frowned at him. “No, it can’t have. That’s ridiculous.”

“It is ridiculous,” Hester agreed, nipping at Lee’s finger. He hissed and flicked her ear in return, leaning back against the balloon.

“I guess it is,” he said amiably. “But it probably could look like a trout one day. Who knows, you might have seen an actual city there too, like Asriel. Anything’s possible ‘round these parts.”

Anything’s possible indeed, Lee thought.

“Mr. Scoresby?”

“Lyra knew,” he said sharply. “She said that Asriel recorded an image of the city in the Aurora. You don’t think…?”

“It’s possible,” she said slowly. “But there are hundreds of thousands of worlds to cross into, Mr. Scoresby, we can’t risk following her into a place we don’t know only to get lost ourselves.”

Lee sighed. “You’re right,” he conceded. “‘Sides, we probably need to get my balloon fixed first. Though how that can be done in Svalbard I have no idea.”

“You won’t need to fix it in Svalbard,” Serafina assured him. “I summoned the aid of my clan, so my sisters will take you to Lake Enara and assist you with it themselves.”

Lee’s eyes widened. “Miss Pekkala, this is – you don’t have to–”

“Perhaps not, but it’s always good to help people when they’re in need.” Serafina’s eyes glittered. “And as I told you earlier, the universe has greater plans for you, Mr. Scoresby. Helping you wouldn’t be as altruistic as it sounds if it helps save the world, or, if my suspicions are correct, worlds.”

“Because obviously I was worried about altruism.”

She laughed.

-*-

“Lee, stop pacing,” Hester scolded. “The witches are here to help you, it’ll be fine.”

“We’ll be fine,” Lee corrected pointedly. “We don’t know where Lyra is, or – or what’s happened to her. She could be injured, and she just lost her friend! Does she even know about that? She’s probably in a strange world, and I have no idea if she’s with safe company.” He kicked a tree root and swore when pain shot up his foot.

“Don’t,” he snapped when Hester moved to speak. She sighed, exasperated.

“Lee, you’re trying to help her. If there’s any way we can find her, it’ll be with the help of the witches. They know of these worlds already, remember? Even if they’ve never been in them.”

Lee nodded. “I know, I know, I’m just–”

“Worried,” Hester completed. “I get it. I’m worried about the kid too.”

“Of course you are, we’re the same person.”

“Lee.”

“Yeah, I know what you mean,” he conceded. “Wait a minute – that’s not a witch from the Lake Enara clan.”

From the distance, a light blur whizzed into view, landing a few paces away from Lee. A witch, certainly, from a different clan – light where Lake Enara was dark, and, lucky him, also familiar.

“Miss Virtanen,” he greeted amiably. “It’s been a while.”

“Mr. Scoresby,” she returned enthusiastically. “How are you faring, I didn’t expect to see you at this council meeting.”

“It’s a weird time,” he answered honestly. “Wait – council?”

She nodded. “I’m sure you know the significance of inviting someone who isn’t a witch into these gatherings.”

Well. Yeah.

“I thought men weren’t supposed to be witness to councils?”

“Like you said, Mr. Scoresby,” she replied sadly, “these are strange times. My sisters are meeting with the Lake Enara clan to discuss what we’ve observed so far, and Queen Serafina tells us that you have some important information of your own.”

“I hope so,” he said. “I’m not sure how relevant it is, but I’d hate it to be insignificant in the end.”

“I’m sure it won’t be,” Lisaveta assured him. “I can sense the calling of fate about your daemon.”

“Witches can do that?” he asked dryly. She grinned sheepishly and nodded.

“Some of us pay attention to the energies of the world. Others find it more productive to study people. I can say with utmost confidence that I am gifted in the latter.”

He smiled, and then remembered what he was actually here for. “I’m here about the kid – Lyra,” he clarified. “Apparently, she’s meant to save the world, or something. I want to help her do it, but mostly I just want to find her.”

His old friend cast a scrutinizing look at him. “I’m not entirely sure who you speak of,” she said at last, “but I believe Queen Serafina has something to say about it when we convene at the glen. Though it seems an awful lot like you’ve found yourself a daughter.”

“This conversation lasted for barely a minute,” Lee said exasperatedly. She just looked at him expectantly, and he deflated. “Fine, you’re not wrong. But she hasn’t had much luck by way of parents, so if I find her and escort her through her journey, I won’t push on the subject.”

She nodded and started to move towards the secluded glen, turning around to make sure he followed. “It’s like I said before, Mr. Scoresby. I’m good at reading people, and I generally stick with my first impressions of people I meet, witches or otherwise. They tend to be a lot more accurate than getting to know them before making a judgement of their character.”

“Out of curiosity, could you read an armoured bear that well?”

“Probably not,” she said. “But I will admit that I have never tried. Perhaps when this is all over, I could speak to the Svalbard bears and try.”

“Sounds like a great idea,” Lee said. “To know who they are, and all that. I mean, Iorek’s my best friend, and even I don’t know what’s on his mind half the time. Bears are strange like that.”

“They are,” she agreed softly. “Then again, people are also remarkably capable of being strange, especially mortals – humans, that is.”

“I suppose we are,” Lee chuckled.

“But I stand by what I said about you,” she said, amused. “Lyra would be very lucky to have you on her side.”

He shrugged, feeling heat rush to his face. “Well. I just try to help, and the kid’s hard to dislike.”

“Which is more than most would do. You’re a good man, Mr. Scoresby, and I trust a queen’s judgement. If Serafina Pekkala says that you have an important role to play in the fate of the world, I would be inclined to believe her. And not simply because of her rank.”

“I’m flattered,” he said, baffled, “but I still don’t know why I’m here. I thought I was just supposed to stay till my balloon was fixed, but it seems like everyone has other plans.”

“Mr. Scoresby, I just got here,” Lisaveta said, amused. “But I do think it will be interesting to find out, don’t you agree?”

Lee snorted. “Interesting doesn’t begin to cover it.”

#lee scoresby #serafina pekkala #hester #hdmsourcefanweek #*mine: fic #hdmedit #hdmsource #usergeo #usereffie #this was the first piece i worked on btw #i finished this a good week before this started

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junker-town · 4 years

Text

Can the worst college basketball program ever win a video game national championship?

The quest to win a national title with Western Illinois in “College Hoops 2K8.”

The College Hoops 2K series is one of the great forgotten gems of sports gaming at the end of the of the ‘00s. While the NBA 2K franchise seemingly grows in popularity every year and exists as one gaming’s biggest annual releases, its college counterpart was discontinued after the 2K8 edition amid a licensing battle with EA Sports before the O’Bannon lawsuit eventually shut down college sports videos game as we know them.

College Hoops 2K8 has Greg Oden on the cover. It features the likeness of Stephen Curry as a sophomore on Davidson, Derrick Rose as a freshman on Memphis, Kevin Love and Russell Westbrook on UCLA, James Harden on Arizona State, and Tyler Hansbrough on North Carolina.

The rosters alone would make this a fun time capsule of one of the strongest college basketball seasons in recent memory, but the game itself is so much deeper than that. There’s an incredible amount of detail packed into this game, from shooting lines before tip-off to a studio show hosted by Greg Gumbel to impressive game play that stands the test of time more than a decade later.

The real gold mine of College Hoops 2K8 is found in career legacy mode, where you start off as a poorly-rated coach with the choice of only low-major schools to take over at the start of a 40-year career. As you go through the game, your coach gains attribute points as you accomplish certain goals, and eventually bigger schools offer you a job.

I have played through way too many dynasties in this game since it was released at the end of my own college years — never actually playing the games, but simming through the seasons and doing the recruiting. Typically, that ends with you taking a job like North Carolina or Kentucky or UCLA. What if you never left the school you started off with?

That spawned the idea that we’re presenting today: this is the start of a running series attempting to turn the Western Illinois Leathernecks into NCAA champions, a team that has never made the NCAA tournament and has one above .500 finish in the last 22 years. In a world where March Madness is canceled because of the coronavirus pandemic, there’s no better way to get your college basketball fix in.

Let’s start off by answering some basic questions about the game.

How does recruiting work?

The game generates a ton of new recruits every year. There are typically about 25 five-star prospects, and the rest of the top-100 players are four-star prospects. There are also JUCO players and international players rated on the same scale.

There are four basic options on how to recruit: visiting a player, scouting a player, calling a player and sending an email to a player. A player’s interest is measured on a scale that goes up to 100 percent. Once a player gets above 75 percent interest, they can tour the school, which is the most effective recruiting tool and can only be used once.

Why is this going to be challenging?

Low-major programs get the fewest recruiting points. The two most effective ways of recruiting — visits and scouting — cost the most points. For elite programs, coaches can get in five visits or scouting trips per week. For a school like Western Illinois, you only get two plane trips to visit or scout per week. That makes it difficult to land quality players, especially in classes where you have four or five open scholarships to fill.

Each recruit has three different priorities that are revealed the longer you recruit them. One of them is “playing at a big program” — which basically automatically disqualifies a school like Western Illinois. The other priorities — feeling wanted, being close to home, getting good coaching, getting playing time — could still work in favor of a school like WIU, depending on the circumstances.

Staying at one school for the entirety of the legacy also means there will be certain coaching goals that can’t be reached, so that’s one less attribute point to eventually improve my coach. For example: “get hired by a larger conference team” and “get hired by a power conference team” are both automatically off the table. It’s also going to be damn hard to hit “coach a team to the No. 1 ranking” or “sign a five-star recruit” or “win the national championship” — among others.

So you won’t be playing any of the game — just simming them?

That’s right. I reserve the right to watch the computer actually play the simulated game though, especially if it’s in the NCAA tournament.

OK, finally, let’s get to it.

Year One

The first thing you have to do after creating a coach is assign the five coaching attribute points. I’m choosing to put all of mine into charisma, because that’s the category that helps you land recruits.

Call me Ricky Charisma. After hiring my assistant coaches and locking in the schedule for the season, it’s time to check out the roster.

It ain’t pretty.

Because no one really cares about how “SG No. 1” plays, my writing during this first season is going to primarily focus on recruiting (there will be more focus on the games, the rankings, and the standings moving forward). We need to add some talent to this program. Fortunately, I have four open scholarships to work with.

I’m not even going to waste my time looking at four- and five-star recruits. My best bet here to find three-star players, ideally ones who are ranked in the top-200 of their class. It won’t be easy in the opening season, but my coach’s B+ charisma should help.

Because of the limited recruiting points I’m going to have, it’s vital to hit on the first recruits I reach out to. My first visit goes to 6’7 power forward Bud Richards out of Madison, Wisconsin, which means he’s a regional recruit for me. He’s ranked No. 133 overall and the No. 43 power forward. I also fly out to visit point guard Bert Bronson, the No. 168 overall recruit, in Aurora, Colorado.

After the first week, neither seem like a good bet. Bronson has significantly more interest from Wyoming, while Richards has both Northwestern and Iowa State in front of me.

In better news, I win my first game against Morehead State.

My target list of recruits is looking dire going into the next week. Every player has more interest in a bigger school after one week than they do in Western Illinois. I notice Wyoming also has interest in another point guard on my target list who is ranked even higher than Bronson, so I decide to not give up on Bronson yet and fly out to recruit him again before sending him an offer. I’m bailing on Richards. Instead I fly out to see Ferdinand Thompson, a 6’8 power forward out of Atlanta ranked No. 173 in his class. My man hit 40 percent three-pointers on the AAU circuit, so I’m thinking he could possibly play three different positions for me if I get him.

I also throw out offers to Alvin Cable, the No. 9 overall center from Aurora, Illinois, and Jerimie Sommerville, the No. 17 center from Pembroke Pines, Florida, as insurance if I don’t get Cable. I need bigs.

Cable gets an offer from Illinois State immediately. He’s much more interested in them, so I’m pulling my offer. I am sitting pretty with Thompson. Bronson looks like a possibility too as I continue to lead.

Miami has a big lead for Sommerville, but they haven’t offered him yet, and I’m in second with his only offer. I have to hope they don’t offer him all year and I’m able to land him in the spring. My final scholarship offer now goes to Elijah Meyer, a 6’ shooting guard out of Savannah, Georgia, ranked No. 143 overall.

I win my rivalry matchup with Eastern Illinois the next week. This is Leatherneck country, baby. A win over Radford makes it 3-0 heading into signing week. Thompson is up to 85 percent interest, but he’s likely not signing early. Bronson will also have to be a spring signing in a best-case scenario.

Recruits can commit during two periods — the early signing period at the end of December, or during the offseason. No one commits on the first signing week, but I have a big lead for Thompson. Bronson is looking up too, after Wyoming drops off his board completely. I’m the only school on there, even though it’s still far from a lock at 65 percent interest. Miami still hasn’t offered Sommerville and Meyer remains a long shot.

Well, hell: Sommerville gets the Miami offer and signs with the Hurricanes at the end second week of signing period. Damn.

I guess Coral Gables sounds a little nicer than Macomb. I decide to use that scholarship offer on Marvin Cisse, a 6’5 shooting guard out of Roanoke, Virginia, who is ranked No. 182 in his class (and the No. 32 shooting guard). I figure I can move him to small forward in the unlikely event I land him and Meyer. I also start looking for centers as backup options.

Damn, a new challenger appears for Bronson: Colorado. Given that his second priority is “playing at a big program,” I am getting worried I’ll lose him. Maybe his first priority being “feeling wanted” means I still have a chance?

Also, Meyer gets an offer from another school who was already above me in interest, so I drop out. I use my scholarship to offer another point guard, Utah’s Hesse Gosley, ranked No. 146 overall and the No. 40 player at his position, as a backup plan to losing Bronson.

Meanwhile, I beat Youngstown State and ride into conference play at 5-3.

As I start conference play, Colorado passes me for Bronson before even offering him. I’m gonna ride it out until he has an offer. On the court, I go 0-2 in the first week of conference play. Not great. Then I lose the next two conference games as well. Even worse. Also: Bronson gets an offer from Colorado. That’s devastating. Gosley gets an offer too, this one from Weber State, so I drop him as well.

Armed with freshly available scholarships, my first offer goes to ... Bud Richards, the first player I visited in this class back in the first week. DePaul and Northwestern both have maxed out interest for him, but neither have offered. Hoping I can sneak in come spring if neither have an available scholarship for him. Next offer goes to center Jerry Gooden, ranked No. 359 overall and No. 26 at his position. Jacksonville is already maxed out in interest for him but he doesn’t have an offer. I’ll give him his first.

On the court, I win three straight in conference. I spend the next few weeks trading off wins and losses, and hit my first achievement point when I get to 10 wins in a season. Woo!

I’m using all my flying points on Richards right now. Going for the miracle grab with DePaul and Northwestern still maxed out on his interest without an offer. I’m also sitting pretty with my power forward Ferdinand Thompson and it’s looking up with Cisse, as well.

Regular season is over, and so is the in-season recruiting period. I’m heading into the conference tournament at 14-12 overall and 10-8 in the Summit League. That draws me a first round matchup with IUPUI in the conference tournament. My Leathernecks are a 69 overall, they’re a 74. I reassemble my rotation based on my players’ mid-season improvements. I start using my pep talks to boost their confidence.

And I lose, 73-59.

Year one is over. At least I finished over .500 at 14-13 overall. That’s another achievement point. I also get an achievement point for going a full season without an unhappy player.

North Carolina wins the national title behind Tyler Hansbrough as a junior. He’s a 91 overall, which feels low. Sheesh, those are some gigantic numbers, even better than what he actually put up as a junior. Bill Self now has no national championships :-(

I get three achievement points to add to my coach and put them all in charisma. A+ charisma y’all. That should help recruiting.

Spring recruiting

I sign Ferdinand Thompson right away. That’s my first recruit. No. 173 overall and No. 47 power forward. Huge. The nice thing about power forwards is that you can typically switch them between the 3-4-5 without losing too many points on their overall rating. I’m a little worried about his ability to move to center given these block numbers, but the scoring, rebounding, three-point AAU stats are encouraging. He’ll be good.

I lose out Gooden. But oh shit, Richards now has no other suitors. DePaul and Northwestern must not have had an available offer for him. We end up offering another center, Vasilis Scheer, No. 27 at his position. Seems like a long shot.

Richards signs with Western Illinois the next week. Hell yeah. My second power forward, this one 6’7, 204 pounds. No. 133 overall and No. 43 power forward. My bad scouts tell me he has B+ potential. Good enough for me.

I pull the offer from Scheer with two bigs on board and offer Andre Wiedemann, a 6’2 point guard out of LA who is ranked No. 288 overall and the No. 84 point guard. Just trying to get some guards in here.

I sign Cisse the next week. Dope. Shooting guard ranked No. 182 overall and No. 32 at his position. Look at these monster AAU stats:

Five rebounds and five assist per game with 1.1 blocks and steals with solid scoring? King. We’ll worry about the outside shooting later.

I land Wiedemann to close out the week. Western Illinois ends the offseason with four recruits in my first year, all three stars. Great start.

After I set my schedule, let’s take a first look at the new roster.

Hell yeah. My three best players are freshmen and four of my top five.

Richards is by far the best player on the team right away at 75 overall, with C+ potential, the highest of anyone on the roster (everyone else is C or C- potential). Richards also already grew an inch, up to 6’8 now. We’ll move Thompson to center — easily big enough for the five in the Summit League at 6’8, 252 pounds — and a starting front court for the next four years. My guy Ferdinand has style:

Cissie moves to the three and also maintains his overall rating of 69. Four freshmen in the starting lineup, y’all.

Onto year two, with four more open scholarships to fill.

To be continued.

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surly01 · 5 years

Text

A Bloody Week In Doom March 17, 2019

Prayers for the victims in Christchurch attacks.

“The old world is dying and the new world struggles to be born. Now is the time of monsters.”

― Antonio Gramsci

The latest monster came to call in Christchurch, New Zealand in a story that dwarfed all others this week. I had some other ideas for what might fill this space this week, then the news from Christchurch, New Zealand, followed by the one-two punch of a Twitler emission rendered all moot. Brenton Tarrant strapped on a helmet camera, loaded a car with weapons, drove to a mosque in Christchurch and began shooting at anyone who came across his line of vision. His helmet-cam helped broadcast the act of mass terror live for the world to watch on social media. As of Sunday, the death toll had reached 50.

Tarrant thus joined the roll call of monsters alongside Stephen Paddock (Las Vegas), Anders Breivik (Norway), Robert Gregory Bowers (Tree of Life Synagogue, Pittsburgh), Omar Mateen (Pulse, Orlando), Adam Lanza (Sandy Hook), Nikolas Cruz (Marjorie Stoneman Douglas high school), Devin Patrick Kelley (Sutherland Springs church in Texas), James Holmes (Aurora), Dylann Roof (Charleston, SC), and, of course, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, who kicked off the 21st century with the Columbine massacre.

In ancient Rome, an interregnum was a period between stable governments when anything might happen, and the "the blood-dimmed tide" might be loosed: civil unrest, competition between warlords, power vacuums, wars of succession. In 1929, in such an interregnum found Italian Marxist philosopher and politician Antonio Gramsci languishing in a fascist prison, writing about the forces tearing Europe apart. He anticipated civil unrest, war between nations and changing political fault lines.

Interestingly, it was Gramsci who gave us the term "hegemony" now in use. Hegemony is a three dollar word representing a simple idea: the coercion of smaller fish by bigger fish. When the powerful use their influence to convince the less powerful their best interest lies in doing what is actually in the best interest of the powerful, that's hegemony. When we consider the above list of overwhelmingly white terrorists with a nationalist/supremacist bent, we can see terror is one way the powerful preserve their hegemony when they feel their power begin to wane when frightened by demographic changes posed by immigration.

Trump has the sensibility of a spoiled child tearing the wings off of flies. When asked whether white nationalism has anything to do with the tragedy in Christchurch, he replied in the negative. Echoes of “good people on both sides,” a la Charlottesville. The prime minister of New Zealand indicated late Friday coming changes to New Zealand's gun laws. A striking contrast that makes one wonder how many will have to die, again and again and again, until our own politicians, beholden to the NRA and their sea of laundered rubles, are moved to similarly act.

You'll recall that when it was his time to serve in Vietnam, the self proclaimed White House tough guy came up missing like Dick Cheney and his five deferments. Chickenhawks like Cheney always find "other priorities" to service, but are eager to send the disposable sons and daughters of the poor into harm's way, because what else are they for but cannon-fodder? Real military men who have seen battle are loath to commit their fellow citizens to needless battle; but chickenhawks, untroubled by loss or nightmares, send their non-relatives readily into the Valley of Death.

The mob-boss stylings of Citrus Caligula make a tough sound, especially when talking to the far right media like Breitbart.

Trump said: "I can tell you I have the support of the police, the support of the military, the support of the Bikers for Trump – I have the tough people, but they don’t play it tough — until they go to a certain point, and then it would be very bad, very bad. But the left plays it cuter and tougher. Like with all the nonsense that they do in Congress … with all this investigations]—that’s all they want to do is –you know, they do things that are nasty. Republicans never played this.”

When you can't bully a majority of the people and the House of Representatives into accepting your will as fiat, that is apparently vicious tactics. Especially on the part of Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who Trump refers to as "Nancy."

"So here’s the thing—it’s so terrible what’s happening,” Trump said before discussing his supporters. “You know, the left plays a tougher game, it’s very funny. I actually think that the people on the right are tougher, but they don’t play it tougher. Okay?"

Uh, not OK. This is Trump engaging in stochastic terrorism, or

the public demonization of a person or group resulting in the incitement of a violent act, which is statistically probable but whose specifics cannot be predicted.

Trump is actively encouraging people taking the law into their own hands, in the same way Putin has his Night Riders (see below), as Mussolini had his black shirts, and Hitler his brown shirts. The purpose is unmistakable: to be bullyboys who operate outside of the law and through violent intimidation. For the last two years we've had a president who fundamentally does not believe in democracy, and whose recent utterances show no loyalty to either the Constitution or the traditions of American governance. This IS a time of monsters. And now this:

Trump’s Breitbart Biker Threat Came From the Putin Playbook—Then Tweet Deleted After Mosque Massacre

Trump told Breitbart there could be biker violence against leftists. It sounded even worse after Brenton Tarrant's mosque massacre manifesto called Trump "a symbol of renewed white identity." It does not get much clearer than that.

The Daily Beast Explains the Putinesque origins of Twitler's latest veiled threat:

"They call themselves The Night Wolves, “a new kind of motorcycle club,” or, sometimes, “Putin’s Angels.” And just as much as the Orthodox Church or the military, the Wolves have become a symbol of Vladimir Putin’s Russia. But the idea that they might be used as his extra-legal enforcers in times of trouble is usually implicit—embedded in their flag-waving Putinized patriotism—never really spelled out....Trump is not so subtle, however, especially when he takes his cues from the Kremlin. Leave it to him to put the potential for violent defense of his interests by a motorcycle gang front and center in the public view."

On Friday morning, as news broke of the massacre, the murderer's manifesto called Trump “a symbol of renewed white identity and common purpose,” the Breitbart tough-guy tweet came down. Note a wider pattern of American racists and white supremacists looking to Russia for both moral and tactical support.

The New Zealand Massacre Was Made to Go Viral

Outside a mosque in Christchurch on Friday. Mark Baker/Associated Press

Charlie Warzel noted that the attack marks a grim new age of social media-fueled terrorism.

A 17-minute video of a portion of the attack, which leapt across the internet faster than social media censors could remove it, is one of the most disturbing, high-definition records of a mass casualty attack of the digital age — a grotesque first-person-shooter-like documentation of man’s capacity for inhumanity.

Videos of attacks are designed to amplify the terror, of course. But what makes this atrocity “an extraordinary and unprecedented act of violence,” as Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern described it, is both the methodical nature in which the massacre was conducted and how it was apparently engineered for maximum virality.

Even though Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube scrambled to take down the recording, they were no match for the speed of their users or for their algorithms which make connections for people consuming such content. In minutes, the video was downloaded and mirrored onto additional platforms, and ricocheted around the globe.

Warzel notes,

Internet users dredged up the alleged shooter’s digital history, preserving and sharing images of weapons and body armor. The gunman’s apparent digital footprint — from the rantings of a White Nationalist manifesto to his 8chan message board postings before the murders — was unearthed and, for a time, distributed into far-flung corners of the web.

The killer wanted the world’s attention, and by committing an act of mass terror, he was able to get it.

It was not the first act of violence to be broadcast in real-time. Yet this one was different because ofd the perpetrator's apparent familiarity with the darkest corners of the internet. The recording contains numerous references to online and meme culture, including name-checking a prominent YouTube personality. Tarrant knew his audience.

Tarrent's digital trail depicts a white supremacist motivation for the attack. His 87-page manifesto, for instance, is filled with layers of commentary apparently written to specifically enrage the communities that appear to have helped radicalize the gunman in the first place. It seems he understands both the platform dynamics that allow misinformation and divisive content to spread but also the way to sow discord.

I recently came across an article by Ezra Klein who identifies an ecosphere of YouTube prophets and avatars who populate the "intellectual dark web:" The rise of YouTube’s reactionary right: How demographic change and YouTube’s algorithms are building a new right. Many right wing publishers benefit from YouTube’s algorithms to build the new right.

YouTube’s recommendation engine follows the digital footsteps we all make. And it sees connections, not context. It knows when audiences repeatedly come together, but does not grasp why. And it predicts what they’re likely to view next. Thus are the "mainstreams" of conservative thought brought into proximity to the far right fringe.

As Klein has it,

"Many of these YouTubers are less defined by any single ideology than they are by a “reactionary” position: a general opposition to feminism, social justice, or left-wing politics."

On YouTube, tomorrow’s politics are emerging today. Tarrant noted this and made the online community work in the gunman’s favor. Our brown shirts are now digital: not only has their conspiratorial hate spread from the internet to real life, it’s also weaponized to go viral.

Proof That White Supremacy Is an International Terrorist Threat

It stretches from Christchurch to Pittsburgh and extends out in every direction.

The always-dependable Charlie Pierce noted that Anders Breivik, the murderous white-supremacist who killed 72 people in Norway in 2011, has become one of the most significant figures in international terrorism by providing a template for the modern white-supremacist mass murderer.

From Ted Kaczynski, he borrowed the idea of publishing a manifesto. From the Columbine killers, he borrowed the idea of using both bombs and guns. And from the international white-supremacist networks, he borrowed the murderous rage and bloodthirsty rhetoric necessary to carry out acts of mass murder, and to justify his crimes through an elaborate bullshit ideological exoskeleton that he wore like body armor. He put all of this together and created the modern mode of mass political murder, one that was carried out again Thursday in Christchurch, New Zealand.

Pierce notes that Tarrant's latest manifesto

reads like a vicious form of grandiose trolling. But there seems to be little doubt that the crimes themselves speak loudly of the basic truth that this was a right-wing act of war against a target population. And, because of that, we should take the following passage very seriously. The alleged shooter called the President* of the United States "a symbol of renewed white identity and common purpose."

When asked if the rise of white natonalism or white supremacy posed a rising threat around the world, Trump replied,

“I don’t, really. I think it’s a small group of people that have very, very serious problems, I guess. If you look at what happened in New Zealand, perhaps that’s the case. I don’t know enough about it yet. But it’s certainly a terrible thing.”

On Sunday, Mick Mulvaney and other staffers made the rounds and insisted that Trump was "Not a White Supremacist." Which speaks volumes.

White supremacy now poses an international terrorist threat stretching from Norway to Pittsburgh, from Christchurch to Las Vegas, sharing objectives with the Night Riders or the Bikers for Trump, but better armed and more purposeful. Brownshirts used to intimidate; the new generation attacks to sow terror in targeted groups. This poses an existential threat to the very notion of liberal democracy. Today the target is Muslims; Tomorrow's target will be...?

For our purposes this week, Charlie Pierce gets the last word:

From [white supremacist terrorism] runs on a parallel track with the rise of a xenophobic rightwing nationalist politics that is conspicuously successful in a number of putatively democratic nations. Liberal democracy is under attack and, like any revolution, this one has both a respectable political front and a violent auxiliary that operates on its own imperatives. That one of those auxiliaries cites both a Norwegian mass murderer and the President* of the United States as inspiration for killing 49 people is not only evidence of the width of the threat, but also the depth of its commitment to the cause. This is the everyday al Qaeda of the angry white soul, and it's growing.

Now is the time of monsters.

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novalian · 7 years

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Do you have any headcanons for bellamy/the blake siblings on the ark? Maybe things they did in their home but also things bellamy had to do to keep octavia's existence a secret? I love that relationship so much, i wish they would explore some more 1x06-esque flashbacks. Their dynamic is so interesting especially with their being the only siblings on the show. (it's also unconventional at best, but its something so amazing to see play out onscreen)

Yes I do!

In the novel ‘Room’ by Emma Donoghue, a woman who gave birth to her baby while imprisoned by her abductor chooses to raise her son believing that their single-room home is the whole world; the things on the TV aren’t real, and he’s not missing out on anything. She does it to make it easier for him to cope basically by attempting to protect him from longing. I always wondered about the decision that was made for Octavia to make her aware of the outside world. I think young Bellamy would have wanted to lie to make O happy. My head canon is that Aurora was the one who chose reality, because a) happiness, her children’s or her own, was not a priority; b) she didn’t want to spend the energy on a lie when it was already so exhausting to live real life. Bellamy might have thought this was cruel, but I think he came to really value what pieces of the world they could give to Octavia. Even the stories he told her were rooted in real history. He decided she deserved every last drop of the world that he could give her. A lot of my head canons kind of tie into that; the tension between being truthful with Octavia about his life/the world and using fantasy/lies to make her happy.

· Aurora worked late, and before Octavia learned to tell the time, Bellamy would sometimes lie and tell her it was her bedtime a whole hour before it came around so that he could have some time to himself – he just wanted to read a book without doing funny voices for her for once. He could never enjoy it because he felt so guilty (story of his life).

· For a long time Octavia didn’t understand that she would have to stay under the floor forever. Kids think all bad things end; they just do. One day when Octavia was eight, Aurora made an offhand comment about making the space under the floor bigger for when she was grown up, and O lost it. She cried hysterically, and she was loud; she couldn’t help it. Aurora had to go to work and Bellamy wanted to comfort her but he had to cover up the sound of her crying, so he sang instead, watching helplessly as she used up all her tears and fell silent. Even if he had been able to say something to her, he wouldn’t have known what.

· That was the first time Octavia wanted to die.

· Rations for two were never quite enough to go around; Bellamy used to play poker with some neighbour kids for extra food. I know there’s this consensus that Bellamy isolated himself to prevent Octavia being discovered, and I think that’s true to an extent, but he also had to learn to influence a group from somewhere and the kind of insight and bravado it takes to be good at poker transfer well to the type of leader he is.

· Bellamy can cut girls’ hair; there are virtual manuals on everything on the Ark, and he read about how to do it because Octavia wanted to look nice. He can also do braids; Octavia was never patient enough to let him practice, but she had a doll he honed his skills on.

· Bellamy’s first girlfriend was a girl from his Earth Skills class, and she broke up with him after two months because she realized he had been stealing from her. She assumed that the reason they never went to his place was so she’d never see the things he’d taken.

· Octavia’s favourite story was The Twelve Labours of Herakles. She could always relate to the all-consuming passion to fight for freedom (though Herakles was atoning for the sin of murdering his wife and children while all Octavia wanted to do was walk around the Ark like a normal girl).

· Octavia’s favourite game was ‘If We Were On Earth.’ She and Bellamy used to lie awake at night and talk about who they would be and what they would do if they went to the Ground. Bellamy always chose to be an archaeologist, travelling the world’s most fascinating historical sites. Octavia wanted to be an explorer, trekking through the Amazon jungle to find undiscovered species. They would come home every Christmas to their houses, which were next door to each other with a secret passageway connecting the attics.

· Bellamy decided when he was young that he would never have kids, because if he did he would want them to be well provided for, and he was going to have a hard enough time doing that for Octavia in secret. When they played ‘If We Were On Earth’, he gave himself four kids.

I would love some more baby Blake flashbacks! Though personally I’d prefer they keep it to ages where they can bring in younger actors instead of trying to make Bob and Marie credible as young teenagers – I adored the 1x06 stuff (and think they both did a great job imbuing their performances with just the right amount of innocence) but I think they were just on the cusp of too-old-to-pass then and they’re well over the line now. I’d love to see a version of Bellamy I could really buy as a twelve year old, for example, where it is clear how completely dwarfed he was by his responsibilities and how wrong it feels to see an actual child forced to be an adult.

#gabi makes words about the 100 #Anonymous #the blake siblings #octavia blake #bellamy blake #sorry this took so long anon #idk if these are the kinds of headcanons you were after #i actually have a lot of way more dark and tragic ones #because that's how my brain works

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scootoaster · 4 years

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Uranus blasted a gas bubble 22,000 times bigger than Earth

Voyager 2’s iconic portrait of Uranus hides many details of a complex world, some of which are starting to come to light. (NASA/JPL/)

There’s a giant blank spot in researchers’ ever-growing map of the solar system. Over the last two decades, a veritable fleet of probes has measured quakes on Mars, scrutinized the grooves in Saturn’s rings, observed jet streams on Jupiter, and heard the heartbeat of Pluto. But in terms of up-close-and-personal exploration, our image of Uranus hasn’t advanced substantially beyond the featureless blue beachball captured by Voyager 2’s vintage instruments in 1986.

But last year, while combing through NASA’s archives, two planetary scientists noticed something earlier analyses had overlooked—a blip in Uranus’s magnetic field as the spacecraft cruised through a magnetic bubble of sorts. The new result, which appeared last summer in Geophysical Research Letters, comes as planetary scientists start to shift their focus to some of the field’s deepest outstanding mysteries.

“The Cassini mission [to Saturn] is over and people are starting to say, ‘ok what else can we do,’” says Heidi Hammel, a planetary astronomer and the Vice President for Science at the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy. “People are turning their sights back to these other planets and brushing off the old data.”

Gina DiBraccio and Daniel Gershman of the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center are two such researchers. Motivated by the community’s growing interest in the outermost planets, they spent hours manually processing the thirty-year-old data in a new way. Voyager scientists calculated the strength of the magnetic field as a whole, DiBraccio says, so short variations in the magnometer reading were simply considered a nuisance. But while zooming in on those jagged hops and dips, DiBraccio and Gershman spotted a special 60-second long section of Voyager 2’s 45-hour flyby where the field rose and fell in an instantly recognizable way. “Do you think that could be… a plasmoid?” Gershman asked DiBraccio, according to a NASA press release.

Plasmoids are charged globs of atmosphere blown out into space when the solar wind whips around planets. Losing such blobs can dramatically transform a world over a long period of time, and studying them can provide insight into how planets live and die. Researchers have spotted them pinching off from various planets, but the magnetic belch Voyager 2 sailed through was a first for Uranus. “We expected that Uranus would likely have plasmoids; however, we didn't know exactly what they would look like,” DiBraccio says.

Now that they’ve caught one red handed, she says it looks quite similar to those seen leaking from Saturn or Jupiter but stealing away relatively more mass. (This plasmoid formed a cylinder roughly ,000 times larger than Earth).

More such discoveries could remain in the archives, awaiting novel analyses. “Most of the Voyager 2 data are available on NASA’s Planetary Data System,” DiBraccio says, “and there is likely much to still be learned.”

Uranus in particular keeps on begging for further investigation. In 2014 Erich Karkoschka, an astronomer at the University of Arizona, revisited Voyager 2’s images with modern processing techniques. By blending 1600 images and sharpening the contrast, Karkoschka’s work revealed that a gumball world painted with candy-stripe clouds had been hiding within the bland blue ball all along.

On top of its unappreciated complexity, it’s also the odd planet out. Where others spin, Uranus rolls, tipped on its side with its poles pointing generally toward or away from the sun. Its magnetic field is bonkers too, offset from the planet’s center and tipped at a wild 60 degrees to the side. Planetary astronomers are blind to that magnetic field from Earth, although the Hubble Space Telescope can occasionally catch an indirect glimpse via Uranus’s auroras—which can shine far from the poles.

The Voyager team initially assumed the magnetic wackiness was linked to the Uranus’s belly flop position, but when the spacecraft flew by Neptune (which stands up straight) three years later it saw the same apparent mismatch between the planet and its field. Now researchers assume that something about the worlds’ inner workings must set their magnetic fields apart. “Boy would we like to be able to refine that theory,” Hammel says.

The next generation of planetary scientists might get to do just that, as interest in sending a dedicated probe to Uranus or Neptune is growing. Rough sketches of possible missions were published in 2018 and early last week. And DiBraccio says more such proposals are on the way. The general dream is to send a Cassini-style orbiter that will circle one of the planets for years, surveying its magnetic field and studying its heat flow. The spacecraft would also carry at least one smaller probe to fire into the atmosphere. There, it could measure otherwise invisible gases leftover from the planet’s formation.

And if the orbiter targets Neptune, it can schedule trysts with the enigmatic moon Triton (not to be confused with Saturn’s Titan). Likely an ex-dwarf planet Neptune plucked from the largely inaccessible realm ruled by Pluto and other frozen bodies, Triton may harbor an underground ocean.

Understanding the outer reaches of our solar system has never felt so urgent. NASA tends to plan its planetary priorities decade by decade, and they’re currently picking targets for the late 2020s and early 2030s. Meanwhile, between the last so-called “decadal survey” and the current one, exoplanet science has exploded, and Neptune and Uranus have become more than just local oddities.

Researchers now know that similar “Sub-Neptune” worlds are the most common type of planet in the galaxy. And many of these worlds are likely “ice giant” planets akin to our big blue duo. Unlike the gas giants, which are mostly hydrogen and helium, these planets are largely made from heavier molecules such as water and ammonia. If researchers want to understand what makes these worlds so common in alien systems—and why our solar system is such an oddball—they’ll have to figure out everything they can about Uranus and Neptune.

But our cosmic backyard is vast, and getting out toward the fence will take time and extensive planning. The sun shines too dimly out there for solar panels, so nuclear power is the only option for a years-long mission. And billions of miles is just really far away. “Even with our current best rockets and gravity assists, it’s still a decade to get out there,” Hammel says. Between technology development and mission design, she hopes to see a probe launch even if she doesn’t get to work on the data it will someday send back to Earth. “Most of us tend to think in multidecade time scales,” she says.

Proof of Uranus’s plasmoids sat buried in Voyager 2’s data for thirty years before DiBraccio and Gershman happened upon it. The next ice giant encounter might not take place for twenty years, and any researchers that may someday glean additional insights from its legacy data likely haven’t even been born yet. Imagining what sorts of discoveries might lie ahead gives astronomers like Hammel a uniquely long-term perspective. “I dream about exploring Uranus and Neptune and I dream about fantastic space telescopes,” Hammel says, “That’s how we get through tough times. We dream about the future.”

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karingottschalk · 6 years

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“In this video I try to explain why the Fujifilm X-T2 just didn’t sit with me. I am much happier after switching to the X-Pro2. All of it is of course just personal preference based on how I like my cameras. And the X-T2 is also a great camera, truly fantastic. Its just that with expensive gear like this I get very, very picky. On cheaper cameras I would let it all slide. So if you have the X-T2, I’m not ripping on your camera. I actually like it a lot….”

Fujifilm X-Pro2 black with Fujinon XF 35mm f/2.0 R WR “Fujicron” prime lens and Fujifilm X-Pro2 graphite with Fujinon XF 23mm f/2.0 R WR “Fujicron” prime lens.

Commentary

With the impending release of Skylum’s Aurora HDR 2019, the first version that allows me to quickly and easily obtain the emotion-laden, infromation-rich image renderings I have been visualizing ever since getting back into photography with digital, I have been excited about seriously getting back into portraiture again.

Portrait photography was how I made a living for some time shooting for magazines and newspapers colour supplements, and I loved it with a passion, and I have missed doing it for years.

Working out how to do it in digital in the way I used to in analog is proving to be something of a quandary as that hardware and those processes are no longer available to me and nor should they, given the environmentally unsound nature of photochemical processing and the fact that contemporary cameras are an altogether different proposition.

My favourite analog films no longer exist and never will again, and my favourite analog cameras are long gone, broken down and unrepairable, or stolen.

The task now is for me to bend the digital gear I have now to making something as close to or better yet surpassing how I used to make portraits, and the biggest challenge is in doing that with full-face close-up portraits where little more than one eye is in sharp focus, with either my beloved Fujifilm X-Pro2 or my trusty Panasonic DMC-GX8.

Eye Detection AF automatically detects human eyes: Choose Face Detection to automatically detect human faces, or turn on Eye Detection AF to automatically detect and accurately focus on human eyes for successful portraits with a shallow depth of field. You can also define the area of priority focus, for example right or left eye, or the eye closer to the camera. These functions have been upgraded for improved accuracy to a level that will impress professional photographers. They are particularly effective when shooting with the XF56mmF1.2 R / XF56mmF1.2 R APD or XF90mmF2 R LM WR lenses.

Pinpoint accurate focusing in MF mode: The FUJIFILM X-T2 has a variety of functions that assist pinpoint focusing in the MF mode. Set the Focus Mode Lever to MF and rotate the focus ring to access a variety of MF Assist functions. These include Focus Peaking, in which color is used to show the parts of the image that are in focus, and Digital Split Image, where focus is achieved by lining up the split image strips in the center. These features are particularly useful in macro photography and portraiture, which involve a shallow depth of field and require focusing precision.

Panasonic’s Micro Four Thirds sensors with their 4:3 in horizontal or 3:4 in vertical aspect ratios are better suited to portraiture and the printed page than Fujifilm’s APS-C sensors’ 3:2 and 2:3 aspect ratios when uncropped.

Visualizing within a sensor of the best aspect is always easier, more accurate and more satisfying than shooting with one that is too long then cropping later.

Right now though I am leaning towards shooting full-game portraits more with my X-Pro2 than my GX8, mostly because I have the amazing Fujinon XF 56mm f/1.2 R lens and I have nothing equivalent in my Olympus and Panasonic lens set.

The difficulties with getting pinpoint accurate focus on an eyeball with the 56mm’s aperture almost wide open are casting my thoughts back to trying out the Fujifilm X-T2’s ability to manually focus accurately enough, and really liking it.

If only Fujifilm’s engineers had seen fit to give the X-Pro2 a better, brighter electronic viewfinder that worked in almost the same way as the EVF in the X-T2.

Will the X-Pro3 be improved in that regard, and will it appear any time soon?

Or should I be looking at the X-T3, or the X-H1 or better the X-H2 that should must be following along on the heels of the X-T3 sometime next year?

Or might the Fujifilm GFX-50R offer a more viable solution along with bigger file sizes more suitable to large exhibition prints?

Links

Maarten Heilbron – Fuji X-Pro2 real-world hands on review – video

Mattias Burling – 5 Reasons why I left the Fuji X-T2 for the X-Pro2 – video

Three Blind Men and An Elephant Productions – Fujifilm X-Pro2: NOW I Understand, 2 Years Later – video

Untitled – The Best HDR Image Editor There is, Skylum’s Aurora HDR 2019, is Available for Pre-Order until October 4, with Discounts

Help support ‘Untitled’

Fujifilm X-T2 in black and graphite silver versions.

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Fujifilm Fujinon XF lenses – B&H

Fujifilm X-Pro2 Mirrorless Digital Camera – B&H

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Fujifilm X-T3 Mirrorless Digital Camera – B&H

Fujifilm X-H1 Mirrorless Digital Camera – B&H

Leica M Series Cameras (Digital) – B&H

Mattias Burling: 5 Reasons why I left the Fuji X-T2 for the X-Pro2 "In this video I try to explain why the Fujifilm X-T2 just didn’t sit with me. I am much happier after switching to the X-Pro2.

#Fujifilm GFX 100S #Fujifilm GFX 50R #Fujifilm GFX 50S #Fujifilm X-Pro2 #Fujifilm X-T2 #Fujifilm X-T3 #Leica cameras #Leica M-Series #Leica M-System

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infotainmentplus-blog · 6 years

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Honor 10 vs OnePlus 6: Game, set, match The Honor 10 and OnePlus 6 occupy a similar space in the smartphone market. These are both affordable devices with flagship-esque specs. In both cases, you’re looking at high-performance dual lens cameras, top-end chipsets, and tons of neat features. But there can only be one! Who shall rise victorious? In terms of design, both devices look pretty similar at first. And the first thing that’s likely to hit you in both cases is that these devices are pretty much all screen, with 19:9 ratios, and big old notches at the top. Now, if there’s one thing I’ve learned working for Android Authority, it’s that everyone loves a notch. Without exception. Psych! Obviously, this is a divisive feature, but the good news is that you can eliminate that notch in both cases. So you can have your cake and eat it too. The OnePlus 6 has a slightly bigger screen at 6.28 inches vs 5.84 inches on the Honor 10, but both are pretty generous in that regard. Overall, the OnePlus 6 display is the winner for two reasons: it’s an AMOLED and is covered in Gorilla Glass 5. The Honor 10 doesn’t specify what type of glass it uses, but it feels a lot softer and seems more prone to chips and scratches in my time with it so far. Both sport Full HD+ resolutions. Overall, the OnePlus 6 display is the winner. It’s also worth noting that the Honor 10 has more of a chin on it, owing to the decision to place the fingerprint sensor around the front. It’s true that this seemingly contradicts the choice of the notch design (removing as much bezel up top only to keep a chin for the fingerprint scanner below). The OnePlus 6 meanwhile keeps its sensor around the back, which is arguably the smarter choice. That said, the Honor 10 does boast an ultrasonic fingerprint sensor, that claims to be faster and operate better even with wet fingers. The Honor 10 also sports that dazzling “aurora glass” rear panel. Made from 15 layers of glass, it’s quite a bold statement and shimmers in all kinds of different colors depending on the angle of the light hitting it. It won’t be for everyone, but it certainly sets the Honor 10 apart as something different. That said, the OnePlus 6 is no slouch in the looks department either. It’s also made completely from glass, with each color utilizing a different material finish and an overall very premium effect. The Honor 10 is the more interesting and distinctive-looking of the two devices. Neither device is IP certified, but they do both sport headphone jacks. Swings and roundabouts (that’s British for “you win some, you lose some”). You may feel differently, but the Honor 10 is the more interesting and distinctive-looking of the two devices. Specifications As for the specifications, both these devices are running top-tier chipsets which is fantastic news at this mid-range price point. The Honor 10 has the Kirin 970, while the OnePlus 6 uses the Snapdragon 845. Both are the latest offerings from their respective manufacturers, but the Kirin 970 has been around relatively a little longer, and it shows in benchmarks. The 845 – and therefore the OnePlus 6 – is the superior performer when it comes to gaming and general smooth performance. The 970 is all about that NPU though, and this is what allows the Honor 10 to boast a number of advanced AI features (mostly involving the camera and memory management). Both devices run top-tier chipsets and 128GB of storage, but the OnePlus 6 offers more RAM. Either way, it’s should be safe to say that you’ll be very well served by either of these options in the horsepower department. The OnePlus 6 does have the edge in the RAM department though with an option between 6GB or even 8GB, versus just 4GB for the Honor 10. Honor 10 OnePlus 6 Display 5.84-inch FullView LCD Display 2,280 x 1080 resolution 19:9 aspect ratio 6.28-inch AMOLED 2,280 x 1,080 resolution 19:9 aspect ratio Corning Gorilla Glass 5 Supports sRGB, DCI-P3 SoC HiSilicon Kirin 970 Octa-core, 10nm (2.36Ghz quad + 1.8Ghz quad) Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 Octa-core, 10nm, up to 2.8GHz GPU Mali G72 MP-12 Adreno 630 RAM 4GB/6GB 6GB/8GB Storage 64GB/128GB Non-expandable 64/128/256GB UFS 2.1 2-lane Non-expandable Cameras Rear Main camera: 16MP, f/1.8 aperture Secondary camera: 24MP, f/1.8 aperture, monochrome Front 24MP, f/2.0 aperture Rear Main camera: 16MP, f/1.7 aperture, 1.22μm pixels Secondary camera: 20MP, f/1.7 aperture, 1.0μm pixels Front 16MP, f/2.0 aperture, 1.0μm pixels Audio Bottom-firing speaker 3.5mm headphone jack Bottom-firing speaker Dirac HD Sound Dirac Power Sound 3.5mm headphone jack Battery 3,400mAh Non-removable SuperCharge (5V 4.5A) 3,300mAh Non-removable Dash Charge (5V 4A) IP Rating No No Sensors Fingerprint Hall Gyroscope Proximity Ambient light Digital compass Gravity sensor Status indicator IR blaster Fingerprint Hall Accelerometer Gyroscope Proximity Ambient light Electronic compass Sensor hub Ports USB Type-C (USB 2.0) 3.5mm headphone jack USB Type-C (USB 2.0) USB audio support 3.5mm headphone jack Network 4G LTE TDD: B38/B40/B41 4G LTE FDD: B1/B3/B5/B7/B8/B19/B20 3G WCDMA: B1/B2/B5/B8/B6/B19 2G GSM: B2/B3/B5/B8 LTE: Supports 4xCA Supports 64QAM, 256QAM, up to DL CAT 16 (1Gbps)/UL CAT 13 (150Mbps) depending on carrier support Bands: FDD LTE: Bands 1/2/3/4/5/7/8/12/17/18/19/20/25/26/28/29/30/32/66/71 TDD-LTE: Bands 34/38/39/40/41 TD-SCDMA: Bands 34/39 UMTS (WCDMA): Bands 1/2/4/5/8/9/19 CDMA: BC0/BC1 GSM: 850/900/1800/1900MHz Connectivity Wi-Fi: 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, 2.4GHz/5GHz Bluetooth 4.2 NFC GPS, AGPS, GLONASS Wi-Fi: 2x2 MIMO, 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, 2.4G/5G Bluetooth 5.0 aptX/aptX HD support NFC GPS, GLONASS, BeiDou, Galileo Software Android 8.1 Oreo EMUI 8.1 Android 8.1 Oreo OxygenOS Dimensions and weight 149.6 x 71.2 x 7.7mm 153g 155.7 x 75.4 x 7.75mm 177g Colors Phantom Blue, Phantom Green, Midnight Black, Glacier Grey Mirror Black, Midnight Black, Silk White SIM Dual nano SIM Dual nano SIM Both come with 128GB of storage – again you can bump that up to 256GB with the OP6 – but you won’t be able to expand that storage at all in either case, unfortunately. It’s worth mentioning that the OnePlus 6 is also a little snappier thanks to its near-stock version of Android. With OxygenOS it’s not quite stock, but it’s certainly a lot less bloated than the EMUI 8 on the Honor 10. A lot of people don’t like EMUI 8 and I count myself among them – but fortunately, most of the stylistic choices at least can be eliminated with a new launcher and a few other customizations. As for software, it all depends on whether you like tons of features or a leaner interface. This will be a matter of opinion, but I think for many, the software experience on the OnePlus will be the preference. It all just depends on whether you like tons of software features or a leaner and cleaner interface. Both devices are very similar in terms of battery: the OnePlus clocks in at 3,300mAh, while the Honor 10 squeezes in just a tiny bit more juice with a 3,400mAh cell. They both have fast charging but neither has wireless support despite having a glass back. Camera Finally, the cameras. We have a dual lens set-up in both cases. You get an iPhone-like vertical array on the OnePlus and a more original horizontal layout for the Honor. In terms of the specs, the OnePlus 6’s main camera is 16MP with a nice wide aperture of f/1.7. It features both EIS and OIS and is backed up by a secondary 20MP sensor. It can do super-slow-mo and record video up to 4K at 60fps. Like nearly every camera these days, it can also do a portrait mode effect. The Honor 10 meanwhile comes with a 24MP rear camera, backed up by a secondary 16MP lens – so it wins on the megapixel front. It has a slightly narrower aperture at f/1.8 but, in a bigger disappointment, it has no optical stabilization. It does feature some impressive AI photography tricks, which allow it to do things like recognizing flowers or food in shots in order to adjust the settings for the best effect. Your mileage may vary in terms of how beneficial this is, however. Ultimately, which of these is the better camera might well come down to your priorities and personal preference. What Honor also brings to the table and what is often overlooked, is a smorgasbord of cool options and features, including my favorite long exposure mode for light painting and star tracking. Ultimately, which of these is the better camera might well come down to your priorities and personal preference. Both do a great job either way, and especially for the price point. Both phones also have decent front-facing cameras too: the OnePlus 6 sports a very respectable 16MP, while the Honor 10 boasts an even more impressive 24MP. And the winner is… So, to wrap up, what are we looking at here? First of all, we’re looking at two incredibly great phones for the asking price. When I reviewed the Nokia 7 Plus I thought that was crazy good value. Then came the Honor 10 with its near flagship looks and performance. And then the OnePlus 6… The bottom line? Samsung, Google and Apple are going to have to work extra hard next year to justify their price points or introduce some serious innovation. A strong argument could be made for either of these phones, but the OnePlus 6 comes out on top for me. Both of these are fantastic phones and a strong argument could be made for either – it will largely come down to personal preference and which features matter most to you. For example, I love the light painting and star tracking modes on Honor phones so much that that feature alone is almost enough to win it for me. But I’m probably alone in that. For others, it’ll be looks, or software or battery life. Of course, declaring an absolute winner in a comparison like this is folly. Not only is this entirely a matter of opinion, but it’s also a sure fire way to get a huge number of angry comments on an article. Nevertheless, I’m not just here to share British sayings with you: the OnePlus 6 is the winner in my books. , via Android Authority http://bit.ly/2L6CHjX

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puclpodcast · 7 years

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The Fluff: Starstruck, Or, An Ode To Minior

Hello, my dearest PUCLonians, and welcome to a particularly starry-eyed edition of The Fluff! Today, my subject will be a single (but most singular) Pokémon: the star of Alola, if not, sadly, of Sun and Moon… Minior!

A Rainbow of Stars

It is unusual for me to dedicate an entire article to a single Pokémon, especially since SumtimesIFly does such a fantastic job of spotlighting Pokémon in his articles (in fact, he’s written about Minior here). But Minior has so much going on with it, at least for me, that I just couldn’t resist spending some time talking about it with you all.

First of all, I’m kind of surprised this Pokémon wasn’t hyped even more in the Sun and Moon marketing campaign. Space and celestial objects are arguably the most evident theme of these games, to my delight, and with rainbows being so relevant (the working title for the games was Pokémon Rainbow!), a literal rainbow-colored shooting star Pokémon could have easily become the mascot of the Alola region. Don’t get me wrong, Minior did get a lot of attention: it was in what was probably the most popular Sun and Moon reveal video, along with the first Alolan Forms, and it had a very relevant (and moving, darn, hand me a kleenex) role in the beautiful cinematic trailers depicting little Shohei’s move to Hawaii. But Nebby, er, Cosmog, was of course center stage for most of the starry-themed campaign for Sun and Moon… a fact that looking back seems even more natural, as it is not only Lillie’s companion and the plot’s McGuffin, but it also turned out to be both of the version mascots at the same time! (Not so bad for someone who can’t even grasp the concept of staying inside a freaking bag, I suppose.)

Meanwhile, Minior got submerged by the oodles of other Pokémon being revealed, and never quite became a true signature Pokémon of Alola, being relegated to a decorative pattern on merchandise that showcased other stuff. Which is adorable, of course, but I do think if the cards had been played a bit differently, Minior could have been an even bigger hit.

Even as it is, though, Minior’s novelty doesn’t fade that easily, probably because it has two main gimmicks going for it: you can collect it in seven colors, and thus also choose to use the one you prefer, and, of course, its Shields Down Ability gives it two Forms and an alluring competitive trick.

To me, personally, Minior has an added sentimental value. It is partially based on konpeitō, which, first, I’d eat all the time if it was readily available here, because rainbow star candy, and second, was featured in the mostest adorablest way with Luna and a super cute astronomer in the Sailor Moon S movie, which absolutely enchanted me when I was 12. All in all, there was no way I could not love Minior, and so it was one of the Pokémon I was most looking forward to catching in Sun and Moon.

Capturing Minior

Getting a Minior, and most of all collecting them all, is hard enough to be interesting, but not so hard as to be frustrating (which is how I think it should be for most Pokémon; when I found out some new Pokémon only appeared when called into SOS battles, I gave Game Freak the hugest mental side-eye ever).

First of all, Minior is appropriately only found atop Mount Hokulani, aka the bestest place in all of Alola (if not the prettiest). It’s where the Observatory is (in case I haven’t babbled at you about it yet, astronomy is my truest childhood passion), and where you can get most of Kurt’s Poké Balls and the two super adorable star-shaped Pokémon from space: Minior and Cleffa.

Even if you’re not trying to collect an entire rainbow of Minior, its catch rate of 30 (the same as Chansey and Xurkitree, to give you context) will mean you’ll probably want to get some damage on it, especially as it can’t be given a Status condition in its Meteor Form. But once you crack the shell and Minior’s Core Form color is revealed, you have a faster, more offensive ‘mon on your hands… which, at the level it’s found at in the wild, always knows Self-Destruct. So even if your team doesn’t have trouble tanking that, you’ll have to look for another Minior and start all over again. Minior never calls for help, so you can’t chain it in an SOS battle, either, but its 30% rate of appearance in the grass makes this rather reasonable.

It took me a little while to collect all the seven Minior colors… especially since in the promotional material they never show all the seven colors together, so I was under the impression there was only one shade of blue available (and the difference between Blue and Indigo Minior is not incredibly evident unless you see them side by side or in immediately consecutive encounters). Also, I was trying to get each ina Ball that would complement its color. But once I had, I was happy as a Clamperl! Now I’m just missing a shiny one, but for that, I’m definitely better off breeding with the Masuda Method (again, no SOS chains).

Shell Smash Your Way To Victory (… Or Not)

Competitively, Minior strikes, in my opinion, a decent balance: the combination of Shields Down, Shell Smash and its move pool make it a potentially amazing set-up sweeper… but its horrible defensive typing and the unreliableness of actually getting to attack in Core Form ensure that Minior is almost never a sure-fire win button (in fact, it rather often runs the risk of ending up, in my experience, as a wasted team slot made of fool’s gold).

My Minior in the U.U.T.C. had Shell Smash, Acrobatics, Earthquake and Power Gem, and I ran a White Herb because my team had Alolan Ninetales on it, so Focus Sash would have been useless. I usually tried to set up behind Ninetales’s Aurora Veil, but that actually hindered me in a couple of occasions, as Minior would get damaged… but not enough to pop the Form change. And so either its speed wasn’t enough to beat a Swift Swim Kingdra, or its attacks were not enough to OHKO things. On the other hand, Minior’s defensive stats in Meteor Form are not that amazing (again, Rock/Flying is defensively horrible), and since it’s off the ground, there’s no way to protect it from priority moves, even with the help of Tapu Lele, so getting it just damaged enough to go to Core Form and then actually keeping it alive is no easy feat.

I’m sure better competitive players than me get more out of their Minior, but the fact that it’s firmly placed in Smogon’s NU Tier is in my opinion testament to the fact that its gimmick is in no way overpowered. But it’s certainly fun to try it every now and then, and I love being able to personalize my teams with choices such as Minior’s color.

Conclusion

Minior is certainly among my favorite Gen VII Pokémon, and if the only additions to the National Pokédex in USUM are Ultra Beasts, there’s a good chance it will be on my team as I go through Ultra Sun. What about you, PUCLonians? Do you like Minior? Have you used it in a Playthrough, or on a competitive team? What color did you pick? Have you collected them all? Is there another Pokémon you’d like me to talk about? Let me know in the comments, and thank you for reading another Fluff!

Until next time,

The Fluffiest Whimsicott

from The Fluff: Starstruck, Or, An Ode To Minior

#pokemon #pucl #pokemon podcast #ORAS #nintendo #video games

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